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!

After thoughts of my epic 49 day adventure #5

#5 Humility

Every single trip to Europe will only be completed by a football game at Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams. This visit is extremely memorable, not because of the back to back wins (at last, considering that the Man U lost on the first two occasions that I went) but of my personal experiences. I was very lucky to be able to see the stars that I have always admired, RVP and Juan Mata. :) Owing to differing time zones in Asia and Europe, I also accidentally booked the wrong air ticket back to Switzerland and ended up with an extra day in Manchester. I wanted to avoid the crowd so I went to the Megastore early and did the Stadium Tours. There happens to be an event for the first 70 supporters in line to take a photo with the players and since I was there early, I had the chance to do so! :)

My inspiration behind this post is none other than Juan Mata. :) I know he has a blog of his own and he updates it weekly or fortnightly. That made me wanted to revive this dying virtual space of mine, to have my thoughts written down and reflect many many years down the road. Through the few interactions with him, I find him a really humble person and that made me reflect on myself and the kind of person I want to be. This reflection that I did on the journey then made me realised that I can still do so much better in so many different aspects of life and I actually want to do that. Thanks for being such an inspiration, J. Mata!

Footballers are over-glorified these days because of the media - press or social ones and with huge advertisers pouring out billions to further market them. Many of them have become household names with superstars status or are simply global icons such as C.Ronaldo, W.Rooney, L.Messi, just to name a few. Week in week out, thousands of fans send them parcels or mails, ask for autographs, watch their every action closely, etc. so it is not surprising for some of them to become arrogant. However, Mata is not one of those people. He behaves like a commoner, taking we-fies with his supporters, smiles a lot, rallies people, his choice of words, expresses his own emotions - positive or negative ones. My takeaway from his humble behaviour is that we have a choice as to what kind of a person we want to be, regardless of our background (past), our social status or occupation (current), and from there shape who we will become in the (future).

As we age, we have more knowledge and life experiences and inevitably, we might think we know best. We try very hard to influence others to adopt our beliefs or give advices but most of the time, we have forgotten to keep an open mind and to listen to others. At least this is what I see in the majority of the elderly that I interacted with thus far. With great power comes great responsibility. With great responsibility comes ignorance though. We feel that we need to do many things in life right that we sometimes only believe in ourselves.

On reflection, I feel that humility is extremely important. You can become a very powerful person in your job or in your life because of your wealth, job title, social status, etc. But it is completely your choice as to how you want to treat others. If you constantly see life as journey and you have to be constantly learning along the way, you will be humble and listen to what others have to say. You will not have the "I Know It All or Best" mindset. After all, the day we shut our eyes and report to Heaven, no one will care about your wealth, your job title or social status. Not God nor the angels in Heaven.