Japan

We're going here tomorrow. I don't think my phone will work so leave me a message on Skype if you need me.

Don't worry. Someone is taking care of the cat.

Merry Christmas!

(Also, they're "upgrading" Blogger so my line spaces disappear. Please forgive the poor formatting.)

Golden throat

It's cold here now and I've had something of a cough so I've been using these throat lozenges. The photo of the founder on the box is hilarious -- it looks like it was photo ID day at the factory and someone forgot to comb his hair.

On the package it states in English, "Actions and uses : Coursing wind and cleaning heat, resolving toxins and disinhibiting throat, transforming turbidity with aroma."

I don't know if I'll like having my "turbidity transformed" -- especially with "aroma."

View from my window

Taken during lunch at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Pudong, Shanghai. Saturday, December 16th around 11:30AM.

Merry Christmas

Juan wanted to send a digital Christmas card to everyone.

Here's his version:
Now here's my improved version:Anyway, Merry Christmas!

Shanghai Christmas

My mom asked me to post of photo of my Christmas tree. It's not exactly traditional. Ornaments are difficult to find here so it's decorated mainly with fake Prada and Louis Vuitton key chains. Plus, it's black -- to conform to someone's strictly refined aesthetic sensibilities.

This photo is several days old so there are more presents now.

The demon-eyed cat featured at bottom knocked it over a few times, but it seems to have retained most of its Christmasy cheer. 

Pearl Tower ready for launch

After a Saturday morning trip to the dentist at the Jinmao Tower (a dental practice that ominously advertises “Over 100+ years of German dental experience!”), I took a few snaps of some construction sites in Pudong.

The building in the first photo is the fast rising Shanghai World Financial Center. When it’s finished it will be the world’s tallest building (at least until this is done.)

The last two images I find a bit surreal – a shattered, dystopic sci-fi landscape of industrialization gone madly awry. Plus it looks like the Pearl Oriental Tower is about to be launched into space! Zoom!

Muji cities

We were out shopping for Christmas gifts Saturday and found these cityscape blocks at Muji. This prompted a feeble attempt at some personal art photography.

The first city is Paris, next is New York and then Tokyo (where I'll be in a couple of weeks.) I was too cheap to buy Hong Kong and London. Unfortunately they didn't have Shanghai.

This morning some of the little cars and buses were missing -- almost certainly spirited away by the relatively gigantic Julu the Cat. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Hong Kong airport. Friday, December 8th around 10:00PM. 

Julu's trip to the store

Julu made a trip to the inexplicably named “Naughty Family” animal clinic and pet store for vaccinations on Sunday. He tried to hide in Juan’s coat and then got so nervous he wet himself. Otherwise he was a trooper – no major freak-outs.

Despite all the fears and prejudices that the phrase “Chinese Pet Store” conjures, the facility was clean, modern and there wasn’t a restaurant attached.

The second photo is a shaggy dog in the industrial pet dryer. Seeing this in action is a deeply, deeply hilarious thing. The last photo is Julu’s quite heart-breaking attempt to hide.

Everything turned out okay and I think he’s fully recovered from his latest “Naughty Family” trauma.

I wish I could say the same.

Drumroll please

I was in Taipei last week for work. I didn’t see much except the inside of the office and the freeway on the never-ending drive to/from the airport. That said, the weather was almost perfect – warm and breezy. It’s a nice time of year to visit Taiwan “Province” if you’re in the neighborhood.

Taipei was having a city election during my visit, so when I took this photo you could hear partisans banging drums and yelling into loudspeakers. The drumming and yelling continued all day, providing a droning syncopated rhythm to my presentation.

In unrelated news, today I’m announcing the withdrawal of my support for Taiwan’s DPP.

Here’s the view from my office. Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, the swastika on the building is red, backwards and a Buddhist symbol for prosperity.

Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Hong Kong

Last Wednesday I took the train between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It's only two hours -- quicker than flying.

The train goes through Shenzhen (I snapped some photos from the train.) 15 years ago it was a sleepy fishing village, today it's a hectic burg of 7.5 million people. It's China's richest city and the home to the erstwhile Shenzhen Cat Meatball Restaurant. 

View from my window

From the China Hotel, Guangzhou. Wednesday morning, December 6th around 7:30AM.