rAnDoM tHoUgHts + mUsIc

it's like chaos in the office today.  a lot of engineers from the shanghai office got assigned to the site, just to speed up their work.  so that only meant more people for me to deal with.  when before i could just ignore and postpone dealing with them thru e-mail, now they're right on my face, almost literally.

lunch time i learned that federer won his 15th grandslam, beating sampras' record.  amazing, this guy.  when i got back at the hotel a while ago, it was on the news that roddick played more impressively, too bad he didn't win.  the scores showed how close the match was.  i hope i get lucky tonight and catch a replay of their game.  i remember during the federer-nadal match last time, where nadal won (and the fed cried!) i was also here in china.  i was able to watch the game on tv, not minding that the announcers were speaking chinese.  then came the awarding ceremony.  federer was about to make a speech (while shedding tears)... and next thing i knew, they were showing a commercial!  darn it.  anyway, when the program resumed, it was rafa's turn to deliver a speech.  i was so excited coz i haven't heard him talk yet.  then he said, "good evning".  i almost fell from the bed.  but he's still gorgeous.

have you seen federer's rolex commercial on tv?  the one where he was doing his tennis moves while wearing a tuxedo.  i think i'm beginning to heart him. ha-ha-ha.

guess what i had for dinner.  peking duck.  this is the first time i've tried this.  i know this is quite expensive in manila and i've always thought 'what is it with peking duck, it's just like chicken, and thinner.'  well guess what, i so looove it!  it tastes like a cross of roasted chicken (lechon manok) and roasted pig (lechon baboy) back in manila.  and the locals here even say that the one i ate was not of good quality.  they say i should try the peking duck in beijing.  of course, there's nothing like 'the original'.  but i'm already good with their peking duck here.  boy, i'm so easy to please.

Rafael Nadal gets the 2008 Olympic gold and now ranks number 1 in tennis.  Ole! Bravo, Rafa!

Can you tell why i think this guy (Juan Martin Del Potro) is hot on the tennis court?







it's the "form", dude...


But no worries Rafa, you will always be in my heart... :)



By the way, the Fed just lost his match against US' Blake.  Goodbye, Olympic Medal...

Finally, after 3 weeks of regular wednesday night rains, the sky became clear last Wednesday.  So off we went to the tennis court!  This photo doesn't show how excited we were, ha-ha-ha!!!

I think i have a jinx.  Everytime i bring my tennis gears to the office, no matter how fair the weather the whole day, it would begin to rain at 6pm, which is the time we usually start to play tennis.  And this week, when I just left the tennis racquet in the office so we could play anyday, well guess what, it was raining the WHOLE week!  I told this to my tennis bud, and he said, "oh yeah, our tennis careers are over!" 

Which is why last week I signed up for the Monday nights badminton games, where I can play, rain or no rain.  J already bought me a badminton racquet several months ago, but I hardly used it, thinking that tennis was really my sport (yeah, right.).  So starting Monday, I hope I can play regularly.

It's not that I'm the athletic-tournament type of person, what I'm really after are the health benefits for me.  Hey, I'm not getting any younger you know.  It's just that lately I feel that my health is deteriorating... maybe because I don't have enough exercise anymore... I'm idle most of the time... idle... or lazy?

Now I'm also thinking of signing up in a gym... Last year I did so, but after 2 months of signing up, the gym transferred location, quite far from my place of work (I went to the gym after work).  Aaargh!  So maybe next week I'll scout for a gym near my place...

Or I can just jog around our village...

 

i got this from jessica z's blog, where she enumerated several movies with tennis scenes... this one's kinda funny and caught my interest:

5. Salawahan. Directed by Ishmael Bernal. I saw it years ago on Cinema One. Jay Ilagan and Mat Ranillo III are young men on the make. Rio Locsin is the “nice” girl, Sandy Andolong is the “liberated” fashion designer, and the fabulous Rita Gomez is a sex researcher. One day the three women meet at the apartment Jay Ilagan shares with Mat Ranillo. They eye each other warily, then Rio Locsin announces that it’s her birthday. Sandy Andolong asks her how old she is.

Rio Locsin: I’m 18.
Sandy Andolong: I’m 20.
Rita Gomez: I’m hungry.

Mat Ranillo discusses his sex life while playing tennis with his friends, and since this is the early 1980s everyone is wearing tight short shorts like Bjorn Borg used to wear. The tennis here signifies privilege and youthful energy. Usually when people play tennis in Filipino movies, it means they’re rich. (Rich people are also portrayed as wearing full make-up, couture, and jewelry while sitting around the house.)

too bad i wasn't able to watch this, hee.

talk about tennis, i'm sharing photos of 2 cutie tennis players.  ooh-lala!

the oh-you're-so-bad boy rafa...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and here's novak djokovic whose habit after his game is to *take his shirt off* and throw it to the audience... ah-yayay!!!

 

 

tuesday night was badminton night.  it was extra important since i was going to our company tournament that night.

there was a slight drizzle, but i didn't mind it.  i was nervous.

planned to leave the office before 6pm to make it to the badminton court for our 6:15 game time.

around 5:30pm, at the 3rd floor carpark i prepared my uniform - blue shirt (our team color), shorts, rubber shoes and of course, my badminton racquet.

made sure that everything's within my reach as soon as i get to the court.  time is of the essence here.

traversed the winding ramp from the 3rd floor carpark all the way to the ground floor then off to the main road, all the while mentally preparing myself for the game.

focus, focus, focus.  traffic was a little heavy due to the drizzle, but i kept on thinking of my moves on the court.

i was already driving for around 10 minutes when suddenly it hit me!

no, my car wasn't hit -- a thought just hit me.

i could see my shirt, shorts and racquet near me.

but where are my rubber shoes???

and then i remembered!

i left my shoes on the car roof!

it was so embarrasing!

immediately i pulled over, got out and got my shoes which were still in-tact, thanks to the inventor of rubber.

i wonder what the cars (plural!) behind me were thinking...

oh well, maybe badminton is not really for me.

that's why i played tennis last night, without a hitch, except that i didn't bring water.

thought i'll just play for a short time, but i got hooked and played almost 2 hours straight.

with no water.

i didn't realize how i missed tennis so much.

so now, tennis and i are back into each other's arms. 

welcome back, luv.

p.s. i lost the badminton game. =(