Monday, April 26, 2010

Today,

I am not in very good mood today.
Partly, from following the election process in HS and the manner it was conducted, at this stage of time, and at this age. I do not know, I am not a politician, just a normal Malaysian, and I do not feel good, somehow, the way we conducted it. And the main theme is just using money, and which means only money talks, nothing else. And if it ever happens, that money really buys the votes for the winner of this election, it says something, that is very critical in the type of voters that we have, or am I wrong with this?
Is it not right that in the election, we have to choose the best candidate that can represent our interest, our rights, and voice our concern in the Parliament or in the state assembly? Someone that can work for us, and with us?
It confuses me, anyhow with this whole process.

But having said that, and having read the book written by Mr. Zaid Ibrahim (Saya Pun Melayu, of which I have written an intro here before) and judging from what he has written in his blog and comments he has given during this interview, I have a personal liking to him, and I have a feeling that he is more of a Malaysian first . I could be wrong, but my sixth sense told me so, and I always believe this.
Anyway, that is my own personal opinion and this is my blogsite as i say, I would write what I feel in my heart. And although Mr. Zaid Ibrahim has lost in this by-election, I trust he will stand up to all these, and continue to serve Malaysians at large. And I want to share these two words in Mandarin with Datuk Zaid Ibrahim,... 加油(jiayou)!!!! (hard to translate with more precise words, but sort of work harder and it will end up with positive results, or berusaha dengan lebih gigih lagi, tanpa berputus asa, dan keputusan yang lebih baik akan dikecapi).

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Choong, Beijing

Friday, April 23, 2010

Happy Birthday, Natasha (22nd April...)


OO, another niece's Birthday, and this niece has been staying almost all her childhood with me, seeing her growing up into adulthood...haha, time flies.
And that is Ms. Natasha Gooi...........and working in a Sepang resort now.
Hei, already a grown-up girl la, so must know how to think before taking any actions yeah.
And hope you have a successful learning opportunity in your present job, and of course a successful career too, my dear Natasha.



From Uncle...........in Beijing

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Mihara, Octopus and ......

Business card, with tel number and Octopus:) logo

Light Box, restaurant signage in front of the restaurant.
A baby Octopus.


A menu, well lite up, using advertising box or lightbox
ceramic chopstick holder, I think this is the male version
ceramic chopstick holder, I think this is the female version

a starter, tentacles of Octopus:)

Steam egg with Octopus. 'Cawan mushi"

Appetizer, Kimchi styled. The other type, actually, I am not very sure
This is the portion that I didn't really enjoy, cause they say Japanese
do not waste any parts of Octopus, seems like some "waste' material.....not
going to disclose here:)
Sashimi Octopus
Tempura Octopus

Rice, in rice steamer, this is cute:)
Octopus rice, with small mushroom

With dessert, this one, no Octopus,,,,,

Most interesting part, my colleague translated in full for me to write
here in my blog. the smoked or dried tentacles of octopus, and they
recommend you to mix it into the warm sakei, and drink it after
immersing a few pieces of tentacles into the sakei. Octopus flavored
I suppose.... but did not try this, too full already.
Today, altogether, I have spent about 4 hours in Shinkansen, about 2 hours in local train, hence, damn tired. But all ended up well though, esp, with my dinner. You see, I am in Mihara (三原), about 2 hours by Shinkansen away from Nagoya. It just happen that this is next to seaside, a harbour, which is about 2 minutes walking distance from my hotel or motel to be precise, called Mihara city hotel, which is again, about 4 minutes walking from Mihara train station.
Ok, the main point is, my colleague booked a restaurant for dinner. And we were on the way to the restaurant, he said, Choong-San, I am not sure if you like Octopus, but.......... I said, no worry, my favourites. And guess what, everything in this restaurant is about Octopus, from Sashimi to Tempura, to rice, to sushi............ouccccccccchhhhh. Pictures will tell everything.

And right after dinner, went over to Jusco (place where you find Jusco means this place is a bit far away from main city areas, though you called this Mihara city, it is just a small city, may be 300-400K in population size. But Japan is a rich country with good facilities. Even with this population size, you have the Subway, railway, highway, biway, all the way ready for you to move in and out.............

Choong, Mihara city, Japan

Happy Birthday, Kate

I am not good in remembering this. Nancy's, Natasha"s, Pingarping's, Loulou's, all, I cannot remember. Sis is better in remembering all these, and even reminded that Kate's Birthday would be in April. Anyway, happy belated ones, yeah, dear Kate.
Trust the cake your mum made for you was a nice one. Happy Sweet 3, and soon, happy sweet 16 (oh gosh, I can't imagine how I look like by then). But okaylah, when Natasha was born, I can't even imagine how I look like 24 years down the road, but, haha, still look okay loh.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Toyobashi-田桥

I am in a city called Toyobashi, 2 stations away from Nagoya by Shinkansen, which means about 20 minutes away (380KM/hour), then calculate the distance.

Just taken some special Yakitori here (barbecue chicken meat, but it is special in this region, just like China, each region with their own special food, their own special beer, their own baijiu, their own mineral water, their own food, their own special hotel, their own special underwear, oops, what did I say...), they have the same here in Japan too.

OK, not going to type much here. Last nite, got very little sleep, cause I drank too much tea, and will prepare some slides, then go for my sleep.

Nite.

Choong, Toyobashi

Monday, April 19, 2010

Macha Ice Cream with Dango Balls.....And Sakura

After seafood noodles for my dinner, and after my 1.5 hours walk along the imperial palace, I went for my favorite destination, that is having my Macha tea ice cream with dango balls.
Macha is the powder form of green tea and dango balls are the glutinous rice balls (eeee).
I will try to make this one of these days. Since I forgot to bring my camera, this is a rough idea of how it looks like (picture taken from website).



And white strolling, I still manage to see some remaining sakura on the trees, and here is one of the picture I have taken (from some flowers that I have plucked from a Sakura trees)

I think this is one of the loveliest flowers you can find around, esp. when the trees are in full bloom.

And tomorrow, will have to get up early, to move to next destination, that is to Taiyo.


Choong, Tokyo.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

My Late Grandma......And A Cup Of Milk



In Marunouchi hotel and they have this service, that is to send a cup of milk, warm fresh milk to its guests (of course you can reject). But if you have not tried Japanese fresh milk (especially from Hokkaido), they you will not know why drinking fresh milk in Japan is such a joy. It is delicious, superb..................... and simply fantastic. Try that, yes... sila cuba, anak anda akan tumbesar dengan cepat sekali,......haha.

Anyway, talking about warm milk, it reminds me of my late grandma, who used to make a glass of warm milk for me, when I was a boy, to make sure I grew up fast. She always want me to grow up fast, as she was getting older at that time..............ooooooooooooo, and now that I grew older, she is already somewhere else. That is life, isn;t it, time wait for no one........ To grandma, thanks, for the milk that you made me drink every nite, and especiallly Nestle milk powder. Susu Tepung Nestle............ and I talking about my ah ma, I miss you my dear Ah Ma. Wherever you are, I miss you still.............
And this flower and the song are dedicated to you and I also hope you like the flowers I placed for you during Chengbeng.................

晚来的春天-The Spring That Never Comes.....Or




In Chinese saying, this means also that a person who find love very late,... whatever that means.
This year, Spring in Beijing never seems to appear, and it is a very cold and long winter months. Even now, at nite time, I have to use two layers of blankets, you cannot imagine that. And my Spring and summer fashion wear, all are gearing up and shouting to see the sun, but what can the owner do, as the spring seems not showing up herself, and Winter is fighting hard to retain its reign. Dear winter, please allow Spring to show up, without which, Summer will never show up, which means my colorful clothes will never get enough sunshine, which also means my sexy legs will never have a chance to get enough Vitamin D, which also means ..... Hei hei hei, look who is talking now, and whatabout, ehm ehm.................

Sharing some flowers I have at home. Will take some pictures of magnolias when I am back to Beijing this weekend.

Choong, Tokyo

Back To Tokyo

Back to Tokyo, though still in Spring, but a belated one, meaning, too late for the Sakura season. What we see is the remaining of the flowers, to be precise, petals that yet to detach itself from the mother plants. and leaves that eagerly waiting to show themselves, catching the sunlight that starts to shine, stronger than before.

And just taken a picture from my room in Marunouchi Hotel, Tokyo, facing Tokyo station or Tokyo Eki.



Many years ago, when I first landed my foot in Tokyo, and when I first used Tokyo station, right after I landed at Narita Airport with my then GM, Mr. Jason Lee, the station used to look huge, complicated, and thanks with times, with more visits and after SOOOOOOOOO many years, I am slowly finding my ways around without losing my way. And for sure, finding my way to Daimaru shopping malls for shopping, and for buying my favorite cookies. Cool, isn't it.

Ok for this. The picture is not too good of quality, because of the reflection from the glass of my window. But what you see are many lines lighted up, they are actually railway tracks at different level, underground to I think a few floors of height.

Choong, Marunouchi, Tokyo.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Hakka Food In Mainland China-GuangZhou (上东村)

Simply fried vegetable, only with oil and salt. We have
this form of dish, but later, we added small prawns, to make
it tastier.

Pork fried in sauce, and peanuts. Simple and nice
A form of baijiu, which they have added some seeds, I will find out
the name later.
toufu (豆腐), stuffed with minced meet, and with spring onions,
cooked in soup. This is exactly what I have taken when I a boy
back in Malaysia. Yummy, I like this a lot.
Also, this, the fermented soya bean (dark colored, like daoxi, doushi)
tasted yummy, not of the pork but more of the sauce that came out from there.

The place where the restaurant is located


I was in GZ, if you read my article last week about my Leg, My Foot, I mentioned that I walked quite a distance, even for my dinner. One of the places I went to, is for this Hakka food. It is near Guangzhou city, near a hamlet or Village or Kampung in our own term lah.....
The feeling is very good, having the chance to take Hakka food in China, in GZ, where, as I understood, our ancestors came from GZ or nearby area (one of these ways, I will try to visit the place where my ancestors came from), just to satisfy my curiosity.
Hakka food is basically very simple, minimal ingredients will be added, and lots of meat. I am not sure why, perhaps Hakka were hippies before, hence we take whatever we can find, and meat is preferred as it is a source of protein, or may be they hunt and eat whatever they can get hold of.
But our cooking is simple, because we are used to eating natural taste, and moving around (lie hippies) you hardly have any herbs or other ingredients to add into the food.

In Malaysia, as you live in other environment, and herbs, seafood and other ingredients are easily available, hence we modified the taste. Like for example, we might add in some spices or we might add some Chili to have more local flavor or taste and also because of the weather, hence we modify a bit of the recipe, to have a better taste.

Though I was in deep pain, I am still glad to be able to make it here. The feeling is nostalgic, hard to describe by any forms of wordings. You just feel good..............


Choong, Beijing

Two Types Of Flour


These are two types of flour that I can get in the market. One is a local production, and another one imported. Both are fine for consumption, one is RMB 6, another one is RMB 33 per pack.

When I first came here, I tried one imported pack, which costed more than RMB 50, because I bought it from a shop that only sell goods to foreigners, called Jenny Lou's. You cannot imagine or believe, a pack of flour can cost you so much money. In Malaysia, the normal one, 1 kg is may be RMB 2 per pack, a better one might be RM 6-8 per pack, per kg?

And that is not the issue, the main point I want to highlight and which worries me, is the quality that comes with it. I read an article in a local ENglish Newspaper called CHina Daily, and it was highlighted that there were some producers in China, who were trying to make more profit by adding some chemicals or what I learned, pulverized lime (something derived from limestone), which should not be added at all, nor consumed by any of us. U see, it is dangerous...it can kill us.
So, I am not sure what to type of flour to use, as you do not know who or which mfrs will be using this chemical to be added inside the flour, as it will not be mentioned at all. Please bear in mind that this is different from the normal bleaching agent (even then, this is under controlled and mentioned). But the lime power is not suppose to be present or reported at all.
This worries me, as I can choose not to buy, but when I visit restaurants, I will never know what type of which supply source of Flour they got their supply from.

I can only be careful and take care of myself, within controllable parameters.....



Thanks.

Choong

Friday, April 9, 2010

林育群-Lin Yu Chun-Please Listen Without Prejudice.....






Dear dear, please try to listen to these two songs from this boy........cool and you would love them.

Choong, Beijing

My Leg, My Foot and MY DETTOL

Oh Gosh, I didn't what went wrong. I had a small cut, very minor one, and the small scratches that usually you will tend to ignore. I didn't even realise that I had a cut until 2 days later, as it became more painful. And when took a look, it was already a bit infected, having a bit of inflammation.
And I realised this while I was on the plane, on the way to Guangzhou (GZ). And the agony started after that. I took shower, and cleaned my so call wound with a bottle of antiseptic I brought with me. I went for my sleep, gosh, the next morning when I woke up, it became very painful that walking seemed to be a problem. I was limping to the washroom. And I could not really walk, as it became quite painful, though the wound looked rather small or almost nothing. Then I went to my office, and then my colleague brought me to a city hospital in GZ (I am not going into details here, as visiting a hospital in China is actually very tedious, you have to climb one floor to another, and visiting one department to another. And if my colleague was not with me, I was not sure if I could make it back home...........as I was already limping. And thank goodness, they clean my wound, and dress it. And gave me some medicine, and some spray. And I left, going back to office. Then to walking for my lunch, about 1KM away, raining, and walking back, then went to a customer's place in the afternoon, running after a taxi to send us back to office (under the rain) and then finally for our dinner, again, walking around to search for restaurant. By the time I reach hotel, my leg almost 'paralyzing', the wound now became reddish and swollen. And I could not move it anymore. After shower, I applied by spraying the solution and 2 more times through the nite. In the morning, I excuse myself from visiting a customer, because more walking means I might not be able to use my foot anymore..... And then I was suppose to go to Shanghai, but thank goodness, my colleague mentioned that I should not go, as taking care of the problem is more important. I appreciate their care..... and by the time I reached home, the wound has swollen into twice its original size, and reddish. After my shower, and talking to my friend in Taiwan, Dr. Devil, I applied some Dettol cream, a lot of that, before my sleep (I dreamed of my dad in my dreams,,,haha) and then when I woke up, the swelling had subsided and I could walk better. Later on, I visited another Doctor in Beijing to make sure it was fine. The Doctor said, oh meiwenti, it is recovering. I will give you another cream, you can just applied it. And if you have any problem, come to see me again (cipiak punya Doctor, macam ini pun boleh cakap ke). And I have to fork out another RMB 120 for a bottle of cream. In GZ, I paid another RMB 120. And it is better now, and I trust and hope it will be better soon.
The point that I learn from this is to take care of the small cut, no matter how small it is, esp. in environment that we are new with, where the bacteria and germs are not our 'friends' still. In Malaysia, these bacteria will not attack me, because they are environmental friendly. Just joking:). My colleague in KL, Jenna, suggested me to paste a picture here. I said NOooooooooooooooo.

And I am grateful too for the support given by my colleagues-friends.

1) Winnie, my GZ office assistant for bringing me to hospital, organising from car to helping me to register and getting the doctor and nurse to dress my wound.
2) My sales colleague for buying breakfast for me, and taking my to Beijing hospital today for further inspection.
3) Messages like these:
i) 您的辛苦我们都看在眼里.有这样的老板在前面领路.我觉得我们如果再不努力良心上都会过不去.您在这边要保护好自己.今天晚上找个中医类的足疗店捏捏脚会好些.或者去药店咨询买点膏药.有助于恢复.辛苦了!
ii) 别吃面包了,我给你带素包子和粥吧,一会你过来了吃完了咱们再去医院
iii) Tony:需要我帮你吗
iv) Marco :需要我陪你一起去吗?为什么去同仁?离你家又不近
v) 看不到你的伤也没法判断,自己注意咯.别搞严重了哦.贺刚才特地打电话给我让我叫你今天去看医生,他觉得你会听我的话还是有其他用意?呵呵不管他
vi) GO TO HOSPITAL ASAP!
vii) 听李伟说你的脚受伤了 我建议上海你不要去了直接回北京 我能应付的来
viii) And call and arrangements made by my HR colleague to go to the hospital in Beijing and our company driver

I always believe ""Do unto others as you would have others do unto you". And you see that reflections wherever you go to.........hahaha!

Choong, Beijing

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

5 April-Sweet Potato Buns

Being resourceful and trying to make some good food for myself, I make some sweet potato buns, and this time around, I use the yellow sweet potato (previously I made some steam buns using purple sweet potato).
And take a look at the pictures below:
I think it fermented well. No weighing scale, nothing, just use my gut feeling, on fermentation time, on the amount of sweet potato to use, and steaming time (I do not even have a proper set of steamer yet, will get on Stainless steel soon).
Like what Joyce mentioned in her blog on Onde onde (http://kate-ma.blogspot.com/), I like sweet potato buns a lot, can munch them without stop (have to take note of the extra carb. but don't care that much....la kan, because this is a form of high fibre food, sweet potato is rich in fibre, so, please take note on this).
But I am not satisfied with this, because it is not sweet enough, may be the sweet potato has been kept in fridge for too long and I did not add enough sugar (which of course I don't like too, unless it is natural, and possibly too much flour or not enough sweet potato. I will try to make it another round, with more sweet potato next).

Anyway, enjoying that now......yummy, haha!

Choong, Beijing

Monday, April 5, 2010

Japan-Now, My Motherland, and Europe

When I first started working in the mid nineties, I was always impressed with Japan, even until now, the feeling still amazing, everything that I go to Japan.
But somehow, with more working experience, seeing more things more on global basis, and understand more of Mgt, strategic plannings, new ideas, etc etc, I think Japan is somehow lacking behind in catching up. In very layman term, I think Japan still practices very old (though proven to be effective in the past and very efficient system) system, mgt, procedures, and though still useful, but I think if one does not innovate, change, improvised on the existing ones, to reflect the current global needs and future needs of the nation and the world, it will be left behind. Just feeling that Japan is getting 'older', just like a machine that needs to be change, where regular maintenance would not improve the efficiency better.
(When you arrive at Japanese main airports, and you can see that system remains intact for close to 20 years, and you compare that with Korea, you can see how much and dynamic Korea has changed. And how fast Samsung and LG is moving compared to the major brands in Japan....).
I hope Japan will be also to do that, because, that is one of the country I like and admired most. I hope it will not disappoint me.

Of course having said that, I know my own country is not doing well too, a new machine, without any maintenance, and without R&D that will bring it forward. It is like dying of young age, without knowing the actual disease.

Having said all too, I know Europe is having some problems, but honestly, I feel Europe will be better. Bringing all European countries together, with different background and interest could be difficult, but having visited Europe quite frequently, I think and believe it will move forward, in better and more organised manner, once the present issues are solved and I have confidence it will move forward, faster and well organised. I like how the take care of the environment, how they improve on human rights issues, and how some countries like Germany for example, come out with good quality products for export market. Too much to write here, but simply speaking, I have confidence in Europe and hence will continue investing in Euro:). Haha.


Choong, Beijing

Disturbance

Today, the mood is not very nice.
And somehow, I just hate when some unknowns coming to knock on my door, out of nowhere, wanting to see the apartment.
Under normal circumstances, and being Asians, I would consider, but somehow, I think I am becoming more Westernised and the fact that I think this lady is just behaving rudely, knocking and bringing some potential clients over to my place, without notifying and getting my agreement in advance just makes me fuming. How dare on earth she comes to my place without my informing in advance. i called the owner and I called the apartment mgt to kick her out. I just hate the idea of someone coming, intruding the privacy I am having and not respecting the personal space that I need.
Niamah!

Choong, Beijing

Friday, April 2, 2010

Being Malaysians

As this is the place where I write what I think and feel, I have to say something about this.
I feel a bit annoyed, being 100% Malaysian at heart, that our leaders subscribe to the idea that it is okay to be identified by race first. After all, I am not, and I find this a bit unacceptable and amusing to have it coming from top leaders of the country. To me it is a bit misleading.

I mean when we were at school, we sing our National song, we are proud to be learn and speak our National language, and everything about Malaysia. When we are out of the country, how many of us really say, I am Malay, or I am Chinese, or I am Indian. I, for one, will never do so. I always identified myself as Malaysian, and if further question is asked, they I will answer to them that my ancestors were from China, hence of my 'Chinese look" and cultural influence. I of course, am proud of my Chinese ancestry, but I never for once identified myself as a Chinese. And working in China now, I have also told the same, that I am Malaysian. And my overseas colleagues called us "Malay" too. They say, you are 'Malay', because we come from Malaysia

Back in Malaysia, in my circle of friends that I have, race issue has never been asked, because growing up in this environment, we know we are Malaysians at heart. I mean how many of us ask, "Hangpa Melayu kah", Lu Cina ke, or you India ke? Unless they are of mixed parentage, then our curiosity is there, and we would like to know more, or when it comes to our East Malaysian friends which we do not know much, we would like to know if they are Kadazans, or Ibans,....etc, but this is more of trying to understand them rather then bringing up the issue of race.
In Malaysia, we usually would say, I am Penangites, or I am from Penang, or orang utara, etc. You orang Kelantan ke? Orang Pahang.....something like this.
And we never asked if our Malays friends Melayu Tulen or Melayu campuran, did we?
We just accept each other as Malaysian, and that he is how I grow up with, believing in this concept, even when I started working, we have Malay colleagues, and we just do not talk about this, cause it is already known that they are of Malay origin, and I am of Chinese ancestry.
When we met customers, we do not say, I am Chinese, and he is a Malay. We are Malaysians, and belong to the same country, is this not the case?


And I always remember our state song which I still remember the lyrics until now and the Song that I can still sing until now, as our music teacher was very demanding, making sure each of us singing into the right tune,

Selamat Tuhan kurniakan,
Selamat Pulau Pinang,
Negeriku yang mulia,
Kutaat dan setia,
Aman dan bahagia,
Majulah jayalah,
Negeriku yang ku cinta,
Bersatu dan bersama,
Untuk negeri kita.

Choong, Beijing

Thursday, April 1, 2010

In Memory Of Mr. Leslie Cheung






Today, 1 April 2010, is the seventh anniversary of the passing away of my beloved Kokor.
Yesterday, when I arrived and visiting a project site, the driver who drove us around was having his radio on, the station was playing some of the songs from Leslie, many many songs that I used to listen too, and that feeling is actually hard to describe. You know songs that you grew up with, songs that carry certain meaning in your life, especially when they are sung by your favorite singers, and most importantly, after their passing away, it means more, deeper than just listening to these songs alone.

I wanted to paste a song from youtube, but since in China, I cannot have access to youtube, hence, I will do it later when I have the chance outside, or if someone can help to do that for me, haha.

The song I want to put here is 有谁共鸣, I love this song a lot.
Here is the lyric:

歌名:有誰共鳴
附註:
語言:粵語, 曲長:0m0s
作曲:谷村新司, 編曲:趙增熹
監製:, 填詞:小美

抬頭望星空一片靜
我獨行 夜雨漸停
無言是此刻的冷靜
笑問誰 肝膽照應
風急風也清 告知變幻是無定
未明是我苦笑卻未停
不信命 只信雙手去苦拼
矛盾是無力去暫停
可會知 我心裡困倦滿腔
夜闌靜 問有誰共鳴
從前是天真不冷靜
愛自由 或會忘形
明白是得失總有定
去或留 輕鬆對應
孤單中顫抖 我知我實在難受
問誰願意失去了自由
想退後 心裡知足我擁有
前去亦全力去尋求
風也清 晚空中我問句星
夜闌靜 問有誰共鳴
May you rest in peace, Korkor.


Choong, Yinchuan

YinChuan (银川)

Oh dear, how I miss my writing and my blog updating. And also, I want to write something on my new blog, The Glamorous Jerry, but could not find the time to do so as yet.

Since time is a bit limited, I have to articles to write today.
First one, as per the title mentioned above.
I came here less than 16hours after coming back to Beijing. I am here because of a project, and last nite, have a drinking session. What I want to say here is to raise my dissatisfaction about the hotel condition here. It is suppose to be the 5 star hotel, the room I had is so big, so grand, but wait a minute, lets not just look at the surface. For a start, the hotel name sounds complicated, Boyue Wingaol hotel. And when I was having my shower in a big bathroom, the water does not flow into the water outlet that suppose to drain the water out of the shower room. Instead it flows out to the bathroom, and flooded the area. And I have to cut shot my shower. Then there is this midnite noise, throughout the nite. I do not know how to describe the noise, but it is like some mechanical parts is moving, and it ended with a 'gong' sound. I am really sick of this.
And to make it worse, since I have sometime before I move to airport, I thought of updating this blog and I called to the front desk to ask if wireless if applicable, she said yes. Then after switching on my computer, I found that I can't and if need password, and the service provider does not belong to the hotel. I called up again, and she said yes another time, and has agreed to send someone to help out. 10 minutes waiting, nothing. Then I called up housekeeping, and he said, no, cable is needed, but I should find one in the room, inside the drawer (being a frequent traveler, don't you think I should know where to find this. I have been searching high and low for one, and that was the reason I called them up). Then the limit has been reached, and I called, if within 2 minutes, there cable is not sent, I will ask for the Mgr. 1 minute later, a lady sent it to my room. I asked her what made her so long, and she just look at me, speechless. and then, when she woke up, she answered, 先生, 您房没有网线吗? (Mr. ,,,, can't u find your cable in your room), oh gosh................I almost lost my coolness here.

That's all for this. It makes me really fed-up and with my lacking in my beauty sleep spoiled by that 'sound', it makes me feeling even worse. And I still hear that sound now. I thought in middle of the nite, something is not right, but believing in Buddhism, that did not really scare me. I already started my Amitabha,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.

Choong, Yinchuan