So...what's happening with you?!?

The sentence "what's happening with you?" is making me feel slightly out of my comfort zone all because it deals with your status- hitched, engaged, or going to marry. This is the time where all your friends are jumping on to the marriage wagon, and facebook is flooded with wedding pics. To make things more aggravating my friends parents are asking the same question too, but in this case questions are more probing; its like they want to know the reason why I'm still single. Question mentioned before may use many synonyms, but the intended meaning is the same.

It's the same for MB (Mamma's Boy) as well since his sister will get married end of this year. Last week at his cousins wedding both his uncle and dad had sat with him at the same table talking about marriage for over an hour. It his words that entire hour was "very awkward" because girls or women were never a topic which was discussed before. Every time he meets some relatives they always say without failing "you're next!!" Obviously, MB will get married and have kids even before I even think about marriage. In my case things are not that simple either.

It has been 7 months since I started working, and I have a long way to go. Marriage is a huge commitment and it takes a lot of courage to begin with. At this point in time I'm in no place to take on responsibility of another since my own issues remain unresolved. I know that you cant wait for everything to fall in place to get married. But having a decent paycheck that could support 2 people would surely help. It is like demand being incomplete without the ability to pay for you want.

Other matter is, finding a good girl is so hard these days!! Looks like all the 'good' women are taken. I wonder if there are women out there saying "shit... where have all the good men gone to?" and feeling appalled with the current situation. Wouldn't it be great if those girls and guys like me could meet up?!

I could only wonder...

Bradby 2011- The Shield that was never Royal's

The Royal sports complex was the epicentre of school's rugby today with the Bradby 2nd leg to be played in the evening. Having a front row seat was beyond exciting because its far removed from the congestion experienced in the standing tiers on the other side of the ground. Incidentally, the Bradby was my first match of the season (after this it will be the last) as a live spectator. Previous Royal matches had to be sacrificed due to study commitments with classes falling on weekends.

In a nutshell, nothing went Royal's way which to many was quite hard to handle. Here is a team that beat Trinity in Kandy 2 weeks ago when branded as 'under dogs', not to mention getting off to a flying start from the kickoff. Early in the game Royal fluffed 2 penalty kicks (both within kicking range), which to me was not a good sign. The game plan would be to apply early pressure on the rival team and increase the 8 point lead from the 1st leg. Instead, all I saw was Trinity calling the shots and Royal being more reactive as opposed to playing offensive. Even in offensive play after the 3rd or 4th phase Royal was unable to maintain possession of the ball which stalled momentum considerably. Credit is due to Trinity forwards who kept the Royal forwards in check all the time without giving them any room to break through their defenses. To me, the Trinity captain stood out both in attack and defense; he was able to draw at least 2 defenders every time when engaging the Royal defense. This enabled Trinity to capitalise greatly in having extra men to run the ball. Royal's game plan of playing with their forwards hardly worked in their favour because each time the forwards went for hits they were running into brick walls.

The Trinity three-quarters were a scintillating lot with amazing running displays; every time the backs made a move they were able to punch holes in the Royal defense. Trinity backs had powerful running displays, and were resolute in their defense as well. In the entire match, I would have seen the Royal backs work their line not more than 10 times. And there were moments when the backs had no clue what to do after getting the ball. Better yet, the Royal forwards walk up to line-outs and jump for the ball (and mind you, its something not even the All Black do) without being able to reclaim it. Losing to Trinity in Colombo gives an impression that Royal's victory up in Kandy was a stroke of luck- like Royal were the 'lucky' team that day. The 40-5 margin speaks volumes of how much Trinity has worked towards winning the Bradby after the 32-25 loss 2 weeks prior to this.

I fear the Royal team needs to re-think its strategy in many ways. In all honesty, it was a heart breaking day to be a Royal supporter, but this all part and parcel of life. I hope others won't be too critical in their evaluation of today's match- after all they are still school boys. I refuse to single out any Royal player for not being up to par, since rugby is a team game, and both victory and defeat needs to be absorbed by every player of the team equally. I hope the Royal team will take this defeat constructively and move on, because the league title is still within reach- maybe all is not lost, not yet anyway.

On the brighter side (apart from having to see Royal lose), the stands were packed with people not to mention the female supporters of both schools. Its nice to see ladies coming to watch a rugby match!! I need to get me one of them ladies' (like they are displayed in shops and are up for sale)- LOL! Also, I get a complimentary souvenir since I happened to be a past editor of the Bradby souvenir, not to forget my name being included in it as well. I suppose for me its a consolation end of the day. Hats off to Trinity because they were worthy winners today and I'm sure the entire team is above cloud 9 at this moment.

6 Months After...

Well, for starters the title of this post can very well be used for a movie. It would resonate a romantic/comedic chord with people who hear it. It has been ages sine my last post, and blogging became a victim of pressure faced through work and professional studies. Looking ahead, I'm happy to get back to blogging and write my thoughts of a virtual diary. One interesting thing I noticed is that my number of followers have grown to 7!! I think a round of applause and a pat on the back should do it for me.

Today, I sat for an exam after 2 years since leaving uni, that too, my first professional exam. Exams of this nature are quite perplexing because you can't gauge your status before doing the paper. Back in uni before sitting for final exams I would always know where I stood, and how much I needed to score to get an A or A-. I hate to say it but not having carry marks gives you a certain level of uncertainty and insecurity. Surprisingly, I didn't feel an intense level of pressure as I used to when sitting for uni exams. Maybe it was because I didn't have a much content to memorize since the exam was based on a case.

I did feel slightly nauseous as always before sitting for exams; its something that I have been unsuccessful in overcoming. While getting ready to leave home I felt as if time had drifted back to Malaysia. All the routines I used to do back then are still vividly encapsulated within me. It's abnormally satisfying to recall certain moments of your life that made life worth living. Sitting for exams in Malaysia reinforced a belief that I could excel academically, while previously I couldn't. It was my main driver and motivator through uni, no doubt about that!!

Now back to Sri Lanka. Traveling a long way to the exam venue is not something I relish. Its to do a lot with taking 10 minutes to reach CAC in uni. Oh well... I suppose you can't have it all. En route to the exam my bus driver violated traffic rules and got a ticket as well. Yes folks, this only happens in Lanka!! I almost forgot- before leaving home it started to rain, and that reminded me of how people could make it to CAC from the hostels without getting wet. In a way, today was rather nostalgic with sprinkles of pre-exam jitters. The SLECC seemed quite a good venue to host an exam, but not so grand as the CAC, and halfway through the exam there was a power cut. And you have another 'only in Sri Lanka' moment (drum roll please)!! My right hand still hurts from all the writing because its just been so long since I wrote that much.

I have done 2 subjects and got another 2 to go which are only assignment submissions due in September. My only hope is I make through these two subjects since my exam record is still intact without any failures.

So...here's looking to get back to blogging then.