BVB Asiatour

It has been one month plus 2 days since Borussia Dortmund came to Malaysia for one of the stop of Asiatour. It has been real fun and lots of picture to share.

As stupid as me, I forgot that I brought along my DSLR which can zoom closer. So if you manage to spot the blond handsome guy, that's Marco Reus. He was here for an event at Puma Store JBCC, very lucky to get a big help from store manager to be able to meet up with him for like 5 seconds and took a photo. :-)

Sorry for the blurry photos, he walked really fast and I was shooting from my phone. 

Nothing much to share from the game, it was a friendly game and obviously BVB is not very serious about it.

That's Sven Bender, Aubameyang and Stankovic. 

World cup winner Erik Durm in action.  

Marco was doing his model posing. 

And of course his true love, water bottle. 

New coach, Tomas Tuchel. 

The players show some loves and appreciation to the fans. 

The next day though is more fun, went to Meet n Greet with Jonas Hofman and Lukasz Piszczek. Met some Lukasz's fans from the Philippines. 

 Somewhere in there are the signature of Aki (BVB CEO), Tomas Tuchel (BVB Manager), Marco Reus (BVB most beloved player), Roman Weidenfellen, Jonas Hofmann, Lukasz Piszczek, Pascal Stenzel, Marouka and Julian Weigl (BVB next big thing aka Michael Carrick in the making). 

So with some fond memories, few selfies and couple of hundred poorer, we bit farewell to Asiatour. It was really fun and hope to see you guys again in 2017. Come back to Malaysia and Singapore.   

101 How to make an impression on your first day at work

This is a press conference which made BVB fans fall in love (if not already have) with Thomas Tuchel. He was humble, confidence, purposeful and said all the important things that make fans happy, not less by ignoring Shackle as one of the big team in Bundesliga. And by acknowledging the massive work of Klopp has done but emphasizing on the new chapter for the club has keep the door closed on the question of such from the press. 

 “I’m happy to officially be BVB coach here. I absolutely wanted to be the coach for a big Bundesliga club, with a big tradition, and a challenger club. And BVB has a chance to compete for the title in all competitions where we are.”

“Dortmund have a bit of a developmental delay, not least because we’re changing coaches today. Other top Bundesliga clubs like Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, and Gladbach have had important coaching changes and have shown that they can consistently win. We want to challenge these teams again.”

“Time to train is of crucial importance, and the EL qualifier games will add a bit of complication there, so that is another reason why we have to make up some of the lost ground.”

“Working hard, being humble, having courage, being persistent are some of the core values I have and want to show, myself and for my coaching staff.”

“We have to create an atmosphere, brimming with willingness to compete, supportive and devoid of egotism. This has to be felt during our training sessions, and in every minute when we play our games. It’s my responsibility to create this atmosphere.”

“I’m confident I can do this, and it honours me that I get the confidence to do that here in such a big club. My decision to come here was very easy because of how much confidence Watzke and Zorc have shown in me so far.”

“It was really important that Jürgen went out amicably, and I can only start here recognising the incredible work Klopp has done here. I can only recognise and applaud the massive work of him, and no doubt about that for me - I can only start a new chapter to Dortmund, and we can only try this based on the big work that Klopp has done.”

Let's hope that this new era will be an even better one as compare with under Klopp and Borussian can still be so pump up at the end of the season. If Tuchel prepared the game as good as this press conference, BVB should be fine. 

So it is not Lucian Favre....... yet.

So the worst kept secret in Bundesliga is out, Thomas Tuchel had been confirmed as new guy to take over BVB09 from 1st July onward. Generally the consensus is this is the right guy for Dortmund. Dortmund has develop habit of getting Mainz coach by the look of it.

A very highly rated young German coach, who "destined to lead Bayern one day". He had been branded as very details and demanding in training, flexible with tactic and able to develop young players; not as good at entertaining the media but that's ok, he is not employed to do that anyway. He reacts to opponents in game and generally he works the defense better. He will teaches BVB players what to do with the ball, hopefully. Just as well, he has better point per game as compare to Klopp at Mainz.

So, Thomas Tuchel had been asked to revive Dortmund and he may be able to bring few things to the BVB game even though there is no Echte Liebe.

As for Mainz, this is the response from official Twitter account. Might as well....

可惜不是你，陪我到最后。

离开，不是不爱；而是爱的太深。 

放手转身离开的人，有时候需要更大的勇气和宽容。

不离不弃，留下来坚守的人，用行动诠释了忠义，爱和信仰。

没有荣誉加身，可却让人惊叹，仰望。

#dankekloppo

Smiles. Hugs. Dreams. Friends. Joy. Ambition. Team work. Hard work. Loyalty. Passion.

This is not ordinary football. He teaches more than that....

in good times 

and bad times. 

Just if you are wondering why he is the coolest manager in football world. This is from Tumblr,

Pep Guardiola requests candles in his hotel room. Jurgen Klopp once asked the boys to help hotel staff clear a piano from conference room. 

The journey will comes to an end soon, but the memories live on. After the Berlin final with a victory of course, Heja BVB.  

PS: FCB you better get out of the way on Road To Berlin!!!! 

Income tax rate 2015

Now that we are officially on GST era, the gov has kindly reduce the personal income tax by 1-3%. The rate are as below effective from 2015 onwards.

The above top rate is peanut as compare to some European countries. Not that we are complaining since we are not really sure if the gov will do anything good with the additional income. 

So, good luck. Even though it sucks...  

Rest In Peace, Sir Terry Pratchett

I only learned about the Discworld late - maybe late-20's, early-30's. But it was such a fascinating universe - and so funny. At times, even laugh out loud funny.

Never got over the first book, so I ended up buying pretty much the entire Discworld series (I think there's still the odd stray book running around uncaptured somewhere). Every book was funny or satirical, some more than others. But ALL of them were Good. And I looked forward to (pretty much) the annual Discworld book.

Above all else, I remembered the characters more than the story lines. Lord Vetinari, Sam Vines, Moist von Lipwig, Granny Weatherwax, Tiffany Aching, Death. And somewhere in there, there was a vegetarian vampire.

There are many who were much more greatly influenced by his books. They may have been classified as Fantasy, but in truth, Pratchett's books were much more rooted in human nature. Accordingly, his books have influenced me - but probably more along the lines of the things I find funny.


"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened." 
- Sir Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures.


Rest In Peace, Sir Terry Pratchett.
I will miss you, as will many others.
Thank you for Discworld.
Rest In Peace.

Celtics on the Up ...

He's traded away whatever stars he had on the roster. What's left is a bunch of up-and-comers, scrappers, journeymen veterans and undrafted pick-ups. He even hired a coach without any NBA experience.

BUT that coach is proving that he's got some chops, that he's picking up the nuances of the NBA game. That coach has got his team playing hard - even through the seismic roster changes. That coach has got his team on an improbable playoff hunt, just off the playoff spots in a deplorable Eastern conference.

And last night the Boston Celtics beat the Memphis Grizzlies.

Granted, the NBA is a 82-game grind and there are bound to be some shocks purely based on schedule and the volume of games. Still, the Grizzlies have legitimate hopes for the NBA title.

And just like the pre-2008 teams, watching the process (and Danny Ainge at work) is FASCINATING. It's a different feeling from when the Celtics were contending for the NBA title but watching Ainge stockpile draft picks, trade exceptions and free up salary cap space is really rather interesting. I'm in Finance, so sue me.

And convincing Brad Stevens to coach the Celtics through the rebuild ... WoW!
Not as straightforward as it seems since roughly half the successful college coaches couldn't cut it in the NBA...


Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies after the game :
"as far as their future, they’re going to be pretty good, man. Danny Ainge knows what he’s doing. He’s a wizard. He knows what he’s doing."

“Just look back at the 2004 class when he drafted me, Al Jefferson, Justin Reed, Delonte West. He got some good draft picks that year, so I know that’s what he plans on doing. And then before you know it, he’ll make a blockbuster trade. I know it’s in him.”

The Courage To Follow Your Heart

The heart's decision is known to be the right one. There may be True LOVE after all.

Dortmunder Jung

Lives your dream, Marco. 

Wish you all the best, success and most importantly health.  May your heart make the best decision.

Marco Reus: "I grew up here, I was born here, I played here in my youth. I just feel comfortable. #BVB.  My heart has decided. I stand by my decision, you lose and you win together. It's also a decision for life, that's why I thought about it for so long. When I arrived here I said I wanted to achieve a lot with the club and I feel like it's not over, even in this situation."

Lives Your Dream, Marco.

What will your choose? To stay at the beloved team with enough money but slim chance of winning title or go to a team that offer you twice the salary, chances of win it all but far from your heart?

According to reports, there are likely chance that Marco Reus will extend his contract at BVB, a team that linger at the bottom of Bundesliga. He should be playing for a team fighting for title not for relegation. But, sometimes people makes stupid decision.

Decision that based on heart rather than head. Decision that makes blood boil, heart pump and tears roll. Decision that made dream comes true and people believe in LOVE again.

This is football, Echte Liebe. 

The last farewell .... to 2014

It has been such an eventful year and that is including 3 aviation disaster for Malaysian, a disappointing balloting result, a very successful world cup for Germany except for one particular player, a flood that is worst in the history .........

For all the good and bad, let's bit the last farewell to 2014. May 2015 bring us happy moments and blessings.