27: Wales

#27: Cardiff

Since I have a 2-day break in between the football matches, I decided to travel to another city in the UK and this time round, I shortlisted Wales. I have heard about some nice stories about Cardiff Bay or Swansea Bay and of course would want to do some hiking or trekking in the mountains. Unfortunately, plans did not pan out. Cardiff was more like a rest stop for me since I have been travelling for close to a month and I have been walking so much my thighs and calfs visibly shrank. I got pretty sick of going to Castles so did not visit any and instead, I did my shopping in Cardiff since I hardly had any time to shop in London itself. The good thing was that things were much cheaper than in London itself.

I went to Cardiff Bay in the evening and what shocked me was that everything was closed! It is nothing like the Clarke Quay or Keppel Bay of Singapore neither was it like the marina at Nice, Marseille, or Monaco whereby you expect a bustling crowd. The number of people that you can see in the streets could be counted using two hands. haha! It is quite a nice and little cozy city but I doubt I will want to live in such a place. I also went to an open air museum and it was a fun experience looking at the Welsh way of life in olden times.

On hindsight, I should have just stayed in Manchester and spent time exploring the city itself. Sometimes it is better if you just take a day tour and let them bring you to the highlights of the country. Though you have to pay for these services, I feel that it does help you to understand their culture. Oh well, leave it to the next visit I guess.

And back to Manchester, I have been there 3 times and there are so many outlets there, good shopping places, museums but I have only been to ONE outlet and ONE museum i.e. the Manchester Megastore and the Museum of the Red Devils haha! Alright, on my next trip there, I must set aside time to explore the place itself. :)

[Top Left]: Cardiff City Centre; [Top Right]: Cardiff Bay - Ghost town!

[Bottom Left]: Main shopping street in Cardiff; [Bottom Left]: Tax rules in ancient times - tax on people who bring their bulls and carts across! 

26 days made possible: Manchester

#26: Theatre of Dreams

I had previously written a little on my Manchester visits but this is just to cover ground on whatever that I had missed out. I am quite a jinx when it comes to watching football matches, sad to say. The last 2 times I went to Old Trafford, Man U lost the game. The first was a derby against Man City and the second was against Blackburn, which was actually the 20th (last) team ranked in the league table at that time. What bad luck to see the champion losing to the last team in the league table! LOL!

So this time round, I decided to watch 2 games, back to back home games. I bought tickets in the North Stand since I sat in the South and East stand the last 2 times. Stretford End is almost impossible to get tickets for since it is reserved for season ticket holders only. I must say that my fortunes have changed and this time round, Man U won both games! YAY!

I was very lucky to be able to get pictures with the players since they won so naturally the players will not be in a foul mood and leave hastily, I presume? But I only queued on one of the days. For the 2nd match, it was too late and I decided to head home straight after the game. Till the next time!

Man United Vs Hull, 29 November 2014

Man United Vs Stoke City, 2 December 2014

Warm up before the Hull game. 

In-play during the Stoke game. I did not take that many pictures or videos this time round because I was sitting a little too far. I had a better view when I visited in 2011 when I was seated in the South Stand. 

Phil Jones and Falcao

Ashley Young - revived his career; Paddy McNair, one of the rising young players. 

Oh, Robin Van Persie! (Left) The people in my corner kept singing his name because we wanted him to come over to do autographs or take pictures. He was very insistent in only doing an autograph or taking a photo but not both. There were way too many people so he wanted to be fair, I guess.

With Juan Mata (Right), I like him because he is a good man and inspiration. Ander Herrera and him did two different sections and I am pretty lucky that he decided to do my section. I like Ander as well cause he has been playing so well for the team. 

Con Juan. Yo gusto Juan porque él es un hombre bueno y inspiración. Ander Herrera y él fueron a dos sección y yo es suerte que él hizo mi sección. Yo gusto Ander también porque él juega tan bien para el equipo. (Spanish learning in progress)

And this memory of the 2008 Champions League Finals will always be etched in my memory¡

This was the incident that I wrote about previously when I was able to take a picture with the players who were there to do an event. 

Mega store! I did not buy that many things from the store this time round. My luggage hardly has any space for any merchandise. 

Before I sign off, the long walk from the Old Trafford tram station to the stadium and this is the first glimpse and also the last of the stadium. How I miss Old Trafford! Big game coming up this weekend! MUFC, FTW!

25: London

#25: London

Oh well, after a long hiatus from my epic trip musings, I am back.

London is a city that I have visited 3 times like Paris and Manchester. However, I realise that I have not fully covered all of London despite 3 visits. It is a wonderful place to be, bustling with people, good shopping places, nice food everywhere but the fact that they speak English makes me feel at home. Nevertheless, the weather can be quite a torture during winter when I first visited in Feb 2008. I always spend a day or two in London rather than what others do, spending a week there because I have this feeling that I will return again and I need not have to rush to cover everything.

Having done the all touristy things and going to the outskirts during the last 2 visits, including going to the football stadiums like Stamford Bridge and the Emirates, I decided to just focus on shopping, watch a musical and visit the British museum. I used to dislike museums because you often have to spend long hours in there and you have just wasted yet another day. However, as I age, I have more patience going through the exhibits bits by bits and my interest in history grew fonder. The British museum is ENORMOUS and despite spending close to 5 hours there, I only cover a quarter of it. LOL!

But I moved on to do other things, hunting for food. We tried this one famous Duck restaurant in Chinatown and I find it a little disappointing. I am not a huge fan of duck but whenever I chance upon a good one, I would be sure to give a thumbs up, like one in Beijing that I tried. :) Instead, it is Burger and Lobster (highly recommend!) that is mouth-savouring and even till now, I am still thinking about that meal! We also went to one 2-star Michelin restaurant and spent a bomb but the food to me was - ORDINARY.

I swear this is the most value for money meal ever in my life! The picture does not do justice to how delicious this lobster is. It costed me 22.50 Pounds which is approximately S$48. I really liked this laptop sleeve below in the British museum and it costs 23 pounds. I thought it was too expensive for a laptop sleeve though it is really nice. So I ended up not buying it and used the money to pay for the lobster instead. Wise decision, indeed. 

As I age, I love eating good food more. I am always on the hunt for good food overseas though they take a toll on my wallet. :(

It was a short two days in London but I will be back before I know it. :)