Welcome 2009!!

yes it's the start of another 365 days....will it be grueling, who knows? will be filled with excitement? again who knows? so in advance all i can wish for is for all of joy, health and happiness for my wife Jasmin, and to everyone else, good health and good fortunes!

as the 08 was drawing to a close, what better way then to spend it with friends and family? we took a trip down to KL and spent some good moments, while wishing we could meet many more of our friends and other members of the family.




oh and for the benefit of those who don't know i have a blog, i'll post these up on facebook (where else) as well....

Merry Christmas to one and all

May this christmas bring lots of joy and happiness to one and all... and in the spirit of the big jolly ol fella himself :

HO HO HO !!

IT Dinner 2008 - E & O Hotel PG

last friday I attended my dept dinner for first time in 3 years.... so was rather looking forward to it...theme was IT Photography Awards... so there was a competition where we submitted entries, but sadly none of mine were nominated. goes to show that i still have a lot to learn. Here are some of the entries i submitted:

1. Sydney Harbour at night

2. Brisbane square


3. My Precious


4. Paul


5. Taipei eye

6. Metalworks in Taipei


So on to the function proper, there was a lot of dressed up folk, some good food (i ate Ostrich!! meat for the 1st time -> damn it's good!!!) and lots of photo Ops. Joel Chu was on hand to take some great snaps, while there was some official photo setup done for the night... see below:

thanks for the laughs

Two comedic talents on the US tv scene have moved on to other projects.

I'll definitely miss Amy Poehler who has completed her 7th season on hit show Saturday Night Live. Most memorable for me will be her Weekend Update segments with Seth Meyers. Comic timing coupled with outlandish comments, Amy kicked ass! Her replacement has big shoes to fill indeed.

Also moving on is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart reporting correspondent Rob Riggle. Not known to many outside the fans of the show, Rob is a wacky character, usually bewildering his interviewees with some slapstick and sudden kung fu moves.

Back again.. from another break HA!!

yes yes i deserve it all... all the "what la.. where u go .." (this is wishful thinking that a lot of people read my blog!)

so what happened in between? trip to SG for a hol, studied for an exam, went for a friend's wedding in Malacca, sat and passed my exam, then went for a holiday in Koh Samui .. hhmm not bad for a busy month!

what's next? who knows? my manager has left to another role, we are in the middle of an economic uncertainty globally, i've grown a beard, attended the dept annual dinner, tried ostrich meat, etc.

Wonder if i can squeeze in some more activities before the new year?

$34.50

No no he didn't do that one, but my goodness he is the current best selling stand-up in the world. Yes folks i'm talking about the one and only Russell Peters!

We took a trip down to watch his second coming to Singapore (previous trip in 06) as part of the Red,White & Brown tour. My wife, who wasn't previously a huge fan, came along to check him out, and was instantly transformed! We met up with G there, and while Joel couldn't make it, my cousin Sachin was more then glad to take up the extra ticket.

It was a sellout, as they organised an extra show based on ticket sales.

Russell Rocks!!!


and yes this post is delayed too.. hahaha but the next one is up to date.... who knows i may even summarise all that has happened in the past month!

Nim & Tracy do the "I Do's"

((This post has been waaay delayed, but it has been a busy month! Sorry Nim hehehe))


my pal from faculty, though two batches my junior, but a close pal finally took the next step when Nimalan wed his sweetheart of many years, Tracy, in a simple yet joyous occasion in the Assumption Church in PJ just recently.

From the beaming bride, to the proud mother of the groom, to the happy atmosphere generated by the friends and family, it was a simple celebration of the union. Below are some of the pics i (Thani too) managed to snap.

Here's to the beginning of a wonderful journey together you two!



And at the dinner.....

back from a blog-break

yes i admit i was a little lazy past few days since the last post. but here i am!

lots of things have happened, and the next few days are busy as well, so i should be able to put up a few posts in the next few hours, before going AWOL again on friday onwards hehehe.

oh did anyone realise? 2008 just zoomed past and 09 is just around the corner? well looky looky.... gonna be another fast one i suppose....

VERY short work week

hehehe yes that's right this week is a short work week for me.... but then i'm making it even shorter.... a close friend of mine, a co-movie-freakazoid partner in crime is getting hitched to the woman of his dreams this saturday in KL, and we're gonna be attending!

i know he's probably not going to be free enuff to read this post till way after the ceremonies, so i'll post the full details when i'm back.

oh did i mention....on sunday i'm headed way way south to our neighbour country... why may you ask.... well since we don't get any quality performances/concerts/shows/plays here in bolehland.... i had to make do with what i could.... no way was i going to miss a show by Russell Peters eh....

so catch you guys next week!

mind of a genius? maybe, but i would like to peek into it...

caught an interesting article this morning, an excerpt from an interview done with the manager of a certain opposition club. now while he has been the scourge of scousers for many years, i do find his interviews, and writings to be one of great experiences and knowledge of a man who has indeed had his fair share of em.

yes George, we're talking about ur fav , Sir Alex..... interesting read this one....

From The Times

October 28, 2008

Alex Ferguson: why I don't pray - and other Manchester United secrets

In an exclusive interview, the Manchester United manager offers candid reflections on his remarkable career - and sets his retirement date

Headlines from across the web

As you all know Liverpool were decidedly the better team against Chelsea, not allowing them to dictate play, pumping high balls rather then play us off the park, and were limited to long range shots. Xabi Alonso's goal at 10 minutes was eventually the decider, as Liverpool matched and controlled a major portion of the game!

Here are a collection of the headlines from various news portals:

From The Times

October 27, 2008

Luiz Felipe Scolari rues the end of home rule with defeat to Liverpool

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1

The Independent:

Liverpool storm the Bridge

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1

By Glenn Moore
Monday, 27 October 2008

The Sun

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1

By STEVEN HOWARD at Stamford Bridge

Published: 26 Oct 2008

Soccernet

Chelsea 0 - 1 Liverpool

Liverpool end Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten home record

Referee Webb calls skippers Gerrard and Terry to calm their players.
Updated: October 26, 2008, 3:53 PM UK

Premier League - Liverpool end Chelsea run

Eurosport - Mon, 27 Oct 09:51:00 2008

FourFourTwo

86 and out as Chelsea lose to Liverpool

Reuters - Yesterday, 19:09

So now as the naysayers proclaim that one win in Oct doesn't win the title for us, i say it feels damn good though. Lets see how it goes till christmas, then i'll get really excited! On to Portsmouth then!

YNWA

Happy Diwali

spirit combined with agression

Yes yes it's me talking about my beloved reds again. Some call them kampung champs, some call em comeback kings, etc. Media has all kinds of names for them too. And I'm sure after Saturdays gritty display to emerge with 3 points, the media will have written more about the comback stuff again. Admitted, while we have been doing that to form some kind of habit in the past few games, it's odd when Arsenal do it i only heard this comment " with their skill and flair, it's just a matter of time for them to get on level pegging again"... well there you have it for media bias.

Well here's mine!

1. Hats of to Rafa, for going for the win, instead of sitting back to defend once we had equalised. He has more faith in his team this time around, taking of the LEFT and RIGHT backs, going gung ho and only propping in an extra central defender way deep into extra time to eat up the seconds.

2. Well done Dirk, for trying effortlessly, and almost coming away with a hattrick. Great play!

3. Damn these teams who have, now for the 5th game in a row, tried to take out Xavi Alonso with potentially season ending tackles.

Onwards to Madrid! (Atletico not Real you jokers)

YNWA

Max Payne

Opening day for Marky Wahlberg's new action flick gleefully served up a cool turn out for this former video game star Max Payne to come alive on the big screen. A good story line, some great action scenes, cool background soundtrack with several interesting cameo's

[CAUTION: characters spoilers ahead. Close page now if you don't want to know. Don't say i didn't warn you. You're actually already reading below. Why do i even bother]

from very recognisable TV stars : Grey's Anatomy(1), Prison Break(1), Heroes(2), 70s Show(1),Grounded For Life(1); and a couple of music celebs: Nelly Furtado, Ludacris. Not to mention good support from Chris O'Donnell (totally didn't see that coming) n also Beau Bridges (oh yeah new Bond gal Olga Kurylenko also makes an appearance) .

All in all slick action sequences, cool graphics n animation effects made a stable (but already popular) storyline work well. A sequel in the works maybe??
3.5 stars from me....

Sunday matinee

movie of the week.... managed to catch Eagle Eye. nice, worth the cinema cash forked out, not much of a brainy movie, but still enjoyable. Shia Labeouf is ever developing into a stellar performer, though he still looks a little boyish. Michelle Monaghan also puts in a decent turn, glad to see her getting more high profile roles. Aptly supported by Rosario Dawson n one of my favs, Billy Bob Thorton, this movie more then makes up for some of the lame fare (case in point:Disaster Movie) put out in the recent weeks after the summer rush. 3 stars!

Next week : video game icon of the 90s, Max Payne makes his debut with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role. watch this space.

too long away...

Ola!!... don't worry that's about as much spanish i can spew out without being vulgar. anyways, been too long away from the blog scene... seems like ages, but it's only been a week! so whats happening?

Me, not much. been a little lazy, at work and at home. Oh i did reformat my C drive due to some god awful trojan worm that i got smacked during a drive by.... tsk tsk.... may all these a-holes who create these viral programs get stuck in microsoft working in a cubicle... that'll teach em.

also after a long while of searching, i finally found two items of footwear.... the first being a pair of sandals (not the leather kind, but the kind you can wear to the beach or to a concert.... that kind), Pricey, but what can i do... size is my issue, not fashion consiousness. secondly, (this in big thanks to my sweetheart for spotting them) a pair of size 12 UK leather dress/office shoes. My old pair sort of crumbled due to long non-wear, therefore i'll make sure i use these as often as possible. Oh did i mention the leather is of pig hide... hehehe... time to kick a few habibs....

Comeback Kings..... but then again we already knew that

my beloved reds had a couple of great results this week, after seeing of our blue neighbours last time around. we turned in a great performance to see of an insipid psv eindhoven with some landmarks being achieved in style. robbie keane hit his first for the club (since his transfer this summer) and captain, my captain, stevie gerrard notched his 100th goal for the reds. now this is impressive only for the fact that he is a midfielder, albeit with a penchant for spectacular goals, and is just hitting his prime. only time will tell.

tonight we took on the new oil rich club in the form of manc city, and found the going tough. but with great experience and talent flowing thru the team, it was a matter of time before we nailed it back with a final score of 3-2. dirk kuyt more then made up for the glaring miss (only bettered by torres' miss for the hatrick) with an injury time goal to steal all 3 points.

woo hoo!!

YNWA

busy busy

what a week it's been. busy at work, busy trying to prepare for my exam and then preparing for the weekend, with my sis-in-law going off for her first solo vacation overseas. my darling wifey of course was at wits end trying to balance both her parents and her sis, but pulled it off superbly!
my exam however didn't do too well i'd say. suffice to say i'll need to work extra (practically and smartly) on it to get by the second time. fingers crossed, and more grey hairs in the offing as i work towards getting thru this time.

didn't get time to catch a flick this past 2 weeks either, and that (by those who know me) is bad by my regular standards. so hope this week can get to catch either eagle eye or one of the latest hits playing on the local screens.

Legend passes on.....

R.I.P. Actor Paul Newman, Dead at 83

Sad news to report today as legendary actor Paul Newman finally lost his battle with lung cancer, passing away at the age of 83 in his Westport, Connecticut yesterday. With an impressive resume of films that includes Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Hustler, Exodus and Road to Perdition, Newman officially retired from acting in 2007, and his fight with the disease was made public a few months ago.

Newman's last film appearance was providing the voice of Doc Hudson in Disney/Pixar's 2006 hit Cars, which ironically had just had its sequel announced for a summer 2011 release.

Although Newman had been nominated for an Academy Award ten times in his lengthy career, he only won once for 1987's Color of Money, just a year after being bestowed with an Honorary Award. Newman's last live action film appearance was Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition for which Newman would receive his final Oscar nomination.

Newman leaves behind his wife of fifty years, actress Joanne Woodward, with whom he had three children, his Newman's Own food empire, which was also based in Westport, as well as hundreds of great movie classics that will never be forgotten.

Read further at IMDB and also Yahoo.