well well well, who'd have know...with a blink of the eye, 2005 has passed us and in comes the all-new 2006, bigger and better with loads of tweaks and improvements promised from 2005..=)

but well, a few stuff that i've to comment about that bordered on the end of 2005, as well as my sanity which was pushed all the way...namely OTC and Newcastle United's DREADFUL performance so far in half a season of Premiership football..

First up, TPSU Orientation-Leaders Training Camp (OTC) AY05/06 has been a success...though there were a few elements which were missing/different from previous camps that I myself felt could have been better implemented so as to make the camp a even better experience for the GLs and sub-comm mebmbers..like for example, 1)lack of mass dance/sch song at end of camp due to lack of Production Crew..2)lousy mass debriefs...3)camp commandant, a la myself, not being to ADEQUATELY and PROPERLY lay down the law and throw the gaunlet at people who, sadly, did not live up to either expectations or their reputations or both...but after every rains comes a silver lining on the cloud, and i'm jus proud for these silver linings to be in my OTC skies. With that, i would like to give a shout out to:

- Linggie, for being as good an assistant camp commandant as can be found anywhere else. YES we had our disagreements that even threatened to turn into a bloodbath, but I wouldn't swoop you for anyone else, whether it is Graeme Souness(1 S.O.B who deserves A LOT more elaboration later on in the posting) or Sir Bobby Robson..=) Thanks Linggie for OTC

- Alvin Ting, for relenting after many requests from us to come in as Facilitator (FA) to the GLs. My mentor during the last OTC as well as FO, i'm glad you came back to lend your unheralded expertise as well as vital experience to the inexperienced partnership of Linggie and myself. What can i say more?? With Alvin, no one walks alone =)

- Darren AKA Ah Tan, for doing an Alvin Ting and coming back to make OTC a good camp to say the least. Admire your leadership skills as far as Logistics are concerned. You've definetly brought Logistics Comm to an even higher standard as compared to last year. It's a shame you won't be participating in the next OTC, as i'm sure the new Logistics Head will be struggling just to meet the standards you hit last year. IMAGE hor! hahaha....kan zai!!

- Special Guest -- Sharu,Yi Jia,Jasmin Loh, & Eric AKA Ah Fat, for doing such a good job as FA (Sharu), Food-Admin subheads (Jasmin & Yi Jia) as well as Logistics subheads (Ah Fat =x) despite the apparent lack of experience in this job scope. All deserve mention in their own special way..Sharu for giving us FOND memories of his emcee-ing times (haha =x) as well as charisma the TP Sports Club way!....Jasmin & Yi Jia for bringing to the table youth,enthusiasm and most importantly, efficiency into a committee that most people will find dull and mundane....Ah Fat for easing into the sub-head role as if he's been doing it all his life, even though he got drafted into it only a short while before OTC started....3 CHEERS TO YOU 4!!

- Food-Admin heads (Victor, Yao Ming,Wei Qi) & Programme sub-heads (Pamela Heo, Clifton), for coming in with little or NO experience at all save for Yaoda,who has done food comm before. Thumbs up to Victor for doing a good job on the catering, even though the quality of food, with a bigger budget, can be improved..Wei Qi for being thorough in Admin...and cheers to Pamela and Clifton, who came in as a greenhorn but leave as experts, or well almost =x...Both of them deserve shout outs man!!They both have been through a lot in terms of expectations, experience as well as hardships, and both came out strong. I look forward to seeing both of them at the upcoming FO as Programme heads =)

- Other FAs(Iskander,Adeline,Alvin Neo,Andrew,Jas Kazumi,Chong Guang), supporting cast of OTC...without you all OTC just simply cannot function....FA OEI!

-Empire Mantis, for being the dream GL group any FA can only wish for...Though i haven't bonded with you all as much as both you all and I will have like to...I hope to get to know ALL of you lot better during outings which will MOST CERTAINLY be organised. Keep up the spirit and good work Mantis...MANTIS OR PANTIES WE DON'T CARE!!! =)


With all that said, I close the chapter on OTC..though for 1 last laugh/memory..i'll elaborate on how i looked on the last day of OTC camp due to only a maximum tally of 6 hours' sleep for 3 nights....my fellow FA Iskander said I "looked like China man...ar!"...while Alvin Neo said I looked like ghost =x.....haha to be honest, i was a wreck..loss of voice (jus ask ANYONE who i TRIED to talk to during the 3rd day of OTC) as well as a lack of slp made me simply an unbearable sight...BUT REST ASSURED sPh3r3-fAns out there, sleep and rest has made me back to the sPh3r3r3r everyone loves...haha or rather, love to hate!!!



Moving on...i wanna talk about 1 of my GLs in Mantis, Amy Ong Li Xiang(heh heh heh =x), who has a special knack of slapping people with the legendary "never make contact but contact made" slap!! hahah...basically when you suan/kacheo/put-in-your-own-word-here her in any way, she'll ATTEMPT to slap you by doing the slapping action so close to your face, a la slapping action in TP Mass Dance, BUT w/o contact being made. With that said, she'll expect you to at least feel "contact"...ahahah..that's how the "never make contact but contact made" slap came about....so lads and lasses out there, if you see Amy Ong Li Xiang, STAY AWAY FROM HER!!! hahahahah =x


Football-wise i'll post it in another post....i'm getting sleepy and tired, and i need sleep before the big game between ARSEnal and Manchester United in about 2.5 hours time...i hope MaNure wins, as both they and Liverpool seem to be the only team who can catch up with bloody Chelski....for ONCE in my life, i'll be supporting MaNure all the way....

more on football in the next posting..wait up for the Newcastle article coming up in a few days' time..am starting on it already....