Thank you* - Dido

Toy Story 3, Ice Kacang Puppy Love, National Champions, tGiF's birthday, Singapore, Penang, Human Rights conference at Bangkok, World Cup, proposal, mom's 70th birthday, iLove Camp, lakeside Campus, Chilean miners, seeing Martina Hingis, Standard Chartered marathon, 24 Season 8, New Delhi, hanging out with students.

These are some of the highlights of 2010 for me. Thank you so much for being part of it. Thank you Lord for everything.

*The biggest hit from her debut album - although this was featured in Sliding Doors' soundtrack before being released as a single.

謝謝你的愛* - 李心潔

We were traveling back to her hometown and i asked her to put in my 李心潔's CD. When we came to this song, we both said how much we like it. It was our favourite song of the album.

To be honest, i dun really know what the whole song is all about - but i do understand the title. And each time is listen to this song, i think of all the people who's love has touched my life - my family, tGiF, my close mates - and i always feel so blessed. Most of all, i am thankful for the love of God which surpasses all other love, and is the source of all other true love.

*The second track from her last studio album, this album was the reason why i became such a big fan of hers!

Speak* - Lindsay Lohan

Today is Human Rights Day. This year, their theme is "Speak Up; Stop Discrimination". Let's do our part and speak up against all forms of discrimination.

Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine all the people living life in peace
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
John Lennon

*The title track of her debut studio album - it was supposed to be the 3rd single but was never released.

Invisible man* - 98 Degrees

I was just reading about Houllier's return to Anfield the other day - it was described as "unhappy" as his his team's performance was dismal (see the article here).

It wasn't all bad, tho. I think the highlight for him was when the Kop actually started singing his name! With "affection"! Yup, us Liverpool fans still appreciate all he had done. But Hodgson has still much to prove.

Here's what the article said:-

"The only minor victory he enjoyed over Liverpool counterpart Roy Hodgson came in the closing stages of Villa's 3-0 defeat when he heard his name sung with affection by The Kop. Hodgson is not yet afforded this luxury. Indeed, he is still treated almost as if he does not exist by his own supporters".

Clueless Hodgson?

Yup, Hodgson still has not won us over yet. I know i blogged earlier that he looks promising - but that's about it. One incident which made me lose all faith in him took place at the closing stages of the match recently against Spurs. 2 minutes into stoppage time and Spurs scored, taking the lead. There was still a couple of minutes left - stranger things have happened in football! All is not lost.

But when the camera showed Hodgson, he was slumped on his seat, hands folded, having the expression of a kid who had his toy stolen from him. I was disgusted with that sight. Hodgson basically gave up!

I believe Ferguson and Wenger would not have reacted that way. they would be at the touchline and shouting instructions to his players, urging not to give up. As long as there is time, anything was possible. They could also be arguing with the 4th official for more time to be added.

I was very disappointed to see Hodgson's reaction - imagine how the players would have felt too!

So yes, unless Hodgson can improve, he'll remain the invisible man to us fans. And he should expect to walk alone.

*Their breakthrough hit - the 1st single from their debut album

What a difference a day makes* - Jamie Cullum

What a difference day can make - just 24 little hours...

So many things can happen in such a short span of time - the time it takes for the earth to make a full spin. One day you can be on the euphoric mountain top - and the next, you could have plunged into the depths of deepest gloom. Or it could be the other way round. One day you could feel like you have it all - and the next, you could end up with nothing.

Will the dawn of a new day drive away the dark clouds?

As i was thinking about this, i am reminded of what happened during my recent trip to India. We were there for a international competition. 2 days of preliminary rounds. At the end of the first day, we were sitting at the top of the table - and my student had garnered the most points. Other coaches were congratulating me, assuming that my team would make it to the next round. I refused to be caught up with such thoughts.

The 2nd day was a painful for us - our competitors had walkovers and/or easy opponents. We had to do it the hard way - but at the end of the day, it was a mere 0.5 points that stood in between us and a place in the semi-finals. Just half a point - but it was enuf to block our way.

I was surprised at how badly it affected me - i thought i was over these kind of things. It really dun matter to me anymore - but it does. what a difference a day made!

Still, i guess tt's what that makes life so exciting and interesting. We just dun know what to expect - and i like it! The mystery, the thrill. After all, to me, it's about the journey, not the destination.

I may not know what tomorrow brings, but i know something even more important - i know who holds tomorrow!

I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from it's sunshine,
For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Ev'ry step is getting brighter,
As the golden stairs I climb;
Ev'ry burden's getting lighter;
Ev'ry cloud is silver lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eyes,
At the ending of the rainbow,
Where the mountains touch the sky.

I don't know about tomorrow,
It may bring me poverty;
But the One Who feeds the sparrow,
Is the One Who stands by me.
And the path that be my portion,
May be through the flame or flood,
But His presence goes before me,
And I'm covered with His blood.

Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

Ira Stanphill

*This remake was included in his debut album. The song was originally written in Spanish!

Bruce* - Rick Springfield

This is a great movie!!!!!

Especially if u're a fan of Bruce Lee. But who isn't? Well, i supposed many - but who has not heard of Bruce Lee?

Me and Bruce!

Still, this is a great way of knowing him even better! Yes, i'm a fan - but never a HUGE fan. So this movie was really informative. We get to see Bruce Lee growing up, the kind of household he lived in, the things he did as a normal kid, the embarrassing stuffs (like not being able to ride a bicycle - like me!!!!), his crush, his really good frens. I din know he was a dance champion too!!!!!

This movie allowed us to grow up with him.

Dun go if u're expecting a martial arts show - altho there is the showdown with the gwailo, and the fight scenes were really really good (better than Donnie Yen's fight scenes in "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen").

And we all know that this is prolly the most accurate depiction of his childhood - as it is told by his brother and his sister. Stay back during the end credits as they show the real photos of Bruce lee when he was young! He was an ordinary guy with extraordinary skills - and with big dreams. he dared to dream - and he made them a reality. But this came with a cost. And it was never a bed of roses. he went thru wat we went thru - failure in love, punishment from parents, poor results in school.

One thing i liked about the movie is that they made Bruce into human. And we get to see this side of him. Brilliant stuffs! And kudos to Aarif Lee! Excellent potrayal of Bruce Lee. And supposted by a wonderful cast which includes Tony Leung and Christy Chung! Oh, watch out for the appearances of famous stars like Shek Kin and Fung BoBo (as a cute little girl!).

Here's the trailer to whet yr appetite further if u're still not convinced!

p/s - all photos except for the one i am in are taken from online

*The only single from the album Beautiful Feelings.

A night to remember * - Cast of HSM3

It's snowing in the UK now. According to the news report, this is the "earliest significant snowfall across the UK since 1993". That struck a memory chord in me - cuz the early snowfall in 1993 was my very first time experiencing snow!

Winter of 1993

That night was a night i'll never forget. That was a night for a lot of us that we will never forget. I blogged about it previously:-

I remember the first time we saw snow in London – it was also my first time of seeing, feeling and touching snow!

It was forecasted on the radio one fine Sunday in November 1993 that there was gonna be a snowfall that nite. We got really excited and stayed up for it.

Then it happened. It was snowing. We all ran out to greet the snow! But there really wasn’t much – if snow is considered as rain, then the snow fall was like a small drizzle! Still, that did not dampen our spirits – after all, it was our first time seeing snowflakes fall.

And then, just as suddenly it came, so it went!

I went back to me room and fell asleep.

I dun know how long I was sleeping when I woke up suddenly. Immediately I sensed sumthing different. It was quiet – eerily and beautifully quiet. I pulled meself to me window – the sight took my breath away – the ground was covered thickly with snow and snowflakes dotted the dark nite sky! It was like a dream-like fantasy place – dead silence, everything covered in white and little white dots floating down from the heavens. :-)

I grabbed me winter jacket and me gloves, put on me boots and ran out – the silence was shattered by the sounds of shrieks and squeals of laughter! Me mates were all out – making snowballs, reaching out to catch the snowflakes, laughing with glee, taking pics! I joined them and twirled dizzily looking up – I loved the way the snowflakes fall haphazardly from the pitch dark sky, appearing mysteriously and float gently down onto my smiling face!

We had the time of our lives. We had snowball fights, we built a little snowman and then destroyed it and then made a bigger one (with the orange and white cone as its hat), we ran around in the snow, I made snow angels (one of my must-do things in my life) on the ground, and we basically just enjoyed ourselves, savouring the moment, going round like drunk people who were high on their experience of their first snowfall!

We hung out til first light, grabbed our cameras and went all over the place, snapping pictures – the road outside our halls, the shops across the road, the park behind our halls – it was absolutely beautiful – everything covered with a blanket of fresh brilliant white snow!

We ran out of film in our cameras and we decided the go back to our hall, change into dryer clothes, get new roll of film and go out again!

When we got back into the warmth of Marley Hall, suddenly, we realised how exhausted we were – we were up for almost the whole nite, we are soaked wet and cold, and we were totally wasted! Our plans were shelved as the draw of our nice soft warm duvets was irresistible!

Still, it took us a while to shake off the excitement and fall asleep. I actually sat at me 1st floor room window, grabbed my guitar and started singing Christmas carols with my fren who sat at his 4th floor window across the courtyard!!!!

By the time we fell asleep, the snow had long stopped falling. I remember hearing the noises of the other people in the halls waking up, discovering it snowed during the nite and started playing in the snow.

When the time came to go for classes in the morning, the snow had turned into muddy puddles, while some of the melted snow froze in the cool wind and made the sidewalk icy slippery – it really wasn’t very nice and we understood why the locals din really like snow.

The next time we experienced snow was in February the following year (I was so disappointed that we did not have a white Christmas despite temperatures dropping to below 6 degrees) but nothing beats the first experience.

That fateful magical November nite, we had the time of our life – it was indeed a wonderful memory which we’ll take with us for the rest of our lives.

There's something special seeing the snowflakes fall randomly and haphazardly down, all in its own unique shape and size. So yes, since that first time, i've had many opportunities to experience snow-fall - but each time is like the first time all over again. Simply magical!

*Taken from the soundtrack of High School Musical 3

The air that I breathe* - The Hollies

This was one of the first few pics i took on my first morning at New Delhi - right outside the hotel.

No, it is not the morning mist u see! I thought it was initially and the weather is quite cool in the mornings and nites. But wat u see is really the dust/haze.

I went there expecting to fall sick due to the food or the water - but little did i anticipate that i will fall sick due to the air! The air quality was so so bad. There was one evening when i could almost not go outdoors. Even with a handkerchief over my mouth, i could still smell the smoke. It was like the place was on fire - but there were no flames nor heat.

When i got back, i came across this news report from Al Jezeera about the air quality at Delhi:-

It was the same as smoking 20 ciggies a day!!!!!! What was sad in the report was the optimism in the ending part. But this news report was made 2 years ago - and now things have not improved at all!!!!

So i feel sick - really bad. I lost my voice. One of my students woke up on competition day to find her eyes swollen with some goey liquid in them. I had to take her to the eye hospital - thankfully, due to the 'luck' of the draw, we did not have to moot that morning. Anyways, the doctor concluded it was just an allergy reaction due to the dust.

I really hated it - each time i traveled out, my eyes would water and my nose would clog up. i have told many people that while i had a great trip, i dun plan to go back to Delhi again. This is one of the reasons - and a big one too.

It was sooo god to be back home and breath in relatively clean air! This is something which i have taken for granted too many times. Thank you lord for the air that i breathe here.

*Their last major hit single and one of my all time favourite songs!

Runaway train* - Soul Asylum

So everyone was watching Harry Potter! Since we din get tickets in advance, we decided against sitting in the front row of the cinema and opted to watch another movie. I had been wanting to watch Unstoppable but was stopped from doing so due to my recent trip to India. But I was determined to be unstoppable this time!!!!

It was great!!!!! Thrilling edge of the seat excitement for most parts of the movie. It was just like a rollercoaster ride – the initial part was slow but filled with so much anticipation of wat was to come. When the first dip came, it was a wonderful ride all the way to the end!

Someone was commenting online that it was such a waste to get such talented actors and crew to take part in a movie like this that will not be remembered – unlike classics like Shawshank Redemption, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dead poet’s Society, Love Actually, The Godfather etc.

True. I doubt I would enjoy watching it again. It won’t be terrible but it just won’t be as good anymore.

But does that make this a bad movie? No. Far from it. Well, it depends on wat u want. For me, I wanna go to the movies and be entertained in that 90 to 120 minutes. I want to be taken to another place and thrust into an exciting situation. I wanna be able to feel the fear, the adrenalin, the sadness, and most of all the joy. This movie gave me all that – and with change too! For that, I loved it.

Sure, it will not go into my records as among the best movies I have watched. But I had a great time and it was worth every penny!

And well done to Denzel Washington too. used to be a huge fan - then after a while, got a little tired of him. But this year, he came back with 2 movies which really won me over - this movie and The Book of Eli! Good stuffs!

*Won the Grammy for best Rock song in 1994 and propelled the group to fame.

Too much* - Spice Girls

10 days of spicy (no pun intended with the artiste of the song title above) Northern Indian food!!!!!

I love Indian food! The butter chicken, the tika masala chicken, the lamb rosh jogen, the mutton curry, the briyani and pulao rice, the aloo ghobi, the paneer, the spinach, the naan bread, the works!!!! They even had masala omelet at the hotel where i stayed! And the papadums are spicy!

It's not the typical Indian food we find here in Malaysia. I think the food here is not the northern type. if we want good northern Indian fare, we will have to fork out a lot in a nice joint. However at Delhi, good Indian fare was an everyday affair!

The spices were great! Not too hot but yet loaded with delicious spices! It was the only thing that everyone from all over the world could agree about - the food was good!

I thought i'd end up eating mainly vegetarian fare - but there was sufficient chicken and mutton/lamb to satisfy the carnivore in me! The cheaper places served mutton while the high end places served lamb - but whether it was mutton or lamb, it was tender! Lovely. Only complaint was that it was usually rather "bony" with not much meat on it.

I also ate food from the Bukhara restaurant located at the posh ITC Maurya Hotel - the place where Obama dined when he was there about the same time as we were. We did not eat there - it was bought back for us so it was cold - but the food was still lovely!!!!!

This pic was taken from online

Even when we had fast food, we din go for the usual stuffs - we tried the local specialties, so it was spicy pizzas and burgers too! =)

Still, having said that, too much of anything is never good. When i came back, i found myself craving for simple chinese food. With a sore throat, i wanted something with nice hot clear soup - and green leafy vegetables. And PORK!!!!!!! And soy sauce!!!!!!

On the morning when i arrived, i drove back out to the nearby coffee shop for breakfast - and i had two rounds!!! The first was the lovely and soothing kway teow soup and then i had chee cheong fun with yong tau foo!!!!!!

The irony of it all - my tummy dun feel well now when i'm back home!!!!

*Their second consecutive Christmas no. 1 single.