Arsenal 4-1 Everton [Herris Damansara Perdana, Kuala Lumpur]

We're going to Wemb-er-ley!

Although, I must say, I believe that we're only really 'going to Wembley' if we reach the final. It serves as a bit of an anti-climax to know that the semi-final venue is the same as the venue for the final. You have the FA to thank for this; they made the decision because they want to recoup the costs of building the stadium, which, once again, is an example of how money is ruining the traditions of football. At the moment, we're going to Wembley, but we're not actually 'going to Wembley'. It's a bit like going out, but not going 'out out'. If I've confused you, just watch this. 

We now have the best opportunity to win our first bit of real silverware since 2005. And by 'real silverware' I don't mean the Emirates Cup. It's by no means an easy feat to beat a stern-looking Wigan side that dumped Man City out of the quarter finals at the weekend, but you can be sure that there will be no assumptions made this time. We have learned our (many) lessons over the past 9 years and you have to think this lesson-learning will only add to our firepower and our drive.

KL Gooners

The venue of choice for the FA Cup match was Herris Damansara Perdana, a food outlet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The locals here tend to head to a food outlet rather than a pub to watch the match, simply because the majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. It makes for a nice change to the typical grog-fest of a pub viewing, although the locals still snuck a few Heinekens in for me (I have an unhealthy superstition that if there's no beer in my hand Arsenal will lose).

The Malaysia Arsenal fans are as passionate as any others that I've met on my travels so far. In fact, the one person I'm staying with at the moment is so besotted with the cannon that he's decided to paint the Arsenal crest on the bonnet of his Mazda 323. It's something you simply couldn't do in the UK, Europe or North America. And it seems you can't really do it in Malaysia either, because he's got a huge key scratch on his passenger door.

The game against Everton itself was an energetic affair reminiscent of the 1-1 league draw a few months back. Only this time we showed our superiority in the midfield department, which let's face it, is our strongest area by a country mile. I know Özil was the fan's man of the match, probably due to his contributions on the night and the way he demonstrated his mental strength [to get over the recent negativity], but for me it was Sir Chamberlain of Oxlade that gave us something hopeful almost every time he had the ball. He even lost the ball a few times but almost always won it back. I genuinely think he should be starting every game for us if he's fit enough. I've said this before and I'll say it again, as a team we are far too indirect given our potential ability to cut our oppositions defence in half. That's why players like the aforementioned Ox, Rosicky and Gnabry offer us so much, and at least one of them should be starting every game to give us that bit of dynamism that we lack when they're not on the field.

So, once again, it feels good to be an Arsenal fan. We've essentially got one hand firmly on the FA Cup despite having two rounds still to play in the competition, and as long as we keep our heads out of the clouds and show that we really want it, we'll get that monkey off our back. And then shoot him in the face.

Right then. One job complete. Tonight however, we must replicate the Great Escape in Germany. Nothing is impossible.


COYG

Orcs 1-0 Humans [Molly Roffey's, Singapore]

We resume our FA Cup campaign tomorrow against The Toffees after a disappointing loss away at Middle Earth last weekend. The defeat, a knife in the heart for many Gooners, might explain my reluctance to write anything creative up until now, six days after the result.

I watched that loss at Molly Roffey's, my third and final outing in Singapore. I actually had the chance to appear on Fox Sports Asia whilst I was at the pub, as they were keen on interviewing me for a show called 'Singha Football Crazy', which airs in a number of countries in this continent. It was another great opportunity for some exposure. Unfortunately they didn't catch me at my best because I was thoroughly pissed off with our performance and the orcs and the referee and the orcs. 

And the orcs.

It is what it is though, and we move on to what many say is our best chance at silverware, the FA Cup. We've obviously already learned that Wilshere will be out for six weeks or so thanks to a cleverly mis-timed tackle by Daniel Agger. I don't think we're going to be missing him all that much. Jack's an awesome player (my personal favourite if you must know) and has a huge amount of heart for the club, he just wants to win. But I think we all know he's not playing to his best potential at the moment, and with the Ox's form being obvious for all to see, I see it as an opportunity to finish the season strongly, and for Jack to come back at the end, just in time to play a part in a winning goal that helps us lift a trophy.

I will be watching the FA Cup match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where once again there is a very active group of Arsenal fans who follow the badge with passion. I'm going to be in Malaysia for a few weeks, as I've decided to knock Thailand on the head. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, I've found it really difficult to find any Arsenal fans there that understand my challenge and what I require from them, and the political situation there makes it risky, not so much safety wise, but logistically speaking. If it all kicks off in Bangkok I could be stranded, which wouldn't be good news for my cause at all.

Until next time.

COYG

Arsenal 4-1 Sunderland [Hotel Bumi Asih Jaya, Bandung, Indonesia]

Good day Gooners.

Normal service has been resumed, we've wiped our shoes of Sunderland's general shoddiness and clearly have one and a half eyes firmly on the Premier League title (when could we last say that going into March?).

Bandung Gooners

Writing this piece from the same Singapore apartment I was in two weeks ago, I'm rather relieved to be back in a city that doesn't wreak of pandemonium everywhere you set foot. Jakarta was a huge step into the unknown for me, a place where essentially every single one of your senses can be rudely awakened, simultaneously. It's a dirty, smelly place, filled with pollution and people wanting to make money out of you any way that they can. But it's also filled with culture, top-notch arts and great food (if you know where you're going that is). Each person I met was not only incredibly kind and generous, but also very proud of their country.

I didn't just visit Jakarta whilst in Indonesia though, I had the opportunity to visit Bandung, the capital of West Java and the first place to hold the Asian-African Conference (also aptly named the 'Bandung Conference'), in 1955.

Bandung Gooners

It was in Bandung that I watched the Sunderland game, and originally we had planned to watch at the Bandung Arsenal Supporter's homebase, Legian Terrace. Unfortunately, due to new rules being established that prevents bars and pubs from opening past 11pm, we had to choose an alternative venue. Hotel Bumi Asih Jaya was decided upon with only a few hours to go before kickoff. I was
expecting it to be a poor turnout because of this, but to my surprise around 150 Arsenal fans turned up for the game, including a coach-load of Gooners from Karawang more than an hour away.

The Bandung fans certainly are passionate, singing more or less non-stop from kick-off to the full-time whistle. And they were obviously in good spirits because we were watching a dominating display by the Gunners over a poor, poor Sunderland side

After the game we visited a local natural springs hot pool to relieve all the non-stress from the game (it's nice to have a comfortable win every once in a while) before heading back to a graphics studio which local Gooner Arsya had arranged for us to sleep at.

An alley

I was off back to Jakarta the following day, via surprisingly comfortable train, to spend my last evening with the Gooners that I had met during my stay. We had some Murtabuk and some Fried Chicken, took a few photos and shared a few stories (of which I'm sure there would be many more had I longer to stay) before bidding farewell.

Now back in Singapore, you probably won't be surprised to learn that I'm on a crash diet. The coronary fest of the quite typical Jakarta eating habits has gotten the better of me and now my waistline has given in completely. Time for a change!


COYG

Arsenal 0-2 Bayern Munich (Warung Bang Hoody, Jakarta)

Mesut Özil is not fit enough to play at Arsenal. He has had a terrible season. He's hardly scored any goals for us. He looks disinterested. Why are we not resting him? Is he worth the record-sum we paid?

The above statements/questions are being asked by many Arsenal fans after yet another disappointing result, whilst the whole Özil debate has been on many people's agendas for quite some time.

Yes, he missed a penalty yesterday that would unquestionably have given us momentum and confidence to put Bayern firmly in their place. He's also missed a few before. But, the best players miss them. David Alaba missed his against us in the second half. We also seem to forget that it was Özil that won us the penalty in the first place.

Making the most of it.

The German international's stats for last night's game may highlight a lack of completed passes (and interceptions of Bayern's), but they also reveal that he covered more distance than all but Flamini and Jack. People who have a keen eye will notice that Özil simply moves around the pitch in a gracious, somewhat floaty manner, which makes him appear to be lazy, slow and disinterested. When you pay more attention you notice that more players mark him than any others, which in turn opens up the field for more passing opportunities to be exploited. And I have no doubt that this would have been demonstrated if it weren't for the extra man that Bayern had.

The one thing I'd like to know about Özil is whether he has a minimum-minutes-per-game or minimum-games-played clause written into his contract, because he seems to be playing every game and is rarely subbed-off. I still think he needs a bit of a break (not against Bayern though), both physically and mentally - perhaps there is increased position competition in the German squad and he (and Wenger) wants to be involved at every opportunity to stay top of the priority list?

Anyhow, the clash against Bayern was a huge disappointment, especially given the way in which we started the game and the opportunities we failed to convert. BUT, we go to Munich with a far better chance than we had last season - we 'only' have a two-away-goal deficit to face up to, we have a better team than we did last season, we will (hopefully) have momentum in the Premier League and FA Cup to transfer to the Champions League and, let's face it, the reigning European champions will know and fear that we have unfinished business with them. We've beaten them before, we can do it again.

Jakarta Gooners in full swing. We were 1-0 down at this point

With that match-related stuff out of the way, I can tell you more about the craziness that is Indonesia. I watched the game with the local Arsenal fans at Warung Bang Hoody, an open-air venue in South Jakarta and the home base of Arsenal Indonesia Supporters Jakarta. Being a 2:45am kickoff, it was always going to be difficult to get a good bunch of fans together (they had more than 1000 Arsenal fans in attendance here for the Carling Cup Final implosion against Birmingham) but we still had around 150 Arsenal fans in attendance, not to mention a good number of Bayern supporters.

Jakarta itself is quite simply the craziest place I have ever been, it's a huge departure from anywhere else I've travelled. The sheer amount of traffic is ridiculous and the number of suicidal motorcyclists darting in and out of traffic is mind-boggling. People obviously have a far lesser interest in their own safety over here. In fact, the taxi ride alone from the airport was the most intense fairground ride I've ever been on. And at least fairground rides have seat belts or other harnesses, the taxi I was in had none. I'm quite sure the driver was about fourteen, and with his complete disregard for other road users, pedestrians, passenger comfort and wildlife, I was happy to arrive at my destination in one piece without the need to change my underwear. I suppose you can't really argue with a £10 taxi-ride that lasts two hours.

Commuting: The Jakarta Way

All that doesn't matter too much though. I'm here to see the Arsenal family, and the Indonesian fans that I've met so far have been utterly devoted to making sure that my stay is as comfortable as possible. They are incredibly proud of their supporters clubs and the passion that they show for Arsenal surpasses that of any other groups I have seen so far on my journey. I'm sure it'll continue to amaze me when I'm in Bandung, Western Java, to watch the Sunderland game at the weekend. Until then.


COYG

Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool, FA Cup [Molly Roffey's, Singapore]

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Arsenal have beaten Liverpool by two goals to one (arguably our most favoured scoreline against them!) to reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup.

Once again, I was in Singapore to watch this must-win match. Having had an incredibly embarrassing outing at Anfield the previous weekend, I think many were expecting something similar at the Emirates. But, I could see from the manner in which we responded against United mid-week that we could take some much needed momentum and confidence into this cup tie.

Singapore Gooners

Locally, the match kicked off at midnight, which gave us an impressive turnout at Molly Roffey's, the home of the Singapore Gooners. Despite people working on the Monday morning, I would say around seventy Arsenal fans turned up to show their support. The singing culture in Singapore is fantastic, they really get behind the team. It's something that I deeply believe in too - despite being thousands of miles away I'm convinced that if we sing loud enough the players back home can hear us. It doesn't hurt to try, at least.

The game itself was a more evenly-contested affair than at Anfield. I'm not going to say we dominated the performance from start to finish, we had a few questionable decisions go our way (never thought I'd say that about Howard Webb) and a few individual player performances to be thankful for too, none more so than Fabianski. Once again, we responded to a disappointment in the best way that we could hope for, only this time we got the result we wanted (as opposed to the point against United).

Aside from the keeper, stand out players for me included the Ox for his direct-play and pace, Koscielny for making Suarez his bitch but being incredibly gentleman-like about it in the process (it's called class), and Yaya Sanogo for his air kicks work-rate.

Fed up with human flesh, Suarez takes fancy
to the (probably more than edible) Emirates turf

And to think that we did all this with seven changes from the goalless draw against United. It's once again a demonstration of just how far Arsenal, as a team, has come in the space of a season. But, for some reason, people still find reasons to complain.

So, for now, I'm bidding farewell to Singapore. I've had a great week here, but it's time to move on to somewhere a bit different. I'll be returning to the über-metropolis next week but as I write this, I'm at the airport waiting for a flight to Jakarta, to meet up with Gooners in Indonesia, where I'll be watching the Bayern and Sunderland games. As you can probably imagine, I'm feeling a bit anxious about going from ultra-modern Singapore, with its lightining-fast internet, immaculate toilets and graded food outlets, to a country where you can only drink bottle-water, or where the GDP per capita is, at most, 1/10th that of most other countries I've traveled to so far. It scares me but it excites me at the same time. Of course it's comforting to know that I'm going to be taken care of by the Arsenal Family, and that's what makes this journey so special.


COYG

Arsenal 0-0 Man United [Molly Roffey's, Singapore]

Hello from Singapore.

Usually when writing match updates for the first time in a new city or country, I'll do a little piece about the place I'm visiting and then something about the atmosphere of the pub/casino/lounge/bookmakers where I watched Arsenal with local Gooners. Finally, I'll very, very briefly talk about the match performance and implications of the result etc.

This time round, as much as I want to share my thoughts about a country that I'm deeply impressed with, I'm going to do football first, otherwise I'll likely spontaneously combust.

Many Arsenal fans' house-style of choice

Some people, through a variety of life choices, decide to live under rocks. I've never seen these rocks advertised for rent or sale in any estate agent window, on Rightmove.co.uk or on Craigslist. I've Googled the term but have failed to find anything useful. Perhaps you have to belong to some kind of 'under rock dwellings' club. But, judging by the sheer onslaught of hermits that have taken to the tweet-waves, Facebook groups and online forums after the Man United match, they definitely exist.

There must be whole housing estates with detached rocks, townhouse rocks and rock apartments, each one complete with internet connection, monitor and keyboard, where hundreds of like-minded numskulls simultaneously try to prove a very invalid point.

The point they try to make is that Arsenal's season is over, they emphasise that the club is currently in a disastrous scenario equivalent to DEFCON 1. These fans are foaming at the mouth like a doberman with acute rabies. Toys the size of elephants have been lobbed out of prams and many heads are wanted on a plate. 

Those that don't have soup for brains will instead define this scenario as being 'one point behind the leaders in the Premier League and still in two cup competitions'.

After the horror show at the weekend against Liverpool, the last thing anybody wanted - but the thing that many feared the most - was the start of an all-too-familiar season implosion. It was the same fear that people had after the embarrassing scoreline at the Ethihad last December. But, after that game we had a disappointing draw, at home, with Moan-rinho's chavs, which led way to a run that would see us take nineteen out of twenty one points in the league (not to mention comprehensive victories over the Spuds and Coventry in the FA Cup). During this run we remained top of the Premier League.

Did we spend money on a striker in January? No. Do we have oil money? No. Do we want to become a sugar-daddy club and give up everything that has made us who we are and who we continue to be? No. Is our season over? No. Unfortunately there are too many glass-half-emptiers out there that want to answer 'yes' to all those questions but the reality is that we've already taken a massive step forward in becoming title challengers again. Bad results happen in football, they happen to every team and that includes both Chelsea and Man City, as is evident over the past few days.

What is most important is that once again we have responded to a horrible result in the most desirable manner that we could wish for, we just didn't get the result that we wanted. Instead we take momentum and belief into our next game, which is all that the team, and the supporters, should be focusing on.

So, rant out of the way, let me tell you what I think of Singapore. I love it, and I haven't even ventured into the downtown core yet. The weather is fantastic, if a little humid (what do you expect from a country practically on the equator?), and the food is absolutely magnificent. People say that Singapore is expensive but to be honest, it doesn't seem any different to Australia or New Zealand. In fact, in Singapore, I can eat far better food and travel further with public transport, for considerably less outlay than those other countries. I haven't had a look into living expenses and so on, but maybe there are a few rocks that I can live in under, on the super-cheap.

One of many Singapore viewpoints

I loved the city that served as my first introduction to Asia, Hong Kong. It's a great place and perhaps feels more authentically 'Asia' than Singapore, but I'm not sure if I could live there. It's too crowded and too smoggy, and when I left, the weather was surprisingly Britain-like (for those that don't know, think multiple shades of grey). Singapore, to me, is almost the perfect blend between east and west, and it's on the doorstep to many different countries too. There's an awful lot going on in this place and I think it would maybe be easier to find your 'own Singapore' rather than your 'own Hong Kong'. Anyway, it's just my personal opinion. I've also only been here a few days so perhaps I'm being too judgmental too soon.

Dedicated Arsenal Supporters at Molly Roffey's

Singapore has a very active Arsenal Supporters club. They have a dedicated pub where they watch all their matches, Molly Roffey's, and it was there that we watched the United match. I would say around fifty Gooners came to watch, which isn't bad when you consider the game kicked off at 3:45am locally. The pub itself is also adorned with Arsenal flags, shirts and memorabilia, so they've really made it their home - something which I encourage other supporters clubs worldwide to think about doing.

Right now I'm staying with Jeffrey Tan, a local Singaporean, and he's been really helpful in showing me around his area, Hougang, which lies to the east of downtown Singapore. I think it's really important to befriend a local here as they can take you to the best hawker food centres and will ensure that you get great quality food without getting ripped off. I know I keep going on about food, but you can't come to Singapore and not talk about it, it's everywhere and it's bloody marvellous. 

I will also be watching the Liverpool FA Cup match here, so hopefully I can fill you in on some other non-food related Singapore niceties in a few days! Until then.

COYG

Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal [Hong Kong Jockey Club, Hong Kong]

Good Morning Gooners.

Hong Kong! The Pearl of the Orient (although I think some people refer to Shanghai as the 'New Pearl', so I'm not sure how current that nickname is). After spending more than 2 months in Australia and New Zealand, I landed in Hong Kong last Tuesday to start the final leg of my round-the-world adventure. The city would be the first of many and the sights, sounds and smells of Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam await.

Fog. Not smog

On arrival into Chep Lap Kok I was greeted by Kevin Ng and Matt Haha (yes, haha!) from the Arsenal Hong Kong Supporters Club. They were very happy to see their guest and had arranged a packed itinerary for my stay, including a visit to the Big Buddha, Tai O Fishing Village, Victoria Peak and a hundred different restaurants and food stalls.

Arsenal Soccer School in Hong Kong

I was staying with Adam Ng, a local Gooner who lives in a small town (by Asian standards) called Sheung Shui, right next to the Chinese border. It meant that I could get a feel for the real Hong Kong, as I was staying in a quite typical residence where you could barely swing a bag of cats. Being away from the pandemonium of central Hong Kong and Kowloon, it also meant it was significantly quieter, and there were absolutely no tourists, aside of course from the Chinese ones, popping across the border to bulk-buy infant milk and other essentials that they can't safely obtain back home.

I had the chance to visit one of the Arsenal soccer schools in Hong Kong. This football school is open to students from 3 years to 12 years old. I met the Technical Director, Alan Lam (also a sports commentator), and he told me about the exercises and their plans for the future. The school has only be running for a few years, but it obviously gained traction quickly. They are now looking at starting classes for kids aged TWO, and already have about twelve signed up. The school's weekly sessions run year round, without a break, and there are four separate locations in Hong Kong alone.

Hong Kong Gooners

So, game time came around and it was an important one. The local Hong Kong Gooners had arranged a viewing party at one of the Jockey Clubs (the term 'Jockey Club' means 'Betting Shop' out there) and there were around 100 people in attendance to watch a complete car-crash of a performance against Liverpool. I'm not going to comment on the performance because everybody and their dog has already had their two cents, some justified, some just plain daft. All we know is, as of right now, if we win against United we go back to the top of the league. Let's hope that a blip is just that, a blip.

COYG