Wimbledon Men Single Final : Federer vs Nadal

For the 3rd straight year, the men's single final for Wimbledon final will be between the top 2 and current best in business of the tennis world; Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Federer will be aiming to win his 6th consecutive Wimbledon title while Nadal will aim to continue his supreme against Federer and start conquering other Slam apart from his Red Clay favourite surface. On the current form and display, most likely it's going to be Nadal to win his first Wimbledon title to adds to his 4 slam title under his belt. I'm only praying that my favourite idol to prevail... The match was supposed to start 2pm local time and 9pm here in Malaysia, however it was delayed due to rain now at All England Club....so gotta wait. C'mon Federer !!! I support you regardless how you fared later, hehe :)

BURSA tough times ahead ?!?!?!

Bursa was suspended for the whole day yesterday 3rd July 2008. When it opens today, barely after 30 mins, KLSE was already down by 20+ points. Looking at this trend, I do not forsee any change of fortune for the remaining of the day.

In fact, since 2 weeks ago, all the shares prices have been on the decline. Sadly to say, with the current political unrest as well as the economic uncertainty and the concerns from the public after the fuel hike since early last month, everything has gone crazy...

KLSE is at the 15 month low now, and with the oil price shooting up day by day, expects the situation to get even worse. Even daily newspapers nowadays published news on how the public complains about the hard times and some column even goes as far as giving tips of how to save expenses....

Life is really tough, and with all this current turmoils I would say everybody is living in a worry state...

EURO 2008 CHAMPION : SPAIN

VIVA ESPANA !!!

There you have it...After 44 long years of waiting, Spain have finally shaked off their under achievers tag to become the new European Champions!!! Being the only team in the tournament of Euro 2008 to be undefeated coming in the final against Germany, they edge the Germans 1-0 courtesy of the goal from Fernando Torres in the 33rd minute.

I must say I never regret waking up in the middle of the night to witness one of their most impressive display of the tournament. They simply outplayed and outclassed the Germans in every department. Their 7 shots on target against the 1 by the Germans simply tells it all. If not for ex-Gunners Lehmann's few superb saves, Spain would have won it by a bigger margin.

Few would have disagree with me that Spain rightly deserved to win the game and be crowned the Euro 2008 champion. Even Germany team manager and the German media laid praises on the Spain national team and their outgoing coach Aragones. It's simply a perfect parting give for the soon to be 70 years old...

BRAVO BRAVO to Fabregas and Co....surely they will need some time to sink in their reality and get back to their feet...hehe.

Euro 2008 Final: Spain vs Germany

It is the second biggest game on the soccer calendar behind the World Cup Final and tonight’s Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany has the potential to be a great final. Some of the matchups that we will be paying close attention to later tonight are:

Goalkeeper: Advantage Spain

Spain’s Goalkeeper Iker Casillas has solidified his reputation as one of the worlds top goalkeepers (at least according to some blog) while Germany’s keeper Jens Lehmann has looked shaky in almost every game.

Defense: Advantage Spain

Germany’s traditionally strong defense has been open up way too easily this tournament. Their full backs were run ragged by the Turks on Wednesday and this has to be an area that Spain will look to exploit.
The Spanish defense has not attracted many headlines, which it not necessarily a bad thing. Central defender Carles Puyol has barely put a foot wrong all tournament.

Midfield: Advantage Germany

German leader Michael Ballack has been one of the stars of this tournament and I expect him to dominate the middle of the field on Sunday if he can shake of his injury scare to be fit to start. Ballack has had great support from wide men Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski are both having great tournaments and look a constant goal threat while Torsten Frings will add some power if, as expected, he returns to the starting lineup.
Cesc Fabregas will start on Sunday for Spain and how well he plays will have a huge baring on the game. If Fabregas is playing well then Spain can play at a faster tempo and Xavi can push forward more to support Torres. A fast tempo suits Spain. A slow tempo suits Germany.

Forwards: Advantage Germany

With the loss of David Villa, Spain will play Fernando Torres in a lone striker role which is not his best position. I think that Torres has been disappointing and I expect to see the Spanish league top scorer Daniel Guiza will probably take over during the second half.

For Germany, Miroslav Klose has scored in the last two games and is beginning to regain the confidence that made him the 2006 World Cup’s top scorer. The German height advantage is something that will they will try and take advantage of with lots of crosses from Schweinsteiger and Podolski aimed towards Klose.

Winner

For me personally, it's up to the team play and tactics that will decide the winner of this great match for sure. Personally, I do not have any obvious favourite for either team, because i support ousted Holland, but i must praise both Spain and Germany for making this far. Good luck and may the best team wins...

Petrol price killing everyone...

The Malaysian's government move to increase petrol price from RM1.92/litre to RM2.70/litre early of the month is really killing everyone. Since then, almost everything regardless edible or not cost more. The price of food, transportation, daily used items, services and many other things increased. Basically, "you named it, you have it" for any item that you can think of that are dearer. The only thing that remained the same in price is our salary... This is really sickening and sufferring. Personally, reducing subsidy for petrol to cover and allocate more for the people of Malaysia as claimed by the government brings me more problems than benefits....sigh !!!

Gong Hei Fatt Choy everyone!!!

Wishing everyone reading this a very happy, wealthly, harmonous and prosperous Chinese New Year 2008!!! May the year of Rat brings you everything well and smooth...

"GONG XI FA CAI!!!"

Run run run...KL Great Eastern Pacesetter Run 20th Jan 2008

A run to begin with for 2008. KL Great Eastern Pacesetter 30km Run. Of course I only signed up for the 20km run as I don't think I can survive 30km. It has been a while since I last participated in a marathon run. To be exact, my last run was the 2007 Penang Bridge half-marathon run dated back 24 June. Felt a bit cheated since the person that persuaded me to sign up didn't join himself. We were travelling down to KL on 19th Sat morning in 2 MPVs. There were all together 12 of us while another one will meet up with us in KL hotel. Of course we stopped by Ipoh for a nice and yummy lunch.

We reached KL almost 4pm, then head to the Tasik Perdana to collect our numbers and shirts. By the time we reached Parkroyal hotel, it was 5+pm. We quickly checked-in to our 2 person per room, take a quick shower and meet up for our dinner 630pm at Overseas Restaurant!!! Nice dinner by the way...

After dinner, we walk around the area, visiting the latest shopping complex The Pavillion, then went over to Sungei Wang Plaza before buying some bread for breakfast the next morning.

We grouped up at the hotel lobby the next morning (20th Jan) at 5am before heading towards Tasik Perdana. The picture on your left showing the decoration available from the sponsors. Our fellow gang members who are running 30km will starts at 6am while we 20km runners will starts at 630am. Me of course was a bit nervous as I can see from their look and attire that there are many professional runners for this event....scary man...

There were so many people around there at such early hours. Even the toilets are at full house. To be frank, I'm feeling excited after stopped running so long and also very sleepy.

Hehe, this is where we start. I was among the crowds at the left hand side of the picture. At 630am sharp, we were flagged off. I was at the quite front of the pack, but of course after few kilometres, started to fell behind a bit. Overall, the entire course of running was nice, since we are at one of the most high-class residential area of Malaysia of Bukit Tunku and Sri Hartamas. We ran up and down the hills. It was tough, especially for my legs. After about 15km when I have completed all the hills and were on the main road back to Tasik Perdana, my legs started to gave way. I had a serious cramp in which I have to stopped quite long for the medical assistance. The St. John helper try to massage my muscles but no avail. I can see there's a lump at my left leg as if there were worms in it moving around. After it was back to normal, I dare not run anymore, not even slow jog. Eventually, I walked the last 5km although it was very comfortable to run with flat and downhill roads ahead. What a shame...considering I was not tired and my breathing was very normal :(

Shown above is the finishing line. I was so dissapointed and moody that time that I don't really bother to raise up my hands for the photographer to capture my finishing picture. After I collected my medal, I went over to my gang for chat before going over to get my food and drinks.

Overall, it was a nice run, except for my leg cramped. We went back to hotel, checked out at around noon, before heading for our simple lunch and start our journey back to Penang. By the time I reached Pg and back to my home, it was around 6pm. There goes my long looking-forward weekend....haha!