I'm going to the land Down Under

Yep, that's right. We leave for Sydney tomorrow morning!

We're in Sydney for a few days and then at The Gold Coast for another few days. And then back.

Looking forward to a truely "Aussie" time. Hope to get enough sun and rest while we are there. Pictures will be posted when I get back.

Ripped and Torn

Don't worry, I'm alright.

I'm just talking about this book that I read. Written by Amaranta Wright, "Ripped and Torn" is a fabulous account of her journey through the South American continent as part of her project for Levi's.

What I loved about the book is the beauty with which she has captured all the emotions of the people she spoke to in these various countries. There are so many funny & sad, cute and thoughtful parts in the book which, all of them, make you take a few moments to think.

I've always wanted to go to South America...visit what's left of the Inca & Mayan civilizations, roam through Chile, Argentina, etc. I was even planning to start taking classes in Spanish.

The continent, as she has portrayed it, is a bouquet of emotions and ideologies. Something that needs to be taken into account carefully if one has to go there.

I just realized...there is a lot more I will need to do other than learn Spanish before I can believe that I am ready to set foot there.

If you trust my judgement, please read the book. You will not regret it. I sure don't!

Look how they are hawking it now

This is a picture I see almost everyday at the MRT station at Clarke Quay.

Now you tell me...what the hell does that mean? Vanity is a virtue now? The advert shows a woman with a lot of attitude sitting right next to this picture.

I mean, how much more deplorable does the situation get? Vanity is a virtue?

Yeah, go out there and buy yourself a big diamond. Or better still, get someone else to buy it for you. The occasion does not matter. It can be Valentine's Day, your anniversary / birthday, you got a manicure, anything. As long as it buys your mate a little bit of peace and a few brownie points.

Cause Vanity is a virtue. I guess temperence and humility are sins these days. This is the point I am beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable in this world. I think my daughter is going to grow up in a world where marketing slogans define identity and behaviour, where brands decide the essence of existance and where being different is only encouraged in powerpoint presentations and on billboards.

Not sure which road the world is taking, but I don't like the road signs!

Getting tagged

Yeah, I know. It's been a while. And for good reason.

My daughter has been unwell the whole of the last week. So the time was mainly spent at home making sure she's OK and making sure she wasn't getting bored (name one child who wouldn't get bored after staying at home for a week).

So what's happened in a week?

It started with a fine round of golf (what else?). This is of course before my daughter fell ill. I went over to Johor Bahru (Malaysia) with a friend of mine to play at the Palm Resort course. We decided to play Allamanda, one of the three courses they have there. You might remember this was the first time I was playing since I won the runner up trophy last month. This would be my second round in two months.

We started on the back nine. My tee off was an unusual dipping drive which hooked to the left of the fairway. My tee shot would bother me for the entire front nine, missing five out of the seven fairways. I redeemed myself with some great apporach shots and played a 42 (6 over) for the 9 holes.

And then the swing began to click together. On the remaining nine holes, I hit every single fairway, but only 3 greens in regulation...something that I am not too bothered with as I missed the greens with only a very short margin. I recovered most of them to end the 9 holes with a 40 to bring my score to an 82 (10 over) for the round.

While this is the 3rd lowest score I have ever shot, I think it could have been a lot lower had the course been a bit better. Mainly the greens. Let me explain with an example.

On the dog-leg-right 7th hole (par 5), I hit a great tee shot to the left side of the fairway and had only a 9i approach to the green. As I hit the ball and watched it go towards the green in perfect trajectory, I could see that it was headed to just a few inches right of the pin and should have landed pin high. Thinking I would be on track for eagle, I waited for the ball to land where I thought it would. And land it did. Exactly where I wanted it to.

And then it bounced almost the height of the flag!

Yes, You read that right! It bounced really high, as if it had landed on concrete, and then rolled off the green. So instead of being in position for eagle, I was off the green trying to scramble for par...which I did make. But I left the green feeling really bitter about missing yet another chance to go lower.

This did not happen just once. The greens were in such terrible shape, the ball was bouncing rather than rolling its way to the hole. Every single approach shot that hit the green was a puff of sand when it landed. The greens never held the ball. So now you know.

Saturday and Sunday nights were spent sleepless mainly because of my daughter's fever and tending to her. Poor thing had a few disturbed nights and was burning with fever. The doctor said she had some sort of viral fever going around, something she must have picked up at school.

Since I was mostly up until late the last couple of days, it prepared me to stay late and watch ManU destroy Spurs 4-0. It was a great game, but one that I expected United to do well.

I was in a training for three days in the middle of the week (an expensive one that was planned for a few months) and was rushing back home to be with my daughter. I would sit doing the homework I was supposed to do as preparation for the next day's class after she was asleep. Needless to say, I spent most of the week with very little sleep.

I'm glad to say that she's feeling a lot better now.

Another thing that happened last week was I got tagged by a pal. As part of being tagged, I need to tell you five things you would not otherwise know about me. So here goes:

1. As part of school sports days, I had enrolled in the four events that Carl Lewis had won in the Olympics to emulate Jesse Owens. I had specifically chosen to participate in those because I was enthralled with Carl's achievements. During the long jump event (which I eventually won), I managed to twist my leg and was hobbling around in pain. My coach advised me to pull out of the last event, but that meant I would have to give up my quest for the 4th Gold Medal. I chose to ignore the suggestion and ran the last event despite the pain. And we won! As I hobbled out to take my medal, I realized the school had recognized the effort and asked my Mom to present the medal to me. It was my proudest moment! I still look at that photograph in amazement.
2. I, along with a friend, won a local Breakdance competition. As you might recall, Breakdance was the rage in the 8Os and we kids were quite taken with it. When we heard there was a competition, we jumped at it. We practised for hours and choreographed it to the last detail on Chaka Khan's "I feel for you" (according to me, the perfect song for Breakdance). And we won! The award is sitting somewhere in my parent's house.
3. Diwali (or Deepawali) celebrations in India are known to be loud with firecrackers and bright with all the lights. After all, this is the festival of lights. I remember carrying a fire cracker in one hand and a sparkler in the other. Somehow, a spark from the sparkler landed on the fuse of the cracker and WHAM! the cracker exploded in my hand. I had a swollen blistered hand for a month and could not do anything on my own. Every night, whenever I turned on my side, I would wince and wake up from the pain. It was probably the most physically painful month in my life.
4. As a kid, I used to take things apart and put them back together, all of this while my Mom had her siesta. If she caught me dismantelling some of her expensive stuff, she would kill me. So I would do it only when I was sure she was asleep. She only found out years later when my sister ratted on me. And by then, I was too grown up for a reprimand. Thank God!
5. I met one of my closest friends on a bus! I was visiting my old friends from school and was coming back home by bus. A couple of my friends were travelling with me. To pass the time, we started to sing songs. Taking our initiative, the people sitting in the row ahead of us started singing as well. At one time, by sheer coincedence, we started the same song. So I suggested we all sing together. The introductions followed and we had a great time all the way home. This guy and I kept in touch all this while and are still very much in contact. This is probably 14 years since the episode. He got married two days before I did (and so I could not attend his wedding...something he rubs in all the time), but he did make it to mine. His daughter is born a few days before my daughter and his son shares my birthday. Cool, huh? Ever since, I have come to realize that you never know under what circumstances you will meet a good friend. You just need to keep an open mind.

Ok...Now you know a lot more about me. Time for me to tag a few people. But here's the problem. There aren't too many people around me who blog! Everyone I know and everyone whose blog I read are either not within my organization or have already been tagged. So I guess the tag dies here. Maybe I will append it someday.

What else happened? Oh, Real Madrid coach Capello brought back David Beckham in an effort to save his own job. And Becks responded by scoring the winner from a free kick against Real Sociedad. This is the quality of the player. He has been benched ever since he announce he will move to Los Angeles after his contract expires this year. Real was at a two game losing streak which made fans call for the coach's resignation. Out of sheer desperation and after mounting support from Real team mates, Becks was brought on and boy, did he deliver!