Smurfmatic

Taken in Beijing, on the last night.

Seen near Peking University, in Beijing.

There was a CCTV bus on the Peking University campus...

A chain restaurant operating throughout China and also Overseas, but based in Beijing, Quanjude (全聚德) is probably one of the most places to go for Peking Duck.

I've been doing well, and consequently in lack of time to sit down in front of my computer to post the many many things that come across my mind. Most of it will surely have to wait until I come back to Montreal.

While I was travelling in Beijing, the most touristey stuff I've been doing was to visit Tiananmen Square (I am a sucker for impressive modern stuff - especially Communist stuff), and Wangfujing. I didn't really look, and all I can find is a really dynamic city, where everything is being built or rebuilt. Everything is bigger than in Hong Kong, but it would also seem that certain things (the subway epitomizes this) are just slightly below in terms of quality/design...

After a Friday night at the punk/rock bar D-22, Saturday on an expat bar/club adventure, and Sunday morning watching the Habs lose and then crawling my way to home under the rain, on Monday, I did role-playing for the first time (something called Warhammer), and then on Tuesday, I went out to Ho Hai with a Canadian-Chinese learning Chinese in Beijing (and later meeting randomly a new friend - realizing how expat world is so so small, even in BJ) and was invited over by one of my good friends in Montreal's Beijing friends (see photo above). On that same morning, we saw the Habs eliminate the Bruins in the last chapter of a thrilling 7-game series. On Wednesday, I was treated to Peking Duck by a Montreal friend's friend, before hanging out at Tsinghua University, and then heading home to stay in, finally.

Today will be a ride again, as I am meeting my colleague in Montreal, who also happens to visit family in Beijing. And then, I am invited to board games with expats! But not before eating dumplings with a friend's friend, a Canadian-born Chinese now learning Chinese medicine in his parents' hometown of BJ! Tomorrow, there is nothing planned, but I am almost certain that it will just plan itself out...

There was a lot lot more people at the Forbidden City's gate in Beijing, than Chiang Kai-shek's Memorial in Taipei.

Listen to the Cantonese language show of last week, and this week! I was a guest on the show, with a little difficulty last week (had to run down to the nearby 7-11 to refill phone while they were airing), but it was a little better this week, I think.

I arrived tonight in Beijing...

Thank you, MTR. This pretty much summarizes the situation. No time whatsoever to write about what's going on. Now, also, I broke te letter h on my laptop keyboard.

...

Pretty extreme urban exploring. On the night that I was supposed to watch a show at the Cattle Depot Artists' Village (2008-04-11), I got off a few stops too late, and offered myself a 2-hour walk through Kowloon City. More on this pretty unusual adventure later...

I am back in Hong Kong, after a week in Taiwan. Yesterday night, at my grandparents' rented flat, I saw over the window, a bunch of foreigners playing poker on the rooftop of another lower building adjacent to ours, but on Morrisson Hill Rd. I listened more closely, and, while not able to make out what they were saying, am pretty sure that they were speaking French!

It was a Thursday night of a not-long weekend, so we assume that they are tourists, or business travelers on a day off. They were blasting noisy party music too, and if you look closely at the pic, the guy with a white shirt on the right has a full house (not really, though).

Obligatory pic with Taipei 101 in the background. It helps to have a wide-angle camera.

I travelled from the southern tip of Taiwan all the way up to Taichung today. Spring Scream and Kenting were a lot of fun, and I am now back in the city.

Bande à part published the article (in French) that I wrote for them on Spring Scream Double Rat.

I took a van/taxi, was dropped off at Kaohsiung's Main Station, and took their newly opened metro to the Zuoying high-speed train station. I am currently in Taichung, in a hostel located in a suburb in the hills.

Not enough time online to blog about Spring Scream and Kenting, but I've uploaded pictures on Flickr.

Time to poke fun at foreign stuff... I came across this on TV this morning. TV in Taiwan is trashy to the max. 100-something channels for all your trashy needs, including trash political talking...

(Edit: we found out that his name is Lee Tao, and is very famous in Taiwan, on the TVBS satellite television channel.)

I arrived in Kenting yesterday night. All the potential worries, about tickets that I ordered on the web, transportation, have been solved relatively easily. I should write a post about it later, so that it may benefit English-speakers... Frankly, I am amazed that my very very poor Mandarin is sort of enough in order not to starve.

Later today, I will bike to Spring Scream in Eluanbi later today, and catch the Deserts Chang and Faith Yang gigs.

I interviewed Duggar, the owner of the hostel where I stayed at. See Comme les Chinois later this week. He's this cool American from Hawaii, crazy about Hawaii (see their website) who has been in Kenting for around fifteen years, working in the hotel industry.

This vacation is like work. But fun work, at least.

I am in Hong Kong International Airport. Will be in Taoyuan International Airport, outside of Taipei, Taiwan, in five minutes!

Not exactly a shrine, but relatively speaking, you could find, in this small records shop called 3PM, in Causeway bay, that probably held item by Cheer Chen, and a lot of different artists who you would like if you are a fan of hers. Man, isn't it great to be able to find all your niche items you've ever dreamt of?

That Monday night, I met up with the Chris/Laine, Tiffany, and Mirek, and went to a chain restaurant called Red Ant. Then, picked up a dessert drink (pomelo + mango) and a couple of drinks at some expat bar behind the Lee Gardens in Tung Lo Wan.

Yesterday was shopping day, as I got my electronics essentials (mobile phone + voice recorder), and clothing from UniQlo, where clerks greet you constantly with "foon ying, kwong lin" and random souvenirs from Goods of Desire. where clerks are dressed as monks.

Today? Preparing mentally for a trip to Taiwan, calling up people and going to Sheung Wan.

Yes, I am! I started posting stuff on Comme les Chinois, and spent too much time on the Internet. I'm going for a walk. Need to purchase various consumer electronics. Why is everything so overpriced in HK wrt when bought on the Internet? Were my relatives right about radical improvement of the economic climate in Hong Kong?

I am at Starbucks in Causeway Bay. Lack of space in HK also means lack of space at restaurants, cafes, etc. So, it's like Schwartz's, but everywhere! For instance, a group of prehaps-HKU students (their readings are in English) just surrounded me.

I'm currently in New Jersey, at the Newark International Airport. I just flew in from Montreal on a Air Canada Jazz flight, and landed about two hours ago. After very slowly making my way from Terminal A to Terminal C via the Sky Train, I arrived at the food court and ordered myself a McDonald's hamburger that I believe can only be found in the States.

I am now sitting near gate 98, for my flight to Hong Kong (CO 99), a 15-hour odyssey across the planet, going along the sun. In Eastern Daylight Time, this means that I will arrive at around 7AM. But in Hong Kong Time, it would be Sunday night at 7PM.

So far, so good. I am a little tired from not sleeping too much yesterday night. I had a midnight snack that included some of the cheeses from the previous entry.

Nervous to be back in Hong Kong, since my 2005 trip. Seems to be so many things to do, people to meet. The expectation: to fully "live" today's China? Probably unachievable, I think.