Quiet time by the pool after a long day of training. The water is painfully cold but it's good for muscle recovery.


Lunch (mmmmmmm!)
Salad with raw herring (I didn't quite like the herring)
Beans with fried fish fillet and pork sausage
Brown rice with peas and carrots
Kiwi
Orange fanta (my one indulgence:P)
Tomato cucumber drink (tasted horrible!, hence the half-cup)


Things I have to do today.

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How disappointing. I didn't manage to train by the beach with Kapi today. He had arranged for Estella--the bungalow resident supervisor--to contact me about the time I was supposed to have met the group this morning, after tennis. Unfortunately, she was no where to be found this morning. After looking for her in her bungalow four times, visiting the offices, tramping to the gym and asking reception, not only could they not find her--they couldn't contact Kapi either. To think I had prepped so carefully last night to do fitness with them today.

The good news, though, is that Ángel Giménez told me this morning over tennis that I am to train with the WTA group come the start of next week (!!!!) We did a session together this morning, and he is a very good coach who bothers to explain in detail, why we are doing a particular drill, and for what specific reasons. He's a short, little man, with stout legs, a mustache, shaggy grey hair, and wonderful eyes that show incredible kindness.

I still feeling a little overwhelmed with the news--and can think of a few reasons why I wouldn't be able to match up to this. But then again, these are mere thoughts. Before I left, Pastor Prince preached a really powerful sermon about how we have to constantly bring our thoughts captive not to our insecurities or fears which is so natural, but rather, to Christ, in whom is our security, strength and solid assurance.

Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

I think the same goes for this transition to the WTA group. It's a privilege, filled with incredible opportunity to improve my game. Let me just look at it that way. Focus, Sarah, have fun, enjoy yourself :)

Today marks day four of the programme--I'm sorry I've not thrown as quick an update as I know some of you have been hoping for. I can just about hear the voices popping up: "What's the training like?" "How are the coaches?" "What do you do for physical training?" "And the coach student ratio?" "The academy's facilities?" The voices and the questions just keep going on and on, and trust me, they're like a bad cloud looming at the back of my head each time I have time to sit down and... rest.

Truth be told, I'm just so knackered after training, I hardly have time enough to sleep, much less blog. Time to do the bare essentials is also sparse, and I'm just so tired (or rather, paranoid about optimizing recovery) that I don't think or do anything that's not an essential. Read: Eat well and slowly, see to laundry and water, and writing notes notes notes about what I learnt for the day. Even my formerly-freakish obsession with checking my inbox has been pushed into the margins of low-priority. It's a real change of pace, but I'm enjoying it, no doubt.

In many ways, I finally have the time to concentrate on my game. And it feels wonderfully liberating. I am amazed—despite the aches and pains—to see how fast my body is responding to the training—in the most minute ways. My cross-courts and down the lines are getting more consistent. Thanks to the coaches, I've found myself effortlessly hitting the ball much harder, much faster. I get surprised hearing the clear "phark!" sound off my strings now. And only three days, at that! So much, and yet still so much to learn.

One thing for sure, is that I've managed to move up the groups some, so far. In the first few days, I was asked to hit with the 10-12 year olds. Very humbling :P…  ! But I just kept at it--so what if they're 10-12? Some of them hit the ball really hard and cleanly, and I could still learn things from them (by observing), and more importantly with the coach overseeing us. So I gave the drills my all, and kept on asking questions. I moved up to train with the 14-16 year olds about two days ago, and in the past two afternoon sessions, moved up again to hit with the older 15-17 year old boys who are with the Academy for at least a year. I notice more kids here go through the motions, than critically think and dissect their game. I'm not sure if it's an age/maturity thing, but then again, there are the few rare gems who do have a lot of talent and grit.

Today over dinner, I was most surprised when Kapi--the head fitness director came up to me and said "Tomorrow after tennis training, you come and do fitness with me and my girls." Me being a blur sotong, wasn't quite sure what exactly he meant by "his girls". I found out later from Kiko that they're the WTA girls. In one of the first days after practice, I stayed behind in the gym to see him train Marina—a WTA girl who’s currently ranked 50-60 in the world (I think). It was incredible seeing the type of stretches he made her do—and how he followed it up with a series of dynamic explosive exercises with weights, bands, etc—systematically stretching and strengthening different muscle groups. This stout, pony-tailed man has an incredibly creative, focussed, athlete-centric mind. While I sat on a fitness ball and felt shy watching them train, he attended Marina as any true professional trainer would—attentively and with great care and detail. “Nope, don’t bend your back, keep it straight, push your hips down.” “Push your foot slightly back, yes keep it in position as you reach for your shin.” Some of the stretches he made her do would’ve been impossible alone—and I’m certainly not doing him justice merely describing this man in action. Such an eye-opener.

Tomorrow's actually a half-day for the Academy--it's a Catalan holiday so there's only to be 2 hours of tennis and 1 hour of fitness, instead of the usual 6. But with Kapi, we're going to the beach after tennis, to run on the sand and climb steps. Let's see how it goes. Exciting lah 

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Rhema for the day: "For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall." -- Psalms 18:29

Strange things I've seen so far:
- A woman in church with super frizzy hair and PURPLE eyebrows
- A Nigerian smiling and stirring ice cream into his hot coffee
- A Russian mother and daughter at the Academy, decked in nothing but Chanel. Overkill...

Church on Sunday was much better than I expected. After some research online, there seemed to be only one English speaking church in the city--the International Church of Barcelona. It was hell trying to find the place, but I'm proud I found it. I only had to ask 4 strangers for directions and arrive thirty minutes late. Hahaha!

After getting past the initial awkwardness of standing around and trying to say hello to new people (I had to force myself to stay put and smile, seriously!)--it panned out with an invite to lunch with the young adults ministry, meeting a whole bunch of people from all over the world, and talking to a Russian dude (among them!) about Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment--the book I'm reading now. "Everyone tells me about Tolstoy and Dostoevsky--but no one in Russia reads them!! They're just exports!!!" he lamented. Hahahahahha, funny indeed.

On the bus ride back, I zoning out of the window, enjoying my ipod when out of no where, this hand popped in view and started gesticulating violently. It was a middle-aged man pointing furiously to this sign by the side of my seat. I was sitting on the "Elderly seat" and apparently was ignoring the old woman 2metres behind me, standing next to the exit! He was speaking strongly, and while I didn't understand a word he said, it was pretty embarrassing. I immediately got up, apologetic of course, and the irony was that the old woman didn't even want my seat! A stop later, an old man eventually took it up. I attach a photo here:


He looks like the old man from Up!

And this is just the first of many more times I've gotten yelled at!! It's really taking some time getting used to the culture here, but definitely stay tuned with more stories to come.

This is it. I’m here.

It feels surreal. The 16 hour flight, the fat old man next to me with the overwhelming b.o., and then emerging to the startlingly cool chill of Barcelona’s waning spring. Strange as this mishmash was, it all fed the excitement drumming through my veins. Drum, drum, drum. Yes, even sitting here in the restaurant canteen chewing on lunch as I type this—players of all ages, sizes and nationalities bustle in and out. They stream in carrying their huge-ass tennis bags, snorting to each other in different languages. They secretly scope out each other’s tennis outfits, smile at old friends, talk about the draw of the latest tournament at the Academy. On the walls, tennis greats like Henin, Federer and Nadal look over, silent with their immortalized trophies and autographed best wishes. It is a little overwhelming, but at the same time so, so damn cool.

I touched down at 9am this morning and was picked up by Juan, one of SC’s drivers. He was a short, pudgy, middle-aged man standing glumly at the arrival gate, one hand on chin and the other holding out an A4 sheet with “SARAH PANG” printed huge and bold from side to side. I felt very bad for having made him wait (I had to take a huge dump in the toilet! Ha ha!) but once I waved at him and muttered a sheepish “Hola!”, the man broke into a wide grin and immediately insisted on taking over my luggage.

At the academy, Juan introduced me to Kiko—a very friendly Mexican (!) overseer in charge of allocating accommodation at SC. That made settling in much easier than I expected. Later that evening he had time (and allowance from SC!) to take me out for a short rendezvous around town. I drank Sangria (very nice, UC!!!!) and scoped out part of La Ramblas—the main street to Barcelona Centre. The place was teeming with life!! There were still performers around every corner, drum bands beating life into the night air, and sidewalks choked with animal stands, selling pets of every shape and size. Incredible, really.

Going to scope out an English service tomorrow. Looking forward to it!! :)

LUNCH MUNCH:
Stir-fried brown rice—peas, tomato slivers, and chicken bits included
Grilled salmon fillet
Potato wedges
Fruit salad—lettuce, sweet honey dew, orange slices, kiwi and watermelon chunks. Mmm!
Wholemeal baguette
Mineral water