Theater of Dreams

I had this goal since I was 9.

That was to step my foot at one day.

It’s been a long 17-year wait to finally get there last week. And I felt really, really good and excited as though I was still 9 (too bad I’m not!). If you’re not a big time or 17 years Manchester United fan, then being at is just like it’s another stadium or another tourist destination.

I’ve been to other grounds (Hertha Berlin’s Olympiastadion and Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena) before, but what I felt there were nowhere near what it was at .

was different.

It’s the ground the club I supported since I was 9 plays. I’ve been seeing it in magazines and TV for the past 17 years and didn’t get to go there until recently.

For a mere 12 pounds, I get to visit the museum (talk about that later), players’ changing room, players’ lounge, walk out of the famous tunnel, sit at the dugouts, see where the WAGS sit on match days, walk along the pitch and see Stretford End, where the most loyal supporters sit on match days.

Things could even get better, but this time it didn’t. It’s okay.

It would be even better if I could catch a match there, but that didn’t happen. It’s almost impossible to get a ticket for a Premier League or Champions League match at nowadays unless you’re a season ticket holder or you buy the hospitality package which starts from 299 pounds.

Another option is to buy from outside the ground on match day for prices up to 5 times the original price with the risk of getting a fake ticket.

Only tickets for low profile matches like Carling Cup will reach General Sales. Other tickets are usually sold out before it even reach General Sales.

So, the next goal (as far as Manchester United is concerned) is to watch a match there!

December 4, 2008 | Filed Under Sports, Travels | Leave a Comment 

On Daylight Saving Time

When I was a kid, I didn’t  know what was .

I always see the word daylight saving time printed on my old Casio digital watch. But I have no idea what it was. All I knew was that there would be time differences during the summer and such. Still I didn’t get it.

Then there was Champions League football. I would wake up in the middle of the night just to watch Man United play. I noticed how the kickoff times started to change from 2.45am to 3.45am towards the end of October. Not forgetting also the usual EPL kickoffs time from 7.45pm to 8.45pm.

I started to get a grasp of what is all about.

So, one day I looked up the Internet, asked Google and it replied with a simple phrase about .

Spring forward, fall back.

In simple terms, countries that observe will shift their clocks 1 hour forward during the spring so the sun appears to rise 1 hour later and sets 1 hour later thus making the day longer. And vice versa during the fall.

Therefore, I’m now 7 hours behind Malaysia.

Most of central Europe countries turned their clocks 1 hour backwards after daylight saving time has ended. I remember that will end sometime towards the end of October but I didn’t know it was on October. As far as my memory can recall, it’s on this coming weekend.

And when I checked again on Saturday night only did I realize that I had to turn my clock 1 hour backwards on Sunday 3.00 am to 2.00 am.

It suddenly appeared to me that winter is really coming. The sun used to set about 630pm last week. This week it’s 530pm.

The cloudy and rainy weather didn’t help either.

When I was here in December last year, the sun rose at 8.30am and set at 4.30pm.

Now, I really feel winter is coming real soon…

October 28, 2008 | Filed Under Events, Life, Travels | Leave a Comment 

A Brief History Class - Part 2

I think it was almost 10 minutes that we were chatting at the river banks.

“Did I bore you off? Do you want me to continue?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Because of the Treaty of Versailles, our country was weakened. They took away our lands and military because they were afraid we’ll be more powerful than they are. They didn’t want to lose their powers in Europe to us.”

“So there came . He was a nationalist at that time and he wanted back those lands that were given away by the Treaty or Versailles. So he gathered all his men and said to the Allied Forces; We want our lands back and if you’re not giving them back, we’ll take it!”

“He attacked and invaded Rhineland, Austria, the borders of Czechoslovakia and then Poland.”

Suddenly he stopped and started at me.

“And do you know how started in Europe?”

I shook my head.

“It was the 1st of September of 1939 when attacked Poland. Very soon after that, Poland’s allies declared war on us. Everyone, including the UK, France, Australia, US, New Zealand, Canada and a few more countries.”

“You see, everything they wrote on the papers labeled as the bad guy. In fact, he’s a nationalist and hero in , you know? He’s just taking back what was taken away from us.”

By now, it was coming to 20 minutes that we were chatting.

“Oh, I can see my friend waiting for me opposite the road. I got to go. I hope you’ve learned something and have a wonderful trip back.”

We shook hands and I thanked him for his brief history class.

This was the second time that someone was talking to me about the history of the place since I was here 2 months ago. The first was in Berchtesgaden where a 80+ year old man talked to me how happy he was to be back there since he was there during as an American soldier.

October 22, 2008 | Filed Under Opinions, Travels | 1 Comment 

Next Page →