A New World Cup Champion

Spain has won the 2010 World Cup!! Not only are they World Champions for the first time but they are also the first European side to win the World Cup outside of the continent. Spain are also the Euro 2008 Champions. This makes them the third team to hold both titles after West Germany and France.

I managed to watch it on TV1 (Malaysian local TV network) with my son. He fell asleep not long after the match started. I watched it for awhile and it watched me for quite sometime. I woke up again to catch a bit more of it but I ended up being watched by it. Then I woke up just in time to watch the extra time. And the goal. I thought Spain was a bit lucky to get the goal. It could have easily gone the other way as there was an infringement right before the goal. Unlucky Holland for not being awarded a free kick just outside the penalty box? Maybe. Third time unlucky for them. Would have been nice if they won the World Cup on the third attempt. Anyways, we will have to wait and see who will be crowned champion in 4 years time.

FIFA World Cup 2010, South Africa

June and July is World Cup fever! 32 teams vying for the World Champion title, the right to lift the coveted Julius Rimet trophy. The right to be called The World Champion!!

Group matches were semi exciting. A few matches lit up the stage with a few upsets here and there. South Korea beat Greece, a former European Champions, Japan beat Cameroon, Switzerland beat Spain, the reigning European Champions, Mexico beat France, Germany lost to minnow Serbia, New Zealand drew mighty Italy, France lost to South Africa, another minnow, Slovakia beat Italy and Japan beat Denmark. France and Italy were sent home packing with their tails between their legs! England barely made it to the Last 16 but USA deserved to be in the last 16. South Korea and Japan went through with some great performance especially the 30 yard free kick goal from Honda!. Slovakia was the surprised package of the Last 16. Some gutsy performance from them.

The Last 16 round was good. Uruguay vs South Korea, USA vs Ghana, Germany vs England, Argentina vs Mexico, Netherlands vs Slovakia, Brazil vs Chile, Paraguay vs Japan and Spain vs Portugal. A few mouth watering encounters especially Germany vs England and Spain vs Portugal. I was rooting for a few teams. South Korea, Japan and North Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, Spain and England. Yes I know. Why England u ask? Well, I have no idea except for the fact that I have an affinity for them since I was young. Must be all those growing up with English Football on the telly. Well..South Korea lost Uruguay 2 - 1.The South Koreans can leave South Africa with their heads held high as they have performed very well. Ghana gunned down the US Mavericks. No last minute goal from them. Germany swept England aside with a pathetic 4 - 1 margin. Never mind the fact that one blatant goal that went in a yard from the goal line! Both referee and linesman were blind! German was superior in one way or another. Argentina easily went past Mexico. Tevez scored two goals - one from a blatant offside position and a legit one. The Netherlands entertained one of the surpised package in the Last 16 - Slovakia. It was a close one with the Oranje nicking it 2 -1 to go  thorough to the Last 8. Brazil made light work of Chile by cruising to a 3 - 0 win. Japan played to a 0 - 0 draw with Paraguay after extra time. They eventually lost in the first penalty shoot-out of the tournament (I thought they were unlucky to lose). Spain narrowly beat Portugal 1 - 0. On to the last 8.

Last 8 match up. Netherlands vs Brazil - the final that that was two matches early. The first goal was a gem - a through pass that by-pass all the Oranje defenders and a goal for the Samba boys. Oranje scored an equaliser and then an own goal by Brazil. That pretty much sums up the game. Brazil lost 2 -1 and went back home early. No samba celebrations this time. Up next, Uruguay vs Ghana. Played to a draw and a blatant handball that prevented Ghana from scoring was ignored. Amateur referee refereeing a high profile match. They lost 4 - 2 in the second penalty shoot-out of the tournament. A real heart-breaker and injustice for Ghana. The second final was between Germany and Argentina and a close contest was anticipated. However, that all fizzled out as soon as the Germans scored their first goal in the 4th minute. They finally cruised to a 4 - 0 win. Like Brazil, they are sent home packing in a rude awakening. Spain played Paraguay and struggled to beat them. One penalty each for both sides, both missed before Spain scored in the 83rd minute, the only goal of the match,.to go through to the semi-finals.

The Semi-Finals. First up, Netherlands vs Uruguay. A 3 - 2 thriller. The Oranje are in their third finals since being the losing finalist in both the 1974 and 1978 World Cup finals. A 12 year gap. We now have to wait for Spain vs Germany game to see who will be in the finals to contest the right to lift up the Julius Rimet trophy. 

A lot of things happened in June.

First, was the Penang International Junior Open which was held from 1st - 5th June 2010 at the Penang International Squash Center, Bukit Dumbar. I wasn't involved with it this year as it coincide with school days. I only managed to go there after work which is about 4.30 pm like that. Most of the interesting matches had finished by then. It was still good as I got to meet some of my local and overseas friends. Only two players training under me participated but they did not do so well. The Penang girls swept all the girls title except GU13. None of the Penang boys won any titles but they did put in a credible performance.I think Max was the best performer in the boys category. My son Julian did not do so well in the BU11 category but it was a great experience for him. Hope he plays better next time.

The Milo All Star was right after the Penang Junior Open. It was held from 7th - 12th June 2010 at Astaka Squash Court, Petaling Jaya.. I went down with the Penang team as one of the officials. My job was to take the rest of the players who were not participating in SUKMA (the Malaysian Games) back to Penang. This is my first outing for a tournament in 2 years since I moved to Penang. It felt kinda awkward as it has been a long time I took a team for a tournament but I felt relax throughout the tournament as I was not in charge of the team. On the first day, I went for breakfast at a stall near the squash court and had 3 packets of nasi lemak and a glass of teh tarik!! Simply delicious..yummy!! On the second day, I had 6 packets!! Just could not resist!! Lunch was mostly at a row of shops about 10 mins walk from the Crystal Crown Hotel. Not a bad hotel actually. Dinner was mostly at Restaurant Ok, near the Hilton. Food there is great. Fully recommended. After dinner are team meetings.Review of the days matches, the next matches, who is playing who, what time going to the courts etc. Penang had two players who reached the final - Low Wee Nee in the GU 19 and Vanessa Raj who competed in the GU17. Wee Nee was crown Champion while Vanessa managed a Runner's Up position.

School holidays was from during the 2nd and 3rd week of June. I worked during the 2nd week of the holidays, so that was not enjoyable. I had to work five and a half days at school. So I spend my time downloading worksheets for my English classes. Found tons of it. Thank god for internet. School reopens on the 4th week of June. Did not feel like going back to school on the first day but what to do. We got to do what we got to do. Uneventful week.

14 June was my wife's birthday!! We went to El Mundo's, one of my wife's favourite restaurants, to celebrate her birthday. Scrumptious dishes we had indeed.

On the June 23, my son went for CIMB Rising Star in Kuching, Sarawak. He flew back on 28th June at 11 pm. He managed to maintain his ranking - 11th placing.

June 25th, my wife went back to Sabah to attend a cousin's wedding and came back on 27th June.. She went alone. Know what that means? It means I had my notorious super hyper-active 24 hours bunny Duracell battery son, Aidan Archer. I had to take leave because nobody can babysit him. One look at him and people are scred hahahaha. So I took leave on 26th June to look after him and I had to find other coaches to take my squash classes or cancelled them. However, it was really great looking after him. I enjoyed it very much. We bond during those 3 days together. I fed him, bathe him, made milk for him and putting him to sleep. He like the song : "This is the way Aidan go to school...". I will always have to find different ideas to sing....I sang it to him when he wakes up, when he takes his bath, when I am trying to put him to sleep. Every time I finished one verse, he would say moreee with the cutest voice and smile. He loves to watch his Hi-5, so I always put it on for him. It is also to keep him occupied so that he doesn't disturb me doing my work at the computer. It didn't work. He would watch for awhile and then come over and want to sit on my lap and put his toys on my computer table, near the keyboard, making it difficult to type. Sometimes he would come over and just hugs my hand. It just makes me melt.

Well, that is all for now. Hope you all enjoyed reading it. Should I update once a week or once a month? Hmm..time to ponder..

Update...

Hmmm..quite a lot to update actually..so I will try to recapture what has happened the last three months! Hahaha

My trip back to Sabah for Christmas was great. It was so nice to be back in Sabah. I celebrated Chritmas in KK with my lovely wife and  two sons and my wife's family and relatives. My SIL's boyfriend also came, so we sort of like bonded. He is a nice and kewl dude. I ate all my favaourite food in like three days. Ngiu Chap (Beef noodles Sabah style), Mee Tuaran and Mee Sup Pipin. Can't get enough of them. Everybody was busy getting ready for Christmas. Buying Christmas gifts. My mum-in-law cooked her infamous lamb stew for Christmas eve. We also had stuffed turkey, cheezy mash potatoes which my wife and her sister made, Christmas rice. It was a big gathering at my in-laws house. I did most of my Christmas shopping a few days before Christmas eve at One Borneo. Luckily managed to get what I wanted for my loved ones.

At the stroke of midnight, we wish everybody a Merry Christmas, lots of hugs and kisses and "I Love You". On Christmas day we went up to my in-law's resort in Kundasang. It is near the Kinabalu National Park. Stayed there for one night. The place is called Strawberry Garden Hotel. You can visit the website at http://www.borneostrawberrytours.net/. On the way down we manage to buy my favaourite fruit, after durian, Tarap!! I have attached a few pics of it and one of them showing me enjoying myself eating them. Yummyyy! After coming down from Kundasang, we went to my wife's uncle's house for BBQ. We ate mostly prawns there. And some squid and BBQ chicken wings. Had a quite New Year's celebration. Went back to Penang on 2nd Janury as school reopens on 4th January 2010. My family did not returned to Penang until 7th January 2010. My eldest son missed 4 days of school.

Nothing much happened in January. School reopened on 4th January 2010. Found out what I was going to teach. I spend more time at the primary school, so I am okie with it. I teach Level 2 English to a mixture of F1, 2 and 3 students and F2 Literature. The L2 Eng is quite a lovely bunch of students. The I teach K3 Backpack English and Physical Education to K3, K4, K5 and K6. Then recently with a bit of change in timetable, I have an addtional K1, K2 AND K3 ESL class to teach. We had a Family Hiking event sometime in Jan. It was okie. The turnout was encouraging. I am still doing part-time squash coaching. I guess this is what they call "my rhythm" Something that I love to do and hate to miss.

We were supposed to go back to Tawau, Sabah for holidays. Since we tried to book tickets quite late, so we end up celebrating it in Penang. Did not really prepared anything...so it was a VERY quiet Chinese New Year. I miss my hometown. I was actually looking forward to going back to see my parents and my relatives and friends. Next year! My eldest son played the 1st leg of CIMB Rising Stars. Did quite okie I guess. He qualified for the 2nd leg. He needs to train harder and pay more attention during training. His study is improving but still can do better. School is okie. A few changes here and there in the timetable.

Squash Co-K is good. We have 16 players. Next year I hope we can have squash players form the secondary school. Some of the K6 students who go on to the secondary school will be the pioneer. Sports is getting better. K3 - K6 students enjoyed playing Captain ball. They are improving their catching and passing skills - some of the main components of the game. Tactics will come later. Squash coaching is good. I have one more group to handle. The special squad comprising of 5 boys. They train Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - 5 pm - 8 pm. With this group I don;t just feed, I have to do drills with them and spar with them also. It is quite challenging as I have to get them to play better in national tournaments.

March. March. Nothing much happening. Most of the students went to Cameron Highlands for field trip for one week. Then it was 1st semester break. Had to work 3 days. Squash Association of Penang Challenge 2

was held from 15 - 18 March. Most of my players did okie. A good chance for me to take a look at my special squad players as I only took charge of them in March. Then after coming back from the holidays, was busy preparing test papers for mid-terms. Had a difficult time trying to set papers for the students. Was trying to make sure it was not too hard but also not too easy.

Squash coaching is okie. All the players are progressing. Sports is getting better. Students are getting better at catching and passing. So their game has improved and they are enjoying themselves. My K3 students love sports. If they can't go for sports because of rain, they will be sad. They are so cute. The first class that I handle would feel sad if they don't go for sports. K3 English is also great. Some students who were not very active are becoming a bit active and talkative.

I found out that one of my best friend in Tawau lost her mother and sister to illness. There is only her brother and her now. I feel sad about it because I only got to know about it now. They have passed away quite sometime already. This year there is also quite a few weddings from my wife's side. I wish I could go and attend them but I am working and cannot take leave. Sometimes I wish I am back in Sabah, near my family and relatives. I love my state, Sabah. Everytime I go back to Sabah, I wish that I had not move to West Malaysia. I miss everybody back in Sabah. I miss my family and friends.

My family is doing fine here in Penang. My two sons are, well ,my two sons - naughty. Both are smart and hyper-active. Both loves to watch videos - the eldest Transformers and the youngest, Hi-5!! My wife loves to do baking and cooking. Anybody want to order cakes and cookies? And she also loves doing Sudoku!!

And at the moment as I am typingthis blog, I am listening to Disco Duck!! hahahaha Have a nice holiday. Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter!!

Updates soon...

Have not posted anything since my short trip back to Sabah as I am waiting for some photos to be emailed to me. Ahem..*hint*hint*

More on school and squash soon and about meeting old friends in Facebook.

C U all soon!

I count my blessings everyday.

Good day everybody. Welcome back.

I count my blessings everyday for all the things that I have.

I thank God:
(1) that I am blessed with a wonderful wife and 2 great kids whom I love them dearly.
(2) that my family are healthy, safe and sound.
(3) that my wife is still as loving and caring and beautiful as ever.
(4) that my two boys are growing up strong and healthy.
(5) that I am healthy.
(6) that I have two jobs that I love doing - teaching English and coaching squash.
(7) that I have great and wonderful students.
(8) that I have parents and in-laws who love me very much (and I love them very much also).
(9) that I have wonderful friends who have been supportive and caring towards my family and I.
(10) for the rain and sunshine that we get everyday.

Amen.

Movies I have watched lately

Movies I have watched lately are :

(1) The Taking of Pelham 123 (John Travolta and Denzel Washington) *****

(2) Terminator Salvation (Christian Bale) ***1/2

(3) The Maiden Heist (Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H Macy) ***1/2

(4) Funny People (Adam Sandler, Seth Roegn, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana) ****

( 5) The Proposal (Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds) ****

(6) Imagine That (Eddie Murphy) ****

(7) the ugly truth (Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl) ****

(8) The Inglourious Basterds (Brad Pitt) ****

(9) Bad Lieutenanat: Port of Call New Orleans ***

Ratings :

5-Star means "Excellent", 4-Star means "Good", 3-Star means "Average", 2-Star means "Bad" and 1-star means "Cause For Concern".

Quite a mixture of movies here...from action-packed movies to comedy. I like Pelham and Inglourious Basterds the best. the ugly truth, The proposal and Imagine That comes close. Maiden Heist and Funny People is okie. And then there is the rest.

Movies have been a part of my life since I don't know when. Maybe while growing up at Kg (Kampung) Melati Burut. I think it all began there. They use to have a mini theater for each village (kampung) and every Saturday night they will be a movies for all the villagers to see. Some walk as far as a or 2 miles away to come and watch these movies. That is how I grew up loving all those Western Spagetti movies and James Bond movies.

Since then, I have always loved watching movies. In my spare time (which is very rare) I would sit and watch 2 or 3 movies in a row. I am not very particular abut what movies I prefer to watch. I watch quite a wide variety of movie genres. I even watch foreign movies if they are really good. And I will go even if it 15 miles away. By car of course hahahaha. I remember going to see a James Bond movie and I still remember the name of the movie. The Spy Who loved Me...Starring Roger Moore and Barbara Bach. It was midnight and we were 15 miles out in the boonies. 15 miles away from town. My dad and I drove to town and watch it. At Capitol Cinema on Sin On Road. :)

Some movies I loved to watch again and again like Lord of the Rings trilogy, Transformers 1 and 2. Holiday. Indiana Jones series. James Bond movies ( I have all the James Bond movies in my collection of VCDS), I am now looking for copies of the Wesstern Spagetti movcies starring Clint Eastwood. For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars. These are the movies that I grew up with. And oh don't forget  John Wayne aka The Duke.

To be continued..

EPL - my favourite soccer league in the world!

The English Premier League. The most exciting soccer league in the world. Without a doubt. It was previously called the League Championship. Liverpool ruled during the 70s and 80s winning the League a record 18 times. Sometimes winning the double - like the League and the European Cup. Since the change to EPL, Liverpool have not won the EPL. They have only come closed a few times.

In the EPL, Man U  (I have to grudgingly acknowledge) is the team to beat and Chelsea is developing into a worthy contender to Man U for the title.

What makes EPL so exciting to watch?

Well, first of all, the pace of the game is fast. You see players moving up and down the field at great speed especially during counter-attacks. Secondly, the physical aspect of the game makes it exciting. EPL is arguably one of the most physical league in the world. Thirdly, there is a wealth of talent in the EPL. Torres, Fabregas, Drogba, Walcott, Robinho and Rooney just to name a few.

These three combine to make EPL one of the most exciting league in the world.