RSGC played at home against Hong Kong Golf Club

Saturday, 16th June 2012


Pakdokter was paired with Faidz ( who replaced Tg Muzafar who pulled out at last minute) to play against the Hong Kong pair of William (14) and Datuk KK Ong (17). The RSGC course has always proved difficult to our visitors - not only did they find it long, but our greens are generally fast for them.

We started form the par-5 hole 15 and led by 1 at the 18th. Both Faidz and pakdokter did not play to our average form as we were both still recovering from the Blue Label Championship the day before. The current heat wave and hazy air did not help. Luckily for us our counterparts played just as poorly and allowed us to keep our lead until the last hole.

We contributed 2 points to RSGC and the rest also mostly won against their HK opponents thus giving the RSGC a comfortable victory over the visitors.

The return match will be played in Hong Kong some time in November.

The Blue Label Dinner

After the Johnnie Walker Blue Label game- we were all entertained to a cocktails of Italian finger food and canapes with free flow of whisky sour and Blue Label whisky served any way you like

Dinner was a 4-course Italian dinner prepared by the Modesto's - a pear and rocket salad folowed by the cream of pumpkin soup, then a choice of either the lamb shank or panfried fillet of cod and lastly the Modesto's tiramisu.

The main and novelty prizes were made up of bottles of Blue Label.

 pre-dinner cocktails

 pakdokter, Faidz, Azlan and Tg Muin

pear and rocket salad

 cream of pumpkin soup

 the lamb shank

Tiramisu Modesto

and finally, a 'toast' to Jayme, Blue Label Brand Manager

who celebrated her birthday today

The Johnnie Walker Blue Label Trophy 2012 @ RSGC

Thursday, 14th June 2012

This is the second time that this tournament is being held at the RSGC and only open to RSGC members. The best gross and best net winner will win a fully-paid business class trip to Scotland to play and dine with Greg Nroman the 'Shark' at the Gleneagles in Scotland. Last year Alex Hwang took the best gross prize and Tg Muin Putra took the best net prize. And they both came back with a glowing report of their trip to Scotland.

Pakdokter and about 50 other golfers signed up for the tournament this year. Competition fee was RM1000 per person but this was more than being made up by the goodies - a bottle of  Johnnie Walker 'Blue Label worth RM 650, 2 high-quality tee-shirts, two tubes of golf balls, a golf cap, a golf umbrella, a golf towel and a golf travelling bag. On top of that we were treated to a sumptous lunch and after the game to a cocktails followed by a 4-course Italian dinner. Free flow of 'Blue Label' was served during the cocktails and dinner.

Pakdokter played in a flight with esteemed colleagues from the RSGC - Tg Muinuddin Putra (20), Azlan Abdullah (CEO of Mycron Steel) (20), Faidz Izham ( Senior Manager Celcom) (19). Pakdokter played to current handicap of 19. 

Pakdokter partnered Tg Muin to play in a side-bet with Faidz partnering Azlan. We started from the 10th tee of the Old Course. With a bogey at the 10th, pakdokter took the par-5 11th with a par after getting the ball on the green for 3. However pakdokter seemed to be atrracted to the water a lot - losing 2 balls to the water at the par-5 15th, then again at the par-4 16th. In the end pakdokter only managed to return a 53 for the 2nd Old Nine. Luckily the others in the flight played just as bad and pakdokter and Tg Muin only won RM5 from the other pair!

Our opponents doubled up for the 2nd Nine. It was a close match - pakdokter winning a few holes to keep the opponents at bay and we reached the final hole still square. Pakdokter's drive was way to the right and under and behind some trees. Using a 1-iron - pakdokter managed a good shot that swerved to the right 10 yards marker. With a 6-iron, pakdokter hit a great 3rd shot that went about 10 feet in front of the pin. Azlan struggled to reach the green and was out of contention. Faidz reached the green in 4 about 6 feet to the right of the pin. Tg Muin hit a great 3rd shot to nearly just about 3 feet to the pin. Pakdokter putted to about 6 inches of the pin and tapped in for a 5. Faidz had to put in to square and the tension obviously was too much for him and he missed it and settled for a 6. So pakdokter and Tg Muin won RM60 each from then for this Nine.

Pakdokter did much better in this Nine - returning a score of 47. But the overall score was obviously not good enough for the trip to Scotland. The best gross score went to ex-footballer Wong Hung Nung who returned a score of 73 ( 1 over). The best net winner scored 5-under to his handicap of 18.

Birthday Dinner @ Tamarind Springs

Sunday, 10th June 2012

 durian cheese-cake

sago and pandan ice-cream with cendol

served in a young coconut

Pakdokter's partner had organised a small dinner to celebrate pakdokter's birthday, today, at the newly discovered restaurant, The Tamarind Springs, located in the bowels of Taman Tun Abd Razak, Ampang. A small party of friends, Ravi and Siti, Kamal and Susan, Carlos and Grace, Zahardin and Fiona, Rose, Mia and Adelia joined pakdokter's family at this cozy Thai-Malay restaurant.

We had the sotong donuts and spicy mussels for starters. The main dishes were beef panggang, udang galah with sweet spicy sauce, green curry chicken, steamed fillet of seabass and kerabu paku ( a salad of wild ferns).

RSGC vs SICC Day 2

Sunday, 10th June 2012

Pakdokter partnered AK again on the second day and our opponents from SICC, Ivan and Vincent, both play to handicaps of 24. So they both got 12 strokes from AK and 5 strokes from pakdokter.

We teed off from the 15th tee as on Day 1 and pakdokter started off poorly when pakdokter nearly pull the drive into the left lake. AK also topped the second shot and we were only saved at this hole because the SICC players did not hit long and only managed to reach the long par-5 hole in 4 or 5. They again found the putting green fast and difficult - and pakdokter just managed to square them here with an 8 as all 3 of us had a stroke here from AK. Pakdokter hit a good drive at the par-4 16th and hit another good second shot with a 7-iron from 150 yards or so but the ball rolled across the green to the edge of the bunker. Ivan reached the green in 3 and 2-putted for a 5. Having to stand in the deep bunker to hit out the ball from the sloping edge was difficult for pakdokter - in the end just managed to square the SICC guys again here.

We finished the 18th hole square - pakdokter was 'off form' from very early - reasons? - not enough sleep as was up watching the Euro Football from 2 am and then the Fedex St Jude Golf in USA.

Throught the 1st Nine of the Old Course - we were closely matched by the SICC pair, they took advantage of the 12 strokes they had off AK and pakdokter not being able to match them in many holes.

When we moved on the remaining 5 holes of the 2nd Nine of the Old Course -we were still 1-down t them.They kept the position there until the last 2 holes when we were 2 down with 2 to go and they had no more strokes from us. AK took the 13th hole to go 1 down and we were hoping to take the last hole 14th to at least square the game and contribute 1 point for RSGC. But we were not so lucky - we could only square them at the last hole thus losing the match with 1 and 0.

 Ivan, AK, pakdokter and Vincent

However, in the overall game - RSGC trounced SICC for both the Men's Competitions for the Hashim Ali and Loke Wan Tho Trophies. The RSGC Ladies and won the game against their SICC counterparts for their own trophy. And RSGC won by quite big margins!

RSGC vs SICC @ RSGC : Day 1

Pakdokter played in the interport match between RSGC and SICC ( Singapore Island Country Club) today.  Pakdokter partnered Ahmad Khalid to play against Lim and Lee from SICC. Pakdokter now plays to a handicap of 19, AK 12, Lim 14 and Lee 18. Both Lim and Lee were previously based in Shanghai and are new members to the SICC and this is their first trip to RSGC. They were quite impressed at how central our club is in the city.

Pakdokter had so far managed to retain his form since playing very well in the monthly medal 2 weeks ago. Quite often pakdokter outdrove AK by about 10 yards quite easily. The SICC opponents put up a good fight. We started from the 15th hole and by the time we played the 18th hole ( after playing 4 holes) we were 1-down to them. Pakdokter and AK played well in the next 9 holes ( the 1st Nine Old Course) - pakdokter's pars at the hole 4 and 7 and AK's great putting when it mattered helped us to lead by 2 when we finished the 9th hole.

The SICC pair were not easily demoralised - they came back strongly and reduced their deficit to 1 down when we played the 18th hole. Lim's chip from the apron left him for an easy par from about 3 feet. AK - although  was 1 on on this par 3 hole over-putted to about 15 feet above the hole. Thanks to him - he putted in for a par from the difficult downhill putt and squared the holemto enable us to win the match and give RSGC 2 points.

RSGC led SICC today 28 to 12.

Ahmad Khalid, pakdokter, Lim and Lee

we started from hole 15 and we 1-down at the 18th

 pakdokter 2 pars and AK's great putting

 gave us a 2 holes lead at the 9th hole

we went on to win at the last hole 18

 after leading by 2 at the 16th hole

 dinner was a great buffet with fresh oysters,

roast whole-lamb, roast beef,

satay, barbeque seafood and chicken, pizza

and a free flow of wine, beer and soft drinks

Walking the Streets of KL

Pakdokter broke the LCD screen of the BlackBerry handphone when it slipped off pakdokter's hand and went crashing down on to the floor. So, on Thursday morning, pakdokter took the Monorail from KLSentral to Imbi and from there walked to the Low Yat Plaza, KL's largest electronic mall. Yes, a replacement for the BB's LCD screen was available for RM250 and would be ready in an hour's time. 

From Low Yat Plaza, pakdokter then walked to Changkat Bukit Bintang where the 'Summit Holidays' travel and tour company office was located. Pakdokter had earlier bought a 'Safari' package to Kenya and Tanzania for August and now that all bookings have been confirmed, pakdokter had to settle the balance of the tour price.

With time to kill, pakdokter walked to Lot 10 and went to its Isetan Department Store to browse through its golf section. So many things were on sale - dedicated to the coming 'Father's Day' celebration. Realising that pakdokter already have 5 golf sets at home - pakdokter had to fight the urge to spend on things that pakdokter really did not need.

From Isetan, pakdokter walked back to Low Yat Plaza to collect the handphone. It was ready and worked perfectly. The almost 2-year old hnadphone is still working perfectly - and pakdokter was glad that pakdokter had only spent RM250 on the LCD screen instead of losing out to the temptation to buy a new up-to-date machine that would have cost RM2000!

From Low Yat Plaza pakdokter walked all the way on Jalan Bukit Bintang to the Pavillion. Pakdokter decided to have a Nasi Padang lunch at one of the food-stalls at its Food Republic Food Court. Rice and 3 dishes topped on the plate of rice - masak kuning nangka muda, masak gulai asam ikan yu, and thin slices of bitter gourd (peria) fried with egg - came to RM11. A similar choice of nasi campur at the Sooka Sentral Food Court near pakdokter's home would have cost only RM7 to RM8......The difference must be in the rental rates. Anyway, the dishes did not come to pakdokter's expectation, the servings at Sooka Sentral were any time better.

The Pavillion Mall is now connected to the KLCC by an elevated airconditoned walkway. The folks of the city have taken to this new facility quickly - walking along this walkway felt like walking along a busy Tokyo subway passages. Half-way along the elevated walkway, pakdokter saw the KL City Walk - a lane sandwiched between the highrise buildings opposite the KLCC. And pakdokter decided to check this out.

This is a nicely paved walkway - lined on one side by stalls mostly occupied by food and drinks outlets. Some boutiques and shoe shops have closed down. Only the food outlets could survive since this street was opened ( a year ago?). There is also a stage half-way down the street - the notice there said that live performances were staged there.

This street looked interesting and well thought out. But it needs more promotional effort. Pakdokter bets that not many KLites are aware of this street. Perhaps only office workers in the neighbourhood, residents of the nearby condominiums and tourists from the nearby hotels would have chanced upon this street.

DBKL ( City Hall) - if it is the one who developed this street - should look into how to enliven this street. Perhaps a flea market, bazzaar, art and craft market with live performances should be organised every Saturday and Sunday to draw the crowd here. Then perhaps most of the businesses here could have survived!