August 31, 2008
[51] Happy 51st Merdeka/Independence Day, Malaysia! @ 00:21
August 30, 2008
[pussy humor] At Meridian Hill Park for Saturgays a week ago:
L'David:: You're allergic to cats aren't you?
Me:: Yup
L'David:: Pussy allergic to pussy
Both of us:: LOL!
L'David:: Do you have cats in Malaysia? [pause] Der, of course not. You eat them all.
Rude! :-D
And at the same venue...
Me:: You're a tranny
Claire:: Do you want to see my dick?
Aww, I *heart* my two minoritrannies -- L'David and Claire! @ 22:12
[more olympic humor] At Cobalt 80s night:
Friend:: Where have you been?
Me:: [drunk] I was in the Olympics
Friend:: You were *in* the Olympics??
Me:: I meant "at" the Olympics... I would only be "in" it if Bottoming was an Olympic sport
Friend:: And China would get another gold medal
LOL! @ 22:06
[y'all look alike] Since I have been asked like a billion times now by countless people how were the Olympics, I am retaliating by asking them back if they saw me on TV. Like, literally, *every*one wants to know if I went to the Opening Ceremonies (no), if I saw Michael Phelps (yes), if Beijing was polluted (no), and if the Chinese gymnasts are underaged (no, and no they're not my sisters). I have been recounting the same Beijing/China story over and over like almost a hundred times now. Totes ridick.
I can't remember who but somebody from JR's looked at me when I asked him if he saw me on TV and he was like...
"Gurl, no. You look like everyone else there."
Mmm-hmm, serves me right. @ 22:00
[1 billion] My co-workers and I were making our way through GWU in a car to get to Red, Hot and Blue in NoVA for a delicious birthday BBQ lunch...
Me:: Look, Mitchell Hall... Where's Kiat Hall?
Co-worker:: Isn't that McDonald's? Over 1 billion served...
Hrmph. Bee-yotches, all of them. @ 21:54
August 28, 2008
[we love bill] Wow. Bill Clinton's speech last night was nothing short of electric and showed why he is the only Democrat to have won two post-war terms in the White House.
What an amazing speech.
Last night, Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she is going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us. Actually, that makes 18 million of us... because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.
Our nation is in trouble on two fronts. The American dream is under siege at home, and America's leadership in the world has been weakened... the job of the next president is to rebuild the American dream and to restore American leadership in the world. And here's what I have to say about that. Everything I learned in my eight years as president, and in the work I have done since in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job.
The long, hard primary tested and strengthened him. And in his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park. And so, my fellow Democrats, I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore American leadership in the world. Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.
Most important of all, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are first strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.
"...more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power". I thought that was *the* most powerful quote of the night. Beautiful stuff.
And then he launches into a blistering attack of Republicunt policies.
In this decade, American workers have consistently given us rising productivity. That means, year after year, they work harder and produce more. Now, what did they get in return? Declining wages, less than one-fourth as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty, and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage.
What about the military families pushed to the breaking point by multiple, multiple deployments? What about the assault on science and the defense of torture? What about the war on unions and the unlimited favors for the well-connected? And what about Katrina and cronyism?
My fellow Democrats, America can do better than that. And Barack Obama will do better than that.
At this point, the audience chants "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!" over and over, and Bill deadpans: "Yes, he can, but, first, we have to elect him."
ROTFL! I love Bill.
He continues skewering the Republicunts.
...on the two great questions of this election -- how to rebuild the American dream and how to restore America's leadership in the world -- [McCain] still embraces the extreme philosophy that has defined his party for more than 25 years.
And it is, to be fair to all the Americans who aren't as hard- core Democrats as we, it's a philosophy the American people never actually had a chance to see in action fully until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and the Congress.
Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades actually were implemented. And look what happened.
They took us from record surpluses to an exploding debt; from over 22 million new jobs to just 5 million; from increasing working families' incomes to nearly $7,500 a year to a decline of more than $2,000 a year; from almost 8 million Americans lifted out of poverty to more than 5.5 million driven into poverty; and millions more losing their health insurance.
Now, in spite of all this evidence, their candidate is actually promising more of the same. Think about it: more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy; more Band-Aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families, and increase the number of uninsured; more going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.
They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more.
Now, let's send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America, a simple message: Thanks, but no thanks.
In this case, the third time is not the charm.
Awesome!!! He ends with...
My fellow Democrats, 16 years ago, you gave me the profound honor to lead our party to victory and to lead our nation to a new era of peace and broadly shared prosperity.
Together, we prevailed in a hard campaign in which Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief.
Sound familiar?
It didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history. And it will not work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.
Barack Obama will lead us away from the division and fear of the last eight years back to unity and hope.
So if, like me, you believe America must always be a place called Hope, then join Hillary and Chelsea and me in making Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
Trust me when I say you really need to spend 20+ minutes of your time watching the speech to truly appreciate how good it was.
Pure genius! And tonight, the whole nation waits for Obama... @ 10:37
August 27, 2008
[first black president?] Four years ago, Mr Obama became a member of the United States Senate after serving seven years as an Illinois state senator. Today, at 4:47pm MDT (6:47pm EDT), 47-yo Senator Barack Obama -- son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya -- was declared the Democratic Party's nominee for President; the first African-American to do so for a major political party.
With these words by Senator Hillary Clinton, his fiercest opponent during the very long Democratic nomination process, history was made:
"With eyes firmly fixed on the future in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and country, lets declare together in one voice, right here and right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president. I move that Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be selected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States."
From WaPo:
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois completed an improbable and historic journey here Wednesday when he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for president, becoming the first African American to lead a major political party into a general-election campaign.
Obama, who just eight years ago attended his first Democratic National Convention and who four years later shot to national prominence with an electrifying keynote address at the gathering in Boston, was given a final symbolic boost Wednesday by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who moved from the convention floor to suspend the roll call of the states and formalize her former rival's nomination by acclamation.
From NYT:
Barack Hussein Obama, a freshman senator who defeated the first family of Democratic Party politics with a call for a fundamentally new course in politics, was nominated by his party on Wednesday to be the 44th president of the United States.
The unanimous vote made Mr. Obama the first African-American to become a major party nominee for president. It brought to an end an often-bitter two-year political struggle for the nomination with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who, standing on a packed convention floor electric with anticipation, moved to halt the roll call in progress so that the convention could nominate Mr. Obama by acclamation. That it did with a succession of loud roars, followed by a swirl of dancing, embracing, high-fiving and chants of "Yes, we can."
From USAT:
It was a scripted scenario, the outcome never in doubt. But when history arrived on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, it came with the full force of emotion.
After an especially long primary season, after private wrangling and public battle, the Democratic Party became the first major party to select an African-American nominee for president in the nation's history.
With a roar of approval and a sparkle of flashing cameras, the convention's delegates nominated by acclamation Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who just four years ago electrified the Democratic convention with a speech where he first called for "a politics of hope." That message carried him in this election season to the top of his party's ticket.
Obama for President! @ 21:23
[no way, no how, no mccain] Last night while Llew and I were waiting at JR's for the witching hour before stumbling up the street to 80s night at Cobalt, we caught Hillary Clinton's "look at me, I'm wearing orange, it's all about me, me, me, me!" speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver's Pepsi Center.
Granted, we were a wee bit tipsy after 1 1/2 glasses of wine each at Logan Tavern for dinner and a little exhausted after having woken up at 7:30am (for my citizenship interview!), but her speech wow-ed me to the point where I yearned again for a female president. Absolutely brilliant stuff.
The NYT has a really cool interactive video and transcript of Senator Clinton's speech last night, check it out.
It was a sweeping speech that emphasized unity while arguing passionately for her supporters to throw their full support behind Barack Obama, and excoriating the Bush Administration and John McCain all at once. Her soaring "this is not about me, it's about us" speech was nothing less than historic for women all across the nation on this day, 88 years to the day when the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote was enshrined in the US constitution. She brought the house down when she appeared onstage in a jaw-dropping orange pantsuit to uproarious applause that lasted for minutes, and in the end she left the crowd drooling for another Clinton Presidency.
The speech hit its highest points when -- after attacking's the past 8 years of "failed leadership" -- she said "no way, no how, no McCain" (*loved* it!), and when she gave a shout out to all her supporters by referring to them as the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits", LOL! Priceless. I also loved it when she said that government must be about "We the people" not "We the favored few". She also gave a great big nod the the Clinton years:
"And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he'll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, we did it before with President Clinton and the Democrats. And if we do our part, we'll do it again with President Obama and the Democrats."
Highlights of speeches from others in Denver:
"George Bush has put the middle class in a hole and John McCain has a plan to keep digging that hole with George Bushs shovel." -- IL Congressman Rahm Emmanuel
"If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating, this administration would take the gold ... They want another four-year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our childrens inheritance and hollow out our economy." -- OH Congressman Dennis Kucinich
"Im sure you remember a girl from Kansas who said theres no place like home. Well, in John McCains version, theres no place like home. And a home. And home. And home." -- KS Governor Kathleen Sebelius
"If [McCain] is the answer, then the question must be ridiculous." -- NY Governor David Paterson
"...not four more years, but four more months." -- PA Senator Robert Casey Jr.
Hillary's speech comes 11 weeks before the Presidential Election of 2008. It is *THE* most important election of our lifetimes. Even if the outcome of your state's election is no longer in doubt...
...VOTE! @ 11:04
August 26, 2008
[approved] It's my favorite word in the world and after 2 years and 2 months of waiting, including a tale of my expired fingerprints (yup, my fingers change every two years *eyes rolling*), I finally went for my citizenship interview in Merrifield...
...at 8:40am! *faints*
Needless to say, I was a lil' hungover and very groggy (with 5 1/2 hours of sleep) when I got there -- and late even -- and was quite relieved to learn that the entire process took only 15 minutes. Shocking, I know. The wait itself in the all-Hispanic waiting room packed with Spanish-speaking people was all of 10 minutes. I was one of like 3 or 4 Asians in the room. No white people. The interview went super quick and before long, I had this in my hands:
The "tests of English and U.S. history and government" consisted of reading and writing exercises with this sentence -- "I drive a blue car". Two thoughts went through my head. (1) WTF? A 3yo could read/write that, and (2) How did they know?? She laughed at me when I told her I actually do drive a blue car (and drove it to the interview) and wondered how the USCIS knew about my car. Purely coincidental, she assured me. Mmm-hmm, not in this Patriot Act era.
Because the interview itself went so fast, I didn't even realize it when the 10 questions (of which you have to get 6 right) portion of the interview commenced. First question: What are the colors of the stars in the US flag? I was this close to saying yellow (that's the color of the stars in the Malaysian flag which is oddly similar to the US flag) before I thought about it a lil' bit more in my hazy state of mind and said white. The other questions were brain-dead: How many US Senators, who becomes President when the President dies, what are the three branches of gov't, what year was the Bill of Rights introduced (ooo, tricky), etc. I got the first 6 right at which point the Q&A session stopped. Boo. I wanted to answer more, and tackle the challenging ones!
I almost wished they had asked me who the President is coz I would've said Al Gore (or Barack Obama)! *giggle*
Anyways, very quick, painless and easy... I am one swearing-in ceremony away from holding a US passport.
Woohoo. Yes, can you tell I'm thrilled beyond belief? I'm actually quite blase about the whole thing. It really doesn't make a difference to me whether I become a US citizen or not. But it's now almost my 12th year here and I was like, why the hell not.
The only benefit I see -- besides voting in a state that doesn't really matter in the Presidential elections anyway -- is a US passport which will mean that I don't have to apply for a Japanese visa among others. On the flipside though, the cost of obtaining all sorts of visas will increase dramatically compared to my Malaysian passport. Hmm, maybe I need to learn how to use both strategically :-D
Anyho... long day ahead as it's Llew's last full day in town! @ 10:03
August 24, 2008
[golden gay] On the penultimate day of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, 20-yo Australian diver Matthew Mitcham made history by being the first out gay male gold medallist in the history of the Olympics and, at the same time, denying the Chinese of a historic sweep of all the diving gold medals.
From Reuters' "The greatest dive in Olympic history":
The Water Cube was almost silent as a slight blonde man who two years earlier was not even diving leapt off the ten metre platform, twisted and somersaulted through the air and slid into the water with just the slightest of splashes.
Matthew Mitcham resurfaced to an explosion of applause and as the judges scores came up his smile of delight dissolved into tears of disbelief.
He had snatched a medal gold from the Chinese favourites with just one, perfect dive.
For the next hour the Australian looked how I always imagined Olympic gold medalists should overwhelmed with disbelief and delight.
In some ways it was incredible Mitcham was even in Beijing, much less topping the podium. He had battled depression and burnout, retired and come back before he turned twenty. And shortly before he came to Beijing he went public about his sexuality, the only openly gay male athlete at the Olympics.
I felt sorry for the Chinese diver who came second. But after watching his team mates take the other seven medals, some apparently more relieved to have done their duty than excited about the result, it was an unforgettable upset.
Matthew Mitcham is the first Australian male to win an Olympic gold medal in diving in 84 years. He also received the highest single-dive score in Olympic history with his stunning sixth and final dive in the 10m Platform event. After trailing by 34 points leading into the final round, Mathew amassed four perfect 10s en route to a whopping 112.10 points on his last dive -- a back 2 1/2 somersault with 2 1/2 twists -- to pull off a stunning upset when the China's Zhou Luxin faltered in his last dive. In the end, Matthew defeated Zhou by a razor-thin 4.8 points (537.95 vs 533.15).
Matthew Mitcham dives for gold
His same-sex partner, Lachlan Fletcher, was by his side the entire time.
Matthew is one of 11 out athletes at these Olympics and the only gay male athlete in Beijing; out of 11,028 athletes from 204 countries. Shocking. Greg Louganis won four gold medals and a silver and he is gay but he only came out after he had retired from the sport. So, Matthew's achievement is nothing less than historic as an out and proud gay man at the Olympics.
There have been other gay Olympic medallists -- double gold medallist Camilla Andersen (Denmark, handball) and Gigi Fernandez (USA, tennis), American cyclist Robert Dover who won four bronze medals and Sheryl Swoopes who won three gold medals in basketball.
But Matthew Mitchan is as gay as gold... and he's cute to boot!
From Gay City News of NYC:
"Mitcham's reaction to the victory was an iconic gay moment. Eschewing any signs of macho stoicism, he let loose a torrent of tears, ran into the stands, and kissed Fletcher. Still giddy with joy at the news conference, he hugged the Herald journalist who wrote the story confirming he is gay. The post-victory pictures of Mitcham in his Speedos with his frumpy mom and his lover present a mix of perfectionism and unabashed ordinariness. Mitcham murmurs; he isn't handsome, just goofy."
Cheers queers :-) @ 11:23
August 23, 2008
[underaged sistahs] Chuck just IM-ed me on Facebook...
Chuck:: what are you doing? are you going to have to go back to beijing to testify that your sister is really 16?
ROTFLMAO! I just crapped a panda laughing. @ 11:47
August 20, 2008
[see the world, visit london] As the Beijing 2008 Games draws to a close with only 4 days left of competition, London 2012 is gearing up for an 8-minute handover ceremony (with David Beckham and Michael Phelps!) at the Closing Ceremonies this Sunday with an awesome advertizing campaign designed to celebrate the (undisputed, if I may add) global status of the British capital.
Check it out:
Globe shows the Thames snaking across the earth
Explosive uses fireworks to represent the capital's festivals
Rhythm uses a microphone to highlight the thriving music scene
27 July, 2012 seems far away -- 1437 days to go! -- but so did Beijing 2008.
The Bird's Nest, Water Cube and Tiananmen Square were awesome, and soon we will be greeted with Wembley, Wimbledon and Trafalgar Square! London 2012 is gonna be awesome!! @ 11:58
August 18, 2008
[one world, one dream] From UPI:
The Olympic Games often have been the butt of bitter cynics, who snarl that they do not change human nature or resolve the underlying conflicts of shortage, hunger, hate, fear and war that plague the human race -- as if they or anything else could do all that.
But the Olympics do fulfill their primary function of celebrating the best in human athletic achievement and displaying the aspiration of the human family at its most inspiring and hopeful -- in peace and unity, with its finest young athletes hosted in hospitality and generosity.
China and its people have been upholding and fulfilling all those admirable ideals in this 29th Olympiad of the modern era. Let us cheer them for doing so.
The Olympics first and foremost are about sports -- international sports. The Olympics, by bringing the athletes of the world together, are, therefore, instrumental at promoting understanding between cultures. But most of all, the Olympics allow countries -- big or small, rich or poor -- to compete in a stadium, instead of a battlefield, and on a level playing field with each and every athlete given the chance of seeing his/her national flag hoisted on the world's stage and his/her national anthem played in front of an audience of billions in what is the biggest international sporting event in mankind's history.
There will be time after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to talk about China-related issues from Tibet to Taiwan and everything in between. More importantly, there *should* be a time after the Olympics to focus international outrage against Russia for invading Georgia, the US for invading Iraq, and all wars in general.
The Olympic ideal shone at its brightest when Nino Salukvadze (Georgian bronze medallist) and Natalia Paderina (Russian silver medallist) embraced on the medal podium despite the fact that their countries are at war and their people are dying and suffering. They were friends before the tanks, missiles and bombs, before the killing and carnage.
"If the world were to draw any lesson from what I did, there would never be any wars. We live in the 21st century after all and in the 21st century we shouldn't really stoop so low as to wage wars against one other. There should be no hatred amongst athletes, and there should be no hatred among people, either." -- Nino Salukvadze
For now, the spotlight should be on the athletes. Let them compete, and let us bask in the glory of their achievements.
One World, One Dream. @ 11:48
[where were you...] ...when 23yo Michael Phelps from Baltimore (our neighbor!) won his historic 8th gold medal of these Beijing 2008 Olympic Games?
Tony and I watched it all begin on Day 3 of the Olympics -- Sunday, 10 Aug -- live at the Water Cube, where President Bush (gag) was also in the audience, when Michael Phelps started his record run of 8 gold medals by winning his first -- the 400m Individual Medley. It was an ecstatic win, though lacking in the drama of his most recent races which have varied from competitive (4x100m Medleay Relay) to screamingly-close (4x100m Freestyle Relay) to I-think-he-lost-but-OMB!!!-he-won-by-a-fingernail photo-finish (100m Butterfly).
This past Saturday night (Sunday morning in Beijing -- Day 10 of the Olympics), Blake and I arrived at an overflowingly packed Nellie's (around 11pm) just in time to watch Phelps swim his butterfly leg of the 4x100m Medley Relay and lifted the US team from 3rd place to 1st just in time for power-freestyler Jason Lezak to outtouch the Aussies at the end of the race in world record time, thus sealing Michael Phelps place in history as the Olympian with the most gold medals in a single games AND the Olympian with the most gold medals, EVER. With 14, he has won 5 more golds than any other Olympian in history. Amazing.
It shouldn't have been a competitive race -- the US has won this race every time it's entered the event since 1960 -- but before Phelps got into the pool, there were lots of worried faces in the crowd of mostly gay boys (and a smattering of straight by-passers who were watching from the sidewalks). Nonetheless, we all erupted when Phelps jumped into the pool for the third leg and brought the US back from 3rd place, and practically brought the place down when the US team won, joining in spontaneous chants of "USA! USA! uSA!" -- how butch right? I wonder if I can use that to bolster my citizenship interview next week, hmm...
On the same day that the Phelps-tastic phenomenon happened, China boosted its gold medal tally to a record 35, surpassing their haul of 32 in Athens four years ago and setting the proud nation up for an unprecendented top place finish in the medal tally (the US has been on top of both gold medal and total medal counts for the past three Olympics).
And we have only just passed the halfway mark of these Beijing 2008 Olympics (165 golds have been handed out, 135 more to go).
Nonetheless -- 9 days, 8 gold medals, 7 world records... Phelps is immortal. What an extraordinary chapter in Olympic history.
And to celebrate, Blake and I waltzed into Town for Madonna's 50th birthday celebration! All-Madonna, all-night. Even Phelpsmania couldn't match that :-D @ 06:25
August 15, 2008
[17!] Did you guys see the live shots of Tiananmen Square and the Olympic Green last night (Friday morning in Beijing)?? Blue skies, cloudless and crystal clear! Shocking.
We weren't so lucky during our time in Beijing. Officially, the Air Pollution Index was:
AUG 06 -- 85 (we landed in Beijing and it was choking with haze)
AUG 07 -- 95 (our first full day in Beijing -- awful!)
AUG 08 -- 94 (Opening Ceremony -- oppressive)
AUG 09 -- 78 (better... we were outdoors for 4 hours for beach v'ball)
AUG 10 -- 82 (the rains came... poor visibility)
AUG 11 -- 37 (fantastic picture day! we departed today, pout)
AUG 12 -- 32
AUG 13 -- 60
AUG 14 -- 61
AUG 15 -- 17 (!! amazing...)
AUG 16 -- 23
As you can see from the above, we only had one picture-perfect day during our time in Beijing and that was on our departure day (this past Monday). The pictures we took from Tiananmen Square and the Olympic Green that morning (before diving) were near-perfect. The ones from the night before (10th) were not bad either after the rains had washed a lot of the heat and humidity (and pollution?) away.
Bird's Nest (and the Olympic Flame!) from the rainy night of the 10th
Beijing 2008 @ Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen on the morning of the 11th
Yea, yea I did more jump shots :-p Peer pressure, LOL!
For the most part though, we couldn't really take pictures because you could barely see the buildings across the street, much less the skyscrapers that seem to disappear into the smog/haze.
But the pictures from Beijing on NBC today these past few days... WOW. The first half of the Olympics is coming to an end. Phelps swims for history tomorrow. Woo! @ 23:10
[0.01s!!!] OMB, watching Michael Phelps come from second-to-last at the 50m turn, to beat the Serbian guy (who was first at the turn) by 0.01 seconds for the 100m Butterfly pretty much took all the voice out of me.
He won by ONE ONE-HUNDREDTH of a second!!! That is like the skin off your finger. For a few seconds there, I was like, "there's NO way he's gonna be able to catch up from second last to gold medal."
But WHAT an INCREDIBLE finish!!!
Amazing. He has now tied Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven goal medals at a single Olympics.
One thing though... he *only* won in Olympic Record time... not World Record time...
Pfffttt... He is Phelp-tastic!!! @ 22:27
[o-lee-mpics] I was so wrapped up in the women's Gymnastics Individual All-Around final last night (USA! USA! USA!) that I totes overlooked the fact that a Malaysian shuttler is now in the finals of the Men's Badminton Singles event and will be guaranteed at least a silver medal! Our fourth ever! (I know, how pathetic)
This Sunday at around 9pm Beijing time (9am EDT), the 28 million or so Malaysians will be holding their collective breath as LEE Chong Wei battles LIN Dan of China for what-may-be Malaysia's first ever gold medal at the Olympics. The sport of Badminton has historically been dominated by China, Indonesia and South Korea who have won every single Olympic gold medal (except for one -- Denmark in 1996) in this sport since its inception in 1992.
If Chong Wei wins Malaysia's first ever gold medal, he will become an instant sports millionaire in Malaysia, where the prize money for an Olympic gold is RM1 million (about US$300k), a silver is worth RM300,000 (US$90k) and a bronze is worth RM100,000 (US$30k). Even with that incentive, Malaysia has only ever won 3 medals in the Olympics -- 1 silver and 2 bronzes -- and not one in Sydney 2000 or Athens 2004. It has been 12 long years.
Malaysia first participated at the Olympic Games in Melbourne 1956 (as Malaya in 1956 and 1960, and Malaysia thereafter) and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then except for the US-led boycott of Moscow 1980. Malaysia has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games (der). In all those years, the Malaysian national anthem ("Negaraku" or "My Country") has never been played at an Olympic venue.
South-East Asia has never been a sports powerhouse. Only Thailand and Indonesia have ever won Olympic gold medals; the former has won 6 in boxing and weightlifting and the latter has won 5, all of them in badminton. North Asia has always been far better at sports -- I mean, com'on, even Mongohria has just won their first ever gold medal!
The hopes of a nation now rests on one man. @ 11:06
August 14, 2008
[bronzed 6-pack] Presenting, the bronze-medal winning US Olympic Men's Gymnastic team at these Beijing 2008 Olympics... flexing shirtless! *drool*
[L to R] Alexander Artemev, Raj Bhavsar, Justin Spring, Jonathan Horton, Kevin Tan and Joseph Hagerty... Russian, Indian, Asian... a pretty diverse team, won'cha say?
*puddle* @ 23:50
[unbelievable] 6 golds out of 6, with 6 world records.
Michael Phelps pretty much demolished the competition in the 200m Individual Medley, beating them all by almost 1 1/2 *seconds* en route to lowering his own world record in this event by more than half a second.
He now has 26 individual world records which ties Mark Spitz's all-time record. And he has also matched his gold medal haul at Athens 2004 with two more events to go -- 100m Butterfly tomorrow and 4x100m Medley Relay the day after.
This is overall gold #12 for him -- 6 in Athens and 6 here in Beijing.
Impressive. Historic. And just ridiculous.
Simply unbelievable.
And USA itself has won all three gold medals at the pool so far today, together with 1 silver and 1 bronze. 5 medals in 3 events for Team USA. The Star Spangled Banner will play three times in the Water Cube today.
USA! USA! USA! Haha, I'm bipolar... @ 23:05
[i ♥ asia] It's always interesting for me to go to a country (or place) whereby I am part of the majority race (Chinese) or the majority ethnicity (East Asia).
Having lived my entire life in Malaysia and the US as a minority -- either racially or ethnically or both -- I am always intrigued by the idea of living somewhere where I naturally fit in, instead of having to adapt/assimilate like I do here. Let's face it, the latter is far harder than the former.
So it is interesting to note that, in my lifetime and now that my US citizenship is on its way, the US will become a minority-majority country by 2042. That is 17 years sooner that was projected 8 years ago.
Overall, the population of the United States (2008 = 302mn) is projected to reach 400mn in 2039 and 439mn by 2050. The population of the US will look dramatically different by the mid-21st-century, becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, and older.
Minority children (below 18) are projected to reach majority status even sooner -- in 15 years' time. By 2050, minorities will account for 54% of US residents and the proportion of minority children will be almost two-thirds (62%).
Hispanics are projected to nearly triple from 46.7mn (15%) to 132.8mn (30%) from 2008 through 2050. Blacks are projected to increase slightly (percentage-wise) from 41.1mn (14%) to 65.7mn (15%) by 2050, and the Asian-American population is expected to also nearly triple from 15.5mn (5.1%) to 40.6mn (9.2%).
Whites, on the other hand, are expected to go from 199.8mn (66%) to 203.3mn (46%) by 2050. All told, the population of Hispanic, Blacks, Asians, American Indians, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites.
And the population will be grayer too -- by 2050, the 65> age group will increase from 38.7mn to 88.5mn, and the 85> age group will triple from 5.4mn to 19mn. The number of foreign-born Americans (i.e. me!), now about 12%, could surpass the 1910 historic high of nearly 15% by about 2025 and may approach 20% in 2050.
I miss Asia. I wanna go back. I miss my daddy and mommy. I miss Chinese food. Sigh.
And Asia is rising! After 5 days of competition, Asian countries -- led by the gold and overall medal leader China (22-8-5) -- have won 37 of the 85 gold medals (44%) so far. China dominates at the top with 22 golds vs the USA's 10. South Korea, Italy and Germany are third with 6 each.
Awesome. @ 11:31
[china vs usa] BTDubs, I am totes loving NBC's primetime coverage of the Olympics so far! Watching swimming and gymnastics live -- though, why are two of the Olympics' premiere events going on simultaneously?? -- is totes fun!
Watching Phelps win two golds within an hour live from Beijing two nights ago and cementing his status as the greatest Olympian of all time was awesome. So was the 100m Freestyle race last night, though I think the French guy (Bernard) is a little too arrogant for my taste, and arrogance at the Olympics is just plain rude (um, Dream Team anyone?). I was rooting for the Aussie (Eamon) coz, well, he's also cuter ;-)
It was also totes fun -- though, lacking in suspense -- to watch China win their first ever gold in Women's Team Gymnastics two nights ago and watching Yang Wei finally win the men's all-around title last night after years of disappointment in the event. China is 3 for 3 in Gymnastics, just as they have gone 4 for 4 in Diving. Impressive.
Best yet, China now has more medals than the US (35 vs 34) and more than twice as many golds (22 vs 10).
Hmm, why do I find myself rooting for China instead of the US? I'm actually rooting for both, especially since most of the events that China are good at (Badminton, Diving, Gymnastics, Table-Tennis, Weightlifting etc.) the US are not and vice-versa (Athletics, Swimming, etc.). But when they go head-to-head, I find myself leaning towards China.
It's especially ironic since I am *finally* going for my citizenship intervew in two weeks' time! I know, can you believe they finally processed my application, 26 months later?? @ 09:12
[slanty eyes is funny, si?] So what did you guys think of this "Me Spanish, Me Play Joke, Me Slant Eyes Like Chinese Folk" ad by the Spanish Olympic Basketball team for Seur?
Lots of people are pissed (including the IOC), and the team has apologized to "anyone [that] feels offended by it". Hmm...
Frankly, I thought it was funny though a little over the line (haha, who am I to judge). They've maintained that it was meant as a joke and have apologized. So we should all move on...
But seriously, some of the team members claim that they only took part after Seur's representatives (who are paying their bill) pressured them. They also said they didn't feel comfortable doing it and that it was a little clownish and a bad idea.
Umm, Confucius says: "If you think it's wrong, don't do it!"
Der.
p.s. Yes, it's before 9am and I'm at work. I'm still on China time :-p @ 08:50
August 12, 2008
[olympic legend] He did it! The stuff of Olympic legends.
We watched Michael Phelps at the Water Cube three days ago (Aug 10) begin his quest for 8 gold medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympics when he won the first swimming gold of these Games by smashing the world record en route to winning the 400m Individual Medley.
We were at diving when USA delivered Phelps' sweetest gold so far -- gold #2 -- in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay, defeating France by 0.08 seconds and slicing FOUR seconds off of the world record. Unbelievable.
While we were on the plane home, Phelps made it 3 out of 3 when he won the 200m Freestyle in world record time as well, lowering it by 0.9 (!) seconds.
And just a few moments ago, live from Beijing on NBC, he has now become the greatest Olympic champion of all time by winning the 200m Butterfly in the Water Cube in yet another world record time (the 25th of his career) of 1:52.03, slicing 0.06 seconds off of his world record set last year.
No person has ever won ten gold medals before, and Phelps has just made history by winning his 10th gold medal. Before today, Phelps shared the honor of most gold medals (9) with four other people -- Americans Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz, Finnish middle distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Russian gymnast (also the only female) Larissa Latynina who also owns the record for the most Olympic medals (18 -- 9G, 5S, 4B).
He now has less than an hour before his next race -- the 4x200m Freestyle Relay -- his fifth of these Olympics. Can he make it 5 golds out of 5, and his 11th career gold medal? All of them in world record time?
Awesome stuff! *squeals*
Day 5 of these Olympics just began in Beijing. I am watching it live for the first time from my couch. It is SO not the same as being there, sigh... @ 22:29
[olympic green] One cannot say enough about the architectural brilliance of the Beijing 2008 venues on the Olympic Green.
No matter how many times you've seen them, the spectacular stadiums that line the all-important north-south axis on the Olympic Green -- which stretches from the Temple of Heaven to the Forbidden City and up to the Olympic Green -- are truly breathtaking and awe-inspiring.
The Bird's Nest is at the top, with its ginormous lattice of interwoven steel beams that seem to bend effortlessly in the air like ribbons to form the outer shell of this magnificent piece of stadium art. Its shape is unique and ever-changing as one circumnavigates the stadium. The Water Cube comes in a close second with its bulbous blue surface that, when viewed from the sky, resembles a gigantic swimming pool. And then there are the undulating and sweeping roofs of the National Indoor Stadium and the Convention Centre.
And at night, these venues light up in gorgeous colors that make them look completely different and vibrant. The Water Cube takes top prize for the playful sequence of blue, red, purple, green, yellow lights that illuminate its surface; the colors are sometimes solid, sometimes interspersed with others, and at its best, creating a wave effect of multiple hues that splashes across its surface from left to right and top to bottom. Impossible to describe, but truly magnificent. A light display unlike any other.
The Bird's Nest, on the other hand, glows with a fiery lucky red and a bold imperial yellow at night that causes all to gawk at its rich colors. The hard twisted steel beams that seem to look ominous in the constant gray of Beijing's polluted daytime, turn powerful and exudes immense energy when lit from within at night. I just stood there and gazed at it in awe every single time and wondered aloud to myself over and over, "how did they do it?". That's the mark of brilliant architecture.
We had the privilege of visiting the Olympic Green four times in the past three days -- twice at dusk (for gymnastics) and twice during the day (swimming and diving). It took many attempts to master the art of getting through the security fence that ringed the entire Olympic Green.
One attempt that we made took us by taxi to the Water Cube entrance thinking that that would be the fastest way (and so not cheap), but that ended up in a miserable failure when it started raining (the security areas are tented but the approaching lines are exposed) and there were just not enough metal detectors to process the first swimming finals day of these Olympics. It took us almost 45 minutes to get through security and barely made it to our seats when Michael Phelps walked out to compete for (and win) his first gold medal of these Beijing 2008 games.
We finally realized it was easiest and fastest to subway or cab to Beitucheng -- where Lines 8 and 10 intersect and also the closest unsecured subway station to the Olympic Green -- and go through security there. They had massive tents with magnitudes more metal detectors and volunteers to aid with the security flow process at the subway interchange. Even so, the process defies logic (well, mine at least). One approaches Beitucheng on Line 10 and they then force everyone out of the subway station and into the security tents outside before forcing everyone back into the same subway station to take Olympic Line 8 to the Olympic Green, effectively slicing the same subway station in half with barriers. Kwazy.
Once on Line 8, you cannot stop at the Olympic Sports Center. You can walk there from Beitucheng but if you want to take Line 8, you *must* get off at the Olympic Green. Even there, you are forced to exit through specific exits and escalators and take a circuitous route if you want to get back into the subway station. I guess it's all in the name of crowd control and security but man, it was onerous!
If you think that sounds like a lot of walking, well it is. All that is compounded by the fact that the Olympic Green -- with its immense pedestrianized boulevards filled with dancing fountains and jaw-dropping views of the surrounding stadiums -- is built on such a massive scale that it resembles Tiananmen Square. The latter is ringed by the oldest and most important landmarks in Beijing, while the former is ringed with Beijing's newest architectural miracles in the form of the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube.
Consequently, you are constantly walking (for miles) at the Olympic Green to get from one place to another. Very, very tiring. And hot. And humid. Drippingly so.
But as with T3 and perhaps Tiananmen Square, there is a certain lack of soul in the Olympic Green itself during the four times we went there. For one, security is so tight that if you're not a ticket-holder to one of the venues in the Olympic Green, you are kept out. Whatever happened to the Olympic spirit when people from all over the world co-mingle and learn about each other? I mean, they could've set up separate security lines for the ticketless common folk to walk in and enjoy all the festivities as well. But they didn't. I'm not sure what they're afraid of, really, if everyone was made to go through the metal detectors.
Because of that, even as the vendors and sponsors tried really hard to create an Olympic atmosphere around the Olympic Green venues, it almost all seems hollow coz everyone was in a hurry to get to their events (as a result of onerous security) and no one lingered long enough to create the street festival-like party atmosphere that should be part of the Olympic Games. Where else will so many people from so many different cultures and nationalities gather in the name of peace and sports on a level playing field?
Bird's Nest, Water Cube, T3... they all exemplify a forward-looking and futuristic Beijing. The architecture is astounding and unmatched. Yet, at the end of the day they are just monuments for they are only as good as the people who come to them, enjoy them and give them the soul that they are sorely lacking at these Games. @ 13:28 CDT
[beijing's t3] I have now killed almost 90 minutes in the air, and I am contemplating sleeping again... after my lovely mid-flight noodle snack! *giggles and oinks*.
So... remember all the superlatives about Beijing Capital International Airport's brand new, largest in the world Terminal 3? So yea, they are overhyped. Totes. Biggest? Yes... Most amazing? Decidedly not.
Don't get me wrong, the airport is as huge as it is impressive. It will stun you the moment you see it. The width of it all (785m/2575ft) almost escapes your peripheral vision when you are curbside, much less walk into its cavernous departure hall featuring 292 check-in counters (!). It's built almost exactly like HKIA, but on a far grander scale. The length of it all (3.25km/2.02mi) is almost unimaginable. The train that took us from the check-in area to the international terminal (T3E) just kept going and going. The distances are so great it's almost impossible to comprehend.
As with almost everything in Beijing, the airport was built to overwhelm you in an Imperial sense. Gigantic red-painted columns prop up the soaring and sweeping dragon-like roof covered in imperial red (domestic side) and yellow (international side) greets you upon arrival and all but exudes power over the common person. On a very grand scale. Just like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. It makes you want to submit (mmm, my fav *grin*) to the place and the people who built it.
OK, wow... the sun is rising in the horizon as we fly into the sun over Fairbanks, crossing the vast northern part of Canada as we head into Chicago. The rainbow hues start from the horizon and sprawl across the entire sky. Gorgeous!
Back to T3... Zzzz...
Hmm, they fed us a turkey wrap thingie 2 hours before landing which is WAY early. Anyho, I slept another 3 hours or so and we're now 90 minutes from landing.
So, T3... Besides being overwhelmingly huge, the size of it is daunting to the average traveller. The distances you have to walk or travel by train from curbside to gate is far larger than anything I've ever encountered. I also think T3 pales in comparison to HK's similarly-designed T1. Whereas HKIA is a temple to retail and customer-friendliness (carts are everywhere, even outside restaurants!), Beijing's T3 is huge and empty with very little to do/buy/see and it lacks a certain hum or buzz to it. Granted, T3 is still new and it is so huge that it is under-utilized at the moment -- one of the three sections (T3D) has yet to open -- but I really do have to wonder if Beijing has what it takes to create a super-airport the likes of HK and Singapore's Changi. Already the Beijing Airport Express train thingie is light years behind HK's and that is gonna be very difficult to fix.
And why, pray tell, when T3 has 66 aerobridges did we have to get bused to our plane??
Yes it's gorgeous and yes it's huge, but a building's architectural magic (and a public one at that) will only be as magical as the people who run it and use it on a daily basis. Imperial awe aside, if judged on that basis alone, Beijing still has a long way to go.
It's still a beautiful building though... @ 12:51 CDT
[unforgettable] Perhaps it's the drugs or perhaps it's just the crash after the Olympic high or perhaps it's the realization that our 2 1/2-week tour of China is about to come to an end... but I'm feeling a little down right now for one or more of the reasons above.
Maybe I just don't realize it yet (or in this state) but this trip has been so exciting and totes memorable that the crash is a little harsh. Case in point, I didn't check my work e-mail once the entire time we were in China. Shocking. This trip was also pretty exhausting and if not for the electrifying Olympic atmosphere in Beijing these past week or so, I would've been burnt out. As it is, I'm still too tired to contemplate our groundbreaking trip this time around.
But I shall... Our trip to HK/China started out very memorably, though for all the wrong reasons. That 10-hour delay in Macau plus trying to get from HK to Shenzhen at 2:45am and then sleeping for only two hours before going to Lhasa was super annoying yet super fun and memorable. Strange how those things stick in your head.
Tibet was mystical and intriguing, and the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful (literally, at this altitude) in a way that the Roof of the World could only be. We had an awesome tour guide who gave us a full frontal view of Tibetan culture and history and modern day life. That learning experience was thoroughly enriching -- forcing me to reevaluate my views on the whole Tibet-China issue -- and will stick with me for a long time to come. And how could anyone forget the Potala, the Jokhang, the Barkhor... I was probably totes jet-lagged at that time, but Lhasa is such a fascinating place I almost cannot believe that we managed to find our way there and China allowed us to go in for a visit. And finally, I will never forget conquering high-altitude sickness with Diamox *giggle* and going to the highest places I've ever been to in my life -- Kamba La Pass at 4,794m (15,700ft!) above sea level at one point. Unforgettable.
Lijiang (and Yunnan) was a continuation of the breathtaking scenery which was a theme for the first 9 days of our trip. I will never forget waking up at the ultra-luxe Banyan Tree to the view of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain every morning. The mountains are every bit as beautiful as they are hyped up to be. I cannot imagine a more beautiful setting for a resort that is so over-the-top luxurious it's almost shameful. And I loved every second of it :-) Going to the peak on a cloudy, zero-visibility day was utterly forgettable, though taking the cable car up to almost 14,800ft was quite thrilling! From manmade beauty (Lijiang's Old Town) to natural beauty (Tiger Leaping Gorge) and having hot pot outside our villa under the starry night sky, I will forever remember the Chinese-paintings-like scenery in Yunnan that I had only previously seen on paper.
Speaking of food, I will thoroughly miss having rice/noodles/congee for breakfast every morning. I will giggle every time I think about Tony surviving all-Chinese-food-all-the-time all the way till the final lunch on Day 17 of our trip when he had to go get McD's at the Olympic Green while I feasted on noodles. Besides the outdoor hot pot experience, I will drool over the memory of Tibetan/Yunnan yak meals, wild Yunnan mushrooms, Hunan food, the virginal and sensational experience of Chongqing-style hot pot, Hangzhou cuisine, Peking Duck, Shanxi noodles, Shanghai-style soup dumplings, surprisingly good and very hot instant noodles/rice boxes at the Olympic Green, and lots and lots of Sichuan food everywhere we went -- from dan dan noodles street-hawker style in Chongqing to fiery hot and humbing stuff at the Sichuan Provincial HQ building in Beijing. I just made myself hungrier, LOL!
Hangzhou's West Lake was also impressive and unforgettable -- including the Impressions West Lake show which was directed by Zhang Yimou and provided a preview of the drama-packed Opening Ceremonies. The oppressive heat and humidity in Hangzhou was just as unforgettable as the stunning lake-views.
And finally, the climax of it all -- the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
From the super-fun Beach Volleyball venue to the edge-of-your-seat Artistic Gymnastics performances, and from exciting Swimming finals races to gasp-inducingly beautiful dives by the men's synchronized teams, we have had such an amazing Olympic experience and attending the Games that I am certain that these memories will last forever. And what else is there left to say about the one-time-only, best show on Earth that money can buy called the Opening Ceremonies to these Beijing 2008 Olympic Games?
I feel very, Very fortunate to have attended these Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Due to the cost and scarce availability of tickets, the Olympic Games have become a celebration for the rich instead of an enjoyment for the masses. It is sad but that is what happens when an event becomes so popular only the rich could afford it. That said, I had long dreamed of attending a summer games and going to Beijing to see the Olympics of my people was worth every penny and effort expended.
Besides the Olympics, we have had other memorables moments in Beijing as well -- staying in a hutong/courtyard hotel, partying 4 nights straight with local and DC friends throughout the weekend, seeing the monumental cores of old Beijing (Tiananmen Square) and the new Beijing (the Olympic Green), shopping and eating our way through Beijing...
This has been a trip of a lifetime indeed. I'm not sure how many more trips of a lifetime I will have or even how to conjure up those trips now that I am supremely jaded at a tender age of 31. But this one will stand out for years to come.
Until then, these memories will last forever. @ 21:23 in HK or 08:23 CDT
[UA896 HKG-ORD] We are about halfway through our 13h 54m flight today from Hong Kong to Chicago, cruising at about 33,000ft somewhere over Russia and approaching the International Date Line that narrowly separates the far western tip of Russia and the far eastern tip of Alaska (i.e. no polar route today). Once we cross that, we will gain a day and pretty much arrive the same time as when we left Hong Kong. Fascinating stuff.
I'm a little hungry right now even though we completely pigged out at the overpriced Maxim's at HKIA for a dim sum breakfast this morning (or, err.., yesterday afternoon DC time?) -- $50 for two! -- and then ate again onboard at takeoff about 6 hours ago. I have only slept about 5 hours so far and am feeling a little drugged but quite awake. I should force myself to sleep some more after this so that I won't be a walking zombie at O'Hare for our connection to DCA.
We were booked in our favorite seats 17A/B on the upper deck of this 747 but much to my surprise, my window seat is still as broken (footrest doesn't stay up) as it was when we took this same plane to HK (OK, to Macau and then to HK ;-p) 18 days ago. So we switched to 18H/J instead (yea, I know, can you believe the upper deck for a ex-HKG flight is not full??).
Shall I get noodles for a mid-flight snack? Hmm... oink, oink :-D @ 20:12 in HK or 07:12 CDT
[hk, still the best] I am writing this from the uber-efficient Hong Kong Airport Express from Kowloon to HK International Airport (HKIA). And all I cay say is, WOW.
To say that this system puts the one in Beijing to shame is an understatement (even if it is twice the price). One really has a new appreciation for how much Hong Kong works better than China, even as it is part of it, just by riding the rails.
First off, the ride is fast (24 mins!) and super smooth -- almost an extension of the flight. The availability of downtown check-in (yes, boarding passes and all) and not having to lug your bags -- in our case, one HUGE bag, one medium bag and a big box -- onto the train, off it, and then through a huge airport is just fantastically civilized. Finally, the train is clean, the seats are comfortable, the A/C is powerful -- a God-send in summer -- and we even managed to catch a train at midnight last night! The efficiency and comfort of it all is stunning.
And just to put an exclamation point to the fact that Hong Kong is still light years ahead of Beijing and Shanghai, HKIA is a model of efficiency and tourist-friendliness. English is written and spoken everywhere. As soon as you got to the baggage carousel, the bags are already there. Not to mention there are enough (English!) maps and brochures around to tell you everything you need to know about HK -- where/when they're showing the Olympics outdoors, where all the Olympic stores are, and what time the lights for the huge Olympic rings in Tsim Sha Tsui come on. Finding any of that information in Beijing (even though the venues and stores were everywhere) was impossible. It's a classic freedom-of-information democracy vs state-controlled communist country.
Our layover in Hong Kong is all of 12 hours this time around. Short, I know, but I had also planned it so that we would stay at the brand new W Hong Kong above Kowloon Station -- convenient, but not so much when the hotel is new and signs are non-existent -- in a room with views of the harbor.
Well, upon check-in at 12:30am all sleepy and hungry, we were given a harbor view room. Just not the harbor (Victoria) that everyone thinks of when checking into a fancy hotel in HK. Supremely disappointing to say the least, especially when the staff actually said, "oh, the lights are off that's why you can't see the harbor... plus we upgraded you so that you get a full harbor view". WTF? I have been to HK, like, a billion times and "tricking" me into a view that does not include the skyscrapers of Central is just pathetically condescending.
We ended up in a (not-so) "Fabulous" room that had a view of the Western Harbour Crossing (yuck) and the container port. To say that it was a hideous view would've been generous. Upgrade, my ass. To add insult to injury, I double-checked and, sure enough, I had specifically booked a "Spectacular" room to get a view of the International Commerce Centre (ICC) -- at 118-stories and 484m/1588ft, soon-to-be Hong Kong's tallest building -- and a partial view of the Hong Kong skyline itself... as advertized!
When the manager kept insisting that we were "upgraded", I challenged him to go check out the views to see for himself. That was before I snapped my fingers and stormed off in a huff, refusing his inadequate offer for a free limo ride to the airport. Um, exsqueeze me? The reason why we booked ourselves into a hotel above Kowloon Station is so that we can check-in downtown and ride the (much faster and cheaper) rails to the airport!
What an idiot. All's I can say is, "never again." When there are so many luxury accommodation choices in Hong Kong with far better views and less condescending staff, why bother with a place that doesn't care. Sad, too, coz the W HK is a beautiful and hip hotel with very, very nice rooms.
Anyho, we are pulling up to the Airport Station now. Lates! @ 10:42 Hong Kong
August 11, 2008
[香港 hong kong] Our 2 1/2 week tour of China, culminating with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, ends tonight when we arrive at our final destination in China -- Hong Kong.
In China alone, we have travelled a distance of 6,200 miles (shocking, isn't it?) -- or just about the distance between DC and Beijing -- criss-crossing this gigantic country that is the same size as the US, going from Shenzhen to Lhasa (Tibet) to Lijiang to Hangzhou to Beijing and, finally, Hong Kong.
As you all know by now, Hong Kong (popn 7mn) is one of the 6 Olympic cities in China outside of Beijing. 5 of the 6 are home to the football preliminaries and HK is home to the Equestrian events at these Beijing 2008 Games. In some sense and depending on who you ask, Beijing and Shanghai are trying to (or may have) eclipsed Hong Kong as China's gateway city and most sophisticated city. We have not been to Hong Kong in almost 3 years so we shall see :-)
We just got out of diving (amazing! hot boys! synchronized diving = happy hour diving i.e. 2 divers for the price of 1 *giggle*) and headed straight to the airport, arriving 2 1/2 hours before our flight. We went to THREE separate Beijing 2008 souvenir stores here in Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3 -- which, BTDubs, is HUGE and a little underwhelming -- and we have barely enough time to board the plane.
But for now, after 16 days, goodbye China! More from Hong Kong... @ 19:08 Beijing
[跳水 diving] After watching yesterday's incredible performance by the female Chinese divers (who stomped the competition on home soil -- Go China!), we definitely saved the best (and most expensive!) for the last:
DIVING
跳水
National Aquatics Center ("Water Cube" / 水立方)
August 11, 2008
This afternoon, we have tickets to our final event of these Games -- Men's Synchronized 10m Platform (DV02). Men's! Diving!! FINALS!!! Category A tickets!!!! *squeals and faints*
From inside the Water Cube!
And I almost fainted after I realized how much I had to bid on eBay to get these seats -- almost FIVE times the face value of $75. All for 1 1/2 hours of competition :-o Well, it'll all be worth it coz we'll get to watch one of the 302 medal ceremonies of these Games (we saw four yesterday at swimming), AND it will most likely be Chinese divers on the highest podium i.e. the crowd atmosphere will reach pandemonium levels with repeated screams of "中国, 加油!" ("Go, China!").
And after that, we head to the airport for our 8pm flight to HK. Our flight to DC departs tomorrow afternoon from HK. What a trip!
I really don't want to leave. The atmosphere here is indescribable. I don't even know how to describe it except to say that Beijing alone has almost twice the number of people as the entire nation of Greece (host of the 2004 Olympics) and almost equal the number of people as the entire nation of Australia (host of the 2000 Olympics).
For Olympic sponsors and merchandizing, the huge sound of ka-ching roars across this nation like a gigantic firecracker. For average spectators like ourselves, the Games have been just truly amazing.
OK, we are going to head out and about, brave the rain and go party one last time at the Olympic Green! @ 08:34 Beijing
[women's gymnastics] From the men's gymnastics on Saturday night, last night we had tickets to go see the Women's Gymnastics Artistic (GA07) qualifying round -- the last of four rounds. Why the women have four qualifying rounds for 6 events but the men have only 3 for 8 events is incomprehensible to me; though the men's sessions are 45 mins longer than the women's.
From the National Indoor Stadium!
We saw gymnasts on all four apparatus and they are Balance Beam, Floor Exercise, Uneven Bars and Vault. As with last night, the 12 countries with full teams of 6 are Australia, Brazil, CHINA, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, the UK, the US. 23 other nations sent partial teams. The rotation we saw last night featured only two full teams -- Brazi land France (and both qualified for the Top 8). Who knew that they saved the best for the morning sessions?
I had purposely bought evening tickets because I didn't want the events to clash with the swimming/diving events that we had tickets for. That also meant we never got to see the best teams in the qualifying rounds. Oh well... The face value of our Category A tickets today -- with sensational views! -- was 100 yuan. We paid about HK$132 / CNY116 (about US$17) for each ticket (convenience fee and all that). It's crazy but if we had wanted to go see the GA05 and GA06 qualifying rounds (and I got some offers off of a Beijing Classifieds website), we would've had to fork out over US$150/ticket! And those were for the Category B tickets that were half the face value of the Cat A tickets.
Kwazy. This is what they mean when they say "the Olympics are SOLD OUT."
All's I can say is: Thank you, Su Ann!!
Women's Gymnastics was somewhat more fun to watch, and both Brazil and France were quite impressive. The women's events at the National Indoor Stadium are definitely more drama-filled that's for sure. Every wobble, misstep or, *gasp*, fall during the women's routines or, more importantly, their dismounts would elicit a more audible response from the audience than during the men's. The distracting music for the Floor Exercise which focuses everyone's attention adds to the suspense. Drama.
We were distracted by the torrential downpour that washed out all of Beijing last night. I was very impressed that the volunteers were present to hand out one-time-use plastic ponchos for spectators leaving the stadium (the walk to the subway stop is L-O-N-G). Even as the weather has been utterly atrocious so far here in Beijing -- shockingly hot and humid or pouring rain -- the organizers have done a great job at arming their army of volunteers with visitor-friendly smiles and assistance. Good job.
After gymnastics, we scurried our way to Tim's Texas BBQ near the Silk Market (the opposite side of town *groan*) to watch the USA Dream Team stomp the Chinese (led by Yao Ming) in men's basketball with some friends. Our final night in Beijing was super fun and the partying just keeps on going. I wish we didn't have to go back to work!
Today is our last day in Beijing, sad :-(
It's bittersweet. I am having the time of my life here, but I am also thoroughly exhausted and ready to come home. On one hand, I totes want to stay and absorb more of the absolutely giddy-inducing, electrifying Olympic atmosphere. Like, when we were at lunch at South Beauty (sichuan!) at the fantastic Oriental Plaza yesterday and it seemed like every TV screen in Beijing was focused on a pair of Chinese girls on the 3m springboard -- and they won! An entire nation of 1.3 billion people transfixed with suspense and awe at their compatriots and swept up by the nationalistic pride that is crescendoing by the day. Nothing could be more exciting than that.
On the other, I am barely getting by with 14 hours sleep in the past 3 nights! Our Olympic event schedules have been hectic to say the least -- even with just one morning and one evening session per day -- and that coupled with the fact that the distances are so great in Beijing has made the days very, very long indeed and super tiring.
But until then, 中国, 加油! :-) @ 08:25 Beijing
August 10, 2008
[bird's nest and water cube] Pics from last night at the Olympic Green!
National Stadium aka "Bird's Nest"
National Aquatics Center aka "Water Cube"
We didn't take that many pics last night coz we got there kinda late (around 7pm; an hour before the Men's Gymnastics prelims started), and it was kinda foggy as well. We thought we could wait till tonight to get better pics...
Well, Beijing is one of those cities where if you're there, you should just take the picture regardless coz it's storming right now and the visibility tonight will be close to zero. We thought the heat/humidity would be less stifling after it rained. Wrong. The humidity skyrockets to even more unbearable levels and the air is so thick you can barely breathe it without getting your nostrils wet. Gwoss.
Sadly, we don't have that many pics of Beijing -- neither the Olympic Green area nor Tiananmen Square area. We kept procrastinating thinking the weather would get better. Well, it just gets worse. Luckily, we got back to our hotel just as it started storming. Yay for my hair!
We've also been loading up on souvenirs but, frankly, it's been quite difficult trying to buy the same items that the other 1.3bn people are trying to get their hands on. Today's weather forced throngs of people into every single store that sold licensed Olympic merchandise. It was like an ant colony in the Olympic flagship store in Wangfujing. Kwazy. The Chinese are all kwazy.
Predictably, swimming this morning was Phelps-tastic. I almost jumped off our nose-bleed seats and into the pool screaming when Michael Phelps won the first gold medal of the swimming competition by obliterating the world record in the 400m Individual Medley by a massive 1.41 seconds.
We ended up paying about $46 per person per final event today for swimming i.e. we paid eight times face value for tickets that cost the original owner $22 each. And it was worth every single penny!!
And we're off... to Women's Gymnastics next; the fourth of five events that we are going to go see at these Games. @ 17:23 Beijing
[游泳 swimming] 7 gold medals were awarded yesterday (the least of the 16 days of competition). Today, the number of golds to be given out will be double that. The peak of the Games is on the 16th and 17th when 30 and 34 gold medals will be handed out respectively.
SWIMMING
游泳
National Aquatics Center ("Water Cube" / 水立方)
August 10, 2008
This morning, the first four gold medals will come from the pool at the National Aquatics Center (aka the "Water Cube")! They are Men's 4x100m IM (Michael Phelps! *SQUEAL*), Men's 400m Freestyle, Women's 400m IM and Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay -- these are also the first four golds in the swimming event. I am *SO* friggin' excited about our tickets to these four final events, I slept about 3+ hours after partying till 2:30am last night (this morning?) at Destination on the bouncy, trampoline-y dance floor.
The Americans are set to dominate the swimming competition and today, we are going to party in the Water Cube with 17,000 other people!
Our Olympic schedule has been (and will continue to be) very, very hectic. No time to write about the electrifying atmosphere here in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Gotta get going.
Lates!
p.s. OMB, I have that silly Olympic theme song (北京欢迎你 -- Beijing Huan Ying Ni or Beijing Welcomes You) stuck in my head, LOL! @ 07:28 Beijing
[体操 gymnastics artistic] We just got back from our first visit to the Olympic Green, and caught our first glimpses of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube in person. All I can say is -- WOW. Absolutely stunning. I was pretty much stunned to silence and giddiness all at the same time.
Just like Beijing's Forbidden City and everything else about this capital, the Olympic Green is monumental; built on a north-south axis and expansive beyond what your vision can capture with one look. It's almost like the stadiums and venues were built to stun the viewer with their architectural splendor and intimate grandeur, as well as to intimidate them with the sheer size and power exuded from the jaw-dropping edifices. There are simply no words to describe standing in between the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. In person. Looking around like you've just landed in the future.
GYMNASTICS ARTISTIC
体操
National Indoor Stadium
August 9 & 10, 2008
We watched the third and final Men's (yum) Gymnastics Artistic (GA03) qualifying rounds tonight. All the gymnasts from today's three rounds competed for 8 spots each for each of the six apparatus (women only have four), and the top 24 gymnasts will qualify for the Men's Individual All-Around competition on the 14th. In addition, the teams from each country will be competing for 8 spots for the Men's Team Finals on the 12th. Even though the scores from today's sessions don't carry forward, they are still pretty important in deciding who will be battling for the gold, silver and bronze medals for 8 events!
Sadly, our tickets tonight were Category B, though we have Category A tickets for tomorrow's gymnastics event... women's though. Wish tonight's had been cat A! Our seats were, literally, the worst in the house -- the farthest row from the action. Nonetheless, the stadium is built in such a way that the view was still pretty good. No complaints whatsoever. Still, it would've been fun to be closer and watch the shirtless male gymnasts when they were changing after they were done with their routine ;-)
We saw gymnasts on all six apparatus -- Floor Exercise, Horizontal Bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel Horse, Rings and Vault. Gymnasts from 35 countries (12 of which have full teams of 6) qualified for the Olympics, and they are: Belarus, Canada, CHINA, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the US and 23 other teams have partial representation.
Our subdivision saw three of the four full teams qualify for the Top 8 spots for the Men's Team final on Tuesday. They were Germany (hot, HOT boys!), Romania and South Korea (um, Tony's favs). Belarus was the only one that did not qualify from our subdivision. Sadly, we missed out on seeing China, France, Japan, Russia and the US who had all qualified in the 2 subdivisions earlier in the day.
BTDubs, Vault is the most fun to watch coz it's quick and exciting (highly entertaining for the Gen "Me Now"-ers like myself). Men's Floor Exercise is hopelessly boring, at least the qualifying rounds. The Horizontal Bar, Parallel Bars and Rings (holy biceps and triceps, Batman!) are all quite fun to watch as well for the occasional oohs and ahhs and the heart-stopping dismounts. The Pommel Horse is mehhh... though I'd have to say that all of these are way more fun to watch on TV. In person, you don't hear the thumpa-thumpas and boing-boings when the gymnasts are doing flying releases off the bars and balancing themselves on the pommel horse. Still, it was really fun to had seen the men's competition (from very, Very far) but it was nothing compared to the excitement and sheer fun of Beach Volleyball this morning. Gymnastics is a pretty sedate viewing experience.
The one thing I will say about these Olympics is that security has been omnipresent though not overbearing. There must be a million volunteers and military personnel patrolling and securing these Olympics. How else can they secure an area as large as the Olympic Green by fencing it all in and only allowing one way to enter it?
From CNN:
The Beijing Olympics have morphed into the anxiety games. Beneath the veneer of architectural miracles and omnipresent smiles and the "one world, one dream" slogan, there is unease, exacerbated by a secretive Communist regime that rations information. No info, no closure. There are 100,000 Chinese security troops patrolling Beijing, all standing as still as scarecrows, many with the young, porcelain faces of toy soldiers. They are stationed on every street corner, ubiquitous under newly planted trees that line the sidewalks. They are numerically impressive but not especially comforting.
That's right, the No Fun Olympics theme -- well, maybe more like the Unspontaneous Olympics -- permeates through the Olympic Green as well since normal folks who don't have highly-sought-after and impossible-to-come-by Olympic tickets to one of the venues at the Olympic Green are shut out. I have no idea how they did it but there is a secure ring around all the important Olympic sites on the Olympic Green. Mind you, the Olympic Green is M-A-S-S-I-V-E.
Everything is so scripted and kinda boring. Just as the venues are meant to inspire shock and awe, they are lifeless if not for the people who party outside them and roar inside them. That will all be lacking at this Olympics.
Anyways, super tired. Just got back from eating and partying. Must get rested for tomorrow's swimming events -- the first Olympics finals events/medal ceremonies we've ever been to! *squeals and passes out* @ 02:25 Beijing
August 9, 2008
[czech and china] Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic denied China the first gold medal of the Beijing 2008 Olympics by winning the Women's 10m Air Rifle (Shooting) event and denying Li Du from defending her Olympic gold medal from Athens 2004. Li DU wilted under the crushing pressure of the home crowd.
Moments later, China did win its first gold medal of these games in the Women's 48kg Weightlifting event when Xiexia CHEN brought it home for China.
The Air Quality Widget was 94 yesterday -- perilously close to the unsafe 100 level. The air today is somewhat better but the heat and humidity lingers...
The good news is the rest of our events are all indoors! Yay. @ 15:19 Beijing
[沙滩排球 beach volleyball] We just got back from a ridiculously fierce time at the Beach Volleyball event!
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
沙滩排球
Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground (East Gate)
August 9, 2008
Due to last night's late-night Opening Ceremonies fetchtivities, we woke up late this morning and made it to Chaoyang Park an hour late to see one of the first events of this Beijing 2008 Olympics -- Beach Volleyball (BV01). Actually, this was my first ever Olympic event; previously I had only been to the Torino 2006 Opening Ceremonies.
Even though everything was purpose-built (there are no beaches near Beijing), the Beach Volleyball Stadium was beautiful! There were 6 matches altogether -- 3 men's and 3 women's. We only saw 2 men's and 2 women's event -- we missed the first match (too late) and skipped the last one (too hot).
It was fiercely hot when temps climbed to 92° and the humidity made it feel like it was 100°. There was also a lack of wind or an ocean breeze in the "artificial stadium". The male athletes were completely drenched and the women were not doing so bad, mostly because the women get away with wearing bikinis but the men have to wear tank tops (wtf?).
We had great seats! -- 5th row from the "beach". I can't thank Su Ann enough for securing these tickets for us (for face value! i.e. $17/pp) from Hong Kong. Super fetch.
From Chaoyang Park!
Since these were just prelims (the finals are on the 21st for women's and 22nd for men's), the crowd was kinda thin but they were just as enthusiastic. The music was pumping, the crowd was roaring (especially when the female Chinese pair defeated the Swiss) and the atmosphere was nothing short of festive. It's funny that the Mexican wave transcends languages and cultures. The commentators were also really good at rousing the crowd, especially when they screamed out the trailing countries' name which was followed by a thunderous "jia you!" from the crowd to boost the underdogs.
Of course, the entire stadium pretty much shook when the Chinese team was playing. The crowd went ballistic each time the Chinese women scored and chanted the Chinese version of "USA! USA! USA!" -- 中国, 加油! (zhong guo, jia you!) -- over and over. I, of course, rooted for the Chinese. I then rooted for the Aussie women (who won) when they played the Russians. I was kinda neutral when the Dutch men played the Swiss and ended up rooting for the cuter team (the Dutch... who also won, der).
I imagine it was way more fun at other Olympics -- where freedom of expression is not limited and the crowd was more bold in their displays of enthusiasm -- but the Chinese did put on a good show.
The only thing that annoyed me was the lack of food choices in the stadium, and they didn't let you bring anything in nor did they allow re-entry so you pretty much starved once they ran out of food (which they did). Not fetch at all. And no, we haven't had lunch and I'm hungwy!
The other thing that was a little bit unnerving was the army (literally) of military personnel guarding the perimeter of the stadium and insane number of (quite helpful) volunteers parading around the stadium (inside and out) in civilian clothes to supplement the military's effort and also to help out the spectators. I think there were the same number of volunteers as there were spectators! Quite kwazy. This is what happens when you have 1.3bn at your disposal.
What an unforgettable experience! Resting now and I am super pumped for Gymnastics tonight at 8pm. Woot! @ 14:56 Beijing
August 8, 2008
[the world's grandest spectacle]
@ 20:00 Beijing
[final countdown] Real quick coz we're rushing out the door for the evening...
We just got back from Tiananmen Square where this picture was taken (0 days 3 hours 28 minutes and 20 seconds to go!). Tiananmen square is completely sealed off. This is definitely the No Fun Olympics.
The air outside is thick with everything you can imagine -- smog, humidity, heat, etc. Nothing is evaporating. The air is stagnant. It is so humid the stadiums are sweating.
It looks like it's gonna rain but everything that I've read so far says it's not.
We are off to dinner then a bar to watch the Opening Ceremonies with some friends.
I almost cried on the subway just now when I saw a whole bunch of Croatians get onto the subway with unmistakable Opening Ceremony tickets (emblazoned with 2008-08-08 on them) in hand *sob*.
Lates!
p.s. 2 hours and 15 more minutes! @ 17:45 Beijing
[one world one dream] 同一个世界, 同一个梦想
The day China has long-awaited, the day it makes its debut on the international sports stage, has arrived.
The pride of 1.35 billion people in China and 40 million overseas Chinese all over the world -- a full 1/5th of humanity -- will explode today at 8:00pm Beijing Time (GMT+8) when the Beijing 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony at the stunning 91,000-seat Bird's Nest National Stadium marks the start of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (第29届奥林匹克运动会).
From South-East Asia (where 3 out of every 4 overseas Chinese live) to North America and from Europe to Australia, our moment in the spotlight has arrived.
It's a little difficult to describe why I feel proud of the Olympics taking place in a country I wasn't born in, have never lived in and have only visited three times in my entire life. I can only say that I feel proud enough to make it a point to come all this way, spend vast amounts, and expend a lot of time and energy to see this Chinese dream become reality.
And it will tonight for the many, many Chinese who thirty years ago never thought they could come this far this fast. Savoring the Olympic Spotlight, and deservedly so!
China has poured close to $45bn -- the most expensive in Olympic history -- into Beijing to stage these Olympic Games which, many believe (and I hope), will be the biggest and best Olympic Games in our lifetimes. The cost is about 4 times what Athens spent four years ago which, in itself, was vastly more than the <$2bn spent at the Sydney 2000 and Atlanta 1996 Games.
205 countries (4 more than 2004), 11,130+ athletes, 302 events (1 more than Athens) and 28 sports.
Let the Games begin! @ 11:10 Beijing
[olympic day] Good morning from Beijing! The day has finally arrived. Less than 10 hours to go before the Opening Ceremonies...
As you have all heard by now, Beijing has been covered in a wall of gray haze the past two days since we got here, as if wrapping (more like choking) this entire metropolis of 18mn with a dome of smog. You can stare at the sun because it tries and fails miserably to shine through the gray gloom.
The Chinese authorities have offically deemed the weather "foggy" *giggle*. Umm, wohhh-kay.
Beijing's official air pollution index was at 96 yesterday; up from 85 on Wednesday and dangerously close to the 100 level that is considered harmful. The air has been somewhat hot (just about 90°) but, more importantly, the humidity is oppressive (above 90%) and since the air is kinda stagnant, skies have not been clear to say the least. Disappointing, I know. Outdoor pictures are almost impossible.
Regardless, the show must go on and from what we know, there will be a 90-minute Opening Ceremony extravaganza that begins at 8:00pm Beijing time tonight (8:00am EDT). Directed by the drama-loving Zhang Yimou, the show will feature thousands of performers depicting 5,000 years of Chinese history melding into the modern future that China wants to become. Fireworks, launched from thousands of sites around the city including Tiananmen Square, will be a central theme to the show besides Unity and Power. The climax will feature British soprano Sarah Brightman singing an Olympic theme song with Chinese pop sensation Liu Huan.
At around 9:30pm Beijing time, half of the athletes from 205 competing nations will march into stadium. That will take another 90 minutes. That will be followed by the BOCOG Chairman's speech, the IOC Chairman's speech and the President of China. The Olympic flag is scheduled to enter the stadium at 11pm to the accompaniment of the Olympic Games anthem, followed by the raising of the Olympic flag, the release of the doves, and, finally, the conclusion of the torch relay 30 minutes later. The whole thing is sposed to wrap up by 11:30pm. Uh-huh, yea... we'll see :-)
The disappointment of our inability to obtain tickets to the Opening Ceremonies were somewhat tempered yesterday by our elation at securing tickets to the swimming finals on Sunday! *squeal* And I didn't even have to give away my first born for those tickets, yay me. More on that later...
Our plan for now is to go to a local (straight) bar with some friends to watch the Ceremonies on giant screens and, hopefully, in private rooms. That should be fun... I think.
Anyways, it's just past 11am here. I woke up less than an hour ago on this Olympic Day in Beijing *giggle*. On with the Games! @ 11:08 Beijing
August 7, 2008
[security blanket] Did you guys see this?
Apparently it happened at just before 6:00am yesterday, many hours before we arrived into Beijing. The British kids who unfurled the banner will be deported, of course.
The media has been reporting endlessly about the smothering security blanket (in addition to the smog) over the Olympics here in Beijing. We encountered very little of that yesterday as we were walking around Tiananmen Square. The most notable security aspects are all common-sense -- all bags must be X-rayed or hand-inspected prior to entering subway stations and the square. I didn't find that "smothering" at all.
It annoyed me a little that we couldn't get into the Temple of Heaven yesterday coz it was where the first day's torch relay in Beijing ended (who knew). Oh well... In fact, ordinary Chinese or just plain ol' toursists will not get a glimpse of the torch relay at all. All along the relay routes, groups of bused-in Communist Party members, loyal workers and model students dressed int he uniforms of the torch relay's sponsors -- Coca-Cola, Lenovo and Bank of China -- have been allowed to line the relay route. Sad.
It's a hit-or-miss time to be in Beijing right now. We thought about going to the Great Wall today but the torch relay is starting from there so I doubt we would want to make that trip considering the security and traffic jams that may ensue. Some of the tourist attractions are closed as well because they are relevant to the Olympics or the torch relay. On the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to go check out stuff we have been wanting to but haven't coz of time constraints.
The forecast today is stormy. The weather will clear a little and is forecast to be overcast during the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow. The temps are decent -- max of low- to upper-80s for the rest of the time we're here.
36 more hours before the Games begin! @ 08:13 Beijing
[inauspicious] Aside from the layer of smog blanketing the city, a couple of other things have gone wrong in Beijing so far.
First off, and against my better judgement, we took the new Beijing Airport Express Line -- opened 18 days ago -- from T2 to Dongzhimen on the 2nd Ring Road. I was a little worried about the traffic going downtown due to the torch relay so I thought rail would be the better option.
Wrong. There were barely any cars on the highways due to the odd-even traffic restrictions. And then, the automatic fare machines only took 10 and 5 yuan bills for a 25 yuan ($3.65!) ticket. Since we only had 100s, we had to buy the tickets manually which meant that we missed the train on the platform which also meant we had to wait 15 minutes for the next train. No matter, we were enthralled by the live telecast of the torch relay on the LCD screens throughout the platform.
Even making only one stop (at Sanyuanqiao on the 3rd Ring Road), the journey from the airport to Dongzhimen took 25 bone-rattling minutes. And it wasn't even a smooth ride. It was basically like riding the subway for 25 minutes with one stop. Awful.
After you get to Dongzhimen, you have to walk up many, Many flights of stairs up to get to the surface -- no escalators, no elevators -- and you *know* I don't travel light. And to add insult to injury, once you get to the surface, there is no taxi stand! You have to hike to the intersection with baggage in tow and flag one down if you're lucky.
In short, you should only take the rail option if you have very little luggage. Beijing should've taken some notes from Hong Kong when they built this thing, coz it's crap and I would rather spend the extra money and cab it directly from hotel to airport or vice-versa.
Then again, $3.65? A steal, I tell ya.
The other thing that hasn't gone particularly well is our accommodations. Well, we definitely overpaid for our room here, and since we prepaid, there is nothing we can do about it. They are upgrading us to their best rooms so I guess that's some consolation.
The one thing that the hotel can't fix is its location. I mean, there's nothing really wrong with it. We are staying in a si he yuan (courtyard-style) hotel in a hutong, and the closest subway station to the hutong is actually the same one used by the Peninsula and the Raffles. Not too bad, right?
Except that it's neither the Pen or the Raffles. And the walking distance to the main street (Dongsi Nan Dajie) from the hotel through the narrow alleys of the hutong is quite tedious. Plus, once you get to the main street, you are smack in the middle of two subway stations on Line 5. Ugh. And taxis are impossible to hail in the very, very narrow hutong. Whichever way you go about it, you have to hike to the main street. And you def don't have to do that at the Pen or the Raffles.
Sigh, I wish I was an IOC member and got to stay at one of the nicer hotels! Anyho, it's late. Bedtime for this tired lil' panda...
p.s. Only 44 more hours till the Opening Ceremonies!!! @ 00:03 Beijing
August 6, 2008
[北京 beijing] We're here! Beijing, at last. I can smell the Olympics in the air... or perhaps that was just pollution? *grin*
We flew China Southern today from Hangzhou to Beijing which meant that, alas, we didn't get to land in the new Terminal 3. Oh well, at least we'll get to see it on our way out of Beijing to HK in 5 days' time.
We arrived into Beijing shrouded in a layer of smog -- not very thick, but still hazy. Visibility was not too bad but there was definitely something in the air. The Air Quality Index is apparently at 85 today which is above 50 (below 50 is considered good) but still below 100 (which China considers good). Well, there was something in the air, it didn't cause my eyes or lungs to burn but there was def something.
Beijing needs no more introduction these days -- capital of the People's Republic of China, second largest city in China (after Shanghai), and China's political, educational and cultural center, Beijing is a sprawling metropolis of 18 million people within its SIX ring roads with the Forbidden City in the center.
Almost 2,500 years ago, Beijing was the capital of the State of Yan (hence why Beijing is sometimes known as Yanjing), but it really only came into being in the 15th century when the city was rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty (my dynasty! *giggle*). The Forbidden City was built by 1420 as the new Imperial residence and from 1421 onwards, Beijing was the official capital of the Ming Empire. 13 of the 16 Ming Emperors are buried in elaborate tombs near Beijing. The Manchu Qing Dynasty came into being in 1644 and kept the capital in Beijing which, for four hundred years during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, was perhaps the largest city in the world.
Except for a turbulent period between 1928 (when the Republic of China moved the capital to Nanjing) and 1949 -- Japan conquered China during that time too -- Beijing has been continuously the capital of China for almost 600 years.
And on July 13, 2001, the IOC selected Beijing as the host for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Which brings us all here today.
After travelling 140,000km (87,000mi) since it left Greece on March 24, the Olympic torch arrived in Beijing at 4:20pm yesterday, and will travel 40km/25mi through all 18 districts in Beijing -- carried by 841 torch bearers ranging in age from 14 to 85 -- during the three-day torch relay in the capital. The torch departed the Forbidden City today for a tour of the central city. Tomorrow, it will start from the Great Wall and on Friday, it will head to the Bird's Nest in the evening for the Opening Ceremony.
It's set to be stormy the entire time we're in Beijing. Hopefully the skies will be clear on Friday night for the Opening Ceremony. The good news is temps will "only" be in the upper 80s which is merciful compared to the triple-digit heat in Hangzhou these past few days!
So much to do/buy/see, so little time... @ 23:32 Beijing
August 4, 2008
[sex massage?] We just got back from a show -- Impression West Lake -- and dinner, and on the (still-scorching 86° with 70% humidity) walk back to the hotel, a taxi driver drove by, stopped in front of us by the (one-lane!) road...
[TD = Taxi Driver]
TD:: Taxi?
Me:: No
TD:: Sex Massage?
Me & Tony:: *giggles*
TD:: Beautiful women!
Tony:: [to me] He *SO* got that one wrong
*giggles again*
We had dinner at Oriental Favorites Restaurant (I'm not even sure that's the right translation), and we ordered the famous dongpo rou (Hangzhou's trademark stew pork belly) and the also famous xi hu cu yu (Hangzhou's trademark West Lake Carp Stewed in Vinegar). The former was good but not as good as Shanghai's hong shao rou (red-cooked pork) -- or even my mom's! -- and the latter was wayyyyy too boney as is typical of carp. Had my first Tsingdao (beer). The walk home pretty much sapped (and sweated out) all the consumed energy out of me.
We've had a little bit more free time in Hangzhou simply coz, well, there's only one main sight -- West Lake -- which happens to be right in front of our hotel, and the weather is simply too hot to just wander out and about like we did in Lhasa and Lijiang. There is Suzhou or Shanghai a few hours away, but it's just too damn bloody hot here...
As was the case in the outdoor-seating for Impression West Lake. I was like, harro, they *know* that the Hangzhou summers are oppressively hot and humid. Why on earth did they not build an indoor theater, or an amphitheater with misters at the very least?? Kwazy.
Anyho, the show was, well, dramatic. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the show's artifically-built natural "stage" puts "O"'s stage in Vegas to shame. There were beautiful mountains in the background which framed a massive natural oblong stage-lake surrounded by lush trees, with pagodas and old-style Chinese villa-barges dotting the landscape. And as with "O", the stage gives you the illusion that the people are walking on water half the time. I simply can't do the stage justice, you just have to see it for yourself.
The show itself was very good, in my not-so-humble opinion, even though I didn't understand a lick of it coz it was entirely in Chinese. Since the show is about the West Lake, the dominant theme is, der, water and Zhang used it to full effect. Hundreds of drummers pounding on lit drums submerged in water and splashing water high up into the air created the illusion of a thunderstorm. Simply brilliant. The lighting was magical as well -- reflected beautifully by the shimmering waters of the West Lake -- and a surprise contraption buried in the water provided more than enough drama towards the end of the show. Let's just say that Zhang is all about drama. And he's gonna need all of that for Friday's Opening Ceremony show which he will direct as well.
At 220 yuan ($32) per ticket -- a princely sum for the average urbanite's salary of 8,000 yuan a month -- I had thought the price would be a deterrent for the unwashed Chinese masses but, alas, I was wrong. The crowd was noisy, unappreciative and obnoxious most of the time. Very annoying.
China still has a long way to go. That aside, we are now under 93 hours to go before the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympics! @ 23:27 Hangzhou
[drippingly hot] I had high hopes of taking at least a few pics of me and Tony with West Lake today, but the 97° weather plus the relentless sunshine (at least there wasn't any pollution) plus the wilting humidity turned West Lake into a moist oven today. The breeze was the only respite from all that melting heat and drenching humidity.
Not fetch at all.
And trannies pls, I do *not* want to be photographed with my Maybeline running, mmm-kay?
We shall try again tomorrow. I've gotta say though, having walked about 3+ miles today around the (quieter) northern and (bustling) western edges of the lake, West Lake lives up to all its claims to fame. The water and the mountains, the Hangzhou skyline framing part of the lake, the bridges and causeways, the many islands and lakes within, the dozens of boats gliding on calm waters, the infinite number of shady trees, the countless pagodas and public art, all combine to make West Lake an undeniable natural beauty; almost a Chinese painting at every angle. Two thumbs up to Hangzhou for keeping it so, and without charging!
Alas, it was literally so hot I couldn't see past the sweat dripping down my forehead. Nonetheless, the views are sensational and we really don't have to venture outside to see it coz, well, we have those many fabulous views right outside our bedroom window! And *that*'s why we're staying at the Shang, der.
FOUR more days till the Opening Ceremony for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad!!! Yes, I just pee'd a little... @ 18:46 Hangzhou
[boiling west lake] I'm looking outside the window of our room towards West Lake dotted with dragon boats, and the skyscrapers of downtown Hangzhou beyond.
And under the cloudless blue skies and relentlessly hot summer sun, I can almost see steam rising off the waters of the lake, like it was boiling over and trapping the entire city with a blanket of hot, muggy fog.
Yuck.
I see the temperature outside right now is about 91°F or about 100°F when you factor in the 55% humidity. I think I've pretty much decided to stay indoors all day, LOL!
How am I going to survive Beijing?! @ 12:06 Hangzhou
[steel and glass] We have now flown 7 domestic legs within China; almost all on Air China except last night's flight from Chongqing to Hangzhou which was on Xiamen Airlines, a first for me!
Every single airport (except for Lijiang) so far has been a steel and glass edifice that looks like it was built just a couple of years ago and is already bursting at its seams. More disappointingly, they ALL look alike. Shenzhen, Chengdu, Lhasa, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hangzhou... wandering around in any one of them, one cannot figure out which airport you are in until you see the big gigantic Chinese characters on top of each terminal that tell you which city you are in. Aside from that, all of them look like Anywhere Int'l Airport, China.
All that will change on Thursday when we arrive into Beijing Capital's new Terminal 3. How exciting! @ 08:53 Hangzhou
[杭州 hangzhou] 早上好 (zhao shang hao or good morning) from Hangzhou!
Hangzhou is our final destination on our 3-city, pre-Olympic tour of China before hitting Beijing on the 6th. Today is also the halfway point of our 18d/16n vacation. Sigh.
Hangzhou, popn 6.4 million (I don't think there are ANY cities in China that are less than 1mn people) and capital of Zhejiang Province, is located on the Yangzi River (Chang Jiang) and is also the southern terminus of the Grand Canal. Only 180km/110mi from Shanghai, Hangzhou is apparently one of the (or *the*) most beautiful city in China. Famed for its natural scenery, Hangzhou and its West Lake have been immortalized by countless poets and artists. The most popular saying that exemplifies this apparent fact is:
上有天堂, 下有苏杭
"Above is Heaven, Below are Suzhou and Hangzhou"
Founded 2,200 years ago (!) during the Qin Dynasty -- when the Great Wall was first built and the Terracotta Army was completed, Hangzhou is one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China having been the capital of China (aka Xifu) for 74 years during the 10th century (Wuyue Kingdom) and throughout the Southern Song Dynasty (152 years) in the 12th and 13th centuries (aka Lin'an). It is believed that Hangzhou was the largest city in the world from 1180 till 1358 or thereabouts. Amazing.
With the gradual silting up of its harbor, much of the city's trade and industry passed to nearby Shanghai but the city has a bustling population and ranks as one of China's most popular tourist attractions. Grrreat, just what we need... more crowds! ;-)
Everyone goes to Hangzhou to see one thing and that is the fresh water West Lake. The lake covers an area of 6.5 sq km (3.2km x 2.8km, circumference is 15km) and includes some of Hangzhou's most famous historic and scenic places. In fact, our hotel -- the Shangri-La -- is located on the north-western end of the West Lake, and our room in the East Wing has an impressive dead-on view of the lake. Love it long time.
Anyho, as expected, we arrived at around midnight last night and today is our first of two full days in Hangzhou before leaving for Beijing on Thursday the 6th. It's already way past breakfast time and we're still in bed *giggle*
Time to put a wiggle in it! @ 08:48 Hangzhou
August 3, 2008
[4hrs in 重庆 chongqing] Our 8-hour layover in Chongqing (which means "Double Celebration" in Chinese) en route to Hangzhou allowed us four full hours in the largest city in West China -- the municipality has over 33mn people! -- and a city of a thousand skyscrapers.
After dumping all our bags, We cabbed it real quick into the downtown area which is basically a peninsula bounded by Jialing River and the mighty Yangzi (which, at 3,915mi, is the third longest river in the world). And the peninsula is filled with hills, steep cliffs and skyscrapers making it look like a Chinese Manhattan.
Because of the constant year-round 90-95% humidity (which makes summers particularly oppressive), Chongqing is known as a "foggy city". Warm in winters and hot during the summers -- in fact, in summers Chongqing is known as one of the "three furnaces of the Yangzi", the other two being Wuhan and Nanjing -- blue skies are rare in Chongqing, but it's not because of pollution.
Anyho, we got off at the JW Marriott whereby Tony used his charms (and whiteboy-ness) to get us some maps and use of the (clean!) bathrooms. We then wandered around the very busy central downtown core area anchored by Jiefangbei -- People's Liberation Monument -- but soon realized that the humidity (not the heat) was just too crazy for us to bear. We ducked in and out of shopping centers window-shopping and looking for Sichuan peppercorns (didn't find any we couldn't get back in DC).
When we finally got used to the heat, we managed to score some dan dan noodles from a street stall -- spicy and all -- and eating it outside in the oppressive humidity! Delish. After that, we made our way to Hongyadong which is basically a really tacky -- but fun for a four-hour jaunt of Chongqing -- 11-story, made-for-tourists complex of old-style Chinese architecture that clings to a steep cliff which separates downtown Chongqing from the Jialing River. We had fun wandering around and killing time before...
...Huo guo! (火鍋) Hot pot is Chongqing's claim to fame and are as numerous in this city as burger joints are in the US; though I can't imagine eating hot pot in this climate.
But we did! At Hong Ding restaurant in the Hongyadong complex. Check out the sheen of sweat on the both of us as we attempt to tackle the uber-fiery, "red soup" (i.e. hot chilli oil, fiery chillies and numbing sichuan peppercorns) huo guo in a restaurant whose A/C had not been switched on yet (we got there at 5pm). And yes, I am grimacing from the numbing and scorching spiciness of the "ma la" huo guo.
And yes, the hot chilli oil is not just spicy hot, it is also *boiling* hot. Note to self: do not get any splashed on your exposed skin!
The other unique thing about this Hong Ding place is that you get your own pot i.e. you don't have to mix it up with the other peeps in your group. Frankly, I prefer the whole mixing-it-up convivial experience but to each his/her own.
We ate like PIGS. We ordered a beef set -- which came with all the yummy veggies and mushrooms -- a pork dish, some noodles and a sensational whole fish which cost half our meal. And you dipped everything in this drippingly delicious sesame oil with garlic, salt, MSG (none for me, spankyouverymuch), sugar (huh?), chillies, cilantro, spring onions, etc. Sooooo happy, LOL! And the whole thing cost a quarter of our huo guo meal the night before at the Banyan Tree, and FAR more authentic.
Oh, another note to self about the sesame oil dipping sauce -- do NOT treat it like sukiyaki i.e. dump the cooked ingredients directly from the hot pot into the dipping sauce. After awhile, the dipping sauce becomes the soup in the hot pot which, in this case, is blindingly spicy! I think I lost all feeling on my lips for hours after that.
AND I made a HUGE mess all over my shirt and needed an outfit change when I got to the airport, LOL! I know, I'm *such* a messy girl...
And *THAT*'s how we spent our four hours in Chongqing. Eating, eating and more eating! Oops, time to board. Hmm, they're boarding us early... @ 20:07 Chongqing
[dodgy and dumpy] I have found perhaps the dumpiest airport lounge on the planet and it is here in Lijiang Airport, LOL! Fluorescent light, dirty marble floors and plastic chairs. I feel like I'm in a really dodgy massage parlor in Anywhere, China. Where a happy ending is guaranteed.
I mean, what was I expecting... this airport has 5 gates. There are 3 check-in counters (yes, that's THREE) and they are all shared amongst the airlines.
Tiny and tragic (as with most things in life).
Shockingly enough, though, there is wi-fi access in the lounge!
Here's our flight route today:
Our flight is leaving in 30 minutes and we still don't have our boarding passes yet. The "VIP Check-in" lady took our passports and our luggage and has not returned. Hmm...
Dodgy airport, dodgy lounge, just plain dodgy all around. @ 10:59 Lijiang
[leaving lijiang] We are off to Hangzhou today! Here's our last glimpse of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain:
OK, I lied. That was from yesterday morning's, but isn't that an un-effing-believable view to wake up to every morning?? So spoilt, hehe...
The view on the first morning was so-so, yesterday's was the best, but today... Well, you can't see anything. That's not to say we haven't had great weather so far this trip. Everywhere we went and whenever we needed it to be, it has been pleasant enough. Whereas Lhasa was the "sunshine city", Lijiang is most definitely the "cloudy city". No complaints, though.
Well (hehe, I lied again), except for yesterday morning when we ascended the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. It being the rainy season and all, once we got up to the top it was so foggy we saw absolutely nothing. What a waste. Lijiang did redeem itself later on with a spectacular trip to Tiger Leaping Gorge. More on that later.
We are off to Hangzhou today, where the weather is, um, sunny, and promises to be HOT (97° tomorrow), boiling (99° on Tues) and scorching (97° on Wed). Ugh, not fetch at all. Sigh yes, we are, unfortunately, done with the pleasant-weather part of our trip (70s) and we now start the summer-boil part of our trip in China -- Hangzhou and Beijing.
We leave this morning on -- surprise, surprise -- an Air China flight from Lijiang to Chongqing (Sichuan!) where we will spend some of today on an 8-hour layover. Chongqing is forecasted to be stormy today -- but not steamy as it often can be in summer, thank God! -- so we will poke around a little bit in the city before heading off to Hangzhou late in the evening and landing at midnight tonight.
Gotta pack, gotta eat, gotta take more pics -- 485 and 2GB in Lhasa, 366 and 1.5GB in Lijiang!
Lates! @ 08:03 Lijiang
August 2, 2008
[huo guo galore] OMB, I think I just OD-ed on ma la huo guo! (Sichuan-style hot pot)
Looooong day -- 11 hours on the road. Belly full -- $110 worth of spicy hot pot in my tummy!
More on all of that tomorrow or, more likely, the next day.
Must. Pass. Out. Now. Zzzzz.
p.s. Happy 61st Birthday Dad!!! @ 22:30 Lijiang
August 1, 2008
[silly laowais] Overheard at dinner just now at Bai Yun ("White Clouds") restaurant here at the Banyan Tree Lijiang:
"Um, do you have spring rolls?"
"Um yes... and we have general tso's chicken too" *eyes rolling*
But wait, it gets better...
"Chopsticks are tough"
ROTFL! OMB, go home! Or go to McD's or something... I swear you cannot make this shit up.
Anyho... spa time! So ready.
p.s. lao wai = foreigner (usually white) @ 21:00 Lijiang
[玉龍雪山] I found this in a "Hand-Made Guide Map of Ancient Lijiang City" in our hotel r..., 'scuse me, villa. It's cheesy like only a Chinese person translating from Chinese to English can be, but it's actually quite melodic in an imaginative way to read:
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is located in the northern part of Lijiang, 15km away from the town of Lijiang with JinSha River against its northern foot.
The Thirteen peaks are covered by snow for the whole year, like jade poles erected into the sky [sounds chinky and phallic, LOL!]. The main peak, ShanZiDu, 5596m, is the highest mountain at the lowest latitude in the Northern Hemisphere.
Not only is Jade Dragon Snow Mountain grand and magnificent, but also elegant and forceful. It is exquisite in appearance, bright like the brilliant jade, and glittering like thirteen sharp swords, against the blue sky. It is just like a white jade dragon flying all the time. That's why it is named Jade Dragon Mountain.
The views on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain are changing with the altitude seasons and light and shade. Now, it is lost in mist and clouds, with the jade dragon flickering, but then it is cloudless blue. The peaks seems to be washed by Yuye, which are so brilliant with gliterring snow that they are famous for its blaze like "Eternal snow could make the sun and moon lose their glow," as noted in the Chinese poem.
The rising of the sun makes the peaks covered by the first sun rays in the morning. The snow peaks shine against the colorful rays of morning. In bright red, the snow sets off and glitter with the rosy clouds; in the dusk, the snow mountain are coated by the afterglow from the sunset, at night, bright moonlight and snow peaks appear peaceful and quiet.
I totes could not have made that up, LOL! I should not, however, make fun of it coz as cheesy as that English translation was, I could not possibly translate that into legible Chinese.
Yea, yea I'm a 香蕉人 (banana) ;-p @ 11:20 Lijiang
[丽江 lijiang] Last night, we dropped about 4000+ft to a more manageable 2,400m/7,874ft above sea level to the city of Lijiang (population 1.3mn) located on the Northwestern Yunnan ("south of the clouds") plateau in far south-western China. We're still pretty high up and altitude-sickness can still be triggered, but the past 3+ days in higher-altitude Lhasa has helped tremendously. I didn't take any Diamox last night or this morning so hopefully everything should be a-OK.
Lying in a broad, fertile valley dominated by the towering snow-capped peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range, Dayan Old Town (the ancient name for Lijiang) is the ancient capital of the Naxi Kingdom (who form 60% of the population), one of China's 55 minority ethnic groups. There are many Yi and Bai in the area too. Lijiang also has the best preserved ancient town in China -- the 800-yo Old Town, first built in the late Song Dynasty, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. After a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in February 1996, the Old Town was extensively renovated and much of the original "authenticity" of Lijiang was restored, thus becoming a hotbed for domestic tourism.
Today, the ancient town occupies 3.8 sq km, is home to over 6,000 families and has a population close to 30,000. It has a 3.8km/2.4mi series of wrinkled cobblestoned streets that is completely pedestrianized and devoid of traffic lights, skyscrapers and modern trappings. Instead, it is filled with an array of canals and quaint bridges that connect the streets and narrow winding alleys
The Naxi people, with their flushed pink cheeks and smiling eyes, are descendants of Tibetan nomads and form a matriarchal society where friendship rules, marriage is not practised and women hold more power in the social order than the males. Children are brought up by their maternal family, and the Naxi clan is often described as "a society without fathers or husbands." Lord only knows how they procreate! Naxi are matrilineal, insofar as property is traditionally inherited down the female line, and men move into their wife's family home after marriage. Wow!
I had totes expected to be completely sybaritic during our entire time here, but upon arrival I found out there are heaps of things to do and eat here. There goes my chillaxation time. Ridick.
We do have 90-min spa sessions each tonight at 9:30pm which should put me in bed by around 11:01pm. Yay me!
p.s. BTDubs, this is perhaps the most amazingly scenic resort I've ever been to... except for maybe the Amanjiwo which is also head and shoulders above the Banyan Tree Lijiang service-wise. @ 11:05 Lijiang
[jade dragon snow mountain] I just realized how cruel it was of me to gush about how amazing the view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is from, literally, our bed...
So, I thought I'd do my good deed of the day (week?) by sharing our view this morning with you :-)
The little lid thingie at the bottom of the pic is our outdoor hot tub :-D Flanked, of course, by two day beds. I mean, what would an outdoor out tub be without day beds the size of your couch? Outdoors...
I know... even *I* am embarassed about how luxurious this place is.
Now, it is 7:40am here (more like 5:40am since we are all on Beijing time even though Lijiang is probably 1 to 2 hours timezone behind Beijing) and it is kinda cloudy but I think that just adds to the Song Dynasty-like quality of the clouds-and-mountains picture, don'cha think?
I'll try and get a better pic in the afternoon hours when the sun peeks through and the skies are somewhat blue. Till then, I hear breakfast calling out my name. Time for congee!
Yea, um, stop laughing. I have had 4 breakfasts in a row with congee (and other misc items). I don't laugh at you when you guys eat baked flaky Napoleon hat looking thingies called "croissants", you're not allowed to laugh at me if I eat watery rice for breakfast every morning here in China! :-p
Bee-yotches. @ 07:45 Lijiang
[gaysian luxury] O. M. B.
[For you uninitiated heathens, that means Oh My Beyonce. Yes, that was a suhhh-nap heard around the world.]
I just woke Tony up, threw open the front door to our villa, and practically shat a panda and passed out when I saw the view.
Right in front of us (like, directly) is the magnificent 35km/21mi-long Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulongxue Shan), the tallest of the mountain's 13 peaks is Shanzifeng at 5,596m or 18,359ft, perenially snow-capped and the southernmost glacier of the Northern Hemisphere.
That view alone is worth every single yuan (and there are many, Many thousands of them) we are paying for this transcendingly gorgeous place in between Lijiang and Yulongxue Shan.
Perfection!
Ladies, what's my middle name again? Yes, "Luxury"... Very good :-D @ 07:32 Lijiang
[olympic eclipse] Good morning from the Banyan Tree in Lijiang aka My New Home! *giggle*
As it turned out, I didn't sleep very well last night -- only 4 1/2 hours. Maybe I need pay a visit to the supposedly Zen-sational spa here tonight for some much needed stress-release ;-)
Well, it just so happens that we are in China for the total eclipse of the sun today!
The total solar eclipse will start in Canada and travel across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia and Mongolia before moving across China and dissipating into the night. This will be the only total solar eclipse for the past two years. There'll also only be one next year and, surprise surprise, it will pass through China as well! Actually, next year's (July 22) will pass through China's densely populated Yangzi corridor -- Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, etc. -- so that should be WAY more fun.
This year's will pass through mainly sparsely populated areas in Russia, Mongolia and China -- the mostly desert Xinjiang province.
Anyho, back to today. We are sequestered in our ultra-luxe Banyan Tree villa in Lijiang in the remote far south-western corner of China bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. We will be experiencing a partial solar eclipse with a magnitude of 0.818 beginning around 6:40pm local time (UTC+8) and ending at 8:30pm with the maximum eclipse at around 7:35pm. Fun!
I'm not sure we will see much of it though. First off, it's the rainy season here so cloud cover will be pretty dense. Then, there's the issue of sunset -- the sun will set here tonight at 8pm i.e. it won't be much of an eclipse if the max is 30 mins before the sun disappears.
Oh well, it's still quite exciting though. I love astronomical phenomenons :-) @ 07:23 Lijiang
[banyan wheeee!] Ugh, it's WAY too late to be writing. We just checked into our pearl-clutching, jaw-dropping, I-just-pee'd-down-ma-right-pant-leg 3,800 sq ft (!) villa at the Banyan Tree Lijiang (I'll tell you all about it later) and there are WAY too many things to do (read: outdoor jacuzzi) to waste my time online on this super-high speed internet connection (compared to Tibet anyway).
Our flight from Lhasa via Chengdu arrived pretty much ontime at around 10:30pm or so... So far, we've been pretty lucky with all four domestic flights we've taken. All four are on Air China and, true to Asian norms, they've been treating us really, Really well once we flash our Star Alliance Gold cards. Amending issues with our flight reservation? No problem, sir. First Class Lounge? Yes, sir. Pre-departure beverage? Here you go. Jealous Chinese onlookers? Priceless.
We did have a 1h 10m delay for our flight leaving Lhasa just now, but you could hardly blame them coz a storm blew in (it never really rained the whole time we were in Lhasa) and the winds were so strong the plane was rocking back and forth. Scary.
Anyho, 10:30pm. Our driver from the Banyan Tree was waiting for us upon our arrival -- very, very civilized and, der, I'm on vacay :-p -- and whisked us away on a 45min drive to the resort. Now, the resort is 15min from the city which means the airport is 30min from Lijiang city. Why anyone would build a 5-gate airport for a city of 1.14mn THIRTY minutes outside the city is beyond me. Only in China.
OK, the bubbling boiling waters of the hot tub is calling out my name... Must go soak, then pass out. Ni ni...
p.s. I think I'm moving in here :-D @ 00:02 Lijiang
31 :: 51
30 :: pussy humor
30 :: more olympic humor
30 :: y'all look alike
30 :: 1 billion
28 :: we love bill
27 :: first black president?
27 :: no way, no how, no mccain
26 :: appr