Happy 6th Anniversary Hun!

A couple of months back, my girlfriend & I reached the 6 years anniversary mark (of the time I told her that I love her) and so, it’s time to recall the fun things we did during the past year!

1. Sneaking out to fetch my gf from KLIA airport when she returned from Indonesia!
2. Rekindling the flame at my former apartment (tongue on navel action on Christmas Eve)  😉
3. New Year 2016 weekend – Going for the countdown at KLCC and then PDA-ing at Satay Kajang restaurant
4. Sleeping together for the night in a hotel room all to ourselves during our Cameron Highlands holiday. I daresay the white wine did it’s job remarkably well!  😉
5. Enjoying the perks of my gf’s affinity with the Indian culture (the logical aspects of it, that is). I liked attending the Odissi dance performance & l-o-v-e-d the saree look she had on during our friend’s wedding!
6. Sharing a mojito at a bar in Kuala Lumpur. Chatting up to her in close quarters overlooking the street and city lights was exciting.
7. My sexy gf (decked in black tanktop & black shorts) placing her legs on my lap while I was behind the wheel heading to Putrajaya one night. 😉
8. Making out in my bedroom when my parents were outstation. My baby looked hot in her dark blue bra & maroon panty. 😉
9. Getting into the Malaysian food scene by eating in at various F&B restaurants in the Klang Valley.
10. My gf being a great activity partner for my TimeOut KL pursuits.
11. Special mention: My gf supporting Italy (or more specifically, Graziano Pelle) in Euro 2016 & us watching Lee Chong Wei win against Lin Dan (at another satay restaurant).

That’s quite a fun list I have to say! I love you baby! 🙂

 

Advanced Audit and Assurance saturation

Tags

audit, Breakout, finance, journalism, Manchester United

I’ve been doing a substantial amount of advanced audit and assurance reading over the past week. Don’t ask me to go into the details, but I’m actually enjoying the subject content (maybe it caters to my management consultant brain). I wish I wasn’t on this 3-4 month exam prep time frame though; I have to rush the learning process and that has its drawbacks. It’s times like this I wish I was a full time student.

Around 2 weeks back, my cousin celebrated his birthday and us cousins went to Breakout (something like the ‘escape room’ attraction). My gameplay was decidedly more passive because the others were so into it to the point I felt they were ‘smothering’ me. Oh well, my default reaction was to move away from the throng; can’t be doing much with a bunch of high individuals, can I? 😛 Btw, we did manage to complete the challenge (with considerable help from our guide) so a yay to that I suppose.

The new Premier League season has started and Man Utd have won maximum points from their 3 games played thus far. I watched their Bournemouth & Hull City away matches and I like the composition, gameplay & character of the squad. With the likes of Ibrahimovic & Pogba in the ranks, we stand a really good chance of winning trophies this season.

We had a young female journalist come over to our house and I made good use of the opportunity to chat with her (she’s cute and intelligent, need I say more?). I inquired about the career of a financial journalist and the cutie pie mentioned that a strong knowledge of finance is the main requirement. It’s something I could consider being down the line, seeing that I enjoy finance (and of course, journalism as a career is fascinating). I gotta do some research on this.

 

Obrigado Brazil for a very memorable Rio 2016 Olympics!

The Rio 2016 Olympics have come to an end and looking back on the 2 weeks, I have to say it was a very memorable Olympics. I watched it as a sports fan and enjoyed the fantastic performances on display (plus the special moments as well). Here are the highlights from Week 2:

1. Badminton – Malaysia performed tremendously well in this year’s Olympics. Although we didn’t win the gold medal, we had 3 finalists this time around. Chan Peng Soon & Goh Liu Ying won the silver in the mixed doubles, Tan Wee Kiong & Goh V Shem were soooo close to winning the men’s doubles (they had 2 gold medal points but the Chinese players overturned it and won their match point), and Lee Chong Wei battled valiantly but had to settle for silver behind Chen Long of China. I watched the Lee Chong Wei vs Lin Dan semi-final at a restaurant and it was fun to celebrate along with fellow Malaysians. In the final, Chen Long was superb – it was a pleasure to see him play.
2. Athletics – The athletics programme was filled with high quality record-breaking performances from the get-go (Almaz Ayana winning the women’s 10,000m final with a world record). Usain Bolt’s triple treble, Mo Farah’s double double, David Rudisha retaining his 8oom Olympic title, Shaunae Miller’s ‘dive’ in the women’s 400m,  – it was incredible! For me, the best track & field performance was Wayde Van Niekerk (South Africa) winning gold in the men’s 400m, breaking Michael Johnson’s world record, and doing all this RUNNING IN LANE 8! Phenomenal! If London 2012 was the greatest track & field experience, Rio 2016 will be remembered for the sheer quality of it.
3. Miscellaneous sports & finals – Thumbs up to me for attaining one of my Olympics viewing goals: watch rowing. I gave sailing a go (I think it was the men’s RS: X windsurfer), watched women’s weightlifting, and saw the odd judo & wrestling final. I woke up one night for the men’s skeet finals (won by the Italian shooter Gabrielle Rossetti). The women’s beach volleyball final was entertaining (fun festive Brazilian atmosphere) and I did watch 2 men’s hockey matches – India vs Ireland in the group stages and the Belgium vs Argentina final (Argentina ale campione!). The last final I watched was the men’s volleyball between Brazil & Italy. It was quite eventful for me because I have an affinity for both these countries and seeing them go head-to-head was something. Brazil won the gold medal and the scenes on the medal podium will make my Rio 2016 Olympics highlight cut.
4. Men’s football – This is my favourite gold medal of the Games this time around. Brazil had never won the gold medal in men’s football, and this was the one gold medal that mattered above all. So, to win it on home soil, in the Maracana, in front of your own fans, is about as special as it can get. When Neymar slotted the winning penalty kick (the Brazil vs Germany match went to a shoot-out btw), you could feel the elation of the Brazilian fans for yourself. I felt incredibly happy for Brazil and I was cherishing the moment with them. [PS: I think Andy Murray winning the tennis men’s singles gold was my favourite gold medal of London 2012]

The carnival-esque closing ceremony brought the curtains down on Rio 2016 (special mention to the ‘Super Mario’ Japanese PM) and not surprisingly, I was crying once the TV coverage ended. I know one of the reasons why – being a sports athlete is something I desire and being an Olympian is an achievement I can feel truly satisfied about. Anyway, I’m starting to find a new group of role models now: Olympians who are carving parallel careers in other endeavours, as well as the late-comers. Maya DiGado, Cameron McEvoy, Ed McKeever, Greg Searle, Janice Teixera, the list goes on. I look up to them and hopefully be able to emulate their dedication & achievements.

Obrigado Brazil for the Rio 2016 Olympics. I enjoyed the experience immensely.

Rio 2016: My Guide to Watching the Olympics

Tags

Olympics, Rio 2016 Olympics

I’m well into Olympics viewing mode and I think I’ve figured out the best way to watch the sports on TV. Watch football on the first two days, watch the opening ceremony, saturate myself with men’s team archery on Day One, follow the Italian women’s volleyball team matches (and other teams that I want to support), watch the event finals (swimming, rowing, etc.), let athletics be the default sport on Week 2, and round it off with the closing ceremony. The aim is to not saturate yourself but watch quality sports performances.

Here are my Week 1 Olympics highlights (I’ll mention the ‘one-off’ sports in the next blog):

1. Football – Watched Brazil vs China (3-0) women’s football and Brazil vs South Africa (0-0) men’s football. The Brazilian women’s team were lucky not to have lost in the penalty shoot-out versus Australia but both Brazilian teams are still in the hunt to win the gold medals. I hope they manage to do so, it’ll be great for the country.
2. Opening ceremony – I liked the opening ceremony, although it can’t compete with London 2012 (that was epic). Gisele Bundschen’s final catwalk, the green Olympic rings, the Refugee Olympic Team, the flagbearer of Tonga, & the artistic Olympic torch – being someone who has an affinity for Brazil, I enjoyed all the elements of the opening ceremony.
3. Archery – Day One is for men’s team archery and I got to watch the Malaysian, Brazilian, & Italian teams shoot. The USA-South Korea final saw the Koreans deliver a masterclass display. Six 10s in Set 1, and the second Korean archer shooting a 10 in each of his six attempts!
4. Women’s beach volleyball – Anouk Verge Depre (Switzerland) is the find of the Rio 2016 Olympics, but I only got to watch Team IsaAnouk play just the one time. Anouk is such a stylish player and I wished they had shown more live telecasts of her matches! I also watched the Walsh Jennings – Ross (USA) vs Giombini – Menegatti (Italy) match which the Americans won convincingly.
5. Volleyball – Got to see my Italia girls play after 3 years but they didn’t perform well in the Olympics this time. I believe they got eliminated in the group stages itself. I caught their Serbia & Netherlands matches on TV but they lost both the matches. Martina Guiggi is quite the girl though!
6. Gymnastics – I saw the ‘Final Five’ (USA’s Simon Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, & Madison Kocian) compete in the women’s team event which they won it by a mile. But I was more of a fan of the young Brazilian gymnast Flavia Saraiva.
7. Swimming – I watched Phelps win another gold medal in the men’s 200m individual medley, followed by the dead heat gold medal in the women’s 100, freestyle (in a new Olympic record time!). But from a Malaysian perspective, the one significant piece of news is Joseph Schooling winning Singapore’s first ever Olympics gold medal.

There are also a few non-Olympics highlights to list down here:

• Ipoh trip – We explored the Gua Tempurung cave, visited the iron ore museum, and went for a dip at the Lata Kinjang waterfalls.
• Suicide Squad – Fun movie to watch, and Harley Quinn looked f-i-n-e in her shorts. 😉
• Chemistry Lab & Cafe – This cafe has a chemistry theme to it so I found myself drinking an ice-blended from a conical flask.
• Pokemon Go – Love it or hate it, it is the current trend in pop culture. The Pokemon ‘walkers’ is an interesting phenomenon and it feels great to be a part of it!

See you in the next blogpost!

“To cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul”

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray – I finished reading Sir Oscar Wilde’s literary masterpiece and the book resonated with me (shouldn’t come as a surprise, seeing that I’m a hedonist). There are 2 parts of the story where I felt I could see myself in them: (a) Lord Henry’s perspective of life, and (b) Dorian’s study and pursuit of pleasure. The title of this blog post is a quote from the novel.
2. Star Trek Beyond – This is my 10th movie for 2016. Jaylah is my favourite character, she kicks ass! And she’s quite good-looking for an alien. 😉
3. Broga Hill hike – I wasn’t aware that this is an activity featured in the TimeOut Kl app. But I gotta tell you, it was no walk in the park! Feels satisfying that we managed to hike up all the way to the top of the hill.
4. Titus Andronicus – As part of William Shakespeare’s 400th birthday year celebrations, I decided to watch this revenge tragedy theatre performance at Damansara Performing Arts Centre. Make no mistake about it, this is one dark work from The Bard!
5. P7 Advanced Audit & Assurance – I think I’ll sit for this exam come Dec 2016. I’ve just started reading the textbook and I find it fascinating. I also feel I can be ‘exam competent’ for this subject so yeah, figure I should give this a go.
6. Line moments with my girlfriend – On one of the weekdays, my girlfriend invited me for a webcall chat and she looked gorgeous in her white spaghetti top (after she woke up in the afternoon). I also forgot to mention that two weeks’ back, I was seated in the backseat with my gf and I had my hands on her thighs (she was wearing one of her miniscule shorts). 😉

Keeping it short and simple this time around (and I wish I could KISS my girlfriend in bed, it’s been more than a month!).

Celebrating 10 years as an Italia supporter!

I reached the 10-year Italia supporter milestone this month! To think that it’s already been a decade since Italia won the FIFA World Cup in 2006 (Campione del mondo! 9th July 2006 is the date). I started supporting Italy prior to the WC (this is an important fact – I didn’t simply jump on the winning bandwagon) and I have experienced many great moments since then. It would have been nice if the Azzurri had won Euro 2016 but no matter – I’m always going to remember Conte’s side, just like I do Lippi’s campiones & Prandelli’s tiki-talia practitioners. I am one proud Italia supporter!

I’ll condense my fortnight’s highlights:

1. Euro 2016 – Portugal winning the title was a confusing end to the tournament & it took me a couple of days to understand my feelings. Fair play to Portugal though, they worked hard, rode their luck, & capitalised on their chances. But it doesn’t change the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo is an idiota for trash-talking Iceland. I think this was the tournament where I ‘evolved’ to become a  proper ‘good sportsmanship’ fan.
2. Tiny Temptress – I went out with my gf for a dessert date at this specialty cafe. We tried their macaroons & bear-shaped chocolate cake.
3. Legend of Tarzan – This could just be my favourite movie of the year thus far. It is a serious movie and I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m keen on such genres.
4. Monday Night War (Foundations of War) – Sting of WCW & The Undertaker of WWE, the standard-bearers of their respective companies. If only they had had a match at Wrestlemania!
5. Bangsar food tour – Malayalee banana leaf rice at Devi’s Corner, ice-creams at Inside Scoop (they’re TimeOut KL award winners) & cakes session at Alexis. Double thumbs up!
6. Wangsa Maju hangout – Lunch at Prisha’s (it’s better than Devi’s Corner), 2-hour Call of Duty gaming session (the RPD is more my gun), futsal at the ‘playground court’, & 90’s music in the living room (Slam Dunk Da Funk & All Around the World). Quite good for a chill-out Sunday!
7. Career considerations – I’ve started reading this book titled ‘I Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know It’s Not This’. I hope there won’t be too much waffling going on.
8. Vicente Del Bosque – The World Cup & Euro winning coach (Spain) has retired from football management. The Spanish tiki-taka teams  will go down in history. It’s interesting to note though, that their reign began with them defeating Italy on penalties in Euro 2008, and ended with them losing to Italy 0-2 in Euro 2016.

I’ll end this blog with a recollection of yesterday’s dream. I was hugging Kylie Minogue from behind and I asked her if could go out with her (not sure if I was asking her out for a date or to be in a relationship). She said yes and as we walked across the field (I think we were holding hands), the Backstreet Boys & Britney Spears were in the near vicinity (again, I think). Well, I didn’t even stop to pay any attention to them, my focus was on my Australian girlfriend (sounds phenomenal, doesn’t it?). A little while later, Kylie & I came across a group of people dancing together and she asked if we could dance. I agreed and the next thing I know, I was carrying her across the air, like all those figure skaters/ballet dancers! It was a wonderful dream! I love Kylie Minogue! 🙂

Grazie Ragazzi – It was a great Euro 2016 Italia experience.

Italy are out of Euro 2016 and prior to my quick ‘siesta’ in the evening, I was actually feeling somewhat sad as I replayed the moments of yesterday’s match in my head. But before that, let’s talk about the Italy vs Spain Round of 16 encounter. Italy may be Spain’s bete noir, but to me, the exact same applies to Spain. Since 2008, we have not won a competitive match against them so I was very much wary of the current European champions going into this match. But my boys produced a brilliant tactical display to nullify Spain’s tiki-taka style of football and finally managed to record a win (2-0) after all these years! So up next were Germany and I was feeling pretty confident of Italia’s chances to advance to the semis. The match was a tight tactical affair and it ended 1-1 aet so it was time for the penalty shoot-out. What a strange one it turned out to be (and especially Zaza’s miss)! Italy should have won it when the advantage swung towards our favour but when you don’t capitalise on them, you pay the price. The world champions won the ‘lottery’ and we are eliminated from the tournament. Gianluigi Buffon cried as he walked off the pitch and I felt sad for him (4 years earlier, Andrea Pirlo shed tears on the pitch after losing the Euro 2012 final). This is Buffon’s last Euro and when he retires in a few year’s time, the Euro title will be missing from his career honours’ list. As for Andrea Barzagli, this is his final Italia match so thank you for the Italia memories Barza (which for me goes back to the 2006 World Cup). Last but not least, molto grazie Antonio Conte! What an individual to have as our manager! The nosebleed, kicking the ball in frustration, and almost leaping out over the Italy dug-out – it was Italian passion to the core. I just want to say thank you to the boys for trying and giving their best; win or lose, it’s such a privilege to support Italy. Forza Italia.

Moving on, two of Euro 2016’s epic moments:

1. England vs Iceland (1-2) – This was football history being created here. The scenes at the end of the match gave a ‘movie-reel’ finale to the evening’s proceedings: Iceland’s players running to their fans (the aerial camera captured it perfectly), and England’s players slumped to the ground in defeat (with the camera angle this time from the back of the England net). Unbelievable.
2. Wales vs Belgium (3-1) – One of the greatest nights of Welsh football, and I saw it unfold on TV. Robson-Kanu’s goal was exquisite (I’ll equate it to Pirlo’s assist for Grosso’s goal in the 2006 World Cup), his Cruyff turn taking 3 Belgium players out of the play before slotting the ball into the net. I hope Wales make it all the way to the final.

A few more things to round off the week:

• Argentina lost to Chile in the Copa Centenario final on penalties. Messi skied his’ over the crossbar and was distraught & inconsolable when it was all over. Losing 3 finals in a row, it must feel terrible. Messi has announced his retirement from international football; I hope he changes his mind.
• Ric Flair & Ricky Stemboat were terrific athletes back in the days! Their wrestling matches were at a frenetic pace!
• Dating with my gf – I showed her the university stadium where I go for my laps workout and gave a drive-by of my outdoor running route. We went to Burger King for ‘lunch’ & had our Starbucks date (it’s my gf’s first Starbucks drink). It turns out coffee has an adverse effect though, so we sat in the car and talked for a considerable amount of time. Btw, my gf wore shorts so I was having a field day touching her thighs (I even kissed her in that region). 😉

 

Brexit – UK says goodbye to the EU

“Bye Bye Brexit: The UK is Here to Stay in The EU”

That would have been the title for this blogpost if the United Kingdom had voted to stay in the EU referendum. To my surprise, the British people opted for Brexit and now the European Union is short one strong member country. I was following the developments on BBC and it was quite fascinating: 51.9% leave vs 48.1% remain, the comparisons between the 1975 & 2016 referendums, Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the British Pound at its lowest since 1985, David Cameron resigning as PM – it was an eventful day in British politics. As for me, I’m not sure what to feel about the referendum results. I wanted UK to stay in the EU because I like the concept of the European Union. But being a non-EU citizen, working in the UK might be easier due to not having to compete with the EU citizens. Anyway, I still want the European Union to go on, so here’s to Germany to steady the ships and lead the EU to a position of strength. The world needs a strong Europe.

So what else have I been doing this week? Well, apart from work (I won’t go into that, I’m losing my zest for my banking operations work as the days go by), there’s Euro 2016. Italy have a difficult encounter against Spain, Wales have made it to the quarter-finals, Shaqiri has scored probably the best goal of  Euro 2016 with his acrobatic effort, and Cristiano Ronaldo is at his irritating pest-like best. He has trash-talked Iceland, scored in 4 consecutive Euro tournaments, tossed a reporter’s microphone into the lake, netted a brilliant back-flick goal against Hungary (what an insane game that was!), has sulked around the pitch and shouted at his team mates, & could very well lead his team into the final (Croatia played rubbish against Portugal and it’s solely their fault they got eliminated). Portugal winning the tournament could very well ruin my Euro 2016 but I have to keep in mind Portugal is more than one preening poserboy.

A couple more items to round off this blog post (Germany vs Slovakia is coming up in a bit):

1. Messi scored a sublime free-kick against USA! They’ll be playing Chile in the Copa Centenario final and I hope Argentina win it this time around.
2. The highlight of my Saturday date with my girlfriend was Franco French Toast for tea. Oh, lucky I didn’t hit the monkey which was trying to cross the highway!

Good luck to Italy in the match against Spain! Try your best boys!

 

 

Forza Italia! – Supporting Italy in Euro 2016

It is such an amazing feeling to support Italia during a major football tournament! The anthem, the players, the style of play, the Dolce & Gabbana suits, the fans chanting ‘Italia! Italia!’, the goal celebrations – it’s one of my highlights of a Euro/World Cup year. This time around, I’m experiencing being an Azzurri supporter as a working adult, so there was only one thing I could do to maximise my Italia experience – utilise my annual leaves. So far, I’ve seen the Belgium vs Italy (0-2) and Italy vs Sweden (1-0) matches. In the former, our defence was solid and brilliant – oh boy does it feel great to have our famed Italian defence back! As for the latter, a draw would have been a fair result but Eder had other ideas and scored the winner late in the game. Up next it’s Republic of Ireland and although we’ve qualified to the knockout stages, it’s important to keep the momentum going. So yeah, I hope we go all the way in Euro 2016 and win the tournament. Forza Italia! [PS: I have in my possession an Italia football & an original  Euro 2016 Italia home jersey]

Highlights of the week:

• Monday Night Wars – I got to know about Mick Foley’s wrestling career in ‘Have a Nice Day’. THAT match with Undertaker will forever be associated with Mick Foley, as well as his Mankind, Dude Love & Cactus Jack characters.
• England vs Wales – This was a ‘momentous’ game in its own right and I was definitely supporting Wales (of course!). Bale’s free-kick was quality – he’s turning out to be quite the dead-ball specialist – but England managed to secure a come-from-behind 2-1 win. I hope both teams will be able to qualify from the group.
• Yves Saint Laurent photo exhibition – I went to Galeri Petronas to see Al-Kesah: Homage to Ismail Zain (art exhibition) & Yves Saint Laurent: Photographs by Pierre Boulat (photography exhibition).
• My girlfriend’s university batchmates – I hung out with my girlfriend and her university batchmates on the weekend. It was fun listening to them narrate their  university stories (especially the crushes/dating ones). 😉
• Chickaboo the ostrich – Only in Malaysia will you be greeted with the sight of an ostrich running on a major highway! Lol! Luckily, Chickaboo was safely caught and is now a national celebrity! He was invited to predict the Euro 2016 winner and has picked out Italy for the win!

Watching Wales play in Euro 2016 – Come on Cymru!

Tags

England, Euro 2016, France, France 98, Stade de France, The Three Lions, wales

Euro 2016 is upon us and I’m very much in Euro mode! Yeahhhhhh! The fact that the tournament is held in France is memorable for me because my introduction to football took place during France 98. So when the commentators reminisce about Bergkamp’s exquisite goal against Argentina, I was there watching it on TV all those years back. Another interesting thing to note here is that for Malaysians of my generation, it was also France 98 that ignited their love/passion/fervour for the game. And so, seeing the Euro 2016 opening ceremony staged in Stade de France (where France with Zidane defeated Ronaldo and the Brazilians to lift their maiden World Cup trophy 18 years ago) brought back the memories. [PS: Stade de France is one of my favourite football stadiums – and we drove past it during our Paris holiday in 1999] The opening ceremony was quite fascinating – can-can dancers, David Guetta, pop-up Eiffel Tower and mosaic of the 24 country flags, French Air Force flyover & the rendition of La Marseillaise – very French indeed. And Payet’s long-range shot was a fine way to win the match (and he was a little bit in tears when he got subbed – it was an emotional moment for him).

Anyway, it’s a good time to talk about England (I know, I know, talking about England when the title is about Wales…but for the sake of chronology, do bear with me for a short while). When my family returned from UK, supporting British teams in Euros & World Cups became the default option. So my siblings and I used to root for England. But when England played against Wales, there was no question whose side we were on: it was always going to be Wales 100%. I remember a qualifier when Giggs & Becks lined up against each other at Old Trafford – the English won the game 2-0 that day. Anyway, when England began to exhibit what I shall call the ‘Chelsea influence’, my siblings & I made the exodus from supporting The Three Lions and Italy became my international team. But yesterday, for the first time in a long while, I actually wanted England to do well. They played decently against Russia but were held to a 1-1 draw by the late Russian equaliser. Dier’s free-kick goal was good though.

And so, keeping the best for last, I shall now come to Wales. What a historic moment it was to see them play against Slovakia! It’s Wales’ first ever Euro and their first major finals since the 1958 World Cup, and it’s the first time I’m watching Wales play in a major football tournament. I was practising my Welsh national anthem and when the actual moment arrived, I tell you, it felt different. I’ve sung the Italian anthem countless times, but singing along to Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau brought in the emotions. When Gareth Bale scored his free-kick, I was jumping up and down in the hall – I NEVER do that for any international matches apart from Italia’s. And when Robson-Kanu scored the winner (the pile-on celebration was cool), it just felt fantastic. And as for the icing on the cake, it was a 2-1 win against Slovakia (they eliminated Italy in the 2010 World Cup). So from an Italia fan, dioch/grazie for the win! As for the  question whose side will I be on if Italy play against Wales? Well, I’m first and foremost an Italia fan so I’ll be supporting the Azzurri (and that’s why Italy is my international team, seeing that I’m choosing it above Wales). But for now at least, this is not about Italy. It’s about Wales. It’s about Cymru. This a major milestone in my football story. I am an Italian supporter. I am also a Wales supporter.

Here’s to a brilliant Euro 2016 experience!

PS: A few updates:

• Date with my girlfriend – After a day of Pizza Hut lunch, Chatime beverage for tea, & Sushi King dinner, my gf came over to my place for a couple of hours. We went upstairs to my room and had an enjoyable make-out session. My girlfriend was in her dark blue bra & maroon panty (I wore my dark green boxers) and it felt great getting physically intimate with her.
• Sisha debut – I made my sisha debut while chilling out with my boys at an Arabic restaurant but my (sucking) technique was rather hopeless.
• The Rise of the nWo – Watched this episode of Monday Night Wars & I loved how Scott Hall & Kevin Nash made their WCW debut as well as the moment Hulk Hogan turned heel to form the nWo.