It had been 10 long years since I last experienced the Canals of Birmingham ....... during the time when my weight was still manageable and I looked less of a bouncer. One fine day, I met fastdrop during the Malaysian Open Finals Day and asked him whether he was going this year. Fastdrop being the regular devotee of the All-England, is pretty much considered the BC Brand Ambassador from the Far East. Unfortunately, not this time, he said. Needed to babysit a friend, it seemed. Too bad, so it looks like I will have to go solo then. But going solo gives you the benefit of speed. Plans were drawn up like lightning and tickets and airfare were snapped up during the Victor Korea SuperSeries week. But I didn't expect that the event tickets took the slow boat route to reach me, only arriving a mere week before departure ...... As usual, maximizing on the Emirates Skywards Points requires me to fly out via Singapore, pretty much on the eve of the Championships. And since the huge Emirates Airbus A380 doesn't fly to Birmingham, I needed to detour, to Manchester for a chance of visiting Old Trafford for souvenir hunting. Yup, better to kill three birds with one stone this time ....... fly the A380, experience Manchester United, and then enjoy the last 3 days of Competition at the NIA. It was quite a long layover in Changi, long enough for me to do a spot of shopping and enjoying the Singapore Airlines Show (a promo of their newest route - to Brazil). Pics here ..... Warning!!! Some pics contain Graphic Detail, not suitable for minors. The SIA Brazil Promotion Show Poster Trick Show with a girl volunteer The Samba Orchestra The Show Diva makes her Grand Entrance Candidate for Best Picture ..... wakakakaka
Manchester Arrival Arrived in Manchester at noon on 10 March. Despite a total flight + layover time of close to 24 hours, I felt very refreshed. Yup, the A380 does do wonders to air travel. Pity that the fares are going up due to rocketing fuel prices. Only had half a day to explore, so first I went to the Wheel of Manchester at Exchange Square to see if it was still in operation. Apparently not on that day ....... and it was raining by the time I got there. So much for my efforts. Pics here: The Wheel of Manchester And They Said It Was Open 7 Days A Week ...... After a quick lunch at Manchester Arndale, I jumped on the tram on the way to Old Trafford. What a great place this is. Pics here:- In Honour of The Man who built the Dynasty And the Legends Who Shaped It Pictures of the Grand Stadium There is a Megastore within the Stadium Compounds, and it had souvenir stuff meant for everyone, from babies and kids, to wives and girlfriends (WAGS), and old folks. Yup, old folks would really love those retro stuff. Prices aren't too bad too ........ Time enough to start donating to the, ahem, MU star players' pay fund ....... Pics here:- Half a day was gone too soon, and by the time it was getting dark, I started off towards Manchester Piccadilly Train Station, to hop into the CrossCountry service to Birmingham. Pics:- At the Manchester Piccadilly Station
Thanks for the free promotion of Changi. It s the one airport to go early for a flight and extended layovers, isn't it? Lots to do,eat and see, at fair prices. That means you will be going for WC and OG12? Heard the OG12 tickets are on sale today. Do you know if there are any season tickets? Those single session tickets are a bit steep.
The World Championships does have season tickets, I bought one online while in Paris last year. Those early bird tickets cost GBP 90, website is http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk But for Olympic Games is different. Tickets are based on sessions only (morning, afternoon, evening sessions). At the latter stages, one session could mean just 2 or 3 matches. And yes, they are steep so I might not be too interested. You should apply for tickets if interested. But you will only know the results in June.
In Birmingham My home base in Birmingham is the cosiest place on Earth this side of the world. The nitenite Birmingham, is what you'd call a cross between a budget hotel (in terms of space and windows, or rather, the lack of it) and some rather upmarket amenities (huge flat TV screen + free movies, free wifi, coffee making facilities, daily housekeeping etc). In short, the room is perfectly acceptable ,as long as you don't share rooms with anyone else ...... Didn't stop many lovebirds to make this place their nest though. Pictures here: Pictures of nitenite Hotel compound, at night ..... And in the day This is how big my room was, and I was taking the pics from inside the bathroom and just outside the door ...... Had a very good sleep my first night, only to wake up to the tragic news of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami ....... my condolences to the Japanese people. It was deja vu again, of what happened during our BC Group's Thomas/Uber Cup trip in 2008 (the China Earthquake). Since Friday's matches were to start only at 5 pm, I went to explore the Mailbox Premier Shopping Centre. Yup, the Premier League status of this place is probably the reason that it was practically empty and not fully tenanted ...... Had coffee at the BBC West Midlands Broadcast Centre within the Mailbox while hearing those broadcasts live just outside the studio. Pics here: BBC West Midlands @ The Mailbox Having Coffee Here Is Nice While Listening Live to BBC WM Broadcasts Behind the Mailbox, is the Canal View of the Mailbox Restaurants from the Canal You could walk here, all the way to the NIA
The Taming ..... Of The Bull As soon as noon approached, it was time to explore the Pallasades and the BullRing Shopping Centre. When I last visited this place, the new BullRing was still under construction. Now they are rebuilding the New Street Train Station just underneath the Pallasades, and not a moment too soon too. Took me some time to find the Bull and, ahem, challenge it to a duel. Pics here: A duel with the Bull! WWII Bombing Memorial near BullRing Markets and St Martin's Church View of the BullRing Shopping Centre, very imposing from up close Another view, from the overhead bridge linking Shopping with Parking The BullRing Markets, with varieties of cheap shopping and dining "Bullfighting" in cold, hard weather and with a few kilos of thick winter gear does tend to whet any matador's appetite. A quick search in the streets surrounding the BullRing was enough for me to find the best meal deal in town. At GBP 4.99 per pax, the Oriental Buffet offered was enough to attract a decent number of Malaysian supporters to the place for the entire duration of the tournament. Yup, they practically camped here before and after the matches, which forced me to get to lunch as early as possible to avoid the crowd. Pics here: Had lunch here for 3 straight days The ambience within the cafe, this was before the crowd got here
More Tour of Birmingham Pictures With still too much time to burn before quarterfinal matches, I took the opportunity to navigate thru the historical architecture of Birmingham. Pictures here: Statue of Lord Nelson of the Battle of Trafalgar Fame, within the BullRing Shopping Centre Area Boy meets Girl, falls in love Huge female statue at Victoria Square Queen Victoria herself City Council Building at Victoria Square Chamberlain Memorial St Martin's Church An old train, parked at Moor Street Station On the way back to the canal and the NIA, I met a lady with this peculiar large yellow hat, seeking donations for the Marie Curie Cancer Research. Donated some money, and took her pictures, below.
Circumnavigating The Canal ....On Foot The thing that I like about Birmingham (and Manchester too) is that the City Centre is not too big, thus public transport is obsolete as long as you can walk within a 6 km radius, and you know your way around. In London, you are enslaved by the Underground and the number of strikes and maintenance TFL undergoes each year. Didn't take me long to reach the Canal again, and henceforth towards the NIA on foot. Pictures below:- Birmingham's version of the Great Wall Where the boats are berthed when off-duty Water bus stop How low can you go? Don't say your head hasn't been warned. The Canal Network, the pride of Birmingham Waterbus on it's way to the Mailbox Look! A roundabout!!! And we're here.
At The Arena By the time I reached the arena, a good number of Malaysian kids were already there. The Ticket Box Office opened a little bit later, and an orderly queue started to form. Pics here: Fans queueing up at the Entrance And disinterested parties leave Unlike us mere mortals, Olympians don't need to queue up Inside, several booths had been set up, for food, sales and promotion of the BWF World Championships, Games and of course, most importantly, badminton apparel, souvenirs and equipment. During the course of the week, I met several Malaysian VIPs there, including one of Malaysia's ex-Inspector General of Police. Hmm, didn't know he loved badminton ........ There were fun and games, and my first glimpse of playing badminton on computers. Kinda crude in movement, but here, the crowd is interested. Pictures here ..... One of the food stalls, manned by Cadbury Ah, the games we play!!! All England Roll of Honour, dating back a hundred years Badminton UK booth, join up and you get to buy concession tickets to the BWF World Championships ..... and use their Premier Lounge with OSIM Chairs This had been tested to perform. The foot, I mean. Not the shoes ..... All England 2011 Souvenir T-Shirts Yonex Racquet Booth Cheap sale of All England Sweater Jackets during finals day, only GBP15 each. Should have bought 3 more ...... The weapon that slayed the Dragon!!!
Spectator Action ...... Yup, now we come to the greatest part of what makes badminton great. Not the players, nor even the Arena itself. But the spectators ...... Groups of fans not that much older than limsy decked themselves in "battlegear", shouting in unison, and even singing folk songs. The Malaysian kids and Indonesian camp brought the most colour and variety into the Arena, while the Danish supporters were the most structured. Koreans and Japanese alike were the most disciplined, and the Chinese had the biggest flags ever. And for the first time ever, I saw groups of Russians ....... no doubt watching the progress of lovely Anastasia Russkikh. Too bad there weren't that many Indians, testament to the fact that Saina Nehwal and her teammates failed to do well here. Pics here: Indonesian supporters at the top tier, still going strong on semifinals day ..... But by the next day, they were overrun by the Chinese Excited Malaysian girls, this was during the Koo Kien Kiat/Tan Boon Heong vs Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng match The most fanatical Malaysian fans were located here, complete with their kompang drums orchestra Pictures of a very dedicated fan
Pictures of Players ....... ..... were few and far between. Not being equipped with a bazooka, I wasn't going to waste my time taking action pictures. Better to just follow the live action on Russian binoculars. But then, there is Eriko Hirose. It doesn't seem to do her justice if I don't snap a couple of pix, even from extremely long range ..... Nice defensive pose against Nedelcheva In the final match against Wang Shixian Taking instructions from Kanako Yonekura "Ouch!! My back hurts!" Wang Shixian complains
The Most Highly Anticipated Match ........ ........ was of course, the battle between the defending men' singles champion against the Olympic and Asian Games champion. One of the more mature matches between the two, now that they've both gotten quite, ahem, old. No more superfast movements from start to finish as seen up to 2 years ago. But still, you could see the quality that engulfs both of 'em, quality that cannot be seen when they play any lesser mortal. Or probably ever again once they retire. Here are the pics of the winning moments:- A smile that shows supreme confidence Celebration of thanks after nailing the winning point And here comes the hugs and kisses ....... The runner-up acknowledges the crowd The trophy is hoisted aloft The victory lap No sooner than after I had snapped the victory lap picture, that 30 seconds later, I was already on my way out to the New Street Station, to catch the 1800 train to Birmingham International.