One down, two more to go

Image taken from Soccernet.com

Friendly match for ANSARA Taiping

In the evening, Firdaus and myself went to the UPM College 14 football field  to play a friendly football match with ANSARA Taiping. Our opponent this time is a newly formed team from Saujana Impian. In the first half we had dozens of chances in front of the goal but we only managed to lead by one solitary goal from Jose. When the second half started, our star striker Marzuki took to the field and he duly scored two goals. The opponent tried to fight back and managed to get a goal but Paan immediately added another one for Tepen. 

By this time I think it's safe for me to play with them and I immediately instructed Jose to get off the field to be replaced by me. The players asked me to play as a striker and I duly comply. Straight away Marzuki crossed the ball for me to head but my attempt just soar inches above the bar. I got several opportunities to score afterwards but there are so many offside offense that frustrate me. The score remains until the end but I'm really happy because it has been a long time since the last time I play on the grass football field.

Bintang Rugby Club International 10's

Straight after LBJB league match, we took off to Sri Kembangan to watch Ilyas' cousins, Sulaiman and Idris playing for their club in the BRC International 10's. We brought Tok Wan, Mak Tok and Eela with us in one car. By the time we arrived, Sulaiman and his team are waiting to play for the plate final. Idris and his team are also in the plate final. This is the second and final day of the tournament and they have been playing since yesterday. There are many teams they had to play against and some of them came from countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. 

When it's turn for the Sulaiman's team to play, the whole family are cheering by the pitch side and by the time the final whistle is blown they have won the final. Afterwards the whole family rushed to another field to give support to Idris' team. By the time we arrived, they are in the middle of the match. We managed to see Idris' team scored a try which eventually gave them a victory in that match. In the end it was a great success for both of them. Jo asked Ilyas if he wanted to give rugby a try. Ilyas simply shakes his head and said, "Too violent".

LBJB Second League Match

This morning is Rhinos second league match and they will be facing top favourite Tigers. Last time during the friendly match, Rhinos got humiliated 1-6 by the Tigers so this is going to be a really tough match. Therefore I was surprised when the second quarter ended, the result is still 0-0. Ilyas did well as a goalkeeper during the first quarter and Haziq did a superb job defending the goal during the second. In the third quarter,  one of Tigers 'star player didn't play and we took the opportunity to keep attacking them. Eventually our new addition to the team, Iman, managed to slot in a goal to put Rhinos ahead. In the fourth quarter we decided to defend heavily to protect the lead but the opponent star striker got another idea. He knew that he could not get near to our goal post so he decided to keep hitting long range shots and one of them finally managed to find the back of the net. In the end the result stays 1-1 and although we are a bit disappointed, to get a draw is actually quite an achievement itself. 

Look Umi! No black eyes!

Wedding in UPM

My dean is having a wedding ceremony for his son who got married last month so I took the opportunity to bring my family to meet some of the faculty staff during the event. The food is delicious especially their 'sambal belacan' and the kids just love the ice-cream stall situated just by the entrance to the wedding hall. There are even stalls serving 'bubur durian' and 'cendol' which we simply cannot refuse.

Wedding Picture

Prof. Dr. Annuar, Puan Hafizah, Azmira, Muhammad Akid and my family

Tapak Semaian

This morning I wanted to go to Mydin supermarket for some bread and drinks. Maisarah wanted to tag along so we went there together in a car. I saw some seeds for vegetable plants but Maisarah insisted on buying some flowers seed. In the end we bought variety of seeds for plants such as french beans, ladies fingers, asparagus, long beans, red chilli, sun flower and zinnia pumila (colourful flowers). All the seeds have been safely planted in their own little biodegradable cups. Now to wait and see...

An Upgrade

As a reward for staying alive for more than four months, we decided to buy a new and larger fish tank for the tortoises. I think they are quite happy now because this new tank is quite large and thus more space for them to swim and roam around. Any larger than this and we had to buy the glass tank. I think I'd rather release them into Taman Tasik Cempaka lake if they no longer fit into this new tank.

Inside our car

This is what I have been packing inside our car every weekdays morning. The back of the car looks like a little wardrobe. Ilyas and Maisarah will also bring a couple of pillows to put on their car seats so that they can catch some extra nap during the journey. They will also bring some odd toys with them. And every evening I had to do some clean-up so that it will be ready for the next morning.

Candy - Akan Ku Tunggu

Caterpillar in my garden

Lunch at L'apprenti

Sorbet ciku

Steak

Chocolate pudding

I was invited to join a focus group for a discussion this morning. We talked about the whistle blower in Halal certification issued by Jakim. It was interesting and two hours of brainstorming is simply not enough. After that the organisers invited us to have a lunch at the L'apprenti restaurant, situated inside the UPM. This restaurant is used by the students of Faculty of Food Science and Technology to practise on their cooking and serving skills. They even cook the breads served in this restaurant. The service by these students is quite fast, presumably because their lecturer is watching by the side. Afterwards they hand us a simple questionnaire for us to rate on the foods and the service. As for me, a free lunch will always be a delicious one!

Modern Gardener

All the plants that we bought today

Limau kasturi, limau lemon and limau nipis

Cili padi

Daun manis

The garden plot

Finally we found time to visit a nursery today. One of Mama Tok's friend told her of one nursery situated along the road to Semenyih from Bangi. So Jo and myself went there with her to get some plants. Initially we don't have any specific plants in mind but by the time for us to go from that shop, our Honda Stream is beginning to look more like a moving jungle. I bought three types of 'limau', a mango tree and four bags of fertile soil. Jo bought one indoor plant. Mama Tok bought 'kesum', 'terung', 'limau kasturi', two bags of soil and five bags of agrosoil. The kind worker at the nursery even gave us four pineapple plants, some 'cili padi' and another plant which name escapes me. And it only costs us RM60, really unbelievable. When we arrived at Mama Tok's house, she gave one more indoor plant to Jo. 

Now to wait for the weekend to start life as an urban gardener.

ANSARA Taiping 2 Ampang Jaya 5

Today is our first friendly match for the month in preparation for the upcoming Liga Alumni which is most probably to commence by the next month. Our opponent this time come from Ampang Jaya. The match started in heavy rain and we were leading 1-0 by the end of the first half. In the second half we made several changes to try out several new players and the team had to do some reorganisation especially in the midfield. Apparently we are still trying to figure out each of the players' best position when the opponent equalised. We were then back in the lead with another goal but the opponent replied back with another one. After that most of us got tired and through some counter attack movements our opponent managed to get three more goals. Throughout the match I was by the sideline keeping myself dry under the umbrella which was held by one of our non-playing players.

Maisarah and her red pony

Final Exam for ACT2112 Exec students

LBJB First League Match

Today is the first league match for LBJB. The previous match was classified as friendly since the team jerseys are not ready yet. Rhinos are wearing blue and red shirts and will be facing Panthers who are wearing black and orange. I can only spend few minutes with the team since I had to invigilate an examination at 10am. During the examination, Jo will update me with the latest score. I was surprised when Jo informed me that Ilyas is playing as a goalkeeper and happy when he didn't let any ball in. However, in the end, Rhinos are soundly beaten by the Panthers with 1-4. Afterwards I was informed in the e-mail by the organiser that Panthers win is nullified because of their failure to give one of their players a minimum playing time. So Rhinos get lucky today but their next match will be against Tigers, a hot favourite to win the league. Maybe if Ilyas remains as a goalkeeper in the next match, could there be an upset?