HCFoo's Blogyard

Christmas is just days away and this year I'm looking forward to celebrate this special occasion with my loved one and friends.

One of my friend suggested that I should get an X'mas tree from Tesco because it's very very cheap. Less than RM40 for a small tree (about 3 ft tall). And that haven't include the ornaments and lights yet. Probably will come up to not more than RM80.

And now I'm having another headache. I'm thinking of what X'mas presents I should get for my loved one and for gift-exchange among our friends. Is there anything one can buy besides fragrance, under garments or gadgets? I want to give something with sentimental value and without spending a fortune. It should be the perfect first X'mas gift from me.

So what is the perfect X'mas gift you ever received?

The past couple of days are rather unusual and shocking because I've been bombarded by people who have different agenda than me. To those who send me critic emails but in a respectful way, thank you and I do consider your input. However, to those who send me personal hate mails, you don't earn my respect at all and I'm sorry that your life is unhappy.

Now back to my post of today, instead of criticizing the standards of local universities in this country, I believe I have found a simple idea as an alternative solution to raise the standards of local universities in various aspects. I'm looking for a partner to work together on this project. I'm looking for someone with programming or web development background. But most importantly I'm looking for a partner with an entrepreneurial mind and passion to make a difference in this society.

Drop me an email at hcfoo7@gmail.com if you think we are driven by the same passion and we'll see if we can work it out.

Roger Federer might end the year 2007 in such a classy way (as he usually did) by winning the Shanghai Open. However, I predict that by next year in year 2008, we will see more players raise their game to beat the world number 1.

For the last two three years, Rafael Nadal has been Fedex's biggest rival. And I believe there will be no difference in year 2008 particularly the first half of the year. However, Nadal's knee injury could blow his chance in winning the French Open at Roland Garros for the fourth times as Fedex has been aiming the only Grand Slam he's missing in his prized collection. These two titanic rivals will definitely dominate the finals again next year and keeping other players at bay.

We have seen Fernando Gonzalez beaten Fedex in Shanghai Open and I believe it's still possible for Gonzalez to do that again but not in crucial finals and in the Grand Slams. So does Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer. However, these two players might surprise us based on their excellent performance this year. As for Nikolay Davydenko, he has landed himself in too many controversies including a match-fixing accusation. And I don't see him as a big threat to Fedex although he is the world number 4 as Fedex has a series of record of beating him in straight sets.

The only player besides Nadal whom I can see giving tough challenge to Fedex next year is David Nalbandian. Nalbandian is a very talented player and there have been some great battles between them in the past. This Argentinian player could step up and raise to be among the top 3 players next year.

Fedex is still going to dominate the professional tennis scene in 2008. But the question is, will he improve even more on clay court like what he did earlier this year?

Voicing out my opinion about politics in my blog is wrong. What more I'm a pro government in this blogosphere where majority Malaysian bloggers are supporting the opposition parties. Sure kena bombard habis.

Now I just need to keep my mouth shut and just blog what I normally blog.

This year supposed to be Visit Malaysia Year and our 50th Independence. However, it seems that the people in this country no longer respect that.

Few weeks ago, the opposition party took over the street and barely a month after that, the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) who said to be representing the entire Indian community protest in the street of Jalan Ampang blamed the British government for their poor economic status in this country.

After a series of roadblocks in the past couple of days in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, which caused inconvenience for the public road users, the rally still continues with over ten thousands of Indians joined the protest while I'm still soundly asleep.

To be honest, demanding for trillions of dollars and carrying banners that says "We Want Our Right" is rather inappropriate or should I say rather late. Why waited for 50 years only to stand up for their right? What about the other ethnic group (read Chinese) whom their great grandparents migrate to Malaya penniless and without the support from the British government and yet managed to build their economic status here from scratch? And let's not forget, we have a lot of successful Indians in our community which a lot of them are well respected.

Please don't spoil a happy Sunday and the peace in this country which the rest of us enjoy all this years.

After successfully meeting Rafael Nadal and get his autograph and photo, I would like share some tips on how you can do the same thing to meet your idol too. Let's say you know your idol would be in town and you want to meet up him/her. Here's what you can do:

1. Contact the actual event organizer by phone a couple of weeks before the arrival of your idol. I tried contacted the local agent before and they just shoved me off. Hence contacting the right person is important.

2. Once you have successfully contacted the organizer, give them concrete reasons as to why you want to know the flight schedule and appearances of your idol. For me, I told them I'm a blogger/independent media and fan.

3. If the organizer agrees to consider your request, suggest to them that you will put the request in an email/written format and tell them that you'll look forward for their reply.

4. Write a well-planned and organized email. Give concrete reasons why you want to know such information. For example, one of the reasons that I told the organizer was I need the information to spread to other tennis fans.

5. If the organizer consider your request, then you should be on the right track and have a big chance to meet your idol. However, the information provided may change during the last minute. Hence, always be prepared for any changes and ask the organizer for the latest updates.

6. Waiting patiently at the airport for your idol's arrival and you'll stand a chance to meet him/her. Look out for people from the media e.g. cameramen and reporter. Don't be afraid to ask them where is the exact location your idol will appear. Chances are your idol might not walk out through the main arrival hall like everyone else.

7. Be patient and get yourself on standby mode. Make sure your camera is working and your pen and paper for autograph.

8. When you see your idol, snap their pictures first and then be brave to ask them for a picture and follow by an autograph. Remember to be polite when asking. Most of the time, the bodyguards/organizer/entourage and even your idol wouldn't mind to take a picture with you and signing your autograph.

9. If you have taken your pictures and autograph, be considerate and let other fans to have their chances too.

In short, waiting for your idol's arrival at the airport will increase your chance of meeting him/her. It's almost impossible to have a chance to shake hands or get an autograph during the actual event or concert where lot of other fans would be there.

I hope these tips will help you in realizing your dreams too.

It was a night to remember especially for tennis fans in Malaysia. Having two top 10 tennis players in the world in this country is something that is far from my imagination. Thanks to the Ministry of Youths and Sports, we are able to see Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet live in Malaysia for the very first time in an exhibition match called Clash of the Titans.

The MC for the night is Mahadzir Lokman which I think is appropriate since he knows how to speak Spanish and French. The Deputy Prime Minister and wife as well as the Minister of Youths and Sports were present that night.

The match started off with a performance by a local boy band, Ruffedge. To be honest, I wish the performance is by Sheila Majid, Ning Baizura or even Siti Nurhaliza who has more class and suitable for a high profile tennis event like this.

Then the event was followed by cultural dance. It was a very Malaysian-style event. I only hope that they are able to make it more grand for such a huge event like this (the MC said the event were broadcasted to over 50 countries) and not just a few people wearing different costumes doing some simple dance moves. It's just too old school for me.

Well, most of us were already anxious for Nadal and Gasquet to emerge. And so by 8.30 p.m. the players came out and I'm so relieved that the stadium was already more than 3/4 occupied. I managed to get a good sight of the players as I managed to move from my RM83 seat to a RM388 seat!

The MC asked some questions before we were introduced to the umpire who is a former national tennis player. The players warm up for few minutes and fans were already cheering seeing some great sharp returns made by the players. The show haven't started and you can see how good these guys are.

To cut the story short, the score for the night is 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 with Nadal winning the exhibition match. Through out the match, I managed to get to see Nadal's butt picking habit (!), fist pumping but there's no adjusting socks, placement of water bottles or any other rituals he normally do. Perhaps, it's just only an exhibition match. But Nadal seemed to be having a lot of fun and showing some tricks compares to Gasquet. By the third set, Gasquet was already tired and gave up although I wish this set could end up with a tie break.

The night would have been a perfect if the linesmen do their jobs well. Even the umpire made a few wrong calls that night. Speaking about professionalism in tennis, we are still very far behind. Even the Stadium Melawati needs some face lifting job done. I can't believe these world top players are playing in such a poor venue like this. Don't they have a better tennis court in Bukit Jalil?

Now, Roger Federer will be arriving Malaysia today with Pete Sampras. According to the organizer, they will be flying in through private jet and will land in Subang Airport instead of KLIA. I'm not sure if there's any changes in their flight schedule but you can check with the organizer by calling them up.

For Nadal's fans, I'll put up more pictures as soon as I've uploaded more pictures from the camera.

For most people, I'm a crazy 30-year-old who chases her idol. And in this particular case, I wanted to meet my tennis idol, Rafael Nadal.

However, to me, it's not just about meeting Nadal. I admire his fighting spirit in the court but that's not the main reason why I started a campaign to meet him.

To meet the world no. 2 tennis player in the world who hasn't come to Southeast Asia before is hard. And to get to take picture with him is even harder. But now I have to say that anything is possible.

When you are driven by a goal, work your way (legally) towards that goal and you'll eventually get what you want. And perhaps visualization is important too in making yourself believe that you are able to accomplish what you have started.

And to Richard Gasquet too!

I was at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at about 5.30 p.m. waiting for my tennis idol, Rafael Nadal to show up. Earlier on, I was in KL to pick up my TGI Friday's winning voucher before proceed to Ritz Carlton Hotel. To my disappointment, a friend from Astro who apparently preparing for the brief appearance told me that event at the hotel has been cancelled.

I called up Anna, the organizer, and she has been very helpful by letting me know that Nadal's flight has been delayed and I would be in time to catch him at KLIA. Hence I drove all the way to KLIA and waited for hours at the arrival hall. Nadal and Gasquet did not appear at the arrival hall but instead proceed to the VIP lounge where all the reporters and TV stations are there for a press conference.

I managed to get to know the location of the lounge and waited outside. I did get some footage where Nadal and Gasquet walked out from the press conference.

I also managed to get a photo with Nadal but the one with Gasquet didn't work out. And I got Nadal's signature on my ticket too!

Rafael Nadal has proven a lot of critics wrong by continuing his quest to win the privileged Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Send Djokovic packing will definitely give Nadal psychological boost as Djokovic has been such a stiff competitor to all the top players this year.

Now that there are two Spanish players in the semifinals (Nadal and Ferrer), I am confident that Nadal might be able to win this high profile tournament before he comes to Malaysia next week.

And speaking about Nadal's visit to Malaysia, he will be arriving with Richard Gasquet. However, flight schedule has yet to be confirmed until Monday. I predict that Nadal and Gasquet will arrive in the evening and will proceed straight to the Ritz Carlton Hotel for brief appearance. There will be no tennis clinic or whatsoever activities, according to the organizer.

Will Uncle Tony, Nadal's uncle and coach, coming to Malaysia too? Let's just wait and see.

I'm going to make this short as I need to leave for work soon.

I was at the Rose Rose I Love You pop musical last Friday and here's my brief comment about it:

What I like about the musical:
1. It is free.
2. Thumbs up to the costumes designed by Melinda Looi for Tin Tan and Carmen Soo.
3. The pop songs used in the musical such as Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston) and Like A Virgin (Madonna) are well arranged and blend well in the musical that sets in the nostalgic era.
4. I am impressed with the storyteller for her powerful voice!
5. Tin Tan is really good in pole dancing and credit must be given to Tony Eusoff for his great acting skills!

What I don't fancy about the musical:
1. I understand the musical is for the 18-year-old and above but KK Wong (the DJ on Chinese radio channel 98.8) doesn't have to use foul language several times in the show to make his character works. It's such a turn off!

2. The tickets which ranges from RM68 to RM118 are rather pricey.
3. The props look cheap.
4. Tin Tan made some minor glitches on her dialogue.
5. Overall, this is only a mediocre local production. Probably I came to this show with high expectation after reading from local papers about how good this show is. Well, sad to say, it's not.

This is latest updates I've got from Entertainment Group Limited, the organizer for the upcoming Malaysia Independence Tennis Festival, about Rafael Nadal appearance in our country.

For those of you who are interested to meet up with Nadal who will be making his first-ever appearance in the Southeast Asia, please take note of the following:

• Nadal will be arriving at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Monday, 19th November 2007 at about 5 p.m. Fans would have a brief chance to say hello to him but there will be no autograph opportunity at that time.
• It is likely (although not guaranteed) that Nadal will take about 15 minutes to sign autographs for the fans. So, guys, do stay back after the exhibition match between Nadal and Richard Gasquet!

Well, I don't put any jokes in my blog but this morning I received a funny one forwarded from my friend. Here it goes.

Ah Pek and Ah Ma were lying in bed one night. The husband was falling asleep but the wife felt romantic and wanted to talk. She said, "You used to hold my hand when we were courting."

Wearily, he reached across, held her hand for a second and tried to get back to sleep.

A few moments later she said, "Then, you used to kiss me." Mildly irritated, he reached across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep.

Thirty seconds later she said, "Then, you used to bite my neck." Angrily, he threw back the bed covers, got out of bed and walk away.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To get my teeth lah!"

It was really a surprise that I won another contest this week; Nuffnang's TGI Friday's blog writing contest! My blog post is one of the first 25 winning posts who win the FREE dinner for two at where else but Friday's.

Thank you guys for the prize. Now, I don't mind taking the RM1k for one lucky Nuffnanger though.

Finally my self-designed Nadal and Federer fan t-shirts are out! You can start placing your order by tonight as soon as I've uploaded these items on Ebay Malaysia. You can either bid or buy directly. Alternatively you can write me an email to place your order.

Please be informed that these are print on demand t-shirts meaning it's strictly for fans who ordered and not going to be sold anywhere else except through me. The price per t-shirt is RM28 and postage is RM5.

These t-shirts will always be available but for those of you who are going to the Malaysia Independence Tennis Festival this month, please place your order and make payment by end of this week so that your t-shirts can be shipped out on time.

UPDATE: To order the t-shirts, go to Ebay Malaysia and type 'Federer' or 'Nadal' and you can start bidding.


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Yesterday, the Rose Rose I Love You production called me up and informed me that I've won a pair of tickets to the pop musical after I've entered the contest in their blog last week.

Apparently my friends and I plan to go to Genting next week during the Deepavali holiday as they want to watch the musical badly. I offer myself to babysit my friend's son so that they can watch it peacefully. That means I have not get my ticket for the musical.

Well, now it seems that I will watch it anyway but I'm going to give the winning seats (which worth RM118 each) to my friends who are big fans of both local and international musical dramas.

For more information about the pop musical, read about it here which is featured Sunday Star.

I listened to Fly FM's Fit It today and apparently there's a part 2 to the drama yesterday.

After more than 20 calls or something, the DJs managed to get through to the 30-year-old man. This time the man was calmer and claimed that it was his 14-year-old nephew who had stayed with him for the past 2 weeks and has been using his internet and handphone. He even asked the DJs to meet up with his nephew to clear things up. And so they did.

Hence, this morning, Phat Fabes and Ben set up both the man and the mother again trying to explain the confusion yesterday.

Well, I am not sure to believe his claim that it is his nephew's job though but the DJs sure did to clear up such a heavy allegation like this over the air waves they have started.

There are many questions unanswered particularly from the daughter's side and we have not personally listen from the nephew's side too.

Personally I love to listen to Fly FM's Big Bang! Breakfast Show. And in one of the segment called Fix It, Phat Fabes and Ben actually help people to fix anything from meeting a long lost friend to selling car!

Today's show a little bit unique and send some goosebumps down my spine a little bit. Nah, it has nothing to do with Halloween though.

It's about a mother who is worrying about her daughter meeting an online friend in the coming weekend. The mother managed to get the '16 year-old' boy's phone number and needs Fat Fabes and Ben to call up the boy and ask him some questions.

Guess what? It turns out that a 30-year-old man actually picked up the phone and without any suspicious feeling he revealed that he is happily married with no 16-year- old son to the DJs.

The mother can't keep quiet any longer and started to pop out and bombarded the man with questions. The man kept denying he knows her daughter. He even warned the mother to keep an eye on her own daughter and slammed down the phone. Phat Fabes and Ben actually tried to call him numerous times but failed.

Personally, it's obvious that this guy will not confess that he is preying on the 14-year-old daughter of the mother. Instead he became so defensive on the phone.

I am so proud of what the mother has done or else what would have happened to the teenager if she meet up with the so-called internet friend who is so much older than her? Moreover he is married.

The internet world can be a very cruel place. Hence parents should learn from this lesson and keep an eye on their children especially those who frequent chat rooms. And children should understand that parents have no intention to intrude their privacy but instead to protect them from being harmed by people with bad intention.