Memoirs of Beijing

The FIBA Asia Championship is currently ongoing in Tianjin from August 6 to 16.  As Team Pilipinas is one of the contenders, my friends and I decided to show our support by watching the game live. 

Normally, a train ride to Tianjin takes 25 minutes via Beijing South Station or 1 hour via Beijing Main Station.  However, as the game starts at 9pm.  We won’t be able to make it back to Beijing and catch the last train at 10pm. 

So, we have two other options.  One is to join the bus organized by the Philippines Embassy and the other is find someone with a car who would be willing to drive all the way there.  When you take a road trip to Tianjin, it will normally take you 2 hours without traffic and 3-4 hours if an accident happened.

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The FIBA Asia Championship  is currently happening in Tianjin, 2 hours by bus/car from Beijing.  Some Filipino friends of mine are planning to watch the game tonight and tomorrow night to root and support Team Pilipinas!

After a lopsided win yesterday morning against Sri Lanka (115-31), Team Pilipinas will be going against Team Japan at 9pm.  To my friends who are on their way there, take care of yourselves.  As for me, I’ll be going tomorrow afternoon along with a huge group of Pinoys to wave the flag and cheer for our kababayans.  My friend told me it’s going to be a good match tomorrow as the last encounter Team Pilipinas had with Team South Korea in Taipei, Team Pilipinas lost to South Korea by 2 points only.  Hopefully tomorrow, we will win against them!  

I’ll keep you guys posted.  If they have wifi access there, I’ll update my blog as it happen!  Otherwise, you’re better off watching it on TV.  Hehehehe! 

Photo credits: hingedman

Bowling is a sport where I’m neither good nor bad.  My current average is 105.  My goal for this year is to average at 120.  Seems reachable right?  There are several bowling alleys in Beijing.  The most famous is Gongti 100 in Gongti Xi Lu.  The International Friendship Bowling League hold their tournament there every Tuesday night at 730pm.  Each game at this alley cost RMB 25 before 5pm and RMB 30 after 5pm.  Smoking and drinking are allowed.  If you buy their prepaid card worth RMB 5000, each game before 5pm is RMB 15 and after 5pm is RMB 18.

Near Dongzhimen, East Gate Apartments has a bowling alley at the basement of their mall.   Each game cost RMB 15 before 5pm and RMB 20 after 5pm.  The alley closes at 12mn so you better time yourself well.  They have fewer lanes and columns in between lanes are a bit distracting.  No smoking or drinking allowed.  Beware of flying balls as some players literally throw their balls and not towards the pins but it slip off their fingers when they’re about to throw it.  If you get a prepaid card worth RMB 3600, each game before 5pm will cost RMB 3 and after 5pm will be RMB 6.  In between bowling tournament, this is where we practice to reduce cost.

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I officially confer myself as a bowling fanatic.  This is just a step below from the bowling addicts.  If you read through my New Year’s resolution, #2 on my list is to get an average of 120 in bowling.  Currently after almost a 100 games since Dec. 28, my average score is a 102. I hope I can reach my goal towards the end of the year or better.  In any case, I usually play 5 games a week on average and I even bought a prepaid card to lower the cost of each game.  My bowling addict friends play at least 10 games a week and not just once but sometimes 3 times a week.

In any case, to all bowling fans in Beijing, you are cordially welcome to join as a group of 4 to 6 people in the International Friendship Bowling League.  This League plays every Tuesday starting 730pm.  The players are composed of expats from different countries and different sectors of society.  We have players who work for the different embassies, hotels, news groups and businesses.  It’s fun and a good place to network!

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