This white tank top dress has s similar style sells $120. Bit too plain thou.

Our first NY vs NJ match had gone well, thanks to Sherry and her team’s tireless effort. First isn’t exactly the right word here since this type of matches had happened in the past. But since it’s my first, so it’s the first. The idea was hatched while we were playing the sectional at Albany. Paul suggested that I should introduce myself to our fifth enemy – our last match was against NJ. It was an easy conversation with Sherry and we agreed on the spot that the friendly battle across Hudson River should continue, from time to time. My aim is to keep my team focused during the off season, monthly match with identical format and number of players. NJ volunteered to do the first. As it turned out, it became a huge party, three courts became 9. The generous hospitality they extended to us was enjoyed and appreciated by all of us.
Our little team welcomed two new comers: Ricky and Helen. Rick had expressed his desire not to team up with his lovely wife
“So I would have dinner for the rest of my life.”
Out of pity, I teamed up with him, thinking what kind of woman is she. Not cooking dinner n all that.

So she teamed up with Simon playing next to us. As it turned out, Ricky was very lovesick, constantly longingly looking to the court next to us; whenever I missed a shot, which was often, he would musing out loud ..
” 你这么杂? 我老婆一早就搞定佐了 .. 你真是无用…. hmmmmm … Helen would have gotten that easily …”

So Irene was fooled – they are lovebird too .. pretty good excuse on my part for losing the close match: 4:6, 5:7.
Sorry Rick, I’ll run faster next time; play harder and scream louder …

The next match was doubles, Helen and I faced a super girl and her young partner, freshly arrived. NJ team has far more players and they rotate to play two hours match while we did four hours.
One look at our opponents, especially Pat we got discouraged. She has this marvelous physiques, sculptured muscle and perfectly toned body.
We lost 4:6, 4:6
The reason should be obvious by now .. that my partner was constantly looking for her hubby and musing out loud ..
“你这么杂? 我老婆 公一早就搞定佐了 .. 你真是无用… ”
“我 老公一早就埋单了 ..”

Sight … 我真不知怎么这么好运 峨嵋山: 被老公吼了然后在被老婆骂 ..

Okay .. in reality, I was tired and couldn’t really move my legs and feet and all that. Pat and Lucy were great good player who played well. The atmosphere was light and jolly, the usual case when the match is loop sided.

Anyway, my kids and I would like to say thank you.

The original lovebirds… My 金童玉女常胜军 … 好像有人回娘家了, Paul? .. The new lovebirds: not his daughter

Roger is playing against Berdych in the Rogers in Toronto.  He has gray short on, looking like a midtown secretary to me.  I knew I would feel sorry should Roger goes (retire), for not many players use single hand back hand, not to mention his elegant style.  .. but I’m cheering for Berdych.

Earlier today Maria Sharapova took out Bartoli. She wore the same dress. The only thing I’d like to change is shoulder of the dress, which unfortunately is bit too frilly for my taste.

Maria’s match has half or quarter filled audience while Roger played to a full house.

My first encounter with this consulate was in late 1980s when I went to apply for my first ever Chinese passport. There was a blond girl before me. The receptionist at the window was all smile and yeses. I instantly felt at ease, my country and my home – 大约还是 我们 北京的哥们儿 .. ..
But ..
When it was my turn, the pleasing smile was gone. In place was hard stare and impatience.
横眉竖眼的, 简直有点气势汹汹
Guess he liked blond.
That’s my China.
Sounds so yesterdecade. Well, it was last decade.
Thursday I went back at around noon. Oh lord, the visa hall was nearly empty. Don’t you just hate to see good thing goes waste? Wished that I handed my application in this day instead.

Picking up visa, first I had to wait on line at Window 9 to take a number – got #27. How do you like my green nail polish? .. Then wait on line at Window 8 to pay and pick up the passport. I have no idea what this step – Window 9 – means, it doesn’t make much sense to me. No, the consulate did not ask for my opinion.
Current fee for visa has just increased since March 1, 2010 from $130 (this amount is still stated on their web site) to $140. It’s been good five months and they haven’t even bothered to change it. I’m just wondering what happens when people pay with cashier’s check when the amount has to be exact. Also, $140 is bit steep. Is China fighting back or what? I’ve heard few Chinese friends who complained the high fees the American charges in China. Oh what ever, China is red hot, everyone wants to go. Hmmmmm .. can they not charge us, for we were born in China for Pete’s sake.

We accept money order, company check, Master or Visa Card only. Cash and other payments are not accepted. Money order or company check should be made payable to “Chinese Consulate General in New York”.

Over all, the process is efficient and the manner is professional…. errrrrhhhhh … the hand written note is bit eyesore tho.

On an impulse I shopped around for a Chinese visa (single entry visa; on 8/13 exchange rate) and here is what I got :

• G. Britain £30 or about US$47 for the Brits but for Americans [who will apply a visa to China while in UK] is £70 or about US$109
• France €35 or about US$55 for the Frenchies but for the Yankees it is €75 or $96
• Germany €30 or about US$38 for Germans but €115 or $147 for me if I were to apply a Chinese visa as an American while in Frankfurt

See the second photo [from left] below, I got it from the site of UK – there even a notice posted for the Americans .. what did 美国佬 do to China for getting singled out?

We Americans are dirt poor nowadays, why do we have to pay more? It is just simply not fair.

Cleveland Orchestra Critic, Despite Losing Lawsuit, Feels He Had His Say. Don Rosenberg who’s been covering the classical music in Cleveland for 16 years for The Plain Dealer was pulled off the beat when he was very negative toward the orchestra, especially targeting conductor Franz Welser-Most. The Orchestra complained to the newspaper and the paper obliged, hence Rosenberg sued.

Auntie Wang (1923 – 7/7/2010) was one of Mom’s close friends in Beijing. I don’t know where is habit stemming from but many Chinese would shorten their friend’s name from three characters down to two: family name plus the first character of given name. Like 王匡智, she was commonly called Wang Kuang 王匡.

They were editors at the scientific magazine Acta Zoologica Sinica 昆虫学报: Wang was the senior and Mom the junior. Auntie Wang was ever even tempered and cautious while Mom was outgoing and rather careless or naive. One of the things Wang would tell me about my Mom was during the bloody Culture Revolution ..
“Your Mom wasn’t healthy and she often got sick leaves. The last one she got [in 1968] was during the high of the CR. Everyone was crazy, every fictions were out there to get someone, to destroy their opponents. I saw it coming for her and advised her to stay home.”
This sick leave was god send to save Mom but she had her own agendas and thoughts that bewilder all her family and friends.
“I told her to stay in the city with her father, stay away from this crazy thing at danwei (单位 – the work unit or company [the Institute of Zoology]). But she won’t. She asked me
‘What could I do everyday in the city?’
‘Rest! You’re sick and you’re weak. You need a good long rest.’
She won’t listen.
‘If you’re so bored, grow some flowers.’
‘Flowers? That’s so bourgeoisie!!’” Mom would reply.
小资产阶级
What’s the heck is that?!
I remembered Auntie Wang would chuckled at the thought of my Mom, the hot headed devotee of Chairman Mao.
“We’re not one of them. We have spotted family background. I really don’t know why she was so in to it. ..”

Neither did I nor my Jiujiu and the entire family.

After Mom’s suicide, she and Aunt Spading had convinced Dad that move me back to Beijing (from Tianjin) for schooling was the best for me and she served as my guardian. We had smooth relationship as vs the stormy one I had with Auntie Spading.
Her husband Wang Pingyuan 王平远 was a senior Researcher 研究员 (or academician 院士) with the IOZ. They had a very comfortable life. Two daughters who’s bit older than I am and both daughters got send down to the country 上山下乡. When it was time to return – perhaps one at time – the older daughter came back first. She eventually got married to a PhD. They tried to go to UK but settled in the USA, now a grandmother of two. The younger sister isn’t so lucky. She came back to Beijing from the countryside but remains single till this day. She lives with her parents in Beijing; her dad passed away in 2002.
I last saw Auntie Wang in 2003. Regretfully I went without the kids. She was already bed ridden but with a clear mind; the apartment’s airy and comfortable, they had a young maid .. .. and a lovely dog.

On the same say, I also visited another Mom’s close friend, Uncle Chen Yixin 陈一心. Uncle Chen was dapper but by 2003 he was reduced to bond and skin by cancer. Unlike Aunt Wang, he married briefly to a colleague [whom I knew and liked] but soon was divorced. He passed his last days alone in a walk up apartment within the IOZ compound (people used to live where their Danwei is). It might have been his wish and choice but to me, I would consider a family and children is the ultimate [and unbeatable] luxury one could wish for.
The younger daughter 彤姐 wrote to me that

.. 她走了，[我]也解脱了 .. 我现在很好，算是帮助妈妈解脱病魔的折磨，她的痛苦我真是素手无策，9年她也真是不易，最痛苦的时间不长，还算欣慰。

By no mean I would want to drag my children alone the way. Lily’s way is the ideal way, sudden and swift. Not to be a burden to anyone, especially my loved ones.

Warren Buffett [1930-] has never spoken publicly about his views on abortion. But in the 1990s, according to The Wall Street Journal, the Buffett Foundation helped finance the research and development of the pills that induce abortion. The foundation also helped finance a lawsuit to overturn the ban on so-called partial-birth abortion in Nebraska, Buffett’s home state and the headquarters of his company, Berkshire Hathaway. (Susan Thompson Buffett [1932-2004] moved from Omaha to San Francisco in 1977 but remained close to her husband. She took credit for introducing him to the woman he has lived with since 1978; the three sent out Christmas cards together.) In Thompson Buffett’s only television interview, which was broadcast after her death, she told Charlie Rose: “Warren feels that women all over the world get shortchanged. That’s why he’s so pro-choice.”

This article is all about abortion [let's not go there this time!] .. Amicable relationships could be maintained, under many if not any circumstances.

page 45: [..Mao toured Shanghai in 1958.. and went to watch The Story of the White Snake.]

The row was made up of single soft chairs in cloth covers. I sat next to Mao so as to be close to him, as was required of a guard on 24-hour duty. Mao was big-bellied; when he sat down I loosened his waist-belt as usual so that it wouldn’t become to [sic too] tight for comfort.

.. His nostrils began to twitch, and tears moistened his eyes. Soon, the tears began to cascade down his cheeks in large drops and splash onto his chest.
..
And then something quite unexpected happened.
In a sudden outburst of anger, Mao, slamming his big hand down on the armrest of the chair, shot up from his seat, proclaiming, “Revolution! Rebellion! Th’s the only answer!”
I was totally unprepared for anything like that. With his waist-belt loosened, his pants dropped the moment he stood up. As if propelled by a ramrod, I dashed to him, got hold of his pants and pulled them up. ..

page 111

What plagues Mao
Two things troubled Mao almost all his life: bowel movement and sleep.
..
It was a quiet night. The rain had made the fields soggy. Mao stopped at a small mount and loosened his belt. When I knew he was going to relieve himself, I relaxed a bit.
Mao squatted down. I kept a watch round-about. concealing myself in the darkness. I don’t recall how long he remained in that position. When he rose at last, he didn’t walk away immediately; squatting down too long must have numbed his legs, and when he moved away his steps were unsteady.
“Why didn’t you use the toilet, Comrade Chairman?” I asked.
“It stinks. The smell there hurts your brain,” Mao grumbled.
..
.. Then he asked me, “Shall we reach another agreement? Every time I want to relieve myself, you grab a shovel and dig a hole for me. What do you say?”
“Agreed,” I said. That’s what I did from then on, even after Mao moved to Zhongnanhai in Beijing: I would dig a hole and fill it up again. It was only after Zhou Enlai had a toilet designed and built especially for Mao, in his bedroom, that I was relieved of the shovel duty.

炕 kang – a heatable brick bed in short forwarded to me by Renate from Margit Matthews.

A raised platform-style bed, traditionally built of baked mud, which was heated from underneath by a chimney from the stove, the smoke from which would keep the occupants warm during the harsh northern winters.

While travelling through the airport, please be courteous when dealing with our staff.

Our staff are trying to help you with your journey.

Any threats, verbal abuse or violence towards our staff will be taken seriously and you may be prosecuted.

I found this troubling note posted at the service counter of Aer Lingus in Dublin. My first thought was .. lord, some civilization out here. Then somewhat understood or sympathetic with passengers who might lose their cool in the heat of an argument or long travel because we just experienced one at that moment.
~
One night in the spring we were driving home, kids asked me where we were going this summer.
“Europe.”
They laughed and joked about the Blarney Stone, among few things.
I smiled to myself, the memory of watching it with them still vivid.
At that time, I was looking for air fares and when I saw Aer Lingus, I grabbed it.
Just to amuse the kids.
Good lesson learnt for not doing any research on an airline that I’ve never dealt with.

Fast forward to this past July. We had an early morning connecting flight in Heathrow: arriving from Frankfurt at 8:10 on BA and departing at 9:50 by Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus doesn’t have a check in machine at FFM airport so we had to do in at LHR (I thought it would .. lesson #1: never assume ..). Luckily BA arrived well before 8am and we sat at row 4 so we got off quickly with our carry ons feeling relaxed. Then from Terminal 5 to T1 by bus took nearly 30 minutes. No speedy rails. I travel light, only had carry on so we were ok. Aer Lingus doesn’t provide auto check in machines inside – we didn’t have to go through immigration. The counter had only one agent and the queue as longer than I felt comfortable with. After 3 minutes of waiting, I started walk toward the counter then I heard the agent announced that his machine wasn’t working, broken.
“Please go straight to Gate 77-84, the agent there will check you in.”

Another long walk to the gate, in about 15 minutes we found this agent at the counter. The info board about the flight departures was hanging high to the right. It was few minutes before 9am and the Status of our flight indicated:
Go to Gate
10 minutes passed. The agent was leisurely doing what she was suppose to do and the line did not move an inch.
I turned around asking the girl behind us where they were going.
“Shannon.”
Good, we were on the same boat.
As it turned out, her family, Dad and Mom just arrived from Boston.
Our flight status changed to
Boarding
I tried to talk to the agent to check us in first but all the passengers before us were trying to get on this flight as well, although they might have different issues.
I was wondering: where was the first agent whose machine wasn’t working, shouldn’t he be here to help out? This agent was in no hurry, took her sweet time talking on the phone, etc.
The Boston Mom had left for the gate
“I’ll tell them to wait for us ..”
Actually it was another brisk 20 minutes on foot distance and she doubled back.
We both talked to the agent asking please just let us go ..
She wouldn’t hear us, continued her phone conversation and said,
“I’ll hand them to you ..”
Our flight status changed to
Gate closed
She looked at the Boston Mom and I said,
“You have to re-book. Go out to the service counter .. ” and mentioned that we might have to pay.
Then went back to her phone conversation and said,
“I’m going to take a break ..”
The queue hadn’t moved and there were at least 15 passengers waiting for some sort of assistance.
Our blood was curdling was an understatement.
I wasn’t sure if we both pressed hard at this slow agent she would react the same way as JetBlue attendant Steven Slater.

We reluctantly went outside (from the connecting flight area, a.k.a. gone through the immigration). The BM tried to talk to a supervisor to avoid this unnecessary step but to no avail. As soon as we arrived at the out side service counter, I saw the sign (top right). There were few empty self check in machines.
Two young girls were manning the counter and they immediately said all the flight were booked full and called some one. A middle aged lady came, business-like who didn’t mention additional payment at all. Few moments past as she was busily typing into the computer. The Boston family would take 2pm flight out to Shannon and the Engs would take 11am to Dublin and 5pm flight back to JFK.

It was the female agent’s attitude that was truly irritating, terrible to say the least. How could she even entertain the idea of taking a break while the passengers were waiting [at least kept that to herself]. Where were others to help out at the moment of break down?
Unbelievable.
Lesson learnt.
End of my Blarney Stone story.
[I'm sure this was the highlight of our trip for kids .. JK!!]

This is just one woman opinion.

An American official attended the Ceremony at Hiroshima?! For what Japs had done to China and Asia as a whole? Have they forgotten the Nanking Massacre? A billion plus people cheered the bombing, wasn’t that enough to justify the act? Shouldn’t the Americans embrace the billion plus strong cheers then the few sorry cries? What’s more puzzling is Ban Ki-moon was there to. A Korean, hmmmmmm .. the comfort women no long an issue for Koreans. Will USA soon to kowtow to the Nazi?
Oh I must forgot apologizing is America’s new hobby.
It is the time for the Japs finally to admit guilt and apologize to the world.

On my way home from tennis, I pit stopped at my local drug store – Rite Aid to pick my passport photos. The store had just opened. The cashier seemed alone and was tending a customer. She called out for help. A female clerk came. She looked around but couldn’t find. She asked if it was ready and when did I submit it. When she heard I did it last night she was positive that my photos won’t be ready since the delivery only made few times a week.
I patiently explain to her that I did on the Internet and should be printed in their store. I did this before, few times in fact.
She won’t hear it.
“Come back next week.”
That annoyed me. I showed her the email confirmation that my pictures were ready for picking up.
After a second look she called out for more help. A male clerk came. He couldn’t, so he asked me the same set of questions.
Also asked if it was their store.
Hmmmmm good thinking sweet heart. Let me see .. I read out the address of the store in the email and asked him if it’s his store.
He claimed he’s the manager. But this store manager apparently didn’t know his store address. He went out to check. Weird.
“Is there another manager available? .. Can you please check your computer?”
I was really losing my patient.
He looked hurt and told me the other manager wasn’t available.
The hell. Call him out.
He raised his voice too, shouting
“I told you it is not ready.”
..
Finally the other manager came. He calmly consulted his computer and print them out. Something got stopped somewhere. But it wasn’t something complicated. Just little initiative and willingness to work. Am I right? Stupid and lazy people are everywhere.

I always admire her outfits on court

Wondering why it looks so good

Then I realized she has a narrow waist

I didn’t get to measure her – let’s not get too extreme

but I think 19 inches aren’t too far from the fact

She should look great in Maria’s new outfit

19″

Oh lord, I was born with a 23″ waistline

Ok, no mathematician here .. but it was close to that

not 19″!!

This new Sportime opened last June (6/30/2009) with a price tag of $18 Million, for WTT – World Team Tennis. Pretty cool. We played there in June, the lighting was poor unless they turn on the ally way. There was bathrooms for non members.

This picture looks like a painting more than a photography.