Champions League

Right. Here I am sitting at CR 1024. Nothing much to do for the moment. Something's making me a lil edgy and restless today..... AAh, now I know what it is. It's the coming mouth-watering clashes of football giants for tomorrow and the day after. It's time, to get back to 'business.'



Manchester United vs AC Milan ( First leg, Old Trafford)

It's almost like a dream final. Manchester United take on the mighty AC Milan. With both sides boasting star players of world class quality, it surely promises to be an interesting and dynamic match. Just imagine in the Bible, where maybe Goliath take on Samson, yeah, something like that.

MU is playing one of the best forms of the moment. If not for the revolutions of Jose Mourinho, this season's EPL trophy would probably be on the way to Old Trafford trophy room. Alex Ferguson could be counting his lucky stars too as Man Utd storms into the quarterfinals with a full strength squad, with only Darren Fletcher out of action. Firepower is also added with the return of the legendary marksman Ruud van Nistelrooy and fiery Alan Smith.

Deadly Poacher

And with the form twin terror Ronaldo and Rooney, statiscally MU have the capability of invading China, so to speak. Probably the return of Mikael Silvestre too will add more stability and defence in the place of the ever-careless Wes Brown.

On the other hand, one should never under-estimate the depth and strength of the mighty Italians. Having caught up on same points in Seria A to Juventus just recently, AC Milan have experienced and tasted the glory of Champions League more than MU. Their defence marshalled by Italian legend Paolo Maldini , Jaap Stam and Cafu, and with their midfield by Gattusso, Pirlo and Rui Costa, it is no wonder this club has taken the Serie A by storm. An interesting observation will be the power of midfield.



Ex Man Utd player Paolo Maldini

European Player of the Year 2004

One 'comforting' fact to MU supporters out there will be the lost of current European Player of the Year Andriy Shevchenko due to facial injury. Though crippled, AC Milan still possess the capabilities to attack which can be fatal, and it comes through on-form and on-loan Hernan Crespo and Brazillian Kaka.

This match promises world-class football and brilliant tactics. The interesting point about first legs and 2nd legs twists that can happen like a snake in a hat. For first legs, the home team would of course try to win by as many goals as possible, while the visiting team usually stresses on defence, and if a bonus comes by, to score some away goals. 2nd legs turns out to be hotter and tougher. Tactics will depend totally on the outcome of the 1st legs. Italians are famous for strategy and defensive football. That's why it is crucial for MU to score if they were to fancy their chances of landing a shot in the final. No wonder Alex Ferguson said " Very few teams have come to Italy and come up victors. It is almost impossible to beat them at home."

We shall see.





Barcelona vs Chelsea ( First Leg, Nou Camp)

Many premiership bosses like Wenger and Ferguson once said about Chelsea, " They are riding high at the moment. But we shall see when they start to lose, and some of their key players get injured. " Well, the moment has finally arrived. With their recent loss in the FA cup to Newcastle, and also with Wayne Bridge, Damien Duff, Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba out due to injury, it would be amusing to see people who are waiting for Chelsea to slip up rubbing their hands gleefully seeing the fate that awaits them.

But one shouldn't so quickly judge Barcelona as run-away winners. Jose Mourinho did not win four trophys in one season before for nothing. The ex-teacher has succeeded in moulding one of the best defence the EPL has ever witnessed. With him bringing from 'home' Paolo Ferreira and Carlvaho, and with ever-improving captain John Terry cementing the defence, one would think that it would be strike force as strong as Barca to invade it, and lo and behold, you have what everyone dreamt of. And if ever will the ball were to slip past those defenders, then they will have to face Petr Cech, the safe hands of Chelsea.




Cap'n Terry The future of Chelsea and England



Chelsea is severed badly in the attacking department. During those times when they were winning by large margins, it was the deadly trio combination of Robben, Duff and Drogba. With at least 2 of them most certain to miss tomorrow's game, Jose would have to look elsewhere to provide the goals. And it leaves Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and Gudjohnssen to shoulder to burden.



Missed dearly



Jose Mourinho :"I have to win back what's mine."

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Barcelona. Who can deny the might of this highly decorated club? Home club to great footballers of all time, including Ronaldo, Luis Figo, etc, this club has given football another dimension. Dazzling skills, cheeky passes, amazing runs, fantastic goals, superb passing, you name it, this club has it all, and most of the things mentioned above could happened because of one man, and his name is Ronaldinho.




Defender's nightmare


But setting aside the FIFA 2004 world player of the year, Barca's squad has arguably the deadliest strike force in the world. With the formation of 4-2-3-1, it shows that manager Frank Rjikaard has beautifully maximised the his attacking players together. They are Ronaldinho, Guily, Deco and African World Player of the Year 2004 Sameul E'to. Just looking at their standings in La Liga will reveal to anyone what terrors and disasters will happen to those who oppose them, defenders spefically here. Barca also posses a good defend system, and also a superb goalkeeper in Vitor Valdes.




Manager

What happens when the world's strongest shield collide with the world's strongest sword?

We shall find out.

Old School Pals

Just a short tribute to the my school pals. Met up yesterday for our 'traditional' and annual 3rd day of CNY gathering. ;) We used to hang out a lot during our secondary school days. I had fond memories with these guys. Though not all of them are in the pictures, some of them are now studying in UK. We used to celebrate birthdays together, and most of my out of school activities usually evolved around them. Lepakking, and....and....hmm...I can only remember lepakking. Oh well, and so on, so forth. :p

What's amazing is how they've grown different since last time, and I specically point out the girls. I mean they've finally evolved into women. ;)


A Tribute my Old School Pals



Another picture they took at our friend's place

As we were chatting and hanging around, I counted, there were 10 of us. Only 3 of us left are single. The rest have their 'other halves' already. Doesn't really bother me, what bothers me every now and then one person or the other comes up to you and asks" Hey dude, MMU girls so hard to find meh? " Explaining is a bore. Whatever. Feeling bored. cheh.

This is popped in my head.

TOP 10 QUESTIONS ASKED BY RELATIVES/FRIENDS/MOM'S FRIENDS DURING CNY:

10.) When did you came back? ( does it matter?)
9.) Have you put on weight?
8.) Studying or working?
7.) Where are you studying? ( Every year they ask without fail)
6.) What are you studying? ( ditto)
5.) How many years left?
4.) Are you the eldest/ which child are you?
3.) When are you graduating?
2.) How's the studies there?

and the number one question....................(drum rolls)


1.) Have you got a girl friend?


TaA DAAAA!!!!! ( applause, applause)

My Chinese New Year

Rite!! Twas was my trip to Penang. It was a meaningful trip thanks to the camera I brought along. Here we go.

We stopped by our new church building before departing for the island. Our church, Wesley Methodist Alor Setar, has been sharing our premise with the Chinese and Tamil sections for the past....erm......very long years. :D It's a bit frustrating sometimes cos every Sunday evening, we NEED to end our service by 8pm for the Chinese section to continue on their service. And also due to other reasons, therefore we had been raising funds to move into our new building. We've already covered 90% of the cost for this shop lot, and hopefully by the end of this year we will be able to shift in. Quite exciting about it actually, for my home church.


The new corner lot we've got


The Sanctuary


Upstairs

We've got plenty of rooms and space upstairs. Probably to continue the community service our church has been giving, which is giving free tuition, and to host the youth meetings.


Later, we went to Penang of course. Went lepakking, and then we went to visit our grand-aunts and grand-uncles. It's somewhere in Jelutong. Very tricky to sniff out the place.Check this stuff out.


Accroding to mom, this was the house where my grandmother grew up, which makes it my great-grandmother's house. Pretty ancient huh?


Behind that house is the another home where my grands stay together. We had to walk through a narrow path in order to reach it.


Found it!!


You wouldn't belive the size of this rooster they rear. It's GIGANTIC. Look properly.


The houses they live in still uses leaves as roofs and is mostly wooden.


Right. This is the 'ancient' kitchen where my great-grandma used to do her cooking. The stove and other stuff is really antic. Another relative of mine who stays there still uses this stuff.


Guess what it is? It's a meatsafe!


Portraits of my ancestors.


It's an old, old lantern


More meatsafes


Check this out. There's a well right in the middle of the kitchen


Mom, grand 5th, 6th and 8th aunt, and grand 6th uncle

My grands total 12,13, I can't really remember. Most of them have passed on already. These are the few surviving left. They've lead a very hard life, and are still living a hard life. Most of them are already in their 70s. But yet they still sell Laksa, Rojak and Ice Kacang for a living.


These are few of their stuff they used to sell

Though times were always hard on them, when we visited them, all I could see was a spirit of laughter, joy and friendliness in them. They joked around, and were really generous in giving despite their condition. I really admire my grand aunts and uncles. They still stick together cos they had problems marrying someone else during the younger days.

I have many more pictures that were taken. These are only a few of them. I was born in Penang but brought up in alor setar. But through these experiences I really felt connected to Penang. Keke.

Lastly...



Tadaa!!! Don't know how I got them? Read the testimony below then. Ciao.

3

Ok. Here we go.

3 names you go by:
1.) Joshua
2.) Josh
3.) Beng. ( only one person calls me that now. phew.)

3 screen names you have:
1.) joshchiam
2.) euromania2004
3.) man..this is difficult!!

3 things you like about yourself:
1.) Rite! Lemme think......
2.) .................(still thinking)...........
3.) ...erm...my janggut?

3 things you hate/dislike about yourself:
1.) the bulu on my hand. everyone wants to pluck it.
2.) my 6 pacts which had united into 1.
3.) my pigginess. yea. lazy lar.

3 parts of your heritage:
1.) Chinese
2.) Hainanese
3.) the ability to eat.

3 things that scare you:
1.) Seeing stars when answering exam paper ( kinda got used to it..haha)
2.) Making mistakes during worship or when performing
3.) dead people

3 of your everyday essentials:
1.) Food
2.) Water
3.) Air
( yea i know it's lame, watever.)

3 things you're wearing right now:
1.) Lipstick. Cherry flavor.
2.) Eye lashes
3.) Facial whitener

3 of your favorite bands/artist today:
1.) Bink 182 !!!
2.) Dave Matthews Band
3.) Red Hot Chilli Peppers

3 of your favorite songs at present:
1.) Incy Wincy Spider
2.) London Bridge is falling down
3.) I'm a small, small bird.( Chinese song)

3 new things you wanna try in the next 12 months:
1.) Get laid.
2.) I wonder how ganja taste like.....
3.) Be the richest man in the country

3 things you want in a relationship( Love is given):
1.) God
2.) Similiar goals
3.) Maturity

2 truths and a lie:
1.) I was involved with a girl before
2.) I had different crushes on different girls for 3 years consecutively during my secondary school days
3.) I kissed a girl before. ( cheek only lar)
( you guyz figure it out. hhehehe.)

3 physical things of love interest that would appeal:
1.) The eyes. Oh baby.
2.) The smile. Oh yea baby.
3) The womanness. Chinese is called ( nu ren wei)..... ooOOoo..yeah....


3 things you just can't do:
1.) Go to gym consistently. Yup. Gave up long ago.
2.) Play for Manchester United
3.) Attract babes. I need help.


3 of your favorite hobbies:
1.) Watch football!!
2.) Watch comedies
3.) Play ball games. Anything.
3 things you want to do really badly right now:
1.) Terminate and Extinct mosquitoes. They having 'kenduri' around me now.
2.) Sleep. It's been a heck of a day. Collecting so many ang pows...tiring job you know....
3.) Tell a girl that ' Her beauty is like strength to my soul, Her voice is like a sweet, gentle voice in the storm, Her....ZZzz.....'

3 careers you're considering:
1.) Engineer. Sigh.
2.) Full time? Wait for green light from V.I.P up there.
3.) Wrestler for WWE.

3 places you want to go on vacation:
1.) Pulau Redang. ( Who wanna go? Faster call me!! Serious! Next sem break!! )
2.) China, Japan
3.) Europe


3 kid names ( boy/girl) :
1.) Anything but must start with a 'J'.
2.) Anything but must start with a 'J'.
3.) Anything but must start with a 'J'.

3 things you wanna do before you die:
1.) Get laid. ( Again) :þ
2.) Bring more of my friends to Christ
3.) Play drums in Christian Youth rallies around the world

3 people who have to take this quiz now:
Let's just end it here lar ok. *blek*

Unbelievable

2nd day of CNY. Sometimes I pity those of my friends who are vegetarians. They really missed out a lot on the pleasures of life. That's rite, man. Anyways, this week has been UNBELIEVABLE for me. I've been praying for testimonies. I knew what it meant. Testimonies often preceed Testings. It's like I've been praying for Testings. Yea, I also think that I was crazy. But check this out.

It was last Sunday, 2 days after I've arrived back home. I was home alone that Sunday morning, when my best friend, I mean, my friend that used to be my best friend came dropping by. He's my neighbour and had just came back for the hols from KUITTO, Johor. He came in, and we chatted. I believe it happened last year too. There simply wasn't much stuff to chat about! I mean, my brain was working overtime to come out with stuff to talk. And I think every year we ask the same questions and still will ask it again. How are you? How many more years? Got gf? bla bla bla...Soon he had to head back home for some stuff. After he left, I felt really bummed out. We were really the closest of friends last time. I felt sad that something we used to cherish wasn't there anymore. The bond was broken into pieces. It's hard to stick it back.

I head to my room, opened my Bible and just poured it out to God. The scripture of the day was from Joshua 1:1-9. It's my favorite book and chapter and verse of the Bible btw. :) I just let it all out. Think Tsunami. yea. That. Was really emo that day. Mom was having a worried look on her face too. Probably concern about my results. Lord told me to be strong, and carry on. I said, I'll try.

Pop. Magic happened later on that day. Mom came back from work, ( yea, in AS it's a working day) and after lunch we had an hour and half nice good talk. Both sides were quite relieved after that. Then at church later, I met up with my church friends!!!! MaN!! It really brought joy and a lot of fond memories back!! It's not particularly any church friends, their names are Kin Meng, Kin Onn, Joseph and Stephen. We used to do crazy stuff together. You want jackass? These guyz invented it way before Johnny Knoxville. We attended SU camps together, and best of all, we JAMMED together. Performed twice at youth rallies together too. And the best thing, we sat at the same place and the same position like we used to do week in week out in church last time!! I can't describe the joy and nostalgic feeling that was twinkling in my heart all the time during church. ;;)

I lost some of the precious memories of some of my friends, but Jesus came and cheered me up with fond memories of other friends. He really answered my prayer.


I've got one more testimony. This is the real stuff. On Monday, Mom was worried, and I MEAN WORRIED about my transport back to Cyber. Was waiting for this friend's reply if wether I could follow him back. Called him the whole day. Probably left about 7,8 miscalls and 3 sms. Couldn't get him. Mom was getting from worried to anxious and frustrated. Mom's like that. She likes things fast and secured. Thing was, I have been praying that God will provide me a way back. I even told mom that I'm going to attend ACTS church 40 day fasting and prayer kick off on Monday, and I'm sure God will provide me a way to attend the meeting. Mom wanted me to fly home. She was pretty worried that I won't have any ticket left should this friend of mine failed to reply or he's car would be full already.All the while I was trusting God on providing it through my friend, even though he hasn't replied to me the whole day, and by booking the ticket would mean not giving God a chance to trust Him. Whole day was really tension. Mom was breathing down my neck, and this guy just dowan to pick up he's phone. It all broke loose at night. Mom couldn't contain it anymore, and asked me to book a ticket back home. I gave in, though I was upset that I wasn't given a chance to trust God. I cried out to Him, again n again n again. I said Lord, please come through for me this once. Prove to everyone that I'm not a fool bragging about your faithfulness. Make my friend answer his phone. Nothing came. Nil. I became angry and frustrated with God. Went to bed really down.

Next morning, 5 mins after I woke up, then came the msg. There's still one more place in his car. But too late, ticket has been booked already. God came through. But why later? Later on that day, as I opened the bible looking for answers, I finally understood why. You see, I had this gut feeling in my heart that booking the ticket wasn't what God wanted, but I daren't say it out. I was too afraid that I would be wrong. Mom later explained to me that if I had only voiced it out, mom wouldn't be so worried. She would have waited as well. State out my faith. God wanted to teach me to take another step further. Unbelievable? Wait I've got one more....


Some of my friends know that it's been a while I've been targeting this pair of nike Total 90 futsal boots. :) Thing was, after loaning my friend some money, and after buying the fishing rod ( hehehe) ...I find myself quite dry for the past few weeks....and after hearing all those testimonies from other people about God providing them stuff, I decided to give it a try. So, I started to give during offering time. Somemore after pastor preached about generosity a few weeks ago, I find myself giving till I had no money for the following week. I gave more than I used to. I said :" God, if You give me that boots, confirm I will testify."

2 days ago mom received RM 200 from some student giving out of thanksgiving for her. Thing is mom can't even remember that guy. Mom told me if I could drive her to the Post Office she would give me 50 bucks. Of course who wouldn't volunteer? Every year mom and dad would give a fix amount of money for ang pow. :D Today, I was surprised that they decided to double that amount. The amount I have now is approximately the price for the boots.

Unbelievable. Unbelievable.