Red With Envy

I don't drive a Ferarri, but occasionally, I park next to one.

This is our building owner's son's car. I think this was his Christmas present because last year he was driving a lowly Porsche.

As nice as his Ferrari is, I'm sure he's envious of my fuel-efficient Vios. Not only do I get triple the gas mileage, but I can sleep well knowing that my car has a minimal negative impact on the environment.

Pearl Of The Orient

During a recent trip to China, I had a Saturday off, so I took a short day trip to Shanghai. I only had a couple hours, so I decided to visit the Pearl Tower.


At 350 M or roughly 1000 ft, you get an eagle eye view of Shanghai.


and it's eternal blanket of smog.


On one of the observation decks, they had a glass floor.

Ever since a trip to the Grand Canyon years ago, I've been developing a fear of heights, or fear of losing control of my legs and hurling myself over the edge. To this day, I can't go out on my 20th floor balcony - at least, not without holding onto the sliding glass door to keep myself from unconsciously leaping over the railing.

When I arrived on the "glass floor" level, I thought this would be an ideal time to confront my fear. But one look down, and I knew there was no chance. I was perfectly content with my acrophobia.

That was until an old Chinese man noticed my trepidation, grabbed my hand, and dragged me out to the ledge. So, here I am white-knuckling the hand rail.

and here's a picture of the ground, as I made my way back to the solid portion of the tower while keeping my toes safely on one of the few support beams and my fear of heights firmly ingrained.

For the record, here is a 360 degree view of Shanghai.

I think this is Southeast

South

West

Northwest

North

Northeast

The Fog

Driving in China is bad enough under normal circumstances. To make matters worse, the girl that works for us just started driving a few months ago. When she drives, she's so nervous that she can't turn her head to check for traffic for fear of losing track of what's in front of her. She just stares straight ahead, clinging to the steering wheel for dear life.

The only way I can ride with her without going into a full cardiac arrest is to mentally prepare myself for the fact that we will, eventually, have an accident, and just hope that it's not too serious. Otherwise, I jump at every car that comes within 20 yards or any pedestrian or motorcycle that ventures to cross in front of us.

Having developed so rapidly in recent years, what were once empty pastures or slow, country roads are now 6 lane highways. Somebody needs to tell the grandmas and grandpas that live nearby because they move like they are crossing the same country road of their childhood, leisurely walking out without looking either way, but instead of a bicycle or another pedestrian that needs to dodge them, it's a 16 wheeler.

The point of all this is that last week a fog rolled in over Haining, China, and I thought my luck and finally run out - either mine, or some unfortunate pedestrian on the way to the market.

No grandmas or grandpas were harmed in the making of this blog.

Nous N'Avons Pas Fries de Francais

A couple weeks ago, the owner of our Thai supplier took my boss and I out to the premiere French restaurant in Bangkok.

I don't think I've ever been to a French restaurant. You can imagine my dissappointment when they didn't have any authentic french fries on the menu.

Instead, I settled for some escargot.

A Star Is Born

Here are some pictures from the New Year Party that my company sponsored for our Thai supplier. Of course, they wanted a Karaoke party, and as the host, I was required to perform.

Here I am doing my best Elvis impersonation.


But Nuch, easily stole the show.



Here's a video

Amazingly, they let me sing a second time.

Japanese Pancakes

This is actually from a New Year's Party at Nuch's cousin's home, but thought it fit well after the do-it-yourself Korean dinner.

Nuch's cousin (on the right) has a Japanese "friend" (on the left), and they occassionally invite us over for some Japanese home-cooking. This night they were making Japanese pancakes.



I was a bit sceptical at first due to the large Vegetable to Meat/ Grease ratio.



But with some eggs, bacon, and a special sauce, they turned out to be pretty good, and not too difficult to make.

Here's a video.

Most importantly, it was a good time for Nuch's cousins to get together. There are about 7 of them that all live on the same block, but they only seem to get together for weddings and funerals.

Korean Dinner

A couple weeks ago, Nuch and I made the decisioin to start exploring new restaurants in our area that are within walking distance. Up until now, we had found a couple favorites (one of which is a Subway franchise), and had not ventured out much further.

Our first stop was a Korean restaurant. There's a grill sunk into the table and you grill the food yourself, which makes the meal more fun.


Yummy, but still not as good a foot-long Italian B.M.T. sandwich from Subway.

New Year Luck

What better way to start the year than to build up your Karma Credits, although I'm sure I'm well into the black with plenty to spare.

Nuch's not so sure, so off we went to the market and then to various spots around Bangkok to return a variety of God's less fortune critters back in to the wild.

I didn't take a picture, but we started with some fish that were released into a canal at Silver Temple.

Nuch also bought a turtle, but turtles don't do well, so we had to drive out to Big Buddha Park where there are small streams and rocks where the turtles can sunbathe - see below.

Never one to settle for the status quo, Nuch also bought a dozen eels, which needed to be released in a swampy gutter at another temple. Here they are...

and there they go.

The Cheap Seats

Sometime of the holidays, Nuch and I came home and there was a fireworks show waiting for us. Actually, a couple of them coming from different spots across Eastern Bangkok.

Snow Ball's Chance In Hell

I spent my New Year's with a couple of buddies in downtown Bangkok.

We started at Absolut with some Hoegaardens.

This is Mark, who got married the week before.

Here's the band at Absolut, but I'm really taking a picture of the tattoo on the girl's back who is getting down and dirty. What are the chances that the guy she is with is named "Dirk"?

Moments before "Countdown", as it's called in Thailand.

After Countdown we headed to Soi Cowboy for some hand-made Thai Snow.

This is the same place I went last year. The bar owner filled the place with white Styrofoam pellets.

John and Ted trying to make snow angels.

Styrofoam snow pellets that don't melt have a few drawbacks - they float in your drink.

And if your mobile phone falls out of your pocket, it falls straight to the floor. Ted's IPhone went missing, so here I am holding up our seat while everyone looks for it.

Snow ball fight!!

ACT New Year Party

My New Years' celebrations began on December 22nd with ACT's factory New Year party.

After work on Tuesday, they cleared the parking lot, set up about 50 tables and stage, and then, invited all the workers out to celebrate.

The girls in green are regular staff who have put together a show. To the delight of everyone, it was about as X-rated as you can get with out taking your clothes off. I've never seen 40 year old women grind like that - and never want to again.


Some of the costumes were classic.

No factory party is complete without a group of regularly straight guys, dressing up as cabaret girls. Only this time - the factory owner, Mong, joined them on the left, dressed in purple.

Here is his cabaret debut and excellent blackmail material in case he ever decides to raise prices.