Hello Newcastle upon Tyne!

Tuesday, 21 October 2025

The transfer from France to England did not go very smoothly.  To start things, the aeroplane we boarded was small.  Twenty-six rows of two seats on either side of the aisle with two air stewardesses on it.  I understand that they use such aeroplanes for short-distance flights but there was not in-flight entertainment and little air-conditioning!  What really irked me was that we were made to wait in those conditions for an extra thirty minutes after boarding the aircraft a little later than scheduled.

When the aeroplane finally got moving, it taxied on the runway and stopped intermittently. It got me thinking that we would never take-off!  So after what seemed like aeons, we started the flight.  I guess I was impatient to get to my destination after finding out that the game was on that same day!  It was either miscalculation or a misunderstanding due to the difference in time.

Somehow, the plan was to reach the airport, take the metro to the hotel, before wandering around a little and make my way to the stadium for the game.

The metro was a cross between the MRT and LRT we have.  I think there are not many cabins, though.  Still, it got me to the Central Station where I wanted to go.  I chose the hotel Flex from Four Points by Sheraton due to its location - I can walk to most places I want to go.

One shop we will commonly see here is Gregg’s.  It sells pies and sandwiches - good for tea.

I bought a ticket with the help of a staff at the metro and asked around to confirm I was on the right train.  A friend mentioned that it was brave of me to make this trip alone.  I reckon I was not overly worried because there is no problem in language.  I was a little worried of the Geordie-accent I heard about from the Internet so far.  Being alone meant I got to do only what I wanted to do so it should be all right as long as I took care of myself.  Forcing my wife to sit through the games with me was selfish of me, so I thought it was not such a bad idea.

So ask I did.  I spoke to a couple - Andy and his wife - who was returning from their holidays in Japan themselves.  They were friendly and helpful, and that was what I found in most people here.

These are common sight of buildings in Newcastle.  We do have such colonial buildings back in Singapore too.  A few were surprised that I made the trip halfway across the world just to catch the games.  Like I reasoned to myself, it might be once-in-a-lifetime experience for me and I wanted to visit St. James Park with the team before we shifted to a new one a few years later.

Also saw the famed bridges arching over the River Tyne before I checked in at 3pm.  I told myself that I would visit and take a better look when I had the time later.  While walking around, I saw quite a few groups of people donning either the Newcastle United or Benfica jerseys.  That was before and around 3pm; the game was at 8pm so I was a little puzzled if I had got the timing wrong.  I decided to make my way to the much-anticipated game at about five-thirty here.