Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby!

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Unless you are or have been spending the last few weeks somewhere in outer space, in the depth of the frozen and freezing continent of Artic/Antartic, meditating in some remote cave, scaling the Everest, attempt a trek across Kalahari etc, the frenzy build up to the FIFA World Cup cannot, should not, would not Escape your attention.

I am putting my hopes on England [but of course], Italy and Germany. Sweden, Croatia and the Czech Republic should be interesting to watch too. Such a pity Ireland's not in this time around. I somehow doubt Spain and Portugal will be able to advance far.

I'll support all Asian teams too - although I always think South Korean players are good at acting injured - Saudi Arabia and Japan should be making good progress.

I don't quite fancy Latin American football. I'm sure I'm a minority here who holds that view. Yes, they are good teams but I somehow hope it wouldn't be Brazil again, to add more excitement to this edition of World Cup.

My dear neighbours, please understand. And don't call the police or ambulance should you hear glasses being smashed or howls of agony being repeated or shouts of anger being hollered. It's just me showing my disgust, dismay, disappointment; lamenting over some silly moves, clumsy challenges; and cursing the referee/players. I shall try my best not to risk Waking Up The Neighbours of course. (No guarantee though.)

My dear family and friends, if I seem distracted, preoccupied, suffer from withdrawal symptoms, frown/scowl/look angry or deliriously happy for no apparent reason, worry not. If it's not PMS, it's because some team or cute players I support have not done as well as I hope. And if you catch me yawning at work, pretend you never see anything and/or just look away. If I have to cancel any after-work or lunch appointments, it's because I need to sleep before the match early the next morning or catch up on sleep to recover from the morning match hangover. Try not to place too many demands on me/my time and test my fraying nerves 'cause you don't want me to snap and blow and puff like La Nina. Trust me, things can get ugly if that happens. The destruction to the office climate could potentially be equally Bad. I should return to normal after 9 July.

My dear bosses, I seek your kind understanding. You do appreciate that there is a time difference between Germany and this part of the world [isn't it Ironic that when the last World Cup was held in Asia, I was in Europe and now that I'm back in Asia, it's held in Europe?!] so there is bound to be some adjustments that need to be made, sleeping patterns that have to be inevitably altered, but worry not. Life goes on and meetings need not be rescheduled even if some member of the meeting stays up the night before to catch a match. Even if World Cup is held only every four years, hey, work Always comes first. Of course. Heck, (in the first place, I am not indispensable but...) you know I need the job. Or rather, I need the money. Whatever. I do hope that everyone else is similarly caught up in the World Cup excitement that work will accordingly slow down. No, I don't mean productivity but incoming work.

Vielen Danke to all. I know you'd understand.

Only a few hours left before the World Cup kicks off...!!! Now, pardon me but I need to go back. I need to retire early Tonight: the first match between Germany and Costa Rica will kick off later Tonight or very early tomorrow morning [depends on how you see it] and I wouldn't want to miss it for the world. Guten Abend!

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Achtung Baby!