www.Go To The Mountain - Musings of a Potential Guru

The title is now wide open. Nobody seems to want it. City, Chelsea and now Liverpool has faltered and the advantage is now with City. Win all their remaining games and the title is theirs due to their superior goal difference. Only Everton perhaps may pose a challenge at Goodison Park and do their Merseyside neighbour a big favour but Everton themselves have declined recently.  Chelsea gave a master-class performance on how to win a match through defensive tactics and in that sense Mourinho is a genius. There were always two layers of defence to crowd out Liverpool.  Their players raised their game. However, what Chelsea delivered was not just negative football but anti-football. Anti-football because they set out not to play, to waste time and to keep the ball out as much and as often as possible. Goalie Schwarzer took his time for every goal kick, Ashley Cole and the rest did not want to take the ball for throw ins. Even Mourinho himself kept the ball from Gerrard and ...

They say love is blind. How true. When you love someone too much you are blind to their faults. When you love yourself too much you can't see your own faults either. Whether you are a company, a football club or a person, you can be blind to your own shortcomings too. I pronounce you Man United (a priest said to two men who wanted to be married).  Manchester United were still league champions and if you are a Man U fan, you are happy and most people probably did not see it coming. Some years back, Sir Alex Ferguson declared his retirement. Soon, their noisy neighbour Manchester City displaced them as champions. The Red Devils wrestled back the title but I saw a team that was still good but no longer what they once were. They never made it past the early stages of the Champions League. The squad was ageing and there were hardly any outstanding recruitment. The Golden Generation of Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Butt and the Neville brothers were no more. Mayb...

It is destiny. The football gods wanted it perhaps. Everybody is helping Liverpool.  Even when Liverpool was not playing. Manchester City so dominant even against the big teams and so unbeatable at home almost lost but was saved at the last minute from the jaws of defeat when they equalised against Sunderland and the Black Cats went to Chelsea where Mourinho has never lost at Stamford Bridge as a manager and won. Liverpool's Italian loanee scored from the penalty spot. Precious points lost by City and Chelsea meant advantaged Liverpool. Earlier, everyone was saying Liverpool must win every match. They still should but it looked less daunting now after that nervy 3-2 win at Carrow Road over the Canaries. Norwich put on a tremendous fight and if only they had played like this all season. They have a tough run in to stay alive as after this match, they travel to Old Trafford followed by Stamford Bridge and then host Arsenal. They are 17th with 32 points then we have Car...

There is a new restaurant at Kovan simply called "Knuckles" next to the Nakhon Kitchen. We were early and came exactly at opening time but found it still closed. So we saw a couple of people outside whom we thought could be their staff and enquired. It was our good fortune that they immediately retrieved the shutters. I saw that this place is probably owned by the same man who owns Nakhon Kitchen.  If you ever come around here, make sure you order this mushroom salad. I thought I tasted hints of olive and cider vinegar. It was awesome. Truffle Fries is another absolute must have. So delicious but as in all fries also a deadly diet. Have it once in awhile and not feel bad. Actually truffle fries have been quite the rage in recent times.  German sausages are always good.  Of course, these are what the restaurant is all about - knuckles, pork knuckles. I really like this concept as in most other restaurants, you order a pork knuckle and you can eat...

It was an epic game at Anfield last Sunday. Commemorating Hillsborough was emotional, the match itself was huge and the fact that it played a big part with both contenders taking points off one another and a step closer to the title. Is it going to be fated for the title to go back to Merseyside? Brendan Rodger's team was in 7th position last year. He has transformed Liverpool FC. No one could stop them from scoring. Suarez and Sturridge did not score this time. Skrtel has been both erratic and heroic. Gerrard was a great leader. Sterling twisted and turned at will confusing all opponents around him and he is only 19. Coutinho was not so well known then. Suarez is from another planet outscoring Ronaldo and Messi and he does not take penalties which Ronaldo and Messi do. Destiny is on Liverpool's side. The soccer the Reds dished out this season is nothing short of swashbuckling - fearless and exciting. The last time I saw a team like that was Newcastle United under Kevin K...

It was a special occasion. I know lots of food places but you will never know enough simply because in Singapore food places change like changing underwear. Even the oldest landmark, your favourite evergreen food stalls, traditional restaurants are closing one by one for lack of manpower, the owners are tired just like we workers are tired or rental has gone up so much, they might as well pack up and go. I knew a place which at one time I frequented called Tao's. A nice place to go to for good fusion East-Meets-West food done creatively since they were at Paradiz and later at Central. I wanted to go to Tao's because I haven't been there awhile but found out they are no longer operating. If you know where they are let me know. So instead we landed at another haven. I wanted oysters as I haven't had any for a long time but alas they were sold out. I got a cheaper alternative to oyster, I ordered onion rings. These are really good not like some others. We h...

I like surprises as in surprising finds. An element of surprise always please everyone and stuns your opponents. I have also been lamenting about the state of our local food since quite some years back that we are losing our heritage in particular hawker food and tze char stalls.  In my youth and younger, within a 500 metre radius where I used to lived there are at least three tze char stalls and they are all good. There was one called Red Leaf, the chef was a fair and skinny man who was the towkay himself. His stove with raging fire was near the front where you order your food and it always intrigued me watching him parade his skills tossing the food in it he air from the wok burning the hor fun and fried rice relentlessly. I could only afford hor fun, yee mee or bee hoon fried or soup. His food is good and I frequented because it was less dear and the wait is shorter. One block away there was another which was very good but I never remembered its name may be because it...

It is TGIF again! TGIF is short for Thank God It's Friday. In fact, we ought to thank God for everyday not just Fridays and for everything for when your heart is always thankful, you become a grateful person. You are grateful for everything. Grateful persons are never greedy and could not be selfish because they understood it is never about them. Grateful people have no need to harm others. They are very secure and have great peace and harmony about them as they understood the universe, the cosmos and the truth. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8). But this week's TGIF is special. It is Good Friday, primarily observed by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. Jesus died AD33 meaning he was about 33 years old when he died. Because he is God who came as a man, dying at 33 may have significance. I think most of us are best looking at about that age. Not too thin not too fat just looking good. G...