Why England lost to Germany

This is entirely my own view - u may disagree.

1. Poor defence

All the goals were down to poor defending. Terry is poor. This is his last World Cup and rightfully so. Upson was not any better. Both were clearly at fault for the first goal - terry misjudging the ball and upson being muscled away by Klose.

Familiar sight - Terry one step behind the Germans

Both were again at fault for the 2nd goal, being left behind. Johnson had no choice but to move into the middle leaving the right side unguarded.

They were both missing for the 3rd and 4th goals.

Upson behind the Germans, Terry.... where is he????

2. Disallowed good goal

Yes, i know many would say that even if the goal was allowed, Germany would still win as they scored 4. But no, sir, you cannot be so simplistic like that - that would only show a lack of understanding of the game.

If England's goal had been rightfully allowed, the complexion of the game would change tremendously. England would have a psychological edge, having come back from 2 goals down - and the negative psychological effect will be on Germany, affecting their confidence as they threw away a 2 goal lead.

Further, the 3rd and 4th goals would not have been conceded by England. It was conceded due to the fact that England were pushing up the field desperately in search of an equaliser - and Germany would have been happy to defend their 2 goal lead.

3. Wayne Rooney

Still dun know what was he doing - not only in this game but in all the games. Is he injured? He really let down his country.

4. Bad substitutions

Heskey and Joe Cole? What did they contribute? Not much especially compared to Defoe and Milner whom they came in for. Which brings me to the last item on this list...

Milner out - but why?

5. Fabio Capello

Yes, he has done well for England - lifted us from the dumps we were in. But unfortunately, he is to be blamed. On so many counts. Here are just 3 (and we're talking about this game only):-

• Why did he insist on playing Rooney when he hasn't been performing at all during all the games? Did Capello decide to put him in for the whole game based on Rooney's reputation? Was he left in the team on the hope that he suddenly rediscovers his form? Did Capello not have Crouch??? Which brings me to the next point -

• Why did he not put in more strikers/players who can score when obviously those on the pitch can't? Crouch is a proven goalscorer - and he would be able to handle the big German defenders better than little Defoe.

• Why did he insist on playing Gerrard on the left??? Why is it that everyone can tell that Gerrard is at his best when he is played in the middle, preferably in the hole behind the striker - but Capello can't?

• Related to the previous point, why does Capello insist in playing the same formation? When it is not working - as it was painfully obvious - you've gotta have a plan B. He didn't.

• What was it with the substitutions? What did Heskey do? Cole? Milner was at least putting in some decent crosses and Defoe was getting into good positions. Some coaches turn the team around by making really good substitutions. Capello does not seem to one of them.

But at the end of day, i must give credit where credit is due - well done Germany!

Because he loved me

• I was able to go to the UK to do my studies for my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees - and had the time of my life there!



• I have a car to drive and a comfortable house to live in.



• I have been called to the Malaysian Bar as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya and had been a practising lawyer for 7 years.



• I am a lecturer and one who can truly say i enjoy my work.



• I have a wonderful family - my mom, bro and sis, my bro's wife and my nephew and niece.



• I attend Church and am a born-again believer.



• I have travelled to many places in this world and met with a lot of interesting people.



• I have learnt how sacrificial love is like.

I can just go on and on with this list - but i shall stop here. Suffice to say that all good things i have in this life, i have it all thanks to my father. He provided it all directly or indirectly because of his love for me.

Good sequel(s)

These are the sequels which turned out much better than the first part

1. Toy Story 2

I actually watched the sequel first. It was so good that i had to look for the first part. I enjoyed it but it was not as good as Toy Story 2!

2. The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars was brilliant - but The Empire Strikes Back was a major improvement in terms of effect and more importantly, storyline + emotions!

3. X2

X-Men was alright but X2 just blew me away. I loved how the 'good' mutants worked together with the 'bad' mutants. The inclusion of the Nightcrawler was superb! Too bad X-Men 3 did not follow in the way of its predecessor.

4. Spiderman 2

Spiderman was a huge disappointment for me. I thought Tobey Maguire was the wrong choice and Kirsten Dunst was so irritating. I did not like how they changed things from the original Spiderman comics. But Spiderman 2 was just really really good! The leads improved a lot and made the role theirs - and it had so much more heart and emotions. Plus a great villain!

5. The Harry Potter series

They just get better and better!!!! Just when i thought that Order of the Phoenix was the best, they surprised me with a brilliant Half-Blood Prince! The downside to it is that i cannot help but have great expectations for the last 2 installments!

Just note that i left out "Star Wars Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones" which was no doubt better than Episode 1 but was still pretty bad that i refuse to put it in the list!!!!

OK - here are some movies where the sequel(s) were pretty good too, some where it was just as good as the first one. In fact, the first 3 on the list below almost made it into the list above - but i felt it would be an injustice to the first part which was just as good but different in nature compared to the sequel. The others on the list as usual are in no particular order:-

1. Terminator and Terminator 2 - Judgment Day

Yes, the sequel blew me away. But the first was a different kind of action. It was more of a thriller than a full-out action movie, with the Terminator seeking out Sarah Connor.

2. Alien and Aliens

Again, the sequel blew me away - both Terminator 2 and Aliens were made by James Cameron. But the original was more like a horror movie!

3. Die Hard and Die Hard 2

I loved Die Hard 2 but at the same time, Die Hard was really good as it was all within one building!

4. The Pirates of the Carribean trilogy

With Johnny Depp in all 3, you can be sure that all are just as great!

5. The Indiana Jones trilogy

When i was young, i used to love the Temple of Doom and did not like the Last Crusade too much. Now i find the Last Crusade to be pretty good. Raiders still set the standard.

6. Back to the Future trilogy

Really hard to decide which is better. All good! And the only movies that satisfactorily deals with time travel!

7. The Bourne trilogy

Bourne is so much more better and cooler than Bond!

8. The Lord of the Rings trilogy - all brilliant!!!!

Albums where i love every song!

...and can listen to it from start til the end.

1. Jewel's Spirit

2. Lisa Loeb & The Nine Stories' Tails

3. George Michael's Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1

4. Oasis' (What's the story) Morning Glory?

5. Zee Avi's Zee Avi

6. Bon Jovi's These Days

7. 李心潔's Man Woman

8. Jamie Cullum's Twenty Something

9. David Sanborn's Close-Up

Why i really liked '(500) Days of Summer'

Ok - so this movie can be considered to be old. But i missed it when it was released here. Anyways, here are the reasons why i really liked it:-

1. The non-linear story-telling method.

It wasn't chronologically shown. There were 500 days but they jumped from one day to another, into the future or into the past, almost randomly. And it worked really well!

2. Zooey Deschanel's big blue eyes!!!

No where close to Zhao Wei's (even if hers are not blue!!!). I found aftr the movie from IMDB that the "film's blue-centric color scheme was done to bring out Zooey Deschanel's eyes".

3. The supporting characters.

I liked all his frens - the deeply committed Paul, the loser in relationships McKenzie and the wise beyond her years Rachel!

4. The songs and music in it.

I honestly dun know any of the songs and can't remember them now - but i know tt while watching the movie, i felt the songs were really good and suitable. And they even had a dance scene - which would have been really good if it involved live singing (like in 'Enchanted').

5. The ending.

No happily ever after ending, almost very realistic and very refreshing. And of course, Autumn!!!! :-)

Can't eat this

I'm on a strict diet! Altho the doc told me that Western medicine says that i can eat anything i want to, i still am adhering to Chinese beliefs that there are certain kinds of food which i must avoid for at least 3 months since i just had a major surgery!!!

I'm a staunch believer of Western medicine - but i cannot say for sure that the Chinese beliefs are not true. So i've been avoiding these following foods and will do so until sometime in April!!! (Click on the pics if u want a larger view).

1. Prawns/Shrimps!!!!! My favourite!!!

This meant i had to avoid stuffs like dim sum with prawns (har gao, salad prawns, etc), sambal nasi lemak, pasta with prawns, noodles fried with prawns, har mee, Jap food with prawns etc.

2. Duck!!!!

No duck confit, no herbal soup duck noodles, no duck rice, no duck noodles, etc.

3. Eggs!!!

All eggs - fried eggs, half-boiled eggs, boiled eggs, omelette, sunny-side up, noodles made of eggs, noodles cooked with eggs, noodles fried with eggs, raw eggs... . Strange that i'm allowed to eat hen meat but not the eggs it lays!

4. Peanuts!!!

I had to avoid yee sang during Chinese New Year, chocs with peanuts in them, peanut cookies, peanut butter, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, etc.

5. Beef!!!!

No beef noodles, no Pho Bo, no beef burgers, no steaks etc. The strange thing is that i'm allowed to eat dairy products!

6. Crabs!!!!

Yup, all kinds - stuffed crabs, chilly crabs, soft-shelled crabs, steamed crabs, all styles.

7. Squid/Calamari!!!!

Deep fried squid, squid cooked with rice or noodles, squid with egg pancakes...

At least one month has passed. So 2 more months left. And during the first month, the list was even longer - and more complicated. Some say to avoid male chicken meat and fish with scales. How was i supposed to know? So i basically had to avoid all chicken and fish outside!!!!

Why having really short hair is good!!!

I dun like my hair!!! It is way too short. I like having long hair. But still, i must admit that there are advantages to having it so short!

1. The hair dries faster after washing it.

2. I save money by using less shampoo. I oso dun need to use gel - but i've stopped using it for a long time anyway.

3. I save time as there is no need to comb my hair anymore!

4. I dun have worry of having a 'bad hair day' - the hair looks the same all the time!

5. The fringe do not get into my eyes nor does it obstruct my vision.

6. I can have strong winds blowing my hair and it won't get messed up!

7. In a fight, my opponent will find it hard to pull my hair (seems only to apply to catfights among girls, tho!!!).

8. The fringe does not stain my specs anymore. (What fringe???)

9. It'll prolly take a long long time b4 i need to get a haircut again!

10. Girls and women think i look better!!!! :-P

But i've made up my mind - unless i have to have a surgery above the hairline again, i'll never cut my hair this short ever again.

'First times' in 2009

2009 has passed by almost a month. But i will remember it - esp for the number of things which i did for the very first time in my life! Here are some notable ones.

1. Did the New Year's countdown in London across the Thames from the London Eye.

2. Met up face to face with the lecturers at the University of Reading, many of whom i have known only thru e-mails. It was a great time and they were truly wonderful people!

3. Visited Reading town and Uni. Really liked the place. The Uni has wide grounds with fields and lakes.

4. Went to a Communist country - Vietnam! and going there 3 times in a year!

5. Shot from a rifle! AK-47! Exhilarating experience but ear-drums popping!

6. Wore a skirt in public!!! I was acting as a Roman Centurion and we were filming the scene at a public park.

7. Been to Taiwan and Hong Kong. Went to places like Taiwan 101 and HK Disneyland!

8. Saw the Red Arrows perform here in M'sia. first time seeing F-16s in action. Moved me to tears!!!!