wad an experience..
just came back from guangzhou from the 2008 world table tennis championships not too long ago..haha i must really thnk God tht i managed to go for this tournament, especially when im not a professional player and i havent been trng much in the recent months.. somehow makes me feel accomplished, and tht all my trngs and time spent has not gone to waste by being able to participate in the world champs.. well if u ask me, i wldnt give up a spot in this tournament for any other thing, and im really glad i was participating in this tournament, esp when the team was playing in the championship division, and despite numerous attempts by some pple in charge of me to make me lose my spot..was really an eye opener, in terms of experiencing things i dun get to experience and getting used to the fast pace of life of the competitors.
left for guangzhou on sat, the 23rd of feb, with xj paeyfern dr comectz and xiewei(professional photographer)..the rest of the team were alrdy in china for trng..haha took SQ which meant we had to go to terminal 3..T3 is not bad..the design and ambience is real good..
didnt take too long to reach there..the hotel was one of best few i've ever stayed in..there was a flat screen tv erm abt 40 inches in each room, in front of the beds, which meant we cld just lie back and watch, and there was internet excess which is normal lol and the international calls to singapore were free haha..wad a world class holiday for me lol..food was up to par also, wide variety of choices..spent alot of time eating haha..i think i put on a few kg after the trip..
shared a room with xiaoli, haha thnk God man coz xj had to room with zhangyong lol and xj always shared abt his experiences lol which included having to carry all zy's rubbish in his bag and having to endure the extremely high level of pollution, which made everything of xj's smell of smoke..
xiaoli is quite a nice guy, haha always have alot to talk and u'll never get bored haha..watched alot of tv together and xj wld always join us becoz no one in his right mind wld wanna endure the smoke there haha..so many things to do man, use the comp, watch tv lol until u wun even think abt sleeping..gao ning and yangzi are quite funny also haha..always like to joke with us..
so basically everyday after breakfast and lunch we wld make our way to the comp arena, the transport service is quite efficient i must say..a bus for each country/team and a shuttle bus tht always goes to and fro every 20 plus minutes..
trng hall not tht bad either, slightly bigger thn stta..the trng hall is two levels underground and the comp hall is on ground level..always haf to walk damn long to the trng hall lol..so basically xj and i wld just be watching them trn lol unless one of them asks us to trn..i tot i'd haf been the one doing their chores for them but it was much better thn i'd expected. probably coz xj had been with them before and he was the one carrying and operating the video cam etc, and secondly, coz the three guys are nice pple who wun order u arnd for the sake of it just becoz u are a reserve lol..
got to see alot of top players there, as well as the different playing styles..lol i think xj and i are the youngest players there, and also the lousiest lol..but without doubt, lol it didnt matter to us and im sure we both enjoyed ourselves and the experience we were offered..
for the championship division, before each match there wld be a marching in ceremony..haha always haf to march in formally and enter the comp arena..pocari sweat was one of the sponsors and we wld just grab a few pocari sweat and keep on drinking it..lol who wants to drink water when there is pocari haha..
after the match which wld usually be at 1pm, we wld go back to rest and we'd have to go back to the trng hall at night to trn lol..at night is our fun time haha..so basically tht wld be our daily routine, which is not very tedious for me lol.
well even though we didnt get to play, but it was still an experience for us, seeing all these world class players up close, being part of the team, seeing different pple from all walks of life arnd the world come together and compete.. got to know the rest of the team better after this trip..really enjoyed myself there..was a relaxing trip for me though..really miss tht trip lol..as good as a holiday haha.
yep so thnk God for watching over me and my team, and for giving me this once in a lifetime experience tht i wld probably never have again..a few pics will be up soon! God bless..