Life through my eyes...

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Gambler

I'm writing this from work now just to say that I have a song stuck in my head. Don't know how it came about cuz it's definitely not on the list of mp3s in my phone. It just keeps playing and playing in my head...

Good song though. Definitely about poker. No other game fits its description.


The Gambler
Kenny Rogers

On a warm summers evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

He said, son, i've made a life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey i'll give you some advice.

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, if you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

Now ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hands a winner and ev'ry hands a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.

So when he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Visit to the Farm

We decided to pay Kim Loong a visit in his lonely batch out on the farm. So after work on Friday, four of us - Tzin Wei, Liz, Jin & I packed into Jin's car. This is usually when I say, "then we were off" but on this occasion, there were considerable delays.

A shortened version of the story is as follows...

As we had decided to indulge in a korean bbq lunch the following day, and seeing as we were heading out to a farm where there would be no supplies, we went grocery shopping. Then being almost dinner time, we decided to have dinner at Asha before setting off. Poor Kim Loong was expecting us for dinner. Haha! Anyway, dinner lasted longer than expected - ordered too much food but it was goOOooOOd! Not so good on the wallets. Hehe... Following that, we went to buy fruits from Pak 'n Save and treated ourselves to ice creams. Keke... We then went back to Tzin Wei's house for him to scoop up Kim Loong's fish to transport out to the farm. It was then, that we began our journey. Time - 9:30pm. Haha...

Smoko @ Dunsandel waiting for Kim Loong


Liz & I

Jin & Tzin Wei

Liz, Tzin Wei, Jin & I


Jin & I

We finally arrived at Kim Loong's batch at around 10:00pm. After settling in, the guys decided to bring out their big boys toys. *fAiNt*!

The 3 Monkeys - Jin, Kim Loong & Tzin Wei





Masked psycho killer



Jin had an early night while the rest of us played chor-tai-ti, drank whiskey with coke and ate grain waves/shrimp flavoured chips. Not a good mix! *YuCk*! I decided to head to bed soon after too.

Woke up the following day to the moo-ing of the cows (or so I thought). At least I had the courtesy to give my friends the benefit of the doubt for trying to imitate animals! Refusing to get out of bed, Kim Loong then decided to barge in and jump on the bed! (And it's his own bloody bed too! Duh...) If that wasn't enough, we were then tortured with Tzin Wei's singing as he showered right next door. OMG! The walls being paper thin gave us no choice but to get up. D-ohhh!! <--- Homer style!

The weather was beautiful - hot, blazing sun with a north-easterly breeze. We couldn't have asked for a better day except that we needed to coat ourselves with sunblock. Drank coffee on the deck and watched as the guys played with their toys.



We decided to take a drive to the Rakaia River. On the way out, we stopped by to see the lambs. Cute aren't they? Yeah, I thought so too... Until I found out that they're going to be for Christmas roast! Poor babies...



To the River we went...

Rakaia River



Check out the scenery... Ain't it beautiful? The bridge that you see in the background is the Rakaia Bridge - the longest bridge in New Zealand that is 1,757m long, even longer than the Auckland Harbour Bridge. WoW! Try holding your breath while driving over the bridge next time! (Yes, we tried it ourselves but our driver decided to slow down. *eViL StaRe*!)

Finding stones to skim across the river




Conned Kim Loong into posing for a photo while the others splashed him... Stupid~



An almost successful attempt to push me in


Cry me a river~



Me & Liz...



The couples~



Kim Loong feeling left out. Wahahaha!



Kim Loong wanting to be photographed - See below for Jin's reaction~



Tzin Wei & Liz's Creation...



Trigger happy boys~


It was getting way too hot for our liking so we hopped back into the car in search for some life! Came across the famous Rakaia icon and had to stop to take photos! Haha... Stopped for ice cream at the Rakaia Cafe too! :)

Rakaia icon




Our stomachs were rumbling so we headed back to the farm to cook our feast. Forgot to take photos though and we were too knackered by the time we finished. I think we were all probably suffering from a minor heat stroke. So, nap time it was.

Woke up to quickly pack our belongings and take a few photos before heading back to Christchurch.

moOOOooOOooOo!!



Kim Loong's batch~



Us~



Stopped in some little town on the way back to lotto as well - thanks to Cheong's super long text for reminding us! Too bad we didn't win. :(

Photo of the trip:



Lesson: Don't pose like you're a bloody statue! HAHA!