Hey there. Just in case you're under the impression that I'm gripped by some sudden spasm of literary madness let me make clear that the last entry wasn't typed by my hands. Nuff' said. Now that thats been mentioned let me move on to the entry.

I had the privilege of being at the indoor stadium yesterday to watch the Aviva Open. (my uncle managed to get me season tickets) If you play badminton, thought about playing badminton or have otherwise simply just touched someone elses badminton racket before you would have been blown away by the standard of badminton being displayed. You don't even have to understand the game I think, to appreciate the atheleticism that goes into every shot, every deliberate flick of the wrist and every lunge for the shuttle. I was really kept of the edge of my seat throughout the whole five hours of the tournament yesterday (ok, with the exception of ronald susilo's match, which I didn't bother to follow because it was clear he wasn't bothering to play well either. I instead went to shake Peter Gade's hand and tell him that I thought the Singapore line judges were all blind monkeys)

As a badminton enthusiast I was taken in by the atmosphere just upon entering the indoor stadium. Kendrick Lee was walking around the Yonex shop half heartedly looking through the numerous badminton shirts on display. I considered going up to him and saying, "well done in beating the world number 3 man" but I was afraid I had recognised him wrongly because I wasn't sure too sure if he was kendrick lee at all (eh, badminton stars aren't really celebrities you know). I mean, it would really suck if he happened to be chen jin, the world number 3 who had just been outed. But just as I turned to walk away 2 girls squealed, "kendrick kendrick!!" and proceeded to take photos. Soon he was swarmed by girls asking for photos and autographs. So much for not being celebrities.

I think theres no real need to describe the matches in detail but just trust me when I say that the Peter Gade, Chen Yu match alone was worth the ticket. Pity that Gade lost though. I think a combination of nerves, bad line calls and inhuman reflexes on the part of Chen Yu were just too much for him to overcome. But Gade is still, in my opinion, the epitome of deceptive badminton. I must admit I was disappointed also when Gunawan and Wijaya fell to the world number one's Fu and Cai. Another disappointment was when Susilo was taken to badminton school by the Thai Giant killer, the unseeded Boonsak Ponsana (the fella eliminated Lin Dan, the reigning king of singles badminton).

After badminton I went to meet Wai and Yin Har at the Crystal Jade La Mien Xiao Long Bao at Taka. We quickly went on to order quite abit cos we were all starving. 2 bowls of La Mien, 2 baskets of Xiao Long Bao (it is the best xiao long bao in singapore I kid you not) and this Pork Ribs with ginger thing. The food was really good and it didn't really burn a whole in the pocket. (the whole meal only came out to about 40 bucks) After that we made our way to clarke quay for some dessert at Riccioti! I've always wanted to wax lyrical about how orgamiscally good the desserts are there but yesterday the service was crap. So I shall refrain from commenting. Oh well. I can't wait for the finals of the Aviva Singapore Open tomorrow. Till the next post, ciao.