One unforgettable Sunday in Guangzhou...

Discussion in 'Japan Open / China Open 2006' started by badMania, Oct 23, 2006.

  1. badMania

    badMania Regular Member

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    Well....mostly badminton unrelated...just my adventure in Guangzhou yesterday with the INA coach and players. So, don't read this if you are not interested :p

    Yup...it was indeed an unforgettable day for me! Originally, I was planning not to go to GZ because I still have yet to recover from my jet-lag due to the recent trip to the US. Even on Friday, I was still not sure because I personally think that all INA players would have lost by then. Incredibly, two INA MD pairs progressed to the semi-final. So, I promised my friend that I will go either on Saturday night or Sunday early morning. I was still affected by the jet-lag on Saturday afternoon as I felt incredibly tired after work and decided to nap before watching the semi-finals live on my laptop, instead of going over to Shenzhen and watch there. Kido/Hendra ended up winning their match, so, I decided to go to GZ the next morning to watch my dream match: Kido/Hendra against the current World Champion Fu/Cai.

    I woke up at 7:30am, showered and packed up for GZ. I was out from my home at 8 and arrived in GZ almost 3 hrs later at 11am. My friend picked me up from GZ East Station and we went to an Indonesian restaurant (Pandan) for lunch. The food there was surprisingly good (no wonder my sis, who also used to stay in GZ, went to this restaurant very often). We ordered satay, rendang, and kangkung. The total bill was really cheap (probably even cheaper than JKT)...at RMB 71...a far cry from what I have to pay in HKG (usually 250 for 2 ppl) :eek:

    Home food was really good as I had not had any good meals since I came back from the States. So, with a bloated stomach, me and my friend marched towards TianHe Stadium, the venue of the Final. My friend managed to get a journalist pass for me, so, we managed to sit in the VIP section, just beside the CCTV commentators :D So, if anyone of u managed to hear any cheers or shoutings in Indo, it had to be me! I was cheering quite loudly, till all the Chinese fans in front of me looked a little annoyed, esp when Fu/Cai was losing :cool: Ko Herry IP (the men's doubles coach) also mentioned to me that even he could hear my cheers and shouts...geez.....I didn't know I had such a "powerful" cheer :eek:

    I was basically not paying that much attention to the first 4 finals, except maybe for Bao Chunlai vs Chen Hong (closing stage of the second set). All the other finals were finished in double quick time..which was good for me!! So, the main event finally came...the men's doubles final between Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun and Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan. I immediately sat straight and paid close attention to the match. Of course, I shouted and cheered every time the INA pair won a point (Loh will have known that since he sat beside me in the SIS..hehe...:D) Fu/Cai were finding it difficult to play their normal game and they were quickly behind 11-7 at the interval. The lead extended to 18-11 soon after as the INA pair really played well, forcing the Chinese pair to make lots of mistakes. Kido/Hendra wrapped the first set 21-16.

    The first stage of the second set was close...with both pairs exchanging services until it was 9-8 to Fu/Cai. Then, Kido/Hendra got 3 straight points to lead 11-9 at the interval. From then on, they totally controlled the game until it was 18-13. At this moment, Kido was faulted when it could well have been 19-13. Instead, it's now 18-14. The INA pair looked a little bit affected by the call and they lost another point to make it 18-15. However, they regained their composure and only allowed Fu/Cai to get another point. The score was also 21-16 in the second set. I was really excited and being the only one that was happy because of the result of the match made it even sweeter...hehe....all the other fans sitting in front and besides me were looking at me :eek:

    After the prize presentation, my friend brought me outside the player's changing rooms. We immediately met Kido and Hendra. So, I asked them whether it's okay to get a picture taken with them. They agreed but they need to change first. So, we waited for a while outside and we actually bumped into a number of players. My friend (a Chinese) wanted to take a pic with Chen Hong, but, to no avail :cool: Similarly, there were Bao Chunlai, Zhang Ning, Fu Haifeng, and Cai Yun. Bao and Fu/Cai were looking gloomy :cool: At the end, we only managed to get our photos taken with Kido/Hendra + Ko Herry IP.

    Later, I asked them what's their plan tonight? They said that they had nothing to do, so, I decided to take them out for a Shicuanese cuisine :D Me and my friend parted ways. He wanted to join us, but, he had to go back with his auntie to HKG at night. So, I ended up joining Kido/Hendra + Ko Herry in their bus, back to their hotel (the newly opened Ramada Hotel).

    Stay tuned if you want to find out more about what happened later on....:D
     
  2. newjazz

    newjazz Regular Member

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    quick quick.. tell us more :D

    also, don't forget to post the pix! ;)
     
  3. badMania

    badMania Regular Member

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    Here's the picture taken with Ko Herry IP and Kido/Hendra.
     

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  4. ants

    ants Regular Member

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    U cut ur hair? heheheh
     
  5. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    kido always look so serious
     
  6. virusvoodoo

    virusvoodoo Regular Member

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    Damn, I'm so jealous that you got to hang out with INA players!
     
  7. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    Nice little recap of your trip...

    ..badMania, nice little recap story of your trip there...sounds really fun!(sorry, rest of story snipped for brevity)..
    One funny thing i found whilst reading was when you mentioned that "Home food was really good as I had not had any good meals since I came back from the States"..Seriously, did you really have a good "home food cooking" while visiting the U.S.(must be in S.F. heh??)..Either the food really tasted different(in U.S. or Guangzhou) or you were very2 hungry..:confused: :rolleyes::p ;) :D And since you mentioned that, i wouldn't be surprised if there are also other delicious cuisines from S'pore or Malaysia or Thai around GZ?!?!.. ;):cool:
     
    #7 ctjcad, Oct 23, 2006
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2006
  8. badMania

    badMania Regular Member

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    On the contrary...I wasn't having good meals while I was in the US and subsequently after I came back to HKG (lost my apetite + jet lag) :mad: I had mostly express Chinese food while I was in SF (the Panda Express...hehe :D). While it tasted ok (nothing spectacular), it's nothing compared to food in either SG or Indo. I still remembered when I visited the Chinatown in SF, I had really awful food in one of the restaurant there!! I actually left before I finished the whole thing and paid $13!!

    That is why I said that nothing tasted better than "home food". The meal in GZ was the first meal in which I actually felt full and satisfied.
     
  9. tracyleesy

    tracyleesy Regular Member

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    Interesting sharing Bad Mania!! So, how's the story later on???? haha.....
     
  10. kemana

    kemana Regular Member

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    and hendra always looks so innocent and a bit lost,hahaha
     
  11. Only CW

    Only CW Regular Member

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    I envy you so much!! Why can you join them in their bus and back to their hotel?? I can't get close to them that night! I can only wave my hand to say goodbye outsaid the bus!:crying: I didn't have a chance to say "congratulations"!!:crying:

    Did you have a talk with Hendra?? It seems he isn't used to smile when facing the camera:rolleyes: ,cool....
     
  12. Only CW

    Only CW Regular Member

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    My friend and I did support Kido/Hendra, but I haven't noticed you a strong fan of them.:D if not, we could support them together! Yeah, we did look strange when giving applause to Kido/Hendra, nearly all the other fans supported chinese.:(
     
  13. Only CW

    Only CW Regular Member

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    Is Kido older than Hendra? :D When was Hendra born exactly?:p
    He is so cute...
     
  14. verinee@yey

    verinee@yey Regular Member

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    both of them are born in august 1984...kido is older than hendra by a few days
     
  15. manabu

    manabu Regular Member

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    Shicuanese cuisine? as in one of the cities in China where people eat mainly very hot and spicy hotpots?
     
  16. blessing

    blessing Regular Member

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    i rmb.. got 1 pair of ina players.. 1 of them representing US.. is dat them??? if yes y did dis hapepn??
     
  17. badMania

    badMania Regular Member

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    Oo...I didn't realise you and your friends were supporting the INA pair as well :eek:

    There was a fan who managed to get into the bus to get a signature...was that you :cool: ?
     
  18. badMania

    badMania Regular Member

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    Yup...these are their DOBs:
    Markis Kido 11/08/1984
    Hendra Setiawan 25/08/1984

    Kido is 2 weeks older than Hendra :D
     
  19. badMania

    badMania Regular Member

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    Hehe...I "forced" my way into the bus :p

    Yup, I was watching Man U vs Liverpool in Kido/Hendra's room. Luluk also came over to watch with us. In the other room, Alvent was alone, downloading some songs into his Nano.

    Later in the night, Taufik popped over to confirm with them on the schedule to Changsha on Monday morning.
     
  20. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    A bit off topic..

    ..i see, i see..:)
    ..yikes!!..:eek: .wow, sorry, didn't realize the taste was totally different than what you're used to(eventhough you ate @ 1 of SF's Chinatown's restaurant).:confused: :p .
    .Well, next time, when you visit U.S., swing by SoCal instead...Maybe the food'll taste "a bit better" here..hehe;):rolleyes: :p :) :D
     
    #20 ctjcad, Oct 24, 2006
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2006

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