Wednesday, May 21, 2008

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

My dear blog readers,

Now it's time for the MATCH OF THE YEAR... again, my MAN UTD will entertain the blues, minus the Special One off course. and this time, it's the UEFA Champions League Final. This is a HUGE game and significant one too for several reasons :

1) If Ryan Giggs plays in this match, he will be the United player with the MOST APPEARANCE, surpassing even the grear Sir Bobby Charlton. Currently with 758 appearances, even a 1-minute cameo introduction of Giggsy will make him top of the all-time list in the Old Trafford history books.

2) 1st time an all-English final. NEVER before 2 English teams are pitted together in a final of EUROPE's premier football competition.

The above list can go on and on but not to bore my blog readers, I'll tell you the story of what had happened in the year 1999 when United lifted the title.

May 26 1999 : Actually, I was on a holiday trip with my family in South Africa. We departed KL several days before the final. Spent few nights in Cape Town before heading east to a place called Port Elizabeth (PE). The drive to PE was a very long one. We stopped about 3-quarter way to PE and spent a night (26 May 1999) at my father friend's country home in the Crags.

I tell u.. their country home was superb, but I was not really interested to write about the house here, at least not now. I'm more interested to write about what happened that night.

Once we reached the house, I straight away enquired about tha availability of a TV set, for a start. Yes, there was one, in the family hall off course. Next question, will there be a live match on telly that night? After some frantic searching in the daily newspaper, YES there was a live telecast of the greatest match of Man Utd in European football history that night. YES3x....

Me and my bro, Ridzuan were asked to occupy the room that is situated 'below' the house (the house was on hilly slope). But to get into that room, we need to access through the lawn (the room was not accessible through the main living hall/dining etc). Pls dont ask me why it was designed that way.

OK, back to the story. SInce the match was scheduled at mid-night South Africa time, we had to 'sneak' into the main house in order to watch the game. The wife was polite enough to lend us the key to the house so that we could watch the game on tv. Before midnight, me and my bro went inside the house fr our secluded room and managed to watch the game.

FYI, my bro is not football-fanatic like me, so he was sort of 'terpaksa' coz nak tido sorang2 dalam bilik pun takut. Binatang buas pun ada kat hutan keliling in their house !!).

Then the match started.

5 mins - Bayern were ahead. I was dissappointed. I could not scream coz everyone would hear and I cant swear/shout/cheer, obviously 4 the same reason.

92mins, sheringham scored the equaliser... I managed to refrain myself from leaping into the air.... coz the game still not won yet...

93mins - solskjaer, the baby-faced assassin, scored the winner in the 3rd minute of injury time. Could not contain anymore, jumped in joy and landed on the timber flooring that yielded a squeeky sound and for sure, everyone in the house can hear, even if they were sleeeping... ooopss, sorry mate...

the next morning, the news spread even be4 i even woke up. the news are :

1) Man u won the champions league
2) I jumped so hard that I actually woke up everyone that night !!!

the moral of the story is... kalau nak gi holiday tu, elakkanlah masa2 penting dalam kalender bola sepak dunia....

till we meet again in my next blog, wassalam...

Sunday, May 18, 2008

sekian lama blog ini menyepi, akhirnya muncul kembali...

Hi everyone...

Ish, berkurun aku tak update blog sampai kena kutuk ngan Aishah.... takpe2.. memandangkan esok masih cuti dan aku masih lagi procratinate utk start study aku utk menghadapi assessment x lm lagi, inilah masanya yg ditunggu2 oleh semua penghuni blog aku ni... semoga dgn kehadiran blog aku ni dpt memeriahkan hari2 anda....

before that, just nak inform ... hehehe... at first aku dah lupa password n username utk masuk be blog ni.. appa da... nasib baik sempat ingat sblm kena ban... kalau tak kena open blog br lagi la....

ok2.. cepat2.. banyak nak citer ni...

kisah 1 : trip to Busan, Korea Selatan

Pada 8-11 April yg lalu, aku telah diarahkan utk menghadiri mtg kat Busan, Korea. Aku pada asalnya nak story satu persatu, tapi sebab masa tak mengizinkan, aku rumuskan aje la dalam beberapa perenggan...

1st n foremost, korang agak2 la kenapa la diorang namakan bandar ni dgn nama "Busan"? cepat2 pikir... masa berjalan.... tetttt... masa dah tamat...

mudah aje sebabnya... sebab bandar ni memang la BOSAN !!!!! so, cover sikit dari penegtahuan umum, terpaksa la diorang ubah sikit instead of BOSAN kepada BUSAN...

ni realiti beb, bukan main2... mmg la teramatnya la bosan bandar Busan ni.. sebab dia lebih ke arah bandar industri... banyak kilang2, industri asas tani etc... dari atas flight boleh nampak khemah2 putih tempat sayuran hidroponik dihasilkan...

pastukan nak nak citer la pasal MEGA SALE kat Busan ni... ada la satu kompleks shopping tu ala2 KLCC tgh buat sale... ramai gila org sebab kebetulan hr yg kitorang smpai tu hr cuti umum (pilihanraya)... mmg berpusu2 org shopping kat situ... aku pun pg la jenguk2 apa la yg diorang shoping sakan ni.. sekali kan... nak tau.. ni kira bizarre la ni compared to Malaysia... the maximum discount is 20% off.. hah, SERIOUS DOWH... dah la harga dia mmg mahal, pastu diskaun sikit plak tu...

tak tipu punya... aku calculate2, baik la aku beli harga RRP kat Jusco ke Parkson ke ISETAN ke, sebab mahal bedooh (pronounce : BE-DO-OH)... patut la Koreans shopping kat Malaysia sampai pilot kapal terbang marah sbb bwk balik byg sangat barang... KL is heaven for shopping, believe me....

the mtg was conducted on 10 Apr and we head back to Msia on 11 Apr.. aku sempat beli souvenir utk umah aku sikit, thats all sebab barang mahal gile, baik aku simpan duit utk shopping kat Gold Coast bulan 8 nanti...

kisah 2 : trip ke Kota Bharu last weekend

last weekend aku gi Kota Bharu for my cousin's wedding (nikah + pompuan's reception). Fly to KB on fri evening, and back to KL the next day evening.. via AirAsia off course... now, everyone can fly...

once sampai kat KB, aku terus tunggu my family who were driving fr KT and KL to arrive.. since diorang lambat sampai aku pun amik teksi terus ke pasar siti khadijahh, pasar yg terkenal di KB ni... www.pasarsitikhadijah.com... since wife pesan tudung, so tu yg aku pg jugak tu... kalau tak, rasanya payah gak la org laki nak layan tmpt2 macam ni... sesampai kat pasar, kedai banyak yg dah tutup, hr jumaat ma... so, at least choice aku cuma pada kedai2 yg masih bukak..

tgk punya tgk, sambar jugak la 2 lai.. tu pun lepas penin kepala sebab mcm2 ada.. sebut aje kaler apa nak, suma ada...

malam tu rombongan pengantin sampai ke KB kul 7 mlm and akad nikahnya lepas isyak!!!! aku bersiap lebih kurang then head ke masjid tmpat akad nikah.. imam yg akadkan nikah tu muda belia lagi.. tua setahun je dr aku.. lahir 77... dah jadi imam... selesai akad nikah kitorang BERMALAM kat rumah rehat yg disewa oleh pengantinpompuan.... cukup sekadar boleh bermalam... aku bagi 1 bintang out of 5 bintang...

next day saturday pagi since kenduri lmbat lagi, kitorang pg sekali lagi pasar khadijah tu, sbb diorang nak beli beras utk kenduri belah laki nanti.. aku usha jersey (biasa la kan)... jersey chelsea baru dah keluar, begitu juga liverpool baru home.... and off course la jersey Man U belambak la kan... tapi aku masih berjaya menahan keinginan aku.. iman kuat beb... hehehe... (nantikan kisah 3)...

lepas kenduri aku DiHantar Laju (DHL) oleh sorang sedara aku ni nama dia Pok We... sebelum balik, smpt gak singgah pasar khadijah buat kali ke 3 , kali ni aku beli lagi tudung utk wife aku, sayang isteri la katakan... and few other accesoories and also serundings utk da family...

nasib baik tak miss flight ptg tu.. ceritanya begini... aku sampai kat airport KB kul 4.40, flight kul 5.00 ptg.. tgk status kat screen tu masih 'open'.. since aku dah web-check in awal2 so aku lepak la kat bawah, cari air sikit and round2 airport dia (airport baru beb)... sekali bila 4.50 status masih 'open' dan bukannya 'boarding', aku pikirkan maybe flight ni delay kot... tapi dek kerana naluri lelaki ini, aku gagahkan jugak la masuk boarding lounge...

sekali aku tgk tmpt tu kosong beb, betul2 punya kosong, melainkan staf air asia 3 orang.. aku tanya diorang apasal dah boarding tapi status masih 'open'... diorang bilang sama aku gini... "Encik, kat airport KB ni, kalau kapal terbang dah terbang pun status dia boleh jadi masih 'open' "... hah... nasib baik la aku masuk jugak... and guess what, aku lah org terakhir masih aircraft A320 tu... haha...

kisah 3 : working trip ke Pasir Gudang

last week, aku tak semena2 kena gi Pasir Gudang, attend mtg.. aku ingatkan sebab dah ramai staff PCTSB kat sana, boleh la aku escape mtg... sekali ptg sebelum mtg tu esoknya, aku dapat instruction suruh attend.. apa lagi, dah la approval x dpt lagi, bergegas dapatkan approval la aku ptg tu...

tup2 esok pagi baru bos sign, aku pun terus ke PG pagi rabu sampai around lunch hour, so sempat la mtg as it started at 230 pm...

nak dijadikan cerita, hari sebelum bertolak aku dah tanya Saffuan whether ada game futsal ke tak, dia ckp nnti dia inform tapi sampai ke sudah dia x inform (aku pun x f/up sapa suruh).. bile sesampai je dia kata futsal rabu malam ON, lawan sub-contractor INAI... ciss, dah la aku tak bawak kelengkapan...

bila sampai je JB, terus aku carik contact lense and solution.. petang lepas keje, Saffuan bawak aku ke Jusco utk cari stokin... game start kul 8..... akhirnya dapat jugak la aku main futsal kat Taman Rinting, Pasir Gudang.... menang gak kitorang 15-14.. dapat jugak la score 3 bijik... tapi yg aku puas hari tu gol yg ke 3 tu sebijik macam gol Paul Scholes masa lawan Barca semi-final Champions League, cuma sebelah kiri instead of sebelah kanan gol... hinggakan jadi kontroversi sebab pihak lawan kata kena tiang... tapi setelah tgk replay, memang terbukti kena tiang dalam n gol tu disahkan oleh pengadil perlawanan, Mr Pierluigi Collina...

esoknya aku lunch ngan Fahmi kat kedai favourite dia.. lepas lunch aku ajak la mamat ni pg kedai jersey kat Komplek Pasir Gudang... aku takdek plan pun nak beli.. saje gi tgk sebab pada aku kedai dia best, walaupun counterfeit...

a bit about the shop, owner dia nama Tarmizi a.k.a. "G"... penyokong liverpool, so koleksi Kops mmg byk la kat situ... suka si Saffuan tu.. in fact aku penah sekali promote kat Saffuan tu jersey hitam liverpool special edition (european chamions league), and guess what, beli jugak dia jersey tu setelah kena racun ngan aku...

before this aku pun penah gak sambar jersey Man U (previous 2 season) with RONALDO 7 at the back dari kedai ni.. 2 lai lak tu... so, kira kamcing gak la ngan brader G ni..

si Fahmi ni pulak kebetulan tgh cari jersey AC Milan putih long sleeved... sekali bila sampai situ, tgk2 jersey tu ada la... clearance lagi...

pastu kitorang 2 belek2 la jersey2 lain kat situ... and I admit.. I had a crush kat jersey Argentina baru... siap no n nama kat belakang... Fahmi try dulu jersey tu, muat.. then aku try pulak... fahmi racun aku.. "brader, takkan try je kot, angkat la satu"... ish, ayat2 yg macam tu yg selalu sahaje melemahkan aku tatkala di kedai sukan...

aku pun decide la nak amik satu jersey Argentina tu, Fahmi amik satu tapi both of us nak amik yg RIQUILME 10 instead of MESSI 18 or TEVEZ 11... sekali Fahmi terpaksa mengalah n ended up aku amik REQUILME 10 and dia amik MESSI 18... aku siap call brader G (yg tidak berada di tempat kejadian pada masa tu) utk mintak diskaun... samada dia masih ingat aku atau buat2 ingat, aku pun x sure... tapi pokok pangkalnya, dapat diskaun... siap si Fahmi ni contemplate nak amik jersey away (NEW) chelsea kaler hitam long-sleeves tapi setelah berpk, terpaksa dikenselkan...

I have a confession to make though, few months back aku penah vow ngan wife aku Aishah.. "abang tak nak beli dah jersey lepas nih", selepas aku beli jersey REAL MADRID BECKHAM 23 kat Al Ikhsan stulang bulan 1 yg lepas.. tapi apa kan daya, takdir penentu segalanya (nak aku nyanyi ke lagu ni??)...

bila balik KL je, aku cakap kat is3 aku... sayang, i've got myself a new jersey... n ayat aku itu dibalas dgn senyuman... hehehe... mmg jersey ni weakness aku la...

nanti esok2 bila aku lapang sikit nanti aku listkan jersey2 yg berada dalam koleksi aku sejak tahun 1990... masih ingat the first is LIVERPOOL (CANDY kat depan).... yess, I WAS A LIVERPOOL SUPPORTER BEFORE, that was before they swith their sponsor to CARLSBERG....

hins, jam dah menunjukkan kul 11 15 pm dan esok aku keje pulak tu.. hence aku menamatkanblog entry aku yang panjang ini kat sini.. aku tau mesti ramai di kalangan anda yang akan tertunggu2 bilalah keluaran blog aku yg ke-seterusnya... aku pun takleh commit date sebab aku sekarang ni lebih ke arah FACEBOOK.... ni pun pasal Fahmi jugak la yg introduce kat aku....

till the fingers meet the keyboard again, wassalam dan majulah sukan untuk negara...