Shanique 1st and Shawn 9th Birthday Party

It was a very well organized and plan birthday party by my senior, John Jonathan Leong a.k.a notty uncle. A very creative Mickey themed handmade invitation cards were distributed 3 weeks before the event and all were required to RSVP a week before the birthday. It was my first time attending a birthday party like this, aneh formal. I thought only weddings got RSVP stuff but that’s just the way my senior is. =P The invitation card has a map to the location, just like those wedding cards. Keat! Without the map I don’t think I can find the location since its quite secluded. Something to keep in mind when inviting friends to an event. Or else your phone will be bombarded with calls on that day.

Since this is a Mickey themed party, we were ‘required’ to dress/wear according to the theme. Of course I would support my senior by complying with the dresscode. I did not have anything Mickey in my wardrobe, the last one I had was when I was 7years old. So creatively, I glued the invitation card on my shirt which caught a lot of attention. Haha. But he and his wife were glad of me being so supportive. The best thing about this idea is, it is transferable. See below:

My pretty cute model - Charmaine

It’s a buffet style dinner; they had fried rice, fried bee hoon, fried chicken, curry chicken, roti jala, sausages, tea cup poh pia, Mickey shaped jelly, jelly and a variety of fruits. It was all delicious, esp the roti jala. I think I had 3-4 rounds of servings that night and I was well fed. The food trays were never once empty, they kept replenishing it, this shows how well prepared the host were. =) They made everyone felt welcome and happy that night. Oh yea, even the utensils have something Disney on it.

Door gift for children

At about 9pm, it was cake cutting time. And knn, I was ordered to take care of the lights (on and off it) while they were singing and taking pictures happily. I only sang from the far end of the hall and I hope Shanique and Shawn understand. =) Next time get your own lighting guy.

Unique as snow white

Shawn as shawn

It was a great night. Thankfully, I did not invest in a Mickey shirt because those that didn’t dress/wear accordingly to the theme were not punished or forfeited. I was expecting some entertainment from that, or else Kok Heng would be dancing happily in front of all guests. Anyhow, thanks for the invitation. On my way back, I was thinking, what kind of daddy will I be to my future children? Hmmmm.

my DIY Mickey shirt

Happy birthday Shawn and Shanique!

Innebandy!Co (Team LiveStrong) 4 - 1 Frontliners

First win by Team LiveStrong really means a lot to them, the club and me. They are the future of Team Elite (Sam also getting old d). The team did not start so well in the league but we were quite close in winning or getting a draw in the past two games. Having said that, I'm pretty confident that we will be able to pick up and end well in this year's league.

One thing I've learn from coaching Team LiveStrong is, girls can be better than guys. We have at least 1-2 girls on court every time we play, yet we managed to beat the all boys team. That really made the victory even sweater. That is what the team is about, LiveStrong is about knowing no fear, facing challenges courageously and getting out of it victoriously.

The team played the best floorball I've ever seen them play, good movement, good defense and team spirit was on (quoted Winnie Giam). I told them to be on hungry on court just as what Sam told us in our morning game and it really pays off. To win division 2 is not actually that hard or technical. It's how well the player master the basic skills and how well the co-operate with one another. I always remember my early days of floorball, I don't have the best technical skills compared to the rest, but I was hardworking and my basic skills were pretty good. That will help make you a better player.

I've made a deal with the team, if they secure 1st or 2nd placing in this league. I would buy them a LiveStrong wristband or anything worth RM10 and below. Hope that would motivate them. =)


The wristband not that cheap le, I bought mine from eBay wor. Youth size, so not 'leng leng', wear d cheapo adult size wan also boh stim. So come on boys and girls, this is your only chance to hurt my pocket. Haha.

Innebandy!Co (Team Elite) 6 - 3 Firebrands

I'm a bit lost in the development of floorball in Penang, after leaving the committee a few years back, I am totally disconnected from any floorball news, state development team, etc. Sometimes, when we're invited for state training, I don't see many familiar faces on court which is a good thing as the sport is growing and I also see a lot of potential players.

I've never seen Firebrands as a threat all this years, for me they are just an average club. Until two weeks back, when they surprise me with their result in their league games. Oh boy, I was a little shocked and impressed. How did they come to where they are today? Among the many clubs in Penang, I find Firebrands to be the club to learn from. I really admire the leadership and the people in the team. Even after losing their match against us, their spirits were still up high. Which is not an easy thing to do unless you play with the right spirit and attitude. There is just something different about them.

It was a tiring match for me, I just recovered from my hamstring injury and I didn't dare to push hard in the first period, fearing the pain and pull would come. It happen in our match against Frontliners. I heard a snap sound when I was sprinting for a counter attack. It was scary.

First period was tough as we were only ahead by a goal. They played a very discipline and tight defense, often trying to make a counter through the middle or by lobbing. But Darien, Rooban, Sam and Nicholes really stepped up in defending all those flying balls. 2nd period was 3-1 and 3rd period was 2 - 2. Our opponents made a few errors which cost them 2-3 goals deficit, they may lack of experience but not speed and determination. Stepping up and pressuring us in the 3rd period shows they have no fear but enough will power to give us a tough game. Good job to both teams!

picture courtesy of Issac Chew

I must say, everyone in team Elite stepped up and played really well, even though we let in 3 goals, we know we could do better. We've all learned to be hungry on court and to feed on our opponents so we could step out of the court feeling 'full'. I was really hungry because I had no breakfast and I really wanted to beat them.

picture courtesy of Issac Chew

You know you're body is no longer 17 when you wake up the next morning feeling sore. This is the kinda sore where you play for 2/3 of the time against tough opponents but I did not. Someone came up to be and said, you shouldn't feel tired at all cause you do tris. O.o It's different from triathlons. People have this misconception that I have super good stamina and speed because I do tris. It's totally different, Floorball is a maximum effort game while tri is a Zone 2 HR sport. Endurance is more of my strength now than boom boom running.

I'm pretty sure we will see more from Firebrands next season, my respect and salute to you.

My New Job

I’ve worked in this new company for a month already. Like I’ve mentioned previously, getting this job is really a blessing from above. Few reasons why I say so:

I did not apply for the job.
I was auditing a company nearby when I received the call
I didn’t have to take mc or apply leave for the interview
The benefit it pretty good. i.e basic salary, EPF, leave, etc
I didn’t have to work over time.
There is a club house with decent facilities.
People here are generally friendly.

The timing was just perfect.

But I can say I’ve learn a lot from my mangers and seniors in Crowe Horwath. It provides a good platform for fresh graduates to learn and gain auditing experience. The seniors there are helpful as well as the mangers. To summarize the management team in a word, it would be “sharp”. Nothing can be hidden from them not even a single ‘dot’. Leaving my previous company after 3.5 years was a bit ‘painful’. I was quite reluctant to do so, because I was so comfortable there, I was so used to the people and environment there, thus making change a bit hard. But in life, change is inevitable if you wanna keep progressing.

Lake Kenyir International Triathlon 2012 Race Report

After our floorball league game against Spearhead (which we won 17-2), Sam and I started our grueling journey to Lake Kenyir with the help of GPS. It is our first time going to Terengganu and the road there is not like the Plus north-south highway but a single lane ‘highway’. Thus overtaking cars is not that easy. Even though the distance is about 400+km but it took us 7 freaking hours to reach out destination.

When we arrived there, the carbo loading dinner was about to begin. When the green light was given to ‘feast’, the crowd went for the food like there is no tomorrow. I guess it’s pretty normal for races like this, as it was Sam’s first time; he was laughing away and comparing them to our church’s big party (a community project by our church where free dinner is being offered) because they were filling their plates till mountain high. What a sight.

[The race pack]

Then it was briefing by uncle Chan, as usual his funny jokes cum briefing filled the hall with laughter. Everyone was in a relax mode. He mentioned his objective for organizing triathlon races in Malaysia was for the participants to have fun; he added Chris ‘Macca’ Mccormack (One of the IronMan world champion) comes to his race because he thinks it is fun. =)

After a 5 hours plus sleep, it was time to go. I’ve been stuffing myself with lots of carbs for the whole day, night and morning, thus making my ‘tangki tahi’ full. Just as I was about to leave the chalet, my body was ready to release all the toxic. Thank God the timing was right, or else, it’s gonna come out in the lake or during my ride.

Walked to the race venue, settled “maddog” down, arrange my equipment, food, drink, etc and got by body marked ‘209’. Talked to a couple of Penang tri friends and even made a new friend (who proposed after the race!).

Look at my watch, 30 minutes before the race start, started eating my vanilla powerbar, miss eating it! Green light was given by the MC to warm up in the lake. It was pretty clean, but towards the end, the visibility range was about 1 meter. We had to do 2loops around 3 large buoys. I hate the swimming part the most as this is my weakest discipline.

The race started at 8am sharp, massive splash and traffic as usual. Getting a few kicks is pretty normal. I got a little panic and immediately stop swimming because people were coming from the back, left, right and all directions towards me. I tried to not be bother by all this and continue swimming. After the first 200M, I got the momentum of it. I swam out of course twice at the 2^nd buoy, same mistake twice. I really suck at it. I think I took a snail time of 40minutes to complete the 1.5k swim.

I was so glad when I came out from the water as biking and running is more of my strength. I knew I had lots of catching up to do on the bike. Came out, dried my feet, no fancy T1 stuff and quickly get to the road. It was a lonely ride, no one to draft and a few cyclist here and there. At the 15Km mark, I saw a group of cyclist heading towards T2 already. Kind of depressing. But I continue pressing on, told myself to continue to give my best. After the U turn, Max came from behind and told me to follow him, I was glad there is someone to finish the cycling course with. We stayed with each other till the last killer slope which ‘killed’ a lot of cyclist.

That is a mental challenge to me, most cyclist start pushing their bike up the slope, one even took of his shoes and start running with the bike. I almost quit, but I told myself, you’re cycling now, so put your ass on the saddle and finish it strong. Seriously I almost cried, it was the most torturing slope I’ve ever rode on. After pushing my body and keeping my head strong for about less than a minute, the ‘hill’ was conquered! Phew…what a relief and I was just ride behing Ah Mong. My goal was to stick with him till the end. Bike time: 1 hour 15minutes

Into T2, I put on my shoes and kept an eye on Ah Mong. He was slightly ahead of me, but I never let him get out of my sight. Pacing and trailing him for the next 8KMs but he was much faster than me towards the end. The hot weather and running across the scenic dam was another mental challenge to me. I knew I had to stay strong and finish the race as fast as possible. Running time: about 1 hour.

I manage to overtake Ben halfway on the dam and finish the race with an unofficial time of 2 hours and 55minutes. Not an impressive result but at least I achieve my personal target which is to complete it in under 3hours. So now I can say that I’ve completed Malaysia’s toughest triathlon. =) I almost missed the finishing line, went to the wrong lane but I was quick enough to realign myself. Things to improve on, my swim and my finishing pose!

Special thanks to Sam for being my driver, bellboy, photographer and a supporter. You made this ‘road trip’ a memorable one. Hope you can join me for PD tri in July. Hahaha!

funny ending ^^

My Dream Comeback

Of course not about blogging. haha. But about my achievements in sports and life. After my knee surgery in September 2010, I thought 2011 would be my 'comeback' year, as I was physically 'normal' enough to start training. But boy' it was a disappointing year. Why?

I was 3rd in the point chart for the PFL Div1, I wasn't selected as All Star due to crappy performance, I only did 1/3 of an OD triathlon, I 'hit the wall' during the round island ride for CFAL Edition 3, I was at 173 placing out of 500 riders in King Of the Mountain, I completed the PBIM half marathon in 2hours and the finisher's picture of me look like sh*t.

[KOM's Result]

[Official Pic, small and bad looking =P]

Life as an external auditor made training time even harder to find. You would be labelled lazy if you don't OT. It would affect your evaluation if you always leave office on time. And the longer you stay in the firm, more workload will start pouring in. I always wanted a healthy balance between work and life but I will never achieve this as long as I'm there.

Fortunately, my wish was granted. I got a new job (will talk about it in another post) and I really believe its God's blessings and provision upon my life. Hence, training is back in full swing yo.

First competition in 2012 is the annual PFL Div 1, as of to date things are looking pretty sweet to me. I've never stayed on top of the point chart ever since Ter Min-asanity begun. It will be hard for me to keep this position throughout the whole league but I'll try. =) Term congratulated me and said that if there is someone above him, he is glad that the person is me. I think he is just trying to be nice, pretty sure he will go out to claim his title. Anyhow, he is an inspiration to me and many floorballers out there.

[PFL Point chart as at 25th Feb 2012]

It's gonna be a tiring weekend for me as I have a game against the speedy Spearhead and an OD triathlon the following day in Lake Kenyir. Wish me courage in the swim, speed on the wheels and strength in my legs. =)

Team Elite for PFL DIV1 2011 Part 2

Forgot to include a few more team elite players...hahaha

[2011] This person is another reason why we have a higher chance of holding, kissing and harassing the trophy (Miss you so much my baby T, come back to me ya). In previous years, our defense is the weakest but with Timo behind (legendary full back), the puzzle is finally completed. Great to have you back in the team and glad to be in the same line as you. Got TIMO!

[2011] Latest signing from 'Spain', hail Puyol a.k.a Ping Hooi (Nicholas), another speed demon with an angelic smile. Still can't believe we have him in our team. An asset to team elite, even though he just join the team, he could adapt to our culture and playing style quickly. Bravo!!! Also very consistent in this performance...expecting more goals from him.

[2011] She's the coolest girl we've ever have after Val. She's tough yet she's gentle, unlike our 'great wall', Pei Li. Somehow I just enjoy watching her train, kinda entertaining. Hopefully she gets some playing time or else I have nothing much to write. LOL.

[2011] Calvin disappeared to NS, came back then disappear again. haha. He really showed the team and myself what commitment is. Paying RM50 and being there for just one game. Not knowing whether he would be played by the coach, yet he still do it. I've seen you improve and it's really a waste not having you till the end of this league. Looking forward to partnering you in future tournaments. All the best in KL.