Construction barriers are 'cute' in Japan

Who said Construction Barriers can't be cute?! They don't need to be boring concrete designs.  See the Japanese designs found on the streets of Sapporo:

Other observations in Japan (with full photos attached):

Stephen loving Yobodashi Umeda electronics store in downtown Osaka... with 8 aisles of camera bags to choose from...and 7 other floors of stuff including toys for kids
Uniqlo is very empty in Osaka (maybe too many locations)
Tons of street performers
Great food in department store basements
Tons of gaming parlours for teens, kids and adults
Hello Kitty is the national hero
Penguins are really cute in person... Osaka Aquarium was fun but 4 levels of Pacific Ocean is a bit overkill

http://picasaweb.google.com/irene.stephen.yang/JapanHolidays2010#

We're off to historic Kyoto tomorrow then Tokyo!

Japan powder, onsens, crab and heated toilets

We are in New Chitose Airport in Sapporo (island of hokkaido, bei hoi do). Our snowboarding adventures were great! We first landed here on Xmas Eve, and instead of waiting for a shuttle bus, struggled with limited Japanese phrasebook to take JR train then walk a mile with our gear to first hotel. Next morning off by bus to Niseko!! The snow / powder is amazing... I highly recommend Green Leaf hotel which is slopeside in Niseko Village. There are 3 main ski areas: Annapuri, Niseko Village and grand hirafu. They are connected by "Niseko United" shuttle bus... Sounds kind of communist. Anyway we enjoyed the hills, an all u can eat crab/sushi buffet then Onsen hot spring. Literally unisex bathing is freezing cold weather in middle of snow covered forest, in rocks hot spring. I snuck a photo. Will post later! Also the hotels provide shisheido products-whoa! So nice! Grand hirafu had the best night skiing!


On day 2 we ate steak slopeside in Hirafu before heading back for a restful evening at te hotel. Day 3 we went to Rusutsu Resort; an entirely different mountain area to meet my friend tiff and her cousins from Taipei. The resort was like a mini Vegas, with carousel and amusement park... Fabulous views from the slopes and warmer weather!


We spent night of day 3 in Sapporo city, eating street food, watching musicians, businessmen going to karaoke bars and teenagers gaming out at Taito game stations dressing up for photobooths and video games... The ramen food stall was good too!


In our snowboarding adventures I rank:
1) Blackcomb - best long mountain runs, bowls and powder
2) Whistler
3) Snowbird (connected to Alta in Salt Lake city Utah)
4) Heavenly (south tahoe)
5) North star(north tahoe)
6) Grand hirafu Niseko (good powder)
7) Rusutsu (nice wide open views)


ok bye! Heading to Osaka now!

Holidays = leave work 4pm; 'unplugged' in China

Dec 22 is 'winter solstice'. Supposed to be the shortest day of the year! My workplace lets us leave the office by 4pm, and also this time on Xmas Eve.... ?!  And my relatives here had a dinner which sadly I could not attend. 

(Although last Saturday ... Stephen finally met my relatives for a home cooked meal.  He loved the food and ate a lot of fresh seafood and veggies.  Plus their cooking is awesome as well, but the trip a bit far)

I spent a day in Shenzhen China on business trip.  My blackberry didn't work well there! and my china mobile people sim card ran out of money (have to refill in HKG). So being unplugged for a day was TORTURE!!  The train ride is over an hour from Kowloon Tung to the border (there are two checkpoints), then a short walk across the bridge and taxi ride to my office in China.  Rightly or wrongly, I cannot sleep on such trips.  Maybe I fear getting robbed; not of money, but of my HKID or Passport!  As I need to go more often, I will slowly ease my fears of the Mainland... even I intentionally dress a bit too casual to avoid getting mugged in daylight (Shenzhen supposedly is not safe especially for women).  On the positive side, had very good meetings with my internal support team , then a few customer meetings - which were long overdue.  The thing about Shenzhen is that nobody is from Shenzhen; all are migrant workers to this thriving 'pearl river delta' region.

Off to Japan in 24 hours. Can't wait to snowboard! BUT will be unplugged again as I enter the CDMA world - argh.  (We finally unpacked some stuff in our new apartment, but haven't quite packed up our service apartment yet....returning on Dec 31 will be a disaster)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO MY FAMILY & FRIENDS.  MISS YOU ALL!

Using "Initials" to identify colleagues; no built-in closets in most flats!

Across Asia,  colleagues to call one another by their initials (first letter of First name then first letter of Surname).  Maybe because anglicized Chinese names are difficult to pronounce?!  I thought it was strange at first - and frankly sometimes people have the same initials.... so information is crossed at times! For instance, my old boss in Singapore was "CY".  Similarly here at AMD, I should be known as "IH" or "IY" (However Irene is easier than most Chinese/English names to remember....or my colleagues know I chuckle at this, so they don't bother)  Just so you know, the parents in Asia don't actually name their children by two letters only! ha ha.

On another note, my short trip back to Toronto last week was very very cold yet fun.  Spent some quality family time, slept well, and got good work done at the office.  Upon landing back last Friday, immediately I went to meet Stephen for our FINAL househunting visits with the agents.

Upon our FOURTH visit back to the SAME unit in the past months, we finally settled on 34th floor Hollywood Terrace.  The landlady is from Fujian province but she's been in Hong Kong for 20 years. At least she can converse in Mandarin with Stephen too.  The building is literally next door to our current service apartment - we love the area - its equally convenient to SOHO/Escalators and MTR (Hong Kong/Central/Sheung Wan). The views are excellent from our unit despite the (aging) kitchen/bathroom.  The building is fairly well maintained; its only 11 years old.  We hear the complex was originally a shared venture between public government and private developers (for 'poor people') - but today, the units ain't cheap.

Now the real challenge is buying wardrobe/closets - these are often missing from unfurnished units.  IKEA was typically a zoo, and walking in the wrong direction at Wan Chai meant we missed the street of furniture shops!  All in all, we're pleased.  We get the keys on Wed Dec 22 and our sea shipment of furniture arrives tomorrow... we just need internet and a TV/sofa

Finally going to Japan this Friday.... can't wait to snowboard, then visit Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo.  May crash with Matt in Tokyo, TBD... Sadly the snow is more abundant in North America and Europe than in Japan...!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

+20C to -20C...and back...

Toronto if FREEZING COLD. With windchill its -20C.  I landed here on Monday night after leaving a lovely 20C day in Hong Kong.  Back here for some interviewing and team meetings, then on flight back to Asia on Thursday.  Short trip, but nice to catch up with family and friends. I'm staying at my parents home, and so far I can surprisingly sleep well.

Happy Wednesday!

All homes are "Mansions"

Caine Mansion, Le Caine Mansion, Caineway Mansion.  I noticed most older buildings anglicize their names by calling them "Mansions".  The irony? They are NOT mansions!

Anyway we are in the final home stretch of locking down a permanent home from Jan 2011 onwards.  Down to <4 units in midst of two parallel negotiations!

On another front, we had a busy weekend. First on Friday with Karaoke in TST for Simon's birthday; quite local crowd but a good time.  Then bright and early on Saturday...we trekked BACK to TST area to have lunch with my Uncle Chee from Singapore (working in Dongguan) and Aunt Doris (they are cousins).  Great food and lovely weather/views of harbour.  Drinking beer at noon after being hung over is never a good idea; ask Stephen. Then we went to "In-town" outlet mall near China Ferry Terminal to buy a few clothes; great deal on suits and tops. The back to Hong Kong side for another QUALITY , meticulous hair-cut!!  If you recall my earlier blog, YES there are diligent and thorough hair cutters in Hong Kong!  Booked a few hotels for our Japan snowboarding trip over Xmas... then I crashed on Saturday evening from exhaustion! 

Today is Sunday. Woke up early for more apartment hunting with the company's agent (he isn't great, actually). Then a long lunch with Stephen's Toronto friends Cynthia and Ian. She just returned from Nepal and India for Everest trek and Yoga teaching school. Then walked to mid-levels to debate our housing counter offers. Then a long happy hours drinks with a couple from Beijing/Xi'an China to practice our Mandarin. They are heading to US for MBA next year so want to practise their English!

Tired. Have to work a bit tonight, then pack for Toronto. I'll be in Toronto from Monday to Friday this week.  Wish us luck on our housing bids!!!

Happy Sunday!

Good Samaritans exist here: Lost iPhone found and delivered back!

To my shock, in this city of high-rollers, haggling and real&fake LV/Gucci bags and shopping centers galore.... there are "good samaritans" in Hong Kong.  What do I mean?  Yes there are good, honest people who are not out to cheat you for 10cents.

Here's my story.  I had drinks and dinner with colleagues and a customer in LFK/Lan Kwai Fong (bar/pub area).  It was only about 6-8pm or so.  When I left to go to the train to meet my colleagues who arrived at the W Hotel (Kowloon Station), I dropped my iPhone 3GS.  Upon arrival at Kowloon Station (other side of causeway!)... I panicked!  At first, my colleague told me to 'Give Up', its lost.  Then I picked up my blackberry to call my iphone.  To be delight, an older man picked up the phone, told me in Chinese that he was minutes away from selling my iPhone!  I begged him to wait for me, and he said, no worry, I will bring you your phone by MTR / subway... it's a bit of a trek so I was pleasantly surprised he actually showed up.  Offered him $200 Hong Kong dollars too, and he only took $20 (about $2.5 USD).

So the world is not terrible - even in China.  Well, Hong Kong isn't really the same as Mainland China... at least not yet!  I'll save that story for another day.

On other notes, we're off to Japan for snowboarding in late December / Xmas,  almost signing our 1 year lease (picking between two places), I'm heading to Toronto for 3 days, then maybe into China for a day or two before Japan.

Happy December 7th!

Assigned movie seating after a Macau trip

Seat I18 & I19.  These seats were printed onto our movie cinema tickets on top of I-Square.   And so we didn't have to rush. Assigned seating at theatres is simple - yet too smart for us North Americans to employ. No lining up well in advance to find a seat. Then taking turns to go out to restroom or to buy food. Or holding our seats by laying down our coats. Brilliant!  The Unstoppable Movie was not bad (And yes the train stops eventually :)) It was the IMAX theatre but Unstoppable was not an IMAX film.  Be warned. And... we know we're finally "living" here (not visiting) when there is time and intent to relax at a cinema.

Earlier this weekend, Stephen and I had a busy Friday heading to Billy & Ivy's wedding in Macau.  We missed the pool side ceremony at Four Seasons, but made it in time for a lovely and well-served banquet dinner.  10 courses.  The food was great, and there was plenty of time after to socialize, relax in their suite and also hit up the Hard Rock Casino.  Our strategy that night included surrendering on 16 in BlackJack while not hitting on ANY hand.  The dealer busted a lot. We won - without ever seeing an Ace or many face cards. Brilliant!  My friends played craps which confuses me... maybe next time!

Macau is a very different scene from Hong Kong. First of all, every sign in Portuguese - and the architecture is more pretty and European.  Too bad the food we selected was so-so near Senado Square. Secondly, there are hardly any taxis, so the lucky few taxi drivers 'round up' fees for tips....sigh.  we walked A LOT. Thankfully didn't have to walk from Taipa island to downtown Macau.  Thirdly, a lot more mainland tourists around which *may* (or may not) be related to the smoking allowed in hotel lobby areas.  It was a nice 1-1.5 hour journey away from Hong Kong, but we were SO thankful to be home on Saturday late afternoon.

Senado Square. Beautiful weather!

Ruins of St. Paul.  Lovely. But...it looks the same as two years ago

Happy newlyweds in their awesome suite

Sloan friends... overlooking Cotai Strip

Country clubs, hiking and HK outlet mall

Its hard to believe the weekend is over. Bright and early Saturday morning, we went for a long hike (Hong Pak Country Trail near Taikoo, followed by Quarry Bay Jogging Trail). http://www.hiking-hong-kong.com/hong-kong-island/hong-pak-trail-reversed.php

The views and gorgeous and the climb was steep. Weather was cool (about 20C) so we got a good sweat and exercise. Lovely views of Quarry Bay from far up the 270m climb. To our shock, we climbed far down very steep stairs looking for a short cut to North Point MTR -- only to get caught at a DEAD END and had to climb back up... worked up a big appetite!

Thereafter we had lunch near Fortress Hill and wandered around various shops in the area. After lunch we took the tram for the first time ('streetcar'/double decker/open air) to Causeway Bay. You only pay when you exit the Tram, and its $2HKD (around 27c Canadian)...

SOGO was having a 10% sale and it was a complete ZOO! Finally we went home after a Uniqlo stop and bubble tea.

Took a restful nap before heading off to the MIT Alumni Event at Hong Kong Country Club. You need to be 'invited' to become a member of this exclusive club. Apparently Li Ka Shing (richest man in Asia) plays golf here every day with his 'servant caddy friend' who carries a chair for him!

Ironically, we just strolled right into the club, walked right through the restaurants out to the open bay view. No one stopped us! ha ha.... Anyway there was a BBQ set up by Alumni near the Deep Water Bay lawn front. About 40 people at an intimate gathering of 'old' and 'recent' MIT alumni. Caught up with some classmates, and met some Sloanies '09 and Engineering grads from '88 and earlier... dropped by Ploy and David's nice digs near Kennedy Town on the way home...then watched The Social Network movie at home that night.

On Sunday, we arose early to have dim sum at Choi Fook in Causeway Bay. My friend Josephine is in town from Toronto; she spents weeks in China teaching English on a mission. Awesome views, great fresh dim sum at a reasonable price! Thereafter, headed to Citygate Outlets in Tung Chung (FAR past Disney/Airport)... spent the afternoon mulling around with mainlanders doing shopping. Their food court is amazing - a stall each for different Asia foods like Singapore, Korea, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Shanghai, Taiwan, etc. I settled for La Desse de Vietnam pho. Yum! Too bad we missed my friend/old classmate/colleague Siew Chan from Singapore (she was at disney with her kids).

Today is Monday :( I'm off to Taipei - again - tomorrow. Have a great week everybody!

TGIF. Sort of.

Its been one of those dreaded work weeks. First week back in Asia and my sleep schedule is all over the place. And my work schedule is mornings and nights. Yuck!

Stephen has been awesome.  Its nice to have a partner in crime again.  Jetlagged and unshaven and all! His cooking at home is a treat, and he set up a nice desk area and cleared up our shipped boxes.  And now we're hitting up a (friendlier) gym called Fitness First. He met up with a "CBC / ABC" social group called HK Buffalo (I couldn't go due to work), and today we had dim sum with his sister's in-laws who are in town.  Tonight we may see our friend Josephine who's here from China for a bit, and tomorrow we have an MIT Alumni BBQ at HK Country Club in Deepwater Bay. 

TGIF.  Sort of. Sadly I have to work tonight from 10-12.

Hello Kitty is huge in Asia

This is the (grand) entrance to Langham Place shopping centre (my office tower is attached to this complex).

Hello Kitty, while designed by Sanrio (Japanese co.) is all the rage throughout Asia.... I recall while living in Singapore that McDonald's Happy Meals gave out Hello Kitty stuffed toys and there were queues for blocks long... and my Taiwan colleague tells us they like Japanese stuff citing Hello Kitty as the (only) example!

Can't wait for Japan snowboarding in Dec!

Did I even move to Hong Kong? Its been a long time away...

Its been 3 weeks in Toronto (1 week longer than planned).  Did I even move to Hong Kong??  I forgotten what my Sheung Wan digs look like... :(  Finally hubby has moved here though!

My best friend Domina got married last weekend, at a Korean-Canadian-American style gala at Casa Loma.  It was lovely.  Too bad the limousine got a speeding ticket with the bride & groom inside!! lost 30 mins enroute to banquet!!  The nerve of those cops.... 

I also met my friend Michelle & Mark's 3 month old son, Jackson.  And met up with Stephen's uni friends and attended a Yang family memorial. Busy busy!

On Friday, Nov 12...returning to HKG was as usual a long trip (15 hours direct).  Only one of us got upgraded so we switched half way through the flight to nap and eat better food. I drank some bad tomato juice on board - yuck! After the speedy HKID shortcut automated immigration line, we traveled with no issue to Hong Kong train station (near Central/IFC), only to wait ONE HOUR in the darn taxi line.  This place has slowed down significantly in the past month :(  If not for our heavy bags, we could have walked in 15 mins!

We napped from 5pm to 1am then ate our first meal together - at McDonald's! ha ha... mcnuggets taste good at 2am!  Today is Sunday where we at at Green Waffle (35-39 Graham St, Soho).  Their waffles are actually green color, pretty good. Skip their eggs and potatoes though. Then off to IFC to buy Nepresso sleeves, groceries in street market / stores, then home for a nap. Stephen cooked a great dinner at home...

Debating whether to go to LKF Carnival ; it looks like a circus less than a party. Sigh. Maybe next time...

Must move every year!!

Hi friends. Its been a busier week than usual. Finally moved out of our condo. How liberating!!  I MUST move every year. Anything longer means too much accumulation of 'stuff'!!! It was a rough move last weekend.  Didn't even make it out for Hallowe'en. Luckily we found Le Select Bistro http://www.leselect.com/, a lovely French brunch place on Wellington/Spadina near our beloved 10 Navy Wharf condo.  MUCH better than Cora's!

Will miss the good times at our condo... view photos enclosed here below.

Also I helped host Domina's Bridal Shower at the King Edward Hotel.  I ordered a Pink Burberry cake, which looked quite real.  The games were fun and we had great laughs realizing that Billy knows Domina much more than vice versa, ha ha~

My family has had numerous gatherings, despite some worrisome hospital visits as well.  I even went trick or treating with my niece and nephew.  Witnessed Marcus trash talking the other Buzz Lightyear neighbour's costume.  He's only 2: "I'm the REAL Buzz lightyear, not you!"

Work is a disaster as its busy as hell this week.  Pray for my husband's family who suffered a sudden loss recently.

See you in Hong Kong (with hubby) on Nov 12!!
Irene

Jetlagged in Toronto, with tons of Family & Friends to see

I've been in Toronto for about 48 hours and attended a wedding, seen dozens of friends, attended grandma's birthday and caught up with Stephen's family also.  Whirlwind. Its 4am and I am officially jetlagged. Crap I have to go to work tomorrow and for the next few weeks!


Some photos for your enjoyment!

Female golf caddies but frustrating Taipei!

Beautiful golf courses around Bali around (approx 30 courses, some with sea view), and Hakka local food around there. All the caddies are female and they are typically 40+ years old, with a life long knowledge of the greens.  Very unique compared to our pot-smoking single handicap caddy in Jamaica ha ha...

BUT.... Taipei frustrates me!  its the little things that frustrate me this week....for instance:

Firstly, the airport is an hour from town.  Secondly, NEVER go to In House lounge near Mitshukushi Department Store near Taipei 101/Warner Village Cinema.  Their service is slow and rude.... plus I got serious mosquito bites all over my lower legs! I went the the SAME street area at least 5x in the past 4 days...busy yet too developed and 'retail-like' for me. 

Thirdly there is no internet in my hotel or while traveling around town, not even roaming data!  Only on DAY 3 did I get my internet fixed on my laptop in my (supposedly) good hotel.  Kill me already.  Plus taxis take forever!!  Maybe I'm tired. and just complaining.

Another plus: Uniqlo is huge here! They opened a new brand and the queue in Taipei store was around the block.  Did you know the Uniqlo clothing chain owner is the richest man in Japan??  Great cotton quality and materials!  But no time to shop here.

Here's a team dinner photo from yakitori japanese BBQ. I showed up two hours late...thankfully I wasn't the last arrival!!

Have a good day everyone.  See you in Toronto this weekend.