Xmac vs. the octopus

The Xmac curse strikes the World Cup 2010 yet again. Brazil has been KO'ed out of the tournament by a very determined Dutch team 2-1.

In terms of clairvoyance, I've been just about as accurate as Paul, the soothsaying octopus in this competition. Except the teams I've picked to win end up losing. Well, let's see whether Paul or I can maintain our record at the Argentina vs Germany quarter-final tomorrow. Since we've both picked the land of sauerkraut to prevail over the dreaded Argies, one of us will definitely be wrong.

Systems overhaul

As my trainer, John was consistent and predictable. His method was to get me used to a routine and slowly, gradually increase the load. He'd challenge me to lift a little more from the previous session, and depending on my caprice, I'd either humour him or politely decline.

But John's gone home to his FT country and now I'm in the hands of Sully. Sully's approach is a lot more varied. My repertoire now includes balance training on bouncy pilates balls; flexibility training through manipulating medicine balls and free weights (no, not at the same time -- not yet, anyway); and stamina building on some of the other hamster-wheel type cardio devices which I've been previously avoiding 'cos they look either boring or dangerous.

Sully also watches my form carefully, making corrections and adjustments to stance, to grip, so that I feel the burn at the right places. Lower weight resistance, but more reps. I think he knows it isn't muscle strength I want, it's better functioning heart and lungs that I need.

Every session is a pain to go through, but this old, broken down bod seriously needs an overhaul. I must see this programme through!

World Cup 'live', sort of

For all my bluster over refusing to subscribe to the World Cup cablecast, I've still taken to watching some games via 'live' streaming. Horrible resolution; persistently inturrupted signal -- the last two goals Germany scored against England missed due to buffering lag  (4-1 wt*?! when streaming resumed); sudden jump cuts as streaming regains sync with real time (meaning that I hear my downstairs neighbour cheering seconds before I see the goal); and occasional signal backouts that last minutes, or until I refresh the page... sometimes not even then.

But I have nothing to complain about. It's free. Still, I wonder why I bother at all. Every team I've been rooting for has lost. Consistently. Anyone need a betting tip? Just ask me who I fancied for that match and bet the opposing team. Sure win one!

Out of the frying pan

Now that I've got used to one Personal Torturer, John, he's upped and left Cali for personal reasons -- hope your dad gets better real soon! Today, I got my first session with my new PT, Sully. Looks like Sully's personal mission is to turn scrawny 98 lbs weaklings like Steve Rogers into Captain America without the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Welcome to a new level of hell.

Start your engines

I've been in hibernation. Long hols effectively cut me off from social interaction. There's little reason to meet anyone, no collaborative agenda to accomplish, hardly any requirement to leave the house except for meals or the occasional airing. In this state of temporary isolation, one gets out of practice with basic conversational skills and when everyone is called back to commemorate the end of our social winter, the buzz of meeting everyone again takes quite some getting used to.

We are facing down the last weekend right now. The engine's been idling, now engaging first gear... Staff spent half the day with our usual pre-term opening meeting and being introduced to the newbies joining our ranks effective immediately. Second half my group got a tour of Jurong Island -- a rarely-seen section of our little nation because there really is no reason to go see it on a casual basis. It's a mass of storage facilities, a spaghetti of pipes running all over the place, steel geometric structures everywhere at a scale that the layman's mind can scarcely take it all in.

It's Mordor, only much cleaner and far more orderly. Probably every single thing that has been manufactured for mass consumption has passed through this tiny section of this tiny island as some form of petro-chemical raw material. I couldn't help thinking about our contribution to global warming considering how much toxic greenhouse gas and other materials we're processing right here and shipping off to the rest of the world.

Capped off the day with a refreshingly mundane meeting of friends at Amy's. A great chance to practice my social skills before term starts. Two birthdays to celebrate over fried chix, Japanese pizza(!) and chocolate cake. I think we must have hit some kind of chronological barrier because the Wii was promising a really mad, noisy session of hilarity and general chaos, but we spent the evening in table conversation and general gossip instead. And everyone, myself included, preferred it that way.

Stop copying me!

Excuse me, we do so teach our JC kids how to avoid plagiarism. It's called "UYOWAFAS", a persistent feature in the GP compre paper. What does it stand for? "Use you own words as far as possible." Now you know what it's for.

As far as citing sources go, the kids practice that in Project Work. I wonder if this skill should be practiced in GP too? Would anyone kill me for suggesting that idea?

Tails & Trails

Q-tip meets her fellow participants, not at a gathering of World Cup fans but at Royal Canin's Tails & Trails '10 Doggie-thon at ECP.

According to the dogs, Germany will lead the pack in South Africa this year. 

Apart from the 2km walk along the beach (Q-tip had to be carried the final quarter) we entered her in the "Endurance" contest. The idea is for the contestants to be offered delicious Royal Canin doggie treats and the dogs that could resist the temptation the longest would win a prize.

We knew Q-tip would win easily. She gets nervous in crowds and won't accept strange food from strangers. We walk away with a dog-toy, doggie-treats and the red thing sticking out is a lean-to tent! How odd.

Cool! Latte, Q-tip's new friend has come to join in the festivities too!

"It's not Karate..."

One of my movie faves for 2010 has to be the "The Karate Kid". It's a remake of an old movie, similar in premise and formula, but done with less tongue-in-cheek and more thoughtfulness. The whole movie considers cross-cultural relations, how embracing difference and change is a real advantage, and how territorialism has no place in these times when borders and ideas are shared so easily around the world.

The conflict, and often the humour of this production are in the interactions of the diverse characters struggling for their place in a place that no longer has a historical precedent to fall back on. Beijing has become home to Dre Parker, a black American boy who; backed into a corner has to learn Chinese kung fu; his new friend, Mei Ying is Chinese but is training to play Eruopean classical music; while Cheng holds fast to his national pride and chooses to exclude the new foreigner in the neighbourhood.

With Jackie Chan at the helm, the fight sequences are intense, the choreography a joy to watch. There is a flow and a consistency to each punch, each kick, though the pace never lets up. But through Dre's training we see that though martial prowess may be the medium of instruction, what he is really learning is respect, humility and harmony that helps him fit into his new environment. Ultimately, the fights are not about winning or losing but learning to respect one another in the spirit of competition.

Yes, we've all seen this formula before, but somehow this movie treats the formula with an almost absolute belief in it. It's in the contrast between scrapping on the mean city streets and in the philosophical teachings set against the serenity of a Chinese temple on  mountaintop, or along the monumental historical Great Wall -- reminding us that our history is still tremendously important to us and modern life is still tightly intertwined with it.

A lot of credit goes to Jaden Smith for the respect he gives to his role, and for rising to the challenge in creating a character which we can feel for and readily lend our support to. When the whole stadium choruses "jiayou" in support of the injured foreigner against his brutal adversary, that's interesting because the audience is rooting for human values over blind nationalism.

Nice. But I wonder, why do the Americans think they can pick up a skill (even a philosophy) in a matter of weeks, when others have to train a lifetime to reach the same level? I suppose that's just the magic of the movies.

Soccer means that much

Like so many other cable subscribers, I've resisted picking up the World Cup package. I'm no revolutionary taking part in a revolt against greedy, overcharging media content providers. I actually sympathise with our two cable companies who, I give the benefit of the doubt, had themselves been overcharged for the rights to cablecast all those matches 'live' from South Africa. Apparently, someone thinks soccer means that much to our TV watching population. Guess they're wrong.

It's a simple matter of economics. A typical householder like me wouldn't mind paying a small premium like we did at the last World Cup, but to pay $94.16 for this current package means that we will have to watch every single match in order to make our every sheckle count. Even at the early-bird price (which has been likened to the cost of a cup of coffee per 'live' game), I have no desire to drink that much coffee nor do I feel the need to watch every game. Especially not when free-to-air TV is broadcasting just the big matches which I am more likely to watch. Hey, I do so have a life.

Anyway, we have already accomplished our Goal 2010. Mr Mah just got the sport wrong.

No place for old men

Two days in a row, and I can't find a decent place to bowl. My usuals have had their lanes booked out by schools which have somehow cottoned on to the idea that bowling is a great activity to introduce their kids to. Considering the miserable weather, I'm not surprised they're bringing their kids indoors. But it's deep into the summer hols; why can't they just leave their kids alone and not organize them so much?

I did, however, scrape a lane from Orchid Bowl. No little kids bringing the roof down with their din, no little kids swinging from the chandeliers, no little kids at all. Bliss. But Orchid Bowl is showing its age. Clunky bowler input interface; basic overhead score display sans exciter graphics; bumpy potentially ball-damaging retrieval system. Everything looks and feels in need of updating, nothing to bring the little kids running here. Maybe I've found the right place to bowl after all.

Saw some national team players training here too. The lanes are slightly longer so they're good for training accuracy; the pins are slightly heavier and don't bounce around much, so it's more challenging to bowl strikes. That's what makes this place a good training ground.

Scored 159 for a four game average. Out of practice. : P

Calories out, calories in

Faith is leaving the house while the sky is overcast and drizzly, while pointing the car in the direction of the beach. PT, John, has been persuading me to get off the treadmill and try the exercise bike or something else for a change, so I decided to get on a real bike and work my cardio on the ECP instead.

I like the treadmill at Cali 'cos it faces three large TV screens. When I tread, my attention is on the programmes. My mind blanks out and though my body's huffing and sweating I can keep right on going, no problem. But with the exercise bike, I have to keep watching the meter and maintain 90 RPMs while simultaneously watching the clock and the calorie-burn readout. Do you have any idea how stressful that is? No, thanks. I'm sticking to my treadmill, so there.

ECP rewarded my faith with dry weather. It was cloudy and breezy, very little sun but no rain. Perfect for biking, lousy for a tan. Have to remember not to rent bikes from the rental outlet at the McD's block, at least until they update their stock. Actually, I wouldn't be so miffed if I hadn't been so effortlessly overtaken by an expat couple while I was pedalling like mad on mine.

Phase II was bowling. What is it about today? The lanes have been overrun with schoolchildren, leaving me with nothing. Gave up looking for lanes and had lunch instead, hence the pix above.

Rack of lamb, so tender. Poke the meat with a fork and bloody juices flow. Release the fork and the meat absorbs everything it leaked out before. I've never seen anything like that. I could have done without the breaded outer layer, but I really enjoyed this set lunch. Beaulieu house, Sembawang Park. At $35 for the set, it was pricier than I remember. But it was a fair price to pay for this kind of quality.

No eat, no work

Not eating before a workout burns more fat, says this Belgian study. Maybe so, but my personal experience says if you want to spend your time collapsed on the fitness centre floor than actually exercising, then go ahead and not eat. Wonder how much fat that kind of inactivity burns?

The great cover-up

The staff room is beginning to look like a refugee centre. Most of our workstations are under shrouds made from plastic garbage bags, and a tent-city now occupies what used to be the English Dept. Occasionally, a camel-train passes by, bearing trade goods to History and beyond.

This is what happens when there are more staff than room. With the new arrivals facing the prospect of sitting two to a desk, it was finally decided that it was time for expansion. So tomorrow, the far wall is due for demolition and that will open a new space for us in what was once tutorial room 03-26.

And tent-city will protect most of our stuff from construction dust and toxic fallout while the contractors do their thing. Great excuse to stay home over the next couple of weeks! :D

The places you'll go in a Polo

Rode Amy's new Polo to the PUS where we heard the PM speak in his usual measured, careful, practical, matter-of-fact manner. His basic message was, as always, there will be storms ahead but we'll weather them as long as we work together regardless of who we are or where we hail from. It's kinda' sad he has to keep harping on this theme because it shows we, as a people, are still not quite there yet.

You can tell from the myriad questions he fielded that people were still drawing lines of division rather than envisioning synergies between us. Our young people are more interested in asking their questions (sometimes I'm not even sure they're their questions) and going back to their seats than listening to the responses for an opportunity to dialogue.

But we were hungry and couldn't engage in dialogue anyway. There was a great lunch deal at Grill-out, Sunset Way. 2 set lunches for the price of $23. There were five of us, Amy, B-lo, HP, Josh and me, an odd number, but they gave us all the special price anyway. I was very happy with my beef short ribs. Not overcooked, very juicy with the meat cleaving neatly off the bone. I especially enjoyed the slightly chewy texture with the pleasant beefy flavour going around my mouth. Some days, I am a total carnivore.

Dessert at The Daily Scoop. My fave flavour combo: Simply Chocolate and Honey Vanilla. How conventional. But the more exotic flavours have the consistency of sorbet. Hmph. I like my ice-cream the traditional way.

Was looking forward to riding the new Polo. My first impressions are that it is a safe, reliable vehicle. Its 1.4l engine makes it economical to run, and it has the VW quality stamped firmly on it. The chrome trim on the dashboard panels give it a slightly retro appearance. I love the display panel with its combination analog speedometer and RPM meter and digital time/temperature/fuel readouts in large fonts -- lots of useful info at a glance. Looks like a fun car to drive, but in terms of its personality, I have yet to identify it as an Amy car. Think they'll need time to grow into each other.

Don't fight the dog

I must be showing my age. My views are with the establishment over the Gaza flotilla incident, and even over the recent insanity in BKK. In both events it was a contest of civilians versus the military. Yes, sure, everyone roots for the underdog, those poor unarmed civvies collectively shaking their ineffectual fists at the tyrannical military machine. So brave, so bold, so noble to stand up for "what's right" against such odds. The same kind of courage as someone who pulls down their pants to moon a snarling doberman.

I was more upset that Central World in BKK got torched than about the protester casualties at the hands of the soldiery. To me, the protesters were spoiled children, destroying their own toys in a tantrum when they couldn't get their way. And now with everybody calling in to condemn the "disproportionate" response of the Israeli commandos' storming the humanitarian aid flotilla, I think everybody's overreacting.

If you have a problem with someone, the stupidest thing to do is to challenge his dog. The dog isn't there to be reasoned with, the dog is there to follow orders, to guard and woe betide anyone who crosses the line. It's pointless to cry and complain if you get bitten in the a** when you provoked the dog in the first place. So it is with the military. They have the guns and they will use them. End of story.

In BKK, the protesters were threatening the economy, the stability, the infrastructure and up to a point the residents of the centres they were occupying. What did they expect the military to do when it's the job of the military to protect the country against threats? In Gaza, there's a military blockade. Nobody goes in, nobody comes out without being shot at. What? They'll let through a convoy just because it says it's unarmed? Fat chance.

Yes, there are injustices to be righted. But could you guys go to the agency that can help, please? Here's a clue: the military isn't the right agency for this sort of thing. If you get your butt kicked, don't expect any sympathy from me.

Prince of Blendwell

For a movie based on an amalgamation of other popular movies, Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time (PoP) still turns out to be quite a thrill. The main characters are veritable carbon copies of Star Wars (Ep. 4-6); the plot sequencing is basically Back to the Future; and the set is from the Mummy franchise but with fewer ruins.

I've read bad reviews of PoP, so I was a little leery of going to watch it at first. Then I realised the reviewers I'd been reading were players of the PoP game and were finding it difficult to reconcile the linear movie storyline with their previous gaming experience. But because I have never played PoP before, I could enjoy the movie for what it did offer: energetic fight sequences with varied mix of weaponry, silly chases and races, selfless sacrifices, devious betrayals, and the inevitable countdown to prevent the end of the world.

PoP: a decent appetizer for this year's crop of summer blockbusters to come. Erm... they ARE coming, aren't they?

Library calling

Book delivery day. We've been assigned the northbound run, which is great for us. Familiar recipients, everyone knows the drill, which makes today's run relatively painless.

Well, there was this one family that made us wait outside while the kids scrambled around the house looking for the front door key. After a frantic few minutes, Dad -- clad only in his boxers -- emerged from his lair, eyes half-open. He shambled over to unlock the door, muttered some unintelligible pleasantries, then headed straight back from whence he came.

Apart from that little drama horror story, everything else went fine. No navigation problems, no admin snafus. Yay! We're getting the hang of it!

Stand behind the yellow line

Vesak Day public holiday. Bad day to be taking the MRT. Lots of fire trucks and rescue vehicles at the station. "Home Team" personnel milling about looking busy. Southbound train halted mid-track. Jumper. Sigh.

Pasta at Porta

Our mid-year paper is over and that officially commences summer vacation at last! Celebrated at Porta Porta with June and Jojo. Jojo is easy to order for: minestrone, salad and bruschetta. June fell in love with the oriecchiette ("little ears" pasta). I ordered a penne for myself.

In the end, the two girls picked at their food, leaving me to polish off the bruschetta, the "little ears" and my own penne and minestrone. But the food at Porta Porta is so good, I just kept eating until there was nothing left. Only then did I realise how full I was. Oh, wait... why does this story sound so familiar?

Summer is here!

It's been one heck of a slog, but summer is finally here. The time has come to get off the hamster wheel for a bit and slowly gnaw through the next batch of assignments. Maybe I'll take some time to mull over the ideas that came up in my meeting with the Mengs committee -- wonder if we're going to tread on anybody's toes or if people will thank us for what we are about to propose. As always, the content isn't going to matter much, but the packaging and the selling are going to be the hardest part.

But the main things is, after tomorrow, the days are going to stretch out before us again. We'll be busy, but free of the rigid structure of term time.

Just for good measure, we celebrated the arrival of summer with a crab dinner at Melben Seafood (AMK). It wasn't so much the food today, it was the company. Most of us have places to visit and will be flying off in a few days' time. Me, I won't be going anywhere. I aim to get my physical self healthy again, and maybe work on my tan some. Universal Studios? Well, maybe not till they get the BSG ride operating again. Hope we hear some good news about that soon.

Summer. Right. Now, where did I put my shades...?