Thanksgiving and Cruise Down Mexican Riviera

Having lived in San Diego for over 6 years, I had never taken a cruise, partly because I thought that a vacation that’s so completely regimented was meant for only families with kids or old retirees. And besides, there were still so many other exciting places in the world that I had not seen yet, which cannot be accessed by the lazy tourists on a cruise ship!

However, active vacations not only require energy during the trip but also plenty of advanced planning. After planning the trip to Europe (Prague and Vienna mostly on our own without resorting to any packaged tours), I did not feel like planning another complicated vacation. Therefore, for this Thanksgiving break, I thought to myself, “well, perhaps it’s not a bad idea to try going on a cruise, since everyone else seems to love cruises.” Besides, I had made a unofficial and loose decision a few years ago to be outside of the United States during Thanksgiving, as much as possible. It was not my hidden Bohemian streak that made me want to defy tradition. I have concrete reasons to dislike Thanksgiving. It’s 4 days long, and yet it’s a nightmare to travel in the States – it feels like a very long 4-day vacation with nothing great to do and nothing good to eat either – the predictability of this holiday could drive me mad. Everything is closed on Thanksgiving day, forcing everyone to do nothing but eat the traditional Thanksgiving fare. I so hate the Thanksgiving fare of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce. – That must have been considered a great meal in the days of the pilgrims but in today’s globalizing economy and global culinary scene, it’s pure torture to have to eat turkey on a day that supposedly celebrates eating. Then there was the after Thanksgiving shopping, which means enormous crowds for mostly useless merchandise. After the 4-day long holiday weekend, I almost always felt worse – bloated from the constant eating, bored from little activity, and incredulous that I had wasted a perfectly fine long weekend without doing anything fun or even eating anything great. That’s why I decided - if I could, that I would try to be outside of the “Thanksgiving country” during Thanksgiving. Indeed that’s how Michael and I had some of our most exciting vacations over a few Thanksgiving holidays (Asia, Australia, Canada, etc) – for example, a trip to Southeast Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand) is one that I still rave about today, where we found the perfect combination of scenery, culture and cuisines. I remember distinctively that we were in Thailand on Thanksgiving day during that trip – and how I felt sorry for the people eating turkey and cranberry sauce while we were trying these superb Thai dishes that cannot be found in any Thai restaurants in the US!

The obvious destination for cruises out of San Diego is Mexico. The first time I went to Mexico was just crossing the border from San Diego into Tijuana – it was a very sad place. When I was told by someone from Mexico that what truly represents Mexico is Mexico City, Michael and I took a trip over Christmas one year to Mexico City – seeing a ton of murals by Diego Rivera, visiting Frida Kahlo’s old house, climbing up the pyramids at Teotihuacan, and riding the boat on Xochimilco, while staying in a hotel overlooking the main city square. It was alright – but I was not impressed. Therefore, I figured, perhaps I would give Mexico one last chance by visiting the coastal area – down Baja California and briefly entering Sea of Cortez. The cruise I chose down Mexican Riviera was for 7 days, leaving the Saturday before Thanksgiving from San Diego, stopping by Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallharta.

We boarded the Holland America “Oosterdam” on this bright Saturday afternoon in November. It was an impressive ship, with 12 stories in total, 1600 passengers on board and another 800 staff. There were numerous lounges and bars, a casino, a basketball court, two swimming pools and several Jacuzzis, a library as well as several dining rooms. During the cruise, there would be many activities including art auctions, dance classes, cooking classes, magic shows, dance performances, disco nights, afternoon teas and several formal dinners for which one has to dress extremely formally.

From talking to people we met on the cruise, we learned a great deal about cruising:

We learned that our ship “Oosterdam” of Holland America was among the most luxurious, in terms of food and service, with other cruise lines such as Carnival and Norwegian being relatively lower-budget with worse food and service.

We learned that some people had taken the same itinerary a few times, although they had never been to places like Hawaii – i.e. it’s not that they have ran out of places to visit. It’s only that they like being on a cruise and they like the routine.

We learned that some people did not even bother to get off the ship when we stopped at these Mexican cities – they preferred to sit by the pool or watch tv or hand out at one of several bars/lounges.

We learned that most people love the idea of fancy dining without having to pay for it – well, we all did pay for it as part of the cruise, but on the evenings of these formal dinners, there was no need to look at the prices next to “surf and turf” or “filet mignon”. There were professional photographers taking photos of people dressed in tuxedoes and evening gowns right before going into dinner, and I marveled at how many women must have spent hours putting on makeup and doing their hair before putting on an elaborate evening gown just to sit down to a dinner that’s mass produced, even if it’s presented as a nice, formal and individualized dinner.

We learned that a lot of people get so excited just sitting by the pool, or sitting in the Jacuzzi, for hours on end.

We learned that being able to eat any time of the day and night delivers great pleasure to many.

We learned that people thoroughly enjoy any shows as long as they don’t have to pay extra to attend them. To be fair, the magician was very good and also very funny, engaging the audience to participate in all kinds of ways. There was a “Joel Mason show” that was highly popular – Joel Mason basically is a musician that tries to imitate Elton John. But the show spent more time on all kinds of silly theatricals than actual singing – I probably would not have minded listening to Elton John’s songs, but the constant silly jokes and parodies got tiresome after a few minutes.

When we first checked in, we got a cabin that’s very close to some machinery room. I felt that even with the ear plugs I could barely go to sleep. However, we were told that all cabins were full and they would see if they could find anyone who’s interested in swapping with us. Finally after 2 days, they found us another cabin – which had handicap access and which was slightly quieter. Later on, I would realize that the constant blowing of air from the ceiling fan was a major culprit – they probably have to install these fans that cannot be shut off because otherwise passengers could suffocate – after all there are 1600 passengers on board! All I can say is that I would wake up in the morning, feeling completely exhausted (due to lack of fresh air and the constant noise), extremely thirsty (due to the perpetual ceiling fan), and quite dizzy (from the motion of the ship). – While I did pretty much nothing else except for lying in bed or in a lounge chair on the last 2 days of the cruise when we were at sea, I was more exhausted on those two days than when we were doing sightseeing at the three Mexican cities.

I have to say that I will be among the few people in this world who would not recommend a cruise to others, including people who are not into adventurous vacationing at all. I am by no means athletic, as I don’t even go camping. I do want nice and clean rooms and interesting and tasty food on my travels. But the regimented way of vacationing – i.e. staying at one place, eating at one place (with many restaurants and many choices but it still felt like just one very stale place) and just going off the ship at a few places for a few hours - really gets old after a couple of days, despite the numerous activities/shows they have usually on board. In the end, the cruise experience was like a Vegas casino experience on the sea – with a smaller casino, smaller pools, smaller (and stuffier) rooms, and all these mediocre shows for free.

And how about my third try in appreciating Mexico? Cabo San Lucas is considered one of the favorite destinations for American tourists seeking some tropical fun. Where the ship docked, the scenery was quite unique with the rock formations, the waves and the pristine sandy beaches – the Lovers’ Beach and the Divorce Beach are essentially connected, with Lover’s Beach facing the tranquil harbor, and the Divorce Beach facing the open sea of the Pacific Ocean. Quite interesting names for these two beaches, I must say.

The town itself is just a tourist town of many souvenir shops, as well as pharmacists selling prescription drugs. As our usual practice, we picked a restaurant that clearly did not cater to the tourists – only local Mexicans were eating there and it looked quite authentic. Of course, that means the menu was only in Spanish and the waitress did not speak English either. I pointed to one dish with the picture of some stew. It turned out to be a stew of mostly beef tripes. Michael’s dish turned out to be some kind of fried chicken – overall the meal was probably authentic, but nothing interesting. In fact, that’s what I would say about Mexican cuisine we experienced both on this trip as well as on the previous trip to Mexico City, when we diligently sampled hidden gems of restaurants recommended by adventurous travelers – even when it’s authentic, it’s nothing interesting.

When we docked at Mazatlan, we joined a day-long tour of the Sierra Madre mountains, visiting several mountain towns. One of them (Concordia) is a sleeping little town with an old church in the town square.

Another one (Copala) was all the way into the mountain, where apparently quite a few Americans and Canadians have decided to set up home after retirement. The tour guide also took us to see some local handicrafts (we bought a carved wooden turtle). The scenery along the drive was overall fairly green and not as arid as the area around Mexico City, but it was not luscious like the forests in Hawaii or Puerto Rico.

The last stop was Puerto Vallarta – a major tourist attraction. There is an area of this town that’s mostly occupied by Americans and Canadians, situated on the hill overlooking the ocean. When we passed by those homes, we were surprised to see that inside it was all really nice and quite luxurious even though the façade was as shabby and unconspicuous as other houses. The whole town was on a hill, which means that we had to walk up and down a lot along these cobble-stoned paved streets. The houses were so close together that we wonder how they were built to start with.

Again, we found a restaurant that looked local enough, away from the crowds of tourists. It was perhaps among the most memorable experience in this city. Clearly it’s a family restaurant. The waiter was a teenage boy who hardly spoke any English. In the open kitchen stood two women, presumably his mother and his grandmother. Then another man showed up with some stuff bought from the market. The boy took our order, and then went ahead to pour a very colorful drink from this huge jar sitting there, even though I just asked for a bottle of water. While there were only 2 tables and 3 customers in total (Michael and I were at one table, and a Mexican woman was at another one), the staff outnumbered the customers. They worked very slowly and without any sense of urgency – I assume that in this town no one has any urgent business to attend to anyways. So we waited forever for our dishes, despite the few number of customers! They clearly did no advertising or promotion, and they were not pushy or overly friendly. We ate our food – which was okay but nothing interesting.

The boy asked Michael where we were from, and when he learned that we were from San Diego, he said that he wanted to go to the States too but he could not get a visa. This meal reminded me so distinctively of my conclusion after our trip to Mexico City in 2002 – people in Mexico are very poor, but they are not eager to make money or get rich. They would rather have an easy and leisurely life and make little money, than work harder to make more money. After we were finished with our lunch, we did not see anyone else coming into the restaurant, so most of the staff went away to rest. Maybe the whole family can sustain on serving a few tables each day in a tourist city like Puerto Vallharta. What a dramatic difference between this slow and overstaffed Mexican restaurant and an understaffed busy Chinese restaurant in California! I recall telling friends after visiting Mexico City that while Mexico borders the US, there’s nothing in common between the two countries from an ideological or philosophical perspective. Europe and Latin America are extremely alike in their emphasis on leisure and suspicion about progress, just as America and East Asia (represented by China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea) are extremely alike in their emphasis on hard work, fast progress and getting ahead. Divided by a huge Pacific Ocean, China is actually closer to the US than its bordering neighbor Mexico!

To be fair, I think if we had never been to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or even Mexico City, we would have found Mexican Riviera a lot more fascinating – after all, there is the beach, the Hispanic culture, and the sense that one is visiting a foreign country. We were certainly foreigners in Mexico, and yet sadly, we were foreigners that no longer had any curiosity left for what this country had to offer. It is as if we went to a magic show enthusiastically put on by an apprentice of a magician we have seen before – therefore, when he enthusiastically pulled off a trick, we could at best manage a tired and condescending smile and think to ourselves, “oh we have seen that before, and actually a lot better done than that.”

And that is exactly how I feel about the visit to Mexican Riviera. Perhaps the main lesson to learn as a tourist is to resist the temptation to visit the most exciting places in the world first, and try to visit the least interesting places first, so that one never encounters disappointment.

And as for the cruise experience, maybe I will reconsider it when I am 70 years old, an age that favors predictability, routine and no effort over excitement. Oh getting old does sound so incredibly tedious…

Duchess of Devonshire, The Institution of Marriage, and Proposition 8

When Michael and I were in London at the beginning of September, we saw big posters of the movie “The Duchess” everywhere. I like period pieces in general, and I always love to see the vivacious and beautiful actress Keira Knightley. I made a decision then to see this movie when it comes out in the US, irrespective of the review.

So I finally did get to see the movie – I could tell that it is supposed to invoke the memory of the late Princess Diana to some extent, as after all, Lady Diana Spencer was a descendant of Duchess of Devonshire – Georgiana Spencer. She got married at the age of 17, to an older, cynical and insensitive Duke of Devonshire who wanted a male heir as a reason for the marriage, and who even fathered a girl before the marriage. She was highly intelligent, extremely attractive, and very fashionable, and she became quite the center of attention, especially for the Whigs Party, overshadowing her husband. It was said that the Duke was the only man in England that’s not in love with the Duchess. He had his affairs both before and during the marriage, and the Duchess put up with everything, especially since she had 2 daughters, a series of miscarriages and no son. When finally she gave birth to a son, she was able to get some silent agreement from the Duke that she could then spend her time as she wished and pursue an affair with Charles Grey, a young and aspiring politician who’s head over heels in love with her. Her friend, Lady Elizabeth Foster had already been the Duke’s live-in mistress for a long time by then, which greatly angered her first, but she also came to accept it, and felt that perhaps because of it she could get this deal from her husband and spend time with Charles Grey. However, when rumors started circulating about Georgiana and Charles Grey, the Duke threatened her that if she were to continue, she would be denied access to all her kids and Charles Grey’s political career would be destroyed. Georgiana gave in, sent the baby girl she had with Charles Grey to his family to raise, and went back to live with the Duke and Lady Elizabeth Foster, and continue to be a big influence of the Whigs Party. Charles Grey went on to become the Prime Minister as he had wanted – the Duke was not vengeful at all towards Grey once the Duchess decided to come back. Towards the end of the movie, even the Duke was demonstrating some feeling by saying that he too abhor this whole thing (i.e. marriage) and expressed a desire to live peacefully (if not happily or lovingly) together. It was then clear that the unfeeling Duke actually could love someone (i.e. Lady Elizabeth Foster). So I guess the point was that both the Duke and the Duchess were victims of this marriage, and whoever that’s to break it first legally would be condemned and punished.

Being a true believer in equality and a true advocate for reason and fairness, Michael’s comment was that the Duchess was bad at negotiating her position with the Duke, as she clearly got a rotten deal. However, considering the times she was in, perhaps it was the best she could have hoped for. Indeed while her husband could parade his live-in mistress, she could not do the same. And if she were to leave him, he felt that it would only be honorable for him (i.e. worthy of his title) to take those actions that he threatened, or else he would be ridiculed by society. While he had 2 kids with the mistress, since they were not born within the wedlock, they were not to inherit his title or name. Yes, perhaps one can see that he too was performing his duties unwillingly, and indeed was a victim of this institution called marriage.

It is perhaps forgotten or even unknown to most people how marriage as an institution came about. It was a mechanism to ensure inheritance of property by one’s true descendants. Since in the old days only men controlled and owned properties, it was important for them to know that they were transferring their properties/titles to their true descendants as opposed to someone else’s. Hence the mandate of “exclusivity and sanctity” of marriage. Of course men paid lip service to it for centuries by having mistresses and affairs – they had to make sure that their own wives were devoted, as only kids born to their wives were to inherit titles/properties. But they were not that concerned with whether the mistresses’ kids were their own or not. Women, on the other hand, due to their financial dependence, had to stay loyal to the husbands.

Back in the days of Duchess of Devonshire when women did not have the right to vote and certainly did not have a way to make an independent living, clearly things were blatantly unfair for women. Now in our age of “enlightenment”, most women can make an independent living. The frontier feminists have overall declared victory on making the “exclusivity” of marriage apply to men as well – or else the husbands face consequences which may include financial ones. Indeed Duchess of Devonshire – had she been alive today – would have been able to demand half of her husband’s fortune upon divorcing him and been able to freely marry the man of her love AND still see her kids, and perhaps even gaining custody of her kids!

However, when people get married these days, it is mostly for the purpose of “sharing a life with the love of one’s life”, which was never the foundation for marriage as an institution. In fact, marriage is not required for two people in love to build a meaningful life together and to make each other better people for themselves as well as others. The true and original need for marriage – for a man, it is ensuring his fortune to be passed onto his legitimate heirs, and for a woman, it is ensuring her to be taken care of financially as long as she’s faithful to her husband and devoted herself to raising his kids – is almost irrelevant in today’s society.

The high divorce rate is not something to celebrate, but at least it indicates that some people are correcting early mistakes and getting out of wrong unions, which is something that neither the Duchess nor the Duke could do in their days, despite their lofty social status. Perhaps were it not for the social constraint, the Duke would have wanted to divorce Georgiana and marry Lady Elizabeth Foster (a previously married woman with 3 kids). Were it not for the financial dependence on the Duke and the need to see her kids grow up, Georgiana would have wanted to divorce the Duke to marry Charles Grey.

What is truly alarming is the even higher rate of unhappy marriages that never broke apart because of the presumed “sanctity” of marriage, without knowing that the basis for marriage was for something as base as money, with “sanctity” added as an afterthought to render it somewhat tasteful. This vow that “till death do us part” that one uttered as an adult has indeed forbidden many responsible men and women from doing what is most responsible – which is to acknowledge that even in one’s twenties or early thirties, one could still be stupid or naïve as one could be in his/her teens, and that it’s not too late to do the right thing.

Actually most unhappy marriages did start out and even continue for a long while as rather blissful unions that seem to be problem-free, partly due to the naivete that comes with youth and partly because it takes a few years for people to figure out about themselves vs others, and to identify what truly were the founding elements of a lasting union. However, many of these bad marriages would continue to the end, because a bad marriage is like a tumor, as the longer you let it grow, the harder it seems to part with it – even if you think you will, should, or may get better if you were to surgically remove it. No wonder Sam Mendes’ “American Beauty” was a wild success, and no wonder he’s following up with another one of the same theme “Revolutionary Road” – starring his wife Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio – Winslet’s co-star in the super sappy but hugely popular “Titanic”. Perhaps the juxtaposition of these two movies by Winslet and Dicaprio says something about what people want and what they eventually get – they wish that they could have the same kind of romantic passion of Jack and Rose from “Titanic”, but they felt that were it not for the tragic death of Jack, the union of these two young people in love could result in “Revolutionary Road”, as it’s been the experience of many. From a less cynical and more positive perspective, one can argue that Jack and Rose never got married or talked of marriage (they only talked about living life to the fullest), and they were fanatically in love until the end; whereas the couple in “Revolutionary Road” seem to blame marriage as the reason for their falling apart and their lives becoming disappointments.

Therefore, one has to wonder, have the frontier feminists got a pyrrhic victory on their hands, by forcing men to be physically faithful who otherwise would not have stayed faithful to their wives so that everyone is now “equal”? If certain men would only stay faithful to their wives because of an institution, it either means they should not stay together any more (i.e. perhaps these men will have no problem staying faithful to other women), or these men should not be married to anyone at all. – surely the answer is not to use an institution to bind them.

Fundamentally, in today’s age when women can make an independent living instead of relying exclusively on their husbands’ support (which in turn was conditional upon them staying faithful and bearing them sons), there is no need for women to argue on behalf of the original “sanctity” of marriage as an institution. I have always believed in the sanctity of love and responsibility, which essentially have nothing to do with this institution. Institutions in general were created for some practical purpose of the people or the society, but as time goes on, these institutions often gain a life of their own in order to justify their existence and continuation. In the end, people end up serving the institutions as opposed to the other way around.

As a professional woman, I do not think that we live in a society where things are equally easy or fair for women. Yet at the same time, I strongly feel that the feminist movement that has been the most visible one in promoting women’s interest has perhaps done as much damage to the principles of fairness as the prejudices of male chauvinists. In fact, the most vocal feminists in professional or personal circles are the ones that have often turned otherwise open-minded men away from acknowledging problems/concerns facing women still in this society, and have rendered male chauvinists even more fanatical enemies of gender equality to the point that when bad things do happen to women, they are denied or dismissed.

Haven’t we witnessed in real life or on TV the following scenes too often? – A man who inevitably says “you are lucky” to a single man goes home to a wife who does little housework or does it reluctantly or resentfully (because modern women are not supposed to serve men at home any more), who insists on getting her way on everything petty/trivial at home as otherwise it would be a sign of female subordination, who constantly feels under-appreciated by others despite their often worse abilities and efforts, and who uses the institution known as marriage to keep an otherwise unhappy husband tied to her. No wonder this man would have a worse opinion for women when he shows up at work. Ironically, one can almost see a parallel between the Duchess of Devonshire and the responsible modern men (those suckers), as opposed to one between the Duchess of Devonshire and the modern “feminist” women. If one has married wisely, all is well. If the marriage has been a mistake, which is often the case if it happened when both were still fairly immature, the one that wants to get out of this institution faces the worst consequences – losing access to one’s kids, losing one’s fortune, and of course incurring the negative public opinion that “one should have honored one’s commitment” to the point of losing more on all fronts, as Georgiana faced. Georgiana never would have guessed that she would be sympathizing with today’s enlightened men, as opposed to today’s feminist women.

Therefore, had the Duchess of Devonshire been alive today, I wonder what she would have done. For all her independent spirit and love of life, I doubt that she would have joined many other contemporary women in demanding her husband’s sole attention – which would seem like a prize that’s immediately worthless when she got it. She is too smart for that. She would have recognized the pointlessness of keeping her husband to herself against his natural will. She would have let him free, and let herself free, but she would have negotiated to have perhaps part of his fortune ( since she needed the money as she could not make a living herself) and gone on to marry Charles Grey, to be the wife of the future Prime Minster of Britain, and remain good friends with the Duke and Lady Elizabeth Foster. She would have focused on what ultimately is what she needs and what makes her happy, as opposed to what she is SUPPOSED to want according to an arbitrary institution. Perhaps outside of marriage, she would have found the Duke a much better friend - although a bad husband for her, he could be a great one for Lady Foster. The Duke, on the other hand, perhaps would have appreciated Georgiana much more – while a mismatch for him, she could make a great wife for Charles Grey.

Michael reminded me that more than 10 years ago he had already pointed out that marriage was not necessary for people who want to be together. In fact, marriage per se has added nothing to the happiness of people who were happy together before marriage, but it has added utter misery to the lives of people who eventually find their marriages deficient. They find their marriages deficient because they assumed that they were supposed to be completely happy and satisfied within this exclusive institution. If they realized that the purpose of the marriage institution was legalized sex that results in undisputed descendants, perhaps they would not have held this institution so high and lofty above their own happiness and dignity. In fact, most people who are in unhappy marriages do not realize that it’s their understanding and expectation of this institution that’s the problem. They either should get out, or should find what’s missing elsewhere, in an honest and responsible way. But marriage as an institution is powerful today not only for women but also for men.

I was not nearly as wise as Michael, and as usual I have come to understand his seemingly avant-garde position only a few years later. We did get married and had a big wedding, as I am now ashamed to admit. As a human being, I too tend to rationalize a decision made previously that contradicts today’s reasoning. So what is my defensive argument? - I love parties (hence 100 guests at my wedding), I love to look pretty (hence my $2500 wedding gown from Priscilla of Boston during my impoverished graduate student days). Besides, what’s the harm of conforming to an arbitrary institution that we do not believe in, if we were not hurting anyone ourselves? And lastly, it would be presumptuous to think that by not getting married, that would be a meaningful statement that could make any difference.

While I am writing this, we are in the midst of US elections. On the California ballot, there is a proposition 8 that has to do with whether to allow gays and lesbians to marry. I must admit that my feeling regarding this proposition is utter exasperation – it is a topic that I believe should not have been raised one way or the other. To those who are adamantly against gays marrying, I want to say “why do you care how others live anyways, as long as they are not interfering with your life? It’s none of your business.”

And to the gays and lesbians that are advocating for this sacred “right” to marry – I want to say “if you know the original rationale for marriage, you would realize that it totally does not apply to you. Plus haven’t you seen enough miserable heterosexual relationships that would otherwise not have been miserable were it not for the marriage institution? Be careful what you wish for – you may get it.”

But hey, we are living in a democracy. I guess we should spread the misery around - why shouldn’t the gays and lesbians participate in it as well?

Weekends

I do not remember when I have come to regard weekends as truly different from weekdays. When I was in school, which felt like an eternity, weekends were simply shorter work days plus a movie or two, or a dinner out. Perhaps it is a sign of getting old – without all that youthful energy, I do need weekends!

One would think that a change from not having weekends to having weekends could only lead to more relaxation and less stress. – Except that in my case the transition has not been that smooth, which may be akin to how people transition from working full-time to retirement. Now that I have these precious weekends at my disposal, I feel compelled to make the most of them. As a result, having my weekends has resulted in more work and perhaps more stress, because I have to do more planning in order to have “interesting” weekends. Parties need to be planned in advance, dinners need to be arranged with friends, errands need to be ran at certain hours, and housework needs to be carried out timely. I occasionally wonder if I have become slave to my own definition of a “fulfilling” life.

And God forbid if I had spent a weekend doing very little, seeing no friends, hosting no parties and attending no parties! – I would end up feeling like a failure! J During this past summer for various reasons, I went through a few rather low-key and melancholy weekends, when I stayed home most of the time, watching classics on DVD, not knowing exactly what I was hoping to get out of “Pride and Prejudice” or “War and Peace”. I even went swimming in our swimming pool a few times, hoping that I would get enjoyment out of a “relaxing” weekend. I felt quite awful after those weekends were over, as I felt that I had done nothing exciting, enlightening, educational or even entertaining!

It is amazing how sometimes we distinctively remember a particular day as a perfect day. What is a perfect day on a weekend then?

One of them happened when I was in graduate school at MIT – I remember it so distinctively probably because it was such a huge contrast to all the other long (and painful) days and nights at MIT. It was a very beautiful Saturday in the early summer. Michael and I got up early in the morning, and we drove around to visit those beautiful colleges near Boston area, including Amherst, Smith and Mount Holyoke. To this day, I have a fondness for visiting old and elegant college campuses, as they often strike me as much more interesting than some state or national parks. Perhaps it is because they combine the elements I like about a place – pristine and natural scenery, great architecture, interesting history and an aura of higher learning. Afterwards, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts to watch a movie by the very independently spirited filmmaker Sylvia Chang from Taiwan – “Tonight Nobody Goes Home”. There is something special about watching a movie in a great museum. It feels so much more rarefied than watching it in a generic movie theater that smells like buttery popcorn all the time. After the movie, we had dinner with another couple – and it was at my favorite Indian restaurant in Harvard Square, which is one of my favorite places in the world. A perfect day on a weekend combines everything that one would associate with a day off: physical exercise, sight-seeing, cultural or educational activities and of course fun parties or dinners!

So what am I going to do this weekend? Having lived in San Diego for over 6 years, I have never gone to a Miramar Air Show – presumably the world’s best military air show. That’s why Michael and I are going to see it this Saturday afternoon at a friend’s place that’s overlooking the airbase, thereby avoiding the crowds and the noises. Another friend and her husband are coming from LA to stay with us on Saturday night. Besides the two of them, I will have another two local guests over for dinner on Saturday night, which is why I am cooking a big feast. On Sunday we will probably have brunch in Del Mar by the coast – I love eating lunch at one of those restaurants overlooking the aqua-blue ocean under a bright sky. While I will spend Sunday afternoon attending the board meeting of a non-profit organization, Michael will be off to work and my LA friends will be off to see the airshow. Maybe we will finish off the weekend by watching a Merchant Ivory film “Before the Rains”. I find myself going over the plan and asking myself, “ is there anything else I can do? And have I got enough time to do all the housework and ran all the errands?” Perhaps I am one of the the unwitting products of modern-day’s overprogrammed lifestyle. There is no time for spontaneity in our age of PDAs….

Thoughts on Shanghai vs. New York

Shanghai

West meets East

I landed in Shanghai the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival. This year is the first time that the Chinese government has made this traditional Chinese festival a day off for everyone. Interestingly, when I was growing up, most of the official holidays (i.e. days off for everyone) were “new” holidays, as opposed to traditional Chinese festivals that have long histories, special meanings and unique food. Now that China is experiencing breathtaking Western-style development, it is also trying to dig up more and more of its history and tradition to become more “Chinese”.

For a tourist, Shanghai really does not offer much. As a city, it does not have the Great Wall, Forbidden City or Ming Tombs that help a rather austere Beijing convey a sense of majesty; it does not have the terra cotta warriors that have made a sleepy Xian uniquely mythical; it cannot rival Hangzhou on natural beauty, without a breathtaking West Lake of its own; nor can it rival Suzhou when it comes to those elegant scholars’ gardens. Even though urban development in the past 50 years have taken away many of Suzhou’s gardens and filled most of its canals, one can still get a sense of its ethereal and delicate beauty, just as a naturally beautiful woman could still be beautiful even in shabby clothes.

In a way, almost every other major city in China has something “permanent” to their identities and something uniquely theirs. When it comes to Shanghai, however, I have always tried without success to capture its essence with words. In the end, I have come to realize that its essence is its complete malleability and its constant change. And it is indeed a constantly changing city, with an aim to be more modern, more wealthy and more important, based on the latest definition of those criteria.


The second tallest building in the world opened its doors in Shanghai recently – Shanghai World Financial Center looks like a can opener, with a square hole in the middle of the top portion of the building. Architects must be running out of good ideas these days. I did not get a chance to visit it, as I heard that the lines would be long. Still, just by looking out of the windows of my room at St. Regis in the Pudong Area of Shanghai, I must say that this city reminds me more of New York than other Chinese cities.

Like my previous trips to Shanghai, this one was also for work, which means that I spent a lot of time talking business in restaurants. The food at these restaurants is infinitely better than the Chinese food one can find anywhere in the US, with service so attentive that it borders on making you feel uneasy. By comparison to what one can get at somewhat more “local” restaurants that cater to the Chinese paying out of their own pockets as opposed to paying out of an expense account, there is a dramatic and perhaps unnecessary price difference. – I am not complaining though, as I did love the food tremendously, not least because I recently came back from a vacation trip to central Europe, where I might have lost weight, despite eating apple strudels constantly…

St. Regis is of course not a Shanghai brand or a Shanghai phenomenon. However, I feel that a St. Regis experience is perhaps more “Shanghai-esque” than visiting the Yu Garden (arguably the only historic site in Shanghai), because of its emphasis on luxury and comfort and “westernization”. While I previously never exercised on my business trips, I decided to bring my swimsuit this time. The swimming pool was on the 5th floor – I put on my swim suit and my robe in my room and took the elevators down to the 5th floor. The pool was huge with just a couple of people swimming. There were several Jacuzzis and saunas located at two different floors, with separate bathrooms and changing rooms attached to them. I had the impression that the staff (as opposed to guests) were taking the most advantage of this fabulous facility. I asked a staff member how to turn on one of the Jacuzzis as she was putting down more fresh towels, bottled water and robes next to me (even though there was just me), and she apparently did not know. She called to one of the shower rooms for instruction – someone was taking a shower there. Instead of poking her head out of the shower or calling out instructions from behind the door, out came this woman standing completely naked in front of me providing instructions. I was so startled by this obviously unintentional “exhibitionism” and I found myself staring at her naked body (very attractive and curvaceous I must say). Later on, I would find out that in women’s bathrooms, even though all the showers and changing rooms were separate to allow maximum privacy, the local women do not feel any need to be NOT naked – they walked around completely naked chatting each other up, completely unaware that I felt embarrassed the whole time!

On a Friday evening, a friend took me to this Irish pub in Puxi area (i.e. west of the Huangpu River) in Shanghai. As I walked in, I had the impression that I was in Australia or Europe, because almost no one there was Chinese and everyone was speaking a foreign tongue. The pub is called O’Malley’s, and they serve all kinds of beer, include Guinness of course. There was a huge open seating area outside of the house, which itself dated to the colonial days. In the States I have never seen a pub that is simultaneously so interesting, lively and international…

Mixing with the locals

The next day, I got together with two friends who are professors – they are the new generation of academics in China. They are a little younger than I am, and were both trained in the US before going back to China. We met in Xujiahui for lunch, arguably the busiest commercial district in Shanghai. One thing about professional women in Shanghai is that they always look so good, with nice hair, tasteful clothes, and perfect complexion. After lunch at a Korean restaurant, we went to a beauty salon in the same shopping center for a facial. The beauty salon in Shanghai is a completely decadent experience. Their menus are as heavy as dictionaries, with all kinds of treatment for all kinds of skin types, age groups, etc. Needless to say, the minute the receptionist saw me, she labeled me as one that needed serious and serial treatments. She immediately suggested a regimen that must be continued monthly for at least a year if not forever, and my friend quickly added that if I don’t continue, my skin would look even worse than if I had not done it at all. Sadly, by not living in Shanghai, I had to give up the possibility of having translucent and youthful-looking skin. I chose the generic introductory facial, which comes at close to $30 even after the 70% discount. – With wages in Shanghai still much lower on average than the US, it shows how much women in Shanghai are willing to pay for beauty.

I felt all relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated after my 90-minute long facial, but my relaxed state did not last long – in a city like Shanghai, one cannot stay relaxed for long. Since it was raining a little bit and I was in the busiest shopping district, I could not find a taxi. I decided to take the subway even though there is no direct line going back to the hotel. It took me over an hour changing lines, battling the crowds, standing in crowded trains and eventually still taking a taxi from the closet subway stop to finally get back to my hotel. I looked into the mirror as I was trying to put on some makeup for the wedding reception that evening – my face looked as weathered and stressed out as it was before that magic facial. I thought to myself, “no wonder the expats all need a car with a driver.”

The wedding reception was held at Grand Hyatt in Jinmao Tower, which was Shanghai’s tallest building until recently. The groom is the CEO of a local biotech company. The bride is originally from Taiwan, went to school in Vancouver and now works in Shanghai for a foreign bank. The reception was quite nice and lavish – as one would expect from the Grand Hyatt of Shanghai. It was the first time that I got to see the families of many life science leaders in the hi-tech park of Shanghai. Previously I had met many of them at functions, events or dinners. I was assigned to a table where everyone had an investment background except for me! Needless to say, all of us exchanged business cards the minute we got to our table, and started talking shop. They all were educated in the US and lived and worked in the US for many years before returning to Shanghai. Throughout the whole dinner, I had this fear that my dinner companions would suddenly find out that I am actually an impoverished entrepreneur (they know that I am an entrepreneur but they may not know how impoverished I am), and they would all get up and say to me, “you cannot sit at this table, because you have not made millions yet. You don’t even have a real Louis Vuitton bag.” – Actually I am worse than that, as I do not even have a fake LV bag. To be fair, all the people at my table were very nice and I had a lot of fun talking to them.

Photo copyright Ben Houge

China... all the way to New York

Is bigger better?

I left Shanghai and landed in San Francisco early morning on Sunday. While none of my friends in Shanghai does any housework (they all hire housekeepers), I of course have to do all the cleaning and laundry myself in Bay Area. I ran a few errands, did a lot of work by email (what did people do before the age of email?) and went to a friend’s place for dinner. Her mom did all the cooking, which was great. I ate so much that they felt a bit perplexed, as I just returned from China that day. “Well, the United Airlines flight itself could make one long for great Chinese food.” Over dinner, I relayed my experiences in Shanghai to her, including the part on how I felt like a country bumpkin in Shanghai, to which her husband asked somewhat incredulously, “so you don’t consider yourself part of that group of rich people?” Before I could answer, the wife wryly added, “if she did, she would not be coming to our house for dinner!”

The next morning, I flew to New York for a business meeting. While I consider St. Regis in Shanghai pricey, it turned out that the Hilton hotel I would stay in mid-town Manhattan would be three times as expensive. It was almost 9 pm when I got into mid town Manhattan in a taxi, and the streets were still busy with pedestrians. Indeed it is the city that never sleeps. At check-in, I was told that I should not be shocked when I opened the door to my room, because I had been upgraded to a very big suite at no extra charge.

And indeed I was shocked when I opened the door to my suite – it was at least 1500 square feet, with a dining room, a living room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a bedroom. It took me forever just to find all the light switches to turn on enough lights to see the place, and find all the air-conditioner switches to turn off all that cold air blasting from everywhere. I still failed to figure out how to turn on the complicated TV system in the living room though. Since I dislike room service, I asked a friend for the phone number of a nearby Chinese restaurant that delivers. She gave me the number of the same Chinese restaurant that I went to with my friends when I would periodically visit New York from Boston in my grad school days. I called and asked for a couple of dishes, feeling a little guilty as I could not possibly finish two dishes. The door bell rang, and it was clearly too early for my delivery to show up. I nervously asked, “who is it?” “Room service.” “But I did not order room service.” “it comes with the suite.” With that, I opened the door, and saw a waiter pushing this huge cart with a lot of things on top. He asked me where he should set it up, and I almost asked him where most people would have it set up. He showed me all those plates of fruits and cheese, the dozen bottles of soft drinks, all the chips and crackers, and two boxes of chocolates, and asked me if I needed anything else. I hesitated for a second, “is it all free?” – He said, “it is included in the room.” Soon after he left, my Chinese takeout arrived. I felt really bad not letting the delivery guy in when he expressed utter amazement at the big suite and asked if he could come in for a tour. But after all, this is dangerous New York!

I thought long and hard about whether I knew anyone living in mid-town Manhattan that I could invite to my suite to enjoy the panoramic view from the 44th floor and all those free snacks, and could not think of any. Besides, if anyone is rich enough to live there, how could they have the time to care about free snacks? – I sat down to eat my Chinese takeout dinner, consisting of a string bean dish and a chicken dish, choosing to ignore the fancy display of fruits and cheese. The scene must have been somewhat comical, as here I was, staying in an expensive hotel in Manhattan, but still eating like a grad student. The suite was huge, but it was all wasted on me. In fact, I did not even like the suite, as it exacerbated my awareness that I was all alone on a business trip. Besides, the building is fairly old. Despite some recent renovations, one could still tell that it was a bit tired. It was nothing like the brand new and glitzy St. Regis that has “personal butler” service.

The Old New World

The next morning, I went to the meeting, which was held in the New York Times building. And what a grandiose view it was from the meeting room! The skyline of New York is still better than that of Shanghai. They had to shut the blinds so that people could concentrate on the meeting instead of constantly looking out the windows! I loved this small meeting, where I gave a short talk on the Chinese life science industry, and the obligatory short promotion on my company. Everyone was fascinated by China. With all that’s going on in the world, it seems that "China" has become the answer to everything:

· Searching for new products and innovation? – Go to China! – That’s why pharma companies have sent partnering people to be based in Shanghai.
· Seeking to grow revenue? – Go to emerging markets such as China!
· Funding companies and early-stage innovation? – China has the money!
· Seeking to cut costs of R&D? – China!

Right before I left for the airport, I saw two friends at a nearby Starbucks. If there is a category of “perfect professional women that can do everything well”, they two belong to that category. They are MIT and Columbia-trained PhDs who also have received MBAs, and are now working for Fortune-500 companies in New York in finance and marketing. They have been happily married to their college sweethearts for years, who themselves are highly successful professionals. Despite the lengthy education and the demanding careers, they have also found time to have kids – one has a boy and a girl, and the other has 3 boys (two of them are twins)! They are both fun-loving, travel a lot, read a lot, and socialize a lot. What else can I enthuse about them? – In summary, they are superwomen that would put most to shame, including myself. They told me that the United Nations General Assembly was going on at the time, which I otherwise would not have known. “With all the problems, maybe New York will not be the center of the world any more. But for those of us who live here, those events like the United Nations General Assembly still make us feel that this remains the center of the world,” my friend said philosophically and somewhat forlornly. I said good-bye to my friends, as they both hurried onto their next tasks – they are busy professionals, mothers, wives and daughters, and yet they still make time for friends. I am amazed at them, and ashamed at how little I have been able to accomplish with my much smaller repertoire of responsibilities and duties.

As I was leaving New York, I found myself thinking of New York as an old (and established) city, and Shanghai as a young (and emerging) city, when in reality Shanghai has been around for many more centuries. George Santayana said, “America is a young country with an old mentality.” Regardless of whether people agree with his sentiment or not, I am at least convinced that “China is an old country with a young mentality”.

Mozart lives on

Mozart is still putting out new work! Today a French museum found a previously unknown composition in his handwriting. (Alas it is not a complete score.) Apparently Mozart was about to become choir director in the Stephansdom in Vienna when he died at the age of 35.

Listening to Mozart in the Stephansdom on our recent Vienna trip

A lesson from the past

There is a certain amount of kindness, just as there is a certain amount of light. We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won't do harm — yes, choose a place where you won't do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine.

So wrote E. M. Forster in A Room With a View. Perhaps it is a philosophy we should keep in mind 100 years later.

European impressions from the summer of 2008

Michael and I went to Prague and Vienna towards the end of August. While on this trip, we also visited London and Bratislava briefly in transit. Needless to say, I have taken hundreds of photos and he has taken thousands. It will perhaps take months for him to sort through and edit the photos…

As we get older (and presumably wiser), we get different things out of vacation trips, largely because we are somewhat different people. For example, I pay attention to certain things more, and am much more mentally active –or the sightseeing could be rendered as active information processing and intellectually stimulating as opposed to passive information digesting. I do want to capture (if it’s not too late) my impressions and memories of the trip, before they fade away. Because I travel frequently between San Francisco and Shanghai, I naturally compare and contrast the United States and China constantly – even though neither San Francisco nor Shanghai could be considered representative of the countries, they surely come to mind when we talk about the United States or China. To sum up the impressions from this trip: “ Europe is the past; America is the present; China is the future.”

Now that statement might lead one to think that “past, present and future” is supposed to represent a gradient that goes from “bad” to “good”, when it really is not meant to pass severe judgment. In fact, as grown-up adults, when we think about our personal lives, we regard “past” with sweet nostalgia (perhaps even inaccurately) and our selective memory renders it even sweeter; we discuss “present” with urgency, vigor and convictions because it is all about the “now” and the “here”; and we talk about “future” with sometimes hope but often times uncertainty and even a bit trepidation. And that is exactly how I feel about Europe, America and China. I am not really singing praises for China really, because a “futuristic” China sounds threatening to many whereas a “nostalgic” Europe sounds beautiful….

And what a beautiful trip it was to Europe indeed….


London – it was my second time to London. The first time was in the winter, when Michael and I were both in graduate school. On that first trip, it was cold and damp and dark, and I was mostly clueless and blindly going from one tourist attraction to another, based on suggestions from tour books and friends. This time, we spent two half days there, and the weather was nice and pleasant. One gets the impression that London wants to be “permanently relevant”, and does it in an unassuming and peaceful way, and does not get frustrated if it gets underappreciated a little bit. Prague and Vienna are content or resigned to stay in the past without caring about their relevance today. Paris is unhappy to be regarded irrelevant, hates the rest of the world for doing so, but does not know what to do except for sulking (or does not want to do anything because it wants to only work part-time every week). Beijing and Shanghai, with their amazing youthful enthusiasm and boundless energy, are tirelessly working to be MOST relevant every day, as if there is no tomorrow, and as if there were a daily contest… one gets the sense that they pay too little attention to the past and think too little about the future that is beyond people’s lifetime today. New York still believes adamantly that it is the center of the world and nothing will change that.

But London, for all its past glory represented by the magnificent Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament and St. Paul’s Cathedral, seems to be really at ease with itself without resignation or frustration. The modern urban development has been happening and is still happening without destroying the historic grandeur of the city – something that other cities seem to be incapable of. It has maintained its relevance in socio-economic, geo-political and financial matters in the world, as well as its relevance as a historic tourist attraction. It has kept up with internationalization and globalization, without losing its cultural and national identity. Considering how small of a country it is in terms of land, population and resources, that is fairly remarkable.

We visited British Museum, House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and walked through St. James Park, all of which are the signs of “old and beautiful” London. We go on London Eye to have a panoramic view of the city on this giant ferris wheel(!) and stayed in an ultra-modern hotel near Canary Wharf, where the skyscrapers of this financial district rival those of New York, all of which are signs of an “ultra-modern and constantly updating” London.


Samuel Johnson said, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

*****

Prague – perhaps it was because I was inundated with enthusiastic reports on the incredible beauty of Prague, I was in the end somewhat underwhelmed by its beauty. That is not to say that it is not stunningly beautiful – how many cities in the world boast such serenely majestic medieval structures juxtaposed with neo-Renaissance architecture? As always, it was probably the psychology of eager anticipation. With an anticipation that Prague would take my breath away, I was holding my breath very tight!

The great thing about visiting Prague is that I have a friend who’s been living there for a while, right in the center of the old town area. Through her we socialized with the “Czech intellectuals” – or shall I say “the Bohemians”, as after all, Prague is in the heart of Bohemia. When we landed at the airport, it was already past midnight. I never got to see what the airport was like in the daytime, because we left Prague by train for Vienna a few days later. All I remember is that the airport is a ridiculous civil engineering project. It is actually fairly small. Still, it took us a long time from getting off the plane to finally meeting my friend in the lobby – we took a bus, got into the building, went upstairs, only to go downstairs again, and perhaps another iteration of going up and down stairs again – without escalators, went through customs, and finally walked into the terminal. – It was as if the airport was designed to make tired passengers even more tired, or to taunt people for their desire for convenience or efficiency.

Now this first impression was to be repeated when we got back to my friend’s place. She’s living in the Jewish quarters of Prague, which is only 5 minutes by walking from the Old Town Square, where the big clock is, and where all the important events/gatherings have taken place in Prague. The building was built in late 19th century. Just to get into the building, one has to unlock 3 doors! And not only that, each door needs to be locked with the key from the inside after it’s been opened! That is using your key 6 times just to get into the building. No wonder Kafka was paranoid …One has to wonder: is it paranoia that has led to such ridiculous design? Or is it for sadistic pleasure of the architect? The elevator is one of those I saw in movies – situated right in the middle of the hallway, making such clunking noises when it’s going up and down. The apartment is extremely spacious, with a huge receiving area (one can imagine that in the old days the maid would ask the guest to wait while she announced the name of the guest to the master). The rooms all have large double-paneled windows without screens, indicating cold winters but relatively mild summers. The living room seems to suggest that perhaps over 100 years ago, a wealthy family would have a big banquet there, after which a lady would play the piano, and a few others dancing to the music. The toilet is at the opposite end of the apartment from the bathroom, which means every time one goes to the toilet, he/she will have to go across the entire apartment to the bathroom to wash his/her hands! And the bathroom is fairly small, which suggests a different era when perhaps servants and maids took care of getting their masters and mistresses ready for baths. There is simply not enough room for towels or clothes!

I would find out in the next few days that the Czechs do not derive any pleasure from food. The next day we set out for the old town square – a lot of people gathered under the big clock to watch when the little figurine on the clock would strike the hour. Prague is known for its cobble-stoned paved streets and squares, and I was wearing the same shoes that I wore to work and investor presentations, which are not pointy stiletto but certainly with some heels. I think I ruined them, as well as my feet after 2 days of walking on cobblestones. The buildings in the old town area, like the Prague Castle and Charles Bridge, are medieval in style. I guess most people love Prague better than Vienna because Prague’s architecture is more medieval and more simple whereas Vienna was more neo-Renaissance and more ornate. There is much more of a myth associated with anything older.


We walked across the river to see Prague Castle, which was a collection of palaces (well, medieval palaces were very austere and not that luxurious), churches and cathedrals. As we got an audio guide, we heard hundreds of stories that one immediately forgets the next minute – this prince once lived here, that princess lived a life of devotion and was canonized; so-and-so was tortured (people during medieval ages were very much into tortures) and became a saint; etc. Part of Prague Castle is this street where Franz Kafka lived. The continuous building lining up the street was also home to prison and torture chambers. The displays were full of torture devices – I still cringe at the memory of them.

The next day we decided to take a train to a nearby town Kutna Hora – which has a huge and beautiful cathedral. It used to have a silver mine, and the historic town centre is representative of a Bohemian town. One of the eerie tourist attractions is this crypt where bones of thousands (if not more) of people were stacked up by the monks to make pyramids or other “sculptures” – needless to say, it’s situated in the middle of a cemetery. Maybe death was not an unpleasant topic, if food in life has always been so bad…

We finished our 3rd day in Prague visiting the Jewish quarters, getting a good education of Jewish culture. We also went to the other side of the river to visit this ancient library, where really old books are kept. Think “In the name of the Rose’ with Sean Connery! When I was there, I could imagine the shabby-clothed monks reading those “forbidden” books and dying of the poison on those books! It is pretty amazing, however, to look at those big and disintegrating books, and imagine that they were once written and read by people half a millennia ago! We had the obligatory daily beer (the Czechs consume more beer on a per capita basis than anywhere else in the world) in the garden outside of the library – it was relaxing and fun – what a European way to pass some time on a beautiful early autumn afternoon…

We tried the dishes and restaurants recommended by the tour book and my friend. It would be an understatement to say that we are disappointed in the food. There is practically nothing to eat there, except for bread, cheese, beef gulash (just a beef stew), potatoes, and boiled beef. No wonder beer is considered not only a beverage, but also a source of nutrition! While there were numerous concerts designed for tourists in churches, we decided to join the locals and went to a piano recital at Rudolfinum – the major concert hall in Prague. Music is such a big thing. We also went to this local pub which has a mill over a river – with people chatting vigorously and smoking like chimneys. As an ignorant tourist, I finally have to come to the conclusion – this is Bohemia, and people want to be left alone to complain freely but do nothing about what they complain about. They want to be left to live not just like Bohemians, but as Bohemians. Who cares about material comfort or possessions, when you can have history, architecture and music and talk about them over Czech beer all day and all night with other like-minded Bohemians? Given the choices of eating a great meal and reading Kafka, while pseudo-intellectuals like myself would not hesitate to choose the great meal (after spending 2 days in Prague away from California I was starving), the real Czech intellectuals would absolutely choose reading and discussing Kafka.

After visiting Prague, I realized that I was not nearly as cerebral as I thought I was – compared to the martyrs and saints who despite torture stayed with their conviction and the writers and musicians who produced masterpieces despite living in mental or physical agony and material deprivation, I concede that I am mere human, with too many trivial and mundane human needs that my intellectual interests can never transcend fully.

*****

Vienna – this is a city of grandeur. A city where Maria Teresa, Franz Josef and Sisi seem to be still alive at these palaces, churches, cathedrals. The Hapsburgs ruled from Vienna their Holy Roman Empire, which was neither Holy nor Roman, as it turned out. The magnificent Hofburg Palace and Schonbrunn Palace definitely suggest Versaille and Fontainbleau. Even Belvedere – a palace of a mere prince – was grandiose and decadent. No wonder the common people eventually decided that “enough was enough”. It was fun to visit the Royal Treasury and to imagine those robes and crowns on ancient kings. I was amazed to see how all the silver and china have been nicely kept – there must have been millions of pieces of china and silver. I still consider the holder for the boiled egg about the most ridiculous and useless invention in the history of kitchenware.


We did succumb to the tourist temptation and went to two concerts at Stephensdom and Karlskirch, respectively. Stephensdom is a beautiful gothic cathedral, where we listened to a collection of pieces including Ava Maria. Karlskirch has this beautiful fresco on the ceiling, where we listened to Mozart’s Requiem. What’s interesting is that major royal events did not happen in those two famous churches. In fact, Franz Josef and Sisi were married in a rather small and unassuming church next to Hofburg palace. All the royal families’ bodies were kept in the crypt of one church, their hearts in another, and their internal organs in yet another! - How complicated and strange! The last Hapsburg just died in 2007 – he was the son of the last Emperor. The coffins of Franz Josef, Sisi and their only Son Rudolf were side by side. The film trilogy starring Romy Schneider from the 1950s have indeed immortalized Sisi – the empress that was well-known for her striking beauty, slender figure (she weighed herself every day, tried to eat little and perhaps was a pioneer in calorie-restricted diet), and ankle-length hair. Franz Josef loved and adored his “angel Sisi”, and was thrilled to have married her. But Sisi was ambivalent and perhaps did not return Franz Josef’s lifelong affection equally. A princess from Bavaria, she hated leaving her family at the age of 16 and conforming to Viennese court rules. In her later years, she rarely stayed in Vienna, travelled constantly and was restless and unhappy, and eventually was assassinated by an Italian anarchist in Geneva.


We visited quite a few museums, as well as the Secession building. Gustav Klimt’s frieze on Beethoven’s 9th Symphony perhaps is representative of the secessionist movement. There were so many different artistic movements in Vienna that I can barely remember their names – I did try. To sum up my impression of the art from that era (late 19th century to early 20th century) in Vienna, I have to say that I am not fond of it. It seems that it was a most unhappy and turbulent time. Too many people committed suicide – that is all I can remember! Today’s Vienna is clearly very much into hosting modern art exhibitions, and John Currin’s paintings, including the famous one “Thanksgiving Dinner” were part of this “Bad Paintings Good Art’ exhibition. If any art requires the spectator to think in order to appreciate, I feel that it is too pretentious. – For the artist to say that he only is trying to project what he sees, or how he feels without caring about the audience or the spectators is downright disingenuous. I always feel as if I were a character from Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” when I go to modern art exhibitions. I feel that I have to look and think harder in case I am missing something others can see in this “art”, when in fact I can see nothing inspiring or pleasing in it. Modern art or contemporary art often is a farce - I just don’t know when I will finally decide that I have given it enough benefit of doubt.

(not a farce)

Food was as bad in Vienna as it was in Prague – with the exception of apple strudel….we watched an apple strudel show at Schonbrunn Palace, and presumably one can e-mail or call the number if you have trouble making your apple strudel based on the recipe!

*****

Bratislava – this city is so sad and sorry, that I wonder, why did the Slovakians bother to break away from the Czech Republic? If it was for the sake of making a point, it’s too bad that after making this point they cannot just crawl back and say, “we had some fun breaking away, but we would like to be together again”.

There is absolutely no sign that this city aims to do anything. While every tour book seems to suggest that everything that’s sad about this city should be blamed on its temporary communist rule, I realize that it really cannot blame the temporary communist rule for its sad and sorry state. There is something intrinsic in the national identity that makes it NOT want to do much. It is that lack of energy and initiative that seems to have been there for centuries that has contributed to its current state. They are renovating the Brastislava castle, but it will not be finished until 2011! You can build a castle twice as big somewhere else in the world in that timeframe!!!

The telling sign happened the minute we got into the train station of Bratislava from Vienna. It was run-down and chaotic. Since Slovakia has its own crowns (believe it or not, each of the 4 cities requires a different currency, with British pounds in London, Czech crowns in Prague, Euros in Vienna and Slovakian crows in Bratislava!), we had to get some money. We went to the currency exchange window, and as we walked to it, it suddenly closed with a “back in 10 minutes” sign. In that case, we knocked on the window, as we had all our Euros in hand to change money already. A man angrily opened the window and pointed to that sign and closed it without a word.


We visited the historic town area, which I could tell resembles Prague or at least Kutna Hora to some extent – it’s got that central European charm. There is a town square, with old buildings and churches around it. The palace museum, which was once a king’s palace and now a museum, had practically no visitors except for us. The bathrooms at this palace museum were the best I have seen in the world – it’s as if no one had ever been there. Once I was finished with the bathroom, the attendant was waiting outside – I guess this is the way they do things: the bathrooms must be clean at all times for foreign visitors. In fact, it was the same thing for the airport. While flights within the EU are considered “domestic” and were all leaving from the floor where it’s extremely crowded and the bathrooms were dirty, flights out of the EU (eg. to London) were leaving from the “international” terminal. And sure enough, the bathrooms were spotlessly clean, with duty-free shopping and a bar that’s essentially empty and much more expensive than the “domestic floor”.

I am finishing writing up my impressions of the European trip from a hotel in Shanghai. Outside of my window is the skyline of Shanghai, which whispers New York. After I flew in yesterday, I had dinner with two friends who are working in China in the pharmaceutical industry. The food in China is always so good and so creative and so various (the range of tastes and flavors are just simply mind-boggling) that I sometimes think that China ought to be known first and foremost for its cuisine than for anything else that the western world is talking about. Unfortunately, the Chinese restaurants in the US are doing a big disservice to the Chinese cuisine.

My friends were dressed immaculate as usual, and were so vivacious that they talked most of the time. They talked about the expat life, what it’s like to work in China after being in the States for over a decade, what it’s like to be highly-paid professional women in China (they are often taken as secretaries of their male colleagues), etc. There were no discussions on Dvorak, Kafka, or the Russia-Georgia conflict… I realized that I was firmly back to the real world again. More of that delicious duck soup please.

(Photos in this post copyright 2008 by Michael Lin, all rights reserved)