My last post was about the last TWL1 tournament. Officially, it still is the last NSA listed tournament. But during then, it was announced that the Palo Alto club will hold a club tournament. Last day of TWL1 on February 28, and first day of TWL2 on March 1. Could not pass up on that!
Had a great time! I am seeded 6th in this group.
February 28, 2006
Game 1:
Opponent: Mitch Bayersdorfer, rated 1575, seeded 2nd
Wow! I am playing with a 600+ rating differential!! Not unexpected. He bingoed with NORMALs first, which I replied with ZoNE with the Z on a double letter and E on the triple word for 66 points. The board closed up then, but he hooked through my P to bingo with S(P)RINTED. TINDERS would have no place to go, if not for my P. Lost 2 turns because of S hooks that were no good, ILKAS* and PIUS*. Sigh….. Not much else to say, but got thrashed 311-453.
Game 2:
Opponent: Jeremy Hall, rated 776, seeded 7th
This was a close fight till towards the end. I bingoed with NEROLIS. He tried RETHREw*/(VAU)R* for his last rack, but I challenged them off. He might have won if that was good. Won 397-307.
Game 3:
Opponent: Richard Stein, rated 1561, seeded 4th
My first triple-triple in a tournament!!! My opponent played DANGED, and I laid down MIN(D)lESs, having 2 blanks (to make L and S). 131 points!!! Sweet…. Had another bingo NASTIER (with RETINAS, the possibilities are great!!!) for 82 points. My opponent probably had bad tiles or bad balance. But to beat a 1,500+ player!! Nice feeling. Won 413-316
March 1, 2006
Game 4:
Opponent: Felix Kwok, rated 1570, seeded 3rd
Another 1,500+ opponent…. I got to bingo late in the game with SOARINg across the right centre triple word for 80 points. My opponent probably had bad tiles too. Won this 375-314. I think my ratings may improve well this time, having won against much higher rated players.
Game 5:
Opponent: Paula Catalanese, rated 1353, seeded 5th
My luck turned. I had nice tiles, but in wrong combinations. And I played DA#!!!! Again!!! Lost that to a challenge, of course. I lost this game 273-397. Ouch. But congratulations to Paula, coz she won 5 of 6 games to win the overall tournament.
Game 6:
Opponent: Richard Stein, rated 1561, seeded 4th
Richard is out for revenge for his lost yesterday!! I had crappy tiles too. I had RAIS? and I could not draw to bingo for a few rounds!!! Drew ID, GA, FA, which I played off. Drew IT and got AIRIeST, but was not sure I could play AIT (front hook to IT), which was a good word. Passed on that. Threw an I for just 2 points to draw an S, to play SAtIRES for a meastly 61 points. Richard played well. No bingos but scored consistently while I fished…. Lost 252-416…. Sigh…..
But overall, this tournament was fun!! I played the new allowable words such as QI, OI and VID (which were good OSW words before anyway) and a new word NEG.
Looking forward to more games!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
TWL2: Interesting new words
TWL2 is starting tomorrow!!!
New words:
DUH!!!!! Finally, this is in use.....
ZZZ: an unlikely word to be played, having to use 2 blanks with the Z!!!
AHI: I guess it's the Ahi Tuna fish, a favourite dish here.
ZA: the short form of pizza....what is the world coming to....
More usable 2 & 3-letter SOWPODS words now, for e.g.:
OI, QI, AHS, CIG, CRU, DAN, DEF, FAB, GOS, HOS, KYE, LES, MEG, OBA, ODA, POO, PST, QIS, RAI, SUK, UTE, VID, VUM, ZUZ
New 4-letter words that are interesting:
BLOG!! This new fangled word, what I am doing now... (BLOGGING is good, but not BLOGGED? Why? WEBLOG/WEBLOGS are good too)
MEME: Another new one!! meme me!!
CHAI: My favourite CBTL drink, Chai Latte
HAKU, JUKU, KOJI: Japanese words?
KUFI: Islamic skull-cap
More usable 4-letter SOWPODS words: QADI, ZINE, ZONA, ZOUK
New 5-letter words that are interesting:
AZUKI: Japanese red beans
BENTO: Japanese lunch box
BICEP: arm muscle... why wouldn't it be in?
BURKA/BURQA: Whole-body covers for Middle-eastern ladies
CUVEE: a wine word?
CYBER: another high-tech word
DROID: may the force be with you...
DUMBO: haha! you!!
EBOOK: another high-tech word
EMAIL: finally, those guys get it
EMMYS: an award?
FEDEX: another brand got generic
FOLIC: that's a nutrient for you
FUBAR: F-up beyond all recognition!!!
GAZOO: no idea what, but it was SOWPODS usable
GYOZA: Japanese dumpling
HAKUS: Japanese poetry
HALAL: permissable in Islam
HIJAB: Islamic veil
JELLO: they invented it, but never used it, another brand to generic use
KOMBU: Japanese seaweed, good for health
KORMA: Indian spice
LASSI: Indian yogurt drink, mango lassi is my favourite!
LOGON/LOGIN: more high-tech words
LYCRA: another brand to generic
MANGA: Japanese comics
MEMES: memememememe
MYLAR: another brand
PYREX: another brand
QADIS: usable in SOWPODS
SKANK: men don't want to be called this
SPAMS: unwanted emails, or mashed pork?
SPAZZ: spastic, I think
TANGA: sexy briefs
TECHS: ya, ya, another tech word
TELCO: short for telecommunications company, or telecom company, or telco...
UDONS: Japanese noodles
UMAMI: Japanese, the taste of MSG, not sweet, not salty, not sour, not bitter
VENUS: huh? a planet? or to describe a woman?
VOCAB: English is on the decline.... vocabulary became vocab
WANKS: you do that?
WICCA: the ancient religion of worshipping mother earth and nature, for witches
WUSHU: Chinese martial arts!!
ZINES: no idea, but good for SOWPODS
ZONAE: no idea, but good for SOWPODS
and.....
WEBSITE/WEBSITES: New to TWL2. How backward was TWL1??? WEBCAST is new. No PODCAST yet!! TWL3 perhaps.
Japanese, Islamic and IT words made a big impact to the dictionaries. Chinese words only had WUSHU, and QI, I suppose.
Hope to go through all the new words soon... tough..... according to LAMPWORDS that I use, there are:
5 x 2-letter words (3 to OSW)
44 x 3-letter words (21 to OSW)
128 x 4-letter words (66 to OSW)
303 x 5-letter words (160 to OSW)
556 x 6-letter words (384 to OSW)
920 x 7-letter words (649 to OSW)
1,349 x 8-letter words (985 to OSW)
Looks like a lot to learn. Lesser for me, if with SOWPODS, but I've still got to sort out those that cannot be used still!!! Damn TWL....
New words:
DUH!!!!! Finally, this is in use.....
ZZZ: an unlikely word to be played, having to use 2 blanks with the Z!!!
AHI: I guess it's the Ahi Tuna fish, a favourite dish here.
ZA: the short form of pizza....what is the world coming to....
More usable 2 & 3-letter SOWPODS words now, for e.g.:
OI, QI, AHS, CIG, CRU, DAN, DEF, FAB, GOS, HOS, KYE, LES, MEG, OBA, ODA, POO, PST, QIS, RAI, SUK, UTE, VID, VUM, ZUZ
New 4-letter words that are interesting:
BLOG!! This new fangled word, what I am doing now... (BLOGGING is good, but not BLOGGED? Why? WEBLOG/WEBLOGS are good too)
MEME: Another new one!! meme me!!
CHAI: My favourite CBTL drink, Chai Latte
HAKU, JUKU, KOJI: Japanese words?
KUFI: Islamic skull-cap
More usable 4-letter SOWPODS words: QADI, ZINE, ZONA, ZOUK
New 5-letter words that are interesting:
AZUKI: Japanese red beans
BENTO: Japanese lunch box
BICEP: arm muscle... why wouldn't it be in?
BURKA/BURQA: Whole-body covers for Middle-eastern ladies
CUVEE: a wine word?
CYBER: another high-tech word
DROID: may the force be with you...
DUMBO: haha! you!!
EBOOK: another high-tech word
EMAIL: finally, those guys get it
EMMYS: an award?
FEDEX: another brand got generic
FOLIC: that's a nutrient for you
FUBAR: F-up beyond all recognition!!!
GAZOO: no idea what, but it was SOWPODS usable
GYOZA: Japanese dumpling
HAKUS: Japanese poetry
HALAL: permissable in Islam
HIJAB: Islamic veil
JELLO: they invented it, but never used it, another brand to generic use
KOMBU: Japanese seaweed, good for health
KORMA: Indian spice
LASSI: Indian yogurt drink, mango lassi is my favourite!
LOGON/LOGIN: more high-tech words
LYCRA: another brand to generic
MANGA: Japanese comics
MEMES: memememememe
MYLAR: another brand
PYREX: another brand
QADIS: usable in SOWPODS
SKANK: men don't want to be called this
SPAMS: unwanted emails, or mashed pork?
SPAZZ: spastic, I think
TANGA: sexy briefs
TECHS: ya, ya, another tech word
TELCO: short for telecommunications company, or telecom company, or telco...
UDONS: Japanese noodles
UMAMI: Japanese, the taste of MSG, not sweet, not salty, not sour, not bitter
VENUS: huh? a planet? or to describe a woman?
VOCAB: English is on the decline.... vocabulary became vocab
WANKS: you do that?
WICCA: the ancient religion of worshipping mother earth and nature, for witches
WUSHU: Chinese martial arts!!
ZINES: no idea, but good for SOWPODS
ZONAE: no idea, but good for SOWPODS
and.....
WEBSITE/WEBSITES: New to TWL2. How backward was TWL1??? WEBCAST is new. No PODCAST yet!! TWL3 perhaps.
Japanese, Islamic and IT words made a big impact to the dictionaries. Chinese words only had WUSHU, and QI, I suppose.
Hope to go through all the new words soon... tough..... according to LAMPWORDS that I use, there are:
5 x 2-letter words (3 to OSW)
44 x 3-letter words (21 to OSW)
128 x 4-letter words (66 to OSW)
303 x 5-letter words (160 to OSW)
556 x 6-letter words (384 to OSW)
920 x 7-letter words (649 to OSW)
1,349 x 8-letter words (985 to OSW)
Looks like a lot to learn. Lesser for me, if with SOWPODS, but I've still got to sort out those that cannot be used still!!! Damn TWL....
Sunday, February 26, 2006
The Last TWL1 Tournament
Sunday, March 26, 2006
I am rated 8th of 8 players in division C, the third division. This is the last TWL1 tournament, and TWL2 officially goes into tournament use in March 2006.
Game 1
Opponent: Henry Yeung, rated 1249, seeded 1st
No luck, no luck!!! My 1st rack was GILORTT, and I played LOG, leaving IRTT. Guess what I drew? I+I+I!!! In a full bag? Man, the tile gods sure were against me this game. Henry bingoed twice in a row, first with ASTERIA, next with REMINdS.
I actually challenged REMINdS, because he announced the blank as an ‘M’ first. I challenged immediately and then he said, no ‘N’, then ‘D’. I called the tournament director, JC Green. Henry insisted he said ‘D’ first despite me not hearing it at all. How can a ‘D’ sounds like an ‘M’. Plus his second confirmation, he said ‘N’. John said I can withdraw my challenge, because the blank was not written down. I lost my respect for Henry immediately. He is a good player, and will climb the ranks. But he gets zero from me for honesty.
Well, lost this first game 270-442. Negative spread of 172 points. Not a good start. And lost faith in both Henry and John.
Game 2
Opponent: David Carlson, rated 1169, seeded 3rd
It was close at the beginning. I first challenged off his early non-word bingo, BEEPINGS* and built up a small lead. But he bingoed later with ROTATES.
SOWPODS undid me in this game. Later, I played QUAIRS#, an OSW word only for 48 points onto the top middle triple word space. It got challenged off. Played QUIRES next, again for 48 points, but my opponent hooked RE to make REQUIRES into the top left triple word space for 54 points. He then played BLANkEST, which I challenged and lost a turn. 2 mistakes. I bingoed RELEARNs towards the end, but lost this game 397-413. If I did not play QUAIRS# and not challenged BLANkest, I might have won.
Game 3
Opponent: Martin Mondragon, rated 1095, seeded 5th
I played Martin several times before, but never got to win him before. I had some luck to balance out my rack. Got one bingo, OUTLIE(R)S and he bingoed with GLAnCErS. Had both blanks in a rack!! Man…..and I started accumulating vowels in my rack. But that was a blessing in disguise, as in the end game, he had no vowels to play with, and I won 410-359. Finally get 1 win against him!
Game 4
Opponent: Marilyn Gage, rated 1185, seeded 2nd
Ahh…. I played a OSW word again…. Played OARIEST#, and got it challenged off. (OTARIES is not good too) Threw the O for 5 points and drew B and played BARITES next. Then, the curse of the vowels hit me again. At one point, I had 5 ‘E’ on my rack and I could not change due to the board openings. My opponent bingoed with DIASTEr. She led the end game and I lost 308-377.
Game 5
Opponent: Helen Gendler, rated 1150, seeded 4th.
Played ZINGA(R)E!! My first time too. For 54 points. I almost played ZINGA(R)ES coz I had the S. But luckily, I did not coz ZINGARES* is no good. My opponent bingoed REMOTesT. 2 blanks!! Second time today that my opponents had that. Played SINNERS in the late game and won 418-329. Funny, 2 games with opponent bingoed with 2 blanks and I won?!?
Game 6
Opponent: David Carlson, rated 1169, seeded 3rd
Playing David again. No luck again. I think the tile gods want me to quit or something. Had one rack with EEEIINR and towards the end, a rack with ANNNNOU. So annoying! Plus, David took all 4 ‘S’ and 2 blanks! I only caught up slightly playing Q, Z and X nicely. Lost 341-423.
Got 2 games. As I am seeded last in this division, I might get some increase in ratings with 2 games. Well, this is the last of TWL1 for me. TWL2 starts in March 2006. Woe to me!! First, already have 2 list to remember (second one being OSW-only words), and now I’ve got to learn new TWL2 words!!
I am rated 8th of 8 players in division C, the third division. This is the last TWL1 tournament, and TWL2 officially goes into tournament use in March 2006.
Game 1
Opponent: Henry Yeung, rated 1249, seeded 1st
No luck, no luck!!! My 1st rack was GILORTT, and I played LOG, leaving IRTT. Guess what I drew? I+I+I!!! In a full bag? Man, the tile gods sure were against me this game. Henry bingoed twice in a row, first with ASTERIA, next with REMINdS.
I actually challenged REMINdS, because he announced the blank as an ‘M’ first. I challenged immediately and then he said, no ‘N’, then ‘D’. I called the tournament director, JC Green. Henry insisted he said ‘D’ first despite me not hearing it at all. How can a ‘D’ sounds like an ‘M’. Plus his second confirmation, he said ‘N’. John said I can withdraw my challenge, because the blank was not written down. I lost my respect for Henry immediately. He is a good player, and will climb the ranks. But he gets zero from me for honesty.
Well, lost this first game 270-442. Negative spread of 172 points. Not a good start. And lost faith in both Henry and John.
Game 2
Opponent: David Carlson, rated 1169, seeded 3rd
It was close at the beginning. I first challenged off his early non-word bingo, BEEPINGS* and built up a small lead. But he bingoed later with ROTATES.
SOWPODS undid me in this game. Later, I played QUAIRS#, an OSW word only for 48 points onto the top middle triple word space. It got challenged off. Played QUIRES next, again for 48 points, but my opponent hooked RE to make REQUIRES into the top left triple word space for 54 points. He then played BLANkEST, which I challenged and lost a turn. 2 mistakes. I bingoed RELEARNs towards the end, but lost this game 397-413. If I did not play QUAIRS# and not challenged BLANkest, I might have won.
Game 3
Opponent: Martin Mondragon, rated 1095, seeded 5th
I played Martin several times before, but never got to win him before. I had some luck to balance out my rack. Got one bingo, OUTLIE(R)S and he bingoed with GLAnCErS. Had both blanks in a rack!! Man…..and I started accumulating vowels in my rack. But that was a blessing in disguise, as in the end game, he had no vowels to play with, and I won 410-359. Finally get 1 win against him!
Game 4
Opponent: Marilyn Gage, rated 1185, seeded 2nd
Ahh…. I played a OSW word again…. Played OARIEST#, and got it challenged off. (OTARIES is not good too) Threw the O for 5 points and drew B and played BARITES next. Then, the curse of the vowels hit me again. At one point, I had 5 ‘E’ on my rack and I could not change due to the board openings. My opponent bingoed with DIASTEr. She led the end game and I lost 308-377.
Game 5
Opponent: Helen Gendler, rated 1150, seeded 4th.
Played ZINGA(R)E!! My first time too. For 54 points. I almost played ZINGA(R)ES coz I had the S. But luckily, I did not coz ZINGARES* is no good. My opponent bingoed REMOTesT. 2 blanks!! Second time today that my opponents had that. Played SINNERS in the late game and won 418-329. Funny, 2 games with opponent bingoed with 2 blanks and I won?!?
Game 6
Opponent: David Carlson, rated 1169, seeded 3rd
Playing David again. No luck again. I think the tile gods want me to quit or something. Had one rack with EEEIINR and towards the end, a rack with ANNNNOU. So annoying! Plus, David took all 4 ‘S’ and 2 blanks! I only caught up slightly playing Q, Z and X nicely. Lost 341-423.
Got 2 games. As I am seeded last in this division, I might get some increase in ratings with 2 games. Well, this is the last of TWL1 for me. TWL2 starts in March 2006. Woe to me!! First, already have 2 list to remember (second one being OSW-only words), and now I’ve got to learn new TWL2 words!!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Santa Monica
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Visited Santa Monica. This place really looks nice with all those palm trees, the beach, the boardwalk & saw an installation to commemorate US soldiers in Iraq on the beach.
Visited Santa Monica. This place really looks nice with all those palm trees, the beach, the boardwalk & saw an installation to commemorate US soldiers in Iraq on the beach.
FUBAR - allowed in Scrabble!!
Just found out about this word. You know what it means? Will try to use it from March 2006, when this new word is legal for Scrabble tournaments!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Wong Kar Mun at Von Karman
Hey hey, staying at a hotel along Von Karman Street!!
Very close phonetically to my name, yah?
Sunday, February 19, 2006
2 notebooks = danger?
Wednesday, February 15
Had a business trip to Irvine, California. Flew from San Jose airport to Santa Ana airport. Airport security... you wonder what they are thinking...
I have 2 notebook computers. Yes, 2. One is firm-issued and one is client-issued. Notebooks have to be removed from the bag, and placed in trays for screening. So, I took them out, and put them together into one tray, one on top of another. Guess what? They had to be 'scrutinized' again because of that. The security screener told me I cannot put them together, but they should be in separate bins. But why?
Anyhow, they got swabbed and the swab was put into some scanner. Took a few more minutes, but what nonsense!
Had a business trip to Irvine, California. Flew from San Jose airport to Santa Ana airport. Airport security... you wonder what they are thinking...
I have 2 notebook computers. Yes, 2. One is firm-issued and one is client-issued. Notebooks have to be removed from the bag, and placed in trays for screening. So, I took them out, and put them together into one tray, one on top of another. Guess what? They had to be 'scrutinized' again because of that. The security screener told me I cannot put them together, but they should be in separate bins. But why?
Anyhow, they got swabbed and the swab was put into some scanner. Took a few more minutes, but what nonsense!
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Monday, February 13, 2006
CNY parade in SF
Saturday, Feb 11
Went to SF to watch the CNY parade. Those who had experienced the Singapore Chingay parade was sorely disappointed. The parade was political, for one. Car after car of political figures (unknown to me) went first. Marshall this, Marshall that, Supervisor this, Supervisor that. Don't even know what they are for. Saw the SF Mayor live for the first time. He has the looks of an movie star, according to some.
Finally, the parade floats and contingents starts. And stops. And starts. And stops. The timing of the flow really sucked. I heard later that it is because all the contingents stopped at Union Square, where we saw the bright lights. The TV crew were there to film, so all the contingents actually stopped there to perform, causing the rest to back-up.
After a while, even the contingents got boring. Not many of the better sounding marching bands (of course, nothing to do with the Chinese). Lots of martial art schools parading their lions, but the lions weren't exactly dancing either. More like walking. The first golden dragon was somewhat impressive, but later on, more to come. Less and less impressive ones, that is. Then, the kids from various schools came. Had their lion heads and little dragons too. From then on, it got boring.
Ah well. We had an Indonesian dinner, at a restaurant called Borobudor. Not too bad. The rendang was good. Saving grace.
Soccer: USA vs. Japan
Friday night, Feb 10, 8pm
Watched a live soccer match. Friendly game, USA vs. Japan. As those who know me well, I was never really into soccer. Well, a partner of the firm part-sponsored the tickets, so I went for it! A group of us (not unexpectedly, mostly foreigners) went for it.
Was kinda fun, actually. We went to the SBC Park, up in San Francisco. There was a record turn-out of more than 37,000 in attendance. The USA team had not been in to SF in 26 years. I was surprised that they even had a soccer team for 26 years. And even more surprised that there are that many supporters of the game. I mostly thought it was more a women's game here in the US.
The match itself was pretty one-sided. By end of first half, the score was 2-0 in favour of USA. Most of the time, the ball was in Japan's half of the field. Very slow response of the strikers, and they could not pass well. Second half was more exciting, and the match ended 3-2 in favour of USA. At least the Japanese fought back well in the 2nd half. I suspect that the Japanese team actually fielded their second team. The Nakata fella was not there. There was a bunch of Japanese teens sitting near us, cheering "Nippon, nippon" but mostly drown out by the US supporters.
The weather was kinda weird in SF. It was unusually warm and sunny for this whole week, very uncharacteristically of the winter season. Must be the global warming... anyhow, as we drove up to SF, the fog came in and at the stadium itself, the wind of chillingly cold.... brrr....
But this was a fun outing. Hope the partner will sponsor more events like these!
Watched a live soccer match. Friendly game, USA vs. Japan. As those who know me well, I was never really into soccer. Well, a partner of the firm part-sponsored the tickets, so I went for it! A group of us (not unexpectedly, mostly foreigners) went for it.
Was kinda fun, actually. We went to the SBC Park, up in San Francisco. There was a record turn-out of more than 37,000 in attendance. The USA team had not been in to SF in 26 years. I was surprised that they even had a soccer team for 26 years. And even more surprised that there are that many supporters of the game. I mostly thought it was more a women's game here in the US.
The match itself was pretty one-sided. By end of first half, the score was 2-0 in favour of USA. Most of the time, the ball was in Japan's half of the field. Very slow response of the strikers, and they could not pass well. Second half was more exciting, and the match ended 3-2 in favour of USA. At least the Japanese fought back well in the 2nd half. I suspect that the Japanese team actually fielded their second team. The Nakata fella was not there. There was a bunch of Japanese teens sitting near us, cheering "Nippon, nippon" but mostly drown out by the US supporters.
The weather was kinda weird in SF. It was unusually warm and sunny for this whole week, very uncharacteristically of the winter season. Must be the global warming... anyhow, as we drove up to SF, the fog came in and at the stadium itself, the wind of chillingly cold.... brrr....
But this was a fun outing. Hope the partner will sponsor more events like these!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Books to read
Via jadeite and sonic, here are the current top 50 books from What I Should Read Next. Bold the books you have read. Italicise the books you might read. Cross out the books you probably won’t read. Pass it on:
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (for all those book bashers, this is fiction!! Fiction!! I love conspiracy theories...)
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams (the funniest book I’ve read! the movie sucked bad though)
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell (a great satirical piece on communism. did this for my ‘O’ levels, used to be able to quote whole paragraphs!! ‘All Animals Are Created Equal’ became ‘All Animals Are Created Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others’)
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (after watching the movie, this piqued my interest. I read the prequel ‘Magician’s Nephew’, which explains the formation of Narnia)
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien (I grew up loving D&D stuff)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
Hmm, don't seem to have read a lot on this list. And I usually read whatever I get my hands on. Guess I have been reading more business books, investment books and self-improvement books lately...
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (for all those book bashers, this is fiction!! Fiction!! I love conspiracy theories...)
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams (the funniest book I’ve read! the movie sucked bad though)
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell (a great satirical piece on communism. did this for my ‘O’ levels, used to be able to quote whole paragraphs!! ‘All Animals Are Created Equal’ became ‘All Animals Are Created Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others’)
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (after watching the movie, this piqued my interest. I read the prequel ‘Magician’s Nephew’, which explains the formation of Narnia)
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien (I grew up loving D&D stuff)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
Hmm, don't seem to have read a lot on this list. And I usually read whatever I get my hands on. Guess I have been reading more business books, investment books and self-improvement books lately...
CNY Scrabble
Sunday Jan 29, 2006
Chinese New Year
Scrabble!!!
Ya, I know. First day of Chinese New Year, and I do the most untraditional thing.... played Scrabble. What to do? Los Gatos tournaments happens once a month, usually last Sunday of the month. If I don't go, I'll suffer withdrawal symptoms, I think.
Wearing a red underwear outside my pants.... just kidding lah, not Superman... want a bit more luck, a little more balanced racks only.
Game 1
Opponent: David Stewart, rated 830
Nice guy, pretty good player. Bingoed on his second rack, with UnSWEPT for 74 points and I replied immediately with EX for 55 points, with the 'X' tile on the triple letter score. Then, with my fourth rack, I laid down RINGLET. He, in turn, had another bingo, with LENDING. I kept behind him closely and towards the end-game, I picked up the 'Q'! Luckily, I was holding on to a 'U' tile. This would never have upset me if it was SOWPODS, but with TWL right now, having the Q at the end usually is not good. On our last racks, I was barely leading with 346-343, but had the Q. The board was pretty closed up too. I was gonna give up and eat the Q, when I spied an open 'A' tile. My last chance to play out the Q, so I played AQUA for 15 points, exposing the 'A' on J15 on the triple word score line. I knew he may have bingo-able tiles, but hoped for the best. He played ST(A)IRS for just 21 points to bring him to lead 361-364, but I played out (G)'OING' for just 8 points, but enough to beat him by 5 points, and took his 2 points extra to boot. Turns out he was holding the 'E' as his last tiles. He could have played out with S(A)TIRES to win the game. Phew.
Game 2
Opponent: Jon Demeter, rated 778
Nice guy, Jon. Played him before. Not much to say on this game, except for lousy tiles. Lost badly with 269-404. He phoneyed me with a bingo SUPINED*.
Game 3
Opponent: Lynn Joseph, rated 855
She is a very pushy lady. Interruptive too. Not liking her personally too much, but she plays well. Started out well, and bingoed twice, with RISKIeR and REStAGE, but the 'I's clung to me at the end game. Proceeded to close up the board, but she bingoed with BANGLES, hooking the 'S' to FOND. Challenged FONDS and lost a turn. Big mistake, as she then played ZITI on the triple word for another 47 points. Lost 357-410.
Game 4
Opponent: David Carlson, rated 1131, first seed
Good player. He bingoed with s(Q)UIRTED and I replied with DelET(I)NG immediately. But lost towards the end with racks like AIIOURS. But close game. Lost 334-372.
Game 5
Opponent: Gloriosa Agdeppa, rated 904
This was a good game. I bingoed early with DRAiNER and she replied later on with sOLDIER. I then started to had bad tiles, and changed one rack for all 7 tiles. Immediately, she played SUQS for 54 points on the bottom triple word line to lead 323-265. I started to track every move, and ended with my second last play of AIDS to hook D on BATHE for 22 points to edge a lead of 377-360. I held my 'I' tile, and she had to play out 3 tiles with 15 points to draw. But she could only score 14 points! I got another 3 points for my end game and took 2 points from her to win 382-374. Great end game play for me! Learning my lessons well....
Game 6
Opponent: David Stewart, rated 830.
I faced Stewart again! I knew I had to play carefully with him, since he will be out for revenge. I drew a blank tile on first rack, and bingoed with TACTI(l)E. Later on, I bingoed with LAIRISE#, a OSW-only word. I think since I played it down so confidently, he did not challenge the word. I had HORNETs on my last rack, but unfortunately blocked by his move. I knew he had the JO on his last rack, and there was an exposed triple letter square with an 'O' beside it. Thank goodness, I track tiles in all my games! I blocked it, and won 351-323. Phew again!! My end-game moves are getting better.
So, met just 1 target. Won 3 games, that's half the games. Had a negative spread, so I failed that. And I was not in the top half. Was 5th of 8. Oh well.
Chinese New Year
Scrabble!!!
Ya, I know. First day of Chinese New Year, and I do the most untraditional thing.... played Scrabble. What to do? Los Gatos tournaments happens once a month, usually last Sunday of the month. If I don't go, I'll suffer withdrawal symptoms, I think.
Wearing a red underwear outside my pants.... just kidding lah, not Superman... want a bit more luck, a little more balanced racks only.
Game 1
Opponent: David Stewart, rated 830
Nice guy, pretty good player. Bingoed on his second rack, with UnSWEPT for 74 points and I replied immediately with EX for 55 points, with the 'X' tile on the triple letter score. Then, with my fourth rack, I laid down RINGLET. He, in turn, had another bingo, with LENDING. I kept behind him closely and towards the end-game, I picked up the 'Q'! Luckily, I was holding on to a 'U' tile. This would never have upset me if it was SOWPODS, but with TWL right now, having the Q at the end usually is not good. On our last racks, I was barely leading with 346-343, but had the Q. The board was pretty closed up too. I was gonna give up and eat the Q, when I spied an open 'A' tile. My last chance to play out the Q, so I played AQUA for 15 points, exposing the 'A' on J15 on the triple word score line. I knew he may have bingo-able tiles, but hoped for the best. He played ST(A)IRS for just 21 points to bring him to lead 361-364, but I played out (G)'OING' for just 8 points, but enough to beat him by 5 points, and took his 2 points extra to boot. Turns out he was holding the 'E' as his last tiles. He could have played out with S(A)TIRES to win the game. Phew.
Game 2
Opponent: Jon Demeter, rated 778
Nice guy, Jon. Played him before. Not much to say on this game, except for lousy tiles. Lost badly with 269-404. He phoneyed me with a bingo SUPINED*.
Game 3
Opponent: Lynn Joseph, rated 855
She is a very pushy lady. Interruptive too. Not liking her personally too much, but she plays well. Started out well, and bingoed twice, with RISKIeR and REStAGE, but the 'I's clung to me at the end game. Proceeded to close up the board, but she bingoed with BANGLES, hooking the 'S' to FOND. Challenged FONDS and lost a turn. Big mistake, as she then played ZITI on the triple word for another 47 points. Lost 357-410.
Game 4
Opponent: David Carlson, rated 1131, first seed
Good player. He bingoed with s(Q)UIRTED and I replied with DelET(I)NG immediately. But lost towards the end with racks like AIIOURS. But close game. Lost 334-372.
Game 5
Opponent: Gloriosa Agdeppa, rated 904
This was a good game. I bingoed early with DRAiNER and she replied later on with sOLDIER. I then started to had bad tiles, and changed one rack for all 7 tiles. Immediately, she played SUQS for 54 points on the bottom triple word line to lead 323-265. I started to track every move, and ended with my second last play of AIDS to hook D on BATHE for 22 points to edge a lead of 377-360. I held my 'I' tile, and she had to play out 3 tiles with 15 points to draw. But she could only score 14 points! I got another 3 points for my end game and took 2 points from her to win 382-374. Great end game play for me! Learning my lessons well....
Game 6
Opponent: David Stewart, rated 830.
I faced Stewart again! I knew I had to play carefully with him, since he will be out for revenge. I drew a blank tile on first rack, and bingoed with TACTI(l)E. Later on, I bingoed with LAIRISE#, a OSW-only word. I think since I played it down so confidently, he did not challenge the word. I had HORNETs on my last rack, but unfortunately blocked by his move. I knew he had the JO on his last rack, and there was an exposed triple letter square with an 'O' beside it. Thank goodness, I track tiles in all my games! I blocked it, and won 351-323. Phew again!! My end-game moves are getting better.
So, met just 1 target. Won 3 games, that's half the games. Had a negative spread, so I failed that. And I was not in the top half. Was 5th of 8. Oh well.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Happy seeing the dentist?
Sat 01/28/06, Chinese New Year eve. Dentist appointment. Happy?
Actually, I started off a bit annoyed. I am not afraid of the dentist, just never thought it to be necessary. The last time I visited one was back in….wait, I forgot.
Anyhow, as you know, in the US, you get insurance for every little thing, including dental coverage. Since I am already paying for it, why not use it, right? Actually, Wan was the one pushing me for it, and made the appointments for both of us. She heard of the Cerulean Dental Spa which was ravely reviewed by colleagues. Hah, dental spa?!?
Anyhow, we went to this upmarket area called Rivermark, a masterplann development, where townhouses costs USD700k upwards. That’s where the dental spa is located. Before seeing the dentist, of course, there are 4 different forms to sign-off, with contact details, medical history, allergies etc, plus waiver if you die on the chair. Actually, no lah. No waiver like that.
That’s when the fun begins. Really.
First, I was brought to a nice leather reclining lounge seat and they had a 40” flat screen TV mounted in front of it, on the wall. Then, the dental assistant came by, introduced herself, and told me what she was going to do next. Took blood pressure (why does that affect my teeth?), took digital x-rays and a panaroma x-ray, both digitally. Then, they played a video that explains what will happen next, and why.
The dentist then came by, introduced himself, and explained step-by-step, what they will do, and why. Does your dentist ever tell you why they are doing stuff they do? This is a brand new experience!
Then, he did a periodontal probe, measuring the distance between my gums from my teeth. They even have a scale for it. 1, 2 or 3mm is good and 4 onwards is bad. Next, he did a cavity scan, using a laser probe! Something called a Kavoscan or something like that. Any readings higher than 15 on the scanner is not good.
Next, this is incredible…. He showed my on the TV, the x-rays of my teeth, with the associated periodontal probe readings and Kavoscan readings imposed on each individual tooth. I wish I had photos to show you, but I don’t. Then the dentist proceeed to explain what it all means, which tooth needs work, etc.etc. All that does not happen now, but is scheduled over my next 4 visits. I need some fillings done. They will remove my old silver fillings (made with mercury, dangerous stuff) and replace them with new ceramic plastic types.
Then, he introduced another dentist, who would be doing the actual cleaning.. You know what the dental assistant brought me? A menu selection of DVDs to watch while the cleaning goes on!! They had like 2 full menus of movies and TV series to watch!
I chose ‘Scrubs’, the very very funny TV sitcom. Was laughing while the dentist was cleaning and polishing my teeth!! And I had to laugh during that time. Swallowed some minty polishing agent, but that’s alright. She even flossed my teeth after the polish. Have you ever had this kind of service?
Of course, when the bill came, that’s a shocker. The first trip was fully covered by my dental insurance, but the next 4 trips will cost me slightly over $1k, coz I would have fully utilized my insurance coverage. I think I will split it into 2 years to do those work……
Man, this is one dental trip I don’t mind going again. I know more about my teeth than my last 30 years!! What technology can do……
Actually, I started off a bit annoyed. I am not afraid of the dentist, just never thought it to be necessary. The last time I visited one was back in….wait, I forgot.
Anyhow, as you know, in the US, you get insurance for every little thing, including dental coverage. Since I am already paying for it, why not use it, right? Actually, Wan was the one pushing me for it, and made the appointments for both of us. She heard of the Cerulean Dental Spa which was ravely reviewed by colleagues. Hah, dental spa?!?
Anyhow, we went to this upmarket area called Rivermark, a masterplann development, where townhouses costs USD700k upwards. That’s where the dental spa is located. Before seeing the dentist, of course, there are 4 different forms to sign-off, with contact details, medical history, allergies etc, plus waiver if you die on the chair. Actually, no lah. No waiver like that.
That’s when the fun begins. Really.
First, I was brought to a nice leather reclining lounge seat and they had a 40” flat screen TV mounted in front of it, on the wall. Then, the dental assistant came by, introduced herself, and told me what she was going to do next. Took blood pressure (why does that affect my teeth?), took digital x-rays and a panaroma x-ray, both digitally. Then, they played a video that explains what will happen next, and why.
The dentist then came by, introduced himself, and explained step-by-step, what they will do, and why. Does your dentist ever tell you why they are doing stuff they do? This is a brand new experience!
Then, he did a periodontal probe, measuring the distance between my gums from my teeth. They even have a scale for it. 1, 2 or 3mm is good and 4 onwards is bad. Next, he did a cavity scan, using a laser probe! Something called a Kavoscan or something like that. Any readings higher than 15 on the scanner is not good.
Next, this is incredible…. He showed my on the TV, the x-rays of my teeth, with the associated periodontal probe readings and Kavoscan readings imposed on each individual tooth. I wish I had photos to show you, but I don’t. Then the dentist proceeed to explain what it all means, which tooth needs work, etc.etc. All that does not happen now, but is scheduled over my next 4 visits. I need some fillings done. They will remove my old silver fillings (made with mercury, dangerous stuff) and replace them with new ceramic plastic types.
Then, he introduced another dentist, who would be doing the actual cleaning.. You know what the dental assistant brought me? A menu selection of DVDs to watch while the cleaning goes on!! They had like 2 full menus of movies and TV series to watch!
I chose ‘Scrubs’, the very very funny TV sitcom. Was laughing while the dentist was cleaning and polishing my teeth!! And I had to laugh during that time. Swallowed some minty polishing agent, but that’s alright. She even flossed my teeth after the polish. Have you ever had this kind of service?
Of course, when the bill came, that’s a shocker. The first trip was fully covered by my dental insurance, but the next 4 trips will cost me slightly over $1k, coz I would have fully utilized my insurance coverage. I think I will split it into 2 years to do those work……
Man, this is one dental trip I don’t mind going again. I know more about my teeth than my last 30 years!! What technology can do……
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Bad start to a morning
Sigh.... walked to my car this morning to go to work... and saw a big dent in the left side of my car. And the parking spot beside me is empty. That driver simply drove off without even writing a note! What a lousy neighbour. I wish upon him/her endless car breakdowns, tire punctures, stones against windscreen etc.....
Sigh....
Sigh....
Thursday, January 19, 2006
World traveller
I've been to 23 countries so far, which only covers only 10% of the world. I guess I've been more widely travelled than most. Have been lucky that my parents love to travel, and I get to tag along when younger. Now that I am in the US, perhaps I can hit South America sometime. (oh yeah, I've got my travelogue photos in my website, if anyone is interested.)
I'd love to see the world, but I doubt many people actually gets to visit all countries in the world in one lifetime. And many times, one city does not represent the whole country anyway.
When you visit on a tour, you just see the pretty sites, not the real life of the local people. I found my backpack tours brings me more intimate with local life, and staying locally gets you even closer, of course.
How about you? Where do you want to go today?
p/s: thanks to jadeite for this cool website!
create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide
I'd love to see the world, but I doubt many people actually gets to visit all countries in the world in one lifetime. And many times, one city does not represent the whole country anyway.
When you visit on a tour, you just see the pretty sites, not the real life of the local people. I found my backpack tours brings me more intimate with local life, and staying locally gets you even closer, of course.
How about you? Where do you want to go today?
p/s: thanks to jadeite for this cool website!
create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide
Monday, January 16, 2006
Home sweet home....Wednesday, January 04, 2006
New Year tourney, part 2
Scrabble Daze…
This morning, I woke up very early…. just after 6am. Not sure why, but cannot go back to sleep… very well, I woke up to get ready for the 2nd day of the New Year Scrabble tournament at Los Gatos lodge. I sure hope they have power today.
Even after breakfast, still too early to go to the venue, so I played a little Civilization IV to pass time. It is a great game! Surely will get addicted to this…
Ok, time to go…
Game 7
Opponent: Martin Mondragon, rated 1053, seeded 26th of 28.
I have matched with Martin in my last tourney, and lost. I hope to exact my revenge here. And what do I do? I played DA#!! Bloody hell…. Had LANATES, LAMENTS, CANDIES, SHOEING. But all orphaned…. total frustration… Lost 299-419, my largest negative spread so far…
Game 8
Opponent: Jeannie Wilson, rated 1185, seeded 24th of 28.
This was a close fight. You first bingoed with NEATENS, and I immediately replied with BRaISED. But I made a stupid error later on. The board rapidly closed up, leaving an exposed N on the bottom triple line. I had ARISTAE with nowhere to go, and considered playing the A on top of an E (to form AE) for only 2 points, but gives me a second open line above and yet keep SATIRE on my rack. However, I chose to play off the A on top of PE in a closed-off area in the board just to get 7 points, an additional measly 5 points. Big mistake. She bingoed using the exposed N to form ROaSTI(N)G, and the board closed up. I subsequently held racks with VERITAS (which S can hook AE to play SAE), EROSION (N to hook AE to play NAE), OESTRIN and NAILERS. All orphaned for a measly 5 points…. *kick* *kick* *kick* own butt. Lost 325-358. Oh, and this game is the first time I played the F**K word in a tournament play!! So embarrassing to play it against a lady opponent, but those 4 tiles in the rack, what else can I do?
Game 9
Opponent: Thomas Conrad, rated 1126, seeded 25th of 28.
This game started well. I bingoed with ETHIONS on my 3 turn, but he replied immediately with sOLANiNS immediately (which I thought better not to challenge). It was pretty close after that. I actually layed down the word JENNY with J on the double letter and Y on the double word to give me 42 points, but chickened out because I was not sure. Played JUICY elsewhere for just 23 points. Bad mistake. Firstly, the word was good and the points were good. Secondly, not playing JENNY allowed him to bingo EGESTED, which JENNY would have blocked. *kick* *kick* *kick* own butt. Lost 367-397.
Game 10
Opponent: Emily Weissman, rated 1665, seeded 10th of 28.
I don’t know how the pairing works, but I am playing the 10th seed?!? Anyhow, I picked up a very nice first rack, with CEEST?? She started with WAXEN for 38 points. I took some time, and laid down rEC(A)STEd* across the A to hit double-double word. But chickened out and played C(A)SsEtTE instead, just in case I am wrong, which I was. (Side note: Auditors will know this word in real life as ‘recasted’ is regularly used in audit lingo, meaning to have recalculated the total of a column of numbers)
I proceeded to close up the board, and at the end of the 10th turn, I was ahead 256-186 with a pretty closed up board. Then, my mistakes began. First, I played GOS#, which is a OSW-only word, which she challenged off. I had held GGOORTT which I should have exchanged. Then, she opened up with ZEROS, with the Z just five space above the bottom center triple word space. I tried to block by playing ZOO. Major mistake! She placed TY to form ZOOTY for 54 points. I challenged, not knowing this word and lost my next turn too. I had crappy 1 to 2 point tiles while she picked up the big scoring tiles and the remaining ‘S’, and the J which she used well with JAMB. I lost 301-353.
Game 11
Opponent: Martin Mondragon, rated 1053, seeded 26th of 28.
Ok, now playing with repeats, and meeting Martin again. He bingoed LANDInG and I replied later with the phony BARNIES*, which he did not challenge off. But he had better tiles while I collected crappy unbalanced racks despite having the other blank tile. Lost 341-383, with a 0-3 record against Martin. Sigh….
Game 12
Opponent: B.A. Toole, rated 987, seeded 27th of 28.
I meet B.A. again for the final round of tournament. She has 3-8 wins and a negative 900+ spread, while I have 2-9 wins with a negative 400+ spread. So, this game was the game to determine who becomes last in the tournament!
First rack, BFHINTV…. Played BIN for a measly 10 points. Second rack, FHRRTV?. What the ?&$@#^!…. Changed 4 tiles on my 2nd turn, kept the ?RT. Happy! Bingoed with RiVETED next turn. Imagine, I threw the V and picked up the other V from a almost full bag!! And later on, I bingoed SMARTIE. Also played JO, QUIT and NAZI consecutively for high scoring words, with Q and Z on the triple letter spaces. Wrapped this game up, winning 401-353. Yay!! I am not last!!! Well, came in second last, but still good coz I am seeded last… oh well.
The tournament officially ended after the 12th game, due to the lighting problem yesterday. But there were originally 14 games scheduled, so the tournament directors allowed us to play another 2 rated games, but will not count towards the tournament results.
Game 13
Opponent: Paula Catalanese, rated 1386, seeded 18th of 28.
I was off to a good started, with second rack for a bingo TERTiAN. I kept scoring consistently good scores while she struggled a bit with her words. She picked up 3 of the 4 ‘S’s and the other blank but failed to capitalize on them. I won 345-310. Woohoo! 4-9 record!!
Game 14 (final game)
Opponent: Pat Diener
Started well, and I bingoed cR(I)TTERS on a double-double word tiles. Suffered after that with bad tiles, at one point and EQUID on my rack with no place for the Q anywhere. So, I exchanged it off..….. towards the end, I picked up EENRRTT with a closed-up board. Played off an e for a measly 3 points, and picked up…. what else? Another E. Played off the new E for another measly 3 points, and hey!! Got the blank! NETTERs!!! But no place to play. So, off goes another E for 4 points… guess what…. Q came visiting again…. desperately played QaTS later to hook AE with an S, but of course, AES is no good and was challenged off. Lost 256-412, my worst spread in this tournament. Final count: 4-10 record. Ok, not too bad, I guess.
There. That’s it. Done. Just got back the ratings…. I did ok, gaining 85 points to go to rating of 921. Sigh….. started off at 922 after the first tournament, dropped steadily ever since, and now not even back to my original rating!!! Oh well, more words to learn…
Summary of bingos played:
Game
1: CeMENtS
2: -none-
3: -none-
4: PLaSTER
5: HIsSERS, WINIESt
6: -none-
7: -none-
8: BRaISED
9: ETHIONS
10: CASsEtTE
11: -none-
12: RiVETED, SMARTIE
13: TERTIaN
14: cRITTERS
This morning, I woke up very early…. just after 6am. Not sure why, but cannot go back to sleep… very well, I woke up to get ready for the 2nd day of the New Year Scrabble tournament at Los Gatos lodge. I sure hope they have power today.
Even after breakfast, still too early to go to the venue, so I played a little Civilization IV to pass time. It is a great game! Surely will get addicted to this…
Ok, time to go…
Game 7
Opponent: Martin Mondragon, rated 1053, seeded 26th of 28.
I have matched with Martin in my last tourney, and lost. I hope to exact my revenge here. And what do I do? I played DA#!! Bloody hell…. Had LANATES, LAMENTS, CANDIES, SHOEING. But all orphaned…. total frustration… Lost 299-419, my largest negative spread so far…
Game 8
Opponent: Jeannie Wilson, rated 1185, seeded 24th of 28.
This was a close fight. You first bingoed with NEATENS, and I immediately replied with BRaISED. But I made a stupid error later on. The board rapidly closed up, leaving an exposed N on the bottom triple line. I had ARISTAE with nowhere to go, and considered playing the A on top of an E (to form AE) for only 2 points, but gives me a second open line above and yet keep SATIRE on my rack. However, I chose to play off the A on top of PE in a closed-off area in the board just to get 7 points, an additional measly 5 points. Big mistake. She bingoed using the exposed N to form ROaSTI(N)G, and the board closed up. I subsequently held racks with VERITAS (which S can hook AE to play SAE), EROSION (N to hook AE to play NAE), OESTRIN and NAILERS. All orphaned for a measly 5 points…. *kick* *kick* *kick* own butt. Lost 325-358. Oh, and this game is the first time I played the F**K word in a tournament play!! So embarrassing to play it against a lady opponent, but those 4 tiles in the rack, what else can I do?
Game 9
Opponent: Thomas Conrad, rated 1126, seeded 25th of 28.
This game started well. I bingoed with ETHIONS on my 3 turn, but he replied immediately with sOLANiNS immediately (which I thought better not to challenge). It was pretty close after that. I actually layed down the word JENNY with J on the double letter and Y on the double word to give me 42 points, but chickened out because I was not sure. Played JUICY elsewhere for just 23 points. Bad mistake. Firstly, the word was good and the points were good. Secondly, not playing JENNY allowed him to bingo EGESTED, which JENNY would have blocked. *kick* *kick* *kick* own butt. Lost 367-397.
Game 10
Opponent: Emily Weissman, rated 1665, seeded 10th of 28.
I don’t know how the pairing works, but I am playing the 10th seed?!? Anyhow, I picked up a very nice first rack, with CEEST?? She started with WAXEN for 38 points. I took some time, and laid down rEC(A)STEd* across the A to hit double-double word. But chickened out and played C(A)SsEtTE instead, just in case I am wrong, which I was. (Side note: Auditors will know this word in real life as ‘recasted’ is regularly used in audit lingo, meaning to have recalculated the total of a column of numbers)
I proceeded to close up the board, and at the end of the 10th turn, I was ahead 256-186 with a pretty closed up board. Then, my mistakes began. First, I played GOS#, which is a OSW-only word, which she challenged off. I had held GGOORTT which I should have exchanged. Then, she opened up with ZEROS, with the Z just five space above the bottom center triple word space. I tried to block by playing ZOO. Major mistake! She placed TY to form ZOOTY for 54 points. I challenged, not knowing this word and lost my next turn too. I had crappy 1 to 2 point tiles while she picked up the big scoring tiles and the remaining ‘S’, and the J which she used well with JAMB. I lost 301-353.
Game 11
Opponent: Martin Mondragon, rated 1053, seeded 26th of 28.
Ok, now playing with repeats, and meeting Martin again. He bingoed LANDInG and I replied later with the phony BARNIES*, which he did not challenge off. But he had better tiles while I collected crappy unbalanced racks despite having the other blank tile. Lost 341-383, with a 0-3 record against Martin. Sigh….
Game 12
Opponent: B.A. Toole, rated 987, seeded 27th of 28.
I meet B.A. again for the final round of tournament. She has 3-8 wins and a negative 900+ spread, while I have 2-9 wins with a negative 400+ spread. So, this game was the game to determine who becomes last in the tournament!
First rack, BFHINTV…. Played BIN for a measly 10 points. Second rack, FHRRTV?. What the ?&$@#^!…. Changed 4 tiles on my 2nd turn, kept the ?RT. Happy! Bingoed with RiVETED next turn. Imagine, I threw the V and picked up the other V from a almost full bag!! And later on, I bingoed SMARTIE. Also played JO, QUIT and NAZI consecutively for high scoring words, with Q and Z on the triple letter spaces. Wrapped this game up, winning 401-353. Yay!! I am not last!!! Well, came in second last, but still good coz I am seeded last… oh well.
The tournament officially ended after the 12th game, due to the lighting problem yesterday. But there were originally 14 games scheduled, so the tournament directors allowed us to play another 2 rated games, but will not count towards the tournament results.
Game 13
Opponent: Paula Catalanese, rated 1386, seeded 18th of 28.
I was off to a good started, with second rack for a bingo TERTiAN. I kept scoring consistently good scores while she struggled a bit with her words. She picked up 3 of the 4 ‘S’s and the other blank but failed to capitalize on them. I won 345-310. Woohoo! 4-9 record!!
Game 14 (final game)
Opponent: Pat Diener
Started well, and I bingoed cR(I)TTERS on a double-double word tiles. Suffered after that with bad tiles, at one point and EQUID on my rack with no place for the Q anywhere. So, I exchanged it off..….. towards the end, I picked up EENRRTT with a closed-up board. Played off an e for a measly 3 points, and picked up…. what else? Another E. Played off the new E for another measly 3 points, and hey!! Got the blank! NETTERs!!! But no place to play. So, off goes another E for 4 points… guess what…. Q came visiting again…. desperately played QaTS later to hook AE with an S, but of course, AES is no good and was challenged off. Lost 256-412, my worst spread in this tournament. Final count: 4-10 record. Ok, not too bad, I guess.
There. That’s it. Done. Just got back the ratings…. I did ok, gaining 85 points to go to rating of 921. Sigh….. started off at 922 after the first tournament, dropped steadily ever since, and now not even back to my original rating!!! Oh well, more words to learn…
Summary of bingos played:
Game
1: CeMENtS
2: -none-
3: -none-
4: PLaSTER
5: HIsSERS, WINIESt
6: -none-
7: -none-
8: BRaISED
9: ETHIONS
10: CASsEtTE
11: -none-
12: RiVETED, SMARTIE
13: TERTIaN
14: cRITTERS
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Candlelit Scrabble
Happy New Year everybody!! May 2006 be a grand new beginning for you to achieve even more success in every area of life!!
So, what does an avid Scrabbler do on New Year’s Day? Play Scrabble, of course! Los Gatos organized a 2-day tournament this weekend to take advantage of the long weekend. Held in the Los Gatos Lodge, the first day has been interesting…
I took up the Division 1 challenge and, as expected, I am seeded 28thof 28, ie. last. Actually, no shame in that, since I won’t lose too much rating points even if I had lost all my games, but will have more to gain if I win any games at all. I am rated 836 and the rest are rated from 900+ to 1900+!
So, here is a brief outline of my experience, heh heh…
Game 1
Opponent: TC Houlgate-West, rated 1366, seeded 19th of 28.
I picked up the 2 blanks together for this game, so a bingo should be easy enough. Unfortunately, the board was not that open but left a space on the left KA, to hook an ‘O’ or ‘S’ as the last tile on the bingo. I stupidly played GlaICES*, with the SKA hook, and was challenged off. I really though it was good… actually, on checking Lampwords later, I had 9 playable words (or 18, if using SOWPODS) on that combination but only CrInGES, CaGIESt and InCaGES could go down the board. And I never saw any of it. Anyhow, after 2 turns, I bingoed with CeMeNTS.
Meanwhile, my opponent played phoneys such as DORA, RIBE and DELIST, which I did not challenge. Still self-doubting, I am.
Won this game though, 365-351. Had better tiles overall. Next time I play against her, I know to challenge phoney looking words.
Game 2
Opponent: John Ortman, rated 1593, seeded 11th of 28.
I had a good start on this game. On the 5th round I was 139-58 ahead. But he recovered pretty fast, with his bingo of SONsIER and started catching up. I had an orphaned bingo VETOING on my rack on the 8th turn, and the orphaned bingo TORSION as my last rack. By then, he was way ahead and I lost 315-391. Not too bad, I guess.
Game 3
Opponent: Chris Patrick Morgan, rated 1310, seeded 22nd of 28.
Ok, the vowel gods stuck to me again…. had racks such as EEEIIMR, EEGIILR, EEIIILU, EEIOULY (where once again, EUOI# would be so good!) and EEEEIIL for my last few racks… in a row!!! And, made my first mistake with PO* too…. Lost 302-393.
Game 4
Opponent: B.A. Toole, rated 987, seeded 27th of 28.
She is the closest rated to me, and I began thinking that I have a good chance against her. Started of well, and halfway through the game, the lodge suffered a brown-out (called black-out back home) due to the rain. We continued playing with light from the windows, but being a rainy day, it was pretty dim. I put down PLASTer on the 7th turn but the game turned against me after that. Towards the end-game, all I had was 1-pointers, and she caught up. Losing 328-339. Painful lost. I could have done better, but she played well. And I stupidly played PO* for a second time in a tournament!! Major *kick* *kick* in the butt.
After this game, we broke for lunch. Finding a restaurant that opened on New Year’s Day is difficult, and finding one that does not have a long, long queue was doubly difficult.
Game 5
Opponent: Alan Whitman, rated 1529, seeded 14th of 28.
This was a tough fight! I had QUAILED in my first rack, which is a good word, but I chickened out. Played QUAIL for 48 and was satisfied. Of course, 104 points to start with would be mighty good! By the 2nd round, the board was closed up, with me leading 63-43. If no one opens, we will be done after 6 passes! Anyhow, I changed my tiles and got HISsERS with S hook on the QUAIL for a measly 76 points, but he caught up a bit playing REX immediately for 44 points on the triple-word on top of by HI. Later on, I played SENIORS, hooking S on AFF, but AFFS* was no good and was challenged off. He tried a phoney GRUNTLER which I challenged off. I was behind quite a bit still, trailing at 239-299. But a breakthrough came at the end. I got WINIESt, hooking to the right of BRIEF (which I played in my last turn on top of AFF), to form BI, RE, IS and Et concurrently. I leapt ahead to 336-332. Then, I knew it has to be a strategic end game to win. He dropped his time to give me 10 points, and I won 369-350.
Funnily enough, when I introduced myself to him before the tournament got started, I told him I was rated 836 and he said I was ‘ambitious’. He did not know I had been playing for a good 5 years or so, I guess.
Game 6
Opponent: Ellis Wyer, rated 1449, seeded 15th of 28.
It was getting dark at about 4pm, being winter and been a rainy day. The lodge’s staff put on candles and tiny lights to help light the tables. Romantic? Nah…. one thing I noticed, you don’t have many pretty girls in Scrabble (other than those Thai sisters I saw in Bangkok’s Kings Cup last year, which had most of the guys losing concentration playing with them!!!).
I had poor tiles on this game. Not much to say except she played well, with a bingo of AMmONIA. Lost 267-352. Darn, I hate playing sub-300 point games….
By now, the room was getting too dark and the tournament directors decided to cut it short today, and to have the rest of the games tomorrow. Sigh…. playing till late again… Definitely not looking forward to work on Tuesday…
Hey, someone snitched my nice tile-bag! A ‘Royal Salute’ 21-year old whiskey bag… Not easy to get, you know! Anyhow, found it later on another table. Someone has switched it with a lousy Travel Scrabble bag without asking.
For today, I guess a 2-4 record is not too bad! My ratings should go up as I win more, and should no go down anymore if I do not do too well later. Anyhow, more to report
So, what does an avid Scrabbler do on New Year’s Day? Play Scrabble, of course! Los Gatos organized a 2-day tournament this weekend to take advantage of the long weekend. Held in the Los Gatos Lodge, the first day has been interesting…
I took up the Division 1 challenge and, as expected, I am seeded 28thof 28, ie. last. Actually, no shame in that, since I won’t lose too much rating points even if I had lost all my games, but will have more to gain if I win any games at all. I am rated 836 and the rest are rated from 900+ to 1900+!
So, here is a brief outline of my experience, heh heh…
Game 1
Opponent: TC Houlgate-West, rated 1366, seeded 19th of 28.
I picked up the 2 blanks together for this game, so a bingo should be easy enough. Unfortunately, the board was not that open but left a space on the left KA, to hook an ‘O’ or ‘S’ as the last tile on the bingo. I stupidly played GlaICES*, with the SKA hook, and was challenged off. I really though it was good… actually, on checking Lampwords later, I had 9 playable words (or 18, if using SOWPODS) on that combination but only CrInGES, CaGIESt and InCaGES could go down the board. And I never saw any of it. Anyhow, after 2 turns, I bingoed with CeMeNTS.
Meanwhile, my opponent played phoneys such as DORA, RIBE and DELIST, which I did not challenge. Still self-doubting, I am.
Won this game though, 365-351. Had better tiles overall. Next time I play against her, I know to challenge phoney looking words.
Game 2
Opponent: John Ortman, rated 1593, seeded 11th of 28.
I had a good start on this game. On the 5th round I was 139-58 ahead. But he recovered pretty fast, with his bingo of SONsIER and started catching up. I had an orphaned bingo VETOING on my rack on the 8th turn, and the orphaned bingo TORSION as my last rack. By then, he was way ahead and I lost 315-391. Not too bad, I guess.
Game 3
Opponent: Chris Patrick Morgan, rated 1310, seeded 22nd of 28.
Ok, the vowel gods stuck to me again…. had racks such as EEEIIMR, EEGIILR, EEIIILU, EEIOULY (where once again, EUOI# would be so good!) and EEEEIIL for my last few racks… in a row!!! And, made my first mistake with PO* too…. Lost 302-393.
Game 4
Opponent: B.A. Toole, rated 987, seeded 27th of 28.
She is the closest rated to me, and I began thinking that I have a good chance against her. Started of well, and halfway through the game, the lodge suffered a brown-out (called black-out back home) due to the rain. We continued playing with light from the windows, but being a rainy day, it was pretty dim. I put down PLASTer on the 7th turn but the game turned against me after that. Towards the end-game, all I had was 1-pointers, and she caught up. Losing 328-339. Painful lost. I could have done better, but she played well. And I stupidly played PO* for a second time in a tournament!! Major *kick* *kick* in the butt.
After this game, we broke for lunch. Finding a restaurant that opened on New Year’s Day is difficult, and finding one that does not have a long, long queue was doubly difficult.
Game 5
Opponent: Alan Whitman, rated 1529, seeded 14th of 28.
This was a tough fight! I had QUAILED in my first rack, which is a good word, but I chickened out. Played QUAIL for 48 and was satisfied. Of course, 104 points to start with would be mighty good! By the 2nd round, the board was closed up, with me leading 63-43. If no one opens, we will be done after 6 passes! Anyhow, I changed my tiles and got HISsERS with S hook on the QUAIL for a measly 76 points, but he caught up a bit playing REX immediately for 44 points on the triple-word on top of by HI. Later on, I played SENIORS, hooking S on AFF, but AFFS* was no good and was challenged off. He tried a phoney GRUNTLER which I challenged off. I was behind quite a bit still, trailing at 239-299. But a breakthrough came at the end. I got WINIESt, hooking to the right of BRIEF (which I played in my last turn on top of AFF), to form BI, RE, IS and Et concurrently. I leapt ahead to 336-332. Then, I knew it has to be a strategic end game to win. He dropped his time to give me 10 points, and I won 369-350.
Funnily enough, when I introduced myself to him before the tournament got started, I told him I was rated 836 and he said I was ‘ambitious’. He did not know I had been playing for a good 5 years or so, I guess.
Game 6
Opponent: Ellis Wyer, rated 1449, seeded 15th of 28.
It was getting dark at about 4pm, being winter and been a rainy day. The lodge’s staff put on candles and tiny lights to help light the tables. Romantic? Nah…. one thing I noticed, you don’t have many pretty girls in Scrabble (other than those Thai sisters I saw in Bangkok’s Kings Cup last year, which had most of the guys losing concentration playing with them!!!).
I had poor tiles on this game. Not much to say except she played well, with a bingo of AMmONIA. Lost 267-352. Darn, I hate playing sub-300 point games….
By now, the room was getting too dark and the tournament directors decided to cut it short today, and to have the rest of the games tomorrow. Sigh…. playing till late again… Definitely not looking forward to work on Tuesday…
Hey, someone snitched my nice tile-bag! A ‘Royal Salute’ 21-year old whiskey bag… Not easy to get, you know! Anyhow, found it later on another table. Someone has switched it with a lousy Travel Scrabble bag without asking.
For today, I guess a 2-4 record is not too bad! My ratings should go up as I win more, and should no go down anymore if I do not do too well later. Anyhow, more to report
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Googled am I
A thought came to me today... Google is so pervasive in our internet life, I am sure most of you agree. On a whim, I googled .... me. (by the way, yes, google has become a verb, but not accepted in TWL/OSW or SOWPODS, haha!)
Wow, there are many pages with my name on it! But not all is me. My name is not as unique as I once thought. I knew my name is unisex, but mostly used by girls. Ok ok, it IS UNISEX coz I am using it!
Back to the subject.... I googled my full name, and guess what? The most hits on google relates to a really scary, scary movie 'The Eye'. The name is used by the lead character, acted by our very own famous Malaysian-born actress, Angelica Lee Sin-Je, who plays the blind girl who got someone else's donated corneas. I highly recommend this for scary-movie-buffs. This movie is a multi-country production, by Hongkong/Thailand/Singapore/Malaysia actors/actresses.
Anyway, I tried just googling my first name, and found some webpages actually relates to me!
As of today, I got this websites from Google:
1. Page 2: I appeared on jadeite's blog, about our conversation in Bangkok King's Cup 2005. Pink!?!
2. Page 3: I appeared on the now-defunct website of the Malaysian Scrabble Association, which is a dead-link anyway(504 Timeout, whatever that means). Basically, Scrabble results.
3. Page 9: I am still on meetup.com! I used to be the organiser for the Singapore Scrabble meetup, but resigned when they wanted to charge fees for using it. But I am still linked to their Scrabble sites.
4. Page 10: Got 2 hits here, from the US National Scrabble Association website. Another Scrabble result.
Ok, no more pages....mostly 'The Eye' anyway. I am just a Scrabble statistic in the online world... except for jadeite's blog, where I actually exist as a person in an interaction. When I used my online name, I actually get my website on #1!!! Ding ding ding!!!
What about you?
Wow, there are many pages with my name on it! But not all is me. My name is not as unique as I once thought. I knew my name is unisex, but mostly used by girls. Ok ok, it IS UNISEX coz I am using it!
Back to the subject.... I googled my full name, and guess what? The most hits on google relates to a really scary, scary movie 'The Eye'. The name is used by the lead character, acted by our very own famous Malaysian-born actress, Angelica Lee Sin-Je, who plays the blind girl who got someone else's donated corneas. I highly recommend this for scary-movie-buffs. This movie is a multi-country production, by Hongkong/Thailand/Singapore/Malaysia actors/actresses.
Anyway, I tried just googling my first name, and found some webpages actually relates to me!
As of today, I got this websites from Google:
1. Page 2: I appeared on jadeite's blog, about our conversation in Bangkok King's Cup 2005. Pink!?!
2. Page 3: I appeared on the now-defunct website of the Malaysian Scrabble Association, which is a dead-link anyway(504 Timeout, whatever that means). Basically, Scrabble results.
3. Page 9: I am still on meetup.com! I used to be the organiser for the Singapore Scrabble meetup, but resigned when they wanted to charge fees for using it. But I am still linked to their Scrabble sites.
4. Page 10: Got 2 hits here, from the US National Scrabble Association website. Another Scrabble result.
Ok, no more pages....mostly 'The Eye' anyway. I am just a Scrabble statistic in the online world... except for jadeite's blog, where I actually exist as a person in an interaction. When I used my online name, I actually get my website on #1!!! Ding ding ding!!!
What about you?
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
My Scrabble stats!!
Wah.... I got my US Scrabble stats online... so paiseh, my ratings dropping like a heavy stone in water... didn't even knew this site existed... my meanderings through blogs lead me to it.
I was kinda reading through some blogs... went to Scratchpad, written by Ricki. He is one friendly Singapore Grandmaster, who was most encouraging when I started my competitive Scrabble life again, 5 years back. He almost seems normal by Scrabble standards, notwithstanding his word power.
Then found out about Scrabblestats, written by Hubert. Hubert is one Scrabble-savant. He kinda started off Scrabble about when I started playing. Both of us were written up in the Singapore SA News as upcoming players, but he way surpassed me already. I had challenges communicating with him, as he had with most others. But he certainly made strides in mixing with the Scrabble community, and brought out the best in his talents in Scrabble. So surprised that he even blogs. And he had a link to Cross-tables, the US ratings site. So, I went to look for my stats, and there I was. So paiseh.... my records really is sucky. As of today, I have a peak rank of 2070th in the US! I guess that's alright, considering US has such a big pool of players. As of today, in Singapore, I am 30th of 81 members and in Malaysia, 84th out of 290 players, so it is humbling to be in the US rankings...
One tournament coming up this weekend. Hope I do better this time!! I only wish for balanced racks. Time to kick ass!
I was kinda reading through some blogs... went to Scratchpad, written by Ricki. He is one friendly Singapore Grandmaster, who was most encouraging when I started my competitive Scrabble life again, 5 years back. He almost seems normal by Scrabble standards, notwithstanding his word power.
Then found out about Scrabblestats, written by Hubert. Hubert is one Scrabble-savant. He kinda started off Scrabble about when I started playing. Both of us were written up in the Singapore SA News as upcoming players, but he way surpassed me already. I had challenges communicating with him, as he had with most others. But he certainly made strides in mixing with the Scrabble community, and brought out the best in his talents in Scrabble. So surprised that he even blogs. And he had a link to Cross-tables, the US ratings site. So, I went to look for my stats, and there I was. So paiseh.... my records really is sucky. As of today, I have a peak rank of 2070th in the US! I guess that's alright, considering US has such a big pool of players. As of today, in Singapore, I am 30th of 81 members and in Malaysia, 84th out of 290 players, so it is humbling to be in the US rankings...
One tournament coming up this weekend. Hope I do better this time!! I only wish for balanced racks. Time to kick ass!
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