06 Reaches Its Twilight

So, the year is finally coming to an end.. and what a year it has been! Believe me when I say this... there have been ups (I never thought I could be higher!) and downs (I thought I was 500 feet below rock bottom!).. most importantly though, I have learnt a lot of stuff! 2006 has been a year of transition.. transition in private life and academic. I've had my share of difficulties as far as my private life goes.. but private life is private so I will not go further into that.. when it comes to academics.. the most obvious one would be the switch from school to college.

School was good - that said I always whigned about it when I was there. College is ok. I am whigning everyday about it! But, that's the way life is! No one is ever satisfied with what they have.. There's always something missing, something to fill - that I suppose leads us to complain and whigne endlessly. This is one of the things that I have learnt - be satisfied with what you have, your situation could be a lot worse!

I would divide this year into 2 halves.. this year has literally been a year of 2 halves. I have changed fairly significantly in the second half. How? In the first half of this year, I was in school and was about to face my board exams... was really into studies and cared very little about anything/one else. As my board exams drew to a close, I had the holidays of a lifetime. I had loads of fun with my friends and went to S'pore... I applied to college and got into the one which was really my only choice.

Then, as the World Cup 2006 came nearer - I got really excited. The World Cup was the biggest dissapointment of my life.. it was poor, devoid of any quality and Italy undeservedly won it in my opinion. The months June, July and August were very very tough for me - for various reasons... September was honestly the month I had been waiting for after 3 pathetic, unforgiving months.

By September, I had turned a corner. I had finished off what needed finishing off... and had gotten over a whole lot of mess. Sanity was restored and now I feel a whole lot better! Academically, there hasn't been a year better than this one.. I performed well in my exams - got into college and haven't looked back since.

Overall, this year was a good one. As I said - I have changed a hell of a lot this year and am thankful for the changes brought about in me for various reasons. I feel that mentally I have become stronger and I feel that my anticipation of various situations  has become better. I'm very clear about what I want to do - academically and personally. I might not exactly be doing everything perfectly - nevertheless I am happy about myself and happy about life! That's all that matters to me! 2006 might well be the year I will never be able to forget for years to come..

One Month On...

This entry should have been here a week ago.. I finished it and some weird mishap happened and it was erased! Anyway, a month can be a long time but for me... it has been quite a quick one in all honesty. November, the month that I dread the most - certainly from this year on as I have confirmed that I have the tendancy to fall hopelessly sick in this month. It happened last year, is happening this year and I just hope it doesn't happen next year! Plus, the added woes of Arsenal failing as usual in the month which has passed us by every year has left me hating November 2 very good reasons.

I didn't get to write in my blog either!

The Premiership is finally shaping up with Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal leading the pack.. it's really Man Utd and Chelsea leading the pack. Arsenal were terrible in November - I think we just won 2 matches in that month, losing 2-3 and drawing at our new stadium (a very bad habit). Nevertheless, after we beat a lacklustre Tottenham with some well deserved fortune at last and without Thierry at that - I feel we should qualify for the Champions League next year with ease, something we just, just achieved last year.

The English Premiership is so diverse, it is a combination of rough football, technical class and tactical genius. Rough football - Bolton &^*^%$, Blackburn, Everton et al spring to mind. Technical Class? Don't look beyond Arsenal and Man Utd. Tactical genius - Jose Mourinho... as much as I hate to admit, he is tactically adept - switching Michael Essien to right back against Man Utd being a prime example. The Spanish League has a bunch of divers playing to find out who is able to score the best out of 10 in a diving competition... most of them fare well I must say! Italy is as corrupt as can be.. ermm.. don't look beyond AC Milan, Juve, Lazio and Fiorentina. I can't believe Italy actually won the World Cup - then again it is technically the worst competition football has to offer. So, EPL is really the best league in the world.. without a doubt!

The press pack that follow football clearly have lost their brains haven't they?! In voting for Fabio Cannavarro as the European Player of the year, they've proven that it takes just a bunch of 6-8 matches for you to impress for them to give you such a prestigious award. I would have gone for Henry - not just because I admire him or that he is an Arsenal player but, because he was in the Champions League final and the World Cup final - and he wasn't just IN them, he helped Arsenal and France respectively to reach those finals. By the way, Cannavarro was part of the defense which was torn apart by Arsenal at Highbury in a match we won 2-0 against Juve in the quarter finals of the Champions League. So, please give us all a break and show us some sense will you - press pack?!

Lastly, I will give a fairly bold prediction ... predict the Premier League winners. Slate me if I'm wrong.. but I really have a gut feeling the Chelsea will make it 3 in a row.. Why? 2 words, Squad Depth. Man Utd don't have it and will ultimately fall behind as they are also in the hunt for the Champions League and the FA Cup. More than squad depth, you have to look at the quality of squad depth at Jose Mourinho's disposal and you have to admit - they really do have the bench strength which Man Utd don't have. Even though they have made a good start, I feel eventually that the bubble will burst and Man Utd will fall behind.

That said, the EPL is a funny league where unpredictable things happen.. so who knows if Chelsea lose to Arsenal next week and if Man Utd maintain a good run of results - maybe they
can win! This will bring happiness to the people who want a new winner of the EPL - I definitely am one of them.. but the winner might as well be Chelsea if Man Utd are going to win it!