Hey everyone. Just wanna see a few different views on this topic. As a few of you who have seen me on here would know, im fully back into badminton and going for nationals and international competition eventually. By the end of the year i should be in good fitness and back to Open grade level. My close friend who i train with, and his family are from taiwan and are traveling there at the end of the year for a regular family holiday. I'm considering going with them. if i take a month off work i can spend every couple of days training/playing aswell as get plenty of sightseeing and culture experience done. The other option is going with another friend to Hong Kong. Similiar experience except this friend is mildly into badminton and nowhere near as strong as the taiwanese friend of mine. Id presume hong kongs training would be better or stronger, but i think taiwan seems like a cooler country lol. What do you guys reccomend. Keeping in mind im better friends with the taiwanese guy and hes more into badminton and much stronger than the HK guy.
Let's review your options: A) Taiwan, good friend with family, friend good at badminton. B) Hong Kong, ok friend with family (I assume), friend so-so at badminton. Things to consider (in no particular order of importance): 1) Language barrier. If you do not speak the language, you will most likely need your friend to go with you. In which case option (A) is probably better since he will also likely want to train more. 2) Family. If both of them are going back with (or to see) family, then they may not have too much time to help you find a good club or take you sight-seeing. This also relates to the first point about language. 3) Place to stay. Are you thinking about crashing with your friend or will you be staying at a hotel? If it is the former case, the better friend (A) may be a safer bet. 4) Level of ability. How good are your? How much do you wish to train? Do you really believe that you good enough such that there would be a lack of suitable training partners in Taiwan? 5) Sight-seeing. How much do you want to do? If you want to do quite a bit of picture taking, I would suggest Hong Kong (B); but I know many people may disagree. What you may want to do before deciding: I) Ask both of them if they can consider letting you sleep on a couch or something. II) Ask both of them if they can ask around for close-by badminton clubs in Taiwan and Hong Kong. III) Ask both of them how much they are committed to family related event, and if they would consider badminton training with you. In all honesty, you know your friends and the situation better than we do. So in the end, the decision is up to you. I would suggest a third option of maybe taking time off work and just train seriously at your local club.
Yeh i will comfortably make my own decision im purely looking for some insight and to see peoples different opinions. Thanks for your advice though
Just my 3 sens.. ...look around & you'll see more BCers from HK. Not too sure about which one has a "better/stronger training". If in case your buddy won't have time to accompany you to go to places, maybe one of the local HK BCers might help you out. Or you can create your own inquiry thread or find a similar thread, in the Places to Play/Local Events-> China/Hong Kong and/or Taiwan sub-forums, and see how many responses you'll get.. As for sightseeing, personally, i would prefer HK. The night-life is just.......................................................(i'll let you check it out, if you decide to go there)..And if you do stop by HK, swing by Macau, even for an overnight stay and enjoy some of their local delicacies & culture.. *Concur with hhwoot in language being a factor. But i would imagine both places should have people who can converse in English.. How about splitting time in both places?? 2 weeks in Taiwan & 2 weeks in HK??..
hmmmm interesting thought....at this stage im leaning more to taiwan purely because im really close with my friend from there....the language isnt really a problem lol il be with my friend the whole time so he can just do all the talking. im used to everyone around me speaking chinese lol all my baddy friends just speak in chinese and then english to me.
LOL....... taiwan isn't much cooler as u think. if u want a holiday or fun trip, could go with your friend to taiwan and sneak in baddy whenever possible. as you r closer with him, he can prolly show u around more. english is more commonly used in HK tho, and there seems to be more badminton facilities, places to play, buy badminton equipment etc. from what i heard from frends. HK is also smaller, hence seems easier to get around. where in taiwan would you be staying? if your taiwan frend is over for family holiday, might not get much time play? also doesn't really matter which frend is 'stronger', its important which 'locals' are stronger, coz you'd want to be playing with locals to improve, as you've played with these friends for so long. just my thoughts
hahahah brad! i found you again =P go to HK! i went to taiwan last xmas hols and it wasn't... that... great. lol >< sry taiwanese ppl! i'm from Brisbane, Australia and i think we're a hole! worse than taiwan so hopefully you guys won't hate me now haha.... im going to HK at the end of the year... you could come with me! besides, alvin might be spending alota time with his family whereas i'll be there for abt 2 weeks without parents so i'm planning to play some badminton/ train/ whateverrrrr. i'll ask rainbow for some good places to train or something =P
HK FTW. =] stop slacking off at work! but then again... i should be doing my assignment =[ and my back hurts ggrrr.... thank god ben told me that i had bad posture for baddy coz now i know why i have lower back pain! sigh x1000. im worried about U19s now =/
youl be fine! just get some rest. Im having knee pain every so often whilst playing so im gonna have to talk to wes or jobett for some advice lol and sort myself out. Hmmm i might still be leaning to taiwan cause tony said if hes going he'll club with me heaps and show me a good time
