Beijing Re-Visited....

Yes I know I have not been updating my blog or uploading any pictures. I have been having some issues with that. But trust me I will be uploading em' soon. I have been really busy for the past 5 days. As you can see below the last update on the blog was on the 14th of Aug 2008. I have been really busy with work. Got in today and I told myself that I have to update and report of what has been going on here.

15th August 2008

I was off today and guess what, I got tickets to go and watch the semi finals tennis matches. Only woke up @ 2pm and then headed straight to the Olympic Greens Domain in the Games Village. The first match which was between James Blake v Fernando Gonzales started @ 4pm - that was a treat, then we (Vicky & I) watched the women's semi finals between Jelena Jankovic vs Dinara Safina & then the finale' - which was an absolute treat: Rafael Nadal (World No. 2) vs Novak Djokovic (World No.3). It ended @ about 12ish mn and then we headed back to the hotel for dinner and then for a few drinks. Got home and slept.

16th August 2008

Did not do much. Called in to my Manager and informed her that I was not coming in to work. Rested @ the hotel. Worked out for quite a bit in the gym - oh yes, that reminds me I need to go in to the gym today. Had dinner with the guys and then went out with Alex Kofi (Germany), Alexandre (France), Tanja (Serbia), Marianne (Germany), Bernard (Austria), Priyanka (India) and Marcos (Brazil). It was a very nice night as we were all from different parts of the world - and what can I say, alcohol unites everyone. It was a cool night as we were all telling each other how differently we all drink in our own countries. We had supper and got back by 3am.

17th August 2008

Took the day off to go out for a bit. Had lunch and the took the train and visited the Tian'men Square and the Forbidden City. Then went into WangFuJing Street for a while, bought some souvenirs there and then headed back to the Silk Street Market - to get some more stuff. Then, Derrick met us and we got back to the hotel. Did not plan to go anywhere, so I headed to the gym, worked out, had dinner and very much just chilled in my room watching the Olympic highlights. The guys wanted to go out for a drink, but I decided to rest as I had to be up early the next morning by 6.30am. I had made reservations to go to the Great Wall of China. The tour included a visit to the Great Wall, Ming Tomb, Jade Factory, Dr.Tea Tea Shop and finally a foot massage by the Tibetan Herbal Doctors - which was very good. Anyway, got back and rested

18th August 2008

I was up by 6.15am, showered, got ready and headed to the Coffee House for bfast. Met Lukas & Anna (Poland) who were supposed to come with me. After bfast, the van was waiting for us. Got in and headed straight to the Great Wall (Bandaling route). The thing is there are many routes to the Great Wall, but this is the most scenic and most challenging route. We headed there and then by 8am we started 'hiking' the wall. It was tough. It was 3.5 steps in normal steps to 1 step on the Great Wall - what an experience. On my way down the wall, I got to a Certificate Shop and got a cert done for me - A Hero Card ( a card to prove that I have scaled the Wall). Trust me, it was not easy - it was a very complete cardio workout.

A brief history of the Great Wall:-

1. It took the Chinese 273 years to finish the entire wall

2. The entire wall is about 6,000kms long

3. The reason for the wall was to protect China from Mongolia

4. Every Emperor in China was an engineer in the continued construction of the Wall

After spending about 2 hours there, we got down and then headed to the Jade Factory - a very interesting experience for me. I have never known the value of jade. I saw how they carved, polished and created beautiful pieces of jade jewellery. Then we headed to the Ming Tomb. The for lunch and then to the Dr.Tea Tea Shop and then for a nice Foot Massage by the Tibetan Herbal Practitioners. By the time we got back from all of that it was 5pm. Just had a light dinner and then rested in the room. I was working the next day and I had to be @ the venue early and the bouts were starting as early as 9am in the morning. So, just rested. Did I want to go into the gym, of course I wanted - could I take the tiredness? Hell no! So, I'd thought I'd pass gym and just chill out in the room.

19th August 2008

Got in to the CAU Gym by 11am. Got all the results verified. Women's competition was over, but the Men's freestyle had just started. Went through all the documents to ensure there were no issues. Everything was going according to plan - by God's grace. Went for lunch, headed back to the OVR Room (On-Venue Results) and now we're waiting for the next rounds of competition to start again. It should begin by 4pm. Will tell you all about it tomorrow - or if possible by tonight.