Saturday, November 19, 2005 Monday, November 21, 2005 Now that I have a flight delay, I have time to update my blog. Well, I'll write it up on a word processing program, and upload it later. Unfortunately, the flight is delayed for a couple hours, so I'm thinking I'll miss my connection to LA. Oh, well, so many unusual things have happened on this trip. Why not one more? Okay, where was I. Friday??? On Friday, I didn't go to the tennis. I had work commitments, and had to get certain things done. It was a strange day at the hotel. They bug you all the time about cleaning your room. And then they bug you with other things. It was grand central station. My doorbell and phone were ringing all day. At one point, room service came up and gave me a plate of fruit I didn't order an orange (remember, not a Mandarin orange, here it is just an orange), an apple, and a pear (again, not an Asian pear!). It was a gift from the hotel, they probably felt sorry that I was in the hotel working all day. Later they called me to see if I had any complaints about the hotel. My only complaint was they kept bothering me. When the people came to clean, I went to my favorite haunt- McDonalds's the only reason I didn't starve in Shanghai. I walked in and the one guy who speaks English took a look again, and asked, "Hamburger, french fries and Diet Coke?" But I fooled him and got an ice cream, too. So then it was back to work. Not much else happened on Friday, although Neva dropped by the hotel later after the tennis. She gave me an update of the matches, and on the bus she had met a Mallorcan guy who is filming the documentary on Rafa. He wanted to interview me regarding the site, so we arranged to meet up the next day. I asked him to clear it with Carlos Costa, especially since we were going to be talking about the official site. And he said Carlos is still in Shanghai and that he will be speaking with him later. Neva told me the Bryans were a hit with their second concert. It was so mobbed she couldn't get a good view. That's one thing I've noticed about China, there's no shortage of mobs. Anyway, onto Saturday. Before going to the tennis, I made my daily trip back to McDonald's. The guy has my order down pat now and punches it into the register without even asking. Very efficient! He just has to clarify if I want ice cream. So onto the bus I went. Haven't seen much of Felix and the boys since I've been busy with other things. Anyway the semis were less than scintillating. Fed double bageled Gaudio and it was the first time in the history of the final championships that there had there had been a double bagel, at 6-0, 6-0. It was brutal to watch. And Gaston was so devastated in his interview. He had never been bageled before and he said that, although he didn't like his chances to win, he didn't expect not to win a game. He said he was going to go out that night and celebrate the end of the year, and noticed that overall it was a very good year (this is important info for later). The Davydenko/Nalbandian match started out on the same note. David bageled Davydenko. The second set was better, but it was a less than thrilling straight sets victory (again important info for later). I did see the second set of the Bryan Brothers match against Llodra and Santoro. They lost the first set, but got it to a tiebreak in the second. I was sorry to see them lose, as I think they generated quite a bit of excitement for doubles here in Shanghai. Also, as I said, we're practically the only Americans around, and it was nice to have them here and to see the Chinese fans waving American flags to support them. After the matches, I was interviewed for the TV program (we had to wait until after Federer did his interview, as it was done in the press room). Can you imagine that? Fed was holding up my interview!!! Now, it is a documentary on Rafa, and I think it focuses on this year. It will be aired in Spain, and will be in Catalan. They are interviewing many people about Rafa, and they will be interviewing Rafa, too. I gave the interviewer and the crew some VR wristbands, which have become quite popular around here (again this is valuable info for later). NB: I can hear the announcement that the UA flight to Chicago is leaving. Felix is on that flight. I will miss him. Hope he has a good flight! I think my flight is now scheduled, but it still is running quite late. They must have found a plane somewhere. Back to the interview: I wore a blue business suit, and tried to look professional. They said I looked nice, but I was disappointed there was no hairdresser and make-up crew. *lol* So what happed is the interviwer sat down in one chair, and I was in another, and he asked me questions. It was basically a conversation. He asked me why I love Nadal, and of course I said it's because he has a hot body. *just kidding* I talked about his on-court passion, his charisma, etc. He asked how the website came about, and I explained that, noting that I had done an Andy Roddick site and was looking to start a site for an upcoming player. And since I thought Rafa was going to be an exceptional player, I figured it would be good to chronicle his career while he was starting out. Makes it a lot easier than starting one later. I said investing in the site was like buying stock in a company that later explodes. He asked about the evolution of the site, and it's popularity, and I spoke about that. I told him things were fairly easy to maintain before Roland Garros, and then everything exploded. I also mentioned that one or two people cannot do this site. It's a team effort involving 10 to 15 people. So we talked about that, and he asked me about my personal contacts with Rafa and his family and entourage. I described them with a few stories, just as I did with the Chinese journalist earlier in the week. We were nearly done, but not quite, when Davydenko came in. Once again, who do these players think they are? So we had to finish up. In the hall, they asked me about how I came up with Vamosrafael.com, and I basically said that after seeing him play on tape, and how he yells Vamos, I thought it was the perfect name for his website. They had a few more questions, and I told them about the beanie bears we give Rafa for each win. He said he would ask Rafa about them. And then to appease you all, I asked if they were going to ask him if he has a girlfriend. I told him about the Chinese article here and the info by Uncle Toni, and he said he’d investigate. I did let him know that Rafa doesn't like to be asked about it, but I also said it's an item of huge interest to his fans. So, we shall see. I said a definitive answer, one way or the other, would make my job easier. That was about it. They were very pleasant (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah - private joke to Neva). And I was honored to have the opportunity to be interviewed about the site. Oh, they know about RafaelNadal.com and apparently know the plan is to merge the sites, and we talked about that, too. I said we are still dealing with logistical efforts, and we'll be working on things in the off-season. About that time Cynthia Lum showed up. She's a fantastic tennis photographer - most of her photos appear on Wire Images and she travels to most events shooting tennis. I know her from Indian Wells and Miami. She met Neva on the bus (lots of connections are made there, as you can tell), and she came over and asked us to go out that night. She said "I heard there's this fabulous club we have to go to." Well, my evenings (when I'm not working) are committed to Felix, Dave and the boys, and I was feeling very tired then, so said I likely would pass. (Again, valuable info for later.) So I got back to the hotel, and meet up with Felix and Dave. The place is quite busy, and Summer Breeze - our totally rocking girl band are playing. By now, they say "Hello Susan" when I come in. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that earlier in the week Neva and I were coaxed onto the dance floor. It was quite an experience, but lots of fun. And during a rousing rendition of "YMCA," the girls came over and had us sing a bit. My voice leaves much to be desired, but at least I can say I've performed with a girl band (well, they do have a guy with them, too, but I consider it a girl band.) The girls are Flipino, and are so nice. Their names are Christine, Olivia and Almira. The guy is James, but he's not as social. The girls are, and they are terrific, and since Neva is from the Philippines too, we all developed quite a bond later in the week. I'm going to try to get them a gig in Los Angeles. (Again, valuable info for later.) And I do have photos of them - they are gorgeous - and talented, too. Dave was busy, but Felix and I chatted quite a bit. Felix is obsessed with the Xi Zong shopping mart, and he's been trying to get me to go all week. I'm glad I waited, because Felix has been an invaluable source of information. He's told me what to expect, what the best items are to buy, and how to haggle with the vendors. I have to admit, I didn't do as good a job as Felix when I went there, but I did myself proud. You should see my genuine Rolex watch knock-off. What Felix told me is that the minute I get out of the taxi, I will be surrounded by people saying, "Watch, watch, DVD, DVD." He also said they quote you a price that is astronomical for things, and you should only pay about 25% of that, if you say no, they will chase you down and bring you back. They also will tell you over and over again, "You are killing me with your price." "I cannot do it. Is too low." But if you walk away, they grab you back and they should because the same stuff is sold a few stalls down. The market has lots of interesting items, but it's mostly knock-offs of designer things, such as purses, boots, jackets, watches, some jewelry, definitely DVDs (you can get a version of the latest Zorro movie, if you don't mind it dubbed in Chinese with English subtitles). But he told me about some unique souvenir gifts to get for people including the Chairman Mao watches (literally these watches have a face with Chairman Mao with his hand waving at you - they are a hoot). I think Felix bought about 20. And also these magnetic chains that can twist into bracelets or necklaces. Now those are cool. He got about 20 of those, too. You can't just buy these things anywhere. *lol* And not to forget the Tommy Bahama shirts - those are literally a dime a dozen here, and the quality is good. So more on my market experiences later. Back to Saturday. Cynthia comes into the place and tells Neva and me that "we have to go out." I'm ready for bed, but she says, "There's this place that really cool with magicians and fortune tellers." Given how bad my fortunes have been lately, the latter convinced me. I'd like to get an encouraging fortune telling. Felix said, "You can't be in Shanghai and not have your fortune told." So off we went. The place is in the Grand Hyatt, which is in the second tallest building in the world. We took a cab over there, and went to the 52nd floor, and then we were shuttled to the 80'th floor, and then to another floor, and finally we got to this bar which was empty, but had a view to die for. But no fortune tellers. You could see all of Shanghai lit up at night. We were in awe. We enjoyed the view for a bit, but Cynthia said the place was dead, and she wanted to go to Bar Rouge in the Bund area. I said I heard some people on the bus talking about it, but knew nothing about it. Anyway, we went to Bar Rouge. We got there and there was this huge line to get in so we figured it must be popular. Cynthia tried to get us in with her tennis connections, but by the time she got the appropriate people on the phone, we were in. I can safely say I have never been to anything like this place. Apparently it's the hottest place in Shanghai, and it is, in several ways. You walk in, and after you check your coat (which you need to, because it's so hot in there), you crowd yourself into this room that has to have more people in it than the fire code should allow. Especially since the waitresses keep walking around with these food plates that have lit sparklers on them. You can barely move, you can't hear people when you talk to them, and all you do, really, is just dance. Everyone just dancing . Oh, a few people are talking or trying to talk, but that's just in between dancing. The music is basically American music, and the people in there are all nationalities. Many places you go there are mostly Chinese, not here. There were people from around the world there - that was interesting. After a while Cynthia spotted Gaston Gaudio. She knows him, and we spoke with him a bit. His spirts were a bit low at first, but we congratulated him on his terrific year, and he said thanks. And gave us a low five. Not sure of the signifiance that. Later he was doing more dancing with his entourage. It's kind of sad he had to end his year on a low note, but the surface didn't really suit his game, and he had a great year to qualify for the event. After that I discovered that there is a balcony, where you can go outside, get some fresh air and enjoy the Shanghai skyline. It was nice out there, and I chatted with Neva and Cynthia a bit. I enjoy going out and talking with people, but these mad crushes at clubs are a thing of the past for me. Still it was interesting to see this aspect of Shanghai. So then it was back to the hotel, with the hope that the final matches would be good. And Neva and I, armed with Felix's coaching, were ready to tackle the shopping market at 10 a.m!!! posted by Susan @ 5:04 PM