Archive for February, 2007

Got it from a trusted source that the choco-cafe Whisk, which has gotten rave reviews from friends and venerable Shanghai taste-makers alike, has now decided not to allow patrons to wirelessly access the Internet, citing the behavior of visitors to camp inside for hours while purchasing slight amounts of food and drink. Apparently, the broadband [...]

Not to beat the Oscar panda to death or anything, but anyone who saw the same CCTV Oscar pre-show that I saw must have watched the amazing red-carpet reporter Liu Shuai (刘帅) with similar awe and fascination.
First of all, I get more and more impressed each year with CCTV’s penetration of the paparazzi scrum right [...]

So after diligently avoiding all web media yesterday as to not be accidentally exposed to the winners of yesterday morning’s 79th Annual Oscar ceremony, I propped myself on the couch after dinner, giddy and anxious for the replay on CCTV-6 to start at 10 pm. Avoiding web media is no easy task for a notorious [...]

It’s that special day of the year again. Nope, not my birthday. Nope, not the Super Bowl. Nope, not the one day out of the entire year I decide to wash my socks.
It’s Oscar night!
Well, actually, here in Shanghai it’s Oscar morning, and tradition calls for me to be at work, completely shutting myself off [...]

I cheated a little by back-dating a my blog posts from my trip to the U.S.. In reality, I had actually composed those much earlier, but with only the one week in Shanghai sandwiched between the States and Taipei for Chinese New Year, and with the ongoing Britney Spears shaved head drama consuming most of [...]

I’m so excited.
After nearly a week in Taipei hanging with the family for Chinese New Year, I’m now sitting at the Hong Kong international airport, minutes from boarding on my flight back to Shanghai. After nearly a week of orderly behavior on the subway, of people staying on the right of the escalator so others [...]

Flipping through the channels in my wonderfully shitty little suite in Folsom, I came across resident CNN blowhard Lou Dobbs and his daily bluster show. They were doing a segment on the military expansion of Russia and China. I was recovering from what felt like my 28th In ‘N Out Double Double since I arrived, [...]

It’s Tuesday night in Folsom, and that means it’s trivia night at the local watering hole. The pub is called The Streets of London, and judging from my co-workers who go regularly, it’s THE after-work spot in town. And that is quite a tragedy, as they all came to admit later on.
The place is nice [...]

The first thing I notice after walking onto the aircraft are the flight attendants, for the simple reason that they seem to be from a completely different flight attendant universe as the ones on the Asian carriers. Essentially all my flights since the time I moved to Shanghai had been on Asian airlines (ANA, Singapore, [...]

There is such a thing as reverse culture shock.
After deplaning and securing my beautiful Hyundai from Hertz, Chace and I were ready to get some hearty American food. I was already nervous and excited as I slowly pulled the car out of the garage, having not driven since that forgetful adventure on the wrong side [...]