What's stopping me then? First, there is still a cost involved here; there's no such this as a free lunch. The series tickets will take up most of my budget, that 266 USD, plus plane fares from my city of origin (not Manila) and back. There's travel tax, fuel surcharge, terminal fees. Not to mention my expenditures in Shanghai - taxi fares, meals, and other incidentals. On top of that, I have to buy souvenirs!
There is also the guilt factor. Should I be spending this much money on myself? Although I did earn it, saved up for it, bottom line is I feel guilty.
Last, my college scholarship forbids me to leave the country. Rephrase that - I must leave a cash bond to leave the country and claim it upon my return. Am I willing to undergo crappy redtape just to be gone for a week?
Mida, if you're reading this. Don't worry. I will be applying for my visa in a few days, and will be stacking up on my Mandarin classes. Better ask my sister to buy that Lonely Planet Guide to Shanghai pretty soon.
It might sound I'm already raring to go, but I just kind of feel guilty. To ease my guilt, here's a picture of the stadium where the top 8 players of the men's tour will be playing. Federer! Nadal! Roddick! Safin! Hewitt! That's just five of the eight, but it looks like a pretty strong field. If it was the year-end WTA Championships, I would go in the snap of a finger.
Hey, I read that the WTA Championships are moving from Los Angeles to Asia next year. I'm crossing my fingers it's going to be Beijing. Sign me up for that one right now.
6 talkbacks:
Just as I post this, I learn that the 2006 WTA Championswhips will be in Madrid. Dang! Sa 2007 na lang.
cool! ganda ng stadium ah! is that the one they're gonna use sa beijing olympics? or dati na yan ginagamit? syempre wala akong alam! hehe!
kaka-guilty nga gumastos ng pera. pero, like you said, you earned it. and you deserve the break. ako din, pag nagwowork na rin ako, iipunin ko VLs at SLs ko para pumunta sa Grand Slams! hehe! :)
^ bat ganun? di lumabas name ko!
naclick ko pala anonymous! haha!
-joey
I dont think this will be the one they're going to use for the beijing olympics....shanghai is too far away. but then again, bagong gawa yung stadium (as of presstime, its not yet finished), so maybe they just might use it.
i lined up for 7 hours yesterday just to have neil gaiman sign one book, but you know what? it was damn worth every second waiting for... so go ahead, forget the guilt and go there... trust me, it's gonna be really worth it...
(and when you get back, go build 7 houses for gk or donate one month's worth of salary to a charitable institution for kids, just as an act of cleansing, heh)
and btw, the WTA Championships are moving to Madrid, not to Asia, pero for three years lang yata... There was a time na dapat sa Shanghai din yung plano nila (combined with the ATP Championships) but negotiations didn't pull through... Sayang, that would have been a great event.
oo nga pala, neil gaiman fan ka! congrats!
makapagdala nga ng pasalubong sa mga loyal readers ko. hahahaha.
Post a Comment