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

Teambuilding Retreat

My department was granted approval to have our teambuilding programme in Langkawi this year and after a couple of months of preparation, we flew out to Langkawi on Thursday. As part of risk management, we flew different airlines at different times. My flight time was at 18:00 and we left the office by the pre-arranged shuttle at 15:40 (the driver was late) in the pouring rain. It didn’t help that the driver didn’t know of an alternative route so we joined the building traffic and inched our way until we entered MEX. Thankfully, our flight wasn’t delayed; our colleagues who left earlier to fly Malindo from Subang had their flight delayed and only landed five minutes after we did.

We took a shuttle from the airport and went to the resort at Cenang Beach. After checking in, I immediately grabbed the iron and board and did pumped some iron. There are five rooms in every floor and I didn’t want to wait for my turn with the iron.

After prayers, we ventured out to find dinner. I walked quite a bit but ended up having dinner at a stall very near the resort.

I had planned to go for a morning walk by the beach but as Friday’s programme was quite full from 09:00 to 22:30, I decided to go for the walk on Saturday morning. Some colleagues were excited about the prospect of shopping and went to shop during the long Friday lunchtime and after class on Friday evening (!). I decided to only shop on Sunday morning. After all, that wasn’t the purpose of my trip to Langkawi. And even though Saturday’s programme ended just before 18:00, I didn’t bother going to shop then either.

We had barbecue dinner by the pool on Saturday evening but we weren’t too happy with the food. I had a tummy upset following the Saturday afternoon tea break and was a bit disappointed the food wasn’t great. Woke up on Sunday morning at 03:45, no, not to watch the Champions League final match but to use the bathroom. Yet another tummy upset. Ugh.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, I braved the blazing morning sun and went to The Zone to buy some chocolates. I didn’t bring an extra bag and didn’t want to buy a new one either so I asked the salespeople if they had a box. Thank God I asked because they managed to find a small box which fit my chocolate purchases. Walked back to the resort and left the box in the lobby (no point lugging it back to the room and then back to the lobby when I check out). I was perspiring buckets by the time I reached my room.

The resort manager called for the shuttle to the airport when everyone in our party was ready. We checked in and after sorting out some issues regarding my seat, I went to perform prayers. Had a light lunch before clearing security. The flight took off on time and we landed at 15:40. My bag and box didn’t take long to come out and I was able to take the 16:20 KLIA Express train to KL Sentral.

~~~~~~~

The facilitators had already pre-assigned us into groups of six and I was quite disappointed that I had to sit with three people who hardly ever contributed to any discussion. They were either falling asleep, lost in their own world, in a blur, or busy with their smartphones. The other three of us had to lift the table and win cards for participating. (The facilitators awarded cards to us for participating and for arriving early as an incentive). I mean, really, what is the point of being there if you were going to daydream? And they behaved exactly how they usually behave in the office. I thought it was really pointless flying them all the way there, a sheer waste of time and money if they couldn’t even give 100% during teambuilding. To me, it doesn’t matter where you have office teambuilding, its duration and intensity. What matters is what you bring to it and your takeaways. Also, are you ready to change yourself? Then there’s another group who came back without seeming to have benefited from the teambuilding. What is the point of going there and then when you’re back, you revert to your old ways? Did you not learn anything at all or was it just a fun free trip at the company’s expense, an escapade from the office, a break from your normal schedule?

I was also disturbed and disgusted by someone who stuffed herself silly. Look, I know you’re crazy about prawns but did you stop to consider there may be others who hadn’t had their meal yet? Or were you just concerned about your own greedy self? And it didn’t stop there. It continued throughout. Ever stop to wonder why people advise for moderation in everything we do?

~~~~~~~

I found Langkawi unbearably hot. There was hardly any breeze and the sun was merciless. Needless to say, I had a sore throat, bad cough, terrible headache and a high temperature when I returned. I know I’m not delicate because I’m not the only one to be suffering. I can’t recall Tioman or Redang being similarly suffocating and insufferable. I really can’t contemplate a return trip but hey, never say never. Maybe one fine day some time further down the road when I’ve forgotten how much I’m suffering now, I might consider a return trip there.

FA Cup 2014 Final: Arsenal vs Hull City

I woke up to watch the match and stayed up reading about it until almost 4 am. We all know how the drama unfolded but I just want to preserve it here.

 

And the monkey on our backs is finally slaughtered.

It’s Not Only Words

I have a colleague who is a stern and strict woman. Quite a few people have commented of her curt, cutting and hurtful remarks and I myself have been a recipient of her aggression. Many have complained of the way she refuses to listen to others’ views and dismisses feedback and some have just refused to offer their opinion for they feel that it’s just pointless. She would either just ignore them or cut them off in mid-sentence. To be tactless is one thing but to ignore and interrupt others is quite another thing. I myself have been a recipient of her tactless remarks.

Now, I have reached that stage where I don’t want to waste any more time beating around the bush trying not to offend people. Life’s too short to beat around the bush and besides, you waste too much time trying to be sensitive to other people’s feelings when they may not even bother with your feelings. But I can still be polite, tactful and diplomatic and at the same time, still be honest and speak my mind directly to the person I have issues with. There’s no need to antagonise another person just because you’re trying to be frank with your thoughts and this applies to both offline and online conversations.

Blogging, tweeting and maintaining a FB account can be likened to hosting an open house. Anyone can read the host’s blog posts, tweets or FB status updates. If you like and agree with what the host says or thinks, you can stay/RT (even favourite) the tweet(s)/like the status. The host will share things on his mind; he may be full of praises of someone one day and full of veiled criticisms the next. You don’t have to agree with what the host opines and if you think it’s too much, you can leave. But it doesn’t mean that the host can be irresponsible and posts whatever he likes. He has to be responsible for his views and opinions and he must be prepared to accept comments; after all, if one is prepared to share his opinions online, he must also be prepared to accept any disagreement to his views. Just because the host thinks he’s an anonymous member of a social medium doesn’t absolve him of his responsibility to his audience.

Because words can hurt and when they do, they aren’t only just words but can be painful stabbing criticisms that result in resentment and long-lasting emotional and mental scars.

Losing My Religion

I used to be very invested in Arsenal, so much so my mood would swing to mirror the result. I used to be very affected and would get depressed for days following a loss. If, on the other hand, we enjoyed a run of wins, I’d be happy and would peruse the online articles tirelessly. Mummy used to tease me by asking what was in it for me whatever result Arsenal posted. And yes, she had a point, for win, lose or draw, I don’t get anything from it. Not a penny from the club or the players for the time I invested watching them. Anyway, I don’t expect anything out of my support. A run of wins is enough for me and of course I would so love it if they could finally get the monkey off their back and kill it once and for all.

I have, over time, learnt to handle the defeats. I still don’t find them acceptable but I no longer sulk or be in the doldrums for days as I used to. And I can understand that there are days when the team plays badly because we are all affected by moods and other factors (confidence or lack of, opportunities, fit players etc).

But my. March 2014 was a horrible month. We kicked off with a defeat to the despicable Orcs and it didn’t improve save for the win over Everton in the FA Cup quarter-final and over our bitter rivals, and draws against Bayern Munich, Swansea and Citeh. But the pasting we received was enough to make me feel utterly numb. So numb that I wonder how much further we have to fall (how many goals we have to lose by) and I was slowly losing my religion. And April didn’t start any better either with the away defeat to Everton.

And as only Arsenal are capable of being, we played poorly against Wigan. But at least we rallied and worked hard to press for an equaliser. And as we know, we are now going to Wem-ber-ley!

♪♫ ♫ Que sera sera

Whatever will be, will be

We’re going to Wem-ber-ley

Que sera sera

What will be, will be ♪♫ ♫

*Losing My Religion, as you may well know, is a hit song for R.E.M. It is about someone who pines for another. It’s unrequited love, what have you. Just like my unrequited love for Arsenal so I think the title of this post is rather apt.