Before the Finals @SW19

So the women's final is set, with the Williams sisters again facing each other, after beating their Russian opponents in contrasting manners. Defending Champ (and 5-time Wimbledon champion) Venus decimated supposed world #1 (and Marat Safin's little sister) Dinara Safina, 6-1, 6-0, while younger sister (and 2-time Wimbledon Champ) Serena struggled, and even had to save a match point against #4 (and Olympic Champion) Elena Dementieva in the longest women's semifinal match in Wimbledon, 6-7, 7-5, 8-6. I was rooting for Elena but was still surprised that she was able to give Serena, who played so well against #8 Victoria Azarenka in the quarters, a huge scare. Too bad Elena lost in the end, but hopefully this match helps her confidence for the rest of the year.

Venus has been playing great the whole tournament though, and I think she should take her 6th Wimbledon over Serena in the Ladies' Final tomorrow.

On the men's side, Roger Federer has just beaten a resurgent Tommy Haas in the semis and goes on for a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title on Sunday's final against an Andy. Right now, I'm watching Andy Murray and Andy Roddick battle each other in the second semifinal for the chance to be beaten by Federer in the final.

No matter who he faces in the final, I think Roger has a great chance of winning his 6th Wimbledon crown. He's been playing well and with a lot of confidence the whole tournament against quality opponents. Whoever wins between the two Andy's today needs to really lift their level of play if they want to win their first Wimbledon. (edit: The American Andy just beat the Brit Andy, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. Roddick goes on to play his 3rd Wimbledon final. He lost his first two to Federer. Murray on the other hand, loses the chance to be the first homeboy to win Wimbledon in 70-something years.)

So, just like what I said before the French Open final last month: Be The Legend, Federer!

Oh wait, he already is. :-)


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Now playing: James Morrison - Man in the Mirror (Napster Live Acoustic Session)
via FoxyTunes

The Big W, Week 2

The first week of Wimbledon has ended and now we've got the final 16 players remaining on the men's and ladies' draw.

The big upset on the men's side was Argentine 5th seed JMDP (that's Juan Martin Del Potro) losing to oldster and former #1 player (before the era of Federer) Lleyton Hewitt in the second round. Hewitt is also a one-time Wimbledon champ (again, before the era of Federer), so while it shouldn't be a huge shock, I expected more from JMDP, who plays well on the fast hard court surfaces. I guess he hasn't figured out how to play on grass yet. Also going out early are:

• Russian #14 seed Marat Safin, who is making his final Wimbledon appearance this year after he lost to American qualifier Jesse Levine
• #9 JWT (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), who lost to Croatian ace machine Ivo Karlovic
• #10 Gonzo (Fernando Gonzales), who lost to another former #1, pre-Federer, Juan Carlos Ferrero (or as I'd like to call him: Juanqui) (Great result for JCF, who has fallen even further in the rankings than Hewitt)
  
• #12 Nikolay Davydenko, who lost to big-hitting Czech Tomas Berdych, in a not-so-huge-upset.
• Croat youngster Marin Cilic lost in an epic match (10-8 in the fifth set) to Tommy Haas, but I was expecting Tommy to get to the semifinals here, so I wasn't that surprised of the result even if Cilic, at #11, was the higher ranked player.
  

A few years ago, it would've been easy to predict that most of the upsets would come from the men's side, because the higher-ranked ladies would usually just breeze through the first few rounds without breaking a sweat... But that's not the case anymore. Whether it's because the depth of competition among the women has improved or because the top women are just much more vulnerable to playing badly these days is hard to say (I'd say it's a mixture of both...) If anything, at least the upsets make the women's draw a bit more unpredictable.

The big upsets on the women's side are the losses of French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and former #1 Jelena Jankovic. Sveta Kuz lost in straight sets to 19 year-old German Sabine Lisicki, who is ranked #41, while the Serbian JJ lost to 17 year-old American Melanie Oudin. Oudin is currently ranked 124, so she had to go through the qualifying stage before getting into the main draw. She won 3 matches in the qualies, and 2 more matches in the main draw before beating JJ, so this has been a great tournament for her.

Other players who lost early were:

• #7 Vera Zvonareva, who had to pull out because of an injury
  
• #12 and former finalist Marion Bartoli of France
• #14 and recent French Open semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia
• #15 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who lost to former #1 and 2006 Wimbledon Champion Amelie Mauresmo, in a slight upset
• and #16 and last year's surprise semifinalist Jie Zheng of China, who lost to my awesome girlfriend Daniela Hantuchova. Daniela is back in the 4th round of Wimbledon after she defeated her doubles partner Ai Sugiyama last Friday. Woohoo! She'll be facing #2 Serena Williams in the round of 16. That's gonna be a tough match for sure.
  
• Maria Sharapova, seeded #24 here thanks to the Wimbledon seeding committee's power to give out random seedings to players they like, lost to unseeded Gisela Dulko (who's actually ranked higher than her.) Shazza was seeded by the Wimbledon powers that be despite being ranking #60, having played only 2 tournaments this year because of a shoulder injury, and having not gone past the 4th round of Wimbledon in the past two years. Yup, I'm pretty sure looks counted in the "formula" for figuring out the player seeding.

Can't wait for the second week action to start!



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Now playing: Bjork - Human Behavior
via FoxyTunes

The Big W

Wimbledon is on the TV right now... (at last, a Grand Slam tournament that my cable provider covers!)

Earlier, I caught the the Roger Federer-Yen Hsun Lu 1st round match, and Fed played a good match there, showing some flashes of genius especially in the 3rd set. Rafael Nadal isn't defending his title here because of an injury (tendinitis on both his knees), but just because Rafa's not playing this year doesn't mean it's gonna be smooth sailing for Roger. The main contender (in fact, the only main contender) to Roger winning his 6th Wimbledon and a 15th Grand Slam title is local hope Andy Murray. After winning his first grass court title at The Queen's Club last week, Murray has Britain all hyped up, as he might finally end the drought of British champions in Wimbledon since Fred Perry last won in 1936.

I think the final will be between Murray and Federer, and while I want Federer to win #15 in two weeks' time, I wouldn't mind seeing Murray win against Federer, as long as he challenges Fed the way Rafa did in last year's epic final.

On the women's side, Venus and Serena are the obvious choices for the final, since every other top player is either coming from injury (Sharapova), or are having trouble finding their form (the Serbians), or are just generally chokers (the rest of the Russians.) On the other hand, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka are two young players who could sneak through the semis. I've been waiting for these two to have their Grand Slam breakthroughs first at the Aussie Open last January, and at the French Open earlier this month, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe they're just waiting for Wimbledon to come around, nothing like making the big splash at the most prestigious tournament in tennis after all.

Caroline just won her first grass court title over the weekend, and she has won Wimbledon before (albeit as a junior), so she know her way around the grass. Vika on the other hand, essentially has the same power game as Sharapova, and that power game is bound to bring her success on the grass, just like it has for Masha. Unless she goes the way of Nicole Vaidisova...

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I just came back from Gumaca over the weekend, to attend my grandmother's (on my mother's side) funeral. She suffered a mild stroke a week before, then suffered another one last Friday. The second stroke took her. Before going to Gumaca, I have to admit that I was feeling really numb. I wasn't sure how to react, so I started writing a blog post (that I won't be publishing), about the sad things that happen in life, and how I generally deal with them. I just had such a hard time articulating how I felt at that time, and I thought writing about it would calm me down and help me understand what was going on.

Once we got to Gumaca however, I started to feel much better. There's just something about being in my hometown that grounds me. And when we got to my grandparents' barrio, the mood at the wake was actually very good. The whole family was in good spirits, and my aunt was even telling us some funny things that happened while they were at the hospital, in between the days of my grandmother's two strokes. That's when I realized the wake was there to celebrate my grandmother's well-lived life. And in a way, it made accepting the facts easier.

Side note: One thing that bothered me though, was the gambling that was going on at the wake. I guess gambling is traditionally part of wakes especially in the province, but man... when I die, I DO NOT WANT PEOPLE GAMBLING at my funeral. I guess that would be one of my dying wishes (also: no cheesy dramatic ballads on the procession to my final resting place.)


Our Inay was 83, lived a very humble life, and I'm nothing but proud to be one of her many grandchildren.


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Now playing: Dave Matthews Band - The Space Between
via FoxyTunes

Ang Kambing

a.k.a. The GOAT

a.k.a.: The Greatest Of All Time.

There's nothing more awesome than watching Roger Federer play tennis. I'm a Federer fanatic (yes, a Fedtard), obviously, and it isn't just because of how many grand slams he's won (a record 14, in all 4 grand slams events), or how long he has stayed at the #1 ranking (that would be 237 consecutive weeks, another record by the way). It's about how great this man is at playing the sport. From the booming aces and forehand winners, to the deft volleys and smooth drop shots (and those half-volleys and no-backswing groundstrokes from the baseline that only he can do), to his footwork and fitness... He has also played and won without the help of a coach for most of his career, which speaks volumes about how sharp his thinking game is.

Roger Federer is simply the most talented man to have ever played the sport.

Winning the French Open meant that Roger Federer is now undeniably part of that ultra-exclusive group of Greatest Tennis Player Ever candidates, together with Rod Laver and Pete Sampras on the men's side.

Laver, of course represents the old school. He won THE grand slam (all four grand slam events in the same year) twice, first in 1962 when grand slams were still an amatuer-only affair, and again in 1969, in the Open era, when pros were allowed to play in Grand Slams, ushering in the fame and multi-million prize money era of tennis.

Pete on the other hand represents the school of quantity (not that he lacks quality.) He won 14 grand slams (the record recently tied by Federer) which includes seven Wimbledons, but no French Opens. Pete also ended as the year-end world #1 six consecutive years, a record on the men's tour, and kept a winning record against his rival Andre Agassi.

Roger is probably a hybrid of the two: employing a great mixture of the old school game filled with fluidity and finesse, and the all-out aggression and power game of the more recent breed of champions. At his peak, he absolutely dominated the sport, holding a 92% match win percentage from 2004-2007. With the barrage of much younger competitors like Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, 27 year-old Federer has ceased to be the sole dominant force, but he has still managed to stay at the top-most level, winning 2 of the last 4 grand slams (and making the finals of the other 2.)

It feels fitting for Roger to claim his piece of history at the French Open: the very tournament that has eluded him so many times, at the exact venue that wounded his champion stature exactly a year before. But now it's no longer elusive, and no matter what happens, he will never again be a wounded champion.

Congrats on the career grand slam Roger! (And good luck at Wimbledon! Let's go for Grand Slam #15!)












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Now playing: Wolfgang - Matter of Time
via FoxyTunes

Before it starts...

I realized that I never got to blog about Soderling's super-sized upset over Rafa last week... So before the French Open men's final starts, let me just summarize my initial reactions (via facebook, twitter, tennis forums, and YM) right after Nadal lost that 4th round match:

Fuck! Nadal LOST???

Alvin: i'm still in shock
Alvin: biggest shock since justine lost to bartoli
Alvin: but this was insane haha
Alvin: soderling isn't even a clay courter

That was a huge upset! I'm a bit speechless.

HOLY SHIT! NADAL IS OUT???!?!!?? CRAZY. (And I really am screaming at my laptop right now)

insane, right?

OMFG

Wooooaah! Is Rafa really out?!?? Shit shit SHIT... don't fuck this up Roger!!!

And let me just add my facebook status right now: Be the Legend, Federer!


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Now playing: The Libertines - Narcissist
via FoxyTunes

Svetlana is Not a One-Slam Wonder. (Anymore.)

I just finished watching the Roland Garros women's final, where #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova convincingly defeated #1 Dinara Safina to win her second Grand Slam title, adding to the US Open title she won as a teenager back in 2004.

Svetlana kisses her trophy after easily winning the champhionship match, 6-4, 6-2.

I think a lot of people were expecting Dinara to win her first grand slam title today, since she's been the most dominant player on clay this year, riding a 16-match win streak after getting victories at big tournaments in Rome and Madrid (beating Kuznetsova in Rome.) She did finish runner-up to Kuzy in Stuttgart though, but that the first tournament in the European clay season. Dinara also won her first four matches at the French Open in devastating form: 6-0, 6-0 in the 1st round, 6-1, 6-1 in the 2nd, 6-2, 6-0 in the 3rd, and 6-1, 6-0 in the 4th.

But in today's final, she played like shit. I was expecting a tight 3-setter from the two fo them, but Dinara just came up short, which was too bad, and just reinforces the stigma that she can't handle the big match pressure. She was making too many errors and wasn't really controlling the points. She also had this scared/nervous look on her face all throughout the match which was a pretty clear signal that she wasn't gonna be able to pull this one out. And just like Ronnie, I knew she'd hit a double fault in match point.

Hats off to Svetlana though, she just didn't allow Dinara to play her game at all. She hit with loads of power from both wings, and her some of the forehands she hit were just sweet. And I loved it when she started bouncing a tennis ball on her foot towards the end of the second set, like she wasn't feeling any pressure at all.

Congratulations Kuzy! You are no longer a one-slam wonder.

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Now playing: Garbage - A Stroke of Luck
via FoxyTunes

10th out of 17241

For posterity's sake, just in case my ranking drops like a rock in the next few rounds. :D


I joined the ATP World Tour Draw Challenge for Roland Garros (fancy name for the French Open). It's sort of a fantasy league contest and it goes like this: before the tournament begins, you predict which players will win their first round matches and proceed to the 2nd round, where you again predict which players will win those matches and go on to the next round and the next round and the next round... until you pick who wins in the final match. You get points for each correct prediction you make, and if you get the most points at the end of the tournament, you win... something. (The grand prize is a 4-night trip for 2 to London to watch the ATP World Tour Finals, and it goes to the highest total scorer in 12 major ATP tournaments that the contest covers... although after reading the terms and conditions, I'm apparently not eligible to win the prize because I live in the Philippines. BOOOOOOOO!)

Anyway, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to sustain my top ten ranking. But seeing that I won't get a chance to win prizes anyway, I'm not sure why I should care.

I wish the WTA Tour would have something like this too. It'd be interesting, with all the inconsistent results from the top players, choke jobs from the youngsters and the head cases... And it'll give me 1 more reason to shout "C'mon Caroline Wozniacki!"



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Now playing: Biffy Clyro - Machines
via FoxyTunes

Action on the Red Clay

I've been meaning to post about Roger's win last week but never found the time, so let me just sneak in a hearty WOOOOHOOOOO!

Federer won his first title of the year last week by beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets, on clay, in Madrid. I literally woohoo'ed at my laptop screen right after Roger served an ace on match point, because I didn't expect him to actually win over Rafa that day (Roger played a "tired" Rafa at the Aussie Open and still lost, and I still remember that Italian Open final a few years ago when Roger had several match points and lost all of them while Rafa converted on his very first match point to win 7-6 in the fifth set), so suffice it to say, I was holding off my cheers until Roger actually won the final point.

Having said that, I still think Rafa is going to win the French Open. He's never lost a match at the red clay courts of Roland Garros, so despite that loss in Madrid (a high-altitude city which played to Fed's advantage), it's crazy to bet against the greatest claycourt player of all time.

Rafa's main challenge will come from Roger (obviously) and #4 Novak Djokovic. Fotunately for Rafa, those two could face/eliminate each other in the semis. Despite Andy Murray's recent climb to the #3 ranking over Novak, clay isn't his thing. He can beat Rafa on hardcourts, but on clay, he's got a long way to go. As for the French Brigade, clay isn't JWT's best surface, Gilles Simon is on a slump, and I want to say this is Reeshard Gasquet's year, but he went the Hingis route and is currently unable to play after returning a positive drug test for cocaine... so maybe in 2 years?

Anyway, this is once again Rafa's title to lose.

The women's side is much more open. Defending Champ Ana Ivanovic hasn't played well since winning the title last year and ascending to the #1 ranking. She has since fallen to #8 and has been nursing a knee injury just a few weeks before the French Open. Fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic also has lost the form that took her to the #1 ranking. New #1 Dinara Safina is probably the best bet, she won the 2 big clay tournaments before the French Open, and it doesn't look like her status as the new #1 isn't daunting her the way it scared Ana.

On the other hand, getting daunted or scared has never been a factor for Serena Williams. It's her health that's been her downfall. She's been injured since losing the final in Miami to 19 year-old Victoria Azarenka, and has lost 4 consecutive matches coming into the French Open (all on clay.) Serena's older sis Venus is a wild card, since her clay court results have been pretty inconsistent. Besides Dinara, Russia has two more strong contenders for the title: Svetlana Kuznetsova and (my facebook friend) Elena Dementieva, who have both finished as runner-up at the French Open a few years ago. They've both got great baseline games which serves them well on this surface, but the problem lies more on their (lack of) belief that they can actually win it all. Seeing that there really isn't a Henin-like dominant player this year, this could be their big chance (Go Elena!)

As for the youngsters, French Alize Cornet, Pole Agnieszka Radwanska and Slovak Dominika Cibulkova all had good years last year, but they haven't had that much great results this year. Meanwhile, Azarenka and fellow teen Caroline Wozniacki have broken through with some big results, and both are now in the top 10. I'm personally rooting for Caroline to get to the quarterfinals, at least.

So as I said, the women's draw is a lot more open than Rafa's draw... But I think at the end of the tournament, Dinara will walk away with her first Grand Slam title along with her #1 ranking. And I'll finally stop calling her Lil Sis and start calling Marat Big Bro.

Roland Garros 2009 started today and ends June 7.

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Now playing: Arctic Monkeys - Stickin To The Floor
via FoxyTunes

Timmy is a Communist!

Two nice videos I found while loitering around the world wide sapot. (That's what I've been doing while I'm stuck at my house.)

Twitter in Real Life

Watch Real Life Twitter on CollegeHumor

Facebook Manners and You


Oh, I wish I had embarrassing photos of people I hated... And I guess twitter (or plurking) rule #1 should be: if it's too embarrassing to recite to random people in the streets, don't tweet it (or don't post it as a facebook status update.)


Edited to add:

This has got to be the funniest shit on this cheeseballfest of a tv show. Scream On! Scream On! Screeeeaaaam On!

WAHAHAHAHA


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Now playing: Modest Mouse - Karma's Payment
via FoxyTunes

I Am now The Jack Bauer Power Hour

So yesterday was an awful day to have a birthday... After getting an allergic reaction to the pain killers, I went back to the hospital to get treated. I went to the ER where they gave me two shots (on my arm and on the vein in my hand.) After getting the shots, I fell asleep for a bit till the doctor woke me up and signed my release form, along with the advice that I can't eat seafood, chicken, dairy products, and chocolates. I also can't drink soda AND BEER for 1 week. dammit.

Good thing my mom cooked spaghetti and adobo and my dad grilled some ribs. My favorite comfort food. ;-)

--------------------------

Another set of (former) office friends got engaged last weekend. Congratulations Camille and Marlon! I smell a Baguio wedding! :D

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So the good news (about me, of course...) is my eyes aren't swollen anymore, and even if the pain killers made my eyes swell, it actually worked because I got to sleep without being woken up by the pain from me rubbing into the rashes. AND I get to work from home until I'm not contagious anymore.

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Finally, in honor of my 24th birthday, I'm changing my byline from:
Random Spittings of a frustrated musician/writer/tennis player who has yet to meet his quarter-life crisis (or if he has, then this frustrated musician/writer/tennis player has a terribly short life.)

to:
Random Spittings of a frustrated musician/writer/tennis player who has yet to meet a quarter-life crisis he didn't vaguely blog about.

(It's the truth!)

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Now playing: Portishead - We Carry On
via FoxyTunes

Happy fucking birthday.

Just a short summary of how my day has gone so far:

I woke up at 4 am because I was feeling pain from the rashes from my shingles. I had a hard time going back to sleep after that. Went to the doctor after having lunch (spaghetti that my mom cooked, since she knows that's my favorite) to get my shingles checked and got prescribed an anti-viral drug and pain killers by the doctor.

So I took the pain killers because the rashes (which weren't really rashes anymore but were blisters on my upper back and chest) were really painful... And it turned out that I'm allergic to the pain killers, so now my right eye and eyelids are swollen, just like what happens when I take aspirin and ibuprofen..

And the day isn't even close to ending yet.

Happy fucking birthday.

Some Tennis News

Some tennis news catch-ups:

After breaking into the top 10 a few months ago, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and wins the biggest tournament of her career by beating world no. 1 Serena Williams at the SonyEricsson Open in Miami.

After announcing that they're having a baby this summer, Roger Federer and his longtime girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec got married last week in Switzerland, just before Fed flew in to Monaco for the Monte Carlo Masters.

Even before that, Roger did this:

Awesome or what?

And apparently, Andy Roddick has also gotten married to his fiancee, swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker.

Even more bad news for Serena, she will lose her top ranking to Dinara Safina by next week, after Serena lost in the first round in Marbella, Spain and pulling out of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. Dinara will head into the clay court season as the #1 player in the world while attempting to win her first Grand Slam title on her favorite surface and prove that she deserves the top ranking as much as Jelena Jankovic did last year. Dinara and her older brother Marat Safin will also be the first brother-sister players to ever be ranked #1 in the world. Marat held the #1 ranking before the Federer era.

The French Open starts in a little over a month.



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Now playing: Duffy - Mercy (Live On The Live Lounge)
via FoxyTunes

Boom De Ya Da!

It kinda makes you want to... break into song?

I love the limestone cliffs,


I love the big lagoons,


I love the scenic sights,


I love this kick-ass crew*,

*plus Tim who was taking the picture

I love Coron, in all its greatness.
Boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da!

I love the blue sea,


I love the fine white sand,


I love the sunset,


I love the wildlife!


I love Coron, and all it's awesomeness!
Boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da!!!



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More pics here:
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/57/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_1
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/58/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_2
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/59/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_3
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/61/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_4
and check out ceravi, miabaybeh, randmcnally and firithduialion39 on multiply for more pics.

Previously on Anatasia Pavlyuchenkova just rolls...

So Federer once again loses to Murray... Right now, Fed is looking like the number 3 player in the world (and no, Djokovic isn't the #2.) The young guns (and his age?) are catching up on him, I guess.

After beating Fed, Andy Murray then lost easily to Rafael Nadal in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. This win shows that that Aussie Open isn't a one time thing, and that the US Open isn't far off from Rafa's reach. Rafa has really honed up his hardcourt game.

At this rate, Wimbledon is looking to be really interesting. Rafa will be the defending champ for the first time, Murray will get a high seeding and will be expected to make at least the semifinals, and thus will have to deal with even more pressure from the Brits than Tim Henman ever had to on his best years, and Fed will try to win his 14th Grand Slam title to tie Pete's record. Really interesting. (Of course, I'm expecting that Rafa will simply sweep the whole clay season and the French Open, so there's really nothing to analyze there.)

And I was wrong about AP (Anya? Nastya? Pavy? Pavlyuchenki?), she lost to Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. AI then lost to Vera Zvonareva also in straight sets, who won her biggest tournament yet. Vera has been on a great winning run the past 6 months. It's so strange, considering that she was usually the butt of many jokes because she used to cry on court, IN THE MIDDLE OF A MATCH, when she starts losing.

Up next is the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. My picks to win? Serena and Rafa.

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Mahirap ang maghintay sa wala. Pero mas mahirap ang mataimtim na paghihintay para sa isang bagay na hindi naman pala para sa iyo. Ganito siguro ang sasabihin ni Andres Bonifacio kung emo sya.



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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - Somewhat Damaged
via FoxyTunes

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Just Rolls Off Your Tounge, Doesn't It?

Most people who enjoy riding thrill rides do it not only because they want to enjoy feeling of the fall and the rush of adrenaline up their spines, but also because they know that despite the danger it presents, they'll land safely after the ride.

Too bad that's not something I can use to describe how the global economic situation is affecting our company. It's not thrilling, nor is it exciting. It's not even pleasant. Just dizzying.

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On a less depressing, more tennis-related matter, the US spring harcourt season has started in Indian Wells, California with the BNP Paribas Open. It's one of the 3 big tournaments of the first quarter of the year (the others being January's Australian Open and next week's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami), and it's been a really interesting tournament so far.

On the men's side, #2 Roger Federer (who's gonna be a new dad soon) has advanced to the semis after beating Verdasco in the quarters and will be facing #4 Andy Murray. On the other half of the draw, #1 Rafael Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic are on track to meet in the semis. Rafa survived 5 match points against David Nalbandian before eventually winning in 3 sets. (Rafa has never beaten Daveed before this match.) He'll next beat face JMDP. Djokovic defeated Roger's Olympic doubles partner Stan the Man Wawrinka in 2 tie-breakers and will next face American Andy Roddick.

On the women's side, there have been lots of upsets, and the final 4 standing are:
Victoria Azarenka, (8) def. Dinara Safina, (1), 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-3
Vera Zvonareva, (4) def. Caroline Wozniacki, (9), 6-4, 6-2
Ana Ivanovic, (5) def. Sybille Bammer, (23) walkover
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, def. Agnieszka Radwanska, (7) 7-6 (10-8), 6-4

Vika has been blazing her way in the rankings lately, and she'll most probably enter the top 10 for the first time after this tournament. She also prevented Lil Sis Dinara from becoming the new #1 in the women's draw (With Serena's absence from this tournament, Dinara could've been #1 had she reached the finals.)

The big surprise of the tournament though, is AP (because her name is not only long, but also complicated to type), who has already beaten #3 Jelena Jankovic in the earlier rounds. She got her second top 10 scalp in Aga Rad, and I think she could take her third by beating defending champ AI in the semis. AP is a talented, 17 year old blonde Russian. I don't think she'll go on to be as commercially popular as Anna K and Masha, but a successful tennis career? Looks promising.

All I can say is good luck on handling the financial crisis, AP.

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Now playing: Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
via FoxyTunes

Trip of the Month

This month's awesome trip was brought to us by...







Singapore! (and KL)







Before I rave about the trip, let me just say:

1. See that small blue thing on the lower left part of the pic, about half an inch away from One Fullerton? That's supposed to be the Merlion, but it got struck by lightning the week before, so it's all shy and covered up now.
2. Singaporean taxi drivers must've sucked all the awesomeness from Malaysian taxi drivers. Because Malaysian taxi drivers? Not awesome.
3. I should've used Tricia's classic line about hostels on my travel-mates. No illusions of grandeur when you're paying 20 SGD a night on hostels! Lol. (Fernloft FTW!)
   
4. Singapore Zoo was really nice, but we got rained out, so we didn't get to walk around as much as we wanted. Boo!
5. Sentosa is a bit expensive, and for such a huge island, there aren't that many things to do there...
   

Now for the raving...

Well... Singapore was nice and all. It's orderly, mostly efficient, modern and has all the trappings of a big city without all the hassle. I'm not exactly jumping out of my seat here, but that's not really a criticism on SG. I just like my cities to be rugged, chaotic and falling over itself with life and adventure, and I like my countries to be filled with scenery and beaches and nature.

At least that's what I use as a reason on why I'm not uploading a resume on monster.sg yet.

Clark Quay and the Marina area is pretty nice. And I got to try the G-Max reverse bungee with Mike. It's hella expensive (and Mike didn't want to treat me for the giant swing ride, so we didn't do that), but really, really, really, fun. Definitely a highlight of the trip (for me at least, everyone else didn't want to try it for their own reasons...)

The other highlight of the trip is of course, the company I applied for was with. My HK (now HK/SG) travel friends were fun as always (only Primo and Mats weren't able to come. Mats was supposed to be with us, but didn't realize that his passport was expiring in less than 6 months, or that you're supposed to have a passport that won't be expiring within 6 months to be able to enter another country...) Where next peeps? And it was also nice seeing former officemates Karon, Mike (who left for a quick Manila trip on the same weekend we were there...), Ben, Jyue, and Malvin, and college friend and loyal merienda buddy Del, who are all now based in Singapore earning lots of money.

On the 3rd day of our trip, we took a quick side trip to Kuala Lumpur, which is a 5-hour bus ride from SG (and what a cool bus! We rode a 20-seater double-decker bus, fully reclineable seats with individual monitors for movies.) Our main objective was to get to Petronas and go up the skybridge. We got there by 4, had breakfast at McDonald's, and headed straight to the Petronas Towers lobby to line up for tickets to the skybridge. It's my second time in KL, and the Petronas Towers is as awesome as I remembered it. Malaysian taxi drivers flat out suck though.

Taking it all in, Singapore (and KL) was really nice. But now I can't wait for Coron next month!



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Now playing: Modest Mouse - Paper Thin Walls
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Cam Sur WIN!

I wrote 5 notes on Facebook today. I feel so accomplished!

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Also, that Cam Sur trip was AWESOME times 1,000!

The 1 hour van ride, then 2 hour boat ride, then finally the 20 minute jeepney ride to Caramoan was arduous, but definitely worth it, especially when your boatman takes you on an island like this:


Caramoan is on the Eastern tip of Luzon, in the province of Cam Sur. It's definitely, definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. I'd say it's sort of like El Nido, only a lot less expensive. We got to visit a total of 8 islands, had 4 full meals, and stay for 2 nights at an Inn in town, and it was all for just around 1,500php.

(side note: two Survivor franchises were shooting there at the moment, and we got to go to two islands where they had obstacle courses and a dozen tall platforms for what looked like endurance challenge set up. We played around on them and it was fun, too.)

CWC was also loads of fun. I was fairly successful on the knee board, but I tried to ski and wiped out after a second on the water. I can't wait to try it again anyway.

I'll post more pics on my multiply site.


Update: Pics are now up over here ->
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/50/Caramoan_Day_1
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/51/AWE._SOME._Caramoan_Day_2
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/52/Survivor_Caramoan
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/53/CWC_Feb_23-24_09

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Now playing: Amanda Palmer - Oasis
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...the right combination of brains, brawns, and teamwork

The 14th season of TAR starts tomorrow! Woohoooooo!



It includes Asian siblings who both have Harvard law degrees, 30/40-something flight attendants, stuntmen brothers, sisters/athletes, another mom and son team (but the twist here is the son is completely deaf since birth), former NFL cheerleaders (one of them is also a former police officer), a former drug addict and alcoholic and his wife, a formerly in the closet father (who's now come out as gay) and his son (School of Rock screenwriter Mike White... Ned Schneebly!), a blue collar married couple, and the requisite bickering/dating couples.

Here are the intro videos of the teams.

Based on initial impressions, I think I'll be rooting for Team Motherboy, since they're obviously the underdogs here, and the Asian siblings, who look really strong on paper (although they also look like a combination of last season's Nick & Starr and Terence & Sarah, which might get annoying.) The 3 all-female teams also look stronger than the pretty blondes in pink that TAR usually casts.


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Now playing: Joss Stone - Under Pressure
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Baseline Hotness

And in other news, Daniela, Makiri and Tatiana (no, not that Tatiana) are featured in this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.



They've got a nice video too. Daniela is just awesome, Maria looks great on the video (that Russian accent when she introduces herself? ) and at least Tatiana's doing something while she's recovering from her injuries...



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Now playing: Adam Monroe - Convince You
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<3

Because I want you to be happy this Valentine's day:

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Now playing: The Shins - Caring Is Creepy
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Best Music Of The Year, Question Mark.

So the Grammy Awards will be handing out its awards later today, and here's my take on some of the categories (actually, these are the categories I've managed to find out of google that interested me.)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Raising Sand
Coldplay, Viva La Vida
Ne-Yo, Year Of The Gentleman
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
Radiohead, In Rainbows

I only have In Rainbows and Viva La Vida, and between the two, I think I like Viva La Vida more, but I prefer Radiohead's discography in general, and they haven't won this award yet, and I think it's time they should.

SONG OF THE YEAR
"American Boy," William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle Featuring Kanye West, artist)
"Chasing Pavements," Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele, artist)
"I'm Yours," Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz, artist)
"Love Song," Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles, artist)
"Viva La Vida," Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay, artist)

This is actually a very solid list of nominees, unlike previous years where some songs just make you go WTF?! That said, I want Adele to win this. She is awesome.

RECORD OF THE YEAR
Adele, "Chasing Pavements"
Coldplay, "Viva La Vida"
Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"
M.I.A., "Paper Planes"
Robert Plant and Alison Kraus, "Please Read The Letter"

Even though Viva La Vida has that catchy chorus, I actually prefer Violet Hill. So go Adele again. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if Plant and Kraus turn out to be the Grammy equivalent of Oscar-bait epic dramas?)

BEST ROCK ALBUM
Coldplay, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Kid Rock, Rock N Roll Jesus
Kings Of Leon, Only By The Night
Metallica, Death Magnetic
Raconteurs, Consolers Of The Lonely

I love the new KOL album, but it looks like this category is Coldplay all the way.

BEST ROCK SONG
Bruce Springsteen, "Girls In Their Summer Clothes"
Radiohead, "House Of Cards"
Death Cab For Cutie, "I Will Possess Your Heart"
Kings Of Leon, "Sex On Fire"
Coldplay, "Violet Hill"

I'd be happy if any of the four bands take this.

BEST POP PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
Adele, "Chasing Pavements"
Sara Bareilles, "Love Song"
Duffy, "Mercy"
Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"
Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl"
Pink, "So What"

Adele, Duffy (even though there are more songs on Duffy's Rockferry album that are better than Mercy, imo) or Sara Bareilles would be a satsifying win. Please don't let Katy Perry's gimmick to stardom win an award.

BEST ALTERNATIVE ALBUM
Beck, Modern Guilt
Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple
My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
Radiohead, In Rainbows

In Rainbows! Woohoo!

BEST NEW ARTIST
Adele
Duffy
The Jonas Brothers
Lady Antebellum
Jazmine Sullivan

If Adele or Duffy lose to The Jonas Brothers, I'm going on a tween murder spree. Like, srsly!

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Now playing: Adele - Chasing Pavements
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Gods and Forehands

Wow. Just wow.

That was a highly entertaining final match, but the trophy presentation? With Federer crying? And Rafa saying sorry and telling Roger that he'll get Sampras' record eventually? If I was Barney Stinson, I would've come up with a hundred ways to say legendary already. The match didn't reach the tension and drama of their Wimbledon '08 final, but those two speeches from two of the greatest players of all time made up for it.

So, in summary, Serena Williams wins her 10th Grand Slam over Dinara Safina (easily) and regains the #1 ranking, the Williams sisters beat Daniela and Ai for the women's doubles title, the Bryan brothers win the men's doubles, Indians Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi win the mixed doubles, a Filipino wins a Grand Slam title for the very first time, Rafael Nadal wins his first hardcourt Grand Slam title, and GodFed cries.

And I still haven't recovered from it.



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Now playing: Arctic Monkeys - if you were there, beware
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