Football Match!

It has been a busy month of November for me with assignments and work but on the 5th of December 2007, I was able to do something I have wanted to do for nearly 5 years...

Watching a real live English Premier League (EPL) match and meeting the footballers of my favorite team...

Arsenal

I watched the game in St. James Park, which is the stadium for Newcastle United Football Club (NUFC) with a couple of my friends. The match only started at 7.45 p.m. UK time but we were so excited, so we made a move to the stadium. As we journeyed towards our destination, we were able to see hordes of people walking towards the same destination. Yes, that's right. Hordes. A vast multitude. Thousands. The mood was getting electrifying. So we headed up to our seats in the stadium. When I reached the top of the stadium, my goosebumps stood. As I entered the entrance, the roar of the fans echoed throughout the stadium.

St. James Park

Fans of both teams chanting their respective songs, clapping. I was overwhelmed. I know now how it feels being in a stadium, it was great. I managed to spot a couple of players before the match started while they were warming up. In the Arsenal team, a few main players didn't appear. Fabregas, Hleb, Van Persie are among the few who didn't turn up due to injury. Then we headed to our seats in the stadium. FYI, we were sitting in the NEWCASTLE UNITED side so it kinda sucked for me. >.<

The ceremony. I don't know what its called. =P

Then the whistle was blown. Fans started cheering and literally shaking the stadium. Within 3 minutes of the game, Arsenal scored with a beautiful shot by Emmanuel Adebayor. Although there were only roughly 30% of Arsenal fans but it was loud enough to be heard in the stadium. I wanted to join them in celebrating but I didn't and couldn't do it in front of the Newcastle fans. Sad, I know. Anyway the game continued.

25. Emmanuel Adebayor

As the game progressed, the fans continually chant their songs and anthems. During the first half of the game, the Newcastle team was devastated. Passes was not completed, high balls were not accurate and the Arsenal team was the opposite. Newcastle sucked. Even the fans around me agreed. They were shouting harsh words like 'F@#$ Off'', 'F@#$ing B@$%^r^$' and 'B100dy S^1t'. Mostly was towards their own players because their performance sucked, badly.

Boo! Get out you B100Dy Sh1t3!

After the second half started, Newcastle started to look more aggressive. Probably Big Sam gave them a good ol' lecture. Alan Smith, striker for Newcastle United was the one creating a lot of chances. He tackled hard and played hard. He was also Man-of-the-Match.

17. Alan Smith: ROAR!

Then during the 60th minute of the match, Steven Taylor scored for Newcastle. The crowd went mad! It shook the stadium. Literally. The goal was kinda disappointing for me but it gave me the chance to feel the atmosphere of the passionate fans celebrating the goal. Then 30 minutes went by with the normal chanting and cheering of the fans while the both teams try to create chances to score more goals. The final whistle was blown. It was the end of the match. Arsenal 1, Newcastle United 1. A draw.

Immediately everyone started leaving the stadium. We followed after taking a few shots of the stadium. As soon as we reached the the ground level of the stadium there was a waiting area where a few people were lining up. At that time, I was with my friend, Shane. We figure out that the Arsenal players will be boarding the bus to bring them home. AUTOGRAPH CHANCE! We searched desperately for any paper and pen but only managed to get a small white piece of paper and a pen. Then one by one the players started to appear! OH WE WERE EXCITED! We started taking pictures of them and tried to get autographs. First Gael Clichy appeared. We didn't manage to get his autograph but got a picture of him.

22.Gael Clichy

Then the following players appeared respectively.

15. Denilson

26. Nicklas Bendtner

7. Tomas Rosicky

24. Manuel Almunia

19. Gilberto Silva

5. Kolo Toure

There were several other players such as Willam Gallas, Theo Walcott and Adebayor but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of them because I was busy getting autographs from them. Fortunately I got them! HAHAHA

Autographs!

More autographs! and yeah Eboue signed twice for us!

Well it was the single most enjoyable and exciting night of my life. This will be the first time and it will also not be the last, I will be watching another football match. Also to all my football friends, I miss futsol! Cheerio!

England says goodbye to Euro2008

As I was walking outside in the streets. I sense that something was wrong. There was hardly anyone walking in the streets. Probably its was my imagination... until I heard my neighbor shouting 'howay' which means 'come on' in Geordie language while watching the tele. I was wondering what could make a Englishman so worked up..., then it sparked in my mind. The Euro qualifying rounds were playing at this very night. So I headed to my laptop, open my mozilla, typed soccernet.com and saw the headlines which goes...

England Out.

It was then I knew that England fans were looking like this...

Sniffles, we won't see Beckham for a long time...

England never fails to upset their fans.

One of my idols.

Now I won't be able to see my idol playing, probably never anymore.

The Three Lions.

Well to a country which showed me the beauty of football, good luck in winning the World Cup.

No more of his sulking face.

Probably won't be seeing his face anymore too. haha

Food for the dude

Welcome to my blog again. Due to the fact that I have a 'fan' who wants to hear about my story, I'll post one for his sake =)

Alright straight to the point. Cooking was never my thing. I repeat. WAS never. After a series of events (when I had nothing to eat) which cause me to rethink my activities.

Shoulda read this earlier...

I was forced to cook… so I started by cooking an egg, the easiest thing to cook in the world. You can do anything with an egg. You can fry, stew, boil, pan fry, stir fry and loads more. Marvelous thing of nature. Absolutely wonderful. It also makes you full.

Eggs, you gotta love 'em...

Until now.

NOW, I am able to cook loads more delicious food. I have fallen in love with cooking. Cooking is really fun and exciting. Let’s see what I have cooked recently.

Yummy... Chicken curry dish with potatoes, long beans & boiled eggs.

The curry was spicy with the potatoes sliced to small cubes and was soft while the eggs was an addition to the dish.

This dish was cooked by me but with assistance from my fellow house mates which I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to them. =)

Next on the list...

Healthy food for the soul

Roasted chicken with stewed pork sausage, baked chips and fresh salad… including the complimentary Cuvée Mythique-Shiraz Grenache 2005 wine courtesy of Mr. LFM (he wishes to stay anonymous).

The chicken was marinated & roasted in an oven with the chips while the fresh salad was purchased with some addition of fresh cabbage. There was a variety of sauces available (as shown) for the salad depending on their taste.

Anyway both dishes were great with everyone complimenting a great dinner they had. I was so happy with myself and with the excellent and wonderful food I had.

BTW the roasted chicken was the easier one to cook compared to the curry dish! =p

Well this are the dishes that I managed to capture pictures of but the rest of them were equally tasty and nice. I hope that I can continue to cook more different dishes in the future but with my workload and assignments coming around, it could be hard to manage but… I’ll try! *fingers crossed*

Introduction

Hello,

Testing 123... hi there! This is my first blog ever created in my life. To say, I was never an avid fan of blogs till now. The reason I created this blog is for me to spend my boring days and free time while I am in a country foreign to me since I was born. May this blog help me to fulfill its purpose and also for people who want to know more about my experience in my life although it may not be as happening as most bloggers who are more famous. Here's my life's story.

Signing out for now. CHEERS!