On 18th November 2005, when I'm to take my driving test. I was like cat on hot bricks the night before. Alot of things ran through my mind.
What if I strike the pole? What if I mount the kerb? What if I meet an accident? What if I lose my cool? What if I stopped narrowly over the white line? What if the tester is strict? What if I did something I never did before and I fail? I've gotta fork out nearly $400 for a re-test. Goodness gracious me! I pray hard and questioned my self belief. To keep myself upbeated before the test, and warm up test, I listened to Franz Ferdinand's Do You Want To and Fort Minor's Remember The Name.
"Do You Want To? Of course I want to pass the test!" I reminded myself.
Then to regain some cool during the test, I kept the lyrics of Remember The Name running in my head. Everytime when I steer the wheel, these words rapped in my mind.
"It's just 10% luck, 20% skills, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain and 100% reason to remember the name!" I regained confidence when I reminded myself I've at least some percentage of luck, skills and pain. At least I know I've 15% determination and 5% of fun. So it ain't that bad afterall.
After the test, I returned to the waiting room waiting eagerly for the tester to break the news. He questioned,"How do you think you did?"
I replied after thinking it through,"7.8/10"
He commented,"Very good! You drive well and just needed to check your blind spots to ensure safety. But overall was good."
I've made it! 6 demerit points and I passed my driving! Now I can't wait for the enhancement course on the 30th Nov. It's all the more fortunate for me after I was told to have a former Singapore National Footballer as my tester. And I've got a rare autograph on my assessment checklist. Haha...

This week on the overall was pretty tiring. My legs and lungs weren't spared and I've been running long distances on back to back days. 7days of running since last saturday's game of football. Haiz... Guess I'll stop working out over the weekend to prepare myself for my final IPPT this coming monday. This time, I'm very confident of getting a GOLD. But will I be able to hit my target of getting 5points for each station? I'll only know it on the day itself. Until then, I'll just have to rest my body for that day to come...

Goodness gracious me... It's time when I've gotta go back to camp. 7 days of leave is over. Time to return to military lifestyle. Sigh sigh... Boring days in camp again but almost 2 weeks of free time has been kinda rewarding to a certain extend. Luckily, this week's programme is worth looking forward to. My final few driving lessons are coming and it's gonna be my driving test this friday! My driving license is gonna depend on this friday! Woooooooooo~!
So until then, wish me goodie good luck and who knows, I'll be able to give some lucky ones a free ride home in the future?

It could be you! ;)

Oh well I woke up tonight and said I
I'm gonna make somebody love me
I'm gonna make somebody love me
And now I know, now I know, now I know
I know that it's you
You're lucky, lucky
You're so lucky!
Oh well do you, do you do you want to?
Oh well do you, do you do you want to, want to go
Where I've never let you before?
Oh lucky lucky
You're so lucky
Lucky lucky
You're so lucky
Lucky lucky
You're so lucky
Lucky lucky
You're so lucky
Lucky lucky
You're so lucky
Oh lucky lucky
You're so lucky
Yeah!

Liverpudlians have sung about it for years but now it's official - Liverpool Football Club is the best in the world and we have the stats to prove it!

Following the publication of the latest World Club Rankings by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics the Reds are today sitting proud as the top team in world football. Based on domestic and continental results over the past 12 months, the reigning Champions of Europe are listed as the number one club side on the planet and who are we to argue? "The World Club Ranking is a precise classification showing the real level of the clubs free of any subjective influence," reads a statement on the IFFHS website. "It is the result of a profound analysis that allows us to fairly report the level of international performance for each country." The formula used to determine these rankings is a complicated one and is explained in more detail on the said website, which can be accessed by http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.iffhs.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Diffhs%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

But for now, sit back and bask in the glory of being able to look down on every other team in the world...
The IFFHS World Club Ranking - Top 50 (1st November 2004 - 30th October 2005)1. LIVERPOOL FC (England) 295,0
2. FC Internazionale Milano (Italia) 292,0
3. FC Bayern München (Deutschland) 279,0
4. Milan AC (Italia) 262,0
5. Manchester United FC (England) 257,0
6. CSKA Moscow (Russia) 245,5
7. Olympique Lyonnais (France) 243,0
8. Arsenal FC London (England) 242,0
9. CA Mouth Juniors Buenos Aires (Argentina) 234,0
10. Villarreal CF (España) 233,0
11. São Paulo FC (Brasil) 230,0
12. Chelsea FC London (England) 229,0
13. PSV Eindhoven (Nederland) 228,5
14. AZ Alkmaar (Nederland) 226,0
15. AJ Auxerroise (France) 225,0
16. Sporting Clube of Portugal Lisbon (Portugal) 215,0
17. Newcastle United FC (England) 207,0
= AS of Monaco (France) 207,0
19. Juventus FC Torino (Italia) 206,0
20. SC The International I carry Cheers (Brasil) 197,0
21. SV Werder Bremen (Deutschland) 193,0
= Fluminense FC Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) 193,0
23. Shakhtjor Donetsk (Ukraina) 192,0
24. FK Austria Wien (Österreich) 191,5
25. Real Betis Soccer football (España) 186,0
= CA River Plate Buenos Aires (Argentina) 186,0
27. Glasgow Celtic FC (Scotland) 184,5
28. FC Barcelona (España) 184,0
29. Buenosairean Hill FBC Asuncio'n (Paraguay) 183,0
30. FC Schalke 04 (Deutschland) 182,0
= Real Madrid CF (España) 182,0
32. Seville FC (España) 181,0
33. Sport Club Guadalajara (México) 180,0
34. Saints FC (Brasil) 178,0
35. Olympiakos Pireas (Greece) 177,5
36. FK Partizan Beograd (Srbija) 176,0
= Clube Atletico Paranaense Curitiba (Brasil) 176,0
38. Udinese Calcium (Italia) 175,0
39. CA Banfield (Argentina) 174,0
40. Club Brugge KV (Belgique) 168,5
41. SC Corinthians Paulista São Paulo (Brasil) 165,0
42. Lille Olympique Sporting Club (France) 164,0
43. Cruzeiro EC Belo Horizon (Brasil) 162,0
44. Fenerbahçe SK Istanbul (Türkiye) 161,5
45. AFC Ajax Amsterdam (Nederland) 160,5
46. It binds Sport College student of Quito (Ecuador) 160,0
47. AS Rome (Italia) 159,0
48. Palmeiras São Paulo (Brasil) 156,0
49. Glasgow Rangers (FC Scotland) 154,5
50. Middlesbrough FC (England) 153,0
= FC Parma (Italia) 153,0
= CD University of Chile Santiago (Chile) 153,0

For no-one who has heard about this I can tell you Robbie Fowler moves into more legendary status as an LFC god.
He fulfilled his promise by showing five fingers to the Man U fans who were giving him stick at Old Trafford earlier this season.
Robbie was on the bench that day and came on as a sub. He showed the five fingers during the warm-up before the game, while he was warming up when Joey Barton equalised. Also when he came on as a sub he had one hand up with five fingers!
It was never ever shown on tv, just brief Match of Day highlights of the game only, nothing about Robbie.
Top man I say!
cheers
[This message has been edited by SHunter (edited 09 November 2005).]

Just in case you don't understand, "five fingers to the Man U fans" represents the number of times Liverpool FC had won the European Cup. To Man U fans, the fans of bitter rivals of the Reds, Liverpool being a five-time European Cup Champion overshadows the success of their beloved Devils, which is a two-time European Cup Champion.

I'm finally on leave! I'm gonna be a free bird until 13Nov. Hahaha...
For the past few months in training command, it's been rather boring during free hours. Luckily for me, I've my entertainer with me all the time. It's a Sony. Yup! Don't know how life would be like without my HD5.

Recently, there's been a hype over MP3 players, especially iPod Nano. It's cool! It's so slick and such an attraction! It's not just a MP3 player, it plays videos too! And that's cool although I'm sure MP4 players are testing the market. If you ask me which MP3 player would be a good, I would say all are about the same. If you want the well-known, then choose from iPod, iRiver, Sony & perhaps Creative. If you want the market leader, it's gotta be a battle between the popular Apple's iPod and it's competitor, Sony's HD5.

Personally, I must say the HD5 is a better choice over iPod in terms of music entertainment. Yea yea... A little bulkier, a little heavier than iPod, but hey! It's sound system sure is a whole lot better than iPod! It's metallic look has more class than a contemporary plastic iPod look. Ok ok, you may argue about iPod Nano, which also spots a metallic, stylish and slickier look. However, reviews and research had shown just how unprepared a Nano actually is! Over in the US, customers have been sending their Nanos back for a new one because of it's just too easily scratched. Even Apple had admitted that although Nano is released into the market, it's still not much a final product after failing some of their product testings. Moreover, the black Nano easily captures fingerprints making it a turn off.

Alright, you may argue once again that there are Nano skins made up of rubber to protect the Nano iPod from getting prints and scratches. But it does not have a protective cover for the scratchable screen. And if you bought the Nano for it's metallic look, but put a rubber skin over to avoid it from scratching, then what's the point of buying it for it's metal?

For me, exercising with music keeps up the tempo. Sony HD5 sure can pump me up when I strapped it around my arm. But do you think iPod Nano is worth the risk when exercising? Is iPod Nano able to take hard knocks like HD5, where HD5 has a unique G-sensor technology that protects the internal HDD even if it falls from a height of 1 m? HD5 has 5times the memory a 4G Nano has and it just costs $60 more.

Last but not least, battery life is another important issue. As far as I know, HD5 has at best 40hours of battery life. And that's the longest battery life available compared to other MP3 players. Moreover, it's replaceable unlike most. And definitely not the iPod. Longer battery life means more music time.

Not that iPod Nano is a bad player but I think Apple is trying to smoke it into the market without 100% reliability. So the smart choice for now definitely is either a Sony HD5 or an iPod/iPod mini. Thinking of getting a reliable Mp3 player value for money? Get a SONY!