australian open 2011

i missed updating my blog last Friday as we lost our net connection for the past 2days. This has been happening sporadically since the year started and mah brother is already contemplating with changing our net provider... hope it will be soon... 

going back, since i cant do anything, it gave me time to enjoy watching the last few days of the Australian Open. I would say that this year first tennis grand slam event showcased the best and the worst of the game... though am very happy with the result as my two top players went home with the championship trophy, Novak Djokovic of Serbia for the men’s single and Kim Clijsters of Belgium for women’s single. 

moreover, this past two weeks of the tournament produced much heartbreak and triumphs which made watching the Open a fruitful one... here are some of my favorite moments of the tournament:

 sad ana ivonovic, doing an early exit in 1R, first heart break of the Open....

 a tearful former world #1 and grand slam champion Dinara Safina after being crushed by Kim Clijster in the first round, a lousy 6-0, 6-0 match... 

 bagging the Open this year was just a dream when the Aussie hopes got punished with the loss of their ace players, Sam Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt

 Bernard Tomic and Gilles Simon almost create an early heartbreak for the two top seed of men’s draw... Nadal and Federer struggled to win their match against them respectively... 

 Venus almost joined her sister in an injury vacation; Thank God she decided to call it quits in the 3^rd round...

Masha screamed her way out of the Open

 This is what happens after you play four hours and forty four minutes, 

Francesca Shiavone winning the longest match in the women’s open era...

The Ukranian boy wonder, Alexander Dolgopolov, who downed the 4^th seed Soderling in the 4R.

 Andy Roddick double faulted his chance in winning the Aussie’s slam this year after his defeat in 4R.

 Until the next grand slam event for current world #1 Caroline Wozniacki.

 Rafa ends his rafa slam dream after bowing out in the QF...

 Roge express got derailed in the SF

 The new Aussie fave, Na Li.... making Asian’s proud as the first Asian to secure a spot in the women’s finals.

 Defeat is sweeter the second time around. Andy Murray missed his chance in bagging the Open for two years in a row.

 

sadly i dreamed that one day Philippines would have an entry to this prestige event... My hopes are high with the wonderful performance of our junior players and i see a bright future in Philippine Tennis... I just pray that our government would start supporting it....

therefore after fourteen days of nonstop excitement, the tournament comes to a wrap and i look forward for next year much better Australian Open and another barrage of tennis play this coming May in Paris for the Roland Garros (French Open)...

thank you... justine henin...

tennis is a game played with utmost thinking and endless playing tactics... this is how the tennis was played for the past century until the william sisters comes along and changed the way women tennis is played... yes, they were the pioneer in introducing power play in women tennis... and since their arrival, they were a force to reckon with, smashing the competition, and making tactical players a thing of a past... williams sister finals seems like a normal play in any tennis grand slam events.... and there was no one from the roster of world women tennis who can beat them until comes this player from Belgium who managed to integrate tactical play with power play and start beating the william sisters in their own turf... and the rest they say is history...

yes, her name is Justine Henin... a professional Belgian tennis player, former world no. 1 and one of my personal favorites.... i first admired her play in 2003 during the French Open which she also won that year... and before 2003 ends, she reached the pinnacle of women tennis and was the world #1.... she held this position for 45 weeks... and since then she never failed to amaze me with her kind of play... i must say that her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her quick footstep and footwork and her one handed backhand which i admired most were the principal reasons of her success...

overall, during the tenure of her career, she managed to win 43 WTA singles titles and 7 grand slam singles titles which includes, 4 for French Open (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007), 1 for Australian Open (2004) and 2 for US Open (2006, 2007)

likewise, she has also won the 2006 & 2007 year ending tennis championships and the singles gold medal at the 2004 summer olympics.

upon her first retirement in 2008, due to personal problems... she was heralded as pound for pound, the best tennis player of her generation... 

and when she returned to WTA in early 2010, she made an impressive comeback by becoming a finalist of the Australian Open, her only 2nd tournament after her comeback.... and 2010 was a very good year for her, breaking the top 20 and winning additional 2 WTA titles... sadly she ended her 2010 prematurely after suffering an elbow injury during Wimbledon..

though she started 2011 right by winning all her matches during the Hopman Cup.... she did not escaped her previous injury.... it plagued and haunted her which caused her exit in the 3rd round of Australian Open...

and after consulting with her doctors, on 26 January 2011, she made the dreadful announcement that she had been forced to retire from professional tennis once again because of an elbow injury... her official statement can be read in this link...

therefore, with a heavy heart, i must say... thank you for the 11years of excitement and glory you have shared us.... i sincerely wish you good luck in the future and i hope to see you again anytime, anywhere.... you already left your imprint not only in mah heart, but to all the hearts of the tennis fans who loves you... and with that you will be remembered always....

THANK YOU JUSTINE...

 

 

 

photo credits from google.com, and justine data from WTA website.

and now mah story begins...

mah blogsite has been in existence since 2004 but somehow i’ve been inactive this past few years... and i find mahself writing blogs in different blog sites (multiply, wordpress, myspace etc.)... this year, somehow i’ve been torn in starting a new blogsite with tumblr or re-launching mah old blogsite... and i guess, i settled with the latter and here i am promoting to everyone the rebirth of mah site....

this past few days I’ve been thinking to when will i finally relaunch mah blogsite...  and i decided that the best day to launch mah blogsite is to coincide with one of Australia's important day... the official national day of Australia....

yes, today January 26, Australians are commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland. And yes, today is the day Australia was born...

And today also, i am celebrating the rebirth of mah site... this site will finally be mah diary of everything and anything i want to share with everyone...  this will be mah outlet where i can freely discuss the following without prejudice:

• Mah journey, everything and anything about mah wonderful life experience.
• Sojourn, mah trips and different destinations i’ve been to. 
• Tastefully yours, its mah personal commentaries, critiques, recommendations about movies, music, tv series, food and events.
• Adorable peepz,  list of persons i grew to adore; this maybe famous peepz or simply anyone from mah family and friends...

 

Therefore, in the next few days, months and maybe years will be my journey... and with this journey, i am inviting all of you to join me and be part of mah wonderful story...

All I ask from everyone, every time you visit, is to please leave your footstep by writing a simple and brief comment in mah blogs or mah blog chatbox... I would sincerely and greatly appreciate this gesture as I want to hear something from all of you...

And if it’s not too much, please do follow mah blog too by clicking the follow me button in the right part of mah blog (like the picture shown below)...

 

Again, I want to thank all of you and I look forward making this journey with all of you!

australian flag photo from yahoo.au

greetings: mah prima sis

some 10 things that everyone should know about mah prima sis..

10. she never wear skirts, they would say "pumuti na daw ang uwak" mah sister would never wear a skirt.

9.   she hates milk, i am wondering if she had a traumatic experience with milk way back our childhood days, hehehe...

8.   she will never taste anything with beef, i say it runs through the female blood of our family, mah lola hates beef, so does mah mom, mah tita and mah girl cousins...

7.   she loves pocketbook... nope! not the novel type... the pinoy pocketbooks... she had a library of pinoy pocketbook collections in her room.

6.   she has a DVD collection of her favorite US TV series... you name it, she got it...and as we speak, the list is still growing... she said that in case our house got burned, the first thing she will save would be her pocketbooks and her DVD collections...

5.   she loves the privacy of her room... it is a strict rule, NO ONE IS ALLOWED unless she said so...

4.   her favorite seasoning, TOYO, yes, soy sauce!... everything she eats should have toyo in it... sometimes, just the combination of rice and toyo is a sumptuous lunch for her already.

3.   her secret for good looking and fresh skin, TOMATO... one tomato a day, keeps the pimples away, hahahaha!!!

2.  if she said no, its a NO... nothing and no one can convince her once she said NO... :-)

1.  and lastly, she's an avid supporter of Yeng Constantino, i would say, a very big fan and friend of her. Anything about Yeng would come first and the rest would follow.

I know that there are more to tell about her but i have to say i'll save it for the future. It's her special day today and i am very thankful that she is mah sis.

She would not be your perfect sister but that imperfection of hers is the reason why we love her the most.

We wish you mah sis with all the luck and you know that we will always be here for you no matter what.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAH SIS!

i need a real job

i've been here down under for 8mons now and i would say i've been living a really good life... thanks to mah family of course, especially mah brother whom provides me with most of mah needs... if only juz for mahself, i would not ask for more... i'm having a great time living life like a student again....

1

YES! student life... that was me for almost 8mons now, nothing to worry, nothing to think about anything but mahself... and yes, this was mah primary reason why am here in aussie in the first place, that is of course for the fact that i'll finally be joining mah family here... 

and slowly, life's reality starts to catch up and would sink deep within me... times travels so fast that i am neglecting mah responsibilities back home... i cannot continue relying with mah family to bridge what i should be fulfilling in the first place...  i have been here long enough for me to finally stand on mah own... to start with, i should now need to have a job...

 seems so easy being said than done, right? with mah current degree and a ton of working experience back home... i can easily nail a job that i want... but after several months of attempting breaking the job market... i find mahself with no luck, it seems to evade me regularly... i guess i might have been asleep when our Lord showered His luck upon us...

  I really dont understand what's wrong with mah qualifications on why they denied me of mah job... that was not until i started calling back the companies and agencies whom emailed me with rejection letters... i found out that having me is not a priority because of mah VISA... yes! mah visa... they put me at the back of the list because of mah STUDENT VISA...

yes, i am here with a student visa only... that is because i thought that getting a job here would be easier even with mah VISA restrictions... and nonetheless, i dont have any grudges with the companies who turned me down because of mah visa... i sincerely understand their needs and i know that with mah restrictions, it might hinder me to do mah job well...

now, 2011 just started and am still searching for that elusive job... but my hopes are still high that i'll finally get a job soon... I have mah utmost trust in Him and that He is with me through this journey... so for everyone whom i love so much back home, sooner, we'll have all our wishes once i nailed a job....

currently mah father and mah brother are working with mah visa upgrade so that nothing can hinder me from finding and taking a job that i really want...

so for the meantime, while mah visa is still in process, how i wish that someone would finally give me a job.... i need to end this happy-go-luck-nothing-to-worry-bum life and start breaking mah bones again...

 for anyone whose interested to know some of mah credentials, here are some...

• finished mah metallurgical engineering degree from a premier engineering school in Phils with flying colors...
• currently taking mah MBA degree in one of Aussie's prestige uni with distinction marks
• worked 7years in a BPO industy where mah field of expertise are in:
• workforce planning and management
• capacity and resource planning
• financial forecasting
• customer support and relationship management
• performance management
• mah public professional work profile can be viewed from here. Thanks to LinkedIn.

so until then, i can just only wish that someone can help me find a real job...


credits: except for photo 1, all photos are from yahoo.com

dont text while.... walking

as they sometimes say that STUPIDITY really makes you FAMOUS...

this youtube video is now fast becoming viral that reminds us the harmful effect caused by texting.

- mobile phone $200, texting $0.30, falling face first in the fountain... PRICELESS....

catholic < - > protestant

this was a nice post posted by my friend edz in facebook... this was a chat conversation between him and his friend regarding the catholic faith and protestant faith....

the chat conversation gave me jolt to contemplate in my faith and be thankful of all the blessings i have in my life...

please note that I have nothing against the protestant faith in posting this and i truly respect where they stand... i just want to share this conversation between two friends who questions the Catholic faith, and take note of the respect they have with each other while they are chatting... a truly respectable indeed.... 

here’s their conversation...

Friend:                  pari ka pala

Friend:                  whehee

Edz:                      hindi ako pari

Friend:                  pwede mag ask?

Edz:                      ano yun pre

Friend:                  kaso baka magalit ka whehehee

Friend:                  kc doctrine ang aask ko whehehe

Edz:                      nagtatanong lang naman e

Edz:                      okay lang

Edz:                      open naman ako

Friend:                  cge

Friend:                  sharing tayo whehhe

Edz:                      okay

Friend:                  naniniwala ka sa bible?

Edz:                      siyempre

Edz:                      it is the basis of  truth

Friend:                  how many percent? 100% highest

Edz:                      110%

Friend:                  thats good

Friend:                  cge

Friend:                  so u mean lahat ng nasa bible naniniwala ka at sinusunod mo diba?

Friend:                  tama ba ako?

Edz:                      oo naman

Friend:                  e2 ha

Friend:                  sa totoo naman talaga catholic naman talaga karamihan satin eh

Edz:                      okay

Friend:                  pero naging catholic tayo hindi dahil alam natin na un ang tama....

Edz:                      but many of them sad to say, hindi nila alam ang kanilang pananampalataya

Friend:                  we became catholic kc dahil sa family natin... kung baga na adopt lang natin

Edz:                      okay

Friend:                  ayon sa history by force diba

Friend:                  the big issue kc sa catholic e ung idols

Edz:                      then...

Friend:                  they called it idols... ung mga santo

Edz:                      okay...

Friend:                  ano stand mo dyan.

 

Friend:                  Ex 20:3-4 (NIV) "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."

Edz:                     yan yung laging issue sa mga catholics,

Edz:                     but they are not god and they are not worshipped.

Friend:                 oo bro...

Friend:                 hmmmmmmmmmmmp

Friend:                 bakit my fiesta... kc birthday daw ng saint diba...

Edz:                     what we worship is the the triune god.

Edz:                     feasting is a celebration of heaven here on earth

Edz:                     kasi sa heaven daw, it is feasting in eternity with God

Friend:                 as far as i know bday un ng saith

Friend:                 i already search it weehhee

Edz:                     no, usually, we commemorate the death of the saints because we believe, it is the moment of thier birth in heaven

Edz:                    we give thanks to god kapag sine-celebrate namin ang feast ng isang santo dahil binigyan niya kami ng taong inspirasyon upang mabuhay nang naaayon sa kanyang kalooban.

Friend:                well its form of idolatry

Friend:                kc sabi wag ka magkakaroon...

Edz:                    to tell you honestly, i have come to a point of doubt in my faith, i even curse my faith but as i matured, i have come to realize that the fullness of truth is in the catholic faith, of course, there is also truth in other religions.

Friend:                well bro

Friend:                kc kasuklam suklam un kay GOD

Friend:                yang mga idols na yan

Edz:                    You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." >>> malinaw naman ang pagkakasabi na you shall not create image na gagawing diyos, hindi naman namin diyos ang mga rebulto at images

Friend:                 e ano nyo sila

Friend:                 design?

Friend:                 meron pa kayo patron ng kagalingan.

Edz:                     did you know that in the time when the ark of covenant was made, nagpagawa ang diyos ng mga imahen ng anghel at kerubin bilang palamuti?

Friend:                 mga patron patron///

Edz:                     they are our inspiration, sila ang nagdadala sa amin sa taimtim na panalangin

Friend:                 nyak

Friend:                 JESUS IS ENOUGH

Friend:                 they all men

Edz:                     yes, christ is enough but we believe in the communion of the church

Edz:                     the communion of saints

Edz:                     we beleive na kaming lahat na narito sa lupa at sa langit ay magkakaugnay

Edz:                     saints are like our friends na tinatawagan namin upang samahan kami o ipagdasal kami sa diyos na nasa langit.

Edz:                      katulad ng paghingi mo ng panalangin sa iyong kaibigan kapag may problema ka

Edz:                      saints are members of the church triumphant, the church in heaven

Friend:                  basahin mo ung kwento ni lazaruz at nung mayaman

Friend:                  kapag namatay na ang isang tao khit anong dasal di na sya mahahango kung san man sya napunta

Friend:                  even c mary naging imahen nyo

Edz:                      yes i remember that story, yung mayaman ay nasa impiyerno? talagang kahit anong dasal ang gawin, hindi na talaga siya mahahango dun kasi nasa impyerno na

Friend:                  eh bakit pag may patay may padasal

Edz:                      okay, i will answer that>

Friend:                  pasyon ata un na sinasabi na hanguin nyo nawa ang kaluluwa something ganun

Edz:                      we beleieve in purgatory

Friend:                  SAN NAMAN UN SA BIBLE

Friend:                  theres no such thing as purgatory

Friend:                  kung baka in between ng heaven or hell whehhehee

Edz:                     you can read in the book of macabees which the prostestant church ay hindi kinikilala bilang isang canonical book na it is holy to pray for the dead.

Friend:                 search about it bro.

Edz:                     i have to ask you bro, nasaan napunta ang mga kaluluwa noong wala pa si kristo?

Friend:                 di kc sya aproved

Edz:                     nung wala pa si kristo, wala pang kaligtasan?

Edz:                     e di ang daming napariwara noon

Friend:                 SABI SA BIBLE SA HADES

Friend:                 NOOOOOOOOOH

Friend:                 I CANT REEDZMBER UNG VERSE

Friend:                 SAKA UNG MGA PRAYERS NYO PAULIT ULIT

Edz:                      aaminin ko man, hindi namin sinasaulo ang mga verses, because we read the bible by chapter or by stories

Friend:                  WHICH IS SA BIBLE AYAW NI GOD NG GANUN

Edz:                      i will also answer that question logically.

Edz:                      yung nasa bible na tinutukoy na paulit-ulit ay yung prayer na nagmumula lang sa labi, walang kabuluhang panalangin kasi hindi taos sa puso.

Edz:                      di ba mahal tayo ng diyos? yes or no?

Friend:                  OO NMAN MAHAL

Friend:                  JOHN 3:16

Edz:                      if your answer is yes, at kung mahal mo ang diyos, hindi ka magsasawang magsabi sa kanya ng "I LOVE YOU" at kung mahal ka ng taong pinagsasabihan mo, hindi rin siya magsasawang makining

Friend:                  wrong context ka naman

Edz:                      kahit paulit-ulit, ganun lang yun kasimple basta galing sa puso.

Friend:                  sya na nga nagsabi na ayw nya ng paulit ulit na prayer.

Friend:                  wheheee

Edz:                      ang tinutukoy na paulit-ulit ay yung prayer na nagmumula lang sa labi, walang kabuluhang panalangin kasi hindi taos sa puso

Edz:                      did you know that the rosary na sinasabi mong paulit-ulit ay nagdadala sa akin sa deep prayer to reflect on the life of jesus?

Friend:                  san sa bible?

Friend:                  pakita mo

Friend:                 saka ung pangungumpisal

Edz:                     well, i'm sorry, i am not well-versed sa mga verses sa bible, i am only answering you logically.

 

Friend:                  basta daming teaching na puro tradition lang... di sya naka base sa bible.

Friend:                  anyway bro

Friend:                  wala naman din namn sinabi sa bible kung anong religion ang makakapagligtas

Friend:                  its our relationship with him

Edz:                      well, that is the beauty of my church, you cannot understand why and what is it written without studying the tradition of the early christians and the jews.

Friend:                  John 3:3 (New International Version, ©2010)

     3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.

Edz:                      catholics are born again in spirit when they are baptized. kaya hindi ko lubos maisip bakit born again christians ang claim ng mga ibang christians samantalang catholics are "born again in spirit"

Friend:                  Romans 3:23 (New International Version, ©2010)

    for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Edz:                     tama naman

Edz:                     tama naman di ba

Friend:                 basta bro maraming conflicts sa doctrine ng catholic pag binasa mo bible

Friend:                 sa bagy kanya kanya naman tayo

Edz:                     kasi you read it as is and failed to consider the question: "why it is written."

Friend:                 wehhehehee

Friend:                 meron pang faith sa bible na niluhuran sya pero sinaway nya ung taong lumuhod sa kanya sabi nya tao lang ako...

Friend:                 bro thanks sa pag sagot mo ng question ko ha

Friend:                 ganda ng topic natin whehehe

Friend:                 kaso need to rest

Friend:                 mag church ako maya eh

- end of conversation -

I am a catholic, though i lack the mastery in bible verses, i believe and follow the teachings of the catholic church... its faith... and its doctrine... sometimes i feel that i may disagree to where my religion stands, but i still believe that my religion is still the one that guides me and gives me the wisdom and understanding in times of my need and despair...

you may not agree with me, but just remember, there are still questions in this world that cant be answered by science.... 

at the end, I will always believe in the FATHER, and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.

credits: except for the last photo, all photos are from yahoo.com