Liverpool no. 9 - successes and flops (1993 - 2012)

1. Ian Rush (1993 - 1996) - he is a legend to many Liverpool fans. What a fantastic striker!

 

2. Robbie Fowler(1996 - 2001, 2006 - 2007) - for a person to be given the nickname, God, you know that he is a very special player. A pity that Houlier opted for a Owen-Heskey partnership most of the time.

3. Nicolas Anelka (2001 - 2002) - he only played for us one season and he was on loan. But he really made his mark! I can still remember the game against Newcastle where he singlehandedly demolished the Magpies. Too bad his loan did not materialise into a permanent deal.

 

4. El-Hadji Diouf (2002 - 2004) - in my view, he was flop. Will be remembered for his spitting incidents on the pitch.

 

5. Djibril Cisse (2004 - 2006) - the jury is out but personally, i liked Cisse. He is such a character - and he has the skill and the heart.

6. Fernando Torres (2007 - 2011) - my favourite no. 9 of all time. Such a wonderful talent!!! Today, he is no longer the same player as he was so i am glad he played some of his best football in his career in a Liverpool no. 9 jersey.

 

7. Andy Carroll (2011 - 2012) - yes, we all know he was a flop. An expensive one too!!! Glad to see him go.

 

Man of Steel - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I'm one of the minority that did not seem to think Man of Steel was such a good show! Having said that, it wasn't all that bad and it was actuially pretty good in some ways. Here is my list:-

The Good

1. Clark Kent's struggles - I really like how this story was told, how he had to deal with his powers even from young, the burden he felt with such responsibility, his desire to want to do good but at the same time having to be prudent about it.

2. Clark Kent's parents - Kevin Costner did not have that much of screen time but Diane Lane really stole to limelight each time she was on the screen.

3. Michael Shannon's General Zod was really good!!! Best actor/character of the show.

 4. Kal El's parents' pain was well potrayed as they have to part with their child. And Russel Crowe doesn't sing!!!

5. The fight scenes between Superman and General Zod and other Kriptonians were very realistic - how one would imagine it to be! But this can also be a bad thing...

6. The supporting cast was not bad - Lois Lane was better than expected and it was nice to see "Detective Stabler" here although his character was pretty much Detective Stabler in the army!!!

The Bad and the Ugly

1. Jonathan Kent's death scene was fine - but to die for a dog???

2. The special effects left much to be desired. The oil rig scene looked so fake. And when Superman flies (he looks like he is having constipation just as he is about to fly - so fake), it doesn't look real. I would expect the fx to be really good these days but some parts really looked like it was green screened.

3. It was just toooooooo long!!! 

4. The fight scenes were really boring after a while. Can't really see much except that a lot of damage was being done. It was a little over the top for me. Even the Transformers was better cuz you can see the machines fighting - and some slo-mo was used. But not here. Blink and you'll miss them.

5. Superman himself was a pretty boring character. So the whole show descended to being a bit boring for me. On top of that, Superman does not seem to be so bright? He committed the basic mistake which all villians do - talk too much!!! When general Zod was struggling with controlling his super senses on earth, it was Superman who actually told him how to solve the problem when he was almost like bragging about how his mother taught him to focus! Well done, Supe!!!

6. The manner how he killed General Zod - really? That's it???

Pics taken from various sites online.

Changes

So many changes in this past year or so! So many hellos and goodbyes. I guess the exit is always the entrance to another place.

1. Car!

I finally said goodbye to my dad's Wira. I have been using it since i got back to Malaysia. It took me a while to get used to it as i always preferred a stick clutch. But i learned to appreciate it. I remembered driving it to Penang for one of my first travels since being back home. Since then, it has travelled with me to many places.

It was also my "dating" car! =)

My new car? It's not new. It's given by my sis! Yup, i have a great sis!!!



2. House

We finally moved out of our flat. It was more than a year since i moved in with my wife. She has been there longer than I have. It took a while for me to get used to that place. And it will always have a special place in our memories as we started our married life together there.

The new house is great - but we do miss that flat in some ways.

3. Ipad

 

I started using the Ipad since the end of last year. It's not mine - it belongs to the Uni but i'm been allowed to keep it and use it. I've really enjoyed using it and it has made it a lot easier for me. For one, i do not need to lug my heavy laptop all over the place. I bring my Ipad for meetings, i use it during Open Days, and since term started, i have been using it for lectures too!

4. Phone

 

I finally got a new phone! Of course it had to be an iphone - to go with the ipad!!! Still trying to get used to it - mainly the touch screen when typing. No more buttons!

Iphone 5 is brilliant! Can do so much with it - that i do not need to bring my Ipad with me at times!

5. Pregnancy!!!

The biggest change probably is to our livestyle as we discovered in September last year that the wife was expecting. Since then, a lot of changes have taken place to facilitate this - and to prepare for parenthood!

Still, it did not stop us from travelling in October and November last year! =)

Chinese New Year 2013

Here is the list of events which made the CNY memorable - and in some cases, special!

1. Reunion dinner

Of course this has to be the highlight every year! I blogged about it here.

2. Ipoh

 
We spend a couple of day at Ipoh - eating and relaxing! =) Just what a holiday should be!!!

3. Dinner with church mates

The food was alright but the company was good!!! We adjourned over to another fren's house after dinner for a more comfy chit-chat session and nice desert! It was good to catch up with Geoffrey and family too!

4. Annual UNO session!

The session was at my house! It was really so much fun! Abunch of grown ups playing UNO!!! It was good to spend time with Geof and Victor too!

5. AHF outing

Yes, more yee sarng!!! And we also visited Jit Boon and Lina - and Gracelynn, their new born!

6. Friends visiting

It was nice just having frens over to our new place. Not many came over as we did not invite many - house still work-in-progress. But some close frens came over and it was nice hosting them!

7. Hospitals

Sad-eh? But 2013 CNY will be remembered for the many hospital visits - but all with happy endings! =) Read about it here.

8. Valentine's Day

V-day was on the 5th day of CNY. It was also our first V-day at our new place. So yes, pretty memorable. We stayed at home and had a good celebration!

9. Combined ahf meeting

We had a combined meeting and had a huge yee sarng!!!

10. Yee sarng

Speaking of yee sarng, i think this year i had the most ever! It's not much compared to some - but for me, it was quite a lot. 6 times! I love it!!!! It's only once a year! =P

Memorable makans in 2012!

In the previous post, i blogged about the memorable food in London. Well, here are the rest of memorable meals and food for 2012!!!

1. Hong Kong! 

Everything is Hong Kong is delicious!!!!

2. Pantai Seafood restaurant

On the same road as Lala Chong, we are of teh view that the food here is better!

3. Dave's Pizza Pasta Vino

We have eaten here before but only the pasta. Last year was the first time we had their salads and their pork ribs. Excellent!

4. Food court in Sunway

Our fren took us here a while ago and when my wife started to work in Sunway, we started to frequent this place a lot. The dishes are all pretty delicious!

5. Swine's

Pork! Nuff said.

No wait - have to add one thing - the best desert ever!!!! French toast with peanut butter, maple syrup and bananas!!!!

6. The food at Nepal

I love it! Spicy food, authentic!

7. Las Vacas steakhouse.

The most expensive steak i ever had! Kobe beef steak!

8. Lemon Garden cafe

We went here for our honeymoon - the best buffet in town!!!!

9. Indian rice along Jalan SS13/1A (can't remember the name of the place)

The wife suddenly wanted to eat Indian food - i jumped at the chance as i know this may be the only time we'll eat Indian rice together! It is still the only time - and the food was pretty good!!!

10. Kim Gary restaurant

We started going here quite often and we always end up eating the same thing - i'll have the mushroom rice with pork chop while she'll have teh vegetable rice with pork chop. Satisfying!

11. La Fite

First time eating at such an expensive joint! Probably the last time as we cannot afford to eat at these kinda prices!!!

12. Paella at Barcelona

Eating in London (2012)

Food in London! We had some pretty good food during our trips there at the end of last year!

1. Lupita - Mexican fare in London 

2. British Tea in London

3. Chorizo Roll @ Borough Market, London

4. Japanese @ Misato, London

5. Italian food @ Zucca, London

6. Chinese food at Four Seasons, London

7. Chicken Selects @ McDonald's, London

 

8. English Breakfast @ Angel Cafe, London

 

9. Sandwiches from Pret a Manger (they are everywhere!!!!!)

10. Roast duck at Gold Mine

Unfortunately, we din take any photos when there. But the wife was of the view that the roast duck there was better than Four Seasons!!!

 

 

Movies of 2012

Out of the 8 movies in my post "Movies I'm looking forward to in 2012,", only 4 appear on this list. I have not watched Prometheus. GI Joe has been pushed to next year.

Here is the list of memorable movies - not necessarily the best movies!

1. The Avengers

Joss Whedon, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johannson, The Incredible Hulk smashing things!!! Watched this after Bersih 2.0!!! Loved it. Nuff said.

2. The Hobbit

Seen this twice in the cinema edi. Not as good as The Lord of the Rings but still, very good!

3. Les Miserables

One of the most anticipated movie of the year! The male leads let me down. The female leads made up for it. Cried so much!!!

4. Hunger Games

Liked Battle Royale. Loved Hunger Games!

5. Skyfall

The best Daniel Craig Bond!!! Exciting, cool, great villain and lots of London! =)

6. Resident Evil: Retribution

Lived up to expectations!!! Lots of shoot-em-up, video game style, zombies, hot chicks, zombies... and did i say zombies??!!!

7. Chronicle

Surprise hit of the year, for me! Went in without knowing much. Was shocked when i found out it was gonna be a hand-held camera kinda show. But i survived it - and watched a really good movie. Good storyline, dealing with what happens when one gets power.

8. Expendables 2

This is pure fun - and it was great to see Arnie and Bruce teaming up with Stallone, taking pop-shots at each other's previous movies.

9. CZ12

Jackie doing what he does best, entertaining us and making us laugh! 

10. Madagascar 3 

Watched this on the plane as i did not want to see anything serious. Had a great time! Great laughs, many LOL moments. Good one!

11. The Vow

Watched this on the wife's b'day - was surprised it was better than i expected. Maybe cuz i expected it to be really bad!!! Rachel MacAdams vow-ed me away, pun intended!

12. Premium Rush

Watched this on the day after our anniversary - not great but something different. Adrenaline pumping all the way!

13. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Another movie which lived up to my expectations. Vampires and vampire slayers. "Real" vampires, not the kind that sparkles... Liked how they tied it up with history. Hey, it's a movie, k?

14. Battleship

Another pure fun and action movie! Think i like it better than Transformers!!!!

15. The Dark Knight Rises

 This was alright. Great performance by Anne Hathaway, tho!


16. The Amazing Spiderman

I blogged earlier this year that i think Andrew Garfield makes a much better Peter Parker! The movie was alright...

17. Underworld: Awakening

Great to see Kate back again, killing vampires!!!!

18. The Girl with Dragon Tattoo

Released in the UK and US at the end of 2011, we watched this last year. A pretty good show. It helps when the story is good and keeps us glued on to find out the outcome! Now to watch the original version!!!