Just a short post cause I just want to pen down some thoughts about Henry leaving Arsenal.

Being an avid Arsenal Fc fan, I cannot help but feel a tinge of sadness when I heard news that our talismanic striker and club captain, Thierry Henry left Arsenal to join Barcelona. For 8 great years, Henry served the club extremely well and statistics about the player speak for themselves. But its not only just about the quantity of goals he scores every season which makes him such a special player. Its also due to his knack of scoring the kind of goals which constantly take your breath away and want to watch replays of it over and over again.

Just search his name on Youtube or any other video sharing websites and you'll see tons of videos showcasing his goals. Someone once said about another Arsenal Legend Dennis Bergkamp that "there are many great goalscorers but few scorer of great goals", implying that Bergkamp was the latter (which incidentally, he was). However it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that Henry, was both, i.e. A great goalscorer of great goals. Few would forget the wonderful flick and volleyed goal against Manchester Utd, or the wonderful solo run & goal against Tottenham Hotspur, or the unbelievably cheeky way he turned Carlo Cuducini to score against Chelsea. I could name many others but it would take too long and frankly one cannot deign to appreciate the true beauty of the goals just by reading words of admiration.

His emergance from a gangly awkward winger from France to a world-class striker has spawned a slew of other players trying to imitate his playing style, all with varying amount of success. How many times have we read or heard rave reviews about young players being compared to Henry. Phrases like "The next Thierry Henry", or "similar to Thierry Henry" appear all too often but it only serves as testament to what a great player he is. The fact is, there will never be another Henry, such is his uniquenes and quality. The way he tore and terrorized defences, the way he graced the soccer pitch, his magnetic close control, the audacious flicks and tricks, the lightning pace and of course the arrogance of a gifted player who knew he was the best made him who he is: A soccer legend in every sense of the word.

The fans know him as a humble person off the pitch, staying out of trouble and being very obliging to autograph seekers. He was a superstar, yet he maintained a low profile and sought only to improve his skills and his game. Opposing fans respected him for the man he is, and feared the man he would become on the pitch. Both opposition fans and players alike acknowledged his skill, his contribution to the footballing world and his craft and genuis left both fans and players in awe.

Thanks Thierry, for all the great timeless moments which helped shaped the club to what it is today. I have no doubt you'll make an impact for Barcelona. However, given the nature of your exit from the club, and that the club you left to join is Arsenal's European rival, I would be lying if I wished you good luck in your future endeavours, especially in your quest for that elusive european title. I will remember what you did, but will not look forward to what you'll do.

Whatever it is, Arsenal will always remember you as King Henry, one of the greatest players of the club.

A fitting tribute video to Thierry during his time at Arsenal. Not made by me, but its very good.
Thierry Henry: A Arsenal Legend

From the midnight hour
Till the break of dawn
She watches from her tower
Even the righteous does some wrong
Ever changing like the sea
She wonders how true a love
Could ever be......

It threatened to rain last night........

The smell of impending rain so refreshing and nostalgic. Magically simple and so pleasant. To me at least. The strong breeze, stronger than usual blowing in my face, but gentle enough to not sting my eyes and the way the trees ruffled in the wind....... relaxing and comforting to this casual observer taking a slow walk alone in the night. Yet somehow, I felt there was something in that scene which was missing. Maybe it was the lack of that special someone whom I could share this scene with. Maybe it was because this tired body of mine needed rest and clouded my enjoyment. Or it could just be that I was thinking about the things I had to do afterwards, the projects and assignments I had to complete. Maybe it was the combination of these 3 factors. Whatever it is, the reality of it all boils down to the fact that we can never be truly free to enjoy the simple things in life. We are caught up with the problems of everyday life, studies and work, conditioned and pressured by all to do something "productive" in every of our waking hour. What happened to the kid in us all? The innocent child knowing nothing but to have as much fun as possible without a care about the future. It is undoubtedly true we all need to study or work in order to have a decent living, that problems are part and parcel of everything.

Just for a minute though, wouldn't it be nice to forget all of it in order to truly appreciate every single thing and person you love?

Anyway I had my "year 1 reunion" class chalet on Monday. Well, not much of a real reunion actually, only around 1/3 of the class turned up. All of my year 1 clique, with the exception of Wan Yi turned up, and fukin' hell, do I miss those arsewipes. All the way from the poon-dehness of Sean Poon to the ULTRA(and I can't stress this enough)-randomness of Khairul. All of them totally just made the chalet a success. It ain't the number of people who turns up, if the food is good or if the chalet itself is nice that makes a chalet successful. What truly matters is if everyone had a good time. That is something which in itself cannot be priced.

And I'm quite sure as hell we all enjoyed the chalet. Of course, I had an added factor which nobody else had that made this chalet all the more enjoyable. Unsurpassed happiness at a mental image captured in my mind. A clue: It has something to do with the preparation of the chalet. Another clue: Ask Darius! ;)

This part is something random: I should have been angry today. In fact, I should have been absolutely fuming. Presented with the facts of the scenario which I encountered, anybody would have been furious. Somehow, I just took it in my stride, like this was the most normal thing in the world. Why? I don't really know myself.

Well I'm off to sleep, soccer tomorrow at nyp as usual, hopefully there'll be a good turnout. I leave you with 2 songs from another one of my favorite bands, Oasis. I used to have a good collection of their songs in my desktop before my dear mum reformatted the computer and I lost it all. That was quite some time ago and having lost the ability to download songs, I had no choice but to live with the few Oasis songs which luckily was in my Mp3 and thus not deleted. Hearing their music again during the chalet courtesy of Darius got me hooked again.

The first song is "Songbird"...... a very short song (clocking in at 2:07), a simple song but still excellent.



The second song is Supersonic. Its much faster paced and the lyrics don't make sense at all but I like it all the same. Well, Enjoy!

"Play to the referee's whistle". That's soccer's golden rule and every soccer player knows that....after all the ref controls the game so it would be wise to follow his decisions. There's no point in arguing with a referee once he has made a decision, he just won't change it no matter what you do, so why bother? Well anyway, I played a game for the Gooners yesterday and the opposition we played with didn't observe that rule. In fact, the game was almost abandoned due to their pig-headedness. I mean, the referee is only one man, there are no linesman to help him out, obviously he's going to miss some fouls and infringements here and there. But if he doesn't spot it then its no point stopping the game just to make a point to him is there? Its not as if he's going to pity you and change his mind. Funny thing was, one player from the opposition got sent off(btw, its the first time I played a game where a red card was shown) because he argued with a referee after HIS TEAM SCORED. Dumbass. Sure, he may have misunderstood what the referee meant when the ref blew to whistle for the goal(thinking the ref disallowed it), but once the ref told him he actually gave them the goal, that arsewipe still wasn't happy about it and argued till he got sent off. Stupidity personified. But I guess its expected from them. After all, those cunts support Chelsea.

For the record, we won 3-1. The Gooners unbeaten streak continues.

Anyway I just got back from work at Labrador Park helping out with Ben and Daniel at a company's family day. The company we work with organizes events such as these for other companies. Its just a one day event and I did something like this for them a few weeks back at the Singapore Science Centre for a different company. The last time was super slack; I was just sitting around watching performances and handing out drinks to the staff redeeming it. This time however, was a completely different story. Initially yes, it was plain sailing and I was put in charge of drinks again. But then the barbecue section needed extra hands and in the end I spent a large part of my afternoon barbecuing food like Chicken wings, satay, otah, stingray and corn with Ben and Daniel. It was freaking hot, the fire from the BBQ warmed the whole place up and even though there was strong sea breeze at one point, it just served to blow hot air into our faces. Tired, dirty and hot(literally and "a-hem" figuratively;D) after the event had ended, we still had to clear up before finally getting the green light to go back. Would I still go and work for them again though? Hell yeah!

Finally, the 2 weeks term break is here, bring much relief to many including myself. For the past 2-3 weeks or so, it has been projects and ICAs so its good to get some time off. Working out, reading (something I haven't been doing), a yr 1 class chalet and a 3 days trip to Malaysia with my poly mates are part of my agenda for these 2 weeks. Erm, yeah, and projects too. But that'll be done without much pressure which would make it so much more enjoyabe to do. And I feel so abnormal writing that last line.

I took a test to see what anime character I was. Apparently I am........















76% Sesshomahru. You keep mostly to yourself and do not like large crowds, preferring 2 or 3 close friends at any one time. You display a tough and cold exterior but beneath that exterior lies a gentle side in you. You have absolute confidence in yourself and your abilities. As a result, you always try to do things alone and seldom ask for help. You are very goal oriented and will try to achieve your goals whatever the means. You live life at your own pace and expects the world to conform to your pace too. You do not display too much affection in love, preferring to do the little things rather than be extravagant to let someone know you care for them.

Hmm.........true to a certain extent I guess.

I think I'm gonna stop here for now. Actually I do have many things I want to write out, but I'm just too tired to write my opinions now. Maybe in the next post. Its time for sleep now.........
But I'll leave you with a cool ballad from one of my favorite power metal bands Hammerfall. The song name is "Always will be". I love their power songs though.

Many times I've been a traveller
I looked for something new
In days of old when nights were cold
I wondered about you........

This week passed by just like that. With several projects to be completed, several written ICAs coming up, its hard to find time for some rest and relaxation. International Business, Retail, Customer Relations, Personal Selling & Negotiations skills and Human Resource projects all to be handed up soon. Done CRM & HR already, my part for IB is done so there's just the other 2 modules' project to complete. Not bad for 3 days work, but it could still be better. Honestly though, I'm thankful my tutor for IB won't be around next week so our presentation will be moved to AFTER the holidays. Not looking forward to retail ICA though. Knowing Brenda Lim, she'll most probably come up with some funny stunt or mark very strictly for that ICA, adding stress on us. Her tutorials are known for her grilling the students who go up to present answers for the tutorials. So no doubt that she'll be very stringent with her marks and grade us down for any little mistake we make.

Anyhow, tomorrow's gonna be another soocer game for me with the Gooners. Its been quite some time since I've played a match. It'll be a good chance for me to destress and let out all of any stress and frustration onto the soccer field.......in a good way of course, by running my socks off and injecting some determination into my game. Hahaha after all I don't play to break legs......right Paul ;)? Oh, and guess where the game is held? At my all-time favourite location, the superbly easily accessible, well facilitated.........FERNVALE! Never thought I would ever go back there to play but life's just like that eh? Luckily all their games are evening 5pm games, imagine if the match being held at that shit location in the morning........Of course for people like Darius the place is very convenient, so bro, do come down and support me man! Well I know you're busy so most probably you can't but you can just send a representative....... maybe, you know, like your dear sis? Hahaha just kidding la......

Or am I?

Lol ok anyway enough crap, I'm just going a bit crazy from doing projects which are just about as engaging as Elton John's ass. Interestingly enough there's going to be a elton john 60 years old birthday bash being shown on I forgot what channel. His music ain't too bad, not my cup of tea but still one can sense the quality in the songs. Beats a hell lot of modern musicians at least. Myself, I prefer what us youngsters call the "oldies".....not just any oldies though, but rock songs with real class. Songs like "Stairway to heaven", "Hotel California", "Sweet Child O' mine" and bands like Scorpion, GNR, Led Zepplin, Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden etc. I don't know why, but I just can't appreciate modern music, where they focus a lot on technology instead of just pure rock. Poon asked me to listen to Linkin Park but wasn't that impressed after hearing one of their latest songs on MTV. I'm not sure whats missing, maybe the energy which drove these musicians are missing nowadays. Modern artistes cater to the majority as thats is going to be what brings in the cash, whereas in the past, artistes made music to what suited them, regardless whether it be well recieved by the mainstream. Thats what defined that era of rock/metal. That's what I love about the genre of music.

And on that note, I'm gonna leave you with another GNR classic....."November Rain". Its a pretty long song, clocking in at 9minutes 12 seconds but hell its nice. This song will appeal to people who prefer the softer sounds of the piano(played by the brilliant Axl) but it hasn't lost its rock appeal. In fact, this song's guitar Solo is ranked no. 6 in the world's top 100 guitar solos of all time. This is really is no surprise especially when you listen to the last part. Nothing less from Slash!

Listen to the lyrics carefully too......its melancholically and poignantly beautiful......Enjoy!


Don't you think that you need somebody
Don't you think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody.....................