红酒·绿茶 / Red Wine & Green Tea / Vin Rouge et Thé Vert

Ok, I was bluffing. Grand Prix du Canada did not happen this year. But I was looking forward to its rumored return in 2010 and could not settle for a NASCAR replacement . So hopefully see you next summer on Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve !

Roddick Serving Originally uploaded by nuance1979 The second event I am excited about is Rogers Cup , which is a joint event of ATP and WTA . The men's and women's matches alternate between Toronto and Montreal. This year Montreal hosts the gentlemen. Based on my schedule and budget, I bought a ticket to a quarter-final match on August 14, featuring Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic. The program was bashing about the fact that all eight seeds had reached quarter-finals, which had not happened since 1973. However, if you had followed the result, you would know that that pattern did not last long as major upsets happened right away. Roddick v. Djokovic Originally uploaded by nuance1979 The match between Roddick and Djokovic were pretty enjoyable. Unlike in a major event such as the grueling Wimbeldon final with Federer, Roddick was relaxed, even playful from time to time, as long as it wouldn't cost him the victory. Enjoying what you do and doing what you enjoy are typic...

For those tennis funs who DID NOT watch the Wimbeldon Men's Single between Federer and Nadal, my deepest sympathy. It was an unbelievable match. Remember every time we finish a game, we politely say to each other, "Good Game", even if it is a landslide win? Well, this time it was very, very sincere. Congrats, Nadal! You deserved it. Congrats, Spain! It was a great year for Spanish sports. Go Roger! Beat him in French Open to get it square! You are still the best!

Learning from the lesson last time, I asked for an 8.5 shoes this time and the skis were still 150cm. We got our rental gears from Blue Valley Ski again. At the Base of Arapahoe Basin Originally uploaded by yisu1979 , courtesy of Yinyin We started pretty early considering we had a big group. A-Basin located in a high-altitude area so at the top of the mountain, there were no trees. Because we had half beginners and half intermediates, we split group into two. I was, of course, in the intermediate group and before long, we picked up where we had left last year. By the end of the second day, four of us intermediates almost finished the whole skiable area: A-Basin was too small for us. Two of us even tried a rather difficult diamond trail. So we decided to bite the bullet of a $86/day lift ticket and tried our newly improved skills at the Breckenridge . (Now in case you don't know what the "double diamond" means: Ski trails are labeled with their difficulties so th...

Beckham finally made his MLS debut vs DC United . One free kick and one casual pass showed that he was worth the money. But Beckham, do you really want to spend five years of your life playing with monkeys?

David Beckham officially joined LA Galaxy just now. However, his number is...not 7! Shocker! What a stupid decision!

Totally enjoyed watching Wimbledon on NBC at home. (Click here for tennis on TV schedule.) Roger Federer is still invincible. Ten Grand Slams and counting! Tried to practice my serve the other day and ended up resting for two. Still below 50%. Shame on me! P.S., Roger didn't let me down. It was a great final match. Nadal played exceptionally well but Roger showed what he was made of. Five Wimbledons in a row! Congrats, Roger!

Whitewater Rafting Originally uploaded by nuance1979 , courtesy of Michael. Went to a great rafting trip on the Youghiogheny River in the Ohiopyle State Park, PA with Wilderness Voyageurs , courtesy of the wonderful GSA . We had four persons on the raft so there was a little shortage of horsepower. However, we invented an amazing move which could not be performed by six: Whenever we were unable to turn our raft's front pointing forward, which, by the way, happens a lot for beginners, we just turned ourselves back and started using the back as the front. It worked fairly well. Our biggest problem was synchronization. Other than that, we were pretty solid. In one of the hardest places, the formidable Dimple Rapids ( map ), we handled like pros. However, each of us took a dive in the water at least once. It was outrageously fun. Many thanks to Michael for this well-captured picture! Click here for more pictures he took of this trip.

Maria Sharapova advanced in French Open with a stunning performance, saving two match-points and 9-7 in the third game.

Roger Federer Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . The USTA National Tennis Center was like a shopping mall with many promotional booths and shops selling tennis gear or US Open souvenirs. I was so impressed by Federer that I even bought a blue Nike headband. Louis Armstrong Stadium Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . When the night fell, our US Open trip was about to end. Sadly I missed Maria Sharapova, whose game with Tatiana Golovin was scheduled in the night session and looked like a fashion show, and Andy Roddick, too. But we did enjoy being so close to those top players and watching the games in a sunny Wednesday afternoon.

Rafael Nadal Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . We then went to the Louis Armstrong Stadium, a cozier place to watch two of my favorite players: the passionate, vigorous Rafael Nadal and the masterful, unbelievable Roger Federer . Federer Serving Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . While Nadal surprisingly lost to the underdog Mikhail Youzhny, Federer bearly broke a sweat in winning his opponent Marc Gicquel. You could feel (and hear) Nadal was fighting on the court but Federer, he looked almost bored: Winning was such a chore. I had no doubt he would win this US Open.

Marat Safin Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . I learned to play tennis in college but struggled to improve beyond the beginner level. It wasn't easy to keep playing because the courts were scarce and expensive and good racquets were expensive, too. And most importantly, I didn't try hard enough. Coming to the United States, I suddenly found myself surrounded by free courts and decent racquets with cheap prices. So I was happy to pick it up again. With a stronger body I had built with regular exercises, I enjoyed this game much more. So when I found a coupon for buying a US Open 2006 game ticket for bloody $10, I bought it in no time. A month later I was sitting in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY, watching Marat Safin battling his way. It was a very close game but he eventually lost to Tommy Haas in the fifth set tiebreak. Dominika Cibulkova in Jr. Girls' Singles Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . Taking a break, we walked to the ground courts ...

Maria Sharapova Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . If you happen to be a Maria Sharapova fan, like me, you would have known that she recently lauched her stupid, buggy, all-flash official website . Let me say it again in case you didn't get it in the first time: It is a stupid, buggy, all-flash website! What's worse was that they shut down the best fan site, http://www.mariaworld.net, for it. You can still find it when you do a google search for "Maria Sharapova". What I liked about mariaworld.net was exactly the opposite of what I hated about the official website: A simple but fast all-html design with concise news and great pictures. If ever those stupid website designers had tried to access this website as a fan had, they would have killed themselves. I just don't get it: Why do you have to shut down the best fan site for an offical one? If it was for some legal issues, how come you didn't shut down those in Russian or French or, even worse, th...

Went to a tubing trip on Potomac River in West Virginia with GSA . The weather was a little bit chilly in the morning but by the time we started it was fine. Enjoyed the trip though it was less adventurous than I had thought. Even so I still fell into the water TWO times! That was fun. By the way, in the tubing company's gift shop they had an interesting T-shirt saying on the front, "What happens on Potomac...", with a sketch of two American Indians resting in their tubes, then saying on the back, "Stays on Potomac.", with a sketch of the two Indians embarrassingly falling out of their tubes into the water.

World Cup Map Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . Thanks to Univision , the leading Spanish-speaking TV channel in United States, we can watch all 64 games of the FIFA World Cup 2006 LIVE(!) In Spanish! (Well, the Spanish part I wasn't THAT excited about.)

Had a great time playing paintball for the first time with my friends in Anne Arundel Paintball Park , which was an awesome place for paintball but unfortunately was going to be closed for good soon. So I quoted their introduction here: Anne Arundel Paintball Park is a quality Paintball Field located near the intersection of Rt. 175 and the BW Parkway. AAPP is owned, operated, and staffed by paintball players, so you know that when you come out to play, you'll get people that have a great deal of knowledge about the sport. The combination of a great staff and awesome outdoor fields has made AAPP one of the most favored paintball parks in our area. We had five girls and five boys but ended up with "Team THU" and "Team PKU" because that resulted in a more balanced divide. The game was more intense and physically demanding than we had thought. So after three hours, we were exhausted in sweats and paint. Turned out our team was more cooperative therefore played w...

Bought myself a pair of inline skates. Tried once in the driveway of my apartment. Not as easy as I had thought but great fun as I expected. Had no problem of skating but haven't figured out a good of stopping. Will look for instructions online. Protection was absolutely necessary. (Believe me!)

Went to Liberty Mountain again but this time for snowboarding. I was trying to catch a beginners' lesson but couldn't find one (or missed one since we were late). So I tried to learn it by myself. One hour later I was able to control my speed using my heels in both direction. Then I went on to try to use my toe so I could finish a full "heel-toe-heel-toe" turn. That part was harder than I thought. Two hours later, however, I finally found the trick: look over your shoulder downhill. Once I started to use my eyes in the right direction, my body started to react accordingly. Now all I need is more practice. I'm such a natural , man. haha.

Watched Torino 2006 Winter Olympics on NBC. Proud of my fellow countrymen, Chinese pair skater Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang's couragous recovery from an accident and unforgetable performance to grab the silver. Read the NYT story here .

Went to Liberty Mountain for a "College Nights Wednesday": $20 from 5pm to 10pm including rental. The snow was awful by Vermont standard but ok for a ski place 90 minutes away from Baltimore. Had a good time with my friends as always. Next time I go, I'll try snowboarding.