Visiting the holy land of sushi...

It was a blast from the past to see KB in Tokyo and have her bring me to the Holy Temple of Sushi - aka Tsukiji - to get sushi breakfast. As I've said before, this was a complete accident trip and wouldn't have happened if I didn't get bump off a flight due to weight restrictions - yes, I'm still deeply offended that someone would tell me I'm not on the flight due to weight restrictions.

Good restaurants in Chicago and New York are great... but they don't compare to Tsukiji at all. It's not that the food is so much better... it's just the entire experience of it.

I didn't attend the morning tuna auction at 5am. I did get up at 4am wondering if I should do it or not. I glanced at the clock and decided no. I was going to meet KB at 6:30am and that's probably good enough.

As usual, she arrived at 6:50am. I should have known. Just like old times. As I stood outside the subway, however, loads of tourists came up to me and asked if I knew where the market was. Um... turn around, it's right there, mate.

No tuna auction... but hey, I can take pictures of the bustling market! If I had more time (and no companion), I'd spend much more time to talk to the fisherman and take more pictures. Fascinating market where you have to be careful while you walk cus little motor hangers are running around like mad men. I got honked at more than 10 times. All sorts of fish and seafood are on display. Next time, I'm definitely doing the tuna auction.

Here are some of my favs:

Octopus

Tuna

I was told this following restaurant is the holy grail of sushi. Well, the line was too long. We went to a nearby one where photography is not allowed (Sigh). But the tuna/uni rice bowl was delicious. Especially the uni. Mmmm.... Uni. Next time, I will visit this store too. (And KB told me about the best sushi restaurant she has been to in Ginza... that's on my list too)

#1 sin gluttony

Tsukiji will come, don't worry. I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the restaurant... but took a few in the markets. I think it deserves a second chance where I can spend more time in there... and maybe even attend the 5am tuna auction.

Anyway, my trip to NYC brings me through Chicago:

Gibson's - great steak as usual. Some would argue that I've been so deprived in Shanghai and Hong Kong that even Denny's steak and egg would have done the trick. Nice one. But no. I've traveled to NYC a few times to get steak at Shula's and Delmonico's. I've at least had above average steak. =) Gibson's never disappoints. I had the 24-oz porterhouse which was made perfectly. The filet mignon side was slightly better than the tenderloin side. Otherwise, our attention turned to the massive turtle pie - an ice cream pie that feeds about 10... there were only three of us. I forgot to bring my camera though. sigh.

West Egg - Rod's country fried. Nuff said. West Egg used to be where we hung out Sunday morning after some crazy Saturday nights. Good times. The food is so-so but the nostalgic value is high. Yay! Was nice to see MK at our usual spot.

Marche - I told myself I wouldn't have steak again due to the 24-oz Gibson experience. Well... when the waitor started describing the bacon wrapped burger with truffle fries, I couldn't resist. The burger was okay, but the truffle fries really did the job. Mmmm. I think this is the first time I paid for Marche food... it used to be a big recruiting restaurant for various consulting firms. Good times. PP and BSLW attended. Great to see old friends at familiar spots.

Hot Chocolate - well... I did once say in my Chicago restaurant review that I "regret not going to Hot Chocolate" No more regrets now. All the food had great presentation... the taste, however, was mixed. The namesake hot chocolate was really good although the whole marshmallow was too sweet (see below). Get the medium and only melt half the marshmallow. ML said the half and half (with espresso) was very good. The food was disappointing. The farmers omlette was quite good but nothing surprising. I guess this was a case of high expectations. Oh well. Bumped into Desi and his family at the restaurant and finally met the super pooping baby. She was very cute. Good times again.

Penelope (Citysearch review)- ah, finally I made it to NYC. Somehow, PNGF duped her friend EL to wait at a popular brunch place and hold the space in line. Nicely done. Two words: Nutella French Toast. Okay, that was three words. My god that was good. I already love NYC.

Pomme Frittes - I've seen them everywhere but never had the fries there. Well, somehow, this turned into our dinner. Interesting business model though, since they charge $1 for the sauce. I wonder if they can lower the price for potatoes and charge more for the innovative sauce they make. Ketchup is free... but the Vietnamese Pinapple mayo is pretty good. And I would want to try the Mango Chutney Mayo and Honey Dijorn Mustard next time.

Movies...

Well, whenever I do a long haul, I'm bound to watch some movies despite my innate ability to fall asleep on flights.

Flash Point (导火线): Watched this with my dad the night before I flew to the US. Always nice to see some old school fight scenes from Hong Kong. Donny Yan does another incredible (though the same) job in creating these amazing choreographed fights with his various opponents. He really reminds me of Jet Li, but without a cute side. Director Ip Wai Shun leaves a good impression on me again. I've seen his name a few times in movies and have always liked his work on blending tradtional Hong Kong kung fu with all sorts of other fighting arts - in this case, it was a lot of Mongolian wrestling and some Thai boxing. Highly recommended for the fight scenes. Don't expect a story line.

Quantum of Solace: um... yeah... it was on the flight TV. I miss the old Bond... who just womanized every girl he came across and had cool gadgets. This one falls in love and has a conscious. HE IS A SPY! SPIES USE PEOPLE AND DON'T HAVE A HEART. Get over it and stop trying to make him into a person who cares about all his assets. And please bring back Q. I miss Q. Not recommended.

Frost / Nixon: Even if you aren't familiar with American history, this is a very worthwhile movie. I know what happened... but the circumstances around Watergate has never been clearly explained to me... and this movie wouldn't do that honors either. Anyway, this is a movie about two men fighting for their lives. On one hand you have the president who knows he is doomed but wishes the interview was his chance at redemption and resurrection. On the other hand you have a playboy who slowly realizes that he is stepping into the largest quick sand pool and is losing everything around himself. A classic duel. Plus you can see the Kevin Bacon "I'm trying very hard to look serious" face. Highly recommended.

Departures: I reviewed it last time and thought it was a good movie but not Oscar worthy. I stand by that verdict. I did want to revisit and discuss one topic: death. Why is it that people are able to forgive others when they are dead? When they are alive, all these anger and conflict are never resolved. And once one dies, poof, all is forgotten and forgiven. Is it in OTHER PEOPLE'S death we realize our own insignificance? Can we not realize that earlier? Can we not forget and forgive earlier? Why is that so difficult?

How to handle stress

48 hours after I supposedly left for Chicago... I finally arrive in Chicago.

I rarely stress out. The last time I did was when I was about to head to Thailand for vacation and riots broke out there. My manager commented at the time, "wow, I've never seen you so stressed out." Um, thanks for the support.

Here's one fellow who is quite stressed out

Anyway, I thought I'd try to explain what goes on in my head when the situation calls for "stressing out" and "freaking out".

I was supposed to go to Chicago on Wednesday and stay for a few days before heading to NYC. I had it all planned out. Flat bed business class from HK to Chicago (thank you ML again and again!), expensive car rental (arg), Gibson's steak at night (DROOL), meet more friends on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Food food food. Catch up catch up catch up. Perfect plan.

Except that... "Today we have weight restriction; you cannot get on." What!? I'm too heavy? What weight restriction!? Haha... seriously, I kid you not. That's what the reservation lady told me word for word. None of the standbys got on the flight. SHIT, SHIT SHIT. There goes my aforementioned plan... even worse, the flights are going to be pretty bad the rest of the week. I might not even make it to NYC on Saturday!

Yup, this is a situation that calls for "stressing out" and "freaking out"... which I did for about a minute before calling ML and told him about the flight. He was surprised too. He checked his computer and then said "Tokyo Chicago tomorrow (Thursday) should be okay... but you have to get yourself to Tokyo first."

After two hours... here are the results:

• Redeemed mileage ticket from Hong Kong to Tokyo
• Somehow repacked everything so the weight is under the limits
• Booked hotel near ST san's home for Wed night
• Meeting KB san at 6:30am to have breakfast at Tsukiji
• Meeting ST san at 11am to meet her baby as well as grab an afternoon bite
• United business class from Tokyo to Chicago at 5pm (sigh, no flat bed)
• Weekend rate for car rental (<$20 a day!) instead of full price weekday rental
• Rescheduled Wed dinner to combine with Thur dinner - Gibson's still
  

Not bad, eh? Now that i am in Chicago after being left off a flight and rebooking everything, I think I actually got a better deal. Tsukiji, for god's sake! Anyway, at the time, when I finally caught my breath, I was actually quite amazed at the results - from not accomplishing a tight schedule to an alternative schedule that has great potential to be very good.

And therein lies the number one way to deal with stress: the alternative could be better if you make it so. Very often people dwell on the negativity and stress over it, like our turtle friend in the fish tank. If one way doesn't work, think about one that might. Work towards it, and maybe get out of the negative side and see the positives.

I am not going to lie and say I expected a perfect Tokyo itinerary. I could have been too late to redeem a same day ticket to Tokyo (turns out I beat the clock by 30 minutes)... neither KB nor ST could have replied to my emergency plead... I could have pricelined the car rental and can't take it back (plain dumb luck!)... so many things could have gone wrong.

But hey, it didn't. And that, my friends, is how to handle stress. Don't dwell, seek change, and make it happen. And... uh... a little luck.

Off I go

You may be aware that I'm taking a 6 month leave from my current employer. Yup, that's right, I've decided to explore the blogging photographer career. Not.

Everybody I've told about this is amazed that Bain would let me go for six months. Me? I'm amazed that they are amazed. In times where cost cutting actually involves heads and not just less freebies, why wouldn't an employer NOT encourage taking leave? (Employer voice: not paying ABC's salary for six months!? Sign me up!!) And to have the employee volunteer himself? Even better!

Since there are "involuntary attrition" at some of Bain's competitors, I should clarify that I asked for a 6 months leave. I haven't really thought about what I am going to do specifically, but I will definitely be in NYC to spend more time with PNGF. I want to take a photography class while I am there so I don't stand still doing nothing. I'm also trying to find something that would fill my time nicely while progressing professionally.

Honestly, it hasn't hit me yet. I will write more.

Off to Chicago first for a few days. Steak, here I come.

Miss Shanghai

No, not the beauty pageant... I mean I actually miss Shanghai sometimes. And with no doubt, I will miss my Le Meridien room the most. In fact, I'm thinking of buying a place in Hong Kong that has the exact room measurements so I can model my home after my hotel room. Sad? Maybe. See before you judge.

The hotel room is the junior suite in Le Meridien. I've been in the bigger suites but have always asked to move back to the junior suite (no, I did not try the presidential suite, as I did in the haunted Taipei Grand Hyatt) cus I like it so much.

In essence, it is a big studio separated by a TV. A rotating TV, to be specific. This way, the room still feels big and at the same time separates the living room from the bed room. Really liked the setting and the idea. Highly highly recommended hotel (if you get this room).

Rotating TV (from the sofa)

Rotating TV when brushing teeth

I've also miraculously lost weight in Shanghai. All thanks to this guy: the electronic weight. Amazing what monitoring your weight every day can do to your diet. Among the findings: Italian food increases your weight by about 2-3 pounds. A night sleep makes you lighter by ~3 pounds. If you have the "full" feeling, you will likely pack 3+ pounds vs. the night before. In winter, my clothes and shoes are about 5-8 pounds.

Speaking of weight loss... I had a bit of fun doing this... but here's a not-so-patented system. The DEWLEI (Canton people will understand the inside joke):

DEWLEI, pronounced Diu-Lei, or Daily Electronic Weight Loss Enforcing Indicator:

1. Buy highly accurate electronic scale with at least one decimal place
2. Place in bathroom
   
3. Weigh yourself right before you go to bed, in your PJs or naked (Naked recommended)
4. Record the weight on a piece of paper
5. Go to sleep
6. Wake up, go pee, and weigh yourself in the same clothes or naked (Naked recommended) - be careful not to take a shower yet
7. Record the weight on a piece of paper
8. Go to the office
9. Open Excel
10. Enter your weight - night and day weight
11. Calculate 5-day running average for night and for day
12. Plot it on a chart
    
13. Think about the chart; think again;
    
14. Do something about it

As an added bonus, if you are truly dedicated, think about what you ate and did that day as the avg goes up or down. That will help tremendously.

DIULEI, it works.

Okay, back to the blog. I'm treated as a royal in Le Meridien... but the most important treatment of all is the breakfast buffet. This is my little creation every single morning. Assorted fruits with assorted nuts and raisins. I add some cereal and dry oatmeal sometimes. LOVE IT. Too bad this will cost a fortune in HK (we import all our fruits). Oh well.

Eating in Central

The one big problem with Chinese food is that it ain't pretty. Taking pictures of them don't do the food justice cus it's always one big stir fry. Unlike Western food where every food item is a standalone piece of art (or not), Chinese food is made to share and rarely presents a good photo opportunity unless you take the picture of the whole thing.

So, no pictures in this post.

Central - Hong Kong's central business hub has all kinds of lunch food that attracts all sorts of crowds. Restaurant name in bold.

兰芳园 has the best 奶茶 (milk tea) in Hong Kong. Iced or hot, you have to try it. Across for the store is 龙记 which has pretty good BBQ pork. Nearby next to the escalator is 蛇王芬 and they serve a kick ass snake soup. Also on the escalator route is the 豆腐花 (Soft and sweet tofu) place - it is a simple street side stall, no name as far as I can tell - where people sit on the side of the street and enjoy their dessert. 2nd best in Hong Kong by my count (#1 is in Lamma Island). On Wellington Street are one of the world's "most concentrated with good food" place: 镛记 is an award winning restaurant with 烧鹅 (roast goose) and 皮蛋 (duck egg) as their signature dishes. The roast goose has mixed results depending on the chef, but the duck egg is a must eat. Best in the world. Wonton noodles from 沾仔記 and their rivals 麥奀 (former beats latter) are awesome and dirt cheap. Also on Wellington Street is 莲香, one of the most old-school restaurants in Hong Kong. The service is suspect, but the food is proven. Get the 霸王鸭 while they still last in the early evening. One street up from 莲香 is the super good 九记. You MUST try the 牛腩伊面 (Beef brisket in Yi noodles) and the 牛爽腩 (I have no translation). Some like the curry beef brisket, but I find it to be too strong. Also super good is 勝香園 next to 九记, also serving a similar flair of cheap good canton food. One street down from Wellington is Stanley Street, where 陆羽 is. Best freshly made dim sum you can find in Hong Kong. They change their menu every week starting Saturday morning depending on what ingredients are best. So my advice is to go on saturday morning and order every dim sum you have never heard of before. Also on Stanley street is 南记, which is a chain serving decent spicy noodles for a reasonable price. Across from 南记 and the escalators, you can find a few 大排挡 which serves basic canton dishes that is very very good and very very cheap (hygiene not included).

Excuse me... need to wipe the drool off my face.

Other noteworthy restaurants: 小南国 (Shanghai food), 金華 (BBQ Pork), 黃枝記 (Congee), 翠華 (Beef noodel, currey beef brisket, fish ball, very yummy milk and butter bun), The Frying Pan (All day breakfast)... oh my god, there's so many... I have to stop.

In the past, I've covered some up scale restaurants such as Caprice, Zuma and H One. H One's brother, Harlans, serves a surprisingly good burger at HKD180 too. WaterMark, out in the pier, has a decent brunch buffet with a spectacular view of the harbour.

Oscar winners...

I watched 2 of them in the last week or so.

Slumdog Millionaire

I thought the movie was great despite its simplicity. Excellent editing combined with the heart racing beats that somehow fit well with the back streets of India. I watched it for the first 30 minutes, and thought to myself: this is how a movie should be made. By that I really mean even for a simple story such as Slumdog, you can play with the sequence, the timing, the music, some simple plots, and arrive at a much better product. Hm... was is Oscar-worthy? I'm not sure. I haven't see The Reader or Milk yet - I have a feeling those will be much better movies to think about. Oh, and Revolutionary Road, I hear that was pretty good too. Anyway, highly recommended.

p.s. PNGF likes the shit scene. I cringe.

Departure

The Japanese film won the best foreign film at this years Oscar. When my dad said the movie was going to be at 9:30, I never thought it would be AM! Apparently the prices are 50% off on Sunday mornings. Shocking. And the theater was a full house.

I won't spoil the movie for you... only because you would have spoiled it yourself after the first 30 minutes. Everything was so predictable (per all Japanese movies). Some good scenes that were quite funny and touching. Lovely music. But just a regular tear jerking movie, me thinks. What's wrong with Oscar competition this year!?

Oh, and my dad said after the movie: if you find wife, it should be like her (wife in movie). Okay, dad.

Recommended.

Others

My other Oscar viewing is this animated movie, which I think is one of the best "movies" I've seen in years.

Bird watch...

Hm... I couldn't have imagined the pictures turning out any better!

It just took off... after 5 minutes of standing still

Hide and Seek

Wetland Park

A few months ago, PNGF and I tried to visit the Wetland Park in Hong Kong. The park is tucked into a far corner of Hong Kong, so by the time we got there, it was closed already! Arg.

No worries... this time, not only am I waking up at 8am to go there, but I also have the architect himself (A very cool Raymond Fung) do the tour.


Having the architect lead the tour is a very different experience. For example, we learned that the bricks used outside the park have come from all over Hong Kong - part of old buildings that were demolished and the bricks just laid in the basement of some government.

In front of the park is a large piece of lawn. Raymond explains that he wanted it green, but the grass doesn't survive very well when people step on it... so they settled for a grass with yellow flowers that could be stepped on and survive. Good to know.

Lady taking care of the lawn

Much of the wetland park is outside of the building and on a natural trail. We, however, spent more time in the building. It's more like a natural history museum for wetlands... It really is a museum, except that they couldn't call it a museum because by doing so it would fall under the jurisdiction of a museum body, which they didn't want. Some government shit I never understood. Anyway, so they are called a park. Not called a museum. Fascinating exhibits and surprisingly high tech.

It was a nice and cool day out as well... so we did plenty of walking around as well. Bird viewing (another post), learning about the vegetation (no time for the architect!), etc etc.

Highly recommended for Hong Kong people. It's a nice day out from the city to learn about something useful. (Oh and nearby Tuen Mun has some excellent food!)

Water lily

Behind the wetland park building is the not-so-friendly Tian Shui Wai - a truly concrete place

Dreaming a dream...

I spent April Fools Day wondering if my boss was joking when he said he'd fire me... okay, that was a lame joke. But I did wonder whether I should take him seriously when he said "I want this on my desk at 9am". 2nd lame joke! I'm on a roll.

Truth is, nothing happened on April Fools. Not even an in-office prank. No tin foil action. No crazy stickies. I was told we need to cut cost and the tin foil joke (i.e. wrap an entire office in tin foil) was going to cost about HK$62.8... oh well.

I did, however, have the weirdest dream. Read on:

• There were definitely some preludes to the exciting part of the dream, but I can't remember them
• Anyway, in the dream, I was in a large resort with Bain undergoing corporate training of some sort...
  
• We were then asked to do some homework and submit it...
• The dream skips ahead: I'm done with my homework and it's on my laptop. I'm walking around the resort and trying to get back to the classroom... except that the resort is like a maze. I'm lost.
• Ah, there's the classroom door. The moment I walk in, I get an email from PNGF... she was involved in a plane crash but she's okay...
• Now, I'm in full panic mode... and then my instructor, AW (who in real life is a senior analyst whom I worked with many times), asks for my homework
• "What? I didn't print it out!? Fudge!"
• AW says "You must submit it now"
• I ignored her and wandered into the resort. Somehow, I think I can find PNGF there.
• Can't find PNGF - I'm heading back to the classroom.
• Lost.
  
• I pass by the gym... and there are a bunch of friends working out there. Friends from HK, from Boston, from Chicago, all working out there. Hmmm.
• There's a TV in the gym. Philippines president Arroyo is making an announcement about the plane crash - they're trying to reach the survivors. Me too me too!
  
• Finally, I get back to the classroom. AW rushes me for my homework.
• I ignored her again and turned to my partner NP (whom I'm working with now) and tell him about PNGF's accident and asked where I can find her
• NP says "I'm sorry to hear that... how's Charlie?" (Insider joke... some people call PNGF Charlie by mistake)
• Me: How do you know her name!?
• I turn around and there PNGF is, with her glasses, and she says "Happy April Fool's Day!"

And then I woke up. Seriously. I didn't make up any of this.

Lion Rock

Hiked Lion Rock a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it was foggy and we couldn't see anything. What we could see, however, was already quite breath-taking that it warrants another hike up on a clear day...

When we turned the corner to see this cliff...

Someone immediately wanted to climb up. Boys will be boys.

Sometimes, I take decent pictures... haha.

Involuntary Attrition

Yup. That's what it is. Involuntary Attrition, or IA.

Thankfully, Bain hasn't done IA yet... I heard about IA from a consultant friend.

Gotta love the consulting lingo.

Not thinking outside the box

Here it is, not thinking outside the box... for 16 years! Makes for a good Cold Case episode or something.

HK Sevens!

One of my dreams in life is to attend HK Sevens before I turn 30. (Not.)

Anyway, somehow got my hands on tickets to HK Sevens... here's the scene when I arrived at about 3:30pm (Game started at 10:30am) on Saturday. the stadium already smelled like beer.

It's HKD 1080 for free seat and re-entry all day. So we wandered over the to famous South Stand (you'll see). From the nose bleed seats, I can see everything happening in the South Stand. And of course "No spectator shall pass this point". They forgot to print "you will fall down and die if you do pass this point".

Yeah, here's the typical scene in South Stand. All sorts of weird people dressed up weird and all piss drunk since 12pm.

Here's a not so typical scene in South Stand. My question is, what is he thinking!? As in he in the background... that's a precious look while you just let your friend do stupid things. (The shoe has been passed around a few times... I was too amazed to take pictures the first few times)

Hong Kong Sevens, Recommended (before you turn 30)!

President fail...

Not quite a fail blog entry... but still...

And I know you are thinking Obama. I'm not. The political price of doing nothing is steep and so he is doing things that aren't going to be effective. Look, there's a reason why we call it a depression... if you can so easily reverse it, why call it a depression? Just call it "some down time"... or "beach" as we consultants call it.

Anyway, in the African island of Madagascar, the military has handed the seat of the president to a 34 year old... except that the constitution only allows someone over 40 to become president. Constitution be damned, people power rule!

Where's the vice president? Chief of staff? Head of House? Where's the chain of command there?

As Leonardo DiCaprio once famously said in Blood Diamond, TIA - This is Africa. (Speaking of which... I posted this on Africa a while ago, and got this comment in response in a different post... still scratching my head)

Pictures from Taipei and Danshui

Yesterday I posted about traveling to Taipei... well, here are the pictures!

Weekend in Taiwan

Spent a weekend with my parents a couple weeks ago in Taiwan. A family friend played host for a day and brought us to 淡水 (Light Water...?), a cute little city to the north of Taipei. I've been there years ago... and my only memory of it was food.

The locals showed us something much better.

There's a geological park with some oddly-shaped rocks along the coastline. The following are all naturally-formed rocks.

Odd, eh? These rocks are formed this way because Taiwan is in an earthquake-zone. Above: When the rocks were pushed up and there was water left on the rims. Erosion was faster there and a ball-shped rock on top remained. Below: rocks are pushed up and the erosion happened at the lower part of the rock. This one, in particular, is best well known to be the "Queen's Head".

Also near 淡水 is the 朱铭 Chu Ming museum. He's most famous for the Tai-Chi series of outdoor sculptures. Unfortunately, it was raining that day and the outdoor pictures didn't turn out too well. Definitely a museum that I want to go back on a good day.

Quite remarkable is that Chu actually owns this museum. He bought land to place his own exhibits, so it's quite a remarkable collection of everything he has done. Of course, the best ones have been sold (Bank of China in Hong Kong has two very nice Chu Ming Tai Chi sculptures)... but this is a very comprehensive collection.

Here's a wooden sculpture of a relaxed business man (hard to find a real one these days).

I think of my job when I saw these copper sculptures. It was raining outside too... so it was a nice coincidence.

Oh, and there's food too... for another post!

Fascinating artcile on Iceland

Want to understand the global financial crisis? Take a look at this Michael Lewis (of Liar Poker and Moneyball fame) piece on Iceland's quick rise to wealth and fall to bankruptcy within a matter of years. While I'm on Michael Lewis, he also had a fascinating piece of the value of Shane Battier, a marginal basketball players on the Houston Rockets.

(Sorry, don't blame me for putting you into a Michael Lewis time suck... blame him)

Re-post Oscar Short Animation

An earlier post on the Oscar winner of Short Animation was taken down by Youtube for copy right reasons. Sorry about that. Here's the video of La Maison en Petits Cubes again. Nobody took this down for 3 weeks or so, so I hope the link keeps working and you can view it.

Poor old man. He was pushed by rapid economic development, represented by rising water from global warming (how poetic), to give up memories and comfort of his home, even though he never gave up on life. The smoke pipe became his only emotional attachment to his human side as memories of loved ones faded into the water.

Some metaphors I see:

• the house representing one's social life... which makes a rather sad story
• the smoke pipe: linked to one only... selfish, material, but real...
• everything else under water: linked to many, never cherished at the time, material, but real...
• memories: the most valuable even though you need the above to recall it...

Do we need material things to maintain our sanity in the world? Isn't the life experience with those you love enough? Or do we need to grab something physical to remember?

Highly highly recommended.

A moment to yourself

煲仔饭 review

Well, I went to this wonderful 煲仔饭 place with my parents on Valentines Day (see? I said it was a horrible festival! Just kidding mom and dad!). 坤记 only took reservations and the earliest time we could get a few days in advance was 8:30pm. So be it.

Keep in mind that this isn't a restaurant for dates. It's in a very old part of town in Hong Kong and they are quite old school. We sat outside the restaurant beside two dumpsters and cars were driving past us every minute or so. One even parked next to us and the driver and his guest came out and went into the restaurant for a meal. So to be on V-day night with filled reservations till late was quite remarkable.

On to the food: excellent 煲仔饭. I can't even describe why it is so good.

• The rice was burnt a bit but not too much
• Easy to scrap the bottom of the pot
• Good crispy rice left
• Excellent Chinese sausage
• We also had a very good garlic shrimp dish and leng yu fish ball soup

And it all came to about $100 per person!

Highly recommended.

Oscar winners

Juanjaime forwarded the winner of short animation to me... much better than Benjamin Button! Very sweet 10 minutes if you have the time to watch it. (Just do it already) Highly recommended.

And I have yet to watch Slumdog Millionaire...

Flying Shanghai Taipei

Is there a way to know which flight route is the newest in the world? I bet Shanghai Taipei rank right up there!

The trip from Shanghai to Taipei used to take a ridiculous 8 hours (door to door, plus wait time) via Hong Kong. Now, there are direct flights between the two thanks to some good common sense by both sides.

When I checked in, I walked over to the Air China (Mainland's airlines, which is very very different from China Airlines, the accident-riddled Taiwan national airlines) to check in. At the counter, the lady kindly tells me "Sir, Taipei flights are over at the international counters in H."

International counter, eh? Since I was at the counter 10 minutes before the gates closed, I didn't inquire further. But as I was walking to the Air China "international counters," I couldn't help but wonder how long it took the two governments to make this work. Did someone mandate that the Taipei check-ins had to be in the international counters (HK and Macao's are there too, I might add)? I bet that took up a solid three days of negotiation to clear up.

Flight was short and sweet. Food was terrible.

Talking heads

"讲就天下无敌, 做就无能为力" Cantonese saying basically describing someone who talks the talk all the time but never walks the walk.

Thanks to the financial crisis (or, in Hong Kong's case, dumb investors, entertainers masked as politicians, and inept government officials), we get to see a lot of talking heads these days. You know them: they sit in a round table and talk.

• They let you know that the world is collapsing in front of your very own eyes and the government isn't going to do a damn thing to save you.
  
• They also let you know that these problems are really easy to solve... only that there exists some invisible force (usually bureaucracy or rich people or big business) that prevents the problem from being solved
• They let you know who is on your side (the talking head himself or herself, of course)
• They let you know who is not (those who don't agree with them)
• Finally, they let you know since they bring up all these problems, they deserve your attention. Or your vote, if those are politicians

Oh, they let you know a lot of things... none of them are good news. And none of them are solutions to all the problems they bring up.

Now, I'm a fairly simple person. I'm lucky to have a very satisfactory life and, therefore, I don't have much to complain about. In these harsh times, it's a privilege to live well and not worry. I don't take it for granted. I imagine if things turn South, I'd be working my ass off to make it go back up. I might complain, but I'll do more.

Which makes these talking heads Josekin's public enemy #1. Criticizing is easy to do. Consider this logic:

1. Nothing in life is perfect
2. Things that aren't perfect can be criticized
3. Things that are criticized ought to be fixed and given a solution
4. The solution is a thing in life

Now, where would Darwin want to be? You don't want to be #1 and be imperfect. You don't want #3 either cus thinking of a solution may be challenging and, ultimately, as #4 and #1 show, the solution won't be perfect.

That leaves the easy way out: #2. Criticize. Complain. Talk the talk. And never walk the walk cus, God forbid, you'd be imperfect if you walk. Criticizing is an easy way with no real down side. And so our talking heads around the globe are really having a grand ol time these days.

Lost in Translation

I do understand and speak Mandarin. So Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson's experience in Tokyo don't really apply to me. Yet, when you are in foreign (as in not your home) land, there is always something that is lost in translation.

The movie was okay. I didn't like the pace of the movie: too slow sometimes, too fast at others. I also find the stereotype of Tokyo a bit overdone. I'd still recommend the movie to see Bill Murray's surprisingly decent acting... it is, after all, a tailor made role for him. Oh, and Scarlett Johansson's fine ass, shown in the first minute for a solid, um, first minute.

Speaking of Johansson, I recently watched Vicky Christina Barcelona. It's the same acting in both movies! I last commented that Johansson's acting was disappointing in that movie. I repeat the same sentiment for Lost in Translation even though the critics seemed to like it. It's the same person in both movies. Where's the acting?

Recommended movie. It does make you think. In a good way. Especially for consultants who travel too much.

The Pursuit of Happyness

So far, in 2009, I've been pretty good with my blog - 23 so far for one and a half month. Next is to read more and connect more.

Watched the Will Smith movie The Pursuit of Happyness on Valentines Day (what an awful festival for those who cannot be with their loved ones). Almost watched Lost in Translation as well but my common sense took over and I went to bed.

Pretty straightforward movie about the underdog finally achieving his goals in life, even though he got his biggest break (going to the ball game) through a lie - told in front of his own kid, no less. Great performances by Will Smith (as usual) and his son (I'm telling you, he has the goods. He's no Sixth Sense kid... but his naivety and pureness was infectious).

My only problem with the movie is what seems to be a glorification of money and its correlation to happyness (spelled wrong by the day care centre in the movie). As Will Smith wonders in front of the Dean Witter offices - "They all look so happy" - I'm wondering whether that's the same for every profession. The pursuit of happiness is all relative. You compare your life to a Dean Witter stock broker, then more often than not you will be below the happiness line. Compare your life to those lining up at the homeless shelter, then you will be above the happiness line. I'm glad Will Smith found his way to the top... but what if he didn't? His world won't just shatter into pieces. He has alternatives too.

Recommended.

Govt Job

Hong Kong was never democratic under British colonial rule. The Queen picked the governor, who then piked his government in Hong Kong. Yet in the early 90s, the colonial British government was compelled by the iminent Chinese takeover in 1997 to introduce democracy (Ah, the irony...) to introduce a democratic process by which the legislative council would be by election.

i.e. hmm... we've been a very good dictator of this land... but there's a bad dictator coming along, so let me introduce democracy and then get on with my life in Britain.

Anyway, since the return of sovereignty of Hong Kong (a.k.a. handover) in 1997, the Hong Kong government has always been a passive struggle with the society. They were never good at convincing that the government was doing good for the people. And the people never trusted it sicne they didn't elect it.

Damn, this is a lot of words for something very simple. I saw the following job opening on the English newspaper "The Standard":

• Binder machine operator

Me me me! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Under the financial crisis, our government is looking for a binder machine operator!? In an English news paper? I assure you all the professional binder machine operators don't read "The Standard". How would I prepare for this interview? I did some binders back in Boston... I might have even saved one of my managers from losing her mind when she could get the machine to work. How much is the pay? Does it come with government benefits? Would anyone notice the folly and start protesting? So many questions.

Reign Over Me

I attended a classmate's funeral last night. We were not close friends but I remembered him as a quiet and thoughtful person who never made a fuss about anything. He was a great pianist and his playing blindfolded has always reminded me on how brilliant he was in music. May he rest in peace.

As we sat in the funeral home, however, all I could really remember was Alan. I had tears yesterdays... but they were not of sadness. They were tears of compassion and sympathy for those whom my classmate loved and left behind: his parents and his sister. I do not like funerals for the emotional roller coasters that it brings up within me. Yet yesterday was a peculiar calmness that overcame the compassionate and sympathetic tears. Perhaps it wasn't one of "my own". Perhaps is knowing that they have all ended up in a happier space. There was a hint of sadness when I remembered Alan. It was a very selfish moment. Yet I relish it like no other.

Watched "Reign Over Me" a while ago. At first I caught it on HBO for the last 30 minutes of it. Then I saw the whole thing the next night. Adam Sandlers piss poor performance was compensated by an excellent story and Don Cheadle. Decent movie over a simple story line. The lesson, as always, don't judge simply because they are not like you. Recommended.

A very emotional movie for me, particularly those last 30 minutes. "I see them all the time." Me too. Especially in weddings, mass gatherings of people, and funerals. And that's why I don't like them. Nothing personal, just selfish.

She cut my hair

Yup, Poison Chow cut my hair at mina dev' wil. I don't even have a joke, honestly. (Was that a Sports Guy line I stole? I don't know...)

Ultimate poker question

In my dream, two nights ago (Yes, I'm gambling too much):

• Holding As-Ac (ace of spade, ace of clubs) in the dealer position, I went all in after a big raise in the early position was called by the player before me. Both players called.
  
• One player had Qs-Qc
• The other had Ad-Kd

Flop:

• Ah-7h-8h

At this point, I am dominating the hand. I had trips against a pair that can only improve with running Queens. The A-K player is drawing dead against my hand.

However, when the turn came (4th card), I was devastated... in my dreams. And then I woke up.

What was that card?

Which is crueler...

1. Raise it, kill it, eat it?
2. Hunt it, kill it, eat it?

I was watching Planet in Peril (CNN) and it had a section covering the sharks fin industry in Taiwan. It was actually a pretty good piece of reporting, albeit a bit skewed in their opinion on the subject. Um, yes, CNN thinks it's cruel and not right to hunt sharks for just their fins and then throwing the carcass back into sea even though the law requires the fishermen to keep the carcass. For economic reasons, only the fins were kept.

A few friends of mine, as a result of watching this show, have stopped having sharks fin soup. Which is good, because that's where CNN wants the consumers to go. Personally, I don't see the culinary value of sharks fin soup. The taste is so-so and the price merely reflects supply (short) and demand (decent).

Anyway, I digress again. And again. Doesn't #1 sound crueler? Raising something with the sole purpose of killing it later?

I'll eat what's delicious... and that would be steak. I'm sorry that the cow was placed lower in the food chain by mother nature and human intelligence. Somethings are not meant to be, cow. If it's shark fin, I'm also sorry mother nature didn't make the shark smarter and avoid the bait. Such is life, get over it.

Reviewing everything...

Please brace yourselves for a LONG post... in no particular order:

Wall-E: If someone told me that this would be a movie with almost no voice about about two robots roaming around earth and a spaceship, I would have thought disaster in the making. Turns out Disney had this right. A simple depiction of a robot's life as a garbage man on Earth was going to be cute and intriguing. An even simpler relationship between naive rusty robot and sophisticated shiny white robot was going to be fun and pure. I loved the first half hour: Wall-E kept amusing itself despite the devastation around it. I loved the next hour: fat humans relying on machines for everything. I loved the last half an hour: Eve worrying about a rusty robot that probably served better as landfill than as a half functioning robot. Excellent movie, highly recommended for all the details that came with two simple lives.

Clone Wars: Okay... I just had to see what this was about. Not bad even though it was cartoon. Skywalker gives a better performance than the real person... though I wish Natalie Portman appeared in person. One thing to keep in mind: in the past, you could do much more with action scenes in a cartoon. Seems like special effects have caught up... and cartoons can't out-do humans that much anymore. Not recommended.

Vicky, Christina, Barcelona: Typical Woody Allen movie, not that I have seen that many Allen movies. A typical discussion about love and feelings is reflected through the lives of Vicky and Christina. As seen in my earlier submission to the fail blog, Penelope Cruz won an award for her depiction of a mostly deranged woman. By the way, if I may add, Scarlett Johansson sort of disappointed. Throughout the entire movie, she just had this dumb smile and confusing look. Seemed a bit detached from the movie. Anyway, the movie was an okay discussion about love. I didn't find it too thought provoking. Final verdict: slightly recommended if they can cut out all the very annoying narrator.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Really? 13 Oscar nominations? I don't get it. It's not bad. But it's not 13-Oscars worthy... It is watch-a-second-time worthy though, with a simple premise of a person physically aging backwards. Movie aside, I happen to think that the most interesting and painful part should be when you're mentally an old person with lots of memories and experiences trapped in a boys' undeveloped brain and body. Now that would be intriguing. Unfortunately, due to Brad Pitt, the movie had to focus on the period where he can act as a 20-40 year old, thereby putting his body in the 20-40 range as well. Not so intriguing. By the way, how does that deserve an Oscar? At no point did I feel Brad Pitt acted. He looked old, sounded old, and acted old, but was never that convincing. He seemed more confused most of the time. Nonetheless, I want to give this movie a second chance for its fascinating premise. Recommended.

Death Race: I understand Jason Stathem is the perfect person for this kind of role. Framed race car driver participating in a race to get himself free and revenge on the people who framed him. Awesome casting. It's either Stathem or Scofield for the role. Joan Allen, you are a 3-time OSCAR NOMINEE. Please don't emabarass yourself with these movies! Not recommended, unless you hate Joan Allen and want to watch her demise from being a real actress.

Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay: The toilet scene was an awesome continuation of the classic White Castle movie. After that it was mostly downhill. Recommended for the first 10 minutes.

Tropic Thunder: I think my expectations were too high for this movie due to PNGF's constant movie raves (last time she loved a move this much was Get Smart (my review) and Borat). It was okay. Funny overall and a bit over the top. Ben Stiller didn't do it for me, though Robert Downey Jr was really funny. Whereby I loved the scene where the driver of the get away truck asks "why are you all jumping off the car?" (because they were firing a missle at it) and the truck promptly blows up, PNGF liked the "you can't go full retard" conversation between Stiller and Downey Jr. We're just different people, I guess. Okay, I admit, the part where Downey Jr says "Look at Sean Penn. Full retard. Nothing in return." was quite funny. Oh, I also admit that PNGF never raved about Borat. I made that up. Recommended with lower expectations.

Restaurant week in NYC during Chinese New Year... luckily coinciding with my visit to NYC (Great business class to NY, not so good back to Shanghai). Here's the lineup:

Morimoto: the restaurant week lunch menu did not have any sushi and sashimi. So I had the Kobe Beef Lunch Set instead. Kobe beef was a bit too cooked and not tender enough. Sushi was great though. As usual, my Octopus benchmark works. PNGF got the restaurant week menu and her cod was drentched in sauce. When the restaurant manager (he's been with Morimoto since 2002... how do you stay with a restaurant for 6 years?) came over and she told him what she didn't like, we were give two signed copies of the Morimoto menus! Rewards for honesty! Yay! Recommended.

Delmonico's: Petit fillet was good. It's been a while since I had steak. Good steaks in Asia don't quite exist, so I stopped trying unless I get a really good recommendation. Delmonico's satisfied me. Decor was good and service was attentive. I'm still missing filet mignon and real American sugar-laden desserts. Anyway, for $35, I'm not asking for anything more. Highly recommended for restaurant week.

Shake shack: again, it's a matter of expectations. In and Out is better, but Shake Shack is not far behind. Burgers are meaty and juicy while not too messy. Their fries are excellent and the milk shake is a must-get. Some may think it's a bit much for a $10 meal... I think it's worth it. Recommended.

Cipriani: when a restaurants requires gentlemen to wear coats, I expect the service to be good and the food to be better. Well, I wore my coat, but nobody asked to hang it for me. Thankfully, the food was not bad. Here's the biggest piece of Salmon tartar I've ever had. A bit on the fat side given the amount of salmon though. Strawberry sorbet was great. Chocolate ice cream was too rich - felt like it was moose. Anyway, as a rule, your food must be good for you to require people to dress up for your restaurants. Not recommended.

Chinese govt on the shoe thrower

Excerpt from CNN's report:

• The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said of the incident: "The Chinese side has expressed its strong feelings against the occurrence of the incident. The British side said that they are very sorry that the incident should have happened and the person will be dealt with according to law. Facts have shown that the despicable behavior of the perpetrator is extremely unpopular and can in no way stem the tide of the growing friendly relations and cooperation between China and Britain."

What a dumb statement.

You have some strong feelings? Aww... Josekin's suggestion: have some humor.

Facts have shown the act is extremely unpopular? Let me see them please. I bet it's a popular toll among Chinese. How about one among Tibetans?

And god forbid it stems the relationships between two countries!

My submission to the Fail Blog

Read this on the Shanghai Daily... it's funny cus somehow the pictures got mixed up yet the words are so "close"...

Penelope Cruz Fail, Goya Fail, Photograph Fail, Reporting Fail

Missing sports... badly

Sigh. I missed the Australian Open final. I also watched Superbowl without the Wing Squad. And I still can't believe I missed an unbelievable game and my share of 30 ginormous wings. (See 2008, 2007, and no 2006)

What a match between Roger Federer and Rafeal Nadal! I saw the highlights on ESPN.com (thank god for Internet) and it was truly amazing. Well, the highlights always are. Rarely do you see such amazing shots throughout the match though. Congrats to Nadal. Dude's a machine on the court. He never gets tired and never gives up on any shot.

Waking up at 9am to watch the SuperBowl is quite the debacle, as Desi has reflected on before. Here's how my morning transpired (All times are approximate):

0730: alarm
0735-0755: snooze 4 times
0800: PNGF wake up call, snooze
0805-0825: snooze another 4 times
0830: PNGF wake up call 2, dismiss (that's what the phone calls it... dismiss)
0831: Ah-ha, SuperBowl on CCTV5, China's sports channel. Hm... what's this? The lady commentator is just confessing that she doesn't understand the sport at all. Thankfully, the guy takes charge and quickly fumbles on explaining what a false start is. All in Chinese, no less. This is going to be great.
0843: Superbowl without commercials pains me. Luckily, it's a pretty good game so far. Oh, and I just realized I'm on the fast track 1st half and it's a recorded sequence!
0904: I think CCTV5 just caught up to real time game at the end of the 2nd quarter.
0908: Oh my god that was a huge momentum swing. Why wouldn't you pound the ball into the end zone with 1 time out is beyond me.
0910: Time for some mutated chicken wings... oh wait... I'm in China. Down to the Le Meridien executive lounge for breakfast.
0920: I tell you, Chinese commentators are dreadful. DREADFUL! Although Larry Fitzgerald's Chinese translation is quite cool.
0925: Oh, they're showing scantily dressed cheerleaders! I think the Chinese commentators are too stunned to comment.
.
.
.
1030: Fast forward to 4th quarter. Remember, I don't get to see ANY commercials. Not even Chinese ones. At any break, they show the season statistics of either Ben Rothilsburger, Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Hines Ward, Willie Parker, or (insert Cardinal RB name). Seriously, this is the 4th time they're telling me that Kurt Warner has a 90.6 QB rating during the regular season.
1031: I'm officially rooting for Arizona to come back and wipe the smiles off those Steelers players. Where's my beer？Oh, it's Apple Juice instead. Sigh.
1039: Excellent. Touchdown, Cardinals! 20-14... (they're down by 6, the commentators tell me... somethings never change: commentators are always the first to notice the score and then tell you about it and help you calculate the difference)
1048: Wow. The Cardinals forced a safety! 20-16 Steelers!
1052: Wow. The Cardinals scored a touchdown! The man can run. 20-23 Cardinals!
1100: Wow. Wow. Wow. Steelers march right back down.
1115: Wow. The Steelers scored a touch down! 27-23 Steelers!
1120: Wow. Warner fumbles... the play is under review.

Now this is what we call a critical moment in a game. If ruled a fumble, game is over. If not, the Cardinals get one more chance to hit the end zone. You dig?

1121: And of course, BEFORE THE RESULTS OF THE REVIEW, our commentators tell us the game is over. And the live feed is cut off.
1121-1124: WHAT THE FUCK!?

Was the fumble upheld? Did Kurt Warner perform his magic on one last last play? Has Ben Rothilsburger proved to be a big time quarter back? Did Holmes get the MVP? Did Larry Fitzgerald get another touchdown? Who won the Superbowl!!!!???

Sadly, I will never know. (just kidding... PNGF tells me within minutes that the fumble was upheld and the Steelers won their sixth Superbowl)

I need Wing Squad in 2010. Wings. Beers. Frolicking. For sure. Either that, or I'm applying for the CCTV5 commentator job next year. Now, what's a tight end in Chinese?

(QB = 四分卫; WR = 外接手; TD = 达阵; FG = 射门; Rush = 冲something; no names, as far as I can tell, for RB, FB, TE, OL, DL, safety, holding, personal foul, and false start...)

United business class #2

Well, just when I thought I've seen it all about United, here's another experience on United business class, on my way back from NYC...

• Sitting in the old reclining chairs (not bad, by the way), I was watching Death Race (my condolences to Joan Allen) when there was a small commotion behind me. I was sitting in the second to last row on business class. Turns out the lady sitting behind me had sneaked in from economy! During lunch, they finally found out that the number of meals didn't match match the manifest on business class. I think she pleaded innocence. Likely story.
  
• Right before landing, there was a pool of water that was seeping through the carpet. Ew.

United business class

For the past year and a half, I've been spoiled by the excellent Cathay Pacific (and Bain's financial support). Every now and then, I visit NYC and I have to venture away from world's best airline.

I had the fortune to travel on United's new business class on my latest trip to Chicago (on to NYC). They have the new flatbed service that's now so prevalent in premium airlines. Some quick comments... as consultants, we have to break everything into framework... so I submit my own: bed, seat, TV, food, service:

• Bed: Excellent! I've actually never been on a flat bed before and I really like it. Bottom line: it's easy to fall asleep on. Chairs that recline to the Nth degree are not bad... but the positioning of your feet really affects how well you can sleep. Flat bed solves that problem. The only caveat is that sleeping sideways will be difficult if that's the way you sleep... you've be facing the side of the chair which can be disturbing.
  
• Chair: Call me silly, but I love the United buttons. There's a button for take off and landing so I don't have to fidddle away with different buttons to get my seat upright. Comfy and no complaints. Seats are either forward or backward facing (none of the ridiculous diagonal facing Cathay seats with all the stinky feet sticking out in the hallway). Me being me, I was seated at a backward facing seat that looked straight into economy. It's a bit weird during take off when the large white lady kept staring at me wondering why Asian parents spoil their kids with business class and her kids wouldn't upgrade her. (Thanks, Mike, for the wonderful seat) Not bad though... sitting backwards gives you a new perspective on how the engine works though. You have to see it.
  
• On-Demand TV: Well, put it this way... the screen is bigger than the TV PNGF uses in NYC. Nice TV. I played around with all the functions, including the Audio book (not going to work, but good try) and games (might elbow the passenger next to you... it's still fun though). The only problem I had was that the programs weren't that great. Whereby Cathay economy had shows such as 24 (all episodes!) and some of the latest and greatest movies (I saw Iron Man, Hancock, Hulk, Cars, Blood Diamond, and Indiana Jones during roundtrip to NYC last October), United's lineup paled in comparison. Maybe it's January and all the blockbusters have expired. I ended up watching Clone Wars, Wall-E, and Vicky, Christina, Barcelona (review another day). On the flip side, for TV, there was House, Entourage, and Desperate Housewives (just kidding). Ultimately, since I'm using the TV to pass time, this will do.
• Food: Honestly, I can't remember any of it. I guess that means a passing grade. I wish there were ice cream on board though. (Cathay didn't have any... nor does United. But DragonAir from HKG to Shanghai always did)
  
• Service: As usual, US service cannot compare to Asian services. Some would argue the American service levels are "more friendly"... I say it's more of a lack of attention to detail and formality. For example, don't try and pour water into an empty cup while it sits on the arm rest. Take the cup, place it on your tray, then pour water. Will reduce spill risk to zero. I'm just saying.
  

The worst is Continental. I don't want to ever think about it. Bed: N/A. Seat: bad. TV: Almost N/A. Food: bad. Service: very bad.

Cathay economy is surprisingly good. It has on-Demand TV and that's all I ask. The seat is kind of plasticy but it slides just enough for me to sort of be comfortable. Not that I really have to though, thanks to the TV. Bed: N/A. Seat: pass. TV: excellent. Food: pass. Service: good.

United economy is in between. It's more comfy than Cathay but the lack of TV hurts it a lot. 10+ hours on a plane and you realize how nice it is to have something distract you. Anything. Without TV, it's a grind to complete the the trip, especially with a transit in Chicago. Bed: N/A. Seat: good. TV: Almost N/A. Food: pass. Service: pass.