Roaring Forties

The football season has come to an end with AC Milan coming on top of Liverpool with a 2:1 victory in Athens. Yes! Will get a bottle of Italian wine this weekend. Sour grapes I may seemed but as a Red Devil fan, I just can’t stand the fanatical Reds fans. At least, now I have some peace until the next season.

The best end of the season news was that Owen Hargreaves will be joining Manchester United on a 17 million pounds transfer. If he reproduces the form he had shown at the last World Cup, the Red Devils will be hard to beat.

Finally for the very last games of the season, I hope that Real Madrid will regain the Spanish Championship this season.   

After an absence of more than 10 years, M & I decided to check out Bukit Cherakah, after hearing that the land surrounding this pristine agro-park has been cleared for development. The only access was through Section 8 in Shah Alam and the road signs were non existence except for a couple of signs near Section 8.  The most significant change while approaching Bukit Cherakah after crossing the NKVE, is a large signage for Bukit Bandaraya and a double lane road leading to a new housing development.

The car park for Bukit Cherakah has been expanded and there was ample parking. Parking cost RM 1 per entry while the entrance fee was RM 3 per head.   The moment, we stepped inside the compound, we were transformed to a lush green sanctuary. There was a bus ride to ferry the visitors and bicycles for rent. Don’t expect good mountain bikes. The bikes looked pathetic and along the road while we walked, we found broken bicycle chains which proved the road worthiness of the bikes. The trees have definite grown since we last came. It was more green and more lush. One thing which struck us was the beauty of the some of the bark of the trees of which we managed to collect an amazing range of interesting looking tree barks. 

Furthermore, there was giant palm trees, colourful flowers, a handsome monkey and most off all, there were no traffic and not many visitors which all combined made the walk extremely relaxed and enjoyable.  

We took the Cherakah Steps challenge which totaled 186 steps but the watch tower at the top of the Steps no longer has any view as the trees have outgrown it.   

Initially, we wanted to go up Bukit Sapu Tangan but we overshot the turning and walked right to the fringe of the park when we hear the sound of bulldozers. As we explore the fringes by going through the unpaved tracks, we found massive clearing of land adjoining to the park boundaries. Could see ready built flats and it would be a matter of a very short time that this park will be surrounded by housing.    

This dead tree at the fringe of the park speaks of the sad state of the environment. 

We walked a total of 3 hours and have yet to cover the full park. It then begun raining and we took shelter in a rest stop next to the paddy fields and a tortoise pond. It was absolutely peaceful and serene. As the rain turned to a drizzle, we cut shot our trip to get to our car. Overall, it was a splendid walk and we were dead tired but we will be back to cover the remaining parts.

Drogba did it again in a sudden brillant flash of one touch football with Lampard to put the ball beyond Van Der Saar and present Mourinho his most sort after English trophy. It was the only highlight of an otherwise extremely dull encounter. Only for all die hard Liverpool and Chelsea fans, it was worth enduring the torture of sitting out the 2 hours just for the 115 minute goal. It was a wasted Saturday night for me.

But as a Manchester United fan,  I felt sad for Giggsy who really deserved more but in all fairness, the Red Devils did not deserve to win last night. The team played well but only Scholes really shined. The rest were good but not exceptional. Rooney and Ronaldo could have done more. Smith was dissappointing. On moments like this, one would wish that Fergie did not sell Van Nisteroy. In comparison, I thought that Terry, Robben and Essien were outstanding while Cetr was rock solid. It is back to the drawing board and I really hope that Hargreaves gets the transfer he wishes for I think he can make the difference. The team is good but they lacked a play maker like Cantona.

I am praying that AC Milan wins next week, otherwise it would be really a season with a hollow feeling for the English League champions.

Melinda has undoubtedly the best voice amongst this year’s competitors in the American Idol. She was way ahead of the pack when it came to voice control and quality of singing but over the past weeks, she has proven to be boring, absolutely boring. Unfortunately she peaked right at the beginning of the series and fell plat on a plateau ever since. There was absolutely nothing new. She was good but she just couldn’t command the “wow” factor! It was like having an absolute overdose of the very best Cabernet Sauvignon, so much that a simple can of Guinness proved to be welcoming.

It would be dreadful to imagine Melinda in the Final two as it would be impossible to judge a competition between Jordin versus Melinda or Blake versus Melinda where the contrast would be just too great. At least, with a Jordin versus Blake finals, it would still be an interesting contest.

I think this year’s American Idol was really rubbish when came to quality and no one really deserves to win. However, But there are still some enjoyable moments from this year’s series and these were my favourites:-

Best Entertainer Sanjaya Malakar	Classiest Act  Stephanie Edwards	Best Packaged       Haley Scarnato

M & I decided to check out the Ultimate Tuners Carnival 2007 at Stadium Bukit Jalil during the recent holiday break.

The RM 20 entrance fee was definitely hefty considering the carnival consisted of commercial booths trying to sell their wares and there wasn’t any directory or souvenirs accompanying the entrance fee.  The overall set up was pathetic and the organizers were clearly amateurs. They could have done a much better job by securing more sponsors and improving the overall set-up.

Nevertheless, the cars exhibited were quite interesting (kudos to the individual car owners). Overall, it was a nice break from the normal routine.

Lastly, but not least, what’s a car show without the models.  

This lady’s hot.