Italians, Sandra and 'Jake'

Oh joy! Italy are in the Final! Il Finale! I don’t care how the coaches sound so democratically to the media but I want a revenge. As a fan I want a revenge for that fateful Euro 2000 final. It was heartbreak in the Baram common room for me. A heartbreak that could only be surpassed by Bayern Munich fans during that ’99 Champion’s League Final. I have so much respect for Zidane and Henry but hey, I would like to see Cannavaro lift the golden trophy aloft his baldy head come July 9 at Berlin. Haih, I’ve never been so happy at the break of dawn since Wayne Bridge scored that angled slide goal against Arsenal in the quarter-final of the Champion’s League.

So, much to anticipate this weekend. I’m so psyched I think I’m gonna piss my pants. But sad thing though, come Monday and the 2006 edition World Cup will end. We’ll have to wait another 4 years for its return. 4 long years. By then I would be 28, achieved my ACCA qualification status, driving around town in my brand new silver BMW 330Ci complete with an AC Schintzer kit and busy getting married to Najua. Haha. Nah, just kidding. She and I would have been gotten married by then.

So it’ll be in South Africa 2010. And if my brief research is anything to go by, kick-off time will be around in the middle of the night too. Just an hour earlier than what we are experiencing with Germany now. Well, that’s the thought in 4 years time. In the meantime, well, Berlin. Forza Italia.

On to other news, last week I have quite effectively ended my social life for the next three years of my life. The story behind it? Well, after a brief break, my ACCA classes are starting again. And Deloitte is reluctant to let me (or the other Petronas re-skilling students) to stay on studying at PAAC because they have this buddy-buddy thing goin’ on with Sunway College. So, cornered and pressured to come to a quick decision, I opted to continue my studies at Sunway. Just because I simply don’t want to get into small unnecessary bickering with my employers. I have enough hassles in my life. Besides, they’re the ones paying for it (as pointed out repeatedly by them). So there you go, I’m currently a part-time student at Sunway College. I never saw that one coming. One of the pros of relocating to Sunway is that they do not have evening weekday classes because they know traffic is literally hell after office hours. Instead, which now leads to one of its cons, they schedule their classes on weekends. Saturdays and Sundays. The whole of Saturdays and Sundays. So, where does my own personal time go? I no longer have it. Well, not until mid-August. For now I still have a half-weekend, on Saturdays which I am free. After that, whoa, goodbye peaceful mornings. It’s going to be rush, rush, rush 24/7. But even now, do you know what it feels like to go to class on a Sunday? It’s downright nasty. I don’t have Sunday classes while I was at PAAC. And another thing, by leaving PAAC, I have lost my reason and opportunity to drop by at Jes’ place. I think I can handle the ghost town like atmosphere at a huge educational institution of higher learning but not being able to visit Jes once in a while after class really hurts. Well, as they say, shit happens. Now that Jacuzzi plan really has gone bad to worse.

Earlier today, I was on my way to Imbi plaza to check out how my PS2 is doing after I sent it for repair (sadly, not ready yet) and I was at the traffic junction near Parkroyal when an orange Gen2 pulled up at my right. Guess who? It’s Marina aka Sandra Oh and Azad! And since the driver’s side of Valerie’s power window doesn’t work, I had to open my door to have a chat. Talk about being unorthodox. They asked when I was going back to class and I said I transferred to Sunway and Marina, I mean, Sandra said something about joining me there. Well, I hope I heard her right. I could use some company over there. I hope Najua would follow suit. Didn’t really had time to ask further, you know what I mean?

Speaking about bumping into people, last Friday I came across Hadi and Ewok at Mid Valley. I decided to pay my beloved Jantzen a visit after work and there they were chit-chatting at McD as I was making my way up. It must have been quite some time since I met Hadi because he hugged me when I came to greet him and I had to give him that look, you know. Like, hey, we’re not Heath and Jake here okay. It turns out he has returned to Formis, alongside Tomok but have yet to meet him because Tomok is busy abusing the free phone lines at Celcom. But one person who is apparently turning into Brokeback Mountain-ish mode is Wakju. Rumours are, according to Ewok I presume (since she too works at Schlumberger) that Wakju now even dresses differently. Lots of those tight fitting shirts and recently he has taken up cooking and dance classes offered by the company. Okay, cooking I understand. Funny, but understandable. But dance lessons? I asked Ewok, what kind of dances they’re teaching? And she replied, “Salsa, for instance”. Salsa. Can you imagine Wakju doing Salsa? Well, I can’t. How about that, eh? Senor Wakju. From Silat Cekak to Salsa. Who would’ve thought. But I still have trouble believing though. No offense to Ewok but I have to see my own eyes this Antonio Banderas version of Wakju. Part of me want it to be true because, man, what a story that’ll be. Before you know it, he’ll probably bleach his hair. Disturbing yet fascinating thoughts.