Women in Beijing

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.