Malaysia has its best ever performance in Rio 2016 even before the games ends this weekend

I have just watched the live streaming for the semi-final match between Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Lin Dan of China in badminton’s men single. Chong Wei lost the first game but fought back to win the second game brilliantly. His first game is full of many careless mistakes but things turned the other way round in second game. Finally, in the third and deciding game, their result was neck to neck and it made me so nervous and worried. When Chong Wei hits 20-mark while Lin Dan was lagging behind a few points, I already started to celebrate.

However, Lin Dan fought back to win few points and leveled the score to 20-20. I was back to the state of extreme nervous again. Fortunately, Chong Wei impressed by winning the last two crucial points to win the match. A big congratulation to him for defeating Lin Dan this time. Lin Dan had defeated Chong Wei in the final in both Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. Now, it’s Chong Wei’s turn to take him out, but this time it’s not the final match yet. However, I’m already very happy that he is now only one step away from the coveted Olympic gold medal of which no Malaysian has win before in the history of the Olympics.

(Image above from The Straits Times)

Even if he lost in the final (definitely hope not), he would still be one of the greatest badminton players in the world. Who can be the Olympic silver medalist for three consecutive times? No one accomplish that before. But all our wish is now on him winning the gold medal that would be a perfect gift to end his Olympic run (he won’t be playing for the next Olympics anymore) and also a perfect gift to the whole country, Malaysia. But the country didn’t only rely on him this time, as our men doubles pair, Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Keong will be playing in the final later tonight. This is our another chance to win the gold medal. All our prayers and well wishes for them!

On the other hand, in the mixed double final that took place two days ago, Malaysian pair Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying lost, but had already made us proud. They never expected to reach the final in the first place but they did. The Indonesian pair they dealt with in the final was just too strong. Our Malaysian pair was still impressive and won a silver for Malaysia. To sum it up, this time is already Malaysia’s best ever performance in badminton in Olympic stage. A huge congratulation and thank you to all the Malaysian badminton athletes!

As for the other sports, it is a big letdown from the Malaysian archery team which couldn’t even pass the qualifying round. A good news on top of that is that Azizulhasni Awang managed to win a bronze medal in cycling-keirin event. As for diving of which Malaysia is not bad in (but China always dominated this sport just like badminton), our divers, Pandelela Nirong and Cheong Jun Hoong won silver medal in women’s 10m synchronised platform. Fantastic! However, in individual event, Pandelela Nirong who was bronze medalist in London 2012 in that didn’t manage to perform well this time. But it’s all right. They did their best.

(Image above from Genting Rewards Malaysia)

So right now, Malaysia has 2 silver and 1 bronze which is already the best ever performance the country has in Olympic history. And then there’s still at least two silver (or hopefully two gold) already in the bag for the country. Well, now I’m hoping to be able to listen to our national anthem (Negaraku) later tonight! I will update this post soon with the latest results in badminton involving Malaysia. And again, all the best to our athletes in the finals!

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Update – 20 August 2016

Unfortunately, in our men doubles match last night, our Malaysian pair went down, defeated by the China’s pair in three games. We won in the first game, looking very confident, and I’m impressed by huge improvement on the players. However, we lost terribly in second game. Then, came the deciding game. Malaysian pair was behind few points most of the time but they fought back when it was almost the end which gave us back high hope. They secured gold medal points but they missed them out twice. Luck was not on their side and pressure took the toll on them. Hence, they lost 23-21 in the last deciding game, awarding the gold to China. That’s a huge wasted opportunity. We are so near this time. Anyway, still congratulation to them as they fight to their very best despite some major crucial mistakes in the final game. At least, they got a silver.

Well, I couldn’t watch tonight’s match for the men single because I would be in the aeroplane. I sincerely wish all the best to Dato Lee Chong Wei in that final against Chen Long of China as he is our last hope for Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold medal now. Good luck and all the best to him! The whole country will cheer behind him!

 

Assignments, drama, and Olympics.

My past two weeks are all explained in my title of this blog post. It’s been quite some time since I last updated my blog here, and it’s all because that I have already been very busy with my study for the second semester beginning this month. It was only the end of Week 2 of this second semester only, but my time has already been filled out, mostly with all the assignments. Stress inevitably comes in, especially on this time when I don’t really like the subjects taught this semester with uninteresting topics.

The only good thing of this semester so far is that me and my classmates will be heading to Taiwan for two weeks to attend an international workshop under a unit. At first, we thought this unit would be interesting with that trip, but things didn’t turn out as we wanted. In this particular unit, not only we have to learn how to use Rhinoceros software, but also to learn a new visual programming plug-in called Grasshopper. Well, this plug-in is certainly the most complicated software I have ever used and it is going to give us a hard time for the duration of this whole unit. Anyway, we are all looking forward to the trip as we can have the opportunity to visit some places in Taiwan in the same time. It has been 8 years since I last visited Taiwan and I hope to see the majestic Taipei 101 skyscraper again. We will be flying there next weekend and will be stopping by at our motherland (KL, Malaysia) for a transit flight.

To reduce the pressure from my study, my frequent blog visitors would know already that one of my effective ways on achieving that would be watching Hong Kong dramas every evening. Recently, there is this new TVB series called ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’. I have been catching up to this series every evening no matter how busy I am. It’s so far the most intense TVB drama of the year, which easily makes it also the best TVB drama of the year so far too. It has a lot of intense scenes, a lot of actions (martial art sequences), a lot of suspense, and awesome performances by the cast. I won’t explain more about it as I will be reserving it for my review of this drama once it has concluded. So far, it has been very exciting, interesting and engaging to watch.

The Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games is on-going and of course I have to mention a bit about it. I also manage to watch some of the competitions in this games. I have heard that Vietnam has won their first ever Olympic gold medal recently. Singapore has also achieved the same just few hours ago. When is Malaysia’s turn? We are seriously desperate for a gold after have been appearing in Olympic Games in such a long history. So far we only have a consolation prize of which Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong won a silver in women’s 10m synchronised platform in diving event. Anyway, a huge congratulation to them, and our next goal in Rio 2016 is a gold! Nothing more. Let us all wish that our Dato Lee Chong Wei can accomplish that in the badminton men single event soon. All the best to all our Malaysian athletes in Rio 2016! As I’m right now staying in Australia, I also keep an eye on Australia’s performance in the Olympics. So far so good, with 5 gold medals already in hand. I’m jealous with them as it looks so much easier for them to get gold medals. Topping the medal standing so far is United States as expected.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Some interesting architecture in Rio de Janeiro to see besides than sports.

The world’s attention is on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil right now as the city is currently hosting the world’s largest sporting event, the Summer Olympic Games. Worldwide media will be covering all the competitions daily in over 2 weeks of intense sport events in Rio 2016. Besides than looking out for the best of each contested sports in this host city, why not take a look also into some very interesting architecture in Rio de Janeiro. I recently came across an article highlighting on that topic from Archdaily and I wish to share that here:

Rio de Janeiro is a city of sights and sounds. As diverse as its people is the collection of impressive architecture found in Brazil’s second most populous city—from Eurocentric historical architecture to 20th century regionalist modern marvels, not to mention the city’s growing crop of contemporary cultural venues. The combination of mountainous terrain, lush rainforest, and the ocean inspires many to create lively and unique architecture.

In preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the city has enlisted a crop of internationally renowned architects including Santiago Calatrava, whose work joins Rio’s existing masterpieces from architects such as Oscar Niemeyer. But apart from its “Capital A” Architecture, the city of Rio is home to thousands of residents living in the now-famous favelas—interesting subjects of inquiry for those interested in the concept of spontaneous urban growth. There’s a building for just about every architecture fan visiting Rio this year or anytime in the future.

International Architects

Museum of Tomorrow / Santiago Calatrava

Built in Calatrava’s signature style, the recently launched museum feels ethereal and features various cutting-edge experimental exhibitions; it is an icon of the modernization of Rio de Janeiro’s harbor.

Cidade das Artes / Christian Portzamparc

Located in the city’s developing southwest zone, Portzamparc’s masterpiece is a large cultural complex. A miniature City of Arts, it serves as a venue to multiple performances and exhibits throughout the year, as well as the home of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra.

MIS Copacabana / Diller + Scofidio

Set to open later in 2016, the new headquarters of the Museum of Image and Sound aims to represent Rio de Janeiro’s Carioca culture through lively and stimulating exhibits. The building’s design aims to reproduce the experience of Copacabana’s famous boardwalk.

20th Century Modernism

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum—MAC / Oscar Niemeyer

The iconic saucer-shaped structure not only frames views of Rio de Janeiro but also provides a column-free exhibition space for contemporary art.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian / Edgar Fonceca

Also dubbed as the New Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, the conically-shaped structure is Edgar Fonceca’s interpretation of Mayan architecture which he has combined with traditional Catholic architecture through the dominant presence of stained glass in the interior.

Ministry of Education and Health Building / Lucio Costa

Known alternatively as Palacio Gustavo Capanema, this office tower is one of Brazil’s most iconic representation of the International Style. The building’s design credits read like a who’s who of Brazilian Modernism, designed by Costa with help from a team of young architects which included Oscar Niemeyer alongside Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Carlos Leão, Jorge Moreira, and Ernani Vasconcellos. This team was assisted by none other than Le Corbusier, while the building’s impressive roof top gardens were designed by Roberto Burle Max.

Museo De Arte Moderna / Affonzo Eduardo Reidy

Affonzo Reidy’s design is one of the most beautiful examples of Modernism’s sculptural potential. The museum is located within Rio’s largest public space: Flamengo Park.

Parque Eduardo Guinle / Lucio Costa

In 1943, Lucio Costa transformed the site of Parque Eduardo Guinle by building 6 residential towers. This is a prime example of Modernist architecture’s utopian aspirations in Brazil.

Historic Architecture

The Royal Portugese Cabinet of Reading / Rafael da Silva e Castra

Appearing like a cathedral filled with books, the 19th century building houses books which began as a private collection by three Portuguese immigrants. The library now contains largest collection of Portuguese works outside of Portugal.

Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater / Francisco de Oliveira Passos

The Theatro Municipal is one of the most important and beautiful theaters in Brazil. The Paris Opera look-a-like is located in Rio’s city center and houses ballet performances and classical music concerts.

Parque Lage / Mario Vodrel

Once the private home of industrialist Enrique Lague, the site is now a public park with walking trails through subtropical forest. In 2015, the artists Penny Duo transformed the site by placing an inflatable orange tarp that covered the building’s entire pool area.

Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro

Before it was replaced by the New Cathedral of Rio in 1976, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo was the seat of the Archdiocese of San Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro. It features stunning Rococo-style ornamentation.

Everyday Architecture

Santa Marta Favela

The Santa Marta Favela is located in the Botafogo district of Rio de Janeiro and is home to some 8000 residents. In 2011, the Praça Cantão square of the favela underwent a colorful transformation through the Favela Painting Foundation of artist duo Haas and Hahn.

Teleferico do Complexo do Alemão / Jorge Mario Juaregui

This cable car ride is composed of 7 stations and is taken by everyday commuters as it connects to the city’s railway network; the 45 minute ride provides a view of Rio de Janeiro’s various residential areas.

Contemporary Architecture

Rio Art Museum (MAR) / Bernardes + Jacobson Arquitetura

The MAR is a large complex which contains not only a museum but also a school and leisurely cultural spaces. The 2013 construction of the museum required the unification and re-purposing of three pre-existing buildings: the Palacete Dom João, the police building and the old central bus station of Rio as one cohesive complex.

Uruguai Station / JBMC Architects

This station used to be an old parking area for trains known as “Rabicho da Tijuca” before it was renovated to become part of the metro’s Line 1 extension. JBMC Architects were also responsible for the Cidade Nova Metro Station and Footbridge.

Homeless World Cup Legacy Center / Lompreta Nolte Arquitetos + Architecture For Humanity + Nanda Eskes Arquitetura

After the 2010 Homeless World Cup, the structure from this multi-team collaboration, which also included Nike and Bola par Frente, has been re-purposed as a community and cultural center using football and play as a tool for empowerment in the underprivileged neighborhood of Santa Cruz.

Capela Joá / Bernardes Arquitetura

This contemporary chapel literally hangs off a cliff and is a reconceptualization of church architecture; the traditional gable form of religious Christian buildings has been inverted from sectional to plan view.

Maracanã Stadium / Schlaich Bergermann und Partner

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics are being held in this stadium, which adds to the long list of prestigious sporting events that the Maracanã stadium has hosted since its construction in 1950. A beautiful new roof structure was designed by schlaich bergermann und partner in 2013.

(Original source of the article above: http://www.archdaily.com/792656/city-guide-all-the-architecture-to-see-in-rio-de-janeiro-during-the-2016-olympics#_=_)

Also to add on from the list above for interesting architecture to observe in Rio de Janeiro are the newly built Barra Olympic Park where it is a cluster of nine sporting venues (2 of them are temporary structures) purposely built for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It sits on the former site of motorsport circuit of the city.

And not to forget the iconic Christ The Redeemer Statue on Corcovado Mountain which is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and is the most important icon of the city. It somehow isn’t related to architecture, but it is still a spendid landmark that defines Rio de Janeiro and is a must-see when you are in the city.

Rio de Janeiro is a very beautiful city full of intriguing built environment sets in picturesque natural setting. The city’s architecture has the old and new, rough and clean, humble and bold, which are more than enough to amaze everyone.

(Images and information in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web unless stated otherwise)

Movie review for ‘Viral’ and ‘Suicide Squad’ (2016)

In my Facebook home page today, I noticed some are very excited to share the news that the popular Pokemon Go game is finally released officially in Malaysia today. Part of my Facebook friends on the other hand also eager to share some interesting images from Rio 2016 opening ceremony that took place this morning (last night at Brazil time). I won’t be writing about these two topics anymore and I will be moving on back to my latest movie reviews.

‘Viral’ is a science fiction horror film which revolves on a woman and her sister that were quarantined alongside many others in the whole country in their respective homes due to an outbreak of a virus called worm flu that turns infected victims into zombie-like state. His secret crush is also present for a helping hand since their parents were away from home. This low-budget film starred Analeigh Tipton, Sofia Black, Travis Trope, etc.

I’m always a fans of zombie-themed movies or movies on some kind of virus. Despite this movie not getting widespread attention or huge cinematic release, I’m still keen to watch it. It was quite fun and entertaining though. Well, there are those very predictable plot and dumb decisions made as expected in this type of movie, ‘Viral’ do delivered on creating suspense and intense ‘zombie’ scenes. There is some good effort in it. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Viral’ a total of 7.0.

The last movie to review today is ‘Suicide Squad’. This is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year for many person but not me strangely. However, I still insist to watch it due to the buzz and the continuity in the DC cinematic universe that I have to catch up on in order to further understand all the other released or future DC movies. ‘Suicide Squad’ revolves on a group of imprisoned supervillains whom were recruited by a secret government agency to counter an existing attack in the city. It’s basically bad guys (and girls too) being licensed to do bad things against the other bad people.

Well, the movie isn’t excellent but it doesn’t also deserve such a low rating it has right now over in Rotten Tomatoes. I find that the site is particularly unfair to DC movies and more biased towards Marvel studio. ‘Suicide Squad’ is still a nice film to watch with some good actions, neat and less complicated storyline, and good performances by the cast especially from Margot Robbie portraying as Harley Quinn. The film also starred Will Smith, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, etc. Since this is also another ensemble movie with many characters, it is reasonably understood that the Joker’s character (one of the main highlights of this movie, and it is portrayed by Jared Leto) has very limited amount of screen time. Not judging by that, I still find that Jared Leto did well on this role but simply not amazing enough. His performance stays buried under the shadow of Heath Ledger’s take on this villainous comic character back in 2008 in ‘The Dark Knight’ eventhough their approaches on Joker are different. Jared’s laughs in this movie are very weird. Moving on, I find that this movie didn’t quite have the charm to keep the audiences engaged and some of the funny dialogues appeared forced and awkward throughout the movie. The characters’ supposingly bad behaviors were also not presented much which is a waste as it is the uniqueness of this group. The final climax is also a bit of a letdown with very plain direction and lacks fresh idea. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Suicide Squad’ a total of 6.6.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games officially began with a splendid opening ceremony.

I purposely woke up before 7am this morning to watch the live broadcast of the opening ceremony of the 31st Summer Olympic Games, Rio 2016. The ceremony which took about four hours in Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil saw attendance of over 78 000 spectators and also audiences from around the world watching from television or from the internet. This is the first time the Summer Olympiad is held in South America.

Before the start of the games, the organizers had mentioned that they would spend very little on the ceremonies due to the financial crisis of their country in recent years. And because of that, I have very little expectation since this kind of ceremonies should not be taken lightly as it is a very strong platform to showcase the best of the host nation that can offer and present to the world. But in the end, I still insist to watch the opening ceremony to see what they can do with limited budget. And surprisingly, the outcome is that I’m quite impressed with the opening ceremony that had just concluded an hour ago.

While it is expected that the organizers would still be depending on light projection on the floor for most part of the performances’ segment, the ceremony also shined from some very creative concepts presented. The first presentation that led to the countdown to mark the commencement of the opening ceremony was a bit of a letdown when there is no connection between the 10-second timing display to the performers on the stage. Fortunately, things get better soon with brilliant presentation to display the history and the multicultural state of Brazil. However, I find that the performances’ segment was a bit too short and the parade of nations kicked in so fast.

Over 200 countries are participating in this games and this is the first time a team for the Refugee is created to compete in Olympics. Not to forget to compliment Brazil to have this ceremony as a platform to create awareness on climate change and global warming issues. Even the Olympic rings were presented from artificial trees and they are all green (of course) which also coincides with the main colour of Brazilian flag. As for the Olympic flame arrival and cauldron lighting section, it’s a bit underwhelmed because it was done like without much thought (my impression was ‘like that only?) and I also find the animated mechanism behind the floating cauldron a bit awkward eventhough it still looks beautiful. The fireworks display at the end from the stadium was also a bit plain.

Rio de Janeiro did delivered a grand and fabulous opening ceremony and I’m quite amazed of how they can do this with small budget (it doesn’t look cheap at all). However, it could not match the greatness we have seen from London 2012 (lesser ‘wow’ but very meaningful and touching) and of course the Beijing 2008 (full of ‘wow’ and grand). This Rio 2016 opening ceremony still delivered some ‘wow’ factors but appeared less energetic and vibrant despite all the iconic and colourful Brazilian costumes and dances. So now the Rio 2016 games has officially begins and will continue till 21st August 2016. There will be over 2 weeks of intense and interesting competitions from various sports to watch, contested by the best of the athletes from across the world.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

It’s all about Rio 2016 for this month.

It’s the first day of the month and it’s also the official first day of my second semester. Well, there is no class for me on every Monday and so, I will be only start to attend class from tomorrow onward. But I have already had a site visit yesterday for my design studio this semester already which means that my time has already to be dedicated for this second semester. I’m looking forward to this second semester and I hope I can also do well just like what I have done for my first semester, or even better if possible. I’m also anticipating the end of this semester so that I can fly back to Malaysia by end of November or early December. Haha…it’s a bit too quick to think about that right now when this semester has just started.

So, my holiday is gone and there comes four months of stress and heavy workloads from all the assignments and classes. Slowly, I think I would start missing the past month when all I do everyday is just by sleeping, eating, and surfing internet. I also don’t think there can be any more time for afternoon nap from now onward. I have to get the bad habit away, turn off my lazy mode and have to work hard and smart to deal with this semester and also two more in next year before the course’s completion and my graduation.

The 31st Summer Olympic Games is finally going to take place this month. The world’s biggest multi-sport event that happens once in every four years is a global event watched by all sporting fans around the globe. This 31st edition is scheduled to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 5th to 21st August 2016. The opening ceremony is going to be held on this Friday, 5th August on 8pm Brazil time. If I’m going to watch the live broadcast of the ceremony, I have to wake up very early on Saturday’s morning due to the world’s different time zone which is not too bad this time. I remember I purposely stay awake till midnight four years ago to watch the live broadcast of the opening ceremony for the London 2012 games. I was the only one in the living room watching the ceremony as I’m the only one in my family who have an interest on it. Can’t believe that was four years ago. Time flies.

(Seen above is the new Barra Olympic Park for Rio 2016. The main stadium that will host some sporting events and also the opening and closing ceremonies is Maracana Stadium, is not located in this Olympic Park. That is odd since it is usually the main stadium will be the centerpiece of any Olympic Parks in the past.)

I didn’t have high expectation for this edition’s ceremonies due to the very low budget allocated on it and also low expectation to the overall games due to the many problems surrounding the host city this time. Brazil is facing economical instability, Zika virus, massive underdeveloped places, high security and safety risks, etc. But I believe Rio de Janeiro will compensate a bit with beautiful natural setting like the magnificent beaches and hills, more developed urban areas, newly constructed facilities and venues, etc. All I’m wishing for in this games is to see Lee Chong Wei to win Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold medal this time in badminton. It’s his last chance, and I will elaborate later on this point if he managed to get into the final.

In conjunction with the 31st Olympiad this month, Rio 2016, my blog header of the month would be also highlighting on this sporting event. Nobody would have not heard of Olympics. It’s the event that bring best athletes from across the world together to compete in various sports contested. It’s the event that the world will be putting the eyes on. It’s the event all sport fans love, even the ordinary people like me too who doesn’t really like sport much but still love to watch some intense sporting competitions. The visual for the header (from this original source: https://iso.500px.com/rio-de-janeiro-photos/) is a striking aerial view of the host city, Rio de Janeiro with the iconic Christ the Redeemer Statue overlooking the picturesque city. The image is superimposed with the official logo of the Rio 2016 to signify the games. How fortunate iit is for Rio de Janeiro to be chosen as the host city of such prestigious event.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)