Padel Playing Foreigner

For those that know me, know that when planning travel - a deciding factor of where I travel isn’t whether I can play Padel there or not, but I also cannot deny that if I can get a game in while there - I will.  So when the first Padel club in Hong Kong, Padel+ opened it's doors in September 2023 and offered free matches during a limited promotional 'soft launch' period - it was kind of a no brainer to visit my mate John in Hong Kong to test it out.  I decided to book a flight from Thursday - Sunday and chose to stay at the  Jen Hong Kong by Shangri-La   near Kennedy Town, which is where John was living at the time. Having not seen my friend in a few months, and this being only my second time to Honkers (and the first since COVID), I was of course looking forward to seeing if much had changed in the 5 years since visiting. John and Anna were nice enough to meet me at the express train station and escorted me to my hotel.  After dropping off my bags, and having a quick &quo

Back in July 2023 - I woke early on a Thursday morning to an email with the subject title " Marco, Your Role at   XXX Company ". After opening the email  the body went on to inform me that my role had been impacted and I was being laid off . Naturally this   sucked , but once the dust had settled and I had a few days to process the news - I did what any normal, sane and addicted Padel player would do. I booked a week in Bali to go play Padel.  A somewhat of an " Eat, Play, Love (Padel) " trip for me if you will. While in Bali, and not having to worry about emails piling up in my inbox, deadlines and the usual stresses of having a job - I really wanted to take the opportunity to refine my game. So alongside joining a few matches each day, I thought of no better way to do this than to book private lessons with a coach. So I did. That was the day I met  Jesús  - one of the resident coaches at  Jungle Padel  in Canggu, and the person that helped me significantly improve

  Ask any Padel player in Singapore where they would consider the “Mecca of Padel” in Asia, and 9 (if not 10) out of 10 would give you the same answer. Bali. Also known as the Island of the Gods, Bali is no stranger t o popularity given its be autiful scenery, hospitable people and overall affordability. Tourists have been flocking there for years, until of course COVID-19! Needless to say, this hit Bali pretty hard, bringing the tourism industry (which makes up around ~80% of Bali’s economy) to a complete halt.  One "positive" C-19 did have around the world was it helped transform how people work, where they work and how they structure their days. Companies and employers alike were open to hiring talent in remote locations, they created work-from-anywhere policies and this in turn provided flexibility to the traditional 9 to 5 working days. It also led to a BOOM in the digital nomad culture. Right about now you may be asking - “But why is this important? I’m here to rea

Hello (Padel) World, my name is Marco - I’m the creator of Play Padel Singapore and it’s safe to say that I’m a Padel enthusiast.  My Padel journey began on 3 July, 2022 where my wife and I attended an open play session at Singapdel . A few weeks before this, we were visiting family and friends in South Africa when someone asked if I was playing padel yet which looking back now - I had never heard of.  Needless to say - it didn’t take me/us long (like most people), to get hooked. Ever since that first session, I now find any reason to play Padel, talk about it, watch Padel content and introduce new people to the sport. I find Padel not only a great way to stay fit, but given the strategy involved, it’s mentally stimulating as well. Above all though, I have made some incredible friendships through the sport, and am also in the fortunate position that my wife is an avid player and as a couple - we often pair together. It’s a really great way for us to spend time together doing something