The Dark Horse

The Breakthrough - Beijing Pt. 1

"Thank you for choosing China Airways. 谢谢，欢迎来到中国."

(Thank you, and welcome to the People's Republic of China)

The airplane crew makes their announcement as we begin to depart from the plane. I must say, I felt the energy and the vibe change the moment I left the plane and entered the lobby of Beijing international airport.

With the help of Dr. Chou Tzuyu, she kept her word as we pretty much slid our way, so to speak, in the Chinese embassy. We walked past different lines and passed some high level security inside the office and she simply handed me my health certificate which her director had no issue of approving.

Afterwards, I packed my things up and me and my team brought tickets for the next flight straight to China. And now here we were, 592 miles west of Seoul on the Western side of the Yellow Sea, home to 20.8 million people, 3000 years of history, the land of the Forbidden City itself, Beijing.

Early on, it was already going to be a busy schedule ahead for me. I was going to do some media interviews once I arrived at the hotel, do some light workout afterwards to cut out some weight, and finally rest throughout the rest of the day.

As I sat comfortably in the van on the way to the hotel, I took out my phone and sent a text to my Taiwanese vixen back in Korea.

Just landed...

wish me luck, baby...

Good luck out there, daddy...

😘😘😘

The drive towards the hotel was surprisingly kind of long. So long in fact that my teammates were telling me that I slept soundly on the way.

"Eunsu-ya, are you really that tired?" asked coach Kyungwoo.

"Aish, let him be. He needs some rest from all that loving he had with Dr. Chou..." teased the other coach, Kyungho, which took me by surprise.

"그말지마!!!" (Don't say that!) I screamed at him.

"Hahaha! Eunsu-ya, relax. I'm pretty sure the driver has no clue of what we're saying right now. 아저씨, 맞지? (Mister, Isn't that right?)" he asked.

"Uh... Ugh... I not understand Korean... sorry..." the driver shyly responded.

"See? 괜찮아... (It's okay)" he concluded.

We finally arrived at the hotel several minutes later. Oh thank god, the constant teasing is over. But as I got out of the van, the staff guided me straight towards the media lobby. The hotel staff took our luggage and my cornermen were escorted towards the front desk to check in.

"Uhm... Excuse me, I don't have translator..." I told the staff member that was accompanying me with my limited english.

"It's alright, Mr. Han. We have an interpreter for you. She's by the lobby waiting." He assured me.

We made our way towards the entrance of a function room that had a sign on the entrance which said "UFC athletes press conference." There were a significant number of people right by the entrance, mostly Chinese and a few international people from different press and media outlets.

Among the crowded area stood out a fine looking young woman. Her heels aside, she was still a bit shorter than me, 5 foot 5 inches most probably if she didn't have her heels on. She looked towards my direction and the moment I met her big eyes, she made her way towards me and my guide and greeted me.

"안녕하세요, 통역사 성소입니다. 반갑습니다, 한은수 씨."

(Hello, I'm your interpreter, Cheng Xiao. Nice to meet you, Mr. Han Eunsu.) She introduces herself, bowing in the end.