Dear God

If You think it’s time for my brother to go, let him go in peace. Please spare him any more pain. Please let him leave this world with pleasant memories, free of angst and regrets.

There have been many times when I felt that my brother could have done more as a son and a brother but it’s too late and pointless to talk about that now. And I believe Abah has forgiven him. Poor Abah - it’s cruel surely to outlive two of your children.

Dear God, I pray You let my brother go in peace. And rest in peace.

Marching On Together

March seems such a long month after February. I have been pre-occupied with other things personal and at work (had meetings every day last week, what a drag). I miss writing but didn’t want to write just for the sake of writing.

I’ve been contemplating drawing up a will again. Yes, I’ve mentioned it before but unfortunately I have not yet got around to doing anything about it. My brother’s deteriorating condition and the knowledge that I’m equally mortal have given me a wake-up call that I must do something about it soon. I have tried being careful with managing my money and I want to be assured that my hard-earned money will be properly managed, distributed and inherited after I’m gone too. I wouldn’t want any of it to go into the wrong hands after I’m gone, I would want my legacy (I find it strange acquainting with this word) to be spent prudently in the right way on the right things, and I don’t want there to be squabbling over what little I leave behind. Being single means I don’t have any children to inherit after me; but at the same time, I don’t want certain people to inherit whatever little worldly possession I have either.

One of these days, I will have to pay a visit to the EPF office to make my nomination (I had made one earlier but was informed that EPF had somehow lost its members’ earlier nominations... grrr...) and make an appointment with an agent of a trustee company.

Apart from that, the March march continues.

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And so does the march for the Gunners with no room for error after the Brum ‘defeat’. As the game against Porto, we may have to make do without our top goal-scorer (and he’s not even a striker!). The ‘chilled’ king of Arsenal is fighting for a place against Barca... (here, Wenger disclosed his impression of the young Cesc).

The march of March continues. Come on Arsenal.

Samui Sampler

I had planned to leave the house a little earlier on Friday morning but only managed to do so after 8 am. Took public transportation to Subang Airport for my 10 am flight and reached there a quarter past 9. RI was already waiting and we immediately checked in – not to worry as Firefly closes its counter 30 minutes before departure. I still managed to browse around the shops before walking to the gate – yes, I can shop very quickly. Earmarked something to purchase on my return.

Our take-off was slightly delayed (by 15 minutes perhaps) but we still landed at Koh Samui at 11 am local time (Thailand being an hour behind). We wanted to take the minibus but the service is only provided if there are a minimum of five passengers and as our fellow passengers either had made their own transfer arrangement or were happy to take the cab (I thought the cab fare was too expensive at THB600), we waited patiently for the next flight to arrive; we did contemplate renting a car but as gasoline is so much more expensive than back home, it remained only a possibility. Thankfully for us, the next flight was from Bangkok and it landed only 30 minutes after ours did and this time, there were a lot more passengers opting to take the minibus. After paying for the fare (THB150 each), we made our way to the minibus. Different bus serviced different areas of the island and the further you go, the higher you have to pay for the service of course.

We arrived at our resort at Mae Nam shortly after and immediately checked in. After freshening up, we ventured out and hailed a songthaew to Lamai, changing songthaew in Chaweng, to check out Hin Ta Hin Yai at Lamai Beach (Grandfather Grandmother Rocks). However, we only found the Grandfather Rock and the rocky beach and big boulders didn’t help us to find the other rock.

We returned back to Chaweng and wandered around in the hot and humid late afternoon. A Muslim pancake seller told us there was a halal stall at Laemdin Market ‘about ten minutes away’ so we set off to find dinner. The walk turned out to be closer to 20 minutes but finally we found a stall (unfortunately not so clean but we were too tired from the walk and heat to bother). We then walked back to Chaweng beachfront and after learning that songthaew service for the day had ended, took a cab back to the hotel after bargaining for the fare. As there was no resort transportation to Chaweng that evening (due to maintenance), our fellow guests were partying around the pool instead, blaring out loud music for the whole Mae Nam area to hear.

After breakfast on Saturday, we decided to walk around Mae Nam to locate a spa centre. As it only opened at 11 am, we went to the beach instead. The beauty about Mae Nam is that the beach is not crowded and you can have a whole stretch of beach all to yourself – fantastic! There was a massage service by the sea too by Wat Po certified masseurs but it was done in the open. We spent close to an hour at the beach before returning to Mae Nam Bamboo Forest Sauna for our foot and body massages. We spent two blissful hours in the cool comfort of the air-conditioned room, such a relief from the hot, hot, sun!

We had sighted a halal road-side restaurant earlier and headed there for lunch. The owners spoke little English though and could not speak Malay either, unlike the stall owner where we had dinner the evening before. After lunch, we decided to take the songthaew to Big C, a hypermarket just before Chaweng. I was happy to see Boots Pharmacy there and spent some time browsing. Unfortunately, RI lost her credit card – it must have dropped off her purse – and that put a damper on our mood. We took the songthaew to Bophut Market where I bought some crabs and RI some sticky rice with mango before returning to the hotel.

We went back to the halal road-side restaurant for dinner and asked the cook to prepare a crab dish for us. I was craving for a crab dish when I recalled the tasty one I had in Krabi just twelve months ago. The evening was a peaceful one in comparison to the one before as our fellow guests availed of the resort transportation to party in Chaweng instead.

I woke up after midnight to watch the Arsenal-West Ham match but alas, it was not shown on TV (the resort provides limited TV channels for viewing to begin with). I had to console myself with irregular updates on BBC News instead. Found out in the morning that 10-man Arsenal survived a TV5 first-half sending off to climb to the summit of the league... ;’) if only for 24 hours.

We checked out at 10 am and hailed a cab to the airport (again, after bargaining the fare. The cabs all displayed ‘Meter Fare’ but the cabbies there hardly ever used the metre!). We checked in and walked along the resort-like area to the departure gate, passing airport shops which were built factory outlet-style. Very charming indeed. Unfortunately the flight was delayed by 30 minutes due to the delay in Subang but fortunately, there was a big huge screen at the departure gate showing the repeat of the Arsenal-West Ham match where I enjoyed the last quarter of an hour of the match. Oh and light refreshment was provided too.

The flight took off at 1150 am and we reached Subang at 1445. I performed prayers first before leaving the airport and reached micasa at 1630, just before the skies opened up and it poured heavy, torrential rain complete with thunders.

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We will meet Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League *gulp* but as Wenger put it, in footie, ‘the next game makes your life.’ I love that my baby is unfazed about it. We hosted West Ham on Saturday – not easy opponents seeing they were fighting for their PL lives and have a good record against us. Denilson (surprise, surprise) scored one after five minutes but there was drama right before half-time when TV5 was shown the red card (our first in 68 games – shows how clean we are). TV5 was the epitome of a professional footballer, leaving the pitch without drama. We somehow found the strength, maintained the discipline and displayed the spirit of champions to focus on the title challenge (Champions League take a back seat for now) to win the match and top the league, even though the current team is far from The Invincibles, and more The Unbelievables or The Improbables. Next game and next focus: Birmingham away which TV5 will miss with the red card (strewth), unfortunately.

On another front, Rambo has started to walk without his crutches ;’). Get well soon, Rambo.

Erin Go Bragh

Shava certainly has the luck of the Irish – he escaped unscathed from a fender bender on Monday. He’s been busy: supporting Premier League 4 Sport initiative with fellow Gunner Diaby, talking about how the press is destroying England’s World Cup hopes, and joining in Theo’s 21st birthday celebration.

Happy St Patrick’s Day to all Irish people from Adek and Arsenal’s very own leprechaun!

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

We visited my brother Saturday evening and I was shocked to see the dramatic change in him. He looked somewhat gaunt with shrunken cheekbones and so much thinner. Sure he has always been thin but he looked thinner than thin now. And he looked somewhat aged too. I had to look away to hide my tears. Oh, I’m not naïve enough to think that he would look better, the very picture of health, and I had expected his battle against the disease to have taken its toll but still... it really shocked me to see him such a shadow of his former self.

When I last saw him, he still looked like he had things under control; only close observation would betray his pain. But this time, he really did look pained and it pained me to see him that way. He feels like he’s troubling and burdening those around him and for a fiercely independent person, being helpless and having to depend on anyone now must be loathsome.

I don’t know how much pain he is suffering; indeed I don’t know the pain of the C-disease. It is a throbbing pain or is it an intense stabbing pain? I hope I will never know and I hope I will not lose anyone else to this horrible disease.

I was also troubled and disturbed with those around him – there were many around him but I felt he’s all alone. It proves that you can be alone but not lonely and you can be surrounded by people and yet be alone. No one, except for his wife and one of his sons, is around to talk to him and comfort him. I wish his other children would take the time and effort to attend to him and keep him company. I’m powerless to say anything as I’d learnt from an early age that he didn’t like anyone, least of all me, his youngest sister, to scold or reprimand his children. (Akak, on the other hand, gives me free licence to scold her children. And despite this, I feel I’m very close to her children and they, for their part, do not resent me or treat me like a tyrannical disciplinarian).

Anyway, back to my brother. I know he’s frustrated with his condition. Anyone in his situation would be. To be reduced to such a state when one was a strong, healthy person not so long ago must be very frustrating. And I know advising and urging one who is ill to be strong is always so much easier said than done but I can also understand why people say that. Because what else can one say? No one likes to be sick or ill, indeed no one wants to be ill. And I suppose no one knows what to say to an ill person either except trying to cheer him up and encourage him to stay strong. I think it’s as hard on the ill person as it is on the visitor.

He’s lost his appetite and eats little as is expected for someone who’s not well. He’s always been an insomniac and it’s getting worse now. He spends his time thinking of his condition – and I don’t blame him for this for that’s probably what I would do too. His lungs are barely functioning and he has a lot of phlegm that he has to cough up every now and then (where does the fluid come from? Doctors here, anyone?). And because he eats very little, there’s a lot of wind in his body and he vomits out what little he eats.

I hope he will find peace soon. He said before he’s accepted his situation but if he feels frustrated now then is that acceptance? Don’t get me wrong: I don’t blame him for feeling that way because I’d probably feel the same too. I’d probably one day say I accept my fate but the next day, I may very well question it and feel frustrated. For his sake, I hope he finds peace soon. He has to learn to let go of his anger and frustration and feelings of helplessness, to forgive, and to accept his fate so that he can live the coming days with as much joy and hope he has left.

The Prophet PBUH said that we should value/make the most of five things before five: good health before sickness; wealth before poverty; leisure before preoccupation; youth before old age; and life before death. Health, Wealth, Time, and Youth, are temporary stages within the cycle of life. They seem so permanent, so full of promise, yet in reality are so fleeting and so deceitful. They breed a false sense of authority, and independence that leads to rebellion, and heedlessness. When we do eventually return to Allah Ta’ala, everyone will inescapably have to give an account of the favours that he enjoyed. ‘Man will remain firmly rooted to his place on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about five (favours): His life span - how he spent it; his youth - how he ruined/spent it; his wealth - where he earned it and how he spent it; and how he acted on what he learnt (knowledge).’

As I observed my brother, I wondered if it’d be better to die an instant death, a swift death where you will not suffer. The downside is you don’t get to say goodbye or prepare for your departure and have the opportunity to say goodbye to your loved ones. Or is it better to suffer from some illness where at least you get have some time with your loved ones and time to prepare for your departure? Unfortunately, we can’t choose how, where and when we die. What we can do though is to prepare for it.

So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, if you’re close friends with nicotine, please kick the habit. Control it before you lose control and the battle altogether. I see people huffing and puffing around me (despite the horrific images on cigarette boxes) and I don’t understand which part of ‘Smoking is bad for you’ that they don’t understand. To have your life cut short, to have your family grieve for you, to suffer the horrible disease are not only un-cool but also irresponsible. Surely we owe ourselves and God more than that. Surely our bodies deserve the best care it can get from us. Why do we abuse ourselves with bad diet and bad habits?

And this is as much a reminder for myself too: I would want, at the end, to be able to say I have lived my life the best way I know how, done what I want to do, seen what I want to see. A life with few or no regrets at all. Surely that’s possible?

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Blogger and fellow TKC alumna Ruby Ahmad passed away yesterday at Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre. Her jenazah has already been brought back to her home at 95/50 Gedung Lalang, Ampangan, 70400 Seremban. Funeral will be held today, 16th March 2010, after Asar (waiting for her son to come back from Dubai). May Allah bless her soul. Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un. Al-fatihah.

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And it’s the end to Tango head’s reign at Hull. He’s been relieved and is now on gardening leave.

MATTA Matter

After shopping outings on Friday (during lunch and after work), I headed to PWTC for the MATTA Fair on Saturday. After paying the entrance fee, I spent some time studying the list of exhibitors, marking those I intended to visit. Only then did I join in the crowd. I was lucky as there were offers for two upcoming destinations and ended up signing for a two-day tour and a hotel stay. I didn’t foresee being so lucky to have got the deals especially because one of the booths from which I bought my package had never participated in the Fair before.

I forgot to mention earlier that you have to pay a deposit for any holiday/hotel package that you sign up for at the Fair. The balance can be paid after the Fair at a pre-agreed arrangement at the time of transaction. I usually ask about the terms of deposit and payment: how much minimum deposit is required; how the balance is to be paid (in full? Or is payment by instalment accepted?) and by when; method of payment (is credit card accepted? Or does the tour operator prefer payment by cash? If so, can payment be made by online banking?); and if there is interest charged for use of credit card. Some agents are generous enough to absorb the credit card charge while some would charge 3-5% for credit card transactions. So it’s important to ask all these questions.

I decided to pay my packages in full as I didn’t want to bring a lot of cash along with me (as my bookings were made to foreign parties, I could either pay when I reach my destinations or use my card to settle my transactions but I loathe having to bear the exchange rate charge). Because I didn’t bring enough cash with me – I live on plastic; even at work, I can use my staff ID to pay for food and have my salary deducted for this – I had to go to the nearest cash point to withdraw money.

The MATTA crowd on Saturday was massive what with it being school holidays and all and I had to rein in my patience as I trudged and fought my way behind other ambling visitors. I’m a planner: I make lists and plans – yes, even for trivia things like the MATTA fair. I like to have a clear idea of what I’m looking for and where I can find info and then I just choose from the available options. I believe this saves time and effort – instead of meandering and wondering around with no specific plan in mind, which I find most people do.

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Arsenal bereft again of captain Cesc (and Song, Gallas, RvP, Gibbs... OK, it’s not OK) travelled to Hull on Saturday - captain was keen to play despite injuries ;’) but he needed a miracle to shake off his hamstring. While it presented an opportunity to win the league as the captain insisted, it was a frustrating match and we didn’t play well. Just as we played beautifully in mid-week, we played badly on Saturday – there was no such vintage display and we looked jaded. We didn’t click or connect well with many a time passes made were intercepted. There were a few incidents: Boateng poking Bendtner in the eye comes to mind and he rightfully got red-carded after that for planting his studs on Sagna. We laboured and struggled and battled our way before Nick saved the best for last, in the nick of time (pardon the pun), to keep us firing still for the title. He’s shown even at the Porto match that he backed his words with deeds and he did just that on Saturday. That was the fifth consecutive match that we scored in stoppage time (Sunderland, Stoke, Burnley, Porto and now Hull); out of 101 goals so far this season, twelve came in stoppage time – what does that tell you about our desire, mental strength and fighting spirit? Winning games when you haven’t played well is a sign of a league winning team as some sports pundits say. If we could eke out wins even like this, who knows, maybe we’ll win the title. Amen to that. Just don’t that too often, my heart (or Wenger’s) can’t take it. Oh and by the way, Hull have horrible players like bloody Boateng and the fugly Fagan (he actually grabbed Sagna around the neck and dragged him down, WTFK was that all about?) just to name two. And yes, the ball was red to promote AIDS relief in Africa.

I shall leave you with more gem from Shava. He’s just priceless.

MATTA Fair

I’ve been going to the MATTA Fair almost religiously for the past few years. For those who don’t know, the Fair is organised by local tour and travel agents who are members of MATTA and is held twice a year, in March and September (except for one year where the second edition was held in October due to the festivities. For the past two years, it’s been held in September despite it being a fasting month). Besides tour operators, airline companies, tourism boards of other countries, hotel and resort operators, VISA, time-sharing companies, other tourism-related companies (including Aquaria and KLIA Transit although they are not regular participants) and retailers of winter clothes and credit card providers also participate in the Fair. Lucky draws, quizzes, special offers and even cultural performance (usually from abroad) are normal features at the Fair.

The Fair is usually held in three (or is it four?) halls at PWTC with the entrance fee fixed at RM3 for the past few Fairs. You will see representatives of tour operators as early as near the PWTC LRT station and you will encounter more of them as you walk towards the Hall. Of late, I’ve seen one major tour operator with a booth outside the entrance to PWTC itself. As you head towards the main hall where the Fair is, you will pass booths selling yoghurt drinks and M&Ms (they are the usual booths present) and rooms (one would normally be reserved by camera retailers).

You join a queue to pay for your entrance fee and get a sticker in exchange (to be worn around your wrist), The Star paper pullout of holiday adverts and, of late, a bag to store the pamphlets that you pick (or have shoved in your face. Yes, everyone gets really aggressive at the Fair). Then you walk up the escalator and enter the first hall. This first hall is normally for operators offering promotions for local destinations and time-sharing companies. You will start experiencing more harassment here especially by over-enthusiastic time-sharing company reps promising you free night stay or lucky draws if you only spare a few minutes to listen to them. In fact, I joined one of my time-sharing companies at the MATTA Fair – it’s normally cheaper as they slash the fee by 30% and/or have either interest-fee or flexible instalment programme.

To get to the other halls, make your way to the other exit (not from where you entered) and walk down the covered walkway across the river to the other halls. Travel agents offering overseas trips, airline companies and tourism boards of other countries are in these halls. Cultural performances are also held in one of those halls.

What do I do at the Fair? I normally study the list of participating airline companies and tourism boards before visiting them. If I plan to go somewhere, I’d go check out a few booths to compare the deals. Otherwise, I just pick a few leaflets from some agents and brochures and maps from tourism boards. I try to arrive early and I try not to linger too long at the Fair because I can’t stand crowds (the crowds grow as the day progresses). Of late, I also see a few foreigners/expatriates at the Fair. Once you exit, you can always re-enter at the main entrance so long as you still have your sticker on you. Sticker is only valid on day of purchase of course.

In all those visits to the Fair, I’ve only bought one package tour to Korea, two Muslim tours to Beijing and Shanghai, a return ticket to attend my MBA graduation, hotel stay in Jakarta, tours in Solo and Jogjakarta and dining vouchers at The Legend Hotel (dim sum and high tea). Oh and I joined one of my timesharing companies there too, as mentioned earlier.

I’m off to the Fair tomorrow. See you there if you’re going too!

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It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday (well, in the UK at least) and I got a cute card from sweetie pie Farah two days ago. She even scribbled her wish to me. Aww, isn’t that sweet and thoughtful. Thanks sweetheart!

And the Sports Relief Mile is next Sunday. Here you can see Diaby and Nasri (his wonder goal still gives me the fuzzies) don Sports Relief socks to show their support for the London Mile.

We face Hull late tomorrow. Song will miss it as he serves his second two-match ban. The Captain is a doubt ;’( and so are Sagna and Sol (well, guess he won’t ever meet Tango head this season since he missed the first leg too. And I’m sure watching from the stands again will be painful for Cesc: our captain is committed to the Arsenal cause OK!). Gallas is still out. Hopefully Bendtner’s hat trick on Tuesday (it was also Emirates’ first) was not a ‘down payment’ for any misses between now until end of the season. And hopefully the lads will continue their fine run for the title and for Ramsey who is recuperating - and bored. You can win Cesc’s ‘Get Well Soon Aaron’ t-shirt here (can someone win it for me please, please, please??). I can’t wait for RvP to come back (seen here in black, white and blue. Wait, he’s not injured enough to model?).

Have a good weekend, everyone. Come on Arsenal!

Port Whine

I’m slowly but surely losing my patience with my new neighbours (is that singular for a family of neighbours or plural?). I don’t know what time they sleep or if they sleep at all – but surely they do unless they’re zombies or the walking dead – because there are noises coming from the other side of the wall 24/7. Occasionally, I hear people shouting so loud that I’m tempted to think a murder is about to take place, such is the volume of shouts and screams. Either that or they are enacting a Hindi or Bollywood movie full of stunt and drama. The adult kids once held a party out in the porch which lasted until after midnight. Really, it’s too much.

Hear me whine.




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And hear me jump for joy here – and I have every reason to jump for joy. You see, Arsenal had not overcome a first-leg deficit in Europe since 1978. And their opponents, Porto, had not lost a European tie on any of the 24 previous occasions when they had won the first leg at home. Until last night. Bereft of the spine of the skipper, the dominant defender Gallas and the striker van Persie, the Gunners nevertheless showed they were strong enough. After the heavy criticism following Saturday’s profligacy, Bendtner scored his first senior hat trick – and Arsenal’s first since Titi left - proving Shava’s point earlier that Bendtner was saving his goals for Porto (and despite the hat trick, Bendtner was not even the best player on the pitch. He didn’t even know he got to keep the match ball). No Cesc? No problem (he didn’t play when we faced Roma either just a year ago and we still made it). Shava proved himself instrumental with three assists (from Russia with gloves indeed) while Nasri was also brilliant, distinguishing himself in defence before scoring a wonder goal all on his own after dancing his way past three defenders. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourself to see that goal being replayed again and again for the rest of the season: it’s unlikely to bettered in the CL this season. The fourth goal was reminiscent of the old times of Titi and Pires and the fifth was a token penalty taken by Bendtner because Nasri and Shava, the designated first two penalty-takers, had already left the pitch. It was in short, a high-five five star performance. We have shown that we are serious contenders even with a one-goal deficit and missing three key players.

And for that kind of performance, I will definitely not whine nor bellow.

Burn, Baby, Burn

It has been raining on and off in the evenings but I still feel burnt by the heat and humidity. I had an intense headache Friday afternoon which I blamed on the heat. At home, it gets suffocating at times and though I loathe opening the windows because I don’t want the mosquitoes to come buzzing in, I find myself doing exactly that some evenings. I don’t like hot and humid temperatures here, the unbearable tropical heat of Indochina countries (>40C in some months so do plan before going) or the frigid winter cold. I guess I’m made for Club Med countries and climates then. Heh. But seriously.

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It’s Oscar time again and Piers Morgan shares his thoughts on the winners – if the Oscars went to the sportsmen and women. And apparently, it’s shopping time again too: I spotted some stores advertising ‘F1 Promotional Sale’ or something to that effect on Saturday (of course most shopping stores will have a sale during the upcoming mid-term school holidays). Yes! Happy days are here again. What better thing to do to escape the stifling heat than to indulge in a retail therapy in the cool comfort of an air-conditioned mall (the downside is having to battle the school hols crowd of course). Plus I get to mall-walk. Don’t scoff, it’s exercise!

There was a lot of talk after the Rambo injury, about how he’d be in safe hands at Arsenal, how safe tackles should be and if Arsenal needed extra protection, to the banners planned for Rambo at the game against Burnley. Thankfully, it will not be a career-challenging injury, although I’m sure it will still impact his future games as it has for Dudú. The gaffer has said it’s too early to set a return date and urged his team to win the title for Rambo.

Rambo, overwhelmed by the support he received, has issued an official statement and for a boy and despite his pain, he sounded really intelligent and wise. Which is more than I can say for Sh*tcross. Oh and not one reference to Sh*tcross at all, unsurprisingly. Shows what Rambo thought of the tackle, surprise, surprise. Professional footballers know that genuine accidents can happen on the pitch, they would be the last to see a fellow pro castigated for something that wasn’t his fault; Cesc didn’t blame Alonso when the latter injured him. Oh and well said, Wenger. Why victimise the victim? Thank you, Martinez (I’m not too surprised it’d be another foreign manager who backs Wenger).

Perhaps the silver lining behind the incident at Brittania is that the Gunners are discovering their muscle and are now more motivated to win for Rambo. However, it was not an easy match against Burnley who are fighting for their Premier League lives. Nick forgot to put on his shooting boots (he could have scored at least five!!! Robin would have a hat trick) and my baby was fighting a tight hamstring. He finally went off after scoring - he probably told himself that he’d score first before leaving ;’) – and thankfully the others, notably Nasri and Theo stepped up. To go to the top albeit temporarily, we needed more than a four-goal cushion but we didn’t quite manage that as we looked like we were still stuck in an eternal footie education loop. *Sigh*

Cesc is a doubt for the Porto clash, Gallas too. We will definitely miss our captain (EA Sports Player of the month of February and for the fifth consecutive month too!): with his fourteen Premier League goals and 15 assists so far, he has proven himself a worth skipper. So much so he’s a tackling target almost for every other club and he knows he’s been lucky to escape serious injury this season.

Good luck for the rest of the season, Gunners.

To All Intents And Purposes

1. October 2007: Shawcross broke former Gunner Francis Jeffers’ ankle in a tackle.
2. November 2008: Shawcross’ challenge on former Gunner Adebuywhore ruled the latter out for three weeks with torn ligaments.
3. February 2010: Shawcross’ tackle on Ramsey resulted in the latter suffering a broken leg.

So don’t give me that crap about him not being that kind of player, not when his records above and this video from his time on loan at Royal Antwerp suggest otherwise. And to hell with his intent or the possibility of coincidence. No one in his right mind intends to hit another person but in the heat of the moment, maybe when one is intoxicated or lost control of his mind temporarily, he may just end up beating someone else into a pulp. Because then it just kind of happened. So please spare me all this defending of English players and all this bias towards non-English players. I’m just so sick of it.

We’ll win the league for you, Rambo. Your injury, pain and suffering will not be for nought. According to his Welsh manager, the poor lad seemed to be in good spirits, I suppose as good as anyone in his situation can be.

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Arsenal celebrated 25 years of community service last week, an event lauded by the London Mayor and the British PM themselves. Here are some pictures of some Gunners who turned back time to celebrate the occasion.

And Piers Morgan got to meet Cesc at the Haiti fundraising show and clarified with the skipper whether he would stay or not.

In other news, Arsenal have leapfrogged Chelshit in the football’s rich list. Cor.

And oh, is this to be our new shirt?

Abode Of Peace

I was on leave on Thursday as my flight to the oil-dependant sultanate of Brunei had been retimed to 1.10 pm. Left home just before 10 am and waited ages for the blinking bus to show up. Decided to pop up to the clinic first (I was feeling feverish, having a flu and coughing from Tuesday but was unable to take the time to even visit the clinic) and when I left the clinic, it was past 11 am. I needed to take the bus to the airport by 1125 latest to reach the airport by 1225 or I would risk not being able to check in and miss the flight altogether. Both buses’ schedules were for 1130 but sensing one was filling up I boarded that instead, praying all the way that I would reach the airport in time. Thankfully the bus left as soon as it was full at 1120 instead of waiting until 1130. I reached the airport nine minutes before the check-in desk was due to close and left the counter with a minute to spare. Phew.

Landed at Brunei International Airport at 3.33 pm and settled down to wait for Delia. Her flight from KK landed at 5 pm and after meeting up, we waited for a while for a bus back to the city, Bandar Seri Begawan (Bandar for short). Bus fares start from BND1. BND trades at the same rate as the SGD (the former’s currency is managed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore) and I found this out years ago when my colleagues had to go to Brunei for official trips.

We changed buses at the bus station for our hotel near Jalan Tutong. I had earlier arranged for a room at Traders Inn via a chap based in Bandar whom I met at the MATTA Fair last September – this room would have cost us BND60/night/room. Subsequently, we also wanted to book a bed each at the Youth Centre right in the heart of the city (a bunk bed costs BND10) but all rooms have been fully booked for their Independence Day celebrations on 23 February. Our hotel was small and cosy and decorated tastefully. We enjoyed a promo rate of BND48 nett per room instead of BND58 as advertised on its website. After checking in, we went to the hotel’s restaurant, Charcoal, for our welcome drink before venturing off to find dinner.

On Friday, we left after breakfast (I slept poorly) and took the bus to the city. It so happened we caught the Circle Line bus which passed Gadong on its route to the city so it was a kind of a free tour for us. We passed the Jame ‘Asr Hussani Bolkiah Mosque and The Mall, a sprawling shopping complex in Gadong. At Bandar, we walked first to Tamu Kianggeh before braving the mid-morning sun and walking to the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. It’s a magnificently beautiful mosque and we spent an hour inside (yes, in the cool comfort of the air-cond mosque) admiring the decorations. The marble was all imported from Italy while the crystal chandeliers from England.

We walked around the mosque compound and soon found ourselves near the Water Village so we explored the fringes of the village before making our way to the nearby Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (also a shopping complex but nowhere as large as The Mall). We still managed to spend though (!). Lunch was had at the Yayasan food court.

After resting, we braved the fierce afternoon sun and walked back to the bus station. We then took a bus to the massive Empire Hotel in Jerudong. The bus ride took us 30 minutes (still cost BND1 though). We spent close to two hours at the hotel, checking out the gardens, admiring the view and gazing out to the South China Sea, and waiting for the bus back to the city. Dinner was had at a vegetarian restaurant near our hotel. I think I can perhaps be a vegetarian.

Brunei celebrated Maulidur Rasul on Saturday so we decided against going to the city in the morning to avoid the jam. Instead we took the bus to Istana Nurul Iman. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go any further than the gates of course so we didn’t stay long. I bought some scarves and a set of baju Melayu material (complete with the samping and buttons!) for Abah at a store near our hotel. After that, we headed back to the hotel to rest.

We left at 1230 and took the bus to the city, changing for another to the airport. I went to get my boarding pass but was told to check in my bag as it was close to 9 kg. I paid BND12 for the departure tax at the check-in counter too.

Delia and I parted ways at 2.20 – her flight back to KK was at 5.20 pm. I landed at KLIA at 5.10 pm and rushed to collect my bag – good thing it was one of the first ones out – and made it in time for the 5.30 pm bus back to KL Sentral.

A few people told me they found Brunei Darussalam (Abode of Peace) boring so I didn’t expect too much. And maybe because I lowered my expectations, I found that I enjoyed my trip there (despite the persistent coughing and running nose) and couldn’t understand what had bored the others. To me, it’s what you make of the trip. It was a peaceful country. I like the fact that they still use Jawi extensively, I like the fact that they are still religious, I like that they end weather forecasts with ‘Wallahualam’ and I like that they start their annual Maulidur Rasul celebration twelve days earlier by reciting prayers until the day arrives.

And I’m glad to say that I have now, in addition to visiting all states in Malaysia (I’d gone to all states in the Peninsular before I turned 12), visited all ASEAN countries and capital cities. Thank you, God, for the opportunities.

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Well, after a mid-week defeat to former gaffer’s Internazionale, Chelshit suffered a surprise defeat to Man Sh*tty with two, yes two (!), players sent off (including Herr Bollocks). The Gunners knew they could close the gap but Stoke have never been an easy team to beat at home. And for the first few minutes, it looked like we would struggle. Then Bendtner nodded in a kick from man-of-the-match Cesc to level. We were denied a few penalties, including one involving Ramsey.

Unfortunately, tragedy happened. Ramsey suffered a horrific injury – I saw him fell and didn’t understand why he didn’t, couldn’t get up. I didn’t know what happened or the gravity of the situation because there was no replay. I saw the Gunners looked very upset and shaken especially Cesc and TV5. I set the volume low (well, it was after 3 am) and finally I heard the commentators mentioned ‘Eduardo’ and my heart sank. Oh my God, poor Rambo. He has so much potential, he’s shown so much promise and worked so hard. The Potters were reduced to ten men but it took a while before we could score (and a Cesc penalty at that; he missed one against Stoke earlier in the season, remember) before TV5 wrapped up the result. The gaffer and skipper both spoke their mind about the incident.

We know what happened two years ago when Dudú suffered a similar horrific injury and that was the beginning of the end of our title race. It looked like that incident would perhaps repeat itself but credit to the team, they fought on, led by Cesc. Cesc even appeared to dedicate his goal for Ramsey by tapping his ankle three times. At the end of the match, Cesc urged the team to huddle and they did that, knowing they’d shown what they were made of and that they’ve learnt the lessons of Birmingham. I’m just so proud of the Arsenal, of the character, of the skipper... we were definitely not spineless ;’) Credit to the lads for coming back from a goal down, credit too for staying calm and composed after the incident to win the match. I mean, I’m still traumatised (I had difficulty falling asleep after the match, thinking of Ramsey). It was a win that we couldn’t enjoy though. Time will tell if it was a pyrrhic victory or the Day We Won The Title.

And yes, some may argue that Shawcross didn’t intend it, that he isn’t malicious, that he isn’t that type of player. Well, someone who was speeding down the road and then hit a little boy didn’t intend to do that either but he did hit the boy and is responsible. That’s how I see it. This was no accident. And it’s unacceptable that we’ve suffered such horrific career-threatening injuries: Diaby (1 May 2006), Dudú (23 February 2008) and now Ramsey (27 February 2010). Is it any wonder that Wenger cries foul?

Get well soon, Rambo. Our prayers and thoughts are with you. We will win the rest of our matches for you. Stay strong, Rambo ;’( Your manager and team-mates will visit you this week following your op.