#794 - 2010 Australian Open's Finals

note : this will be another post only posted in English

Finally, about an hour ago, the first grandslam of they year, the 2010 Australian Open was concluded. A lot of things happened in this tournament, and it actually has been a lot more interesting than the same tournament last year, I think.

::: Serena Williams posing with her trophy after winning women's singles final against Justine Henin in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

On the women's side, yesterday the dream final between first seeded Serena Williams and wildcard Justine Henin took place. I made a tiny guess here, predicting Serena Williams had a tiny advantage over Justine Henin and that Serena might win the tournament. Well, my prediction went on correct. Serena Williams beat Justine Henin in a very exciting three setter, by 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Serena lost her momentum in the second set, causing Justine Henin to take it 6-3. Serena quickly regained her momentum at the third set after leading 2-1. It was really a dream and perfect final for the women's singles. The match was tough and there were so many amazing points made by the two players. Well, this final was so different with last year's final, where Serena Williams easily crushed Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3. I agree with Serena, Justine is back, and she definitely will make the competition much more interesting :-)

::: Roger Federer with his trophy after winning men's singles final against Andy Murray in straight sets.

On the men's side, the final was between Roger Federer, three times Australian Open champion and already collected 15 major titles in his pocket, and Andy Murray, yet to win a major title. Well, I really wanted Andy Murray to win the title, which would relieve the burden on his shoulders (no British man has won a major title since 1936) and prove that he can be number 1. Beside, I am also kinda bored with Roger Federer's dominance on the game. However, the burden turned out to be too much for Murray, I think. This is reflected by his play in the final, which I personally think it was not his 100% best. He made too many unnecessary errors, giving away points for Federer. He got a little better in the third set, but it still wasn't enough, and still wasn't his best as he got broken while leading 5-3. Federer in the end won 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(11), through a very tight tiebreak in the third set. Well, Andy Murray actually deserves to win a grandslam title. He got every technique needed. He just needs more time and may be some more mental skill to play his best under enormous pressure.

::: Andy Murray drinking during his final match against Federer.

Anyway, in the end, congratulations for Serena Williams and Roger Federer to win the first grandslam title this year!! :-)

note : all pictures taken from the official website, link above.

#793 - Australian Open Women's Singles Final, Exciting!!

note:
- I will write about my holiday to BALI next week because the topic I am writing right now is very exciting and it needs to be written now, while it's up :-)
- this entry will only be written in English.

This year, one of the greatest tennis players during the 2000s, Justine Henin, came back to compete at the professional tour. She started the year at Brisbane International, after receiving a wildcard entry because after 20 months of retirement, she didn't (and still doesn't) have any point nor rank. There, she made it to the final and lost in a very tight match against, another comeback queen who was back to tennis pro last August and won the US Open title, Kim Clijsters. En route, Henin beat Nadia Petrova. After the match, Petrova said Henin's style of play is different with her style before the retirement. She is more aggressive right now, not much like a clay court player as she used to be. This new style is supposed to match hard court's characteristics more.

::: Justine Henin with her backhand was in action during a night match at 2010 Australian Open

Two weeks later, at the 2010 Australian Open, the first grandslam tennis of the year, against all odds, Justine Henin made it to the final beating Elena Dementieva, world no. 5; Yanina Wickmayer; and Nadia Petrova, whom annihilated Kim Clijsters and crushed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the earlier stages, en route. Her opponent in the final is no other than the current world no. 1 (and will still be no. 1 in the world after this match, no matter how the outcome will be), Serena Williams. Serena Williams defeated Samantha Stosur, local favorite; Victoria Azarenka, seeded 7 who already had 6-4, 4-0 lead at her match against Serena, but Serena still managed to turn things around and won the match; and Chinese Li Na, en route to the final.

Surely this is a must-watched match and is probably the best final combination for this year's Australian Open, especially after unstable performances by most top-ranked woman players, named Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, and Maria Sharapova, while some new comers, like Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, and maybe Yanina Wickmayer, still need to prove their consistency.

::: Serena Williams vs Justine Henin, who will bring the trophy home this year?

The match is interesting, because the two have never met in a grandslam final before. Who will win the match? Well, it's a tough call, but let's check history and get some stats:

Head to Head Record:
Serena Williams 7 - 6 Justine Henin

Hard Court Head to Head Record
Serena Williams 4 - 1 Justine Henin

Last Meeting:
2008 Sony Ericsson Open, Key Biscayne, Miami, USA (Tier I Event), HARD COURT, Quarterfinal
Serena Williams WON by 6-2, 6-0

Final Stage Record
Serena Williams 2 - 2 Justine Henin

Well, from those stats, it's clear that Serena Williams is more likely to win, because Australian Open is a hard-court tournament. History shows that Serena is more dominant in hard court tournaments, while Justine Henin is (was) more dominant in clay-court tournaments. However, considering Nadia Petrova's comment, who has played Justine Henin three times since her comeback (one at exhibition tournament in Cairo, clay court match, two at professional level matches, in Brisbane and Australian Open), Henin has changed her style!! Therefore, the stats can be misleading this time, because of the major change.

Looking at their playing style. Well, Serena is Serena while Justine Henin, again, according to Petrova's comment, has changed, there's nothing much to say because it's still new. However, so far, it seems to have worked well for her. Still, there's no guarantee yet because so far Henin has only played one top 5 player, Elena Dementieva, in an amazing and nailbiting 2nd round match at Rod Laver Arena last week. It might be a good test for her new style of play, but it definitely needs more "real tests".

::: Serena Williams in action during a day match

So, the conclusion is - it's not conclusive enough tho actually because there are too many random factors taking place, LOL - it can be anyone's game. They are both fighters, they play amazingly, they are both champions (they have ever won Australian Open before, Serena with four titles in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009; Justine Henin with one title, in 2004). However, I think Serena slightly has an advantage over Henin. So, I'd go for Serena Williams for the win!!! Go Serena!!! :-)

Well, whoever wins this match (one of them will win anyway, and the other one will have to lose, unfortunately, but that's the reality of a tournament) doesn't really matter if we see the big picture. With Justine Henin's comeback, hopefully women tennis will become more competitive and exciting to watch. Right now, the Williams sisters are still dominating the draw. Sure, there are some shining players, but they don't tend to shine for long. Inconsistency, that's the major problem many younger female tennis players have right now. Hopefully, with Henin's comeback, along with the Williams sisters' dominance (they won another grandslam doubles title earlier today, beating world no.1s in doubles, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, in straight sets), things will be stirred up.

note: all pictures are taken from the official website, link above.

#792 - Posted in Bali

ENGLISH

Well, I have about 20 minutes to kill in Bali (because I want to maximize the use of this internet cafe's rate, LOL), so I post this entry. This is my first entry posted from a place out of Java Island!! hahaha... :-)

Anyway, it has been super fun in Bali. I will post the story soon since now I am not in the mood on writing long, LOL. Next Thursday I am going back to Bandung catching AirAsia, so quick!! hahaha

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, ada sekitar waktu 20 menit untuk dibuang nih di Bali (karena aku mau memaksimalkan penggunaan internet di warnet ini berdasarkan biayanya, LOL), makanya iseng aja posting ini. Ini ternyata adalah posting pertamaku yang di-post di luar pulau Jawa lho!! hahaha... :-)

Ngomong2, sudah asik banget nih di Bali. Aku akan tulis ceritanya nanti karena sekarang sedang nggak ingin nulis yang panjang2, LOL. Kamis besok aku akan balik ke Bandung nih naik AirAsia, cepatnya!! hahaha

#791 - Holiday Continues

ENGLISH

Well, last Sunday I went back to Bandung. Sure, I will be graduated this February and that means I do not have to attend any class anymore this semester. So, why did I get back to Bandung? Well, the reason is that I still had to deal with all of the graduation thingy here in Bandung. Beside that, tomorrow afternoon I am going to Bali, from Bandung, catching AirAsia's flight :-) So, from now on, holiday continues.... :-)

These three days, I also got some good news for me. Well, I think I will save them for later, because now I want to complain about my super crappy internet connection. Well, after months of being error (now, it is), I think it's a no brainer decision to finally terminate this connection and subscribe to another provider, hahaha... :-) Now I am in an internet cafe...

Bali, here I coommeeee!!! :-)

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, Minggu kemarin aku balik ke Bandung. Ya, aku akan wisuda bulan Februari ini dan ini berarti aku tidak perlu mengikuti kuliah lagi kan semester ini. Lantas, mengapa aku balik Bandung? Ya jelas aja sih aku masih harus mengurus hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan wisuda nanti. Di samping itu, besok siang aku akan pergi ke Bali, dari Bandung, naik penerbangannya AirAsia :-) Jadi, mulai sekarang, liburan berlanjut... :-)

Tiga hari terakhir ini, aku juga mendapat beberapa berita baik. Ya, aku simpan buat nanti saja deh ya, karena sekarang mau komplain tentang koneksi internet super payahku nih. Yah, karena sudah berbulan-bulan error (sekarang aja masih error), aku rasa keputusan untuk memberhentikan koneksi ini adalah keputusan yang mudah ya. Aku akan langganan ke provider lain saja deh, hahaha... :-) Sekarang aja aku mesti ke warnet nih...

Bali, aku dataaaannngggg!!! :-)

#790 - Holiday Updates

ENGLISH

Well, this holiday has been quick, just as usual, hahaha. Tomorrow I am going back to Bandung catching Argo Wilis Express. Well, I still have one holiday ahead tho. Next Thursday I am going to Bali with my friends :-)

Anyway, nothing special happened lately. It's just that I found a new very interesting game in Facebook, Airline Manager. Well, this game is like my dream game as I love aviation and managing an airline! hahaha :-) If you have Facebook account, open my airline: Zilko Airlines and make sure you buy its growing stocks!! :-)

Last Thursday, we celebrated my grandma's 79th birthday. We had dinner at Serayu Chinese Food Restaurant at Quality Hotel.

::: Bakso Kobis at Kridosono

::: some of our meal at Serayu: birthday noodle, sweet-sour snapper, dry-fried chicken, some vegies, dimsums, and fried rice.

::: fried chicken at Tojoyo

::: Bakso Gress I had with my friend today

::: some of our meal at Lie Djiong.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, liburan kali ini berlangsung cepat ya, seperti biasa, hahaha. Besok aku akan balik Bandung nih naik kereta api Argo Wilis. Ya, aku masih ada satu liburan di depan mata sih. Kamis depan aku akan pergi ke Bali sama teman2 :-)

Ngomong2, nggak ada yang spesial yang terjadi belakangan ini. Hanya saja aku menemukan satu game sangat menarik lho di Facebook, Airline Manager. Yah, game ini tuh seperti game impianku banget deh karena aku suka dunia penerbangan dan mengatur sebuah maskapai penerbangan! hahaha :-) Jadi, kalau punya akun di Facebook, buka maskapaiku yah: Zilko Airlines dan jangan lupa membeli sahamnya yang nilainya terus naik!! :-)

Kamis kemarin, kami merayakan ulang tahun ke-79 nenekku. Kami makan malam di Serayu Chinese Food Restaurant di Hotel Quality.

#789 - New Year's Eve

ENGLISH

For the latest new year's eve, my family and I bought tickets to join the old and new party held at Hyatt Regency, Yogyakarta. The theme of the party was "1001 Nights with Dewi Persik". Yes, Dewi Persik would be the special star that night. On the invitations, the party started at 6 PM. We went there at 7 PM and when we arrived, no other invitees had already been there, or in other words, the party hadn't started yet, haha.

Because the invitations included buffet dinner, we decided to have dinner first. "Buffet" can be translated as "all you can eat", that's why coming earlier than everyone else is an advantage as we could pick any food we liked and wanted for free (no need to queue, the food was still fresh and abundant, LOL). Anyway, because the theme was "1001 Nights" which of course sounds really Arabic, the menu that night was also Arabian food, at least, they tasted so Arabic. Even though my tounge is not used to that kind of food but they are actually tasty :-)

Anyway, then the show started at about 8 PM with a band performing (not Dewi Persik because she was scheduled to perform at around 11 + PM). The band performed in exchange with a female DJ and belly dancers. At around 11.30 PM, finally Dewi Persik showed up and sang three songs before the countdown. The countdown itself was kinda a mess because at the same time, they lit all the fireworks at the golf club and Dewi Persik performed at the stage, that's why it was not so focused. Then, Dewi Persik continued to sing many songs (I heard she was about to sing 10 songs but in fact she sang A LOT more, around 20 I think!! Hmmm, kudos). Well, I think Dewi Persik is truly an entertainer. She was able to bring the mood of the crowd up and all people became enthusiastic with the show, even them who had already fallen asleep before, LOL. Beside that, she was also humble and really nice to the fans as she was okay if any fan would take a picture with her :-) When the show had already been over (supposedly), someone requested her to sing one more song. I knew she had already been super exhausted (yeah, singing about 20 songs in a row!! C'mon!! Karyoke-ing for 2 hours non stop (of course with break between songs) is already tiring for me and my voice, this time she sang non-stop literally!!). But still she granted that request as she sang one more song. Kudos to Dewi Persik!! :-)

Then, the show ended with doorprizes draw. Damn, as usual, I didn't win any, haha.... . Well, overall, the party was a success. The expensive ticket fee wasn't that "expensive" anymore after Dewi Persik's performance and the quality of the food. Even though the countdown was a mess, overally the party was still great.

::: Middle Eastern food and complimentary drinks (champagne, red wine, juice)

::: At the party

::: belly dancers belly-dancing.

::: Dewi Persik performing

::: Dewi Persik performing

::: Me and Dewi Persik

BAHASA INDONESIA

Untuk malam tahun baru kemarin ini, aku dan keluarga membeli tiket untuk mengikuti acara pergantian tahun di Hyatt Regency, Yogyakarta. Tema pestanya adalah "1001 Nights With Dewi Persik". Ya, Dewi Persik menjadi bintang tamu pada acara malam hari itu. Di undangan, pestanya mulai jam 6 sore. Kami berangkat jam 7 malam dan waktu tiba, belum ada undangan lain yang udah datang, dengan kata lain, acaranya belum mulai, haha.

Karena undangan sudah termasuk makan malam buffet, kami memutuskan untuk makan dulu deh. "Buffet" dapat pula diartikan sebagai "all you can eat" kan, makanya datang duluan dari orang lain bisa dipandang sebagai keuntungan karena bisa mengambil makanan sesuka hati dengan bebas (nggak perlu ngantri, masakannya baru matang dan masih melimpah, LOL). Ngomong2, karena temanya adalah "1001 Malam" yang tentu terdengar sangat Timur Tengah, menu malam itu juga bertemakan Timur Tengah deh, paling nggak terasa seperti itu. Walau lidahku nggak biasa sama masakan itu, tapi enak juga loh :-)

Ngomong2, kemudian acaranya dimulai sekitar jam 8 malam dengan sebuah band tampil (bukan Dewi Persik karena dia dijadwalkan tampil jam 11 malam lebih). Band ini tampil bergantian dengan seorang DJ perempuan dan penari perut. Jam 11.30 malam, akhirnya Dewi Persik muncul juga dan nyanyi tiga lagu sebelum hitung mundur. Hitung mundurnya sendiri agak kacau sih menurutku, karena pada saat yang sama mereka menyalakan kembang api di lapangan golf dan Dewi Persik tampil di panggung, makanya nggak fokus kan. Kemudian, Dewi Persik terus deh nyanyi (aku dengar dia akan menyanyi sekitar 10 lagu, cuma kenyataannya dia nyanyi JAUH lebih banyak tuh, sekitar 20an kayanya!! Hmm, hebat deh). Aku rasa dia juga memang penghibur sejati, soalnya dia mampu membawa mood penonton naik dan bersemangat untuk menonton acaranya, bahkan mereka yang sebelumnya ngantuk, LOL. Di samping itu, dia juga rendah hati dan baik banget ke penggemar karena dia fine2 saja kalo ada penggemar yang mau foto bareng :-) Ketika acaranya sudah selesai (seharusnya), seseorang meminta dia nyanyi satu lagu lagi. Ya, aku tau lah pasti sudah capek banget tuh (iyalah, nyanyi 20an lagu beruntung gitu lho!! Iya kan. Lha karaokean 2 jam non stop (tentu ini ada istirahatnya di antara lagu2 gitu kan) udah capek banget untuk aku dan suaraku, lha ini benar2 non stop loh!!). Namun, dia masih mau lho nyanyi lagu permintaan penonton itu. Hebat deh Dewi Persik!! :-)

Kemudian, acara dilanjutkan dengan penarikan doorprize. Ya sial lah, kaya biasanya, aku nggak menang, haha... . Yah, secara keseluruhan pestanya sukses sih menurutku. Tiket yang mahal jadi tidak terasa "semahal" itu karena penampilan Dewi Persik dan makanan yang ok. Walau hitung mundurnya agak kacau, tetapi secara keseluruhan masih hebat.

#788 - Happy New Year 2010!!!

Hi All

I want to say:

"HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010"



I know 2009 has kinda been an unproductive year for this blog, especially the second semester, with only 143 posts this year, and only 48 posts posted in the second semester. I hope 2010 will be a much more productive year for this blog! :-) Thanks for supporting me and this blog :-)



note: my newest post can be read here.