Manchester United 1 Villarreal 1 (AET 10-11 Penalties)

 So we lost the Europa League finals to a team that ended up 7th place in La Liga.

I woke up at 3am to catch all the action.

Honestly, it was a bit disappointing knowing we could've played a lot better.

We failed to show up on the biggest stage, and even then, we had several good chances to win it. 

We conceded a stupid easy goal to go 0-1 down, something we have been leaking all season long.

We came out of the block in the second and equalized through Cavani, and then we missed a few good chances. 

As extra time came, we could see it was going to end in penalties. 

The penalties were crazy heart-in-mouth stuff. 

Since we were second takers, we had to watch every single player from Villarreal score first before we did. 

All ten of our outfield players scored. 

DDG hadn't saved a single penalty and when it was his turn, his kick got saved.

And that was it.

It feels sad we couldn't bring this trophy home.

But I guess this is what makes the team stronger and hopefully it spurs us on to greater heights rather than the opposite. 

Coming in second in the league this year, AND making the UEL finals, is a sign of progress from my perspective. OGS has done a good job, but still needs to be a better tactician.

Looking forward to next season already.

GGMU!!!

Bedok Central Food Centre Dabao

 Another place we went today to dabao lunch. 

Also quite crowded but I managed to get my favourite Mutton Soup and Chwee Kueh! 

Iconic stalls which I need to support to prevent them from going bust.

East Coast Lagoon Food Village Dabao

 Support local hawkers!

We went to East Coast Lagoon Food Village to dabao a special Friday dinner.

It was SOOOOO crowded!

Anyway managed to get a lot of the regular good food.

My Vaccination Journey

 Finally begun my vaccination journey!

Those between 40-45 can now register and that's what I did.

I chose Moderna because it was easier to get an appointment slot within a matter of days. Pfizer would have required a waiting time of almost a month.

Did my first job at Tampines East Community Club.

The process was so smooth, from registration, to administration, to queuing to job, actual jab, waiting for 30mins for possible allergic reactions, then exit. It all took maybe around 45mins?

Really got to give it to the army of frontline workers helping with this enormous project.

Thank you guys!

Here's are snippets of my vaccination journey.

Papa Keeping Fit

 Really glad to see my dad running a lot. 

Even at the young age of 73 he's still exercising so regularly.

Really puts me to shame,

Here's him across the road doing his regular exercise.

I managed to spot him while I was out running!

Tennis & Swimming

 During this period we can't use many other facilities.

Mainly only tennis and the swimming pool.

So I've been playing a bit of tennis with the boy.

My son's begun playing a little better, so its fun bringing him down for a quick exercise.

Problem is that the only slots I can book are the crazy super hot and humid hours!

Otherwise, its the swimming pool or a 5km run.

Here's me waving to the wifey from the pool (she's at home!)

Tik Tok Influencer

 Since I started on Tik Tok last year, I've still been posting snippets of my life on and off. 

I see it as another social media channel to keep my memories.

It has been rather dormant lately as my videos tend to be boring.

Just a lot of push-up videos.

Until now. 

I posted the video of Marcus Rashford missing a sitter during the UEL finals against Villareal which we lost.

In two days I accumulated almost 40K views!

And I subsequently received this prompt from them!

Am I a superstar influencer now?!

DHS 65th Anniversary Virtual Run II

 Continuing from the previous post on the DHS 65th Anniversary Virtual Run.

Manage to clock quite some distance in the last few days.

Random Heightened Alert Phase 2 Home Cooking

 The wifey is truly a budding masterchef.

Her food during this period is really something to be enjoyed and appreciated.

Labrador Park

 We wanted to do something special during this semi-lockdown period since we hardly leave the house.

Decided to drive all the way to ARC @ Alexandria to buy Macdonald's from their drive-thru, and then park at Labrador Park to eat in the car.

We did just that and after a sumptuous Chicken McSpicy meal, we got out in pairs to walk around the park to digest our food.

It's such a beautiful place with beautiful sights of our Singapore port.

Bei Ing Wanton Mee & Roxy Laksa

 They're still alive in this Heightened Alert climate where we cannot eat on location.

Had blogged about them many times before. Here's the latest.

Had the pleasant surprise to see them still opened and available for takeaway.

Bought the regular 3X $5 wanton mee (1 chilli, 2 without), 2X fish otah, and 2X $5.50 Janggut Laksa.

Do support local hawkerfare and go dabao from them at Roxy Square if you can!

So good and delicious!

Back To Phase 2

 Because of the sudden spike in infections, thanks to a more infectious variant, we are now back in Phase 2.

Sad. 

Anyway I had the chance to stock up the other day, and this was my stash.

Possible Covid Exposure Alert!

 Kenna this notification on my TraceTogether app.

Been mainly staying at home since.

This is the Parkway Central Learning Point Tuition cluster that's infected quite a lot of school-going children.

Monstera Plant

 We bought an indoor plant called the Monstera.

Placed it in the HUAT corner!

Fantasy Premier League 20/21

 We've played the English Premier League (EPL) Fantasy Premier League (FPL) annually for more than 10 years now. This is participated by present colleagues and ex-colleagues.

Really good fun!

DHS 65th Anniversary Virtual Run

 So I joined the DHS 65th Anniversary Virtual Run.

I'll just have to clock 65km in about a month and a half and then submit it.

Have clocked 3 runs so far.

Recycled Boat

The daughter came home with this project - to make a boat out of recycled material that could be powered by wind.

That triggered me to build something for her enthusiastically.

Here were the ingredients:

1. One plastic mineral water bottle
2. Two Yakult bottles
3. Disposable wooden chopsticks
4. Paper mast
5. String

And here's what I came up with.

She was so happy and said it worked in school!

So proud of myself!

Beautiful Home View

 The only good thing about the hot weather is the offer of a beautiful sea view from my balcony.

I feel so blessed to live here.

Pred8or

Back when I was in Hall 8 of NTU.

In 2003, my third year of school, I took up the post of Freshman Orientation Camp (FOC) Chairman.

My chairmanship was covered in the hall magazine in a published interview.

Really cool to read this from almost 20 years ago!

You might even see me in the photos if you squint!

Dabao Omakase

 Courtesy of Saxo.

We were rewarded for our effort to help clear our service queues.

Each of us got a takeaway Japanese omakase set worth $50+ to enjoy in office.

So good! And so overly elaborate.

Oats

Eating a lot of oats now because of the health benefits.

Either I do the instant brew cuppa for supper.

Or the wifey makes me overnight oats.

Nice.

Towards a healthier lifestyle :)