September hodgepodge

I haven't really been able to blog a lot in the last month because I've been quite busy, both at work and outside. The highlight of the month has to be my high school reunion. It was a milestone anniversary for my batch and because of that, almost half of our entire class went to the event, with many people flying in from other countries to join in the celebration. It was an amazing party and what made it even more amazing was seeing so many people I hadn't seen in such a long time. I was telling one of my friends that while I am still quite connected to many of my high school friends through social media and I get to interact with some of them every now and then, it was still very different seeing everyone together at the same time. It really was an epic night.

It was great to revisit my alma mater

Having many high school classmates in town at the same time meant that there were several smaller reunions organized right around the main homecoming event. My third year section had dinner at Toast at The 30th Ayala Mall and many of my classmates were able to make it: Trish, Edsel, Flo, Jan, Eugene, Elaine, Mitch, and George. I also had lunch at Marcia Adams in Tagaytay with Mitch and Eugene. I will write more about my lunch in Marcia Adams in a separate post.

Marcia Adams

Kingsman: The Golden Circle was the only film I watched at the cinema this month. This was a sequel of Kingsman: The Secret Service which I absolutely loved so I naturally had to watch this second film. I have to say that I liked the first one more and I think it had a tighter story but The Golden Circle was still a lot of fun to watch.

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsman:_The_Golden_Circle

Two of my newest board games are Scythe and Century Spice Road, both which I brought to my September game night. I had played Scythe once before and I have to say that I really like this game, even if I did end up in last place. :) If the rules were easier to explain, I would probably get more of my friends to play it.

Scythe

Century Spice Road is also pretty interesting. This one has easier rules than Scythe (it's been compared to Splendor but I don't think they are all that similar in terms of their game play) so I am sure I will play this with my more casual gaming friends.

Century Spice Road

I also brought my family to Niu by Vikings to celebrate my nephew's birthday. My nephews are in their teens and they can both eat quite a lot so I thought a buffet would be a perfect choice. It turned out to be a night of some massive feasting, with everyone heading back to the buffet spread for seconds and thirds (and even fourths). Niu is more expensive than a regular Vikings though so maybe for the next birthday celebration, we will go to a regular Vikings. (I think the difference is mainly that Niu has a few more luxury items and it also has wine but none of us had any wine so we ended up not really optimizing our dining options.)

Nadal still at #1

This is very late but as a Nadal fan, I still have to congratulate him for winning the 2017 US Open. That win gave Nadal his 16th Grand Slam event trophy, his 3rd US Open championship, and his 5th title this year. It also ensured that Rafa would continue to be ranked #1. And here I was worried that he would lose the ATP top ranking after the US Open.

Hoisting a Grand Slam trophy for the 16th time...

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆@RafaelNadal #USOpen pic.twitter.com/UAvcsP7MAG

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2017

This Nadal win means that he and Roger Federer have split the 4 major tournaments this year. Considering that many people have felt that Rafa and Roger were way past their primes and may never return to the pinnacle of the sport, this resurgence of both athletes is a testament to how astounding and legendary they are, both physically and mentally. They are both pretty much a lock to end the year #1 and #2. While Rafa has the advantage right now, the remainder of the year will be played on hard courts, a surface that favors Roger so it will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

🇨🇭: "I'll take Australia & London."

🇪🇸: "I'll take Paris & New York."

👆🏼Your 2017 Grand Slam champs.#USOpen🏆@rogerfederer @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/n3bD36mj5q

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2017

I was having a discussion with a friend of mine recently who was wondering why the up-and-coming men can't seem to break through. I told her that in my opinion, it was not because they weren't great; it was just because they were playing in the era of three of greatest players of all time. Over the last decade and a half, you would normally have to beat at least two of the three (Roger, Rafa and Novak Djokovic) to win a tournament. It doesn't help that usually, one or two of them are playing at the top of their game. And if they aren't, then Andy Murray is. All four of these players have had a lock on the #1 ranking since 2004! Novak and Andy have been practically absent this year due to injury challenges. It will be very interesting to see what happens next year when both return and with Rafa and Roger also at the top. It also makes me wonder who the next player is to achieve the #1 ranking in the ATP outside the Big Four.