Macau, A Gambling Mecca

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

The event I had been slaving over for the past few weeks finally concluded on Tuesday and not a day too soon. I had bought flight tickets some months earlier, departing 24 hours after the event conclusion. Met up with my parents at KL Sentral and after prayers and lunch, we boarded the bus to LCCT. There were a lot of people at the terminal when we arrived and the terminal was shrouded in darkness: yes, there was a power failure and we had to wait for more than 20 minutes before power was restored and we could proceed with check-in. We went directly to the gate – can anyone explain the rationale of going up one level to go through immigration/autogate only to descend again?!

After 3.5 hours of a cramped flight, we landed at Macau International Airport. I dare say we were the only non-Chinese non-Caucasian passengers on the plane. The immigration process was painfully slow, slow, slow and we also had to go through a H1N1 check (how can filling up a form prevent/control this pandemic? As it happened, I was coughing and having a cold last week, which I duly declared but no one stopped me. Surely a body scan would have been more effective and efficient?

We took a waiting shuttle bus to the Venetian Macau (the place is magnificent!) and from there, changed shuttle bus at the West Lobby for the Terminal Maritimo (Macau Ferry Terminal). It’s possible to travel for free in Macau by just hopping on and off the complimentary shuttle buses operated by major hotels and casinos. The starting and ending point is the Ferry Terminal. Our hotel also provides shuttle to/fro the Ferry Terminal and the plan was to catch the 2155 shuttle but alas, we couldn’t locate it or rather, we didn’t know where its stop was and not many locals speak English so we cabbed it to the hotel. Hotel rooms don’t come cheap in Macau and weekend rates (Friday and Saturday) cost a lot more – a lot of people from Hong Kong travel in during weekends to gamble. Expect to pay more for Friday/Saturday stay, for rooms with more than double occupancy and for breakfast. Just like in Hong Kong, not all hotels provide breakfast. Our room was lovely (even the bathroom was lovely) and should be so; it was a five-star hotel (I was travelling with my parents you see) and I paid a considerable sum for our room.

Thursday, 26 November 2009

A grey, overcast start to the day. Went out after breakfast. Macau is a bit hilly and before long, Abah was already tired so I suggested that he and Mummy take the hotel shuttle to New Yaohan departmental store instead. I was more keen to explore the World Heritage city.

I walked to Ruínas de São Paulo (Ruins of St. Paul’s) where I spent some time, then it was a quick pop to the Museu de Macau (Macau Museum) before checking out Fortaleza do Monte (Mount Fortress). On the other side of St Paul’s are Na Tcha Temple and section of the old city walls. After checking out some oil paintings and buying some souvenirs, I then continued on to Largo do Senado (Senado Square) – unfortunately some buildings in the square were undergoing repairs (or being beautified for the Christmas celebration?) – before crossing Avenida Alemeida Ribeiro to Edificio do leal Senado (Leal Senado Building).

Next I climbed up the hill (did I mention that Macau is pretty hilly?) to Largo de Santo Agostinho (St Augustine's Square) - Biblioteca Sir Robert Ho Tung (Sir Robert Ho Tung Library), St Augustine’s Church and Teatro Dom Pedro V (Dom Pedro v Theatre) were all here. I continued on to Casa do Mandarim (Mandarin’s House) – unfortunately closed for renovation, Largo de Lilau (Lilau Square) and on to Quartel dos Mouros (Moorish Barracks). Then I retraced my steps and emerged at the Headquarters of the Macau SAR Government which faces Lagos de Nam Van (Nam Van Lake).

After a light lunch, I walked along Avenida da Praia Grande admiring the waterfront casinos. I walked as far out until I reached Torre de Macau (Macau Tower) - I actually saw one person who already made his bungee jump! – then retraced my steps back to Avenida Almeida Ribeiro. After that, I walked to Wynn Hotel and Casino where I caught a shuttle bus to the Ferry Terminal and from there, caught the hotel shuttle back.

We took the hotel shuttle to Starworld Hotel and from there walked to Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen where we had dinner at Taste of India, a halal eatery.

Friday, 27 November 2009/Eid ul-Adha

The day started bright and sunny. After breakfast, we took the hotel shuttle to Hotel Lisboa and from there, walked the few blocks to Largo do Senado (because my parents had to yet to visit the area) and Ruínas de São Paulo. Then we walked to New Yaohan departmental store (I know my mum so well) and stayed for lunch at the food arcade. After lunch, we walked to Wynn Hotel and Casino and took a shuttle bus to the Border Gate. From there, we walked the few block to the Red Market – which turned out to be a wet market. Mummy and Abah took a cab back to the hotel while I continued on by foot. I walked until I found Mesquita (Islamic Mosque and Cemetary) – it really was tiny and small. Then I walked along the reservatorio (reservoir) to the Ferry Terminal and caught a shuttle back to the hotel. From there, I walked up Guia Hill to Fortaleza da Guia (Guia Fortress). The Fortress along with the Guia Chapel and Guia Lighthouse are symbols of Macau’s maritime, military and missionary past. Finally, I trudged back to the hotel but went out to explore the neighbourhood after evening prayers (can’t help wondering why there are so many shops selling wedding gowns in the area).

Saturday, 28 November 2009

Alas, our last day in Macau. We left for the airport at 8.30 and it was only a 13-minute ride to the airport. I was surprised to see the queue at the check-in counters (airport tax was already included in the ticket price, yeay). We went in immediately after checking in and I was happy to note there were a few shops worth browsing (but expensive. Why oh why do they call it duty-free when things sold are more expensive than at high street stores?!). we took off about 15 minutes late but still landed in time. Oh another thing I hate about flying AirAsia – the leg-space is so small and I kept getting poked by the person next to me.

I love Macau. It’s charmingly compact and if not for the local Macanese, you’d feel like you’re in Europe with all the Portuguese names and big casinos. Very pleasant indeed and visiting in November is really lovely. It doesn’t rain in winter, I was told. The summer months are the wettest months so if you plan to go, plan your journey. And don’t forget the weekend hotel surcharge and that Macau annually hosts the Grand Prix in November and hotel rates skyrocket then too.

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Well, we lost to Chelshit. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? Some news from van Persie (and not optimistic news) and an interview with the Captain are all that can make my day now. Anyway, I reckon five wins and two losses are much better than seven draws (Man Sh*tty). Not that a loss is in any way acceptable. But I’d rather lose any day with Arsenal than win with Chelshit or ManUre. Come on Arsenal.

Bitter Sweet

Cesc and Arsenal celebrated his first anniversary of captaincy yesterday with a win over Standard Liege. There was some bloody drama too as Gallas and Shava engaged in a head clash leaving the former dazed (and he was replaced at half-time) and the latter bloodied. Wenger didn’t have to resort to swear words last night as he did very recently over Walcott’s situation. However, we have now lost Gibbs for six weeks (or is it three months?) at least due to broken metatarsal.

How on earth did that not manage to get into the goal??
Head-clash. Ouch

Bloody, bloody head

Nasri breaks the deadlock

Captain shoots wide

Denilson scores a scorcher

Team celebrates

Cesc had also earlier made my week when he said he’s happier than ever at Arsenal and the he could end his career there. Heck, he might even stay at Arsenal for life. Ti amo, Cesc, ti amo.

I like the following Wenger’s wise words: ‘The reality in life is, ‘Do your job, my friend’. That's the reality. And make sure that never anybody can say, ‘You’re not committed every day in your life for what you’re paid for’.’

Less than a week of November remains. We face Chelshit next.

Short

It was a brief and short weekend. A bright start to Saturday it was and I even thought how spring-like it was that I even abandoned my brolly for a while to enjoy the sun – which we see rarely of these days (no complaints though as I don’t mind the rain).

Saturday also picked up where Friday left off, in terms of shopping – yes, the Year-End Sale (Y.E.S.) started a day earlier for me (there is this big SALE sculpture outside Pavilion KL, near the GUCCI store). Isetan sale is splendid, if the amount I managed to spend so far could justify its splendidness. Yikes. I felt like Becky Bloomwood (the fictional shopping queen) on Saturday.

I was dithering over going to TheOrganisation’s annual dinner this year as I was still having a running nose and coughing. Delia’s call helped me decide but as I had given my card to someone else, I sat at another table with other friends. A fun night was had nevertheless – well, come to think of it, (most of) the food served was good and the MC was good too but the musical sketch left a bitter taste in my mouth. I hated the whole thing – the dialogue, the script, the acting, the singing and dancing. It was painful sitting there wondering when it would end.

We left shortly after 11 pm and I tuned in to the match and was unhappy that we didn’t take what few chances we had. There was a lack of focus and I’d like to think it was because of the international matches. Some players were not at their best and we really looked like we missed Robin.

Sunday was spent at the office %#*)%~@#$^. Towards the end of the long day, I was running a fever and had to pop a paracetamol (which I try not to resort to if I could help it) and go to bed early.

It was a short weekend and I want Batman badly to come and save us (because Robin is injured). Oh, Christian Bale would do very well for me (I have this weakness for dark-haired Caucasian males).

Coming Soon To Theatres Near You

I haven’t been to the flicks for a few months now... well, not since the new footie season kicked off. And movie ticket prices have increased since August, I think, so I’m turning to watching alternatives like DVDs and the TV. Oh well, I’m already forking out an extra RM12 every month for my cable TV package so I might as well utilise it. This doesn’t mean I’m stopping my visits to the movies, just limiting them and turning to alternatives where possible.

Anyway, I am proud to present the new winter flicks... coming soon to screens near you.

An Adek and Arzenwengger Production

The Verminator

The next Sylar of Heroes

The next Indiana Jones

The new James Bond in The Footballer Who Loves Me

Why go to the flicks when there’s football? (I must admit I’m quite intrigued with The Box though).

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It’s now safe and legal to put out the charity pictures again. Read about it here, go here for more pictures, and here for the video. I love the Armageddon-like slow-walk scene at the end. And at least they didn’t injure themselves in producing the clip. Heh.

In other news, Dudú signed a new long-term contract and the club released the status of Gibbs injury – apparently he only bruised his foot, phew. Thank God for that. Wenger is as usual the epitome of optimism (which is good as it helps me be more positive too), saying it could have been a lot worse for RvP and Gibbs. Not sure how RvP’s treatment is progressing though apparently the placenta therapist’s clinic could be shut down by the Serbian health department and the therapist herself has gone missing. Whatever. Just get well very soon, RvP. I’ll be praying for you and the rest.

We face the Black Cats this weekend. Come on you Gunners!

All Bunged Up

Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, it has. My nose is all bunged up and I’m coughing worse than a smoker with bronchitis. Surely it can’t get any worse but hey it looks like it can. Yes, I’m feeling very sorry for myself.

Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse with the Arsenal injury list, well, it has. So now we have Gibbs injured, lasting only 21 minutes in the meaningless friendly U-21 match against Lithuania. He’s the latest to join RvP (see you after the New Year, hon), Denilson, Clichy, Diaby, Vela, Wilshere, Djourou, Fabianski and Walcott and we can have another team of eleven, albeit injured team of course. I don’t know if he’ll follow suit on RvP’s unconventional treatment (and hey he’s not the first and won’t be the last to try out unconventional methods). We’ll just have to wait and see how badly injured Gibbs is. To the rest of the Arsenal, go for the green lights!




And just when I thought there can’t possibly be anymore irritating noise from Barça over Cesc, they came up with more. Surprise, surprise. NOT. This time it was Gerard Pique. Apparently he introduced Cesc as the future player of Barça. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? What will he be at Barça? Playing at the fringes or warming the bench as had Hleb? Will Barça ever learn and just SHUT UP once and for all, por favor?

The conversation went something like this (thanks Elena):

Piqué: Hi, he’s Cesc Fábregas, the future player of the Barça... How are you in the Arsenal?

Cesc: Good, really good, the Arsenal begun very well in the league and champions... I’m very happy, wrong. I want to be still like now, and no have a lesion (?). ... 5 years without titles is a very long time

Piqué: And your future?

Cesc: I see a very good future, but I don’t watch the future, 2 years or 3. I have a big responsibility in the Arsenal and I want to do it well

Piqué: But you have made very big things at only 22 years old. You are the most important player of the history of the Arsenal and you are only 22... You are the captain.

Cesc: Well I wanna win titles ‘cause 7 seasons without titles is a very long time... No doubt Barça will qualify, and be first of the group.

Piqué: I want to be in the same team with you again, like here in the Selección.

Cesc: Thanks.

I’m just tempted to bung up the next person from Barça to emit similarly irritating noise. And remember, a girl with a bunged up nose can be dangerous. Ha!

To cheer me up, can someone bid me Cesc’s poppy jersey por favor? Muchas gracias. Oh, flowers will do too. Cheers.

Seriously, the less time he spends with his national squad the better. And the less international matches there are, the better it is for the Arsenal

Tuesday Trudge

I’ve been feeling under the weather for days now and have to muster all my strength to go to work. Admittedly nursing flu and cough while juggling work give me a headache at times and yet... I have to be brave and strong about it.

Just like van Persie (eh, why am I comparing myself to him?). The latest news is that he’ll now be seeking placenta treatment from a doctor in Serbia (not a desperate housewife!) who earlier helped PSV Eindhoven’s Danko Lazovic. RvP is not blaming Chiellini for his injury, stating it was a fair tackle (just like Cesc didn’t blame Alonso for his injury last year). So it’s hard for me to hate Chiellini either; though I still think some international matches are totally unnecessary.

Yet more irritating noise from Barcelona, apparently offering cash plus players for Captain Cesc, and Puyol parroting Xavi. Why don’t you just let him be? He’s happy at Arsenal, he’s Captain – heck the youngest Captain in the Premier League, and he’s still the same old Cesc. Do us a favour and stop distracting him and team from chasing a record.

I do wonder who will replace RvP as striker as we continue to fly without him. Maybe some reserve players? On another unrelated news, another Arsenal striker apparently has scored with Caroline Fleming, a Danish baroness 13 years his senior and ex-wife of Rory Fleming, heir to the James Bond’s Ian Fleming fortune. Hopefully he’ll start scoring goals again soon too.

Flying Without Wings

Sorry for all you non-footie enthusiasts but today’s entry will be mainly on that.

Dammit, I probably shouldn’t have titled my last entry that because now we’re really in pain. Robin’s wings have been temporarily clipped, or rather, he has ankle injury. With Nick out, we could potentially face striker problems. This shortly after Robin insisting he’s not a natural striker like Torres or Dogbark.

I’m refusing to panic. We are not a two-man team and we have always been facing injury issues anyway. We had to make do before without Dudú for 18 months, Rosický for more than a season, Cesc for almost four months... and this time, it’s no different. We simply have to make do. I have confidence that the rest of the team would step up their efforts especially with difficult games ahead and prove that we can fly without wings, or rather without Robin. Ramsey, for instance, has shown why Wenger chose to sign him; he was man of the match in the Wales-Scotland match over the weekend with two assists and one goal. I’m praying Captain Marvel will not be injured when playing for his country and Xavi, can you please stop sounding like a broken record already? Perhaps next time you would want to listen to other people’s too like Reyes.

Whoops-a-daisy, the pictures of those Arsenal stars giving us the warm and fuzzies apparently shouldn’t be shown until 18 November 2009 for legal reasons. Please don’t sue me.. will offer football commentary for free. You can apparently view the videos here and here (I can’t because of the firewall). In other news, go here for a chat with Nick Hornby, the Gooner author of Fever Pitch.

November Pain

International weeks are such a pain

Met my new neighbour who just moved in last Saturday and he didn’t seem particularly friendly. Oh well, I guess some people would say the same of me. It’s a family of I-don’t-know-how-many-children. I have heard their voices but they are always back from their daily ferrying of items from wherever they were staying before late at night and once they were even moving things after 10 pm and in the rain too. I don’t care for their eccentricities (which include opening and closing and locking and relocking of doors at 1.50 am) but I do care a great deal when I’m denied my beauty sleep. They were hammering away at close to 11 pm, 11.30 pm and 11.40 pm on Tuesday evening. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? My response was to knock back the wall with a cane, a faint response if any I’m sure.

How to deal with such neighbours?

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Met up an old buddy on Tuesday together with Lin. Too short a time to catch up on too much. A good time was had nevertheless.

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This is my horoscope for today: ‘It’s natural to compare yourself to other people, but there really is no comparison. You have your own, unique personality. So what if you’re not every person’s cup of tea? All that matters is that the people who get you are the people you want to be around. So please, stop wasting your energy trying to impress someone who just isn’t worth it. Watch out for others who want to change you!’ I don’t believe in horoscope readings but I agree with the statement. Why compromise your personality to suit someone else’s idea of how you should be? Change if you want to but not because someone else wants you to.

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I’m spending longer and longer hours at work. A 12-hour workday is sadly becoming the norm. Normal life should resume in less than a fortnight, can’t wait!

Oh to be able to live a celebrity life and wear costumes for fun. For your info, these Gunners dressed up to make a fundraising film for the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Arsenal’s charity for this season. According to my source, the fundraising film will be shown at half-time during the match against Chelsea, on 29 November 2009.

Someone’s not a happy bunny here
If Shava thought England was strange before... heh

Update: apparently, Shava chose the shark suit. The other lads had to make good with what they were given.

There’s also an online auction for captain armbands (Cesc, Gerrard, Terryble) starting today to raise money for the Willow Foundation and the Steve Bernard Foundation.

Curious

I have some questions to ask you readers.

First, have you ever dreamt of something so intense (for lack of a better word) that you woke up crying/sobbing? I’ve had a few of those dreams, the most recent being on Friday evening. I woke on Saturday morning crying and, for some reason, continued sobbing even though I was already awake. I can remember bits and pieces of the dream and while I was feeling hurt in the dream, it wasn’t as if I dreamt of death or dying. And like I said, this was not the first time.

Second, have you ever felt like interrupting people just because you want to help them out? Like when people are debating about routes, or where to get something, how to get somewhere etc, and you are dying to share what you know, to help them save time, cut down on journey time, or even save money? I’m no maven and I sure don’t know a lot of things but there are times when I want badly to share what I do know especially when I hear conversations like that around me. Would I be interpreted as a busybody? I’m aware that not everyone appreciates being informed of things (in fact there’s a person to whom I sometimes suggest certain work shortcuts – nothing illegal, you understand - to improve work but who still prefers doing things her own way and I take it she’s just not interested). What about you? What would you do? Would you just keep quiet and hope they will ask you for advice, would you try to offer advice, or would you just walk away and hope they’d figure it out themselves?

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Watched The Ugly Truth on DVD some weekends ago; it’s one of those just-okay rom-coms and I’m glad I didn’t fork out money to catch it at the theatre (why Gerard Butler?). It’s about Abby, the accomplished but romantically incompetent producer who enlisted the help of Mike, the host of the titular TV show, to help her land a neighbour she fancies. Mike has an emotional maturity of an adolescent and believes that the ugly truth is that men are sex-crazed beings and it’s the woman’s job to accommodate this. Abby finds Mike disgusting (as did I) while he in turn finds she is a control freak.

One line caught my attention towards the end, i.e. when Abby told Colin (the doctor who fell for her carefully-crafted image) this: ‘I couldn’t show you any of that. Because who would love somebody like that? No one.’ And it got me thinking how far true this statement is. With me, what you see is what you get. I don’t believe in pretending to be someone I’m not: after all the true colours of a person will show up sooner or later anyway. Yes, the ugly truth about me is that I’m flawed, have OCD, sensitive, emotional, have a short fuse, just to name a few but better you know it now than later. Better you know my true colours than me feeling guilty for letting you think otherwise.

Yes, it’s hard to love someone like me but I like to think that someone can still love me regardless, and love me for who, how and what I am, not what they wish I am or think I should be. Because then it’ll be conditional love, right?

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What do you do after you lost a match (or made an error in the context of everyday life)? Do you do a post-mortem or an analysis of what went wrong? Or do you blame everyone else - the referee, the opponents, even another manager altogether – but yourself? Like gaffer, like player. You’re a wretched excuse of a player, Fletcher. Moan United!

Definitely, Maybe

The weekend started bright (as if to make up for the evening showers of the past week) and overall was one hot scorching weekend but for the heavy rain on Saturday evening, which you’d expect anyway after such a heat-wave. It was so hot on Saturday that I felt close to melting and I was even reminded of my experience in Myanmar. And yet some states are under water.

I was supposed to go for a facial Saturday morning but because I forgot the voucher, I had to reschedule my appointment. I’m sorry to say I lost my temper a bit on Saturday morning on two occasions but I reminded myself to keep my cool and the day progressed better after that. Did a spot of shopping and later went to pick my clothes at the tailor’s – only to realise I left them on the bench where I waited for Abah to pick me up. Yes, ditsy is my middle name.

Met up with a distant cousin yesterday morning with Akak and the kids. It has been decades, yes, decades, since we last met.

Anyway. Arsenal travelled to the West Midlands Saturday evening (the kick-off would have to be at 1730 GMT) and I actually got up after a light nap – of which I kept having recurring dreams of football (you know you’re in too deep when you keep dreaming of football) – to watch the action. I was a bit nervous for I knew the Wolves had drawn in their last three matches, and they won over Fulham. And in the first 20 minutes, they did try their best to thwart us and Arsenal were also struggling a bit to settle in. I must say Diaby’s injury was actually a silver lining for he made way for Song; this released Ramsey to partner more freely with Cesc. Unfortunately the hosts shot themselves in the foot by gifting us two own goals (though I’m inclined to think that Dudú did score the second one; he was decent enough not to celebrate the first goal. Oh well, maybe it’s because Dudú’s not English). Captain Fabulous then added a third after a beautiful pass and set-up (he’s so classy, he immediately deflected the attention to van Persie), and Shava tested the keeper with a shot before rifling in a goal punched away by the keeper from the resultant corner. At the 87th minute I was thinking that maybe we’d keep a clean sheet after all but no, we had to concede a goal, didn’t we. For full report, go here.

I don’t think we played all that badly although this article seems to suggest that we didn’t play wonderfully either (even our opponent said we were better than Germany!). In any case, we’re on course to a century of goals (and we are doing much better than Man Sh*ty thus far. No way is Cesc going to join that club, ever). Cesc could have scored another brace following the mid-week heroics but hey, it looks like he’s only human after all. The skipper has said that it will only feel special if we do win something at the end of the season so as the gaffer remarked, let’s keep our humility and continue playing our game. After last night’s match between Chelsh*t and ManUre, maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to win some silverware this season (the title, please, Captain Marvel?). OK, at the moment, it’s definitely a maybe; the gaffer hates November and rightly so after our bad results this time just last year but hopefully we’ll ride it out. I don’t want to compare but can’t help noticing that Liverpool look like they are doing a repeat of our poor start to last season this time around (on this note, I’d noticed it even in the pre-season when they lost friendly matches. Yes, of course they scored five against Singapore but anyone would win over Singapore).

And hopefully, when we do win something, the gaffer would do a repeat of this, like he did last weekend.

Totally unrelated I know, but today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. I have been lucky to have been able to visit the city twice since that historic day and also other ex-Communist countries and cities.

Flying Start

There are two sites that I rely heavily on when searching for lodging. However, even these two links are not enough as I discovered when trying to book lodging for a coming trip. In the end, I visited ratestogo.com and hotels.com, even Firefly Holidays and AirAsia Go Holiday before trying out a local site. Let me just share these: rates on ratestogo.com change every day (suffice to say I will not be trying it out again!) and that all five sites yielded totally different rates for what seemed to be similar rooms. Strange, eh?

In terms of cost (the priciest first) for this particular destination, they rank as follows: Firefly Holidays, Hotels.com, AirAsia Go Holiday, ratestogo.com and the local link (the local link not only costs the least, its rate is also inclusive of breakfast).

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Arsenal made a flying start to November when they strolled (I think ‘flew’ would be a more appropriate word) through the Emirates against AZ Alkmaar. I’m telling you, it looked sooo easy at times to raise the bar. Classy skipper Cesc bagged a brace (he looked as surprise as anyone with his first goal) and Nasri made a wonderful return with the Arsenal’s second goal and even Diaby (!!) managed to get a goal. Three assists from Shava, pity he didn’t score. Let’s hope his goal-scoring days will return soon. Still, I guess Koeman was right about us having weakness for we let them leave with a consolation goal. For the match report, go here.

One match down and four more to go. Let’s give them some kisses and thumbs up, shall we.

Smashing Pumpkins

It was Halloween’s Day on Saturday and I headed back to Ampang for the weekend, walking quite a bit (and with my backpack; that ought to have burnt some serious calories) along the way. Darn, forgot my pedometer again but I reckon I walked more than two km that day. First stop was at the dentist’s before trying out the massage centre just two doors away. I wanted to do cupping but the lady – fresh off from the boat from mainland China – gestured and signalled that it’d be better if I went for a massage first before the cupping so I decided to give it a try.

This time, I had 16 cups placed on me symmetrically (the KK one placed them haphazardly on my back). And this time, it didn’t hurt as much although yes, my skin was stretched here and there. I have a good mind to go for my third cupping before the year-end.

It was also a North London derby on Saturday with Kop flop Spuds Captain Keane making bold claims just before the match that his side is better than Arsenal (yup, shortly after losing at home to Stoke City). Surely you are kidding us, Robbie.

But as it turned out, it was Arsenal who were trick-and-treating at the Emirates, with Captain Fabulous unceasingly knocking on our neighbour’s door. The first forty minutes were even and a bit flat (not as flat as the Fulham-Liverpool first half but still flat) until van Persie took advantage of the defensive shutdown by the Spuds and smashed in a goal. Then eleven seconds after replay, well, 10.8 seconds actually (enough to rival Usain Bolt), Captain Cesc stole the ball and dribbled boldly forward. His individual genius overcame collective idiocy and he waltzed in a second goal for the Arsenal. And that should be enough to send Arsenal to second position (well, before ManUre took on Blackburn shortly after) but (hopefully) having learnt the lessons of the past week, the lads didn’t slow down in the second half. Captain Cesc had earlier stated that we would not change the way we play and that we must kill the Spuds to maintain our challenge for the top spot and van Persie did just that by slotting in a third (again, thanks to Sagna) to earn three points for the home side, the 1000th Premier League point for Wenger and leave the visitors in disarray. It proved to be a fantastic week for the gaffer though he remained agitated on the sideline (you would have thought we’d let in three goals instead) – upset as he couldn’t communicate with his players, yes, such was the noise at the Emirates. For more match report and pictures, go here and here.

In other footie-related news, we’ll travel north to meet the Sh*tty team again for the Carling Cup quarter-final. You-know-whore had stated recently that he had actually apologised to van Persie for the stamping although the latter said otherwise. Despite saying the case is closed, the Dutchman seemed eager to pay another visit to Sh*tty.




So, is there still any question or doubt who the top dogs were? I think not. It’s matches like these that really confirm that footie, for all the frustration and anger it brings us at times, is really the best thing in the world and it makes us feel that everything is beautiful and right with the world. I’ll leave you with pictures from Saturday because they really tell a thousand more words.