Rain.

The past couple of days have been really bad in terms of weather. The problem was that the rain was kind of falling intermittenly, so it made going around a bit difficult. Also, whenever it is about to rain, the air would get very hot and stuffy, and it definitely does not make for a very comfortable time for me.

Anyway today I was in the Hong Kong Stadium to watch the FA Cup final between TSW Pegasus and Citizen – which is actually the first time I’ve watch a local football match that does not feature South China! It was actually quite a nice change to be watching a Hong Kong football match purely as a spectator, and the two goals scored by Pegasus were actually quite well taken. I guess every now and then there are some decent footballers around in Hong Kong!

The football season has come to an end, and while the World Cup is about 2 weeks’ away, I’m not really that excited about it. I guess the deal is that first of all neither Hong Kong nor Singapore are playing in it (I know that’s almost impossible), and secondly I’m not subscribed to Cable TV which is the sole broadcaster of the tournament, so it makes watching the tournament a bit more difficult. Well, I guess I’ll probably have to make do with watching daily highlights, or worse still, just watch out for the scores from the news.

That said, I still hope South Korea do well in the World Cup. I know they probably aren’t going to win the World Cup (though stranger things have happened so I’ll not rule out completely their chances), but I guess if they can reach the last 8 it would be a massive result for them. Now that I would not be heading to South Africa to watch the World Cup – I’ve managed to get rid of all the tickets that I’ve bought – the next best option would perhaps be heading to South Korea to watch with the Korean fans!

Sick.

I’ve been down with the flu since last Thursday – I was feeling the headache when I was working at Pokfulam in the afternoon, and by the time I returned to my office in Wanchai I was actually seeing a bit of stars. But because I had a bible class at church that I have to attend, so I didn’t go home immediately. When I reached home at about 10, I almost collapsed.

Then Friday was spent trying to recuperate as much as possible, but it wasn’t successful – I had to go out in the afternoon to watch South China vs Kitchee at the Hong Kong Stadium, and then went to dinner at Central. So again when I reached home, I almost collapsed again.

I did wake up feeling slightly better on Saturday, but was just barely good enough to take me to Tsing Yi for the basketball tournament that I was scheduled to participate in. The basketball tournament was perhaps marred by some rather unsportsmanship behaviour from some “colleagues”, but it was still a good workout nonetheless.

As for today, I think the situation worsened somewhat, as I was feeling absolutely terrible during the church service, and I’m feeling weak for almost the entire day.

Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.

Shoes.

I went to buy a pair of basketball shoes today because I will be representing the VTC Tower in the VTC Staff Recreation Club’s 3-on-3 basketball tournament to be held next Saturday. And this is the pair of Air Jordan that I bought for about $800:

I know some of you would probably be laughing in the background, saying that “the shoes do not make the player” – and you know what, I agree with you! The problem is that I didn’t buy the shoes because it would make me a good player, but simply because I needed a pair of new shoes (for quite a while – since February when I was in Japan) as my old ones are getting a bit worn out. Since I need to be playing some basketball, why not just buy a pair of basketball shoes which I could also wear during normal times?

The basketball tournament is going to be contested among 10 operational units of the VTC, and to be honest, I know nothing about everyone else. But I guess the most important thing here is to perhaps have some fun with other colleagues, and hopefully in the process I could see myself more as a staff from the VTC!

Tomorrow is the election day, but to be honest, I have no drive whatsoever to go vote tomorrow. The whole election is a freaking joke, and I’m not going to be part of this farce. I can’t think of any reason why I should be participating in this “pseudo-referendum”. Politics in Hong Kong is just about picking a not-so-rotten apple out of a basket of rotten ones, and for this election, I don’t even see the not-so-rotten one. Resign and going straight back to elections? Do me a favour.

I think I’ll go sleep earlier tonight.

Sleep.

I think I have been deprived of sleep.

I know I kind of asked for it because I refused to go to sleep until about 1.30 in the morning for the past couple of days, and given that I’m getting a bit old I really need to sleep a bit more, it’s definitely not a good thing. Sometimes when I look at the things that I’m trying to settle when I should be sleeping, I’m actually not too sure if those things are worth sacrificing my sleep.

The Premiership season is over, and Manchester United ended the season second. I know those ABUs are probably still laughing their jaws off (until now), but for me, to be able to contest the Premiership title until the last day of the season with a depleted squad is nothing to be ashamed of. There will be additions required, there will be some changes made, and I’m sure United will come back stronger next season. After coming back to Hong Kong, I’ve had numerous opportunities to watch United play (albeit on the telly) with other fellow Reds – from not knowing anyone to singing and cheering all together now, the experience has been truly magical. The best thing about these fellow Reds is that they don’t really care whether you have been around for a long time, or are new to the party – as long as you support Manchester United, you are one of them. The team spirit on the pitch as shown by the United players was strong, but off it, in a faraway land, the team spirit among the Hong Kong Reds is just as strong. It is a place where you feel welcomed (at least I feel welcomed every time I see them – we greet one another, we sing, we dance, we celebrate – all done together) where there is no difference between one and another. And to be honest, it’s absolutely brilliant to sing “If you all hate the scousers clap your hands” together.

I guess I’m someone who can’t live without Manchester United.

Mambo.

I suddenly discovered that I had a Mambo Jambo Now & Forever CD sitting in my room. So I pulled it out under the stack of books that it was sitting, and put the discs into my computer and clicked the play button – oh boy, what memories it brings!

I still remember those days in university in which I would turn up at Zouk every Wednesday for Mambo, and if you ask me, it’s one of the few things that I remember about my undergraduate days! It was like, the dance, the music, the people… they were highly memorable.

Nowadays with me being stationed in Hong Kong, it’s not possible for me to have that kind of experience every week, but I still make it a point to go for it every time I head back to Singapore – which means about once a year!

Anyway I was mentioning that I might take a trip back to Singapore some time in June – it looks like I’ll have to shelf that for a while because I know I’ll be working during that period. As I always try to couple my leave with some public holidays, I have to look at sometime in September. Oh well, Singapore is not going to run away anyway.