9/27/06 Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

I had read about the Hirshhorn Museum having a "Zobop" floor resonating its lobby entrance, and I just had to see it. A "Zobop" floor is made out of psychedlic vinyl tape, and was made by a Scottish artist, DJ and musician, Jim Lambie.

The wather was beautiful all day, and we walked through the sculpture garden.

As the March Hare says in Lewis Carroll's, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "Careful, she's stark ravin' mad!"

Or just lost in a Sunshine Daydream.

9/26/06 ~ Home Sweet Home

On Sirius Reggae: Sanchez ~ I'm Missing You Now

It feels good to be home. I got up this morning to watch the sunrise over the Potomac River.

It was low tide. But the weather is perfect.

It's going to be a gorgeous autumn day.

9/22/06 Jade Buddha Temple

On the Rio: Fourplay ~ Any Time of Day

In the western part of Shanghai, there is a famous Buddhist temple, the Jade Buddha Temple. In 1882, an old temple was built to keep two jade Buddha statues which had been brought from Burma by a monk named Huigen. The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the jade Buddha statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928. It was named the Jade Buddha Temple.

The two precious jade Buddhist statues are not only rare cultural relics but also porcelain artworks. Both the Sitting Buddha and the Recumbent Buddha are carved with whole white jade. The sparkling and crystal-clear white jade gives the Buddhas the beauty of sanctity and make them more vivid.

The Sitting Buddha is 190 centimeters high and encrusted by the agate and the emerald, portraying the Buddha at the moment of his meditation and enlightenment.

The Recumbent Buddha is 96 centimeters long, lying on the right side with the right hand supporting the head and the left hand placed on the left leg, this shape is called the 'lucky repose'. The sedate face shows the peaceful mood of Sakyamuni when he left this world.

The peaceful and transcendent atmosphere is a nice diversion from the busy, crowed, hectic day-to-day world.

This is probably my last post before I return to the U.S. But don't be surprised if I write about a few of my DayTrips while I'm home. I've got a few adventures planned.

9/19/06 ~ The Park

On the Rio: Dave Matthews Band ~ Let You Down

I'm getting a cold. I hate being sick when I'm away from home. And I don't want to be sick on the plane. Where's the pharmacist?

I ended up walking to the Jade Buddhist Temple on Saturday. I took the long way and walked through the Park that is near my hotel.

Here are some pictures of the Park journey.

9/16/06 ~ Wo bu dong

On the Rio: Van Morrison ~ I've Been Working, 9/9/1971, Sacramento, CA

我不了解 (wo bu dong) translates into English as "I don't understand".

This has proven to be the most useful phrase. I've been trying to use the Mandarin words I do know (which is about 7), even if I think it's right, no one seems to understand what I'm saying.

I bought the Mandarin Rosetta Stone language set, and hopefully that will help with my pronunciation.

There are a lot of preparations going on for the Olympics. Here is one (of many) mascots that are popping up around the city.

I bought a silk scarf last weekend and was given a different mascot as a charm.

I'm trying to decide what to do this last weekend in Shanghai before I return to the U.S.A. for my brief visit. My options are: Okterbest, an International Tourism festival, the Jade Buddha Temple, or a Chinese acrobat show.

Place your bets and check back to see if your guess was right. (I wish I had one of those Corbin intranet polls so you could help me decide.)

9/14/06 Shasha's

On the Rio: Desmond Dekker ~ Mother Pepper

I went to Shasha's Restaurant tonight. It is an expat hangout, about a 20 minute walk from work in the French Concession district. This is a picture of the place from their website.

The compound housing Sasha's has a long history. Once home to Chiang Kai Shek and his wife, Soong Mei Ling, during the civil war, it later fell into the hands of Mao Ze Dong's wife Jiang Qin. The interior woodwork is beautiful, and I can only imagine what the place would have been like as a residence.

I went here with PK in response to an email I received for a Spanish Wine Tasting event hosted by Casa Solar. Casa Solar in Spanish means "The House of the Sun". We got 4 glasses of wine to taste and tapas for 118 RMB ($15). The wine was ok, not fantastic. We also ordered appetizers of marinated olives (delicious) and the other ended up being ham slices wrapped on a breadstick. Interesting.

9/13/06 ~ Kites

On the Rio: Santana ~ Life Is For Living

I finished the puzzle! Now I just have to figure out how to "fold" it to bring it home (to join the other 4-3D puzzles I've completed and framed and have hanging in the hall). Wait a minute, I can't remember if I framed the last one I did of drink glasses. Mmmmm......

See how excited I am?

These puzzles keep me sane, although I realize I'm crazy for posting this picture of myself! :)

I saw my first gas station this weekend. Looks like any other gas station.

And I saw my first stop sign this weekend. I've probably seen these before, just didn't notice.

9/12/06 ~ Old City

On the Rio: Big Maceo ~ I Got the Blues

It is officially autumn here, according to the lunar calendar. The temperature has dropped to the mid 70s, and it's been raining. It was actually pleasant to be outside this weekend.

I returned to the Old City. I took the roundabout way of getting there, but saw some sites I hadn't planned on. First I came across the Dajing Pavilion.

It's a 3-storey tower that originally served as a battlement from which archers could fire on marauding Japanese pirates in the 16th century.

It adjoins the only surviving section of the Ming Dynasty city wall.

Subsequently it was converted into the Guangong Temple and today houses a rather primitive exhibition dedicated to the native city. A small model fo the old town and a short series of Chinese annotated visuals chronicling the area's history can be found on the second floor.

It neighbors the White Cloud Taoist Temple.

It looks like it has seen a bit of history, but actually was only completed in 2004. The temple serves as a stage for the daily rituals of Taoist monks, and supposedly possesses seven unique Ming Dynasty bronze statues, although I didn't see any of this.

I did not venture down the alley way to Dajing Lu Market, one of the city's biggest food markets, said to be packed with sellers of unfathomable varieties of vegetables, fish and assorted aquatic creatures. I wasn't feeling very brave; maybe another weekend.

Here is the entrance to Shanghai Old Street.

Here is one of many pearl and jewelry markets.

Walking home I came across this abacus statue in a park.

I've been in several shops that used an abacus rather than a calculator or computer to tally my bill.

An avid reader recently asked me about visiting so many temples on this adventure. I have found that in most of my travels, places of worship are usually a focal point, mostly due to the incredible architecture devoted to them, as well as the artwork (whether paintings or sculptures or carvings or caligraphy), or some bit of history that it belongs too. During my travels in Eastern Europe I visited a lot of monestaries (some of my van-mates may say too many), Catholic Churches and Cathedrals in Poland and Italy, Lutheran Churches in Germany, Mosques in Turkey, Orthodox churches in Greece, Russia and the Ukraine, Islamic Madrasas in Uzbekistan, and now I get to experience the Eastern Religion temples.

I believe that my exposure to these places of worship has offered me some insight into the religions that they represent and has often peaked my curiousity to learn more about them, and offered a perspective that cannot be achieved only via book learning. I truly hope I am a more tolerant person for this.

And couldn't the world use a lot more of that these days?

9/10/06 ~ This week in China

On the Rio: Mazzy Star ~ I'm Sailin'

This week Shanghai was treated to a partial lunar eclipse. Here is a Reuters photo from 9/8.

Saturday was the 30th anniversary of the death of Mao Zedong, who founded the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949 and led the nation for 27 years after that. Mostly there have been a lot of new books published lining the bookstore shelves, including a tome poem almost 5 centimeters thick on the Long March (1934-1936), covering 12,000 kilometers, which Mao led during the Chinese civil war to rally and inspire a Communist-led peasant-worker underclass.

I don't watch enough tv to know if there were any special shows, but the newspaper articles were few and far between. I heard from some people at dinner last night that the CNN broadcast on Mao had been blacked out, but the BBC broadcast was allowed to air.

Thirty-seven of the world's top martial arts masters gathered at the famous Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan Province on Friday for nine days of secluded practice in preparation for the final stage of a supreme kungfu contest.

The masters got to the final stage of the contest by taking out the first three places in each of its six international competitions in the United States, Russia, Australia, France, Germany and Italy, and in the five events held in China.

During the seclusion period, the multicultural contestants will have a chance to learn Shaolin culture and the essence of martial arts in the temple, the birthplace of Zen Buddhism. The contestants must follow temple rules by wearing the kasaya, a patchwork outer vestment worn by Buddhist monks, eating vegetarian meals and shaving their heads and facial hair during the seclusion, Liu said.

After the seclusion period is over the 37 players will take part in a grand ceremony to mark the occasion. They will give demonstrations and compete with the kungfu monks at the temple before they leave for Guzhang County in Hunan Province and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province to vie for the title of "World No 1 Kungfu Master."

I wonder if this will be on tv? Probably more entertaining than Sumu wrestling.

9/8/06 ~ "Peak"-ing

On the Rio: Grateful Dead ~ Estimated Prophet, from the 6/4/2005 Sirius Jam On 17 One More Saturday Night with Bill Walton show (OK, can anyone rationally explain why the most entertaining show on Sirius was cancelled? I still laugh out loud listening to Bill rant and rave using the most superlatives in a sentance - even made up ones!)

This week was quite successful at work. We made our initial milestone goal. It was rough going, the team put in a lot of long hours, but now it's celebration time! I am very proud of my team and honored to have been a part of this project. But no rest for the weary, as we had our kick-off meeting for the next phase today, which will run through February.

So back to Hong Kong.

After the Man Mo Temple I walked through downtown to take the Tram to Victoria's Peak. I actually took several video shots of the ride up the Peak which turned out quite well. Here is one photo on the way up.

The tram was completed in 1888, it is a 12 minute ride, and there has never been an accident. This is the Peak Tower, a metallic, bowl-shaped landmark.


It's the most typical tourist hell anyone can imagine, and I rushed outside for some fresh air. I was rewarded with the most intersting 2.2 mile nature trail encircling Victoria Peak anlong Lugard Road through groves of ferns, stunted Chinese pines, rhodedenron, bamboo and hibiscus.

Take a walk with me...

These are Indian Rubber Trees.

Here is a view of Lamma island. This is the closest of the outlying islands. Despite the 2 visable smokestacke, reportedly this is a peaceful community of fisherman, farmers and Western expatriates who carry on a distinct rural ambiance, almost conjuring up a Mediterranean feel. Mmmm....only a 30 minute ferry ride...

The island of Macau, which now rivals Las Vegas as the casino capital of the world and home of the all night party, can be seen to the west. But what I really like about this picture is that I captured a dragonfly, after reading a sign about dragonflys and thinking to myself "oh, I can't just stand here getting mosquito bites, waiting for a dragonfly or butterfly". Boy, was I surprised when I looked at my pictures and actually had a dragonfly in one!

Oh, that's so funny. In this posting you probably can't see the dragonfly. It's the black smudge amonst the clouds.

After the 2 hiking trails, I was tired, and annoyed with the other tourists, who appeared to be walking around without even noticing the nature engulfing them. So I headed back down the tram and headed to the hotel.

The next day I decided to be 'on vacation' and hung out at the hotel swimming pool before it started raining, and then took and early flight back to Shanghai.

I'll leave you with a few other photos...

9/6/06 ~ Dragon Fruit

On the Rio: Kenny Wayne Shepard ~ (Long) Gone

The fruit I posted the other day is the "Dragon Fruit". Here is some additional information and a link to more pictures. http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/dragon_fruit_pictures.htm

The fruit is popular eaten chilled, out of hand. It is also used to flavor drinks and pastries. Unopened flowerbuds are cooked and eaten as vegetables.

The exact origin is unknown, but is likely from Southern Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica. It is cultivated around the world in tropical regions.

A vining, terrestrial or epiphytic cactus, with fleshy stems reaching from a few inches up to 20ft long (in mature plants). The plant may grow out of, and over the ground or climb onto trees using aerial roots. It grows best in dry, tropical or subtropical climates where annual rainfall ranges from 20-50" per year. In wet, tropical zones, plants may grow well but sometimes have problems setting fruit reliably. Will tolerate temperatures to 104F, and short periods of frost, but prolonged cold will damage or kill the plant. The plants aren't usually too picky as to soil type, but because of their epiphytic nature, it is recommended to grow them in soil that is supplemented with high amounts of organic material. The plant has been grown successfully in sandy soils. Shade is sometimes provided in hot climates. Flowers are ornate and beautiful, and many related species are propagated as ornamentals. They bloom only at night, and usually last just one night where pollination is necessary to set fruit. In full production, pitahaya plants can have up to 4-6 fruiting cycles per year.

Propagation: By seed, or by stem cuttings.

9/2/06 ~ Man Mo Temple

On the Rio: Grateful Dead ~ Jam, 2/28/1969, Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA

I rode the Star Ferry back to the Central District. Prior to heading to the Peak Tram, I decided to find the Man Mo Temple.

Inside, the statue of Man is on the right side of the alter, adorned with red embroidered robes and holding a calligraphy brush. On th eleft is the red-faced Mo, dressed in green robes and a pearl headdress and wielding a large sword. Unfortunately, those pictures did not turn out. But here is the main alter.

The hanging cones are actually sprials of smoldering incense hanging from the ceiling. Here are two more detailed photos.

These incense spirals can burn for weeks.

There is a small shop next door and I bought a token with the Chinese carving for:

"Always Be Happy, Me Myself, Be Pure".

9/1/06 ~ Cheuk Lam Sim Yuen

On the Rio: Johnny Cash ~ Ring of Fire

I'm going to rant a bit...It is impossible to go out for Chinese food alone. I tried again tonight, and it will be my last time (well, until next week anyway). :)
First, everything is served to be shared, so the portions are huge. I hate wasting the food.
Second, even when I order something I think I know, it ends up being different in some way, and I don't know how to eat it.

Tonight I ordered deep fried shrimp. They were served as peel-and-eat baby shrimps, no breading. Of course they were delicious, but it was so hard to peel them, and I didn't know if I was supposed to use my fingers...I got all paranoid that other patrons were staring at me.
I also ordered the most delicious corn & chicken soup. The problem, it's served in a tureen to serve about 6 people.
There was also a special on desserts, so I ordered the fried banana stuffed with mashed red beans, sprinkled with powdered sugar. This was served breaded, deep-fried. Wow, I would order that again! But I was served 8 of them, and I ate 2.

Ok, back to Hong Kong.

After breakfast, PR and I only a couple hours before she had to get to the airport, so we asked the concierge how to find the Cheuk Lam Sim Yuen monestary. It was very close by taxi. This is a monestary originally built from bamboo matsheds. But we didn't see anything to suggest this. Here is the entrance pond. The details are just incredible, and the second picture tries to show one section of the foreground.

This monestary is home to three of the largest Buddha statues to be found in Hong Kong. What appears to be a light in the cones on either side of the Buddhas actually are miniature buddhas. That could be one of those games: Guess the Number of Buddhas in the Cone (like guess the number of jelly beans in the jar).

Here is an example of "drums" that have been spotten at numerous temples, but I have not yet heard them played. They come in different sizes, and these were the first red ones I'd seen, as usually they have been brown. They are hollow, and you can see the round drum stick resting in the larger drum.

I'm glad I'm not the next Buddha! I don't know why he has to sit inside the bell. What a headache.

We were very lucky before we left to witness a genuine offering ceremony by a family. We did not take pictures, but we smiled at each to other, so we didn't feel as if we were intruding too much. It was times like these I wish I had a guide to explain the protocol and the intimacies of the rituals. Offerings were made around the following shrine.

There were 3 people making the offering. In the silver plates they first offered bananas, then peanuts, then wrapped candies. They also poured oil into the corner lamps, and burnt bunches of incense on all four sides, as there are four faces to the figurine. They also purchased gold leaf paper that were given to the keeper to paste on a smaller buddha in the front.

Here is a close up photo.