[[*Endless Road_______Endless Journey]]*

Friday, July 21, 2006

[[]]

Watched Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Man's Chest on Tuesday night. Like the first, it was funny and pretty enjoyable. Not to mention that the main cast were still present. Probably one of the better movies currently on offer in the big screens at the moment.

Haven't had much sleep the whole week. Was outfield the whole day conducting Stage 1 for 2 SIR. And had to stay back in office to help sort out stuff for the debrief session. Thankfully it's already Friday. Just one more day and it's the weekend. I can just imagine myself knocking out on Friday night till late Saturday morning. No thanks to the AHM training before the debrief though. 7 KM run....oh dear...

Gotta catch some sleep soon. Workload is gonna come real thick and fast in the following months. Sighx...

(P/S: Hey, thanks so much for the movie!! Haha...you know who you are, eh? Maybe it should be my turn to treat you when the third instalment of the movie is released next year. Not too bad to watch a trilogy of movies with the same person. Hehz *sMiLeZ*)

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|12:41 am|

Monday, July 10, 2006

[[Time for the Premier League]]

After an incredible month, the World Cup is finally over.

Can't quite believe how quickly this month had passed. I could still vividly remember the opening match when Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2. And the wonderful goals scored by Phillip Lahm and Torsten Frings.

And I'm glad that in the conclusion of the month-long tournament this morning, Italy emerged victorious aginst France.

Not that I have a special affinity towards the Italians (though I very much prefer pizzas over red wine), but between the two teams, Italy is very much the lesser of the two evils. Don't ask me why, but I just can't really stand the French.

And it would be a most horrid final to remember if the dive by Florent Malouda in the penalty area won France the World Cup. Fortunately, justice prevailed in the end. Though I still can't quite believe the headbutt by Zidane on Materazzi. You really got to see it to believe it. What's more, that really was a full-blooded headbutt that would put WWE wrestlers to shame.

And despite all these, Zidane still managed to win the Golden Ball Award. Scant consolation maybe, but I can't quite think of many instances which deserved him the award. Surely, there are more deserving winners to pick from.

And so it begins, almost two months of football inactivity. Can't wait for the new EPL season to start, though ominously, it looks like Chelsea might just swallow up the title again.

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|10:39 pm|

Thursday, July 06, 2006

[[]]

Just read on the Net about news of mr brown being suspended from his once-a-week column on every Friday's issue of TODAY.

Looks like, once again, speaking up against the government, no matter which way you choose to, seems to backfire.

I've read the article published last week, and have to say that it was a pretty amusing article, to say the least. Though I wasn't too surprised that a press reply from someone in the governemnt would soon appear. Indeed, I was proven right.

No matter whatever criticism (or feedback) you seem to offer, the relevant people up there would almost have a ready-made response. One that seem almost seamless in writing and defending its position.

What I find most baffling about the reply was this: It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government.

Didn't I just read an article not too long ago in The Straits Times that the government was appealing, or rather, encouraging, every single Singaporean to send a picture of their smile in order to welcome the many World Bank and IMF guests that would descend on our little island come September?

Seems really contradicting, isn't it?

In fact, it has "contradiction" written all over it. Of course, I believe that the role of journalists and newspapers are to, first and foremost, present the truth. That was what I was taught during my News Writing module back in poly too. But to do only such would generally undermine a journalist's ability to come up with anything else.

Other than reading bare facts everyday, I believe it's refreshing for most to read an article written either with considerable intelligence or humour that offers a different take on life someone else may have. I am not against conformity, for I know in many aspects of life, it is necessary. But to control every single aspect or opinion someone has smacks of a society not so different from a monarchy. Perhaps even communist.

For sure, our society may not be, or should I say, is not ready for a press as free as perhaps the United States. But will it really hurt to allow a few differing opinions to be published on our newspapers? Our people aren't given an education for nothing. I'm sure the overwhelming majority is able to differentiate what is right or wrong, and to make informed choices.

Afterall, what's the point of reading forums when everyday, all you find are snippets of people writing in to complain about trivial matters, like a train being not on time.

Such a forum is certainly not one to capture either imagination or attention.

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|11:21 pm|

Monday, July 03, 2006

[[Fed up...Sort of...]]

Really kind of fed up with army sometimes.

One moment, you get informed on what's going to happen the next day. Next thing, just when you're exercising your mood to condition yourself for sleep later, orders changed.

What Life Run? Fancy having to report 30 MINUTES earlier for a stupid run? It may seem like half an hour only, but it's really significant, you know.

I mean, not that going for run as an unit is all that bad a thing. But just because the big shots are free for a run doesn't mean everyone else below them is free, right? There's so much preparations we have to do for a stupid COP (don't make me explain what it is cos it sounds a load of bull to me) which, believe it or not, doesn't even concern us, the small fry, and all the thanks we got ain't more time to let us do a good preparation but a reward of running in the bloody morning.

I really hope it rains tomorrow. Argh...

It's pretty sickening sometimes when people up there can't be a little bit more understanding. Anytime I'm free I don't mind a run. The last time I was free, you made me a road marshall. Now I've got so much shit to do, you ask me to go for a run. Am I supposed to be rejoicing about that?

How true it is. That when people had climbed up that high, they fail to realise how much their feet had left ground zero.

Really suck thumb man. 7th September 2007!! C'mon!!

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|10:21 pm|

Sunday, July 02, 2006

[[Bon Voyage to another]]

Quite awhile since I last updated, so I feel kind of obliged to keep my blog alive. If you wonder why there's a lack of entries these days, that's mainly because being a NSF sort of makes your brain functioning the way it should.

Anyway, another poly classmate is flying overseas for further studies. This time, it's Yvonne/Bert/Kaiyin (gosh...she does have many names, come to think of it). Was just back from attending her little farewell party. Really do feel happy for her. It's good for her to experience life overseas for about 2 years, and at the same time, obtain a higher education. I do feel for her boyfriend though. It definitely will be hard for him to be apart from her for such a substantial period of time. But I'm sure that deep down he too will be happy for her to have such an opportunity.

How I hope to be able to go overseas for studies one day too. I'm not sure what my parents would think about that, but surely the main obstacle would be money. Did some checks on the fees of some of the Australian universities, and it surely isn't all that cheap. Not to mention the living expenses and other costs that might be involved.

But for an exchange of a higher education and gaining valuable experiences, it sounds pretty worthwhile. Then again, it's easy to say that when the person paying is not yourself. Oh well...

Perhaps I'll just hope I'll strike a Toto jackpot or something. Haha...whoever said money doesn't solve problems. At least it'll solve MOST problems.

Duty clerk tomorrow. Got to be earlier than usual. Sigh...weekends always seem to come and go by so very quickly. 7th September 2007. Can't wait for this date to come soon enough...

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|10:38 pm|