People say, learn from experience. Learn from your mistakes.
Thing is, if you messed up your wedding, you don't get much chance to make it better the second time. (Well, technically speaking, it is possible, but you don't want to talk about your possible second wedding, right? Haha!)
So, I would like to share our shortcomings in organizing our wedding, so that you can make yours better!
Lesson one: Use your time well. Don't waste your time doing unnecessary things when the event is drawing near, like blogging. OK gotta get some sleep.
More lessons to come!
Showing posts with label Others. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Others. Show all posts
22 May 2011
Sorry and Thank You
I wish I'd written more here.
For once, I'd like to show the world how thankful I am - thankful to everyone - thankful to Allah, for everything, some people chose not to believe in God (and they have their strong arguments for their stand) but I can't, my life is too wonderful, it cannot be a mere coincidence that my life is so blissful without His will.
Thank you to my parents, the two most important people in my life. I won't be able to find the suitable superlatives to describe how much they've done for me. At my age, I should start contributing to them, and yet, they still contribute me way more than what I can contribute to them - and mind you, I'm not just talking about money, I'm talking about time, effort, energy, emotions, love, those priceless stuffs.
And the rest, which the list is unthinkably long. No, it is not an exaggeration. If I were to write an acceptance speech for an award, God knows how many kilometres my to-thank list would be. From the closest people in my life, family members, friends, down to the 'insignificant people' that has made my life better, the driver who gave me way in the middle of a stressful traffic jam, the baby who waved to me with the most innocent smile, the book author who won't even know how much the writings meant to the readers. There's a lot of people I have to thank, for an equally infinite reasons.
On the other hand, I have countless apologies I owe people of. The things I did, or - more oftenly - the things I didn't. I slipped my tongue way too often, despite warnings that whatever that will come out from the mouth shall be approved by the brain department first. I said nasty things that I would not have said had I spent a few more seconds more on thinking. I hesitate to much to lend a helping hand. More often than not, I don't help at all. I expect people to come to my wedding, when I myself did not attend a lot of weddings.
No, I didn't write this because I'm getting married, or because I'm dying. (No, I'm not dying. I am perfectly happy and healthy, and I don't forecast my own death. Should I die within close interval from this blog post, that would be a pure coincidence, and was never predicted.) This is merely a long overdue blog post. I love you guys, everyone. Thank you God for making this mortal life so wonderful, no wonder why people fear death. And I am sorry for all the things I've done or not done. Sometimes, I hate myself for those things. I wish I could be a better person. I wish I would do something. And yet, I still do nothing.
"Treat people how you like to be treated."
I preach people that, and yet I myself am a horrible practitioner of that principle.
For once, I'd like to show the world how thankful I am - thankful to everyone - thankful to Allah, for everything, some people chose not to believe in God (and they have their strong arguments for their stand) but I can't, my life is too wonderful, it cannot be a mere coincidence that my life is so blissful without His will.
Thank you to my parents, the two most important people in my life. I won't be able to find the suitable superlatives to describe how much they've done for me. At my age, I should start contributing to them, and yet, they still contribute me way more than what I can contribute to them - and mind you, I'm not just talking about money, I'm talking about time, effort, energy, emotions, love, those priceless stuffs.
And the rest, which the list is unthinkably long. No, it is not an exaggeration. If I were to write an acceptance speech for an award, God knows how many kilometres my to-thank list would be. From the closest people in my life, family members, friends, down to the 'insignificant people' that has made my life better, the driver who gave me way in the middle of a stressful traffic jam, the baby who waved to me with the most innocent smile, the book author who won't even know how much the writings meant to the readers. There's a lot of people I have to thank, for an equally infinite reasons.
On the other hand, I have countless apologies I owe people of. The things I did, or - more oftenly - the things I didn't. I slipped my tongue way too often, despite warnings that whatever that will come out from the mouth shall be approved by the brain department first. I said nasty things that I would not have said had I spent a few more seconds more on thinking. I hesitate to much to lend a helping hand. More often than not, I don't help at all. I expect people to come to my wedding, when I myself did not attend a lot of weddings.
No, I didn't write this because I'm getting married, or because I'm dying. (No, I'm not dying. I am perfectly happy and healthy, and I don't forecast my own death. Should I die within close interval from this blog post, that would be a pure coincidence, and was never predicted.) This is merely a long overdue blog post. I love you guys, everyone. Thank you God for making this mortal life so wonderful, no wonder why people fear death. And I am sorry for all the things I've done or not done. Sometimes, I hate myself for those things. I wish I could be a better person. I wish I would do something. And yet, I still do nothing.
"Treat people how you like to be treated."
I preach people that, and yet I myself am a horrible practitioner of that principle.
05 January 2011
Blog is Useless Without Comments
Wow, when was the last time I posted something?
Happy new year to everyone. We would always expect the new year to be better than the previous. I have a few new year's resolution; one of them is to write more. Or more precisely, I want to write more frequent, but in tiny short bits. But not too short like Twitter.
Came a thought to me. Why do people blog? People do things for their own benefit. What would be the direct benefit to themselves when they blog? There's an immediate satisfaction of sharing your knowledge, or simply your life, to other people, anyone interested in knowing. You get to vent out your stress, express your joy, voice your dissatisfaction, or promote good things. People will get to know you better.
Or people might care less. You might care less about people caring less about you. Some people don't even care if no one is reading their blog. They're just happy to write.
But I thought, if you get to express your feelings, what benefit do you get from that? Will your productivity at work increase? Will your social life improve? Or could it be worse? How many celebrities (artists, athletes, politicians etc.) spitted the wrong words on Twitter? As the Malay proverb says, boats are reversible, words aren't.
I always had - and have - ideas. I don't know if they're useful, I don't know if I will do it. If the idea is good, what if I'm too lazy to do it? What if it goes to waste? It came to me, if I want to do something, but I know I won't make the effort to do it, I might as well let somebody else do it. Or if the idea is crap, I would appreciate if somebody come and tell me, "Hey your idea is crap."
Hence, this post's title. I want ideas to be shared, and given feedback. My ideas might be crap, but I wouldn't know, if nobody points it out. To me, my blog is useless without comments. Ironically, this post itself stands at the risk of not having any comments. Oh well, I abandoned this blog for too long. I kinda deserve it.
But if you do read, thank you! And if you write, thank you even more! I hope I'll write more.
Happy new year to everyone. We would always expect the new year to be better than the previous. I have a few new year's resolution; one of them is to write more. Or more precisely, I want to write more frequent, but in tiny short bits. But not too short like Twitter.
Came a thought to me. Why do people blog? People do things for their own benefit. What would be the direct benefit to themselves when they blog? There's an immediate satisfaction of sharing your knowledge, or simply your life, to other people, anyone interested in knowing. You get to vent out your stress, express your joy, voice your dissatisfaction, or promote good things. People will get to know you better.
Or people might care less. You might care less about people caring less about you. Some people don't even care if no one is reading their blog. They're just happy to write.
But I thought, if you get to express your feelings, what benefit do you get from that? Will your productivity at work increase? Will your social life improve? Or could it be worse? How many celebrities (artists, athletes, politicians etc.) spitted the wrong words on Twitter? As the Malay proverb says, boats are reversible, words aren't.
I always had - and have - ideas. I don't know if they're useful, I don't know if I will do it. If the idea is good, what if I'm too lazy to do it? What if it goes to waste? It came to me, if I want to do something, but I know I won't make the effort to do it, I might as well let somebody else do it. Or if the idea is crap, I would appreciate if somebody come and tell me, "Hey your idea is crap."
Hence, this post's title. I want ideas to be shared, and given feedback. My ideas might be crap, but I wouldn't know, if nobody points it out. To me, my blog is useless without comments. Ironically, this post itself stands at the risk of not having any comments. Oh well, I abandoned this blog for too long. I kinda deserve it.
But if you do read, thank you! And if you write, thank you even more! I hope I'll write more.
22 June 2010
World Cup 2010, after 2 Matches
This is my first post since the World Cup started. Matter of fact, this is my first post since, I don't know.
Now has come the time of year, where you see every paper dedicated quarter of their pages to the World Cup, even published a free afternoon copy to update the early morning matches, where all football websites automatically redirects to their World Cup page, where every single available restaurant or grocery shop will be posted with the World Cup fixtures with very updated scores, and inevitably where world production slump to a 4-year low, by how many percent, no one will know, because no one wants to waste their time calculating such thing.
I went there, you know. But that will be in another story. I'll tell. =P
Now all the teams have played two matches. This is how it is set up for the final round-robin matches.
In Group A, Mexico and Uruguay are in pole position (or shall I say, front row) to qualify. If they play out a draw, both will qualify, thus the unavoidable conspiracy theory. As far as my short my memory can fetch, I remembered a similar scenario in Euro 2004, where two Scandinavian countries - Sweden and Denmark - could both qualify if they play out a draw, shutting out Italy, and they did. However, in this context, the second-placed team - Mexico, if they will play out for a draw - will meet Argentina, a team in fine form. To my simple logic, and assuming fair play, they (or at least Mexico) will not play out for a draw. Meanwhile, for South Africa, they face a very real possibility of being the first host nation not to progress beyond the first round. Even when the Asians first hosted the World Cup, neither Japan nor Korea ever progressed beyond group stage before, but they did it for the first time in 2002.
Saying that, both teams are doing fairly well. Koreans will be facing off Nigeria in Group B and if they better the Greeks result, they will progress, although the Greeks might potentially face an understrength Argentinian team who already booked their place, then again, is there such thing as an understrength Argentina?
Group C is quite interesting, well, at least on paper. The 7th tie-breaker by FIFA is drawing of lots. What does that mean? If all the predetermined criteria are unable to separate the teams, then who will qualify will be determined by drawing ping-pong balls from a goldfish bowl. Yeap. I read this interesting article here. This scenario will be very real if both England and USA draw their matches, and England scored two goals more than the Americans. As said by the article, "Sometimes I can't help feeling that pulling little plastic balls out of bags and revealing their contents is the most fun some FIFA officials have in their lives." Well said.
Group D holds the best performing African country in Ghana, although need to be said, both of their goals are penalties. Germany missed their first non-shootout penalty since 1970 something, and Australia got their players (star players shall I say) red carded in both matches, both in the first half.
Group E has the first qualified country in Netherlands and the first eliminated country in Cameroon. The maths here is simple: Japan and Denmark will determine who is joining Netherlands. Same as the Koreans, if they draw, the Japanese will finish ahead of their opponents.
Bizarrely enough, FIFA might have to do the 'drawing of lots' to determine two groups, the other is Group F. If both final Group F matches end in a draw with the scoreline, someone will be sent home because their ping-pong did not get picked by Sepp Blatter (or Jacob Zuma, or anybody). What an amazing feat by the All Whites, a country where spherical balls can be counted by hand, featuring a squad with amateurs and players without clubs.
Group G - the so-called Group of Death - might just be literally. Portugal whacked 7-0 against the North Koreans, often mentioned as the most reclusive nation in the world, a country who executes people for the mildest of 'crimes' (if they are crimes). We all pray that the heroes who qualified for the World Cup will be treated as they deserve and not as failures or national disgrace. Cote d'Ivoire - their official name - can still progress, although incredibly unlikely. Their win, together with Brazil's - must combine to a win margin of more than 9 goals, for the Africans to qualify.
And finally, in Group H, all can still progress - even Honduras - although Chile is definitely in the driving seat.
Here's some interesting facts. The scenic Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium, the one that will host the final, have witnessed the most goals per game compared to other venues. Matches that kicked off at 1:30 pm South African time also has the most goals, although heavily deviated due to Portugal's hammering of North Korea. However, that is the end of the afternoon matches, from this stage onwards, all matches will kick off at 4 or 8.30 pm South African time only, must be to please the European audience.
The Hispanic countries lead the number of shots/attempts, with Spain, Argentina and Chile, although Argentina has a much higher success in scoring. Cameroon is sixth, although already eliminated. Portugal met the woodwork the most with 3, although they wouldn't mind, considering their overwhelming win. Two penalties are missed, the other one being David Villa, who could have scored the tournament's second hattrick.
OK enjoy the final round of group matches! May the most entertaining team wins the tournament.
Now has come the time of year, where you see every paper dedicated quarter of their pages to the World Cup, even published a free afternoon copy to update the early morning matches, where all football websites automatically redirects to their World Cup page, where every single available restaurant or grocery shop will be posted with the World Cup fixtures with very updated scores, and inevitably where world production slump to a 4-year low, by how many percent, no one will know, because no one wants to waste their time calculating such thing.
I went there, you know. But that will be in another story. I'll tell. =P
Now all the teams have played two matches. This is how it is set up for the final round-robin matches.
In Group A, Mexico and Uruguay are in pole position (or shall I say, front row) to qualify. If they play out a draw, both will qualify, thus the unavoidable conspiracy theory. As far as my short my memory can fetch, I remembered a similar scenario in Euro 2004, where two Scandinavian countries - Sweden and Denmark - could both qualify if they play out a draw, shutting out Italy, and they did. However, in this context, the second-placed team - Mexico, if they will play out for a draw - will meet Argentina, a team in fine form. To my simple logic, and assuming fair play, they (or at least Mexico) will not play out for a draw. Meanwhile, for South Africa, they face a very real possibility of being the first host nation not to progress beyond the first round. Even when the Asians first hosted the World Cup, neither Japan nor Korea ever progressed beyond group stage before, but they did it for the first time in 2002.
Saying that, both teams are doing fairly well. Koreans will be facing off Nigeria in Group B and if they better the Greeks result, they will progress, although the Greeks might potentially face an understrength Argentinian team who already booked their place, then again, is there such thing as an understrength Argentina?
Group C is quite interesting, well, at least on paper. The 7th tie-breaker by FIFA is drawing of lots. What does that mean? If all the predetermined criteria are unable to separate the teams, then who will qualify will be determined by drawing ping-pong balls from a goldfish bowl. Yeap. I read this interesting article here. This scenario will be very real if both England and USA draw their matches, and England scored two goals more than the Americans. As said by the article, "Sometimes I can't help feeling that pulling little plastic balls out of bags and revealing their contents is the most fun some FIFA officials have in their lives." Well said.
Group D holds the best performing African country in Ghana, although need to be said, both of their goals are penalties. Germany missed their first non-shootout penalty since 1970 something, and Australia got their players (star players shall I say) red carded in both matches, both in the first half.
Group E has the first qualified country in Netherlands and the first eliminated country in Cameroon. The maths here is simple: Japan and Denmark will determine who is joining Netherlands. Same as the Koreans, if they draw, the Japanese will finish ahead of their opponents.
Bizarrely enough, FIFA might have to do the 'drawing of lots' to determine two groups, the other is Group F. If both final Group F matches end in a draw with the scoreline, someone will be sent home because their ping-pong did not get picked by Sepp Blatter (or Jacob Zuma, or anybody). What an amazing feat by the All Whites, a country where spherical balls can be counted by hand, featuring a squad with amateurs and players without clubs.
Group G - the so-called Group of Death - might just be literally. Portugal whacked 7-0 against the North Koreans, often mentioned as the most reclusive nation in the world, a country who executes people for the mildest of 'crimes' (if they are crimes). We all pray that the heroes who qualified for the World Cup will be treated as they deserve and not as failures or national disgrace. Cote d'Ivoire - their official name - can still progress, although incredibly unlikely. Their win, together with Brazil's - must combine to a win margin of more than 9 goals, for the Africans to qualify.
And finally, in Group H, all can still progress - even Honduras - although Chile is definitely in the driving seat.
Here's some interesting facts. The scenic Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium, the one that will host the final, have witnessed the most goals per game compared to other venues. Matches that kicked off at 1:30 pm South African time also has the most goals, although heavily deviated due to Portugal's hammering of North Korea. However, that is the end of the afternoon matches, from this stage onwards, all matches will kick off at 4 or 8.30 pm South African time only, must be to please the European audience.
The Hispanic countries lead the number of shots/attempts, with Spain, Argentina and Chile, although Argentina has a much higher success in scoring. Cameroon is sixth, although already eliminated. Portugal met the woodwork the most with 3, although they wouldn't mind, considering their overwhelming win. Two penalties are missed, the other one being David Villa, who could have scored the tournament's second hattrick.
OK enjoy the final round of group matches! May the most entertaining team wins the tournament.
26 September 2009
I Lost My Wallet and Phone
We are bound to lose things we love.
Somewhat still in a raya mood, it is only 7th Shawal, somebody organized a futsal match at Subang Jaya, an activity always welcomed by those who can make it. It used to be a weekly activity back then, but those were the times. Now that work has occupied most of our lives, less time is available for futsal and more time to bulge bellies.
But long story short, we lost our possessions; our wallets and phones. It has been a very common practice for us to keep the stuffs in our bags and put them to the closest bench next to our court. It has been the practice every week, for years. But this time, somebody stole it, right in front of our noses.
I learned two things about this. Well, a lot more actually, but I would like to share two. First, about how ignorant I am to other people. Five of us lost stuffs while the rest didn't, and yet all of us stayed pretty late through the tedious process we went through, conducting a spotcheck at the exit gate of the futsal arena (which eventually the manager deemed illegal) and the lengthy police report. I remembered my brother just lost his wallet, too, quite recently, about two or three months ago. I was just like, "Oh definitely you lost it, I'm sorry but I don't want to give you false hope that you might just probably find it back." Another incident that might probably relate to this incident was a few weeks ago, when a friend of mine texted me, telling an officemate of his just got his car stolen. Given to me was the plate number and the car model and colour of the stolen car, with the hope that the message could be spread, and the thief to be nabbed. I - with the assumption that people might be just as ignorant as me - decided not to forward the message to anyone, hoping that other people would not be as ignorant as me and forward it to their friends. Now, I'm in both their shoes. Now I know how it feels to lose a wallet (mind you, when you lose a wallet, you will never bother about the cash and valuable items in there, you will only care about the documents), now I know how it feels to ask people for help detecting a thief. Thankfully, people do help me, but I never return the favour.
Second thing I learned, Islam fills my life such that nothing is a loss too big. Or perhaps I should say that all religions are like that. Whatever single thing that you love, you are bound to lose them. We are bound to lose our wealth, our possession, our property, one way or another, theft robbery, natural disaster, depreciation of value, or even misplaced. We are bound to lose our health and physical ability, we are bound to lose the people we love, we are bound to lose everything, because the truth is, we don't own anything. Allah owns everything, and He owns everything that we have, so in a way, we are not losing things, it is merely taken away from us. And we are all bound to lose every single thing we love because everything is mortal, except for One, the Immortal. With Him, you know you have the eternal love, throughout our existence and our non-existence. And in Islam, or any other religion, you do have certain things that you don't need to guard. You own money and you need to protect it, but when you donate, you'll get rewards that need no protection from theft. It promotes generosity and distribution of wealth, at the same time, eliminates fear of losing wealth.
Theft is a disgrace and shameful, degrading act, especially when committed on individuals (large, well-orchestrated thefts on organizations seem less undignified, though). I don't think it would be easy for me to let it go (or halalkan as we Malay say it), I do hope that justice will prevail (though I do think it is incredibly unlikely), but I do understand that thieves do have low dignity and pride, therefore they won't consider the implications that we have to face in the next few days, queuing to make our new identity cards, driving licence, bank cards and stuff, but oh well, at least we are not harmed. I know some people got injured or even died from snatch thieves and armed robberies, at least we left unscathed.
I'm looking forward to a weekend that I plan to do nothing.
22 August 2009
My Convocation
(Yeah this is a very late post, I am yet to get internet access at home, and my workplace blocked all blogging sites.)
Convocation is an elaborate ceremony to honour the achievements of higher education students of graduating from their respective programmes. It is time-consuming, energy-consuming, and worst of all, money-consuming. To some, it is tedious, and I am one of them. But, after all the tiring events, I have to say, I'm glad I went through all that.
When I finished my last final exam paper in UTP, a sudden sadness struck me deep, that everything I enjoyed here for five years is going to end. However, since then, I've moved on, accepting that I shall start a new life of working; a non-reversible clock to a life that I shall live probably until I die, accepting that probably the nice things I enjoyed during my college days will never be experienced again (or even if we do, it will never be as sweet as it used to be). But then, convocation gives me the opportunity to meet my friends in a huge gathering that - probably it is safe to say now - I will never get to see in such a mass gathering as this again.
And there are more tiny little things that made me smile. The chancellor award is an award awarded to the highest achieving student of that convocation in all categories. Amazingly, one of my friend who I would never thought would win, won. Why I would never thought someone like her would win? She is definitely not the default type of a chancellor award winner. A huge congratulations to her. It is great that someone like her won. Though whenever someone wins something, I always hoped it would be me. The trophy is really nice. I always hoped to be the best but always fell short. I told that to my friend, and a simple reply from him gave me a huge impact, a harsh awakening to reality. I told him, I could've scored 4.0 every semester if I wanted to, I only needed to put in a little bit more effort, and he said, "And so does everyone. Thing is, you didn't put in that effort, so how different are you from the rest?"
Elsewhere, I had a great time with my long-time friends. Five years is the longest period of time that I've spent studying at one same place. Probably the only thing that's lacking is that I didn't get to spend time with all of my friends. I owe all of you a lot for all the great times we had. And thank you for all of you who covered all my expenses throughout my stay, I posted in my previous post to treat everyone with my first salary and it is shameful it is the other way round, though at the same time I am incredibly grateful.
Yeah, things will never be the same again. We will never be able to gather everyone like this again, but at least I know one certain thing: the world is only going to be smaller and smaller, and as technology moves forward (and becomes more affordable) our separation is only going to be less, and it is no longer a barrier for us to meet one another again.
I hate to say 'goodbye', I'd rather say 'see you', because I know we will.
Convocation is an elaborate ceremony to honour the achievements of higher education students of graduating from their respective programmes. It is time-consuming, energy-consuming, and worst of all, money-consuming. To some, it is tedious, and I am one of them. But, after all the tiring events, I have to say, I'm glad I went through all that.
When I finished my last final exam paper in UTP, a sudden sadness struck me deep, that everything I enjoyed here for five years is going to end. However, since then, I've moved on, accepting that I shall start a new life of working; a non-reversible clock to a life that I shall live probably until I die, accepting that probably the nice things I enjoyed during my college days will never be experienced again (or even if we do, it will never be as sweet as it used to be). But then, convocation gives me the opportunity to meet my friends in a huge gathering that - probably it is safe to say now - I will never get to see in such a mass gathering as this again.
And there are more tiny little things that made me smile. The chancellor award is an award awarded to the highest achieving student of that convocation in all categories. Amazingly, one of my friend who I would never thought would win, won. Why I would never thought someone like her would win? She is definitely not the default type of a chancellor award winner. A huge congratulations to her. It is great that someone like her won. Though whenever someone wins something, I always hoped it would be me. The trophy is really nice. I always hoped to be the best but always fell short. I told that to my friend, and a simple reply from him gave me a huge impact, a harsh awakening to reality. I told him, I could've scored 4.0 every semester if I wanted to, I only needed to put in a little bit more effort, and he said, "And so does everyone. Thing is, you didn't put in that effort, so how different are you from the rest?"
Elsewhere, I had a great time with my long-time friends. Five years is the longest period of time that I've spent studying at one same place. Probably the only thing that's lacking is that I didn't get to spend time with all of my friends. I owe all of you a lot for all the great times we had. And thank you for all of you who covered all my expenses throughout my stay, I posted in my previous post to treat everyone with my first salary and it is shameful it is the other way round, though at the same time I am incredibly grateful.
Yeah, things will never be the same again. We will never be able to gather everyone like this again, but at least I know one certain thing: the world is only going to be smaller and smaller, and as technology moves forward (and becomes more affordable) our separation is only going to be less, and it is no longer a barrier for us to meet one another again.
I hate to say 'goodbye', I'd rather say 'see you', because I know we will.
18 July 2009
Treats for Everyone!
I've started working in a top secret corporation which I am not allowed to disclose.
However, that is not what I want to tell. I'm going to celebrate my first pay by treating everyone! Or in Bahasa (which English doesn't exactly have the equivalent word for it), "Aku nak belanja sumorang!"
I will (try to) dedicate the whole of my first pay to belanja everyone, so if you happen to bump me anywhere (while I still have the money) please do not hesitate and ask me to belanja you. Or better still, come and find me.
So don't miss this opportunity! (While stocks last.)
22 June 2009
How to Go to Anfield (or Any of the Stadiums for that Matter)
I've enjoyed a very lengthy spell of unemployment, but I ended this wonderful time with vacations to the best places in the world (thanks to my Dad). I've just got back from two of the holiest sites in Islam and if I start talking about that, I probably won't stop, so I think I'll start to write chronologically.
Earlier, I went to Liverpool for the sole purpose of watching Liverpool play at Anfield. This has been a plan for me for like I don't know how many years, but since the start of last season, I knew I can't just keep on dreaming; I had to realized it. And so does another friend of mine, so we took it seriously - very seriously. (I knew I won't be having the money for the trip, so I planned to make a loan from my Dad, but he sponsored me anyway, haha.)
I'm not going to talk about what I did there (OK maybe a little), I'm going to write here on how others can fulfill their dreams just like me.
(Oh by the way, this step-by-step guide is if you wish to do everything by your own, which can cut you considerable cost with great planning. There are travel agents which offers stadium packages, but it might be more costly.)
0. Have a credit card
Things are much easier to plan from far away, thanks to online services. But you need a credit card to make transactions. So have one. If you don't have one, make one. Or borrow one. And another thing, print out every single transaction that has been completed (confirmation slip) and bring it with you there.
1. Stadium tickets
The most important thing (and also the most difficult thing) is to obtain the stadium ticket. First of all, you surely want to watch your first match at home (unless it's a cup final, which would be a near impossibility). Note which fixture you want to go, and plan everything else around it. However, tickets are usually only opened for sale around three weeks before the match, so you would probably want to settle other things first.
2. Passport (and visa)
Make your passport. Can't elaborate much here. Just find a passport centre and make your passport. Be ready to queue for the whole day (I don't know if things are much more efficient nowadays, but just be mentally prepared if it requires you to be extra patient). It should cost you RM 300.
To enter a some countries, you need a visa (entry permit). For short stays, UK allows entry without visa. If you wish to stay longer (say, probably you decide to work there after the match) then you need to obtain a visa. I'm not sure how to obtain it, but I believe you need to ask from their embassy here in Malaysia.
3. Flight tickets
The next important thing (and should be the most expensive) is the flight ticket. Flying is very affordable right now, that's the main reason why now we can dream (and more importantly realize our dream) to watch live footballs. Airlines now sell tickets at usually very cheap price if booked very early ahead of schedule, like around 3 months or even earlier. So if you plan to watch the match in late spring (which is the warmest part of the season - football season that is) like I did, book before January or February.
You need to book for the return tickets, too, so be sure how long you are going to stay there. Make sure you can get your off-days approved by your boss (and do include the flight days).
And take note where you airlines will take you. MAS lands at Heathrow while AirAsia lands at Stansted (neither of which is exactly in London - it is like KLIA is to KL although the name is KLIA). You can also consider other airlines that might get you even closer to your destination; for example, KLM lands at Liverpool while Etihad lands at Manchester (but at the time of my trip, none was cheaper than AirAsia). (Probably you might be a non-English club fan, so the same applies. Otherwise, take AirAsia to UK and from there take RyanAir to whatever it is, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan etc.) From then on you will need the next thing:
3. Transportation tickets
Once you arrive in UK, you need to get to your destination. Probably you can wander around London if you wish, but I do recommend you to sleep in the city of your destination at least the night before matchday. There are two methods: train or coach (bus). I find the train to be far more comfy than coach (and much less travel time), but you probably want to consider the cost as top priority. Go online to find the best promotions on the cheapest trains or coaches. Try National Rail or National Express, feel free to try other lines if you find any. Once transaction is completed, you'll get a confirmation number. For train tickets, you can get them once you arrive there using their machines. Just put in the credit card you used to make the online purchase and they'll print out the ticket for you. For coaches, just print out the confirmation slip. In any case, just print them out and bring them.
4. Accommodation
I would highly recommend you to find hostels to stay, as they are way cheaper than hotels. Remember, we need to convert their pound to our ringgit, and we are approaching 6 on that. Or even better, if you have friends still studying there, stay at their place if they don't mind. Again, do everything here first. You can search for hostels at hostels.com (or just google it) and in Europe it's abundant.
Be extra cautious on security, though. You might be sharing rooms with other people, so take care of your belongings and try not to leave your valuables while going out.
5. Muslim preparation
To live as a Muslim in a non-Islamic country, I believe you only need to take care two major things: solah and eating. For prayers, you'll need what I call as the praying kit: a bottle, a praying mat and a compass. The bottle is for the ablution (wudhu'); you can wet your face, hands and head at the sink, but it would be less pleasing to be seen wetting your feet at the sink, too. And they don't have water pipes in their toilets, so fill up your bottle and wet your feet at the toilet bowl. Use the compass to find the qiblah (together with the knowledge of where the qiblah direction is - you can download the Azan software here, from IslamicFinder). Then lay out the praying mat and pray. It might be, at first, a little awkward to pray outside an enclosed place as we used to, but don't worry, Europeans are very respectful to other people's practices, plus, there are much more Muslims out there than what you might expect, so it won't be a very special thing for them to observe. Still, try to find a secluded corner, though. Don't pray in the middle of a busy pathway.
And eat halal food. If you wish to eat outside, just eat vegetarian food (and to be even more cautious, make sure the vegetarian meal was not cooked with alcohol). Seafood should be okay, too, provided, again, cooked without alcohol or any animal-based oil. The safest would be to cook yourself, and if you're going to UK (I'm not sure about the rest of Europe) there are plentiful of halal stores selling halal meat and meat products like hotdogs and burgers. If not, eating bake beans, scrambled eggs and toast are good enough for me. If you're lucky enough to find a Muslim community, probably they have a restaurant where you can satisfy all your savage meat cravings there.
1. Stadium tickets
OK those should cover everything. But even if you can settle everything 3 months before the trip, you would still have one thing to do: buy the stadium tickets. First, be aware of your club's policy on ticketing. For example, Liverpool only open league ticket sales to members, and Champions League home ticket sales to season ticket holders and regular attendees (cup and exhibition matches are open to everyone, though). Note which fixture you want to go (of course you have done that, that should be the ultimate number one thing on the planning).
Take note on the date and time of the sales launch. UK uses GMT in winter (-8 from Malaysia) and BST during summer (-7 from Malaysia). Save the ticket sales office number in your phone. Be ready around half an hour before the sales launch. If there are online sales, be ready with a decent internet connection. Log in half an hour before the sales launch, and keep on refreshing the page. Be ready for some relentless engaged and busy lines for hours.
However, it is sad to dash your hopes and say it might be very unlikely for you to obtain the tickets through the proper channels. So, next resort would be to buy from the 'ulat-ulat'. These tickets might cost you around a hundred to a couple of hundred pounds, so for security reasons, try to opt for cash-on-delivery deal. There are websites offering these tickets (again, you can easily google them), if you trust these websites, you can give them a try. Or, if you're willing to take the risk (of being empty-handed) go to the stadium on matchday without a ticket, and find these illegal ticket sellers on site. If you find them, you might get much cheaper than making a pre-deal online, because the closer it is to kickoff, the more desperate they get to sell off their tickets. However, if you don't find these sellers, you might have to settle watching at their local pub (after all you've been through).
And I almost forgot, most stadiums have stadium tours, so do check that out, too. Probably it is more suitable to tour the stadium before the matchday, so that the matchday is your ultimate climax of your experience.
OK that's all I guess. If any of you have anything to add, I would be glad to include it. Anfield was one of my greatest experiences in life, so I hope I could share it with others, so that one day you'll get your chance, too. Good luck.
Earlier, I went to Liverpool for the sole purpose of watching Liverpool play at Anfield. This has been a plan for me for like I don't know how many years, but since the start of last season, I knew I can't just keep on dreaming; I had to realized it. And so does another friend of mine, so we took it seriously - very seriously. (I knew I won't be having the money for the trip, so I planned to make a loan from my Dad, but he sponsored me anyway, haha.)
I'm not going to talk about what I did there (OK maybe a little), I'm going to write here on how others can fulfill their dreams just like me.
(Oh by the way, this step-by-step guide is if you wish to do everything by your own, which can cut you considerable cost with great planning. There are travel agents which offers stadium packages, but it might be more costly.)
0. Have a credit card
Things are much easier to plan from far away, thanks to online services. But you need a credit card to make transactions. So have one. If you don't have one, make one. Or borrow one. And another thing, print out every single transaction that has been completed (confirmation slip) and bring it with you there.
1. Stadium tickets
The most important thing (and also the most difficult thing) is to obtain the stadium ticket. First of all, you surely want to watch your first match at home (unless it's a cup final, which would be a near impossibility). Note which fixture you want to go, and plan everything else around it. However, tickets are usually only opened for sale around three weeks before the match, so you would probably want to settle other things first.
2. Passport (and visa)
Make your passport. Can't elaborate much here. Just find a passport centre and make your passport. Be ready to queue for the whole day (I don't know if things are much more efficient nowadays, but just be mentally prepared if it requires you to be extra patient). It should cost you RM 300.
To enter a some countries, you need a visa (entry permit). For short stays, UK allows entry without visa. If you wish to stay longer (say, probably you decide to work there after the match) then you need to obtain a visa. I'm not sure how to obtain it, but I believe you need to ask from their embassy here in Malaysia.
3. Flight tickets
The next important thing (and should be the most expensive) is the flight ticket. Flying is very affordable right now, that's the main reason why now we can dream (and more importantly realize our dream) to watch live footballs. Airlines now sell tickets at usually very cheap price if booked very early ahead of schedule, like around 3 months or even earlier. So if you plan to watch the match in late spring (which is the warmest part of the season - football season that is) like I did, book before January or February.
You need to book for the return tickets, too, so be sure how long you are going to stay there. Make sure you can get your off-days approved by your boss (and do include the flight days).
And take note where you airlines will take you. MAS lands at Heathrow while AirAsia lands at Stansted (neither of which is exactly in London - it is like KLIA is to KL although the name is KLIA). You can also consider other airlines that might get you even closer to your destination; for example, KLM lands at Liverpool while Etihad lands at Manchester (but at the time of my trip, none was cheaper than AirAsia). (Probably you might be a non-English club fan, so the same applies. Otherwise, take AirAsia to UK and from there take RyanAir to whatever it is, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan etc.) From then on you will need the next thing:
3. Transportation tickets
Once you arrive in UK, you need to get to your destination. Probably you can wander around London if you wish, but I do recommend you to sleep in the city of your destination at least the night before matchday. There are two methods: train or coach (bus). I find the train to be far more comfy than coach (and much less travel time), but you probably want to consider the cost as top priority. Go online to find the best promotions on the cheapest trains or coaches. Try National Rail or National Express, feel free to try other lines if you find any. Once transaction is completed, you'll get a confirmation number. For train tickets, you can get them once you arrive there using their machines. Just put in the credit card you used to make the online purchase and they'll print out the ticket for you. For coaches, just print out the confirmation slip. In any case, just print them out and bring them.
4. Accommodation
I would highly recommend you to find hostels to stay, as they are way cheaper than hotels. Remember, we need to convert their pound to our ringgit, and we are approaching 6 on that. Or even better, if you have friends still studying there, stay at their place if they don't mind. Again, do everything here first. You can search for hostels at hostels.com (or just google it) and in Europe it's abundant.
Be extra cautious on security, though. You might be sharing rooms with other people, so take care of your belongings and try not to leave your valuables while going out.
5. Muslim preparation
To live as a Muslim in a non-Islamic country, I believe you only need to take care two major things: solah and eating. For prayers, you'll need what I call as the praying kit: a bottle, a praying mat and a compass. The bottle is for the ablution (wudhu'); you can wet your face, hands and head at the sink, but it would be less pleasing to be seen wetting your feet at the sink, too. And they don't have water pipes in their toilets, so fill up your bottle and wet your feet at the toilet bowl. Use the compass to find the qiblah (together with the knowledge of where the qiblah direction is - you can download the Azan software here, from IslamicFinder). Then lay out the praying mat and pray. It might be, at first, a little awkward to pray outside an enclosed place as we used to, but don't worry, Europeans are very respectful to other people's practices, plus, there are much more Muslims out there than what you might expect, so it won't be a very special thing for them to observe. Still, try to find a secluded corner, though. Don't pray in the middle of a busy pathway.
And eat halal food. If you wish to eat outside, just eat vegetarian food (and to be even more cautious, make sure the vegetarian meal was not cooked with alcohol). Seafood should be okay, too, provided, again, cooked without alcohol or any animal-based oil. The safest would be to cook yourself, and if you're going to UK (I'm not sure about the rest of Europe) there are plentiful of halal stores selling halal meat and meat products like hotdogs and burgers. If not, eating bake beans, scrambled eggs and toast are good enough for me. If you're lucky enough to find a Muslim community, probably they have a restaurant where you can satisfy all your savage meat cravings there.
1. Stadium tickets
OK those should cover everything. But even if you can settle everything 3 months before the trip, you would still have one thing to do: buy the stadium tickets. First, be aware of your club's policy on ticketing. For example, Liverpool only open league ticket sales to members, and Champions League home ticket sales to season ticket holders and regular attendees (cup and exhibition matches are open to everyone, though). Note which fixture you want to go (of course you have done that, that should be the ultimate number one thing on the planning).
Take note on the date and time of the sales launch. UK uses GMT in winter (-8 from Malaysia) and BST during summer (-7 from Malaysia). Save the ticket sales office number in your phone. Be ready around half an hour before the sales launch. If there are online sales, be ready with a decent internet connection. Log in half an hour before the sales launch, and keep on refreshing the page. Be ready for some relentless engaged and busy lines for hours.
However, it is sad to dash your hopes and say it might be very unlikely for you to obtain the tickets through the proper channels. So, next resort would be to buy from the 'ulat-ulat'. These tickets might cost you around a hundred to a couple of hundred pounds, so for security reasons, try to opt for cash-on-delivery deal. There are websites offering these tickets (again, you can easily google them), if you trust these websites, you can give them a try. Or, if you're willing to take the risk (of being empty-handed) go to the stadium on matchday without a ticket, and find these illegal ticket sellers on site. If you find them, you might get much cheaper than making a pre-deal online, because the closer it is to kickoff, the more desperate they get to sell off their tickets. However, if you don't find these sellers, you might have to settle watching at their local pub (after all you've been through).
And I almost forgot, most stadiums have stadium tours, so do check that out, too. Probably it is more suitable to tour the stadium before the matchday, so that the matchday is your ultimate climax of your experience.
OK that's all I guess. If any of you have anything to add, I would be glad to include it. Anfield was one of my greatest experiences in life, so I hope I could share it with others, so that one day you'll get your chance, too. Good luck.
01 June 2009
2008/09 Season Review
When was the last time I posted something? Champions League semifinals?
Well, everything's over. I mean the season of course. The Champions League final, and everything else that comes after that - FA Cup final, Primera Liga and Serie A final fixtures. (Shouldn't the Champions League final be the ultimate climax of the season? Probably it will be next season, Platini said no more midweek final, it will be on a weekend from now on. Nice.)
This season is quite good I would say, from a Liverpool fan point of view. Yeap, we didn't win anything, but to challenge the title right until the second last match of the league season is a great leap from the previous seasons. 86 points is a club record in the Premier League era; in fact, 86 points would win the title in the last seven seasons, but United showed up with 90 (even with two defeats to Liverpool) which must be said an astonishing accomplishment.
United strolled with I-don't-know-how-many consecutive wins (with a slight hiccup of two consecutive defeats, but they continued that winning streak then) and broke the record for the longest clean sheet in English top-flight history. They were seemingly invincible. Even after the humiliating defeat at home, they still continue to win even if unimpressive. They were the best team, according to the man that made it all happen, Alex Ferguson. This best team of his will write the history of the only team to accomplish the unprecedented quintuple.
Then came Rome and they got a huge slap of reality. Came Barcelona - who might have been lucky to be there in the first place, but showed no luck was needed when they conquered Europe - and wrote their own history to become the only club from Spain to achieve the historic treble. If there is any team that is too good not to win everything, it is Barcelona. United were good for 10 minutes, then Eto'o came out with the seemingly smash-and-grab goal. It turned out not to be exactly a smash-and-grab goal. Barca took procession from then on and United made to look mediocre. Their passing was mesmerizing, I have never seen a team stringing more passes through the middle than them. Puyol was a makeshift fullback, I would expect the most defensive-minded player to be defensive. Turned out, he was asking the ball from the flanks, even had a couple of really good shots on target himself. One of them was built from a string of thirty or even forty passes that left United watching. Messi, with all his dribbling prowess, scored with a header. Credits to Iniesta and Xavi, their exquisite darting runs and the most outstanding cross (the cross had to evade Ferdinand - who was probably twice as tall as Messi - and reach his shorter teammate) bossed the midfield. The media revelled at the winner, citing art had won. True enough, art was victorious. When Arsenal went unbeaten a whole season, that was the brand of football played, and it proved, with enough class, that brand of football is irresistable (yup, you need class, that's why Mowbray couldn't keep WBA afloat, too bad).
The FA Cup came later, almost like an anti-climax, but by no mean inferior. FA Cup is still a silverware, and teams like Liverpool and Manchester United got beaten because they were second best against their opponents. Unfortunately, their conquerors, Everton, couldn't find the extra mile to beat their fellow Blues, Chelsea. It was a fitting farewell to Guus Hiddink, an incredible professional who sticks with his job to bring Russia to South Africa (unlike Scolari who told Ronaldo not to bother about club transfers and then himself signing a contract with Chelsea while managing Portugal). Everyone who has worked with Hiddink would know how incredible a manager he is. Yeah, probably they're some helping hands here and there, Essien being fit and all, but no credit should be taken away from him.
So who's the manager of the year? Hiddink did an amazing job boosting the morale of a depleted Chelsea into finishing with a silverware, but he only managed something like 22 games. Pulis did an amazing job to avoid relegation (he did more than just avoid). I don't want anyone to get relegated, but if there is one team that I want to be relegated, it would be Stoke City, because of their frustrating defence, their setpieces and the throw-ins. But hey, he did the job, and Stoke finished a very respectable mid-table, unlike his counterpart Mowbray who insisted in playing beautiful and got relegated. I still like him though for the mentality, if only he had better players to convert the chances. Moyes and O'Neill made a magnificent job to finish the best outside the so-called 'Big Four' but obviously lacked the squad to go the distance, but it was Roy Hodgson who stole the limelight, bringing Fulham from the brink of relegation last season to Europa League this season. Redknapp did outstanding himself, taking Spurs off the bottom to almost Europe. I think Zola did incredibly well himself in his first season, fighting off financial problems and playing out the famed West Ham academy players with some flair to finish top half.
But the one that stands out the tallest to me is Pep Guardiola. Yeah, he has Henry, Messi, Eto'o, Xavi, Iniesta, Krkic at his disposal, but to dish out 150+ goals in one season and a thrashing at the Bernabeu in his maiden season as manager at only 38, you run out of superlatives to describe that. Fact is, nobody scores three digits of goals in a 38-game top flight football season in an elite European league, except Barcelona. Their passes are irresistable, and the possession is tremendous. They make their opponents chase the ball, tiring them - physically and mentally. Even if they lose possession, they have the tenacity to win it back almost instantly. Chelsea were the only team to comprehensively shut them down, and had they got a good ref, they probably would have won against Barca, but it was almost scripted that Europe wants the most entertaining team to win. I still adore Hiddink very much for his tactical triumph against the young Guardiola (although a lot of neutrals hate the defensive approach of Chelsea, but Hiddink knew what it takes to beat Barca and he almost executed it, and defensive play is just as artful as attacking), but throughout the course of the season, Guardiola's team played far more mesmerizing football, and in the future, everyone how comprehensively the final was won and no one will remember how lucky they even got through the semis. Too bad, but that's the truth. Some say, Guardiola never has a plan B, but with that football, he might say, "Who needs?"
In every competition, the best teams have won. There are arguments here and there, controversies everywhere, ongoing debates as to who is better, but that is football, and that is why it is the most celebrated sports in the world. Everything is anti-climax from now on, you probably get to watch highlights and reviews of the season together with some reruns of insignificant matches you already know the results. Come August and everything starts all over again, the rollercoaster ride of emotions as we eagerly wait some bunch of people who don't even know us to lift trophies. For now, there's international football to keep us occupied.
Well, everything's over. I mean the season of course. The Champions League final, and everything else that comes after that - FA Cup final, Primera Liga and Serie A final fixtures. (Shouldn't the Champions League final be the ultimate climax of the season? Probably it will be next season, Platini said no more midweek final, it will be on a weekend from now on. Nice.)
This season is quite good I would say, from a Liverpool fan point of view. Yeap, we didn't win anything, but to challenge the title right until the second last match of the league season is a great leap from the previous seasons. 86 points is a club record in the Premier League era; in fact, 86 points would win the title in the last seven seasons, but United showed up with 90 (even with two defeats to Liverpool) which must be said an astonishing accomplishment.
United strolled with I-don't-know-how-many consecutive wins (with a slight hiccup of two consecutive defeats, but they continued that winning streak then) and broke the record for the longest clean sheet in English top-flight history. They were seemingly invincible. Even after the humiliating defeat at home, they still continue to win even if unimpressive. They were the best team, according to the man that made it all happen, Alex Ferguson. This best team of his will write the history of the only team to accomplish the unprecedented quintuple.
Then came Rome and they got a huge slap of reality. Came Barcelona - who might have been lucky to be there in the first place, but showed no luck was needed when they conquered Europe - and wrote their own history to become the only club from Spain to achieve the historic treble. If there is any team that is too good not to win everything, it is Barcelona. United were good for 10 minutes, then Eto'o came out with the seemingly smash-and-grab goal. It turned out not to be exactly a smash-and-grab goal. Barca took procession from then on and United made to look mediocre. Their passing was mesmerizing, I have never seen a team stringing more passes through the middle than them. Puyol was a makeshift fullback, I would expect the most defensive-minded player to be defensive. Turned out, he was asking the ball from the flanks, even had a couple of really good shots on target himself. One of them was built from a string of thirty or even forty passes that left United watching. Messi, with all his dribbling prowess, scored with a header. Credits to Iniesta and Xavi, their exquisite darting runs and the most outstanding cross (the cross had to evade Ferdinand - who was probably twice as tall as Messi - and reach his shorter teammate) bossed the midfield. The media revelled at the winner, citing art had won. True enough, art was victorious. When Arsenal went unbeaten a whole season, that was the brand of football played, and it proved, with enough class, that brand of football is irresistable (yup, you need class, that's why Mowbray couldn't keep WBA afloat, too bad).
The FA Cup came later, almost like an anti-climax, but by no mean inferior. FA Cup is still a silverware, and teams like Liverpool and Manchester United got beaten because they were second best against their opponents. Unfortunately, their conquerors, Everton, couldn't find the extra mile to beat their fellow Blues, Chelsea. It was a fitting farewell to Guus Hiddink, an incredible professional who sticks with his job to bring Russia to South Africa (unlike Scolari who told Ronaldo not to bother about club transfers and then himself signing a contract with Chelsea while managing Portugal). Everyone who has worked with Hiddink would know how incredible a manager he is. Yeah, probably they're some helping hands here and there, Essien being fit and all, but no credit should be taken away from him.
So who's the manager of the year? Hiddink did an amazing job boosting the morale of a depleted Chelsea into finishing with a silverware, but he only managed something like 22 games. Pulis did an amazing job to avoid relegation (he did more than just avoid). I don't want anyone to get relegated, but if there is one team that I want to be relegated, it would be Stoke City, because of their frustrating defence, their setpieces and the throw-ins. But hey, he did the job, and Stoke finished a very respectable mid-table, unlike his counterpart Mowbray who insisted in playing beautiful and got relegated. I still like him though for the mentality, if only he had better players to convert the chances. Moyes and O'Neill made a magnificent job to finish the best outside the so-called 'Big Four' but obviously lacked the squad to go the distance, but it was Roy Hodgson who stole the limelight, bringing Fulham from the brink of relegation last season to Europa League this season. Redknapp did outstanding himself, taking Spurs off the bottom to almost Europe. I think Zola did incredibly well himself in his first season, fighting off financial problems and playing out the famed West Ham academy players with some flair to finish top half.
But the one that stands out the tallest to me is Pep Guardiola. Yeah, he has Henry, Messi, Eto'o, Xavi, Iniesta, Krkic at his disposal, but to dish out 150+ goals in one season and a thrashing at the Bernabeu in his maiden season as manager at only 38, you run out of superlatives to describe that. Fact is, nobody scores three digits of goals in a 38-game top flight football season in an elite European league, except Barcelona. Their passes are irresistable, and the possession is tremendous. They make their opponents chase the ball, tiring them - physically and mentally. Even if they lose possession, they have the tenacity to win it back almost instantly. Chelsea were the only team to comprehensively shut them down, and had they got a good ref, they probably would have won against Barca, but it was almost scripted that Europe wants the most entertaining team to win. I still adore Hiddink very much for his tactical triumph against the young Guardiola (although a lot of neutrals hate the defensive approach of Chelsea, but Hiddink knew what it takes to beat Barca and he almost executed it, and defensive play is just as artful as attacking), but throughout the course of the season, Guardiola's team played far more mesmerizing football, and in the future, everyone how comprehensively the final was won and no one will remember how lucky they even got through the semis. Too bad, but that's the truth. Some say, Guardiola never has a plan B, but with that football, he might say, "Who needs?"
In every competition, the best teams have won. There are arguments here and there, controversies everywhere, ongoing debates as to who is better, but that is football, and that is why it is the most celebrated sports in the world. Everything is anti-climax from now on, you probably get to watch highlights and reviews of the season together with some reruns of insignificant matches you already know the results. Come August and everything starts all over again, the rollercoaster ride of emotions as we eagerly wait some bunch of people who don't even know us to lift trophies. For now, there's international football to keep us occupied.
07 May 2009
Rome
Wow. So that is what football is.
OK, I don't know where to start.
Manchester United safely secured their passage to the final, disposing Arsenal at the Emirates, a team that promised their fans a 'magnificent' performance.
But it is amazing what fascinates me is not the tie that produced five goals; instead, it was the other tie that has only two goals to offer. No offense, United displayed a good performance in both legs to secure their path to Rome, but the simplicity of the execution brought no drama. Arsenal were never going to score five the moment Ronaldo made that face for the second time.
The tie was dubbed 'The Beauty and the Beast'. Understandably so. Barcelona have played some silky, mesmerizing goals this season under Guardiola, and they strolled past everyone - even scored six at Bernabeu - but they failed to find the net at home turf for the first time when they played Chelsea, a display of the most resilient defense by any team I have seen all season.
I, just like almost any neutral, would have certainly wanted the attacking team to prevail. They went into their rhythm straight from the start, and things quickly settled into my prediction - a 70-30 possession to the Catalans, except for one thing: an insane strike from Essien. Andy Gray said, "It doesn't get any better than this," and how often do we hear that phrase, but he got that right, and he meant every single word of it, literally. The ball is in the air, he hit it on his weaker foot, the volley was supersweet, it dipped just enough to hit the underside of the bar, Chelsea is leading after only nine minutes.
Barca would continue their dominance afterwards, but again, no real penetration. It was beginning to look very much like how they got knocked out last season - a whole lot of possession in both legs, no penetration, one super strike settled it. With all the ball they had, Cech did not need to make one single save. Ninety minutes and no shots on target.
But ninety minutes of 'clean sheet' is not enough. There's injury time. But later on that. I want to mention about the referee. You make mistakes in a game, and as you made it, you go along with it. As a professional referee, you do not intend to make mistakes, otherwise it won't be known as mistakes. But if you do, then just make sure you don't make more mistakes. You don't try to correct the past, and more importantly, you don't lean on one side.
First mistake was the penalty he should have given for Abidal's foul on Drogba (oh ya the Malouda-Alves tussle, but I think that was too soft). Honestly, I think Drogba went to ground a bit too easy (as always) but it was a penalty, Abidal tugged his shirt, and made a tackle afterwards. No penalty. (Maybe if you consider the penalty that should have been given to Barca in the first leg, things are even now.)
But maybe at halftime, he reviewed that and realized he made a mistake and probably he needed to make amends. Drogba had another claim for a penalty when Yaya Toure tackled him, but I think he got that one right, the ball changed direction which means Toure got the ball. But then Anelka was felled when he was through on goal. The ref almost made up his mind that Abidal should be off. I saw that in replays and I couldn't see a tackle Abidal made on Anelka. Two sending offs in two second leg semifinals - both I find horribly wrong - ruining the dreams of two players.
But the ref went on making more 'mistakes', probably driven by his guilt of sending off Abidal, denying Chelsea penalties of blatant handball by Pique and a less blatant one by Eto'o later on. As a referee, you don't try to correct past things. But what can you say, they're human. That is why it is very unlikely for a referee to give a second penalty to the same team even though it is legitimate.
I was rooting for Barcelona for the sheer entertainment of their passing, but as the game builds on, I thought Chelsea thoroughly deserved to win, they defended superbly and did the most on their breaks, had the most gilt-edged chances and had some decisions against them. Barcelona made no shots on target for ninety minutes.
But then the unthinkable came. In the act of desperation, with Pique staying up front, Alves whipped in a good cross (after countless bad ones) which bounces off I don't know how many bodies until Iniesta got the first shot on target for Barca, and man was that a sweet one. It was heartbreak for the home side, and I know how nailbiting it felt to hold on to a one-nil lead (Garcia goal, remember?) but I don't know how it feels like to lose like that.
In the end, it was understandably hard to swallow for all Chelsea players, but again, Lampard acted most professionally, he is the only Chelsea player who got a Barca jersey I think (in the form of goalscorer Iniesta). Too bad some players couldn't play in the final, but let's hope it'll be a great one.
29 April 2009
Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea: Frustration
They must be frustrated. They must be really frustrated.
I heard the commentator said the last time Barcelona failed to score at home was when they drew 0-0 against Manchester United. Guess what, a year later - on the exact same fixture, Champions League semifinal first leg - another English team got a clean sheet at Camp Nou.
Well, Liverpool did not manage a clean sheet there, but their approach were very similiar to their two English compatriots: defensive. I almost had a thought before the match, Barca might have 70% possession, stringing passes around the penalty box but no penetration. They did that against United last season - both home and away - and it showed how they lacked the creativity to score against the most stubborn of English defenses.
Time has changed, and so does the manager. They scored 140 goals in all competitions under him, dispatching record-breaking Bayern (that got Klinsmann sacked just a few hours ago) with some ease. With them possessing talents such as Henry, (who already outdone his tally of last season but still trails behind) Eto'o and Messi, nobody is willing to bet against them scoring.
But Chelsea parked some bus there. No offense, it will be described as a heroic effort by many after this I'm sure, it was an incredible defensive performance. One can see how quickly they got back on their foot to make sure whenever some stray balls got beyond their fullbacks, their centrehalves and defensive midfielders are there to cover.
However, on a neutral side, I won't like to see the defensive team win, and besides that, they also did it quite ugly, too. They had several bookings, and the referee tried his very best not to send off anyone (Ballack might deserve a second yellow, and probably even Puyol, too). Barca certainly deserved a penalty, the tug by Ashley Cole on his former teammate Henry was blatant, and wow it was frustrating he got away with that.
And Drogba, man, this guy really test people's nerves. He's a good player, and good is probably an understatement, but I'm just describing that technically. Professionally, he's horrible. Whenever he cried in agony, there's very little credibility. I remembered during the quarterfinals second leg he got in pain but played continued because he was outside the field, but he wanted both teams to stop playing so he rolled back onto the pitch. I resisted to mention it the last time but I couldn't this time. And he made some off-ball tackles if I'm not mistaken.
Why can't he be more like Lampard? I like that fella a lot, except for the fact that he scored two to knockout Liverpool. Amazingly, he was taken off quite early. The commentators mentioned it was very unusual that Lampard was taken off that early unless he had an injury. Well, did he ever even got injured? He once held the record for consecutive league appearances and he contributed that to his ability to stay off injury.
In the end, there were a few chances, but both goalkeepers did very well. Goalless draw might seem favourable to the away team for the second leg (well, at least to me), because a scoring draw will get them through, and every away goal they score is a mountain for the home side (needing to equalize and then lead), but history might suggest otherwise. Home advantage is still an advantage, and as United showed (and even Liverpool with that Garcia goal that every Chelsea fan still hates) one goal might just be enough to get the team through.
They say the home team do the attacking, so it might just leave some gaping holes for Barca to exploit. Well, who knows? Barca 'enjoyed' two-thirds of possession on both turfs, and couldn't find the net. I reckon it might be another goalless draw, and a penalty shootout. I reckon the FA Cup final is a goalless draw, too. I hope they'll prove me wrong.
26 April 2009
12 Pictures from Google Images
I have been tagged by Jamil quite some time ago, so here it is. I hate this tagging thingy, but this one is quite interesting.
All the following pictures are generated by Google Images with the options of 'All image sizes' and 'Moderate SafeSearch is on'.
1. The age of your birthday.
WTF is the age of my birthday? Oh well I typed '23' and that pic was on the first page (well, that is the rule, I have to choose a pic from the first page of results).
2. The place I would like to travel to.
There are two places that I want to go there more than anywhere else in the world, but every Muslim would want to go that one obvious place, so I typed 'Anfield' instead. With His will I hope I will get my chance to go to both of those places.
3. The favourite place.
'Home', where else. I want my own home, though.
What that picture had to do with home? I don't know. Ask the '23' dinasour.
4. The favorite food.
I don't have a specific favorite food, because what you're craving always depend on the situation, so I tried typing 'depends', but it turns out there is a brand of diapers with that name (what a name). Then I thought of one: 'Uncle Lim's karipap'. If you haven't tried one then you should, it is the best karipap in the world, although it might cost you slightly more than the average street-side karipaps. However, there's only two Uncle Lim's in the world, so good luck finding.
5. The nickname I had.
Friends back in school used to call me 'kancil'; I don't seem to have any nicknames in university. That's the coolest pic of Kancil I found.
6. The favourite colour.
My favourite colour is 'white'. That creature came out when I typed that.
7. The city I live in (for now).
I live in 'Subang'. I don't want any boring pictures of buildings so I chose that delicious-looking picture - guess what that is? Hahah. I love that blog.
8. The city I was born in.
'Taman Tun Dr Ismail'. (That day I typed that and this pic came out, today it didn't. Oh well.)
9. College major.
I don't know which one is my major, so I typed both - 'Chemical Engineering Gas and Petrochemical Engineering' - that fella's face turned up.
10. Bad habit.
When I typed 'lazy', that cat's pic featured three times in the first 21 results, so I chose the highest resolution. Nice pic, whoever took it, and nice pose dude.
11. Hobby.
Man I hate this question. Interviewers seem to like this question. 'I don't know' what my hobby is! Does watching football counts? No, I don't spend my past time watching football, I watch football only when they're playing, and I make my own time, I don't watch only if I have past time. Or does listening to music counts? I don't listen to music during my past time, either. I listen whenever I want, but it's not a hobby. Then what is my hobby? I don't know!
12. Wishlist.
I have a long wishlist, but for now I'll just put one, something that money can't buy: the 'Premier League title'. (There are a lot more things that money can't buy, like peace or greener future, but those things are a bit too far-fetched isn't it?)
So there you go. I think everyone has done this, so I don't need to tag anyone. If you want to be tagged, just say I tagged you.
21 April 2009
Dream Job
All these grape planting have opened my mind a lot about jobs.
That day I was talking about having a job that can contribute to the society, to the betterment of humankind. Now I want to talk about job that can satisfy our own desires - the so-called dream job.
So what is your dream job? Doing something you enjoy and getting paid for it? Maybe.
But maybe not also. I (used to) enjoy digital designing after a friend of mine roped me into a promotions and publications department of an event. I started learning about designing and I found it fun, but when it turned into work where I have deadlines and stuff and requirements or specifications of the job to be done, it becomes burdening. I also enjoy scripting (or programming) and I did some for one of my favourite games, Ragnarok Online. Then I self-appointed myself as a gamemaster, and then I have to entertain the problems that players of my server faced. From a leisurely time-filling activity, it becomes a commitment and from then on, the 'work' becomes uninteresting.
So does the idea of 'getting paid doing what you enjoy most' is actually appealing? If you enjoy games and you spend two-thirds of your living life doing that, would a game critic be a dream job for you? What if you've been playing first-person shooter role-playing game all along then suddenly you got your dream job and now you have to play some American football or some puzzles and give a verdict on those type of games? Or maybe you're a music diehard fan but now you make a living listening to all sorts of music and give your opinion and only then you realized you're heavily biased towards one genre only and you hate everything else. Or even a job like a Playboy magazine editor might not be so appealing as you thought it might be. You start to get bored with those should-be arousing pictures and your worst nightmare might just loom ahead - lose appetite on women!
By the way, the dream job I'm talking here is all about pleasure of doing the job and nothing about making the money. If you get to travel around the world, eat all those delicacies and make some videos on it, who cares how much you get paid for that. Of course everyone wants a superbig mansion with all those luxury cars in the porch, but I'm not talking about the pay, I'm talking about the job itself, how much you enjoy doing it without caring how much money you'll get out of it.
You know what my dream job is? Well, I have been thinking about this a lot, and only very recently I thought of one. I would really like to be an independent sports pundit. Not those type of people in television, I don't talk that well. I would just like to write. I am a Liverpool fan and probably my views would be very biased, but I also like to try and give some neutral opinions, perhaps on relegation battles or some other leagues or maybe just the insatiable appeal of football itself. And not just football. I've been watching some F1 this season (thanks to the huge amount of time I have at my disposal) and I would really like to put some of my words on that. I also watched some tennis, most notably the Australian Open, and although I don't watch golf that much (I don't watch golf at all) but some players did manage to achieve feats that really impressed me. (Yesterday that crazy fella won his tournament by a whopping ten shots! Go find yourself out who that crazy fella is.)
The F1 advertisements that PETRONAS made are now among my favourites. The advertisements are the pinnacle example of professional videos. These days, wacky ads are more 'appealing', (most of the times they are not appealing, but) it sticks in your mind. Professional-themed ads tend to become more and more boring, but these PETRONAS F1 commercials really hit me. I remembered two (and I think there are more), one of them showed a boxer being punched and then mentioned, "Imagine being under 5G's of force," the other one showed a group of firefighers braving through a fire with the narrator saying, "Imagine being in temperatures of 50°C," or something like that, "that's what an F1 driver is experiencing". The videos ended with a tagline that captured the essence of what they're trying to reach people with the most genius assembly of words, "Human willpower. How amazing.".
Sports is about human willpower, and whatever sports you watch, whoever the athletes, it never ceases to amaze you. And sports showcase the most amazing fairy tales human will ever witness, even the best of scriptwriters can never rewrite the emotions that sports can bring in their fake fictional movies or stories.
In no time I will have a new dream job and probably that's just the nature of human: never satisfied. For now I'm already living my 'dream life' although I do not earn money by living like this, that is, doing nothing (I am well-fed, though). I said this to somebody and I'm glad it inspired him, so I hope to inspire a lot more: "Menganggur skali seumur idop je, so enjoy while it lasts.".
So what's your dream job? (I hate tagging, but this is almost like one. If you want to write about your own dream job, feel free to do so and I would like to hear it!)
13 April 2009
The Quest of Work
As I passed by the shop outlets at KLCC - Gucci, Coach, Luis Vuitton - a thought came to me.
These outlets sell handbags and purses, and these leather products cost thousands. How could these things worth thousands? How could people buy these things? And how could people make a living out of these things?
Work is to feed yourself. But if you can make more than just feeding yourself, you can live in a better home, eat better food, etcetera. But the choice of work is not just about money.
Say, for example, you grow grapes for a living (I mean literally). You can sell it to markets or supermarkets for money, but if you are a Muslim, you can't sell it to wineries. Or perhaps in a more direct example, one can't work as a prostitute to feed yourself (and others).
To find a work that pays well is one thing, but to find an 'ethical' work is probably more important. When you work as an electrical engineer, and you develop a state-of-the-art microprocessor that will be sold for one thouosand ringgit for example, I would probably say that is better than designing a handbag that will be sold at the same price. (The word 'ethical' that I used is somewhat harsh, almost suggesting that handbag makers are 'unethical' jobs, but a more suitable word hasn't come to my mind for now.)
I heard Obama once said, instead of young children hoping to become Wallstreet stockbrokers and earn millions, he hopes the young children will be aspiring more to become engineers or doctors. These aren't the best money-making jobs, but these jobs are certainly the core of 'making the world a better place'. You designed the plasma TV and you get paid for your design, the money you get is most probably much less than the ones who sell your design, but hey, at least you've made the world a better place.
Not all jobs are beneficial to mankind, even if you're a fancy engineer. When I was young, I wanted to work with CERN. I wanted to be a nuclear engineer (no not like Homer Simpson), I wanted to clash particles and see what they're made of. The job sounds interesting, and the project is a multi-billion euro one. Surely it must be very fascinating. However, as I grew up, I wondered, what would be the benefit of the study to mankind? Apart from the knowledge, I couldn't find any practical applications of the discovery to the improvement of human's lives.
I spend a lot of time at home right now, and once I watched how airbags are made. One of the staffs said it was a great pride of him working there because he knew everyday he works he is saving lives all over the world. How great is that.
I want to get a job, and considering the economic situation right now, I would probably grab whatever that comes to me, but given the choice, I will always hope to work for something that would contribute to the society. Thankfully, I graduated as a chemical engineer, and if I work in a plant, the chemicals I 'produce' will probably be used to make plastics or solvents, or if I work on a platform, the oil I 'suck out' will be used as fuel, or if I work as a safety officer, my task is to ensure the safety of people. We work to feed ourselves, but it is always preferable (in all religions I believe) to seek a job that will contribute to the society and to the betterment of humankind.
03 April 2009
A New Era
Wow, today we'll get a new Prime Minister. It is almost a surreal feeling. I'm 23 now, and as far as I can remember, I've only experienced one PM change, and it was prescripted far ahead. Mahathir was at the helm (well, helm is not really a suitable word, since it would be more fitting to describe the king, but, oh, what the hell) for so long and Malaysia prospered significantly under his reign that no one actually wanted him to step down except him himself, so he decided to give some few months ahead for the country to be ready for his resignation.
And probably because he was so good, it made his successor looked bad. Everyone has this impression that Pak Lah has inferior leadership and led to BN's worst election results, although they still won.
Well, now, to all Pak Lah's sceptics, he has stepped down.
A new era. Or is it?
About Malaysian politics, I'm never too bothered about it. Whoever takes the lead, I'm not too sure about the significant changes we will be seeing.
Is Najib a much better Prime Minister than Pak Lah? As mentioned, I'm not sure. Even during his days as various ministers and Deputy Prime Minister, I'm not overly impressed with him. OK, if not him, then who would I pick? Muhyiddin? Hishammuddin? KJ? Hamid Albar? Shahrir? (Hahah!) To be really honest, if I were to pick a PM, I would probably not pick anyone from BN. I would hate to say this, I would hate to sound pro-opposition (or anti-government, whichever) but I would probably choose Anwar. I think he's very wise and very witty. The thing is, I also thinks he's quite evil and deceitful. Not saying he's evil, I'm saying I think he's quite evil - there's a difference in those.
Nik Aziz might also be a good proposition, too. Now I really sound like an opposition, but I'm just considering all possibilities, regardless of party (although unfortunately I do consider religion and thus no non-Muslims are mentioned). But if he's the leader, he might be more of Ali Khamenei rather than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And I perceive him to be a bit too conservative, although I do agree with most of his public statements.
But why not Najib? After all, he is vastly experienced, and that is very much a requirement to become the PM. Plus, he completes the RAHMAN initials of first six PMs of Malaysia (I've heard this ever since Mahathir announced his future resignation, that this was all scripted and stuff, how naive for anyone to believe, but seriously, even during that day, you can't really see anyone else to succeed than those two). He's not really funny, but that criteria is never important. George Bush was funny. You don't want that type of funny.
As a citizen of Malaysia, why not I give my support to the new Prime Minister? Regardless of party (just to be crystal clear, I'm neither pro-government nor opposition, I just can't see significant difference between the two, and probably it can be used as an excuse that I'm still not registered as a voter) I'm a Malaysian and my leader is the Prime Minister. Just as in every Friday khutbah we always pray for the state's prosperity and a longlasting sovereignty of the Ruler, perhaps we should also pray for the best in the country's new leadership (although praying for the Ruler is much easier since he is a very neutral figure in contrast to the politicians). I hope for the best for Najib and may he prove to us that he can deliver far more than our wildest expectations.
26 March 2009
Uhh, Earth Hour, so Boring...
Enough of footie talk. Something else.
28th of March will be the day that we are all supposed to shut off our lights to express our support against the global warming. Not really to combat global warming head on, because shutting off our air-conditioners and PlayStations would be much more effective, but just to show, "I care".
Not so long ago, there was a very moving movie made by 'used to be the next President of the United States', Al Gore, titled "An Inconvenient Truth". The breathtaking slides, together with the Century Gothic sans serif fonts, the stunning pictures in between, finished off with his sweet politician talk, was a really effective message to the world, and to me at least. I was so moved that I decided, for my persuasive presentation (in my Professional Communication Skills course), I would be persuading people to stop global warming.
So I did some research, very surface ones, and my lalang just got blown the other way. Perhaps, there is no global warming after all.
No, only an idiot would say global warming is a myth. Global warming is not a myth and it is very true, but saying that we humans are the cause of global warming is in fact the myth.
There is one popular scene in "An Inconvenient Truth" that caught my attention, the scene where Al Gore used his scissor lift to emphasis on how unnatural is the current carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere (the scene was parodied in "The Simpsons Movie"). People at Antartica drilled ice cores to measure carbon dioxide content and global temperatures as far back as 650 thousand years ago, and it showed a pattern of global warming as well as ice ages. However, he pointed out how humans have caused the CO2 concentration to be way off the natural cycle. He, though, interestingly, did not show the corresponding graph of temperature, hinting there might be no direct relation between CO2 concentration and global temperature.
In fact, I find it very hard to believe that current CO2's concentration can actually affect the atmospheric temperature by a few degrees. Mind you, CO2's concentration is still measured in ppm, parts per million. If each person would represent one part of the atmospheric content in a 50000-odd stadium, only 19 people would be representing carbon dioxide. Even the police circumferencing the pitch can simply outnumber them.
Plus, there are so much more gases the we should worry even more. Methane, a gas that is produced by the decay of organic matters - including poop - has around 25 times more potential to cause global warming. Water vapour itself has a heat capacity 500 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. Recent study showed that nitrogen trifluoride, NF3, a gas used in production of microprocessor chips, has a global warming potential 16800 times of CO2.
However, myth or not, it is always good to 'stop global warming'. Part of combating global warming is being moderate in everything, but most notably in energy usage. Saving energy is always good, even if humans never caused global warming. In fact, any form of moderation is always encouraged in Islam and perhaps in all religions. Turning off the fans and lights while no one is using saves electricity, which in turn reduces the burning of fossil fuels at power plants. Even saving water can save energy, because the more water we waste, the more water needs to be treated, hence using more energy. And recycling always helps by making less trees to be cut down.
I don't know if I will turn off my lights on 28th of March, because convincing people the opposite of what Al Gore has convinced the world is quite a monumental (and useless) task. I don't, and still don't, believe that global warming is caused by humans, but the steps that are promoted towards 'reducing the global warming' is always good, so, oh what the heck.
19 February 2009
Malaysian Politics
Aren't we proud to be Malaysians? While the world are struggling to find work, to find food, to find fuel, or for some parts of the world, to just even live, we are entertained with our never-short-of-humour politicians.
I guess I'm not too late to comment on the party-hopping case happening recently. Late last year, when the de-facto opposition leader plotted to takeover the country by persuading a certain number of government Parliament seat holders to switch sides, the government was furious, stating that they are the elected government and the decision of the people must be respected. But then early this year certain members of the opposition decided to hop islands and the government came out with a statement welcoming them to join the boat.
And this time, the government did change hands. The people of that particular state voted for a certain government (actually, they voted for three different parties who themselves decided to form a coalition) but now they got a different government. Is this right? So far, nobody is against the constitution, so maybe it is right.
But the former government is refusing to leave his office, stating it is not right. The Sultan decided, the new government has been formed and he shall elect the new state leader. Now the former government is suing the Sultan.
Or so I think. I don't even know the real story.
My first point: OK I'll come back to my first point later on, because I think it requires the most emphasis.
Second, I always have something against these rulers of state (by rulers, I'm referring to the monarchy), ever since I was a young boy. (Oh ya, do you know that Malaysia do have the most number of rulers? Other countries would have only one, if any, but we have, I don't know, fourteen?) I always hate the idea of some person inheriting the power of the land from his father without the consideration of knowledge, leadership, calibre and those things. He rules the state just because he has that blood. That is seriously not fair. As I grow up, my loathing towards monarchy fades away, since I knew they are not really in full power. In fact, in certain ways, probably they are not as fortunate as us. These rulers (and their successors) are subjected to royal protocols and manners that we probably won't be enjoying that much. Although some do misuse their powers, most of them are well-mannered.
And now this guy, I mean his Majesty, is being sued. Mind you, among the numerous rulers here in Malaysia, this one is probably the most educated. And he is being sued. How outrageous the people have become. Or perhaps I should say Malay people. I don't give a damn about rulers being sued if they deserved so. But currently, my first perception is, this is the most educated ruler, and I don't think it would be very wise to sue him. Even if you do win the case, you have done an irreversible image on you.
And what do I think about ketuanan Melayu? That would be a whole different blog post altogether. I have my own views and I do realize a lot of people would disagree with me, and therefore I shall not write it here (because I'm too lazy to fight my own stand). If I do feel like debating (which I'm not that good actually) I should probably go to a forum instead.
So what was my first point? For years, people have voted for the same government, then suddenly the leader changed, and with people more accessible to media such as internet (instead of television or newspaper where it is clearly government-controlled), views have become much wider. So last election, votes are very much divided, gifting several states to the opposition. However, the small majority in the seats has turned politics in this country into a rather chaotic scene. Now, even the opposition's bad side is exposed. The people lost their trust in the old government, trying to vote a new government. Now it seems that the new government isn't any much better either. I missed the voting last time because I hadn't registered yet. Right now, I don't think I can make much difference if I do vote. What these guys are doing will only make the voting turnout even poorer next time around, I can seriously bet on that.
Who cares who leads us? Is anyone any better? Do I see any significant development while someone's in the office? What is significant development anyway? Shouldn't they be concerned about the economics instead? Will there ever be a "Forget about the party, we should be doing it for the people" mentality?
Do whatever you like. For those people who enjoys marching down the street and spending your nights making banners, go ahead with your fascinating life. I just enjoy my life here, unaware with the surroundings, making money (if possible) and watch fake news. As long as we don't become Khmer Rouge, I guess the 'development' that we're enjoying right now is great enough. Anyways, for the Khmer Rouge victims, I hope that justice will prevail.
14 February 2009
A Blog Post on a Particular Day in February
Valentine's Day special. Sigh. Why must tv channels have special shows on St. Valentine's Day? In fact, why must there be special shows for any reason? I hate watching tv when the time of year is approaching Christmas or Hari Raya or Chinese New Year because all channels will start to be oriented toward the festival. People won't watch romantic shows on St. Valentine's Day for love's sake. They would rather go out or have dinner or something.
By the way, why am I here, blogging, on St. Valentine's Day? Shouldn't I be out or something? Well, why must we go out on this day? All other couples would also want to go out on this day, and by joining them, you are making the world even more crowded. If really you would want to celebrate the spirit of love with your special one, there're a lot of other days that would - with high probability - be much less crowded. (I don't know how crowded it might be out there, actually. I'm just exaggerating.) Plus, I don't celebrate St. Valentine's Day. It's a saint day, a Christian thing. As a Muslim, I should not be following a Christian tradition (2:120). No offense to the Christians, because I do think celebrating Christmas (or any other religious festivals for that matter - Vesak, Deepavali) is good to promote muhibbah spirit in our multiracial, multicultural country, but celebrating St. Valentine's Day is not something that will bridge cultural differences, and moreover, it is an intimate celebration, not a mass party.
But I do celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day, though. Why? First of all, I don't think it is a religious celebration. Second, celebrating those days doesn't mean you love your parents only for those two days and being a completely ignorant child for the rest of the year. And most importantly for me, I find that Mother's and Father's Day are much more special than their birthdays because it is celebrating their parenthood, and that is indeed a very big accomplishment. Everyone has a birthday, but not everyone can have a Mother's or Father's Day.
Oh ya, I haven't been blogging for quite a while. Being in this grape business is not very happening, so to say. Last Australian Open, I suddenly got hooked into the mood, watching hours of tennis everyday. I found out that tennis is quite good, actually. It is wonderful to see how technical these players are to place their tiny little green ball inside the court. To a certain extent, it is almost like a football player placing their shot right into the top or bottom corner. The only difference is the goalmouth is vertical whereas the tennis court is flat on the ground. But, watching a repeating task for hours is quite tiring (or rather boring), which is something like basketball. You watch the ball go into the basket so many times, it does not exhilirate you anymore, not like when you see the ball hits the back of the net.
And now, golf is on the back page of the newspaper! I'm not a great fan of golf, but I read that Danny Chia, our proud Malaysian, hit two eagles yesterday! I can't even do that in a video game, let alone on real grass. It's good to promote a sport held in Malaysia, and it is even better that a Malaysian is leading the scoreboard. Perhaps he will be the inspiration of thousands of Malaysian golfers who might want to change their careers from the boring CEO job to a professional golfer. I know my father is a golf enthusiast, and so does his friends, and some of my uncles, and cousins-in-law. This is a US$2m tournament, mind you. It is even bigger than Chong Wei's Malaysian Open win.
And what else circulating around the world? Hmm, nothing much.
11 December 2008
Week in Review
I can't put those sad pictures on my front page anymore. Need to post something new.
But I'm at home. Something I will almost certainly not do is blogging (but I am doing it anyway now, but I don't think it will be that frequent).
First of all, happy Idul Adha. It is quite a low celebration here in Malaysia compared to the other Id day, but still.
Secondly, I've noticed how little I have been posting about Liverpool lately. Liverpool went on a few hours without scoring, and the morale was really low, even when leading the table. Thankfully, Alonso broke the barren run and now Liverpool have scored six in the last two, not something to be really proud of, but at least it keeps the morale high. And for last night's match, they (ESPNStar) even decided not to show Liverpool's match (probably they thought nothing was at stake, but Liverpool were going for top spot while PSV were going for a UEFA Cup berth, what the hell about 'nothing is at stake'?). Instead, they showed Werder versus Inter. I wonder who would want to watch that, in this Asean region.
And on the other news, The Mars Volta actually got a Grammy nomination. Wow. This world is going crazy.
04 December 2008
Priceless
These pictures are chosen to depict moments to be remembered. I can't include everyone, and for that I am sorry. These pictures are not picked by random; instead, I intentionally picked the ones that describes the activity in the simplest form. If certain pictures are found to be offensive, please notice me and I will have it removed. Thank you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)