Author Archives: sinyaw

Beijing’s Spider Men

Beijing discourages high-rises, no ShangHai-styled skyscrapers. CBD’s Hyatt Park holds the current record: 64 stories of nearly 250 meters. Others are strangely uniform at about 60 meters, or about 30 stories. Not too high and consistent enough to create an … Continue reading

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When do you go to lunch?

Day Light Saving comes with many assumptions; the key one is that it saves energy, and therefore money. In summer, when days are long, why not go home and enjoy your lives under the bright sun: catch a short round … Continue reading

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User’s Manual to Human Body 人体使用手册

User’s Manual to Human Body 人体使用手册 吳清忠 ISBN: 7536046316 Pub. Date: 2006å¹´1月 Publisher: 花城出版社 Cross posted at http://blogs.sun.com/syw. If a free and legal version of the same book is available online, would you go to the bookstore and buy a … Continue reading

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新版狗不理

6年前来北京,看到“苟不理”真兴奋。这包子可是天下闻名哪。迫不急待买他一屉,大失所望。勉强吃半屉,油味就塞饱了。老婆来时也过了同样的历程。我们双双发誓,永不再吃苟不理。和北京人谈起,“苟不理是天津菜,北京的不地道。要吃上天津去。”有回,老婆真去了趟天津,找到了正宗狗不理包子。“好吃,和北京的大不同。下次一起去天津吃。” 没错,“苟”不理,应该是“狗”不理。 几年过去。上个月,老婆有事去大闸栏。一看居然狗不理有个新门脸,买屉试试。一吃大大兴奋,味道和天津的一样。好极了。回家上网查查,东直门内簋街也有一家。刚好有个朋友要回美国。给她饯行呗,一伙人尽欢而归。而我至今还没吃到真正的狗不理包子呢。 Hal Stern几年前看了我的博志,及后来续篇。当他决定访华时,也一心要吃这大大有名的包子。终于,我有机会一尝天津狗不理包子了。他在华的最后一晚,一行四人,初试簋街狗不理。 这可不是路边的包子铺,是个观光大饭店。有门面,有带位,有经理,有伙记。当然也有彩色菜单,酒水饮料。包子一个可以20元。现包现蒸。Jim Baty一口咬下,“感觉像喝了口香槟。”哇塞,有这么好吗?大伙纷纷动手动口。又热又香,小到一口吃,热到拿不住。皮甜馅香,微带点汁。是好。 其他的菜就一般了。值得一提的是狗不理烧酒,点了高度的,顺口流畅,白酒里是不错的,但比名牌的便宜太多。值得一喝。

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Hilary-Obama Ticket

This 2008 election made fools out of pundits. Which of them even considered McCain just a few months ago? Bright-eyed, confident, 72-year-old, he is too pleased to see the attrition war on the other side. Hilary definitely did not expect … Continue reading

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DunHuang Grottoes 敦煌石窟

The construction of DunHuang Grottoes started around 360AD and lasted over a thousand years. Buddhaists transformed hundreds of caves into temples and decorated them lavishly with murals and scupltures. They imported art styles from India and mid-east. They captured ancient … Continue reading

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A World Perspective 细心看世界

Always have facts with you. Visionaries and pundits dazzle you with grand predictions or scare you with warnings of dire consequences. You need facts for perspectives. Find the most populous and prosperous countries in the world, and remove those only … Continue reading

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Fly Clear

At airport, someone zoomed through the security line with a privileged air, leaving us normal people enviously curious. I observed. Impressive machines hide behind the entrance guarded by burly uniformed. “How do I?” “Have 30 minutes?” I did and could … Continue reading

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Resident Evil 生化危机

Resident EvilsMilla JovovichPub. Date: 2002, 2004, 2007 I am so sorry. Unlike more sophisticated people that watched Oscar nominees, I watch all 3 Resident Evils this weekend: Biohazard, Apocalypse, and Extinction. I feel so mindless, just like when I finished RoboCop … Continue reading

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Beijing Markets

Foods represent an interesting economic phenomenum in China. The essentially same product may have a range of prices that can be 100 fold: the high end is 100 times more than the low end. It bewilders me that vendors in … Continue reading

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