JOHOR BAHRU TRAFFIC JAMS AND AMBULANCES

In this next series of posts to promote the challenging roads of Johor Bahru for my stunt driving school, I will share about the link between traffic jams and ambulances in Johor Bahru. It is a culture not to be missed and not to be able to be experienced elsewhere.

When I was first caught in a traffic jam in Johor Bahru, I heard the siren of an ambulance which is rushing through from behind me. We have to purposely drive to the edge of another lane to open up enough space for it to go through. Then, you see many vehicles taking the opportunity to follow behind it as the space was opened up. Although it is something new to me, I feel that it is probably something that happens once in a blue moon.

I was so damn wrong. Whenever there is a traffic jam, you hear the siren of the ambulance. I can declare that out of 10 times caught in the jam, 9 of them you will have ambulances sounding the siren. You will begin to feel suspicious. This is no longer coincidence. How can it be that ambulance sirens are always heard during traffic jams but not when the traffic is smooth. Do emergencies only happen during traffic jams? Well, strange right? We all in Johor Bahru said they purposely sound the siren. One of these days, I would like to follow the ambulance from behind to see if it really goes to the hospital to offload a patient. The culture of following the ambulance during the emergency rush may also happen in other places too and not just unique in Johor Bahru alone. Others can share about this.

In Johor Bahru, it is a culture to cut queues and follow from behind the ambulance. It adds another new challenge in the stunt driving experience. Smart driving!

JOHOR BAHRU TRAFFIC LIGHTS

In Johor Bahru, you have the most "COOLEST" traffic lights on the planet. I assure you that you will never ever experience such traffic lights in any other places on the planet. If you do, please share with me the location and I would really like to go there to experience it!

Types of traffic lights we have:
1. Fuctional - OK, this is referred to functional traffic lights which suppose to work in the sequence of green, yellow and red lights. You should have this by default anywhere.

2. Combos - This is the most unique traffic light you will ever find here. Red + Green, Red + Yellow, Yellow + Green, Red + Yellow + Green. Yeah, you should have the same dilemma as I do when you reach the junction. To go or not to go, that's the question. I drove through the red + green combo and yellow + green combo before.

3. Flashing Combos - This is the second most unique traffic light I have ever seen. They flash the combinations in Type 2 continuously. Same as above, the open ended question is to stop or not to stop.

4. Half Dead - Some of the 3 lights are spoilt so you need to really know when it is your turn to cross because the red or green or yellow light is not operational. Sometimes, it could be a combo of 2 of them not functioning.

5. Fully Dead - There are many non-operational traffic lights (all lights out in one side, 2 sides, 3 sides or all 4 sides of the road) in Johor Bahru. It is common to experience one a month minimum. Sometimes, the same one can be spoilt multiple times a year.

6. Invincible - There are a few junctions where the traffic lights are built too far away from the stop line. Therefore, in such junctions, you always require the second or third vehicle to honk the first one to tell him/her that the light has turned green.

7. Identical - Yes, this is even cooler! The best of the best and my favourite type of traffic light. You feel like you are watching the latest Die Hard movie (Live Free or Die Hard) and you thought this type only appears in movies. You will be so wrong when you come to Johor Bahru because you get to experience what the drivers experienced in that Die Hard movie in this vibrant city. Now you should not discard anything you see in the movies as fake stuffs as the wise elders have told you.

All four sides could have the same colour! Yes, everyone has green or red at the same time. The brave ones will have to decide whether to go or stop. I also experience this one countless of times. I just follow beside the giant vehicles like the buses or the lorries to cross so at least they can shield me off if another brave one wanted to go through from the other side.

8. Rojak - All the above mixed in different combinations for all the three or four sides of the junction.

What do the authorities do when Type 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are found?

1. Total Blindness - Nothing is done, cross the junction at your own risk and courage.

2. Seal Off Part of the Junction - Very easy, come with some yellow DO NO CROSS banner that the police use to seal off the scene of the crime and simply block off 1/4 or 1/3 or 1/2 of the traffic junction and let the people travel extra kilometres because Malaysia has the CHEAPEST petrol on the planet and the drivers love to do U Turns. Yeah, we are loving it!

I had crossed through many dangerous traffic light junctions which has Type 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Once, just after I crossed dangerously, an accident occurred right after. Can they claim insurance from that kind of situation when all the traffic lights are at fault? I don't know why the traffic lights, especially the same ones keep on getting spoilt all the time.

The same traffic lights can go down more than three times a month and sometimes left unrepaired for some time. This is not just for small one or two-lane roads, sometimes the main roads which have up to four lanes on each side. They can leave it like that for the whole day! There is also one traffic light junction which has faulty traffic lights. You know what they do? They just seal off the road and force you to drive down over at least 8km just to make a U Turn to go to the place you wanted to go. Since they use really huge heavy objects to seal it off, I think it will remain like that for quite some time or even permanently.

I have never experience more CREATIVE traffic lights in any other places I had driven before. You know what? Stunt drivers should come to Johor Bahru to practise their skills before they qualify and be certified as stunt drivers in the movies. I think I have found a niche market and will set up the best STUNT DRIVING SCHOOL in Asia (able to challenge those in the States). I shall call it DieHardX's Stunt Drivin' Skool Pte. Ltd. (the best in JB, Singapore and some say the whole of Asia). Need for Speed or Burnout fans? This is as real as it gets baby! You guys want to experience the real thing? Come to Johor Bahru, the vibrant stunt driving town! I dare to say you can never experience another place on earth to have 8 types of traffic lights (at times a few of them at the same time). Somebody prove me wrong! TopGear should also document the experience of driving the roads here. I am sure they have never seen anything like that before.

JOHOR BAHRU BOLEH!

WEDDING PHOTO SHOOT

Well, it is common in Malaysia and Singapore to have a wedding photo shoot before your wedding. You are getting a set of photos to commemorate and remember this important event in your lives. We decided to do it at VENUS Bridal Selection and requested Mr. Deric Wan to be our photographer. Johor Bahru apart from reputed for being the City of Crime is also reputed to be the City of Bridal Boutiques. Yes, it is a big business here.

I always heard of scary and tiring experiences from people who had gone through the process before and was prepared for the worst. However, they made the whole process a comfortable one for the customers and that I am really grateful. We went hunting many months back among the many bridal shops in Johor Bahru. We nailed this one because we heard of the reputation of the photographer as well as the wide selection of gowns and attires available with attractive pricing. Their staffs are also very friendly and accommodating. We even recommended my uncle who is getting married end of this year to also try them out. They were very happy indeed with the services provided.

The photographer and owner, Deric, used the Canon EOS 5D for the whole photo shoot sessions. I will share some photos of what I took myself while waiting for the different sessions. We opt for one indoor and one outdoor (Desaru Beach) shoot. Each of the shootings took us 8 hours to finish in two days. We were worried initially about the outdoor shoot as it has been raining continuously for more than a week. Deric told me that one of the outdoor shoots two days earlier was cancelled because of the rain. Luckily, it was fine when it was our turn.

Well, to me the whole photo shoot process was fun. It was like a costume party were I get to change into different combinations for different shooting themes. I would like to thank Mr. Deric, Miss Liffey Chen (make-up artist) and Mr. Kuai Kuai (Deric's assistant) for making the photo shoot a success.

































I will try to share some of the photos after they are done for printing. We are expecting the first process to be finished in 2 weeks maximum.

CUIL

Cuil is an old Irish word for knowledge. The world’s biggest search engine as they claimed it to be. Can this search engine replace the great Google?

Their claim:
"Cuil searches more pages on the Web than anyone else—three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft."

"Rather than rely on superficial popularity metrics, Cuil searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance. When we find a page with your keywords, we stay on that page and analyze the rest of its content, its concepts, their inter-relationships and the page’s coherency."

We have seen the evolution of search engines with popular rise and fall of many of them. I had tried WebCrawler, Infoseek, Lycos, AltaVista, Magellan, Excite, HotBot, Yahoo!, Google and MSN. Let's see where Cuil can go. Singapore already had their own search engine called Rednano not long ago.

Cuil

FOOTBALL: SINGAPORE SELECTION 0-3 BRAZIL OLYMPICS TEAM

Yes, the dream to see Ronaldinho live is fulfilled. The rest is not important. It was a normal friendly so I was not expecting a very exciting match. Still, it was not bad as Ronaldinho played for the entire match.

I also get to see the future star, Pato in action in the first half. Tall and slim, you thought it was Peter Crouch in disguise. Diego was also great to watch. Unfortunately, Robinho did not make it for the match. It was my first experience in the Singapore National Stadium and could be my last as they would demolish it soon. I also experienced the Kallang Wave which was wonderful.

I first thought this will be the Singapore national team but it was a selection of some of the best Singapore League players. The first goal was scored by Diego and Ronaldinho scored the second goal by literally bringing the ball into the net through some balancing act with his feet. The humiliation frustrated the goalie. The last goal was scored by Jo, unknown to me but heard to be signed by Manchester City. Overall, the Singapore Selection were only able to play much better after Diego and Pato were substituted in the second half. They wasted some good chances and should have scored at least once. I was happy Dunga let Ronaldinho play the full match. Marcelo was also given a chance to play deep in the second half.

I went with my friends as we sit at the east side of the stadium. It was surely a nice experience for me to be at the stadium as well as finally meeting Chris up especially after some time.



Other News:
Robbie Keane signed for Liverpool and I thought it was interesting to have him but at such a price, it was abit ridiculous. Henry may go to Manchester United, which is abit shocking but again could be just rumours anyway to spice up the footballing news. There are of course some rumours about Cesc Fabregas. I wonder he will stay forever in Arsenal as he claimed if he keeps on winning nothing for every season or at least always fall short of winning a very crucial trophy like the Champions League. We will never know. Perhaps Arsenal will win something this season. Samuel Eto'o may stay in Barcelona after all with new signings Martin Caceres, Gerard Pique, Daniel Alves, Aleksandr Hleb and Seydou Keita. It could be an interesting season for them.

FOOTBALL: REAL MADRID FORMATIONS

I tried the Wacom Bamboo bought by a friend to draw out two Real Madrid formations using Corel Painter. I tried different mediums for both formations. It was not bad and I felt that it felt very natural. You just need to get used with the interface first as we are so used with the mouse. The objective is to be able to write down your own handwriting digitally with the digital pen.

I can't wait for the demo of the Wacom Cintiq by another friend as I heard many cool stuffs regarding it. Here are the results of the two outputs I made. I wanted the coach strategy board feel to the formation. Hehe! It was quite nice as the pressure and strokes are very well documented and executed.

FORMATION 1

(4-1-3-1-1)
----------Van Nistelrooy-----------
--------------Sneijder--------------
-Robben ------ Guti ------ Robinho-
---------------Diarra----------------
Heinze - Cannavaro - Pepe - S.Ramos
---------------Casillas---------------

FORMATION 2

(4-1-3-2)
----------Saviola --- Raul-----------
-Robben ----- Sneijder ----- Robinho-
---------------Diarra----------------
Heinze - Cannavaro - Pepe - S.Ramos
---------------Casillas---------------

Bench:
Heinze (Drenthe, Marcelo)
Diarra (Gago)
Saviola (Higuian)
Cannavaro (Metzelder, Garay)
Robben (J.Baptista)
S.Ramos (Salgado)
Pepe (Torres)
Casillas (Dudek)

FOOTBALL: ETO'O, DROGBA, ROBINHO AND C.RONALDO

The current rumours dominating the football world headlines are focused on three players.

Eto'o to Real Madrid.

Drogba to Barcelona.

Robinho to Chelsea.

C.Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

Well, it is interesting but I really have mixed feelings about Eto'o coming back to Real Madrid. He is surely a fine striker but his temper is a risk to take on for the club. I don't know how realistic the chances are for him to return but I have always been a fan of his even when he was in Real Madrid intially. It was the past president who don't see any value in him that they let him go. He went to Barcelona and punished Real Madrid severly while winning league titles and Champions League title too. The only way to tap his full potential is to have him well disciplined when he is in any team. Schuster should be more strict in order to keep things in place.

As for Drogba, well, as fiery a character as Eto'o, this guy will also provide the same risk of destabilizing the team wherever he goes. Barcelona have to bet on him because they lost two massive players (Deco and Ronaldinho) already and if Eto'o goes, they really need someone to take over his shoes. The question will also be whether Chelsea will be looking for another striker too although they are fully loaded anyway.

Robinho to me is sufficient and we don't need Cristino Ronaldo. We don't need to pay so much for him. I am happy with what we have and I believe Robinho is a valuable player of the team and can develop some more to further improve himself. Just get a decent central defender and not chase after this overpriced player! Get over it already will you Calderon? Part of me is not willing to see someone like C.Ronaldo to break the most expensive world transfer price tag held by Zinedine Zidane. For me, it is a shame that the transfer fee of such a legend has the potential to be broken by someone like C.Ronaldo. I don't mind if it is Messi but not C.Ronaldo.

SARAWAK CORRIDOR OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

When I first heard of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy, my first impression is that at least we have finally an interesting corridor which is different from all the north, south, east, west corridors everywhere in Malaysia. Of course, being a Malaysian, you question whether all those corridors will ever be successful when suddenly you heard of them to be started everywhere in the country.

Now, they come out with this 'BRILLIANT' idea of what the renewable energy is. It is to build as many dams as possible. DAMN! I am not an environmentalist but I fully believe in having renewable energies that do not force us to pay for the environment. What is this different than any other energy resources we are using now since we need to sacrifice a lot of nature just to achieve this?

Borneo houses Earth's oldest tropical rain forest--about 70 to 100 million years old. Like all rain forests, Borneo is wet--receiving about 5 meters (16.5 feet) of rain each year--and rich in biodiversity (the variety of living things in an area). More than 3,000 tree and 358 bird species are found in it. Therefore, why on earth in the whole Malaysia, they want to put all the dams in Sarawak? Why do we need to sacrifice Sarawak for all these? Sarawak and Sabah should be the last place in Malaysia to build all these dams if you want to preserve nature. This will also force a lot of people and villages to move elsewhere.

There are so many other renewable energy sources which are not as devastating to the nature as hydroelectric dams. This include wind, solar, biofuel and geothermal energy. Then again, I hope this will never materialize like the train railway project they have envisioned.

Sarawak to build 12 dams to meet future power needs
By TEH ENG HOCK and ROYCE CHEAH
Wednesday July 23, 2008

PETALING JAYA: Sarawak plans to build 12 hydroelectric dams to meet its future industrialisation needs.

The move has got environmentalists up in arms, questioning the need for the dams and the planned development of the state. They also suggested that Sarawak's national park may be threatened.

However, Deputy Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said the dams were necessary to meet energy demands.

They will be located at Ulu Air, Metjawah, Belaga, Baleh, Belepeh, Lawas, Tutoh, Limbang, Baram, Murum and Linau rivers. The plan will also see an extension to the Batang Ai dam.
All these are in addition to the 2,400MW Bakun dam and will push the total generating capacity in the state to 7,000MW by 2020, an increase of more than 600% from the current capacity.

The plans were in a presentation entitled Chinese Power Plants in Malaysia – Present and Future Development in October last year at the China-Asean Power Cooperation and Development Forum in Nanning, China.

The 48-slide presentation has been made available on the Internet.

Chinese companies were expected to design, build and commission the dams, the presentation said.

The Murum Dam project is scheduled to begin this year with a memorandum of understanding already signed between the Sarawak Energy Board and China Three Gorges Project Corporation.
It also said a detailed study on the Batang Ai extension was already under way while a feasibility study had commenced at Limbang and a pre-feasibility study had started at Baram.
Currently, Sarawak’s energy output is 933MW and it does not need any more energy.

However, there are plans to expand the aluminium-smelting industry in the state which will need the planned output. Furthermore, the Bakun dam’s 2,400MW was originally meant for peninsular Malaysia.

According to media reports, the Sarawak Government has already approved the building of an aluminium smelter by local company Press Metal Bhd.

Others which have shown interest includes China’s Luneng Group, Smelter Asia Sdn Bhd, Alcon Inc, Mitsubishi Corp, BHP Billiton Ltd and Australia’s Rio Tinto.

Centre for Environmental Technology and Development Malaysia chairman Gurmit Singh expressed concerns over the plan.

He said the proposal to build the dams and then look for energy-guzzling industries to use the energy was wrong.

He questioned how the building of the dams were related to the national energy policy.

“This is also a typical example of the ‘not in my backyard’ mentality where a country puts its polluting industries in other countries,” he said.

Salang said the 12 dams were necessary as consumption was projected to increase with the development of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.

He said the dams would only be approved if they passed their environmental impact assessment.
He added that he did not expect the projects to materialise any time soon although the plan was to complete all dams by 2020.

FOOTBALL: SINGAPORE VS. BRAZIL

Thanks to Kenny Sia, I won two passes to watch Chelsea F.C. in training at the Shah Alam Stadium on Monday, 28th July 2008 at 6:30pm. However, at the same time, I have a tough decision to make. The Singapore VS. Brazil match is confirmed to be played on the 28th July 2008 at 8pm. Thanks to my friend, Wykeith, for purchasing it for me. Now, there is no looking back. Between watching Ballack, Shevchenko, Terry and Lampard VS. Ronaldinho, Robinho and Pato, who will you watch? Well, for me, I rather go watch (past great) Ronaldinho, (present great) Robinho and (future great) Pato because I get to see a glimpse of the past, the present and the future! Hehe! I wish Kaka will be here too. That will be even perfect!

The S$120 seats are at the West side of the stadium. I managed to grab the East side, which is good enough. All the other sides, North, South, East, cost S$60. I heard the difference is due to lousier seats as well as having covered roofing. Who cares about seats and rain in football matches?!!!! There is no sun at 8pm too so I guess it is not worth paying double for something that is not significant, unless you are given seats in the luxurious Owner/Directors' Box serving champagne and expensive chocolate.

The Singapore National Stadium can sit 55,000 people. This is probably the last time the stadium is hosting a match and it will be my first time ever entering the stadium. It will be demolished soon to be replaced by a multi-purpose Singapore Sports Hub.

Another reason is of course to compare between world rankings. I rather watch the Singapore football team now that the Malaysia football team is probably ranked the lowest in the whole country's history. I expect a bad thrashing.

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking
Last updated 2 July 08

1st Spain 1557 points
2nd Italy 1404 points
3rd Germany 1364 points
4th Brazil 1344 points
5th Netherlands 1299 points
6th Argentina 1298 points
7th Croatia 1282 points
8th Czech Republic 1146 points
9th Portugal 1104 points
10th France 1053 points
11th Russia 1023 points
12th Romania 1021 points
13th Cameroon 1011 points
14th Turkey 1010 points
15th England 1003 points
16th Scotland 988 points
17th Bulgaria 930 points
18th Greece 911 points
19th Mexico 906 points
20th Ghana 885 points

127th Singapore 231 points

166th Malaysia 96 points

Samba Football Makes its Way to Singapore

The Football Association of Singapore, international promoter, Match World and local promoters; Total Sport & Entertainment and Kawan Creative International announced today that they will be hosting the Brazilian Olympic football team in Singapore. The team featuring some of the biggest names is football such as Ronaldinho, Robinho, Alexandre Pato, Diego and Lucas will play a Singapore team at the National Stadium on July 28.

The trip to Singapore is part of the Brazilian team's two-stop acclimatisation camp before they head to Beijing to vie for their first Olympic gold medal. The team will arrive in Singapore on July 23 and proceed to Vietnam for their second game on July 29 before heading to the Chinese capital.

Speaking to reporters at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Singapore, President of Matchworld Football SA, Mr Sidi M. Airouss said, "The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) approached me to arrange for the team to play two games before the Olympics and we had offers from Europe and Asia. Singapore is an obvious choice due to its great infrastructure, similar weather conditions and time zone. The Football Association of Singapore has proven more than capable of hosting international events and its football is on the rise."

Mr Winston Lee, General Secretary of Football Association of Singapore commented on his delight to host the Brazilian team, "We are pleased to host and play a team of such calibre in Singapore. This will be a great experience for our fans and good exposure for our players."

Organisers are expecting a sell-out crowd at the National Stadium. Tickets for the match go on sale from Tuesday, July 22 at all Sistic outlets with prices starting from $60 for gallery seats while Grandstand tickets are available at $120. Two thousand tickets priced at $15 are also available for students under the age of 16 years old. Student passes must be produced at the time of purchase. Details and availability for corporate hospitality suites will be announced at a later date.

FIFA agent, Jeremy Lim, General Manager of Total Sport & Entertainment looks forward to bringing more quality football action to Singapore, "This is a coup for the local sports industry. This is the first time Singapore is hosting a top ten FIFA-ranked team and it is not every day that Singaporeans have the opportunity to get up close to a squad consisting of some of the world's most talented footballers. It is an experience not to be missed for the public and for sponsors who are seeking to associate themselves to one of the biggest names in football."

Goal.com

The ultimate question is:
SHOULD I SPEND S$60 OR S$120 FOR THE MATCH? ARGH, I CAN'T DECIDE!

FOOTBALL: HLEB TO BARCELONA

Very fast! Once Ronaldinho left, Hleb was signed. Now, attention will be focused to Arsenal on how they will strengthen their midfield. Will Adebayor leave Arsenal as much as will Eto'o leave Barcelona? What about Lampard? What about Shevchenko and Drogba? Many strikers' fates are still not decided yet. We expect more hot news from now onwards.

FOOTBALL: RONALDINHO TO AC MILAN

It is official. Will they have two fat players or they will fire one of them or make one or both slimmer? How will Milan play with Kaka, Pirlo and Ronaldinho in the middle? I am surprised he rather not play in the Champions League next season. Could it be that the relationship between him and Barcelona had sored too badly? For me, Milan should now invest in defence. They need strong and younger defensive line. The goalie too perhaps.

What will happen to Barcelona? Who will replace Ronaldinho's presence to fill the big hole he left behind? I had stated earlier that I believe Barcelona will need some time to get back to the top with two of their three great players (Deco, Ronaldinho, Eto'o) leaving. Now, it seems like Eto'o is looking for the exit too. If he too leaves, Barcelona will be extremely weak.

FOOTBALL: THINGS TO SETTLE BEFORE THE NEW SEASON

FC Barcelona
Well, we know Laporta is hanging desperately to his position in FC Barcelona. We don't hear much good news from Barcelona recently. Many are still doubting Guardiola as much as I do. He could probably pull off something Klinsmann and Rijkaard could for their young manager careers. You never know. Still, a massive club like FC Barcelona may worship their previous captain but I think the pressure is too much for Guardiola to handle. He does not inherit a strong bonded team. He inherited a team loaded with issues of superstars being given special treatment and players blasting each other. The sense of unity is not there in Barcelona, at least that is what we are made to believe by the press. They are rather quiet in the transfer market for such a team of their status. I am expecting more from them.

AC Milan
They are repeating what Juventus was suffering, not playing in the Champions League. This time however, it is because of their own bad previous season performance. We heard of more scandals in Italy from the media just after the EURO2008. Oh well, here we go again! I thought if there is one club from last season who suffered the worst results, it has to be AC Milan. For not qualifying in the Champions League, it is consider a total humiliation for a club of their stature. The second club could be Valencia. It is incredible not many changes are made, including their coach. He has all the luck in the world like Arsene Wenger. The untouchables. They can survive trophiless seasons and not being sacked. If they still stay as quiet as they are now until the new season starts, we don't expect them to climb back to play in the Champions League next season. Milan have overtaken Real Madrid as the Football Old Folks' Home. They need to retire many old players and get fresh blood, especially in defence!

Lampard
Will he or will he not leave Chelsea to join up with "The Special One" or should I say "The Great One" in Inter Milan? Deco has come and the midfield in Chelsea is already overloaded with choices. Yet, they are still keen to land Ronaldinho. I think they will be playing a 6 midfield system for the first time in football history to allow all of them to play. 3-6-1 system which they can divide the midfield into 2 (defence) - 4 (offence). It will be 3-2-4-1.

Valencia
David Silva and David Villa. Will they still stay in this sinking ship? Can someone come and save this Titanic from sinking further? Or this club is doomed for far worse next season? Relegation? It is painful to see such a great club in such a bad shape now.

Ronaldinho
Well, we have heard enough about him following the footsteps of Ronaldo (Brazil) to be the next BIG FAT one. Well, there was a joke that they will be two fat players in Milan if he goes there.

Eto'o
I already said Barcelona will struggle if two of their original Holy Trinity of Ronaldinho-Eto'o-Deco leave. Deco already left. If any of the other two leaves, Barcelona really need good replacements. Actually, I think they need to spend more in defence like Real Madrid instead. He can play with Henry together at the front. Of course there is still the impressive Krkic. Let's keep watch.

Ronaldo (Brazil)
What will happen to him after the whole world finds out that he could not make a difference between a guy, a gal and the in-betweens? The same way he was accusing Real Madrid, he is now accusing AC Milan of not giving him enough respect and support. Who else is willing to get him and experience what Real Madrid and AC Milan had gone through? Perhaps Inter Milan can share something about him too.

C. Ronaldo (Portugal)
I have enough of him. Yes, his performance last season in Manchester United is PERFECT. I have to admit his records is out of this world. Still, he does not prove himself when it matters, like in the Champions League and the EURO2008. That's why in my football dictionary, C.Ronaldo is just any ordinary player. I also heard in his records, many were contributed from penalty goals. I still feel Real Madrid will be better off without him. Please save some money and buy more crucial players in positions you needed most. One of it is a good central defender. I know Casillas had got used to playing against many attackers during their counter-attack through the years against a defenceless Real Madrid but you really have to give him some cover. This is especially for the Champions League system where away goals had been punishing Madrid for many seasons now. People who are always saying Buffon is better than Casillas are not watching how Casillas have sometimes zero defence in front of him and requires acrobatic saves day in and day out to minimize the goals conceded. Buffon always have the strong 4 men defence in front of him and during the EURO2008, he had 10 defenders!

Saviola
I really want to see more of him in action. Saviola is probably the most talented striker who had graced the bench more than any striker in the football history. They should consider how to include him into the Guinness World of Records. Please play him more or sell him off somewhere where he can play every week!!!

Adebayor
I really don't know what is the fuss about him wanting the same salary as Henry when he was in Arsenal. I will advise him to just shut up and prove yourself again this season before you claim something like that. One season of good performance and he thinks he is a veteran goal scoring machine. If you can't wait any longer, than just shut up and move elsewhere. I know Milan and Barcelona are potential clubs to snap you up. Just go already! I can understand Hleb may not have the luxury of a younger age to wait but Adebayor is only 24. Why the impatience?

Hleb
Yes, same like above, he should just leave if he has no desire to play for Arsenal anymore. There is no point staying and keep nagging like an old grandmother. He is already 27 years old and if you are in his shoes, you will also want success as soon as possible because your age is not on your side. You cannot wait for more Wenger rebuilding processes.

Arsenal
Well, you have to believe that they will need more time for 'rebuilding' again. At the rate of how the things are going, I will be very frank that we are expecting at least one or two exits per season and you need to rebuild again. The cycle will continue forever. How much longer will Arsenal fans need to wait for a trophy? Well, there is no guarantee that the players Wenger brought up will have the loyalty to stay long enough until they reach at least 28 (the most famous age currently to be sold for great players). Well, I just don't know what to say about it but I think I am tired of the 'rebuilding' excuse. I am not surprised by the current players opting to leave them. Nobody has the same patience and time in the world to wait for the rebuilding to finish like 18 years old players.

Big Phil
Well, with Big Phil taking over, it is interesting to see how the Premiership competition will be next season. Benitez, Wenger, Ferguson and Ramos will be his most difficult opponents. Who will end victorious? We shall see.

"The Great One"
He will brighten up the scandalous Italian league next season with sarcastic remarks. I am glad he is back because I can't get enough of his unexpected comments. Sometimes silly, sometimes shocking, sometimes pathetic and sometimes really having a very 'thick' face. Well, we shall see how Inter will be transformed with his arrival.

Shevchenko
Many fans of Shevchenko will be heart-broken if he stays on in Chelsea and maintain his status of being a Saviola wannabe again. The same advice I give to Saviola above. Sell him off please!!!

Adriano
Like Shevchenko, he is the second in line to follow the Saviola trend. I wonder why players love the bench so much. Please come back as a regular and prove The Emperor tag!

Drogba
Will he go or will he stay? I don't know but please don't come to Real Madrid. I don't fancy him much. He is as outspoken as Eto'o and I believe players like them always create disunity in the club.

Tottenham Hotspurs
Juande Ramos is the superstar here and we are expecting more from them because of him. He is the second most successful manager in the English Premier League last season after Alex Ferguson. We hope to hear more great things from them this coming season and may Woodgate see the last of his long injury days. They also captured Giovani dos Santos from Barcelona to my surprise. I see potential in him and am surprised Barcelona let him go so easily. I hope to see great things from him!

Manchester City
Mark Hughes took over after Sven Garan Eriksson's exit. What will we be expecting from them next season? Can he perform better than what Eriksson did last season? I hope they do and not always become the second fiddle to Manchester United (LA Lakers - LA Clippers, Real Madrid - Atletico Madrid equivalents).

Liverpool
Crouch has finally left and there are links with Villa and Silva. If I remember correctly, I did claim that Liverpool will be better off without Crouch. To me, they will need 2-3 strong signings this season to strengthen their squad or they will forever be chasing other teams in the English Premier League table. They probably could do much more in the Champions League again as Rafa always seem to put more emphasis on that.

Newcastle
After years of disappointing results, nothing much is expected from them anymore. Even Kevin Keegan cannot resurrect this club. How much he can do in the new season? Or I should ask whether he has time to prove himself before being sacked?

Bayern Munich
It is great to see them back to the Champions League again. I am looking forward to their performance once again in Europe. With Klinsmann at the helm, we are expecting the unexpected from them!

The Rejects
What happens to Rijkaard and Grant? Will they be on vacation as long as Mourinho and Lippi? Valencia, AC Milan and Newcastle are potential clubs to go if they continue their bad run next season.

Lippi
With him back, Italy will be expected to be transformed yet again to a force to be reckoned with in the football world. He will be given the chance yet again to assault the World Cup. Italy have the same problem of AC Milan. A very old squad. They need fresh blood!

Spain
Who will be their new coach? Vicente Del Bosque? Will Raul return?

SARAWAK TO BUILD RAILWAY NETWORK

Can you believe it when you read the news? It took us zillion of years to even build a simple bridge to link Sibu over the river and finally it has a toll gate too. Now, they want to build a railway system involving a span of 320km stretching between Similajau in Bintulu Division and Tanjung Manis in Mukah division. It comprises 57% of Sarawak (I think they are talking about the horizontal length of the state).

I am sure if they get serious, it will be realized by the time of my great,great,great,great,great grandson is around (that's 7 generations after my son and grandson). By then, everyone is flying around with flying machines and the cost of the project would escalate 7 times the original cost. As a realist, I think the project may never materialize or totally abandoned when they reach the 100th km span. Prove me wrong for once will you?

The Star

FOOTBALL: CHELSEA'S TOUR OF MALAYSIA

Well, it should be an extreme relief for Chelsea fans that they finally managed to confirm their visit to Malaysia after the issue with Israelites banned from entering the country. Earlier in March, this became the biggest issue that may force them to cancel their tour to Malaysia because manager Avram Grant and defender Tal Ben Haim are Israelites. Although Grant had since been sacked for not winning anything after coming so close, Tal Ben Haim I think is still their player for now, although not the most crucial starting eleven player. I was abit disappointed though that Grant was not given more time to prove himself but as much as I know in football, someone who has no past records like him will be forced out for someone who has better records. Therefore, Scolari is not a shocking candidate.

Chelsea are among the richest clubs in the world in terms of owner’s wealth. A quick check tells me that they have a total amount of 34 players in their full squad list and they have probably the most expensive assembled squad still today in terms of total players’ worth and salary. The richest clubs in the world can not even match them. Manchester United have 30 players and Real Madrid have 31 players registered but between them, there are far less players who can be easily be in the starting eleven day in day out. In the best period of Mourinho’s era, we can even have two starting eleven lists for them.

Chelsea of course is the first model of experiment of whether money can buy success. Every football fan then, including me, were keeping watch to see how well will they play as a team. Of course, at that time, interestingly another quite similar Dream Team was built in Spain in the form of the Galaticos. That model was proven to be a failure as it was not sustainable. Barcelona did not learn from the case study and wanted to go through the same painful period by having their own Dream Team after purchasing Thierry Henry. That team of course failed miserably as proven just recently.

Chelsea of course did win some success just like Real Madrid but finally the whole system collapsed. The same pattern occurs as clubs are buying too many superstars to fit into a club. Most of the time, conflicts happened because a few superstar players playing at similar positions were purchased and needed to compete for that same position in the starting eleven. It is fine if suspensions, injuries and bad form can give everyone a chance. However, the thing becomes tricky when both or more are on form. Managers out of sponsorship or board of directors pressure are forced to play sometimes similar positioned players in a match by forcing a weird formation as well as playing some of them out of position.

I particularly remember Chelski for their pre-Roman Albramovich era where Gianfranco Zola was their God and probably still is and Ruud Gullit was both the coach and player too. I thought that was the coolest arrangement ever. We don’t see that much even until today. Zola looks exactly like Ben Stiller to me and I still don’t know why. Just find their videos and photos and compare. I just can’t get that out of my head. Those who jumped ship to become Chelski’s fans for the Roman Albramovich era were criticized to be glory hunters. Of course, I am a player fan and I normally follow him wherever he goes so to me it is fine I guess. There could be fans of Glen Johnson, Damien Duff, Joe Cole and Claude Makelele who followed them as they went to Chelski.

Luiz Felipe Scolari have the luxury as Bernd Schuster did now to help the club to start afresh from the Mourinho and Grant era to buy and sell specific players only to help them win. Grant, beyond everyone’s expectations, managed to gel the squad in time after Mourinho’s exit. People will expect the squad to collapse totally. Scolari just need to build on that like how Schuster needed to build on top of Fabio Capello’s foundations in Real Madrid. In both cases, they inherited squads in better shape. They, like Barcelona, need to rebuild the team based on teamwork and not on superstars. A few good signings and it should be enough. Real Madrid had gone out of the turbulent phase and now it is just a question of how fast can Scolari and Guardiola do it for the respective clubs. Everyone knows Chelsea's ultimate dream is to win the Champions League, the only most prestigious trophy that Chelsea have yet to win. They came so close in the previous one and I could say Drogba's the main reason for the defeat, not Terry. He may be a good striker but to me, he's arrogant and 'drops' a lot. Therefore, my nickname to him is 'Drop'bah. I'm sure if they could have won it, 'The Special One' will lose his tag. He must be the 'gladest' human on earth that they didn't win it.

This tour of Asia will give Scolari the chance to test out the Chelsea squad to consider for further reinforcements as well as selling sprees. Fans in Malaysia will have a sneak preview of what to come in the new season. Of course there are many things which are not confirmed yet apart from the release of Hernan Crespo and the purchase of Deco over Andrei Arshavin. There are some issues to settle like the potential exit of Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho, Didier Drogba, Wright-Philips, Malouda and Branislav Ivanovic, Andriy Shevchenko’s fate (he was given assurance that he will be given another chance), the new purchase of Deco and his inclusion into the new team as well as the rumours of the potential purchase of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o circulating around in the news everyday.

The uncertainty of those issues above will mean we will not be sure who will be given the chance to show off their skills when they play in Malaysia. One thing is certain; we will get a demolition score against the Malaysian selection team. The question is how bad we will be thrashed. That is the best thing to predict! Remember to take part in the poll at the side bar! Apart from that, the ability to see players like Shevchenko, Ballack and Joe Cole live will be a terrific experience for any football fan. Anything more like to get autographs from the three of them will be an added bonus and a dream come true!

It is interesting to note that the poster to promote their match in Shah Alam Stadium has no Lampard on it. We all know Terry and Lampard are their current ambassadors after the Zola era. It is logical because the status of Lampard as a Chelsea player is still not confirmed till now. We see them in any possible blue advertisements around like the one from Celcom. It is appropriate then that the blue Samsung brand will be sponsoring it. They were also involved when Chelsea played in Asia in May 2005 against Suwon Blue Wings. If not, perhaps other blue brands like Pepsi. Those interested in purchasing the tickets for the Malaysia match can check out Ticketpro.

-29 July 2008
-Tuesday (Yeah, what a terrible day to play! Most people from outstation need to take leave!)
-8:45PM
-Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
-Ticket pricing: VIP (Not for sale), RM103, RM83, RM53, RM33 (Quite reasonable pricing if I do say so myself - prices are cheaper than your 1 week petrol consumption (differs between vehicle to vehicle), hehe!)

SPOTTED IN JB


Classic Car



GEL LELAKI HEBAT
Tahan lama & POWER
PESAN SERTA MERTA
100% HEBAT & SELAMAT

Direct Translated as:
Great Male Gel
Can Sustain Long & Power
Order As Soon As Possible
100% Great & Safe

EMAIL FROM TURESPAÑA



I got an email from TURESPAÑA with the title ¡Viva España!‏. I am not sure whether it is a spam mail. Well, it comes with the image above. I thought they are sending me free tickets and free tour of Madrid. Hehe! Oh well, if it is truly from them, thank you for the nice effort! Although I still don't know how they got my email address! The Internet is a scary place!