2008 ICT Penang Scrabble Open_Novice Category_20.06.08

We were in Penang this weekend to take part in the Penang Scrabble Open which was held in the 16th floor at Bayview Hotel, Georgetown, Penang. We drove to Penang on Thursday and put up in Copthorne Orchid Hotel at Tanjung Bunga, Penang.
Priya at Copthorne Hotel Lobby

Priya and I took part in the Novice category where the games were played on the Friday morning (20/06/08) at Bayview Hotel.

View of Georgetown from the 16th floor of Bayview Hotel
The Old & Young Scrabblers

Twenty eight participants competed in five rounds in this category. Most of the players were school children and I was probably one of the veterans (age-wise).
Raj Vs Nicolas Choo

Raj Vs Amery Seow
Priya Vs Khor Wei Fernn

After five rounds, I had three wins and two loses (W-L-W-L-W ) managing to reach sixth position overall. Priya won two and lost three (L-W-W-L-L) and achieved nineteen position. Penang Scrabble Open_Novice Category Results

Only the top five finishers were given prizes. However, I did not go back empty handed as I won the consolation lucky draw prize which was held on Sunday.

Lucky draw prize: a kettle jug

Congratulations to the all the winners. We had a wonderful time playing scrabbles and hopefully the organisers would increase the number of games to play, in future.

My next posting would cover the Open catogory where a band of youngsters (S.Ramaraj, Andrew Chang, Ker Jen Ho, Khoo Beng Way, Alastair and Jagan, among others) played against the established Masters of Scrabble.

In Memory of my father_19.06.08

NST_19.06.08
Last photo of my father and Ramaraj in 1992

2008SJC Girls' Futsal_15.06.08

2008 SJC Girls' Futsal League season started this weekend with the Coaches and Team Managers' Volunteer Clinic from 1.30 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. where the rules and regulations were explained. Our core values of the league i.e. Unity, Teamwork, Sportsmanship, Discipline, Service & Family were also highlighted.

As usual, Ari, our Technical Head, briefed in detail the coaching aspect of the game. He emphasised that we are running an social league with the involvement of three teams i.e. parents, players and the rest of the league volunteers, which is of paramount importance to the success of the league.

Ari (left) discussing with Teresa, Mark, Jasminder & Tharmabalan.

Coaches Tun Kamarul, Zaifulizan, Sunny,Mohd Saidin & Thomas Ward in discussion.

There was also a Team Managers meeting facilitated by Ida which was an all-ladies affair. The Team Managers play an important role of communicating with the parents, players and the coach. The overall responsibility of the team manager is to ensure smooth running of the team, especially the attendance at practice and matches and updating the team on the latest league developments.

Team Manager's meeting interrupted for photo session.

From 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m., the first training sessions were conducted for the teams as the girls have been allocated to the teams in their respective divisions. They were excited to get to know their new teammates.
Coach Tharmabalan with Team Garnet.

Coach Tun Kamarul training his daughters and other teammates of Team Amber.

Coach Jasminder instructing Team Opal
Coach Mark Scott coaching Team Amethyst.
Malaysia and her Jade team mates
Coach Sunny and Team Manager Yasmin having a pep talk with Team Jade.
Coach Mark and his charges Team Sapphire.

For more photos, visit our photo album at http://ksrajchitra.fotopic.net/

For more details, visit our SJCYFL website: http://sjcyfl.wetpaint.com/

2008SJC Girls' Futsal League_ 07.06.08

We started our SJC Girls' futsal league season with the final registration and skill assessment at our new venue, HTO de Futsal, Subang Jaya on 7th June 2008.

Priya and Priyanka at HTO de Futsal
HTO de Futsal venue

Registration started at one p.m. Sample of the jerseys were displayed for the girls to confirm their sizes.

The final count for the registration todate which totalled to 76 players as follows:

Majors Division : 26 players.

Senior Division : 25 players

Premier Division : 25 players

We have only 16 places still available to complete the registration.
Registration Table manned by Chitra, Ida and Theresa.

Ari, our Technical Head, and his team carried out the skills assessment for the players at two p.m. so that the players could be assigned to teams of similar strength.
Major Division girls assessment
Senior Division girls assessment
Premier Division girls assessment

After the assessment, the girls had the chance to kick about by playing friendly matches until four p.m.
Premier Division players.

For more photos, visit our photo album at http://ksrajchitra.fotopic.net/

We look forward for next week on 15th June for the Volunteer Orientation and Coaching Clinic, and the first Training Session.

For more details, visit our SJCYFL website: http://sjcyfl.wetpaint.com/

Petrol Price Increase_05.06.08

Hot news in the newspapers today is the increase in the petrol price.

Petrol price is up by 78 sen from RM 1.92 per litre to RM 2.70 per litre and will be reviewed every month.

Rebates of RM 625 per year would be given for private vehicle with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and below, including private pick-up trucks and jeeps with engine capacity of 2,500 cc and below.

Wonder how much of your petrol consumption (past) would be adequately covered by the rebate of RM 625?

I did some calculations as below:

Monthly rebate = RM 625 / 12 = RM 52.08.
Ratio of petrol price increase = 2.70 / 1.92 = 1.40625

Assume monthly petrol consumption (past) = X

For increased petrol consumption (new) to be equal to petrol consumption (past) plus rebate, then : 1.40625 X = ( 52.08 + X )

Therefore X equals to RM 128.19.

That means if your past petrol consumption is RM 128 and below, the rebate of RM 625 would be enough to cover the price increase ( for cars with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and below).

I have also included my excel spreadsheet to calculate your additional expenditure due to the petrol increase, for your petrol consumption below:

http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media?q=hand6116676204019134322&size=8

For example, if your past petrol consumption is RM 400 per month, you have to fork out an additional RM 1,325 per year due to the current petrol price increase.

SJCYFL One Day Tournament_25.05.08

The final event for our SJCYFL Boys Football League was the One Day Tournament (ODT)which was held at Alice Smith School, Puchong on 25th May 2008. This whole day event also includes activities for the whole family and the prize giving ceremony.

Chitra and myself were not able to attend the tourney the whole day due to Rama's participation in the 3rd Malaysian Youth Scrabble Competition which was held in Berjaya Times Square, K. Lumpur on the same day.

I dropped by for a few hours to join in the fun and festivities.

Mum's Tug of war
Dad's Tug of War

Tents were set up for the teams at the edge of the fields. It provided a welcome shade and resting place away from the hot sun.

Teams Set Up Tents for the day
Tent of Junior Team Kings' Family
Ari (Technical Head) and Doc Nazir (ODT Coordinator) taking a break from their hectic duties.

Lunch was served at one pm.

Delicious Lunch for all

After lunch, football matches for the dads and mums commenced.
Mums and daughter's Football Match

I had to leave early by 2.00 pm to go back to Berjaya Times Square.

My Birthday_28.05.08

I share my birthdate with famous people such as King George1, Rudy Giuliani, John Thorpe and Kylie Minogue. I was born forty six years ago in Klang.

Got up in the morning, hearing birthday wishes from my wife. At breakfast table, I found my birthday card from Priya and Rama.
"Best Daddy" Birthday Card

There was a surprise birthday party organised by my staff when I went to work. Shantini put a "Happy Birthday" banner. Ramesh brought the cheese cake from Hilton Hotel and Rajakumaran contributed the banana cake. Dinesh's wife made an sweet dish "payasam" for the breakfast party. Thanks to my secretary, Mariah, staffs from other department dropped by to wish me.
Photo taken by Sukhvinder for my blog

After work, we went to Klang to have dinner with my brother, Jayaraj and family. My mum wanted to spend us a Chinese dinner in a restaurant in Pandamaran.
Our favourite dishes- prawns, fish, sizzling tau fu etc.

After dinner, I cut a birthday cake at the restaurant. My sis-in-law had ordered the birthday cake with royal icing from the famous "Mrs. Atkinson" of Klang.
Cutting the cake with family
Cake for my mum

I had a wonderful day for my birthday with lots wishes from my friends and family members. Thanks also for the presents I received, among them, the book entitled "Secrets" from my sis-in-law, Anita. Thank you, everyone for the memories.