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.

None of you plan for this to happen...

I finished coaching at 4.30 pm and had a late lunch yesterday. Then went back home. Rested a bit, swept and vacuum the floor and clean the living room and dinning room's ceiling fans. After that did some work on the laptop. Curriculum plans, Work in progress.

Managed to catch "Private Practice" which is one of my wife's favourite, on the telly. There were several issues presented on tonight's show. Betrayal, "open and shut down", abortion, miracle and assisted death and last but not least "none of you plan for this to happen."

None of u planned for this to happen was about a pregnant woman who got involved in a car accident and was rushed to the clinic comatosed. The doctors wanted to perform a caesarean on her to deliver the baby. Unfortunately, the fiancé refused to let the doctors to do it hoping for a miracle that his fiancée would wake up soon and they could get married as planned.

The fiancé blames himself for the accident and burdens himself with guilt. The doctor advice him not to blame himself and that it was not his fault. She said that she understood that it was not what they had planned to do. She told him that she knows that it was not what they had planned. She also made him realised that the miracle he was hoping was actually inside the fiancee's womb - their unborn baby.

Hence the tile "None of you planned for this to happen". In our lives and in my life, we never planned for things to happen but they did. A lot of times we did not realised it or cannot imagined that it would happened. So what do we do? We could fret and fret about it and don't do anything about it. Or we could learn from it and move on.

Some of the things that happened in my life I have wished not to have happened but they did. Like my short lived employment with Malaysian Sports Council. And some of the things that I want to happen never did like winning a lottery ticket hahaha. Some of the things that happened were memorable incidents like how I met my wife. That is a story to be told in private. Some of the things that happened have had a major impact in my life like the birth of my 2 wonderful sons. I have tried to dealt with it and learn from it and then move on. Sometimes there was nothing I could do except wait until things get settled down I can deal with it. I would be anxious and worried sick about it but I would try to look for a solution in the meantime.

Well...enough serious talk for now. Bye.

Taking the time to read...

12.15 pm..I am at the inside squash court the cafe. Not many players around as most of them are away on holidays.  A lot of many players are on holidays so that leaves me with a bit of time to do something. So..i decide to read the newspapers. hahaha..yes...the newspapers. I can't recall the last time I read the newspapers. Maybe the last time was when I stopped subscribing for newspapers after realising that I only rad the sports section

One article caught my attention.

"Six-year old pulls 1,670 kg car and targets aeroplane next". :)
He managed to pull a Mercedez Benz car, with 4 adults inside for a combined weight of 1,670 kg, for a distance of 120 meter. And he only used a simple harness belt tied to his waist. Isn't that incredible. Even more amazing is the fact that he began driving a Kancil car at the age of four, a forklift a month later and he could also beverage!a three-tonne lorry. His diet? Five eggs and cereals for breakfast, a whole pot of chilli chicken for lunch and drinks mugs of energy beverage! I dunno about you but I am impressed. Hard to believed but impressed nonetheless. (Adapted from The Star, Saturday, 12 December 2009 - Page N28)

I think I am going to start training my 2 and a half years old son to pull our Proton Iswara, drive his uncle's Izuzu Trooper and his grandad's Mercedez Benz (if he lets him).

Jokes aside, it is an amazing feat. It just goes to show that if we set our mind to do something we can do it. If we believe then we can. Malaysia Boleh!

Xmas Season to be jolly..

Ah..Xmas season is here. Family gatherings. Shopping for presents (usually mad dash to shop for presents ast the last minute hahaha). Wrapping presents. Anticipating what you will get for X'mas. X'mas Eve dinner. Turkey! Smashed potatoes. Yuuummmmmmy!! Maybe a bit of wine (for adults only). *Wink* Midnight mass. Opening presents on Xmas Day!!. Xmas day lunch. Exciting moments to be had. Time to be jolly. Time to count your blessings. Bless you all!! Have a great Xmas holiday.

Never ceased to be amazed..

I went to the squash court at 1.30 pm and had my lunch there. Leftover food from last night. One of my squash players joined me at the counter near the entrance to the squash court. We ate and chat and shared food. I gave her some prawns. I had to peel the shells before she would eat it. Then she told me something that surprised me. She told me not to give her too much prawns as she was sacred of a heart attack. Imagined that! An 11 year old girl telling me not to give her the best seafood in the world anymore. She said that her grandparents had suffered hearts attack before and her father had high cholesterols. She told me that she does not want to suffer from a heart attack. So conscious about food. During my time, we would tell our parents to keep it coming. More. More. We did not think  about cholesterol. We did not know what it means. We did not know what it was and we did not know that word existed!! We only knew that it was good and meant to be eaten to our hearts contend. It's good!!

Times have changed. Kids nowadays are more exposed to a lot of knowledge and information. Some kids are better equipped than the adults. They have iPods, iPhone, and god knows what gadget. My 10 year old son is asking for a handphone now. Should I give him one? When I was at his age, I did not even know how to operate dial tone phone! And I did not get to use one until I was 16 years old. I used my aunty's phone to call a girl that I liked and I was shaking all over. Hahaha but that is a story for another time.

Pleasant surprise

Morning everybody. Woke up at 7.40 am. Almost overslept. Managed to get some sleep. Must be because of the cool weather as it rained heavily last night.

Facebook. I don't know how many times I have said this but thank god for Facebook (FB). Last night, an old, old friend found me in Facebook. One of my friends from the village where I grew up as a boy. Yes, I was once a boy..hahaha. A friend that I have not seen or heard from for ages. We are talking about way back in the 70s. :) Great memories. Kg Burut, Tawau, Sabah. My primary school was SK Melati Burut. Back then then schools used a three semester system. More on Burut next time.

Running on low fuel..

I have not eaten since Wednesday afternoon. I got back from the squash court with a headache and was very tired. I had forgotten to take out the meat to be defrosted, so I did not feel like cooking. I showered and then lay on the bed for a while. I fell asleep and was woken up by son who called me from KK. Then I could not sleep so I went online. Managed to fall asleep around 2.30 am. Woke up at 7.00 am. Went to school at 7.30 am as usual. Work on my curriculum plans and online at the same time. SOS (Same Old Story).

Did not have breakfast or lunch. Decided to leave the school early a bit. Got restless at the school. I left early at 3.00 pm and went straight to the squash courts. Chit chatted with some of my squash players. Onlined a bit. Did my coaching for my replacement classes as I am on leave very soon. :) Then played 6 games of squash with two squash kakis (squash buddies) - 2 best of 3 matches. Very tiring. Got home at about 8.00 pm. Had to rest coz my heartbeat was going very fast. So I had to lie down on the floor and put my legs up on the sofa so that the blood will flow down to my head. Need oxygen. Goosfraba!

I started to prepare to cook at 8.30 pm and finished cooking at 10.00 pm. Had to cut vegetables and then clean the prawns. That was the idea anyways. However, I cut the vegetables but I just washed the prawns and cut off the whiskers. That was about it hahahaha. Too lazy to peel off the shells and then pull out the long stringy poop from their bodies. Takes too long to do that and I was starving already. Hands and legs started to shake a bit and my head was getting high a bit. (A cheap way of getting high - no need to buy beer hahahaha), So I had mix vegetables cooked with oyster sauce and prawns cooked with tomato sauce with a bit of herbs and spices here and there. Too hungry to bother about the taste hahahaha. So eat to my heart's desire. Still got leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

Adios!

Just another regular day...

I did not sleep since waking up at 4.00 am this morning. A bit wee early but I could not get back to sleep so I stayed up and went online and blog.

I showered at 7.00 am and went to work at 7.25. Opened the school gates for the workers doing renovations at the primary school. Again did not have breakfast but I brought lunch. Leftover chicken cooked with rambutans and pineapples. The phone was not working and I went to check the wire. I found out that the wire has been pulled out from its connector (not sure how to describe this one hahahaha). So I went home to get my telephone extension wire and let the school use it. In the end I decided to let the school have the extension wire as I don't have telephone connection at home anyways.

Did my usual routine. Worked on the PE curriculum plans and online while I worked. My primary school principal came and then the new math teacher arrive shortly.

Had lunch at about 12.00 noon. Continued working after lunch. Later in the day, I was informed about the changes in the subjects that I am teaching next year. I have been given K1, K2 and K3 Physical Education instead of Form 1 International History. I kinda like teaching the History class and was getting good at it. New challenges I guess. Nothing eventful after thatexcept the fact that I was beginning to have a headache. Maybe it is from the paint. I log off from the school at 4 .00 pm and went straight to the squash court for squash coaching.

For my 4.30 pm class, only one student came. No students came for the 5.30 pm class, so I had a bit of a rest. The Penang Junior Closed, which had begun yesterday, was in progress. All my 7.00 pm students came for their squash coaching. Finished at 8.30 pm. Phew..very tired, hungry and having a headache that is throbbing like it had life on its own. By the time I reached home it was 9.00 pm already and it was too late to cook as I have not defrosted any meat. I quickly showred, went online for awhile and then fell asleep on the bed.My son called me on the phone and that woke me up. Chatted with him for awhile and then start working on my curriculum plans (again!) and online at the same time.

I managed to chat with one of my ex-player's father and discussed about his daughter who was not behaving well. He requested that I have a chat with his daughter and I said I would try my best. Hope I could give some useful advice and get through to my ex-player.

Well..that is all for now. Nite.

Today...

Today, I woke up 7 am this morning. Had a quick shower and went to work at the primary school. No breakfast. Yes, crazy isn't it. People are having school holidays and I am going to school to work. As a teacher at my school, I have to work 13 and a half days during this year-end school holidays. Don't ask me why.

Today, I opened the gate for the construction workers to enter the school compound to do some renovation work. I did my Physical Education for Year 1 curriculum plan for next year and in between my work I played Facebook. Chatting, Be a Tycoon, Speed Racing and Premier Football. Yes, I am addicted to Facebook. I think I need to go to FBA (Facebook Anonymous)! Hahaha just kidding. Had my lunch at 1.00 pm. Continued with the curriculum plan. Answered phone calls. Toilet. More curriculum plan. I left the school at 5.00 pm. So basically, I spent almost the whole day at the primary school.

Today, I went to the squash court to do coaching from 5.30 - 7.00 pm. I replaced one of the coaches who couldn't make it today. It was fun coaching the kids in that class. Very enthusiastic kids. After the class, I sat around the squash court cafe chatting with John (the squash court cafe owner). Then I went to Tesco to buy some groceries - chicken, prawns (I love prawns!!) and canned fruits (2 cans of pineapples and 1 can of rambutan stuffed with peinapples). By the time I reached home it was 8.30 pm already. Late night dinner.

Today, I was planning to cook chicken with lychee for dinner tonight. I took the can out of the cupboard and opened the can. When I poured out the lychee, they were black and smelly. Ewww. There was a leak in the can. So out went the window that idea. So, I ended up cooking chicken with rambutans stuffed with pineapples. By the time I finished cooking it was already 9.30 pm. Just in time for Pushing Daisies. hahahaha!

Today, I ate dinner. Watch TV while eating. Turn on laptop. Watch TV, use laptop while eating. After dinner (half an hour later) took my shower. Chatted with my wife and son (the youngest) for awhile. My family is back in Sabah having Christmas holidays. I miss them. I will be joining them this 17 Dec. Tidied up my PE for Year 1 curriculum plan and then sent it to a teacher to have it checked.

Today, I went to bed at about 12.30 pm. It took some time for me to fall sleep (it's very common nowadays). It was a sleepless night. I seemed to be tossing and turning around a lot tonight. suddenly woke up at 4.00 am in the middle of the night. I tried to go back to sleep but I was just turning and tossing. I had a lot of things racing in my mind suddenly. All kinds of thoughts. After that I could not sleep anymore. So I decided to go online. Surf online searching for squash and soccer news.

Today, I have been feeling a lot of pain lately. My back is in pain a lot nowadays. Sitting too long and playing squash did not help. My feet also hurts a lot more now especially in the morning. My elbow hurts too. Weekends are bad because I normally coach 3 - 5 hours with maybe a 15 min break.

BRB..got to get a glass of water. Ahh...refreshing.

Not even remotely feeling sleepy. Still got a lot things running through my mind.

Anyways, I am gonna still be here - took tuck, took tucking on the laptop by the time I have to get ready to go to work. Today..

Bye. Have a great day today!