My Midsummer Night’s Dream

I dreamt of my querido Cesc last night. He was joined by Arsène and Theo. No people, I’m not kidding, I did dream of the three of them. And no, it wasn’t a dirty dream! (Just because I dreamt of a trio, it wasn’t a threesome or even a foursome with me!! In fact, I think I was either talking to him or taking his picture because his face kept being zoomed in and out).

I dreamt of these two hotties ;)

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I was disturbed by the news that apparently Arsenal are willing to sell Cesc. He’s our Captain, one of the best midfielders in the world, and despite last season being one of his ‘worst’ at Arsenal, @Orbinho has posted some incredible statistics about him this summer. Fabregas completed 38 through balls in the league last season – 15 more than the player in second place on that particular chart. This in just 22 starts. An assist every 171.6 minutes made him the league’s most creative player by a street. And don’t forget he provided the winning goal at the World Cup to enable Spain to win it. So selling him at this point in time is ridiculous and possibly suicidal. For one, we don’t have a ready replacement for him. And even if we plan to buy someone with the idea of understudying Cesc, that person will be a work-in-progress for some time. So yes, it wasn’t just for personal reasons that I was disturbed and down at this news. That was until I read Arseblog, who thinks it’s a strategy by Arsenal to put the matter to rest now rather than let it drag through the remainder of summer.

Yes, we all know he wants to go back to Barcelona one fine day. But that day is not here yet, not for a few more years hopefully. He himself says he’s very happy at Arsenal. He loves the club, he loves London, he likes his team-mates and he has a lot of respect for Arsenal. He is authentic, he has values, has always behaved with discretion and is not about to do something that will sour his relationship with Arsène or Arsenal. @LadyArse aptly describes his situation like a child who would like to go to live with his mother - but that doesn’t make him love his father any less.

Stay, querido. Please stay. Because my dreams of you are few and far between and I don’t want to resort to having to watch La Liga to keep up with you. Because we need you, Captain, more so than Barcelona need you.

With Gio van Bronckhorst, who he bumped into while in Jakarta last week

I am trying my best to keep calm about all this

24

A week after returning from Europe, I had this strange urge to head down to Singers to check out the Sale (yes, despite being disappointed in the last two sales). Perhaps it was because I felt denied of shopping in Amsterdam but I didn’t do much pondering as to why but embarked on my usual research. Luckily for me, there was an offer from Firefly for only RM10 (which amounted to a whooping RM102 after taxes and charges. Well, it was still lower than AirAsia). I decided to take First Coach there and fly back the following morning. As for accommodation, a friend is currently pursuing her Master at NUS so I emailed her asking if I could stay with her for a night. She emailed back to say no problem and I immediately bought the tickets.

I woke up really early on Saturday morning (even earlier than during Ramadan!) and left the house after 6.30 am. The coach left sharp at 7.30 am and I tried to sleep but there was this annoying noisy girl sitting diagonally across me. Strange how the man behind me could be snoring away when the girl was being so bloody irritating.

It rained intermittently after we entered Malacca all the way to Senai. I was worried that I’d be stuck in some mall because of the rain but the weather cleared just before we arrived at the Second Link Expressway. We had to get down at both Johore exit and Singapore entry points of course to clear immigration. I like this route as it was very clear. As luck had it, I chose the ‘wrong’ queue at the Singapore entry point and had to wait ages for the immigration officer to process the passports of the ladies ahead of me. While queuing, I noted that some other counters actually asked for the MyKad of my fellow Malaysians. This happened to me before at Woodlands when I took the night train - and I actually left my MyKad at home – but not when I flew over. But really, why should I show my MyKad to a non-Malaysian anyway and does a non-Malaysian have the right to request to sight our MyKad? I don’t agree with this at all. The immigration lady who served me didn’t ask for mine though. So why did the other counters ask for it? If my passport could be processed without the immigration lady sighting my MyKad, why did the other counters need it to process the others?

Anyway, it was just before 12 noon when we left the immigration complex. The ride to Novena took about 30 minutes and from there, I took the MR to Newton and walked to Scotts Road. I could have taken the MRT to Orchard but being a busy station, I wanted to avoid it and the crowd at the underpass. Besides, I wanted to stop at DFS Galleria on Scotts Road; if I had stopped at Orchard, I would need to double back to DFS Galleria before returning back to Orchard.

Next, I headed for ION Orchard. No avoiding the underpass this time so I reluctantly joined the thronging Saturday crowd. I got hungry there and headed for the Food Opera. There were two lovely blue winter jackets at North Face that would prove very practical in one of my future trips but they were both in L size so I didn’t buy any (and the nearest other North Face store is at Suntec City Mall).

After lunch, I headed for Wisma Atria, Ngee Ann City and Takashimaya before crossing over to Paragon. I even went to check out the Toys R Us at Paragon in search of binoculars but the ones there didn’t look powerful at all (well, they were only S$12.95 or so). My Singaporean friend sent texts asking if I wanted to meet for tea while I was in Paragon and we agreed to meet at 5.30 pm. He was somewhat surprised when he saw me empty-handed. Five hours of walking and browsing and yet I hadn’t purchased anything!

We had our drinks at the Far East Plaza where among others I discovered a supermarket that sells toiletries at lower prices. We hung around to chat until past 7 then decided to return to Orchard.

My friend (the one doing her Master at NUS, let’s call her WR) sent a text saying she was at ION Orchard (in reply to my text asking for her opinion on bags) so we took the underpass across. I introduced them both, we chatted for a while then my Singaporean friend took his leave.

It was almost 10 when we finally emerged from DFS Galleria feeling hungry. We hadn’t had dinner yet! We decided to head for her digs at College Green and have dinner at the nearby stalls. Now, getting a bus or cab at 10 pm on a Saturday is next to impossible and we waited for ages in the taxi queue before spotting a bus. We abandoned the queue and ran to catch the bus instead. Thank God the taxi queue and bus stop are nearby.

It was past 11 pm when we finally reached her double-storey flat and after midnight when I finally crept under the duvet.

Woke up at 7 am on Sunday and got ready. After breakfast, WR walked me to the bus stop from where I took a bus to Little India MRT. It took more than an hour to get to the airport from the bus stop outside College Green (waiting for the trains, changing trains etc). At Changi, I had to take a shuttle to the budget terminal (why is Firefly classified as a budget airline?).

I browsed the shops but didn’t buy anything, the exchange rate being steep as it is. Sighted a vacant terminal and used it to access Twitter before heading for the gate. The flight from KL was late in arriving so we only took off at 12 noon (my flight was originally scheduled for 8.30 a.m. and I only found out on Thursday that it was combined with the next flight. Even then, it was quite empty) and landed at Subang at 1 pm.

So that was my 24 hours in Singapore. Hope your 48-hour weekend was good too and nowhere as exhausting as Jack Bauer’s!

Summertime

Well, it’s that time of year when, having bade goodbye to last season’s footie attempts (unsuccessful from Arsenal’s point of view again), we now brace ourselves for the summer - and the inevitable madness it brings.

Barbecues

Ahhh... what would summer be without barbecues, strawberries and cream, ice cream, and Frisbee, to name just a few?

Having a BBQ?
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream...!

Summer Flicks

Oh yeah, the summer movie marathon has started with the school holidays end of last month. Pirates of the Caribbean, Kung Fu Panda, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Transformers, Harry Potter...

Er, I said Kung Fu Panda, not Ninja Cat
Batman? Not this summer dude, but next summer. Hopefully the Dark Knight Rises will be released on 20 July 2012 (The Amazing Spiderman just before that and The Bourne Legacy in August 2012)

Summer Hols

The summer hols for football players should have started in mid-May but some clever people think it’s a brilliant idea to have some friendly and qualifying matches. Cesc didn’t join the national team; instead, he and Robin went to New York to watch Titi play late last month.

The day before departure. Lukas & Cesc feeling lonely at the training ground. Er, Cesc? Why are you wearing no. 8?

Guess whose bag this is... worse packer than me!

Ah, the owner is the one in the baseball cap!

Travelling partner-in-crime

Got stuck, Robin?

They were spotted at the Red Bull Arena

Red Bull Arena

With a fan after the Red Bull-Colorado Rapids match

A couple of days later, they went to watch the NY Mets

My Catalan-turned-Yankee Captain!

Thanks @KevinHenriquez, @MLS_Insider, @SacirHot, @cesc4official and @Persie_Official!

And thanks Robin, for going on holiday with Cesc, and helping him avoid these buggers.

Summer Sale

Oh yes! Most countries have two major sales periods, i.e. winter and summer sales. Singapore has started its annual GSS on 27 May (which will last until 24 July), Malaysia will start its Mega Sale very soon (15 June!) and Thailand Grand Sale will also kick off on 15 June (and lasting two months). Of course, if you have spare cash to splurge, you can always fly to Europe and shop there.

Ladies, just go shopping on your own or with your girlfriends/sisters. It’s so much more fun than with a guy. Guys, well, good luck waiting for your partners...

I hope to be able to get some good deals this summer sale myself!

Summer Transfers

We already know of at least two players who want to leave/will be leaving i.e., Denilson and Bendtner. I can’t say I’m sorry that Denilson is leaving but it’s a shame Bendtner is leaving. Still, it’s hard to see where he’ll fit in if he stays and as he’s still young, it’s better if he heads off elsewhere.

It’s anyone’s guess if Nasri will stay or sell his soul to the Devils. Of course I’m hoping he’d stay but his inability to commit, to make a decision, to adopt a wait-and-see approach is beginning to worry me. Why anyone would want to play with the likes of Evra, Nani and Anderson is beyond me but hey, this is modern football and players are sadly no longer loyal or faithful. Most are driven by the colour of money. Six months of brilliant performance didn’t make a season and if Nasri thinks he should be paid as much as the top earners at the club, well, I’m not sure if we should bow to this demand.

Well, at least young Carl Jenkinson has joined Arsenal (and yes, he’s young but not significantly younger than Phil Jones who’s decided to smear himself in ManUre).

Have a good summer, everyone!

P.S. Yes, I do know that it’s summer all year through in Malaisie.

The Sweet Escape Tour: Tenth Leg

Sunday, 15 May 2011
GVA-AMS
Take Me Home
Another early start for me. Woke at 5, showered, performed prayers and had a little something to eat. Set off for the train station at 0615 - the bus service on Sundays only commence at 0843 but I needed to catch the 0652 train so it was either a CHF30-cab ride (that’s almost RM105!) to the station about four minutes away or walk the 1.8-km or so. I chose the latter. Lin was kind enough to accompany me. We took 30 minutes to reach the station.

I reached Bern at 0713 then took the 0734 train to Geneva Airport after spending the last of my francs on food in the station. It was an uneventful trip and we reached Geneva Airport after 105 minutes. Geneva is in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and you can just sense it as early as Lausanne.

I checked in and went to check out the duty-free shops (yes, despite being franc-less). Geneva Airport has a number of duty-free shops and boutiques such as Hermès, Cartier and Chopard.

We took off at 1120 and reached Amsterdam after 1 pm. After collecting my bag and performing prayers, I went to search for the left luggage (you need Euro coins for this. I didn’t have a small Euro note so I had to change that first into smaller denominations before changing a note into coins. There are machines to change your notes to coins at the left luggage area). Next, I headed for the Tourist Information Centre at the airport. And this was where my Amsterdam trip started on a sour note. I was served by a patronising and condescending b*tch who replied to my queries with a bored, arrogant air. I parted with some sarcastic replies on my own, muttering and cursing as I left. Stupid b*tch. Hello, if you work in the service industry and especially at the Tourist Information Centre in an airport where you’re likely the first point of reference for any tourist, don’t be patronising, condescending or arrogant, OK.

She really put me in a bad mood and I took the train to Amsterdam Centraal Station still fuming. I walked a bit then located a hotel and asked for directions to the shopping area. Yes, I was in Amsterdam solely to shop. I had visited the city before and I hadn’t shopped much on this trip so my priority was to shop. The nice chap gave me the directions and a map so I set off.

I had stumbled upon Amsterdam’s infamous red light district before (it’s even shown in city maps!). Hence it was not on my list of things-to-do in Amsterdam this time

It started off well and I managed to buy some souvenirs and brooches that I’d planned to buy. Then, sighting a departmental store, I went to ask for directions to the boutiques. The nice girl at Lacoste store gave me directions to P.C. Hoofstraat and the tram info. So I took tram no. 1 (and the kind conductor told me I needn’t pay for my fare. See, not everyone in Amsterdam is mean). After a while, I started getting worried. The tram was obviously not sticking to its route and finally I got down at a station and endured a long wait for a train to Centraal.

The train finally came and at the next stop, a lot of people boarded. Turned out they were Ajax Amsterdam fans and they obviously just got back from a match and were in a boisterous rowdy mood (Ajax won the Eredivisie that day).

It got worse when we reached Centraal and Ajax fans were everywhere. I finally located an info centre for public transportation and asked for the route to get to P.C. Hoofstraat. This time, I took tram no. 5 and confirmed with the tram driver that he would be passing P.C. Hoofstraat.

But guess what? The tram stopped a few times and didn’t move for prolonged intervals. I was starting to worry as I had to return to the airport for my flight home. I asked a fellow passenger and she informed that it didn’t look as if the tram was sticking to its route, probably because of the disruption caused by Ajax Amsterdam supporters.

I was starting to get furious and alighted at the next stop and took another tram back to Centraal. And guess what. There were some works going on at the station and the trains to Schiphol were at various platforms. Great.

Anyway, I managed to reach the airport after 7 pm and after freshening up, checked in my bag. I was still pissed from the unpleasant experiences today that I only gave the duty-free shops a cursory look before heading for my gate.

Our flight took off on time (another big jumbo). I watched a bit of Eat, Pray, Love (solely to watch James Franco. I don’t like Julia Roberts) and then Unstoppable before trying to sleep.

Monday, 16 May 2011
We landed at KLIA after 3 pm. Our bags took a while to make their appearance; I managed to perform prayers and still had time to kill before my bag appeared. Reached home sweet home at 6.30 pm.

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So that was my account of my 2.5 weeks of a mad whirlwind trip. I did wonder if I had bitten off more than I could realistically chew when I planned the journey. And it did take some time to finalise my plan: searching for airlines to get from A to B; ensuring there is ample connection time; coordinating the dates (Airline X may fly to destination B but only on certain days); trawling the Internet for information on places that are expensive to fly into/have limited airlines flying there and for bus service schedules for those places that are only connected by road (especially in Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia)... while at the same time ensuring I got the most out of my trip and visited all the places that I wanted and ticked them off my to-do list.

I know not everyone would be prepared to go on a trip through 15 countries (whether passing through, transiting at or dropping by) in only 17.5 days (including travelling time), sleeping in buses, train station and airport (I only had accommodation for nine nights) so that was why I took this trip solo. So that I could go where I want when I want, see what I want, visit what I want, sleep where I don’t mind and yet not compromise my ambition. I know there would be people who would discourage me or tell me I was mad or over-ambitious but alhamdulillah, I stuck to my plan and did it. Never ever let someone tell you that you can’t do it.

So 2.5 weeks, 15 countries (seven of them which I’d never been to) and 11 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (including one in the Danger List) later, I’m back home - with a tan and no regrets at all. Thank you, God, for this opportunity to see Your world and marvel at Your creation.

‘Til the next whirlwind trip then, insyaAllah.