Curry Ching Chong

In a recent visit to Las Vegas, I encountered a situation so uniquely racist yet amusing that I had to note it here. In the Caesar's mall, I inadvertently walked into a large group's photo, and immediately said, "Sorry".

I was quickly met with a snide, "Ching Chong". Ahhh, the classic "Ching Chong". I thought only caucasion or african american's said that. However, I was quite surprised that this came from the lips of an Indian!

I turned around and said, "WHAT?" One apologized, but another jokingly said, "Well, we're all Terrorists anyways".

They all laughed.

I let out an awkward laugh as well, as I had been responded to in such a surprisingly perverse manner, I had no other out. After the fact, I wondered if I had let them off too easily. It's a sad day when fellow asian minorities degrade each other with terms created by non-asians.

Popping...it's cool

Popping Animation Skit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=PmN9hs__Aos

Extra Slo-Mo Popping: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yY5et2t2dn4&feature=related

If you want to learn it: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5A9cNEmgg2U&feature=related

Deepawali

Nov 11 was Deepawali (or Diwali), an Indian holiday also known as the Festival of Lights. Part of this holiday involves detailed sand-based drawings, put on the ground. I saw it in KL Malaysia all over the place, and below are a few samples.

More Malaysia...

Just happend to get a glimpse of a Blue Mosque (I don't think it's THE blue mosque) on the way to the Airport: We stopped at a "Petrol Station" shortly after - the fumes were so overwhelming that I had to exit the car. It wasn't the normal gas smell, rather a paint thinner smell.

My best meal in Malaysia was at Le Bouchon - a French restaurant in KL.

Started off with a cold foie gras salad, with grapes. Quite rich and tasty (no pic). The main was a 3-meat grill of Lamb, Rib Eye, and Chicken:
Dessert - Cheese plate.

Look: America's Auntie Anne's pretzels:

In the far distance, you can see 2 (3 actually, but the 1st one moved to quickly) military helicopters with supplies hanging below:

Memories of an unpleasant hotel stay at the Renaissance:

(L) Smoking in the lobby; (R) a used ashtray on the non-smoking floor (why is there an ashtray on the non-smoking floor?)

Photo diary of my Tour of Duty to Kuala Lumpur...

Ah, the Petronas Towers... just about the only thing my ignorant self could identify with Malaysia before coming. Otherwise known as the site for Sean Connery & Catherine Zeta-Jones' film, Entrapment. It is an office building, of the Government Linked Company (GLC), Petronas, and also called KLCC - Kuala Lumpur City Center. Other interesting things about Malaysia are...

• Buses often have a sales person on the bus who helps the driver get customers - sometimes, drivers don't leave the bus stop until they get a full bus, thus delaying the "schedule".


• Cabs often try to rip you off - skipping the meter in favor of a verbal agreement. This was quite frustrating, in having to negotiate for a 2 minute cab ride home. Also, they are sometimes so lazy that they won't even stop to pick you up, even if it's 12 AM and they won't get any other business anyways.


• The Malay government heavily favors the ethnic Malays, also called Bumiputera. For instance, publicy-listed businesses must have 30% Bumiputera ownership, developers must reserve 30% of new developments for Bumiputeras, and there are huge affirmative actions in Universities. I went to the National Museum, and paid all of RM 2 (USD 0.57) to get in - the Bumi's got in free!
  
• They have the "World's Largest Bird Park" - yes, I went - upload photos some other time... it's big, but probaby not the largest. Pretty cool, and I escaped sans bird flu.
  

Pictures from the plane to KL:


Surprisingly, there's some innovative advertising ideas in KL - the Monorail (their above-ground subway) is sponsored by companies, who have adopted stations, and actually get logo sponsorship on the monorail map.

Singabore-Part 1

(Note: Message started in Singapore, completed in HK)
The government is probably monitoring this message as I type, as the ISP I'm using is probably government owned/invested. Even if that's not the case, it's monitoring the web for anything that might cause unrest in this ostensibly harmonious society.

In my fourth trip to Singapore, I've just now begun to see that all may not be idyllic in this uniquely clean-air city-country in SE Asia. As I wander around the streets at 10:30PM in downtown looking for a cab, I wonder why is it that it is so difficult to get a cab in a city that's supposed to be so well-oiled. There are no shortage of cabs flying by, and I believe that skin color is a non-issue, but none stop because they are supposedly "on call". This phenomenom is something devised by something-probably-called the Ministry of Transportation, and seems like a great idea - anyone can advance book a cab for a reasonable fee of SGD 2. However, attempting to advance book oftentimes is an excercise in frustration with a busy signal from all five Singapore cab companies (or they let you know with the automated big brother system that "there are no cabs available in your area). By the way, all five are owned in whole or part by the Singapore government. I've heard that cabbies often pretend they're on call, either to 1) just to pick up desperate passengers that are willing to pay the on call fee; or 2) wait until they do get the on call call. In anycase, my suspicion is that the government fosters this type of environment because at the end of the day, they believe it results in higher wealth for the country. I think my own experience, as well as a look around at the ridiculously long cab lines at the hotels and companies (even during off-peak times), would point to the fact that this belief is founded on faulty assumptions.

During the past weekend, I visited Sentosa (a man-made resort island, which is an amazing feat itself). On the way there, I tried a NYC-style maneuver in the subway. As we came down the stairs, the doors were beeping as they were on the brink of closing. As I've done in almost every city with public transportation which I've been to, I extended my leg into the doors in order to cause it to reopen. However, as 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds passed, I realized that Singapore is different. There are rules, and if you don't follow them, you pay the price! I pulled my leg away from the two sets of doors (subway and platform), a few moments after which the train left. Needless to say, I will never try that again (in Sg).

COME ON!

My latest trip to City Super in Times Square revealed some more extraordinarily overpriced foods. Note the head of broccoli which costs HK$42.70 (~US$5.55)! The Dragon Fruit costs about HK$39 or US$5 (To put this into perspective, in Taiwan, a dragon fruit costs about $1, and in HK a meal at a local restaurant costs about HK$30). Paying a premium for quality fruit and veggies isn't that crazy, especially for organic or imported goods. However, paying about 500% for these goods is crazy. (That said, I bought some $7 romaine lettuce the other day for my salad, and about $4 for my red bell pepper). COME ON!