Community Shield Derby at Wembley Stadium

The previous time I was in Wembley in May, it was merely to soak in the atmosphere. The only opportunities that I could see to put myself in for a match in Wembley were two – the first being the Community Shield and the second being the friendly between England and Holland. I can’t possibly go for both because they fall one day after the other and this would have meant an expensive overnight stay in London. In the end, I picked the Community Shield match on 7^th August since it’s a very delicious derby matchup between United and City. Not only that three milestones would have been fulfilled within one swoop: Wembley match, derby match and a Community Shield match.

I had purposely renewed my United membership for another year in order to have the chance to bid for the August games in the new season.  I was quite delighted when I managed to secure a place but I suppose many English folks don’t look highly on a Community Shield match and hence, the relative easiness in getting tickets. In addition, the usual away-match ruling for tickets sale was waivered for Community Shield and this contributed to my opportunity in getting a seat at Wembley. Since it’s a Sunday, I also wanted to make time to go to church. It’s a perfect chance, and I would say, the only chance that I have in my last month in the UK to go for a service at Hillsongs London church. They have a couple of services throughout the day and the one that I am aiming for is the 11am. It would end at around 1pm and I would have just enough time of about 1hr or so to get to Wembley. To do that, I would have to hitch a ride on the 6am London bus. On the day itself, there was this fat ‘lil kid on the bus who somehow had severe motion sickness sitting on the bus and he kept running to the bus toilet to vomit.  Now, my seat is located just beside the toilet door and every time he rushes to the toilet, I’m jolted from my sleep. I have to say, I’m quite ‘disturbed’ by the poor boy’s vomiting groans. This went on for the whole journey and his mom was feeling quite helpless to do anything but to comfort him. I was quite glad to reach the London Victoria bus station and I quickly moved off to take the tube to Tottenham Court Road where the Hillsong London church is located. I arrived slightly later than expected but thankfully there were seats.  Ahhh, I can immediately spot the difference in Hillsong London where it seems that the congregation is much more multi-cultural. After a refreshing dose of worship (apparently lots of new songs from Hillsongs which I’m not familiar with) and the sermon, it’s time to head out to Wembley for the first derby match of the new season.

On the way there, I made sure that I do not make the mistake of getting into a carriage filled with City fans. Security at every station is on a high alert because of the volatile nature of the derby match where fights may erupt at anytime and any place. Once I reached the outside grounds of Wembley, I immediately went to get the match programme book. I was kinda worried at first that the match programmes will be sold out like the ones during the Champions League final but there’s actually nothing to worry about because there’s plenty to go around. The community shield match programme is priced at £5 each. Since I’ve not eaten anything yet, I grabbed some fries from the food stall and afterwards proceed to join the snaking crowd into the stadium. It was thoroughly packed at the grounds and there’s this carnival-like atmosphere and the police brought in the their horse squad for crowd control. For law and order purposes, both sets of fans were split into two lines from the start of the stadium grounds. It was obvious that the United line was more congested of the two from the ground level as I walked up the steps. It was the most apparent as I reached the stadium and had a look over the balcony at the huge amount of people still snaking in. City’s line was just a sporadic spread while United’s line is a meaty bunch. The police stood in the middle of the demilitarized strip. Occasionally, a fan or two would test the patience of the police by goading the other side with insults and fist-raising. After feeling satisfied loitering around to check out the atmosphere, I went to find the gate that I’m entering. The Wembley electronic ticketing gates are fantastic-looking – one scan and I’m in.  It took me a little while to figure out where I was sitting because my section is already quite filled up. I sat at the wrong place at first, and only realised that when someone who was supposed to sit there nudged me off. I rechecked my seat numbering again and subsequently found the correct place to sit. Upon taking my seat, I discovered that my neighbours on my left were a pair of British Chinese brothers. Ahhhhh..this is very convenient indeed for my photo-taking request later on during half-time. I took the opportunity to savour my first moments inside a Wembley football match. It’s electric and both giant screens on both ends were visibly imposing, like a giant DVD screen.

We had some pre-match entertainment by a band and the giant screen did play a Sky Sports style pre-match video to heighten up the tension. When the players’ names were announced, their pictures were simultaneously projected on the giant screen. It was clear that by the time the first whistle was blown, the United area was pretty full while there were many pockets of empty spaces at City’s side. Our United fans were chanting,”The City is Yours, the City is yourssssss..25,000 empty seats, are you for sure?!” However, the optimistic mockery of the Blue Moon was cut short.  Lescott stunned our side at the 38^th minute by making it 1-0. And just before the end of the first half, Dzeko fired a long range shot which De Gea should have catched it easily. From our position behind him, it looked like a really weak goal to concede.

With the score at 0-2 at half-time, it was a horrendous time for any United fan at Wembley right now. For me, I just thought that “oh well, perhaps I’ll just enjoy the day out and maybe stay back after the match as one of the minority few to see Man City lift the shield.” Little did I expect what were to transpire later. While waiting at half-time, the stadium was treated to a funny sight – James Holden aka Smithy attempting to take a penalty kick. And he did score in the end and celebrated in style too! Lol. I also took the chance to ask my neighbours to take a couple of photos for me as evidence of my time at Wembley :D 

Smalling’s header puts the score at 1-2 at around the 52^nd minute. At that point of time, there was hope for an equaliser. We need not wait for long when Nani broke free of the City defence 6 minutes later to equalise 2-2. We’ve clawed backkkk! From now on, it’s a sudden death situation. Whoever scores the next goal will most probably win the match. As the clock ticks to the 90^th minute, there was still no sign of anyone having the edge to score the winner. Everyone in the stadium was prepared to sit in for a penalty shoot-out.  Out of nowhere, it’s Nani again and as the ball bobbled to past the line, the United section of Wembley erupted into an ecstacy of cheers!

The final whistle blown and yes, what a game! United overturned the 2 goal deficit to win 3-2 in the end! In your face Cityyyyyyy! You screwed up a 2-0 lead! Our side turned out to be the winner afterall..lol. Although it’s not a major competition, at least I had the opportunity to see a cup presentation ceremony in Wembley and also the cup celebration that follows afterthat. Vidic led the United up the steps of the Wembley stadium while the City side emptied themselves from their seats. It’s the first official match of the footballing season and what better way than to start the season well with a win over the noisy neighbours.

I stayed as long as possible in the stadium so as to have the opportunity to take a picture of an empty Wembley stadium. By the time I finished taking the photos that I like, the stewards were already urging everyone to go out of the stadium. I took a walk back to the Wembley Tube station and along the way, I noticed a lot of verbal sparring between both Manchesters. It was a trip back to the London city centre and since my bus will only come late at night at 9pm, I have time to enjoy what is probably my last few hours in London of my life. There’s still 3 more weeks before I leave but after today, the schedule won’t permit me to return back to London anymore. Oh well, I won’t know when I will have the chance to come to London again. With that remaining time, I went to the souvenir shop to see what kind of Britannia themed things I can get for friends back home. I took some time to enjoy Piccadilly Circus and then it’s a one-way bus trip out of London. Overall, I would say that the Hillsong service coupled with the Manchester derby at Wembley stadium makes it a great ending to my time at London.

Farewell Scholes!

 He scores goals galore, he’s Paul Scholes! He scores goals galore, he’s Paul Scholes! He scores goals galore, he’s Paul Scholes! Oh Paul Scholes he scores goalssss..

Two United players retired at the end of the season 2010/2011 and I was frustrated in May ‘cos I couldn’t be there at Old Trafford to send off Gary Neville off due to final exams. So, I made it a point that I’ll keep tabs on the Paul Scholes testimonial very closely.  The moment the sales for the testimonial match open, I quickly rushed to apply for the ticket. It seems that they are opening up the whole stadium on a free seating basis, so I can choose any seat in the stadium on a first come first serve basis. Since I’m one of the few there to purchase the tickets when sale opened, I had the opportunity to pick the VIP seats which were not available to the general public on regular match days. I reckon that this is one of the rare opportunities that I will get to obtain the best view of a match at Old Trafford without paying big bucks for it.

The opponents for the Scholes testimonial will be the New York Cosmos managed by another United legendary player, King Eric Cantona. A couple of old legends – foe and friends alike of Scholes will be playing on the NY Cosmos side.  The match is scheduled to kick-off at 7.30pm on 5^th August but I’ve arranged for an earlier bus at 2.30pm coz I wanted to settle some shirt printing business at the Nike Manchester shop. I’ve decided to pick the bus to go there since it’s comes at a super cheap price of £2.50 and the time taken for the bus journey from Leeds to Manchester is around 1hr++, not much of a difference from the train which costs almost double the price. However, the return trip would have to be by train since it is easier to connect to the national train after coming out of the Manchester train. Since the match will end late at night, I doubt that I would be able to reach the bus station in time. 

On the day itself, I reached Manchester as scheduled. I’ve finally made the decision on whose number print after deliberating for one whole season and I’ve decided that it should be Scholes since that would be the last full-season career jersey that he would be wearing. Not only that, with Scholesey retiring, there won’t be any opportunity to print his name on any future shirts anymore. So, I guess it will be a fitting tribute for me to print my shirt in honour of him. Now, one of the reasons why I’ve held out so long to print the shirt is because I’ve difficulty finding a place in Manchester that will give me the authentic player size Lextra shirt printing. Apparently all-printing  at Old Trafford is replica size..ish! And yesh, Nike Manchester has an underground level where their shirt printing facility is located and the funny thing is that they print for both City and United although City have their own merchandise shop a few blocks away. After getting my shirt printing, it’s time to make my way to the stadium.   

At Old Trafford, I had to make my way to the ticketing office to get my match ticket. This is because when I bought the match ticket, I entered the delivery address as my Uni accommodation instead of the current place I’m lodging at. I did went back to Sentinel Towers to inquire whether they kept any mail for me but apparently , the office will forward the mail back to the bank address and that could take months.  Gahhhhh, this is as good as the mail getting lost forever on a loop. I told the United customer service of my problem and they’ve arranged for me to collect it from the spot instead. Since I’ve got a little bit of time left, I went inside the megastore to purchase the new season’s kit which I kinda like because the design reminds me of the 2001 kit.

It took me quite some time to find out which entrance I should take to enter my seating area.  I went to check through all the regular entrances of the north side but none of them listed the entrance gate number on my ticket. Finally, I found my entrance to be the one located at the entrance of the museum tour, because my seating area is actually the Manchester suite! Wooootss! Ahhh, now it makes sense considering my seat is VIP and hence, I definitely have to enter through that entrance. The usherers for the Manchester suite were all suited up instead of the regular gatekeepers. I can see why anyone who goes through that entrance would feel very VIP indeed. So I took the escalators up to the suite and upon entrance - wow, the waiting area in the suite is TOTALLY different from the regular stands. It feels more like a ballroom with tables and even the Bar selling beer is a class on its own with the bartenders all dressed up too. In comparison, the Bar counters at the regular stand look like the typical movie counter selling popcorn. Scattered around the luxurious waiting area are artistic pictures of former and present United players in training. I went to check out the toilet too, and yes, it’s a class on its own compared to the ones which the regular masses use.

I’m not interested in getting any refreshments, so I’ll just head into the stadium. It seems that there’s gonna be another giant mural on display for Scholes. All the seats at my side were equipped with the plastic sheets just like the Champions League semi-final which I had attended earlier. While waiting, I used my camera to zoom in on the players and checked them out. The match programme had listed out the players that are going to turn up for New York Cosmos and it’s a very delicious bunch indeed. Most notable are the reunion of Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira on the same side. The other old fellas are Brad Friedel, Michael Salgado, Nicky Butt, Fabio Cannavaro and Dwight Yorke. The strangest inclusion is Gary Neville – who (nobody would have imagined) is playing on the same side with Vieira and against United in a rare occasion. Unfortunately, it looks like Beckham did not make an appearance for Scholes as he did for Neville. Even more legendary at the VIP stands sitting alongside King Eric is the appearance of Pele. For United, I get to have a first glimpse of the new additions to the squad – De Gea and Ashley Young at the starting line-up. Another United new boy, Jones is on the substitute bench.  

The testimonial got off to a start with the entrance by Scholes and his family. Of course, the whole stadium joined in chanting the famous Scholes chant. It did not take long for Scholes to make a statement in the match. At around the 9th minute, he pumped in his trademark rocket shot to score the 1^st goal of the match. Woahhhhhh, it’s almost as if everything is scripted for the game – Scholes bowing out of the beautiful game with the most dramatic fashion – doing what he does best. I would have thought that vital players like Rooney will sit out from this match because the Community Shield match against City is just days away but it seems that he’s joining in the fun by starting the game and scoring a penalty from the spot. At half time, Vidic, Ferdinand, De Gea, Berbatov and Rafael were removed presumably to rest them for the upcoming match. For the second half, 4 more goals were scored with 1 from Anderson, 1 from Welbeck and 2 from Mame Diouf. Scholesey himself was subbed off at the 74^th minute for the final time in his career and it was a standing ovation for the loyal servant of United as he made his way off the field for the last time. I guess after this, there’ll be no turning back to the field that he’s so familiar with. The match ended 6-0 in favour of United and Scholes did a final lap of honour around the 4 corners of Old Trafford with his family.

Well, it’s a privilege for me to have the opportunity to be there personally at Old Trafford to bid farewell to Paul Scholes. He has been such an integral part of the squad. He has occupied the major part of my years of following football and suffice to say, he’s part of my growing up years. To see him finally hang up his boots is almost like closing a mini chapter, a signal that I’m growing old too. The one thing I’ve always admired about Scholes is his humble character despite his piles of achievement as a professional football player. I can see that his family meant a lot to him, given that he has chosen to have them alongside him as he made his last round around Old Trafford. There will never be another player like him who would grace the Theatre of Dreams. You may have another star midfielder who will rise up and be a first-team member but you’ll never get the same class of style and personality like Scholes. Thanks for the memories Paul. The Ginger Prince, United Legend, Loyal Servant, England’s Midfield Maestro and Model Professional - we salute you. 

London Stadium Grounds Visit

It’s time to put another of my milestone aims to task. My trips to London have not crossed path of the football stadiums yet. I knew I had to make a stadium tour of the major clubs in London at some point of time. Of course, the two biggest ones are Chelsea and Arsenal. There are also other major ones such as Tottenham, Fulham and West Ham. I’ve decided that these are the 5 club stadiums that I would slot in for the tour since all of them are the London clubs in the previous Premier League season. West Ham is no longer in the Premier League now but nevertheless, it’ll still be worthwhile to visit because of its famed academy. There won’t be time to enter and visit every individual stadium tour so, I was thinking that I might just pick either Chelsea or Arsenal for internal scrutiny if there are extra time to waste. 2^nd August was the best date I could find after perusing through the right date in the tight schedule of remaining time left.

It was the usual bus trip to London and I reached at about late morning. I did an analysis of the route that I should be taking from the Internet, and I’ve drafted the route in such a way that I won’t have to travel double times over a certain area. To start off, the first London stadium on the list is West Ham at Upton Park since it’s located at East London. Among all the stadiums it’s the furthest away from Central London. When I came out of the Upton Park station, I was greeted by a sight that’s common in Bradistan. The place is full of Pakistani and South Asians. The West Ham stadium was not far away and I did not need to walk far from the Tube station. I would say West Ham have a fine home indeed. The West Ham Academy is prominent in England, so the first thing that visitors see as they walk through the gates is the entrance to the Academy. The stadium grounds also had a sizeable car park. I went in to check out their megastore. Lol, apparently they are getting ready to print out Championship styled numberings for their shirts. The other thing that West Ham can be proud of and highlighted in their megastore is the fact that World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore is a firm faithful player of the club. After taking the necessary photos, I left the blue and maroon ground and made my way through the Tube route to North East London.

North East London houses two rivals in the premier league – Tottenham and Arsenal. Spurs’ White Hart Lane is second on my list and this is followed by Arsenal in no.3. But alas, White Hart Lane is not connected directly by the Tube and it would require an interchange to the national rail track. Ahhhh, at first I was ok with that interchange but after having trouble finding the exchanging station, I decided to just walk to White Hart Lane since there are signboards pointing that direction. I was starving by then, so I popped into Tesco to grab some potato chips and drinks. It’s a long walk, so I munched along the way. From my observation, North East London is another world on its own - this time populated by British African and Caribbean folks. When I reach WHL’s area, I did not spot the stadium right away but only the Spurs merchandise shop. As I went nearer, I spotted the towering stadium over the other smaller buildings. It took me quite a while before spotting the main entrance to WHL and it seems that if one wants to go to the stadium compound, he would have to sign up at the guard house at the gate. There seems to be no other way in and that kinda put me off in entering. WHL is probably the most unfriendly stadium since visitors can’t get to have a free look without going through the guarded gate. The only thing I did was to walk a full circumference around the stadium and there ain’t much to see. I managed to find the national rail station on the way back and I took a train to the nearest Tube station to save time.

For the Gooners, I stopped at the Arsenal tube station, obviously named after the club. It was stated at the station that the old name was Gillespie Road in the 1930s. I used to think that the Emirates is very far away from the old Highbury site but apparently they are very near, just different directions to start off from the station. Of course, I grew up knowing about Highbury, so it’s only proper to pay a visit to Arsenal’s original home. A quick swing to the left and some walking distance among a squeezy housing area lies Highbury. The entire stadium is demolished for a new block of apartments but the East Stand of Highbury is retained. After exploring what remains of Highbury, I walked towards the Emirates which is located at the right hand side of the station. Since the stadium is located across some railway tracks, I needed to cross a bridge to reach it. I have to say, the Emirates is a fantastic-looking stadium. There’s a massive amount of space surrounding the stadium and on the stadium walls are giant murals of legendary Gooners. I was actually thinking of paying to enter the stadium and have a look inside the museum and interior of the Emirates but after considering, I didn’t go in the end because I may not have enough time to settle the last 2 on my list. Before I leave Ashburton Grove, I quickly went into the Arsenal megastore before it closes for the day to grab a souvenir for chippy Alvin since he’s a massive Gooner fan.

Chelsea and Fulham are located at the South West section of London. I picked to visit Fulham first since it’s another stadium which is not located near the Tube station. I had to make the long walk for almost 15 minutes before I managed to reach Craven Cottage which is nestled in among some nice-looking housing area. Ah, the irony of life. Anfield, such a massive historical venue is surrounded by council houses while Craven Cottage, a much more humble above is located in a rather affluent area in London. The interesting part of Craven Cottage which I did not realise until I’m there is that it’s actually located beside the Thames River. Something not to be missed when one is at Craven Cottage is the Michael Jackson statue. I was surprised not to find it at the front section of the stadium. Instead, I had to walk towards the Thames River side and peered through the gaps of the gate and find it facing the river..lol.

It was another lengthy walk back to the Fulham Broadway station, the place where I started from and my last stop of the day is Stamford Bridge. Thankfully, it’s only 5 minutes away from the station and yes, I would say that Stamford Bridge is another admirable structure. It is also of no coincidence that I discovered Chelsea to be located in an ‘atas’ area. The stadium compound houses several other club buildings. By the time I reached the Bridge, it was almost 6pm+, so the official store is closed and so is their museum. What I did was just to scout the various parts of the stadium compound. As I was walking, I can’t help chuckling at giant advert posters of Torres with his Chelski team-mates. He was the same dude who once adorned the walks of Anfield..hahahaha.

Ahhhhhh, that concludes my personal tour of the London stadiums. All 5 covered just in time before the sun sets. I was super thirsty by the time I went to the Fulham Broadway Tube Station, so I popped inside Sainsburry to buy some fruit juices. The bus was only due at 9pm, so I had a long wait at the bus station and suffice to say, it was 1am in the morning when I reach Leeds. No problem on the late hours, since it’s a free and easy time and I've got nothing on.

Bad Day at the Bank

Ahhh..I’m fuming and seething right now. What started out as a routine ATM withdrawal turned into something like a major crisis. This morning, I went to the regular bank branch opposite the Uni to withdraw my monthly share of allowance. So as usual, I put in the card, keyed in the amount and waited for the cash to come out. Alas, the machine spitted my card out, citing an error. I shrugged it as a regular ATM error and moved on to the next one. However, the next ATM machine refused to dispense any moolah, citing that the withdrawal limit has been reached. That’s when the horror struck me. This could only mean one thing – no cash but the computer had deducted the amount already from the account. I can’t be absolutely sure yet at that time, so I quickly made an emergency call to Mama. And it turns out that my suspicion were true! Mama confirmed that the amount in the account has been reduced. Argghhh..this is atrocious! That’s £490 under hostage and when converted to SGD, it’s more than $1000. There’s no way I’m going to let the matter rest and allow the bank to eat that sum of money.

After the call, I went back to the bank to check on the ATM. The first ATM that I had used was tagged as spoilt. I quickly went to one of the bank employees and told her what had transpired earlier. When she heard that my card is from the Singapore branch, she declined to do anything about it. She said that the UK branch cannot refund any money back to me and they would have to consult the CCTV and various documents which they cannot release to the public. Instead, she asked me to contact the Singapore office instead. Goshhhhhhh, I can see where this is going – months of red tape and bureaucracy. And the worst thing is that I didn’t request for a receipt during my disputed transaction. They would either have to rely on the CCTV or the ATM computer log.

Ahhhh..I can’t do anything right now but wait and it’s atrocious that a bank customer be ‘punished’ with losses for withdrawing money. I went to check about the problem online and it seems that such incidents are common in the UK. Amazing…mama and me have never encountered such cases in Malaysia but a first world country like Britain has this type of elementary problems. Most of the cases involve ATMs from different banks which made it more complicated to trace and sometimes, the customer in the end didn’t manage to recover back the sum. Well, perhaps I can take comfort that the ATM that I withdraw from is the same bank, merely different overseas branch. I’m crossing my fingers that the admin would be considerably smoother if compared to different banks communicating with each other. Hopefully it can be solved soon. It would be unconscionable for the bank to swallow SGD 1000 even if the sum is measly for them. It is certainly not measly for working class folks like us :(

Paris Redux

With celebrations of graduation done yesterday, it’s time to proceed on to the climax of Mama’s holiday tour. Of all the places in Europe, I felt that Paris was one place which Mama deserved to have a look at. Since time is a constraint for her, I could only pick one destination outside England and naturally that destination is Paris. Besides, it’ll be great to reminisce the fact that I had visited the French capital twice within the year. We made our way to the Leeds Bradford airport where our Jet2 flight is scheduled to be at 10am. However, it got delayed by an hour and we ended up waiting for it at the lounge. While waiting, I found out that Ling Wei is also on the same flight me and he’s also bringing his mother to Paris. Haha..what a coincidence and we are both giving our mothers the same holiday treat. We reached Paris CDG Airport at around 2pm or so and proceeded to take the train down to the city center.

Finding our hotel ain’t that hard because it’s located in one of the main streets. I learnt my lesson from Barcelona, so this time I made sure I double checked the location. At the hotel however, we had a small problem in locating our room because of the way the rooms are connected in the building. The room itself is ain’t too shabby. In fact, I found it to be better than the one which I stayed with Leo although the pricing is about the same and mine includes breakfast too. After putting our items in the room, we headed out. The first destination I had in mind was the Notre Dame since it’s gonna be closed in the evening, so it’s good to have a look inside it. We started walking from St. Michael’s square since that’s the place in which the free tour starts. However, we are not following any free tour as I would be the one giving the personal tour to Mama instead. I followed through the almost same exact route that the free tour covered and as expected, we managed to reach Notre Dame after the long walk through the streets of Paris. We stayed inside the Notre Dame until it closes. After that, we quickly made our way to the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the previous time, I’ve smarten up by taking a train to the nearest Metro to the Eiffel Tower. I went to my favourite spot to take photos with the Eiffel the second time. We also took the opportunity to head down to the base of the Eiffel. Ah, all of these must have been quite an eye-opener for Mama. With the drizzling weather, it was quite hard to get a decent shot of ourselves with the Eiffel Tower. Once we were satisfied with the photo-taking, we departed from the area before it started to rain even more heavily. By then it was almost night-time. We ate our dinner at a kebab stall (cheap option as usual) before returning to the hotel for a rest. Gotta get some rest before a long day tomorrow.

French breakfast in the morning at the hotel was superb. It was scrumptious with plenty of pastries, jam, butter, cheese and bread to go around. The only thing lacking is some proper meat and ham like those in Amsterdam. The breakfast area was kinda cramped but we managed to squeeze ourselves onto a table. We needed to check out from the hotel after breakfast since we weren’t going to go back to the hotel anymore. I had made sure earlier that I carry a minimum load since I’ll be moving around with my bag for the whole day. The first destination on the list is the Louvre. I was aware of the crazy hour-long queue to the Louvre that I saw earlier in April so there is definitely a need to be there early. The Louvre was somewhere which Leo and I missed the last time and I promised myself that I’ll definitely make my way there this time round. We travelled by train to the Louvre. It seems that the whole compound is actually attached to the Metro. There was already a queue but it was not as long as the one up on the surface. Woahhh, to think that everyone rushed to line-up upstairs when it’s smooth-flowing underground. With my international student card, I managed to obtain a free entry into the Louvre! Woohoooo! Mama paid around €10 for hers. So, off we went to explore the place once we got our tickets. The Louvre museum is a massive compound and it has 3 different wings for visitors to explore – Sully, Richelieu and Denon. Because of time constraints, I could only explore 1 wing fully while the other 2 had to be breezed past in a jiff. There are plenty of artworks, sculptures and paintings to admire. One of the more impressive parts of the museum is the fully furnished royal quarters which give visitors a peek inside the palace’s luxurious lifestyle. There are Egyptian and Babylonian artefact housed inside too. Of course, visitors can’t miss the most famous inhabitant of the Louvre – the Mona Lisa. The room where it was housed was crowded to the brim. Fortunately, I had my super-zoom camera which allows me to capture the Mona Lisa from the distance at high resolution. The size of the painting is actually very small and it’s not as big as what many people assumed it to be. Ahhh, that’s another small lifetime achievement fulfilled – having a look at the real Mona Lisa. =D

One of my Leeds lecturer suggested that I head up the Arc de Triomph instead of the Eiffel Tower to get a bird’s eye view of the city. We had to queue up for quite some time before we could get to the top. It was a tough climb up the stairs of the Arc and at the top, I needed a minute to catch my breath. Nevertheless, all the climbing was not for nothing. The view at the top of the Arc is truly amazing. As the Arc is the centre and a roundabout at the same time, I could get a 360 degrees view of the city, stretching to as far as the business district known as the Defence. At another angle, I could spot the Eiffel Tower in the distance. After feeling satisfied exploring on the top, we walked down to the surface. Apparently, there is a French Legion commemoration ceremony and the area around the ‘Eternal Flame’ is cordoned off for the veterans to gather. With the little time left before evening comes, we went hunting for my brother’s birthday present. We combed through both sides of the shopping district and we finally settled for a bag at the Adidas shop. We bought an additional duffle bag to contain some of my things which I want Mama to bring back to Singapore.

Our mode of transportation back to England was by the night Eurostar train to London since that was the only period of time I could ensure that our time in Paris is maximised. We went to the French fast food chain known as ‘Q’ to take away some food and went to wait at the train station earlier than our scheduled departure time. In fact, I expected our train to be listed at the screen. At around 30 minutes before the departure time, I sensed that something was amiss when our train still had not listed the boarding gate yet. I quickly rushed to inquire about the place to board the Eurostar train and to my horror, we were actually at the wrong place. Oh silly me! That was when I realised that we actually needed to go past immigration too since we are travelling into England, the land of fussy clearances. Arghhh..both mama and I quickly went up and it seems that the gate was about to close already and worse of all, we’ve not filled up the immigration cards, something which we did not expect because we thought that we only need to do that over in England. It seems that for trains, immigration cards have to filled right at the country of departure. With all that fumble, we were fortunate that the officer waivered the need and proceeded in just checking our boarding pass and passport. 10 minutes later, our Eurostar train departed. Whew! That was a close call and a stupid bummer too if we had missed the train after arriving so early on time. I had actually wanted to experience going through the English Channel’s underwater tunnel but I was so tired that I ended up dozing off. When I woke up, we were already gonna reach King’s Cross station. From there we took a connecting train to Leeds at reached at about 2am+. We did some quick packing up upon reaching the house since Mama would have to take an early train there to Manchester to check in for the flight back to Singapore.

Things did not turn out as planned in the morning when I accompanied Mama to the train station. The train scheduled to take Mama was cancelled. This meant that we had to take another train at the risk of being late for check in which starts at 11am. Thank God that by the time we reached Manchester Airport, check-in is still on-going. One interesting sight that I spotted while I was waiting with Mama is that I spotted members of Blackburn FC coming out. There was one person I spotted to be Michel Salgador because of his golden locks. Lol, that’s a mini treat on its own but nobody at the airport seemed to be bothered about their presence. I stayed with Mama until she went past the boarding gate. The whole journey of accompanying Mama through the process of departure was vital because this would be a mini rehearsal of the real thing when it’s my turn to return to Malaysia on 30th August. I was a little sad to see Mama go but I knew that it won’t be long before I get to see her again. I picked the cheaper option to return back to Leeds which is by bus. Since I didn’t get a good sleep yesterday, I dozed off quickly on the bus. It’ll be quite some time before my next big activity in August so I’ll just chill out and laze around in Leeds for the moment.