Look outside the snowflakes coming, say "OH"!

Today marks the day where I handed in my first paper, which gives me a brief respite. Vampire Weekend and Amsterdam, here I come! After that it's back to essay writing for the module I fear the most, River and Environments. Hopefully, our flights will not get cancelled or delayed for the remaining of our trips or things are going to get very troublesome.

On a side note, the past few days has been constantly sub-zero and snow is aplenty. One thing about snow. It doesn't drop down in perfectly round globular balls. The flakes actually float around, swirl with the wind and hit your face from all angles. Seems like my geographical imagination of it is all wrong! Snowball fights have yet to break out in out home though. I shall plot a sneak attack the next time it snows. Heh Heh!

It has been a long time since I blogged and I skipped the Copenhagen/Gothenburg trip, my last game at Old Trafford, as well as Liverfool trip. I totally forgot all the details about the trips except for the feelings I took away from them. For the Copenhagen trip, I remember we were all not very enthuiastic about it as to be truthful, it didn't really sound that exciting. I was worrying if they would blame me for dragging them along! Well, it turned out alright and very different from all our trips as we actually stayed with the locals (Jan and Mino) and assimilated into their culture. Luckily for me, they all bonded really well with Jan and her girlfriend despite the age-gap which once again worried me a little. Mino also entertained with his Japanese and his brand of quirky jokes. Seems like it would be a long time until I see Jan again, or probably never again so all the best to him, and Mino of course!

As for Gothenburg, the only thing I can remember is SWEDISH MEATBALLS. I have been saving myself for genuine Swedish meatballs and not the kind in Singapore's IKEA. Only noobs have never eaten meatballs before. Like Tong Wei. HAHA.

Finally, on to Old Trafford, words cannot describe the feeling it gives you. It's like the final rite of passage for a Man United fan. One which seals your bond to club forever and eternally. The only regrets I have is not being able to go there for the 7-1 drubbing of hapless Blackburn! Sian.. to think we were considering that match. Well, the good thing is we were part of the crowd that apparently swayed the referee's decision in giving out those 2 red cards against Wigan. I remember not seeing the tackle clearly, but shouting and abusing the Wigan players when they tackled Fletcher and Rafael respectively. And cheered like it's a goal when the referee flashed the red card. HAHA! Sadly, I didn't get to take pictures with the Singhs (Sikhs) who are always on TV! And I didn't get any signatures. Alas, this is a place I will definitely not forget and come back to in the future!

(Liverpool fans, please skip this next portion.)
Ahem, which brings me to my next trip, liverFOOL! liverPOOT! Whatever you prefer. The city itself is not bad, pretty nice, with friendly people as well. But once you near Anfield, you realise this is a very nostalgic city. During the stadium tour, and in the museum, all they have are repetitions of the 5 times they won the Champions League trophies, and the 18 titles. Come on lah, now you are only joint-top! So proud for what! Soon you will be overtaken anyway. HAHA. Well and they didn't mention their current hero who won them no titles but maintained their joint-top status for now at least. Steven Gerrard. who passed the ball for Chelsea to score. If you ask me, it's worse than Mourinho's engineering of 2 deliberate red cards. 5 Champion League titles are all they boast about to Man United fans. Well, my reply is we would have more if our players didn't die in the aircrash! 96 (I think) Liverpool fans may have died in the Hillsborough disaster and sure its bad. R.I.P. but it certainly didn't affect the club in terms of trophies. OOPs, i realized I complained a lot. I guessed I cannot get over myself for spending a night not sleeping in the bus station just to go to Liverpool. Having said that, I'm a very respectful fan and any Liverpool fans who read this, please just ignore it. It's meant for Man United fans. HAHA.

Photos to be added...

Ice Kacang has arrived!

Essay Break

Time for essays so this space shall be empty for the time being. One out of three essays is done. But I got a fourth essay due in MARCH!! SIAN man!

Gay trip - Leeds and York

Immediately after the Manchester trip was a trip to Leeds to visit Alan's friend, Sherman. Instantly, he sounds like a nice kind of guy. Leeds and Sherman can be described as a match made in heaven. A party-animal kind of guy in a part town! Sadly, he could not bring us to his favourite party called Fruity as he dislocated his toe the day before we arrived. Get well soon man!

The party was not as wild as Alan described, largely due to the fact that Sherman was not there but it was interesting to mix with his housemate. Joe just looks hilarious when he dances with his long arms and legs. HAHA, no insult meant here. Clair and Steph says people always mix them up and ususally just call them Stair and Cleph. Perhaps that is right as Alan still cannot differentiate them until now.

The next day, Alan and me went to York and explored the area according to Sherman's prepared tour. The place was nice. The chocolate fudge was nicer. The cold was not so nice. We ended up visiting a lot of stores in order to get away from the cold. But it was still a very worthwhile place to visit. Funnily though, we didn't see many obviously out-in-the-open Nestle products despite it being the home of Nestle.

Leeds the party town!

Leeds University at night.

Juicy Alan at Fruity.

Fierce!

Dance King Joe. Check out his long arms!

York Minster and me.

Fudge making in York.

Demonstation in York!!

No cuts!

Expensive High Tea set.

Castle Wall walk.

Sherman and Alan.

Manchester, and the Theatre of Dreams!!

It has been quite some time since my two trips to Manchester but the feeling and raw emotion that explodes from within will never be forgotten. Instances like the moment you first set sights on the stadium, the moment you first turn back to see the players on the pitch, the momemnt you realize you are literally a stone's throw away from the players, the moment when you realize Sir Alex Ferguson is within a 500m radius of you, as well as the moments when the ball bulges in the opponents' net, unforgettable memories like these are countless. Little details like the guide's sense of pride, the megastore's countless products, the illegal vendors, all add to the grandeur and awe of the place. Boring 1-0 win, exciting 3-2 win, the Theatre of Dreams is indeed a place of great joy, and sorrow. R.I.P. Munich air disaster victims. Words cannot describe this life-changing place, and dearest friends who are Manchester United fans, glory glory Man United!!

Apart from the obvious lure of Old Trafford, Manchester is also a very nice city with the university within walking distance of the city centre and many places. Dining out in restaurants may spring surprises like discovering Nani ate there too! Or seeing a bunch of Man City fans claiming that there is only one team in Manchester. HAHA, I guess there are referring to that which is in the Europa League. Poor thing.

One incident of note happened during or second trip (if i remember correctly), after the Carling Cup game with Wolves, both Alan and I were wearing our Man Utd jerseys under our jackets and had bags with the Man Utd crest clearly printed on it. In short, we were obviously Man Utd fans and we walked into this chicken/kebab/pizza store with lots of pictures in it. As Alan was studying the menu, I saw all these black and white pictures of a football team in it. To my horror, I realized in one of the colour shots that it was sky blue and Manchester City was clearly on it! I immediately told Alan that we should switch stalls!

Sadly, these Europa League bastards affected my stadium tour of Old Trafford as their Polish opponents decided to give Old Trafford a look. This huge gang of them banged us around as we were taking our pictures and had the audacity to hang their lowly club's banner atop our home dugout. I guess lowlifes have the right to dream too.

In short, best city of UK by far, and I will definitely be back!!

Posters of Traitor Tevez everywhere.

Alan and his university shots.

We ate were Nani ate!

Awesome indian food in Manchester. No wonder Nani ate here.


Stairway to heaven.


The life-changing sight. JIMP!

Berms in extreme cold. Stupid idea!

The long-sleeve jersey that I did not buy.

The Wenger stand.

Oh so true!

Stash of ice cream in Timothy's place.

Best bubbletea in UK so far.

SO NEAR!!!

Cutest mascot ever.

Newest statue at Old Trafford.

Twenty Ten Squared

This may be a birthday spent overseas but it could well be the one where I receive the most presents! I should probably always stay away. To add to Mindy's card, here are 2 more from Tong Wei and Celine.

Thanks Tong Wei. Somehow he managed to get a card for both Alan and me without us knowing and presented it to us together with 5 After-eights!

Thanks Celine. For hiding this book that is a gift to me other my mattress and only revealing it now. No wonder I had not been sleeping well..

Edgbaston Woods and nearby areas

The Biodiversity and Conservation Management lecture was spent visiting the Edgbaston Woods today and we are supposed to produce a management report on how to conserve it. It is a really pristine, beautiful and relatively untouched part of Birmingham. But I've got totally no clue how to go about the management report!!