Wonderful time of Christmas celebration !

20th December 2008. I guess you can say it was one of the highlights of year 2008 for me. For the first time, I played the guitar and worshipped along with my dad in front of about 100 people in celebration of Christmas. We had friends, relatives ( Chung family ), neighbors, all come together in my house to have a wonderful time celebrating Christmas.
It was great; atmosphere was good, people were having a good time, food was fantastic, games were awesome, testimonies were touching and of course the worship was ' DA BOMB ' ! ( haha.. xP)
So yeah, playing in front of a crowd that big ( ok well, it wasn't that big but still ) really gives you a taste of how it feels performing in front of lots of people with most of them staring at you. I was a lil' anxious at first but as I began to play ( as they say ).. that anxiety gradually fades off.
I hope this is a learning phase as I look forward to more opportunities to perform in front of a bigger crowd.
Another plus for Christmas is the fact that MANCHESTER UNITED won the FIFA World Club Cup, beating Gamba Osaka 5-3 in the semis and LDU De Quito 1-0 in the finals with Wayne Rooney claiming the MVP award for the tournemant. More so the fact that Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all drew in the week's Premier League fixtures leaving MU with two games in hand and only 7 points behind leaders Liverpool. So, all in all it has been a tiring yet exciting week for me. I hope it is too for you guys and I'm back into the Prison Break and Heroes season.
Gotta keep track with those two series and by the way, I watched 90210 yesterday and Boy ! do i love that show. till next time peeps
--darren khoo signing off

Rekindling old times

Isn't it just great when you and your friends get together to just celebrate those times where we fill each other's gaps in lives and do nothing else but live out the moment. Well, I did that yesterday with most of the people in my class and I think most of us had a jolly good time. I must say it wasn't really planned superbly but at the end of the day, I think it went fairly well.
We had games, mingling, PS2 marathons, chatting, food, wild theatrics and but of course loads of laughter; just the basic essentials when it comes to having nothing but fun.
This party was actually initiated by one of my friends with intention of bringing the class together ( plus a few outsiders ) to just celebrate and end the year with the people we've spent the year most with. Of course, it was planned so late to add that little flavor of Christmas to the event as gift exchanges and Christmas caroling were also part of the programme.
My friend ( Joycelyn ) and I co-worked together for the most part of it with the help of a few others to make this a successful event. I offered my house as the venue in case you didn't know. All in all, I think and hope all of us had a good time. There might be another one next year, who knows huh?... :P
darren khoo signing off

Time just wasn't right

Well, most of you know what this post will be about. Yeah, it's regarding the recently concluded WYSC2008. I went into this tourney aiming for a top 5 finish or top 10 at the very least. By God's grace I played superbly ( not taking my gibsonised matches into account ) en route to the final play-off. However when it mattered most, I lost composure and played like a mediocre in the final game 4. You should've seen me in the playing room during the 4th game. I was literally sweating and scared before the game started knowing that if I had lost that game, it was all over. More so the fact that the whole world was watching my every move. All the tension and stress got to me and I missed simple bingoes like BIPEDAL, BIPLANE, DAUBIEST and so on. It was really disappointing to end it that way after playing so well during the 22 games.
I guess this just wasn't the right time for me to shine. I musn't worry 'cause I'm sure it's just an opening for more and better things to come. And besides, I have next year to come back and try win that elusive trophy. So, wish me luck for that... though SPM is just around the corner. XP
You can catch all the coverage at http://www.youthscrabble.org/wysc2008/index.html
Anyway, away from all that commotion... Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United all had disappointing draws yesterday. Chelsea could take advantage today if they win their match.
Oh and Heroes is into its 12th episode !! I can't wait to see it. I've been stuck on episode 8 for some time now...
In case y'all didn't know, I've superbly head over heels over this actress Jessica Stroup. I think I've posted about it before but I can't help it but to do it again 'cause she' really is BEAUTIFUL. I'm seeing her everywhere on TV now. I hope you take a look at her yourself and tell me what you think of her. xP
Last but not least, regarding my end-year exam results. Well, it's been an improvement from the previous ones but still ended up a disappointing 19th in class. That's probably the result of studying about only 5-6 hours a week, 2 weeks leading up to the exam. At least I'm safe in the top tier class, hopefully... We'll see how that pends out come next year.
Dudes, blogging is tiring so I better go watch the rest of 'em Heroes now. Till next time, peeps!

--darren khoo signing off

here we go again

Yeah fellas, is that time of year again. WYSC is coming up real close and I mean 2 days close. Gawd, it's already been a year since last year's smashing tourney. I've been looking forward to this year's WYSC alot. Been preparing and practising, improving every element of my game, hence the victory in melaka. Bu t I think this has backfired of late resulting in headaches and memory loss. Those words that I've been implanting into my brain for the past week are leaking out one by one and my so called "sky high" confidence has dropped to an ultimate low. I hope it's not too late to change things around. What do you have to do to be relaxed heading into a big occasion such as this? 'Cause I really wanna know if you'd like to share.
Let's just hope it doesn't affect my game then huh? I'm leaving for penang tomorrow afternoon and I really hope I can sleep off all this stress and back to my level-best come the tournemant. Wish me luck and I hope to make you proud.
By the way, Causeway Scrabble Championships just concluded with David Eldar snatching the premier division's trophy and the US$10000 that goes with it. So, congrats to the lad. Meanwhile, Theodoro bagged the Open division and RM5000 as well, so congrats to him too. I hope I can do the same as what these guys are doing. And about all the commotion regarding Zafar's mishandling of the tile bag, I'm so very eager to see the conclusion of that drama filled feud. I hope it turns out well enough.
So i'll talk to you guys again after WYSC2008 this thursday or friday. Till then guys and girls... darren khoo going off

--WYSC2008 here I come !