Category: General

Two of our firm’s partners came by for a visit and therefore we had a team dinner.   When you’re as tangled up as I am in the details of an SAP system design, and you talk to the firm partner, you have to describe the problems you’re dealing with in terms upwards by two or three levels of abstraction.    Example : do not say ‘No more DEV*-300 client workbench transports should be allowed to the QAS*-800 client’ !    Say : we still need to complete the coding so that we can test the final system design.

*DEV is shorthand for Development and QAS for Quality Assurance.   The 300 and 800 clients are distinct copies of the SAP database.

The first picture of the Outlet Mall was taken a week ago.  The reflection looks better than the real thing.   I snapped the neon sign of the Meisha Hotel on the walk to my apartment last night.  It’s hard for me to walk by a bright red neon sign and not take a picture!

So which one of the two perched on my red sofa is cuter?   The rabbit on the left is from the department store Jusco in Shenzhen.  I love the white and red feet.   And the one on the right is not really a rabbit.  It’s a Starbucks bear with a bunny suit – from Starbucks in Shenzhen.

It’s the 15th already.   The Chinese coin picture is just for fun.  They are worth 15 US cents and 7.5 cents respectively.   It’s also my mom’s birthday (lots of ♥♥♥! )  – and the 50th of a dear friend in Seattle –  so I added some philosophy gleaned from a write-up in Bloomberg Businessweek about the American fast-food chain Panda Express.   The article mentions that CEO Andrew Cherng (left in the picture) expects employees to buy into a process he calls ‘a continuous commitment to sharpening yourself’.    Oof.    Now that sounds like work !  : ) .. but the article also mentions Don Miguel Ruiz and his famous and most influential work, The Four Agreements.   So I had to look it up (see below), and I like it.    I like number 2 the most!

The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz’s Code for Life

Agreement 1  Be impeccable with your word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love. Agreement 2 Don’t take anything personally – Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering. Agreement 3 Don’t make assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life. Agreement 4 Always do your best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

This picture is from the Isabella cleaners here in Dameisha.  They dry clean my dress shirts and pants.    I’m sure a trained elephant does not do the ironing, though! – per the picture top left : )

As for the ‘bad boy’ guy with the tousled hair and cigarette that ‘models’ the clothes and the prices* for each garment : apparently he is a familiar face on the internet here.  A movie star? I asked.   No, not really.   And what is he saying?  Something along the lines of ‘Nothing is forever/ nothing lasts forever’ .. perhaps meaning that eventually you will have to wash your clothes!  

*shirt ¥14 ($2.12), sweat shirt ¥22($3.34) ..

This little park is here in Dameisha and I stopped there after the bus dropped us off  (took the picture with the camera’s timer).   The Saturday worker group treated themselves to dinner at the Sheraton’s Italian restaurant .. great food and even if it’s on the expensive side, we agreed : well worth it.    The other two pictures of the LED striped buildings are from the short walk back to my apartment.   The colors change and then the new color runs across the building from left to right.

.. because we have to work tomorrow.   The second round of system testing is scheduled to start in a week and it feels as if we have 3 weeks of work to do before then.

It reminds me of these words from a report about the 2010 Commonwealth Games :  “Two years before the Games, I had told the organizing committee that time was not your friend,” Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell told reporters after an October meeting of representatives in Delhi. “And now, one year before it, I say, time is your enemy.”

It feels to me that we are there : time is our enemy.  It rushes up at us, a week at a time and it never ever stops.   Pictures from this morning : Bright Oil company’s pipeline out to the ships, shops and restaurants in Da Peng close to where we work open early, new office building under construction nearby; and that’s a Starbucks orange juice I grabbed at Hong Kong airport when I came in Monday night.

The first picture is the hallway downstairs in my Dameisha apartment building.  (It looks warm but it’s still pretty cold outside).    I took the other picture from my balcony.   The searchlights are from a little waterfront collection of shops and eateries that have reopened.   In the foreground is a gigantic ghost apartment/ condo building : it has been completed for more than 6 months now but is still completely unoccupied.   Some real estate developer sure had a lot of money to spend for no return so far. 

rsv

It was cold*  here today, about 10 ^oC (50°F).

*A relative term!  positively balmy this time of year to Europeans or those in the northern states of the USA.  I simply go by the Hong Kong Observatory’s Temperature Scale below.   But my apartment does not have heating, so it does matter when the temperature drops to 50°F : I have to wear warm clothes inside.

Yes, yes – I know Seattle is late to the New Year’s party, but 2011 has now arrived here as well.    The picture is of tonight’s fireworks at the Space Needle but I have to confess: from the television in my living room.  It’s cold outside!

Wishing everyone good health and happiness in 2011.

Still very cold and sunny .. looks like the temperature last night dipped to 23° F  (-5° C) and will only reach 36° F (2° C) today.    SOO .. 2010 is bidding us good-bye!   Shall we make like the Japanese? : drink up at year-end parties known as bonen-kai – ‘forget-the-year’ gatherings : )

For me 2010 was The Year of The Tiger, learning so much about China and about the cultural differences between East and West.   I made 8 trips there, each three or four weeks long (with some weekend trips to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok), and one trip to South Africa.    I did not learn nearly as much of spoken or written Mandarin as I wanted.   (But then one has to work for what one wants, right?).

With it being the year-end, let me quote something philosophical from an article in Bloomsberg Businessweek that profiles an Irish father-son real estate developer team, Paddy (father) and Simon (son).   During the real estate boom years they borrowed  €800 million (that’s almost 1 billion $US) from the now-infamous Anglo Irish Bank to buy hotels and build golf courses.   They are now €700 million in debt.   The reporter says Paddy now looks back and offers many philosophical asides, this one among them.  Ready? 

The illision in our lives is attachment.  Yesterday’s history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift – and that’s why we call it the present‘.

Well, I wanted to go check out the Microsoft Store in the Bellevue Square mall, and so I did.   Not a very good picture – I felt a little spare between all the geeks to take a picture of the store (They might think ‘What’s with this guy? Is he not used to anything?’ .. I need to ignore that of course, if I want good pictures).   But in the right corner they have a demonstration going of their new Kinect system for the Xbox.  The Kinect is a single sensor bar that contains two depth sensors, and a standard RGB camera.   It enables interactive video games with the Xbox.  Depth is a huge feature of the Kinect, and the cameras can track both your movement from side-to-side, as well as front-to-back and up and down, making the entire range of movements potentially game controls.   The Kinect also features a built-in microphone that allows voice-activated commands when applicable, and the vocal feature does pop up in games now and again.     The ‘game’ they demonstrated was a dance routine that the player needs to do, and then you get a score.   The system has been very successful, selling 2 million units in the USA so far.  (I think I read somewhere that the Xbox itself has not really made money for the company).

The rest of the store is nicely laid out with notebook computers from Dell, Sony and HP (of course loaded with Microsoft products and Windows 7), and mobile phones with the new Windows Phone 7 system on.

Like my new watch?  It’s a belated Christmas present to myself.  It’s a Seiko 4R15 Stainless Steel 200m Self Automatic Diver watch.  (No, I’m not going to dive to 200m with it).  It is very heavy, and it may be too big for my wrist (is it?) – well, doesn’t matter.  I love the 3 6 9 12 numbers on it that shines in the dark, and the black and silver.

I finally got all my ‘paperwork’ processed – the pile of mail, receipts from my trips and collectible little items such as stamps and currency notes.  The little ‘charm’ stamps were handed out in Hong Kong at the 7-11s when big purchases were made (big being relative : more than US$10).   The other two pictures are close-up inspections of my R200 (US$30) South African notes.  In May of this year all pre-2005 notes were recalled by the South African Reserve Bank due to concerns with counterfeit notes in circulation.  It’s actually a problem in China as well – and as we tell each other at work there : what to do if the ATM spits out fake notes?  1.  You have to recognize them as fake, 2. The bank is probably CLOSED and 3.  Better learn to say  这是从ATM假注 Eng. This is fake note from ATM : (

 

 

The blow-up Santa above is from a house here on 17th Ave.   We are generally NOT going overboard with Christmas decorations here in Seattle !    There is an interesting international study mentioned in the Economist’s year-end issue : happiness in life follows a U curve with the low-point at 46.  Mid-life crisis and all that.  After 46 a person’s happiness generally increase into old age.   So I guess that is why Santa is VERY HAPPY.   (A somewhat dainty jump he makes, is it not? – throwing away the Christmas cane! I’m just not sure why he is jumping over someone’s NOSE!)

 



It’s actually Tuesday morning, and I heard on the radio while driving today there was a full moon tonight (I couldn’t see it) which went through a total lunar eclipse, and all this during the winter solstice : the first time in 375 years that all three events coincide.

[From www.timeanddate.com] The December solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In other words, it is when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun.  On this date, all places above a latitude of 66.5 degrees north are now in darkness, while locations below a latitude of 66.5 degrees south receive 24 hours of daylight.

The sun is directly overhead on the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere during the December solstice. It also marks the longest day of the year in terms of daylight hours for those living south of the Tropic of Capricorn (hello everyone in South Africa, lucky devils! . Those living or travelling south from the Antarctic Circle towards the South Pole will see the midnight sun during this time of the year.

On the contrary, for an observer in the northern hemisphere (that would be ME!), the December solstice marks the day of the year with the least hours of daylight for those living north of the Tropic of Cancer. Those living or traveling north of the Arctic Circle towards the North Pole will not be able to see the sun during this time of the year.

The first item is a pencil holder, a gift each of us got at last Thursday’s dinner.  It was nicely packed and sturdy and survived the journey here.   Not so the bone china tea cup made in Japan : ( .. I should have padded it much more since it’s very thin, as the broken pieces show.    Bone china is a type of porcelain that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material and kaolin.   The English potter Josiah Spode is actually credited with the final successful formula, around 1789 to 1793.

The wind howled around the corners of the apartment building all last night, setting off car alarms (but there were no barking dogs, the way there is sometimes!).    Looking at Hong Kong observatory’s map, it’s a north wind which makes sense because it’s cold and the temperature here dropped to 7 º C (44 º F).   It has already snowed in Shanghai – early for this year, and since Beijing is further up north I’m sure they have had lots of snow already (not to mention many places in the USA!).    Our newest PwC colleague that joined the project is from Mongolia and at Tue’s team dinner he explained to us the difference between inner Mongolia and outer Mongolia.   Ready?  Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region inside China, and outer Mongolia is today its own country Mongolia, just to the north of inner Mongolia. 

The blue LED light Christmas tree and Santa with a teddy bear is from the lobby of the King Key Palace hotel where I had dinner Thu night.   The three of us at dinner agreed that the Christmas music played in the restaurant felt odd.   On the topic of blue some of us (not me!) had to have cold showers this morning due to broken water heaters in the apartments .. brr.   It’s got to be one of modern life’s indispensible luxuries : the warm shower. 

 

Like I said before, it’s interesting to me to see what international brands are doing to increase their local appeal.  This banner for Coca-cola (that I found here in Dameisha) points to a website called QQ.com with all kinds of links to comic book characters, web sites offering goodies for sale, or caricatures of (American) presidents, pop stars and actors.