An Interesting Weekend

Reuniting With the Jedi Master

The weekend was quite an interesting one filled with much activity. I had to endure almost 4 hours of music practice on Saturday as I had to practice for Sundays worship and also reherse for Paul's wedding the following week. Someone had forgotten to inform me of the practice and was fortunate to be there to know about it. Hillsongs "One Way" seem to be highlight of the three songs as it was a song that got us jumping and really enjoying ourselves. I could see it was the couple's favourite song and its no wonder that it made it into the top three list. Other than that, I manage to meet up with Terry who was back for the weekend. I found out that he comes back once in a fortnight. We met up at the nearest mamak to his house, Curry Leaf. I decided to go there as I had not eaten dinner and waited till I met him up as both my parents were away in KL to do some spring cleaning. It was a good time just to catch up with each other and also to enjoy a game of football at the same time. We manage to catch Chelsea in action and the four goals in which Gudjonsen scored a hattrick and Damian Duff added one more against his former club, Blackburn Rovers. It has been almost 2 months we have since had our internship and time seem to pass so very quickly. Work is strainous as it takes up long hours and can be boring at times if there is not much that could be done.. However, the joy that comes from it is I did not need to study and take any exams. I have asked a few people that I had met so far and it seems that many of us like the working experience yet prefer studying life as one is not confine to a standard working hour and thus makes it less routine.

Be Strong

Sunday came and it was a joy to come back to church as I was missing in action the week before. I was certainly blessed by the preaching of a visiting pastor from Tabernacle of Grace Penang who was Pastor Andrew Teh. Initially, he appeared to be someone whom I had to endure for the next few hours. However, all of this was turned around when he delivered the message about learning to be strong taken from Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.". I did not know why but the message seem to speak directly to my heart. It somehow was related to me on my current way of life and it seems like I had failed to be strong in Him and had succumbed to countless temptations that I had become weak and vulnerable that has caused me to be weak spiritually. I had been given a choice to make a decision but I had failed to make the right one especially when I am on my own and alone. The message was really practical and it underline a few strong bible verses that seem to bring me out from darkness into light. Despite the well presented message. it would seem countless and fruitless if I did not take head to this message and act upon it. I have to agree with the speaker that we should not wait for God to do something, God is actually waiting for us to make a difference. It is a choice that we have been given and we should seize this oppurtunity to make our lives worth living for. It would seem like a long and tiring road to set my feet upon. However difficult the way is, I would need to rely on His strengh to carry me through. This would require me to sacrifice some bad habits in order to grow.

Futsal Friendly

Later in the evening, I was pretty much geared up for a section of weekly futsal. This week our play would encompased two courts with more than 20 people. The reason behind this was that we were going to have a friendly match with a church from KL. We turned up early to warm up before the game as we await for their arrival. It was pretty hilarious when they came into the place as it seems like our group of players comprise of guys and mostly middle aged man. On the other hand, the group from KL were a youthful bunch which comprise of both girls and guys. The different mixture of ages and also sexes did make the whole match interesting. We broke ourselves into 4 teams of fives. I was listed under the group that comprise of Michael, Gordon, Voon Fui and Ming. However, I did not play with them as I was going around making some snapshots of the event that I ended up joining another group which comprised of Uncle Dominic, Steven and two new people, Ah Chuan and Ah Mun. It was pretty normal for us to see new people coming and joining us in a game of futsal. Most of this new comers are friends of those who studied in IMU.So, it was a good avenue for us to meet new people and strike a chord with the non-believers through a game of futsal. Our game soon started and we were given 10 minutes for each round. Two teams would enter the court while two awaits for their turn.

After much playing for the last 3-4 months, it seems like we were outclass especially with the more senior players of the visiting church. We were practically hammered down with a series of goals that they had perfectly set up. It seems like we had failed to organised ourselves properly. Other than that, most of us were not season footballers or were new to each other footballing styles that we had not adapt to. However, all was well as it was merely a friendly match and we took it as a learning exposure for some of us. The other court saw a much younger team facing the older guys from my church. Never underestimate girls on the court as they had manage to produce a few goals that had the guys in awe. I pressume that they could not really play as rough or physical with girls around and this was an advantage for them. In conclusion, girls are the best defense for a team.

It was certainly a tiring affair for me as before I could catch my breath after a game, I was soon called into the game. I realised that I still needed to work on my stamina although I can relatively say I am quite alright. Besides that, I seem to run around the field more and it seem to make me tired out easily. However, I took it as a good endurance test for me and needed to practice more to improve my game especially my shooting skills which I always failed to deliver when I am given the ball in front of goal. All in all, we played around 2 hours of football and time seem to pass by so very quickly that only a tired body would tell one to stop from it.
Throughout the friendly, most of us were very much in the game. We were concentrating on trying to score or lay a good pass for our fellow team mate who were in a better position to score. Some were not as coorperative and prefered to go for goals on their own. It is interesting to see the various characters and personaly on the pitch. The way they handled the ball and contributed to the team spoke alot about their true self. Besides all of this, there was a lack on interaction with the visiting team. Most of us only exchange a few words like "Good game", "Well done" or "Good defence". There was a lack of oppurtunity to get to know them in person and strike up a conversation. However, I was fortunate enough to get to know one of the two new guys who joined out team during the break which was Ah Chuan. He is currently looking for a job after coming back from Sheffield University, UK after completing his degree in computer science.

After the long and tiring game, I made my way to my grandparents place who had called my parents and I in the morning for early dinner. This was because Auntie Carol and Uncle Ju Seang were back for the weekend. It was good to see my two young cousins who were constantly seeking for me to play with them and also enjoying hitting by but as I walk to the kitchen and back. We sat down for dinner and the table was spread out with an array of food from my grandma's cooking that included Steamed Minced Pork and Curry Ikan Haji with fish eggs, coupled with some Malays kuih and snacks that my Auntie had bought from the nearby Pasar Ramadan at Ampangan.

The Big Match

My body was physically drained out and was hoping to have a short rest when I return home before the big showdown between the two big teams, Manchester United and Arsenal. I laid in bed to rest for an hour but could not shut my eyes even when I was so tired. After some time, I woke up and then made my way to my dad's room to catch the match with him. It seems like everyone was gunning for Manchester to win this match and win they have at the end of 90 minutes of 2-0 with a penalty shootout that was converted by Van Listerooy and a field goal from Wayne Rooney. Despite their win, there was nothing much to shout about. It was not fair game and Arsenal lost because they played well and fair with many good oppurtunities in front of goal. The only barrier for them to score was the goalkeeper. It was an uptight game and the game seem to be a one sided affair as usual. Manchester seem to be on the upper hand due to the referees inability to conduct the match fairly although Mick Riley was reputated to be the best referee in England. It was a shame to see him succumbed to the pressure of trying to avoid any intense moments between the players by keeping his book to his pocket until after 30 minutes when Ashley Cole was awared the first yellow card of the game.

Manchester's players were given much leniency despite a push from Rio Ferdinand to deny Ljunberg was head on to goal, ankle jamming towars Reyes by the both the Neville's brother and Van Listerooy jab towards Ashley Cole knee when he tried to keep to the ball in play. As an Arsenal supporter, I must admit that I do not like Manchester United due such obvious incidences where players are vicious in bringing down players and granting favour from the referee just to win a match despite being second best. Its frustrating to see how an underserved team like Manchester United had won the game. However, I am pleased with Arsenal's response and spirit that despite failing to achieve a 50 match unbeaten run, they are still confident that defeat does not mean an end to their title chase to remain at the top of the table and also to achieve other great feats such as making it through to the last few stages of the Champion League despite a recent poor runs of draw.