Fantasy Football

There are so many fantasy games in the UK hosted mainly by the newspapers. Others than picking up 5 teams for free in Metro Fantasy Games, I have paid for GBP6 to join the Telegraph Fantasy Games. 20 of my company colleagues have also joined and formed a private Super League. Each of us has paid an extra GBP5 and the winner will takes it at the end of the season.

This is my reshuffled team after 6 weeks. Made some early mistakes by picking up Cesc Fabregas, who was injured for the first 3 weeks and picked up 2 yellow cards on the recent two games. Also Joleon Lescott was another flop which earned me some negative points.

The defenders chosen are mainly from the top teams as each clean sheet will earn +4 and each goal conceded will get -1. Patrice Evra and Bacari Sagna are two safe pick as they are the regular first team players. Clichy is a replacement for Nemanja Vidic as he's a bit expensive to fit in my current team. Corluka is the only defender who is not from the top four, but he has got the scoring ability and I keep in faith that Tottenham will gets better under Ramos.

The midfielders chosen are those who have good assisting and scoring ability. I don't think it's wise to pick up a defensive midfielder in any fantasy football game! Joe Cole, Shaun Wright Philips, Ashley Young and Fabregas (yes still!) are my choice. I am in dilemma whether or not to transfer Fabregas out and bring in Samir Nasri or Theo Walcott who is almost a million pound cheaper. Ronaldo was my first choice however at 7 million he is the second most expensive player after Torres.

At the beginning of the game I picked Van Persie and Anelka as my strikers and they had earned me some decent points. When Drogba came back from injury I decided to change Anelka to Agbonlanhor as I think his chances will get thinner. Van Persie was transferred for only one reason - Berbatov is now in Manchester United jersey and I hope he'll fit in to the team soon and start scoring to win the golden boots this season!

I'm currently scoring 156 points after 6 weeks and positioned at 61496 out of 235828 with 17 transfers left. My current target is to climb up to the top 10% at mid season!

Heroes (Villains!) are back!

After months of waiting finally Heroes Season 3 'Villains' is back.



Episode 1 "The Second Coming" & Episode 2 "The Butterfly Effect" can be watched here online stream.

Many questions arise after watching the first two episodes:

• Why Ando kills Hiro in the future?
• Is Tracy = Nikki?
• Why Sylar didn't kill Claire after stealing her power?
• What happened to Mohinder after possessing his new power?
• It the future Peter Petrelli a hero or villain?

Another nice drama series for me to pass time.

Moonlight Resonance 溏心风暴之家好月圆

Ever since the woman came to London we have been chasing some HK TV drama series. It's the best thing to do during dinner to watch the latest episode of the day.

Recently been chasing for Moonlight Resonance and just watched episode 34 & 35 after a long search online. So far the best up-to-date stream site is this one with good quality.

Update: surprisingly episode 36 is up here today!

Sony A700 Firmware V4 Update

It has been a while since the latest firmware Version 4 for A700 been leaked on the cyber community. I have been waiting to get the 'genuine' version and finally it's up on Sony Europe site!

The improvement and solved issues:

• The choice to select auto exposure bracketing (single & continuous) with 3 shots in 2 EV steps has been added.
• The choice to turn [Off] the High ISO NR feature has been added.
• Improvement of the image quality in high ISO setting.
• Improvement of the auto white balance and D-Range Optimizer performance.
• Improvement of reliability for communication between camera body and vertical grip.

Just update the firmware in my camera and everything is up and running. A few test shots on high ISO seems it has improved (or psychologically maybe!). Time to shoot more to get the best out of my A700!

Emirates Cup 2008

Following last year's Emirate Cup, I have received an email notification few months ago for Emirates Cup 2008 featuring the host Arsenal, Hamburg, Juventus and the star-packed Real Madrid.

Unlike last year where I bought the first row tickets behind the goal which allowed me to take some nice pictures, this year we bought the middle tier for an overview of the pitch, more expensive seating but I don't quite like it coz even my longest zoom can't reach the distance effectively.

First match was Juventus vs Hamburg, don't know any of the Hamburg players except for the Dutchman Van der Vaart who wasn't in the line-up. Juventus were a different team after the relegation crisis two seasons ago which seen many new faces in the team. Anyway still glad to see Del Piero, Camoranesi, Jaquinta the world cup winners playing.

How many of them do you recognise?

Del Piero is old but still good.

Claudio Ranieri the familiar face in English football, coaching Juventus now.

Olic scored two goals and eventually Hamburg beat Juventus 3-0

Arsenal played Real Madrid in the second match.

The bright young gunners and the new Zidane - Samir Nasri, he's very good indeed.

The gunners.

Real Madrid players warming up.

Another young star Carlos Vela showing off some skills.

Gunners in colourful boots - Diaby in yellow, Van Persie in blue, Adebayor in green and Sagna in white.

The ex-MU player Gabriel Heinze was the boo-boys target of the day.

Adebayor scratching his butts before the match.

Guess who's back? Eduador who had a terrible injury last year is back to the Emirates.

First team line-up, probably not the real first team for Real Madrid but it's still packed with stars.

Adebayor and Van Persie kicked start.

Sagna headed off a high ball to Robinho.

Even though Arsenal lost two key players before start of the season but it's still a team to watch with all the young gunners rising.

It's Jerzy Dudek! Didn't expect the ex-Liverpool goalie to play for Real.

Van Nistelrooy came on second half.

Van Persie brought down, Adebayor stepped up to take the penalty and scored the only goal of the match.

Arjen Robben came on! He was one of my favourite who has wasted his time at Chelsea before moving to Spain.

Eventually Hamburg won the Emirates Cup 2008.

See you at the Emirates next year!

Schmap Bath

Although I don't make a living from photography, but it's always a delightful things when the photos are being recognised by some people, even though just a small group of people.

I have a photo published in The Star paper back in the late 90's which won me RM50 which was a small achievement for myself during that time. That was a photo of 3 little guinea pigs of my neighbour hanging on the glass cage. Unfortunately I didn't keep a copy of the paper cut and don't even remember where the printed copy has gone.

I was happy that photokaki put my photo on the front page last year - ya they change it like few times a month but it feels good to have one of mine on the front.

One of the photo published in Dyxum Galleries Exhibition #39 early this year.

And recently I received an email in flickr...

Schmap is actually an online travel guide which I have never heard before but it should be something to have its 5th edition in the making.

It is not one of my favourite picture but certainly I am more than happy to have it included in the guide.

It's just a small thumbnail picture on the website.

With my name on it, hehe... nothing to brag about but it's a small encouragement to myself.

I am eager to change profession to a job which I truly enjoy but unfortunately that will only realise when I can make more money from photography than what I am doing now in order to survive, that's the reality in life.

The 'Not So' Happening

Can't believe it has been 3 months since I last blogged. Since I broke my hands I think I've been very lazy and still so even it's fully recover now.

Watched 'The Happening' directed by M. Night Shyamalan yesterday and I couldn't believe it's from the same man who directed 'The Sixth Sense'.

Half way watching the movie I already thinking there what kind of comments people will give, it's a complete waste of time when I suppose to study for my final exam. One of the worst I've ever seen in many years.

I wouldn't tell the story but some comments from IMDB just made me laugh:

"This is a joke, right?"

"A terrible screenplay and poorly acted"

"The happening is not happening"

"Awful doesn't cover it"

"If it's intentional, it's still a bad film"

"Will someone just confiscate Shyamalan's typewriter"

"An insult to intelligence"

"The crappening"

and many more...

Can't agree more than the above said, in fact many people joined IMDB to made their first comment on a movie after watching this, that was what I initially wanted to do.

I'm glad I didn't spend to watch this.

London Mayoral Election 2008

Not long I registered for London Elects. I am qualified as I have already lived here for more than a year.

On 1st May, I casted my vote for Boris Johnson of the Conservatives, for his promises to reduce the rising crimes and more importantly to get better value for the taxpayers' money. He has got character and great sense of humour.


Boris in Top Gear.


Boris' great tackle on a Germany player in a charity match, in the rugby way.

I haven't even voted in Malaysia before. The mayor in Kuala Lumpur is not elected but appointed by the government despite of the uncountable complaints of its poor performance and corruption scandals.

Perhaps it's time to give the people a choice.

Spring in UK

Summer time has arrived in April but this morning when I look out from the window...

The surroundings were covered in white..

Breakfast in the snow.

Is it the climate change? I just hope there'll be a warmer summer this year.

Alpha 2008 Lineup Update

Early this year I've posted my 2008 line up. In 3 months time I have tidy up the lineup, adding few lens and sold the Sony A100 kit with the Dicain vertical grip.

So the updated 2008 lineup will be:

Back row: Sony HVL-F56AM, Minolta 70-210mm F4 'Beercan', Minolta 3600HSD (supposed to let it go but decided to keep it a little longer til I get a right price)
Front row: Sigma 10-20mm, M42 Jupiter 9 85mm F2, Sony A700 with Tamron 17-50mm F2.8, Tamron 90mm SP F2.8 Macro, Minolta 50mm F1.7, M42 Helios 135mm F2.8

The last thing I want on my list this year is the Sony VG-C70AM vertical grip.

Europe Day One - The Grand Place, Brussels

Brussels is relatively easy to walk around if you have a map in hand.

Eglise St-Nicolas, processed in HDR.

The Grand Place, the geographical, historical and commercial heart of the city.

Hotel de Ville, built in the 14th century as the town hall.

The main entrance and the belfry, I keep thinking why the entrance wasn't center aligned with the belfry...

Courtyard of the hotel with nice pavement design.

Entrace to the reception lobby.

The statue and landscape at the courtyard.

Le Renard and Le Cornet.

The Maison Du Roi, built in 1536, now home to the Musee de la Ville. Too many museums in Europe and I decided to skip this one. I went in almost every museum when I visited Paris and lesson learned - just visit the highlight and not to waste the precious time and money.

View of Maison Du Roi from entrance of Hotel De Ville.

With the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle, I can now take pictures of myself without others help or tripod! La Maison Des Ducs De Brabant at the middle of the background and Everard 't Serclaes on the right. Touching the bronze arm of Everard 't Serclaes is said to bring luck but too bad the place is closed for refurbishment during the period.

Godiva chocolatier outlet at the Grand Place, the premium chocolate manufacturer among the uncountable numbers of chocolate shops in Brussels.

Day One in Brussels

I'm still recovering from the 6 days trip in West Europe. Weather were terrible and my skin are badly dry out and cracking. Brought too many lens this trip and I didn't use the Tamron 90mm SP and Jupiter 9 at all. Taken nearly 1,000 pictures this trip and it's gonna take some time to edit all.

On the way in Eurostar from London St Pancras to Brussels Midi on Thursday morning. Managed to grab pair of return tickets from lastminute.com for GBP55, it's always a good source for last minute deal as I couldn't find tickets from Eurostar website.

The bi-lingual city is often confusing with its French Dutch names for places and roads. Initially I thought Brussel Zuid and Bruxelles Midi are two different stations and apparently it's the name of the station in two languages.

The adventure begins with a Belgian cappuccino and pain au chocolat. I had not done much study before the trip, no booking on any accommodation nor intercity train tickets.

The Flying Ceiling (1976) by Pol Bury in Bourse station. Public transport in Europe is relatively cheap when comparing with UK. A day travel card cost 4 euros to be used on all metro, tram and buses. Actually there are no barriers or check on the metro and tram so you can try a few free rides.

La Bourse, Brussels' stock exchange, the stairs is a meeting point for people and also serve as speaker's corner for protests.