Wow, a lot to write about since I haven’t been in touch for a week and this week I went to Beijing! I tried to write from Beijing, but the site was inaccessible for some reasn. Oh well. But first the big news – Zen got a haircut! Here is an action pic of the event as it was taking place!!
Besides this, I also got a haircut. Here is a pic of us from today when we went to the botanical garden:
Now onto recent events… Monday was a crazy day, where I did all the last minute things I needed to do for my trip AND for the new issue of the magazine. Lots of nervous energy. Got home near 9:00, which only gave me a little time with Zen and Naoko. Tuesday morning I took off early in a cab and got the the airport the requisite 2 hour early, I was through everything in 15 minutes and had 1 hour 45 to kill before the flight. Read from Awakenings, which is really a fantastic book. Sat on the flight drinking beer and watching films. Saw School of Rock (good) and Intolerable Cruelty (so-so) and the ending of Matrix Revolutions a few times. Going through Beijing customs was good, and in the arrival hall I had a bit of fun getting a cab. A tout approached me and offered me a cab for nearly ten times the local rate. Right… I got a regular one and got to the hotel OK. A gorgeous sunny day, not to cold. Singapore was 32, Beijing was more like 7 degrees, but my clothing was all warm enough. Driving down the highway to the hotel was bizarre – seeing skinny trees lining the highway, naked with no leaves at all… Lots of industry and big billboards for successful companies and banks. Banks – I saw branches of all the banks I have read/heard/written about as I drove into town. Then coming along, there were all these garish bright plastic flowers arranged in the islands in the middle of the road. Never thought before how out-of-place flowers look in the cold weather… Checked into the Great Wall Sheraton around 4, got ready, hung out, called 2 people I wanted to set up interviews with, and then went for a walk around the block. Big block! Lots of constructon and garbage and small shops and people bustling along. But I found a cool place to eat, so later I went there with my co-worker Caroline and ate fried rice and mini-lobsters, Sichuan style with salty garlic pepper chili sauce, all very good washed down with local beer. Caroline didn’t like sucking lobster brains so much, so I had most to myself, lucky guy. Back to the hotel to do some internet research work for my boss – OK.
Wednesday we breakfasted, boss flew into town, and we were off to the German company that was sponsoring the event we were organizing to give them a presentation. That went well and we had lunch, then back to the hotel. I was supposed to meet a guy for an interview, but then that was delayed so I had to meet him at 5:30. I killed time with some work, some goofing off (saw the second half of “the Color of Money”) and then met him at 6:00, but it was more like 6:30. Took a cab there, even though it was really just down the street. The cabbie waited in a queue there for an hour, he wasn’t very happy with us, but the guy just laughed at him. He took me out to eat… at a really expensive place! We ate abalone and lobster and sharks fin and other gorgeous things. He was quite a character and kept talking for hours and hours, but I learned a lot about banking and China. Wow. Got back to the hotel and worked on setup for a bit, then slept. Thursday was the big day, so ate and got dressed and helped out as much as I could, then listened to presentations. One, by the organizer, was boring and long. My boss’ was interesting and fairly short. Then there was one by a guy from Ireland, a guy from Australia, and a guy from China. The guy from China had interesting things to say, then at the end he showed a picture of his son and said “please come visit me and I will introduce you to my family.” The guy from Ireland was funny too, in his presentation on ATMs he talked about Riverdance, and Irish rock band U2. I wonder how many Chinese bankers like rock, but have never heard of U2… I got a chance to meet a lot of bankers at lunch and at breaks, as well as some of the guys from the ATM manufacturer that sponsored the event. The frustrating thing was that I found it hard to understand the Chinese that the bankers were using, but the ATM guys were easier to understand. What is up with that? Did an interview with the Australian guy, which was quite good. By then everybody had disappeared, too bad. Did some tidying up, then had some free time until dinner. I walked down the street to the Friendship Store. I thought FS was a kind of store for Chinese goods, but it was more like a regular department store, so I walked through that quickly and then headed down the street. Walked way off to the Microsoft building, observing the state of the construction industry in China – lots of guys working half-heartedly tapping away at things, other guys sitting around with nothing to do. Turned around and crossed the big boulevard to walk around the embassy district for a while. Saw the embassies of the Ukraine, Kyrgizstan, Montenegro, Mexico, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Libya, and several others. Got back, bought a cheap Jesus And Mary Chain CD from the shop next to the Hard Rock Cafe (which is next to the Sheraton). Funny thing happened in the elevator – I was going down from the 15th floor, an old Chinese lady dressed in villager-type clothing was already in the elevator, leaning against the wall for support. The button for the 21st floor had been lit up, but the elevator was going down. The elevator went on, stopping on the 7th floor when a Chinese guy stepped in. She said to the guy “comrade, is this elevator going to the 21st floor…?” Struck me as funny that she still addressed the guy as “comrade” in this day and age. She has probably seen some major changes in the country, she must have been 75 or 80. Met the others at 6:30 and we drove out of town for dinner in a converted farmhouse that is on a big old piece of rented land, very nice indeed. Met the boss’ friend, who works for a property development company. She told us stories of launching co-branded credit cards with Chinese banks – oh, the thinks you can think! Noticed that there were quite a few Germans there in the restaurant, I wonder why there are so many in Beijing – amazing. Were supposed to go out for dancing, but it never really happened, so I went back and slept, oh well…
Friday I got packed, then had breakfast alone again downstairs – came to the conclusion that I hate the types of buffet breakfasts that they have at the Sheraton, with all of the greasy rich food and stale, crappy bread. The best thing about it was the amazing coffee that came in cup after cup. The fine weather turned to a hazy gloom, what a pity – now I know what people were saying day after day when they noted that the bright, sunny days of endless blue sky was a rarity in town. Went out at 10 to meet a German banker, Marcus, at his office. Nice guy, and very very tall!!! Luckily it was just around the corner, a five minute walk. What a nice coincedence in a huge town like Beijing. We had a cool talk, drank some coffee, and then I went back to the hotel, checked out, and took a cab to the Hilton where the Swiss Chamber of Commerce was hosting my boss’ speech on banking in China. Lots of high level foreign bankers were there and I chatted with a bunch of them, very cool. Seems like lots of the foreigners working in China can actually speak Chinese, nice, and many of the Chinese bankers can speak English, good too. The guy working there, Fabian, was a pretty cool guy, and he helped me out a lot introducing me to people and such. Then his boss swept in, exuding attitude, compaining and saying “move this, move that. I am not happy with the arrangement, nobody knows how to get to this event, the signs are all wrong…” Then I introduced myself to him, he said “I am the president,” then turned away from me and forgot me completely. Amazing – I never thought that people like him really existed. To be fair, though, he got things done quickly, and the place did look a lot nicer. We sat down for food and chatting. The food was amazing, really wonderful peppered shrimp, salmon steaks, and tons of other great stuff. I had to leave before the end of the speech, which was going well, and I went to the airport and checked in. Changed out of my suit so that I could fly more comfortable (and keep my suit from getting as rumpled). All went well. Watched two movies again in the flight – Tais Toi (good) and Once Upon A Time In Mexico (horrific). The system broke down twice at crucial points in Tais Toi, so I watched on the set next to mine for a while. Changed seats later on, which was better. The food was OK, but the flight attendants were very stingy with the whiskey, offering smaller and smaller servings. What are they afraid of – that I’m going to get wasted? Got home at 10:30 with a liter of duty-free Beefeater and a smile on my face. Zen was sleeping already, but Naoko was awake… and tired. I let her sleep, then stayed up until 2 farting around with emails. They are finally back to normal, it seems, nice.
Film review – the School of Rock. A funny, if totally improbable film, about a rock slacker who becomes a teacher when he gets the opportunity. The movie is full of stupid caricatures, but is generally engaging, and the attitude is right – “Let There Be Rock.” Lots of hard rock and heavy metal, but what stoner would be amazed that a ten-year-old had never heard of Led Zeppelin? Not at all grounded in reality, but at least it is better than Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which the film superficially imitates (but not as good as the Commitments, of course, which it also superficially imitates). Good musical references, and excellent use of Metallica’s cover of “the Wait.” The grand finale song was good too. If kids really could rock like that, crap music wouldn’t stand a chance. As Zen would say – “nice.”
Film Review – Intolerable Cruelty. The Coen brothers film that everybody hated was, I thought, quite good. It is admirable, in a way, to see how George Clooney can let his cool guy mask slip a bit (i.e. Oceans Eleven) and allow himself to be made a fool of, by no less than Catherine Zeta-Jones, who I have never seen look more ravishing, darling (WHEN will I get a chance to tell her that?). Good lines, especially in the courtroom, nice face with the Senior Partner, and of course there has to be an incrediblew hulk (see also Raising Arizona), this time called Wheezy Joe. I wonder if Zen will like this one as much as the Big Lebowski when he finally gets to see it…
Film Review – Tais Toi. Here’s a good little one – Jean Reno plays a brooding criminal, Gerard Depardieu plays a moron, both meet in jail and so the odd couple mismathing made famous in French comedies (le Chevre, among many others) continues with two of the country most watchable stars. Some great lines and clever jokes, OK physical comedy, and trite plot elements, and check out the Armenian squatter who looks like a supermodel.
Film Review – Once Upon A Time In Mexico. Part three in a series of el Mariachi movies by Robert Rodriguez, this one has a plot like watery spaghetti soup and too many characters. Some of them, like Cheech Marin and the creepy-as-hell Danny Truja, who were killed in Desperado, are resurrected as new characters and killed off again. Stunningly idiotic. Johnny Depp is OK as a too-smart-for-his-own-good, just-stepped-out-of-a-James-Elroy-book CIA agent… in fact all of the actors are OK in their caricatured roles… but even Antonio Banderas is nothing more than a supporting character in this messy tale. I bet RR spent more time working on Spy Kids 3 than this one, since both were released the same summer, and it shows. Only one good scene – a motorcycle chase through a cactus forest – ouch!!
