The weekend couldn’t come soon enough after a challenging week at work. It was the last weekend before Ramadan commences and well with the Mega Sale going on, I really didn’t need an excuse to go shopping. I headed to Isetan KLCC during lunch on Friday and had a quick browse. I was late in finishing my house work on Saturday and left only after 11 am. After dithering, I decided to go to BB and walked to the KL Sentral monorail station and oh boy. It was madness! I saw some queues but didn’t know where they started. I had to weave my way around before I could squeeze myself through to the turnstile. Thank God for Touch ‘n Go cards.
The crowd at the platform wasn’t any better; there were dozens of people waiting at the platform. I managed to squeeze myself through and got in (good thing I was alone). It was the same at most of the stations we subsequently stopped at. Really, I never realised it was that bad - and it was as bad as or worse than riding the komuter on weekday mornings. You don’t even have to hold on to any railings because your fellow passengers are there to support you shoulder-to-shoulder, arm-to-arm. There’s barely enough room for you to stand on; all you have is what little square cm you do occupy which incredibly is enough to propel you along the ride. I did wonder at times if the train would not just topple over onto the roads below and when I thought of this, I quickly prayed that we would balance the train on the track somehow. You do get the feeling like you’re a bunch of sardines in a tight can moving along the conveyor belt for processing. Sheesh.
Anyway, I survived the ride after countless elbowing, being elbowed, jostling, hustling, pushing, shoving and being squeezed half to death at Imbi station by passengers alighting from the train. I didn’t buy anything at Isetan Lot 10 and made up for it at Pavilion. Then I sauntered over to KLCC, with a pit-stop at Mandarin Oriental for prayers in between, and resumed shopping at Isetan. There were a lot of people there who also had the same idea (i.e. hit the shops before it’s Ramadan. I don’t know about them but I don’t like to venture out during Ramadan except for Friday lunchtime and fortnightly weekend visits to Isetan) – from local gals like me to white girls and black-clad Middle Eastern women.
In fact, the sale was so good (or rather, tempting) that I debated going again on Sunday. I seriously contemplated and had even put on my contact lens but finally I decided to just stay in. If the bargains are still there on my next visit, that’s fine and if they’re not, then they’re not meant for me.
In short, it was a satisfying weekend for shopping but it was also too hot and humid. There was a strange haze over the city on Saturday and I thought, great, the haze is back. But the haze cleared up yesterday and today is just another hot, tropical day.
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Mother Nature has been sending some messages to us what with the terrible flooding in China, Pakistan (its worst in decades) and India, and drought and haze in Russia, to name just a few calamities. I was horrified to see the extent of the floods – the destruction and the death toll left in the wake – and was dismayed to see the haze in the Red Square and around Kremlin in Moscow. And yet, there are those who turn a blind eye to all these catastrophes, preferring to call them acts of nature. Well, I’m sure we are all guilty of contributing to the greenhouse gas somewhere along the process.
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Arsenal played their last pre-season friendly and it was a mad one. We finally emerged the winner – after letting in three goals in the first 36 minutes. That’s letting in one goal in every 12 minutes. Damn you Flapianski. Then Chamakh pulled one back (he’s a dream transfer for Arsenal just like Arsenal is a dream move for him) and Eboue scored two consecutive goals to make it 3-3. Then the goals started coming again, Gibbs scored a beautiful fourth, JET scored the fifth and Nasri completed his brilliant pre-season with a sixth. The good thing is we came back from behind despite being three goals down, and when it would be so much easier to just give up we never gave up and kept fighting. The bad news is that we need a new goalie right about now and some other defenders too. I’m getting agitated what with the new season kicking off just days away and there’s those meaningless senseless friendly matches stuck in between.
Cesc had put an end to all speculation and protracted transfer saga when he led the team out at the Members’ Day on Thursday. He admits joining Barcelona would be an attractive move – and he was recently honoured in his hometown Arenys - but now pledges his future at Arsenal with his official statement. And while I wish his statement would be more passionate like RvP’s, I won’t question his love for Arsenal and I sure don’t blame him for feeling frustrated like he was when he led the team for their lap of appreciation in May; after all, the team did let him – and the supporters – down. But for now, it’s Barcelona who are swimming, no drowning, in their tears (hahaha). Of course we would keep him, you idiots. You would too, as Guardiola pointed out – though why this fact was beyond you lot much earlier is beyond me. So stop saying that signing Cesc was a priority when what you did was to sign David Villa first.
The Spanish team would be travelling to Mexico for the meaningless friendly and guess what, Cesc has been called to the squad. Knowing him, he won’t refuse. It’s not enough that they have won the World Cup, they need to still prove it in a friendly. Why not just field a mixed team? After all, it’s the club who pays the players’ salaries, not the country. Sheesh. As Arseblog points out, we’ll be without Nasri, TV5, Cesc, Vela, Wilshere, Gibbs, Walcott, Rosicky, Eboue, Flapianski and Shava until Thursday at the earliest. Double sheesh.
Anyway, here are some photos from the Members’ Day.
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