Update 3 : Working Trip To Mariupol, Ukraine – Part 3 : The Champions League Experience

Reading the title, I’m quite sure some of you could have sniffed it and see it coming. As the name suggests, let me officially tell you this….

I had my first CHAMPIONS LEAGUE experience while I am on this working trip…. Champions League? I must be kidding myself… I had dreamt of watching EPL match live but it never happened (yet) and now it’s the Champions League? Be serious…..

It started this way….

It was Wednesday 22 October 2008 at about 9.00 am. Location : outside Spartak Hotel in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Here’s the story…..

We were supposed to meet up outside the hotel at 9.00 am. Being a football fan, I did catch some of the highlights of Champions League games played throughout Europe the night before, among the results : Man Utd 3 – Celtic 0, Fenerbahce 2 – Arsenal 5, Juventus 2 – Real Madrid 1 etc etc…

So, when I came down, the MPV was already waiting with the driver Ivan, a football fan, standing there in the cold 8deg weather. FYI, he speaks very little English and to be able to communicate with him, we need our Liaison Officer, Kakajan Abdiyev, to translate for us…

Besides Ivan, Shankar, Hans (not a football fan), Kakajan (also not a football fan), Pavel and Igor were already there… we were waiting for AJ and Azhar (her husband) and Mikhail, I think, to come down..…

I started to talk to Shankar… “ Did you watch Champions League football last nite?”.. Shankar answered “ No, I didn’t but I know some of the results”… sensing we were talking about football, Ivan joined in by saying “Football??”…. and he told us that Dynamo Kyiv also won AWAY against Porto the previous night (translated by Kakajan, off course)…(Note to non-football fan : Dynamo Kyiv is one of the top 2 teams in Ukraine, the other team is Shaktar Donetsk)

Then I asked… “ How about Shaktar Donetsk? Did they win or lose”…. His answer surprised me…. (translated) “ Shaktar is playing against Sporting Lisbon tonight”… promptly, I asked the golden question… “ will they be playing HOME or AWAY?”…. Ivan : (translated) “ Here in Donetsk”…

Then my platinum question, “Can we get tickets for that game?”… the answer even surprised me further… “I can get it for you, provided you bring me along”…….

BINGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could feel some adrenalin rush, prompting the next question “How much is the ticket?”… answer by Ivan : “40 dollars”…… man, am I not shocked at all…. That’s extremely affordable…. Hahaha….. Champions League, here I come….

After a quick discussion with Shankar, we agreed to ask Ivan to buy the tickets and paid him the total price……

I could not really concentrate doing my job that day, as half my mind is already on the way to the stadium and the other half is thinking about what to buy as a souvenir… either a cap (too many already), a shirt (would not fit into my wardrobe anymore) or a muffler (er, bila nak pakai lagi?)….

And when we finished work that evening, we went back to the hotel for a quick ‘cloth reinforcement’ (coz we anticipate it would be freezing out there in the stadium) and then we are on our way to Donetsk Stadium !!!! whooaaaaaaaaaa……….

There were 5 or us… me, Ivan, AJ (not a football fan actually – ikut husband punya pasal), Azhar (her husband – he’s an avid fan), Shankar (Selangor Supporter di zaman era Mokhtar Dahari) and Kakajan (repeat : not at all a football fan). Kakajan was there as part of his job, to be an interpreter….

The game was scheduled at 945pm local time (245am Malaysian Time).We pushed off to Donetsk at around 7.00pm. As usual, I slept almost 80% of the journey. At around 8.30 pm, I woke up when the MPV stopped moving, only to find that we are at a local McDonalds restaurant. We decided to have a speedy dinner, which turned out to be not-so-speedy as there were heaps of people in the outlet. A fillet-o-fish and a cup of coffee later, I was fully recharged and ready for the game.

Ivan said, the Stadia is approx 1 km away from the McD, so we decided to walk (what is there walking 1km in freezing cold – I did that before in Sydney, walking back home with my wife after watching South Africa trounced Uruguay during 2003 Rugby World Cup group games).

By the time we approached the stadium, there were already dozens of Shaktar supporters along the road and outside the stadium, warming themselves with beer, vodka etc (liquors are banned from the stadium). We stopped at a small hut selling Shaktar merchandise and shopped for some souvenirs. I bought a much-needed Shaktar muffler to fend-off the effect of the freezing weather. It must have been somewhere around 3-5 deg when we entered the stadium (plus the wind-chill factor). That’s FREEEEZZZZZZINNNNNNNNNNN COLDDDDD, man…..

When we entered the stadium, it was already three-quarter full with Shaktar Donetsk supporters (including us)…. We went around the stadium to find our dedicated seats and I must say that the seats given to us are not that bad at all… it was the Grand Stand seat that originally costs USD$24 (local currency UAH 120), but we bought it in the black market, so it was bloated a lil bit… never mind that….

It was 10 minutes before the match started when we settled in at our seats and I began to take pics around the stadium… load and load of pics… I might even took more pics at the stadium than my work pics….

Then the screen showed a live feed in the players tunnel where the players are getting ready to enter the pitch… minutes later, the atmosphere turned deafening as the 2 teams marched onto the bright green pitch together with the match officials… I can’t believe my eyes…

And off course, there were also the famous Champions League logo in a huge round flag (or something) that is being laid inside the middle circle of the pitch with youths/kids along its perimeter waiting for the time to wave it…

After the players presentation the famous Champions League anthem was played and the kids/youths around the perimeter started to wave the logo (for non-football fan : the waving of the Champions League logo in the middle circle is prominent proceeding before a Champions League match gets underway….

Few minutes later, the match started and it was breathtaking, just to be inside the stadium and inside a Champions League night atmosphere… can’t really describe that wonderful top-of-the-world feeling in this blog… I’m lost for words…

There were approx 20,000 supported inside the stadium, but the designated away supporters section was seen empty. I guess the visiting supporters does not fancy coming to Donetsk for the game and save their money for a visit to Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium (Barcelona is in the same group as Shaktar and Sporting, the other team is FC Basle).

As you may aware, the match ended in a 0-1 defeat to Shaktar and the supporters went home disappointed, excluding us. I even jumped and celebrated (initially) when Sporting scored 15 minutes from time, only to be reminded by Shankar to calm down (I was wearing Shaktar’s scarf and celebrate when Sporting scored – this is not the right gesture).

In summary, the match was not as exciting as we had hoped for. The first half was a bit dull, but the second half was interesting. Shaktar attacked most of the time but in one swift counter-attack, Sporting managed to squeezed in the winning goal that makes the difference… at least there’s a goal to see (even though tak la lawa sangat pun)…. Kalau 0-0 lagi sakit hati….

As for the players, I think I hardly recognize any Shaktar players but there were seberal Portugal International players within the Sporting team, among others Helder Postiga (an ex-Spurs player)……

After the match, we managed to take a pic in front of the stadium using Azhar’s SLR and I will print that pic and put it in an oven, er.. I mean.. put it in a frame… together with my match ticket….

We went back to Mariupol at around 12.30 and reached the hotel at 2.00 am (Everyone were asleep in the MPV) except Ivan the driver, off course…

When I got back to the hotel, I had difficulty to sleep as the adrenalin rush is still there and the fact that I have watched a Champions League match live in Europe still did not sink into my mind…. I even declared that I WILL UPDATE MY BLOG and here you are, a rare long blog update from me….

I guess that’s all that I can update right now… I hope I have put in all the facts and do not miss any important milestone…

Wait for my next blog entry… Part 4 of my working trip.. which the journey back to KL…

Till then, wassalam and MAJULAH SUKAN UNTUK NEGARA…..

OOOOOOOOOOO…….THE CHAMMMPIONNNNSSSSSSSSSSS……… (nyanyi ala2 Champions League anthem) – untuk mereka yg tau je la….

Roger and out….. Enjoy the pics....

Update 2 : Working Trip To Mariupol, Ukraine – Part 2 : The Work

As the title suggests, I will be talking about the work in Ukraine… I know, the topic is very dry and boring and I promise I will make it extremely short…

As mentioned in my previous entry, I was required to witness that transfer operation of the cargoes… huaarghhhhhhhhhhh…… (a BIG YAWN)…….

Even my self feel sleepy when typing this entry… and almost went to sleep typing this entry….

OK, then I shall stop here but watch out for my NEXT BLOG ENTRY…. I can confidently say that it will not make you, my loyal blog readers, bored and will keep you up at the edge of your seat… especially if you love football…….. can u guess how elmo started out?? Er…. I mean… can u guess what my next entry gonna be????

I won’t tell…. And if I were you, I will definitely watch out for that one….

Let me give u a hint…. Er, nak bagi hint ke? Takyah la kot…

Nantikan kehadiran episod yang akan datang… pasti menggamit hati….

Promise….
Wassalam…

Update 1 : Working Trip To Mariupol, Ukraine – Part 1 : The Journey

It has been quite a while since I last updated my blog. My last blog was posted on 21 May 2008 and it was about the Champions League Final between Man Utd and Chelsea.

This time I will be writing about my latest working trip to Ukraine.

To cut long story short, I was required to be in Ukraine to witness, as a client rep, a transfer operations from Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV) to river barge of our offshore structures for my project, the Turkmenistan Block 1 Development Project. The structures are on its way from Pasir Gudang to Turkmenistan.

Since Turkmenistan is located in the Caspian Sea (a lake actually), that is isolated from the main seas, the cargo need to be transported through the Volga-Don Canal in Russia that connects the main sea (Sea of Azof) to the Caspian Sea.

After several postponement, (in the shipping industry, the ETA always moves as the sea condition fluctuates from time to time), I finally departed KL on Saturday 18th October 2008 via Frankfurt and Munich. One heaven of a looooooong journey.

My family sent me to KL Sentral. My wife and the twins were there sending me at around 9.00 pm and Afiq cried loudly after I got down (refer to Aishah’s blog for details – macam engineering drawings pulak). Arriving in KLIA after a 28-minutes smooth ERL ride, I went str8 to the international MAS lounge, where I bumped into 6 GTS colleagues (Process Engineers and a Planner) who are on their way to London for an attachment with a renowned consultant for a project in Uzbekistan. (I wonder will Structural Engineers ever be involved in attachment like this).

My flight, MH 0006 (B777-ER) which was supposed to be at 2345, was delayed after I got into the aircraft due to some traffic congestion in KLIA. (There are many flight to European destinations around that time). Being among the last scheduled flights be4 midnight, we were delayed close to 1 hour, which effectively reduces my ‘shopping time’ in Frankfurt (if the shops are opened around the time I arrived – I hope so).

After 12 hours and 30 minutes, MH 0006 touched down smoothly at 0700 local time in Frankfurt Main International Airport. This marks the first time ever I step my feet onto Germany, hence enhances my ‘appetite’ to hunt for souvenirs while I am in transit there. After all the security proceedings, it was already 0800 approx and I am still without any Frankfurt/Germany souvenirs.

There were 5 shops that opened, and three of them sells relatively the same thing. So I managed to grab some fridge magnets, keychains and t-shirts. Being an exhaustive and experience bargain hunter, I managed to get my hands on 5 euro adult t-shirt in that short space of time (full price t-shirts are around 23 euro ++) and kids t-shirts around 15 euro. Since dah tak sempat nak shop, I ran to gate A22 to get my boarding passes for both Frankfurt-Munich and Munich-Donetsk sectors (Yes, I put shopping before safely securing my seat on those flights), only to be met by another security hassle !!! hampeh.
The flight to Munich takes about 55 minutes and was supposed to depart 0855 hours. Whilst all passengers are seated for take-off, the captain makes this announcement “ Ladies and Gentlemen, there are 2 passengers that did not turn up, so we need to unload their checked-in baggage as this is a security procedures. We will start our journey in about 10 minutes”. Arghhhhhh….. not again….

Dah la nanti kat Munich aku nak gi shopping lagi, so every minutes counts… unlike what the captain announced, we took off after about 20 minutes delay….sapa la mamat 2 orang tu, nak kena siku 8x berturut2 tu…..sebagai pembalasan…

Sesampai di Munich, I spent some time to call home, sip a cup of free coffee (Thanks to Lufthansa), and off course, continue my shopping rally. I managed to grab few Munich souveirs plus a t-shirt each for Afiq n Adib, which costs 15 euro each…….

I thought I could run straight to the gate, tapi…. Lupa lak.. this is an international flight, so a ‘trip’ through the customs is a must…. Alamak……

By the time I left the shop, the flight status turned ‘boarding’…. Apabila sampai kat custom, panjang la pulak barisannya… isk, mau tak sampai Ukraine aku ni …. Kena pulak bila sampai time aku, the immigration officer belek2 pasport aku, Tanya mcm2 soalan then sembang2 ngan mmber dia kat sebelah… allo, brader.. aku punya flight dah nak jalan dah ni.. sudah2 lah belek2 tu…. Setelah beberapa minute berlalu, dia pun cop jugak la walaupun Nampak hesitant (kesannya, cop ‘Munich’ kat passport aku jadi tak terang…. )

Sekerling kat status board, it showed ‘final call’…. Alamak… apa lagi, sprint 100m ala2 Usain Bolt la aku….. nasib baik pintu tak jauh mana, lepas bagi boarding pass pada the stewardess, aku Tanya… “Am I the last passenger?”… dia jawab simple jek… “YES”….
Tak penah lagi mcm ni, seingat aku…

Bila turun je tangga nak baik bas, aku Nampak semua org dalam bas macam bengang sebab kena tunggu aku… sebaik2 je naik bas, pintu pun tutup and the bus pun jalannn…

Lupa lak nak cakap, my colleague, AJ and Hans, are on the same flight and they thought I changed my journey last minute and pegi through city lain…… they kept texting me while I was stuck at the immigration….

The flight to Donetsk took 3 hours and touched down in Donetsk International Airport at approx 1515hrs.

Nanti dulu, that’s not the end of the journey my friend….

Mariupol is situated approx 120km from Donetsk… we were met by several of our Russian and Ukrainian agents…. Among others Igor, Pavel, Mikhail, Alex and Ivan the driver… (I must admit that I can remember Russian names pretty easily compared to Malaysian names…. )… as long as I can match their surname with any Russian footballers…. Before we were passed by the immigration, I got a scare when they asked me to stand aside for ‘extra checking’.. which eventually made me the last person to clear the passport counter….

We had to take another 1.5 hours drive from Donetsk to Mariupol and along the way… yup, you guess it right… I fell asleep… the road was bumpy all along and the highway is not as good as what we have here in Malaysia… alright, the highway was free, no toll… but if compared to our free highway i.e. Federal Highway etc, it is a huuuge difference mate…… the one we have in Malaysia is far far more comfortable…. We should be thankful to the Government .. and its employees…

Arrived in Mariupol at around 1730hrs…. straight check-in at a hotel called Spartak Hotel…. Well, I recommended this hotel coz it looks like the best hotel in Mariupol after some internet search.. but eventually it turned out to be not the case… (I got blamed by Hans due to the unavailability of Wi-Fi even though the website said otherwise).. moral of the story : do not trust the websites 100%, look for hotel reviews instead….

After calculating all the flying times, transit times, delays and drive, the journey took me 28 hours in total… and THAT IS THE LONGEST JOURNEY THAT I EVER ENDURED IN MY WHOLE 30yrs LIFE…

OK guys, time to stop… I’ll definitely update this blog with part 2 and part 3.. watch out for this space… till we meet again, spasiva for reading …. (translate : spasiva = thank you)…