Thoughts on Euro 08

It's so unusual of me of not to blog about football for so many weeks, thanks to exams and all. But thankfully I was lucky enough to catch the final of the Euro 2008 between two powerhouses of football, Spain and the ever-experienced Germany.

In a packed stadium and Vienna, Germany was lacklustre and did not maximise the experience that they had in major finals, which allowed the Spanish players to pass the ball with maximum effect.

After dictating the play for the 1st 15 minutes, Spain began to play at their own pace, which gave trouble to the German team since. The damage was done in the 1st half as a speedy Fernando Torres, latched onto an inch-perfect from Cesc Fabregas, replacement for the injured David Villa, and outran German defender Philippe Lahm before scoring past Jens Lehmann.

Yes Claryn, he deserved the plaudits.

Ironically, Torres had a bad tournament thus far, with only one solitary goal to his name prior to the final. Perhaps he showed why is he still one of the best forwards in the world by scoring in a match with such magnitude.

Fair to say, as a neutralized fan watching this football match up and early in the morning, Spain totally deserved to win this match. They were completely outplayed in almost every department, and their breathtaking passes had killed the Germans. If not for the goalkeeper, the score would have been much bigger than it would have suggested.

The victorious Spaniards

So this match concluded a tournament which was stunned by MANY surprises, and although I did not catch most of the matches, I managed to keep updated with the important facts of this tournament.

First of all, I'm impressed with the fair play being shown by all the teams in the tournament. Only 3 red cards suggested that violence was kept at bay. =)

Best Team of Euro 2008

Although Spain may have ended their drought by winning the title, in my opinion this plaudit still goes to none other than Russia. Led by mastermind Guus Hiddink, who transformed an average football team to world-beaters, they displayed perfect counter-attacking style of football. Speed, agility, matched by the ability to defend at the same time, it is no wonder that Holland was wiped out in the semi-finals.

The future of football.

The Most Entertaining Team

Without a doubt, the Oranje team. Boasted by the wealth of talents in terms of attacking players, Sneijder, Nistelrooy, van Persie, Huntelaar are all proven classy attacking players, and they brought colours to the tournament with their dismantling of France and Italy in the group stages. A 4-1 against the Italian team was no easy feat at all.

The Oranje

Comeback Kings

WHO ELSE BUT TURKEY? Unbelievable fighting spirit to win matches together with their attacking minds made up a very formidable combination as they fought back so many times in the tournament when it seemed that they will lose. The perfect example was the match against Croatia, who themselves even wonder how on earth Turkey equalized THAT fast to bring the match into penalties.

Did I mention, Turkey scored the equalizer RIGHT after Croatia scored in the 2nd last minute of extra-time?

Comeback Kings

Best Player of The Tournament

Could have been Sneijder if Holland was not knocked out. What distincts a very good player from a good player is that he is able to bring massive impact to the team he plays with, and that was shown by the Russian midfielder Arshavin. Russia looked like a team of nobody when he was suspended for the 1st two matches until he returned to the team. He completely changed the team with his pace and certainly passing ability to unlock the stubborn defences. Plus with his ability to score goals when it matters, he certainly had the ability to be the next best player in the world.

As described by Shebby Singh, he brought "art" to the Russian team.

The Russian Wizard

The Worst Team

Who else but the team which has a chicken on its logo?

Sense of Regret

I was bit emotional for the last few days.

Despite getting much better in the pastor's talk just now, I have another sense of regret tingling in my crowded brain.

Yes perhaps I missed yet another day to see this friend of mine before she departs to Australia.

So sorry, that I have to miss the surprise for you today.

It'll be a lie to say I don't feel bad rite now. I felt deeply bad to be honest.

Yes it's you.

I do hope that you had a great time just now with none other than the ones you know too well. =)

Don't worry Sara, I WILL be there for your sent-off later next month.

Another Farewell Post

For the betrayor of Taylor's

who went to Monash and studied for a year then leaving us tomorrow.

HAHAHA.

I'm not sure if you would have seen this post as I'm sure you're packing by now, but anyway, may you have a safe journey to Melbourne.

I'll miss your "so hai-ness" (not that he's so hai, but he ALWAYS likes to use that word to curse at others. Lol.

Futsal outings, when you would still prefer to find us besides outings. I know too well that your roots are still with us awwwwwww =P

Badminton session especially during foundation days, and yes, your insults which were so straightforward sometimes lol.

We will all miss you dude

So it's goodbye mate. Take care and good luck in your studies there. Please go there and get a girlfriend or something, prove that you are a MAN! =P

Feels Bad to Be Back

If you think Hongkies are rude, think again.

If you think Hong Kong is like Kuala Lumpur, without a doubt think again.

If you think Malaysia's English level is good, it could be better somewhere else.

If you think Malaysian weather is bad, think again (okay this time must compliment on Malaysia a bit lol =P)

As I mentioned earlier, I flew off to Hong Kong, together with other Malaysian contingents to attend the HSBC YEA Regional Awards and Trip 2 weeks ago, and I bet most of you have been waiting for this post, and for that I apologize.

But I must warn you, I don't know how long this post is going to be. =P

14th June

So it was as early as 5am on that Saturday morning when I sprang out of my bed with anxiousness to prepare myself. My first trip on a plane, so I was rather anxious don't blame me. =D

My dad gave me a lift to Kelana Jaya LRT station to meet up with Pretib and Boey before being sent to KLIA Airport by Boey's dad. Uncannily, all 3 of us look like our dads. XD The journey took us 45 minutes before reaching the airport and meeting the other Malaysians, team guide Andrew and The Star reporter Ee Loo. Eric and Meiyi proved why they were the elocution winners by being there the earliest. Then the Gold Team, our representative arrived with Elizabeth showing the true colours of a Malaysian by being the latest. XD And she came with a tudung, I nearly blurted out the word "Insya-Allah" before knowing what happened to her. Okay no reveal on that.

After breakfast at McD's, we moved on to checking-in and going through the custom checkings on our luggage. Being the first time, I quite embarassingly screwed up the spotcheck section, whereby I daringly searched a passenger's luggage for my wallet. Forgive me lol.

On the way to airplane.

Anxious me. =)

It was a smooth 3 hour flight via the Cathay Pacific Airways, and even better, the service was top-class. Feels good to be flying on air with no stress! To appreciate time, Pretib and I studied Law lol. Apart from that, I thank God for the smooth flight apart from the awkward landing at the airport whereby the sudden jerk of the plane caught me.

I'm in HONG KONG BABY!

Even alighting the plane itself offers a different experience, as after checking in, we walked like celebrities thanks to the crowd standing around the exit lol. After meeting up with the Vietnamese contingent, we departed to the Marco Polo Hong Kong hotel in Tsim Tsa Tsui.

Fantastic view of Hong Kong Island

The renowned Mah Tsing Bridge

By the time we reached the hotel we were all dead tired. Boey and I were arranged to be in the same room, so what happened between us during our stay in the room throughout the week remains confidential okay =P Joking. After a nap from 5 pm, we prepared ourselves for the welcoming dinner by HSBC at the 6th floor of the hotel.

Welcomed by Imelda, HSBC Organizing Chairperson of the event.

The dinner was awesome, and best of all, ALL food is fully-paid. How lucky I can be? Lol.

After dinner photos.

Unfortunately for the Malaysian Gold Team, they will be the FIRST team to present in the regional awards on Monday. That's right after I said,

"Dom, it's good to be first to present." XD

So basically nothing much on the first day, we just had a good night's sleep despite planning to study at midnight. Below was the reason why we failed:

2-4 am

"Eh bro, we set ourselves kay, we set alarm at 4 am then we wake up and study."

"Aite!" (obviously Boey talking)

4.20 am

"Bro what time is it weeh?"

"4 am............ (despite alarm ringing 4 times) Alar bro damn lazy lar. We sleep bit more, til 5.30 am then we study....."

5.30 am

"Bro f*** the ALARM WEH!" SLEEP LAR!" This will bring us to

15th June

Woke up at round 8.30 am for breakfast at the 1st floor of the hotel, and we had continental breakfast for the WHOLE week since then. You might think it's heaven at first, but once you eat such breakfast every morning, you will get bored. And the breakfast costs RM80 per meal. =S Speaking about extravagant living.

Then we proceeded to the half-day city tour around the famous places in Hong Kong, which firstly we went to the Mou Men Temple for a visit.

Pictures of Mou Men Temple and structures around it.

A street for the ladders. 0=0

Vintage picture with the Vietnamese team.

After that we took the bus to the Victoria Peak whereby we took a trem up the hill to reach the peak. Even the hill was full of condominiums and apartments, Genting everyday for them lol.

Ahh did I say the weather sucked? =S

Here is the reason why.

Jackie Chan greeting us at the entrance

Trying to embarass Bruce Lee =P

City view from the peak.

Everything was on a rush as time was limited, plus with the supposingly rehearsal of all the Gold Teams, we went for a brief visit to the Stanley Street where I bought souvenir for Sara. =)

Nothing much after that, with Boey meeting his friend, Pretib and I went out at night to search north and south for food to eat. THANK GOD WE MET ANDREW AND THE GANG! HAHAHA.

Speaking of Andrew, HE FREAKING SCARED ME OFF MY ARSE!

After dinner Pretib and I separated from others(actually we walked the wrong way also XD) then as I was about to take out my wallet, a hand stabbed my waist and at that moment, I thought I was the victim of robbery at foreign land. You can ask Pretib how I stared at him scaringly when I felt the hand,

ONLY TO FIND ANDREW LAUGHING AT MY BACK!

DAMN TRAUMATIZED LAR LOL. But luckily he "bou fan sou" by bringing Pretib and I to Hong Kong Island via the ferry. That's when we caught the fantastic city view of Hong Kong.

Beats KL's city view hands down.

And also that's when we discovered Lan Guai Fong, the famous district of PUBS. And I do mean the WHOLE stretch of pubs. No jokes okay.

16th June

You know how it feels when you are indirectly kicked out from the bus to accomodate spaces for others?

"Will the silver team and bronze team please alight the bus thank you!"

Which of course includes me lol. Apparently there's only one bus that time to take us to the HSBC building for the regional finals, and apparently, there's an offence for standing in the bus. =S

At least Andrew followed us by taking a cab awwwwwwwwwww =D

I shall go straight to the competition.

As I mentioned earlier, Malaysia presented first, so MALAYSIA BOLEH! =)

In support of Malaysia, more pictures for all of you.

But the one stealing the show was the Thai team, which nearly blew off all of us with their model-like presentation. Congratulations for being RM50,000 richer =)

Eventual winners Thailand.

The night ended with the group photos of the Gold Team members as well as others.

A memorable night.

Then we left to the renowned Mong Kok Street to buy souvenirs. Needless to say, it is quite similar to Petaling Street in KL. Perhaps the cheapest stuffs are all available here.

Mong Kok Street

17th - 20th June

I guess I have to summarize since this post is already long lol. Below are the places we visited:

Ocean Park

The most notable one here is the Ocean Park. Yes it's raining cats and dogs again =S By the time we attended the briefing, we were all soaked wet, but thankfully the briefing by the park's CEO was eye-opening. How many times in life you can get a CEO to give such briefing himself?

If not for the rain, we would have taken the various rides there. =( Thankfully we managed to catch the dolphin performance.)

Dolphins showing off their brilliant skills.

Andrew and I

Having a thing for fishes =P

Cathay Pacific City

Even Cantona and Solksjaer took Cathay Pacific Airways.

Meeting of Boey's friend

Dinner @ Mong Kok Street

That's when the classical LAMEST joke of "my fingers" came alive. =S Then I gave a free lesson of Cantonese speaking to the lady in red in the picture. XD

Disneyland

It is actually my childhood dream to see what the world of cartoon is like, and I was really happy to step my feet into this historical ground. Despite the lack of rides (as those are mainly for kids), we still had an enjoyable time under the glaring sunlight.

Daisy and I. Don't be jealous =P

FINALLY HERE BABY!

Farewell Dinner

Finally, a fantastic week had come to an end, and all of us attended the farewell dinner in the HSBC building. Again I felt grand as I never expected myself to be here at all. So to appreciate time left, we posed yet again. =P

Ronnierine vs Ericrine in X-Men

Overall it was a fantastic and awesome event organized by HSBC Bank, as everything was well organized. Who would be so kind to pay for breakfast and accomodation at a 5-star hotel for a whole WEEK? I would like to thank those who made these possible, especially Andrew who made sure we "KIDS" were safe all the time. Zhen Han's "tak jadi" comments, and also Meiyi's "tak tau malu" poses will stick into my mind. HAHAHA. Not forgetting Eric's gullibility lol.

And for those new friends I have met, nice to meet all of you, and all the best in your future undertakings. I'll miss all of you =) Feels bad to come back as I missed the trip a lot.

Capital Youths On Tour

In another approximately 24 hours, I'll be on a jetplane departing to Hong Kong via airtickets paid by HSBC bank, together with my fellow Capital Youths CEOs, Hairy Man Pratiban and Leftback Boey.

Alar sounds like concert tour, but actually not chill. =P

The Malaysian contingent, all winners from the Youth Entrepreneur Award last month will be flying off to Hong Kong to meet up with winners from six other Asian countries.

By now, or should I say, yesterday night, my mind was already zooming to the possibility of meeting ANY celebrities from TVB dramas.

Even if I may hate the actor or actress, I don't mind at all seeing at least ONE. =D

I'm almost done with my luggage packing as well. =P

LOL.

To avoid getting TOO indulged in the trip, we also have initiated a STUDY PLAN.

YES don't curse at us okay lol.

What to do, exam's coming? Sigh.

No matter what, I'll try to study today. No point having a trip at the expense of examinations. Adios for 2 weeks I guess to my blog.

Have a studious week UniSA peeps and good luck in your finals. And also have a great week ahead to others.

Take care =)

Sabo-ed!

Why ALL of you like to make me run out of words??!?!?!?!?!

Seriously, I am damn happy today lar. =D

Reason why, go to the blogger-who-claims-he-can-be-the-best-blogger Y-han.

Seriously, REALLY, thanks a lot ALL OF YOU!

A preview first of what happened to me....





Predators biting on the victim XD

So it was just a normal futsal outing today after class, so I was bit late, and uncannily, I saw Vivian and Kah Leong at the futsal court. At that time, I felt something was not right aas they both just came to futsal occasionally.

Furthermore Vivian gave me an even surprising reason of why she came,

"Oh my car went to service, so I followed Kah Leong here."

"Yea weh" Kah Leong quickly nodded.

"Really? Boey's car went to service also woh. So ngam one?"

"Yea, coz Boey's mom offered me free service, so just check only lar."

0=0

By then, of course I assumed they told the truth, then as I walked into the toilet to change my clothes, Y-han walked past me and called Foo. Again I assumed nothing was wrong,

UNTIL.....................................

SLAM!

A Body Slam by Y-han at the back out of NOWHERE once I reached the toilet door, and SMACK, the Blackie Pretib smashed a HUGE piece of cake onto my face after hiding at the back of the door.

WHAT THE HECK?

LOL! So under the circumstances of 3 against 1, the cake was all over my face and hair. Then I looked around the floor,

SHIT!

Then I looked properly, it's a chocolate cake which looks 99.99% similar to the rubbish we produce everyday. We ended up being cleaners of the toilet. XD

You monkeys really made my day. THANKS! =D

And of course, I had a wonderful birthday, and I like to thank all the people around me for wishing me, be it on time or not, it doesn't matter. Thanks for the sincerity =)

Good News

Good news are always pleasant to the ears.



That's what just happened to me as after a week of settlement, the matter was finally resolved today in terms of the clash between the final exam date and the date of the Hong Kong date.



HSBC Bank helped us in reaching the UniSA coordinator in Australia to discuss on the possible deferment of our MA test to a preferable date, and specifically the person in charge, Andrew, did the job efficiently in reaching whoever is concerned straight away after I asked him for help.



THANK YOU ANDREW! =D



I think I have disturbed you enough last few days, and thankfully he likes to sleep late. XD



Of course, I have to thank God for such resolvement in the end. Now I can study and anticipate the trip in a peaceful but eager manner. =)



p.s Souvenirs, instead is now my major headache. Lol. =P

The ROFL-ing Government

A good country must be governed by a good government, as the nation's future depends on the decisions made by the enforcers.

But try saying that to ANY Malaysian, and the answer will be "no".

The aftermath of the political "tsunami" during the election had seen the reducing of power by Barisan Nasional, and it seems that such aftermath could only signify more similar change of power to come.

As Mr Smarty Lim (translation of Lim Lek Chai lol), my MA lecturer always said "Malaysia memang boleh, APA PUN boleh".

Oops sorry sir XD

But that statement wasn't made barely out of for the sake of mentioning it. Over these few days the government again made some unbelievable (wanted to put the word ridiculous but I do not want to be under ISA scrutiny) decisions regarding on the subsidy of the nation's petroleum supply.

Okay here is the irony. When the government is often said to sufficiently subsidise petrol prices, the citizens are bracing themselves for the continuous increase of its price.

I really do not know, that why as a country which has the ability to produce petroleum ourselves, has to increase the prices to such an unreasonable amount as years went by? As predicted, the new petrol price in petrol stations should increase to around RM2.40 per litre, and THAT is an amount of concern to all of us.

Logically speaking, as the producers of petroleum, sufficient subsidy should be allocated and such privilege should be given to us Malaysians. Yes no doubt the world's deteriorating economy has a major part in the increase of the petrol price, but that is because most of the countries are not petroleum producers.

We are one.

Instead, we are advised to change our way of spending instead by the government. It's all over the papers. I seriously don't understand how the way of spending is related to the price of petroleum, but it seems like Malaysians have to live with another joke made by the government.

Gek sei.

Another gek sei scenario is that the government could not even fix a date to implement a decision. Just yesterday, the government announced that price of petrol will increase in August. But just moments ago, the parents of the babies whom my mom babysits for, came and told us apparently, the petrol price has just increased and the petrol stations near my house are full.

And trust me, it will REALLY be full.

See how much trouble caused thanks to the inconsistency of decision made by the government. It's just a simple task, yet it was not performed properly, for goodness sake.

Now here comes the STUPIDEST of all.

A ban was implemented to bar Singaporeans and Thais to pump petrol in petrol stations located in the border states of the northern and southern regions of Malaysia.

WHAT ON EARTH?

WAS PETROL CREATED FOR MALAYSIANS ONLY?

I seriously don't get the rationale of such nonsensical actions done by the government. Even a citizen like me, who doesn't really care about politics will also acknowledge that such action will only damage the political relationships between our nation and Singapore as well as Thailand. Also, you can imagine the amount of profits gone as a result of lesser customers as everyday plenty of Thais and Singaporeans stop by in these petrol stations to pump petrol. The veracity is that Malaysia now creates a situation whereby we cause lesser inflows of profits from these petrol kiosk businesses.

The government likes to do things which are against themselves. ROFL ain't it?

Sorry, though I should be studying now, I just have to complain as the government just ticks me off. I believed there are people out there who are more concerned than I am right now, but again, there's nothing we can do to stop the incessant jokes made by the government.

Malaysia memang boleh.

I Don't Know What To Say

Seriously I have no idea.

Just today, the examination timebtable for the finals is out, and guess what

The first exam , which is MA, will be on a Saturday.

If this is not bad enough,

IT FALLS ON THE SAME DAY AS THE DAY I WILL RETURN FROM MY HSBC TRIP TO HONG KONG.

I really feel pissed off now.

CIB says it will start on 23rd, SO BE IT!

WHY WAIT FOR SO LONG TO CHANGE IT?

UniSA NEVER knows the trouble of students (like me) who have difficulties arranging the time thanks to the constant delay of the timetable confirmation.

Now I face the possibility of referring the MA exam months after the finals (hope my senior is wrong), or I have to rush back from Hong Kong a day earlier to sit for that blardee test. That would require me to pay extra air ticket fees if HSBC can't arrange for our team to return earlier.

My mood to travel is all gone already lah, thanks to the "efficiency" of UniSA.

Lord, I hope there's a way out for me. I know it's greedy, but I really want to enjoy the trip as well as taking the exam without any delay.

Trust me, I'm really not in the mood right now to do anything. =(

Another Post, for Friends

Another week has just gone and a new one arrives.

Sounds monotonous, but this week, I'm pretty relaxed. =P

But in the midst of the relaxation, I felt a bit of sadness too.

Firstly, the RELAXATION PART first.

I had been slacking almost all week, with myself lazying around like nobody's business despite just 3 more weeks to go to the finals examination.

To be frank, I DID touch the books, but studying them THOROUGHLY or not, is another matter.

Hey, at least I tried. Don't you know success comes from trying?

XD

The relaxation starts on Tuesday when Li San and I went to meet up with Caryn and her boyfriend who wanted to eat the so-called "Earthquake" ice-cream in Swensen's near Subang Parade. The funny thing was we searched the whole floor for the place, only to find it located OUTSIDE Subang Parade.

Caryn, you bring us for merry-go-round is it? =P

So we settled down and spent around 2 hours eating and chatting as well as trying the so-called "Earthquake" ice-cream, in which there was an offer on that day. In the end, the much-hoped "impact" of the "quake" was rather

minimal. Lol.

But overall, the food was rather excellent, and I had a sumptious (Tang, LY 2007) meal.

Caryn rejected my offer of treating her, so fine, don't ask from me again next time. =P =P

AHHAHAHAHAHA. Then Li San, being the smart, never even bother rejecting my offer. XD

Before that,

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY CARYN AND WHYE KIT. =D

Caryn and Whye Kit

Look at how happy they are. Certainly, maintaining a 3-year relationship is never easy at all. I wish you both to long continue this relationship. =)

Then to Shogun on Thursday.

This is the SAD part.

We had a farewell for Sara at Shogun in Sunway Pyramid, and I would think it's fitting since she likes Japanese stuffs so much. So the plan to give her surprise was successful, and I'm very sure that Sara was happy. Right? =D

Shogun @ Sunway Pyramid

The food was awesome, but unfortunately that our stomachs were too small to fill in all the available food which is served in buffet style. For the amount of RM40++ for each person based on the amount of food there, I would think it's worth every penny of it.

On the sad note, this occasion was a farewell.

Sara will be the first among us to leave to Adelaide in Australia in July to further her studies.

Why you want to leave so fast? Sigh.

Well, I do hope that you will take good care of yourself in Australia, and do keep in touch with us all the time. I'll certainly miss your "chicken-like" laughter which comes out of nowhere when no one is laughing. HAHAHA. =P

Also, your punk-style of singing in karaoke. =P

Memories of the Adventurace this year and many many more will be embedded in my head Sara. =)

Oh, before you leave, I would suggest you leave your camera behind, reasons why, all of you can see in Sara's blog. Lmao.

Sara and I

Though it's still far away from your departure, all the best to you and do hope you will miss all of us monkeys. XD

TAKE CARE AH LUI!