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CAN/US Open

Okay, sorry... but i'm gonna keep this short and quick!

Canada Open was a great success! The Richmond Oval was absolutely stunning to play in. Although people did complain it was hard to see, there was a draft, courts were hard... I thought it was a great arena to play in, who cares about the draft, and it's no different than clearone!! So overall, pretty good! I lost first round doubles to the 6th seeds from Austria, Jurgen Koch and Peter Zauner 23-21, 21-17. I played quite well but found a lot of places in which to improve on. Mixed, I made it past my first round but ended up head to head with Korea's Shin Baek Choel and Yoo Hyun Young. First game I got raped 21-11. This was my first mixed match playing at this level and I honestly played my mixed like I do doubles and hell, it DUSNT work!! So I changed it up, stopped competing my drives with Shin Baek Choel and man, did it make a difference! I still lost my 2nd game.. but it was much closer.. 22-20. My partner Xuelian(lydia) had a super clutch ace serve to tie it up at 19-20!!

Ooh yes.. I also strung 54 rackets for players that tournament!! Holy crap!! Chayut Triyachart broke 17 strings in total that tournament!!! Thank goodness there were others to help string!!

US Open was the week after. Took me over 13 hours from arriving at the airport in Vancouver to arriving at my hotel in LA. Yikes!! But still, a good $92 spent!

I got through the first rounds of mixed and doubles pretty easily. But now I had to play Ellis/Langridge from England in doubles and Schoettler/Marinello of Germany in Mixed. Mixed was played first.. I was pretty nervous cuz Marinello was in the Women's doubles final in Canada Open and I've seen Schoettler play doubles..

Anywhooo... i lost my first game against Schoettler and Marinello 21-14. Determined and taking my new found experience from the week before at Canada Open, I brought the match to 3 winning 21-15! The third game started with Lydia and I with a pretty big lead. I believe we were winning 17-13 yet I remember myself being pretty nervous!! I kept thinking "Shit!!! I have to get 4 more points cuz they can still catch up!!!!!" Well, lucky for me, they only got 1 more.. I won 14-21, 21-15, 21-14!! Yay!! Quarter Finals at a Grand Prix GOLD!!

Next was my doubles and my god i dun even want to talk about it... I played like crap. Maybe cuz I played a few hours later.. I was was pretty hungry... I dont know. No excuses.. I played like crap and didnt even get a chance to get into the game. If i played well and lost, then sure, I'd feel a bit better.. but I played like shit and got owned... FML... i lost 21-12, 21-16.. Uuuuughhh!!!

Quarter Finals... Mixed Doubles.. Lydia and I now played Hong Kong Open/Indo SS champions, Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba from Poland, the 1st seeds... also the #3 rank mixed pair in the world... Well, first game we were neck and neck.. We were biting their tail the whole match yet lost 21-17... I really thought we could have taken the first... 2nd game, they strategized a lot better. They kept Lydia at the back and our rotation was messed or even so, non-existent.. Lost 21-13 :(... At least now I know what we need to work on!!! Next time, I will do much better!

Mona-Vie Active

Well a good friend of mine gave me a bottle of this Mona-Vie Active to try! It's main ingredient is the new super fruit, the Acai Berry. I'm gonna give it a try and see how it goes! This juice, taken regularly, 60ml twice a day, is suppose to help increase vitality, better health, an overall sense of well being, and an improvement in joint health. Let's hope it works! I will update with results!

PS. Has anybody heard of Mona-Vie or this Acai Berry before?

Avocado Slush!

Did you know an avocado has more than twice the potassium than a banana??

If you ever wonder what else you can do with an avocado instead of putting it in a salad or making it into quacomole, then here's something new you can try!

Ingredients:

-1 avocado

-2 tblspns of sugar

-1/2 cup of milk

-5-6 cubes of ice

What to do:

1) Get a blender (I used my magic bullet) and crush up some ice.

2) Cut, pit, and peel the avocado and just break it apart into small chunks.

3) Add the chunks of avocado, milk, and sugar into the blender with the crush ice still inside and blend!

Now you can enjoy your avocado slush dessert!

A Successful Weekend for ClearOne at BC Closed

The past weekend Hollyburn Country Club hosted the 2010 BC Closed/Provincial Championships. Although the draw was small, there were still many tough and exciting games!

Friday: First tight match was between the first seed Richard Liang and Benny Lin. Richard won the first game 21-16 but Benny fought back with an amazing 21-11 win bringing it to 3 games! I couldn't watch the 3rd game because I had to play my match. Richard pulled through just enough to defeat Benny 26-24!

On the bottom half, second seed Tim Ma was to play club mate Kaz Tamasauskas. That match ended with Tim passing through to the semi-finals, 14-21, 21-19, 21-13.

Women's singles only had a draw of 7 contestants! Sarah Kong and Phyllis Chan played off against one another in the semi-finals. The first game was neck to neck until the end but Phyllis ended the game 21-19 with a net roll! Phyllis continued the next game with an easy 21-8 victory.

Being played on the other side of the gym was future superstar Christin Tsai against current superstar Anna Rice! Christin came out aggressive in the first game and was just enough to take it away from Anna, 23-21. Fortunately for Anna, experience and fitness came to play and Christin could not keep up with Grand Master Rice. Although almost every rally was intense, it was Anna who was winning each one. Anna defeated Christin 21-23, 21-13, 21-9. Good effort from Christin who never gave up and was even diving at the last rally!

Last on was men's semi-finals. I played Richard Liang and won in two sets, 21-16, 21-14. Having a pretty injured shoulder I knew I could not attack as much as I would want to but being confident with my own fitness, I was able to compensate with my speed and power of my footwork. I focused on keeping the bird in and over while pushing the speed of the game faster by just getting to each bird earlier.

On the bottom, Tim Ma played Jacky Tsao. I did not watch the first 2 games but did manage to watch the 3rd. Tim was up late in the 3rd but lost focus as Jacky came full force attacking every shot. As tired as Jacky was from playing Tim the runner, he didn't stop hitting those full smashes and rushing into the net. Too bad Tim was able to defend enough that Jacky started making too many unforced error due to his exhaustion. Tim ran his opponent down, 21-16, 18-21, 21-18.

Saturday: Men's doubles started off the day. Nothing really exciting.. sorry! Adrian and I played Nathan Choi and Kyle Holoboff in the semis. We pummelled the first game 21-8, but they came back fighting making it closer getting 10 more points than their first set. It was pretty tight throughout the whole 2nd set but Adrian and I were able to keep our mistakes low at the end claiming our spot in the finals.

Women's doubles.... ummm... hehehe.. I didnt watch women's doubles... Sorry!!

Mixed!! Kevin So and Rosalynn Chong pulled a huge upset defeating the 3/4 seed Jacky Tsao and Melody Liang. Kevin was hitting huge and moving well while Rosalynn was defending well and hitting some great set up shots! Jacky did not seem to know what he was doing and Melody was showing lots of frustration towards her partner! Good job So/Chong!

The other 3/4 seed, Tim Ma and Christin Tsai were eliminated in the next round by club mates Nathan Choi and Anna Rice. It was a quick win for Choi/Rice. 21-18, 21-14.

Kevin So and Rosalynn Chong does it again! Almost taking the match in 2 but did it in 3, defeating Kyle Holoboff and Alice Man, 21-18, 20-22, 21-12!! Now they were to play Phyllis and I!

Unfortunately Kevin and Ros could not keep their streak to continue. Phyllis and I claimed a smooth victory, 21-11, 21-12.

Last match of the day was Alvin Lau/Steph Ko against Nathan Choi/Anna Rice. With Choi/Rice unorthodox, almost women's doubles style of play, with all that clearing and dropping, Lau/Ko won in 3 sets, 21-16, 13-21, 21-12.

Sunday, the Finals!

First match: Mixed doubles, Alvin Lau/Steph Ko vs Myself/Phyllis Chan. Alvin and Steph started out playing well pushing themselves ahead by 11. Refocusing and changing my game plan, I knew that I either had to push a bit harder and to keep poking the bird down. I also had to be more aware of Steph's lefty forehand cut off which cost me a few points. Phyllis and I were able to come back narrowly capturing the first set, 24-22. Now with a plan that worked, I focused again on keeping my legs/feet moving pushing the pace a bit faster yet still keeping my game plan in tact! Phyllis and I won the Mixed Doubles Finals, 24-22, 21-14.

Second match: Women's Singles, Anna Rice vs Phyllis Chan. This was quite an exciting match to watch. Phyllis had quite a few around the hit cross court shot winners! I can definitely see she got that from her coach, Sandiarto! Yet Anna, the machine, was able to keep playing the game she's plays capturing the BC Closed Women's Singles title, 21-16, 21-18!

Third match: Men's Singles, Me again vs Tim Ma. Okay, this is the first time I have been in a Provincial Singles Final! Playing Tim multiple of times, we both knew what each other were capable of. I started off the game with a huge head start with a 7-1 lead, then got to interval winning 11-3. I won the first game 21-11. Second set I knew Tim would come back fighting harder. Staying focused I was able to keep doing what I was doing right in the first and took the Men's Singles title, 21-11, 21-16.

Fourth Match: Women's Doubles, Phyllis Chan/Steph Ko vs Melody Liang/Lydia Jiang. Phyllis and Steph won the first match 21-18! Melody was making most of the mistakes but woke up in the 2nd. Mel/Lydia started the 2nd game with a commanding lead!Phyllis/Steph tried to catch back up but was unable to do so. Mel/Lydia took the 2nd and 3rd game 21-16, 21-10.

Last Match: Men's Doubles, Me/Adrian Liu vs Tim Ma/Richard Liang. Adrian and I, 2 doubles players who train full times doubles against 2 singles players. There were some decent rallies but Adrian and I had a better attack, rotation, defense, drives and speed. We won 21-16, 21-10.

This is my first Open event in which I tripled crowned! So in the end, ClearOne had 4/5 1st place finishes (men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, mixed doubles)!!

Overall: BC Closed ran very smoothly. The tournament was not behind at all, rather it was ahead of schedule by at least 15 minutes. Consolations were played accordingly and did not interfere with the main matches which kept all players happy! One thing I liked about this tournament was the fact we had unlimited birds. Of course having unlimited birds, something from the budget would be sacrificed which would be the tournament t-shirt! I felt that having unlimited birds was much better than having another badminton tshirt in which I may never wear! It was also nice knowing you could go to a tournament without having to pull out your wallet again just to get another bird to play with! Hollyburn Country Club was a nice venue to play in. They recently redid their badminton courts and WOW, they are absolutely incredible. It is still a wood floor but the court seems to be of another material. You have to see it and play on it to know exactly what it's like! Other than that, the only thing that didn't work out too well was the amount of spectators watching the finals. I do believe there's really nothing that could have been done about that having the tournament at Hollyburn. I guess it was a little bit too far and the finals started a bit too early for people to come watch. I would also like to thank Arak Bhokanandh for putting his time and effort into organizing the tournament. Also thanks to the volunteers/ref/umpires! And I almost forgot... the BEST thing about this tournament... Cash Prize!!!

New job and means of transportation!

So I got interviewed yesterday to work at Posh Broadway! Got a call that same night and now I am gonna start training as a host on Monday night! Gonna work my ass off and climb the ladder to become a server or more! I'm excited to start working at my favourite restaurant to eat at!

I also started biking my way to ClearOne for training. It's quite the ride.. around 9km one way!! It takes me around 25 minutes biking there because it's all downhill on cambie street but it takes me an extra 10 minutes back cuz it's ALL UPHILL! So I biked there and back twice today cuz I like to come home to make a hot lunch and nap. It's great exercise! I can really feel my legs burn when I ride up for 10 minutes on Cambie St. It really sucked riding to ClearOne in the afternoon because it was pouring rain! My shorts was drenched completely through! Luckily I was smart and brought a change of clothes! Let's see how much money I can save a month by biking!

Black Knight's Badminton Knight Trainer Review

Here's my review on BK's Badminton Knight Trainer. For those who do not know what this is, it is a machine that shoots out birds. You can find videos on Youtube.com and also check out www.knighttrainer.com.

This review is from my point of view as an elite athlete.

Practicality Factor: This is by far the most unpractical machine ever. It takes too long to set up to get the exact shot you want. By the time you make the rows and place them in the tube, find a chair to climb up on to place the tube on the machine (if the machine is up high to simulate a drop/smash/clear), find an extension cord, find an outlet, find the right speed to shoot the bird, find the right delay/timing, find the right spot on the court, adjust the height so the bird flies exactly where it needs to go.... it's been 10 minutes!!

Price Factor: This machine KILLS feather birds! It destroys them. If you were to fill the tube up with new feather birds... be prepared to empty your wallets. It destroys the cork and chews up feathers. Also this machine costs $5,900 CAD! RIDICULOUS!

Fun Factor: The only thing fun about this machine is when you place the machine at the net, and have it shooting at max speed at the fastest timing and you try and defend every shot. Is this a good drill to do..? ummm.. no, not really... wall hitting beats this drill ANYDAY. Wall hitting would also only require 1 bird, not 50-60. Also picking up 1 bird and then hitting it back at the wall is a lot faster than picking up the birds u hit all over the place on the other side, picking up the birds u missed which are behind you, picking up all the birds that the machine shot into the net, making rows, taking the empty tube off, putting the birds into the machine, putting the tube back into the machine, and starting all over again.

Accuracy Factor: This machine is a piece of crap. It's not accurate like they say. It shoots high, it shoots low, it also flutters the bird making u lunge forward getting the bird, and by that time you hit the bird, it shoots the next one at your face. Very frustrating so I guess minus points on Fun Factor.

Another thing, the selling point of this machine is that you can practice by yourself. Why is that so many of the videos on youtube, there's people standing around watching or coaching? A lot of people do not realize the importance of FEEDING. Feeding is not only extremely beneficial to the feeder, but the worker gets to see the bird being hit by a racket each time. We absorb so much information with our eyes, why waste all that time watching a bird being shot out from a machine?

Also, it's really not that hard to find somebody to practice with. Having 1 person feed and 1 person work is much more fun. You get to interact with another human being and you can also get proper feedback. Having 2 people pick up birds and making rows is also much faster. You also go green by not wasting as many birds and electricity.

So out of 5 stars, I give this Black Knight Trainer 0.25/5.. Yes, you get a QUARTER of a star out of 5!! Why? Because Black Knight actually made something that can shoot a bird. Other than that, sorry.. it's garbage.

Rating: 0.25/5

Feathers under the machine

Check out the feathers. These birds were new. Used for 3 months with the machine but only used the machine 2-3 times a week.

I've seen new birds being fed everyday last at least 2 to 3 times longer and still have it's integrity.