Xm@s week~~~

Yeah! 3 more days to Christmas & half of my 6 days rest days have gone. Nothing to do actually despite having such a long rest.

Yesterday juz kanna drag by my fren to Sentosa & i muz be really regretted. There was nothing to see at the U.W.W, it took juz less than half an hour & its finished. Next stop, the Dolphin Lagoon. Its kind of compensate for the former event as this is at least worth watching. It is the pink dolphin show, a "senior" pink dolphin & followed by 3 "junior" were performing. Their agility, response & flexibility is brilliant. And thats marked the end for yesterday. Cya!

Wish everyone a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

***Corinthian Prostars ELITE twin pack - Paolo Maldini: In Italy Home & Away 1994. AC Milan longest serving player since 1984.

Bossy week@

End of 2007 is approaching & it is good news to my company too. They are having their annual Dinner & Dance tonight at Suntec (shld be starting soon...). Too bad, i am not involved.

However, i seemed to be on the other end (not so good news) recently. I am having more & more bosses to take instructions from since i joined this company...

- Boss A: My ex-boss (no more link).
- Boss B: My current boss (everything is fine & good).
- Boss C: Replacing engineer for my product (so far so good).
- Boss D: Stand-in for Boss C (hidden character & beware!).

So i have to work concurrently everytime if all 3 of them need to. Well... it can be done, but juz a bit messy. Haha, anyway, looking forwards to next week long rest days. Cheers!

***Corinthian Prostars ELITE twin pack - George Best: In Northern Ireland Home & Away 1971. A Manchester United Legends who has played 466 times & scored 178 goals in total. Died 25th Nov 2005.

Adjustment week*

One week has passed, i have recovered from the aftermath of the marathon. Fresh & ready to go for some changes & adjustment.

After my 1st week of attending night class after work, i am starting to feel the tiredness of travelling to and fro, juggling between work & study, and it is only the pre-enrol course! I wonder what will it be like if i really start my part-time study. Fortunately, one of my CoLleague is studying too, so at least got someone to ease the boredom. After 3.5 years without studying, it is difficult to suddenly recall back all the things i have learnt so far. Some fine tuning & adjustment need to be done. Nevertheless, it is a good start and at least i am not so bored anymore in my work. GO FOR IT!

***My rare collection of managers: From L-R: Ranieri (Juventus), Wenger (Arsenal), O'Neill (Aston Villa), Ferguson (Man Utd), Wenger (Arsenal), Keegan (unknown), Mourinho (unknown), Moyes (Everton).

marathon week ~~~~~

After 6hrs 06mins 24sec, i finally completed my debut marathon run & i can admit that it was a tough one. If w/o sufficient training, you can't endure throughout the whole marathon. After the run, i could hardly walk, my legs are numb & aching, not sure if i can walk tmr. Overall, i am glad that i have completed my 1st marathon, once in a lifetime is good enough. Congrats to my 2 colleagues who completed too. :)

***Latest Manchester United Barclays
Premiership Champions 06/07 12 Pack.
Top (L-R): Van Der Sar, G.Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Erva, Carrick
Bottom (L-R): Scholes, Giggs, C.Ronaldo, Saha, Rooney, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Goodie week [___]~

Just collected the Standard Chartered Marathon goodie bag yesterday at Suntec. Is amazing that there are so many ppl participating in this year marathon. You can see many blue sling bags around you when you went there. This is my 1st time collecting, it consists of: number tag, a small timing device, 1 pkt of pain relieving analgesic, 2 pkts of Berocca, 1 pkt of filiz spagetti, 1 adidas running attire and the trademark blue sling bag. It is just one more week to the marathon, and yet i am not well-prepared. Dunno whether can endure till the end on that day. Pray hard! :)

***Alex Ferguson (Man Utd manager) - Special Edition Platinum pack, only 360 pieces worldwide. Rare for its blue platinum base instead of the usual silver one.

Collection display week 1!

Full set of Corinthian Prostars Series 35 Platinum: Total 12 + 2 Redemption!

Top (L-R): Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Rooney (Man Utd), Henry (Arsenal), Vieira (Inter Milan), Berbatov (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Carrick (Man Utd away).
Bottom (L-R): Zmbrotta (Barcelona), Carrick (Man Utd), Rosicky (Arsenal), Grosso (Inter Milan), Duff (Newcastle Utd), Luis Garcia (Liverpool), Rosicky (Arsenal away).

_ week.

Oops... dun know what to write this week. My mood is the same as the previous week. Life is like a LOOP!

// --- Start of work ---

i=0;

while (work = rotting)

{

No mood; // until when?

No exercise; // 5 weeks & counting...

Nothing to do; // 3 weeks & counting...

i++;

}

// --- End of work ---

***Diego Forlan (repaint): Former Man Utd & Villareal striker, repainted in Atletico Madrid home jersey. :)

Hazy week "(-_-)

2 weeks, that's how long i have been rotting for the past few weeks. Sometimes i am wondering, is this good or bad? Once in a while free is quite ok, but for a couple of weeks, that is too much. My brain is starting to hibernate soon...

Moreover, recent news of new boss taking over my product gave me more worries. Am i going to change boss again? No doubt the change will give me a new kind of challenge or experience, but it came a bit too fast. Juz barely 3 months since my last transfer, it going to happen again. No word has been said or confirmed to me yet, but i hope it won't take place.

Hopefully, it will becomes clearer next week, else i will keep on guessing... ...

***Serie A Champions 2006/07 Celebration Pack - Inter Milan. This special edition pack celebrates Internazionale's fantastic League Championship success & contains 12 of the key players who helped secure the title.

Top (L-R): Cesar, Cordoba, Zanetti, Materazzi, Grosso, Figo

Bottom (L-R): Dacourt, Vieira, Stankovic, Cambiasso, Ibrahimovic, Crespo

Double Delight week_ooOO

1st: Finally got my "real" Class 3 Driving Licence today after 11 days of waiting! But dunno need to wait how long before i can drive again.
2nd: Juz won my company organized Futsol Tournament today, recevied a trophy & NTUC voucher.


My team is called "GOE" United = "Glory Of Engineering". Sound a bit garang, but not so in reality (shld be heng). Total 7 players: 5 playing, 2 reserves. 1 in his 40's, 4 in his 30's and 2 in his 20's. I think we have the highest average age group among the 7 teams!

In the 1st match, we drawn 1-1, lost on penalties. lucky to score my team 1st goal in the tournament with a simple tap in. 2nd match, drawn again, now is 0-0 , scored the winning penalty. 3rd match, we won 1-0. 4th match (semi-final), we have the biggest win, won 2-0. 5th match (final), we won 1-0 again. One of the contradicting thing is that the team we played in the 1st match is also the last team we played in the final. Moreover, the opponent team has training once in a week whereas for my team, we only met and get to know each other today! Not familiarizing with one another, we still can win the tournament (heng). Overall, it is a nice experience participating in one of the company organized events. Hope to win it next year. Happy... ...

***Christmas 2002 Special Edition: Ronaldo (Brazil). He had been the star of the Brazilian team that won the World Cup in Japan & S. Korea.

Spoilt_sport week :(

What a happy week ended with a twist. I injured my right foot last Thursday while playing street soccer at Bedok. Maybe i am too rusty or too retarded after so long w/o playing. A bit slow motion in every moves, then also due to my 1st time wearing my new adidas street soccer shoes too. Sianzzz...

Finally, i get to be super free now during the weekend as there is no more driving lessons. But, muz settle my studies asap. Hope ur enjoy ur weekend! :)

*** Select 500 2007 - From top left clockwise: Buffon (Juventus away), Davids (Tottenham away), Robben (Chelsea away) & Ljungberg (Arsenal away). This select 500 series only produced 500 pack per figure, this is one of the Conrinthian's most limited produced products ever! (Cost: GBP 53.65).

Class 3 week*

Yeah, very happy this week! 1st, i only worked for 3 days. 2nd, i managed to sell some of my figures ($$$). Lastly, i finally got my Class 3 driving license (manual) after the 3rd attempts (shame)!

- The 1st test: i got a bad tester, forgot to bring photo & failed due to my carelessness & panicky.
- The 2nd test: i got a good tester, forgot to bring photo again & failed due to my lack of response.
- The 3rd test: i got a good tester too, brought my photo & stroke the front pole while doing parrallel parking. Luckily, the pole juz swing and remain back to position. Else, i will get my 4th test soon. Even though it was raining, i still managed to drive my way to success with the power of the photo (muz be well-prepared to get pass, hah:).

This driving thing has been driving me crazy, all the time & effort & money spent together ($2k+). No doubt i am also not so smart & flexible, so can drag for so long too. Anyway, all is over now. Time to think of my studies...

Classis 2007 - Top (L to R): Valderrama (Colombia), Ronaldinho (Brazil), Figo (Portugal), Aimar (Argentina). Bootom (L to R): Gerrard (Liverpool), Bergkamp (Arsenal), Batistuta (Fiorentina), Nakata (Perugia). This Classics set is a joint UK and Japan Series featuring only the biggest names in World football in either their club or national team kit.

Special THANKS to:
Peter (my instructor:)

Yes! week!

Yeah, having a long weekend - 12 Oct (Fri) to 16 Oct (Tue), 5 days not working!

This week, nothing much happened, juz that there is no jogging due to rainy weather.

On Monday, i was treated to a cafe near AMK hub after work by one of my CoLleague, it is the "Yes! The Asian Cafe". From the moment we stepped into the cafe till we left, only one customer came in, this showed how "well" the business is. We ordered some side dish like the Honey Baked Chicken Winglets - juicy meat being cooked just right and sprinkled with fragrant black and white sesame seeds. I am a Chicken Wings lover, so it did appeal to me, haha...

Despite having such a long break, i cant think of anything to do. Sian... ...

*** Select 500 2006 - From top left clockwise: Deco (Barcelona away), Vieira (Juventus away), Makelele & Duff (Chelsea away). This select 500 series only produced 500 pack per figure, this is one of the Conrinthian's most limited produced products ever! (Cost: GBP 18.18).

10km week ~!~!~

Yeah... Yet another week has past, this week my jogging distance increased to >10km (3 rounds of Bishan Park 1!). It took me abt 70mins to complete the route. At the end, i could not feel my leg as i walked. One of my colleague also joined me after work, she has not been jogging for the past 2 weeks and we promised to complete 3 rounds this week as a progressive training (increase 1 round per week). After the 1st round, i can still see her following behind, so i carried on for the 2nd round. Along the way, i lost track of her, but still continued to finish my 3rd round. In the end, as i abt to reach the finishing point, i saw her. She only completed 2 rounds and wait for me to complete my 3rd. Aiyo... But ok la, at least i progressed to the next stage. Next will be 4 rounds, i am keeping my finger cross... haha...

*** Fabio Capello - former AC Milan, AS Roma, Juventus & Real Madrid manager. He is one of the few coaches to claim championship victories in four major European cities (Milan, Madrid, Rome and Turin).

Home Run Week^

This was the day when i used the most ancient way of travelling around places by foot - jogging. The weather was hot, the traffic was heavy & the route was uneven. Along the way, i have to look out for traffic, condition of the path etc to ensure my own safety. I brought along my company pass, 1 EZ-link card (in case i gave up half-way), S$2 note, my mobile phone & a Buddha amulet (pray for safety!). I managed to reached my home in 46mins, 6 mins later than when i used to take buses home. Have to be very determine along the way to keep pushing myself to complete it. Get to rest awhile when waiting for the traffic lights and also do some stretching exercise too. Overall, it feels nice & is a great experience to jog home w/o taking buses. Maybe i can jog to my workplace next time, heehee... ...

26th Sep 2007:
- 1738hrs: Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1 (Starting point)
- 1824hrs: Sims Drive (Ending point)
- Distance: 7.72km
- Time taken: 46min

***Jose Mourinho - Former Chelsea manager, this figure was released to accomodate the Chelsea team which won the Premiership title 2004/05, ending a 50 yrs long wait since they last conquered England's top flight.

Anniversary week :)

Wow, one year has past since i joined this company. Some of the up's & down's during this period of time... ...

1st: Interview - Lucky to met a interviewer who is kind enough to accept me as a non-experience fresh grad and less demanding (unlike previous interviews & maybe he is in need of ppl). Once employed, i knew why, he is a person who keep "secrets" & can do things well (for himself), but not when managing ppl or giving instructions. I have to be independent & play the guessing games. And, he is not popular with his peers which sometimes made my work more difficult.

2nd: Working environment - I am involved in a new product, and is so called the "pioneer" EA. My boss is at the 4th floor, the production is at the 2nd floor and my lab is at 3rd floor. U see, i am sandwiched in between, and i have to be the middle-man to moderate their miss-understanding and fiery exchange everytime. Pressurized! Moreover, there is no one to ask or learn from regarding my product & i can only approach him.

3rd: Re-organize - Change of boss. Finally, hope came by, and i am transferred to a new boss but still the same product. Now, i start to be more active in learning things, unlike in the past, i am too dependent on "him". Now, i have a more considerate boss and willing to teach & guide you along. I am glad this changes came.

4th: Future - Since all is settled at work, is time for me to think abt my future. I need to upgrade myself if i wan to have a better life or staying in the company. What trouble me is to kick-start this and u tends to be slack after 2 yrs+ w/o studying. So i need to act fast before i completely lost the interest.

Overall, i enjoyed working in this company. My colleagues are nice and friendly, new boss is good. Even though, there is some prob here & there, nasty ppl who instruct u to do things, ppl who is "fake" and backstab u. If u are well-seasoned enough, u can dun bother abt them or even counter them. So, here i start my 2nd yrs working and may all things work well!

***Manchester United Treble Winners Celebration Pack 1999 - This is the set that i am searching for a long long time. Man Utd won the EPL championship, FA Cup & the UEFA Champions League in juz 1 season!

Moody week (-_-)!

This week, i am delighted to have completed 7km route at the Bishan Park (2 rounds), 1st time ever to cover so much distance! Comparing this to 42km, it is only 1/6 of it. Scary, it took me 50mins to complete 7km, for 42km is = 50mins x 6 = 5hrs! Wow, that's long... Ok, hope can endure the 42km then. Back to work, it is getting more & more problematic for my product, something went wrong for the sensor, and affected many batch of units. Hopefully it can be solved, else i have endless measurements to take (time wasting). Recently, i am getting more & more moody in my work, everything seems to get in my way. So pray for a better week ahead :)

*** Fabio Cannavaro (platinum) - Captain of the Italy (World Cup Winner 2006), one of the rare and exclusive figure, only available in the World Champions 2006 Celebration Pack!

Jogging week ^

Sianzzz... Felt so tired this week, "sleep" mode everyday. ZZZzzz... Well, this week i have been jogging around Bishan Park quite often, slow & steady, building up my stamina. Why? Coz I'm not sure if i am crazy or wat, i actually signed up for the Standard Chartered full marathon (42.195km)! Nv in my life i have encountered such a long distance, the nearest was during NS (32km route march). Luckily my company is subsidizing 50% and my colleagues are joining too. Back to work, i hate working for my ex-boss, everytime ask me to do this do that, but nv say clearly. Dun know when this things going to stop, it is always hard to take instructions from 2 boss, s*** him! Else, this week is considered ok la, juz a s*** here and there. Looking forwards for a better week. Cheers!

*Latest Repaint figure: Del Piero (Juventus) away 07/08: This is my favourite player of all time, the ever-green Del Piero!

IPPT week !i!i!

2 months & 6 days, that's how long i managed to clear my 1st Ippt window as a NSmen. NSmen? Sound like some old soldier, but the fact that i have passed my 1st anniversary since ORD, i have to admit it. But too bad, i have no incentive for passing. Coz of my bro last min booking and he booked the Ippt test at TPY Safra together wif me. S***! The test is taken in a gym! No $$$! But since we came, we juz took it. After a year being an old soldier, my fitness level has dropped slightly. For instance, chin-up and 2.4km run. The rest still ok. In the end, i got a pass, but no $$$. Now come the dilemma, shld i take again to achieve a SILVER and get 200 or juz wait for the next window? Coz if i take again, and get a pass, i get 100 but i have taken twice, not worth it. So if i take again, i die die muz get SILVER! So time to train up myself for the remaining 10 mths and have a shot towards my SILVER, no, is my 200! Good luck to me :)***Dermot Gallagher - Top Premiership referee. It is the first time a referee is ever produced! This figure pack is only available for the 2 days of the Villa Park Convention at the 12th & 13th Aug 2000. It is 7 years old now. Rare and collectible.

Panda(less) week ~~~

A Hello Panda a day, keep the doctor away! Sound true to me. Ever since i finished my very last Hello Panda on last weekend, strange thing started to happen to me. 1st 2 days OK, but the 3rd day, it started. As i wake up, i felt the "flu" feeling. But i still went to work anyway. Due to the super strong air-con in my company, my pair of hands was freezing cold. I wore 2 layers of gloves for the 2nd half of the day and tahan till 5pm. Alas, once i reached home, down i go! MC for the following day (1st time for almost one year)! So today/ tmr, i am going to hunt for my Panda again, else i feel sick. Ha...

***Pierluigi Collina (Italy) - recognized as the World's best referee. It is released as this year Convention 2007 Special Edition, features Collina in a kit he wore for the 2002 World Cup.

ReBirth week (O_o)!

Bomp! Bomp! Bomp! This happy national period ended with fireworks filling up the entire nation, the annual Singapore Fireworks Celebration! Watching from my bedroom, the fireworks lasted for about 15min plus, what a beauty and happy occasion for all Singaporean! Likewise that also mark a new chapter of my career. Since the transfer, i am busy learning things all over again like a new born. The arising problems of my product provide me the chance to learn and gain more, though it happened to be too fast too furious! But, juz take one thing at a time. Back to soccer, what a disappointing start to Manchester United after two consecutive draw. Hope they can get their 1st win tomorrow against their local derby rival Manchester City, whose form has been superb so far with their new signings. Sad :( Go ManU!

***(Corinthian Prostars ELITE pack: Roy Keane - Republic of Ireland Home & Away 1994. Very nice packaging and limitd production of 750 pieces. It is released to feature the best players that the game of football has ever seen!)

Transition week :(

Haiz... What a confusing & frustrating week! Despite being transfer to a new boss, the transition period is unbearable. Coincidentally, my product is having many problems too. Sad... I suddenly felt that i am occupied with lots of things to do. Through this difficult period, i have to be more initiative and learn those things that are beyond my normal job scope. Hopefully this is the time for me to become a better and capable person from now on. NO PAIN! NO GAIN ! But today is a happy occasion for me, EPL season resumes tonight. But the match i keen to watch is on Sunday: Manchester United vs Reading. Hope Manchester United can get a winning start to the new campaign and defend their title! :)

***Corinthian 2005 Special Edition (10th Anniversary) - Paul Gascoigne in Lazio jersey 1992. Rare coz of the face mask!

Transfer week :)

Being in this company for less than a year, it is surprisingly fast that my boss has changed, probably a good step forward i think. I am deeply grateful to him for giving me an opportunity to kick-start my career and the time & effort he spent in nurturing me. Thank you very much! So a new era has juz begun, hopefully i can learn more & more things under the new boss. To me, i prefer the new boss' working style, more willing to share & teach. So this is a stepping stone to me from now on. But my OT jinx still continue, after transferred to a new boss 3 days later, i have to do OT today! Sianzzz... ... But i am happy with the transfer anyway :)

***My repaint figure: Owen Hargreaves repainted in a Manchester United jersey, rare & exclusive. One and only! Cheers to the art of repainting :) [from L to R: Hargreaves microstar (Home), prostar (Home) & microstar (Away)]

Sporty week... #

Hey, yet another week has past... ... Finally, i have found my kaki to exercise after work. Last Friday is the 1st jogging session, completing the entire Bishan Park! Is gd to have ppl who is fit enough to motivate u to keep on jogging and not giving up coz u r tired. And this guy happened to be from Commando unit! Sad to say that, comparing his to mine unit, is such a great diff. (Commando vs RP?) see... But it is a gd start, hopefully more & more kaki can join us in the future. Haha... Keep FIT ! ! !

***(Rare collection: Corinthian 1997 Headliner series - Eric Cantona (manchester united). Is almost 10 yrs old ! Rare coz of his trademark "collar up" pose)

Boring Week... ...

Aiyo, yet another week has past... ... Things happened quick and fast everydays... Juz got my increment and bonus this week, which means that i have more $$$ to spend at home.. yeah..! This weekend is bored, even the Asia Cup Quarter-Final too. I was asleep for the 1st 70th min of the match between Japan & Australia, until Aus scored the opener, then within 3 min, Jap equalized. Back to the boring part for the remaining 50 min till penalty shootout. Even the penalty was boring, no effort at all and Jap eventually deserved the win. [120 min play, 3 min excitment :(]. So this sum up a boring weekend, sad... ... Hope it is not for next week. :)

***(My captured item for the week: Corinthian Select 500 Prostars 2007, Buffon (Juventus)*quite ex!!!)

Intro: 尼克乐斯

Hmmm... ... Welcome debut to myself... Haahaa... I am a weird person, spent more at home, but spent less outside. Y? Coz my hobby is collecting corinthian soccer figures. Get to know its existence when i past by a cart stall outside lao pasat when i was young. The set of 12 figures pack attracted me, they are so well-made and details as the real soccer team players. And the next moment, i got one from my papa as a birthday present: a manchester united 12 figures pack! My interest started to grow from there. In the past, i have limited spending power as i was schooling and no income. But now, i am working and thats how my spending spree at home start... So my mama dun like me to stay home too often as i spent more than i go outside. Hopefully i can list a few figure collection i had in my blog, and welcome any corinthian lover to share yours too...

***(Lippi figure from Italy world cup winner squad, super rare and hard to get, one and only, is valued at GBP 450!!! Ebay winner: m.v.thomas)