Experience
Nalle in British Open 2009 - Arrival
As two years ago I took KLM flight from Helsinki to Amsterdam and then another leg to Manchester. Flights were in time and as KLM has improved service it was a nice experience to fly. Luckily there was 2 hours stop over in Amsterdam giving enough time to dinner at the Schiphol airport. 
Today’s lunch brought me back to the reality. I tried to eat in local pub, but the waiter ignored me completely and I walked out after checking emails. Free WiFi was the main reason to go there anyway. Sometime later I found a nice Italian restaurant and ordered spaghetti carbonara. That’s my favorite pasta and I have eaten it in 100+ restaurants all over the world. Spaghetti carbonara has always tasted good, except today. It will be tough week to find any decent food here even if I have lowered the expectations before traveling to UK.
At the Northern squash club everything have been well organized. I even succeeded to get a practice court right after arrival. It was nice to train volleys, drop shots and tricks on the glass backwall court when Amr Swelim (EGY) and Shaun Le Roux (ENG) played their PSA match on the next court. Court was good and my touch was excellent even if I have not been able to play properly in one month due to repeating hamstring injuries. After practicing I was talking with four Pakistani players. They had seen me on the court and asked my PSA ranking. I asked their opinion and they said that you have a nice touch, your ranking is 150!!! As they also estimated me 10 years younger I feel unbeatable in tomorrow’s match in men over 45 category. If the hamstring does not disagree.
Today’s lunch brought me back to the reality. I tried to eat in local pub, but the waiter ignored me completely and I walked out after checking emails. Free WiFi was the main reason to go there anyway. Sometime later I found a nice Italian restaurant and ordered spaghetti carbonara. That’s my favorite pasta and I have eaten it in 100+ restaurants all over the world. Spaghetti carbonara has always tasted good, except today. It will be tough week to find any decent food here even if I have lowered the expectations before traveling to UK.
At the Northern squash club everything have been well organized. I even succeeded to get a practice court right after arrival. It was nice to train volleys, drop shots and tricks on the glass backwall court when Amr Swelim (EGY) and Shaun Le Roux (ENG) played their PSA match on the next court. Court was good and my touch was excellent even if I have not been able to play properly in one month due to repeating hamstring injuries. After practicing I was talking with four Pakistani players. They had seen me on the court and asked my PSA ranking. I asked their opinion and they said that you have a nice touch, your ranking is 150!!! As they also estimated me 10 years younger I feel unbeatable in tomorrow’s match in men over 45 category. If the hamstring does not disagree.
Malaysia - Activities
02-Nov-08 03:34 Filed in: Activity
As New Zealand is far away from Finland it was planned to have a half way stop over in Malaysia to relax and recover from jet lag. As said the idea was to relax on the beach and pool side, but as usual there are never too many days without any activities. So what did the team Finland do in Malaysia?
Sightseeing
Team at the front of Penang International Squash Centre.
Dive master Sham and Nalle on Langkawi Coral. With more than 1000 dives Sham instructed Nalle in his first dive.
Sightseeing
- Golf
- Beach and swimming
- Squash
- Scuba diving
Team at the front of Penang International Squash Centre.
Dive master Sham and Nalle on Langkawi Coral. With more than 1000 dives Sham instructed Nalle in his first dive.
New Zealand - Activities
29-Oct-08 23:44 Filed in: Activity
After the tournament there was time for sightseeing and activities. New Zealand and Christchurch area offered lots of after tournament opportunities. What did the Finns do?
Sightseeing
There would not have been enough time for all mentioned above and everyone was not interested in every option, but there was at least someone going for each option.
The most interesting activity (sky diving) was cancelled due to clouds and turbulent winds (30 m/s at 10000 ft), which gave Nalle some difficult time for waiting and waiting for sky to clear and winds to clam down. The miracle did not happen and sky diving with 60 s free fall and full video package was cancelled
After there was only one day left and the weather forecast was not good for sky diving it was time for plan B - bungee jumping. During the Nalle used a heart rate monitor. While sitting on the bench and preparing for the jump pulse was 74, standing up raise heart beat rate to 90, on the edge just before the jump pulse went up to 112, and right after the jump (after 2 bounces) the pulse was 116. Let’s see if detailed analysis will reveal any higher figures, but the numbers observed by watching the Polar RS800 were amazingly low.
Sightseeing
- Swimming with dolphins
- Whale watching
- Tranz Alpine train
- Hot springs
- Golf
- Downhill skiing
- Squash
- Jet boating
- Sky diving
- Bungee jumping
There would not have been enough time for all mentioned above and everyone was not interested in every option, but there was at least someone going for each option.
The most interesting activity (sky diving) was cancelled due to clouds and turbulent winds (30 m/s at 10000 ft), which gave Nalle some difficult time for waiting and waiting for sky to clear and winds to clam down. The miracle did not happen and sky diving with 60 s free fall and full video package was cancelled
After there was only one day left and the weather forecast was not good for sky diving it was time for plan B - bungee jumping. During the Nalle used a heart rate monitor. While sitting on the bench and preparing for the jump pulse was 74, standing up raise heart beat rate to 90, on the edge just before the jump pulse went up to 112, and right after the jump (after 2 bounces) the pulse was 116. Let’s see if detailed analysis will reveal any higher figures, but the numbers observed by watching the Polar RS800 were amazingly low.