'Why? Why??'

Again, in contrary to what the above cartoon depicts, I have managed to write 5 pages of Introduction part this morning. No kidding!

'A list, plan or outline of things to be done'

Although my meeting with supervisors today also lasted half an hour (shortest one so far), we managed to discuss many things and continue with what I've already planned beforehand. :)

Lancaster Morecambe Badminton League - League Match Fourteen

After the easy win last week, we are facing Torrisholme A tonight in an away game. We beaten them 11-7 last time in our home game but it won't be easy this time as Brenda is still injured. And I noticed that they have a new men player. Should be interesting.

And what a night it was! Paul and I had a very tough match and we split 15-10, 13-15. It was very tiring and then I had to partner Tim for our second men double match and again the result was a close one. We won both sets 17-15, 15-6 but the truth is that it could goes either way.

After several more mixed double matches, I realised that I need to win my mixed double match with Eddie. We tried our best but still lost both sets 12-15, 10-15. In the end we lost 8-10 overall. If only...

Lancaster Morecambe Badminton League - League Match Thirteen

Since our lost in the cup match, we are no longer playing every week unlike Team B who are still in the cup competition. This week we are playing one of the weakest team in our division, Hest Bank C. Last time we met them we won easily 13:5. Since Brenda had to take a rest due to her wrist injury, this is the perfect opportunity to familiarise myself with my new partner, Eddie.

I had good game in my men doubles matches. Paul and I won 15-5, 15-10, last time we were split. Tim and I also won 15-8, 17-14 although we had a scare during the second set when we were trailing 12-14. We were also split last time when we met them. My first double match with Eddie was shaky in the first set as we lost 9-15 but we regained our confidence and won the second set 15-12. Overall, we won 14:4, not bad at all.

Maisarah

Picture taken by my sister last year.

My revenge is complete!

My third backgammon win

One more win from Three Pointers Tournament and I will take a break. Seriously :)

Majlis Ilmu Lancaster

Currently our 'usrah' programmes amongst the Malaysian men and women have been progressing nicely in each alternate weekends. The ladies have their own blog which is Helwa Lancaster and they are quite active in updating the entries. The men have started their own blog too and it is called Majlis Ilmu Lancaster. Hopefully every note of discussion will be uploaded in this blog so that if anyone unable to attend the programme, they can at least visit the blog and read the points of discussion. Of course it won't be the same like attending by yourself but it is better than nothing.

One down, one more to go

It's revenge time!

Lancaster Morecambe Badminton League - League Match Twelve

After nearly a month break, the league resumes and our first match of 2008 is against the current runners-up, Hest Bank B. We lost 4-14 in the early season and any points against them is actually a bonus. So when Paul and I won our first set 15-7, we thought of doing better than last time we met them, which is to win both sets. Unfortunately, we lost 15-17 in a very tight match. I suffered the same fortune with Tim when we won 15-7 in the first set and lost 13-15 in the second although we were leading 13-9 at one time.

Brenda injured her wrist again and really struggling especially with her backhand. In the first set we lost 11-15 but it was an evenly match. However, she couldn't cope with the pain anymore in the second set and we surrendered the set rather easily, 4-15. I heard that Brenda might had to take a few weeks break so I'm definitely will be playing with a new partner in our next match.

Conquerclub

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.. or in this case... two women. I initially managed to control the whole American continent (North and South). But then my wife (jmaa) attacked Brazil from North Africa and whilst I was busy attending to that, Idlan attacked from Kamchatka. Make you wonder if they are colluding somehow.. hmmm...

First snow of this winter in Lancaster

I was surfing the internet in my living room when my wife called. She was on her way to Stoke with her friends shopping for bone china. She asked whether it is snowing in Lancaster. As I looked outside the window, there is indeed snow falling! I'm a bit excited because last winter there is hardly any snow in this part of region, mainly because it is a coastal area and it's other sides are surrounded by mountains. However, when I checked the Met Office website, the snow is just temporary, at least until early Friday morning. Not enough to build a snowman, I suppose. Still, something to cherish in this long and dull winter.

Moving In and Out

For the past few weeks two new families have arrived from Malaysia. Both the husbands are doing PhD but in the different schools. One is staying on campus while the other one is living off campus. It seems that more and more postgraduate students are coming over to Lancaster. The more the merrier I guess. However, last Saturday, my college neighbour, Asmadi is moving out to live off campus since his former flat had to be vacated to make way for a new development. Lancaster is changing so fast that you will always see new constructions and new structures everywhere across the campus. I'm just hoping that I'd be able to recognise the familiar places of it if I decided to come back for a visit in 10 years time though.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha

Ilyas in a Nativity play

Imran as the drummer boy

Ilyas as the traveller

Today Ilyas is participating in his school Nativity play. His friend Imran is also in the play. I almost forgotten about it and went to the school reception last Friday to buy the tickets. Unfortunately there is only one ticket left so this morning my wife went there by herself instead. She took lots of pictures and videos so it is OK then. Better remind myself not to forget the next year's play.

How to Identify An Idiot?

*received this e-mail from a friend :)

How to Identify An Idiot?

(1) He spends twenty minutes looking at an orange juice box because it said, "concentrate".

(2) He puts lipstick on the forehead because he wanted to makeup his mind.

(3) He gets stabbed in a shoot-out.

(4) He sends a fax with a stamp on it.

(5) He tries to drown a fish.

(6) If you gave them a penny for their intelligence, you'd get change.

(7) He trips over a cordless phone.

(8) He takes a ruler to bed to see how long he slept.

(9) At the bottom of the application where it says "Sign Here", he puts "Sagittarius".

(10) He takes 2 hours to watch "60 minutes".

(11) He invents a solar powered flashlight.

(12) He heard that 90% of all crimes occur around the home, so he moves.

(13) He misses the No. 14 Bus, and takes the 7 twice instead.

(14) He takes you to the airport and saw a sign that said, "Airport left", and he turned around and went home.

(15) He got locked in a furniture shop but sleeps on the floor.]

(16) He spends time reading thru the above 15 points and analyses if he is an idiot!!!

Longest name for a place?

*thanks Asmadi for the picture

Sad news

Lancaster Morecambe Badminton League - Cup Match

Tonight (or morning rather) is quite a tragic day for many people. Bailrigg A is playing against Ingleton A at away in a cup match. It's a knockout tournament and Ingleton A is currently in Division One. It's a bit different than a league match format in term that you win the match based on total points rather than total sets. So winning 15-0 will be a big advantage than winning 15-13. And lower ranked team will get an additional points which is known as handicap points.

Paul and I lost both our sets for the first time in this season by the score of 11-15, 12-15. Wan Huzaini, who is playing for the first time in A team, and who will be playing in Ingleton again this Wednesday for B team, is my second double partner and we also lost both our sets 11-15, 9-15. He managed to break his racket this time, the fourth time this year if I'm not mistaken. So it's a tragic day for him. Brenda and I also lost both our sets 12-15, 5-15. Overall we only managed to get 154 points against 258 points won by Ingleton A. Even when we received an additional 80 handicap points, the difference is too great to make any difference. So a tragic day for Bailrig A for being kicked out from the cup tournament.

But nothing compare to what happened to one of the Ingleton A members. As Wan Huzaini and I went inside Brenda's car, we noticed that the time was 11.30pm and the temperature is -2 Celcius. It was very cold and frost started to form on the car's windscreen. We began our journey home along the village and farm little winding roads. The journey was quite long as Ingleton is actually situated in Yorkshire district. Brenda was driving within the speed limit (30mph, although I had a suspicion that she drove a little bit more than that) when we came accros some icy patch on the road. Apparently there was a little stream of water running accross the road and it just went frozen. The car wobbled a bit when we passed through it but when we look further in front we suddenly realised that there is a car lying upside down next to the road. We stopped immediately and Paul's car who was following us also stopped.

Brenda, June and Sue immediately went to that car and to our horror, the driver was one of the Ingleton A ladies player as we found a badminton kit and the score sheet. I think the ladies knew the driver and they suspected that it was Rosie but it was quite dark and they just can't see the driver's face clearly. She was unconscious and therefore did not respond to our call. The driver area was quite crushed and Sue can only reach for her hand. She thought that she can feel a faint pulse. We immediately called the rescue and wait for the help to arrive. There is nothing that we can do except positioning our cars in such a way that other drivers coming into that direction will take an extra care when passing that icy patch on the road.

Two fire engines, an ambulance and several police cars arrived after 10-15 minutes and they immediately went into action. The policeman took our statements and after 10 minutes we are allowed back to our car. On the way back to Brenda's car, I noticed that the firemen have already extracted that driver out of the car but they just laid her down and cover her face with a white cloth. Only then I realised that she is already dead as the paramedics did not try to rush the victim back to their ambulance.

When Brenda started her car again, the time is already 12.30am and the temperature has dipped to -4 Celcius. It was a very slow journey back home and it was a very tragic night.

My second backgammon tournament win

Today I won my second backgammon tournament, another one pointer match. I'm quite pleased with this win. Next target is to win 3-points match tournament. I wonder how long it will take. Hopefully not as long as it took me to win my first tournament (9 months!).