This Charming Man

Thanks a lot for that. Some good suggestions there and Robe looks a beautiful town so that will be the first night's stop sorted. We leave Adelaide on the 19th and don't need to be in Melbourne until Christmas Eve so have a bit of time to play around with. I've travelled Australia before, I did; Sydney - Cairns - Alice Springs - Adelaide - Melbourne - Sydney all overland, so aware of the ridiculous distances involved. Cheers for your help.

I think after his little hiatus, he's come back with an even more laid back style and it is literally hit out or get out, no matter what format.

That is obscene. Dhoni's tweet afterwards made me laugh... ""Life is all about taking the right decision, seeing Gayle bat today I think I took the right decision of being a wicket keeper."

Just ring the ticket office to see if there are any singles left. You don't ask, you don't get.

Surely Stoke have the whole end?

Don't suppose you can recommend any decent car rentals? We're flying from Perth to Adelaide, then taking a few days to drive down to Melbourne (leaving the car there). Also, any towns you recommend to stop at on the way? Will go through the Grampians, then down and along the Great Ocean Rd.

Believe they normally do a 5 day pass so will just get that. May miss the odd day here and there but I've been to Sydney a few times and also done Melbourne before, so there are no actual sights left for me to see. Just cricket, booze and the beach.

I just phoned up and got 5x tickets for mates and it took me about 2 minutes to get through. Still wish I had gone down there at 6am though, may have had a chance of getting my face on the official site waving the tickets around.

I see where you're coming from now. A bit like when Suarez was walking around biting thin air yesterday and Ivanovic went and put his arm in his mouth.

Ridiculous.

I'm all booked up for Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. I've done the Sydney test before and it's class. Perth and Sydney will be a bit of a mad scramble for tickets and they usually sell out in hours. The MCG will only come close to selling out on Boxing Day and tickets will be easy enough to get. Hopefully they're still doing the 5 day passes this year.

Maybe you could set your alarm for 30 mins later then in that case?

Yes. Would imagine your order has probably been cancelled if they're still yet to show.

If we beat Stoke, do we get promoted again? I was under the impression this was a meaningless end of season game? PANIC!!!!

Nobody cares.

If Bale wins the main award, then surely he also wins the Young Player award by default? Bale & Bale for me. Oh and the fact that Welbeck who has scored about 1 goal in the last 3 years and Wilshere who has played about 5 games this season are in there is laughable.

Our trophy cabinet is embarrassingly sparse as it is, no way in a million years would I give up our only meaningful trophy!

Haha, sounds good to me. I'm flying out of Manilla so may 'treat' myself to a couple of nights there before leaving. I'll be travelling solo but will be staying in Guesthouses so hopefully meet up with a few people who know the tricks of the trade, so to speak. I had briefly looked into Tagatay so may do a bit more research on that and see if I can fit it in. Cheers.

That was the decisive factor, imo. At that time The FA were calling out FIFA on corruption, so they would've looked ridiculous (well more ridiculous than normal) employing the most corrupt man in English football.

Nah. He'd have Grant Holt upfront with Defoe, David James in goal, Joe Cole on the left, Lampard in the middle and Sol at the heart of defence.

Just out of interest, where abouts in the Philippines are you? I'm over there in November. I'm doing the whole Boracay thing, then heading to Palawan (El Nido etc) but I've heard plenty of conflicting stories about Manilla. Is it worth a couple of nights? Heard the nightlife is supposed to be quite tasty. I'm only coming in on a 3 week visa (couldn't be bothered with sorting one in advance as I'm pretty much coming straight in from Nepal) so time is limited but anywhere else you would recommend me visiting?

Cortese out!

I wasn't mentally strong enough to achieve that. All I could taste was that vile smell... if that makes sense! Ha. I didn't have a clue what I was eating half the time. I'd just find the street food stall that was packed with locals and just went in pointing at stuff. The only thing I could make out was the fish head soup, as the fish heads floating in it are a bit of a giveaway.

Really? Probably one of the safest feeling cities I've visited around the world - even the taxi drivers are honest which is virtually unheard of in Asia! Also, isn't it statistically one of the safest cities in all of Asia?

It's not a question of bravery but more stupidity if you decide to eat that. I tried some despite my brain screaming out not to put a fruit in my mouth that smelt like a cross between raw sewage and a rotting corpse. I've tried some odd stuff on my travels but that is by far and away the most vile thing I've ever tried. Took about 3 cans of 100 plus to get rid of the taste. I can also confirm that Durian flavoured ice cream is equally revolting.