Mid-Season EPL Review

With an average of 20 games played, the EPL is officially into Q2 of the season. A couple of months ago, I always answered any question of Liverpool winning the EPL with the response, "wait till Christmas"... well, it has come and gone, and Benitez is winning from the terrace! Steven Gerard's potential jail term aside - and who are we kidding? It ain't gonna happen - Liverpool looked like the genuine article against Newcastle over the weekend.

So, are they favorites now? Perhaps not... but just perhaps. With Big Phil Scholari looking like exploding on the byelines - blaming everyone from his keeper to his housekeeper, I speculate that all is not well teamwise in Stamford Bridge. Manchester United on the other hand are winning while playing poorly with 2 games in hand and 7 points off the pace for the moment. It is Sir Alex who will probably hold the key to Rafa Benitez's season, and it will begin with the United-Chelsea game next week. A draw will see Liverpool move 5 points clear - if they win their own match.

With Stevie G, Alonso and Mascherano anchoring the midfield, Liverpool will not be easy to dislodge, unless they start slipping up soon.

Conclusion... I think for the first time in a long while, Liverpool are genuine contenders and may just be 2 weeks away from being tagged as favorites.

For the best of the rest, I am impressed with Aston Villa, but the size and quality of the squad may see them fall short by Easter. I think Everton have done well - I predicted that David Moyes' men would top Spurs and I think that assessment remains. If they manage to get a good striker inn the transfer season, they may just up with playing UEFA soccer again.

Hull is wonderful placed to stay in the Premier League, but treating their players like school boys that they are not will end up biting the club in the buttocks in terms of final places.

Leading candidates to demote... let me name 3. WBA, Stoke and Newcastle.

Not the Flu...

Sterimar,the taller nasal spray is actually salt water and used together with Nasonex are my companions when my nose acts up. It was 2 years ago that I underwent surgery for to remove polyps and to clear my sinus, and every now and then, this area flares up impersonating a very bad flu...

Christmas Greetings

Christmas day came and already it's Boxing day. I can't help but be aware of the absence of great festivity in the air. For whatever reason, let's not forget the reason for this season... put a cheerful smile on your face and hope you're infectious :)

Blessed Christmas and to all, Hope for the coming year!

Stained Glasses

Sometimes, people tend to look at the world through dirty lens, and that's a great shame really. RPK penned in his blog that Chinese like to complain and unfortunately sometimes we do bitch about everything we see... often unknowingly wearing dirty glasses. But we are not always wrong RPK, and of course, it doesn't help if rhetorical debates are the order of the day. In my book however that is called littering.

Then there's those who see their own reflection in those same stained glasses. Those who hold themselves to the highest measure but never fail to consider the tarnish in the glasses as their own. The nobler of us who often fail self-scrutiny. The very ones whom we should uphold and support. *yes, you*

Trouble with politics and life... we never know what type of glasses we are looking out or in through...

Congratulations to the Fritzs!

The herald announcing the arrival of Baby Maximilian a.k.a. Max woke me up at 5am this morning! Rather than my usual cussing... I greeted this news with joy.

Hey C! Look, blogged about your son... and probably the first person to do so unless you have a blog that I am unaware of ;)

Don't Give Up on Yourself

It's been a tough time for many people of late. For many, the economic uncertainty have had a toll on their Christmas spirit. For others, the sheer weight of expectation whether at work or at home is proving unbearable.

As I pondered on a conversation I had last night, my mind somehow settled on an image of tire tracks in the muddy ground, not unlike the image above. A good life my dear friend is not about the absence of adversity. Adversity or tough times is sometimes needed as traction to prevent us from slipping backwards and moving forward with purpose. It is the leverage by which we challenge ourselves to be what we never expected ourselves to be.

You are more than a conqueror when your conquest is yourself. Keep it up, I know you can do it.

Genji Japanese Restaurant - PJ Hilton

Admittedly I must be the worst food blogger in town on the account of the photo below... lame as it may sound, the thought of snapping a shot only occurred to me at tail end of the meal :)



Genji is not new in town, but this was the first time we ordered totally off the menu, seeing as it was our 10th minus 1 anniversary. It was worth every penny I lost and every ounce I put on. To be honest, I cannot even name the dishes... was concentrating on the fresh Sashimi, so if you are looking for a really good review, I am only as good as my next fragrant burp... er... BURP!

Alternative Energy

As I study up on renewable and alternative energy, the realization slowly creeps up that what we can do may not be enough. The earth as a systematic equilibrium is spinning out of balance and what we can and still must do, may just prolong the inevitable. Change as they say is inevitable and part of our lives but I dread to think what future we are creating for our offspring.


the ozone hole

In Malaysia, not only are we dependent on carbon fuels, the fact is, we do not have a serious strategy to diversify our power. To us, the haze is Indonesia's fault and alternative energy is an Energizer battery...

Global Warming Back on the Table

Read this article if you have the time, and catch the reader comments. This may give you an idea of how complicated the issue really is.

Get The Issues Correct

The Perak State Government's decision to buy Toyota Camry's for its excos has come under flak by the opposition (read ex-state government) as wasteful etc. etc. Firstly, Dato' Nizar should seriously consider the possibility of scaling down to a 2.0E at least since a car is only a car... paying top dollar for a 2.4 litre engine car is slightly excessive if you ask me.

As for the "opposition", I would like to see more accountability for their past decisions and a focus on the current reality. 2009 may well be worse than 2008 and I am not referring to the political tsunami. As economic conditions worsen, I would like to see more bipartisan efforts rather than political nitpicking that is prevalent now.

BN has had its time in these 5 states, and now is an opportunity not only for the opposition, but also BN itself to show it can work for the good of the rakyat as they ought have to in the first place. Talking about canceled tennis competitions and taking arms over car models is petty and continues to demonstrate why the rakyat in these 5 states were correct in the first place.

Shoe Stinks; Obama Beware

In the part of the world that George W. Bush described as suffering a "deep deficit in freedom" it is ironic that an Iraqi reporter was able to liberate a shoe, launched in the direction of the outgoing President but missed by some distance.

The fact that President Bush displayed such agility of reflexes at his age was overshadowed by the significance of the insult. I won't even contemplate discussing this trivial news except to question why security was so lax in the first place.

With a black American coming into the White House, an obvious target of hate groups, one wonders if Tom Clancy's fictional end to Jack Ryan's successor, assassinated by the Klu Klux Klan, will become a reality. In a troubled world, it can only get worse... and that is scary indeed.

Blessed Christmas and Goodbye 2008

Ama won't be celebrating Christmas with us this year, at least not in person. For some, it has been a year to forget, for others the year went by too fast for recollection. Whatever 2008 held or still has for us, it is now the season to be thankful for God's love to us and remember the purpose of it all...

For this, I recommend Rick Warren's (author of A Purpose Driven Life) latest penned offering, The Purpose of Christmas. It's a warm reminder that all is not so bad and not to forget that the author, creator of life has set his heart on us.

Power Watch: Alternates

It's really about time, and while some say it's never to late, I wonder if it is already so. The beginning of the end of the world as we see it anyway.

I am going to add alternative energy as a key theme in my blog going into 2009/10 and hope to uncover some ideas to move from bio-fuels...