Liverpool has had a couple of bad games, or rather bad halves this season but none is close to the type of school boy football they played this morning against Tottenham in the League Cup. Yes, you know I have been a staunch supporter of Liverpool and don’t usually criticized them but the kind of football they played this morning is simply, using a Singapore slang, cannot make it ah.

Granted that perhaps 10 out of 11 might not have started a ‘proper’ league game if the whole squad is fit, and the no. 11th player just came back from missing 9 matches due to injury, I still expect the 2nd strings to put in a stronger performance. Misplaced passes, bad first touches, not much movement off the ball, non marking of players in defence, lack of communication, etc…everything you should not have done in a top class football match, they have done it. I’m sure this match will be taped and watched over and over again to show future generations of Liverpool players what they SHOULD NOT have done in a football match.

OK, let’s not take it away from Spurs, they did ring a few changes, keeping in-form Bent on the bench, and played extremely well, especially going forward. I was particularly impressed with Lennon on the right flank, and his willingness to track back and Campbell showed his desire to chase after every seemingly lost cause. BUT, Liverpool made their life much much easier and allow them to dictate the pace of the game.

This match further highlight the kind of work Rafa need to do to ensure the 2nd string of players are up to mark when called upon for 1st team actions. The good news is that we are not likely to see the same team play together again this season. I’m sure every Liverpool fans expect a player who puts on a Liverpool shirt in a football match to live up to the high expectation of him being a Liverpool player, and some of them really need to do some serious soul searching. I expect ruthless Rafa to ship some of them out at the end of the season.

Ngog was non existence up front, simply ball passed to him he couldn’t control it, never had a good first touch in the entire match, and misses most of his passes. Plessis, apart from his goal and his yellow card, did nothing to suggest he could anchor the midfield one day. Lucas was woeful in his passes, even simple ones. Degan seems to be always day dreaming. Agger is simply too casual (no wonder he is displaced by Sketel). El Zhar seems to have lost his directions, but at least he tries to play football. Cavalieri just needs to communicate more with his defenders but did an ok job apart from the mixed up that lead to the goal. Hyypia, despite doing very well, have to take some blame for not organising the defence well enough. Dossena tried but could have done much better. Babel was the only bright spark but held on to the ball too much at times (many times), perhaps knowing that if he passes it the others might lose it anyway. Torres just got back from injury so I am not expecting much from him. Insua and Alonso came on as a sub and spark the mini revivial till Gomes injury (a serious one) kill off any momentem Liverpool was trying to build.

If I ever see a similar line up again I will just switch off my TV set, and you know that I watch every single Liverpool match every season. Rafa was right in allowing the 2nd string to have a go, but they simply did not repay the faith. Players I want to see go? Ngog and Plessis definately, the rest I will give them a 2nd chance, but not playing together.

I have the privilege to attend a talk by the wonderful nature/wildlife photographer C.S.Ling yesterday as part of her ‘Wild Moments‘ exhibition (6 - 23 Nov 2008) event.

It is inspiration to say the least. The pictures that she captures just show us that we really need to put in lots of effort to help save the envoirnment so that these creatures of the wild can have their natural habitat to live it. This is so that our future generations will be able to still see these creatures in their natural habitat, and seeing them behaving just as they should, instead of just seeing them in zoos.

Wildlife photography takes great discipline and patience, a virtue not familiar with our fast pace society. So to see someone so young accomplish something like this, and be able to hold her very own exhibition, is very heartening and encouraging. And for a photography newbie like me, seeing what she has achieve in such a short space of time just inspire me to go out there and (try to) take good pictures.

Wildlife of not, every good picture speaks for itself and is a great moment. But I do hope to have a chance at wildlife photography one day so that I can enjoy living among the animals for a few days, capturing them just the way they are suppose to be.

I think I better stop here cause I feel I am beginning to talk nonsense. Cheers!

When Starhub won the bid to the BPL TV rights, I already sense trouble. Now into their 2nd season, things have not improved. Break in transmission, mediocre pre and post match program, no pre and post match program on other channels showing ‘live’ game, matches not shown, etc…

The biggest problem is perhaps the break in transmission that is happening ever so often. In their 1st season, I can accept that they are still in their learning phase, but now in the 2nd season, things are still happening. Just this morning during the Arsenal-Spurs match, with about 5 mins to go and the match entering an important phase as Arsenal was leading 4-2 but Spurs hoping to do a come back, the transmission got lose for 4 whole mins! And during this time we miss a goal from Spurs that set up an exciting finale which they eventually managed to equalise deep in injury time. Imagine if the transmission did not come back in time.

While I am neither a gunners or spurs fan, I can imgine their frustration as this has happened during Liverpool matches before. The worst so far on this break in transmission is 1 whole half of the match missing. They blame it on the satallite feed they got and claim there is nothing they can do about it, but I have NEVER seen this happening in my many many years watching on ESPN. Perhaps they need to think about backup plan.

Another thing that frustrate me is that there are 9 matches played today, yet only 2 matches are shown ‘live’ with NONE, yes NONE shown ‘delayed’. They have at least 3 channels capable of showing matches but why only 2 matches? They promise to show 370 matches in a season (’live’ or delayed) out of the 380 (see Starhub Press Release) and we are barely into the season and already 7 games are not shown in 1 single day, and I do recall a couple of weeks back where they are some matches not shown. So what happen to the justification of the price increase that we will be seeing more games?

And the SportsHD channel is a big joke, with almost nothing shown on it for the entire week except the occasional matches (up to 2 a week they promise - see Starhub Press Release). Why have a channel and only show 2 program a week??? I cannot understand the logic, is it a case of Starhub running out of contents? Might as well mix it with one of the other HD channels, which are showing nothing but repeats. We do not want to have lots of channels to choose, we want channels with good contents to view.

With Champions/UEFA league out of Starhub’s radar next season, I am beginning to wonder if I should continue to pay $25 a month for the sports channel. The worst is yet to come as once the TV rights expire next year, rather the 2009-2010 season, expect a bidding war from SingTel for the season starting 2010. If Starhub loses it, they can kiss their sports channel goodbye, if they win it, we can kiss our wallet goodbye. Either way, we lose. With the economic crisis looming, can’t they do one thing? Collaboration instead of cutting each other throat. Then again, it’s a war out there and nobody wants to lose.

Yesterday was the start of the SA2 exam for my boy Denver who is in P2. He had his English Paper 2 yesterday and seems quite confident. I wish it will translate to results as he won’t realise even if he have gotten the answers wrong. One thing I always ask him to do is to CHECK after he has finish, but he usually don’t. Kind of like…me…haha…so I can’t be too hard on him :p

Today is Maths and I’m not too worried either, should be able to be in Band 1 or 2, either which I am satisfied. Unless of course he starts to make those careless mistakes again, which he is well capable off. If not, it shouldn’t be that bad.

What I am really worried is his Chinese Paper 2 tomorrow. Well, he once called himself an English Boy, and I was shock, haha, and have to tell him that he is a Chinese Boy who speaks English. Since then, we have been trying to let him speak more Mandarin, which my mum and mum-in-law will help to ensure that, but since they stopped coming over as they both have to take care of younger babies belonging to my sis and my wife’s brother, his Chinese has gone down again. Blame it on us for not sending him to Chinese tution class, and not speaking enough Mandarin at home. I just hope that he can pass his Chinese paper, I don’t need top scores, a pass will satisfy me (not sure about my wife though…heehee…). Then I hope to slowly help him to improve his Chinese. Not with presents as we’ve tried that, so we will have to find some other ways.

I hate it, Gmail seems to be going down ever so often nowadays. Almost every few days in fact. This is definitely unacceptable for such a large organization as Google, especially so when email has become such a critical part of everyone’s life now. Yes, in fact, too much into everyone’s life.

I know of someone who email to another colleague to ask simple questions where all he could have done is turn his head back and talk face to face. Yes, it is sad sometimes. Everyone prefers email than to talk face to face, or even to calling, as it is always easier to write than to talk. The same reason why SMS has become so much part of almost everyone’s life too.

Wait, some of you might be wondering why am I so upset about gmail going down, as most who know me knows that I use my own domain name for my email address. Reason is I have migrated my mail services to gmail and still using my own domain name. So the email interface I use is exactly the same as gmail except that I am riding on my own domain. Confused? Find out more at Google Apps.

When I finish writing this, gmail is still down, and I am still upset. I think they need some serious investment to ensure their mail services do not go down again.

2 things caught my eye as I suddenly woke up at around 3am this morning. I know that Apple is launching their new range of laptop at around that time (or earlier) so I instinctively went to my laptop and check out http://www.apple.com/sg/macbook/

Boy, most of the rumors about the new Macbook is true and it’s a really slick laptop, one that will let me drool over. But one rumor is wrong, and the most important, Apple is not dropping price over their new Macbook. So maybe despite the current economic condition, they are still pretty confident they will sell well. Starting at S$2088 for their new range (they did drop price for their OLD Macbook by S$100), it’s not the cheapest laptop out there, but the way they have design it might just sway many to adopt it.

Will I get one? Well, maybe eventually but not in the near future, maybe I still habour hope that Apple will eventually drop price, just my wishful thinking.

Here’s a first look of the new laptops from MacWorld.

Then, when I was checking my email, Tiger Airways send me a mailer. 1 cent air tickets. Yes, their 1 cents offer is back, and in a big way. You can book to travel from now till 29 Sep 2009 (that’s 2009 alright), so you can really plan way ahead. Taxes and surcharges apply but that is to be expected for every airline. Or if you choose to fly to KL, it’s S$29 each way, TAX FREE. Not a bad deal I suppose, but I’ve already got my free tix to Bali this Dec and can’t squeeze in another trip. No, not leave issue but no moola, so gonna keep it real.

Hmm….maybe I’ll plan one trip for next June…haha…that is what I call long term planning.

What a weekend it has been. I had 4 ‘celebrations’ over the 3 days which means I did just one thing over the weekend, eat, eat, eat…and eat.

Friday was a farewell lunch for my dear colleague who has been with us for a looooong time, 7-8 years now. It’s always sad to see a colleague go but if he feels it’s for a better future, than I support him fully. Ok, back to food, we went to the Clementi Wood’s Sakura restaurant for a buffet lunch costing $20++ per head. The place have a big parking area and the restaurant is big too, where the place we park is consider as ground level, the restaurant is than located at B1 and B2.

Our seats are at B2, and there is no lift:( so we gonna walk all the way down. The spread is across B1 and B2 so you will have to go up and down for the different type of food. At B1, that is where the Jap food are, with sushi and sashimi. Special highlight is of course my favourite Salmon Sashimi which is pretty fresh and the slice is cut nicely. And they also have this specially imported ‘Magic Shrimp’ from Saudi Arabia that you eat raw. And according to my colleagues who are also eating it for the 1st time (they were apprehensive when I told them it can be eaten raw), they love it! Says it taste really good. Also on B1 are some cook-on-the-spot food like salmon, sambal prawn, chicken chop, etc…plus desser, fruits, cakes, etc. are all located at B1.

B2 has things like dim sum, grill food, cooked food, soup, fried stuff, duck meat, etc…quite a decent spread. Also have various drinks selection and ice-cream. While the food are not top class type, they are pretty decent and most are quite nice to eat. And for the price, I think it is quite reasonable. It will be great if they have escalator or life :p

Saturday we had a gathering for the F1 sector 17.8/18 marshals at Hard Rock Cafe where we are returning our overall at the same time. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there and having already had lunch, I decided to get a sandwich. I ordered Club Sandwich but when it came, it looks kinda strange. It was 2 huge piece of hamburger bread plus what looks like a meat patty. When I ate it, it tasted like tuna and while puzzled, I never thought about it and just chat and eat. When the bill came, than I realise what happened, instead of Club Sandwich, they served me Crab Sandwich. I can’t believe it, and maybe I will give HRC a miss for a while.

Than in the evening, it’s my niece’s birthday celebration and we had pizza, chicken wing, KFC, etc…lots more food go into my stomach. My kids have a fun time playing with the cousins and it was till quite late that we finally went home. I was so tired after the whole think and overslept the next day. In fact, my whole family overslept.

On Sunday night, it was another celebration as it was my mother-in-law’s birthday. We met at Square2 and decided to eat at Zhou’s Kitchen, a Tung Lok Group restaurant. It’s our first time eating there and the food is surprisingly nice. We ordered a set chinese dinner and all of them are quite nice, except for the noodles which they don’t like to eat, it’s ’sheng mian’ which I think is not everyone’s cup of tea. My elder son Denver loves it so much that he ate 1.5 bowl of rice, and I think he over ate a little.

So, the whole weekend is about eating, and I think I’ll stick to hawker and home cook food for a while. Too much of ‘big meal’ in one weekend.

With 4 days of frantic activities for us volunteer, Monday seems like a different world. No need to go down at 12pm to sign in, no need to have packet lunch, no mass briefing, no getting icy cold drinks ready, no getting our post clean up and ready, no afternoon sun, no cars zooming past us, and no cars crashing.

Monday begin to feel like a drag, oh how I miss F1 already. How I miss turn 18 and all the people I have worked with at turn 18 & 17.8. I MISS YOU GUYS (AND GALS OF COZ)!

Can’t wait to be back next year at the same turn with the same people. It’s been such a fantastic experience I am thinking of doing it for the next 10 years! No kidding!

At least now I can wait for the rest to upload their photos and slowly enjoy the moment, and I hope we meet up real soon to catch up and share our photos (physically). And maybe, just maybe, we can arrange with Lance to let us do 1 Melbourne GP together! Haha…I know it’s wishful thinking, but at least I can dream right. Maybe a visit to Melbourne to visit Lance and some of the other CAMs guys say 1-2 years down the road? Heehee…more dreaming….

I still can’t believe Ferrari scored zero points. And Alonso won despite starting at 15 position. It’s an unbelievable grand prix and I’m sure many will be talking about it for years to come.

We have made history! Fellow volunteers if you are reading this, YES, we are part of the unique history making grand prix! What a privilege to have! Thank you Singapore GP (or SSC) for choosing me to be a volunteer, it’s an experience I will never forget, and I hope to experience it year after year.

Up next is a double header at Japan and China, and nothing is certain yet. Go go Ferrari! Go go Massa! Go go Kimi!

Finally, the day we all been waiting for. It’s race day!

Today I decided to park near Pahang Road (free parking mah) and go in by gate 1, so it’s 4 different gates for the 4 days

Lots of happening at gate 1, and off course, the merchandise stores are here.

As usual, we have our mass briefing as we prepare ourselves for 4 races today. The Aston Martin Asia Cup (10 laps), the Formula BMW (10 laps), the Porsche Carrera Cup (12 laps), and finally, the F1 night race (61 laps).

Again, no photos during race so you will have to see them via other media. The Aston Martin kick off the afternoon with our Singapore hope, Ringo Chong starting at 4th position. It was an exciting race as the beautiful cars zoom by us. A couple of incidents during the race which required the safety car to come out once. The most noticeable incident was the leader who crash out of the race, leaving Ringo with a chance for podium and he did a fine job to ensure that he finish with just that. 3rd and the Singapore flag was flying on this fantastic day.

Next up was the Formula BMW. This is their 2nd race (1st one was yesterday) and it is pretty much the same result as the winner was just zooming away from the rest of the pack. The Porsche promises just an exciting race and they were wheels flying, bumper coming off, kissing the back of cars, white smoke, oil leaking, all happening in the race. A really competitive race with the eventual winner really well deserving.

We have a bit of a break before the F1 race starts and manage to took some shots.

The drivers’ parade is up next before the actual race begins.

After qualifying, Massa is in pole, followed by Hamilton and Kimi. Alonso, fastest lap in practice 2 & 3, went out of Q2 due to mechanical problem and starts at 15. Alonso make an early stop to change to the harder compound tire and soon after, his teammate Piquet had a bad crashed at around 17.5, which is very near to where we are. Safety car was called out as the car is right at the racing line with nowhere to go. It turns out to be a great call by Alonso to pit early as other cars frantically try to pit, some went in when the pit lane is close and required a 10sec penalty.

Ferrari, in particular Massa, was having a bad day at the pit, with Massa driving off with the fuel hose and a mechanic having to be send to the hospital. Kimi was stuck behind Massa and was delayed. Massa had to wait further up for his mechanics to retrieve the fuel hose and his race all but gone. Thing became worst when he was given a drive through penalty.

Hamilton also have to come from behind after the pit stop and Rosberg was the surprise leader after the safety car period is over but he too incurred a 10 sec stop penalty. So he was putting in fast time to try and come back in a good position. Meanwhile, Alonso is quietly moving up the grid. After everyone has done their pit stop, and Rosberg diving in for his penalty, Alonso is now leading the pack. A truely remarkable come back by the double world champion.

Massa than half crash at turn 18 (yes, it my turn) and than try to drive off, and Sutil, in an effort to avoid crashing into Massa, crashed into our corner and is out of the race.

In the end, Alonso hold his nerve and made history by becoming the winner of the 1st ever Formula 1 night race. As a banner in the crowd opposite us says, ‘Alonso, You’ll Never Walk Alone’. Alonso drove pass and saluted them.

After the award ceremony, it’s track invasion time as fans all come down and walk the track of the champions, champions because every single driver gave their best in an exciting history making race.

After the event is over, it’s party time for the race official as we can finally let loose.

Till next year, cheer!

More photos at F1 Singapore GP 2008 - Race Day

This is it, today is the final practice session for the drivers before they start their qualifying at 10pm. As usual, we do our reporting at 12pm and today I decided to park at Shaw Tower, hoping to save a few bucks, only to realise they raise the car park fees today, I can’t believe it!

I walk through gate 2 today and was surprise to see that we have to walk through construction site and unfinished roads, not the best way to introduce Singapore to our visitors.

As usual, we gather at our mustering area, sign on and have our lunch while we wait for the mass briefing to start. Everyone enjoyed the 1st day of F1 under lights, this including most (almost all) of the drivers. One common complain they have? Bumpy roads, and I guess this is something the organiser have to look into for the next GP.

Everyone is expecting an exciting qualifying today as we wait in anticipation for the day to start.

Here’s a look at our sector marshal and dy sector marshal who has done a great job guiding us.

As it is a extremely hot afternoon, we are told to drink up, and what better than some ice cold drink.

Our fire marshal who help to put out the fire during Mark Webber’s crash at turn 18 receive his award.

And someone even came early for a sun bathing.

Our team at turn 18 getting ready.

As usual, no photo taking for us while on duty and when track is closed (ready for racing) so no pictures of nice F1 cars for you.

Practice 3 went on smoothly with Mark Webber visiting us (twice) at turn 18 again, but this time he went down the excape route and continued safely. So turn 18 is fast becoming a ‘Webber’s corner’ if it continues at this rate. This is where he left his ‘Mark’.

Alonso was fastest again at pratice 3, again coming right behind Hamilton setting the fastest lap immediately after he did, as if to proof something. So qualifying promises to be a spectacular affair with both Renaults right up there with the Ferraris and McLarens.

After Q1, things starts to look good after Kimi came from relegation to fastest lap right before Q1 ends. Alonso did a decent time and Hamilton and Massa continue their battle at the top. During Q2, Alonso’s car came to a standstill at the escape route at turn 18 as he jump in frustration, obviously knowing what he could have done if the car have not fail. He was having a great time till that moment, and his car failure turns out to be a blessing for Hamilton who can’t seems to get going at Q2, qualifying for Q3 at 10th position, only just.

During Q3, it was the the battle between Hamilton and Massa again as they fight it out for pole position, with Kimi threatening with some good timings. In the final minutes, Kimi went on first to set the fastest time before Hamilton did his and Massa left it late to take pole position for the 1st F1 Singapore GP 2008 Night Race.

So it’s advantage Massa in a circuit many drivers predicted few overtaking opportunities as the championship goes down the wire. Now, he just have to keep his cool at the start and make a good start as Hamilton certainly have a ability to jump pass him at the start. As for Kimi, it is still anyone’s guess if he will guning for points for himself or the team. Will he support Massa for the driver’s championshop now that he admit he need a miracle to win? Or will he go for glory himself? Let us sit tight for the 1st F1 Singapore GP 2008 Night Race at 7.57pm tomorrow.

Here is a look at the towing process of Alonso’s car at turn 18.