Posts Tagged New York

A new pool in Flushing

A little sorrow reminder that we lost 2012 Olympic to London, but this pool at Flushing Meadow near the US Open is great.  Check it out.  I felt like idiot that the whole thing built right under my nose and I had no idea.  I pulled into the parking lot under the high way, did I spot it – I drove by there hundred times!  As I walked toward the door, I couldn’t contain my joy, greeting everyone that crossed my path, they must think that I’m an escapee from the mental hospital.

a rm w vu; Jan


It’s very similar to the one at Eisenhower Park, modern and spacious, and divided into small sections!!  So quintessential American.  It has the largest land and biggest wallet and their swimmers bring home gold, yet their pools are normally half the standard Olympic size: I just don’t get it!!!!  Pls some one light me up on this???

Jan 12, 2011

Jan 12, 2011

The locker room is small, feeling jammed with few small lockers!  I only got to do 20 laps because got to go to meet my Park Aveneue guy.  The wait to get a membership was long, even there weren’t that many applicants.  Now I’ll have a place to swim while the one I usually go to is under face lift – 塞翁失马 奄之非福?

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Gone swimming

Screenshot 2014-02-16 18.14.22

I finally made to the Parkwoods pool!  On a stolen moment between King’s camp and jazz band.  Few years ago, we stopped joining the pool during the summer.  Thing hasn’t changed much, except I found the notice at the entrance that a new water park is on the horizon: a lazy river (on the now the playground), water slide, … The construction is scheduled to start the day after the pool is closed, which is Aug 25 2007 and to be opened on July 1, 2008.  The project is funded by bond and increasing the real estate tax.

We started going there when they were toddlers.  King’s tall for his age, so he had no problem going to the main pool.  But Pumpkin’s short and younger, couldn’t make the cut despite she’s better swimmer.  For the first couple of years, we had to make a do in the toddler’s pool.  Some life guards would give her the courtesy and let her stay at the main pool but others won’t – especially duringon a slow time – which’s really hurt. 
I still remembered sat them both at the end of the lap pool, when it’s my time to do laps. Making sure their legs – more of feet – hang in the water so I could see their them when I flip turned.  They got kick out of it and splash the water lavishly and laughed every time I came around.  Lord, they grew up too fast!

The main pool has a section with 50 meters lanes, but is only open in the early morning to the master’s swimming club – with additional fee.  We’d going in early, surrounded by deadly tranquil environment, removing the dividers from the previous night to get the 50m lanes in place.  I wondered when the new pool is contracted, will there be a 50m lanes and what do they intend to use it for?  Shhhhsssish, frankly, I don’t really care about lazy river nor the water slide, but open up the 50m lanes during the public section would be a good idea.  Otherwise, why do they build it in the first place?

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FDR vs West Highway

Where was I? Oh, I’m milking the MS Bike Tour,  … pls do allow me to do so, after all, I raised $500 and rode 30 miles. My right leg hurts so much that I can’t bend, walking with a limp, that, does look my age, lol. My right leg began to feel tight since yesterday, played bit too much tennis. Well, actually when Simon and I got to Sandy’s house, she was doing the blow job, right on the court … hey, what are you thinking? smile. Seriously, I don’t understand the gardener’s schedule – why don’t they come more often during the fall, when the leaves drop like there is no tomorrow?? During the summer time, like June or July, there isn’t much to do but they come regularly. I asked mine and his reply was that’s the way it is .. .. whatever. Anyway, so we helped her out. While I used the blower trying to get to the corner, I twisted my leg a little. By the time I left her house after 4 intermittent sets, the court was lightly layered with fresh leaves again, :). This morning, it was cold and I only had biking shorts on; perhaps the coldness also aggravated the leg.

The city closed down both the FDR and West Highway. The weather was beautiful and crispy; the sceneries from both rivers are simply gorgeous. I have to admit that the Hudson and the West Highway trumps the East River and FDR by a large margin. Few turns on the WH provide you the panorama view of the Hudson that is just breathe taking. … but, real estate on the East side is more expensive than the West, hmmmm. The old money vs new.

There were unicycles, bicycles, tricycles and quadcycles with babies. I’m dreaming maybe next year I’ll be charming enough to entice Slowpoke and King do the tri or quad … I’m in the back, sipping a martini 🙂 Ok .. That’s what the kids are for!!

Oh, sugar, I somehow lost my camera’s battery at beginning of the trip. How did that happen? Sure the kids are happy now that I have no camera to bother them with. Time for a new toy.

I rode up every single hills. We all took a rest at the top of the isle at about 10 o’clock, at the Inwood Hill Park near Columbia’s Baker Field. (Yale vs Harvard is legendary … how about Columbia?) For the first time ever, I ate a bag of potato chips before 2pm. Can’t understand nor believe the ‘food’ the tour provide on the stops consist of chips, would crackers be more politically correct? Eeehhhh, the green bananas: they’re inedible! After that, we set off again.
Right before we turned onto 218th Street, the road was very rough. My bike is mountain bike, so I wondered how did those road bikes fare. The part of West Highway from 218 to GW Bridge is just magnificent, high cliff on the left (Fort Tryon Park) and misty and reflecting river on the right, very tranquil. I rode pretty much alone, for my badminton buddies left me in their dust. But I did some thinking: how to fool my kids to join me next year. When and where is my next race, oh ya, I sketched out the bestseller, wink, wink.

The last 5 miles was the hardest. Coz my right leg hurt like hell. I should set my fund raising goal to $1000, so maybe the Tour would allow me ride in a stretch limo? Just a thought, never hurt to think big. My indoor tennis season starts tomorrow, I actually have a game tomorrow at 7pm, and Friday too. Good luck, need a rest, now.

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MS bike ride

I biked around the Isle of Manhattan, 30 miles! It’s 2006 MS Bike Tour. Really cool. Everyone got to do it.

I sincerly thank all my sponsors who made this race possible, for me.

The party started as soon as I got on LIE at 6am, lol … there were few cars loaded with bikes, and we waved to one another. Never drove in the city this early, kind of eerie. I got rear ended on Park Av as I was waiting for the traffic light at 54th. The drive looked really cute, bit like Laker Kobe Bryant … that’s why I decided to get out .. JK. He held couple of pieces of something and told me,
“My fault, I’m not going to argue …”
Was he thinking that I should pay for his damage, or even take me to the court?? So Kobe is not soo cute after all :), …
Anyway, the parking was easy at crack of dawn. More later, got to eat.

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Olympic-sized Swimming Pool

People, I need help here: the meaning of ‘Olympic-sized Swimming Pool’ could have such drastic meaning in different countries: 25m in US and 50m in the rest of the world (almost, I reckon? Full disclosure, I haven’t traveled the world … yet).

I grew up in Beijing and taken to swim in the then-not-so-muddy Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace when I was only 6 moths old. Since then I perfected my breaststroke in the public pools that measured 50 metres, my high school’s included. I also swam at Morrison Hill in Hong Kong, London, Frankfurt, Paris, etc., even in Cairo, which were all 50m!

Then on my fray to the USA, first stop was Honolulu. When I made the reservation I chose a hotel boasting an Olympic-sized pool on its brochure. Little did I know. So when I strided over to do my laps, did I realized it’s so small. Did I go to the wrong pool? No. “This IS the Olympic-sized pool”. The hotel employee who’s passing by told me. Excuse me??? Ok, I shouldn’t argue, after all, it’s a hotel.

Then I wandered into New York and eventually settled down. Now I really needed a pool to quench my thirst. Hmmmmm … few Olympic-sized pools I went to, were all half the size, well 25-yard. I was really dumb founded: why can’t US have the regular pools as the rest of the world do, as poor as China and puny 寸金只土 as Hong Kong??? I am bewildered at the fact that American swimmers are grabbing record amount of medals at each summer Olympics with little (almost none?) imported help (i.e. like in badminton, so to speak).

Granted, there are few pools in NYC that are 50m, but given the size of this country and plentiful of the capital … this is my point and perplexity. Don’t you think that I hadn’t ask. The replies from various coaches were

“I have no idea …” to “Oh, this [short course pool] is cheap to maintain.”

HHhuh? Pardon me! Thinking that in 2003 when I went to Beijing and visited my high school. Guess what? The out door 50m pool was long gone, instead a sparking indoor Olympic-sized pool was built. (Ok, disclosure: my high school ranked 3rd in the country.) What’s more ironic is the adjacent Renmin University (my high school is on the campus of the Uni), only few yards away – has just built its own luxury indoor pool, 50m. Oh well, short course has it advantage: great for practicing flip turns, 🙂

Out of north shore on LI, there are two I used to go. One is built in 1998 for the Goodwill Games, Aquatic Center at Eisenhower Park, and the other is at Hofstra Uni where my kids learned to swim: King didn’t … Pumpkin improved. Most time, both pools are being cascaded into short courses to accommodate more teams and swimmers. Ok, getting bit anal: The dimensions of an Olympic pool are required to be 25 metres by 50 metres, stated by FINA.org, (FR 2.1.1). Truthfully, 25m = 82.02 ft, so the American’s short course is less than 25m. No wonder I have such good timing in 500m and 1000m (ok that’s a self-deprecating joke), and it’s legal! Americans are litigious, and yet there is a lawsuit over the pool size. Hmmm..

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