Staying home tonight was a blessing in disguise. No, I'm not talking about being able to watch AMERICAN IDOL..... the show is rigged. Every year the good singers goes home while the crappy ones get to stay and irritate the hell out of everyone. Instead, I got to finish my Red Bull Music Academy application form..... which consists of 200 questions that boggled your mind. Btw, the 'chosen one' get to go to Barcelona.... for free!! But of course, when your're there, you get to irritate every other entrants about what Singapore is all about, and that, Singapore is not IN China. Not that I'm expecting to get chosen or anything, but, you never know..... shit happens sometimes.....

Apart from that, I got to watch THE CONTENDER ASIA. Y'know that Muay Thai show made in Singapore....?? The show was so so...... Nothing much to look forward to, not even Jaymee Ong. But it did touch a lil' bit of my soul. Watching the guys training and fighting brought me back to my younger days when I was living in Thailand. It nearly brought me to tears.

I still remember how we have to wake up at 5am and clean the training compound, drink from the contaminated wells, eating rice and vegetables only, train from morning till evening....... We had to learn to kick each other (with minimum paddings), punch rice sacks with only pieces of cloth covering our fists. Nowadays they have gloves. back then, we only wear gloves during sparring. In the evenings, before we end our training, all of us had to learn the WAI KHRU RAM MUAY (Ritual Dance of Homage). Thats equivalent of the hakka dance. We were also taught how to respect the Mong Kon (headgear worn by Muay Thai fighters)

I'm sure you don't wanna know the rest. It gets pretty boring and sad actually.

If not for my injuries, I would have been there and be 'one-of-them'.

See if you can recognise me (9yr-old Razaq)

During my Muay Thai days, I also got to learn the art of SepakTakraw, which I eventually represented Singapore in the 1995 SEA Games in Chiangmai, Thailand. We'll keep that for another day. I'm gonna go rest my back now........ have a good weekend y'all.



P.S. where my naya at........