Beijing weekend

Beijing, initial impressions:

The trip to Beijing was at best, interesting..... the place is newly developed and highways and new airport are vast and expansive, but efficiency is at a minimum.... (reminded me a little of Jeddah/Riyadh in the ‘70s) …. running around town is probably more efficient via subway..... the place is much like Winnipeg or Ottawa, large expanses..... but people are rather rude, and crude, however nowadays the restaurants are being trained in finesse, resulting in overly sympathetic service......

Did the great wall at mu tian yu, reportedly 90 min. out of town, but took twice as long... and that is symptomatic of the taxi services, and highway conditions, and this was a private car for the day.... si ma tai, which is still more spectacular and supposed to be 2.5 hrs would probably be like 3.5 as it is reportedly near hebei....; the 6 circle roads around Beijing define the city..... with a 1.25 hour minimum, due to traffic congestion, to get beyond the 6th ring or outer circle...... 1/2 hour if low traffic.... you get the picture......

The duck and Beijing food places my friend recommended were great, easy to find, like most restaurants anywhere else in the world, (rmb200pp), they also ask for feedback, especially if you are chinese speaking. But most people are done with the evening and restaurants closed by 10pm…. like Winnipeg....lol.... The ones I went with some other hong kong friends were all in hutongs... which are neat, but dumpy and at half the price (rmb100 pp...) probably not worth the hassle of trying to find them with taxis or scooters, who are 'uncooperative' at the best of times...... and dirty by western standards. (When I am afraid to ask for ice, I would say it is dirty.)

People are just generally clueless and not ready for the quick development of the city and taxi drivers can range from chatty and entrepreneurial, to basically, 'tell me where u want me to go and what to do... communist era mentality.' ... so its a crap shoot. But they are a relatively cheap way to get around. The subway is rmb2 any distance... like Ottawa bus service....lol.....

Walked down some hutongs and shopping streets, like liu li chang street..... third world alive....neat stores in refurbished buildings built for the tourists; Forbidden City..... pushy, crowded and probably not worth it...; the king's brother's residence.... much prettier and better, especially if u go early......; tien an men, drive by at evening flag ceremony.... pretty campy.... (just the front side/yard of Forbidden City).

Food in general in Beijing is uninteresting to boring... 'dumplings dumplings everywhere, but not a tasty one to eat'..... especially the street food (rmb 30pp), which we walked into this restaurant serving dumplings, cha chang mein and other local specialties.... all kind of rubbish, dough based, like buns, noodles, rolls, etc.. (the dough tastes consistently good, but the fillings and sauces need significant work... basically it is a flour based subsidence, ........ should have tried to eat at the Dong an men market 'eating/food' street where they had seahorses, scorpions, starfish, worms, grasshoppers, and other strange yakitories....... Also tried a Chinese hamburger, sauced minced pork, in a hamburger bun, in a plastic bag… you’ll figure out why they have a plaster bag…..lol…..

And one needs to have a guide or be able to read chinese to get the full value of anything, as it is a joke translating between hongkong cantonese, beijing mandarin, hongkong/taiwan mandarin and english...... typical response from a taxi driver.... 'you guys from HK are way too stressed out' is like the pot calling the kettle black......lol....."

a dilemma

a dilemma that i face is, of course, the fact that, should I just post something for/on an informational basis, which gets dated very quickly; or should i wait till i massage the piece till it's decent.... and definitely dated.....

right now, I have golfing, eating and a number of other pieces on HongKong?

and i have an interesting anecdote about eating out in HongKong... that one should carry napkins with one when one is eating out.... it's like the toilet paper thing in France....lol.....

anyway,.... any comments?

history to an old indian friend.......

it's funny how everyone is calling u uncle nowadays....hahahahah, must be getting old.....

and I didn't quite 'pass out' in 69, but graduated then. I got jaundice the last month and had to stay with relatives, rather than at the school. I sat for the ISC and finished rather lower than I would have deserved. but I then got into xaviers intermediate, promptly started to party hard and managed only to scrape thru in 73, worked in HKG for a year and then went on to Queen's in Canada, did my MBA and then promptly got married... the rest is essentially history..... stayed put in Can for 30 odd years, married, divorced and had kids, built a life and now have given it up for a new adventure, back in HKG, the land of my birth....

that was part 1.....

if u said that was an interesting life, that's another story... I may write a book one day, but... the trip to Can is the part 2 of my life... married, homebody, father providing, hardworking stupid bastard paying my dues to my ex and 'family life'....... bitterness, ye, quite a bit..... lol.....

and now, the start of part 3 of my life back in HKG and starting a new life....
tsunami, serendipity, cycle of life... call it what u want.... but its a new lease on life, with a new circle of friends.... again..., and i am gonna enjoy it as much as possible.....

A letter 'home'....?

pre-script...... I drafted this, left it for a bit... and was caught up in the trip to s'pore.... meeting an old bishop's school chum from poona.... he's an evp with a hotel management group... carlson...... and the grad class of 69..... and the rest of s'pore.... but that's another story........

ciao ccc.....

Dear A.

Certainly, the temperature in Ottawa must now be diametrically opposite from here.....lol..... it's 19C low and 25C high with 90% humidity...... more like summer in Ottawa than winter in HK. Apparently Melbourne is experiencing 47C highs.... but then it's their summer....hahahhaha... I don't miss the winter much, but feel it such a waste to have lugged fall clothing to HK.....

my trip to perth will be postponed......

Wine... HK has the best and prices to match... I am now regularly drinking, when i can with my condition/concerns re liver, C$100 a bottle of wine... that's HK$700. Nice wines are very available here with Margaux, Paulliac, Lynch Barges, Smith Lafitte, which runs around HK$5000 a bottle, almost ashamed to open one and I'll be damned if I can find something to go with it...... Had a Penfolds Shriaz, Magill Estates HK$1500, with some spaghetti with pesto; and prosciutto and melon and it seemed such a waste of a great wine..... and a St Emilion Grand Cru, Chateau Corbin Michotte with some Tasmanian smoked salmon and artichokes and sun dried tomatoes and some mux lux.....

Conspicuous consumption is endemic to HK. Money talks, bullshit walks must have been created here... either that or LA....lol....

I hope the Chateau Olivier Passac Leognan, Graves was successful. Should have been reflective of the gravelly soil and hearty nature of the region..... think a prime rib, rare would have done it justice.....

don't even want to think of the Christmas candles that T gave J last year. We had to travel all the way to Paris to get that.... T is actually quite 'that way', so it's an interesting adaptation process.....

as for things to do, we are going to Singapore for the weekend, valentines day and Phuket over Easter. Depressed... not, just a little shell shocked at the pace and materialism and how to deal with it..... and also the expectations and attitudes....

already wore the tux... to a wedding on Jan 9th, which is the Chinese Valentine's day, as it is the 15 Jan of the Chinese new year and full moon. Very auspicious and the wedding was held at the jumbo seafood floating restaurant in Aberdeen.

ciao ccc.......

a comment.....

A thoughtful and publishable comment from a friend, who saw thru my comments re the east vs west equation:

'Welcome to the "new" Economic power of the World...China and of course India, where the disparity between rich and poor is ludicrous, it was always bad but now its reached a new level and you described it very well....

Enjoy/lament, it's the same to the people on the fast track, which is the wannabes and the younger generation, they have no time............ it's only our lot who have lived the old and are experiencing the new, who know and feel the difference...

Take care and just flow with the tide....'

Confessions of a returnee.......

Confessions of a returnee....


As for Hong Kong (hk)... besides the new metro tunnels and transit infrastructures, the tall buildings in central and the reclaiming of the harbour... it hasn't changed much, ….. the people, culture, crowds, rush, materialism, speed (directionless), efficiency and effectiveness (without soul), etc, has not changed at all .... the official population count is still about the same..... around 8m people, but most have moved from 'illegal’ migrants to illegal philippinas ..... the Kowloon industrial sector has moved to Shenzhen, just inside the pearl delta, where gdp pp is $13k, vs hk's $30k....... it used to be $130, so..... u make the conjectures......

Saw a fortune teller and she said I was destined to return to the place of my birth and that this is a new dharma...... wonder how much of that shows in what I said up front....?

chinese new year was spent in Bali at a private villa..... monetary wealth is endemic... u either have it or u do not..... behaviour has to be tailored to this perception...... already 'had' to buy a tux and suit (blanc de chine), designer shoes (cole haan), clothes (ferragamo, cavalli, zegna….) ..... snootiness is a personalized trait that is admired .... competitiveness is also ingrained in the system, including those of schools, children, etc….. travel in hk consists of mass migrations via Cathay Pacific airlines before and after public holiday weekends...... so the line up at HK airport leaving and coming back was phenomenal....... even though due to the economy, lots have stayed home for CNY (Chinese new year). And Bali entry has its VIP services, which, for around $100US, can expedite the skids on arrival.... security also 'removed' a bag of designer clothes for inspection, which was not returned.....lol.... no wonder the terrorists want this place blown up..... hedonism is the watchword here..... whereas the villa was just idyllic.....

back in HK, working my way thru the Michelin guide for what they consider the best restaurants in HK and Macau, but there are so many that are not on the list that are very good, that it may take a lifetime....hahahahahah.... have already eaten at several Michelin starred places, and also 'unlisted' places and the food is essentially comparable. The Michelin starred guide (MSG) also emphasizes decor and service and as such, are constrained to large hotel chains and 'chains' of several restaurants owned by wealthy individuals... very different from France.... read susur lee's trek/life and u will get an idea of the difference between Chinese and French culinary training and attitudes..... actually very surprised MSG would/can factually rate HK, Macau and Japan (there are more restaurants in happy valley than all of Ottawa and in wanchai than in all of Toronto........hehehehhehe)...... guess it started with Japan.......


Am I glad to be back?

what's in a name?

have a suggestion that this place should be called.... 'Cheeky' Comrade Cholly Chee..... lol.......

what say u?

I think that might be one alliteration too many.....hahahahahaha.....

Xmas 2008......