Temporary Bachelorhood Over, Aly & the Dutch Jersey

For the last 3 days my wife and daughter was away in Singapore shopping. Due to this I was a reborn bachelor for 3 days. After not being one for over 2 years it was a weird feeling coming home from work to an empty house, having to 'plan' dinner with other single guys, even showering with the bathroom door open felt weird.

All this ended last night, truth be told, I'm actually happy they returned.

For one, I finally woke up on time. But most of all I miss having Aly around. I guess she missed me too. They arrived home at around 11pm last night and Aly was asleep in the taxi. When transporting her from the cab to the bedroom, she woke up. Then 'dah-dee' had to be by her side until she slept again, which took almost an hour as she was fighting it and kept on checking if i was lying down beside her. This morning she wouldn't let me shower to go to work and wanted me to be with her... I guess this is one of the joys of haveing a kid... and yes.. I missed my wife too..:)
I would also like to thank my wife for getting me an 'original' Dutch World Cup jersey in Singapore. I stress the 'original' as my Euro 2004 Dutch jersey was bought at PS Boutique or more commonly known as Petaling Street.

An Update

Yes, the World Cup is currently the biggest event in the world of sports. Nevertheless, there have been other sports and sportspersons that deserve mention last weekend.

1. Rafael Nadal. He continued his dominance on clay by completely manhandling World #1 Roger Federer at the finals of the French Open last Sunday. This extended his record unbeaten run on clay to 60 matches. It is now being debated if he is the best ever player on the surface. All he has to do now is prove himself on other surfaces and he can be in position to replace Federer as the worlds best.
2. Fernando Alonso. 3 grand prix's in a row after winning convincingly at the British GP last weekend. He looks in like to win his 2nd world championship in a row after another well contolled drive. 7-time world champ Michael Schumacer came in a distant 2nd.
3. Se Ri Pak. In a weekend dominated by youth, Nadal is 20 and Alonso 21, Se Ri Pak would seem like a veteren at 28. Nevertheless, she came back to win the ladies LPGA Championship beating out up and coming 16 year old Michelle Wie and a few other ladies who were in contention.

Back to the World Cup, I am happy to state that both the teams I support have won their opening matches. The Dutch beating Serbia & Montinegro 1-0 and the Socceroos beating Japan 3-1 scoring all 3 goals in the final 8 minutes.

In news unrelated, my house has been damn quiet as my wife and daughter are away in Singapore with my mom-in-law. The good thing is I am a temporary bachelor...

Luck….

Do we create our own or is it bestowed upon us?

Last night the French football team played their last friendly match before the World Cup finals. During this match their forward Djibril Cisse broke his leg. Now, this is the same guy who broke his leg playing for Liverpool (see picture-breaking of leg) but recovered amazingly and played well at the end of last season to get a place in the France National squad. Now his World Cup dream is over. At least for this World Cup. Is he just unlucky? Is he one of the unluckiest footballers around?

As for me I believe I have ok luck. I’m not the luckiest person in the world but certainly not the unluckiest. My gut says I will never win the ‘big’ one, like the multi-million lottery (although I buy lottery tickets every month) but I do ‘win’ smaller things. Besides, you can’t dream of winning the lottery if you don’t buy the ticket. Being a person that’s loves to gamble I also believe that we create our own luck, whilst some form of gambling has nothing to do with luck at all, planning and careful calculation usually result in some element of luck being created.

Now, I actually don’t know why I’m rambling on like this. Maybe it’s because for once in a long-long while, I actually have no urgent work to do. This may not last more than today but you never know.

p/s: 2 days till the World Cup… and counting…

Worlds 'Greatest' Sports Event

With the World Cup only a few days away I guess its fitting of me to give my take on the worlds greatest soprts event. The term greatest is obviously up for debate with Olympians, as to some the Olympiads is the greatest sporting event. Anyway, here's my prediction for the upcoming World Cup.

Champions - I would love to say the Dutch will win but realisticaly, the Brazilians are a class above the rest. With a line-up of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka, etc. they have one of the best lineups ever to compete in the World Cup.

Golden Boot - should the Dutch progress past the first round (they are in the toughest group with Argentina, Ivory Coast & Serbia Montenegro) then I expect Ruud Van Nistelrooij to grab the Golden Boot. Reason being, to prove to Sir Alex Ferguson that benching him at the end of last season and most likely losing him after the World Cup is a mistake. If not it will be a surprise striker such as Gilardino or Toni of Italy or even Crouch of England to grab the Golden Boot.

Surprise team - the suprise team of this World Cup will be either the Mexicans, Americans or Portugese. These teams will be "off the radar" of many analysts, journalists and even supporters. Japan & Korea, the surprise teams of the last World Cup will find it tough.

Dissapointing team - it will either be the Dutch or Argentinians from Group C as i forsee the Ivory Coast making it past the first round. This means one of the two teams mentioned to get sent home early. For me, I hope its Argentina.

Well thats my take.. it could be completely wrong but who cares....

Go Oranje!!