Quarantine Stories Part 14

Major milestone: My family and I are now all fully vaccinated! Half of my family got vaccinated a while back but the other half were still unable to secure schedules with the LGU. Thankfully, my company provided vaccines for all employees. On top of that, they also gave all employees the opportunity to purchase vaccines for our families. We all just completed our second doses and while I had to bring my family all the way to Makati (that's where the vaccination center was located), I now feel a great sense of relief. We won't be complacent but it's such a blessing to be significantly more protected against Covid-19. This has to be the highlight of my year so far.

I also got to plant another GCash tree. I didn't really have a lot of green energy but an avocado tree became available and it required "only" 8,520g so I had enough energy to plant it. I have now planted three trees. Cool!

I also just noticed that the main screen of the GForest actually shows all the trees you've planted. Looks really cool!

Another thing I'm really happy about is that I now have an ergonomic chair at home. I've been working from home since Metro Manila was first placed under quarantine in March last year and my chair at home was not ideal to sit on for long periods of time. I was desperately in need of a better seat so when my company decided to sell some of our old but working furniture to employees, I decided to get an ergonomic chair. I got it earlier this week and I can really feel a difference. Since my chair has wheels, I purchased a floor mat from Lazada so that my chair wouldn't scratch the floor (I didn't want to wait for the 10/10 sale to get it haha).

I'm really late but I finally subscribed to Netflix. Part of the reason was because my grandmother was running out of things to watch on TV. Another reason is that sadly, Fox and Disney channels are no longer available on Skycable. I got a premium account and I set up my Netflix account on our Smart TV at home. My grandmother and I watched Unforgettable starring Sarah Geronimo. I really enjoyed this film. It was light and easy to watch. Since the lead characters were a young woman (Sarah) and her grandmother (Gina Pareno), it was quite appropriate because I was watching it with my own grandma. I also think dog lovers will appreciate this movie.

It's sad to lose the Fox Channels on Skycable because I watch them the most (including coverage of the tennis Grand Slam events on Fox Sports). Some consolation: Rock Entertainment is now showing the latest season of Law and Order SVU. This show has been one of my favorites for years now, and when I say years, I really do mean it since this show is now on its 23rd season. What makes it even more special is that Elliot Stabler (portrayed by Christopher Meloni) returned for some episodes in S22 and he's also a recurring character in the current season. I really love his partnership with Olivia Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay) so seeing them interact with each other after after a decade makes the show even more enjoyable.

[Throwback] Final Thoughts on my China Trip

Before I share my final thoughts, here's a summary of links of my China trip:

Vacation in China
Summer Palace and the Lama Temple
Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs
Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, and Forbidden City
Xi'an and the Terracotta Army
Final Thoughts on my China Trip

This visit to China was the first international trip I took with friends. It was also the first time I joined an organized tour. My friends organized everything so all I really had to do was show up (and pay of course).

I mentioned this briefly in one of my previous posts but on our third night in China, I got to watch a Beijing Opera. Everyone in the group was actually given a choice to watch either a Beijing Opera or a circus. I had seen circuses before so I thought the Beijing Opera would be a more unique experience. As I don't speak Mandarin, I didn't understand any of the words but somehow I could follow the story a bit. There were a lot of very well choreographed fight scenes that are reminiscent of great kung fu movies. Despite not understanding the songs/dialogue, it was still a great experience.

Beijing Opera

Aside from getting to see some amazing sights and visiting places that I had been wanting to see for a while, I also remember our awesome meal times as a group. I understand that in traditional Chinese meals, rice gets served last but since we were a group of Filipinos, we always requested the restaurants to serve the rice along with the rest of the food. One of the more interesting moments over lunch was that someone had the hilarious idea to do voice-over skits. Jason and Omar would engage in very funny conversations and Julie and I would act out whatever they were saying. It was so inane, everyone laughed a whole lot.

Evenings were spent hanging out in one of our rooms where we played cards and enjoyed each other's company. The card game of choice was Bridge. It got quite competitive because, well, a lot of us are very competitive haha but it was all in good fun.

Even if this I took this trip many years ago, I still remember a lot of what happened quite vividly. This walk down memory lane also prompted me to reach out to some of my friends from that group, providing a great opportunity for us to catch up. I'm really very fortunate and grateful that I had the chance to go on this amazing trip with friends.

[Throwback] Xi'an and the Terracotta Army

Our fifth tour day was spent in Xi'an, which is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Despite spending the night in a train instead of in a hotel room, I felt fully energized and excited to see the Terracotta Army.

Terracotta Army

Before that, we visited Banpo Village. This is an archaeological site located near the Yellow River that dates back to the Neolithic period. Our tour guide took us to see excavations of settlements that were built several thousand years ago.

Banpo Village

Our next stop was the Xi'an Terracotta Warriors Museum. We passed by a workshop right next to it where you can find replicas of the original statues. I think you can buy souvenirs here too. Naturally, I had to take a photo.

Terracotta Workshop

Finally, it was time to see the Terracotta Army. The statues were discovered in 1974 by farmers when they were trying to dig a well. Chinese archaeologists continued the excavation and they uncovered thousands of sculptures. To ensure this amazing find would be protected, a museum was built over the dig site. It is believed that these warriors were buried along with Emperor Qin to protect him in the afterlife.

Visitors can also find sculptures of terracotta horses and chariots in the museum.

We spent a couple of hours at the museum before heading to our final stop, the Huaqing Hot Springs. According to Visit Our China, "it gets its fame for being the place where the romantic story of Emperor Tangxuanzong of Tang Dynasty (618-907) and his beloved Yang Guifei (or Concubine Yang) took place."

Huaqing Got Springs

I can understand why an imperial love story would unfold here. It really is quite beautiful.

This was the last place I visited since it was my final day in China. I flew back to Manila the next day.

Next: Final thoughts on my China trip

[Throwback] Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, and Forbidden City

The Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City are all located close to each other in central Beijing so it made sense to visit all these sights on the same day.

Temple of Heaven

(Unfortunately, my digital camera had major battery issues in the middle of our trip. This was many years ago when digital camera technology was still not very advanced and a fully charged battery didn't last very long, especially when it was very cold. While I did bring my charger, I didn't have a plug adapter so I had to borrow someone else's. If they were using it, I couldn't charge my camera. And I think that's what happened on my third and fourth days. While our third day was mostly a free day so I didn't miss out on too many photo ops, our fourth day was quite packed and it kinda sucked that I didn't have a working camera. I ended up buying a disposable camera and I later converted the negatives into digital copies which are what you see in this post. As such, the quality of these photos isn't good.)

Entrance of the Temple of Heaven

Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. According to wikipedia, "the complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest." As such, the largest building at the temple is aptly called the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

Some other interesting structures include the Circular Mound Altar...

Circular Mound Altar

...and the Imperial Vault of Heaven. China Highlights provides a lot of very interesting information about these altars and structures so you might want to give this link a quick read.

Imperial Vault of Heaven

There's also a walkway at the center of the temple from the main gate to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. I remember our tour guide telling us that walking within that lane would bring good fortune. I think I stepped out of bounds at some point but I don't think I jinxed myself haha.

Another point of interest are the Seven Star Stones. I've read online that these stones are meant to symbolize the seven peaks of Mount Tai. There are actually eight stones there now; one was added after the first seven but its original name was not changed.

Seven Star Stones

After our visit to the Temple of Heaven, we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Many people know about Tiananmen Square because of the infamous massacre that happened in 1989. The square sits right in front of the main gate of the Forbidden City. I didn't take any photos of the square itself but I do remember it was terribly cold that day. I think it was "only" zero degrees Celsius but it was extremely windy. Since the square was a wide open space, we could definitely feel the full effects of the wind chill factor and that made the cold even more biting.

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is said to be the best-preserved imperial palace in China. It supposedly got its name because ordinary people were not allowed to enter. However, according to wikipedia, there seems to have been some confusion in the translation; in English, it's supposed to mean "the place where Celestial Emperor lives" instead of Forbidden.

There's a huge and interesting rock formation in the Imperial Gardens in the Forbidden City. Practically every visitor was having their photo taken here so I did too haha. 

In the late afternoon, we boarded an overnight train that would take us from Beijing to Xi'an.

Next post: Xi'an and the Terra Cotta Warriors

[Throwback] Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs

Our second tour day took us to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs.

Great Wall of China

We started the day by visiting the Ming Tombs. This UNESCO World Heritage site is also known as the 13 Ming Tombs because 13 emperors from the Ming Dynasty are buried here.

Ming Tombs

I remember going into some of the tombs. I vaguely remember our tour guide telling us that there are some false tombs around the complex. I can't recall what the purpose of these were - was it to confuse possible intruders? - but I did have my photo taken in front of one of them. 

A false tomb entrance at the Ming Tombs

The afternoon was dedicated to the Great Wall of China. This was the part of my trip I was most excited about.

Highlight of my trip: visiting the Great Wall

The entire wall is almost 22,000 kilometers long so there are many sections that people can go to visit. I'm not sure which one we went to. But if memory serves me right, there were seven towers we could access, the last of which was at the peak of the mountain, and our tour guide encouraged us to go to walk all the way to the top. I can't be sure if all of us made our way to the last tower but I do know I was in a group of five that did.

On my way up the mountain

Since the wall goes up the slope of a mountain, it actually resembles steps. The physical activity of visiting all seven towers and going up the mountain made this Great Wall experience even more rewarding and memorable. The view from the peak was awesome and the sense of achievement made it even more enjoyable.

Lots of people heading up and down the Great Wall

It probably took about 1 1/2 to 2 hour to get to the end, mostly because we would always stop to appreciate the views and to take photos. It was only our second day and we had a lot more sights to see but I was really happy that I finally got to see the Great Wall.

View from the peak

Next post: Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, and Forbidden City

[Throwback] Summer Palace and the Lama Temple

The first place we visited was the Lama Temple. I didn't keep a copy of our itinerary so I don't know if there is more than one lama temple in Beijing but after doing a quick search online, it seems we went to the Yonghe Lama Temple, which is one of the largest and most popular Buddhist monasteries in China. 

Lama Temple

It was Chinese New Year when we visited to naturally, there were hordes of people when we were there.

The Lama Temple is known for its Buddha statues. The main building, known as the Hall of Harmony and Peace, house three bronze Buddha statues which are supposed to represent the past, the present, and the future.

Buddha statues at the Hall of Harmony and Peace

In another hall, you can find the largest sandalwood Buddha in the world. It is supposed to have been carved from one enormous piece of sandalwood. The whole statue has a height of 26 meters (with 18 meters above ground and 8 meters below).

Buddha statue made of Sandalwood

In the afternoon, we visited the the Summer Palace. It was built during the Qing Dynasty and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since December 1998.

Entrance to the Summer Palace

I'm pretty sure there were lots of people when we were there but I remember it felt quite peaceful during our visit. The scenic Kunming Lake definitely adds to the serenity that one feels in this imperial garden.

Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace

Visitors can also enjoy the view of Wanshou Shan, or Longevity Hill.

Longevity Hill

On it stands Foxiangge, or the Tower of Buddhist Incense.

Tower of Buddhist Incense

There are many other buildings and structures around the garden. One of the more interesting ones I saw was the Marble Boat or the Boat of Purity and Ease. Since we were there during Chinese New Year, it was still winter so you can see in the next photo that part of the lake by the boat pavilion was frozen.

Marble Boat

The Summer Palace was one of the most beautiful places I got to visit during this trip. I don't recall entering any of the buildings in the garden but we did get to enjoy the incredible views all afternoon until sunset.

Sunset at the Summer Palace

Next post: Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs

[Throwback] Vacation in China

Many years ago, several colleagues were assigned to China for a project. When I learned that they were planning to do some sightseeing during Chinese New Year, I decide to take some time off of work to join them. My friends found an interesting tour that would take us to Beijing to see the Great Wall of China...

Great Wall of China

...and to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army.

Terracotta Army in Xi'an

Naturally, there were a lot of other sights and landmarks we visited. This was our itinerary:

Day 1 - Beijing: Lama Temple, Summer Palace

Day 2 - Beijing: Ming Tombs, Great Wall of China

Day 3 - Beijing: Free day (shopping day), Beijing Opera in the evening

Day 4 - Beijing: Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, overnight train from Beijing to Xi'an

Day 5 - Xi'an: Banpo Village, Terracotta Army, Huaqing Hot Springs

Huaqing Hot Springs

The tour actually lasted 1-2 more days after that I think but I couldn't take too much time off of work, especially since I needed to fly back home to Manila. As such, my participation in the tour ended on Day 5. I will be talking in more detail about this trip over the next few blog posts.

At the Lama Temple

Next post: Summer Palace and the Lama Temple in Beijing

A Surprising US Open

Wow. What an unexpected plot twist the US Open proved to be in the 2021 tennis season. Everyone was expecting to witness history, with Novak Djokovic being one match away from achieving the Grand Slam. However, Daniil Medvedev had a different idea and beat Djokovic to claim his first major title.

Daniil Medvedev stuns Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/Ksup0ClAEI

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021

Novak wasn't consistently at his best this tournament. He lost six sets en route to the final and he dropped at least one set to almost all his opponents, even those who weren't seeded. However, in each of those matches, he always found another gear, and when he did, he was practically unplayable. I was still convinced he was going to take home the title because he has such an unparalleled ability to turn matches around and grind out wins even when he isn't at his best.

In the end, it seems the pressure finally got the better of arguably the most mentally tough player in history. Novak was clearly not at his best in the final while Medvedev played top level tennis. One match short of even greater legendary status but Djokovic just couldn't find that extra gear this time.

I've read some people say that winning four-in-a-row is the same whether you do it in the same year or over two years. However, the Grand Slam (which people refer to now as the calendar Grand Slam) is still more difficult to accomplish than a non-calendar Grand Slam, precisely because of the pressure. Remember, Novak won four-in-a-row in 2015-2016. Serena Williams in fact has won four-in-a-row twice, in 2002-2003 and in 2014-2015. Both of these supreme athletes had opportunities to win a proper Grand Slam and both came so tantalizingly close but both missed out on their chances. As such, Steffi Graf is still the last player to win the Grand Slam in the singles main draw, which she did in 1988.

I say main draw because we have two athletes who matched Steffi's rare feat. In fact, just like Graf, they both achieved the Golden Slam. Diede de Groot won all majors and the Olympic Gold in women's wheelchair tennis this year while Dylan Alcott did the same in men's Quad wheelchair tennis. That is impressive!

Diede de Groot has made history as the first wheelchair tennis player to win the Golden Slam!@DiedetheGreat | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/ryfimu8t9O

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021

A golden moment for @DylanAlcott pic.twitter.com/PuUpwXb6DF

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021

In the women's main draw, Emma Raducanu surprised everyone by powering through the qualifiers, onto the main draw, and all the way to the US Open Women's trophy. Even more surprising is that she won all her matches, including the ones in qualifying, without dropping a set. Along the way, she beat Olympic Gold medalist Belinda Bencic. In the final, she beat Leylah Fernandez, another up-and-comer who did some even greater giant-killing, beating two previousl world #1s and multiple Grand Slam winners Naomi Osaka (seeded 3) and Angelique Kerber. She also beat 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka and 5th seed Elina Svitolina. The women's final was the first time in 22 years that two teenagers met in the final of the US Open. When you factor in other young players like Osaka and Iga Swiatek, the future seems very bright for women's tennis.

Qualifier ➡️ Champion

Emma Raducanu wins 10 matches to do the unthinkable at the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/K3X5mLlnCL

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2021

All in all, this US Open was very interesting and satisfying, what with its unpredictability, the fact that we have first-time winners in the main draw, and wheelchair athletes achieved the Golden Slam. Congratulations Daniil Medvedev, Emma Raducanu, Diede de Groot, and Dylan Alcott!

Damien Rice covers "Chandelier"

I 'm a huge fan of Damien Rice. I also happen to love Sia's song Chandelier. So imagine my (pleasant) surprise when I found out that Damien Rice covered Chandelier. I learned about it while looking for playlists that featured his music on Spotify. His version is a lot slower and more somber and emotional. I've been listening to this a lot now since I heard it first. Check it out here.

 

Video uploaded in YouTube by Damien Rice

Quarantine Stories Part 13

I have a new hobby: Axie Infinity! A friend of mine who is into cryptocurrency knows that I play a lot of games (including Angry Birds 2 on my phone and a lot of online versions of board games) so he offered to make me an Axie Infinity "scholar", which means he will create an account for me and I have to keep playing and collecting cryptocurrency. An Axie Infinity account is very expensive so there really needs to be a commitment to keep playing. I spend a lot of time playing games so I figured I might as well earn some money while doing it. As it turns out, Axie Infinity is quite enjoyable. I especially love the Arena where I have to compete against other players. It took a lot of losses for me to figure out how to properly combine and sequence my cards and how to play against different kinds of Axies with different powers but thankfully, I can now win enough arena battles to complete my daily quest.

My first ever win in the Axie Infinity Arena

I'm also happy that my continued use of GCash for bills payment and purchases has allowed me to plant my second tree (or well, to have GCash plant a second one on my behalf). This time, I selected Mamalis because I had never heard of it before and also because it's a good tree to use for reforestation projects due to its ability to survive and thrive.

My second GCash tree

I also recently got to try Crosta Pizza. It gained some fame during last year's lockdown for its vegan pizzas and its spinach-and-artichoke stuffed crust but I never got to try it until now. I didn't try any of their vegan offerings but I did get the vegetarian Shroomed Out (mozzarella, shiitake, portobello, button mushrooms, taleggio, fontina, and fresh garlic).

Crosta Shroomed Out Pizza

I also got the Pepperonley Stuffed Crust, which is your basic salami and mozzarella with a spinach-and-artichoke stuffed crust (I actually wanted to order the Pork You but it was unavailable on the day I ordered so I got this one instead)

Stuffed Crust Pepperonley Pizza from Crosta

As a pizza, I liked Shroomed Out better but I really enjoyed the stuffed crust so maybe next time, I can order the upgraded version of Shroomed Out. Of course, there are a lot of other really interesting choices in Crosta's menu so maybe I can try something else instead.

I also decided to switch from movies to series on HBO Go. There are a lot of series on this platform, including some critically acclaimed ones like The Wire and Chernobyl. I decided to start my series-watching with The Nevers, mainly because it so far has only 6 episodes (Chernobyl has less with 5, but I thought that it might be a bit heavier to absorb and might require more brain power to properly appreciate). I finished watching The Nevers and I really quite enjoyed it. I loved how there was some pretty incredible plot twists. The last episode in fact was incredibly unexpected. According to wikipedia, "the first season will consist of 12 episodes, split into two six-episode parts, with the second half debuting in 2022." It's gonna be a while before the second half of season 1 becomes available but I am definitely looking forward to it.

photo from HBO Go Asia

Speaking of series, I'm a bit sad that season 4 of my favorite show, 9-1-1, hasn't been aired on the Fox  Channel here in the Philippines yet. Season 5 is supposed to be aired in the US in less than a month so the Philippines will soon be two seasons behind already. It used to be aired on the same day and seasons 1 to 3 kept getting rerun so I wonder why the latest season hasn't been shown here yet. Hopefully that changes soon.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 9-1-1 on FOX (@911onfox)

And finally, I got my first vaccine dose! I'm extremely grateful that my company got vaccines for all employees. I'm now halfway closer to significantly increasing my chances to fight off Covid-19 and preventing a severe case if I do get infected. That said, even when I get fully vaccinated, I will still need to keep my guard up. The number of Covid cases in the Philippines has gotten really high in recent weeks (especially this last one) and the Delta variant spreads a lot more quickly and easily. Hopefully, more Filipinos (and people all over the world) get vaccinated so people will be a lot safer and hospitals won't be overwhelmed anymore.

The Elusive Golden Slam

Still on the Olympics, I had my eye on the tennis event because Novak Djokovic was on the verge of even more greatness. After winning the first three majors of the year, he had a really good chance of matching Steffi Graf's legendary achievement in 1988, when she became the first person to win all four Grand Slam events and the Olympic Gold medal - the Golden Slam.

photo from https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/tennis-golden-slam-steffi-graf-1988-olympics-gold

As it turned out, Steffi is still the only player to achieve the Golden Slam because Novak Djokovic was beaten in the semifinals. His conqueror? German World #5 Alexander Zverev. While Zverev is a strong player, he had lost the previous five matches he played against Djokovic. Furthermore, in the semifinal, he was down a set. I didn't get to see the match so I wasn't really able to see what was happening but I was surprised when I saw the final result: Zverev turned the match around and beat Novak. It seems that loss took a toll on Djokovic's psyche as he lost the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta as well. 

The Golden Slam is so elusive that even achieving a career Golden Slam - winning all four majors and an Olympic gold during your entire career but not necessarily in the same year - is extremely rare. Only three other players aside from Graf have achieved the career Golden Slam this so far: Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, and Rafael Nadal. 

While Novak Djokovic lost his chance to match Steffi's golden achievement in 1988, he still has a more-than-fair chance to win the Grand Slam - meaning all four majors in the same year. If he does that, he will be the first male player to achieve this in the Open Era. He will also join a very exclusive club of athletes who have achieved the Grand Slam that includes Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, Don Budge, Margaret Court, and Steffi. I still don't see anyone being able to beat Djokovic in a five-set match at the moment. That said, his loss at the Olympics shows that even the best are vulnerable to pressure. The US Open starts at the end of the month and it will be really interesting to see what happens.

#Tokyo2020 Comes to a Close

The Tokyo Olympics ended last Sunday after a highly eventful and even inspiring 17 days of athletic competition. For Filipinos, this has been the best Olympics we've experienced so far: we got out first gold medal, it was the first time a Filipina boxer won a medal in boxing, it was the first time we won two silvers, and this was the largest medal haul we've had to date with four medals. Once again, thank you to Hidilyn Diaz, Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial, and Carlo Paalam for the honor you brought to our country!

FOUR MEDALS FOR #PHI! 🥇🥈🥈🥉

Congratulations to Hidilyn Diaz, Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, and Eumir Marcial for not only winning Olympic medals but also bringing glory and pride to the country. We are proud of you! pic.twitter.com/7x0R8mbYjb

— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) August 7, 2021

 Thanks also to the rest of the Filipinos who competed at the Olympics!

• Bianca Pagdanganan - Women's Golf
• Carlos Yulo - All-around and Vault (Artistic Gymnastics)
• Cris Nievarez - Men's Singles Sculls
• EJ Obiena - Men's Pole Vault
• Elreen Ando - Women's 64kg Weightlifting
• Irish Magno - Women's Flyweight Boxing
• Jayson Valdez - Men's 10m Air Rifle
• Juvic Pagunsan - Men's Golf
• Kiyomi Watanabe - Women's 63kg Judo
• Kristina Knott - Women's 200m
• Kurt Barbosa - Men's 58kg Taekwondo
• Luke Gebbie - Men's 50m Freestyle and Men's 100m Freestyle
• Margielyn Didal - Women's Street Skateboarding
• Remedy Rule - Women's 100m Butterfly and Women's 200m Butterfly
• Yuka Saso - Women's Golf

MARAMING SALAMAT SA INYONG PAGLABAN PARA SA BAYAN! 🇵🇭💪🏻

Taas-kamaong pagpupugay sa ating mga atletang Pilipino na buong tapang at lakas na lumaban sa Tokyo Olympics para sa Pilipinas. 🥇🥈🥈🥉#Tokyo2020 #Olympics #PHI https://t.co/Vtt4GMiJ0q pic.twitter.com/UERqphxDNN

— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) August 8, 2021

Given that we are still in a global pandemic, there was a lot of uncertainty heading into the event, but it pushed through. Sadly, fans were not allowed to watch the events due to the rise of Covid cases in Japan. That didn't stop the host nation from organizing what may be the most logistically-challenging games ever, given that safety protocols had to be followed to prevent athletes from contracting Covid. While Tokyo may not have been able to recover the cost of hosting the Olympics through tourism during the event, I'm sure that once people are allowed to travel and the pandemic is under control (whenever that will happen), millions will flock to Japan, including me. Check out highlights of the closing ceremony here. (I'm impressed at how the Olympic Rings were formed during the futuristic light show!)

video uploaded in YouTube by Olympics 

I also want to mention a couple of really interesting things that I found really interesting. The Mixed 4 x 400m Relay is the first time I saw a mixed-gender athletics competition at the Olympics (tennis and badminton of course have mixed doubles). It was also heartwarming to see Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy both winning gold medals at the Men's High Jump. Then there is Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands who tripped over another runner in the Women's 1500m heats but still finished first in her heat (she would win bronze in this event and gold at both the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters).

Thank you, Japan, for successfully organizing the Olympic Games. Thank you to all the athletes for playing hard and striving for excellence. And thank you to the Filipino athletes who fought hard for our country and who brought us honor and glory, medal or not.

Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial, and Carlo Paalam win Olympic Medals!

What an amazing week it has been for Filipino boxers at the Olympics! In just five days, three of our boxers won medals!

On August 3, Nesthy Petecio won a silver medal in Women's Featherweight. It was the first boxing medal won by an Filipino athlete since 1996. Nesthy is also the first female boxer from the country to win a medal. She is also only the second female athlete from the Philippines to win a medal in any sport (the first being Hidilyn Diaz). Congratulations Nesthy!

It's silver for #PHI!

Nesthy Petecio gives the nation their second Olympic medal of #Tokyo2020 after a thrilling victory in the women's #Boxing featherweight category!@olympicphi pic.twitter.com/VUizJPw5Nz

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 3, 2021

Two days later, on August 5, Eumir Marcial won a bronze medal in Men's Middleweight, giving the Philippines our third Olympic medal in Tokyo and the second in boxing. It was a very tough fight, ending in a 3-2 split decision. Looking at the judges' scorecards, it was extremely close and it really could have gone either way. Congratulations Eumir!

Eumir Marcial wins bronze in the men's #Boxing middleweight category!

It's #PHI's first men's boxing medal since 1996. @olympicphi pic.twitter.com/cYpGGphD70

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 5, 2021

Today, August 7, Carlo Paalam won another silver medal, this time in Men's Flyweight. This is now our fourth Olympic Medal in Tokyo, three of them coming from boxing. I saw the fight earlier today and Carlo buckled after a couple of hits in the first round but he got up and still fought really hard after that. In fact, he managed to win round 3 and the decision was still split. Congratulations, Carlo!

It's another #Boxing medal for #PHI as Carlo Paalam takes silver in the men's flyweight category!@OlympicPHI pic.twitter.com/8d0W32Loff

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 7, 2021

I would have loved to write separate blog posts about them, honoring each of their victories, but I got so busy and worked long hours last week. By the time I was ready to write about their triumphs today, all of them had already won medals.

Thank you once again,  Nesthy, Eumir, and Carlo, and congratulations on your incredible world-class achievements!

Hidilyn Diaz wins Olympic Gold!

This post is a week late but I of course still had to write about it. Congratulations, Hidilyn Diaz, for winning the Olympic Gold Medal in the Women's 55kg weightlifting event! 

JUST IN: GOLD AT LAST!

The Philippines has finally secured a gold medal at the Olympic Games as Pinay weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz reached the top podium in the women’s 55kg in Tokyo. #Tokyo2020 #Olympics

Photo: Edgard Garrido, @Reuters | via @cedrickkbasco pic.twitter.com/xy96r4S7Fz

— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) July 26, 2021

This is the first official Philippine Olympic Gold Medal so I was one of the millions of Filipinos who were overjoyed when Hidilyn successfully lifted the winning 127kg in the clean and jerk. (I would like to mention that Arianne Cerdeña won a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, but she did it in bowling which was a demonstration sport so her achievement isn't included in the official medal tally.) The 55kg weight class is new in the Olympics so she now holds the Olympic records in both the clean and jerk and total weight lifted. Awesome! But beyond the records, what I do find even more inspiring is that she has continued to get better and she achieved personal bests when it mattered the most. In an interview, she said that she had never lifted 127kg prior to the weightlifting final which means she peaked at the right time. Also, back in the 2016 Olympics, her total lift was 200kg so this means she managed to lift 24 kilos more than she did in Rio, blowing way past her silver medal achievement four years ago. That is just astounding!

THE FIRST FILIPINO GOLD MEDALIST IN THE OLYMPICS.....IS A FILIPINA!!!!! HUHUHU 127KG OLYMPIC WORLD RECORD FOR C&J FROM HIDILYN DIAZ!!!! 😭🥇💗 pic.twitter.com/UYC0CJSMJY

— d (@dannielledivine) July 26, 2021

Hidilyn is also the first Filipino to win medals in multiple Olympics since Teofilo Yldefonso won bronze at the 200m breaststroke in both the 1928 and 1932 Olympic events. It's amazing to think that Hidilyn has actually competed in four consecutive Olympics now, dating back to 2008 in Beijing. While she may not have won medals in 2008 and in 2012, the fact that she competed means she has been world-class for at least 13 years now. Incredible!

It's been a week since Hidilyn won her gold medal but I am still really happy and moved by her remarkable accomplishment.  I am certain she has inspired many Filipinos and Filipino athletes to strive for excellence. Thank you, Hidilyn Diaz, and congratulations!