Liverpool & Manchester (Again)

So a friend wanted to go and play football in Liverpool. He decided that the best way to get there is by driving and the cheapest way is to find people to share the fuel cost.

Having only been to a grand total of 6 cities in the UK ever since I got here (London - which doesn't count, Edinburgh - which is worse, Manchester, Glasgow, Cambridge and Oxford) I figured that I had better go see Liverpool (voted Cultural City 2008) before I graduate and commit every single living hours I have to work.

So I agreed.

Together with him and another person (whom I managed to cajole into going to split the cost even further) we drove the whole 4 hours to Manchester.

Yes, it takes FOUR hours to get from Edinburgh TO Manchester. Travelling at 80-90 miles/hour on the highway. Unless you can go at 100miles/hour, I don't think you can get there any quicker.

Comprehende?

Once again.. NO, you can't do it under 3 hours.

My schedule for the weekend was:

Friday
6pm - arrived back in Edinburgh from the Borders (yes, literally, I'm now posted at the borders between England and Scotland, hence the place called the Borders. Imaginative, yes I know.)
10.30pm - leave for Manchester
2am - arrive in Manchester

Saturday
8am - leave for Liverpool
7pm - arrive back in Manchester

Sunday
2pm -leave for Edinburgh
6pm - reach Edinburgh

Monday
7am - leave for Borders

All in all, I spent less than 24 hours in Edinburgh.

Every night I had about 4 hours of sleep, on the bed of the lovely Yi Pei whom I met for the first time ever on Friday.


The lovely Yi Pei is so so hospitable.
She is so so sweet.
She is so so loveable.
She is so so someone whom I should be.

The lovely Yi Pei also contacted an equally lovely Michelle in Liverpool whom she also met for the first time ever on Saturday, me obviously having never heard of the lovely Michelle before.

The lovely Michelle became our tour guide for the day.
She is so so cute.
She is so so soft.
She is again, so so someone I should model after.

Yes.
This weekend was spent meeting new people and spending a lot of time with them, just as soon as I met them. Through all these new friends, I have recognised my inadequacies as a host and also discovered that I am actually not a nice person at all.

Oh dear.


Malaysian Games at Liverpool - 6 pitches of boys in T-shirts and shorts kicking a ball about. It was my numero uno mission to find out if there were any good looking characters on the pitch, but after 3 solid hours of peering and scrutinizing into every face that passed us by, Yi Pei and I decided that - we're better off spending our time looking at the buildings of the city of Liverpool.

However, they had a lot of good Malaysian food. Including soya bean milk and tau foo fah!
You'd be happy to know I stuffed my face full.

We then marched full swing into the city centre. Presenting :

Liverpool City of Culture 2008.

Apparently they were given this title just so that they can get a huge chunk of money from the government to build up their city.

Build they did.

The opening of Liverpool One, a massive shopping arena has clearly stamped Liverpool as yet another better city to shop in over Edinburgh. Once again, I sigh at the poor shops that Edinburgh has compared to her sister/brother cities.


A huge multi-storey John Lewis, 2 levels of never ending shops (each larger than Edinburgh's shop lots), a top floor of swanky restaurants finished with a built in outdoor garden decorated with the upcoming Christmas fetivities is just what someone needs to have in their city.

I think Edinburgh should get City of Culture 2009. Not only is it chock FULL of culture (yes, my city is actually incredibly cultural), we also lack an Edinburgh One. We NEED an Edinburgh One. Can the Edinburgh City Council please put in a appeal to be City of Culture 2009?

I WANT THAT DAMN EDINBURGH ONE.



I use to highly recommend people to come to Edinburgh during Christmas for we have a Christmas Market that is overunned with goodies and food. Never have I failed to eat the Pork Steak Bun that costs a whooping £5 - yes it is a lot for a BUN! every year( I believe the price goes up with inflation every year though), I also never fail to shiver and shake on the Ferris Wheel that is erected in the middle of the market, just for Christmas.

However, a visit to Manchester's Christmas Market left me thinking - Now, Edinburgh can do with a Christmas Market like this too.


Why?
Because, it has got MORE food! International ones! Ate a smashing paella there which comes from the 'Spanish' part of the market and... WHERE IS THE PAELLA IN EDINBURGH!??


Thank goodness no one can beat Edinburgh's August Fringe Festival or Hogmanay ever. That is one thing I can proudly tell everyone to include in their list of Top 10 Things To Do Before You Die.


Of course, when one is in Manchester, how can you Not make a trip to the famous Old Trafford??


We discovered that the GPS Tom Tom system actually does not list this stadium down in their satelite system! Is it that sacred that its coordinate on the world map has to be removed in order to prevent it from being bombed by terrorists?

Or maybe we were too daft to find it on the extremely high tech GPS gadget.


£8 for students to go on the stadium tour.

You get a free lanyard:


You get to enter the dressing rooms where the players get naked:

They even leave their T-shirst behind

You get to walk down the archway where the players emerge to thuderous applause:


You get to sit and tramp all over the reserve players box:


And you get an interestingly 'gay' tour guide to boot.


What more can you ask for with just £8?!?!?!


Interestingly, Edinburgh is seems quite famous beyond Scotland. So what if Manchester has Old Trafford?

It also has an Edinburgh Bike Shop!


Hooray for Edinburgh!
Make your mark all over England!
Take that you Englishmen!