Watching football from a hotel window

While we were at Shahzan Inn in September, we had the perfect view of a couple of football matches in the evening.

This was the lovely view we enjoyed for a good hour. The standard of football wasn't the best, and we saw an own goal just seconds into the start of one match, but having the Pahang State Mosque beside the pitches made it a beautiful view!

My Journey to Kuantan - Part 2 - Serving As A Volunteer

This week I'm recounting my journey to Kuantan. If you missed Part 1, do click this link to read 

Raised in England

I finished my formal education at English Martyrs Roman Catholic high school with 1 A, 6 Bs and 3 Cs. I was pleasantly surprised and quite ecstatic with these results since all of my school years were spent in the love of sports. Quite frankly, English aside, I felt no interest sitting in a classroom.

My passion was competing on a tennis court and a football pitch, where I enjoyed huge success with my church team from the years of 1994-2002. We played against other teams from churches in the area, and I can tell you those battles were serious and anything but holy! It fired me up and I developed a love of winning.

All through my teenage years I knew that when I reached 19 years old, I would go and serve as a full-time volunteer for my church. This would last for 2 years. It would mean leaving behind my family and friends (and beloved sports!), to go and do something for somebody else.

The only fuzzy detail was where exactly in the world I would be asked to perform my volunteer work!

On 19 March, 2002, I received a letter from the church headquarters that would change the direction of my life forever.

I had been chosen to serve in Singapore and Malaysia!

I remember excitedly pulling out the atlas and raiding Google to find out where these countries were!

This was my name tag which I wore in some parts of my volunteer service

So for two years, from June 2002 - June 2004, I served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a most fantastic part of the world. I worked in various places around Singapore and Malaysia.

I have filled over 600 pages of my personal record detailing these two years. Suffice it to say they were the best two years of my life.

Now I'll share just a few of the many photos from this period in my life:

During our volunteer service, there were certain standards of appearance, conduct and organization we were expected to show. This is a typical 'blue planner' we used to plan our activities each week:

At Hong Kong airport en route to Singapore to begin my volunteer service (9th July, 2002)

Celebrating Chinese New Year in Petaling Jaya (PJ), West Malaysia, with some good friends from China (2003)

On a crowded bus going to the beach in Kuching (2003)

While I was serving in Kuching, East Malaysia I met this lovely family - Brother Michael, with two of his daughters, Florina (L) and Florianna (R). He had three other daughters; Felicia was studying in Johor, Felicity was at school in Genting, and Fidelia, who would later become my wife, was studying at Labuan. (2003)

Being sent to Kuching and meeting Fidelia's family was a huge part of my journey to Kuantan, even though I didn't know it at the time!

Meeting for dinner with church members in a small wooden house in Kuching, East Malaysia (2003)

Having a meeting with fellow volunteers on the balcony of the church in Kuching, East Malaysia (late 2003/early 2004)

Visiting a fruit farm in Kuching, East Malaysia (2004)

Two of the cutest little girls I met on my mission, Sitiawan, West Malaysia (2004)

Meeting with fellow volunteers in Ipoh, West Malaysia (2004)

Riding the MRT in Singapore one last time before my two-year volunteer contract expired and I'd head back home to England (June 2004)

With Elder Hubbard and Elder Claus at Changi International Airport, Singapore. Awaiting my flight home with a great deal of sadness (23 June, 2004)

My two-year volunteer mission was pivotal in my journey to Kuantan. I got to know and love the country of Malaysia, and I became good friends with Fidelia's family in Kuching!

Please visit this link for all you need to know about my church's volunteer missionary service program and how it works.

Stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow!

An Evening Stroll in Kuantan and Planking Part 2

While it's the fasting month, the field opposite our house has gone very quiet in the evenings. All the Malay boys who usually play football are, of course, fasting, so we get the whole field to play on, along with one or two other children.

We went there yesterday evening to enjoy the late sun

My 3 girls on the field!

My wife's first panorama shot went pretty well!

Lauren and I enjoyed a kick about with the football . . .

A simple planking manoeuvre; Lauren watched me carefully

Planking is fun and can be hilarious. It can also be extremely dangerous. To those thinking of trying it I advise you to avoid it unless you are fully confident in the planking manoeuvre and in your own ability to carry it out.

It was interesting to read the comments from yesterday's post about "Planking". It was very popular as it attracted 123 visitors in a single day. A number of people expressed how they didn't 'get it'. Really, there isn't anything to 'get'; it's just some fun to pass time. Apparently my next-door neighbour in England, an older lady named Brenda, has been planking in her back garden and I think that's absolutely hilarious! But remember, be safe!!

Following are 3 planking poses by myself on the field last night, increasing in their degree of difficulty and awesomeness . . .

Plank 1

Plank 2

Plank 3

By far, my best plank so far, though I don't think I want to do anything more daring than this! My heart was in my mouth for a few seconds as I waited for the picture to be snapped. But I got into a nice, stable position up there.

Lauren continued her new-found interest in planking with this pose here:

Leah watched on from her snazzy pushchair

We had a lovely time, and as you'll see tomorrow in Planking Part 3, the third and final part, I even got my good wife to join in!

Adam needs help identifying a movie!

I am good friends with Adam. He's from Leicester, England like me. We were best friends throughout my childhood. I vividly remember playing football on the astroturf, the park field and an old car park down the road. We used trees as goalposts, monkey bars, jumpers, bicycles and shoes. He was such a good goalkeeper; always tricky to score past him!

We also played snooker sometimes down at the local snooker club. We weren't too bad but Adam was a lot better than me! I preferred pool.

Anyway, Adam has had a question on his mind for a good 2 years now and has requested your help. He's trying to identify the name of a movie. The following is the trailer tag line:

"What if your dreams and fears existed in the

same place? What if to get to heaven, you 

had to brave hell? What if everything you've 

ever wanted cost you everything you've ever 

achieved? Would you still go there?"

Any ideas what movie this describes???

Manchester United

"McDonalds" - fast food restaurant responsible for comfort food and contributing to high levels of obesity




Manchester United

Manchester United are the winners of 18 league titles, 11 of them since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. They have been champions of Europe on three occasions, the first coming in 1968 with a 4-1 victory over Benfica in the final. This came just 10 years after a dozen of the Manchester United players and staff died in a tragic plane accident in Munich.

Sir Matt Busby, then manager, rebuilt the squad including many youngsters who went on to greatness just a decade later, who became known as the "Busby Babes."

Through parts of the seventies and eighties, Manchester United went through a trophy drought, dicing with relegation from the first division of English football, while Liverpool won four European cups and reached 18 league titles, becoming by far the most successful English club.

Alex Ferguson, who was hired from Aberdeen where he enjoyed much success, endured a slow start to his tenure at Old Trafford, but the momentum began to pick up in 1993 with a first league title in over 20 years.

During the mid-90's Alex Ferguson called up several youngsters into the first team including the Neville brothers, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt. They went on to win multiple trophies with Manchester United, the highlight being the dramatic season of 1998/99 when Sir Alex Ferguson led his team to an amazing treble of League, F.A. Cup and European Cup. It was an incredible time and tasted much better than my beloved McDonalds strawberry milkshake!

Sir Alex Ferguson has been Manchester United manager for an unbelievable 26 years and is still going strong. Manchester United recently equaled Liverpool's long-standing record of 18 league titles and is poised to capture an historic 19th next month.

Here are some videos of Manchester United's best moments. We apologise for keeping our neighbours in Kuantan awake during some of these passionate moments at all hours of the day and night!

If you're a Manchester United fan, this was the season that will never be forgotten. Some of these images and lines of commentary are immortal!

And here is the passion and success associated with Manchester United

Which is your favourite football team?

Federer wins, completes good weekend

Every weekend we look forward to our sport. Sometimes there are many different sporting competitions going on at the same time, for example, football, tennis, Formula One racing, rugby. We enjoy following each sport and our favourite sportsmen and women. Sometimes there are good weekends where all of our favourites win; and occasionally we endure the disappointment of a bad weekend, where the teams and individuals we yearn for, end up on the losing side.

The weekend just passed could be classified as a good weekend, though it wasn't a perfectly victorious one. Allow me to explain.

Firstly was the Barclays Premier League on Saturday night. Any team which is half-good and poses a threat to Manchester United, will be cheered on in all of their struggles. Tottenham, who are rapidly improving and just beat reigning European Champions Internazionale in midweek, suffered a terrible hangover as they went down 4-2 at Bolton Wanderers. That was a good start to our weekend, not to mention a very entertaining match for the neutrals.

By the way, Kevin Davies should definitely keep his place in the England squad

Things almost took a turn for the worse when later that night an absolutely wretched performance from Man.Utd almost resulted in more dropped points. It was only thanks to a stoppage time winner from South Korean winger Ji-sung Park, which gave us the 3 points in a 2-1 win over unlucky Wolves.

On Sunday, there was football, tennis and F1. Let's deal with the one disappointment first, shall we? Lewis Hamilton could only finish fourth in the Brazilian Grand Prix, behind title rivals Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, who carries a slim lead into the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi. Hamilton needs a miracle comprising of him winning the race and his 3 main title rivals all not finishing in the points. Oh well. . . there's always next year.

Meanwhile, things were going great at the Emirates stadium where Newcastle put on a magnificently disciplined performance to beat Arsenal in their own backyard by a single Andy Carroll goal to nil. Arsenal to win the league? No chance! Not when you've lost games at home to newly promoted teams in West Brom and Newcastle.

Further joy came at Anfield where a resurgent Liverpool powered past Chelsea 2-0 thanks to a rejuvenated Fernando Torres. Chelsea's second BPL defeat of the season was sweet. ManU are just a couple of points behind the leaders now. Thanks Liverpool, for helping us out yet again.

Meanwhile, on the continent, in a small town named Basle in Switzerland, a home-grown star was lifting ATP title number 65 of his glittering career. Roger Federer, the G.O.A.T, beat Novak Djok-strap in 3 sets, sealing triumph with an amazing half-volley backhand winner on match point, taking the decider 6-1.

Enjoying a pizza party with his fellow ball-kids after the match

ENGLAND'S 23-MAN WORLD CUP SQUAD

In conjunction with the official unveiling of the 23 players who will carry the burden of English (over)expectation in South Africa later this month, I have completed my analysis of each member of the squad. Enjoy!

JOE HART: quality keeper but inexperienced at international level

DAVID JAMES: an absolute clown, calamity

ROBERT GREEN: awful season with a relegation-threatened club is hardly preparation to stop Brazilian, Spanish, Argentinian forwards                      

JAMIE CARRAGHER: real defender but sufficiently lacking international experience

ASHLEY COLE: detestable imp in the John Terry mould but unfortunately our best left-back

RIO FERDINAND: captain. if fully fit, our best defender

GLEN JOHNSON: a liability defensively, better at coming forward

LEDLEY KING: great defender, but when exactly was the last time he played for England? or even strung two matches together?
                                    
JOHN TERRY: slow, over-rated, a dirty rat. there would probably be more cheers if he broke his  leg in the first minute against USA than if he lifted the trophy
                                    
MATTHEW UPSON: average. can someone please remind me why he's in the squad again?

STEPHEN WARNOCK: tough-tackling, decent cover for Cashley, barely any international experience

GARETH BARRY: reliable holding midfielder, if fit, could have a vital role to play for England

MICHAEL CARRICK: out of form, mistake-prone, no special skills, why is he going to the World Cup?

JOE COLE: another mysterious one. had limited playing time this season, boring to watch, does nothing
                                    
STEVEN GERRARD: incapable of passing to a team-mate in an England shirt, lousy

FRANK LAMPARD: annoyingly quiet as soon as the England shirt is put on

AARON LENNON: flying winger with bags of pace. could be a jewel in our crown. but does he have the strength to help out defensively?
                                    
JAMES MILNER: love this guy, hardworking, stamina, power, goalscorer. could be our star of the tournament
                                    
SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: really can't work out why he's on the plane to South Africa. Anyone?

PETER CROUCH: tall, good skill, terrible at heading, good scoring record for England though

JERMAINE DEFOE: quiet finish to the season, not really too sure about him, fast, strong(ish), hmm...

EMILE HESKEY: and when did Heskey play a game for Aston Villa this season?

WAYNE ROONEY: the talisman, most talented player in the squad by a mile, power, touch, awareness, goal-scorer and creator, shame he's in a pants team
                                    



So what do you think? Do you share my views? Or feel differently about these players? I think they're a bunch of monkeys who will once again fail miserably. I hope beyond hope that I'm wrong, but come on, let's get real. Anyway, for what it's worth......

COME ON ENGLAND!!!

Please Wigan, Please!!!

When it falls out of your hands, we hope. When hope fades, we delve into the depths of the barrel of hope to scrape up the last particles still clinging to the base.

It is the final round of matches of the Barclays Premier League 2009/2010 season. Manchester United trail Chelsea by a solitary point with Chelsea to host Wigan while ManU host Stoke. A win for Chelsea would earn them the title. ManU need Chelsea to slip up with either a defeat or a draw.

At any other time of the season I would have Chelsea down to comfortably beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge - but this is the final game where pressure and nerves can do silly things to football results. For this night I become a devout Wigan fanatic...

We hope against hope. We will take it every second at a time. Agonisingly, I will cling to stretched and battered hope until either it finally snaps or it holds on for just another 90 minutes.

Please Wigan, you can do it! Just a draw, that's all we're asking!!!

There are now 4 more hours until the game starts, and I'm trying my best not to build my hope up, because Chelsea really should brush aside Wigan......but you never know......an injury to Lampard, Drogba, or Cech......a red card for Ballack......poor referring decisions in Wigan's favour......Terry given the run-around by Rodallega......Chelsea hit the post, hit the cross-bar, hit Titus Bramble in the face, anything but the back of the net......PLEASE!!!

Manchester United still have their job to do in beating Stoke at Old Trafford, but I'm sure that shouldn't be a problem as there is less pressure, and we hammered Stoke here 5-0 last season.

It's going to be an awful 90 minutes to go through, but it has to be done. 

Hope.

Hope.

Hope.

Wigan......come on......

I'm hoping so badly you can do it

Favourable Draw For England

England were handed a major boost to their World Cup preparations when they were grouped with USA, Algeria and Slovenia in World Cup Group C last night. David Beckham was helping with the tiny balls but he must have felt as excited as a child when England's opponents were picked out of the hats. He did well to conceal that excitement though.

It looks as though England will be on course to meet Ghana in the second round, France in the quarters, Brazil in the semis and any of Argentina, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal or Ivory Coast in a potential final match-up.

With 188 days to go, Capello now needs to get those 23 players in his mind that will be making up the World Cup squad. And we need to pray that key players plying their trade with Man.Utd and Chelsea don't get injured or suffer from burn-out after what will be a long season challenging for top honours domestically and on the continent.

Every time a World Cup comes around it's very exciting and I'm currently looking at the draw and knock-out rounds, assessing each possibility and potential opponent, straining to convince myself that England can eventually do it and go all the way. Only time will tell.