Tuesday 30 September 2008

Eid Mubarak (Hari Raya)

Its been announced that Hari Raya starts on Thursday 2nd of October 2008 in Brunei. So tomorrow is still a working day for us all. There will be those who are thankful of the announcement as those working on Friday will have 4 days holiday. Anyway, I guess I will have to prepare work for tomorrow. I'm contemplating whether I should work tomorrow but lets just see how it goes.


SELAMAT HARI RAYA ALL YOU FOLKS OUT THERE!

Sunday 28 September 2008

Sunday, 28th September 2008 - things to look forward to

Lazying myself in front of tv whilst typing my bloggie. Now this is the life...peace, solitude, harmony, everything you need without spending a single penny, just to breathe and appreciate life.

Last night, my family & I broke our fast at our favourite KNY Kitchen Thai Restaurant in Kiarong, as per requested by my daughter who is craving for the sweet and sour fish. We then headed over to the Jame Asr Mosque to catch up with our Maghrib prayers. Waited for Isya prayers and continued with our Sunnat Terawih prayers till 8 rakaat. Wanted to head off back home, but eventually gate crashed to my uncle & auntie's place to have a look what they were up too, especially Cit Cit with her Cakes business thingy. Only to find out Cit Cit went out and we didnt see her till we got back home. Uncle & Auntie was there, helped in cleaning up their dinner, then observe our nieces helping out making the dough for the cakes and all. At home about 10ish in time for the Man U Vs Bolton match which Man U won by 2-0. Then went to sleep I guess, cant remember if we did anything else. But funnily enough, we woke up late for Sahur and I was not able to take my medicine in time. Sleep then was more important.

Had a late sending off of my car to the car polish, Mr Gadgetski gave me a text message to remind me, and eventually called in just to make sure. Arrived at Topcare just before 8:30 in the morning. Gadgetski was already there an hour earlier with his car starting its regiment of cleaning processes. For your Information, Topcare is a Car Wash/polish/maintenance company using Swissol products. It used to carry both Swissol & Zymol products but to be honest with you (whispering), I prefer the previous coz of its earth friendly chemicals, its edibility (yes you heard me, E-D-I-B-L-E, means that you can lap your car if you feel hungry) and its deep and I mean deep shine. When I mean deep shine, it means the colour of your paint on the car is alive! Its that guuud! Trust me. And you need to see it to believe it. Maybe I might have a totally separate blog of Swissol on a later time.

For now, just not to get too carried away from the topic, these are the things that I am looking forward too this glorious Sunday, the Sunday before Hari Raya:

3:30pm-4:30pm - In case you guys missed the F1 Qualifying, its a repeat show at Supersport Channel 813

5pm - Pick up my car from the Top Care and drool over its shine. Its been a while since I last polished it. Hopefully some of my annoying scratches will disappear especially from the cement ones which fell in small splatters on top of my car from some renovated building.

6:12pm - Breaking of fast, any food and drink will be highly appreciative! I am especially craving for noodles: Fried Noodles (mee goreng halus), Mee Tiew Goreng, Laksa Nyonya, Mee Basah, etc. OMG I'd better stop...I'm actually drooling now.











6:30 - 7:45pm - For you F1 fans out there, DO NOT FORGET TO WATCH THE SINGAPORE GP on Supersport 813, the first ever night race on the streets.

Thats all I can think what I am looking forward too today, so....Scram! Go away! Leave me alone to enjoy my weekend! Shoo! (Oscar the Grouch of Sesame's Street).

Pot of Gold?

Is there a pot of gold being distributed for free or that its been raining money recently anywhere in Brunei that I don't know about? If there is, please do pray tell coz I might want to join the bandwagon and get some for myself too.

Sorry about that...just abit of a wise crack there but recently this past week, I have seen and heard my relatives on separate occasions being the proud owner of Porsche Cayenne S, an automobile costing in the vicinity of about a whooping $210,000 Brunei dollars. For some, its a house on 4 wheels, while others its just another car for hari raya coz they already own everything else that they have always want.

At the end of the day, its just a matter of priority, you can argue for all you like till you're blue to your face, but the fact of the matter is that there are many reasons behind each and every individual beings reasonings and argument in owning something costing this much:

1) (The Successful One) I have everything that I want, I have a house, I have a beautiful family, I have lived my life, I have done my job, I have a successful business, this is just one of the things that I have fancied to get all my life and therefore I got it to threat myself.
2) (The Live Life to the Fullest) Life is short, I may die tomorrow, I may die in a few years time, I might not be able to enjoy what I want in life. So I might as well live my life to the fullest to my abilities. Albeit my Porsche.
3) (The born rich one) I am rich, my father is rich, my grandfather was rich, my grandfather's father was rich, my cousins, my aunties, my nephews, my nieces are all rich, even my mom's side is rich, my mom's brothers and sisters are rich, even my mom's inlaw's related by marriage is rich, my cat is rich, so this is a common type of things we purchase every other week.
4) (The keeping up with the Joneses one) I can't really afford it, I have to rack the loans to get my Porsche. I had to get it because my friend Peter got a brand new Toyota Landcruiser or was it a Lexus LX570?, Paul just bought a BMW X6, Panda, my other buddy got himself a Range Rover Sports, and Jones got him a Merc ML63AMG. No I dont have a house, but I have to keep up with my friends coz it will be embarassing if I dont, we are all the same level at work.

So you see, there is no use arguing about this. For some of us, we just need to plod on, prioritize what is more important and get our butts from A to B in our jalopy in decent time.

Never stop dreaming and never loose hope coz that makes us more stronger to strive for the betterment of our lives.

Saturday 27 September 2008

Body Shocked

I cannot believe that instead of slimming down from fasting, refraining from drinking and eating during the day, I am actually having a tough time fitting into my usual pants!?!?!?! What is going on around here?

I think I have a theory on this phenomenon. I tend to lie down after a meal these past week or so, and it has got me bloated and somehow expanded my girth permanently. I gotto do some situps somewhere in my daily routine.... seriously!

http://citscakes.blogspot.com/

This is a blog webbie of my cousin Cit Cit who makes wicked pies and cakes. Under no circumstances am I paid to advertise her business, its all a matter of good conscience. I ran across her blog through ranoadidas bloggie website and that picture looks awfully familiar and the name was definitely a check it out bells ringing in my head. So I did and I was pretty impressed with her work.

Anyway, do have a look into this website and see what she has to offer especially those who has a sweet tooth for this kind of food stuff. Unfortunately, she is not accepting anymore cake and pie orders till after Hari Raya, but who knows, there might be some slots available.

Friday 26 September 2008

Thursday Night Gathering

For the 2nd time now, we had another gathering of ping pong session at home with my wife's cousin and brother after Terawih. But this time round, we finished early by 1:30am, although we almost continued to want to 'lepak' at Mamih Sungai Hancing for some hot drinks. Somehow, we decided not to pursue that thought though. I guess it must have been a sapping display of ping pong singles and doubles matches. My driver ended up falling sick today and is now recouperating from his fever. We might decide to open up a league soon coz most of the guys want to find out who is the best ping pong player within the bunch. And we know who that is.. (wink wink, hint hint, poke poke, nudge nudge). We'll see if this league thingy will materialise.

My wife had made ready some food, obviously from her new hobby of cooking recently. 2 Shepherd's Pie and 3 Pizzas were in the menu list, all gone within a matter of minutes after our 'aggressive' and loud ping pong games.

"Sambut tah kau Ace Service ku Bakar! Payah kali mengambil kali ah? Oi Har? Berapa gram kan ni bula ani? Inda kali sebarat Kuca kali ah?" "Inda eih, walaupun bertambah wasabi atas bula atu ah..". "Bah jadi service bula ah? Bergulambir parut menunggu". - lain kali lagi bercerita pasal ani...

Weekend Home Kitchen Surprises


Monday 22nd September 2008 - Surprise Number 1: Shepherd's Pie

Tuesday, 23rd September 2008 - Surprise Number 2: Honey Cornflakes biscuits?

Wednesday, 24th September 2008 - Surprise Number 3: Chicken/beef Sausage Pizza


I wonder what is the next food surprises this weekend... They refuse to tell me despite trying to bribe them. Adele!! Well, I don't mind the suspense, its good exercise for the heart you know...LOL!

Wife & daughter busy working during their holidays

In the Kitchen that is. They have been busy making all sorts of things to keep themselves occupied. I for one am happy that they had the initiative to do something productive during their holidays. But somehow in the end, its more likely to end up being extra expenditure especially when the ingredients are getting more and more expensive and the food tends to end up in my tummy and also extras are given away to the rest of the nephews and nieces for feedbacks. Feedback ratings currently varies anywhere from 9- 91/2 over 10 to 80% delicious. I guess I will have to agree with that though. Nothing beats home cooking! What happened to trying to loose weight during Ramadhan? Well its out of the window for sure. But then again...life is short, why not enjoy it right?

Mashing potatoes to make Shepherd's Pie with her cousin


Preparing the minced beef with mixed vegetables and other stuff, helping mummy to get all the ingredients ready


Home made pizza ready to be put into the oven before the break of fast.

New word of the day

BERGULAMBIR - A new word learnt today when hanging out with my wife's cousins. I have yet to know what is the actual definition, but I suppose it has something to do with fatty tummy that hangs over belt buckle or something like that. Goggle-ised it to no avail.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Wish List as of 24th September 2008

This is my wish list for those who wants to plan ahead to buying me my birthday present..I can take early birthday presents too. Hehe. Remember my birthday is in early February, so anytime from now till then will be mighty fine by me. :P

1. Biotherm Homme Skin Care Product for men turning 40 (hahahah)
2. Cartier Santos Matt Gold Rimmed/Silver Rimmed Photochromatic Sunglasses
3. Tag Heuer Sunglasses
4. Tag Heuer Spectacles
5. Nikon D700/D3 with AFS Nikkor 14-24mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, f/2.8
6. Wilson Tennis Racket - [K]Six.One Tour or [K] Pro Tour
7. Wilson Tennis Strings - [K] Gut Pro, NXT Pro
8. Callaway Limited Edition Summer Tour Bag
9. Taylor Made Golf -
- TM Tour Burner TP Driver, TM/Adilla 85 Stiff Shaft 10.5
- TM Tour Burner Utility 2H, 17 degrees TM/Adilla 85 Stiff
- TM Tour Burner Irons inc.Wedges/Burner+Hybrid irons TM/Adilla 85 Stiff
- Odyssey Tour Authentic Tour Milled Putter
- TM Limited Edition Season Opener Staff Bag
10. Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 Slope Edition/Tournament Edition
11.Cocobolo/Bloodwood/Wenga/African Blackwood/Purple Heart/ African Ebony/Snakewood/Lignum Vitae Maghribi/Rosewood prayer beads 100
12. Kuka one piece walking stick from the tree (not the one connected like blocks)
13. Any cool walking stick, I seem to have a taste of collecting walking sticks now...
14. Pay my debts
15. Lots of money
16. A healthy baby Son so that we have a pair
17. A healthy, intelligent, smart, caring, pious, beautiful daughter
18. A constantly loving, caring, understanding, pious, sweet and adorable wife of mine (apple of my eye) for the rest of my life and dido (pronounced deedo just in case)
19. Lose 20 kilos
20. Lailatul Kadr
21. Be able to read Jawi faster & properly as well as understand what I read
22.
To eat whatever I like and yet not grow fat and unhealthy
23. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL- Happiness, Health, Peace, Prosperity & Iman (the cheapest wish list of the lot by just giving a little prayer, but the most sought after...probably)

Monday 22 September 2008

Learn Engrish Part Un

Be Careful What You Pick!

No really honey...I swear I picked it up at the store









The Instant Cold Shower Protection from Horniness











It's a Real Hit in Shanghai, China.


Don't forget to punch in...haha





The Coroner ruled it 'death by turning over'...


Don’t come any closer or I’ll TURN OVER!








That was totally uncalled for!

Ms Harry Potter?

My Half Korean Niece in spectacles similar to Hary Potter. This is the work of my brother in law having her wear these specs. Sometimes fasting does make one a little cuckoo... its the lack of food, water and 'Other' physical and mental restraints I tell yah. Doesn't she look fabulous and cute modeling for the camera like that? It seems she seem to react well with cameras, however she will refuse to be touched or held by me. Urrggh! Makes me so mad and "gergitan" at the same time!

Sunday 21 September 2008

Saturday weekend gathering

Saturday evening after Terawih was a planned gathering at the house with my wife's cousins and her two sibling brothers(11 of us in all). It had been a long time since we had them around just for the sake of keeping up with the latest happenings. But the main event was multitudes of matches in ping pong (table tennis) till dawn or the last to drop tired and of course the bragging rights. I had just finished the last and final game of ping pong with my brother in law about 15 minutes ago at 3:15 am with the final score of 10 games to 5.

I am just so tired and aching right now as I wait for the water heater to boil so that I can get to take my much deserved bath. I am still contemplating whether I should fill the bathtub and just have a good long soak or take a shower and go straight to sleep. I am absolutely sure I will be sore in the morning. But I do intend to stay in bed and enjoy it as much as I can...it's the weekend what?

Again, I have forgotten to take some pictures of the Arabic food "Nasi Talam Ayam", and the other food that we had just now and the ping pong action. My bad!

3:45am - OMG! I just woke up! I have actually slept in front of my computer for a good 15-20 minutes!!! I think the bathtub soaking is out of the question now..I better take a shower pronto otherwise I will end up sleeping in the shower whilst standing... Ouch...my back is beginning to ache. Don't think any of us will be waking up for Sahur it seems.

Friday 19 September 2008

Audi S4 Avant Stationwagon 5 doors for sale




Apple Protectors

Unhappy with Handy reliable Camera

Of late, I have been rather unhappy with the pictures taken using my usually handy and reliable Nokia E90 3.2MP built-in camera which previously I was happy to doddle about using it to good effect. I find that the pictures have been rather dull looking and at some point, had some sort of a misty thing about the pictures as if condensation had occurred due to rapid changes of temperature? And at times, it captured shots of a blurry nature despite my "expert trigger happy camera hands" Hehehe.

Attempts to solve the problem included cleaning the lens of the camera on the mobile phone and finally, the tweaking of the camera mode where I found the EV (Exposure Compensation) Mode to have been at a high +2.0 which I put down to a more natural looking neutral zero. Whether I have solved the issue remains to be seen after I play around with more shots taken. I have taken a few pictures after which to me looked better than before, although I have to admit I need to tweak the flash further to avoid its harshness in the pictures.
One thing for sure, even though this camera comes from a Nokia E90 mobile communicator phone, but I find the close shots especially sharp for its kind. With the help of its adequate auto focusing, its really pretty handy and shoots a respectable picture. It even picks up dust around the pictures shown! Nevertheless, I do still think I need a proper DSLR soon, and currently I'm partial to the Nikon D700, although it would be nice to have the D3. However, I have yet to figure out the eligibility of having to own the top model Nikon though.

Sunday 14 September 2008

Saturday fill-er-upper


Oooo...Saturday mornings was filled up with rush jobs here and there, meeting with people, running around (more like driving around) getting things done, going to banks, sorting out and all just before 12 noon. With my staff gone half day for the weekend, I stayed till 3:45pm to get some unfinished paperwork done.

Arrived home about 4-ish pm, relaxed with my family till close to 6pm before we decided to go to a former favourite Thai restaurant at Kiarong to break our fast. Can't remember the name of the restaurant now. Enjoyed the food, forgot to take a picture of it though. Prior to waiting for our food to arrive, had a browse at a bakery next door and got some pastries for sahur.

Got back home, watched my highly anticipated Liverpool-Man U early kickoff and disappointingly enough, Man United lost 1-2 despite leading after just 3 minutes. Made me wonder whether I should have just gone for my Terawih prayers, might have been more worth my time.

Its about 12:25am now on a Sunday morning, and waiting for the 2nd highly anticipated Man City- Chelsea match and see how Robinho fares in his debut. Don't want to talk about how Berbatov did on the previous game though. Whilst awaiting for the match to start, I have a couple of magazines and brochures which a friend had dropped off at the office this afternoon to occupy my weekend to drool on. Well, at least I have something to read and enjoy this weekend...oh so disappointed with Man United. :( And the tv is like repeating the loss over and over again for the last 2 hours, just rubbing it in....Grrrr!

Saturday 13 September 2008

Gadgetski Nightingale

This is my first time EVER hearing Mr. Gadgetski sing! I was so surprised, my jaw actually dropped reacting to his strangest ever action to date because I thought I knew him well enough (been friends for yonkers) to know that he will NOT sing in front of others, except probably alone in the shower!!?!? Unbelievably out of the blue, he saw something that triggered him to sing and off he went, spontaneously conjuring the lyrics up (and perfectly rhymes too) along the way to a catchy tune like a pro (w)rapper! OMG, what will he surprise me next? Believe it........(pause) Or not! (in a serious tone of voice similar to the host of Ripleys Believe it or not tv show).

Smoke-less updates

Its been eleven days now since I vowed to stop smoking and so far the cold turkey way actually works with the help of the fasting month of course. I have to admit the first few days was extremely tough, I was agitated easily, I couldn't wait for the break of fast so that I could light up a cigarette. But once I lit a ciggie afterwards, I ended up throwing it away after 2-3 puffs and my face cringe with yuckiness.

Anyway, I think I have not only limited my nicotine intake to almost zilch, I am able to control my urges much better now. I feel much healthier, my headaches are not as terrible and I feel pretty rich too with a few bobs here and there to spare. I noticed my in-laws are no longer inviting me to smoke with them..they even threw away their ciggies and broke away before I reached them..hmmm what the heck? I know I said for friends and family to help me out here with my ciggie addiction, but it seems that this bloggie thingy goes pretty far out in terms of reach and effectiveness! Ufff! Daymn..which ones of you in-laws are reading my blog? Oik!! Poke poke...own up!

Thursday 11 September 2008

Nikon D90




My Daughter loves BMWs

My 6 year old daughter simply loves BMW's, her favourite being the 6 series coupe. Oh my God, at that age, I don't think I was too interested in cars let alone the specific models? She was particularly excited with the BMW display at Supasave in Mata-Mata and kept talking about it last night. Oh well....the world is advancing and people's wants is getting more complicated than ever, so I'm not going to go on further into my theories of human evolution as I'm just too tired and weak to divulge.

By the looks of it girl, with BMWs going up in prices every year (plus also the typical comment from salesmen that the Yen and the Deutsche Mark (now the Euros) is going up- Tah Karang!!!) I'm afraid the 1 series will have to do. Maaaaaaybee......NOT!

Tuesday 9 September 2008

X6 updates!

Just called QAF Auto, the agents for BMWs and they said that they have 2 units X6's left, both maroon colour but one is black leather interior and the other is beige leather interior. How many did they bring in? 10 units, launched on the 1st September and within 9 days they have sold 8 units! Pretty good sale I might add. But here's the clincher...its freakin $162,800 for xDrive35i, the petrol engined one! I can imagine the cost of the diesel then. All 10units brought in was all the petrol ones! Those sold was in black, white, Silver and Grey, the lovelier colours.. but then again, I can't buy a house on wheels, just can't do it! Its outrageously, insanely incomprehensible!

BMW X6 On the road!

On my way to the office this early morning, I saw this beautiful White BMW X6 on the road. Drool... Drool... Pant... pant... As I moved closer behind it, I can't help but notice that it has such a road presence as it was very tall from behind as I was actually peering up through my windscreen and occupies almost the whole width of the road!



Hey wait a minute? I thought the car was supposed to be unveiled in the Frankfurt Car show in September? But it is already September! But but but its already on the road in Brunei and I'm looking at it right now! Hello knock knock...Its Brunei Hello! (That ends the silly questions)




Combining the Coupe elegance in an all wheel drive, this is the very first car of its kind, according to BMW. It comes with 4 engine configuration:
1) xdrive35i, straight 6 cylinder Twin Turbo 2,979cc petrol engine churning out 225kW(306PS) with 400Nm of torque @10.9litres per 100km & 6.7 sec 0-100km/h acceleration.



2) xDrive50i V8 Twin Turbo 4,395cc petrol engine producing 300kW(407PS) with 600Nm of torque @ 12.5litres per 100km & 5.4 sec 0-100km/h acceleration. It premieres the world's 1st engine's exhaust superchargers fitted centrally in the V-shaped cylinder banks allowing less weight, reduces pressure loss between intake and exhaust sides and efficiency.



3) xDrive30d straight 6 cylinder single Turbo 2,993cc common rail diesel engine producing 173kW(235PS) with 520Nm of torque @ 8.2litres per 100km & runs 8 sec flat.

4) xDrive35d straight 6 cylinder Twin Turbo 2,993cc common rail diesel engine producing 210kW(286PS) with 580Nm of torque @ 8.3litres per 100km & runs a fiaaast 6.9 sec flat! My definite choice amongst the list.

All comes with a fat 255/50 VR19 Tyres and six speed sports automatic transmission with extra SAG shift paddles. Other things includes the xDrive, adaptive drive, active steering, dynamic stability control, so on and so forth which is pretty much standard on all BMW cars. What I like to talk about is the optional features which is very interesting:
Head Up display: shows the speed, the direction of your destination via GPS navigator, and warnings etc without hindering your vision.
Night Vision: Safety feature using infra-red camera built into the front lights panel showing images on the control navigation display up to 300metres by picking up thermal radiation thus allows more time to react and enhance safety.
iDrive: single hand controller on the centre console which operates the CD player, navigation system, mobile telephone, air-conditioning and also features 8 favourite buttons.
Adaptive headlights: computer controlled with sensors monitoring car speed, yaw rate and steering angle to adjust electro-mechanically the Xenon headlights to match so as to "impressively" better light the road ahead.
High Beam assistant: automatically switches headlights from high beam to low beam and vice-versa as soon as it detects oncoming traffic or low street lighting.
Two stage tailgate: sensors built into the back bonnet so that it will never strike the garage roof or other obstacles by adjust to the height to a lower position.
Reversing Camera: to spot objects, people or approaching vehicles sooner when maneuvering.

All the wonderful gadget makes this vehicle almost human! Wonder how much it does cost at the agent coz that is a big factor in my decision making...

Sunday 7 September 2008

Poke Poke...nudge nudge...hiss hiss.... claw claw...


Testing..testing again

I just love my mobile communicators! (whispering) If you'd ask me what is my opinion of the best mobile phone around right now including pda functionality, I'd say the Nokia E90 Communicator hands down. I'm sure there will be alot of hisses and boos with my answer but then hey, thats my opinion, my choice and I'm entitled to my belief, aren't I? Plus of course this is my blog so I can say anything I want. (kalah-kalahan and being jahat..haha). Of course there are some others which I do fancy to have in my possession as well such as the Nokia E71, or even the E51 for that matter, but then again..naaaah I'll stick to my bulky sexy all in one phone, Mr E90. Thank you!

E90-pluses: Its super fiaaaast! It even connects to the internet pretty fiaaassst too, either from some nearby wireless access point or through GPRS. Its got a pretty good camera built in with excellent autofocus function, it even zooms in the subject pretty impressively too. Solidly built and slimmer to the older communicators, the outside screen is pretty good, wait till you see the bigger inside screen and whoaaa is definitely one of those in the vocabulary. You can sync it with your outlook to read your emails on a go, or you can simply download your emails directly if you log into the GPRS. And answer it back on a run. Isn't this a push email functionality? Or there is something unique with Blackberry I haven't yet understood? E90 runs on the ever popular Symbian 60 (S60) operating system, so almost any applications relating to the S60 will work perfectly well with the E90. And yes you can put in a 32GB micro SD card and download movies and multitudes of songs if you want.

E90-negatives: Slower search functionality, not able to set the sending option to a certain time or day in the messages and no fax function.

But then again these are minor perks I most often use in my older Nokia 9500 using the S80 OS which I find very potent and give us business people the edge which should still be retained in the E90 though.

I could have sworn that I had done this E90 review in the past, maybe I have...I definitely could have. Its almost impossible not to...coz its a gadget thingy and its awkward not to?!?! That just says it all innit? I like my E90 very much that I wrote it AGAIN!

*This article was written in approximately 10 minutes on Nokia E90 Communicator in the early hours of the morning in a full bathroom environment *

Saturday 6 September 2008

Updates

5th day of Fasting and so far so good. It was the 1st few days of fasting that were a struggle, but now its been pretty okay. I thought I would be craving for my ciggies, especially after breaking of fast, but so far it hasn't been so, so I guess I just might make it breaking my old unhealthy habit for good!
To be honest, I did smoke a few times of my old cigarettes of last week after the break of fast, but I never did make it to 2nd base. It all ended up being flicked away after my 2-3rd puff. I can't believe I was puffing this thing for so long! What a waste!

Wednesday 3 September 2008

1st day of work during the fasting month

its 8 past 3pm here, time to go home. The aircon is unbearbly freezing and a few more delays in business is upsetting me, but I must refrain myself and be patient in this trying time. Since we started a day later than the rest of the world, I guess we will be fasting another 29 days like last year.

I know I have some more things to do, but I forget. Maybe it will be much clearer once I head home. Yes....home...peace, solitude, what more sanctuary do you need?

New Manchester City Owners targeting Manchester United's Ronaldo?

(Pictured Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim who led the negotiations in the recent purchase of Manchester City Club).

MANCHESTER CITY
bidding to be the
"BIGGEST CLUB IN THE WORLD".




Latest rumours 3rd September 2008 - 8am :

- Manchester City Owners are ready to spend a staggering 135m pounds to lure Christiano Ronaldo across town and could be bidding as early as the January 2009 transfer windows open.

Excerpts from his talk to The Guardian:

- "Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious,"

- "Real Madrid were estimating his value at $160million (£90m) but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more; I would think $240million (£135m). But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United."

- "We want a team who can win the UEFA Champions League. We're not just going to spend money on anyone, but if we can get the biggest players in the world, and of course if the manager wants them, then we will get them."

Anil Bhoyrul, Editorial Director of Arab Business.com & Friend of Dr. Sulaiman told TalkSPORT:

- "I have a list of the players Dr Sulaiman wants to go out and bid for. One is Ronaldo. He says he doesn't have a problem tabling a £120million bid, just to do it and see what the reaction is. His tactic is to say to Manchester United and Chelsea, 'hey, we're in town'.

- "He also rates Torres and Fabregas. With Ronaldo, he thinks they are the three best players in the world."


My Response:

Flabbergasted , I tell you , just flabbergasted. They might just be able to do that you know, they just might.

Tuesday 2 September 2008

Unbelievable turn of events in EPL before midnight 1st September 2008


Brazilian forward, Robinho which Chelsea had been courting all summer has instead completed his move to Manchester City for a British record fee of 32.5m pounds in the last minutes before the transfer window closes!
Berbatov, a striker much expected to come to Manchester United after their interest to get him onboard the last 2 summers has finally signed in with a transfer fee of 30.75 m pounds, the 2nd highest fee in EPL to date. But not without its twist and turns. Manchester City again was the same club who was going to Hijack Berbatov in the last hitch of the transfer window offering 34m pounds for the striker in which Hotspurs had accepted the bid. Fortunately enough, Berba wanted the move to the EPL and European Champions.

Now if you were wondering why Manchester City, and not Manchester United has been in the papers more often than not these past few days, hijacking and bullying, luring and enticing the market, well Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra has very recently sold his majority share of the club to Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Invesntment (ADUG) owned by the United Arab Emirates leading families. Owner Elect of Man City, Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim wants Manchester City to be in the top four teams of the EPL competing for silverware in every front including the European Championship. As a matter of fact, he wants Manchester City to be the biggest club in the world!

To take ADUG Group into perspective in terms for financial muscle, Mr. Abrahamovich is estimated to have a personal wealth of 15billion, now times that by 10 and that is ADUG's worth.

Besides Totenham Hotspurs, I still believe Manchester City might just be a club to watch out this season.

Ramadhan Wishes in computer lingo..

In this great month of Ramadhan, I would like to wish all Muslim readers a very happy and great fasting! Be sure to always set your intentions (niat), upgrade your faith (Iman), download your patience, upload your efforts, delete your sins, update your prayers and top-up your knowledge so that you can redeem your rewards.

Monday 1 September 2008

Weekend was pleasant

It was a pleasant Sunday, actually enjoyed the day even with lots of things to do. Morning I was looking after the kids, watching them as I waited for my laundry cleaned by the machine before hanging it to dry. Was a lovely day, although in the afternoon it did look like it was going to rain. Daughter was playing football after riding their bicycles with her cousin who slept over.
Pictured- "This is how to kick the ball straight abang!" as she moves with smooth elegance of a ballerina. A pretty hard kick I might add and pretty accurate. Hmm..wonder if she is talented in playing women's football in future. Hey..no harm for a father to spot and hone into her talents..right?



We went to a cousins' daughter's birthday party in the afternoon and part of the entertainment was a gigantic water slide bouncer which the kids had lots of fun and the mamas and papas catching up with gossips and other chats of interests. Mind you, the adults had a difficult time to coax the kids to leave the bouncer to have something to eat, let alone to go home in the evening.



The Entertainment centre churning music running on notebooks. Gone are the days where large speakers and heavy amplifiers used to be the norm. To move one step further, they should have just used the Ipod instead. But no matter, it was good fun leisurely passing the time away on a good Sunday...before the Fasting month comes around.

Fasting on Tuesday

Fasting starts on Tuesday, so tomorrow is still a day of work. Alot of things to do tomorrow, its already 12:05am Monday morning now. Better get some zzzzz's.