2009 resolutions

2009's just round the corner, and this is the time to whip up a new resolution, before i forget it a few weeks later, like what happened for 2008 haha...

so, here goes :
1.Be more patient. (thanks to suggestion by senior ! ;-) )
2.Be less hs (cut down on xxx sites...hehe... :p)
3.Be more hardworking (much more, and reduce playing mindless games :D)

hope everyone achieved most, if not all of their 2008 goals. And wish everyone all the best in 2009 ! :D

Ip Man

Watched the kung fu movie “Ip Man” starring Donnie Yen.

All in, a nice movie, with lots of actions and fighting, suitable for kung fu fans like me :D
was hoping for a more detailed story on the legendary master Yip Man, but then again, too much story telling will mean less time for actions...so...there it is.

Heard there's a sequel, and am waiting for it :D hopefully it'll tell more about the master's adventures in Hong Kong, where he first taught to Restaurant Worker's Association, and how he adapted his teachings to suit various individuals, which developed into different branches of Wing Chun today.
However, Grandmaster Yip Man always maintained that there is no different “branches”, but just various style of interpretation of the One True Way. No one branch is completely wrong, or right. It all depends on which style will help you progress more. It's not easy to get a good master, and its even more difficult to get a good student ( who will practice consistently and diligently :) ).

so, there it is, a must watch for the kung fu fans, else, just skip it :)

fren's wedding

Attended a uni fren's wedding dinner, and happy to meet other frens there :) and surprised to learn a coursemate fren already got 3 kids ! How time flies ! And his eldest doter looked a bit like tomato, and no, i didnt have any pervert tots :)

can still remember the conversation i had with my uni fren, shortly after her breakup :
me : so, when you gonna pakto again?
She : not ever, cos if guys can be trusted, pigs can climb trees (男人信得过，母猪会上树)...

few months later, i saw her holding hands with a guy (her present husband), and called her :

me : hi, i saw a pig climbing tree the other day...
she : hahaha.....

her housemates(which includes my coursemates) were at the same table, and we reminicended on old times, where we used to have all nite drinking, smoking and dancing parties. Once we were so drunk we guys even took of shirts, and i still have some photos, but those are strictly for private viewing though, hehe.. :P

on the way back, heard this song on the radio, “Dream a Little dream of me” :

Stars shining bright above you;
Night breezes seem to whisper …– love you?
Birds singing in the sycamore tree.
Dream a little dream of me.

Say nighty-night and kiss me;
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me.
While I'm alone, blue as can be,
Dream a little dream of me.

Stars fading but I linger on, dear---
Still craving your kiss.
I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear,
Just saying this...

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you---
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.
But in your dreams, whatever they be,
Dream a little dream of me.

Nite and sweet dreams to all :D

jap movie - love & honor

Saw the Jap movie “Love & Honor” by Takuya Kimura (木村 拓哉 ), its about a samurai, who works as a poison taster for the daimyo(lord),and he hates his boring and routine job, and complains to his wife, and said that he planned to resign, and start a school teaching kendo to kids.
He plans to teach differently, emphaiszing on the kids individual physique and character,so that the kids will each have their own unique style. (i like this idea :) )

his wife and his conversations went something like :
wife : i tot u shud be honored, as you get to taste the food in front of the lord, b4 the lord does !
him : haha....stupid woman ! i only get to taste the food at a dark corner, b4 the food gets delivered to
his lordship....
wife : you ask me not to ask about your job, and when i do ask, you said i'm stupid
him : (hugging wife and whispering into her ears) stupid (slaps wife on the butt, and goes off to work)

though set in the medieval japan, we can still relate to it in modern times. Employer stuck in a routine day job...boring, with low pay....and wife doesnt understands what he does, and vice versa (reminds me of not understanding Liliane job & senior's job :P).

one day, he got poisoned while tasting food, and his lordship immediately ordered the castle gates to be locked, with no one coming in and going out. After investigations, it is found that the food poisoning is caused by using a fish which is out of season. If the fish is taken in summer, it is safe. But in winter, the fish will be a bit poisonous. The lord decided that the cook are innocent, but the chief steward had to be responsible for choosing the wrong fish as the menu. And by being responsible, it meant the chief steward had to commit harakiri(suicide) ! Man, such culture !

Back to our main actor...he got blinded by the incident, and his colleagues came to disturb his wife, and he finally cannot tahan and faced his molesting colleague in a sword duel, and cut off the hand of the hamsap guy. As the guy felt ashamed by being defeated by a blind guy, he too, committed harakiri.

Quite a nice story :)

badminton netplay

played with frens today, and fren (chee onn) taught me net play. the technique is to slice the shuttle, and make it cross over the net. if we hit too hard, the shuttle will fly too high, and suceptible to smash by opponent. i also notice that if i bring my hand in a wider arc, the shuttle can float further to the side.

happy net play ! :D

badminton footwork

Continued my badminton lessons today, and learnt about footwork.

To move in front to the left or right, step out with left foot first, followed by a lunge/big step with right foot. I guess this is the style for right handers.

To move behind, step out with right foot first, then left, and finally right if the shuttle is sent to the base line. Smash and shift your right foot forward and left foot backward at the same time. Apparently this is to give us greater smashing power, and faster response time after smashing.

Hope it is of use to your game :)

case 3 part 7 (end)

Part 7 – Conclusion

I woke up, and was dazed for a few moments, before recalling that i fell asleep on the sofa last night. Sitting up, i stretched my joints. “craaack, craack..” the neck joints, shoulders, and knees cried out. After doing a round of sun salutation(too lazy for more) half heartedly, i sat down to meditate on the case. It wasnt long before the solution floated to me.

Picking up my phone, i dialed up James.
“Yawn...wassup?” he answered sleepily.
“Bro, get the 3 suspects to meet us below Block B, and ask your men to do this, and this...” i said as i gave out instructions, before jumping into my car and sped towards Tri Towers.

Everyone was there, and i checked on Jame's men to give them some final fine tunings. I cleared my throat before launching my findings.
“Each and everyone of the suspect has a motive to kill Mr. Kan. Faye Lou, for Kan robbing his girlfriend, Kathy. Kathy, for Kan cheating her feelings and money. And finally Rachel, for the will Kan left behind in her name.” i summarized the motives.
“The question now left is : whodunnit? Which led us to the next question – how did Kan died?” i asked aloud.
“One thing that puzzles me, is the cape he's wearing. What is the function of the cape? Seems like nobody knows, or wants, to give me the truth. And i have to find it out myself.” i sweeped my glance over them as i spoke.
“What i will do next, is to get the police to tie a cape to a dummy, and threw them down from the respective rooms of the 3 suspects. The dummies are labelled A, B and C, to denote the apartments of Faye, Kathy and Rachel respectively. ( Note : this plot is plagiarised from Conan the detective comic series.)” i explained my experiment.
With a signal from me, and the strong easternly wind blowing, the policemen threw down the dummies.
Plop, plop, plop.
The 3 dummies with cape dropped down.
“We'll see what is the label on the dummy below Block B. And that person is the murderer.” i continued.
Only a dummy with cape was below block B. One is below Block C, the other beyond Block C, blew by the strong eastern wind.
Walking over to the dummy, i turned over the label.
It read : A.
I looked at Faye Lou, as 2 policemen seized him. He just hung his head down in defeat, mumbling “How come? Why?” over and over again.

At the coffee shop in the police station later, i explained the reason to them.
“Its about geography. Faye made use of the recent change in weather to frame Kathy. As the Tri Towers is facing North, and there's a strong easternly wind blowing these few days, it would be easy for him to “divert” the body of Kan Asai from Block A to Block B. That is why he need to put on a cape for the body of Kan.” i dissected.
“And Faye was able to mask this, making use of the fact that its a kinky hobby of Kan to wear cape for his “activities”. Nice try, but not smart enough.” i concluded, and drank up my cup of coffee.

That night, i was playing online texas hold em poker, when my phone rang. Muttering a curse, i answered it.
“Wai? You cari siapa?” i spoke roughly.
“Congratulazioni, Sticky. Glad that you cleared us from the case.” the cold steely voice said. “Till next time, buona notte.” “Click”
Man, why cant i have some peace after each case?


Note : Congratulazioni = congratulations (in Italian)
Buona notte = good night (in Italian)

coming up next : case #4 – Kidnapped...