"What The EFF!!!"

Check out this brilliant spoof of david blaine. Yang mahal ia malar meliat camera atu! Hahahaha.

Victory!

Well, as they say, the 3rd time's the charm.

TEAM GNR8 have joined 2 badminton tourneys so far and did just okay on average. The 3rd tourney was the BruManch Badminton Open. After going through the round robin with relative ease (hehe, sorry Rip!) we found ourselves in the semi-finals. Then we surprised ourselves by going through the semi and went on to the final. Our opponents were considered to be the best team in the tournament, which means the pressure is on them!

The final, which was played over best of 3 sets, was hotly contested. First set was close, then we made some careless mistakes in the end and ended up losing the set 18-21. In the second set, we regrouped and won by a comfortable 21-16. The deciding set was really intense. The scores were very close apart until we were match point down 18-20. To add to the drama, had a leg cramp! Baik jua ada first aid with some magic spray. Somehow, we fought thru the next two points and got to deuce 20-20. Then, me with leg cramping and all, we won the next two points to clinch the victory and won the gold medal!!! Yezza! Not bad for the "veteran" dark horse in the tournament :-D

We would like to thank our supporters, "The Gallery Fan Club" for their valuable support and cheers! (muka sorang2 pun tense in the final haha). The supporters consists of Momox (from Keele), Physicsbatu (from Liverpool), Mirage268 (from Leeds) and Manchester's very own Mr "Kway Teow" and Miss s***bing.

Here's what they have to say:

"That was a really intense match with a lot of twist...Memang sengaja kali kan membuat ia interesting berabis....
1st set, really intense and very tight....the set was won by the opposition but it was a really a close one....
and the 2nd set, start tia come back...
Especially time deciding set atu with score 18-20, pikir hampa udah psal one of player yang injured, calf muscle sakit.....then after kana bagi magic spray atu, menjadi game atu wah...
sakali manang atu, nda sangka2 wah...thats the magic of the underdogs lah.....it also shows the mentality toughness of 'the vets'......."

Momox


"I've been appointed to be the cameraman for the day..It was a new experience for me..It gave me the chance to see the action up close..

The journey for the GNR8 duo started early in the morning..The group was arguably kind to them and they surely didn't take it for granted..They won all the matches and deservedly earned a match in the semis..

Considered as the underdogs..They had nothing to lose..After a well played match they managed to win it as well..Surely no one had predicted it at the start of the tournament..

An epic final was on the cards..David Vs Goliath..Team GNR8 was up against considered the 1st seeded team..A quick change of shirt to bring out the spirit of GNR8..

The first set belonged to "Roy" and fahme..In the 2nd set team GNR8 showed the performance which deserved their place in the final..

3rd set..an intense set..it had all the dramas..it was tight throughout..Trailing 18-20 came the turning point..Championship point..Jester had cramps..We all conceded to defeat..but not the players..After a quick spray to the muscle..They clawed back to deuce 20-20..They all have given their all and the GNR8 team showed their experience and maturity to win it 22-20..

A fairy-tale ending indeed..Congratulations.."

Physicsbatu


"Well being a participant in the same group, i was unable to show mercy. Indeed, in the preliminary rounds I need not mercy as I was "belasah'd" by these 2 duos, 21-5. We also lost to the runner-up of our group, which was a weird, since they lost to another group which we had defeated instead. Putting the shameful past aside, the Duo team went on to the semifinals, having a straight win all the way. Being the "Underdogs", they sure did raise some eyebrows and peoples attentions.

In the Semi finals, 4 teams were put aside against each other. The dynamic duo made it to the finals, having the semi-finalists putting up a futile fight. The finals however was in a totally different league. Donning the Team GNR8 jerseys, they march on to the court with pride. However, Bung Taufik and Jester lost the first set 21-18. Nevertheless, with heads held high, they managed to regain their momentum by winning the second set 21-16. The 3rd set was as epic as the move "300" itself, standing against all odds to the might of the titans. Both teams crept up the scoreboard point by point, inch by inch. to the point where Jester had an unexpected leg cramp (must've been the voodoo i cast on them earlier.....hehe) just as the score went to 20-18. However, with just a magic spray, they fought on and even managed to get into a deuce. By this point, people were starting to chatter their teeths as to who would win this tournament. Amazingly, against all odds they managed to return an explosive smash and score a 1 point lead. In the end, with the might of team GNR8, surpassing the Spartans, they won the game with 2 point lead, winning the gold medal. It was really an epic battle, having the outcome deserving of the performance they had shown today. Now, i'll crawl back to my loser corner, basking myself in the self pity of my own inability........"

Mirage268.......aka Arip

iPod Touch

A new gadget making an appearance....

The HOME button

It may be late in the game, but decided to go for it and got the iPod Touch 16 GB. Have to say, I'm really impressed with the features and the interface. You can imagine the "krrrrr" sound as you flick thru the list and browsing the web (Some of The Lunch Gang would remember this :-) ).

That's the great thing about this gadget. Even normally mundane tasks such as scrolling and selecting is fun. Apart from the normal music, video player and picture browser (it IS an iPod after all), you get Safari, YouTube, Contacts and so forth. After shelling extra for the January software update, it now includes Mail, Maps and Stocks just to mention a few. Checking e-mails is really convenient. You can even now customise the home screen and re-arrange the icons or add new ones. I'm now going crazy with adding icons for web apps including one for Facebook.

To protect the iPod, went for the Reflect Mirrored case by Griffin. It does add bulk to the iPod but it makes it more handy I think. At the back, there's a rubbery surface which protects the iPod from scratches. With the case, there's even a screen protector included with cleaning cloth which is a nice bonus.

Check out the pics:

Si Boom-Boom as the wallpaper ;-)

At the top and bottom, there's full access to the power button, port and earphone socket.

The home screen

Heard about the term "jailbreaking" which enables the iPod Touch to install and run 3rd party softwares. A bit weary about this and fear that it may render the iPod useless. Any experience out there?

PS- Thanks to Bung Taufik's Canon 400D (and its growing arsenal! heheh) for these pics.

Post about buses (updated)

This is the normal standard bus in Manchester

This is the cheaper student-friendly Magic Bus
(dedicated to Mr Manon so that he can have a grin on his face - but we'll never know why)

Thought I'd post something about buses or specifically experience of a bus ride. Of course kalau di Brunei jarang jua naik bas ani but here, well let's just say it's part of the UK experience. Haha

Things that you experience on a bus ride:

• When you get on a bus, you obviously tend to find the empty seats. Normally the seats would be enough for two tapi most people would tend to occupy the seat by himself/herself. Iatah kalau ada orang baru naik bas atu, sorang2 tah memasang muka 'ganas' or there's a certain "this is my seat, so bugger off!" look supaya orang baru naik atu will not sit next to them. This always amuses me. heheh
  
• Kalau kan reach ur stop, you press the button and you have to make ur way to the front of the bus while the bus is moving. Iatah mahal tu kalau kelurusan duduk dibelakang. Time ramai orang lagi, mesti pandai control movement so that you reach the front of the bus safely and with dignity intact. Kalau bus driver yang suka membrake mengajut lagi. Haha. And even worse, kalau dari upper deck kan turun ke bawah, macam2 handle tah dipigang tu supaya nda lose cool kan turun tangga.
• There's a new trend where u get these yobs (gangsta wannabe) with their fancy mobile phones. Duduk tah dorang dibelakang and would play their songs with the speaker on full volume. Kira unofficial soundtrack for the bus lah tu. Kalau lawa bisai jua lagu nya ani. Tapi most of the time.... u just wish that the batteries would run out. heheh
• There's this one time where an old guy who's drunk was chatting up an innocent passenger. Hahah, the things that he said. Classics. Ada lagi wink with sound effect tu for good measure before he left.
  

So, what's ur funny bus stories?

Funtime's over

Wokey (in spirit of Prez's greeting from Nandos era), today is 1st April. April's Fool day. But that's not the reason for this post.

For the next two months, it's gonna be hectic. And by that I mean very hectic. One more design project, assignments, exam revisions and dissertation to start. Just mentioning that is a mouthful. So, funtime's definitely over. Hope all will go well, Insya-Allah.

Just to recap last week: went indoor skiing in Chill Factore. Slight disappointment for everyone coz didn't actually go skiing but went on a downhill ride on "tayar"s. Was fun nevertheless but hope to do the real thing nanti.

Mini-funtime tho: Two more badminton tourneys coming up. Will post on the outcome.

On a different note: the cool cars belong to Rio and Wes. Congrats to the ones who guessed rite. Sorry, "tiada hadiah yang dapat diberikan, hanya sekalong doa..." :-)

Roma: The finale’

On the final day of the tour in Roma, managed to get into the Colossea within minutes of closing. Apparently there was some sort of exhibition later in the evening, which resulted in the early closing. Even though there was a queue for the ticket, the wait was worth it. It’s just simply amazing. The Colossea is huge. The same familiar feeling sets in when you imagine how it would’ve been like when there were tens of thousands of people cheering for the gladiators having a duel with the lions (Note: I’m just taking reference from the movie ‘Gladiator’ since we didn’t have time to listen for the audio guide). It appears that the ground of the arena had already gone which exposes a maze of walls and chambers underneath it. We later found out that the chambers were where they kept the lions in cages.

The final stop of the Roma tour was Fontane di Trevi (Trevi fountain). It was a beautiful and relaxing area. There were big and impressive sculptures with a large fountain in the middle. They say if you drop and coin and make a wish, you’ll have a good chance of coming back to Rome. Banar kah tu? Anyways, just for fun, did it anyway tapi pakai coin pence. Hope the legend doesn’t care for currency ☺ There were loads of people taking pictures around the fountain.

Since we had lots of time left, even managed to look for what is supposedly one of the best gelato in town. The name is gelato di crispino. Finally found it after some effort. I must say the gelato is different from the rest. It was creamier and had a more ‘traditional’ taste to it. Heheh, macam expert gelato saja udah.

Also had seafood spaghetti nearby Fontane di Trevi, which was quite good.

Anyways, this will be the final post from Roma. I must say it’s gonna be quite sad to leave this historic place. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading the posts and I wish you’ll make it to Rome one day. Insya-Allah.

Ciao!

PS - Let's end the Rome stories with this:

Roma: Day 2 review

Buona sera!

Started the day missing breakfast and instead had lunch in what has become the favourite pizza place of the trip. Today, lunch was prawn salad pizza coupled with sautéed mushrooms. Even tejumpa Beard Papa lookalike in a nearby bakery but have to say it’s not the real deal.

The plan for the day was a visit to the infamous Vatican city. Took the Metro (subway) for the first time and must say it’s quite convenient. When we arrived at the Ottaviano stop, it started to rain heavily. Inda lagi membawa payung or raincoat. Sekalinya, out of the blue came an Indian guy offering to sell umbrellas for 5 Euro each. Pandai dorang ani bedagang. Haha. Being bruneians, menawar lagi tu. Mau jua kurang ☺ And then, one thing masa hujan atu tambus lagi tu aying. Heheh. Payung murah tah banar.

Then we started to queue in a long line just outside the Vatican city walls. Another Indian guy (ramai dorang ani sini) offered to join an English speaking tour for 25 Euro with 14 Euro entrance fee. Katanya no need to wait in line and we decided to go for it. He bought us to a café where there was an English lady gathering other tourists for the tour. Then, she led us back to the queue! Kena kelakari rupanya. (Side note: During the queue, overheard another classic American conversation. There was a guy who asked the tour guide whether it’s worth to visit the Trevi fountain. She replied in a mock shock “of course! how blasphemous to think otherwise!” Sekali reply the guy which was classic “hey! a fountain’s a fountain!” Heheh, another one for the books.)

Anyway, when we finally reached the entrance, there were security checks and we got our hearing aids for the tour. Suffice to say, the tour turned out to be good and informative and the museums were very impressive. There were magnificent sculptures, mosaic paintings and golden arches. But the highlight was the Sistine Chapel where no cameras no allowed at all. We were told that it took Michelangelo 4 years to complete the beautiful painting on the ceiling which turned him half blind by the end of it since he was painting it upside down. He wasn’t paid by money at the end of it but was given a bag of gold coins. He was called back later on to paint ‘The Last Judgement’.

Another impressive place in the Vatican city was a big church hall called San Pietro. As expected, the design of the interior was beautiful. Just outside it was the large and infamous St. Peter’s Square.

The last stop was Piazza di Spagna with all the high street shopping. You name all the major fashion brands in the world and they can be found here. The Spanish steps (finally the correct steps!) can also be found in Spagna.

Had salmon pizza and another round of calamari for la cena (dinner). Oh, of course the day would not be complete without another gelato. It was caramel for me today with a side combo of crepe with nutella. Yummy.

That’s a wrap for Day 2. One more Roman day to go. Bye for now.