Yonex All England Badminton Championship at Birmingham! ^_^

Assalamualaikum...

after all the hurdle that I went through to get to Birmingham, it was paid off with the winning of Datuk Lee Chong Wei in single men match against Chen Long from China...yeehaa!! ^_^

I bought the final match ticket which was on 9th March...it started at 11.30 am at NIA Birmingham...when I reached there, there is one Malaysian group taking photo infront of the NIA building...while I was clicking their photo, then I realised something! isn't that Awal Ashaari, the celebrity??

Awal Ashaari (red arrow) with the whole group which I think sponsored by Sen Heng as I can see that printed on their shirt... :D

I did join them in the photo! ngee~~ I was invited ok by the celebrity! :p

you can spot me, the first on the left of the first row ^_*

since we reached there a bit late around 11am, so after the photography session, we headed into the building...so we hunt for our seats...and do you want to know where I seat???

the last top row...tsk tsk tsk =_='

although its quite far from the match field, Alhamdulillah we can still see the players on both side of the field ^_^

view from my seats! :)

the match start with the women double, men double, women single and the MOST awaited moment was men single!!! hehhe...because this is the only match that Malaysia qualified for final round...yeay!!! but we did watch the rest of the match aside men single...if NOT then its quite such a waste that we bought such an expensive ticket just to watch men single match...haiyak! :p

from my observation, the stadium was so quite during double women, single women and mix match unlike double men and single men match! the stadium was so havoc and so noisy with the cheers from the audience...that was because men double match was between Indonesia and China while men single was between Malaysia and China...there were so many supporters from Malaysia and Indonesia that day...hehehe...no wonder its so noisy...my friends who sits quite far from us told us that they sit beside a UK citizen and that person came to support Malaysia...weeee~~~ Go Go Malaysia ^_^v

Datuk Lee Chong Wei (yellow shirt) vs Chen Long :D

we leave the stadium right after Lee Chong Wei won the match! don't bother to watch the mix match because we were rushing to go for sightseeing around the Birmingham city as well...ngee~~

there were few booth outside of the stadium and we stumble upon this booth where people can take photo with Lee Chong Wei (as the background, lol! hehe), giant badminton replica and also Gold original medal ok! you can see I am holding it ^_^v

then straight away we went to the City Center which is very close to the Victoria Square and Bull Ring!

whats so interesting about those places? check out the pix below~~~ ^.^

 this is the most expensive library in Europe! (building with gold and gray colour)
by the time we want to enter the library its already close T_T tsk..tsk..
we were so excited because you can even went up until the top of the building (the gold cylinder shape on top of the building)...maybe next time...hehehe...

Victoria Queen statue...

I just love this pix with mumia! ^^, looks so cool...

Bullring...

this were my buddies which I spent time with when I was in Birmingham...me and my bestie came all the way from London and the other 3 came all the way from Sheffield ^^,

Tq Aqeelah and Put for such a great hospitality during our stay in Birmingham!

my friends who came all the way from Sheffield went back straight away after the match, while me and my bestie stay another night...hehe ^_^v

the next day, since my friends have class so we went out quite early...we follow them to the university...the university is quite big and soooo hilly...fuhhh~~~
me and my bestie hang out awhile in the uni area while my friends join their class...thank God that the train station just infront of my friend's department...hehe...so we don't have to climb the hilly road again!! Kah3! -_-'

we headed to the bus station at Hill Street...took our bus at 10.55am and that's the end of my short trip to Birmingham!!! weee~~

Bye~^_^v

Unexpected and eerie trip to Birmingham ^^,

Assalamualaikum...

on 8-10 March I went to Birmingham together with my bestie to watch Yonex All England Badminton Championship ngee~~

Birmingham getaway this time was so exciting with many unexpected incidences...the first incidence was so hilarious because we missed our bus... kah3

we supposed to start our journey to Birmingham at 5pm on the 8th...but because we are so relax and thought that we can catch the bus to Victoria Station on time, so we went out from my bestie house 30 minutes before departure time! because the bus to Victoria Station just infront of my bestie house and it usually took around 15 minutes to reach there...maybe not this time~~huhu

since we missed our bus, and thank God the price of the ticket that we missed was just 3pounds...fuh~~ and I was in devastated mood, so my bestie suggested that we take train...

however the price was soooooo pricey so I made a decision to take bus...and Alhamdulillah there is a bus to Birmingham at 1am for just 4pounds  and we bought that ^_^

its too early to stay at Victoria Station from 5pm to 1am so we return back to my bestie house and straight away we have our lunch...yup we didn't eat anything the whole day because other things happened...I need to go back to my house in White City that afternoon because I just realised it the night before that I forgot to bring the badminton championship ticket with me...aiyooo~~ @_@

this time we were so careful that we even check the latest bus that we can catch to go to Victoria Station...fortunately the last bus in London is at 1.15am...ngee~~ so we took 12.15am bus to Victoria Station, spare 45 minutes for us to reach there... :D

the journey was just for 3 hours, so can you calculate what time do we reach there??? 4.15am!

I was ok with the time initially because I thought the bus will leave us at a appropriate bus stop likewise in Manchester and also at Sheffield where we can sit and rest...but not in Birmingham!! the bus leave us at a very eerie surrounding...infront of a casino and full of drunk people!! T_T

since that was the condition, so we decided to straight away go to my friends house at Selly Oak...at first we plan to stay at the bus stop until 6am and take a train to my friends house because we feel so sorry to disturb her in the middle of the night and for changing the time that we suppose to reach there...but looking at the condition and the surrounding, I change my plan...while deciding on what the next step is, a taxi stop infront of us! without give a ring to my friend, we took a taxi to her house...

after we reach at my friend house, we call her but no one answer! -_-'

while calling my friend, then I realised that the taxi driver was still there waiting for us! thank you whoever you are! btw he is a muslim~~ :D feel sorry for him for waiting, I ask him to leave us, and we will be fine...he actually waits until we get inside the house safely...huhu...feels so blessed that night~ ^.^

since no one answer and its too cold outside, we find a nearest mosque or musolla that we can stay for awhile and perform our Subh prayer...Alhamdulillah, thanx to Google map, we found a 10 minutes walking mosque from my friends house...ngee~~

at first when we reach here, the main gate was open, but the door to the prayer area was closed! and then my bestie found a house just behind the mosque which I strongly believe its the imam's house...I rang his house bell and asked the imam to open the prayer area door... :D

thought that we can stay inside the mosque a bit longer until my friend wake up, but then the imam told us that the congregational prayer will start soon and we need to leave the mosque...huhu~

by the time we want to leave the mosque, my friend called me! yeay!!~~ ^_^

so went back to her house and have a nice sleep before we depart to National Indoor Arena (NIA) Birmingham for the Championship which starts at 11.30am... 

such a looooooong journey that night! pfft~~~

BUT the scariest thing of all was when my friends told me that there was a robbery last week just a few streets away from their house in the middle of the night around 3am just like the time that we spent the whole day outside of her house which we even walk in the middle of the night to find the mosque!! sooo eerie~~~

then I get the rationale why the taxi driver waited for us...huhu...and thank you also taxi driver for not telling us the story of the robbery which might scared us more! ^_^ hehe...

I swear that I will never go to Birmingham at this hour anymore! :)

and Alhamdulillah that He protects us throughout the night :D

Bye~^_^

p/s: since its too dark + sleepy + scared, I forgot to capture the place where the bus drop us...
will share about the Badminton Championship and interesting places in Birmingham in another post...wait ya~~~

Yeay! Yonex All England Badminton Championship tickets have arrived!! ngee~~

Assalamualaikum...

ticket to All England Badminton Championship!!! weee~~ ^_^

the championship starts from 4th March until 9th March...but since I have exams on 4th and 6th March, I couldn't buy the whole championship ticket tsk...tsk T_T

but luckily that my exam ended exactly before the final yo! haha... :D

so I bought the FINAL match ticket which is on 9th March ^^,

one for me, and another one for my bestie~ *_*

its a waste yo if I didn't take this opportunity!! lucky my bestie encounter this in the internet on January...but since that time our exam schedule haven't been fix yet, so we delay and we hope that our exam wouldn't overlap with this event...hahha...Alhamdulillah it didn't!! ^_^v 

so last 2 weeks I bought the tickets...the best sits so far that was available at that time was the upper deck at block 2...

as long as I can see both of the players from my seat, I am satisfied enough :) heee

there are variety of tickets types from family, adults and concession and students and each of it has different price depending also on the date of the championship...

if we choose to watch the earlier match, it will be cheaper than the semi final and final match...

but since I am a student here in London, so I am eligible for student price...yeay!! muchas gracias Yonex :D

student price for final match is 24.50 pound but they have charge for something which I couldn't hear it properly on the phone so total end up to be 27.20 pound ^^.

I couldn't wait and I am so excited!! the only games that I enjoy watching since I'm a kid is badminton and I am a big fan of Lee Chong Wei! ^_^

I heard that Lin Dan has retired and wouldn't be in this championship...if it's true, then I am sure that Lee Chong Wei will win...double yeay!!! *_*v

there are 13 Malaysian players that will be in this championship:

Go Go Malaysia!!

Go Go Chong Wei!! heee~~

bring home GOLD medals for Malaysia!!!

last but not least:

> accommodation checked 

> transport to Birmingham checked

ready to depart!!!!~~~  ^^,

Bye~^_^

p/s: since it will be exactly after my exam, its like a exam-getaway for me...haha :D