south korea

Sirivannavari Nariratana: What she said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Sirivannavari Nariratana

What she said:

“If they treat me as a princess, I would not be here. I’d be in another stable, with beautiful decorations.”

Thai princess,Sirivannavari Nariratana,  is convinced that she is not favored by her fellow athletes at the Incheon Asian Games. The royal debuted in the dressage competition on Saturday, the 20th of September, 2014. Her horse: Prince Charming.

Nariratana is the grand-daughter to Thailand’s regent and was once listed among Forbes’ Top 20 hottest aristocrats.

She was also a participant in badminton at the 2006 Games.

Sirivannavari  said:

“They treat me like friends, a normal rider.”

She added:

“Everybody has the same — the one thing they give me is respect.” 

On her preparation for her first day at the Games:

“For me, it was no problem, it’s like: wake up, some vitamin C, a lot of water and feel fresh, good music — I listened to Rihanna this morning.” 

What she really meant:

“All they’re interested in is what I can do on the field. Will I perform as expected? Am I a competitor? My blue blood lineage counts for little. And my steed cannot differentiate between a noble and a commoner.”

What she definitely didn’t:

“This is just me jockeying for PR. What do you think? Why don’t you join me under my umbrella?
(Ella ella eh eh eh).”


Embed from Getty Images


A Soccer ThreeSum!

Image by gnews pics via Flickr

Three days into the 2010 World Cup and it’s time to pen a few random thoughts:

1. The vuvuzelas (pronounced vu-vu-ZAY-las) have become synonymous with the South African edition of the soccer World Cup. It’s such a nuisance that the television volume has to be turned down low to be able to enjoy the games.  Am I the only one complaining? The only way to have fun with the vuvus is to join them! (I’ve shortened vuvuzelas to vuvus; just so difficult to wrap my tongue around 4 syllables!)

2. The only teams to have scored two goals or more in their games have been South Korea and Germany. And I was starting to despair that this edition of the World Cup would see a goal drought. It took a team from the Far East to relieve the tedium. And though Germany may be considered boring, dull workhorses, they  rarely shy away from scoring goals!