Blogging again - Movie Series

In no particular order...

3 Idiots: if you overlook the simple premise and predictable plot, it's a thoroughly enjoyable movie with likable characters. And I added one sentence to arguments at home: All is Well. Recommended.

The Fighter: the pirated DVD has been sitting at home for a while... it's a pretty good movie and I see how Oscar would bless it. Love the Southee accents from both Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Totally believable. Great inspiring movie overall. Recommended.

One Day: I recognized Edinburgh right away. Then it was all London and all downhill. The book must be much better than the movie. Not recommended.

Transformers 3: Saw this on the plane... and glad I never had to pay to see a 3D version. Just a lot of metal robots messing around with each other. I don't need to fork up HKD150 for it. Anyway, I get to see my old home in Chicago go up in flames... other than that, Transformers 3 was just a lot of metal moving around. Not recommended. Oh, and just to be clear, I prefer Megan Fox.

Fast and Furious 5: dumbass plot with dumbass actors and actresses but with tons of over the top action. Sure, why not? Love the Brazilian bad guy. After checking IMDB, I can confirm his only role in US movies is being a drug lord (Desperado, Clear and Present Danger, and I'm not sure who he was in Behind Enemy Lines, but let's just assume he was a bad drug lord there too). How do you ever top that one!!?? Recommended.

Too Big to Fail: I read the book first, and the movie doesn't miss a beat at all. I wanna get Paulson's take on the movie (apparently he was spoke at Booth this past Monday... too bad I missed that by a day!). Much better than Inside Job, IMHO. And Paul Giamatti's impersonation on Bernanke was awesome. On the flip side, the actor who played Warren Buffet was not. Couldn't you get Buffet to play Buffet!? I'm pretty sure he'd say yes! Highly recommended (and the book is highly highly highly recommended)

Goodfellas: why I haven't seen this classic from start to finish is beyond myself. Highly recommended.

I think there were a few more movies that I saw on my (coach) flight from Hong Kong to New York, but I don't remember already... guess they weren't worth it. And today I'm heading back from Chicago, so looking forward to a few more!

Book, TV, and Movie

In order or preference...

The Help (Book) - this fictional story about black maids and their employers in Mississippi is written by a white person. Perhaps that's why a white lady and a bunch of black maids tried helping each other and only the white lady made a future for herself... anyway, I shouldn't be cynical about fiction, right? The book touches hearts with light and heavy subjects at the same time, and is simply a wonderful read. It's incredibly raw, and you find yourself sucked into the lives of the three main characters, rejoicing and bleeding with them along the way. Highly recommended.

Dexter Seasons 1-3 (TV) - I'm pretty sure this is fictional as well. Just kidding... blood scientist with the Miami police is a serial killer who hunts down people who slip through the cracks of justice. Yeah, okay. Surprisingly good actually, even though outrageous. Recommended.

Harry Potter (Movie) - It's not a bad movie at all... I just don't know what is going on most of the time because I haven't read the book and I rarely remember anything from previous HP movies. Wizard fight scenes suck and the general fight scenes aren't that great either. I suppose it's real good if you are an HP fan, like my wife is. Not recommended.

4.5 movies on Cathay

First things first, I don't think tweeting should be news. In fact, any "news" that refers to tweeter and facebook should be banned.

Per the blog title, here's a review from the movies I saw on Cathay business class (review) from New York to Hong Kong.

• Watchmen: well, I wanted to start with something entertaining, so Watchmen it was, and entertaining it was. And... philosphical it was too! The smartest man on Earth had finally thought of a way to bring about world peace among Cold War rivals. Nope, even endless resources wasn't going to stop humans from destroying each other, he reckoned. The only way was to create a common enemy to distract the USA and USSR. So, yes, the Watchmen watch the men, but nobody watches the Watchmen, except among themselves. Well made movie... maybe a bit confusing at the beginning. Recommended.
• The Wrestler: this movie made me really want to see Sean Penn in Milk. My goodness did Mickey Rourke do a tremendous job in portraying a washed up wrestler. Definitely Oscar worthy. He turned everywhere after he was forced to retire to find meaning in life. Poor man couldn't get any love anywhere... until he turned back to what he wasn't supposed to do - wrestle with a problematic heart and blood pressure. At the end, he had to turn to his fans for love - fans who don't even know him. Very sad. Highly recommended.
• An Inconvenient Truth: Awesome documentary. I'm officially an Al Gore fan even if he didn't invent the Internet. I'm sorry I made fun of you in class, Al. This is science finally trying to talk to normal people... and via Al Gore no less. You must see this movie if you care about how your grandchildren will live. Like Al said, you must acknowledge the facts do you start establishing the moral responsibility to commit to stopping global warming. What's also fascinating is that you get to know Al Gore the person even though those parts of the documentary appear a bit detached from the overall global warming theme. Nonetheless, I found those parts to be genuine and that all he is about is a relentless pursue of his cause. I hope Obama listened (note: there's a part on how GM and the US auto Industry is falling behind). I really liked the whole thing, except for the solution... Gore suggests that we as individuals can help bring down personal carbon emissions to 1970 levels. I find that hard to believe. What about production? Our very consumption of all the goods we use also contributes to global warming... but there is very little mention of it. Anyway, highly highly highly recommended.
  
• Bucket List: I figured I'd watch the Reader and Revolutionary Road when I return from Hong Kong... so Bucket List filled the roster. Pretty standard Hollywood movie. Morgan Freeman continues to amaze me with his leveled performance of a dying man... and of course his voice as a narrator has yet to be paralleled (I'm thinking Sean Connery would come close?). In the end, the most important thing is people (ladies and gentlemen, the Bain kool-aid!) and how much joy you bring to them and vice versa. Recommend despite a cliche topic.
• The Matrix Revolution: Um... just cus I felt like falling asleep... and I think I did when Neo started talking. Not recommended.
  

Cathay Pacific Business Class

I've written about the United flatbed business class seats before... here's a face off with Cathay's (from the same United post) "ridiculous diagonal facing Cathay seats with all the stinky feet sticking out in the hallway," which I finally got to try this time from New York to Hong Kong!

At JFK: "Mr. Lam, on behalf of the Marco Polo Club, we'd like to wish you a happy birthday! We would like to offer you a complimentary upgrade to business class!" (Note: I was wondering about this actually, and it came true! I'm 1 for 1 on birthday wishes)

Thank you, Cathay Pacific. Finally, I feel like a value customer again (after NY and NJ transit, car rental, and airlines, I've lost faith). More importantly, now I can actually experience the damn thing rather than hearing about others complaints! I've seen them many times on my way to economy, but have never sat in one. The seats (beds?) are pointed at a 45 degree angle towards the aisle (no doubt a major shock to the usual business class traveler when they first saw it). Since thtere are two aisles, there are a total of four seats per row (as oppose to the usual six or so in other airlines) that can go all the way down as a flat bed.

Two of the major problems with Cathay's business class is immediately apparent within seconds of me sitting down: it is SMALL and ISOLATED. Small, as in I can't read the newspaper without pressing my elbows against the side of the seat. Isolated, as in it protects privacy by erecting walls on both sides... on the bright side, nobody can bother me at all... on the not so bright side, if I'm traveling with PNGF, I won't see her for the next 16 hours (oh wait... hmm... nevermind). It is a terrible setting for couples (pregnant wife), family (kids gone from your view), and horny middle age business man (can't meet young blonde to impress his busines expense account).

Okay, on to the bed, chair, TV, food, service scores:

• Bed: Excellent since I fit in the chair just fine. For burly men like Arnold, I'm not so sure he'll like his shoulders being stuck. Oh, but the comforter they give you is so nice and warm and cuddly. I wanted to take the comforter home but the stewards came around to collect them before landing.
  
• Chair: Excellent but not as good as United... all the buttons make sense and I really enjoy never having to place my feet on the ground. The one down side is that since the feet all come out on the diagonal seats, walking the aisle is like avoiding touching someone's stinky feet.
  
• TV: Super super EXCELLENT. On demand TV with loads of movie selections. I saw Watchmen, Bucket List, The Wrestler, An Inconvenient Truth, and parts of The Matrix Revolution. On the way back, I'll hopefully watch The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Goodfellas, and Bolt. I'm giddy already. The screen is big and the headphones are really nice on the ears.
  
• Food: Pretty good food that blew me away. Decent steak on the airplane, who knew? And they had a shreaded pork bun that was so good I ate three. Kind of reminded me of the pork buns from Fatty Crab in New York. I ate THREE!
• Service: Surprisingly spotty. Just cus most of us are sleeping or being entertained by the great TV system doesn't mean you get to ignore me! I asked for fruit and none came; one of the guys was practically yelling at me; although the lady did bring me three pork buns and actually laughed about it

All things considered, I think I prefer the United flight. If only they flew direct to NYC... The best would be the United seat plus the Cathay entertainment. That would rock for a solid 16 hours of cross Pacific flying.

Food face off 2: pizza version

A while ago, I did a head to head with Katz and Millburn Deli. It wasn't that fair of a comparison because they do offer different things. Di Fara and Grimaldi's is a fair and square comparison.

See my review on Di Fara, where I called it the Pizza Mecca in Pizza Mecca. Hmmm... just thinking about it makes me want to take that 45 minute subway ride. Almost...

By the way, no line at 2:45pm, although the bake wait was another 45 minutes.

Now contrast that to the line at Grimaldi's (Time was much earlier... though when we left at 2:30pm it seemed longer). Madness under the Brooklyn Bridge!

Alas, the line doesn't determine the quality of the food. And Di Fara wins hands down. I feel kind of bad for those who travel all the way (most of the line on Sunday were tourists) to New York and then think they have had the best pizza ever. Grimaldi's is good, but not great.

Great Entertainment

Ops, a bit slow on blogging lately. Here's a great movie and a great book:

The Hangover

Hold on, so you're telling me there's only a handful of movies about a bachelor party in Vegas, and the only one that comes to your mind is Very Bad Things!? VERY BAD! How is this even possible!? (Besides the very real reason that we don't want the ladies to know about it...)

The Hangover is 90 minutes of solid hilarity. This might well the funniest movie I've ever seen (东成西就 notwithstanding - it's just too classic), although my friend AT is convinced nothing can top Old School. Me thinks The Hangover is a better comedy. Then again, with a bachelor party in vegas premise, there's no ceiling for this. I wonder when will the next BPiV come out? Anyway, the actors in the movie (a collection of nobodies...) did a great job... but the screenwriters really put this thing together. Awesome job that kept the movie going and going, while the audience laughed till their jaws started to hurt. Mine certainly did. Bachelor party is Vegas, baby!

HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended. I will see it again with PNGF... and hopefully convincing her that's not how it goes down in BPs...

Into Thin Air

One thing is for sure: Into Thin Air is not funny. You already know 5 of them are going to die. You even know which 5. And you read about all the decisions and incidents that slowly builds up to the Everest climbing catastrophe in 1996.

My next book is Nudge by my former teacher at Chicago Booth Dick Thaler, who actually uses Into Thin Air as part of his teaching material on Managerial Decision Making. And that's how I read it: a book about how decisions can lead to unintended consequence. In fact, that's why I ordered this book.

Yet I digress. The author Jon Krakauer was part of a 26 member team that attempted to summit Mount Everest. In the book, he recounts what happened after interviewing all the parties involved and tries to analyze what happened in what is known as a Dead Zone (above 25,000 feet about sea level - Everest is 29,028 feet). It's an extremely well written book: Krakauer has left no stone unturned. Facts were slowly put together as the climbers ascend the mountain, and you start to cringe about every single one starting from chapter 1. Finally, in the final summit attempt, all these facts snowball into disaster.

Again, highly highly recommended. One of the best books I've read in years (sigh, how did I not get to this earlier) and great material to learn about decision making. Here're some of my learnings:

• Those who want to climb mount Everest are crazy
• Those who want to pay to climb mount Everest are stupid
  
• People who could be in danger (read: all climbers) should have a radio (And have enough batteries... sigh... I violated rule #1 in my friend AT's wedding)
• Once you've paid for something, your decision is skewed already
• Once you asked someone to pay for something, both your decisions are skewed
• Commitment to pre-defined deadlines are important
• Setting pre-defined deadlines and the conditions are important
  
• As economists have said all along, self interest comes first... especially when your life was at stake

In my opinion, most of the things that happened on top of the world was motivated by self interest - even the seemingly selfless act of waiting with the client in the blistering cold. And it's really nobody's fault that disaster struck. If any, it is the over-confidence of each individual as well as the collective team that was the main cause.

Zhao Ziyang's Memoir

I mentioned yesterday that I coincidentally finished Zhao's book on the 20th anniversary of June 4th. Here's a review... of the English version. I mentioned I wanted to read the Chinese version... so much is lost in translation, and I miss reading Chinese idioms greatly.

• Name of the book: The name "Prisoner of the State" is highly inappropriate. I do not doubt the fact that Zhao was a de facto prisoner. However, that is NOT what the book is about, as he spends a mere 20 pages (um... voice recordings) describing how he was unjustly treated. This book is a review about China's development post Mao up to June 4th, 1989 from Zhao's eyes. The Chinese name 改革歷程 (The evolution of reform) is much more appropriate.
• Lost in translation: The "Elders" were the major obstacle to Zhao's reform ideas. I don't think "Elders" captures the significance. 元老 is much better. A 元老 has achieved basically indestructible status due to his or her contributions to the party throughout his or her years. This means, in a twisted Chinese (Asian?) way, none of the wrongs should be mentioned (unless permitted) and only the rights should be celebrated.
  
• Economic reforms: a large part of the book is spent on Zhao's vision for the Chinese economy. What I found in the book is a great economic mind. Ex-ante, he was absolutely spot-on in how to run China's (then) untapped economy and unleash its powers through utilization of cheap labor and work exports and accumulate reserves to further transform the economy into higher value added industries. For a person who never finished high school, that's pretty good; Milton Friedman even called him "the greatest socialist economist" (is that a backhanded compliment?)
• Political reform: Despite what the foreign press and the foreword says, Zhao was not a advocate for parliamentary democracy when he was in power. He was a advocae for a more open and democratic Communist Party (i.e. within). Only years after his detainment did he arrived at the conclusion that Western parliamentary was the best available method. If he stayed in power, I doubt he would get to that - he did ask Deng to stay in power just to keep the opposing "elders" in check as he consolidated power and rose to prominance.
  
• Military: conspicuously missing from the book was any mention of the military (People Liberation Army, or PLA). Surely Zhao was aware that the military sided with the elders? But there was no mention of any generals or military heavyweights in the book.

Alas, so what does the book mean? For one, it means Zhao was right from the very beginning: economic reform via the market economy was the way China would climb out of a half century funk. Ah, but he was also wrong: he thought that economic reform could only come with political reform. The last 20 years seems to have proven him wrong, as the Chinese economy has flourished under the still-authoritarian (still somewhat oppressive) government.

I also think the book is solid evidence that Deng Xiaoping was behind the wheel of everything that happened in modern China. Yes, that includes June 4th. Regarding reforms, he may not have known exactly what to do, but he got the right people to do it (such as Zhao and his predecessor Hu Yaobang) and remained a buffer between economic reform and political conservatives.

Even though I've pointed out that this book is more about the economic and political struggle of China prior to June 4th 1989, I will take a stab. Had June 4th not happened, I think the economic reforms would have still been successful. In particular, Zhao points out that his idea of political reform at the time was more transparency within the party as well as introducing different voices into the party. Neither of which would truly hinder the development of the economy.

You can of course argue this the other way... that the success of the student demonstrations would have led to yet another bigger protest when the people do not get what they want (a de facto democracy, ala Thailand style!?)... and bloodshed was inevitable. I can't relive history...

... but I 100% judge what happened in Tiananmen Square: "That's Wrong".

Star Trek faces

I watched the latest Star Trek movie. Entertaining and exciting. Good action. Decent sci fi. Quite recommended.

During the movie, I kept recognizing faces but couldn't put any names to it. Actually, it's party of the beauty of watching action flicks. You don't have to pay attention to the movie and you can multi-task. So there I was, scanning through faces and paying some attention to the movie at the same time.

• Spock was easy and well advertised. That's Sylar! PNGF thinks he's cute now. Please. Sylar has a eff-ed up personality - he'll change on you any time; nicely casted though. But... he's SYLAR!
  
• I will never accept that Kumar is a terrorist in "24"; likewise, I will never accept that Harold is Sulu in Star Trek. Kumar will always be Kumar or Van Wilder. Harold will always be Harold or that guy who said MILF in American Pie. That's it. There should be no arguement over this.
  

Now for the ones that bugged me all night:

• Spock's mom is the hot girl in "How to make an American quilt" (yes I saw that... sigh), except that now she looks about 50 years older. She also was caught stealing some time ago... couldn't get her name all night
• McCoy... I've seen him. A different face of his floats in my mind. I think he was some assassin... he was also so ancient war lord... now he's a doctor on USS Enterprise. My head is about to explode. Oh, I think he played a character that started with an "E"... no idea who he is though
  
• Nero. Man that face is so familiar... yet all the painting and darkness makes the name go away. At least this one I got mid way. That's Eric Bana! Wow!

Um... Spock's mom is Winona Rider. I can't believe I had to look her up. Same face, too old in the movie. What can I say. Now... McCoy: he was Eomer of Rohan in Lord of the Rings! Apparently he did play an assassin in one of the Bourne movies. Fascinating. Now wonder he bugged me all night. So I had an ancient warrior, a cold blood killer from the present, and a half dork doctor from the future and I'm trying to piece together the mystery.

The Wire

I finished Season One of The Wire today. Awesome TV show. Highly highly recommended for guys. Obviously I've never worked for the gang nor the police, but I thought the show was extremely realistic: somehow, it was able to "accurately" depict the delicate balance (read: politics) between the hood, the Baltimore police department, the courts, the city hall, the runners, the distributors, the drug dealers, the detectives, and the politicians.

There were only a few things I found a bit fishy (the dancer being turned and bringing a wire into the club!? No way.)... not that I would know. Haha. Great show - go watch it.

Anyway, couple of funny points:

• I turned on the sub-titles cus I couldn't understand all the street talk; I didn't even know what a runner was.
  
• PNGF wanted to watch the show together; I showed her the scene where two detectives worked the crime scene for 5 minutes and their conversation consisted of "Shit", "Fuck", "Motherfucker", "Fuck Me" and "FUCK!". She decline our next viewing.
• Freakonomics has a nine part conversation with real gangsters that has to do with The Wire - fascinating reads
  
• You know what... there's much more politics in a civilized society and it's quite complicated and frustrating; in the gangs, it's quite strict and you deal with the rogues quickly: drop 'em (okay, that wasn't funny)

By the way, reality TV is awful. I hate it. Let's have more real TV shows.

Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers

Yup, another book down. I'm actually quite excited about the next one: Prisoner of the State by Zhao Ziyang (趙紫陽). By the time I am done, it might coincide with the 20th anniversary of the June 4th Incident.

First things first though. Adventure Capitalist is a book about Jim Roger's travel around the world - twice. Basically, he zig zags through the Euroasia continents via Middle East and Russia, and then takes a route along the southern shorelines across Africa, Asia, Australia, South America and back to America. The book is more about a from-the-ground view of economies that he comes across: Rogers will have a few paragraphs to a few pages dedicated to why he would or would not invest in that economy. The focus is usually on the resources and governance that the country has and the bureaucracy of doing business there.

Overall, it's a pretty entertaining book that touches on some very serious subjects (e.g. lack of accountability for NGOs) while moving along crisply with his travels. I respect a book like this - one that voices an opinion bluntly with no regard for the opposition. Sometimes I find Rogers a bit radical... but hey, it's his opinion!

And I love the last 20-25 pages on his views on the American economy. The book was published in 2003... so I sincerely hope Jim Rogers made a killing over the last year or so in this crappy economy. Highly recommended, especially if you dream of traveling around the world.

(By the way, I would love to read one that's about culture)

Off to some serious Chinese history.

Valkyrie

Weekend in Toronto was fantastic with perfect weather and a perfect host (thanks, IM and EM!). Will post pictures later.

Our Air Canada flight was surprisingly good. The in flight entertainment system (I think it's called Enroute) had a good collection of TV, Movies, and music available to the passengers. On the way there, I just wish I knew it was as simple as plugging my iPod headphones into the socket. I watched some CSI thing (without voices...) on and off till we landed.

On the way back, however, I chose to watch Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise move about the assassination of Adolf Hitler. It's sad that Tom Cruise as a person has been relegated to being the butt of jokes of talk show hosts and celebrity magazines. As a result, perhaps, Valkyrie has not received the same amount of respect that it deserves.

It is a good movie about the courage of men who stood up against tyranny. I don't know enough about German history to comment a lot, but my suspect is that there is always a lot of dissent under tyranny, and it is a matter of time before someone speaks up and acts. Valkyrie did a good job (but not great) in depicting these men, each with various degrees of conviction in attempting to overthrow Hitler. On one end there is Tom Cruise, one who is worried about his family but willing to give up on them; on the other is his commander, who would only act if Hitler's death is confirmed, thereby costing Operation Valkyrie valuable time in the coup. I would have wanted to see more on Cruise's struggle between country and family. Likewise for some of the characters in the movie. Recommended.

Note 1: it is surprising how little things have changed the course of history - the second villain who was prepared to commit suicide if one of the commanders did not fold under the fear of Hitler... the aforementioned general who was too scared to act swiftly... and that's just the psyche. The effects of the bomb being mitigated by open windows due to the weather... things like that.

Note 2: As I said before, you can rule by fear, but not forever. I wonder how long that will be for North Korea... and for a host of African nations.

Millburn (NJ) Deli vs. Katz Deli

Readers know that I frequent a lot of good restaurants. So far, in NYC, there are a few that I have returned to for various reasons:

• Shake Shack because it's a great burger option on the cheap side and is especially fitting for bringing my tourist friends
• Penelope Cafe because one was brunch (mmm... Nutella french toast) and one was lunch (fish and chips were surprisingly good)
  
• Millburn Deli because AG-friend AL lives around the area and swears by the sloppy joes made there

Yesterday I went to visit AL in Millburn again. Last time, I had the Sloppy Joe with Pastrami. This time I had the turkey sandwich with stuffings and cranberry sauce, a.k.a. The Gobbler. I have to say the Pastrami sandwich was much better even though the Gobbler was still very delicious. Anyway, I asked AL to come into the city some day so I can show him some of the best food in NYC that I have already experienced (Mmmm... Di Fara...). Then Katz Deli (Wiki, Yelp, Cityseach) came up. And I thought it would be fun if I did a back-to-back Millburn and Katz sandwich faceoff:

(Note: I know it's hard to compare a sloppy joe sandwich and a classic pastrami sandwich... just bear with me)

Outside Millburn Deli

The Gobbler

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the Sloppy Joe with Pastrami. The above is the aforementioned Gobbler. Overall, the SJ as a sandwich was very good. The meat was fresh and was still steaming when I ate it. The cole slaw was excellent and flavorful - it really balanced out the strong flavor of pastrami. It was one of the best sandwich moments I have had (being from Hong Kong and all) in a long time. There was a sandwich shop in Harvard Square - can't remember the name - that also manufactured sandwiches that were divine. Verdict: highly recommended, even after the 45 minute train commute.

Katz's Deli Pastrami Sandwich

Earlier today, therefore, I visitied Katz's Deli. After a 5 minute wait in a chaotic line (it's more like a free for all... even though they call it lines), I ordered its famous pastrimi sandwich at a ridiculously expensive $15. Luckily, the person preparing my sandwich had run out of pastrami so he went over to the roaster to retrieve a fresh piece of meat and started cutting it. He first gave me a few slices to munch on and then went on to prepare my sandwich. One on rye and one on white, both with moderate musturd (I wanted mine juicy, but he seem to have misheard).

The pastrami was by far the best pastrami I have ever (Langer's, I hear, is a major competitor for that award). Succulent and juicy, the pastrami was easy to chew on and was very flavored - a bit too strong for my tastes but still very good. The musturd helped balance the taste a little but it wasn't enough. Oh, but that thick layer of pastrami...! So good. Verdict: Highly recommended.

Like I said, you can't really compare the two. However, if you told me I could only eat one sandwich for the rest of my life, then the Millburn Deli gets my vote. Overall, the Sloppy Joe is a sandwich with better flavors. To be fair, the pastrami was better at Katz's for sure, but not by a lot. The taste of the Sloppy Joe wins out. Too bad it's 45 minutes away from Manhattan.

Pizza Mecca in Pizza Mecca

I don't think many would dispute that New York City is the mecca of pizza (Settle down, Chicagoians, deep dish pizza is more like cheese). And the best pizza in New York is a hole in the wall in the middle of Brooklyn called Di Fara. Um... best pizza, as awarded by New York Magazine, not just Josekin. See Wikipedia (wikipedia!?), Citysearch, Yelp... and a fascinating read on the secrets of Di Fara.

Anyway, I went with my friend HW (His Q&A style review) and his friend C (Her review of Di Fara). The 45 minute ride on the Q-line brought us to the middle of no where.

It was another 45-minute wait before we got a slice of Sicilian Pizza while we waited for the half artichoke half regular pie. This might be a good place to bring up the fact that I overcut my right thumb nail - apparently, my hand cannot handle hot pizza when my thumb doesn't work. Arg. Ops, I'm distracted again: the pizza was excellent and exceptionally good. Very delicious with perfect mozzarella and margherita resting on a crisp and thin crust. The fresh basil as well as the bucket of olive oil was simmering through the whole slice.

Another awesome thing at Di Fara is that you watch the master chef Dom do his thing: making the crust, putting the ingredients on, placing the pizza in the oven, taking it out WITH HIS BARE HANDS, cutting fresh basil on it, adding olive oil... the whole nine yards.



Similar to the Sicilian slice, the round pie was also very good, if not better (it was definitely easier to handle). Due to the nature of the pie, the crust was better and I like crusts very much. On an adjacent table, however, one customer had a pretty burnt crust... anyway, I liked the plain pizza more than the artichoke side. Like I said, very similar to the sicilian slice.


Since we are in the middle of no where, after Di Fara, we had no choice but to take the 45 minute ride back to the city (or, if you fancy, a few stops to Coney Island!).

Verdict: it takes time to go to Mecca, so go at least once! Highly recommended for the overall experience. Unfortunately, I can't tell if it is the best cus I haven't had enough pizza... but I'm pretty sure this was one that I wouldn't taste elsewhere. In fact, I'm in trouble... I can't go back to $3 slices on the NY streets!

One twist too many

Watched State of Play last Friday - the movie that made Ippudo possible (it was the movie that helped us get by the 2 hour rate). Here's the review:

I understand that a movie about conspiracy theory needs to have twists. Since you probably won't watch the movie, here's the plot (SPOILER ALERT!!!):
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Oh, whom am I kidding... who would care about State of Play!? Young senator's (Ben Affleck) staff, who is having an affair with the senator, is murdered. Young senator is involved in one of the biggest corporate conspiracies involving ex-military men for defense contractors. Old school reporter (Russel Crowe) is ex-roommate of this senator and links another murder case to the the staffs' murder. Crowe investigates and finds staff being a spy for the defense contractors. And that the mentor of the young senator is the one who recommended the staff. But the staff fell in love with young senator and stopped helping.

The reporter finally finds the link (against a newspaper deadline, of course) between the defense contractor and the older senator and the staff. Up to now, it's been a brilliant performance by Russel Crowe as well as some incredibly intense music score.

Oh, but there's always a twist. Affleck is actually a friend of the murderer, who has gone semi-rogue and killed on his own. Uh... what!? I was ready to leave when reporters uncovered all the links...

One twist too many: it was from slightly recommended to not recommended.

Yes, I paid $32.5 for ramen

Well well, I finally made it to Ippudo (Website, Yelp, Citysearch), the famous ramen place that everybody in New York can't stop talking about.

At Ippudo, PNGF and I actually got there at 8:00 and was told that it was going to be a 2 hour wait. TWO HOURS for ramen! Luckily, we've scouted out a movie we wanted to see nearby and 2 hours turned out to be perfect. When we returned at about 10:30, we were immediately seated. An hour later, I paid $65 for a 3-appetizer, 1-noodle, 2-drink affair (Sake, by the way, was very good thanks to the waitress' recommendation).

Verdict: Pretty good, recommended if you can somehow not wait 1.5 hours! Pity I didn't bring a camera... although I only found 1.5 dishes aesthetically appealing.

Food: Green peppers were absolutely delicious. I wish they used sea salt instead of some powdery salt - would have given the pepper a more balanced flavor. A good start to the meal. Next up were the famous pork buns. The pork itself was less fat (compared to its Shanghai original) and more tender. The bun was the same. I prefer the Shanghai version since the meat is juicier (thanks, fat!). Third appetizer were the pork ribs. It was delicious but not all that different from other ribs I've had. The Asian style doesn't require a lot of sauce so that was good since the flavor of the pork was retained. Otherwise, it wasn't all that special. Finally came the long awaited ramen: like the green pepper appetizer, this was absolutely delicious as well. The soup was light but full of flavor. The ramen was fresh (of course...). Slurping up the ramen with the soup (they give you a really really big spoon) felt very good, almost as if I'm back in Tokyo.

Alas, but I really wanted to talk about is the difference in philosophy that Asians and Americans have towards dinning.

Asians: we dine on the quality of the food that is served. We pay top dollar for top food and we scoff at a any deal TGIF has to offer. That's just the way it is. Would I pay $32.5 for ramen again? Probably not, unless it is a visitor who really wants to eat at Ippudo. I'm sure there are similar ramen places that can show me a good meal for half the price.

Americans: they dine on the quality of the dining experience. They'll pay top dollar for top service and atmosphere... and at-least decent food. Unfortunately, their palate just isn't as well trained as the Asian ones - we Asians, as a matter of fact, do grow up in households where all dishes are shared! And hence they are able to endure both a 2 hour wait (part of the experience!) and the price (novelty experience).

The tale of two books

I re-read Touching the Void. And I ordered Into Thin Air. But here, I want to talk about Outliers, which I briefly touched on yesterday.

Compared to The World is Flat, which I reviewed a couple of days ago, I like Outliers better. Both are pulling real life examples to prove their point. But Gladwell is much better at using popular culture and writing to connect with the reader. Granted, the two discuss two topics that are very different in seriousness, but still...

Anyway, a good read doesn't mean it's a good book. Essentially, what Outlier does is to find the Outliers and then trace how they have succeeded... eventually, every success story is broken down and the author concludes that a lot of it is the situation. Yup, this sounds like organizational behavior all over again. And therein lies the problem of the book: Yes, it's the situation that made the success. But of course it is! You identify successful people and then, ex-post, examine the components:

• Yes, they were smart
  
• Yes, they were born in the right year
• Yes, they family supported what they did
  
• Yes, their cultural background benefited them
  
• Yes, all these opportunities fell ontheir laps and they seized it

Amazing stories, yes. Amazing conclusions, not really.

When I read the chapter on Korean Air, however, I found it quite odd. If the Korean hierarchy and lack of communication caused multiple accidents, why hasn't the same occurred in Japanese or Chinese airlines? A lot of these academic -> pop culture books have this problem... correlation, yes, but no causation link.

Which is why I've always like Freakenomics, who have a good academic approach to proving their point with popular data.

Verdict: Recommended.

Some random thoughts too: basically, you need to practice 10,000 hours of something to become very good at it. Hmmm... and you need to be born into an era where there's a boom somewhere so you can make your millions. Am I screwed already? I don't know. Let's hope there's a new boom coming up before I become too old to benefit from it!

Lost, Season 5

I once called the end of Lost Season 3 the mother of all cliff hangers. After Lost Season 5, that still holds true. In fact, disappointingly, Season 5 didn't even come close. It's an awful ending that puts too many question marks on the table but answers none of the questions that have been plaguing (may I use that word?) the audience all along Season 5...

My view all along: look, if old Eloise Hawking was okay sending Dan back to his death, then she must be okay with Jack trying to detonate a nuclear device on the island! Duh!

Next book...

Remember I said there's never enough time to just do the things you like to do? Well, I'm trying my darn best. After going almost two years between reading books, I've started another one already.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell: Mr. Gladwell attempts to show that innate ability (IQ) has far less to do with success than we think it does.

I'm 100 pages or so into the book, and the examples it uses is quite fascinating:

• Smartest man in America (IQ = 195, only because they can't measure anything higher accurately - and I'm curious, how do you design these tests if you aren't the smartest in the world? Can someone with an IQ of 150 design a test that can test another with an IQ of 308?) who only reads in his home and has achieved nothing of significance (in our sense of achievement)
• Historical examples such as Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller
• Contemporary examples such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

Well... all nice and dandy... except that I already know this from my own life experiences and Freakenomics. Let's hope the next 200 pages are better.

By the way, I'm working on some food-photo journal-review-map thing.

Watched 2 movies

The Soloist: After playing Ray Charles, Jamie Foxx tries to be a musician again, this time homeless and suffering from occasional schizophrenia. Robert Downing Jr plays the reporter who covered his story and tries to help him on his feet. I thought the movie was okay... somehow, I was a bit numbed by the feel good story. I shouldn't be and I apologize. The movie makes an attempt to discuss homelessness and how "healthy" people are helping in the wrong way. To us, they need to stand on their feet and figure life out. Especially one as talented as Jamie Foxx. The movie correctly portrays the homeless perspective too. It's not just standing. It's life. Frequenty, we help without thinking of what we're asking for. Something as simple as moving into an apartment means the world to one who hasn't had a bed in 20 years. As the movie stipulates... it's not sympathy he wants... it's a friend. Slightly recommended.

Earth: Well, what can I say... I should have done more research. This 90 minute feature is a cut and paste of the BBC nature documentary "Planet: Earth". Watch the documentary instead. Now I understand how hard it is to make short series into a movie. 90 minutes was way too long for a topic way too big. Absolutely amazing images though. Not recommended (I do highly recommend getting the TV series).

And today, as I walked by two theaters... I had no desire to see any of it (but Star Trek... that will have to wait till PNGF is free).

Finally, I read a book

But before I get into "The World is Flat", let me quickly warn you about Wolverine.

Tom Cruise to MI:2 (For the record, MI:3 never happened) is Daniel Craig to 007 is Hugh Jackman to Wolverine. What was wrong with those movies? Well, it focused on the actor rather than the character and the story/other characters. What made the MI series so much fun was that the whole team worked together. MI:2 made it seem that only Tom could do anything. Ditto with 007 and his team of experts (Bring Q and the gadgets back please). Yet the new 007 movies have made it into a 007-does-it-all himself movie.

And so that's where Wolverine fails miserably. It's not about mutants using their respective powers to defeat a common enemy. It's about Hugh Jackman and his muscles and, uh, emotions (Laugh!). Sorry, I have no interest. Not recommended.

To the book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Freidman. By the way, last time I read a book and reviewed it was 2007-6-13. Two years ago! HOLY SHIT! I'm reading that same book, Touching the Void, again. (Also, two years since that A-hole took my camera, sun glasses, and passport - in that order of importance - in Peru)

Overall, I'm okay with the book. The idea was probably novel at the time it was written and Friedman goes to great lengths to prove his point. My main critique is that it is overly generalized and struggles a bit when it overstretches its arguments. For example, I could argue that R&D is the main driver of economies and attribute economic developments to R&D. Is that 100% of developments? 90%? 80%? Friedman really tries to do 100%...

Nonetheless, it's an interesting book. I remember when I first saw dot-com businesses pop up left and right, I thought that the "perfectly competitive" world in classic economics would finally appear and no business would profit anymore (yeah, I was naive and young at the time, please give me a break). Friedman took it much further.

With that, couple of thoughts (with the benefit of hindsight):

• Friedman argues that music and other liberal art subjects is essential in gaining an upper hand in the flat world due to the nature of the subjects focusing on collaboration - just wha the flat world needs. Yet, at the same time, he blasts the US education system (parenting too) for not putting enough time in engineering subjects and focusing too much on sports and music and teams
  
• He mentions that the openness of the capital markets is the basis of "trust" and a great differentiator of the US economy. Hm... still think that trust exists?
• He also mentions in the same section that the great consumer demand in the US is a differentiator... now we know it, along with China, is a major contributor to the current crisis
• Friedman says education, healthcare, and retirement security are three very large expenses... yes, indeed... if we can only get everybody to realize that and do things for their own good rather than waiting for the govt to do something
• Is some of China's advantage (over India, in particular) the lack of democracy? Friedman makes a weak attempt to defer to difference in leadership... just say it: a dictator that does the right thing has an advantage over a democracy in making policies happen.
• There's reference that the next party who adopts the newest technology to reach voters will win the next election. Let's just say Barack read the book. (Or... me thinks... Bush fucked up in his presidency... oh, but what do I know...)
• What causes the inflammation of terrorism? Poverty or humiliation? Friedman votes for humiliation. I vote for poverty, which fuels the humiliation. Look, if everybody was middle class, where would terrorism get its grass root support?

I wish I read the book immediately when it came out. A little late, perhaps, but still relevant now (albeit a bit obvious). Recommended.

And let me end with one of my favorite lines in the book:

"Ultimately, September 11 is about them - the bad guys - not about us" - Thomas Friedman