The Cup of Life

It's finally over!

The World Cup saw an octopus rise to fame and it was even being discussed the best way Paul the Octopus should be cooked and served. For many of us, we have never heard (yes, heard) what a vuvuzela is until the South Africa World Cup and I think somewhere along the way, we got used to the noisy instrument from Africa. China is probably already mass producing these vuvuzelas. The World Cup also brought us heart aches especially when we supported the "giant" teams and placed much confidence in them.

The elimination of France and Italy was just shocking, fans were ensured there were more surprises to come. You then have Brazil exiting the World cup which contributed to a few suicides around the world. I have been a supporter of Brazil for many World Cups and it broke my heart and put a hole in my pocket when they lost to Netherlands. It was worst when I watched the game with friends who were dying to see Brazil fall and they got what they wished for. I remember gripping the beer bottle so tight when Netherlands scored their second goal and everyone around me cheered while I was disappointed and flabbergasted.

You see, I had a few bets going on and the most lucrative one was a pair of Levi’s Jeans if Brazil were to win. Now, after Netherlands scored their winning goal, I was indebted to purchase Air Asia tickets for a return trip to Bangkok for a friend! I can’t believe I was talked into agreeing the terms of the bet. Bodoh, sial! My friend left for Bangkok within the week to catch the finals and had the audacity to gloat over his winning (again) before he boarded his flight. Damn! In the end, it’s not too bad since he insisted to get my Levi’s jeans after all… Ahh, I can’t complain now, can I?

Personally, I found many Argentinean fans annoying cos they could not shut up and in fact was with 2 Argentinean fans (one being the dude above) for the Germany vs Argentina game. It was just priceless to see their faces with the 4-0 defeat that I took the opportunity to gloat over their loss. Call me mean but I was treated the same way. Karma comes back and laughs back at your face, doesn’t it?

My brother in law, a German supporter is also one of those who enjoyed rubbing it in when our teams loss and although we watched the German vs Spain game separately, we received photos via MMS over his reaction towards the goals and defeat. I swear an elephant head could have easily entered his mouth. It was hilarious and to top it off, he had an ugly German themed hat on. Hahahaha…

It was terrible to wake up for the 2.30am game, go back to sleep and wake up for work but it was worth it to sit and watch with my dad. The maggi mee stock at home went down fast. Many of the earlier games, I caught it with friends over drinks and food and it was so much fun to be in each other’s company.

Although it was not easy for them, we finally see the Spaniards for the first time, take home the trophy and Oranje and its fans were left disappointed over the 3^rd defeat in Finals. The tears flowed; you could have a factory of orange juice out of it. That’s the name of the game… winning is indescribable and defeat is heart breaking, it’s probably the only time you could see a bunch of men with obvious healthy testosterone cry.

It’s another 4 years of wait and I’m looking forward to the next one to be hosted by Brazil. I still have faith in my favourite boys…

Twisted and Dark

Do you feel like running away from yourself?

You know what you are capable of... Some things that are destructive remains dormant and you can feel it slowly unleashing. You look around you... No one understands, life goes on for everyone. All this while, you had that voice around you but they are now just faint whispers you can't make out. There's a force that draws you to the edge, and after much resistance, you finally free fall into a sea so wide and dark. But, there's just something about it that's so seductively intriguing.

It's so seductive, it's scary...

Who am I? I don't remember anymore... But this is as honest as I can get and I'm not sorry.

Flip a Coin?

In recent months, I would say that one of the things I’ve learned to appreciate is people who know what they want, make up their mind and they stand firmly by it without being too rigid. It’s something I wished I had all the time.

Yes, there are decisions that require a little more thinking than others which is not what I’m referring to. For the lighter natured ones, dwelling on it too long and too much is just gonna cause more white hair which I recently found 3 of it on my head.

I recall a certain article on why women are not as good of a leader as men… It is because women are more emotional when it comes to decision making. Fair enough, I would say cos we all know as leaders, you are in a position where at times you have to be the bad guy and I’ve been there to know that and what it can cost. It’s also hurtful to hurt others sometimes. But that’s women in general, the weaker in physical strength and more emotional gender of the two.

Oh, but you also have the fickle minded people who can’t decide if they want to have KFC or Mc D’s in 5 minutes or they would switch their decision to MC D’s as they queue at the KFC counter only to decide to have Burger King while on the way to MC D’s. I relate well with food hence the example.

Perhaps it’s a habit or it is just their nature to be over analytical but maybe having people who are this thorough does help at times. It could annoy the impulsive natured humans but when they put out their rationale and more often very slowly, the impulsive human could save themselves from unwanted stupid decisions.

You also have people who are easily swayed when it comes to deciding on certain matters. Asking too many opinion sometimes complicate things and asking the wrong people for their opinion is even worst. It’s like asking a Muslim if they preferred Bak Kut Teh or Pork Chop.

The point of this article is to point out that decision making doesn’t have to be too hard sometimes. If you have to flip a coin to decide between Mc D’s and KFC for the sake of improving, then do it. Gradually and hopefully, you get better at it.