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! :)

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! ;)

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' :)

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...