Let The Game Begin!

After a very long and tiring summer break, the most anticipated premier league football in the world will kick off in less than 10 hours.

With Real Madrid going mental and bought every stars on sight, this was the most unusual season break ever. Liverpool were one of the victims...losing the influential Xabi Alonso to Florentino Perez's second wave of Galactico's.

But the team is still intact...and with United severely weakened by the departure of two of their talismans, Liverpool have a very good chance to mount a serious challenge towards the title.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for their chance this time around...maybe this is finally their season...

P/S - This will be my final posting. I'll take a long break after this...there's so much unresolved problem clogging up the arteries of my peaceful life. If left untreated, I'm afraid my future would be at harm...

I'll do some catching up with my reading...missed a lot of books lately.

So, till next time...

The Excavating Girl...

"Be kind to unkind people. They probably need it most..."

That witty remark was found in Iklil's page when I browsed her profile just now.

I haven't seen her for a year or two...after our explosive quarrel towards the end of 2007. She may had forgotten me by now...but she's still live through my mind. There's something special about her that I can't explain...maybe because we shared so much in common.

I spent some memorable time with her younger sister (Alwani) in Langkawi, thanks to Faisal. We visited Bird's Park (with that children's pass...I could never forget that) and Cenang Beach. She very much resembles her older sister.

I used to refer Iklil as "the excavating girl"...as she was so fond of excavation works. Today is her 24th birthday...I wish her all the best for the future...

My Life So Far...

I want to write on so many things...but time constrains proved too much a hindrance for me. I am a bad orator...at times, I am at lost for words to explain something...deep silence is a usual phenomenon when someone is having a conversation with me.

And even though my writing is average at best, I expressed myself better this way. People who know me through my writings understand me better compared to those who had lived with me through the years. Others liked to label me as a 'very quite person'...although I don't actually agree with their view.

I've set my birthday date as my final posting before I embark on a long vacation...to soothe my heart and soul after a long and turbulent year. There are many hurdles ahead...I've cleared some of the tough ones, and hope to overcome the few that are left standing by year-end. Don't trouble troubles until the troubles trouble you.

And when the going gets tough, I'll get going...no matter what the circumstances are. Hope I have the required strength to last all these...

The Kg Buah Pala Saga...

I've been thinking about giving the controversial Kampung Buah Pala a brief visit today...

What drama next?

Roboh ke tak roboh?


UPDATE


There were no bulldozers on sight as expected. The villagers, notably children, could be seen forming a wall on the street. They looked glum and somber. Some were sighted crying. There were a large presence of police...as well as political activists, including the newly registered PSM (Party Sosialis Malaysia)

Given my political inclination and shallow understanding of the whole issue, I'm not fit to give any view regarding their plight...but what is certain, I feel pity for them. One young boy was seen putting on a very brave face at the human shield. I heard some of them haven't attended school for days.

Hope their plight would be resolved sooner rather than later...

R.I.P...

While I was hanging around the groundfloor of QueensBay Mall last night, an incoming call alerted my attention.

It was Ah Yong...eager to know about the next badminton meeting. But I'd already cancelled the plan reluctantly...there was some difficulty finding the right number of person to fill up the quorom. Amir was in Kelantan...Shah was due for an outstation commitment in KL...the other usual suspects such as Naser, Darwis, Najid also couldn't make the trip to Paya Terubung, where we usually play on Friday.

After that brief conversation, in a rare circumstances, my handset slipped through the side of my pant's pocket...hitting the floor, bouncing twice and ended up inside a hole! I froze for a moment...murmuring to myself, in disbelief...

"What the hell had happened?"

I could see my handset inside it...but couldn't reach it with my hand. The hole is quite deep.

It's a trickery hole...by the way. Full of sharp edges, I couldn't push my hand deep enough without incurring myself with some sort of injury. But I tried anyway...I love that handset very much, for goodness sake. It was the gift of my sister...pictures, important phone numbers were all stored there.

I guessed I pushed my hand too hard inside that hole...I felt a sharp pain at the back of my palm. The moment I pulled out, there was blood all over it. I tried my luck with my left hand...but worse thing happened. The razor sharp edges slashed my hand indefinitely...leaving it full of blood.

I gave up eventually...there was nothing more I could do. Even if I managed to pull it out, it must have been severely damaged...it was soaked in water far too long. All the beautiful messages, meaningful pictures were gone. The bleeding had stopped, but my hand were full of ugly scars.

Sheikh, looking concerned with my hand's tragic condition, repeatedly asked me to wash it with Dettol to prevent infections.

I did my best to save my handset...I couldn't care much about the handset...it was its contents that were of extreme important to me. Kyra's messages and pictures...as well as Najwa's messages dating back to 2005 were all gone in split seconds. And their numbers too...

Going by the nature of it, it was a weird incident. Maybe it was some sort of sign or signal from the sky for me to stop dwelling on the past, and start concentrating on my future? I wonder...

If you were good in the past...

...can you be better in the future?

Or...you were just...past it?

It was Michael Owen who instilled my passion towards football almost 8 years ago. I became an ardent Liverpool supporter largely because of him.

I still followed his progress during his dismal stay in Madrid, and his injury-hit seasons with Newcastle.

But when he opted to join Man United, it was quite hard for me. Your once favourite player plying his trade in your most despised team? That's too much...

As they say, Form is temporary, Class is permanent. Owen is a class player, no doubt. If he was good in the past, he can be better in the future. He's not past it. Just hoping he'll lost his scoring touch temporarily when Man U meet Liverpool. I'll give my utmost support to him, but not to his new team.

And really glad Mexico gave poor U.S.A a 5-0 drubbing last night. Served them right. How dare they defeated my Spain team 2-0 in the Confederation Cup last two months?

Another Sunday...

1. I was asked by Ah Bee to stay back for work until 6 p.m. It almost ruined my day.

2. I had planned earlier to watch the FAM cup match between USM staff and Tambun Tulang FC. Kamarul was already there by 5 p.m. Shah and company were stretching their muscles inside the squash court...but I'd already told Shah I couldn't make it.

3. Arrived in USM's Stadium around 6.30 p.m. The match was still on...I could only catch few glimpses of the play from afar. Seats inside the stadium were full...the useless cheerleaders were making stupid noises from the main stand. I wondered where were the "boo boys"?

4. Witnessed the first goal. After some comical defending, USM staff conceded the first goal. 1-0 down. I saw some spectators started to leave. I slowly inched towards the squash court. I hope Shah is still there.

5. A rousing roars broke out from the grandstand. A goal was scored...but I didn't see the goal. Shah was watching the match outside the court. He looked surprise to see me. He told me the goal was scored from a direct free kick after a foul on a USM staff player. They levelled the score in less than 5 minutes.

6. The match ended in a stalemate. USM staff have a real chance of being promoted into the Premier League should they avoid defeat against Pos Malaysia next week.

7. Shimie, the third year Pharmacy student and Amar, a freshie first year chemistry student was seen playing squash inside. Malik, the PHD-bound student arrived minutes later with Lah.

8. Shimie is clearly a hardworking player. He will chase every ball right to the end. But he is 'mood-driven'...when his mood isn't right, playing with him would be a pure waste of time.

9. Amar, on the other hand, is a charge-up player. Full of energy and determination, he plays with his heart out. But his battling attitude sometimes drives him to be a bit emotional...he would scream out loud whenever he gained a point against his opponent. It was fine with me, but it irked some people.

10. It was decided among us to have another squash session tomorrow. Ah Teng had invited me yesterday to join his dad for badminton tomorrow from 7 p.m- 9 p.m...I don't think I could make it now. Earlier this evening, Darwis personally invited me and Shah to join them in Bayan Baru tomorrow...a marathon 3 hours badminton game until midnight.

11. Hafiz managed to nick the runner-up placing on his debut badminton tournament in Butterworth. He used my racket...I should claimed some of the credits then.

12. And now for the Gold Cup final...I'll support Mexico!