Riverfire 2008 - guys nite out (30/8/08)

In Brisbane, we got the annual Riverfestival thing that runs for a week (or a bit more than a week) around the start of September, to celebrate the Brisbane River. At the start of the Riverfestival is the Riverfire, which basically involves choreographed fireworks displays from the 3 big bridges on Brisbane River, from building rooftops & boats. There is also a flyover of jets performing the "dump & burn" where a trail of flames come out of the tail of the jets. (Have I described this correctly?). The Riverfire runs for 30 minutes.

Riverfestival 2008 runs from Friday 29/8/08 to Sunday 7/9/08. Riverfire 2008 happened yesterday evening (Saturday), at 7pm. A bunch of us (me, Ivan, Kwang, Ed, Jay, Sean, Wong) gathered at a studio apartment on Charlotte St, which is occupied by Ivan, to watch the Riverfire. Ivan's back in Brisbane for a while to work on a project for his company, & the company provides him with accommodation while in Brisbane (which is good for him). He normally occupies one of the apartments on the lower levels, but for this week, he booked level 41 so that we could get a better view of Riverfire. It was a "guys nite out".

Good move, Ivan. The views were pretty good, from the balcony of level 41. Jay (back in Brisbane for a few months before he & Mel heading overseas again) brought along his camera & took some nice pictures. Hopefully, he will put the pics on Facebook. I think 1-2 other guys also had their cameras, but Jay was the main camera man yesterday. I didn't bring my camera (even if I did, my pics wouldn't be great anyway - I'm a poor photographer). The Riverfire kicked off with 1 jet performing the "dump & burn", & that caused the buildings around us to be illuminated with a gold-orange glow. Then the fireworks displays began. Pop, pop, pop, they went, all sorts of shapes, sizes & colours. It was nice. Not quite the fireworks of Beijing, but hey, it was still alright. Meanwhile, the TV was left on to show the live telecast on Channel 7, & it showed us the view from the Story Bridge to the tune of the music from Triple M 104.5 FM. We couldn't see the Story Bridge from the balcony, because of the surrounding buildings. The balcony only allowed us to view the Botanical Gardens & the part of the river nearby. And then at some point, another jet flew past & did another "dump & burn" & the Brisbane CBD was once again glowing orange-gold momentarily. While we enjoyed the spectacular show (fireworks & all) from the balcony, we munched on some yummy snacks provided by Ivan (wasabe-coated peas, prawn crackers, seaweed-coated crackers). The Riverfire was good, & we enjoyed it.

When the Riverfire finished at 7:30pm, we had 1 hour to kill because Ivan booked our dinner table for 8:30pm at Little Singapore City Restaurant, further up Charlotte St (website: http://www.littlesingapore.com.au/). So we played the Wii for a bit before heading to Little Singapore. It's my first time there (I haven't been to the one in Sunnybank, either). The place was packed! There were people waiting outside the restaurant to get in. Almost all the diners were Oriental Asians - Jay was one of a handful of non-Orientals. For appetisers, we shared tofu goreng & lobak. We ordered drinks as well. I can't remember what everyone else ordered, but I had the rose milk tea, & I found it a bit diluted for my liking (they didn't put in enough rose syrup). The rose milk tea was distinctively light pink. (a colour that I like....hehe).
For main meals, Sean & myself ordered mee goreng. Ed, Kwang & Wong ordered the laksa. Ivan ordered the Hainanese chicken with butter rice, & Jay ordered the roti curry lamb (he previously told me he loves the roti.....I can so understand why). By way of meal size, Ivan's dish was the smallest, but then I think he eats the least among us guys. But the size of the laksa bowls really shocked me. It's the biggest I've ever seen - like a pot. It's so huge, & I urged the 3 laksa guys to consume the whole meal, including drinking all the laksa gravy. They didn't. Ed & Kwang got their laksas first before the gravy ran out, causing poor Wong to wait for at least 10 minutes. One of the guys said the food at Little Singapore City is more expensive than Little Singapore Sunnybank (some by about $1). I'm thinking one of the reasons for that must be the rent in the CBD....

We all enjoyed our meals, although Wong said his body was sweating from the laksa gravy. Only Sean & myself had dessert - he had the deep fried durian, while I ordered ice kacang. I think Sean enjoyed his dessert more than I did mine. I didn't think the ice kacang was that great, & would not recommend it to others - it's overpriced at $5.90! The ice kacang had too much evaporated milk, not enough syrup, not enough gula melaka (a.k.a. palm sugar), & not enough ingredients (attap chee, red beans, sweet corn etc). Because of the quantity of evaporated milk relative to syrup, the ice kacang soon looked like pink porridge (second time I saw pink). I downed it with the help of a straw. By the time the dessert came, Maria, Jennifer & Jeannie (who already had dinner elsewhere) arrived. Suzanne & Chi also dropped in to say hello before taking off. We had a group photo taken by Maria's mum, who had also coincidentally happened to be in the restaurant at another table!

Anyway, after paying off the dinner (I forked out $25 for my stash, although the exact cost would have been a bit under that), us 7 guys plus the 3 girls went back to Ivan's apartment. Some of us played cards (big 2), while others continued with the Wii. I was very bad at Wii, being soundly thrashed at just about every game, regardless of whether I played Ivan, Jay, Ed or Wong. The Wii educational trivia game (forgot the exact name) was a different story - Ed & myself narrowly beat Ivan & Jay in a 2 on 2 contest. It was so so close.

I was the first among the gang to leave, calling it a nite at just after 11pm, retrieved my car from the Comalco Place car park, & parted with $15 (the standard Riverfire parking fee charged by Wilson Parking for the Comalco Place) to let myself out. I enjoyed the evening. It was a very good nite of hanging out, enjoying the show & enjoying each other's company. Praise God for the nite.


PS: There were only a few floors over level 41. My goodness, when I looked down from the balcony, level 41 was so high up, it's scary.....maybe I'm slowly starting to develop a fear of heights.....

Mark Driscoll's talk failed to match the hype

This post is written when the author is in a very foul mood. Please keep this in mind as you read.

The well-renowned pastor from Seattle, Mark Driscoll came to Australia recently to deliver some talks. I attended his talk in Northside Christian College in Everton Park yesterday (Thursday) evening. The event was "300 Men for Jesus", though the turnout was a lot more than 300 men. Refer to this website for more details: http://300menforjesus.com/. The theme was "Burn Your Plastic Jesus", whereby Driscoll's talk was supposed to challenge Christian men to get out of their complacency & be real men for Jesus. Or something to that effect. At the end, I was left somewhat dismayed & disappointed that I even bothered turning up. I'll explain why later.

The evening started on a sour note. At the entrance, when trying to get my name ticked off, I found out that my name was not even on any of the lists of people who signed up. Well, I thought I signed up online (because I did it at church), but obviously something went wrong somewhere. (I've just checked my credit card statement, & cannot see any payment going to the organisers). So, I felt really embarrassed trying to explain that I did try to sign up, but there may have been a glitch online which prevented registration. Freaking fantastic organisation, fellas. If they can't get these registration things right, u wonder what else can go wrong? I was kindly let in for free, but was still very embarrassed about the whole fiasco. And my evening didn't get much better - because after a guy called Phil Davidson gave a decent musical performance (nothing wrong with that), that man Mark Driscoll spoke.

Now, Mr Driscoll spoke from Genesis 1 to 3. He took us back to the start, where God our creator made everything. Here is a blurb of what I got out of his talk (only a summary):
Creation exists to glorify God. God existed right at the beginning & He made everything out of nothing. God made men in His image, & we are made for relationship & are meant to reflect some of God's characteristics. Men are made to rule & God gave men responsibility over creation. After God created Adam, he decided that it was not good for men to be alone, so for that reason he created a helper (Eve). When Eve later committed the sin, God held Adam accountable for that sin. And so it is with us men today - our wives & family members will be held accountable for their sins, & so will we. God made men to lead & gave men responsibility over creation. But many men abdicate responsibility, & they shun leadership roles. A lot of men don't want to lead, & don't want to face the responsibilities associated with leadership - & that is why some women take on leadership roles within the church. So Driscoll challenged the Christian men to be real men, to step up, take responsibility & lead. Work, so that we can pay our bills & support our family. Work because God made us to work, & work so that we give glory to God. Be strong for our family. A real man is one who takes responsibility, & Driscoll urges us to be like that.

Now, let me just say I have no issues with any of the above. It's all Biblical, & he did not misquote the Bible or say anything contrary to the Scriptures. I also will not & cannot question his Bible knowledge, & he obviously has good public speaking skills. That's all fine, fair game to Driscoll, no problems with all that.

But I have a number of issues with the rest of his talk, all of which combine to make me disillusioned & regret that I came all the way to listen to him.

Gripe 1: Driscoll seemed to be too pro-marriage & anti-single/anti-unmarried men
In harping on about how the Bible said it was not good for men to be alone, Driscoll seemed to be bashing the single/unmarried men. He showed favouritism towards married men. That made me very upset, deeply offended & very uncomfortable sitting in the audience. He was attacking me, & he was attacking all the other unmarried men in the audience simply because we are not married. He basically alienated a sizable segment of the audience. Driscoll seems to think that all man should be married. He is saying, hey you single men, what are you waiting for, find a lady to marry.

I mean, was I the only unmarried guy in the audience offended by Driscoll? I certainly hope not, & I'm sure there might be others in the audience who might have been offended, too. By all means, be confronting if necessary, but he went beyond that - he disrespected those who are single/unmarried & rubbed their faces the wrong way, something sadly typical among some married people. And this coming from a so-called respected pastor who many people look up to. A man who claims to follow Jesus, yet had the nerve to come up on stage & show no love towards a segment of the audience (the single/unmarried) who Jesus loves.

So if Driscoll doesn't like unmarried men, what then would Driscoll have to say about the Apostle Paul? What would he have to say to John Stott or other famous single Christian men in the world today? These are men who were & are far far greater than Driscoll will ever be. If Driscoll doesn't like men to stay unmarried, why doesn't he round up all the single/unmarried men & have them shot??!! Does Driscoll also not realise that singlehood can also be a gift from God (just as marriage is a gift from God), that some men are called on by God to be single? I mean, some of those called to be single might have desire to marry, but at the end of the day, if God's will is for them to remain unmarried, then they shall remain single. Others remain single for whatever reason (e.g. still looking for the right partner & waiting for God's provision). However, one would have thought these things are lost on Mark Driscoll, judging by the way he bangs the marriage drum.

Gripe 2: Driscoll is arrogant & opinionated
Mark Driscoll was boastful. He went on & on about how he met his beautiful wife in college (or something like that), & how they have 5 wonderful kids. They are all great, fantastic children, one of his daughters is very smart, yada yada yada. It's fine & good to be thankful for being blessed with a great family, but Driscoll went beyond that - he boasted about himself & his family, & put himself on a pedestal. He put himself up, & put others down. He is so full of himself. I wouldn't know if there is a more arrogant & opinionated Christian around, & wouldn't want to meet that person.

Never have I ever had such dislike, even "hatred", for a Christian. So Driscoll thinks he's so great, better than any in the audience just because he has 5 kids? What, does he want a medal for each child? And what happens if he gets child number 6 - is he going to put his hand up for the mayor seat of Seattle? And if he then gets child number 7, is he going to run for the US presidency???

Another thing he ranted about is about the young men in this country who still live with their parents after a certain age (what? 25??). He said these people should move out & be a master of their domain. Who the hell does he think he is, criticising his audience in that manner??? Does he not realise how expensive properties are in Australia? Some people can't yet afford to live out. I guess not - remember, he is from Seattle, where properties cost only a fraction of the prices in Australia. He presumably owns his house, & thinks everyone should be in the same position as him. So he feels that gives him the right to mouth off against those who still live with their parents. He is not qualified to make such judgemental remarks.

This is a man who has such a vastly inflated opinion of himself, a sanctimonious know-it-all. If I were to buy Mark Driscoll for what he's worth & sell him for what he thinks he's worth, I would make a ton of money - I'll be wealthier than Bill Gates.

Gripe 3: Driscoll's talk failed to encourage & inspire me
OK, some people might think my judgement is clouded by the first 2 gripes. But even leaving both those things aside, I still have reason to take issue with Driscoll.
You see, I came to the talk to be edified, to learn how to be a better Christian, to learn how to improve my spiritual walk. I mean, Driscoll has been hyped up by the people at my church as being "all that", as being so good that I have to attend this talk. And I fell for the hype: hook, line, sinker. The way his talk goes is like this: men are not doing X, men should do X. He never elaborate much further. So he says men are not taking responsibility, he would later say men should take responsibility - which is ok, but he should also elaborate more on how men should lead & take responsibility, instead of spouting rubbish about every men should be married or how great his family is.

The "Burn Your Plastic Jesus" thing is meant to be a challenge to the men who carry a convenient idol & live comfortable, unchallenged lives. To repent of that, Mark Driscoll has been invited to "unsettle our complacency and expand our view of the real Jesus". Well, he failed to achieve both objectives with me & has managed to put me offside. I don't believe anything that Mark Driscoll said has had any effect on whatever complacency I might have. Nothing he said has increased my knowledge of Jesus & godliness. Nothing he said has edified me. No encouragement whatsoever was given. I did not learn anything new because there is nothing in his talk (the blue words as summarised in the third paragraph above) that I have not heard before elsewhere. I drove home feeling empty & disillusioned, & I wondered if I would have missed anything had I not come. Felt like I wasted 3.5 hours of my life (including travel time) listening to that man - time which I will never recover. The talk did NOTHING for me. Absolutely nothing!

In fact, I just don't understand why the people at my church like Driscoll so much. They go on about how great he is. And as I said before, I got "duped" into coming to his talk. Well, I found out for myself that Mark Driscoll carries a lot of hot air. I felt that his talk never matched the hype that preceded it. But hey, it's my fault. I blame myself for listening when friends encouraged me to attend this talk. I had been skeptical about the whole thing, but allowed myself to be sucked into turning up. That's ok - we make mistakes, we learn from them & I will never ever make mistakes like this again.

So Driscoll has been preaching that men are made in God's image. Yeah?? But if God resembles Mark Driscoll, then we Christians should really worry.
Still, if people actually like him, that's their decision. I'm not going to blindly follow popular opinion & kiss the ground he walks on. Because having listened to his talk & seen what he's like, there's little about him that I find likeable. I have nothing but contempt for that man.
Having said all the above, for all my ranting & raving, at least I will acknowledge Driscoll never twisted the message of the Genesis passages. And ok, at the end of the day, he is a Christian whom Jesus has loved & saved - so who knows, one day, Mark Driscoll might prove my current opinion of him wrong. If or when that time comes, I will be willing to revise my opinion of him - but for that to happen, he will have to do something really drastic. For now, it appears unlikely to happen.

Beijing Olympics closing ceremony

All good things have to come to an end. So after 16 days of action, the party had to finish. But with the Olympics opening ceremony revelations of lip-synching & computer-simulated fireworks, I was a little skeptical as to what can be expected from the closing ceremony. I was pleasantly surprised by what unfolded.

Not easy trying to remember everything that happened.....but anyway.....
There were more firework, of course (hopefully this time, real!), including bright orange ones. Wonderful. And as usual, there are various performers. I was especially impressed by the performers on the tall memory tower. Brilliant work, & I marvel at how hard the performers trained for the event. Well, good to see all that hard work & dedication pay off. Then there was also the medal presentation for the final men's marathon (all medalists were African).

Speeches....zzzzz. Appearances by all Olympic athletes, all obviously relaxed after all their Olympics exertions. The athletes have earned the right to let their hair down & party, given all their exertions during the past 16 days. Handover of the Olympic flag from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London. London's gonna have a big job to do, given the overall success of Beijing as hosts. And there is a British contingent present to give a 8-minute presentation of the 2012 London Olympics - which featured the red double-decker bus. Olympic flame extinguished. Musical acts by various artists from Hong Kong & China, & UK's Leona Lewis was there too. Then there's a certain Mr Beckham. More fireworks, pyrotechnics & dancing.

Overall, the closing ceremony seemed more relaxed & "less formal" compared to the opening ceremony. It's a big big party. Well done, Beijing, for putting on a great show these past couple of weeks. I can't believe how quickly time passed. But the games have been enjoyable. Another 4 year wait, but hey, time flies, it'll arrive sooner than we realise. Roll on London 2012!

Qld Roar draws first home game of season

Played 2, draw 2, goals scored 2 goals conceded 2. Twos all around. That's the ledger for Queensland Roar after the first 2 rounds of the new 2008/09 A-League season.

The Roar's first game in of the season was a 1-1 away to Wellington last week, where reports suggested they were the better team but not able to put away some good chances. Sounds familiar?

Then this evening, in their first home game of the season (at Suncorp Stadium), the Roar got another 1-1 draw. The opponents were Adelaide United. From Roar's perspective, the first half was awful. The Roar conceded an early penalty, in the 8th minute, when defender McCloughlan gave away a needless & reckless foul. Travis Dodd converted the penalty to put Adelaide a goal up. For much of the rest of the first half, the Roar were absolutely atrocious. They had a great chance to equalise in the 43rd minute - Smits had a shot saved, then he got the rebound & passed to Miller whose shot seemed certain to hit the net but was kept out by an Adelaide player. So frustrating, & not just those misses either. Me & my friends just sat there during the first half, watching in frustration as Roar continued to be sluggish, misplace their passes & made minimal penetration. I asked myself, did I actually miss our church congregational dinner to watch this? Put it simply, the Roar were a useless bunch of potatoes in the first half. And what would u do with such spuds? You give em a good roasting.

Farina might have done just that at half time, because the Roar came out from the half-time break a different side, with Reinaldo & Zullo coming on as substitutes. Withing 2 minutes of the restart, the Roar drew level through some good play. Seo brought the ball forward, passed to Van Dijk who cleverly back-heeled the ball to Miller who slotted home to make it 1-1. Why can't they do that more consistently? After the equaliser, Adelaide never looked like winning. If anything, Queensland looked more likely winners, as they played with purpose & urgency to try to take the lead. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, & so they had to settle for a share of the spoils.

On the whole, while not fantastic, the draw against Adelaide wasn't a disaster either. At least Queensland came back in the second half, & that at least gives them something to build on. We're only 2 games into the season, & there's plenty more to play for. Next up is Central Coast Mariners next Sunday, same kick-off time (5pm). Ex-Socceroo goalkeeper Mark Bosnich will play for the Mariners. His presence is likely to boost the attendance at Suncorp Stadium. I'm not sure whether I will be going to the game. Regardless of my presence or otherwise, come on you Roar!

PS: After the game, Terence, Catherine, Mark (who replaced BT who's sick) & myself had dinner at Jackpot Noodles in Toowong. I ordered the beef strips with Peking sauce & rice, plus passionfruit green tea. The beef strips with Peking sauce is ok, but not as nice as it used to be. Never mind that, the dish now cost $1 more. Sheeshhh, they expect us customers to pay more for less.....not a happy thought.

Argentina wins football gold; retains Olympic football title

Argentina has retained its Olympic football crown, winning a second successive gold medal by beating Nigeria 1-0 in the men's football final earlier today.

Going into this match, the talk in the media had been about both sides seeking revenge from past clashes between the nations. Some of the players on both teams had played in the 2005 World Youth Cup final, when Argentina beat Nigeria 2-1 courtesy of 2 goals from Lionel Messi. So the talk was of Nigeria desiring to avenge that result. Argentina, on the other hand, had unhappy memories of the 3-2 loss to Nigeria in the men's Olympic football final at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Some say that loss was controversial, as Nigeria's third & winning goal in the last minute was considered by many to be offside. As it turned out, it was Argentina who got their revenge in the Beijing Olympics football final.

The match, played at the Beijing National Stadium, did not turn out to be the classic that many had expected or hoped. No doubt that this was significantly due to the searing heat. Nevertheless, Argentina tried to take the game to the Africans, & they did get into some promising positions via their trademark fluent passing game. Nigeria, meanwhile, were more cautious than usual, undoubtedly in recognition of the threat that Argentina posed with such fine talents as Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria & Fernando Gago. No doubt they would have taken notice of the 3-0 devastation Argentina inflicted on their arch-rivals Brazil in the semi-finals. Yet the Nigerians have their own attacking talents, too, in Obinna, Odemwingie & Okoronkwo. And what speed these players possess! The Nigerians were very dangerous, with their pace causing much concern for the South Americans, though some of the chances that Nigeria did get was due to some defensive slackness of the Argentinians. No such thing from the Nigerians, who were defensively very well organised. This ensured the halftime score was goalless.

The second half continued in much the same vein, with Argentina trying to pass their way into the lead, while Nigeria continue to threaten with their pace. Then suddenly, in the 57th minute, Argentina struck. Messi broke in midfield, & unleashed a superb through pass to the left-sided midfielder Di Maria, who had been advancing from deep. Di Maria latched on to the ball, took it towards the Nigerian penalty area before chipping the oncoming Nigerian goalkeeper. A superbly taken goal out of nothing, fantastic improvisation from the Argentines. A goal worthy of winning any match, & it indeed proved to be the winning goal. Not that the Nigerians were short of chances themselves. They fought admirably & gallantly, & came close to equalising, though again, the hesitancy & jittery Argentine defence contributed to some heart-stopping moments. Argentina also had a couple of chances to increase the lead, but Di Maria's strike proved to be enough to clinch the gold.

One should pay Nigeria huge credit & praise for their contribution to the Olympic football final. Beaten, but certainly not disgraced, the Africans can hold their heads high, & many of the Nigerian players will surely go on to good things at club level & at senior national team level. Perhaps Nigeria could have been victorious had they been playing anyone besides Argentina. Perhaps. But it's fair to say that overall, Argentina have been the best team at the Olympics & on that basis deserved to have won the gold.

Argentina simply produces the best young footballers in the world. They are the reigning champions at youth level, having won the last 2 World Youth Cups in 2005 & 2007. They have now won 2 successive Olympic football tournaments. Now all they need to do is to win at senior level - go for the 2010 World Cup - to confirm their football supremacy. There's no reason that Argentinian football should stop there. They should also try to make it a youth hat-trick by winning the 2009 World Youth Cup. They should also consider trying for an Olympic gold hat-trick by winning the football at the 2012 London Olympics - & perhaps they should try that without any overage players. Now that would certainly be nice!

Team Argentina

Team Nigeria

Angel Di Maria chips the Nigerian goalkeeper to score for Argentina

Argentina celebrates victory

The Argentina squad on the podium

Argentina - gold; Nigeria - silver; Brazil - bronze

Source of pics: various

Olympics - the relay bungles

Something amazing seemed to be happening on the athletics track at the Beijing Olympics, during the heats for the relays. Various teams got themselves disqualified during the heats thereby missing out on the finals. Both the US men & women's teams dropped their batons during the 4 x 100m relay heats. The French women's team did the same thing at the same relay. The Jamaican women's team likewise botched their own handover - the baton never changed hands. The British men didn't drop the baton, but got themselves disqualified for late/improper (or non-existent) baton handover between the third & final sprinter. There might have been other teams which got disqualified or "did not finish". Carnage on the track - teams just dropped like flies. It's quite strange that the relay debacles should happen at this Olympics - I don't remember so many botches at previous Olympics. Wonder what's the reason for that.....

All of that meant that those teams got disqualified, & miss out on the final races. Quite a number of those disqualified teams were considered medal contenders. That's a shame. In some ways, one might see it as devaluing the final events, as viewers miss out on seeing some of the best teams in action. And also, the absence of those disqualified teams made it easier for their rivals to win the final races. But then again, the other side of the argument is that every team competing in the heats had equal chances to qualify for the finals. So those that disqualified themselves out of finals contention (by dropping the baton or by committing some other fault) blew their chances & only had themselves to blame for that. I mean, what have they been doing during their training? You would have thought they would be able to do those things correctly. Get the basics right, do the baton handover correctly 3 times, & those teams should qualify if their times are fast enough.

I guess those disqualified teams & their athletics officials will need to do a comprehensive review of their preparation & training programs, including communication, co-ordination, tactics & baton handover techniques. Especially, it would seem, for the American teams - I mean, the fact that both the men & women relay teams suggests certain aspects of the American training program is a bit off (or was it mere coincidence?). Not surprising, then that the outcry at the baton flops is heard loudest from the US compared to the other countries. The Americans (or at least some of their officials & sections of the public), apparently expect nothing less than an avalanche of gold medals from all the track & field events. The US track & field president Doug Logan already promised that future American track & field teams will be better. Looks like we can expect a better & "meaner" bunch from the stars & stripes in years to come. Watch out, world.....

Dental appointments - arrrggghhhh

I had a dental appointment yesterday afternoon. Before the dentist did the scaling & thorough cleaning, he checked one of my bottom left tooth at my request (as it occasionally gave very slight pain). He recommended that the metallic filling in that left tooth be removed & a crown be inserted over that left tooth in place of the filling. This would mean that I needed 2 more dental appointments! Apart from that bottom left tooth, the other teeth were fine - dentist gave them the thumbs up. But still, I got those 2 more appointments.

So I went back again today for the first of the 2 extra appointments. The dentist removed the metallic filling from that left tooth, & inserted a temporary crown over it. He will arrange for a permanent crown to be prepared, & this will be inserted at the next appointment (he will call when the permanent crown is ready, & I will arrange for the next appointment). And my goodness, the whole process felt like construction works as a result of the drilling to remove the old metallic filling. No wonder nobody likes a dental visit. To be fair, I was given some anaesthetics before the drilling commenced, so that removed a lot of the pain. But still, I could feel some pain. And I prayed like never before, during all that drilling!

Getting the crown for the left tooth will cost a bomb. How much I pay will depend on how much (or little) my private health fund will cover; the less they cover, the more I will have to pay out of my own pocket. All of that will be looked into after the second appointment - I will pay up whatever I have to pay up. Not looking forward to that. Arrggghhh.....

As a result of today's dental appointment, the left side of my mouth was numb for the next few hours. So when I had lunch with Mark at Indooroopilly shopping centre, I ate my McDonald's meal exclusively through the right side of my mouth. After lunch, we watched the action film Taken, featuring Liam Neeson. Very good movie; I thoroughly enjoyed it. The numbness on the left side of my mouth mostly subsided by the time the movie finished - which was a good thing. Hopefully, there will be no more such dental work (i.e. the crown installation) needed in future....

My last day at work

Today was my last day at work. I resigned exactly 3 weeks ago, & could have actually left last week as I only needed to have given 2 weeks notice. But due to the considerable workload, I offered to stay on for another week (such a nice person, aren't I?). Hence I depart today. I will be having tomorrow (Thursday) & Friday off before starting my new position next Monday, i.e. effectively, I will be having a 4 day weekend. And goodness, I think I need as much of all that "free time" as I can get (got a dental appointment tomorrow, too). It'll be a while before I have another such long weekend.

The new position I will be taking up is with a global/multi-national chartered accounting & business advisory firm. It has offices in all the major Australian cities. I'm excited with the challenges that await me, & the various opportunities for career progression & advancement that I can get at the new firm.

My last day today was fairly quiet, though I had lots of tidying up to do before my departure. By way of farewell gifts, my teammate gave me 3 bags of chocolates & a pack of Staedtler stick ice ballpoint pens, all in a gift bag. She got me the chocolates because she knows I like them, & I always tend to buy the snack-sized chocolates every morning from staff social club. She said the chocolates were meant to be my "survival pack" for the first few weeks at my new job. She got me the pack of pens because because I previously said (half-jokingly) that I wanted to get an orange pen for work. Well, the pack contained 5 different coloured pens, one of which is orange. There is also a pink pen.....wonder what I can do with that??!

We had a farewell team lunch at Kingsleys (just me & my team) - a treat for the whole team from my boss. I had a steak, a 400g middle aged rump, medium-rare. The lunch went for 2 hours. It was good. Then, to continue the farewell theme, we had a late afternoon tea in the board room with the whole firm (not just my team). My boss handed me a David Jones gift card & a farewell card signed by my colleagues.

Overall, I had a mized feeling with my leaving the firm. As mentioned, I feel excited with new position, but a little sad to be leaving my colleagues, some of whom I got along with very well. I will miss working with my teammates. I will also miss the laughs & banter with teammates & also some colleagues outside my team. Oh well, since I will still be based in the CBD, I can always catch up with some of them over lunch. But anyway, I'm looking forward to what lies ahead with my career. I hope the move goes well.





the gift bag (farewell gifts from a teammate)










what's inside the gift bag (the chocs are meant to be my "survival pack" for my first few weeks at my new job)









farewell gifts from work - David Jones gift card & signed farewell card

RIP Francesco Sensi

Francesco Sensi, the president of Italian football club AS Roma, died a couple of days ago of respiratory failure. He was 82.

Mr Sensi had been club president of AS Roma since 1993. He is said to be really dedicated to his beloved club. He is a true Romanista, & Roma fans credit him as the man significantly responsible for helping bring success to the club.

During Sensi's presidency, AS Roma won 1 Serie A championship (2000/2001), 2 Italian Cups (2006/2007 & 2007/2008), & 2 Italian Super Cups (2000/2001 & 2006/2007). The Serie A championship success in 2000/2001 was particularly cherished by Sensi. After cross-city rivals Lazio won the Serie A in 1999/2000, Sensi splashed out big money to lure big-name players like Argentinians Gabriel Batistuta & Walter Samuel, & Brazilian Emerson to the club. That allowed Roma (who were then coached by Fabio Capello) to win the Serie A during the 2000/2001 season in fine style, ensuring that the trophy remained in the Italian capital.

No doubt Sensi will be sadly missed by his family, friends, loved one & the Roma fans. A great loss to Roma & Italian football.

RIP Francesco Sensi.

Michael Phelps gets 8 of the best

Just earlier today, I witnessed history being made at the Beijing Olympics. US swimmer Michael Phelps (no further introduction needed) won yet another gold medal, courtesy of the US men's swimming team's victory in the 4 x 100m medley relay. That was gold medal number 8 for Phelps at the Beijing Olympics, & it made him the record holder of the most gold medals at a single Olympics. In the process, he surpassed the 7 gold medals won by Mark Spitz (also an American swimmer) at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Congratulations, Mr Phelps.

What a phenomenal achievement, this. What a freak! Michael Phelps should really get a giant medal cabinet, if he doesn't already have one, because he also won a stack of medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics (6 gold, 2 bronze). Not to mention various other medals at World Championships & various other swimming competitions.

Phenomenal & remarkable it may be, he needed some luck along the way, plus some help from teammates. In the 4 x 100m free relay on Day 2, his teammate Lezak very narrowly touched the wall to secure victory, ahead of the French team by just 0.08 seconds. Then, Milorad Cavic, the Serbian swimmer born in the US, gave Phelps a huge run for his money in the 100m butterfly, before Phelps won by a whisker (0.01 seconds) to secure gold medal number 7 & equal Mark Spitz.

Of course, to pull off such an unprecedented feat, some good fortune is needed, but that should not take anything away from Phelps' achievement. And to think he's only 23 years old. What's he going to do now? Where does he go from here? By the London 2012 Olympics, Phelps will be 27, which is still young. Is he going to to get 8 gold medals again?? Or will he go for 9 gold medals? How about 10? Will he even still be in swimming by then? Goodness knows what Phelps will decide to do. Oh well, whatever he does in future, we should salute his present achievements. Once again, congrats, Michael Phelps!

Close Enough to Kill (by Beverly Barton)

It's funny to think that I almost missed out on this book. I was just about to walk away from one of those the revolving book rack at the Indooroopilly library when this book caught my attention. I pulled it off the rack, had a glance at the back, & knew straight away that I had to borrow it. And I'm glad I did.

"Close Enough to Kill" is set in Adams County, Alabama. It is a quiet & peaceful area, until a few young women are murdered one by one. The pattern leading to the murders is the same - the assailant would sent the victim a series of gifts & nude sketches of the victim, the assailant then stalks & kidnaps the victim, & the victim would then be killed. A serial killer is at large. But who would perpetrate the killings & why?

That is the task that confronts Sheriff Bernie Granger & her newly elected chief deputy Jim Norton. Bernie Granger is a third generation sheriff in the county - her father also previously held the post. Jim Norton was a former detective with the Memphis Police, just coming off a divorce, & accepted the job at Adams County so that he can be located close to his son. Aside from all those gifts received by the murder victims, Granger & Norton had to work with precious few clues to try to hunt down the twisted serial killer. As the story progressed, the serial killer took a very personal step - he stalked someone close to Granger. Both Granger & Norton worked very well together, & as the story progressed, their relationship developed at both professional & personal level.

Terrific book! Very thrilling. Beverly Barton did well in the way she moved the storyline from one victim onto another, & in the way she withheld the identity of the serial killer until the very end. In fact, the storyline left the killer's identity so open ended, that it could be any of the men in Adams County. I did manage to guess who the killer is, but must admit that this is more to a lucky guess than judgement.

I would recommend the book as a good read. And I shall certainly look forward to more Beverly Barton books in the future.

Visit to the Doulos ship (for the last time)

Have u heard about the Doulos ship?

For those who don't know about Doulos, the ship is world famous. It is owned by a private, non-profit charitable organisation in Germany. Apparently, it is the oldest ocean-going passenger liner & it carries the world's largest floating bookstore. It has been touring many countries worldwide over the years, sharing God's Word & helping people in need. Many many people have come on board the ship for tours, programmes & of course, to visit the floating bookstore. The international crew & staff of the ship come from many countries. In a nutshell, they spend time on the ship serving God. Do visit the Doulos website if u want to read more about the Doulos: http://www.doulos.org/

After having a fish & chip lunch at A Salt & Battery after church today, I went with a few church friends to visit the Doulos ship at Portside Wharf, Hamilton. It is in Brisbane until 18/8/2008, with the next destination being Sydney. The ship is doing a last world tour, because it will be retired in 2010. So for us, it represented a last chance to visit the ship. Most of the church friends I went with are from the Unicell study group (which is mainly made up of international university students); I was one of the few non-Unicellers. This was actually my second time on the Doulos. My first visit was in 1989 (if I recall correctly), when the ship was in Singapore & I was staying in JB (which is just across Singapore) at that time. Back in 1989 (or was it 1988?), I went with my family, & I believe my parents bought some books. Man, talking about the late 1980s bring back childhood memories - ahh, those were the days......

Anyway, today, I didn't actually do a tour of the ship, because the tours were all fully booked out. Instead, with a gold coin donation, I had the chance to visit that famous floating bookstore. I was happy just to be able to be on the ship, even if only to see the bookstore. From memory, the bookshelves were the same as it was in 1989.

The bookstore was packed, & it was really good to see so many people. I bought a few books. The books were priced in Doulos international currency units (100 currency units = AUD3.50). The books I bought are as follows, for a total cost of AUD24.50 (see the pic below):

101 Ways to Find God's Purpose for Your Life (by Natalie Gillespie)
101 Ways to Enjoy God (by Candy Paull)
Sought by Grace (by R Kent Hughes)
24 Keys That Bring Complete Success (by Paul J Meyer)
Low cost cooking (by Trident Express International)

After the book shopping, I quenched my thirst with a can of Mello Yello, a drink I haven't had in ages. Then a few of us went to the other side of the ship & sat down to relax & enjoy the view of the waterfront. Then when we departed, a crew member handed me a few materials, including a tract named "Living Water", which talked about the Gospel of John with some notes.

Overall, it was a very nice day, the visit to the Doulos was very satisfactory. The ship will be retired/decommissioned in 2 years time, as new new SOLAS (Safety Of Lives At Sea) rules will be implemented in 2010. A new ship will then continue the mission carried out by Doulos over the years. It's rather sad to think that we will never see the Doulos again. It is special to the lives of many people worldwide that have been touched by its crew. But at least there's that new ship to continue the good work of Doulos. God bless Doulos, & its crew & staff.





The books that I bought from the Doulos bookstore (ohh, yeah, there's the Mello Yello can, too)

Beijing Olympics opening ceremony

Wow! Brilliant! Or to put it in Mandarin, hen hao! The opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics was magnificent! Plenty of performers, plenty of drums, plenty of entertainment. The central theme was the display of ancient Chinese history, art & culture. There was the giant Chinese scroll, the drummer & opera performers. There was also children donning various Chinese costumes, too. There's also a little Chinese girl who sang Ode to the Motherland. All the performances were presented in a very creative & imaginative manner. I dunno how they pulled it off, but they did it so brilliantly. Millions of Chinese worldwide would have been proud of the display.

The Olympic song was performed by China's Liu Huan (apparently, a popular male pop singer in his country) & UK's Sarah Brightman (nice to see a Caucasian sing in Mandarin!).

After all that performances, came the traditional entry parade of athletes (each nation with a flagbearer). In keeping with Olympic tradition, Greece entered first & host nation (China) entered last. Apart from that, the order of entry is different this time round, because the teams didn't enter in order of the Roman alphabet. Instead, teams entered in order of number of strokes in the first Chinese character of the country's name, starting from lowest number of strokes. That meant Australia was one of the last nations to enter. As always, the parade took ages!

After the parade of nations finally finished, came the speeches by the Presidents & the torch relay & the lighting of the flame cauldron. And then, the spectacular fireworks came! Very spectacular. I've never seen fireworks like that. It was magnificent. I think overall, this is the best opening ceremony I've ever seen of any sports event (including past Olympics, World Cups & other major international football tournaments like the Euros).

So, with the grand, majestic opening ceremony of the Olympics, China has announced to the world that it has really arrived to prominence on the world stage. Let the games begin!

Beijing Olympics about to begin

In a few moments time, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics will start, to kick off the 2008 Summer Olympics. Millions of viewers worldwide will be tuning in, plus of course the 90,000+ spectators in the superb, modernistic "bird's nest" Beijing National Stadium. I do wonder what the Chinese organisers have in store for us all. I think they will give us a memorable ceremony. Oh well, we shall see, we shall see......

The Olympics will hopefully be a good one. I wouldn't say I will follow all the events particularly closely. But I'll try to catch whatever I can. Whatever they show on TV (be it swimming, diving, athletics, whatever the sport), if I happen to be free, I will watch. As a football fan, though, I'll definitely keep a keen eye on the football tournament. I hope Argentina's Olympic football team will win a second successive gold medal, & retain its Olympic crown that it won in Athens 4 years ago. The football tournament is largely restricted to under-23 players (i.e. players who this year turn 23 & under), with each team allowed 3 overage players. Winning the gold medal again will be extremely difficult for Argentina. Its arch-rivals, Brazil, are very very motivated to win its first football gold (yes, it's true, Brazil so far have not won Olympic gold at football). Other strong teams will also be lurking, like Italy, the Netherlands, & the strong challenge from Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast). It will be tough.

Another thing worth following is the US swimmerMichael Phelps, with the big question looming: can Phelps win 8 gold medals? There's been much hype as to whether he can achieve this feat. If he does, then he will have won the most gold medals at a single Olympics, therefore surpass the 7 gold medals achieved by fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Oh well, let the ceremony happen already & let the games begin!

Life choices

Life boils down to 2 choices:

Should I get a dog...?


...or have children?


............. Have both, they mix and it's more fun.

Reinaldo back at Roar! (plus more on Qld Roar)

He's here, he's gone, now he's back again! That's the story with Reinaldo, the Brazilian forward who played for Queensland Roar last season. After the last A-League season ended, he left to join a Korean professional football club, Busan I'Park, wanting a taste of football in Asia. Apparently, after 11 weeks, he & Busan mutually agreed to part ways. From what I heard, Reinaldo's wife & child could not settle to life in Korea. So, Reinaldo returned to the Roar just a few days ago, well in time for the upcoming 2008/2009 season. Welcome back, man!

I know my good friend TC will not have been excessively impressed with the news - he has been very critical of Reinaldo regularly missing chances & not scoring enough goals in the past couple of seasons. Well, for the 2008/2009 season, I think Reinaldo will be kept on his toes. That's because the Roar have signed a couple of attacking players: Sergio Van Dijk & Charlie Miller. Van Dijk is a Dutchman (who apparently has some Indonesian heritage) who has played in the lower divisions in the Netherlands. He is a forward in the same mould as Reinaldo, & so will be in direct competition with the Brazilian. Miller is a former Scotland international who has played for Glasgow Rangers & Dundee United, & was playing for Belgian club Lierse before signing for the Roar. He was a former teammate of current Roar captain Craig Moore, when Moore was playing his club football for Rangers. Miller plays as an attacking midfielder (I think he can also play as a forward).

Van Dijk & Miller have impressed during pre-season, & they replace Simon Lynch (released) & Ante Milicic (who has gone to play for Malaysian club Shahzan Muda FC). Van Dijk & Miller are said to be better than Lynch & Milicic. Let's hope this is the case.

Other key departures from the Roar include defender Ognenovski (signed for Adelaide United) & Brazilian midfielder Marcinho (released). Ognenovski will be missed, as he has generally played consistently well for the club. But I think the Roar can replace him - they have taken on the youngster Luke DeVere (who I heard is capable), & I believe Ben Griffin can do a job at centre back. Marcinho is not nearly as consistent as Ognenovski, & will not be missed as much. I personally would have kept him at least for 1 more season, as I think he has shown enough to suggest he still has something to offer the club. But nevertheless, he is gone & the attacking midfield replacement is Charlie Miller.

Aside from the players already mentioned above, the squad is pretty settled. They have 2 reliable goalkeepers, Reddy & McMaster. In defence, they still have Seo, McCloughlan & Packer. The flank midfielders, Murdocca (right) & McKay (left) are still there. Tiatto can play left back or left midfield - I would start him at left back, given his defensive qualities. Hopefully, the young wingers will continue to develop - Kruse (right) & Zullo (left). The speedster Minniecon will start the season as a reserve striker, although I think he can also play as a right wing. Qld Roar have also brought in a couple of youngsters, Tommy Oar (left wing) & Tim Smits (striker).

On the whole, I'm happy with the Qld Roar squad. But feel they could & should have also signed a central midfield anchorman, because I feel the Roar are a bit short of established central midfielders. As I blogged in the past, the player I would have liked to fill that spot is Adelaide's Jonas Salley. Salley, who is born in Ivory Coast, recently became an Australian citizen, & desires to play international football with Australia. I believe he could be good enough for that. He played very well against Qld Roar last season, & would be an asset to the Roar midfield. In fact, I cannot remember any opposition midfielder who impressed more against the Roar last season than Salley did. (Oh, by the way, Salley is a Christian - he prays at the sidelines before every match. Good on him).

Qld Roar's pre-season results have been mixed. They beat the visiting reserve team from Brazilian club Palmeiras 3-1 last month in a friendly match at Suncorp Stadium. They also competed in the Pre-Season Challenge Cup (which featured all the A-League teams), playing 3 games without winning any - drew 2, lost 1, therefore finishing last in the group. It would have been nice to have done better, but in the greater scheme of things, it's better to lose some pre-season matches & learn from the mistakes before the season kicks off, than to win pre-season matches & not do so well in the season proper.

Qld Roar finished fourth in the league last season, & in the playoffs, they went as far as the preliminary final, but lost to the eventual A-League champions Newcastle Jets. Hopefully, this season would offer, at the very least, much of the same. For the 2008/2009 season, I think the Roar will finish third in the league behind Sydney FC & Melbourne Victory. And hopefully, the Roar will do better in the playoffs & reach the grand final. Go the Roar!