#1227 – The Apprentice and Blue Clay

ENGLISH

The Apprentice

I just found out yesterday that the ninth series of The Apprentice UK was premiered last week with two back to back episodes. As usual, I love this UK version of the series because it is purely business; and I think this season is going to be another interesting season. Anyway, I am quite disappointed that Jaz was fired in the first episode though, even though I did understand the reason behind that decision and she was, indeed, jumping to be the project manager too soon.

Speaking of The Apprentice, the US version is going to have its season finale next week. This year’s season is an All Stars season where the contestants are previously contestants on the previous seasons of The Celebrity Apprentice. It was quite clear from the beginning though that Trace Adkins and Penn Jillette would likely to be the final two. And they were. About this season, I like the fact that they invited Omarosa back; but I was a bit disappointed that she was fired in week five. I think she should have stayed a bit longer as she made the show more interesting.

Back to Red Clay

Anyway, let us switch the topic to one of my favorites now, tennis. As Roland Garros is going to start in less than two weeks ( ), a lot of clay tennis tournaments have been played where the players are preparing themselves for this second grandslam tournament of the year. One of the biggest one was the Madrid Masters which was held last week. On the side note, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams showed their mastery on clay by winning the title there (defeating Stanislas Wawrinka and Maria Sharapova, respectively, in the final).

But this is now what I want to write here now. I want to make a comment on the color. Last year, I was really aesthetic to find out the organizer decided to make the debut of blue clay as the surface of the tournament. I found blue clay really refreshing and nice on the eyes. However, a lot of top (male) players (read: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal) were against this blue clay and threatened to boycott the tournament this year if the tournament would still use blue clay. Facing pressure from all directions (including the ATP), the tournament decided to switch back to the traditional red clay for this year’s edition of the tournament.

IMO, it was an unfortunate fate to the blue clay though. This is because the players were against the blue clay last year because it was too slippery. So it had (to have) nothing to do with the color, in my opinion. But they are the players, who actually play on the court, so obviously they are more qualified to assess the situation than me. What I am saying is, to me, it is quite a shame that the color blue is gone from clay tournaments.

Serena Williams won her 50th singles title in Madrid in 2013 on red clay. Photo credit: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Europe

Venus Williams playing on blue clay in Madrid in 2012. Photo credit: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Europe

BAHASA INDONESIA

The Apprentice

Aku baru tahu kemarin bahwa seri kesembilan dari The Apprentice UK mulai tayang minggu lalu loh dengan dua episode berturutan. Seperti biasanya, aku suka banget dengan versi UK ini karena acaranya benar-benar murni bisnis; dan aku rasa musim ini akan menjadi musim yang menarik lagi. Anyway, aku sedikit kecewa sih Jaz dipecat di episode pertama, walaupun aku mengerti alasan di balik keputusan ini dan dia, memang, memilih untuk menjadi project manager terlalu cepat.

Ngomongin tentang The Apprentice, versi Amerikanya akan mencapai episode final minggu depan. Musim kali ini dari The Apprentice adalah musim All Stars dimana pesertanya adalah peserta dari musim-musim The Celebrity Apprentice yang sebelumnya. Sudah cukup jelas dari awal musim ini bahwa kemungkinan besar Trace Adkins and Penn Jillette akan menjadi dua kandidat terakhir. Dan mereka beneran menjadi dua kandidat terakhir. Tentang musim ini, aku senang sekali ketika mereka mengumumkan bahwa Omarosa akan diundang kembali; tetapi agak kecewa juga ketika ia dipecat di minggu kelima. Menurutku seharusnya ia dipertahankan agak lebih lama karena ia membuat acara ini lebih menarik.

Kembali ke Tanah Liat Merah

Anyway, mari berganti topik ke salah satu topik yang paling kufavoritkan nih, tenis. Karena Roland Garros akan dimulai dalam waktu kurang dari dua minggu ( ), banyak turnamen tenis di lapangan tanah liat telah diadakan dimana para pemain menggunakan turnamen-turnamen ini sebagai ajang pemanasan untuk mempersiapkan diri di turnamen grandslam kedua tahun ini. Salah satu turnamen terbesarnya adalah Madrid Masters yang diadakan minggu lalu. Catatan samping nih, Rafael Nadal dan Serena Williams menunjukkan kehebatan mereka di tanah liat dengan menjuarai turnamen Madrid itu (dengan mengalahkan Stanislas Wawrinka dan Maria Sharapova, berturutan, di final).

Tapi bukanlah ini yang ingin aku tulis sekarang. Aku hanya ingin membuat komentar mengenai warna. Tahun lalu, aku bahagia banget waktu mengetahui bahwa panitia turnamennya akan mulai menggunakan tanah liat berwarna biru di turnamen ini. Menurutku, tanah liat biru itu sangat menyegarkan dan enak di mata. Namun, banyak pemain top (putra) (baca: Novak Djokovic dan Rafael Nadal) amat menentang tanah liat biru ini dan mengancam akan memboikot turnamen ini tahun ini apabila turnamen masih menggunakan tanah liat biru. Menghadapi tekanan dari segala jurusan (termasuk ATP), turnamennya akhirnya memutuskan untuk kembali ke tanah liat merah tradisional di edisi tahun ini.

IMO, ini hanyalah nasib sial tanah liat biru sih. Ini karena para pemain top menentang tanah liat biru tahun lalu karena tanah liatnya itu terlalu licin. Jadi (seharusnya) tidak ada hubungannya dengan warnanya dong ya, menurutku sih. Tetapi mereka adalah para pemain tenis profesional, yang memang beneran bermain di lapangannya itu, sehingga tentu pendapat mereka lebih bisa dipercaya daripada pendapatku. Hanya saja, yang ingin aku katakan adalah, bagiku, agak sayang juga warna biru hilang dari turnamen tanah liat.

#1197 – TAR and TCA

ENGLISH

Two of my favorite reality TV shows are back with their latest season. So here we go…

The Amazing Race (season 22)

The Amazing Race is back! And this season is really exciting because for the third time in the last four seasons, TAR is back to Indonesia! After visiting Yogyakarta in season 19, then Surabaya in season 21, now they visit Bali. And the Bali episode is this week’s (this Sunday’s) episode!

The Bali episode was, indeed, a very exciting episode though. Not only because it was in Bali, but also what actually happened on the race due to the twist. So, Jessica and John possessed an Express Pass because of winning the first leg in Bora-Bora (btw, I just knew from the race that Bora-Bora was actually a very beautiful place!). With this Express Pass, they could actually skip any one task they wanted. A nice advantage, no? Especially if they were in a neck to neck situation at the bottom of the pack.

And that was exactly the position they found themselves on in Bali. They were among the last teams in the race. In fact, they were the last team, but they did not realize that. So they were reluctant in using the Express Pass, and ended up not using it, and ended up being the last time to check in at the pit stop, and unfortunately it was an elimination leg. So they were eliminated, while still on possession of an unused Express Pass. Well, in a hindsight it was quite silly because they were numerous opportunities where they could exercise the Pass and moved ahead; especially the last roadblock where they could just skip it and go directly to the pit stop. Ay yey yey, and then they got eliminated.

In an interview they explained that they thought a team was behind them. So they decided not to use the Express Pass (and so they could save it for later use). Okay, then it was just the case of making the wrong decision. They risked it, and things did not work their way.

The Celebrity Apprentice (season 6)

The Celebrity Apprentice is also back with its sixth season (thirteenth so far for The Apprentice series). And this season is an “All-Star” season where the candidates are from the previous seasons. And guess what? Omarosa is back! Hahaha . Yess! I always love Omarosa. I mean, she knows how to make good TV. Okay, this is going to be an interesting season…

Btw, in this week’s episode, Omarosa was the project manager and she won! It was her first victory as a PM in the three seasons she participated in!

BAHASA INDONESIA

Dua dari acara TV reality show favoritku kembali dengan musim terbarunya mereka nih. Jadi, mari kita mulai saja…

The Amazing Race (musim 22)

The Amazing Race mulai tayang lagi! Dan musim ini adalah musim yang menarik loh karena untuk ketiga kalinya dari empat musim terakhir, TAR kembali berkunjung ke Indonesia! Setelah mengunjungi Yogyakarta di musim 19, lalu Surabaya di musim 21, kini mereka mengunjungi Bali. Nah, episode Bali ini adalah episode minggu ini (Minggu lalu) loh!

Episode Bali ini ternyata, memang, sebuah episode yang seru. Bukan hanya karena setting-nya di Bali sih, tetapi memang apa yang terjadi di race-nya akibat beberapa twist yang ada. Jadi, Jessica dan John memiliki sebuah Express Pass karena memenangi babak pertama di Bora-Bora (btw, aku baru tahu melalui acara ini loh bahwa Bora-Bora itu ternyata adalah tempat yang indah banget ya!). Dengan Express Pass ini, mereka berhak untuk melompati satu tugas apa pun yang mereka mau. Sebuah keuntungan yang lumayan banget kan? Apalagi kalau mereka berada dalam posisi kejar-kejaran yang ketat di belakang.

Dan inilah posisi mereka di Bali. Mereka adalah salah satu tim yang posisinya paling belakang. Malahan, mereka berada di posisi terakhir loh, tetapi mereka tidak menyadarinya. Jadilah mereka merasa ragu untuk menggunakan Express Pass atau tidak, dan akhirnya memutuskan untuk tidak memakainya, dan akhirnya beneran menjadi tim yang paling terakhir check-in di pit stop, dan malangnya babak ini adalah babak eliminasi. Jadilah mereka tereliminasi, dengan sebuah Express Pass yang tak terpakai di tangan mereka. Yah, melihat ke belakang sih ini agak konyol ya karena ada banyak kesempatan dimana mereka bisa menggunakan Pass itu dan memajukan posisi mereka; yang terbaik mungkin di roadblock yang merupakan tugas terakhir dimana mereka bisa melompatinya dan langsung masuk ke pit stop. Ay yey yey, dan akhirnya mereka beneran tereliminasi deh.

Di wawancara mereka menjelaskan bahwa mereka mengira ada satu tim yang berada di belakang mereka. Makanya mereka tidak menggunakan Express Pass itu (jadi kan bisa disimpan buat nanti-nanti). Oke, jadi ini hanyalah sebuah kasus salah mengambil keputusan yah. Mereka mengambil risiko, dan nasib tidak berpihak pada mereka.

The Celebrity Apprentice (musim 6)

The Celebrity Apprentice juga kembali loh dengan musim keenamnya (ketiga-belas untuk seri The Apprentice secara keseluruhan). Dan musim ini adalah musim “All-Star” dimana kandidatnya adalah kandidat-kandidat dari musim-musim yang lalu. Dan apa yang menarik? Omarosa kembali loh! Hahaha . Yess! Aku suka deh sama Omarosa. Maksudku, dia mengerti gitu bagaimana caranya membuat acara TV menjadi menarik. Oke, sepertinya musim ini akan menjadi musim yang seru juga…

Btw, di episode minggu ini, Omarosa menjadi project manager-nya dan ia menang! Ini adalah kemenangannya sebagai PM di tiga musim yang ia ikuti!

#1038 – This Week’s Recap

ENGLISH

Germany on Wednesday

So, actually I went to Germany last Wednesday, huahaha It was only a one-day trip though where I did not spend the night there. I left Delft early in the morning (I caught the 5.46 AM train from Delft Zuid station) and I arrived back at home at around 6.20 PM. Ah, I went to Düsseldorf this time. This city is not that far from the border with Netherlands (Germany is a much bigger country than Holland) so in total it took me like only about 3 hours to get there.

Well, I will leave the more detail story about this trip to Düsseldorf for later though (so I will have more material to write down here, muahaha ).

Exercising under the rain

Even though my body was dead tired after that trip to Düsseldorf, I still decided to go to the tennis lesson on Wednesday evening at 8. Yeah, I guess passion beat tiredness, . As I mentioned last week, this course on Wednesday is held on one of the outdoor courts. If last week I said the weather was already bad enough with all the hard wind and coldness, well, it turned out to be a premature statement. This Wednesday, it was (quite) windy, quite cold (of course), and: RAINING!!  It was not a hard rain after all so it was still safe to play under the rain (the court did not become that slippery). But still, it was quite a unique experience for me, hahaha I was completely wet afterward. Anyway, the annoying thing was that it was not raining before the practice session started, it was raining constantly during, and it stopped raining after it finished!

As expected, I could not play my best during that practice session because of the exhaustion. But I did learn something very useful to increase the accuracy of my forehand hit. This paid off very soon as the very next day, I played the best tennis I had played thus far . The trainer looked quite surprised and praised me for that, muahaha . And of course I was very pleased with that.

Exhaustion

But still, I do understand that pushing my body to the limit too often is not a good thing. Thursday morning, my body was still quite sore and weak after the intense previous day. Even, when I was showering, my nose bled a little, huahaha . But I am already fine now, I am already fit just like they way I usually am .

New Seasons of TV Reality Shows

Anyway, I am also very excited this week because the new seasons of two reality shows that I have been following were premiered. Last Sunday, The Amazing Race season 20 (TAR 20) and The Apprentice season 12 (The Celebrity Apprentice 5 (TCA 5)) started airing. The first episode of TAR 20 was okay-ish. The best moment was the race to get the final spot in the top 10, where Misa and Maiya missed Phil and the check-in mat who was literally within their sight, hence allowing Joey and Danny to overtake them and causing them to get eliminated, hmm. What a shame. As I said here, I don’t really like the celebrity concept of The Apprentice. Having said written that, it is still quite entertaining after all. Three of the candidates I have already known prior to the show: George Takei from Star Trek, Clay Aiken of American Idol, and Dayana Mendoza, the Miss Universe 2008.

Talking of American Idol, I haven’t really followed this show that much these past two seasons, huahaha . A friend of mine told me this morning that apparently this week they already aired the top 24 show. Hmm, I guess I will take a look on it tonight, and we will see, haha

A sneak peek of my trip to Düsseldorf last Wednesday.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Jerman di hari Rabu

Jadi, sebenarnya aku pergi ke Jerman loh Rabu kemarin, huahaha . Perjalanannya hanyalah perjalanan sehari saja sih dimana aku nggak menginap disana gitu. Aku berangkat dari Delft di pagi hari (aku naik kereta jam 5.46 pagi dari Stasiun Delft Zuid) dan tiba kembali di apartemenku jam 6.20 sore. Ah, aku pergi ke Düsseldorf deh kali ini. Kota ini letaknya nggak terlalu jauh dari perbatasan dengan Belanda sih (Jerman kan jauh lebih besar daripada Belanda gitu ya) jadi ya untuk kesananya hanya memakan waktu sekitar 3 jam deh.

Aku akan menulis lebih detail tentang perjalanan ke Düsseldorf ini nanti ya (biar makin banyak deh bahan posting saya, muahaha ).

Olahraga di tengah hujan

Walau badanku rasanya capek dan pegal banget setelah seharian jalan ke Düsseldorf, aku memutuskan untuk tetap ikutan kelas les tenis Rabu malamnya jam 8 loh. Ya, kayaknya memang passion mengalahkan kepegalan badan ya, . Seperti yang kubilang minggu lalu, kelas di hari Rabu ini diadakan di salah satu lapangan outdoor. Kalau minggu lalu aku bilang bahwa cuacanya buruk untuk bermain dimana anginnya kencang banget dan suhunya agak dingin, yah, sepertinya aku terlalu terburu-buru deh membuat pernyataan ini. Rabu ini, anginnya (lumayan) kencang, suhunya dingin juga (tentu saja), ditambah lagi: HUJAN dong!  Hujannya nggak deras-deras amat sih jadinya ya masih aman-aman aja gitu bermain di tengah hujan (jadi lapangannya masih nggak licin). Tapi tetap lah ya, pengalaman yang unik deh kemarin itu. Beres latihan langsung deh basah kuyup. Anyway, tapinya yang menyebalkan adalah hujan tidak turun sebelum latihan dimulai, kemudian hujan turun terus-terusan sepanjang sesi latihan, dan begitu latihannya beres, hujannya berhenti dong!  

Seperti yang dijangka, aku nggak bermain dengan terlalu baik deh di sesi latihan itu karena kan sudah capek banget ya. Tapi aku memperbaiki satu teknik yang sangat berguna untuk meningkatkan akurasi pukulan forehand-ku. Ini terbayar sudah keesokan harinya, dimana aku memainkan permainan tenis terbaikku sejauh ini loh . Pelatihnya nampak cukup kaget juga dan memujiku karenanya, muahaha . Dan tentu saja aku bahagia karenanya.

Kecapekan

Tapi aku sadar sih kalau memaksakan diri itu juga nggak terlalu baik bagi tubuh. Kamis pagi, badanku rasanya masih pegal dan agak lemas gitu karena sehari sebelumnya kan kegiatanku cukup intens ya. Sampai-sampai, ketika mandi aku mimisan sedikit loh, huahaha . Tapi sekarang sudah nggak papa sih, sudah fit seperti sedia kala deh saya .

Musim Baru dari Reality Show di TV

Anyway, aku juga sangat bersemangat minggu ini karena musim terbaru dari dua reality shows di TV mulai ditayangkan loh. Hari Minggu yang lalu, The Amazing Race musim 20 (TAR 20) dan The Apprentice musim12 (The Celebrity Apprentice 5 (TCA 5)) dimulai. Episode pertama dari TAR 20 biasa-biasa saja sih. Bagian terbaiknya menurutku adalah balapan untuk mendapatkan posisi terakhir di 10 besarnya, dimana Misa dan Maiya nggak melihat Phil dan matras pitstop-nya padahal ia berada di depan mata mereka, sehingga Joey dan Danny jadi bisa menyalip mereka deh, dan mereka tereliminasi, hmm. Wah, sayang banget tuh. Seperti yang kutulis disini, aku nggak begitu suka konsep selebriti dari The Apprentice. Namun, walaupun begitu, toh acaranya masih cukup menghibur juga kok. Tiga dari kontestannya aku sudah kenal sih dari sebelum musim ini dimulai: George Takei-nya Star Trek, Clay Aiken-nya American Idol, dan Dayana Mendoza, sang Miss Universe 2008.

Ngomongin American Idol, aku nggak terlalu mengikutinya deh dua musim belakangan ini, huahaha . Pagi tadi, seorang temanku memberi-tahuku bahwa minggu ini ternyata sudah episode 24 besar-nya gitu. Hmm, mungkin malam nanti aku akan nonton ah, dan we will see deh, haha