Another post! Like London buses, eh? Wait ages for one, then two come along at the same time! ;)
Quick one this time around, though, with a number songs I like a lot (There are others, just can't remember them right now!). Don't like Taio Cruz, but I like these two songs!
And this one by 'The Wanted', although the video made me question why I like it! I think some songs ARE better without videos!
That's it for now, laters! :)
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Hi! :)
Last post, 9th August 2010! Awful! Not that I haven't had anything to blog about, but I've been sorta busy and I'll admit, my attention's been elsewhere. Joel, it's all your fault, you know! Haha.
But yeah, that last post was so so long ago! A day before my 22nd birthday, and Joel's too. And it rained that day, unbelievable! Isn't it annoying when it rains on your birthday, especially as it's meant to be summer and all! And I didn't have a birthday cake! For the first-time ever! Don't really know how that happened. Probably because I was dithering for ages over what to to do. Wanted to do the 'Go Ape' thing at first, then thought paintballing, then LaserTag. Then it turned out a friend was getting married on the weekend I wanted to do something, so I decided to do that instead! Cop-out, more like! Wanted to bake a cake the day before my birthday, but I don't remember, I was either too lazy or tired so didn't bake one. But considering I had 4 cakes in total last year, it's not too bad. But I'll still doubling the cakes I have next year!
It's been a crazy few months, though. But unfortunately, there hasn't been much of Arsenal involved. I've only been to one game this season, and that was pre-season even, at the Emirates Cup. And I've been slacking totally. I hardly ever go on ATVO even though I keep renewing my monthly membership. I never know who's injured until when the line-up's revealed! But at least I have been following the games. Having said that, there've been one or two games this season that I've seen zero highlights of! Really bad. We've been a bit dodgy this season as well, which doesn't help! It's still early days though, and hopefully we'll nick a trophy or two!
But I still bleed red and white, and even if I've not been as up-to-date as I usually am, I still manage to follow all the games. And I'm going to the Emirates soon! See, I've not totally pushed Arsenal aside! I'm going to the West Ham game end of the month with Chris, and that should be fun! Hopefully I get to go to more games this season, but this is a good start!
Oh, and I have a job! Okay well, I'll know for definite by the end of this week, but for the past three weeks, I've been interning at a Shipping Arbitrator's in London. The plan was for it to be an internship/trial period for 4 weeks, then depending on how things go, it might turn out to be a more permanent role. I think it's been going well so far, but I guess you can't really be too sure! We'll see what happens at the end of this week, as the 4 weeks are up on Friday! But it's been good fun, though. Not easy, but fun. Although my hours aren't the usual 9-5. I start at 10.30am, to finish at 6.30pm. Usually leave home at 8am, and don't get back until about 8pm/9pm, depending on the buses! It's always tight, as the train gets to St Albans at about 7.55pm, and there's meant to be a bus at 7.55pm, about two minutes' walk away! I've been lucky though, as most times, the bus has been a bit late, meaning I get to the bus stop just in time, or having to wait a few minutes for it. But the other day, I missed it! The next one was an hour later, but there's meant to be another bus 35-40 minutes after the one I missed, but for some reason, it didn't come on time, so I ended up being stuck at the bus stop for almost an hour! And it was raining as well! But at least, I was under the bus stand so didn't get wet! It was very frustrating, as I wasn't sure whether I'd missed the bus or not, because usually, I'd see the bus drive past on my way to the stop, or the bus stop would be empty, which it wasn't. So you spend the first 10-20 minutes thinking, 'the bus might be here soon'. Then you give up, but you think, 'The other bus might be here soon', as it's usually early, and before you know it, you're there for an hour! If I'd known for sure that I'd missed the bus, I could have gotten myself some dinner, especially as the bus stop's right opposite Frango's (Nando's rip-off, but with better chicken!). I love Frango's! But I didn't want to go in to order something, as I kept thinking I'd miss the bus! Or I could have taken a cab home! A bit expensive, but at least I get home at a decent time! By the time I eventually got home, was too tired to even have dinner! Awful! But luckily, I've only ever had to miss the bus a couple or so times.
I might change my hours to 10am to 6pm though. And I wouldn't even have to leave the house any earlier! Usually when I leave at 8am, if I went straight to work, I'd get there for 10am, but seeing as I'd be 30 minutes early, I usually just mess about in the mornings, deliberately miss the train, or do a bit of shopping! Funny the other day, I took a detour to go find some KFC. But the Victoria line was acting up, and I ended up getting to work 10 minutes late! Even worse was the fact that it turned out that they don't actually serve chicken that early (9.30am thereabouts), so I ended up having something off their breakfast menu. No chicken! But at least it was nice! But yeah, the point is, might be much better if I just went to work straight, got there at 10am and left at 6pm, as it'd mean I'd get home about quarter to 8, which is decent enough! But anyways, I should get the job first before thinking of alternatives!
Pictures, pictures! I've got loads to upload! Holiday pictures, Arsenal stadium and museum tour, and other random bits! But it takes AGES on Blogger! I finally have a Flickr account, but I've uploaded zero pictures as of now! It might be easier to upload pictures there, so I'll give it a go one of these days, and post a link up here. No guarantees I'll be doing it any time soon, though!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned driving lessons on here, but I have been taking lessons for some time now. And I finally did my theory test, after changing dates a million times, it seems! But I did really well! I guess you only need to not fail it, but I actually proper studied for it, so I got all the theory questions right, and the hazard perception bit I passed very well too! Can't remember the scores though. Wait, I hope I haven't lost that paper, as I'll need to find it when I'm taking my practical test! But yeah, been having lessons, and it's really good fun! I had my first 'night' lesson last night and it was the best! I should have more 'night' lessons...
Anyways, enough drivel! That's only a snippet of all the things I've had to say the last few months, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view!), I've forgotten most of the rest! Lucky sods! Hey, I mean that in a nice way! But yeah, I haven't lost the art of rambling on and on, I've just not found the time, shame on me. And I still remember how to get on this page! (Good thing I had it bookmarked! ;))
I'll stop now, and I do hope it's not another two and a half months before my next post! Someone shoot me if that's the case! ;)
Oh yeah, something to do when you're bored, 'UrbanDictionary' your name! Should be funny...
Got some stick from Joel for liking the Bee Gees, but I'll leave you with this!
But yeah, that last post was so so long ago! A day before my 22nd birthday, and Joel's too. And it rained that day, unbelievable! Isn't it annoying when it rains on your birthday, especially as it's meant to be summer and all! And I didn't have a birthday cake! For the first-time ever! Don't really know how that happened. Probably because I was dithering for ages over what to to do. Wanted to do the 'Go Ape' thing at first, then thought paintballing, then LaserTag. Then it turned out a friend was getting married on the weekend I wanted to do something, so I decided to do that instead! Cop-out, more like! Wanted to bake a cake the day before my birthday, but I don't remember, I was either too lazy or tired so didn't bake one. But considering I had 4 cakes in total last year, it's not too bad. But I'll still doubling the cakes I have next year!
It's been a crazy few months, though. But unfortunately, there hasn't been much of Arsenal involved. I've only been to one game this season, and that was pre-season even, at the Emirates Cup. And I've been slacking totally. I hardly ever go on ATVO even though I keep renewing my monthly membership. I never know who's injured until when the line-up's revealed! But at least I have been following the games. Having said that, there've been one or two games this season that I've seen zero highlights of! Really bad. We've been a bit dodgy this season as well, which doesn't help! It's still early days though, and hopefully we'll nick a trophy or two!
But I still bleed red and white, and even if I've not been as up-to-date as I usually am, I still manage to follow all the games. And I'm going to the Emirates soon! See, I've not totally pushed Arsenal aside! I'm going to the West Ham game end of the month with Chris, and that should be fun! Hopefully I get to go to more games this season, but this is a good start!
Oh, and I have a job! Okay well, I'll know for definite by the end of this week, but for the past three weeks, I've been interning at a Shipping Arbitrator's in London. The plan was for it to be an internship/trial period for 4 weeks, then depending on how things go, it might turn out to be a more permanent role. I think it's been going well so far, but I guess you can't really be too sure! We'll see what happens at the end of this week, as the 4 weeks are up on Friday! But it's been good fun, though. Not easy, but fun. Although my hours aren't the usual 9-5. I start at 10.30am, to finish at 6.30pm. Usually leave home at 8am, and don't get back until about 8pm/9pm, depending on the buses! It's always tight, as the train gets to St Albans at about 7.55pm, and there's meant to be a bus at 7.55pm, about two minutes' walk away! I've been lucky though, as most times, the bus has been a bit late, meaning I get to the bus stop just in time, or having to wait a few minutes for it. But the other day, I missed it! The next one was an hour later, but there's meant to be another bus 35-40 minutes after the one I missed, but for some reason, it didn't come on time, so I ended up being stuck at the bus stop for almost an hour! And it was raining as well! But at least, I was under the bus stand so didn't get wet! It was very frustrating, as I wasn't sure whether I'd missed the bus or not, because usually, I'd see the bus drive past on my way to the stop, or the bus stop would be empty, which it wasn't. So you spend the first 10-20 minutes thinking, 'the bus might be here soon'. Then you give up, but you think, 'The other bus might be here soon', as it's usually early, and before you know it, you're there for an hour! If I'd known for sure that I'd missed the bus, I could have gotten myself some dinner, especially as the bus stop's right opposite Frango's (Nando's rip-off, but with better chicken!). I love Frango's! But I didn't want to go in to order something, as I kept thinking I'd miss the bus! Or I could have taken a cab home! A bit expensive, but at least I get home at a decent time! By the time I eventually got home, was too tired to even have dinner! Awful! But luckily, I've only ever had to miss the bus a couple or so times.
I might change my hours to 10am to 6pm though. And I wouldn't even have to leave the house any earlier! Usually when I leave at 8am, if I went straight to work, I'd get there for 10am, but seeing as I'd be 30 minutes early, I usually just mess about in the mornings, deliberately miss the train, or do a bit of shopping! Funny the other day, I took a detour to go find some KFC. But the Victoria line was acting up, and I ended up getting to work 10 minutes late! Even worse was the fact that it turned out that they don't actually serve chicken that early (9.30am thereabouts), so I ended up having something off their breakfast menu. No chicken! But at least it was nice! But yeah, the point is, might be much better if I just went to work straight, got there at 10am and left at 6pm, as it'd mean I'd get home about quarter to 8, which is decent enough! But anyways, I should get the job first before thinking of alternatives!
Pictures, pictures! I've got loads to upload! Holiday pictures, Arsenal stadium and museum tour, and other random bits! But it takes AGES on Blogger! I finally have a Flickr account, but I've uploaded zero pictures as of now! It might be easier to upload pictures there, so I'll give it a go one of these days, and post a link up here. No guarantees I'll be doing it any time soon, though!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned driving lessons on here, but I have been taking lessons for some time now. And I finally did my theory test, after changing dates a million times, it seems! But I did really well! I guess you only need to not fail it, but I actually proper studied for it, so I got all the theory questions right, and the hazard perception bit I passed very well too! Can't remember the scores though. Wait, I hope I haven't lost that paper, as I'll need to find it when I'm taking my practical test! But yeah, been having lessons, and it's really good fun! I had my first 'night' lesson last night and it was the best! I should have more 'night' lessons...
Anyways, enough drivel! That's only a snippet of all the things I've had to say the last few months, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view!), I've forgotten most of the rest! Lucky sods! Hey, I mean that in a nice way! But yeah, I haven't lost the art of rambling on and on, I've just not found the time, shame on me. And I still remember how to get on this page! (Good thing I had it bookmarked! ;))
I'll stop now, and I do hope it's not another two and a half months before my next post! Someone shoot me if that's the case! ;)
Oh yeah, something to do when you're bored, 'UrbanDictionary' your name! Should be funny...
Got some stick from Joel for liking the Bee Gees, but I'll leave you with this!
Monday, August 09, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
I've missed you!!!
I am ofcourse referring to Arsenal (and blogging)! The season, well pre-season football atleast, starts tomorrow and I'm excited as anything! Maybe now with Arsenal to watch and talk about, I can return to something close to normalcy, re blogging. As I mentioned before, it's not really a lack of stuff to write about- I've still got loads of holiday pictures to post and chat about- but it's just that spark that's been missing, and hopefully my love for writing about Arsenal and inane things will be re-ignited once those boys (whichever 11) take to the field again tomorrow against Barnet, our usual (pre) season opener. Wow, that's one long sentence!
Thanks to that wonderful and lovely distraction called the World Cup, I haven't really suffered from the usual off-season Arsenal withdrawal symptoms, and I'm very ashamed to say I've hardly been on ATVO, and the last 2 Premier League games last season which I missed while I was away, I haven't watched. Not even a single highlight! So Carlos Vela's chip against Fulham, I can only imagine what it was like. I'm not sorry I haven't seen the highlights of the Blackburn game, though. The less seen or said about it, the better! But I'm sure I'm bound to relive that disaster sometime during the course of the season! Anyways...
Oh yeah, I was out for a party last week Saturday, and I've got a story to tell! Not so much about the party, but the getting there!
(It's quite a long tale, so why not listen to some music!? One of my favourite (and timeless) songs- Toploader's Dancing in the Moonlight! Please excuse the poor quality, but you only need to listen, ayways! ;-)
So it was Esther's brother's (denim and white themed) house party, all the way in some place in Eest London I'd never heard of before, Purfleet. The plan was to go to Chris' house first, as I don't live to far from him, watch the World Cup 3rd place play-off- Germany v Uruguay- then go to the party.
All was looking well and good. It was a really good game, and we even stayed a bit longer and watched James Corden's World Cup show. Don't really know what it's called as one always feels the urge to change the channel whenever the show comes on, but as our very own Arshavin was on it, why not?!
Anyways, we finally got our act together and left at about half 10 thereabouts, and got to Hatfield station. Just missed a train so had to catch the next one, which was at about 11pm. The plan was to find our way to Limehouse, then catch the C2C from there to Purfleet. Got to Limehouse, only to find we'd missed the last train to Purfleet. Apparently the last train was ages ago, too! The only way to go was back, so we went back a stop to Fenchurch station, hoping to find someone at the station who could I don't know, tell us an alternative route or something. Got there, and the advice was to take the train to Barking, then from there, either take the bus or a cab to Purfleet. Didn't sound like a bad idea, except that the next train wasn't for another 30 or so minutes, and this was already getting to midnight. So Chris and I decided to just cab it from where we were to Purfleet. How hard could that be, right?
Went outside the station to find one, but there wasn't any. The taxi ramp was empty and not being from London, didn't have any can numbers. So we spoke to a couple of the guys working at the station asking where to get a cab, and they're like there's a bus stop round the corner, you might find one there. So we get to the bus stop and not surprisingly, there wasn't any. We were just trying to get our bearings right when this 'not in service' bus stops in front of us. The bus driver- a really nice mature Caribbean dude, Jamaican I think- opens the door and is like, 'Do you know the last bus has gone already?', and he's like where are you going? So we tell him that we're trying to get to Purfleet and he's like jump on the bus, I'll drop you somewhere closeby, then take the bus 25 to Barking, which was really really nice of him. So he drops us off at a bus stop a few minutes away.
So we're at the bus stop trying to figure out where exactly we are and what direction we need to travel. Turns out we're close to Monument station. We do see a Bus 25, but I figured it'd be much quicker if we took the underground from there to Barking. So we don't get on the bus. We're about to start walking to the underground station, when this guy at the Bus stop is like 'Erm, it's a Saturday, the undergrounds are shut already'. Damn. We get talking, where are you going, blah blah blah. He was on his way to Dagenham, and he suggests we get on a cab together, since according to him, Dagenham's on the way to Purfleet. We're perfectly happy with this, because in all honesty, we really didn't have a clue which way to go or anything. Finding the cab is the problem, though.
There was this cab at the bus stop, an Addison Lee cab, but he's like he's not in service and gives us his company's number to call. Hurrah! But it's one of those 0844 numbers, which you can't dial on your contract phone, and you get charged some funny amount. But I had a pay as you go phone on me as well, so I decide to use that instead. It turns out to be one of those automated services, so I got put on hold for a bit, then finally got to speak to someone called Joel. But just as I'm about to finalise the whole thing, I run out of credit. Awesome. To make things worse, I was actually starving! And it's not your usual hunger, but the type where you're stomach is totally empty and you can't take a step without your stomach hurting. Really clueless to why I was that hungry, as I'd just eaten before we left, even though I didn't eat that much. But yeah, we're kinda stranded, and I'm dead hungry, and no shops or anything around are open. Two things I always have in my bag are a tube map and a bottle of water. Obviously, not the same bottle of water all the time, but a bottle of water. But this time around, I didn't have either, and desperately needed them! Water would have been absolutely fine for me at that stage, as I felt drinking lots of liquid was what I needed. Also needed a tube map really badly as I honestly didn't have any clue as to how near or far we were from our destination, or which direction we had to go! But thank God for smartphones! Was able to download a tube map (now permanently saved on my phone). Shame there's no water app!
Anyways, so the dude we met at the bus stop, Dan, is like he thinks there's a cab company around and that we should just walk in and book a cab there and then, so we start walking. I'm in absolute agony, but I didn't have much of a choice, anyways. So we start walking, and chat some more to Dan. Turns out it was his birthday that day, and he'd just been out with a few mates and was trying to get home. He's hungry too, and then tells us that he's a head chef! If only he had some sort of food on him, right? Anyways, we walk from Monument to London Bridge, and come across a Kebab shop! Awesome! I get myself a can of coke as that's about all I can handle, or water, but being a coke addict, I went for that instead! We also ask the woman at the shop where the cab company was as Dan couldn't find it, and she's like it's round the corner. You can't begin to imagine how full of joy I was at the sight of the cab company! Tired of walking, and just want to sit somewhere and sleep! After eating something, ofcourse.
Anyways, so we book a cab from London Bridge to Purfleet, stopping at Dagenham, and it cost £55, which was to me, a very very good deal, Purfleet being as far away as it is, and it being late at night as well. So 3 of us get in the cab, and off we went. Dan is being very chatty, and I ask him about where he's head chef at. Turns out to be a nice cocktail bar at Soho Square, Barrio Central. He tells us about his boss, and that they've got a new menu coming out soon. He even gets us to add him on facebook, and Chris and I are like we'll definitely pop in one of these days. He even told us about his ex-girlfriend, about her being from Spain and them meeting here while she was doing her Ph.D. He then moves to Spain with her and starts working there, only for them to eventually break up. Ouch. He seemed a really nice dude, and to top it off, when we got to Dagenham, he actually paid half of the cab fare, which he didn't have to do, there being 3 of us, and him not going the full distance. So yeah, nice dude. He gets off, and we continue to Purfleet. Yay! Unluckily though, we got off at the wrong house! It was in quite a nice area, but there weren't any street signs- as far as we can see, anyways- and the SatNav seemed certain we had reached our destination. Tried calling Esther and our other friend who was at the party too, Oyinda, but couldn't get through to any of them! I'd changed into these ridiculous heels in the cab, and we had to try to figure out how to find the stupid house! Luckily for us, we could actually hear the music, so it was only a matter of finding how to get to the house, which we eventually did. Phew!
So the party was slated to start at 9pm, and what time did we get there? 2am! (Un)fashionably late, right?! I'm usually shy (anti-social) at parties and stuff, but nothing like an onerous journey and severe hunger to make you shyness (anti-socialness) disappear. I might have felt like crying, especially during the long walk to find a cab company, but it was actually good fun, the journey. I'd agonised for days, whether or not to go for the party and only decided to go, the night before, but I'm happy I did. It was quite the adventure, but it's stuff like that which make life interesting. (Admittedly, I'm a thrill-seeker and love adventure).
Had fun at the party though, even though we'd missed most of it (fine by me, actually. Anti-social, see?!). Party finished at about 4am, but we crashed at the house until about 6am, before then finding our way to Esther's in the morning, for another round of sleep. Adventure and party over.
Took some dodgy pictures with the camera on my (new) phone. I had my proper camera in my bag, but couldn't be bothered to use it, as I'd already dumped my slightly heavy bag in some room. Here are a few of the better ones:
Brother and sister:
Hungry (and now happy) girl and part of Chris' face:
Zainab, Chris and Esther:
Oyinda and I:
Esther and I, too-hungry-to-eat (True!)
Oyinda butting in and spoiling what would have been a good picture!:
Much better:
So I figured out a few things on Sautrday:
*How a car feels like when it's running on nothing but fumes
*Hunger and tiredness makes me hyper and less anti-social!
Anyways, high time I ended this blog before it gets any longer! (proof I'm back to my blogging ways, as long blogs have returned, woohoo!).
Thanks to that wonderful and lovely distraction called the World Cup, I haven't really suffered from the usual off-season Arsenal withdrawal symptoms, and I'm very ashamed to say I've hardly been on ATVO, and the last 2 Premier League games last season which I missed while I was away, I haven't watched. Not even a single highlight! So Carlos Vela's chip against Fulham, I can only imagine what it was like. I'm not sorry I haven't seen the highlights of the Blackburn game, though. The less seen or said about it, the better! But I'm sure I'm bound to relive that disaster sometime during the course of the season! Anyways...
Oh yeah, I was out for a party last week Saturday, and I've got a story to tell! Not so much about the party, but the getting there!
(It's quite a long tale, so why not listen to some music!? One of my favourite (and timeless) songs- Toploader's Dancing in the Moonlight! Please excuse the poor quality, but you only need to listen, ayways! ;-)
So it was Esther's brother's (denim and white themed) house party, all the way in some place in Eest London I'd never heard of before, Purfleet. The plan was to go to Chris' house first, as I don't live to far from him, watch the World Cup 3rd place play-off- Germany v Uruguay- then go to the party.
All was looking well and good. It was a really good game, and we even stayed a bit longer and watched James Corden's World Cup show. Don't really know what it's called as one always feels the urge to change the channel whenever the show comes on, but as our very own Arshavin was on it, why not?!
Anyways, we finally got our act together and left at about half 10 thereabouts, and got to Hatfield station. Just missed a train so had to catch the next one, which was at about 11pm. The plan was to find our way to Limehouse, then catch the C2C from there to Purfleet. Got to Limehouse, only to find we'd missed the last train to Purfleet. Apparently the last train was ages ago, too! The only way to go was back, so we went back a stop to Fenchurch station, hoping to find someone at the station who could I don't know, tell us an alternative route or something. Got there, and the advice was to take the train to Barking, then from there, either take the bus or a cab to Purfleet. Didn't sound like a bad idea, except that the next train wasn't for another 30 or so minutes, and this was already getting to midnight. So Chris and I decided to just cab it from where we were to Purfleet. How hard could that be, right?
Went outside the station to find one, but there wasn't any. The taxi ramp was empty and not being from London, didn't have any can numbers. So we spoke to a couple of the guys working at the station asking where to get a cab, and they're like there's a bus stop round the corner, you might find one there. So we get to the bus stop and not surprisingly, there wasn't any. We were just trying to get our bearings right when this 'not in service' bus stops in front of us. The bus driver- a really nice mature Caribbean dude, Jamaican I think- opens the door and is like, 'Do you know the last bus has gone already?', and he's like where are you going? So we tell him that we're trying to get to Purfleet and he's like jump on the bus, I'll drop you somewhere closeby, then take the bus 25 to Barking, which was really really nice of him. So he drops us off at a bus stop a few minutes away.
So we're at the bus stop trying to figure out where exactly we are and what direction we need to travel. Turns out we're close to Monument station. We do see a Bus 25, but I figured it'd be much quicker if we took the underground from there to Barking. So we don't get on the bus. We're about to start walking to the underground station, when this guy at the Bus stop is like 'Erm, it's a Saturday, the undergrounds are shut already'. Damn. We get talking, where are you going, blah blah blah. He was on his way to Dagenham, and he suggests we get on a cab together, since according to him, Dagenham's on the way to Purfleet. We're perfectly happy with this, because in all honesty, we really didn't have a clue which way to go or anything. Finding the cab is the problem, though.
There was this cab at the bus stop, an Addison Lee cab, but he's like he's not in service and gives us his company's number to call. Hurrah! But it's one of those 0844 numbers, which you can't dial on your contract phone, and you get charged some funny amount. But I had a pay as you go phone on me as well, so I decide to use that instead. It turns out to be one of those automated services, so I got put on hold for a bit, then finally got to speak to someone called Joel. But just as I'm about to finalise the whole thing, I run out of credit. Awesome. To make things worse, I was actually starving! And it's not your usual hunger, but the type where you're stomach is totally empty and you can't take a step without your stomach hurting. Really clueless to why I was that hungry, as I'd just eaten before we left, even though I didn't eat that much. But yeah, we're kinda stranded, and I'm dead hungry, and no shops or anything around are open. Two things I always have in my bag are a tube map and a bottle of water. Obviously, not the same bottle of water all the time, but a bottle of water. But this time around, I didn't have either, and desperately needed them! Water would have been absolutely fine for me at that stage, as I felt drinking lots of liquid was what I needed. Also needed a tube map really badly as I honestly didn't have any clue as to how near or far we were from our destination, or which direction we had to go! But thank God for smartphones! Was able to download a tube map (now permanently saved on my phone). Shame there's no water app!
Anyways, so the dude we met at the bus stop, Dan, is like he thinks there's a cab company around and that we should just walk in and book a cab there and then, so we start walking. I'm in absolute agony, but I didn't have much of a choice, anyways. So we start walking, and chat some more to Dan. Turns out it was his birthday that day, and he'd just been out with a few mates and was trying to get home. He's hungry too, and then tells us that he's a head chef! If only he had some sort of food on him, right? Anyways, we walk from Monument to London Bridge, and come across a Kebab shop! Awesome! I get myself a can of coke as that's about all I can handle, or water, but being a coke addict, I went for that instead! We also ask the woman at the shop where the cab company was as Dan couldn't find it, and she's like it's round the corner. You can't begin to imagine how full of joy I was at the sight of the cab company! Tired of walking, and just want to sit somewhere and sleep! After eating something, ofcourse.
Anyways, so we book a cab from London Bridge to Purfleet, stopping at Dagenham, and it cost £55, which was to me, a very very good deal, Purfleet being as far away as it is, and it being late at night as well. So 3 of us get in the cab, and off we went. Dan is being very chatty, and I ask him about where he's head chef at. Turns out to be a nice cocktail bar at Soho Square, Barrio Central. He tells us about his boss, and that they've got a new menu coming out soon. He even gets us to add him on facebook, and Chris and I are like we'll definitely pop in one of these days. He even told us about his ex-girlfriend, about her being from Spain and them meeting here while she was doing her Ph.D. He then moves to Spain with her and starts working there, only for them to eventually break up. Ouch. He seemed a really nice dude, and to top it off, when we got to Dagenham, he actually paid half of the cab fare, which he didn't have to do, there being 3 of us, and him not going the full distance. So yeah, nice dude. He gets off, and we continue to Purfleet. Yay! Unluckily though, we got off at the wrong house! It was in quite a nice area, but there weren't any street signs- as far as we can see, anyways- and the SatNav seemed certain we had reached our destination. Tried calling Esther and our other friend who was at the party too, Oyinda, but couldn't get through to any of them! I'd changed into these ridiculous heels in the cab, and we had to try to figure out how to find the stupid house! Luckily for us, we could actually hear the music, so it was only a matter of finding how to get to the house, which we eventually did. Phew!
So the party was slated to start at 9pm, and what time did we get there? 2am! (Un)fashionably late, right?! I'm usually shy (anti-social) at parties and stuff, but nothing like an onerous journey and severe hunger to make you shyness (anti-socialness) disappear. I might have felt like crying, especially during the long walk to find a cab company, but it was actually good fun, the journey. I'd agonised for days, whether or not to go for the party and only decided to go, the night before, but I'm happy I did. It was quite the adventure, but it's stuff like that which make life interesting. (Admittedly, I'm a thrill-seeker and love adventure).
Had fun at the party though, even though we'd missed most of it (fine by me, actually. Anti-social, see?!). Party finished at about 4am, but we crashed at the house until about 6am, before then finding our way to Esther's in the morning, for another round of sleep. Adventure and party over.
Took some dodgy pictures with the camera on my (new) phone. I had my proper camera in my bag, but couldn't be bothered to use it, as I'd already dumped my slightly heavy bag in some room. Here are a few of the better ones:
Brother and sister:
Hungry (and now happy) girl and part of Chris' face:
Zainab, Chris and Esther:
Oyinda and I:
Esther and I, too-hungry-to-eat (True!)
Oyinda butting in and spoiling what would have been a good picture!:
Much better:
So I figured out a few things on Sautrday:
*How a car feels like when it's running on nothing but fumes
*Hunger and tiredness makes me hyper and less anti-social!
Anyways, high time I ended this blog before it gets any longer! (proof I'm back to my blogging ways, as long blogs have returned, woohoo!).
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Classic Cars
Long time no write. It's my fault. Well, obviously. It's a bit funny, because I do have stuff to write, I'm just not been able to. Don't worry, I'll not be abandoning you soon, you just have to be patient and before you know it, everything'll be back to normal. Or rather, as normal as they can be!
I'm posting pictures about cars, today! Random, I know! But hey, just doing what it says on the tin! ;) Anyways, in church today, and it being Father's Day, there was something for the 'blokes', a Classic Cars Show! Quite a few cars were on display in the parking lot. I might be an F1 girl, but there's only so much I know about cars, and my car-knowledge is solely restricted to F1, anyways. But some of the cars were/are gorgeous, and I thought I'd take pictures and post it up here, especially since I've been promising pictures of my holiday and haven't got round to sorting them out and posting them. I didn't have my camera with me, but the one on my phone seems to have done a good job!
But anyways, here are the pictures. I haven't got a clue about any of the cars, so there'll be no description from me. The only thing I can say is they're fabulous. Enjoy! (There was a car on display on the cruise, that I can only guess was a 'classic car, so I'm adding it here! It's the first car). Please ignore my photography skills; and the people, it goes without saying! Haha.
Classic Cars show:
There were more cars, but I couldn't take more pictures, as my cousin was in a hurry to get home, and not all of them looked nice to me, anyways.
So yeah, that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll be back sooner, rather than later! :)
I'm posting pictures about cars, today! Random, I know! But hey, just doing what it says on the tin! ;) Anyways, in church today, and it being Father's Day, there was something for the 'blokes', a Classic Cars Show! Quite a few cars were on display in the parking lot. I might be an F1 girl, but there's only so much I know about cars, and my car-knowledge is solely restricted to F1, anyways. But some of the cars were/are gorgeous, and I thought I'd take pictures and post it up here, especially since I've been promising pictures of my holiday and haven't got round to sorting them out and posting them. I didn't have my camera with me, but the one on my phone seems to have done a good job!
But anyways, here are the pictures. I haven't got a clue about any of the cars, so there'll be no description from me. The only thing I can say is they're fabulous. Enjoy! (There was a car on display on the cruise, that I can only guess was a 'classic car, so I'm adding it here! It's the first car). Please ignore my photography skills; and the people, it goes without saying! Haha.
Classic Cars show:
There were more cars, but I couldn't take more pictures, as my cousin was in a hurry to get home, and not all of them looked nice to me, anyways.
So yeah, that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll be back sooner, rather than later! :)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
I'm actually alive and well!
I haven't blogged in ages, and I haven't got any real excuses. But I'm back now, and that's all that matters, right? Right?
Anyways, I've been back from my holiday for exactly a week, and it's high time things went back to normal, in relation to blogging and tweeting. It's like I lost all motivation to do both, and thinking about it, it's probably related to the fact that Premier League season is over. There are no Arsenal games to look forward to, until pre-season! But at least the World Cup starts soon, and that's something to look forward to. The French Open is on now actually, and I've been watching it, but I don't really feel up to blogging or tweeting about that. Maybe when it's into the second week...
Back to my holiday. I did enjoy it loads, and considering I was sort of dreading it, that's a massive result! I'll be writing about it and posting the all-important pictures over the next couple of weeks. I took loads and loads of pictures, a lot of them rubbish, by the way. I'll probably use only a few, and maybe I'll put the rest on Flickr, or something. I'll probably blog about Arsenal first, though. I missed the last 2 games, and my feelings towards both were a complete contrast, well obviously, seeing as we won one and lost the other!
On a random note, I was watching 'Terminator' the other day on the iPlayer, and I think it's the first time I've actually watched it and understood it. I probably watched it when I was younger, but the only bit I remembered was when he was plucking his eye out and showing us his bones made of metal! Anyways, I couldn't help but think, when the Terminator's butt was shown at the start, how the Governor of California must feel, knowing that the whole world has seen his butt, or if they haven't seen it, that they know where to go to find it? I'm sure poor Arnold doesn't think about that, but I thought it was hilarious, either way!
Anyways, that's all for now, but I'LL BE BACK! (just couldn't resist! ;) )
Anyways, I've been back from my holiday for exactly a week, and it's high time things went back to normal, in relation to blogging and tweeting. It's like I lost all motivation to do both, and thinking about it, it's probably related to the fact that Premier League season is over. There are no Arsenal games to look forward to, until pre-season! But at least the World Cup starts soon, and that's something to look forward to. The French Open is on now actually, and I've been watching it, but I don't really feel up to blogging or tweeting about that. Maybe when it's into the second week...
Back to my holiday. I did enjoy it loads, and considering I was sort of dreading it, that's a massive result! I'll be writing about it and posting the all-important pictures over the next couple of weeks. I took loads and loads of pictures, a lot of them rubbish, by the way. I'll probably use only a few, and maybe I'll put the rest on Flickr, or something. I'll probably blog about Arsenal first, though. I missed the last 2 games, and my feelings towards both were a complete contrast, well obviously, seeing as we won one and lost the other!
On a random note, I was watching 'Terminator' the other day on the iPlayer, and I think it's the first time I've actually watched it and understood it. I probably watched it when I was younger, but the only bit I remembered was when he was plucking his eye out and showing us his bones made of metal! Anyways, I couldn't help but think, when the Terminator's butt was shown at the start, how the Governor of California must feel, knowing that the whole world has seen his butt, or if they haven't seen it, that they know where to go to find it? I'm sure poor Arnold doesn't think about that, but I thought it was hilarious, either way!
Anyways, that's all for now, but I'LL BE BACK! (just couldn't resist! ;) )
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Magic of the Cup. Actually, make that the Magic of Fulham.
I wrote this post last week for Soccerfanbase, but as it could not be posted, due to server issues, I thought I might as well post it here!
I haven't had much time to blog my usual drivel, and I don't know if I'll get the time to do so before I return to England next week, but I'll try to write at least one post, before I leave, 'try' being the operative word! :)
~~~~~~~~
They've been loads of amazing football stories this season, good and bad. Newly-promoted Birmingham on-course to remain in the Premier League for another season, possibly as high as 9th- amazing. Liverpool struggling for anything resembling the form they were in last season and will probably end up outside the Top 4- shocker. Leeds knocking Manchester United out of the FA cup in the 3rd round, at old Trafford- special. Portsmouth, relegated and broke, getting to the FA Cup final against all odds- the stuff of dreams.
So many more unbelievable stories this season, but the best of all, unquestionably has to be the achievements of Fulham FC. No, not their performance in the Premier League; they've been unspectacular at best. But their achievements in Europe- the Europa League- have been spectacular. How?
Fulham have only ever qualified for Europe twice in their history, the second time being this season, after finishing 7th in the Premier League last season which was a huge achievement in itself. Thier European achievement started against FK Vėtra, a Lithuanian football club, in the 3rd qualifying round. They won that 6-0 on aggregrate. No sweat. Then on to the play-offs, where they saw off Russian club FC Amkar Perm, 3-2 on aggregate.
In the group stages, they were in Group E with Roma, FC Basel and CSKA Sofia. Getting to the knock-out round was not easy, and they had to rely on a win away to FC Basel on the last day. Things looked on track after Boby Zamora put them 2-0 up at half-time, but Basel came out fighting in the second half, and even though Fulham went 3-1 up, Basel pulled it back to 3-2 with about 3 minutes left. But Fulham held on for the crucial win, seeing them into the knock-out stages.
When the draw for the knock-out rounds was made, it was widely-held that Fulham would not make it as they had been paired with Shakhtar Donetsk (current UEFA cup holders) in the round of 32, with the possibility of facing either Juventus or Ajax in the round of 16, both clubs with pedigree in Europe. Not an easy task, and it would not have been a shame, losing to any of those teams.
So Fulham beat Shakhtar 3-2 on aggregate (a home win and an away draw) to go through to the last-16 where they faced Juventus. A huge task this, which only got bigger after losing the away leg 3-1. Meaning they had to win the home leg at Craven Cottage by a margin of 3. And with Juventus scoring inside 2 minutes, it looked like curtains. Zamora equalised shortly after, and when Trezeguet was sent off in the first half, Fulham could sense an opportunity. A couple of goals by Gera in each half, and suddenly, Fulham only needed one more goal to go through. Juventus were holding on gamely, and it took a beauty by Clint Dempsey in the 82nd minute to put them through. Unbelievable result, and unbelievably, Fulham were in the quarter-finals!
Wolfsburg were their quarter-finals opposition, with the possibility of facing Hamburg or Standard Liege. Fulham beat Wolfsburg 2-1 at home, but with the away goal, Wolfsburg had the advantage. But a Bobby Zamora goal in the first minute away at Wolfsburg ensured Fulham won the tie 3-1 on aggregate, setting up a semi-final meeting with Hamburg.
With the final meant to be held at the HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg's home ground, Fulham were clearly the underdogs. The away leg was first, endind 0-0. Fulham have an amazing home record in European competition, unbeaten in 15 at this stage, so that ought to have given them some confidence. But with main striker Bobby Zamora struggling with an achilles injury, it seemed like a game too far for the club and this feeling only intensfied after Mladen Petric gave Hamburg the lead with a stunning free-kick. But if there's anything we've learned from Fulham in Europe this season, it is that they are fighters. 2 quick goals in 10 minutes gave Fulham the lead with about 15 minutes to go. With a place in the finals at stake, and a major piece of Fulham history about to be written, Fulham held on.
So Fulham FC in the finals of the Europa League, in only their second-ever season in Europe! Magical. Amazing feat this, and it was only fitting that they were able to enjoy the moment in front of the Fulham faithful at Craven Cottage. They were unfancied at the start and rightly so, but they defied the odds to make it to the finals on their own merit, where they will face Atletico Madrid at the Nordbank Arena. Who would have thought it, that Fulham would be England's sole representative in Europe at this stage? Unbelievable. Huge credit to Roy Hodgson who has transformed Fulham since he took over in 2007, and I am pretty sure no one -not even Fulham's most intense rivals- would begrudge the team and the manager, were they to win the Europa League. There is no question who the Manager of the Season ought to be this season, and if it turns out to be anyone other than Roy Hodgson, they would be an underserved winner.
Make no mistake they are massive underdogs for the trophy, but come the 12th May, every football fan in England will (and should) be rooting for Fulham, and it would be the perfect ending to this fairy tale, were they to lift the trophy on that night.
Come on Fulham, the whole of England is behind you!
~~~~~~~~
I haven't had much time to blog my usual drivel, and I don't know if I'll get the time to do so before I return to England next week, but I'll try to write at least one post, before I leave, 'try' being the operative word! :)
~~~~~~~~
They've been loads of amazing football stories this season, good and bad. Newly-promoted Birmingham on-course to remain in the Premier League for another season, possibly as high as 9th- amazing. Liverpool struggling for anything resembling the form they were in last season and will probably end up outside the Top 4- shocker. Leeds knocking Manchester United out of the FA cup in the 3rd round, at old Trafford- special. Portsmouth, relegated and broke, getting to the FA Cup final against all odds- the stuff of dreams.
So many more unbelievable stories this season, but the best of all, unquestionably has to be the achievements of Fulham FC. No, not their performance in the Premier League; they've been unspectacular at best. But their achievements in Europe- the Europa League- have been spectacular. How?
Fulham have only ever qualified for Europe twice in their history, the second time being this season, after finishing 7th in the Premier League last season which was a huge achievement in itself. Thier European achievement started against FK Vėtra, a Lithuanian football club, in the 3rd qualifying round. They won that 6-0 on aggregrate. No sweat. Then on to the play-offs, where they saw off Russian club FC Amkar Perm, 3-2 on aggregate.
In the group stages, they were in Group E with Roma, FC Basel and CSKA Sofia. Getting to the knock-out round was not easy, and they had to rely on a win away to FC Basel on the last day. Things looked on track after Boby Zamora put them 2-0 up at half-time, but Basel came out fighting in the second half, and even though Fulham went 3-1 up, Basel pulled it back to 3-2 with about 3 minutes left. But Fulham held on for the crucial win, seeing them into the knock-out stages.
When the draw for the knock-out rounds was made, it was widely-held that Fulham would not make it as they had been paired with Shakhtar Donetsk (current UEFA cup holders) in the round of 32, with the possibility of facing either Juventus or Ajax in the round of 16, both clubs with pedigree in Europe. Not an easy task, and it would not have been a shame, losing to any of those teams.
So Fulham beat Shakhtar 3-2 on aggregate (a home win and an away draw) to go through to the last-16 where they faced Juventus. A huge task this, which only got bigger after losing the away leg 3-1. Meaning they had to win the home leg at Craven Cottage by a margin of 3. And with Juventus scoring inside 2 minutes, it looked like curtains. Zamora equalised shortly after, and when Trezeguet was sent off in the first half, Fulham could sense an opportunity. A couple of goals by Gera in each half, and suddenly, Fulham only needed one more goal to go through. Juventus were holding on gamely, and it took a beauty by Clint Dempsey in the 82nd minute to put them through. Unbelievable result, and unbelievably, Fulham were in the quarter-finals!
Wolfsburg were their quarter-finals opposition, with the possibility of facing Hamburg or Standard Liege. Fulham beat Wolfsburg 2-1 at home, but with the away goal, Wolfsburg had the advantage. But a Bobby Zamora goal in the first minute away at Wolfsburg ensured Fulham won the tie 3-1 on aggregate, setting up a semi-final meeting with Hamburg.
With the final meant to be held at the HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg's home ground, Fulham were clearly the underdogs. The away leg was first, endind 0-0. Fulham have an amazing home record in European competition, unbeaten in 15 at this stage, so that ought to have given them some confidence. But with main striker Bobby Zamora struggling with an achilles injury, it seemed like a game too far for the club and this feeling only intensfied after Mladen Petric gave Hamburg the lead with a stunning free-kick. But if there's anything we've learned from Fulham in Europe this season, it is that they are fighters. 2 quick goals in 10 minutes gave Fulham the lead with about 15 minutes to go. With a place in the finals at stake, and a major piece of Fulham history about to be written, Fulham held on.
So Fulham FC in the finals of the Europa League, in only their second-ever season in Europe! Magical. Amazing feat this, and it was only fitting that they were able to enjoy the moment in front of the Fulham faithful at Craven Cottage. They were unfancied at the start and rightly so, but they defied the odds to make it to the finals on their own merit, where they will face Atletico Madrid at the Nordbank Arena. Who would have thought it, that Fulham would be England's sole representative in Europe at this stage? Unbelievable. Huge credit to Roy Hodgson who has transformed Fulham since he took over in 2007, and I am pretty sure no one -not even Fulham's most intense rivals- would begrudge the team and the manager, were they to win the Europa League. There is no question who the Manager of the Season ought to be this season, and if it turns out to be anyone other than Roy Hodgson, they would be an underserved winner.
Make no mistake they are massive underdogs for the trophy, but come the 12th May, every football fan in England will (and should) be rooting for Fulham, and it would be the perfect ending to this fairy tale, were they to lift the trophy on that night.
Come on Fulham, the whole of England is behind you!
~~~~~~~~
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Other side of the world. No, I'm not in Australia!
Hello! Made it safely across the pond. Obviously :)
Really long flight. Didn't sleep much on it, though, as I busied myself with the in-flight entertainment. Can't remember all I watched, but it included 'This Is It', Glee, the 'Inbetweeners' and 'the Invention of Lying' (didn't actually finish it).
I was sat at the window-seat, meaning I could take loads of aerial-view pictures, but also meaning I only left my seat once- the same time the dude next to me left his seat! I find it really difficult to bug whoever's next to me to excuse me. I always feel bad! Well, next time, choose the bloody aisle-seat! Or maybe not, just grow a pair!
Anyways, I took a few pictures, although I felt like a silly tourist doing it, until I saw the dude next to me doing the same!
I tend to always end up sitting close to the wings!
Aren't clouds such fascinating things? When I was younger, I always wanted to touch them, if not for those damned windows! Still want to, actually...
Not the clearest of pictures, but that's actually a ship, at the top of the ripple in the centre!
The descent begins...
Zoomed in...
The 'famous' pond, no?
Almost there, as the wing gets uglier.
And a couple more ships/boats...
Landing soon, the pilot says. Well, obviously!
The views upon landing- pretty rubbish, so didn't bother with more pictures.
No take-off or landing dramatics. Unfortunate, as I like a bit of drama! Oh well, maybe next time...
So great flight. We were meant to leave at about 11.15am, but didn't leave until almost 12pm. That's Virgin for you! But as it was a direct flight, I could forgive them anything. Didn't land until about 10pm. Rough guesstimate, as I was too tired and that info wasn't sticking.
Then a bit of drama at the Immigration Desk. I like drama, but not when I'm tired and just want to get into the nearest bed! Anyways, you had like a couple of cards you were meant to fill in and hand in at the desk. I'd filled mine, but I left the address bit blank. Meant to be staying at my Uncle's, but I couldn't for the life of me remember the address.
I'd filled it loads of times on various forms- when applying for my visa, booking my ticket, checking in, and I even had to fill it on my boarding pass. But I couldn't remember it. I had it in my email, but couldn't access it on my phone.
But yeah, I get to the desk and the dude's like 'Where's the address of where you're staying?'. I'm like 'Err, I can't remember, but I've got a phone number!' He's like 'Go speak to this dude'. I go to speak to him and he's like 'What do you want me to do? You ought to have filled in all this information from the UK'. Blah, blah, blah.
He later becomes reasonable and says he'll get someone to call the house to get the address. I'm like 'Err, not sure there's anyone home, actually!' and give him my sister's number to call, as I didn't have my Aunt or Uncle's number. My sister's in Gainesville, Florida but we were in Miami, and he's like 'Sorry, we can't call Gainesville from here'.
At this point, I'm getting really pissed off, as it's just a bloody address which I'm sure they've got on their system somewhere. I was quite willing to go back to London, though that'll have just been stupid. But they didn't want to let me in without the stupid address. Arrgghh!
Luckily, or unluckily to some extent, as my Aunt was waiting for me at the Airport, they were able to get in touch with her to get the address. Everyone else on the flight had already gone through before I was allowed through.
In all honesty though, I'm not surprised I couldn't remember the address! I may have stayed there for 3 months the last time I was there about 4 years ago, and according to my passport 3 more other times (I only remember 2!), but it's got more numbers than letters! Amazing! And considering my track-record with numbers...
This isn't the real address, but it's close:
19864 NE 232 ST
Miami, FL
33196
All I could remember was Miami, Florida. But really though, why all the numbers?!
Anyways, I wasn't impressed with the whole thing. As Fergie would probably say, 'Typical Canadians!'. Everyone else was nice to me, though- the dude at the baggage area who helped me find my box and load it unto the trolley, and the dude at the baggage-scanner who helped me re-load it. Was in too much of a mood to notice and be nice back, apologies!
Finally got into the car probably about an hour and a half after landing. It felt like longer, though. That's all the moaning I'll be doing, hopefully!
So that was Tuesday. It's Thursday today and I've just been sleeping! Did catch Jose's Inter dump Barca out of the Champions League and reach the final, though. Not yet sure if that's a good thing or not, but AM I BOVVERED?! It's got nothing to do with Arsenal so a massive 'whatever!' Not jealous, not jealous. Ofcourse not.
I also watched Eastenders, last week's Omnibus on my laptop. Don't even ask how I managed that! But I shan't be missing any Eastenders while I'm away-awesome.
Anyways, the parents should be arriving today and we should be driving down to Gainesville for Friday morning's graduation. Should be fun! I hope...
PS: I've updated (or I'll be doing it as soon as I'm done here!) the pictures I said I would in the last post.
Will try and blog at least once more before we live on the Cruise on Sunday.
Laters! :)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Arsenal in April- Heartbreakers. Still love the club/team to bits!
So I haven't mentioned Arsenal properly for a few games, now. How very remiss of me! I think the home game against Barcelona was the last game I talked about. Poor. Very poor.
After the Barca home game was the Wolves game at the Emirates. I was at that game, and wow, it wasn't good for the heart, seriously! Wolves defended for their lives and we knew that a draw just wasn't going to do. Anything less than a win ans we were out of the title race. The match was even worse for me, because just before half-time, I was in excruciating pain. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I hadn't eaten all day and my left side was terribly constricted! Ironic that food was being sold at the game ofcourse, but I couldn't actually stand up, not least walk to get some. So there I was in physical pain and emotional pain as well, a few minutes to the end. To make things worse, I thought the referee had only added 3 minutes of extra time, so when 3 minutes had passed and we hadn't scored, I was expecting him to blow the final whistle and I was already in tears. But as they say, the rest is history! Nikky B as usual, sticking it up to his doubters. I can tell you that after the goal went in, I went crazy and I think my hunger-pain disappeared as well! How easy emotions change in football, right?
[Got one or 2 pictures, which I'll try and post later- not got my memory card with me at the moment]
Here they are!
'United Colours of Arsenal', I think it says.
Alex Song is so 'Mr Cool', isn't he?
Tomas and Thomas having a moment during a stoppage. Thomas can't be asking for hair-tips, surely?!
Nikky B, super-sub!
After the goal. How I was able to take this picture, I'll never know! Things I do for this blog, eh? ;)
Final whistle. Let's all laugh at Wolves! Shame about the tears, but that's what you get for time-wasting ALL GAME!
I said a couple, I've posted seven. Well, shoot me! ;)
Next game, Barca away. Which we lost ofcourse, thanks to a very Messy four-some! Messi by name, messy by nature! See what I did there?
We got off to an unbelievable start though, Bendtner scoring with practically our first attack of the game after good work by Theo and the feeling after that goal went in was unbelievable! If only the game ended there and then. But barely 5 minutes later, Messi went up the other end and scored. And he scored 3 more later, for good measure! In all honesty, he didn't have to work much for the goals hence them being messy, but he was in the right place at the right time and he took them well.
Champions League dream over, and we couldn't have lost to a better team. Although now that they're trailing Inter 1-3 after the first leg of the semi-final, maybe we could have had them? Huge 'maybe', considering the absentees we had and how unbelievably brilliant Inter are, defensively.
Next game, Sp*rs away. I was at the Away Screening at the Emirates and boy, did that defeat hurt! I was more angry than anything. Not at us, but at Sp*rs. Like, how dare they beat us? Of all times to choose to break their 11-year hoodoo! The tramps! But yeah, losing 2-1 hurt. Not least because we could have actually won it in the end, if not for Gomes making those ridiculous saves from Robin, making his first appearance since November. Great to see Robin back though, even though we lost.
View from Club Level. Not a bad one, is it?! If you look closely, you can see my reflection and my camera's, in the plexiglass!
Ah, the worst game of all. Wigan. I can't believe I'm actually revisiting the game in my head. It ought to be buried deep in head, in the section called 'Do not Access'. If I thought Wolves was painful, or that the Sp*rs game hurt, this was a million times worse! Like seriously though, how did we lose 3-2, after being 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go? Hard to comprehend. The irony of it all was that the player whose goal started it all, Ben Watson, is an avid Arsenal fan and his parents are even season-ticket holders. Couldn't he delay his brilliant performance to the next game? I hope his parents didn't let him back in the house, by the way! I jest, I jest. I watched the game at home with my Aunt (an Arsenal fan) and her friend (doesn't care a jot about football) and I got laughed at for crying. It's the worst I've felt in a long time about football and being laughed at was really helpful. Not. Sp*rs beating Chelsea also meant that 3 points for us and we would have been back in the title race. Big time! But we messed it up. Season over.
Next game then, yesterday's, was home to Manchester City. I was at the game as well. What a snooze-fest! It wasn't a bad game watching in the stands, as the atmosphere at the game more than made up for the lack of real action on the pitch. The best thing was the booing reserved specifically for Ade, and the cheers for Vieira, especially when Patrick got subbed for Ade. I didn't boo, as that would have just been a waste of energy, but it was hilarious, all the same. The dude behind us had a kid next to him and I kind of felt for the little boy. His ears must have been stung by all the swearing! Swearing at Ade, and also the referee (he was pretty rubbish, though)! 'The referee's a W****R'.
Anyways, nil nil was totally unexpected, considering the attacking riches of City alone! But that's what we got. Considering it was my last game of the season, I was a bit disappointed. But nil-nil definitely is better than a defeat- we'd lost 3 games in a row prior to the game, so it definitely was a possibility! Glad we didn't lose. And seeing Robin in the flesh after so long was good, too. And Vieira (first time, actually) and Toure, too! Definitely not Ade. He's dead to me, isn't he?
[Took a few pictures, but not on my camera, so it might be a while until I'm able to get them. Certainly not for another 3 weeks, at least! Or actually, might get her to email them to me...]
I was sat next to Fabrez too, alongside Chris as usual. Great to finally meet you, mate!
So yeah, that's been Arsenal over the past few games. Two more to go, and hopefully we win both. I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to follow both games live, but I'll definitely check that up first thing, as soon as I can! Maybe it's a good thing I'll be away as I don't really care who wins the title now and I'm sure I'd be sick to death of seeing them celebrate, and the media reaction.
Or maybe something totally newsworthy will occur, and it'll be buried under! Can't think of what, though...
Or actually, maybe Chelsea and Man United will both be found guilty of match-fixing, this season. That'll do. That'll do nicely! ;)
After the Barca home game was the Wolves game at the Emirates. I was at that game, and wow, it wasn't good for the heart, seriously! Wolves defended for their lives and we knew that a draw just wasn't going to do. Anything less than a win ans we were out of the title race. The match was even worse for me, because just before half-time, I was in excruciating pain. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I hadn't eaten all day and my left side was terribly constricted! Ironic that food was being sold at the game ofcourse, but I couldn't actually stand up, not least walk to get some. So there I was in physical pain and emotional pain as well, a few minutes to the end. To make things worse, I thought the referee had only added 3 minutes of extra time, so when 3 minutes had passed and we hadn't scored, I was expecting him to blow the final whistle and I was already in tears. But as they say, the rest is history! Nikky B as usual, sticking it up to his doubters. I can tell you that after the goal went in, I went crazy and I think my hunger-pain disappeared as well! How easy emotions change in football, right?
[Got one or 2 pictures, which I'll try and post later- not got my memory card with me at the moment]
Here they are!
Next game, Barca away. Which we lost ofcourse, thanks to a very Messy four-some! Messi by name, messy by nature! See what I did there?
We got off to an unbelievable start though, Bendtner scoring with practically our first attack of the game after good work by Theo and the feeling after that goal went in was unbelievable! If only the game ended there and then. But barely 5 minutes later, Messi went up the other end and scored. And he scored 3 more later, for good measure! In all honesty, he didn't have to work much for the goals hence them being messy, but he was in the right place at the right time and he took them well.
Champions League dream over, and we couldn't have lost to a better team. Although now that they're trailing Inter 1-3 after the first leg of the semi-final, maybe we could have had them? Huge 'maybe', considering the absentees we had and how unbelievably brilliant Inter are, defensively.
Next game, Sp*rs away. I was at the Away Screening at the Emirates and boy, did that defeat hurt! I was more angry than anything. Not at us, but at Sp*rs. Like, how dare they beat us? Of all times to choose to break their 11-year hoodoo! The tramps! But yeah, losing 2-1 hurt. Not least because we could have actually won it in the end, if not for Gomes making those ridiculous saves from Robin, making his first appearance since November. Great to see Robin back though, even though we lost.
View from Club Level. Not a bad one, is it?! If you look closely, you can see my reflection and my camera's, in the plexiglass!
Ah, the worst game of all. Wigan. I can't believe I'm actually revisiting the game in my head. It ought to be buried deep in head, in the section called 'Do not Access'. If I thought Wolves was painful, or that the Sp*rs game hurt, this was a million times worse! Like seriously though, how did we lose 3-2, after being 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go? Hard to comprehend. The irony of it all was that the player whose goal started it all, Ben Watson, is an avid Arsenal fan and his parents are even season-ticket holders. Couldn't he delay his brilliant performance to the next game? I hope his parents didn't let him back in the house, by the way! I jest, I jest. I watched the game at home with my Aunt (an Arsenal fan) and her friend (doesn't care a jot about football) and I got laughed at for crying. It's the worst I've felt in a long time about football and being laughed at was really helpful. Not. Sp*rs beating Chelsea also meant that 3 points for us and we would have been back in the title race. Big time! But we messed it up. Season over.
Next game then, yesterday's, was home to Manchester City. I was at the game as well. What a snooze-fest! It wasn't a bad game watching in the stands, as the atmosphere at the game more than made up for the lack of real action on the pitch. The best thing was the booing reserved specifically for Ade, and the cheers for Vieira, especially when Patrick got subbed for Ade. I didn't boo, as that would have just been a waste of energy, but it was hilarious, all the same. The dude behind us had a kid next to him and I kind of felt for the little boy. His ears must have been stung by all the swearing! Swearing at Ade, and also the referee (he was pretty rubbish, though)! 'The referee's a W****R'.
Anyways, nil nil was totally unexpected, considering the attacking riches of City alone! But that's what we got. Considering it was my last game of the season, I was a bit disappointed. But nil-nil definitely is better than a defeat- we'd lost 3 games in a row prior to the game, so it definitely was a possibility! Glad we didn't lose. And seeing Robin in the flesh after so long was good, too. And Vieira (first time, actually) and Toure, too! Definitely not Ade. He's dead to me, isn't he?
[Took a few pictures, but not on my camera, so it might be a while until I'm able to get them. Certainly not for another 3 weeks, at least! Or actually, might get her to email them to me...]
I was sat next to Fabrez too, alongside Chris as usual. Great to finally meet you, mate!
So yeah, that's been Arsenal over the past few games. Two more to go, and hopefully we win both. I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to follow both games live, but I'll definitely check that up first thing, as soon as I can! Maybe it's a good thing I'll be away as I don't really care who wins the title now and I'm sure I'd be sick to death of seeing them celebrate, and the media reaction.
Or maybe something totally newsworthy will occur, and it'll be buried under! Can't think of what, though...
Or actually, maybe Chelsea and Man United will both be found guilty of match-fixing, this season. That'll do. That'll do nicely! ;)
Missed me?
Hello! Long time no write. I've actually had stuff to write, just not the time! I'll write a separate Arsenal-related post, but this one's for my randomness!
I'll start with my favourite song of late. 'Fireflies' by Owl City. Don't know why I love it, seeing as I don't even know other Owl City songs. It's just a gorgeous one!
Ah, so I had my Insurance exam on Tuesday. Very interesting experience! I was finally able to study and was as prepared as I could be for it without any classes, but I kinda figured it might be a bit too much. Especially as I knew there was going to be an entire section involving calculations, and not only I'm I pretty rubbish at Maths, I couldn't for the life of me, figure out what the calculation was! Great preparation, eh?
But yeah, exam day. After an all-nighter(ish) the night before (nothing new there!), I found my way to the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria. It was a 3-hour exam, standard for me over the last couple of years now, so not a big deal. 3 sections. First one, 8 compulsory questions; second one, 1 compulsory question- the calculations one; final section, answer 3 of 5.
It started at 1.30pm, and an hour and a half in (or less!), I was done! Or rather, I'd written all I could think of at the time. That was a first for me. Being a geek and someone who loves writing, I always tend to almost not have enough time to write all I feel like! I couldn't leave early, though. I prefer staying to the end, even though I'm done in time. It's the same with Coursework. I've never handed Coursework in early, and it's because I'm worried that if I leave early or submit it early, I'd remember something I forgot to add or a mistake I failed to correct, and it'd be too late to make things right!
So yeah, an hour and a half in unknown territory. A few (lots of) doodles on the question paper, a trip to the loo (first time ever during an exam!), a few points/answers I remembered to add and a horrible attempt at Maths. I know I'm bad, but I realised I was shocking! Don't know whether it was my sleep-addleed brain, but I was having problems with what seemed like a simple calculation! Like really, how hard is it to find 75% of say, 55,000? Don't you go: 75/100 multiplied by 55,000? No? Anyways, whatever I tried just didn't seem to work, so I had to go for a 'cheat'. Half of 55,000, then half of the answer, gives you 25%. Subtract from the original 55,000, and you've got 75%! Maybe I should have just gone for this from the start, but at least, it helped while away some time.
I did find the whole situation hilarious, which was good really. I do remember my worst exam, though- I cried during that one. But that was what, 8 years ago in secondary school and I was about... 13. I chose to do Chemistry and I was totally unserious and didn't read for the exam. The predictable happened and I was totally clueless during the exam. I was so upset, I tore up the exam paper and bawled my eyes out! I failed, ofcourse. I didn't think twice about changing from Science to 'Arts' the next semester. Wise move, wise move!
But yeah, this one definitely wasn't on the same level of bad. I did enjoy it, perverse as that may sound. I did the best I could, and I guess that's all one can ask for, really!
So that was last week Tuesday. And this Tuesday, I'm off on my 'holiday'! Holiday in inverted commas, as being with your family for 3 whole weeks definitely isn't a holiday. But wait, does that mean the past 5 or so years have technically been a holiday? Erm... Anyways, point is, if I wanted a proper holiday, I'd go away with friends, away from the parents.
Haha, I just remembered my last post. Wouldn't it have been funny if afterall, I didn't end up going, after the whole Ash-Cloud debacle? That would have been hilarious. But it seems the Ash cloud didn't think it would have been so funny afterall and has sufficiently cleared. So all things being equal, I'll be off on Tuesday. For 3 whole weeks! Sister's graduation on Friday, Cruise Sunday-Sunday (I think), then... I'm not sure what's next, really. I think the whole trip can go either of two ways- a bloody marvellous time, or the worst (or close) 3 weeks of my life! My head is saying the latter, but hopefully it's not. I'd settle for somewhere in-between, really! Not that I've got terribly high standards. As long as I'm able to keep up with football, F1 and tennis, I should be alright. I hope to God I'm able to ger proper internet access during the week on the cruise. It'll be a disaster if I'm not. That's like the most important week of all, sports-wise! Not sure I'll survive otherwise. I've realised of late, how important the internet is to me. How did I survive, otherwise??
Anyways, enough moaning. I do hope I'm able to blog loads when I'm away. Doubt I'll be able to blog before Tuesday and if I don't, I'll be sure to post a quick one when I'm settled. But if you don't hear from me, dearest blog by Thursday, I've probably been blown into a million pieces in the air! Just messin' :)
I'll start with my favourite song of late. 'Fireflies' by Owl City. Don't know why I love it, seeing as I don't even know other Owl City songs. It's just a gorgeous one!
Ah, so I had my Insurance exam on Tuesday. Very interesting experience! I was finally able to study and was as prepared as I could be for it without any classes, but I kinda figured it might be a bit too much. Especially as I knew there was going to be an entire section involving calculations, and not only I'm I pretty rubbish at Maths, I couldn't for the life of me, figure out what the calculation was! Great preparation, eh?
But yeah, exam day. After an all-nighter(ish) the night before (nothing new there!), I found my way to the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria. It was a 3-hour exam, standard for me over the last couple of years now, so not a big deal. 3 sections. First one, 8 compulsory questions; second one, 1 compulsory question- the calculations one; final section, answer 3 of 5.
It started at 1.30pm, and an hour and a half in (or less!), I was done! Or rather, I'd written all I could think of at the time. That was a first for me. Being a geek and someone who loves writing, I always tend to almost not have enough time to write all I feel like! I couldn't leave early, though. I prefer staying to the end, even though I'm done in time. It's the same with Coursework. I've never handed Coursework in early, and it's because I'm worried that if I leave early or submit it early, I'd remember something I forgot to add or a mistake I failed to correct, and it'd be too late to make things right!
So yeah, an hour and a half in unknown territory. A few (lots of) doodles on the question paper, a trip to the loo (first time ever during an exam!), a few points/answers I remembered to add and a horrible attempt at Maths. I know I'm bad, but I realised I was shocking! Don't know whether it was my sleep-addleed brain, but I was having problems with what seemed like a simple calculation! Like really, how hard is it to find 75% of say, 55,000? Don't you go: 75/100 multiplied by 55,000? No? Anyways, whatever I tried just didn't seem to work, so I had to go for a 'cheat'. Half of 55,000, then half of the answer, gives you 25%. Subtract from the original 55,000, and you've got 75%! Maybe I should have just gone for this from the start, but at least, it helped while away some time.
I did find the whole situation hilarious, which was good really. I do remember my worst exam, though- I cried during that one. But that was what, 8 years ago in secondary school and I was about... 13. I chose to do Chemistry and I was totally unserious and didn't read for the exam. The predictable happened and I was totally clueless during the exam. I was so upset, I tore up the exam paper and bawled my eyes out! I failed, ofcourse. I didn't think twice about changing from Science to 'Arts' the next semester. Wise move, wise move!
But yeah, this one definitely wasn't on the same level of bad. I did enjoy it, perverse as that may sound. I did the best I could, and I guess that's all one can ask for, really!
So that was last week Tuesday. And this Tuesday, I'm off on my 'holiday'! Holiday in inverted commas, as being with your family for 3 whole weeks definitely isn't a holiday. But wait, does that mean the past 5 or so years have technically been a holiday? Erm... Anyways, point is, if I wanted a proper holiday, I'd go away with friends, away from the parents.
Haha, I just remembered my last post. Wouldn't it have been funny if afterall, I didn't end up going, after the whole Ash-Cloud debacle? That would have been hilarious. But it seems the Ash cloud didn't think it would have been so funny afterall and has sufficiently cleared. So all things being equal, I'll be off on Tuesday. For 3 whole weeks! Sister's graduation on Friday, Cruise Sunday-Sunday (I think), then... I'm not sure what's next, really. I think the whole trip can go either of two ways- a bloody marvellous time, or the worst (or close) 3 weeks of my life! My head is saying the latter, but hopefully it's not. I'd settle for somewhere in-between, really! Not that I've got terribly high standards. As long as I'm able to keep up with football, F1 and tennis, I should be alright. I hope to God I'm able to ger proper internet access during the week on the cruise. It'll be a disaster if I'm not. That's like the most important week of all, sports-wise! Not sure I'll survive otherwise. I've realised of late, how important the internet is to me. How did I survive, otherwise??
Anyways, enough moaning. I do hope I'm able to blog loads when I'm away. Doubt I'll be able to blog before Tuesday and if I don't, I'll be sure to post a quick one when I'm settled. But if you don't hear from me, dearest blog by Thursday, I've probably been blown into a million pieces in the air! Just messin' :)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
9th April. Torn!
An important date for two reasons- tickets to the last game of the season, home to Fulham went on sale; I had an American visa interview.
Pre-visa interview...
Been looking forward to getting tickets to the Fulham game, because I think (hope) we'll win the title that day! One massive problem, though; I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to make it or not! My sister's studying in America and it's her graduation end of this month, so the plan was to go for the graduation, subject to me getting a visa, as my last one expired a while back. My parents are meant to be going as well, but they'll be going from Nigeria.
No problem there as her graduation is on the 30th of April, and since the Fulham game is on the 9th of May, I ought to be able to make both. That seemed perfect, until I found out about a cruise that we're meant to be going for! It's been organised and paid for by my Uncle's family, who my sister stays with during holidays and what-not. Nothing wrong with that of-course, until you realise the cruise ends on the 9th of May.
9th of May, of all dates! Why why why?! 9th of May, I meant to be at the Emirates watching the boys lift that blasted Premier League trophy! Why couldn't it end on the 8th or something, so I can dash back here in time!? I was absolutely gutted to find out about the conflict.
But ah, there might not need to be any conflict if I don't get the visa! It's not guaranteed that I'll be issued the visa. If I'm not, I'll miss my sister's graduation, but I'll be able to make the Fulham game. If I'm issued the visa, I'll be going for the graduation and cruise but will likely be a misery personified on the 9th of May!
Totally torn as to whether or not I'd prefer to get the visa or not. I guess it'd be brilliant to see my family- not seen my mum since August, my dad since November and my sister since... Summer 2007? Not too sure, actually! It's not that much of a big deal really as I speak to them all the time and I'm sure I'll be seeing them some other time soon.
As for the graduation, I don't know whether it's that important to my sister that we're there or not. Personally, don't care much about them. My graduation for my 1st degree was in November last year (odd date really, as Uni finished ages ago in May and I'd already started my Masters!) and I wasn't too fussed about it- if not because my parents were coming down for it, I was seriously considering not turning up. The fact that I was getting an award didn't even do much to make me excited about it. I've got another graduation coming up in July; whether I go for it is another question- got to make sure I don't remind my parents about it! :)
In essence, I don't consider graduations as hugely important events- not too sure why. But then again, there aren't many occasions I consider important! I'm not even big on birthdays. A bit interesting though, that I consider Arsenal winning the trophy as important, but that's another matter!
So yeah, graduation and cruise or Arsenal v Fulham? Not my decision to make I guess, because if the visa's issued, I'll definitely be on my bike. It's just a question of whether or not I'll be disappointed about the outcome of the appointment. I reckon it's 50/50.
To make things even slightly trickier, the Fulham tickets go on sale (to Red members) on the same morning as my interview. Tickets WILL be sold out before I find out whether or not I've been issued the visa, so do I buy the tickets, just in case I don't get the visa? There IS a huge possibility that I wouldn't get the visa. Would be really upset if I lose out on the tickets, as well as the visa. That would be an epic fail!
I agonised for a while about what to do, but as it turned out, the tickets went on sale at 10am and I had to leave home at 9.55am! It wouldn't have been that much of a problem as I've got free internet on my phone, except I had to leave my phone at home as you're not allowed to take electronic devices into the Embassy. Talk about agony! Not only did I have to worry about the visa, I also had to worry about the tickets; hoping they'd not be sold out by the time I get home if I'm refused the visa. Add that to the fact that my phone is like an extension of me and I feel I'm unable to function properly without it and you have a very nervous girl and a terrible few hours coming up! I also have to wear a watch, for obvious reasons! I haven't worn one since my first year. I'm so used to checking my phone for the time, I'm probably going to forget about the watch and keep looking for my phone, all the time!
Anyways, I got the Embassy in time for my 12pm appointment, even though I end up having to wait until about 2pm before I finally get interviewed and told whether or not I got the Visa.
Post-visa interview...
Before I went to bed the night before, I kinda concluded that it wouldn't be that terrible missing the Arsenal game afterall, although I'd be crushed if we actually did win the League and I couldn't be there. Family ought to be more important really, although Arsenal's technically 'family', if you know what I mean! But yeah, I figured it would be more awesome than not, if I got the Visa. Took me a few days to reach that conclusion!
So, did I get the visa or not? Ofcourse I did! I wasn't totally sure I'd get it for a couple of reasons, but I did get it. The interview didn't even last that long, well, if you discount the waiting period!
But how did I feel? I was surprised for a brief second, then I was gutted! Sounds strange, doesn't it?! But I realised that it meant I'll miss the Fulham game (at least I didn't buy tickets!). I was a bit surprised about how gutted I was, but then I've invested so much time, energy and emotion, not to mention money, into the season and it would hurt really bad if we win the title and I'm not there. It's been such a roller-coaster season and the winning the title would mean a whole lot. Ofcourse, there's no guarantee we'll win it, but I think we can! I kind of understand just a little bit how our injured players feel not being able to play a part in matches due to factors outside your control. Now I know I'll not be there, not sure whether or not I want us to win it now! Haha, just joking. It'll be amazing if we do, given our season and the fact that no one gave us a chance in hell at the start of the season. Even if we don't win it, they'll all be eating their words!
So I was gutted. That was 2pm. I got home at about 3.30pm and as the day wore on, I started to feel less disappointed and more excited! I ought to, really! I'm off to America for a couple of weeks soon! Not been since 2006Will be seeing my sister, parents, cousins and possibly friends! Shame my brother'll not be there, as he's got exams- I've not seen him since the last time I saw my sister. But yeah, the excitement's taking over now! So graduation end of the month then an Eastern Caribbean cruise for a week! There had better be WiFi so I can follow the penultimate game of the season too, if not the excitement will surely be tempered! Got to book tickets soon, but I can't wait! I'm sure I'll find someone who's going to the Fulham game and if it looks like we will win the title, I'll get them to take loads of pictures for me! All's not lost! :)
So that's how Friday went. Mixed emotions through-out, but I guess the right result in the end...
It means the last game I'll be at this season is the Man City one on the 24th, and it should be a cracker! We've got to win- it'll keep our title challenge on track and it would be lovely to see the smile wiped off Ade's face as well as dent City's top 4 hopes. And we get to see Toure and Vieira! Looking forward to it. Oh, I actually went for the Wolves game at the Emirates the other day. Forgot to post pictures up, so maybe I'll do that in the next couple of days.
First though, it's the small matter of the North London Derby up next for us on Wednesday! Massive massive game! A draw's not good enough- a win means we do the double over Sp*rs, keep the pressure on Chelsea and United, and that St. Totteringham's Day is not too far away! Come on Arsenal!
Oh wow, just realised I haven't mentioned Messi, Barcelona or our Champions League KO on here at all! Maybe I'll give them a proper mention when I'm posting Wolves pictures. Or maybe not...
Pre-visa interview...
Been looking forward to getting tickets to the Fulham game, because I think (hope) we'll win the title that day! One massive problem, though; I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to make it or not! My sister's studying in America and it's her graduation end of this month, so the plan was to go for the graduation, subject to me getting a visa, as my last one expired a while back. My parents are meant to be going as well, but they'll be going from Nigeria.
No problem there as her graduation is on the 30th of April, and since the Fulham game is on the 9th of May, I ought to be able to make both. That seemed perfect, until I found out about a cruise that we're meant to be going for! It's been organised and paid for by my Uncle's family, who my sister stays with during holidays and what-not. Nothing wrong with that of-course, until you realise the cruise ends on the 9th of May.
9th of May, of all dates! Why why why?! 9th of May, I meant to be at the Emirates watching the boys lift that blasted Premier League trophy! Why couldn't it end on the 8th or something, so I can dash back here in time!? I was absolutely gutted to find out about the conflict.
But ah, there might not need to be any conflict if I don't get the visa! It's not guaranteed that I'll be issued the visa. If I'm not, I'll miss my sister's graduation, but I'll be able to make the Fulham game. If I'm issued the visa, I'll be going for the graduation and cruise but will likely be a misery personified on the 9th of May!
Totally torn as to whether or not I'd prefer to get the visa or not. I guess it'd be brilliant to see my family- not seen my mum since August, my dad since November and my sister since... Summer 2007? Not too sure, actually! It's not that much of a big deal really as I speak to them all the time and I'm sure I'll be seeing them some other time soon.
As for the graduation, I don't know whether it's that important to my sister that we're there or not. Personally, don't care much about them. My graduation for my 1st degree was in November last year (odd date really, as Uni finished ages ago in May and I'd already started my Masters!) and I wasn't too fussed about it- if not because my parents were coming down for it, I was seriously considering not turning up. The fact that I was getting an award didn't even do much to make me excited about it. I've got another graduation coming up in July; whether I go for it is another question- got to make sure I don't remind my parents about it! :)
In essence, I don't consider graduations as hugely important events- not too sure why. But then again, there aren't many occasions I consider important! I'm not even big on birthdays. A bit interesting though, that I consider Arsenal winning the trophy as important, but that's another matter!
So yeah, graduation and cruise or Arsenal v Fulham? Not my decision to make I guess, because if the visa's issued, I'll definitely be on my bike. It's just a question of whether or not I'll be disappointed about the outcome of the appointment. I reckon it's 50/50.
To make things even slightly trickier, the Fulham tickets go on sale (to Red members) on the same morning as my interview. Tickets WILL be sold out before I find out whether or not I've been issued the visa, so do I buy the tickets, just in case I don't get the visa? There IS a huge possibility that I wouldn't get the visa. Would be really upset if I lose out on the tickets, as well as the visa. That would be an epic fail!
I agonised for a while about what to do, but as it turned out, the tickets went on sale at 10am and I had to leave home at 9.55am! It wouldn't have been that much of a problem as I've got free internet on my phone, except I had to leave my phone at home as you're not allowed to take electronic devices into the Embassy. Talk about agony! Not only did I have to worry about the visa, I also had to worry about the tickets; hoping they'd not be sold out by the time I get home if I'm refused the visa. Add that to the fact that my phone is like an extension of me and I feel I'm unable to function properly without it and you have a very nervous girl and a terrible few hours coming up! I also have to wear a watch, for obvious reasons! I haven't worn one since my first year. I'm so used to checking my phone for the time, I'm probably going to forget about the watch and keep looking for my phone, all the time!
Anyways, I got the Embassy in time for my 12pm appointment, even though I end up having to wait until about 2pm before I finally get interviewed and told whether or not I got the Visa.
Post-visa interview...
Before I went to bed the night before, I kinda concluded that it wouldn't be that terrible missing the Arsenal game afterall, although I'd be crushed if we actually did win the League and I couldn't be there. Family ought to be more important really, although Arsenal's technically 'family', if you know what I mean! But yeah, I figured it would be more awesome than not, if I got the Visa. Took me a few days to reach that conclusion!
So, did I get the visa or not? Ofcourse I did! I wasn't totally sure I'd get it for a couple of reasons, but I did get it. The interview didn't even last that long, well, if you discount the waiting period!
But how did I feel? I was surprised for a brief second, then I was gutted! Sounds strange, doesn't it?! But I realised that it meant I'll miss the Fulham game (at least I didn't buy tickets!). I was a bit surprised about how gutted I was, but then I've invested so much time, energy and emotion, not to mention money, into the season and it would hurt really bad if we win the title and I'm not there. It's been such a roller-coaster season and the winning the title would mean a whole lot. Ofcourse, there's no guarantee we'll win it, but I think we can! I kind of understand just a little bit how our injured players feel not being able to play a part in matches due to factors outside your control. Now I know I'll not be there, not sure whether or not I want us to win it now! Haha, just joking. It'll be amazing if we do, given our season and the fact that no one gave us a chance in hell at the start of the season. Even if we don't win it, they'll all be eating their words!
So I was gutted. That was 2pm. I got home at about 3.30pm and as the day wore on, I started to feel less disappointed and more excited! I ought to, really! I'm off to America for a couple of weeks soon! Not been since 2006Will be seeing my sister, parents, cousins and possibly friends! Shame my brother'll not be there, as he's got exams- I've not seen him since the last time I saw my sister. But yeah, the excitement's taking over now! So graduation end of the month then an Eastern Caribbean cruise for a week! There had better be WiFi so I can follow the penultimate game of the season too, if not the excitement will surely be tempered! Got to book tickets soon, but I can't wait! I'm sure I'll find someone who's going to the Fulham game and if it looks like we will win the title, I'll get them to take loads of pictures for me! All's not lost! :)
So that's how Friday went. Mixed emotions through-out, but I guess the right result in the end...
It means the last game I'll be at this season is the Man City one on the 24th, and it should be a cracker! We've got to win- it'll keep our title challenge on track and it would be lovely to see the smile wiped off Ade's face as well as dent City's top 4 hopes. And we get to see Toure and Vieira! Looking forward to it. Oh, I actually went for the Wolves game at the Emirates the other day. Forgot to post pictures up, so maybe I'll do that in the next couple of days.
First though, it's the small matter of the North London Derby up next for us on Wednesday! Massive massive game! A draw's not good enough- a win means we do the double over Sp*rs, keep the pressure on Chelsea and United, and that St. Totteringham's Day is not too far away! Come on Arsenal!
Oh wow, just realised I haven't mentioned Messi, Barcelona or our Champions League KO on here at all! Maybe I'll give them a proper mention when I'm posting Wolves pictures. Or maybe not...
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Good day/ Bad day? Football, wedding, F1...
Saturday was a mixed bag. Will try and make sense of it below:
Bad day: Fell asleep watching F1 early in the morning and missed Q1!
Bad day: Lewis getting knocked out in Q2 and being out-qualified by Jenson (11th and 4th on the grid)
Good day: Vettel grabbing pole position on a brilliant run that was pure controlled aggression
Bad day: Having to leave home to go for the wedding (see previous posts) just before 3pm, meaning the only way I could follow the game was via twitter
Good day: Arsenal nicking what seemed like the winner with about 15 minutes to go, thanks to Nasri
Bad day: Having to hang about at Liverpool Street station for about 30minutes, waiting for a couple of friends. (But at least I could sit down and concentrate on following the game on twitter)
Very bad day: Birmingham delivering one hell of a sucker-punch by equalising in injury time! Not seen it yet, but apparently it was a freak-goal, to make it even worse! My heart literally sank to my feet!
Bad day: Chelsea scum hitting Aston Villa for 7. Seven?!
Bad day: Man Utd winning 4-0, meaning we're 4 points off the lead
Bad day: Our players being given unbelievable stick on twitter
Good day: Seeing and hanging out with some of my mates
Bad day: Being UNBELIEVABLY bored at one point, that I wanted to cry! No, my friends aren't boring, I just wasn't sat with them at that point
Good day: Taking some pictures before going home, like finally! No pictures of the Bride and Groom- they're pretty much hard to get at a Reception, especially if you're late, like we definitely were. And no, my friends and I don't tend to wear similar outfits- this was a special instance! See previous post.
Esther & I:
Me, obviously:
Oyinda, Toyin and Esther:
Esther & Toyin:
Chris & I:
I am terribly anti-social. Well actually, it depends on what we're doing really. I hate being in places where there are LOADS of people. Don't like it. Well, minus the Emirates ofcourse. But having said that, the more people there are somewhere, the more likely I feel all alone, which is the reason why I'm not sure if I can go to the Ems on my own.
I much prefer hanging out with a small selection of people I know; I prefer doing active stuff- bowling, paint-balling, go-karting; I'm not really a fan of clubs (although I did love going out with my football team at Uni last year- that was fun!); I hate small talk (like really! It's so pointless and I'm terrible at it anyways!). Okay, I'll stop going on about it and get back to 'Good day/ Bad day?'!
Bad day: Players STILL being given unbelievable stick on twitter- probably because Match of the Day was on at the time
Bad day: Both of my batteries running out 10-15 minutes before getting home
Good day: Getting into the cab home with a really nice and chatty driver- and it wasn't small talk!
Bad day: Having blotchy thighs, thanks to the sequins on the bottom bit of my dress! There was one particular sequin directly on my thigh and was practically ripping into my skin when walking. I tried ripping it off, but I could only make it worse.
(Yes, I did take a picture of my thighs, just to post on here! Well, it's my blog, so I'll do whatever I want! ;) I can assure you it looks worse in real-life, though)
Good day: Getting home just in time to catch Roger Federer's game! Get in! He won ofcourse: 6-3, 6-3 against Nicolas Lapentti
Good day: Finally getting to bed!
As I'm a positive person, I'll conclude that was a good day, minus the Arsenal result, bu
Well, as it's Saturday morning at the moment, I'll continue up to what's happening currently! :)
Good day: Waking up at 6am in time to watch the Australian GP. Woop!
Bad day: Having to listen to Jonathan Legard. He's my least favourite F1 commentator in the BBC. Martin Brundle is my favourite and guess what? They're paired together!
Good good day: The race getting off to a flier, with Lewis moving up 4 spots from the start into 7th, with Jenson dropping a couple into 6th! Woop! Button tapped into Alonso's Ferrari, who then crashed into Schumacher! Other crashes, as well. Just the first lap- wow start! LOTS of cool overtaking manouvres. And oh! LEWIS JUST OVERTOOK BUTTON! Brilliant move! Oh my wow! And Button's had to pit for a change of tyres. Hmm.
Loads of pit-stops- a bit confusing at the moment, as the timing screens aren't up and it's hard to tell who's in what position! Just on Lap 10, with rain still forecast. This IS manic! (I am listening to 5Live radio commentary in addition to BBC 1's, though!)
Oh no! Vettel's out! From the lead as well! Jenson was in 2nd, so he leads! Bummer for Seb, brilliant for Button! Wow! PS- 2nd race in a row (off pole position) that he's had car problems! He managed to end up 4th last race, but he's out this time. Gutted for him though. The Red Bull's quick, but keeps having reliability issues. But Lewis is up to third! Still 28 laps to go, I think! (Or 30. Out of 58). It might end as a McLaren 1-2 (Jenson and Lewis, in any order!)- the driver ahead of Lewis is quite a slow car, and Lewis is on his tail at the moment. That really would be brilliant! Even more so, if Lewis wins...
I'll post this now, and will probably update it at the end of the race...
Update:
Would you believe it? Yet another Birmingham sucker-punch! Howard WEBB kinda messed us up yesterday, and guess who messed Lewis up today? Mark WEBBER!
Basically, Lewis was in 5th (as he pitted for new tyres) and catching up to the back of the 2 Ferraris in front of him with a couple or so laps to go, with Webber behind him. Lewis was about to pass the first Ferrari- he almost made it stick, but Webber came up behind and tapped him! Bummer! If he hadn't been tapped, he'd have probably passed the 2 Ferraris, and the other car ahead, and ended up 2nd, giving McLaren a brilliant 1-2! But Lewis ended up 6th, with Jenson winning. It really was Birmingham all over again, Webber's tap almost at the end is the equivalent of that stoppage time equaliser yesterday! Lewis ended up 6th, from 11th position, but it could have been so much better- same as us, yesterday! It's just before 9am, and it feels like a bad day, already.
Anyways, enough drama for 2 days, won't you say?!
Bad day: Fell asleep watching F1 early in the morning and missed Q1!
Bad day: Lewis getting knocked out in Q2 and being out-qualified by Jenson (11th and 4th on the grid)
Good day: Vettel grabbing pole position on a brilliant run that was pure controlled aggression
Bad day: Having to leave home to go for the wedding (see previous posts) just before 3pm, meaning the only way I could follow the game was via twitter
Good day: Arsenal nicking what seemed like the winner with about 15 minutes to go, thanks to Nasri
Bad day: Having to hang about at Liverpool Street station for about 30minutes, waiting for a couple of friends. (But at least I could sit down and concentrate on following the game on twitter)
Very bad day: Birmingham delivering one hell of a sucker-punch by equalising in injury time! Not seen it yet, but apparently it was a freak-goal, to make it even worse! My heart literally sank to my feet!
Bad day: Chelsea scum hitting Aston Villa for 7. Seven?!
Bad day: Man Utd winning 4-0, meaning we're 4 points off the lead
Bad day: Our players being given unbelievable stick on twitter
Good day: Seeing and hanging out with some of my mates
Bad day: Being UNBELIEVABLY bored at one point, that I wanted to cry! No, my friends aren't boring, I just wasn't sat with them at that point
Good day: Taking some pictures before going home, like finally! No pictures of the Bride and Groom- they're pretty much hard to get at a Reception, especially if you're late, like we definitely were. And no, my friends and I don't tend to wear similar outfits- this was a special instance! See previous post.
Esther & I:
Me, obviously:
Oyinda, Toyin and Esther:
Esther & Toyin:
Chris & I:
I am terribly anti-social. Well actually, it depends on what we're doing really. I hate being in places where there are LOADS of people. Don't like it. Well, minus the Emirates ofcourse. But having said that, the more people there are somewhere, the more likely I feel all alone, which is the reason why I'm not sure if I can go to the Ems on my own.
I much prefer hanging out with a small selection of people I know; I prefer doing active stuff- bowling, paint-balling, go-karting; I'm not really a fan of clubs (although I did love going out with my football team at Uni last year- that was fun!); I hate small talk (like really! It's so pointless and I'm terrible at it anyways!). Okay, I'll stop going on about it and get back to 'Good day/ Bad day?'!
Bad day: Players STILL being given unbelievable stick on twitter- probably because Match of the Day was on at the time
Bad day: Both of my batteries running out 10-15 minutes before getting home
Good day: Getting into the cab home with a really nice and chatty driver- and it wasn't small talk!
Bad day: Having blotchy thighs, thanks to the sequins on the bottom bit of my dress! There was one particular sequin directly on my thigh and was practically ripping into my skin when walking. I tried ripping it off, but I could only make it worse.
(Yes, I did take a picture of my thighs, just to post on here! Well, it's my blog, so I'll do whatever I want! ;) I can assure you it looks worse in real-life, though)
Good day: Getting home just in time to catch Roger Federer's game! Get in! He won ofcourse: 6-3, 6-3 against Nicolas Lapentti
Good day: Finally getting to bed!
As I'm a positive person, I'll conclude that was a good day, minus the Arsenal result, bu
Well, as it's Saturday morning at the moment, I'll continue up to what's happening currently! :)
Good day: Waking up at 6am in time to watch the Australian GP. Woop!
Bad day: Having to listen to Jonathan Legard. He's my least favourite F1 commentator in the BBC. Martin Brundle is my favourite and guess what? They're paired together!
Good good day: The race getting off to a flier, with Lewis moving up 4 spots from the start into 7th, with Jenson dropping a couple into 6th! Woop! Button tapped into Alonso's Ferrari, who then crashed into Schumacher! Other crashes, as well. Just the first lap- wow start! LOTS of cool overtaking manouvres. And oh! LEWIS JUST OVERTOOK BUTTON! Brilliant move! Oh my wow! And Button's had to pit for a change of tyres. Hmm.
Loads of pit-stops- a bit confusing at the moment, as the timing screens aren't up and it's hard to tell who's in what position! Just on Lap 10, with rain still forecast. This IS manic! (I am listening to 5Live radio commentary in addition to BBC 1's, though!)
Oh no! Vettel's out! From the lead as well! Jenson was in 2nd, so he leads! Bummer for Seb, brilliant for Button! Wow! PS- 2nd race in a row (off pole position) that he's had car problems! He managed to end up 4th last race, but he's out this time. Gutted for him though. The Red Bull's quick, but keeps having reliability issues. But Lewis is up to third! Still 28 laps to go, I think! (Or 30. Out of 58). It might end as a McLaren 1-2 (Jenson and Lewis, in any order!)- the driver ahead of Lewis is quite a slow car, and Lewis is on his tail at the moment. That really would be brilliant! Even more so, if Lewis wins...
I'll post this now, and will probably update it at the end of the race...
Update:
Would you believe it? Yet another Birmingham sucker-punch! Howard WEBB kinda messed us up yesterday, and guess who messed Lewis up today? Mark WEBBER!
Basically, Lewis was in 5th (as he pitted for new tyres) and catching up to the back of the 2 Ferraris in front of him with a couple or so laps to go, with Webber behind him. Lewis was about to pass the first Ferrari- he almost made it stick, but Webber came up behind and tapped him! Bummer! If he hadn't been tapped, he'd have probably passed the 2 Ferraris, and the other car ahead, and ended up 2nd, giving McLaren a brilliant 1-2! But Lewis ended up 6th, with Jenson winning. It really was Birmingham all over again, Webber's tap almost at the end is the equivalent of that stoppage time equaliser yesterday! Lewis ended up 6th, from 11th position, but it could have been so much better- same as us, yesterday! It's just before 9am, and it feels like a bad day, already.
Anyways, enough drama for 2 days, won't you say?!
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