Lion in the Valley

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Been ages since I posted anything. We caught the Inter Milan vs Club America exhibition game at the Stanford University stadium last Sat. Inter is one of my fav serie A club and it's great they are in town! Pity I can't catch AC Milan who's also in town but I guess cannot be greedy. The game was played in 30 degree celsius heat at 4pm! This is really crazy and I wonder why the organiser chose such a weird timing. Bebe was wilting in the heat.

The mexican fans were out in force with their smoke bombs, banners etc. Real passionate crowd who love their team.




Starting lineup of Inter


Inter played in their standard 4-3-3 formation with Diego Milito spearheading frontline supported by Sulley Muntari on left and Quaresma on right. Muntari got injured in 1st half and was replaced by Balotelli. Balotelli's pretty impressive and it's no wonder he's so highly rated given his strength and technique. The game was nothing to talk about. Poor quality football which was to be expected given this is pre-season, Inter's 1st game in USA and the heat. I'm not really there for the football but to do star gazing on my fav players. Hehe, mission accomplished there. Club America doesn't have too many players I know except Pavel Pardo (mexican international). For the record, the game ended 1-1 in regular time and Club America won through penalties. They deserved it given their aggression and hunger to win.

Refer to my ZumoDrive link for the pictures of the game. I just finished watching Mexico thrash USA in the Gold Cup final, as I'm writing this. The game changed when Carlos Vela came in the 2nd half for Medina. He really changed the game with his attack on the left supported by the outstanding Giovanni Dos Santos on the right. Both of them scored and setup goals for others to score too. The commentators are all saying this is a disgrace for USA. I think they are a bit harsh given that this is a USA B team filled with players who will probably never play in major international games. Reaching the final is a good achievement. Players who stand out in the tournament are Stuart Holden (right MF), Robbie Rogers (left winger), Kyle Beckerman (central MF who's good but will probably never play given the number of Europe based MF) & Chad Marshall (I think he's the highest paid central DF in USA). Hehe, S-league should sign these players and some other from Mexico to play in SG.

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Caught the Mexico vs Sweden friendly yesterday at Oakland Coliseum. It was a long journey there. Gotta drive to Millbrae and then catch the nearly 55 min BART ride to Oakland Coliseum. I managed to get to my seat just in time to welcome the teams in. I realised to my dismay that the stadium is smaller than I thought (it's the home of Oakland Athletics and Raiders, baseball and American football respectively). My 70-300mm lens cannot capture good views of the entire stadium although the players come out quite nicely....The atmosphere was very good with a lot of cheering and noise throughout the game. Announcements were all made in Spanish, so it really feels like you are attending a game in Mexico.

Prior to the game, a Mexican sports daily, the Record, came up with a gimmick to help Mexico win their 1st WC qualifying game against USA. It told its readers to cut out a particular page from Tuesday's edition and take it to an electronics store where it could be exchanged for a U.S. voodoo doll. Readers can then stick pins in dolls and hope the players don't perform.




Going by yesterday's performance, El Tri will need more than voodoo dolls to even escape with a draw against US. The team was playing against a Swedish "C" team that might be better off playing the Lions at the National Stadium. At least they can look much more impressive. The Swedish team played a lot better compared to their earlier game vs USA's "B" team. Alexander Farnerud and Daniel Nannskog who impressed in the US game started against Mexico and did well. Alexander Farnerud scored the only goal as Sweden pounced on a mistake by the Mexican defence in the 57th minute to leave Eriksson's side with only one win in their last six outings. Juan Carlos Valenzuela gave the ball away as Mexico tried to play out of defence, Rasmus Elm accepted the gift and found Farnerud who scored with a left-foot shot. The sold out crowd booed Mexico off the pitch at the end of the game.

It reminded me of a Singapore vs Thailand game. Singapore are more physically impressive but slower and less skillful compared to the thais. This is the same situation where the Swedes used their better physique to edge out a win.

In truth, Mexico deserved to win the game. They came close to scoring when Matias Vuoso hit the post in the 1st half. Carlos Ochoa had a header cleared off the line from a well taken corner. Other than that, both teams have an equal number of chances to win the game. Sweden just had Lady Luck smiling on them. Players wise, I wasn't impressed with anyone. To start with, I had no idea who the F**K these players are. The Swedes didn't help by displaying performances that make them look equivalent to our national team players and better quality foreign players in the S-league. Even Peres or Park look more impressive technically wise. The Mexicans have a couple of more eye catching players. Leandro Augusto (naturalised brazilian) and Pavel Pardo worked hard in central midfield and tried to direct the game. A number 11 on the right (I think it's Alberto Medina) look lively but faded in the 2nd half. Other players are typical latin america players.

It's not a nice game to watch and I could have saved my $60. The experience is interesting though, as it's my 2nd international game in USA. The 1st was in Seattle a few years back when I watched USA vs Canada. I shall tune in on TV to watch USA thrash Mexico when they kick off in Ohio. There's no way Mexico can win playing in 2 degrees celsius temperature and missing key European based players through suspension and injuries.


ROSTER - MEXICO

Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (América/MEX), Oswaldo Sánchez (Santos Laguna/MEX), José de Jesús Corona (Tecos UAG/MEX)

Defenders: Juan Carlos Valenzuela (América/MEX), Julio César Domínguez (Cruz Azul/MEX), Edgar Dueñas (Toluca/MEX), Leobardo López (Pachuca/MEX), Fausto Pinto (Cruz Azul/MEX), Diego Martínez (Monterrey/MEX), Israel Castro (UNAM/MEX), Edgar Castillo (América/MEX),

Midfielders: Pável Pardo (América/MEX), Leandro Augusto (UNAM/MEX), Luis Pérez (Monterrey/MEX), Israel Martínez (San Luis/MEX), Lucas Ayala (Atlas/MEX), Antonio Naelson (Toluca/MEX), Marco Fabián (CD Guadalajara/MEX)

Forwards: Alberto Medina (CD Guadalajara/MEX), Vicente Matias Vuoso (Santos Laguna/MEX), Carlos Ochoa (CD Guadalajara/MEX), Nestor Calderón (Toluca/MEX), César Villaluz (Cruz Azul/MEX)


ROSTER - SWEDEN

Goalkeepers: John Alvbåge (Örebro/SWE), Johan Dahlin (FC Lyn Oslo/NOR)

Defenders: Patrik Anttonen (Örebro/SWE), Rasmus Bengtsson (Trelleborgs FF/SWE), Mattias Bjärsmyr (IFK Göteborg/SWE), Adam Johansson (IFK Göteborg/SWE), Markus Jonsson (AIK/SWE), Marcus Lindberg (Kalmar FF/SWE), Max von Schlebrügge (Brøndby IF), Andreas Landgren (Helsingborgs IF/SWE)

Midfielders: Daniel Andersson (Malmö FF/SWE), Denni Avdic (IF Elfsborg/SWE), Andreas Dahl (FC Nordsjælland/SWE), Rasmus Elm (Kalmar FF/SWE), Martin Ericsson (IF Elfsborg/SWE), Alexander Farnerud (Brøndby IF/SWE), Samuel Holmén (Brøndby IF/SWE), Andreas Johansson (Halmstads BK/SWE), Gustav Svensson (IFK Göteborg/SWE

Forwards: Daniel Nannskog (Stabaek IF/NOR),) Mikael Dahlberg (Djurgården/SWE)

The MLS schedule is out! I really miss watching soccer live. Used to catch s-league and national team matches in SG. Consolation is I get to watch a higher standard of play here at much higher prices of course.

Based on the San Jose Earthquakes schedule, I will probably watch these games live at Buck Shaw stadium:

4/11 - Chicago Fire (Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Brian McBride, Chris Rolfe, John Thorrington)
4/18 - LA Galaxy (David Beckham & Landon Donovan if they are still there....)
5/2 - Chivas USA (have to check new roster if Sacha Kljestan, Claudio Suarez and Raphael Wicky still there)
6/20 - LA Galaxy again!
7/11 - Toronto FC
7/25 - DC United (Marcelo Gallardo, Jaime Moreno)
8/2 - Seattle Sounders (Freddie Ljunberg)
8/8 - Columbus Crew (Guillermo Barros Schelotto & US national team reserves)
8/22 - Kansas City Wizards (Claudio Lopez, Josh Wolff)
10/3 - NY Red Bulls (Juan Pablo Angel)

Hope Gold Cup will have matches in SF. Can't wait for season to start.

Time flies and it's end Jan already! CNY had come and gone (not that it feels like there's a CNY in SF). This month had been pretty interesting.

We visited the Ano Nuevo state park and came face to face with the elephant seals in their natural habitat. This is apparently their resting and mating ground during Winter. This is one thing I like about California: the opportunity to experience wild life. This is so different from SG where the more prominent wild life are the monkeys in reservoirs and the stray cats and dogs.

We also visited the Asian Art Museum in SF to check out the Afghanistan exhibition. It contains rare artifacts from Kabul that never travelled out of the country until now. This is the only stop on the west coast, so we are pretty lucky to see it.

I went to CES in Las Vegas the following week. Lots of interesting gadgets and new product launches. Thanks to the economy, it wasn't as crowded as I had thought (thank goodness). The exhibition's big and is probably around 2.5 to 3 times the size of Communicasia.

We visited the San Jose Tech Museum the following week to check out the Leonardo exhibition. The exhibition contains replicas of the machines designed by Leonardo Da Vinci and his manuscripts. Honestly it wasn't as interesting as I thought. I admire his paintings more than his engineering feats. Have to give it to this guy though. The things he did will probably qualify him for 3 or more Phd in this era. Pure genius. We also drove to Little Saigon in San Jose. The place is like a mini Vietnam with Singapore style food courts serving vietnamese food. There were gambling dens setup outside with plenty of people placing their bets on some dice game. Absolutely unbelievable! Illegal gambling that the police turn a blind eye to. I also cut my hair there for $10! Cheapest and best hair cut in US so far.....

We went to Santa Cruz the next day. Best seaside town so far with a nice beach, nice downtown, nice wharf and even a 1970s style amusement park!

We celebrated CNY eve at a mongolian hotpot restaurant. It's nice to get together with fellow Singaporeans and chinese from Taiwan. We spent 1st day of CNY on a food trail eating the best dim sum in bay area, best ice cream in SF and best mochi in bay area. Hehe.

Wow! It's the start of a new year in the blink of an eye. 2008 has been a very memorable year for me. Got married, uprooted to US to a new life and got driving license for the 1st time. It's been ages since I've updated my blog, so I thought I will do a quick round-up of my activities from end Oct to Dec. The past 2 months have been really busy, so updating my blog is a chore.

Oct
- Watched my 1st MLS game (ironically it's the last game of the season....)
- Went to San Francisco's fleet week
- Finally got my driving license (THANK GOD!!!)
- Went to Seattle and visited Mt Rainier with Bebe

Nov
- The 1st 2 weeks of Nov were largely spent at home or going neighbourhoods in the peninsula. Our favourite cities in the peninsula are Mountain View (nice downtown), Palo Alto (nice downtown and shopping) and Cupertino (there's a taiwan porridge at Cupertino Village I absolutely love). Not too impressed with Sunnyvale but may be it's because I haven't explored it in detail.

- Went shopping at Gilroy Outlet mall (got good buys of course)

- Went to Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week. We pretty much covered the whole strip, watched 3 Cirque Du Soleil (Ka, O and Love), visited Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, went outlet shopping on Black Fri (unbelievable buys! Black Fri shopping has to be an annual event for us now.)

Dec
- Went back to Singapore for a week. Pretty good to meet up with friends and eat SG food I miss. It's even nicer to meet Mum and family. Pity I can't stay too long though....

- Went to Chicago. It's a nice city. Reminds me of New York but with less grandiose. It snowed while we were there and we were literally walking in the snow at times. It's a nice experience since it's the 1st time both of us experienced snow. The cold isn't so nice though and I'm very glad to be home after the short trip. Bebe covered almost all the noteworthy Chicago attractions. I managed to visit the Natural History museums and the Adler Planetarium.

I've visited quite a few museums in my travels and I'm still most impressed with the ones in New York and London (I've not been to Paris but I've no doubt Lourve will rank up there with the best). The Getty in LA, Smithsonian in Washington DC and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are pretty good too but no other museums managed to leave a deep impression. I need to start checking out the museums in SF to see how they fare against my favourite.

- Spent the next 2 weeks adjusting to life at home. I've been on the road for 3 weeks and it's good to be home.

- During Christmas weekend, we went to Death Valley National Park with Bebe's cousin. It's a long roadtrip but really enjoyable. The desert and mountains there are awesome. I kinda like it more than Grand Canyon actually due to the more diverse sights available there. We stayed overnight at Malibu before flying back from LA. We met up with some of Wini's cousin's BF's friends during breakfast before we flew off. We have the previlege of visiting one of their house. It's the most outrageous and coolest house I've ever seen in my whole life. Firstly, it's perched on top of a hill and overlook a valley with the ocean in the distant background. Secondly, the design of the house is just so arty farty. It's very refreshing compared to the boring houses in SG. Thirdly, the interior of the house is like an art installation/musuem. I will try to post photos when I've time. Despite the wealth of the owner, he's a very humble man and not at all arrogant or show offish.

He even shared with us 2 life lessons:

- Find your canvas and paint it with what you want
- Find the courage to paint

Before you know it, we are celebrating the end of 2008! We didn't go for any NY eve countdown but went to church on NY day to give thanks for the blessings we had received.

1st weekend of 2009
- We went to the Asian Art museum in SF. There's an exhibition showing rare artifacts from Afghanistan that were never seen until they were unearthed from the vault in Kabul where they had stayed hidden until 2004. There's also a mochitsuki performance in the museum. The japanese make sticky rice cakes (mochi) to celebrate the new year and use dance and drum performances to liven up the occasion. I will post a video on the pounding of the mochi when I've time.

- We went to Japantown. Bebe had actually been there 2 times already but it's my 1st time there. There are a lot of japanese restaurants there but the shops aren't that interesting to me(the Kinokuniya there is fantastic though as the japanese manga selection is so much better compared to the SG one). I guess we will probably go back every now and then to catch a meal in one of the restaurants there.

- We will be visiting the Ano Nuevo state park tomorrow. More updates later.

2009 plans

I don't believe in making resolutions, as I feel they are lame. However, I do want to make plans for our travel and leisure plans in 2009. Here are some I have in mind:

Jan 2009
- Visit San Jose Tech Museum
- Catch the Arabian Nights play at Berkeley Repertory Theatre
- Watch the Mexico vs Sweden game at Oakland Coliseum
- Check out Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week
- Go SF chinatown to check out the CNY celebrations
- Visit 2 attractions (perhaps De Young Museum and Academy of Sciences in SF)

Feb 2009
- Catch the Celine Dion concert in San Jose
- Go skiing in Lake Tahoe?

Mar 2009
- Go for a vacation to celebrate Bebe birthday (either a trans-atlantic cruise or Hawaii)

Apr 2009
- Go for world premiere of the Kite Runner play (based on Khaled Hosseni's best seller) in San Jose
- Go for Lieutenant of Inishmore play in Berkeley Repertory Theatre (it's becoming my fav theatre group here. I plan to go for some more performances there too.)
- Catch Wicked in SF

May 2009
- Go Monterey and Carmel for a weekend?
- Go Yosemite?

Jun 2009
- Go back Singapore (Yippee!!)

Nov 2009
- Go back Singapore (I must spend more than a week this time!)

Looks like a busy year ahead. Let's see how the plans will work out.