Week Three

We have Sunday off here so the General Secretary took us karting at the local race track where he owns a couple 2 stroke karts that are extremely  fast. After testing out one of those 2 stroke engine karts I decided to stick to the go-karts that were more family friendly. We spent a couple hours in the evening there racing the kids and adults. It was definitely a great way to spend the day off here in Phnom Penh.

Third week here has been the toughest so far. After a nice Sunday break, Monday came along and kicked our ass. Our head coach got back Sunday night so Monday was a long day for training. The tennis part of training here is focused on directionals. Its hard to go into detail but it’s a high percentage, low risk game style that allows you to play more natural without thinking too much about the next shot. We have been given a book here to read called Coaching Tennis by Chuck Kriese, which explains it all. Very interesting read. We have been playing tennis our whole lives and still  are learning new things! We spent a lot of time conditioning this week in the gym and at the Olympic Stadium track. We ran a timed mile on Wednesday and sprinted four 400 meters. Pun ran a 5:46 mile and I ran a 6:50 mile, which is probably my best time! We won’t talk about how sprinting went. In the gym we do a little bit of weights, body weight work outs, and a lot of core.

Pun and I have been breaking strings here like crazy, so we have to take a tuk tuk to the racquet shop that takes about 20 minutes there and back. The other day we found an old drop weight stringer in the Federation office, took it back along with all the tools to our hotel room. Now we don’t have to make the long trips and deal with the crazy traffic here in the city! We are staying at the Cambodian Country Club (training site for The Tennis Federation of Cambodia). They have a equestrian training center, soccer field, weight room, badminton courts, basketball court,  and a swimming pool. In front of our hotel is the Equestrian Federation training center, so we see horses every morning. I like all sorts of animals so usually pet them before we eat breakfast. We see a lot of frogs and geckos here, especially at night when the bugs come out. If you don't keep your door shut here, critters will find there way into your rooms. I'm pretty sure we have two geckos living in our bathroom. Its a very interesting and different life over here!

We have not ventured out in the city lately because we've been busy with training, but we were told of this restaurant that serves really good Khmer food and they serve Cambodian athletes for free. The name of the restaurant is called Alibaba. I know the name doesn't sound Cambodian, but they serve really good Khmer food! Pun and I have been there a couple times when we have the energy to leave the Country Club. We went out with the team this week to a Thai restaurant behind our coach’s place, which also has really good food as well. It’s been nice to finally go out and enjoy local foods here without having stomach aches after. We found a shopping center downtown called Sorya, which has been a good hang out spot when we get days off. The prices here are affordable so we will definitely have to get another suitcase for the gifts we have bought people back home.

This next coming week should be interesting because we are going to Vietnam and try to get into qualifying for two Future tournaments in Ho Chi Minh City. Our chances of getting into qualifying rounds are pretty slim because we are high on the waiting list and we don’t have points, but we are hoping to get into at least one of them. It’ll be nice to get some match play in before heading to Doha. Going to Vietnam also means visiting the country my mother is from, pretty sweet! Pun bought a digital camera at the mall so we are able to load them faster onto the computer, so expect a lot of pictures for next week’s blog. Hope everyone is doing well back home!

Week Two

Our first weekend in Cambodia took us to a coastal town called Kep, which was interesting because it’s where the mountain meets the sea. They did not have white sand and clear water, but rather dirt beaches and murky water. The view was still amazing and even though the beaches were not what we had expected, there was a zen feeling from the environment. We stayed at a beach house owned by the Secretary General himself and the view from his backyard by the pool out towards the sea was pretty amazing. It’s definitely a place I would like to spend more time after tennis is over. Then Saturday came and we all headed out towards Rabbit Island which was 15 minutes out from his place. Rabbit Island is definitely the place you want hang out and chill if you’re ever near Kep. Kenny, Pun, and Rithi (Secretary General) took his boat out and I got to take a jet ski! My first time was pretty interesting because after awhile my right arm got pretty tired and I started swerving to the right, but it was still a blast. Rabbit Island is what you would imagine if you were thinking about a tropical getaway with white sand and clear ocean water. The lack of cords to download pictures from our camera is holding us back from sharing these great moments and places on this trip, but I’ve been snapping pictures here and there from my phone.

The last day in Kep we went to visit the local orphanage/school to hang out with the kids, hit some tennis, and give them school supplies. The tennis courts were just concrete slab made for basketball with faded boundary lines and two decent nets for two mini courts. The racquets they had were not even half as good as the first racquet I owned when I started tennis. This was a pretty deep moment for me, seeing what little that had to work with. We grab some of the racquets laying on ground that was in poor condition and starting rallying with the kids. You would not believe the talent some of these kids possess! Given the opportunity, there is no doubt in my mind that they will one day represent Cambodia. Pun and I are not just here to play tennis, we’re here to help this federation grow and let people know this country is serious about this sport. If we’re able to do this I think that grants, sponsors, and donations will come in and hopefully give kids at orphanages all around an opportunity through tennis like we we’re given growing up. We got done hitting with the kids, handed them out school supplies. Some thanked us in French some in Cambodia. When we get back, Pun and I are definitely going to look into getting tennis equipment for those aspiring talented tennis players and school supplies for those smart children.

Training is every day, morning and afternoon. Conditioning on the track is two times a week. So the start of the week rolls through and we started off on the track at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh. The stadium is a pretty cool and historic site in the city to visit. Our first day was not tough; we just had our 2 miles timed. Pun cruised through his 2 miles pretty quickly in 12 minutes and me in 13 minutes, which was pretty good for someone to does not like to run.  Other exercise at the stadium that we’ve done is running up and down the step around the stadium. If you haven’t seen the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh you can google it to get a better picture. We head back to the training center where we are staying and rest or a couple hours and then the afternoon we have hitting practice. We do a lot of agility and footwork drills on the court that are really intense but beneficial. We’ve been learning new hitting drills here as well that are really tough, especially in the heat and humidity. It’s been tough adjusting to the conditions here but Pun and I feel we are getting better every day.

As for coping with daily life here, things are going good. Traffic is still an adventure every time we leave the training center. We get the minor stomach aches from the food and head ache from the heat after practice, but they have a pharmacy here on site which is very helpful. Pun and I have our own dirty laundry corner! We were running out of clothes to wear after our first week so we asked the front desk at the resort where they wash and dry clothes, only to find out that they only use washers here and that clothes are dried outside. Still a lot to learn here! It’s tough when you want to see a lot of things and just relax, but we’re here to play tennis so we don’t get a lot of free time. We do get Sundays off so I’m hoping for an adventure of some sort. That pretty much sums up week 2 for us here, nothing too exciting going on. Hope all is going well back home! 

Week One

Greetings from Cambodia!

It’s a long way from home and communication can be tough when we’re on the road and our phones service is shut off, so I’m hoping this blog will keep everyone back home updated with our journey for the next 2 months. For everyone who doesn’t know, Pun and I have been given the opportunity to take part in the Davis Cup, representing Cambodia. Some of our competition will be Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and United Emirates.

The flight from Seattle to Seoul, Korea was a grueling 12 hours. I had bought the Hunger Games in Portland because I was told it was an easy read and read a good 10 pages before my attention was drawn to the miniature tv screen in front of me. I watched The Warrior, Despicable Me, Iron Man 2, Captain America, and two other movies I can't remember. This left about 5 hours of sleeping time the rest of the way. When we arrived in Seoul it was a relief to stretch our legs for short period of time, having to board a 5 hour plane trip less than an hour later. We got to Phnom Penh a couples minutes past 11pm, greeted by the Secretary General himself and his assistant.

My first couple of days here has been amazing so far because of how nice the weather is. I love the sun!  Just from what I’ve seen from the car ride from the airport to our place of stay, I knew that this trip is going to be a great chapter in my life. The Secretary General got both of us rooms on site at the Tennis of Federation of Cambodia training facility, which is at the Cambodian Country Club. So far I’ve seen toads and lizards roaming around! This country club has got it all from a horse ring, gym, pool, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts, etc. We are sharing a room which is pretty nice, just took awhile to get the A/C going. Plug-ins is different here! Good thing mom and pops packed the converter set.

We haven’t officially started training because our coach is currently in Japan coaching a Japanese player that is really good. So official training should start next week when he comes in. I heard he is a great coach, but this just reassures me of his reputation because he is in such high demand and has also played tennis in the states too. He also turned down a higher paying offer for another job, but was dedicated to the cause of putting Cambodian tennis back on the map. Can’t wait to meet this guy! We met the #1 player for Cambodia, Kenny Bun. Real nice kid and rising star from France. We hit a little bit today for the Secretary General to get a feel of what we are bringing to the ream and after about 45 minutes I was soaked with sweat. 91 degrees doesn’t sound too hot, but if you come from Oregon this time of year then you’re in for a surprise! Later today we are doing a press conference for the Cambodian media about the exciting events to come.

It was only 5 months ago when my father e-mailed the Tennis Federation of Cambodia and now we’re actually here. I would have never guessed they would be as interested in us as they are and give us a chance to represent Cambodia in one of the most prideful event tennis has to offer. Everything is happening so fast! Both Pun and I feel really blessed to be able to have this opportunity that many don’t have a chance to experience and we want to share it with family and friends in the states. Not much has happened so far but I will try to keep blogging every week to keep friends and family updated back home.  Hope all is well, miss you guys in Oregon!

Vetu