GZ Expat, Part II

I Did It.

Yup...I went ahead and made the purchase.

The adventure of making the purchase had to start the previous week.  The problem here is the shop did not accept foreign credit cards...and the price for a TV of this nature is in the 10's of thousands of reminbi...quite a stack of cash to stuff into the wallet.  So, I spoke with the accounting girls in the office and decided I could drop a load of cash into my small savings account, of which we have an atm card for, and then buy the TV that way.  Cool.  So, on Friday they made the transaction with the bank, through the office, and on Monday the $$$ would be available for use.

I also had someone in the office call the woman who helped us and talk to her about the TV, confirming the price and what came with it and also telling her when I would be in to pick one up.  The woman in the shop spoke no English...which was OK, because I speak no Chinese.

So, I headed over to the shop, which is located in the electronics market district of the city.  It's an incredible place of shop after shop of stereos, TV's, mobile phones, gaming, etc.  I headed up the stairs and found the TV.  I then had to find Miss Liu, who was helping me before.  So, I asked a guy for her and he went out and found her.  We struggled to discuss the transaction and I eventually had to call a colleague for translation help once again.  It took nearly 45 minutes for us to figure out what I was buying and when I wanted it. 

Once I made the purchase, I was told I would have to wait about 90 minutes while they retrieved the TV from the warehouse and brought to the shop.  Not a problem...the market is so vast, its a blast to walk around and explore.

After 90 minutes, the TV arrived.  They opened the box so I could see it...plug it in and do some stuff with the picture, color, etc., so I could see that it works.  Most importantly, they changed the menu language to English for me.

Once I got this bad boy home, it quickly became apparent that it was WAY too good for our lousy stolen satellite reception and cable tv in the complex.  Playing DVD movies in it is very good...look fantastic as a matter of fact.  I also threw in an NFL football game that I downloaded the other week that was in HD...it was phenomenal!  Ohh...I can't wait until I see more hockey games in HD on this thing.

So...Happy Christmas to me, as it came early this year for me. 

Went Shopping Yesterday

Yesterday was a day off.  So, I started it off by stopping at the clinic and getting a flu shot.  ;-/  Yeah...I know...not really a great day to spend the holiday. 

Afterward, expat daughter and I headed down to the electronics market to hunt down some prices on televisions and look at stuff.  A friend of mine recently purchased a new LCD HDTV down in the area, so I headed off to check the prices and the quality of the products around the area. 

I hit the Samsung store he purchased his set at and I was impressed.  The picture quality was very good and the prices were good too.  But, I cannot just buy one right away, I have to shop a bit...so we wandered around some of the shops and just sort of saw some good and some lousy stuff...prices were all about the same. 

After a bit, I headed over to the stall where I purchase cameras and stuff and asked the girl there if she knew of a good place to get TV's.  'Follow me.'  We headed back out on the street and she pointed out several dealers we had already been to...and then she pointed to a store I hadn't been in.  It is a chain department store and she said, 'TV's very good.  Not used.  Brand new.  Good prices.' 

We took the escalator up and stepped into a dark, dingy department store with TV's and appliances everywhere with smartly (eh...smart in China!) dressed staff waiting to help. 

I had seen the Samsung's, but I wanted to check out the LG's as well, as I had been looking at them and had been impressed with the picture quality.  There was a decent display of them around the corner where we entered and there was a quiet woman helping us out by clicking on the TV's we were looking at and pointing at the prices.

I saw two TV's side by side that appeared identical, yet the prices were quite different, so I asked?  She pointed at the one on the right and said, 'USB'.  Huh?  Yeah, OK...there is a USB on it.  Then she grabs the paper I was writing stuff down on and she writes, '80 GB'.  DVR??

I was stunned...here was this beautiful 47 inch LCD with a DVR built into the machine...no messy wires to screw with...its all self contained.  After hitting the website and checking out the specs (I can plug it into a USA socket!!), I'm sold.  But, I haven't bought anything yet...time to have someone call and find out what I get with it and to try and negotiate a bit more out of the package.

The rest of the shopping trip was spent searching for a JBL speaker system for my MP3 player in the office.  Once again, my friend came through with another friend and she even hit her up for a bigger discount to boot. 

It had been a long time since I enjoyed an afternoon of wandering the stalls in search of a bargain in electronics.  It was great fun...

Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations; Beirut

We don't have satellite TV where we live.  Well, I shouldn't say that, we do.  But, its only the channels the complex is stealing to give to the expats.  We get a handful of channels like BBC and CNN, but we do not get Discovery Travel & Leisure, so bear with me, I may be way behind the times in this regard.

Michael Totten posted a link to YouTube copies of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations program on Beirut, in which the program was less about food and more about being trapped and trying to evacuate a city being ripped apart by war. 

I wasn't much of a Bourdain fan when I saw his first programs on the Food Network when we were living in the states...but over time, he grew on me.  Yeah, he smokes incessantly and tends to have a large ego on the screen, but his shows (particularly those in Asia) are realistic to the life and culture of where he is traveling.  After watching this program, however, I have a new found respect in what he does and who he is.

I downloaded the video's and watched them in the car ride from office to plant.  As the program went on, I found myself being drawn into it.  My hands were clapped together, as though in prayer, cupping my nose and lips.  I felt the tightness in my gut at the scenes around the pool with helicopters flying overhead.  I could clearly see myself in that situation, but here in China. 

He showed the situation for what it was; boring, stressful, chaotic, exhausting.  I could understand every bit of what he was going through.  Bourdain told the story of what was going on like a blogger. As someone on the scene experiencing the daily grind...rather than the big picture of what was going on such as that of a big news organization.  It was riveting stuff.

I have had friends that have been evacuated from countries in Asia and they have told me the same stories about the waiting...the rumors...the stress (while the kids frolic in the pool)...the misinformation...and then the joy of evacuation, but the emptiness of what you are leaving behind.  Tai-Tai and I have not been through that experience, but watching this program put me in that place and time...and it is scary. 

We have become complacent since we have moved back to China.  During our previous tour, we always had one bag packed and documents and cash at the ready.  Today, we would have to scramble if told to leave right away.  This program was a sobering reminder.  We just might be putting together those evacuation backpacks together this weekend.  Thanks for the kick, Tony.

TVU

It's a constant battle between the net nanny blocking websites and trying to find information from home on a consistent basis.  This includes not only news, but sports information as well, primarily, hockey on TV.  There is none here. 

While looking up an old p2p program I had used in the past, TVAnts, I found this program, TVU Networks, which is slicker and much easier to use for a guy that doesn't read Chinese.  On top of that, one of the channels offered in the list is Versus...the home of the NHL.

Sushi anyone?

After a day spent doing the taxes...this just helped pull me out of the funk...heh

HT Boing Boing

Colbert Show

This is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while...Colbert devotes an episode to Chinese new year and the relationship between America and China. Say what you want about Colbert...this is good.

If you want to watch all the clips...Happy New Year!

HT:  Asiapundit

Christmas DVD Recommendations

I just enjoyed a DVD I purchased a couple years ago; Happy Holidays With Frank & Bing.  This was an old television program in which swinging single Frank is hooking up with Bing for Christmas dinner and they, of course, sing their favorites.  Besides the cool pad that Frank has in this program…the songs and singing are superb.  You never see programs like this anymore, in which the stars are actually singing before the camera (rather than lip-synching). 

It is short, as it was just a television program.  But if only for the history of the program, I highly recommend this one, if you don’t have it already.

Every year, we pull out the stack of Christmas tapes and DVD’s to roll through from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve.  Because I can…here are my favorites…not including Frank & Bing

• The Bishop’s Wife; Carey Grant, David Niven, Loretta Young
  • This one is slowly overtaking as the all-time favorite Christmas story movie.  I can watch anything with Carey Grant…a man’s-man.  Even in a sappy movie like An Affair To Remember…he comes off larger than life as a man.  If only they had done James Bond movies 20 years earlier.
• It’s A Wonderful Life; James Stewart, Donna Reed
  • Donna Reed keeps me coming back to this one.  She is ALL THAT…one hot babe.  I just like seeing this side of American life…a side that just doesn’t exist any longer.
• Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer & The Little Drummer Boy
  • The classic puppet animation TV specials.  Burl Ives and Greer Garson...what more do you want?
• Christmas Vacation; Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo
  • ‘You couldn’t hear a truck drive through a nitroglycerine plant.’  My favorite line.  This is the only ‘modern’ classic. 
• Holiday Inn; Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire
  • This is my all-time favorite fun Christmas movie.  The original movie in which White Christmas was sung.  (OH…LINDA Mason.  ???) I have always marveled at Fred Astaire’s dancing ability and the July 4^th dance routine with fireworks is one that I could watch over and over.
• White Christmas; Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye
  • The very good remake of Holiday Inn…best experienced on the new DVD in which you get the full wide screen and color. 

As you can probably tell…they don’t make Christmas movies like they used to.  I have to thank my mother for my love of these old classics.  There are some pretty good new movies too…Polar Express is pretty good…the remake of the Grinch was OK…but its the real classics that help you feel as though it is Christmas.  Give me Bing & Frank and I’m in the mood.

Heh!

Pajamas Media: Greatest Movie Line Ever.

3 Hour Tour, anyone??

Via BoingBoing...

Wheeler Exp Cruiser
Type:	Express Cruiser
Year:	1964
Length:	37'0"
Location:	British Columbia
Price:	$99,000

Check out the history behind the boat...

Censoring Cartoon's

<sigh>

Smoking scenes are to be edited out of classic Tom & Jerry cartoons, following a complaint to the broadcast regulator that they are inappropriate for a show aimed at children.

The complaint was about two separate cartoons - Texas Tom and Tennis Chumps - transmitted repeatedly this year on Turner Broadcasting's children's channel, Boomerang.

Stop the madness.