Optimism

i guess i must be in the minority of the legion or Arsenal fans to say that we might just win the League this season. I say this based on the first few games of the season. Yes, they're not playing really that well with defensive mistake and goalkeeping blunders. However, I've been really happy for the first 5 games(3epl and 2cl)

the first game against fulham showed alot of grit and determination.Where we might have drawn or lost last season, we fought back from a goal down to win it. the 2nd game against Blackburn was well.. a good performance aside from lehman's blunder. the 3rd game was very satisfying.We DID NOT play well and still manage to win. After van persie's miss, i thought it was all over but fabregas managed to pull us through. Any team wanting to win the league needs luck!Chelsea was also lucky beating Portsmouth that weekend.

so why do i think that we'll win even with our under achieving performances? Because our midfield is starting to score!!! fab was netted 3-4 goals already? and so has hleb. rosicky has added 1 or 2 while van persie is the only striker to score with 2.compare this with last season where i think hleb scored about 5 goals for the season! and so did fab! any winning side needs scoring midfielders and our mfs are starting to show just that. i guess the pressure of passing the ball to henry to get him to score is gone. the mfs has started gelling together and making their own strikes. hehe, that's not to say that i don't think the strikers won't pull in goals. ade might hit about 10 but i do expect van persie and eduardo to score in the 15 regions. bentdner might add in a few too.

this is my case of optimism and unless injuries happen, i do expect arsenal to do well.my only worry is next jan when toure has to report for int duty. gallas is injury prone. djarou(i know its spelled wrongly) should come back but the thought of a senderos-djarou partnership is highly worrying. aside from that, times are bright and i'm looking forward to the end of the season :)

cheers

The end

i'm not really sure what ive been doing for the past 3 weeks since i got back from Aus but it's all over now and starting tomorrow, it'll be classes n classes for a long long time... sigh

Sydney II

Rest of my pics from sydney.

the anzec memorial, kinda like the shrine in melbourme but smaller.peace rally held by green's party..pretty interesting, something u dont normally see in malaysia.
sydney's monorial, highly overpriced...i'd rather walk and i did :P
the sydney opera house.. i cant believe i dont have a decent shot of it... this being the only barely passable one... sigh..
the harbour bridge at night,this again is a failure.. my tripod shook due to the wind, so it's a lil blurry if looked at closely..sigh...
the city at night..
i met my uncle? nephew by rank, Sean and his family. He's doing an impressive job of making our family tree all the way back to my great great grandfather(singapore branch of the family as well...) kinda put us ongs to shame to let an in-law do the work few of us are bothered to :P
i guess this is the end of my australian adventure.. i'm highly considering making an european one in the near future :P

The Empire Strikes Back

The Dark side has returned. For too long Nikon has been taking a lot of flak from Canon, first with the 1D MKIII then the 1Ds MKIII and the newly launched 40d. Nikon today has upped the ante and returned everything Canon could dish out and more. it has been nearly 3 years since Nikon has updated it's flagship model and today they've shocked the world with the D3

with a new nikon made cmos FULL FRAME 12MP sensor, it's sure to blow everything away. so few megapixels with such a big sensor would mean less noise at high iso while increasing its dynamic range. interesting fact that the camera can still use dx lenses even though at only 5.1mp as it'll crop the sensor. the only drawback is the 5000USD price tag. it's not that expensive if compared to other pro-bodies but it's definitely something out of my reach.

the dark lord's apprentice is something more in reach. also announced with the D3 is nikon's dx format's flagship model, the D300 while an rrp of 1800usd.


sporting a 12mp sensor by sony/nikon with the same 51af point and expeed processing engine as the d3, it's not unfair to call it a slightly toned down d3.

also at the press conference was the launch of 5 new lenses but only one which caught my attention, the 14-24mm full frame lens. it'll be damn shiok if coupled with the d3 if anyone can afford it.

for the press release

NIKON D3

NIKON D300

anyone wanna donate money to me?

Sydney I

i actually don't have many pictures of sydney, cause i definitely can't take pictures of King's Cross :P but Darling Harbour is just so nice, so this post will only be pics from there!!! hehe.

this is what i briefly did in sydney for the first few days. tried heavenly pancakes at The Rocks, went darling harbour, tried oportos and most importantly Superbowl, kick ass chinese food and cheap too! and the emperor's puff.. i think the cheapest food in Sydney.Paddy's Market was pretty nice as well , they had a big collection of Family Guy tshirts but it's pretty pricey.there was alot of walking in Sydney. u can ask sae how crazy i was :P








one more post before i end up my australian adventure :D

Grampians National Park II

i had the 2nd and 3rd day mostly to myself to explore around the town of Halls Gap. Would prefer if i had a car, then i would be able to drive around and find interesting spots but i spent most of my time hiking.

kangaroos resting udner the shade away from the heat. i like the warm color of this picture though some say the shadows are a lil harsh.kangaroos running away from me??
while hiking towards chiquatua peak, i took this shot of Halls Gap. You'd have to pass this town if you're coming here from Melbourne. Nothing much but so are most towns!
the trail
too lazt to setup tripod to shoot pics of myself so my shadows will do :P
more trail pics
and more! i actually didn't climb up to the top, call me a pussy or whatever but it's not easy when u're alone, i had to abandon my bag for awhile already and there was just this one place i couldn't climb up so i gave up.
3rd day was sorta disappointing as it rained. i spent most of my time here at Grampians YHA, where i stayed watching a truman shaw and 21grams :P the hostel is pretty unique as it adopts strict eco-friendly standards. solar panels, etc... and the 2 staff(an australian and her husband from south africa)were just fabulous. plus , their son nicholas was pretty cute and active :)
the only shot i managed out the 3rd day.. the mist!
that said, the bus forgot to pick me up and were already at the next town when they were contacted. they waited while i took a cab down there, which was like 70aus!!! but they paid for it anyways :P all in all, it was fun and would love to spend more time exploring the area.

Grampians National Park I

Grampians is another place to visit if u're ever in Victoria. Since almost everyone had classes, i decided to take a tour there. Grampians is home to a bunch of wildlife especially kangaroos. i've seen too ,just too many of it! the tour was great with a nice guide and good company as well.

little blue bird :Pyawning
jumping kangaroo, one of my fav pics!
lady by the river. she was part of the tour and was having her lunch down there
a magpie
mckenzie falls, pretty cool, got quite a few shots off here
another one.. the timing was wrong though, very harsh lights
in portrait mode
a like this the most!
a kuckabaroo or however u spell it. very cute bird but the beak packs a punch.
view of the grampians. cause most of the forst was burned down due to last year's bushfire, the view was very clear without much trees blocking. the smell of burnt trees still linger though.
another one.
morning skylight!
i like this picture, reflections are just so fun to play with.

more on the animals in my next post, mostly kangaroos anyway!

i've fiinished fire emblem, very well done, long 1 hour battles and very interesting plot. the lead character is just so cool! and to play with 60 different characters is something interesting don't u think??? sold of it anyways and now i have wii sports.. very tiring, especially with boxing! good excercise though!

Great Ocean Road II

well, the hangover guy was much better the next day, enough for him to show his face in pics! i like this view here and we spend quite a while over here doing nonsense:Pcountryside view with our trsuty rented hyundai elantra. it's pretty nice to drive it actually, better than i expected
gibson steps.. not much clouds that day :(
the 12 apostles, highly overrated :P most of has sunk or been eroded by the waves and this is what's left of it. but though i say its overrated, not seeing it wouldn't make it a great ocean road trip
solitude
slanting
nise and jane
another group pic
otway fly is this 20dollar thrill where u climb up this shaky tower that puts you as tall as the trees! pretty fun actually especially with jane around!
3 of us at the cantilever , a 10m extension where it's only supported by 2 steel rods. jason and i kept jumping and jane kept on trembling!
after that.. it was a long long 4-5 hour ride back and we the strawberry thingy was sold out :( personally, i like it so much, i would love to come here again.. there's the london bridge, shipwreck cove that i've not seen yet.. sigh.. just too lil time!