West Ham 0 Wolves 1 ; first 3 points of the season away

Coach Nuno Esperito Santos is stamping his authority and vision on the Wolves team, they are playing as a compact unit now, with numerous goalscorers so there is no depending on just 1 player. A brilliant strategy and a very well balanced side. Let me highlight the goalscorers so far, in the 5 games (4 in the league and 1 in the Carabao Cup against Sheffield Wednesday).

Wolves vs Everton (H) ; result Draw
1. Reuben Neves
2. Raul Jiminez

Leicester vs Wolves (A) ; 0 loss 

Wolves ve Man City (H) ; result Draw
1. Willy Boly 

Sheffield Wed vs Wolves (A) ; 2 - 0 win for Wolves
1. Leo Bontatini
2. Helder Costa (P)

West Ham vs Wolves (A) ; 1 - 0 for Wolves
1. Adama Treoare 

This team has the potential to win the league, mark my words. Perhaps I should put my money where my mouth is ??? 

26 August SAFRA and Army Half Marathon

My first competitive run in more than 2 years, and what a layoff it has been ! I am all of 55 years young and still at a sport which is normally meant for young adults.Throwing that concept out of the window, I decided (together with the help of my 2 running buddies Timothy Lee and Ricky Ng) to make a 'comeback' of sorts. 

I had done and dusted 10 full marathons in the past 15 years and work and age concerns were on my mind. But hey, you only live once so the last 6 weeks was getting my overweight body onto the East Coast Parkway and just hauling the kms day in day out, 'just like the old days'. 

Wefie with some acquaintences of Ricky's prior to the start of the race

Last week was pretty hectic with a full workload, and then driving the roughly 20 km to the east coast park in the evening to run 13K, 10K, 10K rest, 4K and 15K just 1 week prior to the race. My body took it very well to be honest. So I am in better shape than I originally thought!

The body metabolism slows down dramatically after the '50s so I must be very mindful of my diet, reminding that wine, beer contain lots of calories, chocolates are a 'no no' and eating grilled foods, meats and snacks sparingly. An idle mind is a dangerous thing, so it is better to keep the body (and mind) active and then everything is in fine balance.

The night before the race, I ate more than usual (need to remind myself of this anomaly) and watched my football team Wolves, draw 1 -1 against the mighty Premier League champions Man City. Heading to bed at 9 : 50 was very unusual given the fact I had to wake up by 2 : 30 just 5 hours away. Anyway, I believe I fell asleep close to 12 midnight, so I only had about 2 plus hours of sleep. Fortunately I rested on sat afternoon, so had another 2 hours add ons.

Ricky picked me up around 3 : 15 and we drove to his condo near the start point. The usual banter and preparation was muted for me as I was just focussed on what I had to complete never mind the others. Finally at 4 ; 30 we were off ! 

I took on a faster pace than usual doing 6 : 30 / km speed and managed to keep that for the first 10K (63 mins) the second 10 K  I felt fatigue gaining the better of me, but I held on popping my GU Gels every 5 km. nearing the 15 km mark, I was preparing my 3rd power gel when I carelessly knocked it onto the ground. I had a foggy recollection that when I turned around another runner had stepped on it and so I said " to heck with it" and carried on. 

" I really need to lose that visceral fat" I told myself ! so there I was plodding away and taking in the kms, fortunately I was not down with cramps or any the worse for wear and tear, so on I went slowly for the next 10 K, I easily slowed down to about 8 min per km, hence the second 10 K I figured I did around 80 minutes 

The last km or so was the hardest, so I gamely plodded on and drank at the remaininng water stations. I finished at a pedestrian time of 2 : 38 : 9 though in hindsight I did not push it, as I had not run this distance in a long time.

Thanks go out to my lovely wife May for being understanding and letting me continue my hobby. She was a trouper and went to the market (every Sunday) with the maid to buy fish, meats, vegetables and otehr stuff. 

My 2 friends met at the end of the race and we all went and had a nice prawn noodle along Beach Road just to round up a perfect run !

I am back !!! 

25 Aug 2018 Wolves 1 Man City 1

An entertaining game full of incidents, world class save from Rui Patricio, an unlikely offside goal from Jiminez, Sergio Aguero's relationship with the upright and the bar, Wily Boly's goal which had a 'hand of God' aspect to it, Jota and Costa causing Kompany and company plenty of probolems, and Laporte's header equalizer.

All in all a first rate game by the men in Gold and Black, at Molineux no less, with 31,000 + crazy happy fans who were so pleased to deny last season's Premier League champions full 3 points and garner one of the most entertaining point of this season so far.

Come on you Wolves ! Show the world what you are capable of !!! 

Doha 16 - 19 July 2018

Doha 18 - 19 July 2018

My Stetson Hat ! at Villagio Shopping Mall

At the bottom of the 'Torch' - an iconic hotel at Aspire grounds

Luxurious villas near the airport highway

VIP shopping section at Villagio Mall 

Doha Qatar 16 July 2018

Dinner at Arab Restaurant with my Hosts 

            This is my  3rd trip to Doha in about one and a half years, and it is one which I am looking forward to. My partner there has been in the Middle East for almost 20 years and he has had his hands full with projects in the construction sector which has seen them grow exponentially in the last 5 years. This trip in July was just to renew relationship ties and see for myself what other possibilities there are in the furture in the region. I am pleased to report that even though there is some political problems with their neighbours, life goes on as normal and the resilience of the people and expatriates is impressive.

At traffic intersection ; buildings are brown or beige in colour

Doha is in the upswing in the years leading to the 2022 World Cup. The first ever in the Middle East region, there is construction in full swing. My customer is a sports hospital in the Aspire Zone catering to the rehabilitation of athletes and people with orthopaedic injuries.
This trip, the weather was treacherous, sometimes reaching 48 C in the day and 40 at night. It feels like a furnace and only the mentally impaired would do any exercise ! Fortunately the invention of airconditioning and mega shopping malls such as the Villagio shopping mall along Al Waab Street next to the Torch hotel gives many locals and foreigners some respite.

The main stadium photo taken from the nearby hospital 

Food and transport is not cheap by any means. Most of their foodstuffs are imported and while there are many top class dining establisments in the malls, a meal like a sandwich and coffee would set you back US$ 20. No small sum indeed !

In the Premier League for the first time in 6 years - what a cracker of a match !

All the hype leading up to Wolves debut, at Molineux no less, was well deserved. Look at the quality of the goals scored, the saves made and the fans there must have lapped up every second of it.

Richarlison, the Brazilian international scored 2 good solo goals. Reuben Neves scored a screamer of a spot kick, past Jordan Pickford, England's No. 1 no less. It was a gem of a goal to show Premier League he had arrived.

Wolves 2nd goal was from Mexican International Raul Jiminez who scored a lovely header from an inch perfect pass from Neves again.

Man of the Match, Reuben Neves.

What a start to the Premier League season !!!