The week so far...
On Sunday, I saw Justine...




On Tuesday, I saw Justin...




Quite the week, don't you think?? xP
(More about the concert later...I'm at a loss of words xD Look how close I was!!)

Kakeru @ 21:02 +

After skipping last year (where I missed the chance to see Roger =\), I went to York University today the to catch the Rogers Cup women's finals. This time around, thanks to El, I actually got my ticket early & was therefore anticipating this for months. I even managed to follow the tournament all week on TV (not that I normally wouldn't...but this time I gave the extra effort to catch every match =P) until it came to down to the last two. Much to my delight the players I wanted to see the most, the #1 & #2 seeds Justine Henin & Jelena Jankovic both made the final, so my excitement levels were at an all-time high...
The day began with my very first ride on Viva. Viva alone makes it worth living in Markham (or York Region), I tell ya. =P The buses are so spacious & comfortable & most of all, they're on time!! In fact it only took me 20 minutes to get from Richmond Hill Centre to York, thanks to the lack of traffic early in the morning. As soon as I got off I began walking towards Rexall Centre & I actually managed to do it by memory (all those times I visited York for Science Olympics paid off =P). Met up with El & her cousin at the front entrance with about 45 minutes left before the doubles final (the ticket is for the whole day, which includes the doubles & singles finals), so we decided to walk around. As we were checking out the booths at the back, we saw this golf cart go by, & both El & her cousin screamed "Hey that's Justine!!" while I was still completely oblivious. xD Apparently she was on her way to the practice court for practice before the final. Soon we followed her & watched her practise for about 10 minutes. I was SO star struck I could barely speak, as I couldn't believe the world #1 was standing right in front of me. Both El & I immediately agreed that she appeared a lot taller in person, contrary to how the media usually portrays her (but no doubt, she really IS shorter than most tennis players). I really wanted to stay longer but I also knew the doubles match was about to start, so I had to make a decision. =\ See you in a couple of hours Justine...
The doubles final started off slow, & since we were sitting in the 300s we could hardly tell who's who. What's worse is that none of us really cared about doubles (who does?? =P) & thus knew very lil about it. I only knew Sugiyama & Srebotnik 'cause they both play singles as well so I was kinda rooting for them. Soon though things started to heat up & I was very impressed by how well Srebotnik was playing. That made me root for them even more strongly & it paid off. I was happy to see them win, especially over the #1 team in the world. The awards ceremony was nothing out of the ordinary, with the routine thank you speeches & praises from each team. It really warmed me up for the singles final though.
After that was over, we had about 30 minutes to eat before the next match begins. We quickly went to the fast food tent, where we all bought some ridiculously priced lunch. I had a so-so burger which hardly had any topping since they all ran out by the time I got to the stand. The tables were also a mess & garbage was everywhere. Not cool.
With 5 minutes left we quickly went back to the stadium for the second final. This time the place was nearly packed & the crowd came to a roar when the players marched in. Right then & there we realized we were sitting in a section full of Serbians, as they chanted "Jelena!! Jelena!!" over & over again. I didn't really have a problem with it, as I like both players & was just hoping for a tight match. Things kinda got out of hand though when one very rude old man kept making degrading remarks towards Justine whenever she was about to serve or made a mistake. His actions aggravated a lot of people & he ended up being escorted away by security & one very heavily armed policeman. =P
Aside from that lil nuisance, the match was as exciting as it could be. Personally I don't think Jankovic was playing her best, possibly due to fatigue since she played a long match just last night. Justine wasn't playing her best either, & she made way too many errors that gave Jankovic the lead in both sets. But, like the champion that she is, she came back with just enough weaponry to finish the match at 7-6(3), 7-5. The most thrilling part of the match was definitely the 11th game of the 2nd set, where Justine & Jankovic were tied at 5-5, with Justine on serve. They went to 9 deuces (I only found out later, I lost count while I was there, lol) & Jankovic had at least 6 or 7 break points, but failed to convert any. After Justine finally put the game away, I knew the match was over. Jankovic though did manage to fend off a couple of championship points in the next game & hold off Justine's victory until the time was due. Good enough of an effort, I thought.
We walked around the area again after the awards ceremony just so that we won't be caught up in the crowd. We ended up getting a lot of free stuff since most of the booths were packing up. Thanks to El's cousin we also made it into the AMEX lounge where we got free iced tea & free Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars...<drools>
Definitely going back next year, as I still owe myself a chance to see Roger in person. WOOOOO ROGER!!!!! (Congrats on your 50th title, btw =D)
P.S. Totally underestimated the heat today, lol, wore a black shirt & was burnt to death. My skin's still red as a tomato...ouch.
P.P.S. I'll post some pics later, but for now, you can check out the whole set at Picasa.

Kakeru @ 22:22 +

Note to self: when are you going to re-organize the CD tower, exactly?? xD


(For your reference's sake, my CD tower has 14 of those "blocks" you see down below¹, & they're of course ALL FILLED UP. I blame Ayu & her ginormous CD+DVD singles...)
P.S. Never in a million years would I think I'd end up buying an ORANGE RANGE album...
P.P.S. Challenge for the JPop fans: see how many albums/singles you recognize. =P
¹: Actually, you can see it in full here. This was of course a few years back, now my collection has at least doubled...xP

Kakeru @ 16:10 +