SUMMER OF SPORTS - THE BEGINNERS GUIDE

Today’s post opens a new editorial line in our blog. After reviewing thoroughly my adventures around South East Asia between March and April, it is time now to shift onto one of my biggest passions: the world of sport, and how that affects the lives of millions. In a light-hearted way, don’t you worry.

I will not try to be a so-called ‘pundit’, trying to provide an expert technical analysis on a particular game, a race or an event. No. For that you have other sources. These will be my views on how sporting events have, are having and will have an impact in many people’s lives.

For now I will focus on two main events this summer, the Euros and the Olympics.

1. EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS – AKA “THE EUROS”

I assume that, by now, you are aware that there is this football championship taking place in Poland and Ukraine. In the rare event that you are not, I can tell you that it is a BIG deal in world sport.

It is not as important as the financial troubles that all our so-called political leaders are trying to fix, but it is very important for a lot of people. Here is why:

What is it:    The best national football teams in Europe are playing to decide which team, which country, is the best of them all.

We are now in what they call the ‘knock out stages’ and by 1^st

July we will know who the new best one is.

The current holders are Spain. From the remaining teams Germany are looking quite strong, as they always do, then Spain, France and Portugal have a good chance too; with England and Italy maybe a little less.

In short, all the big European countries are heavily involved.

But even if you have not heard any of this, you surely must have heard of Cristiano Ronaldo or his girlfriend, the top model Irina Something. He’s taking part in this tournament, and she is with him. 
And Shakira, she is too. No, she is not playing, her boyfriend Gerard Pique of Spain is (and no, he is not a king, he plays for Spain). Basically everyone is involved.

Memories from watching the Euros 2008 in London

How BIG:     Just so you picture how big a deal this tournament is, every game televised in Germany of their national team is being watched by over 20 million people. That is roughly one in every four Germans, and about 3 in every 4 people watching television in Germany at that time or 75%... And that is only Germany!! Then in the United Kingdom, the England team matches are watched by around 15 million people, which also is about one in every four Brits but only about 1 in 3 watching telly at that time. It is a similar picture across the continent. While the rest of the world also watches en mass.

                   Then you have all the other TV channels, websites, newspapers, online forums, betting homes, travel agents, hotels, restaurants, pubs, airlines, apparel companies, beer and soft drinks manufacturers, technology providers, sponsors, ticket and hospitality sellers (and re-sellers), public institutions, politicians, etc, etc, etc... following this three-week tournament to get an idea of how BIG it is.

The outcome of a single game can have huge implications for all those listed above, and many more. It generates billions of Euros of money for a lot of people and industries not only in Europe but around the world.

That is what I call BIG.

Why me:      Whether you follow football or not, this tournament is affecting most people’s lives in more ways than they think, for example:

                   A guy, Antonio, watching the game alone, with family or friends, at home or in a pub has to arrange how, where to do so.

                   Antonio's girlfriend, wife, mum or sister, Jane, having to arrange their days based on the match schedule.

                   A taxi driver, Peter, taking Antonio to the pub, and taking later Jane to a friend’s house, Mary, for a DVD marathon of Desperate Housewives.

The pub bartender, Jurgen, serving the pints of beers for Antonio and his friends, or the friend of the wife, Julia, arranging snacks for the evening.

                   Jurgen deciding with the pub chef, Sven, the extra meals for the evening, or Julia going to the local supermarket ran by Mrs Mollie to buy the snacks and cakes.

                   The pub landlord, Tomas, ordering extra beer from local supplier, Ashton, for the weeks ahead, or Mrs Mollie ordering extra posh snacks for the weeks ahead from her supplier Yvonne.

You get the picture by now...

What next:   Once the winner is decided, that country will go mad for a period that can vary between two years (like in Portugal or England) and one month (like in Germany; simply because they are so efficient they only allow distractions to last for that long before focusing on the next goal).

                   And in four years time we do it all over again. Fun!

Meantime:   There is the World Cup in the summer of 2014 in Brazil. I know, nice, isn’t it?

This is like the Euros but with Brazil and Argentina, too and the rest of the world is also given a chance.

Spain also happens to be current holder. Which confirms that, as you must be guessing by now, our economic power is, indeed, inversely proportional to our football talent. Oh well, one of those things.

2. LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES – July 27 to August 12

Also this summer the Olympic Games take place. If the Euros are big, this is HUGE, really is.

What is it:    This is like the Euros and the World Cup, put together, multiplied by 100 and squeezed together into a two-week sporting extravaganza, mostly in one city, with hundreds of daily world-class competitions covering lots of sports from athletics to swimming, from gymnastics to table tennis or hockey, and plenty of festivals and celebrations happening around them.

How BIG:     In an effort to have a number in your head and as a rule of thumb, we can safely assume that the Olympic Games coming to London will have generated by the time they finish, directly of indirectly, a whooping £25+ billion worth of business - and that is just a very general estimation. 
                   That is what I call HUGE in my world.
                   To put things into perspective, and according to Wikipedia, a global giant like The Walt Disney Company generates roughly the same amount of total revenue IN AN ENTIRE YEAR around the world. Apple Inc, who have brought us the iPhone and the iPad generate about just over double that; I mean we are talking about Apple, right?
                   
                   It is the largest sporting event happening in the world, by all accounts:

10,000+ athletes taking part, roughly split 50/50 men and women.

10,000+ performers in the Opening Ceremony.

200+ countries represented.

25+ different sports, with many events within each sport.

                   8,500,000+ tickets for sale, with average prices varying from £20 to £200 – you make the numbers...

                   14,000,000+ meals served on site to all attending the events, including athletes, officials, spectators etc.

                   900+ Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.

                   And that is before we look at all the international coverage, or the Paralympics taking place later this summer, etc, etc, etc.

The Olympic rings welcome arrivals at St Pancras International Eurostar 

Why me:      Because we all like to dream. And to dream, if possible, that our team wins. As a spectator, this is the one time every four years where you follow table tennis, archery, diving, handball or wrestling with the same passion as you follow your football every week during the year, or Desperate Housewives for that matter.

                   Taking part is all that should really matter. But deep inside us, we know that what we want is to say that “our country has won another medal”. It feels good to know that and to say it and to share it, and to rub it off some of your friends too – yes you know it. Unemployment may be at an all time high, but hey at least "we've won a gold medal in archery".

                   Great thing being, IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A GOLD MEDAL. As long as it is a medal we are generally happy. Gold is definitely  a bonus.

Now, that doesn’t happen many times in life generally speaking. When going for a job interview and they tell you “sorry but you came second best” or “I am afraid that was the last chocolate cake”.

                   Of course, in life like in sports, there are ways around issues and it is about getting over them what counts. There are more jobs, and more cakes. In sport the are more Games too.

                   In addition, your boyfriend, your husband or your dad will definitely be watching some or most of the Games at home, at work, in the pub or on his phone (or all of the above). It is like a lockout for two weeks where sport is all that matters to us – so why not try to join at times to spend some time together.

                   And hey, who knows, you may even get a medal too!

What next:   We do it all over again in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro...

I KNOW!!!!! Brazil again!!!! How kind from them, eh?!?! Let’s get those bookings sorted!!!!

Meantime:   It is back to reality for most of those 10,000+ athletes, and for most of us too. Table tennis or wrestling will not be as exciting again; we may keep an eye on the odd 100 metres race or a basketball world championship final. But in reality, we’ll go back to focus on our football, or formula one, or golf, tennis or rugby, or cricket. Or Desperate Housewives for that matter.

And of course there is also the tennis at Wimbledon, the European Athletics Championships, Formula One or Moto GP motor racing, the Tour de France cycling and many, many more taking place this summer... But we’ll take care of those in due course.

For now, sort out your agenda for the summer and enjoy!

SINGAPORE: Welcome to "Asia for Beginners" (Part 1 of 2)

Today’s entry covers the first couple of days in Singapore. After a quick stopover at the beginning of this Asian trip back in March, this will also be the last stop before returning to Europe for me, staying four days. This is how things started:

Monday 16 April: Arrival to Singapore.

5:30pm: David and I have landed from Hong Kong and are now on a taxi to the place where we are staying for the week. It is the first time for David in Singapore and he is quickly impressed by how green and particularly clean and wide the roads are. I was only here for little more than 12 hours last time so I am taking everything as if it was the first time too.

Singapore ever so green, and modern, and clean

This week we will be staying at Andrew’s place. Andrew is a friend and former colleague of David who recently moved to Singapore with his wife. After Pableras “cosy” flat in Hong Kong, I am ready for anything nowadays – Gracias Pableras, crack!

As it turns out, Andrew lives in a formidable house in a quiet residential area somewhere North from the city centre (some 15 min by taxi). We are in fact allocated one room each, with en suite bathroom and everything. This, REALLY, was completely unexpected. To top it off, there’s even a small swimming pool ON THE TOP FLOOR of the house. This is what I mean by formidable. THANK YOU ANDREW (and David!).

This first evening however I am quickly feeling unwell without knowing why. With unpleasant and strong stomach pains starting to hit me more and more, I decide to stay in. Within a couple of hours I am crouched on my bed in pain, with cold sweat down my forehead and my stomach grabbing me from within. I can barely move.

It reminded me of the first time I had proper food poisoning; back in Madrid around 2002 or 2003 after watching a football match between Getafe and Tenerife (my home team being Tenerife; we lost 2-1, oh well). We had had what we thought had been a great seafood lunch with all the treats, lobster and all, at one of the capital’s nicest restaurants. We had lost the game, at least we could get ourselves a treat. Yeah, right.

Within 4 hours I was on the floor in my hotel room and could barely move; dad had already left back to Tenerife and I was flying to London the following day. It took me over 12 hours of agonizing fight between my system and whatever it was that had poisoned me to start feeling normal again. I have never felt like that ever, at all, either before or after; and I do not recommend it. But sorry, I am digressing, back to Singapore...

Somehow and almost as quickly as I had started to feel unwell I started to recover, all in the space of around 4 hours. I did not have any dinner, only water, but at least I didn’t have to suffer another 12hrs fight – phew. In all it meant my first evening in Singapore was rather quiet.

Tuesday 17 April: China Town, Buddha and Sky High (and rain).

Singapore seems to have its good piece of history, but I am not going to get into that; you know me: there is Wikipedia for that. However, for tourists like me (ie, who do not necessarily read everything about the place you are going to visit before travelling; particularly when you are visiting five countries in four weeks) it may be a little tricky to know where to start.

Andrew explained to us last night that almost EVERYTHING IS NEW. When I say “almost everything” I mean roads, buildings, hotels, sporting facilities, its harbour, bay; you get the picture... And when I mean “new” I mean it has been built anytime in the last 20 or less years.

To sum it up, there is a plus side and a down side:

PLUS SIDE: The good thing about it is that by all being modern, it seems like a very comfortable place to live or hang out. Everything is clean (sorry to repeat myself, but it really is spotless). The roads are quite wide, there are very few small streets, let alone them being as crazy as those in many a city in Southern Europe, (or Saigon for that matter) and there’s this ever present “green” feel to it all with so many plants and trees (actually not that many flowers on the other hand).

DOWN SIDE: On the other hand, it also has this feeling, on paper, that there is not an “absolute must-see” historic site where you have to go on your first day. [NB: and if there is one and you know about it, sorry I missed it; but let me know for next time].

David and I are debating where to head off first. Staying by the pool with a couple of beers is a tempting option too...

Very tempting to stay here day one - don't worry I see you tomorrow

... But since it is Day One we agree on making an effort, as in actually leaving the house and exploring the city.

1.00pm: We reach a junction opposite a taxi rank. Unlike Vietnam, traffic here is highly civilized, and there are virtually no scooters. Everyone complies with the lights as they should; zero risk of being hit by a car here even if you cross the street with your eyes closed (Mum, Dad, don’t worry, I didn’t attempt to do that) as long as you go by the pedestrian crossing when the green man lets you.

We head into the Old China Town the same way we could have gone to the Old Arab town.

It may sound contradictory that, after having spent five days in one of China’s most well known cities, the first place where we start here is another Chinese experience. But really, it felt like the most obvious thing to do on the day. Easy.

1.30pm: A mid-afternoon shower hits the area and we make our way to a very OLD shopping mall. Yes, you read right: it was older than 20 years, at least. It did not have any of the modern shopping centres bells and windows: it was old, cramped, mostly lit with artificial light. In a way, IT WAS NICE and cosy to bump into this place by accident.

After not having eaten in nearly 24 hours I was by now feeling proper hungry and challenged myself to some Pad Thai. Again I know, Thai food, in some old shopping mall in Singapore. It turned out to be great, and cheap (for Singapore standards).

Pig's organ - whatever they may be. All quite cheap anyway.

Pad Thai in this OLD shopping mall, no natural light, no glamour - same, same but different.

2.00pm: We make our way along China Town, while rain is still present. It is a combination of old-meets-new and while it has a feeling of the Chinese tradition, everything is mostly new, and clean, so it hasn’t really got this deep feeling of being that authentic. I mean China is clean too, I am sure, but also a little crazier I suppose.

Mid afternoon shower in China Town

Singapore China Town - this feeling old meets new

Artist playing soduku, Chinese rules

The owner is there, somewhere, look for her.

As we walk around I notice an Indian tailor shop, next to China town, with the three tailors taking it very easy. Happy day.

THE CONNOISSEUR OF ALL TAILORS - Ahi queda eso

3.00pm: We enter a Buddhist temple next to China Town. Thinking about it and statistically speaking, we have mostly been to Buddhist temples since we started this trip.

This one has its standard temple look and feel; and it is remarkably polished and shining. It is a four-five storey building and mass is underway in its main hall, at ground level.

Buddhist temple by China town

The presence of golden colours is a constant in Buddhism, and the attention to detail

Similarly to the mass we saw in Bangkok, everyone is singing and it makes for a special soundtrack as you are allowed to walk around and take pictures and videos.

Reading some of the information, we find out it was only built a few years ago. Ahaaa... Another ‘new’ building in Singapore, and the list keeps only growing. Overall is an interesting place to visit to learn a bit more about this religion, so popular this side of the world.

4.45pm: WARNING TAXIS ON THE STREET: As we leave the temple and decide where to go next, it takes us about half hour to find a free taxi, but we managed to do so. Even though there are plenty of taxis going everywhere, most of them seem to busy. It is funny (or frustrating, depends how you look at it) that they do not only say whether they are “Free” or “Hired” but they have all these messages from “End of Shift” to “Out of Service” or whatever else. They have also some smartphone app to hire them, but unless you have a local phone it doesn’t really work. Eventually we grab one from someone who has just left it free.

5.00pm: We are entering the Sky Park roof bar in this mighty famous Singapore complex. At the top of it there is this swimming pool, only for guests, and this bar we are at. We are wearing shorts and t-shirts, and are kindly warned that from 6.00pm only long trousers are allowed. The view is phenomenal, for once you are not looking up but down. After checking the drinks menu, and the price list, it is clear we would only stay here for an hour anyway as the prices are almost as high as the building itself.

Sky Park - high, high, high

View from Sky Park - and a cocktail

View from Sky Park - and a floating full size football pitch

Just as we are leaving, we look at the other side of the balcony and we can see this immense fleet of ships and boats, just outside of the Singapore port. We learn afterwards that the City-State has reinvented itself in recent years thanks to their port – no question they are busy.

A fleet of boats waiting outside the port - and a theme park of some sorts

Part of the Formula One track, and water. 

8.00pm: We are heading for dinner to Club Street after Andrew’s recommendation. It is a relatively short street with quite a few international restaurants, including an English pub, which we duly avoid as a matter of principle. However after discovering most of them were full, we end up at an Italian place.

After checking the Menu I am not super excited and challenge the head waiter to see if they could prepare me a ‘Escalope Milanese’, which for me has always been a meat fillet (veal ideally, you know, but beef or pork can do too) pan-fried on breadcrumbs, with spaghetti pommodoro  as a side (or tomatoes sauce). He is hesitant and needs to check with the head chef. Comes back five minutes later.

Waiter: ‘I am afraid the head chef doesn’t know what that is’.

Me: ‘Sorry?’

Waiter: ‘He doesn’t know what escalope Milanese is and cannot prepare it’

Me: ‘He doesn’t know what a escalope Milanese is? Wow, that’s a first’.

Waiter: ‘I am sorry, would you like something from the menu instead?’

Me: ‘I guess I have no choice then!’ and I settled for some other type of spaghetti, with no pan-fried meat of any sorts.

They turned out to be quite good, if only a little spicy for my taste (and my still recovering stomach), so credit to the chef.

The spaghetti - they tasted better than they look, promise.

After dinner we took it easy and had a quiet night. All in all an interesting first day in Singapore. After the craziness of places like Saigon or Bangkok, or the peace of Phu Quoc and Angkor Wat, Singapore sits somewhere in between, more towards the quieter side of things. Here is to the next couple of days.