Well done Champ!

Watching the match, I thought the Indonesian players were really nervous. Playing at home in front of 100,000 cheering fans can be intimidating. Add on the expectations of the more than 200 millions Indonesians, the weight must have felt extremely heavy on their shoulders. As a result, they crumbled, even missing a penalty. Having said that, take nothing away from the Malaysian players. They were excellent throughout. We can now build on from here and move on to bigger things. Suddenly, qualifying for the World Cup don't look like an impossible dream!

Tonight's the night

Can Malaysia make it tonight? From the word go, the Indonesians will be camping at our goalmouth. Will Malaysia be able to withstand the onslaught? The Indonesians will definitely be looking for an early goal. I just hope our team don't play too deep or it will be one long night of defending.

Travel chaos

From Europe to Russia to US of A, chaos is the name of the game. Thousands of stranded travelers all over the airports. One good lesson to be taken here is to never plan your travel during the Christmas period, especially to Europe. If I remember correctly, last year was much the same! A few hours of delay is already upsetting. When it become days.....the thought is enough to make me cringe!

Old family photo

While at a wedding recently, my cousin handed out this photo of my grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins from my mother's side plus my parents, three brothers and two sisters. I am not in the picture because I was not born yet. From my estimate, this must have been taken more than sixty years ago. Most of the kids sitting at the front row are now grandparents themselves.

The end of the tunnel?

A great win for Malaysia, surpassing all expectations. Surely the trophy is in the bag now. Indonesia must know that it is very difficult to come from 0-3 down, even when playing in your own den. For Malaysia, two trophies (this one is considered won) in recent regional competitions underline our revival. So what is next? Qualifying to the Asian Championship final?

See you at Bt Jalil

Malaysia vs Indonesia, who will win? Definitely I would say Malaysia! Unfortunately, such is my knowledge on local football, I can't back that up with any statistics or any arguments, just pure sentiment. What will be the score? Malaysia to win 1-0 in KL and to draw 0-0 in Jakarta!

Our Heroes

I don't normally shed tears. Macho I guess. However, this morning while watching the CNN Heroes program, unknowingly, tears flowed from my eyes. I was moved. These are the people, by their actions, have make a difference to other people lives. They overcome tremendous odds, improving lives, giving hope and courage to thousands of people. How I wish I can do something like them!

Heathrow in chaos!

Seems like Heathrow airport is in total chaos at the moment. Heavy snow is causing flights to be canceled by the dozens, leaving thousands of travelers stranded at the airport. Worse still, they are not allowed into the airport except for those with tickets for flights leaving within four hours. Can't imagine the misery, what with the cold and snow. My family and I missed the train once from Victoria station. That night we had to camp by the roadside as they locked up the station and only opened it again early next morning. I can tell you, the cold was terrible but that was during summer! In winter...........

Having fun

After what seem like an eternity, the sun was shining again yesterday. Without much hesitation, I went jogging after being forced to give it a miss the past few days because of the rain. What an enjoyable time I had. The mind felt so free I could have run forever.

Well done Malaysia but........

Everybody can see that they had a game plan. They followed it throughout the ninety minutes and were rewarded with a place in the final. Well done but............ they need to do better in the final. I saw too many wild kicks out of defense, too many stray passes and too easily lose the ball. They need to hold the ball, take on players, pass it and not simply kick the ball and rush. As I said earlier, some of them are wonderful ball players but they need to have more confidence in their ability.

Tis the season!

Wikileaks or whatever that leaks

It has always been the case. When somebody do something and it becomes a success, there are sure to be others who will do something similar. Its the same story with Wikileaks. As soon as it became famous for whatever the reason, others leaks starts appearing. From Lebanon to Indonesia to Brussel, it is suddenly leaking everywhere!

Two sides to a coin

I have always known that 'Hari Asyura' is a day for joyous occasion. Although I didn't care to find out what it was about, I do know that it has something to do with religion. Later on I learned that 'Hari Asyura' is on the tenth of Muharram, a day where many historical events related to Islam happened. I also learned that the prophet used to fast on that day, plus the day before and the day after. Then, much much later, I discovered that it is also the day when a very significant event in the history of Islam happened. It is a day when Imam Husin, the grandson of the prophet, was brutally killed.

Two up for Malaysia

Watching the Malaysia vs Vietnam football, I kept asking myself, who's playing at home and who's playing away? Still, Malaysia scored and no matter how much the purist would like to argue, the real joy for the fans is when you stick it into the opponent's net. No use spraying countless passes, playing neat beautiful football but in your own half. Better kick and rush if that will get you the goals!

Nothing like a little money in the pocket!

Somehow this morning, smiling faces were everywhere at my office. I wondered and wondered but much to my frustration, couldn't put a finger to it. Were they on to something? How could it be that I do not know? Then it struck me..............yes! its the bonus. Today is handout day! Wow! No wonder even the canteen operator was smiling. He must be anticipating a roaring business.

'Trengganu Kite'

Travelling to the hinterland of Trengganu, came across this village with this very original name. And if you think somebody screwed up with the spelling, well, you're wrong. He is just spelling it the 'Trengganu Kite' way.

More on Trengganu once more

Back in the safety of my hotel room, I'm surfing the internet for want of something better to do. I have been reading the fiqh of Imam Jaafar Al Sadiq recently. Very interesting to read especially since it is something which we have not been exposed to. Meantime, as a result of my more than 100 metres dashed in the rain just now, my body is feeling the chill. I think I am going to get sick......

Trengganu once more

In Trengganu once again. Wanted to make it a day trip but flight unavailability forced me into staying a night. Took a walk along Pantai Batu Burok. Quite enjoyable until the rain came. Stranded for a while until I decided enough is enough and made a dash for the hotel. Needless to say, I was totally drenched.

Kite Selling

With the wind blowing ever so strong, it don't take a pro to get a kite flying

Reflections

As another year draws to a close, I am also getting closer to my next phase in life. Growing up, student days, working life and now to retirement. Soon, it will be a reality which also means the final phase is getting nearer and nearer i.e. life in the hereafter. Am I ready for it? Have I done enough? Will I be smiling when it comes?

Awesome!

Once again the All Blacks completed the Grand Slam, beating France and all the British teams i.e. England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland in their recent most tour. A complete dominance of the Northern Hemisphere teams. With South Africa and Australia blowing hot and cold, the All Blacks must be hot on favourite for the World Cup. Can they do it this time?

When three is a crowd

Proton has just announced their entry into Formula One. They are buying a stake in Reynold and the new team will be known as Lotus Reynold. At the same time, the team led by a Mr Fernandez will continue their pursuit for Formula One glory. This time they will call themselves Team Lotus. Therefore, there'll be two teams using the Lotus name for next season and Malaysians are heavily involved in both. Meantime, Petronas goes about their business as usual, sponsoring yet another team, Mercedes. Could it be that three is a crowd?

Malaysia through!

Malaysia made it to the semi final after a morale boosting 5-1 win over Laos in Palembang. With Indonesia getting the better of Thailand in Jakarta, Malaysia qualified as the second team from the group. I must admit for a long time during the match against Laos, Malaysia were again playing too defensively. Laos were dictating play with Malaysia reduced to occasional forays into enemy territory. The 5-1 scoreline cannot hide the fact that we are still lacking the self confidence necessary to win the championship.

Indonesia, the next frontier

Indonesia it seems, is a country in a hurry. Investors are flocking to it, attracted by its big domestic demand and a favourable political climate. Its the biggest Asean economy by far. Its not much affected by current economic woes as export is not its biggest contributor. In the years to come, Indonesia might just be the new frontier!

Love thy neighbour

Malaysia needs a helping hand from Indonesia tonight in order to qualify for the next round. We have to beat Laos while hoping that Indonesia, having already qualified, don't take it easy and play their reserves against Thailand. The question on everybody's mind is, can we beat Laos?

From Russia with love

Another spying scandal has broken out. This time its right in the British parliament. A Russian spy masquerading as a student while working for a British member of parliament. She denied it off course, saying its all above board but then, you never can be certain!

Malaysia 0 Thailand 0

I don't understand the game they were playing. They were staying back and defending most of the time, depending only on breakaways. Against Japan or Korea, I would understand but Thailand? Don't tell me even against Thailand, we need to play a defensive game? Surely we can match them man to man!

World Cup

World Cup host 2014 - Brazil
World Cup host 2018 - Russia
World Cup host 2022 - Qatar
World Cup host 20..?.. - Malaysia

World Cup Winners 2...? - Malaysia

Naughty kids

My buddy and me
We were neighbours at our parents rented houses in Selama, Perak. Later they each bought a house in this housing scheme, also in Selama. As such, we continued to be neighbours and remained best of friends until secondary schools when we each went to different schools in Taiping. Since then, we lost contact. Last I heard he became a pilot.

Pathetic!

Our soccer team thrashed 1-5 by Indonesia. We were brought down to earth after the high in Guangzho, or at least we thought. On hindsight, we should have known. Actually, we only won one game out of four in Guangzho. That's poor by any standard!

Two shocking results

Real Madrid thrashed 0-5 by a classy Barcelona team. A shocking result! Don't know what happened to Maurinho and his players but they were were well and truly beaten. Perhaps Maurinho was trying too much to get away from his reputation of building teams that are dour and unexciting. As a result, they play to Barca's strength and now everybody knows what happened!
Manchester United beaten 0-4 by West Ham. Another shocking result! What else is there to say!