I have been very impressed to see how brave and brunt Beijing women are. They yell, push, never shy away from confrontation. The langauage they use is mostly man-like, together with the unfriendly, not-negotiable, unapologetic tone, you will come to the conclusion not to mess around with them.
I was at the traditional market once, and heard the middle age woman arguing with a stall keeper. She raised her volume, the stall keeper came back with some angry remark. I thought that is it and continued my stroll. However, behind me, it seemed that woman was so angry that she actually attacked the stall keeper. A fight started and others had to pull them apart.
The other time, I was waiting for a table in a busy restaurant. A man accidentally stepped on a girl's toe who is also waiting in the same area. Without hesitation, she hit the man with great force and gave him a very dirty look. I think you have to be very very confident in yourself to do that. Confident that, under any circumstances, you are ready to get into a physical/oral fight and win.
Of course, not all women I met are so physical, however, verbally strong is commonly seen.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Very Funny Illness
My cold gives me different symptons every day this week. I woke up with congested lung, woke up with nonstop coughing, woke up with sore muscle, woke up with clogged nose today. I am so looking forward to tomorrow morning.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Yi-Long Hunger Strike
After my dad left, Yi-Long refuses to eat anything. My mom's diagnosis is that Yi-Long is suffered from depression because of loneliness. She's proved her theory by patting Yi-Long's head before dinner and Yi-Long had his supper happily.
Unfortunately, my mom is not an animal person, I don't think Yi-Long is going to any patting from my mom again, I am so worried that he is going to die.
Unfortunately, my mom is not an animal person, I don't think Yi-Long is going to any patting from my mom again, I am so worried that he is going to die.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Shabu Shabu is originated in China?
The very very good hotpot place in Beijing. Ben kept saying the place is very local, I might not like it. But I liked it the moment I set my foot into the dwelling. Not the sophisticated type but practical type. Practical in a way that you don't see the waste bin in the dinning hall (I have seen those in a very nice and clean home-cooking Korean restaurant), however, everything you can see is needed for the business. The owner is not taking anything away trying to pretend this is a high class restaurant, yet the owner is not too lazy to getting unpleasant things out of the way.
The soup base is just water, with some green onion and sliced ginger. The high line is the meat. We have got 2 plates of different cut of a lamb. The first one is the fresh cut, it doesn't taste like lamb at all, it does not have funny lamb smell. The meat is tender and juice even if it is overcooked in the hotpot. The second plate is the frozen sliced meat. The slices are so thin, the meat is ready in 2 or 3 seconds after dipping into the hotpot. I don't like the frozen slices because you can taste the slight lamb smell. But Ben likes it better.
The dipping sauce is made of grounded seasame, seasame oil and some whole seasames, femented tofu juice, grounded green onion and some rice vinegar. Freshly cooked sliced meat with the sauce is readlly yummy. I think I overate...
The soup base is just water, with some green onion and sliced ginger. The high line is the meat. We have got 2 plates of different cut of a lamb. The first one is the fresh cut, it doesn't taste like lamb at all, it does not have funny lamb smell. The meat is tender and juice even if it is overcooked in the hotpot. The second plate is the frozen sliced meat. The slices are so thin, the meat is ready in 2 or 3 seconds after dipping into the hotpot. I don't like the frozen slices because you can taste the slight lamb smell. But Ben likes it better.
The dipping sauce is made of grounded seasame, seasame oil and some whole seasames, femented tofu juice, grounded green onion and some rice vinegar. Freshly cooked sliced meat with the sauce is readlly yummy. I think I overate...
Friday, April 14, 2006
Subway in Beijing
I go to work or client site via Beijing Subway every day. That is the best way to beat the horrible traffic jam in Beijing city. There are way too many cars on the road although almost all the major streets are at least 5 lanes one way.
When there is not enough resource, you can see how people thrive to make some space on his/her own. I have not learnt that skill yet, thus, I usually let go 2 or 3 trains every morning. When the train is not crowded, people are generally nice if they have not had some garlic or raw onion for breakfast. The experienced passengers would make their way to the door before his/her destination comes along. However, the passengers about to board would be so eager to proceed when the door opens. I sometimes have to fight my way out very aggressively with the laptop bag as my shield. People moan, show their complaint with grumpy face... The typical big city life.
Unlike the subway system in New York or London, the annoucement in the train is very very loud. It tells you what is the next station and when to interchange if you would like to take the other line. The volume is so high that your ear drums actually hurt.
When there is not enough resource, you can see how people thrive to make some space on his/her own. I have not learnt that skill yet, thus, I usually let go 2 or 3 trains every morning. When the train is not crowded, people are generally nice if they have not had some garlic or raw onion for breakfast. The experienced passengers would make their way to the door before his/her destination comes along. However, the passengers about to board would be so eager to proceed when the door opens. I sometimes have to fight my way out very aggressively with the laptop bag as my shield. People moan, show their complaint with grumpy face... The typical big city life.
Unlike the subway system in New York or London, the annoucement in the train is very very loud. It tells you what is the next station and when to interchange if you would like to take the other line. The volume is so high that your ear drums actually hurt.
Lucky Gold Star
The team did a project for LG in Korea last year, the anecdotes were hularious. For example, LG decided to go live on April the first and the project manager was so determined. He said, first of April, period. As if he's put his life on the line.
Another time, the LG project manager flew the freshly printed 30 page long issue list in front of our project manager. I heard, the LG guy literally threw the print out into the air. Just imagining the documents fell like huge snow flakes in the office....
In one of the meetings, LG complained that the marketing broche claims the software can do this and that... Then our project manager came back, "you said Life is Good".
Another time, the LG project manager flew the freshly printed 30 page long issue list in front of our project manager. I heard, the LG guy literally threw the print out into the air. Just imagining the documents fell like huge snow flakes in the office....
In one of the meetings, LG complained that the marketing broche claims the software can do this and that... Then our project manager came back, "you said Life is Good".
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Vicky
Crazy Karaoke night. Vicky is a great singer. We made the Karaoke virgin, Wesley, become addictive to singing. He was like "urm... I don't want to sing, I think I am awful" when first setting foot into the Karaoke room. But by midnight, he wouldn't let go of the microphone.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
2 Day Hybernating
I felt ill on Friday morning. But I managed to go out having dinner and then Karaokeing with the office gang. We went to the No. 4 kitchen, the foods were not as good as last time we came. But alright, since I was sick and weak, anything is tasteless. After the 3-hour dinner, we all went to the CashBox Karaoke.
Cashbox has many chain stores, originated from Taiwan. When we were high school kids in Taipei, we went Karaokeing pretty frequently. That brings back a lot of nice memories. The same operating pattern and deco, Chinese pop songs from my time (I don't really know much about the Chinese pop songs anymore after going to Canada), I was so thrilled to see all of those again.
Vicky and I joked around and did the back-up dancing. We sang "Barbie Girl", which cracked up the whole crowd whenever the phrase "undress me everywhere" came around. Hao-Ling commented that you don't look like you are sick at all. Singing in a joking manner is funnier, I think I have lost the heart to sing seriously, we get more and more self-conscious when we get old.
When midnight approaching, I was getting slowed down, my face turned pale and the eczma got really bad. My eyes were red and I had to sleep for 2 solid days to recover from the cold.
Cashbox has many chain stores, originated from Taiwan. When we were high school kids in Taipei, we went Karaokeing pretty frequently. That brings back a lot of nice memories. The same operating pattern and deco, Chinese pop songs from my time (I don't really know much about the Chinese pop songs anymore after going to Canada), I was so thrilled to see all of those again.
Vicky and I joked around and did the back-up dancing. We sang "Barbie Girl", which cracked up the whole crowd whenever the phrase "undress me everywhere" came around. Hao-Ling commented that you don't look like you are sick at all. Singing in a joking manner is funnier, I think I have lost the heart to sing seriously, we get more and more self-conscious when we get old.
When midnight approaching, I was getting slowed down, my face turned pale and the eczma got really bad. My eyes were red and I had to sleep for 2 solid days to recover from the cold.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Chinese Doctor
I went to the most reputable Chinese herb medicine store in Beijing, taking the prescription Dr. Lin wrote me 2 years ago, thinking I finally am able to get my eczma and allergy problem fixed. Ecstatic...
I never tried to read the prescription, it was really 10 or 12 different names of some herbs, I didn't even notice that the units were scribbled in some characters I don't recognise at all. I thought those are the common language for people in Chinese medicine industry. However, the pharmacists in TongRenTang couldn't recognise the unit because Beijing has modernised almost all measurments. Dr. Lin's unit was the ancient Chinese weighting unit.
I have to see a Chinese doctor so he can translate this unit to gram. The doc is an old man in his 60s and has a cigeratte butt in a ashtray. Before he could speak, he's coughing so severely that I thought he is about to chock. I asked if he is alright but he seemed to be out of breath for a while.
I escaped the room to see another doctor next door. The doc is even older, he is probably 80 something. He cannot read some of the names of those medicine in my prescription because Dr. Lin wrote in traditional Chinese. I also wonder if he should have a new pair of glasses. But he's done his job, translating the ancient Chinese weighting unit "chien" to grams.
He insisted to measure my pulse but his diagnosis is totally different from Dr. Lin. He thinks I am having a cold. I asked him how long he thinks I have been sick, he said, it is a long long time. I then got interested and asking for more information. He said, it must be at least 3 months. I tossed his prescription to the gabbage bin as soon as he is out of my sight.
I never tried to read the prescription, it was really 10 or 12 different names of some herbs, I didn't even notice that the units were scribbled in some characters I don't recognise at all. I thought those are the common language for people in Chinese medicine industry. However, the pharmacists in TongRenTang couldn't recognise the unit because Beijing has modernised almost all measurments. Dr. Lin's unit was the ancient Chinese weighting unit.
I have to see a Chinese doctor so he can translate this unit to gram. The doc is an old man in his 60s and has a cigeratte butt in a ashtray. Before he could speak, he's coughing so severely that I thought he is about to chock. I asked if he is alright but he seemed to be out of breath for a while.
I escaped the room to see another doctor next door. The doc is even older, he is probably 80 something. He cannot read some of the names of those medicine in my prescription because Dr. Lin wrote in traditional Chinese. I also wonder if he should have a new pair of glasses. But he's done his job, translating the ancient Chinese weighting unit "chien" to grams.
He insisted to measure my pulse but his diagnosis is totally different from Dr. Lin. He thinks I am having a cold. I asked him how long he thinks I have been sick, he said, it is a long long time. I then got interested and asking for more information. He said, it must be at least 3 months. I tossed his prescription to the gabbage bin as soon as he is out of my sight.
Very nice Peking duck restaurant
I finally visited a nice Peking duck place last night. Very contented...
We had 5 cold dishes. One of them was the sliced duck liver, very tender and delicate, tasted like high quality pate but better. I like the tofu salad as well, the tofu was mixed with some local herbs, finely chopped.
The duck is very young and not too fatty. The meat is very tender and the skin is crispy. It is surprisingly nice to eat the skin with some suger, rather than the dark sweet flour paste, which is the traditional sauce goes with the duck skin. My stomach still cannot handle raw green onion (heartburn follows raw onion), it is a torture to see others chewing the green onion with duck meat.
Don't remember whatelse we had. The duck was too impressive.
We had 5 cold dishes. One of them was the sliced duck liver, very tender and delicate, tasted like high quality pate but better. I like the tofu salad as well, the tofu was mixed with some local herbs, finely chopped.
The duck is very young and not too fatty. The meat is very tender and the skin is crispy. It is surprisingly nice to eat the skin with some suger, rather than the dark sweet flour paste, which is the traditional sauce goes with the duck skin. My stomach still cannot handle raw green onion (heartburn follows raw onion), it is a torture to see others chewing the green onion with duck meat.
Don't remember whatelse we had. The duck was too impressive.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Police Station Excusion
I need to file the police report for the stolen wallet and camera to satisfy the insurance company. I guess it is part of their idea to make sure the pickpocket did happen, if the claimant does go through all the trouble to make a case with the police.
I first went to the station which taxi driver thought should take care of the area. Unfortunately, it was not. I then jumped into another cab to the other police station. Which is the third police station I visted this week. I had been to the other station few days ago in my neighbourhood to register my residency.
After telling one of the on-duty officers my story, he then led me to the dirty and dark interrogation room, filled with smoke. He told me to sit down and started to record our converstaion.
I cannot help but think this room was used for other purpose. The police officer was not friendly, his tone was almost intimidating and threatening. I think, he is so used to talk that way. I cannot help but staring at his badge and sleeves, which are filthy. But I tried to be as formal and polite as I can. I feel I can get beaten up for no reason if I don't do so.
As I was waiting in the lobby, while the intimidating officer was finalising the report. The other three on-duty officers started to chat me up. I told them I am Chinese Canadian who just came to Beijing a month ago, and I have never been to such a big city (which is true, Beijing's population is almost 15 million, way ahead of New York and London). They sympathised my naiveness and were all eager to give me tips to fight off petty crimes. They invited me to go back sometime to have tea by the time I left.
I first went to the station which taxi driver thought should take care of the area. Unfortunately, it was not. I then jumped into another cab to the other police station. Which is the third police station I visted this week. I had been to the other station few days ago in my neighbourhood to register my residency.
After telling one of the on-duty officers my story, he then led me to the dirty and dark interrogation room, filled with smoke. He told me to sit down and started to record our converstaion.
I cannot help but think this room was used for other purpose. The police officer was not friendly, his tone was almost intimidating and threatening. I think, he is so used to talk that way. I cannot help but staring at his badge and sleeves, which are filthy. But I tried to be as formal and polite as I can. I feel I can get beaten up for no reason if I don't do so.
As I was waiting in the lobby, while the intimidating officer was finalising the report. The other three on-duty officers started to chat me up. I told them I am Chinese Canadian who just came to Beijing a month ago, and I have never been to such a big city (which is true, Beijing's population is almost 15 million, way ahead of New York and London). They sympathised my naiveness and were all eager to give me tips to fight off petty crimes. They invited me to go back sometime to have tea by the time I left.
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