Korea Trip Day 4 (07/06/2014) - Seoul

It's our last day at Seoul. We started off the day by having Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi soup) for breakfast. It was located around the corner of Itaewon street and was recommended by our host Mely. It was the best Kimchi soup I've ever tried! The taste was just amazing. I could've had another bowl if we can spend more time there.

Awesome Kimchi Jjigae

Later we went to Myeongdong. We dropped by at Lotte department store first and at the rooftop there were life sized SNSD and Kim Soo Hyun's cardboard figures. We took many photos there and had a great time with those life sized figures. Then we proceeded to Myeongdong street.

Myeongdong Street - a shopping haven

Kim Soo Hyun Museum!

Meyongdong street..what can I say. It's a shopping haven! So many things to shop along the main street ranging from cosmetics, clothes, bags, food, shoes etc. Not to mention the side alleys. We visited many cosmetic shops. I bought aloe vera cream and a pair of New Balance shoes there. For lunch, we had Ddeokbokki hot soup in one of the restaurants called Red Sun. Inside the hot soup there were rice cakes, ramyeon, vegetables etc. It was so delicious and spicy! After the meal, the owner, an aunty asked us whether we want some fried rice (which was included in the menu). She took the left overs and did some stir frying and after 10 minutes we had our "left over fried rice". It was also really delicious and special since the ingredient used was from the hot soup itself. After that we were given free ice creams! It feels so good to have ice cream after a spicy meal. Later we continued to shop along Myeongdong streets. I guess we need a couple more days to shop here.

Ddeokbokki at Red Sun

Due to time limitation we had to moved on to Namdaemun. We arrived at Namdaemun at around 4.30pm. It was something like our flea market. The things sold there were cheap but not very fashionable. We didn't spend much time there. And at around 5.15pm we were off to Gangnam area, Garuso street or Garusogil. 

Gorusogil is famous for its fashion. And indeed the streets and people here have really good (and daring) fashion sense. We also spotted a couple of girls with heavy plastic surgery. They don't even look like Korean. Gangnam area has many plastic surgery clinics. We passed by a few of them along the street. We went into a couple of clothes stores but the price is really expensive. I found a nice t-shirt which was of reasonable price and bought that for Chong. He loved it. We had dinner in a traditional Korean food restaurant. The side dish and main course are a bit different from usual Korean food. Some of the side dish tastes weird. But the main course (soups) were delicious. After the meal we were off to Banpo bridge.

Banpo bridge is famous for its colourful water fountain sprayed from the bridge into Han River beneath it. It has specific timings for the fountain show but we couldn't find Banpo bridge. We followed the instructions gotten from online sources but I think it led us to the wrong subway station. We also asked directions from a couple of joggers there but they pointed to the wrong direction. So, we missed it. It was a shame and I was a little frustrated. Bad luck. Along our way back to the subway station, we say Caffe Bene, one of the most famous Korea franchise coffee shop. It was recommended by Yunji that we should try Caffe Bene snow corn (or Bingsu). We didn't want to miss this. We ordered Bingsu and it was a huge cup. Three person just enough to finish it. It was really nice to have Bingsu in the summer. It like ice kacang but much more delicious and more variety. I heard Singapore is going to open Caffe Bene franchise soon! After that, we headed back to Itaewon and pack our luggage.

Bingsu at Caffe Bene

So, that marks the end of our stay in Seoul. Our flight to Jeju will be in the morning 11.35am. Although we miss Seoul, there are plenty to look forward to in Jeju! So stay tuned!    

Korea Trip Day 3 (06/06/2014) - Seoul

Today's plan was to visit one of the most famous theme park in Seoul, Lotte World. Lotte World is an amusement park with a mixture of indoors and outdoors activities. There are 4D theaters, roller coasters, water park rides and so on. We had to cross the Han River in order to reach Lotte World from Itaewon.

On the Subway Crossing Han River to Jamsil

We took a subway to Jamsil station and after exiting the station underground, there were clear sign boards that points us towards Lotte World. It was connected to the subway station via an underground shopping mall. There were regular tickets and one-day-pass tickets sold. The regular one was for entrance only and you cannot take any rides. I think it caters for parents who are accompanying their children there. If you'd like to have fun, you have to purchase the one-day pass. It was quite early so not as crowded. We tried a 4D shooting game. Shi Keat was pretty good at it. After that we went on to take the Sinbad ride. We queued for 45 minutes but the ride was a huge let down. No excitement at all, just riding on the boat into dark passages. It was already lunch time after the ride. We wanted to take the indoor roller coaster but the waiting time was 90 minutes. I entered the queue and at about half an hour the waiting time was increased to 120 minutes. Queuing behind us were two young kids. They seem to be so excited about the ride, showing no fear at all. I wonder where are their parents. After queuing for about an hour and 45 minutes it was finally our turn. The ride was fantastic, with the roller coaster making 360 vertical turns and 540 degrees horizontal revolution at pretty high speed. The ride was only about a minute or so but it left us dizzy and high. After that I had waffle for some light lunch. The wafer girl was really cute.

Lotte World

By then it was already around 3pm and it was getting super crowded. We later found out that that day was a public holiday, an election day. We went outdoors. The sun was scorching and was very crowded. The Hong Kong girls recommended us to try the Atlantis ride. It looked really exciting but the waiting time was 3 hours! In fact most of the outdoors rides had more than 90 minutes waiting time. We decided that we could not afford to queue for so long under the hot sun and headed back indoors. We tried another 4D shooting game and also some arcade games and decided to leave Lotte World. For those who decide to go Lotte World, I strongly recommend to get a "Magic Pass" whereby they fix the ride schedule for you and you don't have to queue (at least the queue for magic pass line is way shorter). I'm not sure whether you need to pay extra but what I heard from others after that day was that there is no extra cost.

After Lotte World we went to Gwangjang Market. It was very crowded. It's something like our pasar malam here, with many stalls selling foods and also groceries. The food stalls have stools around it for people to have meal there. We found that although there were many food stalls, it was mainly comprised of Kkalkoksu (knifed noodle), fried pan cake, seafood and Bibimbap. We sat down at one of the Kkalkoksu stall and ordered. Quan Yen ordered a soy milk noodle. It was a cold noodle immersed with soy milk "soup". He had a hard time finishing it. It was arguably one of the worst food we tasted, besides the prok elbow in Jeju (more on that later). However, the lady sitting beside Quan Yen seemed to be enjoying the soy milk noodle. After that we continued to explore the market and had some pumpkin porridge for dessert.

Gwangjang Market

Kkalkoksu at Gwangjang Market

Next we went to Dongdaemun. It was already 8++pm but the sky was still quite bright. In summer, the day in Seoul starts early and ends late, quite a good way to live actually. Dongdaemun looked a bit like Orchard Road. We were at a cross junction and were surrounded by famous shopping malls such as Doota, Migliore and Max Style.

Doota! At Dongdaemun

We went to Doota first as Shi Keat said it sells more fashionable clothes. And indeed the clothes sold there were top class albeit a bit more expensive, mostly at least 40000 KRW. The design was nice and elegant and there were many local brands too. I bought three shirts there and the good thing was they had tax rebate so all the items there are tax free if we declare it at the customs upon leaving Korea. We Later we headed over to Migliore, just beside Doota which sells cheaper but not so "atas" clothes. After shopping at Doota, Migliore's clothes were a bit ordinary. There was this shop owner who asked us where are we from. We told him and asked about the price. He was not very polite, a bit pushy, and spoke to us in Korean and took out a calculator and asked us to enter the price that we want for that shirt. We were a bit taken aback and decided to leave. We were not really interested in the shirt anyway. Nonetheless, it's another side of Korea that we experienced, the more straightforward facade.

On our way back to Itaewon, we bought Makgeoli and Soju to drink later that night at Mely's. We played Dai Dee and drank soju until around 2am. Holiday was fantastic. The next day would be our last day at Seoul. Time really flies.  

Korea Trip Day 2 (05/06/2014) - Seoul

Day 2 begins with the challenge of having the busiest schedule throughout the trip. Our plan was to visit Gyeongbokgung palace > Bukcheon Hanok Village > Changdeokgung > Insadong > Cheongyecheon Stream. It was a tall order knowing that all these attractions are so worth visiting.

We started off with Gyeongbokgung, the grandest of the five palaces in Seoul. It was built by the first King of the Joseon Dynasty. We witnessed the changing of guards ceremony at Gwanghwamun. We were allowed to take photos with the guards after the ceremony was over. However, some peculiar things happened. When Shi Keat wanted to take a selfie with one of the guards, the guard, with a huge flag on his right hand, moved the flag to cover his face without uttering a word. It was strange and we couldn't figure out why he did that. Then we proceeded to take the Chinese free tour around the palace. The tour guide was very detail in her explanation, although we needed some time to adjust to her accent. Many areas were touched on including the architecture of the palace buildings, superstitions, function of the building, feng shui and so on. I would not elaborate here, those who are interested in Korean culture and history, Gyeongbokgung is a "must go" and be sure to take the free tour as it is very informative. We also learned that the current Gyeongbokgung is not the original one but one which has been redeveloped. This was because of several reasons including the Japanese invasion and fire. The current Gyeongbokgung which was rebuilt is only approximately 30% of the original palace.

One of the Main Gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace 

One of the palace buildings in Gyeongbokgung where festivals were held

Next we went to Bukcheon Hanok village. It is a traditional residential village with some guest houses and tea houses. The architecture of the houses were unique.

Bukcheon Hanok Village

we spent about 30 minutes walking about and decided to go to our next destination, Changdeokgung. It was recommended to purchase the entrance ticket plus another ticket to the Secret Garden. And fortunately we bought both tickets as the Secret Garden was beautiful. This time we took the English tour as it suit our timing. Changdeokgung is very much smaller than Gyeongbokgung. But the attraction was the Secret Garden, which took about 1.5 hours to walk about. You need to join a tour in order to enter the Secret Garden though. It was really beautiful with lots of trees and slopes. The pond could have been better maintained but nevertheless, the view was still breathtaking. After Changdeokgung, it was already about 5.30pm.

The Secret Garden at the Rear of Changdeokgung

We proceeded to Insadong, streets full of food, handicraft, clothes etc. It was crowded with so many things to look at. We arrived at one of Insadong's famous shopping centres, Ssamziegil. It has no stairs and the walkway are sloped at mild angles. So basically you will walk up the slope around the mall and after you have completed one round, you will be at the next level of the shopping centre. It also has a rooftop garden, a nice place to chill. There was also an alley on the rooftop garden full with little "lovey dovey" messages chained onto each other. I hope one day I can bring my love ones to leave our mark there =)

The unique Ssamziegil

After Ssamziegil we went to a traditional tea house in one of the back alley in Insadong, called Shin Old Tea House. I found about Shin Old Tea House from a blog and the blogger highly recommended this tea house. But we needed some assistance from the tourist information guide to find the tea house. As it was a bit secluded, there were no one besides us in the tea house. It was dim but relaxing. I ordered papaya tea and boy it was the best tea I have ever tried! The taste was amazing and it refreshed your mind. I will definitely try it again next time.

Shin Old Tea House at Insadong

After having tea it was already quite late, approaching 9pm. We wanted to go to the trick eye museum in Insadong. Along the way, there were many street performers showcasing their talents at the streets of Insadong. There was this guitar solo guy whom we passed by. At the back of my ear I heard a familiar opening of the song. It can't be true?! And when he sang the first line I immediately ran back to him to watch his performance. He was singing the late Kim Kwang Seok's "잊어야 한다는 마음으로 (With a Heart to Forget You)". It was my favourite Korean song. Everytime I listen to it it never fails to touch me. Such a coincidence. I donated 3000 won for his performance and then we proceeded to the trick eye museum. We knew exactly where it was on the map but just could find it. In the end we asked help from a couple of Korean girls. They were really helpful and searched the building for us. When we arrived it was already 9.15pm and the museum will be closing in 45 minutes. We quickly bought the tickets and explored the museum. Still we managed to take many funny photos and enjoyed ourselves. But we couldn't finish it. However, the owner was kind enough to extend their opening hours to 10.30pm just for us! (Yup there were only three of us in the museum LOL). We managed to finish the whole museum with the extra 30 minutes. 

Our final destination of the day, Cheongyecheon Stream. It was a natural stream at first but redeveloped into a highway later on in the early 1900s I think. Then recently it was converted back into a stream again which runs East to West below Insadong. The stream was famous for its beautiful landscape and is a hot spot for couples. Indeed there were many couples there. It was a romantic site, with cool air breezing past you. The stream is located below the highway level so from the top is a busy highway and when you take the stairs down you will see the stream laying in front of you. It was beautiful. We just sat there and chill and without us realizing it was already past mid night. The subway has closed and there were no more buses. Our only resort was to take a taxi back. However, past midnight, the taxis were super expensive as they didn't charge on meter. Some taxis even refused to send us to Itaewon. We were a bit worried and thought that maybe we should flag a taxi near the main road. On our way there we decided to ask a Korean couple (well they said they are friends) about taking taxi back to Itaewon during this hour. The guy said it is quite difficult. He then asked us to follow him. And at the traffic light, he spotted an empty taxi and went up to talk to the driver. I think he was negotiating with him and telling him that we are his friend and asked him for a favour. After about 30 seconds, the taxi driver agreed to give us a lift. It was on meter and the fare was cheap when we reached Itaewon. We were really thankful to the guy who helped us, not only to get a taxi but one with reasonable price. At the end of the day, we had good impression about Koreans =)

It was a tiring yet fulfilling day. We managed to achieve our targets in visiting all the destinations and we met some really wonderful locals. We slept quite late but was looking forward to day 3 in Seoul!

Korea Trip Day 1 (04/06/2014) - Seoul

I've been wanting to visit Korea for quite some time and finally my dreams have come true. On 4th June 2014, I realized my dream to visit Korea with two great buddies Quan Yen and Shi Keat. We departed from KLIA2 because the Air Asia flight from KL is much cheaper. I arrived at Tunes Hotel one day earlier and stayed overnight as our flight was an early morning flight. KLIA2 is really huge for a low cost terminal and the interior design is world class.

After checking in our baggage, it's time to fly. There are a couple of Korean air stewardess on board and they are so gorgeous! Anyway, we arrived at Incheon International Airport after 6 hours of flight. After alighting, we took a direct subway train to the arrival hall to clear immigration. They actually have a camera to take a head-sized photo of you at the immigration. I mistakenly thought that it was for some sort of eye scanning verification. If there is an excuse, it would be my inexperience in flying. It is my first time flying to another country besides Singapore. Ok, it was a lame excuse. I was stupid LOL.

Our guesthouse was at Itaewon, known as the foreigner's hub. It is located at the centre of Seoul, just about Han River. We took the Airport Railroad Express Train (AREX) from Incheon and transferred to Line 6 to get to Itaewon. The subway was similar to Singapore's MRT so it wasn't a big problem for us especially with the help of Jihachul App. We commuted using T-money, an all-in card similar to Ezlink. One thing we noticed was that on the subway there are so many gorgeous Korean girls. All well dressed and had decent make-up. We literally had our eyes open (大开眼界). Up until the point that we alight at Itaewon station, we were all the while indoors. It was when we took the stairs out of Itaewon station that we finally had a feel of Korea air. It was so chilly. So different from Singapore/Malaysia. The feeling of cool air caressing your face is fantastic, even cooler than indoors air-cond!

We then proceeded to Hamilton Hotel to meet our host, Mely and her husband Keegan. We will be staying over at their house for 4 nights in Seoul before moving to Jeju and Busan. We managed to recognize each other at the hotel and they greeted us very well. They also had a 10-month new born baby girl. She was so so cute with big sparkling eyes! Their house is located at the top of the hill, very steep. The landscape was unique and the air is even cooler up there. Mely showed us the way to get around their house including the password to unlock the gate and door. It was something new to us as we don't lock our doors using password. The room was cozy and clean with three beds. We were surprised that there was no air condition or even fan in the room. But later that night we found out the reason. It was so cool that a fan was not required. The whole room feel like air-conditioned, so comfortable to sleep in. After unloading our luggage, we set off for our first destination - dinner at Haha's BBQ Restaurant.

It is located at one of the corners of Hongdae area. Took us quite a while to find it, with Keegan lending a hand using google map before we set off. The waiter greeted us in Korean and speak more Korean to us. We've expected this sort of language barrier so we were cool. Fortunately, the other staffs can understand and speak some basic English. We ordered two meat and a soup. As for drinks, we order Makgeolli and Soju. We didn't expected the Makgeolli to come in a huge bottle, probably around 700ml. And then the soju. We then decided that we will just have the makgeolli and returned the soju. It was a little embarrassing. Makgeolli is Korean rice wine, milky. For me, it doesn't taste as good but Quan Yen loved it. The BBQ and soup were awesome. After the meal, we stroll around the streets of Hongdae. The variety was great - street foods, clothings, bags etc. and people roaming around. I like the street culture here. It has 人情味, and it's clean. We also spotted a transparent Noraebang (Karaoke) where you can see people singing their hearts out from the outside.

Transparent Noraebang

We continued our exploration arond Hongdae until 10+ at night before heading back to Itaewon. Itaewon is relatively quiet at night. But they have quite a number of bars at the back alley. We can see people including many angmohs going to and coming out from that alley. The shops were all closed and you can easily spot many graffiti on the shop doors.

Grafiti on shop houses at Itaewon

 It felt so free here compared to Singapore's rather strict culture. We didn't go to the bars but headed back to our guesthouse instead. We also got to know a couple of Hong Kong girls who stayed in the other room of Mely's. They were Cadens and Irisa. We spoke a mixture of Cantonese and English with them. They have been in Seoul for quite some time already and it was their 4th day at Mely's. Their trip was much more relaxed than us as they have much more time so they were kinda chill. They have visited both Everland and Lotte World and we asked their opinion on the theme park. They recommended Lotte World and so we took their advice and changed our itinerary from Everland to Lotte World. We will have our busiest schedule on day 2, exploring palaces and Insadong. Stay tuned! 

Final Sem Results Out

My final sem results are out this morning. Yes it's my FINAL sem. No more exams. No more assignments. No more studying for the sake of exams after 18 years!!!

My last sem brought me my best result in my whole uni life. Got a B+ and 3 A- including FYP. I'm really grateful for so many people who had been there for me during these four years. They say NUS is a tough place to study. I certainly found it to be less tough and less stressful than I thought because of all these people.

I'm not one who loves to study for exams. And I'm not obsessed with exam results. To me, the learning process is more important. In my first year, I didn't do well and my CAP was like 3.55 out of a maximum of 5.0. My scholarship was under threat and I knew I had to do something to improve. So I got out of hall, readjusted my study habits like sitting in front in LT, find friends to discuss assignments, improved on my study discipline and so on. Although I worked harder, I didn't want to sacrifice time for friends, family and myself even if it's during exam period. I don't like to just focus on exams and exams only. I could have spend more time in studying but that would mean that I would sacrifice time for other precious things in life. I'm also not good at studying for long hours as my attention span will not last and productivity will just go down. So by making the necessary adjustments every sem, I managed to get back on track, improving my results bit by bit for the next 6 sems. Finally, I'm proud to graduate with a second class upper. It's not so much of the class which matters, but rather a self achievement and satisfaction having made the adjustments and see the improvement. Although I'd like to have attained CAP 5 and make big leaps on my CAP but it is important to recognize that there are others out there who are working very hard too and they also deserve credit to do well. So, I'm just pleased with the work that I've done and also thankful to the people around me.

There are a few important lessons that I've learned throughout my uni years and I'd like to share some with readers of this blog:

1. Be thankful to those who show love to you, your family, your friends, the cleaning aunty who talks to you etc. People who love you are the ones who care for you and appreciate you for who you are and you should spend more time with them. They are the ones who gives you energy to go on.

2. Assess your life from time to time. There is no use in setting a ambitious long term goal because life changes, our priority changes, the people who revolve around us changes. So give yourself some time to reflect on your situation from time to time and make sure that you are not sucked into a "system" that makes your life a routine.

3. Be honest with yourself. Honesty is important not only towards others but more importantly towards yourself. Do your work honestly. Assess yourself honestly. Ask yourself questions and answer them honestly. If it's bad, it's bad. If you don't like what's happening, then don't like it. There's no need to force yourself into some so called "positive thinking" mindset and psych yourself up that everything is going fine or you are blessed and so on. Just be honest to yourself. Not to say that positive thinking is not important but one has to draw the line on when is the right time to be positive so that we don't end up in self delusion. I will write a post about my take on positive thinking in the future.

4. Learn from mistakes and walk the talk. Assess yourself honestly and ask yourself what did you do wrong and what could you do to improve. Make slight adjustments according to your priorities and methods. Know your strengths and weaknesses and make the adjustments according to your capabilities. Everyone has their own way to get things done and there is no perfect way because everyone is different. Most importantly, execute your plans to improve yourself. You might not succeed immediately but if you continue in making small adjustments and execute them, you will see the results.

5. Write down the events and happenings during your uni life (and perhaps in your life). A blog, or a simple diary will do. We are so busy these days that every thing happens in a flash and if you would probably struggle to recall what happened last year. I think it is worth to keep track of the things that happened in our life and look back once in awhile. You will be more appreciative and learn more life lessons by being aware of the things that happen in your life.

Alright. So that wraps up my study life. Time to embrace for working life ahead. But first, GRAD TRIP!!!

Yoogane Korean Restaurant

Finally had a chance to visit Yoogane, one of the most famous Korean franchise restaurant. Yoogane Singapore opened in May 2014 at Bugis Junction second floor near Seoul Garden and Sakae Sushi. Long queue is expected even on weekdays. We reached there at around 6.45pm and had to queue for about 20-30 minutes.

The menu looks extremely delicious. Basically there are two sections: main course and side dish. The main courses are like marinated bulgogi chicken, seafood (which comes with some veg) and they are cooked on the spot. The staff will assist you with the cooking. You can add on rice or noodles to the main course too!
We ordered marinated chicken and added on Ramyeon. The Ramyeon is spicy. And also there is unlimited Kimchi and salad supply. You can take as much as you want from the Kimchi and salad counter.

Marinated Bulgogi Chicken cooked on the spot

Ramyeon add ons

We also ordered a side dish called Royal Ddeokbokki. It's different from the usual ddeokbokki that we had before. It has garlic and some marinated chicken cooked with the rice cake. Really worth a try!

Another highly recommended dish is the cheese fried rice. It is also a side dish that has to be ordered separately. What I did was I got a scoop of cheese fried rice, some Kimchi and spicy Ramyeon and gobbled them up at one go. Fantastic! Take a look at the cheese fried rice below!

Cheese Fried Rice

It's definitely one of the best Korean restaurant in Singapore. Slightly expensive but definitely worth a try! The Seafood main course looks good too and hopefully I'll be back soon to try it out!

Thomas Cup Final 2014

Date: 25 May 2014
Venue: Siri Fort Complex, New Delhi
Event: Thomas Cup Final

It was a tie which no one had expected - Malaysia going up against Japan in the 2014 Thomas Cup final. Both teams were riding on morale boosting victories over the two most successful teams in Thomas Cup history. Japan upset tournament favourites China while Malaysia demolished Indonesia both in convincing 3-0 scorelines. Being a Malaysian, without a shadow of a doubt that I was rooting for Malaysia to beat the Japanese especially after witnessing our spirited performance against old arch rivals Indonesia in the semis.

Concurring with most experts' predictions, I thought that the key was the first doubles. It will be neck and neck. Looking at the strength of squads of both teams, whoever wins the first doubles would have a really good chance to bring home the trophy. It was the first time for Japan to play in the final whereas Malaysia, with a much decorated record had to go back to 2002 when we last challenged for the title.

The match got underway with world number one Lee Chong Wei taking on Kenichi Tago. Tago surprised everyone when he dispatched Chen Long with much ease in the semis. With that in mind, Chong Wei did not take any chances and raced into a healthy lead in the first game. Tago looked out of sorts, and hesitant in his movements. Without letting tago into the game, Chong Wei took the first game comfortably at 21-12. In the second game, Tago began to find his grooves. By cutting down mistakes and playing more freely, Tago managed to pull away at 15-10. However, the much experienced Chong Wei steadied the ship and strung a series of points without reply and edging to a two point lead at 18-16. Drawing on his previous wins over Tago, Chong Wei  went on to clinch victory at 21-16 and brought the first point of the tie to Malaysia. At the end of the match, both players embraced each other by swapping shirts which shows great sportsmanship.

In the crucial first doubles, Malaysia's Hoon/Tan were up against Japan's Hayakawa/Endo. Hoon/Tan showed their capabilities after dismissing Indonesia's world number one Ahsan/Setiawan albeit in nail biting fashion. And without breaking sweat Hoon/Tan dismissed the Japanese pair 21-12 in the first set. The Malaysia camp was fired up as Hoon/Tan were on course to a crucial victory especially the manner in which they dominated the Hayakawa/Endo. The Japanese never looked like they were in the game until midway through the second set. Hayakawa stepped up his game and playing fast and furious attacking shots from the net. The Malaysians were not able to keep up the pace which led to the Japanese leveling the match at 1-1 with a 21-17 scoreline in the second. The third set was neck and neck with the Malaysians playing catch up. There were moments when it seemed like the Japanese might steam away but were held back by the determined Hoon/Tan. In the end, the Japanese managed to secure the rubber game at 21-19, with Hayakawa finishing at the net.

After a little more than 2 hours into the tie, it was all square at 1-1 but more importantly, Japan had won the crucial first doubles. Now the momentum was back on the Japanese side. Next up was the second singles, with Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng facing Japan's Kento Momota. Both were left handers. Wei Feng had to fought through his previous matches in rubber games whereas Momota shooked the badminton world the 19-year-old gave Japan their third point after dismissing world number six Du Pengyu of China. Momota continued his aggressive style against Wei Feng and never looked troubled throughout the match. Although with a much matured game and improved defense, Wei Feng could not find the answers to Momota's game, coming short at almost every department of the game. Eventually, he had to succumb to a 15-21, 17-21 defeat to the young Japanese, who was tipped to be a rising star in the future.

Victory was definitely within sight now for Japan coming into the second doubles. Another scratch pair from Malaysia, Tan/Goh going up against Sonoda/Kamura. The second doubles were played with a slightly higher tempo than the first, with the Malaysians dictating the pace of the rallies. The Japanese could not break down the defense of the Malaysians and often found themselves in no man's land when Malaysia counter attacked. At 18-14, Tan/Goh looked on course to take the first game. However, the never say die attitude of the Japanese kicked in and after a few mistakes from the Malaysians it was match point to Japan which they took it to win 21-19 in the first game. No one had seen that coming especially how dominant Tan/Goh were for almost 80% of the first set only to collapse while trying to close out the match. Cheers in the Japanese camp were deafening, knowing that they were only one set away from lifting the Thomas Cup. Nevertheless, Tan/Goh picked themselves up and continued to press the Japanese who seemed to have faded slightly in the second game. In fact, the Malaysians were clearly the better pair and this time around they did not falter while leading 18-14 in the second game. By playing fast paced badminton throughout, Tan/Goh, under immense pressure eventually defeated the Japanese 21-17, 21-12 and took the tie into the deciding third singles.

The third singles was played between captain Darren Liew and Takuma Ueda. Darren Liew did not have the best matches, losing two of his previous rounds against lesser opponents. He was dropped in the tie against Denmark, replaced by rookie Goh Soon Huat. However, with Goh unable to impressed, the coaches were banking on the experience and nerves of Darren to bring home the Thomas Cup after a 22-year wait. Ueda did not feature in many matches and both players only played each other once, with Darren winning their sole encounter in the 2013 China Open in three games (14-21, 21-17, 24-22). In was staged to be a nail biting finale as both players walked nervously on court. After exchanging passages of play, it was Ueda who came up on top, owing to unforced errors from Darren. Without much of a challenge, Ueda took the first game 21-12 to bring Japan once again a set away from lifting the Thomas Cup. The Malaysian camp was silenced, as if knowing that their chances of winning was slipping away after witnessing the errors creeping into Darren's game. And indeed their dismay was compounded when Darren did not seem to recover, handing Ueda a healthy 15-9 lead. However, this time it was Ueda under tremendous pressure and mistakes started to creep into the Japanese's game. A spirited Darren saw the opportunity and strung a run of points to close in on 15-16. Now the Malaysians were on their feet whereas the Japanese looked extremely nervous. Darren pounced on the net and gambled a few shots which paid off to take the match into a decider. No one could have scripted a final would be decided on the final set of the third singles. Both players were under tremendous pressure as errors flowing from both sides of the court. It was not so much of who had the better skills but who had the nerves to pull it through. Eventually, after a thrilling match, Ueda emerged victorious after a cross court smash from Darren went wide. The elated Japanese camp stormed onto the court. On the other side of the court, a devastated Darren could only watch the celebrations, with his racquet on the floor and head down. Soon he was consoled by his team mates as well as Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin who flew in to New Delhi to support our team.

It was a thrilling encounter in a nerve-wrecking Thomas Cup Final. This was arguably one of the most exciting final in Thomas Cup history with both nations hungry for success and going for the win. The momentum swung from one end to the other in a roller coaster ride of emotions. Congratulations to Japan for winning their maiden Thomas Cup. Surely they have proven to the world that they are an emerging force in badminton, especially with a squad of players under 30 years of age. Although we have lost, the fighting spirit of the players on court were well applauded. In sports there are bound to be winners and losers. This time, we put up a great fight and the better team won. We have surpassed our target to reach the semis and only came up agonizingly short in the final. There were a couple of positive sparks within the team and hopefully in two years time, we could ignite these sparks and make them glow in Thomas Cup 2016.