Memoirs of a Teh Tarik Drinker

Wrong Calculations Using BMI

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 03:09:00 +0000

I recently stumbled across this article on the Daily Mail which basically sums up the inaccuracy of using your BMI as a standard of fitness and health for a person. This basically sums up most of the articles I have recently written before, to which I would like to highlight once again.

As the article may suggest, using your BMI indicators as the baseline to determine whether you are in shape or not is definitely not the way to go, as in the end you will end up having a very inaccurate visualization of how you look.

In the end, you could have the same BMI as the next person and have a COMPLETELY different body shape altogether!

What causes this is because the calculation only takes into account your height (which is unchangeable) and your weight (which is the issue) without taking into consideration on other external factors in the mix.

I've explained in the past (read here on Calculating Body Fat Percentages) that by just using your weight, we forget that our body weight consist not only our fats but other things as well. Also, we tend to forget that our muscles weight more in comparison to our fats which mean one could be heavy not because he/she is fat but rather has more muscles than before.

Consider these examples:

If according to the BMI calculation, my body weight and height now would indicate that I am way beyond the overweight line. (I know I haven't been training for a while but damn thats harsh...)

However using the same calculation, I would only be at "normal weight" if I was to drop my weight all the way to 70kgs. Even at my previous best shape when I did my "12 Runs in 2012", I weighed in at 78kgs at best, which would have put me in the overweight category. Going down that much would only result of me burning my muscles away and end up being "too skinny" for my height.

What I am trying to imply here is that if you need to have an indicator or target for your body image and fitness, DO NOT USE YOUR BMIs as you'd probably be hitting targets that are either unattainable or would result to a wrong body image. You shouldn't be starving yourself just so that you can reach that "target BMI". Its never healthy to be too skinny.

Get your fat percentages checked instead. You could use the methodology that I've suggested in my past post, or could even go with the "water swing" method on identifying your fat percentage. Shouldn't be that hard....

Or issit.... :D

Proposal to Revamp Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 08:27:00 +0000

After much criticism with the current state of football in Malaysia and expressing our frustration with the continuous failures and the lack of effort from FAM as the officially footballing body in this country, we still believe that the footballing scene in Malaysia can be saved, provided that we revamp the entire structure of FAM and the future strategy of the organization itself.

I believe that there is no need for me to highlight the problems that we are currently facing (both of us have highlighted this here and here) but our point, it is because of the current strategy and administrative action done by FAM is what brought us to this state.

Hence, we have taken the initiative to propose what can be done to completely revamp FAM with the current resources that we have at the moment, which we believe would offer a more sustainable and efficient strategy to develop our footballing scene.

Review of FAMs Management Performance as to Date

Any attempt of fixing an problematic organization would first need a review of the performance to date from all the people involved in the organization. With the review of the existing Key Performance Index (PKI) starting from the senior management down to the working level executive, we would then be able to ensure that no "dead weights" exist within the organization.

[Action Item flow for Review]

Why we feel that this is crucial is because that having the KPIs within the organization should serve as both the target set for the employees and also should serve as the performance benchmark for all that is involved in the organization within the year.

As shown in the graph above, a full review is first done to all the existing KPI's on a top-bottom approach in FAM. From there, three main scenarios need to be done on an employee to employee basis:

Critical Non Performance - If it is shown that the has been a negligent disregard for the KPIs set (which would usually mean "no targets" or "minimal targets" has been achieved by the individual within the year) is found, therefore a disciplinary action or dismissal from role needs to be done.

Unsatisfactory Performance - If there are situations where KPIs are partially met however not completed, it is suggested that the roles and responsibilities of the person in the organization needs to be revisited, together with a reassignment of targets for the individual, with the certainty that the person understands the role that is given to him/her in the organization.

Satisfactory Performance - For those that has achieved their targets within the year, a two way dialog between the management and the individual should be done as a "postmortem" to his/her activities for the year and perhaps identify ways to improve, both from what is expected from the individual and also his/her own expectation.

After all the review has done, we believe that there is a need to implement a "conduct compliance strategy" which would ensure a transparent practice on all processes done within the organization and a monitoring methodology that would ensure all activities done within the organization are stringently checked at all times.

On top of that, we would also suggest that all KPIs set for all the employees needs to be accompanied with a "quarterly roadmap and checkpoints" which will be engaged by their superiors on a quarterly basis. This would ensure that any necessary updates or actions can be taken within the quarter rather than waiting for the end of the year.

Restructuring FAM's Role in Football Development in Malaysia

There is a need to revisit again as to what FAM's role in reinventing Malaysia football scene. As to date, there is no clear definition to the public as to what exactly is the role of FAM in developing football in the country, as it is made seem that they have taken ALL THE ROLES from development to executing the leagues in Malaysia. There is a serious need to have the roles of FAM to be defined properly and executing their activities accordingly as well.

1. General Understanding of Their Role

As the official football governing body in Malaysia, FAM's role should remain as monitoring body in majority of aspects relating to football in Malaysia. However, it has to be defined that FAMs role is to focus in creating viable avenues and strategies on how to develop the game in Malaysia, rather than trying to execute it themselves.

The graph above shows a rough suggestion on what the role of FAM should be in developing the standard of football in Malaysia. As it can be seen above, we believe that the focus of talent development should come from other bodies (ie clubs, academies, sport schools, etc) and it is to FAM's responsibility to help facilitate this to make it happen.

2. Football Development Strategic Planning

In general, the Football Development Strategic Planning should serve as the basic blueprint of FAM's planning for football development in Malaysia. In general, we propose for FAM to follow the following targets under Football Development Strategic Planning.

[Proposed Focus Pillars]

From our discussion, one of the biggest problems we have here is the lack of avenues for young local talents to thrive. Hence, one of the biggest change that needs to be done is to have the clubs take responsibility for the development of youth talent here in Malaysia, as their value add in participating within the M-Leagues.

Taking example as how it is done in almost all countries in Europe, we suggest for FAM to initiate and help facilitate a youth development academy for each club that is currently participating in the Malaysian Super League and Premier League. This way, each clubs are given the responsibility to develop young talents within their ranks rather than just pinching young talents from already limited pool of players.

This also eliminates another problem that is common in Malaysia, which is the lack of academies of facilities for people outside of urban areas to be spotted. For talents outside of the Klang Valley area, there are currently not many avenues for kids to actually explore and many are still unwilling to be away from their home and families just to play football. If we have each of the clubs creating a formal football academy in each of their clubs, every state in Malaysia would have more than one formally recognized academy to go to and their performance can be monitored by FAM itself.

With this, regulations and KPIs for each footballing academy can be set as a mandatory requirement for all participating clubs in the leagues and a review of each of the academies can be set, to ensure the quality that is produced by the clubs is maintained.

Standardized Coaching and Scouting with Accreditation Program is quite straight forward, FAMs role should also cover the quality and level of expertise of all the coaches in Malaysia as well as the quality of scouts in Malaysia. We believe the aim here is to continuously improve the level of coaching and scouting with the aim of having a large number of internationally certified coaches in Malaysia. While this would then benefit directly to the clubs that they belong to, it also boosts the level of expertise in our coaching pool as a whole.

Better Education, Incentives and Initiatives would help create an environment to develop young talents that would see a viable career in professional football. In educating the public, a national curriculum could be set by FAM to help guide talents on a school level help develop their young players according to their age expectation as well as give a better understanding in working with youngsters. Better incentives and initiatives could be the key in creating a competitive environment for talents at a very early age, which we suggest FAM to set up greater financial benefits for schools with improving talent developmental programs, training seminars for teachers, player development scholarships

Finally, Improved Facilities and Infrastructures is something we believe that Malaysia desperately needs in order to improve the level of football in this country. As we have seen new private academies such as the National Football Development Plan (NFPD) and Frenz Academy that are making waves in developing young local talents in the country, FAM should respond the same in creating Regional Center of Excellence for Football especially in regions outside of Kuala Lumpur that takes specialist developmental coaches with nutrition experts that help develop some of the top talents in the country.

3. Governing and Monitoring Development of M-Leagues

We have seen the problems with coaches finding difficulties in selecting players due to the dwindling talents in the player pool. Which is why we believe that there is a need for FAM to take their role in developing a more competitive environment within our M-Leagues.

Firstly, we both agree that having Lions XII in the league brings no benefit to us whatsoever and neither does the Harimau Muda program playing in the S-League.

With that, FAM needs to make a stand that the M-League should have always been for the Malaysian clubs and member of Harimau Muda would gain better experience if they are incorporated in our clubs rather than a designated team playing in a foreign league, which limits the number of players than you can really develop to the players registered in the team.

Next, a better organization of scheduling for tournaments in the M-League is crucial in order to avoid any disruption of the season. We believe that we have seen enough disruptions caused by various reasons this year and FAM should take into considerations all of these possible disruptions (which they could have foreseen) when creating the football calendar for the year.

We also believe FAM should be responsible in creating "impact driven" national level friendlies once a month for the national team. Biggest issue that we have is that we need to steer clear of "circus friendlies" and focus on friendlies that can bring proper benefit to the development of our national team. Once again we would like to reiterate that we are not against foreign clubs playing their tours here, but rather have them play with our top clubs rather than our national team.

Finally, which we believe is a more important aspect under this category is that there is a need to create more leagues that caters not only to the senior players but also creating leagues for the youth and developmental players.

[Proposed Competitive Youth League in the Structure]

As per mentioned in the earlier proposal, once every club participating in the Super and Premier league has established their own youth academy, FAM can provide a better competitive environment by creating a Youth League for all the youth academies in Malaysia.

This way, you can ensure that the youth development in training will get an early competitive exposure in the game as well as creating a very early awareness of potential top talents in the pool that can be referenced in future selections.

4. Initiatives and Incentives for Talent Development in Malaysia

Facing the reality, monetary incentives goes a long way in the development of a club and it should be different here. Our proposal is that there is a necessity to increase the pocket share of all the participating clubs in the M-League which will then also contribute to the capability of them improving in the near future.

Firstly, looking at the winning prize money for our leagues as per comparison:

While some may argue that in this region, we are already providing a lot as prize money for the clubs but unfortunately, its peanuts compared to what we can really obtain and distribute the wealth accordingly to the clubs.

Take for example the profit structure of the English Premier League here.

As one would be able to see, every 20 club playing in the league will be received funding from the English FA through three main sources:

(a) Equal TV Rights of Share - to which every clubs will receive equal funding generated through TV rights and commercial values.

(b) Merit Money - Amount received varies from your position in the league

Which means that even a club like QPR that was recently relegated from the Premier League would still received a total of 64.8 mil Pounds at the end of the season out of 5.18bil Pounds generated from the league, which makes QPR earn 1.25% from the total revenue of the league.

While that percentage looks like a small number, imagine the amount that translate to, not inclusive of the amount they have generated on their own through sponsors, merchandise and ticket sales would dwarf what we receive here in Malaysia.

FAM should take the initiative to emulate the same methodology of wealth distribution to the clubs participating in our leagues, through proper revenue planning which will be covered later in this article.

5. Marketing and Business Development of Football in Malaysia

We propose that FAM also needs to step up their efforts in marketing the league, both domestically and in the international level. In truth, development of football requires large amount of funding and the only way for them to do so it so exploit the opportunities and marketing possibilities that we have with the M-League.

We have seen the latest collaboration between FAM and MP & Silva to take up the role of promoting the broadcasting of both the Super and Premier League games from next season onwards, which we are hoping would further boost the viewership of the leagues.

On top of that, the role of FAM needs to further push funding by exploring further corporate sponsorship for the league by making the league more attractive for further sponsorship through corporate bodies.

The end goal for FAM is to fully develop the potential of expanding the business potential of M-Leagues, beyond even the fan base here in Malaysia. To match the same business principle as most of the successful leagues around the world is to create the awareness, interest and support beyond their own country and we believe that FAM has the necessary tools in promoting the leagues within the ASEAN region.

Better Collaboration and Communication with Ministry of Sports

Admit it, FAM's biggest problem is their undeniable ego administrating the sport in this country. One must admit that more things can be achieved when the ideas from different organizations can be shared together with the administration of FAM.

As can be seen by the efforts of the Ministry, FAM needs to be more open in communicating their plans and strategy with the Ministry as to ensure that there will always be a "check and balance" with the planning that is implemented by FAM and even share ideas of training and youth development from different bodies in the country.

In the end, we believe that both organizations having the same end goal which is to develop the local football to new heights in the future. With that in mind there should be no reason why multiple organizations cannot at least collaborate together in their strategies.

Our point here is simple, if two die hard fans of Malaysia football can come up with strategies like this to further revamp and improve FAM as an organization over a long chat and a cup of coffee, surely there must be more that can be done in the ranks of the organization to fix the current rut that we are having.

We hope that this article, even though still lacks further ideas, serve as a reminder of the potential that we can reach in our football with the right attitude and strategy that has to first come from the main governing body.

We implore that for once, drop the ego and do what needs to be done to fix this.

"Selamanya Harimau Malaya, Selagi Kita Bernyawa"

Top 10 Games To Look Out For

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 07:12:00 +0000

Taking a break a little from the recent barrage of football related postings, recently we just had the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and the announcements that was made in that show damn near blew the minds of every gamers in the planet. By far one of the most exciting E3 yet in history, the common theme that each announcement had was the migration to "next gen tech" in gaming especially for the Playstation 4.

So I've decided to come up with the top 10 list of games that I am looking out for after the reveal in E3.

Just a quick disclaimer before I continue with this list. Firstly I am a huge fan of RPG based games which is the reason why I would be more inclined to put RPG based games in my list compared to other genres. Secondly, I do understand that some of the games were revealed much earlier than the ones in E3 but I believe that there are some that is worth mentioning in the list, just because. :)

That all done? Here we go!

no. 10 - The Division

When they first announced this game, everyone went nuts. This game offered the first look on what "next gen gaming" could offer to the public and pretty much created a new feel to online/co-op gaming in your now popular post apocalyptic world theme.

It gave the same feel when Call of Duty parted ways from the historical story line to the near future technology made available to modern warfare. Which means, bigger and more awesome gadgets can be used, with a completely new gameplay that was going to be the next gamechanger for the warfare games.

[Jaw dropping look at the mapping system in the game]

Expected Release Date: March 2016

Platform: PC, Playstation 4, XBox One

Why I am Looking Forward to This: The sheer possibilities that can be done with this game is amazing and I can't wait to sample their multiplayer co-op game.

Possible Issue: One this about Ubisoft is that after AC: Unity, many fans of the make are a little scared that they will once again receive an "unfinished" game when released. I do hope that Ubisoft learn their lesson from the past and not rush to release the game just because they need to match their competition.

no. 9 - Anno 2205

I've played my fair share of simulation games but the Anno series really grabbed my attention in the past. Hence why when they made the announcement for Anno 2205, I really got excited. It's been a while since they last made a really good simulation game (I'm still waiting for a new railroad or theme park tycoon game...)

Looking at the trailer that was announced recently, the graphics of the game looks absolutely amazing and I believe that they will be exploring a much bigger space and travel within the towns which would be absolutely amazing.

Expected Release Date: November 2015

Platform: PC

Why I am Looking Forward to This: A new frontier in city building game. The previous titles was not a disappointment so looking forward to see what comes this time around.

Possible Issue: Hopefully they would go with something more "sustainable" in this title as the only problem that I can find in the previous Anno titles is that the mission can be a little repetitive.

no. 8 - Need For Speed

An all time classic, Need for Speed has now gone into third gear by adapting the next gen graphics and game play into their title, resulting to one hell of an epic trailer and even a game play demo during the E3.

Free form customization, selection of cars and even the street styled missions reminded me of a better version of NFS: Underground in the past. Like the previous titles, they have maintained the free run missions in the township area, just that they have added the element of police car chases every now and then in the mission.

Expected Release Date: November 2015

Platform: PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Why I am Looking Forward to This: Fast shiny cars and blistering missions. Enough said.

Possible Issue: While the free roam car customization is something to look forward to, I would hope that they would not bomb out in limiting the amount of customisation available during the game.

no.7 - Shenmue III

When Shenmue first broke the scene, I have to admit I was not the person that was playing it but I was with SafrizOnline who was doing the honors of breaking into this game. It was a revolutionary game that came out of Sega Dreamcast back then and people fell in love with the graphics as well as the storyline behind the game.

For some reason, it stood out big time back in the day but at the time when Dreamcast went out of production, so did the Shenmue title and the storyline left without a continuation.

Which is why when they announced that the game was going to be developed, everyone lost their minds and can't wait to see what the game could offer. Fully funded by Kickstarter, the game has been in development since 3 years ago and looks good for it to be released soon.

Expected Release Date: December 2017

Platform: PC and Playstation 4

Why I am Looking Forward to This: Its like a relationship that ended without closure and now there is a possibility to have that. With Shenmue 3 timeline still far away from now, the possibilities are endless with the game.

Possible Issue: After getting the initial Kickstarter amount needed to fund the project, there are reports that Yu Suzuki is looking to achieve a target of USD10 mil before developing the project, which may result to a further delay on the release of the game.

no. 6 - Star Wars Battlefront

Another extension of a title that deserves to be transformed by the next gen technology is Star Wars Battlefront. As the trailer has suggested, we would be seeing much epic game play than ever before and would hope that the storyline would match the graphics showcased.

Star Wars Battlefront would showcase a much improved gaming experience and from the announcement trailer that was shown in E3, so much promise can be seen in this game. In addition with the latest Star Wars movie that is coming out, it couldn't be announced at a better time.

Expected Release Date: December 2015

Platform: PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Why I am Looking Forward to This: The fact that the game play trailer has already revealed so much, I'm looking forward to see what they can offer in this game.

Possible Issue: While the announcement trailer looks amazing, there was a disclaimer that what was shown was not the actual game play footage, which is uber annoying.

no.5 - Assassins Creed : Syndicate

From what has been revealed so far on this title of AC, it does look good. Set in the timeline of Victorian England, we now see the franchise bring their story to the timeline of Industrial Europe, which is when the whole idea of secrets and political assassinations thrive the most.

As a person that has played this game since the very beginning, I must admit that it is to my fault that I have yet to play the latest addition to the title, due to the problems and major glitches in the game. However AC: Syndicate seem to be their saving grace for the title itself.

Expected Release Date: October 2015

Platform: PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Why I am Looking Forward to This: Every single title they announced, they have included a new element to the game which I always look out for. Also, the story line for AC: Syndicate is rumored to be one of their best work so far.

Possible Issue: Once again, I really do hope they didn't rush to take this game out....

no.4 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Any real gamer would know that with every title from the Uncharted franchise, you would expect the game to be perfect. Once was the only few games that received a perfect score in its review, the latest Uncharted 4 is expected to be nothing less than amazing.

Uncharted 4 marks the first of the series to be featured in Playstation 4 and there are also rumors that this would be the LAST Drake's appearance in the franchise, which makes it even more special. Moreover, the enhancements of next gen gaming will open up bigger possibilities for this game, which fans of the series can't wait.

Expected Release Date: March 2016

Platform: Playstation 4

Why I am Looking Forward to This: Pretty much covered above.

Possible Issue: They are going to kill Drake. You bastards....

no. 3 - Mass Efffect : Andromeda

While we look at all the games that has been mentioned so far, Mass Effect is one of those titles that had such a big following until last title's epic fail ending which broke so many people's hearts. Hence why the announcement of Andromeda gave light as to the next upcoming chapter, possibly post Captain Shepard, as to what the franchise has to offer next for the fans.

While there is still much to be revealed from the game, fans are predicting that the storyline will take place in a different galaxy than Shepard's, as well as identifying a new breed of N-7 troops which against highlights the demise of the Captain. Also the gameplay is rumored to be different as well, taking itself further away from the original trilogy of games in the past.

Expected Release Date: October 2016

Platform: PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Why I am Looking Forward to This: The idea of taking the new settlement to a new galaxy is extremely exciting as well as the rumored news that they have revamped the old game system to a more advanced method, including the controls for the craft!

Possible Issue: After the debacle with the ending of Mass Effect 3, there are high expectations with this game from the fans which I would hope they don't choke!

no. 2 - Fallout 4

One of the biggest reveal for me in the expo, which left me so flabbergasted I started calling every gaming friend I know about the news. 5 years in the making, fans like myself has been waiting for so long just to get another title from the franchise.

So far, we know that Fallout 4 will feature a much larger mapping of the Wasteland than any of their previous title released. We know that they changed the entire game play to enhance the gaming experience, with much improved graphics and the missions now are not only limited to in game but other activities as well. We also know that the mysterious "Vault 111" will be featured mainly in this game. So much to digest.

Bethesda Studios spared no expenses in the release announcement, citing a 5 minute game play demo which also featured a new face creation module for your character. Best thing is, finally, our Dweller actually speaks for the first time!

Expected Release Date: 10th November 2015 (Worldwide Release)

Platform: PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Why I am Looking Forward to This: I can't even start listing, there is too much!

Possible Issue: Because of the scope the game will feature (even the developers admit that they are doing too much!) that is far greater than they have ever done, expected the first couple of months to be buggish.

no.1 - Final Fantasy 7 Remake

The greatest game reveal of all time. What made it great was that in E3, game after game that was expected to be the game changer was announced, no one saw this coming. After 18 years since it was last produced (and I last played) by Square Enix, they made a ground breaking announcement that they will be making the remake of one of the best titles in the Final Fantasy franchise.

Using the improved graphics from Final Fantasy : Advent Children, fans broke down in tears as the announcement was made. What made it even more epic that it was one of the best kept secret of all time in today's gaming industry.

[The iconic Cloud]

Do keep your attention posted on further updates on this game here. Until then, I'll still be in my fetal position, crying out of joy.

Expected Release Date: 2016 (unconfirmed date)

Platform: PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Why I am Looking Forward to This: The developers have mentioned that this would not just be a "aesthetic upgrade" of the game but a full revamp of game play, storyline and such. This would mean that despite our knowledge of the previous FF7 storyline, it could be different this time...

Possible Issue: are you nuts?

Where Does Malaysian Football Stand in ASEAN?

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 07:00:00 +0000

Once again, die hard fans of Harimau Malaya have to swallow the bitter reality pill that our football federation administration and the senior team have failed us. Miserably. Till this day, while any other person would recognize that this is the time alarm bells should rung to indicate that we are in dire need of changes and we are heading to a total meltdown with our national team.

Yet even with the mess that they have created, none of the administration of FAM or even members of the Harimau Malaya team is taking responsibility to what has is currently happening with the state of national football team, still trying to convince themselves and fool the general public that everything is still ok.

So this post is to make people realize, where do we actually stand in comparison to rest of the footballing nations in ASEAN, with hope that it finally gives a picture, especially to FAM where we are at the moment.

Ranking

Despite certain quarters are saying that FIFA rankings do not matter however this is the only legitimate, quantitative indicator as to the performance of each team in the region.

With that, compare the movement of Malaysia's FIFA ranking over the years in comparison to other countries within the region with competitive national football teams.

	Malaysia	Singapore	Thailand	Philippines	Vietnam	Indonesia	Myanmar
2010	139	119	98	149	114	127	139
2011	138	129	114	151	99	125	149
2012	148	147	124	143	97	143	156
2013	154	150	135	127	129	156	130
2014	141	145	140	127	116	151	129
2015	153	153	129	128	124	155	141

[Comparative Study between 9 Footballing Nations in ASEAN]

I purposely took the data from 2010, where we allegedly peaked in our game, winning the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010 as well as winning the SEA Games 2011 gold medal in football. Since then, we continued to decline in our rankings in a consistent pace with nothing to show for the next 4 years. Compare the graph above with the average rankings of each country, one can see it is us, the Indonesians (who evidently had their FIFA status banned which resulted to them forfeiting every other competitions in the future) and the Singaporeans (who have decided to forgo their "naturalized" talents in the national team) that has shown a continuous decline until today.

This is an embarrassing statistic to look at, considering the resources, facilities and opportunities that is far better in comparison to all our ASEAN counterparts, second only to the Singaporeans. With the amount of funding that is made available to FAM for the purpose of developing football in Malaysia, even the average Joe would expect better than what we have today.

Trophies

Once again, after winning the AFF Suzuki Cup and the SEA Games gold medal, we have failed to show result in ANY of the competition that we have participated.

One disappointment after another, FAM have nothing to show since the win in 2010. Absolutely nothing.

Yet in the meantime, our counterparts in ASEAN are showing strong promise for the future, with the Thai Elephants bouncing back from their 10 year slump to their dominating form that they once were in this region. The Viets and the Myanmar team, who were not long ago were the dark horse and the whipping boys respectively in this region, have now emerged as possible champions in almost all of the competitions that they participate. The Philippine Azkals have now revamped their once dilapidated team into one of the highest movers in ASEAN football, capable of beating not only the Asia giants but even those from the Middle East. Even the tiny nation of Timor Leste, who is one of the youngest developed team in ASEAN could even hold their ground against our boys.

Grass Root Development

One of the biggest frustration that every Malaysian fan would have is towards the effort that FAM is putting to develop the young talents for the future. As the governing body of football in Malaysia, who has chosen to take the role to develop the country's young footballing talent, the results shown is absolutely abysmal.

We are still seeing the same faces representing the national team for more than 5 years, regardless of their age and form, which then beckons the question, are we unable to come up with new talents that are good enough to represent the country apart from the older talents?

While the only evidence of FAM's effort in nurturing top talents for the future is from the Harimau Muda program, their stint in Singapore's S-League can only muster a mid table position at best, in a league that even the Singaporeans don't really care about. As a result, a team that could barely hold their ground during the AFC Qualifier and even the SEA Games.

Yet in the same time, we allow the likes of Lions XII to play in our league and enjoy an environment that is far greater in comparison to their own. The results, a better exposure for their Young Lions, hosting them in a league with a much larger fan base and improving their own fan base, and painstakingly losing our FA Cup to across the border.

If this is the plan that FAM have in order to improve the landscape of our footballing scene, I shudder to think what the end result would be.

Key Performance Index (KPI)

As a working professional in the corporate world, I would understand that the justification of one's performance in the organization would be quantified from one's Key Performance Index (KPI). Should these targets are not met, actions need to be taken to ensure necessary changes are made and lack of performance from top officials are identified.

This, however, is not the case for FAM.

We first saw the main target for FAM to revamp and restructure the entire footballing scene in Malaysia to build up our qualification for the 2014 World Cup. Ambitious as it may sound, the sheer thought that back in 2002 when this target was set, it at least showed promise from the top officials of FAM to further develop our local football to a competitive team in the future. We all know today where that target stands.

After that, they changed their target to a more "realistic" target, which was to qualify for the Asian Cup.

Three Asian Cup later, apart from one abysmal showing as a host in 2007 and not even a hint of qualifying for the next two showed what happened to that particular target.

After that, FAM once again changed their targets to win the AFF Suzuki Cup once more, after a stellar showing in 2010. Even that, amounted to a disappointing run in 2012 where we couldn't even put a fight in the semis against the Thais and even after a resurgence performance in 2014, we flanked out in the finals once more against the Thais.

And finally, their most recent change in their targets was to achieve gold for the 2015 SEA Games tournament. After much hype of the young U-23 team coming into the competition, we only have this to show:

Losing out in the group stage for the first time in a very long time.

Even after all these failures with NOTHING to show as a success for the targets for FAM, nothing changes in the organization. An unwelcome sight of the same old faces running the organization still maintain their position as the decision makers in the world of Malaysian football. Unsurprisingly this was going to be the case, as the Ministry of Sports has no power to intervene in the operations of FAM and anyone in the organization who dare questions the top management is more likely to be punished than heard.

At best, one would hope that the management of FAM or even the current heads of the National Squad was to take the blame for the recent shambles that befall our team. Yet, the same tone echoes among all the officials of the team. The President, still refusing to step down after a woeful performance over the years, most recently decided to attack the coaching staff for an explanation of what happened to the team. The Secretary General makes a statement that this is a normal occurrence with the team, as we are "not expected to be the champions all the time" (with an attitude like that, many even wonder what is his motivation in the organization). The coach also decides to duck out from the firing line, mentioning that it is not his fault that he could not select younger and better talents for the competition and he does not understand why the players are not motivated in his team.

All this with no indicator at all as to what can be changed.

Ironically, the only person that actually apologizes to the fans for their performance are the players themselves, who at least had the beans to come forward and take the blame.

[Safiq Rahim leading the team to apologize to the fans]

And you wonder why the fans held up that particular Tifo?

What both the writers here in Tehtarikmemoirs now ask, how long does it take and how many more miserable failures do we need to see for the Exco of FAM to realize how deep of the gutter we are in? How long do the fans need to wait before plausible changes are made?

The Fall of Malaysian Football – Future Whipping Boys of Asia?

noreply@blogger.com (The Gym Monkey) — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 08:02:00 +0000

Everyone knows it. Malaysian football is at its lowest ever. While every other nation on the planet moves forward in terms of their football, Malaysia only seems to be going backwards. Numbers do not lie. We are now ranked 162^nd out of 209 in the latest FIFA ranking. Not so long ago, we were at 166, that is 91 positions down from 75^th spot, our best ever position in 1993 when the FIFA ranking was introduced. Yes, since the ranking was introduced Harimau Malaya have only gone downhill.

Harimau Malaya went as high as 75th in 1993

166th in May 2015

How important is the FIFA ranking? It determines how countries will be seeded for World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers. The lower you are ranked, the more chances you will have facing stronger teams. This will definitely make tasks a lot more difficult. In the case of Asia, the 12 lowest ranked teams will have to go through a qualifying phase to be in the qualifiers. Malaysia is not far off from that. Harimau Malaya are currently 17^th from bottom among Asian nations. With the rate Guam and Hong Kong are going, that bottom 12 couldn’t come any faster.

World Cup qualifying rules for AFC

In the current World Cup Qualifying campaign for Russia 2018, Malaysia sits in a group with United Arab Emirates (73^rd), Saudi Arabia (98^th), Palestine (118^th), Timor-Leste (146^th). Yes, Harimau Malaya is the lowest ranked team in the group. After 2 games (a final minute collapse to draw 1-1 with Timor-Leste and a GST-esque whitewash at the hands of Palestine, both at home) in which the team was “supposed” to win, things are not looking any brighter.

Humiliated at SNBJ

Harimau Malaya still have to face them away and are yet to play the group favourites. I can only hope that the team do not concede more than 20 goals after this qualifying campaign is over.

The recent drubbing at the heads and feet of Palestine is the second time this year that Harimau Malaya have lost by a scoreline of 6-0. The other was against Oman. This equals our third biggest defeat but the first time that Harimau Malaya have been humiliated twice in a year (and there is still another half a year to go). It will be a painful year for Malaysian football fans. The last win for Harimau Malaya was the second leg AFF Suzuki Cup final last December against Thailand which the team lost on aggregate.

Oman gave Harimau Malaya a GST-esque drubbing

The only other match played this year was a 0-0 draw against Hong Kong. At around the same time Malaysia is having a horrible spell, Guam just defeated India and Turkmenistan. Singapore held Japan to a goaless draw at Saitama Stadium. Myanmar and Laos only had narrow 2-0 losses against South Korea and Lebanon respectively. Philippines beat Yemen 2-0. Timor-Leste lost 1-0 to the UAE. Thailand beats Taiwan. Cambodia lost 1-0 to Afghanistan. Hong Kong beats Maldives 2-0.

The only other game to have a similar scoreline was China’s 6-0 rout of Bhutan (Bhutan lost 7-0 to Hong Kong). Is that the level Harimau Malaya is at?

After all this, the Malaysian national coach Dollah Salleh has refused to resign saying he isn’t a coward. There is a difference between not being a coward and being stubborn. In this case, the coach is an idiot. Giving all sorts of excuses. It seems the training in Japan did not help. The circus game against a Tottenham side playing at leisurely pace didn’t help either.

"Saya bukan pengecut" - I'm not a coward

Players are not up to the task. The current players that play for the national side are arguably not the best options. Do they even have the heart to play for the national team? There is no cohesion or teamwork. Everyone wants to be a prima donna. Everyone is looking for personal glory. When fans criticise their play, they get worked up and curse fans in return. There is no respect to fans as professionals. Players only wish to get off the field as soon as possible. There is no discipline on and off the field. Tempers flare during games and players get frustrated too quickly. Everyone wants to be Mario Balotelli.

None of the Harimau Malaya's starting evelen against Palestine were from the FA Cup finalist or league leaders

How some of these players are chosen to represent Malaysia is a public mystery. There is too much favoritism and corruption in picking players, not only at national level but all the way down to club level. Real talents are wasted. Instead we get players who are more concerned with how they look on TV as opposed to how they play. Players who are more concerned about getting the hot chicks and cashing in the big bucks.

There is nothing wrong about living a celebrity life (it's their choice), but if you're a footballer, football comes first.

For these amounts, Malaysian football deserves more

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has not been doing their job either. The whole organisation from top to bottom is corrupted. I could go on and on about the flaws of the system, but that will be a topic for another day.

For now, I just want to point out that our national team is starting to become the laughing stock of Asian/World football. FAM and the national team is disorganised and something has to be done if we do not want to be in Asia’s bottom 12.

Even our fans, Ultras Malaya are more organised. The FAM can only condemn the ultras, but have they not realised that without them our stadiums are empty and quiet. Most fans have stayed away from stadiums because they have lost hope. The Ultras Malaya stays on. There is a reason why the ultras are frustrated. Just look at the numbers.

Ultras Malaya during 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup Final 2nd leg

After the Timor-Leste game, the question was how much lower can we get. Well, we’ve managed to go a step lower now and if things don’t change, it’s off the cliff (to use downhill would be an understatement).

These are the Asian teams ranked below Harimau Malaya:

Hong Kong, Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Guam, Laos, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Nepal, Brunei, Macau, Sri Lanka, Mongolia.

Guam and Hong Kong are flying. Heck, even Bhutan is above us in the rankings.

Bhutan's National Stadium

Bukit Jalil National Stadium

With games against Saudi Arabia and the UAE still to come, I imagine it is going to get worse for Harimau Malaya.

How much more of an ass whooping do we need before a change finally happens? Every football fan in Malaysia is frustrated that nothing is being done. Only lame excuses given.

Harimau Malaya has turned into a circus tiger. The Malayan tiger (panthera tigris jacksoni) has been classified as endangered species. Looks like the national football team is following suit.

If this continues, Harimau Malaya will be the new whipping boys of Asia.

“Dah bertahun main macam setan, itu pun kau tak perasan, oh FAM apa yang kau buat”

Malaysia vs Timor Leste - How Low Can We Fall?

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 05:44:00 +0000

This may be a slightly emotional post, but from the perspective of a Harimau Malaya supporter, I believe this must be said.

Last night we opened our World Cup 2018 Qualifying campaign against Timor Leste, a team which was once the "whipping boys" of ASEAN. Naturally, Ash and I took our place among the stands with the Ultras Malaya boys and we were dead set to be with the boys to chant our lungs out for our team as we always do.

A brief summary of the game, national coach Dollah "Pablo" Salleh fielded his strongest team for this competition, with the regulars Amri and Safee leading the attacking at the front. The midfield line was held by the regulars like Indra Putra and Safiq "Copot" Rahim but the interest addition was the lanky Junior Eldstal and Sarawak's talisman Joseph Kalang Tie. The backline was held by the regulars Muslim, Fadhli, Zubir and the speedy Kunalan. Surprise factor was to see Khairul "Apek" Fahmi between the post rather than Farizal Marlias.

While we enjoyed majority of the possession during the game, our biggest downfall was the lack of edge needed for the finish at the front of the goal. Despite the goal from Safee, he was hardly seen contributing to much of the attacking in the front. Amri was again wasting dead easy chances in front of goal and we witnessed plenty of unnecessary individual play which resulted to mediocre results. In the end, 2 minutes into extra time, our own lack of concentration and focus resulted into the goal that basically shaped the all so familiar figure after every Malaysia game.

A picture of disappointment and defeat.

This has now become a staple scene every time each and every one of the Ultras that comes down to the Curva to give everything we have to support our national team. While Ash and myself make the effort to make our presence heard at the game, many take a lot more effort to actually get here, to the point that some borrowed money to get the tickets, taking flights just to make sure that they don't miss the game, and some even leaving behind their families just so that they can be there to cheer for the team.

And for all of that, I feel that it is unfair that all we get in return is the continuous decline of our national team, with no solution in sight.

What makes it worse is that we all know that the National team does not lack talent, with the likes of Indra and Safiq that have shown what they can really do on the pitch and the tenacity of the "Safee Special" that is known not only in our country but by most in ASEAN.

So the question is, what the hell happened to us?

If we even struggle to beat even minnows like Timor Leste (who not long ago got the trashing of a lifetime from us), why have we now come to this? Quite frankly its not that hard to see that FAM has now lost the plot and if there is anything that we can take from this scenario, this should be the kick in the behind that FAM needs to see the atrocity that they have created from their own lack of effort and dismal attitude in developing the game.

Until today, all that we can see is the excuses and continuous proof of the mismanagement and the utter "cluelessness" of the entire FAM administration. Starting from the Key Perfomance Indexes (KPI) of the body, which none was actually achieved since they last set it for themselves, even after they decided to "realistically adjust" their own KPIs halfway to the year (which is unheard of) to a mediocre SEA Games Gold Medal. We've all seen the result of that target...

And yet until today, the defiance of the administration has yet to admit that alarm bells should be sounding off with what we can see from our performance to date. None would want to take the blame or the responsibility to

These are dark times for Malaysian football and our national team but you can count on the boys of Ultras Malaya to still believe that we can get something out of this. Ash and I have been given the privilege to be part of the front liners of Ultras Malaya and still believe that we can take ourselves out of this rut and obtain glory as we once have in the past, despite the disappointment and the bitter pill we have to swallow everytime we sing "Warisan" at the end of each game.

In fact, as I looked around me while chanting and screaming our lungs out for the team, it is that sheer believe and passion is what drives most of the Ultras to continue doing what we do and it is something that we would not want to lose.

Hence I ask the question, how low can we fall?

I think most of us agree it would be the day that the fans, who are in the end human, are silenced because we no longer believe.

Please don't let that happen.

"Selamanya Harimau Malaya, Selagi Kita Bernyawa".

Future Circus Games

noreply@blogger.com (The Gym Monkey) — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 06:18:00 +0000

It must be said that it is difficult to stop European clubs from touring Asia, and in this case Malaysia, for promotional activities and pre season training. There is the economic factor and increasing number of fans in the region, thus the demand is there for all to see. Over the years we have seen the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool coming over to entertain the local crowds. It has been successful indeed.

Then there are those (myself included) who are opposed to these spectacle otherwise known as “Circus Games”, not out of hatred or dislike for European clubs (I myself have long supported Juventus, second after Kedah and enjoy watching European football) but for various reasons such as disruption of local leagues, international preparation and the use or rather misuse of the national colours. Although there were ill feelings towards these spectacles, fans have let it slipped by in recent years. (No, I will not go/watch a match between Juventus and Malaysia. However if it was between Juventus and Kedah/JDT/Selangor, yes. Understand the difference.)

It finally boiled over recently after the Malaysian national team’s ranking dropped to it’s lowest ever in the FIFA ranking (166th) and after the announcement of Tottenham and Liverpool’s tour which in many fans’ eyes is a disruption to the World Cup and AFC qualifiers. For one, it was said that a proposed friendly against the Philippines was scraped to allow Tottenham’s game to be scheduled. The disruption has also caused upset among local fans who have seen their money gone to waste (from bus/flight tickets to accommodation for away games) because of the cancelled/postponed local league. We are not a developed nation and money is still considered scarce here. Most of all, it was a mistreatment of national pride.

The Ultras Malaya, loyal fans of the Harimau Malaya then started a campaign #SayNoToCircusGames. Being one of the thousands who sing and dance with Ultras Malaya come rain or shine, I joined in to spread the message across.

A tug-of-war ensued between those that support the #SayNoToCircusGame campaign and those against the campaign. Many did not truly understand the many reasons behind the campaign. Some questioned “why only now”, “I don’t think you will boycott if it is Barcelona or Manchester United”. I am not here to give the answers as there are plenty out there. Some argued that it’s beneficial to our economy as it attract tourists who will spend money. Yes, but at the cost of national pride.

This brings to what I would like to say. If these tours of Malaysia by European clubs are to continue, I have several suggestions (These are my own personal opinions and are not necessarily the opinion of Ultras Malaya on the matter):

· Country vs country. Club vs Club. Unless it’s a Malaysian club involved, DO NOT USE any NAME that make it sounds like a representation our national team in any way. Example: Do not use Malaysia, Harimau Malaya, Malaysia XI. Instead, use for example: MSL XI, Malaysian League All Star, Malaysian Fans Selection, WWF All Star.

· DO NOT USE the Malaysian national team COLOURS (Black & Yellow / Blue, White & Red). Instead, use for example: Pink (a colour to show support for cancer), or ask fans to submit designs.

· DO NOT POSTPONE or CANCEL any local league or cup games. PRIORITISE please. If it MUST be held during local league season due to European clubs’ availability, make sure it is planned in ADVANCE before setting the dates of local leagues. Example: Some European leagues have winter breaks (fixed), so perhaps have a SHORT (mark that word) break somewhere between Europe’s post-season and pre-season and make it fixed (not altered yearly).

· DO NOT LET it be a priority over national team games. Put official FIFA sanctioned matches ahead of entertainment matches. If hundred of thousand ringgits are used to promote the spectacle, then MORE should be spent on promoting World Cup / AFC qualifiers and international friendly matches.

· LET FANS VOTE for players and the coach/manager to represent the team. Example: The NBA All-Stars & NFL Pro Bowl allows the fans to vote for the players to play in these events. The same can be applied. The highest number of vote for each positions will represent the team. The Pro Bowl even let fans vote on a play (offensive move) to be used during the game. Perhaps allow the fans to vote for starting formation for the team. It will make the make fans feel more appreciated.

· RAISE FUNDS FOR CHARITY or AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. Work with NGOs or related organisations. This will add meaning and give more credibility to these matches. Example: Proceeds from these matches can go to societies like MAKNA, WWF, Badan Warisan Malaysia, UNICEF, UNDP, etc.

If planned properly and without the misuse of national pride, these exhibition will be beneficial and would not so much be opposed. Fans will feel appreciated by getting involved. Tourists will still flock and spend money. More people will attend the exhibition matches, even non-football fans if it’s beneficial to society or nature. Local players get exposure.

NATIONAL PRIDE IS NOT SACRIFICED.

There will definitely be less heat coming from the Ultras Malaya and other fans. With that said, you still won’t see the Ultras Malaya lighting up the stadium atmosphere. You’ll have fans, but certainly not Ultras Malaya. (I may go if it involves Juventus, but ONLY after all these suggestions are met and I feel HAPPY with the state of Harimau Malaya).

Central Park Sports Centre Futsal @ Kota Damansara

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Wed, 20 May 2015 06:58:00 +0000

5 years ago, my group of classmates from Malay College Class of 2000 decided that in conjunction with our 10 year anniversary we would organize our very own futsal tournament, representing our Houses once more. We were older back then, and the very fact that our sporting abilities diminished as we aged, comedy was guaranteed during the event.

Today, we decided to do it one more time. As you would have guessed, it got even funnier!

[MC 2000 Interhouse Futsal - where we may think that we are young enough for this but the body strongly disagrees]

After a long discussion with the group, we decided to continue on the competition that we did 5 years ago (check out the write up here) and make the competition full blown. We decided to get companies which are owned by classmates to sponsor for the event and in the same time, create an awareness on the existence of these companies. (will do a quick mention later)

So we decided to get our event done in a new location for futsal called Central Park Sports Centre located in Dataran Sunway Kota Damansara. Interestingly enough, the courts are located on a multilevel car park building which houses the courts on the top floor. I would think that is kinda neat considering that it gives ample parking and access for members to come and play here without having to worry about where to park.

Noticed that they have about 3 courts available and the conditions of the courts are decent. Instead of the usual hard surface courts, here they are using the synthetic grass for the courts which makes it suitable for football boots. Only thing is that it can get pretty slippery when running so you need to watch your ankles.

So, back to the competition, everybody decided to turn up bright and early for the tournament so that they can do a bit of warm up before the game.

Bear in mind, these are a bunch of 32 year olds, who was once athletic but today possesses the stamina of an asthmatic snail, so watching these guys do their warm up routine was hillarious, especially when some was already cramping up while doing their warm up.

[The boys doing their friendlies, before competition starts]

As per the last time we did this, we all went back to our respective houses that we used to represent back when we were in school. So the competition consists of:

First up we have the Ahmad House team, who were the champions in our last tournament and was coming in strong. Considered the favorites for the competition as they have the largest number of members that are still willing to come down for training on a weekly basis and has the least number of members with a waistline that has expended by 10cm in the last 10 years.

Next up was the boys in yellow from Mohd Shah House, who are also a team to watch. Having coming second in the last competition as the group underdogs, most people know the athletic ability of this team is one to watch. However, their biggest drawback is having some of their more sports talented looking players sitting on the side to take on more "managerial roles".

Next up is Idris House, which is the house that I proudly represent. Coming in third last year, majority of us agreed that our KPI is to be consistent in our target placing. Although we may not be the most gifted athletes in the bunch (some only decided to buy futsal shoes the night before) but we are noted to be the noisiest in the bunch.

Finally, we have the boys in Sulaiman House, who are looking to improve their fortunes this year after coming in last in the previous competition. To do so, they decided to turn up with the most number of players in the competition, improving their chances since they now have more people to rotate with.

As the competition progressed, we were told that each house was to play 3 games each, after which we would play another game during the playoffs. Now for regular futsal players, having to play 4 games in a row in the span of 2 hours is rather exhausting. So you can imagine the wild eyed look we gave the organizers when that was announced.

Despite that, we did showcase some classy moves during the game.

We had some good hustling among the players

Some exquisite ball control shots from the boys:

[Sdr. Kaduk's exquisite ball control shows why he is on the batch's futsal elites]

[Sdr. Skis demonstrating some fancy footwork, despite the size]

[Last competition's best player winner, Sdr. Zack, showing he still has the touch]

[Sdr. Petet's Eagle Styled run was so good, his teammates refused to let him leave the field!]

[Sdr. Megat's syariah compliant gear proved to have improved his game]

On top of that, the proceedings of the game was also showcasing some aerial abilities that one would not expect from an bunch of overweight, pudgy 30 plus year olds!

[Some heartstopping aerial moments during the game]

And of course, they had some moments where shots were taken and everybody held their breath. Although some (or even more) only managed to hit everywhere but the goal target.

[Either the crowd was amazed by Sdr. Poklare and Imy's shooting or their dancing skills]

One thing that I realized among us is that despite the brotherhood we have for each other, pitting us against our own houses does bring up the competitiveness among the boys that have long been forgotten. Tempers were due to rise and every risky maneuvers were executed, despite the body at that point just screaming for us to stop.

[Me trying to calm the tempo of the team down]

[While others go for the reel away celebration technique...]

[...Sdr. Vajie decided to silence his critiques. Of his ultra short pants]

[Shots of the action during the day]

Overall, I would say it is great to have the boys together for this competition and I would believe that the turnout, event, and even the tournament was a huge success. We would hope that we could continue on with this competition on a yearly basis, since having to wait 5 years for this tournament to come is way too long.

And so, the results and awards for the tournament!

MC 2000 Interhouse Futsal Tournament Champion - Mohd Shah House!

Despite having the least number of participants and the least number of regular futsal players, Mohd Shah proved to defy the odds to beat the competition favorites, Ahmad House, to deny them from retaining the trophy. Idris House took third place, beating Sulaiman House in a very close fought match between the two!

Most Valuable Player (Ballon d'Or) Award - Sdr. Tom

Sdr. Tom picked up the award for some awesome display of futsal on that day. He runs, he shoots, he scores and he defends, all while still spotting and awesome mobius beard. Top notch performance!

The "Saya Nampak Bintang Belakang Awan Fect" Award - Argument on Ahmad House's Star

This award goes to the best argument that happened in the tournament goes to the argument between the houses on the validity of Ahmad House's star on their badge for winning the last tournament. Many argued its not fair because officially this would be the first trophy winning tournament so the previous doesn't count. Funny how the noisiest one was Idris House, who had a big ass star on their logo, despite not winning at all.

"Anak Pakcik Nak Tidoq Award - Sdr. Nasriq

This award is given to the noisiest person during the competition and without a shadow of a doubt, that award has to go to Sdr. Nasriq. Even when Idris House is not playing, you could hear him shouting orders to the players which was really confusing. Even the ref faced the wrath of his shouts. And just to make it worse, someone passed him the megaphone...

"Saya Tough" Award - Goalkeepers of the Tournament

To all the goalkeepers of the tournament, take a bow, because this award solely belongs to you. The real heroes of the tournament took a beating that day and still manage to get back up and continued on the tournament despite their injuries. Of course this would be to all goalkeepers except for one...

Conspiracy of the Year - Sdr. Yunus

Last tournament's best goalkeeper of the year winner, Sdr. Yunus was set to feature with the same stature and standard for this competition. However later on in the deciding game, we saw him let in too many easy goals that was highly suspicious. He claims to be a lapse in performance, we say its #konspirasiahmad.

The "MatiHidupSemulaTakBolehBang" Award - Sdr. Kunk

This award is specially to recognize an outstanding effort to stay in the game and it has to go to Sdr. Kunk. This is a man that has hardly did much hard exercises over the past year and the next thing was thrown into a high paced match which we needed the man to take the reigns. In the end he got so tired, he forgotten which team he was on and started to defend the other team's goalpost. Well done.

Fashionista of the Tournament Award - Sdr. Kebau

Despite being present with a jersey, Sdr. Kebau managed to stay minty fresh during the whole tournament without having to break a single sweat. Even in fact he managed to throw in a few managerial tactics into the mix, without having to worry about a misplaced hair. A true fashionista.

I for one would be looking forward for next year's tournament, as many would feel the same way as well. In the end, the main objective of this tournament is to get us all back together again and have fun as a batch like before. In the end, we laughed and joked like a bunch of school kids on holiday and that should be maintained throughout the years to come.

Hopefully, our children can too enjoy the same type of relationship

Til next year boys!

Should Malaysia Use Naturalised Players?

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:40:00 +0000

Its been a while since my last update and for a good reason. I had to take two weeks off from writing as I am experimenting on a subject for my future fitness article here and its a rather controversial one. Hence I have to ensure that I do proper research on that one.

As we prepare ourselves for a few games with our national team, recent news article actually caught my attention because it was a topic that was discussed by Team Teh Tarik before but we never did get a decisive answer among ourselves.

With attention being put to promote our national team and league, some ask the question on whether we should follow suit other ASEAN countries and accept "naturalized Malaysians" to play on our squad or should we only rely on homegrown talents?

The reason why I put this into question because at one point of time, unanimously Malaysia takes pride on relying on "home grown talents" in their squad which is the same strategy we have been using since our glory days of the past.

However today, as the popularity of the squad grows, many overseas talents now publicly state their wishes in playing for our grounds and the interest has been growing since.

[Malaysian born or Malaysian heritage linked players]

Today we have the likes of Brendan Gan and Junior Estedal with Malaysian linked families currently playing for Harimau Malaya and while some question their link to Malaysia, their talent and even passion to play for Malaysia is vital in the development of our football.

In fact, there is even now the question of "naturalizing" our footballers from other countries, with the likes of Dickson Nwakaeme, who is seen singing "Negaraku" passionately in every Pahang game and Paolo Rangel, who has expressed his interest before to play for Malaysia.

There has been a huge divide between the current players and the coaches on this topic, for obvious reasons. Malaysia's current talisman Safiq Rahim has mentioned that we "cannot be lazy and groom our local talents to reach international level as that is the purpose of us developing our national team". Current coach for Malaysia Dollah Salleh has publicly mentioned "that he is open to the use any option of naturalized players with extraordinary talents and should not be relying on such players as a mere escape route".

So this would be my humble opinions on the matter.

Representing our country and wearing our colors is not just about playing football. Its about the passion that you have for the country. For that reason, I disagree on having naturalized players to join our squad as the players can never relate to our country the same way as how our players would for this country.

However, I do agree on getting Malaysian heritage linked players into the squad. Come at least their heritage keeps them rooted to the country and they do have that sense of "pride and belonging" to the country, which would then reflect to their own play.

Example can be seen with Singapore, Philippines, and even Indonesia getting players that are "naturalized" to their country so that they can play for their country and to this date, the impact that has been made by these teams have been small, if any. Singapore who until recently have relied A LOT on naturalized players may have dominated the ASEAN scene but that's about it. The after effects today, with using their homegrown players have failed to secure their stronghold here anymore and for reasons I believe is obvious.

Philippines, who are currently skyrocketing their FIFA rankings through the years however have lost their identities to their local fans due to the dwindling number of home grown talents in their squad.

In my honest opinion, I believe that there is more to come with our talent, which needs the strong support from our supporters and a development program that is in play for our players. There is no need for us to "purchase" players to represent our countries but in that perspective, we should be looking to localizing players with Malaysian heritage into our squad to improve the depth of our team.

Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets in Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 08:32:00 +0000

Taking a break from the regular write up on fitness to fill up the age old desire of geekyness in this blog. This has been a topic that has been debated about between the guy members of Team Teh Tarik and quite frankly, I do see this discussion to go on for a little longer.

Let talk about Virtual Reality Headsets. Are we ready for it?

The question in a lot of people's mind now is what exactly Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets is all about? Believe it or not, most of us have been expected this as the "next step to the evolution of entertainment", with us reaching 4K Ultra HD as the current benchmark for high definition these days.

So what can VR Headsets offer us more?

The idea is really simple, VR Headsets creates another avenue to divulge our senses into gameplay with the use of "peripheral hardware" that focuses your senses to a narrowed vision, creating a "virtual reality" vision and hearing mode for your gaming experience.

While all this may sound very sci-fi-ey, the simplest understanding of all this is "putting a player in a 100 degree view during gameplay, creating a sense of surrounding suiting to the theme of the game". Imagine with the games we have at the moment where we would be able to fully submerge ourselves in the storyline of a game, and with the advent of VR Headsets, the scenario of you being "almost part" of the game now becomes a possibility.

While all this sounds surreal and futuristic, people are now asking when and what type of VR Headsets will be offered here in Malaysia?

From our research here, we are looking for a majority of the VR Headsets to be introduced to the Malaysian market sometime within mid next year. Currently, there are few that is touted to be leading the pack:

[Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, Samsung Gear VR]

So far from our research, these three is currently looking as the best in the market, considering its capability, proposed spec and also useability in our region. Basically in these three, each of them have comparable specs however there are a few differences that might swing to your favor, depending on the platform that you are using with the VR Headset.

Oculus Rift

Dubbed as the starter for this craze, the Oculus Rift now commands a strong lead the market, boasting head movements that translates to the controls of the Rift, 1080p visuals and also 360 degrees view for user brings a lot of potential in game development with the Rift.

While online purchases can already be made for USD350.00 which is quite a decent price for the product, I am unsure on how long will it actually take to get here and the extent of coverage the product can do for games that we have today.

Our educated guess is that the Rift would only be made available in the Malaysian market sometime mid 2015, with full support for PC games in particular.

Project Morpheus

Sony's answer to the VR hype, built specifically for the Playstation platform. Many argue that PM is THE VR tech to look out for, simply because of the stability it can do, merging with the Playstation technology.

With expected worldwide launch to be done approx. quarter 3 2016, Project Morpheus claims that they have done full integration with Sony Playstation game titles.

Specs wise they compare very near to what Oculus can offer. It spots 1920 x 1080 RGB OLED display, a 120hz refresh rate for "super low latency," and a more ergonomic design that makes it easier to put on and more comfortable to wear.

So far, Project Morpheus is the only one that has showcased the power of its product WITH GAMEPLAY and gave a strong outlook on the experience of PM with their games.

[Example gameplay with Project Morpheus]

Samsung Gear VR

Made as part of an extension to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (which came out last year), the first announcement for this was an expected release in the end of 2015 pricing between RM650 - RM900 per unit.

The Gear VR is an Oculus Rift powered device that uses a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 acting as its processor and display. The Note 4 simply slots in front of the lenses, into a Micro USB dock, and uses its 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED display as your screen. What you get is a split VR resolution of 1280 x 1440 for each eye which is a 60Hz refresh rate and a 96 degree field of view.

As to date, Samsung has already boasted the Gear VR's capability in immersing users into Virtual Reality Cinema, Games and Music experience.

By far, the showcase for the Samsung Gear VR is the most exciting of them all but what I would fear is the limitations that Samsung will put considering that the VR is made in conjunction with the capabilities of the Samsung Note 4. Whether this would open up possibilities to be used for other platforms is still debatable until its release.

However, on that note there is still one more that got the members of Team Teh Tarik wagging and we kinda dubbed it the "darkhorse" it the VR Tech race.

HTC Valve Vive VR

Developed by HTC, made in collaboration with game developer Valve, and we expect that this would be made for the PC platform, giving more possibilities of power due to the specs of a PC.

Gizmodo did a brilliant write up on this product and from the description, the future of this product is going to be amazing.

Appartenly the Vive takes body and head movement tracking system into a whole new level and eliminates the problems that occur in other VR sets by adding more sensors to the user. Taking that into consideration, add in a more immersive control system and finally, the piece de resistance, adding this technology into the game development of Valve would see crazy levels of immerse FPS type games or even taking other genre games to a different level.

The one problem that they are higlighting with the Vive at the moment is the sheer bulk of the product which pretty much restricts the movement of the user and thus, ruining the experience altogether.

No further information regarding the price from the developer but they are confident that they can have the first shipment to the global market by the end of 2015. Fingers cross this happens...

Cod Liver Oil : Basic Foundations of Body Building

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 07:14:00 +0000

Someone asked me about the type of supplements that I would recommend when training. Honestly, with the amount of supplements in the market today, it is rather hard to really pin down the type of supplements that I would really recommend.

However, I truly believe that a lot of people have forgotten about the most basic, fundamental supplement that in my honest opinion is A MUST if you are currently in your training period!

[Cod Liver Oil : Natures Way of Keeping your Body Running Properly]

What is Cod Liver Oil?

In any form, cod liver oil are generally "fish oil" found primarily in either capsule or liquid form. One of the best sources of Omega 3 fatty acids and Vitamin A and D, these little "oily pills" helps the body regulate blood flow in general and in the same time help avoid aching around your joints and bones after a heavy set of workout.

How Does Cod Liver Oil Help My Training?

What I am about to write is really something that I actually tried myself.

Back in the days, it was our moms that was trying to get us to eat them nasty tasting, foul smelling cod liver oil every morning before going to school ( I remembered my mom damn near peeled my head off trying to force me to swallow it every morning).

Guess what guys, mom was right....

I know a lot of people that train complains about the pain between joints, especially in the arms or legs area that takes a lot of impact or movement while training and this is because of the lack of "lubrication" or supplements that help make your movement less rigid while training. Heavy weight lifters, runners and especially cyclist tend to have this problem when training.

I did my own experiment, testing out taking intakes of cod liver oil every day during training for 1 month and I found myself being able to push harder than before due to the fact that I was no longer experiencing the pains in my arms that are limiting myself from being able to push more.

Although some may argue that the results of cod liver oil varies from each person, I would still say that the primary importance of cod liver oils should not be taken lightly. The body is starved from nutrients when training so to avoid this from restricting your training, it does help A LOT especially after it becomes a routine.

What is in Cod Liver Oil and How Does that Help?

One of the biggest benefit in the content of cod liver oil capsules is of course Vitamin A, ,D and E, which particularly helps in bone density replacement and joint management. Personally, I truly believe that by taking cod liver oil on a regular basis, it does help me prevent the nagging pain after training and especially on weeks that I increase my weights during my lifts. Also, it does help A LOT between the knees and ankles which does restrict my movement a little bit during my leg day training or while doing my cardio.

Also, one of the biggest benefit of Omega 3 Fatty Acids is that it helps regulate your blood flow within your body and helps with the repairs of muscle, especially after training. Keep this in mind that this would work best with the inclusion of proper resting after each training day.

To summarize, check this out!

When Should You Take Cod Liver Oil?

Unlike other supplements, cod liver oil pills and multivitamins is best taken on a daily basis. For me, I would recommend people to take 2 500ml capsules per day, one in the morning and one at night before going to bed

My rationale for this is because this time area would help you better for recovery of muscles (assuming that you are training hard on your schedule). Especially before bed when the body needs all the nutrients it needs to recover after a long day.

Let me know what you think!

How I Quit Cigarettes For Good

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 06:14:00 +0000

I start this post with one of my most proudest achievement that I have done for myself so far. This year marks 7 whole years of me kicking the habit completely without a single relapse to smoking and believe me, it has been a long hard fought journey.

I realized that my smoking habit started to become a problem when three things started to happen in my life. First, I started to have more pictures of me with a cig in hand or mouth on Facebook than before, considering that I try not to show me smoking in pictures. Second, because of my active lifestyle, I started having chest pains in the middle of the night before that I never did have before. Finally, it was also around the time I started to realize my clothes started to smell of old cigarette smoke and it was bad.

I decided I had to do something. I did and thankfully, I never turn back since.

So a lot of people ask me how exactly did I manage to kick the habit out. Granted, it was not an easy task (one of the hardest things I had to do) but I would love to share with you guys how I did it and perhaps it could be the same for you guys as well.

Step 1: Choose a Date, Stick with It!

One of the main reasons why a lot of people relapse is because when they choose to stop, they were not ready to do it.

What I did was that I chose a date a week in advance to say that I it was going to be my last day smoking. I told all my family members and my closest friends the date and talked to them how they can help me sticking with that date.

When the day came, I threw out everything I had related to smoking. Smokes, lighters, ashtrays and even matches were taken out from my room and I had a great deal of help from people around me to do this.

What this does is that it gives you time to mentally prepare to quit smoking. It is not easy but I can guarantee it makes the process much easier in comparison to the "cold turkey" method.

Step 2: Break the Habit!

Believe it or not, a lot of people continue to smoke is because it is a force of habit, especially for those that has been smoking for the longest time. I smoked everyday for 13 years of my life, most of them I go through a box a day, so understandably you would have developed the habit to putting a cigarette in your mouth.

Break the habit with something else. This is where it is rather helpful to chew gum (even the cheap ones would do) whenever you feel the urge to smoke. It helps you take your mind in needing to have a cigarette in your mouth.

HOWEVER BEWARE!

DO NOT indulge yourself in snacks and junk food whenever you have your cravings! This is likely to happen so I am telling you watch yourself and stop doing this!

Step 3: Washing Your Hands Often!

Call me crazy on this but this seriously works...

Someone suggested this to me when I wanted to stop smoking and unbelievably it actually does help! What I would suggest is to keep washing your hands every time you feel the urge to smoke but air dry them, not towel dry.

How this works is that because as smokers, you don't realize that automatically you would not want to have a smoke when your hands are either still wet or just cleaned. Therefore making use of that habit to your advantage, give your hands a quick wash (doesn't have to be with soap) and you would see that it would likely work!

Step 4: Sweat it Out!

This is the most critical part of your process to quit. I read somewhere before of a lifehack on this topic

Of course I would change that a little bit to "sweating it out" by means of vigorous activities. When I wanted to quit, I went all out in gym training, martial arts and running that helped me A LOT in sweating out the chemicals in your body that creates the urges in the first place.

Large amounts of drinking water plus a lot of exercise WAS ABSOLUTELY KEY in my efforts to quit smoking. Also it does help a lot in shifting my focus from wanting to smoke to other things in mind.

Step 5: Understand the Difficulties from the Beginning

If there are people out there telling you quitting smoking is easy, those fools have no idea what they are talking about. Once again I would not want to sugar coat it, doing this was hard as hell.

So preparing oneself by understanding what are the difficulties that you would face is essential. This creates a benchmark for yourself to cross off every time you reach that particular bump.

For me, my process went something like this:

After a day of quitting, I started getting back shakes on my fingers.

After three days of quitting, I started getting edgy and easily irritated with the people around me.

After 1 week, cold sweats and a bout of fever might happen. This is when your body goes to a bit of a shock.

After 1 month, it does get easier but you start to lose focus a little bit in your everyday activities. You do get a bit sleepy in unlikely hours or fatigued more than usual.

After 6 months. you do think about it every now and then especially around smokers but it is managable.

After that, things got a lot easier and not smoking becomes a manageable habit for me.

So tough it out and you will get there in the end!

Step 6: Creating a Peace of Mind

This may sound like some hippy jargon to you but it is equally important. I realized that one of the most common trigger factor for one to smoke is negative surroundings that causes negative emotions in one self. Things like stress, anger and such might be the cause of your own habit.

Take importance things like prayers, meditation or even some quite time to yourself to really "cool yourself mentally" and you would be surprised how it would work.

What I like to do also was taking a very quite drive by myself to places that are not crowded or even out of town. I remembered there was a point I was driving around very quiet areas of Shah Alam by myself so that you would not be in a bad "state of mind". It will help you a lot in you process to quit.

Step 7: Create a Benchmark, Reward Yourself!

Its amazing how the mind works. It is a fact that we work well through proper incentives, even if it was to come from ourselves. So to quit smoking, reward yourself something nice for passing every time benchmark that you have gone without a cigarette. Be it a quick sesh in the movies, a new pair of shoes, or as such.

What I did was I gave myself monthly rewards as an incentive and finally, gave myself a holiday overseas after one year of not touching a single cigarette at all! In fact even my family and my then girlfriend (now wife!) was doing the same for me as well!

What this does is that it gives you a reminder of how far you have gone along with this effort of yours and also to remind what you would waste should you go back to your old habits.

Step 8: There is No Such Thing as Slowing Down!

My final point on this topic, if there are anyone that tells you that they want to quit by slowing down/cutting down/ not buying packs but just getting from friends/ limiting himself to X number of cigarettes a day, call their bullshit because NONE OF THAT WILL WORK!

It is either you are a smoker or you are not. There is no grey areas around it and this is what I would always tell people. As long as you keep the habit with you you are bound to relapse back to your original habit so don't give yourself an excuse for doing so. When you really do choose that you have had enough of smoking, go back to step 1.

So this is everything that I personally did in order for me to kick that nasty habit out. One thing I would tell people is this, anyone out there can quit smoking, no matter what the circumstances are. There is no need for you to be dependent on expensive gadgets, books, patches, gum or anything as such to kick the habit. All it takes is just your own determination and strong will to actually do it.

For all the smokers out there, what are you waiting for?

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 06:19:00 +0000

So with the Chinese New Year holidays in a matter of days, I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the rest of Team Teh Tarik, to wish all the Teh Tarik Memoirs readers out there a Happy Chinese New Year and a great long weekend holidays!

As we ring in the Year of the Goat in the Chinese Calendar, we hope the celebration for everyone out there with their families will be a great one this year, and many prosporous blessings in the year ahead. If you feel that you had a good year last year, then perhaps its time to make this year a GREAT ONE!

As always, keep yourself fit and healthy and most importantly, keep on reading on our articles on how to do it!

Basic Rules for Leg Workouts

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 03:45:00 +0000

So comes Friday and for many people, this day is usually reserved for one of the least favorite workout for 90% of male gym goers around town. It is a day that we usually reserve for leg workouts...

As much as you would hate to do it, leg workouts bear more importance to your workout routine than you actually realize. In my observation, I realized that alot of gym goers here tend to underestimate the amount of resistance/weight that they can carry during their workout routines simply because they lack the stability from their lower body to support the weight they are carrying in the upper body.

Imagine this scenario (which I believe that a lot of people face), you realize that you can carry more weight, doing the same workout, when you are sitting compared to when you are standing. This is because that without a strong base to support you when doing workouts, you are basically limiting yourself from pushing your actual workout weight.

So since we have establish the importance of leg workouts, I would like to highlight several cardinal rules that TeamTehTarik and I keep to ensure that each time we do our leg workouts, we avoid wasting our workouts without results.

Golden Rule #1: Go Heavy or Go Home

This is basically logic. For every leg workout that you are planning to do, ensure that you take the opportunity to go heavy on the workouts. Bear in mind, you legs have been trained to carry your body weight for your entire life so far, so why should you go lesser than your body weight when training using machines?

There is always a mentality that we have in the gym and if we ever see anyone among us that stacks the leg press machine with lesser weight plates than compared to their own body weight, we help them add the stacks halfway through. :D

Always remember that when doing leg training, trust yourselves to go a little heavier because 90% of the time your body will be able to handle it. Unlike upper body workouts, your legs have more strength compared to your arms so give them their money's worth!

Golden Rule #2: No Half Reps!

One of the most common problem with many gym goers is performing half reps during their workouts.

For those who do not understand, half reps is when you do not do the full movement of the workout by "cheating" in the repetition. Most common half reps can be seen in almost any workout but so far the most obvious ones are during leg workouts. The result of this is that you do not push your workout to really stretch out and burden the muscle to get its maximum growth.

So, when doing your leg workouts be sure you don't quit halfway. When squatting, really go down with the bar for as low as possible until your butt almost reaches the ground. When leg pressing, fully press the plates until your knees touches your chest. If you are lunging, tap you knee caps on the ground for every rep and not just bending your knees.

This then relates to the next rule.

Golden Rule #3: Slow Down!

One effective way for you to avoid doing half reps for your leg workouts is to just slow down! Many time I've seen some goofball noob in the gym rushing through his reps, thinking that the faster he goes, the more he would burn. Trust me the only thing you are burning by doing that is your efforts in the workout.

Keeping it simple, the universal timing for your reps is the "4-2 second rule". Which means, you take 4 seconds to perform the resistance movement in your workout and then 2 seconds to release it back to the start position of the workout. What this does it creates a very balanced resistance and stretch in your workouts in order to get the intended results.

So the next time you see someone really rushing in their sets, remember that they are not gaining much out of it, if most they are just trying to rush their workouts due to ego reasons.

Golden Rule #4: Use Variety in Your Leg Workouts

The anatomy of a human leg consist of a lot of muscle parts so it is important that you use a variety of workouts to fully develop your leg muscles. It does irk me a little when someone boasts to me about hitting it hard on ONE LEG WORKOUT and said the movements from that workout is enough to cover the entire leg.

This I can say is utter bull.

Much like other body parts, sometimes I would advise people to do a circuit of leg workouts to get the maximum result due to the fact that your legs can take a huge amount of beating. So taking advantage of this fact, I would prefer if you would to include at least 6 different workouts in the duration of your leg day!

Golden Rule #5: Cardio is NOT a Leg Workout

This may sound absurd but I do have some idiots coming to me and say "Oh, I do my leg workouts everyday. I make sure I do inclined cardio after my workouts". No dummy, that does not count.

Cardios are designed more to act as a fat burn process and "mixing it up" to call it a leg workout is just a very, very, very lazy excuse for not doing your leg day. As a runner, trust me when I say this that there is a HUGE importance to get your leg workouts done and should not be confused with your cardio workout.

Most importantly, if you are doing other cardio workouts that is not on the threadmill (steppers, strider and static cycling) once again this still does not constitute to a leg workout. If you think it does, you just earned yourself a dum-dum sandwich.

I do hope that this gives some clarity in the rules that even I follow when doing your leg workouts. On another note, please do not slack and miss out your leg day as I have mentioned earlier, you never know the damage you are doing when you skip them.

Hope you guys have a great weekend, and to top that off here is a majestic looking picture of me with an eagle to boost your weekend!

[Boom! EAGLE!]

Have a great weekend guys!

Thought of the Day: Do or Do Not

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 03:01:00 +0000

I have to admit, these last few months has been a rather difficult month for me to juggle. So in the midst of a very hectic schedule and exhaustion, sometimes one would be incline to put your plans and goals on the background, telling yourself that you will try to accomplish it.

No surprise the word "Try" has always been in our dictionary, instilled in our minds since we were kids. Our parents tell us constantly to "give it a go" or "try to do it first" to everything that we do when we were kids, with the intention that we would initiate us in our own action. However today as adults, we tend to use that excuse to justify us from not doing what we plan to do. In another words, using "try" to justify procastination.

[Fantastic work from Zen Pencils!]

I believe that the cartoon above tells exactly the type of mentality we need to have at all times. In everything in life, we now live in a world where "trying" is no longer an option. Either get something done or don't do it at all.

Because in the end of the day, the results of your actions is not in question here, but the fact that there will be no regrets later on because you have done all you can. Everything is about giving your 110% and nothing less to get what you want in life.

This now implies to me, whether I want to get the body that I desire, whether I want to complete that 21 or 42km run, whether I want to take that extra push for that additional 5kgs in my press, it all boils down to one mentality.

Get it done.

On another note, I am now following a fantastic collection of motivational cartoons by Zen Pencils, who I think is super creative in taking your everyday motivation quotes in a very different context. Do check out his work, I am a huge fan!

Workout for DOTA Players

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 07:15:00 +0000

So I was goofing around online til I stumbled upon this very interesting post on article on 9GAG (don't judge, tell me you don't do the same in your free time...) on a workout routine that is a little different compared to your everyday workout routine suggestion. This time around, the workout routine is made specifically for online video game players, specifically DOTA players.

As many would perceive, online players don't necessary portray a "fit" image among the public, more often than not people who spend most of their time in front of a computer playing video games are usually seen either as very skinny, pale skinned people with close to no physical attributes whatsoever or a really fat dude who can't get himself out of his chair even if he wants to. Which I know its just a stereotype for gamers (or is it?).

So we here at Teh Tarik Memoirs decided to spice it up a little bit and we made a list of things a DOTA player can do as a workout routine AND IN THE SAME TIME not jeopardize valuable game time.

So here we go!

[Our very own take on playing Dota and keeping fit in the same time!]

So I formally challenge any regular Dota Players out there to take this up and see if it would improve your fitness level or not! Would love to see the feedback from you lot who would try this!

Good luck!

Asian Daily Diet Ideas : no. 4

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 02:55:00 +0000

Hello again guys, firstly many apologies for the tardiness of this post, which should be out yesterday. Due to the holidays, I couldn't make the timeline but I am pleased to mention that the next post for this week will be on time as scheduled.

So it has been a while since I last posted on a diet idea here. Some people do ask if there are any suggestions that I can come up with WITHOUT the use of protein shakes, as some has mentioned that it is rather costly to maintain the daily dosage of protein drinks for your average Malaysian.

[Can never go wrong with grilled chicken, brown rice and steamed veges!]

As I have mentioned before in my previous posts, proteins act as a mere SUPPLEMENT to your daily diet and should not be seen as a primary source for your daily protein intake. So in order to compensate that, I did a bit of a calculation with the boys and suggested to go with this set of diet plan.

For this, I've focused more intake during the day and of course including a popular, cheaper option of strong protein source compared to your regular protein shake which is, A CAN OF TUNA! (although I have to admit you do look like you are having a meal of catfood in front of your friends every time you eat it in public...)

So here we go, a diet plan without using protein shakes!

Calorie intake: 1772 cals

Protein intake: 104.28 grams

Carbs intake: 160.38 grams

Fat intake: 47.25 grams

Breakfast: Toasted Wholemeal Bread + 2 Hard Boil Eggs

Mid Morning: Peanut Butter Sandwich

Lunch: Brown Rice + Chicken Breast + Eggs + Mixed Vege

Mid Lunch: Canned Tuna in Water

Before Training: 1 Banana

Dinner: Grill Chicken Breast + Brown Rice + Steamed Broccoli

Supper: 1 Banana

As you can see there is one portion more than my usual suggestion but I would rather focus on fruits (banana being the favorite for potassium) in the extra portion. Also to note that the fat intake is more on this compared to your usual intake. I would suggest to use this combination during a more rigorous training day, as it would help the body burn more with the bigger number of portions of your daily intake.

Also not to forget, this plan still includes your daily supplement intake such as your multi-vits and fish oil tablets.

Something to consider when dieting, be sure to leave comments on what you think of this plan or any ideas to improve it! Thanks!

Comparison Between Fast Foods - If You Have To

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 09:43:00 +0000

In my previous posts, I've always had a very strong opinion to AVOID any forms of fast foods when you are in training or on a diet. Reason behind this is because regardless of what you try to do, there is nothing worse than having your entire week's worth of diet ruined because of generic, fatty fast food in your system.

But let's be realistic, there are situations where sometimes you can't help yourself with a fast food portion every now and then. In the end, we are still human...

[Fatty, fast food goodness...]

So for this segment, we're here to help you guys out. IF YOU HAVE TO, one should compare between all the popular fast foods, which are the better option compared to its similar counterpart when it comes to maintaining your diet regime.

Burgers
We start off with the most common culprit among all the "fast food villains" which of course are burgers. Nothing beats the hunger pains better than a quick bite of a burger in the middle of the night (or day for some!). So for this, we have divided the study to chicken burgers and beef burgers.

Beef Burgers

Best Option: Surprisingly, the McDonald's Quarter Pounder is the safest bet for your diet among all the burgers available around town. Taking into consideration to the size portion it does the least amount of damages to your diet.

Worst Option: The Carl's Jr. Portobello Mushroom Burger is unsurprisingly is the worst option you can take when you are on a diet. High level of calories (almost double to the closest competitor) with very oily burgers is something you definitely want to avoid!

Chicken Burger

Best Option: Once again, in comparison with the others, the McDonald's McChicken Burger is once again the safest bet, offering a much lesser fat and calorie count compared to the rest.

Worst Option: This time around, the Burger King burgers has the highest fat and carb content in their burgers, making it the worse option among its counterpart.

Fries
While the above chart shows the amount you are ingesting with just the burgers, fries can sometimes contribute to the downfall of your own diet as well.

Best Option: The biggest issue with fries is the deep fried oil and salt that has been included in the portions. No surprise that the KFC Potato Wedges (without cheese) is the cleanest option you can get among the lot.

Worst Option: As mentioned above, due to the large salt and oil content in their fries, McDonalds kinda missed the mark here with their fries.

Breakfast Meals
Despite Samuel L Jackson once said in Pulp Fiction that "hamburgers are the cornerstone of every American breakfast", we beg to differ when it comes to your diets.

Best Option: For breakfast, the McDonald's Egg McMuffin seem to lead the way with it's content. Quite possibly one of their best in their menu by far.

Worst Option: Once again, Carl's Jr. leads the way with their breakfast burgers being one of the largest portion and of course, highers content in comparison to most of its competitors.

Pizzas

Finally to top it off (excuse the pun), we have the all time favorite fast food which are Pizzas! This Italian favorite becomes a very hot commodity in the fast food business since it was made popular in most TV sitcoms around the world (surprisingly mine would be from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!)

Best Option: Since we only have 3 to compared among the popular brands in the Malaysian market, we concluded based on the nutrition facts that the Domino's Pizza your safest bet when maintaining your diet.

Worst Option: As the battle of the pizza's conclude, Pizza Hut All American classic pizzas unfortunately is something you would want to avoid while on a diet.

Our findings above serve as a guidance on what you should and should not eat among all the fast foods available in the Malaysian market when maintaining a diet. Perhaps, this may be a very good guide for you guys out there who are looking for a safe "cheat meal" when in training every now and then.

HOWEVER, we here once again stress that you avoid ALL TYPES OF FAST FOOD while dieting to train. Believe us when we tell you that there is nothing more demotivating after a long 4 week struggle of maintaining your diet and seeing it all being flushed away because of a quick indulgence that strays you away from your diet.

FAM and MP & Silva Deal : Are We Going the Right Direction?

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 04:21:00 +0000

So, over the weekend I was reading up on the news regarding the development of our local football scene and interestingly enough, a lot of people are buzzing on the topic on the proposed idea of "privatizing" the M-League with the emergence of a new media sponsor.

A quick update for those that do not know the story, in the recent days, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have successfully brokered a deal with a London based media group, MP & Silva to set up a joint company, Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), which will be the governing body to manage the M-League from 2015 onwards.

This would mean that the company will run the league as a profit based company, with agreed funds pumped into the league and the company amounting to an eye watering RM1.26 bil for the next 15 years! This would also mean that media broadcasting and advertising rights will also be managed by the formed company and reportedly redistributed to the participating teams.

News reports have stated that with this brokered deal, one would be looking at a financial contribution breakdown that FAM will be receiving of:

RM70mil per year to FMLLP from 2016-2021
RM85mil per year from 2022-2024
RM92mil from 2025-2027
RM103mil from 2028-2030.
Financial redistribution of each of year from this would be a 30% contribution from the yearly amount to each team and a 10% amount to be used for redevelopment of the youth system. The remainder 60% would be used as a running capital for the said company.

On paper, this would mean the local league would receive a HUGE monetary boost that we sorely need for the league.

But would this be for the best for the local football scene?

Malaysian football fans, who have long suffered with the 30 years slump that we have seen in the quality, performance and overall outlook of our local and national football, are understandably wary of changes such as this, especially when it involves large scale monetary boosts from a foreign organization.

Therefore a lot has question, would the privatization of the league be of much benefit for the redevelopment of our football? For us here in Teh Tarik Memoirs, we've highlighted a few possible issues that we as Malaysian football fans are skeptical.

Assurance on Redistribution of Wealth for Teams

One of the biggest issues here would be the redistribution of broadcasting funds and yearly contribution of FAM to the teams. Many have highlighted that in the past, local teams were suffering due to the lack of funds that they receive each year. Instances of funding not reaching the teams, which the results to players and staff not being paid (example can be seen with the Perlis National Team not being paid) and other financial issues faced by teams.

One would now question, is the scenario going to repeat itself, with even worse repercussions as it now deals with millions of Ringgit at stake?

Solution: If the company can guarantee transparency in the wealth redistribution of media and broadcasting rights (which contributes the most in the profit of football teams) according to the agreed upon breakdown, then this would be of great benefit for the development of the teams.

We would have to agree with what was mentioned by Tengku Mahkota Johor (TMJ) on the redistribution of the media and broadcasting profits, as this would be the biggest source of funds for the teams which they sorely need. Similarly to how it is done in the biggest leagues in the world, each year every team is to receive a set amount from the governing body according to their place in the league, it would then increase the competitiveness of the league and the development of players accordingly.

Fans to Pay for Privatization Costs?

Much like any other privatizations of any business, one would expect that with the league being run on a "profit based company", hikes are expected to happen for stadium ticket prices and in the end would dampen the interest of fans to come and watch a game.

Costings such as this and many other, all done in the name of increasing profit margins would seriously hurt the fan base and the league as the promotion of the league needs to make it affordable and accessible for the fans and their teams, which is something that many people are calling into question.

Solution: If such increase happen, it should come as an after result of improvements that can be seen in public. We believe that if the redevelopment of the league and promotions for the football matches are increased tremendously, fans don't mind paying for the extra costs as they themselves can see where the money is going into. Much like in the English Premier League, fans still flock the stadiums even after the increase due to the Arab takeover of clubs.

Mismanagement of FAM and its Downfall

In the last 30 years, we have seen abysmal decision making process happen within the ranks of FAM. From talent management, player selection, wealth redistribution, league management, rules and regulation and finally fan management, many find it hard to believe that these people are actually up there doing their job properly.

Question is, would this continue? Malaysian fans are sick and tired of listening to issues of corruption and extremely bad management decision making process for our teams, which then hurts the teams.

Solution: Much like any other private companies, if there were to run this league in a "business management sense" then theoretically we would be able to solve this problem. Quarterly reviews on the performance of teams and management staff of the company with a very strong KPI would determine a "check and balance" for the performance of the company. Ship out the deadweights and run the company with a tightly checked crew.

To achieve this, there should be VERY LITTLE INTERRUPTIONS from other external bodies in the management of the company, therefore the policy of running the company is not affected.

Can We Afford the Broadcasting Rights?

Finally, the biggest fear that people might have is companies such as Astro, RTM or TV3 would not be able to afford the broadcasting rights of the league.

At the moment, there is a need to highly boost the popularity of the local league through all forms of media and if there is no company in Malaysia that could afford the

"new rates of telecast" for the game, then we are once again screwed.

Are we expecting MP & Silva, on of the biggest media broadcasting agencies in the world, to bump up the prices of media broadcasting in Malaysia so high that no one would be able to afford it?

Solution: We believe that this all boils down the business strategy and policy making of the said company. They need to first understand the business concept of here in Asia and finally come up with a "win-win" deal that would promote the league through broadcasting in a bigger market and in the same time generate income for the company.

Bear in mind, we here in Teh Tarik Memoirs are a looking forward to this development with MP & Silva, as any changes for the improvement of the league is indeed welcomed. However, there is a need to address all possible solutions that might jeopardize the efforts of rebuilding the league entirely before implementing the business policies of the company.

For one, we would wish that this would open the door for the management of the league, regardless of who they are, to listen to what the fans have to say or expect from the improvements. Great ideas sometimes comes from all of us who stood with our local and national teams all these years and perhaps be more transparent with our opinions in the implementation of the league.

What are your thoughts on the topic?

"Selamanya Harimau Malaya, Selagi kita Bernyawa"

Pre and Post Running Routine

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 05:42:00 +0000

When it comes to running, I believe that everyone has their own routines and rituals that they practice before each run. I am not sure why people do it, in fact I am not sure why me and the rest of Teh Tarik Runners do it in the first place but I guess its become a habit to all of us until the point that we feel uncomfortable not doing it before starting a run.

So, this might make me sound like a crazy person, but I would love to share what we do before our runs!

Teh Tarik Runners Pre-Run Ritual

So, when arriving to the event (usually a day or two before the run starts) we usually takes the time to get our picture taken in front of the place card of the event for good luck. For some reason, we started this habit back when we started running in 2011 and it just followed us throughout our running events.

[Some example of our routine picture taking!]

Once that is done, comes the best part of pre-running ritual which is our "carbo loading" session!

For those that are not familiar with what carbo-loading is all about, it is basically an eating session that we take the night before which consist primarily a large amount of carbs which hopefully would refuel our glycogen levels before our run the next morning.

When "carbo loading", what we are trying to achieve is to ensure that you do not starve yourself before a run, something that I have seen newcomers to running do, which would result in a likely situation of a depleted muscle situation, which would then result to injuries and cramps while running.

So, our usual routine would be a high carbohydrate meals such as a large portion of pasta and potatoes if we have access to western food restaurants in the area of the run. Otherwise, the fall back plan would be your plate of naan bread and tandoori chicken at your local mamak shop

Teh Tarik Post - Run Ritual

Now this is something me and the rest of Team Teh Tarik Runners take pride of. After every run that we go together, we have a ritual that we practice for years and we take pride that we have managed to do this on every run that we have participated (except for the Taiping Half) which is our post run pose!

[Our Pose : TO DI WORLD!]

Of course, this pose is to tribute to the great Usain Bolt, who does the same pose each time he finishes a race so we figured it would be kinda cool if we went with the same pose as well for our race!

So those are some of our rituals that we practice before and after our races, which we are happy to announce that we still do the same things that we have been doing since we first started.

What are your rituals before or after your runs? DO SHARE!

Ask Teh Tarik Memoirs: Are Fruits a Threat to Your Diet?

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 03:32:00 +0000

For this segment of Ask Teh Tarik Memoirs, an anonymous reader ask this question not too long ago. While being on a diet, should we avoid fruits altogether or is it OK for us to consume as much fruits as possible because its fibrous and it does not effect your diet as much but rather help you lose weight?

[Fruits Galore!]

The reason why people usually ask this question is because that in a diet, and I have mentioned this numerous times in my blog posts, the one thing that you need to avoid at all cost is sugary foods and drinks. This is by far one of the biggest culprits of both obesity and health problems as people these days tend to take excessive amounts of sugar portions in their daily intake.

But what about fruits? Does the fructose act as a cheat to your sugary cravings?

the answer is : it depends...

Why I am saying this is because different types of fruits react differently to the body composition so there is no "one fit all answer" to this question. However there is a few golden rules that one can follow with fruits.

Firstly, understand that there are three types of sugar combinations in fruits which are fructose, glucose and sucrose. I would have to admit that despite the high level of sugar intake in these combinations, it is the "lesser of two evils" compared to off the table sugar syrup because of the high level of fibers in the component, which helps slows down the sugar absorption process in your bloodstream.

So for the first part, we here at Teh Tarik Memoirs STRONGLY suggest a good portion of fruits in your diet does help shed of those unwanted kilos of your waistline.

HOWEVER!

Remember to avoid these few aspects when it comes to fruits:

Keep your portions in moderation. As much as we would like to encourage people to have more fruits in their diet, engorging one self with a butt load of fruits does not help with your diet.

We here in Malaysia are blessed with copious amount of fruits made available to us almost anywhere we look but one must remember that this is where your self control needs to be in check.

DO NOT think sitting around in front of TV munching a kilo's worth of rambutan by yourself is alright because its just fruits and it doesn't affect your diet. I can guarantee you it does and you'd be wondering what happened to your diet after all that.

Avoid taking so called "fruit juices" or "concentrated fruit drinks" as its pretty much a bottle of concentrated sugar drinks. One thing I realized in the gym is that a lot would immediately try to get themselves a bottle of fruit juices to quench their thirst.

If you really need to get some fruit drinks, either get the one that are blended right in front of you (even bottled smoothies are jam packed with sugar) or better yet, blend yourself a good cup of fruit juice which you will at least be able to control what is put in your drink.

[Miss Ave T and Fay approves freshly plucked fruits!]

Go fresh or go home! That's the most important thing that one must remember with fruits. As I mentioned above, you do not want to get excessive sugar levels from your intake apart from what you are already getting from the fruits so try to get your fruits fresh and not the ones from a can.

Things like fruits chunks in heavy syrup and fruits ice cream / sorbet is something you might wanna try to avoid and can easily confused as a "healthy option for desserts". Nothing beats a freshly cut fruit so I would suggest for the sake of your diet is to maintain your fruit portions fresh and healthy!

So there you have it, I do hope that answers your question. We are looking out for more topics that you want to ask about on health and fitness so be sure to ask us anyway you want!

Running Calendar in Malaysia for 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 08:24:00 +0000

Alrighty guys, with the start of the New Year, i'm sure there a lot out there that are looking forward new and exciting places to run. Fortunately we are trying to revive the old Teh Tarik Runners gang for this year (following a very quiet year last year due to personal reasons) and hopefully covering new running events in the year.

However, it is relatively easy to miss when and where is the next running event here in Malaysia so we figured it would be nice to have a nice consolidated list of all the running events CONFIRMED in the year. So here we go!

Running Event Calendar 2015

January

· 18: Alliance Bank Sabah Coastal Run | Likas Sports Complex Car Park, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | 1km, 3km, 7km, 12km |

· 18: Lion Dash Penang | Taman Rekreasi Kuari, Penang | Adventure Race | 10km |

· 18: Momentum Run 2.0 Series 1 | MBKS, Kuching, Sarawak | 8km |

· 18: Skyhawk Nature Run | Rumah Melaka, Bukit Katil, Melaka | HM |

· 24: 100 Plus Outrunner | Dataran Putrajaya, Presint 3, Putrajaya | 6km, 9.3km, 12km |

· 24-25: Commando Elite Challenge | Malaysia Agro Exposition Park | Run + Obstacle Course + Military Workout | 15km+ |

· 25: KL Bar Run | Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur | Relay | 4 runners x 3.1km |

· 25: Sports Toto/FTKLAA - Cross Country | Padang Merbok, Jalan Parlimen, Kuala Lumpur | 2.5km, 6km, 10km

· 31: Spectrum Dash | Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur | 6km |

February

· 01: BSG Property Race | Precinct 10, Tanjung Tokong, Penang | 5km, 15km |

· 01: Nike We Run KL | Venue: tba | 21km |

· 07: Sentul Ultra Marathon | Taman Budaya, Sentul, Bogor, Indonesia | Trail | 30km, 60km |

· 08: Kuala Lumpur City Day Run | Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur | 5km, 7km, 10km |

· 08: EventBiz Charity Trail Run | FRIM Botanic Park, Kepong, Selangor | Trail | 9km |

· 08: Penang Newton Challenge | Straits Quay, Penang | 1km, 3.5km, 12km, 25km |

· 08: RHB Half Marathon | Car Park A, Stadium Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur | 3km, 10km, HM |

· 08: Selangor Plus Fun Run | Shah Alam Convention Center, Shah Alam, Selangor | 5km |

· 14: The Score Cupid Dash | Kepong Metropolitan Park, Kuala Lumpur | 3.5km |

· 15: Oral Cancer Run | Taman Botani Perdana, Kuala Lumpur | 5km, 13km |

March

· 01: Beaufort 60K: A Bridge Too Far | Beaufort, Sabah | 60km |

· 01: Gunung Nuang Ultra | Gunung Nuang, Hulu Langat, Selangor | Trail | 12-hour; 10km per loop |

· 01: Running with Stars | Sky Park @ One City, USJ, Subang Jaya, Selangor | 5km, 10km |

· 01: X12 Dark Run | Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | 10km, HM, FM |

· 06: Titi100 | Venue: Hulu Langat, Selangor | 50km, 100km, 200km |

· 08: Lions' Malaysian Run | Dataran Pantai Morib, Banting, Kuala Langat, Selangor | 3km, 12km, 25km |

· 08: Malaysia Women Marathon | Shah Alam, Selangor | 10km, HM, FM |

· 08: Bukit Jalil Half Marathon | National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur | 5km, 10km, HM | (READ MY REVIEW HERE)

· 14: Viper Challenge 2015 | Sepang International Circuit | 20km obstacle course |

· 21: Men's Health Women's Health Night Run | Dataran Putrajaya, Presint 3, Putrajaya | 5km, 12.3km |

· 22: ACKU Charity Run | Taman Botani Negara, Shah Alam, Selangor | 4km, 8km |

· 22: Janda Baik International Rain Forest Nature Run | Janda Baik, Pahang | Trail | 10km, 15km, HM |

· 22: Possible Run | Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur | 10km |

· 22: Sarawak Marathon | Bintulu Waterfront Promenade, Bintulu, Sarawak | 5km, 10km, HM, FM |

· 22: Thirsty Runner - Run for Every Drop | Dataran Petaling Jaya, Selangor | 3.5km, 7km |

· 28: Save Our Rainforest Race | Hutan Lipur Kuala Woh, Tapah, Perak | Trail | 10km |

April

· 03-05: Sabah Adventure Challenge Ultra Trail Marathon | Pacific Sutera Harbour Resorts, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | Trail | 3-day, total of 100km |

· 05: Walk for Humanity Rose2Rose | Tasik Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur | Walk | 5km |

· 11: SHAPE Night Run | Dataran Putrajaya, Presint 3, Putrajaya | 5km, 11.2km |

· 12: Kemensah Krazy Trail Run | Kemensah, Ampang, Selangor | Trail | 5km, 15km, 30km, 45km |

· 19: Compressport Penang City Run | Penang Plaza, 126, Jalan Burma, Pulau Pinang | 15km, 30km |

· 26: Bidor Half Marathon | Dewan Muhibbah, Bidor, Perak | 3km, 10km, HM |

· 26: Geddes Estate Run | Dewan Serbaguna, Kampung Geddes, Bahau, Negeri Sembilan | Trail | 5km, 10km |

· 26: Harumanis Adventure Trail Run | Sungai Batu Pahat, Perlis | Trail | 10km |

· 26: Run for Life 4.0 | details to be announced |

· 26: University of Malaya Color Run | Dewan Tunku Canselor, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur | 5km ||

May

· 01-03: XTerra Malaysia | TBA |

· 02: Brutal, Unforgiving, Cruel Die Hard Series - BUC2015 | Hulu Langat, Selangor | Trail | 25km, 35km, 55km |

· 03: Borneo International Marathon | Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | 10km, HM, FM | (READ MY REVIEW HERE)

· 23 : Malaysian International Marathon | Penang Second Bridge | 10km, HM, FM|

August

· 29: Colourcoil Borneo-TMBT Ultra Trail Marathon | Sabah | Trail | 50km, 100km |

September

· 12: Bukit Cinta Ultra | Bukit Cinta, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur | 12-hour |

· 26: Penang 100 | Esplanade, Penang | 50km, 84km, 100km |

*note: no runs are listed in Malaysia for June and July due to fasting month and Raya

[credits to one of my fav runing blogs The Running Deo]

As some may have notice, they are a lot of runs that are still yet to be confirmed and I have not included in this list. Please note that this calendar will be updated on a regular basis and for every update, I will make an announcement on the calendar update on my Twitter and Facebook page so make sure you follow them!

For the runs that I have made a review, I have included the link for them at the side (in red) so you can check out the pros and cons running in those events and what to expect as well.

Also, you can see the list only focuses on the runs here in Malaysia, although there are a few runs that I would really recommend outside of Malaysia (based on my experience and also other members of Teh Tarik Runners). Such runs would include:

Gold Coast Airport Marathon | Gold Coast Australia | 5th July 2015

BII Maybank Bali Marathon | Bali, Indonesia | tba

Milo Marathon Manila | Manila, Phillipines | tba

Angkor Wat Half Marathon | Siem Reap, Cambodia | tba

Singapore Sundown | Singapore | 4 July 2015

Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon | Singapore | tba

Nike We Run Jakarta

Adidas King of the Road series

Laguna Phuket International Marathon | Phuket, Thailand | 7 June 2015

Be sure to keep you guys posted for the next upcoming run. Train hard, register early and hopefully we will see you at the starting line!

Coming Back to the Gym

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 03:05:00 +0000

I saw this online and I could not stop laughing after watching this strip. The only reason I laughed (and I am sure its the same reason most of you will!) is because these scenarios are seriously what you will see lurking around the gym around this time.

I'm going back to training next week and I pray to god that the "New Year Workout Resolution" crowd is over.

Avoiding the January Gym Rush

noreply@blogger.com (Teh Tarik Drinker) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 04:04:00 +0000

In a blink of an eye, 2014 has passed and we now have a new year to look forward to. However, for most regular gym goers would hate the most is to see a packed gym at the start of the year with people starting out gym as their New Year Resolution.

[Oh jeez...]

Nothing pisses you off the most when you are in week 8 of your training week and there you are in the gym, waiting for 20 minutes just to get the a free space or free weight that some dude is currently using to bench his 20kgs press.

But like it or not, this is a norm that you see every single year and it is something that you can never avoid. As I was discussing this with Ash, many have asked us on what is the best way for you to avoid wasting your time too much in the gym where there is too many people.

We've concluded on 5 main things to ponder

January is Your Off Season

Like in competitions, there are times where you might need to take some time off from the gym to either recover from a very hectic workout regime or focus on endurance rather than resistance training. Since we know that the gym is packed with "new year resolution gymers", I would suggest that you take the first 3 weeks of January to focus on training on either endurance training, bodyweight workouts or sport exercises, which would ensure that you continue to burn yet in the same time avoid the crowded gym for a while.

Reverse Your Workout Days

When you have a workout routine, chances are everyone else would also have a routine to follow and more likely or not, your specific body part day would be the same as everyone else. What I would always do, if I really need to be at the gym, is to reverse the days of my routine for 3 weeks.

For example, Mondays and Tuesdays are the days that I do my lower body (legs and back) while Fridays are designated for chest days. The reason behind this is that for most newcomers, they would want to focus their strongest body part in the beginning of the week because they would be too sore to do it at the end of the week.

Cardio Regime for 3 Weeks

Lets face it, so many of you out there dread doing cardio. I've heard all the unnecessary excuses for not hitting the "Happy Mill" or the tarmac so with a crowded gym, perhaps this is the time you can put some effort in doing your long overdue runs. As I've mentioned before, cardio is as essential as your weight training so take this opportunity to catch up on your runs. And please leave the excuses of how you would lose your gains from running...

Rest and Review

If you have gone through a very heavy workout routine for the last couple of weeks, take this time to rest and review your workout routines and progress. A week or two for reflection of what you have done does wonders to your body transformation.

I know that many would disagree with me on this but I am a firm believer that the mental recondition is very important in body transformation works. Take this week off to review your goals and your mission statements to really knock down why you are doing this. Sometimes everyone needs a reminder before hitting the iron.

Circuit Training Time!

Just because you can't get the space to do your weight resistance does not mean that you can't maintain your intensity for your workouts! I've observed that gym crowds usually target the usual workout routines so to avoid this, go for a circuit training program for about 3 weeks! I'll do a bit of a write up on Circuit Training later on, which you guys can use as a guide for the next couple of weeks.

So to all the readers for this blog out there, we wish you a very awesome 2015 to come and for this blog, my new year's resolution is to have 3 posts in a week which is two during the weekdays and 1 in the weekends. So be sure to tune in for them!

Keeping Your New Year's Resolution Alive: Enter 2015 Mission Statements

noreply@blogger.com (The Gym Monkey) — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 07:25:00 +0000

2015 is a couple of days away and as always, we would hear about how everyone would like to make a change. Everyone has come up with their new year's resolution. My bet is that almost every year it is the same thing.

"I want to get fit", "I wan't to lose weight", "I want to build muscle", "I wan't to lose 20kg". Yes, we've all had that haven't we?

Truth is, almost 25 percent give up before they even start, and more than a third don't make it past February 1. Yes, we've all seen how packed the gym is right after new year. Everyone is so pumped up to kill it in the gym. By the 2nd week half is already gone and by the end of January, you'll see the common faces again. Sometimes I tell my friends, this is the best time to go on holiday.

Let's change that. Here are some tips that will get you going throughout the whole of 2015 so you won't be one of those that only show up at the beginning of the year.

Set Realistic Goals

Seriously, there is a big difference between setting a goal and setting a realistic goal. Don't be too ambitious or you are going to end up in disappointment. Yes, I know you have a vision of how you want to be, but let's keep it realistic.

Saying "I want to run 42km in under 3 hours" when you have never clocked in 5km is very unlikely. Instead target to complete a half marathon or if you can push for it, complete a 42km but ignore the time. Similarly, aiming to be a champion bodybuilder when you've never lifted weights... seriously?

Keep your goals realistic. Seriously....

Sit down and think about what you want and how you are going to accomplish it. Set goals that you can measure and track throughout the year. I'm sure you'll be much more happy with the results.

Make Your Own Mission Statement

In line with setting realistic goals, I think this is a must for everyone. Go grab a pen and a paper, sit down somewhere and start writing down a few sentences on what your goals and objectives are for the year. Most importantly, keep the words simple and avoid words like "hope", "maybe" and "try". Instead, use words like "will" and "must"

Check out these two statements:

"I hope to lose 20kg and maybe enter a 42km race"

"I will lose 20kg and must enter a 42km race"

Which statement do you think sends a more powerful message?

Put these statements where you can see them so that whenever you start to feel lazy, you will be reminded why you started in the first place.

Enter a Competition, Contest or Event

If you set a goal in entering a contest, it will definitely drive you. It can be a bodybuilding contest, a muay Thai fight, a 10km running event or a marathon. When you set yourself a goal and a deadline, you will definitely work your bums off. If you think you're not up for the big events just yet, go for something smaller like a 5km run. Or you could gather your friends together and make your own "Biggest Loser" contest.

There are so many events here in Malaysia. Running Events are the most

Celebrate and Reward Yourself for Even Small Success

A lot of people give up on their resolutions within the first few weeks because they don't see the results they wanted. They get discouraged and abandon it altogether. Take a moment to stop and appreciate the small changes you've made. If you've never trained, and did so for one whole week, that is a success. Celebrate it.

Go have a good meal or enjoy a weekend getaway.

Set up milestones. If you are aiming to lose that 20kg, celebrate and reward yourself for every couple of kilos you lose. If you are aiming for that 120kg bench press, reward yourself for every 10kg increase.

You need to appreciate the small improvements.

Of course, when you finally nail that goal of yours, reward yourself with something even bigger.

Yes, Teh Tarik Drinker and I do know how to reward ourselves...

Stop Giving Excuses

"I don't have time"

I hate this the most. This is the most common excuse I hear when it comes to giving excuse for not working out. It annoys me every time someone uses this excuse. Really, this is the adult version of:

"the dog ate my homework"

Seriously, a one hour workout is only four percent of your day. Half an hour workout? That's two percent.

If you can sit in front of your TV for hours, why can't you dedicate some of that time working out? If you can sit at a mamak shop with your friends and chit-chatting for hours, why not do it in the gym while working out?

Sometimes I get annoyed looking at people playing with their phones in between sets, but when I think back, at least they are working out (even if it's not so effective).

At least he's doing legs....

Never Ever Quit

Duh. Like I said, a lot of people quit as early as the first week. Do you really want to be part of that statistics? There will be days when you will struggle. There will always be an aura of negativity around you. There will be obstacles. But whatever it is, just don't quit. That is why it is always important to reward yourself with even the smallest success.

The Gym Monkey's 2015 Mission Statement

With all that said, 2014 wasn't the best of year for me. I thought I could turn around the horrid 2013, but I made mistakes. I set my goals too high and and too unrealistic. I didn't celebrate the small success. I didn't have strong mission statements. I didn't run a 21km I entered because it was just too unrealistic for me to complete.

So this time I've set up new goals and mission statements. I've set milestones and set rewards for achieving them. It's a long list. If you think you can follow my 2015 mission statements, by all means use them. If you can do more, that's great. Keep it realistic though. If you think it's too much, reduce the numbers. Of course you can always create your own mission statements.