Sharapova Live

The ardent fan of the girl in my blog's banner never thought his dream would come true someday, and somewhere in tiny Singapore either, but it did! Despite watching the the French Open live in Roland Garros in Paris, France in June 2006, where he caught other top female players like Hantuchova, Henin-Hardene (then), Clijsters, Vaidisova, and Kuznetsova, he never saw Sharapova after she got knocked out before reaching the semi-finals.

But now....now, he can check off one item in his Christmas wish-list with the exhibition match between current World No.5 and No.6 players Maria Sharapova and Anna Chadvetadze, and better than that, to be this

>---------------------------------------------------------------------------<

close to Maria when she walked by him to enter centre court (it was the only court). Being assigned the guy responsible for opening the wooden boards surrounding the court for the players to enter/exit gave him more than just a close-up of the action, it provided him that all-important opportunity to be mesmerized by the 1.88-tall player, model, and UN goodwill ambassador when she passed him by. While his professional duty disallowed his innate desire to whip out his camera and snap a quick picture of this tennis superstar, he did, in some other ways, sought help from others to attempt otherwise. Whilst the pictures didn't turn out very clear, the on-court experience was more than refreshing, it was overwhelming. Next time, rest-assured this die-hard fan will buy himself a $1800 Champions Club pass to get up close and personal with Maria Sharapova, armed with a DSLR camera in hand.

Match-wise, it was no surprise Sharapova took the first set without error, convincing the crowd of her prowess with a 6-0 win. Chadvetadze fought back in the second set with the crowd's support (as with the French Open and any other match, crowds tend to support the weaker opponent in the hope the match will not end too quickly), leading 5-2 at one point in time. But the world no. 5 was no letdown, bouncing back up to tie the set at 6-6, and taking it to a tiebreak. With her solid groundstrokes and precise shots both crosscourt and down-the-line, Sharapova would not be herself without her characteristic squeals and groans. While people did wish Chadvetadze would buck up further and take the match into the third set, Sharapova denied her and the crowd any more time and finally sealed her opponent's fate at 12-10.

Final score: 6-0, 7-6 (12-10).

No surprises, since the event was called "Sharapova Live" for good reason.

A Blessed Christmas to all!

On the eve of Christ's birth

You know the papers are right when they report on the good economy, that people are indeed spending more. It was only on the eve of Christmas that I had a half-day off, giving me the chance to send my camera in for repair at the Canon Service Centre in Harbourfront. When I walked over to Vivocity, it was like another Orchard Road where you could hardly walk more than 5 steps without pausing to let others move aside. Even with the intention of doing last minute shopping, I simply couldn't figure out what, and therefore didn't. After all, why succumb to the commercialisation and profiteering from materialistic goods when Christmas is all about welcoming Christ?

Do They Know It's Christmas?

It's that time of the year when heartwarming songs like these never fail to lift our spirits.

In case you didn't know it's Christmas already...

...go walk along Orchard Road on a weekday night and it'll show.

I know I haven't done a single bit of Christmas shopping (is there even a need to?) but why is the whole world out?! It's already that hard trying to walk through the crowd in the streets, much less inside the shopping centres.

Luckily when I met my friend for drinks at Indochine Wisma, we got a comfortable sofa seat facing the live band, Cats in the Cradle, who did a remarkable job with their repetoire of songs that night, including my dedication below.

In the name of motivation/consolation, I wrote my recently-detached-friend's name on that short note to the band, and requested for "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2, to which the lead singer looked in my direction replying, "Found already what..."

P/S: If you didn't understand the above, it still means I really still haven't found what I'm looking for you toot.