Emirates Stadium - The Home of Arsenal

Over in London, we didn't have much time to do much sight seeing but one thing I knew I had to do was do a pilgrimage to one of the Premier League Club's stadium and in London there is non bigger and better than the Emirates Stadium. Unfortunately as it is now, the team with the bigger better stadium is not necessarily the better team.

Enough of words, for all the Arsenal football fans, here are the highlights of the Emirates Stadium

A very bold declaration in a very understated manner

This is more like it!

Guess who is this fella? No no not that smiling goondu in the green jacket. The statue, the guy with the outstretched hands

Is this all there is to the Arsenal's haul?

A time capsule.  Wonder what went into it?

And finally, the very familiar sights to all soccer fans:

The tunnel to the field

And of course the beautiful pitch. 

I think the fellas from our sports hub need to come here and learn from them how to maintain the pitch.

And some places we don't get to see on the television:

The VIP dining room. There is even a celebrity chef to cook for the guests! Unfortunately we were not considered "guest" so no nice meal for us.

This is the physiotherapy room where the players get their massage and do their recovery

 

 And this is the hydro therapy pool. Only for the home team. Wish I can go soak inside too

The shower room. Why no doors and partition?

The Changing Room. The kitman will lay out the players's attire and everything else here

In comparison, the visitor changing room is so plain.

That's me, ahem, giving my end of game press conference

There is even an Arsenal Museum. 

Those were the days when policemen worn shorts and Arsenal was known as Woolwich Arsenal and playing in Division Two at Highbury.

Anybody young enough to have ever worn wooden soccer boots?

And do you know Arsenal ever had such a colorful top?

And a screen grab from one of the many videos featuring one of the greatest Arsenal star

Last but not least, a giant poster with the very best of Arsenal!

Punggol Runners - 8 years and still running strong

Running groups in Singapore used to be dominated by formal running clubs like Swift, Flash and MR 25 that had to be registered with the SAAA, the predecessor of the SAA. In the past few years, together with the rise is popularity of running, a new breed of running groups have surfaced. Many came and went. Some survived but lacked direction and never grew. A few grew from strength to strength. This is the story of one of them.

Punggol Runners started life in 2007 when a motley group of passionate runners living in Sengkang and Punggol decided to get together for their runs. Together with the fledging town, Punggol Runners start growing as more and more residents moved into the area. Soon, runners from Hougang, Yio Chu Kang and even Pasir Ris started to join in  the weekly runs.

Photo courtesy of Punggol Runners

Led by the ebullient Mike Kang, the runners ran all over the areas exploring the area way even before anybody  heard of Punggol Waterway. Punggol Runners members also took part in many races and long weekend runs all the way to Mandai were conducted regularly for members. Other than training for races, the club also organised fun runs to other area and they were probably the very first runners to run in the new Lorong Halus trail and the Punggol Waterway. 

Punggol Runners also worked with the grassroots and other organisation and supported races that were held in the area. Members were drafted as volunteers for the first 2 edition of the POSB Kids Run that were held in Sengkang. Punggol Runners also acted as advisor cum resource facilitator for the MacDonald Punggol Waterway Run and the Punggol Waterway Passion Run.

Punggol Runners at the Punggol Waterway Passion Ruun

 Nowadays, Punggol Runners together with its sister club, Newton Running Club provides pacers for many of the local races such as the Newton Challenge and the 2XU Compression Run. 

Punggol Runners pacing at the 2012 Newton Challenge

The sheer size and very public presence of the club soon attracted attention from sponsors and  over the years they had been sponsored by many including  Lynk Biotech,  Newton and New Balance and JP Pepperdine. Currently, Punggol Runners has a close working relationship with Key Power International Pte Ltd, the local distributor for Newton, 2XU and Brooks.

Punggol Runners celebrated its 8 anniversary on 26 July 2013 with a dinner bash. Notably among the runners is "Wonderwoman" aka Miss Punggol Runners aka Fia who in 2011 was involved in a freaked accident that almost put a stop to her running and her involvement  with Punggol Runners. But she bounced back and since then have gone on to get a PB and completed another marathon plus take part in triathlons!  I leave her story for another day though.

Anyway, membership to Punggol Runners is free! and open to residents of Sengkang, Hougang, Punggol, Yio Chu Kang. However, any member of the public are welcome to join provided they can join in the runs on a regular basis. To join, contact Fia or Mike Kang via their FB page.