Trip down south

We started early at 8am on Saturday

Me got some nuts to eat on the way. Guess what nuts are these?

Me also bought pau kacang just to 'isi perut' before lunch
We started training at 2.30pm - in the hot sun!!! That's why I never believe in 'fair & lovely'. No way its going to work on me! (pic courtesy of Seademon who was there to check out the gals oopss... I mean the school)
We had 2.30pm till 4.30pm, 5.00pm-6.30pm and 8.45pm-10.30pm sessions yesterday. Mak oi! Nak tercabut segala sendi-sendi.

This morning, we had breakfast at the usual place in B.B.Uda. I had Nasi Ambang. Best giler!

Right after that we needed to attend a meeting, the 1st official of between R2V members and the new HM of STF(the purpose of this trip actually). So I needed to wear someting formal - what else if not baju kurung (school, remember?) And borrowed this lovely-to-wear-and-nice-to-look-at-the-front-but-not-enough-length sandal.(due to my saskwatch)

The meeting was held at The Puteri Pacific because after that madam has another meeting with the PIBG.(nope we didn't stay for any lunch buffet :-( )
The sky looked like the building's architecture. Going up. Hopefully everything will be fine.

Sempat jenguk the ballroom where the teachers were going to have their Hari Guru celebration by PIBG. (best kan?)
The meeting started. Alhamdulillah, eventhough all of us looked serious, it went really well. Not that well, but ok as a start.

Meeting ended. We lepak at the stalls just beside the car park having ci kong. Have anyone of you heard the saying, " the creamest of the cream"?
Afternoon we had 2 more session starting from 3.00pm. During break, this is what usually the coaches do - challenging each other in free throws.

I've got a shocked of my life when I saw Block B with its new colour. Now the trees look really green beside the block.
And before I left today, the girls who played in the Nationals presented me with this ....
Well, its not really written "jurulatih" on it, but it really means a lot to me.

Thank you Dynamites!

Beautiful shots.

The coming one week is going to be a busy one for me. The graph of busy-ness goes up whilst the graph of happy-ness will be slanting downwards (I know this will happen).

That's ok, I just need to motivate myself to be happy and enjoy. As a start, I went through 2 CDs and 1 DVD full of pictures of the recent basketball tourney in Kedah which I couldn't attend. Just managed to collect the discs from K.Ana.

Out of about 1000 pics, I love these the most.

I sooooo in loveeee with the shooting shirt. I got one too....hehehe..... and look at the sky and cloud...

I think this is Hajar. Yup, she can definitely jump!

Not sure who this is: either Meera or Hajar. Almost touching the board.

And I love this shot. Just perfect. I wouldn't want to miss next year's tourney.

Thanks to the Srikandis for allowing their "photographer Srikanda's" to help with the pictures.

We are the Champion - again!!

Alhamdulillah, the Dynamites has managed to retain the title as the Champion for this year's PPM.

Some of the results from Hana:

STF vs SMS Hulu Selangor 60-10
STF vs SMS Kuching 59-30
STF vs SAINA 66-4
STF vs SMTFP 66-14

Semi : STF vs SSP 41-14
Final : STF vs SMESH 46-16

No pictures yet as I couldn't join them due to work commitments. Will need to wait for the pics from K.Ana soon.

I might be seen as ignoring the girls for the past 1 month however it was not easy at all for me to do that (forced myself to do that). I managed to block myself from feeling disappointed as I was not able to attend this year's PPM. However the maximum point was my tears dropped when the girls called me 2 hours before their final game today and also when I heard them sang "Gemuruh" over the phone, all the way from Kedah. I had the confidence they could win. Its just that it was sad as I was not able to watch the F5 play for the final time before they retire.

To all Srikandis who has contributed to the success of this team ; whether its financial or non-financial, THANK YOU is all I could say.

THANK YOU also from the bottom of my heart to the panel of coaches - Mr Liew, Coach Halim and Abg Ise on their time and energy.

And thank you for the Srikandas who has supported their Srikandis to provide full support for the Dynamites.

A very special THANK YOU to K.Ana - without you, the R2V project will not be a success.

For more write-up, click here

The 'Bachelor Party'

What happens when 10 basketballers sit down for dinner at a restaurant which serves 'buffet'?

High with cholestrol. The middle one? God knows....
Hmm.....I wonder what is Ryzah focusing with the camera.
Caught her again....just imagine she did this in the restaurant.

These 4 'macho' guys claimed to be my friends once they found out that I am working with AA now.
Hehehe...I can't resist to take this pic .

To my basketball friends last night, its really, really nice meeting you guys again after quite sometime.Yeah...I do miss you guys. I know I've been missing from the bball sessions in UM. Maybe we should have this 'makan2' session more often then I could see you guys more....hehehe.....

To the hot couple, well, the dinner was your 'Bachelor party'. I made a point to turn up because I won't be able to attend your wedding. I am sooooo happy for you two.

Next gathering...my place, ok? To celebrate the newly weds pulak...

Yes!! We did it again!

After screaming and shouting and cheering in the hot sun for the past 2 days, I am too exhausted to write ( I guess age is catching up..hehehe..). So I guess, some pictures of the event will be the best replacement temporarily - until I have the energy and time to write.

The annual PPM Southern Zone tourney was held in SMAP Labu, NS.

The girls - lining up before each game.

The game.

The free throws.

The coaches discussing.

Time out.

A short session by a special guy to help motivate the gals.

A special briefing y the head coachbefore the final game....against our 'musuh tradisi'.

During warm-up. "Gemuruh jiwa, semangat membara, dari puncak ingin ke angkasa...." was sang
THE GAME!


Trash them gals!!!

A satisfied face ......YES!

The teachers, players and R2V members.

Every body who came....including the SRIKANDIs.
CONGRATS DYNAMITES!!!!

I'll prepare you guys for the Nationals.....

p/s: I wish there is a miracle that would allow me to go for the National Level in Jitra in May. But I know...its impossible

A job ...somewhere up there.

Listen here girls. I came all the way from KL for this game. This might be the last game I 'coach' for this year as I've just got a job. A job that requires me to start this Tuesday 15th.

I cannot say no to this job as it is my dream job. Alhamdulillah. Memang betul ada hikmahnya on things that happened.

A job that gives me the priviledge to fly ......and travel more often after this. I hope....

Dynamites - Thank you for your prayers. I will make sure I'll find time to see you guys after this.

I wish I am still 18

I really, really, really wish I was 15 years younger. I have never actually felt like this before, or wish something like this. But last Saturday, I wish I am still 18.

WHY? Well, my girls was trained by the Singapore National Basketball Women's team coach for 1 day. Yes!! You read it right! The Singapore National coach! Arrghhh!! Why now only I get the chance to meet this guy? I felt sooooo jealous. First, they are already training under Mr Liew, who was in-charged of the Malaysian team. And now, they had the opportunity to train under another great coach.

The worst part is - Mr Loh, the coach, said he still remembers me the last time he saw me playing 15 years ago. I feel so honored, so lucky to meet him now. But a part of me is sad, thinking why now only I get the chance to meet him.

Well, I guess that at least, now, I am still lucky that I have the chance to meet this great people, great coaches, sit down and have a chat with them. That reminds me, 2 years ago, I had the chance to meet Mr Tan S*e Wah, the current Malaysian Women's basketball team coach. I still have his number and I'm always welcome to go and watch them train.

I am lucky....I know. The above pics are my great coaches now - Mr Liew, Mr Loh and Mr Seah (who is already 70++ and still playing for Malaysian veteran!)

It's just that...I still wish that I was 15 years younger and fitter. If I had known these great coaches earlier, maybe, maybe I have played for Malaysia.....(hehehe...berangan jap).

And thanks to Sir, I have this chance now to personally shake the hands of this great coaches.

And last Saturday's experience - made me totally forgot the problems that I'm having at work. Not totally, but most of it. Alhamdulillah.

I've no more weekends!!

Last night, I listed down my plan for 2008. As usual, I will be working on most weekdays but the plan for the weekends for the 1st 3 months, which included yesterday and today are:

January
5 & 6 - Working
12 & 13 - Coaching in JB
19 & 20 - Working
26 & 27 - Coaching in JB

February
2 & 3 - Either one day or both working
9 & 10 - CNY hols, going back to Besut for my cousin's wedding
16 & 17 - Coaching in JB
23 & 24 - Working

March
1 & 2 - Jakarta trip
8 & 9 - Coaching in JB
15 & 16 - No plans yet
22 & 23 - Coaching in JB
29 & 30 - No plans yet-high possibility coaching


Looking at it, I will be occupied on all weekends until end of March .And I am sooooo looking forward to my first Jakarta trip and Habibi's business trip again sometime April. With this schedule, it would not allow me to be free and definitely make the time flies really fast. I hope so.

I hope I have the energy to complete all the above without falling sick, insya Allah. And this schedule also confirms that I do not have the extra time to do the scuba dive thingy.Not yet. If I want to do it, it might be during weekdays as I don't have free weekends , most probably until June (that's when the tourney ends).

Most of my weekends will be spent on coaching the girls until the tourney ends. We need to win again this year. There is no if's and no but's . MUST. And looking at their performance end of last year, we got to do a lot of work.

So, in advance, to all my friends out there, sorry guys if I can't make it to any of the meets if it is held on a weekend. Unless something really BIG...yup, I mean BIG to happen. Then there will be a slight change of plan in my schedule to accomodate this.

Interesting start of a new year huh?

Ouchh! Where's the ointment please?

The annual Intensive basketball camp started on the 27th Nov and will end on the 11th Dec. Unfortunately, I have to go back this afternoon as I'm working tonight at 11pm.

I hope the girls will do well. Will wait for the updates from my coach later at the end of the camp.
I will upload more pics later. Now my legs and body are aching from the games we had with the boys for the past few days. Hmm.......at 33, I could still jump , but not run...hehehe.....

The boys and me.

The Camp is here

Today morning, right after work I'm leaving for JB for the R2V Intensive Basketball Camp. Will be taking the bus from Jalan Duta station - not the Transnasional bus, but the boys' bus which is supposed to depart KK at 6am.

I have not seen the schedule yet but from past experience, it will be full and really tiring. And I have not been playing or coaching since September - that's a long time.
Hopefully, I will get sometime to get away and meet Esty and maybe just write something on my blog. And hopefully to still have some energy after standing at the court the whole day. I'm bringing my lappie but not sure where I could get a WiFi (City Square is far from the school).

Ok....signing off now and will be back from JB on Friday night - straight to work.

Take care all...
Don't be naughty, ok

Feeling the heat

2 days ago, received an email from our Return-2-Victory Coordinator.

'" I'm pleased to inform everyone that the school basketball team has been awarded the best sports team during the recent Hari Kokurikulum. A BIG hamper has been presented to me as a Srikandi representative. I received an invitation but was unable to be there (tak tahu pun invitation tu untuk menerima hadiah ;-) Anyway, I was in JB the day after for work & dropped by the school to meet up the players during their practise hours. I thought I should inform everyone that I took the liberty to unwrapped the hamper & 'jamu' about 40 girls. Kalau bawa balik KL pun not easy to share with all srikandis... . Glad to say that the girls also told me that our brass band pun dapat award (maybe category bukan sukan). The baskeball Captain 2007 bagged the Anugerah Kokurikulum. Nampaknya dengan bantuan tenaga/moral/ kewangan Srikandis sekalian whatever society/team managed to produce results. All of us should be proud for being part of this cause tak kiralah dalam bentuk apa... On behalf of R2V, I thank everyone once again.

I would also like to note that our year end intensive camp will be held on Nov 27-Dec 11th. This is the first camp we are having since we won the Championship this year. Basically, to form up next year's team to defend our title. So, any contribution is very much appreciated. "



I'm happy for the girls and the school. Its an achievement for the girls. Achievement for the school. And definitely a proud moment for Srikandi. The truth is I'm not somebody who could contribute cash to my beloved school. The most I have done is just to take a few days of unpaid leave. ( I only have 14 days AL, ok) Well, I did have some financial shortage, but Alhamdulillah so far I could manage. But I do know that I can contribute energy and time - as long as I am strong enough to do it, Insya Allah I will continue doing it. And we definitely have got to retain this title.

I could already feel the heat for the next season . Starting end of November we are going to have our Intensive Camp, as usual.( Hmmm...that reminds me that I need to apply 4 days of unpaid leave for this. )This is when I have to juggle time between work and the girls. I have also start applying leave for next year's March and Mei's tourney -usually it is about the same week.

Its already November, and time is flying really fast. Without realising it, I will already be at the basketball court once again- going through another round of 'tanning' in the hot sun. Once the training starts, the tourney would just be around the corner. And this is when the girls and I have this 'love hate' relationship. They love me to help them to win. But they hate me coz they know the training is not easy.

p/s: Habibi said this time I looked 'fairer'. I said definitely yes because the last time he met me in March the tourney just ended. And now I have not been in the hot sun for the past 3 months.

A coaching and eating weekend

A bit lazy to write in detail. These pictures will tell a story of what I did on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, after a long week of working without a break.

After work, asked Eugene's help to send me to Puduraya as my bus was scheduled to leave for JB at 11.59pm. KL was still bright with the 50years Independence celeb lights.

Bus after midnight to JB will only take 4 to 4.30 hours only instead of 5 hours. I reached Larkin at 4.15am. As usual, this is the time I thank McD for opening its doors 24hours.

With Big Breakfast McValue Meal (as per Ardy which is not BIG actually) and a storybook, I hang around till about 6am. Its easier to go in to STF after 6am (actually there's no problem for me going in at anytime, but no point as the girls would still be sleeping and I won't have any place to lepak)

Joined the girls for their morning run and the start of their fitness training session . (not that I run -but who's going to time them if it wasn't me?..hehehe). The day later was spent sleeping for a few hours before going to Larkin to get my bus ticket back to KL and HP to 'cuci mata'.


Due to the reason checks and inspection on bus drivers, this is the first time, ever, in the past 2 1/2 years, I had problem getting a ticket back to KL. As far as I could remember, even if it was 2 days before Raya , there was no problem in getting a ticket. Just imagine how many bus drivers are involve in the recent cases. I could imagine this year's Raya is going to be worst.Had another training session with the girls at 3pm. They had to wipe the court first as it rained in the morning and there were some pool of water on the court.Checked on their basic skills, and also fitness. You could see that in my 2 months not paying them any visits, their fitness level has decreases.Not good.

This is my partner in crime. She's the band instructor. After we ended our training/practice, as usual, we would go out for dinner. As I was not feeling well , we decided to go for bubur in Sentosa. (it does not make any difference actually, healthy or not, the bubur there is my fave)
We ordered bubur for 2 person.It comes with the condiment - bilis goreng, kangkung masak sambal, kacang, ikan masin, telur asin and some other things.
I felt like eating ikan bakar- so we ordered pari bakar to add up to the bubur order. Hmm...yummy..... Stayed there for about 1 hour. Catch up on some latest hot news from both sides. Then we were talking about having desserts. We decided to take a drive to Pantai Lido for the ABC that both of us loveeee
Yup! We really did that. From Sentosa to Lido. I odered the normal ABC while ST ordered only with kacang. Both were good. Really good. I even forgot that I was not feeling well with sore throat and running nose.heheh.... Then....
I felt like eating eating siput sedut. And my partner agreed. So, there we were, people thought we were just having ABCs and siput for dinner which that was not the real case. The siput was excellent too. Takpe...dah nak puasa....
Here I am, 2 hours after a very ful-filling dinner and a short meeting with the girls, in my bedroom socks, trying to get some sleep. The girls usually prefer to bring down the mattresses and sleep on the floor. That explains the empty beds.
Sunday morning at 6.30am, again the weekend ritual to run 4 rounds. This time , their timing got better. Majority seems to be motivated to run faster. And after that we did some 'stretching and bending' works.
Joined them for breakfast at the dining hall. The sambal nasi lemak in STF is good, but my throat was really hurting me, and since ST was also around, we decided to out for breakfast.
Taraahh! Cucur ikan bilis, freshly fried upon our order. Sedap tau. Well, this was not the only dish we had.heheh... We had lontong kering (which both of us forgot to take a photo off, since dah lapar sangat). This is also one of our fave breakfast place in Jalan Nong Chik.And again, to 'burn' the calories off kononnya, I had another training session with the girls. Form 2& 4 at 3pm, whilst Form 1&4 at 5pm. I can say that I'm proud with the Form 1s. They are good and I could see some of them are really motivated and hardworking in improving themselves.

As usual, St sent me off to the bus station 10mnts before 7pm. I was looking forward to sleep peacefully on the way to KL, when suddenly my sister called and said that my ex called her to inform that my house door is wide opened. It seems that his friend, informed him about that. I was damn worried and pissed off the whole way. Will write about this later.

Alhamdulillah, when I reached home, everything was ok.

More pics of the whole trip here.