Liverpool 2-1 West Ham United

I didn't managed to catch this game live as I was with The Gang at Wala Wala. There wasn't any seats available at the 1st foor so we went straight up to the 2nd floor to chat and listen to the live band. Luckily, I did programmed my vcr to record the match and I was able to watch the match after I reached home.

It was the Kop 100 years anniversary and I expected Liverpool to be firing at all cylinders. Unfortunately, my prediction of a 3-0 home win was never to be. Zamora's mistimed cross was parried into the net by Reina, what a pity. If only he had a more powerful hand, maybe he would have palmed the ball out of play. But when we were 1nil down, I knew we will always come back.

True enough, we came back and how spectacular it was the equalizer from Daniel Agger!


I didn't know he really packed such a powerful shot! I know his freekick's skill in Winning Eleven was around 77 but I didn't expected such a shot from him! Woah! What a great goal! What a first goal for him at Liverpool Football Club too!

Moments later, a chicky Garcia's "looking away" pass was met by Crouch, who cooly carried the ball passed Carroll and slotted the ball into the net to put Pool 2-1 up! Brilliant!



In the 2nd half, we finally witnessed the debut of Dirk Kuyt, the highly rated centerfoward from Holland. And what a debut he had even though he didn't score. He can shoot from anywhere and his pass was really accurate. The way he combined with Bellamy and Gerrard really make you think he has been playing with them for some time now. It's looking really exciting up front for Liverpool man!

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 12:54 AM

The Gang (ex Animal Farm) celebrate Marcus & Wati Birthday

The Gang finally met up after Alvin came back from his business trip in Guangzhou. Unfortunately, Wee Swan was still in KL and couldn't join us. We went to Turkuaz Restaurant & Bar at Holland Village for a traditional Turkish dinner. I've always like trying out food from different countries and maybe next time whenever I celebrate my friends' birthdays, I will suggest food from different countries and not the same old Western food, Chinese food or Jap food...Take a look at what we had there...


A very nice Mediterranean feel about this place.


Is this the shisha or something, not very sure what they do with it.


First dish was olive with cheese. The olive was really salty!


The 3 roundies are chick peas, tasted like the yellow kacang puteh! The bread, which looks like naan, was really nice.


A mixture of grilled lamb and chicken skewers! Very nice!


Turkish salad, a mixture of cucumber, onion and tomato stirred with lemon juice and olive oil.


Me & Cindy gave Wati a Ang Bao, something which will do her good when she leave for US to study.


Look at that! My Liverpool Away Jersey! Yeah! Now I have both the home and away kits!






The whole gang! (minus Swan...)



After dinner, we went to Wala Wala to listen to the live band "Unexpected" perform. They sang mostly rock song and I was telling Cindy that I really don't appreciate rock song that I don't know. Just show that I am not a rock person. Slow rock is still ok, but noisy rock sounds just like noise pollution to me! Haha...




Birthday Man & Birthday Woman!






There are so many choices of beer available there and I settled for one that has the least alcohol content while the other 2 guys had Erdinger.

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 11:59 PM

EPL Predictions

Sat 26.8.06
Liverpool 3-0 West Ham
Charlton 3-2 Bolton
Fulham 2-1 Sheffield United
Tottenham 2-0 Everton
Watford 0-3 Man United
Wigan 2-0 Reading
Man City 1-2 Arsenal

Sun 27.8.06
Aston Villa 1-1 Newcastle
Blackburn 1-0 Chelsea

Mon 28.8.06
Middlesbrough 3-1 Portsmouth

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 3:36 PM

Me v Psychiatrist



On Wed, I went to see a psychiatrist at SGH because of my persistent hyperventilation and panic attack. I told her everything that happened to me since 2001, when I first got my panic attack. Guess what, it happened during a Harry Potter's movie, which I think most of you out there already know. She asked me a weird question-have you been arrested by a police? Hmm..don't know why she asked that... I'm glad she was very patient in hearing my grandpa's story! In the end, she explained to me that my brain lack this thing called-SEROTONIN. This thingy helps me to fight anxiety and worries. Without it, no matter how hard my mind try to relax, try not to get panicky, i will still get a panic attack or hyperventilate. Chim right you my think. Oh well, at least I know what's wrong with me. So now I'm on medication to increase the serotonin level in my brain. You know when my colleague asked me how's my medical condition, I said, my brain has some loose screws, so you better don't make me angry and "pek cech!" or else I will turn crazy! It will take me 4 weeks to feel the effect of the medicine, so please pray for me yah?!

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 8:50 AM

UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw


Barcelona is going to face Chelsea in the Champions League again when they were both drawn in the same group. I won't say Liverpool has been drawn in a easy group because I believe whichever team you play in the Champions League, it is going to be very tough. But it was good to avoid 2nd pot team like Bayern Munich and Lyon, and 3rd pot team Benfica, whom we lost to last season in the quarter-final.

Group A
Barcelona
Chelsea
Werder Bremen
Levski Sofia

Group B
Inter Milan
Bayern Munich
Sporting Lisbon
Spartak Moscow

Group C
Liverpool
PSV Eindhoven
Bordeaux
Galatasaray

Group D


Group E
Real Madrid
Lyon
Steaua Bucharesti
Dynamo Kiew

Group F
Manchester Untied
Celtic
Benfica
FC Copenhagen

Group G
Arsenal
FC Porto
CSKA Moscow
Hamburg

Group H
AC Milan
Lille
AEK Athens
Anderlecht

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 2:12 AM

S-League : Albirex V Young Lions

After a long break, the S-League is finally back in action for the Young Lions. I was looking forward to the Lions ending their winless streak. But alas, it was not to be. The Japanese were looking fit and determined on the field. In the end, Young Lions lost 3-4 to Albirex...D.A.M.N.I.T! The Lions' losing streak continues...Now just wish tht SAF FC lose some points.


These die hard fans really deserved something better!


The first time I watch Young Lions play with Xiao Zhao!


The Young Lions fan club, always in good voice!

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 10:19 PM

Maccabi Haifa 1 Liverpool 1

Phew! We have made it through to the Champions League Group Stage. It always seem Liverpool has difficulty beating the so called "B" grade teams in this competition. Hope we can get a good draw this Friday! Watch the highlight here!

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 10:43 AM

Sheffield United 1 Liverpool 1 (Fowler 75min pen)

First game against a newly promoted team was never going to be easy in my opinion. As I have expected, Sheffied United will be extra motivated to do well in their first home game of the new season. But I thought Pool has the quality to overcome Neil Warnock's team. But in the end, it was not to be. I was surprised to see Kromkamp, Aurelio, Zenden and Fowler in the starting line-up.

I thought Speedy Gonzalez, Xabi Alonso and Robbo Crouch should have started. Crouchie has been in red hot form for both club and country, everything he touches seem to turn into goal. Against a tough nut like Sheffield United who defended so deeply, Rafa should have paired Crouch with a speedy customer in Bellamy.

In the first half, Liverpool were overrun by a hardworking Blades' midfield. In Andrew Webber, they have someone who caused Liverpool's defence all sorts of problem. Armstrong teased Kromkamp throughout the first half and it was no surprise to see Kromkamp getting booked. Finnan should have played and it seems Kromkamp hasn't shown his potential to dethrone Stevie off the right back position.

Hyypia was surprisingly slower than usual and struggled against Ifil with his trickery and Hulse with his speed and turning. It was unfortunate to see Riise being stretchered off after his beautiful cross was cleared by the Blades' defender's head.

I thought Aurelio had a decent game even though the press gave him plenty of stick, especially for his failure to challenge Hulse, who went on to score with a header to give Sheffield United the lead early in the firs half. Besides this mistake, he stood firm throughout the game, was physically strong against the robust Sheffield's players.

Mark Gonzalez provided us with plenty of speed down the left and I can't wait to see him explode and show the Premier League what he is made of. With Gonzalez ruling the left and Pennant's dribbles and crosses on the right, I seriously think Crouch should be in the starting eleven on a regular basis.



Time and again, we have to rely on a moment of Stevie G's inspiration to get Pool out of trouble. Fowler showed he still have plenty of trickery left in his bag by cooling slotting the penalty past Paddy Kenny to earn Liverpool a deserved draw.

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 10:02 PM

I was given this special book by my aunt, possibly the last presents that I will received for my 30th Birthday. I finished the whole book in last than 30 minutes but the contents in it were enriching enough to make me want to live life more fulfilingly in the eyes of God. I wish to get more copies of it and give them to my friends out there.

Just to quote from the book- You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but that doesn't mean God didn't plan you. He works even throuh human error and failings, and he was not surprised by your birth; in fact, he expected it.

It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, not coincidnence that you are breathing at this very 0moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you! The Bible says, "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me."

This opening phrase has suddenly made me stop complaining about the things happening around me but look at everything that happens as something that serve a purpose to make me a better person in God's eyes. Remember, we are doing God's will on Earth, even if we do things that do not live up to our superior, our spouse, our friends expectation, don't worry.

I hope to quote more lines from this book in my future entry. Stay tuned!

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 5:15 PM

How I celebrated my 30th Birthday

19th Aug
=======
With my One & Only Love @ Country Manna
2.30pm-3.30pm


I remembered the first Valentine's Day I spent with her...was at Country Manna too! And the best thing was... we weren't going steady then and yet we went out together on Valentine's Day to celebrate!


Reliving the memories at Country Manna(Still my favourite restaurant!)


Hey hey, I had the set lunch, which was so cheap!


And of course, I can't miss my favourite pastry soupie!!!


Hmm...yummy!


Zan! Bagus!

7.30pm-12am @ Home


Guess what?! We didn't go anywhere to celebrate my birthday but we thoroughly enjoyed the night together eating the delicious food from 933 golden pillow eatery and...


watching Liverpool's first EPL game together!!!! Just too bad my beloved Pool didn't give me the best present as you can see from the scoreline!

20th Aug
======

3pm-8.30pm @ Millenia Walk, Suntec, Marina Square

Cindy brought me out for shopping to get whatever I want for my birthday. I got a new handphone and a new car!!! We went shopping for a adidas shoe too! And I got a new haircut!

I had dinner at Kam Boat Restaurant (Marina Square) with my lovely Cindy, my motherly mum, my sis and my aunt! What a sumptous dinner we had!

In the end, I went to City Link's adidas shop and didn't find the shoe that I wanted on my wishlist. So I settled for a pic with Gerrard instead! Cool! Look at my new hairdo!! Haha... kuku right?! Nvm...What a wonderful period in my life even though I have turned 30! A new chapter in my life and hopefully, a new beginning for brighter things to come, a new and better marcus yip!

Marcus XA
YNWA @ 12:50 AM