Journey Begins

My prediction has been confirmed!! Now Portugal will see Spain in the round of 16. And what is the best news? I get to see them LIVE!!!! InsyaAllah..

Currently logging in from KLIA. We already get the boarding pass KL-Dubai, then Dubai - Cape Town. Can't belive that I am actually on my way :) Still a bit nervous as I am not in the stadium watching the game yet.

Game 56 : Round of 16 is 1H (Spain) vs 2G ( Portugal)
Venue : Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
Time : 1630 H 29th June 2010 (Local time) or 0230H 30th June 2010 (Malaysian time) a.k.a my ~birthday!!! what a day..what a day to be ;)

Am on My Way...

Currently logging in from the free internet kiosk at KLIA,waiting for departure. Finally it comes true :) Will tel more if and when I have the chance.

*wishing for a safe journey!!

Oh Noooooo!!!!!!

What I fear the most has comes through. Portugal will have to face Spain for the round of 16 match in order to get to quarter finals. Bummer!!

Portugal vs Brazil was quite a carefully played game as both teams had little at stake (considering Portugal could easily qualify based on the humongous goal they get during NKorea defeat.) Its going to an entertaining match, could not wait ;)

Jabs update

Previuosly a friend told me to get jaundice jap for people going to Africa. I went to see my doctor to ask for what else do I need to get (vaccination). First the dr said yup I have to get jaundice shot, but since its not a stock items and normally clinics do no have it, I must go to KL to get it and supposed to be done 10 days before...(alamak..dah lepas dateline la...) But she said I have to get it anyway. She did not even have to clinic's name that supposedly have the shot.

So dengan tak puas hati I went to second Dr, this one lagi best, he said I don't have to take any shots...(really??) Apparently he told me that he and his family went to South Africa already and they were not required to take any jap. South Africa is still OK, but if you are planning to go to other parts (Kenya,Nigeria,etc.) you may want to check. So the only thing that he offers me is the H1N1...

Haish...macam-macam kan? Nak travel baru tau sume benda ni ;p

Pengawas Blog

Just when I thought I am entitled to free speech, somebody proved that I am not. This happens last week. Person A called me and asked to see me urgently. We never really spoke (takat hi kat pantry doesn't count rite?) and our job did not really cross path. So I was a bit suprised to be called on such an urgent basis. 'Aku buat salah ke?'

When I reached A's places, my blog is on A's screen.

Me : 'Damn...macam mana dia bole tau ni?' (dalam ati la...)
A : Is this your blog?
Me : Yes....
A : There are certain things that you wrote here cannot be written tau,
Me : Aaa? Pasal ape ek..? (I remembers very clearly not to put any co's P&C stuffs here)
A : Like this stuffs...(A scrolled to the post and and pointed to the said 'thing') This is confidential tau, we can only released this once a quarter to the public
Me : But I wrote in general (mind you, it was the general economics state at that time, no figures involved). This one I heard all over radio, (the other 'thing'-meaning bukan confidential la kan?)
A : Ya, but you cannot write this tau, people can manipulate the market share (or was it market price?) with this info.
Me : Ooo...yeke? (serious muka tak paham...) takpela..nanti I edit, I remove.
A : Ok, please ek..
Me : Ok, by the way, who told you about my blog?
A : Ade la... (refuse to disclose the informer)

I know for a fact that A did not read my blog. Last few day's I bumped into A, and A asked whether or not have I removed the item, meaning A did not go off and on to monitor what I wrote etc..etc..

So the informer still is mystery, and my dear colleague, I naikkan pangkat you jadi Pengawas Blog. From now on it will be a bit hard to share what I thought about work. I don't plan to privatize this blog so I just have to be a lil bit more careful in my writing. Ok tak PB? :)

p/s: I made a pact to myself, by end of World Cup, my post about football will be more than about work..hehehe...

7-0 and 2-0 sweeetttt..... :)

I only watched the first match Portugal vs N Korea. Balik rumah at 7.30pm terus tercangak depan TV. Dinner ke mana, apa kemana, this morning I woke up with growling stomach. Serves me right! but it was really worth it. I was very nervous watching the game, the first 20 minutes both teams seems not to be handling the ball very well, probably due to wet pitch. The rain was so heavy, I pity the players very much.

After the first goal by Raul Meireles, my only hope was Portugal to be more defensive, that is all I asked. N Korea did have some good tries, all are long ranged and rather wide, none that really tested Eduardo and the defence.

Second half was the most entertaining. Portugal really capitalised for the lack of NKorean's defence. The chances were many and good enough it materialize in the form of goals (many of them..hehehe...)

My man of the match : First I thought of giving it to Raul Meireles, for most of the good moves, and yes he was all over the pitch. But then in the second half, I realised Christiano Ronaldo deserves it as well. He was not the usual one man show, he did pass on what supposed to be a good shot to someone else and turns into brilliant passes (Like the goal Liedson scored). The final goal, he really earns it after almost 90 minutes hardwork, creating set pieces for the rest to put their name on the goal sheet. He also have tone down a bit on the attitude everytime he was tackled, not so much of the cry baby anymore.

Raul Meireles

One of the time you can see C.Ronaldo smiles ;)

Very heavy rain in the first half

Moving on, I am anxious to see them fighting Brazil (who happens to be a bunch of drama kings as well). They have to play a bit more defensive. I'll say they play defence like when they played Ivory Coast and play attack like they played NKorea. If they managed to combign the two, holding Brazil to a draw is a possible chance :)

Spain won as well!!! (I really need to bake a cake...ade kaitan?) I did not watch the game, but with 2-0 definitely it was an entertaining one. Never mind, watch highlights ;)

p/s: Lets just hope Ivory Coast did not trash NKorea more than 7-0!!!

Freak Out!!!

I am freaking out right now. Many things to be done, yet I have settled none yet. Listing down:

1. Buy backpack, crocs,meds
2. Packing kat PD
3. Get shots (jaundice and malaria)
4. Charge battery camera
5. Bwk balik Sony Camera
6. Beli kompas kiblat
7. Settle (at least try to) my work!!
8. Put OOO note (out of office)
9. Print out waktu solat for Cape Town
10. Travel insurance!!!!
11. Pay my installment (car, home, CC, etc...)
12. Create hard copy folder for all info (waktu solat, itenary, ticket confirmation, etc..etc)

What else? Am getting cold feet...countdown 5 more days....

Feedback

Something we get day in day out. Formal and informal, whether you like it or not. It may be in a form of passing remarks, or a recommendation via email. I am sharing 3 different stories, one same theme.

Story 1
Miss A had a workshop. The facilitator is someone from a consultation company. Initially, during the prep stage, the facilitator, Mr B were asking too much of basic data and info, which drives Miss A to the wall. Come the week of workshop, it went very well. They achieved more than what they planned to do. This is largely contributed by Mr B's proper preparation, and also Mr B is a very experienced person, he shared many useful tips with Miss A and her colleagues. Impressed by how well the whole things went, Miss A wrote an email listing all the good stuffs that Mr B did and forwarded to Mr B superior. She even took the intiative to gather feedbacks from the rest as well.

Story 2
A company,C has been doing so well for the past few years has been appointed as the host of an important meeting. The meeting gathers most of the other co's leaders which is in the same business. The session went well and many activites were lined up for the leaders throughout the day. One of the session, a check on the ground was conducted, one of the guest leader, D gave a very bad feedback and in a way demotivates most of the people in Company C. The staffs upon hearing the remarks became very defensive as they were so used to hearing good feedback. They even start labelling leader D as sour grape, as his company were not doing great off late.

Story 3
An engineer, Miss E was assigned to mentor a trainee, F. Being an engineer, she is busy and did not expect to hand hold the trainee to get his job done. Trainee F was demotivated as he feels that nobody is guiding him. Things went on for a few months right to the time when F is about to finish his internship. Miss E graded F, and due to some reasons, trainee F did not get an 'A' for his internship. He decides to confront Miss E, however the confrontation did not went well. It happens in one of the meeting room where many people walks by. Some staffs heard very high voices were raised. Apparently the trainee F shouts at his supervisor Miss E, and in her defence, she raised her voice as well during the argument.

Many things that we can learn just by observing people around us. That is also a feedback ;)

Cantiknya Crocs ni.....

I am going for a trip, so am thinking to buy one comfy shoe. So I browse for those blogs that sold ori crocs at half price, but found nothing that I really like, price is around RM 80-85 for off road design. So I browse the official Crocs Malaysia webpage...man I am drooling right now, memang tau diorang ni...

Click here

Now dah berbelah bagi nak beli yang RM 80+ ok-ok design or nak beli yang cantiks ni at more than double the price.

Lucky that they do not have Portugal punya, if they have it, this post won't be about choosing anymore, I'll be parading my crocs. Spain punya a bit too vibrant for me, I like France punya but I don't like France, then how?

Argentina's one look nice jugak...macam mane ek? Adui.....

They are the first one in!!

Yesterday I watched the game with no expectations. I support neither Argentina nor South Korea. I just tune in for hope of watching a good game. And indeed, it was a good game :)

I hope both teams do well because I just love to see more of Messi dribbling and passing the ball while escaping 2-3 opponents at one time, and I would also be proud to have Asian team getting the next round. But apparently Maradona's side was better then.

For the first half I think Korea's defender were either sleeping or day dreaming. They look as if they were somewhere else. That own goal really jumpstart Argentine's goal fest. Second half actions were much better. The managed to shot on target quite few times and Park Ji Sung proven that he's worth the captaincy and regular MU line up. His moves were fluid and at times looks effortless.

But I really takes my hat off (bukan tudung a..) to the combination of Tevez and Messi. Man, they really outplayed Korea's defence and shake things up quite a few times. Korea's keeper Jung Sung Ryong redeemed himself quite a few times with good saves. But the 6 striker team was unstoppable and managed to add another 2 goals on second half.

Overall it was an entertaining game, its what a football all about, creating chances and taking opportunities. I did not see any defender from both teams hogging the penalty box like the Swiss and Ivory Coast did. (which reminds me of Greece when they won Euro 2004, I think..)

The most fun I had was hearing the commentator's remark. I don't know what his name is, but he is damn funny. His remarks are so hillarious. One of which that I remembers, when one of the Argentine (I think Messi) had a shot, and the ball went well above the post, to the spectators, he said "That might have just decapitated some of the fans". Funny!!

My man of the match : Its actually a three corner tie, between Park Ji Sung, Tevez and Messi, because all three of them really gave all out and they were everywhere, but in the end I pick Messi. Because of him, Higuain was able to score at least the 2 final goals and create the first hat trick for this year fiesta ;)

Funny Wedding Questions

A friend sent this to me, fresh from the person herself,

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As usual, you get people asking you many questions at weddings, especially if your younger sister is getting married before you. Here are some of the popular questions that were posed to me in no particular order (and some were rephrased):

Q1: How come you let your sister marry before you?
A1: Oh well, if my sister finds a boat before I do, why not let her jump first? :)

Q2: What did your sister give you (for langkah bendul)?
A2: Nothing. I'm not into her or her fiance bribing me to get married :)

Q3: How come your sister's nose is different than your's?
A3: (pause) Well, I guess Allah loves diversity. I love my nose. Don't you? :P

Q4: So lepas ni your turn la?
A4: I hope so. But if my youngest sister goes first then that's ok. Marriage is not a competition for our family :0)

Q5: Are you single because you are choosy?
A5: I'm hardly choosy. I am very particular that the person is MALE, heterosexual, a Muslim or wants to be a Muslim. (Then, I would like him to have good iman, akhlak and adab.) Okla, he has to be funnier than me! ;-)

Q6: Do you have a particular type?
A6: Yes. The person has to be MALE, heterosexual, a Muslim or wants to be a Muslim. Didn't we cover this? :-)

Q7: What is the price of the hantaran for you and your siblings?
A7: We're pretty cheap. Most of the time my parents leave it to the groom's family.

Q8: When do we get to meet the special guy?
A8: When he finds me I'm sure we'll let you know :)

Q9: Do you think you are too focused on your career?
A9: That is untrue. I can decide to leave any time. I would like to be a housewife cum investor. Houses are easy to find. The wife status will come.

Q10: Are you not worried that your sisters are all getting married?
A10: I can't worry over things I cannot control. I'll get PIMPLES! :P

What can I say? I love laughing my heart out.

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Me? I feel you too my friend, we are in the same boat..hahaha...funny how people just could not accept a younger sister got married, leaving us the older ones still single, I wonder though...dosa ke? ;)

It was a sad night

Last night I watched one of the biggest upset for this round of WC campaign. Spain got beaten by Swiss. At first I was relaxed, but towards some 20 mins in the game, I realised that Spain was put under the same physical challenges as Portugal last night. Its size vs. skill. The Swiss defenders are all big people. David Villa can barely pass them. First half not much happened although there is some brilliant passes from Puyol to the midfield.

Second half was getting more interesting, Spain attacks, and almost all of the players past the midfiled. However Swiss were very quick to capitalised for the lack of defence in Spain penalty box. That no 9 (can't remember the name, too lazy to Google) sprint right through and tried to shoot, Casillas blocked it but the ball bounced back. There was quite a commotion in front of the goal and by chance they managed to score. Pique even get himself injured in the process. That was in the 53rd minutes.

Torres was only put in on 70th minute. He and Jesus Navas both did quite break the Swiss defence and managed to open up few tries, however it was not good enough. I can say that Spain did played a good game. They surely do the backheel thingy better than Portugal. They had most of the possession but too bad they just could not score.

I thought Portugal will be in tough position, but it is now looking even worse for Spain. From what I heard Chile is playing a good game as well. But then it is not the end of the world. France lost their opening game in 1998 and later went ahead to lift the cup, anything can happen.

So far the only favorites that live up to standards are Brazil, Germany and Argentina. The rest are still vague.

My man of the match : Andres Iniesta, he was relentless and hardworking throughout the game despite being heavily challenged by most of the Swiss.

You know where I get the pics ;)

The Group of Death

Watched the Portugal vs Ivory Coast last night. I was on the edge all the time. I do expect a good fight between the two, simply because I.Coast is the biggest African star. I have mentioned this many many times before, Portugal need to step up their game. The finishing was not good at all. But the one time heart stopping kick from C.Ronaldo on the 10th min was really worth it. Both teams actually was not on top of their form, sloppy passes everywhere, they easily lost the ball to opponent somewhere in midfield.

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Portugal have the least chance to get in the box. Everytime a white shirt enters, there will be 3 orange shirt cramming that poor one player. I pity Liedson the most. He is thin, so when all this big mean Oranges are all over him, how much can he actually do? I think for the first 15 minutes they were just reading the game, but after being tackled unnecessarily by Ivory Coast for quite some time, they just need to return the favour.

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All in all Portugal did not play their best last night. The saving grace for them (and maybe for Ivory Coast too) was solid defence. Ricardo Carvalho with Fabio Coentrão did a good job blocking attacks by especially Gervinho. That kid can really play.

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When the camera showed Drogba was warming up, I was thinking, we need Simão, seriously, he's vital to help at least Liedson or C.Ronaldo get some space to at least try a shot at goal. But then, Carlos Queiroz decided to take Deco out. Portugal just lost the combination without Deco to support Simão. They ends up 0-0. A fair results for the two but definitely complicates their chances of moving to the next round.

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I did not watch the full game of North Korea vs Brazil, but from the highlights, I would not write North Korea off yet. They did scored 1 goal against Brazil. Now that NK has tasted how is it like playing among the greatest team (Brazil), they will up their game with Portugal, definitely. It will be a tough journey for Portugal, and I hope they will do well.

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C.Ronaldo going head to head with Drogba

My man of the match : Ricardo Carvalho

This is the best pics I can get. Too much of C.Ronaldo all over FIFA webpage ;p

pics from FIFA website

os melhores Portugal!!!!

p/s: I love the white loose jersey ;)

Me and Football

I have some spare time now, so let tell you a story of me :) and of course, football!!! I remember when I was quite young (in primary school) Liga Perdana Malaysia was such a big hype. My parents both from Kedah, so can imagine the whole family are loyal supporter . One of the days I would follow my dad to Stadium Negara to watch the final between KL and Kedah. We would be switching places after half time (depending on where Kedah's goal is). Back then people sold burgers for 50cents each towards end of game ;)

I grew up liking to watch football. But I never really supported any team in particular. I don't like to talk about it with guys either. They always came across as Mr Know-It-All when it comes to football so that is quite a big turn off for me.

I remember watching the final of 1998 World Cup. The game ended in the wee hours and I remembered going to school and discussing with my classmates about the how only Roberto Carlos was playing for Brazil, the rest were just filling up the pitch. Nostalgic rite?

And then 2002, I was in UiTM. The TV room in Teratai 1 (my college) is installed with Astro (2002, you imagine how many household had astro? even my house didn't have it yet!!) And to make things better, my room is on the same level with the TV room!!! So there I am, alone in the TV room, watching I don't know how many games. And the only other spectator was my junior. So both of us will be like freaks, shouting (softly..hehehe..its still a college y know) and complaining, commenting on where appropriate. At that time I started supporting Portugal already, and yup, Christiano Ronaldo had not played yet. Their biggest star was Luis Figo and Pauletta, sometimes Maniche. I remember even making a picture of Nuno Gomez as my wallpaper..hahaha.... so dieya, you are not alone ;)

2006, I started working here. I came in during the World Cup fever, and gets my updates via web because I was waiting for an outgoing trainee to pass her Astro to me. RTM and TV3 reception is bad around here, don't ask me why.

4 years later, here I am, still loving every bit of the game and this year I have bigger things planned ;) Those that is close to me already knew, but let me just let the cat out of the bag when the 'thing' is over. Its a bit premature to make a big huha..

And oh, one more thing, my friend Ija, celebrated her birthday this year during the Kick Off, 11th June. So me and my friends pulls a prank on her, suprised her at her home during the opening match. And to my suprise, I was suprised to!!! Since they will not be able to get me on my birthday due to 'some' reason, they decided to throw me an advanced birthday celebration ;)
All of them are not football fans. The nicknames are just to humour me..hehehe

Yup, they are not football fans, where and when on earth did Rooney, Beckham and Ronaldinho played for Portugal!!! ahahahaha.....

And Shaz, C.Vela is real, he played for Mexico, so you were not seeing things. Thanks a lot you guys ;)

D Day - 15

World Cup is starting today!!! Am not gonna watch the Opening Match between Argentina vs the home team South Africa. Will be out for dinner with colleagues.

Who I support? Portugal of course ;) Boa suerte!!

p/s: Must get this month's edition of 4-4-2.

That's Creepy Ok?!!!

I have been stalked (I think) by few Chinese blogwalkers. They have blogger account but do not have a blog.

They (more than 1) have been reading (not sure of that) and leaving very not relevant comments on my blog. The point that tips me off is this one:

Blogger profile :http://www.blogger.com/profile/06612093605582105780
Comment: your son/daughter is so cute............................................................
My post about: Isreal and US

Bukan ke tak relevant tu, and creepy, probably talking about my niece or nephew, as seriously don't have kids..

Some other includes;

Blogger profile :http://www.blogger.com/profile/07236645203581407000
Comment: 路遙知馬力，日久見人心。...................................................... (which means 'Distance tests a horse, time will tell.' ) ...what the ????
My post about : Buat Jahat

There are few others that I have deleted. Seriously, its creepy. If you want to read and leave message, be decent, at least comment appropriately, ini tak, ntah ape-ape.....the two that I deleted sounds like some proverb copied ans pasted.

Takkan nak privatise the blog just because these few sick people?

They Really Chose Not to See It..

I am watching NCIS DC now. Contiued from the last week episode where it stops after DiNozzo shot Ziva's Mossad bf. They put it in the damn TV series and explain really well how Americans feel about their lifelong counterpart, the Israel. TV in some ways reflects the reality, and this one really does.

• NCIS knew that Rivkin shot their agent without a strong basis, yet the best they can do is ask him to leave the states.
• Gibbs knew that Ziva witheld information that causes a US agent to be killed, but he still trust her anyway.

Bottom line, American government realised what Isreal is doing is bad, really bad but they chose to let it slip. I really could not comprehend what power the Israel had (and still have) over the US until they are so scared to stand up what is right to humanity in general, and to the point that they went all out to protect their alliances with the Zionist. Seriously I am baffled.

TV imitates reality and yet I could not get the logic.

~Pasir Bercerita~

I found a cool video on this blog.

Tried to embed it but, I guess I was too much of IT blind, so go and watch it from the source, self explainatory, enjoy ;)

Yahoo Video - Amazing Sands

4 years and counting...

Today, alhamdulillah, I turn 4 in this company. Although the journey is not so smooth, I had my good days, and fair share of bad ones. Hope I can do more to contribute, and continue to work for my own sake.

There are days that I just wish I don't have to come to work, but there are days I just look forward to. All in a days work. At this place, I've made new connections, some more meaningful than others, I learn a way of living, I was able to provide more to my family and maybe later myself. Its a passage, a stopover, a transit, until I get to a better place. The grass is always greener elsewhere, but don't forget the land that we are stepping on, those land that has given me firm support for the past 4 years.

InsyaAllah, I will do my best to continue what I do and maybe better ;)