This is what I wrote in 2010 ; a repost ; how times(and money from a rich Chinese conglomerate) and fortunes have changed for the Wolves !

W is for 'Wolves' and in Old Gold Too ! 

         This is the $ 64 million question I think I need to answer. My formative teenage years were in the 1970s and the top entertainment during those times was the colour TV (introduced during the 1974 World Cup Final between Germany and Holland). Oh how, it changed people's lives forever. We could actually see in S.E.Asia what was going on 'live' as it happened halfway around the world. There was no Internet, no Facebook,Twitter, no PCs (first introduced in the early 80s), no mobile phones, no IPhones etc. It was really like living in the Stone Age !

        Every week, Singapore would get the English Premier league shown on Channel 5 maybe delayed telecast (2 - 3 weeks later) IN COLOUR. And the games then were played in a very passionate and rough and tumble manner, and of course being part of the Commonwealth, English football took a firm hold in the hearts and minds of many ordinary Singaporeans and Malaysians. The games were less skillful than those today and we had no Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga etc. to watch.

        So, in those days, one of the more unique sounding teams was Wolverhampton Wanderers, or Wolves for short and I kind of fancied myself like their chief striker John Richards, who played once or twice for the English national team. I had no idea where they were or if they were even champions. But I faithfully bought the SHOOT ! magazine every week after school (it was available at the neighbourhood shop for about S$ 1 a copy, a princely sum then) and followed their fortunes. I was kind of naive, not wanting to follow a big name team like Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United etc. but the uniqueness of supporting an obscure West Midlands team had its appeal. So I stuck with them, even though their glory days of winning the league twice in the 1950s to early 60s were long gone, even before I was born.

       Since I followed them (say around 1976), they have only won the League Cup TWICE, once in 1974 (against Manchester City) and once more  in 1980 against Nottingham Forest. AND THAT'S IT ! 

      Andy Gray headed in a solitary goal against Nottingham Forest and it was 1-0. That's the  2 major silverware they have won in the last 30 years. YES VERY PATHETHIC. They have been relegated several times since the 1980s and their last stay in the lower regions has been almost 15 years. I forgot them altogether, although I visited the stadium Molineux in 1987 (23 years ago) with some University friends. So I am not a true blue die hard supporter. I am just a FAIR WEATHERED SUPPORTER - ALTHOUGH AFTER THIS SEASON THAT MAY CHANGE FOREVER ! 

    Call me a romantic, but the PLUS POINT of supporting a no-hope team is that :

     Whenever they win a game against any other Premier league team, its like WINNING THE CUP FINAL .No one expects them to win anything, let alone stay in the top flight of the Premier League, so their being in the top 20 for  2 years (2008 till now) is already a cause for celebration.

     They invest a miniscule amount of money on players, have no brand name stars, and have been using their stadium for 30 years with little upgrade. Money is tight. I have been to the town of Wolverhampton and it is woefully sad and run down many factories have closed shop decades ago (it is an industrial town) and the only revenue is from their university and polytechnics which offer decent degrees and diplomas in Engineering.

     So when they win a match I celebrate like they have WON THE CUP FINAL  !

      Compare that to someone who supports Arsenal, Liverpool,Man U or Chelsea,their supporters expect them to WIN A TROPHY EACH YEAR. When the do, its EXPECTED. When they don't its a massive DISAPPOINTMENT. So the supporters are JADED, winning is like so boring. So when a team like Liverpool loses a match to Wolves, its a MAJOR DISASTER.  So their emotions are OK we won (this week), BOO we lost to XXX.

       Life must be quite torturous for those fans, the expectations are always rising each season.

      My approach with Wolves is this ; They lost last week (OK) ; This week they won (YEAH, OLE,OLE, OLE !!! )

     So I am a FOREVER OPTIMIST.

      So on 30th Dec 2010,  Liverpool  0    Wolves 1.

      Its TIME TO PARTY !  OLE ! OLE ! OLE !

Well done you Wolves ; you left Etihad stadium with your head held high ; So proud of this performance.

The championship leaders took on the Premier league leaders AWAY on Tuesday 24th October and the score was 0 - 0 at the end of extra time after 120 minutes of regulation play. 

Santos played 9 alternate players like Helda Costa, N'Bakare, Bright, Price, Will Norris (goalkeeper who in my mind was the Man of the Match), Vinegre, Marshall. Their regular strike force of Jota, Bonatini, and Cavalero did not start the match.

Wolves had 3 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper Bravo who is so aptly named, a Chilean International and the coach Guardiola only blamed Wolves defensive stance and the Mitre ball, which in my opinion was an absolute joke, as he then did not have to justify why his team of 300 odd million pounds worth of skill couldn't beat a 30 odd million pound team put together by brilliant Nunos in just 6 months. Guardiola is a master tactician but a sore 'loser' in this instance. 

In the end it came down to penalties, and while City netted all 4 of their tries, Wolves only got the solitary one from Bonatini. 

The ball is kicked, dribbled and headed by both sides, so where can there be any criticism of a FIFA sanctioned 'tool'.  A lousy workman blames his 'tools' so Guardiola just gave me a lousy impression, not much of a sport.

Manchester City vs Wolves Tuesday 24th Oct ; What a Matchup !

Top of Premier League versus Top of Championship teams.  This is the penultimate game of the season for me ;  I will watch it live on TV ; that is for sure !


As a fan with renewed optimism for my boyhood club, I am relishing the prospect that Wolverhamption Wanderers have the chance to play against the top of the Premier League in the Carabao or League (4th round) Cup. Manchester City with all their expensive signings will be playing at home, and Wolves record for their away games is at an all time high, only having lost 1 away match all season (that to Sheffield United) ;  

The play by Wolves is a very continental and flowing ; so if the teams employ the 3 - 4 - 3 which is an attractive attacking formation with the powerful Portuguese front line of Jiota, Bonatini (who is on fire at the moment) and Cavalero, we have a team of world beaters.
Jota has scored 7 brilliant goals, Bonatini 9 and Cavalero 4. 

Midfield of Siass, Neves, Doherty and Douglas is very strong ; Coach Santos knows that all games are won in mindfield, so the Midfield 4 are really clicking well and stringing passes together. Romain Saiss is apparently the top passer of the ball in the Championship.  

Defenders such as  Miranda, Coady and Batth form the defensive trio, while they can lose their heads sometimes, have an able goalkeeper in John Ruddy.

Saturday's 3 - 2 win against Preston North End resulted in 2 scrappy on field goals and 1 penatly while Preston had 2 good goals scrambled in before the final whistle.

In the substitutes, they have Bright Enobakhare, Helda Costa and Alfred N'Deave who have all scored on the pitch.

All in all an excellent team with an excellent visionary coach in Santos.

Bring on Tuesday 24th !!! 

Fat Cow 17th October 2017 - Camden Medical Centre ; My Review

The beef literally almost melts in your mouth ; such is the marbelling of the meat 

Last week, a friend and I tried the Fat Cow restaurant at #01 - 04 Camden Medical Centre.

While we tried to reserve a table for 12.15 pm at the last minute, the 'Chope' app on the phone only gave us a time slot of 1.30 pm. Undaunted, we tried to gatecrash the lunch venue anyway and the front desk lady was kind enough to arrange a seating at the Kaiseiki style counter with about 10 other guests even though we had arrived at 12.20 and the reservation at Chope had indicated that there was no more seating available.

We ordered the Wagyu Beef Bowl with a side salad, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the beef ; I would love to eat it every other week, but the cholesterol levels will not allow it, so I will keep this only for a special occasion, perhaps once every 6 months.

The meat was very tender, and almost melts in your mouth, and with the medium rare cooking on the grill, I dare say this rates one of the best Wagyu steaks I have eaten recently.

The only other steak comparable is the one at Mohammad Sultan Road, Bisteca, an Italian fine dining restaurant.

Flavourful and al dente chewy (not too chewy), the meat is prepared at the grill while you dine on your salad. The rice is typical Japanese sticky rice and with a slight flavouring of sauce, garnishing and a world best half boiled egg (Japanese style). Price per bowl : $50 ++.   

Verdict 

Food Quality         :  9 upon 10

Service Standard  : 9 upon 10

Ambience              : 8 upon 10

Total  :  8. 6 upon 10   (par excellence) 

Will I come again ; most definately.

8 km run in Dongguan China 12 Oct 2017

My run last week as recorded on the Polar M340 watch. Its a really functional device with heart rate monitor, GPS, activity tracker, steps tracker, split km timing and sleep tracker, in addition to telling the time. I would recommend it to those 'weekend warriors' who need a "Personal Kick yourself off the sofa trainer" like myself. 

Outside Dongguan Park 12th Oct 2017 

The coolest feature is of course the software where the owner of the watch can connect with other like minded individuals from all over the world who put up their runs to be scrutinised and dissected although most people would be very encouraging about each newbie's progress. 

This feature to 'relive' the run gives me the opportunity to analyse my fastest speed in km, the max. Heart Rate (177 which is pretty damn high) as well as elevation, cadence, average heart rate and it encourages the scribe in me to record my Run Diary in my own account, so that I a relive how I felt (from Awesome to Horrible) and then take it from there.

As I have put up 2 BHAGs, I had better put my money where my mouth is, so I am really fired up to  do a decent time for the Paris 2018. As I am in Australia in January 2018, I may very well take in 1 marathon (the Tasmania Cadbury Marathon which is held on  Sunday 14th January - I will keep this 3rd BHAG goal in mind).

So I have 3 months to get up to marathon shape ! 

Wolves move to the top of the English Championship (formerly Division 2)

         
         I have never seen such an attack minded Wolves side in all my years of following the team. It has exhibited class, tremendous attacking skill, great coordination and team spirit from the Coach Nuno Epserito Santos all the way to the substitutes. I will make the effort to watch the team play 3 games at home and away, soon.


      Diogo Jota's strike against Aston Villa makes it 1 - 0 at Molineux. An absolute stunner of a goal from the Portuguese striker on loan from Athletico Madrid. Sign him please ! 

        Leo Bonatini's goal to make it 2 - 0 was pure class from start to finish ; I am totally in awe with the skill level of the Wolves strike force leaving the Villa defender's all floundering in their wake. 

        So my visit to Molineux will be my second BHAG for 2017  - 18 and as the year is running fast away, I can only say that this opportunity of watching my boyhood team is probably once in 30 years, so I had better get my act together !



       

      When your team plays well, it is a Godsend, so I had better get my tickets ready to watch them play in the Premier league next season. Wolverhampton Wanderers, it is high time you had played up to your Founder Member status ! 

      There is the Carabao Cup in November against the No. 2 or No. 3 team in the Premier League. if Wolves can pull off an away win at Manchester City, then the skies the limit for this tremendously talented and hardworking team.

       Come on You Wolves !  

Crystal Jade Golden Palace

50 years ago today - Che Guevara's death

Ernestito Guevara - the Argentinian revolutionary fighter

50 years ago to this day, Che Ernestito Guevara the revolutionary fighter was shot and killed by Bolivian forces and CIA undercover operatives. While his face adorns millions of T shirts, no one except for the people who really knew what he stood for. 

For the current generation of young people, he probably is just an emoji representing everything that is anti-establishment (the current system and the bureacracy). Beyond that, he is just another global marketing brand label for the consumer industry.

What an irony. The person who was most against capitalism has his image emblazoned on everything from caps to T shirts, mugs, key chains and wallets.

We need a change in management

There has been much said about our Mass Rapid Transit System or the SMRT ; while the goal and tagline had been to make our system "world class" the sad reality is that it is far from that. Breakdowns and trains slowing or delayed for all manner of reasons has made our SMRT a much joked about service. Enough is enough. 

The frustration by the consumers are very fair, why pay decent money to get new and top quality trains only to have frequent breakdowns barely several years after the lines are fully operational ranging from signalling systems,trackside misalignment to water seepage (most recently).  The company is paying top dollar (over US$ 1.2 M) for top executives to manage a relatively new system but the screw-ups come fast and furious. The management while able to pinpoint the faults and enable alternative transportation quite efficiently still is unable to mitigate the regular incidences of failures and train delays.   

The root cause is the hiring of inexperienced people - at top dollar - to run the system. Much has been said by the people and their unhappiness is very clear whenever their are breakdowns and delays for a myriad of reasons. To expect or say this is 'normal' due to our aging system is nothing short of ridiculous. 

With this kind of pay, our SMRT can easily find top executives from anywhere in the world to clean house, ensure a smooth and reliable train system.

What kind of system do we have ?  Nothing to match the efficiency of Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Shanghai.

Its time to take stock and make some decisions.     

30 April update - the SMRT CEO has decided to step down ; 

A new chapter in Ken Shin Kai Karate Club ; Introductory lesson at SUSS

Jason conducting the class at SUSS (formerly SIM) campus 

The Ken Shin Kai club is now expanding into new territory with the introduction of karate-do (Shitoryu) class at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) - formerly called Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) along Clementi Road. The fist session was 6.30 to 8.00 pm on 6th October and I was one of the instructors helping out to give the newbies a taste of the martial art.

6 enthusiastic young men and women turned up and Kevin Tan who is a lecturer there, started the ball rolling by introducing karate shitoryu philosophy as well as a way of life. After the short introduction, we had approximately half an hour of basic punches, blocks and kicks to get the newbies into 'gear'. 

The undergraduates were mainly from te 3rd year and we (4 black belters) gave them an insight into how to properly execute a punch (with the waist movement first), a kick, some basic blocks and followed by a couple of stances.  

Jason Chua then conducted some bunkai (application of the kicks and punches) and we broke up the group into pairs to try out the application of the chops, kicks and some punches. The men and women throroughly enjoyed the session from what I could see from their happy faces, and the time flew by.

After about 1 hour of training, we then had a kata (form) demonstration by Kevin Tan with Sienchin performance, and the application of the sienchin blocks as well as grabs and punches. 

Ken Shin Kai is now active at the Tanglin Community Club every Sunday from 6.00 to 7.30 pm (Badminton Hall), for kids, it is held every Saturday at the NUSS Guild House Kent Ridge Campus from 10.00 to 11.30. So we are awaiting the further interest from SUSS to study when we can have the weekly or bi-weekly sessions at the new campus.

Thanks to all the instructors involved, Leck Chye Chuan, Kevin Tan, Jason Chua and our sensei Chia Kwek Fah for giving us this opportunity to take on new recruits to the school. 

We are growing step by step.   

6th Oct 2017 ; Son's enlistment into National Service

     

A last wefie before Andrew steps into military life

      6th October 2017 marked another milestone for our family, my younger son, Andrew was enlisted into National Service today. Just shy of his 20th birthday, he dutifully did his part by shaving his head and preparing mentally for the day - which was yesterday.

    All enlistees will serve their National Service for 20 - 21 months approximately (1 year 9 or 1 year 10 months) and the first station is normally the Basic Military Training Centre at Pulau Tekong camp for recruits.

Barracks at BMTC

Cupboard for each soldier 

    The day began early by all of us (wife, myself and Andrew) waking at 6.00 am, having an early breakfast and leaving the house by 7.00 am. Taking the Pan Island Expressway, the pickup point for all new enlistees is the Pasir Ris Bus Station. When we reached the destination at approxinately 8.00 am, we were ushered into buses and brought to the ferry terminus at Changi Point. The Singapore Armed Forces nowadays is very organized and provides staggered enlistment dates and times to cater for the logistics and seamless point to point movement of enlistees, their family members and friends. 

A balanced lunch of protein, vegetables and carbohydrates

    On the ferry, we watched videos of the early days of National Service, with flashbacks to our then Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew, and Defence Minister Goh Keng Swee making impassioned speeches on the necessity of having defence for the nation. 

    From then on, we went to visit his camp, had a peek into a typical bunk where he would be putting up for the next 6 weeks, had a lecture about what type of training he would undergo (he has several medical conditions, so he is within a lower PES category), the vision for the Armed Forces, safety aspects, typical day (reville is at 5.30 am, and all recruits will need to rest for 7 hours no exceptions). The Commanding Officer of the camp also make a talk highlighting the camp's expectations of the recruits, the adherence to discipline, and made available all means of communication with the camp through email, twitter, facebook and of course fixed line. 

    Finally, we witnessed our boys taking the oath to the nation ; this event made me especially proud because like they say, every Singaporean son goes through this rite of passage where they transform from boys to men. I am proud to have served my part years ago and very proud to see both my boys off into their next phase in life. 

    We had a meal together, a rather poignant moment to appreciate our bond and yes, undiminished love. He is a good son, and will one day become a father (we hope) like me. Now he has to do his duty and we see him back home in 2 weeks with his first stories of what recruit  life is like.

Eating the Cookhouse food ; Not bad, and a balanced diet 

   At about 1pm, the new recruits were asked to fall in in rows of 5 and with a sombre wave, and a right turn , they marched into their new phase of life.


   We went home feeling very proud and thoughtful that National Service is such an integral part of all our young men, regardless of race, religion or gender affiliations (that nonsense about transgender rights from the dysfunctional West). Every male from 16 + years onwards of age will serve National Service for 20 or 21 months.

    While doing their duty, we hope that the service will instill values such as discipline, honesty, integrity, leadership, competitiveness and hard work which will be so important in the later years of their lives.  

The batch of recruits falling in before they go into their barracks 

       

Latest Mass Shooting in Las Vegas shows how little we know about Mental Illness

            The recent mass shooting of people in Las Vegas USA randomly in a cold calculated manner, just reinforces the fact that I live in a gun free society, which though some people may call it slightly restricted in certain freedoms, in actuality it is because of these restrictions, that the ultimate freedom is given to its citizens and the permanent residents who can move around at practically any time of day or night, we can walk into ALL neighbourhoods without the slightest fear of harassment, robbery, being caught in the cross-fire of gangs, drug dealers or worse.

         I am happy that for the greater good of society, Singapore and its Government has advocated tough rules on many things. Guns are totally prohibited, and while the US has their 2nd amendment in the Constitution, don't forget that the Constitution was forged when America was a fledgling society 200 odd years who has fought themselves away from the imperialist rule and carrying arms was a way to protect themselves from the British.

          If the Government is there to provide security for its citizens, then there would be no need to resort to carrying or using firearms. I have had the benefit of shooting rifles and semiautomatic weapons during my National Service and Reservist days. All these were done under a strict controlled environment during live firing exercises.  

          The state of mind of people can never be taken as stable. It fluctuates. Mental illness, depression and instability are in my opinion, so insufficiently covered and known by the general population. When you are down with the 'flu, cough, aches, chest pains, you know there is a medical practitioner you can visit and he can diagnose and dispense the medication for your illness.

          If you are mentally ill, have depression or are feeling down, do you go and admit that you are not well 'up there?' Or do you just shoulder on the day to day existence and plod on ?

Accident waiting to happen ; and with access to all the weapons of mayhem at his disposal

         Stephen Paddock was a typical retiree, but something inside him made him do this heinous deed. It was meticulously planned, but the fact he put cameras in the hallways of the hotel floor he was staying in showed he was sane and calculative. The other question which is on people's lips is "why?".  Did he have a big grudge on society ?  Did he want to go out in a big way so that people the world over will remember his gross deed ?

         Did he discover he had an incurable disease and wanted to right the wrongs ? What did all the innocent people at the country music jamboree do to him if anything ? 

        The society in USA is really reeling from this latest horrible act. If we cannot adequately treat the sick or demented mind, then we should at least curb or totally eradicate weapons which would cause this kind of carnage to innocent human beings who will be scarred for life mentally about the objective of humanity. Nothing will change in the future and people will be giving up on living purpose driven lives since random acts of this magnitude  can and will happen time and again.  

       As Trump would say :  "Sad". 

           

  

  

After the 2 - 0 Away Loss away to Sheffield a resounding 4 - 0 away Win at Burton Albion

The team which lost 2 - 0 to Sheffiled United on Tuesday, bounced back and trounced Burton Albion 4 - 0 on Saturday 30th September 2017. The coach is a very wise man and he changed players and using new players as substitutes, the team is not short of firepower. 

The process has been refined to a team which was unlucky having lost 1 defender to a red card, early on during the Sheffield Utd match the team never really regained its shape. I love the way the team players such lovely flowing football instead of the cross and hope of the English game. Goals from Diogo Jota, Siass, a brilliant individual goal from Vinagre and the final icing on the cake from Leo Bonatini leads me to believe this team has the makings of a great side.



A video blog from a teenager who supports Burton Albion, very balanced and very composed vlog. I am impressed by his impartiality as a Burton fan and able to give a very non partisan assessment of the game. Keep it up son ! 


Mr. Nunes Esperito Santos, 

you have my vote as the best coach Wolves have had for 30 years !!! 

Saturday 30th Sept 2017 Run at East Coast Park from B1 to Lagoon Ski 360 Details

The big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) has been set and now is to focus on the process which entails a lot of sweat, some blood, and conscientious and gritty chasing of the daily runs, massage sessions when the body is tired, eating right, getting enough sleep, cross training, fasting the list is endless. The life of a marathoner is lonely but it is something I am accustomed to, from 2001 to 2007.

Its the chasing of the goals at all corners which is the fun aspect. The true satisfaction is only when the actual BHAG is a reality then I can gloat and say "I did it."

We always break our resolutions, because we are not serious in our goal settings.  

My Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for 2018

Telling the world my BHAG 

I'm taking a leaf from Mr. Sim Wong Hoo, Creative Technology boss who in his book declared that when you have goals, make them Big, Hairy (I think it means a little over the top), audacious (which is Hairy x 2) and a Goal for a lifetime.

So for 2018, I would like to declare this as my BHAG. I have already bitten the bullet and signed up for the Paris Marathon on 8th April ; I have roughly 6 months to train.

Second BHAG : To record a 4 hour 15 time ; for the full 42 km, this means an awesome (to me of course) average time of 6 minutes 7 seconds PER KILOMETER for the entire 42.195 km !!! 

Third BHAG : To lose like 3 - 5 kg (from a 76 kg), my target is to be a trim 71 kg by then. Yes, I will have baggy and loopy looking pants, but the SACRIFICE is worth it.

1. Clarity of mind (objective) : its clear what I need to accomplish ; I then need to break down the objective to bite sized daily, weekly and monthly objectives for a) exercise, b) diet intake and c) sleep sufficiency.  Its the adherence to the package that makes the whole goal realistic.  

2. Purity of Spirit : I want to do this with a pure heart and tell myself that I am doing it for the best intentions ; I will start looking for a charity to support to raise money. Details will follow.

3. Relentless pursuit of the objective : This will be the most challenging and painful. Time will be short. There is business to attend to, bills to pay, appointments to be met, customer visits local and overseas, a year end holiday, new customers, old customers, meeting and managing new staff and overseeing operations, as well as 1 major project with 2 more in the pipeline.

   Tough ; management of time and energy is critical.   

4. Sacrifice : As mentioned, I will need to sacrifice my love of white wine, chocolates and excess foods and drink with the friends to lose that weight. Its an ascetic lifestyle for the next 6 months. 

5. Focus : the goal is the end result ; the process is the training, cross training and the dieting, plus following up on weekly logging of the kms.

6. Discipline :  This is the further manifestation of the previous 2 process factors above. 

    Achieving or finishing the marathon is 1 thing ; achieving it in a Personal Best time is something out of the ordinary. At 55 years of age. 

   I must be crazy.