only blue you'll see in this post!So on the historic days of April 23/24, I finally made my long-awaited pilgrimage to the Holy Land, aka Old Trafford, Manchester. Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I manged to snag a pair of season ticket passes and invited fellow Man United fan Way Cherng along for a trip up north to catch United in their penultimate home game of the season against Tottenham Hotspurs.
We took a 0730 train on Friday and from Oxford, it was a 3 hour ride to Manchester Piccadilly station, the central train station there. When we arrived, we took the tram to the stop named Old Trafford which is of course where the stadium is near and also where our hotel was located. After checking in and getting a pub lunch at Wetherspoon's, we proceeded to OT for our stadium/museum tour.
The museum was great, especially the section on the Munich aircrash. I was aware of the history of the tragedy but being there, reading all the info and looking at the photos/old newspaper reports, I really felt kinda emotional. This incident was the football equivalent to the day the music died, definitely. It was amazing how Bobby Charlton bounced back to win the World and European Cup!
And as for the stadium, what can I say. Way better than the Santiago Bernabéu! We got to visit the players' dressing room, where there were tactics white boards and a TV. Just imagine Sir Alex giving one of his trademark hairdryer treatments there!
Treble season, baby!
Legend
After the stadium tour (which inevitably ends at the merchandise store), it was time to shop the vast United megastore, featuring all sorts of crap you can think up of, from Man United candy to rugs. *Sheer bliss* I got a jacket, and a 07/08 Champions' League DVD on the cheap.
MUFC candy? Doubt it's M&S quality though.
...and grass(!) lol.
Sir Alex in his youth! Amazing!
After departing OT, we took the tram back to Manchester city centre, and did a walking tour of it. We had dinner in Chinatown, and the waitress who served us in the restaurant turned out to be local! She was a Malaysian Chinese who had lived in Singapore for a long time, in Tampines even! We went back to the hotel after dinner to rest.
oh, we had time for a helicopter ride around the stadium too.
Day 2 (Match day!):
After an English breakfast at the hotel, it was time to head to the stadium for the game. WC and I each bought a Love United, Hate Glazers yellow and green Newton Heath scarf before heading in. Our seats were on the East end, pretty near to the action really. United attacked our end in the first half, but sadly, all three goals they scored occured in the second, so we only got to see the Ledley King goal up close. Also, Rooney had the audacity to miss the one match that I came to watch? The nerve! =(
Players warming up, doing that zig-zag body twisting thing I used to do during badminton training too!
Players having emerged from the tunnel.
Setting up for a FK. Can't remember if it was Nani or Gigg who took it.
United won the match 3-1 at the end, with Giggsy converting two penalties and Nani contributing an exquisite individual goal that kept our title challenge alive. You could feel the air of hope and positivity lingering after the match ended. It was not to be, as the events in May informed us, but I am so grateful the team won, putting the cream on top of the proverbial strawberries (thought this'd be a more apt metaphor for England, no?) (or the vinegar on top of fish and chips perhaps).
After the match, we walked back from OT to the city centre (the trams being crazily packed, of course), which took some 45 minutes, I'd say. We went to eat at the food court in the main mall there. Western food courts are not quite like those in Singapore, where you have stalls selling a vast array of hawker-type food. Here, food court stalls are more likely to consist of McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, and some sandwich shop. There was, however, a Chinese stall there so WC and I both had roast duck/char siew rice (yes, we both love our Chinese food). Not quite local standards, but mai4 hiam2, buay3 pai4.
Then, we headed to a coffee shop to hang out and read the matchday programme before taking the 1936 train back to Oxford, where Trinity term awaited.
Treble season, baby!
Legend
MUFC candy? Doubt it's M&S quality though.
...and grass(!) lol.
Sir Alex in his youth! Amazing!
oh, we had time for a helicopter ride around the stadium too.After an English breakfast at the hotel, it was time to head to the stadium for the game. WC and I each bought a Love United, Hate Glazers yellow and green Newton Heath scarf before heading in. Our seats were on the East end, pretty near to the action really. United attacked our end in the first half, but sadly, all three goals they scored occured in the second, so we only got to see the Ledley King goal up close. Also, Rooney had the audacity to miss the one match that I came to watch? The nerve! =(
Players warming up, doing that zig-zag body twisting thing I used to do during badminton training too!
Players having emerged from the tunnel.
Setting up for a FK. Can't remember if it was Nani or Gigg who took it.After the match, we walked back from OT to the city centre (the trams being crazily packed, of course), which took some 45 minutes, I'd say. We went to eat at the food court in the main mall there. Western food courts are not quite like those in Singapore, where you have stalls selling a vast array of hawker-type food. Here, food court stalls are more likely to consist of McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, and some sandwich shop. There was, however, a Chinese stall there so WC and I both had roast duck/char siew rice (yes, we both love our Chinese food). Not quite local standards, but mai4 hiam2, buay3 pai4.
Then, we headed to a coffee shop to hang out and read the matchday programme before taking the 1936 train back to Oxford, where Trinity term awaited.
yay! WC looks joyful, to say the least!
remember that, folks!
2 comments:
but is it actually in Manchester? good luck, CB
what do you mean?
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