i heart spitting

It's time to tone down the wisecracking and stereotypes about the Chinese. In less than two weeks, I'm about to travel the source: Beijing, China, for a five day vacation, followed by another five days in Kyoto. This will be my first personal, non-family vacation in four years not involving someone's wedding, and it's only because so few of my friends have gotten married this year that I've been able to accumulate enough vacation days.

Shanghai and Tokyo aren't on the itinerary because the purpose of this trip is cultural enlightenment, not a shopping expedition. I want to experience and learn, not go and collect a bunch of stuff. Besides, with the tanking dollar and so many Chinese goods easily available on these shores, it wouldn't be much of a shopping trip anyways.

So the framework is set and the hard part has been done. Vacation days requested, flights booked, hotels reserved, visa issued, and now the best part, filling in the blanks with the where's and what's: where to eat and what to see. Kyoto is a bit easier for this because it's always been a city I've wanted to visit for years and as a consequence there has been a subconscious list building that I can now act upon. A reservation for a multicourse kaiseki dinner has been made, as well as a stay in a traditional ryokan (inn).

Beijing is a definite unknown. It's going to be interesting in surprising ways, I believe.

no shame whatsoever

For a culture that places so much emphasis on maintaining face, the Chinese can be so shameless at times. Like these dudes brazenly smoking away in a restaurant next to a no smoking sign.

Whenever people ask about my background, I always tell them I'm Taiwanese.

journey to the west

There was a rock that since the creation of the world had been worked upon by the pure essences of Heaven and the fine savours of Earth, the vigour of sunshine and the grace of moonlight, till at last it became magically pregnant and one day split open, giving birth to a stone egg, about as big as a playing ball. Fructified by the wind it developed into a stone monkey, complete with every organ and limb.

I've started reading an English translation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West (西遊記) and I'm loving it. It's making my own daily Journey to/from the Work pass by a lot faster.

The kid in me is tickled to be reacquainted with the mischievious superhero Monkey (孫悟空) who has near-limitless abilities that is matched only by his sense of hubris. The adult side appreciates this as a masterpiece of fiction and mythology. It's a shame I'm unable to read it in Chinese, but I believe the translation does a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of the original.