LOVE, Kloudiia

We have come to know, and many agree that music is a common language of love. It helps us to make friends, understand a country’s culture, not to mention picking up a new language.

Now, watching Olympics has told me that sports is also another common language for all. Not only the athletes, but also the spectators.

I relish watching how the others won their competition (even if they are playing against our athletes) because I know how hard they have worked to come this far. I enjoy looking at their strategies, their control of emotions, skills and perseverance. Most importantly, their must-win attitude. Yet, to top it all, sportsmanship comes first.

You must have heard about the smashing men’s 400m swimming freestyle relaymatch on Monday, right? About how Michael Phelps’ team won by an exruciatingly dangerous close lead of a mere 0.08 second. That’s right, in less than a split of a second, they beat France, the favourite team touted to win this race.

It was close, real close. And when this exciting, intense and dramatic race was going on, I heard the narrator’s high-pitched, high volume voice going on in my TV set, and I thought “Wow, what is going on there? Must be very exciting,” as I continued to busy myself with a chore.

And in the 26th overall ranking. Which means, she is not in the placing for the semi-finals for 200m butterfly.

Which also means, this ends her Olympics expediture.

It’s ok, because she is still young and there’s a long road ahead of her. This, is but the beginning…

All the best!

Whoa, you have to watch how he swims, and how he wins.

Michael has just got one more gold medal into his pocket with the 200m freestyle race. Seeing him swim is a joy, really.

He not only displays excellent skills, this guy also has a strategy to boot.

Notably, you should see how fantastic he was underwater. Touch, turn and swoosh - his strong movements of his hips and legs underwater literally brought him on-par with the leading guy on the last leg. And when his head emerged, he’s already there, ahead.

Remember our Former President Wee Kim Wee?

He spoke to me! Yes, he really did.

I was watching the encore telecast of NDP 08 yesterday, and this huge feeling of nostalgia swelled inside my heart.

What made my heart flutter and throbbing?

The fireworks were dazzling. The fighter jets made my jaws gapped. The songs were inspiring. The laser added vibrancy and dynamism to the event. The floating platform was a nice change.

But it wasn’t any of these that made the cut.

The Australian Trickett did it at a world record of 56 seconds.

When Tao Li broke her own record and came 4th with 57 seconds to propel her into the finals today, Singapore was all cheers yesterday. Now that she came in 5th in the finals, will the cheers still be there for her?

I say, we should. Why? Because she is a sportswoman.

Look, she was there in the first place not to clinch a medal in an obvious way. She was there to beat all the odds, which, as I see, was more than one.

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to Singapore,

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Here’s wishing Singapore prosperity, peace, harmony and vibrancy for all the years to come. Happy Birthday Singapore!

Wow, 43 years didn’t zoom by for nothing. We’ve had plenty of accomplishments to call our own, and received numerous accolades for the miracles that were offshoots from a teeny-weeny island.

Doesn’t sound very appropriate to label them like this, but really, I can’t think of another word for them.

My dad went for an operation last week (he is recovering very well now and was discharged today, so thank you all for your concern if you want to know how he is faring). The room has 5 beds and of which, two of them has a very high turnover.

Every day as I walk in, I will check for new faces. Usually I am not disappointed. There will be new people, and hence, new stories to hear.

Stuart and I were walking to the coffee shop for lunch.

“Oh I forgot to bring my umbrella! How can I forget to bring my umbrella? The sun is sooo hottt!!” I cried out in horror.

“Come, I help you block,” hubby enthusiastically held out his jacket over my head.

“It’s ok, nevermind nevermind (I have the habit of repeating my words, don’t ask me why thank you). We’ll just walk faster,” I kindly rejected his sweet intention.

Barely a second later (I swear I thought I was under the sun for one minute) as we stepped out into the sun, I changed my mind.

Hold. Hold. Hold. Hold looonnnggggerrrrr….

I kept repeating that and held my breath. We only had a few more seconds to go. Ok, maybe 10 seconds. Whatever! It’s not going to be more than a minute.

“Uncle, nevermind, you’ll just drive veeerrryy veeerrryyy sssslllowwww, ok? I’m sure nobody will horn you,” I gave my instruction.

“Ya, because all the cars will be waiting too, so don’t worry,” my sister chirped in helpfully.