Philly wknd
wow, what a weekend! we left Friday around 11am (after picking up a salad from the hospital cafeteria--it's HUGE and you can put anything in it, i love it!), and didn't get to Philly til about 3:30pm. We took lotsa rest stops, weather was lovely so we could admire all the foilage. Got to our smelly hotel ("smoking room"), changed, and went to tourney. Friday was just singles, and i played this young girl in singles who trains crazy hard, but can't seem to win. she's excellent in warm-up and drills, and i kinda got scared watching her warm-up, but when i played her, i beat her in 14 min (she timed it). so that brought me to semifinals against my own doubles partner, mutsumi. although she only weighs 100#, she has great endurance and speed.
(a side note: mutsumi leads the life of most women's dreams. she doesn't work, her husband owns some restaurant and their family is crazy rich--she has 1 son, they own a 7 bedroom mansion and building another, and has 4 cars for 2 drivers. she spends her days at spas, massage/chiropractor centers, hanging out with other moms and friends, and she's travelled the world. she is sooooo lucky. very independent lady too.)
saturday was the most tiring day i've had in a long time, physically at least (hospital rotation is mentally draining). i ended up playing nine games, nearly non-stop, off only one 4" subway sandwich and 1 viactiv calcium chew (10am-10pm). i think i dropped 3# that day in water weight (all gained back, hehe). anyhow, i ended up getting 3rd place in A WD ($30), 1st place in B MX with radu's twin brother (see story below), and i beat my women's doubles partner in singles semifinals much easier than i expected (11-2, 11-8). i think she was suprised too. =) anyhow, let me tell you the story of my 2nd mixed doubles game with mike:
we were playing against this really strong indian man (covers the court like singles) and this crappy white girl (stands in the middle and doesn't move), and every shot mike hit was right at the guy. even though mike is twice as strong as big as me (he's 6'1 and 180), the indian man returned everything no problem. however, i placed my slow shots away from the man, and even though they are not as powerful as mike's, they were more effective and we won points with them. so i told mike, "please please please do NOT hit at the guy! can you smash cross court or at the girl?" and he responds, "no, i don't know how!" i was like, "what the heck?? what do you mean you don't know how??" anyhow, he insisted he can only smash right at the guy, so i told him to drop, and he said he'd try. so for the entire game, i ran like a chicken with my head cut off, backing him up on his shots. i was afraid we'd lose! finally we won in 3 long games, and our opponent's friend came up to us and said to mike, "you owe this little woman this game. she covered for you. you should be wearing the skirt on the court!" heehee, =P. mike was quite embarrassed and speechless, poor guy got his ego shot. anyhow, i had just about zero energy after that game, and thankfully mike improved his performance and our opponents were not as strong, as we ended up cruising all the way to win the finals. but boy, what a day!
sunday was nerve-wracking. for the first time in ages, i made it to A women's finals, and in SINGLES! my worst event! basically they play one final game at a time on center court, with bleachers all around for spectators. i was soooo nervous once i saw the set-up! radu played his men's singles finals first, and lost to a polish guy. =( then i played and got killed by the #2 ranking USA women, 1-11, 2-11. i wasn't too disappointed--i played ok, but i was slightly embarassed to lose so fast. but i got $80! so that's good. =)
after, i had promised jody, alice, and sharon to meet up with them in philly for some cheesesteak lunch, and even though it wasn't on our way home, radu and his bro agreed to drive me down there. however, we got lost, and it took us 1.5 hour to find a place 30 min away! finally we got there and had some yummy food, but everyone had plans so we had to cut our visit short. still, it was nice to see everyone! i hope to sightsee in philly again in the future.
(a side note: mutsumi leads the life of most women's dreams. she doesn't work, her husband owns some restaurant and their family is crazy rich--she has 1 son, they own a 7 bedroom mansion and building another, and has 4 cars for 2 drivers. she spends her days at spas, massage/chiropractor centers, hanging out with other moms and friends, and she's travelled the world. she is sooooo lucky. very independent lady too.)
saturday was the most tiring day i've had in a long time, physically at least (hospital rotation is mentally draining). i ended up playing nine games, nearly non-stop, off only one 4" subway sandwich and 1 viactiv calcium chew (10am-10pm). i think i dropped 3# that day in water weight (all gained back, hehe). anyhow, i ended up getting 3rd place in A WD ($30), 1st place in B MX with radu's twin brother (see story below), and i beat my women's doubles partner in singles semifinals much easier than i expected (11-2, 11-8). i think she was suprised too. =) anyhow, let me tell you the story of my 2nd mixed doubles game with mike:
we were playing against this really strong indian man (covers the court like singles) and this crappy white girl (stands in the middle and doesn't move), and every shot mike hit was right at the guy. even though mike is twice as strong as big as me (he's 6'1 and 180), the indian man returned everything no problem. however, i placed my slow shots away from the man, and even though they are not as powerful as mike's, they were more effective and we won points with them. so i told mike, "please please please do NOT hit at the guy! can you smash cross court or at the girl?" and he responds, "no, i don't know how!" i was like, "what the heck?? what do you mean you don't know how??" anyhow, he insisted he can only smash right at the guy, so i told him to drop, and he said he'd try. so for the entire game, i ran like a chicken with my head cut off, backing him up on his shots. i was afraid we'd lose! finally we won in 3 long games, and our opponent's friend came up to us and said to mike, "you owe this little woman this game. she covered for you. you should be wearing the skirt on the court!" heehee, =P. mike was quite embarrassed and speechless, poor guy got his ego shot. anyhow, i had just about zero energy after that game, and thankfully mike improved his performance and our opponents were not as strong, as we ended up cruising all the way to win the finals. but boy, what a day!
sunday was nerve-wracking. for the first time in ages, i made it to A women's finals, and in SINGLES! my worst event! basically they play one final game at a time on center court, with bleachers all around for spectators. i was soooo nervous once i saw the set-up! radu played his men's singles finals first, and lost to a polish guy. =( then i played and got killed by the #2 ranking USA women, 1-11, 2-11. i wasn't too disappointed--i played ok, but i was slightly embarassed to lose so fast. but i got $80! so that's good. =)
after, i had promised jody, alice, and sharon to meet up with them in philly for some cheesesteak lunch, and even though it wasn't on our way home, radu and his bro agreed to drive me down there. however, we got lost, and it took us 1.5 hour to find a place 30 min away! finally we got there and had some yummy food, but everyone had plans so we had to cut our visit short. still, it was nice to see everyone! i hope to sightsee in philly again in the future.
posted by CookieMonster28 at 6:45 PM
<< Home