A Shock in Paris

Serena Williams, the favourite to lift the women's singles title at Roland Garros has crashed out in the third round!!!

I mentioned in my previous post that the women's draw was unpredictable, but i never thought there would be such a shock...

Serena was defeated by lower ranked Katarina Srebotnik, leaving the women's draw wider than before... Oh, and even her sister Venus Williams is out! Just not the day for the American women...

Based on this weeks performance, Serbian Ana Ivanovic is most probably next in line as the new favourite... Maria Sharapova continues to struggle on clay while Jelena Jankovic hasn't been convincing as well... I have a feeling more upsets will be on their way...

Whatever happens, Roland Garros will be crowning a first time champion here, as Serena Williams was the sole previous champion in this year's draw...

Will it be a repeat of the 2008 Australian Open final where No.1 Maria meets N0.2 Ana???

Only time will tell... =)

My 50th

don't get the wrong idea, i'm not turning fifty... i'm referring that this is my 50th post!!!

to be honest, i'm amazed i could keep this up for so long... this effort is clearly better than my previous take at blogging... i'm using this as sort of a journal so there's a lot of random stuff... thanks for visiting =)

anyway, this morning was my very first driving lesson!

i know, there has been such a long delay n i'm starting so late... but i'm just glad that things are rolling now...

but the instructor was late.... not 5 minutes but 15 minutes late!!! talk about a bad first impression.......

the lesson was OK, the instructor was a nice young man, n he was patient... i thought i did OK, but in my mind i knew that the instructor would think that i'm such a sloth....

coz i was goin quite slow, and i was maneuvering clumsily like a cow...

but hey, this is a first attempt so what do u expect? as usual, i'm gonna put my full effort into it, and i will make it work the next time! Coz i simply hate to put up a poor display...

A Must Watch

Yesterday after all the sports, i went for a movie with my sis, alvin & gerard...

We all saw the trailer some time ago when we watched 'Slit Mouthed Woman' n we instantly knew that this was gonna be a scary show worth watching....

and boy were we right...

'The Orphanage', a Spanish horror movie is in fact the scariest horror film i have watched in a while but it's not just about scaring the audience... i actually really like the storyline and how everything was filmed...

It is exciting from start to end... But the plot is slightly confusing as it doesn't state out everything clearly so u really have to pay attention and analyse it after the show...

Fantastic indeed! Even if ur not into ghost shows, i would recommend watching it just becoz it is a well produced movie... touching at times... and the suspense had me covering my eyes most of the time...

It is by far the best movie i have watched in 2008... Need i say more? You do not want to miss this one...

Be prepared though...

Cramping Leg

yesterday Jit Teng, Yu Xuan & I went for another one of our workouts but this time we went to try out the facilities at Casa Tropicana, where my family owns an unoccupied unit...

i played tennis with them, which is a first, and it actually didn't go as bad as i thought it would be...oh, but playing under the HOT afternoon sun wasn't so great...

we then went swimming, again under the sun... this was my first time trying out the pool there and the water was a little bit too shallow... 1.0m only.. children friendly i guess...

we then had lunch nearby and resumed with badminton... this was when i felt my left calf stiffening... but i still played... and then came the cramps... probably due to the fact that i have not swam in ages & also of cool weather coz it was raining...

overall, i quite like the facilities at the Casa, it's well equipped and done with a very homey feel... probably becoz of the warm light brown colour that they use for the buildings.. i just love their tennis court... the surface is pretty new as not many residents use it...

good for me hehehehehe... =)

Happy Birthday!!!

Kylie Ann Minogue turns 40 on May 28th, 2008... N i must say she still looks amazing, proving that age is just a number...

Kylie is currently on tour, and i sincerely wish her a very warm & joyful birthday... May she be blessed with good health and happiness for many many years to come... =)

Roland-Garros is here!

finally, the second tennis Grand Slam event of the year is here!

after missing out on the Australian Open in January becoz of NS, there's no way i'm gonna miss this year's French Open....i will try to watch as many matches as possible...

personally, Wimbledon is my favourite Slam coz i like the tradition, the grass courts, the all white dress code...

but there's something unique about the French Open as well...

Speaking of tennis, i had a good game yesterday.... (Thank God it wasn't raining!!!) I played a Singles set & 2 Doubles set... We played until 10.30pm, n after about 3 hours of play i was suffering from hunger & a sore left shoulder which was already bugging me since the day before after i stretched it in a badminton game...

Under normal circumstances i would have chose not to play n let my shoulder heal first to prevent further injury... But becoz of the rainin season, i haven't played tennis for more than a week, n was just itching to go n hit some balls...


luckily i feel good today after a good night's sleep... n if the weather permits, i will be back on a tennis court soon...


OK, back to the French Open, today is already Day 2.... lots of great matches coming up... So excited! This year, Rafael Nadal looks set to win his fourth consecutive French title, but may face a challenge from Novak Djokovic in the semi finals & Roger Federer in the finals...


The women's draw is said by many to be wide open after the shock retirement of World No.1 Justine Henin from the WTA tour.... Now, the new favourite in my opinion is Serena Williams... but she too faces a stern test in the form of the Serbian players, Ana Ivanovic & Jelena Jankovic which she could meet in the quarter final & semi final stages respectively.... Maria Sharapova, the new world No.1 has the benefit of being in the other half of the draw & her biggest threat comes in the form of Svetlana Kuznetsova...

No doubt the women's draw will be more unpredictable coz a number of players have a equal chance to win the French....we will just have to watch how the cards unfold day by day... =)

some pics on Day1:

Serena Williams' power game

Novak Djokovic streeeeeetches to return shots

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

oh no! the raining season is back to haunt us all.... we all love a little rain to beat the heat, but consistent rainfall in almost every evening are really the most frustrating thing!!!

if u are desperate for some outdoor sports u will know what i mean!

hope this video will lift things up a bit...

M&M: music+movies

MUSIC

David Cook has won American Idol!!! It's unbelievable... especially it being a landslide victory.... he beat David Archuleta by 12 million votes! I'm glad he won, he was my favourite for many weeks...this is the first time a Rocker won the title, so it's pretty refreshing... =)

MOVIES

Haha... I seem to be on some kind of a streak this year, i watched a lot of movies already since coming back from NS...i mean it's a lot for me considering i have not watched many movies for the past 2 years... i realised i had no life during Form 4&5, simply becoz i was too tied up with responsibilities...

-

Hehe so this year i'm back for revenge... So far, i have watched 7 movies i think from March to May, and i intend to make it more!

Here's a list:

1. I Am Legend

2. 10,000 B.C.

3. The Forbidden Kingdom

4. Ironman

5. Slit Mouthed Woman

6. The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian

7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

So far, the best movie i have watched in 2008 is Indy 4... i didn't thought i would like it, but the plot keeps u excited coz u won't know what to expect until the very last moment...

OK, other movies i want to watch this year include Superhero Movie, The Orphanage, Kung Fu Panda, The Happening, The Incredible Hulk, Hancock, The Dark Knight (Batman), and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor....

So if u want to support my goal, ur more than welcomed to watch a movie with me... Just give me a call... =)