I would suggest you to take Cathay Pacific from HK to LA (like I always do whenever I go back to Indo) so that you can play some games with us (Dan, Chris, everyone else) here at SGVBC. And you could take the Burbank Airport to go to SLC. How long will you be in the US?
Off topic... sorry folks, off topic here... Hmm, badMania, i don't know what is your exact schedule for your upcoming trip to the U.S., but if i were you, i will consider Gunawan's suggestion also. Here are your options: 1. IF you plan to go thru L.A, and your trip to SLC happens to be just during weekdays, then maybe you can catch an early flight back to L.A. on the Friday and spend the rest of the weekend here or if you want, spend 1 more week here in L.A. whilst going sightseeing before heading back to H.K. Perhaps the U.S. Open will be going on at the same time??.. And you can meet another BC member harimau, our resident OCBC fellow and meet Tony and Halim also..hehe 2. Another option is, if you want to arrive thru S.F., then i suggest you spend 2 weeks here in the U.S. So after the SLC trip, you can swing by L.A. and spend the weekend or so here with the SoCal BCers(for sightseeing also if you desire) and then fly back to S.F. to meet/spend some time with Kwun(and other BCers) and finish off the trip there (go sightseeing the rest of the week) before heading back to H.K. In any case, we'll be ready for your arrival here..Just let us know, ok??..
Thanks for the suggestion. I will be in the US for at least 1 week and at most 10 days. I guess LA is the more viable choice now
I am going to have 30 sticks when I go to Singapore at the end of the month. I like the pineapple in the peanut sauce.
Off topic.. Hmm, "10 days" meaning 10 working days or 10 total days(including weekend as well)??.. ..If it's 10 total days, including weekend, then might as well spend 2 weeks here in the U.S....Too awkward, IMO, if you decide to go *at most* 10 total days... And we'll let you know the schedule of the U.S. Open also, if it's going to be played in Oct., so you can plan ahead.. BTW, just a quickie info, flight time from L.A. to/from S.F. is about 1 hr. Flight time from L.A. to/from SLC is about +/-2 hrs. or so and there's a 1 hr time difference also.
I had the same ridiculous encounter! A more camera-literate usher came to me to 'inspect' my camera and was satisfied that it is not a 'professional' one although I had the 70-200 zoom lens (Nikon version). I told him it is not possible to take reasonable pictures from such a far distance with the ordinary wide-angle lens. Therefore the zoom lens is necessary. He agreed and was assured that I'm just an amateur with amateur equipment. But the days followed that I was told again and again that my camera is not allowed because it is 'professional' (optical illusion?) and I have to explain again and again that it is not and that my camera had been 'passed' for use from day one! I think next time, Kwun should make sure we get our 'pass' so that we can get right onto the courts and take very close-up pics! Maybe I should pass my camera to ants who has free access to the court area. He even 'coached' Saman in his game against Bao Chunlai!
Actually, we were all in a hurry and very hungry for the exciting matches that should follow after dinner. In fact, when we returned to the SIS, the matches had already started but thankfully, we didn't miss much! More pictures of the finals matches were posted in the following threads: "Singapore Open 2006 Final (seawell)" http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=33802&page=3 and "21 rally-point scoring system: Is it really better to Attack? (chris@ccc)" http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=33198&page=4 Will post more later.
Unfortunately didnt manage to meet alot of the guys during the open. Only the few that i've met EastDevil, kyiyu, loh and badMania over dinner at Lau Pa Sat. the rest like Netasia, storkbill etc.. didnt manage to meet them.
Easy Win for 'Scratch' Indonesian Pair in Final It must be a blessing in disguise for Flandy Limpele and Sigit Budiarto to part ways with their old parters, Eng Hian and Candra Wijaya respectively. For this 'new' veteran pair has swept aside all opposition to become the MD Champions of Aviva Open Singapore 2006! Some may say it is most unexpected, probably lucky for them to win, but whatever the case, they did and most convincingly. Thier victims were another unexpected Danish scratch duo of Lars Passke and Thomas Laybourn who managed only 8 and 16 points from their bruised and quick encounter in just 35 min. The exciting XD Final between eventual winners, compatriots Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir and their English counterparts, Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms, in contrast, took almost twice as long! Of the two, Sigit was decidedly the more adventurous but steadier partner. Maybe he had nothing to lose with no old baggage to weigh him down, so he enjoyed this laxity and threw all caution to the wind! Flandy had just to keep pace with him to elicit a thoroughly devastating victory. The Danish pair simply could not find an answer to their spontaneous, though unchoreographed moves. Bewilderment was all written on the Danish faces! Even the great Morten Frost sat still in front of all the Indonesian spectacle! Strangely enough, another scratch pair from Singapore, Hendry Kurniawan Saputra and his younger brother, Hendra Wijaya, had caused a lot of rippled excitement and confusion to their opponents when they appeared from nowhere to defeat the likes of Malaysia's Lee Wan Wah/Choong Tan Fook (21-12, 21-12 in 26 min), Indonesia's Hendra Setiawan/Markis Kido (21-16, 21-16 in 40 min) before losing to Laybourn/Passke in the QF in three games 21-13, 12-21, 21-23 in exactly one hour! So this Singapore Open has somewhat given supporters something to remember by despite the absence of some top players.
I also didn't have a chance to meet your Filipino friends like Glen or Patrick(?). Just managed to say a quick hello to Terry (KL) and another Thai BFer on my way out to join EastDevil and badMania for dinner at the Lau Pa Sat after the semi-finals. It was a rather rushed and absorbing outing for most. Fortunately we were rewarded with some very fine showing by the players! And the atmosphere at the SIS was as relaxing and as comfortable as before. The spectators behaved well although some might think they are too noisy with their balloon clappers. There were no unruly incidents and many seemed to enjoy themselves. I can't say much about the food provided by Cheers though. Limited variety, insufficient food on certain days, food too dry for my liking as there was no such thing as gravy or soup. Only one microwave oven to serve the entire SIS community. And there were insufficent tables and chairs as well although food can be brought to the seats, which I think is a good change. However the coffee tasted good but not the price at $1.20 versus 80 cents at the coffee shops - a 50% increase!
Loh, thanks for all the pics and your recap of your experiences-must be pretty awesome!...Yah, your description brought back memories from my attendance last yr, esp. the balloon clappers.. Abt the complaints on the food, i think SIS and Cheers signed a contract with the food vendors; wish if they'll allow food/drinks next yr or if not provide more food vendors.. BTW, do you know if this yr's attendance broke last yr's one??.. Anyways, hope i'll be able to go there next yr and join you guys..