February 18th, 2010
This is the first of a new line of entries that will be categorized under free association, If your seeking fluency of thought and coherent arguments you may do better to venture elsewhere fellow netizen! Happy reading
Text wrestling – I always kind of liked the idea. Sitting down and fighting with the thoughts in your head – trying to get the same message conveyed with the words you choose. Perhaps that’s impossible, no two people think alike and as accommodating as one can be there will always be a degree of variance in understanding. I suppose it’s no mystery therefore that good listening skills and real understanding aren’t as easy to come by as we all would like them to be – and in turn why it’s so valuable when we find them.
Free association was my first introduction to the concept of free writing. I guess that made sense in that your thoughts were allowed to freely intertwine and the resulting garble was regurgitated onto paper.. or, more likely nowadays – a digital document. Then again it also may inspire an artificial degree of extravagant association whereas I prefer to write simply as my mind moves – not to push it to move and associate in odd ways for the sake of novelty. Maybe that’s just me.
I’ve been really cold the last 3 days, I’m not sure why but I’m beginning to believe my haircut has something to do with it. I cut it as I normally do – short – but perhaps I should have taken the unseasonably cold weather into account when choosing the time to cut. Anyway I managed to get back into my office today where I had stashed my beanie and gloves after I returned from the states. I was relatively certain at the time that both A. I was never going to use them in China and B. I was a numskull for bringing them all the way over here. The powers at be however seem to have a different opinion on the matter. I guess I’ll have to add this to the list of small lessons I’ve learned about surviving here – I’ll file it next to… dammit I had something clever to say… lost it.
Hey that reminds me I’ve yet to write about the improvements with my “train of thought” problems I’ve been having in the last year or so. I reflected on my experiences in China the two years prior and my life overall and made a simple but important decision. I deserve to be happy. Of course its more complex than that in action however the fundamental principle is what’s important. I suppose it’s not so much that I’ve never made this decision before but rather life has shown me from various positions just how necessary this belief is and more importantly how wrong lives can go if we do not adhere to, and build upon, this confidence.
My decision is not a made in a vacuum but rather in context – I see it as a culmination of my experience – a necessary and undeniable conclusion about life and how to live it. It makes things at once clear and simple – which is nice in a world where most of the things around me are anything but.
I believe I still suffer from a degree of cognitive dissonance as I have for much of my life. A part of me desires a simple life, simple pleasures, normal achievements and levels of success, a wife I love beautifully, and children I cherish and treasure. Taking pride in the emotional success and development of those around me as I traverse a humble path at a comfortable pace. A part of me desires disgusting sums of money and power so that I may experience a world very different from the real one. A world defined by ourselves, each acquiring the same flaws as it’s creator. Master of your own fate with your strengths and deviser of your own demise through your failings. I imagine it would be an incredibly enlightening experience – If I don’t lose myself in it.
A part of me is unshakably confident and resolute about the rights and wrongs of life, as if there where no other way. He acknowledges his points of weakness as he is inexperienced but is particularly confident when it comes to managing relationships – more particularly personal relationships. Friendships, family relations, romantic partnerships, acquaintances, etc. To him the decisions that boggle those around him at times are so obvious he needn’t wait for them to finish explaining their conundrum before offering the solution.
As with most those relationships that are closest to me are the most troublesome to deal with properly and objectively – as one ought to. It is hard to harness the confidence found through loving oneself to do the hard and right things when it concerns those that are – very much – a part of you. I try though, and though I’m very rarely satisfied, I am proud of myself when I take a moments to look back at my triumphs in those small intimate arenas of my life.
February 1st, 2010
So I had my largest event ever this past Saturday at a local Chinese KTV place. I needed to get these video’s hosted somewhere that wouldn’t be blocked by the GFWC so here they come! 
This div will be replaced
December 22nd, 2009
What’s Dongmen (chinese)
Now for those of you that don’t know Dongmen is somewhat of a famous area in Shenzhen. Allow wikipedia to express itself: ne of the oldest parts of Shenzhen, the Dongmen area was established about 300 years ago, leading it to be alternatively known as “Laojie” (or “Old Street”).
The variety of shopping in Dongmen is wider than Luohu Commercial City, but has a similar focus on Chinese-made and counterfeit goods. Beauty parlor services are very popular in Dongmen and the department store Maoye has locations on both ends of the road. Despite being limited to pedestrian traffic, Dongmen can become very crowded on nights, weekends, and holidays, giving it a similar feel to Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Suffice to say it’s a hot spot for everything and anything fake especially clothing items – you purchase by weight not by peice. Now back to the bag!
True Quality Revealed
Granted I expected little of a 100RMB bag but what I got was even worse than those already lowered expectations. Before I even left Hong Kong the bag had already lost one of the two feet designed to allow the bag to stand upright on it’s own. The rubber handles attached to the case also smelled chemically. Upon arrival at New York City (JFK) the 2nd foot had also been lost, two zipper tabs were broken off and the telescopic handle mount had come off. That’s the peice that houses the top of the telescopic roller handle thingy. This made the handle unstable when extended but proved a mute point when the entire upper part of the handle popped out of the bottom spitting a ball bearing onto the floor outside of baggage claim an hour or so later.
This morning after pushing the bag around akwardly using the top rubber handle mounted to the case – my lower back! – the rubber handle broke off on the way down some stairs. I managed to catch the bag before it did it’s impression of a slinky the rest of the way down the stairwell. Now I was dealing with a bag that had no means of holding outside of supporting it as if it were a box with wheels on one corner. This was even more uncomfortable on my back not to mention I looked like a jackass babying this thing along in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. After I had purchased my bus ticket for MA and moved down to the gate I had about 30 minutes to sit down and managed to fix the telescopic arm enough to make it useable if handled gingerly. I also noted that the main zipper had some portions where the teeth where wider appart when closed – great…. – so far they have held together – the beast sleeps below me in the bus now. I pray it can make it all the way to my house before I burn it in a ritualistic fire which will culminate with me peeing on the ashes.
Moral of the Story
DON’T BUY LUGGAGE FROM DONGMEN!! I think you get the point. If your looking for trouble and adventure (in terms of stress and aggrevation) then you’ve found your golden ticket. However if your a normal human being in need of something sturdy to cart your personal goodies around the world – look elsewhere. Spend a little more on something of decent quality – the savings arn’t worth the hassle. I still have the stench of the chemically rubber handle on my hands now. I’m not kidding about the peeing part of my planned ritual burning. The Chinese do have a good saying for this and it goes something like “You get what you pay for,” so be sure to take a moment and think through any impulses to purchase an insanely cheap peice of luggage in Dongmen… and anywhere in China for that matter. Quality is worth paying for here in my humble opinion.
December 22nd, 2009
How is Air China?
Before I get into it let me lay out the basics for you. I booked a roundtrip flight from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to New York (JFK) for just under $800USD. I purchased it through OneTravel.com – for anyone interested I also noted that Airchina.com is currently still running killer special rates to some hub cities in the US out of Asia. I was unable to find the great rate I booked several weeks ago recently through OneTravel – give ChinaAir.com a gander if your in need of a cheap ticket.
Back to the boring stuff! Well I’m still in mid evaluation – I’ll be able to better answer “how good is Air China?” and “Will your plane explode if you take Air China?” when I arrive in New York in the next 20 hours. Assuming I don’t I think you’ll be able to deduce my answer to the second question. I’m still sitting in Beijing after arriving less than 40 minutes ago from Hong Kong. I’m beginning to see you get what you pay for when it comes to China Air. My first flight and this one are being fulfilled by planes on the tarmac – carriers have to rent that terminal space you know!. Passengers are required to trot around the terminal only to find the gate is merely a portal to an extra wide passenger transport bus. The bus will take you speedily along to your plane awaiting somewhere on the vast sea of concrete. Completeing normal boarding proceedures and then stepping onto a bus just doesn’t have the same feeling . Feels like a savings of about 40% on airfare.
China being China
I assume the complaints contained in here have nothing to do with the carrier China Air but rather to do with China. I made my way through the terminal upon arrival here in Beijing to find myself again confronted with an immigration counter. Some folks were filling out arrival cards – a touch of anger fell over me – inquiring further I was instructed to head to another section where a line of international passengers waited for a single customs officer to put yet another stamp on our boarding passes. My flight landed at 11:40, my connecting flight boards at 12:30. It was about 12:11 when I was standing at the back of the line with at least 40 people in front of me wondering what the hell the other people behind me on the same flight were going to do – aren’t we international folk a priority? I flagged down another customs officer and managed to get him to bring me to the front of the line. I then proceeded to run in the direction of the arrows only to find out I would yet again have to stop for stamps and another checking of my carry on baggage. More running and I arrived at my gate in good time.
Two Systems, One Country
The situation just got me thinking about the arrangement China has with Hong Kong and how little it means to me as it does nothing to change my experience of the two as entirely seperate entities. They have their own currency, their own system of… boarding!! more later
About 5:30pm now GMT +8 – back to the Two Systems rant. Ahem.. I do bump heads on the issue once in a while – some Chinese I meet are a little sensitive about the issue. I try to imagine something of a similar experience in the states – I can’t though – a single country with the infrastructures of two seperate ones, with the systems, language, and customs all their own. It makes me curious about what the point of it is. I’m not educated in these matters so I won’t speculate in any intelligent way. I can only talk of the pragmatic reality – the two are for all intensive purposes seperate countries. In terms of visas, borders, immigration, currency, language, economic system, political system, customs, right side of the road to drive on, etc – they’re all unique from their respective other. You will gain little comfort in HK from your experiences living in China and vice versa. In fact most of the Hong Kong people I know don’t care much to deal with the mainland – especially when it comes to business. I guess you could say I thoroughly appreciate that .
Speculation on Air China’s Cheapness
I’ve been noticing a few things as I looked around inside the cabin of Boeing 747-400. I’m guestimating it houses somewhere in the neighborhood of 625-650 people. 3 seats on each side 4 in the middle (approximately 60 rows), 4 or 5 rows of biz class (6 to a row), and 4-5 rows of 1st class (4 seats per row) + flight and crew staff (can’t be more than 10 right?). The cabin and seating are a little less modern than some of the newer vessles I’ve been on. Sorry no arm stowed, or back of the headrest mounted lcd screens for your personal viewing pleasure. What I’ve been noticing is advertising in places where you’d usually see the carriers logo plastered. For instance the small disposable fabric they velcro to your seat where the back of your head makes contact with the headrest – it has China Citi Bank plastered all over it. The cups they serve drinks in are sporting some Chinese beer brand logo and slogan. The meals they serve also came with a donation envelope for one organization or another. Perhaps there is something behind these things. Perhaps that is part of how they can offer such an affordable rate.
Arrival in New York (JFK)
Here’s where my luck seemed to run out. After getting through customs I had to wait over 2 and one half hours and ended up with 1 of my two checked bags in my custody. That stacked with the 1+ hour lateness of the planes arrival put me in a bit of a pickle. My bus was at 6:15 and it was already about 10’til 6. No more buses to get back to Massachusetts until tomorrow morning – I found out later over a payphone. I had to wait another hour in line at baggage claim wherein I found out my bag would be delivered tomorrow to NYC and then 2 day fedexed to my home in Mass. Most Carriers do next day fexed – Thanks Air China! At this point it was around 7pm local time. I made my way to the nearby counter where a fellow passanger had already summoned a supervisor from Air China (she missed her connecting flight to Mexico). She probably softened the lady up for me but all the same I managed to get a free pass to the nearby Holiday Inn as well as dinner and breakfast for the trouble.
Final Scores!
Overall I had a good experience minus the baggage troubles at the end. They had proper accomodations in place for the situation so I was properly taken care. Though I must warn you if your not accustomed to long flights and are needy in terms of in flight experience you might want to stick with one of the older more expensive carriers. For example the inflight movie never really worked and replayed a short scene from a couple movies several times throughout the 15 hour period – service was also noticably slower than other flights. I had to wait about 30 minutes between meal drop offs and drink+trash pickup. In the end I got from A to B at a very valuable rate no worse for the ware. I would have no problem recommending Air China to anyone looking for a great deal getting from Asia to the US. Let’s hope the way back is less eventful for me than my trip here .
December 22nd, 2009
Breakfast fit for a King
My first buffet breakfast back in the states was nothing short of awesome. Fresh whole & sliced fruit including, apples, oranges, cantalope, honeydue melon, watermelon, pineapple, and blueberries. Granola and dried fruits and nuts. Raisins, dried cranberries, almonds, dried apricots, sunflower seeds, and peanuts. Boxed Cereal – such a pain to find in China – Fruitloops, Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes. Scrambled eggs, breakfast sausages, a mountain of bacon, skin-on homefries, thick french toast with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Bagles, sliced bread, muffins, croissants, and danishes galore. Maple syrup, butter, philly cream cheese, tabasco sauce, ketchup, and whole milk on ice. Orange Juice and coffee were at the table waiting.
Order of the feast
I started off with a plate of eggs and a couple breakfast sausages – just had to give them a try, it’s been so long! – a handful of blueberries and 3 slices of thick french toast dosed gleefully with syrup – I’m not kidding about the gleeful part. After that I went for a bagel, o how I have missed thee good sir bagel! They had a handy bagel splitter that I used before toasting it to a golden crisp and smothering it in cream cheese. I savored every bite of the cruchy outside chewy inside creamy covered goodness. At this point I also opted for a 2nd glass of orange juice. I gave myself a moment because my next move was going to be for the granola and dried fruits and nuts – healthy cereal – that meant milk – milk doesn’t go so well with orange juice in my tummy. I gathered the granola, each variety of dried fruit and the nut trail mix in my bowl and added some more of the fresh blueberries at the fruit bar before drowning it all in fresh milk. It only lasted a few moments at the table before I devowered it.
Recovery
I didn’t gorge myself – which took some will power – but I was pretty full when I left. Felt pretty good to hit so many of these foods that I’ve missed while being abroad. Made me eager to catch up on the rest of the edible goodies I’ve been without in China. Just wait till I get my hands on a T.C. Lando’s Philly Cheese Steak – sure the juices from the meat can be so plentiful at times that it reduces the bread to little more than a thin sheet of white paper around an forarm thick cylinder of meat in the center – but the pallet wants what the pallet wants. Moving is of secondary importance when I encounter that bad boy. I guess I should be more greatful for the plentifulness which we receive here in the states – sometimes I forget about it. Then again maybe that’s just the endorphines talking .
