Posts about Mr. Asia
June 11, 2008
478-GY
For those of you drive and swear at moron drivers in Taiwanese like I do, this photo is pretty funny - and filthy. This truck was stopped at the light in front of me, and his license plate eloquently reflected how I felt about the traffic situation.
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For those of you who have no idea why this is funny, say it in Chinese to a Taiwanese and see what happens.
April 21, 2008
Kill spermatozoom?
The fifth circle on the right is quite interesting...
Thanks to Marc van der Chijs' Shanghaied Blog
April 15, 2008
China Business Network
I was asked recently by the China Business Network to to chat about doing business as a foreigner in China. I sound pretty goofy, but hey, it was early. They've got a terrific website with tons of interesting interviews, content, and articles about doing business in China. Definitely check it out.
April 10, 2008
Chinese Hospital Sign
Now that's a bit rude!
April 06, 2008
Quality Fade
Quality Fade
A 3q2u Production
A John Woo Film
Starring: Denzel Washington, Tony Leung, Maggie Q, and Clint Eastwood
In the wake of the devastating US financial crisis, the Chinese government steps in and buys all of Wall Street for 1.4 trillion in cash. Hu Jin Tao (Tony Leung) is now head of the US Treasury, and battles with the newly elected President (Denzel Washington) over who should be blamed and executed for causing the crisis. Hu's mistress, Maggie Q, seduces the President, leading to his resignation, and a hard boiled war veteran (Clint Eastwood) is appointed to now save the country.
March 18, 2008
Wizlong
Walking back from the office today I saw this interesting site advertisement.
I tried to figure it out from the sound hui long which didn't sound the same as "wizlong", then it occurred that hui long means "intelligent dragon" and someone very intelligent must've surmised, "Hey, if you're intelligent, then you're a wiz!" thus leaving us with the mutated chinglish "wizlong" which they registered. Now they have a name and a product which if read by an English speaker of any intelligence actually means "a long pee."
Therefore, to be even smarter, they should call their company changniao which is actually "long urination" in Chinese, then no one would ever figure out that this was actually once derived from an intelligent dragon. They could then even chinglish it in reverse and register the site "changpee" which is even funnier because then it means a long fart.
March 07, 2008
700 million
Given the current state of affairs in the US and China's 1.4 trillion dollar savings account, I found this old poster from 1970 quite amusing.
It says roughly "If each person saves one reminbi, the whole country can have 700 million reminbi."
China Red
The Bird's Nest was lit up for the first time yesterday. An interesting political and social statement of how far this country has gone. This is one cool structure.
China Red now...
China Red then...
March 02, 2008
First all boys then all girls in Shanghai
Very interesting past couple of days. My colleague, James, dropped a note saying he met an interesting couple in Hong Kong on their way to Shanghai, and if I could meet up with them if I had time. The next day I arranged to meet Mike and Jenn Kush at the Kommune in Tianzifang so they could enjoy the artsy atmosphere and have a nice brunch. Mike and Jenn told me all about their big trip which they chronicle on their site www.chasingharvest.com. They're winemakers, and have been traveling all around different wine producing regions of the world working from harvest to harvest. They've been doing this for over a year and will end up back in Argentina right after Shanghai.
Jenn asked about hearing some music, so I took them to Jz Club to check out the Jz Big Band. I kept telling her "This is a really big band," knowing she wouldn't get the full meaning of what I meant until she saw the 20 horns plus rhythm section on stage right in front of her face. When they played, she turned to me and said, "Oh my god. This is a really big band."
Some obnoxious Germans came late and for some reason stood right in front of our seats in the front row. We asked them politely to move, but they told us to "Deal with it." I didn't feel like getting into a fight, so we called the management, and they ignored them too. So finally I told the two wives with them, "Listen why don't you two sit down in our seats which we got here very early to get, and we'll stand right in front of you so you can't see anything but our asses." Amazingly, they actually accepted my deal.
So we ending up standing the whole set right in front of these jerks, so close to the band that I could read most of the charts. Nothing like 20 horns to clear your head. I loved it because I always played in big bands as a kid. It was nice hearing the exceptional talent and chops of the Chinese players. It's like the Taiwanese players are all so proud of their two year stints at Berklee or M.I., and come back to become "laoshi" while these Chinese cats blow circles around them just learning off 2nd hand CDs and actually playing.
Saturday it was an all boys brass band...
Click here if you are in China and YouTube is blocked.
Then tonight I went to see Bjork with Bryce and some of his advertising gang. I didn't know what to expect as most concerts I've seen or played in China have usually been chaos. We got there and it was messy outside but completely under control inside. It was interesting to note that they black light scanned our tickets twice in front, and finally used a PDA barcode scanner at the door, before tearing off a stub. This was of course to try to prevent the usual fake tickets. Emma, who was recently bought by Ticket Master promoted the show, and I was blown away by how organized and relaxed everything seemed.
While waiting for people to get seated I took a stroll over to check out the sound/lighting deck as I always do, and asked one of the producers, "Hey, where's the mixing board?" since it wasn't there in the audience. There was just a little lighting booth.
"You're looking at it," he said.
"You mean that little thing?" I said pointing at what I though was the light mixer.
"It's pretty amazing. That little thing mixes the whole show. All the effects are on disk." He pointed at a board about the size of a Yamaha 02R and a half.
"So where's the lighting mixer?" I asked.
"It's right there behind it. That little blue thing." It was a little bigger than a laptop.
I suddenly felt very old since I somehow missed the generational gap switch from big 64 channel mixing boards sitting up on an island in the audience, to little table tops in an area about the size of a DJ booth. I realized I'd just experienced another flattening of the world and was being left far behind. The road manager caught my surprise.
"Yeah, the promoters here were surprised too when they realized they could sell sell all those seats customarily blocked behind the mixing board."
I then chatted up the guy who was running logistics. "What happened to the usual chaos?" I asked. "Where's the guys running across the stage with the cigarette in their mouth, and all the guards in over-sized green uniforms?"
"We've got this covered. There're 39 people on the ground. We handpicked all staff, and test screened them in advance for stuff like left or right handedness, fear of heights, etc. They even had an hour and a half of training."
"Left or right handedness?" I asked.
"Yeah, so we know whcih ones can take tickets faster. Some people need to stand on the left. Can't slow down the line. And check out those big dudes standing there." I looked over to the front row bouncers. Tall guys looking cool in tailored black suits with black ties.
"Notice that their suits are all cut, and their shoes are well shined. We made sure to pay attention to all the details."
Now I was really surprised. This was a level of organization I hadn't witnessed before outside of Japan.
Bjork had a very cool show. Her band consisted of 2 DJs/keyboardists behind 3 Apple notebooks, a drummer, a concert style clavichordist, a 10 piece all-girl's brass band from Iceland called "Wonderbrass" (which if you spelled it wrong dropping one 's' would be a funnier name) dressed up in yellow clownish outfits with red flags sticking out of their heads and renaissance face painting. In all it had a modern Harry-Potter-at-a-rave feel going on. The songs were all fantastically musical and intricate and electronic. The harmonic and acoustic pairing of the 10 horns with the concert pianist sort of fellow contrasted well with the two-thirds electronic rhythm section and their modern feel. There was one song that was in an odd time signature and made me wonder how the horns could keep it together without a click or a conductor, and this bugged me for a while until I finally noticed a foot wide LED meter to one side of the stage that swung an arc triggered by the BPMs from the Apples. That was a simple slick solution to those hard syncopated parts.
For the last song it was interesting how the refrain was Bjork and the band shouting "Raise your flag higher!" over and over as all the clowns with the red flags walked off the stage. I wonder if that was supposed to mean something.
And on Sunday it was an all girls brass band...
Click here if you are in China and YouTube is blocked.
March 01, 2008
The Troubadour of Tong Li
Our friends A-jie and Ning were in town, so Irene and I took a little day trip with them out to Suzhou on the fast train. We wanted to go to Xitan, where they filmed Mission Impossible 3 - those scenes in the end where Tom Cruise is running along the canals shouting "get out of the way" in Chinese - and I thought for some dumb reason it was in Suzhou. Boy was I wrong.
Xitan was closer to Shanghai, nowhere near Suzhou, so we hopped in a car and rambled into Tong Li instead, discovering a great little water village that wasn't nearly as commercial as a more popular nearby water village called Zhouzhuang. There weren't many people left since it was freezing cold, and we really enjoyed the couple hours of daylight left.
We found a nice little restaurant closing up, and convinced the owner to set up a table along the canal, and he cooked up some terrific homemade food, while we sat around in 2c weather and were treated to songs from his son.
It turned out to be a better day than you could've planned.
Click here if you are in China and YouTube is blocked.
Here's a quick tourist view of the day...
February 20, 2008
Bu ke da bian
Outside of the Suzhou train station are a row of really smelly but fairly clean stainless steel toilets. I know because I can now hold my breath for at least a minute while I simultaneously pee, fumble in my pocket for the camera, trying not to laugh, and take a photo of a warning sign that says "Don't Shit" over the urinal.
January 17, 2008
Poker Coffee Healthy
In Chinese this makes perfect sense, but in English it's just weird.
January 10, 2008
The $1.4 trillion dollar question
After reading this fascinating article by James Fallows about what China is doing with it's 1.4 trillion dollar savings account, all I can say is, "Boy, I'd sure like to get to know Gao Xiqing's kids."
December 30, 2007
Provincial Poetry
This is great stuff. Kaiser Kuo wrote this for his blog, and I just wanted to spread it around.
In Dongbei, whence the Manchus came, the men do like their liquor.
While effusive with their friendship, with their enmity they¡¦re quicker
Though they¡¦re honest and straightforward, at the slightest provocation
They¡¦ll show why they¡¦ve been slandered as the Klingons of this nation.
The leggy Dongbei ladies for their beauty are renowned,
(I attest that in my travels, few more fetching have I found.)
But they suffer from one drawback, and it¡¦s very sad to tell¡X
When they open up their mouths to speak, they break that magic spell.
The stalwart Shandong people grow as hearty as their scallions
On their noodle-heavy diet they¡¦ve been bred as strong as stallions.
They¡¦re known for dogged loyalty; they¡¦re known as trusty folks,
But a bit slow on the uptake¡Xthus, the butt of many jokes.
In Hunan and in Hubei in the country¡¦s center-south
They say the people there can really run it at the mouth
In Hubei in particular, the saying is often heard
That a single Hubei codger can drown out a nine-head bird.
The Hunanese, in temperament, are piquant as their dishes,
Like duo jiao yu tou¡Xcapsicum with slow-braised heads of fishes.
Add to this mix the province¡¦s infernal summer heat,
And you see why Hunan¡¦s Xiang Jun had the Taiping rebels beat.
The teahouses of Chengdu represent the Sichuan Way:
The women toil in earnest while the men drink tea and play.
The Chuan hou plays at mahjong as the Chuan mei cleans and mends,
And like the Sichuan peppers do, she burns it at both ends.
The Pearl River Delta in the southlands of Guangzhou
Is home to China¡¦s most industrious people, as you know:
They¡¦re scrappy and they¡¦re gritty and they¡¦re free of all pretension,
And they¡¦ll make a meal of any living beast you¡¦d care to mention.
They say that Henan people are a sly and cunning lot.
But my ancestors are from there¡Xproving some, at least, are not.
My co-provincials countrywide are blamed for every ill,
While provinces that suck as bad get let off easy still.
The Shanghainese are philistines, and this they¡¦ll gladly own:
Commercial instincts permeate them to the very bone.
Their pride in Shanghai¡¦s petit bourgeois ethos is immense
But what they lack in culture, they make up in common sense.
As you might well have expected, I have saved the best for last,
For my love for Beijing¡¦s people is immovably steadfast.
From their gargling r-drenched accent to their dry sardonic wit,
The denizens of Jing Town are the dope, the bomb, the shit.
Beiingers love to gab, and though they¡¦re lazy and they¡¦re slow,
There¡¦s nothing about politics that they aren¡¦t apt to know.
They may complain a lot about the traffic and the air
But scratch beneath the cynicism and you¡¦ll find they care.
So be grateful that you live here, and be clear on what it means.
Be grateful you don¡¦t live among Klingons, or philistines.
Be grateful for the legacy of Yuan and Ming and Qing¡X
And most of all be grateful for the people of Beijing.
December 17, 2007
The Committee of 100
I had never heard of The Committee of 100 until today when I read their just released 71 page survey called "Hope & Fear: American and Chinese Attitudes Toward Each Other - Parallel Survey on Issues Concerning U.S.-China Relations"
The fact that the committee was started by Ma Yo Yo and I.M. Pei seemed like a good reason to take a look.
Three things stood out in my mind while reading this. One was the importance of the Taiwan issue.
"Americans see the top issues of greatest concerns in the U.S.-China relationship as being:
- Loss of American jobs to China
- Growing trade deficit with China
- China's human rights situation
While the Chinese also share the concerns with trade and human rights issues, they name Taiwan as the biggest problem."
I've found a way to poke into this issue when people invariably ask me how long I've been living in China. I ask them, "Well that depends. Does Taiwan count?"
The second thing that stood out was in an Appendix: "The First Thing That Comes to Mind When the Chinese Think about the United States".
For opinion leaders this was:
- War on terrorism/Sept. 11th
- Landmark buildings/Cities
- Invasion/Interference in Intl. Affairs
And the third thing that stood out was:
"The primary personal goals of the Chinese are having a happy family (54%) and getting rich (42%)."
December 16, 2007
The Coneheads in Shanghai
I've noticed that the Coneheads have invaded Shanghai and are disguising themselves as owners of a pizza franchise. But we all know better.
December 11, 2007
Shanghai Pajama Sunday Brunch
Keeping with the Shanghai tradition of wandering around outside in your pajamas, we decided to have a Sunday pajama brunch. We picked this cool place called the Kommune over in the Tianzifang art area, which meant everyone was well seen trying to find the place in the pjs.
Irene's pjs cost RMB59, while mine were only RMB49 for some reason, which I discovered after I washed them.
It was a beautiful sunny day and friends brought their kids, and we ate lots of bacon and eggs, and Jimi had a surprise birthday.
Irene and I kept giggling as we went shopping for groceries afterwards since the Chinese didn't look at us at all, while the foreigners we passed couldn't help but sneak a glimpse and chuckle.
The day began and ended in pajamas which says a lot for what kind of relaxed day it was.
December 02, 2007
Suzhou Creek
I was at an event in a warehouse up at Suzhou Creek for the Shenet International Shanghai Launch. The invite said "Meet smart and gorgeous women and make new friends in the professional and creative circle," so how could I possibly miss this?
Apart from the tall models wearing hip hugging Swedish designer clothing, and all the artsy people in long black coats with cool glasses, the two things that stood out in my mind were:
The view from the 5th floor urinal:
This young woman's back:
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November 30, 2007
No, it turns out the Singaporean government actually invented hip hop
This is just utterly unbelievable...
The story is here.
November 21, 2007
It turns out the Chinese also invented Hip Hop
November 20, 2007
Ah, Taiwan
Bouncing back and forth between China and Taipei all the time, I start to notice things I missed before.
Like at Chunghua Telecom, there's a big display for kids where they can learn their fundamental "D, C, B, A's."
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And there's the coffeeshop across the street from me on Nanking E. Rd.
And then the difficulty in just trying to buy a basic bottle of water in the supermarket.
And how the banks are all overstaffed, and the tellers are gossiping and doodling on paper, and the interiors are getting ratty, and business is so slow now that dogs can even hang out there.
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November 12, 2007
Songs about stocks rise on China's Web charts
The Daily Yomiuri
Satoshi Saeki - Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
(Nov. 11, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20071111TDY04302.htm
SHANGHAI--Songs about stock investment by an amateur songwriter have become big hits on the Internet in China, which is being swept by an unprecedented boom in stock investment.
Songs by Gong Kaijie, a Shanghai driver, represent the voices of tens of millions of stock investors in his country.
"It's not interesting unless their value has doubled.
I'll wait until their value has risen twofold.
It's really fun to make profits from stocks I bought on a whim."
Sung in a heartrending fashion by a female singer, the ballad recounts her high hopes for the stock market.
Titled "I'll Never Sell the Shares Even After My Death," the song is a parody by Gong of a South Korean original titled "I'll Keep Loving You Even After My Death."
The piece has been among the top 10 songs sold online since May, and the country's karaoke shops chose it as the favorite song of investors.
Gong has written more than 250 songs, though in most cases he simply changed the lyrics of the original. But the content of his songs tends to be serious rather than comical.
Working as a driver for a company president, Gong says the lyrics come to him as he drives.
With nearly 10 years of experience in stock investment, Gong has described in his songs how he felt as stock prices rose and fell. His latest song is the fourth in a series about stock investment, following previous ones titled "Stock Investment is Like a Song of Sadness," "Investors Have No Time to Sleep," and "Stocks are Playing with our Hearts."
While TV broadcasting in China is strictly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, people can publish their songs on the Internet without censorship or restriction. The popularity of online music such as Gong's is driven by China's many Internet users, estimated at about 160 million.
However, online music has also come under criticism. A love song by a singer-songwriter, titled "Mice Love Rice," became a megahit in China a couple of years ago, but was also one of the first to come under fire.
In mid-October, about 40 prominent composers, lyricists and singers launched a campaign against online music. It seems the campaign was launched after some online music angered Chinese authorities. Some songs parodied famous tunes, while others were seen as encouraging greed, or as being too lowbrow. Even the country's national anthem was turned into a parody song about stock investment--something that is seen as one of the likely triggers for the sudden wave of criticism.
According to Chinese newspapers, many professional lyricists have expressed concern over online music, calling it a "jumble of nonsense." One reportedly said: "Growing up singing such songs, I wonder what kind of adult a child will become in 30 years, when they are key members of the workforce."
Asked about the backlash against online songs, Gong says he is not bothered.
"Net songs belong to the ordinary people, so we don't need any guidance from experts," he says, adding that his songs are yet to come under such criticism.
Saying he hopes his songs will make their singers popular, Gong has already written his next song about stock investment, to be titled "Weak Investors."
November 11, 2007
Sweet Potato Heads
These sweet potato guys were all on a break having lunch in a little alley on my way to buy bread. It reminds me of when I was eleven delivering newspapers on my bike, and all the local paperboys would hang out in front of the Pearl Street record store talking shop.
October 30, 2007
Taikanglu
Right down the street from my house is a cool artsy touristy cafe ridden bastion of bohemianism filled with little trendy shops and galleries that I only discovered this weekend when a Taiwanese artist friend took me there. Now I have a place to wear my beret. Obviously I didn't want to share any pictures of something you can already imagine, so I turned around and took photos of things I saw instead.
Plower Prebent
October 26, 2007
What's with the pajamas?
This whole wearing your pajamas thing out in public cracks me up. I shot this at the Tesco at around 6pm.
October 25, 2007
Man-made leather
What's the point of calling it "man-made leather" when it's just a cheap plastic notebook?
October 15, 2007
Gourmet powder?
Went to the grocer to pick up some sugar for the wife (and some beer for me) and walked over to the white powdery section filling up one wall. Wow, that's a lot of sugar I thought until I saw "wei jin" printed everywhere. It's called gourmet powder now. Now that's a clever twist to the stuff that this guy invented a hundred years ago that makes you actually need to drink gallons of the super sweet drinks here just to wash the extra delicious gourmet flavor away.
October 14, 2007
Hairy Crabs
A friend was in town today and we all went out to Yangcheng Hu in Kunshan for their famous Dazha Hairy Crabs. Chinese love these little guys. I'm not a big crab guy, but I'm always in for a road trip. When we got there Crab City loomed out of the skyline, and was pretty much a parking lot with a row of crab restaurants along the murky water of Yangcheng Lake. We picked out our restaurant, picked out some crabs, and started up with huang jiu with ginger. I kept trying not to think of how disgusting the water was or what B told me when he called during the meal that the crabs were full of the cancer causing antibiotic nitrofuran. Why mess up a perfectly decent Chinese excursion in to the country with a cross straits issue?
October 12, 2007
Flattening of Raj's World
I recently finished reading "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, which puts a nice framework around the current globalization trends and how this is changing companies and people. He spends a lot of time talking about Indians and how they are a major force in flattening the world, and how they've educated themselves on the American way of getting things done, and adapting them to their own advantage.
Then today I received from a radio personality friend of mine this hilarious American call-in radio clip with a uniquely Indian twist. It's about a guy named Raj who has educated himself on the American way of getting things done and adapted it to his own advantage, sort of.
September 10, 2007
You are here
I went to the Shanghai Expo 2010 promo exhibition on Sunday with some friends. They had a lot of cool old maps of Shanghai as well as plenty of then and now photos. What was very interesting was that the difference between 1930 and 1980 was nothing compared to the the difference between 1980 and 2006.
The coolest part of the exhibit was the huge model of Shanghai that took up one full floor. Everyone was doing the same thing, pointing and trying to find out where they lived. It's pretty impressive realizing how vast Shanghai has become.
I've put an arrow marking the spot where I live. If you can guess the street corners I'll send you a CD. Hint: Suzhou Creek is in the lower right. (You'll have to click on the photo and scroll around to really see what's going on.)
September 03, 2007
Cat on a Dog
I was at Vienna Cafe yesterday with some friends, and somehow the topic came to cats, and I mentioned this recent article I saw in Taipei's Apple Weekly, and no one believed that a cat would ride a dog like a horse.
So here's proof:
August 28, 2007
Remind me not to start a business I can't pronounce
I passed by this place the other day and thought, "That's cute." Then I realized I couldn't pronounce it.
Is it "i + season" or is it "ice + ason" or is it "e + say + son" Frenchy like or is it "i + see + a + son" fast and Japanesey?
August 26, 2007
Aura of Congeniality
I just got off the phone with a Japanese friend who asked me "So what's it like doing business in China?"
For some reason I kept thinking about this funny phone message I got from Dr. Brettinski Maximus, who shares with us his Aura of Congeniality Theorem unraveling the intricate way in which business relationships are facilitated in China.
Yuck
I'm kind of bummed. While I was getting my hair cut yesterday, the store's cleaning lady knelt down and dug through the trashcan at my feet, picking out the thin disposable plastic cups they serve tea in to customers.
If you've haven't every used one of these cups, I'll explain. They are condom thin plastic cups that will melt if the water is too hot, are impossible to hold in your hand without crushing, and can't stand by themselves once filled, so they use a flowery plastic napkin ring type cup holder device to allow you to actually be able to hold it and drink from it. They cost like a $1 for a thousand. In other words, they are really really cheap, even by Chinese standards.
'I wonder why she's digging them out?' I thought to myself as I sipped my tea from the delicate wobbling napkin ring type device.
Then it occurred to me that she was recycling them for the customers. Yuck.
Then I start thinking about the tea bags. Yuck.
Then I start thinking about the water. Yuck.
Then it occurs to me I'm in China.
August 23, 2007
Moan my IP baby
I just love it when a sexy girl moans my IP.
August 22, 2007
Why bother?
Sometimes I have to ask myself why bother to learn the language since speaking Chinese usually leads to more confusion than not.
For example...
Today I dropped off some dry cleaning, and on the way back passed a place called "Jack Hut", a HK style bubble tea milk shake joint. If you've been to HK, you'll know, if not, just suffice to say they sell a bunch of tea and shakes.
The colorful sign outside shows a juicy foamy looking strawberry shake with a strawberry on top. Sounds good. I enter and ask the guy, "So what kind of fruit you have today?"
"We don't have fruit."
Hmmm, I point up to the menu, taking a different tactic. "The fourth item there says Fruit Milk Shake (lit. guo nai xi). What 'guo' is that supposed to be then?"
"It's fruit."
"So I'll have a fruit milk shake."
"No fruit."
Ok, taking another tactic. "So do you have item four? The Fruit Milk Shake?"
"Yes."
"But it's not fruit?"
"No."
Now I know we're getting somewhere.
"If guo is not guo, then what is a guo nai xi?"
"It's guo nai" (nai = milk)
"So it's fruit milk, right? But not fruit?"
"Yes."
"Ah, I get it. So 'guo nai xi' is not 'guo nai xi', but 'guo nai' pause 'xi'.
"Yes."
He seems happy that I understand now. We are on the same planet finally.
Like an idiot it didn't occur to me that it was fruit flavored milk, rather than a fruit milkshake. Now I got it.
"Ok, if that's the case, I'll have a milk tea."
I will leave it to you to decide if it was milk tea or milk flavored tea that I ended up drinking.
July 26, 2007
Go Li Ning!
When I was 11 I had to have a pair of Pumas.
When I was 12 I had to have a pair of Ponys.
When I was 15 I had to have a pair of Reeboks
When I was 16 I had to have a pair of Cons.
When I was 18 I had to have a pair of Adidas.
When I was 20 I had to have a pair of Jack Purcells.
When I was 25 I had to have a pair of New Balances.
When I was 30 I had to have a pair of Nikes.
When I am 42 I have to have a pair of Li Nings.
These Li Ning stores are everywhere in China. The store girls are cute, the stuff is comfortable, and they are probably made in the same factory as the rest of the shoes I've been wearing all my life. Plus, they are uber cool.
July 16, 2007
What you gonna do?
What about the local media reports?
Like dumplings stuffed with cardboard?
Or local movies like Dumplings: Three Extremes?
The list could go on, but sometimes you just have to tell yourself, "I'm here, I have to deal with it. What other choice do I have?"
June 28, 2007
Multiple Virginity, Barbarian Prince Charmings, and Other Contested Realities in Taipei's Foreign Club Culture
With a title like that passing my inbox I had to read it.
Here's a quote to see if you are interested.
"Dating foreign men can also prove to be strategically advantageous to Taiwanese women in that Western men are less likely to meet the women¡¦s husbands or lovers, or their husbands¡¦ and lovers¡¦ friends."
I've never figured out whether it's pronounced "Moe's (like owned by one of three stooges) or Moss (like that guy out of Bonanza), but the one down the hill from me is open until 2am most days, which means that if I get out of the club early enough, I can catch the best burger in town, the muo si la bao or the Spicy Mos Burger. They have lots of jalapenos and 
