Close to the end...

I’ve managed to delay the inevitable, but I really can’t hold it off any longer.

This blog is dying, and we all know it.

It’s funny when one considers that my blog has been a constant of my life for the past 2 ½ years or so, as compared to the other aspects of my life.

But I guess, just like everything else, I need that change again. Part of the reason for my lack of writing, despite the availability of material, is this increasingly stagnant blog.

So, officially today, I’ll be looking for a new place, a new haunt, to begin afresh.

This place has a lot of memories, and I’ll always remember…

I’ll have one more update to let you know when I find my next location. Till then…

Photobucket issues...

I'm not currently happy with the service Photobucket is providing. Previously I could resize my pics to whatever % I want. Now, they pretty much restrict you to a few options, ie. web page size, thumbnail, avatar, which sucks. I'm off to greener pastures...

Suggestions appreciated as to the best photo hosting site! Thanks heaps :D

AAA: Day 3 pt 2: More sight-seeing

Firstly, apologies for dragging out my London trip blogging! Football does seem to take a fair bit of it lately...

Alright, back to the housewarming. About 4+ UFS and BHC decided to leave, and offered to bring me to a couple of places. Trafalgar Square was one of them (20 pounds rent ha ha). There were actually tons of tourists here, both foreign AND local, so it was quite surprising. Supposedly there was gonna be some show that night or the next, as they were erecting a performance stage in front of the museum . At least I didn't get pooed on by the birdies :D


With UFS, at Trafalgar Square

The Museum of course, was something else. I'm a bit of an anomaly here. I'm the sort of person who does appreciate good art and good scenery. The problem is my colour condition doesn't allow my to properly appreciate them as other people do... Still, I did enjoy the art gallery, which unfortunately closed at 6pm (so I had about 20 minutes max)

Dinner was quite tasty, although the amount of salted fish they piled on my rice was overload. Yes, I had a Malaysian meal!

After a short visit to the MP building, i.e. the other side of Thames River from yesterday, I finally parted company with a promise to attend their wedding ceremony come Nov.


UFS's hubby, BHC

Here's the annoying bit. According to UFS, everytime they renew their postpaid phone contract, the company gives them a new phone. Therefore, she and BHC both have a number of good, unused phones at home. Unfortunately, I only found out AFTER I had met them, as I was looking to get another phone ! (I had dropped my phone one time too many!)

I got back to the hotel with no worries, turns out that Hafidz had not had dinner yet. So off I went, for some spicy fried chicken run by a local shop. Turned out to be excellent (damn it, I should have finished this before puasa, all this talk about food is killing me!)

After a few diversions, we headed back (needed to wake up early to catch a train to Wolverhampton for the V Fest)

Next: V FEST!!!

More than meets the eye...

Sound familiar?

TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE
http://www.transformersmovie.com/

A live-action movie! Still, not much on the site though, but note it's a Michael Bay film ... so at least it's not a low-budge flick...

7.4.7

That's LESS than a year away...

Added onto my must-watch list alongside Spiderman 3.

Is Thundercats impossible?

Stupid fairy...

Apparently my blog has been offline since sometime on Friday due to publishing errors. Just as well, if anyone had read and followed my advice on Pick of the Week they were pretty much screwed by the stupid fairy. I always underestimate Chelsea's ability to play beneath their level. Stupid millionaires...

I'm done screwing with my team day in day out, to no positive effect. I'm sticking with my current selected team, bar injuries of course...

On the plus side, watching Titus Bramble was hilarious!!

Tip of the Week

For a difference, instead of posting a full squad, I'll just highlight one player who I think will do brilliantly this week.

This week it's:

Arjen Robben

Never thought I'd be endorsing this light-weight fairy, but with Ballack out (Cole's still out), Mr Softie looks set to start. And he'll do everything he can in his power to prove he should start every game. Fully rested, at 10+ against an injury-ravaged Fulham that also lost in the Carling Cup midweek, he should run the defense ragged, and even fire off one or two goals.

The Liverpool-Newcastle game...

Firstly, good to see Kuyt get off the mark.
Secondly, more nonsense from Alonso!

Too many instances where no one was exploiting the available space on the flanks. With Gerrard and Garcia continuously drifting inside, it was too narrow for Liverpool. That's probably why Kuyt managed to score actually, because Newcastle ended up leaving space on the left. Finnan suddenly arriving was like a surprise to them... Of course, the killer Alonso pass did help.

Our defense still ain't the best. whether it's Agger and Carragher misunderstandings, or Aurelio being more of an attacking defender... Reina still fumbled in the match, if you noticed.

We still have a lot to do, but gaining back confidence helps. A lot. Here's to the 1st CS of our EPL season..!

Day 3 pt 1: Han Solo

Yeap, it's travel alone day! I had arranged to meet Ung Fang Sing (my sis) and her hubby, both ex-KPMG colleagues of mine who were working in London. Hafidz wanted to go off to look at designs (and a certain Stamford Bridge), so I went off solo.

Oh, btw, sore lack of pics for the day coz Hafidz had the camera. Didn't stop me at all though...

I bought a daily tube ticket coz I was only meeting UFS at one. So where did I go?

King's Cross Station, Liverpool Station, The Angel Islington, Euston Road, Northumberland Avenue, Mayfair... sound familiar??? Yes, it's the mini-Monopoly tour! Unfortunately, it was mini coz I simply did not have time to go to every stop on the Monopoly board. Didn't really care though coz I went to my favourite location of all time, The Angel Islngton. Had some fish and chips (magnificent), enjoyed lunch in the company of a random British couple Mark and Shevana (I think that's how it's spelled) found out that The Angel was originally an inn.

Oh, I also made it to Madame Tussaud's, although all I did was stare at the incredibly long queue of people trying to get in. Nearby, there was also the Sherlock Holmes Museum (yes, on Baker Street) which is, in a word, fascinating.

My rendezvous was at Canary Wharf, which was in Zone Two. Of course, once I met them, the 1st thing UFS commented was on how fat I was. We ended up going to a housewarming which was hosted by three more of my ex-KPMG colleagues! Two more arrived later, making me question my wisdom in leaving KPMG so soon..

While I was there, I had the opportunity to test my V DVDs. Suffice to say, they were in excellent condition and we were all soon reminiscing about this 80s series!

cont...

YFF dilemma...

It's no secret that I'm not doing too well right now in YFF. I think I've been taking too many risks, so I'm gonna tone it down this week.

Having said that, this week's a Liverpool-Newcastle double week, and I've always been crap at double weeks.

My team as of today:

Anelka, Saha, Tevez, Gerrard, Young, Petrov, Ronaldo, Chimbonda, Shorey, Aurelio, Reina.

Yeah, mostly solid YFF performers in there. The exceptions are Anelka, Tevez, Gerrard and Reina.

I'm hoping this week's Anelka's breakout week against a dodgy Middlesborough defense. Tevez too, against a dodgy Newcastle defense.

The main drivers here are Gerrard and Reina. This is for pure Liverpool backing, and I want them to win both games. If they win, I'll profit with them, if they lose, I'll go down with them.

Previously I had Fabregas and Barry in there, but then, Arsenal are possibly without RvP and Henry, which to me turns the tide a lot. So much so, that I ended up buying C. Ronaldo, whom with Giggs out, should do most of the free kick/corner duties... As for Barry, apparently last week he slotted in at left-back. For a generally attacking winger, this sucks.

Still have one unit left though... hmm...

The rest of Day 2 in pictures!

Where do I start? oh yes... We left Bayswater by tube, went to Westminster. Tube's just like the LRT in KL, except the characters are more colourful. Ronnie was generous enough to get us daily tickets (wink wink, thanks dude!)

First up: At the Thames riverside, we saw a lot of kids enjoying this, so me and Hawa joined in the fun.

At the time, I didn't actually expect this pic to be taken, but it does illustrate how it works. Here's the real pic:


Here's a cool display on the riverside:

Supposedly you can link your phone to the music box and it'll play the tunes from under your arse. Don't think our phones were compatible though...

Street performers were everywhere, and it was neat to see how some of them put a lot of effort in their respective acts. Although admittedly, there were a few who didn't do much at all, like this dude:



There were quite a few of these guys actually.

One of the street performers decided not to even show up, just left his hat and suit:

Lazy bastards.

Photo ops with sweet Hawa:

One of the most well-known views of the London Thames with Big Ben.

Lepak time (actually our feet hurt. Well, everyone except Hawa):

The contraption you see on the top left is the London Eye, a recent addition to the city attractions. Here's a long-distance view:


It's similar to a Ferris Wheel except one capsule can fit at least 15 people. Apparently you can rent one to have your own mini-private party!
Anyways, from Westminster it was a short tubetrip to Leicester Square (yes, it's a sucky uncommon ha ha).

Was around 3+ by this time and the rain battered down ridiculously, so we had a late lunch/early dinner, depending who you talk to. Our meal was at this Italian restaurant, and I wolfed down a large portion of spaghetti bolognaise, which incidentally tasted great! After that, we split up to do some shopping.

Here's a pic of the area:

On the right is Leicester Square. On the left is a Virgin Megastore and this is where I went.
About 1 hour and 40 pounds later, I came out with this:



A bit of enlightenment: Me and a coupla friends have been hunting these two DVDs in Malaysia for AGES to no success. I made it a point to purchase it the moment I had an opportunity. Wiped out almost half my spending money, but I don't really give a toss...

It was late evening, and we were fairly exhausted, so back to the hotel we went (took a cab this time!). It was also farewell to Tracy, who was leaving the next day on MAS. I personally thought she was a sweet gal, and good company too!

Next: AAA, Day 3, Each to his own!

AAA, day 2 pt 2: The Art of Vacuum Cleaners

Apologies for being late, but uploading pics has been a problem recently...

So, what's so special about Bayswater again??

Apparently Hafidz wanted to check out this spanking new shopping mall his friend told him about. Apparently there’re some funky designs involved. Apparently he’s on a working holiday… (Hafidz is one of those product design people).

Being the 1st day of sight-seeing and what appeared to be nice weather, instead of taking the tube (it's about 3 stops away), we walked instead.

Of course, London being London, it began raining shortly after... I can't remember who came up with the idea, but someone suggested Ronnie purchase umbrellas for us... (very sneaky, in light of the fact that he was probably trying to impress Tracy). Magically indeed, umbrellas appeared!! 5 people, 4 umbrellas bought (yes short by one so that Ronnie has an excuse to snuggle...) Incidentally, those umbrellas turned out to be our MVP = Most Valuable Possession. It was, rain-no rain-rain-no rain-rain-no rain type-weather.

We went through Kensington Park, which kinda brought back nostalgic memories of Melbourne. (Fyi, Melbourne was called a 'garden state' for obvious reasons). Got to know some friendly birdies with aquatic aversions at the lake. Interesting to note that no matter how friendly they are with humans, amongst themselves it can be a totally different story when competing for the crumbs thrown by the aforementioned humans. One pigeon was literally jabbing a duck with its beak to make it drop its crumb!


Take note,the swan in the background is on ramming speed on the unsuspecting daft ducks...


me, Hawa and Hafidz attempting to conceal a growing mass bird invasion...

A couple of wrong turns later, we finally made it to the Bayswater area, but no new, spanking shopping mall. We asked quite a number of people actually, and no one had a clue! Kena con... there isn't any as far as the Bayswater residents were concerned.

continued... in pictures!

YFF Wk 4: Taking measured risks

Right is Saturday morning, and STILL no player update.

Here's my latest squad (Yeah, changed a fair bit)

Bent, Saha, Moore, Fabregas, Ballack, Bullard, Barton, Karkouri, Shorey, Scharner, Jussi

My priorities here were simple: Everyone needs to be a starter. As such, I shied away from Liverpool players (rotational risk). There's some doubtful selections, e.g. half of my squad are away... 2 Charlton players against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge .... but I think I need to take these risks to progress... but trust me, there's method behind my madness!

AAA, Day 2, pt 1: Chocolates are cheaper than water here!!!

When it comes to hotels, I'm big on complimentary breakfasts.

I always check what time they're on, and no matter how late I sleep, I always wake up for those. Always.

It's a fucking event on its own!

Anyways, I wake up far too early, 4ish, cursing as I do so. Obviously my body clock hasn't adjusted yet. I use the Force to fall back asleep, then wake up at 6. Damn it, still 1 1/2 hour more. Unfortunately the Force doesn't like being misused for such trivial matters, and thus, I am unable to sleep any further. Curses to the power of 16.

Turn on the TV instead. If you're a UK resident, then the morning shows are fine, coz you prob only catch a bit before heading of to do whatever you normally do. If you're a tourist, the morning shows can be darn annoying. After every half hour, they pretty much rehash everything from the previous half hour, albeit with updates. Apparently for 3 Hrs. I almost throw my last piece of Yorke at the damn box after the 3rd iteration. Fortunately, I put the throwing on the stack, and eat the choc in response. Everything resolves, choc is eaten, throwing fizzles, and damn box survives.

My cousin wakes around 7 and we get ready. At 7:30am I call our fellow travellers (yes, I CAN be anal about these things). Ronnie picks up, and I'm a bit surprised (thought he got lucky). Hawa in the background proceeds to yell, "He's not a virgin anymore!!!" My response, "Wasn't this news at least TEN years ago???" (He's 30, btw). Anyways, I ask if they wanna get breakfast. Ronnie says, "give us five minutes". Or ten. Can't remember but it felt like an eternity.

Complimentary breakfast turned out to be limited to toast and cereal, with a choice of juices and hot drinks. A complete English breakfast would cost extra, 7 pound 50 to be precise. Hey, if our sponsor isn't paying for it, I sure as hell ain't. Having said that, the toast tasted fantastic. We all had a lot, even though I had finished last night's Kebab a half hour ago!

Me and Hafiz went off to find a Cybercafe. Took us twenty minutes to find one open, and I stopped for a touristy pic with a double decker (hey, it's England). Updated my football team (yes, priorities).



Once back at the hotel, Ronnie announced that Tracy was coming along with us, and we'd detour to her hotel. Unsurprisingly Ronnie get us lost for awhile before finding it. (Apparently he took a cab the prior night). Tracy turned out to be quite a friendly person, and rather attractive too.

So we set off to Bayswater...

Shit, I haven't even made it past the morning yet, my entries are getting longer...

Tbc...

AAA, Part 3: The flight + 1st day

I forgot to mention in my previous post about the airflight baggage regulations. I pretty much stuffed everything into my main luggage coz I couldn't be bothered with any hand luggage issues. Ronnie however, decided to take his bag in as hand luggage. As a result, at the check-in, he had to reveal its entire contents to the counter-girl. Yeap, he was a bit embarassed, but hey, no pain no gain!

Anyway, 13hrs sitting on a flight is no joke, but fortunately there was a slew of movies for us to watch, especially good for me as I don’t sleep very well on planes. There was one questionable selection though, Hawa pointed out to me, as they were showing The Terminal as well. If you’ve watched that before, you’d know it’s not something you’d want to watch on an airplane to LONDON at this point in time! I did feel bad for Hawa though, her lengthy frame just did not fit the seats, making it a bit hard for her to get comfortable.

The flight wasn't very comfortable either, with quite a bit of turbulence. Hawa, who wasn't happy with the pilots, got their names down so that she'd know if she was flying with them again. Ronnie, on the other hand, was busy picking up one of the stewardesses, apparently doing well! The meals, although nothing special, were okay though.

We arrived safely early evening. We had the typical "which line do we go to?" immigration problem. Then Hafiz made an infamous comment, "Kita ni kat Heathrow ke Hydarabad???" (Are we in Heathrow or Hydrarabad?) We asked him why, and he said, take a look at the immigration counters. It appeared that all, yes ALL, the personnel manning the counters appeared to be of Indian descent!!!

Anyway, we made our way past the immigration without much problems, although she did ask us extensively about what we were doing here. We found our contact, and headed off to the parking lot for our taxivan. The weather felt like Genting!

Our hotel was the Kensington International, where the rooms were small, but golly gosh cozy. I did a bit of early exploring of the environs with Hafiz, and typically I ended up with chocolates (ha ha!) + Walker's Crisps. I bought a choc bar called YORKE, which had the tagline "NOT FOR GIRLS". I assume it was due to the heavy choc content, hey if I, of all people, can't finish a choc bar, I'd say it's an achievement for them choc-makers...

Then it was a bed flop, tv switch as we waited for dinner. Soon Hawa gave us a ring, and surprisingly she was alone. Turns out Ronnie went off with his stewardess (!)(Tracy, btw) and just passed her dough for dinner. We ended up exploring some more, looked for stuff in TESCO about 15 mins walk away, (where we were flummoxed trying to comprehend the pre-paid phone system), and finally settled on a Take-Away Kebab shop close to our hotel. The supposedly ‘small’ Doner Kebab turned out to be massive, and I ended up keeping half for next morning! I watched a bit of TV (nothing INTERESTING!!!) before retiring to bed.

To be continued...

Azmin's Awesome Adventure Pt 2

As I was part of the committee for my Company’s Staff Day that weekend, I had no time to actually think a lot about what I had won. The Staff Day itself had lots of interesting occurrences keeping my mind occupied.
The reality hit me on Monday, when I was back at work and Hawa from Fly FM called me up asking for names, ICs and passports. I panicked, because I actually thought the trip was in October! Turns out it was in two weeks time, i.e. August 17th-21st, and for me, Monday was a scramble to find a person to go with me who had a valid passport. I managed to narrow it down to Michelle, Ben and my cousin Ayu. In the latter half of the day I added my other cousin Hafiz (my mum thought it'd be a nice last bachelor trip), and in the end, he became my fellow traveler.
During the period that passed, I was informed by Hawa that we would receive our flight tickets on the day of departure itself. Typically, some of my family actually had misgivings that I had won, as there seemed to be NO real evidence around! (they never did catch any of those announcements on Fly FM about me winning...) As a result, the drive to the airport that Thursday morning had an air of doubt throughout.
Fortunately, all doubts were dispelled as we met Hawa and the Universal rep, Ronnie Gan at the airport, and received our tickets! It was indeed a reality! After saying goodbye to our respective folks, we headed over to Fly FM to chill before our flight. Yeap, the station’s in KLIA, for those who don’t know, hidden in terminal C5. The station's design was awesome though, it certainly made us wish we worked there! We got to see the DJs in action, and FlyGuy and Ben managed to squeeze in an interview with me and Hafiz. Was a bit nervous, but it was fun doing it! Oh, and DJ Nina was pretty darn cute too! We also had an insight into Hawa's work ethic, as she pretty much worked all the way till the final 30 minutes before our flight!!

With Rosyan, DJ Nina and Wan

Azmin the Sound Engineer





READY TO FLY!!!!

To be continued....

I think I've got into a bit of a rut...

... I think I need to reinvent myself. There are lots of things I feel I need to do, but haven't gotten it done. A change in appearance and outlook looks to be on the horizon...

This blog's appearance needs an uplift too...

Let's see what happens this month aighhhhht....

EPL YFF is back!!!

Unfortunately, I'm not.... at least quality-wise...

After 2 weeks, I'm looking like a pale shadow of the guy who finished 2nd place in the WGS league last season. At TT, I'm currently losing horribly in my WC group, (again, unlike last year where I pretty much strolled into the last 16). It's international break now though, which gives me a chance to regroup (currently in 9th position).

Transfer deadline has just passed, and crikey, the YFF world just got more complicated. The striker positions alone have got new choices like TEVEZ, Kuyt and Anelka! With such quality players at such cheap prices, it gets harder and harder to build the best squad. On the other side, I'm glad players like Reyes got kicked out of the EPL. I will never forget his rolling-onto-the-pitch incident....!

Of course, if lotsa players suddenly kop injuries during the internationals, it WOULD make things a lot easier... starting with Shevchenko and Ballack ha ha... okay, that's just me being cruel...

Here's my team as it stands (pre-transfer deadline effects):

Henry, Saha, Shevchenko, Ballack, Bullard, Rosicky, Fabregas, Aurelio, Shorey, Scharner, Jaaskelainen.

Yeah, I managed to squeeze Henry in. Amazing.

Saha currently looks long-term, as is Bullard. Yes, I've dropped last year's policy of having Stevie G a permanent fixture, because there's so much quality in the squad which reduces Steven Gerrard's necessity to be a one-man squad. I'm sticking with my no-Everton policy though, sorry ha ha...

Jaaskelainen at the Reebok against Watford appears to be the best chance of a CS. Scharner's there coz he's a midfielder listed in defence + he tries to score goals (it's a risk, coz he's almost a card magnet).

Yes, I'm expecting Arsenal to thrash Boro. No, Middlesbrough acquiring Woodgate doesn't change things much either. I CAN see myself replacing Shevchenko with either of those 3 strikers i mentioned earlier. Reason being Chelsea won't be THAT great coming off the internationals, so I won't put too much in them.

Finally, Aurelio could get replaced by Ashley Cole ceteris paribus. Yes, I feel sorry for Bridge, but somehow it keeps falling down...

Well, that's it for now. We'll see what happens after the Internationals aiight...

Azmin's Awesome Adventure Part 1!

It was a dream come true to win 2 FREE all-expense paid tickets to UK to watch ORSON, a rising force in the entertainment industry, at the madness of V Festival, England’s amazing music festivals. Well, not really a dream, cause I never really dreamt about it. I did fantasize though. A fair bit. Umm... won't go that route...

You see, I was lucky enough to be the eighth caller through on that fateful Thursday! At the time, I was driving back from Port Dickson, heading back to my office. I was part of the organizing committee (read: labour) and had just transported a load of hampers/prizes from office to PD and was making a 2nd trip. Tuning in to Fly FM, Shel, the active Fly FM DJ sounded the cue to call to participate in ORSON’S AWESOME ADVENTURE to win an Orson CD AND… the chance to win the all-expense paid tickets. As luck would have it, I got through! The question was: “What would you do if you found out there was ‘No Tomorrow’? My answer was simple: “I’d pack my bags immediately, pick a direction, and start walking. And walking. And walking. And see where I end up at the end of the day.” Shel replied, "Let me see, from PD if you went North, only SUNGAI BULOH lah!!!" I laughed,"Hey, that's good enough!"

Still, it was good enough to win the CD that day, and I went in the running for the trip prize which would be announced the next day. Friday came, and I was pretty busy, cause 100+ staff were coming in from all over Malaysia for the Staff Weekend, and I had a ton of stuff to do. At 4pm+ , as the staff began to arrive, I got a call from Fly Fm. It wasn't THE CALL, but rather a call to check if I was eligible for the Grand Prize, e.g. had a valid passport, Malaysian, etc. I was then told to listen later to find out whether I had won.

Of course, I was not able to listen, not having a portable radio with me as I was busy assisting with staff registration for the event. More specifically, I was in a room giving out respective showbags to my committee outside to give to each participant. The showbags were customised for each person due to the fact that the free t-shirts inside were taylored to each person's size specifications. However, the reception in the room was not that clear, so I decided to pass the phone to my fellow committee members outside to make sure any call could go through.

Suddenly my phone rang. Then for some reason one of my fellow committee (who shall not be named) decided to play hide and seek with my phone. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off. Luckily she passed it back to me in time, else I swear I'dve torn her head straight off her shoulders! I picked up the call and it was Shel!!!! AND I WON!!!! I pretty much jumped around in joy, oblivious to everyone else.

Then Shel, who knew I was at my Company Event from yesterday's conversation, made me yell out to my fellow staff telling them I’d won a trip to UK from Fly FM, which I proceeded to do. A bit embarassing, but at that point, I DIDN’T CARE AT ALL!!!

I'd be heading to UK in OCTOBER !!!! (at least, I thought it was October...)

to be continued....

Quick update

Arrived in London, last night, flight was bad, quite a lot of turbulence, staying at Kensington International. Rooms are a bit small, but quite comfy otherwise...

Was too tired to explore last night, so just had a quick Kebab takeaway dinner which lasted till Breakfast TODAY!

We'll see what happens today...
Later....

QUICK UPDATES!!!

Yes, it's been a while. AGAIN. A MONTH.

So many things have happened since the last time I blogged.

Let's see:

1. Audit is pretty much finalised. Interesting experience now that I can see the perspective from the other side. A bit sad that I wouldn't be seeing the hottie ones anymore though...

2. Company Staff Day! Some amazingly good things happened and some NOT so amazing stuff discovered. The upshot of being a committee member for this is I finally got to establish a decent relationship with some of my fellow staff, after having been pretty much an alien since I joined in January. Still, if you notice, I seldom talk much in my blog about the people in my company, except maybe when it comes to ogling beauties, and I don't think that's about to change....
Lucky draw I only got some enamel bowl, but I shouldn't complain TOO much, considering the staff day also coincided with...

3. ME WINNING A TRIP TO UK FROM FLY FM!!!! Yes folks, it IS possible to win something fantastic from all those radio call-in competitions! I'm jetting off on a 5 day trip to London to attend the annual V festival concert! I'll be going off with my cousin, a FLY FM rep and a Universal Records rep. Was trying to get my daughter to go with me, but external forces intervened... :( Ah well...

4. Last weekend my team came in 5th at a Putrajaya treasure hunt, despite all odds. With 90+ teams in total, it was something of an achievement especially with all the pre-treasure hunt hassle. At the heart of the complaining, of course, was me. I'm just glad those stickers came off my car easily, or there'd be HELL to pay...

5. Finally, I read some not so good news today about a dear school friend of mine. Hope you recover quickly, and remember, despite what you may feel, it's NOT the end of the world

So tomorrow, all goes well, I'll be flying off! Will blog extensively on my trip (to be supplemented by pics)

p.s: Now, hopefully, the Fly Fm girl who's going with us is a hottie too...!

The male ego

Despite all the supposed 'advancements' in today's thinking, it's always a glowing feeling for a guy to be available for a 'damsel in distress'. Does wonders for the ego I tell ya!

Sometimes it's not even necessary to do much. Sometimes all you need do is be there, for example, to lend an ear for the poor troubled gal... If you're the soothing factor for previously boiling temperatures, the ensuing gratitude is all that you need to fuel your day.

Oh wow, what a coincidence... Excuse me, subject in question just walked in... later folks...

KWW!!!

After a hectic one month of desperate accounting, the auditors are finally here for the final audit.
Hopefully everything goes well...

Unfortunately, accounts closing has meant that I've been unable to catch as many World Cup matches as I wanted. I didn't even catch the Finals last weekend (my tired arse just couldn't cope)... I DID watch the extra-time replay yesterday (complete with head-butt incident).

There have been a number of interesting incidents though.. some of it due to my working late, some of it due to the WC. Too bad I don't have time to go through them, hope to make up for that in the coming entries.

Ticket 2 Ride has replaced Chess as my "game to play when I can't be pissed doing anything". Thanks to Loco who found it! Meanwhile, Fiezan, Triona, Ben and Dawn jumped on the bandwagon, er, train wagon..
Btw, I wanna try to have at least 3 entries a week. They may be short, but at least I'm writing something...

Finally, what's tall, eye-catching and occasionally causes shortness of breath?

Since my last posting...

I screwed up in the GP BIG TIME. No, I'm not providing any details!

I learned something that I should be happy about, but being the selfish jerk/twat/scumbag that I am, I'm not.

Missed opportunities... missed opportunities...

Forgot about picking up my KORN CD yesterday...

Speaking of which, I'm pretty much dying at work... Funeral's coming up soon. Don't worry, I'll provide the necessary details so that you can get dressed for the glitzy event. Preferably 80s style. Be there!!!

ROBO-CROUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knock the world dead, Peter Crouch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96eSrFlUVh0

Bleedin' awesome eh, folks? ha ha... Wonder how many he'll get to do... I'll say FOUR!

RADIO Calling in!

Some non-Magic news. Apologies to all non-Magic readers for the extensive Magic coverage. It'll drop next week, I promise.

Yesterday, I called up two Radio Stations, MixFM and Hitz.fm in the morning. I called up Mix in response to the DJ talking about embarassing albums you owned in the past. I ended up singing, no, I WON'T disclose what song i sang, much less what album I owned back then. Even more embarassing, they replayed that session in the afternoon!

Hitz.fm was a contest, Test Power. I made it through the phone lines, and they asked me to play a song using my phone keypads. Unfortunately, with no tunes in my head at the time, I just did a rap-background type tune. Was good enough, and I ended up winning a double-CD pack!!!

Haveta pick it up at Sri Pentas at some point, not to mention my Korn CD (no, I didn't win the Indonesia trip)...

Hope I don't get addicted to comps... :P

GP KL Parts 5-7

Yeah, I've missed a fair bit of updating and I don't think I'll be going into much detail anyway (splitting headache and work overload).

Parts 5 and 7 were draft, and I didn't do too well. I can't remember Part 5 no more, except I think I finished 2-1. As for Part 7, remember how I expounded on the power of Civic Wayfinder a few posts back? Well, here I violated my findings due to my private ongoing relationship with Halcyon Glare. Suffice to say, I screwed up soon afterwards as I ended up going green anyway. With both Ida (on my left) and Wan in Green on my right, I pretty much shafted myself.

Part 6 was another GP Trial for KL, and was somewhat a success, as I finished at 14th, going 4-1-2, helping to push up my Limited rating past the 1700 mark for the FIRST TIME EVER. HOWEVER, what cannot be ignored is the fact that I failed to make Top 8 due to TWO unforgiveable mistakes. First, the failure to mulligan a 1-land hand (yes, even though I had a Signet). Second, the failure to remember my Devouring Light had Convoke in its text. These are unforgiveable mistakes that cannot be repeated come the GP.

All jokes I aside, I am serious about making this year's GP KL a breakout success for myself. I am determined to reach my target. The only person that can stand in my way is myself.

Tonight should be one more draft, I doubt I'll be doing anymore on Friday.

Two more days...

Network DOWN!

Yes, folks, I apologise to anyone who has been unable to contact me during the past weekend or so, as my phone is kaput. Yeah, I managed to drop it into a toilet. No kidding.

Due to lack of funds, I've 'stolen' my mum's phone temporarily in order to maintain connectivity with the world. Problem is that I have quite a lot of phone numbers stored in that phone. So, apologies as well for not calling up some of you!

I have started to recollect all missing phone nums, so bear with me.

The sad thing is I've lost a lot of special messages... :(

Champions League finals !!!

Yesterday I watched a final, but not the one the rest of the world was watching. ESPN showed a rerun of the 2005 CL match between Liverpool and AC Milan. It was interesting to relive those feelings, from wanting to strangle Traore, the frustration of watching Baros, Liverpool's comeback, the double save of Dudek, and of course, the penalty shootout. The commentary was darnright broken too! At 2-0, Liverpool 'needs a minor miracle', at 3-0, there's 'no way back for Liverpool', after half time, it's 'Hamann in, hopefully to ensure Liverpool aren't remembered as the team that got thrashed 7-0 at a CL final'. And look where we are now....

I didn't watch the Barca-Arsenal match, but I understand Jens Lehmann got sent off on the 18th minute, which was appropriate, but apart from that the refereeing was shite, which is pretty sad, esp. at this level. Sympathies go out to Sean ..

Tonight: Draft, anyone?

P.S: I don't seem to be having any luck lately with my shoutbox/tagboard/flooble however you wanna call it. Works for a while then decides its temporarily unavailable (read: screwed)..

P.P.S: My favourite person in the office isn't happy today. Must try to cheer her up...

GP KL part 4: Drafting Blue

I admit it. I've had a tendency to draft blue in RGD lately which borders on obsession. Last night, I drafted twice, Blue-Black-White, followed by Blue-Black-Red.

My leanings to blue has been due to the Simic Guild which to me is not only powerful, but tends to get underdrafted due to it not being on the so-called RGD drafting path chart. Last Wednesday night helped solidify that opinion when I ended up with THREE Simic RagWurms and TWO Ocular Halos.

So I entered the first draft with Shamsul on my right, and Loco on my left. My plan was to suck the green dry, sending a clear signal to Loco. If green wasn't around, I'd go for blue, leaving my 3rd colour option open. I opened my pack, which was devoid of any true removal, and went for Civic Wayfinder, passing a Drift of Phantasm. Shamsul proceeded to pass me Last Gasp, followed by Disembowel. Unfortunately, my green this turned out to be a mistake, as I did not get any quality green. Yet somehow, I stuck to my guns in Ravnica, taking sub-optimal green cards.

I ripped Guildpact and found a Pillory AND Mortify looking back at me. I figured I could splash the Mortify. Then Loco proceeded to pass me another pillory, and I decided then and there to dump green, effectively going Black-White-Blue. This turned out to be a correct decision, as Shamsul was in heavy green on my right, and ended up passing me Pride of the Clouds, two Azorius Nightwings among others.

Unfortunately, my deck suffered from a shortage of creatures, not to mention flyers, turning my Pride into a mediocre card. I was forced to play.. FOUR Eidolons, 2 White and 2 Blue ones. As a result, I was cornered into situations where I had a couple of magemarks on 1 creature against a horde. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty.

I went 1-2, losing to Andy and Zul, and winning against Shamsul. One thing that pleased me about this draft was that all the players were fast, including this new dude from Sweden, Tobias. (Sorry, Mattias I guess we can't call you Swedish now... !) As such, we proceeded to have another draft. Zul, Shamsul and Hafiz departed, and were replaced with Johan, Ida and Zach.

Once again, I had Loco on my left, and this time Ida on my right. My 1st card was Drift of Phantasms, and Ida's first act was to drop me a Disembowel, so once again, it was black blue and I'm off to the races. For some reason, I failed to notice a dream leash passing through, which astounded Loco, as he realised he was getting cut off from other blue cards.

Come Guildpact, Loco starts building a deck for me, passing two Torch Drakes, two Izzet Chronarchs and a Repeal. So 3rd colour is red. This works out really well for me in Dissension, as I draft Wrecking Ball, followed by THREE Demon Jesters, signaling a HellBent strategy. Everything else fell into line...

My first build had two Induce paranoia's, which I soon removed as they were counterproductive to the hellbent path.

My deck somehow managed to work, despite one signet and an almost equal colour distribution. As usual, I was helped by the odd opponent mana/colour screw, always useful! Won against Johan, Raj, and Andy, scoring a Stomping Ground and my fourth Infernal Tutor. It was a late night again, but fortunately it had a happy ending!

Research continues though...

13th-14th May 2006 Weekend!!!

The weekend was one to remember for several reasons:

1. The wedding of Ja Ja and Saleem. It's always lovely to see two friends get married to each other, esp. two who are part of the WGS community. As par usual, we got a bit lost, but arrived just in time to follow the bride and groom into the reception area! At first, we pretended to be part of the procession, but half-way in, we chickened out and faded into the shadows...:P Gamers take note: Saleem got some gaming miniatures as part of his 'hantaran'. Could this become a trend? Will take note for future planning...

2. Liverpool-West Ham FA Cup Final. As planned, after the reception a number of us headed off to Riz's abode in Mutiara Damansara. During the short trip, my dad, (who is at home watching the match) decides to do me a favour and messages me when West Ham scores. First one, fine. SECOND goal, I get upset, and fire a message back to my dad telling him NOT to sms me bad news! Then, as we are stopping for snacks along the way at 7E, I find out Liverpool have pulled one back through Cisse. Surprise surprise, where's my SMS!!!! :lol:

We get to Riz's just in time for half-time commentary. After seeing the review, I admit to being a bit upset at not getting to watch the apparently eventful 1st half. Fortunately though, the 2nd half was just as good to watch! In short, Liverpool came back twice courtesy of Captain Marvel, Stevie G himself, and the scores were level at full-time, 3-3.

Extra-time yielded no goals, with both teams visibly exhausted. It went to penalties, and Reina saved 3 shots for the win! All-in-all, a great match for the neutrals, but for the team's fans, it was one heart attack after another!

3. Gaming time!!! Yeah, it was pretty late I know, but it didn't stop us as we played first Hold-Em, followed by The City of Tea (which went for 6 hrs min????!!!) I pretty much came out on positive figures, although I never finished first... A few hours of sleep, then it was off to WGS for Raw Deal, which I somehow managed to scratch 2 wins out of 5 despite a hastily built deck!

Overall, a great weekend, despite the lack of rest (which is typical anyways...). Ah well, back to work...

Random observations and commentary

1. The Tottenham Hotspurs food poisoning debacle. Regardless of the fact Spurs request to have the match replayed have been rejected flat-out, I can imagine the scenarios (read: paranoia) popping up for future important matches. Next up: Liverpool vs West Ham. Could Harry Kewell possibly resist that Aussie meat pie that suspiciously gets made just for him on the eve of the FA Cup? Juicy steak, Sissoko? Would you like fries with that, Reina? Or are they gonna head to Cardiff with their own homecooked pasta, or better yet, canned baked beans?

2. Ja Ja and Saleem's wedding this Saturday. It was from the wedding invitation card I found out that Ja Ja's real name is Shazatul Hafiza. Pretty nifty name too! Hmm, I'm beginning to wonder if I hadn't made a mistake in choosing the guest to bring, it might create some minor commotion. Even better (or worse), I might bump into my brother, causing a whole different ruckus altogether.

3. Liverpool FA Cup. Incidentally at 11pm after the wedding. Rizal's offered to hole us up in his joint after, which is apparently on the map shown in the invitation card!!! As tempted as I am to follow suit, there's still the matter of my guest to consider... not sure if she'd be interested in joining the bunch of us at Rizal's....

4. GP KL part 3. Yeah, I drafted last night. Again. This time I drafted U-G-b, and this time went 2-1. Lost against Andy when his U-R-B deck went into stall mode, and milled me to death. When will I learn to draft those bloody signets higher!! Still, Simic Ragwurm + Ocular Halo = good times...

5. Lack of sleep. After I finished drafting (around 2:15am), we were off to the mamak. What was on? The UEFA Cup Final. I decided I couldn't be bothered sleeping, as, knowing me, I'll end up late to the office. So I watched, then went back (around 5am+), showered, watered the plants, warmed up an engine, then drove back to office, and slept in my parked car till 8. Right now, only the expectations of seeing someone during work is keeping me up...

Back to work... Laterz...

Road to GP KL Part 2: Double draft

Courtesy of WGS, I had the chance to participate in not one, but TWO drafts Tuesday night!

I went into the drafts with a plan to experiment with one colour which I seldom drafted, green. I have to admit I don't get much success with green in draft. Maybe I prefer slim, sleek creatures to big fatties. But the U-G cards available in Dissension looked to be downright broken if used properly, and my plan was to find a way towards drafting that Guild, which basically meant I was

First pod I eventually went B-W-g. The green just wasn't coming, and any preconceptions I had about green being underdrafted went out the window as far as my local environment is concerned. As for the blue, I didn't get anything worthwhile in Pack 1 and 2, and when an Ocular Halo drifted by me in pack 3, and I resisted greatly picking it up. On hindsight, I should've picked it up, coz the only green i had in my deck was a Wurm, a Watchwolf (which I threw out), and a Seeds of Strength (which I pretty much sideboarded out all the time). I had a quite powerful B-W deck, with only one problem, it was too slow, mainly due to my earlier notions of green. As such, it got run over by the fast decks. I also learnt a harsh lesson of the value of signets. I went 1-3.

Second pod worked better, at least where the draft was concerned. Mark of Eviction is the BOMB in the right deck, works extremely well with the U-G in Dissension, esp. the graft mechanic. I just need to remember to build my deck around it if I get it early. I ended up U-G-W, but although I had a strong solid deck, critical play errors, a distinct lack of removal and the draft going on for FAR too long ended up giving me a record of 1-3. Again.

Still, I learnt a lot of R-G-D draft, which is essentially what all this drafting is about. GP-KL I am on target.

C'mon WGS!!!

Note to self: If draft is starting late and players involved are certain individuals, withdraw instantly to prevent irritation and lack of sleep...

Road to GP KL part 1

Last Sunday was the 1st GP KL trial for the month.

I posted a 4-3 record with my R-G-B splash-one-plains-for-Mortify deck, a good result considering my relative freshness, but not good enough for the GP. Definitely have to turn up the power...

One problem I have is my current tendency of not being able to restrict my deck to 2 main colours splash one colour. Despite being a Barry disciple, I cannot afford to take unnecessary risks when the GP comes around.

Target: Day 2, Top 16

Very lofty ambitions, I admit. But one needs to think high before he can finish high.

P.S: I actually brought my old schoolfriend Ashraf along last Sunday. He was keen to see how Magic was played, and it definitely perked up his interest. Him working as a Doctor in JB could pose issues to a potential magic career though...

Let's draft people!!!

OH DEAR...

Interesting day!

Thanks to all well-wishers out there! Much appreciated and thanks for making it a memorable day for me! At breakfast I actually got blindsided by one, coz I wasn't even aware this person knew. Needless to say, I was very much delightfully surprised.

There's a fair bit of development going on, and I hope it all goes well! I'm not sure what to write here, so I'll just leave it as it is... Oh well, magickal day over in 20 minutes...

Catching up!

Went over to Mr. Mad Magic's house yesterday around 7+. Seems like ages since we last gathered at his house for our nationals preparation. I still remember the dinner and draft combo we used to have at his place! It was pretty cool reminiscing about old times and keeping up to date.

Met his son, Azam, a one-and-a-half year old who loves smiling. 16 yrs down the road (if not sooner), he's gonna charm his way into every schoolgirl's hearts if he keeps it up! He also did not appear to be the type that shied away from strangers easily.

In any case, i left around 9pm coz I had ANOTHER appointment with my old BBBangi schoolfriends back in BBBangi (incidentally Mad himself was my school senior!).

Six of us, and gee, I was the only one still not married. Why am I not surprised?

I admit though, I was still annoyed with one of them (for reasons that are as yet unsettled) so I made it a point to talk about football as much as possible just so that he couldn't participate in the conversation. (cause he wasn't a football dude himself). Yeah, I can still do this kind of nonsense if I want. I'm typically not one who holds grudges, but when push comes to shove, yeah, I can be low if need be...

Still, it was good times. We did talk about other stuff too, normal guy talk, cars, costs of living, fuel, sex, porn, etc....

Now if only I can find a DVD copy of Arma-get-it-on... ha ha...

The Return... of the Sleepy Jedi

More weekend happenings!!! Yes there's more!!!

Considering I had to work Saturday morning, a weekend could not start any worse. Fortunately, I got the things I wanted to complete done by 1pm, and zoomed off together with Fendy (mere coincidence really). Since my favourite office person was on leave, there was no reason for me to linger at all!

I don't go often, which would probably explain things, but MidValley seems to morph everytime I go there. When was this Boulevard Hotel built, for example?? Anyways, I got there in time for the 2nd session, and registered quickly.

2nd session of what, you ask??? Well, it's the Magic CCG: Dissension pre-release, and it signals my return to pre-release events. I had originally given up on pre-release events coz I found it quite a fair bit of money to spend, even if playing only one session (there are four). At RM60-RM70 per session (cheaper if you play more sessions), and only four rounds/session, it seems rather hefty. Typically, a PTQ or GPT limited at around the same price would last you the whole day!!!

So, if that's the case, then why am I back, aside from my Magic Reawakening?

The answer: The WGS contingent!!!!

Wolf's Game Shop has grown. In numbers, in business, in reputation. As such, we numbered 20+ during the weekend. And we are, hands down, one of the most happening groups in Magic today!!! We've even converted some CC faithful, esp. after they saw just how fun we were!!!

With so many interesting characters, how could you NOT want to be part of it?

Let's find some examples of peeps in our squad:

1. The loyal Chelsea man who calls himself "the diamond of the industry" and "the king of bling bling"
2. SUPERMAN
3. A father-daughter gaming duo!
4. The loud dude who talks so much crap an opponent can a) forget to look at his (or her, ha ha) cards before start of play, and b) forget it's a serious match entirely!!! If you can't hear him, he's probably asleep!
5. Hot girls with lesbian tendencies... say no more...
6. The Sleepy Jedi who believes in a a mana-God named Barry (and, as a result, calls his name in the middle of tournaments for land)
7. A pirate in every sense of the word!

Of course, having a monopoly on the female gamers is a plus too... ha ha...

Anyways, I recorded an impressive 3-1 result, although I admit, my deck was fantastic. I can't complain anything about my deck, despite the even 3-colour split + 1. My only complaint of the tourney would be that I didn't score anything valuable of note. Nope, no dual lands...

But it was a great day out and enjoyable no less! Looking forward to more tourneys as part of the WGS contingent!

Oh cripes, I haven't gotten to Sunday evening yet!

Wishes DO come true sometimes...

... as long as it has nothing to do with what YOU want that will improve YOUR life!

In one case, I was hoping that West Ham would be the ones to advance from the other semis. Well, lo and behold, it was them all right!

Even more glaring was the fact that the match turned out to be a 1-0. The Liv-Che had more goals in it!! Shocking, but I'm glad to see now I realised I watched the match that really mattered!

Oh, other news during the weekend, STEVEN GERRARD voted by his fellow footballers as Player of the Year. So many scoffed when I flatly told everyone that Stevie G would win. While coming from me, the scoffing was understandable, given my bias, but coming from the footballing world??? I rest my case.

C'mon REDS!!! Let's get the FA Cup!!! 13th May, be there!!!

NEWSFLASH: Reds WIN!!!

La la la la la la la la la... it's been a good football weekend, despite my Yahoo team racking up yet another piss-poor performance (29 with 5 players to go), but, more importantly, LIVERPOOL are in the FA CUP FINALS!!!

We watched at the Section 14 mamak, me, Andy, Wolf, Swedish and Bryan. I hadta admit that I previously stated that I'd rather watch the other Semis than this one coz it'd probably be a lot more entertaining. But having seen it, I'm glad I did, coz it was not the borefest of previous Chelsea-Liverpool meetings, but was ended up being great to watch, and even Swedish (who wasn't exactly a football fan) actually enjoyed it.

Once again, Garcia scored a spectacular goal to send Chelsea out of the FA Cup! Riise scored with a screamer that went through Chelsea's defenses (LITERALLY), before Garcia's attempts finally broke through.

What mystified me were Chelsea's tactics really. Playing their recent 4-4-2 formation which seemed very easy for Liverpool to stifle, with the absence of wingers like Cole, Robben and Duff (huh? Shaun who??) . They were only introduced in the 2nd half, which enable Chelsea to pull one back, and it was clear, to EVERYONE watching, whether at the stadium OR at home, that the 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation was VERY hard for Liverpool to handle...

But who cares??? Sorry Hafiz, no Chelsea double for you (heck, weren't ya all entertaining dreams of winning all 4 competitions a while ago???) . Now all we gotta do is wait for tonight's other FA Cup semis and see who we have to face... Frankly speaking, I hope it's West Ham and not come-back-from-the-dead specialists Middlesbrough!

P.S: On a related note, I think the current trend of managers not shaking hands with each other at the end of the match is pathetic. It's a football match, f'r crying out loud, and you lot are as childish as can be... Yest, Mourinho refused to shake hands, and so did Wenger... screwed up, you ask me...

YFF week 37!

It's almost to the end of the EPL season, and it looks fairly likely that Liverpool are going to finish 3rd, whilst my YFF team looks set to be runner-up, unless I do a Charlton!

I'm actually quite happy with the way Liverpool are going, although I admit there are STILL a few loose ends. The striker department, f'r instance, needs work. The thing is, by reputation, Morientes is a revelation, yet his performance this season has been mystifying. Yet, at the end of the day, I'm not sure I'd want to let go of any of the strikers, even Cisse.

Okay, my team as it stands, I've gone for a 3-5-2 lineup, coz I wanted to fit in an attacking Bolton player in, and I despise Davies.

Adebayor: He's stayed in my team last week despite the single match for the simple fact that he's not involved in the CL, and his physical. The only reason i can come up with him for not starting the last match is because of the double match week in the previous week, where he started both games.

Baros: Haveta admit some uncertainty with him due to a sad performance against Wigan. I've kept him coz I got him cheap, plus Man C are generally pathetic away from home, and with Milner around, he's generally a good buy.

Gerrard: My captain has returned, although I'll need to watch the FA Cup first before deciding whether I should keep him. Incidentally, DIE CHELSEA!!!

D'Alessandro: The Harry Redknapp find of the season. Portsmouth are gonna go all out to survive relegation, and D'Alessandro is going to be key to that.

Dyer: He's here coz of recent injuries to Newcastle's frontline, giving rise to the possibility of Dyer being used as a support striker, if not outright. I wanna be part of Newcastle's resurgence, 4 wins on the trot is no joke, and Dyer's a cheap pick if you wanna join in!

Nolan: The rot has got to stop, and at the Reebok against Charlton is the right time to do it, esp. with Young, Spector and Hreidarsson out. I originally wanted to get Stelios, (despite getting screwed for it last week) but Nolan's come out on the Bolton website vowing to get back into the scoresheet. It might not necessarily translate into goals, but it should definitely translate into SOTs.

Solano: The free-kick/corner taker of Newcastle is sky high at the moment and totally enjoying his football. Hopefully I'll cash in here AS well AS Dyer.

Bridge: Needs to continue to prove his worth to Sven Goran Eriksson, and after a week of rest, he should be raring to go.

McCartney: Sunderland's defenders have generally done fairly well recently points-wise, mostly coz they have to fend off onslaught after onslaught, but McCartney's the only guy I'm confident will start. That being said, this pick is anything but final.

Scharner: This guy goes up and down like no one's business. When he score, BOY he scores. When he doesn't, BOY he doesn't. That said, this week should be the "BOY he scores' week.

Reina: Hey I had the funds, so why the heck not??

My main dilemma now is whether I should convert Reina to Kiely, giving me the funds to upgrade Dyer, depending on his starting status. Other than that, I'm pretty happy right now!

Full Circle

April 9 signalled my full return to tournament Magic, after more than a year's hiatus. And I enjoyed it every step of the way!

What made it even more ridiculous was the fact it was a TEAM tournament! And for that I thank Rizal and Ida for graciously allowing me to be a part of their team, despite not playing for ages...

We turned out a very satisfactory performance at the end of the day, with 3 wins 2 losses and a draw, finishing 9th overall, 2nd from our WGS squad. I myself had 2 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws (yes, I hadta go up against all those control decks and I couldn't finish in time...!)

In any case, the pre-release for Dissension is this weekend, but I can't attend the 1st session (work), so it'll either be 2nd session on Saturday, or TWO sessions on Sunday. Haven't figured out which one yet though... but funds running out for the month MAY be a factor... ha ha...

Hmm, I should check when my daughter is going, coz i'll probably head there at the same time!!!

See yaz...

MtG: I have returned!!

That's right, true believers, Executorazmin's return to the Magic world. It took awhile, but it's been worth the wait.

I've clocked two drafts of 2 Ravnica-1 Guildpact so far this month, and the experience has been both entertaining AND exhiliarating. More importantly, the camaraderie often displayed in our get-togethers contine to remain evident throughout the draft! Need to draft with Joe!

My scores so far read 2-1, and 1-2. BUT, despite losing twice, my 2nd draft was certainly a lot more interesting. I drafted Black-Blue-White, a very controllish version with a strategy of discard-milling. Unfortunately, I was unable to hold back a tide of fast aggro creatures generated by Raj and Loco, and consequently crashed and burned.

Nevertheless, thanks to our method of prize division (2-1-1-onwards) I still went away with a Glimpse, a card I was silly enough not to take when it came around the first time. Naturally, it didn't come back...

A small highlight for me was the fact that the packs are now labelled Age: 13+. I was astounded, to say the least. I'm pretty sure, that the NZ National Champion of a few years back was, what, 10??? Turns out the reason for the age floor was due to the more, shall we say, visually appealing, cards apparent in the set. I certainly had no issue, being a sucker for cards with hot chicks who have no problem prancing around in the Magic fantasy world with tight clothing budgets.

So, my target for my return to the tournament scene is the GP Trials at the end of the month. Haveta miss out on the PTQ this weekend though, off to Batu Pahat with my cuz. Will fill you in on the details of my road trip when I come back. Till then, have a good weekend!

Football slide...

My lack of fortune in the football fantasy world certainly seems to coincide with the mini-slump experienced by Liverpool recently. In a week which should potentially yield at a minimum 200 pts, I only reached 57! Luckily, so many other people got screwed as well, so much so that the top score in the WGS Premier League was a mere 113 (yes Raj, you!), who is, fortunately, still a distance away from me.

As a result, I've maintained my 3rd placing yet again! Seems like that's about ALL I can do at the moment, fighting off desperately Tishen's attempts at displacing me. Sean and Rudy are a fair way off (read: HUGE difference), and my objective for now is simply to close the gap, which seems to be getting larger and larger.

Here's the rankings of the top half of the table todate (random team names have been translated for easier understanding)

1. Sean
2. Rudy
3. Azmin
4. Tishen
5. Point
6. Andy
7. Raj
8. Skinny Ben
9. Johan
10. Ash
11. Scott
12. Zul
13. Rabid Dawgs (who the heck are you? can't remember)
14. Loco
15. Wolf's Forests

Positions 7-12 have been very volatile recently, with Andy changing neighbours constantly. The success for this week is, of course, Raj, who leaped to No.7 after picking ALL of Man U's goalscorers. All eyes are watching to find out whether he'll maintain his ranking, placing stress on Andy to perform.

EPL-wise, I'll be looking forward to the Wigan and Arsenal matches with Liverpool, where hopefully Liverpool can return to winning ways, and their strikers can rediscover their scoring touch..

Go REDS!!!!!

Why do I even bother...

Seems like lately everytime I post my team for the week I end up making one wrong change, and somehow the entire team is affected, and lo and behold, I score extremely low (38 in this case)! Wtf man... I'm still in 3rd position of course, but Tishen is creeping ever so closer, and I'm losing ground on Sean and Rudy!

So next time, I ain't posting a full squad. At most I'll probably talk about certain picks I believe is good, but I won't show my entire team. After all, they're always subject to last minute swaps, guided by gut instinct!

Anyway, some early thoughts. Giannakopoulos and Downing are both reasonable picks, esp. as they face poor teams. Downing appears to be every bit the hot stuff he was prior to his injury, plus the fact he'll want to prove himself before the final World Cup selection. Don't put all your eggs in one basket though... look at those who picked mostly Liverpool or Chelsea players last week....

Btw, Cisse was CRAP last night!!! It always looked like the game plan in his head was different to the one his teammates had... hope Rafa'll restore the Crouch-Morientes partnership... at least until Cisse screws his head back the right way...

YFF week 24!

My team as it stands:

Strikers: Crouch, Heskey, Roberts
Midfield: Gerrard, Kewell, Lawrence, Cole
Defense: Sun, Scharner, Knight
Goalie: Given (!)

Of course, the shock would probably be the goalie... thing is, I've always admired the keeper, it's the guys directly in front of him I can't stand. Rumour has it Bramble's injured, and any replacement can't get any worse than Bramble. And since they're playing at St. James Park, I'm gonna put Given into this slot, cross my fingers, and hope for the best...

I may still change Heskey to Sutton, and Sun to Reo-Coker, but that's about it.

C'mon you REDS!!! Let's destroy Man U at their home ground...

New Year's Resolution #3!!!

Return to the gaming world, specifically Magic AND WWE. I have been away for far too long and from what I know, Magic has pretty much kicked into overdrive over at WGS. Also, the fact that an offspring of mine is venturing into said Magic world gives me a sign that it might be time for my long overdue comeback. At least I still know my DCI number...

I was kinda sleepy at work today, so I ended up refreshing my energies by checking out the latest Magic cards coming out in the next pre-release. Hope I'll be back full blast next month. Long term target is of course, to qualify for Nationals somewhere in September (?) I think.

WWE, from what I know, is in a dormant stage at the moment. Well, hopefully I'll be back to kick it up back into action. Besides, Singapore qualifiers is somewhere in March I think and I wanna go! Last time we had a fantastic time. Group trips are a blast!

In addition, there's the Boardalympics as well. Last year I finished in the final four crashing out horribly in fourth. Just hope that there won't be any UNO Stacko nonsense this year...

New Year's Resolution #2!!!

Return to my regular blogging frequency! I tapered off quite a bit towards the end of the year which sucks. While I generally don't force myself to write, there have been tons of times when I'm online, and want to blog, but just did not get around to doing it.

Also, I've shut down my EPL blog and will post any football related stuff here from now on in. Appreciate all those who've visited it in the past, AND put up with my Hot Tips, players who usually proceed to disappear/get injured/carded etc...!

i'm also still in the process of changing some of my blog's appearances. Will finalise it when I have more time... which SHOULD be by the end of February!

New Year's Resolution #1

To be a regular cinema patron

The second half of last year was horrible where movie-watching was concerned. I think I missed out on so many movies it became an embarassment everytime I had to withdraw from a movie conversation. Even now, I have yet to watch King Kong, Aeon Flux, Madagascar, etc...

I have to admit I get influenced by reviews that I read in the papers, or majority of opinions from friends or relatives, and in particular lately, Nauval, my favourite movie buff in his blog. More often than not, if the review's bad, I end up not watching the movie, despite having initial interest.

Furthermore, it's extremely annoying over here in Malaysia, where the Censorship Board rules, and you end up getting scenes chopped off for reasons that are both inconsistent and illogical.

But... cinema-going is an experience to enjoy. I remember watching movies like Hellboy, Star Wars Episode 3 and Spiderman 2 with my mates, and there were about 20 of us going for the show! Sometimes it's not just the movie that makes it fun...

So, a preliminary list of movies for 2006, off the top of my head:

1. X3
2. Pirates of the Carribean 2
3. V for Vendetta
4. Superman returns
5. Poseidon
6. Memoirs of a Geisha

Is Spiderman 3 in 2006? If so, add that in... again, it's just a prelim list, one I hope will grow as the movies for 2006 take off!