Married Lives: A new project

V and I have started a new project called Married Lives. V will write in Chinese and in English (or so she says) and I will write mostly in English and some Portuguese.

It will talk about our lives... together... that's it.

An article I really liked on the Olympics

Three encounters that showed what the Games meant to China

It's over - final impressions and lessons-learnt

Well, the Olympics are over. Just wanted to share some final impressions and lessons learnt.

Final impressions

A great spectacle and fantastic way for China to "open" to the world. Many of the events produced amazing results (world records, olympic records), new heroes(e.g. Phelps) and quite some drama (e.g. Taekwondo's last day).

Most of the new stadiums, gymnasiums and locations were amazing: from the National Stadium (I still look at it in awe every time I go through the 4th Ring Road) to the Tennis Centre Court and many others.

So, what wasn't so good? Well, unfortunately the atmosphere wasn't so great. I think there were two reasons for this:
1) The lack of events outside close the locations (even in the Olympic Green, there wasn't much going on) and throughout the city. The limitations on company's activities and outdoor activities overall took a lot of the vibe that you typically get during these types of gatherings.
2) The lower number of foreigners versus other Olympics. There were few events where Chinese were not in majority and while this is not necessarily bad, it does diminish the impact of a truly multi-cultural event such as the Olympics.

I could call these the "Historical Games where China showed it is a super-power and the world welcomed it with open arms". Yet, ultimately the Games ended up being too orderly, sometimes close to being boring.

Although I enjoyed most of the events I went to and shouted like a mad man at a several of them, I would say that the Games were a bit disappointing, in particular because of the "too orderly" point I mentioned above.

Lessons-learnt

1) Buy less tickets: I had tickets to 21 sessions and I can assure that's way too much. Next time I will focus on 5 or 6 key sessions and that's it. The rest of the time I will try to go out and enjoy the city.

2) Focus on the "spectator-friendly and more exciting" Olympic events:
- Men's Basketball (quarter-finals and after);
- Women's Artistic Gymnastics (all-round individual or less ideal team or apparatus finals);
- Beach Volleyball (pretty much everything, but preference for men and after quarter-finals);
- Volleyball (women or men and either on preliminaries or semis and after), Table tennis (women or men and ideally finals - team or individual).

3) Do not go to certain events unless some dramatic happens to competitive landscape:
- Women's Basketball;
- Tennis - unless the atmosphere in London is very special and ATP finally gives the tournament a more tier-1 rating;
- Athletics - unless I get tickets right next to the track.

4) Only go if I have category A-equivalent tickets: unless the tickets are given to me for free, I would sincerely only go if I have the best type of seats. Even then, there is a chance your seat is crap, so why even play "russian roulette" going to category B or C.

5) Lower my expectations before the next Olympics: I acknowledge that my frustrations this time around were also strongly tied to my expectations about the Games. Next time I hope to have learnt my lesson.

Controversy and disgrace in Taekwondo heavyweight bouts

Well, what a day it was. Great bouts and fantastic Men's over 80 Kg final between Greece (the Goliath) and Korea (the David). David won, but there were some/one unhappy greek(s) that threw some bottles in and I am sure should have been detained by security, if security wasn't too shocked just looking at him and not doing anything.

Yet, I honestly don't think there was controversy here. There was somewhere else. The Chinese favorite in the Women's over 67 Kg who had seemingly won against a British contender in a quarter-final, lost after appeal from the British. There was booing afterwards - and not during the announcement since it was made in English - and half of the Chinese left the event.

The Chinese appealed on a quarter-final loss in the Men's competition to Cuba, one Angel Valodia Matos of whom we will speak much more below. The appeal was not upheld and that would be it, if the Chinese translator at the Stadium had not just told the audience about the appeal not being approved, having forgotten to also say what appeal it was about. The audience thought it was the British appeal on the Chinese Women's win and was over-joyed. Not so much overjoy, after the translator was forced by the officials to repeat the WHOLE announcement and not just the end.

The disgrace came in one of the Men's bronze medal matches between the aforementioned Cuban and Arman Chilmanov from Kazakhstan. The latter gentleman can only be considered lucky since he lost his only match of the day... the only one that finished that is, since he then won the Repechage with an injury from his opponent and then the Bronze medal with ... well, here we go: the Cuban got slightly injured on his foot while he was ahead on points. Apparently, and according to Taekwondo rules, he has 1 minute to be assisted (in this case inside the "ring"). When the 1 minute finished, the referee believed that he was not ready and decided to end the bout, which would obviously give the victory to the lucky opponent. The issue is that the Cuban was literally just getting ready so if at all beyond the 1 minute, it would have been literally by 1 second or so.

The Cuban and his coach started protesting straight away, and even before the bout had been called. What happened next can only be described as a very sad moment in these Olympics: the referee declares the bout finished and points to Chilmanov as the winner; Angel almost immediately kicks the referee in the face and although his coach tried to take him away (and only at that point tried to keep him away), tried kicking everyone around him; the judges came in and with a mysterious lack of security (I really don't know why there was so much in all the events, since when they were finally needed, nothing happened), Angel and his coach were taken from the "ring" side by WTF's secretary general - a gentleman, I may add, that was heroic enough to alone and just pointing his finger drive these two people (plus the Cuban "doctor) far from that ring (see picture); a GENTLEMAN that I have had the privilege of meeting in a flight to Seoul and who is unlucky for such unfortunate event but had thus the opportunity to show his strength of character.

The coach and the Cuban athlete waited in the sidelines for some time and delayed the programme. They finally left. Later in the evening, it was announced that it had been decided by the appropriate authorities, to ban this Cuban athlete and his coach for life from any WTF tournament or link. Furthermore, the athlete's records in the Olympics will be delete.

Although I believe the referee's decision was not correct, I absolutely agree with WTF's decision. Nobody can have these attitudes in any sporting event, let alone in the Olympics. The Cubans could have protested and even if they had lost, could have further appealed to higher instances. What they did - both the athlete and the coach - is not acceptable and was punished as all these behaviors should be.

All in all, a lot of drama, but also some great Taekwondo. V and I will be back.

Of Basketball and other things

Well, after watching the Men's Quarter-finals and today the Semi-finals, I can say I am impressed.

Men's Basketball has evolved significantly since I started watching in 86/88 and today there are strong teams all round: Spain, Lithuania and Argentina at the fore-front, but solid teams such as Greece and Australia, and future hopes such as China. I am also sure that Croatia will re-emerge, as well as Serbia and Russia.

Did I forget a team? Oh yes, the USA... In my opinion - a biased one I might add - they are still at a different level and when they brought a tremendous team to this event, people thought it was a done deal. Others reminded us of past failures, namely in 2004 and 2006 when they had also brought "great teams". None was truly right. We haven't seen the "destruction" that we saw in Barcelona '92 with the first (and for me still the only true one) dream team, but they have been dominant nonetheless.

However, the interesting aspect of their dominance has, in my opinion, not been their individual superiority (which they definitely have) but their focus during the games. They have been very focused throughout the tournament and respectful of their adversaries. Today I saw one of the Americans almost get into a fight with one of the Argentineans and the amazing thing was to see the rest of the US team on the field (all 4 of them) taking him out of the mess straight away and telling him to calm down and keep his head. I had seen a similar scene against Australia. Today, Mike K kept is "A stars" much longer than usual, truly respecting their opponent. The Americans never looked too much at doing "show" for the audience, but always took Argentina seriously. They even came out with an uncharacteristic shooting games which added to an amazingly tight defense gave them a significant early lead.

What about Argentina? Great team who lost Ginobili very early in the encounter with the US, but to be honest, I don't think the US would have lost today as I don't think they will lose on Sunday. They are too strong and especially too focused.

Some doubts on what really happened to Argentina's number 5. He left on his own feet, but I did not see him back on the bench. V and I think he might have pulled a "Liu Xiang", but who knows. My hat off to Scola and to Delfino, who pushed the "Pumas" to within 8 points of the US at a certain point and to a closer and more exciting match than the final 20 point deficit really shows.

Finally, a special mention to the man, Mr. Bryant, and in particular, in spite of having scored only 12 points, having been such a fundamental piece in the US team tonight. He defended Ginobili in what promised to be a very tough night for Argentina's number 5, defended strongly against Delfino and pushed Nocioni around like "he didn't mean too much". His connection with James, the rest of the team and the fact that he has opted, not only tonight but throughout the tournament, for a more supporting role with strong defense, helping the team in offense when needed (what a show he put on against Australia) and even as a true leader, should potentially still allow him to be the tournament's MVP. On Wednesday, he stayed on with the coaching staff to watch Argentina versus Greece and one can only but wonder how important his leadership has been for the US team to glue so dramatically well.

Spain has a shot at the US, but although I don't feel it will be another 30+ point difference game, I do feel the US will win. The key to Spain's success will be in significantly slowing down the Americans and making them take their shots. The problem for Spain is that their own game style is very American with either "run and shoot" or "push to the inside man and dunk/make easy shot". We shall see what happens.

When the most exciting moment of the session is changing seats... something is wrong

What a boring session. The women's basketball quarter-finals 1st session with the matches between China and Byelorussia, and Australia and Czech Republic, were painfully boring. Granted that China is playing well and Australia has a great team - although today it really didn't impress me.

Please note that the comments that follow are in no way a criticism of a country, of its athletes in general or a person in particular for that matter. The criticism is on a specific women's basketball team, full stop.

The Czech Republic women's basketball team - and please note this is the second time I watch them - is the worst team I have seen live in any sports event: they lack skill, any stamina and, to top it all, will ... to do basically anything that involves them fighting for the ball, fighting for possession. I watched the match (did I say it was the second one I watched live?) in absolute disbelief. They even managed to - and accidently, I might add - injure one of Australia's top players. The Byelorussian team is just like the Czech Republic but with the positive difference that it fights and therefore provided more excitement.

Some will think I am too harsh and others will defend that the basis for the Olympic vision is precisely that Participation is what matters... BUT I would allege that participation can only materialize if accompanied by true will and if the Byelorussians had some, the Czechs didn't have much and were therefore an extremely poor representation for a truly great country. Some years ago, in my home country, a coach and the team captain in another sport apologized to fans and to their citizens for the lack of focus and will they had demonstrated in a match. I would respectfully propose that the Czech team should do the same.

If I look at Mali, this truly poor - and I mean materially poor - team from Africa that lacked any clear discipline or competitive edge, I saw the absolute manifestation of the Olympic ideal: the fighting even when there is not much more to fight for, the energy to keep going, the "living every moment". My hat off to them for they showed a thing or two to some teams who actually made it to the quarter-finals.

My new seat ...

after complaining. It's a security seat so fingers crossed on security letting me stay here.

The worst seat of my olympics

How can they call this a seat? It's in a passage way between sections and is not even a category c but is a b. Shame on whoever did this.

The two most interesting events I have attended so far

Going into the 2 week, it's important to recognize the two most interesting events I have been to. Specifically:
- Beach volley: the atmosphere, the fun you have as part of the audience is quite unique. Adding to that, the quality of the players and the quasi-individual battle of one against the other. I know it's teams but it's as close as it gets to 1+1 versus 1+1. V and I really enjoyed it.
- Women's Artistic Gymnastics: the overall competition, the drama of the American and Chinese performances, the beauty of the individual skills made it for me the most enjoyable sport thus far.

A special mention to football with the Men's quarter-final between Italy and Belgium. Not the best match of all time, but still very exciting from end-to-end. A good demonstration that having younger players at the Olympics might not necessarily be a bad thing.

10 predictions until end of the Games

- Nadal will not win Olympic gold.
- Phelps will get his 8 gold medals.
- US will win both Men's and Women's Basketball competitions.
- China will win all 4 gold medals in table tennis - the two in teams and the two in singles.
- China will be number 1 in gold medals and total medals.
- The Athletics 100 meters world record will be beaten.
- Liu Xiang will not win the 110 m hurdles.
- Rosenthal/Gibb will win a medal for the US in Men's beach volleyball.
- Brazil will not win gold in football - male or female.
- Shawn Johnson will win Women's individual all-round Artistic Gymnastics competition.

Federer is out

Federer was just beaten in 2 sets by Blake. Americans rejoice with their last shot at a medal in the Male competition and for the Swiss the remainder of the competition is in doubles.

What a bad year for this guy. Truly amazing how this amazing player went from clearly best to absolutely beatable. As Courier once said when asked "It's all in the mind".

End of Olympic blogging

Given a lower number of hits than I expect as well as no comments (yes, yes), I decided it would be more useful to spend the rest of the Olympics organizing photos and videos I take from the events than to spend much time on blogging.

I will be posting some stuff, but not as meticulously as before.

Some random updates

- In Beach Volleyball, men world champions Rogers/Dalhauser from the US made for a good come-back after losing their first match. They won the second comfortably agains Heyer/Heuscher from Switzerland. In women, the Chinese double Tian Jia/Wang are doing well, thank you very much, although they lost the first set agains the Belgium pair.

- In Tennis, Venus and Serena are through to the third round with comfortable wins. The Chinese lose one of their representatives in women as Peng Shuais is beaten by Alize Cornet. Daniela Hantuchova again makes a mess out of it and loses to the unseeded Caroline Wozniacki. Wunder-kind Agnieszka was shown the way out of the Olympics by unseeded Francesca Schiavone. Match of the day will oppose Lleyton Hewitt to Rafael Nadal.

-In Artistic Gymnastics, the Men's team final was very much dominated by China who took Gold, followed by Japan and a US team that hadn't had a promising start but delivered at the end for a Bronze medal and narrowly relegating the German team to the wooden spoon. Korea, Russia and Romania were very close in what could have been a very different bronze medal setting.

The US-China Basketball thing

Well, there was eager anticipation in knowing how China would fare against the US and at home in both the Women and Men's competitions. The answer was unequivocal: not well. In Men, the US won by 31 points (101-70). Amongst accusations of arrogance from the American team (arrogance ?!), Mike K - the American coach - replied that the Americans dunked so much because there was, amongst others, this 2.26 m guy called Yao Ming that is quite good at blocking.

In the Women's competition, the anticipation was even stronger since approximately a month ago, China beat the US in the final of a preparatory tournament in Beijing. The story now was different, with the US winning by 45 points (108-63). V said "I had to change channels. The women were playing even worst than the men". V always gets these right.

Tennis on August 11th

I watched three matches at the evening session - all of which at Centre Court.

Venus Williams looked confidant in beating Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-2. There were some good exchanges but pretty much one-way traffic.

Robby Ginepri was not able to keep up with Novak Djokovic for long in a straight set loss 4-6, 4-6. Robby seemed at times to have enough game for Djokovic but then he somehow didn't seem to want it enough.

Finally, Chinese sweetheart Li Na unexpectedly won against Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(5), 6.4 in what was another highlight for the Chinese audience who saw three out of the four Chinese women progress throughout the day.

In other results, Federer won comfortably and Nadal had to go the distance (3 sets) with the Italian Potito Starace.

Final comments to the mess around security for the 5 pm session and the recurring I have that volunteers, in their effort to keep things under control, create even bigger issues. The one I have seen a couple of times is the "bottleneck" one both going in to venue spaces (not venues themselves) and out where there seems to be either only one way or one way out. Clearly they haven't seen what happens when a stampede takes place.

Another note - and also a negative one - for the Chinese crowds in tennis. This isn't news, but clearly they are yet to understand the principle of silence in a tennis match and yesterday repeatedly shouted "out", "uhhed" and "ahhed" during several of the points between Li Na and Kuznetsova. Really, really bad and I hope the crowds can learn how to behave in the next few days or at least get strong referees that push them to do so.

Live from tennis centre court

Getting into the Olympic event sites

Not too bad, although there are two clear security areas - one to do thorough checking and the other one just for tickets. Still some strange procedures that make them take away any liquids and in particular some pills (they took some medicinal pills that looked just the same as normal pills and let us kept some pain killers). The reason they gave us on the pill side was that you can only bring one dosage, but we were not convinced with that... neither with their understanding of one dosage is.

Overall, good spirit all-around with obviously a lot of Chinese supporters from very young and very old. Very beautiful to see.

Women's basketball: Latvia vs. Russia

This was supposed to be a tight affair and although the basketball quality varied quite dramatically throughout the game, it ended up leaving up to its expectations.

The game was actually the tale of two women - both Latvians - and a team - the Russian one.
- The Latvians have Anete Jekabsone-Zogota has their key star, who had just scored 34 points agains the Russians a couple of weeks back in a Latvian win. Anete had, what can only be considered, a non-game... she scored 7 points with her first field goal coming in the last minute of the game!!! She was 1 from 12 in field goals and even in free-throws with a poor 63%. She compensated with 6 assists, but was never there. Why did this happen? The Russians put tremendous pressure on her at the beginning of the game and then she just imploded by herself. I hope she will came back.

- Yet the game was close, so another Latvian took the baton. Her name is Liene Jansone who scored 24 points with 53% in field goals, 50% on 2 points and an amazing 57% on 3 points with 4 converted. The problem was Jansone missed the critical shots at the end, allowing the Russians to claw back from behind most of the late 2nd quarter, 3rd and even 4th quarter.

- The Russian team was truly amazing and fought throughout the game, and even more strongly in the last quarter, to show that Basketball is still a team sport (a bit like the Argentineans and the Spaniards have been showing the US dream team and others in male basketball). Ilona Korstin and Tatiana Shchegoleva both finished with 13 points, with the latter having gotten 12 rebounds. The "American" Becky Hammon did well with 11 points and some crucial 3 points (3 converted out of 5) throughout the game. That said, clearly not fully part of the team yet with some difficulties in connecting with her colleagues at times.

Well and the final result was 62-57.

Women's Basketball: USA vs. Czech Republic

I had warned V that the exciting match was coming later (Latvia vs. Russia) and unfortunately I was right.


The Czechs started well being in advance 10-2 and the 13-4, but then the Americans woke up. Initially led by a low scoring, yet strong presence Lisa Leslie (2 points, 10 rebounds in the match) and a "Jordan like" Diana Taurasi (17 points, 54% field goals and 100% free throws), the US came back and took over the game.

The Czechs imploded in what V could only characterize as "Very bad! Very bad" and allowed fora massive 27 turn-overs. Not all can be explained by the strong American defense who got 13 steals. The Czechs simply weren't trying as hard to go for the ball and were considerably outplayed in the 2nd quarter and then dully "buried" in the 3rd and 4th.

Another thing to highlight was the male dream team was in the house and created quite the chaos during the break and at the end since the eager Chinese fans wanted to take photos of them ... or just get up. Some obliged.

Further strong performance on the American side by Sylvia Fowles with 16 points and 14 rebounds and an overall great ensemble. Still need to see them under more pressure, since this ended up being quite easy. Only mention on the Czech side goes to Eva Viteckova with 12 points and was actually playing half-decently.

The final score was a whopping 97-57.

Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium: first impressions

The newly built Basketball Gymnasium is beautiful from the outside although probably less eye-catching that its brothers the National Stadium ("Birds nest") and National Aquatics Center ("Water cube").

Inside there is a functional Basketball gym with displays at both ends - the classical ones with names of players, fouls, points, etc - and large screens in the middle of the Gym.

The court looks a bit worn out for the competition that is just beginning, but overall seems to be fine with the players.

Nice basketball gym. Look forward to be further down in category A tickets though.

It's funny...

That the Chinese Basketball team is sponsored by Nike while Spain is sponsored by ... Li-Ning.

Well, China just won the Female match by 67-64 and Torrens from Spain stood out with 20 points and an amazing performance. Shame for Spain that the rest of the team couldn't strongly follow suit.

Opening: the best ever?

In my humble opinion, the one to beat was Barcelona with the amazing artistically innovative acts, the unique lighting of the flame and great performances (the anticipation of the Caballe-Mercury duet did not realize itself given Mercury's death, but that song is still in our mind). Was this enough to beat it?

The acts were quite amazing and more accessible than in previous Olympics: the visuals were great, the messages clear and the pace quite good. The lighting of the Flame by Li Ning was also beautiful albeit a bit too long (and I still missed the unforgettable Deng Yaping in the last part of the torch bearing... how was she forgotten?). The performances were disappointing... no Mercury-Caballe here. I know it's not fair since we are comparing what happened with what was supposed to happen (a sort of virtual memory) but anyway...

All and all, not sure it beat Barcelona - or that it didn't for that matter - but Zhang Yimou prepared and amazing show that was quite enjoyable and did not seem too long at a bit more than 4 hours. My hat off.

The Opening... almost there

We are all waiting in deep anticipation for the Opening ceremony in just little more than 2 hours. Despite the rumors of security threats, the hassle of tremendous measures that literally will close out Beijing within the first 3 ring roads from the outside (in some parts even to the 4th ring road)... despite not being able to go to the places where we were going to meet friends to share this experience... despite all that, we wait for this ceremony. The one that will not only start the Games, but "re-open" China to the world and show that China has come of age.

Ironic, no?

Olympics start tomorrow... not really

Well, the opening ceremony is tomorrow, but the Olympics started yesterday with the Football competitions for Women (yesteday) and Men (today).

China has done ok with a good win over Sweden in Women's football and a last-minute draw with New Zealand in Men (thanks to CCTV I thought for a part of the match they were playing Australia). The big story is the American Women - one of the pre-tournament favorites - having been beaten 2-0 by Norway. Norway is obviously a strong team, but nonetheless a surprising result.

Le pre lenotre

Overall great experience albeit pricey. Service started bad but improved dramatically. Food is extremely good by beijing standards.

Finally got my fuwas

My firm was nice enough to give me these. It was worth the waiting.

Remember "Thoughts"?

This was my website that started it all for me... the "digital storytelling days". You can now see it at http://web.archive.org/web/20010509190654/mega.ist.utl.pt/~njsgp/

Ok, poor web-design, Flash object that would make you cry (or laugh or both)... "How much more 'Mickey mouse' can you get?" - you are probably thinking.

Now people... it was the 90s so give me (and Miguel) some slack here.

Because I told you so...

I just went through another one of those "why do I have to travel so much?" episodes. While going through security at the KL International Airport on my way back to Beijing, I was stopped by security who told me "Sir, you cannot bring these liquids on board since you are going to Beijing".

I looked at him straight-faced and with early signs of rage.
"- Sorry?! These flasks are 100 ml or less. This is fine.
- Sir, the rules have changed, you cannot bring them on board since you are going to Beijing.
- That doesn't make any sense, I just flew FROM Beijing on Sunday and it was fine. Have the rules changed today?
- They changed (mumbled comments, not sure it was today, not today, etc)... You see it's the Olympics"

This threw me on a fit "The Olympics" - I thought. I am passionate about these Olympics and will attend a lot of events, but this is getting ridiculous.

I obviously followed up with: "I want to see the paper that says that or talk to your boss".

After 10 minutes of discussion with security and then with Malaysia Airlines, I was able to convince one of the Malaysian Airlines ground staff to help me and he finally got the boss to come.

At this stage, I was hoping for the worst, but the boss - clearly the boss as he was older and looked much wiser - was quite calm and nice. He did insist he could do nothing about it. That it was not, in effect, a decision made by Beijing but a decision made by the KLIA. I was obviously shocked and asked the fundamental question: "Why?"

He answered in the same tone: "Not sure Sir. It was a decision made by the superior".

I got confused and, for a second, thought God was somewhat involved in this. Maybe it was an act of Divine Intervention that I was losing my shaving cream, Tooth paste and perfume?!

I soon became grounded again and assured myself it had just been another idiotic decision by someone who clearly doesn't travel nearly as much as they should... just so they could observe the impact they have on people's lives with ... (you guessed it) their stupid decisions.

Anyway, the good news is that I'm now at home in Beijing and for the next 2.5 weeks. A motive for celebration.

Beijing weather revisited

In the past three days or so, Beijing weather has been quite amazing with blue skies and overall very sunny.

A good omen for the weeks to come... or so we all hope.

Mali is not that bad after all, until...

I was just watching the China-Mali game for the Diamond Ball Female Basketball tournament and was pleasantly surprised with how close Mali was keeping to the Chinese team as illustrated below.

But then... but then, the Chinese started playing real Basketball and the game ended 91-67.

Why am I interested? Well, I will be watching USA vs. Mali during the Olympics so just wanted to make sure it would be a bit more interesting... the conclusion is: probably not.

After the mess... order

Molly... Artistically

Disclaimer on my "coverage" of the Olympics
First of all, I am not going to cover anything. I will most likely have fun and in the process "blog" about it. I am not a journalist and have no aspirations of being one. That said, I will bring to those that read nein (not that many, are you?), my views on the Olympics, the events, the people, the nightlife, etc.

A couple of disclaimers so we are all aligned before we go for it:
1) I will post on my blog as soon as I can... it may not always be immediately the day of the event, but I will try to be disciplined.
2) I have strong team preferences in some cases:
-- Portugal overall... or what would I be otherwise? If there is a Portuguese athlete or team involved, I will always be skewed towards him/her/them.
-- U.S. in many events, but in particular in Basketball - male and female - Beach Volleyball, Volleyball, etc.
-- China in some events, such as Table Tennis - male and female. A total fan of Zhang Yining, Wang Nan and Wang Liqin.
-- Federer in Tennis... I am definitely not a Nadal fan.
-- There might be others, but one thing is for sure, I do appreciate a good fight and if the better man/woman/team wins and it's not mine, not a problem... definitely not a sore loser... or at least, I think.
3) I will also try to post some pictures of the events.
4) I want your comments in. For those who do read the page... that's a MUST!!! I also accept requests that are legal and not impossible to achieve.

Really looking forward to this.

Less than 1 week to go... the soft preview

Less than 1 week to go to the Olympics and here goes the list of events I will be attending:
- 9th: Basketball Female evening session (yes, US is in it)
- 10th: Beach Volleyball Male and Female preliminary sessions
- 11th: Tennis evening sessions
- 12th: Artistic Gymnastics - Male team finals
- 12th: Beach Volleyball Male and Female preliminary sessions
- 13th: Artistic Gymnastics - Female team finals
- 13th: Basketball Female evening session
- 14th: I rest :-)
- 15th: Athletics evening session
- 16th: Football quarter-finals
- 17th: Table Tennis Female Team Bronze medal match
- 17th: Table Tennis Female Team Gold medal match (yes, the one that China will win)
- 18th: Beach Volleyball Male Quarter-finals (2 morning matches)
- 18th: Table Tennis Male Team Gold medal match (yes, the one that China will most probably win)
- 19th: Basketball Female Quarter-finals (2 afternoon games)
- 20th: Table Tennis Male and Female preliminary rounds
- 20th: Basketball Male Quarter-finals (all games)
- 21st: Handball Female Semi-finals (all games)
- 22nd: Basketball Male Semi-finals (all games)
- 23rd: Taekwondo (several finals)
- 24th: Handball Male Final and classification matches

All and all, I hope to bring you some of my thoughts, but not necessarily in a very journalistic view.

Beijing today

- Weather is not good at all and there is smog all over town. Although we have had some good clear sky sunny days recently, recently the weather has been quite bad.
- Traffic is a bit improved but not dramatically (1). It may have to do with people like me and others renting two cars and thus having no real reduction in effective traffic.
- Traffic ... (2): Given the Olympic lanes in key avenues, we (not Olympic material) are also feeling left out and pushed to unnecessary queues. The fine for going on it is 200 RMB (equivalent of 20 Euro), but net net, there have been rumors that there may be other penalties apart from the cash.
- Airport: If leaving from Terminal 3, leave early... currently recommended to be at terminal 3 for a domestic flight 2.5 hours before time of departure and 3.5 hours for international !!! Terminal 2 is much more civilized and I recommend it heavily if you are booking your trip to or from Beijing.

The girls... all grown up


Kima, you already know. The other one is Molly.

My favourite restaurants and club in Beijing

Restaurants:
- Chinese - Da Dong or Duck de Chine for Peking Duck, depending on whether you want to go Beijing classic or high-end. I love Silk Route for Sichuan food... there's a couple more but don't remember the names ;-)
- Fusion - My Humble House for Asian fusion; Salt for ... fusion.
- American - Chef Too for good steaks (and food in general) and Grandma's Kitchen for memories of greasier times.
- Mediterranean / Latin - Mare for Spanish food, Alameda for some touches of Brazilian.
- Italian - the ones at the two Ritz Carltons - Cepe and Barolo. Cepe is my favourite restaurant in Beijing... full stop.
- Sunday Brunch - Chef Too, Orchard (although with ups and downs) or Monsoon at the Intercontinental... still to try the famous Westin Financial Street one.
- Middle Eastern - Rumi.
- Pizza - Kro's Nest or The Tree.

Bars & Clubs: Current favorite is ChinaDoll @ 3.3

The hassle that has begun... will continue

Well, these stories have been widely publicized so I won't go in detail into them... Basically, from making sure dogs are legal to more thorough Visa applications, we have seen it all in Beijing in the past few months.

Now comes the really tough measure that we all knew was going to happen: limitation on cars circulating in town. For 2 months - from July 20th to September 20th - private cars can only circulate on even days if their license plate is even numbered or odd days if... you got it by now. Although taxis, buses, etc, are obviously immune to the rule, many "strange" things are already happenning:
- People getting two cars to serve them: starting with the rental agencies down to normal consumers, there is a strong search for ... cars with "odd numbered" license plates. Apparently the Chinese prefer even numbers and there is truly a shortage of odd-numbered license plates out there.
- Dramatic hiking of prices for rentals: even for 2-month rentals of one car, one license plate :-), the price reaches the thousands of RMB per day. This might not look a lot to a European or American (1 Euro is roughly 10 RMB and 1 USD is roughly 6.8 RMB), but given that normal monthly prices are around 7-15 k RMB depending on the car, you can see the dramatic increase that we are noticing.
- People leaving town: for those who are not sports fans, a nice Summer break back home is looking quite good. I have some friends who have very actively planned their vacation for this year around the Beijing Olympics.
- Businesses incentivizing people to take days off: either through "plain holiday" on the opening day or Olympic leaves that match the number of vacation you take - you take 3 days, we give you 3 days for "free" - and so on.

For those of us who are really looking forward to the Olympics, we can only wait and see how it goes. I expect fantastic events but maybe some trouble getting there :-)

Coverage of the Olympics... right here

I have plenty of tickets for the Beijing Olympics and will be attending many events from Basketball to Handball, Tennis, Football, Table tennis, Beach Volleyball, Athletics, etc. On top of that... I live in town :-)

I will try to post some observations during this period so check this space.

... and when departing

1. Find out what your terminal is! 16 or so airlines have moved to Terminal 3. One rule of thumb is that Skyteam (AirFrance, KLM, etc) is in Terminal 2, while Star Alliance (Air China, Thai, Singapore Air, etc) and Oneworld (BA, JAL, Cathay, etc) are in Terminal 3. While this rule might hold true, don't trust it! Always check.

Terminal 2
2. Check-in smartly! If traveling in Business or First, or having a card (Silver, Gold, whatever) that allows you to go to preferred desks, you can pretty much use any check-in counter for your airline. If traveling in Economy, while you typically cannot move around to other more "premium" counters, it there is "low traffic", try. Check-in is remarkably relaxed around these parts.

3. Get the departure paper! If you don't have it yet, ask for it when checking in. Some airlines don't have it around (Air China when at T2 used to be a notable example) and therefore pick it up when you get to the immigration hall. If the line is a normal one, you will most likely have time to fill it while on the queue. No need to stop to fill-in. When you have your paper, put it in the Visa page (I know, I know... but still it spares some seconds for the nice immigration officer to look for it).

4. All queues lead to Security! With the exception of the Olympic, Diplomatic and Group Visa lanes, all immigration lanes are both for National and Foreign citizens. Just choose the smallest, BUT be aware of the number of officers serving each queue. Although it's typically similar, it may prove an advantage/handicap or your queue.

5. Prepare for Security! While still in the immigration counter, get ready to get that laptop out as well as the liquid bag. Before you go into the Security ticket check, people will ask you if you need bag, etc, etc. Just show them yours and if it's good, you're fine. If it's not, they will give you one. The security check in itself is preceded by a ticket check. Although I've never understood the point of this, since you have just come from Immigration, it probably serves some purpose including control or number of people on the security check itself. Put your stuff into the machine and go.

6. Beg even when you are not right! If you have brought something that you shouldn't have, namely a bigger Perfume flask than the authorized capacity (100 ml) or somethings else, ask nicely and most of the times the Officer in charge will let you go. Don't give up straight away, as there is actually some stronger flexibility and common sense than you expect at these junctures.

7. Lounge ... safely! If you have access to one of the lounges, enjoy yourself... although with the exception of the BGS one, you are more likely than not to want to leave earlier and browse the nearby stores. Beware of your belongings. Although I don't think there is anything systemic going on, I have "lost" one my phones at the ex-Air China lounge after having my back to it for no more than 10 seconds. Never found, cameras were not on. Announcements at lounges are very vocal so you will only miss your flight if you really don't pay attention.

8. Go to the line! When boarding in Business or First class, don't worry too much. You typically have a lane for you and the other "premium" people. If in Economy, go for it as soon as you see they will start boarding. The boarding per row is a lot of times ineffective and you will regret not having gone to that queue earlier. That said, the ground staff is typically very aggressive on "early queuing" and will only let you queue 5 minutes or so before Boarding... Business and First is totally up to you.

9. Be smart when in the gates 1A, B, etc! If you fly in Business or First, you most likely have special gate to Board through (into the VIP Bus). Although this was an Air China thing (now in T3), take a look, it might still be around.

Terminal 3
1. through 5. Largely the same as for T2. On point 5., be patient with the Security officers. They are mostly very young, somewhat inexperienced (at least for now) and a bit too diligent. I recently found myself having to tell one of them that the object he had been looking at for 2 minutes was actually just a pen.

6. Doesn't work as well here, but still give it a try.

7. Lounging... but better! The new lounges at T3 are much better. If going to the Air China lounges and need to access the Internet, I believe the WiFi connection is still not working so kindly exchange your boarding pass for a LAN cable and go for it... for free.

8. Shop! Some good stores around, although I am not sure I understand why most of the best stores, restaurants, etc seem to be in 3C and not 3E (International).

9. Queuing! Similar to 8. in T2 although probably more space around you :-)

10. Beware of the gate numbers! Some of the gates - namely the ones for Bus access - are not sequentially distributed with the rest so you might jump from E20-something to E-60 something and then back to the normal "programme".

11. Everything is BIG so plan! From getting to the airport quite early - check-ins close 60 minutes before the flight - to going to the Gate early... everything here should be done (you guessed it) ... early. The airport is quite large and you will have to walk a lot.

A couple of things that might help when landing in Beijing Capital International airport... for those visiting during Olympics and others (international flights only)

Terminal 2 :
1. Have your paper(s) ready! The landing card is also stuck with the departing card these days. If you are just visiting for a few days, fill-in both while on the flight and make sure you got everything right. Keep your ticket stub with you just in case. The health paper is no longer in use and the customs one only needs to be filled-in if you have something to declare. Put the immigration paper(s) marking the page of the Visa on your passport... it does help the immigration Officer and you get through faster.

2. Run! Either from your gate or when left by the Bus, it is worthwhile to get to the immigration desks ahead of as many people as you can from your flight, since sometimes you get caught in what I call the "Perfect Storm", ie, several flights arrive at the same time.

3. Be nice and ask! When there are large queues, ask the officer(s) in front of the immigration desks (there is always at least one) if you can go to the National queues instead of the Foreigner ones. Most likely they will let you and my experience is that these lines - when there are a lot of people - are smaller than the Foreigner ones. You can use for instance "Ke yi ma?" pointing at the line you would like to join. Even if they say no, they will typically point you to another small National line.

4. Beware of the Russians! Sorry for the profiling (Russian people are in my experience typically very nice), but lines where there are Russian citizens in front of you tend to get larger as they progress... the issue is that more and more of their friends/family/acquaintances are getting in front of you. If you don't want to get into confrontations or the group is large anyway, I advise you to not go into those lines. Queuing is definitely not a Russian thing.

5. Pay attention to the closed queues/desks! Stay close to the closed Immigration desks. If the line is large, they typically tend to open so always pay attention to the 1 or 2 around your own line. When you see one open - and are still far from your objective - go for it even before they open the gate. Another trick is to stand in the first Foreigner queue after the National queues, because (1) if there is a closed one in-between, it will open at some point; (2) in case of low Chinese citizen traffic, sometimes the National one changes to Foreigner; (3) if you ask nicely, they probably will let you move to that queue if they haven't before.

6. Get a cart, your bags and go! If you need a cart and/or to pick up your bags, wait patiently or even assume they are already there. The handling is typically quite fast and more often than not, your bags will be our or coming out when you get to the baggage area. Go for the exit and don't stop unless you are asked by a customs officer to show your luggage.

7. Be smart! If there is someone waiting for you, tell him/her to wait outside the staff exit. It's the most direct exit without having to go through the whole sea of people trying to exit and also the ones trying to help them/pick them up. The officers are typically relaxed about you leaving through the staff exit and we thank them for that.

8. Beware of the cabbies! I prefer traveling with pick-ups to and from airport organized ahead of time, but some people don't. If you are in this group, be careful with the cabbies and agree the cost or ask for the meter to be on. If you pay more than 200 RMB to get to the "center" of the city, you are probably over-paying. They will add some charges for the toll for instance... so don't complain, since that is normal practice.

Terminal 3:
1. - 5. The same as above. Although the situation in 5. is less probable to happen, no harm is paying attention.

6. Go to the front carriage of the "train"! Go to the front carriage of the "train" linking you to terminal 3C. Two advantages: (1) less people go to that one, in particular the last door; (2) you will be ahead of everyone when stopping on the other side.

7. If in need, ask for support! Not sure there are (a lot of) buggies around the airport, but the airport is indeed massive. If you can't move well, ask for support from the ground team. The distances are quite large.

8. Same as above.

9. Enjoy it! I know you have come a long way, but T3 is an impressive piece of architecture. Its dimension is unique.

Mei jia cai

When a concierge shows you the secret places in the city you live in, either you have found a great concierge service or you haven't spent enough time at home

Still gorgeous every time

The Singapore skyline

Up high in the sky...

...not as glamorous as one would think. 130 flights last year... A record not to beat.

The baby at home

There she is. Kima, the baby

Happiness

While happiness is at times elusive, it can also be perfect in its showing. We typically ignore it in those moments and sigh for happiness to come... Fools as we may be, it is there and it is ours to grab.