Manchester Trip Part 2 and a 1/2

Erm, yes. Sorry. I am not finished with Manchester yet...but will be, very soon!

Went sight-seeing. On Good Friday. On my own.

You see, Hua had to rush a 25,000 worded essay in 6 weeks (or something like that), and being the exceptionally hospitable host that she is, she had already spent so much time hosting me and bringing me around, that I thought it's not fair for her to waste anymore second so I embarked on a self-guided tour.

Man, that was VERY brave of me. I say brave because heck, I don't know Manchester at all! And I pretended as if I knew which bus to take and which tram to hop on and where to take pictures etc.

Like Oxford, I had done NO PRIOR PREPARATION/READ-UP/RESEARCH/ whatever you want to call it. The only thing I know about Manchester, is that it's spelled M-A-N-C-H-E-S-T-E-R and it's an industrial city which boasts of 2 premiership clubs. City and United. One of which I used to support. :)

So the very smart Adeline. 7 hours to kill before she boarded the train back to Cardiff. So, what's the plan?

I was so bold, I didn't even have a map on my hand. The only information I managed to source, with Hua, sitting in front of her lap-top giving "Visit Manchester" a good Google, was Salford Quay.

"Oh yeah, I heard of that. But err, what is there?"

"It says the place is home to Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry, Lowry Outlet Mall, Salford Watersports Centre. It's also a stone's throw away from Manchester United football ground."

Okay, so I found somewhere to go. Armed with that, I walked down Oxford Road and stopped in front of the Manchester Library at St Peter's Square to take the tram.

But wait, where to stop?! Luckily for me, there were a couple of tourists going to the same place, so I just tagged along. Eventually got to the Quays at Greater Manchester about 10 mins later. Oooh-ed and aaah-ed about how scenic the whole place was and basically just started my journey from there.

I walked across the bridge to get to the Lowry and started snapping away like a Jap. Ok, bad joke. The Lowry, I figured, is something like an Istana Budaya. "An architectural flagship with a unique and dynamic identity...bringing together a wide variety of performing and visual arts under one roof". Yup, the wonders of cut and paste. But before I get caught for plagiarism, it's http://www.thelowry.com/AboutTheLowry/.

Literally opposite this chun building is the Lowry Outlet Mall, a high class factory outlet store. Cheapos like me almost died of happiness when I saw the big Nike swoosh logo on the outside, and the words "50% off everyday" somewhere else, so the agenda for the day had already been set.

But aiyar, shops not opened yet...how? Continue to jalan lor...

As I walked ahead, I saw the tourists who I followed earlier. They were now in the middle of a striking bridge, taking pictures and marvelling at something , which I thought must be worth seeing, so I followed suit.

Man, what I saw when I got to the bridge, was picturesque beyond words. It overlooks a serene man-made lake by the side of Lowry Outlet Mall. With not a cloud in the sky, one could really just soak up the sun and start dreaming away. Which I think I did for 5 minutes. 5 stressed-free, relaxing minutes.

As I extended my sights further, I saw...

...

...

OH. MY. GOD.

I let out the shriekiest shriek of delight I never knew I was capable of. Everyone on the bridge turned and looked at me. But I didn't care.

I saw Old Trafford from where I stood.

I saw Old Trafford!!!

Old Trafford!!!

Part of the reason why I was so shocked was because I didn't expect to find it. You can't take the meaning of "a stone's throw away" too literally, can you? And I guess because I didn't expect to have a chance of seeing the stadium, it made it extra special!

It didn't take me long to get to Sir Matt Busby's Way. I followed the roads and figured my way by constantly looking up to make sure that Old Trafford was getting bigger as I walked, not smaller.

I always thought people were joking when they say they see things that make them go weak in the knees. I have personally not seen a man that has such effect on me, but I dare say I've seen a building that did.

If people had caught a glimpse of me, they would have thought I had Parkinsons or something, because I was shaking, all over. Standing in front of the Theatre of Dreams, with Busby's statue welcoming Red fans and non-Red fans alike, was simply awe-inspiring.

I bought a combo ticket for the stadium and museum tour, where a guide brought a group of us around Old Trafford, starting from the stands, to the player's changing room, to the lounge, the press room, tunnel and dug-out area. The tour guide told us interesting anecdotes along the way making the tour very lively.

FYI, the United squad actually train at the Carrington Ground and not Old Trafford, which is a good thing because I would have fainted if I saw anyone of the Class of 92 or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Wayne Rooney. I seriously would.

When I went for the tour, I got talking to this lady called Shamilla, who took her nephews to Old Trafford as a birthday gift for one of them, a Cristiano Ronaldo-resembling young boy of 11. I swear it was his gelled hair. No mistake. Given his Hispanic genes, you really can't fault me for saying he looked like the former because he did.

I told Shamilla and she laughed. "I bet he'd be over the moon if you told him that. Big Ronaldo fan. Copies his every move."

Ah, I don't want see a peacock in the making so I kept my mouth shut. She was nice enough to ask me if I wanted to join them for lunch at the Red Cafe, and seeing I was hungry, I obliged. I paid for my meal of course, I'm not a leech!

I left soon after lunch. If I had a choice, I would have stayed and camped there all night until I was satisfied, or rather, until all the adrenaline has worn off its effects, but time was pressing...so I had to go... *sniff sniff*

Nonetheless, itt was a TRULY OVERWHELMING 2 and a 1/2 hours there. And I guess I felt a sense of pride because I SUPPORTED UNITED.

ONCE DID.

The older pals of mine might have known it was because of this guy who used to wear the number 7 jersey. But the truth was, although it started off with an interest in Beckham (ok fine, not interest, obsession), my support for Becks and United went hand in glove back in those days. The partnership remained whole until 2003, when I jumped ship over to Arsenal, whose fluid football captured my imagination (much unlike the mundane style United was trading at that time).

But I guess the MAIN causative factor was the decision to sell Becks lah, which I, a 'bigger than life' David Beckham fan couldn't swallow, so like my hero, I parted ways the same time he did.

In hindsight, I may not have supported United for long, but those years had inspired me, imparted a lot of passion into my life, and gave me so much to cheer for. But most of all, the memories I have of the United years is something I can look back on as MY theatre of dreams.