the man up north dies....

he's gone.... and now everyone is confused about what will happen next....

sitting here in my hotel of ottawa, i heard the news that kim jong il has died of a heart attack....

so... what now?

obviously, the whole world is interested in this news now... but what about south korea?? military is on high alert... but do they really know why??

theres no clear cut consequence to this right now huh??

well... i wonder if this would just pass as another "north" news.... would sth koreans just move on like all other north news previously...??

we'll just have to wait and see....

USA-Canada

here i go... san diego, atlanta and ottawa....

i guess this is one definite advantage of working in sales rather than teaching.... its hard to say which one is better... its hard to say which one i enjoy more as well... but i guess this trip would contribute to whether i like doing this or not...

not too flash about the idea of jet lag and losing sleep.....

jamie whincup seals his 3rd V8 championship... the best brand of motor racing in my opinion...

he did it by finishing the Sydney 500 in eighth spot... not flash, but coming back from 18th spot... and only needing to finish in the top 14... its a pretty good race.... and he had the lead by being so consistent throughout the year...

i remember notifications going around newington about banning the V8 races at sydney olympic park.... i remember telling mum that it's great, coz it won't be a far trek for me to go watch it.... but since the sydney races began, i've never been at home... haha

its fun watching the sydney race... coz thats the road i drive around everyday to go home... and sometimes i do zoom beyond the 60km/h speed limit... at maybe 70km/h.... but watching the V8s speed around olympic park is pretty funny.... they're tiny little roads~!

ah well... it also makes me feel a bit homesick too.....

President's cup...

obama is in town.... but travelling to darwin... -.-

the president's cup is on at royal melbourne... and this is the best golf photo i've seen in a while...

steve williams... adam scott's caddie... and tiger woods' former caddie.... had a massive fallout... a recent racial slur... and today, they were put in the same group for the 1st day of the president's cup....

and the handshake said it all... look at tiger's face...

NOT HAPPY JAN~~~!!!

altho from what i've read in the news... tiger is the one who stuffed up their partnership.... but who knows.....

anyways... for the record, Scott paired up with K.J Choi, and demolilshed Woods and Stricker 7&6.....

so for today at least... you are the loser tiger.....

super mario bros. REAL LIFE....

this is so funny... the BGM makes this clip perfect...

sad week in motor sports...

since im not really into it... i wasnt going to write a post about the fatal crash in the Indy last week that took the life of british driver, Dan Wheldon....

but this weekend, in the moto GP, another fatal crash took the life of an italian rider, Marco Simoncelli....

obviously these two incidents hits the motorsports industry quite hard, and it obviously affects other driver/riders minds as well as they mourn....

the Indy race was "asking for trouble" as many drivers had already mentioned how dangerous it is to drive the light weight indy cars around an oval track at high speeds..... it was almost like the Vancouver Olympics luge track, where the competitors had expressed their fears for safety that went unheard by the officials, and ended up with a tragic death....

the malaysian motoGP was a bit different.... the track is renowned to be tricky, but this was the first death on the track, and it was just an unexpected tragedy....

however, the track officials who dealt with marco simoncelli's crash were disgusting.... it was quite obvious how serious the crash was, yet the due care that was required in moving the rider off the track was lacking at the very least... the race was red flagged straight away, therefore, unnecessary movement of an injured rider could have led to further spinal injury...

then as the photo from AP shows.... they just dropped him on the grass trackside.... with one guy losing his corner before the others.... what motoGP needs to take a look at is the training of the marshalls around the track....

KMC... the new fast food chain in china...

how good is this?

read the news yesterday about KMC... which is the combination of KFC and McDonalds...

in Guangzhou, China.... they have opened this new fast-food chain....

i cant believe they have done this....

this goes beyond Lorex Watches and fake DVDs....

brilliant~!!

gotta love the colonel and ronald sitting together... hahahaha

GOLD~!!

in breaking news....

huge news as i walked into work today....

the founder of Apple... the brain behind the iphone and ipad.... Steve Jobs has sadly passed away...

the day after apple launched its new iphone 4S.... when some started to question the direction of apple since steve jobs' resignation... well... the company has lost a massive asset in steve jobs....

i think its fair to say steve jobs has influence life today.... probably more than michael jackson... which is a huge call~~

since changing jobs, reading so much about smartphones, iphones, apple, etc etc.... he was one of the rare CEOs who put the bulk of innovative input into the company....

RIP, Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Grand Slam Sam~!!

samantha stosur is the first aussie woman in a looooooooooooooong time to win an grand slam....

the last was 30 years ago?? 37? 27? i dunno... but it has been a loooooooooooong time between drinks~

she beat serena williams in the US open final in straight sets... 6-2 6-3

we've seen hewitt also win the US open twice... then win wimbledon.... but the australian open always eluded him.....

lets hope there is a wimbledon title down the track for sam, but i think ALL australians would love to see an aussie win the aussie open~!!!

aussie open 2012.... look out!!!

usain bolt... DQ

the athletics world champs have come to korea.... and korea looks like they will go down in history as the host nation that couldnt medal in any events....

however, that was almost a given since korea was given the event....

but its only day 2 of the event, and the biggest news in athletics has broken out.... usain bolt being DQ'd in the 100m final for false starting....

he knew it, the crowd knew it... and the officials knew it too.... if ur a fan of jamaican athletics... not to worry.. yohan blake, the "next" big thing.... won gold for jamaica.....

blake clocked a 9.92..... which is...... "average" at best for bolt.... there was a lot of media around bolt's poor starts.... and also the fact that he switched off his engines around the 85m mark.... but he still clocked 10 seconds flat.... so this race, there was pressure on him to start well and push thru the 100m to break his own world record.....

i dont know how he would feel now......

but im also sure the new-age issue will be crossing some people's minds.... "match-fixing"....???

i hope not.... match fixing has ruined it for so many sports..... drugs have ruined it for some including athletics.... i hope this race and the DQ was a legit error by bolt....

watch this space~~ ^^

UK riots...

a man was shot dead by police in tottenham during a drug bust.... the police claimed that they were first shot at, but later investigations questioned those claims....

this incident led to a riot in london, which then went on around england in other cities.... youths came out on the street to riot and loot shops for the next 4 nights.....

it was on the 3rd night.... i was watching SKY news, and a reporter walked over to interview some of the youths on the street.... they claimed that they had no future, and they were frustrated about everything becoming expensive.... they were frustrated about the difficulties in finding a job... and they were venting their frustrations....

one fool just claimed that he was just not law-abiding because the police "cant do nothing about it tonight"..... another claimed that the riots have made a difference, because if there were no rioting, they wouldnt be interviewing him on national TV.....

i always knew there were useless pieces of $h!ts in this world... but seeing them on TV ruining the lives of others and killing others.... that just pisses me off....

there are the real optimists in this world saying that there is a place for everyone, and even these types of juveniles can "turn it around" if they meet the right people and are given the opportunities.....

well.... i hope the opportunity is given to these fools after they serve a lengthy jail term..... i'd say lock 'em away for at least 20 years so that when they are released, the world will be so different that their pigeon brains which cant keep up with society in 2011, are deemed useless and pathetic in 2031.....

last night.... the riots had ended.... and UK had a much more peaceful night.... lets hope for every law-abiding citizen in the UK, peace and sanity is restored....

these "youths" are probably tired of being out and about every night, and are ready to just stay in and brace for the premier league season starting this weekend..... thank goodness for football.... hopefully we'll see the bright side of england now....

champions burying the past~

this is sports at its best.... admirable, inspiring, motivating!!!

firstly, the korean swimmer, park tae hwan, won the gold medal for the 400m freestyle at the world champs in shanghai.... he is the olympic champion, but at the last world championships in rome, he was absolutely slayed into by the korean media for poor form....

well... he did put on a poor showing.... he didnt even make the final in most of his events.....

putting all that adversity aside, he came to these meets with a lot of expectation.... he ran third in his heats... which was worrying because only the top 8 times qualify for the final.... he barely scraped through with the 7th fastest time... and swam the final in the outside lane, lane 1.....

in the final, he blew the field away.... i dont think many even expected him to medal... but he pulled through with a convincing win from lane 1, which was never done in this event before....

then we have cadel evans.... 2008 runner-up at the tour de france..... people thought that was his year... his best chance....

now he is the first aussie to ever win the tour, and the oldest to win since WWII....

riding 3600km through the alps is an achievement on its own.... but he was still a minute behind in the final racing day, and he overturned the deficit by coming in 2:30 faster than the leader.....

exceptional!!! what a champ~!!! what a weetbix kid~!!! he had a run of bad luck at the tour de france.... crashes and injuries..... he had a helpless team in the past that couldnt help him keep up with the leaders..... but this year, he almost had the perfect race.... he even won one of the earlier stages..... which was also a first for him.... phenomenal~!!!!

i hope both these guys stay on this high and compete for gold at the london olympics as well....

the rat race...

from sept. 1, it's gonna happen.....

i never thought i would really do it.....

but i've realised it may become a necessity for me to go back to australia one day.....

counting down.... taking a pay cut.....

the rat race...... no desire to race.... no desire to overtake, outrun, nor to win the race......

thats the thing about the rat race.... there is no winner.....

blah~~~

finally~!!! Winter Games in Korea~

finally~~

they lost to vancouver by 3 votes....

they lost to sochi by 4 votes.....

FINALLY~~~

pyeongchang will host the 2018 winter games!!!!

they received 63 votes, which was a whopping majority over the 25 votes for munich....

i was a bit worried.... i was sure they'd get it, until i saw the final presentations for each city's bid..... no offense... but i think most people knew annecy, france would not get it......already they have had 3 prior winter games... and their bid wasnt really strong either except 'the alps'.....

after the korean presentation, i was sure they'd get it.... until during the Q&A session, when asked about their preparation for any environmental factors.... and the development of winter olympics in asia.... they had hopeless answers.... for a moment.... i thought korea just blew it.....

after all, korea did have a nice long well organised bid.... but had no reference to any environmental issues..... also they argued that since this is the third bid, they have prepared the facilities already, and the last winter olympics show that the winter olympics is on the rise in korea too.... it was argued that all the gold medals were won "on ice" and korea still had a poor showing in the 'slide' and 'ski' events..... once again.... poor answer from the committee had me worried.....

well..... 7 years....

dunno what would be going on in 2018.... dunno where i'd be living... dunno if i'd be married... if i'd have kids...... i dunno if this blog would still be going....

but im pretty sure, im going to be in korea for the games.....

woo~~!!!

friendly fire...

at 11:50am on July 4, a korean marine went on a shooting spree killing 4 and injuring 2, including himself....

he loaded a K-2 rifle and went into the room where the others were sleeping after completing their night patrol rounds.....

3 marines died at the scene, 1 died while being transported to hospital....

the marine who fired the gun, then attempted suicide by throwing a grenade in a room, but only sustained facial injuries, and is in stable condition now. the second injured marine was shot in the leg 3 times as he struggled with the shooter to take the rifle away....

the ripples through the nation, media.... the overflowing opinions.... criticisms.... finger pointing.... blame game.... it has all started.....

the general response from the nation is.... "lack of discipline".... so many people are saying, the army these days is nothing like the old days.... they need to be more strict.... more discipline...

the greatest shame here is.... thats such a korean response..... what they dont account for is the mental issue here.... how can a 20 year old be pushed to become that mental that he is going to fire at his own mates.... if he was already being noted for not adjusting to his military services... then why dont they ever find a shrink.... counselling....??

the korean way is.... ur a psycho if u cant overcome these problems urself.....

secondly.... in the news reports, the neighbours said they saw the other marines running away in their underwear like they had just seen a ghost..... rolling and hiding in the bushes..... one man claims, he had never seen a group of soldiers run so fast.....

why does it take ONE marine to wrestle his mate getting shot in the leg, while the others run away in their underwear??? i dont get it.....

it was only 3 weeks ago.... this same marine division shot at an Asiana Airline passenger airline coming into Incheon Airport.... coz they thought it was a north korean fighter jet..... WHAT THE F**K is going on??? seriously.... i dont see the point.....

if they dont cause trouble like this inside the barracks, once they complete their military services, they cause trouble on the streets.... thinking that fists and muscles can resolve everything.... and you put young guys away for 2 years aging from 19~21 yrs old... they all get horny and turn into sex-maniacs.....

yes, its national duty, and i love korea too.... i also understand they are still 'technically' at war.... but if a war does break out, i wonder how many 19 year olds forcefully put in those barracks are prepared to die....

many people say i will never understand because i don't have to do the military service in korea... its probably true.... but as long as the guys who finish their services keep fighting, swearing and cause a public disturbance in restaurants like they do.... i dont really care to understand..... the two years makes them fitter and bulkier... but no more useful to society than they were before they went in.....

don't fix it if it ain't broke...

its seriously broken.... so FIX IT~!

total disgrace!!!

daylight robbery..... conspiracy......

The Champions Trophy has now become a meaningless disgrace.....

Korea who finished 2nd in Pool A, advanced to Pool C.... there they beat NZ, and lost to the Netherlands..... Argentina... who finished first in Pool A, they also beat NZ, and lost to the Netherlands..... in the end... they both had 4 points, they both had a goal differencial of 0..... but korea took 2nd place because they scored more goals....

like most round-robin leagues.... thats how ties are separated.... points, goal diff, then goal scored.....

but argentina appeals... saying, they won more matches in Pool A.....

yet Pool A is to qualify for Pool C and the medal rounds.....

then the appeal jury lacking common sense accepts the appeal, and now Korea are playing in the Bronze medal match against NZ, instead of the Gold Medal match vs the Netherlands....

This just sums up to... Argentina should be above Korea, because they beat England and China last week in the pool games.... wtf?!!!! Why is argentina above korea because they beat the other lower ranked teams???

this is the pure case of bending the rules......

disgrace~

the next big thing~

bernard tomic......

one of the greatest ever in tennis, roger federer, has now called tomic the next big thing in world tennis.....

watching tomic now kinda reminds me of hewitt when he was a teenager..... different game.... but same attitude, same grit.....

hewitt who pushed world number 5, robin soderling, to a 5-set match.... everyone is saying, he should retire now.... but im sure on a skill level, hewitt is still top 50 material in the world... he still seems to have some fight left in him....

as for tomic.... he beat soderling in straight sets.... i would have loved to have seen a tomic vs hewitt wimbledon round 3 match..... had tomic won that match against hewitt, it would have been the 'changing of the guard' in australian tennis.....

tomic is still young... he's still new to the tour despite a handful of grand slam experiences.... but i hope he does turn into something more than just that junior hopeful.... gael monfils.... junior master~ yes... he's top 10 in the world.... but i dont think thats what australia is looking for....

we dont need another philippoussis.... we want another rafter, hewitt.... and all the other aussie tennis grand slam champs....

i hope he's the next big thing.....

caffeine kick~

today i had to wake up early to go to gangnam so that i can hear our boss preach to us about success.....

so.... having woken up early, i needed a can of Hot 6~~~

this is the korean version of Red Bull.... it gives you wings.....

a can to get me going in the morning, since i don't drink coffee.....

at the end of the sermon.... i was sooooooooooooooooooooooo tired coming to work, i had my second can.......

at work...... i was given another can, and this photo is of that third can.....

after drinking the third can..... i felt like i could run a marathon.....!!!!!

im sure we all know what a caffeine kick feels like..... and we all hear stories about too much energy drinks could give u a heart attack.... i TOTALLY agree.... i can feel my heart pumping.....

and now.... its 2am...... the messy side of a caffeine kick..... the CAFFEINE CRASH~~~~

ah.... deep sleep time~~ good night~! hahahaha

2010-11 EPL Champions~

the last round of matches in the english premier league was one of the best 90 minutes of soccer i've ever seen....

although man utd had sealed the premiership the week before, they were playing at home against blackpool... who was fighting to stay in the premier league....

other matches that were key to the relegation battle was blackburn vs wolves... both fighting for survival..... birmingham vs tottenham.... one fighting for survival, one playing for a champions league spot.... wigan vs stoke..... wigan fighting for survival.....

during the course of the 90 minutes.... all games being played at the same time.... each team were going in and out of the relegation spots.... blackpool who had the hardest match, against man utd... took a 2-1 lead..... but then as they fell 4-2, birmingham equalised to keep them up, but wolves scored a late goal to reduce the goal difference... wigan scored late to win their match.... ah~~~ it was INSANE~~~!!!

i've been kinda staying away from writing blog posts, coz generally, there was too much negativity happening around me these days.....

i guess the soccer was something cheerful to talk about again.... but yeah.... another korean tv personality committed suicide yesterday.... which just happens waaaaaaaaay too often now.... ah.... i wish korean ppl were a little bit more thick skinned.... i know depression, anxiety, and the influence of ppl's comments on the internet is huge.... but alot of celebrities here dont even try to overcome it.... and since there has been so many tv personality suicides in this country, others seem to keep that as an out option.....

very very sad to see.....

and as for the guy who is linked to the entire scandal..... well.... he's a pro baseballer.... he "seems" to have done all the wrong things to this girl..... now people on the internet are after him.... i hope it all just fades away quickly.....

the weather is waaaaaaaaaaaay too nice for this kinda $h!#.....

RIP Tim~

Tim Croese [Sept. 12, 1977 ~ May 9, 2011]

cheerful character, witty, great guy, wonderful friend...

you are a wonderful wonderful man that will be missed by many~

i will remember you every time i see lee hyo ri on the bottom of my soju glass~

Rest in Peace buddy~ keep smiling~

cyclist dies in a crash...

a couple of days ago, a Belgian cyclist, Wouter Weylandt, died in a crash in the 3rd stage of the giro d'italia...

it was just an unfortunate crash at high speed and he hit his head and died instantly on the scene.

this is another alarming reminder that we need to wear helmets.... obviously he was wearing one, and many people including myself dont wear a helmet in korea.... the chances of hitting ur head when u crash might be low... but this is proof... u will hit ur head on the concrete when u fall at high speed....

RIP Wouter Weylandt....

also a quick message to one of my students, Olivia... who was also in an accident and hit her head.... hope you get better soon....

another lesson here... don't jaywalk~!!! cross at the lights~~!!!

a "disney" weekend.... and the conspiracy~

i read online....

a new princess is made, and a bad guy is dead... it's been a disney weekend~

obviously.... the royal wedding... William and Kate got married.....

and the bad guy is Mr. B-Laden~

for some reason or rather, more people have read about bin laden than william or kate.....

youtube has more hits about 9/11 and the terrorist attacks than anything about the royals....

it has been 10 years since the 2001 attacks.....

as time goes on, the "conspiracies" about 9/11 grow.... so many questions have been asked.... and nothing has been answered.... to think that the multiple documentaries and movies made about 9/11 are simple conspiracies.... well, the US government have come up with no solid truth....

everyone is entitled to their own opinion.... but it seems that on Sept 11, 2001... everyone thought America was under attack by foreign terrorists..... each day since then, the number of people believing it was foreign terrorists decrease, and the number of people who believe that it was an "inside job" known by the Bush administration....

the evidence the US govt can't hide is the related money that has been transferred prior and since 9/11.... they cant hide the documents... and they cant argue science....

for me.... i remember watching the live news in high school.... i was in year 12, and we were allowed to just sit and watch the live coverage news..... i remember hearing the interview that day when someone said, no aircraft debris was found at the pentagon.... yeah.... that had me confused.... the FBI said the aircraft "vapourised".... hahahahaha

george bush wasnt the brightest man alive.... unfortunately, the election isnt based on intellectual abilities..... it is quite comical to see governments today, not only in the US, think that the citizens are a bunch of naive fools.....

10 years have passed.... and i know some people arent convinced that it was an "inside job".... osama bin laden was a mass murderer.... but i dont think his death brings any justice to the victims of 9/11 nor to their families..... seeing george bush put on trial for starting an illegal war... that might bring justice.... or on a lesser extent, just put him away for something along the lines of insider trading...???

it is a real shame that we'll never know the truth because people like bush, powell, rumsfeld, rice.... they are all prepared to just die without answering the questions that not only americans but the whole world wants to know....

its a shame that people in the govt and media (mainly FOX news) keep suggesting that its "disrespectful" to the victims to even think outside the current official story of 9/11.....

the documentary "loose change" even suggests that there was no plane crash in pennsylvannia... again... the aircraft "vapourised"..... instead, flight 93 landed in cleveland.... the 200 passengers taken to a NASA hanger.... and then unaccounted for..... hmmmm......

did they send them into space??

well.... maybe they are trying to send the first men to the moon.... hahaha.... i wonder if we'll ever know the truth to that too~~

the next chapter.....

so... it's easter.... it's spring.....

this is the THIRD chance for a fresh start....
obviously... jan 1... tried new resolutions.... FAIL
chinese new year... 2nd chance... FAIL

and now.. third chance to set resolutions.... psht~

im not going to set new resolutions....
instead, i've been thinking about what i should do as of september this year......

in september, my contract is up here in seoul.... and i am thinking of staying on, but who knows.... maybe i wont be offered a new contract, maybe i might not like the offer, maybe i will, maybe i'll receive a better offer somewhere else.... there's a lot of MAYBE's and uncertainty...

here are a 5 of 120458 options that have gone thru my head....

SEOUL - i could stay on in seoul.... thats the obvious option... but like i said... maybe i wont be offered a new contract at my current place....

the obvious advantages are... i have a place to stay... its also a one year lease... so i wouldnt have to pay a fine for moving out early.... i dont have to move.... i speak the language...

the main reason why i am thinking of other places is that.... ive become too comfortable.... seemingly not being productive outside work.... not learning a new language nor skill..... also patience is wearing thin of korean ppl and the disorganised, money-focused management style....

SYDNEY - the second obvious choice is going back home.....
again... the advantages are that it's home... lots of friends.... family.... car.... its basically comfortable....

the downside is... the aussie dollar is so expensive.... the very little money i have saved in korea would be worthless in sydney.... and just living in sydney is so expensive.....

if i go back to australia, i could also do some further study as well... so i've even thought about other cities.... like perth?? adelaide?? hobart??

im planning to go back in december for my cousin's wedding anyway... so it would be a matter of... do i stay? or come back to korea after the wedding....?

TAIWAN - since i was in china, i was thinking about moving to taiwan... something about taiwan..... i want to live there.....

i enjoyed china so much... i have a feeling that taiwan is the best fusion of korea and china..... so it had my attention...

i've forgotten a lot of the mandarin that i picked up while i was in china.... i want to learn the language properly, and use it as well.... so taiwan is an option for that.... i'd like to be fluent in mandarin..... so....

but i dont know anyone in taiwan.... i dont know what i'd do there besides teaching again.... so it would be like doing china all over again.... which isnt bad at all....

LONDON - biggest appeal is the city itself... london is probably the only place in europe that i had an interest in since i was in school..... i dunno.... if i go at the end of this year, maybe i can get some tickets to go see the olympics as well.... that would be cool.....

down side.... i heard its expensive... living cost is just as expensive as sydney, if not more expensive..... also... i hate rain..... and everyone knows it rains alot there....

havent really looked into london enough to decide if its worthwhile or not......

DUBAI - again.... like london.... just a random suggestion.....

i've heard good things about it.... and even for teaching... i heard the money is good....

lifestyle is laid back..... and also going to the middle east, the new culture would be interesting.....

again.... havent looked into it enough to really make a judgement on whether its worthwhile or not.....

major stuff~

i heard they used to be good.... i never followed MLB long enough to see the indians ever be competitive over 162 games.... they might not be still.... we are only 10 games into the season, but the results are quite..... strange...

all i expected from the indians was choo to play well...

he's actually the only player in their lineup who isnt pulling their own weight..... the rest of the team... ON FIRE~~~

the indians.... lost their opening 2 games.... and all i could think was... ah well... here they go again... another long season.... and i wish choo would go to a playoff team....

now.... we are 1/16 of the season thru..... only 152 more games.... but the indians are 8 wins on the trot... looking like competitors this year~~

could it be???

i still go for the dodgers.... could it be??? haha

clarke... hmmm...

it has been less than a week since michael clarke was appointed captain... and it is clear that there are many critics about clarke being the new australian captain....

well, clarke is already feeding food to his critics by having his 30th birthday party in public...

again, many are divided about this, saying that after all, he is just celebrating his birthday party just like everyone else would.... but others are saying that not everyone is the captain of the australian cricket team, nor a public figure....

im thinking more towards the latter.... maybe he should have had his birthday party more private... a house party... and maybe he should have acted more maturely on the streets when he clearly knew there were people taking photos....

he isnt just any common australian.... since he debuted for australia and made centuries in his first innings overseas and on home soil, he was never going to be the common aussie.... since he dated model lara bingle, and had a very public breakup... he knew he wasnt the common aussie.... now that he's the australian captain... there is more reasons not to let yourself be exposed like this in public....

it will be interesting to see how everything unfolds now....

new era~

ricky ponting has stood down from captaincy...

and today, cricket australia has announced Michael Clarke as the new captain, and Shane Watson as the new vice captain.....

many polls from different media sources have shown that people are opposed to clarke taking over the reins.... and instead there is a strong backing for shane watson and even mike hussey to be the new australian captain.....

i think mike hussey can be dismissed pretty easily in this case.... firstly, several months ago, before the ashes, we had the situation with marcus north.... people wanted him out of the team... then he made a few centuries, then everyone said he could be the new captain.....

then mike hussey was under pressure.... he should be out of the team.... then he was our best performer in the ashes series.... and he's the new hero..... then the selectors wouldnt do him a favour and choose him for the world cup squad.... then they fly him to the world cup to join the team later on..... now he's a candidate for the captaincy....

if anything, i start to wonder why brad haddin hasnt had more backing to be a captain.... it seems the wicket keeper would have the best perspective of the game, yet haddin... and gilchrist have always been overlooked.... being vice to several captains instead....

im quite critical of clarke being captain as well.... not that he's bad at the job... but purely based on the fact that he's an out of form cricketer, and if he's captain, he wont be dropped from the team.... i think like all players, they should be picked on form.... and clarke's form doesnt put him in our best 11 at the moment....

yes, he has made a few high scores lately... but put that with the other <10-run innings in between... there are plenty of talented batsmen in australia..... like mitchell johnson.... like mike hussey.... like marcus north... like ALL the spinners..... clarke needs to be dropped from the team, play some state cricket and find form again.....

now... it will never happen....

so just like that random guy at the media conference told him.... he should start putting his eyes over the ball and practice practice practice!!!

disaster after disaster....

its as if the earthquake and tsunami wasnt bad enough... disaster continues to hit japan day after day....

it has been 4 days since the original earthquake.... the resulting tsunami causing tremendous damage, and 28 aftershocks following the first earthquake... 28!!!! and more than a handful of them were big earthquakes themselves....

yesterday, a volcano in japan woke up from its silence and started to spew smoke and ash all over a devasted country.....

and in the last 24 hours, the most serious of disaster broke out.... a nuclear power station pretty much overheated and blew up.... causing dangerous amounts of radiation to break through into the atmosphere....

the official death toll is over 4000, but with the number of people still missing, they fear that over 10,000 people died in the city of Miyagi alone....

this is modern tragedy at its peak.... and with the nuclear issue hitting the east coast of japan... it seems the serious issue is only beginning now....

Japan quake...

really... what were the odds??
my last post was the NZ quake... and today, there was a quake measuring 8.9 that hit off the coast of japan.... and as a result, a quake that size has caused a tsunami that has gone thru japan...

also, in my last post, i noted how warming it was to see australians help out their neighbours.... i commended the friendly rivalry.... and really wished that koreans would take that approach too.... so... what were the odds this would happen weeks later....

well.... south korea are sending a rescue team to japan to help out... that was always going to happen.... but its the public reaction that im actually looking into.... it is day 1 of the quake.... and if u go on a live feed forum on a korean website, alot of celebrities are posting messages of condolence for the quake victims....

general public... hopefully they are primary school kids.... are writing posts just to commend japanese buildings that didnt fall.... comment that korea should pay the engineers to come and build some of our buildings.... someone even wrote, "i live on the east coast of korea. am i going to die? i cant swim"...... im going to assume a 10 year old wrote that....

on the 27th of this month, im going to play in a charity cricket match in korea to raise funds for the NZ quake.... theres a ANZ cricket team here that i've joined, and they are trying to gather foreigners here to donate....

NZ.... and now Japan.....

my neighbours~~~~~~!!! 화이팅~~!!

NZ quake...

in september last year, an earthquake hit NZ near the city of christchurch causing a great deal of damage....

months of effort for the city to get back on its feet, and the worst happened....

another quake measuring 6.3 hit christchurch again, but this time, the epicentre of the quake was a lot closer.....

the damage is unimaginable.... the loss of life is already beyond 100, with hundreds more missing.... 80% of the city is without water....

the photos look like a still shot of a movie.... but unfortunately, its the real shots of christchurch right now....

tomorrow is the long awaited day when Australia and NZ goes head-to-head in the cricket world cup.... but now, everything is put back into perspective, and the cricket world cup is just a game....

in a country that loves its rugby, the rugby has been cancelled this week.... both teams agreeing to a draw, and the match will be cancelled.... unfortunately the secretary of the crusaders died in the quake...

the qld floods.... nz quake.... it does make the uprising and violence in egypt and libya look like a joke.... as for the half dozen people who were arrested for looting.... they need to be put back in their places as well.... put away for years.... such inhumane and savage behaviour....

next tuesday is March 1st..... its a special day in Korea because it is the day when a korean woman during cheered the equivalence of "hooray" for korean independence during the time they were annexed by Japan.... the history is there.... from a 100 years ago.... i wonder if society would ever forgive and forget in East Asia...?? because... seeing aussies and kiwis help each other out in times of need.... it'd be nice to see korea and japan having better relationships in that sense.....

the Pat Tillman story....

i just finished watching the Pat Tillman story....

an elite athlete who gave up millions in a NFL contract to join his brother in afghanistan after seeing the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

till man was killed by negligent friendly fire, which was originally covered up, and his death was told in the media as a heroic battle uphills, sacrificing his life so that his fellow soldiers could survive an ambush....

to be blunt.... only george bush would really think that in the 21st century, the information era, that this story would fly, and the truth would never be known... Bushy wanted people to think he was a hero that saved his fellow soldiers in an ambush, whilst the truth is, he was shot by those soldiers that he supposedly "saved" in the false tale....

pat tillman's family, especially his mother, has pursued the truth and justice to pat's death. watching the movie, listening to testomonies, i think the truth is there. everyone knows that he died in a friendly fire, and it was originally covered up... after years and years of media coverage, and as more evidence came out.... the whitehouse admitted they were wrong, but they finally got it right... and put the blame on..... a retired general..... OMFG~~

what makes the family angry is that his death was used as a pubicity stunt, and used as a advertising tool for the military... watching the movie will frustrate the life out of u, coz it's a reality check that corrupt governments seem really f-ed up in movies, but in real life, its worse...

i'd have to say, the part that frustrates the life out of me is... when all the generals, and donald rumsfeld were being investigated, and they could just come up with, "i dont remember, i cant recall, im not sure".... and when a final comment was made, they sounded like schoolyard kids saying, "thats not exactly what i mean, me too... me too... me too"

i think what many people want to see is Bush and his administration put on trial..... after the 2001 attacks, afghan, iraq.... it wasnt sanctioned by the UN, and was originally tagged the "illegal war".... a lot of things have become twisted since then... lies after lies... covering up for another lie..... and now we're left with what we have in 2011.....

Twenty-Seven~~~

happy birthday to me.....

27~~~

i have now officially moved from "mid 20's" to "late 20's"....

most people around me know that i have a birthday jinx....

so when i wake up in the morning on my birthday, its more of an annual safety and hazard check day than a celebration....

today.... i went thru my 24-hrs incident free....

the only bummer of my day today was that, today was the beginning of the end..... that is... the end of my 4-day weeks.... up until now, i had a day off at work on wednesdays, but from now.... i have to goto work on wednesdays....

so off to work i went today.... made a few routine monthly phone calls to some parents, had a meeting which went for longer than originally thought.... then had dinner and drinks with workmates.....

on the whole... it was a good day~~ besides the fact im a year older now....

27 is not really a "special" number.... its not a prime number either... coz 9x3.... just incase people didnt realise..... but what i did realise is that.... this year.... i will turn 10000 days old!!!

that calls for a celebration~~ so i worked out that on July 4th this year.... i will turn 10000 days old~!!!! that sounds a lot cooler than a 27th bday.... ive already put it into my planner... and im going to celebrate july 4th as the day i turn 10000 days old~~~ ^^

hope my jinx isnt being delayed till then~~~

in other news.... ^^

im in a serious dilemma about my immediate future.... not in a stressful way like before... but something has come up.... decisions will be made on sunday after i meet a few people.....

regardless of what happens, i will put up a post on sunday (or monday)....

manchester derby stunner!!

manchester united vs manchester city....

the derby never fails to impress~

and once again today, it was as good as it gets....

2-1 victory to united... which is always good... but the way they did it.... after taking a relatively early lead thru nani, manchester city equalised the score again with a very lucky goal... haha

bias as i am.... it went in off the players buttocks!!! i'd say.... thats lucky.....

at 1-1, and city pressing for another goal, wayne rooney.... scored a superb bicycle kick goal leaving joe hart, the city keeper standing motionless....

who said pigs cant fly huh??

what a goal~~!!!!

bulldogs double trouble...

canterbury bulldogs in the NRL..... the western bulldogs in the AFL..... they have both found off field troubles to make the news before the 2011 has kicked off....

first, at my beloved bulldogs.... ryan tandy last year in a match against nth qld, was investigated for a possible betting scandal.... at the time, he denied it.... and months later, they found a second grade parramatta player linked to the betting scandal, and now it all links back to ryan tandy as well....

he's been sacked by the club for now, and faces upto 5 years in jail.....

ironically.... the bulldogs were training in silverwater today....

the western bulldogs in the AFL..... well, it all occurred in the end of year trip to hong kong last october.... videos came online today with players stopping traffic in a party street, and sitting and jumping on cars.... brownlow medallist, adam cooney, also found a plastic lid which he ran and skidded down the street.....

honestly.... that looked really cool..... there was no charges, no filed complaints, no police matter into this... its just that for this behaviour to go public, the AFL might want to fine and suspend players if they can.... meh....

too much money for uneducated blokes with muscles....

as long as the footy is still good.... and i guess i like this sort of stuff making the news too... something to talk about.... but i guess since they are "idols" to kids....

its really nothing compared to another pre-season incident in coffs harbour in... 2002 i think....

something bottled somewhere.....

a month has passed so quickly.... 2011 is motoring thru its days and weeks....

i feel like im still being left behind in the dust....

the more i try to pick up the pieces, the more strenuous and stressful it gets......

the moments of motivation that kicks in.... i try to do a lot of work then, and really try to squeeze in as much work as i can do during that short stint of energy.....

whether its work or exercise.... the drive and will power is definitely lacking.... and im definitely trying to nail the source of that energy.... but cant seem to find it.... my mind is all fogged up.... maybe shackled is the better expression....

i grabbed this picture from my china album..... definitely full of energy at this time...... maybe this is when everything started going pear-shaped......

definitely.... -.-

Happy Australia Day~~!!

Australia Day 2011.... its literally freezing cold in Seoul at the moment, and i miss sydney more and more as i think about the weather....

watching the australian open tennis, and the cricket isnt really helping either.....

jan 26... australia day.... it's a day off back at home.... but of course in korea, its not a day off.... but its wednesday!!! and every wednesday is a day off for me~ so that worked out well....

for the sake of australia day, i ate my own little sausage sizzle in korea today.... of course it wasnt exactly the aussie style sausage sizzle.... but it was a sausage on a stick wrapped in bacon..... actually... its pretty delicious~~

one of the things i miss alot about home is the wooloomooloo meat pies.... harry's cafe de wheels~ but something that is definitely as good as those pies is the 2 dollar sausage sizzles u have at the sporting grounds on saturday.... after playing soccer... or DURING ur baseball match... u grab a 2 dollar sausage sizzle with onions and BBQ sauce..... and a can drink is usually a dollar too....

i wonder if inflation has hit the weekend sports canteens.... is it still 2 dollars??

ah~~ im hungry now~~

double dipping...

the up's and down's in sport.....

today was the day i started with a down, but ended with an up....

korea were beaten in a penalty shootout to japan.... which to most koreans doubles the pain of losing a semi final match to any other country.... korea led early, but japan equalised pretty much straight away..... at 1-1, they went into extra time, and japan was awarded a penalty which was DODGY at best.... bias? maybe.... but really.... it was dodgy... it was outside the box!!! haha....

korea dramatically scored the equalising goal in the 120th minute... that last minute goal took the match into a penalty shootout where korea really gave themselves no chance of winning by missing all of their first 3 shots.... from there, japan converted 3 shots, and won easily.... (probably the least suspenseful penalty shootout i've seen EVER!!!)

the 2nd semi final was australia vs uzebekistan..... final score... 6-0 to the aussies~~ 6-0.... another shocking scoreline.... but at least it was to the right team this time... it really was a "feel good" game after seeing the koreans lose the first semi....

cmon socceroos.... don't lose the final to the japanese..... im double dipping into the asian cup by having australia and korea in the tournament.... i cant have them both lose to japan consecutively~~

australia day comes early~

we don't often see aussie tennis players winning tournaments... but yesterday in the lead up to the aussie open, we saw hewitt and groth both win their finals in straight sets....

i said at the turn of the new year that hewitt had fight.... and he played in the kooyong classic as the lowest ranked player, and went through the tournament undefeated, beating monfils in the final in straight sets....

groth on the other hand has played well recently as well, and has been on the up for a while now.... she's still 2nd to stosur in australia, but she's probably the in-form female player right now....

both groth and hewitt are unseeded at the aussie open.... and they both have a very tough first round draw..... going on ranking and statistics, they are looking at first round exits...

groth... monday night match!! and hewitt.... tuesday night match!!!

i wanna see an aussie win the aussie open!!!!

stalemate~

last night was the big asian cup match....

South Korea vs Australia....

it ended up being a 1-1 draw....

i dont even support one team anymore.... i'd have to say, when they used to play each other in the past, i supported korea.... but i think that was because i was in australia... watching with mates who obviously support australia.... so i'd support korea coz nobody else does in australia....

now that im in korea.... and everyone supports korea.... u would think i should support australia.... and last year, when i went to the friendly match here in seoul, i did support the aussies.... but they got thumped 3-1.... and i cant be upset if korea wins.... so..... i dont support anyone now... haha

last night.... yes.... stalemate.... but in chess, stalemate is a draw, but sometimes one person clearly is dominating, but stuffs up a move to cause an accidental stalemate.... last nights match was a bit like that.....

australia were scrappy at best.... they need to stop playing that crash dummy style game.... yes, the rough tactics work.... against some teams.... and even then, after the initial 20 minutes, u gotta stop.... u gotta play soccer.... their passes were off, no tactics, no teamwork, and i think everyone on the field had a hopeless attempt at goal from 30m away....

korea on the other hand.... good running game, good short and long passes.... but nobody wanted to shoot the ball!!! grrrrr.....

in the end, the korean coach felt they missed out on the win, and the aussie coach was happy with the draw.... thats how the fans probably felt too.....

me? i thought it was a very liberal outcome~

Into the Fire....

this was a korean movie that came out last year.... i wanted to see it at the cinemas but never got around to it.....

finally.... saw it today....

the movie is set in the korean war.... based on a true story.... well... based on a true situation.... then produced into a movie plot....

the story is about the high school students who were left to defend a post.... south korea had been pushed back all the way to the south coast, and in order to fight a bigger battle, the trained soldiers had to leave the city of Pohang, and left 71 students at the post to defend it....

when the troops left Pohang, they hoped that the north korean troops would not run through that city, but they did... and of the 71 student-soldiers, who had no prior training, only 2 survived to this day....

like all war movies.... so its BASED on true scenarios, but characters are reproduced to a degree to make it a movie.... also probably due to the sensitivity of the north korean agenda, there is still some parts in the movie where they sympathise for the enemy.... im sure even during that time, since it was a "civil" war.... that kind of thought ran through some soldiers minds....

now.... in 2011.... the korean divide is still an issue.... i wonder in the minds of the soldiers today.... if they still sympathise and question why the 2 koreas are at war....???

obviously i wish there isnt a breakout of war again.... but seeing that movie.... and now knowing that in the beginning it only took 3 days for the north to run through seoul..... i really wish there isnt a 2nd chapter to the korean war....

filthy soccer....

the asian cup soccer has started....

its the asian cup.... korea is in it... and australia is in it.... they will always be 2 of the favourites to win the tournament, so its obvious im going to watch it....

having said that.... im definitely not a fan of filthy soccer.... it actually pisses me off sometimes.... some of the bone-head, uneducated stupidity seen from some players is pretty disgusting....

we've already seen a handful in the asian cup....

we talk about soccer players diving all the time... which drives all fans insane... but yesterday was a scene of insanity.... a kuwaiti player after tangling with a chinese player just stomped on his.... groin.....

the third picture is him stomping on the chinese players groin.... and the middle picture is him acting like he is injured while the referee waits to give him his red card.....

after he gets his red card..... he cries..... D-I-S-G-R-A-C-E!!!

today, during the bahrain-korea match.... while jumping to head the ball, a bahraini player jumped up stepping off a korean players thighs with his studs.... and also we had the classical, "jump in the air with two studs out" tackle..... saw one from gerrard on the weekend as well....

some really disgraceful soccer players that i've seen..... kevin muscat..... danny tiatto..... if ur an aussie soccer fan... u should know who they are.... they are both players who average 10 red cards a year.... watch em on youtube.... haha

i hope we see some clean fair sane soccer~~

ashes.... gone~~

its over.... its official.... the ashes series is over, and england have won the series 3-1....

i cant believe aussie cricket fans had to sleep on it and wait till this morning to see the poms clean up our final 3 batsmen, and win the series...

i wonder how it felt for them.... im sure they wanted to celebrate and party last night.... but they had to wait another day to get the final 3 wickets....

the aussie team is being dubbed as "the worst ever".... and honestly, since i started watching cricket in the early 90's..... yes... they are the worst i've seen....

yes, maybe the poms were just too good.... yes, they were good.... but the aussies also dropped catches... misfields.... run outs.... all these schoolboy errors just made them look so awful.... it was painful to watch....

the funny thing about aussie cricket is... they've been successful for so long.... i still look forward to the T20s and the ODI's thinking that we can beat england again.....

well.... lets hope....