After a combined total of 33 hours on the road (which involved using no roads whatsoever), I have finally reached Paris, in time for my, err, title defence of the BC World Championship Crown. Of course, now minus my sidekick Avataar who is busy sweating it out to make the Commonwealth Games facilities get up to scratch. No problem, my challenge this time should be stronger with a younger, err, partner in the form of Thom_bad ...... wakakakaka. But first, the journey. It all started at 2:00 pm on 25 August (Paris Time) at the KLIA LCC Terminal. The first leg was a short hop to Changi International Airport Singapore. All went well, other than the fact that by taking an evening flight, my breaking of fast was delayed almost an hour. Had a 4 hour layover time in Changi, which is always fine when the Emirates Lounge is available. Spent my time eating free food and seeing one after another of the Malaysian challenges bite the dust in the round of 32 on the livescore. Also got to see some good matches courtesy of totalsporttv. Pics here: The first leg - KL to Changi Banking over Singapore Airspace Nice moonlit night at final approach Welcome to Singapore - for 4 hours visit anyway The Emirates Lounge, where you get pampered by Stewardesses
The Flight to Europe The flight to Dubai took off in the early hours of 26 August local time (7 pm, 25 August Paris Time). This was probably the most enjoyable leg of the flight, because I was very well fed. Very important considering that I will have to undergo an unprecedented 20 hours of fasting from 1 am to 9 pm (Paris Time). In fact the crew of stewardesses tended to wake me up often to ask if I need more ...... must be my legendary prowess in, err, collecting Skywards frequent flyer pts. The only think I didn't like about the flight was that during the Colombo stopover, we needed to stay seated for 75 minutes doing nothing while other passengers disembarked. Boring ....... Then, it was time to observe a monument of gigantic proportions. Yup the mere size of the A380's wings is enough to drawf other aircraft, B747 included. This was to be my flight to Heathrow London. My flight to Dubai Nice scene at dawn in Arabian airspace Welcome to Dubai - was only there for an hour The huge wings of the A380, outside and inside Over the mountains of Europe The A380's huge flaps in action at Heathrow
On Rail to Paris Finally, it was time to stop contributing to air pollutants, and move to a more environmentally viable reason for transport. Since BC World Champions are neither recognized nor funded by their respective country associations, I took the cheapest option to London St Pancras Station, by legally going Underground. The Piccadilly Line took just over an hour to reach the Station. I did spend a good 3 hours in St Pancras, time well spent on stocking up food items, purchase of T+ Metro Tickets from English-speaking Eurostar staff (although they are more expensive than in Paris), and some souvenirs to support London 2012 Olympics. Maybe I could be a BC Olympic Champion one day ...... The Eurostar trip was uneventful, in fact downright bland. I fell asleep for most of the journey. From Paris Nord Station, armed with the T+ Metro ticket, I easily found my way to Metro Line 4 to Porte D'Orleans, and reached my, ahem, training base at 11 pm on the 26th. Total travel time was just over 33 hours. Welcome to Britain - Terminal 3 Heathrow Going Underground to Escape Paying Too Much The Facade of St Pancras International Station The Adjoining Kings Cross Underground Station The Giant Clock of St Pancras London 2012 Souvenir Shop BC World Champion Training Base - quite a few BC Forummers stay here
Will update on the q-finals and semis action later. Now there is an urgent need, to go sightseeing and then off to the stadium.
cool...thanks for sharing, Abang Din! 33 hrs combined travel time just to watch the last 4 days of competition?..and before traveling back home with the same amt of time??..truly dedicated!.. btw, why not travel straight to Paris instead of embarking in London and then taking a train to Paris??..
You should have. Your big bazooka would have come in handy to take close ups of the action. Anyway, here's next year's date for you. August 8-14 at the new Wembley Arena, London. The 2011 WC organizers have come up with a catchy phrase "Prepare Yourselves". So I suggest you take their advice and make travel and leave plans now. Hmm, didn't I mention that BC World Champions are neither recognized nor sponsored by the respective associations? I always aim to spend the least amount of moolah in badminton travels. George, you are really "getting old" and forgetful. I travel to Europe at least 3 times a year, mostly company funded, of course. This is already my fourth trip and I have 2 more to go.
Quarter Finals Day ...... ...... started with Thom_bad going out of his way to offer his, ahem, services as interpreter, tour guide and "sparring partner" to me. We met at my hotel at 8:30 am, and proceeded for a quick tour of the Montparnasse and Luxembourg Gardens. Pictures at Luxembourg Gardens, Thom_bad is shown in the first picture, white shirt with back to camera. From Montparnasse, we went back to Porte d'Orleans and travelled on the tram to the Seine Riverbank at Pont Du Garigliano. With a bit of time, we decided to walk the 2 kms to the Stadium instead of taking the bus. The tram that took us to the bank of the Seine Porte De Saint-Cloud, where the Stadium is located nearby Views of the Seine The Eiffel Tower could be clearly seen from here
The Stadium ...... ..... is as compact as Stadiums go. Compared against Gachibowli Stadium, it has been compressed by a good 25 per cent while still keeping to similar max numbers of spectators. But unlike Gachibowli, Stade Pierre de Coubertin does not have it's own external compound that could be used to house sales booths, canteens etc. Everything has to fit into the tight crevice. Parking is at a premium. Pictures Outside The Stadium: VIP Parking Lot Kerbside, only for Service Vehicles The reason why you get to enjoy those live broadcast streamings, backed up by 2 X 400 KVA power Yonex and BWF's top posterboy, Malaysia's mentally-challenged hero Officials and Media Entrance Players Entrance Spectators Entrance We did get to briefly meet Tarek (syaoran_style) and exchanged some news before proceeding to the stadium for quarterfinals action.
More on the Stadium Such compactness extends not only to the stadium, but also to the roads leading to it. Organizers had to use minivans as official transportation as they are more efficient at unloading human cargo fast. Some players and official opted to walk if they stayed nearby. On semifinals day, I passed Zhang Jun, Zhang Ning and Zhong Bo on their way to coach their charges to a high successful semifinals campaign. As for the ticket booth, there is only one booth in operation, which resulted in traffic jams among crowds wanting to purchase at last minute. This is just the excuse needed for ticket touts to start operations there. Official BWF Transport Ticket Booth - One one of 'em Crowds inside and outside the stadium LCD screens showing the state of the draw for all disciplines Extremely crowded Yonex booth, had to position the camera high just to take this One of two snacking booths, luckily I don't need 'em during fasting month One of two official souvenir shops - where I bought my BC World Championships title defense shirt Prepare Yourselves - if you don't want to miss the next World Championships in London!
For the Malaysian Fans - Before the MD Finals This is especially for the Malaysian fans. Just to let them know that a lot of effort had been expended, and that whatever the result of the final, the MD players deserve commendation. Especially Tan Boon Heong. Almost got himself injured in the quarterfinals, fortunately Coach Pang told me that it was only a muscle strain.
The Finals Day ..... ..... was finally when I got to link up with fastdrop. Thom_bad, fastdrop and I had a mini BC picture taking together with help from one of the officials on duty. Maybe Thom_bad would post it to this forum soon. It was a very pleasant atmosphere although people were jostling to get the best view. Supporters from Indonesia and Malaysia, with additional assistance from the majority of the crowd in general, did a huge battle against the substantial Chinese cheering squad (probably around 15-20 per cent of the crowd). During the last match of the day, the Mexican wave made its presence felt in the packed arena. But as fate would have it, the crowd battle was the only battle that we won, as China deservingly wrests all 5 titles for only the second time since Beijing 1987. And as fate would duplicate too, the tightest challenge came from the Malaysian MD duo, just like Razif/Jalani Sidek 23 years ago. But having said that, Malaysians and Indonesians can be proud of the efforts of their finals representatives. Not many are willing to predict that these players would even reach the final based on the past year's overall performances. Gillian Clark and Ian Wright's commentary position, above and to the left of the BWF Logo. And hey, look! They have a fan to cover their backs. And the Band played on. This is the press area, hidden among the crowd sections. And yes, they have fans to cool off too. Such crowd intensity, just look at the pics!! The Indonesian section of the crowd The Chinese sections of the crowd, sorry about the dark pics - no flash photography
I didn't take so many pics of the action, what with the limitations of a non-bazooka activated equipment. But here are some of the more memorable pictures of the day. What they were fighting for, to reach the highest step of this podium No prizes for guessing who is the happiest winner of the lot! The most graceful winner of them all, compensates somewhat for lack of cuties ...... wakakakaka.
Thanks for sharing the "side news" + photos... Hope U enjoy ur trip there.... may be next time bring a DSLR camera... that may helps, hopefully cheers...
