July 2008
10 posts
Friend: You're just eating butter
Panda: No, there is bread here
Friend: You're using the bread like a plate
Panda: Oh..
Reclaiming Tumblr
Am reclaiming this Tumblr site since I no longer need to navigate around the Great Firewall o’ China. No more feeds from blogspot, but I will now have TWO blogs! (This one for ho hum short posts and whatnot).
Web 2.0 actually makes life more work, but that’s what I get for being a tech-junkie.
-Facebook
-Dopplr
-Tumblr
-Flickr (dead to me due to missing passwords)
-I’ll be...
On berry picking and etc. →
It is late. I am awake. If it is possible, my mouth still burns* from savagely eating some home-made chocolate-dipped frozen bananas—but that was hours ago. Today I went raspberry picking with…
Toronto: Part #1 →
Toadie wanted me to write about the seedy underbelly of this fair city. This is the first installment of a multi-part series. Toronto receives heat-advisory warnings when the temperature barely…
Remember this? →
This commercial is one of my favourites of all time. It’s also funny to think that back in 1997 when this aired, all of the stuff featured was so cutting edge; I could hardly even imagine any of it…
Industry rewarded →
80% done.
Ok, this new blogger beta editor is really sucking in terms of uploading & positioning photos.
Ok, back to issue at hand: still need to hang frames,…
Travel Confirmation →
DEPARTING: ARRIVING:
ORD 07/30/2008 AMS 07/30/2008 07:50PM 10:40AM AMS 07/31/2008 IST 07/31/2008 12:00PM 04:20PM DEPARTING: ARRIVING:
LGW 10/28/2008 DTW 10/28/2008 12:45PM 05:35PM DTW 10/28/2008...
Industry →
7am and I’m awake! Doesn’t it feel great! I have decided to undertake a home renovation project. My childhood room is saying buh-bye to the ABC wallpaper of yore and hulllo to a pale olive green!…
Canada's birthday →
My sleep schedule has been abnormally normal since returning to this side of the Pacific. Of course, it’s jetlag, but it does a person good to fall asleep by 10:30pm and wake up by 7:30am. I hear…
Literary Confession →
I love to read historical fictions about people from humble roots scheming, conniving, and seducing their ways to the top. I don’t care if the main character is male or female, but such a story arc…
June 2008
13 posts
Oh Canada →
5 movies later (Horton Hears a Who; Penelope; Charlie Bartlett; Bernard & Doris; Definitely, Maybe; Mad Money*), I landed safely in Toronto. No sleep but lots of enjoyment from AC’s remodeled cabins…
Nevermind →
Nevermind! Heading back to Toronto today after all. After deciding on taking the job and calling to make my flight change, I discovered costs are prohibitively high to fly back at the end of August…
UPDATE: I can FOIL →
I can FOIL and reverse-FOIL again.
SAT Prep Offers BIG MONEY! →
As part of my year on the road, I decided to take a job—maybe. I’ve been offered a position at Jess’s SAT prep school to teach SAT Math in Seoul for the remainder of the summer (through August 22)….
Craving borscht and other stories →
And beyond the barbed wire fencing, in one of the most militarily fortified borders of the world, is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea… aka, North Korea. There is a little “fake”…
Seoul Review →
Back in Shanghai and into the mouth of the Dragon. I literally mean mouth because walking off the plane this evening was like walking into a steam room. Hot and humid and highly unpleasant. That’s…
Food Lover's Paradise →
Asia is a food lover’s paradise. I’ve never understood those people who refuse to try new things or are turned off when meat isn’t in a convenient “fillet”. Because lord are they missing out! Asian…
List: Books 2008 →
Books I’ve read or reread, 2008 edition. The list is REALLY short as I’ve not really been reading while travelling. Mostly my free time is spent catching up on current events (oh, so far behind!)….
Live from South Korea! →
Currently in a South Korean sea-side city. Took a visit to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and saw North Korea! It made me sad. Well, not so much in the mood for blogging right now. More to come……
Europe planning, briefly →
I am planning my Europe itinerary. Start in Istanbul, Turkey on August 1. Then I need to make a decision: East vs. West Option 1: Turkey -> Greece -> Italy -> France -> and so forth
Option 2:…
Beijing (May 15-30, 2008) →
Forbidden Palace as seen from Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square. Guarding the Palace of Supreme Harmony, or whatever. I forgot everything I heard on the audio-taped…
View from the Bund →
Produced in Powerpoint. Except it actually looks more like this. (Although, my camera lens was clearly distorted in taking this photo)
In Shanghai and having a panic attack →
2005 feels like it was multiple lifetimes ago. My self-defined “time-off” is halfway over, and I haven’t exactly had any epiphanies in the way I’d hoped. Meanwhile, time is still forging ahead at…
May 2008
10 posts
Beijing: Land of abundant, cheap eats →
A part of me is in love with this city. This part of me is also a sinner guilty of gluttony. Besides having every type of Chinese food imaginable, the recent years of Chinese borders becoming more…
Photo Update: Kunming →
Ernie loading up on Da Bai Tu (Big White Rabbit) candies in Kunming Insects are tasty. Tempura-style silkworms and bees. Crunchy. In Yunnan Province there is a popular…
Yunnan is for lovers [of trekking] →
For those of you who aren’t all that impressed with Yunnan’s bevy of commercialized Old Towns, I highly recommend this itinerary. May ‘08, the Old Man and I decided to do a tour of this…
List: Books 2008 →
Books I’ve read or reread, 2008 edition. The list is REALLY short as I’ve not really been reading while travelling. Mostly my free time is spent catching up on current events (oh, so far behind!)….
Beijing is awesome →
Ok. So like it’s been a long time (8 years) since I’ve been to this city so a lot has changed＆it’s awesome. Currently waiting for a fantastic meal at a hip restaurant where, while you wait, free…
Lonely Planet sucks →
After finding a discarded Lonely Planet on China at the hostel in which I’m currently staying, I’ve decided it totally sucks. Of course, we already probably knew that, but if you’ve got no other…
Safe and whatnot →
The earthquake in Sichuan occurred while I was cluelessly shopping in Shangri-la’s Old Town. Supposedly tremors were felt, but the group of us experienced nothing and didn’t even know of what…
On the way up Haba Snow Mountain, approx. 5,100m... →
I’ve been away on another multi-day trek (around Meili Snow Mountain) and thus still have not updated on that grand trip up Haba. However, I bring you this photo of yours truly (I’m the one…
Chinese Nationalist growing--but definitely not... →
As the West continues to deplore China, its Communist practices, its human rights abuses, its Tibetan-oppression, its production of lead-tainted products, and whatever else negative, I can’t help but…
The thing about squatting bathrooms →
As most of you know, bathrooms around the globe vary from area to area. China is quite famous for it’s squatting lavatories. I’m fine with popping a squat and have been known to do it in many a…
April 2008
7 posts
Onwards and upwards (or not) →
There is more snow here than in Whistler. What is going on with the weather? This time of year only the peaks of the highest mountains should have a dusting of snow. Not so for us. Original plan to…
Inaccurate Economics: Dogs as a proxy for a... →
Standard methods of measuring a country’s development aside, stray dogs kind of work*. China c. 1960 didn’t have too many strays running about as people were too gosh darned hungry to be…
Lifestyle observation →
I’ve stayed at numerous hotels and homes in my stay here so far. Verdict: people here love their ultra firm beds. Bad news for side-sleepers like me.
On the road to Shennongjia →
We are headed to Shennongjia, a forest preservation area that is famous for being relatively unexplored and undeveloped. It’s also famous for some Bigfoot legends. Outside of the cities,…
A day in the life of a lazy traveller →
Currently in Wuhan, China—the primary city of central China (pretty much like Chicago in the US except a million times larger). Today I… slept in; got a full body spa treatment and facial; had my…
Fattest Person in Asia →
I am the fattest person in Asia. I’ve never felt so fat in my entire life! In the States I’m like, you know, healthy and depending on where I am, rather thin. Here I am seriously HOOOOOGE! Sigh. And…
Tumblr is a no go →
But blogger & blogspot is working fine! Google and the government must have had a little conversation about such matters. So I am currently in the PRC—Shenzhen (the first of China’s special economic…
March 2008
30 posts
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Beyond food and scooters
Well, I’ve done more than just eat and gawk at scooters. I also visited the National Palace Museum, did a hike up a local mountain, rode around on the sweet MRT, and window-shopped in the mall beneath Taipei 101. So basically every major brand (especially Moschino! Asians love the Moschino!) has a boutique here—except Marc Jacobs. That ain’t bad considering I just arrived Friday...
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Observations and such
On Taiwan: Gosh. There are a lot of asians. And scooters. And asians riding scooters crazily. Also, the traffic lights stay on go/stop for a long time (70 seconds!). Air quality is pretty dodgy, as expected. Local fruits, the likes of which none of us have ever seen, are very tasty. Taipei subways are very nice. Din Tai Fung’s xiao long bao are yummy. People are sort of stylish; sort of not....
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Free internet at YVR
Goody. The international terminal at YVR has free internet (and a duty free Hermes store, incidentally). This means scrabbling before my 2am flight to Taipei. See you soon… from the FUTURE! Hee.
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Foodies rejoice in West Coast
For Asian food lovers, Vancouver is an absolute gold mine of good eats. My favourites here have been the Japanese style izakayas. These are drinking salons which also offer a wide array of small eats to accompany the booze. Since I’ve been here, I’ve already gone to three different izakayas: Guu, Hapa Izakaya, Shiru-Bay (my favourite of the three). Chicago could definitely use one of...