thanks philip for inadvertently making my econs 's' paper much more bearable by telling me that makaay scored a hat-trick in bayern munich's 4-0 rout of ajax just before the paper started! it's been a long while since they showed any hint of brilliance against one of the noted european teams. suddenly things are looking much better for bayern and germany (after that 1-1 draw with brazil). excellent.

man i have vivid memories of makaay's hat-trick against bayern two years ago, the morning just hours before my e math prelim paper. he totally screwed me up then, being only the second player to put three past oliver kahn (the first being michael owen in germany's disgraceful 5-1 loss to england).

well i DO like the way he's making amends for that, though. go number ten!
***

Roy hammers hat-trick at the right end



29.09.2004
In a couple of short seasons, Roy Makaay has put the Bayern loyalists through a roller-coaster of the emotions, from profound depression to total rapture. Almost exactly two years ago, at the same time and in the same competition, the Dutch ace fired his single previous hat-trick at the Olympic stadium, only for the "wrong" team.

Back then, Munich's Champions League dream came crashing down in a 3-2 defeat to La Coruna, but on Tuesday evening the Netherlands hitman almost single handedly returned the 2001 winners to centre stage in the European game. "He blew us away with La Coruna then, and he did it to his fellow countrymen tonight," Uli Hoeneß said with a grin afterwards, "and that's why we bought him. "

Makaay set a rousing Champions League evening in motion after 28 minutes. "Owen Hargreaves delivered a long ball, and I had the half second or so you need to let off a shot. I wondered what I should do, lob or shoot. Then I decided for the latter, and I reckon it was the right idea," the player said, describing a sensational 20 metre thunderbolt in typically dry fashion.

"That was a really acrobatic display. The way he brings down and controls the ball is something I've never seen in my long career," deeply impressed coach Felix Magath said in admiration of the goal-getter's skill.

Magath's Ajax counterpart Ronald Koeman was angry with his defence. "I told my players before the match always to keep a man behind Makaay. If I look at the opener, I have to say none of them was listening to me. " Makaay struck again shortly before and after the break with a header and a penalty to seal his fellow countrymen's defeat, drawing words of the highest praise from the visiting coach. "He's put on a superb demonstration today." Makaay now has 10 goals in 10 Champions League appearances for the Reds.

The 29 year-old would dearly like to apply his deadly finishing skills to the Dutch national cause, but new coach Marco van Basten seems determined to follow his predecessors' practice and relegate the striker to a substitute role. Makaay will be thrilled at turning in such a potent display against Amsterdam, although he insisted afterwards his priorities were his club and his personal goals, "not some third party somewhere else."

Fortunately for Bayern fans everywhere, super striker Makaay now turns out for the "right" team.

***

feels like you made a mistake
you made somebody's heart break
but now i have to let you go
i have to let you go

you left a stain on every one of my good days
but i am stronger than you know
i have to let you go
no one's ever turned you over
no one's tried
to ever let you down
beautiful girl- bless your heart

i've got a disease
deep inside me
makes me feel uneasy
i can't live without you
tell me what am i supposed to do about it
keep your distance from it
don't pay no attention to me
i've got a disease

feels like you're making a mess
you're hell on wheels in a black dress
you drove me to the fire
and left me there to burn

every little thing you do is tragic
all my life before was magic
beautiful girl- i can't breathe

i think that i'm sick
but leave me be
while my world is coming down on me
you taste like honey, honey
tell me can i be your honeybee
be strong keep telling myself
that it won't take long till
i'm free of my disease

matchboxtwenty disease

i just couldn't help reminiscing- especially after rowing at macritchie on friday evening and watching the sun set progressively over the course of our last kilometre, till all that remained were the bright blinking lights in the distance, and the quiet motion of our paddles entering, the strong pull, and then the withdrawal with nary a sound. awesome. remembering the way it all used to be, not that long ago. somehow it's not the same without everyone else, and i know we can never go back to that. Memories, sure. but that's all they can ever be, now.

on a lighter note,
i promise i'll upload the rest of the photos after prelims!

the Raffles K2 rowers- this one's for you!


[RJC 13 500m / RJC 13 1000m/ RJC 12 1000m/ RJC 19 500m]
L-R weiqi shine fengyi leqi sheryl mag jingting youjia

when you close your eyes
takeaminutetakeamoment
realise
do you see me when you fantasize
tonight'll be your night

i'm just sitting here daydreamingaboutyou
and allthethingsyoudo
girl, feels so right
and all i know is you're the one for me
that special kinda' lady
in my life, in my life

finally changed my layout after years. please read the disclaimer on the left before bombarding me with pointed remarks. thank you very much.

three days of the prelims have passed- somehow the papers have generally been decent so far. i can't expect too much of math but at least it was a paper i could do for once. econs p3 was pretty good, seeing that my deficiency of knowledge with regards to macroeconomic policy, which i just couldn't force down my throat, wasn't exactly very detrimental. three hours of phygeog today has not been very kind to my hand. i've got a total of six more three-hour long papers, including a day with two of those killers, which is not a thought i'd like to entertain right now. went to the toa payoh clubfitt gym after the paper, hoping to be able to save myself from deteriorating further into a lumpy mass. was looking forward to it at first, until i stepped into the gym. man that gym totally sucks. so damn pissed with all the creaky old machines with putrid smells and peroxide blonde old faggots who kept hogging all the free weights and preening into the mirrors that i left after only bench press and upright row. what a stupid waste of a dollar fifty! (at least the ticketing lady was nice and gave me student rate since i was in school uniform). the rowing machine was damn cranky too. i had to coax it out of its slumber and somehow the seat was wobbly and the metal chain entirely rusted.

to top it all off, the gym instructor on duty bore an uncanny resemblance to ahmad.

and so i decided to leave as fast as possible.

think i'll stick to bishan gym. so far it's been the safest place. i hope that doesn't change.


you can be my brown eyed beauty.

still a little bit of your taste in my mouth
still a little bit of you, laced with my doubt
still a little hard to say what's going on

still a little bit of your ghost, your witness
still a little bit of your face, i haven't kissed
you step a little closer each day
still i can't say what's going on

stones taught me to fly
love taught me to lie
life taught me to die
so it's not hard to fall
when you float like a cannonball

it isn't hard to fall, at all.