I was in Durban on the 2010 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony on June 11, 2010. I was not about to miss out on the atmosphere on this historic moment; the first World Cup ever in Africa. Ideally the best place to check out the game was the FIFA Fan Fest at the New Beach. From what I read, it could accommodate up to 25,000 people. With its location on the beach and the overall good weather in Durban, the FIFA Fan Fest in Durban is definitely an ideal place to watch the game and to mingle with football fans from around the world.

By the time we arrived, the place was already packed with people. This was probably the next best place to be in South Africa to watch the opening match beside Soccer City stadium, the place where the opening ceremony and the opening game were held.

I had lots of fun watching the game. Lots of celebration, lots of cheering, lots of fun; and of course lots of Vuvuzela. My ears were still buzzing at the end of the match. The evening would have been so much better had Bafana Bafana won the game. At the end of the day, a draw was a good result against Mexico.

I will post some videos from the evening once I manage to find a decent internet access. For the time being, enjoy some pictures from the evening.

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We arrived in South Africa last week and went on safari for 7 days. The safari was amazing but I’ll post the experience on another article. We flew in to Durban last night at their new King Shaka International Airport, which was only opened at the beginning of May. Crazy. The Cameroon team arrived around the same time but they were quickly escorted through security. We also missed the Chilean team last week when we arrived at Nelspruit Airport. Bummer.

I tried to get my tickets printed at one of the ticket kiosk at the airport and was told to get an assistance from one of the attendant. I guess 20 tickets are way too many for the kiosk to handle. My girlfriend’s 14 tickets were not a problem for the kiosk to print. We will be attending at least 9 World Cup matches including the FINAL. Could end up going to 3 more matches depending on how adventurous we are. A good friend will be arriving tomorrow and my cousin will be joining us at the end of the month. Bring on the World Cup. Go England … Go Bafana Bafana …

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This year was no difference.  We arrived a bit late and only managed to snap a few photos. The highlight of MY Bay to Breakers has got to be the Don’t Stop Believin’ song at the end of the parade right in front of the Alamo Square Park where the crowds gathered. One minor bummer was as soon as the song was about to finish, the over-zealous cops were blasting the siren trying to break up the party. Someone forgot to bring the donuts.

This was my favorite character of the day. There were other similar costumes but hers was by far the closest to the exact resemblance of that in the movie.

Sorry, gotta blur out the R-Rated

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The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will soon be here and I hope the rest of the world is as excited as I am.  As in any major sporting events, companies and organizers are creating collectibles and promotional items in bunches. You can find almost anything with 2010 World Cup logo on it.

One of the item I am excited about is the Panini Sticker album. I collected a lot of Panini stickers when I was little; the Disney and the World Cup. This year is no different. Well, actually there is. Instead of buying the real stickers, Panini is partnering with FIFA to create a virtual Panini sticker album.

You don’t buy the actual stickers. Instead, you will sign in to your fifa account (you need to register for a free fifa.com account in order to participate) and will be given a few virtual packs a day. Each pack consists of 5 stickers. You can create your own group for sticker swapping or you can swap your duplicate stickers with stranger.  If you complete the album before July 16, you will entered into a random drawing for a hand on one of 100 completed limited-edition hardcover print version of Panini’s virtual online version.

The stickers are divided into 3 categories:

1. Hidden Stickers

These are the stickers you will uncover from FIFA website. Look for the link to add the stickers to your virtual album.

World Cup Trophy (Add the sticker automatically)
2010 South Africa (Add the sticker automatically)
Emblem (Add the sticker automatically)
Jabulani Ball (Add the sticker automatically)

2010 World Cup Panini Sticker Album Page 1

Stadium
Green Point Stadium, Cape Town (Add the sticker automatically)
Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban (Add the sticker automatically)
Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg (Add the sticker automatically)
Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg (Add the sticker automatically)
Free State Stadium, Mangaung/Bloemfontein (Add the sticker automatically)
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth (Add the sticker automatically)
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit (Add the sticker automatically)
Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane (Add the sticker automatically)
Royal Bakofeng Stadium, Rustenburg (Add the sticker automatically)
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Tshwane/Pretoria (Add the sticker automatically)

World Cup Slogan (Add the sticker automatically)
World Cup Poster (Add the sticker automatically)
World Cup Mascot (Add the sticker automatically)

2010 World Cup Stadium Panini Sticker Album

2. Player stickers (11 players per team for all 32 participating teams)

You can only get the player stickers from the virtual packs. Swap your duplicate with others to complete your album.

3. National Team Emblem (32 teams)

You will receive the National Team Emblem once you collect all the player stickers of that team.

2010 World Cup team USA and team Emblem Panini Sticker

How to earn additional packs

There are promo codes you can enter to earn additional virtual packs. In certain countries, you can find the promo code on some Coca-Cola products.  Here are a few promo code you can use to earn additional packs:

3y69p7bj – 4v8qbyu7 – 4TNL2XLY – 7BUY39F7 – 23EJAFW5 – 4L6QUVV5 – 4FBGE83A – 6634L9WC (no longer work)

You should join a collector’s group. Each group can have a maximum of 11 members. When a collector completes his/her first national team, each member on the group will earn a virtual pack.

Update (04/27/2010)

You can earn an additional pack by playing the FIFA World Cup Trivia. You start at Level 1. Each level has ten questions you have to answer. When you complete one game at Level 1, it will unlock level 2 and when you complete one game at Level 2, it will unlock Level 3. When you complete one game at Level 3, you will earn 1 (one) Virtual Pack.  You can only earn 1 pack per week with this offer (the week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.)

Update (05/31/2010)

The above promo codes no longer work.  I am not sure why.  Here are a few codes that would work:

COCA-COLA
FELICIDAD
DESTAPA
CELEBRA
GOL
FELICIDADE

Update (05/31/2010)

You can earn additional pack from Coke Zone by buying one virtual pack with 2 Coke Zone points. You can register at Coke Zone and earn up to 7 points. You earn points by entering the codes found in Coca-Cola products.

Update (06/01/2010)

New promo code COMEMORE (thanks mteodosio)
New promo code 27737426 – 68557128 – 53143310 (thanks Piksi_SRB)
New promo code 72152404
New promo code 28223571 (thanks Daniel)

You can get additional promo code by visiting Panini Group (thanks Abdi) and you will see an ad (like the one below) on the left.  The ad will show a promo code that you can use to get an additional pack.  It’s an animated flash ad so wait until it shows the code and then write it down.

Update (06/02/2010)

New promo code 20563354 (thanks chung)
New promo code 25383605 (thanks Imamovic_BiH)

Update (06/06/2010)

Guys, I just arrived in South Africa a few days ago to attend the World Cup. So far internet access has been sporadic for me. I will try to update it in a timely manner when I get to Durban on June 9, 2010. I will be writing reports (hopefully daily) on this site so please check back once the World Cup starts.

Update (06/09/2010)

This by no means new promo codes. I am merely consolidating all the promo codes from the comment section. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I deleted some comments (duplicate or group offer) to make it more manageable and easier to view.

9RBSF73K – 9PLJHCSX – ADJ95C9E – A9CJE9BW – CESLY7P9 – 8ZF7LALS – 9HJLK6XG – AM2Z6HCP – 8AJ2NAXY – A4W4CZZN – 8Y6RANPD – 8MN86KUS – BAB3ZKVB – CTGLQU6E – 8K2J34CZ – CP38NREY

Update (06/10/2010)

New promo code ABGQK588 (thanks panda)
New promo code BC6CE9XU (thanks Nibzilla)

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The poses were tastefully done.  One pose shows a flight attendant stowed in an overhead compartment.  Now, where can I find this calendar?

Check the video from Reuter

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I hope Windows will gain back its market share with the new Windows 7; which received glowing report from analysts and users alike.  My brother tried the Release Candidate version for a few months and was extremely pleased with the performance and the overall improvement over the Windows Vista and XP.

At this point, I am still contemplating on whether to upgrade or to just buy a new notebook. I am hoping for the latter but it will happen one way or another.

In the mean time, Microsoft has released a few videos promoting Windows 7 and touted the product as users’ ideas; pretty clever commercial if they want to connect with average Joe computer user. I like Steven’s HomeGroup ad the best.

Jack’s Snap

Steven’s HomeGroup

Collaboration

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Watch the video:

Now the twist, as reported by NineMsn, is this … Karen is not even her real name. And the baby on the video is also NOT her baby. Karen’s real name is Ditte Arnth Jorgensen, as reported by Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.

So what is really going on? Apparently, this video is created by Denmark Tourism Authority. I am not sure what “Visit Denmark” message they are trying to send to prospective tourists. “Come visit Denmark. Our women will sleep with you”? or “Come to Denmark. Don’t forget to bring condom.”? I don’t know. I am sure there are Pigs (read: Alpha Male) already making reservation to visit Denmark this year.

As messed up as it is, I really think it’s a brilliant viral video. 1 million hit in 4 days. Amazing.

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Northwest Airlines offers online courses through WorldPerks University where you learn about the WorldPerks program. 

The courses are as follow:

• WP101 – Introduction to WorldPerks
• WP102 – My WorldPerks Number
• WP200 – A Global Prespective – SkyTeam
• WP201 – WorldPerks Mileage Partner

Each course has about 3 slides of information and at the end of the course you will have to answer 3 easy questions. Don’t worry about getting the answer wrong.  You will get a second chance at it. Once you complete the short courses and quizzes, you will be able to earn 100 WorldPerks miles for each course.

I took the courses yesterday and the 400 miles were credited within 24 hours.  Hurry up and earn the FREE miles before WorldPerks program integrates into Delta Airlines SkyMiles at the end of the year.

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We celebrated the Earth Hour last month. Everybody turned off their light for one hour and it’s all fine and dandy. But how many of us actually follow up on energy-conservation habit? It’s easy to get caught up in the celebration without actually making permanent changes. Everyone just want to be part of the good cause which is great but good cause does not have to stop once the celebration is over.

Yes, I realize Earth Day is not only about the energy. It is about the environment and what we can do to preserve it. We as the inhabitants of this planet, have the solemn duty and responsibility to care for it so we can leave it in relative good health to our next generation and the generation after that.

Anyway, the 3 major Search Engine came up with unique logos to celebrate Earth Day 2009. I love the one made by Yahoo (it’s an animation so refresh the screen if you miss it.)

Yahoo

Google

Google Earth Day Logo

MSN

MSN Earth Day Logo

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I had a chance to visit Anfield 4 years ago. During the visit, I made my way to the Hillsborough Memorial at the Shankly Gates to pay my tribute and respect.

Hillsborough Memorial

You can see the video rendition of how the tragedy unfolded on the BBC website.

What happened to the family of those who died at Hillsborough in the aftermath is nothing short of injustice. First they have to endure the pain of  the accusation by the S*n tabloid who accused Liverpool fans of pickpocketing and urinating on the victims.  The editor of the tabloid became public enemy #1 in Liverpool. The tabloid circulation dropped from 200,000 to 12,000 a day; which in my opinion is 12,000 too many.

And second, no one was ever held accountable for the disaster.  Families of those who died with the help of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign is still searching for justice. We will not stop until we find the truth on what happened on that day on April 15, 1989 3.06 pm.

On the 20th anniversary today, I want to pay my respect to my brothers and sisters who died that day. You will never be forgotten and we will keep pursuing the justice in search of the truth.

Justice for the ‘96.

You’ll Never Walk Alone.

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