weee~~~~~

When Manchester United were slated to come to Malaysia, I was ecstatic! All I could think was the magic they could conjure on the pitch. I would imagine each and every ManU player bamboozling their way through Malaysia's defense with their dazzling silky skills.

Last Friday, during the training of the teams... I came an hour before it was due to start. I had actually some trouble looking for someone to go with. I had asked no less than 8 friends (all of whom were too busy) before finally getting William to come along with me. It was a seriously long time since we last met up. And I was surprised that he didn't plan to go for the next day's match, considering he is a ManU fan.

L->R: 1. Merchandises were sold at mark-up prices. 2. Mechanical bull-riding.

However, I had to wait as William was working that day. And so I went to the Sokker Safari, a carnival in conjunction with next year's world cup in South Africa. Hence, the bull above. =.=
Oh and because of the Safari, I decided to watch Lion King! Haha!

I found this very captivating. In fact, I was here for quite awhile. I even phoned Kishan to come and give his best. But he MIA. I was there for so long until the booth manager noticed that I had not given a go at it yet. The idea was for us to kick the ball as hard as we could and if the speed of the ball exceeded 50mph, we will be given a free United poster. When it was my turn, I considered toe-poking (which would cause the ball to travel at a greater speed) the ball, but I opted to side-foot the ball instead. 38mph also not bad whud... if you had seen what I was carrying and wearing. But I did not leave empty handed. They gave me some United players collectable cards. Old though... from the 1997/98 season.

By 5pm, there were about 30,000 people who were already slowly filing into the stadium. So I decided to head in first. After awhile, William showed up. We grabbed our seats behind the goal, and more often than not, spent time catching up after the years, whilst trying to identify the players from afar. (I decided to bring a pair of binoculars the next day.)

Doing the Mexican Wave.

After the training, we left at about 7pm after I had grabbed a RM3 Ramli. (DAMN inflated!)

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On match day, it was like uber mad! People came out of the LRT station like it was a human factory of some sort. Soon the whole lot in front of the stadium was bulging! Thousands of people were there even before 3pm!

A glimpse of the red tide in the Bukit Jalil LRT station.

To give you an idea of the sheer scale amount of people who were there, imagine yourself as one of these crabs...

Christmas Island Red Crabs migration

... but clone yourself 8 times over.


A Chelsea fan I met outside the LRT station wearing a Malaysia Rambo headband! Oh and did I mention he's an African?

Anyway, I waited for two of my friends, both of whom I had agreed to sell my extra tickets to. I sat (wait, I stood) at the stairs with one of them (whom we had not meet up since last year). There were no seats anymore by the time we got in.

The game brought out the best in our Malaysian team. Amri Yahyah did all of us proud when he netted a brace to draw level at one point in the game. But with 6 minutes of normal time remaining, Michael Owen, broke Malaysian's heart with a well taken predator's goal. United 3, Malaysia 2. What a game and what a day! Had a blast especially with my company!

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The second game which was held yesterday at the same place was the result of the Jakarta leg of United's Asia Tour being cancelled. Blessing? No comments. But we were there once again to witness a more straight forward match where the goals came early. Owen was on the scoresheet again in the 2-0 win.

The stadium was understandably less full than it was last Saturday, but the atmosphere was still there. There were a few Malaysian supporters playing the drums (or perhaps something more traditional... but what do I know?).

Mom and I decided to go only at the very last minute... seriously. She came home early, cooked and by 7.45pm, made up her mind to go. I agreed to follow her, and somehow we managed to reach just as both teams kicked off. But as soon as the match ended, we left and we got home by 12.15am. Phew... just in time before the LRT services ended.

Then I camwhored... Lol..

blast from the past

40 years ago, the world united.

Families all around the world crowded around their black-and-white television sets to witness one of the most famous achievement by mankind.

kkkkhhh..... or *static sounds*

Neil Armstrong: Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed. *beep*

Mission control erupts in celebration as the tension breaks, and a controller tells the crew "You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue, we're breathing again." Apollo 11 landed at 4:18 p.m EDT, only 30 seconds of fuel remain.

The goal, a brainchild of U.S. President Kennedy had earlier in the decade challenged America to rise to the occasion to beat Russia in the race to send a man to the moon. Kennedy was assassinated two years later, but his legacy lived on, and on that faithful Sunday evening on the 20th of July 1969, Armstrong set foot on the moon, and the rest was...

...that's one for step for men, one giant leap for mankind.

Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong working at an equipment storage area on the lunar module. This is one of the few photos that show Armstrong during the moonwalk.

- NASA -

We can now watched the Apollo 11 mission in real time, created by this website. It will track the capsule's route from the Earth to the Moon, ending with the moon landing and Armstrong's walk — in real time, but 40 years later. Let's relive the excitement and the moments of the moon mission ;)

aduhai/oh no...

An ordinary building opposite my attachment/work place...

Looks quite nice...

But look closely at the banner...

Sighs...

It's back to Bahasa in Sai-ants and Matematikus...

back when the year was young

Some pictures in my phone, dating back since January 2009!

CNY temptations - The food and the computers unite us all.

Angels and Demons crazy

L->R: 1. In first aid class, Mr Wong learning to give CPR to a 'baby'. 2. SO COOL. I know I damn jakun. But it's like 'Who wants to be a millionaire?'!

My first poster! But kena conteng-ed by my lecturer. Ish.


L->R: 1. Yakult Factory in Seremban. 2. Notice the slide on the slide? XD 3. Shirota Strains being cultured. 4. A scene in the factory.


Malaysian Studies project - Pictures from the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge.


L->R: 1 & 2. Pictures of the Petronas Twin Towers. 3. Winston demonstrating how tired he was at the end of the day. Someone buy him a cup of Milo or wind him up!


L->R: 1. Walid being such a sport! He got his hair shaved all for charity. 2. Our Uni's football field - Someone left their April Fools mark there.

28/04/09 - Earth Hour at Capital Square. I have some stories to tell of this day. But then, this was old news. Let's just say I didn't get the shirt (even after paying) and I was so frustrated, I beg someone for a glow-in-the-dark wristband, but then I learnt something more meaningful and significant about what this event truly represent.


Some pictures of the Pavilion Crystal Fountain.

shout people!!

Cutting right to the chase... after Li Xia won something recently, I knew I had to one-up her! Hahahaha. I am just kidding... jangan marah =)


Anyway, I got two emails yesterday...

I won some stuffs ;)


Not the stadium!

Here's the deal, initially Uncle Khing got 3 tickets... all RM98. Skipping right till the end (lazy to tell the loooong story). Shi Vern and I got the RM58. I guess we could still see the game. Only thing, Shi Vern and I probably would have to switch to the opposite end of the stadium after half time, if we wanna watch more action ;P

BUT... wait.. back to the top...

I won some stuffs ;)

It's quite an amazing story, I think. I wasn't really thinking of joining this contest. But I did after coming back home on Monday (13/7). The dateline? Before midnight. So after watching House, which I was sad to find out... *Spoilers*

SCROLL DOWN TO SKIP


SPOILERS START

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Kutner dies next in next week's episode!! WAHHH!!! WHY??

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SPOILERS END

... then I went online. It wasn't until 23.45pm which I decided I would have a go. I had to answer two long answer questions! So it wasn't like an under 20 words slogan. It was looong! But I did my best, and I managed to finish and send by 23.59:45pm. Not a moment to soon. So it came as a surprise when I got a MSN pop up from the organisers. I kinda knew. But my heart was beating. And then the line got disconnected. Potong stim to the very max...

2 minutes later, one word was all enough to make my day.

CONGRATULATIONS!

I won a pair of RM98 tickets :D

Hahhaa!! Finally, I am rewarded for being such a huge fan! And watching ESPN for years and years has finally paid off!!

But looking back at the mail in my sent folder, I noticed so many grammar mistakes in my answers!! ARRGH!! In one sentence, the word 'NOT' was also missing. And of course, that totally change (a 180 degrees) what I wanted to say! Maybe not many people entered the contest. Lol.

Now, should I try selling the tickets? Or should I bump Shi Vern and myself up, so that we can sit with the rest? That would be great!! But then it would be hard to sell two extra RM58. Kinda waste. I think it would be easier to sell the RM98s. Haha.

...


OH.... and the second email I got 30 minutes later was to inform me I got 5 tickets to go the Shout! Awards. ZOMG. I have almost no clue what was this about. I wrote the slogan using the bits of info I heard on FlyFm. Not sure if I am gonna redeem it. I tried asking some of my friends, but the responds weren't that great.

But Sean Kingston would be there! He's gonna set the dancefloor on fire!! And I have his autographed CD. Wait... I have his autographed CD already. Oh wells...

Anyone interested?

Is magic real?

When I was a kid growing up, I read lots of Enid Blytons. I was always longing for the holidays, because I knew my parents would buy me more of them for my sis and I. My childhood has always been about the fantasies created by these books. I mean I literally believe what I was reading. I was so innocent. I believed in magic. Each time a spell was casted by one of the magic folks in these books, I muttered those words out loud. I was literally waiting and expecting for something to happen. When words failed, it didn’t deter me at all. Instead, I tried to imitate the actions depicted in the book. I thought that somehow that crazy idea might work. When nothing happened once again, even that didn’t disappoint me. I would write those ‘spells’ down and kept them. Perhaps it would work some other time, I had thought to myself.

Anyway, I grew out of that. I got some sense or rather logic knocked into my head, which helped me decide basically what was and wasn’t possible. But I still have that strong believe in magic.

I knew it will always be a part of me. Even when the mask man on AXN spoils everything for me, I still believe in magic. Although… I learnt from this guy and from The Prestige, that it is all science. If you are pretty mechanical and you heard of someone with a new invention, you may come up with a bright idea to be used in your next performances.

But the idea of blowing people’s mind, especially by street magicians is what I absolutely love. One of my childhood ambitions… yes you guessed it, a magician. Well, somewhere along the way, most of my childhood ambition became something sort of a hobby. It’s kinda like love. After you get so used to someone, it’s not something you wanna do for the rest of your lives anymore. Ahh… such is the thin barrier between career and hobby.

But I digress….

I am still talking about magic. To me… magic is something which doesn’t need curtains or smoke screens to amaze. Magic is all real, and we witness it in every second of our lives.

Magic is when you made the right decisions.

Magic is when your gut feelings are right each time.

Magic is when you hummed to a song, and then as it turns out, it’s also on the radio.

Magic is when you bumped into someone just as you were thinking about him or her.

Magic is when your troubles would suddenly float away.

Magic is when you lost your words at the sight of someone special.

Magic is when you win something of your heart’s desire.

Magic is when you can make someone happy.

Magic is when your heart is sincere.

Magic is when you know… deep down, God is watching over you.

Do you believe in magic?

sleepless in KL

Yesterday’s haze choked me right out of slumber. It wasn’t as if I had fallen asleep properly anyway. Mosquitoes were furiously over me, biting at every exposed flesh not clothed or blanketed. I so badly wanted the fan speed to be up another notch (maybe until the maximum); but I was too lazy to get out of bed. Chinks of light still surround the outer shape of the shared bathroom. My sis is probably still awake. My handphone is by my bedside. Should I call her? *Sighs* My muscles twitched… whether from repeated mosquito bites over the same spot, or it’s from my body’s fight-or-flight mechanism sending me a telegraph urging me to answer its call. Yeah… that’s right… I begin to feel so detached from my body. That’s a good thing… really. Maybe I could just ignore everything, and then maybe I could just return to my reveries.

And fueled by another sort of unrest, my body fights of my brain and its over-indulging punishing thoughts, starving it out of oxygen. As my breathing grew shallower, I could vaguely remember my heart beat anymore, and not before long, I dozed off… much to the delight of the feasters swarming around me, already smart enough not to buzz pass my ears.

moo-t

At a motivational talk...

Speaker: … and that’s why we should never do things till the cow comes home. Anybody does things till the cow comes home?

Someone from the audience: *Hand up* I always do things till the cow comes home!

*LAUGHTER RIOT*

Speaker: Well, what do you plan to do to make sure you do things before the cow comes home?

*Silence*

Speaker: Well, we could make sure the cow comes home on time. Give it a curfew…blah blah…

Somehow, if we use a series of repeated lines or phrases, it can sound pretty dirty!

Agree?

you are not alone

We will never understand what he endured ... being judged, ridiculed. "Maybe, now, Michael, they will leave you alone." - brother Marlon, choking up.

Earlier he had to be comforted by Jermaine, before he could bravely proceed albeit in a cracking voice...

I could barely take it anymore and this gut-wrenching emotional scene completely shattered me...

"I just wanted to say," Paris began weakly.

"Speak up, sweetheart, speak up," Janet encouraged, sweeping the girl's long hair back. "And get close."

Paris put one hand behind her neck, another on the microphone, and began again.

"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," she said, her tiny voice cracking.

Rebbie and Marlon Jackson moved in closer to comfort their niece. She shut her eyes tight.

Then she wrapped her hands - little fingernails painted red _ around the microphone and fought back tears as she continued: "And I just wanted to say I love him - so much."

She collapsed in tears into her aunt's arms.

"It's OK, baby. It's OK," Janet Jackson said as she held Paris close. Prince joined in on the hug.

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But there were also reasons to celebrate on the Memorial Night... reasons to celebrate the life of one Michael Jackson.

Berry Gordy explaining what a great artiste he was...

"He raised the bar, then broke the bar."

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"The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that 'King of Pop' is not good enough. I think he is simply...

I think he is simply...

the greatest entertainer that ever lived."

Al Sharpton explaining what a great Daddy he was...

"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with."

The world explaining what a great man he was...

- Singing 'We are the World' -

We will miss you...

chemicals react

Ah blissful love! Hearts flutter. Verbal cords constrict. Faces blush. Conscious heavy breathing. All typical signs. With a flush of serotonin excreted in our brain, those signs are pretty beneficial. In other words, being in a healthy relationship with someone is a healthy thing!

But what happens as two person share this bond?

Simultaneously, the testosterone level of the guy drops while the girl's increase, so that they both share an approximate similar amount of testosterone in their bodies. This renders the guy to be more effeminate in a way that they seem to be loving and caring towards the other. The girl? Vise versa of course. The girl would tend to be more masculine as she is inclined (some choose otherwise) to control her man. So these are the common traits that all loving couples with exhibit. But obviously throughout the course of their relationship, the couple may face their fair share of ups and downs. As long as both parties remain in love, their testo-love value would not deviate much from equilibrium.

What may have instigated or trigger the initial reaction attraction?

According to Dr George Preti, of the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia, it is said that the presence of complex pheromones in the underarm sweat that attracts a girl and even lets her decide if the man is the one for her. In the conducted experiment, the underarm sweat was swabbed on female volunteers' lips, and after about 6 hours, the pheromones had a relaxing effect on them.

Ewww... do the volunteers know about this?? Those brave souls... *salutes them*

They are also responsible for the release of luteinising hormone, which plays an important role in regulating menstruation in women. The chemicals in the underarm sweat may also discourage close relatives from getting attracted to each other because of the presence of part of the human genome called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). It is speculated that women can infer when a man's MHC is different from their own.

The latest findings also suggest that if the active pheromones in male sweat can be isolated they may prove to be the basis of new fertility drugs or relaxant perfumes for girls.

I am not sure about this, although I am keeping an open mind about it, but it's quite disgusting. I have smell myself after a heavy workout before, and I wreaked! Okay.. there may be "good" man's sweat and "bad" man's sweat. But, immediately I want to do is get a nice cool bath. It's difficult to envision colleagues sticking their nose up another fellow colleague's armpits!

I know what you mean, Ballack.

So guys, lay off the deodorants!

Most relaxing job in the world?

And on that stinky and smelly note...

till death do us fart part