Day 4 - Oct 18, 2006: Last Day of Competition

Time really flies when you're occupied with work. In a blink of an eye, it's now already my 4th day in China. The day did not start off as well as the previous few because the 'down' moments had continued from the night before.

Yes, Tiff did had a hard time last night. She was practically talking to the walls when she was trying to strike some conversation with YQ. Least, that was what she told me. And YQ's black face was still clearly shown. It's as if her face isn't dark enough, she had to make it darker. I was really getting annoyed of her attitude because she just ignored the rest of the world.

It has always been a problem, just that I was never bothered of her. I could just ignore her completely if not because I promised her father that I'll look after the 2 gals while in China. Not only that, her rudeness and disrespectful of others had gotten others speaking to me about it. In a way, they complaint. Well, what did you think was my response? I could not say anything. I didn't even know how to response. All I could say was that we (those from our association) have gotten used to her attitude problem. Only Alex could stand her and he admitted that to me.

As always, the day started early as breakfast was at 0600 and bus left at 0700. Maybe a little later because of the delays. Tiffany's event was the first of the day, meaning that there was no time for procrastination. Her appetite was pretty good despite of her losing her voice from last night. Her deep voice has made her sounded a man that morning.

When arriving at the gymnasium, she immediately got started with her warm up. I accompanied her while YQ just sat down at one corner, day dreaming. I let her be. After she was called for standby, I brought her things up into the stands as there was nothing more I could do now except to take the video of her event.

All 3 of us had our events shot on video but because her carpet was the furthers from the stands, her image was still very small despite having zoomed to the max. Obviously our most precious one here, complained. Mine was fine because my carpet was just beside the stands (sorry guys, I still have not gotten the videos). Too bad, but at least she already has a gold medal for remembrance.

This time, she could not perform to her full potential and she knew it too. It wasn't her 100%. Still, it was a good silver. We joined the rest of the team at the other end of the stands where others were competing after that. We waited for a couple of hours before we could actually return to the hotel and then back to the gymnasium after lunch for YQ's event. A few others are also competing in the afternoon. Today would be the last day of competition for the whole team. None of us has any event in the last day of the competition which will be the following day.

During that time, they organisers suddenly annouced the award ceremony for my 2nd silver. Luckily I was there to collect them. Initially, they said they would only pass the medals to the respective team leaders after all the first day afternoon events had their ceremony postponed.

So me collecting my 2nd medal.
I don't know who snapped this. But it's definately not me because I was waiting to collect my medal. So don't blame me for this.














I still do not know why the pictures turned out so dark. I tried editing them but would only made it worst. Can anyone help me?














Tiffany too got her 2nd medal at the same ceremony.
Looks like she got too bored waiting she had to resort to listening her phone music player. Notice her earphones by her left ear?














While waiting to go back for lunch at the hotel, we snapped some photos to kill time.















When we returned to the hotel, there wasn't much time for us to relax or do anything else. I could not have my camera battery recharged as we had to leave immediately after lunch.

It's was pretty much the same thing in the afternoon. This time, the good thing was that we managed to buy some weapons. One businessman was smart enough to set up stalls (in a van) just outside the gymnasium and I so happen bumped into them. But we still could not get all the items we wanted.

Already we bought quite a lot, but it's still wasn't enough. And they're leaving in the next couple of hours and won't be returning the next day. I can't help but wonder, are these Chinamen so dumb at doing business or are there actually restrictions imposed on them. Since they knew we're here for competition, they could have guess that they'll have good business here because almost everyone wanted to buy a weapon or two. But only 1 miserable stall opened at the gymnasium and only for a few hours.

Well, at least we won't be going home empty handed. During this moment I was running 2 ways. One was to see how's YQ warm up. See if she needs any assistance. The other was returning to the van where I left Tiff alone with the weapons we had chosen. After YQ was called for standby and weapons bought, we returned to the stands.

In this event, YQ faced a tough challenge. Her competitors were strong. They were excellent. They had the agility, speed and grace. It was flawless. The only thing lacking a little was the strength, which was understandable since they're playing the Northern style while we're playing the Southern style. YQ was lucky with a silver. She was close to a bronze.

After her event, again she was showing her black face. I couldn't be bothered anymore of her. I did not even take a photo of her receiving her 2nd medal.

While waiting outside, we took a photo with some Venezuelans.
Part of the team from Venezuela.











As we returned to the hotel, it was the most relaxing night thus far. We could finally take a long comfortable bath, enjoy our food (the food was exceptionally delicious that night) and walk about. While the rest returned to the gymnasium for their final events, we spent the night walking at a nearby shopping complex but not for long. It closes at 2130. We could only walked for about an hour or so. That night was also the first time I tasted the Taiwan sausage, sold at RMB 1, which is about only RM 0.50, far cheaper than what they sell in Malaysia.

So after that we just returned to the hotel since it's starting to drizzle. We just watched tv for a moment before we went to bed. It's been a tiring day. I slept most comfortably that night.