a Ball of a time.

happy birthday, ya bugger! ok that bugger'd be me. anyway it's been a really bizarre week to say the least.. well bizarre not really in the bizarre sense.. but bizarre nonetheless.

it was early in the week.. monday or tuesday i think.. bee keong called..

"Hey Terence, wanna meet this Saturday about 11am plus anot?"
(terence: hmm what's going on? why suddenly meet? is it cos of my birthday? or is it diana planning something..)
"Umm.. okay lor. What time?"
"10 plus lah.. after we go to the market."
"ok lah. let me know again."
"ok, bye."
"bye."
(terence: must be diana up to something..)

THEN! around the same day.. sometime in the morning.. Terry Tay calls..
(terence: hmm.. what's going on.. why would he be calling me?)

"eh terry (terry ng) ah, terry (terry tay) ah.. this friday wanna meet for supper anot? or maybe thursday..."
"umm.. ok lor. shouldn't be a problem.. confirm again.."
"should be thursday lah.."
"ok set then."

AND FINALLY! think it was wednesday morning.. received an sms when i was asleep.. woke up about elevenish to read it.. it was situ qiming.

sms: "eh you this saturday got enough people anot?"
"huh, what you talking about? aiyah you free you call me lah.."

"hello, ahh.. this saturday you all enough people anot?"
"huh? what thing?"
"Ooh.. Ahh.. umm.. don't tell me i reveal it.."
"Huh? nvm nvm.. i don't know much.. leave it at that.."

haha. by then i was already suspecting something.. fishy. people who seldom call/contact me.. actually did this week. all in my birthday week. if that's not someone planning something what is?

anyway.. i soon found out more by my own guesses come friday. and yeah there was a plan.. apparently the cat was too big for some people's bag that it was let out.. heh.

I was going to play at the Cage on Saturday! is that cool or what.. but on friday night.. i only knew where and what.. don't really know who yet.. so wait till saturday morning lor.

the whole friday night.. i couldn't sleep.. diana was quite disappointed her surprise thing didn't pull through.. but i reassured her that i had a hard time falling asleep.. and i was up by 730 ready for bee keong to come by at 1030 for the Cage at 11! kan cheong or what..

so i spend some quiet moments with God.. before I got out of bed for a wash up.. those moments with him were great.. great to come back closer to Him after a little stray recently. The topic: Emptiness without God. how apt and opportune! in the devotion book it read..

"..they were reaping a harvest of unhappiness because they were putting selfish leasures first."

aahhh. thank God for that jolt. how appropriate for later that morning.

so i went to wash up.. hair sucks. big time. poof. then went to breakfast of a hotdoggydog bun. and papers.. and there was nothing to do.. and it was only 8 plus! so watch some teevee.. put on sunyanzi.. and then.. at 9am.. door bell rang.. taxi drove off..

"hmm.. must be diana. has to be her. who else?"

well truly it was her. i'm not complaining.. i'm just happy to see her in the morning. she went to telok blangah market to buy my fav prata.. and took a cab (something i've been inculcating in her) here.. so we had breakfast and then she had to go to work.. leaving me to bum around for about half an hour before i'm due to get changed before bee keong arrives.. oh by the way.. ya.. bee keong is supposed to come pick me up.. and drive me somewhere and then finally end up at the cage.. hence his call earlier in the week.. but since that "show" was over.. he just came.. and we drove down.. diana said that there were 2 other surprise people that i would be pleased to see at the Cage. saw jeff yap's car on the ecp.. Hah. too bad.. have a knack for recognising and remembering the car plates of those i know. just ask dennis.. we trained since our flynn park days.. sitting at the carpark all day long.. anyway..

so we made our way there.. finally found the Cage. and when we parked the car.. bee keong opened the boot.. then he realised that he forgot to bring the bags of clothes diana had brought to his house days back... he was really apologetic about it and was very nice to go back and get it.. all the way from kallang to jurong and back! i noticed some stuff in my cupboard missing days back.. well not really missing.. just that some items were out of position.. like the sleeping bag was on the clothes shelf.. was thinking.. who was it that messed up the cupboard.. didn't think much of it then.. so just brushed it aside.. now i know. sneaky diana.

so we played in the meanwhile.. i played barefoot with my tshirt and berms.. no clothes! diana brought an entire bag plus socks shorts street soccer shoes and soccer boots.. she didn't know which one i wanted to wear.. i'm quite particular about such things.. and i noticed that throughout the entire planning..she noticed and noted big and small details and preferences of mine.. so yeah.. i'm grateful.

we had 2 hours of non stop football.. the Cage.. means ball doesn't go out.. play only slows when a goal is scored.. or the keeper just hogs the ball to slow the tempo.. well with music pumping in the background.. tempo was hardly tortoise-like..

scored a number of goals.. but like the ones that i slammed home with my left foot.. and the little dink over jeff yap.. a la henry. perhaps my favourite one today.. arguably the nicest one scored today.. and a peach of a goal at that .. was a chip over the keeper (shan't name who lah..) from the edge of the penalty area into goal. been dreaming of scoring like this for ages.. finally did it today! yikes!

so we had our fun there.. took a few pictures.. which i hope to post it up here.. later..

then jeff yap kindly offered to drop me home.. dennis too.. just that he had to rush off for tuition..

anyway thanks of course goes out to firstly diana for organising this special secret event with personal smses and invitation to those really close to me and many other surprises after i got home..

thanks to dennis for changing his tuition time to fit in soccer with the old neighbour..

thanks to situ for giving up his pilot career (he usually pang puay kee) and finally turning up for this little celebration..

thanks to jeff chan for making a guest appearance on the soccer pitch.. after he hung up his boots due to his knee injury..

thanks to eng soon..for helping to coordinate the administrative part of my birthday celebration at the Cage when diana was at work..

thanks to bee keong who gamely joined in this.. for agreeing to pick me.. bring my stuff.. and for going back to get it.. so that i could truly enjoy my game..

thanks to john tan.. for his appearance.. didn't expect him to be there.. he still as tricky as ever on the pitch.. and commanding too..

thanks to jerry for turning up even though he haven't been totally meeting up often..

thanks to darius for walking to my house before bee keong came.. and putting up a rather funny look when i asked him what he was doing here.. and for taking all the photos! thanks.. i knew you are trustworthy as always..

thanks to james ho.. for coming along too.. grew a lot closer having played footie on alternate sundays.. nice to have him around...

thanks to nathanael and nigel.. the 2 young boys who joined us for the game.. some day they'll play well..when they grow up.. can see the enthusiasm and potential in them..

thanks also to those who tried to come.. but couldn't for some reason.. jeremy tan, timothy, kian ping, titus, dennis hong, andrew, terry tay, boon hock, hmm.. anymore?

what a list..

so i got back home.. chilled.. diana was already here! that's surprising! she's usually quite tu when it comes to leaving work.. overly dedicated. :P

so she gave me her present for me.. and yeah.. liked it a lot.. starting to like the bag that came with it.. maybe it's cos she gave lah, huh.. then we had fun and watched Goal! starring Kuno Becker.. which i'm sure i posted about in my previous posts.. then went to her friend's engagement ceremony and finally to dinner with my family and aunty betty and adrian & ah nette.. and their little boy of course... whose face i will only see next feb.. :P

was a little fatigued actually at dinner.. and then kinda hesitated on starting with this post.. but i know if i don't now, i probably won't. so i'm glad i did it..

okay.. that's it. this is how i spent the day 23 years after i was born.

thanks to my family for dinner as usual.. might seem like standard. but appreciated.

thanks to all who gave me presents.. audrey (gay top, it's ok, i like.), adrian & ah nette (ripcurl polo), papa & mummy (ang pow), popo (ang pow), uncle tong & aunty betty (ang pow), ah girl (ang pow), diana (surprise, hilfiger stuff, rented movies and snacks), Cage guys (soccer ball).

thanks to all who were a part of the plan.

thanks to diana who's the mastermind of the plan.

thanks, lastly, but certainly not least, to God, for his goodness, kind mercy, favour and love to me all these years.


three kings.com: situ, me, jeff


umm. me at the Cage?


Darius & I.. he busted his nose saving a shot.. and became photographer afterwards.


Co-founders of the Flynn Park Gang & the Never Read Book Gang


going past one..


takes a shot!


face not important. poise and shot more important.. according to darius.


dancing.. yeah!


putting it away a la henry. okay. nvm.


first row: me, nathanael, melvin, nigel, john, qiming, james ho, eng soon
back row: darius, bee keong, jeffrey, chee fei, jeffrey yap, james yew, jerry


i'm spinning around..


watch your front! left footed bomber..


taking on the veteran..


shacked out!


wide-angled view of the "oreo" grass pitch.


chipped the keeper from the edge of the box.. pity no shot tho'..


dinner with the family: aunty betty, mother, sister


sister, grandmother, father..


adrian & ah nette.. and their boy..


diana & I and that lopsided lana cake once again..


a gift from the players at the Cage.

that "gay" top from audrey.

movies & snacks for the afternoon..


hilfiger goodies from diana..

whew this has taken a looooooong time to upload. pls excuse the pro-me photos.

the cat got out of the bag. :P heehee.

cheers.