Paradox of being Modern

I used to make fun of Irene's Japanese friend, who was so scared when he spent a week in Taipei. His face turned paper white when we took him out on a motercycle ride in Taipei city and he brought a suitcase of medicines with him everywhere he went. He didn't want to eat anything unheard of. I cannot believe a man could be so anal and it almost irriated the hell out of me.

We are so used to the way of life in Taiwan and couldn't understand the poor Japanese guy's fear. I guess I have become the un-understandable in Beijing. I am afraid of the counterfeit soy sauce, I keep away from dried fruits and nuts. I get extremely annoyed when people push me aside in the subway. I am worried when my fellow pedestrains fail to respond to the cars driving/honking toward them (I run away immediately most of the time).

While I was frightened and worried, with my face turned paper white, the people around me behave calmly and normally. They must think I am weird.

English Translated

I think the government official in Beijing, who is in charge of making English version of the warnings, road signs or instruction in public space, has done his/her homework better than his/her Taipei or ShangHai counterparts.

I remember I have seen the sign in ShangHai subway station, "do not jump off the track". The equivalent in Beijing says "stay clear of the track". The English signs in Taipei are awful as well. Many of them are almost the direct translation of the Mandarin equivalent. I really have no idea it is because no one in the civil office has ever traveled abroad or they think no one is going to pay attention to the signs, so it is fine to let a 10 years old write it.

I think it would be a big business if someone can convince Taipei or ShangHai civil offices to redesign and remake all the English signs.

Taxi in Beijing

The very interesting thing I observed in Beijing is that it is very rarely to see skillful taxi drivers. In Taipei, the taxi drivers are almost qualified in Formula 1 racing. They weave, speed, go through narrow street with ease. I heard a story that a Taipei taxi driver claimed he can drive over a coin with any tire of his car, after tossing out the coin from the window at the driver side. No one believed him, placing bets he cannot do it but he's won all the bets. Front left, front right, rear left and rear right.... I don't know how much time he spent in practicing.

But the fact is, driving in Taipei is rather safe. Because most people who share the road with you are very well-prepared, most can accurately estimate the space and time. As long as you are moving, chances that you are run over by a car are slim.

But in Beijing, taxi drivers are extremely anal, almost painfully careful. They would not bend the rule and never know if there is a short cut (or they would rather not knowing it) to save time. Perhaps there is no need to hurry for them... When two cars passing each other in a narrow street, they would almost hold the car still for minutes to calculate the space although there is plenty of room.

On the contrary, there is virtually no space between cars, motorcycles and pedestrains. But they all live happily together. My father, the motorbike lover, once had his toe run over by the taxi in Taipei while stopping in front of the red light and sticked out his left foot to hold the motorbike. Well... this indeed proves my theory that you are safe in Taipei as long as you are moving along with the traffice.

Driving in Beijing

Unfortunately, my camera was lifted together with my wallet this Saturday. There will be no pictures in my blog until beginning of May when I go back to Taipei. I was devastated because I really miss my nice yellow wallet.

All my RMB were gone and I virtually got only 5 RMB in my pocket. It is Saturday and there seemed no place for me to get any help. Fortunately, I have filled my fridge on Friday (that's quite important). I went home by bus, svery sad.

I kept dreaming about being lifted again in crowded places and didn't want to go out at all for a day or two. And my eczma acted up and I think I really need to get some facial treatment done but I have no money to buy the facial mask.

Life sucks when you lose your wallet.

The Wedding

I am the bride's maid in peggy's wedding. The make up artist is really amazing. She put tons of liquid make-up on my face, reshaped my eye brows, used some stripe tapes to create the double eyelids and then again, more powder and colour. Some of my friends didn't recognize me.

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This is my first time to be the bride's maid. I accompanied Peggy for the whole day and realised getting married in Chinese way does put you and your partner through the toughest tests. I was so exhausted by the end of the day but I didn't do much at all.

Not a High School Kid Anymore

I looked very scary in the picture. It was taken in Kiyoshi's Karaoke bar in Osaka. Kiyoshi came to the hotel to pick me up with his motorcycle. He rode very fast, weaving among all other cars on the street. The traffice light was only for his reference.

He is 50 years old but look like 30. What's the secret of his young look? I wonder....

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I have been asked by a colleague in Sydney office that how many kids I have. And another colleague in Beijing just asked me where is my husband. I guess I don't look like a high school kid anymore.

To be fair, I think, in general, people look very young in Asia.

How to Produce Satisfying Customers

I thought I was the happiest girl in the world when seeing this seafood plater in the fish market in Sydney. I ate one oyster and finished all the shrimps, yum! Before starting to attack the lobster, I thought one of my oysters is moving. Gee, that's really fresh. I then looked into it closely, IT WAS A SMALL WORM!?!?

Nothing is what it seems.

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I am in the fruit craving mode these days. I crave for ripe, delicious, sweet, cruchy and watery fruits all the time. But it is really hard to find them in Beijing. I guess people don't care too much about the quality of fruits in all the northern territories around the world.

Anyhow, I ordered a fruit blended drink in a stall in the shopping mall. The girl poured some artifitial coloured water, ice and some cream into the blender. I started to have the bad feeling already. To my surprise, she didn't even blended it for 5 seconds, she poured the mixture out in a great hurry although I seemed to be the only customer. She said to me mechanically "thank you, your drink is ready".

But the drink had ice and coloured water on top and the ice cream at the bottom. It is too sweet to my taste. And there is no fruit!! I wonder if the girl knows what type of drink she just made. Would she like to pay for a drink like that?

I bet she is a northerner and never likes fruits. And she's never tasted her own work and she doesn't know how to appreciate nice fruit blended drink. There is no passion and understanding, therefore, which produces lousy execution and products.

Flying

I think the fish are never afraid of flying. They would never think about the possibility of being pulled by the gravity and fall to the ground from 30,000 feet height.

I took the picture in the aquarium in Sydney, fighting my way through 5 years old to see the sharks. It was really fun.

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I start to understand a bit why people have fly-phobia. I am now in a plane and the turbulence comes about. Of course the flight shakes up a bit. Some horrifying scenes like flight crashing start playing in my mind. My heart skids thinking about the images of people screaming and my laptop computer flying up to the ceiling (I am strapped in my seat) when the aircraft dives down the sea.

I am holding tight to my laptop.

My Cousin

I was not very confident with my new hair style, I have had my short fringe for very long time... I think how you see yourself in the mirrow is not exactly how other people see you. I figure, via digital camera, I should be able to fairely assess my new hair style.


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My cousin works very hard toward her master degree in biochemistry in Toronto. She has not had any serious relationship so far. I think that is because she is too comfortable about what she has. In her eyes, boys seem amusing rather than attractive.

How to do your Marketing in China

This is the new trend in Beijing, every dish has a label, which indicating who prepared the dish. You can ask your favorite chef to prepare another dish for you. Interesting...

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The marketing guru in China, Doctoroff, thinks most Chinese do not know the link between human right and economic advancement. I don’t know that either, so I am a qualified Chinese.

He also claimed that Chinese would like to spend money so to make them look good. For example, Haggen Doz sells very well in those individual ice cream but not the 2-liter package. But I will not spend too much money to decorate my appearance, so I don't sound too Chinese in that aspect.

Interesting Company Right Across the Street

The second floor of the office building right across my hotel seems very busy every evening. I got back from work around 7 and saw all the meeting rooms were full. I came back from my lonely dinner around 9 pm and they were still around.

I cannot help but go to the porter and asked him if he knows what company it is, they seem working overtime all the time.

The cheerful porter told me that's a language school. He has been observing them for 4 months and he can even tell me which room has what class. The Japanese group was not in today, but they will start on Thursday... Very observant he is.

Table For One, Please!

Restaurants hate single diner. They always give you the worse table in the room. I had been seated in the corner many times, sometimes facing the wall, sometimes my back faces the door to the toilets and people kept coming in and out behind me. Restaurants push single dinner around to make room for any party, as long as they have got more than 1 person.

I can understand single dinner might bring less revenue to the table and we might seem miserable or somehow weird. But we also want to enjoy foods and wish to be pampered and taken care of. Nevertheless, it has rarely happened to my single dining experience. Eating your meal alone in a restaurant is like a torture, no matter how excellent the food is. Because you really feel self-conscious about every movement you make. Did I make too much noise when I eat the noodles? Reading seems to be a very good way to get away with the self-consciousness, but there never is a good location to put the book or to keep the pages steady while you eat.

I have been thinking about this problem for a while. If there are plenty of magazines or any sort of entertainments available in the dining room, the food is rarely classic or good. You can not imagine in the upscaled french restaurant that the waiter bring you the wine list and a deck of comic books at the same time.

Does that mean single diner can only eat in the Chinese noodle shops, Kebab houses, Curry stalls and hotel room (if the room service is available)?

I am afraid so.