Mr. Haxa Does The Blogs

Malaysia (0) vs Iran (2) AFC Asia Cup

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakdance - Series 2

DSC_0296a, originally uploaded by haxa.

 

Breakdance - Series 1

DSC_0283, originally uploaded by haxa.

 

Nature's Beauty @ Bukit Jambul

Made my way hiking up the Bukit Jambul this time ;-) View more photos from Bukit Jambul hiking on this set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/haxa/sets/72157600171130649/


DSC_0204, originally uploaded by haxa.

Hilarious 2006 Asian Games TV Comment

After five failed attempts of successful hammer throw; the Kuwaiti woman athlete finally managed to throw a mere 23.92m in her last sixth throw. The event leader at that point threw 65m.

I laughed out loud when the commentator had this to say:

" I know for sure she won't be throwing any party tonight "

World Cup 2006 --- Malaysia TV Schedule, Official Site, BBC Coverage, Wikipedia Entry

The World Cup 2006 is here June 9 11pm (Malaysian time) for the opening ceremony and the first match Germany vs. Costa Rica.

Here are my predictions for Round 2 by group (A: German, Poland) (B: England, Sweeden) (C: Argentina, Holland) (D: Mexico, Portugal) (E: Italy, Czech) (F: Brazil, Japan) (G: France, Korea) (H: Spain, Saudi Arabia)

Here are some of the important links for this edition of the World Cup.

1. Download WorldCup_2006_Malaysia_TV_Schedule.htm
2. Link to FIFA WorldCup 2006 Yahoo!
3. Download WorldCup_2006_Schedule.xls
4. Official BBC Coverage of  World Cup 2006
5. World Cup 2006 Wikipedia Entry

Comparing Invention, National Anthem; & Corporate Survival

Why the auto-flushing toilet must die?

I guess my next favorite column on Slate is Nick Schulz after Daniel Gross. Schulz's piece on The Crappiest Invention of All Time: Why the auto-flushing toilet must die is hilarious yet informative. He weighs on the different perspectives on why auto-flushing is a bad solution that it takes away our control to  get it all right when are doing our business no. 2. I couldn't agree more to

" Issue a courtesy flush. If you plan to settle down with the sports page, you should flush immediately after dropping the kids at the pool. There's no need to let the kids linger any longer than absolutely necessary. "

because I love reading sports/entertainment news in there.

Singapore National Anthem: Majulah Singapura

After finding out that there are four official languages in Singapore, i.e. English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil; I wonder what's the national anthem like. Apparently it is in Malay, entitled Majulah Singapura. It was composed and written by Zubir Said in 1956-7. Zubir also sent an entry for Malaysian national anthem, but it was Negaraku that made it.

The Singapore national anthem has the feeling of an aria, kind of similar to Wagner's (Die Walkure) Ride of The Valkyries. In this new arrangement, you'd hear solo followed by a choir with the orchestra in the background.

Comparatively, it is more up tempo to Negaraku, the Malaysian national anthem. Negaraku lyrics sing more of love of the country while Singapore's Majulah Singapura focuses on new hopes and moving onwards.

Corporate Survival

"I worked well with three different CEOs. My advise is that you  have to adapt to ever changing environment"

New Passion: Table-Tennis & Tennis

One of the luxury car ad campaigns uses this really cool tagline “What Drives You” and lately being sporty and athletic drive me. This week alone, I've spent almost 9 hours playing tennis and table-tennis. It's a big deal for me as I normally spend that amount of after work hours either in front of my ThinkPad LCD, or Samsung CRT, or WEGA flat screen. It feels good to finally get back to reality.

I have had ping-pong games almost daily with the aim to increase my accuracy in all the different strokes; chops, backhand, forehand, slice, etc. On gear, I've started to learn mixing and matching wood with the appropriate rubber. Maybe I should pamper myself this year's birthday by customizing my own bat at one of the shops downtown. Oh! I can't wait to have the right bat to ramp up my offensive game. I am thinking Butterfly or Nittaku! But I’d rather keep my options open to others brands.

And interestingly, I’ve also discovered the application of Yin & Yang principle in ping-pong! I wish someone taught me that when I started learning the game 15-years back.

I am also happy to have three sparring partners to keep on drilling my game. One of them is providing some really cool tips and open about analyzing different game plans.

Now let me get into my tennis. It seems that this week 3-hour of service and stroke practices has taken our game to longer rally compared to when we started fortnight ago. That explains why we got tired easily this time. Nevertheless, there’s lot more to learn/improve and we’ve decided to hire a coach soon.

I suppose if I keep on the momentum, my dream to have a healthy and fit body is not that impossible as I thought. Yeah, I've put on weight in the last 9 months and it ain't nice at all. Because of all the physical, I’ve experienced aching in my feet and right fore arm. I hope those muscles aren’t torn out.

Anyway, I’ve never felt this good waking up in the morning. And nothing beats the satisfaction of a powerful smash shot that couldn’t be returned by your opponent. It is definitely the highlight of the day. It is my way of channeling my angst and forget the low point of the day.

The New Starbucks On The Block --- How Federer US Open Victory Inspires My Table-Tennis Game! - And Hermione's Lee Biography of Virgina Woolf

Starbucks recently opened up a new outlet nearby my place. I have been to most Starbucks in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and nothing beats this one. It is at the very corner of e-Gate, the three-storey white building you'll see on the first left turn after you exit the Penang Bridge.

I got here right after I finished few good sets of table-tennis game with a colleague. I think watching Federer winning his 6th Grand Slam has given me some inspirations and tips on table-tennis, particularly in the semi-final game against Hewitt. Maybe I start digging the Net and study Jan-Ove Waldner's techniques and improve my game.  

Well, let's get to the review of the new Starbucks joint.

Most part of this cafe flooring is wooden. Some parts are carpeted. The furniture is rich. The ambiance offers you something better that you get the sea view. The best you get in KL is the KLCC Starbucks that offers you the view of the  park and the fountain.

I was told that this Starbucks is designed on entirely different concepts by the headquarter. And in the spirit of Chinese mid autumn festival, there are lanterns on the ceiling, which I think kind neat, but too pretentious. They should have put on lanterns with the famous Starbucks logo on it. Oh well!

The store is running trial opening hours is from 6am - 11pm on weekdays, and 8am - 12midnight in the weekends.

I had my hot caramel macchiato in venti and had the dessert, raspberry sugared donut, which I thought was too sweet!

And not to forget, the barristas here are friendly! On the downside, Wi-Fi is yet to be made available and for once, my caramel macchiato caramel syrup deco on the foam was totally screwed up! I hate it when that happens. Anyway, I enjoyed my first time there and was surprised by a familiar face who greeted me on her way out.

And it's always nice to have a good book at a nice place as this one. And Hermione Lee's biography of Virginia Woolf is a great read. I never did English literature and got to know of Woolf through Nicole Kidman's award winning role of her in The Hour. To me, it is by far one of Kidman's memorable performances, particularly the opening scene.

In all, I should make it a point to not frequent Starbucks too often! I was in KL fortnight ago and went to 4 different Starbucks for the drink and Wi-Fi. I should finish on my books and my mags!  I am also thinking of competing in a couple of table-tennis games soon!

To a friend who is warded in the hospital right now, I hope you will recover soon.

Extreme weather, Oscar, Australian Open

Okay, here's to my lack of writing enthusiasm of late. Concise note of what my intuitions, feelings, and views.

The more I think of extreme weather, the terrified I get as it is now happening everywhere. Who could forget the enormosity of the tsunami, the draught in outback Australia, the flood in Saudi Arabia, the snowstorm in Northeast America, and right here in Malaysia, we are experiencing one of the schorching hot weather ever! Utusan Malaysia reported that we could expect to be in the mid 30's till March!!! Are these the beginning of an end?

On Oscar, I would love to see Aviator for best picture, Scorsese for best director, Jamie Foxx for best actor, and Kate Winslet for best actress. Go read a very interesting interview of some these nominess on MSN.com.

On Australian Open, my bets are on Roger Federer and Serena Williams. They are the best in the tennis world! I was amazed that Federer only took 99 minutes to beat Agassi. And oh, that Hewitt guy need to tone down a bit!

Hmm ... I am getting tired here. I need to catch up on sleep. Later!