Supporters' Club anyone?

Liverpool FC is one of the other football clubs which have big followings here in Brunei. Last year, an official Liverpool supporters' club was formed.

Someone asked me if Manchester United fans in Brunei have their own club here. I actually made an inquiry to Manchester United FC some time last year in regards to opening an official Manchester United supporters' club. I got a reply, but they needed some information, such the lcoation of the club, the business plan for the club and the club secretary. Only when these are available, then they would consider if the club can be formed. I thought I would not have the time and energy to provide those info, so I left it as it was.

Anyway, I'm wondering if there are anybody out there who would be interested to do this. Let me know.

Selesema apa?

You would have to be able to speak Malay in order to understand what is said on the poster. I saw this poster at the hospital and could not help but to chuckle.

If you read it without a pause for the parentheses, say Selesema Burung Manusia, you would be forgiven for thinking something other than the actual flying bird!

Swine Flu

The current outbreak of swine flu, that has now swept through the Americas and making its way through Europe and Australia, is very worrying indeed. After the scare with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Avian Flu a while back, it is a great cause of concern. So far more than 100 people has been reported to have died from swine flu. Reading from the paper today, transmission of flu can happen between humans and pigs, and in rare cases, between humans themselves. One of my friends put on his Facebook that it has already reached Pandemic Phase 4 (read from Yahoo here), which means that sustained human to human transmission in one country. So human to human transmission actually happened, though only Mexico has reported deaths from swine flu.

I really hope that the flu virus is contained quickly. With the current economic downturn and recession, swine flu is one other thing that you would not want to be worried about.

You may want to keep updated from the WHO website here.

There's only one Ryan Giggs!

Who would have thought? At the age of 35, when many other professional players are already in the twilight of their careers, Ryan Giggs has been named as the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Player of the Year. He beat his four other Manchester United teammates (Cristiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Edwin van der Sar) and the only non-Manchester United player, Steven Gerrard to win this pretigious award for the first, and perhaps only, time in his career. He had previously twice won the PFA Young Player of the Year. He also stops Cristiano Ronaldo from winning the PFA Player of the Year award for the third year running.

It is incredible for a player at this age to play at the highest level of football and being recognised by fellow professional players for the hardwork, dedication and commitment that Ryan Giggs has endlessly put in for the only football club he plays for. It is even made more incredible that he has only started in 12 Premier League games and scored one goal, that wonderful goal against West Ham. He featured in a further 8 Premier League games and 8 Champions League games. I believe it is not the number of games that he played in that mattered; it is more about his work ethics, the influence he imposed on the team and the level of workmanship that he contributed in those games.

I could still remember that wonderful solo goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup Semi-final game in 1999, which kept Manchester United Treble Dream of 1999 intact. Who could forget the delightful stepovers that he did, before Ronaldo made it his trademark? Who could forget the flying runs that he made in the 20 seasons that he has had with Manchester United?

If he plays against Arsenal in Wednesday's Champions League Semi-final game, he will be making his 800th appearance for Manchester United.

Glory, Glory Ryan Giggs!

A Magnificent Comeback!

What a match it was! 

Conceding two goals at half-time and facing a certain hair-dryer treatment from Sir Alex Ferguson, many people thought that Manchester United had blown it again. The title seemed for a while slipped from Manchester United's grasp and going down the motorway towards Liverpool. 

As the match resumed after the half-time break, many people wondered if Manchester United could turn the tide and rescue the season. Of course, they could and they did. What started with a 'doubtful' (I still think it was legit though) penalty decision by the referee and the eventual penalty conversion by Ronaldo, there was no doubt that Manchester United was making a comeback. The introduction of Tevez changed the pace of the game. Paul Scholes was then put onto the pitch to make his 601th appearance for Manchester United and his impact was almost instantaneous. Apart from the odd bad tackles and a yellow card, he continued to control the midfield and produced defences-splitting passes. Then came a period of a four-minute blitz, during which three further goals were scored. Wayne Rooney, undoubtedly the Man of the Match, scored two goals and Ronaldo the other, to completely turn the match on its head. Ronaldo could not care less that he was yellow-carded as he took off his shirt to celebrate his second goal. Dimitar Berbatov scored the final fifth goal to complete Manchester United's comeback. Credit to him to curtail his celebration of scoring a goal against his former club. 

It was one victory which may prove crucial in determining  the final destination of the Barclays Premier League at the end of this season. This is the stuff that Champions are made of. Never to concede defeat until the fat lady sings. It was a great reply to Liverpool's and Chelsea's wins over Hull City and West Ham respectively.

The victory returned Manchester United to the top of the Barclays Premier League which was briefly kept warm by Liverpool for a mere two hours. 

This is a welcome preparation for the first leg of the Champions League Semi-final match against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Wednesday (or Thursday early morning Brunei time). Manchester United's next Barclays Premier League match will be against relegation-threatened Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday 3 May.

I Can't Wait!

I want to watch this. This is the eagerly-anticipated movie of the year. Star Trek tells the story of a young Captain Kirk and a certain half-human, half-Vulcan named Spock, fighting the Romulans who tried to change history by destroying the Federation.

Opening worldwide on Startdate (of approximaely) -313654.79 (or in Gregorian calendar 7 May 2009).

Bonjela Alert.....

Apparently a health warning has been issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of the United Kingdom on the use of Bonjela on children below the age of 16.

Read about it here.

Staying at the top....

A round of mid-week matches were played in the Barclays Premier League which, in some ways, had an impact on the league position at the top and, perhaps, the destination of the Barclays Premier League trophy at the end of the season.

Second-placed Liverpool drew 4-4 against forth-placed Arsenal and third-placed Chelsea drew 0-0 against sixth placed Everton. Manchester United won 2-0 against Portsmouth, to stay at the top of the Barclays Premier League, having 2 points more than Liverpool, but have one game in hand. The title bid is now over for the season for Chelsea and Arsenal. Everton is now one point away from Aston Villa for that last Champions League spot.



Last evening's match also marked the 600th appearance of Paul Scholes for Manchester United. He is one of the rare breed of one-club players, which included Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, and started his Manchester United career on 21 September 1994.



This weekend's matches will see Liverpool visiting Hull City, Chelsea visiting West Ham and Manchester United hosting Tottenham Hotspurs.

Birthday of Hadee

Here's a birthday wish for a nephew who turned two yesterday.

Happy Birthday, Hadee!

We're going to celebrate his birthday on Saturday and we're supposed to dress up as if it was the 60's or the 70's! I haven't got any idea what to wear!

Another talent......

After the unearthing of the Scottish jewel in the form of Susan Boyle in the first episode of Britain's Got Talents, the second episode went to Wales to uncover more. And guess what, they found another talent, something that I think even surpasses Susan's. Shaheen Jafargholi just turned twelve when he sang in front of the judges. Just watch the video and see for yourself. Yes, his first choice of song was amiss, but no body expected what he was going to deliver. This time, even Simon Cowell stood up at the end of the song and gave the boy a much deserved applause.

Check out the video here.

So Susan or Shaheen? Well, Shaheen might be more talented, but the public might think that he would have much greater chance to make it out if he did not win, so the sympathy votes might go for Susan.

(It is frustrating that video embedding has been disabled. You would have to go to youtube to watch it.)

Lady Gaga on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

I know that she was trying to stay in character, but this interview is just too weird. And it doesn't make a good viewing. I don't know whether to cringe or to laugh. But she made it up by an excellent rendition of Poker Face at the end of the show. And oh, just hear to her explanation of that term, poker face. Apparently, it is not the face that you make when you play poker.....

Lady Gaga was interviewed by Jonathan Ross on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Sorry, it may be a bit slow to load up the video and it would probably eat up all your bandwidth!

Out of the FA Cup.....

Manchester United went out of the FA Cup after losing the penalty shoot-outs when 120 minutes of football could not separate Manchester United and Everton in last evening's FA Cup Semi-final match. Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov could not convert their penalty kicks, handing Everton the ticket to play Chelsea in the FA CUp final on 30 May. Manchester United fielded a slightly weaker team, by starting with many youngsters, including Danny Welbeck, the da Silva boys and highly-rated youngster Frederico Macheda. Many people regarded that as a tactical mistake by Sir Alex Ferguson, but I think Sir Alex Ferguson is eyeing the bigger prizes in the English and European football. Manchester United still has seven Premier League games to play, including a home game against in-form Arsenal. The next game will be against Portsmouth in three days' time. Manchester United is also in the semi-finals of the European Champions League, against, Arsenal.

I am  not too cheesed off that Manchester United is not in the FA Cup final. As I said, there are bigger prizes in store and they should be won at all cost!

Belated Birthday for a Niece.....

Here's a belated birthday wish for a niece who turned ten last week. Hope you had a good birthday.

Happy Birthday!

At last.... I'm that into this movie

At last I managed to catch "He's just not that into you''. Cookie would be glad to hear it and no, I am not as critical as I was when SATC came out!

So how would I rate the movie? I'd give it four points out of five. It was an honest movie looking at how we, men, tend to treat women and telling them things when we don't mean it. Why is it when we said "I'll call you", most of the time we don't mean it? Why can't we, men, look straight into women's eyes and tell them the truth that we are still weighing our other options?

But as critical as I am towards my own sex, why do women tend to dissect every single, little thing that men say? Men are always the culprit in a failed relationship, but why?

The movie is so real that many people can actually relate to. Be it the cheating husband, the guy who thinks he knows everything about relationship, or the guy who is afraid of committment. Be it the girl who falls in love with a married guy, a girl who is getting all her signals wrong, or the cheated wife. There are people around us who have gone through all the things that relationship can throw at them. And they have their own stories on how they handled them.

Too bad, the movie is only showing at two ungodly hours at one cinema. Don't we all dig this kinda movie kah? And catch it fast, as I don't think it'll be shown any much longer.

Happy Birthday Bro!

Here's wishing  this brother of mine (pictured here with his wife) a very happy 35th birthday. Moga panjang umur dan murah rezeki.... 

She Dreamed a Dream.......

The video of a lady named Susan Boyle singing I Dreamed a Dream (from the stageshow Les Miserables) on the British reality television show Britain's Got Taslent is making its round on the internet and has garnered millions of views. She became an instant celebrity and two of her fans are none other than the celebrity couple Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.

It is always heart-warming to see this. You just have to look at the cynical faces of the audience when she first came out. Many would think that she could be like the lady who sang Ken Lee or another William Hung. But when she hit the first note, you quickly realise how talented this lady was. It also made you think that we, more often than not, tend to judge people quickly by the way they look. This is the classic flaw of human; we judge too quickly.

I hope she goes further in this reality television programme and eventually performs in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Show. Go Susan!

We Did It!

Manchester United did something that many English clubs could not at the Estadio do Dragao, the home of FC Porto. They became the first English club to beat FC Porto at the stadium, after breaking the jinx that claimed the scalps of many English sides, including Manchester United in 2004, when FC Porto went on to win the Champions League trophy.

It took a stunning long-range effort from a Portuguese player to take Manchester United into the semi-finals. Cristiano Ronaldo scored on the ninth minute, to score only his second goal in this season's Champions League campaign. The early goal set up a nervy match, where an equaliser from Porto would tip the balance towards FC Porto's favour. After being underfire for off-form performances in many past matches, Manchester United played like champions, controlling the midfield, creating chances and stopping the opposition on their tracks. The return of the formidable double at the centre of Manchester United's defence was also a good news to many United's fans. In the second half, FC Porto tried to ipose their authority and there were times when it looked like they would be scoring their sought-after equaliser. Manchester United hung on to their slender lead.

In the other quarter-final matches, Chelsea beat Liverpool for the prize to play against Barcelona, who beat Bayern Munich, in the semi-finals. Arsenal beat Valencia to win the right to play Manchester United in another semi-final match.

Semi-final matches would be played on 28/29 April and 5/6 May.

Hillsborough Remembered......

Twenty years ago, 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in one of the worst footballing tragedies. It happened during the FA Cup Semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. This was the time when standing terraces were common in football grounds all over the UK. The crush happened as hordes of fans went to the same standing terrace and it overfilled, causing people to crush against each other. The match was stopped at 3.06pm, just six minutes after the match started, when the referee sensed something was not right.

Apart from the obvious tragedies that many families went through; a pair of parents even lost both of their daughters, something good came out from the tragedy. An investigation report recommended that standing terraces to be removed and all stadia are to be made all-seater stadia. Now many clubs in the upper division have all-seater stadia. Another major change was the removal of perimeter fencing around the football pitch.

Regardless of which football team being supported, I am sure many football fans would be joining Liverpool fans in remembering those people who went to a football match and never to return home. And these people definitely did not walk alone.....

Chick Flick....

I know this is a chick flick, but good words from some friends, such as Cookie and Red Lob, really make me want to watch it. So far, only the Mall Cineplex is showing it. I wanted to watch it over the weekend, but the show times were not convenient. And as most of my friends have watched it, I can't really watch it alone, can I?

Barclays Premier League - Day 32

I think a health warning should accompany Manchester United games. For the past few matches, Manchester United scored an early goal, only to concede goal(s) and end up drawing or losing the game.

Manchester United had to turn to the wunderkid to deliver the winning goal against Sunderland in last evening's Barclays Premier League match. Paul Scholes scored a rare header in halfway in the first half, but United's attacking and defending were poor after that goal. Ben Foster and the woodwork held to keep the score at 1-0, but luck finally ran out not long after the start of the second half when Sunderland equalised. United's game picked up pace, but Sunderland were up to the task of containing United's players away from the goal. Then came Macheda, who scored within two minutes of being on the pitch. He diverted a shot from Carrick, which wrongfooted the Sunderland keeper. Even then, Sunderland did not stop; they continued to pile on the pressure until the final whistle. I am sure many United fans' hearts were working overtime over the course of the game! Also, not to mention many sore throats among the United fans.

Liverpool kept up the pressure early on on Manchester United when they trashed hapless Blackburn Rovers 4-0. The victory briefly put Liverpool on top of the Barclays Premier League table.

Chelsea had a scare against Bolton Wanderers who staged a late comeback to overcome an early scoreline of 4-0. Some goalkeeping mistakes from Peter Cech allowed Bolton Wanderers to score three goals to set up an intense and nervewrecking end to the game. Bolton Wanderers piled on the pressure up to the final whistle, when they had the chance to share the points from two corner kicks which set up goalmouth scramble and everyone in the Chelsea blue threw their bodies to prevent that equaliser. But Chelsea held on to their nerves to run out as the winners.

With the results of Saturday's games, Manchester United remain at the top of the Barclays Premier League with one point more, but having played one game less than Liverpool. Chelsea remain third.

Now, the season is getting more interesting. Liverpool and Chelsea have six more games to play and Manchester United has seven. But Manchester United and Chelsea are still involved in the FA Cup, Chelsea is almost sure to proceed to the semi-final and Manchester United still have that outside chance to proceed of the same phase of the Champions League. These extra games will perhaps be a deciding factor on the Barclays Premier League this season. I hope that Manchester United players take it one game at a time and not to overwork themselves in the closing phase of the season.

MCL: Storing some 'samples'.....

Continuation from here.

I have to apologise in advance if this post is a bit too graphic and too obscene!

When I was sent to Singapore for treatment, one of the things that I had to do was storing some semen, in case the chemotherapy that I was going to have have a detrimental effect on my ability to bear children.

The National University Hospital (NUH) had this place called the Andrology Laboratory, where there was a special room for men to 'do what they have to do'. On my first day, I had to report to this nurse who looked barely 20 years old and I had to say that I felt a bit embarrassed that she knew what I was about to do. But then again, she was probably used to this. I was given a piece of paper with instructions (as if I really needed instructions.....!). I was given the option of doing 'it' either in the 'special' room or at home (in my case, it would be the hotel room). I thought it would be weird doing it in the hotel room or its toilet, knowing that my family was with me, so I opted for the room. Anyway, if I had done it in the hotel room, I had to bring it back to the Andrology Lab within one hour. I thought going from Scott Road to the Hospital on MRT or taxi and carrying a container of my precious cargo would be a bit too surreal!

(click to view larger image and read the instructions!)

Before going to the room, I would be given a sterile container and the key to the room. It won't be a nice thing to have people walking in while you're busy doing it, will it? When I first got into the room, I went exploring the room, trying to see what are available to help me. The room consisted of a small area with a television and a sofa, and an attached toilet. The television was connected to this box with two buttons; one to play a movie and one to stop. And it doesn't take a genius to figure what was shown on the television! That was probably the only place in Singapore where that kind of movie was knowingly available! Because I could only play or stop the movie, by the time I made my third visit, I was bored with the first scene and I actually waited for the next scene before I started doing 'it'! When I was done, I was supposed to return the container to the same nurse and I swear I don't think she handled the container without her gloves on! In all, I made a total of five visits to the Andrology Lab. The doctor thought that I should store more but because he wanted to start the chemo as soon as we could, he thought five would be enough. He even asked me how many children I was planning to have but I didn't remember what my reply was.

During all these lab visits, I was not sure if my family knew what I was up to; I never discussed this with them. I think my sister knew, because whenever I needed to go, I just told her that I had to go to the hospital. Normally, I would disappear while they go out shopping.

The semen samples would be stored for a year and I had to go back if I needed them to store longer. I was told that it would have cost BND150 per sample per year for storage. Because of what happened after the whole cancer episode, I never actually went back to renew the storage. I would guess that they would be destroyed after one year. My friends joked that if they saw kids in Singapore who were hyperactive and looked like me, they would probably be mine!

Singapore League

Brunei DPMM FC continued its unbeaten run and returned to the top of the S-League after beating Gombak United FC 2-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. It also meant that Brunei DPMM FC ended Gombak's own unbeaten run, leaving Brunei DPMM FC the only team to be unbeaten in the S-League.

This blog has almost anything you need to follow the S-League. As of now, it has already posted the stats from the Brunei DPMM FC-Gombak United FC match.

Family

I could not help but share these two wonderful videos about family. Like Reeds, somehow dust got into my eyes too........

Keeping with the family theme, we were featured in Nona and the video is here.

Lunchgang Tour of Singapore In Pictures

Here are some pictures during the Lunchgang Boys' Weekend Away in Singapore.

Day 1: Being tech geeks (I am the only exception, probably.....), we spent some time at Funan IT Mall and Sim Lim Square. We were scolded by a taxi driver for not saying the 'right' name of Funan IT Mall, even though we were sure it was called Funan IT Mall. It was apparently called Funan Centre. I took Jester and Kakarrot on a 20-minute walk from Sim Lim Square to Funan IT Mall after convincing them that it was near...... I never heard the end of that as it was not actually in our plan to walk for 20 minutes in a hot and sweaty city! Dinner was at Fish & Co. where a pouty waitress dissed me for getting their menu wrong. After that, we went off for late night shopping at Mustafa Centre where someone really felt at home! By the time we left at around 1am, some of us were tired and delirious, and our speech became slurry! At one point, Jester agreed to some 'unacceptable' proposition!



Started Day 2 with brunch at Adam Road Food Centre. The nasi lemak at Stall No. 2 was a must-try item. Apparently you should also try the soto ayam and mee sup ayam. Our table was so full with food that we got disapproving looks from other tables!



After brunch, it was time to hit Vivocity, with the intention of getting some Beard Papa custard puffs and a short stop at Mothercare. But Mothercare short stop became the complete Vivocity tour! While at Vivocity, Prez got a balloon for himself and we were told off for taking pictures at Beard Papa.



Dinner that evening was at Jumbo Seafood at River Walk. While in Singapore, you should try the chili crab, a local Singaporean delicacy and the 'mantou' (deep fried bread). You should also try scallop in yam basket.



Brunch on Sunday was at Samy's Curry. We learnt that you need to know exactly where you want to go, or else the taxi driver will get stroppy with you! The food at Samy's was a good way to forget the taxi episode. Must-haves are the big prawn curry, lime juice and chicken masala.



The rest of Sunday was spent doing frantic, last-minute shopping. Somehow you could end up more than you wanted to if you were shopping in a hurry. It was always a good thing to end a trip to Singapore with a visit to Burger King, or if you were Prez and Kakarrot, a visit to the Indian Food Place. Prez had a friendly neighbour in the plane......

Kiblat.....

I could not help feeling amazed and bemused when I read the article where it was said that about 200 mosques in the Holy City of Mekkah face the wrong direction. These mosques were reported to be 'old mosques' and were built 50 or so years ago. It was quite astonishing to read how they discovered this. These mosques were spotted to be facing the wrong directions fromt he top of the skyscrapers which are now sprouting in the city.

In Brunei itself, the Surau at the Mall had its kiblat direction changed at least twice. At one point, the direction was rotated 270deg from the original kiblat direction. It would be quite interesting to hear how someone discovered the mistake.

During the last weekend's trip to Singapore, my travelling companions and I went to the Al-Falah Mosque near Orchard Road and I noticed that the kiblat direction has been slanted slightly to the right.

Now with the availability of modern technology, it is getting so much easier to precisely determine the kiblat direction. Brunei's Survey Department also offers a service to determine the kiblat direction in residential premises. There are also watch with kiblat compass available in the market.

However, it is said that as long as the general direction towards the Kaabah in the Holy City of Mekkah is correct, it is ok to have a slight slant towards the left or the right. It is more important to have the actual 'niat' and to have sincerity and humility in carrying out your religious duties. Waallahua'lam.........

A Weekend with the Lunchgang!

By the time you read this, I would have left Brunei for the first ever Lunchgang tour of Singapore. We have been meticulously planning for this trip. The idea came in December last year, when someone (I think it was Kakarrot) made a passing remark about going for a group trip to Singapore. Over the next few weeks, we started to make the gears going and chose this weekend to go. At first we wanted to go during the school holidays, but Prez had made a plan with his family and we thought that the school holidays would mean higher ticket price and more expensive hotels.

Four of us are going in this trip; Kakarrot, Jester, Prez and I. There have been a few occasions when each of us flew out with another one for work, but this is the first ever trip of us together. It is going to be a weekend of technology and gadgetry shopping. I haven't got anything on my shopping list, yet. As usual, I'd probably grab whatever that attracts my attention!

Anyway, we are staying at a hotel with free internet access and I will try to put up some running commentary the Lunchgang Singapore Trip.

The bother with a crooked eye

It could bot be happening at a worse time. Yet, it happened. Again, for the God-knows-how-may-time-th time.

Last night, I had another badminton0related injury. It happened in the middle of a long rally, when, I could not remember who, returned a high-ball towards our opponents. Jester took the opportunity to return a high-speed smash towards my direction. (Of course, he did not mean to target any part of my body, obviously, in case you were wondering if he wanted to injure me......). I could not move away in time and the shuttlecock hit the frame of my racket, which then ricocheted towards my right eye, hitting it directly. It was not the first time that it happened to me, so I saw this familiar white flash and then felt the pain. We stopped and assessed the situation. I, perhaps foolishly, soldiered on towards the end of the evening.

When I got home, I thought I needed to rest. I switched the lights, the tv and everything else that emitted light in order to perhaps help my eye healed faster. I even retired to bed early, thinking that it would help too.

This morning, as I woe up, I could still feel the pain so I decided visit the Panaga Health Centre. Fortunately, no serious injury was observed. As with many eye injury, the eye became extremely photophobic, so the doctor asked me to have an eye patch over the eye. And I was also given a 2-day medical break, which partly became quite unnecessary as I had planned to take tomorrow off anyway.

Anyway, I am really hoping that the eye gets better soon. I better move away from the computer and my eye starts to hurt again. This post really took quite a while to complete as I had to take time off from the computer to give my eye a break from the glare.

SMS n Skuls..

As the short messaging system (SMS) is getting more popular, easier and cheaper to use, it is reported that a new subject on SMS language will be launched in schools throughout the UK. In this subject, students will be taught how to properly shorten words and to make messages as concise as possible. Students will also be taught on the correct way to type sms while walking and driving, thus reducing the dangers of typing sms while walking or driving.

If this pilot project becomes successful, it is expected that many countries would have similar subject to be taught in their schools.