Winter Holidays - pt 3 : Old Trafford, Manchester

If I am gonna keep up with the current rate that I am doing my posts on my recent winter trip, I guess it would most likely be only be fully completed by next year!! Hahaha.. One thing that slows things down is the image upload facility which only accepts 5 images max. Maybe there is a more efficient way to upload photos to Blogger. Well, if there is, tell me!! LOL.. Uploading of pics now is a major pain!

Well anyways, the story continues.. :D

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Old Trafford is one of the many significant places that I had managed to step foot on in this trip.
As I roughly can predict who my readers are, and as I know, most are mostly non-footballholics, thus Q of the Day:

What is Old Trafford?

Hahaha.. Well, simple simple. Maybe a potential must-know general knowledge.
Its the legendary home ground of Manchester United.

Ohh no.. Don't you dare go "Huh? What's Manchester United?"
You're officially not an Earthling if that's the case!

My initial plans when I was still at Trafford Centre, was to go back, have dinner and possibly have a very short nap, in order to put me in the mood to enjoy the match. However, all these failed to happen. Why? Its coz of the stupid bus system they had at that Centre. We managed to hop on a bus at around 4+ pm at that time, if I ain't wrong. The match starts at around 7.45 - 8 pm. I thought "ahh.. Ample time".

Well, what happened was the bus brought us to a bus hub which was just behind the Centre. It was a service change or something. We had to wait for another bus to pick us up. Thus, we waited..

And waited..

And waited..

..

15 mins passed... No signs..
And heck the weather that time was crazily cold somemore! Somehow time passed so damn slow!

Eventually after around 45 mins, the other bus came. WALAO! That certainly dampened my mood. Not only was the weather cold, I was also tired, hungry and was resisting to go to the loo ( as I was in front of the queue during the wait). If I were to miss this bus, and if the next bus took that long to arrive, I'd risk missing out on the match! HELL NO! The bus brought us to a tram stop where we'd use the tram to head home. However, due that damn bus, it'd be a risk to go back home already. It was already 6+ at that time. Thus, after another 15 mins wait in the cold, then only a tram came about and brought us directly to Old Trafford. I remembering not being in the most joyous of mood at that moment. Seems like the public transport system had a problem with me that evening.

I remember hordes and hordes of people all around the streets leading to the stadium. There were police everywhere, even police on horses (which is a very common police 'transport' here). I guess horses are used coz, sitting on a horse allows you to see everything. Second, horses can vary in speed. Hahaha..

Littered alongside the streets leading to the stadium are stalls like the above
selling merchandise, food, drinks and whatnot.

We could actually already hear the singing from inside the stadium from the outside already! OO.. Excitement!

This is how the stadium looks like at night. The stadium is divided into 4 areas, i.e. North, South, West and East Stand(which is shown above)

The main facade of the stadium. The ground floor is where the Megastore is.
I remember seeing just tons of people squeezing emselves in that store during that time.

After finishing my hot dog bun, its time!
Masuk stadium!

This is how people enter the stadiums for the North Stand.

The fastfood establishment on the inside which only operates during matchdays.

And then I saw it.. It was so bright, that from the place that
I was standing, I thought it a sunny day!

Ahh.. After finding our seats, a pic of the pitch.

The stadium seems to be still very empty at that moment.

Suddenly, the crowd roard!
The source: Kuszack(however you spell it), the reserve keeper came out for warmup.

Not long later, the real deal, Mr Van Der Sar came out.

Then the loudest of the roars..

The outfield players take to the pitch for their warmups!
I couldn't believe my eyes at that time!

They warmed up very close to our area...

After doing their rounds, the players went back in. Then everyone waited..
Suddenly, the music came on, and this deafening roar engulfed the whole stadium.
Everyone was up from their seats.

Its coz the players were coming out from their tunnels!!

They then did all their regular pre-match rituals, applauded the crowd before running off to their halve (referring to Man Utd), as shown below.

Ball gets lined up in the centre. Kick off time baby!!

It was certainly one hell of an experience. No wonder people call it the "Theatre of Dreams". The fans were really really passionate. They were literally singing the club's songs throughout the whole match. Everytime the ball got into the opponent's half, we had to rise from our seats. Everyone was doing it. Thus, I had no choice but to follow suit. But time after time, it was disappointment as Man Utd just couldn't score!! Hahahaha..

Ronney erm, I meant Rooney, coming over to our area to take a corner kick!

The famous no. 7 shirt!

The stadium was close to full house that day. It was announced that around 76 K people were in for the match. WOW. I was certainly sandwiched in my seat. There was this super huge guy (like 3x of Chee Huat) sitting next to me. I had to be seated with my body aligned to about 45 degrees relative to the back of the chair for most of the match! Hahaha.. You call that the best seats in the house? Heh..

Somehow, Man Utd wasn't on top form that night. I was hoping to see some Ronaldo magic or maybe a rampant United, however, that wasn't the case.

8 mins into the game.. It was scoreless.
It stayed like that for most part of the game..

I thought my first trip to Old Trafford would be marked as a disappointing 0 - 0 game??? No no.. I was praying that at least one of the teams would score.. I wanna feel what it'll be like after a goal.

Then at last it came, as usual, ball in half, standup..Suddenly, another deafening eruption in the stadium from the crowd. Everyone was jumping up and down, doing high-5s to their stranger neighbours. It was stranger no-more when you're in Old Trafford. I felt like I was a part of a unit, a part of this family. Ur neighbours are now ur brothers. Hahaha..

After Berba scored..

Yes, a goal at least!

The crowd was even more energetic after this goal. Their singing got even more louder this time. Hahaha.. What joy for the fans. The atmosphere in the stadium was just awesome. The Ibrox one just seems so mediocre when compared to this one.

The coming on for the legends, Ryan Giggs and Scholesy!!!

There weren't any rocket shots from Scholes during his time in the game thou, but he did launched a few of his trademark ridiculously beautiful passes during that time. Wow..

Besides em 2, Gary Neville also did come on. Wow. Another legend. He did his trademark run to the byline and cross too. Man Utd fans should know what Im talking about.

Our Asian pride, Ji Sung certainly caught my eye that night. He's one hell of a hardworking player. He should have had a goal that night. He missed from about 6 yards out. What came after surprised me. The fans were singing along the lines "Park .. Park.. What the f*ck are you doing?". I thought that was extremely harsh!

On another note, the defenders, Vidic and Rafael were awesome too. The way they attack the ball using their heads is NUTS. They damn sure have lots of guts.

After 90 mins, it was all over..
Final Score : Man Utd 1 - 0 Boro

Surprise surprise, where'd the fans go??
This was taken just abt 15 mins after the game ended!

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The next morning, Old Trafford was again the highlight of the day. Why again you'd ask? Its a bit different this time round. Its for the stadium tour for this time.

Views of the inside of the empty stadium the morning after.

Was told by the guide that this is where the players enter the stadium, the Munich tunnel.

A clock to commemorate the Munich incident.

Displays line up along the Munich Tunnel, depicting that story..

We walked along the tunnel, and entered the stadium once again. This time we're entering the way the players do. I was expecting maybe a glamorous looking door, somewhere along the Munich Tunnel. But wrong, the entry point was only a very unassuming conventional looking door! Surprise surprise!

We were first brought to the players' lounge room. This is where the players hang out and chill a few hours before the game. There's a mini bar in this room too. A few televisions too if I remembered wrongly. This would also be the room where the wives/families of the players would chill at during halftime.

This board comprised of the list of names of internationally-capped players who've played for the club.

Portrait images of the past great players.
If you look properly in this pic, there are 2 of em with crowns.
Those were only on the portraits of Cantona and Keane.
I don't remember why either.

The players' changing room!
Was told by the guide that the jerseys were arranged according to how the players usually sit!
The jerseys were only mere replicas thou, not the actual ones worn by the players.

Ahh.. Ronaldo and Rooney are changing-room seat neighbours.

Next was out to the pitch sidelines.. We had to go through the tunnel
where the players' lineup before heading to the field.

I was ahead of the pack when I took this. Hahaha..

Pitchside views

That was about it for the tour. After the tour, we headed off to the museum, which I think was very large. It had about 2 floors if I ain't wrong. Lots and lots of stuff. You could even get a pic taken with the Premiership trophy inside. (Comes at a price thou')

Pics from the museum..

We then headed to London that evening, which will come in future posts. Hahahaha..

Thus, that's about it this time :D

Winter trip Part 2

Yeah yeah.. I very sien hor.. Lama tak meng-update.. only cakap2 nak update lol.

Anyways..

The adventures of L.A.T if you still remember continues....

Sit tight ppl..

Wonderful weather greeted us on our very first morning in Manchester.

Sun in full force.. out our room's window

Started the morning by waking up a wee bit early.. duh.. You don't wanna waste time sleeping when travelling do you? Besides, we have a breakfast waiting for us downstairs. It ends at 10 am was it? Buffet breakfast somemore.. kai wan siao.. With ppl like Eason on board, tell him buffet, habis cerita. LOL.

Well, after breakfast, we headed back to our room to begin our adventure for the day. As usual when abroad, the map was the starting point. Scan here scan there.. Hmm.. Then an idea flashed in my head. The equation of "Weather so good" + "Manchester". Oh shyt.. Its Old Trafford of course.. Nah.. Wrong ppl. NOP NOP. Coz Old Trafford would be tonight!!! OMG!

Anyways, non-footie fans might not realise that there is another popular club residing in Manchester too. Its Manchester City Football Club!

Pls Take note : Manchester United != Manchester City . <--Both are massive rivals So, you could guess by now where I planned to head to this morning. To the City of Manchester Stadium (home of Manchester City FC). Woohoo!~ Gosh, I was really really excited. Seriously, Im not over-exaggerating coz its gonna be the 1st stadium(since Ive been in UK) to visit! And you know how football-crazy I am. Thus, of course, that means a lot to me.. We decided to use the Manchester tram(seemingly Manchester's unique way to get around the city) to get to another area before using a bus to head to the stadium(which was the only way other than taking the cab). Some pics taken while waiting for the tram to arrive:

Hilton Tower/Hotel upclose

The tram track.. Tram tram where are you???

Uhh where next?

It was a very short bus trip to the place.

Here was roughly where the bus dropped us of.
The stadium is located inside the 'SportCity'.
This area was the venue of the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Before this, MCFC's home was at Maine's Road.

Pics from the outside:

Let's go in!

The main facade of the stadium

An upclose

I think this is how the fans get into the stadium during matchday.
Just like how cars get into the Bandar car park building

If you noticed properly on the pic above, there are names.
These as we learned later, are names of the season ticket holders! Cool huh

Off to the side of the stadium:

I guess this is where people can collect their match tix

Directly opposite the tickets' area, lies the
City Store, the official merchandise store of the club.
What does it mean? It means time to get a memorabilia!

The consequences of entering the store.
I decided to get the scarf, the jerseys were way costly

Well, I thought we were done for the day when a stranger suddenly approached us and offered to help us take a pic! Whoa.. I was indeed surprised coz we hadn't asked for help either. Anyways, Ok, why not I thought. After a few pics, he asked where were we from and such. Told us a bit bout the area. Thought that was it when suddenly he offered to bring us inside the area where we non-MCFC members are not allowed to enter. Wow.. I certainly won't be surprised if Im one hot girl!! But Im a guy! And he's a guy too. But no worries, 120% sure he aint gay, coz he had his child waiting for him in his car. LOL.. He pointed to the field(below) opp. of the stadium and told us that that is where the MCFC Reserves play their footie.. Anyways, nice person indeed. How often do you get sincerely friendly strangers nowadays?

MCFC Reserves Ground

Its already past midday and it was about time we head back to get Eason and Li Jiu Zhe. God knows what those 2 were doing alone in the room.. Eek!

On the way back,

Roman Ruins, just at the back of our hostel..

I wonder if it is the Romans who drew and painted these?? Hmm.. Don't think so eh.. Still looks new..

Next destination is Trafford Centre..

Some pics taken along the way to the tram to Trafford Centre..

We decided to get to Trafford Centre via. tram, then from the drop-off to Trafford Centre via bus. The waiting-for-the-bus part was very sucky. We waited around 45 minutes outside in the cold just to wait for it to arrive! That's evil I tell u! Evil bus driver. LOL.. Den I found out what was the cause when we embarked on the bus journey. It was already close to evening, and like most places on this planet, it was TRAFFIC JAM time. Oh noes.. It sucked really. The bus was so packed somemore. Another 30 mins, of painstakingly slow bus trip. Walao.

Anyways, alas, we arrived at the area, deemed to be one of the largest shopping areas in Europe, if I ain't wrong. Wow.. it damn sure is BIG! Gadong Mall is peanuts to this I tell you. I roughly estimate, it is the size of the Gadong area, from Guan Electrical up to The Mall. But imagine it with buildings linked with one another.

Someone save Santa!

Most of the buildings were more to chain department stores, such as M&S, Selfridges, all those. We decided to skip those and go to the mall-like one where there were different shops mixed along with food area.

The inside:

The foodcourt were divided into different 'countries'. This one represents New Orleans. Should be the USA one. Thus, I guess the buildings structures and all that depicted those in New Orleans'. Those food on sold were of course American ones.

Similarly, Chinatown! Thus Chinese food..

The center where all the 'countries' met..

Lots and lots of people..

Classy look eh.. I think this was one of the 'ends' of the food court.

Aights.. Just about it this time around..

I hope that Eason and Li Jiu Zhe won't feel too disappointed that there were no pics of em here. LOL

=)