Bangkok (not so) Dangerous:

I have already booked the hotel for our Bangkok trip between 23 to 26 October. will probably book the plane tickets either tomorrow or saturday. Hoping that Bangkok stays calm for the duration of our stay. The demonstrations and police intervention are not things I like to see happen. 2 people dead and nearly 400 injured. but on the face of it, the demonstrators had it coming. Their protests and closure of several government buildings did little to inspire confidence of investors and tourists. of course the best people to intervene are the army and then the Thai King himself. I am just surprised the army has thus far chosen to remain neutral. but all things considered, they are in a tough spot. The PM(s) and parliament are a democratically elected goverment. and the army has no right to oust elected officials, although they have done so before. and on the other side of the fence you have this group of powerful royal loyalist, or whatever they choose to call themselves, who feel that the PM(s) are proxies of Thaksin and that the entire cabinet has to resign and be replaced by like-minded people like themselves. i do not quite know how to describe such a political system where leaders are chosen based on their status and purported loyalty to the King, rather that through a ballot box. strange way of running a country if you ask me.

Mazda 3:
in case anyone does not know by now, we are soon gonna be getting a new car!
and it is a Mazda 3 as the title implies. it is not that I do not like the car, but it was a little out of my budget (in fact nearly twice over!) and a couple of my colleagues already drive Mazda 3's, so I did not want to be redundant. But my dear wife, Agnes, had a ride in one once and has been raving about it ever since. since we agreed to split the costs 50-50 it kinda made sense to get a car we both liked, rather than one that catered to my budget. I had been looking for a small hatchback or one of those budget Malaysian or China-made cars as they are generally cheaper and supposedly guzzle less fuel than bigger cars.
all said I am really looking forward to collecting the car. we have even given him a name now...Max. gonna be a real jump in terms of comfort and stability in comparison to Sunny. and best part if for the first 20 months we are only paying $300 per month! which is even less than some people pay for a hatchback or a malaysian/china car. in fact COE for cars lesser than 1600 cc went down this month especially for me, the only category this time round to actually lower. and even the loan was approved in double quick time. then the little issue of the $300 dollars off per month in installments. now the only thing that remains is to collect the keys.



we chose mica black as our colour of choice. initially i wanted something out-of-the-ordinary,like green or orange or yellow, but in the end black is good. a bit of continuity there also. of the other choices that intrigued me were the red, blue and white.


Subaru APV:
I am not the only one in the Boyd family contemplating a new set of wheels. Mum is thinking about upgrading(or is it downgrading?) to a Suzuki APV.

which is like a mini-bus of sorts by the looks of things.

Sunny-set:
With the advent of Max, it marks the end of Sunny, my steadfast companion through some of the most eventful years of my life. In the beginning we did not seems to get along. I had objected when Joyce first had Sunny. It was because I felt that we did not need a car and were doing well getting about using public transport. It was both a financial burden to her and an unnecessary luxury I felt. Joyce ended up working 2 or 3 jobs at a time just to sustain her car. It was a bone of contention between us regarding the repairs and petrol costs. she felt I should chip in and I wanted no part of a car I never wanted in the first place. I also found Sunny hard to drive compared to other cars I driven. That was another flash point for us, as I had a different driving style from Joyce. She was like all tender and gentle handling the car, whereas I tended to try to drive more aggressively (read:normally). so i would tend to get pissed off with her incessant nagging and grumbling.
anyway despite our stormy start, Sunny was mine after we had ended our relationship due to my side having paid the bulk of the costs. In the years that followed I was always tempted to give up Sunny as he required constant repairs and maintenance. and as an old car he consumed more fuel than a newer car of the same size. so he was quite a burden financially. but things evolved over time as I got to grips with driving Sunny and enjoyed him being around. In fact he was central to so many significant events in my life over the last few years. and played a major part in Agnes and myself eventually being together. and made it possible for me to commute between NUS, Bedok South, Upper Thomson,Sembawang and now..Outram, with alarming regularity. have no idea how I would have coped with all the travel without Sunny.

wedding stuff:
Wedding cards- we have already collected the invitation cars and now have to send them to the shop for printing. we have also yet to decide on the wordings and style.

Guest list- we have yet to formalise the guest list. but i am sure we will be able to fill the hall with 150 to 160 people. still remains to be seen if our Muslim friends will be joining us that day. and the seating arrangements for certain unpopular individuals are an unwelcome headache.

photographs- Agnes and myself are also supposed to choose some choice pictures to feature in our wedding montage to be shown at the wedding banquet.

bridal present- then there is the issue of the present my folks are to buy for my wife. we have yet to set a date nor a place for when we are to shop for the 'gifts'. hopefully we can get hopping to that sooner rather than later, before the murmurings get too loud.

bridal car- it is a BMW

brothers- one aspect of a chinese wedding is for the groom (and his brothers) to go fetch the bride from her home. but before they can get to the bride, the groom and his brothers will have to get past the maniacal brood of females known as Sisters. they will subject the groom and his entourage to a sadistic and humiliating gauntlet of tasks before they can get to the Promised Land. The problem for me is finding people willing and able to join me on my arduous journey. my colleagues are out of the question as they have to work that day. and regarding my mates from other places, I have lost touch with most of them let alone close to them to even consider most of them. it is even doubtful if either of my own flesh and blood brothers want any part of this alongside me. still have not a clue how to go about this. :(

English Premier League:
Liverpool- they seem to have some steel this season that was lacking in seasons past. although it is still early days yet, they do show signs of being able to sustain a challenge for the title. they have been able to grind out results and turn losses or draws into 3 points.

Chelsea- under Scolari Chelsea look awesome. At times they resemble a hybrid of Chelsea under Mourinho and Arsenal. They are almost a complete team when fully fit. they have successfully melded their defensive strengths with a more expansive and attack-minded approach. so we get more exciting matches and no more drab 1-0 wins. Nicolas 'Incredible Sulk' Anelka looks inspired. Lampard is having one of his best seasons ever.

Manchester City- what to say about City? Officially the richest club in the world. Robinho looks a bargain even at the rates they paid for him to move over, inspiring the entire club. but the real story is the return of the prodigal son, Shaun Wright-Philips, from the wilderness, who has been their outstanding performer of the season after his disappointing 3 seasons at Chelsea where he played a cameo role and found himself on the bench more often than not. When the transfer window opens in january, this will be the club to watch. the names being thrown around is like a who's who of soccer superstars. This will make Roman Abramovich's spending spree look decidedly second-rate.

Hull City- third in the league! Although one is ill-advised to read too much into the league table at this juncture of the season, Hull do look well able to hang with the big boys and punch above their weight. they have been a joy to watch and have already pulled off the biggest upset of the season so far.

Tottenham Hotspurs - This was supposed to be the season they would finally challenge the Big 4 for those coveted Champions League spots. but instead Spurs find themselves firmly entrenched at the bottom of the table with just 2 points to their name. Bad signings and premature sales of their better players have meant that Spurs are now ill-equipped in all departments to mount any realistic run. suddenly Martin Jol seems like not such a bad coach after all.

Newcastle United- another club that promised so much and once again failed to live up to expectations. After a promising start to the season, things started to fall apart as King Kev quit as manager and fans revolted as only the Toon Army can do. Now they are second from bottom of the table although they do look to have turned a corner in their last match as they clawed their way back from 2-0 down to draw level with Everton. hopefully they can keep up the momentum and drag themselves out of the abyss. with a new owner(s) and maybe even the return of Kevin Keegan in the works, things can only get better from here.

Arsenal- Arsene Wenger's youth policy is starting to pay dividends again. They look well poised to there and about's come the business end of the season challenging for the title. the only problem they have is their lack in depth. they can ill afford to lose their key players if they are to have any realistic chance to win the title.

Aston Villa- a club that encapsulates all that is good about the English game. they are well placed to give the Big 4 a run for their money although they did display some vulnerability in their last match with Chelsea to show that they still have some ways to go before they can truly be considered contenders.


Manchester United- last and certainly least. the most hated club on earth. yet also one of the most successful. after a poor start to the season, they are slowly getting into gear and are predictably moving up the table. 6 points adrift of the leaders and with a game in hand, they are surely gonna figure in the final reckonings before it is all said and done.