Hole #2

i may have need to practice at the driving range, but i have found a new pasttime! FORE!!!

i did a beautiful swing (if i may) on this tee, and managed to do par (never mind the rest of the course). it was a great 2.5 hours of going through the 9 holes, with only a sore left palm to think about. and i'm proud to have all my balls by the end of the day, both of them. the only thing missing is that huge prizemoney.

next time, watch out! i shall be the "gloved one"...!

All Blacks win!!!

Now that was a bloody brilliant game! A classic test match of nearly epic proportions :-)




AND! the new haka "Kapa o Pango" just went off!!! If you didn't watch the game, then you missed out on seeing the start of a new tradition. My workmate (who didn't watch the game) asked me a rather valid question - is Kapa o Pango a better haka than Ka Mate? and i had to pause on that one... currently, i'd have to say that i'd rather see the ABs perform Kapa o Pango as i can't get enough of it, but whether or not it's actually "better" as such? i'd have to say that one is as great as the other...

In case you're interested, here's the words and the translation... something new to try and learn ^_^

Kapa o pango kia whakawhenua au i ahau!
Let me become one with the land
Hi aue, hi!
Ko Aotearoa e ngunguru nei!
This is our land that rumbles
Au, au, aue ha!
And it's my time! It's my moment!
Ko Kapa o Pango e ngunguru nei!
This defines us as the All Blacks
Au, au, aue ha!
It's my time! It's my moment!
I ahaha!
Ka tu te ihiihi
Our dominance
Ka tu te wanawana
Our supremacy will triumph
Ki runga ki te rangi e tu iho nei,
tu iho nei, hi!
And will be placed on high
Ponga ra!
Silver fern!
Kapa o Pango, aue hi!
All Blacks!
Ponga ra!
Silver fern!
Kapa o Pango, aue hi, ha!
All Blacks!

End of a holiday

Today, our relatives visiting from M'Sia are going home. It is the end
of their holiday and I feel like it is kind of the end of my holiday,
too. No doubt it was tiring travelling all those Kms up and down the
North Island but it was fun. As usual, there were several dinners as
well. I felt I've gained a few kilos.

I hope they enjoyed NZ. Sure there are not a lot of man-made
attractions but I guess that is not the reason you come to NZ. You
come here for the clean air, the clean green environment with a unique
flora and fauna, and of course the culture as well. Of course it is
not quite dissimilar from M'Sia but with all the asian food stalls and
shops here, the culture is almost evolving into Asian.

It was great fun catching up with rellies. They took a lot of photos
here (4.95 GB worth of 6MP photos to be exact). These two will be
getting married later this year and we wish them good luck and our
congratulations.

Now get back to work!

Prime minister asks cabinet to pay for fine

What the heck is this crap?

First of all I think the Helen Clark herself should be paying the fine. Surely even someone riding in the back seat of the car will notice the car is going over 120 km/h. In this case 170km/h! As a passenger and prime minister, she should have overruled her staff's requests for the driver to speed. That is what any of us will do.

Or perhaps she is an adrenaline junkie....hmm..it makes me think now..

The incident with the plane last april - could it be a setup? Maybe she asked her staff to make the plane door lock fail.

Anyway, the worst thing about the first article above, they were asking for donations "Do you want to contribute? Send donations to the Timaru Police Station, 20 North St."! Hell no!

Sick

Been sick for several days now. Headaches...throat croaking...stuffy nose...

It doesn't help especially that I have visitors from Malaysia. Been taking them around. They seem to be enjoying NZ most of the time. Problem with NZ is - it can be boring. If you are not an adventure person, you cannot enjoy the outdoors in NZ. We did take a ride on a Jet boat though. Gees...it doubled in price.. But I guess it was a good ride and $89 pp is almost worth it.

I'm gonna take a rest....

Sony Showcase last nite

It was a show case normally reserved for Sony's retail partners, one in which they could get a preview of what Sony would be unvieling in the next 2-6 months. To be able to attend, you had to be registered with MySony, and you had to send back your RSVP.

It was a good presentation, they had this little play of sorts (around 15 minutes), which had a hacker sort of feel to it (by hacker I mean, in this instance, illegally obtaining data and transferring it) in which they showed some of the showpieces of the evening ie. The Grand Wega 3LCD-DLP 60" TV *drooool* :-) the quality and depth of detail that the new TVs were capable of displaying were jaw-droppingly good... but to take advantage of the full capabilities of the TVs, you'd need to be playing off of a Blu-ray player *sigh*

And the new cameras!!! Bloody hell!!! Less than a centimetre thick, and about the size of a credit card at 5MP!!! Sunovab1tch!!!

Had all these fancy tidbits to munch on, and the grog flowed freely :-) not a bad night at all :-)

Oh, and the topic of conversation for henson and myself while we waited for the draw to win the 23" LCD TV? :-) Eurocentric - I brought this topic up 'cos in a rather amazing coincidence (or maybe it was the buzz word of the week for when they taped the shows - that's if they were filmed at the same time of course, but I digress)...

The topic came up 'cos 2 shows ("Dharma & Greg" and "2 guys, a girl and a pizza shop") use it... True I'm sure they use the same common words, but this word is fairly uncommon, hence why it caught my attention...

Stress Management

It's been a busy week.

Last week, someone from my work got fired (to put it simply). Officially, they merged 2 roles into 1 or another way of putting it, they've out sourced one role then made 2 employees apply for the one remaining role. Anyway you put it, I still think one person got fired. I say that because there are three people in my team who has been trying to get him fired for ages (months) but this person's team has been trying to support him. However his sales figures still did not meet expectations so the weight had finally shifted over. I feel sorry for this dude. True he is a hyperactive person but I think this is due to his religious beliefs. Being a Christian made him very energetic for life, etc. Since the three who are against him didn't believe in God, they always made fun of him, called him names, etc...find ways to put him down. He never gave up though. Some people called him clueless...I really don't have much opinion on this as it is the company's choice to fire him and it is none of my business to comment on his religion and his individuality. I just hope that the three people who campaigned so much for firing him do not split into 2:1. The 1 being the other person who got the sales role. Because if she doesn't meet expectations, the other 2 will betray and turn their backs against her. It is how they work. Fair enough you say...true..if you don't meet expectations then I guess you will be judged. But the previous person got judged not only for his job performance but for his personality and religion. Good luck to him. And I am going to say to him, God Speed.

Enough about that. Monday was also busy. The usual new issue business. Yesterday I had my stress management course all morning. A colleague took the same course and came out stressed. I can understand. While in the course all the intructor asked of us was to think of stressful situations...thinking about them made some of us stressed. One thing I cannot quite believe though...the instructor mentioned that one of the ways to relieve stress is to have a drink. It does work but I think if you encourage it, it can become a problem. Weird...Writing stressful situations out on paper (or electronically) is another way to deal with it..I guess this blog is useful after all. We'll see how it goes. I hope I learnt something.

I like rugby :-)

If you've ever had the great (mis)fortune to sit with me at a rugby game (whether live or televised), the first thing that you'll notice is that i get rather loud, and as the game goes on, more foul-mouthed as well...

the air was definitely green at my place over the weekend, as the NPC (national provincial championship) kicked of with the first and second divisions, as well as the 3rd test of the Tri-nations (All Blacks vs Australia, in Sydney)... so i had several games to work myself up to fever-pitch before the ABs game (which we won 30-13, but more on that some other time)...

Ever wonder how good you are at picking the score for rugby games? then wonder no more by joining http://www.virtualnpc.co.nz/home.asp and pit your skills against 95,000+ other rugby heads...

So all in all, starting on friday evening, thru to sundary arvo, there was 10 rugby games, and since i've (smartly) subscribed to "The Rugby Channel" on SkyTV, i'm just spoilt for choice, and it often takes a while for me to get around to chores and everything else that the significant other asks me to do...

next weekend there'll be another 5 games, with the NPC Third division starting up, but it's doubtful that they'll show those games live (or at all), but i'll be looking forward to the high-lights :-)

It is not an emergency until someone gets hurt

Another example of how the police system do not work to protect the tax-paying citizens of this country. Five 111 calls?! Two calls is understandable. Perhaps the caller is a prankster. Three...maybe. Four - no way. But Five!

Thsi is not the first time the Police failed to respond to emergencies as we all know. We have the famous Irena Asher who disappeared at Piha because she was sent a taxi instead of a police car. We have that old fella who got beaten up outside a bar. Police did come to this one but never followed up on his investigation. Now this.

A note to all potential 111 callers: Read the new 111 call procedure and you will surely get a response.

111: New Call Procedures

As we all know NZ Police are useless not only in their investigation skills, but also in handling emergencies.

Here we have a new procedure when calling the cops for emergencies...eg. When there is actual crime.

111: 111 Operator. Fire, Ambulance or Police?

Caller: Police Please

[Operator switchers to Police]

Police: Auckland Co-op....ahem...NZ Police Sation, How may I help you?

Caller: Quick! Quick! The petrol station is being robbed. The offender is SPEEDING! and he is wearing a CONTACT LENS!


Source.

Famous

Had a glimpse of NZ Idol while having dinner just now. I remembered a while ago about a conversation I had at work.

It all started with this f*cker at work. He says he hates being famous or rather he doesn't want to be famous. Reasons he gave varied which included the usual privacy from fans and 'stalkers'. He hates another guy who have been making himself famous on tv and the general media scene lately.

I said..."I do not mind being famous." The f*cker goes.."famous? for doing what?" I answered "Famous...anything really. Nothing in particular." I've ask myself then and I ask myself again now. Was this a normal question? If someone says that he does not mind being famous, do you normally ask that question? I personally think you don't. Mayb e you can ask them about the consequences of being famous such as how do you handle fame, time, media, ... etc... But not "for doing what?"

I guess if I knew I was gonna be famous for doing something, I would already have done it. I think there was more to his question. I believe he is envious of other people being famous. Especially those people who are in a similar profession as him. He has the habit of chopping down the tall poppy. If you ever need an example of tall poppy syndrome in NZ - this guys is it. I think he secretly loves being famous but he cannot fully embrace famous because he is not confident with the way he looks especially in front of the camera and TV. He's always got a problem with photos. Even if it is just for an ID card or something internal (in the office) for identification. Fair enough, he looks like a tortoise. I mean you give him a back pack and you'd think he is the Galapagos variety. I don't think he likes his picture being taken. He hides behind audio.

He always thinks he is right. If someone comes asking you questions...he would stick his nose in because he thinks he is the expert...well fair enough he's got some expertise on it but he does not let the person being asked the question to answer it. Kinda like ...hey spot light here please...I'm over here. I do not mind him answering. But it is the rudeness of it that bothers me.

Going back to being famous...I did think about his answer. I guess I wouldn't mind the question but he had this smirk that looks as if he is saying "Well I do not think you can be famous...If I should be the famous one. You must bow down to me."

He is one of those..."If I do not believe in what you believe then you must be wrong..."

An eventful day

Today was a pretty eventful day and in a way relaxing.

It started off this morning with a little cleaning around the house. Nothing much. Just vacuum the carpet here and there. Then went to shop for some groceries/food.

At around 10am I got a text from Shakoo saying that he is on his way to Ray's place. They are going to do some training - Kick boxing endurance training. I never planned to do some training but when I got there Shakoo convinced me to hold the pads for him. Ray was hodling it before hand but Shakoo has the strength of 3 Oxen and the start of training is when he is at his strongest. I didn't witness it part apparently Ray flew across the garage when he was holding the pads.

I didn't know what to expect as I've never held pads in training before and I wasn't sure what to expect being on the receiving end of the blows. Shakoo taught me the steps (1-8). I was quite confused at first but in the end I think I memorised it. So it began. In the first and second blow, I nearly hit myself in the face. I wasn't holding strong enough. I managed to get this in control pretty fast though. It was step 4 that pushed me back quite a bit. It is the leg kick and I swear I felt my bones bend upwards even with the 3 inch pads on. After a while I did get this in control as well. Since my body wasn't conditioned for this, I ended up with a bruise under my right forearm that is shaped like Shakoos shin bone (yes this is with padding). There was a funny moment when Shakoo was explaining step 5 to me. This is the knee step. I was joking around and wondering what will happen to him if I remove my arms. As it can cause injury, of course I didn't remove my arm but for some reason, Shakoo lifted his knee and was aiming at the ceiling. He somehow lifted his whole body, flipping backwards and landed on his right ass. It was so funny. I was like...."uhh...I didn't do anything..." I swear it is funnier to see it in action.

After both Ray and Shakoo finished, we had lunch. Yummy Caldereta and Chicken Sopas cooked my Dia's mum (thank you). We also had some Pulboron, and Bola de letse...then we played some Poker 2 ;)

We had fun playing Poker 2. It's been a while since we played. While playing Poker 2, we talked about lots of things (like our cards and who is in them). One that came up is Pandan. Shakoo does not know what Pandan is. We tried to explain to him but he still doesn't know. I researched it and I know this probably would help. Pandan leaves are apparently from the Screwpine tree. I have no idea what this tree is so don't ask. Try searching images.google.com and you'll see what they look like. If you know what Lemon grass looks like, it is not it. (Guys...it was funnier when said face to face...)

Anyway we concluded with more games of Poker 2 and I had to come home. Some friends are visiting and one of them is Nalini Singh (check out her blog). She is back from Japan. Actually, I think she did not believe that I had a huge blister from the train trip the other day that she decided to come and have a look herself.

As I'm writing this, my triceps hurt from the very brief time I held the pads. They are bulging sue to the buld up of lactic acid and man they feel good.

Hey, hey, hey, it's Saturday!

my mother and younger sister saw Monster-in-Law today in the silverscreen. apart from "funny", there were no other relevant comments. noticeably, i didn't go with them... at this point, i'm more inclined to catch Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, and Sin City. Cruise and Spielberg of War of the Worlds fame can wait 'til the dvd release. i still don't have an eta on the last 3 seasons of The X-Files, all of which are still oven-fresh inside their plastic sheaths. ahhh, tv ads are a thing of the past indeed. these days, it's such a rarity that i get to watch tv in real time. having said that, i still have an affinity for mailbox catalogues and movie trailers. as far as the photo is concerned... like my new haircut?

Orange-glazed Marshmallow Layer

7.15am - Early morning ride on West Harbour heading east towards Albany. I prefer warm summer days but crisp winter mornings like these, I can't complain. Better dry than wet I always say. I bet farmers disagree.

This morning was very frosty. There was a fog blanket covering most of Auckland. You can literally see the layer around 50 feet high. When you raise your hand it seems you can almost touch it. As you go along the orange thing in the sky becomes clearer as the glare is absorbed by the thick fog. You can make out the edges of the sun.

Heading further downhill is the upper harbour bridge. The whole area ia engrossed in fog. If it was any darker, it will remind me of dark spooky bridge scenes in horror movies. The ones where they always cross slowly and from the other side comes a faint shadow of a zombie. No zombie this time though.

It was quite cold. I think I may have frost bite on my thighs...but the view was great.