Sunday, July 22, 2007
Just a sidetrack into soccer for this post. It was like the first time I caught american soccer or like the commentator said "They call it football over here" on cable tv. Before that, I don't think espn or supersports would have bothered screening soccer matches from usa. It was real funny hearing how the commentator have to like refer to Beckam's favourite position in the centre of midfield as a quarterback. Before Beckham's foray into the States, I had very little knowledge of american soccer. I do have a usa jersey from the last world cup and that was it. Soccer fans would have heard of players like landon donovan and freddy adu and clubs like dc united and that's it.
As on today, before the game started, there's only 3 players in La Galaxy that I heard and know of. Abel Xavier, Landon Donovan and Cobi Jones and that's it. Cobi Jones is fast seeing out his soccer career with the team while Abel Xavier is trying to revive his career after a change of so many clubs. By the looks of it, he played well in the match against Chelsea and looks to be a good signing. He cleared alot of threatening balls and was a good reader of the game. Maybe it was the familiarity of playing against English clubs but his experience helped him alot. He and Beckham could be the players to stop the losing streak of the club.
You cannot help but see the impact that a soccer player like Beckham has brought to America. I mean even when he was warming up 10 mins before he was brought into the game, you could hear the cheers and see the number of photographers and cameras on him. Could tell that he was still not fully fit and brought on just to "show face" abit. He wasn't really running around and shy away from some tackles he normally would go into. After a challenge by Steve Sidwell, he lied on the ground for a few seconds and I honestly thought that was it. However, he was all right and got up after a while. His first pass was a long cross which reached Donovan perfectly and you know he's gonna be a real asset to the team with his pinpoint crosses.
Before he came, Donovan was the main freekick and corner taker but he gracefully gave up the last corner of the game to Beckham. I mean that can only be good for the team. As a striker, he should be in the box and put away the chances that Beckham is gonna create next time. Hopefully soccer's profile in America will get better with his arrival and he can make a difference for the team. Regardless of the news that he moved to the states for other purposes other than for soccer is just pure nonsense.
Have been spending the past few days in Jurong recently, just like a prelude to school days. Played badminton with James, Ashley and Paul at the newly-built Jurong West Sports Hall. It was my first time to the place and was quite impressed with it. The new stadium for Gombak United and it certainly was better than the previous one beside the Gombak mrt station. Met James and Paul at boon lay mrt station and proceeded to take 179(yes, it was along the way to ntu yet again) and alighted in front of the stadium. Had a tough time finding the place because it was quite huge with alot of levels. I was pleasantly shocked that they even have a Sakura restaurant inside but it was a good move by the owners. I mean the place was flooded with diners when we left so it's a good place for families to have a buffet dinner at a cheap price.
The swimming pool was like the jurong east pool, filled with all sorts of slides that catered to kids. Looked pretty inviting after a 2 hour game of badminton. Singapore just needs to dedicate more land to building sports halls/stadiums like these to cater to sports-lovers. Even if you do not play sports, it can bring together friends and families. However in a land-scarce Singapore, that's very difficult. It cost $7.40 per hour(weekend rates) to book the court for 1 hour we shared the cost for 2 hours($14.80). That works out only to like $3.70 for 1 person, Very reasonable and cheap.
Considering the last time I played badminton was before I enlisted, yesterday was a good warm up for me and to compensate for the lack of soccer recently. We naturally think of Singaporeans as people who do not exercise and always busy with work. Yesterday's trip to the sports hall just proves most people wrong. It was like flooded and not a single empty court was in sight. Even after we left at 8pm, 2 guys came over to take over us to play. That was like 1 hour of play time before the court closes at 9pm. There are some serious players in the courts who really mean business. It's just like how I see people who play squash. It's either recreational badminton or serious stuff.
Left for Jurong Point to have dinner at the food court. Was extremely lucky to find a seat cause it was still considered dinner time then and it was damn crowded. I got myself the usual handmade noodles, James had dry handmade noodles with sauce, Paul with his dry and tacky friend hokkien mee while Ashley made good choice - herbal chicken soup with rice. I haven't had that for a long time since the jjc days. Probably the next time I go there I will eat that. So we chatted from like 9pm to 11.30pm after dinner. Time passed by so quickly that from the noisy and bustling foodcourt, it turned into a empty and dark one. By the time we left, only a few tables were occupied and all the stalls were closed. 1 table was playing boardgames while a few more had people chatting away also.
Time really passes by so quickly when you're in the company of good friends. Talking about old times, catching up and discussing about our future plans namely about university life. We all missed the last train and whatever buses there were. I was surprised that train services ended so early at 11.30pm at boon lay mrt station, even the 174 bus that I usually take to go home. Not that it really matter anyway, the place was still flooded with people close to midnight from people who took the last train back to boon lay.
My parents came to pick me up and I waited for them at the bus interchange. I happened to chance upon this auntie who was selling those $1 ice cream covered on 2 sides by a biscuit. Even though it was after midnight, she was doing brisk business from commuters who are on their way home. I haven't had such ice cream for a long time and proceeded to buy a chocolate chip ice cream from her. She gave me quite thick piece which was really worth the $1. These are the little treats I used to have when I was young, buying ice cream from old men on their ice cream motorcycles.
She was of middle-age and had a few strands of white hair on her head and that left a telling impression on me. Was she working for the sake of working or just to earn extra income? I don't know. I mean it's good to work but at that time, she should be at home resting and spending time with her loved ones. Not to mention it's not really safe to be in boon lay late at night because of the large number of foreign workers that resides there. I remember during the jc days, jp was flooded with people but not to this extent. Now the large number of foreign workers makes the places seem relatively unsafe. You can never know what some of them are up to.
It was indeed a time well spent on a saturday evening with friends over a game of badminton, some good food and dessert. What more can I ask for? My life has more or less resumed back to the life of a student and I'm just waiting for school to begin. It seemed just like yesterday when I was still a soldier and counting when am I mounting or dismounting from camp. Getting all my weekends burnt for the wrong reasons. If my weekends are burnt, it will be for a good purpose this time round, either for school or with friends.
PESS camp this wednesday to saturday. I wonder what it will be like.
