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Luongspace - All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither... (Ps. I flip tables when I'm angry!) |
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Before Twitter, there was VHS, 56k modems, penny-farthings and the humble blog. There were
also many other things, but the list is horrendously long. Luongspace is a blog whose currency is the mundane but has a fanciful flirtation with real issues. Use the links below to navigate through the annuals of time: |
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| Bump 'n' Grind, 19th December 2005 | |
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| Bump 'n' Grind, 19th December 2005 | |
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| The Hog, Dim sum and crude Chinamen, | |
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| The Tran Dynasty, 19th June 2006 | |
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The weekend saw us play out my last games in charge of my beloved C4! Saturday, we entered the Mini World Cup - a huge 7 aside tournament featuring 32 mens and 10 womens teams! I was part of the organising committee and so had arrived at 8.30am to help with the registration etc. As expected our team were one of the last to arrive, and we were without at least 6 players. Our squads contained 7 players apiece and the day looked to be a very short one! However, we defied expectations and both teams topped their groups, beating rugged opposition on the way. Wai and Wood arrived as late reinforcements during the group stages, but both teams were knocked out in the second round, losing against weaker teams than we had previously played! We'd done well with our limited squads and should have progressed further, if it hadn't been for some textbook errors on our part. Sunday - I started the morning groggy and blistered from the previous day. A wretching pain near my left kidney dampened my spirits further. However, the 5 aside tournament at Churchill is one we'd traditionally fared well at and I was keen to end my tyrannical reign as captain in style! Thanks also to the Krang for coming down to watch intermittently and reveal his sordid story of beds, plump women and drunken stupour. We kicked off against the Koreans and despite playing very well, we conceded first when I beat our own keeper with a slashed clearance! Whooops...However, we soon made up lost ground and won the game comfortably. I did get on the scoresheet to partially erase the memory of the earlier embarrassment... We proceeded to thrash the Malaysians 5-0, in a one sided encounter that should have yielded more goals. All was going well until, miraculously, our other team was beaten 1-0 and threw our plans of an all C4 final into dissaray! Eventually, we scandalously decided to do some match fixing and made very little effort against Abacus, with them beating us 2-0. The twist was not yet over, as the Koreans failed to beat the Malaysians and so Abacus were thrust into the semis and we were to meet our other team afterall! Following a little discussion, both teams agreed to play to win ('let's go all out' were the main slogans as well as Wai promising to 'rip through them'!). And so the semi final proved to be a close match, with both teams trading blows with alarming regularity. Team Luong got the better start, with us coming close on a few occasions. Luong span Greg and blazed a left footed shot over the crossbar, Mickey Chan asking why Greg had let him do him like that. Greg answered, 'hes much stronger than he looks, you know!'. I'd have to agree to that, although I do look strong as well, right...? Anyhoo, Dang's team took the lead when a mistake gifted Tyrell the ball and he powered it in with only the keeper to beat. We replied quickly with Skinny finishing off a powerful run to make the scores even. There was some tough tackling and no punches pulled, but the match finished 1-1 and penalties loomed. All stepped up and nobody, but beasty scored and so we progressed into the finals, where we thrashed Abacus 6-0 with me hogging a lot of pitch time and bagging a hatrick :p We were presented with a bottle of bubbly and 26 ppl headed down to Dojos for some much needed grub! During that time, Mickey managed to slam the car door on my left hand and later I burned myself with some ridiculously hot tea to end my day with some pride, a tinge of sadness and a lot of pain. |
| New dawn, 16th June 2006 | |
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Spoke to Jenn just now (and a few days ago) and she sounds like the Jenn I
first knew. She seems to be over the difficult period and it was really
sweet to talk to her again. I'm so happy for her, she's one of the nicest
people I know and it's likely she will have learned a lot from her
experience :) The other thing that I decided early this morning was to step down from C4 captaincy. It was a painful decision, alike to splitting up with a long term partner! Has it been a few years now? I'm not sure, but it left me hollow (and I was shattered anyway) and wounded! Grrrr...I've enjoyed the past few years - it's made me a better player and I've learned a lot from it, but just don't think I want to dedicate so much time to it anymore. I'll continue playing though. We've got two tournaments this weekend and I'll do all I can to ensure these last games go well. The Oriental Party was a reasonable success - a fair turn out and punters seemed to enjoy it. Linda Lee said he liked the music, which is unusual for him! That was last Sunday. I'm still quite pissed with what happened last night (Thurs) though, but if I've learnt anything, it's not to take things or people for granted. Some people seem to have very narrow perspectives, choosing to focus on what's bugging them, but not trying to empaphise or understand the bigger picture. Anyway, I'll try to put all the crap behind me. |
| Farewell, 6th May 2006 | |
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My heart aches and my mind is so very tired. I feel a bit nauseous. Jenn and I have broken up. Recent times have been turbulent as a result of unfortunate circumstance. She's currently in Malaysia, trying to find her feet again, but progress hasn't been ideal. I received an unfriendly phone call this morning from her father forbidding me to contact her again and blaming me for what has happened. I'm quite angry about being branded a villain, as it's been so difficult for me too and I've tried my best to care for her and hoped I could help guide her through this troubled period. My last few months, my conscious mind has been frequently occupied by worry and stress and I know I've been quite withdrawn at times because of this. My sleeping pattern is all over the place and I've felt drained beyond belief. Despite this, I have no regrets whatsoever – other than that I can no longer walk beside her through this trying time. I would have been privileged to have stood by her through all of it, but it's reached a point where this additional conflict may not be in her best interest. If it were just a case of being scapegoated and vilified, I would have no qualms about rebelling and fighting for what is right. However, Jenn and I have reluctantly suspected that my being there may actually hinder her ability to grow and regain her independence. Being a human safety net could, in twisted actuality, be holding her back. And her well being is all that matters. And so, we've decided that we go our separate ways in the hope that she can re-find herself. If you love them set them free? Somebody forgot to mention how incredibly painful it can be. |
| Irony, 9th February 2006 | |
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Spinach is iron-y*. Why do I crack lame jokes, even though my mind is heavy? (Actually, I understand that the iron content in spinach is not all that high, as those boffins misplaced a decimal point in early studies, but its reputation stuck) Not sure what I want to write. But i guess it goes along the melancholy lines of irony. Everyday life races by and you can get through a day without much care. You can see a friend/family and it may not rise above the mundane, as a hundred less important things occupy your thoughts. Though if we realised how precious these moments should be, if we woke up to the finite nature of ...things, people, we'd probably give everything we had just to prolong these everyday moments. I think it's all a matter of appreciation. I want to wake up. |
| 4:Tune favours the brave, 30th January 2006 | |
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The Super Sunday turned out pretty super... A well fought 5-1 victory, preceded by a kickabout on Parkers was gratifying in the end. I'm not sure if I have the stamina from before my lengthy ankle injury last year, but yesterday probably helped it a bit. Our defence and GK was fantastic and we held on strongly for a deserved win. I should have had a hatrick, but ended up with no goals, although the team performance is what's important. 4:Tune started off quietly, but by 11pm the place was kicking. Had a great time, though can't remember so much of it! Not everybody turned up that said they would/might, but it was a blast nonetheless. Most of my mates and my brother and cousins were there and Jenn came a bit later and the night was capped off by a stunning two track combo of 'Pang Yau' and that classic Beyond song. The music was really very good (hehe) and you can never please everybody, but hope it was enjoyable for all. It's so much better to hold your own parties than have to put up with the rubbish at Ballares - so, thanks to those mofos that helped put it on (Colin, Lau and esp. Dom, who I largely left to his own devices as I got systematically wasted...sorry about that!) and those that came out to get down and dirty! ...I hope the crap stuff is over for good...people are as happy as they make their minds up to be? Peace :) |
