FRIM adventure

FRIM...Forest Research Institue of Malaysia, my favorite weekend haunt. This is where i come and experience God's creation and to rejuvenate myself.

April 22, 2006...Earth day, I was comissioned by an advertising company to bring their 'all worked out' staff for a weekend in the wilds. They are a very close knit 'family'. They usually chill by eating, karaoke-ing and shopping once a month as an outing. This time they wanted something different. They wanted an adventure.

Canopy walk at 1,000 ft above sea level. That's how high you have to ascend before you come to the entrance of the canopy walkway. An interesting perspective of the forest. An exhilirating view...when you are up there.

The wonderfully sporting and adventurous peeps of the advertising company.

River trek was the wet part of the wild weekend.

By the end of the day, they got their wet and wild weekend and i, my first comissioned adventure trek. It feels great to be able to create fun and adventure for others as well as introduce people to the beauty that is mother nature.

Dragon's Back

Dragon's back is what these karst hills look like from the foothills. It stretches all the way from Ulu Klang to Genting Klang as far as i know la. You can see it when you go pay your respects to Uncle Lim. Pretty awesome sight these hills. The view at the top and from the top is just as spectacular.

This is another one of it's peaks which a friend of mine claims that it looks like a dick. I thought only guys had sex on their mind every 15sec. I was wrong.

This is the Klang Gates dam, a little dehydrated due to lack of rain. Would be a beaut if one can catch the sun rise from yonder hills, for that one would hav to trek up before the break of dawn. A rather risky venture especially with the narrow paths to walk on.

These two beauties were a surprise. They got us guys with the cams sneaking up on them and chasing after the perfect shot. Not that they would stay still but we got what we got.

This is adventure. This is what wakes me up in the ungodly hours among other things.

BUZZ

Life resumes a semblance of normallcy after the World Cup.

No more late nights, 3am games and cancelled dates all for just one exciting game. Just a week after the games I was beginning to feel an emptiness. A void suddenly began to engulf me. So vast was it that I just stood by and took a good look at 'What's Next?"

Just like the bee in flitting from flower to flower searching for nectar, I started looking around my house for things to do. I even started to look for projects to get involved in, people to see, places to go, movies to catch up on etc, etc.

It just makes me feel uneasy when i see the clock ticking and i have not done diddly squat. I need to be active...force of habit from LP. I have rested enough and i am getting restless. Restless for some action, some adventure to embark upon or project to get my hands dirty in. I need to feel the BUZZ of Life.

Life is after all waiting to be lived!

A New Dawn

Finally a final that lives up to our expectations. Both teams were equal in strength and skill. Both equally determined. Both have reached the finals showcasing some of footballs beautiful moments. Moments that football fans live for.

Midfielders splitting defences like a hot knife to butter. Tackles came in hard, clean and well timed by both team's hardmen. Strikers taking shots with their all, smashing woodwork and deflecting off some of the toughest of defenders. The refereeing was at its best the tournement had to offer. Horacio Elizondo marshalled both teams with an eye of a hawk. Not missing the subtle handball Luca Toni tried to get away with. No 'Hand of God' assistance this year. Zizou caressed the ball like a masterful lover, dribbling and loosing his markers like a ghost in the night. Gone is the speed from his aged legs but the silky smooth skills still gets the crowd roaring for more.

Cannavaro on the other hand marshalled Italy's defence like a General, keeping the likes of Henry, Malouda & Ribery out of harms way. Any attack or shots that escaped him was well covered by Gigi Buffon. Outstanding stuff. Stuff of Legends. The Azzurri may have defended well but that didn't mean they didn't come out attacking too with Luca Toni and Pirlo coming close. A very fast paced match which both teams performing well.

Extra time saw Zizou having two powerful headers on target, one saved beautifully by Gigi Buffon and the other landed in the chest of Matarazzi which winded him and had Zizou walking off the pitch with his chin close to his chest. Something Matarazzi said blew his fuse. A sad sending off for a great man, for that one moment of madness. Apart from this one moment, players from both teams entertained the world with joga bonito. Italy then went on to win the Cup of Life outshooting France 5-3 in the shoot out.

All hail the Warriors of France & Italy.

FIFA 2006 World Cup Awards.

Balon d'Or...player of the tournament - Zinedine Zidane, a great send off for a great man. A Legend. Could have done without the send off in the dying minutes of his final game for Les Bleus.

Golden Shoe - Miroslav Kloser (Germany)
Most Entertaining Team - Portugal...the officials must be from Hollywood.
Best Goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Best Young Player - Lukas Podolski (Germany)

Live the Child in You.

It's not so much that we fight ageing or that we resist the inevitable, we just enjoy life! Every once in a while we do tend to just wanna relive our childhood.

When i was a kid...now that's not too long ago, we only had tire tubes as floats. Yes, those big black ones. You could rent it at the beach for RM1 or RM3 depending on size. We never had such colorful or space shuttle shaped ones like these. You had to use your imagination then to imagine if you will what your tire tube represented. If you were not imaginative then it was that 'black rubber thing that kept you afloat.'

Kids don't have to imagine nowadays. I wonder if this will affect their imagination or creative skills? My sisters couldn't wait to let their imagination run wild. They decided to just jump in and have fun much to the surprise of the jaw dropping public. I couldn't get in the shuttle for safety reasons as gazetted by NASA...to my disappointment. Darn.

Live the Child in You! Let that child out every now and then.

...and then there's Barbi.

Life's not always about football. There's Barbi. We were celebrating another birthday. The birthday of our youngest sister not the smallest though.

It's a wonderful way for a family gathering. We had chicken, lamb and wings all very nicely marinated by the birthday gal. There was a salad with apples and raisins in it. Delicious. James doesn't like it cos he likes his 'raisins' standin alone. hmm...

Jo's friends made her a cutesy little cake. There are some candles missing tho...i'm quite sure of that.

SPURred On

In the 94/95 season of the EPL, Tottenham Hotspur signed on Juergen Klinsmann.

He scored on his debut and also on his home debut. He scored 29 goals in all that season and was named Football Writers' Player of the Year 1995. In Italy they nicknamed him Kataklinsmann for the devastation he caused...on the field that is. He made a lethal partnership with Teddy Sheringham and they scored 52 goals between them. He was a legend in his ten months there. Two seasons later 97/98, he came back and saved Spurs from relegation.

Today, he brings much promise to Germany. He may not have suceeded in getting Germany to the finals but for such a young side and a first season coach, a 3rd placing is commendable and brings much promise to Deutchland. They lost out to an Italy that was was far superior in defence as well as offence in the quarter finals. Klinsmann has brought on attacking football to a nation that was predominantly defensive and boring. He has managed to win over many neutrals of the game and won over many more lovers of the game.

Beating Portugal 3 - 1 for the third place was justice done at best. Germany showed Portugal how to play football. Portugal looked at odds with themselves while trying to play football. They have been "wrestling" much of the tournament. Ronaldo still boo-ed whenever he touches the ball was warned by the referee to not fall over like a leaf at the drop of a pin. His game improved and showed he can play joga bonito and in fact the rest of the Portuguese showed that they can play too. What a waste of talent if they chose to embark into the glitz and glamour of WWF.

The Germans meanwhile showed the world how football is played with two and a half great goals from Sebastian Schweinsteiger. Olie Kahn was given the opportunity to start and what a marvellous display from this great man pulling off great saves from Ronaldo and Deco. Germany has played wonderful football throughout the tournemant. This win is another display of German efficiency with grace.

Football is avenged. Joga Bonito is avenged. Justice is done. Klinsmann has dared to be different...much like Spurs motto, Audere est Facere...To Dare is To Do.

Zizou & Les Bleus

Zizou and Les Bleus did what Nederlands and England couldn't do...beat Portugal and their crummy brand of footbrawl.

Don't get me wrong, Portugal has a team of talented and wonderful players in Figo, Deco, Pauletta and even Ronaldo...who was jeered throughout the semis. All very skilled and mesmerising. Under 'Big Phil' Felipe Scolari, this talented team has become more talented and many of them i believe would be nominated for the OSCARS. When body checked by an opponent they will fall clutching their face as if hit by a frying pan. Ranting and raving like a lunatic works too as Rooney found out after Ronaldo's intervention in the stepping of Calvalho's cohones. Rooney got the red card and Ronaldo winks to the sidelines. Cheeky.

They have also mastered Wong Fei Hung's mou ying kyeok too. Amazing. Replay to the Nederlands match where one of the defenders landed his studs onto Arwen Robben's chest in the penalty area and the ref did not see it. Figo's head butt is another one. All these happens and all Big Phil can say is..."Obviously Figo is not Jesus Christ." In the match with France, notice how fast Calvalho swept Henry off his feet after his other leg cleared the ball. Good thing Henry has learned a thing or two from them and fell like a heap. Giving back what they dished out onto others. Zizou steps up and the rest is history. France did not play as well as when they beat Brasil but it was enuf to send Portugal home. I hope Portugal will appoint a new manager...one that coaches and believes in joga bonito to the Portuguese.

Zizou at 34 will be playing his last world cup with France and so will Makelele & Thuram. All 3 came out of retirement to help France qualify for 2006 and who would have thought they would turn out such virtuoso performances and put France in the finals with Italy. A Franco Italia affair on the cards. How delicious.

Viva la France. Viva Joga Bonito!

Azzurris

A repeat of 82'. Italia meets Germania.

Italia had the lions share of possesion in the first half, defending and attacking well. Looks like an end to the catenachio era. Nil nil at half time. The Germans turn on their game, coming on strong in the second half. After an exciting and goalless 90mins the game went into extra time with Italia coming close twice in the first 3mins. Gilardino brought it all the way to the line and places his shot into the post and less than a minute later Zambrotta almost brings the goalpost down with a powerful shot! Raifungkulo! It should have gone in both times. All of Germany held their breath.

The German team weren't sitting back either with Podolski coming close twice. Once heading wide in the box and the next pulled off a great save by Gigi Buffon. Italia looked potent with Jaquinta and Del "Il Professori" Piero in the line up. Pirlo came close with a cracker only to be pushed off by Lehmann! Both sides does not look like taking any prisoners this time. 2mins from time the Azzuris struck! A crisp pass from Pirlo and great shot placed in the far corner off Lehmann from Grosso...the man that gave Italia the last gasp winner against Australia and all hell breaks loose in the stands!

Germania being no push overs themselves came out baying for blood. In the dying seconds, an interception by Italian captain Canavaro, who has been having a splendid game, passes a great ball to Gilardino who pushes another beauty to Del "il proffesori" Piero who kills the game off with superb curler to the far side of Lehmann... once again! What a Goal! What a Game! Italia 2 Germania 0. Italia has emerged victorious amidst match fixing allegations back home.

Arriverdeci Germania. Forza Italia! Forza Azzurri!

Goldenballs

Germany 2006, yet another failed campaign for David Beckham. Capt for the English team and a veteran of 3 World Cups. 2 as a captain and in his first world cup was sent off against Argentina in which England was eliminated via penalty kicks once again.

A poster boy much of his career. Packs a wicked pinpoint pass to his team mates and a Brasilian where free kicks are concerned. Sucks at penalties tho. Very much in the limelight due mostly to the enterprise of tabloids which have no respect for anybody's privacy where even the Queen of England in not spared. Exited his first world cup in tears and in this, probably his last world cup campaign, he exits once again in tears. Scored a killer freekick against Ecuador and walked off injured against Portugal in England's last game of this World Cup. Much criticised for being an over rated player, has provided the game with many a beautiful long range pass and crosses. Passes and crosses which were the reasons for Real Madrid collecting important points.

I respect this man for his tenacity and his hard work and in the face of heavy criticism he remains calm. He is the hardest working man on the field. Always back to defend and quick to run up for the counter attack creating scoring chances for his team. He may have played his last game for England...unless McLaren calls him up for the European Championships in 2008.

I wish that he will once again don the Three Lions' jersey in Europe 2008, for his hardwork and passion is an inspiration. He remains the only Englishman to score in all three world cups and one of my favourites. May not be the best player on the field. May not be extremely talented but makes up for it with his hardwork and his passion to lead... The Three Lions.

My hero.

Brasil oh Brasil

What has happened to the Joga Bonito that is synonymous with Brasilian football? I knew France would beat this Brasilian team . Not because I am a fortune teller but I wanted this Brasil team to be knocked out.

Why? I have loved watching Brasil play since I was kid. A friend told me of this Pele who is Brasilian and the magical things they did on the field. Playing football like the Harlem Globetrotters played basketball. I was curious and went in search of this team... Brasil and when i chanced upon the video I spent no time in getting it and my love affair with Brasil began. I had found my idols. My heroes. To date the best Brasilian team i have watched live on TV is the team of 82' with the likes of Socrates, Zico, Alemao, Junior, Cerezo and Falcao. They were knocked out by Italy but they played with panache.

Today with the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Robinho they pale in comparison to the greats of 82'. How apt then to have France beat them for the semi-final spot, with Zizou ochestrating the midfield and playing joga bonito like Brasil used to. I await the day Brasil play with passion for the game again.

Another England bites the dust!

Once again England bows out. A team of talented almost-champions. They have a dirge of talent at their disposal and yet they fall short. For many years they have had the opportunity to be champions, to achieve greatness and every time they falter at the last hurdle. At penalties. They come so close only to be killed off in sudden death. Tragic.

They are the most consistent team to enter the last 16, be it the World Cup or Euro's year in year out. I think all that consistency is beginning to sink in. It's becoming a habit. I mean without fail they will loose a player at the penultimate elimination match (Gazza, Beckham, Rooney) and fight off every attack dished out at them and then someone will have their penalty saved or shot into the stands. They must be beginning to believe that is as it should be. The press and their critics aren't helping either. I mean if you are told that you are rubbish often enough...you just might believe it. Perhaps that is what happened to them.

Then of course in Germany 2006 there's Sven.

Charlie bids auf wiederzein...

What a nite!

England loses out on penalties...again! It's like the English are jinxed. 16 years on and still to beat the sudden death jinx. Stuart "Psycho" Pearce, Beckham and others i forget their names and the latest casualties...Lampard, Gerard and Carragher, all missed their penalties at the penultimate moment.

France started this tournament looking like they won't even get through the prelims, but they managed to scrape through to the last 16. they then came on to thrash Spain to book a date with the almighty Brasil playing ugly football under Pareirra in the quarter finals. Captained by Zizou they outclassed Brasil by playing the Joga Bonito way. Eat your words Parreira.

Charlie salutes the victorious and to the vanquished...auf wiederzein.