top 5 at the moment

California Gurls - Katy Perry feat Snoop Dogg
Beautiful Monster - Ne-Yo
Text - Jason Derulo
Airplanes - Bob feat Hayley Williams
Not Afraid - Eminem

im surprised how excited i can be betting a small amount of money for each match. and when i say small, i mean really small.

i guess, its not the amount of money but i want to prove to myself that i can get the right predictions. sadly, i have not proven that yet haha.

i climbed it! yes, one of the activities that i wanted to tick off 2 years ago. i did it last wednesday on th 23rd. yup, 23 days into June.

weather was not ideal, pouring rain cause the photos not to turn out well. but we did have the experience of climbing the bridge both in dry and wet conditions.

because it was raining, we had to put on extra clothing to prevent us from freezing at the top of the bridge which means that the preparation time took a lil bit longer. Pretty exciting when we departed for the summit. the only "danger" part is when we climbed the vertical ladders from the bottom of the pylon to the road level. with the slippery steps, we need to take extra care and all came good in the end, everyone was safe and sound

the climb on the arch was very enjoyable. wide space for us to enjoy the view, less the rain, and kinda like the expedition kind of walk. down part, as I say, were the photos.

thanks to denise for organising this, although the weather was not perfect, it was good that everyone could get togther and do something that will be memorable for all of us for the rest of our lives. i like it and dinner/desserts after was enjoyable as well and we got to buy some souvenirs to remind us of the climb. driving past the bridge every morning will be different now and will remind me of the experience that we've got on the 23rd June 2010.

Port Stephens

before I forget

we went up to Port Stephens/Newcastle/Hunter Valley to bring Derrick and Darian for sandboarding. Denise was amazed with the animals we saw

Whales!

Dolphins!

Pipis!

Falcon!!!

yes we saw a falcon on the roadside, nibbling on a roadkill. Amazing to see the wildlife in nature.

It was a nice drive too. always love to drive up to the north. photos will be uploaded once Darian sorts out the thousands of photos he took!

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

How true this is. But nobody actually know how hard it is to teach fishing until you try to be a teacher. Not easy. Its always better to lead by example and hopefully the man looks, listens and learn from it. Listening is where learning starts from.

GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!

Round 2 matches are completed with quite a lot of goals scored starting with Forlan's spectacular strike against the South Africans and ending with an wonderful individual goal from David Villa against Honduras.

Special mention to the Kiwis again and the 7-0 score between Portugal and North Korea.

Brazil, Argentina and Holland have qualified with 2 wins from 2 games. Kaka's sending off was probably a blessing in disguise for him to rest for the knock out stages.

Favourites Spain are still in danger of a early flight home should they lose to Chile in the next round.

Germany might lose out to the Aussies for the 2nd place if they lose to Ghana. Greece might still have a chance if they were to beat Argentina????
England might be the first big gun to be knocked out (not considering France) if they lose/draw with Slovenia

been sneezing since the whole day yesterday when denise, derrick, darian went to Featherdale and Blue Mountains for a tour. The weather was like a freezing and no matter how many layers we wore, it never seems to be enough.

tried to watch as many matches for the World Cup as possible. but I just couldnt. I just couldnt have that much energy after only the first night. Guess I will have to choose from 1 out of 2 matches from the 12 midnight and 4.30am games.

goals are not easy to come by so far. I guess because the techicality of the game is so high at the moment that is it not easy to break down the opponent's defence, until last night game where the Aussies conceded 4 goals and a red card to Germany.

England is a disappointment, not able to fire as much with Rooney. Few surprises with Korea and South Africa all performing well. Argentina were impressive although it didnt show in the number of goals scored.

Crowds are not as enthusiastic as they were in the past world cup. Stadiums are not full. Maybe we'll wait till tonight to see the Netherlands take on the Danish with the stadium fill with the Orange Army.

Tipping gone pretty well if I go with small bets. Correct bets were Korea, Ghana and Argentina. Yes, Denise got one too with Korea to win for first half. Bets were group A did not go too well.

today's the queen's birthday, lucky for me, got an extra day to revitalise before going back to a full team tomorrow.

Happy Monthsary to Us on 12th June Saturday! our 101 months together!!

South Africa 1 - 1 Mexico.

RSA started cautious but grew in confidence as the match went. Mexico is not as a good as I thought it would be with a mix of old and young players. Two awesome goals, especially the one by Tshabalala that took the lead from SA.

I predicted 2-1 to either side. Only a last minute one-on-one that hit the upright denied the correct prediction. We'll see how the next one go. only 40 mins to go.

starting to love the event, but I don't think I'll be able to keep up with it.

the stage is set and is time to kick off the 2010 World Cup.

1st match up will be between the hosts South Africa against Mexico at 12 midnight AEST.

2nd match will be between Uruguay and France at 4am AEST.

quick tips for the games

I expect a 2-1 scoreline for the first match. Will either go South Africa's or Mexico's way. For a safe bet, try > 2.5 goals.

second match I will predict an upset win for Uruguay who will just edge out France by 1 goal.

couple of stats for the the tournament if you havent already know

1) All host countries so far manage to get through to the second round. (bear that in mind when you are trying to write South Africa off Group A.

2) No European teams have ever won a World Cup staged outside Europe. (Spain is the favourite this time though, but odds are pretty low because this is also the first time that the tournament is being held in Africa.

anyway, time to enjoy and for the next month, there will be one word that unites the world

GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!

Had a dream yesterday. Dreamt that I skydived with someone that looks like Richard Branson.

The feeling was pretty awesome though. I still remember, even though it was tandem, I was not attached to him. He just held me on and I carried the parachute bag in the front with the “string” sticking out of the zip. Landed at Genting (wonder the reason) and the next thing I hear is my alarm. Geez.

Lets check the dream dictionary

Skydiving

To dream that you are skydiving, represents your high ideals. Sometimes you may need to compromise these ideals and be more realistic of your expectations.

Bag
To see a bag in your dream, represents the responsibilities that you carry. If the bag is ripped or torn, then it indicates that you are carrying a lot of burden.

Hmmm… something for thought. How about a bag that got ripped apart due to the parachute and landed safely. Is it a good sign?

Denise's thoughts

Perhaps more like the below...?
You know you have something to depend on... that protects you from the responsibilities you're holding on to. and u know at a "pull of the string" your support is there unwavering by your side. =)

Parachute To dream that you are in a parachute, represents a protective force over you. You have a sense of security. Alternatively, the dream implies that it is time to bail out of a situation or abandon an old idea or habit.

4 more working days. before the weekend.

really can't wait. been really excited, but I think those excitement will die down once the tournament gets underway.

I'm organising a tip-e-winner competition. I guess because my notice was pretty late, everyone else has put money in other competition and will give mine a miss. Nevertheless, I'll play with what I've got.

Work has also come in. slowly. bit by bit. and we are getting our staff back as well, which means more manpower and labour resources. Goodies.

I realise I like the drive to Hunter Valley. Its a long drive, but I feel good. and feel kinda of refresh.

and NRL, State of Origin. erm. i rather not talked about it. disgraceful. both QLD and NSW. The adminstrators and personnel choosing the teams should be sacked once and for all.

the week is going to be so s...l...o...w but I will get through it.

nothing to blog about. except that I feel good at work. busy and time flies. which is good. and also getting things done and sorted.

been raining the whole week. on and off.

Denise's brothers are coming next week. I can be the tour guide again. and the food guide.

BridgeClimb! Port Stephens!

looking forward to that... =)

23 is just a special number and is turning up everywhere at the moment

Why? because 32 teams in the world cup finals will need to submit their final 23 players to enter the competition. see how 2 and 3 form such important numbers?

anyway on the down side, few surprises on the players that will missed out on this year's competition

- Theo Walcott - his name is all over preview magazines as England's young gun to watch but we won't get to see him for this world cup, unless some players come out injured.

- Michael Ballack, Javier Zanetti, Estebio Cambiasso, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, David Beckham and Ronaldinho are some of the old players that we will not see anymore in World Cup matches.

Imagine Cristano Ronaldo, Messi or Rooney gets injured before the World Cup. Woo. That will be interesting, you never know, some one may break his toe bones or "metatarsal" again.

9 days to go for the big match. 9 days before Derrick and Darian arrive in Sydney. Can't wait!

woke up at 9.10am today. late late late. and to think i wanted to take public transport to work today. but luckily, with the rain coming down at unexpected times, i wouldnt want to travel without Hondaz in that weather.

pretty busy at work. with all projects either at beginning or intermediate stage. but at least there are some challenges to tackle. a little bit pressured and also at the same time, not trying to get too ahead of myself. I find myself doing that today. better to hold back. and also, shutting my mouth is better than opening. too much information sometimes.

by the way, random again, the weather was pretty cold and I turn on the hot water to bathe. Almost scald myself after long period of keeping myself warm under the running water. I think it is probably 30-40 degrees? hehe. time to sleep if not, late again tomorrow.

spot the 23