What I'd really love to be doing right now is to play soccer again.

It's got nothing to do with the recent Lions defence of the ASEAN CHAMPIONSHIP coz if you remember, I did try to do something like this unsuccessfully last year too.

My mistake was to commit myself to playing for a competitive amateur team. Wasn't surprised that I got kicked out coz being in the retail industry back then and even now, time is a luxury I can't afford.

So I won't be too ambitious this time. Just looking forward for a kickabout once or twice a week, on Tuesdays mostly when I'm on halfday and when MLB has evening classes. Doesn't matter if it's street soccer, basketball court soccer or field soccer as long as I get to kick a ball with a bunch of guys.

I'm mentally rushing this thing coz my back and knees are getting more and more creaky the older I get and it is obvious that the longer I wait, the lesser my own chances are to actually get to do this.

Problem is though, besides some kids who sometimes play at the nearby multipurpose hall, no other male adult in my neighbourhood seems to give a bleep about soccer.

No one wants to play with meeeee!

It's apparent coz if I remember right, my SISTER and I were the only ones in this area who screamed our heads off when we witnessed Khairul score the Cup-clinching goal for the Lions against Thailand on TV a few weeks ago.

I came across some guys called the Bugis Beatles on the Net who sometimes play at an open field near my workplace. I thought these were the same guys MLB told me she saw playing over there too but after some checks, I don't think they're the same fellas.

Bugis Beatles have shifted to Bukit Merah Secondary School and they play on Sundays mostly. I can't do Sundays due to work.

Next best thing for me to do is to find out who the guys MLB saw playing on that open field and to ask them if I could join in the fun. Don't know when that'd be.

Meantime, if you happen to know any bunch of guys who play soccer around Braddell, Toa Payoh, Bugis or City Hall, do let me know.

With regards to my proposal of a new remuneration package, my boss and I have discussed and it looks like he's settling for NONE of the options I laid out.

He counter-proposed with two ultimatums: Either take over the shop 100% or be reduced to just an ordinary worker. No mid ground.

I have discussed this with my Chief Everything Officer that is my little bird and we've decided that even if we could raise the money to take over the shop, we wouldn't.

This shop was only meant to be a transition for me. My time here was only meant to achieve two objectives. To learn the ropes of running an actual retail operation as well as to make money.

At the end of our lease, I was just gonna take my experience and money and run. There are so many other ways my CEO and I can come up with to invest THAT kinda money on and deal in something that we actually have a true passion for.

I admire the guy but he can be sneaky. Thinks I'm some kinda stupid, uneducated fool or something.

So as it is, it looks like I'm gonna reduce myself to just being an ordinary worker until our lease ends while at the same time keeping one eye out for other opportunities. Definitely won't be tying my future any further than end November with this organization.

The most bizzare thing happened last night.

We were all asleep. It was 3am, so obviously... .

Then suddenly I heard a ruckus outside. It seemed that my immediate neighbour, this Malay guy who lives in the apartment next to mine with his wife and kids was cursing and swearing non-stop. He was drunk as a skunk.

I am sure it was the beer talking but he also "invited" me out to fight him.

Who me?

Yup. Me.

How did I become the butt of his anger? He was cursing my mother, my father, if I had a cat, he was cursing my cat too, my laptop, everything. He was like, "You're so tough right!? Come on out lah! Come on! No need to put on your shirt, I'm ready. I'll teach you!"

It appears (from the things he said) that he has been holding a grudge against me for asking him one night to stop knocking nails into the wall coz we needed to sleep.

If I remember correctly, I was polite. I apologized before asking, I said please and I said thank you. It was two in the morning on the first day of the last Eid ul Fitri but still, it was two in the morning. He should have more common sense.

Apparently, he couldn't accept me approaching him like that. I heard him tell the cops that he's been in the area since 69 and I've only been around for a few years and I shouldn't be telling him what to do.

And now he wants to kill me.

Kewl.

I don't set out to be rude to other people but sometimes people are just asking for it. And in my book, if thou ask for it, thou shalt get it.

Below is a reconstructed conversation between me and a customer whom I shall call "Idiot".

Idiot: Can I have one of this fan?

Goat Almighty: Sure.

I: Is this working?

GA: *stares at the idiot* Why would I be selling things that aren't working?

I: *squeaks* Ok.

I: Does it come with a warranty?

GA: Yup. Seven days. IF it doesn't work or dies on you, just bring it back. I'll give you a new one.

I: ONLY seven days!? *look of utter disbelief like as though he just found out his daughter is illegitimately-pregnant with Mr Bean's kid*

GA: It's only four dollars. What do you expect, a lifetime warranty? Get lost.


Like I said, I didn't wanna be rude but some people are just simply unbelievable. They don't deserve it.

Here's the full entry on my Bangkok trip with my little bird.

I'm just gonna post photos on my whole four days of no work during the Chinese New Year period.

View from the top

We stayed at Holiday Inn Bangkok in Chit Lom

This was out first stop: Suan Lum

We took the big ferris wheel over there. It was my first time.

The people there are so spiritual. Many times a day I'd see people taking a few seconds to offer blessings whenever they come across a Buddhist shrine.

Cats there are fluffy

While the dogs are lazy. We saw this lazy fuzz butt at the MRT station in Ma Bu Kong

MLB loves the mango salad which actually has soft shell crab in the ingredient. Urgh.

They celebrate Chinese New Year too. This one's at The Amarin right across our hotel. I haven't seen a proper long dragon since I was living in Ang Mo Kio yeeeears back when I was still a toddler.

We went bowling on the fourth day of CNY. Here's Mr Bola showing his stuff in all his gusto.

EeEEEYah!

Strikestrikestrikestrikestrikestrike

Go Heidiiiiiii!!!

Huuuuarghk!

This one's going in (to the side) heh heh heh

Everybody clear out. Let the expert show you how it's done.

Pscyho is getting focused

Ok let's roll!

And it's aaaaa SteeeeeeeRIKE!

Just came back from a short weekend trip in Bangkok with MLB. Took photos but will wait till she sends them to me before I post them up.

So what happened was we went to a couple of places on the first night we touched down.

It was unbelievable. We actually managed to get two original Adidas soccer jerseys from a sportshop in Si Lom for only b588 ($28)! I didn't bring much but MLB kept persuading me to get them since we could never get this good a deal in Singers... so I did. Couldn't be happier.

After that we scooted over to Suan Lum night market where we shopped somemore. MLB got a few pretty fashion accessories while I got myself a really comfortable pair of sandals made from straw that I could use at home for only b80! Cheapness! That's less than 4 Singdollars!

We were so pooped out after that adventure.

Us being Leos, we planned everything beforehand. Very anal. Our plan was revolved centrally around SHOPPING.

The next day we attacked Chatchuchak.

I thought the people there were all very rude. Rude rude rude rude rude. Rude.

Ok so we were at this shop when I saw a couple of bermudas and cargo pants that I wanted to try on so I asked the guy to give me them for size 32. And then he was like "No no no, you size 35". I said "Dude, cannot be. I'm size 32".

Dude: No, you 35.

Me: 32.

Dude: I measure (then he slipped a measuring tape around my waist, with me still protesting). See! You 35!

Me: *Gasp* Grumble grumble. Ok gimme 35 then.

Dude: You 35. 35. See? You 35. I just see I know.

Me: Ok shut up.

Dude: You 35.

Me: Shut up. Just gimme the thing. Harrrumph. Idiot.

Got a couple of good deals here too. Cargo pants were supposed to be b650 and the bermudas b350 but we got them for b740 total. Less than $30. Woo. The same stuff in Singers would easily be twice the price. I was a happy camper.

Then as were walking, browsing around, we came by this shop that sold shirts so I just went over to check it out flicking at the shirts on the rack. Suddenly this guy came from behind and said, "You XL, you XL" and proceeded to pick out a couple of shirts in that size for me to look.

I was like, "I never!" So rude. Am I THAT fat? I decided not to continue anymore and walked away in a huff. Humph!

Then we were at this other shop that sold polo tees. MLB helped pick out one in size L which was nice but when I tried it on, it was quite tight I could see my tummy portruding out but MLB asked how much it was anyway and the guy said b230.

Fine. So let's TRY size XL instead. "How much it this?" MLB asked again. "b250", the guy said. What 20 more bahts for what? The excess material? Ack. I'm fat. And I have to pay 20 more baht for that as a penalty. So I didn't.

MLB actually came up with a list of places with Halal food before we went over. Let us know if you want that list. We'll be more than happy to oblige.

After that, we went over to this place opposite our hotel for a pedicure. It was my first pedicure experience. Cool. The girl doing my feet cut me a couple of times but it was ok. I'm a strong little boy. I just couldn't stand her scrubbing my feet though coz it was so dang ticklish, but now I've got pretty fit. Yay!

We went back to rest and went out again in the evening just to check Ma Bu Kong out. It's a cool place. Lotsa good shopping but we were late and the shops were already closing so we planned to go again the next day before we had to go to the airport.

Which we did.

It was great shopping. Just like Chatchuchak. But airconditioned. More or less the same prices too. Got myself two more original soccer jerseys, Olympique Marseille and Boca Juniors from a factory outlet for only b360 both. That's about $15 only.

Also got myself a pair of really nice red and orange board shorts for b300. I really love it. I'm wearing it now.

The thing about Bangkok is that it's not much different from Singapore. It's modern and everything. Quite unlike what I expected it to be. The racial mix is also more or less the same.

The people are more laid back. No rush. MLB and I could sense other Singaporeans in the crowd easily. We were playing this "Spot the Singaporean" game between us and we spotted quite a lot. It was embarassing.

From what I've seen, the people there are also very enterprising and they really put in an effort in the things that they do. They have pride. Much respect for that. I mean we have many small shops selling the exact same thing every few steps and yet they still dare to continue what they're doing.

One thing I may never try again is of course to take the tuk tuk. It was scary experience for me. These little things rule the roads. The drivers rev up their engines all the time and they're really reckless. I'm sure they know what they're doing but that doesn't stop me from scaring the crap out of myself on the first night going to Suan Lum. Yikes.

And also, both MLB and I agree that almost everyone here is pretty and gorgeous, even the guys. They're just folks you see on the street but they really look good.

That's why I am not surprised people there keep mistaking me for a local. *smirk*

When it was time to leave, we were kinda dragging our feet. We didn't really wanna go. This is so abrupt and sudden. We haven't got enough of Bangkok and this definitely won't be our last trip there.

I'd like to wish every Chinese folk from every Chinatown in every country of the world a very Happy Chinese New Year.

And to commemmorate this joyous occasion, I have composed a very special poem from me to all of you, straight from the heart.

Ahem.

New year brings a lot of hope
Long as you stay away from dope
This may be the year of the pig
But do try not to over eat
To last year we say bye bye
To this guy hong bao yi ker lai*


Thank you thank you. I should probably not consider being a poet for my next career move. Heh.

My little bird, o' little bird o' mine and I will be away for the long weekend trying to improve the GDP of one of the neighbouring countries.

See ya when I see ya.


*Bring one red packet over

Had a meeting with most of the retailers around my shop's area yesterday.

The agenda was how to tackle the problem of poor human traffic flow. That seemed to be the only concern because with a healthy human traffic flow, everything else will fall into place, chief of it being an increase in sales.

I've warned my boss about this before we took up the premise but he refused to listen. In fact, at one point he even wanted to take up a premise at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station! That'd be even more of a suicidal move.

If you haven't heard, the retailers over there recently went on strike and refused to operate for a day in protest of the fact that their landlord hadn't done anything to assist them in creating more public awareness.

Despite everything, I'm glad to announce that among all the retail shops in my area, mine is the only one that is not losing money. My shop is the smallest. So small until there is no space even for me that I have to sit outside the shop. Compared with the other shops, mine is also the one with the most ugly renovation work done. We did a lotta DIY work.

In fact I feel quite smug about it. My shop is actually the most popular in the area and it's got to do with a combination of choice of name which never fails to encourage a few giggles from passersby, the extremely reasonable prices due to the fact that we self-import our own merchandize, our low operating cost, the way we display our products by letting people touch and feel them and of course having a hunky (and of late, chunky, haha) shopkeeper helps too.

I still turned up for the meeting though. Partly to give face to the other retailers and partly because I wanna learn from their points of view of how they propose to go about increasing the amount of human traffic flow to the area. We made it clear among ourselves that we have no intention to protest or anything. It's a peaceful gathering.

The outcome of the meeting wasn't really exciting. Our conclusion is to collectively pressure our landlord to more actively promote the existence of our retail area instead of doing it individually like we have been doing. I'm not hopeful but what the heck. From my experience on the side of the landlord in my past employment, in this country, I know the landlord wouldn't give a rat's ass at all. It's not their problem as long as they get paid the rental every month.

On a personal note, my boss has responded to my proposal of a new remuneration structure. In my proposal, I offered him four options. I call it a remuneration structure because I'm no ordinary worker. My boss is actually my franchisor. I'm the boss of this shop but he's the boss of the organization. That makes him my boss. And that makes me the boss of..... uh, nobody. Haha.

We agreed to conclude the final details of this proposal after Chinese New Year next week. As for me, he could throw a dart at my proposal and I'd be happy with any of the options it falls on because each option I offered is equally beneficial for both of us and definitely much better than my current personal remuneration structure.

All my life I haven't got anyone to celebrate Valentine's Day with.

Funny thing is, now that I do, I do not celebrate it anymore.

Firstly, I am not a Christian. Secondly, even if I am, I feel this day is just too commercialized. Thirdly, everyday should be Valentine's Day when you're in love.

But in a world where hatred rules... where there are people who die not knowing the reason... pawns of politicians... I'd like to wish all who celebrates this day a good one.

May more babies be conceived on this day (and night haha).

One love. One goat.

My mom left for Perth yesterday evening.

She plans to stay there for as long as possible.

My brother went with her but he's only staying for a few days due to work commitments.

*grumble grumble jealous grumble grumble*


PS: MLB got her digicam back. It was in her friend's car.

PS2: Apparently, I was so engrossed with the food that I had no idea that Team SingaPerth and MLB (on behalf of Team Leo since I was so busy with the food) actually contributed to paying for our satay on Saturday as well. Just wanted to state that out. Heh.

Just trying to recall what's been happening of late in my life. Have been on semi auto pilot for a couple of weeks now.

Well I finally managed to get rid of Waffles, my ^%$^^!!! annoying digicam for $120 to some guy on eBay who was getting it for his teenage son. It's a beginners' camera and I felt it was very suitable for the kid. The guy made a good choice in that respect. I didn't. He was very happy about it too. Left me a good rating and some nice words on eBay.

Then there was the new phone my mom got me. I was planning to pay for it myself but my mom sort of insisted to foot the bill so uh, if she insisted, I couldn't have resisted. Heh. During that outing (my siblings and I take turns to date mom out each week), I also got myself two new t-shirts at $5 each which were damn cool. I love them. Was planning to get some new underwear too but didn't see any nice ones. Very picky when it comes to my undergarments.

Talking about t-shirts, my little bird also got me one from her working trip to Vietnam recently. No, it wasn't a 'My little bird when to Vietnam and all she got me was this t-shirt' t-shirt, thanks. It was a really nice gray one with blue trimming and a picture of Che Guevara emblazoned on it. It struck home coz I do see myself as an anti-establishment leftist type of guy. I'm a nerd but I kinda have this occasional shave-against-the-grain radical streak.

Oh yeah, on February third, while MLB was in Vietnam, my family and I also met up to celebrate my sister Leita and her kid Ball Ball's birthdays. Yeap, they are both born on the same date (31st Jan). I joined them up late due to work but we had fun firstly at her home and then at someplace in Yio Chu Kang just chilling out. We also took a picture of all of us with Liana's new Dopod phone and sent it to MLB with the caption 'Having fun without you'. Ha ha. Very annoying.

I delayed sending my 'new remuneration structure' proposal to my boss till yesterday. The timing was better then coz our new shipment just arrived from China early last week and I didn't wanna bother him with it while he was busy processing all the 125 boxes that arrived. It's a serious proposal and I wanted him to get everything else outta the way first and focus on it properly.

MLB and I hung out for a quite a bit last week. On Saturday, against my bank balance, I actually got myself a new pair of sandals by Nike. It was just supposed to be a window-shopping trip but they had only two pairs left of that particular design in light gray and one of them was in my size and, and, and it was going cheap at $28 only from $40.95.

And also, also, we managed to hoodwink the lady at the shop to get MLB the women's model in that design for the same price. It wasn't supposed to be on sale coz they still had a lot of that going on but since we were getting two pairs, the lady just crumbled and submitted to our demands.

Cool beans but sorry, no pics to show us being corny in our couple sandals coz not only have I sold my $^$^#!!! Waffles, MLB had also managed to 'misplace' her own digicam. She was quite devastated when she found out. Couldn't find it anywhere. Hope it magically appears soon.

That same day we also hung out with Suraya, Khai and Yaslam at East Coast wolfing down satay from Haron's. Ok, they were eating. I was wolfing. Khai sorted out the satays between us and he understandingly portioned me the most number of sticks. I like the guy. Very sensible. Heh.

Nice satays they were. I was told they are factory-made but what the heck. They were big. They were thick. They were juicy and tasty and the peanut gravy was worth every single dollar Yaslam paid. Heh heh yeah, it was Yaslam's treat. Thanks dude. He's such a happening guy he is.

Unfortunately satays weren't enough for this goat. I also ordered nasi ayam penyet for both me and Yaslam after that which wasn't very good but I'm sure you're tired of reading about me and my quest for the best nasi ayam penyet on this island. Bistari has a franchise in East Coast Park and even though the coconut rice was ok, nice, the sambal was bleah and the fried chicken salty.

No no no, I'm not done yet. Nahi nahi nahi *wagging fingers* After everyone finished watching Yaslam and I wallop the nasi ayam penyet, we had dessert. Suraya brought apple pie. Yay!

I rudely self-declared two pies for myself and one each for every one of them. It wasn't a democratic thing but no one objected. Surprised maybe, at the rate I was eating, but definitely didn't protest or anything. Cool. I'm a food dictator. A leftist one.

Last Thursday, MLB booked us tickets for Babel at Bugis near her home for Saturday night 11.45pm. I was expecting a movie set in ancient times but nooooo... . Instead it was set in modern times and it was about the intertwining lifes of some folks in various parts of the world in various languages, obviously. They had subtitles so no worries.

It's a very clever movie. The Hispanic team that produced it was clearly making a mockery of American paranoidizm and hypocrisy of everything they supposedly stand for. At least that's how I saw it... or wanted to see it. But hey, it's my brain. You use your own.

So uh... my mom got me a new phone.

Yup. I'm 28 this year. Thanks bye.

Thanks for the Nokia 6070 mom! I love you!

PS: It isn't my birthday till August. Was merely impying how old I am and still needing my mom to uh, intervene when it comes to certain matters, heh.

Land of frowns. We munched their butts 1-1 in Bangkok and won 3-2 on aggregate.

So uh, nice try. We're now even stevens with Thailand at three ASEAN CHAMPIONSHIP wins apiece ever since the tournament started. Thank you, come again.

RrrRrRroAr!!! Dop! I mean-

mmmMmmMEeEOOoWRRRrrROArR!!! Whoopsie Daisy! Heh heh *quivering lips*

Rrr- Oh I give up. *rolleyes x 262781816*

Here are a few things on the newsfront.

I finally sold $%^&$!!! Waffles. Note to self: Dude, optical zoom man, optical zoom. Even my mom's digicam is better than mine. That's the ultimate.

MLB left for Vietnam yesterday for the weekend. Duty calls. No problem. I'm way hotter than any Vietnamese goat ;-)

And yeah, the frog finally left my throat and I managed to lay out my suggestion for a new remuneration structure at work.

I've actually already got a pay raise which I didn't even notice strangely, but the plan wasn't just for me to be a wage-earner in the first place.

Simply put, since this profit-sharing thing is confusing everyone, I'm gonna recommend a wage + commission on revenue structure instead. Exact figures swimming around in my head right now but I'll finalize things by next week.

It all started when he approached me to also take on the responsibility to garner sales from outside the shop. Meaning I'd now be in charge of both indoor and outdoor sales (from the corporate world as well as governmental bodies).

Just to clarify, we're not talking about me walking around with a shirt and tie, carrying a big bag of IT paraphernalia and approaching people at coffeeshops with a sales pitch and all that. We're talking about going about the proper channels and all that.

I see this as an upward move but I had to ask myself, "What's in it for me?" I do this extra work to add sales to the shop that I manage but to be frank I still don't think I am able to hit the $40 000 quota even with revenue from outside the shop factored in. Our January retail sales was only slightly above half of that.

So in a civilized manner, with only a slight hint of 'you better, or else' message I approached him. I said I didn't mind going through all this extra trouble but something has to come back and that we both have to be fair towards each other.

I'm not keen on just taking back home $xxxx forever just because we'd never hit the $40 000 sales quota he imposed on my shop. Our operating cost is not high. He's making money no matter how much the shop makes and I want a slice of that.

In all fairness, my new remuneration package is ideal to both of us since it means I am guaranteed of a few cents for every dollar the shop makes with no ridiculous sales quota to meet.

Nothing is concluded for now. Till next week.

ASEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL FIRST LEG

Singapore 2 Thailand 1

The Internet is being slow this morning. Very frustrating when you're trying to be quick before going to work.

Anyway, Liana and Armando (some Swiss-German guy) decided to join us as well. It's Armando's first time watching a soccer match here and I reckon he, in fact all 55,000 of us got more than we bargained for.

A little trivia on this whole ASEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS thingy. It was formed 12 years ago between all member nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations to take soccer to another level as well to foster better ties between us.

Fast forward 12 years later, it's now been reduced to nothing but an utter farce.

For instance, Brunei, one of the founding members isn't in this year's tournament for reasons unknown even though they've got an extremely rich king. Even The Philippines and Laos, the tournament's traditional whipping boys make a point to take part.

Timor Leste, the newest country in this part of the world isn't in the tournament. Perhaps they couldn't raise the necessary funds. All I know is they cannot use political strife as an excuse since Iraq and Palestine are still playing soccer on the world stage and they've got more on their plate than most countries on Earth.

Politically-speaking, this year's tournament was supposed to commemmorate the anniversary of the formation of ASEAN and we couldn't ask for a worse final match up than between the current one - Singapore versus Thailand.

Why? Because of late the relationship between both our countries has been straining. It all started when last year, their then PM Thaksin Shinawatra sold his telecoms company to our state-owned Temasek Holdings.

The Thai people got paranoid. I don't wanna bore you with the details but let's just say it got so bad that there was a political upheaval in Thailand and the result is now their country is governed by military people. Scary smelly brown stuff.

And last night at the soccer match, it got worse.

From the first whistle to the last the Thai soccer team showed nothing but unsporting behaviour. Wrestling with our players, diving and feigning injury in order to upset our team's rhythm and get our players yellow-carded and that's still not too bad.

Yeah, because like the little girls that they are, no offence to little girls, they suddenly decided not to play in the 83rd minute and walked off the pitch towards their team bench in protest of the penalty call the referee made on a foul on Noh Alam Shah.

I've actually got video footage of this but I think the file's too big or something so I can't post it on here. They simply just refuse to continue play. Disgraceful behaviour from people who hail from the Land of Smiles.

Really unbecoming bringing The Beautiful Game into disrepute like that. I don't know if the referee made a bad call or whatever (not that I would protest) but sometimes decisions don't go our way. It's part of the game's excitement. The Socceroos lost in the last World Cup when Fabio Grosso of Italy dived in the box to earn his team a penalty but you don't see their players storming off the pitch like spoiled brats.

There are rules and regulations for this type of thing. Play did resume after about 15 minutes. Our Mustafic Fahrudin blasted the ball into their net at the spotkick and we held on with the score at 2-1 for about ten more minutes before the match officially ended.

It's not over for Thailand though. I'm sure they would be heavily punished by the AFC if not also by FIFA for their outburst of petulance.

For now, all we need to do is to park a bus in front of our goalpost in the return leg in Bangkok this Sunday.