KOREA AGAIN --NUMBER 15

1. Out to dinner
2. After training

Im in Korea again for the 15th time. Nothing much has changed since we were here last--other than the weather. You cant walk out of the hotel room without feeling as though you are in a sauna. Training is the worst because your drenched with sweat from beginning to the end.

So far we have trainined 2 days, both of which have been with the Phillapean and Thailand Team. It was team sparring so we have had the opportunity to mix things up a bit. Im loving the feeling of fighting again, I need to put what I practice into the ring more often. After training we have had running sessions......the massive hills are a killer and I havent been able to walk far or talk much after....but that could also be due to the fact Im sick!

The Italian team were in Korea for a day when we arrived and next week the Egyptian Team will join us. At least there are other people around who speak english...it does make the time pass faster!........

Off to bed now, another early morning tomorrow.

The Aftermath

After comp we all had a team dinner at Carrefour (a massive eatery where you can have what ever you want!) to which the Italian team joined us after. I had some wierd octopus meal and I think I fell ill from it. I was sick until 3am in the morning, and then had to wake up for morning training at 7am! I was running on the treadmill wanting to vomit every step of the way.........but luckily for everyone I held it all in for after.
....Some one has a shoe fetish....???? Can you guess the team player who bought these....??:S:S:S SCARY!

Quick Results Run Down

We are off to Korea now for training and then the Korean Open so I dont have much time to update, but I will give a quick run down of the results.

I fought China first match and went down 4-2. Small mistakes are costly!!!! China went on the win the Gold medal. (......My luck with the draws hasn't been that great this year having lost to the gold medallist in the comps I didnt win.) Its my fault in the end -- just as long as I make it happen at the Worlds!.......

Burak won a bronze in the mens -68kg. Beating Poland, France, and then went down against Korea 7-5.

RUTH WON BRONZE - DAY 1

Strange events....a normal day in china

I guess you are all wondering how I fought today....I would be too ...If I actually fought!!!!

I ate all the right food before bed, I had the best night sleep, ate an awsome breaky, warmed up fantastically, was ready to kick some chinese butt.....had my guards on ready to go.....and then found out my division wasn't on that day!!!!! CAN U BELIEVE IT! I was wondering why there were little girls warming up and massive Chinese women! I kept asking....
1) are there juniors on today because i dont think those little girls are big enough for me. (there are no juniors in this comp)
2) Are you sure thats a girl...maybe its a guy fighting under 58kg? (I didnt have my contacts on)

As it turned out they changed the timetable ...and Australia ...well we were just one of the countries that didnt find that out! /58kg for men, 49 girls and +67 women fought today instead.

Sooooooooo AMY, KATRINA, AND RUTH had to put our gear on and fight without warming up! WHAT A STRANGE DAY!

Ruth managed to win a bronze medal after beating China which is great. She sadly went down in the semis to the Olympic Gold Medallist 5-0 (who is also from china...suprise suprise)

Sooooooooo I fight on sunday now which gives me two more days to prepare. I will also fight China first match.

Oh yeah......so we didnt fight today, but after the competition we did manage to do some weird weird shopping:) And ride some pretty funky, squeaky, rusted old bikes:)

CHINA CHINA CHINA

Its two years to go until Beijing Olympics and ironically we are in China right now preparing for a competition that starts tomorrow. It’s the China international open and around 20 countries are here to compete. I have no idea who I am fighting but should find out fairly soon. Kristy, Dounia, Ryan, Saf and I are all competing first. We have not seen a lot of the country so I’m not sure I can give an accurate interpretation of it, but at this stage I’m not very fond of it. No one speaks English, we have been caught in the rain on numerous occasions despite the 35 degree whether and we are in the middle of no where. On the plus though, food is extremely cheap. For lunch I had a massive beef dish with rice plus soup and a large diet coke for $2 dollars! …Gatorade 600ml cost 50 cents…..and bananas…..OH BANANAS MY FAVOURITE FRUIT is only 90 cents per kilo! It sure beats the $12 Aussie back home! Also the hotel we are at has everything, swimming pool, sauna, squash court, yoga, bowling alley, store, Korean restaurant, Chinese restaurant, buffet, need I say more!

The English: Chinese people speak

1) Your killing me, are you crazy! Too low! (this is in regards to how much we ask for when shopping) What ever the price is just divide it by 10. I walked into one store wanting to buy this skirt and she asked 880Y for it which is about $170 Aussie dollars….surprisingly I only paid 80Y ::: A$17!! I think they think tourists are stupid!
2) Okay Okay…come back lady. Special Price

Things to note:

I never thought anyone liked white skin. The girls wont stop trying to touch my skin or comment on how white and wonder I look….I’m not complaining because in Australia everyone always laughs how ghostly white I am. Sooooooo I fed my ego and bought whitening cream. Hehehehe

These are the only two words I know in Chinese and its so frustrating not being able to ask anything! 1: Che-Che = Thankyou + 2:Niha = hello

Oh and don’t try on jeans if you don’t intend on buying them. I have seen so many people get abused for not wanting to buy it after discovering it didn’t fit. They think you wasted their time.

Check out the boys and their new bodies. hmm glad I dont diet!

OH IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME 24 TODAY

Little Lachie!

Congrats to Tash and Max, my best friends from way back, who have just had a baby boy called Lachlan Rees Cobb. He looks like such a little angel and I can't wait to meet him! Born 6th July 2006 in Perth.

CHINA -KOREA -THAILAND

WEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! Still training training training! We've been back at training the last few weeks working hard on the track and in then ring. I start yoga classes tomorrow .....I dont know why I want to put myself through the pain of holding strange poses but I think it will be heaps of fun and I'm sure it will make my bendy legs more "bendable".

I haven't had to catch the tram/tram the last week because I finally got a car to drive around in (after 10 months of slow slow slow travel!) My car's soooooooo cute and zippy I LOVE IT! It's my blue toyota echo baby and although I haven't got photos to post yet, be sure to see them soon:)....FREEEEEDOM!!!!!!!!!

The other day I officially found out I'm off to the China, Korea and then straight to the World Cup in Thailand. 7 weeks away is going to be a test in itself but hopefully good performances will make the trip all the more enjoyable.

The current plan is shown below:

CHINA OPEN
Where: Beijing
When: 11-14th August (I compete the first day)
Olympic Divisions: 57-67kgs

KOREA TRAINING CAMP
Where: Seoul
When: 15th August -3rd September

KOREAN OPEN
Where: Seoul
When: 4th - 9th September (I compete second/third day)
Olympic Division: 57-67kgs
WTF Divison: 63-67kgs
http://www.koreaopentkd.com

WORLD CUP -TEAM
Where: Thailand - Bangkok
When: 14th -17th September
Division: 61-68kgs
http://www.tkd-worldcup2006.com