No More ‘I Love You’s’

Let me just state what’s on my mind now. Yes, I wanted us to re-sign Cesc because come on, he’s still one of the best midfielders in the world and I’d rather him play with us than with any of our rivals. And face it, a lot of clubs would be salivating at the thought of signing him. No club would rationally pass up the opportunity to sign him up and even if we still disagree on how he left and how he engineered that move, I still would have him back. After all, we all knew he wanted to leave and play for his boyhood club and anyone given the opportunity to play for that club - especially if he’s been a lifelong supporter of it - would not pass up the opportunity. There was the opportunity to play with the annoying Xavi, Iniesta and Messi versus the choice of continued stagnation with the likes of Song, Eboue, Arshavin and Bendtner. If he went somewhere else, he would in all likelihood improve that team. I doubted if he would have been in the way of any one player’s development and besides, we also have a few ageing players ourselves.

So it was with some shock when Cesc confirmed last night that he has signed for Chelshit. I haven’t totally been living under a rock, I did know of Chelshit’s interest but didn’t think what I feared would turn out to be true. And yes I hate the idea of him signing for that classless club and playing under Maureen.

But what would Cesc have done? We didn’t want him back. He’s no longer wanted at FCB. At his age, only just 27, should he just stop playing? Of course not. He’s a footballer, playing football is his career, and surely he would not cut short his career because we didn’t want him back.

I don’t want to doubt Wenger’s decision not to bring Cesc back whatever his reason is and I doubt it was because he has some grudge against Cesc. I accept that Wenger is more informed about the situation and has given it a lot of rational thought. His decisions may seem bizarre at times but I do not doubt that he makes them at what he thinks is in the best interest of Arsenal. I’m not saying I’m happy, I’m not saying I accept Cesc playing for Chelshit but I accept that Wenger would be in a better position to make informed decision that I am. Perhaps Wenger thinks it’s not the right time for Cesc to return, perhaps he thinks Cesc would benefit more from playing at another club (before he returns. Yes, even after all that’s happened, I guess I’m still hopeful that he’ll return), perhaps perhaps perhaps.

And besides, I think Cesc is somewhat to blame. He should not have left like how and when he did (yes, I understand why he wanted to leave but I still think he shouldn’t have left when he did). I also think that his current partner is somewhat to blame. OK, I confess, I hate her. I never thought she’s a good influence on him at all.

Goodbye Cesc. I’m sorry that I’m not noble enough to wish you good luck at your new club. I have unfollowed you from twitter and removed you from this blog’s wallpaper because I don’t follow Chelshit players and I won’t have one on my blog wallpaper. You already broke my heart when you left three years ago and you can’t hurt me anymore, not after I took so long to get over you. I rang my munchkin nephew this morning to tell him about it and he said, ‘You were the one who liked him.’ I said, ‘Yes. That was then.’ He then added, ‘It’s OK. We still have Ozil.’ ‘And Ramsey,’ I agreed.

And now, what the heck am I going to do with the jerseys with Cesc’s name on them??? 

~~~~~~~

Ramsey signed for us today back in 2008.

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me)

There were times while planning for my trip and just prior to departure when I wondered if I was meant to proceed with my trip. There were events or things happening beyond my control that directly or indirectly affected my trip and made me wonder if there was a meaning behind it all. Was I meant to take this journey? Should I take this as God’s sign that I should not proceed? That was why I wasn’t altogether confident that the trip would go ahead.

There was the severe drought lasting months where Klang Valley was badly affected, so bad that we had a water rationing. It was mighty inconvenient but I understood why it had to be done. (I just wish more people will learn from history. This happened back in 1998. And yet, we are still wasteful when it comes to resources. We don’t appreciate God-given resources such as water. We waste it as we please because hey, after all, we pay for it, right. Wrong). And because I was at work, Abah had to refill those pails and containers with water. I got worried when the water rationing was extended. I didn’t foresee this problem when I bought the ticket of course.

Then there were the rescheduled matches. I had planned on attending the Arsenal-Newcastle match and was not pleased when it was rescheduled to Monday from Saturday. I didn’t want to spend extra days in London when I could be elsewhere on Monday. I could not confirm my plans until I could confirm if I was going to any home match and I couldn’t confirm that if the match fixtures kept being changed. The notice about the rescheduled Arsenal-Newcastle match came out in March with ample time for me to change my plans (yes, at that point, I still hadn’t bought any intra-Europe flights). But I wasn’t happy when I learnt late on 14 April – after I had bought my intra-Europe flight tickets - that the Arsenal-WBA match was also rescheduled. In my anger, I sent an email to Arsenal demanding a refund, not expecting anyone to read it (surely they get hundreds of emails a day?) and when I calmed down and rationalised that I could change my flight (at a cost of course) and did exactly that, I found that Arsenal had taken steps to refund me my match ticket... the agony part wasn’t fun at all. Good thing it all worked out in the end: I didn’t change the flight yet again and I managed to get a ticket via Ticket Exchange. And oh yeah, I managed to bunk with my MBA classmate for the unplanned additional night in London.

My iPhone acted up in the afternoon of my supposed departure. The WiFi option had greyed out and I couldn’t get it right no matter how many times I switched the phone off, reset network settings and even turned on Do Not Disturb. This lasted throughout my trip which meant that while I was carrying an iPhone, it wasn’t functioning as a smartphone.

Then there was the flight delay out of KUL which affected my next subsequent flight and schedule in Sicily. I had to really do a whirlwind tour of Ragusa as a result but thankfully, I managed to cover most of the sites with a lot of gasping, huffing, puffing and panting, but of course.

But just like after backpacking all over Europe (where I hauled 15 kg on my back for a month and returned tanned and dark all over except for my neck upwards), I will do it all over again in a heartbeat.

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me): Part V

Friday, 9 May 2014

I woke up feeling a little under the weather. Guess it was from being rained on since Wednesday. I looked out the window and groaned when I saw it was raining. Oh no! I had a late breakfast and checked out at 11. I was more or less done with exploring downtown and wasn’t in a hurry and besides, it was raining anyway.

I was walking leisurely when I saw bus no. 2 bound for the airport so I went to check a few bus stops to see its route. This would mean I needn’t go all the way to the bus station and go through the train station which was under renovation (plus carry my bag down the stairs into the station). I could instead catch the bus from a bus stop near to my pension. Great!

I spent about 90 minutes wandering around before returning to the pension. It rained again just as I was leaving for the bus stop. The bus came after 10 minutes and we reached the airport half an hour later.

I was told to remove my scarf at the security check but told the woman that I was a Muslim. She consulted her colleague and they both showed me to a room and I removed my scarf for them to check. Yeah, because of course I looked like I could strap kilograms of dynamite on myself and blow things up.

We landed at Stansted Airport on time and I was the first to clear immigration (one advantage of not being a British or from any EU countries). I went to perform prayers before making my way to the bus terminal. My shuttle arrived early and left before the scheduled time. We reached Baker Street at 8 pm and I crossed Marylebone Road to get the bus to my hotel. I was there for all of two minutes when an elderly Pakistani came over to talk to me. He said he was a doctor and for lack of a better reply, I responded, ‘Oh, good for you.’ He asked where I was staying, if I had plans that evening and look, hey, he happened to be free that evening so would I like to have dinner with him? I just about managed to stop my jaw from dropping at this. Wow, what a confident man. I can never summon up the courage to chat up a stranger let alone invite him for a meal a couple of minutes into the conversation! And then I wondered why I attracted all these strange men. I thanked him as politely as I could and thank God my bus arrived shortly after.

After checking into my hotel, I went out to get groceries and dinner. I’d stayed at the hotel a few times and this was the first time that I had WiFi connection, not to mention a big room (the biggest room I’d stayed in in the hotel). The WiFi connection was quite slow though but hey better that than nothing, I guess.

Saturday, 10 May 2014

It rained early this morning and the morning started of grey and gloomy. Today was to be a leisurely day, no rush whatsoever. I’d planned to walk quite a bit today and after breakfast, I walked to Knightsbridge via Hyde Park. It was a pleasant stroll and there were quite a few people in Hyde Park, walking their babies, walking their dogs, playing catch with their dogs, playing football, even practising walking on a rope tied between two trees. I went into Harrods and even went up to the Pradasphere exhibition. After Harrods, I walked out to Piccadilly Circus, up to Leicester Square, Chinatown then Oxford Street. The weather started going crazy and it started raining heavily when I was at Oxford Street. Sought refuge in The Plaza and had a baked potato while waiting out the rain. After that, I walked up and down the street, going in and out of stores, diverting into Bond Street and out again (I even went into the LV flagship store but didn’t enter Chanel). But nothing, nothing caught my fancy at all. I walked all the way down to Primark and if anything, the frenzied shoppers in there put me off even more.

It started to pour again so we crowded back into Primark for shelter. I saw a bus which would pass Bayswater so I ran after it. Was finally back in the room after 6 pm. That was 8 hours of walking done today.

Sunday, 11 May 2014

Had a leisurely start to the day. I wanted to leave early but got a message for a mate back in KL whom I helped to buy her Neverfull so ended up leaving the hotel at 12:30. I took the tube to Finsbury Park as I wanted to check out the Arsenal store there (the Armoury was closed for refurbishment) but I left disappointed. There are many halal restaurants within the vicinity of the tube station so I had lunch at a chicken shop – the owner is a Gooner and had the club flag draped over his TV. After lunch, I walked to the stadium. The (box?) office was opened and I renewed my membership (it cost £39 now, an increase of £3). Popped into The Arsenal Store Highbury House but found it similarly disappointing so I left empty-handed. I walked around the stadium before making my way to the Royal Oak entrance for the screening of the Norwich City-Arsenal match. We didn’t play well in the first half, almost complacent in fact (because we had secured fourth place). I even overheard someone behind me moan that even Spuds were scoring. So we were so happy when Rambo scored and the minutes later, Jenks scored his first goal for the club.

I returned back to the hotel and stayed in.

Monday, 12 May 2014

I checked out after 10 this morning and took a bus to Oxford Street. Last-minute shopping and all because I couldn’t find anything from either Arsenal stores! I returned back to Bayswater and sat in Whiteley’s for a while. It rained just as I was returning to the hotel to get my bags and didn’t stop raining when I left at 18:30 for Heathrow. I was lucky there was no hardly any queue at Heathrow (maybe everyone else had dropped off their bags much earlier).

We took off on time and I stayed up until after supper was served. It got cold after a while, despite me turning off the vent above me. The lady next to me even took her hoodie and gloves (!) from her cabin bag.

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

We landed at KLIA at 17:35. KLIA2 had opened while I was away so there were a lot of people in the KLIA Express train. I got home two hours after touching down and set out to unpack after sorting out the kitchen.

Will there be another trip to the Grove next year? I’m reluctant to leave dad alone but I know I need a long break from the office.

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me): Part IV

Monday, 5 May 2014

STN-BRQ

I got up and performed prayers at 3 and settled back down in my seat. At 5, I got up and left the prayer room. Joined the bag drop off queue. My line had to be the slowest of them all of course. Bought some sandwich for early breakfast before clearing security.

Our flight took off on time and I slept for 90 minutes. We landed at Brno at 10:30 and after collecting my bag, I went to change money, just enough to buy a bus ticket with some change for a meal and my room. The bus came at 11:07 and took 20 minutes to get to the train station. I walked up to find my hostel at Minoritská and after pressing the bell many times, followed a postwoman into the building. Located the hostel and the owners had arrived by then.

After depositing my bag and paying for my room, I stayed for a bit for prayers before checking out the city. Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic but it was nowhere as big as Praha. Armed with a map I took at the airport, I went to explore the city. There are many beautiful buildings in the city. I noticed some gypsies at the station (when I went to find out the train times to my next destination) and lots of stalls selling kebab (not sure if they were halal). I did find a halal kebab stall - I asked - and a bio-organic restaurant. There are quite a few Oriental restaurants in the city centre too.

I returned to my room to check how much of the local currency I would need before going out again to change. I then went back to the train station and bought a train ticket for my next destination. As I’d covered quite a bit of the city, I decided to take the first train out the next morning, departing at 07:20.

Dinner was had at the bio-organic restaurant, Rebio Sun at Provozovna Orli 26. It served organic vegetarian food and I wanted to sample what they had to offer.

Most of the shops close at 6 pm so by 7, the city was half-dead. I returned to my room to rest.

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

Woke up for morning prayers and got ready to leave. Left at 7 (of course I would have a tummy upset just before I left!) and walked to the station. After asking at the customer service for the platform, I made my way there and got on the train. The train left Brno at 07:20 sharp and we made our way into the Czech countryside, stopping at the occasional town station. We passed small towns, winding rivers, forests with towering pine trees, fields of rapeseeds, lakes... The Czech Republic is really beautiful. The train was barely full, more empty than full in fact so I sat down comfortably and watched the landscape and time pass by.

We arrived at České Budějovice at 1147. I got down the train and asked for directions to the bus station. If you leave the station, turn to your left and you see Mercury Centrum. Walk down the underpass to Mercury Centrum and the bus station is on the second floor.

I took the 1220 bus ran by Student Agency to Český Krumlov. It cost me 40 Kc. The journey took about 35 minutes. At Český Krumlov, I got down at the second (final bus stop) and walked to my hostel. It’s all cobble streets and oh how I hate them! Fortunately, the view helped.

I reached the hostel at 1330 (it was because I stopped every few metres to take in the view) and checked in. Paid for my room (250 Kc/night or €10) and after prayers and a light meal, went out to explore. I walked through the narrow winding streets, checked out alleys and finally went across to the castle. At first I was reluctant to, thinking I should save it for the next day but when I passed and saw it was still opened, I thought why not now and went in. I even went to the castle garden (nothing much, no flowers in bloom yet) before making my way out.

After buying souvenirs from a shop near the castle, I made my way back to the hostel, stopping at two supermarkets (both ran by Asians, the second ran by Vietnamese) on the way to pick provisions.

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

I was woken up by my fellow hostellers who came back after 2 am. Woke up myself shortly after for morning prayers before going back to sleep. When I woke up at 8, it was grey and dull outside. I thought it was because the sun hadn’t broken through but when I checked, I was surprised to find it was drizzling! Well, well, well. What a good thing I decided to push myself and explore the town the day before including the castle for the lighting today would be poor for sure.

I left after 10 and make my way to the town square. A few brave souls were there. I asked for the bus timetable to České Budějovice from the tourist information office and decided to take the 12:00 bus there. I left the tourist office and wandered around, looking for crystal jewellery. The Czech Republic produces fine crystal products including jewellery, porcelain crockery, wooden items and glass products. I ended up at the shop where I bought magnets the day before and the Bulgarian shopkeeper told me he’d give me 10% discount on everything. I asked if I could pay in Euros, he said yes. Told him I’d be back later in the day and left.

I hurried back to my room to get some Euros and walked to the bus station. I reached the bus station in time to board the bus to České Budějovice. This time, the fare only cost me 32 Kc (the Student Agency bus would cost 40 Kc).

We reached a wet České Budějovice 40 minutes later and I walked to the town centre. It started raining again when I was half-way there. I stopped at the tourist information office to get a town map before exploring it. The weather however wasn’t at all encouraging and dampened my spirits slightly. It didn’t take long to finish the compact town centre. Before leaving, I went around the massive town square.

I stopped at a Doner Kebab restaurant I saw earlier and had a vegetarian tortilla falafel. The Muslim chap working there couldn’t confirm if the meat was halal (he knew they obtained it from Germany) so to be safe, I ordered vegetarian. I surprised myself by finishing the whole thing.

I returned to Mercury Centrum and waited for my 15:55 bus back to Český Krumlov. I stopped at the first bus stop and walked to the souvenir shop to buy crystal necklaces before returning to my room. I stayed in the rest of the evening.

Thursday, 8 May 2014

I couldn’t sleep after morning prayers and only dozed off after 4. Woke again at 06:30 and got ready. Had breakfast and carried my suitcase down the perilous staircase. I had ordered a passage on CK Shuttle. It cost 800 Kc or €32. I had paid a deposit earlier and had to pay 500 Kc in balance. We left after 8 as the Japanese girl who rode with me thought she left her coin purse at her hotel and we went back for her to get it. Turned out it was in her bag all along...

We drove winding country roads passing the Vltava, lakes, fields, pine forests and towns and crossed into Austria 45 minutes after we left. It was cloudy with the occasional drizzle. We stopped at BP pump station at some R&R before continuing on and reached Salzburg at 1030. Not bad. The journey time was supposed to be about 3 hours.

I went to study the airport bus timetable at the bus station before making my way to my hotel.

After checking in and paying for my room, I studied the city map while having a snack. I left at 12:05 and walked to the downtown area. It was alternately drizzling and dry and I didn’t really enjoy it. And besides, after Český Krumlov, I found Salzburg a tad underwhelming and disappointing. And everything was so darn expensive. I left at around 5 and walked back to my pension. I ventured again at 7 pm and guess what, the sun was out in full force then. Walked to a nearby supermarket and bought some food for dinner.

To be continued

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me): Part III

Saturday, 3 May 2014

I left 25 minutes after midnight and walked to Hotel Campanile where the coach was already waiting. I quickly made my way in and selected a seat towards the rear of the bus. There were fewer people there hence more quiet. I tried to sleep before we had to get off at Calais border control. We got down and went through the French and British immigrations. The British lady who served me asked what I was planning to do in London. Duh, I thought, not to see the Queen that’s for sure. ‘I’m going to watch football,’ I replied.

She: Oh, are you? Which team?

Me: Arsenal.

She: Is it the European match?

Me: (No, silly, Arsenal are out and besides there’s no European match on weekends. Idiot!). No, it’s the last home match of the season.

She: And have you got ticket to see the match?

Me: (Yes, of course you silly fool). Yes.

She: Can I have a look at it?

I actually rolled my eyes at this, it was an instant reaction and I couldn’t undo it. Unlocked my backpack and searched for the ticket before handing it to her.

She: (reading aloud) Oh Arsenal vs West Bromwich Albion. Sunday, 4 May. Right. You come to watch football match often?

Me: Not really. But I support them all the same, all the way from Malaysia.

She: So after London, where will you be?

Me: I’ll be flying out to the Czech Republic before going to Austria and flying back to London for a few nights before flying home.

She: And when are you going home?

Me: (just about managed to stop rolling my eyes again) 12 May. (Frowned). Yes, 12 May.

And before she could ask any further, I searched my backpack and showed her my return ticket.

She: 13 May

Me: (No, you fool. 13 May is when I get home. 12 May is when I fly out. But I’m not going to spell it out for you)

She: OK then.

What. A. Dummy.

We re-boarded the coach and drove on to the port. Boarded the ferry and had to disembark the coach again during the ferry crossing. It took 90 minutes and of course I couldn’t sleep. Re-boarded the coach again just before docking at Dover and we settled in for the remainder of the journey to London.

We pulled into London Victoria coach station at 0650 and I slowly made my way to the tube station. Changed tubes at St Pancras for the Metropolitan line for West Harrow. Arrived at West Harrow station around 8 and Ken arrived within 5 minutes to fetch me. I was studying the map but his road wasn’t shown as it was a new development.

It was a beautiful gorgeous day after the miserable Dutch and Belgian weather and I didn’t want to stay indoors. But I was overcame by sleepiness and succumbed to it. Finally went out to explore the town of Harrow after 1530. I opted to walk there instead of taking the tube; it was, after all, only one station away.

You could tell the demography of a place by its stores and Harrow showed itself as a low-to-middle working class level. I’m not complaining, just an observation.

I met up with Ken at 1930 and we had dinner at a Turkish restaurant. I decided not to have kebab and opted for a vegetarian dish. It was good and made up for the average lahmacun we had for starters.

I persuaded Ken to walk back instead so we strolled back to his pad. He continued assembling his table with parasol and chairs that evening and finished it. We watched Gravity that evening before retiring just after midnight.

Sunday, 4 May 2014

Now, I had already bought ticket to watch Arsenal-West Brom match a month before the match and subsequently bought flight ticket out on Saturday evening. Then of course the schedule was changed to Sunday lunchtime and in anger, I emailed the club asking for a refund. Having thought further about it, I decided I’d stick to the match - after all it was the last home match and I already to give the match against Newcastle a miss because they rescheduled it to Monday evening - and change my flight instead which I did the very next morning. So imagine my horror when I found that the club actually did read my email and had taken steps to refund me for the ticket. Checked the club website but the match was sold out. Sold out. Bloody hell. I emailed the club and was advised to check Ticket Exchange. Thankfully, after being in the queue, losing my position in the queue when Google Chrome crashed and having to start again in Internet Explorer (I went through all this when I purchased the ticket in early April too), I managed to find one empty seat. Phew phew phew. Syukur alhamdulillah.

Woke up late today after getting up earlier for morning prayers. Had cereal for breakfast and then chee cheong fun. Left at 12:10 and went to the station. Missed the train as I reached the station and had to wait for the next train. The train was bound for Baker Street so at Baker Street, I had to get a train that went to St Pancras before I could change for the Piccadilly Line to Arsenal. As a result, I only got to my seat 5 minutes before kick-off. In fact, I didn’t even hear the whistle and only realised the match had started after I saw the two sides running after the ball. Too bad Olly scored at the other end and not in front of me (I was at the East Bank). The match was pretty much barely memorable to be honest but the atmosphere and just being there was enough for me. I was somewhat gutted though that Rambo wasn’t in the line-up. Oh, and guess what? The stadium wasn’t even full! So much for the match being sold out!

I stayed on to see the lap of appreciation and left an hour after the match had ended. Wanted to check out Highbury House but there were too many people queuing ahead of me so I left after 5 minutes.

Made my way back to West Harrow and after prayers, had an early dinner. Went to shower after that and left after 8. Made my way back to Baker Street and walked to Gloucester Place for the 21:00 easyBus to Stansted. I had an early morning flight and would have to overnight at the airport.

We reached Stansted at 2210 and there appeared to be some renovation works at the airport. It further reduced the waiting area for passengers and even the prayer room had been relocated and was much smaller. I tried to get some sleep from a seat but some idiots were intent on keeping everyone else awake so I left and went to the prayer room. Tried to get some kip there but it didn’t work either as the occasional person would come in for prayers.

To be continued

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me): Part II

Tuesday, 29 April 2014

I left right after breakfast at 0840. Diego the owner had agreed to bring my bags to his friend’s cafe diagonally just across the street so I could collect them later. I walked to Corso Italia and it all went downhill from there - literally. I stopped by at the tourist information centre and was served by a very pleasant friendly helpful lady. She gave me a city map and some brochures and advised me the bus timetable leaving from Ragusa Ibla back to Ragusa Superior (no way was I going to walk back up the hills!). There are 24 UNESCO heritage buildings in Ragusa (an overwhelming majority of them in Ragusa Ibla) and I managed to cover about 21 of them. It was all very quick and touch-and-go as I was hard pressed for time. I took the 11:55 bus back to Corso Italia and walked up to via Archimede. Collected my bags and thanked Daniella for taking care of them. I hurried to the bus stop and waited for the bus. No bus came. I walked to another bus stop a few hundred metres away and waited again. No bus came. It was getting close to 1 pm and my bus out to Siracusa was at 13:30. I could take the train but would only arrive at 2130 and I wasn’t keen on having to locate my hotel at that late hour. Plus the hotel specifically stated that check-in was until 19:00 only.

At 1 pm, I decided to cut my losses and just walk to the bus station at via Zama. I struggled and after asking for directions, huffed and puffed and panted my way to the bus station. I reached the station at 13:20 breathing hard. And guess what? The blinking bus was late. It only arrived at 13:45.

We arrived at Siracusa at 17:45 and after asking for directions, I finally found my hotel at via Pasubio. After freshening up, I went down to pay for my room and asked for a map. This time, the city tax was €2/night (city tax is dependent on the hotel star rating; my hotel was apparently 3-star). I walked to the island of Ortigia where the bulk of the historical buildings are. I left after dark and walked back to my hotel. No channel showing Champions League semi-final match and I couldn’t get WiFi in the room.

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Had breakfast at the hotel lobby and caught up with the rest of the world. Left after 9 and walked up to the Archaeological Museum. After checking out the ticket price, I went over to the archaeological park. There were a lot of people there today. As I wanted to leave for Noto before 12 noon and because I’d need a longer time to explore either the park or museum, I decided to return the next morning.

I made my way to via Delle Arsenal and walked to the waterfront. Then I decided to take the 11:30 bus to Noto. It cost €5.90 for a return ticket. The trip took 55 minutes and we arrived in the dead heat of the noon. Noto has many beautiful baroque buildings. It was another hilly town. It was a good thing I took the bus as the train station is not only further but you’d need to seriously climb up to the main street from the station.

I took the 15:30 bus back to Siracusa and went back to the hotel for prayers. I went out again to Ortigia an hour later and walked its winding streets. It’s such a charming little island full of character and history.

Cats of Ortigia

I somehow managed to get WiFi reception in the room and followed Chelshit’s defeat to Atletico Madrid with glee.

Thursday, 1 May 2014

I had a late breakfast and checked out after 10. Walked to Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi and bought a combination ticket (archaeological museum + archaeological park). I spent almost 2.5 hours in the museum and it was blazing hot by the time I left and made for the archaeological park. I covered the Foro Italica (Roman forum) and Teatro Greco (Greek theatre) and Latomia del Paradiso. The Latomia are ancient stone quarries that were worked on beginning from the sixth century B.C. onwards.

Cats at Parco Arceologico della Neapolis

I left at 14:30 and went to find lunch but nothing was opened. Nothing. Zilch. I walked all the way almost to Ortigia before returning back. Either it was because it was a public holiday or they were observing siesta because all the supermarkets were closed! I had some snacks and waited at the hotel. Left for the bus station at 15:45 and reached there just in time to buy a bus ticket to Catania en route Catania Airport (€6).

The bus journey to the airport took slightly more than an hour. After checking in, I cleared security and went in. We landed at Eindhoven at 22:10 and it was only 22:45 when I was reunited with my suitcase. The bus 401 to Eindhoven Centraal came at 2305 and took about 20 minutes to reach the station. The ticket cost €3.50 (!) and you can buy it from the ticket machine. Eindhoven Airport is closed from midnight until 4 or 5 in the morning otherwise I would have just spent the night at the airport. And Eindhoven Centraal is similarly closed after midnight so I had no choice but to book a room. There’s also a city tax applicable of €3.50 (!).

I reached the hotel at a quarter to midnight, collected the keys from a neighbouring bar and paid the room to the woman behind the bar.

Friday, 2 May 2014

I woke up for morning prayers but couldn’t quite summon the energy to get moving. There was a train at 07:02 but I decided to take a later train. Went after my shower to look for breakfast but despite walking for 20 minutes, I couldn’t find a bakery at all. Decided to check out and go to the station (that’s €30 for 9 hours’ of stay! Boohoo) and buy my ticket and perhaps get something to eat there. In the end, I took the 10:03 train changing at Tilburg, then at Rosendaal and finally at Antwerp Central to Brugge. The last connection was made with literally seconds to spare (Antwerp Central was a huge station with many platforms on different levels serving many passengers).

I finally arrived at Brugge at 13:43 and stored my bags in a locker. There are three locker sizes and they are priced €3, €3.50 and €4 depending on size and my suitcase and backpack managed to fit the medium-size locker. After buying food from Carrefour Express at the station, I walked to the centre.

The centre is an area with street after street of charming historic houses and a canal always nearby. It was, however, a day of poor weather. Cold, grey with the occasional sunshine struggling to burst through and blustery. You won’t find a shortage of restaurants here but they all charge exorbitantly. It was a good thing I had bought some food at the supermarket.

I left the centre and walked back to the station. Bought ticket to Gent St Pieters and decided to just stay in the station for the weather hadn’t improved. Besides, I needed to take a tram to the city centre and it was getting dark. I sat down to read and made good progress on my book.

Due to some confusion and wrong information given to me by a local girl, I missed the last bus to Hotel Campanile where I was supposed to catch MegaBus to London Victoria. I had to take a cab to the hotel (€13 boohoo compared to €1.30 by bus) and as there was no hotel lobby that I could see (reception was at the restaurant and the hotel was more like a motel than a proper hotel), I dragged my suitcase to the nearby Holiday Inn Express and sat in the lobby. The kind people there didn’t even bat an eye but let me sit there comfortably and cosily, protected from the horrible evening cold.

To be continued

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me): Part I

This plan was hatched nine months prior and the ticket was bought in early September after having determined the public holidays of May and having studied the Premier League fixtures. The itinerary was drawn out slowly and apart from reshuffling the destinations in terms of their order, the plan was more or less formed in January 2014. I delayed purchasing the regional tickets and match tickets until early April 2014 (and even then, still had to make changes when the footie fixtures were changed) and only booked London accommodation in February 2014. Accommodation at destinations was also booked from February 2014.

Friday, 25 April 2014

I was supposed to depart later tonight; however, read the text sent by MAS advising that the flight had been delayed to 05:00 the next morning just before sitting down to dinner. A quick frantic call to MAS was made to confirm situation and to assess my other options. They could bump me into the flight bound for Paris or Istanbul; however, I still needed to find a subsequent flight out if I were to stick to my schedule. Told the MAS customer service I would call back if I decided to fly to Paris (another problem is that I had already dropped my bag off at the KL CAT in the morning...). I had a quick dinner - truth be told, I had already lost my appetite by then but forced myself to eat because I didn’t want to risk getting gastritis. After dinner, I quickly assessed other options available. Dad suggested going to Akak’s so at least she and my bro-in-law could send me to the airport early the next morning. We left at 21:30.

We reached Akak’s about an hour later no thanks to the crazy mad Friday evening traffic. Bought new flight ticket, changed the airport transfer and altered my accommodation booking. Only went to bed at a quarter to midnight and even then I had problems falling asleep.

Saturday, 26 April 2014

KUL-LHR

I probably slept all of an hour because I was up again before 2 am and despite my begs efforts, sleep just wouldn’t come. Finally got up at a quarter to 3 to get ready. We left for KLIA at 03:15. The airport was deserted when we arrived and having only my cabin bag (backpack), I went in immediately. We had all boarded the plane by 05:10 but the flight only took off at 05:40.

After performing prayers, I tried to sleep but well, I’ve never had much luck sleeping on flights and this was no exception. I refused to watch any inflight movie as I didn’t want to keep myself awake unnecessarily (even though sleep was elusive) so I just shut my eyes and willed for sleep to come. To no avail. Sigh.

We landed at a quarter to noon and I rushed off to clear immigration. The bag was late in coming out (well, it being an A380, of course there were more passengers and consequently more bags). I then rushed to take the tube to Earl's Court. Despite my best efforts, the easyBus was late and as a result, I only arrived at Gatwick 10 minutes after bag drop-off had closed. Well, just my effing luck again. Had to pay £60 to change my ticket to the next morning.

I was too knackered that I didn’t have problem dozing off. I couldn’t sleep soundly but I did manage to catch a couple of hours or so of sleep.

Sunday, 27 April 2014

LGW-PMO

Woke up after 4 and went to perform prayers. After prayers, I went to drop off my bag. The queue was long but very fast. I cleared security and made my way to the gate quickly, not wanting to miss the flight again. We left grey drizzling Gatwick behind and took off on time. I managed to catch some kip on the way. We landed at Palermo Airport just before 11:00. You can either take the train to the train station from the airport (it’s hourly though) or the airport bus to the train station. I wanted to take the train but the ticket machine only accepted coins r card (no paper bills!) so I made my way to the bus stop. Now, on weekdays, there are buses directly from a Palermo Airport to Agrigento where I was heading but not on Sundays so I had to take a train to Agrigento. Otherwise, it’s just one bus ride. Instead, I had to take a bus from the airport to the train station and a train to Agrigento.

We arrived at Agrigento some two hours later and I made my way up the stupid steep hills of the city, huffing and puffing and panting hard to B&B Amélie but when I got there half-dead, there was no one there. I rang the doorbell many times and even borrowed an elderly neighbour's phone but no one picked up. Finally, after 20 minutes of frustration, I left my suitcase and went to find B&B Fiore di Girgenti (which I had actually booked earlier and then cancelled) to ask if there was any available room. Finally, I was in luck. There was a room left and it was a family room. The owner wanted €35 and I was only too happy to pay it. I got a large room with a double bed and two single beds, a mini kitchenette and en-suite bathroom (the room I booked earlier and then cancelled was a single room with shared bathroom). I trudged back up to B&B Amélie to get my suitcase.

After freshening up and performing prayers, I went to check out the town. It’s a pretty hilly town and you’d really need to be climbing stairs - there's no avoiding them! I noticed there's a sizeable Muslim minority there, I don’t know if they are descendants of the island’s long-ago Arab settlers or if they are immigrants from Tunisia. There is also a sizeable African community, hardly surprising seeing Sicily is very near to Africa.

I returned to my room just after dark and had dinner. Tried to switch the TV on but couldn’t seem to get the remote to work. The TV was mounted above the door and it was too much effort getting to it. Anyway, I needed sleep.

Monday, 28 April 2014

I woke up for morning prayers after a good night’s sleep. After breakfast, I checked out. The owner helped to store my bags (€2 to store bags) and gave me the keys to access the storage place. I walked up to the train station to get the bus to the Temples. Bus tickets were bought at the train station bar (€1.20 one way). Traffic was already building up outside the train station and tempers were flying. There were a few bus services running to the temples and they were all late and I hopped on the first one that came along.

The journey took slightly longer than scheduled and I reached the temple entrance (after panicking if the bus had passed by it) about 10 minutes later. I bought a combination ticket (the temples and the archaeological museum) for €13.50. Locals and EU citizens pay a lot less of course. I went in and walked to the Temple of Concordia, the Temple of Hera and the Temple of Ercole. After that, I crossed over to the Temples of Zeus and Dioskouroi. After having my fill of the ruins, I walked out and walked up the road to the archaeological museum. I spent close to two hours there.

I returned back to Agrigento and bought lunch. Just like the Amalfi, Sicily also observes siesta and most shops were closed after 1 pm. I decided to walk to the bus station and wait there for my 15:30 bus to Gela. The bus turned out to be small mini-van like and some passengers had to stand for about 25 minutes.

A resident of Agrigento

The bus pulled into Gela station at 17:10. A couple helped determine for me that there was no bus service to Ragusa but there was a train service to Siracusa at 17:42 which will pass through Ragusa so I bought a ticket. We arrived at Ragusa station at 1903 and I made my way to B&B Gilda at via Delle Palme just off via Archimede. Ragusa is made up of two parts: Ragusa Superior and Ragusa Ibla. My B&B was in Ragusa Superior. After checking in and paying for my room (there’s a city tax of €1), I went out into the evening and walked to Corso Italia before returning to the B&B.

There were 60+ TV channels but none, absolutely none, was showing the Arsenal-Newcastle match.

To be continued