..Berlin again..

Train corridor. Very nice and comfy.

Turkish delight! :D

Some advertisement hhehe :)

Brandenburger Tor.

Inside the train compartment. Its a standard 6 seater.

Trying to look bad ass.

RSMU contingent heheh.

As you can see, I'm really really cold.

With the ladies :)

Well somebody is fond of me =p

Inside the train terminal. Quite cold!

Berlin Hauptbahnhof, train terminal. Very nice and modern.

Just arrived in Berlin Tegel International Airport.

The gang :)

The Parliament.

Sooo...last winter holiday I went on a Eurotrip again, this time with Hazirah (Ajee), Irfan (Ipe), Diana (Yana) and Sharifah. It will be my first time traveling by train around Europe, so I was looking forward to it, the experience and all. The weather was of course, unforgiving, but you have to expect that, since it was winter. It still is winter here in Moscow, what with blizzard and all. Truth is, traveling during winter is much much cheaper for us students. But just a few hours before boarding Air Berlin at the Moscow Domodedovo Airport, there were news about suicide bombing at that exact airport. Not wanting to worry my parents, I called my dad and told him about it. He just told me take extra care and don't walk alone. You'll never walk alone =p Ipe quickly called Air Berlin and asked them about our flight, and it seems that ours was good to go. Due to the commotion, the taxi asked us to go to the airport an extra 2 or 1 hour early because he don't want us to run into trouble in regards to the tragedy. When we arrived there, it seems like its normal and really, the only thing was that there more Militsiya (police) personnel and police dogs. Other than that, you wouldn't know that a bomb exploded just hours ago. Russia just has her ways of covering up eh.

We arrived in Berlin in the morning, the flight was excellent, good job Air Berlin. I think this would be my second time in Berlin Tegel International Airport. Didnt really had breakfast much, because Berlin would just be our transit before taking the train to Prague in the afternoon, so we kinda have to rush. Sharifah and Ajee havent been to Berlin before, so they were extra excited. But Ajee and Ipe were rushing us so much so it gets me kinda annoyed. The weather was pathetic. It was raining, windy and cold. As it was, the train terminal was not that far away from the famed Brandenburg Gate, so we took a walk. And it was a hell of a walk, what with the rain and all. Funny thing, we bumped into our batchmates, Kumen, Hari, Yan and their girlfriends. Out of all places, heheh.

We didnt really went anywhere far, just around those places, the Berlin Memorial, buying souvenirs and stuffs, then went back to the train terminal to have a rest and a good decent lunch. The lunch was a Turkish meal, and it was delightful. Expensive? Yes, but this is Europe, and something's gotta give.

After a very delicious lunch, we boarded the train, and we were off to Prague, Republic Czech :)

..Tegar..

..the Green Pigs got us..

It wasn't meant to be. After going through everything from getting the nod of all players, rushing to beat everyone to get the borang, we limped out of the tournament. Even from the start, things were a bit dodgy. I decided to let Hanhebat be the captain because as a final year student here, I thought maybe he can gain some final glory on the court. He rejected Toh's Saints team for ours, and there was a great difference. Saints bowed out without even getting a point in the group stage, while we, Angry Birds, could at least held our head up high by gaining a creditable point against the purple wearing Belacan M1 team.

We just had to be the first team to start the match. Our group stage isnt very fair to say the least. Theres another M1 team called Kaki Bangku and a group of MAI juniors team. First of all, that red Adidas Sala futsal ball sucks, and it bounced all over us. I honestly thought we could get a win over Belacan but all of us were not used to that fucking ball. We conceded our first goal unfortunately when I let Mok handle a long bouncing ball that just went over him and an opponent which then surprised our keeper Dinie. The ball then had an unfortunate deflection and went in. Determined, we attacked them. I even went in a one-on-one situation from a wonderful pass from Hadi, but I am a defender by trade, with no composure, thus I blasted it away. As the game progressed, Shazli got us a goal back and our pride were intact. From a Hadi knock down, I rushed to get to the ball. As the ball was bouncing awkwardly, I saw a Belacan guy was going for the ball and I thought, the fucker surely wants to use his foot to get this ball at this height, so I purposely threw my body forwards and got a light kick from him near my xyphoid process, as I clutched my chest and went down. It wasnt really hurtful because I knew the guy was taking back away his kick, and I appreciated that.

The second game was against an M1 all star team with their president Suzuan and some other guy who Hanhebat doesn't like :p We had some trouble containing their pace as they sprayed their passes around. We never really had possession as they kept on pressing, even their defenders went up high. I think I could contain Suzuan a bit well, what with his pace and creativity, I just restricted him to the flanks and accidentally kicked his ankle while clearing away a ball from him. But he seemed okay. I think as a nifty little player, he got used to such careful attention from defenders. Hadi got us a goal but we went down 2-1. Sad.

The final game was the final straw. I think most of us are all tired, even me. We couldn't match the MAI team's game-play. And for the first time that day, I was rested and Mok started the game alongside Hanhebat in defense. Catastrophe followed when MAI attacked us relentlessly and gained a 2-0 scoreline. They have the upper-hand. I tried to bring us back with helping the attack but in doing so, we were exposed at the back, which I already told Hanhebat when we started the second half. I wanted to go all out and help the guys, giving them options with my constant running and whatnot. This in turn gave Dinie and Hanhebat headaches with the quick pace of the MAI players. At time I had no choice but to foul some guys in the process. Hanhebat even had his own version of a futsal version of wrestling clothesline when he blocked 2 strikers in one move. Awesome. Then we were out of the tournament, this time losing 3-0.

The grouping stage was very tough, and I think those MAI and Kaki Bangku team that went through deserved to go further, because I felt our Angry Birds team was only at the standard of Romanian or Danish teams in the Europa League. Get it? They were not miles before us, its just that they had class. They're like the Atletico Madrid or Juventus compared to us. On the bright side, all of us had ample playing time, we got a creditable draw, and next team we could watch futsal while eating lots of food during the knock out stages, while they have to battle it out, heheheh.

So Angry Birds, I'm proud of you guys, stay angry, and slay those pigs! xD

..Angry Birds..

You know what, despite this, I've never played this game. Winda told me that in the upcoming UMNO Games, there's an opening for some futsal teams. Seeing that me and Shazli both play, she suggested us to grab the opportunity by the balls. I think without us even admitting it, it would be hard for Shazli to pick players and form a proper team, so, seeing that I am a neutral,with more than adequate connections, I took it upon myself to form a team. The name Angry Birds came up. It was Shazli's idea actually. It sounded funky, so I accepted the awesomeness of the name. The hard part was forming the team.


Hanhebat was unfortunately tied with Saints, but due to some clauses, he severed his ties with Toh and joined us, the motley crew. Next up was K, the lanky player with surprisingly good touches and finishing. Then it was one touch specialists Hadi and Zufar, goalkeeper extraordinaire Dinie and the tough as nails defender, Mok. The team is complete, but we are still contemplating about signing Jebat captain Shafiq. No answer yet from him, but I think we'll have to manage anyhow. Hanhebat is already excited, telling me about tactics and stuffs, good for you bro. Meanwhile, me and Shazli also discussed the varying formation and cheats during class breaks. I really hope this will be a joyous occasion for the dudes, seeing that it will be their final tournament here in Moscow, theoretically.

But hey, lets hope for the best, and support us, Angry Birds! :D

..Secrets..

Tell me what you want to hear
Something that were like those years
Sick of all the insincere
So I’m gonna give all my secrets away
This time, don’t need another perfect line
Don’t care if critics never jump in line
I’m gonna give all my secrets away