Viva La Vida

Syukur Alhamdulillah, after 22 long, lean years, The Arsenal are Champions of England again. From Highbury to Ashburton Grove, from Wenger to (cough) Emery and now Arteta, from the lowest of low of an 8-2 spanking to the occasional mad uplifting-but-usually-too-fleeting moments, from guaranteed top four finishes to being out of the Champions League and Europe altogether before we made our comeback, from (cough, cough) Gallas to Fabregas to a few others in between to Arteta himself, Per, Koscielny then Xhaka to (cough) Aubameyang, Lacazette and now Ødegaard, from the obscure signings to high profile ones like Arshavin and Özil, from despair and hopelessness to joy, we, the Arsenal supporters have gone through it all. We’ve stood tall in the face of criticism, we’ve endured the booing and the celebration police, we’ve ignored the jeering, we’ve learnt to develop a very thick skin. We’ve been loyal. And now, let us celebrate this and hope that there will be many, many, many more trophies to come. InsyaAllah. I love you, Arsenal.

Catching Arsenal In Singapore

I was excited when I heard The Arsenal were coming to Asia, never mind it was to Singers instead of KL. I actually bought the ticket to the friendly match against AC Milan just before going through security check at KLIA T2 when I was flying out to Nairobi. I only bought the bus ticket after coming back from Chiang Mai and as I’d be leaving early in the morning and taking the late evening bus fr Singers, I booked a room at Times Square as I envisaged I’d arrive before dawn like I did on a previous trip.

I left the hotel at 06:37 on 23 July 2025 and had to wait ages for the monorail train to KL Sentral (the bus actually also departed from Times Square but I didn’t notice it when I bought the ticket, duh me). The bus was supposed to depart at 07:15 but it only arrived at 07:45. I was actually embarrassed by the delay as there was a Japanese mother and her young son also taking the same bus.

We stopped at Yong Peng rest area to use the facilities before continuing on. The immigration process on both sides was such a breeze compared to the slow long queues of the past.

We arrived at Oxley Bizhub at 13:25 and I set off for the National Stadium, stopping en route at Masjid Wak Tanjong to perform prayers.

I went to have late lunch/early dinner first at Kallang Wave Mall then sat and read my book before queuing up to enter the stadium. No water bottle allowed but I managed to smuggle a small bottle in my bag and there’s also a water cooler and I filled up my water bottle.

The match begun just after 19:30. I was surprised to find many empty seats, maybe because it was a week night but there were just too many empty seats. And true enough, the announcer announced there were just over 22,000 spectators. What a pathetic number! And the atmosphere was blergh. Whoever at Arsenal who thought up of and arranged this tour should’ve considered KL or even Jakarta. It’d be a full house and the match more lively and atmosphere more electrifying.

The match, being friendly, was frustrating in the first half. Saka scored the only goal early in the second half.  I left right after the match and didn’t wait for the penalty shootout as I wanted to perform prayers at the space in Kallang Wave Mall and if the mall closed at 22:00, I didn’t have much time left.

After prayers, I walked to Lavender MRT station to wait for the bus back to KL. I was informed by some Indonesian girls that they’d received WhatsApp message from the bus operator informing that the bus would be slightly late.

Well, I only received the WhatsApp after 23:00 informing that we’d be picked up by a Transtar bus which would then bring us to The Plaza at Beach Road for us to change to another bus. The Transtar bus arrived at 23:24 and we arrived at The Plaza ten minutes later. I managed to doze off until we reached Tuas.

After crossing over, we had to change bus yet again. This third bus looked very comfortable and brand new. The driver increased the AC temperature so it didn’t feel like we were travelling in a morgue and I even managed to doze off!

Due to the delays and bus changes, we arrived at Times Square at exactly 06:00 (and I actually thought I’d have to stay awake to wait for morning prayers). After prayers, I went back to bed.

So that was my first trip back to Singers after the pandemic. Please, Arsenal, just come to KL or even Jakarta next time.

11+ Hours In SG

I had been a bit indifferent to Arsenal during the recent season but decided to meet them when they announced they would be playing in International Champions Cup in Singapore in July. After a few attempts at securing the ticket for the Saturday match against Paris Saint Germain, I finally managed to get my ticket. Next was securing the bus ticket and I was gutted to find that Nice Coach had stopped its bus services to Singapore from 1 July 2018. As I didn’t want to get the bus from TBS, I bought First Coach ticket online departing from Lengkok Abdullah near Bangsar LRTstation for RM60. Then I spent some time browsing for bus tickets to return the same evening after the match (no way was I going to overnight there) and after reading reviews of a few bus operators, I decided to buy Transtar ticket departing from Golden Mile Complex at Beach Road departing at 22:45 and arriving opposite Berjaya Times Square. The ticket cost SGD20 and I added another SGD1 for insurance.

I woke up early on Saturday, 28 July, and prepared some sandwich for breakfast and my trip. We left for Bangsar LRT station and waited for the First Coach office to open at 07:00 to get my ticket. There were 3 other Gooners in their respective Arsenal tops (I planned to change just before the match) in the same bus. I received my ticket together with a bottle of water and a packet of Jacob’s crackers.

We left on time and were soon breezing down PLUS Highway heading south. Traffic was blessedly smooth all the way. We stopped at Pagoh R&R at 09:40 to utilise the facilities and were off again at 10:05. Traffic was again kind until we crossed over the second link into Singapore – I didn’t even want to wonder how bad the traffic was at Causeway. Our bus only cleared the queue after 20 minutes. There was another long wait at the Singaporean passport control. I stood for almost 45 minutes before I was cleared.

Tuas Checkpoint

It was about 13:30 when we reached Novena Square and I wasted some time before boarding the MRT for Orchard. I made my way to Royal Plaza on Scotts to perform prayers. The prayer room had relocated since my last visit to the second floor (or first floor; Singaporeans are so American-influenced despite being a British settlement!) and you need to climb up the staircase up (the right-hand staircase when you enter the hotel). I left at 15:15 and wandered off to Isetan before heading to Lucky Plaza where I discovered a shop selling confectionery and snacks at very competitive prices. I then crossed over to Ngee Ann City and after a brief visit to Wisma Atria, I returned to Ngee Ann City and had an early dinner at the Food Village. After dinner, I caught up with social media before boarding the MRT for Nicoll Highway station as I wanted to check out the Golden Mile Complex and ascertain where the Transtar office was.

I was waiting to cross Java Road when a bus turned into the road and it took a few seconds for me to realise it was the Arsenal bus with the players in it heading for the National Stadium!!! I realised too late to fish out my device and take a picture of it. I could see Cech and Matteo sitting by the window closest to me and they were literally five metres away from me! FIVE!!!

After that brief excitement, I continued on to Golden Mile Complex. I don’t know why it was named such but the building houses several bus operators along with some Vietnamese- and Thai-owned businesses and Transtar was at the other end of the building. There was a Thai Buddhist shrine across from Transtar office. I asked if I could collect my ticket then and was told to come at 22:15. I continued on and walked to the stadium.

Before entering the stadium, I went to Kallang Wave Mall and went to find the prayer area there (found out when I was searching for prayer rooms near the stadium). It was near the washrooms around the corner from Fair Price. I went to the washroom and changed my top before returning to Fair Price to get some mineral water. There was an announcement urging those of us planning to watch the match to make our way there immediately.

There was a short queue heading into the stadium and security check. Those with bags had to queue in different queues and after having our bags checked, we underwent body check. My seat was in section 7 so I had to walk a bit before going up to where my row was. There were a few idiots in ManUre and Cheshit tops too.

The match started around 19:45 and when Paris Saint Germain equalised from the spot, I started getting worried. A draw would mean penalty shootout which would mean the match would end later than expected and I might not be able to perform prayers after the match but at some R&R stop later that night. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried as the Gunners scored another four goals and the final score was 5-1. I left immediately and went back to Kallang Wave Mall. After freshening up and performing ablutions, I performed prayers in the prayer area. My, it was stuffy in there. No air-conditioning at all. It was 22:02 when I left and I hurried back to Beach Road. I arrived at Transtar office at 22:16 and checked in. I wasn’t issued any ticket but the girl noted my printed ticket and gave me a bottle of water. I went into the building to find a washroom but left immediately. It wasn’t a nice place at all. I walked to the nearby Caltex and used the bathroom there instead. There just wasn’t time to go to Zam Zam to buy any murtabak to go.

My bus arrived as I was walking to Caltex and it was parked at the other end of the building from Transtar. It was a double decker bus and I purposely chose a seat at the lower deck as I wanted to go out and in quickly. We left on time and I dozed off during the trip to Tuas Checkpoint. As Transtar was a Singaporean company, I had worried earlier if there were more Singaporeans on board which mean they would clear the Singaporean passport control quickly and the bus may leave without me but I needn’t have worried as the Tuas Checkpoint was almost deserted then (it was almost midnight) and the passport control process took five minutes tops. We then re-boarded the bus and crossed over to Malaysian soil. Again, it was a quick process at the Johore side and before long, we were travelling north. The bus stopped somewhere for a washroom break but I was too sleepy to get down then.

We arrived at the bus stop at Plaza Berjaya (under the Imbi monorail and opposite Times Square) at 04:15 and I sat there waiting. There were many cars on the road even at that hour and the bus stop was brightly lit so I wasn’t afraid. I had planned to walk down to Pudu and wait until Subuh to perform prayers before taking the bus back but CT came to pick me up.

And that was my trip to SG this time. I wasn’t in the mood to shop at all despite the Great Singapore Sale so I hardly spent apart from on MRT tickets, some chocolates and dinner. And besides, Singapore is not cheap especially when you earn MYR. I could find a similar thing at a lower cost at Isetan KLCC compared to Singapore. But it was a good day trip nevertheless.

End Of An Era

First of, I must apologise for not updating this blog for some time now. I’ve been busy at work and also doing research for my upcoming trips. A lot has happened since, both in the local scene and abroad of course but I’m not going to cover them.

But the news that broke last Friday, 20 April 2018, was somewhat shocking. Yes, a lot of us have wanted change for some time now. Football and especially Arsenal have become stale of late. I no longer find myself watching them and instead have been consciously watching something else or reading. But as much as I want change, I didn’t understand and hated the abuse hurled to Arsène. Sure, he can be frustrating with his beliefs, principles, stubbornness and insistence, but he never deserved the abuse. In fact, he never hid from his responsibilities, even in the face of the tasteless banners. He answered difficult painful questions and he defended his players. In short, he never ever shirked from his responsibilities, no matter how unpleasant it has become. You’ve got to either have very thick skin, very strong beliefs and principles, or love for the club to keep on doing what he’s been doing. I suspect he has all of those. Even I can’t bear watching the team play of late so obviously I’m so much more a worse fan than Arsène is. As Amy put it, maybe he finds it upsetting to see the values he has tried to build are the subject of mockery and abuse. Maybe he was pushed into leaving by the Board or Ivan, maybe he’s had enough. But one thing for sure, he is professional about it all, preferring to focus on the here and now.

I’m sure you’ve read most of the articles and seen the clips about him by now so I’m not going to do that here. I’m just sad that the era is ending. 22 years is a long time, for some, longer than their own life span and the club/team can’t just have a brand new start without his influences still playing a big role.

I do hope the club will do a lot of serious thinking about his successor. He has extra latge shoes to fill after all.

Merci beaucoup, Arsène. Farewell, our dear Professor. You will be sorely missed.

No More Words (Enough Is Enough)

I think it’s probably time for us to part ways. We no longer have the same interests and haven’t been on the same page for some time now.

I’m not the type to sit back and bite my tongue every time something wrong happens. I need to voice out my dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

I’ve given way too many allowances to you and yet every time you come around and hurt me all over again.

I’ve defended you and endured crap. Teases, jeers, mockery, sarcasm. I had persevered this far but there’s got to be a final straw.

I’ve invested so much in you: time, energy, effort, passion. I’ve defended you many times and you don’t care, don’t even know it, what more appreciate it.

Not to mention all those money I spent on you. So enough is enough is enough surely.

This just can’t go on anymore. I can’t and refuse to be taken for a ride time and again.

You keep making promises, you keep saying things, but you are never good at keeping your word.

I hate you for making me care for you when you don’t even care for me. You don’t give a damn. You can’t be bothered. You don’t even try!

All the promises made, all the pledges given, all the nice words said meant to comfort, when all along you’re just playing with my feelings!

You can’t say that I haven’t been trying my best. Sometimes I feel as if my effort has all been for naught. Unappreciated, unrecognised.

You take me for granted and treat me like a fool. Anyone deserves better than this!

Stop promising things, stop pledging, stop playing with my feelings, just stop. You say all these but your actions don’t commensurate at all.

You say one thing but it’s not matched with your pitiful effort. You make me hope and it’s the hope that kills me.

Sometimes I feel like you just don’t care. You’re cruel and unfeeling. You’re indifferent to my feelings and needs. You hurt me and you make me cry.

I don’t care to be hurt again. I don’t want to hope in vain again. Because I’ll just end up disappointed and gutted at the end. Heartbroken and hurt.

You are just stringing me along. You hope I’ll turn a blind eye and ignore your shortcomings. You use me, manipulate me.

Well, I’ve had enough. Enough of your uncaring, unfeeling, indifferent ways. I keep giving you chance after chance but I needn’t have bothered.

I probably should have done this a long time ago before you hurt me as deep as you have. I should do it now before you hurt me even further.

I was blind to your faults, I kept excusing your indifference, I kept fooling myself. Well, no more!

Goodbye, Arsenal. You’ve hurt me enough.

I’m however prepared to give you another chance if you promise to turn over a new leaf for good and stick to it.

No more hurting me, no more disappointment, no more heartache, no more pain. Because I’ve had enough of those.

No more lies, no more empty promises, no more pledges. No more!

To be honest, I’m not sure if you deserve another chance from me when you’ve hurt me so bad, when you keep disappointing me, when you keep letting me down, when you keep breaking your promises.

You’ve hurt me enough, Arsenal. You should be ashamed of your sorry self.

Adek In Sydney 2017- Part II

Friday, 14 July 2017

We had decided to go to Parramatta today and left our room at almost 10:00. We walked up to Circular Quay (took us 45 minutes), bumping into fellow Gooners along the way. After consulting electronic board, we went to the designated wharf and waited. There was a bit of confusion as the boards first showed our ferry departing from right side and then showed it departing from the left side. We departed later than scheduled too. It took one hour and 23 minutes to reach Parramatta by ferry but at least you get to experience riding the ferry. Parramatta is the furthest stop inland that ferry can go.

At Parramatta, we waited for the Parramatta Shuttle Bus that takes you on a continuous loop around downtown. We got down near Parramatta Park and left not long after. We then took the shuttle bus on another loop before getting down near Centenary Square. To be honest, I found Parramatta a tad underwhelming. We then went to Westfield Parramatta as we wanted to find free wifi – the mall provided it, Alhamdulillah! – to check in for the flight back. We’d only arrived a couple of days earlier and would already be departing after the next couple of days. Well, I didn’t intend to stay too long in Sydney anyway. It has become more and more expensive over the years and I sadly only earn Malaysian Ringgit.

I then went to browse some stores to find some wipes that my sister asked me to and after a dozen stores and spending 10 minutes on average at the wipes aisle of those stores, I concluded that the particular brand that she wanted was no longer in production. I bought some crisps and then went to check out Target before leaving. We got the train back to Central within 3 minutes of its departure and it took only 26 minutes.

Today was my last fasting day so after prayers, we cooked dinner at the kitchen a floor up.

  

Saturday, 15 July 2017

I slept again after Suboh and got up after 08:00. We left for Paddy’s Market after breakfast but didn’t buy any souvenirs. We came back at almost noon and stayed in. I took advantage of this and made progress on my book. We left at 17:30 after having dinner and performing prayers and went to Central station. This time, there was a direct train to Olympic Park. Even better!

We headed directly for the stadium and entered (hardly any queue by the time we arrived). Our seats this time were at the fourth row from the boards that separated the pitch from the spectators. The crowds around us were more vocal too this evening and there were always a few individuals trying to get us to start chanting. So much so, one bloke in front of missed one of the goals (he was too busy looking back and rallying us). I also heard another chap a few rows behind saying that we all just wanted to watch the match.

This time, the rush back to the station wasn’t as bad as on Thursday and we managed to squeeze into the first train that arrived. There were some vocal Gooners in the carriage we entered and we all sang our way back to Central station. Now that was fun!

Sunday, 16 July 2017

I woke up early this morning after the post-Suboh kip to finish packing. We had a late breakfast and left at 09:45. We followed the same route back to the airport that we took on Wednesday in reverse and arrived at the airport almost an hour later. After dropping off our bags and getting our boarding passes, we cleared security and immigration. There’s no prayer room once you clear immigration so I performed prayers in the parents’ room before making my way to the gate.

We took off on time and landed at KLIA at 20:00. The bags came out well after we finished performing prayers and we took a Grab back to KL.

So that was my third trip to Sydney and sixth to Australia. I doubt if I’ll be back because there are many more places that I haven’t been to. Thanks anyway Sydney for all the memories.

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Just a bit on my Airbnb: from the airport, you can take a cab or Uber (AUD20-40 depending on traffic and terminal (departing from international terminal would cost more), or you can take the Airport train to Central. The Airport train costs AUD16.22 from the airport to Central with an Opal card as you have to pay the airport access fee of AUD13.80 so we chose to walk to Wolli Creek instead. The Airbnb is pretty near Central station, about 15 minutes’ walk away. You can also take a bus from Eddy Avenue Stand C, routes 338, 374, 376 and 391; get off at Flinders St near South Dowling, cross at the lights and walk three minutes downhill to the front door. We chose to walk.

We had to get the keys from a locked box at the unit next door and after opening the door, walk up the stairs to the first landing where the bathroom and TV room are. Our room is one of the two rooms just a few steps up the landing and it overlooks South Dowling St. There is another flight of stairs up to the host’s housemate’s room, a bathroom and kitchen and another room above the kitchen (accessed from the kitchen). The two other housemates couldn’t be friendlier.

My comments are that the room is slightly dusty (those with dust allergy should avoid it) and the dustbin in the kitchen just overflew, and the housemates were not diligent about keeping the kitchen counter and sink empty so a few times I washed up their glasses and crockery. I know I wasn’t paying to stay at a hotel (too dang expensive and even this Airbnb didn’t come cheap what with inflated Sydney prices) but I would have appreciated a cleaner and tidier kitchen. Not sure how frequent garbage collection is there or why no one bothered to take the trash out. Those are my main comments.

Adek In Sydney 2017- Part I

This plan was hatched on 9 December 2015 when I first heard Arsenal were planning to go to Sydney. Then seven months later, in early July 2016, I received an email from Arsenal informing of a 48-hour priority window to secure tickets for the matches against Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers. So on 16 July 2016, with the help of CT, I tried and finally managed to secure tickets – and all whilst preparing drinks for guests who came to visit (it was a few days after Eid then). Having secured the tickets, I then searched for air tickets and finally purchased a return AirAsia ticket. Truth be told, I was planning to visit Sydney again having been there twice before, or any part of Australia as I’d been there 5 times before. But hey, never say never.

In mid-February 2017, I decided to search for MAS tickets instead and bought them via Expedia. I had made a booking at a hotel via booking.com before deciding to source a host via Airbnb. After having a couple of reservations declined and one cancelled, I finally managed to secure a room at a flat in Surry Hills. Phew, Alhamdulillah! Then it was just a matter of time of waiting for the tickets to arrive (electronically in my case) and applying for a visa.

Tuesday, 11 July 2017

I left office and got a ride from my dear colleague to KL Sentral. I was fasting today and broke fast at Le Meridien Hotel. After performing prayers, I had some char kuay teow (the taste left much to be desired though) before going down to take the bus. I had a sudden fear of the 21:30 bus being full so decided to take the 21:00 bus and it turned out to be quite empty. And I found out the flight was retimed to depart 20 minutes later than scheduled. Strewth.

We reached KLIA after only 50 minutes and after dropping off our bags, we went in. I had my main meal then as I was planning to fast the following day.

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

We took off after midnight and as usual sleep was elusive. I liked the area where I sat; the first row of economoney and there are only two rows in that space before the food preparation area. We were not business class but we were somehow isolated from the rest of the cabin class passengers. Sleep was elusive as usual and at one point, I got up and had some water as I was feeling dehydrated. I then asked one of the cabin crew, Miss Afiza, when breakfast would be served as I was planning to fast the following day. She told me it would be served 2.5 hours before arrival, i.e. about 07:30 Sydney time but 05:30 Perth time. I had checked that Suboh was at 05:50 in Perth then so technically if they served us on time, I would be able to have my breakfast as predawn meal. And what do you know, Miss Afiza came and served me ahead of everyone, including those with special dietary needs. She remembered our conversation! How thoughtful, sweet and considerate was that? I had my meal gratefully. Syukur alhamdulillah. She did tell me to hurry as Suboh was approaching. No problem, I thought.

We landed into a wet wet wet Sydney at 09:50 but our plane was made to wait on the runway (along with about 5 other planes ahead of ours). A while turned out to be 45 minutes and I was desperately holding my bladder throughout. We were finally assigned another bay as the plane occupying our designated bay was still there. I was worried that there would be a long queue at immigration but I needn’t have worried as the officers were pretty quick. We did have to queue to clear quarantine though but we cleared it without much ado.

After freshening up, we went to WH Smith to buy Opal cards. I’d done my research and AUD20 would be sufficient to load into our cards. The chap manning the counter was on the phone and looked and sounded distracted but he asked us what we needed and we told him. After asking for directions from a lady to Wolli Creek, we set off, passing by another WS Smith shop.

It was pissing rain and we walked about one km to Wolli Creek. It wasn’t far but it wasn’t much fun in the rain. At the station, we looked at the electronic displays before heading to the right platform to Central station, not realising the machine where we had to tap our Opal cards. I had to return back to the station entrance to tap and was not happy at all to find that one card had AUD40 value while the other had no value. I asked at a nearby kiosk and they couldn’t do anything either as Opal is run by a different private company. I was seething at this point and was angry that I had to part with another AUD20 to reload the empty card. Stupid WH Smith man. Damn you!!!

We reached Central station after about 12 minutes and I was not amused to find that the machine deducted AUD5.95 from my card when the fare should have been only AUD2.36. Seriously?! Barely a few hours after arriving and I was already pissed off. It was still pissing rain when we walked out of the station, crossed over to Foveaux St that climbed up until the Crown Street intersection (no wonder it’s called Surry Hills!) and continued on Fitzroy St until we reached our Airbnb room (an upgrade from this room just next door to the one we stayed at).

After freshening up and performing prayers, we left and walked out and walked up to Sydney Opera House. The weather was acting up again with brief spells of sunshine alternating with spells of drizzle. I broke my fast at Sydney Opera House and on the way back, we stopped at Gelato Messina at Gateway Plaza. We also dropped by Romeo’s and Aldi to buy food. We reached our room after 8 p.m. and rested.

Thursday, 13 July 2017

I woke up at 04:45 and had my pre-dawn meal. I had another kip after Suboh prayers and got up after 08:00. We left after 09:00 and headed out. It was a beautiful winter’s day with endless skies overhead and not a cloud in sight. What a welcome change from the day before! We stumbled upon The Salvation Army shop at Crown St and had a browse. It had a good selection of clothes, household items, toys and books and some shoes and accessories. After that, we went to check out Hermès (branded luxury goods cost more in Australia but I wanted to check out the offerings) before heading to Queen Victoria Building. Anyway, after The Salvation Army shop, I didn’t feel like browsing the departmental store or other high-street shops. We then went to Woolworths and then Coles before I detoured to Paddy’s Market. I spotted a few Gooners there in their Arsenal tops (I was wearing one too beneath the shawl and jacket). I stumbled upon the produce area (never been to that area of market before and it’s mainly run by Chinese Indonesians. I finally bought some broccoli but not before telling off the rude obnoxious seller not to be so rude. I then returned to the Airbnb. There are some road works going on in some parts of the CBD, just like around the airport on the way to Wolli Creek.

We left at 15:15 and headed to Central station. Our match ticket included free public transportation until early the following morning so we followed instructions and crowd to the platform. We took the train to Lidcombe where we had to change trains (and platforms) to Olympic Park. We arrived early enough and after walking around the food stalls selling various snacks and the various Arsenal kiosks, we decided to head over to Pullman Hotel. I broke fast there and even performed prayers at a small corner in the hotel lobby (no prayer room in the hotel). We only made our way to the ANZ Stadium after 18:15 and the stadium was still empty. There were a couple of giant screens showing highlights of goals etc. and after a while, a few groups of school kids decked out in their various sports attire came out and walked half-way around the stadium before disappearing into the tunnel. The stadium started filling up and the Arsenal lads finally came out to warm up at 19:35.

The match kidkced off just after 20:00 and we sat back to enjoy. Well, we did get occasionally frustrated with Theo and Welbz but we finally managed a 2-0 win. We left at 22:30 after battling our way out of the stadium to the train station and to the platform. This time, the train took us directly to Central station without us having to change trains at lidcombe. Alhamdulillah. We dropped by Woolworths Central as I wanted to buy some milk (Woolworths closes at midnight). Then we walked up the hill back to the Airbnb.

To be continued

Still Hanging On

After the disastrous first two European matches, we hosted Bayern München last night. The very same Bayern München which had won 12 matches and drawn one and not conceded more than one goal per match in their season’s previous 13 matches. The same team which had not failed to score a goal in any game thus far this season.

And yet, and yet. Despite completing more than three times as many passes as Arsenal and having more than two-thirds of possession, they had none of the goals.

Oh sure, we are still bottom of the group and we still have to travel to Munich. But it’s not everyday that you can beat Bayern München which have, among others, Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski, Philip Lahm, Douglas Costa and not to forget, Ballon D’Or contender, Manuel Neuer.

 My poor baby ;'(

For more pictures, go here.

Just What The Doctor Ordered

After the disastrous result against Olympiacos earlier in the week, the 3-0 victory was just what the doctor ordered. Oh if only you play like this in every match, life would be so much simpler and not as stressful, Arsenal. I’ll let the pictures do the talking again.

My baby has yet to open his account this season. Better luck next time, less rush and don’t overthink, Rambo

FA Cup Final 2015: Arsenal vs Aston Villa

I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

 

 

39 Hours In The East Coast

I was in the East Coast during the weekend. Took half-day leave on Friday and drove to Cherating. We reached The Legend Resort Cherating after three hours and fifteen minutes on the road (including a fifteen-minute break at Temerloh rest area). The highway was thankfully clear with the occasional heavy vehicles which stuck to their left lane. We checked in and after showering and freshening ourselves up, we walked along the beach until it turned dusk before checking out the hotel surroundings. My last visit was some four years ago, just weeks before Mummy’s passing.

After evening prayers, we drove out to find dinner. We eventually settled on a restaurant across the street from the mosque about a km away. We returned at almost 10 and spent the evening playing Scrabble before retiring just after midnight.

On Saturday, we woke up to catch the sunrise before returning to our room to resume our Scrabble game. As a result, we left quite late and had a late breakfast of nasi dagang at Tropika Café en route to Kemaman. We found a parking and walked to Kemaman Centre Point and the block of shops behind. I spotted a shop that provided blood cupping services and we went to check it out. So glad we did because it only cost RM60 for females! And to think I paid RM200 for the service in Kota Kinabalu!!! We were told not to partake any heavy meal for at least an hour after the treatment.

We went back to Kemaman Centre Point and wandered around. It was disappointing to say the least. We didn’t spend long here and walked to the mosque to perform prayers. We then drove and parked outside A&W and had a rootbeer double-scoop float each. We then drove to check out the food court near the Geliga bus station but they were mainly selling rice and we’d already had that for our late breakfast. Spotting a turn for Kuala Kemaman, we took the turn and found some stalls selling keropok lekor, otak-otak and satar. We bought some to bring back to the hotel.

We drove back to Cherating and even stopped by Cherating Beach. It was too hot however to venture too far so we turned back and drove back to our hotel to have our late lunch of keropok lekor, satar and otak-otak. I must say I was disappointed with the keropok lekor though. The heat made us drowsy and exhausted so we had an afternoon nap before venturing out to the beach just before sunset.

That evening, we drove out to check the local night market. There were not many traders – I’m not sure if it’s because it was almost 9 pm or if the traders still hadn’t started trading after the Eid break. We had dinner at the same restaurant we ate the evening before but my meal tasted a lot more spicier and nowhere as good.

We returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening playing Scrabble. Both of us had really awful crappy tiles though.

On Sunday, we checked out and left the hotel just before 9 a.m. Neither of us liked driving when the sun is already up and the day is already too hot. We had a late breakfast at Temerloh rest area and I decided to try some patin fish cooked in tempoyak gravy. It was somewhat spicy but the fish tasted really good so I didn’t mind the spiciness.

We drove on and reached KL at 1245. Oh I had a bad case of insect/bug bites especially on my left leg that left patches of angry red spots all over. They were very itchy and the unbearable itchiness even woke me up on Sunday night. I decided not to scratch them even though the itch was so unbearable that I wanted to cry out from having to control myself.

Hope you had a good weekend too that didn’t end up with you feeling itchy (except for any travel bug itch...!)

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Arsenal beat Nasri and co on Sunday in the Community Shield. Woohoo! Santi and Rambo scored in the first half with Sanogo involved in both build-up, and Giroud scored a screamer in the second half. And our World Cup German trio winners are finally back too.