The ocean in motion

And I thought that USA Today doesn't have anything worth reading

2009-08-14T10:23:00.003-07:00

This is a pretty cool Flash animation for the construction timeline of the International Space Station.

http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm

Just saw this, and it is so cool

2009-08-14T10:10:00.001-07:00

http://home.exetel.com.au.nyud.net/bmgoau/space/008_1561b2.html

Click to zoom in, shift-click to zoom out.

Soon to become active again?

2009-08-14T09:46:00.001-07:00

Bahar is finishing up the summer schedule, and I am hopeful that things will go smoothly so that sometime after the next week, when final edits are locked in, that she and I can hit the road and travel to Illinois.

It will be our first cross country road trip together. Hard to believe, since we have been together six and a half years now.

Can you see the family resemblance?

2009-02-22T21:57:00.004-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

It was a good day to splash in the pool.

Action shot!

I like the way the action was captured in this shot.

This awesomeness can't just come from Photoshop™

2009-02-22T21:52:00.003-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

An Irish man, who shall remain nameless, tried to claim that this photo kinda looks like I did it in Photoshop.

I beg to differ, and want to go to photoshop war with him. ;)

No, not photoshopped at all.

A beautiful way to tell the time

2009-02-19T21:20:00.002-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I should have paid better attention, but there was a beautiful, shiny, sparkly glass ball catching my eye as I walked in from the parking lot of the Kitt Peak observatory.

There was a placard giving information about the artist, who had to collaborate with Corning and other glass specialists to design this elaborate sun dial.

Love always, your friend from the sea

2009-02-19T21:03:00.004-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Izumi thought that Bill especially would enjoy this photo. It reminds me of somebody. But I am not sure who.

Does anybody here know cacti well?

2009-02-19T21:00:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I would love to be able to identify the species of this guy, but will have to ask my mom again. She might know.

Maybe if I move to Tucson,

2009-02-19T09:09:00.002-08:00

Doolen
Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I will think about rolling my child in this.

(actually, this post was just scientifically calculated to make Bahar laugh)

I am wickedly tired,

2009-02-19T00:00:00.002-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

and thus you are all deprived of more entries tonight.

Go ahead and click on the photo and look at my flickr photostream. There are descriptions on nearly all the photos that are more entertaining than what I could have blogged anyway.

Where's M. Night Shyamalan when you actually want him?

2009-02-18T23:59:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I think that I should send in this photo to the casting director for Avatar, the Last Racist.

El Niño can has jetstream

2009-02-18T23:55:00.002-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Look at this placid photo of a beautiful child enjoying mashed organic apples.

Now look at this other photo of the contentment on his face.

Now look at what can shoot out of his mouth.

I learn new things everyday.

When I see this picture,

2009-02-18T23:54:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I almost think that DeForest Kelly is alive and well again.

Blaze forth, where no doctor has gone before, McCoy.

We did actually make it

2009-02-18T23:45:00.002-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

to Sabino Canyon. It just takes us a very long time to get rolling out the door. There has to be multiple stops to Jimmy John's, Trader Joe's, Starbucks, etc.

But the great thing is that after taking the tram up to the top of the canyon, we walked down a lot farther than we ever had before. Even my father walked a tremendous distance.

I remembered that there should be a place where we might have a problem. One of the bridges that the tram drives over is actually submerged under about 3 inches of water. Sure enough, when my dad got there, he was presented with a problem. How to cross the water to get to the picnic area where mom was waiting for us.

Izumi's solution was brute force.

My solution: I piggybacked my father across the water. Unfortunately no photographic evidence exists of the look of consternation that crossed his face as I lumbered across the water barely holding on to one of his legs.

I was able to look up GPS information on my iPhone and see that we were at about 3,000' of elevation, and my dad said that he would never have been able to walk like that without an oxygen tank before.

An arrival in another town

2009-02-17T20:43:00.003-08:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

After five years, I have again returned to Tucson Arizona with my Mom, Dad and little sister. Time hasn't changed my parents much— Mom still is wonderfully engaged by the world around us, her senses in overdrive. I did walk in on my dad taking a bath and he looked like a very pleased otter playing in the water.

It's my younger sister who has gone through the most change. She has her baby here, and I get to experience parenting by proxy again. It shows me how much I take life for granted when I realize things I overlooked, like electrical plugs.

Ayize is a good kid and a bundle of energy. I hope I can keep up with him this week. Actually, I should go lay off for the night because it is wonderfully quiet and peaceful right now.

Good night, moon.

Time for a new set of updates. How about Tucson, Arizona this time

2009-02-17T20:37:00.003-08:00

And.... done.

Time for a new set of updates. How about Tucson, Arizona this time

2009-02-17T20:37:00.001-08:00

And.... done.

Those are some big ass toys

2008-05-04T16:05:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

If I ever wanna buy large scale construction toys, I now know where to go.

Hey, it's me.

2008-05-04T16:04:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

The Longhua temple

2008-05-04T16:00:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I had to see this octogonal shaped pagoda that was supposed to be a great example of Qing (don't trust me on that one until I double check my guide book) dynasty architecture at the Longhua temple.

There was a particularly peaceful and beautiful Buddha statue.

Plus, a bunch of temple guardians. I remembered seeing something similar in my parents' collection, so it was nice to see something familiar.

Here's what his sign says:

Two of my favorite things from the Chinese temples are:

a) Cloud carvings with floating buddhas.

b) Many armed buddha statues.

Oh, yeah. One more favorite thing. Non sequitur signage.

Who says China can't innovate?

2008-05-04T15:58:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Here is the mascot for the 2010 Expo in Shanghai. I like to call him gumby with a tumor.

This is how you make good street food

2008-05-04T15:55:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

This woman is making what we colloquially call burritos. She has a cart that she sets out about halfway between Mikey and Alyssa's apartment and their subway stop, about five blocks away.

She starts by spreading crepe batter on a flat, hot, metal griddle. Than her husband reaches over her to crack two eggs on and let them start setting.

Next follows the application of hot sauce, green peppers and cilantro.

Finally a piece of fry bread is spread on top along with some hoisin sauce, then she cracks the whole thing in half and sets it in a bag for you.

I keep kicking myself, because she was usually very intent on her labors, but she looked up at me and flashed the most gorgeous smile. I was too busy smiling back and drooling over the thought of the yummy burrito straight off the grill to snap a pic.

Shanghai Urban Planning Museum

2008-05-04T15:50:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Mikey had been telling me about the urban planning museum, which he had not visited yet, but which contained a scale model of the entire shanghai area.

The model took up an entire floor of the building, and was roughly 60 feet wide by 40 feet long. It was incredible. In the very background of this photo, you can see a railing which is about waist high when I am standing at it. I hope that gives you a sense of scale for it.

Basically, the model was bigger than my house. How's that?

One of the things I was very happy to see were some historic photographs illustrating different periods in Shanghai's history. Including the era when my mother was living in Shanghai.

Wax eyes

2008-05-04T15:48:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

That's the name of this type of bird. They were very cute.

Get Jing'an with it

2008-05-04T15:40:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Another day, another temple. That is the essence of traveling in Japan for me, and I was glad to keep up the tradition in China.

Mikey and I split up from the ladies and they went to Yuyuan park while he and I went to the Jing'an temple. At all the temples I saw in China, there were these pagoda shaped metal statues. Everyone would try to throw coins into it from ground level.

Mikey tried from the second story balcony that I took this shot from. He missed, and the coin winged some unsuspecting woman in the chest who was about to make her own wild throw.

Another shot of someone trying to 'swish' a coin in.

As usual, construction is going on around the clock in China. In this case, they are in the middle of a full rebuild of the main temple building.

Traveling past an empty courtyard, we passed into another large building to find some buddha statues.

We also stepped over the Jade Buddha temple for a bit, too.

As we made our way out of the Jade Buddha room, we were greeted by a bunch of ladies practicing a traditional dance.

One last late night snack

2008-05-02T16:56:00.005-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

On the way home, Mikey and I stopped in to a video shop and a convenience store to get water. Right outside was this young gentleman, just another street food cart in the night.

But he was obviously selling kabobs and was from the Islamic south of china. I ordered a skewer and waited while he fanned his coals to heat up and cook the heavily spiced meat.

He was slightly dour looking, but at one point he caught me smiling at him and he flashed a brilliant smile.

The riverfront

2008-05-02T16:51:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

We pushed and shoved our way up to the front so that we could get a shot or two of the city while it was all lit up for the national holiday.

The bright lights pointing everywhere, combined with the constant smog, makes everything light up like the blade runner movie.

I can practically hear the blaring announcements to begin a new life again out in the colonies. Or perhaps a geisha woman singing for beer.

We finally made it to The Bund, the historic banking center of Shanghai. Tall European buildings stared impassively down at us.

We walk with half of China to The Bund

2008-05-02T16:45:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

In some ways I never felt as at home in China as this moment, when we were walking through a massive crowd of folks all shuffling through the People's Square. It was non-stop being pushed from behind as people made their relentless way, and it reminded me of being in Japan at Obon holiday time.

Traffic was crushed to a complete stand still, and we just surged around the stuck taxis and buses.

The dog train kept rolling by, and I was finally able to snap a picture.

I am still the biggest thing most Chinese people have seen in person

2008-05-02T16:38:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Old and new

2008-05-02T16:34:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

This is a shot from the *$ (starbucks) balcony where we met up after Mikey and I had done our own thing meeting the photographer Gangfen Wang.

After this, it was time for a stroll through the people's square and to The Bund.

Mikey's bicycle shot

2008-05-02T16:31:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Mikey had told me that he always meant to shoot this corner where everyone parks their bikes, but hadn't had the right combination of light, time and camera-at-handedness.

I am glad that he pointed out this great photo opportunity.

This is what a photographer looks like

2008-05-02T16:26:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Well, this is as close as you will get to a picture of one from me.

Mikey took me to meet Gangfeng Wang, China's first freelance photographer. He is a warm, personable gentleman working in Shanghai, and he was kind enough to come out on his holiday and meet Mikey and I at his studio.

Here is some contact info from an exhibition he had.

http://www.altagalleria.com/exhibits_gangfengwang.html

We became so engrossed in talking to him that I didn't even think to ask him if I could take his picture. He told us of his current project, which is he bought a 400 year old home from a historic district and then had it carefully disassembled and stored in a warehouse. While he was at it, he had artists reconstruct some damaged bas relief carvings that were a part of the original house.

All I can say is that when we walked out of his studio, I felt inspired to try to sell some prints of my own, and to take as many more pics of the city that I could.

As usual, unusual architecture always catches my eye. So these photos are the first I took after visiting his studio.

Taxi regulations: Part 2

2008-05-02T16:21:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Dahzong taxi Service Promises

Customers can refuse to pay the starting fare if the driver violates anyone of the eight regulations below:

* "Greetings,Thanks,Farewells" extended to customers during operation
[skip]
* No spitting,vulgarities or throwing out of the taxi.

Taxi regulations: part 1

2008-05-02T16:21:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Passenger's notice, relevant specifications

2. Passengers are not allowed to carry with them contraband goods, smoke, spit, or to dump inside the taxis. Psychos or drunkards without guardians are prohibited to take taxis.

4. Don't connive at the driver's violation of the passenger transport or traffic management regulations.

He must be carrying bread sticks for Izumi

2008-05-02T16:20:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I saw the pizza hut hat logo bereft of any text in Beijing, and I thought I recognized it. When I pointed it out to Mikey, he gave me congratulations on my slave-to-consumerism perfect recognition of international logos.

The ancient village

2008-05-01T18:05:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

On Wednesday, we had to check out of our hotel room in the morning, and then find stuff to see until our 11 pm flight to Shanghai. We got a driver to take us to the Huang Shan Ancient village.

This protected village preserves a lifestyle almost 900 years old. Narrow alleyways twist off and lead you to Ming dynasty era houses that now preserve artworks from the era.

The village was really picaresque, and a busload of art students were busily trying to practice water colors at every corner of the village.

Old aqueducts still carried all the water around the village.

The residents of the village just continued to live their lives while we wandered around poking in and out of their lives. The main crop in that area was tea, and we even saw tea leaves sitting out to dry.

Perhaps some traditions shouldn't be kept up. After watching a guy washing a dried leg of ham in a murky pool we decided not to eat anything in the village itself.

The prohibition vehicle always passes through.

My first conversation in Chinese

2008-04-30T18:18:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

My father had nicely written a letter to me mentioning information he had discovered about Huang Shan, or the Yellow Mountain.

He had said that it was a mist shrouded, rainy mountain that was featured in classical Chinese poetry. But he also mentioned how the city of Huang Shan is located right next to the Yanghtze river.

As our driver was taking us home from the Mountain, we crossed a large river. I was sleepily listening to iPod, when I realized this was the largest body of water we had to cross.

I excitedly ripped out my earphones and asked "Yanghtze?" in my best fake chinese accent. The driver perked up and said, "Wei, wei! Yanghtze [some chinese I couldn't understand]."

I was so happy he was able to understand me.

Huang Shan outdoor market street

2008-04-30T18:03:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

After visiting the Huang Shan mountains, we returned to our hotel, freshened up, then ordered taxis to go down to the city and the main market street.

We were waiting a while, and when some two taxis came up to drop some guests off at the hotel, Mikey and I flagged them. The concierge came running out and stopped us, then explained with a garbled story about how some taxis can be dangerous.

Of course, when our rides did arrive, we didn't recognize them because they weren't taxis, it was the concierge's friends. But they didn't stiff us too much on the cost.

There were some cool sights, like this woman who was taking silkworm casings and processing them. I had never seen that in person before.

Then there were more inexplicable things, like the toys. And the posters with engrish.

Alexa and Pam got really excited to find a yarn shop, though the items on sale weren't that exciting.

I thought the colors of the indigo shop were really beautiful and eye catching. I just wanted to surround myself with real indigo after seeing it.

At one point we passed these frying patties that really stood out for their green color. I was like, looks gross and passed it up. Then later, I was thinking about what they might taste like when Alexa mentioned about how Alyssa wanted to try them. We went back and I picked up one.

It was so warm and delicious and nicely cooked. The main ingredients seemed to be spinach, with stuffed garlic in the center. Mind blowing!

Even while selling stuff to tourists, life continues unabated.

More observations from Yellow Mountain

2008-04-30T17:44:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

The views from Yellow Mountain are stunning precisely because of the difficulty in getting up to them. Once there, you can only traverse narrow, winding paths with huge changes in elevation.

It was hilarious to see this sight of a sign telling people not to do something,

and hundreds of people doing it.

We were much more polite about it.

The thing about Huang Shan is that everything has to be carried in by hand. EVERYTHING.

That not only includes all drinks and food, but also construction materials and visitors to the hotel.

Including porters just for the visitors to the hotel's luggage.

It makes you much more aware of everything you use, and whether or not it is "recycle" or "unredeemable."

Here's an example of unredeemable.

I guess there is a tradition of tying locks on to any cable near a bridge or railing for good luck.

Speaking of ignoring the posted signs. Signs which were literally written in red paint that must have been applied less than an hour before.

Jojo brand jeans are popular in China.

Sweet, sweet visors, you rock my world

2008-04-29T14:53:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

In addition to the sight of asian women with golfing caps sproinging their giant curls of black hair ever and ever higher, my favorite sight in China is the prevalence of weird visor/golf caps.

Especially when you see a motorcyclist with one of those big arc welder masks over their face, and you realize afterwards it transforms into the bestest fashion ever.

Up, up and away (To the Yellow mountain)

2008-04-29T14:50:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

We took a breathtaking (literally, in Kris's case) cable car ride up to the top of Huang Shan, or the Yellow Mountain. This is a site that has been the legendary inspiration for classical Chinese poetry and painting since ancient times.

You know those paintings of cloudy, mist enshrouded mountains with lonely pine trees sticking out? Imagine that now, with 10 billion Korean tourists and the six of us hanging out up there.

Some of the rocks looked just like they were ready to fall right off the mountains. There must be something about the mineral content of the rocks to make such beautiful formations.

When we got to the top, it looked like this. Well, actually, it was impossible to take a pic from the very top of the cable car station because of all the tour groups crowding around the balcony.

I am assuming that there is a poem about this tree, and I would love to find it. Any help in the comments section would truly be appreciated.

Believe it or not, we had just hiked up from the path you see here. I was not looking forward to much to the haul back.

NCC Mini-Van102

2008-04-29T14:39:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I love how the logos for many things in China seem to be taken from the logos of other products.

Like the logo on the back of this car brand, that I could never figure out what the name is, looks just like a Federation logo from Star Trek.

There is also a car brand named Cherry, and their logo looks very much like the Infiniti logo.

There is another brand that looks just like the Toyota logo turned upside down.

Look at those palm trees!

2008-04-29T14:35:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

We were riding in a hired car out to Huang Shan, or the legendary Yellow Mountain.

For some reason, as we scaled the mountain roads and became surrounded by bamboo forests, I got the urge to sing Izumi's favorite Karate Kid-ism.

"Look at those palm trees! Damn! You know what that means."

I thought about how I would have to explain the whole entire line, and how it would make little sense to everyone.

Then I thought, it would just about be worth it.

All of a sudden, in the very next moment, we passed a palm tree.

I was so astonished, I almost yelled out. I thought, I will just photograph the next one.

Nope, didn't happen. It was the only palm tree on the whole mountain. I had to wait until we came back down.

The lap of luxury

2008-04-29T14:18:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

It is wide. It is deep.

And sometimes it comes with a caddy.

Actually, it came with something that made it totally luxurious.

Hot water.

My introduction to how China works was when we arrived at Alexa's apartment in Beijing. We woke up, tried to shower, and found out that the hot water had been shut down for two weeks without any warning.

Except that when Alexa tried to complain to the building manager, he pointed to the sign saying that the water was going to be out.

Maybe we had always been at war with hot shower-ania?

A new meaning to the term big

2008-04-29T14:02:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

We took a trip to the Forbidden City, as well as a view of Mao's mausoleum. I thought I had understood the idea of "big."

But my ideas have been rewritten.

I can tell you that Grant is not buried here. I can also tell you that Grant does not have a tomb that he can rise out of for viewing. Such incredible technology.

While we were hanging out in the square checking out the mausoleum, some Chinese people who must have been from out in the country came up and asked Pam and Kris to pose for a photo. Alexa was on the phone, and told us not to do it, but it was too late. Instantly, 10 more people started lining up while another five photographers showed up. They started crowding around us and Alexa protested to them that it was just rude.

I don't think they understood her.

Thankfully, in China, everything is so safe. We had nothing to worry, and the photo op quickly busted up and dispersed and we made our way to the Forbidden City.

I remember seeing the Forbidden City in the movie, The Last Emperor. But I had no idea the sense of scale to which you can lose yourself in. You can get a little better idea from this photo.

Alexa had hired a guide for us. His name was Jong, and I must admit I had a little trouble understanding his English.

As we walked from inner palace to inner palace, Jong told us about many of the symbolic statues. He showed us some turtle statues, saying they symbolize long life.

When we got to a court of Dowager Ci Yi (I think), Kris asked what the deer meant. Jong seemed to fumble for words for just a second. He finally came up with the symbol just as I turned to see the statue and was greeted by this:

He said, "it means happy."

Then for a trip to the schoolhouse

2008-04-29T13:45:00.005-07:00

After tobogganing down the mountain, we walked to the "Schoolhouse at Mutianyu" village. You can click on the schoolhouse picture to see their website. The Schoolhouse is a really interesting place. It is an experiment in Sustainable Tourism. Basically, from what I have heard (but not confirmed by checking their website) is that a long time expatriate living in Beijing had a house in Mutianyu village, near a section of the Great Wall. The villagers asked him to give something back to their village, so he began this project.

This red doored home is just one among the village.

If you ever have a chance to go to the wall, I can't recommend enough for you to stop here and have a nice cool drink as the sun sets. It is so peaceful and so relaxing, and the staff are so gracious and interesting that you will find your tiredness evaporating after a long day's walk.

Some of the ongoing projects right now are visible in the photograph above. The schoolhouse is building several more guest houses like the one above, which would be a fabulous place to stay for a family of four.

Some of the riff raff who pass through the Schoolhouse.

Let's toboggan slide down from the Great Wall

2008-04-29T01:29:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

No, I am not kidding.

After trekking our asses up and down, we got to the toboggan sled ride.

We zoomed down! It was so incredible.

The instructions are push forward to let gravity hurl you faster, pull back to not slam into the Chinese person in front of you who randomly decided to stop and take a photo. I actually chickened out and didn't pull my camera out mid-ride. I actually had to push forward pretty hard to let the sled go full speed.

Step-way of mount ing the great wall

2008-04-29T01:20:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

After the summer palace was time for some fabulous Chinese food at a bouncing place that Barry went to with Kris and the girls last time.

Then we taxied over to the Great Wall.

Wow!

It's such a struggle, but climbing and descending the steps and rolling walkways of the Great Wall is an astounding experience. Such an incredible effort of human will.

Sometimes the steps were so steep that I had to use Spider Powers to climb them.

A springtime trip to the summer palace

2008-04-29T01:03:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

We took a taxi to the stunning Summer Palace of the emperor. As we trudged up and down tons of steps, Mikey and Alyssa said to keep in mind that we were headed to the Great Wall after this, so keep up our stamina. She wasn't kidding.

We were greeted by the fantastic sight of one of the imperial residences way in the background. Alexa warned me that you could spend a week and still not see all there is to see at the Imperial Residences.

As we turned our way to go past the man-made Kun Ming lake, we saw a guy out doing water calligraphy.

We then made our way along the "long hallway." This was a miles long corridor where every overhead beam was painted with an illustration of a story. We weren't able to follow what the story was, but we were hustled along the corridors by massive throngs of tour groups.

Alexa joked that maybe we could stop a whole wave of people to take a photograph. Alyssa said, "why don't you try it." It worked.

Hauling my ass up the stairs. I didn't realize until just now that I look slightly grumpy in this photo. Hah hah!

After trucking to the top of this staircase, it was time for a break.

More stairs. LOL

It was super worth it because at the top was a beautiful Buddhist statue.

Finally, after the Buddhist statue, we went over to the Marble boat. I don't think it floats.

And you can buy anything you like, too

2008-04-29T01:01:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Whatever "turns your light" on.

Weird architecture in Beijing

2008-04-27T23:26:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Like this building, colloquially known as "The Pants."

When you go underneath it is when you see just how unsound the design really looks.

And then you see stuff like this steering wheel cover.

You can eat anything you want

2008-04-27T18:53:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

No, I mean, literally— you can eat anything you want.

I alluded to it earlier, but we went to Beijing's famous "Night Market" where there are endless streams of food stalls with every kind of meat you could want.

Including scorpions.

[Editor's note:] We ended up not eating the scorpions, even though Kris really wanted to make us do it.

Out with the old, in with the new

2008-04-27T18:50:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

L'essence de la Chine?

Confucian temple

2008-04-27T16:20:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

After leaving the Dirt Market, we headed over to the Confucian Temple.

Located there is the world's largest sandalwood buddha. The buddha was 18 meters tall, and apparently 8 meters of embedded base. It was like standing next to a Gundam. The entire statue was carved from a single sandalwood tree. It was absolutely phenomenal.

We were officially not supposed to take pictures of the statues, and Alexa actually had a monk lay his hands over her lens to stop her taking a photograph.

The tree lined entrance path set the scene for a wonderfully relaxing visit.

Offerings of incense can be made to the Buddha.

Not being able to use the camera officially in the hallway, I took a bunch of bad shots of the Buddha's elbow. Mikey must have heard, because he came up and made fun of me for it.

Tibet-ariachi

2008-04-27T07:21:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

After the dirt market, we traveled over to the Lama Temple. Before entering the temple, we decided to go have some Tibetan food at the really good restaurant that was close by that Alexa, Kris, Mikey and Alyssa had been to before.

Alexa and I enjoyed the food a lot.

Afterwards, our waiters and table servers picked up a bunch of instruments and serenaded us with music. One lady even laid white scarves on Alyssa and Kris's shoulders.

Adventures in the dirt market

2008-04-27T07:11:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Alexa took us to the so called "dirt market," which is a famous, massive flea market-style gathering. It is an amazing sight to behold. The closest analogy I could come up with at first was the Portland Saturday Market due to the way things are physically laid out. But PSM is about hand crafted items. Dirt Market is about reselling stuff.

Mikey told me to expect aggressive marketing from all the stall holders. Learning to say "Bu Hao" to tell someone you aren't interested in what they are selling was the most important lesson.

There were all sorts of items on sale, and they seemed to be arranged by general areas of interest. Books all in one area,
rugs all in one area, paintings all in one area.

I saw this one painting and was really struck by how unusual it was. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I realized that there were 15 different vendors all with the same painting in the market. The advantage of that is that you can bargain aggressively and just walk to the next vendor if you choose.

This little chicken guy seemed really cute.

Too me there seemed an almost incongruous juxtaposition of new and old.

Beijing street food and life

2008-04-27T06:50:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Mikey and I decided to take a little walk for some coffee and some early morning "bao tze" (Portland calls them Hum Bao) to fuel everybody for our trip out to the "Dirt Market."

Mikey started out with some 'bucks.

Just within 2 blocks of Alexa's apartment is a thriving neighborhood "Hfuton," or street food shops area. We passed through it to Alexa's building where Nike & the nearest 'bucks are housed. Then we cut back to pick up some dumplings.

Here a guy is selling some stuff off of his bicycle. I think it was eggs.

Mikey remembered this man from his previous visits to Beijing. His bicycle is packed with fresh apples.

I couldn't help snapping a quick photo when this woman's jacket made me laugh.

Here are some thousand year eggs cooking up for the morning's customers.

Fried scorpions

2008-04-26T16:40:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Unfortunately we ended up not ordering the fried scorpions at the night market food stall.

Please find more at

2008-04-26T16:38:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Sorry, no time for more. Please explore at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oceanyamaha/

30 and4

2008-04-25T16:55:00.002-07:00

I was up 30 hours straight in the end before going to bed at 3 a.m local time last night. This morning, I woke up naturally at 7 a.m.

I am hoping that just staying up and trying to get into the swing of real time will help me adjust more quickly from jet lag.

Get your game face on

2008-04-25T16:52:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I was up a long time yesterday. I got up at 6 am in Vancouver, then flew with the sun so that it never set all day. Mr. Mikey and I finally met up at the Pudong Shanghai airport where he informed me that we had tickets to fly out again in two hours.

These pictures are from the Beijing airport while we waited for our baggage. At that point, I had been up 28 hours straight. In revenge, I asked Alyssa and Kris to show me their perky faces.

A quick view of Mikey and Alyssa's place

2008-04-25T03:59:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I don't have any time to write, but here is a quick shot of their beautiful apartment.

Here is a quick view from one of the balconies at Mikey and Alyssa's beautiful place.

Alyssa bought a piano in China for the new apartment she and Mikey moved in to. They had moved about 3 blocks from their original place.

The worst meeting place in the world

2008-04-25T03:57:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Mikey told me to meet him in Terminal 2's Ajisen Ramen shop. Unfortunately I landed in Terminal 1 and missed him by taking the shuttle bus to Terminal 2 while he walked to Terminal 1.

We eventually figured out how to meet up, but once again it is a real pain not to have a cell phone at hand.

I pretty much figure we won't get separated again during my trip.

Pudong_International_Panorama

2008-04-25T03:54:00.001-07:00

Pudong_International_Panorama
Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Just wanted to let everyone know that I arrived safely in Shanghai…

to find out that we have tickets for a flight to Beijing tonight. The good thing is that this will allows us to beat the crazy golden week rush of travellers. Golden week is the first week of May, and is apparently a big time of travel in China as well as Japan.

How airports should be built, but not run

2008-04-24T09:55:00.002-07:00

After passing through the abandoned ticketing booth and past the abandoned food court, I went to the international departures area. There were a bunch of abandoned duty free shops, and a lonely guard who told me I couldn't enter my gate yet because it was being used for domestic arrivals. Pretty crazy.

I walked back to the other arm of the international departures, past some open duty free shops and found a beautiful courtyard.

That is a large aquarium that the man in red is standing next to. What a peaceful place to sit. There was a fake running stream with glass salmon frolicking in it. The large open space made me breathe a sigh of relaxation.

Well, I better check in, boarding may be beginning.

Breakfast pizza, yummm!

2008-04-24T09:54:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

Okay, so the Vancouver Airport food did not disappoint. I arrived three hours early to my flight to check in, only to find the international arrivals gate completely closed looking except for one lone agent.

He was dealing with an asian lady who could not understand how she couldn't check in her gucci luggage for a flight to Dubai at the International gate. The agent kept trying to explain to her that she was connecting to Toronto, so she should check in domestically first.

Oh well.

After checking in, I walked over to the abandoned food court. Burger King was open, blehh. But thankfully magic wedgie was open, too. They served pizza.

And they were serving breakfast pizza at eight a.m. I think it is God's gift to Ocean Yamaha. Piles of bacon, potatoes and hardboiled eggs on a good, wheaty crust.

Oh my, how nice!

I forgot about the food in Vancouver

2008-04-24T06:51:00.002-07:00

Oh, man.

I had received $15 and $10 dinner and breakfast credits to go along with my hotel room voucher. I had remembered that food in Vancouver is really good at even the cheapest looking places. (Don't even get me started on the Dim Sum in this town!)

There are two eating places on the hotel premises: The White Spot restaurant and Hudson's Landing pub. Since Hudson's is located outside of the hotel building, I thought I had better check with the hotel staff to be sure that the credit was good there. I was assured that it was, but that it couldn't be used to buy any alcohol. I told them that's fine, I don't drink.

I took a look at The White Spot and it looked like the most boring, run-of-the-mill restaurant so I walked out the door and across the street to Hudson's.

I don't know what I was thinking when I first saw Hudson's Landing Pub, but I was hoping for more exciting food and a well lit table to sit and read at.

I walked in, and there was a large open floor space; tiny, super-tall tables with really tall stools to sit at; a pool table in one corner. I pressed on and finally found more seating through a door in back, but it was like couches in front of a TV playing american football. The food did look more exciting: It was hot wing night! 45¢ a wing, 10 order minimum. But I wasn't sure I wanted to shoot out hot yoga fire on the plane, and there wasn't enough light to read by. I headed back to The White Spot.

The White Spot was a near perfect imitation of a Denny's, but practically without customers. After the server finally saw me, I asked her to make sure that they weren't closed already. She assured me it was fine to sit and eat, so I asked for a table.

I ended up ordering the double cheeseburger (in this case, double means it is one patty, slightly larger than a quarter of a pound. Huh, things are different outside of USA. More rational.) with their secret Triple "O" sauce. It also had a side of Poutine.

I had heard of Poutine only after a Canadian reporter had tricked President Bush after asking him what he thought of President Poutine instead of Putin. The Canadians got a big laugh out of that (but not as big as a laugh as when Bush sunk the American Dollar below the Canadian Dollar on the international market).

Poutine, for the uninitiated, is an order of fries covered in grated cheddar and swiss cheeses and then covered in gravy. Very hearty, and very delicious. And dang if that burger wasn't extremely competent as well. I guess Triple "O" sauce means a combination of a light mayo with a bit of catsup and pickle relish. Hurray for Canadian cooking.

I am about to finish packing and head to the airport. I expect the airport food to be really good as well.

Walk a mile in my shoes

2008-04-23T22:49:00.002-07:00

Well, more like 2/3 of a mile, and you too may get some foot blisters.

Oh, wait, I think that is properly said to be 1 kilometer.

I really deliberated over which pair of shoes to bring. My everyday walking shoe is a pair of Birkenstock sandals that have wonderful arch support that makes my feet smile. But for my trip to Arizona and my trip to New Zealand, both trips where I anticipated a lot of walking, I took only a pair of Merrell hiking shoes. I hope that my feet adapt quickly to their new cages.

I flew from gate E-ghetto

2008-04-23T21:01:00.003-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I always remember noticing the little rubber band powered propellor planes that were parked near the corner of PDX where you drive up. I always wondered what flying on one of these would be like.

Well, even though it was a rainy, gray day, we were supposed to wheel ourselves and our luggage out to the actual tarmac that the planes themselves land on.

I am geek enough that it excited me to truly stand on the runway.

Can't wait for my car porn tomorrow

2008-04-23T20:57:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by ocean yamaha

I held off buying a car magazine (my travelling vice) but couldn't help but drool over the cover.

The Nissan GTR (it'll always be Skyline GT-R to me) is just starting to catch reviews here. It's been a long wait, and I am sure the articles will make the flight tomorrow go much faster.

This is why I love PDX

2008-04-23T20:38:00.004-07:00

And by PDX, I am giving full-on props to Portland International Airport.

So I turned the corner from the security gates and the metal detectors and start heading for gate E-7 and what do I see but a stunning display of Portland's bike-geekiness.

There were really nice explanations about the bikes and what made them special.

Sitting in PDX awaiting YVR

2008-04-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

[Apologies. Wifi goes in and out like a christmas tree here. I will add more later.]

I guess my key macro that inserts the time and date is a useless item to add to a Blog entry. You learn something new every day.

I am sitting by the windows of the PDX terminal, having enjoyed my customary airport meal from Sandoval's Mexican grill. Just two hours ago, I was standing at a massage table working my fingers into a fellow student's tibialis posterior muscle. Now here I am, waiting to fly to Vancouver, BC, and find out what's to happen to me.

My flight was originally scheduled to fly Thursday the 24th, and then I would have had a 3 hour layover, and then another flight to Shanghai. But my first flight was cancelled and now I have to fly a day early. Air Canada was kind enough to take my credit card and supposedly call around to hotels, but I am largely on my own– left waiting to discover if & where I have a hotel reservation tonight. I will find out when I land, if all goes well.

I left my phone at home since I can't use it in China, and I was afraid of it getting lost/stolen. It feels very isolating to lose phone service. Especially as I have now come to associate cell phone service with ubiquitous internet access as well as having a music jukebox in my pocket.

I am going to stop whining for now and move over to the boarding gate.