Grand Finale 2006

Italy - World Cup 2006 Champion

The Grand Finale - there are many ways to define it and it happens mostly this the month of July. Though this blog is late in recognising Italy as the winner of the World Cup 2006, but sometimes when one suffers from Post Gawai Blues, topped up by "World Cup Aftermath of 'Hell I don't know what to do! Syndrome" one can only ask for forgiveness as this is a normal for any soccer crazed nation. Okay, lets talk about the Grand Finale of things. Firstly one will see the finale as the final moment that sums up everything, the time we have been waiting for, the peak of it all, the finishing line, where there can be only one clear winner. Some people will end up happy and some people sad, those who win the Cup and those who lost a lot of money. Sometimes it also marks the end and it also the beginning. So Congratulations to the Italians.

For the World Cup 2006 Victor, it will mean a renewal of recognition of being The Best Team in the World for the next four years. It also means I can buy the Italy Soccer Team jersey and it will be recognised for the next four years before the next World Cup 2010. That's sound investment, don't you think? Probably we would be wishing that Italy will win again so that we wouuld save money on the jersey. That's fundamental economics I think - a subject I am never good at. In fact I will buy a whole box of 'em. But there were moments of humour which I enjoyed in the World Cup and some of it is reflected in the photos below. Allow me to share some.

The Creative Germans (Photo:Spiegel Online)

The delightful Spanish (Photo:Spiegel Online)

A more decent or indecent exposure (Photo: Spiegel Online)

So I guess one can't help but notice that at least the Asian values is still being upheld as seen in the pictures above. I mean I have yet to find the Asian Team's supporters outdo the Germans and Spanish Fans. The Korean supporter just stripped to the shorts and that's it. I would have thought he should bare more! Duh!! I walk around the public park like that in Kuching and I am not protesting against anything.

World Cup - The Day After Therapy

If you still find yourself going nuts about the sudden void in the free time that you have from the missing World Cup's 2006 activities, there are several things you can do to get over the Les Bleus loss (Only if you are a die hard fan of France). Try to challenge the Roman Empire online then and outwit the great Julius Caesar's Team:

I am a great fan of Asterix and Obelix, so it comes naturally when people talk about the French, it reminds me of the Gauls who challenged the Roman Empire. Its always fun to see those two guys beat the crap out of Julius Ceasar's Legions. So if you do wish to throw away those 'lost time' go to the Asterix Page and enjoy yourself playing the Champion's Cup online.

You get to challenge Ceasar's Team (Romans or Italians) online

Your Gaulish Team - you can select the members of your squad

The Gauls or ancient French in this game won't have the services of people like Zinadine Zidane or Thierry Henri but if you remember ZZ's head butt, we should know that the Gauls those day were strong in the head.

Ngiling Bidai - Finale Finally

Here are some pictures of our office's Ngiling Bidai ceremony. The Ngiling Bidai, as mentioned so many times, is the closing of the Gawai celebrations.

The guy with the head gear is part of the decoration

The food preparation was done by the State Planning Unit Staff

The 'tikai' or rattan mat - which will be rolled to signify Gawai Closing

The VIPs officiating the rolling (Ngiling Tikai) - from left: Mr. Noel Bucking (Head of the Social, Health & Education Sector), Mr. Fedrick John (Head of Infrastucture, Utilities and Communications), Datu Wilson Baya Dandot (Deputy State Secretary) and our Director Tuan Haji Mohd. Morshidi Ghani.

Everyone Wins

While Italy was parading their World Cup in the streets of Rome, it seemed that the teams I support may be having all the bad luck as they did not qualify to the quarter finals. In the afternoon I recieved a telephone call from Merdeka Computers, the co organisers of the IT Expo that was recently held in Kuching rfom 30 June - 2 July 2006 at the Permata Car Park. They told me that I got a lucky draw prize. So it dismisses the notion (what my colleague said to me recently) "...that I have bad luck and any team I support is sure to lose one". It could be the other way round - its because the Brazilians, English, Germans, Portuguese and French did not support me, that is why they lost one. Jokes aside, I believe that everyone won in this World Cup. I was holding my breath hoping that no untowards incident will happen where some people will try to bring the politics of their world into the game. In the end, we just hear that the North Koreans decided to play with thier rockets that landed off target, the Americans were heavily involved in other playing fields and there was some unrest in Timor Leste. Its not that serious I guess. The only thing to worry is that the North Koreans may decide one day they would want to use my house coordinates for target practice, or if their low technology rocket, intended for some place else, become misdirected to my favourite sofa in the house. That way, I would miss future football matches but I guess it all part of the the Evil Axis plans, as George Bush would say.

Collecting my prize: LCD 15" LCD Monitor.... The Guys said... 'So Lucky One ah...' at least it compensates some of the lost pocket money lost in the World Cup 2006.