A Book Review "Well, That Was Unexpected!" | #blogsocialdiary

Blurb:

Mortified by her mother’s matchmaking. Sharlot Citra agrees to ONE date with George Clooney Tanuwijaya, son of the most famous family in Indonesia. But when the media gets wind of it, things quickly spiral and the two families get swept up in a highly publicized romantic stunt where everyone has a role and a secret to play.

 

Here is my review…

First of all, I will start with the characters:

·        Sharlot Citra:

I could imagine the visualization of her. I also find it easy to love, hate (for a little), and pity her. She had been stirred by her single mother all the time. It made sense since her mother is a full-time Asian mother typically even though they lived in the U.S. Her mother brings Asian values toward her only daughter. I can imagine how she was disappointed and upset when she found out her only daughter tried to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, Bradley.  Her mom plans to take Sharlot (she has a Chinese name called Shi Jun) to Jakarta, Indonesia for summer vacation. During the time her mother hopes Sharlot breaks up with her boyfriend. Back in time, Sharlot’s Mom grew up in Indonesia. So, she wants Sharlot to know her basic identity, that she still has Indonesian bleed. However, the things that happen in Jakarta are out of her mind. Her mom has trapped her for a “blind” date with a guy. However, who could guess it? That guy is the heir to a big Indonesian company. He is….

·        George Clooney Tanuwijaya:

His family background is that of a wealthy Chinese-Indonesia family in Jakarta. He is the elder son of the family.  He is only about 17 years old but is forecasted to be an heir to their family company. Also, he is pointed to have a responsibility to develop and launch its mobile application. It almost doesn’t go smoothly because of his behavior before it is launched. At the story's beginning, he gets caught by his dad and younger sister when he does a normal personal activity for a teenage boy in a room alone. It leads his dad and younger sister to use his account to chat with a girl nickname on the internet. His younger sister and dad introduce George's identity to the girl. It ends up with them having a vacation together in Bali while his family plans to launch their mobile application at the same time.

The image is provided by Goodreads

Author Jesse Q. Sutanto created the storyline, and each character is so good. She started by describing a female adolescent (or she can be called a young adult?!) who has a high curiosity about things that only adult people do. That girl teenager had discussed "that thing" with her boyfriend before her mother caught them in her room. I also could say that the author is easy to describe how the Asian parents act since she is an Asian person, too. I could feel her characters' emotions when I was reading it. It feels so touching. Perhaps, I also live in Southeast Asia—the country where George Clooney and his family live.

 

Sharlot Citra is an Indonesian daughter who has lived in America since she was born. For the exact, she is a Chinese-Indonesia bleed. Her mother never told or brought her to their home, Jakarta. Her mother has her own words related to it. So, Sharlot felt unfamiliar when they landed at Jakarta Airport for the first time. She thought that her life was in California, not in Jakarta. Additionally, her mom hacked her ShareIt account with her daughter’s profile and chatted with a young man. Who thinks that it will bring Sharlot’s Mom to her high school memories, too? Sharlot and her mom’s trip to Bali is not only unforgettable for Sharlot but also for her mom.

And, the young man who is Sharlot’s Mom chatting with is George Clooney. A teenage boy whose ShareIt account is being hacked by his dad and younger sister to get a new girlfriend. At least, they could make George and that girl’s relationship value their company stock and brand since they are working to publish a mobile network application. George is the person in charge of it.

 

Thanks to Jesse for bringing up and letting the whole world know how beautiful my hometown is! It is Bali!

 

Sharlot and George developed their feeling while they had a short vacation in Bali. George’s family plans to launch their mobile application, OneLiner in Bali. They invited a journalist team to shoot their daily vacation there. In the end, the journalist becomes so cruel to Sharlot. She leaked Sharlot’s past affair with her ex-boyfriend in America and forced George to take responsibility for it. George’s family was mad, no, they only thought they were a bit disappointed in Sharlot. It made Sharlot's mom and George’s Eighth Aunt keep their distance for a while since the news was spreading out.

Sharlot’s mom plans to take back Sharlot to America and make her forget about the thing that happened recently. Sharlot realized that she could not leave George with this misunderstanding. For a fact, Sharlot has already fallen for George due to their time together in Bali. So, she could not leave the situation between them just to end in that way. George’s idea is to make it up and launch his family company’s mobile application for the young generation while they open up their feeling and relationships to the public.

 

Read: Petualangan Sherina 2 Movie Review, here

This is my first review in English fully. I am sorry if it is not perfect completely yet. Furthermore, it is my first time to complete English reading literature. So, I still do not know how to write it well. I will make it better again in my next writing. Anyway, thank you for visiting this simple #blogsocialdiary. Feel free to scroll down some posts you are interested in. 😊 

You can also read my review on Goodreads here. 

Read, also: A Week To Forever Book Review, here

32 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME | Alika #blogsocialdiary

 

Edited by Canva | @blogsocialdiary 

Why it should be 32? 

It is because I am turning 32 this year. Welcome To 30's Club!

Here they are!

1. I was born on the most beautiful island in Indonesia. 

2. I have a lot of stories on this island.

3. I guess I dropped my first love at first sight on the island. He was one of my classmates in the English course class.  

4. I am truly Indonesian—I am a half-bleed of Javanese and Sundanese. 

5. Religion? Let’s be a friend without asking about it. 

6. Some Taurus traits define me so much.

Image is taken from Openverse | The Rock Bar Bali

7. When I was young, my parents put me in some courses (math, language, etc.) but, I am only interested in language.

8. In junior high school, my English final test probation was higher than my Indonesian score. I got scolded by my mom because of it. (Of course, at the time I thought English was easier than my own native language);

9. Also, in junior high school, I studied Japanese for a very short time. I learned it because of FOMO (if that phrase existed in 2005). 

10. I have studied in two different types of schools (the state and private schools); 

11. When I was in a religious private school, I learned more about tolerance. It was so much fun since I got friends from any religious state, and we never made it a big problem!  

12. I had a friend who was always in the same school (since I was on the island and Java). It was accidental, but it will be a fun fact to remember forever! 

Image is taken from Openverse | school life, now a memory

13. I got my first glasses in the first grade of senior high school. The minus scale in my glasses ranges from approximately -1.50 to -1.25. 

14. It seemed I was an introverted person since I was young; 

15. I did not have many friends in high school. I was busy finding my real adolescent identity. Also, what truly my passion is;

16. My passion is about the literature. Yes, it is Indonesian literature. I started to love to notice my Indonesian teacher taught it. I loved it more than when she taught me about grammar things. (I am sorry, Madam.);

17. I joined the Indonesian literature intra-curricular class. I enjoyed making the short film, making a script, and discussing it with my teammate and the teacher. 

18. I have just found that my hobby is writing. I started to write a Fan-Fiction.

Image is taken from Openverse | Introverts march in the streets

19. My first Fan Fiction comes from my favorite contestants from Akademi Fantasi Indosiar (AFI). Now, I am feeling ashamed to recall that fan fiction. (LOL) 

20. After writing Fan Fiction, I started to write short stories about adolescent friendship: adventure, friendship-romantic themed. 

21. When I was in the university, I got a chance to join a writing short course. It was my big dream to dare! From that moment, I never expected I would meet many friends who are interested in books and writing, and they are also authors! 

22. Because of that writing short course, the alumni formed a reading community. Our “Oldman” said a reading community is needed to support us—he means if there are no readers who would get our published book one day? However, The COVID-19 pandemic made our community go down. We were inactive. ☹

Image is taken from Openverse | book

23. Since the First Love I met in junior high school, I never fell in love again until I met him in 2012. He was my senior in our English class. We are from two different universities.

24. He wasn’t my first love however he was the one who I think that he is my first love. 

25. Actually, my favorite type of man is different from his looks. But, I also don’t expect that I could fall for him so badly. 

26. I didn’t regret it. I made it as a lesson for my future love-life in the future. I won’t give anyone to pursue myself if I still have another feeling haven’t finished yet to another man. I won’t make a similar mistake twice. 

27. I met my Ex when we were in the university. To be exact, when we did our pre-final thesis as our university requirement for taking the next step in the university—thesis. 

Image is taken from Openverse | robot love

28. However, my Ex has nothing special compared to my crush who I had met in the English course outside the campus. (Eh, could I insist on calling him a Crush? We even didn’t to each other much) 

29. I feel sorry to my Ex in that moment. 

30. From 2011 to recent days, I have kept in contact with my close friends, some Super Girls who turned into Super Women now, I have met them as fans of one of the Indonesian boy groups. Now, I never feel ashamed anymore that I have liked SM*SH. Because of it, I have the Super Girls until now! Thanks, our heroes! 

31. I even imagined that one day, on my wedding day my Super Girls could be my bride-maids. Hopefully. 

32. My Other 7-Super Girls haven’t known yet about the man I met in my English class until now. I only keep his face, his shadow alone by myself. All of my best prayers go to him even though I am not on his side (for now). 

Image is taken from Openverse | Thank You!

The Most Stable Badminton Players from Taiwan 2023 - Badminton Players Review #blogsocialdiary Version

 I think The Chinese Taipei National Badminton surprised us with their players starting to show their skills last year. Some players showed their techniques and shots to the audiences who enjoyed their matches. As we see, a player became a winner of the Super 300 tournament earlier. After that, some other newcomers to the World Tour series are also being competed to show the result of their training period. Last year, we also had a comeback moment from the Gold Medalist Tokyo Olympics. They had been down after they got it. Yet, they built their confidence, maintained their skill and technique, and kept their communication way. 

Image from Lee Chia Hsin's Facebook FP

I have chosen these Taiwanese badminton players based on their best performance (as long they got into the Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and Final rounds). I have three singles players and a couple of pairs who I think have the best progress in their plays and could keep it up until the end of the year. 

I will start to talk about the Men Singles (MS) discipline. 

Image by Lin Chun-Yi IG

The Chinese Taipei Badminton likely has two players who are playing in the World Tour Series 300 and above. In early 2023, they make more players to join his senior, Chou Tien Chen and Wang Tzu Wei at the World Tour level. There is a single player who is consistently playing at that level. He is Lin Chun-Yi. Last year, Lin Chun-Yi was 24 years old. He had the best start. The Taipei Open 2022’s Semifinalist became a Champion in the Thailand Master Super 300 2023. He played well and defeated Weng Hong Yang in a rubber game in the first round; he defeated Christian Adinata, Kenta Nishimoto, and Shi Yu Qi in a straight on his road to the final round. Finally, He beat Ng Ka Long Angus in the final round in a straight set. A week later, he reached the quarterfinal round after Li Shi Feng defeated him. Next, in the Malaysia Master Super 500, Chun-Yi reached the quarterfinal round after beating the Japanese representative, Kodai Naraoka in a dramatic rubber game: 17-21, 30-29, 21-19 in two hours. On the contrary, Lin Chun-Yi lost to Li Shi Feng only in two sets in the semifinal round. Then, in his home country tournament, the Taipei Open Super 300, Lin Chun-Yi entered the quarterfinal round after beating his teammate, Lee Chia Hao, and his senior, Chou Tien Chen. Yet, in the quarterfinal round,  Wang Tzu Wei defeated him. 

Lin Chun Yi entered the semifinal round of the US Open Super 300, and he lost to the Thailand representative, Kunlavut Vitidsarn. He got his second title of this year in the Kaohsiung Master Super 100 after beating Yushi Tanaka from Japan in three games. He reached the quarterfinal round Korea Master Super 300, and lost to another Japanese, Koki Watanabe, in a straight set; He was A Quarterfinalist in the China Master Super 750. He lost to Zhao Jun Peng; he reached the quarterfinal round in the Syed Modi International 2023. 

[The Women Singles picture will be updated soon] 

In 2021-2022, the Chinese Taipei Badminton National Team started to have a promising female player in the Women's Singles (WS) discipline. Hsu Wen Chi had won some titles in the International Series and Challenge-level tournaments. In 2023, another female player seemed as promising as Hsu Wen-Chi. Her name is Huang Yu-Hsun, a girl born 20 years ago. Let’s have a look at Huang Yu-Hsun’s match results below. 

Huang Yu-Hsun is the Champion of the Estonian International Series 2023 after defeating Kristin Kuuba in a rubber game. At her first tournaments in 2023, she struggled hard from the qualification round to the final round. She defeated her senior, Liang Ting Yu in the first round of the main draw Thailand International Challenge 2023. In the second round, she defeated a young Indonesian representative, Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo.

Asuka Takahashi beat her in the quarterfinal of the Thailand International Challenge 2023. Still, at the International Series level, Huang Yu-Hsun also became a Champion of the Dutch International Series 2023. In the final round, she defeated Kaloyana Nalbantova in a straight set. Next, Huang Yu-Hsun won the Slovenia Open International Challenge 2023. In the final round, she defeated Neslihat Yigit in two games.

Huang Yu-Hsun and Wang Yu Si, the other promising female badminton player from Taiwan succeed in making an All-Chinese Taipei final in the Austrian Open International Series. Huang Yu-Hsun won the match in a straight game. It is still in the Austrian Open 2023, Yu-Hsun played in the Women's Doubles (WD) with Chung Kan-Yu. Yet, Chung Kan-Yu/Huang Yu-Hsun lost to their compatriot, Hsu Yin-Hui/Lee Chieh Chen 22-24, 21-17, 16-21. Next, Huang Yu-Hsun reached the semifinal round of the Bonn International and lost to Hung Yi-Ting 7-21, 8-21. With Chung Kan-Yu, she also reached the semifinal round at the same tournament. The Turkish WD defeated them in two games.

Since Huang Yu-Hsun is still 20 years old and still in college (like other Taiwanese players who keep their studies while playing badminton), we may see Yu-Hsun about two or three years later. Otherwise, the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association has other considerations for Huang Yu-Hsun. 

We move to the Men’s Doubles section.

Image from Wang Chi-Lin Facebook FP 

It seems to back to their peak performance on the road to Tokyo 2020 is very hard for the Gold Medal Olympics, Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin. A year after they won the Gold Medal in the year 2021, the only highest achievement of Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin got is in the final round of their home country tournament, Taipei Open Super 300 2022. The Malaysian pair, Man Wei Cong/Kai Wun Tee defeated them in three games: 18-21, 21-11, 18-21. Slow but sure, they could get their confidence again. In 2023, they reached the quarterfinals consistently in the Arctic Open Super 500 and China Master Super 750; Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin got into the Semifinal round (finally….) in the Canada Open and Australian Open Super 500.

Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin entered the final round in the Hylo Open and Korean Master Super 300. Unlucky, Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi of China defeated them in the Hylo Open, and Lee Jhe-Huei/Yang Po-Hsuan defeated their MD#1 in the Korean Master. However, in 2023, Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin won the Japan Open Super 750. They also got the bronze medal in the Badminton Asia Championship 2023 and Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 (Individual Event).

Oh, I forgot to tell you that Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin back to the Top 10 World Ranking at the end of the year. 

Read: The Coolest and Promising Badminton Players From Taiwan (mid-2023 update) Part 1

Now, we discuss the next discipline that has a stable performance of play in 2023. 

Image from Lee Chia Hsin Facebook FP

Two years ago, the Mixed Doubles section of the Chinese Taipei Badminton started to have a promising Mixed Double pair. Lee Chia-Hsin and her junior and new partner, Ye Hong Wei, showed significant results in the lowered-level tournament. I posted their progress in mid-2023 on the previous blog posts. After being a Semifinalist in their home country tournament, the Taipei Open Super 300, Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia-Hsin reached the final round of the US Open Super 300 after defeating their compatriot, Yang Po-Hsuan/Hu Ling Fang. In the final round, Hong Wei/Chia-Hsin defeated the Danish pair, Mathias Thyrri/Amelie Megalund in three games. 

Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia-Hsin reached the semifinal round in the Hylo Open Super 300. They lost to the Hong Kong pair, Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet in three games. Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia-Hsin collected many tournament points by playing to the quarterfinal round in the Japan Open and Denmark Open Super 750. Unfortunately, they were withdrawn from the quarterfinal match of the Japan Open, and their opponent, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong entered the semifinal round. The Mixed Double number 1 of the Chinese Taipei team failed to get a ticket to the World Tour Final 2023 after they lost to Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet in R16 of the China Master Super 750. 

Also, read: The Coolest and Promising Badminton Players From Taiwan (mid-2023 update) Part 2 

Image from Tai Tzu Ying Facebook FP

Finally, I should put her name in any review of the Chinese Taipei Team I have posted. She won the Silver Medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is Tai Tzu Ying who ended 2023 with a champion title in the World Tour Final after defeating An Se Young, her eternal rival. Previously, I said that Tzu Ying didn't play in many tournaments. So, she would maximize her plays for each match she competed. At least, she entered the quarterfinal round for some tournaments and was entering the SF and final rounds. She also won the three titles last year.

After the Taipei Open Super 300, Tai Tzu Ying entered the final round of the Korea Open 500 after defeating Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinal round. But, she lost to the host country representative, An Se Young in a straight game. In the Japan Open Super 750, An Se Young defeated her again in the semifinal round in a straight game. Tai Tzu Ying reached the quarterfinal round in the Arctic Open, Kumamoto Open Super 500, Denmark Open Super 750a, and the BWF Badminton World Championship 2023. Tai Tzu Ying also reached the final round of the French Open Super 750. But, she lost to the Chinese Single, Chen Yu Fei in two games. In the last 6 months of 2023, Tai Tzu Ying retired from two tournaments because she was unfeeling well. She ended her match in the first match of the Hong Kong Open Super 500 and the second round of the China Master Super 750. We hope 2024 she will have a fit performances in the year of the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

Alright! I completed the review of The Most Stable Badminton Plays From The Chinese Taipei National Badminton Team. I hope all of us know that there is a badminton association in a country where badminton isn't a popular sport to play getting ready to appear a potential player in the world. It is the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association of Taiwan. 

Thank you for visiting my simple #blogsocialdiary. See you on another title of blog post, guys! 

Recommended Taiwanese drama to watch: Mother To Be (2021)

The Coolest and Promising Badminton Players From Taiwan - Part 2 (Women's Team)

 Hi, everyone! 

This post should be released after the previous one [The Coolest and Promising Badminton Players From Taiwan - Part 1 (Men's Team)] was released. Because of something else, I should postpone posting it. 

So, I will make a disclaimer first. The Players' World Ranking I used here refers to the mid-2023 after The Taipei Open 2023 Super 300 was held. 

Here is my resume for the Taiwanese female badminton players who I looked at who have more progress until mid-2023. Check these out, guys! 

Throwback post: My Favorite Badminton Players 2022 (Part 1) 

First of all, 

In 2023, Tai Tzu Ying still becomes the main squad for the Chinese Taipei Badminton Team. It is similar to Chou Tien Chen in The Men’s Squad. The gap between the first rankings to the player who is in the second place based on the Chinese Taipei Badminton national ranking is quite far. So, Tai Tzu Ying and Chou Tien Chen keep their position as the main bullet for the team. 

I always put Tai Tzu Ying in every resume of badminton players of the year. Today I will not re-write last year’s performances of Tai Tzu Ying, and I will only keep focusing on the tournaments she joined in the first semester of 2023. 

As we know, Tai Tzu Ying has decided not to register herself for every BWF tournament. Some accounts said it relates to her decision to retire from the badminton tournaments. However, Tai Tzu Ying still got the best result from the tournaments she had chosen. Early 2023, Tai Tzu Ying won the Badminton Asia Championship 2022 and the Taipei Open Super 300. She also entered the final round but did not win the competition in the Korea Open Super 500. She lost to An Se Youn in a straight game: 9-21, 15-21. In Malaysia Open Super1000, All England Super1000, China Open Super1000, and Singapore Open Super750, Tai Tzu Ying only reached the semifinal round. 

During the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup 2023, Tai Tzu Ying played twice in Group Stage C against Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia and P. V. Sindhu of India. Both matches were won by Tai Tzu Ying. She played in the knocked-out stage when The Chinese Taipei Team met The Korea Team. Tai Tzu Ying lost to An Se Young in two sets. 

Image: Tai Tzu Ying Facebook Fanpage

Secondly, 

There is a girl who plays in Women's Double Disciple. She is 23 years old, and she is partnered with Liu Chiao-Yun, a girl who is three years older than her. Liu Chiao-Yun and Wang Yu Qiao have been partnered-up since 2019. Based on the BWF Ranking update on June 26, 2023, Wang Yu Qiao/Liao Chiao-Yun is in the 42nd world ranking.

Liu Chiao-Yun/Wang Yu Qiao don’t have a good result in early 2023 in Thailand Master Super 300. They lost to the Japanese girls, Rui Hirokami/Yuna Kato in the first round. However, in Thailand International Challenge they became champions after defeating Hong Kong girls, Lui Lok Lok/Ng Wing Yung in a straight game. Playing together with Liu Chiao-Yun, Wang Yu Qiao also becomes the Champion at Austria Open International Series after having all Chinese Taipei Final with Hsu Yin-Hui/Lee Chieh Chen, then become a Champion of the Thailand Open International Challenge, and Winner of the Slovenia Open International Challenge and (again) they defeated another Chinese Taipei Women Doubles, Hsu Yin-Hui/Lee Chieh Chen. Furthermore, Liu Chiao-Yun/Wang Yu Qiao is being a runner-up at Bonn International Future Series.

In their home country event, the Taipei Open Super 2023 Super 300, Liu Chiao-Yun/Wang Yu Qiao reached the quarterfinal round. They lost to their compatriot, Lee Chia-Hsin/Teng Chun Hsun in two sets: 13-21, 11-21. After the Taipei Open Super 300, we haven’t seen Wang Yu Qiao and Liu Qiao-Yun for the rest left the tournaments in 2023, except Kaohsiung Master Super 100. So, we may go on to the next players who play in two sections. 

Throwback post: My Favorite Badminton Players 2022 (Part 2)

Third, I have... 

Li Xiao Min, a female player of Chinese Taipei National Badminton, is a 27-year-old girl who plays in two sections in Mixed Doubles and Women's Doubles. In the Women's Doubles, she doesn’t have any significant play while she is partnered up with a female player who has more experience than her. With Hu Ling Fang, she only reached the quarterfinal round in their home country event, the Taipei Open Super 300. However,, in the Taipei Open, Lin Xiao Min became a runner-up in the Mixed Doubles section with a young boy, Chiu Hsiang Chieh, after they defeated their senior, Tseng Min Hao/Hsieh Pei Shan in the semifinal round. But, in the final round, Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Lin Xiao Min lost to the Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia in a straight game. Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Lin Xiao Min have only a year been partnered-up, On June 26, 2023, they are in the World Ranking 48^th and the XD5 in Chinese Taipei National Badminton.

Throwback post: Chinese Taipei Women's Team - Uber Cup 2022

In the next line, we have a female player of the Chinese Taipei Badminton Team who is lucky enough (I guess…) to have been partnered up with her senior who has so much experience on the court, Hsu Ya Ching. 

Image: Hsu Ya-Ching/Lin Wan Ching (Hsu Ya-Ching FB)

On June 23, 2023, Hsu Ya Ching/Lin Wan Ching placed in the 30^th BWF World Ranking. At the time, they are the WD2 in the Chinese Taipei Team. Lin Wan Ching has been partnered up with Hsu Ya Ching since early 2022. Within their notional point, they got the main draw in the Thailand Open 2022 Super 500, but, they ended up only in the first stage against Vivian Hoo/Lin Chiew Sien in a rubber game: 21-16, 21-16, 21-16. In 2023, Ya Ching/Wan-Ching reached the quarterfinal round in the Malaysia Master 2023 Super 500 after they defeated the Korean representative, Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong in the second round. In the quarterfinal round they were beaten up by the Japanese, Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara in three sets: 21-16, 16-21, 16-21. Next, Hsu Ya-Ching/Lin Wan-Ching lowered their level of the game and played in the International Challenges. Ya-Ching/Wan Ching won the Nothern Marianas Open 2023 (International Challeng, and Saipan International 2023 (Internatiinal Challenge). Wang Yu Qiao/Liu Chiau-Yun beat Ya Ching/Wan Ching in the first stage of the Taipei Open 2023 Super 300 in a rubber game: 20-22, 21-17, 17-21. 

Image: Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia-Hsin (Lee Chia Hsin FB)

The last player I set as The Coolest Badminton Player From Taiwan in mid-2023 is Lee Chia-Hsin. As we know she plays doubles in Women’s Doubles with Teng Chun Hsun. She also plays in the Mixed Double section with Ye Hong Wei. And, I will talk more about Chia-Hsin's performances in the Mixed Doubles section.

Lee Chia-Hsin struggled hard to back to her peak performance after Wang Chi-Lin had been set to focus on the MD section for the road of the Tokyo Olympics. In 2022, The Chinese Taipei Badminton Association found Ye Hong Wei for her. Almost one year and a half later, on June 23, 2023, Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia Hsin placed on the 20^th BWF World Ranking. 

Before Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia Hsin got into the Top 20, they reached the semifinal round in the Swiss Open 2023 Super 300. They lost to the Chinese young pair, Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin; a runner-up Orleans Master Super 300 after being beaten by Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei; Semifinalist in the Thailand Open 2023 Super 500; and, semifinalist in the Taipei Open 2023 Super 300.

Similar to Tai Tzu Ying. Lee Chia-Hsin is also a silver bullet for the Chinese Taipei Team in the Sudirman Cup 2023 in Suzhou, China. Of course, she counts more in the XD section. With Ye Hong Wei, Lee Chia Hsin played twice. When the team against the Australia Team and the Malaysia Team in the group match. Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia-Hsin won against Rayne Wang/Angela Yu (Australia), but, they lost to Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei (Malaysia). With Teng Chun-Hsun, Lee Chia-Hsin played twice against the India pair,  Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in a rubber game, and almost made a clear win for the team. The second, Lee Chia-Hsin/Teng Chun-Hsun played against the Malaysia pair, Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan also in a rubber game. 

Image: Lee Chia-Hsin/Teng Chun Hsun (Chinese Taipei Badminton FB)

Throwback post: Chinese Taipei Men's Team - Thomas Cup 2022

Here they are... 

Finally, I completed The Coolest and Promising Badminton Male and Female Players From Taiwan.  Next, I will see you with another post about Taiwanese Badminton Players. See you on another title of blog post! 

The Coolest And Promising Badminton Player From Taiwan - Part 1 (Men's Team)

Hi, everyone! I came back with my favorite badminton players. It has been a long time since I did not post about it. I bring you some names of the coolest badminton players of the Chinese Taipei Badminton Team. Some of them also can be mentioned as The Promising Players of Chinese Taipei. 

Early this year, many new players from Taiwan appeared in the BWF World Tour. There is Lin Chun-Yi who became a winner of Thailand Master Super 300. Previously, Lu Chen had stolen our sight when he partnered with Lee Yang when Wang Chi-Lin was recovering from his injury. Unfortunately, Lee Yang/Lu Chen did not win any trophies. Lu Chen looked like he would be a promising player in the future, as well. I am not overproud of him. Let him approach it first.

I chose these nominees based on their latest performance (I updated the newest BWF World Ranking (last updated on June 27, 2023, and sorry for the very late posting). I also considered their physical appearance. I have four men who are The Coolest Chinese Taipei Men Singles. They are: 

Su Li Yang (image by FB Taipei Yuqiu )

Chou Tien Chen (image by Chou Tien Chen)

Lin Chun Yi and Lee Chia Hao (image by: IG Lin Chun-Yi)

 

In the Men Doubles disciple, I skipped the players who are still active playing in two disciples (Men Double and Mixed Double). So, there are about four players I skipped to put in the MD category. Therefore, I only have two players here: 

Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po-Han at TotalEnergy BWF Thomas&Uber Cup 2022

The last category is the male player of Mixed Double Disciple.

Many double players in Taiwan play in two disciples. Also, the badminton federation has many ways to mix the players into men, women, and mixed doubles. I already chose four male players in Mixed Double Disciple. All of them also have partners in Men’s Double Disciple. So, these men are the best ones since they succeed in playing in two numbers. They are: 

Ye Hong Wei (source: his Instagram)

[One Photo Image will be updated very soon]

Finally, I present them to you…

First of all, I would like to introduce you to Ye Hong Wei.

Recently, he has played in two disciples: Men Doubles (MD) with his Senior, Su Ching Heng; and in the Mixed Double (XD) with Lee Chia-Hsin. I have scrolled down to Ye Hong Wei’s first appearance in an international badminton match. Ye Hong Wei’s first match in badminton sport as a man single in the Korea Junior Open Badminton Championship 2015. It was held in Gwangju, South Korea. At that time, Ye Hong Wei was 16 years old. He also played in the MD section with Su Li Wei. They played since the qualification round and ended up in the top 16 round. In the MS disciple, Ye Hong Wei was defeated by the host country representative, Kim Moon Jun, who beat him in the MD section, too. The next year, Su Li Wei/Ye Hong Wei was a champion in the Korea Junior Open Badminton Championship 2016 after defeating Kang Min-Hyuk/Kim Won Ho in four games: 3-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

In 2017, Ye Hong Wei also played in two disciples: Men Doubles (MD) still with Su Li Wei; and in the Mixed Double (XD) with Teng Chun-Hsun. In the junior-era tournaments, Hong Wei showed very pleasant results. Here are some results with Su Li Wei: Champion Dutch Junior 2017; They reached the semifinal round of the German Open 2017; Champion TUI Medical Waikato International 2017 after defeating Chen Tang Jie/Soh Wooi Yik. He also got a silver bronze with Teng Chun Hsun after defeating Riky Widianto/Richi Puspita Dili in a similar event. Ye Hong Wei also got two gold medals in Australian Junior. 

In 2018, Hong Wei started to play with Lu Chen in Austria Open 2018. Lu Chen/Ye Hog Wei won the games after defeating Oliver Leydon-Davis/Lasse Molhede (AUS/DEN). Ye Hong Wei also got two titles, Men Double Disciple with Lu Chen and Mixed Double Disciple with Teng Chun Hsun in the Slovak Open 2018. Lu Chen/Ye Hong Wei won the 53 Portuguese International Championship 2018. In the same tournament, with Teng Chun Hsun, he reached the semifinal round. 

In 2019, Hong Wei partnered with Chiang Chien-Wei. Their first match was Taipei Open 2019 in September 2019. Chiang Chien Wei/Ye Hong Wei entered the semifinal round Scottish Open 2019. They lost to the host country representative, Alexander Dunn/Adam Hall in a straight set. Ye Hong Wei/Chiang Chien-Wei won the next tournament in Victor Welsh International 2019. 

In 2020, before the pandemic covid-19, Chiang Chien Wei/Ye Hong Wei won two titles in two tournaments. In a straight game, they won the All-Chinese Taipei-Final against Wei Chun Wei/Wu Guan Xun. Chiang Chien Wei/Ye Hong Wei defeated Daniel Lundgaard/Mathias Thrry from Denmark in the final round and became a champion. Ye Hong Wei does not play in XD Disciple this year. 

The BWF Sudirman Cup 2023 is not the first event team for Ye Hong Wei. In 2016, he joined the team for the BWF Junior Mixed Team Championship 2016 in Bilbao, Spain. Also, he joined the team for the SCG Badminton Asia Junior Championship 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand. Ye Hong Wei played back with his former partner Su Li Wei in Spain and Bangkok for some matches. Also, he played with Lin Hsiang-Ti in the XD Disciple. 

In 2017, Ye Hong Wei was sent to Yogyakarta, Indonesia to join the Chinese Taipei Team in the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championship 2017. Ye Hong Wei also played in Pembangunan Jaya Raya Badminton Asia Junior Championship 2017 (Team Event). The Chinese Taipei Badminton Association has put his name and Su Ching Heng on the name list squad for the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2022. 

The domino effect of Liao Min Chun’s retirement in early 2021 is the coaching team tried to find a new partner for his partner, Su Ching Heng. Ye Hong Wei is the new partner for Su Ching Heng. 

Also, read: My Favorite Badminton Team - Chinese Taipei [Part 2]

The next is...

 Currently, this pair is at the top of the men's Doubles section in Chinese Taipei National Badminton. Yet, their highest achievement is being Runner-up in their home country's tournament Super 300, Taipei Open 2023. In some tournaments, I see Lu Ching Yao have a very good play attitude on the court rather than his partner. So, I made him follow Ye Hong Wei on this list. 

Lu Ching Yao also played in two sections in 2021. In the Men Doubles section with Yang Po-Han, and the Mixed Doubles disciple with Lee Chia-Hsin. It seems he and Lee Chia Hsin cannot work together as a partner on the court. Finally, they are separated. Lu Ching Yao keeps playing in the MD section with Yang Po-Han. Meanwhile, Lee Chia-Hsin plays in the Women's Doubles section with her junior. 
I will let you know and remind you that last year Lu Ching Yao proposed to his girlfriend. After that, they are getting married. Lu Ching Yao is a husband and a daddy now. So, I see that thing makes him calmer on the court than before, yet, he still has a strong motive to win.  

Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po-Han (image: Facebook)

The next badminton player who I call the promising player of Chinese Taipei is...

The future badminton era in Taiwan will have Su Li Yang, the boy who was born on December 27, 2001. When I collected his data, Su Li Yang was now on the 35th BWF World Ranking (date updated June 27, 2023) after the Taipei Open Super 300. At his home-country tournament, Su Li Yang got a silver medal after Indonesian Representative, Chico Dwi Aura Wardoyo, beat him in the final round in a straight game: 21-23, 15-21.

I guess the previous tournaments that made him being promoted to the World Tour Series are Nothern Marianas Open (International Challenge) where Su Li Yang finished the tournament as the Semifinalist after he lost to his compatriot, Liao Jhuo-Fu, in a straight game: 20-22, 21-23; also, he reached the semifinal round in Saipan International Challenge after losing his game to the host country representative, Takuma Obayashi, in three games: 10-21, 21-16, 17-21. This year, Su Li Yang entered the final round of the Slovenia Open. Unlucky, Sameer Verma from India defeated him in the final round in a straight game: 21-18, 21-14. 

Su Li Yang’s first final round in the junior era matches was in Australian Junior 2017. At that time, he only lost to another Taiwanese young boy, Lee Chiao Hao in two games: 16-21. 21-13. Su Li Yang got his first win after he defeated Yu Sheng Po, another Chinese Taipei young badminton Men Single, in Italian Junior 2018. 

Su Li Yang (image: Facebook)

The Young man from the Chinese Taipei badminton team who I placed in number four was born 21 years ago. He was born on November 11, 2002. His name is Chiu Hsiang Chieh. Currently, Chiu Hsiang Chieh plays in two disciples. In the Men Doubles section, Hsiang Chieh is partnered up with Yang Ming Tze who is five older than him. This year, Chiu/Yang entered more than once into the quarterfinal rounds. They made it in the Thailand Open Super 300 after the host representative, Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren defeated them in a straight game. The Malaysian pair, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin defeated Hsiang Chieh/Ming Tze in a straight game in the quarterfinal round of the US Open Super 300. A week before, in the Canada Super 500, Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Yang Ming Tze lost in the quarterfinal, too. They lost to the Danish pair, Rasmus Kjaer/Frederik Sogaard in two games. 

Meanwhile, in the Mixed Doubles section, Chiu Hsiang Chieh is playing with Lin Xiao Min. Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Lin Xiao Min’s highest achievement this year is being Runner-up in their home country tournament, the Taipei Open Super 300. After they defeated their compatriot, Tseng Min Hao/Hsieh Pei Shan in the semifinal round. But, Hsiang Chieh/Xiao Min lost to Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei from Malaysia in the final round within two games. 

We go back to the previous year first….

Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Yang Ming Tze was a champion in the Dutch Open International Challenge, Polish International Series, Bonn International, and Croatia International Future Series. They also became runner-up in the tournaments: Bulgaria International Future Series, Czech Open International Series, and Denmark Master International Challenge. 

When Chiu Hsiang Chieh played in the Polish International Series, he also became a winner in the Mixed Doubles section with Lin Xiao Min. Still, with Lin Xiao Min, Hsiang Chieh also won the Croatia International Future Series and Bulgaria International Future Series. Those good results in 2022 might be a consideration for the federation to play in the World Tour Series. 

[Chiu Hsiang Chieh's image will be updated soon]

The next player on the list of The Coolest Male Badminton Players from The Chinese Taipei National team is… 

He is Su Li Yang’s senior. I already wrote about him in many blog posts here, you can scroll down the link below later. 

Read: My Favorite Chinese Taipei Player 2022

  

Yeah, he is Chou Tien Chen, a senior player from Taiwan who is already 33 years old. I think I should be writing his name on this list even though you have read some posts I have written here. It is because Chou Tien Chen still becomes the main bullet for the team. As we see in the BWF Sudirman Cup 2023, Chou Tien Chen played four times in the group stage, and once in the quarterfinal round against Korea. 
Chou Tien Chen also joined the squad team in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship 2023 where held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He played twice in the group stage against Ng Ka Long Angus from Hongkong, and Kodai Naraoka from Japan. Unfortunately, The Chinese Taipei Team failed to enter the knock-out stage since The Hong Kong China Team won the game difference to the Chinese Taipei.

This year, Chou Tien Chen got a silver medal in the Swiss Open Super 500 after defeating The World Ranking Number I, Viktor Axelsen in the semifinal round. But he has to lose to Koki Watanabe in the final round. Chou Tien Chen entered the Top 8 stage in the India Open Super 500 and Indonesia Open Super 1000 after Jonatan Christie and Viktor Axelsen defeated him. Chou Tien Chen failed to defend his title in his home country's tournament, the Taipei Open  Super 300 after he lost to his junior, Lin Chun-Yi in three games. 

Worth to read: Ways to improve your job-switching era (Indonesian written)

Finally, that is all I can write about The Coolest Taiwanese Badminton Players in the last first semester of 2023. Some of the players also could be promising successful players from Taiwan in the future. I hope I can update you about The Coolest Taiwanese Badminton Players in the second semester of 2023 or we could say let's observe them again for the ranking at the end of the year. 

Also, don't forget to scroll down to get some posts you might interested in. Thank you for visiting #blogsocialdiary! 

See you at another title blog post! 

Previous post on #blogsocialdiary: Movie Review - Petualangan Sherina 2

Movie Review: Petualangan Sherina 2 [SPOILER AND PERSONAL OPINION ALERT!]

Hi, everyone!

Last Sunday, I have just seen my all-time favorite Indonesian movie, Petualangan Sherina 2. Yes! It is a sequel to the Petualangan Sherina, a kid movie released in 2000.

It is already 23 years ago, and the main actors have grown up already. It leads to the beautiful storyline in the next sequel. Of course, Petualangan Sherina 2 keeps adopting a musical drama within songs and dance scenes on it. 

Here is my review... 

Petualangan Sherina 2 Cover / Author's

A man can only make a plan and work on his plan. However, God solves his entire plan if he can go for it or if God saves another best plan for him. 

Sherina and her team are almost done with their presentation for a project in Switzerland. Suddenly, her supervisor arranges another plan for them. Sherina and her team are going to have a work in the Kalimantan’s rainforest. If she refuses her supervisor’s new duty, she might lose her job and she never meets her old friend. 23 years after Sherina and Sadam had a school break together and through a great adventure in Lembang, Bandung, they reunited in Kalimantan Island.

Sadam, Sherina’s ex-old friend, is no longer a spoiled child who always had his parents control his life. Sadam works as a Manager in an animal conservation organization (maybe it is like an NGO?!) in Kalimantan. Once Sherina ran her duty in Kalimantan, the recent organization’s project was to release the mother of the orangutan and her child to the original habitat in the woods. Before, those orangutans were found by a young girl in aside of the woods when there was a fire. Just a few hours later after releasing them to the woods, a group of animal hunters take the young orangutan with them. Just like what we see in Petualangan Sherina 1, Sherina and Sadam should fight together to find the Orangutan and bring her back to her mother in the woods. They used to involve themselves in revealing the boss of the property mafia who would buy the Sadam family’s house and the farm. Now, Sadam and Sherina should reveal who is the boss of the animal hunter who kidnaps the young orangutan.

 

Within the production house, crews and the main actors were similar to the first sequel in 2000, the Petualangan Sherina 2 brings the audience feeling nostalgic. We might love how they build the storyline that inserts some important scenes in the first sequel, and how also they develop Sherina and Sadam's characters—keeping Sherina’s inner child and showing how Sadam gets mature. Of course, I love how they make those main actors and the villains are very lovely. A wealthy spouse who is a villain character in the movie is very related to the wealthy family’s lifestyle in common. They fight each other for pride, reputation, and status. Finally, it leads them to legalize a thing to get what they want.

Oh, I never forget the musical parts! Because it is a musical movie, the main characteristic is to show the difference between the Petualangan Sherina series to other movies in the music and dance scenes. We also think that so many times ago we didn't hear Derby Romero sing. And, he is singing and dancing in the movie! So Beautiful! The songs mostly are re-arranged from the song in the first sequel and have been modified to relate to the storyline. My favorite song is "Nostalgia Bersama" which is composed by Sherina Munaf, Mira Lesmana, and Virania Munaf. That song is a mixed arrangement from the intro “Anak Mami” and “Jagoan”, two well-known songs of Petualangan Sherina 1. I love the conversational lyric parts between Sherina and Derby. It makes the audience feel more nostalgic.

I only have one point that I don't get from the Petualangan Sherina 2. It is how they solve the conflict in the villain’s major event. I think it is too fast to get the villains reported. However, the description character of the villains is awesome! These two villain characters also have a musical part that reflects the first idea of the conflict.

 #blogsocialdiary rating for Petualangan Sherina 2: 9,5 / 10

That is all my insight and honest opinion about the recently released movie, Petualangan Sherina 2. The movie sequel that I have been waiting for almost a couple of years. It is pay me back with a such great nostalgic thing!

The previous post: The Female celebrity got married with men who is younger than them

News: 

Petualangan Sherina 2 original soundtrack - deluxe version had published by Trinity Optima Production - click here 

Imaged captured: Instagram/trinityoptima

Imaged captured: Instagram/volixmedia

Imaged captured: Instagram/volixmedia