The Quarter-Finals Weekend

As I had to rely on public transportation to get back to HQ after work on Friday, I figured I might as well made a pitstop at KLCC and go home after 8 pm when the traffic was hopefully better. Quite a few Arab tourists have arrived, in fact they seem to arrive all year round now instead of the normal July-August months when it gets too hot in their home countries. Not that I mind them. I love rich, wealthy tourists who can contribute to our local economy, instead of those bus-loads of people from some developing country who just come and gawk at the displays and delights that KLCC has to offer and end up buying nothing. I managed to find some bargains just before leaving well after 8 pm. To my dismay, the roads were still clogged all the way back, what with it being a Friday evening and end of month [i.e. pay day].

I didn't watch the Germany-Argentina match and hence missed witnessing the Germans giving the Argies the boot. What can I say save for Don't Cry For Me Argentina and Vielen Dank and bravo to Herr Lehmann for saving the day for the host nation? Woke up early Saturday morning for the Italy-Ukraine clash and was rewarded by a beautiful display of Azzurri attacking which translated into three goals. Anyone who has been following Azzurri play will know that Italy tends to play it safe Under Pressure and falls into their defensive strategy of catenaccio [remember their performance in a few previous World Cups and Euro tourneys?]. With this cat-and-mouse strategy, Azzurri will make their swift counterattack pounce when their opponents make a mistake. On this note, I should mention that I almost had a minor cardiac arrest when watching Azzurri play against Australia previously. Down to 10 men, they stubbornly held on until they were awarded that eleventh hour penalty. I almost couldn't bring myself to watch Totti make that kick and when he slotted it home, I was jumping up and down the hotel bed in joy. So it's Germany meeting Italy next.

Went back to my current pad on Saturday afternoon with Mummy and Abah. They had earlier tied a netting at the balcony to prevent the evil cats from coming to do their business there but we needed to secure the netting with wires so the afternoon was spent doing exactly that and a nasty job of washing the balcony followed to rid of the remaining cat poo and stench. I had to fight waves of nausea hitting me and gagged more times than I care to recall [anyone within earshot would probably think I was having pregnancy-related sickness]. And as the outlet for rain water collecting on the balcony drips down the awning and on to the porch below, well, I had no choice of course but to clean the porch afterwards. Dang! No, don't hold them back, do Shed A Tear and more on my behalf. The usual housecleaning chore followed and it was almost 8 pm when I was Finally done, leaving me feeling totally exhausted. Knackered. Shattered. Frazzled.

I somehow still managed to summon energy to watch England play Portugal later that night. It was such a mentally exhausting and metabolically draining match to watch. Loony Rooney got sent off and Lampard kept kicking the ball as if he was aiming for an imaginary, invisible lamp(ard) post instead of the gaping goal ahead. Maybe in his anxiety in front of the goal, he forgot that it was the FIFA World Cup and not the Rugby World Cup. Had it been the latter, he would definitely have scored many goals for England with his aim-for-the-sky kicks. Apart from these silly English players whose performance, especially for Lampard who had been dismal this World Cup, the rest of the team played remarkably well and displayed a rare performance of great defending to hang on desperately 'til extra time and penalty shoot out. But Portugal has a good goalie and England has a poor record of penalty shoots. And the rest as we know is heartbreak for the England team and fans. It's a cruel twist of fate that England Lost when they were playing well and won their earlier matches when they were playing quite badly and defending poorly.

Personally, I thought England could have done better and advanced further, yes, despite the many criticisms and comments thrown at them. I mean, as good as the Czechs, Mexicans, Spanish, Swedes, Dutch etc had been, they didn't manage to reach quarter-finals, did they? And Portugal didn't exactly play that well, did they, if they had to stretch the game well into extra time and had the result determined by penalty? I was shouting and screaming at silly Lampard for missing the penalty, knowing fully well that it was wayyy past 1 am - I think I even woke my neighbours up but hey, this doesn't happen often. Only once in every four years!

After a brief shuteye, I woke up for the second half of the France-Brazil clash. Zizou was such a fantastic player and Les Blues is indeed Lucky to have him. I don't much care for France and didn't support them in either the last World Cup or Euro 2004 but I Sure didn't want Brazil to win. My vigil didn't go to waste as Henry slotted in a beautiful goal from a Zizou free kick. Down with Brazil! [I wish Ghana had put them out of the race earlier but we have to wait for future World Cups before any African or Asian teams Shine.] And it will be an all-European semi-finals, not unlike the Euro tourneys! Woo hoo! I much prefer European football to some Latin American samba footie. Heck if I had put my money down in favour of Les Blues earlier, I'd be able to earn a big, fat profit. But that would be akin to gambling, wouldn't it? Anyway, I Sure hope France will overcome Portugal when they meet in a couple of days

Woke up slightly later yesterday [9 am was a considerably early feat considering the hours I sacrificed staying up for footie!]. After airing my quilt, mattress protector and pillows, I went out to BB where I had a lovely time in Starhill, going in and out of boutiques - I even went into overpriced Louis Vuitton - and managed to bag a Ferragamo for Mummy at a deal [the KLCC outlet offered only 60% and I got the bag at Starhill outlet at 70%!. Been meaning to buy one for her but didn't quite manage to in Europe] - before going over to Lot 10 and to Times Square. It was an overcast but humid day and I wanted to return early but it was not to be for I had to spend a flipping 45 minutes before the blinking bus came. Spent an hour ironing clothes; it was a sweaty session alright, just like I was in a sauna! I was really knackered by the time I was done and was grateful for my solitude and privacy.

Drifted off to sleep a bit later than normal and was thankful for the Rain that Finally came down at the stroke of midnight. Thank You, God.