Looking back

Tomorrow's gonna be a new year. There's less than 7 hours left before 2005 ends. Looking back, what was new in 2005?

1. Sanna went back to Indonesia and so we engaged Siti.
2. I changed my car.
3. I bought a new laptop.
4. I became a facilitator in RP.
5. I went Hong Kong with just air ticket purchase without accomodation.
6. I watched my first Korean drama Jewels in the Palace and finished it within 2 weeks.
7. I get on-going sales from my MRET customers.
8. I have 4 new students from my tuition, 2 left me after November though.
9. I inherited a Callaway driver.
10. I had a Project SuperStar in the family.
11. I marshalled for Singapore Open in September.
12. I started blogging in September.
13. I went Bangkok but didn't visit Chutuchak.
14. I marshalled for Lexus Cup in December.
15. We got a new toilet that is 4.5 litres with both the half-flush and full-flush features.
16. We got a new 3-in-1 printer that can print, photocopy and scan.
17. I worked with TV on training matters in December.
18. We got a cleaned up pond and 4 new kois.
19. I finished reading 5 books of Harry Potter in December alone.
20. I went to Lucky Star cruise and won one hundred and forty-five dollars.

Time really flies.
Let lessons be learnt, let bygones be bygones.
Let's embrace and cherish what we have, let's remember what we've lost.
Let the experience gained fill our personal banks, let the problems we faced serve as a preparation for future situations.
Let's be merry and be happy, let's usher in the new year with glee.

Good-bye 2005, Hello 2006!

Feng Shui

Lillian Too says that it's best for Boars of 35 years to be "sitting and facing north" in the Lunar Year 2006.

That's the problem with reading stuff superficially without indepth research and wisdom in such things like feng shui.

Now, tell me is there a difference between "sitting and facing north" versus "sitting north, facing north"? If I will be sitting north and facing north, then I'll be facing the wall! Does it have to be just for working environment? Does it apply to the home-office when I'm working at home? What if I apply it on mahjong table, will I gain optimal results? What about playing golf? I may easily hit birdies for holes that I'm facing north! Hey, wait a minute, is it me facing north or my ball facing north? I'll be facing east then! Wonder if it applies to the bacarrat table as well... How about dining position?

This is too much to handle... I'm freaking out...

Allamanda 838

I made 2 pars (*clap clap*) and 5 bogeys (for par 4's and 5's) and blew the rest of the par 3's. -_- See my problem? Consistently inconsistent.

All I want for Christmas is

All I want for Christmas is ... my two front teeth.

No, seriously.

For a change, I've decided to stop making New Year's Resolutions. I'm gonna make a Christmas Wishlist. You see, nearly all my New Year's Resolutions never ever get realised. So I ended up with a guilt and disappointment when I look back the year during Decembers.

A Christmas Wishlist is different. A Wish, carries a certain amount of hope and certain amount of wants to make it happen. It's less stressful, it's more adventurous, less guilt, more happiness and surprises when the wish come true.

So, my Christmas Wishlist goes like this:

* To break 100 (I've played 103 once, and that's my best golf day. But I wanna be consistent - cos' my only consistency in golf is consistantly inconsistent!)

* To buy a new set of clubs (current set of clubs is Mizuno Irons, Trident 3&5 wood, Callaway Driver, and a Ping Putter. All these "prize possession" are an inheritence from Susan, no complaints actually.)

* To be a certified trainer

* To have an excellent feedback from my students (I scored a 4.75 average during the last feedback survey, and that's really a high score!)

* To maintain my weight at 52kg (er...)

* To finish all 6 books from the Harry Porter series - I've completed the first 4 books over the past 3 weeks

* To have a tidy room

* To get more quality sleep and hopefully get rid of my dark-eye rings

That's about all the wishes for now.

ebaY

Should I put my Paula Creamer autographed Lexus-Sponsored TaylorMade white cap on ebaY for sale? hmm....

Concluding round of Lexus Cup

Oh well, International Team won. It was a clear lead since Day 2 with Asia 4: Int'l 8, followed by Day 3 Asia 8 : Int'l 16. Somehow I felt that the International Team lead by Annika Sorenstam has a great team spirit. It was demonstrated when Annika supported her team at every hole after she finished with 2 up against Grace Park on the 17th hole.

Remember I had Paula Creamer's autograph on my cap? Here's the proof for those who are still skeptical...

Now let's switch our focus from the results to the fashion sense of the ladies in Lexus Cup. The official sponsor for their golf attire throughout the 3 days was DivotDivas. An overall white-bedge-brown scheme was chosen for the International Team and the Asian Team took a black-brown mandarin collar scheme.

Introducing the ladies...

First up... our Asian Team Captain, Ms Grace Park is wearing a black mandarin collar top with a cute blue skirt to match. It suits the asians very well. Black goes nicely with asian skin colour. This golf attire comes with the brown and purple in the form of bermudas, skirt, three-quarters and four-quarters (the ones longer than the three-quarters) as shown here with Candie Kung wearing the brown bermudas with black top. You can flip down the collar like Grace Park wore during the Lexus Cup.

And now, for the International Team. Here, you'll see the white-bedge-brown scheme suits the Westerner's skin tone fairly well. The golf attire comes in bermudas, three-quarters and four-quarters. As you can see in Paula Creamer's attire, she's spotted with the white-bedge bermudas combination, while Annika Sorenstam's attire comes with the cream top with three-quarter brown pants. I reckon you need to be tall to look good in the three-quarters and the four-quarters. Otherwise, the bermudas or the skirt will be a safer choice.

My conclusion: Style is as important as the game itself.

Up close and personal - Lexus Cup Day 1

It's finally here! The Lexus Cup 2005 Day 1 just ended 15 hours ago (too tired to blog until now) with the International Team up by 2 against the Asia Team. Read the updates here.

It was an exhilarating day for me, being a volunteering marshal for this event. =)

It was 11:15am when we (volunteers) got ready after eating breakfast from the resting tent. We went to the practice green, that's where I saw Hee-Won Han and Paula Creamer practising some beautiful putts on the green. The crowd was huge, considering it was a Friday (working day). Many were ladies from all nationality, and 30% were men (and we all know why the men were there... to criticise the ladies swing, fashion, etc... whatever that could bring out their oversized ego - sorry guys!).

The crowd swamped over the the 1st Tee box a few minutes later, cos' all knew that the official tee off time was 11:30am. I caught a glimpse of Paula Creamer heading towards the changing room. There were 2 little kids trying to get an autograph from her. And I thought, golden opportunity! Swiftly, I took off my Lexus-sponsored white cap and followed next in line, thinking I wanted Annika's autograph, but beggars are not choosers, and hey, I'm actually gonna get the world's LPGA No.2's autograph and so why am I bias and complaining?! =P While all these thoughts were running through my mind, I met face-to-face with Paula Creamer herself! She smiled at me, I said "Hi Paula!" and she replied "Hello" in her sweet pinkish voice and took my cap as-a-matter-factly signing her name nice and neat across my cap using her own marker! My face beamed as I thanked her and wished her an enjoyable game. Thank you, was her sweet pinkish reply.

By that time, I was walking down to the 1st Tee box with my head up (actually head down, so that everyone could see my cap) and waving my hand to people I know and pointing to my cap. The wah-and-woos and how-did-you-get-that and real-or-not-did-you-sign-it-yourself was the response I get after that... =)

The event official announced the teeing off of the 1st match - Han/Kung vs Koch/Moodie. I was tip-toeing and stretching my neck as much as possible to get hold of a clear view of the players. The 2 players teed off and the crowd dispersed - some went back to the practice green where Grace Park was there, some followed the 1st match and walked along the buggy track. As for us marshals, we headed straight to Hole 4 where we were supposed to take our positions as marshals for that hole.

Nothing much's happening at Hole 4 yet cos' the 1st match's players would arrive probably 30 minutes later. Kat took the position near the edge of the green, Jessie and I took the positions near the buggy track. I met 2 new friends - TH and William from SICC. They were marshaling for Hole 5's tee box. This was their virgin event (okay lah, debut event) to volunteer as marshals. We talked casually to kill time.

Then finally, I saw James' hand signal that the 1st match's players were coming. So, we put on our best professional look and got ready. Both balls landed nice and soft at the green. I wanted to clap but was told not to cos' as marshals, we're not supposed to show favourism, if any. Not much work's needed for the 1st match. The players went on to Hole 5, and we waited for the next anticipated Match - Grace Park/Rosales vs Gustafson/Pettersen. After about 10 minutes later, Match 2 finally came. Jennifer Rosales' ball landed nicely on the fairway but behind the International Team. So, Grace Park took her position for the next stroke. Jessie mouthed G-r-a-c-e P-a-r-k to me and I nodded. All eyes were on Grace when she swang. To my disbelief, Grace's ball came straight to my direction. I took two quick steps backward. While I was thinking - couldn't be Grace's ball coming to my direction?! - that's when her ball flew past my head and landed with a loud THUD just 2 meters away from me! My tongue was out as I stared at Jessie, and apparently we mirrored each other cos' that was her same expression. Few minutes later when the ladies finally arrived at the green, Jennifer Rosales took her pitching wedge to address her stance. The crowd gathered closely behind the rope. TH and William also came over to assist the crowd control. I was very sure that my face would be caught on live camera for that very few minutes when Rosales was addressing her stance! Our QUIET PLEASE signs shot up into the air, and Rosales hit a nice shot bringing the ball closer to the pin. Then, Grace Park had to finish the game but it was another let-down. Her putting wasn't that good too. Overall, her form wasn't there in Day 1, I concluded.

Then came the famous duo after match 3, was Annika Sorenstam/Paula Creamer vs Jang/Lee at Match 4. I saw a swamp of crowd gathering at the cross-over. James, Keith, Jimmy and Andrew were controlling the crowd. The duo were actualy 2 down then, I heard, managed to par this hole while gaining some bandwidth for the remaining holes. The crowd swamped over the green, covering the entire perimeter of it. Some kids giggled and celebrated their little triumph of getting the closest view at the green. The teams par-ed and it's ALL SQUARE for this hole. It's unbelievable to see both Annika and Paula so chatty at the course, and talking and laughing away with each other like old times friends, after so much had been said in the press about them being arch rivalry in the golf arena. I guess all these are part of the showmanship and entertainment value. The ladies walked past me briskly. It was definitely up-close-and-personal with just an arm-length distance. My god! Annika's really aged and the lines were displayed all over her face. Well, she looked tall and slim to me real-life, unlike the stout figure that I perceived on my dynamic-wide TV screen.

I thought that was as close as I could get with Annika Sorenstam... until the incident at Hole 13. You see, we were supposed to double up for Hole 13 once the six matches had gone past us at Hole 4. So it was about 1 or 2pm (we didn't have time to look at the watch), we went on the Hole 13 after our quick 15-minute lunch break at the half-way house. The 1st match passed... the 2nd match passed.. the 3rd match passed.. Then came the 4th match! Hole 13 was a long Par-4. Anyone could tell that this was the match of the famous duo again from the size of the swamp. Diligently, we marshals did our part to control crowd. The teams putted their last putt, and then something happened...

...

...

...

Annika Sorenstam went MISSING!

...

...

...

While the crowd followed the players and media crew and marshals to the next Tee box, I could see from the corner of my eye that Annika took a detour to the half-way house's toilet! What the -- ? No one spotted her except ME! Naturally, I escorted her to the ladies and waited for her to come out of it. (Speculations from my marshal kakis later - did I follow her to the loo? did I flush her toilet bowl? did I get her autograph while she was reliefing herself? .... hahahahaha.....) We sprinted from the half-way house to Hole 14's Tee box. I was trying my best to control the crowd out of her way and also trying my best to look my best in case I'm caught on camera... but dun have leh... -_- All that happened in a split second and the rest of the marshals were like envying with awe, "we waited and we thought where she could have been"... "you mean you escorted her to the loo?"... and the speculations went on and on... =)

I was thinking to myself... Tomorrow's Headline:

"A volunteer marshal, took her initiative to escort Ms Annika Sorenstam to the ladies at the half-way house, whilst everyone was wondering why Sorenstam was MIA at Hole 14's Tee box during the Lexus Cup!"

Well, I flipped the papers this morning, it didn't mentioned.

We enjoyed the remaining of the game at Hole 17 (Par-3) after our shift was over, just in time to witness an excellent tee off from Paula Creamer and a cool 2-meterish birdie putt to win from Annika Sorenstam. The International Team won 2 up against the Asia Team.

Wicked... argh, English!

What's the difference between FAT HOPE and SLIM CHANCE? -_-

Marshal briefing

Went for the Marshal Briefing this morning for the Lexus Cup next Friday. Free breakfast, free lunch, free tour on the course, free marshal kit (over-sized Lexus sponsored Adidas blue polo shirt, *damn*, two types of sunblock, Lexus sponsored cap and of course, our marshal tag). The polo shirt is dark-blue, yet the event master told us to wear dark pants to match. Siao! So hot, dark blue and dark pants doesn't match at all! Dun care - Jess and I have decided that we're gonna wear our cream coloured three-quarter pants on that day.

The line up is gonna be: Annika Sorenstam (Captain), Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, etc... from the International Team, and Grace Park (Captain), Han Hee Won, Birdie Kim, Jang Jeong, Meena Lee, etc... from the Asia Team. I personally think that it may jolly well be KOREA vs ANNIKA! hahahhaa.... The event master told us not to show favourism over the Asia Team on the actual day. Well, I dunno about the rest, but I'm just supporting Annika. I got a feeling that everyone is thinking the same - supporting Asia Team officially, but deep inside still supporting their favourite player secretly.

The hospitality volunteers got a nicer polo shirt! Ladies cutting, white colour with orange or maroon lines down the sides and all. We 'complained' to Andrew that for future events like this, check out the shirt design first before putting our names into the marshal or other position columns! I think he 'buay tahan'...

Anyway, we'll still be getting our free game on the 16 Dec, which is the main reason most people wanted to volunteer in the first place. Played that course before a few years ago - TMCC, Tampines Course.

cheerios~

Last day for December...

Yay! Last day of the 1st half of the semester... I had 15 students turned up today. Quite a good response (which is bad :p) considering that this is the last day before the december break. The rest had been ponning since last week... It was an enjoyable day, many laughters, many pariticipation. Well, will be only seeing them next year.

Today's module meeting was crazy (as in not serious). I guess Pearl's last day made the difference. The funny thing is our MC and PC were arguing about who to mark which UT question. And also, that we didn't go through Problem 10 cos' MC hasn't crafted it yet. No review of Problem 10. So... our PC said we could 'come back' during the holidays to review the problem. *siao* Matt and I stared at each other... then we came to the conclusion... Ya'know the lightning scar on Harry Potter's head? Our foreheads have the dollar sign ($) instead! hahahahha..... (we dun mind if they pay us $50 for that hour).

Am watching golf live on Super Sports now, and at the same time, toggling to channel 5 to watch The Biggest Loser. My contention about the success rate of people losing weight is that you need to be over 200 pounds at least to be able to loose weight. So, both Cindy and I don't qualify. =)

Warren 755 game

Haiz. Today, my golf game is KNS. As usual, I'm pretty consistent in my inconsistency. Certain tee shots were good, some were really bad... almost criminal. I lost 5 freaking balls in the water. Cailan says it's called "tok nam" in thai, meaning into the water. Guess what's it's called when it's in the bunker? "tok sai" (no kidding, sai = sand). I remember I had a from one "tok sai" to another "tok sai"... (translation: from one bunker to another). Overall, I only managed 2 bogeys, many doubles, the rest were... *bleh* I came home first, susan played another 9 with her warren kakis. She sms-ed me a while ago that she broke her driver!! I dunno how she played... -_-

Yvonne has given birth the her second one. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/yvonneliyu/album?.dir=f5a5