watching curling at the Winter Olympics has become somewhat of a tradition for me, this being my third one. ignoring the questionable aspects of this year’s Games (it’s being held in a summer resort, the tons of money spent, the displaced locals, the anti-gay laws, the terrorist attacks…), i still had fun, despite only being in Sochi for less than 20 hours. in fact, i didn’t even get a hotel, since the men’s round robin match that i watched ended past 10 PM and my flight the next morning (this morning) was at 5:30 AM, so i slept what little i could at the airport. (sadly, i’m paying for it, feeling quite sickly at the moment…)<\/p>\n
there was indeed a different vibe that i got this time compared to the previous two. both Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010 seemed more integrated into the location, which gave it a very homely feel, but Sochi 2014 was in a new, purpose-built complex on the outskirts of town. while that meant some cool architecture (i’m a sucker for buildings that light up and facades that turn into ginormous animated displays), there was a certain sterility that i didn’t like. it felt a bit too<\/em> glitzy and loud? maybe i’m just a romantic at heart.<\/p>\n nonetheless, i had fun and saw some great curling from Norway, China(!), and Canada. unfortunately Team USA really hasn’t been doing well at all during the games and my night was no exception.<\/p>\n here’s my Sochi 2014 experience, 140 characters at a time with some instagram shots thrown in:<\/p>\n I just bought a pair of these rainbow gloves because well, *jazz hands* pic.twitter.com\/4wo4ssVUrR<\/a><\/p>\n — Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) February 15, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n