From Manchester to Liverpool

From Manchester to Liverpool ... This blog post reminds me of Hishamuddin Rais' movie with a slightly different title: Dari Jemapoh ke Manchester, directed in the late 90s. The movie was about two youngsters from a small village in Negeri Sembilan who travelled to England on personal quests: one, to watch his favourite red devil (George Best) in action, the other, to find his sailor-father who was supposed to be in Liverpool. Well, people ... dengan ini saya mengisytiharkan bahawa saya juga telah sampai ke Manchester dan Liverpool (Jemapoh dah lama sampai ...) Kui! Kui! Kui!

The trip to Manchester was supposed to be the MCB Photography Club's lawatan sambil belajar-mengambil-gambar. We went there by the bus-load - 14 adults and 6 kiddos. Well, actually a handful of us were club members while the rest, family members :).

There was a Chinese New Year celebration in Manchester's China Town and it was thought that the burst of colours and action would inspire us budding photographers to capture some masterpieces. But what a let down! The dragon dance was so tame! (or should I say, lame :P). The lion dance performers at Subang Parade could outclass the Manchester troop any time! They never failed to wow us Subang Jayans with their heart-stopping acrobatic stunts, hopping from one high pillar to another! Malaysia Boleh! :)

So, I only have this picture to show of the event (a normal sight in Malaysia, ironically ... ).

Our next stop was Old Trafford. I suspected that's why the budak2 bujang made this trip in the first place. It was a case of sambil-minum-air-menyelam. They ended up taking a tour of the Old Trafford, and the rest of us, shopping (Manchester United souvenirs :) and taking pictures ...

... living every boy's dream

A scenic view near the Imperial War Museum North, Trafford Park.

It was already dusk when we made a move to Liverpool. As the Malay saying goes, "Alang-alang menyeluk pekasam" ... biar sampai ke Liverpool :P. Our bus driver-cum-penghulu, a Liverpool Uni alumnus, was all too happy to be our tour guide ... hehehe!

We were taken to the Liverpool Waterfronts & Docks, obviously a tourist attraction ...

The Beatle Story in Albert Docks, Liverpool

Doesn't this one looks like the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya?

... and this one reminds me of the tower clock in Labu Labi :P

Of course, a visit to Liverpool would not be complete without a visit to the Kop in Anfield. We knew that the stadium was closed at night but what the heck. Ambik gambar kat gate pun jadiklah ... So there we were, one second loitering around the stadium's gate, taking pictures; and in another, found ourselves ushered into the stadium's compound by security personnels. Call it Malaysian camaraderie - the grandfather of one of the officers hailed from Malaya :). Thanks, guys, for making our day! You certainly lived up to the Liverpool FC slogan, "You'll never walk alone"!

We had dinner at a fast-food outlet before heading back home. We reached Bristol around midnight.

Frankly, we did not have the opportunity to really explore the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, but it was fun all the same. Perhaps, we'll visit the cities again when its warm and sunny. Hopefully on a bus :D.