I slept with the Manchester United Team and all I got was a lousy poster

No...there wasnt an orgy of gangbanging. We were put up in Mandarin Oriental for the duration of their stay here in Malaysia and what an event it was!

Thanks to the bombing in Jakarta, the team decided to stay on another 4 more days! Which was a dream come true for their die hard fans but a nightmare for us the promoters.

OK ...lets start from the first day July 17th. Got news that the flight could be delayed to Malaysia as news of the bombing reached us. Now everyone was frantically worried that MU might cancel their tour here for security reasons.

Thank God they didnt. So in comes the MU team for their first leg of their Asian Tour. After freshening up, we whisked the team for their autograph signing session with the fans.

First to go in were the VIPs (Pahang royal entourage) Forget about classiness with the blue bloods...all they were concerned was to get the signature of their fav players and to take pics with them...geez.

Then we let the public in. I must say the players were very gracious and friendly ( could also be that this was the first leg so they were all raring to go) . Ugly side of the fans? Plenty. Even the Mandarin Oriental staff got an earful from yours truly for ripping off the posters which we put up to get the players signature. Shameless name throwing just to get close to the players were abound and i didnt know so many of our VIPs had hundreds of relatives, brothers, etc etc.

Me? Couldnt be bothered. Never did understand the MU craze anyways.

So after half a day of crowd control and ensuring the players were settled in, we then prepared for the trainning session which was opened to the public at Stadium Bukit Jalil. There we could watch for a full hour how these world class players trained.

Back to the hotel room for dinner after which we retired to our rooms at around 1 am.

The rooms were beautiful and comfy (for RM2600 a nite apartment, they even had a washing machine and a mini kitchen thrown in!)

My roomate was a snorer and he had invited a gal to join in. I couldnt take either of them so I ended up in our hall instead. End of day one.

On match day, the 18th of July, we were busy with the logistics of the stadium and preparing the huge banquet hall to serve as stretching room for the players.

As expected, fans were everywhere in the hotel with some of the richer parents booking rooms for their kids at the hotel in the hopes that they would bump into them!

The stadium was packed to the brim (85,000 full) but the fans were well behaved so we were OK. Result: MU 3, Malaysia 2.

Post match press conference had a bit of a hitch as the press room was not secured. Had to clear off the pesky fans personally to make way for Sir Alex Ferguson and Bobby Charlton to make their appearance.

To top that off, FAM, who was in charge of securing the stadium decided to lock some of the stadium exit doors immediately after the match..which caused the MU officials to go back and forth looking for an open exit.

It was here that the announcement was made that MU would play one more match against Malaysia ( to make up for their cancelled trip to Jakarta). That meant that we had to stay an extra 4 more days at the hotel....groan.

Lets talk about Mandarin Oriental for a bit. One would expect top class service from this prestigious hotel but i found it wanting at the dining area where slow service and dumb waiters spoilt my impression of the hotel. Perhaps it was because i had scolded their colleagues at the signing ceremony. The food was Middle Eastern themed (to cater to the Arabs). OK for the the first 2 meals...tiresome after 6 days! I think i have had every single dish in their ala carte menu. Wont be going there for a while thats for sure.

Day 2 started off pretty well as it was merely to be a repeat of day 1. Final score 2-0 in you know who's favor.

Day 3 was for the team's free and easy day.To us it means even more worrying and fretting as players are supposed to be on relax mode in which anything goes. Request for a game of golf was sent out and thus began the frantic search for a golf resort to host these players.

Funny thing about being a celebrity football team..all the golf resorts were practically spreading their corporate legs begging the team to play at their resorts. (though one was particularly money crazed, demanding RM10,000 for a set of golf clubs EACH. We told them where they could stuff the clubs).

Ended up in KLGCC. GM there was 1st class in helping us get what we wanted for the players. The in-house golf shop made great business providing MU with RM600 dollar golf shoes and other necessary golf kits. GM came with a worried look telling us a crowd had built up in front of the lobby. We laughed when we saw a "huge" crowd of 20 fans waiting politely in line to get the players autographs(try staving off 200 fans in a cramped up hotel lobby and you know why we werent worried at all).

Team had a good time at the golf course though there was an early thunderstorm scare that threathened to put the whole thing off. Superb drainage and providence made everyone happy, especially Ferguson..

Well then it was dinner time with the MU officials and to be frank, didnt leave much of an impression on me. I mean here these ppl were, caretakers of probably the most famous brands in the world and from our conversations I still have this nagging feeling that at the end their're just common folks thrown into the limelight. With the exception of Sir Bobby Charlton, who was the epitome of class, the rest of them were just tagging along for the ride.

Ah well... thats one event down. Lets see if Real Madrid is in the cards for next year....

Manchester United Invades Malaysia

Well its time once again where grown men are reduced to starry eyed little boys and dignified women go screaming and forget their composure..yes...Manchester United is coming to town.

Have been helping out in the organization of some big names in the soccer world, the last being for Chelsea in Malaysia.

Am not a football fan at all. I was always put in the goalie positions due to my height and even joined an Indian association football team (which was hilarious since I was the only Chinese looking player amongst all the Indians, but since my IC is Indian, technically I was allowed)

Not being a fan means I am not affected by the presence of these international celebrities. Am not awe struck or use the opportunity to get autographs from the players, unlike the fans.

Now that's a totally different breed of animals, the fans. They will camp outside the hotel during the player's stay, some will ride the elevators of the hotel the whole time hoping to bump into their favourite players, ignore all "no entry" signs and basically make an ass out of themselves but do they care? Not one bit. CEOs and MDs of companies are giggling little idiots when it comes to meeting their fav player. Captains of industries are shy and akward in front of the players.

I get a kick watching the reaction of these people. For me, its like "oh Wayne Rooney ah?...why so short?"

I suppose if Al Pacino or Robert De Niro were to come to Malaysia I would be reduced to hysterical screaming and jumping up and down like a starcrazed fan too.

Well I shall update on what happened after the event. In the meantime I have to get out my old t-shirts (the fans will tear at them to get to the players) and brush up on my martial arts (the fans will fight to get to the players)

Its gonna be a long weekend......