Wonderful Wimbledon

I really had a memorable time at Wimbledon yesterday. Here are the reasons:-

1. I almost din get to go!!!!

When i first reached there and noticed the crowd - which was much much bigger than when i was there 10 years ago - and the queue, i almost felt like not going at all. But i knew i won't get another chance. So i joined the end of the queue.

It was after that i found out that the queue was much much longer than i thought it was!!!!

While queuing, one of the stewards was just joking wif us, reminding us that all we need is "cash and card". Cash for the tickets, and the "Queuing card" which is given to everyone in the queue according to descending numbers. The lady in front of me asked if she could get a refund for her Monday tickets cuz it rained the whole of Monday. The steward told her that she could get her 17 pounds back.

I was like - wait a minute? 17 quid? The tickets are 11 quid, isn't it? I checked the price on the queue card and sure enuf, it was 17!!!!! 11 pounds tickets are only for those who go in after 5 pm!!!!!!!

I checked me wallet - yup, i had ONLY 16 QUID!!!!!! And some pennies...

I gave up. I left the queue and headed towards the tube station. Then i had an idea - i checked wif another steward (helpful ppl these stewards - and plenty of em around too!). Yup, wif me queue card, i can leave the queue and rejoin at any time.

I rushed to the town nearby (by foot), found a Barclays Bank, got cash and rushed back, hoping that i can remember the people i was standing in between. I did! And they were so far away - the queue moved really fast and we were in in less than 2 hours!!!! :-)

2. I caught a glimpse of the big names - Maria Sharapova, Sebastien Grojean, Daniela Hantuchova, Elena Dementieva, Anatascia Myskina etc.

Some were just fleeting, most while playing, some were really up close, as they walked pass. Whenever we hear stewards shout out "Make way, make way, player passing thru", we'd all turn in expectation to see who is walking pass by!

3. Just being on the Wimbledon grounds was special for me.

I was close to tears as i stood inside there initially, absorbing the wonderful atmosphere! The place where dreams were made and dashed! the place which i had been watching all these years on TV. I was there!

4. I got to see some things in the smaller courts you dun normally see.

Things like balls flying in from another court, the scoreboard person making mistakes - to the annoyance of the umpire, seeing the umpire roll his eyes, the ball boy taking a drink, etc.

5. I got involved in a match!

While waiting for another match, i got engrossed in this doubles games between a Japanese pair and a Russian pair. There was a host of Japanese supporters there too and we were cheering the girls on enthusiastically! There were the usual "Ooos..." and "Aaahhhs..." you normally hear on TV at a close-call shot or a brilliant one. They lost but we had fun!

6. I got so familiar with the place

Now each time i watch a game online, i know exactly where the Court in question is!

7. The weather was brilliant!

A bit too sunny at times but lovely. There were nice breezes and occasional and rare cloudy spells. When i left at 8:15 pm, it was still bright!

8. There were oso the negatives.

I had some pretty bad experiences wif some British ladies. First, there were 2 who just pretended i wasn't there and slipped in front of me, ahead of the queue for Court 3!!!!! Then there was another who's phoen rang during the game and she actually answered the call - loudly - to the annoyance of all of us. I glared at her until she laughingly told the person on the other end of the line that she had to go!!!! I was pretty mad - she was standing at the entrance and she could have very well just turned around and walked 2 steps out of the court! Sigh...

9. Seeing the matches in real life is different from watching it live on TV.

I just can't explain it - you had to be there, see the ground strokes being made right before your eyes, hearing the racquet make contact with the ball, seeing the expressions on the faces, seeing the chalk fly up when the ball hit the line - sure u see and hear these things on TV but being there is so so different! Oh, you get to feel the heat and the breeze too! And the excitement among the crowd! And we had to duck some balls which flew our direction too!

10. I got meself a nice tan! I got meself a nice t-shirt too! :-)