EPL Masters Football Malaysia Cup is here...

On Sunday 22 November, 36 ex professional football players will take to the 'stage'/field and play in a round robin tournament at Putra Stadium Bukit Jalil.

Teams are Manchester United, Liverpool (last years champs), Sheffield United and EPL Allstars. Players include Andrew Cole, Ray Parlour and Ian Walker and John Durnin. It is set to be an exciting tournament!

Andrew Cole and Ian Walker were at the press conference to kick things off (excuse the punn). Having just 'come of age' for masters football; 35 years old, they seemed excited about being here in Malaysia to take part in the tournament which has become quite the institution in the UK, and fast becoming as popular over on this side of the world. Although they weren't too pleased to meet the 35 year point, they were looking forward to playing with some old team mates/rivals.

The tournament which takes place this Sunday will be an exciting event, and the atmosphere in the stadium should be great considering they have sold 75% of seats and counting. Do you have your ticket yet?? If not, call Axcess (0377115000) and quote 'AirAsia' for the Buy on Get one Free promo!
Before the event there will also be a Football Fiesta from 2pm on the outskirts of the stadium. This is free to enter so why not go along?

Maybe we'll see you there!

You would have thought I'd had enough of MotoGP right...Wrong!

Yesterday we were lucky to have AirAsia Team Malaysia visit the AirAsia staff at LCCT (commonly known to us as Red Fort)

After a tour of our office facilities, our staff were invited to meet the riders, take photos with them, and there were signed posters on offer.

Obviously still on a high from the last weekends success, they were very happy to meet our staff, all of whome were excited to meet the boys that did airasia proud. I for one can't believe how young they are...and the speed around the track...so fast!

It was great for us to be able to share in the success (and pose next to the awesome bike!!)

Another good day in the office...

Stands were packed, the atmosphere buzzing, and the engines revving! For the first time in nearly 10 years, Malaysians had their own riders to support...and you have to admit, they did it in style, with a slick looking bike and suit (not biased at all of course)

After great practice and qualifying sessions, it was already looking up for AirAsia Team Malaysia, but at the same time everyone was keeping cool under the spot light and trying not to lose focus among all the attention.

Elly Idzlianizar Ilias and Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin, the AirAsia Team Malaysia MotoGP 125cc Riders ended up in 16th and 20th place (respectively) at the end of today's race - just narrowly missing out on World Championship points - which is a great result.
After months and months of preparation (selection process for the rider's started back in May), today made it all worth it.

We're ready to take on the world!

In the pits, everyone wanted pictures with the boys, with our lovely flight attendants, who were there to support the event - and there was a real excitement in the air. For me, it was the first time at a MotoGP and I loved it - and after a little taster, I'm definitely going to keep up to date with next year's competition when it starts back up again - maybe with a full Malaysian Team entered...and just think, I'm not even Malaysian, so goodness knows how you are all feeling now that you have MotoGP heroes to look up to!!

But seriously, I think it's great that Malaysia can fully utilize all the potential talent it has, and open up new doors for young aspiring riders, engineers, technicians...and all the other positions that are involved in MotoGP and all motor sports.

Today was a great day for AirAsia and Malaysia - together, AirAsia Team Malaysia showed the world what is capable of happening when you work hard towards the same goal.

Well done Elly, well done Fahmi, well done AirAsia Team Malaysia, and well done Malaysia!

We Made it!

For many of the staff it was their first time in Australia, and for me it was my first time on the Gold Coast. Even though it was winter we were welcomed by bright blue skies, fresh air and sunshine – my favorite type of weather!
Our time in Gold Coast was short, but long enough to pack in a lot...

Day 1 – Saturday 4th July

After arriving early in the morning we made our way to the Radisson Resort Gold Coast which was nicely situated away from surfers in the middle of a golf course. Some people went for a surf lesson with ‘Surf Australia’. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it as I had to go and collect the race kits for our team of runners (believe me I was so jealous!). From all accounts they had a great time though.

Group shot outside Radisson Resort Gold Coast

In the evening it was free and easy so some of us headed to Surfers Paradise to stroll around and have some dinner. Surfers is such a buzzing place – people on the beach, surfing, chilling out…if this is winter then I would love to see what it’s like in the summer time!

Just before sunset at Surfers Paradise

Of course it was then early to bed before our big run in the morning!

Day 2 – Sunday 5th July – Gold Coast Airport Marathon

We had 23 people running in the AirAsia running team; including staff from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Bangkok and Jakarta. 6 people competed in the 10km category, 12 in the half marathon and 5 in the full marathon, including Azran Osman-Rani, CEO AirAsia X.

I was supposed to be doing the half marathon but somehow, and for some crazy reason I changed my mind or should I say, had my arm twisted on the Saturday afternoon to switch to do the full marathon instead…it was an interesting decision and probably one of the most stupid things I’ve done! But I figured what ever happens, as long as I complete the race I’ll be happy. I have always said I want to do at least one marathon in my life…and what better place to do it than running along endless stunning beaches of the Gold Coast!?

Bright and early (well actually it was still dark), the half marathon and then the 10km runners took off and soon it was time for the full marathon. I don’t think I had realized exactly what I was getting myself in for so I tentatively set off from the starting line, unsure of what to expect, how to pace myself, and how long this was actually going to take me to complete.

Some of the 10km and half marathon runners - yes, it was pretty chilly!

The route was stunning; taking us along the coast line and past crowds of people cheering us on the whole way. In my head I figured once I make it to the half way mark, as long as I can then make it to 30km the rest I will just have to wait and see.

The starting line - it took 15 minutes just to get all the half marathon runners to cross the start line.

Aches and pains set at about 28km (7km further than I’d ever run before) but I just kept pushing. At 35km I finally had to walk for a while and conserve some energy for the final push. I picked up my pace a bit but it seemed to take forever go from the 36km and 38km markers – like time was actually slowing down.

My next goal was make it to 40km and then push out till the end. I definitely found my second wind and the last 1.5km. I don’t know where it came from but I ran the fastest I possibly could and made a final dash for the finish line…and that was it, I had completed a full marathon! Looking back the end of the race was such a blur but I was so happy to have done it. The running conditions could not have been better and it was such a fantastic event to take part in – 24, 000 participants!!

I completed my first ever marathon in 4hours, 52mins and 58secs. I don’t know if I will do another marathon…it would certainly be very different running it in the humid climate of Malaysia/Asia but we’ll see. AirAsia will be participating in the Borneo International Marathon in October so I have a while to make up my mind…it might be advisable to actually train for the next one I do?!

Full Marathon - Done!

All the runners did a fantastic job in completing in the other categories. For some it was their first time entering such a race and as their ‘coach’ I’m so proud of them for their achievements. It sounds like a few of them have been converted to running enthusiasts already which is great!

Day 3 – Monday 6th July - Day Trip

On the Monday we all gritted our teeth trough the aches and pains and went for a day trip with a company called Tall Ships. It was a great day; in the morning we went whale watching and saw numerous humpback whales and then in the afternoon we were taken to Mclaren’s Landing for a big Aussie BBQ and an afternoon playing beach volleyball/fishing/bush walking.

It was a lovely way for us to enjoy the Gold Coast and the staff were all very friendly, especially as a few of our group were sea sick in the morning!

Fun in the sun at Mclarens Landing

Day 4 – Tuesday 7th July

It was time to return to KL. Everyone was a bit exhausted (to say the least!) but it was a fantastic few days on the Gold Coast. Sitting in the office now it seems like a bit of a dream but we all have some fantastic memories and of course hundreds of photos!

Until the next race…

...If you had entered the competition then you would have had the chance to win 2 tickets to the British GP at Silverstone...read on to see my experience...

What a day!? On a fantastic English summer’s day I was lucky enough to escort the winners of ‘Have You Flown AirAsia Lately?’ to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

There were 2 winners – one from Malaysia and one from the UK and they were each invited to bring along one friend.
I flew over to London Stansted on AirAsia X along with the 2 from Malaysia.

On the Friday we met up with the winner from UK, who was actually from New Zealand but had been living in London for a while. The track is quite far out of London (you have to get a train to Northampton and then a shuttle bus) but it was set up very well with lots of merchandise, food and drink stalls. In true English style many people had brought their own picnic’s, chairs and blankets and set up camp for the day. I couldn’t believe how many people were there just for the practice day - there were probably more than the total number of people at Sepang on the final race day!
Maybe it was because of the buzz around Jenson Button, or the fact that it was possibly going to be the last time the British GP would be held at Silverstone or maybe just because the English love an excuse to take advantage of sporting events and good weather; but there was a great buzz around the track.

At about noon we all met with a representative from at&t Williams where we were given a sneak peak into the pit’s of at&t Williams – what a treat!?

It was fascinating to see behind the scenes; everyone seemed to be busy working on the cars or in the offices looking at the race data. As we were leaving we even caught a glimpse of Nico outside one of the motor homes!

After that we stayed on to watch the Red Devils Parachute Display as well as the 2nd practice session. Thank fully it was a bright and sunny day so we could be outside and wondering around without being too cold.

Unfortunately I was unable to go for the final but the winners took full advantage of their 3 day pass to watch the qualifying and the finals. I hope they enjoyed the other days at the race – I’m sure the atmosphere only got better.
It was a bit of a disappointment that Button didn’t win but he is still the only one really in the running win over all…we’ll just have to see how the other races pan out. And the at&t Williams team did well with Nico finishing in 5th place and Kazuki finishing in 11th.

Make sure you keep updated with Red Alerts to enter in the next competition and I could see you in Milan or Singapore...