Hunk of the Day

Boudewijn Zenden

Got his first goal of the season in the Premiership against West Ham.
Thought he's worth a mention in my "ad-hoc" HOTD post.

Liverpool 2 - 0 West Ham United


Alonso Celebrates with Garcia

After a disappointing exit from the Carling Cup by Crystal Palace, we made up for it & gotten 3 points at Anfield against West ham United.

Alonso's early goal in the 18th min gave Pool the lead in the 1st half. Rafa deployed the 4-4-2 formation with Nando & Cisse leading the attack. Nando had a good game, creating chances & took his chances at goal well; but was unlucky not to get onto the score sheet. Cisse, on the other hand; had a medicore game. There were chances he could have buried easily, but he didn't do so. He seems to be lacking fire in front of goal.

Cisse was later replaced by Bolo Zenden in the 72nd min & the latter was instantly effective against the defences of West Ham. Zenden proved why he was Boro's favourite player last season by scoring a goal, thus extending Pool's lead to 2 - 0 & settled the match.

We had a good game & the 3 points were well-deserved. It was great to see the team playing excellent passing football, compared to the long balls they usually play with Crouch upfront.

Now, the focus switches to Champions League. Liverpool will host Anderlecht on Tuesday night (Mon morning in Singapore) at Anfield. A win & another 3 points would surely ensure entry to the next round of CL action.



You Never Walk Alone.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Your Birthdate: May 21

Being born on the 21st day of the month (3 energy) is likely to add a good bit of vitality to your life. The energy of 3 allows you bounce back rapidly from setbacks, physical or mental. There is a restlessness in your nature, but you seem to be able to portray an easygoing, "couldn't care less" attitude. You have a natural ability to express yourself in public, and you always make a very good impression. Good with words, you excel in writing, speaking, and possibly singing. You are energetic and always a good conversationalist. You have a keen imagination, but you tend to scatter your energies and become involved with too may superficial matters. Your mind is practical and rational despite this tendency to jump about. You are affectionate and loving, but very sensitive. You are subject to rapid ups and downs.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

20 Random Facts about Me

I've been tagged by Zoe. (I have put this on hold for a long time)

20 random facts about me

#1: The name 'Valerie' was adopted after i started working. My chinese name is kinda old-fashioned.

#2: I didn't finish my Mechatronics Engineering course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

#3: I can speak & understand cantonese pretty alright if it's spoken slowly, my dialect group is hokkien.

#4: I have to hug something when i sleep, be it a bolster; pillow; blanket or cushion.

#5: I hate cockroaches, especially those that can fly.

#6: I went camping overnight when I was 10 yrs old, the camp was held in the school though.

#7: I have a record of going 2 days without a shower, that happened 10 years ago; when i was at the Outward Bound School (OBS) at Pulau Ubin.

#8: I was once in the basketball team for my secondary school, i didn't play much; warmed the bench alot.

#9: I stole money from my dad when i was in primary school, the $$ was used to buy lunch treats for my classmates. When they asked why i had so much $$, i always told them that my mum gave me the $$.

#10: I attended bible study groups when i was in secondary school, i have a bible. I stopped short of going to church.

#11: I have natural wavy hair, i have since done rebonding 4 times. The most recent was done early this month.

#12: I LOVE Liverpool Football Club, i think this one's pretty obvious.

#13: I started my blog through the influence of my classmate at MDIS, I do not know where he is now, nor if his blog still exist; cos i have forgotten the web address.

#14: I'm the middle child in the family, i have a eldest sister; a elder brother & 2 younger sisters.

#15: I was in the military band during my secondary school days, i played the clarinet; switched to playing the french horn later.

#16: Almost all of my clothes are black.

#17: I have NEVER dyed or highlighted my hair before.

#18: I hope to be able to do my degree in mass comm soon, i already have my advanced diploma in mass comm with MDIS.

#19: I never eat crabs outside the comforts of my home, too messy. Unless, someone shells them for me. Heh.

#20: I was once know as Vanessa, i think this was the first english name i adopted.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

People i'm tagging:

1. Sarah
2. Shelly
3. J
4. Marcus
5. Amy

Crystal Palace 2 - 1 Liverpool


Steven Gerrard's goal not enough

Liverpool crashed out of the Carling Cup competition; with a 3rd round defeat by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Liverpool created many chances, but poor finishing & lack of goals let them down again. Palace scored first through Freedman in the 37th min. We didn't stay behind for a long time, Gerrard put the score equal with his 50th goal for the club in the 40th min.

However, the lack of goals & poor finishing prevented us from pulling ahead from Palace & the latter scored another in 2nd half. Palace's goalkeeper, Julian Speroni had a magnificent game & deservedly took the Man-of-the-Match award.



We are out of the Carling Cup competition, we have to look ahead to the next game.

Fulham 2 - 0 Liverpool


Defeat at Craven Cottage

What happened?
We were defeated 2 - 0 by Fulham at Craven Cottage. We were touted to win this surely. As Rafael Benitez put it, lack of goals cost us dearly.

Harry Kewell started for the side in his first premiership appearance since his last game at Istanbul. I wouldn't say he's great, but something's missing from the former Leeds player. Kewell isn't the same player for Pool, as he was for Leeds a couple of seasons ago.

John Collins' goal in the first half & a late strike by Luis Boa Morte marked the second league defeat of the season for Liverpool.

We have to win more games, be able to score goals. We made a zillion of goal-scoring opportunities, but none will count; if they don't find the net. Rafael mentioned that Kewell's return would boost the attack, but I didn't see that in this match.

10 points from 8 games, lying 12th on the table is indeed very worrrying. We need some of the magic we produced during our European competitions to be executed in our league games. It had better start soon.

Anderlecht 0 - 1 Liverpool


2 goals in 2 games - Cisse

Djibril Cisse was the goal hero again, scoring the solitary goal against Anderlecht in this morning's (S'pore time) Champions League match. They now have 7 points from 3 matches, in a very good position to qualify for the next round.

Surely, the confidence level of Cisse must have been boosted. He's certainly a good striker, no doubt about that. He just needs to play regularly & get his fitness & sharpness in front of the goal back.



Let's hope Cisse's goal spree continues. A couple more for the away game at Fulham, maybe?

Another Elimination on TAR 8

The Schroeder Family Eliminated

No, they aren't my favourite.
So the curse is true, I can't reveal my favourite; else they would be eliminated.

I don't know about you, but this season of The Amazing Race is getting a lil' boring. WHEN ARE THE TEAMS EVER GETTING OUT OF USA?? It's happening next week, just seen it on www.cbs.com. The teams would be travelling outta USA next week, can't wait.

The language barrier, the different culture, the dirty Roadblocks & Detours. Oh yeah, can't wait.

Bring it on, Wednesday better come quickly.

Pool Takes 3 points at Anfield

The trust in Cisse pays off

We have the 3 points. It wasn't the best display at Anfield against Mark Hughes' Blackburn Rovers, but we have the points.

Credit to Blackburn for putting up an impressive defensive display when they were 1 man down, after the sending off of defender Zurab Khizanishvili. They made changes & kept their focus of taking at least a point away at Anfield throughout the game.

We played 4-4-2 at last, with Crouch partnering Cisse in front. Blackburn was in fact the better side in the 1st half & things turned in Pool's favour after Khizanishvili was sent off. However, it took a dead-ball situation to break the deadlock at 75th min. Cisse took a marvellous free-kick that finally found itself at the back of Blackburn's net, past Brad Fridel.

Cisse missed a couple of definite goal-scoring opportunities in the first half. We could have been 2 - 0 up after the 1st half. Finan was impressive, given the unfamiliar role in right midfield. He made good passes, crosses & runs down the flanks. Alonso was again the perfect passer of the ball & his distribution & corners couldn't have been better.

In conclusion, I think we played a good game. But, much has to be done about our strikers. They can't seem to score from open play, the goal came from a free-kick. Morientes missed a couple of goal-scoring opportunities too, we surely could have done better if the chances at goal were put away nicely by Cisse, Crouch and Nando.

Rafael still has alot of work to do.


(click to enlarge)

Aiello Family Crashs Out

My Favoured Team Eliminated Again

I can't say I like them huh? If I did, they get eliminated!

I didn't watch The Amazing Race this week, missed it due to work; so I can't really make any comments. It's a pity that both my favoured teams are eliminated simultaneously on TAR 8. I have a new favourite, but I shall keep that to myself now. I can't say it out loud, can't take the risk that they might get eliminated next.

All Ok now

I have been absent from my blog for a long time now.

There are so many things to blog about for the past week. I'm not feeling too happy for the past week & I need some time to reflect on the relationship. I'm glad that things worked out after we had a heart-to-heart talk with each other. Hopefully, things stay alright this way for a long time.

We are now trying to furnish the flat simply & hoping to rent it out real soon. The unit's at Bedok, pretty near to the interchange & amenities are close by. Wet market, supermarkets, provision shops, food centre, you name it. It's a good location, generally.

Anyone interested, just send me a email.

What Else Should I Do?

I'm totally clueless now. I have not a single idea what I should do to make things work.

We quarelled again, 3 hours ago.

I didn't wanna blow up, but i just hated him for using the 4-letter word on me. Surely, i deserved more respect than that. I totally ignored him on our way home, i told him how i felt. He didn't give me a response or an acknowledgement. I don't what else i can do.

I probably gave up my comms' job for him & my father-in-law.
I probably have to wait for 3 years to hold the customary rites.
I can't live in the new flat we bought, it has to be rented out.
I can't make use of the furniture (bedroom suite) we bought earlier this year.
I respected his decision to quit his job, to carry on with driving his dad's cab.
I keep my problems to myself, fearing that i would add on to his burden/stress.
I have to bear with some of his unreasonable relatives, without complaints.

I really don't know what else I could possibly do, to return to our happier days before. It might not be possible, I kept feeling that he thinks I'm not doing enough. I really don't know. I'm terribly upset, entirely lost.

Hunk of the Day

Matt Damon

Not the most handsome of the lot, but I kinda like his 'intellect' look & his movies.

Especially Good Will Hunting.

Rogers Family Eliminated

Rogers Family Last to Reach Pit Stop

One of my favoured teams got eliminated this week on The Amazing Race.

The Rogers Family made a drastic mistake enroute to Washington D.C. & didn't realise their mistake soon enough & was eliminated during the 2nd leg of TAR.

Many other teams made mistakes, but were fortunate enough to make up for the lost time & avoided being last. Hopefully, the Rogers Family walked away from the Race; learning something or strengthening their family ties/relationships. That would be something no one could take away from them.

Brittney really does look like Christina Aguilera !

Liverpool vs Chelsea (Rd 2)

LIVERPOOL 1 - 4 CHELSEA


A Tale of 2 cities - Rafael Benitez & Jose Mourinho

I still can’t believe my eyes at the end of the match, the scoreline read 1 – 4 after 90 mins of play. It was supposed to be close between the rivals, who would have thought?

We played relatively well for the first 30 mins, save for a penalty given against Pool; thanks to Traore when he fouled Drogba in the box. Lampard stepped up for the spot kick & Reina nearly stopped it, damn. 1 – 0 to Chelsea. I thought we were visibly disappointed after Chelsea took the lead, it’s clearly shown during the play after the penalty; for a couple of mins after we were behind.

Of course, Liverpool never gives up. We responded with a Steven Gerrard’s goal in the 36th min, Riise’s swung in the ball from the corner, Carra’s flick of the ball off his head had the ball falling into the path of Gerrard & it was 1 – 1 from then. We were level within 9 mins after Chelsea took the lead.

Chelsea was contented to sit deep & struck when the opportunity came for counter-attacking. The game plan worked perfectly for Jose Mourinho’s team. Duff had his goal in the 43rd min, after Drogba’s work in the midfield; shaking off Finnan & Hyypia. Pool was once again 1 – 2 down at Anfield.

Chelsea continued to add more pain to the Liverpool fans at the stadium, by scoring a third through Cole in the 63rd min. Drogba was going for goal, but his shot went wide by miles. Luckily for him, Cole was around to tap it in. Easy goal for Joe Cole, Chelsea are 1 – 3 up.

Rafa then replaced Hyypia with Sinama-Pongolle, hoping to add more attacking power. However, it was a case of too little, too late. Cisse was then brought on for obvious reasons. Moments after Cisse got on the pitch, Chealse scored the 4th one in the 82nd min through Geremi.

Having played Chelsea so many times, whether for Champions League or the Premiership; this has to be our worst performance to date. We played more attacking football, but were let down by our finishing in front of goal & the defending of Chelsea trio – Terry, Makelele & Cech. We certainly took more risks by pushing more players foward & resulted in a laspe defensively. Traore & Hyypia were outta sorts & made mistakes that Chelsea capitalised on & converted to goals.

Our formation of 4-5-1 didn't work with Chelsea, though Crouch was good in the air; almost winning every ball in air, there just isn't enough support from the other players. Sinama-Pongolle & Cisse should have started for the side, i'm really baffled by Rafa's play yesterday. The 4-5-1 formation gave them strength & control in the midfield, but support is seriously lacking in the attacking department. The formation also allowd Gerrard a more versatile role, hovering behind Crouch & playing in the midfield.

The scoreline was certainly not a clear indication of the gap between the 2 teams. However, we lost. We should not dwell on the manner of defeat, we lost.


(click to enlarge)

Hunk of the Day

Xabi Alonso (click for the link)

Hmmm....certainly hunk material.