Day 1 -Coventry to Manchester
Surviving on only an hour's sleep on Friday night, I woke up at 4.30am to prepare and walk to Cannon Park Bus Station to catch the 6am bus from Coventry to Manchester. I woke up earlier specially to warm up a few croissants so I could have breakfast in the bus but they turned all hard and cold by the time I walked the distance and boarded the bus. Inedible. -.- It was approximately a 2 hours' bus ride but I slept throughout the journey so time seemed to pass quite fast.
Arrived at Shudefill Interchange, Manchester at around 8am+. I love starting off a day early so I can have more time to explore! On the contrary, I never fail to wake up late at noon though.
Looking at the map to find our way to the hostel...
Arndale Shopping Mall, very near to our hostel!
We saw the bulding from web pictures before and was able to recognise it from a distance!
Hatter's Hostel!
The recreational area & dining hall...
We dumped our luggage at the hostel reception and wasted no time, immediately set off to explore the city centre which was just a 5 mins' walk away.
The city of Manchester was seen with tram tracks and cables running along the roads. It's interesting to see people and trams sharing the same pathway.
I asked CS: Do you think anyone would jump off the tram tracks to commit suicide like how those people died on MRT tracks?
CS said: No, because the tram is too slow...
And we joked about how the people will end up banging and sticking onto the windscreen and move together with the tram instead. Hur hur...
First thing first, to fill our stomach so that we'll have the energy to welcome the day!
We asked for directions from some pretty teenagers and it got us to the food court serving Mac!
Yeah, we were so craving for McBreakfast! And good thing, it wasn't pricey. =D
Primark! It sells a huge variety of basic clothings and accessories at low prices. If u search closely, u can actually get cheap but non-cheapo items! If u get what I mean... =)
We finally left Arndale Shopping Mall by nightfall and went to Chinatown for dinner.
This is the Wheel of Manchester which apparently is there to look pretty only, because it really isnt a profitable business. barely anyone up/ going up on the wheel.
Manchester Chinatown doesn't seem to be as 热闹 as the one in London or Birmingham. Although it's a Saturday, you don't see many people on the streets. There were minimal Chinese New Year decorations around.
We walked around for quite some time but still couldn't decide what to eat for dinner. In the end, we chose to eat at a Chinese Buffet Restaurant since it had the longest queue. So typical of Singaporeans right? LOL. Corny but true.
The chinese buffet food was quite good, either cuz I am really hungry or I haven't eaten chinese food for quite some time perhaps. But the annoying fact is that we were limited to only ONE hour for the buffet. Damn giam siap. I definitely could have eaten more if not for the time limit.
You know I love buffet. ^^
After dinner, we were so tired that we could literally fall asleep while walking, so we headed straight back to the hostel. Intending to wash up and have an early retreat.
This is how our 6-ppl mixed dorm looks like. Not bad right?
(the pair of legs belongs to Mr CS who KO-ed right after he settled down...)
BUT! The horrifying fact is that we're staying on the highest 5th level and the toilets for each gender are on the alternate floor. No prizes for guessing... but being the usual suay one, the female toilet is on the level below. AND HIDDEN AT A CORNER!
The building is so old and the toilet looks really creepy, with squeeky pipes and musty smell. For all the time I'm in there alone!, I feel like being watched. Typing this alone while recalling the experience is already giving me the goosebumps. Although I got CS to wait for me, I still think I'm really brave to go there alone in the morning to wash up. Even the angmoh girls are going in there with companion.
To make things worst, one of the angmoh roomie was snoring SO LOUD it sounded like an orchestra with other 杂音. Just when I was about to doze off, the other angmoh guy apparantly became pissed with the snores so he took out his handphone and played loud metal rock music, WITHOUT ear piece! Damn ridiculous! He totally didnt care if he was disturbing the others.
Being a light sleeper, I obviously was awaken by the stupid songs and couldnt get to sleep at all after that. I had to wake CS up and we went downstairs to the dining hall for free toasts and tea.
We ended up chatting and discussing what we should do if by the time we went back the music was still loud, we could probably check out of the hostel right away and go shopping instead. (if only the shops were open.) But fortunately, by the time we went back to our room about 1 hour plus later, the room finally regain peace. I guess the guy's hp has simply ran out of batt.
Day 2 - Visit to Old Trafford Stadium & Trafford Centre.
We woke up an hour later than what we scheduled but can't be blamed right, we couldnt get the complete rest we wanted owing to the 2 foolish angmohs. So we packed our stuffs, checked out of hostel and had free toasts again for breakfast.
We wanted to experience tram rides since it's sort of a landmark in Manchester so we got ourselves a 2 way tram fare to the stadium.
Well it just feels like a bus ride but looks like MRT... ... or rather feels like a MRT ride but looks like a bus? Hehe..
Finally! Here I am standing in front of Old Trafford, Manchester United FC Stadium!
Bought the entry tix to the museum and stadium tour but the timing was scheduled at 4.30pm, so we took a bus to the Trafford Centre - Huge shopping mall!
Big stores like Selfridges&Co...
I especially love this food centre which was modelled after a cruise setting - New Orleans!
We had KFC for a quick lunch!
And then went back to the stadium for the tour!
It was just 4pm+ but the skies were darkening quickly..as usual..
Hotspot for photographs! The players changing room!
We had dinner at some bar before returning to the hostel to collect our luggages and head for the coach terminal. I had Chicken Tikka Masala, some indian bryani with chicken and naan bread. It was nice and came in quite a big portion. But I was really really tired by then and did not have my full appetite.
We took the 9.30pm megabus and reached back campus at 12midnight sharp!
Needless to say though, all photos have been uploaded on facebook! =D
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