What an irony!

I just heard Vince Grella, Australia's midfield hatchetman, got robbed at home invasion at his home in the UK (where he plays his club football).

What great irony - here we have a thug on the football pitch being a victim off it. Grella must be one of football's most violent players - his tackle on Brazil's Kaka at the 2006 World Cup was appalling, bad enough to warrant 2 red cards. Of course, no one expects SBS to point out the brutality of any of the Australian players - to them, Australia can do nothing wrong.

Anyway, with all that being said, I hope Mr Grella & his family are unhurt from the robbery.

The trouble with Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Champions League final, en route to Sigh. Remember Barcelona's Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto'o? He's the guy who scored Barca's first goal in this year's UEFA Champions League final, with Barca ending up winning 2-0 to be crowned football club champions of Europe. Many see him as Africa's best striker. Heck, I even got his name printed at the back of my old Barcelona away jersey! Well, sadly Eto'o is at Barcelona no more. The club decided to sell him to Italian side Inter Milan, & they signed Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan as replacement for Eto'o as part of the transaction. It's effectively a "swap" deal. But Barcelona parted with Eto'o AND €46 million to get Ibrahimovic. Inter didn't pay anything to get Eto'o; they got all that cash plus a better forward than Ibrahimovic.

It makes me ask: why why why?? Why did Barcelona decide to sign Ibrahimovic?? Don't get me wrong, Ibrahimovic is very talented & his ability is unquestionable - his ball control & first touch is superb. But I wouldn't have signed him, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Ibrahimovic looks like Ian Thorpe - same long nose, & same facial features. That's one reason not to have signed him.

Secondly, I don't think Ibrahimovic is suited to Barcelona's style of play. Barcelona plays the short-passing game, the sort of system in which nimble & agile footballers with superb footballing technique & intelligence would excel. For all his footballing ability, Ibrahimovic is not notable for being nimble & agile. One of his strength is his ability to hold the ball & lay it off to team-mates. Some might argue that this means Ibrahimovic can bring something different to Barcelona's game plan. Possibly, but I'm not convinced Barca really needs what he can offer & not convinced that he can blend in. Barcelona are effectively changing a winning formula by bringing in Ibrahimovic - the concern is that the whole squad may have to change just to accommodate the 1 player. If they were to get a forward, they should have signed someone more suited to Barcelona's system than Ibrahimovic.

Thirdly, Ibrahimovic is known for disappearing in big games. He did not shine for Sweden at the 2006 World Cup. And where was he when Inter Milan lost to Manchester United in last season's Champions League round of 16? The answer: nowhere to be seen. To put it another way, Ibrahimovic disappeared against the same Manchester United team that went on to be beaten by Barcelona in the final, a final during which Eto'o took just 10 minutes to score against United.

So yeah, I'm not happy with Barcelona signing Ibrahimovic. I don't know if he can be a success at the club. I'll be more than happy for him to prove me & other Barca fans wrong, though.

Samuel Eto'o, the forward whom Barcelona sold to Italian giants Internazionale Milan.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the forward whom Barcelona signed from Internazionale to replace Eto'o.

Barcelona wins 2009 UEFA Super Cup

Good news for me. My football club FC Barcelona won the 2009 UEFA Super Cup this morning (Brisbane time), beating Ukraine's Shaktar Donetsk 1-0 after extra-time. The Super Cup, played in Monaco, is contested between winners of the UEFA Champions League & UEFA Cup. So by virtue of the win, Barcelona adds another European trophy to its cabinet. And this is their fourth trophy in the 2009 calendar year.

The extra-time winner was scored by young Pedro Rodriguez. This is the first time I saw him play. Pedro is a player developed by Barcelona's youth system. Just as well he scored. Barcelona didn't play well during the match. They played mostly at half-pace, probably with an eye on the Spanish season opener on Monday against Sporting Gijon. But at least Barca maintained a positive approach overall, & tried to win the game. Shaktar, on the other hand, were very negative. They kept lots of players behind the ball, & rarely tried to trouble Barcelona. Perhaps they were playing for the penalty shoot-out. Well, thanks to Pedro's strike, they never had the chance to get that far.

Interestingly, one of the Shaktar defenders, Chrygrynskiy, will be joining Barcelona after the game! I don't know much about him, so it remains to be seen how he will fare in Spanish football.

And ohhhh, Barca's new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a flop against Shaktar Donetsk. For the 49,634th time, I ask the question: Why did they sign him???

It's not supposed to be this warm now!

The temperatures in Brisbane have been hovering in the 30s. It's getting warm....seems like summer has come early. Way wayyyy too early. I know we're now in the last week of winter, but it's not supposed to be this warm so soon! At this rate, I'm dreading the thought of what this summer might be like. Arrrggghhh......

Junk food - 6 rules you must obey

And continuing on the food theme, I saw this article via a link somewhere on NineMSN website.

The 6 rules of indulgence

1. Control cravings: Complete deprivation is not the solution. A denied craving can quickly spiral out of control, leading to bingeing or overeating. If you're craving fries or chips, for example, eat a small serving of fries, or buy the mini 150-calorie bag of chips and be done with it.

2. Indulge sensibly: Splurging on occasion is acceptable -- just don't get carried away!

3. Avoid stocking treats in your cabinets or fridge: Buy something only when the craving hits and enjoy a small quantity. Then share or trash the rest.

4. Mix it up: Try eating something healthier thing along with the less-nutritious food, like a piece of fruit with your cheesecake. By eating the fruit first, you'll dull your appetite and be less likely to wolf down a second slice of the cheesecake.

5. Count calories: Compare the amount of fat and calories found in healthy, filling snacks vs. less-healthful foods. For instance, a medium apple contains just 338 kilojoules and no fat; and a container of low-fat fruit yogurt provides 966 kilojoules and 2 grams of fat.

6. Focus on fat: Take extra care to read labels, there are lots of hidden bad fats in packaged foods. Take extra care with hidden processed fats which have been shown to raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol level. The Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of processed (trans) fat you eat to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories. To maintain your weight, no more than 25 percent of daily calories should come from fat.


Link: http://www.cosmopolitan.com.au/six_rules_junk_food.htm

Article: Thai tops the 'fat' takeaway food list over pizza

I saw this article a while ago on NineMSN. I must say I'm surprised. I mean, come on, is pad thai noodles really that bad?? But I really like it! And it also said Chinese dishes were the healthiest. Really?? I am assuming the writer means beef in black bean sauce ranks highly in terms of having less fat & salt content compared to other dishes. Not surprised with what they say about pasta Napoletana, though.

After a long day at work, with the kids stressing you out, the last thing you feel like doing is cooking. Takeaway food offers a quick and easy option for satisfying the hunger pangs — but at what cost to your health?

On average, Australians spend a whopping 10 percent of their food budget on takeaway food and, despite the global economic crisis — that figure is rising. Many takeaway foods are lacking in essential nutrients and are packed full of hidden nasties, such as fat (in particular, artery-clogging saturated fat), salt and even sugar.

If you opt for Thai you'll be at least picking a healthy option, right? Wrong! A recent survey conducted by consumer group Choice has revealed that Thai dishes such as pad Thai are worse for your waistline and heart than pizza. A serving of pad Thai contains 11.3g of fat per 100g, excessive amounts of salt which increases our risk of high blood pressure and has a high sugar content.

So what dishes should we be grabbing if we can't resist the temptation of that convenient takeaway? Overall, the survey found Chinese dishes were the healthiest option with beef in black bean sauce ranking highly in terms of overall fat and salt content. But the classic Italian dish, pasta Napoletana, contained the least amount of fat with just 3g per 100g.

Also remember there are plenty of quick healthy options to choose from in your local supermarket. Throw together a quick stir-fry and your body will be thanking you as well as your pocket.

And if you simply must indulge, then make sure you put away plenty of time at the gym to work off those excesses. A 300g portion of lamb korma could set you back about 160 minutes of hard cycling, while a portion of sweet and sour pork roughly 170 minutes and half a supreme pizza may take you up to an astounding 190 minutes to work off.


Link: http://health.ninemsn.com.au/healthnews/825667/thai-tops-the-fat-takeaway-food-list-over-pizza

RIP Daniel Jarque

Yet another footballer dies prematurely. This time, it is Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque, due to heart failure. This really sux....very sad news. The 2 paragraphs below, which appeared in a British online newspaper, says it all.

Spanish tragedy raises important questions

On Saturday evening, Daniel Jarque, the Espanyol captain, skipped dinner at his club’s training camp in Tuscany and instead stayed in his room, speaking on the phone to his pregnant girlfriend. At some point, the 26-year-old central defender suffered a massive heart attack and died.

His tragic passing calls to mind the death of another Spanish defender, Antonio Puerta of Seville, less than two years ago. It also leads us to reflect on how, professional athletes can be taken from us with little or no warning. If these incidents are just accidents of fate, we have to accept them. If, on the other hand, something could or should have been done differently, football has a duty to ensure it never happens again.

Another busy weekend!

Wow, dis is da second weekend in a row that I've been pretty busy:

Saturday

Ivan Choe went out house hunting in the morning, so I tagged along with him. I've been inspecting quite a few homes in Southside in the past (before a change of plans meant I put house-hunting on hold), so Ivan said he wanted my opinions, asked me to accompany him, so I agreed. We only ended up inspecting 2 properties, both in Runcorn. The first was a lowset home in cramped area with a very narrow street. The second was a double-storey townhouse near Eight Mile Plains. I told Ivan to forget the lowset home, & also told him (half-jokingly, perhaps) never buy the first property u inspect. The townhouse was reasonable, & I think Ivan was quite interested in that one.

Anyways, I dropped Ivan off to his unit in Exford Street. I borrowed his GPS to navigate my way to Heathwood to catch-up over lunch with some ex-work colleagues. My ex-colleague's new home is very impressive. Her furnitures were pretty good, too.

Soon, I would have to leave to attend the Brisbane Roar's first game of the A-League season at Suncorp Stadium - a Queensland derby against A-League debutants Gold Coast United. I was joined by Ivan (again), BT, Nigel & Terence. Our support was divided. Ivan & Terence decided to support Gold Coast. They have their reasons - Ivan was never really a fan of Brisbane Roar in the first place, while Terence was fed up with Brisbane's performances last season under Frank Farina. BT, Nigel & myself stayed loyal to Brisbane. The match was a fiery affair, with Gold Coast out to prove a point to their Brisbane cousins. We were seated near the Gold Coast supporters, too. They were very boisterous....so much so that Nigel told us of his disdain towards the Gold Coast supporters ("man, just look at them" with a disgusted look on his face) & BT was in full agreement with Nigel. Watching the behaviour of the Gold Coast, I can understand their sentiments. Anyway, it was a bad day for Brisbane Roar, as they went down 3-1, leaving the Gold Coast fans happy.

Sunday

Steven Tran gave a sermon on Amos. He spoke of the angry lion, portraying God as bring angry at the sin of the world. That's another side of God that I don't always remember....I tend to see Him as "charming, warm & fuzzy", so it was good to be reminded that God does have another side, a side who does not tolerate sin.

Then at nite, a few of us had dinner together at Cafe Mi in Sunnybank Plaza before watching "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra". I thoroughly enjoyed it - really liked the all-action stuff, how the story panned out & I was very impressed by the performances of Channing Tatum (who played Duke), Marlon Wayans (who played Ripcord) & British actress Sienna Miller (who played The Baroness). I can't believe Joseph Gordon-Levitt played Cobra Commander....wasn't he that kid in the sitcom "Third Rock from the Sun" not so long ago???!! And now he played the villain in a major all-action movie! LOL.

Anyway, like I already said, I enjoyed this GI Joe movie, I reckon it's better than Transformers 2.

GI Choe.....errr, I mean GI Joe

My buddy Choe suggested we go watch GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra when it's out in the cinemas. So I thought, ok, that's a good idea, I'm definitely down for that! After all, like Transformers, there is also a GI Joe cartoon from the 1980s, & I think it'd be nice to check out the movie version, just as I did with the Transformers movie. Then I started calling my buddy GI Choe for a while, just to commemorate the movie we're about to see. Though somehow, thinking about it, the idea of Mr Choe brandishing an AK-47 is pretty far fetched. Very very far fetched - with his built (tall & thin), I think he's better off being a ninja.....like Storm Shadow!! We are going to watch the movie this weekend! Bring it on!

RIP Lewis Moss - u are now in a better place

Those of u in Queensland might have read about the 16 year old teenager in Toowoomba who died from injuries sustained from school rugby training session at Christian Outreach College. The injury happened sometime last week. The teenager then went into cardiac arrest, & was then placed in an induced coma. His condition worsened this weekend & he died in intensive care yesterday afternoon.

His name - Lewis Moss. I don't personally know him. But I know his parents (Greg & Ruth) & his grandparents (Ron & Heather). We went to the same church as them, when me & my family lived in Toowoomba back in the early to mid 1990s. They are very nice people. My parents got along very well with all of them. I have actually been to Greg & Ron's homes, when they held Friday night Bible study sessions & also other functions. Greg Moss (Lewis' father) taught my siblings Sunday School. Ron Moss (Lewis' grandfather) was my Sunday School teacher. He is such a gentlemen, very kind & softly spoken. So when I learnt of his grandson's death, I was very sad for the Moss family.

I only vividly remember seeing Lewis as a kid when I was in Sunday School. It's sad that he died so very young. But anyway, he is now in a much better place. That is something his family & friend can console themselves with. No more pain, no more sorrow - Lewis has gone to be with the Lord.

RIP Lewis Moss. I will see u in heaven one day. See u later, mate!

Busy & fun weekend

I've been out & about these past few days.....had a pretty busy & eventful weekend.

Friday 31/7/2009

Dennis & Wendy are up in Brisbane for their friends' wedding (not Ray & Rachel, but other friends of theirs). So a few of us (Nigel, BT & myself) caught up with him. I was out shopping in Brisbane CBD/city with a few Clay friends for Edith's surprise birthday present. I had to cut short the shopping in order to rush home, get ready & head out. We picked Dennis up from Parkinson, & then went to that Oishii Japanese restaurant in Sunnybank Hills for dinner, where we met Nick, Dennis' old friend. After that, we went over to Runcorn Tavern for some drinks. Patricia joined us there, & Nick only stayed a while before leaving.

We chat about lots of stuff, but mainly looking back at our days gone by in YF. Aaaahhhh, memories, those were the days. And goodness gracious, we were men behaving badly. Me less so, as I drunk less than the others because I was the driver for the night. But Nigel was the worst off among us lot! Not only was he so loud at the tavern, he managed to spill some beer on the table (some of which soiled my jeans), & he was also loud in the car, sounding as if he was releasing suppressed rage. At times, I was so worried that him & BT would throw up in the car. Thankfully, those fears were well unfounded, & we arrived home just before 2am.

Saturday 1/8/2009 (daytime)

My church friends Ray & Rachel got married this morning. The venue: Broadwater Road Uniting Church, the venue for a few weddings in the past. Hey, if/when I do get married, I might consider this as a possible venue. Anyway, Ray the groom looks as relaxed as any groom I've seen - always smiling, with absolutely no hint of anxiety or nervousness. Perhaps it's because he is assured that God would thoroughly bless this big day. Indeed, He did. Everything went by smoothly. Pastor Ben's speech was funny, & thoroughly enjoyable. The one thing that struck me is how similar Rachel & Jess (her sister & maid of honour) looked as they entered the church.....they looked a lot more similar to each other than I've seen before. For one split-second moment, I looked at Jess' in the purple dress & thought she was Rachel! Duhhhh!!!

There was plenty of food, too. They were delicious. In fact, I was so carried away with eating that I forgot to take some pictures!!

Anyway, congratulations to Ray & Rachel. May God bless your future together.

Saturday 1/8/2009 (nighttime)

I picked up Ivan C (from his rented unit along Coronation Drive) on the way to Edith's surprise birthday, at the Blue Smoke BBQ restaurant in New Farm. The surprise birthday dinner was organised by Ed, & a few people at our Clay study group were invited. Not all could make it - for instance, a handful had Ray & Rachel's reception dinner the same nite.

Ed & Edith came along with baby Jadon. Edith did not seem all that surprised when she came & saw us. Maybe she figured it out from all the calls that Ed kept getting on the way to New Farm....or maybe because she saw some of our cars in the car park. This is my second time at the restaurant, & this time was as good as it was the first time I was there. It is an American restaurant, & the jazz music which played throughout the nite might have given some people the impression that they were in New Orleans. The meals are truly authentic American BBQ, & the portions are huge. I had the BBQ ribs, & it was superb. A few others also ordered the ribs. Even fewer dared join me in dabbing some portions of the meat in the super-spicy Texas chili sauce. I gave the "I'm from Malaysia" reminder to explain my ability to withstand extreme spiciness.

I was full at the end of the meal, but my stomach managed to make some room when the ice cream birthday cake was brought out. There is always room for dessert!! It was very nice. And soon it was time to bring out the birthday gift that a few of us chipped in for. We got Edith a 7-inch digital photo frame. Edith seemed delighted with the gift.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable nite.

Sunday, 2/8/2009

At church, Pastor Ben gave a sermon on Deuteronomy 2-3. These chapters talk about a second chance. They remind us of the failures of the previous generation of people, & remind us also God's grace & second chance are not to be presumed on. God will not keep giving second chance, e.g. God declined when Moses begged Him for a second chance to be let across the river in Deuteronomy 3. After hearing the sermon, I began to wonder when is it that I will "clean up my act" & truly embrace on the second chance that God has given me.....

Anyway, after church, I had lunch with Ivan C & we went to the Chermside Shopping Centre for some shopping. I bought myself a GI Joe Tour of Duty set of DVDs.

Well, that's it!!

RIP Sir Bobby Robson

Sir Bobby Robson has passed away, aged 76, of lung cancer. Alas, one of football's gentlemen is with us no longer.

Robson spent his playing career in England with just 2 clubs: Fulham & West Bromwich Albion. He also played briefly with Vancouver in Canada just before he finished his playing career. He also played 20 times for England.

It is at managerial level where Robson found noteworthy success. He won trophies with clubs in England (with Ipswich Town), Spain (with FC Barcelona...yay!!), & won league championships in the Netherlands (with PSV Eindhoven) & Portugal (with FC Porto). It should be remembered that it is Bobby Robson who brought that famous Brazil striker Ronaldo to FC Barcelona in 1996. Ronaldo himself has complimented Robson's managerial acumen in the past, describing him as one of the best managers in football. In addition, Robson managed England to the World Cup semi-finals in 1990. His last club in charge was Newcastle United, between 1999 & 2004.

As I mentioned, Robson was a true gentlemen. He never spoke badly of anyone, not his players or staff, or players & managers of other clubs. He never moaned at match officials when things don't go the way of his teams. He has contributed so much to football, & many would have been saddened by his passing. Football is poorer without him.

RIP, Sir Bobby Robson.