UPDATE: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains what is probably the world's most comprehensive website of seismic activity. Check it out here. Also lots of other fascinating information in other parts of the site that is well worth exploring. Another big earthquake, 8.7 on the Richter scale, struck off the coast of Sumatra at about 2140 IST; we felt nothing here in Chennai. This one was further south of the Boxing Day (December 26) quake. It's been five hours now and no signs of any tsunamis, so it looks like we dodged a bullet. This is basically just to let family and friends know we are both ok.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/29/2005 05:10:00 AM| |

 
The Land of Oz-Part Two (Brisbane) I forgot to mention this in the last post about Melbourne: Phillip Island. It’s a must-trip if you ever go to Melbourne because of the “Penguin Parade”. The island has a permanent colony of over 100 little penguins, the smallest penguin species in the world. We booked a tour in the city, and it took about two hours each way by bus, but you could also drive out there yourself and buy tickets at the viewing center. Each night shortly after dusk, they emerge from sea in groups and waddle to their nests, little holes they've dug into the hillsides, some almost a kilometer from shore. The ones who remained behind that day will also come out to defend their territories. The resulting cacophony has to be heard to be believed. First we gathered at a viewing area about 100 yards from the beach. The penguins assemble in small groups called rafts, at sea, waiting until it is dark enough to come ashore so they can avoid predators: hawks and foxes. When the time is right, each raft comes out of the surf and start scrambling over the rocks. The park has a boardwalk built along and over the trails used by the penguins, so you can follow them for several hundred yards. It’s truly an amazing sight. Every few hundred feet, they get tired and plop down for a few moments rest, especially the fatter ones. All the people watching don’t seem to disturb them, but the park doesn’t allow any photography whatsoever, even if it’s a night vision digital camcorder, like we have. It can be as interesting listening to the spectators as it is watching the penguins. I overheard one guy say: “I can’t believe it: they look just like little birds!” I hate to admit it, but he was an American (or maybe a Canadian, I’m hoping). It’s worthwhile to arrive before dark, as the scenery is stunning: We next flew up to Brisbane, which my copy of Lonely Planet alleges the locals refer to as Bris Vegas, but I didn’t hear anyone call it that. Lots of people told us to give Brisbane a miss, and I’m really glad we ignored them. Brisbane is a gem, and was easily our favorite city in Australia. It’s a shame we could only spend two days there. A lovely river town with loads of green space, it has a gorgeous walking path along the South Bank containing a great night market and lots of pubs and restaurants to choose from. After arriving at the airport, we rented a car and immediately went to one of Brisbane’s prime attractions, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, located on the city outskirts. It is home to over 100 koalas and also has kangaroos, wallabies, birds and much more. One of its draws is that you can actually hold a real live koala. Brisbane is in the state of Queensland, and state law permits the handling of koalas, whereas it is illegal to do so in Victoria (Melbourne). So yes, I forked over the A$20: You'd think a koala's coat would be very soft, but it actually feels like stiff wool. There are different enclosures for male and female koalas, and they even have a retirement enclosure for koalas over 10 years of age. They normally live around 15 years, but one at the sanctuary made it to the early 20s! Koalas are extremely lethargic creatures that sleep upwards of 20 hours a day. This is because their diet of eucalyptus leaves contains very little nutrition and the leaves are actually quite toxic. They sleep while their stomachs break down the poison. Young adolescent males are probably as active as koalas get, so I spent a lot of time at that pen: This was the scene of a koala rumble where this one critter was acting quite the a-hole, raising all kinds of hell, bullying and chasing the others all over the cage. These guys have very sharp claws and teeth and they do fight, even if it looks like comical slow motion. Finally, the bully made it clear he was boss, and so he dropped down to the ground and strutted back and forth for a few minutes, barking loudly, proclaiming what a he-man (he-koala?) he was. He then climbed up on his throne and sat there for the entire world to admire, his ears pinned back to let us all know how tough he was: The sanctuary also has dozens of colorful parakeets, which you can feed by hand: It lies on the Brisbane River, so a lot of people actually take a ferry to the park from town. Here’s Spicygirl on a hill near the pier, overlooking the river: And just in case you get lost… Where in the world is Madras? This was my favorite lookout point in Brisbane, very near our hotel and directly across the street from a Mormon church: I was amazed by all the construction activity going on in downtown Brisbane. I saw scores of those giant cranes used to construct skyscrapers, which are sprouting up everywhere. It reminded me a lot of Beijing and Shanghai, as a matter of fact. As noted, the river paths in Brisbane are superb. Keep your eyes peeled for all kinds of bizarre modern art sculpture, as if the natural scenery isn’t enough. Here’s a pair of wacky scrap metal pelicans: And what’s a Prince Roy travelogue without the obligatory beer photo? I stopped by the first riverside café I came across to sample the local swill, 4X Bitter: Not bad at all. Here we are later that evening at the famous Story Bridge Hotel pub: This pub has a large-screen TV and it was here I saw my first ‘footy’, as the Aussies call rugby. There are two kinds of footy, and the country seems bitterly divided on which is better: rugby union, or Australian Rules (AFL). Being an outsider, it was nice not having to take sides. I enjoy both. Brisbane has a rugby union team, the Queensland Reds, and that night was their season opener, a home match against the Hurricanes of Wellington, New Zealand. The Reds lost 10-24. Brisbane even has a Chinatown, and I’m pleased to report that you can get quite decent Chinese food there. We went to the Hunan Chinese Restaurant (岳阳楼湖南酒家) on 28 Duncan Street. Take along your pocket Chinese dictionary and catch up on your Cultural Revolution headlines: original 1960s People’s Daily newspapers grace the wall. Be sure to say ‘hi’ to Zhu Xiaolu, Managing Director. No kidding, that’s actually on the restaurant business card: 朱晓露, 董事长. She’s from Hunan, and she’ll love it if you speak to her in Chinese. The next day we drove down the Gold Coast. I was disappointed in the Surfer’s Paradise area, which is completely overdeveloped with high-rise condos and hotels. It looks just like Ft. Lauderdale, and in fact just a few kilometers south of Surfer’s Paradise you’ll hit Miami Beach. But the waves are supposed to be good. If the perfect holiday for you means lying on a towel and grilling yourself on the sand along with loads of other yahoos, then you’ll probably like it. Once we got past the northern stretch, the Gold Coast changed for the better. Here’s Point Danger, one of the first places sighted by Captain Cook: We followed the coast all the way down to Byron Bay, home to the Cape Byron lighthouse: This lighthouse marks the easternmost point of Australia and there’s a great trail here that goes all the way down to the sea: I’ve been reading Chabuduo Matt’s blog pretty much ever since he started it. At the time he was out in the sticks and it was his first time ever in China. I thought that took guts, because most newbies head straight for the big cities, where nowadays they can live life pretty much just like back home. I could tell from his adventures that he has a good sense of humour, and he took it all in stride, not repeatedly focusing on the negatives, so I came to respect him for that. And believe me, the Chinese countryside is not an easy place to live. Matt is from Brisbane, and when he saw on my blog we were going to Australia, he emailed me his parent’s address and phone number, and even said we could stay at their home. I thought that was pretty big of him (and them), considering we’ve never even met. I wouldn’t dream of imposing in such a manner, but I did call them after we checked in our hotel, and Bob, his dad, gave us great tips on what we should try to see, given our limited time. It was his suggestion to drive down to Byron Bay, and he also advised us to take the overland route back to Brisbane because it goes through the hill country. We did just that, and the views on Highway 40 to Murwillumbah along the Tweed River were gorgeous. I was driving so I couldn’t take pictures, but Spicygirl has it all on digicam. On the morning we left Brisbane we got to meet Bob, who was nice enough to pick us up for breakfast and show us around the city before our afternoon flight, even though it was a Sunday. It’s too bad we didn’t get to meet his wife Ann, but she was suffering from adverse reactions to immunization shots obtained for their upcoming trip to China to see Matt and his new bride Wang Ying. In fact, I think they’re there now. It turns out Bob is a huge rugby union and diehard Reds fan, and he was at the opener we watched on TV. That’s why he couldn’t meet us the day we arrived. His enthusiasm for the side is contagious, and I’ve adopted them as my favorite team now, too. But I haven’t gone as far as to get personalized Reds vanity plates like he has. It still amazes me that there we were chatting together in Brisbane, our only point of reference being his son Matt, who I’ve never even met. That’s the wonder of the Internet. Well, hopefully one of these days we get back to Brisbane, and Matt will be there too. They had better introduce me to Brissy-style BBQ!
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/26/2005 04:10:00 AM| |

 
A Laugh a Day...the Chinese Way Sometimes it's hard to face myself in the mirror after a day of carrying out decisions I strongly believe are wrong-headed. Yet my hands are tied and I am compelled to do so. Now I know where people's stress comes from. But rather than hit the bottle like others have done, I'm attempting to escape through humor by reading Chinese jokes. Mobile phones have radically transformed China. I've seen estimates that there are upwards of 270 million cell phone users in the PRC; that's roughly the population of the United States. When you consider how many of those people are SMS-ing, it's not hard to imagine the extent and scope of information exchange to a degree that has never before existed in Chinese society. Some foreigners living in China maintain that the authorities are keeping track of their activities, whether through the old-fashioned way of opening mail, or the modern approach of blocking a website . I'm not saying it doesn't happen: it certainly does for Chinese websites, as some well-publicized arrests and trials attest. But I tend to be skeptical in these cases, simply because the activities of the two persons I've mentioned here are fairly innocuous and it's hard to understand why the PSB would be interested. It seems to me, however, that mobile phones and text messaging are the major conduits of information in China, especially considering that there are 'only' 60 million or so Internet users in the country. I think it would present a huge, if not insurmountable task, for the authorities to effectively censor cellular communications, certainly much more so than for the Internet. One of the most popular uses of SMS in China is for sending jokes. I present a few here, not that I think they are particulary funny, but just to illustrate their range and flavor. A large proportion of China's SMS humor is risque, which should put the lie to the conception that Chinese are excessively prudish. I find most of the jokes too prurient for my taste, so I'm only sharing the milder ones. Note: there may be character typos in these jokes; I'm printing them as I got them. 醉漢:親愛的,咱家鬧鬼,我剛才上廁所一開門燈自動就亮了.尿完關門燈自己滅了. 妻大罵：你又把尿撒到冰箱裏了 Drunken husband: "Honey, our house is haunted. I just went to the bathroom, and as soon as I opened the door the light came on all by itself. When I finished and closed the door the light turned itself off." Angry wife: "You pissed in the refrigerator again." 青蛙和袋鼠去嫖雞，袋鼠三倆下完事，聽見隔壁整夜一二三嘿！一二三嘿！袋鼠好羡慕！次日早上，袋鼠說：“蛙兄你好棒哦！”青蛙“操！老子一夜都沒跳上床 A frog and a kangaroo went to a brothel. The kangaroo finished up in no time, and all night long he heard in the next room: "1, 2, 3, hey! 1, 2, 3, hey!" The kangaroo was beside himself [in envy]. The next morning he said: "Brother Frog, you're really something else!" Frog: "F*ck! I spent the whole night trying to hop up into the bed!" 一人去海裏游泳，沒帶泳褲，要上岸休息，朋友把他埋在沙裏，小dd露在外面，過來兩位小姐看見了，撥弄了幾下，說真他媽奇怪，這玩意兒還有野生的？ A guy went skinny dipping in the ocean, then came ashore to rest. His friends buried him in the sand, leaving his willy exposed. Two girls came walking by and poked at it a few times, exclaiming: "That's pretty darned strange; these things grow in the wild?" 農民嫖ji，ji說：“草地一次十塊錢，椅子一次二十塊，床上一次五十塊。農民拋出五十元，ji笑道：先生好有情調喲！農民說：“情調個p，五十塊，草地上五次。 A peasant went to a prostitute, who told him: "One go on the grass will cost you $10; one go in a chair for $20, and one go in a bed for $50." The peasant took out $50 and the prostitute giggled: "Sir is quite the charmer!" The peasant said: "Charmer, my ass. Five times on the grass for $50." There's a few more I'll post tomorrow, but it's getting late and tomorrow is a work day... UPDATE: Here are three more: Not all SMS humor is blue, or as the Chinese say 'yellow' (黄), as this political joke illustrates, one recommended by Spicygirl: 一隻狗去山裏創業，農夫給了它一把鐮刀，木匠給了它一把錘子。狗在路上突然遇到一隻老虎，嚇得它趕忙把鐮刀錘子舉了起來，老虎見了哈哈大笑說："喲，小樣兒，你以為你是黨員我就不敢吃你呀！" A dog went up into the mountains to make his mark in the world. A farmer gave him a sickle and a carpenter gave him a hammer. All of a sudden, the dog encountered a tiger on the road. Frightened out of his wits, he raised the hammer and sickle in the air. The tiger saw this and laughed uproariously: "Oh...Mr. Bigshot, you think that just because you're a party member I won't dare devour you!" Here's an example of a Chinese pun: 某日劉洪濤遇到外賓，上前搭話曰：I am Hongtao Liu，外賓曰：我他媽還是方片七呢！ One day Liu Hongtao went up to a foreign visitor: "I am Hongtao Liu." The foreign visitor replied: "Well, I'm the damn seven of diamonds!" [Explanation: Liu Hongtao is a generic Chinese name. Chinese put the family name first, followed by their given name. When Liu met the foreigner, he introduced himself the Western way: given name first, then family name. However, in Chinese, this sounds the same as the Chinese term for the playing card 'six of hearts'. This explains the response of the foreigner, who obviously has a keen grasp of Chinese!] Finally, here's a really strange 'joke' that has something to do with that infamous incident a couple of years back where Japanese businessmen engaged in mass orgies with Chinese prostitutes in the southern Chinese port city of Zhuhai. Given the very touchy historical friction stemming from atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s-1940s, this incident enraged a lot of Chinese all over the Mainland. I'm posting this in the hopes that a Chinese reader (or a fellow Westerner with a better grasp of Chinese language nuance) can explain the joke; I don't get it: 日本人珠海買CHUN事件已引起國人的共憤，我國決定近日派500名壯男赴日本雪恥，你有幸被選中，請養精畜銳，做好去日本的準備.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/24/2005 01:15:00 AM| |

 
The Land of Oz-Part One (Melbourne) Sorry for the delay in posting. Not only has it taken me a while to readjust to the hectic pace of life as a Chennai consular official, I’ve been having major connectivity issues. The geniuses who staff the help line at our ISP tried to tell us that the farther away we live from the company, the slower the connection. I think the problem may be that in the last few days crews have been digging up the streets in our neighborhood putting in new lines. Other people I know in the area are having the same problem. I guess good help is hard to find even at India’s domestic call centers… Well, here’s a brief summary of our trip; below is Installment One: We arrived in Melbourne where 3 of Spicygirl's classmates from university in China are now working. These two pictured with Spicygirl picked us up at the airport the night we arrived. The girl in the middle is Ashley and the guy on the right is Tony. He's working for BMW as a programmer and one of his perks is a company car that he gets to switch out every few months. He let me drive his other car (not a brand-new BMW), and so the day after we arrived in Melbourne, we went on a two-day trip along southern Australia's Great Ocean Road. There were seven of us in all, including Tony's wife and Ashley's parents who were visiting her. This is one of the first beach photo ops. We drove the Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell, around a half-day's drive from Melbourne. I'd forgotten how Chinese go on holiday outside of China. For starters, they pack along every meal they will eat on the entire trip. In fact, most of our luggage consisted of ice chests filled with produce and other consumables. They tell you it’s because cooking one’s own food always tastes better than what you can get outside, but the real reason is they want to save money. But after this meal, consider me converted: Before that great dinner, I snuck away into the village to a local pub. There I had my first beer ever in Australia: When I got there I told the lady behind the bar this would be my first beer in Australia and asked what she recommended. Her reply: “The most important thing is, whatever you do, don’t ask for a Fosters. Australians do not drink Fosters.” She then poured me that Victoria Bitter you see there. After tasting VB (as everyone calls it), I thought it was like an American saying: “Whatever you do, don’t ask for a Budweiser. Americans don’t drink Budweiser.” And then pouring a Miller. Or Coors. Bottom line: I had heard what a beer culture there is in Oz, and to be honest, I found the beer quite disappointing and bland. No wonder the country is turning into a bunch of wine snobs. But to be honest, VB actually grew on me over our two weeks in Australia, and it became my preferred brew. The good thing about Aussie beer is that it is at least 4.8%, and the best I had by far was Cooper’s Sparkling Ale. It's anything but 'sparkling', and reminds me of a Belgian beer I like alot called Hoegaarden Witbier. Cooper's tends to sit a tad heavy though, which is why most of the time I stuck with VB, a very drinkable, uncomplicated ale. Great Ocean Road is one of the world’s most scenic drives, and here are a few more shots: “London Bridge” used to be one mass. One morning in the early 1990s, the middle portion collapsed, stranding two surprised tourists. They eventually got off by rescue helicopter. You know you’re in Australia when... This was my first “Australian” meal. I always like to sample the local fare. My Chinese travel mates had packed their own Chinese lunch, but I shared my fish and chips and they shared those chopped, pickled peppers. Great combination. Those peppers are mighty tasty. In fact we brought four jars back with us. A Sichuan company called Guang le (广乐) makes them, and now I have them with every meal. We also saw a group of wild koalas on the way back, which was really cool. Kangaroos are far more numerous, but we didn’t see any wild ones, unfortunately, though we did see a wallaby. Australia has lighthouses everywhere. Well over 300 ring the continent. I am a huge lighthouse fan. In fact, I think it would be a great idea to create a site dedicated to Australian lighthouses. It’s on my ‘to do’ list if I’m ever stationed there. This one is the Aireys Inlet Lighthouse. Its light can be seen 21 miles out to sea. We also did a Yarra Valley wine tour. Yarra Valley is about 1 ½ hours out of Melbourne. Australia makes some incredible wines. Much better than their beer. Unfortunately, alcohol taxes are so high that you’re better off buying Australian wine overseas. That’s why we only brought a few bottles back with us. I prefer red, and Spicygirl is partial to white. Though when they give it away for free at the winery, ‘why not enjoy both’ is my motto. Spicygirl celebrated her birthday while we were in Melbourne, and so we went to the best Sichuan restaurant in the city, the oddly named “Dainty Sichuan Food”. It’s on 270 Smith Street in Fitzroy. If you read Chinese, the Chinese name makes much more sense. There’s nothing dainty about the fare of that province; it’s about as subtle as a Sichuanese peppercorn (花椒). But it’s an awesome, grotty, hole-in-wall joint with about 7-8 tables. Call that number and make a reservation or you won’t get a seat. You’ll have to bring your own wine/beer. Australia is cool that way, almost every place is a BYOB. Warning: be very careful, the floors are extremely slippery; I think it’s from vapors of oil and hot peppers that have settled on the ground. The last picture is their most popular dish at the moment, ‘chilied crabs’(香辣蟹). We had an amazing time in Australia, but I couldn’t believe how expensive it was. Our meal at that great, tiny restaurant came to about $150. In the US it wouldn’t have been over $90. It was the same everywhere. I’d guesstimate that Australia runs about 30-40% more expensive than the US for comparable good and services. The great mystery to me is: How do the Australians live as well as they do? They don’t earn as much as Americans on average, but they lack none of the material effects, and I think the quality of life is actually somewhat higher. So how do they do it? Are they in hock up to their ears? Still to come: Brisbane, Sydney, and of course New Zealand’s South Island!
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/20/2005 07:30:00 PM| |

 
We're back in Chennai as of 2230 on 12 March and all is well. We had a fabulous holiday. I'll try to get some stuff up in the next few days...
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/13/2005 02:45:00 AM| |

 
We're now in Queenstown, New Zealand, the Adventure Capital of the world. The way I see it, if you come here you have to do one of two things: bungi jump or skydive. You should probably do both, actually, but I'll only do one, cheapskate that I am. Any suggestions? I already know what I'll be doing, but I'm interested in what others think. More to follow...
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/06/2005 01:15:00 PM| |