After a nail-biting match the Springboks managed to stave off the All Black’s last ditch surge, and won what might as well have been the Tri Nations finals, 32 – 29 to claim the Tri Nations 2009 trophy.

When the South Africans conceded a penalty after just a minute and half of play and the New Zealanders pounced on the scoring opportunity to chalk up 3 points, I had flashes of Brisbane.  4 minutes later the Springboks got awarded a penalty of their own to equalise at 3 all, wiping my doubts.

The Bokke continued and opened up a lead they wouldn’t again relinquish and closed off the first half with a 22-12 lead.

The Springboks stood their ground in the 2nd half and opened up their lead to 17 points.  The All Blacks upped their game and in a particularly brilliant moment where the ball was passed in quick succession by overlapping players, they even looked like the All Blacks we fear-but-love.

Dying Minutes Action

And sure enough, their spirited attack paid dividends – hell, they even managed to win their own line-outs and steal 1 from the Springboks.

With minutes left and the All Blacks within 10 points of the Springboks, Dan Carter kicked from wide over on the left of the field placing the ball perfectly at the flag on far right of the field, where Richie McCaw literally stood waiting, picked it from the air and landed it in the corner with not a Bok in sight.

A move so brilliant, that as much as we hated it happening, the Springbok supporters had to applaud it for its sheer brilliance and flawless execusion.

With very few minutes remaining and the Springbok lead shrunk to only 3, the game became almost unbearable,  every second feeling like a minute, slowly ticking towards full time.  T All Blacks relentlessly pounded the Springbok defense, trying to punch a hole.  When the game time ran out the All Blacks had possession and in an all-or-nothing gamble Dan Carter tried to recreate the previous try, this time kicking from the far right of the field to the left.

2 metres from the Springbok try line 2 All Black players were ready. In slow motion the ball tumbled through the air. But luck was not on the All Black side and the ball went over the players head, just out of reach, and into touch.

The referee’s end-whistle was absolute bliss – the score fixed at 32-29 and the Springboks, bloody, but victorious and the Tri Nations 2009 champions.

Well done, Bokke!

Scored for the Springboks

• Fourie Du Preez – 5 pts (try);
• Jean De Villiers – 5 pts (try);
• Morne Styen – 13 pts (2 conversions, 2 penalties, 1 drop goal);
• Francois Steyn – 9 pts (3 penalties)

Scored for the All Blacks

• Sitiveni Sivivatu: 5 pts (try);
• Richie McCaw 5 pts (try);
• Daniel Carter 19 pts (2 conversions, 5 penalties);

With 1 games left in the 2009 Tri-Nations Tournament

Scoreboard:

Opportunities to score more points:

Fixtures:

Now all that remains is for the All Blacks to meet Australia in Wellington next week to see who will be the official loser of the 2009 Tri Nations.

I can’t be sure when exactly it happened, but at last Maybank enabled all the goodies on their debit card and is it finally the only debit card I need to do everything, even online purchases and PayPal payouts.

Late & Shaky Start

When Maybank first released the debit card with the cherries design, this was a little over a year ago, it was a bit of a half baked product.  It had the very exciting Visa logo on the front, and I, like a many bloggers, thought it was the digital money I could carry in my digital wallet to pay for my digital life.

Unfortunately you couldn’t buy anything with it online, put money into your PayPal account or receive payouts from your PayPal account.  The debit card essentially had no benefit over Maybank’s black-and-yellow ATM card and you had to pay RM12 to ‘upgrade’ to it too.  The only plus point was that because of the Visa system, as opposed to the Visa Electron sub-system of the old card, you could swipe it in more physical shops. Whoop-de-friggen-doo.

For me and those who were hoping to join the effortlessness of having a card that you could use like a credit card, the Maybank Debit Card v1 was a big, fat disappointment.

For my Paypal requirements (it had to be a Visa card), I applied for a TuneMoney pre-paid Visa card (what a hassle that was) and otherwise shopped at websites that was Maybank direct-debit ready.  Not ideal, but my digital life went on.

Fate Steps in and Demands Reassessment

So last week I lost my wallet.

It was in the door of my Myvi – you know, in that handy door-handle / mobile-phone-holder / not-really-a-wallet-holder space, when I opened the door and didn’t see my wallet drop out, had coffee (for which a friend paid) went home and the wallet was never heard from or seen again.

Needless to say, cards were canceled and lost cash was cried over.  The Maybank card was easy to replace and I was going to replace the Tune card too. But when I called the Tune call centre, I was put on hold so long that it drained my already-faulty battery and I never got to re-order the card.

As if fate had not overplayed its hand already, I then stumbled upon a blog post somewhere, which said Maybank’s debit card v2 is now the card it should have been when it was first released. I followed the trail of breadcrumbs and wouldn’t you know it, it’s true.

Activate Your Maybank Debit Card for Online Shopping

First things first. If like me you’ve been paying for your AirAsia flights with the direct debit function, you will have been craving to just whip out your debit card and pay for it right then and there. Now you can – but there’s a bit of a song and dance to do first.

• Log into your Maybank account;
• Right at the bottom under Utilities you’ll see “Maybank Secure Online Shopping Registration“. Click.

• You’re then taken to a page where you have to fill out passwords and stuff. I only have 1 card, so I don’t get a choice, but if you happen to have many cards, then you might have to select the right card based on the 16 digits on the front of the card you’re working with;
• Type a Maybank Secure Online Shopping (MSOS) password. Think about it – don’t make it your Maybank2u password, or your email password, or your Facebook password. Remember, this is your life’s savings you’re working with, so don’t choose a password anybody that knows a bit about you can guess. But remember it;
• Retype that password, just to be sure;
• The Personal Assurance Message can be anything. A yo’ mamma joke if you like. It will be used when you’re about to make a payment – you will be diverted to a Visa verification website to type your MSOS password – to ensure that website you get directed to is an authorised website, your unique Personal Assurance Message will be displayed. If it isn’t, you shouldn’t type your password.
• The Expiry Date and CVV is as it appears on the card you are registering;
• The Hint, I feel, is pretty stupid, because this is likely fairly common knowledge. Choose the question you think the fewest people will know and will be the hardest to find out.
• Answer is the answer to The Hint above. Type it in a way that you will remember it.

Once you’re done, your card is registered and, technically, you can go out and spend the contents of your savings account from the comfort of your plastic card.

Right after doing this I went to buy something online, but for some reason it didn’t recognise my password, even though my Personal Assurance Message was displayed. I can only imagine it takes a few hours.  I’ll update this when I successfully purchase something online.

Link your Paypal Account

Next, of course, you would want to use your Maybank debit card to cash in on your stash of mula that’s been accumulating in your PayPal account. I’m sure you know how this works:

• Log in to PayPal, go to Profile and click on Add / Edit Credit Card (Ha! We’re going to use a debit card);
• Click on the yellow Add a Card button (bottom right);
• Select the card type (Visa) fill in the details, check the address and click Add Card;
• PayPal will query your card in the background, and if everything checks out, it will be listed as 1 of your credit cards;
• On the right of the entry, under Action you will see Link & Activate Your Card. You have to let PayPal deduct US$1.95 from your account to test / verify your card (which is credited back to your PayPal account upon completion);
• Once that’s done, you then have to enter the 4 digit number that appears on your debit card statement to complete the process.  It may take a day or 2 before it shows up though, so log out and go do something else;

And that will successfully link your Maybank Debit Card to your PayPal account, which will enable you to ‘pay’ money from your debit account into your PayPal account, and vice versa ‘download’ money from your PayPal account into your Maybank debit card.

Maybank Debit Card Withdrawals When You’re Overseas

One last thing you might consider is having your Maybank debit card activated for transactions / withdrawals while you’re overseas.

The first time I tried drawing money from Singapore, it failed. I was also unable to pay for my accommodation, although that might have been unrelated. On my return to Malaysia the call centre did say the debit card needs to be activated for overseas transactions.

Since then, I’ve been able to draw money with my Maybank debit card from overseas ATMs that display the Visa logo in Bangkok, Phuket and again, Singapore.

The Journo advised me you can activate this feature at any Maybank ATM in Malaysia, or you can do like I did and give the helpful people at the Maybank call centre a buzz on 1-300 88 6688 if you’re in Malaysia or on +60 3 7844 3696 if you’re not.

Now, life is good. Thanks for listening to your customers Maybank, I’m glad your debit card finally caught up.

Well, last night’s Tri Nations match between South Africa and Australia went very much unlike I expected it to in my blog post on Thursday.

Playing at the grounds in Brisbane where a few years ago the Springboks lost with a massive 0 – 49 against the Aussies, the Boks once against suffered a defeat, albeit with a much smaller margin this time.

Whatever conditions conspired against the Boks to have reduced them to the unorganised-on-the-back-foot rugby that they played last night, the Aussies had… well, a ball.

This loss now puts New Zealand a little closer to the Tri Nations title, albeit still with a slim chance.

Things are suddenly not looking so rosy for the Springboks, and it’s now not just a question of waltzing to the title anymore.  If they want to be crowned the winners of the Tri Nations Tournament and avoid being embarrassingly pipped to the post, the Boks will have to work for it. Hard.

With 2 games left in the 2009 Tri-Nations Tournament

Scoreboard:

Opportunities to score more points:

Fixtures:

So, as an update from my last post, here’s what can happen now:

• Australia are still sure losers, but ironically they could end up determining the winners of the Tri Nations tournament;
• New Zealand has a increasingly better looking chance of squeezing in a win if:
  1. they can win both their remaining games (4 x 2 = 8); and
  2. they can score 4 tries or more in each of those games (2 x 1 = 2); and
  3. they can prevent South Africa from scoring 4 tries; and
  4. they can ensure South Africa loses by more than 7 points;
  5. Australia managed to do 3 and 4 in their games last night, so it’s not impossible;
• South Africa, who still needs just 2 points to win the 2009 Tri-Nations Rugby Tournament, must
  1. win their game against New Zealand next week; or
  2. draw that game (but when last did you see a drawn rugby game?); or
  3. if they’re going to lose, score 4 tries in their last game; and
  4. lose by less than 7 points;

From being so sure on Thursday that the Boks were winners already, I’m now only cautiously optimistic.

Australia have redeemed themselves by handing the Boks their first loss. New Zealand will also love to get on the bandwagon so that they too can claim a defeat over the Springboks in this Tri Nations. And once they’ve beaten the Boks, they only have to beat Australia (again) to claim the trophy.

There will be blood (and if New Zealand succeeds in doing that, there will be tears too).

It’s been a while since I’ve felt this level of excitement for a rugby tournament.  As the Springboks enter the home stretch of the 2009 Tri-Nations Rugby Tournament, butterflies dive-bomb my stomach every time I think about their next, exhilarating clash.

Update: 6 Sep 2009 – Find out from this post what the standings look like after Saturday, 5 Sep’s game between the Springboks and The Wallabies.

Rugby’s Spectacular Tri-Nations Tournament

If you’re not a rugby fan, or ignore Tri-Nations because it’s an all southern hemisphere affair, you’re missing out on the most spectacular full-contact team sport tournament on the planet.

The world’s top 3 rugby playing nations clash in this annual affair; South Africa’s Springboks, current rugby world champions and International Rugby Board (IRB) No.1, New Zealand’s All Blacks, who usually lead the IRB rankings, but are currently No.2, and Australia’s Wallabies who complete the trio of powerhouse rugby nations and are positioned on the IRB rankings at No.3.

The 2009 Tri-Nations started on July 18 and the last match will be in Wellington, New Zealand on September 19. Two grueling months of action packed rugby with 9 fixtures in as many locations in 3 countries.

Getting up to Speed with Springbok Domination

Last year’s Tri-Nations was a dismal affair for the Springboks who where pretty much out of the running just over halfway through the tournament.  This year the boot is quite on the other foot, and we’re just over halfway again, this time the Springboks are virtually a shoe-in to win.

Since their first game in this year’s tournament on 25 July against the All Blacks in Bloemfontein, the Springboks have made it clear that they were in it to win the 2009 Tri-Nations. The Springboks beat New Zealand in that game 28-19 and took the Tri-Nations standings’ lead over New Zealand who in turn out-played the Wallabies the week before, beating them 22-16.

The following weekend on August 1st, the Springboks reaffirmed the commitment by again beating the All Blacks 31-19. Morne Steyn was the poison on the unbeatable dart of the Springboks that day, scoring all the points with 8 penalty conversions and a try. South Africa then met the Wallabies for the first time on August 8 in Cape Town and made them feel quite unwelcome by handing them a 29-17 loss as souvenir.

Morne Steyn again booted 24 of the points, whilst Victor Matfield crashed the try-line as a reminder that the Boks can still score points on the ground too.  Reminiscent of the Naas Botha-era of rugby, the Springboks were then accused of playing boring rugby, winning with the boot, etc.  But the Springboks knew then, as they do now, that they dictate the game and paid no attention.

After the rest weekend and following the All Black / Wallabies clash the weekend after, the Springboks arrived in Perth 72 hours before their 29 August match against the Aussies.  Reminding fans and critics why the Springboks are the world champions, they plowed the fields of the Sabiaco Oval in Perth with spectacularly annihilating, ground-based rugby. The Wallabies, dazed and confused by a 22-6 half-time score, rallied valiantly to stop the Boks, but failed and the Springboks won 32-25.

What’s left of the 2009 Tri-Nations Tournament

Right, so here’s everything you need to know about the 2009 Tri Nations Rugby Tournament so far…

Scoreboard:

Opportunities to score more points:

Fixtures:

From the tables above, with 2 games left per team, you’ll note the following:

• Even if Australia score maximum points of 5 per game they will only end on 13 points, almost sure losers;
• New Zealand still have a snowball’s chance in hell at winning the tournament by 1 point, but only if
  1. they can win both their remaining games (4 x 2 = 8);
  2. they can score 4 tries or more in each of those games (2 x 1 = 2);
  3. they can prevent South Africa from scoring 4 tries;
  4. they can ensure South Africa loses by more than 7 points;
  5. Australia also manages 3 and 4 above;
• South Africa, who only needs 2 points to be out of reach of New Zealand, will win the 2009 Tri-Nations Rugby Tournament if they
  1. win any of their 2 remaining games;
  2. draw any of their remaining games;
  3. score 4 tries or more in both their remaining games;
  4. lose by less than 7 points in both their remaining games;
  5. score 4 tries or more in 1 game and lose by less than 7 points in another;

Essentially, if you’ve bet on the Springboks to do anything other than win this Tri-Nations Tournament, you’ve probably already lost your money.

However, with both New Zealand and Australia now playing for honour and respect in this tough world of rugby (add New Zealand’s slim chance to still win plus probably wanting IRB No.1 slot back), the remaining games promise to be filled with brutal, action-packed and ferocious rugby.  Which is exactly the reason why the mere thought of this Saturday’s clash and the next, is giving me heart palpitations.

There will be blood.

Were you aware that AirAsia has an On-Time Guarantee? Nope? Neither was I. Until, that is, last night when I received a pleasant surprise in my Inbox.

AirAsia To Singapore

The Journo and I went to Singapore in August for the Singapore Ultimate Open. Partly because of the price, but mainly because of the flight timing, we chose AirAsia, which flew out from KK Friday night and returned from Singapore on Sunday evening. Perfect for a weekend of Ultimate excess.

I have to say, I have no recent memory of major AirAsia delays on any of my flights and as such, the Friday night flight, as expected, went off without a hitch.

Bloody Sunday

We returned to Shangi Airport on Sunday evening with a good 2 hours before departure, which put us there at just after 6pm.

It had been a long grueling weekend of Ultimate, playing 5 almost-1-hour long games on Saturday and 2 70-minute games on Sunday against teams much better than us.  Sunburned, fatigued and in desperate need of sleep, getting onto the flight and settling in was a serious priority.

Our queueless check-in went smooth and we even managed to get seats next to each other on our separately booked tickets. It was when the check-in assistant casually confirmed our boarding time that we were unpleasantly surprised, “… and the flight boards at 10.15pm…”

I did a double take and said “What? That’s not right”, to which she calmly replied as if it was common knowledge, “oh, the flight has been re-timed to 10.45pm due to the late arrival of the incoming flight”, and, in defense of why we hadn’t be alerted, “… it was last-minute, sorry”.

My mind went numb with conflict about what to be angry about:

• that we were not alerted via the cellphone numbers that AirAsia had for us,
• that we now had to wait more than 4 hours to board our flight,
• that we had to miss most of the exciting Ultimate finals to get to the airport on time, or
• that we didn’t get to drink as much of the free beer sponsored by Brewerkz as I wanted to.

Stewing, we stomped off, did some shopping, explored Shangi’s thankfully interesting terminal, had dinner and eventually fell into uncomfortable sleep on seats near the boarding gate with about 90 minutes to go.

Ladies & Gentlemen, this is not your captain speaking

An announcement woke us up before my alarm could: “… AirAsia to Kota Kinabalu has now been retimed to 1am…”. Sunburned, tired, in need of sleep and stewing turned to raging frustration. “I can’t take it anymore, I have to sleep”, I told the Journo, “let’s go to the transit hotel”.

Expensive, this decision, but so worth it. We got nearly 2 hours of solid sleep cuddled under warm blankets on a comfortable bed. Until the phone rang, again, beating my alarm. Dazed and confused I found the phone only to hear the lady from the check-in desk say “Sir, your flight was brought forward to 12.30am. You have 10 minutes to get to the gate. Hurry”.

As if in one motion, we jumped straight out of bed and opened the door while picking up our stuff. I ran to the gate a good 500m aways and stalled for time as the Journo caught up. The security staff looked like they were packing up already, but luckily we made it through. Mere minutes after we boarded they closed the door and we were off.

I couldn’t help but wonder how many people got left behind.

Home Sweet Home in Time for Dawn

As we touched down in KK the clock struck 3am and after I unpacked, did a forced load of washing (can’t let sweaty clothes dry, man), I eventually hit the pillows hard at 4am.

Not one to carry grudges for long, the AirAsia ordeal was forgotten soon after ranting about it to friends for a day or so.

Happy Ending

Last night, just as I was about to shut down for the night, this whole mis-adventure committed to the hardly-ever-accessed part of my memory, I got an email from AirAsia. Subject: Retrieve your OTG Gift Voucher.

With much curiosity I opened the email, checked its authenticity (phishing victim, me? Never.) and followed the instructions. Moments later I received another email with a claim-code for a voucher to the value of RM200 to be used on my next flight or on other AirAsia services.

OTG, as it turns out, stands for On-Time Guarantee.

Having never seen any literature about this before, I did a quick search and found this press release dated 23 October 2008, in which AirAsia announces that customers inconvenienced by a delay longer than 2 hours on an AirAsia flight, will be eligible for a RM200 voucher.

Bonus!  With our next flight planned (but thankfully not booked yet), this voucher will be a mighty handy discount and a pleasant offset against those expensive 2-hours of sleep I bought in Singapore.

And although I had forgiven AirAsia for that hideous delay already, this vouchers goes an infinite distance towards establishing goodwill and restoring confidence in Asia’s favourite airline and proving why they are the top dog.  If only other companies demonstrated their commitment to their customers in such ways.

Good work, AirAsia.