What a blast today was!

I woke up early this morning to watch Liverpool play Everton. I had a feeling Liverpool were going to win and they did! It was really sweet to take all three points against the Toffeemen. It's great being a Liverpool supporter these days!

After a leisurely morning, I went out to do the Thai Ministry December accounts. Finished them pretty quickly, popped over to Bukit Timah Plaza to settle some banking things and returned to church. I decided that I would put in some practice time at Mambo. Before that, I went to say hello to Karen.

Practice was pretty fun. I was making some pretty good shots and playing reasonably good position. Made some pretty good bank shots where speed control was extremely important. Used spin to enhance my positional play. I even managed to draw the cue ball back 3 feet! (Straight line draw is one of the things I don't usually do well)

Nat said he could join me so I played 3 racks with him. By that time, I wasn't playing as well as I had been playing in practice. But I managed to win the first rack quite easily. The second rack was much closer as I began making silly mistakes which led to me committing four fouls (not consecutive). But Nat couldn't capitalise and I found myself sizing up a shot on the 8. It wasn't just any shot however.

First, let me explain some pool terminology. The top of the table is where the head string is. This is the end from which the break is made. The bottom of the table is the end where the balls are racked.

The 8 ball was sitting next over the middle pocket, but it was lying in a way that it could only be potted from the top of the table. Almost any other shot from the other end would only produce a safety. The cue ball happened to be down at the bottom end, right about where the 8 is usually spotted. This meant that I had to think about playing a safety. However, I decided that there was no value in playing a safety so I began weighing up one of the shots that could make the 8 from the bottom end.

I decided that I would send the cue ball towards the top rail, bank the cue ball off that rail such that it would approach the 8 and knock it in. The thing about this shot is that you have to play it exactly right. Take the wrong angle, you might miss the shot or even worse, fail to contact the 8. But I decided that I would rather keep the match in my hands and go for it than play a safety and let Nat back in.

I made the shot!!! I was absolutely thrilled!

We played one more rack in which we both played poorly. But I found myself with the chance to run out. The only thing was, the first shot was a shot from the top rail to the bottom corner pocket where I had to pot a ball that was a few inches away from the pocket. I played a perfect long shot where the contact dropped the ball into the pocket and killed the momentum of the cue ball. I was left with a reverse cut into the other bottom corner. Using bottom spin, I pulled the cue ball out to the side rail where the 8 awaited. Another easy reverse cut sent the 8 into the same corner pocket as the previous ball.

I love playing pool!

After that, I rushed home. Had a short celebratory conversation with the provision store owner who's also a Liverpool supporter. Then drove with mum to pick up dad. After that, had a quick dinner before going out to visit my JC classmate Cheryl who gave birth yesterday to a baby girl.

It was good to see mother and child well. Cheryl's as talkative as ever. Audrey and Huiyu were there too. It was nice to see everyone again.

Now I'm home, things are quite peachy. Whee!