32 teams set for battle in 2010 World Cup

Europe
Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland

Africa
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa (hosts)

Asia
Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea

South America
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay

North & Central America
Caribbean, Honduras, Mexico, USA

Oceania
New Zealand   
     
Joy and Emotions 
Finally, the hectic and competitive world cup qualifying rounds have ended, the 32 teams that are heading to the World Cup in South Africa next year have finalized. Congratulations to Slovenia, France, Portugal, Greece and Uruguay who made it through in the playoff. Besides, it was also a heartbreaking night for teams who were so close to qualifying for world cup. We can see how devastated it was for Republic of Ireland where they claimed that they were robbed, and cheated by Thiery Henry's hand of god. There were also the end of a host of fantastic runs by one of the most respectful coach- Guus Hiddink, who knocked England out of the last European Cup. Despite this, there is also a good news for him as he will now become a wanted man. Teams like Real Madrid, Liverpool or Man City will probably be targeting him after some dissatisfying season so far.

We have seen the some strong nations such as Spain, England, Brazil and Holland all qualified without much trouble. While there are also some of the traditional powerhouse nations like Argentina, France, Portugal struggled and just manage to make it. However, when it comes to the world cup, the result is the bottom line, it does not border how well you play in the process of making it. And I heard of a jinx where the teams who did very well in qualifying round will struggle in the actual world cup. Is it true? Well, we will see. So, for the 32 teams who have qualified, let us look forward to a wonderful world cup next year!

12/1 EPL Talk

It has been frustrating after seeing Liverpool were held to a goalless 0-0 draw by relegation battler Stoke City. Haihzzz, I wonder why Liverpool just don't know how to play against Stoke, they can't really penetrate into their tight defence. TWICE 0-0? What's happening man? And why the hell Rafa put all his strikers on the bench who are capable of doing so? Torres, Keane, Babel were on the bench and Kuyt played alone up front, which was really an ineffective tactic.

On the next day, Chelsea were surprisingly thrashed 3-0 by the devils. That means Man Utd are now having the upperhand in the title race with 2 games in hand. While Chelsea's title ambition was seriously "damaged" after the miserable defeat. What is happening to Chelsea now? Scolari is now destroying Chelsea's reputation which was established by Jose Mourinho( I believe Chelsea fans must be missing him, and my dad did! A LOT!!!) Recently we have been talking about Chelsea during Morinho's Era: They were superb, these are what we realised:

1) Never lose a game at home in the league(86 matches unbeaten)
2) Have a rock solid defence, never give any chances to their opponents to come back when they score first (only the super on form Barca did that in CL)
3) No way they will concede 3 goals in a game
4) Treated their fierce rivals- Man U & Arsenal like a piece of cake!(always can beat them comfortably, thrash them, or "play with them"....etc)
5) Against Liverpool, League- 100% win!, only struggled against Rafa's strategy in cup competition
6)Good at set pieces(attack & defend)

However, After Scolari took over, everything seems to have gone... Lets see what happened to them:
1)Lost their unbeaten home record
2)Score 1st means nothing(even at stamford bridge Arsenal came from 1 goal down to beat them)
3)Thrashed 3-0 by Man United
4)Afraid of their title contenders.... Had lost to all 3 of them!
5)Poor at set pieces.( always concede corners)

Gambling！How do you perceive this word?

Genting Highlands, what a nice place to visit. There are indoor and outdoor theme park, hotels and most importantly- the Casino! Most gamblers willing to go up there just for gambling, while some think gambling is rubbish! Even Singapore are now building Casino to attract people in the future. So, is gambling really bad? Or it can bring u wealth? Lets see:

I remember the famous ah wong(郭晋安) said this before in one of his mahjong movie:
A) 有赌未必输，没赌就肯定不会赢
"Gambling may not necessarily lose, but not gambling sure will not win"

Then, the famous bao zhou gong (元华）said something like this to encourage someone to gamble in "kungfu mahjong":
B) 小赌可以养家，大赌可以白手起家
"Small gambling can maintain family life, big gambling can start from scratch"

While most people who are against gambling would say so:
C) 赌博就等于把钱丢进海里(把钱白白浪费掉）
"Gambling is equivalent to throwing priceless money into the sea" (wasting money)

However, Ah Lek(陈百祥) denied the previous statement and further pointed out the drawback of gambling in "kungfu mahjong 3" with this statement!!!:
D) 赌博不只是等于把钱丢进海里，而是等于全家跳海！(找死）
"Gambling is not only equivalent to throwing money into the sea, it is equivalent to the whole family jumping into the sea. (commit suicide)"

Apart from that, I find this phase below in the "kungfu mahjong" pretty suitable:
E) 小赌可以怡情，把赌博作为职业是不会成功的
"Small gamble can bring pleasure, gambling as a career will not be successful"

Interesting? Which one do u think is the best phrase? Which one u like the most?(A to E) Are u for or against? Leave your comments down and let Dion knows what do you think...

I am now officially 18!!!

30 December, is the date I am most familiar with.... coz it is my birthday....haha... Today, I am officially 18, therefore it represents maturity and approaching adulthood. Don't have to worry about being underage anymore......wakaka...

However, a day before my birthday, I was stunned by a breaking news. My all time idol /my favorite footballer- Steven Gerrard(a.k.a. Liverpool's inspirational captain fantastic) was arrested by police for involving in a bar brawl. WTH MAN! I really do not believe he will really beat up other people coz I do think he is such a gentle and polite guy. Just keep fingers crossed and hope that he will he alright.

Well, tell u an interesting story about me. 18 years ago, my mother received a huge present during her birthday- and the present was me... haha.... So, my mum and I celebrate birthday on the same day and today we celebrated with "bunch of monkeys". This bunch of monkeys refers to my mother's ex- student, where their zodiac is monkey, they came to our house for celebration. Here are some of the pictures:

Boxing Day outing- Time Square

Where: Time Square
When: 26th December 2008
What: "Boxing day"
Activity: Karaoke, Bowling, Arcade
Note: Boxing here doesn't mean the sport of fighting and punching with gloves, Boxing Day is the national holiday after Christmas Day in England & Wales

As most people knew, "There are always problems and obstacles in our life, even if one of them is solved, there are still more to come, and it surrounds us forever....."

I always wonder why I always encountered some problems & obstacles whenever I go outing with friends. This time around, my previous obstacle did not even turn up. HAHA.... Oh, NO! I can't be too happy! Coz I am realizing the statement above is getting more and more appropriate to me.

This time, it was Mr LD before our karaoke session. haih... lazy to describe bout it.... He just refused to pay the price for karaoke. Fortunately, it wasn't a tough nut to crack and finally we came out with a solution. (No offence mr LD)

After singing, it's bowling time. As usual we are a bunch of youngsters with high ambitions. Our ultimate goal is always to break the current World Record (WR). Let us take a look at it first........
Yup, it's 203(on the top right corner), set by Dion Cheah on 18th August

Talk is easy, but to actually break it, it's almost an impossible task. However, today, one guy proved that the WR could not stood still forever and remain unbeatable as he- Mr Koh Jun Hao came out with a staggering 190 points, merely 13 points lower than the WR. Well done to him!
Look at the J at the top(190), and notice the quadruple strike? similar to the WR pattern!

Despite that, there was also something proud to show for me. And I can say that this was my most consistent performance throughout the 3 games. The first game, I scored 155, comfortably ahead of everybody.....
Top D(155) is me, Dion while the second one is Darren. In the second game, I managed to do better- 173, still top among everyone. Wakakaka... So the average of the 2 game is 164. Not bad man.......

As I have mentioned, the third game is Jun Hao's game where he scored 190. I only got 121.... Ok lar...... not that bad either. Average of my 3 games still reach around 150...

Bye bye for now.... Hope to challenge again next time