Friday, December 31, 2010

Is K. Rajagopal Malaysia's Jose Mourinho?

Is K. Rajagopal Malaysia's Jose Mourinho?

K. Rajagopal, (or fullname Rajgobal a/l Krishnasamy) (born July 10,
1956) is a Malaysian football manager and former professional player.
He is currently the coach of Malaysia and the Under-23 Malaysia.

He was made the national coach for the young Malaysia U-20 team from
2004 until 2006; and the Malaysian U-19 (known as Harimau Muda A) in
2007 to 2009. Under his guidance, Harimau Muda A became the Premier
Leaguechampion in 2009. Currently he is the head coach for both the
Malaysian national and the Malaysian U-23 squad.

Rajagopal is a former national striker, with 20 international caps
between 1980 and 1983, he took over the senior coaching job in July
2009.

Rajagopal is best-known for guiding Malaysia's Under-23 side to its
first gold medal in 20 years at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos
where the team defeated Vietnam 1-0 in the final on December 17 after
earlier knocking out 8-time defending champions, Thailand, in the
group stage. After the victory, Rajagopal earned the nickname "King
Raja". In July 2009, Rajagopal coached Malaysia in two games against
the visiting English champions, Manchester United FC, losing in both
matches 2–3 and 0–2.

Rajagopal is a former club coach at Selangor FA and Kelantan FA. He is
also a pundit for Malaysian network Astro, including the twice-weekly
FourFourTwo TV Show.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

What You Dont Know Doesnt Hurt You.



"Aerodynamically a bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway."
--  Mary Kay Ash

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Weight Limit for Photocopiers?

A Day Without Water



How would you go about your day without water for 24 hours?

That is what the people of Penang, Seberang Prai and Juru are going through today. What could be so important that water has to be halted for 24 hours?

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

My Falling Android

My Android phone fell again. This time when rushing for the bus. A  deep gash now mars the front cover. This is the fourth time the device has fallen. And it still works!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Bob Has Arrived



Finally, Bob arrived today. Or should I say yesterday but we only got him working this morning. Bob needed 12 hours to get his head clear, then I found out that Windows Vista doesnt support WPA2 or WPA security protocols very well. I ended up having to use WEP as my security protocol for my wireless connection.

So finally we have Internet.

What impressed me with iiNet's customer support is that when you call in and all the customers service representatives are busy, the system will ask you if you want to wait or have them call you back. And they do call you back. Even before you choose the option of staying on the line or have them call you back, they politely tell you that by getting them to call you back doesnt influence your number in the queue. I am impressed.

Bob was shipped from Sydney. Took 2 days to reach the front of my door. And it takes a week for a letter posted from Jalan Tun Razak to reach Kepong. Go figure.

Now excuse me, time to hang out with Bob.


Friday, December 17, 2010

Fine Dining!

Too much champagne during lunch does make one unproductive.

I am learning what fine dining really means. If its a one course meal, then they'll serve you a huge plate with a fine (small) portion of food, with lots of tiny leaves sprinkled around your food to give it a rich experience. Who wants the rich experience? I am paying, I want food.

If fine dining consists of a few courses, like yesterdays company lunch, then they'll serve you lots of starters and appetisers to fill you up before serving you the tiniest beef steak I ever saw in my life. And I was not the only one. Everyone around me went quiet when the beef steak was served. Those having fish laughed at our beef steak portions, or should I say 3 thin slices of beef!

Thank God the red and white wine, and ample champagne compensated for the tiny food portion. And the deliciously sinful ice-cream!


Friday, December 10, 2010

Am Loving Perth...

First it was the weekly Thursday morning 10am breakfast, with lots of delicacies.

Now its Christmas cookies going all around.

There goes my weight loss programme!

I'm loving it....


Wednesday, December 08, 2010

What Goes Around, Comes Around

One day a man saw a old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.

He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.'

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening  up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God
knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me..'

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on  her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.'

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and
climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard....

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'


Thursday, December 02, 2010

Pump and Pay

And here I was, at the petrol station, waiting at the queue to buy some petrol.

When my turn came, the cashier asked, "Which lane?"

Seven, I said. He looked puzzled.

"Have you pumped any gas yet?"

I said no. I am here to pay before I pump.

He politely smiled (since there was a line of people behind me) and told me that I have to pump the gas (petrol) first , and then come in and pay.

The complete opposite from back home.

I wanted to ask him what would happen if I just drove off but the large video camera pointed at the pumps assured me that I won't be a free man for long.

And for the record, Australia pumps RON 91.