Roaring Forties

Day 1 – August 22, 2007, Was sound asleep in the midst of a dream when tne alarm screamed at me at 5.45 am. Called Sunlight Taxi and got picked up by a taximan called Bob Mengong who works as a part time photographer. Bob studied photography in Jakarta in 1992 for 3 1/2 years. Must be a good omen to be picked by someone associated with Indonesia since I was leaving for Surabaya.

The Air Asia flight was delayed again. It is my second time on Air Asia and it is the second delay, speaking of a 100% record. After an hour, there was an announcement for the passengers to queue and our joy was short-lived when we found out that they were handing out packed food with mineral water. We finally took off at noon after a 3 hour delay.

Landed in Juanda, Surabaya where clearing the Immigration and Customs was prompt. The tourist counter was fabulous. They were very friendly, gave us 3 free maps and pointed us to the Damri shuttle bus which cost us only Rp 10,000 pax to the Purabaya bus terminal at Bungurasih. The bus was very comfortable, clean and air-conditioned. Everything looked so perfect and we were beginning to love East Java.

We were immediately brought down to earth at the Purabaya bus terminal at Bungurasih where there is a Rp 200 fee for entering the terminal area. There were hundreds of touts everywhere. When we asked for buses to Bondowoso, we were lead to several buses heading anywhere else but Bondowoso. Finally, we decided to get on a bus to Situbondo on the advice of a lady who advised that we could catch a bus from there to Bondowoso when the Bondowoso bus did not appear after a 45 minutes wait and Mei got agitated by the minute with the continuous pestering by touts who were hovering around us like flies.

The seats were extremely cramped and the journey got worse as time crawls. Smoking on public buses seemed to be a national hobby as each passenger would light up after paying for their karcis. The bus stopped almost every 2 kilometers and I began to wonder whether will I ever reach Situbondo which is 194 km away. More people seemed to get up at each stop than getting down. After the tenth stop, we were all packed like tuna in a can and the smokers continued their race to kill their lungs.

It got dark early and the slow progress of the bus got me worried. I called the hotel to reconfirm my booking and to check on the availability of buses from Situbondo. I was informed that the last bus from Situbondo and that I am unlikely to make it. I was advised to get down in Besuki and catch a bus from there. That got us to near panic. Imagine being stranded in the night in an unknown little town in Indonesia. We were cursing Air Asia with all the superlatives we could think of. Our Angel of the night must have heard our curses because she, the bus conductor offered to help us to intercept any Bondowoso bound bus along the way.

Our Angel managed to get us a bus in Probolingo where we promptly thanked her and switched buses. The new bus took turn off from the main highway up into the hills. After negotiating an hour of a long winding road, we finally reached Bondowoso. We took two becaks which took us to our final destination, Palm Hotel (the locals called it Palam Hotel) at 9.30 pm ending our 15 hours journey where we finally get to eat our first meal since the grub Air Asia served us in LCCT.

(Palm Hotel – Tel +62 332 428530)

Aug 20, 2007 – I made a visit to SJMC after experiencing sharp paralysing pains and was diagnosed by a Dr. Muthurathinam that I have the Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease. Thought it was a slipped disc but was assured by the good doctor that it was not. However, I was told that there is no cure and it can only get worse with age unless I slow down the process by losing weight and exercises. Apparently, the X-rays showed 4 different (multiple) spots which would make surgery difficult.

Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease is not a disease but actually is a syndrome in which a compromised disc causes low back pain. It usually starts with a torsional (twisting) injury to the lower back but it is also frequently caused by simple wear and tear on the spine. It is also estimated that at least 30% of people aged 30-50 years old will have some degree of disc space degeneration, although not all will have pain or ever receive a formal diagnosis.

Well, I hope to overcome this and I hope that in a year’s time, I could positively state that I would be much healthier then than now. Make it next 1st September as a deadline.

I am going ahead to climb a volcano in a couple of days’ time. Keeping my fingers crossed.

It felt like a bad hangover.

Two agonizing weeks with Rooney injured and Ronaldo being sent out. Two draws against lowly Wigan and Portsmouth.

A single goal loss to City.

Man U definitely has stuffed their feet into their mouth.

Let’s see what SAF has up his sleeves.

August 11 – marks the kick off of the new season.

Some men will flood to the nearest pub showing EPL matches. Some men will stay at home on Saturday or Sunday nights. There will be expectations, jubilations and dissappointments. Wives and girlfriends will play second fiddle again. Bookies will be busy. Newspapers will have something to write about.

So who will do well this season? I am betting on Manchester United to finish EPL champions again followed closely by Liverpool, Manchester City to be the surprise team of the season at third place and and Chelsea to finish a dissappointing fourth.

Manchester United versus Reading – 2 nil to the Devils.

Let’s kick off!

August 5 – Edwin van der Sar became a legend at Wembley where he singlehandedly won the Community shield for Manchester United.

The first half exploded with two great goals where the first goal was a classic with Evra collecting Ronaldo’s through ball, took it to the byline and then made a precision back pass to Giggs who drove a perfect shot to the top of the net. Malouda topped the act by muscling his way past Ferdinand and tapped the ball with the side of his right foot to put the ball beyond Van der Sar. In the second half, the match fell into a lull with both teams looking more like two boxers practising sparring in the ring so much so that it was a relief when Halsey blew the final whistle.

Van der Sar looked nervous and he tried to delay the penalty drama by taking his time drinking at the byline. The referee Halsey had to have a word with him to get him to the goal line. Claudio Pizarro took the first kick and he tried to a safe shot to the right of Van der Sar. Van der Sar guessed correctly and managed to palm off the shot. Ferdinand took the first kick for the Devils and put the ball out of Peter Cech’s reach even though he guessed correctly. Then Frank Lampard took the second for Chelsea and Van der Sar, who looked confident now after his first save, easily saved Lampard’s shot in the exact position where he saved Pizarro’s shot. Carrick then sent Cech the wrong way and got the second. Shawn Wright Philips tried shooting to the left instead but Van der Sar guessed correct again, dove to the left and blocked the shot perfectly. Some Chelsea fans were already leaving the stadium when Rooney took the third kick and he gave Cech no chance at all.

It is rare to see a goalkeeer making three consecutive saves and it was exhilirating to watch Van der Sar pull it off especially when it was against Chelsea. Great start for the new season.

Can’t wait to see Hargreaves, Anderson and Tevez in action. Would be an interesting season for Man U.