Originally printed in the May issue of Seoul Magazine. Reprinted with permission. Visit Seoul Magazine's website here.

don't miss: Hanky Panky at RueLaLa, William Rast at HauteLook, Furla at GiltGroupe

RueLaLa (boutiques open at 11:00 am EST)

Hanky Panky, Madison Avenue Couture - Hermes, Casadei, Love Moschino

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HauteLook (boutiques open at 11:00 am EST)

No Excess, Silhouettes Art by PTM Images, Modern Notes, PlaSmart, EXTREME by Eddie Marc, Colorevolution, Style Essentials Handbags, Subtle Luxury & Spun by Subtle Luxury, The Driskill Hotel Austin, Luxury Sunglasses, MK2K & 213, Azul, Beyond Rings Blowout, Sophomore, William Rast

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Ed Hardy Watches, Body Jewelry, La Fee Verte, Michael Antonio, Leatherock

Modnique (boutiques open at 10:00 am EST)
Designer Handbags, My Tribe, Martha Rey, Engagement Rings, Drop & Dangle Earrings, Rich & Skinny, Marc Jacobs sunglasses, Rosato

GiltGroupe (boutiques open at 12:00 pm EST)

BCBGMAXAZRIA Shoes and Handbags, Furla, Hanii Y, Jewelry by KEP, Good Charma, Coralia Leets, and more, Kids' Finds: Isabel Garreton and Marie Chantal, Magaschoni, Unlikely Pair: Brights and Neutrals

gingkoseto wrote:
Here is a discussion from teadrunk about whether Hei Cha and Puerh should be put in one category, and if yes, whether Heicha is a puerh, or puerh is a Heicha. I personally think it's simple and clear to put them in two separate tea categories.
http://teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?id=26

Anyone who wants to try Fuzhuan should be aware that there is significant fungal growth (which is believed to be healthy). Drink it only if you don't mind. Here is a teachat discussion about golden flowers. Many people don't like to see fungal growth in their tea. I did a same survey on a Chinese tea forum, and the result is verysimilar.
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14692

Fu zhuan is one of my favorite teas. But I drink it in liters and in a different way from how I drink other teas. It's like my coca cola

...

Statistics : Posted by honza • on Dec 28th, '10, 18:53 • Replies 21 • Views 1279

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Thanks for the replies!

Interesting - and nice to know what people are listening to while enjoying their tea (and with others).....

Talking of qin players (gingkose) - one of my favourite albums for pu is:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Sounds-Tao-Historic-Recordings/dp/B000062TIB
with an amazing story behind the recording:
http://www.arbiterrecords.com/notes/2004notes.html

70's reggae - Indeed - Heart of the Congos is an incredible album . I don't know why it matches with puerh so well...but it does!

Currently chasing the cha qi down with EoT Manmai and Lo Ka Ping.

M

Statistics : Posted by Erhu • on Apr 20th, '11, 08:13 • Replies 4 • Views 128

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dangert wrote:
So far complete silence from Jerry regarding my broken gaiwan. I don't anticipate resolution by now, but it will be nice to hear from him that my mail was received and there will be a follow-up.

Warn him that you'll make a complaint to eBay. When I did that he quickly replied to my message (after sending three initially).

Merlin wrote:
Would you recommend Jerry for purchasing 3-4 kilos of 2011 tea?
I was using Yum Tea for some time in the past, but after Yum Tea ceased to be i'm looking for a alternative.

Lucky if you get the tea you think you are purchasing. I hope this answers your question.

I have crossed that vendor off my list. Very unreliable.

Statistics : Posted by bagua7 • on Oct 9th, '10, 18:11 • Replies 69 • Views 2653

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Upcoming Events
For those of you who are local, I will be teaching a basic Marker Rendering class on Thursday, April 21, from 7 to 9pm at DIVA Gallery in Eugene. We'll cover basic marker care, techniques, choosing papers, and airbrushing,. If you are interested, please contact DIVA, at www.divanow.org

Also, I may be out in Denver, at Meininger's Art Supplies on Sunday, June 5th. I'll be offering free demos, along with my friend Kazan Clark, so come visit us!

Standard Certifications, North America
There are classes open all over the country right now, as Spring and Fall are the most popular times for classes. Check the following list to make sure you don't miss out on a class near you. Classes are filling FAST, especially the Intermediate classes, so get your applications in right away! A few minor changes to the upcoming list of Certification Classes, as Jennie Black will no longer be hosting Certifications, but she will be teaching plenty of consumer classes at her local stamping stores in the LA area.

Just to remind you, retakes are only $40, and it is always a good idea to hear material a second time. I personally will be teaching Las Vegas, San Diego, Coos Bay, and Berne, so come visit me if you haven't experienced one of my classes. Otherwise, look for classes in your area that might be taught by someone new. After you've taken one of our Certification classes, sign up for an Intermediate class, as that's where the real fun happens.

For international Certifications, please visit my class updates from last month.

Upcoming locations
April 27th, Charlotte, NC taught by Colleen Schaan Open to Public

May 1st, Las Vegas, NV taught by Jennie Black Open to Public
May 12, Columbus, OH taught by Colleen Schaan Open to Public
May 26, Minneapolis, MN taught by Debbie Olson Open to Public
May 26, Pensacola, FL taught by Colleen Schaan Open to Public
May 22, San Diego, CA taught by Marianne Walker Open to Public
May 28th, Toronto, Canada taught by Sherrie Siemens Open to stores and Designers

June 3rd Berne, IN taught by Colleen Schaan & Marianne Walker Open to stores & Designers
June 4th Kelowna, BC taught by Sherrie Siemens Open to stores & Designers
June 10th, Santa Fe, NM taught by Jenn Balcer CANCELLED
June 11th Boston, Mass taught by Lori Craig Open to stores & Designers
June 12 Spokane, WA taught by Jenn Balcer Open to stores & Designers
June 18th Coos Bay, OR taught by Marianne Walker Open to stores & Designers

Classes Opening Soon, applications have NOT gone out yet:
June 23rd Wichita, KS taught by Lori Craig
June 23rd, Lexington, KY taught by Colleen Schaan

Tentative Summer Classes:
July 16th Houston, TX taught by Jenn Balcer
July 18, Chicago, IL (Before Summer CHA) taught by Lori Craig
Aug. 7th Manhattan, NY taught by Lori Craig and Jenn Balcer
Sept 8th Savannah GA taught by Colleen Schaan
Sept 22nd Orlando, FL taught by Collen Schaan
Sept. 30 Portland ME taught by Lori Craig

Intermediate Certification
Intermediate Papercrafting Certification classes are popular! These classes are open to ANYONE who has taken the standard Certification class, and who wants to learn how to color and design more like an artist. The Phoenix class was a huge success! This class is a MUST for the serious papercrafter. Sure, we discuss coloring, but this class also shows you how to think like an Artist, and take your work to a whole new, objective level.

May 13th, Columbus, OH taught by Colleen Schaan Now Open

June 10th, Boston, Mass. taught by Debbie Olson Now Open
June 18th, Calgary, AB taught by Sherrie Siemens Filling fast!!
June 23rd Wichita, KS taught by Debbie Olson Opens Friday

To register for any of these classes or to download class info, please check our Certification page on the Copic Website. If you have any questions, please e-mail Nancy@copicmarker.com for details.

With another day of strong musical performances and artistic offerings, the scene at the 2011 Coachella Festival in Indio, CA was in full bloom on Saturday (April 16).

The annual event continues to be a favorite of Hollywood stars, as big names including Leonardo DiCaprio, Usher, Katy Perry and Nicole Richie all turned up at the Empire Polo Club field grounds.

Also joining in on the happenings at Coachella were couples such as Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard, Isabel Lucas and Lukas Hass, as well as Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson.

Rounding out the star sightings on Saturday were Paris Hilton, Vanessa Hudgens, Brittany Snow, Dita Von Teese, Kelly Osbourne and Whitney Port, along with "Gossip Girl" stars Penn Badgley and Jessica Szohr.

As for the performers, highlights of Day 2 included a late daytime set by the lovely Erykah Badu, who told the audience that "Didn't Cha Know" is her favorite song to sing, adding, "If it starts feeling too good, don't hesitate to scream."

Meanwhile, Grammy winners Arcade Fire closed things out with a hot set list including "Month of May," "Sprawl II," "Rebellion (Lies)," and "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)".

Set to come to a strong close on Sunday (April 17), the third and final day of the Coachella Music & Arts festival features a slate of entertainers including Kanye West, the Strokes and Wiz Khalifa.

Animal Collective surprise and the dance music hits hard on Saturday.
By Mary J. DiMeglio

Arcade Fire perform on Day 2 of Coachella 2011
Photo: Getty

INDIO, California — Eschewing the big light shows of the weekend's earlier main-stage acts, Arcade Fire stripped down for Saturday night's Coachella crowd to let their sunny sing-alongs shine through.

They bookended their set with cuts from their Grammy-winning The Suburbs, starting with "Month of May" and closing out with "Sprawl II."

Through it all, the crowd kept bopping, belting out "Rebellion (Lies)," and both "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" and "Neighborhood 3 (Power Out)."

The recent surprise Album of the Year winners expressed their gratitude several times, admitting, "It's pretty intimidating to be up here in front of all you people," and later professing, "We don't take this for granted, even for a second."

Check out photos from the Coachella Festival.

This year, its 12th, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is presenting more than 100 bands over three days on the Empire Polo Club fields.

Anyone who let Animal Collective's reputation as a less-than-stellar live act convince them to stay away missed a wonderfully frantic set backed by stunning videography. The Baltimore experimentalists amply surpassed their duties and proved that, yes, they could bring it to the main stage. Their audience was thin, as positive word of mouth sent the masses to watch Empire of the Sun on the Outdoor stage. But the Empire experience is all about their theatrical stage show, which only the closest quarter or so of the crowd got to see.

Erykah Badu's late-afternoon set had her soul sisters and fan boys enthralled. After beginning with "20 Feet Tall," she told them "Didn't Cha Know" is her favorite song to sing and "If it starts feeling too good, don't hesitate to scream."

Those missing this year's lack of hard-rock acts had the chance to bang their heads to Rage Against the Machine spitter Zach De La Rocha and former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore's surprisingly standard One Day as a Lion.

Elsewhere, Swell Season soothed tired eardrums, and mad scientist Daedelus captivated. The Scissor Sisters gave a shout-out to earlier Mojave tent act Elbow, saying, "They don't get the recognition they deserve, here in this country — just like the Scissor Sisters!"

While Steve Angello brought house music to the masses in the Sahara tent, Andy C. and GQ reminded an intimate group of drum and bass fans in the Oasis dome of the late-'90s height of their rave days. Earlier, Laidback Luke had the Sahara pounding with an eclectic sunset performance that masterfully blended dance staples like "Better Off Alone" and new classic "When Love Takes Over" with Coldplay's "Clocks" — somehow managing to make detours into dubstep and Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain" blend seamlessly.

Coachella kicked off Friday with Kings of Leon, Interpol and the Chemical Brothers.

On tap for Sunday (April 17): Wiz Khalifa, the Strokes, Duck Sauce and Kanye West.

Did you go to Coachella? Give us your review in the comments below!

Related Photos

• 2011 Coachella

Related Artists

• Arcade Fire

That'd be a pull, not kick. You look real tough now in front of your colleagues, don't cha?!

When you order tea at Kyo-Ya in the East Village, you're presented with a basket of six clear jars. Each is filled with loose leaf samples of the teas available on the menu - you're invited to open each jar and sniff. I found this to be a lovely way to pick tea, a nice hands-on break from relying on a waiter's description of the tea.

The teas are divided as follows:
Left, Japanese Teas: Kaiseki Hojicha and Chiran Kanaya Midori
Center, Chinese Teas: Flower Craft and Golden Oolong
Right, Herbal Teas: Soba Cha and Lemon Verbena

We went with the Kaiseki Hojicha, a roasted, nutty green tea. It's my go-to dinner tea at Japanese restaurants.

Cutest teapot, so cozy looking!

What I like about Kyo-Ya is that you can go all out with the kaiseki tasting menu (a crazy incredible tasting menu...check out the sashimi, goodness) or do casual dinners and you know, order a mountain of uni. Two takes on monkfish liver, raw and smoked, if you desire!

Reservations are ideal, though with that said we walk in at 10pm on a weekend and were seated with a 15-minute wait. In the mood for a light dinner we shared dishes from both the regular menu and the seasonal menu:

Spring Potato Kaarage with Roasted Shoyu and Melted Butter

Simmered Clams and Broccoli Rabe

Tokyo Bay Sea Eel Tempura in Crystal Broth over Rice

Yuba and Tofu Nabe...
...this was a particularly interactive dish. We were given bowls of salt and roasted shoyu. Cut the tofu and use the salt or shoyu to season. Don't drink the liquid in the pot. After you're done with the tofu, pour a different container of shoyu and scallions into the hot liquid. Put the lid back on the pot and let sit for 10 seconds. The liquid turns into yuba (soft tofu skin) and you pick it out with chopsticks. Heavenly!

We finished with the best Hojicha Ice Cream in NYC. Two little soybean cookies to accompany. Ideal closure to the meal as we did start dinner with Hojicha tea ;)

Kyo-Ya
94 E 7th Street
New York, NY 10079
(212) 982-4140

When you order tea at Kyo-Ya in the East Village, you're presented with six clear jars holding a sample of each tea they have on the menu. Feel free to open and sniff each jar - what a lovely way of being able to pick your teas. It's nice to smell each teas yourself as opposed to rely on a waiter's description of the tea.

The teas are divided as follows:
Left, Japanese Teas: Kaiseki Hojicha and Chiran Kanaya Midori
Center, Chinese Teas: Flower Craft and Golden Oolong
Right, Herbal Teas: Soba Cha and Lemon Verbena

We went with the Kaiseki Hojicha, a roasted, nutty green tea. It's my go-to dinner tea at Japanese restaurants.

Cutest teapot, so cozy looking!

What I like about Kyo-Ya is that you can go all out with the kaiseki tasting menu (a crazy incredible tasting menu...check out the sashimi, goodness) or do casual dinners and you know, order a mountain of uni. Two takes on monkfish liver, raw and smoked, if you desire!

Reservations are ideal, though with that said we walk in at 10pm on a weekend and were seated with a 15-minute wait. In the mood for a light dinner we shared dishes from both the regular menu and the seasonal menu:

Spring Potato Kaarage with Roasted Shoyu and Melted Butter

Simmered Clams and Broccoli Rabe

Tokyo Bay Sea Eel Tempura in Crystal Broth over Rice

Yuba and Tofu Nabe...
...this was a particularly interactive dish. We were given bowls of salt and roasted shoyu. Cut the tofu and use the salt or shoyu to season. Don't drink the liquid in the pot. After you're done with the tofu, pour a different container of shoyu and scallions into the hot liquid. Put the lid back on the pot and let sit for 10 seconds. The liquid turns into yuba (soft tofu skin) and you pick it out with chopsticks. Heavenly!

We finished with the best Hojicha Ice Cream in NYC. Two little soybean cookies to accompany. Ideal closure to the meal as we did start dinner with Hojicha tea ;)

Kyo-Ya
94 E 7th Street
New York, NY 10079
(212) 982-4140

Here is a discussion from teadrunk about whether Hei Cha and Puerh should be put in one category, and if yes, whether Heicha is a puerh, or puerh is a Heicha. I personally think it's simple and clear to put them in two separate tea categories.
http://teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?id=26

Anyone who wants to try Fuzhuan should be aware that there is significant fungal growth (which is believed to be healthy). Drink it only if you don't mind. Here is a teachat discussion about golden flowers. Many people don't like to see fungal growth in their tea. I did a same survey on a Chinese tea forum, and the result is verysimilar.
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14692

Fu zhuan is one of my favorite teas. But I drink it in liters and in a different way from how I drink other teas. It's like my coca cola
...

Statistics : Posted by gingkoseto • on Dec 28th, '10, 18:53 • Replies 19 • Views 1110

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teageekah wrote:
Chinese people call that 红茶壶（ hong cha hu）- red tea pot and using that to brew black teas and pu-erh.

It has been around for at least 2-3 years, but has never seemed to get popular. I guess many tea drinkers just need excuses to buy more yixing

I think the red tea pot is quite cute. In my last tea shipment, the seller kindly included one of this as a surprise gift. It arrived with the inlet broken. Fortunately the pot and lid are fine. Then I realize, without the inlet, it becomes the Tai Ping Hou Kui glass that I've always wanted. With the glass and lid, it becomes the Bai Hao Silver Needle glass that I've always wanted

Statistics : Posted by gingkoseto • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 48 • Views 1525

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I happen to own one of Stéphane's baotai pot (yes, I can't help buying every pot I see ) I read somewhere on TC that the clay was good. As far as I am concerned, it is, but I am not a pro.

It isvery thin and the impact on tea is minimal, compared to others I've tried. It rounds up very slightly the edges, doesn't take away much aroma. I like the effect it has on Baozhong very much. But I can't say you're wrong about gaiwan, especially for very pricey gao shan cha such as good quality Li Shan or Da Yu Lin.

In addition, as far as I may give advise to beginners, being one myself, I would really advise to stick to the "lidded cup" as long as possible. I found that I have bought teapots way too soon, and the day I went back using procelain was the day I really started to enjoy tea. Don't get me wrong, I am now very happy to have some beautiful pots, and I love them, but I know I have to be resonable and
...

Statistics : Posted by David R. • on Apr 2nd, '11, 23:21 • Replies 33 • Views 745

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Q Eleven years ago my partner moved into my house, on which I'd had a mortgage since 1984. We have both lived there ever since. We have always shared the mortgage payments, improvement costs and utility bills, and have since paid off the whole mortgage, but the property has always been in my name and I hold the freehold on my own.

We entered into a civil partnership four years ago and I would like us to co-own our house, which is valued at about £600,000. How can we do this, and would we/he have to pay capital gains tax, stamp duty or anything else? My partner is also wondering about buying a flat to rent out on the strength of his co-ownership. Could he use the house to raise a mortgage for such as venture? CH

A In order to make your partner a joint owner you will need to add his name at the Land Registry, for which there is a fee of £280 (assuming you transfer half the house to him). You won't, however, have to pay capital gains tax, as gifts between civil partners (and spouses) are tax free. In addition, there won't be a bill for stamp duty land tax because no money changes hands when you transfer part ownership of the house. Had you still had a mortgage stamp duty would have been charged on the amount of the mortgage your partner would have taken over, but as it is paid off you don't need to worry.

As far as raising a mortgage goes, yes your partner could borrow against your home once you become joint owners, but you would both need to be named on the mortgage. The alternative would be for your partner to take out a buy-to-let mortgage secured on the flat to be let out, which could be solely in his name.

Featuring the least sexy Rumbas you've ever seen!

Well, so much for the Rumba as the dance of romance. Last night it was the dance of death. And oddly enough that made for Rumbas that were way more believable and emotionally satisfying than all those sexy Rumbas ever were. Who's with me?

Image courtesy ABC

Wondering what I mean? Let's dig in.

1. Wendy and Tony danced a Foxtrot

Wendy is not really making visible progress, and after 3 weeks I fear it may spell her near-term defeat. This Foxtrot was not only a bit slow and plodding, but she herself seemed very tentative, very stilted. very not like her TV persona. Those who do know and like that persona may feel like putting her out of her misery by not voting for her. Those who don't may wonder how she survived last week!

Bottom line: She's definitely at risk.

2. Chelsea and Mark danced a Cha Cha Cha

For someone who is obviously a good dancer, Chelsea needs to take more care with her feet and ankles. They're never really fully pointed, never really fully extended. Other than that, though, this was really good. She is spunky and charming. I might disagree a tiny bit with Bruno: I would say she was more sassy than sexy.

Bottom line: She's sassy, spunky, sexy AND safe.

3. Chris and Cheryl danced a Rumba

I was once again totally surprised by Chris. Week one he seemed somewhat hopeless, and in only week he has completely found his inner dancer. And with this dance dedicated to his dead mum, he also found his inner emoter. Nice nice job. This was the first (but not the last) time I heard one of the Pros say that a sexy Rumba wasn't really the right call for the story they'd be telling, and I really wondered how they'd pull off a non-sexy Rumba, but it worked, and he just doesn't seem like the same guy from week one.

Bottom line: Have to call him a front-runner right now.

4. Kendra and Louis danced a Rumba

Now, Chelsea should take a lesson from Kendra, because she had lovely feet and ankles. Really wonderful position and extension. She still has the issue of not being grounded enough and seeming unstable. But she exhibited nice grace. Still looks a bit frozen in fear, facially, but maybe that's because they made her inhale about 10x more stage fog than any human should. This was a lovely dance.

Bottom line: Her best dance yet, so I'm guessing she's safe.

5. Romeo and Chelsie danced a Rumba

It was fine, but he wasn't very fluid, and he didn't really do very much. Maybe it's just my girl-crush on Chelsie, but once again...she looks great dancing around him, not really with him. That being said, I did think he loosened up a bit emotionally, so I appreciated that.

Bottom line: Not the best, but not the worst.

6. Hines and Kym danced a samba

I was hoping for a lot more from this, given Hines has proved he can shake his booty. This wasn't quite as good as his past efforts, probably because it required a little more speed and precision in the footwork, not just the booty-shaking.

Bottom line: Still, he's far from at risk.

7. Petra and Dmitry danced a Waltz

Well, it's really nice to see Petra improving. This was her best dance yet,. Yes, there were moments of clunkiness, but many more moments of grace than usual. I'm not sure it's quite enough, but I think it indicates she can show even more improvement if she stays.

Bottom line: She's made it farther than most models at this point, hasn't she? Oh, wait, it's only elimination #2. Supermodels are always at risk, and so is Petra.

8. Sugar Ray and Anna danced a Paso Doble

I feel a little let down, because this was not great. Only the fast footwork impressed. The worst part was his posture, which was terrible. He should have been able to bring some boxer fierceness to the floor, but as my S.O. said: Anna looked way more fierce and scary than Sugar Ray.

Bottom line: I actually think he's at risk because this just wasn't fun or exciting.

9. Kirstie and Maks danced a Rumba

So, drama: Maks's thigh wobbled and down they went right at the very beginning of their routine!!! Despite the starting fall, however, the dance that followed was lovely. And I continue to really appreciate that she takes each dance so seriously. She goes for it; she owns it. She embodies BlogHer's Own Your Beauty initiative, I think.

Bottom line: Oh, she's going to rake in the votes...the fall was probably a great thing for her popularity! We love when folks fall down but just get back up.

10. Ralph and Karina danced a Rumba

This was nice, the ringer did great :) And had nice posture. But gotta ask: Was he 12 when he got married? Oh. ma. gah.

Bottom line: Yeah, do you need to ask?

Bottom line for the bottom two:

I think it has got to be Wendy in the bottom two for sure. Joining her will be Petra, or maybe Romeo. But I think it's Wendy's time.

How about you?

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com
My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!

No-nonsense Home-style Local Food
G/F, 118 Peak Road, Shop No. 1A, Hong Kong
The Peak
PH: 852.2849.2345
No reservations, major credit cards accepted (only at this location)
Website

HONG KONG
During my vacation, I get to visit with relatives who I haven't seen since I was a kid. One of my cousins took me to the typical tourist attraction known as the Peak where you get a sweeping view of Hong Kong's many skyscrapers. While there, she suggested that we eat at the local cha chaang teng, which translates to mean tea restaurant or cafe.

I'd never heard of the term cha chaang teng in the United States, and my cousin says it would be comparable to maybe a Denny's. That didn't give me much confidence about our lunch, but I played it cool and agreed to eat at a popular Hong Kong cha chaang teng called Tsui Wah.

Tsui Wah recently opened an outlet at the Peak Galleria, alongside such tourist restaurants like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Burger King. A characteristic of a cha chaang teng is that the food is cheap and simple, nothing fancy. But unlike Denny's that focuses on breakfast and diner-type food, Tsui Wah has a variety of dishes, many sparking childhood memories of what locals probably ate growing up at home.

One thing that caught my eye in the appetizer section was this bittermelon pancakes dish. Although I don't normally eat bittermelon, I thought it sounded so unusual that I had to try it. It came out more like individual bittermelon omelettes, and the bittermelon wasn't too bitter. But I didn't really enjoy the dish because it was a bit greasy, which my cousin says is another sign of a cha chaang teng because they're not for the health-conscious. (I guess maybe it is like a Denny's.)

But the next two dishes definitely separates Tsui Wah from a diner, and they're the chain's specialties. First is the yu dan fun, or fish balls noodle soup. This bowl had ground fish formed into meatballs, as well as ground fish cut into triangles and pan-fried. They sat on top of a bowl of flat rice noodles that were light and subtle in taste.

From the first bite I felt like I was eating at someone's Chinese home. The dish was simple but clean, fresh, and perfectly executed. The fish flavor was mild, almost elegant, just like the subtle broth.

The other specialty is a tomato pork chop rice plate, which my cousin says her children love to eat. In Chinese restaurants, a lot of comfort food seem to circle around tomato or corn. This rice plate was actually very comforting, mostly because it came out piping hot and stayed hot as we ate. I was amazed at the tender pork chop, which was thick cuts that were deboned. The chops were pan-fried before being coated with the tomato sauce. I could see why the kids love this.

After eating at this Tsui Wah, I started seeing this cha chaang teng all over town. It reminds me of Zippys in Hawaii. It's a casual dining spot that's perfect for the family. I enjoyed our lunch here so much that I went to a Tsui Wah near my hotel and ordered the curry chicken rice dish, and it wasn't as good as the restaurant at the Peak. The other Tsui Wahs in town can sometimes be old and tired, but the fish ball noodle soup seems to be popular at all locations.

My cousin paid for lunch, so I didn't note the prices, but cha chaang tengs are typically reasonable and generally only accept cash (but the location at the Peak takes credit card probably because of the tourist business). You're given a slip that you take to the cashier at the front to ring you out.

So if you're visiting Hong Kong and doing the touristy thing like visiting the Peak, avoid the really touristy eateries and try something the locals hold dear to their hearts. The casual cha chaang teng. And if it happens to be Tsui Wah, definitely order a bowl of fish balls noodle soup.

BTW, I've had great weather during my trip, which meant an amazing view of the city from the Peak's viewing tower.


Single guy rating: 2.75 stars (stick with the specialties)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Post by Jeanne Sager

The Japanese have come up with some of my favorite inventions. Hello Kitty! Karate! Noodles in a cup! But when they fail, boy do they fail!

Take the new digital photo frame. Which is also a scale! No really, that's what it's called. The Photo Frame Scale. Company Hashy Top-In advertises the item you're supposed to step on with a picture of a cute baby in the bath and a little word bubble coming out of his mouth that says "Don't Step On Me." GREAT! Like we needed more reasons to avoid the scale?

Really, folks! In the naked state in which I usually weigh myself (lest I spend too much time debating whether I can add a pound for the dampness of that towel, subtract for the weight of my glasses . . . ), the last thing I want to see is my little darlin' staring up at me. Staring up at my naked cha cha to be exact... no, I don't want to think about that image anymore.

Moving on. Stepping on the scale is scary enough. I do it as rarely as possible, especially in the winter months when all it takes is the red lines left by too-tight jeans to remind me that I'm gaining weight. But anything that makes the scale scary is bad for weight loss.

Studies have actually shown frequent weigh-ins are BETTER if you want to lose weight. A daily weight check allows you to modify your daily routines before pounds slipping back on become a problem. It makes you more accountable for your weight than putting it off for a month or even a week. 

So, who wants to have a picture staring up at them making them feel like they're being judged for eating that piece of cheesecake? NOT me! But if you do, hit the Hashy Top-In shop (hopefully you can read Japanese).

Just put it away in a closet before I use your bathroom, OK?

 

Image via YouTube

tingjunkie wrote:

bagua7 wrote:

tingjunkie wrote:Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?"...

Why not? If you drink from a tea bag and suddenly experience satori in your kitchen, wouldn't this be a cha dao experience?

Oh, good. We're discussing reality now. I think I'll take a pass on defining religion though thanks. That's harder than defining "art."

‎"Great Spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediorcre minds"- Albert Einstein

Statistics : Posted by TIM • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 44 • Views 1285

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gingkoseto wrote:
Ho ho... I am sure op could get quite a headache by reading all the posts s/he induced

I took time to read page 1-3 again and am more confused. So Tingjunkie mentioned (on page 1) he wouldn't fully pack a pot except for some Yan cha. Tead Off mentioned he sometimes use 1/3 to 1/2 full pot for some oolong (on page 2). So basically I don't see what differences you two hold. The leaf/water ratio you guys use look quite similar to me. Also I think what wyardley said about leaf ratio not equal to leaf mass (on page 3) is very important. Besides 1/2 full in a 50ml pot is not the same as 1/2 full in a 100ml pot. So isn't it very possible that 1/2 full of Tead Off's pot is pretty much the same or similar enough to, say, 2/3 full of Tingjunkie's pot, or the other way around? Isn't it very possible that Tead Off and Tingjunkie often drink tea in a very similar way anyway?

Now we are talking about using more tea or less

...

Statistics : Posted by Tead Off • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 42 • Views 1197

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bagua7 wrote:

tingjunkie wrote:Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?"...

Why not? If you drink from a tea bag and suddenly experience satori in your kitchen, wouldn't this be a cha dao experience?

Oh, good. We're discussing reality now. I think I'll take a pass on defining religion though thanks. That's harder than defining "art."

Statistics : Posted by tingjunkie • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 41 • Views 1159

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Ho ho... I am sure op could get quite a headache by reading all the posts s/he induced

I took time to read page 1-3 again and am more confused. So Tingjunkie mentioned (on page 1) he wouldn't fully pack a pot except for some Yan cha. Tead Off mentioned he sometimes use 1/3 to 1/2 full pot for some oolong (on page 2). So basically I don't see what differences you two hold. The leaf/water ratio you guys use look quite similar to me. Also I think what wyardley said about leaf ratio not equal to leaf mass (on page 3) is very important. Besides 1/2 full in a 50ml pot is not the same as 1/2 full in a 100ml pot. So isn't it very possible that 1/2 full of Tead Off's pot is pretty much the same or similar enough to, say, 2/3 full of Tingjunkie's pot, or the other way around? Isn't it very possible that Tead Off and Tingjunkie often drink tea in a very similar way anyway?

Now we are talking about using more tea or less
...

Statistics : Posted by gingkoseto • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 40 • Views 1147

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**In subject line please indicate if you are applying for General Manger Position or Front Desk Position**

FRONT DESK:

Represents the hotel to the guest throughout all stages of the guest's stay. Determines a guest's reservation status and identifies how long the guest will stay. Helps guests complete registration cards and then assigns rooms accommodating special requests whenever possible. Verifies the guest's method of payment and follows established credit-checking procedures. Places guest and room information in the appropriate front desk racks, and communicates this information to the appropriate hotel personnel. Works closely with the housekeeping department in keeping room status reports up to date and coordinates requests for maintenance and repair work. Maintains guest room key storage, and maintains and supervises access to safe deposit boxes. Must be sales-minded. Presents options and alternatives to guests and offers assistance in making choices. Knows the location and types of available rooms as well as the activities and services of the property.

Education:
High school graduate or equivalent. Must be able to speak, read, write, and understand the primary language(s) used in the workplace. Must be able to speak and understand the primary language(s) used by guests who visit the workplace.

Experience:
Previous hotel-related experience desired.


HOTEL GENERAL MANAGER:

Primary Objective
To supervise the operation of the Inn as efficiently as possible. To hire and or train a qualified staff to produce the highest volume of sales and affect the greatest profit while maintaining a high degree of public satisfaction, confidence and prestige in the service and quality of the hotel. To follow Hotel policies and procedures. To remain competitive in every area and to produce and achieve budgetary goals. To maintain a high employee morale.

To supervise and participate in the operations of the hotel in order to achieve the desired sales and profit goals. To deal with guests, potential guests, and community leaders. To maintain the highest ethical standards of operation and quality of services and facilities for the hotel. To ensure good working relationship with the Food and Beverage Department by overseeing and guiding the staff through open communications and at times "hands on" participation.

Duties and Responsibilities
Budget Management- Assists in developing operating budgets.
Sales- Sell potential guests both within the hotel and outside the hotel. Meets and greets convention officers and other VIP's.
Maintenance of Quality Standards for proper guestroom cleanliness, function room set up and public room set-ups; maintenance of all facilities, service and employee performance. Is required to inspect at least ____ rooms per week.
Operations Analysis and Department Head Supervision- Analyzes operations and meets with department heads to review the operations and receive their suggestions.
Develops Department Heads - Selects and trains department heads and keeps them informed of company policies; observes their performance. Delegates responsibilities, holds them responsible for standards set forth by Hotel, assists them in improving their level of performance.
Employee Relations - Works with department heads and employees directly and counsels employees when necessary. Establishes programs to improve employee morale and motivation. Delegates work responsibilities in order to best utilize all personnel.
Forecast and Planning - Participates and directs scheduled internal meetings regarding sales, forecasting, quality control, safety, etc.
Reports- Prepares all reports on a timely basis. Analyzes and states strategies to improve..
Hotel Building Improvements - Prepares required capital improvements list annually.
Staffing - Studies and analyzes employee work assignments from which staffing guides are established and approved. Maintains daily check on payroll performance and takes affirmative action to correct high payroll costs. Approves all overtime, both before and after in the case of an emergency or unscheduled requirement.
Controls Other Expenses - Checks controls and approves all other hotel expenses.
Safety and Sanitation - Inspects the property and implements action to ensure the safety and comfort from fire, injury, or illness due to unsafe or unsanitary conditions.
Authorization of Requisitions and Checks - Approves requisitions for purchases of all items other than food and beverage..
Competition - Obtains current, competitive rate information.
Home Office Communications- Reviews all significant items with Regional Manager or other home office executives for information purposes, policy decisions, or assistance requests.


Requirements
Must be able to favorably represent Hotel to the guests and the community. Operational knowledge of all phases of the hotel; special knowledge of budget and accounting; sales procedure, proper selection, development and motivation of personnel skills. Those having a CHA designation will be given preferred consideration

Employee Relations - Responsible for maintaining high employee morale and a well trained, highly qualified staff.
Materials and Products - Directly or indirectly responsible for all products, inventory, and consumable items used in the Inn and the proper preparation and use consistent with the Inn's cost objectives.
Equipment-Direct and indirect responsibility for all Inn equipment, building, and furnishings.
Money- Directly and indirectly responsible for all revenues and accounts receivable.

• Location: Downtown Vancouver
• Compensation: Open
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Hitting the Ground Running with Dim Sum
3/F, Carnavon Plaza, 20-20C Carnavon Road, Kowloon
Tsim Sha Tsui neighborhood
PH: 852.2367.1328
Open daily 7:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.taoheung.com.hk

HONG KONG
Dim sum is the quintessential lunch experience of the Cantonese people, so it's no surprise that my very first meal in Hong Kong was made up of these little delights to replenish a weary traveler.

Because I arrived really early, my hotel room wasn't ready yet so I had to wander the area, which is the touristy Tsim Sha Tsui neighborhood on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. Because I didn't want to walk very far, I ended up at Tao Heung, which is a chain of restaurants across the city known primarily for its hot pots.

But Tao Heung also does pretty good dim sum business, known as yum cha (literally translated to mean "drink tea" when referring to the experience of eating dim sum). The trick I quickly learned about looking for restaurants in Hong Kong is to really know what building the restaurant is located in. Many are on upper floors, so just relying on the street address doesn't always help.
Tao Heung is on the third floor of a non-descript white building called Carnarvon Plaza, but it doesn't have an English name on the front. Best to just ask a local. I was able to find the building after walking back and forth on the street, and took the elevator straight up to the restaurant (I included a photo of how the front looks so you'll know what to look for).

Like most yum cha places in the city, you order by checking an order sheet. Even though I speak Cantonese, I don't read so I asked for an English sheet, which was noticeably smaller than the Chinese version. Oh well, it was just me so I didn't plan on ordering a lot. Also, there was a special sheet with photos, so I ordered a couple of dishes off of that too.

My first order was an old standby favorite, the steamed buns with custard filling. This is typically a dessert because it's sweet, but I love these and can eat it anytime, even at the start of a meal.

The custard inside was creamy but seemed a bit thicker than the versions I've had back in San Francisco. In fact, I think maybe I've had better custard in the Bay Area. However, Tao Heung's buns beat the ones back home for the fluffy texture. Holding the buns were like holding clouds because they were so light. So it was easy to eat all three by myself because they didn't weigh me down.

Because I always worry about getting enough vegetables while traveling, I order a plate of yau choi, or vegetables drizzled with oil. I got the lettuce version because the guy sitting across from me (when you're one person you share a table) had the same thing and it looked so brilliant. The bowl of boiled lettuce dressed in sesame oil and watered down soy sauce hit the spot, tasty and healthy.

This was one of the unusual items I saw on the specialty menu. They're baked spring onions (or maybe leeks) dumplings (HK$14.80 or $2). In the photo I thought the wave pattern looked interesting and when my plate arrived they looked just like the photo. I'm still not sure how they create the pattern because I thought they made it by layering the pastry dough, but there weren't any ridges on the dumplings when I ate them. The filling was tasty with a pleasant fresh flavor of spring onions and either bits of shrimp or maybe lard, I'm not really sure. The pastry exterior was nice as well, but the shell was a bit thick so maybe there was too much pastry compared to filling. Still, I enjoyed them.

This was listed on the English menu as pig trotter's with fermented taro curd, and it sounded interesting so I ordered it. I keep forgetting pig trotters are basically the knuckles or feet portions of the pig. The bone pieces were encircled by the fatty skin that was browned by the savory soy-based sauce. I tried to eat a couple but didn't really enjoy the fatty skin. I could see some bone marrow but it was hard to get to and I wasn't about to sit there crunching into the bone, so I barely finished this dish.

This was my last item, the premium siu mai (HK$18.80 or $2.50) with a full shrimp on top. There were also big chunks of shrimp inside blended with the pork filling. These were really tasty too, but the skin, which was thin, kept stinking to my chopsticks for some reason. I think that's because they're made fresh and comes piping hot to the table.

Amazingly, I ate everything I ordered and didn't have any leftovers (well, except the trotters), which is pretty good for one person. And this was a really reasonable dim sum, totaling HK$85.50, or $12. I would have spent way more than that back in the Bay Area.

Tao Heung looks really popular with the locals, and while there are more fancy and popular spots at various hotels, this delivers quality dim sum without eating into your travel budget.

Single guy rating: 3 stars (no-nonsense yum cha)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Diner notes: Just some tips about dining here. There are no paper napkins on the table, so be prepared to bring your own as to not make a mess of yourself while eating. When the servers bring your dish, they mark your table's check so keep it out in the open for them to mark it. When you're done eating and ready to go, simply take your check up to the cashier to pay. (You don't need to leave a tip on the table.)

tingjunkie wrote:
Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?"...

Why not? If you drink from a tea bag and suddenly experience satori in your kitchen, wouldn't this be a cha dao experience? I would give a definite "yes."

Now define me religion, please? And don't use a conventional mind.

Statistics : Posted by bagua7 • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 39 • Views 1088

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tingjunkie wrote:
Cha Dao is NOT a religion, buy it is a "way" which requires dedication and reverence for the leaf, the farmers, and nature itself.

So is life. One can single out bananas as 'a way'. One brings to the table an accumulation of ideas and beliefs, lots of information, garnered from reading books and talking to others. None of this has anything to do with simply drinking tea without looking for anything. This is something that cannot be practiced but discovered.

Statistics : Posted by Tead Off • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 38 • Views 1064

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Bagua7, in your opinion, is anyone who drinks tea a "Cha Dao practitioner?" Is drinking cold puerh from your fridge a form of Cha Dao? What about tea bags?

I would argue someone who brews tea bags, but really focuses, pays attention and continuously trys to push the tea bags to their meager limits is more of a practitioner of Cha Dao than the person who buys 50's Red Label and only pays attention to the flavor notes. Cha Dao is NOT a religion, buy it is a "way" which requires dedication and reverence for the leaf, the farmers, and nature itself. Everything else is just drinking tea. Nothing wrong with being a tea drinker, but calling all tea drinking a "way" is a little too touchy-feely, "I'm ok, you're ok" for my tastes.

Statistics : Posted by tingjunkie • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 37 • Views 1007

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edkrueger wrote:

TIM wrote:there are many ways and one Clear way

I likethat.

The Way . There are Buddhists, Daoists, Sufis, Vedanta followers, Kabbalahists, Mystic Christians, etc. and all follow their own practices trying to reach spiritual liberation...all seem valid (to me). Same can be said about Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Xingyi, Liuhebafa, Ziranmen practitioners, etc. each with their way of understanding the flow of Qi and the role of the mind during practice...all seem valid (to me).

Same can be said about Cha Dao...nothing should be written in absolute terms. I enjoyed glass of cold sheng puerh this morning after I left the the fridge last night's brew; it was hot and humid, as it usually is down here tropical Australia; not that it really cooled me down (a cup of green tea would have done the real job) but I enjoyed it.

Maybe the only absolute I know of is that to prepare tea you need H2O.
...

Statistics : Posted by bagua7 • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 36 • Views 979

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Article 23 of the Basic Environment Act reads:

The government shall establish plans to gradually achieve the goal of becoming a nuclear-free country. The government shall also strengthen nuclear safety management and control, protections against radiation, and the management of radioactive materials and monitoring of environmental radiation to safeguard the public from the dangers of radiation exposure.

As the Taipei Times noted today in its editorial, DPP policy has always been to oppose nuclear power, and it was the DPP that added the nuclear-free homeland clause to the Basic Law. Recently DPP Chairman Tsai Ing-wen, battling former Premier Su Tseng-chang for the DPP presidential candidacy, called for a nuclear-free homeland by 2025, in the wake of the disaster at Fukushima. These are easily accomplished plans, as sensible as clinically insane contract law permits. The TT says:

Tsai’s suggestion for a nuclear-free homeland does not call for an immediate halt to construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant or closure of the three plants that are in operation. Instead, as halting construction would be more expensive than completing it because of breach-of-contract costs, Tsai proposes that construction should be completed, but that the plant not be operated commercially after completion. Also, the three existing plants would not have their operations extended when they reach the end of their operational life by 2025.

Tsai's bold call appears to have caught her rival Su Tseng off guard; he came out a more conservative position, without a timetable. But the swiftness and surety of her thrust shows that she has smart advice and is not afraid to take the right position.

With the two emerging as the leading candidates as observers had long felt would be the case, more than just a primary is going on. Su is really the last lion of old martial law generation, along with former Vice-President Annette Lu, who hopefully will fade from politics soon, and the DPP Mayor of Kaohsiung, Chen Chu, who will never operate at the national level. Su helped co-found the DPP and was one of the lawyers for the Kaohsiung 8. Tsai represents the next generation of DPP leaders. Generational transition is symbolized by this primary.

Bruce Jacobs, the well-known academic who has made a career out of studying local politics in Taiwan argued in the Taipei Times earlier this week that Su was the ideal candidate. He points out that (1) Su is a proven election winner; (2) Su is a proven and able administrator; and (3) polls have Su doing better against KMT President Ma than Tsai.

Jacobs also says that Su will do better with swing voters, whom he claims constitute a fifth to a quarter of the electorate. In 2008, the DPP vote total fell from 50 to 42% as swing voters switched away from the DPP. Maybe 20-25% of the voting population claims to be a swing voter -- though I suspect a lot of those "independents" are simply DPPers being quiet about allegiances. The fact is that in the 2008 only 8% of voters "switched", accounting for Ma's 16 point victory. Perhaps the other 12-17% of the swing voters canceled each other out switching back and forth, but my own suspicion is that the swing vote is roughly half what Jacobs says it is. Consider that the DPP's Chen Shui-bian took 39% of the vote in 2000, with KMT Lien Chan and PFP Soong Chu-yu taking 61%. Do the math -- it took only a 11% swing to bring the election to Chen at 50% in 2004. The 2008 swing was just 8%. The "swing" vote masks the larger, very longterm trend of voters becoming Green over time as people become more comfortable voting for the DPP.

Jacob's arguments for Both (1) and (2) are certainly true. For (3), things are slightly more equivocal. The Taipei Times rounded up some polls earlier this month:

According to cable news station TVBS’ survey, if the election were held now, Tsai would receive 34 percent of the vote against 41 percent for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Su would take 36 percent against Ma’s 37 percent.

A poll by the Chinese-language China Times showed that Tsai would lose by 6 percent with 30 percent of the vote, with Ma taking 36 percent. Su would get 32 percent to Ma’s 38 percent.

The Chinese-language Apple Daily suggested that both Tsai and Su have higher ratings than Ma. Tsai would receive 49.4 percent against Ma’s 34.3 percent, while Su would get 51.6 percent to Ma’s 29.8 percent.

.....

The China Times poll went a step further, comparing Tsai directly with Su. The newspaper said 32 percent felt Su was better suited to run for president, while 27 percent backed Tsai.

In most polls Su is ahead or tied with Tsai.....

Meanwhile Sophia Solivio fired off a riposte against Jacobs' position in the Taipei Times, arguing that Tsai was the better choice. She contended that the flip side of Su's able administration is a remarkable lack of imagination and leadership in policy initiatives.

During the announcement of his bid for the DPP presidential nomination, Su insisted “Taiwan has been floating in the open sea” and “we need a strong leader during times like this, a helmsman who is of strong will,” but on cross-strait issues, Su also mentioned, “there is no need to advocate new and novel ideas or policies.” Will Su’s lack of innovative ideas transform Taiwan into a country “where everyone has a smile on their face”?

Silvio also argued that Tsai has repaired and reinvigorated the DPP, and appeals across generational and class lines just as Su does. Tsai is also endorsed by oldtime independence activists like the awesome Su Beng.

Despite the polls, Tsai might actually be the better candidate, for several reasons. It is quite true that Su is a proven administrator, but as the election of Ma himself shows, the public cares little for that qualification. Moreover, Su's long experience as County Chief of Pingtung and Taipei County -- note that he is popular in both the North and the South -- actually counts against him, for he could easily be spun in campaign propaganda as a wheeler-dealer with a finger in every pie. Having been in charge of many infrastructure projects, no doubt KMT operatives could dig up an alleged failure or two to throw at him. Tsai's lack of experience in this area actually helps in this regard, she has no skeletons, real or imagined, rattling around her non-existent administrative closet, although her lack of experience could become an issue. We're not into the election season yet so the KMT has not opened up on Su.

Further, voters in Taiwan respond strongly to social class issues. They like to vote for people from the class that they consider fit to run the nation. Chen Shui-bian's roots in a farming town in Tainan were always used to demonstrate a lack of class, at least to KMT voters. Tsai, on the other hand, comes from a wealthy family and has an overseas education, something many educated voters in Taiwan can identify with. Su has a strong Taiwanese flavor (which I love, along with his basso profundo speaking voice) that many light Blues will find offputting and "low class." He was educated at NTU, impressive to be sure, but lacking the social class markers that a foreign education conveys.

Tsai is nearly a decade younger than Su -- elections are endurance tests, and relative youthfulness is an asset.

Finally Tsai has another crossover appeal: she's of Hakka origin, born in Fangshan in Pingtung County. Hakkas are an important pro-KMT voting bloc, which the DPP is trying to pry from the KMT grip.

The DPP primary will give Tsai good practice in the rough and tumble of electoral politics at the national level. It will also be a test of party unity. Let's hope everyone passes.....

...your thoughts?
______________
Daily Links:

• Manila gets KittyHawked (DEF): serve Beijing by handing over 14 Taiwanese for prosecution? Thanks, and now we'll execute three of your nationals, even though you said you could prove them innocent. The sad thing is Manila is unlikely to learn any cogent lesson from this.
  
• China also buzzing Japanese ships with its helicopters again. Way to keep that goodwill up in Japan!
  
• Taiwan's GDP to fall marginally from Japan's troubles.
• Is Taiwan ready for the coming tourism boom? You bet! The government isn't, however.
• Lao Ren Cha with another great look at the low marriage rate among femmes here.
  

_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.

tea-awed wrote:
Having said that,I have found that some very good tea comes out better western style.

I think one point Tim made is extremely important.When stuffing the pot and using shorter infusion times, you can get many more good/great infusions than using less leaf and longer times. Gongfu Cha is all about the journey the tea takes you on- noticing how the aromas and flavors change from infusion to infusion, tuning in to your body to see how the tea makes you feel infusion to infusion, noticing the change in your mind and mood infusion to infusion. If you only brew the tea 1- 3 times in a western style, as opposed to 7 - 50+ times in a gongfu style, how can you appreciate all the tea has to offer? Instead of spacing out all of the nuances and taking your time, you are getting all the flavors, aromas, energies, and (what should have been) subtleties muddled all together at once.

So, taking a single high quality tea... can western style brewing make it "taste better" if you compare
...

Statistics : Posted by tingjunkie • on Mar 25th, '11, 00:05 • Replies 19 • Views 643

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OdeliaClement: Created page with "thumb| How to get again with ex girlfriend ? Getting exclusive ex girl again is not actually like troublesome as you may bel..."

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What's being collected out there on the blogs today?

Is winter ever going to give up its grip on Taiwan? CWB says yes, finally. This winter has been tenacious and I am thoroughly sick of it.

Don't miss my next run of Pingtung trip photos to be appearing under this post shortly. Apologies for the light blogging recently, I've spending much time off the net.....

BLOG:

• Craig has a good list of Taiwan photo resources
• Drew has a list of cycle parts in Chinese
• Shu Flies on a new media artist
  
• My Several Worlds interviews Richard Matheson
• Lao Ren Cha on Travel and Vegetarianism
• Drew on the Taipei bike trails. Taiwan still hasn't imagined the cycle as a commuting device.
• Taiwan Air Power on Dadu Mtn Airbase.
• Shuflies on the Formosan vintage folk museum
• OzSoapBox visits the famous horse ranch in Houli
• AsiaEye with under the radar news.
• Steve "Sisyphus" Crook is correcting Kaohsiung.
• Climbing He Huan Shan on a road bike. Man these guys are fit fit fit.
• A gorgeous pic of Yushan from Lief
• Taiwan nukes: hazardous?
  

MEDIA:

• Hsu Hsin-liang, former DPP chair who went over to the KMT, like Shih Ming-teh, now enters DPP presidential race. It's a good way to make money, eh?
• Commonwealth on DPP politico Hsiao Bi-khim
• How many times have we heard this? Taiwan firms headed home since China is too expensive.
• Taipower is totally committed to nukes. So is economic bureau.
  
• 1 in 5 Taiwan firms taking hit from Japan's problems
• Construction industry slowdown pushes industrial growth down in Feb
• Taiwan says China unresponsive on nuclear cooperation
• A China Post editorial on femmes not wanting to get married. It's incredible that despite the failure of marriage in so many instances, the lack of enthusiasm females here show for it, and the general unnecessity of it for many members of both sexes, why no one ever concludes that the institution itself needs changed. It's marriage, not people, that is failing here.
• Note the Confucian core values President indexes as "Taiwanese."
• US student's collection of color photos of the railroad in Taiwan 1966-1970 makes big splash. I'd love to read this.
  

SPECIAL: Photos from a lost Taiwan: 1973 in Hualien. Way cool: India has stone tools 1.5 mya.
_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.

Dancing with the Stars contestant Romeo has a lot to live up to after his father, Master P, bombed on the show, but he says if it doesn't work out he'll just go on the Jersey Shore where he can show off his abs.

PHOTOS: All The New DWTS Contestants

"I think it would get better ratings because I've been working out like crazy lately," Romeo told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview.

"I've got the abs, I've got the biceps. You know, me and The Situation flashing our abs to all the girls."

But according to Romeo, the ladies have a chance at seeing his washboard stomach if they continue to vote and keep him on Dancing with the Stars.

PHOTOS: DWTS Contestants Celebrate In Hollywood

"If you keep voting for me...the shirt WILL come off!" Romeo promised.

On a more serious note, the 21-year-old rapper said they have a great cast this year and said it will be a "really magical season" and he "wishes everyone on the show could win."

Partnered with professional dancer Chelsie Hightower, he says they're the perfect match for each other.

PHOTOS: Sexiest Dancing Divas

"We're the youngest two on the show and she really understand me and gets me," Romeo said.

"She knows what she wants out of this and I know what I want, but at the same time we have a lot of fun."

VIDEO: Kirstie Alley & Ralph Macchio Dominate DWTS Premiere

But it's a different Chelsie that's caught his eye behind the scenes, and Romeo tells RadarOnline.com that he writes love letters to fellow competitor Chelsea Kane.

"Chelsea Kane, I write her romantic love letters but I don't give them to her," Romeo revealed.

"I've been watching The Notebook, so one day maybe I'll give them to her so she can really appreciate my love."

Other juicy details that Romeo divulged about what goes on behind the scenes include lots of practical jokes being played on each other and even karate matches with The Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio.

"Me and Ralph have karate matches behind the scenes," Romeo said.

PHOTOS: Celebs At DWTS 200th Episode Party

"I told him, 'You're not 50 years old, I don't wanna hear that'!"

Although Romeo said he's closest on the show to Kirstie Alley, he said he doesn't have favorites and even wrote a song for all the women on the show called Famous Girls.

"I made a song for Dancing with the Stars and rapped about all the girls in the show. It's called Famous Girls featuring Sean Kingston," Romeo said.

PHOTOS: Kendra Wilkinson Rehearses For DWTS

"They all sing the song, especially my partner Chelsie. She knows it word by word and I make her sing it before every practice!"

Last week Romeo and his partner Chelsie scored a 19 with the Cha Cha so be sure to tune in this Monday on ABC at 8 p.m. to see how he turns up the heat.

 

RELATED STORIES:

ABC Orders DWTS Couple To Tone Down The Heat

George Lopez Apologizes To Kirstie Alley For Fat Joke

EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea Kane Talks About New Season Of DWTS

Standard Certification Classes 2011, North America
There are a few Papercrafting Certification classes in the next two months, but you won't see March or April classes on the calendar for another couple weeks. If you have questions about the program you can e-mail Nancy, nancy@copicmarker.com for more info.

Jan. 16 Phoenix AZ taught by Jennie Black Open to Public
Jan. 28 Los Angeles, CA (CHA) taught by Jennie Black Open to Public

Intermediate Certification Classes 2011
We still have plenty of space in the Intermediate class, so don't be afraid of applying, as that is bound to be a great class before CHA. These classes are for people who want to take their coloring to the next level. We discuss shading, composition, and coloring more realistically. However, it is important to have mastered basic marker techniques, like blending and feathering.

The purpose of the application is to make sure that we don't have to slow down the class for those who have not mastered basic concepts. However, most people who have been coloring for a couple years and taken the Standard Certification should have no problem passing the test. If this sounds like you and you think this is some great stuff to learn, then go ahead and fill out the application! You probably will make it in.

Jan. 27 Los Angeles, CA (CHA) taught by Debbie Olson & Sherrie Siemens subject to approved application

April, date TBA, Phoenix, AZ taught by Debbie Olson & Colleen Schaan Applications are not available yet

Click here for applications and class details (time/location/fees) for each session. Also, there are lots of classes coming up internationally as well:

International Certifications

UK Certifications
Wendy Kadzidlo, the instructor for UK Certification classes will be teaching a couple classes in the upcoming months.

March 4th – Stevenage, Herts, taught by Wendy Kadzidlo
May 27th – Warrington, Cheshire taught by Wendy Kadzidlo

For information on these classes, please e-mail Wendy: wendy@stampsandmemories.co.uk

Australian Certifications

5 March, Melbourne Beginner Certification - Taught by Mandi
12 March, Sydney Beginner Certification - Taught by Mandi (click here for Australia class info)

Other events
If you are attending Winter CHA in Los Angeles, CA then stop by our booth and check out the new releases. I'll be in the booth the whole week, demoing markers, as will many of our instructors. Next week we'll tell you what some of those releases will be, so stay tuned. Also, each of our instructors teaches classes of their own. Go to their blogs to find out more about their classes in your area and how to register for events. Have a Happy New Year!

Boxscore | Preview / Game Thread | Game Day Links

Liberty Ballers | SBN Bay Area

In the post-game interview, coach Keith Smart said he was worried that the Warriors might come out flat, having the post-Xmas day off and a light practice in the morning focused on shooting and free throws. The Warriors came out flat alright, but so did the road-weary 76ers (9-5 in their last 14 games), who just came off a thrilling victory against the Denver Nuggets last night, and also missing Andre Iguodala -- incidentally, the Sixers still have to go to Phoenix, LA, then New Orleans before heading home. It was a pretty ugly first quarter.

And then Dorell Wright collected 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, while going 5-for-7 downtown, 8-for-11 overall. He now has almost as many three-point field goals made this season as he's had in his first six years combined in the NBA with the Miami Heat.

You can check my near play-by-play tweet/note-taking at the bottom of this post, but basically the storyline goes a little like this. Both teams came out flat, then with the help of Elton Brand, the Sixers started beasting a little on the thin Andris Biedrins-less Warrior front line. Late in the 2nd, Monta Ellis hit a trey then assisted Rodney Carney on another and all of a sudden the Dubs took a six-point lead into halftime.

David Lee focused himself more on neutralizing Brand and was effective. Then the turning point. You won't believe this. Not one, but two Dorell upfake-draw-contact-be-like-Wade plays -- errors by Brand then Evan Turner in succession -- that set the Warriors off on an 8-point lead which became 10, then 14. Add some Stephen Curry usual 4th quarter heroics (10 of his 17 points from 6:38 to 3:18 left in the game), an unfortunate substitution of Spencer Hawes for a tired Brand which helped the Warriors, and voila, 15-point victory on an over-matched, equally wet-behind-the-ears young squad.

And now, let us turn our attention to some nitpicking:

Dorell has to be careful with that upfake move

Fitz was chiding the Sixers for not watching tape of Wright to know that it's his favorite move. But the Sixers were coming off a victory at Mile High and, yeah, probably simply didn't do their homework. That the two moves were the turning point in the game may not bode well for the Warriors in the long run. I can already envision Dorell thinking that's his go-to move. It's not. It has not worked too many times. But tonight against this Sixers squad, it did. Just as 65% shooting from beyond the arc (15-for-23 overall) cannot be counted on, except for once in a blue moon.

Steph still makes some mental "youngsta" mistakes

First, the 3rd personal foul on a would-be offensive rebound by Brand on a Sixers shot that rimmed out far weakside. There's no way you're gonna get that one. Let Brand have it. Get out of the way completely. Sure, the ref didn't really need to call that, but hey you're the Warriors, you are not going to get "respect" calls from refs. You need to think ahead just a little bit. That 3rd foul takes Steph off the floor late first half.

Then there's that late-game trey that was too early in the shotclock, when with just a few minutes left to wrap up the game, the clock is your primary enemy. Or the nice move to get himself open at the left free throw elbow, only to pass to David Lee, who thankfully volleyball touch-passed it back to Steph and Steph ended up with a scoop at the rim. Just picture in your head Chris Paul. Does CP3 pass up that jumper? That's an opportunity to grab your opponent by his heart. It's a chance to make them think, "Dang, we just can't stop this guy. Can't leave him out there, can't bite at him. We are at his mercy."

Sooner or later, Steph needs to know that he is oh-so-close to being a feared weapon out there, with the diverse (for lack of a better comparison) Poor Man's CP3 skills -- albeit skewed a bit more towards shooting than passing, opposite of CP3 -- that are evolving in Steph's game.

Let's not get too excited about this one

Albeit, it is the Warriors' first 3-game winning streak since April of 2009. The Sixers were really bad. And without AI9, although I am not too high on Iggy (too soft!...sorry!). They'd make a mental mistake that killed any chance of building momentum. For example, a silly Andres Nocioni travel on a possible fastbreak, a bad pass into the backcourt, terrible help defense which made Turner look especially bad on a backdoor by Monta early in the game (bounce pass assist by Dorell). Brand deciding to shut the beastiness off.

Poor Evan Turner

He's looking like a bust. But the Sixers should have known that taking the ball out of his hands after playing point for OSU last year, then installing the rigid Doug Collins system would put Turner in a world he does not know how to handle. With Jrue Holiday (who had a pretty good game as you would expect) and Lou Williams (out), when does Turner ever bring up the ball? You're asking a guy to now play off the ball, when his greatest asset is creating with ball in hand. Granted, the Sixers may have been in no political position at #2 to pick anyone other than Turner, but they mixed oil with water. Still, it seems Turner isn't doing his homework on defense, leaving his feet on the Dorell fake and then also watching Monta, forgetting about Wright, who nailed the trey.

Jodie Meeks: I like

He's rugged, he's tough, he likes contact. And he can drill jumpers. He was off tonight from downtown (2-for-9), but it's clear that he's a solid shooter. ESPN analyst David Thorpe loved him a couple Summer Leagues ago, and for good reason. He's coming into his own. On the flipside, you can see that Monta and Curry are just a tad too soft on D against guards with girth such as Meeks. And I don't think it's physical attributes I'm concerned with, with Monta and Curry on D. It's attitude.

Spencer Hawes: yikes!

"A" for effort, though. Oh btw, Thaddeus Young looks kind of lost out there. Still managed decent numbers.

Elton Brand: still not 100%?

Elton beasted a little, but then in the most telling move, he attacked Lou Amundson and almost had Lou pinned beneath the deep circle, but then passed it off to Nocioni who missed the open trey. Maybe Elton's getting fatigued a little too quickly these days? The old Elton would've asserted himself as mayor of the paint and got an and-one on Lou.

Lou is trying to do too much

Early in the game, he tried to make some plays. That's not your skillset, big fella. You fill the gaps. You crash, crash, and crash some more. That's it.

Btw, nice traveling on that early runout courtesy of no-call on Monta's kick ball! LOL.

Ekpe Udoh looks good

With Lou trying to do too much, why not let Udoh play some more minutes? Is Udoh perhaps still not 100% health-wise? I don't get it. His jumper is pretty sweet. This for a rookie! IMHO, his jumper looks (I did not say "is") as good as Amare Stoudemire's. I mean form-wise. Not saying it's going in like Amare's but it's pretty to watch. You can't say that for many 6'11" guys!

After all, Udoh's the #6 pick and, despite our initial misgivings, now we can finally see signs of why Larry Riley (or the people who whisper in Riley's ear) coveted him so highly. On paper, Udoh needs to soon be starting. It is his destiny. Amundson needs to be a spark off the bench. That has become Lou's destiny, he proved it last season in the playoffs for Phoenix, and he gets paid well to fulfill that destiny.

Monta: trustworthy

Monta is nursing a small injury, and he may have taken a couple of ill-advised jumpers in the beginning of the game, but he's definitely sharing the ball and proving he can set people up. I think the ill-advised jumpers in the beginning was simply a mini-heatcheck of his at the start, to see if his jumper was falling on a night that would otherwise be hampered a bit. That tells me he's thinking during the game and not just acting on instinct. The Warriors need more players who are thinking.

Oh, Vlad Rad played pretty good!

Some steals, knock-down treys, swing passes. But sometimes he's swing-passing too much still.

Carney was also solid in his limited minutes

Although he did miss a runout two-handed dunk that, fortunately, David Lee followed with a dunk putback. I liked the confidence on that trey before halftime. Did not hesitate one iota. Knew he was shooting it the second the pass was made to him. Maybe he saw what Jared Dudley has been doing for Phoenix lately?

Reggie Williams: Sophomore team All-Star Weekend?

The debate rages! Okay, not really. At 11.6 ppg, he's currently 8th amongst 2nd-year players in scoring. Unfortunately, he had 0 pts tonight due to Dorell's heat stroke. Nothing you can really do about that. After all, his job is to fill in when Dorell is not hitting like he was tonight.

Also, Jim Barnett noted that with Curry already a shoo-in for a Soph spot, Reggie's chances diminish greatly.

Actually, I thought Reggie qualifies as a rookie? Or maybe I was too busy twittering to pay closer attention to the TV graphic? Someone hit me up on Twitter (@poormanscommish) and let me know -- too hard to wade through the comments!

Now that we're talking future...

Based on recurring trends everytime I do a game recap, the Warriors eventually need to get some more veterans on this squad. There are just too many unforced errors at inopportune times. The first half was a great example when both the Sixers and Warriors were trading mental miscues. Quality veterans don't commit backcourt violations on bad passes. Teams with high IQ don't pass around the perimeter and finally take a shot just because the defense has retreated and is daring you to take a shot. There's a lack of confidence in some sort of system that will get the right guy open. Or failing that, veterans are supposed to attack their opponent with long-term game purpose, to assert dominance (per the Steph criticism above), instead of relying on emotion.

The amazing stats collected this game will hide some of these warts. I don't know what trades or roster moves to make, but Keith Smart keeps saying he wants guys to play at a high level. That means a high IQ. And the Warriors just don't have that right now. You look at veteran teams on the NBA TV highlights, it's the Rockets figuring it out and sharing the ball. It's the Mavericks with an ultra-high-IQ zone employed on defense. Even the Hornets looked good, courtesy of CP3 of course, despite eventually being over-run tonight by the more-talented Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, and an emotionally charged young supporting cast (e.g., Wesley Johnson hitting treys). These franchises have gone out of their way to get quality veterans.

Transcript of @nbalivetweet

Sorry, you'll have to scroll a lot to get down to the Poll and the Comments section.

Again, I'm on Twitter at @poormanscommish with the firehose of game live-tweeting when necessary at @nbalivetweet. Here's the transcript from tonight's game, just in case...

Sixers win tip. Spencer Jawed bad turnover on cut that Lou Williams didn't make. Curry miss floater. Nocioni miss floater. D.Lee bad pass.

Brand outback no good. D.Lee Hairball. Holiday miss bunny. Turnover pass to Amundson. 0-0. Tiles. Smart timeout.

Nocioni charge. Monta j good. Sixers miss at rim. D.Lee j good. Holiday j no good. D.Lee miss same spot. Hawes travel on uptake dribble.

Dorell Wright two FTs makes it 6-0 Warriors. Nocioni j good. Approaching 8:00. Wright trey assist Curry. Sixers fastbrk good. Amundson j.

Sixers pass off Monta foot leads to Amundson runout power dunk. That was definitely traveling by Lou haha. And Monta was a kick per replay.

Meeks dribbled and loses outta bounds baseline. Curry drills Open trey up top. Weak D by Sixers. Hawes long j good. Monta bad pass.

Meeks fastbrk layup hacked by Monta. No call. Meeks miss j. Evan Turner checks in. Warriors 16, Sixers 6. Approaching 6:00 Q1.

Amundson with a driving layup out of his skillset. Brick rebound Thaddeus. Brand fouled, two FTs good. Curry teardrop short. Timeout.

Warriors 16, Sixers 8, 5:36 Q1. TV graphic: Vlad Rad increase FGP by 15%! Amundson blocks base take by Evan Turner! But fouls Thaddeus oreb.

Another block by Amundson on Evan Turner take. Holiday gets oreb putback and-one on chg attempt by Curry. D.Lee j good. Sixers answer.

Monta miss drive. Holiday fouled. Makes both. Warriors 18, Sixers 16, Q1 4:20. D.Lee miss RH. Thaddeus smooth bucket. Monta j no rebounders.

Thaddeus scores in Vlad Rad's face R baseline. Reggie Williams teardrop no good. Meeks miss nice swing open L corner trey. Monta backdoor.

Meeks left open R corner trey swish. How is he so open? Monta bad j no one underneath. Easy cut middle Sixers big on Vlad Rad. Smart timeout

That was Dorell Wright on the assist bouncer to Monta backdoor (on Evan Turner?).

Sixers 21-4 run. Wow Collins +10, +18, +18 in wins when taking over franchises.

D.Wright banker assist D.Lee. D.Wright steal. Vlad Rad trey assist Monta. Warriors 25, Sixers 25 under 1:00. Hawes layup good.

Monta miss open trey via D.Lee handoff. Holiday trey with shotclock down. Monta miss banker at buzzer nice RH drive. Sixers 30, Warriors 25.

D.Lee oreb deep L corner on D.Wright miss with hand in face shotclock down but sends pass to backcourt. Violation. Hawes 2 down low again.

Udoh subs in. Monta nice slice with ball layup L side no good. Turner j no good. D.Wright trey via Monta after looking at line/feet.

Terrible D by Sixers on leaving D.Wright trey. Meeks strong L base drive draws two FTs. Both good. Another backcourt violation. Vlad Rad.

Vlad Rad passed up open L elbow trey for a ridiculously bad pass to D.Wright that went backcourt. Udoh nice power move foul but no and-one.

Rookie Udoh does not get that and-one. Gotta pay your dues. Brand strong underneath against soft GSW interior. Reggie miss trey.

Sixers 7th turnover leads to runout dunk by D.Wright. Turner traps himself into baseline and Monta ties up xcourt pass. Jumpball. Timeout.

Another meh play by Evan Turner. Talk about a huge dropoff in "draft stock". His playing pg for OSU has not translated well.

Dorell Wright with 12 pts. 3pt FG made by Wright this season: 69. First 6 seasons: 73. What a stat!

Previously D.Wright had a trey pump and reload that missed with no one under tho. Needs to ditch that habit.

Brand strong oreb but no call on physicality. Warriors throw it away. Brand inside power. Carney bad layup attempt hits side of backboard.

Unforced turnover by Holiday. Monta drills crossover R to L long j. Brand powers two inside again. Timeout.

Sixers 37, Warriors 32, 5:30 Q2. Monta j good via Udoh high PNR. Brand j good. Udoh miss jumphook. Udoh blocks Thaddeus who gets putbak good

Curry checks in wearing those low tops. Assist j. Thaddeus power move good. Curry trey corner assist Monta trading xcourt passes.

D.Wright open trey good on attack and hangtim LH baseline Monta. Curry steal runout Carney, blows 2-handed tomahawk but D.Lee dunks putbak!

Timeout Sixers. Warriors take lead 46-45 with 2:26 left Q2. Broadcast Q&A: should Reggie Williams make Rookie-Soph game? 8th in ppg at 11.6.

Refs change earlier Carney j to a trey. Layup Sixers on set play outta timeout. D.Lee miss early J. Just no patience. All instinct.

Thaddeus bricks trey up top as shotclock winds down, Brand misses oreb swipe, Monta with ball on run, hacked by Nocioni to stop break.

Great Monta patented RH side spin into middle into chest of defender. Nocioni miss trey, early o Curry drops to Monta for trey.

Brand power hook good on D.Lee. Monta rises at ft line, passes to non-hesitant Carney who drills confident trey.

Brand another oreb attempt on deep base miss. Curry called on loose ball under Brand. 3rd pf, sits. Thaddeus miss j at Q2 buzzer.

That foul on Curry really didn't need to be called. Brand had the ball tracked down anyways. No respect for Warriors. Such is life.

When you play a sloppy style, don't expect the refs to be concentrating 100% and thinking ahead. They'll be in same non-thinking-man flow.

Warriors 55, Sixers 49, halftime. GSW getting outrebounded 31-22. Monta 13 pts 7 ast (!). Brand 10 pts 9 reb.

Warriors shooting 9-for-13 from beyond the arc. That can turn into bad news quickly. Be careful!

Warriors have shot 45 fgs all told. So that's 13 of 45 shots from trey. 29% of their shots are 3-pointers. Bet they don't even realize it.

Btw Andre Iguodala is not playing tonight.

Warriors have 18 pts off 9 Sixers turnovers. Jrue Holiday 11 pts 8 ast. Carney nice energy with 6 pts 5 reb off the bench. Amundson 2 blk.

Curry back to the high tops. Was wearing mid tops not low tops in first half.

Monta RH driving high backboard scoop trickles out. Brand touch outta bounds. D.Lee nice strong vs Brand but Brand too strong.

Brand strong RH move into Amundson but dishes to Nocioni miss trey. He should keep that. Amundson misses two FTs after inside move.

Meeks miss trey, touchdown to Curry gets swatted by Meeks. Holiday trey. Amundson swatted inside.

Hawes fouls D.Wright nice strong drive. Then gets tech for arguing. Curry ft good. D.Wright 1/2 FTs. Warriors 57, Sixers 52, 9:00 Q3.

Meeks trey good assist Holiday. Careless perimeter turnover by Monta, Nocioni attacks rim and it veers out but Meeks follows good.

Just bad effort by Warriors running back there. No passion. Monta picks up dribble too early on rise layup. Traveling. Brand turnover.

Amundson another attempt inside no good. Meeks strong layup. Warriors miss. Meeks miss open trey. Wide open.

D.Lee fouled at rim by Brand via Curry feed. Then Acie Law subs in for Curry. Why? Brackins and Brand do work on orebs and GSW interior D.

Nocioni travels. Neither team can string together good possessions. Everytime, someone makes an unforced mental error. Timeout.

Warriors 62, Sixers 61, 5:40 Q3. Acie Law trey...no, deep two! Don't know how that rotation went in. Brand beasts orebs good putback.

Nice to see Udoh with an Amare-like FT elbow jumper good, iso'd. D.Lee good open j. Meeks penetrates mid floater and-1. Monta soft reaction.

Acie Law nice drive and dish but Udoh displays stone hands. Outta bounds turnover. Thaddeus reaches GSW soft interior power move good.

D.Wright trey to cover up GSW softness. Later, Udoh nice long reach oreb, Monta then hits open trey on eventual swing pass. Collins timeout.

Warriors now 11/16 treys, 23 assists on 29 made fgs. Holiday says bye bye to Law. Swish. Monta drive RH, fouled by Thaddeus. First FTs.

Monta makes both. Warriors 76, Sixers 70, 1:30 Q3. Monta: 20 pts 9 ast. Nocioni stolen by Monta. Udoh miss elbow but great form.

Acie Law steal and nifty L to R behind back cross at sideline midcourt, slow approach to fastbreak gets pinned. Too bad.

Holiday may have injured his hand. Timeout. Warriors still 76-70 up on Sixers, 27.3 Q3. TV broadcast talks abt tough GSW East swing coming.

Holiday apparently okay after that dribble drive foul. Evan Turner subs in. Monta RH drive, shot altered by Hawes. Meeks miss halfct buzzer.

Curry in for Monta. With nothing inside, D.Lee takes an elbow j that ends up a brick. Hawes miss swooping hook. D.Lee j good this time.

Curry bad underhand turnover to Acie Law. What was Law gonna do with it? Brand elbow j good. 16 and 15. Assist Holiday again.

Brand falls for D.Wright's stop n fake. Even Fitz says that's a terrible decision by Brand. D.Wright's favorite move. 2 FTs good.

Meeks draws D.Lee foul on strong LH baseline dribble. I like this kid. Evan Turner this time falls for D.Wright's upfake.

Curry nice D anticipating where Turner was going on set play. Evan makes a tough j as shotclock winds down. Vlad Rad trey, then steal.

Warriors 85, Sixers 75, 8:10 Q4. Timeout. D.Wright 25 pts, D.Lee 11 pts 15 reb, Monta 20 pts 9 ast. Brand 16pts 15reb, Holiday 16pts 11ast.

Monta gets extended rest. Warriors bench 18, Sixers 15. D.Lee 2 FTs good. Nice upfake and LH dribble power by Meeks, foul on Curry.

Holiday mental error, bad pass backcourt violation to Meeks. Vlad Rad passes up trey for swingpass to Acie Law. Ugly shot, Brand reb.

Evan Turner draws jumper touch foul on D.Wright and-one

Curry nice chg speed dish D.Lee good. Meeks good. Curry running RH scoop good. Turner miss j. Curry swish deep two. Timeout Collins.

That was a stepback cross dribble by Curry with nothing else going oncourt. Refs will check if it was a two or trey. Warriors 93, Sixers 80.

Curry shot ruled a trey. Warriors 94, Sixers 80, 5:52 Q4. Monta subs in for Law. More than 7 assists in 4 straight gms. Thaddeus j good.

Curry leads GSW in Q4 scoring. Passes to D.Lee after nice penetrate to elbow, D.Lee taps it back. Curry goes to rim blocked scoop but fouled

Would have liked to see Curry not be so passive on that elbow drive that he passed up open shot to D.Lee. Take over, kid!

Holiday scores. D.Lee j good via Vlad Rad oreb. Hawes draws foul. Hawes 1/2 FTs. Sixers down 13. Hawes blocks cut/layup by D.Lee.

Evan Turner oreb on Thaddeus miss trey but Vlad Rad pokes it out. Curry trey via Monta drive on Sixers zone. Holiday attacks, fouled.

Timeout. Brand on bench. Warriors 101, Sixers 87, 2:59 Q4. Steph Curry now up to 17 pts 5 reb 7 ast. Brand 16&16 neutralized by D.Lee 17&15.

D.Wright trey off Curry dribble, Evan Turner not paying attention, looking at Curry. Turner has been a major disappointment tonite.

Dorell Wright 9 for his last 11 treys over past 3 games. Meeks draws contact, makes 2 FTs. D.Lee L elbow j good. Brackins R baseline j good.

Vlad Rad pokes an oreb from Speights. Curry trey miss too early in shotclock but D.Lee taps out. D.Lee layup RH good. Holiday strong layup.

D.Lee dribble drive turnover in meaningless garbage time. Warriors will have 18 of 22 games at home after upcoming East Coast trip.

Monta 2 FTs in garbage time. Slight chants of MVP from Oracle crowd? Monta will have good numbers for All-Star purposes from this one.

Buzzer sounds. On way to tunnel, dude gives Monta LH a mid-five but it was really attempt to acquire wristband. Band falls away to ground.

Warriors 31 assists on 39 makes. Sixers had won 9 of 14 incl last nite at DEN. D.Wright 28 pts 7/8 treys 6 reb, D.Lee 21&16, Monta 22p 12a.

First time Warriors have won 3 straight since April '09. Reggie Williams 0/2 fg in limited minutes but D.Wright was so huge.

For Sixers, Brand 16&16, Holiday 23 pts 11 ast, Meeks 19 pts but 2/9 treys, Thaddeus 15pts 8reb, Hawes 12reb but 4/10 fg, Turner 5pts 8reb.

The back to back by Sixers may explain the two fouls on well-known Dorell Wright upfakes That were probably borrowed from D-Wade.

Keith Smart still not happy with point of attack. Also bigs were showing too low.

After the Xmas break, Smart knew minds would not necessarily have bodies follow. Why they came out flat. Force fed conditioning on Curry.

Smart: Warriors focused on shooting and free throws this morning knowing that 5on5 could be a little discombobulated.

Monta nursing a little bit of injury, helped focus on teammates, showing more trust.

Smart: "That's the first thing I'm worried about. Its the A-T-L. We're gonna practice nite before." Reference to ATL party town?

Smart: Need ppl to help Dorell get open looks instead of him trying to create.

Smart: IMHO, Jeremy Lin can't get quality mins to see how he is as a pro. I've been down there. Lloyd Pierce be in contact w him constantly.

Smart: Jeremy Lin needs to apply what he's learning and he can get 25-30 mins down there but not here with our roster of guards.

LOL 32% of Comcast Warriors fans think the GSW will win 0 games on upcoming East Coast trip.

No help D by Sixers on that nice spin drive by Monta into Brand's chest.

In case I forgot to mention, Warriors were 15/23 on treys tonite.

 

Poll

How many games will the Warriors win on this upcoming 5-game East Coast trip (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, NOH)?

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  68 votes | Results

A few weeks ago, The Spring shopping mall had a contest to search for the best Santa look-a-like.

I was involved in it not as a participant, but as an event sponsor. Part of the perk (if you count it as a perk) was that I'll come on board as one of the competition judges.

Now, I have been involved as a judge for many talent quests - most notably the online model search Malaysian Dreamgirls some 3 years ago.

How exactly did I go from being a judge for ten hot girls in skimpy undies to ten fat men in Santa outfits, I have no idea.

Nonetheless, it's a good fun thing for me to do over the holiday season.

There were many Santas who turned up for the audition that day.

There's your typical jolly ol' Santa.

 

Cha Boh Santas.

 

Harry Potter Santa.

 

Dumbledore Santa.

 

And then there's this Chao Ah Beng Santa who dyed his hair and beard.

Look like lion.

Being a Santa ain't easy, even if it were just for a couple of hours. The Santas had to be put through gruelling tests set out by the judges.

Like wrapping up Christmas presents at the fastest speed possible.

Or singing Christmas carols at their perfect pitch.

But like any true beauty pageants, at the end of the day, it is not the looks but the personality that counts.

Good jolly ol' Santa Charles won the first prize of RM2,500 sponsored by The Spring and Level Up Fitness. I also gave him a one year membership, but until today I still haven't seen him working out at my gym.

Maybe Santa has gone back to North Pole.

But the real winners are of course the kids who turned up to The Spring that day.

You wanna talk about going home with a bag full of goodies? You gotta see the way those kids swarmed towards Santas.

It's almost like a Starcraft Zerg attack.

The parents of those kids are obviously very happy too.

Because they don't have to buy presents for their kids anymore!

A young man was pulled over by the Mississippi State Police for speeding. The officer stepped out of his patrol car, adjusted his sunglasses, and swaggered up to the young man's window. "What chew driving so fast for, boy? You going to a fahhr? Let me see your license, boy." The young man handed over his license.

Then the officer noticed that the back seat of the car was full of large knives. The officer said, "Tell me, boy, why you got them knives on that there back seat?"

The young man replied, "Well, sir, I'm a juggler."

The officer spat some tobacco juice and then said, "A juggler; well, you don't say. Boy, put cha hands on the trunk of yer car; you going to jail!"

The young man pleaded with the officer not to take him to jail. He offered to prove to the officer that he was a juggler by way of demonstration. He said, "You can even hold me at gunpoint while I juggle for you." The officer reluctantly allowed him to prove his juggling ability while he held him at gunpoint.

Two miles down the road at Joe's Tavern, Billy Bub was drinking it up with Jerry Lee Jones. Billy Bub soon left and got into his old, rusty pickup truck. He proceeded down the road trying his best to stay on the right side. All of a sudden, Billy Bub spotted the most unbelievable sight of his life! He drove to the nearest phone booth and dialed the number for Joe's Tavern and asked for his buddy, Jerry Lee.

When Jerry Lee got on the phone, Billy Bub said, "Whatever you do when you leave that tavern, don't go north on Route 109. The state police are giving a sobriety test that nobody can pass!"

Received from ArcaMax Jokes.

On the descent from 130 in Miaoli down to the valley just below Sanyi. A lovely ride, perhaps I will hit it again tomorrow.

My son wrote this on FB today: "Just got called by gangsters based in China, trying to scam me into giving them cash. I answered in English, "Hello?" and the tape recording stopped abruptly and I could hear a lady in the background distinctly say "American" in Chinese and hang up. Best way to get rid of those phone scammers is answer in English lulz."

Meanwhile, what's the inside story on the blogs today?

BLOGS

• Claudia Jean with an awesome, detailed post on Frank Hsieh. Not to be missed.
  
• Drew on a cycling article in a local magazine
• The African-Chinese guy visits Yilan.
• Kaminoge on the ROC scarf.
  
• Ben on Ma's revelation that the DPP is not part of the ROC.
• FOARP finds a poem about Taiwan identity.
• Fireproof Moth: a missionary in Taiwan's White Terror
• Taiwan Born American on her recent interview by the amazing Ho Chie Tsai for Taiwanese-American.org
• USTDC: Grass Mountain ground surveys in 1958
• Lao Ren Cha on public space in Taipei
• Catching Largemouth Bass in Longtan.
• Big in Asia with Five Books Moses never read
  

MEDIA:

• Municipalities: rural residents of the new cities are worried urban areas will take more resources.The new cities hold 60% of the nation's population. Less democracy as new chiefs will be appointed by mayors and thousands of local councilmen will be out of work. More headaches for civil servants in adjusting to the new territories. Greater debts for the smaller governments. More debt discussion. Megacities face finance issues.
  
• China will shift focus and talk about/to DPP more in 2011 to help Ma in 2012.
• Using the Senkakus to sneak into Taiwan during the martial law period
• First new Orion anti-sub aircraft to come online in 2011. Yay!
• Can the US still protect Taiwan?
• A more assertive PLA.
• Taiwan modernizes its spec ops
• Yilan county passes resolution blocking entry of CCP officials suspected of crimes against humanity.
• Factories orders jump in US, good news for Taiwan.
• China erodes Taiwan's press freedom
• Taiwan should consider capital controls.
• The Liberty Times report on Ma's entirely true words on pandas and black bears was detestable. If only the president would follow up with meaningful investment in black bear conservation instead of helping China.
• Taiwan bank, Bank of China sign MOU.
  

_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.

I have a confession to make:  I didn't see anywhere near the number of movies that my colleagues here did in 2010, so my list is going to be a little bit different.  I'm not so much making a "Best of" list for 2010, mine is more a list of most memorable movie experiences from the last year.  Almost all of them came in cinema halls, but one or two of them came at home with new films from this year.  You'll see a few familiar names, but then you'll see some things that I bet won't be found on the other guys' lists.  But, hey!  Isn't that what these lists are for, finding the things you missed? 

The films on this list made me laugh, chant, and knotted my stomach; sometimes they made me rethink what films should be like, they challenged my preconceptions about people and places; some of them made me question my own sanity, and some were just plain fun in a way that was fresh and new.  There are probably at least a couple that you haven't seen, well, here's your chance to seek them out, in no particular order apart from number one:

1. Enthiran (Dir: Shankar)  Enthiran was an event film of the highest magnitude.  The highest budgeted film ever made in India.  Superstar Rajinikanth inspires such devotion that nothing I've seen in my life compares to the mania that preceded and followed this films release.  The news from India was madness, 24 hour showings were booked solid for weeks in advance, men made pilgrimages to bless holy relics in hopes of the film's success, showings began at 5:30 AM in Dubai, people sat in auditoriums all day to watch the film numerous times.  Most of us cannot even imagine the kind of insanity a new Rajinikanth film inspires, let alone his biggest film ever.  Even in my little corner of the world in Dallas, I saw the film with my wife (neither of us are Indian) in an auditorium absolutely packed with screaming devotees.  We were the only non-Indians in the room, this showing had been sold out for a week, and there was a line out the front door of the theater for ticket holders.  All I can say is that if you missed this, you missed the film event of the year.  When Superstar Rajni's credit comes up (before the production company or any other credits) the house exploded, confetti rained down from the upper rows of the theater, and whistles, cat calls, and shouts of "Thalaivar!" (Rajni's nickname to fans) drowned out the sound track completely through the opening credits and music.  Then the film started, and it only got better.  In my review I made note of the fact that I have no illusions about the experience diminishing once I get a chance to watch this on home video (not available yet, trust me I'll let you know), however, I have confetti at the ready to try and recapture my top movie experience of 2010 at home!

2. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Dir: Edgar Wright)  I am a child of the 80's, I played the original Nintendo Entertainment System, I had a Commodore 64, and I pumped thousands of dollars, I'm sure, into Street Fighter II arcade machines.  I am the target audience for Scott Pilgrim.  That being said, it wasn't those cultural references that really impressed me about this film, though they were cute.  Edgar Wright made his most ambitious movie with Scott Pilgrim, he took chances, not only in making a film that would be hard to market outside of a core audience, but also by smashing so many different types of films together and then watching them explode on the screen in a way that is captivating and fresh.  I didn't walk out of the theater muttering to myself about the 8-bit video game theme music references, I wasn't looking for Easter eggs in the film; I walked about knowing that I'd seen something that no one had ever done before, and I loved it.  It had well-choreographed action, it had heart, it had conflict, it had art, it was touching, exciting, fresh, and familiar all at once.  The blurb on the home video label calls it a "game changer" and while I get the video game reference in that blurb, I unfortunately don't think this film will change much in the film game, especially due to its dismal box-office performance.  However, for those of us who saw it and enjoyed it, we all know that there is something special in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and we know that we may not see anything like it at a megaplex for a long time, and for that, we are sad.

3.  Piranha 3-D (Dir: Alexandre Aja)  Okay, here is where I'm sure I'll begin to drift from my fellow writers.  As evidenced in my Video Home Invasion column, I love horror.  I love horror, I love exploitation, I love gore films, I love them.  To be honest, I remember hearing that Aja was going to remake Piranha well ahead of the release and I wasn't terribly interested at that point. It wasn't until the first pre-release reviews starting trickling out over the internet that my interest piqued.  I read glorious tales of a film that went so far over the edge that it rivaled some of my favorite films from my teenage years.  Sex, blood, and killer fish were all I could think about.  The more I heard, the more I became convinced that all of the hype had to be over-blown, there was no way that a studio would let a director go that far in the boob-baring and blood-letting departments.  I riled myself up and bought my ticket for the midnight show, I went alone, my wife had work the next morning, Hell, so did I, but I wouldn't be deterred.  I saw Piranha 3-D in a nearly empty auditorium with perhaps four other people to share my experience.  The hype was all real.  It was everything that exploitation films of the 80's promised with their posters and rarely delivered.  The key gore set pieces were astonishing.  There were boobs to spare.  From the opening tribute to Jaws featuring Richard Dreyfuss, to the closing sequences promising more to come, Piranha 3-D was exactly the film I paid to see.  A sequel, fittingly titled Piranha 3-DD, has already been greenlit and is to be directed by John Gulager of Feast, I can't say I'm as enthusiastic for the next one, but I love being surprised.  Piranha 3-D releases on home video just after the new year, and it is a day one purchase for me, I'm not sure that the 3-D floating dismembered Member will be the same at home, but this is the type of film I'll support every time.  Piranha 3-D promised, Piranha 3-D delivered, can't ask for much more than that.

4.  Gandu (Dir: Q)  This is the only film on the list that I didn't manage to catch on the big screen, but I'm trying to make that happen here in Dallas sooner rather than later.  This film was a revelation to me.  I've seen a lot of Indian films, I know their tropes, I feel like I know their hopes and dreams, I feel like I know where they live.  I've seen the slums, I've seen the poverty, I've seen the new riches and opportunities, I've seen the heroism, I've seen the evil and corruption that seems to invade the lives of so many common Indian people.  Gandu is something I haven't seen.  It is a film about a loser.  Gandu has hopes and dreams, but he also has drug and gambling habits to feed, and they seem to take precedence more often than not.  It isn't brightly colored, it isn't coy, it isn't unassuming, it isn't a fable, and it is in no way conventional.  It isn't conventional for any film, let along an Indian film.  It is graphic in its depiction of sex, drugs, poverty, and the real struggles of real people living real lives, not the typical escapism of Indian film.  It showed me an India I'd never seen, and it made me care about and cheer for a person who is the hero of no one else's story but his own.  A person like me (only with more drugs).   Q took an idea and made it real, it was a risk, in fact, there is very little chance right now of Gandu getting a commercial release in India, its content will never pass the censors.  It isn't the kind of film that makes it into art house complexes in the west, it is too experimental.  Normally, I hate that, there is nothing worse that directors who love the smell of their own farts, but Q makes it work.  The film, though very disjointed, works and doesn't feel self-indulgent.  Everything in the film contributes to the messages, from the dialogue, or lack thereof, to the editing style and visual choices.  It is a complete work, and it represents 90 of the finest minutes I spent in front of my TV this year.

5. Symbol (Dir: Hitoshi Matsumoto)  Symbol isn't really about anything.  The first two thirds are a bizarre, yet captivating set up for a joke, but the audience doesn't know they're being told a joke, and the payoff is all the sweeter for it.  Matsumoto places the main action in two locations, first in rural Mexico, where an amateur luchador is off to a weekend wrestling match, and second with Matsumoto himself stuff in a big white room.  Much of the Mexican story plays out like Big Man Japan did, with a very wry sense of humor, and no real direction that the audience can see.  In the other "story", Matsumoto's unnamed character spends a good portion of the film trying to get out of this room in which he finds himself, he has awakened from a dream, he's even still wearing his jammies, and he can't quite figure out what is going on.  Almost that entire last sentence could also apply to Symbol's audience.  To describe it, Symbol doesn't sound like much, but never has such a seemingly endless stream of ephemera had such a volcanic result in a theater when the punchline is finally delivered.  By the time we reach the 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired conclusion, we are totally into it, and want to watch it all over again!

6.  Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (Dir: Eli Craig)  The fact that this movie still hasn't found North American distribution is a crime.  Tucker & Dale is a pitch perfect send up of any number of classic Hillbilly horrors, from Deliverance to Wrong Turn.  In fact, this is pretty much Wrong Turn filmed from the inside out.  Tucker and Dale are a couple of down home boys celebrating their recent acquisition of a country cabin vacation home.  As they are on their way down to check the place out and start sprucing it up, they encounter a group of 20 somethings who are determined to get into trouble and are frightened by the prospects of anyone wearing overalls or speaking with a Southern accent.  In their ignorance and fear, the nubile would be victims turn aggressive and manage to get themselves killed one after another with no help from our hapless heroes, who are just trying to survive the weekend.  When I saw this film at the Dallas International Film Festival in April, the entire crowd was completely in stitches from start to finish.  The film has had regular theatrical runs in Russia and Lithuania, what the Hell is wrong with you, America?  See this film by any means necessary!

7.  Despicable Me (Dir: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud)  I have a six year old son, so I see a lot of kid's movies.  I saw almost all of them this year, though I did manage to avoid Yogi Bear and Marmaduke, but the one that stuck with me the most was Despicable Me.  I loved Toy Story 3, and I really enjoyed Tangled, TS3's efficient and bald-faced tear-jerking, and Tangled's attempt to resurrect the Disney musical, I think Despicable Me ultimately had the most heart of all of them.  The animation was fantastic, the 3-D effects, which are usually pretty anemic, were put to some of the best use I've seen yet in the film as well, but most of all, the characters had depth and were lovable.  I was pulling for Steve Carrel's Gru, and don't get me started on the Minions.  If I had my Christmas wish, I'd have a horde of Minions in my basement doing my bidding as well.  Most non-Pixar animated films suffer from the times in which they are made, and not from the technology, but mostly from jokes that will become dated within months.  Despicable Me has an absolute minimum of those jokes, and will translate into good times for my family and I for years to come.

8.  Summer Wars (Dir: Mamoru Hosoda)  I'm not an anime geek.  I don't watch anime serials, I very rarely watch features, but once in a great while something will grab me.  Summer Wars grabbed me.  Summer Wars was a wonderful, ambitious film.  Taking a very high tech world and attacking it from a sprawling country estate was an inspired decision.  The characters both inside the network and outside in the real world have real worries and concerns.  They mimic so many of us who hide behind our keyboards are create personas that live well beyond our real lives while in cyberspace.  I'm a simple quiet guy in real life, but here online I can be outspoken and opinionated.  This is the power that the Internet has afforded people, and Summer Wars explores that dynamic in an interesting and entertaining way.  Not the mention the fact that the animation is top notch.  I think I still may like Hosoda's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time better, but this is far more expansive and impressive an effort.

9.  House (Dir: Nobuhiko Obayashi)  I know this is a cheat, technically.  I said at the beginning of this column that this was a catalog of my experiences, and I experienced House for the very first time in 2010.   No single review of this film has managed to do it complete justice, and I'd wager that none ever will.  House is experimental but accessible, there is a completely lucid plot hidden beneath the layers of hallucinatory special effects.  You've never seen anything like it and you never will again, at once it is a product of its time in that the effects are very indicative of where the technology was at the time, but at the same time it is a film out of place with time.  It fits no movement, no particular genre, apart from being broadly a horror film, but it incorporates elements of the musical, the TV commercial, comedy, action, wuxia films, and too many other genres to count.  Nobuhiko Obayashi was a singular artist who's time has finally come, even though his name barely registered a blip on anyone's radar before about 2008.  The rediscovery and resurgence of House is one of the great filmic happenings of the last few years.  These films exist all over the place, mostly forgotten, waiting to be unearthed and shown anew to audiences who are ready to believe in the magic of cinema.  House is a film that leaves very few people undecided, either you love it, or you hate it, very few people are indifferent.  I find myself firmly in the former camp, and even though the film is 33 years old, it was still one of my top movie experiences of 2010.

10.  The Man From Nowhere (Dir: Lee Jeong-beom)  The Man From Nowhere was one of the great films from 2010 that very few people really had on their radar.  It came out of Fantastic Fest with a bunch of really great reviews.  Following that, it was picked up for limited runs in a couple dozen multiplexes across the US and Canada and it was successful anywhere people were able to see it.  It is a classically styled heroic bloodshed film in the mold of Kim Ji-woon's brilliant A Bittersweet Life.  I saw it on the opening night of that theatrical run in suburban Dallas and I was blown away.  The Man From Nowhere is far from a perfect film, and it throws everything including the kitchen sink in to move the plot along, but its brutality and violence can't quite hide its heart.  The movie belongs to Won Bin, who's silent power, charisma, and abs rule the day.  There are other characters, but they are mostly stock characters from any given South Korean gangster film, of which there are dozens to choose from, but Won Bin's Cha Tae-sik is a real person.   He just happens to be a real person who used to be an American trained super indestructible spy who has gone into hiding and now runs a pawn shop.  None of the events have any ring of truth, but there is an emotional truth behind everything Won Bin does, in spite of the hackneyed set ups of which he is a perpetual victim.  At the end you are cheering him on, even as the situations stray farther and farther from reality, he is involved in a Herculean quest, with insurmountable odds, but we still cheer him on.  Every punch and stab punctures the viewers heart, as the final scenes mark less of a choreographed battle and more of an endurance test for character and viewer alike.  Ultimately we are the winners, and while The Man From Nowhere leaves you drained, but exhilarated and ready for more.

That's it for me.  I'm going to post a top ten home video releases, but that may have to wait till I get home from vacation, as I suspect I'll have a couple of contenders in my mail to examine.  I hope this will inspire someone to seek out something new, or perhaps something they just overlooked.  Until next year!  

One reader called it 'the Angry Birds' Congress. Majority Leader Harry Reid said it was a "goose on steroids." By the time the 111th gaveled out yesterday, everyone agreed that its final session had been anything but lame. And the rest of the Congress merits that respect, as well. Its frenetic level of activity was enabled by historic majorities (notably in the Senate) and action-inducing events (like the financial crisis), but the rush of legislation it passed, often in difficult circumstances, is testament to Reid and Pelosi's desire and ability to use the majorities they were given. And they did. From health-care reform to financial regulation to food safety to the tax deal to tobacco regulation to the stimulus, the laws they wrote will reshape the safety net, the regulatory state, tax policy, the country's built infrastructure, and much more.

The question now becomes how the 112th Congress will work. The House GOP has already released its rules. They include "CutGo," wherein tax cuts will no longer need to be paid for, a live reading of the Constitution on the House floor, barring former congressmen who now work as lobbyists from the House gym, posting the text of legislation at least 24 hours before it gets considered, and changing the "Committee on Education and Labor" to the "Committee on Education and the Workforce" because, well, the GOP is not so friendly with the labor movement.

It's the Senate, however, where things have taken a surprising turn: All returning Democrats have signed a letter to Reid calling for filibuster reform. That's surprising now, and would've been unthinkable a year ago. What they mean by filibuster reform isn't yet clear -- it's not ending the filibuster, but it could be as much as the full Merkley package, or as little as empowering Reid to negotiate with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over cloture delays -- but either way, it puts the minority on notice that continued routinization of procedural obstruction won't be met with mere sighs from the majority, but with rule changes that might eventually deprive the minority of those tools. The letter may just be a warning shot, but it could turn into much more if Democrats feel the warning wasn't heeded.

Top Stories

Every returning Democratic Senator wants to reform the filibuster, reports Dan Friedman: "All Democratic senators returning next year have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to consider action to change long-sacrosanct filibuster rules. The letter, delivered this week, expresses general frustration with what Democrats consider unprecedented obstruction and asks Reid to take steps to end those abuses. While it does not urge a specific solution, Democrats said it demonstrates increased backing in the majority for a proposal, championed by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and others, weaken the minority’s ability to tie the Senate calendar into parliamentary knots. Among the chief revisions that Democrats say will likely be offered: Senators could not initiate a filibuster of a bill before it reaches the floor unless they first muster 40 votes for it, and they would have to remain on the floor to sustain it."

Chalk it up to Mitch McConnell, I argue: "[Democratic] unity stems from an unlikely source: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has mounted more filibusters in the past two years than occurred in the ’50s and ’60s combined. Uncontroversial bills like an extension of unemployment benefits that passed 97-0 and food-safety legislation that passed with 73 votes frequently faced multiple filibusters and months of delay. The minority has been so relentless and indiscriminate in deploying the once-rare failsafe that the majority has finally decided to do something about it."

The 111th Congress has adjourned, report David Fahrenthold, Philip Rucker, and Felicia Sonmez: "A Congress that was dominated by Democrats passed more landmark legislation than any since the era of Lyndon B. Johnson's 'Great Society.' Congress approved an $814 billion economic stimulus, a massive health-care overhaul, and new regulations on Wall Street trading and consumer credit cards. The list grew longer during this month's frenetic lame-duck session: tax cuts, a nuclear arms treaty and a repeal of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays in the military. But the 111th Congress will also be remembered for endless filibuster threats, volcanic town hall meetings, and the rise of the tea party. All were symbols of a dissatisfaction that peaked on Nov. 2, with a Republican rout in the midterm elections."

A bill providing health benefit to 9/11 relief workers has finally passed Congress, reports Felicia Sonmez: "After a years-long battle and a bout of last-minute opposition by Senate Republicans, the House on Wednesday passed a bill that would provide $4.2 billion in compensation and long-term health-care benefits for first responders who became ill from working at Ground Zero in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, sending the measure on to President Obama for his signature. The bill passed Wednesday evening by a vote of 206 to 60 after House leaders had held open the vote for more than an hour, presumably for members who were still hustling to make their way over to the Capitol on the final day of the 111th Congress' lame-duck session. Missing Wednesday's vote were nearly 170 House members, 100 more than had been missing in action for the previous day's votes."

The 111th Congress' accomplishments are reflected inthe 112th's main goals, writes E.J. Dionne: "The new Republican House majority is devoted less to a bold agenda of its own than to repealing, scaling back or derailing the accomplishments of the outgoing majority. The fact that wiping out what they call 'Obamacare' is a unifying priority for the conservative newcomers is a backhanded compliment to those who enacted it: Yes, it was a big deal after all, and in the forthcoming debate, reform's supporters will get a second chance to make the case for what they did. Republicans also hope to undercut financial reform, giving the law's supporters the opportunity to explain more clearly why a financial system with loose rules becomes little more than a casino operated by people in much nicer suits than those worn by the average croupier."

Got tips, additions, or comments? E-mail me.

Indie pop interlude: First Rate People's "Girls' Night".

Still to come: Merrill Lynch spent two years selling itself toxic assets; Medicare is declining to use its own databases to police fraud; George Will sees common ground between President Obama and Rep. Dave Camp; a bill to protect whistleblowers failed in the Senate; the US is challenging China at the WTO on wind power; and a cat is deeply confused by his own reflection.

Economy

Merrill Lynch sold itself toxic assets, report Jake Bernstein and Jesse Eisinger: "Two years before the financial crisis hit, Merrill Lynch confronted a serious problem. No one, not even the bank's own traders, wanted to buy the supposedly safe portions of the mortgage-backed securities Merrill was creating. Bank executives came up with a fix that had short-term benefits and long-term consequences. They formed a new group within Merrill, which took on the bank's money-losing securities. But how to get the group to accept deals that were otherwise unprofitable? They paid them...The group, created in 2006, accepted tens of billions of dollars of Merrill's Triple A-rated mortgage-backed assets, with disastrous results. The value of the securities fell to pennies on the dollar and helped to sink the iconic firm. Merrill was sold to Bank of America, which was in turn bailed out by taxpayers."

Economic growth beat projections in the third quarter: http://on.wsj.com/i4dkGt

Fannie and Freddie were central to creating the foreclosure crisis, report Zachary Goldfarb and Ariana Eunjung Cha: "Fannie and Freddie, the largest mortgage companies, shaped the practices being challenged in courtrooms around the country. They picked law firms that could foreclose fast and paid them based on how many foreclosures they could process. Speed was essential because delays cost the companies money - and, after they were taken over by the government two years ago, meant losses for taxpayers, too. Not only did the companies urge swift foreclosures, but in at least one case Fannie executives also greenlighted working with a firm that they knew firsthand had engaged in legally questionable practices, according to documents and interviews with lawyers and industry officials."

Greater consumer spending and business hiring is forming a positive feedback loop: http://on.wsj.com/emsl3E

Obama should be able to compromise with incoming Ways and Means chair David Camp, writes George Will: "His aim is 'fundamental' tax reform, understood the usual way - broadening the base (eliminating loopholes) to make lower rates possible. He would like a top rate of 25 percent - three points lower than Ronald Reagan achieved in 1986, with what proved to be perishable simplification...If Barack Obama is accurately reported to be considering serious tax simplification and lower rates, he will have an ally in Camp - up to a point. Serious arguments about taxes are never just about taxes. They are about government's proper size and purposes. Concerning that, Obama differs with Camp, who says: 'Washington doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.'"

Classic comics interlude: Calvin & Hobbes strips about snowmen.

Health Care

Medicare isn't using its own records to stop fraud, report Mark Schoofs and Maurice Tamman: "There are plenty of reasons why Medicare often fails to stop questionable payments up front. To protect law-abiding doctors and hospitals--the vast majority--Medicare is required to pay nearly everybody within 30 days. Medicare says it is reluctant to suspend payments to providers who may have made honest mistakes, out of concern that beneficiaries might go without needed treatment. Law-enforcement agencies and Medicare contractors, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Medicare fraud cases, can't investigate and prosecute them all. Sometimes, prosecutors and investigators ask Medicare to keep paying so as not to tip off targets of an investigation. But a central problem is that Medicare hasn't fully exploited its most valuable resource: its claims database, a computerized record of every claim submitted and every dollar paid out."

The ACLU is pushing the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to require Catholic hospitals perform abortions: http://wapo.st/gaT7bC

The EPA will offer testing for a water supply carcinogen, reports Lyndsey Layton: "The Environmental Protection Agency is suggesting that water utilities nationwide test their drinking water for hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen, after an independent survey released earlier this week found the chemical in tap water drawn from 31 cities. The EPA said Wednesday that it is issuing guidance to the utilities explaining how to test for the chemical but is not requiring tests at this time. The agency said it will also give technical help to the 31 cities identified in the survey - including Washington and Bethesda - so they can set up a monitoring and sampling procedure for hexavalent chromium, a chemical made famous by the film 'Erin Brockovich.'"

Domestic Policy

A bill to help whistleblowers has failed in the Senate, report Jeffrey Smith: "A bill giving federal employees expanded protections against retaliation for blowing the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse died in Congress on Wednesday night, after a 12-year lobbying effort won last-minute unanimous approval for it in the House but failed to gain similar approval under special voting rules in the Senate. A single unnamed senator put a hold on the bill, which had already passed the Senate by voice vote in a more controversial form, just before the chamber adjourned for the Christmas holiday. That decision denied the Obama administration - and many Republican supporters - a victory that accountability advocates have long sought."

Some municipalities are dealing with retiree benefits through bankruptcy: http://on.wsj.com/haBKjr

States have enacted dramatic education cuts, writes Robert Reich: "California has reduced K-12 aid to local school districts by billions of dollars and is cutting a variety of programs, including adult literacy instruction and help for high-needs students. Colorado has reduced public school spending in FY 2011 by $260 million, nearly a 5 percent decline from the previous year. The cut amounts to more than $400 per student. Georgia has cut state funding for K-12 education for FY 2011 by $403 million or 5.5 percent relative to FY 2010 levels. The cut has led the state’s board of education to exempt local school districts from class size requirements to reduce costs."

Adorable animals getting disoriented interlude: A kitten gets confused by his own reflection.

Energy

The US is challenging China at the WTO over wind power, reports Sewell Chan: "The Obama administration accused China on Wednesday of illegally subsidizing the production of wind power equipment and called for discussions at the World Trade Organization, the first step in a trade case sought by American steelworkers. It is the second time in less than four months that the administration has accused China of violating world trade rules. The move escalates the trade tensions between the world’s largest two economies over clean energy, a sector that the administration views as a technological frontier in which American companies are struggling to remain competitive. Washington is challenging a special government fund in China that awards grants to makers of wind power equipment."

The price of oil has finally recovered from the financial crisis, report Russell Gold and Carolyn Cui: "Rising demand for petroleum--notably from U.S. motorists and Chinese manufacturers--has helped push oil above $90 a barrel for the first time since the early days of the financial crisis. The recovery in oil prices is an encouraging sign of world growth, but the spike in crude, if unchecked, also could pose problems for consumers whose incomes remain pinched. Crude oil closed above $90 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday for the first time since October 2008, after prices fell in the early months of the financial crisis and global recession. The price of crude had held above $80 for much of 2010, and crept up in recent weeks. Crude's rise is hitting motorists in the wallet. The average price for a gallon of gasoline reached $3 for the first time in two years."

China is near a coal shortage, reports Huang Jingjing: "A severe coal shortage has caused power supplies to factories and residential neighborhoods to be temporarily suspended across seven provinces and regions, as the nation's energy shortage worsens. Coal reserves have been emptied by a huge surge in power demand, prompted by a cold weather front that swept China last week, according to the State Grid Corporation, China National Radio (CNR) reported Sunday. In northwest Shaanxi Province, 14 major thermal power stations had only enough coal stocks for four days, with two others already empty. Due to this worrying state of affairs, many enterprises and residents in the province have received notice of impending power cuts, according to the local China Business View."

Closing credits: Wonkbook is compiled and produced with help from Dylan Matthews, Mike Shepard, and Michelle Williams. Photo credit: Alex Brandon/AP.

Somewhere in Plaza Glomac, the immediate left turn after you turn off from the Subang Toll off the NKVE, lies a gem of a place, for the Nyonya Food enthusiasts. Like a hidden Aladdin Cave filled with lobak, pie tee, roti babi (yes, this place is not halal, and has an array for porcine dishes). The place, The Long Table, directly translated from what is presumably Hokkien, T'ng Tok. Thanks to an invite by Aly, we were privvy to this scrumptious meal, and I was the rose amongst the thorns, (excluding our host, of course).

The restaurant is actually a labour of love between three ladies who had always had a lifelong dream of owning a restaurant, and who are all great cooks in their own right. So, there comes a point when you've had enough of cooking for friends for free,....hence, giving birth to the Long table, where friends, family and strangers can now sample this fine peranakan fare.








First was the roti babi, a french toast kinda thing, with minced pork and other goodies inside. To be fair, I've YET to attend a food review where the first dish was anything but good. Perhaps its a combination of hunger, expectations, etc.


Deep fried fritters, like cucur something. Lovely snack with the Tiger beer that accompanied our meal as the beverage of the day. Where there is Aly, there is Tiger.


Traditional Penang Lobak. Honestly, I dont know how the name Lobak came about, it must be hokkien for something, coz doesn't lobak mean carrot in Malay? Or root vegetable? There's nothing carroty about this. Lovely meaty chunks of sausagey filling with crunchy err..water chestnut I think.


The must have pie tee. No complaints here. I am always amazed at the work that goes into the creation of the pie tee shell. Sweaty women slaving over a hot wok to get that perfect cup size, and texture.


My favourite, the kerabu mee hoon. Tangy, sweet, salty, a slew of flavours attacking your palate in a delightful kaledeiscope of sensations on the tongue. The shrimp were plump and fresh.


Traditional fried fish, with an AWESOME sauce, much like a nyonya salsa. Must eat with the sauce.


Sambal Petai, with more prawns. I love sambal petai, and this version is excellent. Generous amounts of dried shrimp, (har mai or hair bee), this dish cries out to be accompanied with white rice, therein the danger.


Hong Bak, or probably Babi Pong Teh in Melaka. A pork dish with a rather complex tasting gravy, that also goes well with rice. Love the fatty bits of pork.


Brinjal With More Dried Shrimp. Lovely! Brinjal, such a decadent vegetable, that soaks up all the oil its fried in...


Nasi Ulam, which was a tad salty, but the proprietors took note and ensured that that would be rectified. Texture and flavours were excellent though.


Fried Chicken With Nam Yee. Well, a bit ordinary, when compared with the other fabulous stuff.


Some pork curry dish. We were getting really stuff by this time. Also, I don't know WHAT Ciki did to my camera settings, most of my pics were going out of focus, in what was essentially an idiot proof camera. Grrr.... I couldn't get a decent shot of the perut ikan dish, another nyonya favourite.


Ju Hu Char, a lovely oriental salad, wrapped in lettuce leaves.


The other thorns by this rose's side.


Lovely thick coconuty black bean porridge, which constitutes a meal on its own. Dessert, this was.


Pengat, or an atas version of bubur cha cha. I do so love the name bubur cha cha..makes me kinda want to break out in dance.... which I only do with the help of alcohol.


Rojak Buah, which strictly speaking, isn't a dessert.

Now, oddly enough, the Long Table closes on Saturdays. But opens the rest of the week. Perfect place for family dinner.

Thumbs up, for great tasting (I am not in the position to verify if its AUTHENTIC or not, since I have no Peranakan blood that I am aware off, but I endorse it by taste) Nyonya food. Be prepared to whack a whole load of rice, so the anti carbo clan better think twice. Thanks Cherry Pom Pom for the invite.

And thanks to our gracious host, you know who you are, for a lovely scrumptious dinner.

• Hearts propose top four showdown at end of season
• 'Unfair' and 'ludicrous' say Old Firm managers

Celtic and Rangers have united to condemn the suggestion that play-offs could be introduced to determine the Scottish Premier League championship. A proposal for the top four teams to play off at the end of the season has been put forward as an alternative to the SPL's favoured, and less radical, reconstruction ideas.

Hearts suggested the controversial play-off which has now been publicly supported by the Dundee United chairman, Stephen Thompson. It will be discussed at a meeting of SPL clubs on 4 January.

Although a similar play-off is in operation in both codes of English rugby, the Glasgow clubs routinely finish well clear of the remainder of the league and therefore regard play-offs as unjust. "I don't think it's fair at all, I think it's absolutely ludicrous," said the Celtic manager, Neil Lennon.

"I saw the headlines today and I didn't even bother reading them because I just think it's a piece of nonsense. I've been here 10 years and if you look at the gap between the top team and the third- and fourth-placed team, the gap is always quite big. So basically you're saying your season comes down to two or three games at the end of the season? Absolute rubbish.

"Play-offs for the European slots might create a bit of interest but for the championship it's an absolute no-no. From my point of view it's one of the more silly ideas I've heard in recent weeks. In fact, it's the silliest idea I've heard in the last few weeks."

Lennon's counterpart at Rangers, Walter Smith, was similarly dismissive. Smith said: "Do you think it's fair? Of course it's not. From memory, I think they tried it in Holland on one occasion. It was one occasion and then they got rid of it.

"If you look at the Championship in England, play-offs work as long as your first and second teams get the rewards that they deserve."

Thompson said play-offs could bring an end to the Old Firm's unhealthy duopoly in the Scottish game. It is 25 years since a team apart from Rangers and Celtic won the top-flight championship.

"I strongly believe that fans of teams outside the Old Firm have become fed up of those two sharing the title between them," he said. "It is incredible and extremely regrettable that the last non-Old Firm title win was 25 years ago. I think we need to go further and make things more interesting at the top of the table as well as having promotion/relegation play-offs."

Smith and Thompson have been denied an immediate opportunity to discuss the matter after the postponement of Rangers' visit to Tannadice tomorrow night.

As freezing conditions continue in Scotland and cancellations continue – Hibernian's trip to Hamilton on Wednesday is also unlikely to survive – the prospect of an enforced extension to the SPL season has already been mooted.

That would anger Rangers, who wanted the 2007-08 league campaign prolonged further than it was because of severe fixture congestion, caused in part by the Ibrox team's run to the Uefa Cup final. Smith said: "They can't extend the season because they wouldn't do it for Rangers a couple of seasons ago so they're not going to do it now, are they?

"Surely, if the season is not going to be extended for one team, then they can't extend it for any of the rest of them.

"If they wouldn't do it for one team two seasons ago, why would they do it now? I don't think we've reached the stage where it has to be extended anyway. Surely there are enough midweeks that we can fit the games in; I don't think there is any need to extend the season so far."

Lennon, again, was in agreement. "I don't see why it should be extended," said the Celtic manager. "If we have to play four games in eight days, we will."

Celtic's meeting with Kilmarnock tomorrow night has survived so far, but conditions around Parkhead will continue to be monitored before it is confirmed whether the game will go ahead.

Lennon has said he will be unable to call on the services of his South Korean players Ki Sung-yueng and Cha Du-ri for the Old Firm game on 2 January, as the duo are due to join their international squad to prepare for the Asian Cup.

Today has been a depressing and frustrating day, but I snapped this lovely pic the other day on my way out to Miaoli. So enjoy.

BLOGS:

• Drew rolls 183 kms through the mountains.
• Brian Dunn points out that India did not reiterate support for the One China policy at its most recent meeting with Beijing's minions. China's claim to a whole Indian state has now made that impossible.
• Lao Ren cha with great musings on being a Tai Tai and changing one's name (and go kielbasa!)
• Save the Dolphins on the recent hearing on the Kuokuang petrochemical complex
• Patrick fights back against mei ban fa.
• Videos from the American Footsteps in Taiwan exhibition.
• Wang Dan: five lessons for Chinese democrats and also a piece by an official of China's Taiwan affairs office on President Ma's China policies.
  
• All that awesome foreign investment in Taiwan to take advantage of ECFA? Oh yeah, still playing wait-and-see. Another great victory for the China Cargo Cult.
• Koxinga's Birthplace from the Danshui history blog
  

MEDIA:

• This Chatham House report on Taiwan and ECFA etc is a bit fantastic but cites one of the best observers of local political life, the redoubtable Michael Fahey.
• The Diplomat's Jason Miks argues that F-16s should be sold to Taiwan, and implicitly, F-35s to Japan. Time for the US to get serious about China, in other words.
  
• Video: Delivering flowers to the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands for Liu's Nobel. And more video: protesting Chen Yunlin's most recent visit to Taiwan. Amazing, the power of the Nobel + Chinese intransigence to make Liu into an international symbol.
  
• Chinese fishing boat rams S Korean Coast Guard vessel.
• Link behind wall, but the latest EU Blueprint favors dropping embargo to sell weapons to China. Do Europeans really think that if they sell weapons to China, they can keep their grip on their weapons technology? Read Jason Miks' piece above on the Russians, and rethink this.
  
• Liu Shih-chung with great piece on dealing with a resurgent DPP. Will the US view the DPP as an opportunity and not a problem?
• Taiwan and Japan hold forum on the Senkakus.
• DPP says that ECFA provides no protection for Taiwanese citizens or investors and many of its agreements are empty.
• Legislature to revise rules on local farm associations to make it easier for individuals of ill repute to stand for election and take positions.
• Taiwanese art on exhibit in Budapest.
• Indigenous people call for autonomy for five townships in the soon to be created municipalities.
• S Korean FTA with the US leapfrogs "advantages" of ECFA signing for Taiwan. But we all know the answer to Taiwan's economic problems: more China!
  
• Ken Anderson over at Volokh ponders what hegemony means in the rising China context.
• NT dollar reaches 13 year high.
• China to build aircraft carrier, reports FT.
• Taiwan's navy searches for subs....from Russia? Interesting article on Taiwan's search for weapons.
  
• Don't miss: Commonwealth English: ten families own a quarter of the Taiex: "The latest CommonWealth Magazine statistics show that Taiwan's top ten business families control 13 of the island's financial groups and business conglomerates. The 77 companies – listed or traded over the counter (OTC) – under these business groups account for only 5 percent of the total number of listed and OTC companies, yet their combined market value exceeds NT$6 trillion, accounting for 25.7 percent of the stock market's total market value."

COMING WAR WATCH:

• China to deploy permanent patrol vessels in the Senkakus "The official with the Ministry of Agriculture's Bureau of Fisheries took the unusual step of granting an interview concerning the Senkaku issue to a foreign media outlet on Saturday, saying that China was planning measures to challenge Japan's control of the islands off Okinawa Prefecture." I'm feeling like the Emperor in B5's The Coming of Shadows, asking the Vorlon: "How will this end?" Anyone remember the Vorlon's answer?
• Japan re-orients defense posture on China, but only modest changes in capabilities, says the CFR.
  

NOTHING TO DO WITH TAIWAN

• Ricky Gervais on why he is an atheist. In the WSJ too -- great job guys! Ted Cox on why he gave up Mormonism for atheism.
• Hubble Telescope: lovely animation on its recent discovery of galaxies. Brilliant work!
  

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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.

Let's talk more about Hong Kong Tea Culture. Apart from traditonal Chinese tea, Hong Kong is famous for its very unique style Milk Tea. It's actually world famous. When you visit China Towns all over the world, you'll see restaurants putting up big signboards specifying "Hong Kong Style Milk Tea" . And here is it - very silky smooth. Secret recipe available only in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong locals love this milk tea, including myself. Some even addicted to it. They are usually part of a breakfast set, lunch set or tea set. Or they are sold stand alone. Hot is usually around HK$10 and cold is around HK$13, and ice-free cold is around HK$15+.

Now let's see what is usually accompanying the Hong Kong milk tea to make up a tea set.

Pineapple Bun - listen, the shape, the taste or the ingredients - there is nothing to deal with pineapple, except the name. Hong Kong people love to insert a flat piece of butter and name it Butter Pineapple Bun.

Egg Tart - both egg tart and pineapple bun are usually cheap, round about HK$4-5 each. Butter pineapple bun is slight more expensive.

If you're not a coffee drinker--and we all know this is quite the coffee drinkers' town--you probably love tea. Here are our favorite places to warm up and get a sip. Where do you go to drink and buy?

Lupicia Fresh Tea, 845 Market St. Suite 255, (415) 227-0533
This Japanese tea shop has hundreds of loose teas to suit all tastes. Want a toasted rice green tea blended with black soybeans? Yep. How about an apricot black tea sprinkled with marigold petals? Sure! Don't be scared--they've got all the basics too, as well as herbal and low-caffeine teas. You can also score special tea honey and sugar, as well as tea-making equipment. Their employees are like tea encyclopedias, so come with questions.

Leland Tea Company, 1416 Bush St., (415) 346-4832
A good spot for lunch or to do work at (they have Wi-Fi), Leland Tea doesn't take tea lightly just because there are computers around. Tea service is available all day, and their delicious house blend tea (or their own blends) accompanies the entire menu. Online, choose from over 100 premium teas, both organic and non-organic. Check one called "Blue Eyes", a blend of hibiscus flowers, dried apple, orange and rose hips; there's another called "Casablanca", a mixture of fine Chinese white tea and Mediterranean figs. There's more serious stuff like Genmai Cha, Chamomile and Earl Grey, too.

Lovejoy's Tea Room, 1351 Church St., (415) 648-5895
You'll feel like you're spending an afternoon in the house of a British grandma at Lovejoy's. Settle in for a classic English tea service with a menu that even includes pub fare (shepherd's pie, sausage rolls, etc.), if you've got an appetite too big for tiny tea sandwiches. In addition to a selection of teas the Queen would approve of, try their famous scones and Double Devon Cream, and sip their special sweet potato pie black tea (available only for winter months), which is flecked with bits of dried sweet potato for a hearty, nutty flavor. Visit Lovejoy's Attic, their sister shop full of vintage tea accoutrements and loose leaf teas.

Om Shan Tea, 223 14th St., (888) 747-8327
This is a great place to meet strangers and have conversations; you won't see a laptop in sight here. Exuding plenty of positive vibes, they have poetry readings here, as well as belly dancing and live world music to complete your sensory experience. Pair your brew with their menu of vegan food and raw chocolates. If you're overwhelmed by their selection, their tea baristas will listen to your tastes and pick out what's best.

Red Blossom Tea Company, 831 Grant Ave., (415) 395-868
This gem in Chinatown is renowned for their knowledgeable staff and modern interior that clashes with the mostly tourist-filled tea shops that clutter the area. They charge by weight making their premium Chinese teas ultra affordable. Choose from white, green, black, pu-erh, oolong, jasmine, herbal, chai and blossoming teas, and taste them before you buy. Grab some cool tea accessories as well, which are perfect gifts for tea lovers in your life.

Aroma Tea Shop, 302 6th Ave., (415) 668-3788
Aroma is dedicated to their premium Chinese teas and all the health benefits of each. Did you know oolong tea can reduce tooth decay and improve your spleen's energy? Or that black tea lowers the chances of getting a stroke, and relaxes and expands your arteries? If you just want tea that's pretty (and tastes delicious), grab some flower art tea. This is just the tip of the iceberg. You'll have to visit their shop for a free tasting to learn everything you want to know.

Samovar Tea Lounge, 730 Howard St., (415) 227-9400
Samovar is a great place to experience tea with your friends or work pals. Choose from a curated selection of artisanal teas from all over the world to pair with their yummy food. Try their signature spicy-sweet masala chai, their refreshing aloe vera and cucumber herbal blend, the serious, "thundering" Gyokuro green tea, the flaxen Silver Needle white tea that's fruity and hazlenutty. . . .the list goes on. You'll want to taste everything, but be careful because prices can get pretty steep. Tea is meant for taking it slow.

thank you very much to everybody i don't like too much marine taste so i tend to exclude fuji sp at this point and to take ym or miyabi from o cha.
but first i will try my yuuk cha teas.
i tried sencha tenryu misakubo, maybe i have made a wrong brewing and i try it again but is it a good tea. i think that fukamushi maybe is it more on my taste

Statistics : Posted by Fireflower • on Dec 10th, '10, 16:47 • Replies 9 • Views 122

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convivium wrote:
Thank you everyone. Any suggestions for finding approximations of the 'four treasures' or a chaxi online?

Unless you're really committed to traditional tea making, a charcoal stove and Chaozhou kettle will not be that convenient for daily use. I would suggest an electric or gas heater of some sort, or an electric kettle first, if you don't already have one.

The Chaozhou stoves and kettles are easy enough to find online, though if you're not in China, you'll probably need to order off of Taobao through a proxy, and it will be expensive. In addition, getting the olive pit charcoal through customs etc. isn't always easy.

Lots of sources for Yixing pots and gongfu tea cups mentioned on this site, so just look through the archives.

By 'cha xi', do you mean the entire tea setup, or do you mean a waste water bowl (shui xi - 水洗, or lots of other possible names)?

As far as a tea boat / tray, you have lots of different options and different styles. Different people and different regions
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Statistics : Posted by wyardley • on Dec 9th, '10, 14:50 • Replies 12 • Views 263

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Android phones are selling like hot cakes, so it's understandable that Motorola would want to market its business phone, the Droid Pro, with a song matching the market's temperature. Unfortunately, the match up is strange -- the 32-second spot uses the old Pussycat Doll's "Don't Cha" song