Star sighting (and a brat sighting as well)

I just finished dinner with Robina at Scene Cafe, China World Hotel. as we were strolling out I spotted Chen Daoming outside the cafe. He was speaking on his mobile. I thot he looked much younger than I expected. too bad no camera, but I don wan to be like paparazzi...

For those not familiar with Chen, he's the A-list male lead (both movies and TV serials) in China. more often than not, Chen portrays emperors and strong characters. I admired his tour de force performance in Kangxi Dynasty (a CCTV serial) when he played the great Qing monarch. He was also in Zhang Yimou's "Hero" as the King of Qin. He was in the Hong Kong movie, Infernal Affairs 3.

now to the brat. earlier at the buffet dinner, we were horrified by the best display of brat behaviour we had ever seen, anywhere. this chinese kid was hanging around the dessert table. There was chocolate fondue and ice cream. The brat used a bamboo skewer for the fondue fruits pieces, stabbed into the liquid choc stream, licked off the chocolate and then stabbed it in again (a bit like chimps fishing for termites in nature docus, but I wasn't amused). eeeewwww!!!??

to top that off, the brat sampled the ice cream toppings using the spoons provided and stick the spoons back. only then did the serving staff spotted him and warded him off. the vile cretin did not give up and returned to contaminate the fondue again. Robina and I watched in horrified amazement. Luckily Robina had tried the fondue already! We couldn't stand it anymore and complained to the senior staff.

sorry, no pics of the brat! otherwise can put up wanted posters.

Sally snoozing

with the hot summer weather in Beijing, Sally has been taken to snoozing under the air-con draft.

Sally seems to be sleeping more during the hot weather, but she also hibernates in winter. how now? she's only three year's old? I guess she'll become a rug when she's an old dog. must check regular for life signs.

you can see for yourself how different Sally looks now compared to her puppy days from the earlier post.

Sally as a puppy

going through older digital albums of Sally. she really used to look like a golliwog with her mop top. but her big brown eyes are still the same even though Sally is now "whitened" (actually she's grey all over).

when Robina and I spotted Sally at the dog adoption stand at Taipei's flower market, it was her big brown eyes, floppy ears that caught our attention. she looked so different from other mongrel puppies (most of them are dark brown with black muzzles). Sally looked more like a Border Collie puppy then. she was a bag of bones at 1.5kg when we brought her home. she was so tiny that Robina could stuff Sally into her leather jacket since she was shivering in the Taipei winter winds. but Sally quickly doubled in weight after the first week from a diet of milk and dog food.

even now Robina would wonder if Sally would have a better life if she did not live with us. There was an elderly couple who was also interested at Sally. They would probably had taken good care of Sally (but who knows?). apart from us, there was this pair of evil-looking sisters (I presumed that they were sisters since they resembled each other, plump-looking middle-aged Taiwanese women). They asked the animal welfare volunteers if Sally was "choped" (booked). The two women looked as if they were more likely to cook Sally (as in doggy stew favoured by the Koreans) than if they were looking for a pet. I guessed it was the way they asked. Instead of "is this puppy adopted?" it sounded to us like "is this puppy tasty?" like buying chicken or fish from market.

Robina quickly snapped: "this dog is taken (by us)!" and that was that...

hot, hot, hot...

Beijing has been like a blast furnace since Monday; temperatures were like from 38 to 39C! worse still it felt as humid as Singapore even though humidity was still low enuff. even Robina was feeling lethargic from the heat.

finally realized why it has been so hot. today is summer solstice, the longest "day" of the year, therefore most sunshine! panas!

The hot weather made my appetite disappear (well almost...). went to check out this India restaurant, Indian Kitchen. food should be authentic since the place was frequented by staff from the Indian embassy.

yippee! they got thosai! the manager was happy to claim it was the only place in Beijing that has thosai! well, egg thosai was like S$5! but, no choice what. ordered lassi, muteer paneer (cottage cheese with green peas), chicken kurma, mutton briyani and egg thosai, washed down with marsala tea. verdict: not too bad (but can't compare to Mumtaz Mahal at Far East Plaza). complain: no papadam, only some crispy doughy thingee.

even the monkeys at Beijing zoo also cannot tahan!

Six-legged Puppy

ain't it cute!

According to the Star, a puppy were left at a temple near Port Klang, Malaysia. another case of pet abandonment? the catch is that the puppy has an extra pair of legs and a second penis (this reminded me of the three-eyed fish in an episode of Simpsons...).

However, the unusual dog would probably have a good life at the temple. Already, devotees felt that it was a bearer of good fortune and named the puppy Ong Fatt (Lucky One). Knowing the Chinese people, devotees would probably start praying to the dog for 4D numbers and good luck! Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia like to name their dogs with auspicious names like "wang cai" or "lai fu"(totally unrelated but Indiana Jones was named after the family dog).

apart from the additional anatomical equipment, this sounded like Sally's story. From the animal welfare group and vet that took care of Sally before we adopted her in Taipei, we heard that Sally and her litter-mates were found near the airport in Taoyuan, along the highway. Later we heard that local Taiwanese believed that black dogs with white feet, "ta xue" (or stepping on snow) were unlucky. Sally has white fur on her feet, white tail tip and a white collar around her neck; she was jet black when she was a puupy. anyway, Robina and I were not "pan tang" (superstitious) and Sally was too adorable anyways...

BeiMac meetup

finally made it to my first BeiMac meetup in Beijing! it was held at a pub (Touch Bar) in Houhai (somewhat like our Boat Quay). the place was relatively quiet even on a Saturday and our gathering was at a quiet corner of the pub; best of all, the place had wireless access!

about 17 Mac users showed up, the majority being Chinese users with a few expats. Met a fellow Singaporean, Kheng Siong (he's a mechanical engineer); Emma Gon Wong from Mexico, she's learning Chinese language in Beijing; Peter from New Zealand, he's with Word Perfect Market Consultants. Mr Han Song is a Mac retailer (everyone was glad to meet him!). Joanne Cheng is a film producer. Wen Liang and Shen Han Wei, nice to meet you too!

Emma told us about her G4 Powerbook not "waking" up from Sleep mode, I directed her to MacFixit since I recalled hearing about these problems. Peter's Mac has died recently but has problems with his warranty not being valid outside New Zealand.

I did my part by telling the people about our Mac meetup in Singapore and promoted Firefox since I saw most people using Safari. Did a spot of tourism promotion when Joanne asked about Singapore beaches ("e" not "i"!), I googled Sentosa beaches and showed her the pics.

David Feng and Allan Yong made excellent presentations on Tiger, widgets, spotlight etc. Beimac is well organised. Formed in 2002, they had about 30 meetings since then! They are now planning training sessions in July and a Playlist competition in August (where u can be the DJ on iPod).

wireless in Beijing

Peck Wai was komplaining about slow internet access in San Franciso and Penny was back in Singapore looking for wireless access. Otterman looked at the Singnet wireless access plan and hotspots in Singapore.

Actually wireless access in Beijing is pretty decent. There is a free wireless access tie-up between quite a number of cafes, coffeeshops and Holiday Inn Hotel. I'm surprised that Bar Blu (a hip bar in Sanlitun) was in this scheme as well (maybe you can blog when you party!!??). I have always knew that GL Cafe, a HK-style coffeeshop chain, offered free wireless since there's a joint near my apartment and my work place.

wait till I show up for a Mac meet-up this Saturday. will check with the local Mac geeks on this topic.

voyagers

Otterman posted about the controversial theory propagated by Gavin Menzies that Zheng He might have discovered the Americas and circum-navigated Australia and how STB would be launching an exhibition based on Menzies' "discoveries" in Singapore.

I chatted with Siva over iChat last night over this. Interestingly I mentioned to Siva that I thot that Menzies' book was comparable to von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods; concidentally this point was also made by historian, Geoff Wade.

I am not a historian, but as a student of Chinese history, I must say that Zheng He's voyages were fantastic enuff even without attaching Menzies' somewhat extravagant claims that has little backing. It was like making claims based on an extrapolation of an extrapolation. Even Chinese historians were either faintly amused or came out to dismiss Menzies' claims. The more polite response was that Menzies work "required more research", and these came from Chinese historians who might have vested interests in glorifying Zheng He's "peaceful voyages of establishing regional dipomatic relationships". Other Chinese researchers also pointed out factual errors in his book. Like the exit of the Yellow River, 600 years ago in 1421 was not in Bohai bay, it should be in Shangdong.

another angle towards whether Zheng He "discovered" America in 1421 might be to look at the background Zheng He's voyages. The 7 voyages were not made for discovery or even diplomacy. Eunuch Zheng He was the trusted aide of Ming Emperor Yong Le (Zhu Di). Zhu Di was the fourth son of the founding Emperor Hong Wu (Zhu Yuanzhang) but was not slated to succeed as the next emperor. However, the crown prince died and Zhu Le's nephew succeeded the throne as Emperor Jian Wen. but by then Zhu Di (Prince Yan at that time) was a power lord guarding the northern border (present day Beijing) against the Mongols. Prince Yan led a campaign to seize the throne from Jian Wen. So it turns out that Emperor Yong Le was actually a usurper without legitimacy in the orthodox confucian way with the eldest inheriting the throne. Even after seizing the throne, Yong Le was insecure and was well aware of him being the usurper.

Therefore, the voyages of Zheng He has one prime objective: to bring back tribute and recognition from Southeast Asian kingdoms. One sign of imperial legitimacy was tributes from "vassal states from eight directions". For instance, the sultans of Brunei, Malacca (Parameswara) and the Sulu kingdoms visited Beijing to pay homage. The Sultan of Brunei fell sick and died in China and his tomb can still be visited in Nanjing. The fleet also brought back exotic animals, not so much for curiosity but more for their symbolic effect. For instance, the giraffe was called the "Chilin", an auspicious mythical beast that would only appear during the reign of a just and wise emperor.

the other reason was probably to search for the lost Emperor Jian Wen who disappeared after the "rebel" forces stormed Nanjing. Rumour has it that Jian Wen had escaped to Southeast Asia, probably Siam (Thailand).

My point is that the Chinese don go around sailing the world charting the seas, or to establish bases in far-off Nova Scotia. Otherwises, nearby Japan, Okinawa or Southeast Asia would have been "dotted" with Chinese bases. Chinese dynasties are not interested in foreign barbarian lands, unless for tributes and recogition for overlord status.

But eventually, the voyages were stopped largely due to a combination of factors: but mainly due to the opposition from conservative officials since the voyages were bankrupting the government and the agrarian, continental philosophy of China. To encourage the homages and tributes, Yong Le were dishing out lavish gifts like gold and precious silks and jewelry. The costs of outfitting and supplying the fleet was also astronomical. At the height of the voyages, it was estimated that 300,000 workers were involved in shipbuilding and providing logistic support. another factor was probably because the mongols up north were getting restless again.

To me that the saddest thing that all these achievements were a flash in the pan. All the impressive technical innovations that were ahead of its time like water-tight compartments, advanced sailing technology like tacking system that could sail up-wind were lost and forgotten, the shipyards and shipwrights were disbanded. China turned inwards on itself after that, this indirectly led to the weakened and technological backward China that was ready to be carved up by the western powers by the time of the Opium Wars in 1840.

interestingly, Ming manuscripts recorded that the fleet brought along lots of vegetables, fruits and animals as provisions. One of the "live" fish brought along was the snakehead (Channa sp) since it was very hardy and could even survive out of water. Zheng He's fleets also brought back previously unknown vegetables like the bittergourd. The fleet also brought back precious stuff like shark fin, bird nests and durian from Sumatra (I'm sure the durians were well received...).

dinner with Julie

my classmate, Julie Goh was in town for both biz and R&R. finally caught up with her and her friends for dinner. What a small world! turns out that the fren of Julie's colleague was the daughter of Prof Hew Choy Sin, our good old professor from Botany. He taught me Plant Physiology in 3rd year! Robina was more familiar with Prof Hew's brother, Prof Hew Choy Leong, who is now the Head of Biological Sciences, NUS. Prof Hew's daughter is now with IBM and was newly posted to Beijing for a week!

Julie (first from left); Prof Hew's daughter (second from right)

brought them to try out this muslim seafood restaurant from Dalian. an interesting blend of seafood dishes, Northeastern Chinese (Dongbei) cuisine and Muslim style (kosher, no pork) cooking in a "traditional" chinese setting. The place was a brand new restaurant so it was spanking new and clean. Apart from the steamed turbot (flat fish), stir-fried seafood, Robina's favourite dish was the beef stew (with white beans, potatoes and tomatoes) which was surprisingly similar to its western (ang moh) counterpart. after dinner, we were treated to dumplings (zhong zi) since it was Dumpling Festival (Duan Wu Jie) tonite!

Galactica rawks!

caught sight of the BSG season 1 DVDs at my usual DVD shop. grabbed it without a second thot! unfortunately, the pilot movie was not out yet, but luckily I had a pretty good idea from reading web reviews and browsing the official site.

as a follower of the original series, I tried to watch the "reimagined" series with an opened mind. The new series is more gritty, more like Blackhawk Down and West Wing. The first episode was gripping and managed to carry across the grief, confusion and tensions of a post-Pearl Harbour, post-holocaust or post-9/11 scenario. The cylons were cool and managed to lose the tacky tin-can toaster look of the original (no more: by your command...). I found the retro-hi tech premise intriguing. With ships able to do FTL (faster than light) jumps but technology-wise the humans are also stuck with analog clocks (counting down to 33 minute), clunky phones and handsets. The premise was that any advanced computer technology could be hacked into and subverted by Cylon computer virus. Over-reliance on technology has led to the downfall of humankind.

The back story was that the humans created the robotic cylons who later turned on their masters. after disappearing for 40 years, the Cylons returned with 12 humanoid looking models that can infiltrate human society and penetrate the defence system. The ensuing sneak attack wiped out the 12 human colonies. Key characters were changed to women: Starbuck and Boomer, which to me was refreshing. Comdr Adama, played by Edward James Olmos, has a quiet gravitas similar to Lorne Greene in the original series. Baltar, the traitor, was played as a neurotic and over-sexed top scientist with manic glee by James Callis.

I think this series is going to be screened on Cinemax later in June, back in Singapore.

P.S: just finished the series on DVD. It's great! just bear in mind it's not the original series, which was rollicking swashbuckling fun (altho tacky n cheesy in hindsight). like what i said earlier, the new series is darker and more complex. surprisingly deals with religion and faith from a slightly different perspective. catch on cable when u can!

the jungle is neutral

thanks goodness that the four Singapore boys lost in Fraser's Hill have been found safe and sound! from all the coverage in Singapore and Malaysian media, I gathered that Singapore must thank all the search and rescue people from the Malaysian police, orang asli and the locals from Fraser's Hill.

I think people must realise that we must not underestimate even simple forest trail, especially we Singaporeans who are used to manicured and managed parks and relatively small scale forest like BTNR and the Central Catchment. Even then, experienced trekkers (or foolhardy ones) still managed to get lost in the Central Catchment.

Robina and I had the fondest memories of Fraser's Hill since we were undergrads and later, postgrads and newly-employed underpaid working stiffs. My first visit to Fraser's was with MNS (now NSS) birders. later on even BSS began to organise visits to Fraser's. The sleepy little town with its fresh air and cool outdoor air-con temperatures was only a short distance from KL. Its nature aspects were wonderful! apart from the many birds species, the crisp montane forest and flora were fascinating. plus, this was one of the few places that u can spot mammals like martens and civets relatively easily. You get woken up every morning by the jowling calls of siamang and gibbons and watch the glorious clouds of mists rolling amongst the hills.

when Robina and I started working, Fraser's was one place for a quick and cheap vacation. this was one place to bring a few books, drink tea on the verandah. We still missed the tasty (and cheap) meals at the "food court" next to the mosque and the delicious laksa from the Chinese coffeeshop. having piping hot spicy tom yam on a chilly evening was so shiiook! I had the best chicken satay in Frasers', prepared with TLC by this Malay uncle from Johor (who was very proud of his satay recipe). This uncle was very chatty and treated us Singaporeans with warmth since he had worked in Sembawang shipyard in his youth.

I hope that the "bad press" from this latest "lost" episode would not affect tourists from going there. (I recall that a British botanist was lost there a few months back: must be botanists! :-P) I can imagine all those Singaporean mothers warning their kids: "hiyah! go to Fraser's some more, wait get lost then u know!"

P.S. The Jungle is Neutral is a book by Spencer Chapman about his experiences in Jap-occupied Malaya with Force 136. His writings about his survival in the Malayan rainforest were awe-inspiring and his descriptions about the flora and fauna and orang asli were typical of a British naturalist.

god's gift to the ignorant

Otterman posted on the on-going battle between creationists and evolutionists on the teaching of evolution in biology textbooks in Kansas. Richard Dawkins published an effective rebuttal in the Times.

Religion and science need not be mutually exclusive to each other. However, it is sad that Christian fundamentalists sought to misrepresent, debunk and even undermine science, or actually evolution in particular, to justify their faith.

I recalled a nature walk to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve I had guided for a group of young Malay muslim children organised by the AMP. We had a fun time guiding this group since the kids were enthusiastic and lapped up our stories about nature and the rainforest. While we were walking downhill after the walk, we were talking about the microscopic life in just a drop of pond water. one Malay girl shared with me that she had done this science experiment in class, but for her, looking at the teeming microbial life in the slide, she had seen "God" under the microscope. I was stunned...as a biologist I had never thought about this perspective...

coffee or tea?

for the past few days, we have been bringing our parents around the sights of Beijing. a few images had left impressions on me. We spotted the "infamous" Starbucks in the Forbidden Palace. Our guide highlighted the small building adjoining the Emperor's residence, it was the "military cabinet office" of the Qing Dynasty now called Starbucks! even he was wryly amused...actually the more prominent signboard and logo of Starbucks had been removed a few years ago due to public pressure. what we see now were more unobtrusive signs of globalisation.



we brought our parents to Laoshe Teahouse one evening. apart from sampling tea and delicate snacks, there were snippets performances of peking opera, cross-talks, acrobatics and folk singing. a waiter there impressed us with his acrobatic display of puring hot water from a kettle with a very long spout.

bringing up parents

brought our parents to the Great Wall. the weather was excellent, sunny, clear blue skies and a cool breeze. going up the wall on a week day was a refreshing change, minus the hordes of weekend tourists. altho the Mutianyu stretch of the Great Wall is much less crowded than the Badaling stretch.

lunch was at our favourite rainbow trout joint, amongst the numerous farm-style restaurants between Huairou and Mutianyu. Our parents enjoyed the sashimi trout and other peasant-style dishes.

rainbow trout sashimi


spicy lamb with chilli and fennel


the view and scenery at the restaurant was quite pleasant. It reminds us of Australia (if you ignore the rubbish in the foreground).

mock stuff

brought my parents to lunch at this vegetarian place near to Yonghe Gong (a tibetan buddhist temple). the vegetarian cold cut starters had mock luncheon meat that tasted and smell like the real thing! this is amazing since the raw material was simply soya bean. the chef was able to create the texture, appearance and even taste of meat using gluten. the food at the restaurant was quite tasty and healthy with lots of vegies, mushroom and tofu.


sorry, this is "real" Peking duck that I brought my parents to try!

resupply

My parents and Robina's parents flew in from Singapore for a visit. They brought in a load of supplies essential to our survival and well-being in Beijing: Lipton tea (assorted flavours), bak kwa, pork floss, Prima mixes (assorted flavours), Jacobs oatmeal crackers, "International Roast" coffee, Shokobutsu shampoo refill (environmentally frenly) and Mama Lemon dishwashing liquid refills. I could almost imagine the air-drop in "Band of Brothers". Arguably, the most important item were the Nonya Bakchang (dumplings)! the dumplings came floating down on parachute. Halleluja!

Robina and I will be operating the standard Beijing 7-day tour itinerary from now onwards...