Say Goodbye To August

It has been a challenging August and I’m glad that the month is finally drawing to an end. Hopefully September will be a better month. Well, after this month, it’s hard to imagine a more challenging month but, wait, I do have an event in early November. No doubt that will put me in a continual state of stress especially the last few weeks leading to it. There have been times when I wish again that I have a clone. Or a Mini Me.




But for now, let’s rejoice for Friday is here again! Friday I’m In Love! So let’s put our hands up together and say ‘Hurray, it’s Friday!’

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My poor dad was not feeling well the past few days. He had a bad case of food poisoning and was vomiting for two days. Poor old chap. Be careful of what you eat, people. I know there are unscrupulous hawkers who sell bad food during Ramadan. So sick, profiting by selling expired food.

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Arsenal are drawn into Group H of the Champions League and we will face Partizan Beograd of Serbia, Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine and Sporting Braga of Portugal. We sure have some serious travelling to do – 3,181 miles – compared to Chels*it (3,019 miles), ManUre (2,875 miles) and Spuds (1,292 miles). It doesn’t help that we have to play Chels*it away the weekend after travelling to Belgrade, and play Braga away just two days after North London derby... In fact, of the six group stage games we’ve got, we have away fixtures after five of them and two of those away games are with ManUre and Chelsh*t as mentioned earlier. The Spuds must still be feeling pleased for having beaten the Young Boys Bern, a team that has never qualified for CL and are currently seventh in the Swiss League (out of ten!). Speaking of the scums, they sure have some fine ugly players too (a fine example here).

Oh and bonjour to Sébastien Squallaci (seriously, I’m having more and more problems typing out these players’ names!). The last I check the official website has yet to publish this but good ol’ Wikipedia has already stated him to be playing for Arsenal. And get this Pep, we don’t go around unsettling players like your team does. Of course, we’re much classier but that goes without saying. So don’t say we unsettle Squallaci the way Barcelona tried to unsettle Cesc, OK? Just shut your gob already. Seriously, I’m getting this close to favouring Real Madrid over Barcelona this season (no thanks to your players’ antics) and I don’t even care much for Real and dislike the new manager.

Anyway. Have a good Merdeka, everyone.

666

Oh no, I’m not talking about the Number of the Beast here but of the weekend EPL scoreline. According to Dan Brennan, 61 goals were scored last weekend with Liverpool yet to meet Man Sh***y. More of that later.

I headed back to Ampang for the weekend but not before some retail therapy. KL Plaza’s long-overdue facelift should be completed soon and when the complex opens (in September I believe), it will be known as Fahrenheit. Uniqlo of Japan is one of the tenants as with other regular tenants such as The Body Shop and Vincci. Even Yves Rocher will move to Fahrenheit from Times Square, giving me yet another less reason to visit Times Square – there’s Borders of course but that’s about it; you can find its other tenants elsewhere. I had a quick browse in Pavilion but couldn’t find anything new as I had shopped there before a few times over the past few weekends. I moved on to my next target, KLCC, and didn’t spend much either. I dithered on buying some cookies for Eid but decided to do it later as the expiry dates were too close.

Back to mothership and rested well ahead of the game on Saturday. At 9.30 pm, my heart had already started pounding like crazy – I was excited yet nervous. Blackpool are not a team to be looked down upon, having announced their arrival with a fantastic thump over Wigan the weekend before. Besides, Arsenal have the tendency to think they could just show up and win (remember Hull?). Cesc, RvP, Djourou, Gibbs, Eboue and Vela were on the bench along with bad Fab (aka Flaps) so it was Song who performed alongside TV5. Theo scored a fine hat-trick (and yet not fine enough to stop mean Hansen’s comments), Rosický was left orchestrating the midfield in Nasri’s absence and he performed like the Little Mozart he is. Even Diaby didn’t look so diabolical, scoring the fourth goal for Arsenal (and what a brilliant goal it was!) and providing assist for the fifth. Chamakh did some Bendtner-esque act in front of goal before finally getting his name on the scoresheet. I’m so happy that he scored. I like him and I believe he will be one of our best. We could have hit double figures, seriously, but for some poor finishing (ahhh that’s Arsenal for you). And my Captain came on too; he did look a bit rusty, lacking match fitness and sharpness.

Theo hit the ground running

Chamakh was felled; I thought the straight red card was a bit harsh though
Shava converted
Theo scored another
Theo and Chamakh celebrate
And can you believe it, Diaby scored too!

Team huddle. Love Is All Around

Theo smashed in his third. He must have worn his magic boots that day

Trying on for size

‘This is what you should do,’ whispers the gaffer

Heads I win

And I’m finally on the scoresheet!

It’s for you

And that was the first 6-0 score; Chelsh*t followed up soon after with the same scoreline and Newcastle repeated it on Sunday. Own goal (OG) is back on fire for ManUre but not enough to help Froggie’s side *snicker*.

Gallas has crossed North London to join potato-heads Spuds (I believe Stoke did score a second goal). And apparently we’re close to signing Squillaci. Let’s hope we sign more than one. Oh and the famous Arsenal clock now has a new home.

Disturbed

It was alternating between rain and shine with an overall cloudy outlook yesterday so it was with some surprise that I noted a bright kitchen waiting for me when I stepped into the living room yesterday evening. The strong sun has been known to shine in on some evenings but then I remembered that the day was cloudy. My heart immediately started beating faster and with some trepidation, I went to investigate. And guess what, all four kitchen windows were opened at 90-degree angle. The dish drainer had been moved and there were obvious signs of some lowlife trying to get in namely the part of wall that was chipped off as they tried to loosen the grille and the dust that was everywhere as they tried to cause damage. Something must have spooked them off though as they left it at that.

It’s been only ten months since the burglary, what, do they think I’m so rich that I’ve accumulated back what I lost earlier? Stupid useless scum of the earth, why don’t you get proper job instead of trying to thieve your way through life?

Cat burglar leaving behind a trail of destruction

Huffing Puffing Weekend

I had a tiring weekend after an exhausting week at week. In addition to the usual Saturday chores, I also cleared the larder of waste. Really, for a single girl, I produce a lot of waste! It all involved a lot of clearing up of boxes (tea, instant soup, vitamins...), washing up of containers, reorganising the cabinet contents and getting rid of clutters. It was all very exhausting but satisfying and I was too knackered to do anything much for the rest of Saturday. Oh, I did do the dreaded ironing. I hate ironing (I believe I much prefer cleaning the house) - and even so I iron enough for a few days each time instead of ironing my clothes daily - but I also believe in delayed gratification.

The new Premier League season kicked off Saturday evening with the Spuds hosting new-money Man S***ty and boy, Joe Hart was really good. Capello must have been blind to overlook him at the World Cup. Blackpool scored an amazing four away goals at Wigan (what a way to announce your arrival eh) and Chelsh** rounded up the night with a six-goal spanking over WBA. Oh and earlier in the day, Wenger signed a contract extension that will see him at the Emirates until June 2014. Until the next World Cup in fact.

I woke too early on Sunday and couldn’t really nap despite trying. The Liverpool-Arsenal match was the only one on Sunday and it had to kick off at 4 pm GMT (why oh why). Arsenal were sans captain Cesc who was reportedly nursing a chest infection (besides a Sheryl Crow infatuation). Liverpool were down to ten men just before the end of the first half – a bit harsh but Cole did deserve a booking of between yellow to red. I was frantic as I thought that was the end of Koscielny (hereafter LK6) but he came back in the second half, apparently protected by the shin pad. I thought LK6 did pretty well on his Premier League debut and away at Anfield at that - unlucky to get sent off though. Chamakh struggled to adjust himself to the pace of the PL and Shava seemed to be drifting (apparently nursing an injury). Arsenal huffed and puffed and looked to have lost the match (how did we score that 6-1 against Everton last season?) as time went on (despite the numerical advantage, we were short of defenders, a decent goalkeeper, a holding midfielder and a captain) but somehow Reina gifted Arsenal a goal and the match ended a draw. And I had trouble sleeping as I always do if I sleep too late on a weeknight.

Need optimism? Then read this.

It wasn’t me, guv

I still need another weekend to recover though. And I have a short lunchtime today as I have a meeting at 1330. Sacrilegious!

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Was thinking this morning of how blessed I am for my dad. Thank you, God, for giving me an imperfect dad. He’s blind to my errors, flaws, mistakes, shortcomings, emo yoyos and immaturity. He’s deaf to my rebellious hot-headed retorts. He’s mute in the sense that he never raised his voice against me – sure I’ve been scolded but am never shouted or screamed at. He’s disabled because he never laid a hand on me; I was never slapped, pinched or caned ever (and I don’t take it kindly if friends and strangers do slap or thump me because hey even my parents don’t do that!). He’s the best dad. Oh sure, I disagree with him most times and I know he deserves a better daughter than me and I’m not making it easy for him because of my stubborn nature but God, I’m so lucky to have him as my dad.

I love you, Abah. I don’t deserve you and you deserve someone better. I hope I haven’t disappointed you too much. I wish I can tell him I love him more often without feeling self-conscious. That’s the problem of being Asian for me – I wish I can express myself better. I can, to my friends and in this blog, but find it difficult doing so to my parents. Funny eh.

Food For Thought

Ok, it may not be an appropriate post considering it is the first day of Ramadan but today I’m going to talk about food.

I’ve been following The Biggest Loser since Ramadan last year, sitting down for my break fast in front of the TV. And while I’m amazed at the determination and dedication of (most of) the contestants, I can’t help thinking of the irony of the situation. Here we are trying to fight our own battle with the bulge when it’s our bad food choices and decisions that led us to that battle in the first place. And another thing that I found ironic is the welcome those contestants who fall below the yellow line receive when they go home. I’m not denying that they do deserve a lot of credit for having lost weight, for having the mental and physical strength to persevere, and for giving their best to regain their health but it’s their carelessness, don’t-care-attitude, insecurities, ignorance, laziness and general disregard to their health that led to the weight problems in the first place. So shouldn’t that be addressed as well? Had we not have all these image issues, insecurities, attitude problems, bad food decisions and greed, we wouldn’t have put weight on in the first place, right.

And having a heavy weight is not only unhealthy but is also expensive and can lead to abuse. I’m talking about the health- related medical bills. And in some instances, these bills are not just borne by the patient but also by the state (or the taxable public). Why should one pay more tax just so that someone else can stuff himself silly with some toxic food which leads to him needing dialysis later on? It doesn’t seem fair. So I don’t like it if someone gets defensive about his eating habits because it’s his body and he has the right to eat whatever he likes or it’s his money and he can buy whatever food he fancies. Because it’s not fair either to the taxpayers for having to subsidise the medical/health bills incurred by the state or the insuring public for having to pay a higher medical insurance premium because of the higher diabetes/cancer risks faced by the population due to the unhealthy cravings of some.

We all have different diets but whichever diet we’re on, we should eat food moderately

And yet, despite The Biggest Loser programme and the ever-soaring health-related medical bills, food is never far from our thoughts. We have a lot of food-related shows (some programmes throw in travelling too) and even a dedicated food channel. There’s even that Bizarre Foods show (it’s not enough to eat edible food, we should also try other strange food?) and The Fear Factor which usually includes eating stunts. Heck, even our country thinks itself as a food paradise and we have all these crazy things cooked up just to be placed in world records books (oh and let’s not forget those large-scale ‘open houses’). Some countries have eating contests too. Well, no wonder we have all these eating problems when we’re constantly bombarded with images of food, food-related contests, enticing food advertisements, irresistible meal offers... (except for Ramadan break fast which can go beyond RM100 a head!).

Maybe we’re just obsessed with food. I know I have an addiction to unhealthy food (junk food and chocolates) but at least I’ve cut down on processed food and fast food. Ultimately, we are what we eat. Eat toxic food and we’ll get a toxic body in the long-run.

Now this ‘fast food’ is actually healthy

The Day Before Ramadan

It’s been a hectic couple of days so far this week for me. It doesn’t look like the situation will improve soon... so here’s looking at a hectic August.

It’s also the last day of Syaaban today; Ramadan will officially commence after Maghrib this evening. Am I ready for fasting? Am I ready for Ramadan? Honestly, no. If given the choice, I’d much prefer to perform prayers than fast the whole day and hence I cannot understand why some people skip prayers and yet don’t mind fasting from dawn to dusk. I would have thought fasting would be more challenging. Well, it certainly is to me. I get hungry easily and quickly due to my high metabolism and I have been known to get exhausted and weak if my body is deprived of sugar for a prolonged period. But of course that is no excuse to skip fasting. And I get very sad when Ramadan draws near to an end and Syawal is around the corner because who knows if I’ll get to meet Ramadan again.

I shall attempt and strive to be more careful with my speech and that includes writing in this blog and to be more patient (not easy) out of respect for the holy month. So wish me luck and help me God – and Arsenal, please perform your best because otherwise I’ll hold you responsible for my reduced Ramadan pahala. It should be easy to cut down on TV time – CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s latest season has ended (only CSI: NY is still running its current season and I don’t care for CSI: Miami); the season finale for House is this Thursday and in any case, I should be done with my tarawikh prayers and Quran reading by 10 pm anyway if I want to tune in to AXN; there’s no Korean drama currently showing on TV8 (instead they’re showing some Chinese drama which genre/plot I’m not into); and there’s no reality shows (read: The Amazing Race) currently showing. Any other TV distraction would probably be due to football/Arsenal/Cesc (not necessarily in that order) and most matches will kick off after 10 pm anyway (oh, so that means I can still shout and yell at them). So I’m really glad of this limited TV distraction because I do want to perform my tarawikh prayers and read as much Quran as possible (to be honest, that’s probably the only time I’ll strive to finish the Quran. Last year, it took me until Eid al-Adha to finish the Quran. Tsk tsk tsk. Once Ramadan is over, I’ll get to my lazy self again). And I hate it if something happens that interferes with my tarawikh prayers (read: something that necessitates me staying back at work resulting in me arriving home after breaking fast and throwing my schedule into chaos. Even if I do go out for break fast with mates, I will perform tarawikh after I get home. Well, we only get to perform tarawikh once a year anyway).

Yes, I can be quite lazy actually. Well, I’m only human

I’m amused that some shopping centres have already started playing Eid songs as early as ten days ago and we haven’t even started Ramadan! I don’t understand this. We should be encouraged to look forward more to Ramadan, not Syawal, and yet over the years, the message has gotten from bad to worse. I may not be physically ready for Ramadan but it doesn’t mean I resent it.

Both Adek and Cesc (yes, he’s the stranger that Sheryl Crow fancied) wish everyone a blessed Ramadan.

‘Firstly I would like to apologise to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment. I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal's prerogative not to sell me. I owe a lot to the Club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal. I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100 percent focused on playing for Arsenal. I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about. I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me. Maaf zahir batin (OK, OK, I added that last part).’

The Last Syaaban Weekend

The weekend couldn’t come soon enough after a challenging week at work. It was the last weekend before Ramadan commences and well with the Mega Sale going on, I really didn’t need an excuse to go shopping. I headed to Isetan KLCC during lunch on Friday and had a quick browse. I was late in finishing my house work on Saturday and left only after 11 am. After dithering, I decided to go to BB and walked to the KL Sentral monorail station and oh boy. It was madness! I saw some queues but didn’t know where they started. I had to weave my way around before I could squeeze myself through to the turnstile. Thank God for Touch ‘n Go cards.

The crowd at the platform wasn’t any better; there were dozens of people waiting at the platform. I managed to squeeze myself through and got in (good thing I was alone). It was the same at most of the stations we subsequently stopped at. Really, I never realised it was that bad - and it was as bad as or worse than riding the komuter on weekday mornings. You don’t even have to hold on to any railings because your fellow passengers are there to support you shoulder-to-shoulder, arm-to-arm. There’s barely enough room for you to stand on; all you have is what little square cm you do occupy which incredibly is enough to propel you along the ride. I did wonder at times if the train would not just topple over onto the roads below and when I thought of this, I quickly prayed that we would balance the train on the track somehow. You do get the feeling like you’re a bunch of sardines in a tight can moving along the conveyor belt for processing. Sheesh.

Anyway, I survived the ride after countless elbowing, being elbowed, jostling, hustling, pushing, shoving and being squeezed half to death at Imbi station by passengers alighting from the train. I didn’t buy anything at Isetan Lot 10 and made up for it at Pavilion. Then I sauntered over to KLCC, with a pit-stop at Mandarin Oriental for prayers in between, and resumed shopping at Isetan. There were a lot of people there who also had the same idea (i.e. hit the shops before it’s Ramadan. I don’t know about them but I don’t like to venture out during Ramadan except for Friday lunchtime and fortnightly weekend visits to Isetan) – from local gals like me to white girls and black-clad Middle Eastern women.

In fact, the sale was so good (or rather, tempting) that I debated going again on Sunday. I seriously contemplated and had even put on my contact lens but finally I decided to just stay in. If the bargains are still there on my next visit, that’s fine and if they’re not, then they’re not meant for me.

In short, it was a satisfying weekend for shopping but it was also too hot and humid. There was a strange haze over the city on Saturday and I thought, great, the haze is back. But the haze cleared up yesterday and today is just another hot, tropical day.

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Mother Nature has been sending some messages to us what with the terrible flooding in China, Pakistan (its worst in decades) and India, and drought and haze in Russia, to name just a few calamities. I was horrified to see the extent of the floods – the destruction and the death toll left in the wake – and was dismayed to see the haze in the Red Square and around Kremlin in Moscow. And yet, there are those who turn a blind eye to all these catastrophes, preferring to call them acts of nature. Well, I’m sure we are all guilty of contributing to the greenhouse gas somewhere along the process.

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Arsenal played their last pre-season friendly and it was a mad one. We finally emerged the winner – after letting in three goals in the first 36 minutes. That’s letting in one goal in every 12 minutes. Damn you Flapianski. Then Chamakh pulled one back (he’s a dream transfer for Arsenal just like Arsenal is a dream move for him) and Eboue scored two consecutive goals to make it 3-3. Then the goals started coming again, Gibbs scored a beautiful fourth, JET scored the fifth and Nasri completed his brilliant pre-season with a sixth. The good thing is we came back from behind despite being three goals down, and when it would be so much easier to just give up we never gave up and kept fighting. The bad news is that we need a new goalie right about now and some other defenders too. I’m getting agitated what with the new season kicking off just days away and there’s those meaningless senseless friendly matches stuck in between.

Cesc had put an end to all speculation and protracted transfer saga when he led the team out at the Members’ Day on Thursday. He admits joining Barcelona would be an attractive move – and he was recently honoured in his hometown Arenys - but now pledges his future at Arsenal with his official statement. And while I wish his statement would be more passionate like RvP’s, I won’t question his love for Arsenal and I sure don’t blame him for feeling frustrated like he was when he led the team for their lap of appreciation in May; after all, the team did let him – and the supporters – down. But for now, it’s Barcelona who are swimming, no drowning, in their tears (hahaha). Of course we would keep him, you idiots. You would too, as Guardiola pointed out – though why this fact was beyond you lot much earlier is beyond me. So stop saying that signing Cesc was a priority when what you did was to sign David Villa first.

The Spanish team would be travelling to Mexico for the meaningless friendly and guess what, Cesc has been called to the squad. Knowing him, he won’t refuse. It’s not enough that they have won the World Cup, they need to still prove it in a friendly. Why not just field a mixed team? After all, it’s the club who pays the players’ salaries, not the country. Sheesh. As Arseblog points out, we’ll be without Nasri, TV5, Cesc, Vela, Wilshere, Gibbs, Walcott, Rosicky, Eboue, Flapianski and Shava until Thursday at the earliest. Double sheesh.

Anyway, here are some photos from the Members’ Day.

Jogja Weekend

I managed to get really cheap MAS tickets (RM295 return!) to Yogyakarta (or Jogja) back in December for my parents and myself. We were due to leave on Friday but unfortunately, Abah wasn’t feeling well on Thursday and decided not to go. This was not the first time it happened; many a time, either he or Mummy wasn’t feeling well (usually it was him) and the trip had to be re-scheduled, cancelled altogether or only Mummy and I would proceed.

We left very early on Friday morning and took the bus to KLIA. Our flight departed at 9.20 am (I even managed to buy a shirt at Mango prior to departure; quite a few stores having their sale) and we landed at Jogja Airport 2.5 hours later. It was a small airport with no walkway connecting to the terminal building so we got down and walked in the hot mid-morning sun to the terminal. There were probably three immigration counters opened but the building was too small to accommodate all of us. Fortunately we disembarked quite quickly and hence didn’t have to stand too long in the queue. The conveyor belt – if I may call it that – was a small belt ferrying our luggage and quite a few bags were already on the floor because the conveyor belt wasn’t long enough and you need to pull your bag off it.

I had made and paid for a booking at the Jayakarta Hotel during the March MATTA Fair and the driver was already waiting for us. The hotel was very near the airport – less than seven minutes away – but about seven km to downtown. The hotel provides a free shuttle to its guests however at scheduled times so one could avail of this service.

Our room didn’t overlook the pool (a good thing because there was a company annual dinner held at the poolside the following evening); it overlooked the road that led to the hotel parking area and there was a small mosque the other side of the high fence.

After freshening up and performing prayers, we took the hotel shuttle to Jalan Malioboro. I made a brief de-tour to Jl. Sosrowijayan to make some enquiries before joining Mummy again. We walked up and down the road and went in and out of shops and yet, and yet, I couldn’t find anything to buy. I often lamented that I wasn’t able to shop when I was there in January 2009 as I had to watch out for my niece and nephew but really, even on this second trip, I still couldn’t/wasn’t able to find anything to buy. We then crossed the street to the Malioboro Mall where we had lunch. I also bought some groceries at the supermarket but that was about it. We returned to the hotel at 5.30 pm.

It was only when we returned that I noticed there was a Carrefour right across our hotel. The driver informed there were some restaurants at Carrefour so after dark, I went out to investigate. There was a bakso restaurant and a Texas Chicken restaurant or something like that. Upon further investigation, I found that the bakso restaurant sold more food than just bakso so I had dinner there and brought a packed dinner back for Mummy.

We returned to Jalan Malioboro on Saturday morning and despite a slower trek along the road, still couldn’t find anything to buy. By then I had gotten sick of batik products. We went to the mall again but even that bored me almost to tears. Finally I decided to take the beca (trishaw) for a little spin around the area. The driver brought us to the cottage industry area (which strangely included t-shirt stores which we didn’t want to get down for), more batik stores (better as Mummy and I finally managed to buy something) and a store selling bakpia and other local delicacies suitable as souvenirs. Frankly, I think the trishaw ride provided more fun. Maybe because I’d walked up and down Jalan Malioboro a few times before and yet couldn’t find anything appealing.

We returned to the hotel and braved the heavy traffic and blinding sun to Carrefour. Lunch was had at the same bakso restaurant (the food was really tasty and more importantly, cooked there and then). In contrast, a Nasi Padang/Minang stall would normally sell luke-warm (or if you’re unlucky, stone-cold) dishes with hardly any vegetable dishes – and that is one reason why I don’t take to nasi padang.

After a brief rest, we went to the hotel spa for our hour-long reflexology massage. It was different from the reflexology massage we get here where you basically sit and have the masseuse massage the soles of your feet and a bit of your calves. The one we had involved us laying down and the masseuses massaging and kneading our soles and whole legs. It got painful at times – heck, even after the massage, some parts of my legs still hurt but it was good.

Dinner was had at the bakso restaurant, yes, again.

We left yesterday morning after breakfast and our 1140 flight only took off at 1200. We landed at KLIA at 1520 and because of the track works, the ERL transit and express services were still combined. That meant we only arrived at KL Sentral at close to 5 pm. I detoured to KLCC to check out the Isetan sale but wasn’t there long. I was already home by 8 pm.

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I slept late last night, or rather, this morning as I (wisely or unwisely) watched the Emirates Cup match between Arsenal and Celtic (I also watched the AC Milan and Lyon before that). I also managed to watch the Arsenal-Milan and Celtic-Lyon matches on Saturday night, much to my surprised delight (there was a channel that showed the matches, hurray. Don’t think I’d be as lucky had I gone to Thailand instead. Bendtner was there, Rambo was there too apparently – I didn’t notice him until I saw the pictures, and even Beckham was there with his boys). New boy Chamakh continued to impress with a goal – his first at the Emirates – but for all the attacking and possession, we didn’t manage to score more. (I really like Chamakh and Koscielny: both looked determined to play even if it was in a pre-season friendly. Hopefully Chamakh can get better haircut and hair advice in London too. I really don’t know what he calls his current hairstyle. And better not ask Sagna for advice.) It was a bit better last night but Celtic rallied to close the gap with two goals. Anyway, it was enough for the Gunners to lift the Emirates Cup again but only just.

Chamakh, please get a new haircut/hairstyle/hairdresser. Though of course you look much better than this poor kitty

Cesc has said that while he loves Barcelona, he’s a Gunner. Wenger said only Cesc can clear the air regarding the situation - and I wonder about this as well. Why didn’t he? Clearly he does NOT have Barcelona DNA because those with that blasted DNA sure can’t seem to stop talking about where Cesc should be.

Right, that’s it for now. Last night’s shenanigans have caught up with me so it’s time for a little siesta.