14:26 - Germany v England stats:
- Germany have reached the last eight in every World Cup they have competed in since 1938.
- England have never won a knockout match against a former world champion on foreign soil.
- Germany have the best penalty shootout record in World Cups.
- England have the worst penalty shootout record in World Cups.
- Stats mean absolutely nothing on days like today.

BBC live text

It ended 4-1 to Germany.
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Unexpected (Good) News?
Reported to work on Wednesday morning sporting a very very fresh orange brassard. Headed straight to the audit for some boring safety briefing (Frankly, who wants to sit through a few hours of learning how to prevent dengue fever, heat injury and the like?). Lunch at the canteen followed, and then a short sojourn to the GS office (to see what life Jon and Wayne will be living for the next 18 mths) before retreating back to the audit for more safety briefings.

Rained heavily in the afternoon as we LECC dudes made our way across the road to our new (horrible) bunks. The ceiling has a huge hole, cupboards that had been mauled by previous owners and a floor that had not been swept for ages though there were three people living in that room before they vacated it for us that morning.

Guess there were plenty of positives to take away though.
- We were dismissed at 1730 hrs..
- I did not get pinned down for guard duty for Wed (God bless them trying to find replacement LBVs 'cos theirs' still at home), Thurs or Fri because..
- LECC people have offs on both days
- And next week's stay-out.. so I would not have to spent chilly nights in that bunk looking at detainees from next door carrying sandbags and walking aimlessly round and round the track.

Orientation drills (read - stay-in for I dunno how long) will not start until after YOG due to the fact that we'll be down performing duties for both National Day and YOG. Cool? Not so when you consider how many burnt weekends that will equate to. Then again, maybe I'll see you around if you attempt to gain entry during rehearsals while 'shopping' at the City Hall area.

Fate or just mere coincidence?
Visited some of my ex-bunkmates for a game of mahjong.. after which I totally swear off putting money on the game. Meal at Aston's followed with Zhanyi and HC. The former's MC running out today and he'll be back in camp Monday morning before he recourses at the end of the month after that horrible incident on Vesak day.

Spent the two days of off online.. Leveling up 5 times. Wanted to form some plans for Friday.. but they were scuppered by.. well. Other things. Never mind then. I thought I would get a break (pun intended) with two days off - never did it cross my mind that I'm not the only one relaxing at home on weekdays. Oh well.

Some tips if you're going to watch a World Cup match at a local community center near you

- Be prepared for smoke, lots of it. Yes, smokers pretty much flock there since its an open-air ground (= no restriction on smoking).
- Bring your own chair (preferably bar stools) You never know how courteous locals are when they just pull a chair and settle down right in front of you when it's obvious you had been standing there all along.
- Look out for crazy people. There's a crazy old bugger screaming 'ole ole, goal goal' intermittently even when's there's nothing on. Irritating to the max in this setting no doubt.
- CAUTION - TEENAGE SCHOOLGIRLS. You know, those teenagers smitten by hunks like those footballers on the big screen? I did not know whether to laugh or to cry when I keep hearing things like "Oh no.. Go Brazil..", "Yay Brazil~", "Ohhhhh~ Yes Brazil!" in a sweet yet anxious voice behind me.

The Heeren in limbo
Spent an afternoon off in Orchard alone on Saturday. Business at Far East was slow, apparently shoppers and retailers alike were still reeling from the flood recently. And and, why are there only female shoppers all around? =/

ION was rather crowded, and 'Kinokuniya' over at Ngee Ann City was totally packed. Funny how a bookstore can attract more people than the entire Basement of Far East.

The Heeren by comparison was in quite a sorry state. Shops under renovation on the first four floors welcomed me on my first visit since one year ago for STJ.. And so much has changed. Things are not the same now that HMV's gone.

Dinner at Jack's Place with my dad followed a rather interesting detour over to *scape for RedMango's yoghurt. The steaks were not bad.. (: The whole potato almost made me puke near the end though. Maybe it's the skin.

'Its gonna be a good night~'
Its a Sunday night (Oh shucks 4 days of breaks over just like that.. Pretty uneventful) and I'm following three sports at once. Ok, the F1 just ended. So now I'm left with the 3rd ODI between England and Australia at Old Trafford on BBC 5live Sport and the Round of 16 match - Germany vs England.

Apparently the guys over at the cricket ground were cheering and play stopped for a while to see England pull one back against Germany on the big screen and see a no-goal given against Lampard when it was so obviously a goal. Pretty much football-fever all over the country. Even revelers at Glastonbury (), there for the music festival it hosts, are watching the match on big screens. Pity the acts performing during the match.
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13th over - Eng 54-2 (TARGET 213)
Big consternation at Old Trafford relating to the "other" England match - no spoilers, as promised, but there has just been an "incident" which may make headlines for decades... There's also a hold-up while something in front of the sightscreens is covered with a tarpaulin. New batsman Paul Collingwood's first ball is a wide, his first legal ball is a yorker which he digs out for a single to mid-wicket.

38 mins
This in incredible. You know 1966? Well apparently, what goes around comes around. Frank Lampard hits a shot from outside the area, it beats Manuel Neuer, bounces off the underside of the bar and bounces about two feet over the line. It isn't given. It's almost unbelievable.
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Anyways, other than the fact that that incident's attracting a lot of comments on Facebook, it appears that there's a psychic monkey in Germany who can predict scores in matches involving Germany.

Lol.

Now that I check again, my friends on facebook, even those who have exams starting tomorrow, are hurling so much (cyber) abuse at poor Jorge Larrionda and his lineman, and by extension, at FIFA President Sepp Blatter who's so against goaline technology not unlike cricket's and tennis' 'Hawkeye' system. Aw.

I especially like Clarkson's (my NH and HC oboe junior) "may lightning strike the linesman when he raises his flag". Oh man, that was just pure classic. I like that

Alright, its 2300 hrs now and I have no idea how I'm going to report to work fresh and ready for the morning 4.8km run tomorrow. Well, if they ask, just blame it on England lah.

Update - England getting thrashed here. Maybe its the system. No one doubts that these are good players, yet they're getting battered by a fluid Germany playing 4-2-3-1. Horribly exposed. Deserves to go home despite that disallowed goal. Even our Foreign Minister George Yeo 'salutes Germany' on FB after their win.

ARGH GUARD DUTY TMR.. So its stay-in then for one night

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