Why must it all end in tears?

 Why must a day that was perfect in so many ways, have to end in tears? Well I say tears, but maybe disappointment would be a more appropriate word... we'll get to that in a minute though.

So I have taken time out of my busy morning to keep the fans happy and write a little about day 2 back home. Home is after all where the heart is to use a cliche.

There I was, waking up next to the wife again for the first time in a month and truth be told, it felt like I had never been away. It did take a little bit of getting used to and we both admittedly didn't sleep very well, but it was still comfy...

First things first then, breakie! Where to get it? How far to walk? What to do? With the weather quite mild, 30 degrees but slightly overcast (believe me, that is is perfection) we set off on our search for some morning glory (no not that one!). Having spent a half hour looking for a supermarket that didn't exist anymore we decided to wing it and go for some 'local' food. Food market entered and we exited with a couple of fresh fruit juices and the oh-so-local croissants...well at least we tried. But the funny thing is that Singaporeans, and it seems Asians in general, eat warm food (rice, noodles, meat and coffee) in the morning, something we aren't too unfamiliar with, since we all indulge in a healthy Irish breakfast at times, but just cannot get myself to eating noodles just yet. Give us a little time and who knows.

So calorie intake and energy levels sorted, off we marched to the next stage of our journey, the mall! A mere 15 minutes walk we found a massive mall, with every kind of shop in it. It is so big that it contains a whole Carrefour like hypermarket in it and that's only part of one floor, there were 4 other floors. Anyway, long story short we picked up some breakfast and necessities and headed back to the apartment.

Having bought the Ikea furniture the previous day, it was my task to slap it all together, whilst the wife took a well-earned nap. A sweaty and sticky hour later I had put together 3 Ikea units and packed them away in our bomb-shelter, where they were to find their new home. I make it sound extravagant, but they were simply some staking shelves!

Another thing sorted and the apartment is slowly starting to look like a livable place. All we are still missing is our new sofa, the garden furniture and a little barbecue (yeah we could use the BBQ pits, but then again, it's always nice to have your own...just imagine sitting on the balcony, enjoying a cold beer or wine, depending on your preference and a spare rib in the other hand).

Next phase of the day: relax! It was Sunday after all, the day of rest. So guess where we headed...

No that is not photo shopped, our pool really is that awesome...

A few naps and dips later, we decided it was time for a nice little stroll and where better than heading down to our back yard...

On the way to the beach, this is the connector...the little path and 'river' that leads us there...not bad

Nice...

The wife strolling away...

The next mission consisted of finding a pub to watch the football in that night...the last day of the Premier League season. So much promise, so much emotion and the potential for heartache...

Having found our new local, our new Hairy Canary, only 15 minutes walk from our place (pictures to follow, well when we actually take pictures of the place), it was decided that the dramatic finale would be watched here later on in the evening. But first...some grub.

This place is magical when it comes to getting cheap and good food and so we headed for a corner stall/restaurant and ordered three dishes, a Coke Light and an ice-tea... Little did I know that when I ordered an Ice-Tea, I would be getting just that. No messing around here with chemical additives or sweeteners, when you ask for iced-tea that is what you get. Boiled water, added to a tea bag, with milk and sugar, refrigerated and served with ice = ice-tea.

Literally, iced-tea

Naturally, we got some lovely food with that as well. Crispy noodles, some sesame pork and spicy stingray...Great food.

Delish

Spicy

And now to the tears... What a great day. Lovely weather, relaxing with the wife and then finally meeting up with Martin, great guys! With a bright start for United in the North East of England, where they went up 0-1, it seemed everything was on track for United hopefully winning the title. City were still drawing 0-0 against relegation threatened QPR, until 2 minutes from the break...City scored and advantage City it seemed. But miracles do happen and so it seemed they would again. QPR somehow managed to score 2 goals and go ahead in a crazy match, before their thuggish midfielder Barton got himself sent off. 

But no worries yet. QPR will still leading and with the clock winding down, it seemed as if the premier league was yet again destined for the red part of town. But then...City scored a goal in the 91st minute...heart starts pounding harder, but not too worry yet, as they needed another to win it...and they had had difficulties over the last 30 minutes, so belief was still very much there. 

The final whistle goes in the United match and it seems United would be lifting the trophy for the 20th time... but like a cruel twist of fate City would score with 10 seconds remaining in their match a rip all of the hope and dreams away. A cruel twist of fate, because over the years it has become a trademark for United teams to snatch victory in the dying seconds, in what journalists have suitable called Fergie-time (the time allotted to United teams to score a final goal) ... it all happened in a second...it was all over. Numb, silent, stunned... A day that had started so brightly, suddenly felt so dark...

Tomorrow is another day I guess...