Memories. The one thing, which could remind us of the past-friends, times you've spent together, your ups and downs and so on. And as the school year 2004 comes to a close, memories are all that's left. And I couldn't have enjoyed better memories of my first 2 years in RI without the bond that I have experienced since the first day of school here. The bond that as a whole calls itself --2E. I couldn't have wished for a better class to spend 2 years with than 2E. 2 short years full of great memories captured into the form of photographs- the catalyst of everlasting memories. From Cal-vin getting lost to Justina Tan's farewell at East Coast, these memories are what that makes 2E 2E. Formed by fate, I couldn't have treasured every second I spent with the 35 of you and all of you will hold a special place in my heart(if I hav one that is). Thanks for 2 years of everything 2E, no point in continuing, it will probably take me a whole week to complete the essay. (Plz mind my language- If you were to find any grammatical/vocabulary error, plz do inform me about it through the tag-board. I'm not reviewing this whole article so it's bound to have a few errors. Thanks)

Fasting month is here. YAY!!! The exams are over and post exam activities are as usual-boring. No news about my phone though, wah can die man. My mum e-mailed a complain letter to the Admin dept because of the laissez-faire attitude shown by the school or should I say the year head for not investigating enough. Last day of school so sad... As I looked at the classroom for the last time, all the memories of tears and joy I had with my class just zoomed past my mind. So sad... Happy that it was the last day of school and can look forward to the long hol break, sad that it was the last time 36 of us would be in the same class. Previous day, we were playing soccer together for the last time that year. I scored a perfect hat-trick (Right foot, header, then left foot). To add to that, I lobbed Khairul, I didn't even think of actually lobbing him, my feet were in control of me. I saw him rush then my feet just flicked the ball over him. Great way to end 2 years of playing soccer with my class. Oh ya and the day before that, I scored a goal which Eng How commented as "world class". I don't know how the hell I came up with it but he said it was damn dunno what lah. It was the first time I played soccer with them since turning 14. Eng How exaggerates sometimes, and I think he was when he commented on the goal. Come to think of it, I was wondering which was my best goal in the 2 years we played together. Which was the best goal that anyone in our class had scored? Maybe I should come out with a poll. I'm not showing off here, but I really want to know what our soccer guys think was the best goal that was scored in the 2 years we played together. One nomination, the own goal(s) from Shanan.
Oh ya then that freaking year head (I don't think I should say her name, could get myself in deep trouble) the so-called interclass soccer, she decided to be creative as usual, decided to add in here and there, there's makan together, then there's other sports included and also a concert. Yea CONCERT. I mean like ?!?!?! CONCERT?!?!?! GAMES?!?!?!?! It all adds up to 2 relax day which is some sort of level activity nowhere near the atmosphere of interclass soccer. Anyway I rate the whole activity a whole crap, I spent like 2 or 3 hours in the Malay room slacking while Syafiq and Taufiq come out with their version of a porn video. Haha.. Much more fun than her lame idea. Then there was the makan, of course I couldn't eat cos it wasn't time to break fast yet. It was similar to the school makan HM organized for the entire school for achieving the School of Excellence award. I managed to store some fruit juice in the pudding containers, took out the pudding then fill it up. The other Muslim guys brought their own bottles. I simply didn't think of it. Then me, Syafiq, Taufiq, Adly and Khairul decided to go off first as Taufiq was taking a taxi and he decided to tompang us along, then drop us off at Paya Lebar MRT. We break fast in the taxi. Man, I was so freaking thirsty, been training in the morning then afternoon got soccer, luckily I was resting in the Malay room cos had I not, I may just burn myself out.

Ya I was celebrating my birthday on Sunday. We went out to Sakura to break fast and we went to the table my father had reserved 4 us then I ordered my food then I saw Her. I saw the most beautiful gal I've ever seen in my life. She was a Eurasian (Malay mom and an ang moh dad. Dunno which race father is, can't tell by colour of skin). She had a doll face, so freaking pretty that for the first time in my life I felt something about someone other from my family members which was described as love at first sight. I went beyond that. I even thought of marrying. Such was her beauty. Even spilled some water while trying to drink. I guess Eurasians look nice. Very pretty. Then reality struck me hard. I fell from Cloud 9 straight down to earth. She's a woman. She's probably 21; I've just turned 14. I was born 7 years late. In a decade, I would probably be looking for my first job; she's probably making tons of children. My heart sank deeper to the core of the earth. That's 1 out of the billions out there gone. Incompatible. Lucky she left first if not I would have jumped off a building for her if I continued looking at her. I think I should leave that as that now. I'm still young, I've got a long way to go, my mom said. Maybe it's true, but for now she's rocketed to the top of my list, and it seems very, very hard for someone else to take that spot now. Puberty. On the same day when Wayne Rooney is celebrating his birthday as well, Man Utd had ended Arsenal's 49 games unbeaten streak. I wonder if the guys who were responsible for making the EPL schedule had purposely made Arsenal's 50th league game since starting the unbeaten run at Old Trafford against their biggest rivals. Co-incidentally, it falls on the same day as the young lad's birthday. Co-incidentally, Rooney scored against Arsenal in that match. And co-incidentally, Wayne Rooney's goal against Arsenal 2 seasons back ended Arsenal's title chase when he was at Everton. Could history repeat itself? Not really sure. United just lost 0-2 to Portsmouth.

Was listening to 98.7 and heard Hillary Duff's new single Fly. I think Hillary rox ah. Then there are also other teenage singers like Jojo and would you believe it, Lindsay Lohan! I think there is really a rivalry between the first and the last, Hillary and Lindsay. Lindsay wanting to sing to keep up with Hillary. I think Lindsay its great, but she may fall into the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. I feel that she has showed signs of wanting to flaunt herself whereas Hillary has remained conservative. Dunno about Jojo, not really a TV celebrity yet.

Got Fifa 2005 for my bdae present from my uncle, pirated version of course lah. Obviously he gave me some money as well, what's a $5 gift for Bdae? I think its damn cool, or probably it was the result of playing too much of Fifa 2004 and getting sooo bored with it. Championship Manager 5 is coming out, Marcus thought that because Eidos and Sports Interactive had split, the CM franchise would be over as well. As a result of the split, we will have another managerial game produced by Sports Interactive, Football Manager, while Eidos will be continuing Championship Manager. I'm sticking with the latter though.


I was recently watching the Man Utd-Sparta Champions League match shown on Ch 5. Ruud bagged four goals that night which was good. A day later I was reading the Straits Times wanting to know the results of all the UCL matches played the past couple of days and found out that Barcelona had beaten former champions AC Milan 2-1 with an 89th minute strike from Ronaldinho. "Gol Magico!" as the Spanish papers had described it and at once I knew it had to be something special as it came from none other than the Brazilian itself. So on Sunday I did not even think of missing the UCL magazine that showed the highlights of the matches played on match day 4 of the UCL. I do not have SCV unfortunately so I had to depend on the magazine (it's a programme) to be able to see how the goals were scored. Despite the fact only 5 minutes out of the 90 minutes played was shown, I was more than satisfied with what I saw. If I had to put it in words, the phrase I could think of which best described the quality of the goal is 'sheer brilliance'. This phrase could only commend about a tenth of the goal though. I don't know that by saying it 10 times it would do justice to the brilliance of Ronaldinho but it all boils down to the fact that no amount of words would be equal to the level of class shown by the man himself. Only 22, yet able to dribble his way past Gattuso and pull off a left foot strike before Alessandro Nesta, undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the world and also the fastest mind in Italy, could block the shot. Even the 6 feet 5 inches Dida was unable to pull of a save when diving at full stretch. Such a goal couldn't have come at a better time, the 88th minute, a better place, the Nou Camp and at a better competition, the UEFA Champions League. This was just one of the wonders of the UCL, where all the best in Europe come together and play the best football ever. 2 weeks ago I recorded the Barcelona AC Milan match played at the San Siro and despite the fact that only an Andriy Shevchenko header separated the 2 sides on match day 3, I watched it over and over again, I was treated to the highest quality football I've ever seen. Even better than the finals between Porto and Monaco last year. 90 minutes seemed like 90 seconds. It just gets better, the Champions League. Funny 2 seasons back, Man Utd were on the verge of signing the genius Ronaldinho, who at 20 then, had rocked the Europe with his former club Paris St-German, and also with a World Cup winning performance at World Cup 2002. United had just sold David Beckham, and were prepared to spend on Ronaldinho, a young lad who Ferguson saw as the perfect replacement for Beckham. A free-kick expert who was able to score from areas where not even Beckham, the so-called best free-kick taker in the world, could score from. Ronaldinho, a person of great charisma on and off the pitch, its great to see him play whether win or lose, he would still come out with a smile or laugh anytime, such was his character. Unlikely to be engrossed with the celebrity world like Beckham did, nor let temper get the better of him ala Totti. Every manager would dream of having a man like him in the squad, a footballer's idol, who else would Ferguson want at Old Trafford? Unfortunately for him, things did not go his way and Ronaldinho left PSG for Barca as the history of Barcelona showed that many Brazilian stars had made their mark at the Nou Camp, and he wanted to do the same, whereas had he left for Old Trafford, he would be the first Brazilian there. Ferguson later splashed out his millions on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and recently Wayne Rooney, both promising teenagers with still a lot to learn. Yes these two have made an impact to Europe as well, both displaying great performances at the Euro 2004, where both were an integral part of their countries' front line. Despite their talent, United have only managed 6th spot on the table, their defence still looking wobbly with Silvestre making costly errors and their midfield, weakened with the trio of Keane, Scholes and Giggs losing their treble-winning touches due to age. This is why youngsters are so important and despite having several other midfielders like Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Fletcher, Fortune and Miller, many still have yet to make their mark and also a huge impact when they are included in the first eleven. I wonder if United's misfortunes would be present had they signed Ronaldinho. Ronaldo did ok in filling up Beckham's boots when he left, but United still lacked firepower, even with Rooney this season. Young Ronaldo is able to fool defenders with his trickery; his skills and hunger to score goals are comparable to that of Ronaldinho's. United may have signed a creative wonderkid in Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro but still have not obtained the genius and magician only present in Ronaldo de Assis Moreira aka Ronaldinho. These 3 youngsters have a lot in common, young talented youngsters with names starting with R. However 2 of them still need to mature before they can become the latter. If I were to state something about myself which is common with anyone of them, I guess I have to say that I have the same birth date as Rooney. :) LOL (Adapted from Rob Hughes' article "Four goals but none better than Ronaldinho's" in the Straits Times on Friday 5th November 04) Hey who knows? I may be working for SPH in times to come...


It only gets longer, my articles. TATA!