Wanted - new PC monitor

Now, I've got at least 1 thing on my shopping list - a new monitor for my PC at home. My current monitor is playing up - the screen blinks each time I turn on my PC. So for the next few days, my PC at home is out of commission - until I get a new one. I'll have to rely on my brother's computer instead.

At this stage, I think I'll be doing business with Umart pretty soon; will visit their website tonite. Hmm, what's my Umart password again?......

How not to pass exams

Some of you may have seen these already (sorry if pics are too small):

Chinese New Year banquet with friends

I went to a Chinese New Year banquet with BT, Terence & Catherine last nite (Saturday nite) at Shangrila Restaurant in Sunnybank. The banquet was organised by Catherine's cousin Sue, who invited her workmates (a mixture of Caucasians, Oriental Asians & Indians), & brought along her partner Ken. The place is new, & it's actually my first time at the restaurant. Terence said he's been there for yum cha, & he found it rather good. He suggested we have yum cha there one day, & I agreed.

The banquet cost $60 per head. The food was ok; I'd say definitely passable, but not absolutely great & nothing that is really out of this world. One good thing I can say was that the portions were quite decent, certainly enough to go around. In fact, we were full at the end of the dinner. Sue doggy bagged the leftovers. Overall, the night was pretty satisfactory.

The restaurant was big & bright, & the furnishing seem quite posh. It so happened that half of the place was sealed off for the night for a wedding reception dinner. Our half was quite noisy, thanks to patrons from the other tables. The patrons at the tables behind me had their own Chinese NY dinner; there was a speech given by a lady before presents were given out (which made it look like Christmas). There was also a table distantly to my left where the men were boisterously toasting a few glasses; one elderly guy in particular looked like he had a bit too much wine. Overall, the atmosphere sounded like a Hong Kong fish market. Not that I had any issues with that.

Some dishes were definitely nicer than others. I particularly liked:

the sashimi (consumed with wasabe & kikoman/soy sauce);
the soup with various ingredients (including mushroom, dried scallop, quail eggs);
the roast duck (always love duck);
the steamed fish, "7 stars" cod (so tasty with the gravy).

For dessert, we had a fruit platter consisting of watermelon, rockmelon & longan, & a Taiwanese-style ice kacang (though decent, it's not as nice as Malaysian ice kacang, in my biased opinion coz I'm from Malaysia).

As for the other dishes:

the seafood resembling mussels (maybe it was in fact mussels) was not bad;
noodles with lobster was ok if a bit bland - not excessively tasty;
ginger shallot scallop did not tickle my fancy;
sea cucumber & mushroom abalones also did not tickle my fancy;
the chilli salt pepper mud crabs were ok, but a bit underwhelming & not fantastic - couldn't really taste the crab.

The biggest disappointment was that the soup was missing shark fin. It was meant to be included in the soup, & I had been so looking forward to it. Make no mistake, I actually liked soup, but wished they could have also included shark fin.

Anyway, below are some pictures of the dishes I liked. I will put all the pics (the ones below & others I took) up on Multiply when I have the chance.






sashimi - very nice arrangements














the soup











roast duck - just look at that!











steamed fish, "7 star" cod - so tasty, especially in that gravy

Interesting quotes

Here are some more quotes that I've been receiving from my work colleague during the past few months:

Unlike grownups, children have little need to deceive themselves. Goethe

It is wise to provide for the things that can't happen - they are the things that do happen. WGP

Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians. Bulgarian proverb

I believe in getting into hot water, it keeps you clean. GK Chesterton

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Vidal Sassoon

We turn not older with years, but newer every day. Emily Dickinson

Farewell J & Mel

Yet another 2 of my friends (a married couple) have departed Brisbane. J & Mel just went overseas yesterday. I did see both of them on Saturday (in Gold Coast), & J on Sunday. I thought I was going to see them on Monday nite at Clay, but they didn't turn up. So that meant I didn't really get to say my goodbyes to them :(

I really like them both. Mel & I were Clay events co-ordinators last year, & we called ourselves "Team Rocket" - well, actually that was her suggestion, I was the "yes man" & gave my approval. Oh well, Team Rocket is no more, with Mel's departure & me deciding not to continue in the events co-ordinator role.

Oh well, J & Mel have said they'll be back in Brisbane on a visit later this year, before heading overseas again to another destination. Then, they'll return permanently to Brisbane. So they will definitely be back one day, as current plans stand. But u never know how things might change?? Whatever the case, I pray that God will continue to bless them & be with them everywhere they go. And may they shine for God & bear a good testament for Him to everyone they meet.

UEFA Champions League 2007/08 - knockout stage preview

OK, we're at the "business end" of the UEFA Champions League for season 2007/2008. It's now the first knockout round, & we're into the last 16. The line-up are as follows:

Schalke (Germany) v FC Porto (Portugal)
AS Roma (Italy) v Real Madrid (Spain)
Olympiakos (Greece) v Chelsea (England)
Liverpool (England) v Internazionale (Italy)
Celtic (Scotland) v Barcelona (Spain)
Lyon (France) v Manchester United (England)
Fenerbahce (Turkey) v Sevilla (Spain)
Arsenal (England) v AC Milan (Italy)

The teams play each other twice, on a home & away basis.

Here is my forecast on how things will pan out over the 2 legs:

Schalke v FC Porto:

This one could go either way. Neither team are favoured to win the competition this year. On the one hand, Schalke are the only German side left in the competition. On the other hand, you have Portugal's strongest club side for at least the last decade. FC Porto have more experience in this competition & over both legs, they will edge it. Verdict: Porto to only just go through.

AS Roma v Real Madrid:

A clash of heavyweights - the team currently second in the Italian Serie A up against the league leaders in Spain's La Liga. The winner of this tie could go a long way in the competition. One would fancy Real to wrap up the tie in Madrid if they manage to avoid defeat in the Italian capital. If I were Roma, I will throw everything at Real & try to gain a lead (however small) to take to the second leg. Verdict: Real Madrid, but not by much.

Olympiakos v Chelsea:

Olympiakos have been Greece's most successful side at least over the past decade. However, I think that will be enough against Chelsea. The Greek side will make life difficult in the first leg. But over both legs, I expect the Londoners to be too strong. If the Greeks are to stand any chance, they will need to win the first leg at home. Chelsea will be strongly favoured to advance if they can get at least a draw in the Greek capital, because I can only see a Chelsea win happening in London in the second leg. Verdict: Chelsea to proceed comfortably.

Liverpool v Internazionale:

Another clash of heavyweights, pretty interesting one. Liverpool are struggling domestically - inconsistent in the Premier League & embarassingly dumped out of FA Cup by Barnsley. They are also beset by all sort of other problems (much of it internal). So they are under even more pressure to do well in the Champions League. Inter don't have such woes - they are once again threatening to run away with the Italian championship. However, they do enter this tie with a question mark over their European pedigree - for all their dominance of the Italian league, they have not yet been able to transfer their domestic form over to this competition. Inter will be keep to show their doubters that they have what it takes to succeed in Europe. And I think they will get past Liverpool, because they do have a stronger squad & probably better morale at present. Verdict: Inter to go through.

Celtic v Barcelona:

The one thing both teams have in common is the fact that each are currently second in their domestic league behind their respective bitter rivals - Celtic trail Rangers by 4 points, & Barcelona trail Real Madrid 5 points. However, in terms of playing styles, both teams are rather different - the direct approach of Celtic against the flamboyant, artistic style of Barcelona. It is Barcelona who will be favourites for this tie. But do not expect Celtic to lie down & die. Quite the opposite. Celtic have done well to reach this stage of the competition, & will enjoy fanatical support at their own Parkhead in the first leg. However, over the 2 legs, Barcelona should be too classy, with players like Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi & Henry. Celtic don't seem to travel well, so expect them to lose away to Barcelona. So, Celtic's hopes will hinge on their home leg. Barca will not want a repeat of last season, where they crashed out at the same stage in the Champions League. They should go through. Verdict: Barcelona to overcome Celtic.

Lyon v Manchester United:

Lyon have been making a habit of crashing out "prematurely" in the Champions League. They were knocked out at this stage of last year's competition. Unfortunately for them, I think the same fate await them this year. Man Utd looked very strong in Saturday's FA Cup romp against Arsenal. And I think over both legs, they will prove too strong for Lyon. The French side do have the talents of Ben Arfa, Benzema and Brazil's Fred to trouble Man Utd. But the English side can call on the likes of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina's Carlos Tevez & England's own Wayne Rooney. It is hard to see Lyon keeping all of them out. Verdict: Manchester United to go through.

Fenerbahce v Sevilla:

Fenerbahce are the only Turkish side left in the competition. They have done so well to get this far. Whether they can go any further is doubtful, as they are up against one of Spain's most impressive outfits. Sevilla play some of Spain's and Europe's best, most entertaining football. And they appear to have too much firepower for Fenerbahce. I cannot see the Turkish side keep out Sevilla's impressive attack - they can choose from Luis Fabiano, Arouna Kone, Frederic Kanoute, Javier Chevanton & Kerzakhov. Verdict: Sevilla to march on.

Arsenal v AC Milan:

Another mouth-watering tie, that sees the English league leaders Arsenal up against the reigning European & World Champions AC Milan. Some see this as a clash of the young & the old - Arsenal's young guns against Milan's ageing stars. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to see it as being an experience, rather than age, battle - i.e. Arsenal's comparatively inexperienced players against Milan's more experienced squad. Also, it should be noted that Milan now have the young Brazilian teenager Alexandre Pato on their roster. They will hope that he can combine with his majestic countrymen Kaka as well as the likes of Seedorf and Pirlo to get Milan past the London side. But Arsenal do have the talent to match it with the Italian side. They will certainly have to improve considerably on Saturday's abysmal FA Cup showing against Man Utd, so far one of their few blots in an otherwise impressive season. If they can do that (& I think they can), then they have a chance. Anything less will prove easy meat for Milan. Another factor is motivation - I think Arsenal will be very keen to do better than they did last year, when they were eliminated by Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. Verdict: It's difficult to predict, but I'd say Arsenal to very narrowly get to the next round.

What a jam-packed weekend!

I just had a fun-filled, jam-packed weekend catching up with 2 of my closest friends & buddies visiting from Sydney (Ivan) & Melbourne (Dennis). I also caught up with Ben Ho who was here with his wife & daughter. The weekend started actually with Friday nite:

Friday nite (15/2/08)

Dennis had come up mainly to say goodbye to Jay & Melina, who are heading overseas for about 1.5 years. He flew up from Melbourne on Friday afternoon. Just a few hours after he arrived, I had dinner with him & a bunch of other guys at Shiok, Eight Mile Plains. I ordered the char kuay teow, which was ok. Dennis had the nasi lemak, & he pronounced it as "nazii lemak", much to my amusement!

Thereafter, most of us headed over to Nigel's place & played some Wii, & had some beers & donuts (Krispy Kreme or something?) which Dennis had brought all the way from Melbourne (he thought Brisbane didn't have them, until he saw the same donuts selling at Brisbane Airport!). Then, some of us left Nigel's place & headed to play LAN just next to McDonalds at Sunnybank. We played Counter Strike, & I proved to be absolutely hopeless, as I was usually among the first to be killed. Nevertheless, it was fun. We played till about 2am!

Saturday (16/2/08)

I headed down to Broadbeach, Gold Coast with a few people for Ivan's surprise birthday, organised by Maria. We arrived at the beach, & Maria drove past a few minutes later with Ivan, who did not seem as surprised as I expected him to be. But he said he was surprised. We then walked to the beach, & were joined by Jay, Melina & Dennis. We sat at the beach for a while, & then Dennis dragged myself & BT over to a nearby pub for some drinks, & to chit chat & reminisce on the past. There was lots of laughs & I lost the number of times we said "those were the days" as we looked back at the funny things in years gone by. We toasted a number of times for a good future for ourselves.

Come dinner time, I wasn't in a state to drive, so we left the car at the beachside & walked to Chiangmai Thai restaurant along Gold Coast Highway. We had some trouble finding the place, mainly because there's also another Thai restaurant along the same road. But thankfully we arrived safely for dinner. We didn't miss anything, as half the table were running late. The food was tasty, but not spicy enough for my liking. After dinner, we got back near the beachside & hung out near the new shops & units. Then me & my passengers headed back to Brisbane.

My one regret was that I didn't get to spend as much time with Ivan as I would have liked, & I "blame" Dennis' presence for that (he dragged me from the beach to the pub). But then again, Ivan already came up to Brisbane a couple of times during the past couple of months & I did catch up with him during those times, whereas Dennis' visit was his first in a year. So, I guess it's all good.....

Sunday (17/2/08)

Sermon was delivered by yet another visiting friend, Ben Ho from Sydney (he's here with his wife & little daughter). It was a superb & encouraging sermon, actually, & I hope I get to blog it sometime soon. Anyway, after church, I & BT attended a "thank you" lunch organised by Jennifer at Oishii, Sunnybank. "Thank you" because we attended her birthday party last month, & she didn't think there was enough food at the party, so she wanted to make it up to us with this lunch.....so sweet & kind). Wong & Jeannie were also there, as was Jeannie's brother William. Lost count of the number of times I've been to Oishii (at least 5-6 times already). The food was nice.

After the lunch, me & BT headed to Mikey's place for a BBQ held in honour of Dennis. That's 3 days in a row I spent time with my Melbourne buddy - I think by the end of the weekend, I'm "Dennis Wang-ed" out. Haha. In the event, I didn't eat any of the BBQ meat. Instead, I had another couple of beers. Goodness gracious, it seems beer consumption goes up whenever Dennis is around. Anyways, Ben Ho & his family were also there. I did say goodbye to them, before a few of us went along with Dennis & Jay to Sunnybank for coffee. When it was time to leave, I farewelled Dennis & Jay. Then, I headed home, & caught the second half of the A-League preliminary final between Newcastle Jets & Qld Roar, which the Jets won 3-2 after extra-time.

Anyways, yeah, I was out of the house for much of the weekend. Though tiring, it was great & I thank God for that. I thank God for blessing me with brothers such as Ivan, Dennis & Ben Ho, & for being able to catch up with them while they were up in Brisbane. I trust that God will continue to bless them & take care of them. Though distance keeps me away from them, we are united as brothers in Christ!

PS: I will put up photos on my Multiply blog in due course.

Qld Roar through to preliminary final!

Guess what?? Qld Roar just beat Sydney FC in the Hyundai A-League semi-final second leg on Friday nite at Suncorp Stadium, 2-0. That's right, they actually scored some goals! Given that the first leg in Sydney was goalless, it means Qld win the tie 2-0 on aggregate.

I & a few others watched the game on Foxtel at a friend's place. We decided not to go to the stadium mainly because of the high ticket prices (they hiked up the price for the A-League play-off matches). And just as well we didn't - it was raining rather heavily, & this caused the kick-off to be delayed by about 40 minutes. But once the match kicked off, the Roar looked the more determined side. Reinaldo scored after just 11 minutes to put the Roar a goal up, & they proceeded to control the rest of the half, especially after Sydney had a player sent off. The second half, though, was more subdued, much to the dismay of me & my friends. At one stage, a few of us were on the verge of dozing off. And it took a penalty 5-6 minutes from full time to put the Roar 2 goals up & seal Sydney's fate.

On the whole, despite the tame second half, it was a reasonably good match, & the result was well deserved. The pizzas & garlic bread that we had for dinner tasted better, given the way the match went.

Thanks to the win, Qld Roar are through to the preliminary final this Sunday. They will play Newcastle Jets, who sensationally lost their semi-final tie 2-3 against Central Coast Mariners. Sensational because Newcastle won their first leg at home 2-0 & seemed home & dry (few thought Mariners could overcome the deficit), but then lost 3-0 in the return leg in the Mariners' home ground after extra time. In football, it's never over until it's over.

The winner of the preliminary final will advance to the grand final where they will face the Mariners. Of course, it will be difficult against the Jets. But the Roar have nothing to fear, especially if they can reproduce the first half display against Sydney FC. In fact, one could argue that the Roar will enter the preliminary final in better spirits than the Jets, because the Roar came off a win in their semis while the Jets had to endure the heartbreak of losing their semi (and in extra-time, too, during which Mariners scored their decisive third goal).

Of course, I would like the Roar to win. But even if they don't, I won't be too disappointed (unless Roar plays very badly & lose by an embarassing margin...which I hope won't happen), because the Roar have exceeded my expectations already. All I want is for Qld Roar to give it their best & see what happens. Go the Roar!

Planet DT's 1st birthday/anniversary!

In February 2007, I did what some who know me may consider "unthinkable" - I created a blog. This blog! After some consideration (& due to lack of alternatives), I called it Planet DT. My first blog post was exactly 1 year ago. So today, Planet DT celebrates its 1st birthday! Or 1st anniversary! Hooray! Happy birthday, Planet DT!

Wow, I wouldn't have thought I would have blogged as much as I have done in my first year of blogging. But hey, I have. So far, I manage to do double digits per month (i.e. 10 or more posts each month). Whether I can continue this, I don't know. We shall see. I enjoy blogging, & it seems I'm hooked on my new found hobby. I blog on all sorts of stuff - things that happen to/around me, things I read, sermons I hear, & miscellaneous other stuff. I always knew that a lot of my posts will be on football/soccer. But rather surprisingly, my blog has more Christian content that I would have anticipated. I guess that can't be a bad thing, eh. I will try to include more jokes on this blog - I like a good laugh.

Anyways, I think I'll sign off here before I continue waffling on ;) To all readers of this blog, thanks for visiting & thanks to those who've posted comments. I hope u have enjoyed some of the stuff on this blog & do continue to visit Planet DT. Cheers.

Feel free to leave any comments below!

Year of the Rat, Happy Chinese New Year!!

Chinese New Year started today!!

To all my relatives, friends, loved ones, blog readers (especially those with Chinese ancestry), I wish a Happy Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin)!! Kung Hei Fat Choi (Cantonese)!! It's the year of the Rat, & I can think of a few people in my extended family (including at least 3 cousins overseas) who are Rats.

Anyway, we had our family dinner yesterday (which was, of course, NY Eve). The food was yummy (especially the duck, & mussel in curry/chilli gravy), though for some unknown reason, I didn't exactly overstuff myself. It's small scale celebration. Nothing like how it is celebrated in Asia. Back when I lived in Malaysia (where the first few days of Chinese New Year is public holiday), our family & relatives would all come & stay in our grandparent's place. We cram ourselves! On the first day, we would gather all those red packets from parents, grandparents, aunties & uncles. We would then visit the houses of the other relatives, collect more red packets & eat eat eat! Also, me & my cousins would play fireworks & all that fancy stuff, including one of those small beans which pop when u throw them on the ground. Ahh, memories.....

Whoa, looks like I got kinda carried away with reminiscing what Chinese New Year was like in Malaysia. I always do this every Chinese New Year! Anyway, here's hoping that the year ahead will be a happy & prosperous one!

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