You tak boleh derma dara[h] ...

Yesterday there was an announcemnt via email that there will be a blood donation drive at my office so I brough along my card with good intention to donate after skipping 2010 because when they visited, I was having coughs and will not be allowed to donate.

I usually go in the morning where there aren't too many people BUT I was totally occupied and only had a chance to go visit during lunch time. Seeing that there weren't too many people so I decided to donate first before having lunch.

I filled up the necessary form and was even invited to participate in a study by a MBA student which I graciously accepted to help her finish her thesis. I enquired about her thesis but could not really comprehend her exactly but I grasped that it was something about the human genome and her explanation on how we are each mutants whereby the varying DNA is also what makes us all look different.

I passed the second station check as well which tests for blood type and thickness I think. When it came to the third station, I failed at the question on whether I had any surgery in the past 6 months. I told the nurse that I had removed my wisdom tooth around CNY and she rejected me :( I asked why and was told that if I had been pricked by a needle, I am disqualified because IF there is any infection, it would take about 6 months for it be able to be picked up by any tests.

Sigh, not only was I not able to donate because I was pricked, I also found out that I now weigh almost 10kg more zzz. Time to do some food intake cutdown again.

P/S : Oh yeah, the title was intentionally put that way because I always joke in office. Darah without the "h" means virginity :p So isn't great to exclaim that you are going to donate virginity? XD

Blues luck

Following the winning of Liverpool's training passes, my string of luck seems to be going on a roll. I received an email yesterday telling me that I have won training passes again, this time to Chelsea's. Again, I offered the passes to my friends/colleagues but none seems to be interested and it had to go to waste. You will notice that they sent the email using the same template as before :p

Hi there,

While I must apologize for this rather late e-mail but congratulations, you have won yourself a pair of passes to the training sessions of Chelsea F.C! :D

You are able to collect the passes at this address:

Lowyat Networks Sdn. Bhd.,

B-13-5, Block B, Northpoint Office Suites,

Mid valley City, Medan Syed Putra Utara,

59200 Kuala Lumpur.

The pickup time will be:

Monday,18 July: 3:00 pm till 7:00 pm

Tuesday 19 July: 11:00 am till 5:00pm

If you need any assistance, do give a call to us at 03 - 2282 xxxx, seek for Dxxxxx/Hxxx and ask away. Alternatively, you can email to cxxxxxx[at]lowyat.net as well. Again, I apologize for this late e-mail but nevertheless, congrats and enjoy your time with Chelsea F.C soon! :)

- Cheers, Cxxxxxx @ Lowyat.NET -

Time to search for more competition to enter and hopefully win something better :D

WTF am I doing with Liverpool shit???

They are the same color as my favourite Manchester United BUT I will never mistake them for my team ... so WTF am I doing with so many of these shit??? Well Im just helping a good friend who is now in Singapore out so that he may watch his favourite team. It was a out-of-way favour to go and buy these tickets having to be stuck in a traffic jam, overcoming rain and not to mention the location of the shop which was far from my home.

I understand the importance of going and watching them live. I have had that pleasure and will definately go again if my team comes again, hopefully soon :) I also advised him about my experiences and I do hope he listens.

4 tickets whereby I was supposed to get 5 but the shop only had 4 tickets to be printed on zzz. The fifth ticket was supposed to be mine =_="
This is what RM108 looks like in Liverpool currency :p

The big face on the ticket is one of the most famous name in the world BUT he is injured and will not make an appearance against Malaysia :(

Last week, I saw a competition on a popular forum which I frequent where the prizes were match tickets and training passes. Seeing that I still had a chance to get more tickets, I entered it without much thought but hoping that I will win the match tickets. Yesterday, I got a reply from the competition admins :

Hi there,

While I must apologize for this rather late e-mail but congratulations, you have won yourself a pair of passes to the training sessions of Liverpool F.C! :D

You are able to collect the tickets on tomorrow, Thursday 14 July from 11:00 am till 5:00 pm at this address:

Lowyat Networks Sdn. Bhd.,

B-13-5, Block B, Northpoint Office Suites,

Mid valley City, Medan Syed Putra Utara,

59200 Kuala Lumpur.

If you need any assistance, do give a call to us at 03 - 2282 xxxx, seek for Dxxxxx/Hxxx and ask away. Alternatively, you can email to cxxxxxx[at]lowyat.net as well. Again, I apologize for this late e-mail but nevertheless, congrats and enjoy your time with Liverpool F.C soon! :)

- Cheers, Cxxxxxxx @ Lowyat.NET -

Although I was really hoping for the match tickets when I opened the email but it was just training tickets. Seeing that I have a number of Liverpool fan friends, so I asked around who would be interested so that it would not go to waste. I would say that it was quickly snapped up after being offered :p Since it was my colleague who took up the offer, the catch was to fetch me to Midvalley to pick up the passes.

I would say that the Lowyat Network's office looks coo although small and it was actually quite dark, perhaps electric cost saving? I did not see the big boss and there were only 4 girls in the office at around 1pm then. I was in a hurry so I picked up the tickets and thanked the girl before my colleague treat me to Chilli's :p

1 notepad, 1 promotional flyer and 2 training passes

The training pass up close, seems to be the same mould as my Manchester United training pass BUT its laminated!A different angle of the stuff.

The real cover of the notepad *facepalm*

The insides of the notepad

My lucky friend will get all these along with his match tickets. Will I win Chelsea tickets in another competition from that popular forum? :p Who wants to make reservations now? :p

I miss football season ... :(

Seeing that now is the off season and Sir Alex Ferguson (SAF) going on a buying frenzy, it triggered an itch in me to fire up my Football Manager (FM) 2011 game again. This coming season feels more and more like a fantasy football season because many clubs are spending big and getting the big named players.

However, I think they are still not very willing to gamble on players which may be unknown but showing the potential of greatness. At least we have guides in the game in the form of players stats. How good they are at driblling, passing, their pace and many many more.

In all honesty, I believe this game does its very best to emulate what is real in the world. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Neymar, Nani etc were must haves in the game. I know I bought Ronaldo and Nani way before Manchester United did. Well of course there are duds like Braaten, Adu, Kerlon and many more. Those are the risks which someone must take but IMHO the rewards could outweigh the risks as you may find a gem and exploit them before offloading them to those rich clubs and having new and upcoming players to replace those which you have sold.

I spent every cent given to me on my first season :p , cover for positions I find lacking

Cannot resist the temptation to buy a wonderkid who turned out to be the best player for years to come, Eden Hazard. Bale and Balotelli were bought before the patch of unhappy players. Why sell 2 of my best players (Berbatov and Vidic)? I am anti slow players and anyways there are getting old. VDS was old and leaking goals so I just tried to get a good keeper in Asenjo and Bolat was just a cheap good keeper. Christian Benitez was signed to be sold off but he gave me many many goals.

Hamsik and Pastore, if I were SAF, either of them would replace Scholes. Got them just before the unhappy patch was out :D Signing (more like poaching or the term used in football, cradle snatching) potential great youngsters. Damn Barcelona also took advantage of the unhappy bug for Nani and Valencia.

Everyone said Wilshere was great so I tried him out. Signed more potentially great youngsters. Signed a wonderkid and an awesome stat right winger. Offloaded 2 redundant left sided players.

Thought Wilshere did fine and signed him, signed a couple more youngsters and a wonderkid for peanuts. Bought Busquets to have some cover for Fletcher. I only realized that the wonderkid from last season was NOT a defensive midfielder =_=" Offloaded a dud, Biscay.

Finally managed to get Pjanic, a player whom I tried to sign the season before and willing to pay 30M or more but now he was offered to me for just over half that amount :D Offloaded an average regen from my academy as I have too many players of his type but much better than him.

My players in the 2015/2016 season. I have 4 wonderkids in my current team :p

Super cheap buy and he turned out to be a wonderkid with amazing stats at the age of 16 when I signed him. Unfortunately, I have too many great players in the CM position :(

Another super cheap buy who turned out to be a wonderkid as well after just 1 season. This game is too bias and have too many left sided players for me :(

Incredible regen from my academy. He came to me as a DC but his stats are skewed to be a fine striker. He is now listed as a wonderkid

My most expensive bought wonderkid. Not sure why I thought he was a DM when his stats clearly shows that he is a creative midfielder. Since he's got great dribbling stats, I made him a right winger and he is challenging Hazard (also converted to be winger).

Not a wonderkid BUT great stats as a DM and he came to me just when Hargreaves' contract ended. Now he is in line to take over from Fletcher once his contract runs out.

This was a paid off gamble, his stats exploded when I needed a DL. As he showed his potential, it was evident that he is a great DC. Not a wonderkid but IMHO he is better than Evans :p

A regen from my academy in the year when Giggs' contract ran out. When he came, I was like OMG, Giggs' replacement. Not a wonderkid though.

A cheap wonderkid. Incredible overall stats and my assistant always picks him to be a striker of which he is not as great as being a DC.

I only used 1 tactic for all 6 season and initially games were not so easily won. I tweaked the tactic a little from the original person who created it to suit my taste of counter attack and tempo. I think it worked out great because I rarely do anymore changes and can beat big teams like Barcelona and the big 5-6 in EPL. In the 2014/2015 season, I basically thrashed all teams and won the title in March. Rooney scored 50 goals and Hernandez, 40+. Mind you, they did not play every game because I always rotate my players to ensure that only the most fit players will play with the exception of important and big games but never under 97% fitness.

If SAF reads this ... I am sure it will worth every cent that we paid for De Gea and Young, they will be great players. Now to the things which I really want to convey, FUCKING buy Pjanic, Hamsik, Pastore and/or Hazard! These guys are amazing and will not be duds like Veron. Also, you are quite stupid to sell Pique and Rossi for next to nothing ... =X

Yeah well basically Im just ranting because there is no weekend football games to watch or look forward to. August can't come soon enough ... though it also means another phase in life for me.

The Law of Attraction

For people who likes to read books, most likely you would have heard or maybe even read it already. Its one of those motivational thingies that should help guide you to a better life. It also goes by another name, The Secret but Law of Attraction guides you via its techniques. If done properly and correctly, it will help you focus and channel your good vibes to give you back good repercussions, specifically what you desire.

I have heard my colleagues raving about this course since last year, I think. To me, its just like any other motivational thingies that tries to help you be positive and hopefully focus your positive vibes to give you what you desire. eg If you want to get good exam results, you must firmly tell and believe yourself that, "I will be able to pass the exam with flying colours". Of course, just like any law, it has to be logical. It is still impossible to tell yourself that you will be able to fly because humans are not meant to fly ... without machines that is.

Things would not happen IF you do not do something about it. The trainers keeps on reiterating a quote from Albert Einstein that, "Insanity : Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result". So you have to make the necessary changes to move towards your intended goal(s). There will be no miracle that suddenly a bag of cash will drop from the sky and you are an instant millionaire or you will be a 36-24-36 hourglass figure super hot woman just by thinking alone.

Of course, I believe we all know about these things. Its just that these courses helps you focus or guide you of what you may already know to actually trying to do it. I have set some goals for myself earlier this year, mostly are related to money. Now I am being rated as to how well I have performed last year which would ultimately determine how much bonus and increment I would receive. I would say that I have laboured to do what I claim I would do but its still up to your boss to give the final rating. I know what I have claimed and I did do the work as per how I claimed except for the part where I could not control because my big boss would not allow me to go for a course which I really wanted to go and was claimed that I would do.

I have of course done many other work which I did not put in writing. I strongly believe that those work should count for something in determining how deserved I am to get an excellent rating. I will still attempt to fulfill whichever resolution I made earlier this year with what I get in the end, perhaps it will not be as grand or easy as I have hoped.

And today I have got the response letter for my son's application to a nearby school but he was rejected entry. I still want him to be enrolled into this school because its near and its also one of the best school around. So I will have to be more persistent in finding ways to get him enrolled int hat school.

These are my small steps in trying to get what I have re-learned to work for me. Another small effort which I will do is of course to try to send out good vibes that I will be holding the winning lottery ticket in the coming draw for the grand prize. To reaffirm this, I will make a letterbox thingy showing the draw date and a slot for me to put the winning tickets into to remind myself that I must send out these kind of vibes to pick and buy the winning ticket.

Of fire drills, intra building meetings and bang bangs

After a 1 month of absent and due in part to respect the retirement of Paul Scholes, I am now back although I did have quite a number of posts which I wanted to do during this 1 month. However now, I can't recall any of them =_="

My company had a fire drill last Thursday and I walked from a very high floor, near top floor. It was not much of hassle or work because I have done it many years in a row already. This year, I did not sweat as much although it was as hot as I remembered it from before. As usual, since it was already informed upfront that there will be a drill, some have "snaked" out long before the bell rings, many who took the stairs just strolled like we are in a weekend shopping mall ie congested at the stairway. I believe the time that we are supposed to get down from the building from the top floor is around 15 minutes, I exit the lobby stairway door at around 25 minutes. The time to evacuate the building is supposedly 30 minutes so by my calculations, this drill failed, AGAIN. Sigh, I wish they really do a drill without prior notification to those irresponsible people who does not take these kind of exercises seriously. At least people would make their way down faster.

On my Friday, my boss delegated a meeting for me to go for a meeting at one of my company's nearby office which is a few streets down. I don't mind the walk even under the hot sun but what is most worrying is that I had no clue what the meeting was about and what was expected of me. That is partly due to the things that those people do in that other building. They are a secretive and highly paid bunch to supposedly help better the company. The scary part about the meeting is that its supposed to be a whole day meeting with a topic which to me does not seem to need involvement of my department. Anyhows, since I was tasked to do it so I went. The first part of the meeting was totally unrelated to my department's work because it was about the user's products. At the very end of the second part only were there questions for me. I would say that I had practically wasted my morning sitting in the room listening to stuff which are not of my concern for the time being. Since no lunch was provided so I went back to my office to have lunch with my colleagues before heading back to that office building.

Unfortunately for me, the chairperson can't quite read my writings on the attendance sheet and hence could not inform me beforehand that the meeting had been postponed to a much later time just as I stepped into the meeting room. I felt like cussing out loud but I held myself back so that I can ask a few questions and try to avoid coming back at a later time. After I cleared what was required of me, I head on back to office feeling quite tired already after so much walking. I slowed myself down so to spare some energy which I may require for the next day's paintball game.

Early Saturday morning, a little bit earlier than usual because the place for the paintball event is quite some distance away not to mention I don't exactly know where is the place just a very high level map which I did not print out and hopefully its stuck in my brain. After picking up a colleague whom I had promised to, I took the only way I knew and sped as fast as my car can go. I think I got to the place in around 20 minutes, just on time as I said I would reach there plus 5 minutes :p The crowd was much smaller than I initially expected BUT that is just good because it would be stuffy if there are too many people gathered. Breakfast was not even prepared and we quickly registered our attendace and went searching for our team members.

We had breakfast and the rest of my team members started to arrive 1 by 1. As usual in any corporate event, the management team will give its speech and since this is a physical event, stretching and some light exercise was shown to us before they march us to the fields. For the first time we saw the paintball field and the excitement starts to build. The marshal starts his briefing and shows us our weapon and light protection. Unfortunately we were the first team and since we were ALL first timers and the lack of understanding on the rules, we lost the game before I managed to fire 10 shots...

Naturally we complained to the officials because that was not how the game was supposed to play and we were granted a replay. To qualify to the semi finals, each team will have to play 3 times. My team on managed to win 1 time, so we definately did not get enough points to qualify to the semis :( We rallied to give ourselves a hoorah because at least we won 1 game :) With that, we went to other arenas/fields to watch the on-going games. All and all, I would say it was a great experience though it was normal that the management of games would suck because they packed the games too tightly and unrealistic. If we knew that there would be not much clashing, we would have registered for more games like go-kart.

We walked around until it was time for lunch and some of the winners were announced and the prize giving ceremony was held. The senior managers were scheduled to play a couple rounds of paintball as well but they were given quite a scare when they asked me about my experience because I showed them my battle scars. My boss in particular was so afraid that she did not dare to look when I lifted up my shirt to show the 3 shots I received on my left. So after 1 game of the senior managers, my boss commaneded me to take her place in the next rounds and she takes her leave with a convenient excuse that there is a wedding that she needs to attend.

In her place, I played quite well and we got into the semis and with lady luck on our side during the draw to see which team gets the home field because it is in favour for right handed players, we managed to get into the finals. In the finals, we were naturally up against a very tough opponent because they too were the best team from their group and better the winner of the top half. Again, with lady luck we managed to get the home field. Our flank shooter was taken out because he was too excited to shoot the wider space and forgot to defend his position. I took out his killer and took his position. It was indeed a good position as I was happily shooting away at an enemy whose back was facing me but suddenly another guy came to cover his ally. I was pinned down but since my position was strategic, I was able to alternate between shooting the open enemy and the cover. The cover got me pinned down well so I took a chance to concentrate on taking out the open enemy and managed to do so before I turned my nozzle on the cover who was not brave enough to charge me. I put my fun up and aimed at his postion after a quick peek and took him out as the last player. With that, I won the game for my boss' team :p Point to note though, I think there was just 1 senior manager left in the semi final game and no more in the finals LOL

The may-not-be-mine-hard-won trophy

The 6 shots aka bruises did not felt too bad on the day but they sure as hell hurt now. 4 bruises looks like it has some flesh eating bacteria on it (see below). I think I can walk into a horror movie set without make up and get my paycheck :p My legs feels like they are 2 tree stumps because it hurts to bend my knees. I walked like both my legs were plastered and going up/down stairs is a particular challenge. I guess this is what I get for being not active in exercises.

The 3 bruises on my left on the next day