No...not really!

Nope...I've not been on vacation. The long silence just goes to show that it's been a hell of a busy time.

So...what's been happening, eh?

A couple of weeks where my time was booked from 8:30 in the morning to 7:00 in the evening. I had thought a lot of people would take leave around Christmas, but boy...was I wrong? Almost every single customer of mine seemed to have something or the other happening and I really ran out of time.

To add to that, my parents-in-law are in town. So the customary rounds of Singapore are on. And they seem to have the impression (which I can't blame them for) that I'm working longer hours just because they are in town! Luckily for me - probably luckily is not the right word, but it's the most apt - I was working long hours even when my parents were here. So at the very least, they cannot accuse me of discrimination!

Now...some bad news.

My best pal lost his father a couple of weeks back to Lung Cancer. I was hearing about one of the fittest men I know withering away. All in a month's time. This was the man whose house is a second home to me. I've lived there for days on end, made food requests to his wife and just had a whale of a time. Even though I couldn't speak to him in those last days (mainly cause he couldn't, not for lack of effort), I wish I had. I will miss him.

What else?

Oh, more bad news...but not the tragic kind. My golf buddy has gone back to India, leaving me alone to deal with the decline in my game. Yeah, he's gone already. Must have played a couple of rounds there by now. So I'm by myself all over again. Thankfully, golf is a solitary sport. I WILL endure this as well. I am not so sure how I am going to endure, but I will give it one heck of a go.

And it's been raining buckets here in Singapore. It's been so gloomy the last few days, it's even more depressing.

But then there's ManU!

One extremely lackluster game (loss) and two absolutely fantastic ones (wins, of course)! A cracker of a goal from Paul Scholles, definitely the goal of the season, and a few more by Ronaldo. Of course, a few great goals from Drogba & the rest of the EPL gang and football never felt better.

To take it a step more, Chelsea drew their Boxing Day match against Reading & ManU stuffed Wigan 3-1 on the same day to extend the lead at the head of the table by 4 points.

Some sunshine in all this gloom!