Pre-Shopping Day

After a solid night's sleep Saturday night (thanks, Benadryl!), we had a quick breakfast of congee and noodles at an open-air restaurant and then headed to Mongkok to meet up with Daniel's aunt and look for a hotel for later in the week. This brought us near a prime shopping district, so we had to start browsing. Today was just a planning day, to see what was available and for what price; we'll be doing more serious shopping later in the week, after we've had a chance to scope out all the deals. We weren't the only ones out looking for Sunday bargains; the sidewalks were crowded with both locals and tourists.

We met up with Daniel's friend Maggie for dim sum at a highly recommended restaurant (I have no idea what it was called, but it earned one star in the famous Michelin guide, and was worth the wait). Afterwards, Daniel and Maggie wanted to get a massage, so we wandered around to find a place that had an opening for 3. Daniel and Maggie opted for a 90 minute full-body massage, while I decided to try just my feet. (I still don't get why people subject themselves to foot massages - I have always found them to be very painful, the only real chance at a Happy Ending is when the masseuse finally stops. :) )

Daniel met some high school friends for dinner, so I went with Maggie to Causeway Bay for more shopping. Culture clash of the day: shopping in a Japanese store in Hong Kong with John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" blasting over the store's sound system.

Family Dinner

Our first night in town was spent having dinner with Daniel's family. I always enjoy these dinners, in spite of my inability to participate in the Cantonese conversation. The abundance of talking and laughter reminds of past meals with my own extended family.

And the food is always good! The meal is served family style, with a variety of fish, meat, and vegetarian dishes. I like to share photos of the more unusual aspects of the food, like these chicken heads. (They were served with the dishes as a garnish; I've never seen anyone actually eat them.) However, most of what was served was fairly standard stuff - if you're used to eating any Chinese food at all, you'd recognize it (ignoring, of course, the giant fish tail dish).

Daniel's aunt always asks me how I like the food in Hong Kong. She contends that their food tastes fresher. I don't usually notice a difference, but tonight I'd have to agree with her. Everything was more tasty than normal - more peppery, more gingery, more sweet-and-soury. Or perhaps it was just my jetlagged taste buds on sensory overload.

Hurry Up and Wait

Getting to the plane is always the worst part of the trip - dreading the earlier-than-usual alarm (yet hoping it actually goes off and that I hear it), waiting for the car service to show up, praying the rush hour traffic keeps moving, that there will be short lines at check-in, that I'm not carrying anything that gets the TSA in a tizzy. We managed to get through all that this morning and then had to wait another hour to board. I wish I'd gotten a better night's sleep, but one of my friends butt-dialed me right when I was failing asleep, and it took a while for me to drop off again. Hopefully that means that I'll be able to sleep some during the flight. We're boarding now, another line to wait on...

An Asian Adventure

I'm about to head out on an extended trip to China. Instead of just posting photos, I thought it might be fun to use this blog to report on my activities. How successful I am all depends on how easy it is to find free Internet access. Keep your fingers crossed that I can find a Starbucks or McDonalds when I need one! :)

Geocacher Was Here

It has been a while since I created any new items on Zazzle. I have been having a bit of a creative block - I wanted to use Zazzle as a way to share my photographs, but I am still struggling with the types of shots and products people might be interested in.

I was talking with a friend of mine about the recent popularity of Geocaching and what Zazzle items might interest these "treasure hunters." He suggested coming up with something that a geocacher could leave behind in a cache. It would have to be something small, since many of these caches don't have a lot of room. I noticed that Zazzle offers a "skinny" sized business card (3" x 1"), and thought that this would be ideal for a personalized geocache calling card or signature card of sorts. Using this item, I designed a number of simple cards using my photographs. These are template cards that allow a geocacher to add their own name and hometown, and perhaps an e-mail address or web URL. A geocache hider could also place these cards in their cache as a souvenir for those who have managed to find it. (Simply click "Customize It!" on the product page, and edit the "This cache was found by" line to say "is owned by" or "was hidden by".)

For those that want to take it a step further, I also designed a template calling card that allows for adding their own photographs on both the front and back of the card. This is ideal for geocachers who have a personal logo, or want to use a photo of themselves or of a landmark from their hometown.

Hopefully there will be some interest in these types of items. If anyone has any suggestions about what I could do to improve upon my geocache calling cards, I'd love to hear them!

Kalaka with a friend!

I was planning a going-away party for a co-worker last week. In the interest of saving fuel, I wanted to remind everyone to carpool to the restaurant. For fun, I decided to use a term from my childhood in the invite. It was from a public service announcement which aired during the gas crisis of the 70's. A cartoon Noah is explaining that he was the first to carpool, and how they called it "kalaka" in his day. The ad ended with "Kalaka with a friend!" I changed it slightly in the invite, saying "Kalaka with a co-worker or two!" I had hoped that at least some of my peers (age-wise) would get a smile out of this memory.

Would you believe, no one at all remembers this? I don't know why it stuck in my brain. I can't seem to find much history about the ad, other than this entry in the Urban Dictionary. Perhaps it only aired in the New York Metropolitan area? Does anyone else remember this and know more about it?

Big Controversy Over Small World

I'm a big fan of the "It's A Small World" attraction at the Disney parks; I even have a Squidoo lens about it. So as you can imagine, I have been following the latest controversy over this innocuous ride with much interest. It all started with this MiceAge article, in which Al Lutz talked about rumored changes to the classic attraction, including the addition of Disney characters to some of the scenes, and the replacement of the rain forest scene with a patriotic tribute to the United States.

The article ruffled a lot of feathers, including Kevin L. Blair, son of the late Mary Blair. (I have a Squidoo lens about her too!) This letter was posted on the Re-Imagineering blog, from Kevin to Disney executives, urging them not to tamper with Mary Blair's "Children of the World" theme. (Be sure to read the discussion comments which follow - some interesting points are raised, both pro and con.)

Kevin L. Blair's letter, along with comments from many fans, generated a response from Marty Sklar, The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, found here on The Disney Blog. (Be sure to read John Frost's initial thoughts on Marty's letter, found in the first Comment after the letter.)

The rumored enhancements have instigated the creation of Save the Rainforest, Save the Small World. This web site is an attempt to convince The Walt Disney Company to do the right thing, and contains contact information for those who wish to write to the company and express their displeasure in these changes.

Additional links to articles and web pages on this topic:

• John Frost provides additional thoughts about Marty Sklar's letter


• From the Re-Imagineering blog, The World Of Animation Speaks includes comments about the proposed changes from many famous people from the Animation industry.


• The Disney Gossip blog claims to have the real story behind the changes to the beloved attraction, and it doesn't have a happy ending.


• Disney archivist Dave Smith pipes in with his opinion in these letters to LaughingPlace.com. And John Frost has a frosty response on The Disney Blog.


• 2719 Hyperion's Jeff Pepper takes a step back and makes some level-headed observations about the entire debate.

My thoughts on all this? I believe that the idea that an attraction can be plussed by throwing Disney characters into it shows a huge lack of creativity and imagination from a company that is supposed to excel in those concepts. Sure, the characters are popular, but they are already all over the place, and too much of a good thing is not usually good. (It's sad that The Walt Disney Company hasn't learned its lesson from "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.") What's next, updating the Hall of Presidents, replacing George W with the real Goofy? There are other ways to plus an attraction, perhaps throwing in a few special effects, like they did with the Jungle Cruise renovations. No characters slipped in there, but the pirhana effect was a big hit.

And then there's the rumor about the Imagineers destroying the rainforest scene to replace it with that tribute to America. If that is true, then I am simply amazed that the WDC cannot see what a PR nightmare that would create. Besides the symbolic ecological implications from a company that pretends to be so green, I've always thought of that scene, with its flamboyant cat and alligator, as a mini-tribute to the gay community. I wouldn't be surprised if the destruction of those characters ruffled a few rainbow-colored feathers as well.