Flood in Melaka

December 20th, 2006 at 19:24 · Filed Under General, Malacca · 2 Comments 

I went to downtown to have my certificate framed. When I was on my way home taking Batu Berendam way, I saw some cars stalled around the junction turning to Bukit Sebukor. There was a flood there and still many drivers risking their cars going through the flood.

I had to make a detour to avoid the flood. While I was driving head on, I saw a petrol kiosk was flooded. The detour had built up some traffic congestion. When I finally got to Leboh Ayer Keroh, the traffic there was long. I took another detour through Taman Sentosa to get to Bukit Beruang. And yet, another traffic congestion. Most of the cars heading to Ayer Keroh were taking alternate route through Bukit Beruang. That’s the reason for the heavy traffic going into Bukit Beruang.

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Officially a Shorin-ryu Seibukan black belt

December 20th, 2006 at 15:12 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Karate · 14 Comments 

On Saturday, December 16, 2006, I received my Shorin-ryu Seibukan black belt certificate from YB Datuk Nawawi during the opening ceremony of the 2nd YAB Menteri Besar Selangor Challenge Trophy Championship 2006 in PJ. YB Datuk Nawawi is our Honorary 3rd Dan black belt. I am now officially a black belt from Shorin-ryu Seibukan.

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My eye

December 20th, 2006 at 11:57 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Dmitry, Medical, Travel · 4 Comments 

I had my eye examined yesterday. According to my doctor, my retinal looks fine and I’ve already developed cataracts in my right eye and my blur (or veiled) vision in my right eye is due to the cataracts. When he told that my right vision would not be as good as before because my retina detachment had affected the macula, I was quite upset. I guessed he could see it in my face. He then gave me an eye cover with pin-sized holes on it and asked me to cover my right eye with that then look through the hole. I could read up to 4 lines on the vision chart. My vision was 20/50 with aid. He then made a quick assessment and told me that I could read more than 4 lines after removing my cataracts which was not too bad at all. I instantly felt some relief. But again, my vision can only be assessed properly after I recover from cataracts removal.

When I finished my examination, it was 1330. D and I were really hungry and we had lunch at the shop right opposite the clinic. After our lunch, we went to The Curve to meet up with Benji at 1600. We arrived at The Curve and we saw a beautiful huge blue Christmas tree. We went around a little. It was our first time at The Curve.

We met up with Benji at Ikea at 1600 and we had a good chat there for a while. We left for Melaka around 1800.

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Icy cold water

December 20th, 2006 at 11:34 · Filed Under General · Comment 

It has been raining since Friday night and it is raining continuously from Monday till today. The rain has significantly lower the temperature under 30°C. Because of that, the water supply, especially from the water tank, is icy cold. It is cold and numbing. I took a little splash after my hot shower this morning and it was really bone chilling. The wind is really cold and refreshing.

Due to the rain, many places in Melaka has flooded. I was worrying because at our taman, there had been two flooding incidents many years ago. The recent happening was two years ago. Can you believe flood happening in Bukit Beruang area? I checked the drain behind our house this morning. It was 5/7 full! Thank God the rain has slowdown a bit by now.

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I lost!

December 18th, 2006 at 22:58 · Filed Under Karate, Kata and Bunkai · 2 Comments 

I lost in men’s individual kata event in the tournament yesterday. I was bye in the 1st round and lost in second round. I was performing Shito Seisan. I shouted three times in Seisan. I did not know why the shout just came out from my throat. That’s an unforgivable mistake. Another mistake I made was that I performed Shito Seisan with variation which I learned from a well known sensei from Malaysia and the chief referee was also from Shito-ryu. In general, I was quite satisfied with my overall performance. In retrospect, I think I have been overconfidence, underestimated my opponent and did not consider the referee factors. Sorry to those wonderful people who sent me their best wishes and good lucks and encouragement. I have disappointed you all but I assure you that I will train more and try again next time.

My team mate, Sensei Azlimmi, bagged two bronze medals in kata and men’s veteran kumite; 《千里走单骑》bagged two silvers in women’s open kumite and women team kumite, she did not score in women’s individual kata either; ZZ bagged two bronzes in men’s open kumite and men’s team kumite and Lim scored a gold in boys’ 16-17 years old individual kata and a bronze in men’s team kumite. Fathinah and I did not score any. :( Total medal tally is 1 gold, 2 silvers and 5 bronzes. Not bad at all for a 6 persons team to bag 8 medals! Not bad.

I will train more on kata with 《千里走单骑》to prepare for the next coming tournament in May.

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My speech at the opening ceremony of karate championship

December 16th, 2006 at 17:30 · Filed Under Karate · 2 Comments 

As a Tournament Secretary, I am required to deliver a speech during the opening ceremony of The 2nd YAB Dato’ Seri Menteri Besar Selangor Challenge Trophy Championship 2006. I was troubled with what to write. I do not want my speech to be just the same or identical to most other speech. I want it to be unique, to touch the hearts and send the right message across. Here’s my delivered speech:

On behalf of International Okinawan Shorin-ryu Seibukan Karate-do Association of Malaysia, I welcome you to The 2nd YAB Dato’ Seri Menteri Besar Selangor Challenge Trophy Championship 2006.

I’ve observed good spirits among the athletes. All the athletes are here with very good sportsmanship. As a sport, karate-ka must possess excellent sportsmanship and spirit. Through this quality, they excel individually and for the country.

But, karate-do is not a sport. It is more than sport. It’s a martial arts or martial science I prefer. Karate-do is a physical and mental educational system which contains ancient wisdom and philosophy.

Karate-ka are not only needed to have good sportsmanship and fighting spirit, but also the spirit to uphold justice and truth for themselves and for those who are unable to.

It’s time to renew the karate spirit in our country, to remove the old and replace with the new. Here, I wish all karate-ka, to bravely stand up for justice and the truth. I wish all karate-ka to stand tall and be proud to be Malaysian karate-ka and no longer need to bow to the supremacy of pseudo authority.

Lastly, I wish all contestants good luck. If you win, please do not be proud but continue to pursue the finest knowledge and quality in karate-do. For those who lose, please do not give up, do continue to improve and prove your spirit in karate-do.

Please enjoy your game and through karate-do, we make friends. Thank you.

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Selangor Menteri Besar Challenge Trophy

December 15th, 2006 at 17:22 · Filed Under Karate · Comment 

The 2nd YAB Dato’ Seri Menteri Besar Selangor Challenge Trophy Championship 2006 organized by The International Okinawan Shorin-ryu Seibukan Karate-do Association of Malaysia is also known as The 4th Open Championship of International Okinawan Shorin-ryu Seibukan Karate-do Association of Malaysia. The championship is opened to all Malaysians as well as other invited guests from other countries.

The venue is at Dewan SJK (C) Sungai Way, Jalan SS 9A/1, Seri Setia, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, from December 16 to 17, 0800-1900. Admission is free for audience.

For those who can’t attend the event can find my speech in my blog after 1730 tomorrow.

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Busy day

December 15th, 2006 at 10:47 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Karate · 2 Comments 

Whew! It is a busy day as tomorrow is our karate tournament day. I have to scan and email program schedule and map to people and call Sensei to finalize the time for the opening ceremony. The VIP will arrive by 1700 and things must be prepared at least by 1500.

My cell and email are hot as SMS, calls and emails are coming in and out. What a hectic morning! I could not help Sensei much as I am so far away and he does not have a broadband at his home for communicating. I guess I can help him out a little by coordinating externally.

I can only push off from Melaka with my team tomorrow morning. I put all of them in my car and also to reduce one night stay in hotel to bring down the expenses.

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Psyche up!

December 14th, 2006 at 23:58 · Filed Under Karate · 3 Comments 

This was the most tiring day. I woke up 0445 this morning to train in the park. Rushed home at 0745 to send D to school and went for an appointment in the afternoon. Arrived home 1740, cleaned up the pond and a fan. Had dinner at 1830 and out for class by 1930.

It is only two days away from the tournament. I need to power up my team spirit so I seek help from my friend, Jay, from India. He is doing psychology management for his fighters and has been tested in a few fights. He shares with me some brain washing techniques. I used it for the first time in the training a while ago.

The team became aggressive and with high spirit. I told them to repeat not less than 20 times in every session, one in the morning and another in the evening or night until they win. At first I was thinking to give some very light training for conditioning. We ended up with more sweat and aggressiveness. Our shouting could be heard across the road. I noticed the increased aggressiveness in them and myself.

As this is the first time I apply psychology training, I am preparing for all kind of results. One drawback of this technique, as Jay indicated to me, is how aggressive a person can become. It has to be coupled with kata training to condition and discipline oneself.

Good luck, my team! May the force be with you.

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No more crying

December 13th, 2006 at 14:19 · Filed Under Dmitry · Comment 

This morning when I sent D to school, I was surprised that he did not cry. As usual, when we arrived at his school, he got off the car without any fuss. We walked in and he proceeded to take his shoes off. I gave him a hug and a kiss at the door after which I left and he entered the class without crying. I am glad he is making progress and starting to enjoy going to school.

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Nik’s day out

December 12th, 2006 at 21:26 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Dietrich, Dmitry, Dominik, Family · Comment 

We decided to go to grandma’s after picking D from school. So I took a half day off. When we arrived at grandma’s, the three musketeers were very happy but Nik was still sleeping in his portable car seat. LA had to carried Nik with his car seat. After our lunch, we began to hunt for my running shoes. I was actually thinking to buy Power running shoe for it is cheap and after all running shoe does not last long. Unfortunately, I could not find big sizes to fit my large feet!

LA suggested to go to Mahkota Parade and there we go. To our surprise, D said he wanted to stay with grandma. So we left both D and R with grandma. Poor grandma, she had to take care two musketeers.

It was Nik’s second visit to departmental store. He was excited to look at lights and people walking by. When he was tired, he would sleep in cuddles.

After taking many look at all the shops selling sports shoes, I decided to buy a pair of Addidas running shoe. It fits my large feet well. I really liked this Addidas UK 12 size and its design. I was hesitating because of the price, which was RM167.90 after 40% discount! LA said that was her Christmas gift to me. But I was still hesitating because of the price and it might not last long. Finally, I decided to take it. Honey, thanks for the early Birthday and Christmas gift!

Now, I’ve got the shoe but I feel a little pity to wear it for running. I hope this pair will last me for at least 2 to 3 years to spread even the cost.

When we arrived at grandma’s, we learned that R had stepped into the drain. Luckily, we had bought him and D a new pair of sandal earlier before we went to MP.

We arrived home around 2030 and three musketeers were soundly asleep in the car. It was a tiring day for all of us.

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Tire day

December 9th, 2006 at 19:11 · Filed Under Karate · Comment 

I felt tiring in the class this evening. Partly because I had not enough sleep and I had muscle ache after some stretching exercise last evening. I had lousy feeling and my movement was not as good as normal day. But, it was a good workout last evening and the stretching was really giving my muscle a great work out.I am going to sleep early tonight so that I can wake up early morning as usual for training. The team spirit is burning high. It was a disappointment we could not go for training because of raining and I actually cancelled the training due to my late night travel.

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Morning training

December 9th, 2006 at 11:12 · Filed Under Karate · Comment 

Supposed to have training in the early morning today with my students but I arrived home in the whee morning today. So I decided to call off the training so that I could have enough sleep. Sorry gals and guys for the disappointment. I know your spirit is burning high. I noticed my stamina had improved during the training last night.

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Excellent training

December 9th, 2006 at 10:46 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Karate · Comment 

Yesterday I went to PJ dojo for training. It was an excellent training. As the tournament was near and in addition of training at the park at 0500 almost everyday, spirit was high and sweat like just coming out of a bath.

Before going for the training, we met up with two friends, Benji and Johan. I knew Benji quite sometime ago and had met a couple of times before. Benji is ex-Shotokan from Perak. This was the first time I met Johan. We got to know each other from the Internet as he was searching for some karate training like Benji. Johan is ex-TKD and would like to learn kata because he falls in love with karate after watching a documentary from National Geographics. Both are beautiful martial artists. We met at our old place then we proceeded to Sensei’s dojo in PJS. I introduced both of them to Sensei.

Benji and Johan, thanks for dropping by our dojo. I look forward to having you guys at our training.

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Another small but remarkable milestone

December 8th, 2006 at 12:24 · Filed Under Dmitry · Comment 

Although this morning D cried when I left his school, he had done well at school today. According to his teacher, he did not want to join the other kids to play upstairs. Instead, he chose to complete his work. He wrote two pages of alphabet, “a” and “b”. D, well done and keep it up. Daddy and mommy are so proud of you.

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