Arsenal 2016-2017 Award Ceremony

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The recent record breaking 13^th FA Cup success will not mask what a disappointing season it has been for us. It was the same cycle again for the Gunners. Defeat on the opening day, followed by a run of good form which sees them go top of the league, before a suicidal few months and a last minute surge back into the top form.

13 Times FA Cup Champions!

Sadly this time, we missed out of the top 4. Despite what was a poor season, here is my list of awards for the players over the course of the season, followed by my suggestion who we should sell and bring in next season (realistically)

Best Goalkeeper

It was a straight forward battle for this award between Cech and Ospina for the Best Goalkeeper Award this season. Despite Ospina’s FA Cup final performance, it was very obvious to me that Petr Cech who deserves the nod as he started 37 of Arsenal’s match between the posts compared to 13 for Ospina. 

Despite age beginning to catch up with Cech, I still see him as the number 1 goalkeeper for the club for the next 2 season at least.

Best Defender

We used up to 9 defenders over the course of the season. Koscielny, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Holding, Bellerin, Debuchy, Monreal & Gibbs. In what I would say winner by a narrow margin, Shokdran Mustafi claims the Best Defender Award, just ahead of Koscielny, with Bellerin rounding off the top 3.

The partnership between Mustafi and Koscielny has been very much welcomed by the fans and this pair can only get better. Mustafi has been absolutely solid for the team and has hardly put a foot wrong when he plays. The type of center back we have been screaming for a long time.

Best Midfielder

The most crowded position in the team, but the easiest winner to choose. 30 goals in a single season and 15 assist in 50 matches this season, Alexis Sanchez bags the award miles ahead of the rest. Coming in 2^nd would be Mesut Ozil who has worked up on the number of goals he scored and in 3^rd comes Granit Xhaka.

Best Forward

It becomes a little tougher to pick a winner here considering Alexis Sanchez played nearly half a season upfront before reverting back into a left wing role. Apart from Alexis, we had 3 lads playing the upfront role in Giroud, Welbeck and Lucas Perez. With Perez having played only a handful of game, it becomes a straight forward competition between Giroud on Welbeck.

With Welbeck missing most of the season through injury and Giroud hitting in 16 goals this season, Giroud does just enough to nick the award ahead of Danny Welbeck. Welbeck showed a lot of promise when he returned back from injury and he can stay injury free next season, things could be very different.

Best Signing

Granit Xhaka, Shokdran Mustafi, Rob Holding, Lucas Perez. 4 signing this season and they have all done well do justify their move except Perez who was hardly given much game time. There is no doubt that Mustafi has been our signing of the season as he has been such an important player at the heart of defense for us.

Best Player

Once again, 30 goals from upfront and the wing with 15 assist in 50 games, it is easy as it gets to pick our best player this season. It is Alexis Sanchez. Mustafi takes second place and Ozil comes home 3^rd.

Best Young Player

Signed from the League One this season, many raised an eyebrow why did Arsene Wenger sign him. 10 months later he won the FA Cup with Diego Costa tucked into his pocket comfortably. Without a doubt, we have discovered a gem in Rob Holding.

At a tender age of 21, he has showed that he has what it takes to play at the highest level and he will get better. With a back 3 formation tucked in place, I hope Holding gets more game time next season.

Best Goal

This was really a tough decision in choosing between Mesut Ozil’s brilliant goal against Ludgorets or Oliver Giroud’s amazing Scorpian Goal vs Crystal Palace. My pick would be Ozil, but for the sake of entertainment, let’s watch both the goals here in the link below

Youtube Link: Ozil's Brilliant Goal Vs Ludogorets

Youtube Link: Giroud's Amazing Scorpion Kick Goal

Best Win of the Season

It has to be the FA Cup final isn’t it. Up against the league champions who are high on confidence and we were the underdogs, low on confidence after missing out on the top 4. We went into the match without our best 2 defenders and saw Per Mertesacker making his first start of the season.

The odds were stacked very much against us and yet we came home winners 2-1. The fact that it was a record breaking 13^th FA Cup for the club and 7^th for Arsene Wenger, which makes him the most successful manager in the FA Cup, made this win the best win of the season.

In 2^nd comes the 3-0 win against Chelsea in the Emirates early of the season where we completely played Chelsea of the park and in 3^rd is the extra time win in the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City.

Players should leave

Ospina, Gibbs, Debuchy, Theo Walcott, Lucas Perez.

Players We Should Sign

Sead Kolsanic & Gareth Bale shall he become available or a pacey center forward. Another decent center back and another left wing back (and let Monreal go) would be a welcome addition too.

       

Next Season formation

Cech/Szczesny

Mustafi/Chambers           Mertesacker/Holding      Koscielny/Gabriel

Chamberlain/Bellerin                                                                      Kolsanic/Monreal

Xhaka/Coquelin                Cazrola/Ramsey

Ozil/Wilshere      Sanchez/Welbeck

Bale/Giroud

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Kadhal; Kaalam; Kannamoochi: Part 1

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"Pa, was Amma your first love?" Asked my little girl.

This question from my daughter caught me completely off guard. Why would a five year old girl ask me this question? In fact what worried me more was how does a five year old girl knows about love. That got me even worried to be honest.

"Why are you asking this question ma? How do you know about love?" I asked with a curious tone.

"No pa, just now at the swing, a boy came and told me that he loves me." she said with her head held down.

"He always gives me sweet when he sees me at the playground pa. I think I love him also pa. If Amma was your first love, does that mean I also have to marry him." she asked curiously with a smile on her face.

That is not something every father who has a daughter wants to hear from his five year old daughter. I do know that she still doesn't understand what love is and wants to know if there is some rule that you must marry the first person you fall in love.

Seeing her being so naive was definitely adorable, but nevertheless the defensive father side of me kicked in.

"No ma, Amma was not my first love and no you don't have to marry this boy just because he gives you sweet and tells you that he loves you. In fact you shouldn't tell him you love him yet. When you become a big girl, then you can fall in love. Not now Okey." I said.

"Okey pa, I won't love him." she said.

I blew a huge sigh of relief as I watched her running away to play with other kids at the playground. Yet I still couldn't digest the fact how kids today are so brave to propose at such a young age.

Looking at this boy, I couldn't help but to compare him to my self. The first time I ever loved a girl was when I was sixteen and here is this boy proposing at the age of five.

The first time I met her was when I went to tuition and she was a Chinese girl. She is a sweet looking girl, humble and a class topper. I couldn't help but to adore her from her.

She was my first love or maybe puppy love you might say and yet I was never brave enough to even speak to her yet alone propose to her like this little boy. Eventually she got together with another guy from my school and it would take nearly two years later before I met someone amazing who would take my breath away.

I'll have to turn back the clock 20 years to 1997 to relive the moments when I finally found some special in my life. I was eighteen years old that year and had just started my diploma in a university far from home. 

It has always been my dream to be a chemical engineer and this diploma is my first step towards pursuing my dream. It was a new environment and I was beginning to adapt well despite my introvert shy character. 

Despite my quite nature, I still had a good circle of friends and they were really supportive bunch of people. It was during this time when I saw her for the very first time. I saw the girl who would steal my heart at first sight. I remember that moment just like it was yesterday.

It was 12 p.m. on a Tuesday, the 16th of September 1997. This was back at a time where I had long hair and I would attend classes dressed up looking simple. I had worn a round neck blue t-shirt and jeans with slippers. As always my hair wasn't combed properly and I had dragged myself throughout the class until it finished.

I was having a small chat with my friends just outside the class, which was also nearby the staircase which leads to the path towards the library. Then came a group of girls walking out from the library towards the staircase near my class. There were five of them and they were all Indian girls.

As they walked pass me with books in their hands hugged to their chest, one of the girl from that group caught my attention. A short, sweet looking petite girl. She was wearing a blue colour blouse with long pants and had her hair tied into a pony tail.

I didn't know why but during that three seconds which she crossed past me, I felt a sense of happiness like I never felt before. She had a smile on her while talking to her friends and it was perhaps the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.

I was a never a believer of love at first sight and thought it was something that happens only in the movies. Having that immense happiness feeling of seeing her for that brief three seconds and knowing that I want to see her again, I didn't know what exactly I was feeling. Maybe, love at first sight does exist.

For the next coming days, I would ditch my ditch my friends to walk around the campus when I don't have classes in an effort to see her again, but I could never find her around campus. Then came the following Tuesday. That same 12 p.m. at the same staircase after my class, I saw her again for the same 3 seconds with the same group of friends.

I was jumping in joy in my heart after seeing her again. It was perhaps the longest 1 week I ever had. One thing for sure, I knew that on every Tuesday at 12 p.m. she will walk pass this way just outside my class.

So I made an effort to never miss that Tuesday class even if I was sick and always made sure I was well dress for the 3 seconds she will cross pass me. I went on doing this for the next 2 months!

Just like knowing that she would walk pass this way every Tuesday, I also found out through some coincidence that on every Thursday evening, she would be in the library, doing some group study with her friends until about 7.30 p.m.

You guessed it right, I found myself being in the library every Thursday too until 7.30 p.m. sitting a couple of tables opposite of her just to watch her smile. I would even skip the evening football time just to be there to see her.

It has been nearly 3 months since I first saw her and I still don't know her name, but all I knew is that I liked this girl much and maybe I was in love with her too. On one of the Thursday, by some god's blessing, she was in the library all by herself. It was the first time I have seen her without her group of friends.

I knew that if I am ever going to talk to her, this would be my moment. If I didn't do it today, I might never get another chance to do it. I was sitting opposite of her as always and I was sweating in the library like crazy despite the strong cold air from the air conditioners. That was how nervous I was.

After 30 minutes of braving myself up, I finally approached her at her table.

"Hi there, I have seen you many times around the campus and I just wanted to say that you have a very beautiful smile. Don't take me wrongly. I just felt like telling it to you." I said.

"Ah hi. Thank you very much. Yeah I have actually seen you around many times too. Always near the staircase every Tuesday and here in the library every Thursday." She said.

"Haha you've seen me before too, that's nice." I said.

"Yeah you would always smile at me but never came and spoke to me. I always thought you would never come up and talk to me. I must say I am a little surprised that you did it today." She said with a little chuckle of laughter.

My breath was taken away by her smile and at the same time a little embarrassed that she actually knew I wasn't brave enough to talk to her.

"Haha well today is the only day I am seeing you alone. Usually you are with your group of friends and it is a little hard to approach you with them around." I said.

"Yeah the girls are not here today. They went for an early dinner but I didn't feel like joining. Anyways I've got to go now. It was nice talking to you. Hope to talk to you more after this." She said with a smile while pushing her hair back behind her ears.

"Yeah sure thing, will surely talk to you more after this when I see you, but hey before you leave do you mind if you gave me your ICQ ID. Maybe we can also chat when you are free." I said.

"Sure why not? Here you go." She said while writing down her ID on a piece of paper and gave it to me

I couldn't believe what just happened. I finally spoke to my dream girl after 3 months from the time I first saw her and now I've got her MSN ID. I knew for sure I was going to spend much time chatting with her. What started as short chats turned to long late night chats within a month.

I felt in love with her even more after every chat. She was everything I wanted in a girl and now I am totally in love with her. This time I knew it was no puppy love. She was here doing her foundation and this was her last semester in the university before flying abroad.

I felt I had to tell her I was in love with her before she leaves. My worry was that what if I didn't tell her how I felt and we lose touch after she fell. I didn't want to lose another girl in my life just because I wasn't brave enough to propose. I decided that I was going to ask her out for dinner before she leaves and I would propose to her that time.

During one of the chat days before I proposed to her, I was asking her some questions and one of them was does she has a boyfriend. As much as I was in love with her, I never really knew if she was actually single. That conversation never came up. I wanted to know that for sure before I proposed.

"Erm, yes I am in a relationship. He is my high school senior actually. We got together about a month ago." She typed.

That reply crushed my heart in pieces. "A month ago" she said.  A month. I have been seeing her from far for nearly 3 months and been chatting with her for another 3 months. If only I had made a move earlier in this 6 months, maybe she would be my girlfriend today.

We proceeded to chat a little more before I called it a night. It was the toughest and most emotional night I ever had. I just felt as if I had broken up in a relationship without even being in one. That was how painful it was.

Despite knowing she has a boyfriend, I still continued talking to her. She may not be my girlfriend but she was still an amazing friend and I didn't want to lose that friendship. This girl will always hold a special place in my heart.

One thing I knew for sure is that this isn't the end between me and her. She maybe in a relationship today but in some crazy way in my mind, I thought maybe and just maybe I still have some shot with her.

I was right, although it will take me another 7 years before another amazing opportunity to be with her will surface.

*To be continued*

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Make Up Review : ABH Modern Renaissance Palette

Helllooooo everybody! In this post I am gonna be doing a review on this beautiful palette from Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH). I am starting on this product because this has been my current favorite. 

ABH produces good eye-shadow palettes that are mostly raved about. One of them is this Modern Renaissance palette which is most hyped about. This is my first eye-shadow palette from ABH and it definitely lived up to its hype. 

When I first saw this palette on YouTube, I instantly fell in love with the colors. Maybe I was unsure about getting this palette because I was worried about how am I gonna work on these berry toned shades that are in this palette but I eventually got them after months of good thinking just to see what's all the hype about. 

So let's see what this palette has got to offer.


Packaging

This palette comes with a light pinkish colour cardboard box cover and the palette itself has a nice velvet-y material which gives off a luxurious look and feeling to it but it can get dirty easily and it can be noticeable. This is why I always keep the palette inside the box to avoid getting it stained. 

On the inside, the palette comes with a mirror and a double-ended brush (a flat brush and a blending brush). They have listed the names of each shade in a rose-gold embedded font. The material used to make the body of this palette makes this palette not only look pretty but is also actually light which makes it travel friendly. 

The double-ended brush that comes with the palette
(excuse the dirty side of the brush as i have used it recently)

Price/Value

Although this palette is not available for sale in any Malaysia retail store, it is not a huge obstacle that stops you from buying it as you can actually purchase it from Sephora or buy it online via the ABH website with a shipping fees attached to it. However, you can get this palette through any online shop on Instagram that sells authentic make up products just like how I got mine from ShoplikeSurie for RM 215 (excluding postage).  

Just take note and be aware to get the authentic ones in which obviously the fake ones would be more cheaper than the usual price. If you would like to know how to distinguish between the real one and the fake one in detail, you can watch this YouTube video about it.

The palette contains 14 beautiful shades which are extremely pigmented which mean you do not have to use a lot of the product to build up the color and with good pigmentation comes with good staying power. Therefore, a little goes a long way. 

Shades

The palette has 14 eye-shadows that comes in a range from neutral to berry tones. 10 of them are matte shades, 3 metallic shade and 1 satin shade.

Tempera is a beige matte shade 

Golden Ochre is an earthy yellow matte shade 

Vermeer is an iridescent shell metallic shade 

Buon Fresco is an antique lavender matte shade 

Antique Bronze is a metallic sable satin shade 

Love Letter is a raspberry matte shade 

Cyprus Umber is a dark coffee matte shade 

Raw Sienna is a neutral amber matte shade 

Burnt Orange is a deep orange matte shade 

Primavera is a shimmery gold matte shade

Red Ochre is a sienna matte shade 

Venetian Red is a crimson matte shade 

Warm Taupe is an earthy gray matte shade 

Realgar is a brick matte shade

Formula

I personally find these eye shadows easy to blend and the formula/texture of it is so butter-ry. All shades have very good colour payoff as how they appear in the palette. However, I have noticed that this formula creates a fall out on some of the shades as I used them. 

My favorite shades from the palette are Raw Sienna & Burnt Orange (both are perfect transition colors for me), Tempera & Vermeer (brow highlight), Realger (crease color) and Venetian Red & Love Letter (beautiful berry shades).

Overall

Personally I will use it with a primer and even with or without, the eye-shadows stayed pretty long on my eyes. It is totally optional to use a primer before applying these shadows but I recommend anyone to have a primer on since it will act as a base for my shadows to stick on to and also prevent my eye-shadows from creasing. 

This palette is versatile enough to create looks from day to night for any occasions. I think these shades are suitable for any skin color which I find happy about because I feel it is important for the any eye-shadow to look beautiful on any skin tone. 

I love this palette because of the quality and the variety of shades that you can create depending on your preference together with its amazing quality. This palette has been my go-to eye-shadow palette because it contains pretty shades that pair wonderfully and it is easy to work with. I can go from a day-time neutral look to a smokey-eye later at night.

However, I personally do not like the packaging as it gets dirty easily and it's expensive. For those who can afford this I would recommend you to get your hands on this one! So,let me know if you had the chance to grab this palette and what you actually think about it. 

I would definitely give this product a rating of 4/5 stars! 

End your Fasting nights at Royale Chulan, Penang!

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8^th May 2017 marked the grand rebranding of The Royale Chulan & Bintang Hotels with the now name Royale Chulan Hotels and Resorts for all the 8 hotels in KL, Damansara, Cherating, Hyde Park London, Bukit Bintang, Seremban, Penang and The Curve.

Recently, I got the chance to attend to the grand Ramadhan buffet of The Royale Chulan Penang. With a catchy slogan of “macam macam ada” that was a day whereby I had a countdown to attend to!

Firstly, thank you for Royale Chulan for hosting Boggler Blogger’s Chocolate Monster at your newest buffet dinner, Selera Ramadhan: Macam Macam ada.

Believe me not, Royale Chulan’s bountiful buffet includes 10 action stalls, which varies from Sushi Kerabu Mangga to Nasi Briyani Gam with Kambing Panggang Golek.

The Kambing Panggang Golek was said to be last year’s crowd favourite and it definitely won a lot of attention at first glance. Truth to be said, the Kambing Panggang which was marinated in a secret blend of spices and roasted to perfection was love at first sight for many. I kid you not, I saw it in the eyes of many around me!

The action stalls includes Chicken and Beef Satay with condiments, Ikan Bakar, Sushi Sotong Kerabu Mangga, Kambing Panggang Golek, Apam Balik, Char Kway Teow, Cucur Kerang Berlauk, Bubur lambuk, Roti Canai & Murtabak and Ayam Goreng Berempah.

Although everything tasted amazing, my personal favourite was:

11)   Chicken Satay- there were no fat part in the middle of the satay

22)   Char Kway Teow- Penang’s favourite and was done great!

33)   Ayam Goreng Berempah- Fried to perfection!

The main buffet had amazing varieties, from Spaghetti Sotong Sambal to Sweet & Sour Prawn. The Nasi Tomato and Briyani were also spiced very well and gave the whole meal a perfect balance! I really enjoyed the Ikan Keli Goreng Berlada and Kari Ikan Tenggiri Bendi! The fish was very well cooked.

I personally loved that Roti Canai was not left out from the Penang’s authentic food row, and the Murtabak they offered was very well flavoured and was hot throughout the buffet night!

Here are some of my plates from the night!

Because Chocolate Monster likes to start off with desserts!

Who hates Briyani? XP

CHAR KWAY TEOW WAS THE STAR HERE!

Because, cucur!

My attempt on making round ice cream (epic fail, haha)

This was the best sup tulang ever!

They had amazing desserts too!!!!

A buah kurma pineapple? TAKE ME IN!

Fruit tarts <3 

Fancy Jellos!

Here are some of the main dishes!

The buffet dinner will be available from 28^th May to 23^rd June 2017 at it is priced at RM78 per adult and RM40 per child or senior citizen for the first and last week of Ramadhan and RM88 per adult and RM44 per child or senior citizen for the second and third week of Ramadhan.

So Penangites, what are you guys waiting for? Call +60402598888 to book your spot for your Buka Puasa at The Royale Chulan now!

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