Having finished Manchester United The Biography, the club that i've supported since i was 13 now becomes a much complete story. The culture, the history and all the great stars who have once owned a piece of the red history become the very fundamental to which Manchester United is who they are now.

Matt Busby set the standard, and thank goodness for Mark Robins who "rescued" Sir Alex Ferguson's career, we have now a world-beating championship team. And it's not only that, because across domains such as management and leadership, having SAF there and him almost quitting to looking for a successor, they all become things which are very sensitive, very delicate and could probably be hazardous if handled foolishly.

So many generations of players ... from the golden triumvirate of Best, Law and Charlton ... to King Eric Cantona ... to 'you don't win anything with kids' Beckham, Giggs, Scholes ... to the unforgettable European Champions which i still vividly remember that night in 1999. Schmeichal, Sheringham, Solskjaer, Cole and Yorke ... plus the free-scoring Ruud Van Nistelrooy to our solid Jaap Stam.

But SAF has always maintained that no one is ever bigger than the club and i think this belief and culture have been positive traits in the club. Cristiano Ronaldo came and dazzled all of us. Inspired me to do more stepovers and go for the fanciful rather than boring ol soccer. Together with Rooney and Tevez, we had another golden trio ... and we won our 3rd European Championship over Chelsea, thanks aplenty to John Terry and Nicholas Anelka ... and of course our evergreen Edwin Van Der Sar.

Looking at the highlights of last night's game against the MLS All Stars, I think we once again have a great squad. Giggs and Scholes may be in the last couple of years, but they will provide the kind of guidance that SAF always preaches. I wanted to mentally form a team made up of the next gen ... starting with Macheda, Welbeck, Hernandez up front, with Nani, Valencia on the wings, Gibson, Cleverley, being the midfield engines, Smalling, Evans, Rafael and Fabio in defence ...

Then i remember we still have Rooney, Berbatov, Park, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Giggs, Ferdinand, Evra, Vidic and Brown ... =)

Day 1: Of Chillaxing and the familiar smell of the Sea

So on friday, Ariel(thanks dude!) came and fetch Trina and I to the airport. Had a good macs breakfast while Cheryl and Minsi arrived. Tried to persuade Ariel to just buy a ticket and board the plane with us =p He would be crazy to have done that but ah well ... Flight was delayed for a bit haha budget airline what to do ...

Got to Krabi Airport at about 2 plus pm. Bought a ticket on the shuttle bus to Ao Nang Pier. Had our first thai meal there ... very yummy ... then had to wait for the longtail boat to fetch us across to Railay. We were all a little surprised of having to wade into the water to get into the boat but all of us got used to it as we had to do that everyday ..

Checked in but initially there was an issue about us 4 people sharing into a 'triple-sharing' room so i quietly 'disappeared'. Then tu a bit here and there before making our way around the island exploring it. Started turning dark as we were walking around the other side of the island. Had another great dinner then went for massage. Speaking of which, we didn't hit our quota of 6! Hahahah but it was with high optimism that they wanted to hit that number. Booked the 4 island tour for the next day before going back to the room to chill. And even booking a tour also can bargain until damn tiring.

Day 2: Of big waves, bargaining and being sea aliens.

Breakfast was another sneaky affair as we were only given 3 breakfast coupons. So i just detoured and walked in from the side and joined them at the table. In the end, over the days, no one really checked. And we learnt that their way of life there is whatever can be earned can be arranged. So if there's money to be made, they will help you think of solutions or just close one eye to allow some sort of monetary benefit for themselves.

Took the longtail out for the tour of the 4 islands. Tourists everywhere but mostly angmohs. Suntanned a bit and snorkelled which sucked cos visibility was really bad. Then the boatman said got big wave so can't go back by the usual route to Railay bay so since we were planning to go Ao Nang to walk around, we had them dropped us there. And walking around with wet swimming trucks all day ain't a good idea cos it just made you wanna piss. Shopped around, did another but extremely shiok Thai massage. This one is pure gymnastics. I was contorted beyond contortions and my bones cracked like nobody's business but hell i groaned till the girls were all wondering whether it was pain or pleasure.

Went for dinner then went back to the pier only to be greeted by the news that we had to pay 400 baht more to go back .. and that is like 17SGD more per person. So damn angry la ... but bo bian so had to pay. Then some uncle drove us to some ulu damn dark pier on the other side before the longtail got us back to Railay. Thing is it was low tide so there was quite a distance between where the boat stopped and the shore and walking through the mangrove beach is no joke. But for people looking at the shore, we definitely looked like some sort of sea aliens emerging and invading the land.

Decided that today was too eventful so tmr shall be a more chillax day.

Day 3: Of being a tai ke (taiwanese dude)

We had breakfast before chilling by the seaside for an hour. Took the boat across to Ao Nang and rented 2 motor bikes. Funny thing is i never rode one before but i was always confident of handling motor vehicles. But it was damn funny when i didn't know how to on it. And the uncle definitely knew we all didn't have some sort of bull licence for it but he still rented it to us. Nice guy la cos after that he settled our next day's transport to the airport too with a mega huge mini bus for the 4 of us at a crazily cheap rate.

Anyway back to the highlight of the trip, the moment i got on the motor scooter and started riding it, straightaway i thought of hai jiao qi hao and all the taiwanese guys who rode scooters like that. Damn funny damn exciting. Rode quite a distance to Krabi town with Minsi as my pillion. Super exciting cos it's like no legal as well as you know the dangers and also the speed and the wind that all happened at the same time. It's different from cars cos you could truly feel the sense of speed via the wind across your face.

Did shopping at Krabi town before riding back to Ao Nang to catch the last (cheap) boat back to Railay. Had a fantastic dinner with bbq beef, fish, chicken and pineapple fried rice before going back to our room to crash.

Day 4: Of last minute tanning and realisation of reality

Did some last min tanning and packed up before we went back to Ao Nang to take the mini bus to the airport. Great trip overall had a great tan and virgin motor scooter experience! =)

GRADUATE LOH!

Today i went back to the place that i spent more than a year at while in my active ns days. As in i literally stopped the car and walked down into the building0. The office has changed pretty much ... it's much neater now and the desks and cupboards are rearranged already. It was nostalgic to actually peek in now that it's none of my business anymore.

I walked through the huge hangars ... trying to feel the souls of my fellow colleagues which were so familiar and tried imagining them doing their work, slacking and playing daiti in one corner, body maintenance for hours and the numerous stunts that happened in the quiet little building of ours. Now even the structure and hierarchy of the people there have changed. But honestly it felt good just standing there, soaking in the atmosphere as we sent in the stores.

Then as i walked back to the car, the grass ground which was always wet because of the water from the tap .. still remains wet. And i could almost hear Zico shouting and cursing with Albert in the background. Once again, Shaun comes to mind and i regret not talking much to him back then. But to my dear friend up there, don't worry our office is still there, our obms no more already so don't need flush anymore =)

It's like the demise of a good friend.



You see, my iPhone died.

I like to think of it as a sign. Because i brought it into camp today and i was a happy boy for the whole day because it is so easy to use, people can hear me clearly when they call me, and i can play with it while rotting my time away. But the thing is, i wasn't supposed to do that. So perhaps it died to save me from possibly bigger consequences. Or maybe because the iPhone 4 is coming to Singapore, and so it's just a surefire way for me to purchase it.

But honestly, i feel really really really sad. However some financial facts about it first. This phone has cost me plenty of money, not including the monthly bills and the purchasing price of it, it caused me to get into my first major accident the day after i bought it. Repairs costs and compensation amounted to 2k. And now, a perfectly working phone went from functional mode to exhibition mode ... with repairs costs estimated at $350SGD. Oh yay. But don't worry, I ain't gonna spend the few hundred on repairs when i can use it for the iPhone 4.

Thing is, it just happened so suddenly. I was getting out of the car with all the barung barungs and because i was carrying so many things, my phone which i stupidly didn't put inside my pocket slipped out of my hand and onto the tarmac ground. I picked it up and on the outside it seemed fine. No cracks or dents and i was pretty happy it was just a minor scratch on the screen protector. I pressed the home button and voila! ... the white screen of death greeted me. =(

I was cursing and swearing and i was thinking why the hell did i not get a thicker all round front and back handphone protector cover casing whatever you call that. Rarh.

And to think i just downloaded new apps last night before i slept. And all the messages and photos. Thing is i haven't used my mac laptop for quite sometime so i haven't synced for really long. Yet come to think of it now, it's only the screen that's spoilt so technically, if i am to plug it into a comp, i would still be able to sync it.

Ah well. I think i have been hit too many times by attachment issues that each time, it gets less painful.

Either way, will use another phone for now. Get the new iphone when it's out. Resync by old phone to the laptop. Update the new phone. Be happy.