Adventures of a Halfie....

Why is Twitter (microblogging) more enticing than Blogging...

2009-06-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

So the obvious answer is because it's only asking for 140 char (i.e. a concise message).

However I think it's also because of

(a) "follower" model in Twitter - that means there are people who I know are going to listen/see my Tweet (assuming they are actively on)

(b) some of the great apps that are easily accessible on my iPhone (TwitterFon)

(c) some of the great apps that are on my desktop (i.e. TweetDeck) that enable me to connect to multiple social networks, and to personalize the searches (i.e. show me the replies to my Tweets)

(d) the fact that I can get SMS to my phone about people's tweets or reponsses to Tweets

(e) the tiny url phenomenom that spawned for Twitter (such as http://bit.ly/) that enables me to shorten urls to letters/ids that say nothing about the actual place it is taking the user and which thereby entices people to click on them (IMHO)

(f) the hashtag (i.e. #Word) is surprisingly something that alot of Twitteres use - in essense this is a searchable tag that is used as a way to make the content easily searchable.

Anyways net net lots of cool (though not necessarily innovative) reasons to want to use #Twitter instead of Blogger.. though not cool enough to get off of Facebook...

Below from www.compete.com looks like sometime in May the crazy onboarding of new visitors to Twitter finally slowed down. Maybe its the sunny weather, or maybe folks have decided facebook has more stickiness (at least that's what the graph shows).

Facinating to see what will happen in the coming months...

Social Networking Adverture

2009-06-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Recently I had an opportunity to do a deep dive in Social Networking and do a S.W.O.T (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on in particular Twitter and the opportunity Microsoft has with #T.

In doing this deep analysis I had an incredible opportunity to meet and learn from some amazing people at Microsoft and outside (LiliCh, Mhurst, Dhardt, Bubba from Facebook, StGarrity:) , DennisPi, and many others).

Anyways net-net here are some of the interesting findings:
- Social Networking is the #1 thing people are doing on the internet today - it accounts for ~27% of internet usage time (surprisingly Games is #2, and then Search)
- There is a higher % of people in non-North American countries participating in SN
- Twitter has the highest % of new users month over month (even after looking at drop off rate)
- Social Norms for Tweeting (my favorite :)) - don't overtweet (i.e. no more than 5 times a day), never follow more than 300 people
-Twitter Search is the *realest* time search available (time and location wise)
- T has an open API that is enabling 3rd parties to monetize through leveraging of the data

There are some definite opportunities in this space , and it will be interesting to see how this ecosystem evolves.

Lilian

How to send pictures over txt messaging on the iPhone?

2008-10-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

So I love my iPhone 90% of the time - the 10% f the time that I don't like it :
1) when I have to use it as an actual phone (no kidding - it drops so many of my calls I've decided to call it the best no-phone call cell phone :))
2) when I want to send pics as a txt message

Regarding the 2nd painpoint there is a nice little MMS alternative called Flutter, available on the App Store. It allows you to send pictures to any cell phone number in your contacts app. And it’s free, which is always a bonus.

For more information and pictures head on over to Flutter’s home page.

One of the best career planning blogs..

2007-10-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Over the past 10 years I've helped or talked to someone about their/my career. Whether it was advice about doing a Masters/MBA or doing some extra work discussions always came up and still do.

Tonight I had an opportunity to read about a blog Dennis recommended to me & I have to say it is one of the best career planning blog(s) I've ever read. Specifically:

Career planning - http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/09/the-pmarca-gu-1.html

Thinking of goig back to school - http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/10/the-pmarca-guid.html

Enjoy...

K.I.S.S. @ ad:Tech

2007-04-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

Having completed my first day at ad:Tech San Fran (an interactive advertising and technology conference) I had to write a blog about items which resonated with me throughout the day:

Some interesting quotes from the day about the state of the ad industry today:

"GoogleClick" - The Google acquisition of Doubleclick changes the Display competitive landscape. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to this.
"Content is king"- Online video (YouTube, etc) have captivated the audience and are forcing marketers to look at online campaigns that leverage this medium
"The Rich are Getting Richer" - 99% of revenue go to the Top 10 sites, 90% of Search revenue to YaGoogle (Yahoo/Google)
"New Ad Measurements?" - With all of the new creative, and publishers the question is "What is new media measurement? "

Some of the most interesting creative/marketing campaigns presented (even if you're not in the advertising industry I recommend you take a look at these - very clever and funny creatives):

Christian Haas, Group Creative Director for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners presented by far one of the funniest and intelligent beer campaigns for "rolling rock":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfPz6XPZ6a0
http://www.rollingrock.com/ron/default.aspx
Jim Lesser, Executive Creative Director for BBDO West, presented a very funny "pro flowers" online creative:
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2834117

Net net from a creative perspective the message I took away from some of the most successful creative agencies is K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) - in other words the best creatives are the ones that keep things as simple as possible - not necessarily the ones that have the most innovation.

All of the countries I've ever visited...

2007-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Through a friend of mine on FaceBook I discovered this really cool site that allows you to create a map with all the countries/places you've visited. In addition you can find travel information and even generate the html (as above) that allows me to share what places I've visited with the world :).

create your own visited country map

i'm (help to make a difference)

2007-03-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

i’m is a new initiative from Windows Live™ Messenger. Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. I've chosen to support Unicef and will also support ninemillion.org every other day.

Kudos to the Windows Live Messenger & Msft. The "i'm" is a great initiative. To get started simply go to: http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/

American Culture 101 - Twinkies and Ho Hos ?

2007-01-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

This morning my fellow American coworkers decided to set up a display (as you can see in the picture) explaining the 6 "American" food groups. Namely:

Twinkies
Ding Dongs
Cup-cakes
Fruit Pies
Ho Hos
and Lil' Debbies

The whole thing started because in my childhood I did not eat these things (my mom didn't let me) and as such I didn't know the difference between a Ho Hos and Lil' Debbie. According to some of my American friends this was crazy :) and so the show began this morning.

I have to admit I ate a Hostess Cupcake and it was delicious (at the time) though a few minutes after I ate it I got a headache from all the sugar..hehe..

MS Women's conference

2006-01-14T12:44:00.000-08:00

This week I was fortunate enough to attend the Fourth Annual Microsoft Women's conference. The conference begun on Monday night with an awards dinner and ended with a day full of inspirational speakers (Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Cynthia Pratt included). In the 3 days the conference took place, all women were encouraged to attend the multitude of sessions (everything from "BrainStyles" to "Speaking with Power and Authority").

During the awards dinner I was fortunate enough to have shared a table with seven insightful women and one very powerful man. I was initially shocked to see who the man sitting across from me happened to be, Co-President Kevin Johnson. The humorous part of the night was the networking exercises we perfomed in our table, and in particular the networking card I took home with Kevin Johnson's name and alias.

The highlight of the conference was the lecture given by Prime Minister and Minister of National Security of the Bahamas, Cynthia Pratt. She shared her incredible story with the audience and was able to captivate the room with her genuineness and determination. She was one of sixteen children who spent much of her youth begging for her next meal. Somewhere along her journey she found the will and the talent to become a gold medalist and get herself out of the poverty. After her incredible speech she spent a long time getting to know her audience. Her heart and story was the highlight of the conference.

How to view the Ads on your live.com page ? :)

2005-12-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you live.com users that want to be able to view the ad images associated with the pages you're viewing simply add this gadget to your page. Enjoy...

Dennis on Channel 9 - the Geek Celebrity :)

2005-11-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

Dennis was recently interviewed by the infamous Scoble in a delightful interview about D's favorite topic WWF (and no it's not westling :)). Check out my favorite geek celeb on Channel 9.

Xbox 360 Zero Hour

2005-11-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

Since i'm not really a gaming fanatic I was completely ignorant to the fact that they released Xbox 360 to the masses last night. The one thing that I was surprised to find out was the “gamer’s paradise” that was created exclusively for fans of Xbox. Xbox 360 Zero Hour was held in a 400,000 sf (37,000 sm) aircraft hangar in California’s Mojave Desert. 3,600 gamers got the chance to play brand new games on the Xbox 360 for 30 hours straight. Gamers from as far away as New Zealand, Belgium, and Singapore made the pilgrimage to be among the first to experience the Xbox 360. Xbox.com has coverage from the event, including video clips of the dramatic opening. Crazy - where do these people find the time or the $? ;)...

Wonderful Memories

2005-11-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

I blogged about a very special sick friend a few months ago, since a very small bake sale allowed us to surprise her with a trip out East for her to visit her family and friends. You'll be happy to hear that she was able to make the trip (this last September) and that she was extremely grateful to all of us for that gift. Unfortunately my special friend passed away 48 hours ago. I want to thank you again for making this last trip happen for her.

Jobs' Speech Stanford 2005

2005-10-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

Jobs gave an interesting speech with some very lasting quotes:
"you've got to find what you love"
"your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. "
"you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future"

enjoy...

Dos Semanas Into the New

2005-09-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

So two weeks into the new job, home, country... and I finally find the time to blog. So what have some of the highlights been?
- learning about a completely new space (the online advertising one that is)
- getting lost amongst all the new offices, buildings, streets
- getting to know some of the brightest and most passionate people I've ever met
- and attending the MS Annual Company Meeting. It was a day long show (err... meeting) with Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Jon Heder (the kid from Napoleon Dynamite)... The best part was that because I started on the week the meeting took place I had the option of sitting in the front row. What a surreal experience!

Also in case you did not get a chance to check out PDC in person, the keynotes are here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/pdc/

BlogMapping & how to get started..

2005-09-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

One of the latest trendy blog features is having this thing called a 'BlogMap'. So what is it? Well as you can see the right hand frame of my blog, it is essentially a little map that shows where you are blogging from, what other blogs are near you, and it's really just cosmetically cute :-).

How do you get one? It's really quite easy and there is someone who even wrote a blog entry on exactly how to do it ... Enjoy

The Emerald City Journey...

2005-09-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

Finally after weeks of cleaning, sorting, renting, filling out forms, and on and on I have finally arrived at the location of my next journey - the Emerald City (aka: Seattle).

Even after spending countless weekends in this area over the past few years I still do 'know' Seattle (or the East side - Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond...). If any of you have suggestions on where to dine, hike, play vball, or other I'd appreciate the feedback.

Also thank you to all of you who have called, sent emails, attended my farewells, and visited with me over the past few weeks... Even the blue carpets and broken alarms are going to be nice memories of Vancouver (well maybe in a few years :-) ).

iVillage... the new addiction for girls

2005-08-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

If you're a girl (or have metro tendencies) one very addictive site is iVillage.com. It is a merger of Oprah, InStyle, and Entertainment tonight, and it is as addictive as watching Carrie in S&theCity. Try the .UK for a European flavour.

Bittersweet PDC

2005-08-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Today was a bittersweet day for me. Due to a move I'm about to embark on, I have had to cancel my attendance to PDC. This has made me quite sad (for various reasons) but in particular because Dennis is a presenter (both for his own session as well as for part of one of the keynotes) at this year's PDC. As you can imagine for the past few weeks all Dennis has been doing is preparing for his sessions. Today they had their second dry runs* and commotion is already beginning. How exciting for Dennis :)

Not(In Box) thinking prize goes to....

2005-08-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

Spain, who is showing us that from the fashion industry (specifically: Campers) to its Roman Catholic church it is thinking outside the box. Who would've ever thought that there would be *Married* Roman Catholic priests in this decade?

Pics of Greece

2005-08-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

You can see the pictures of our Greek vacation here. And read Dennis' impression of our vacation here.

I'm very glad to finally be home in beautiful Vancouver.

From the Hellenic party island (Ios) to Overrated Santorini....

2005-08-07T02:01:00.000-07:00

Ios was a fun, and small party island which is famous for it's late nights, young visitors and Homer's tomb. After renting a scooter for the day, Dennis and I attempted to visit Homer's tomb. After about 30 minutes of riding up a very rocky hill we were warned by the local tourists (in a car) not to go any further since we had not reached the worst part of the trek. Hence D and I headed back to main beach and spent the remainder of the day on a beautiful sandy beach (pictures to come soon).

The island I was most looking forward to visiting (Santorini) proved to be the most disappointing. The island itself is very beautiful and unique (and as such is the most visited Cycladic island in Greece) but unfortunately our experience was very disappointing. Everything from the broken scooter we were given ( I had the wonderful opportunity to run up a hill since our scooter could not carry both Dennis and I :)), to the hotel owners trying to take advantage of us (it costs 80 Euros on the phone but miraculously it costs 90 when you're there :)), to a severely overpopulated downtown core (a mini Athens at peak hour). Luckily for Dennis and I we were able to find a beautiful vacant apartment in the nicest area of Santorini (Oia), and we were able to enjoy what is said to be one of the most beautiful sunsets of the Cycladic islands.

Next stop is the reason we came to Greece in the first place - Kefalonia (D's island).

Windy Paros

2005-08-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

Leaving Athens was a riot. I was worried (my close friends know what that means.. poor Dennis) that we were not on time, but of course what was I thinking? I'm in Greece! 4pm means 5pm, and needless to say being 1 hour early really meant we were 2.5 hours early. The biggest highlight was watching all cars flow out of the ship... in reverse! No wonder the ferries are late ;)

Paros has been great. Dennis and I rented a scooter and drove all around the island. The beaches were gorgeous and we somehow managed to find an isolated one (that mostly locals went to). After taking our afternoon siesta (which is a new thing for me) we found a nice Greek restaurant on the water. Looks like I don't have too much to write about... a perfect vacation.

Athenas

2005-07-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Athens the second time around has been much nicer to me than the first. The reason is likely the wonderful tour guides we have had these past few days, Dennis' cousin (Phadra) and her Irish boyfriend (Damien).

During our short stay we have had the opportunity to visit the incredible Acropolis, the surrounding homes and shopping areas (Plaka), the 2004 Olympic park, and the classic Athenian Olympic stadium.

Tomorrow we start our journey through the Greek cycladic isles (first stop Paros).

35 degrees C and 70% humidity

2005-07-18T03:20:00.000-07:00

What makes people want to go to downtown Shanghai (aside from Shopping) when it's 35degrees C and 70% humidity?

Free vodka:). In one of the most popular corners of downtown Shanghai Kirin (a popular drink brand) was giving away free cans of vodka/soda water pop to everyone in sight...

Shanghai in a Nutshell: the Bund, Shopping and YuYuan Garden

2005-07-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was able to get a great tour of Shanghai.

On Friday night we walked around the Bund. Accross the water from the historic bund you are able to see some of the most modern buildings in Shanghai (pictured on the left). One of my favorite reasons for visiting Shanghai is seeing the amazing architecture prevalent all around the city.

On Saturday I realized the resemblence between Milan and Shanghai - endless and endless streets of shopping (my Disneyland :)). The unique aspect of Shanghai is the choice you have between real and fake things . On the left you can see that there are even fake KFC stores here - featuring a Chinese Kernel ;).

On Sunday we decided to visit the famous Yuyuan Garden . Yuyuan is a 400 year old classical Chinese garden in the Old Town of Shanghai, not far from the Bund (picture below). Pan Yunduan spent twenty years and all his savings building it to please his parents in their old age. That is why he called this garden "Yuyuan" - because "yu" in Chinese means "peace and health".

You can see more pictures and descriptions of our trip here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61818315@N00/

Thunderstorms in Shanghai

2005-07-06T03:29:00.000-07:00

I had heard prior to arriving in Shanghai that July would be hot, but I had no idea it is also thunder storm season :( Last night I awoke at 3am to some of the loudest thunder and brightest lightning I have ever heard. The storm is nothing compared to the storms going on in the rest of China but after having watched 'War of the Worlds' this past weekend the storm was scary...

The Monk and Shanghai...

2005-07-05T01:43:00.000-07:00

I read the book The Monk and The Riddle by Randy Komisar with Kent L. Lineback during my 12 hour flight on Air Easter China yesterday. I have to say that it was one of the very few business related books that I couldn't put down. It was an interesting semi-autobiography of Randy Komisar and if you're thinking of starting your own company some day I highly recommend it.

The weather is Shanghai is significantly different than my last trip. I got up early this morning to try to go for my daily run but found that even at 6am the temperature was 35 degrees C with around a 40% humidity (aka: you are soaking after 30 seconds). Needless to say my usual 30 minute jog turned into a 5 minute walk.

Pics to come soon...

The troubles of blogging in China...

2005-06-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

One of the things I discovered on my last trip to China was that I had a very hard time seeing various websites and particularly my own blog. I could update it, but I could never actually see the results. I ended up msging friends to check that my blog entries were actually getting uploaded. This is to be expected considering that 'Chinese censors scour internet bulletin boards and blogs for sensitive material, and block access to violators. Sites that let the public post comments are told to censor themselves or face penalties. '

Hence when I read this article I was completely not surprised...In a nutshell:
"Microsoft is cooperating with China's government to censor the company's newly launched Chinese-language web portal... bloggers are not allowed to post terms to MSN Spaces such as "democracy," "human rights" and "Taiwan independence."

2005-06-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

These last two weeks my 89 year old grandmother has been staying with me. She is one of the most interesting, talkative, opinionated, and stubborn people I know :). And everyday I feel like I learn something from her. Tonight she said something that has stuck with me. Not sure if it sounds as good in English (she only speaks Spanish) but here goes�

The past is a history,
The future is a mystery,
And the present is the present
So learn to live in the present

So simple but so true...

Wiki - hit or miss?

2005-06-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Seeing as how recently I've noticed WiKis popping up everywhere I figured I'd find out what you think about the craze....

In case you haven't been affected yet a 'WiKi' (which apparently stands for 'What I Know Is') is essentially a web application that allows users to add content (similar to an internet forum) but that also allows anyone to edit the content.

Are wikis a hit or a miss?

The Secret...

2005-06-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight i finished reading 'The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do' by Blanchard and Miller.

So what is the secret? Something called the SERVE model. In a nutshell it boils down to:
Seeing the future (i.e. having and communicating your vision)
Engaging and Developing Others (i.e. hire the right people and care about your people)
Reinvent Continuously (i.e. always strive to learn and improve - yourself and your team)
Value Results and Relationships (i.e. be result oriented and care about your people )
Embody the Values (Build up trust, and walk the talk)

So is still worth reading now that I've shared the secret? yes

Seeing as how I was born in Venezuela

2005-05-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

but grew up in Canada I need to blog about Miss Universe. Roughly one out of five times when people find out I was born in Venezuela, they make a comment about Miss Universe. In the past decades the Misses from V have been known to win the award but not any more. So who won this year? :)

Harvard's Winning Business Plan for 2005...

2005-05-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

a Bra idea, from a single member team (Sara Jane Johnston).

glad to be half asian...

2005-05-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

Why? Because using chopsticks is second nature... :)

http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,67599,00.html?tw=wn_13techhead

Get rid of TV - what's your vote?

2005-05-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Recently i've realized that i very very rarely actually use my television... unless i'm using the TIVO, in which case it feels more like a DVD since i can skip over the commercials... Also i've realized that i tend to vegitate and not want to do anything when i watch tv but snack... so my question of the day is should i get rid of my tv? - what's your vote... I'm particularly interested in finding out if there are still people out there sans la television...

Good to Great

2005-05-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

"You can accomplish anything in life , provided that you don't mind who gets the credit" Harry S. Truman.

So who is Truman? He is one of the Good to Great CEOs mentioned in Jim Collins book "Good to Great". I like this book because unlike most business books, this not an autobiography, but rather a gathering of data (by Collins' reasearch team).

If you don't feel like buying yet another b book but want to get the gist of what his book is about check out his website. A lot of his important points are in his laboratory section.

Enjoy...

V Day...

2005-05-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

This morning i got up early to vote and was pleasantly surprised to see that waking up early really DOES matter. I was there at 7:45am and there were only 4 people in front of me which meant I was out of there by 8:05am. By the time I left the line was 10 times bigger than when i arrived - I love that feeling :).

In case you haven't voted yet, don't forget that there are two votes:
1) One will ask you to vote for your local candidate.
2) The other will ask whether you think B.C. should adopt a new way of electing MLAs known as the single transferable vote, or BC-STV. If you want to learn more about what the new system is all about before you vote, you can call the government's Referendum Information Office at 1-800-668-2800, or check out its website at http://www.gov.bc.ca/referendum_info/

Get out and vote...

SteveB @ Stanford...

2005-05-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

Seeing as how i've been blogging alot about Apple lately I figured I would switch gears and send a link to an interesting speech SteveB gave at Stanford (Steve Ballmer Speech from Stanford University's "View from the Top" Lecture Series, Stanford, California)

http://www.microsoft.com/events/executives/webcasts.mspx

Particularly interesting are the first 10 min (brief bio of Steve) and the last 10 minutes his view on China and the Asia market.

what comes after the mini ipod and the mini mac?

2005-05-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

the mini mac store... of course :)
http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,767050,00.html

cool app...

2005-05-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Easy to install, fun to use, and practical if you're constantly having to set up meetings with 3 different timezones... :)
The only caveats is that it only takes US cities into its settings (eg. for weather updates)
http://www.konfabulator.com/info/

is hiring really obsolete?

2005-05-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.paulgraham.com/hiring.html

what do you think?

One of my most fulfilling Experiences...

2005-05-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friends and I had a party for a very special friend who is currently sick with cancer. It was the culmination of a very special bake sale that I had at my place of work; a bake sale that taught me that there are a lot of very generous people in my company. For those of you who don't know what I'm taking about, about a month ago a few very kind volunteers and I had a small bake sale in order to raise enough money to fly my sick friend out East and also to raise money for cancer research. After only 5 hours we were able to raise close to $1000. This is an amazing feat considering there are only around 400 people in my building and only around 40% participated in the sale.
At last night's festivities we surprised my friend and told her the story. She was very shocked, and was incredibly grateful for everything. I am looking forward to seeing pictures from her trip...

How do you watch U2 for free?...

2005-04-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

You stand in line for 3 hours and play the role of a 'fan' in one of their videos...:)

Being one of the 4000 fans in the U2 video shoot for 'City of Bliding Lights' was one of the coolest experiences of my life. The 3 hour line up was completely worth the seats (with all the shuffling i think i got as close as row 15), and the general admission view. The highlight of the night was watching the band interview one another in between takes...

Downtown Shanghai ...

2005-04-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

The heart of downtown Shanghai...

Interviewing in another language...

2005-04-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

Imagine having to learn another language to have an opportunity to work in large software companies. Imagine if this language had a completely different alphabet, and was not commonly spoken anywhere in your immediate surroundings… It would be the equivalent of learning Japanese in University and being expected to answer technical questions in Japanese...

Interviewing students in Xian university was an eye opening experience for me. One which showed me how much people to struggle to communicate, and which increased my compassion for people whose mother tongue is not English. As if having a technical interview is not tough enough…

Pic of the Winter palace in Xian...

2005-04-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

Me at the Qin Dynasty Winter palace.. in Xian

Pic of Terracota Warrior pit..

2005-04-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

Me at one of the many pits that have been found in Xian. This one containing the hundreds of life size terracota warriors.

Xian, home of the 8th wonder of the world +...

2005-04-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today I participated in a day tour of Xian, which allowed me to visit a few places. The two most memorable places, being the chinese winter palace and the tomb of the first emperor of china.

Winter palace of the 1st Chinese dynasty (Qing)
Interesting story: One of the Qin dynasty emperors had one of the most beautiful concubines (one of thousands of concubines that the emperor had all over China), and she was unique because she never smiled. The emperor wanted to make her smile and offered a prize of 1000 pieces of gold to the person that made her laugh. One of his generals had an idea and asked the emperor to bring him and his concubine to the winter palace. In the palace (as in most palaces) smoke was used to bring all soldiers to temple to protect it and against war. That night the general asked the smoke to be created and caused hundreds of the soldiers and generals to come to the winter palace. Upon arrival the soldiers were surprised to find nothing but the emperor and his concubine. The concubine found the situation funny and laughed, the general got his 1000 pieces of gold, and other generals and soldiers were quite angry at the joke. A few years later when there was actually a war coming and the emperor needed his army to protect him he caused the smoke to be created . Unfortunately this time the army did not believe the emperor and decided not to come (since they figured it was another joke being played by the emperor). As a result the emperor was killed.

The 8th wonder of the world the Terracota Warriors:
Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had work begun on his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life.
In 1974 a lucky farmer found the remains of some of the terracotta warriors when digging a well. Since then over 6 massive pits have been found surrounding the man made hill where the emperor is believed to be buried. To this day excavations still continue in the area, since nobody knows just how large Qin made his mausoleum. The manmade hill where the emperor is believed to be buried is left untouched, because to this day we have not figured out how to prevent his decay once we unbury him....

The Summer Palace, Beijing.

2005-04-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

This afternoon i visited the largest imperial garden in the world, the Summer Palace. Located just a few minutes outside of Beijing it is an outstanding example of imperial gardens.

2005-04-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

Me in a section of the Great Wall of China...

The Great Wall...

2005-04-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

This morning Ju and I visited a section of the Great Wall of China just outside Beijing. The wall is just like a gigantic dragon - it winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus stretching approximately 6,700 kilometers (4,163 miles ) from east to west of China. With a history of more than 2000 years, some of the section of the great wall are now in ruins or even entirely disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance.

Stay tuned for pictures...

Anti-Japanese protest in China...

2005-04-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while walking around Tiananmen square and the forbidden city, i noticed the large number of soldiers all throughout. Since it was my first real day in Beijing i thought nothing of it.. until this morning while watching CNN i heard about the large number of anti-Japanese protest all throughout Beijing and Shanghai. In particular one site claims that 'About 20,000 anti-Japanese protesters — some shouting "kill the Japanese" — rampaged through Shanghai on Saturday, stoning Japan's consulate and smashing cars and shops in protest over Tokyo's bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat and perceived whitewashing of wartime atrocities. ....Thousands of people also participated in peaceful protest marches in Hangzhou and Tianjin, defying government demands for restraint. In Beijing, hundreds of police blanketed Tiananmen Square in the center of the Chinese capital to block a planned protest'.. (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050416/ap_on_re_as/china_japan_5).

2005-04-16T01:36:00.000-07:00

The real downtown Beijing shopping experience. Shirts for only 10 Yen or $1.5! Food for even less. The only caveat were the thieves who managed to steal my bosses' phone (without either of us knowing it until it was too late) :(

2005-04-16T01:34:00.000-07:00

Tiananment Square... it was hard to believe that in these very grounds such massacre could happen (http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/tiananmen.html)...

2005-04-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

Me in front of the entrance to the Forbidden City. An amazing city within a city.

First impressions of China...Beijing...

2005-04-15T03:15:00.000-07:00

Getting off the airplane my first impressions of China, and in particular of Beijing, were the immense number of people! There seemed to be more people in one corridor than in all of Burnaby. My second realization, the huge lines I was about to stand in for over 1 hour (which was apparently good since it was not rush hour)…

Driving from the airport to my hotel I was impressed by the very modern highways and sky rises everywhere. Beijing is the capital of China and is known for its historical and tourist locations, and will soon be known as the host of the 2008 summer Olympics. The streets are clean, the air not much worse than Los Angeles, and the beauty of the city…still to be determined.

After working today I hope to spend the weekend doing the touristy things -> visiting the forbidden city and Tiananmen Square and the great wall of China on Sunday. stay tuned...

first weekend vball tourney since 2000

2005-03-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

you know u're getting older when you wake up then next day and you can't move... yesterday was the first full day vball tournament i have played in since NAIA regionals in 2000. It was great playing with new people and also seeing what the competition at this level had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how competitive things really were. We didn't win many sets but it was a good experience and i am pumped about what provincials and nationals will offer... next time i'm going to remember to stretch :)

2005-03-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

EPM XI release party

2005-03-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

dennis and i at Angelas bday 2005

2005-03-13T21:47:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for Vball March 2005 @HJerome

2005-03-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

Leelah Palace 2004 - view from my hotel room

2005-03-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

Pictures from my India trip in Sept 2004 (Bangalore and surrounding areas).