THE BOND THAT NEVER FADED V2

THE BOND THAT NEVER FADED

I think it was not too late for me to share something with all of you out there about something which I regard as nostalgic to me and perhaps to some of my friends out there too. It was about a day which happen to be on August 1st 2009. A day that none of us will ever forget. A day which brought all of us together under one roof. Okay, I lied. Not all, but you can say a quarter of us. By us, I mean my friends, my former colleagues from my other life in secondary school. What in the world I am babbling about? Okay, cut this crap and nonsense. Coming back to my story, that day was a nostalgic and classic one. The day that we held our reunion after six years of separation. Everyone looks so classy in black and purple attire which happen to be the theme for the reunion party. Two weeks before the event, all the committee members were trying their best to make sure that this event will work just fine. And Alhamdulillah, although there was a slight misunderstanding between the committee and the hotel management as to the issue of venue, but that issue has been successfully catered before the event started on the same day.

With approximately 50 persons, the event started with welcoming remarks by master of ceremony, Mohamed Munzir and later on with appreciation speech by our former Head of Hostel, Mohd Taqiuddin Azman. The event continued with diner. As far as I can remember, that night we have approximately 30 meals served buffet with 8 main course and 22 other side dishes as well as appetizers. As I was concerned with insufficiency of meals due to the capacity of persons involved, I was proven to be wrong as those meals were incredibly more than enough to feed at least another 50 persons.

Later on that night, we have a surprise for our married couples. I don't know whether they already knew that we are going to surprise them with another "Bersanding Ceremony" but, little that I know, they seems happy to me. And guess what? One of my friend, Sufarah Azizah has been pregnant for four to five months already. Congratulation to her and her husband as well. Seing those faces again on that historic and nostalgic day have made me realized that in life, how far you go and how long you have been separated with your friends, that bond of friendship has never faded. It remains as in the first day we built and strengthen it through years of studies. And we will keep it that way as we travel through this amazing and wonderful life.

WEAK WEEK?

Well, it has been a hectic week for me. With all the assignments and presentations to be done, its like a never ending work. More tiring than working actually. And that never ending work seems to be bothering me again the next two week only it gets worse with mid term just around the corner. A straight week of examination and a lot of topics to be covered in these few days. And, a nightmare just begun, I have to repair one personal computer and two laptops. Why in the world I am willing to do all these? Gosh! I thought when i went to a trip with my cousin last week, I could somehow relief myself from all these stressing and tiring situations but in the end I have been proving wrong. So much of a vacation...(sigh).

And now I am spending time in this blog instead of doing something I should really do. Confusing or it is just me babbling and whining? You tell me

THE NEXT SAN ANDREAS

It has never been easy for a young player from the cantera to make it big at Real Madrid, let alone during a Galacticos era.

Expectations from fans and the media are always overwhelmingly burdensome and opponents treat them like they would any other experienced superstar signing. But in Esteban Granero, Los Blancos have in their ranks a real, unpolished gem; someone who could unfold as the surprise performer in the team and end up becoming Manuel Pellegrini’s secret weapon throughout the course of the campaign.

He may only have played a little over an hour’s worth of football with Madrid since his making his dream return from Getafe a week ago, but he has already done enough to show his potential and give the Bernabeu faithful a glimpse of what he has to offer.

Those who observed him closely when he was with Los Azulones will know full well of the talent that he possesses. And for those who have only seen him in action for the very first time over the past week, they would have been suitably impressed.

Within minutes after coming on as a substitute for Wesley Sneijder in the 1-1 draw against Al-Ittihad in the Peace Cup, Granero came within inches of scoring a stunning goal on his debut when his 20-yard piledriver just clipped the wrong side of the bar.

But he did find the back of the net in the second game against LDU Quito, pouncing on a spilled shot from Cristiano Ronaldo and finishing off the rebound with clinical composure. As if that wasn’t enough, he went on to provide the assist for the team’s third goal when he delivered a pin-point corner for Christoph Metzelder, something both Sneijder and Guti had failed miserably at when assigned that specific task.

These are just the two qualities that could see him become Real Madrid’s version of Barcelona sensation, Andres Iniesta. Although not identical, they are very similar players in more ways than one and in fact, the only thing starkly different is their appearance. One looks like a choirboy and the other looks like, well, a pirate… as his nickname would suggest.

Granted, Granero’s goal against LDU was nothing special, but it does demonstrate one vital characteristic as a natural attacking midfielder: the ability to make that stealthy run into the box, just like Iniesta often would.

And just like the Barca man, he is also incredibly versatile. He can play anywhere across the midfield and he has even been utilised as a forward at Getafe. These are traits that will come in handy as it will allow him to see more playing time by slotting in anywhere on the pitch when required. In return, he will give the Merengues more options in attack and depth in the squad.

While opponents will have their bulls-eye mark pinned firmly on the high-profile Galacticos, Granero could be given the luxury to fly under the radar, much like Iniesta did when he first broke through. Flanked by players like Xavi, Deco, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry just to name but a few, ‘San Andres’ would often be the team’s unsung hero or the unheralded superstar.

Granero, too, can assume that role. The constant attention on players like Ronaldo and Kaka, and potentially Xabi Alonso, will allow him to quietly bang in some stellar displays without stirring up too much of a fuss for rival defenders to take notice.

Of course, ‘El Pirata’ is unquestionably still light-years away from reaching the level Andres is at currently. But if he is given a chance to show his worth this season and then consistently improve on his performances in the subsequent campaigns, he could become Madrid’s own Iniesta in the not so distant future. And training regularly alongside big guns such as Cristiano, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul will help him develop, sharpen and enhance his game in half the amount of time it would take him if he were to be temporarily shipped out to another club again.

It doesn’t hurt either that he has an immense desire to succeed at the club he first joined when he was only eight, and that he has already built up an instant rapport with the Bernabeu die-hards, who are desperately crying out for a new homemade hero. And that’s often the most important factor: the support and encouragement from the local fans. And we all know how fickle-minded and demanding the Madridistas can be.

If he can maintain his confidence levels and keep on progressing like he has over the past few years, there’s no reason why he can’t succeed. And if there’s one homegrown Blanco who can take the world by storm in a few years’ time, it would be Granero.

THE REUNION

as far as we are concerned, it is only a few days left before our grand reunion the next coming Saturday. the preparation of the said reunion has entered to the final stage and we will be releasing our event tentative in a few coming days. i know that everybody is looking forward to this historic moment since we haven't had any formal, exclusive and grand reunion like this before. even me and the other committee members are trembling and sweating like rocks and we are doing beyond our best just to make sure that this thing happen and most importantly to have this reunion a nostalgic moment that will be in mind and heart for years to come so that when we grow older in our life course and when we look back, we will proudly left a beautiful smile and said, "this was the moment that define friendship and love".

so, on behalf of the reunion committee, i would like to express our gratitude to all friends out there who have been supportive up until now. thank you for your warmest cooperation and i hope we could really enjoy the day that we called, "the reunion"

IMPERFECT

A friend of mine said this, well not actually said. It was what she wrote. It was something like this, "can we really live happily with the one we love after a long time we being with him...if he tends to change to be someone else we barely knew?". Well, to tell you the truth, love is a complex mechanism. At a time someone might feel like he or she is surrounded with love and at some point later, all of sudden those loves just vanish into thin air. And nobody has the absolute answer to this matter. It is like love cannot be interpreted where at certain point, it tends to be like this and at some points later, it tends to be like that. Yeah, we might have various interpretation of love according to our own understanding but all of those interpretations are just plain meaning of love. As a human being, we are gifted with emotions and feelings. Love is one of those emotions and feelings. And in a search of love, we are cornered into looking at some standards and we like to find a perfect match to ourselves. Well, here is the thing. Love is not about finding a perfect person but it is about accepting imperfect person perfectly. That is the law of living happily ever after. Nobody in this world is perfect. We have different qualities with strength and weaknesses differ from one person to others. That is what we made off. So, quit worrying about people might change afterward or maybe turning into somebody who we barely knew. That is life. Full of changes and surprises that you might not be thinking off. Don't torture yourself and resisting changes if the changes are good. Learn how to accept and adapt. Only then you will find peace in yourself and the secret of true love.

A 40 YARDER MIRACLE

A blistering start from Manchester United stunned Arsenal and sent the Red Devils on the way to a comfortable 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium which sends them through to the Champions League final. The visitors got off to a dream beginning as both Ji-Sung Park and Cristiano Ronaldo scored within 11 minutes after errors from Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs and then goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. They controlled proceedings for the rest of the first half as Arsenal struggled to make any sort of impact going forward and made it 3-0 after the break as Ronaldo capped a tremendous counter-attack. Robin van Persie did score a late consolation from the penalty spot after Darren Fletcher was harshly sent off and subsequently ruled out of the final after being adjudged to have fouled Cesc Fabregas. But it is United’s fans who can now begin planning their trip to Rome, while followers of the Gunners have to deal with a fourth successive season without any silverware after a desperately disappointing performance.

The big Arsenal team news saw Robin van Persie return to the line-up to partner Emmanuel Adebayor in attack. Johan Djourou got the nod over ex-Red Devil Mikael Silvestre in the centre of defence. United sprung a surprise with Park named in the starting XI ahead of both Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov, who were on the substitutes’ bench. The first of the visitors’ two early goals came in the seventh minute. Anderson broke from midfield and found Ronaldo on the left, before the Portugal international flashed the ball across the face of goal. Just as Gunners full-back Gibbs was set to clear the danger for the home side, he slipped, allowing Park to gain possession and score by calmly chipping over the onrushing Almunia. Four minutes later, the Gunners were completely stunned when United made it 2-0. There didn’t seem to be a huge threat when Ronaldo lined up a free-kick from the right around 40 yards from goal. However, the forward’s powerful, dipping effort avoided the grasp of Almunia and found its way inside the near post, prompting wild celebrations from the away side.

On 18 minutes, a curling effort from Rooney was superbly tipped round the post by Almunia as the visitors threatened to run riot. From the resulting corner, Ronaldo found space to head Anderson’s delivery narrowly wide. It took half an hour for Arsenal to register their first meaningful attempt on target. Nasri weaved his way into space on the left and crossed for Fabregas, who could only direct his looping header straight at United keeper Edwin van der Sar. Two minutes later, Ronaldo had the chance to test Almunia with another long-range free-kick. This time, though, the Spaniard saved comfortably. The World Player of the Year was involved again just prior to half-time, testing Almunia with a left-footed shot after good work from Darren Fletcher. In the 51st minute he was at it again, cutting past Djourou from the right and forcing Almunia into a sharp stop at his near post.Arsenal began to exert more pressure leading up to the hour mark, forcing a number of free-kicks and corners, but they soon paid the price as United scored with a ruthless counter-attack.

After United cleared a corner, Ronaldo linked with Park at the edge of United’s area. Park carried the ball into Arsenal’s half before finding Rooney on the left, before the Englishman played a square pass to Ronaldo , who had made a tremendous supporting run, and slammed a shot past Almunia into the roof of the net. On 64 minutes, van Persie forced van der Sar into a strong parry with a decent attempt from 20 yards. Substitute Nicklas Bendtner struck the side netting in the 71st minute after doing well to beat John O’Shea. As the tie was drifting towards a quiet conclusion, there was a nasty sting in the tail for United. Inside the final 15 minutes, Fabregas bore down on goal from lofted pass, but was halted by a Fletcher challenge, with the Scot making contact with the ball. However, a penalty was awarded and Fletcher sent off, meaning he will be out of the final. Van Persie took an impressive resulting penalty - finding the top corner – but it was scant consolation for the second best Gunners or their home supporters.