Hello Beijing.

My 13 hour flight on Japan Airlines was pleasant for the most part, though I didn't care the poor selection of in-flight movies and music. On my first 9 hours to Tokyo's Narita airport, I had the whole row of 3 seats to myself, so even when flying economy, I was able to stretch my legs out, kick back, and relax to the classical music station I had my headset tuned to, the only station I liked. The other channels were littered with the kind of music one would only subject his worst enemy with; the endlessly tiring, very sugary "J. Pop" music, laced with clichés after clichés of bad lyrics.



When my plane landed in Beijing airport, I was instantly hit with a pungent odour of chemicals in the cabin, but dismissed it as the ions in the air conditioning unit which was on at full blast. Stepping off the plane and into the airport, the smell grew even stronger, but this time, the odour had a more definitive smell of raw petroleum. Mixed in with the heat of Beijing, the air I was breathing was a little more than a concern.



I met up with Stanley at the arrivals terminal after collecting my luggage and checking through customs. It was nice to see a familiar face in a foreign country half way around the world. Stepping out through the sliding glass doors and into the open, the waft of the heat and pollution hit me harder than the head-lock face-plant carpet-burn Kyle gave me on the morning of my departure from Vancouver. "See the fog all around us?" Stanley asked me. "It's not fog, it's smog." he continued. This thick smog was disturbing, to say the least. This could have a profound effect on my respiratory system!



Staring out the window of the bus on our way to the apartment Stanley had found for me, I saw a familiar, brightly lit warehouse sized building with a yellow and blue colour scheme to my right. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as the giant letters of IKÉA on the side of the building came to view. I was ecstatic.

Nestled in a university district of Wudaokou, my modest apartment on the third floor is walking distance to many shops, restaurants, services, and well, universities. According to Stan, there are at least fifteen different universities in this area alone. I beg to question the reputation of the universities and the quality of education provided by each when universities are so plentiful and seem to crop up as quick as roadside fruit stands.

From the exterior, this apartment complex is not much to look at. Many of the windows are caged for some reason, and the rows and rows of air conditioning units beside the caged windows isn't a pretty sight. The interior is deceivingly decent, however, as my two-bedroom suite both have tiled flooring with faux-hardwood prints on them. The bathroom is a little strange though, as the toilet is with the shower. I'll have to post a pic. The kitchen is narrow, but I don't cook so it'll never be used. As for the balcony, it overlooks the courtyard on one end, and to the streets on the other side of the apartment building.

Can't wait to turn this place into a CouchSurfing haven!

VSC: Critical Mass!

I had never rode my bike around downtown Vancouver before, but participating in my first ever Critical Mass changed that this evening.

I got together with the VSC and hundreds of other cyclists in front of the VAG just after 1800. People of all ages came to form a peaceful protest against automobiles by banding together and taking over the streets of Vancouver en masse. This was Critical Mass, and it takes place on the last Friday of every month!

Our bike ride around town commenced on West Georgia and Howe heading southbound. It took us over to the Granville Street bridge over to Kits, then back around onto Granville Street bridge, this time heading north towards the VAG. The feeling I felt while cycling at a leisurely pace in the middle of the road with hundreds of other cyclists was that of bliss, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Leaving cars and its drivers in the dust brought a great sense of power to the cyclists!

Kyle and his "little" brother, James, joined us from the point when we returned to the VAG and continued our way down Robson Street towards the West End. You really get to see and hear a lot more of the city on bikes, when things aren't zooming past you. Our harmonious sound of our bike horns, bells, and whistles, were joined by car horns in support of our demonstration as we rode along Beach Avenue, Davie Street, and back onto West Georgia.

From recumbent bikes to mountain bikes, granny bikes to race bikes, 2-man bikes to custom made chopper bikes, there were just as many kinds of rides as there were diverse groups of people! Our path continued over to the Cambie Street bridge, then we made a left onto the busy West Broadway towards Commercial Drive. We dismounted off our bikes just several blocks past Cambie and congratulated ourselves and each other for coming out to Critical Mass.

Kyle, James, Sharron, Alice, Jay, and I split off from the pack and peddled our way back to Yaletown to meet up with Amy, James, and Jamie for dinner at Brown's Restaurant & Bar.

I look forward to the day when downtown Vancouver will only be accessible by foot pedestrians, cyclists, public transit, and authorised commercial vehicles. We have a real chance to be a model city for the rest of the world for how green and ecological metropolitan cities can be. We've already got the "West Coast Lifestyle", Vancouverites being the fittest in the nation, and the nature that surrounds us like no other place in the world, so in many ways, we're ahead of the game!

The Great Canadian VW Show.

Ever since watching "Little Miss Sunshine" starring the uncredited Type II VW Microbus, it renewed my desire to want to drive a classic bus rather than the more modern Eurovan or a Vanagon. Going to the Great Canadian VW Show with Aaron this afternoon to see a whole lot full of beautifully restored busses stirred up fantasies of exploring Canada by road again, traversing like a hippie.

There were probably close to a hundred VW's there of all models, years, and modifications, but I focused my attention on the classic Microbus, reading the details of the history of the vehicle, what restorative work has been done to it, and where it has been. With classics, there's bound to be a few good stories to go along with it.

One unique vehicle on display was a custom chop shop work of a Type II bus limousine. It was actually a weld of two Type II busses fused together to extend the cargo and passenger seating area. In addition, the pop top Westfalia tent was also extended to cover the full length of the roof-line, making it a super long Westy with room for four on the top desk alone! It must be quite hard to pop the top open though as there's so much more fibreglass weight.

It was a very impressive show.

FLUGTAG.

For the first time ever, Vancouver played host to the 18th annual FLUGTAG, sponsored and presented by Red Bull energy drink. This event attracted a huge crowd around False Creek this afternoon, with 31 teams from all over Canada and the US here to compete for the most outrageous flying contraption, showmanship, and distance travelled. One after another they dove off the end of the pier with hilarity. Some looked more impressive than others, most notably, the BMW Store team with it's 26" rims and aircraft grade wings, but it was the deceivingly cheaper contraptions made up of two-by-fours nailed together that won as far as distance of flight went.

As entertaining as it was sitting on the bleachers which provided a great view of the runway and the Jumbotron replaying highlights in slow motion, the four of us (Janelle, Aaron, Kyle and I) needed to fill our stomach with food and drinks, so we didn't stick around until the end at 1900.

Instead, we caought "Little Miss Sunshine" at Tinseltown (by means of sneaking through the rear exit doors) and then went to Wild Ginger for Chinese food afterwards. I enjoyed watching "Sunshine" again, and so did everyone else. Aaron, perhaps becoming more aware now that there are gems to be found with independent films, asked why this movie wasn't being screened in more theatres such as the mainstream ones which usually play all of the Hollywood garbage.

Walking around Chinatown, we stumbled upon the Chinatown Night Market by accident. I didn't find anything of interest cruising up and down the strip, but Janelle and Aaron found an awesome Swiss-Army-knife like utilitarian tool with a hammer and scythe symbol representing communism for only a few bucks each! Talking to the vendor selling dozens and dozens of these knives, I found out that these were all confiscated knives from airports. Kyle and I went looking for a cool knife as well, but Janelle and Aaron took the last of the good ones.

Beach fire.

Janelle, Aaron, Kyle, and I, had our beach fire down at our usual haunt tonight, our second one this summer. For a change, we had our fire undisturbed by authorities who usually patrol the area for hooligans and drunkards. With the intent of getting "happily drunk", I brought down my bottle of Smirnoff vodka, Kahlua, and Bailey's Irish Cream, along with my shaker, strainer, measuring cup, a stainless steel coffee thermos from Starbucks, and a water bottle. I was experimenting tonight, so I poured equal parts of all three into the shaker and shook it. I don't know if someone's beat me to the punch and named this cocktail already, but I'm going to call this the "Acid Re-flux". I'll tell you why...

One whiff of this concoction sent me to liquor heaven. Kyle took a whiff and a swig and gave me the approval. I took my first cautious sip from the bottle and analysed the potent auroma and the creamy texture carefully, as if I was wine tasting. It was delicious! Now, I knew the danger of mixing vodka with equal parts of any creme liquor, as it wouldn't sit well in the stomach, but I thought I could handle it and took a chance. I took my time downing my 250 ml drink while we sat around the fire roasting wieners and looking up at the stars. I found myself at my "happy drunk" state (usually noted by me going around hugging people and curling up around them, slurring, and feeling tired) but my stomach was still okay.

It wasn't until we got up to pack up, douse the fire, and climb back up the 1001 Steps, that I started to feel sick. Holding onto the hand rails as I meandered up the wooden steps back up to the car, I felt relieved when I reached the top! Sadly, climbing the steps was half the battle. I felt stomach upset. Not a moment too soon, I had excused myself from the pack, and vomited over the railings. And according to my friends, I did so very eloquently.

After emptying out the contents of my stomach, I was back to my old self again, my mind as sharp as a brick.

I'll need to make slight modifications to this cocktail in the future and give it a good name.

A Fantasy Parade.

Now here's something interesting for you all to read.

I came home after work today only to find that I didn't have my house keys with me. There I was, sitting on the front steps with my PowerBook, catching up on my journals, reading emails, and chatting with Kyle on MSN about my current situation of being locked out of my own home.

I took his advice and checked every window and every door, trying to find an entry point, but the only window open was the one on the second floor, leading into the en-suite, and there was no way I could have scaled that wall to climb in.

The following is an unedited chat dialogue from the wise Dutchman himself:

i'll help you get into the window....you can stand on my penis....and i'll masterbate....which will turn you on....and when i cum, you will be shot miles high in the air, at which point you will masterbate....and when you reach the window, you will cum, and you sticky cum will act as a grappling line, which you will use to crawl into the house! - at which point you will shower and change, and your parents will come home, wondering why there is a huge dutch penis in their backyard, and what the hell i'm doing on the end of it (and where you are when there's such an opportunity waiting :) ), and they'll wonder why their yard looks like winter.

At least he's imaginative.

Pride Vancouver 2006.

It's great to live in a city that embraces diversity. Vancouver played host to Pride 2006 this week, with "Pride & Joy" as this year's tag line. Like the years before, today's Pride parade drew in thousands of Vancouverites along Denman and Beach Avenue, cheering and whistling for the "Dykes on Bikes" and the entourage of floats and groups that followed. Among them were politicians like Jack Layton, leader of the NDP, trying to win votes for their party platforms. Surprisingly, even the much loathed Conservative party made an appearance, which I thought was a very brave move on their part. I guess they figured that Prime Minister Stephen Harper being fuck-buddies with President George W. Bush would be appropriate for gay-pride.

Jamie, Jen, and I sat on the curb-side and watched the procession from start to finish. I had higher expectations for this year's Pride parade as Pepsi signed on as a major sponsor for the event, but in my opinion, last year's parade was slightly better.

Later this afternoon, I went to Tinseltown to watch "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Who Killed the Electric Car?". "Sunshine" was an excellent, heart-warming, and hillarious film about a dysfunctional family on the verge of a breakdown. I want to watch it again! "Electric Car" was a documentary about the EV1 car which GM introduced back in 1996 and subsequently killed off just a few years later. It was intriguing and insightful. A must see!

Celebration of Lights Grande Finale.

Trying to get into town by transit was an event itself Missing the 1900 bus by a few minutes, we waited around for the next one at 2000, but that one drove right through without stopping as it was already packed with passengers wanting to see the Mexico and the Grande Finale of the Celebration of Light. Frustrated and annoyed, Janelle, Kyle, Aaron, and I had no choice but to wait for the 2100 bus.

The fireworks had started without us by the time we were at the foot of the Granville Street bridge, 2200 on the dot. Aaron and Janelle wanted to see the fireworks alone together, so they got off here, a stop before Kyle and I got off on Davie and Granville. Not wanting to miss any more of Mexico's night anymore than necessary, we sprinted from the east end to the west end in 10 minutes flat, only breaking a few times between. I haven't sprinted so fast for so long since last year when I used to run, so I was very out of shape. My stamina wasn't at the levels I thought it was, but I pushed myself but kept pace with Kyle, who had the slight advantage of having longer legs than I (and being more physically fit). By the time we got to the Sylvia Hotel on Denman and Beach Ave., I was seriously dying from thirst and energy. Spitting phlegm, the natural lubricant for my throat, I didn't have anymore to cough up, so my throat tightened up like having an allergic reaction to eating peanuts. I couldn't even speak, so I motioned Kyle to ask for a glass of ice water with hand gestures. Sitting on the steps of the Sylvia Hotel, I drank copious amounts of water to soothe my throat.

I had definitely pushed myself to my limits here, just to see the last 10 minutes of Mexico's night, obscured mostly by the tall bushy trees and standing behind a swarm of people surrounding every square inch of prime views. Was it worth it? Well, if it wasn't for the Grande Finale and the chance to get together with the VSC, no. It wasn't worth dying for.

Kyle had his rare opportunity to try some sushi at Tanpopo's after the fireworks. I commend him for having the courage to try something new without being squeamish about eating raw fish. Before having to sprint back to catch the 351 on Howe and Davie, I got everyone to give Kyle a round of applause for popping his sushi cherry! Yey Kyle!

And then we were back for another run, this time, right after eating... At this rate, I think I've already started training to run a marathon. I should keep it up!