Welcoming the Year of the Dog

It's been a tough year of the chicken. So many things happened so quickly and today is the first day of the dog already. Started welcoming the year of the dog on Thursday with a traditional 10 course lunch at Lao Beijing. It was meant as a farewell lunch for my colleague but it turned out to be a Chinese New Year Dinner with the yu sheng as the first course. The food was fantastic especially the Wuxi Spare ribs and the hot and spicy soup. We were so stuffed after the lunch that we only limped back to office at about 3pm. It also turned out to be the most expensive lunch for most of us. Costing a grand total of $44 per person, it was really expensive but rather worth it!

Luckily on Friday, we had a free lunch from the office. Consisting of the yu sheng again, the buffet was a great welcome after our Lao Beijing's escapade. Got to talk to some of the office colleagues as well without the hustle and bustle of work. Great bonding session!

Chinese New Year have always been a rather muted affair for me since I came back from overseas. It's good to catch up on a good break and just relax and read. I have gotten 2 excellent books: Freakonomics and The World is Flat. In fact, Freakonomics was so good that I finished it in a week. To all avid readers, it is really worth the read. Understanding things like why did the crime rates suddenly dropped in the 1990s, what do teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common, what are the traits of a ku klux klan member, etc, etc. Just started on The World is Flat and it's quite an intriguing read so far. Will update more soon!

Svengate

Sven, Sven, Sven. The song sung by a couple of jokers to commerate Sven-Goran Eriksson appointment as England's coach in Feb 2001 (In fact, I think the song charted at No 8 in the British Chart). So what has Sven gone wrong to force him to step down 2 years early from his contract? Has Sven not learned from his predeccesors (read Glenn Hoddle, Terry Venables) who had been forced out of the job due to their big mouth?

Technically, Sven may have been one of the most successful England coach ever. With wealth of experience from Italy, he was widely touted as the saviour to the England team after their humilating exit in Euro 2000 and losing 1-0 to the Germans in the last game at Wembly. He did well thrashing Spain 4-0 in his first game on the 28th of Feb 2001. His best victory must definitely be the 5-1 thrashing of Germany in Munich and managed to scrapped to World Cup 2002 by a last minute goal by David Beckham. Thereafter, results have been successful but not entirely spectacular.

One of the greatest complain of the England job is that most people are capable of picking the almost the same squad Sven is picking but why pay him millions to do that? The second main complain was that he is Swedish. For the birhtplace of football to employ a foreigner as coach, it is totally unacceptable to most Brits. The third and main complain is Sven's personal life. It all started with Ulrika Johnson. Ulrika who? Well she is a famous host in UK and somehow the papers started linking them together. The public accepted Sven and then came the secretary story. Sven allegedly had sexual contacts with a secretary in the FA. Still the public was tolerant. The last straw was when he fell for the oldest trick in the book. Dispicable but yet greatly welcome by the public, the fake sheikh act had enticed tons of people ranging from royalty to celebrities to dig up any dirt. So Sven's position became untenable and thus adios after the World Cup.

So what is next for England? Will they appoint an English manager? I sincerely hope so and maybe gambling on young talents such as Stuart Pearce may revived the squad. Nevertheless, I am still supporting England for the World Cup.

PS: Never really like Eriksson! For one, he walked away from Blackburn when he had already promised to leave Lazio for Blackburn. Bleah!

Bring on Superbowl

Ok, the whole of USA is now probably gearing up for the biggest TV event of the year, SUPERBOWL XL. The event when people starts learning Roman numerals and when the whole nation stopped in track (had a horrible experience in USA in 2003 when the plumber refused to come after the end of the game. Btw, the Bucs won that year).

Superbowl XL will be staged in my so-called home state of Michigan. In fact, Detroit have been preparing for the Superbowl since 2002 with the new stadium for the crappy Lions. So what are we expecting in Superbowl XL since wardrobe malfunctioned was banned in 2004. Last year was the conservative Paul McCartney, so not too sure who it will be this time.

Let's talk about the main game itself. It will be an interesting matchup between

VS

Pittsburgh Steelers have always been the powerful house winning 4 consecutive Superbowls in the 70s and managed to go 13 games unbeaten last season with their rookie quarterback of Ben Roethelisburger. This season they have broken all records by being the first team ever to win three road games to reach Superbowl.

The Seahawks have been the perennial team doing well in the regular season but falling at the first hurdle in the last few seasons. With Shaun Alexander being the top rusher in the country this time, it is encouraging that the Seahawks are finally proven their worth.

Ok, so both teams that have overcome the odds to reach the 40th Superbowl. Let's place our bets now. Mine is on the Steelers!

End of the Dynasty

Well, the New England Patriots are finally beaten! 10 consecutive victories in playoff games stretching all the way back to 2000 have finally been ended by the Denver Broncos. Somehow the Patriots were the their usual self during the whole season. They were not consistent with their form and even lost to lowly opposition. The team is practically the same as that that won the last 2 Superbowls, so why the indifference season?

Well the main reason could be that teams no longer are afraid to play in Foxboro Field (New England home ground). Teams are also better prepared for the Patriots and Tom Brady's way of passing. Teams like the Broncos are defence minded and thus stand a better chance against the attack-minded Patriots.

So, what is next for the Patriots? Well for a start, they will have a higher pick in the next NFL draft but the core team must remain intact. How the Patriots play will largely depend on Brady's form and also some of the old timers like Vrabel, Branch, etc.

I am actually contemplating taking leave for Superbowl on the 6th of Feb. The two divisional playoff seems intriguing with the Steelers playing the Broncos and the Panthers playing the Seahawks. Dream final: Broncos and Seahawks in Detroit, Michigan.

Charlie bites the dust!

Charles Kennedy, the well-respected leader of the Liberal Democrats have bitten the dust. Firstly I felt sad by the circumstances that he had to resign. He had took over the leadership in 1999 from Lord Paddy Ashdown and steered the Lib Dems (traditionally the pitiful third party in UK) to a respectable alternative to the current Conservative opposition. His smooth Scottish accent and alternative thinking had lead people in Britain to believe that there is a real alternative to the current Labour and Tory parties.

His key policies were to tax the higher income earners up to 40% and use that amount to fund public projects. Sounds reasonable at the very least but somehow he promised a lot from that extra tax income. He was also famous for not supporting Britain's entry into the Iraq war and had always felt that tuition fees should be scrapped altogether. These are some real initiatives but getting 60 seats in the parliament is not going to be a huge influence on the 659 seats in the British Parliament.

Charlie Kennedy was not afraid to appear on slapstick shows like Have I got news for you to make a fool of himself and have a laugh at himself. The way he resigned due to his confession of alcoholism was uncalled for and I was really surprised that his front beach team ditched him. I am particularly disappointed by Sir Menzies Campbell and Simon Hughes who were Kennedy's key sidekicks but alas maybe the desire for leadership was too much to give up.

Well, now that Kennedy has stepped aside, the most likely leader would be Sir Menzies Campbell. He was the foreign spokesperson for the Lim Dems and has been widely regarded as a father figure in the party. Some young blood such as Lembit Opik should have a run as well since the next election is only due in 2010.

Busy Start to the New Year

Well, I thought it would be a relaxing start to the New Year. I have been religiously checking my email even while I was away from work for the past 2 weeks, but I was totally overwhelmed by the work that came in when I first stepped into office on Tuesday. The first few shocks were manpower changes which really occurred out of the blue. Was really quite disappointed and sad abt the changes but I guess I have to make full use of whatever opportunities available.

Well I am excited about the new areas that I will be venturing into and hope to make the best out of the new year. Will try not to complain too much in the upcoming year as well :-)

PS: Have signed up for the next 10 sessions of yoga too...hope that will help me relax.

Quiet Countdown

Well, end of 2005 and in comes 2006. Spend a quiet evening at Eilyn's place to countdown to the new year. Even though I was still recovering from my operation, I had a good time. Was nice to meet my JC classmates, and I attached the group picture. Hopefully next year will have a quiet countdown too instead of the usual hustle and bustle!