my ajumma notes

Belated thoughts, post Justine's retirement announcement. She was one reason why I started watching tennis again. As even Federer said, she was 'remarkable' in that she was small and yet, how many times have we seen her cream players who were giants in comparison? She has had a number of dubious 'sports-womanship' moments but I admire her guts and grit. The most memorable match in that category was her 2003 US Open semi-final against Jennifer Capriati. And then, of course, there is her backhand, which will be missed for a long time. For once, Serena Williams had something nice to say , "She was a great champion and she gave me a world of trouble, so I hope the best for her. What can you say about such a great champion? I don't think we have enough time." So, looks like the ladies' French Open trophy is up for grabs now. The tournament will be really different without her. It would almost be like having the men's tournament without Nadal. As f

Apparently, some people think the five fuwa , the mascots of the Beijing Olympics, have jinxed China . Jingjing, the panda, is native to Sichuan, site of the current disaster. Huanhuan, the red one with 'flame hair', has seen trouble with the Olympic torch. Yingying, the antelope (the yellow one) is native to Tibet, site of, well, Tibet. And Nini, with a kite (the green one), represents the 'kite city' Weifang which recently saw a disastrous train derailment. So now, it seems Beibei (the blue one) portends some disaster at the Yangzi River because Beibei is a sturgeon fish, found only in the Yangzi River. Interesting... And we have Yingying and Nini right here in our living room... It is also interesting that in the olden days in both China and Myanmar, disasters of such magnitude were interpreted as unequivocal signs of disapproval (of the ruler) from the heavens. I wonder what is running through the minds of the leaders in both countries now. Well, at least Hu and We

The ladies are in Berlin. It's not often that you see Justine in an even slightly flouncy skirt. She looks nice in the outfit, and there was this yellow string at the back of her shirt, I think. Her off-court get-ups are often not so exciting, though. Ana's lovely dress. And the Russian tee-shirt look. Pictures from here .

For a few weeks, we had to watch nothing but Life Made Simple because the boy had taken to watching it, on the recommendation of his friends. I do know that the show is/was popular but I don't see it as one of TVB's brightest moments and I couldn't wait for it to end. A big plus point of the show is that it is quite values-laden: friendship, family ties, loyalty, honesty, etc. The acting is alright, too. As usual, Jessica acts well, as does Lo Yuen Yan, who plays Roger's mum. However, I thought it made light of marriage. First, there is Leila wanting, for a long time, to marry Bosco because he is rich. It is unbelievable that they suddenly love each other and get married at the end. After all, for an almost equally long time, Bosco is not interested in her, he likes Jessica (very much), Leila is awful to most people (including Bosco when his company fails) and betrays Jessica. But she does look good in the wedding segment. The worst part of the show is Jessica marryi