Days 8/9 - Aug 12 + 13

* Sorry for the delay!! Blog will be updated DAILY! As well as video blogs nearly everyday including the newest one at: *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0c9ilvkOjc

TUES AUG 12 (Day 8)

Woke up much earlier today - 730. Had a shower, ate and left 830ish. Met Denise at Guomao just after 9am. We subway'd and then took the Olympic Bus to the Beijing Univ of Technology for the badminton event. We got there about 10min before we started so we went straight inside. We were in "B" seats once again and had a corner view of everything. Our Canadian Mixed team lost against a higher ranked Thai team. we got to see the #2 seeded Men's Singles player from Malaysia and he won easily. There were also a couple Mixed Doubles and Men's doubles matches that took place (all round of 16). We left there just after 1pm and went back to the subway station. Then her "driver" picked us up and took us to SoHo where we had to pick up more Olympic tickets for the coming days. From there she went to work and I went across Line 1 to meet up with my other friend and her dad. We then went back to his hotel and took a taxi to the North Olympic Green. By that time it was nearly 6pm and we still had to go through security etc. We made it through and into the Olympic Tennis Centre. We first saw #3 MS ranked Djokavic who won easily on Court 1. Then on Centre Court I got to see Layton Hewitt vs. Rafael Nadal! I was really lucky to get to see the future #1 and defending French Open/Wimbledon champion. It was a decent match with some good shots. And then to my surprise, the next match on Centre Court had #1 seeded Roger Federer! He played some guy from somewhere and won pretty easily. I also got to see the Serena+Venus Williams win their Womens Doubles match and a couple other high rank players. It was a really great experience and lucky to see so many people in one night! We left there around 1030 and got back to the apartment at 1130. Just cooling off and gonna go sleep~

WED AUG 13 (Day 9)

Woke up early for the second straight morning. Was up around 730 and left the apartment before 9. Took a long walk around the neighbourhood looking for things I might need. Eventually got on the subway around 1015. I went to the far end (west) of Line 10 to Baguo station. From there I took a bus to get to the Summer Palace. By that time it was almost 11. I spent a good couple hours walking around (more like up and down) the place which had some very nice old Chinese buildings and some splendid views. It had been destroyed twice previously, but they have rebuilt it beautifully. It was a massive property (290 hectares - 3/4 water) and there must have been hundreds of tourists/people in the place. From there I took a 20min bus ride to the Yuanmingyuan Ruins. I was expecting to see something like a smaller version of the Mayan Ruins in Mexico but it turned out to be acres and acres of a "park." There were two smaller sites which would be considered "ruins" within the park but the majority of it was trails and bridges along/over this river. It was actually very very pretty and carried a much different atmosphere to parks in Canada. In size comparison, (it was 350 hectares - 1/3 water) I would say similar to Stanley Park and I walked non-stop around that place for over 3.5hrs! Finally near 6 I was out of the gate and back into suburbia. I was going to take the bus to the Peking University Gymnasium (where I was going for the Table Tennis) but since I had plenty of time I decided to walk there. With like no tread left on my shoes from the day I arrived at around 630, an hour before opening. I went through security, purchased postcards/collectibles, took pictures, grabbed some "dinner" (I had been snacking throughout the day on these chinese sausages which are cooked and flavorful and a good value and when I got to the Venue, it was the first place which actually had hot dogs available!). Inside there were 8 tables spread out across the gym. The competition was pretty good; China won their match in like 30min and the next closest team took at least an hour. It was all said and done by 930 so I bus'd and subway'd and walk'd it home. Back home by 1130 after picking up some fresh baked goods for tomorrow's breakfast. Now doing some typing and going to sleep 1230ish~