That’s More Like It

After another difficult ‘super-crisis’ week where we crashed out of the Capital One Cup at Bradford, Lady Nina’s tweets and Titi’s meeting with the dinosaur Usmanov, Arsenal travelled again, this time to Reading. I have always maintained the players are as much to blame for not delivering and last night, they stepped up and delivered. I tweeted some of the players and told them (yes, I know they may not read my tweets but I don’t care) that I don’t care if it’s a 1-0 scrape, I don’t care who scores, I don’t care if it’s not a clean sheet as long as Arsenal WIN. I told them that Wenger has faith in them and that they should repay it. I told them that the fans have faith in them but that they must win and fight for us, that they must prove that they’re worthy and proud of playing for Arsenal. Oh sure it was against Reading who currently occupy the basement spot in the league but we have seen all too often how Arsenal can even screw matches against lower placed teams.

Poldi opened the scoring followed by a hat-trick from Cazorla and Theo rounded it off. Cue sighs of relief.

Thanks, That Was Fun

I was supposed to handle an event in early December and had reluctantly decided to stay put, i.e., not travel in November. Only to be informed a dozen days ago that the intended event would not materialise (yippeeeee!!!) but that I had no plans for last week (two days of public holidays meant if I took the week off, it’d only be three days off work). Dang.

Luckily, I managed to secure (with the help of my colleague) a unit at our PD resort for three nights. Well, I guess beggars can’t be choosers and all that.

So we left on Thursday just after noon prayers and drove down to PD. Dad was anxious to beat the holiday traffic and to arrive before it rained. Well, he needn’t have worried after all as the traffic was kind to us and it didn’t rain a drop. It had rained earlier in the morning so I guess that was that. Akak and family arrived closer to 4 pm. We checked in after 4.

My two nieces and nephew couldn’t wait to hit the pool and they went as early as 5 pm. I waited a bit before walking down to the beach. I wanted to take a stroll along the beach but the tide was high and the sea was almost reaching the edge of the resort. I wasn’t keen to get wet so only ventured out for a short while.

It didn’t rain on Friday either. I went to check the beach in the morning and the tide was higher than ever and the waves were already lapping the resort boundary. I sat by the pool watching over the kids until they were finally ready to climb out – after almost two hours. It was my niece’s birthday today; we had a modest celebration.

We drove out to Cape Rachado (name given by the Portuguese. It means ‘Broken Cape’) or Tanjung Tuan in the evening and hiked up to the lighthouse. This hilly cape is a gazetted forest reserve and wildlife sanctuary with several beaches and a historical lighthouse at its summit. It is administrated by the state of Malacca for some reason and is also a favourite bird watching site, especially during the migratory season when the birds flew from one hemisphere to the other. The biggest naval battle in the Malay Archipelago between two naval superpowers at the time (Dutch and Portuguese) took place off the cape in 1606. We left after 45 minutes and went to Sri Purnama beach for some refreshment before going to Darul Hilal (one of the spots for moon-sighting) and returned at 7.30 pm.

After two days of glorious sunshine, we woke to an overcast Saturday. It was bleak and rain didn’t wait long to fall. It rained hard and lasted for hours. It finally petered out after 3 pm and we went for a drive (sans the kids) to Pengkalan Kempas historical complex. Here is one of the oldest Islamic graves (a 15th century tomb) in Malaysia, that of Sheikh Ahmad Majnun, a leading historical personality who was slain during a battle with Sultan Mansor Shah’s army. Next to his grave are the famous stone inscriptions which depcit his struggle and victory. We then went to check out the nearby jetty before stopping at a fishermen’s area. Unfortunately, because of the earlier rain, it was slippery and dad fell down. We returned back to the resort shortly after.

We checked out mid-morning on Sunday. Until the next visit then.

~~~~~~~~

It was the North London Derby on Saturday. Good thing the resort subscribed to some Astro channels including ESPN. I was not amused when Adebuywhore scored first for the scums but the idiot then managed to get himself sent off. We were labouring until then so this was very welcome (plus he very much deserved it). And we were awarded our first goal from an unlikely source, the BFG himself, straining his neck muscles to open his account for The Arsenal from a Theo cross. Poldi slipped one in (deflecting off Gallas, hahaha) and my gorgeous scored despite being marked and despite having fallen from a Cazorla pass who heroically lifted himself up and ran before crossing it in the box.

Cazorla himself became a scorer in the second half thanks to a Poldi cross and made it look oh so simple and stylish. Then the ape-man pulled one back. I could sense the nervousness at the stadium (after all, we did let a two-goal lead slip in our two preceding matches) and we were a bit quiet at this stage too but we overcame that nervousness and awkwardness soon disappeared. Ox came on for Giroud and at the death, he unselfishly put a cross to Theo to tap home. And the result was exactly like the one in February, nine months prior. AR5EN2L / 5PUR2 hahaha!!!

My Merdeka Day Weekend

I was mulling where I should head for during the Independence Day weekend. Then a friend suggested Penang and I thought, ‘Why not?’ I haven’t been there since a Treasure Hunt trip some years back and certainly not since it’s been accorded the World Heritage status (I had been to Penang once or twice as a child). So I checked the deals, bought a MAS return tix and booked accommodation.

Friday, 31 August 2012
An early start to the day. Left house after 0630 and cabbed it to KL Sentral. The uncle cabbie drove as if his life depended on it, as if the demons themselves were chasing after him. I made it in 7 minutes flat and boarded the 0700 coach to KLIA.

I had checked in online and proceeded immediately to the domestic terminal. My, there were a lot of travellers at KLIA today. Browsed the few duty-free stores but nothing much tempted me so I proceeded to the gate. For some reason I was assigned seat 27A at the very end so the minute the door closed, I moved seats and finally sat at 9C. I had earlier deposited my bag at the overhead compartment above row 6.

We landed at 1020 and I walked out from our gate (B7 I think, at the very end of the building) and saw the bus 102 bound for Batu Ferringhi via Komtar and Jalan Burma. The fare was RM3.40 so mind you have the correct change or you’d be short-changed as I was. The journey took an hour to my hotel at Jalan Burma diagonally across Penang Adventist Hospital. Good thing I could check in then.

I rested for a bit and had a cuppa while waiting to perform prayers. I left after 1330 and walked to the nearby Gurney Plaza. I spent some time there and had assam laksa for lunch before braving the intense afternoon sun and heat.

I walked all the way to the old part of Georgetown where the historical buildings are. Well, there are a lot of old colonial buildings and bungalows along the way and I paused every now and then to take pictures. I love old buildings and I wish that KL has conserved its own colonial buildings. I don’t know why the people who run KL are so determined to erase its past. Isn’t our past part of our heritage?

I was armed with a map and had earlier planned to visit most places indicated on the map but as the afternoon panned out, I decided to skip some buildings. I stopped to get some fluid before walking back to the hotel. Later, I checked Google map and determined that I walked at least 12 km today. Way to go to burning those calories!

I ventured to the adjoining building to explore it. It’s a strange building (like Ampang City closer to home) and most shops were closed as it was a public holiday. Dinner was had at a halal Thai stall. It was just edible and nothing to shout about.

Saturday, 1 September 2012
Wow, sweet September is here. Today I decided to just explore the area within one km radius of the hotel. After breakfast, I went to nearby G Hotel to check out some handbag sale. Then I returned to Gurney Plaza. Saw a pair of lovely gorgeous red Converse shoes with blue details. Alas, it was in size 40 and the last pair. Boohoo.

I checked out the beauty centres and massage places but decided I wasn’t going to pay that amount. I walked to Jalan Bangkok before returning back to hotel. Lunch was bought from a roadside stall. There were not many halal eateries around the hotel area unfortunately. My other complaint about the hotel is its slow crawling Internet connection. Other than those, I have no other complaints.

I returned to the hotel to rest before venturing to the strange building next door. Went for a massage at a centre and thought it was the best I’ve ever had so far. Fantastic. I even asked if the masseuse didn’t want to relocate to KL. Man, she is that good.

I tried to find dinner - I was craving for prawn noodles - but I wasn’t keen to walk back to Gurney Plaza so finally had KFC for dinner - for want of other halal choices so don’t judge me. There was a massive jam along both sides of Jalan Burma that evening.

Watched a bit of footie (haha, good job Norwich! And AVB is proving to be a very god signing for the scums) before retiring for the day.

Sunday, 2 September 2012
Checked out at 0755 and waited about 25 minutes for the bus. This time the journey took 45 minutes. There were a lot of people at the airport, more people sending off passengers than passengers themselves. I collected my boarding pass and proceeded to the gate. Not in the mood to shop so only gave the shops a cursory glance.

We took off about 10 minutes later than scheduled and landed at KLIA at 1145.

I think I shall return to Penang again and this time make sure I visit the Penang Peranakan Mansion (I arrived there after closing time on Friday). Maybe next year’s Merdeka Day weekend would be a good idea to spend time exploring more of my country.

Hope you had a good Independence Day weekend too!

~~~~~~~~

Arsenal travelled to Liverpool and new boy Prinz Poldi scored our first goal 3.5 hours after the season kicked off. Fellow new boy Cazorla scored one of his own too – indeed both goals were worked among the two – to give Arsenal a flattering score. It was time to start scoring and winning after two scoreless draws and it remains to be seen if this would be a platform for the Gunners to start terrorising their opponents or whether the tranquillity surrounding the club as the transfer deadline ticked down. And no, my Giroud has yet to score but don’t worry because he will. Soon (on average, players in the ‘100 Club’ score their first goal 4.41 games into their Arsenal career). Even with Mannone in goal, we have yet to concede (thank God) and who knows, after The Invincibles, this bunch of Gunners might be The Impenetrables.

And, I never thought the day would come but yes, Diaby was the man of the match.

P.S. When asked in an interview how he would describe himself, Giroud replied, ‘Ambitious. Generous. Natural. Intelligent. Stubborn!’ That’s my man!