I miss my mom. I miss having her around. It's been 2 weeks since she passed away, and although I've been adjusting pretty well the past few days, I still cry once in a while whenever I remember that moment she died in the hospital. Wherever she is, I know she's already at peace, away from her illness, away from her problems. And I know she's proud of me and my sister, because we're already living on our own, without guardians, and we're doing okay. If she was still alive, I know she'd tell us, "Proud ako sa inyo mga anak, ginagawa niyo lahat ng tinuro ko."

I don't wanna write a long post about this, because I know I'll just cry. I just wanna tell you Mom, that I love you and I miss you.

So Chris Brown and Rihanna are performing together in Manila on November 16. HOLY SHIIIIT. Chris Brown in the Philippines?!?!?!?! (*faints*). YEABOI. Dreams DO come true. Haha!

I'm 90% sure that I'm gonna watch this one. Where's the remaining 10%? Haha, blame it on the finances. Ticketworld has an early bird promo until end of October, and I'm planning to avail that one. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether to get GOLD or SILVER tickets. Coz I'm such a cheap ass, I want to settle for the silver. But.. but... but.. this is Chris Brown.. I don't deserve a silver when it comes to Chris Brown. I want the gold! Or even the platinum (if someone will sponsor my ticket.. haha!) :p



EARLY BIRD PROMO
Ticket pricing until October 31
GOLD PhP 3090.00
SILVER PhP 1545.00
BRONZE PhP 309

Think Jaymie think. Decision is needed soon.

Although I'm absolutely pissed that Ivanovic has taken over the no. 1 position, I'm still glad that there are 5 Russians in the top 10 rankings. Here are the latest WTA tour rankings (as of today, June 9, 2008)

1   Ana Ivanovic                              
2   Maria Sharapova                      
3   Jelena Jankovic                       
4   Svetlana Kuznetsova
5   Elena Dementieva
6   Serena Williams 
7   Venus Williams
8   Anna Chakvetadze
9   Dinara Safina
10    Marion Bartoli

A career-high #9 ranking for the lovable Dinara! Yahoo!

I'd like to believe that Masha will regain that no. 1 ranking. Bring on Wimbledon!:D

Rafael Nadal is indeed the KING OF CLAY. :D Congrats Rafa!



Four French Open titles in a row and a commanding 6-1 6-3 6-0 victory over the world's no. 1 player, Roger Federer. Wuhoo!

In every grand slam tournament, tennis enthusiasts just don't focus their attention on the matches themselves. We also like to assess the clothing that each tennis player wears, because believe it or not, a great tennis outfit really makes one endearing to the eye. So for Roland Garros 2008, here are a couple of observations I made.

First: Nike. I super loved Sharapova's dress. It was simple, yet elegant. And the color choice was really different compared to her past tournaments, where she often chooses to wear pastel colors like pink, yellow, orange, etc. In this year's French Open, she opted for a navy blue dress with white lining. Really nice. Good job Nike!

Also sporting a blue outfit from Nike was Lucie Safarova, with her collared and sleeved shirt with the skirt. It was okay, but I'm not a big fan of it.
            

Next: Adidas. For this one, I chose to assess Ana Ivanovic and Maria Kirilenko. Ana's outfit was very similar to what she wore in this year's Australian Open. The only thing that changed was the color, from blue to red-orange. Boring. I'm getting tired of seeing that look on her. Maria Kirilenko's dress was nice, I guess, but something was off. Maybe the color. But she still looked lovely.
         

For Fila: Kuznetsova and for Reebok: Jankovic. Jankovic's dress was okay, she looked like a woman in it. Kuznetsova, as always, looks like a man. Wahahahaha!
      
For Yonnex: Elena Demetieva looked terrible on that dress! What's up with the long cycling shorts??? I don't get it. It looked like her dress didn't fit her at all!


And what more perfect opportunity for France to boast Lacoste! The Lacoste outfits were all sporty and stylish. It would have been nice to see Andy Roddick in RG, but sad that he had to skip. Roddick and Lacoste = win.

I really don't care about men's tennis fashion, because it does not interest me at all. Although I have to say that I liked Nadal's ensemble this year. Green, my fave!


French Open Men's Finals later! Nadal vs. Federer. VAMOS NADAL!!! Go for FOUR!:D

I played tennis again awhile ago. I have to bear with this weekend thing, alright. Tennis every Saturday. :)

But I think I have an elbow injury. Masakit talaga siya. :(

OMG. Safina just beat Kuznetsova to get into the RG finals!!! WOOHOOHOO!!!! I am so excited! Hope she wins the championship. I love Safina!!!! A definite addition to my list of favorite players. I know you beat Sharapova, but the hell, I don't care anymore. Kick those Serbians' asses!!!!


So she will face either Jankovic or Ivanovic in the finals. I don't like any of them. I know Ivanovic has a really really huge fan base, because she's a great tennis player and she's beautiful. But I'm not a big fan of her. She's okay, but I'd definitely want to see Safina beat her. I hope. I wish. I pray.

As for the men's, I go for Nadal!!! (Nadal forever!)

So after 2 long years, I finally got to play tennis again. Playing with Denson and Dennis served as a refresher course for me, which is great because I almost forgot how to play it. HAHAHA. My service is still good (and I'm glad because it's my fave), my backhand needs a little more practice but it has a better form than my forehand (which sucks big time, FYI).

I learned that to be able to be good at playing tennis, you need the following:
1. footwork - running all over the court, you'll definitely need good foot coordination, or else, you'll trip and possibly get an injury.
2. excellent vision - you need to see where the ball will land, so you can properly position yourself before hitting the ball. This is one of my challenges. :p
3. follow-through - follow through after hitting the ball!!!! My forehand sometimes lacks the follow through, that's why the ball gets into the net.
4. proper racket grip - having the correct grip will enable you to hit the ball harder and with greater accuracy. This, I have to learn.

Playing tennis for 2 1/2 hours is torture for the muscles, but it was hella fun. My arms and my legs are aching right now, and I'm not sure if I'd be well to go to office tomorrow. But who cares? Haha. I'm planning to make this as my weekly activity, sort of a part of my work-life balance. Hehe. :D

Just awhile ago I said I can't wait for Roland Garros, and suddenly some bad news ruin my excitement. Andy Roddick pulls out of the French Open due to shoulder injury. :( :( :(

Oh wells, it would really be better to see Andy well-prepared for the grass court tournaments, especially Wimbledon. I'll just root for Nadal and Djokovic on RG. Haha.

So awhile ago, while we were having our pizza merienda break, Marvs, Ge and I shared updates on the tennis world. I just found out that Justine Henin has already announced her retirement last week, which is quite sad because she's actually one of my favorite players. I've always admired her for her shot accuracy, her agility on court, and her sense of humility when winning (or not winning) tournaments. Add to that is the fact that she's one of the shortest players in the game. At 5'5", it's really admirable that she can display such brilliance on court (I'm awed by her backhand shot).  With 41 WTA Singles Titles (inluding 7 Grand Slam Championships), she's retiring from professional tennis, as the No. 1 ranked player in the world. We'll miss you Justine.


However, looking at it at the brighter side, Henin's retirement caused Maria Sharapova to reclaim her no.1 world ranking. YAHOO!!!!!! Almost everybody moved one spot higher in the rankings, with a few exchanging rankings as well. I'm excited that Maria is entering the French Open as the top-seeded player. Woohoohoo!!! Oh, and I'm really glad to see 4 Russians in the Top 10 Again (Sharapova at 1, Kuznetsova at 4, Chakvetadze at 6, and Dementieva at 7). Though honestly, I really hate Kuznetsova. Ugh. I don't like her. I like Anna Chakvetadze, I think she has a lot of potential (she's very accurate when it comes to her shots as well), and am hoping she'd be winning a grand slam soon. She just needs to add more variety to her game, and needs more powerful shots.

Anyhoo, I'm SOOOOOO happy Rafael Nadal won at Hamburg. Yay!!! Boo Fed boo. Sorry for being a mean Nadal fan, but omg, I love these pictures. :D 10-6 in the head-to-head.
      

Roland Garros will be starting really really soon (next week? Not sure.) Am excited!!! Hey Anne, Ge, Marvs, don't forget your bets!!!