Cao Cao looks very happy that he got a present from Liu Bei on Children’s day!!

Hi all, this is going to be a special guest appearance by Ah Boon. From the title, anyone who watches decent amount of football will know that it’s the midfield maestro, Paul Scholes. So why do I blog on him? Wanted to blog on Manchester United performance on Tuesday morning, and being the man of the match with another superb performance, decided to blog on him.

I’ll start with the analysis of every player who played last night before I continue on scholes. Manchester United starting 11: Edwin Van Der Sar, Patrice Evra, Johnny Evans, Nemanja Vidic, John O’shea, Nani, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Antonio Valencia, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney. Sub used: Chicharito, Ryan Giggs, Rafael.

1. Edwin Van Der Sar: Didn’t have much to do. Goal was rarely threatened.
2. Patrice Evra: Seems to have lost some pace last night. Could be due to his first game back after the woeful world cup. Nevertheless, puts in a solid performance with an assist.
3. Johnny Evans: No doubt this guy can fill in the role when Rio Ferdinand is injured. Keep his game simple and tidy.
4. Nemanja Vidic: Puts in the same performance he does for every game. Going for every header, nudging opponent out of his way, typical Vidic game.
5. John O’shea: Does a decent job as a right back. Could improve his play with more overlapping run and assisting attack down the right.
6. Nani: Seems to have matured in his play. Did the right thing at the right time, the passing, and crossing have improved. Carried on the form from where he ended last season. Hopefully he continue till the season ends.
7. Paul Scholes: Simply magnificent. Long pass, short pass, chip, flicks, you name it, he did it and with pin point accuracy. Finished the game with 2 assist, a goal in the game would be what he deserves.
8. Darren Fletcher: The commentator was saying he performed best in those grand slam games. I disagree though; he put in the same 100 percent effort in every game.
9. Antonio Valencia: Puts in a decent game but does not seem to be skillful enough to beat players one on one. Uses the push and run trick far too often.
10. Dimitar Berbatov: If he stops dreaming and take his chances like his first goal, there would be no doubt he’ll hit at last 20 goals a season. The link up play was good but needs to polish on his final product.
11. Wayne Rooney: What was he doing on the pitch? Was he not match fit? Swearing and cursing on your team mates does not help when you cannot even trap a ball properly. Lots of improvement needed.
12. Chicharito: Plays like a young Michael Owen, one who plays with pace. Seems to have nice close control despite basing his game on speed. A few more game will reveal if he is the real deal.
13. Ryan Giggs: Came on as a sub and capped off the game with a goal. A first time volley is no mean feat. Good goal. By the way, he does not only scored in every premier league season, he scored in the old first division as well.
14. Rafael: Came on as a sub for Evra who seems to be injured towards the end of the end. Didn’t have enough playing time to analyse on his play.

Alright, back to Paul Scholes. He will be 36 in November but seems to always give us more and more. Writing on him reminds me a question Zhiwei once asked me. “Who is a better player, Scholes or Lampard?” this question was followed by “So between Scholes and gerrard who is better?” For the first question I answered without a pause Scholes. For the second question, I paused for a minute before answering Scholes again. Being a Manchester United fan I might be a little bias. Regarding Lampard, I have never rated him highly. Yes, he may have scored 20 plus goals for a couple of season for Chelsea. But, is he able to thread open defense? When team plays with 10 men behind, how often does Lampard breach open the defense with his passing? Regarding the Gerrard comparison, I paused for a moment, as I was unsure who I would regard as better. Gerrard with him saving Liverpool every now and then make me hesitate. This would be a hard comparison compared to Lampard and Scholes as both takes on the playmaker role. Gerrard is more like a box to box player. I answered Scholes based on him being a Manchester United player. Read on the three website indicated below.

Scholes: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/8860/paul-scholes?cc=4716

Lampard: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/8941/frank-lampard?cc=4716

Gerrard: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/7935/steven-gerrard?cc=4716

Do post on your comment on who you think is the better of the three. Give your reason for your choice. A substantial one, not just because you support the club he plays for. I will be responding to all comments.

To Randy: I am not crazy to watch the match, I watch the match because I’m an Ultra.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultras

Best Regards,

Ah Boon

Without a doubt undoubtedly

And all those who look down on me

I’m tearing down your balcony

Haters can be like bees with no stingers

Helplessly looking at me from afar

Cause I’m raising the bar

I shoot for the moon, you are still gazing at the stars

If you tickle us do we not laugh?

If you poison us do we not die?

And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?

W.S.

I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle.

I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.

M.T.

But how do you define how much people have helped you. And how do you repay gratitude. Would you prefer people to remember you as a giver or a taker.

I would define how much a person have helped by how much he has. To give my classic example, if Mr A gives me 10k from his 100k, while Mr B gives me 8k from his 10k, I would deem Mr B to have helped me more though he have given me less. Everyone is selfish, it is human nature, but to help is to be not selfish. So I believe selfishness is a good measure of how helpful a person is.

Now, we all would hope to repay gratitude in our span of life. At least for me, I hope that I do not owe people a dime or a reason. But realistically, it is not possible. Because some people are always there to help you and guide you along. I know in most probability I will not be able to repay these people, but if given a chance, I would do my best.

Some people I have met are damn gei gao and very unhelpful. They show signs of helpfulness, but as said, it is within their selfish measurement. And worst, some expect that they help you once but wants 10 helps from you in return. Sadly, I have also met a handful. As cliche as it may sound, what comes around goes around.

Food for thought, have you help your part as a friend, daughter, son, worker etc? Or have you always been a taker?

Some of you whom didn’t attend the prawn catching session have be informed. We caught a couple of prawns!! Actually it was not too difficult because they threw loads of prawns into the pond. But then again, at least we manage to catch a couple didnt we.

This weekend have not been too bad. Thinking of the things that I have done for this weekend, it should have been called a great weekend. But I don’t know why, something is bugging me. I don’t know is it because i sort of dread going to work now, cause basically I just waiting for my time to come to an end.

But let’s get back to the main topic. I went to orchard on both Friday and Saturday. The crowd was crazzzy. The kiasu aunties/ ladies have officially taken over Orchard road. So you have been warned.

I manage to buy my leather shoes on sunday, as my current leather shoes have given up on letting my feet have a good fit. Also manage to complete my cravings for rosti at marche. Damn power lah! I think HX and me manage to pile on the carbos, which really is not a good thing. But then again, it was the weekends, so it’s a free-for-all!

The following week is what we call Hectic with a capital H. Monday exams, tuesday class, Wednesday to Saturday overseas, sunday exams. It’s an important week, and I guess the happiness that you derive from completing a difficult assignment is something only you can feel it.

All right, more or less completed the boring commentary of my itinerary of my weekends.

My favourite topic other than my weekends are my thoughts. I always have many thoughts racing through my mind. Not weird sexual thoughts, more of thoughts of life in general. You see we don’t live perfectly, but we try to keep the wrongs to a minimal. Just like we understand life is all about hypocrisy but we try to keep it to a minimal.

I just hope I will make it soon.

出发啦不要问那路在哪, 迎风向前是唯一的方法!!

”To laugh is – to risk appearing the fool. To weep is – to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out for another is – to risk involvement. To expose feelings is – to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas before the crowd is – to risk their loss. To love is – to risk not being loved in return. To live is – to risk dying. To hope is – to risk despair. To try is – to risk failure.

But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.”

”It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever.”
Philip Adams

”We will either find a way or make one.” Hannibal

”What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it is another matter.” Peter Drucker

And the one I pretty like:

”A ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are for.” William Shedd

Does what you reap and sow only belong to this life time. Or it goes back as far fetch as your previous life, or even the life before that.

I believe in fate. I believe that there is a destiny and that some things, however hard you try, you will never overcome it. Some people call is life, I call it luck. Some people have it, I bet you have an uncle, auntie, or ah Soh who keeps striking 4d until they scared. I bet it crosses your mind that why it wasn’t you. This is luck/ destiny/ fate/ Heng or whatever you can put a name to it.

But the above is the nice side of luck. Some people fall onto the bad side of luck. They everytime also cannot find a good thing in life. They feel that why people everytime tio 4d but they themselves buy 9977 set of numbers also won’t open!

But do you really think it’s luck?

Recently the missus said she was unlucky (not really recently, couple of weeks i guess). I told her something and of course she thinks i’m a bloody genius as always. I said ”When it rains, it is destiny. It was fated to rain. It was your bad luck to meet with the rain. But how you navigate to avoid the rain, or how you think of a way to prevent to be drench – this is effort.”

What I generally was trying to say was. For some things in life, it is really out of our control. If a dear family member pass away, its not your fault. Cause you are not a doctor, in fact there is NOTHING you can do. But to make things easier for the said person, that’s effort that anyone can put in.

At my age, the people I know are only interested in 2 things. To be successful and make a lot of money. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, as said in previous blog, this 2 criteria are by right what man are always aiming for if they are able to.

So let’s say you are a person whom is born with a wooden tea spoon in your mouth.  Luckily for you (or maybe you deem it as unlucky), the government will pay for your education at least till you are in JC. If you really did put in effort, you could have gotten a scholarship and then a good life.

I know its very narrow and short example. But I think you can the drift.

Don’t go on blaming the rain, because the rain will always be there. Wherever you are now, rich, poor, fat, skinny, is really what you had been doing. If you stand tall, it’s because you deserve it. If you have mud on your face, most likely you rub it on yourself.

少不讀水滸, 老不讀三國…