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.
Count
2/27/2009
2/25/2009
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.
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.
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
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.
2/22/2009
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 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.
2/16/2009
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.
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.
2/15/2009
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":
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.
2/14/2009
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.
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...)
2/09/2009
Ultimate poker question
In my dream, two nights ago (Yes, I'm gambling too much):
However, when the turn came (4th card), I was devastated... in my dreams. And then I woke up.
What was that card?
- 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
- Ah-7h-8h
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.
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.
2/06/2009
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.
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.
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.
2/03/2009
Chinese govt on the shoe thrower
Excerpt from CNN's report:
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!
- 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."
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
2/02/2009
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...)
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)
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...)
2/01/2009
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.
1/31/2009
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:
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.
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.
1/27/2009
Thoughts on Shanghai
Alas, I've been stationed in Shanghai for almost three months... or is it four? I'm loosing track. Took some pictures around Shanghai to share with my 3 readers (Mom asked to be included in the reader list... so, if you are counting, it's Bro, PNGF, and Mom).
Smog is part of every day life in Shanghai. It starts when the sun comes out and ends when the sun sets. I've been staying at the Le Meridien facing the Bund most of the time. I think there's one morning (in three months) where I've felt good about looking outside my room.
This is not one of those mornings.
This is not one of those mornings.
Here's a picture of my Shanghai "home" from People's Park
More pictures from People's Park
1/25/2009
"Quote"
I've noticed the increasing prevalence of using the "quotation marks" in the media lately... like this past year or so. Very odd. I'm not sure what the rules are for using quotation marks, but I'd like to find out. For example, currently, on CNN headlines:
But how does "human shields" and "scam" deserve quotation marks? "Most fun"? "Kills 15 militants"? "Painted"? Why not put "painted faces" in quotes? Why just "painted"?
In the Travolta story, the word "scam" doesn't even appear in the article! And in CNN, they reported Two held in Travolta extortion plot. Someone needs to put a stop to this "" non sense. Use them when your news piece cannot accurately articulate the meaning of your report. Otherwise, please don't use quotation marks to "draw attention" to a particular word that "may or may not" have any weight in the story.
- Did Hamas use 'human shields'?
- Musharraf: U.S. treats Pakistan 'unequally'
- Two children killed by man with 'painted' face
- Freed Gitmo detainee 'went to al Qaeda'
- Tsvangirai: Zimbabwe cholera crisis 'man-made'
- Mexican 'dissolved 300 bodies'
- Two detained over Travolta 'scam'
- Court fees plan 'tax on debtors'
- Ledger had 'most fun' as Joker
- Afghan raid 'kills 15 militants'
But how does "human shields" and "scam" deserve quotation marks? "Most fun"? "Kills 15 militants"? "Painted"? Why not put "painted faces" in quotes? Why just "painted"?
In the Travolta story, the word "scam" doesn't even appear in the article! And in CNN, they reported Two held in Travolta extortion plot. Someone needs to put a stop to this "" non sense. Use them when your news piece cannot accurately articulate the meaning of your report. Otherwise, please don't use quotation marks to "draw attention" to a particular word that "may or may not" have any weight in the story.
1/24/2009
Obamera? Obamania?
I tried to stay up to watch the inauguration. No such luck. I fell asleep when Joe Biden spoke. Somethings never change.
And so the Obama Era begins. I wrote about "you win, and then?" back in November. I hope he succeeds.
I actually quite liked his inauguration speech (replay), which was a far cry from the arousing campaign speeches he has given. A much more sobering note. Fitting for the current environment, actually. It's time to put all the talk away and start getting your hands dirty. And so he did, on his first day. Suspending Guantanamo Bay, drawing the line between his staff and lobbyists, salary freeze... yes, it's always easy to fix the home. Now it's time to fix the country.
By the way, I did not like the CNN coverage of the inauguration. It seems like only African Americans are attending the celebrations. I understand their emotions are more moving and more TV-worthy... but there are white people there too who are just as thrilled with the new president! Interivew them too! Please! (Sadly, it almost felt like the TV channels were trying to discredit Obama by only showing his African American supporters)
As usual, some idiot in China has decided that the speech needs to be edited for the common Chinese. Uh... it's called the Internet... you can't edit this stuff out.
No. You. Can't.
Yes We Can.
And so the Obama Era begins. I wrote about "you win, and then?" back in November. I hope he succeeds.
I actually quite liked his inauguration speech (replay), which was a far cry from the arousing campaign speeches he has given. A much more sobering note. Fitting for the current environment, actually. It's time to put all the talk away and start getting your hands dirty. And so he did, on his first day. Suspending Guantanamo Bay, drawing the line between his staff and lobbyists, salary freeze... yes, it's always easy to fix the home. Now it's time to fix the country.
By the way, I did not like the CNN coverage of the inauguration. It seems like only African Americans are attending the celebrations. I understand their emotions are more moving and more TV-worthy... but there are white people there too who are just as thrilled with the new president! Interivew them too! Please! (Sadly, it almost felt like the TV channels were trying to discredit Obama by only showing his African American supporters)
As usual, some idiot in China has decided that the speech needs to be edited for the common Chinese. Uh... it's called the Internet... you can't edit this stuff out.
No. You. Can't.
Yes We Can.
1/21/2009
Sharing tons of pictures...
By timing (Can you tell I'm on a roll with my blog entries? Power of New Year Resolution, I say!):
One day visit to Beijing's Forbidden Palace, National Theater, and the pretty good tourist restaurant 大董 (typically, Chinese food don't make for great pictures... this one is different)。
Christmas vacation to Malaysia's Sabah region - hiking up Mount Kinabalu and then spending a relaxing time in Sandakan. See older posts part I and part II (leech).
And PNGF and my culinary experience at Zuma in Hong Kong. Green Tea Banana cake. Yummmm. Review here.
Extended business trip in Luoyang to visit the Longmen Grottoes as well as nearby attractions (first time taking advantage of a business trip!). Earlier posts on weird signs and trip.
One day visit to Beijing's Forbidden Palace, National Theater, and the pretty good tourist restaurant 大董 (typically, Chinese food don't make for great pictures... this one is different)。
Christmas vacation to Malaysia's Sabah region - hiking up Mount Kinabalu and then spending a relaxing time in Sandakan. See older posts part I and part II (leech).
And PNGF and my culinary experience at Zuma in Hong Kong. Green Tea Banana cake. Yummmm. Review here.
Extended business trip in Luoyang to visit the Longmen Grottoes as well as nearby attractions (first time taking advantage of a business trip!). Earlier posts on weird signs and trip.
1/20/2009
Fail blog
At my hotel... the"Fire fighting and life saving masks" are sealed behind glass... smash through with hands first... I wonder if they have a first aid kit somewhere (No, they don't, I looked)
I don't see the obstacle... what obstacle?
Not sure if I should be laughing or crying. Miss Universe competition comes to Luoyang! And they are posing with GuanYu in their Bikinis; GuanYu would have probably chopped off their heads had he seen these girls. Not good times. Note to Miss Universe: bikinis are nice... but not universal for all locations and occations.
From a high end department store. Due to prevelance of counterfeits, this department store posts a short description of its brands. They focus on the origin (most are Korean... to my surprise) of the product and it's target audience. Here's one for Crocs... except that they didn't copy and paste the brand name.
Ancient capital of China
At the tail end of a business trip, I took the liberty to stay an extra half day at 洛阳 (Luoyang) to see the relics and sites. It's a city that doesn't have the same reputation as another ancient capital Xian (of Clinton fame). Nonetheless, it was the capital of 13 ancient Chinese dynasties, including the all important Tang dynasty (that's where Chinatown's Chinese names, Tang ren jie, comes from). The Tang dynasty is when Buddhism entered China and became prominent.
Hence, the 龙门石窟 was born. Basically, they carved huge buddhas on the side of the cliff over the river banks. A truly magnificent site... the only problem was the RMB 80 entrance fee + 50 for a personal guide. I guess they've decided they could milk the foreign tourists and shut out locals from learning about Chinese history. (A guide is absolutely necessary... as well as good walking shoes... and gloves... and patience...)
Longmen (Dragon Gate) GrottoesHence, the 龙门石窟 was born. Basically, they carved huge buddhas on the side of the cliff over the river banks. A truly magnificent site... the only problem was the RMB 80 entrance fee + 50 for a personal guide. I guess they've decided they could milk the foreign tourists and shut out locals from learning about Chinese history. (A guide is absolutely necessary... as well as good walking shoes... and gloves... and patience...)
By the way, if you are wondering why there isn't anyone there, it's cus its low low season and its about freezing temperature outside. Good for picture taking though.
I know pictures never quite do justice... but if you take a few steps back and take a picture from across the river, you realize how big this structure is. Remember, they did this some 1500 years ago! Truly amazing. It's too bad the even more ancient Xian gets all the attention, because these grottoes should get their due.
关林 Guanlin is a temple/ monastery/ forrest combined to commemorate the great general Guanyu 关羽 from the Three Kingdom period. Legend is that his head is buried in this building. General Guan (no relationship to the General Gao's chicken... seriously, someone asked) was a mere mortal but was given the emporer treatment and then the god treatment due to his tenancity on the battle field and righteousness/ loyalty off it. He's especially worshipped by mob members due to his loyalty to his god brother Liubei 刘备.
Guanlin (Guan's Forrest)
Lastly, I also visted the ancient tomb museum near the airport. I was the only visitor at the complex at the time and it was kind of creepy to walk through ancient tombs by yourself. Anyway, I wish I had more time to explore the place. Somehow, the curators have picked out some 20-30 perfectly preserved (structure wise, Lara Croft took most of the relics) tombs from 1500 to 800 years ago and moved them to this museum. Each tomb can be carefully examined and each offer a different lesson about the ancient times. Layout may reflect changing importance of women, for example. Or the height of the ceiling to reflect the jump in architectual technology. Or this painting on the walls, reflecting the official rank of the deseased...
Wall painting, indicating that a gov official was buried in this space
Worthwhile city to come back to at some point...!
1/19/2009
Today I learn about hovering
Instructions for this blog post:
I was quite amused the girls actually hover over their toilets due to sanity issues. I've always imagined the girls bathroom to be much cleaner than the guys and much more pleasant to step into. Apparently not so. But then study the graph carefully...
When you think about why a guys bathroom is dirty, it's a matter of being able to aim. We don't pay attention, so we create a mess. But girls... they don't need to aim. They just sit down and deposit. Why would it be dirty at all when the route is straight down? Gravity will take care of everything and all the dirty stuff should be in the toilet only.
Now I know. It's hovering. Left hand side 2 pictures of the 2nd last row on the girls side. Study that carefully and ask: doesn't hovering create a dirty toilet in the first place??? As I mentioned above, there's no reason for a mess to be created in the lady's room. Unless... you hover above. When she hovers, doesn't she compromises her aim? Doesn't that mean there's a chance to make the toilet dirty? Doesn't that mean the next user will have to do something about it? Doesn't that mean more hovering? Doesn't more hovering mean more dirty toilets? Why am I asking so many rhetorical questions? My head is spinning...
Ladies: stop hovering, save the toilet. (Hero style)
- Check out this hilarious set of ads from Gizmodo (Below is the focus of this study)
- Note the bathroom part, second to last row
- Proceed to discussion below
I was quite amused the girls actually hover over their toilets due to sanity issues. I've always imagined the girls bathroom to be much cleaner than the guys and much more pleasant to step into. Apparently not so. But then study the graph carefully...
When you think about why a guys bathroom is dirty, it's a matter of being able to aim. We don't pay attention, so we create a mess. But girls... they don't need to aim. They just sit down and deposit. Why would it be dirty at all when the route is straight down? Gravity will take care of everything and all the dirty stuff should be in the toilet only.
Now I know. It's hovering. Left hand side 2 pictures of the 2nd last row on the girls side. Study that carefully and ask: doesn't hovering create a dirty toilet in the first place??? As I mentioned above, there's no reason for a mess to be created in the lady's room. Unless... you hover above. When she hovers, doesn't she compromises her aim? Doesn't that mean there's a chance to make the toilet dirty? Doesn't that mean the next user will have to do something about it? Doesn't that mean more hovering? Doesn't more hovering mean more dirty toilets? Why am I asking so many rhetorical questions? My head is spinning...
Ladies: stop hovering, save the toilet. (Hero style)
1/18/2009
Food reviews...!
I think my last food review was probably half a year ago. Shame on me. Per my "new year resolution", I need to blog more. Here goes:
Zuma: Japanese fusion restaurant in Hong Kong that was left off the the HK Michelin guide. For a good reason, me thinks. The sushi and sashimi were ordinary - better than average Hong Kong only. There were a couple of cooked dishes as well, but I have long forgotten its taste. I'll skip right to dessert where the green tea banana cake more than made up for the otherwise unspectacular food. Banana and green tea, who knew?
(Note: the restaurant is quite well laid out and the utensils were excellent. Good atmosphere that made you think that you are not in the middle of Hong Kong for 2 hours. I'd pay for that.)
Slightly recommended. Get dessert.
"Food stalls" in Shanghai
There were two fairly famous cheap eats in Shanghai and are conveniently located right next to each other. Both are dumpling places even though the dumplings were different. The first is a fried one and the second is a steamed one. Both have long lines though, at 3pm, the desire to eat seems to be less for most people (not me, I just woke up at 2pm). And both are dirt cheap at a few dollars for their signature dishes.
This is Xiaoyang Shenjian. Their fried dumplings are quite good. The inside is pork with a very tasty (and super hot, ouch) soup. I found the inside to be very good but the skin was a bit too oily and think. Locals will tell you that is the point of the friend dumplings, and that you should enjoy every bite into a slightly burned wrapping. I find it difficult to savour the after taste of burnt dough... anyway, I stuck to the non-brown parts and it was very good. Just be careful with the soup. Very yummy. Highly recommended if there were no line.
JiaJia Tangbao is right across from the friend dumpling shop. I've attempted to visit this place twice and both times they were sold out of their dumplings. This time, at 3pm, it had one type left: their most popular type, pork and crab. I ordered a dozen.
Usually, with steamed Xiaolongbao, you have to be very careful with the soup. The dumpling is delicate and if it breaks, the good stuff is all gone. If you just bite into it, the hot soup spills and your burnt tongue will not feel the next 10 bites. So... as always... I approach with caution. The key is to bit from the top and leave the hot soup at the bottom. Once you've pierced the top, slowly suck the hot soup inside and cool the whole thing down before devouring it in your mouth.
Except this was a bit different. I put on some excellent (and I do mean excellent) ginger sauce and took my first bite from the top. Surprisingly, the soup didn't seem that hot. But the rush of the smell of the meat made me want to gallop the whole thing. I tested the soup again. Okay to put the entire thing in the mouth. Excellent combination of wrappng and meat: thin wrap, big and juicy meat, tasty soup.
And the best part: you can put the whole dumpling inside your mouth without cooling it down! Major kudos to the cook. Highly recommended. Wake up early.
Malaysia
We visited this particular restaurant near the Kota Kinabalu Le Meridien (thank you, Starwood points!) FOUR times during our stay there. Chili crab was the best.
Along with all the other fresh seafood...
Highly recommended!
Zuma: Japanese fusion restaurant in Hong Kong that was left off the the HK Michelin guide. For a good reason, me thinks. The sushi and sashimi were ordinary - better than average Hong Kong only. There were a couple of cooked dishes as well, but I have long forgotten its taste. I'll skip right to dessert where the green tea banana cake more than made up for the otherwise unspectacular food. Banana and green tea, who knew?
(Note: the restaurant is quite well laid out and the utensils were excellent. Good atmosphere that made you think that you are not in the middle of Hong Kong for 2 hours. I'd pay for that.)
Slightly recommended. Get dessert.
"Food stalls" in Shanghai
There were two fairly famous cheap eats in Shanghai and are conveniently located right next to each other. Both are dumpling places even though the dumplings were different. The first is a fried one and the second is a steamed one. Both have long lines though, at 3pm, the desire to eat seems to be less for most people (not me, I just woke up at 2pm). And both are dirt cheap at a few dollars for their signature dishes.
This is Xiaoyang Shenjian. Their fried dumplings are quite good. The inside is pork with a very tasty (and super hot, ouch) soup. I found the inside to be very good but the skin was a bit too oily and think. Locals will tell you that is the point of the friend dumplings, and that you should enjoy every bite into a slightly burned wrapping. I find it difficult to savour the after taste of burnt dough... anyway, I stuck to the non-brown parts and it was very good. Just be careful with the soup. Very yummy. Highly recommended if there were no line.
JiaJia Tangbao is right across from the friend dumpling shop. I've attempted to visit this place twice and both times they were sold out of their dumplings. This time, at 3pm, it had one type left: their most popular type, pork and crab. I ordered a dozen.
Usually, with steamed Xiaolongbao, you have to be very careful with the soup. The dumpling is delicate and if it breaks, the good stuff is all gone. If you just bite into it, the hot soup spills and your burnt tongue will not feel the next 10 bites. So... as always... I approach with caution. The key is to bit from the top and leave the hot soup at the bottom. Once you've pierced the top, slowly suck the hot soup inside and cool the whole thing down before devouring it in your mouth.Except this was a bit different. I put on some excellent (and I do mean excellent) ginger sauce and took my first bite from the top. Surprisingly, the soup didn't seem that hot. But the rush of the smell of the meat made me want to gallop the whole thing. I tested the soup again. Okay to put the entire thing in the mouth. Excellent combination of wrappng and meat: thin wrap, big and juicy meat, tasty soup.
And the best part: you can put the whole dumpling inside your mouth without cooling it down! Major kudos to the cook. Highly recommended. Wake up early.
MalaysiaWe visited this particular restaurant near the Kota Kinabalu Le Meridien (thank you, Starwood points!) FOUR times during our stay there. Chili crab was the best.
Along with all the other fresh seafood...
Highly recommended!
1/11/2009
Movie (experience) review - 非誠勿擾
Well, let's talk about the movie first. Simple and predictable premise: decent man posts ad about looking marriage, meets girl who isn't really interested in him, conflicts between the two, (eventual) happy ending. It's actually a much better movie that what I described, but since it is quite straight forward, I'll skip the details.
Good performances from former best actor (China) 葛優 and former super porn star 舒琪. It's a very calm movie with nothing over the top and totally believable (more on this later).
Anyway, I said the review was on the movie experience, as I have never seen a movie in China. Or maybe my friend who bought the tickets has a cruel sense of humor:
I said "more on this later"... "this" being the marriage advertisements. Today, I was taking a nice stroll in People's Square when I saw a massive crowd gathered for... none other than marriage advertisements! While there were a few people who were advertising themselves, most of them were parents advertising for their sons and daughters. I wish I could tell you how fascinating it was, but I didn't want to be too rude to take a picture.
Good performances from former best actor (China) 葛優 and former super porn star 舒琪. It's a very calm movie with nothing over the top and totally believable (more on this later).
Anyway, I said the review was on the movie experience, as I have never seen a movie in China. Or maybe my friend who bought the tickets has a cruel sense of humor:
- All the seats in the theater were two-people love seats, with no handle bar in the middle
- My two friends sat together...
- ... so I ended up sitting next to a burly man who slept and snored lightly watching what essentially is a very good date movie
I said "more on this later"... "this" being the marriage advertisements. Today, I was taking a nice stroll in People's Square when I saw a massive crowd gathered for... none other than marriage advertisements! While there were a few people who were advertising themselves, most of them were parents advertising for their sons and daughters. I wish I could tell you how fascinating it was, but I didn't want to be too rude to take a picture.
1/10/2009
And the answer is...
To my earlier post on interpreting a sign...
Happy new year by the way! Let's review my performance...
I often wonder why suddenly I did so. Maybe because I didn't accomplish anything in 2008. Maybe because my weight is going up. Maybe because 2009 is the year of the bull(shit). Maybe because I was bored. Or perhaps I felt empty in some parts of my life and that my resolution could fulfill that emptiness. Um... I'm going for the last reason. Without further ado:
Happy new year by the way! Let's review my performance...
- Number of posts in 2006: 173
- Number of posts in 2007: 173 (I kid you not, it was not intentional - shows you that the frequency of my mind striking my keyboard is quite consistent)
- Number of posts in 2008: 100
I often wonder why suddenly I did so. Maybe because I didn't accomplish anything in 2008. Maybe because my weight is going up. Maybe because 2009 is the year of the bull(shit). Maybe because I was bored. Or perhaps I felt empty in some parts of my life and that my resolution could fulfill that emptiness. Um... I'm going for the last reason. Without further ado:
- Blog more (100 is despicable, I apologies to my 2 readers - hi James, hi PNGF)
- Read more
- Connect more
1/08/2009
Malaysia, Part 2
So you want to know why there are 2 posts for the same subject?? Because Picasa annoyingly only does 4 pictures at a time. Arg. You'd think Google would have sorted this out by now.
Anyway, on with the Malaysia trip.
The Urangutans were cute, but they were still not entirely wild. Here's a wild proboscis monkey ready to make the leap... um... the school of proboscis monkeys were fleeing from us tourists. A moment ago, they were all enjoying a quite morning eating leafs and tree bark. Then one boat spots them, 5 ram up the engines and congregate around the tree, and the monkeys flee from their comfortable rest stop into the dense forest behind. Yup, wildlife tourism. It's great.
Anyway, on with the Malaysia trip.
The Urangutans were cute, but they were still not entirely wild. Here's a wild proboscis monkey ready to make the leap... um... the school of proboscis monkeys were fleeing from us tourists. A moment ago, they were all enjoying a quite morning eating leafs and tree bark. Then one boat spots them, 5 ram up the engines and congregate around the tree, and the monkeys flee from their comfortable rest stop into the dense forest behind. Yup, wildlife tourism. It's great.
Fleeing monkey
All of us have heard about leeches. Here's one that allegedly latched on to my pants, made its way onto PNGF's thigh (to her absolute absolute horror... and to my absolute amusement). This also made my 2nd biggest regret on the trip: not taking a picture of leech on PNGF thigh. Dang it! Nonetheless, my kindness of not squishing it in toilet paper (PNGF Buddhist speech) gave the leech a second life.
And here it is in the morning, climbing the shower curtain in search for more blood.
No trip to a third world country is complete without a native dance. Here's a (fake) headhunter.
Malaysia, Part 1
Well, when I first told PNGF that we'd go hike Kinabalu during our Christmas break, I was met with skepticism: "You mean climb?"
Let the record show that she's right. It was climbing. As in hold on to that rope or you will fall to your death climbing. Or a broken limb. Or whatever. Yeah, the websites did tell me that Kinabalu was "one of the easiest mountains to climb"... I guess I should have read that carefully. It didn't say hike.
I'm not sure if I will be writing a travel blog (I didn't in Korea... sigh... and www.josekin.com has been taken over by some unknown Japanese assailant) this time, although the thought of continuing to fill my world map remains highl motivating for me. Anyway, here are the pictures.
Let the record show that she's right. It was climbing. As in hold on to that rope or you will fall to your death climbing. Or a broken limb. Or whatever. Yeah, the websites did tell me that Kinabalu was "one of the easiest mountains to climb"... I guess I should have read that carefully. It didn't say hike.
I'm not sure if I will be writing a travel blog (I didn't in Korea... sigh... and www.josekin.com has been taken over by some unknown Japanese assailant) this time, although the thought of continuing to fill my world map remains highl motivating for me. Anyway, here are the pictures.
Summit of Kinabalu, without Mountain Guide
That's where we were 8 hours ago
Orangutans enjoying a meal (the one on the left is a homosapien)
You can tell that this one will be trouble
12/23/2008
Can stand vs. Cannot stand
In China, I can stand...
- Lack of personal space - this is the number 1 thing you'll notice in China. In the West, your personal space is basically beyond arms length. In China, it's your shoulder length. Thank God HK is considered in between.
- Spitting - I've mastered the skill to know when and where the spit is coming from... and ignore it. Trust me, these people have spit in public for decades and they won't miss their target - the ground. Your shoes will be fine, don't worry. Just ignore it.
- Smoking - most of Chinese men are going to die of lung cancer. I am sure of this. While I do miss the nice clean air in HK and US clubs, it really doesn't bother me that much. And somehow, they don't blow the smoke at you. I'm still perplexed.
- Drinking games - I'm not sure why the Chinese insist you must get piss drunk to prove that they are good hosts. Since I can act drunk, along with my bright red face, I've been able to duck the most ridiculous drinking games
- Pushing - see lack of personal space. A side product is where everybody just pushes you all the time when you are lining up (if there is such a thing as a line... most of the time its a mob). I'm not ashamed that I've landed a few special elbows to the groin to those who push me. And my suitcase serves as a good divider in taxi lines. They hit my suitcase with the legs, and I turn around and push the suitcase right up their calves. It'll hurt.
- Speaking loud - Apparently, they understand "Shut the fuck up"... or maybe it's just my angry tone with a finger on my lips.
- Squat toilets - no problemo. I can hold it.
- Attitude - most service industry people don't care about you. All you have to do is yell at them and curse. It works. (Loving the big city, eh? I've been reassured that away from Shanghai, it's much better)
- Inefficiency - I guess coming from Hong Kong, we can never be satisfied. Luckily, I lived in Chicago and brought expectations to a new low. You see, it's all relative!
- WHY DO PEOPLE TALK TO YOU WHEN YOU ARE DOING YOUR BUSINESS IN THE LU?
- WHY DO PEOPLE TALK TO YOU WHEN YOU ARE DOING YOUR BUSINESS IN THE STALL? I CLOSED THE DOOR ALREADY. SHUT THE FUCK UP!
12/16/2008
Life after Lost
I finished the ridiculously good season 4 (I do not like the Hurley episodes) of Lost... and am at a loss afterwards. What do I do in my very little spare time at night?
Considering that DVDs are $5 a piece, maybe I'll just buy all the sitcoms. Imagine that.
By the way, I had a very interesting insight today... in China:
So the Americans copied from the Spaniards, and the Japanese copied from the Europeans... although the name yen comes from a Chinese character meaning round.
That's enough learning for the morning.
Considering that DVDs are $5 a piece, maybe I'll just buy all the sitcoms. Imagine that.
By the way, I had a very interesting insight today... in China:
- $ double stroke is US dollar
- $ single stroke is Hong Kong dollar
-
¥ double stroke is Japanese Yen
¥
So the Americans copied from the Spaniards, and the Japanese copied from the Europeans... although the name yen comes from a Chinese character meaning round.
That's enough learning for the morning.
12/02/2008
Mother of all cliff hangers...
My god Lost season 3 just ended on a ridiculously good cliff hanger. I've tolerated the show through its first 2 seasons because of the Momento similarities and the generally okay plots. But Season 3 has just turned the whole show around. Wow.
Anyway, I wanted to make a quick comparison on why I like Lost much better than other conspiracy dramas such as 24, Prison Break, and Heroes (Note: I'm still in love with Law & Order, CSI, and other gruesome detective shows).
Anyway, I wanted to make a quick comparison on why I like Lost much better than other conspiracy dramas such as 24, Prison Break, and Heroes (Note: I'm still in love with Law & Order, CSI, and other gruesome detective shows).
- 24 was novel for the 1st season. Real time TV! Who would have thought. Anyway, by season 2 the side plots and general stupidity among CTU agents, government bureaucracy, and bad guys was just too much to overcome. At the end of season 2, when President Palmer was poisoned through a handshake (Note to bad guys: there are much better ways to assassinate a president if you are that good at it already), I lost interest.
- Prison Break. First season was phenomenal. I did wonder outloud though: once they break out, there wouldn't be a season 2 or 3... and of course the producers had it in for us: we'll put them in another prison! Season 2 (the escaping act) deteriated quickly as all the characters started to drop like flies. Season 3... I won't dignify it with more than a sentence. Ops, I almost did.
- Heroes. Save the cheer leader, save the world. Great plot to bring different fractions of the story together and having the audience put the plot together for them and keep everybody's attention. Season 2 was a downer due to the strike, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in season 3.
11/29/2008
Taking pictures of a crowd
Taking pictures of a crowd is a test of patience and luck. As a photographer, you are waiting for a moment so you can "capture the moment." For a picture that is filled with heads, you may look for unity: everyone focused in one direction. You may look for uniqueness: I still remember the picture of a lone German fan (in yellow, or white) in a sea of red shirt Korean fans during the 2002 World Cup.
In this picture, I find the diversity in anticipation.
And yet to have this picture taken the way it is taken, you need things to fall in place. You need the two people in blue (they do stand out, don't they!?) to look back for their friend. You need the ladies in frnt to be lookng for something in the bag. You need that bored looking man in dark grey. You need the little girl in red who is loosing patience. You need all the folks on the left to all be in anticipation.
And that is life. Sometimes things just fall in place. All you have to do is click. So click whenever you can.
In this picture, I find the diversity in anticipation.
And yet to have this picture taken the way it is taken, you need things to fall in place. You need the two people in blue (they do stand out, don't they!?) to look back for their friend. You need the ladies in frnt to be lookng for something in the bag. You need that bored looking man in dark grey. You need the little girl in red who is loosing patience. You need all the folks on the left to all be in anticipation.
And that is life. Sometimes things just fall in place. All you have to do is click. So click whenever you can.
11/28/2008
What is this...?
So, what is this?
11/23/2008
Services in China
Restaurant services in Shanghai are notoriously bad. Most of the time it's a matter of attitude. And then there's this:
Josekin: May I have a glass of warm water?
Waitress: I'm sorry, sir, we only serve bottled mineral water.
Josekin: Not warm, right?
Waitress: No.
Josekin: Do you serve anything warm?
Waitress: Green tea or red tea.
Josekin: I'll have green tea then.
About 10 seconds into me sipping my nice and warm green tea did I realize... didn't she use warm water to make the green tea (RMB 38, by the way)!?
Stupid Josekin? Stupid waitress? Or smart business?
Josekin: May I have a glass of warm water?
Waitress: I'm sorry, sir, we only serve bottled mineral water.
Josekin: Not warm, right?
Waitress: No.
Josekin: Do you serve anything warm?
Waitress: Green tea or red tea.
Josekin: I'll have green tea then.
About 10 seconds into me sipping my nice and warm green tea did I realize... didn't she use warm water to make the green tea (RMB 38, by the way)!?
Stupid Josekin? Stupid waitress? Or smart business?
11/22/2008
Trade off analysis
I'm a huge fan of The Sports Guy. Despite his decline as a writer since he joined ESPN, I always read his articles religiously. Thanks to Google Reader, I'm extremely updated on his articles... as opposed to checking into ESPN every 10 minutes to see if The SG posted a new article. Ah, the good times.
Anyway, this morning I saw that SG put up a whooping TWO articles! The first one was on home field disadvantage... which should really be the home field betting bias given the lack of advantage that home field really has. The home team is overly favored, not that the field is useless. Whatever, he's a journalist, I'm an economist. Anyway, back to my trade off analysis.
Damn I digress too much.
I've never delayed reading SG articles... except that I was watching Lost Season 2 this morning. The show was getting good, and I did the very unexpected: I stopped reading the article!! And let me tell you, it was quite a struggle.
The problem with the SG is that his articles are usually constantly good while a TV show like Lost has ups and downs. When the cliffhangers are good, it makes Lost so irresistible! Of course, as I turned my attention to Lost... my mind would wander back to the article. Perhaps I should finish the article before I watch the TV show. It's going to take only 5 minutes...
So I went back to my laptop and started reading... except that I was completely distracted. Back to Lost.
Literally, this went on for 2 minutes before I realized the obvious solution... play the DVD (by the way, RMB 5 per DVD, RMB 30 for the whole 4 seasons of Lost!) and take my laptop with me. This will work.
Not. I ended up watching 2 full episodes (the cliffhanger was too much for me to press the stop button) before I turned my head to the laptop to read the article.
Oh, dilemmas in life.
Anyway, this morning I saw that SG put up a whooping TWO articles! The first one was on home field disadvantage... which should really be the home field betting bias given the lack of advantage that home field really has. The home team is overly favored, not that the field is useless. Whatever, he's a journalist, I'm an economist. Anyway, back to my trade off analysis.
Damn I digress too much.
I've never delayed reading SG articles... except that I was watching Lost Season 2 this morning. The show was getting good, and I did the very unexpected: I stopped reading the article!! And let me tell you, it was quite a struggle.
The problem with the SG is that his articles are usually constantly good while a TV show like Lost has ups and downs. When the cliffhangers are good, it makes Lost so irresistible! Of course, as I turned my attention to Lost... my mind would wander back to the article. Perhaps I should finish the article before I watch the TV show. It's going to take only 5 minutes...
So I went back to my laptop and started reading... except that I was completely distracted. Back to Lost.
Literally, this went on for 2 minutes before I realized the obvious solution... play the DVD (by the way, RMB 5 per DVD, RMB 30 for the whole 4 seasons of Lost!) and take my laptop with me. This will work.
Not. I ended up watching 2 full episodes (the cliffhanger was too much for me to press the stop button) before I turned my head to the laptop to read the article.
Oh, dilemmas in life.
11/21/2008
Different perspectives
Dug up an old picture and really liked it. It seems like the girl in dark (AL) has a bit of a photofront (i.e. she's reacting to a camera being pointed at her)... nonetheless, I like this picture quite a bit.
11/16/2008
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is indeed quite photogenic from all sorts of angles. I remember seeing it for the first time about 10 years ago when I visited NYC with FK. We took a ferry tour that went under several bridges. Only the Brooklyn Bridge caught my eye (and the Statue of Liberty). On this visit, PNGF took me to the Brooklyn side and we walked back to Manhattan.
Lots of patterns to play around during this nice day out on the bridge. I think I took about 100 pictures before distilling it down to about 8 to 10. I especially like the last one.
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