tpaullee

Something refreshing in your own backyard

2011-12-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

Jeanet went to Taiwan in December for two weeks, and I was alone in Campbell being single again, doing laundry and cleaning up the items in the refrigerator.

I have been swimming at the Campbell Community Center's outdoor pool for seven years. I have seen people running or walking on the all-weather track, but I have never been
there myself until this past Saturday.
It was a beautiful California day in December. I took my walk around the track, walked to the athletic field, and checked out what else was there that I have been missing for all these years.

Campbell Community Center has a variety of outdoor facilities including a football stadium, an all-weather track, an athletic field, an exercise park, tennis and handball courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and indoor Gyms and basketball courts. With the exception of swimming pool, all outdoor facilities are free of charge, subject to rules of reservation in certain popular time slots. I see my tax dollars at work in Campbell :-)

It was not too crowded on the Saturday afternoon. I checked out the outdoor facilities. The track was quite nice, and the grass was soft and bouncy. There were some people running, jogging, and walking on the track. The exercise park was interesting to me with all the equipment dedicated to exercising and building up certain muscles. This sort of park has become popular in many modern cities now. A few people practiced catching a football on the field.

Tennis courts were mostly occupied; the conditions of the court were quite nice. Some families played for fun in the courts and were not too intimidating to watch. The four courts used an honor system to set up your own clock and waiting queue. The rules and the "clocks" were in the center of tennis court compound, as shown to the right.

I strolled into the skate park. The young supervisor asked me if I needed any help. He left me alone after I told him that I would like to take a few pictures. This sport is obviously very thrilling and challenging, but is really dangerous.

A week later on a Sunday afternoon, I went again. This time I was stunned with the crowd, and I had to circle a couple of times to get a spot in the parking lot. The athletic field was filled with children practicing and playing flag football, along with coaches, parents and grand parents.
The field was neatly divided with dark green grass lines into 12 sub-fields in a 4x3 arrangement. When I was there, 11 of them were in use. I remember that my son Joseph in his junior high school years went to Dr. Lum's office to have a few stitches on his tongue after biting himself playing flag football. He used a mouth guard, but the accident still happened.

It felt so good to stroll, and I enjoyed my time there. What a shame to have been in a hustle and bustle mood all those many years. Take some time to pause and wander without an agenda and without a deadline. Life can be very simple and enjoyable. There is no need to go far. You'll find pleasure and peace in your own backyard if you look for them.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 024

2011-12-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* These documents are managed with a tight leash. [These documents are managed and controlled very carefully.]
* Time is definitely not on our side. Let's see what we can do. [We are running out of time. Let's see what we can do.]
* My management wants me to identify any possible kinks for this release. [My management wants me to identify any possible problems for this release.]
* This way of thinking has to be ingrained in our DNA to prevent that sort of regression happening again. [This way of thinking has to be in our standard practices to prevent that sort of regression happening again.]
* I hope that this is an isolated instance. We certainly don't like to know that this is the tip of the iceberg. [I hope that this is an isolated case. We certainly don't like to know that there are many similar problems to come.]
* I've definitely seen a few emails, but Dan is the one driving it. [I have definitely seen a few emails about this, but Dan is the one leading the effort.]
* In theory, we should have gotten it on Thursday. In reality, we got it on Friday. We just started working with it. [We expected to get it on Thursday, but we got it on Friday. We just started working with it.]
* We'll cross the river when we get there. [We'll make the decision when we get to that point.]
* We talked a few times. He is fully on board with this. [We talked a few times. He is completely aware of this.]
* It is quite a challenge to have multiple things in-flight at the same time. [It is quite a challenge to have multiple things going on at the same time.]
* It's time to shake his tree to see what will fall out. [It's time to get his attention to see what will come out of it.]

Unfamiliar Traffic and Roadside Signs to Chinese Vistors

2011-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

Xing is not a Chinese word or last name. Xing means "crossing" by combining "cross for X" with "ing." Some visiting Chinese friends thought it was the more esoteric translation of "walk" in Chinese. That is completely coincidental.
Here "PED XING" means that pedestrians might be crossing this roadway.

DIP (This means that the road way depression that can surprise the drivers, so you should slow down.)

Speed Bump Ahead
(A special obstacle designed to slow down your driving.)

Mobil Phone Area (An area designated for parking and making cell phone calls, especially near the airport)

No Through Traffic (That means do not come in unless you are a local resident. Quite often the street is also a dead end.)

Click-It or Ticket
(The rhyming words remind drivers that they should click the seat belts, or they'll get ticketed.)

Loading Zone (It is an area for loading and unloading shipping materials, and usually is reserved for delivery trucks.)

No Parking Tow Away Zone (Cars will be towed away to somewhere. This is not the Chinese style that clamps and locks the wheel so that you have to pay for the fines to the parking attendant.)

Use Shoulder Only (This means use the shoulder of the road, not the shoulder on your body :-) )

Game Crossing (Game means "animal" and not any sort of entertainment activity. These animals might cross the roadway. The driver should slow down and pay attention as required.)

English with an American Corporate Accent - 023

2011-07-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* I'll ask the questions first. Please feel free to chime in. [I''ll ask the questions first. Please feel free to add yours.]
* If we have to jump through hoops to get there, we have a bad design at the outset. [If we have to do through extraordinary steps to get there, we have a bad design to begin with.]
* It is a totally bogus question. Why do you have to ask what the system is like? [It is a totally nonsense question. Why do you have to ask what the system is like?]
* This one-stop shopping will be convenient for the customers. [This one single contract point will be convenient for the customers.]
* We got twenty minutes to the top of the hour. We should be able to complete this review. [we have twenty minutes to the end of the hour. We should be able to complete this review.]
* I like to get your usage model in order to talk to my engineers. [I like to know how you use this in order to talk to my engineers.]
* Let me call you right after this concall to get to the nitty-gritty of this requirement. [Let me call you right after this conference call to get the details of this requirement.]
* Another option is to tinker with the new hardware to get a feel of it. [Another option is to play with the new hardware to get a feel of it.]
* Enough doom and gloom for this difficult technical issue, let's move on to the next topic. [We have discussed enough on the down side of this difficult technical issue, let's move on to the next topic.]
* Going forward, the intention is to maintain this transparency so that customized code can be removed. [From now on, the intention is to maintain this compatibility so that customized code can be removed.]
* We will not comment on this news; this is the party line. [We will not comment on this news; this is the the official stance.]
* That is Ninja programming to me; you have to know what you are doing. [That is really some programming to me; you have to know what you are doing.]
* You have the pen, you have the control for the project. [You are the one writing the requirement document, you have the control for the project.]

Our Mother - Always in Our Hearts

2011-07-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

Our Mother

Our mother, Yuhsin Ko Lee, was born on August 21, 1927, in Shan Yao, Jiangxi Province, China and passed away on July 15, 2011, at her home in Davis, California, at the age of eighty-five.

Growing up in a farming village, mother developed a tenacious and intrepid character after losing her mother at a young age. She was spirited and bright, though the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War stopped her schooling. In the midst of war-torn China, mother met father, Hsueh Lee (deceased), and they married in 1947 in her hometown. Due to civil unrest, mother fled with father to various places. Their longest stay was three years in Hong Kong, where their eldest child, Tzong-yu, was born, and where mother heard the Gospel, received Jesus Christ as her Savior, and was baptized. In 1954, the family moved once again, settling in Taiwan, where the rest of her three children, Maria Li-ching, Churng-fung, and Si-yang (deceased), were born. While father held a middle school teaching position for the following thirty-plus years, mother devoted herself wholeheartedly to the family. Not only did she faithfully manage the household and lovingly raise her children, she fastidiously monitored her children's learning. As a result of her dedication, we were each able to complete our college education despite difficult circumstances. Mother's selfless devotion to the family had been our greatest blessing and model. For twelve years, she tirelessly cared for our youngest sister Si-yang throughout her ongoing illness until her eventual passing. In his later years, father suffered from three strokes. It was also mother who patiently and uncomplainingly cared for him and supported him. Even the grandchildren, all grown now and leading productive lives, trace their upbringing to their grandparents.

After father passed away in 1991, mother moved to the United States. First, she accompanied Churng-fung's family to Wisconsin where Churng-fung pursued her advanced degree. Following those blissful years, she joined Li-ching's family in California and settled there, returning occasionally to Churng-fung's home in Taiwan. Throughout those past twenty years, mother participated in church life, increasingly depending on the Lord, calling often on His name and enjoyed His love. Early this year, mother was confined to bed rest due to her congestive heart failure condition. All of her children rallied to care for her -- Li-ching tended her full-time; Tzong-yu traveled to Davis regularly, spending innumerable weekends with mother; while Churng-fung made a special trip from Taiwan to visit mother in May. During those months of illness, whenever mother heard brothers and sisters singing and praying out in the living room, she would joyfully echo with "Amens" from her bed as she enjoyed the Lord's comforting. At the time of her death, both Tzong-yu and Li-ching, who resided in the States, along with their families, surrounded her, accompanying mother to peacefully complete her journey on earth. The comfort that mother received in the Lord and from the saints was evident from her countenance. We are grateful to the Lord for His grace toward her.

We thank the Lord for giving us such a mother.

[NOTE: These will be used in the Memorial Service for my mother on July 23, 2011. I came up with a Chinese draft with Li-Ching. Churng-Faung did the beautiful final editing. My niece Tina took this and translated to an English draft while I did the final editing. We are proud to do this for her and we are sure that she is proud of us as well. She is always in our hearts.]

我們的母親

我們的母親李柯玉馨女士，生於1927年8月21日中國江西上饒，卒於2011年7月15日美國戴維斯家中，得年85歲。

母親生長於農村，因年幼喪母，養成堅忍獨立的性格；母親生性開朗健談，聰敏過人，惜因中日戰爭爆發而輟學在家。1947年母親在家鄉與父親--李雪先生(已逝)相識相愛，在戰亂中結為夫妻。跟隨父親輾轉流離，在香港調景嶺三年中，生下長子宗虞，期間聽得福音，接受耶穌為救主，受洗歸依主名。1954年一家人再度遷移，在台灣相繼生下三女：麗卿、春芳與思琰(已逝)。在父親擔任中學教職三十餘年間，母親勤儉持家，無微不至的照顧兒女，同時嚴格督促子女課業，使我們都得以完成高等學業，在無依困頓的環境中得以自立。母親對家庭盡心竭力，成了我們兒孫最大的祝福與榜樣。么妹思琰天生殘疾，母親日夜照料長達十二年；父親晚年三度中風，也多虧母親耐心照顧扶持，無怨無悔，如今孫輩也個個長成，品性端正，都源於父母親的恩澤所賜。

父親於1991年辭世後，母親遷居美國，先到威斯康辛州陪著春芳一家求學，享受天倫之樂，後再與麗卿一家長居加州，也間歇往返台灣春芳家休養。二十年期間參加召會生活，對主耶穌愈發信靠，常呼求主名，享受主愛。今春(2011)，母親因心臟衰弱臥床靜養，麗卿全力照護，宗虞來回奔波照應，春芳亦於五月飛美探望。臥病期間，當母親聽見弟兄姊妹在客廳唱詩禱告時，都會喜樂地在臥床上以“阿們”回應，得主撫慰。母親臨終之際，在美居住的宗虞與麗卿兩家兒孫們，隨侍在側，平安地陪伴母親走完她在地上的行程。母親在主裡在聖徒中所受之安慰，洋溢於眉宇之間，使我們感謝主對她的恩典。

感謝主，把這樣一位母親賜給我們。

National Parks: Cross-country Drive (3/3)

2011-06-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Mount Rushmore was normally out of the way for many of our travel plans. But I decided to visit this National Memorial since I was quite close to South Dakota after visiting St. Paul, Minnesota.

We ran into two thunderstorms. I had to drive through one head-on on I-90 for about 20 minutes on our way to Rapid City, SD. Michael drove through another one in Custer State Park near Hot Springs, SD. We actually pulled over for 10 minutes to wait out the pea-sized hail storm. These were some driving experiences.

The visit to South Dakota's Custer State Park was quite worth it. There were so many animals that you could see from the side of the road, including deers, elks, bisons, prairie dogs, wild turkeys and even a donkey herd.

The visit to Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD was quite accidental. Our motel was in Hot Springs and it was a 5-minute drive. I liked pre-historical things and this was a real pleasure to see.
It was an ancient karst sinkhole and turned out to be a deathtrap for large animals as they could not climb out on the slippery slope. There were many unearthed Columbian mammoths and there were some Woolly mammoths as well. The excavation is still underway, and everyone can participate. It is my fancy to do a little of that in the future. South Dakota has no income tax. It is a bit too cold in winter though.

I visited Yellowstone National Park almost thirty years ago. This time I saw a whole lot more animals in the wild. I think the re-introduction of bisons to the park is a success story.

It was 47 degrees Fahrenheit midday Thursday in Yellowstone National Park, and with the wind-chill factor, it was freezing. We stopped by the Old Faithful Inn for a couple of coffee after watching the geyser do its magic.
The same beautiful 5-story high lobby is still there.

The geological wonders and the volcanic activities distinguish Yellowstone National Park from others like Yosemite National Park in California.

On the way back to California, we literally passed through the Grand Teton National Park. We wished that we had more time for these two National Parks.

Flaggs Ranch Resort is located outside of the South Gate of Yellowstone National Park. It has a nice but expensive restaurant. There are no other places to eat :-(
There was no cell phone coverage in Flaggs Ranch Resort (between south gate of YNP and Grand Teton NP).
No WiFi obviously. That evening was the only exception for the entire trip, i.e., no cell phone coverage and no WiFi.

The GPS took us to the northern route through Idaho when we specified our destination in Nevada directly from Moran, WY (south gate of Yellowstone National Park). Originally I thought we would pass through Salt Lake City.

Lodging:
Americas Best Value Inn at Hot Springs, SD @ $76.46 per night
Americas Best Value Inn at Cody, WY @ $125.38
Brandin Iron Inn at West Yellowstone, MT @ $153.90
Flagg Ranch Resort at Moran, WY @ $193.32
Motel 6 at Winnemucca, NV @ $73.91
Grandma's home at Davis, CA
Home sweet home at Campbell, CA

Where we went and miles driven:
MN, SD, WY, MT, ID, NV, CA

Sunday, June 19, 4:30 pm @46258 - Sunday, June 12 10:00 am @43642 = 2616 miles
Total miles driven from Avon, Connecticut @41326 is 4932 miles. It was almost 5000 miles.

Changes in America for the Worse:

These are disappointing observations in this trip. I had higher expectations for the Americans that I remembered.
1) Free refills for dine-in customers only at McDonald's. Isn't that obvious?
2) Some people fill their ice chest with Motel 6's ice machine?
3) The vending machines need to be protected in cages (in one of Idaho's rest areas). In this case, it is very likely that the cage is used to fend off wild animals, not to prevent human vandalism.

Finally,
we were happy to arrive at Davis, California, Saturday to see grandma (my mom) after a 3-week absence. She was weak physically, but she was happy to see us. She was always in our thoughts when we were on the road. The night without cell phone coverage made me a little worried. Officially the trip ended on Sunday when Michael drove the last leg from Davis to Campbell in less than two hours.

A few links we used to search or call for lodging:

Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com/
CheapHotels http://www.cheaphotels.com/
Motel 6 http://www.motel6.com/ - It is absolutely no-frills, $2.99 for WiFi. Overall it is a value proposition. It is interesting to note that "Americas Best Value Inn" is becoming a good alternate for a good value proposition. They have free simple breakfast and free WiFi.
Hotwire http://www.hotwire.com/index.jsp - It is a hit-n-miss sometimes as you won't know what you'll get exactly until you commit to it. Overall, we have no bad experiences.
Yellowstone agent http://www.usparklodging.com/yellowstonenationalparklodging.php (10 percent surcharge) - Looks like that in a busy travel season, you have to pay to solve the complicated lodging requirements. There are many agents to choose from. The park is "big" and you should plan your direction of travel, and make reservations accordingly at different locations in the park. In our case, we stayed at Cody, WY, and went in at the East Gate. We drove through the park west/north bound and the next night stayed near the West Gate. We then drove south/east bound and stayed the last night near the South Gate.

Mid-West: Cross-country Drive (2/3)

2011-06-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

We changed the route at the last minute so that we could have a lunch stop at State College, PA, to meet my friend LL and his parents, who were visiting from China. It was a small world that I found out about this a few days before I started the trip. I got to know LL in Beijing's Toastmasters' circle a few years back.

Ann Arbor, Michigan is where I had my first full-time job in the United States.
It was at Sycor, which later became Northern Telecom Inc., and then Bell Northern Research. Now this 100 Phoenix Drive building belongs to Borders.
Jeanet also worked in Ann Arbor with Warner Lambert, and with Double A Products in Manchester, MI. Those two companies were also gone and/or morphed into something else.

We bought our first home on Marian Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1979. I took a picture again and I waved at the current owner when he happened to drive out from the garage. He will never know that I lived in that house 30 years ago. Life is a mystery ;-)

Joseph was born in the University of Michigan's Women's Hospital in 1980.

I attended SIU at Carbondale to get my Master Degree in Electrical Engineering. I have fond memories of this school. The financial support I received made my first two years worry free, and everything I encountered had a serious impact on my understanding and appreciation of this new country and culture.

Two interesting signs of our time:
1) Condoms for sale from Motel 6's vending machine. It is not cheap for the name brand Durex.
2) Reserved parking spaces for expectant mothers in front of the Borders' main office.

Lodging:
Motel 6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan $55.49 per night
Motel 6 in Marion, Illinois $46.61 per night
Motel 6 in Caseyville, Illinois $52.05 per night
YJN's apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota

Where we went and miles driven:
PA, OH, MI, IN, IL, WI, MN
The Yahoo! Map planning tool originally had us going through St. Louis, Missouri, and then Iowa and Minnesota. Somehow, our GPS directed us back towards Chicago, crossing the Wisconsin border and then to St. Paul from the Wisconsin side.

Friday, June 10 7:30 pm @43642 - Monday, June 6 9:00 am @41701 = 1941 miles

We hit record-high temperatures on June 8 and June 9, we both felt a bit sick from heat stroke. It was near 98 degrees in those two days.

Whom else or what else we saw:
1) University of Michigan Women's Hospital, Joseph's birth place.
2) Ann Arbor apartment where we stayed for the first year.
3) Ann Arbor's home for the second year.
4) My work place at Sycor, Inc.
5) Jeanet's work place in Warner Lambert in Ann Arbor and Double A Products in Manchester, Michigan.
6) Southern Illinois University Electrical Engineering Department and the campus lake.
7) SIU's apartment and old house I called home for a total of two years.
8) Minnesota visit to the family of YJN, who is doing his sabbatical at the University of Minnesota.
9) Mississippi River and its most upstream lock in Minneapolis near the old Flour Mill Tower.
10) A 9-hole golf game at Roseville, Minnesota near YJN's beautiful apartment. YJN's family and Korean food and hospitality were so memorable. I got to know YJN 9 years ago at IBM Almaden Research Center when he came for a year of visit.

East Coast Wrap-ups: Cross-country Drive (1/3)

2011-06-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

This is the East Coast part of the cross-country drive home. I flew out from SJC to BDL through DEN Friday, June 3, 2011. We packed Michael's belonging and left Avon Saturday morning 11:30am.

This is our 2006 Honda CR-V, which will take us back to California. The starting odometer reading was at 41,326 miles.

Lodging:
Holiday Inn Princeton $86.22 everything included (tax recovery charges and fees is $16.22).
Best Western $79.99 everything included in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Where we went and miles driven:
CT, NY, NJ, PA
Saturday June 4 11:30 am @41701 - Sunday June 5 8:00 pm @41326 = 375 miles

Whom or what we saw:
1) Kennedy Medical Center, Michael's birth place.
2) Edison, New Jersey home which we lived in for 5 years.
3) Holmdel's Bell Labs location where I worked for 5 years. This once housed 6000 people, but now has been for sale for quite some time and is closed to visitors. The front access lawns are home for wild geese now. This tower is supposed to represent a transistor, which was invented at Bell Labs.
4) Michael's nanny, SL.
5) My old boss at Bell Labs Holmdel, YW.
6) my Bell Labs colleague, BF.

Here we have two pictures of Michael about 21 years apart in front of the same Edison house.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 022

2011-05-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* I'll have something else at 3 pm Mountain. [I'll have something else at 3 pm Mountain time.]
* With this piece of information, we can be off and running. [With this piece of information, we can start now.]
* I think we have everything we need now; we should not have any more feature creeps now. [I think we have everything we need now; we should not have any more unexpected features getting added.]
* I'm all ears for alternatives. [I am willing to listen for alternatives.]
* I am in the thick of it. I might not see the upper level of things. [I am deeply in the middle of it. I might not see the larger picture.]
* My presentation has enough meat in it now. I need to fill in the value and gap sections. [My presentation has enough content and details in it now. I need to fill in sections on value propositions and perceived gaps.]
* If we don't watch this carefully, this is going to spin out of control. [If we don't watch this carefully, this is going to get out of control.]
* I am thinking out loud with everyone on the phone. [I am offering my thoughts on the spot with everyone on the phone.]
* The issues boil down to whether we should support that feature or not. [The issues can be summarized simply as to whether we should support that feature or not.]
* My apology for being dense about this specific issue here. I feel strongly about it. [My apology for being stubborn about this specific issue here. I feel strongly about it.]
* Chris' line of questioning is appropriate for the situation. [Chris' line of reasoning and questions is appropriate for the situation.]
* If you want good out-of-box experience for the customers, we need to address this issue carefully. [If you want good first impressions from the customers, we need to address this issue carefully.]

One Year Anniversary - Home and Heart

2011-05-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

May 20, 2010 was the official date I transferred back to the United States with Oracle. I came back for family reasons. There are certain duties and responsibilities in all stages of our lives. When those are more important, I have to put off my personal likings and preferences, such as adventures and explorations in new things and new places.
To the left is a picture we took this past March in Los Angeles for Joseph's birthday. Michael happened to be in town during the school break, and we were happy to drive down to spend a week in Joseph's apartment.

Here is another picture taken last summer when we took my mom out to an orchard to pick fruit near Davis, California. Recently, her physical health has been in serious decline, but her spirits are still high and her mind is still sound. We hired a live-in 24-hour helper, as she has difficulty getting up by herself now. She is in the hospice program again after a fall in early April. I have the same apprehension about this program. The staff and program are very helpful and humane. But their goal is to do the send-off with the best care and comfort. I am in denial.
The hospice staff advised us to use morphine for my mom for her chest pain. She is in bed about 20 hours a day, except for meals and bathroom trips. Her energy level is low and easily exhausted. Technically, it is a case of myocardial infarction. My younger sister flew in from Taiwan on May 3, and Michael flew back from the East Coast on May 6. We hope that there will be no regrets, but, deep inside me, I am still holding on to that slim chance of near-full recovery.

Michael is coming back to California in early June after one year of teaching at the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut. This fall he will start working toward a Master's degree at UC Irvine in chemistry. We plan to drive from Avon to Campbell, California. According to the Yahoo! Map planning site, a non-stop drive is 3046 miles. That's what's shown on the left. In this planning stage, we are including a few stops to visit; this will include places I had never gotten back to for 30 years. I'll make a journal and take pictures to blog this cross-country trip.

Otherwise, I enjoy the California weather and seasons. This is something many Californians take for granted. I picked out four pictures for each season from my archive for the Campbell home.

(Spring) Azaleas and roses blossom in the backyard.

(Summer) The loquat tree in the backyard finally bear the first fruits last year since we planted in 2005.

(Fall) Foliage and beautiful yellow leaves of the ginkgo trees in the neighborhood street. There are many ginkgo trees with only two bearing fruits. The smell of the fruits is not so great ;-)

(Winter) Frost in the front lawn last winter. It was quite rare.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 021

2011-04-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* We are right up against the holidays. Are we going to meet next week? [The holidays are upon us very soon. Are we going to meet next week?]
* Let me do the prototype first. It's easy for me to get real about it. [Let me do the prototype first. It is easy for me to have a good feel about it.]
* What's important at the end of the day is what XYZ company will do for this problem. [What's important and relevant after all is what XYZ company will do for this problem.]
* Whatever I mutter here would likely be wrong. [Whatever I say here would likely be wrong.]
* Let's see whether we can come up with a straw man's schedule today. [Let's see whether we can come up with a proposal for the schedule today.]
* He is online as I just traded a few emails with him. [He is online as I just exchanged a few emails with him.]
* I don't want to get stuck, I just want to get oriented. [I don't want to get stuck, I just want to get my directions correct.]
* Let me back up the truck, and up-level a bit. [Let me back up and clarify things a bit.]
* Let us not call out that explicitly. I don't want to hang ourselves early. [Let us not call out that explicitly. I don't want to see us get stuck early.]
* How we dice that piece is not my concern. [How we divide up that piece is not my concern.]
* We have to shove up that piece before we can submit the proposal. [We have to have a plan for that piece before we can submit the proposal.]
* As we come in for a hard landing, we need to give heads-up to the stakeholders. [As we are going to disclose this bad news, we need to give warnings to the stakeholders.]
* We are 35 minutes into the meeting. Pat, what else do you want to cover before we jump into the demo. [We are 35 minutes into the meeting already. Pat, what else do you want to address before we jump into the demo.]

Yu, Yu Hu, Hu Yu, or Hu - Chinese Names 101

2011-04-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

What's in a Chinese name? Chinese people have a last name or family name, and a first name. Most of the last names are a single Chinese character that corresponds to an ideogram. The first name are either one or two Chinese characters. It is commonplace to see one-character first name in modern-day China. Each ideogram is phonetically a short syllable, and the four-tone intonation is not encoded in the Chinese Pin-Yin system. You find many similar names that need to be disambiguated.

Let's use an example. An engineer friend is generally referred to as HY. HY's last name is Hu and his first name is Yu. Chinese refer to people as "Last name, First name," and thus refer to my friend as "Hu Yu". This is natural for the those who speak Chinese. Note that this direct reference is not particularly polite in general. It is used only when certain clarity is needed. The same is true in the U.S. cultural.

Since Western conventions and cultures use the "First Name.Last Name" format in email address and other places, it is common to see "yu.hu@company.com" as an email address. It is the U.S. culture to refer to people by their first name when we are reasonably acquainted with them, and therefore we are expected to use "Yu" to refer to this friend . If you insist on calling him "Yu Hu," that would be odd but excusable if you are not a Chinese native ;-) Another colleague once asked me why "Hu Yu" was used by another Chinese engineer, and that confused the hell out of her. Which is which?

In conclusion,
1) Yu - First name, American way, when you are reasonably acquainted
2) Yu Hu - First name followed by last name, American way, not too polite, used only for clarity.
3) Hu - Last name, used occasionally in special circumstance to refer to someone remote.
4) Hu Yu - Last name followed by first name, Chinese way, can be used by superiors.

Remember the problem of the short syllable and one-character first names for this generation? It is likely to have someone with Yu as last name, Hu as first name. Now, you would really have to ask for clarification.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 020

2011-01-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* If you decide to peg that process to a CPU, you're screwed. [If you decide to bind that process to a CPU, you're in trouble.]
* We need to have that solution baked in, not as an afterthought. [We need to have that solution designed in, not as an afterthought.]
* It works on one, but fails on the other. I haven't yet found a smoking gun between those two releases. [It works on one, but fails on the other. I haven't yet found any good lead between those two releases.]
*I am trying to get to the Live Meeting; but I'm dead in the water. [I am trying to get to the Live Meeting; but I am not having any success.]
* Craig, if I can interject here, you mean that we won't get the final release until the end of January? [Craig, if I can interrupt here, you mean that we won't get the final release until the end of January?]
* The caveat here is that our deliverables still need to complete ASAP, and stay off the critical path. [The caveat here is that our deliverables still need to complete as soon as possible, and stay out of the critical path for project completion.]
* We don't want to boil the ocean. We just need to make incremental progress. [We don't want to fix every single possible thing. We just need to make incremental progress.]
* The specific actionable tasks will bubble out from that long wordy plan. [The specific actionable tasks will emerge from that long wordy plan.]
* Are these constraints called out in your proposal? [Are these constraints explicitly mentioned in your proposal?]
* I appreciate everyone's help moving forward. [I appreciate everyone's help from this point on.]
* I'll do some scrubbing on it today and send you that document tomorrow morning. [I'll do some cleanup work on it today and send you that document tomorrow morning.]
* Let's meet after the New Year anyway, it's a chance to brush off cobwebs in our heads. [Let's meet after the New Year anyway, it's a chance to clear up our heads after all those parties.]

Gift Giving - The Cultural Differences

2011-01-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

December is a Holiday season. In the United States, it gets identified mostly with the Christmas celebration. There are other holidays celebrated at this time as well. The eight-day Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, and the weeklong celebration honoring African-American heritage, Kwanzaa, are two examples.
Christmas is more like a Chinese New Year celebration in its spirit and festivity. On the other hand, the Thanksgiving Day celebrated in the North America is a true New World invention that is celebrated by all Americans. It transcends religious boundaries.

The Christmas celebration is now so secularized that the Christians find its connections to consumerism not particularly palatable. How can one include Christ in the parties and buying sprees? And what is the meaning of "Salvation" in the context of the birth of Jesus Christ? If you dare ask, many people will give you a puzzled look without saying explicitly "what's that?"

A significant portion of non-essential and luxury spending takes place between the Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas Eve celebrations. Business is doing everything to entice the customers to spend, with huge sales and new nifty products. It is the defining season for many retail businesses.

Gift exchanges for Americans are reassuring acts of love and care. No one in their right mind will risk damaging relationships, any relationship. The American gift exchange custom suffers from the order of N square complexity, if I may use the computer science jargon. Give N people in a group, you need N*(N-1) gifts to meet the needs of all exchanges. Obviously, business likes this phenomenon.

[What is Christmas to the Chinese?]
It is not hard to understand that the nativity scenes of the Christmas celebration are foreign to most Chinese. Many of my Chinese friends like the tranquil, snowy "silent night" images of the Christmas season. They appeal to many, and they really transcend cultural boundaries and religious experiences. But the parties and gift exchanges learned from the movies and TV programs from the mega-consumerist USA are picking up steam in the Chinese perceptions of Christmas. The family traditions and religious experiences tend to impress and penetrate the Chinese thinking at a much lower level. Chinese Christians account for around 3 percent of the population. Estimates are difficult to get for the less structured Protestants and many underground "house churches." The official government census points to 1 percent of the population, which is surely a low estimate, because religious affiliations are not viewed positively by the atheistic government.

[Socially and Politically Correct Gift Presentation or Exchange]
Normally, opening gifts is the high point of giving and receiving. Surprises and happiness and whatever is socially required need to be expressed appropriately. This is true for Americans. The Chinese tend to view this as impolite and imprudent .

It is important to give gifts to people who can influence your career and promotion. This almost borders on "appeasement" and "bribery" for the Americans. It is also common practice to present gifts in public. I have seen more than once that the grateful Chinese visitors present a gift at the end of workshop or meeting to the host in the US. But, this public act is awkward for many company officials in the US. Accepting gifts can be a serious problem for US government employees. Legally, government employees must follow a guideline in receiving gifts such as, "A gift valued at $20 or less, provided that the total value of gifts from the same person is not more than $50 in a calendar year."

Gift exchanges are not that familiar to the Chinese. Chinese gift giving has quite a different meaning. The substance is more important than the appearance. Thus, gift wrapping is not that critical as long as what's inside has good value. Giving gifts is a show of appreciation and gratitude. Thus, the notion of love and sharing is not really there in the traditional Chinese gift-giving mentality.

[Altruism, Sharing and Giving can be learned]
Children in the US are taught to share from an early age. I still remember my children had to bring toys to school to do show-and-tell and to share with other kids in the class. Giving and sharing can be learned, and is easy when one is or feels self-sufficient. Although Christian institutions have less control nowadays over their herds, it is evident everywhere that the Christian faith influences day-to-day living. This sort of altruism, unconditional love and giving is quite unusual to the Chinese.

Chinese tend to be very practical when it comes to gift giving or doing good deeds. The influence of Buddhism leads people to do good primarily to accumulate virtues and credits for good future lives. And it could also be a penance for some wrong-doing in a past life. Christians have a long history of similar ideas, without the notion of cyclic incarnations. On the other hand, Christian faith has a deep tie-in to the sinfulness of human nature. Chinese have hard time believing the notion of "original sin." Religions, as they were, have hard time thriving among modern intellectuals, because they have hard time wrapping themselves into a system of axioms and perpetual cycles.

[Communal and Family Gift]
It is only in recent times that children receive gifts other than the "red packet (with cash in it)." Even so, gift giving is still somewhat a communal and family thing. The gifts tend to be practical, such as new school outfits to replace the old ones. Family members give to each other the things they need as a family. Toys and other intangible items were just too much of a luxury in the past, but they start to appear as Chinese society gets more affluent. Come to think of this practicality matter, the most appreciated precious metals is "gold" still. The gold chains, pendants and bracelets are all good for jewelry and as expensive gifts, yet they are particularly useful when economical hardships hit. Can this explain why diamonds were not that popular in the past?

[Gift Recycling - Green by accident? ;-)]
Gift recycling is not unusual at all for the Chinese, especially in the two most important gift-giving seasons, the Chinese New Year and the mid-Autumn Festival. Non-perishables like expensive cigarettes and liquors can change hands many, many times. You'll hear some stories that people find a good sum of cash in the cigarette carton when someone finally opens the gift. It is also common in China that your work unit or company gives some gifts to employees during Chinese New Year and the mid-Autumn Festival as a token of appreciation. It is a type of bonus.

[Gift to the Unknowns - Philanthropy]
The ultimate challenge to Chinese society, or any society for that matter, is to see the rise of philanthropic activities. The willingness to give and share unconditionally is part of a great and mature civilization. Chinese often like to talk about and hope to become a dominant force on the world stage. I would say that when acts of philanthropy start to unveil, then I shall believe that a universal and all-embracing culture is maturing, and that it will become the light and envy of the world.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 019

2010-11-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* The issue is very clear. Let's go out and execute. [The issue is very clear. Let's get started and work on it.]
* Our boss likes big iron and let's give him that. [Our boss likes big machines, and let's give him that.]
* Any questions? Shoot me an email. [Any questions? Send me an email.]
* Let me move right from the gecko (get go). [Let me move right from the start.]
* Paul, thanks for letting me pipe in with my concerns. [Paul, thanks for letting me have the opportunity to express my concerns.]
* Because our key developer left the job, we lost six months of runway here. [Because our key developer left, we are six months behind now.]
* Do you have a call-out for what we have to track for this issue? [Do you have an explicit reminder item for what we have to track for this issue?]
* The rub now is that they insist on an earlier software release. [The difficulty now is that they insist on an earlier software release.]
* Let's cut to the chase and get to the point now. [Let's cut it short and get to the point now.]
* "Joe, you have any more to add to this discussion?" "No, I am good." ["Joe, you have any more to add to this discussion?" "No, I don't have anything."]
* That piece of news is critical to our project. Let's have a hallway huddle about this. [That piece of news is critical to our project. Let's have a quick meeting in the hallway about this.]
* It is a slippery slope. If you lose the rope, I cannot imagine what would happen. [It is a slippery path. If you run into any problems, I cannot imagine what would happen.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 018

2010-11-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* One can surmise that they would not commit to that. [One can guess that they would not commit to that.]
* I can always be trumped by Joe and Bill. [I can always be overruled by Joe and Bill.]
* I can only keep them at arm's length for now. [I can only keep them at a short distance for now.]
* We need more input from testing. I like to see testability is a "fore-thought", not an "after-thought". [We need more input from testing. I like to see testability is considered beforehand, not as a thing thought of afterward.]
* These technical nuances got be totally boiled down; otherwise, Joe will be lost. [These technical details have to be explained thoroughly; otherwise, Joe will be lost.]
* Let me try to dial down a bit; otherwise, it will be too complicated. [Let me try to simplify a bit; otherwise, it will be too complicated.]
* Is it OK for me to tell Amy that we have connected the dots here with her back-door request? [Is it OK for me to tell Amy that we have figured out the relationship and connections here with her sneaky request?]
* I suspect that they'll come out of the woodwork if we decide to present the case to the council. [I suspect that they'll come out of hiding if we decide to present the case to the council.]
* I am up to my eye balls now. I cannot handle any more new request. [I am completely occupied now. I cannot handle any more new request.]
* I understand the general statements of performance improvement, but I am still teasing out the concrete cases. [I understand the general statements of performance improvement, but I am still trying to figure out the facts for the concrete cases.]
* I got busy with something else, and I am still working head down. [I got busy with something else, and I am still working hard.]
* So you are running tests and kicking tires for that new delivery. [So you are running tests and sanity checking for that new delivery.]

Reading "Pride and Prejudice"

2010-10-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

Nothing beats reading a good book, or in my case, finishing listening to a good audio book. I recently completed the classic "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. I previously watched the movie, but movies have real difficulty in capturing the subtleties, complex emotions and reflections in the limited 2 hours.

It will be difficult for me to judge how much prejudice I have. This introspection process will not be easy. But, I can see that I have prides in me, various sorts. Some are good to keep and some are not. Some prides help us to build trust and character, but some are making our own lives unnecessarily complicated and convoluted. At this stage of my life, empty nested, having peace of mind and going easy with life along with its demands is a good thing. I don't want to have too many of those unnecessary "principles".

As far as the book goes, I realized that the usage of the English language is not modern-day American. Instead, it is from the world of early 19th-century Britain. I like the language and many words employed in that period. I decided to jot down some of the less familiar words when I could. Some of them are not in use today in America by the populace. But, many of them are the words used by the better educated and more articulate individuals. So, it is a list to let us see how many we know the meaning of and how many we actually incorporate into our conversation and writing ;-)
-----------------------
abominable
affability
anecdote
balm
casino
countenance
conciliatory
condescending
consolation
dejection
elopement
formidable
felicity
forbearance
fortnight
frivolous
gaiety
grandeur
governess
glazing
gentile
impertinent
imprudence
insipid
insulin
lamentation
magistrate
mortification
obsequious
perusal
purview
reconciliation
reproach
rupture
trifle
trepidation
twelvemonth
odious
parsonage
rousing
scold
sickly
shew
vestibule
vex vexation
vulgar
----------------------

My first Caltrain rides - Sunnyvale to San Francisco

2010-10-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

I went to the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2010 at Masconi Center in San Francisco. I have attended the IDF in Taipei and Beijing in the past. But, this was my first time attending the Forum in San Francisco. The conference had a different feel to it, because the crowd and culture are different. I did not want to drive to the city and have to worry about parking and traffic congestion. I decided to take Caltrain. In part, I wanted to have the first-hand experience of riding public transportation from the South Bay to San Francisco. Here is a photo of the ticket booth for Caltrain.

From Sunnyvale to San Francisco, the one-way fare is $6, which is not bad compared to how much I would have had to spend for the gasoline if I had made the one-hour drive. The daily parking cost me $3 at the Sunnyvale station.

The next photo is the Sunnyvale station on that early September morning.

The train is quite sleek and nice. This is one of them on that early morning.

Inside this double decker, the construction is sturdy, functional, comfortable, and quite pleasant to look at. From the photo, you can see that the train is not too crowded at all. That's a big problem in the US. Mass transportation is not popular because it is not convenient enough. This is a chicken-and-egg problem. Our society and various levels of government should address this in a serious way. We could not be competitive at all in the future world that mandates an energy-efficient society.

There is a car for people to transport the bicycles. It is quite neat, isn't it?

When I arrived in the city, I took a photo of the San Francisco station. The walk to the Mascone Center took me only 15 minutes with ease. What a pleasure to do this!

Getting a BFR - Bi-annual flight review

2010-09-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

I got real busy when I became a manager two years ago in Beijing. All my trips to the US were swamped with meetings. Even if I did find time to fly with my instructor, I would not be relaxed and sharp enough to do a good job. When I transferred back to the US in April of this year, my medical certificate expired and I was in need of a bi-annual flight review. Here is what I had to do to become legal to fly again. A few friends were interested in this topic and here is the short journal.

On August 5, 2010, I went to see Dr. DWK and had my FAA medical exam done in about one hour. It included a urine test (for drugs for the most part), and vision, hearing, general reflexes, blood pressure and other tests. I received a second-class certificate. A second-class airman medical certificate is required for commercial, non-airline duties (e.g., for crop dusters, corporate pilots) and is valid for 1 year plus the remainder of the days in the month of the examination.
For a private pilot, a third-class medical will suffice. The third-class medical is good for two years. My second-class certificate can be used for two years for my non-commercial flying. The office assistant, YLD still remembered me. She mentioned proudly again about her grandson in Chicago, who is fluent in Chinese. We have had a good chat, about every two years over the last decade ;-) It cost me $100 for the exam.

A private pilot license/certificate never really expires once you have it. In order to exercise your airman privileges, you have to meet certain additional requirements, typically a current medical certificate and a bi-annual flight review. Certain flying clubs will add more requirements to make sure that you are not just legal to fly, but have recent flight experience and have been checked out by a club CFI.

My bi-annual flight review was completed on Sunday, August 29, 2010, with my CFII (certified flight instructor - instrument) instructor AS at Reid-Hillview airport (RHV) in San Jose.

I used to be a member of the Squadron 2 Flying Club before I left for Beijing 4 years ago. This photo was taken in front of the club office. And another one was taken in one of the classrooms with a big poster of a Cessna 172 control panel and Northern California FAA sectional charts.

Legally, we had to do one hour of ground instruction, mostly on the required equipments for flying and the required protocols for entering various air spaces around the San Francisco area.
The actual air time was 2.7 hours, which is a long time, because normally the time is only 2 hours. The air time included slow flight, steep turns, power-off stalls, power-on stalls, and simulated engine-loss emergency procedures. The extra time I had was take-offs and landings. I was quite rusty (and probably more tired than usual due to the summer heat) and did 15 of them in South County airport and Reid-Hillview airport. After this, I was good for 2 years of flying. The cost for the instructor was 2.7 hours plus one hour ground instruction, which came to $296 total with an hourly rate of $80/hour. The airplane cost wet (gas included) was $288.36 based on the $106.80 per hour rate. This is typical for a Cessna 172. I had the N65658 from the club.

I was instrument rated, but I am not current right now. This means that I cannot legally fly in the clouds. No one in his/her right mind will be really eager to fly alone in IMC condition with minimally equipped airplanes. But, having the rating and currency provides an extra boost of confidence and additional skill to avoid accidents. The next thing I need to do is some under-the-hood work and some instrument approaches, in addition to some just-for-fun cross-country flying.

Ethical Dimension of Genetic Research

2010-08-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

Listening to audio books is something I missed quite a bit when I was in Beijing. I have been hooked on "reading" books since late 1990's. My good friend JN heard of my interest in mythology and loaned me a deck of tapes, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. I enjoyed listening to this book while driving to and from work. I did not read anything further by Joseph Campbell. But, I ventured into local libraries to start my audio book journey. I still remember that the first one I picked was "Robinson Crusoe." That was one of the few translated non-textbooks I read. I read very little for enjoyment when I was young. The number of books I actually finished reading in English is small. I can remember one, "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. Three or four years into this new new hobby, I kept a record of the books I "read", and even gave them a score from 1 to 10. I have to thank JN for leading me into a life of reading and enrichment.

The most recent book I finished is Michael Crichton's "Next", a book about genetic research, corporate greed and legal intervention. He is probably most famous for "Jurassic Park", because it was turned into a successful series of movies. It surprised me to learn that this prolific author, Dr. Crichton, died of lymphoma in 2008. There are two interesting characters/animals in the novel, a transgenic chimp, Dave, and a transgenic African grey parrot, Gerard. This is fictional, but it is not too far from what we might run into these new breeds in the future. We need to consider the ethical and moral responsibilities of our actions.

"Next" is overall a good book with a bit too much on the side plots, and thus it is hard to focus on the main plot. The odd part is that the audio CD ended with an interview with the author. Dr. Crichton actually felt very strongly about the ethical dimension of the genetic research and its ramifications for our future. Indeed, I was happy to have that extra segment on the CD. It let me know that the book is not just a novel to him. I took a refresher class in Chemistry 1A at West Valley community college in 2001 and another class in human genetics at the height of human genome news and the cloned Dolly the Sheep. It was and still is exciting to see molecular biology making such progress, but it requires us to ponder the ethical and moral issues of genetic research.
After I came back to the States in April, I read "Christ the Lord: the Road to Cana," by Ann Rice; "Treasure Island," by Robert Louis Stevenson; "Saving fish from drowning," by Amy Tan; and "Next". I am now in the middle of "Op-Center - State of Siege," by Tom Clancy. Listening to a thriller while driving is questionable. I was so involved in the book and I had no recollection of going through the toll both with my FasTrak sticker.

Shanghai was mentioned several times in the book as a heaven for generic research and gene therapy. Is this really true? For lack of any ethical concerns and social responsibilities in the regulations? I have to ask my good friend in Nanjing who is leading a genetic research institute there. Nanjing is about 100 miles from Shanghai.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 017

2010-08-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* I don't know whether Joe has really drawn the line in the sand or not. [I don't know whether Joe has really made the clear-cut decision or not.]
* I'll talk to Joe first, and then I'll circle back to you. [I'll talk to Joe first, then I'll come back to you.]
* At this point, I don't want to change horses. [At this point, I don't want to change directions.]
* When it comes to supporting that product, they basically don't check out. [When it comes to supporting that product, they basically cannot fulfill what they have promised.]
* I hear you. Let me pow-wow with my team next week to get the product requirements you need. [I hear you. Let me have a meeting with my team next week to get the product requirements you need.]
* At the end of day, it all comes down to whether we'll commit to support that product or not. [After all the discussions and meetings, it all comes down to whether we'll commit to support that product or not.]
* Anyone need to take a bio break? [Anyone need to take a restroom break?]
* I have to punt on this one question, let me get back to you on that next week. [I have to skip on this one question, let me get back to you on that next week.]
* The desire of the testing is to go full battery. [The desire of the testing is go for a full set of tests.]
* There are other features added to that wad of code changes in addition to the one we really need. [There are other features added to that collection of code changes in addition to the one we really need.]
* According to the POR, that feature is not included in this release. [According to the plan of record, that feature is not included in this release.]
* Where do they stand in the pecking order? [What is their ranking order in the decision-making process?]
* They don't know what to do. They are in a holding pattern and waiting for marching orders. [They don't know what to do. They are waiting for commands on what to do next.]

July 2010 Taipei Stint

2010-08-10T23:32:00.000-07:00

I stopped over in Taipei, Taiwan, on my way back to San Francisco in a recent business trip to Beijing.
I grew up in this metropolitan city until I graduated from college. Then I went "abroad" to study, which led eventually to my emigration to the United States. I remember that when the economy started to take off in Taiwan forty years ago, the traffic was a mess and people were crowding up everywhere with no waiting lines or signs of civility anywhere.

Things are different now. I was impressed by the Taipei subways a few years back when I attended the IDF conference. This time I took a few snapshots during this short visit.

To the left are photos of waiting lines for Taipei subways. Waiting lines are marked to avoid the out-going passengers. These two were the "before and after" pictures with people waiting for subway train to arrive.

Now, what ushered in the civility and good manners? Is chaos a necessary step on its way to civility? What are the necessary conditions to lead to this path? There are many places in the world today that have not gotten out of their chaos in recent memory. Why are they stuck?

Subway station signs now are in the PinYin romanization system instead of in the traditional Wade-Giles system used in the island. My name "Tzongyu Lee" would have been "Zongyu Li" in the new schema of things. But just as "Taipei" and "Tsinghua University" do not get converted to "Taibei" and "Qinghua University", my name is not going to change. The Pin-Yin system is only 50 years old, while the Wade-Giles has 150 years of history. Established names are not going to change for the sake of change and uniformity. Subway train announcements were in Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, English and sometimes even Hakka Chinese is heard.

Taipei scooters are popular. They offer something motorized and fast, and they are easy to park and can squeeze through the traffic.

There are many foreigners and laborers from abroad including overseas Chinese returning from North America. Foreigners are so common and often go unnoticed. Some of my friends told me that they enjoy this atmosphere of anonymity, and do not have to worry about being cheated one way or the other.

I took the opportunity to visit Danshui (Tamsui) via subway after I took care of some personal business.
Danshui is situated at the mouth of the Danshui River on the northwestern side of Taipei. I bought the ferry ticket pack to Bali (across the river) first, to Fisherman's Wharf next, and back to the old town for 120 Taiwan Dollars ($4 USD).

To the left is the Bali ferry terminal with Mount Goddess of GuanYin (Goddess of Mercy) in the background. I rented a bike for a short round-trip 6 miles ride to visit the ShiSanHang (Thirteen-Shops) Archeological Museum.
The distance is not far, but the scorching heat with stifling humidity was hard to bear.

The museum is right next to a waste water treatment plant. The plant is actually housed in 6 giant jars. I thought they were the ThirteenShop Archeological Musuem at first because of their artistic design ;-)

The museum was designed with Italy's leaning tower of Pisa in mind, from the look of its main building. It has some interesting artifacts and history. The material dated way back, much earlier than 1600's Dutch Formosa, which was quite interesting to me.

My last stop was the Danshui Fisherman's Wharf, which offered a nice boardwalk and a relaxing atmosphere. It was quite commercialized, though.

I learned to stay indoors next day because of the heat. I ended up finding a nice exhibition on the "Legends of Heroes - the Heritage of the Three Kingdoms Era" in Taipei's National Museum of History. This turned out to be a surprisingly nice visit. It had a good collection of paintings, crafts, artifacts, stone rubbings, and so on from many different museums in China.
I happen to be listening to the story-telling version of the MP3 "The Romance of Three Kingdoms" on and off during my travels in the last year or so. It was really a treat to me to see this exhibit in one place, with some level of analysis between history and legends.

Colonel Sanders is very popular in China

2010-08-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

I had a 2-week business trip in the second half of July and could not help but write about this KFC phenomenon.

KFC is a yuppie place in China. It carries status and often is a favorite place for young people to meet. You can search on "KFC in China" and find many interesting write-ups and observations of this incredibly vibrant fast-food chain, which is uninteresting in the United States.
A book wit h this as the title can be found at Amazon.com.

To the left is a snapshot of the ordering line in Beijing's WangFuJing shopping district in late July 2010. The hustle and bustle is an envious for any business.

Colonel Sanders and his sepia pictures of the young and old times are familiar scenes in many of the KFC restaurants in China. I can only remember seeing one such display in the United States.

KFC is innovative in its product lines for the China operations. In addition to the traditional Kentucky fried chicken, nuggets, and fish burger, it offers traditional Chinese breakfast like rice porridge and fried double-twisted dough. There are other new ideas and inventions in drinks and burger/bread packaging, and ingredients. Small, popcorn-shaped fried chicken nuggets packaged in a popcorn container is one of the new inventions I like.

KFC does a great marketing job, including this Beijing subway line 2 advertisement in the connecting pathways.

What can you do at 100 Farenheit (38 Celsius) in Davis?

2010-07-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

What can you do if the outside temperature is 100 degree? Although it is not humid in inland California, the feel of oven heat with ultraviolet light coming down straight on you is not easy to bear. Swimming is my cure in this hot weather. When I visited Davis over the weekend, I swam at the Arroyo Pool for about an hour, 20 laps totaling 1000 yards. I am slow, but I enjoy the workout. Single entry admission for this facility is $3.50.There is a summer pass, which is whole lot cheaper if you come often. There is a water slide and a huge wading pool. It is a favorite for families. See the two shots of the pool on the left.

I paid special attention to the temperature difference between Davis (Sacramento Valley) and Campbell (Silicon Valley). That confirms what I heard about the 10-degree difference in Fahrenheit between the inland and south San Jose.

Near my work place at Menlo Park, I often stopped by the Mountain View Eagle Park swimming pool after work for a good swim. The single entry fee is $4.25 for non-resident. I had a 20-use pass I bought in 2005 and they are still honoring that pass. I was quite impressed and happy about that.

Other times, I swam at the Campbell Community Center swi mming pool near my home. This one is expensive. The single entry fee is $7.00, and with the 20-use pass, each time averages out to $4.00. I wrote about Beijing swimming experiences and obserevations before. I have a couple of shots to capture the facilities including the locker room and shower. This is quite a paradise to have swimming as a workout option in the US.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 016

2010-06-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* It looks like the meetings will be as regular as clockwork, so just show up at 11am. [It looks like the meetings will be quite regular, so just show up at 11am.]
* I added Steve and Paul to round out the answers. [I added Steve and Paul to help to provide more for the answers.]
* That procedure works for me. I am a happy camper now. [That procedure works for me. I am a happy person now.]
* We have to brief our manager on this. He likes to have that information in his back pocket. [We have to brief our manager on this. He likes to have that information ready at any time.]
* When I heard that that test failed, I knew that the release date for this project is hosed for sure. [When I heard that that test failed, I knew that we would miss that release date for this project for sure.]
* George, that is a really good suggestion. Let me sleep on it and get back to you. [George, that is a really good suggestion. Let me think about it and get back to you.]
* Joe said, "That 6 am meeting ruined my whole Thursday." Susan answered, "Amen to that." [Joe said, "That 6 am meeting ruined my whole Thursday." Susan answered, "I agree."]
* The jury is still out on whether we'll select that product. [We still don't have any conclusion yet on whether we'll select that product.]
* The tests are all good modulo that configuration bug. [The tests are all good except for that configuration problem.]
* A customer who is not tech savvy could ask that question. [A customer who is not too technical could ask that question.]
* We did not make any headway in that issue. [We did not have any progress on that issue.]
* Susan, this is just FYI. [Susan, this is just for your information.]

Technology, Reverence, and Justice

2010-06-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

Technology, Reverence, and Justice. What do they have in common? The combination had no meaning for me until recently.

I don't watch TV very often. Instead, I enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking and swimming. Most of the TV news and programs are too superficial for me. Casual entertainment from TV programs is OK. But, gluing oneself to the TV and believing whatever it conveys is detrimental to our intellect and to our judgment. We need to be able to read more and to think more. I find it depressing that TV, and media in general, is shaping our value systems and moral guidelines. We are easily misguided by the media. And the noise of media have drowned our senses and reduced our abilities to act properly. We can easily lose our peace and senses in this fast-paced world of constant media bombardments.

I do find some exceptions. I don't find that the latest breaking news is important. I can only watch CNN for 20 minutes, and after that, it becomes repetitive. For an in-depth look and no-hype news, I find that PBS's NewsHour is acceptable.

Since my return to the US in early April, I did watch some TV - mostly PBS programs, in Davis, California when I visited my mother. By the way, she is doing so well now that she "graduated" from the hospice program last week. We are all quite pleased with this news.

One evening, I happened to tune in to Bill Moyers Journal, a PBS program dedicated to public affairs. This used to be my all-time favorite program before I left for China. That program ended Friday, April 30, 2010, and I happened to be there to hear the news. Mr. Moyers is 75 now and it is unfair to ask him to continue on.

That was the evening I learned how technology, reverence and justice are related :-). It is so relevant to modern-day China, and I have to share this with my friends. For the last 100+ years, the Chinese government, and many individual Chinese, have believed that the serious lag in science and technology is the reason that China was repeatedly defeated by the imperial and colonial powers, and that is the reason that China has to play catch-up to be a world leader again.

I have always tried to find what other elements are essential to a successful and sustainable civilization. Technology is essential, but that is definitely an incomplete answer to me. In this episode of Bill Moyers Journal, the following excerpt from Barry Lopez filled in the missing pieces in my puzzle.

(quoting Barry Lopez)
I don't remember the philosopher, the Greek philosopher who told the story of Zeus and Prometheus. Which really stuck when I first heard it, is that Zeus said to Prometheus, "Okay, you stole fire. Great for you. Now your people have technology. Wonderful. But here's something you don't know. You lack two things. And if you don't take these two things that I will give you, this will be a failure. Technology, you know, fire, all your magic, it will fail completely. It will be your undoing. And the two things that you need to make it work are justice and reverence. And if you have these two things, you won't get in trouble with this third thing that you thought was the be all and the end all."
(end of quote)

Is this that simple? Reverence and justice are the missing pieces? History and Greek mythology can have such foresight? Justice is a serious problem in China and many other parts of the world. Inequity is prevalent and might eventually bring serious changes to the social and political systems. Reverence is profound respect, and it is definitely a virtue for individual and society as a whole. I remember that there are good examples of reverence teachings in the Chinese history. Right now, Chinese society has been pressured into modernization with materialistic goals. It is a society with impatience, disrespect, and hatred at times.

It is not easy to get to a harmonious and reverent society. We have to bring back justice and a deep sense of reverence to each other so that technology will be good for us.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 015

2010-06-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* They have not called my boss yet, but they are definitely waiting in the wings. [They have not called my boss yet, but they are definitely ready at a moment's notice.]
* We plan to put that feature in this release, knock on wood. [We plan to put that feature in this release, if all goes well.]
* Alpha version code is ready now, but gated by the licensing agreement. [Alphas version code is ready now, but being held up by the licensing agreement.]
* That item is interesting, but contentious. [That item is interesting, but controversial.]
* I am on the hook to deliver that document for the project. [I am responsible for delivering that document for the project.]
* I have to cancel lunch because my daughter has pink eye. [I have to cancel our lunch appointment because my daughter has an eye infection.] [pink eye: eye inflammation (conjunctivitis) ]
* FYI, I am still "dead in the water" for regression testing until the hardware problem can be fixed. [For your information, I am still completely unable to perform regression testing until the hardware problem can be fixed.]
* We are working heads down to get that done first. [We are working with complete dedication to get that done first.]
* I think my Mac is acting up. I might have to reboot it very soon. [I think my Mac is not working right. I might have to reboot it very soon.]
* If we can get this whittled down to only two teams, that would be ideal. [If we can get this narrowed down to only two teams, that would be ideal.]
* I can kick the can forward since I see better now. [I can move this thing forward since I have more information now.]
* These are some of the take-aways I have from that meeting. [These are some of the lessons I learned from that meeting.]
* We need to know the cadence of the technology offering. [We need to know the beat and rhythm of the technology offering. ]
* We'll do an one-off agreement with them, the rest should be all based on boiler-plate agreements. [We'll do a special agreement with them, the rest should be all based on a generic template.]

Buying A Car in America - the Online Way

2010-05-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Michael will graduate from Trinity College May 23rd, which is next week, and will be home this summer before he starts graduate school at UC Irvine in the fall. We need a car soon. I need it to commute. We don't need it to haul the whole family around any more. We are in a different period of our family life. The result is a humble Honda Civic LX with automatic transmission. Its impressive 36 miles/gallon high way mileage is definitely key in choosing this car. Actually Joseph bought the same model two years ago. Our general impression is not bad so far.

We have been a Toyota and Honda family for a long time. We have been un-American since 1980. With the historical context of World War II, we have been un-Chinese as well. The reliability of these Japanese cars and their design for small-frame drivers like me in the early 80's made me a loyal customer to Toyota and Honda.

Toyota's unintended acceleration fiasco in 2010 affected this purchasing decision. The most disappointing aspect of this incident is the alleged management coverup. Our foundation of the trust and loyalty was seriously shaken. The so-called defect was actually statistically not a big issue to me.

We have never been a big fan of showroom shopping. We never liked the car salesmen/saleswomen and their pitches. We bought cars through online/Internet portals for the last 10 years. This time, we did more than just research and comparison shop online. We even closed the deal through emails by responding to one of the email quotes. The basic information and options are available directly from Honda as well as from Edmunds.com, an Internet portal. Jeanet spec'ed out the model, including features such as manual transmission and color, then the portal did the rest by sending out emails to nearby dealers for quotes. We liked Larry Hopkins Honda best as they responded quickly with a few models from its Internet manager. There were no phone calls like others who really wanted to "talk" and haggle with you in person. We were surprised to see the so-called "manufacturer's rebate" of $1000, and that made their deal super attractive. We could not find the manual transmission (stick shift) we liked, but automatic transmission would do since the price was right. Once Jeanet confirmed the deal from Davis (west of Sacramento), I called the manager to see the car since I was in the Bay Area. Actually I had a chance to drive the "exact" car from the overflow lot a few miles away back to the dealership. This was the test drive we needed, and that was all. The rest was paperwork. Like always, the finance department tried to sell us something. Years ago, they used to sell extra under-coating, an alarm system, an extended warranty, and so on. These days they like to be in the insurance business, e.g., in this case, $2100 for 8 years or 120,000 miles, whichever comes first, for a full warranty of all defects and repairs. Jeanet turned that down in no time over the phone :-) Here is the cost information.

Honda web site data for 2010 Civic LX model
Manufacturer's suggested retail price: manual transmission $17605.00 and automatic transmission $18405.00

For the car I got, the sticker has the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $18405.00
Destination and handling: $710.00
Total Vehicle Price: $19115.00

Final cost breakdown data for us
Internet manager's offer: base price $15966.00 (it is $3149 off sticker)
Document Preparation Fee: $55.00
Sales Tax: $1481.94
DMV Electronic Filing Fee: $29.00
Subtotal: $17531.94
Amount Paid to Public Officials: $278.75
a) License Fees: $183.00
b) Registration/Transfer/Titling Fees $87.00
c) California Tire Fees: $8.75
Grand Total (for my check): $17810.69

What about auto insurance? It sure took another bite out of the family budget. My Farmers insurance agent was quick to provide all necessary paperwork while I drove the new car around with a temporary sticker for the license plate. Here is the auto insurance coverage for the new car:
1) comprehensive coverage with $1000 deductible,
2) collision coverage with $1000 deductible,
3) liability, each person bodily injury $500,000, each occurrence bodily injury $500,000, each occurrence property damage $100,000,
4) uninsured motorist, each person bodily injury $500,000, each occurrence bodily injury $500,000,
the half-year insurance premium is $294.20. It is about $1.60 each day.

The cost for a similar car in China is slightly higher. The 2009 Civic LXi automatic transmission is about $20,200 (137,800 RMB). This one is actually "made in China" with a Japanese design. This is not an apple-to-apple comparison since the exact details of what the LXi model entails can be different from that of US LX model. There is no 2010 model on the Chinese market, which I attribute to cultural differences. The US market sells 2010 cars from September 2009 to about August 2010. It focuses on the year it gets sold and used, a forward-looking attitude with a spin of "newness". The Chinese consumers seem to focus on the year the car is manufactured, a realistic attitude with a spin of "truthfulness".

Buying a car in America is easy and efficient, and it is a good experience for me. When I get more money, I'll treat myself nice next time with a slightly more luxurious model :-)

English with an American Corporate Accent - 014

2010-05-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* As we move to the new environment, we have to deal with shifting sands in our strategy. [As we move to the new environment, we have to deal with the fast-changing conditions in our strategy.]
* I don't want to spend extra energy for this one-off release. [I don't want to spend extra energy for this special one-of-a-kind release.]
* I don't want a bastardized thing for this product. [I don't want a low-quality rushed version of this product.]
* Let's not jump in and analyze this thing to the n'th degree. [Let's not rush in and study it in unnecessary levels of details.]
* I am drawing a blank on that guy's name. [I simply cannot remember that guy's name.]
* That is the main impetus to do this project. [That is the main reason to do this project.]
* It really depends on whether there is anyone who would rat hole with silly questions. [It really depends on whether there is anyone who would change the course of the meeting with irrelevant questions.]
* The release date becomes really murky now when that additional requirement is added. [The release date becomes really questionable now when that additional requirement is added.]
* You'll find the new manager a lot more draconian in dealing with project slippage. [You'll find the new manager a lot more strict in dealing with project slippage.]
* You have dependency on that project, but you did not call out explicitly for that. [You have dependency on that project, but you did not explicitly spell that out.]
* What I want to prevent is a management edict from above. [What I want to prevent is a management mandate from above.]
* I know that this page is an eye chart, my apology. [I know that this page is too hard to read, my apology.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 013

2010-04-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* COMPA and COMPB are really neck and neck in the server market. [COMPA and COMPB are really close in competition in the server market.]
* Let me switch gears to a different topic. [Let me change to a different topic.]
* You can put back pressure to the device driver to get some resources back. [You can reverse the direction to get the device driver to return some resources.]
* We have to be careful not giving customers too many knobs to turn. [We have to be careful not to create too many ways to make adjustments.]
* At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would like to ask that question again. [At the risk of sounding like a broken record that plays the same thing over and over again, I would like to ask that question again.]
* We'll try to plan better to align better, not to leapfrog you by any chance. [We'll try to plan better to align better, not to get ahead of you.]
* They learned a great deal in the previous go-arounds. [They learned a great deal in the previous failed attempts.]
* Now the logjam of all the attempts I made broke loose and got processed through the system. [Now the logjam of all the attempts I created finally broke loose and got processed through the system.]
* My approach is to line them up and knock them down one by one. [My approach is to list them one by one and work on them one at a time.]
* We need a project plan that has clarity for the roles and for the deliverables. [We need a project plan that has clear definitions of the roles and deliverables.]
* We need to continue to flesh out the details of this project. [We need to continue to expand the details of the the project.]

Grandma Update from Davis, California

2010-04-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

I have been back in the Bay Area for almost three weeks now. I have spent all the weekends in Davis with my mom and my sister. I am glad that Jeanet is there as well to feed us all good and different food. Grandma has stabilized so much that we take her out every day for a walk to a nearby pond. She is still weak and has to be in a wheelchair most of the time. Here is a picture of her with my wife Jeanet, my sister Maria and my youngest nephew Yong-En.

With advice from the doctor when discharged from the hospital, my mother signed up a Hospice Program. We were told that average life span was about 6 months in their program. We have learned a lot about this program quickly. We are still not very sure that this is right for her. Normally terminally ill cancer patients will go through hospice because there no treatment is available. Providing care and comfort in the home is dignified and appropriate for those patients, and is often the preferred way for the last few months. My mother is weak, is diabetic (no need to do injection), and has high blood pressure. She is prone to complications, but not literally terminally ill in my definition. I have to admit that the end of a precious life might really happen in the next few years. Although I struggle to understand and accept this, I try to be with her often, holding her hands, pushing the wheelchair around, and hugging her like a baby. My mom is quite happy to have me around. I try to cherish the times together and take care her the best we can. It is a struggle to think of when she might pass away. God gives and God decides when she will be back. I just don't want to be sorry later.
We are planning to hire a live-in or a 9-5 caregiver for 6 days a week. With this, my sister's family and my family can have the time and energy to take care of other business.

Davis is a college town of 60,000 people. It is relatively quiet and is a carefree place to live. The nearby drainage pond has a few different varieties of ducks, Canada geese, and turtles. See this picture of sun-bathing turtles on a piece of floating deadwood.

Spring is a great time to have a new family. The goose family has quite a few new members in the afternoon water cruising with a fleet formation on the left.

Spring in Northern California is really beautiful. I had a chance to drive through Niles Canyon following Route 84 to the Dumbarton Bridge to Menlo Park. Mid April's plush tender green on the hills really soothes your eyes. The tranquility of the windy road and the sweetness of the air is a treat to me.
I am trying hard to capture this awareness and sense of appreciation after almost 4 years of absence from California. After a while, I'll take everything for granted and be spoiled again in America.

It is also time to work on the yard. I helped my sister trim the bushes to provide more sunlight to the rooms and to grow grapes and vegetables in the garden. Yard work is fun and rewarding.

Only during the week, I am in Campbell at "home". I have not completely unpacked yet. But, the azaleas started to bloom and blossom in the backyard. It is a pleasure to be back in Spring time.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 012

2010-04-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* Looks like that you want get feature parity with Linux in the power management area. [Looks like that you want get a comparable feature set with Linux in the power management area.]
* That design is to ensure that we stay within the thermal envelope of the system. [That design is to ensure that we stay within the thermal design constraints of the system.]
* It would be helpful to measure what each feature will save and to identify the top hitters. [It would be helpful to measure what each feature will save and to identify the most significant ones in terms of saving.]
* I certainly don't want to put a smiley face on all the numbers. That would be too optimistic. [I certainly don't want to be too optimistic with all the numbers.]
* That feels like a set of hodge-podge numbers, but they are actually informed estimates. [That feels like a set of miscellaneous numbers, but they are actually estimates based on good information.]
* After we plug the measurement data into the spreadsheet and add them up, bingo, that is exactly what we expect. [After we plug the measurement data into the spreadsheet and add them up, hurray, that is exactly what we expect.]
* Those future new components are not on the radar yet for our designers. [Those future new components are not yet a part of the design choices for our designers.]
* I have tried hard to fly under the radar in the past. [I have tried hard to avoid attention in the past.]
* This thing came out of the blue and caught us all off guard. [This thing came from nowhere and surprised us all.]
* The question is how to resource that project. [The question is how to find resources for that project such as personnel, funding and equipment.]
* Please be aware that the ubiquity doesn't necessarily translate to profit per se. [Please be aware that having a product name everywhere doesn't necessarily translate to profit by itself.]
* The centrality of your message could not be made clearer. [The focal point of your message could not be made clearer.]
* If we can line up our ducks on a row, we definitely can deliver that project on time. [If we can line up our required resources appropriately, we definitely can deliver that project on time. ]
* There will be project adjustments: some will be dialed up and some dialed down. [There will be adjustments on various projects: some will be emphasized and some will be de-emphasized.]
* The road show includes combined portfolios of both companies. [The road show includes combined product offerings of both companies.]

Home: where your heart is

2010-04-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

I am back to the Bay area for now. I need to be home. My family needed me.
My mother moved to Davis, California, with my sister Maria again in February. My mother stayed in Taiwan with my younger sister for about 4 years.
I have never got a chance to be so close to my mother in the past. Now with my wife's support and with an easy 2-hour drive, I can get to Davis from my Campbell home comfortably. It is a blessing to be with her, as she is frail and weak and in her 80's. The picture on the left was a gathering in Davis last February celebrating her arrival.

Joe had a snowboarding accident in March 2009 that caused an acetabular fracture. He had to take a 3-month leave from his pediatrics residency program at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. Residency without injury is hard enough in the American medical educational system. Residency with a crutch is not a realistic proposition at all. For a full recovery of his injury, Joe took time off, at least six months, to focus on his rehab so that he can be all together again physically and mentally. This is a picture we took in February when we took a day trip to the Getty Center in LA. I need to offer my moral support and I need to be with him often to get him through this. As a parent, this is the least I can do.

I had hard time leaving Beijing, my work, and my friends.
In particular, the SpeakEasy@SunBeijing Toastmasters Club was dear to me. The picture to the left was an outing with the current members to the Beijing Botanic Garden. I had a venue to practice my public speaking and presentation skills. We got to share our lives and experiences with other members through the reviews and dry-runs of the speeches. I gained hope for an emerging society and got to know the aspirations of this new Chinese generation. It is a difficult journey for many in China to create a new social and political order that will all prosper together. The club was also a venue for everyone to come together to build trust, confidence and fellowship. I will miss this community, because I grew along with each one of them in the last 3-1/2 years.

I took on a challenge October 2008 to manage the storage driver team of eighteen people with one junior manager assisting me. I have always been on the technical track at work, so it was quite an opportunity for me to grow professionally. I enjoyed every bit of it. It tapped my other potential, and it gave me a chance to hone my project management skills and interpersonal skills. I learned to communicate and to negotiate better. I learned to be patient when I had to and to be aggressive when it was time to do so. I liked my team a lot. They are energetic, eager, and dedicated to work and their profession. I have no regrets about taking on the opportunity to lead them. Although I worked hard, I enjoyed every bit of it as a team. I miss them.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 011

2010-03-12T16:10:00.000-08:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* This is one of my gripes, please fix that. [This is one of my complaints, please fix that.]
* You really don't have visibility into that space when we take the jump into that new technology. [You really don't know enough when we take the jump into that new technology.]
* I heard the same thing in my neck of the woods. [I heard the same thing in my organization.]
* Oracle in red should be exactly (255,0,0), not an iota less in shade. [Oracle red should be exactly (255,0,0), not a single shade less.]
* This is just a motherhood and apple pie talk. [This is just a straightforward and common sense talk.]
* They are going to provision for peak demands. [They are going to provide the capacity for peak demands.]
* That was the over-arching concept for that presentation. [That was the main theme and concept for that presentation.]
* That is a good segue, I guess. [That is a good transition to a new topic, I guess.]
* We want to make sure that the idle power number is up to scratch. [We want to make sure that the idle power number is reasonable comparing to others.]
* Under the hood, there are two implementations for that feature. Above the hood, customers should see the same thing. [Beneath the surface, there are two implementations for that feature. Above the surface, customers should see the same thing.]
* How much head room do we need to cover the spikes in demand? [How much buffer do we need to cover the peaks in demand?]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 010

2010-02-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* We'll consider all things together and determine what falls off the plate. [We'll consider everything together and determine what has to be dropped.]
* Oh, I'm sorry that I lost my train of thought. That should come back to me later in the meeting. [Oh, I'm sorry that I forgot what I wanted to say. I should remember it later in the meeting.]
* We are worker bees, we cannot change the process. [We are supposed to follow the orders, we cannot change the process.]
* Nothing comes to mind off-the-bat. [Nothing comes to mind at this moment.]
* I will need the driver team to help in explaining this. I have never been able to wrap my head around this. [I will need the driver team to help in explaining this. I have never been able to understand this.]
* I have been on my soapbox on this issue for more than two years. [I have been voicing my concerns on this issue for more than two years.]
* We are just looking for a smoke test and your swag on whether or not any code change is necessary. [We are just looking for a simple sanity test and your estimate on whether or not any code change is necessary.]
* At this point we have gone full circle on this item multiple times. [At this point, we have not been able to get to anywhere on this item multiple times.]
* It is just a one-off. They are not going to do that again. [It is just a one-time special case. They are not going to do that again.]
* I was being facetious with that comment. [That comment was a joke.]
* Those are not insurmountable problems. [Those are not problems that cannot be solved.]
* We have to do that better and different. That has to be part of our DNA. [We have to do that better and different. That has to be part of our traits and characters.]

The Pursuit of Happiness - Owning a Home in Beijing

2010-02-11T23:14:00.000-08:00

[Home, Sweet Home]
Although China is still a socialist country in name, people already found ways to express their personal desires and aspirations. Having a home is a dream for many Chinese. And having a home tailored to their tastes is reflected in a big way by the plethora of choices in furniture, home decorations and essentials. Owning a home is a very basic element of happiness. This pursuit of happiness is happening in China everywhere. I cannot help but to compare this basic inalienable right of the pursuit of happiness to the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

[A Typical Home - an Apartment]

A typical home is an apartment unit in the city. A suburban house in the U.S., with a nice backyard and two-car garage, is not practical for the typical Chinese. That type of home is referred to as a "villa" or "resort".
Housing prices are one of the hottest and the most discussed topics in people's lives. The dream of owning a house certainly adds to the demand side in the emerging Chinese economy. But the opportunities of making quick and large short-term profits in the housing market attract many speculative investments. Government interventions are frequent, but it is hard to to be sure that the new regulations and polices achieved what they were intended to. It is sad to watch the middle-class in anger and in despair.

[What do you get as a new Home Owner - the Phase I Home Project]
One thing really unique in China is a so-called "bare-bones apartment" delivered to the purchaser of the new home. Let us say that the Phase I home project is completed by the developer and the new owner must hire contractors to do the Phase II work.
To enumerate a few of the must-do items: the ceiling has to be leveled, conduits have to be planted into the walls for desired plumbing and electrical wiring, and then walls need to be painted. The frame of the apartment is concrete. The 2x6 frames and plaster board/sheetrock that are common in many American homes don't exist yet. After that work is completed, work can continue: laying floors with ceramic tiles or wood panels, and installing doors, moldings, switches, electric plugs and light fixtures. The kitchen and bathroomare bare. All cabinets and basic elements of a bathroom have to be added, including a water heater and natural gas plumbings.

The picture to the left is a typical new "kitchen". It is bare-bones and looks quite devastated. It has radiator heating elements, a sewer line and some water pipes.

This picture to the left is what you get for a bathroom: a radiator, two electricity outlets, a water pipe, and a sewer line receptacle for the toilet on the floor.

It is very difficult for a new home owner to start from that point. But the Chinese take this as the norm these days. You might wonder about how much time and energy is spent and wasted along the way, because every new home owner must go through the second phase of home building to create a reasonable place to live. Only then can the homeowner begin to decorate.

The third photo of this primeval series to the left is a picture of the guest bedroom leading to a small balcony for drying clothes. It is easy to see that you need to wire for electricity, and to provide a door, molding, and flooring.

I call this a Phase II home project to distinguish it from Phase III. Phase III is the actual furnishing of the apartment, such as adding a dresser, bed, dining table, sofa, TV stand, refrigerator, stove, sink, washer, and other essentials. This Phase II work is unique in China. Most people have to spend 3+ months haggling with contractors to get things done correctly. And many spend a year or more to really complete the Phase III furnishing projects. Many are short of funds and are completely exhausted after Phase II work is completed.

I observed the following list of priorities in Beijing (from high priority to low priority): living room declarations, sofa, TV, guard rails (for windows), refrigerator, kitchen stove, sink, master bedroom essentials, dining table set, washer, bathroom toilet and shower stall.

[After the Hard Work of Phase II Home Project]

To compare the “before and after” of basic room finishing project, see the photo at the left. Here is a kitchen after flooring, ceiling, countertops and shelving are installed. Remember that the new home owner does this by selecting the materials and then subcontracting the work out. Notice that a range/stove and a sink are also in place in this photo. An 11-liter natural gas water heater is on the left wall with the gas meter at the end of the narrow kitchen. The long, narrow kitchen is typical in city apartment/house units. An open-space kitchen design is considered outrageous and unthinkable for the Chinese. Chinese cooking involves a lot of stir-frying and quick flame and smoke, so the Chinese usually like to keep the kitchen separated from the main open space of the apartment and house as a practical matter.

As a comparison, a remodeled bathroom is shown here to the left. It is quite a nice sight with the ceramic siding and a flushing toilet. The heater is slightly relocated to the front and closer to the door, and thus not quite visible. The glass shower stall and the sink are close to the door and to the right, and therefore are also not visible in this picture.

The guest bedroom is shown with built-in bookshelf and a computer table on the left and a closet on the right. A door opens to a small balcony that is curtained and normally used for hang-drying clothes.

[Furniture Shopping]
IKEA is big in China. It must have been an eye-opening experience for the Chinese when it first opened. Today it still attracts people who just come to look. I think that following are some of the reasons:
1) Comprehensiveness in terms of home furnishing needs. It is one-stop shopping.
2) No price haggling, so there is no negotiation required.
3) The modern and utilitarian designs are from the Scandinavia. These designs especially attract the new middle-class young couples.
4) There are places in the store to sit and rest, and even to eat.

To the left is a photo I took in one of the weekends when the place was packed.

IKEA is a new concept, but there are many other ways to meet home furnishing needs. There are furniture shopping malls in which a homeowner can find a great deal of name-brand furniture.
LanjinLijia is a furniture mall frequented by the middle-class in the northwest corner of Beijing. The variety and selection are good, so that this store could be a one-stop shopping place for people who wish to complete the modeling/remodeling and furnishing of their new apartments in one trip. These types of furniture malls are scattered throughout the city. It is difficult to see how smaller outlets can survive in this competitive environment.

To the left, you can see a nice 90 cm by 90 cm shower stall for 1200 RMB in the furniture mall. But many Chinese apartment owners place bathroom amenities at a low priority. Very often you can expect to see only a simple shower head over the toilet. People in China probably cannot imagine that American bathrooms receive much more attention. The room is even often carpeted outside of the shower stall and/or bathtub area. The same mentality prevails over the treatment of restaurant restrooms in terms of their importance and appearance. It is all too common to find lousy restrooms in nice Chinese restaurants inside and outside of China.

[Furniture City]
There is a giant Furniture Super Mall southeast of Beijing, the XiangHe Furniture City.
The picture to the left shows one of the many gates to the warehouses of furniture stores. As is typical in Chinese government planning and organizations, similar types of furniture are grouped in nearby parcels. That is convenient to the shoppers, but difficult for the merchants in differentiating product offerings and prices.

Free bus transportation to this super mall on weekends and major Holidays is available in 20+ locations of the Beijing city. I once took the bus from the east gate of the University of Geology in northwest Beijing. It took about 90 minutes to travel the distance of close to 80 km.
The picture to the left shows a converging bus depot for all the buses to come together. Some reshuffling can be accomplished to pack shoppers into different buses for the sake of efficiency.

Down with the Chinese Capitalism!

2009-12-09T23:23:00.000-08:00

[Really no regular thermometers?]

My wife had the flu and a fever, and I could not find our good old-fashioned thermometer after our recent move. The drugstore told me that fact with a straight face, but the clerk also told me that the much more expensive electronic ones are available. Was the clerk really telling the truth? Or was this yet another example of institutionalized price gouging? For months now, it has been difficult to find affordable face masks for the H1N1 epidemic. Only the so-called "advanced" models are available, but they are expensive.

It is not really possible to legislate business ethics and morality. Those qualities are a matter of one's free will. Moral and ethical behavior is social and cultural, and is based on value systems. Many people can be law-binding citizens but can be very crooked any way you look at them.

[Bargain for a dead body]
I saw this picture in my daily dose of mobile phone news. I was outraged, not simply because the picture depicted bargaining for a price to the dead body the boat crew was able to retrieve, but also because of
the loss of human decency and dignity. I felt deep pain and outrage. What if I were this corpse's parent and what would I do if my son's body were waiting to be traded. Was it worth 12000 RMB?

You can also read the story about 3 college students who perished while saving two children in the Hubei province. You can read the CCTV's version. Society has become so selfish, and thus we have created heroes before our own eyes. What's wrong with this society? Where is the beloved government and leadership?

[China is a haven for Capitalism]
This country is sick. The last 30 years of economical openness and reform without corresponding political openness and reforms has turned the people into money-worshipers and government into investment bankers. Can China be capitalism's last haven? What happened to government and leadership? What are they focusing on? On maintaining the 8 percent year-to-year growth in GDP ?

The government's job seems to paint a glorious picture of an economical boom and military advancement. Have state-run branches invested in the Blackstone mutual fund again? Why is the government making such investments itself? Is it trying to create regulations so that there is a level playing field that benefits everybody, and now is it thinking how to make the pot of gold grow bigger? The government has screwed up its priorities big-time.
Maintaining a strong military power to defend the motherland while the poor and needy are crying out loud for justice and help? We are in the 21st century now. Does the government really see any serious threats from other countries and regions?

[Refocusing on the social fabric and value systems]
The government should refocus its energy and priorities to address the needs of migrants, the aging, minorities, and the medically deprived. Domestic justice and the fabric of society are in serious need of being repaired. A harmonious society is not just a noble goal or slogan. If the moral, ethical and spiritual emphasis is not there, society will continue to become corrupt and eventually collapse. The government will go with it.

On this note, I was by chance introduced by my good friend CH to the film director Jia Zhangke. Anyone who is interested and has the stomach to see the raw aspects of modern-day Chinese society should watch his films. Maybe in time he'll be the Charles Dickens of China, depicting the country as it goes through the painful process of modernization.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 009

2009-11-30T02:10:00.000-08:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* You are absolutely right. She did mention that. My bad. [You are absolutely right. She did mention that. It is my oversight.]
* John, error checking and data validation checks need to be spruced up some more. [John, error checking and data validation checks need to be better taken care of.]
* That is too much to ask. It is pie in the sky. [That is too much to ask. It is something unrealistic.]
* Don't push that yet, we are not ready for prime time. [Don't release that yet, we are not ready to show that.]
* How much push back did you get when you talked to the customers? [How much suspicion and doubt did you get when you talked to the customers?]
* That tool is great. It has the whole nine yards. [That tool is great. It has everything in it. [That tool is great. It has everything in it.]
* To be honest, I couldn't wrap my brain around all the details. [To be honest, I couldn't understand all the details.]
* That was a mouthful of information. [That was a lot of information that you just said.]
* They are getting a free ride and they know it! [They are getting that without any effort and they know that!]
* One solution to this quandary is to call Jacob directly. [One solution to this difficult dilemma is to call Jacob directly.]
* I have been trading emails with John on that subject. [I have been communicating with John using emails on that subject.]
* For that question, I have to consult with my cheat sheet here to see if it has the answer. [For that question, I have to look at my handy notes here to see if they have the answer.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 008

2009-11-04T04:27:00.000-08:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* Let's avoid camping on pool equipment, that's not acceptable. [Let's avoid hoarding shared equipment, that's not acceptable.]
* Let's be cognizant of what we really need in terms of equipment. [Let's be conscious and considerate of what we really need in terms of equipment.]
* If everybody can be a bit more proactive about this bad trend, we won't get emails from high-level execs. [If everybody can anticipate and act accordingly about this bad trend, we won't get emails from high-level executives.]
* We have to walk before we run. [We have to do things in the right sequence.]
* I am behind my email communication with Steve. [I have not caught up with what I need to read from Steve's emails.]
* We have a lot of runways left to deliver this project and we can add a couple of new features. [We have a lot of time left to deliver this project and we can add a couple of new features.]
* I think that Charles is pulling your leg! [I think that Charles is joking with us!]
* Let's try to work this out together next week, so that we don't get blindsided by additional testing requirements. [Let's try to work this out together next week, so that we don't get caught by surprise by additional testing requirements.]
* We are poised to get in with the standard build for that device driver. [We are ready to get in with the standard build for that device driver.]
* The bits are ready. We are good to go. [The bits are ready. We are ready to go to the next step.]
* That item is a long shot in all those engagements. [That item has little chance to make it in all those engagements.]
* Let Henry present that first. We don't want to shortchange him. [Let Henry present that first. We don't want to treat him unfairly.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 007

2009-10-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* What I suggest here is to put everything on the table for future discussions. [What I suggest here is not to hide anything for future discussions.]
* We like to make an informed decision in this meeting. [We like to make a decision based on solid information and good reasoning in this meeting.]
* David, you are right on mentioning that issue the engineers found yesterday. [David, you are doing the right thing by mentioning that issue the engineers found yesterday.]
* If you ask for that feature, Joe will tell us to take a hike. [If you ask for that feature, Joe will tell us to go away.]
* This is frosting on the cake for that project delivery. [This is just an extra benefit for that project delivery.]
* They were all strapped to the heels already. [They were all bogged down and busy already.]
* At the end of day, we'll not have that problem. Don't worry about it. [In the end, we won't have that problem. Don't worry about it.]
* Let's disseminate the right information down the pipe. [Let's send the right information down the normal channels.]
* Looks like we are trading horses in the meeting. [Looks like we are making compromises in the meeting between the two parties.]
* Let's compare notes and put our heads together to address that issue. [Let's compare what we know and work together to address that issue.]
* We have to expect a longer haul in this acquisition process. [We have to expect a longer waiting period in this acquisition process.]

Swimming Etiquettes in Beijing

2009-10-09T05:20:00.000-07:00

I enjoy swimming very much. This is one of the few sports that won't hurt your joints and muscles. I am not a good swimmer and I swim about 500-700 meters each time for about 30 minutes. I picked up lap swimming in the Scotch Plains YMCA 20 years ago. I have never truly completed my swimming lessons, as I just could not manage the 'breathing' technique. So I had been using a snorkeling tube until a year ago. Years ago during my college days, I yelled help after only two sessions when the coach took us beginners to the deep end to practice. I think that subconscious fear of deep water was the culprit in preventing any further progress.

[My Swimming Epiphany]
A snorkeling tube is a rare sight even in the U.S. I used it to breathe so that I can move all my limbs. I was simply too tense and too nervous. I could not sustain a regular breathing pattern without going into a vicious cycle of sinking in deeper and deeper.
A young child at Huaqing Garden swimming pool once asked me what sort of special technique I was learning with my snorkeling tube. I was embarrassed and told him that I needed it because I had not mastered the breathing technique yet and that he should be quite proud that he didn't use this apparatus.

I learned to breathe finally with encouragement from the lifeguard Mr. Chen. He showed me that a true beginner friend could start to do breast stroke in a few months on a once-a-week schedule. All I needed was to relax and not get in a panic when I did not breathe in enough or got some water into my mouth. Being able to stay calm and recover to normal breathing pattern was key to my epiphany ;-) I was so pleased with this breakthrough, because I never thought it would be possible in my lifetime. Here is a picture of me without the tube in Sanya, Hainan at the end of last year.

I have listed below my observations in and around Beijing swimming pools. Since my samples are limited, I would be cautious in generalizing these observations too much.

[Locker Rooms and Shower Stalls]
When you are done with swimming, drying off right after the shower is common in the U.S. since the locker room area is usually carpeted. Locker rooms are rarely carpeted in China. You are lucky if they do not use ceramic tiles for the floor. The pool I had frequented in the last two years finally changed to a material similar to artificial turf, and I don't have to be extra careful and apprehensive of slipping and falling.

Some facilities have a sauna installed. In one place, the management finally gave up on repairing the sauna unit. Too often I have witnessed abusive users pouring water directly over the hot rocks. It is dangerous and also likely to destroy the sauna unit. I understand why management just gave up on this endless repairing, and it is a shame not having that sauna to use after a good swim.

Shower stalls have good water, hot and cold. But normally that drainage system is not designed to match the usage volume. Standing water here and there is quite common. It is often quite slippery in the shower area. Here is a sign I like. Instead of "Slippery, please be careful," it says "Slip Carefully." I am not sure what the Korean translation says.

[Swimming Pool Access]
There is always a wading pool to wash off your feet between the locker rooms and the pool. They could easily install shower heads to cover the access pathway so that people can really clean themselves before entering the pool. Although "shower before swimming" signs are posted in clear view, there are still some people not observing them.

[Swimming Etiquettes]
It is a common practice to put fast swimmers in the middle lanes and slower pokes on the outside lanes. This is usually clearly marked in the U.S. It is natural to let good (and faster) swimmers avoid the slower folks by staying in the middle lanes, since slower ones like to hang on and be close to the side walls of the pool. When sharing a lane, it is common in the U.S. to see a sign reminding swimmers to "split lane with two and circle with three or more." Here, people just swim in all directions, which is similar to Beijing traffic. Parents and instructors do not teach their children common sense like "see and avoid" and "pool courtesy."

It would be a while before you feel a higher level of civility in the swimming pool. There is no incentive to formulate common-sense rules as far as I can tell. Everything is from the top down, possibly all the way from State General Administration of Sports. A centralized system naturally limits its innovations and improvements to the selected few elites. Scaling is a big challenge to China in many of its policies and regulations.

Although there are signs showing "no jumping/diving" in shallow water, many children are ignoring the rules. Safety consciousness is not big on the teaching agenda.

[Pool Usage Convention]
I am not aware of any ideas along the lines of family swim versus lap swim. All pool areas are either all divided into lanes or completely open. Poor lap swimmers usually have to avoid the beginners and those who are simply playing around for fun.

Swimming is still considered fun and entertainment for families and individuals. Pool schedules are tailored to this type of usage. No pools are open to meet the needs of work-out times such as early morning (before work), lunch time and early evening (after work). Most, if not all, pools operate at management's convenience, not at users' convenience. This reminds of my friend SX's one-liner: There are no rights, only obligations for the individuals in China. It is so true.

[Others]
No photos are allowed in most swimming pools. I don't know why.
Men and women all wear caps, a policy that is mandated by pool management.
A deep water certificate allows swimmers to be in deep water areas. To get a certificate, you must pay 10RMB to apply and must be able to swim 200 meters and tread water for 30 seconds.
There are often swimming lessons for children, especially in the summer time. There are many more bystanders (parents/friends) than students. A typical scene in China.

What's Different Between Beijing and San Jose, California (Bay Area)

2009-09-25T02:50:00.000-07:00

What's Different Between Beijing and San Jose, California (Bay
Area)

These are two different worlds to me. I decided to be more scientific about documenting the differences I perceived in a short note this time. Here is the note from my August trip to the US. If I don't jot down my impressions at the time I have them, I'll quickly adjust to them and the differences won't be that obvious after a short while.

[Blue sky and bright sun light, clean air and sometimes air is sweet in the nice early morning breezes.]
It was especially apparent when I walked out of the airport. The sunlight hurt my eyes. The Bay Area is special because California is a sunshine state. I recall old conversations
about K-12 education in California. Do you know that this
high-tech state ranks towards the bottom in the US in this category? What does California have to offer, one might ask?
Sunshine and plenty of it. :-)

Here is a lunch picture with my longtime friend LB in an
outdoor sandwich shop in Mountain View. He is my inspiration. He works on what he enjoys and loves, computers and software. He is a lucky guy and I am not far behind either. It was a pleasure to see LB again.

On this trip, he took my family for a special demo of the PDP-1 computer . LB got involved quite early in this project and is still an active member in this organization. This museum is an interesting place to see when you are in the area. Normally, you don't give a eulogy until someone or something has died. And you don't have a history museum until something has matured enough. Food for thought?

[Public Library in America]
I was brought up to treat the library as a place to study. I never checked out a book during my college days in Taiwan. I was taken to the library by my own children. They had class projects and reading to do, and after a while, I found things to do in the library. In China, library systems and audio books are the things I miss very much. For this trip, I needed to find some Arabic language references, so I did my search and reservation in Beijing through the
Santa Clara library system. I got email notifications when the items were ready for pickup. A couple of days after I got to my Campbell home, I went to the library to pick up my books and CDs. What a pleasure to do this so effortlessly!

The Campbell library is the closest and most convenient for me. When I have to spend a few hours in the library browsing books or reading magazines and newspapers, I prefer the recently
remodeled Saratoga library. It is a charming place to have my retreat.

Many people in China know about America from movies, TV shows, and tourists. Yet these are necessarily superficial types of encounters. Public services and places like libraries and parks are truly impressive and enjoyable for the mind and body. How people use library systems reflects the true depth of a nation and a culture. The ability to read, learn and draw conclusions and to ask questions is the true wealth of a nation and its people. I wish to see more of this in China.

[San Jose Airport: cell phone waiting area]
These days people are practicing just-in-time fetching for friends and family members from the airport with the aid of cell phones. It saves parking fees and often saves a lot of time. One catch is that cars need a place to wait for a short while. In many airports, cars circulate along the terminal areas and are forced to move by the parking patrols. San Jose airport has designated an area away from the airport so that you can wait in the parking area until you are called. You can time it just right to quickly get your passengers and go.

I have seen cars parked along the approaching highway curb sides at the Beijing airport and other Chinese airports. It is a safety hazard for sure and can only happen when people are not analyzing the issue. The airport authorities want people to pay and stay in the airport parking lots. Creating services to cater to people's needs is not always a high priority in China, especially when there is a conflict of interest. For instance, the airport authorities want to make parking lots profitable. The fundamental structure of governance and accountability is a problem. Hopefully time and wisdom can correct this.

[Morning swim in Campbell Community Center swimming pool]
I enjoy swimming a lot. It is my favorite exercise, because it does not hurt any joints or muscles. And it is one of the few things I do that's refreshing afterwards ;-)

I found my 3-year old swimming pass and went to the pool at the Campbell Community Center for a morning swim. They still accepted my pass, which made me quite happy.

Swimming outdoors is a true pleasure in California. The Campbell pool opens three times a day for about 2 hours at a time, with times designed for morning workouts, lunch time workouts and evening workouts. I wish I could take my morning swim at my apartment complex in Huaqing Gardens in Beijing. They open in the afternoon around 2 p.m. The concept of swimming as a workout is not yet popular in China. Swimming is still mainly associated with fun and entertainment. I'll have more about differences around swimming and practices around the swimming pool in a coming blog.

[BBQ in the backyard: good beef without added 'water']
The backyard is my favorite part of the house. I like the landscaping and it is the only place not
cluttered with years of collections. Maybe this is the reason I like to move to a new place - to leave all the baggage behind. Barbecuing at home in the summer is commonplace in the US. My favorite is filet mignon without any marination or seasoning. The best beef needs nothing to enhance it and should have a taste of the original raw flavor. Medium rare on the grill with a proper fire and timing will do the trick.

One thing I miss a lot in Beijing is good beef without an unwanted layer of permeated water. It is unfortunate that many animals, including cows, are force-fed with water before being weighed and sold to the slaughterhouse. You can hardly find beef without added layers of water. I wish that someday this practice can stop, hopefully when people are willing to pay a higher price per kilogram of beef without extra water added to it. Cheaper diluted beef does not offer any more beef, but rather a false notion of a better buy.

[How much does a corn on the cob cost?]
From this picture, it is 4 US dollars. ;-) Often people are impressed with how much money
one can make in North America. They think that it would be a paradise in which they could accumulate a fortune in just a few years. How much people can save depends on their living expenses and lifestyle. If you could work in North America by day and live in China by night, then you could save a bundle really fast. That's the way Chinese migrant workers tried to live in the early 20th century, so they could send money back to their villages. Differences between countries will always exist and people will continue to move to gain financially. As the world becomes more globalized and integrated, this physical movement will become less necessary and the differences will become smaller. Income will match the productivity in an more equitable fashion.

This picture shows how much a banana will cost you. This picture is from a grocery store outside of Denali National Park, and the corn picture is from a Saturday outdoor market in Anchorage, Alaska. The fruits and vegetables are more expensive than in a typical Safeway grocery in Northern California.

My Alaska Cruise and Land Tour to Denali National Park

2009-09-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights of my recent trip to Alaska.
There are many beautiful cruise pictures on the Internet and I am not about to outdo them. ;-)

From August 15 to August 22, 2009 I was on an Alaska cruise to attend my college reunion. We sailed on a Diamo nd Princess cruise ship. This picture was taken by Michael on a day with average cloudy conditions. We sailed from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Whittier, Alaska, USA with 2900 passengers. Ten percent were children 18 or under.

Here you can find my classmates from the National Taiwan University EE department. All were in good spirits and I certainly found maturity and thoughtfulness in this crowd. It was worthwhile for me. The attendance rate was not the best, mostly due to difficult economical times. The cruise itself was not that expensive, but the flights getting to
Vancouver and out of Anchorage could take a big bite of family finances.

There are many glaciers in Alaska. These were not in my last cruise trip 11 years ago. On that cruise, we turned back to Vancouver at the Hubbard Bay Glacier. College Fjord, which branches off of Prince William Sound, plunges into the heart of the Chugach Mountains. You should be able to see at least five glaciers to the left of the channel in this photo.

After the reunion cruise, we added a land tour to Denali National Park. We boarded the two-level luxury coach. The dome-like upper level was great for viewing the wilderness of Alaska.

Dining was on the bottom level, which was not any worse than the upper level. The food prices were typical for a nice restaurant. This is one nice thing I like about America. Price-gouging does take place, but not at most places.

Denali is the only National Park I have visited that does not allow personal
automobiles, only chartered buses and some RVs. There were many animals in the park. We saw a brown bear family with two cubs in the distance. Here you'll find pictures of a herd of Dall sheep and a nearby red fox in the rest area.

[Other interesting facts in this trip]
Alaska is the 49th state of the USA and celebrates its 50-year statehood this year.

There are about 600,000 pilots in the US (300 millions) as of 2008, but one in every 56 people is a pilot in Alaska. There are almost 10 times as many pilots per capita in Alaska as compared to the rest of the US.

China Mobil's Gotone international roaming service is not available in Anchorage which was a surprise to me. But, I was stunned getting welcome message in Denali National Park. These two regions could be covered by different carriers and all that. Go figure.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 006

2009-08-27T04:57:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* Ron, the gating item is to get the specification out ASAP. [Ron, the bottleneck item is to get the specification out as soon as possible.]
* I think that Kathy came in to the meeting with a predisposition that they'll deny this request no matter what. [I think that Kathy came in to the meeting with her mind already set that they'll deny this request no matter what.]
* With AMD support out of the way, we have one more build on the Intel side of the house. [With AMD support completed, we have one more build on the Intel support issue.]
* Mike, do what's needed by Scott. That will keep the monkey off our back. [Mike, do what Scott wants you to do. Then, he won't bother us much.]
* Mike will provide the pros and cons write-up for the vendor-provided solution. [Mike will provide the advantages and disadvantages summary for the vendor-provided solution.]
* We've done our part in leading the horse to the liquid. [We have done our part in guiding our partner to what they need to have and know.]
* The counter argument can be made relatively easy. [The argument against that proposal can be made relatively easy.]
* Please change the email subject when we discuss another topic, otherwise, that can become quite lengthy and convoluted. [Please change the email subject when we discuss another topic, otherwise, that can become very lengthy and very confusing.]
* It seems to be creating more work than necessary to integrate that change separately from your wad. [It seems to be creating more work than necessary to integrate that change separately from your pile of the whole thing.]
* I don't mean to speak out of turn here because Jerry has more expertise on this than I do. [I don't mean to speak inappropriately here because Jerry indeed has more expertise on this than I do. ]
* There is no contractual obligation between our two companies, which is causing them to backpedal on prior commitments. [There is no contractual obligation between our two companies, which is causing them to not honor their prior commitments.]

IceBreaker speech for engineers at ERI

2009-08-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Do you know the average age for the Sun Beijing Engineering and Research
Institute? It is a little over 31.

I am willing to personally testify for the technical talent, dedication, and commitment of the engineering teams. But the ability to express fully that talent and know-how and those accomplishments is somewhat lacking. I can see many examples in emails and meetings. They require too many exchanges and clarifications to come to an understanding and to reach consensus. This is due to a lack of good listening skills and confidence to articulate on the spot.

The net effect is that the engineering team is not getting their fair share of recognition for their accomplishments and their potentials to contribute more in the project. In the worst-case scenario, the engineering team is perceived as indifferent and ineffective.

There is nothing new in this situation. But we are trying to do something about it. In the brief lull after many key project put-backs in July, the storage driver team gave a presentation and implemented a communication improvement campaign with an IceBreaker speech for all team members.

What is an IceBreaker speech? It is normally given by a new Toastmasters club member as his/her first speech. It has flexibility in terms of what to say, but the basic goal is to break the ice with other club members and get people to know and remember you.

Why do we do this? It is an opportunity for the engineer to collect ideas, organize these ideas into something interesting to present, and deliver them to the audience. An IceBreaker speech embodies all the elements of preparing for a speech and presentation, from gathering simple ideas, writing the draft, revising, practice runs, to the final delivery. It is also a good team building event.

We had 11 participants in this IceBreaker event in July, along with 7 invited judges and evaluators from Sun's Speakeasy@SunBeijing Toastmasters club. All participants and judges were provided with a surprise individualized coffee mug.

This is just one way to raise awareness for this important and critical soft skill. A key takeaway for the participants is that this skill can be learned and improved over time and with effort. Everyone can make good progress relative to what they can do now. It is a small step and it is manageable by all engineers. Being an effective communicator is a lifelong effort.

Below is some feedback that I received from the participants.
"It's a good opportunity to improve your skills. There aren't many chances you'll be given so many positive comments and valuable advice from the judges for free! And it's fun, if you take it the right way."

"It's been a long time that I didn't write an essay in English without any technical words (TOI, technical review and so on). I even didn't know how to start it. I wrote the speech twice because of my bad organization about my thoughts. And I didn't have too much time to practice. However, all the audience listened to my speech carefully and I thought some of them really enjoyed it. So I was glad my work is of value. Also I could clearly see the ways to improve my speech better next time."

"After this activity was over, I think I learned more from this activity than I expected at the beginning. For the next time, how about limiting the speech subject to be related to our job and role. I think this will make it easy the to compare presentations and let the audience learn more from the presentation."

In conclusion, what new ideas do I get out of this? I think an ERI site-wide speech contest would be a good way to find good speakers, identify new leaders, and encourage all ERI members to appreciate the need to develop this skill.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 005

2009-07-31T04:26:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* That issue must have fallen through the cracks. [That issue must have been forgotten.]
* Don't drop the ball yet, we still hope to get that done in time. [Don't give up yet, we still have hope to get that done in time.]
* We really want to leverage the vendors; we don't want to hold the bag. [We really want to build on top of what the vendors have done; we don't want to do this all by ourselves.]
* Hopefully we won't have any fire drills next week. [Hopefully we won't have any last-minute work to do next week.]
* That's the old guard thinking; they have the NIH syndrome. [That's the traditional and outdated thinking; they have the not-invented-here syndrome. If not done here, they won't use it.]
* They'll bring in distinguished engineers to defend for them, then we'll have a pissing contest. [They'll bring in a group of elites to defend for them, then we'll have a contest of wills and egos.]
* Guys, knock yourself out! [Guys, go ahead and do it!]
* At some point, there will be top-down communication; the bottom-up communication only works to some extent. [At some point, there will be directives from the top; the bottom-up discussions and consensus building only works to some extent.]
* Let's separate the FUDD from reality. [Let's separate the rumors and wishes from the truth.] [FUDD: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, and Disinformation]
* Paul, we bit our tongues when John asked whether there were any more defects on the software. [Paul, we had to restrain ourselves from talking when John asked whether there were any more defects on the software.]
* There will be a few more stragglers calling in later. [There will be a few more late comers calling in later.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 004

2009-06-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

*These are kind of swag dates, don't take them too literally. [These are estimated dates, don't take them too seriously.]
*That's an open-and-shut case. Don't worry about it. [That is an obvious and easy case. Don't worry about it.]
*Making it a macro or not is orthogonal to whether or not it should be in the cpu.h header file. [Making it a macro or not is independent and irrelevant to whether or not it should be in the cpu.h header file.]
*That operation is a real renegade operation. They must have some upper management support for that to exist. [That operation is a real rebellious operation. They must have some upper management support for it.]
*I believe we can get over this hiccup tonight. [I believe we can get over this temporary difficulty tonight.]
*Think opportunities and think upsides on all of it! [Think positive!]
*I ask all of you to look at that glass half-full instead of half-empty. [I ask all of you to look at the issue from a positive angle.]
*That is job one for us, no question about it. [That is the number one priority for us, no question about it.]
*When we are at an inflection point, we'll make the change and run with it. [When we are at a turning point, we'll make the change and go in the new direction.]
*You are wasting your time, don't preach to the choir. [You are wasting your time, don't try to convince the people who are already on your side.]
*Now that the cat is out of the bag on the ARM port, it's time to see what hardware platforms we can try running on. [Now that the ARM port is public knowledge, it's time to see what hardware platforms we can try running on.]

Community Service - A Common Way of Life in America

2009-06-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

I was invited by the seminary director at the Catholic Theology and Philosophy School of the Beijing Diocese to give a talk to the young seminarians back in May. Attached is what I used.

By the way, the school is quite close to Tsinghua University, but is in an amazingly run-down area. The road was paved only in the last year or so. Now it is not muddy during the rainy season.

This presentation provides a good glimpse of my non-professional community service. I focused on the Tijuana housebuilding project that I helped to get started almost 10 years ago at the San Jose Chinese Catholic Community Watermark Youth Group. I personally took part in the project for 5 years. That was a life-changing experience for me and my boys. I was born Catholic and somewhat was destined to travel on this road :-). There are many ways to reach this point of my life, but I have no regrets coming to this point in this particular rendition ;_)

You might find it puzzling that I used the acronym BLP in the presentation material. To stay on a par with the many USCCB board members who belong to different Catholic religious orders and who always have a few letters after their names, I was given an honorary title BLP. My lay board member friend coined the term BLP (basic lay person) for us lay people in the Board.

Who is a Beijing native?

2009-06-16T01:16:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I overheard a heated exchange between two women at the fruit stand near my apartment complex. One sore point was "Who is a Beijing native?"

Yes, who is a Beijing native? And why is this important at all?

Many Beijing natives work for the city in various
service segments such as transportation, park systems, and government administration.

I took a photo with anonymity in mind on my bus ride to North Church last Sunday. This woman apparently is a Beijing native with an unmistakable Beijing accent. I took my photo with the intention of writing about it, because she reminded me of her admirable role as "moral code enforcer". She yelled out to youngsters to yield their seats to the seniors or other needy people, such as parents with small children. (By the way, I don't see any reason to give seats to school-aged kids, say 7-10 years old, when they can manage themselves well.)
I do see good reasons to let parents have the seats while they hold their little ones on their laps. Incidentally, this woman is called generically a "service person," not a bus conductor. Waiters and waitresses have similar job titles in China. This is different than in other countries.

There are inherent job risks in being a service person on the bus. Two years ago, a female service person was choked to death by a crazy passenger who refused to follow orders and got angry at the woman on one of my bus routes 690 (then 726). That made me wonder how Beijing passengers could watch and let that happen. The collective lack of moral courage to help must have been something many people remembered for a long time after the incident.

Beijing natives with proper household registration paper enjoy preferential treatment in certain job applications and social welfare benefits.
There are even quotas for incoming freshman students in Beijing Universities. There currently are talks about lowering those quotas for Beijing natives and eliminating them eventually. The latter move would relieve the tight competition to get into some local schools, starting from the elementary grades. It is disheartening to see human energy spent over getting into "desired" schools by parents and children alike.

The coupling of benefits and advantages associated with the household registration system presents a serious obstacle to social harmony and might prevent further progress for China. The overhead of keeping the status quo can be better spent improving other social conditions. However, maintaining the status quo does give people some sense of security. That situation should be viewed as a social program and as a way to offer safety net to the needy in the city. Without those benefits, all-out free competition would drive those natives to the streets in no time. This should not be the only reason not to change. Things need to change, but changes will come with certain orderly controls as it always happens in China. As this progress occurs, there will be always smart and/or sneaky groups that are a few steps ahead of the regulations and rules. Many of the filthy rich in China are in this category.

The well-to-do and emerging middle classes in Beijing are mostly outsiders. It is hard to define outsiders versus natives. My definition is that who attended primary and middle schools in Beijing are natives. With this definition, fewer than 20% of those in my workplace are natives.

Beijing has been a capital city for many centuries. Wholesale replacement of top leadership and elite classes takes place every few years as political scene changes. These days, the sources of changes are not limited to the political shift. The newly created wealth and job opportunities attracted many outsiders whom the city needs to sustain the economical growth. The newly wealthy, well-educated elites are moving in and are becoming natives in a couple of generations. Their grandchildren will brag about their Beijing identifies. Yet, the new, bright, and diligent will continue to come to Beijing to replace them, if Beijing wants to continue to be viable.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 003

2009-05-07T01:54:00.000-07:00

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* These are low-hanging fruits. Let's do them first. [These are something easy to do and to get credit for. Let's do them first.]
* This might not be so easy. I cross my fingers. [This might not be so easy. I am hoping for the best.]
* Give me a jingle, please, when you get this message. [Give me a call, please, when you get this message.]
* Let's cross that bridge when we get to it. [Let's do what we have to do when we get to that point. Don't worry about it too much now.]
* Eventually, almost everyone accepted that no silver bullet would ever be found. [Eventually, almost everyone accepted the fact that no magic shortcuts or simple solutions would ever be found.]
* He has put a monkey wrench into the schedule by adding another surprise work item to it. [He has created complications to the schedule by adding another surprise work item to it. ]
* It's a tar baby - we would be stuck with working on it until the end of this product life cycle. [It is a complicated mess - we would be stuck with working on it until the end of this product life cycle.]
* With that proposal rejected, he was back to the drawing board. [With that proposal rejected, he was back to the starting point again.]
* That is not a one-size-fits-all kind of solution. [That is not a solution for all possible scenarios.]
* That project was on the radar screen to get open sourced. [That project was on in the process to get open sourced.]

Simple and Manageable Exercises for Aging Parents

2009-03-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

My mom is recovering from a fall 6 weeks ago. She was in hospital for 2 weeks and back to my apartment until now. We could not apply the typical exercise patterns to the aging parents and yet they need physical exercises to regain strength to be back to complete independent living. Soon or later, they'll need some help and assistance, but put that off as long as you can since it is good for them and good for us children.

I was forced to innovate and here are some good five easy and manageable exercises to strengthen the muscle tone and keep in shape. It works on different part of muscles.

Lift up your legs and stretch them onto the walker.

Move the walker up and down gently to get the arms and wrists in shape.

Bend at the waist so that your head touches the walker. Get the torso and waist to work.

Hold onto the walker as you stand up from the chair and then sit back down smoothly.

This last exercise is the most common. Walk around to get into shape and to build up your strength in general.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 002

2008-12-24T01:50:00.000-08:00

I was in the California Bay Area for a business meeting this past November. It was a busy two weeks as I had to meet many people with my new job and different responsibilities. I picked up some business jargon to share with those who might be interested. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* Hey, when the rubber meets the road, she'll have nothing to say anymore. [Hey, when reality kicks in, she'll have nothing to say anymore.]
* We are also making inroads into the European markets in the last quarter. [We are also making progress into the European markets in the last quarter.]
* Trying to get project details from Brian is like pulling his teeth. [It is very difficult to get project details from Brian.]
* You have been really lucky to get the code review done recently. Knock on wood! [I am counting on my luck, don't break it...]
* I'll do that for sure. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a thousand needles in my eye... [promising to the extent of almost swearing...]
* Finally, our big server order prayers are answered. [ Finally, our big server order wishes are answered.]
* You really don't want to get into that pissing contest with them. [You really don't want to get into meaningless arguments with them.]
* If the devil is in the details, outline the devil. [If we have to address the real issue, let's outline that.]
* Hey, you better all pony up and finish that project. [Hey, you better all get serious and finish that project.]
* Paul, why don't you table that item for the next meeting? [Paul, why don't you record and discuss that item in the next meeting?]

First Chinese Spacewalk

2008-11-04T22:50:00.000-08:00

On September 27, 2008, Zhai Zhigang, wearing a Chinese-developed Feitian space suit, conducted a 20-minute spacewalk, the first ever for a Chinese astronaut. It is a great achievement for the Chinese. To me, the space project is a measure of science and technology know-how, as well as the ability to carry out large-scale logistics planning and process. The tolerance for errors is extremely low and it is a risky business to be in. Aside from these general observations, I, as a nobody civilian, do see two strikingly different features between the space programs run by the US and by the Chinese.

First, the Chinese space launch was not broadcast live and was quite secretive. Pictures and video footage were shown after the fact. In the wiki URL listed in the previous paragraph, you might find it interesting to see things live regarding the Associated Press' article on September 25, "China space mission article hits Web before launch". Some friends told me that not broadcasting live was to prevent possible mishaps and embarrassments. I assume that one would have enough time to come up with a reasonable explanation if any accidents happened. I suppose that more transparency will come later when the Chinese perfect the space mission projects some more. The fortunate part is that the spacewalk was broadcast live, although no one knew for sure until the very last minute. As far as I know, all US launches in the past were broadcast live. Once people got bored with the space program, the broadcasts were on lesser-known channels.

The second striking difference to me is that the operation is very much a military one, as opposed to a civilian or quasi-civilian operation - from the selection of the astronauts, the briefing and debriefing, and the homecoming ceremony. Supposedly, the astronauts were to be quarantined for two weeks for fear of viral or bacterial infections reported in the earlier news. Yet, they were paraded through part of the city in open-air caravan after they returned to Beijing Xi-Jiao military airport. Contradictions and inconsistencies are everywhere in China. You have to live with it.

It is my view that the Chinese space station and space shuttle projects are barely economically justifiable, other than from the political and military vantage points. The transfer of technology from space research to the improvement of people's daily lives is not easy to see. With the current infrastructure, I have serious doubts on how this can take place quickly without reasonable transparency and civilian counterparts in the development and transfer of space technology. Lot of work has to be done to make space station and space shuttle projects economically viable.

On a more serious note, I do think that the moon project is very questionable economically other than to show off an ego of a nation or a party. I recall that many physicists were out driving cabs in Houston in the early 1970's after the moon landing project was over. Economically, there were no foreseeable benefits to continue on any project focusing on the moon itself.

During the cold war, the moon project was an important and visible milestone for the space race between the US and the USSR. It was probably essential to win the race for the US, otherwise we probably would have a Big Brother watching over us like that of "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell. Some felt that the space race caused a serious drain economically both in the US and in the USSR.

What's in Common between Coal Mines and Sanlu Milk Products?

2008-10-27T02:50:00.000-07:00

I don't watch TV or read the newspaper regularly. I get free cell phone news briefs twice a day with my subscription from China Mobile. It is a distilled version of news that always comes with four pictures, one in politics/military/international, one in sport, one in entertainment, and the last one is the same logo picture. Presumably it is the best sanctioned view of the current events as they are known or supposed to be known all over China. This is my daily information and education directly from the mobile source. I get to read simplified Chinese comfortably now.

About every two to three weeks recently, I have read about coal mine explosions and accidents. The safety condition must be pathetic. These Chinese mining enterprises manifest themselves as the money-grabbing apparatus taking advantage of the poor in the society who take the most deadly job in China to make a living. It appears that every coal mine operation is the same, that which coal mine is next in line to have accidents is random. When that happens, investigations will begin, responsible parties will be jailed, and party chiefs and government officials will be removed. For many, it is worth the risk since there is no faster way to get rich, and gambling like this is not a bad deal in China. This reminds me of the Junk Bond King Michael Milken. Many wish that they have a chance to do the gambling. Many people, including me, still feel that it is not right to get people killed or buried alive 1 mile below the earth's surface.

By the way, the immediate removal of party membership of the involved officials alwaysis accompanied by scapegoat-hunting exercises as a form of political excommunication. Those doing the scapegoating hope it would indemnify them from any wrongdoing or prevent the tarnishing of their perfect image.

Another recent news item was the recent SanLu (Three-Deer) baby milk scandal, in which many infants were exposed to melamine and suffered kidney damage. Fatalities occurres in many parts of the country including in several cities. It is an industry-wide practice to enhance profit margins by adding melamine while the raw milk is diluted to pass the test for nitrogencontent, and thus protein content. Soon after the government started the test, very few brands test negative for melamine contamination. Many countries are more aggressive in testing and publishing the test results, and the importing of food products from China is seriously curtailed.

This is another case of corporate greed and lack of business ethics. The corporate China is making profits by cutting corners putting the health of the general population at risk. Again, the punishment pattern is similar to other scandals and it is worth the risk to get rich fast in this country.

On a sad note, a friend from Taiwan told me that similar scandals took place there about 20 years ago. He suggested that this phenomenon might be natural for any developing country. Is this truly a predestined phenomenon that as a society we all have to suffer and learn together from? I mean that the greed and the suffering part is a necessary part of the development. If so, some societies will learn fast and will gradually move to a new and civil level of playing field, while some stagger and never move forward. What moves things forward and what leaves us fumbling, never to become a civilized nation that treats its citizens as individuals and not as targets for profit-making?

Imperfection is Just As Beautiful

2008-09-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

Imperfection is just as beautiful if not more beautiful than perfection.

I was more inspired by the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing than the "regular" Olympics. The XXIX Olympics was a great event, but simply a good show in some ways. The Paralympics had some sadness to it. One taxi driver mumbled to me that it was heart-wrenching for him to watch the Paralympics competition. I felt the pity and the "why bother" attitude in his tone. Many of my friends here were inspired by the physically challenged athletes; but, for the most part, Chinese society needs to open its arms wider to accommodate better the marginalized and the disadvantaged.

Relatively speaking, Chinese society and infrastructure is not friendly to the disabled population. A wheelchair-bound individual cannot move about in Beijing, let alone in other cities in the country. I would never haul two suitcases from the airport to my apartment using the subway unless I were desperately poor and could not afford other means of transportation. Escalators are not guaranteed to be there, and you have to walk up and down the stairways. Elevators are there sometimes, and they are often locked and not available. When you have two 20 kg suitcases to deal with, you can be considered physically challenged. The sad fact is that I do see poor people transport their luggage in the subway. Some of them don't have suitcases, just two big tote bags.

To see and hopefully to accept imperfection is good to begin with. Only people with confidence are comfortable with their shortcomings and handicaps. Chinese have yet to get used to this new notion and to love themselves deeper in the face of imperfection. There are good examples, although the media and society don't show them often. Parents in China are as dedicated to their disabled children as parents in other parts of the world. But the media and society shun away from them and rarely shine a positive light on this group of people. Some Chinese even believe the traditional idea that imperfection stems from the wrong-doings of a person's previous incarnations. A sense of guilt and shame is quite common. The Paralympics is good for Chinese audiences; the Games made it easier for the disabled population get out of their isolation and to push the envelope a little.

Chinese are obsessed with perfection and that's not heathly. This burden is unbearable and is not sustainable. Chinese have to learn to accept the reality of imperfection, and have the spirit to overcome, not to overcompensate, for it. Politically, it is also good to accept imperfection; that is the hallmark of democracy. Mediocrity is a fact of life, and we are making a conscious decision to trade this for the long-term stability of the society. An error-free, austere political machine is just a facade. It is inherently unsustainable and there is no breathing room in it.

The Paralympics was a good thing for China. Many of us should be thankful for not feeling challenged in any perceivable way. One day, we will all become disabled as we get older and by then we should be able to realize the need to provide equal opportunities to the disadvantaged. I like the 1997 Academy Award winner for Documentary Short Subject, "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien" that says "sooner or later, we'll all become handicapped." It is a 35-minute film. Watching it will be good for you spiritually and philosophically. :-).

Reflections on the 2008 Beijing Olympics

2008-09-10T03:04:00.000-07:00

The Beijing Olympic Games were "truly exceptional Games," said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge at the Games' closing ceremony staged in the National Stadium in northern Beijing on Sunday night, August 24, 2008.

This is a fair overall assessment of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. A few reflections are in order since I was in the city for the last two years and attended three events, men's gymnastic, women's skeet shooting, and men's boxing.

[China's Favorite Sporting Son]

China's favorite sporting son, Liu Xiang, had to pull out of his defense of his 110 meter hurdles title due to an Achilles tendon injury, leaving his legions of fans heartbroken. He is a man who could be more influential than the PRC President in what he says and does. He is now depicted as a cartoon character in one TV show I happened to glance at recently; every child in China will probably recognize him. I hope that a hero like him can do more for China beyond the 110 meter hurdles event.

[Nationally Organized Sport Promulgation]

China has a national-level office, the State General Administration of Sport, to promulgate sporting events and training and to win medals in many venues. This is another good example of Chinese efficiency in execution when action is needed. A news report last week mentioned that 800 million RMB was spent for the 2008 Olympics in athletes training; and with 51 gold medals, each cost about 15 million RMB (about 2.2 million US dollars).

As far as I know, there is no counterpart in the US. Almost all sports organization are grass-roots organizations. Rules and regulations are defined and run by these non-profit organizations. I am familiar with high school level wrestling and swimming, as these are the sports my children participated in. I think that reaching the grass-roots level should be the aim for China to be sustainable in medal counts. A healthy and fit population should be the eventual goal of any government-sanctioned effort.

[Handing Over the Olympic Flag to New Host City London]

London Mayor Boris Johnson received the Olympic flag from Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong during the closing ceremony on Sunday, because London is hosting the next summer games in 2012. To the Chinese, it might seem odd to see the Beijing Mayor having such an honor. Mr. Guo is not even listed in the CCP page, which lists 30 or so names as members of the Politburo of the CCP Central committee. If you want to count "status or standing" in Chinese politics, that is where you should look first.

The tradition of having a city, rather than a country, bid to host the Olympic Games is something novel to the very centralized Chinese system in the first place. Mr. Guo, as the mayor of the host city, was the one to do the job, and not anyone else, which was refreshing and food for thought for the Chinese during the closing ceremony. Incidentally, it was the first time I saw him on TV in the two years I have spent in Beijing.

[Extinguishing the Olympic Flame]

I was quite sentimental about the extinguishing of the flame. It signaled an end and put a period at the time horizon. Chinese are not used to, and often are reluctant and sometimes even superstitious in, talking about and facing end games in many social and personal circumstances. Facing it in front of a billion of viewers in China was a good experience and a good mental exercise. No rationale, no explanation, no thing required for this. An event to accept and to reflect upon is a simple and beautiful thing.

[Collateral Damages in the Last Stretch of the 2008 Beijing Olympics]

There were so many accomplishments in completing projects and construction on time for the Olympics. The pleasant surprise of fast clean-ups on streets and subways in the early summer was a clear indication of the can-do spirit around the city and probably in the country as well. The question, then, is when and where the government is going to take action.

In the preparations for the Games, there was much collateral damage. The "undesirables," including migrant workers, were moved out, and visas for foreign students were not extended for the summer. For the sake of not getting embarrassed or having to be bailed out, I acquired a "temporary residence permit" and always carried it along with my passport in my backpack.

Torch relay crowd control tactics were all very raw and rudimentary in the Chinese style. This is often offensive to non-Chinese and is in bad taste in general. Speaking of the torch relay, there were about 8 hours of torch relay with 800 runners in Beijing. This equates to 36 seconds per runner, which is pathetic to me. It was a "who's who in Beijing" event to me, an attempt to balance out demands from all corners of the society and government.

My barber shop owner complained about slow business and many restaurants were not packed at all for the summer. All these temporary alienations hopefully can be well compensated by the great success of the Games and will be forgotten hopefully after a few years.

Obviously, what I have just said is all officially false information from the government's point of view. For me, I am a stubborn donkey and I like to think and observe myself without being told and fed of any truth.

A taste of Northern California from my viewfinder

2008-07-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

[High school students traveling to USA at the Beijing Airport]
My UA flight on July 12, 2008 was fully booked. Among the passengers, about 120 high school students were on board. I sat next to a couple of teachers/chaperons. They were excited and they had long shopping lists. One of them said to the other philosophically, "Let's not buy America to go." Travel and seeing things firsthand without hindrance is a first step to understanding and communication among nations. This is something good to see and I am hopeful to have a peaceful global village.

[The famous BlackBox at Sun's MPK campus]

Well, this might not be the original. It is in front of the MPK12 building, and I suppose that it is for the executive briefing tour. The future of networking, storage, and computing power are all packed in this box, with electricity and network cabled in, and information and heat out. I heard that the Pentagon liked this idea very much.

[Forced Tour at IKEA East Palo Alto]
I just needed to buy a gift certificate for my nephew's LA wedding. And I went in one way and had to quickly do a tour of everything. Here is a shot of a beautifully designed information post. I had to follow the winding road to reach the check-out counter at the end.

[Kaiser Hospital and my annual medical check-up]
I did my blood work and ultrasound a few days before I saw the doctor so that everything would be ready for his assessment. It was good for him to declare that I was good for another 6 months. This shot was at the women's ultrasound floor. Because of "load balancing," I was moved from the regular location to this one. Felt a little out of place at the beginning until I found a few other men there later. Kaiser Hospital at Santa Clara was part of the HMO network I still subscribe to.

[Pruneridge Golf Driving Range, my rare ritual these days]

You must be rusty only doing this driving range practice every 3 or 4 months. I don't even bother to go on the course, because we would hit the balls everywhere and be chased by the next group.

[LA Wedding, all in the family]

Driving down from San Jose to LA is about 6 hours. It was good to see my two sons and my mom again. It was an excuse to have a family reunion. My nephew John got married, the first in that generation. I found my position as uncle was well respected in the scheme of things.

[San Jose RHV airport: biannual flight review]

I did not look too thrilled. I wonder why? My private pilot license requires a biannual flight review to be current. It was one hour of ground instruction and review, and another hour or more air work with a required minimum number of takeoffs and landings. I took this shot in front of the at the RHV airport. It was a lot of mental and physical work to recover from installs and to simulate emergencies.

[Gate of Heaven: my dad and my mom]

My mom is living with my younger sister in Taiwan for the time being. It is her wish to visit the grave site of my dad at Gate of Heaven, a Catholic cemetery in Los Altos, every time she is in northern California. We cut the flowers from our backyard; Michael did a nice job in arranging them.

[Robin and Family in our backyard]

This was a great shot seeing a mother or father robin feeding the young chicks. Our family had a great time seeing this robin family doing their thing in our backyard.

[Century 22 Movie Theater]

I heard in a Toastmaster speech that not having reserved seating for movie tickets in the US was a surprise to Chinese natives. I refreshed my memory on this trip. This dome-shaped structure is a common for movie theaters in the US. We watched "The Dark Knight." This Batman sequel was entertaining and has some interesting philosophical thoughts in it.

[California Living: Castro Street in Mountain View, luncheon in outdoor cafe setting]

This Castro street is becoming a symbol of California living these days. California has nice weather with beautiful blue skies most of the year. It is dry, and outdoor living is feasible and enjoyable. Although California is lagging behind in terms of East Coast high culture and sport teams, and is not well known for public education K through 12, the weather has attracted many new immigrants in the last two centuries. In the boom days of the Silicon Valley, many domestic transplants came to this state as well.

[Police riding Segway in Mountain View, California]

I saw this in LA airport, but I did not have chance to take a picture. This time I used my iPhone to record the scene. It is like child's play to me. A little wild and unthinkable 10 or 20 years ago. The cops need to work more efficiently, I suppose. It is probably more acceptable than seeing them riding on scooters?

Align Your Expectations in Beijing and China

2008-07-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

If you are in Beijing in an organized tour group, you'll be ushered around in an air-conditioned bus; you'll be pampered well. You probably won't run into any expectation alignment issues.

This alignment of expectations is a must for people who come to Beijing and China for a longer period of time. First of all, looking like a foreigner could be a double-edged sword. Don't play your foreigner card too hard. As a foreigner, extra courtesy might be extended to you. Yet, you are clearly a target to be ripped off.

The following is a list of my observations after two years in Beijing.

Taxi driver - Generally, there is no tip expected. Don't expect him/her to come out to open the trunk for you. Load and unload the luggage and suitcases yourselves. Once a while, they do help you. You are in luck when that happens.
Crossing the Intersection - Don't expect the bus or the car to yield to you even when you have the green/walk signal. Cars can turn right on red, and the drivers normally push their way through whenever they can. Remember that there is no notion of "right of way." You are a meat ball and they are metal; don't insist on this.
Lights beaming - When a car/bus beams lights at you, especially with increasing speed, it means that you should get out of the way as soon as possible. This is *not* to signal you to go first.
Using horns - When a car/bus is rushing through, horns are applied generously. Don't get annoyed. Horns are often used to show the displeasure of the drivers as well.
Cutting in front of you - It is not uncommon in subway/bus lines for people to cut in front of you. You have to adjust a bit; and at the same time, be a little aggressive, otherwise, you might have trouble getting on.
Let people out first? - Normally, people having no such courtesy of letting you out first before they barge in. This applies to elevators, buses, and subways. If you are the last one or close to the last one, be aggressive to move out early. Position yourself in a crowded situation when you are reaching your destination; you might have trouble getting out in the last minute. "Excuse me" does not help much in the last minute, and it is all right to move close to the door when the bus/subway is approaching your destination. Signal that you wish to swap positions, and stop when someone tells you that he/she is getting out too. Sounds like a bubble sort algorithm?
Yielding their seats to you - If you have some gray or even some signs of aging, some youngster might yield his/her seat to you. In the city bus, sometimes the bus attendant would point and ask some young person to yield a seat to the senior or needy. He/she sets the civil code in the bus! At times, some young people shamelessly ignore the request or pretend to be ill. Some Americans might be a little offended as they are not ready to be seen as needing special treatment in their 50's. This is quite a contrast between today's Americans and Chinese in their 50's and 60's. Psychologically, many Chinese accept the notion of old age and fragility while their American counterparts perceive themselves completely otherwise.
It is a pleasant surprise, isn't it? It is a pretty complicated society, you might think, given all the other things you have read so far.
Crowd control - If you travel during peak weeks of the major holidays, you might be able to witness multi-level queues in and out of train stations. This is unique to China to make sure that people can get out of the stations, and can get into the stations as well. The system is designed not to let people in too early to block others who might need to get in. Chinese do have the expertise to manage and do crowd control during peak weeks of the transportation infrastructure.
Rushing to get in and out - Going in to a music hall with assigned seating or on a upscale train, people still jostle. There is no real reason to get ahead. People are unconsciously insecure, and want to be ahead of everything habitually. One Tsinghua professor I knew told me of this analogy: When you are hungry for too long, you cannot stop eating when seeing plenty of good food on the table. It is probably a transitional phenomenon from a resource-poor economy to a plenty-for-all economy.

English with a Chinese characteristic - 005

2008-07-08T04:45:00.001-07:00

English with a Chinese characteristic - 005
This is the "005" installment of this series.

This one is dedicated to the pronunciation difficulties experienced by many Chinese software professionals I am personally acquainted with.

From my old American housemate Dave in the 1970's, "If you cannot hear the difference, you cannot say it correctly." Find a native speaker or someone with good command of spoken English to work with you on the following examples. Listen very hard for the differences and then try to pronounce them so that you can reflect the differences you heard.

[Long vowels]
Try these pairs: Keith and kiss, feast and fist.
[R versus L]
Try these pairs: liver and river, world and word, war and wall.
[Th versus S]
Try these pairs: face and faith, think and sink.
[Missing counterpart; there is no v sound in Chinese]
Try these: very and vibrate.

Unlearn these pronunciations that are due to the Pin-yin imprints. Pin-yin is the most common standard for representing Standard Mandarin in the Latin alphabet. The correspondence between letter and sound does not follow any single other language such as English. Many Chinese have to anglicize the Pin-yin alphabet in their early learning to pronounce words accurately in the English language.
For example: c as in cang and cong, q in qing and que, x as in xiang and xue, r as in ren and rang.

I found that the college-educated group manages well the different pronunciations in English and in the Chinese Pin-yin.

Top Five Impressions of My Datong, Shanxi Trip

2008-07-01T03:45:00.000-07:00

I took a night hard sleeper to Datong, Shanxi, Thursday, May 29. The hard sleeper train is basically a crowded 3-level bunker bed as opposed to the 2-level more spacious soft sleeper. It was my first time ever on this hard sleeper, and I learned to appreciate the comfort (and the privacy) the soft sleeper offers. Everything is relative. ;-) See the picture of the hard seat train I took to come back Saturday afternoon.

This was KS group's extended team building event at work, and I was quite happy to go with the group. Interacting with the energetic and talented engineers has always been rewarding to my work at Sun's Engineering and Research Institute.

I picked out 7 pictures to go with my top 5 impressions.

[Yungang Grottoes]

This was the first rock-cut architecture site I ever visited. Seeing it is definitely different from seeing them in the pictures and books. This Yungang Grottos has about 1500 years of history and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. This grotto site was started by the Northern Wei dynasty, ruled by the proto-mongolic tribe called Tuoba. This ethnic group was completely disintegrated and became part of the modern-day Chinese.

This buddha picture on the left is often the picture used for the Yungang Grottos in many post cards and books. The large and small statues in the other picture are quite clever. The small statue actually served as a support piece for the hand of the large statue; without it the hand would be unable to stay in the air.

I have never before visited any grotto in China. I had the impression that access to any of these sites was difficult. I was proved completely wrong as I walked up easily to the grottos. It sort of makes sense, since those early devout religious people and artisans need to access them to do their carvings and worship.

[Hanging Temple]
Built more than 1400 years ago, this temple is unique not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it includes Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements.

People believe that an ice-based scaffolding was built in winter from the frozen river up, and main treated wooden beams were inserted or wedged into the cliff side. Craftsmen could then work on the rows on beams as a platform when ice melted. Next winter the whole cycle would start over again. The original theory of construction, that ropes from the ridge of the cliff down and into the cliff wall, has been deemed impractical. The latest conjecture on how it was built can be applied to many other similar sheer precipice constructions.

There was an access path that the visitors can take to reach the temple. The passage way inside the temple was quite narrow, and we followed the one-way sign to avoid traffic congestion.

The view from the top was quite awesome, as you can see in this picture on the left. I believe that it would take those monks some time to get used to living up there.

[Hard Seat Train Ride]

It was my first time to take this greenish train. I had an assigned seat. The seating was partitioned asymmetrically by a walkway, with 6 people on one side and 4 on the other side in two rows. There were two small tables between the rows. We played the Chinese version of the "Hearts" (Black Lady) for the most part to kill time. The Chinese name for this is "Egging on the Pig," and the Pig is the "Black Spade Queen." This card has -100 points in the game; the players usually try to get others to take this negative card early.

The trip was a long 6-hour ride and I learned to appreciate the opportunity to lie down on a hard sleeper train. Don't let the good experience of soft sleeper spoil you! Incidentally, I have ridden enough times on the Chinese railways and have seen so many people using this system to move about day and night. The Chinese probably have the most experience in the world in managing large-scale mass transportation systems that move people and goods by railroads.

[Chinese Signage]
Look at this translation "Please Cherish Followers and Trees." This is meant to be "Please Protect Flowers and Trees." There are many translated signs that make you shake your head. This one is not that bad, just incorrect. If you wish to see how hilarious English translations can be, visit the following URL English signage web site. There is a Specially in Chinasection on this web site.

The situation of poorly translated signs is much better in Beijing and other first-tier cities; it gets worse as you move out to the countryside. What's needed is a simple process to allow skilled groups or volunteer organizations to proofread the signs.

[Mao is among the gods]
Seeing what's available on the souvenir stalls always tells me something. This picture showed that Chairman Mao has been elevated to the status of deity. Not only he is historically an important man of his era, his legacy and influence have turned him into a class to be remembered and sometimes to be worshiped.

Women in Modern-Day Chinese Society

2008-06-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

Women in Modern-Day Chinese Society

[Preface]

This is my Toastmaster Communication Program number 9 speech (Persuade with Power) at the SpeakerEasy@SunBeijing club.

[Text]

[prop: Show campaign material "Hillary Clinton for President: Unleashing American Innovation" mailed to my Campbell, California home.]

Dear fellow Toastmasters and guests, I answered questions a few times from friends here discussing the possibility of Hillary Clinton becoming the President of the United States. After addressing the questions, I often turned around and asked about the possibility of a woman President for China, and when that might be? Each time, I got a blank face without any conviction of that possibility in the foreseeable future. This leads to my topic today "Women in Modern-Day Chinese Society."

How many of you went to see the 2008 Beijing Auto Expo? Many told me that it is a show where you can see many beautiful women showing off their flesh. I can close my eyes and imagine the feeding frenzy of those eyeballs. This situation is really pathetic to me. We have bad TV influences and serious stereotyping of women in China. Women are seen as beautiful and subservient objects.

Now let us look at where women have their influences in the modern Chinese society. According to the statistics in Women in Politics 2007, the National People's Congress in China has about 20% women out of the 3000 or so members. This percentage is actually higher than the 16% in the United States Congress. Do women in China really have this sort of influence? I have serious reservations.

Another statistic might reflect better the reality for us. According to an article at the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party's 17th Party Congress in South China Morning Post October 22, 2007, there are 13 women in the Central Committee among the 204 full members this year, compared with five among the 198 full members in 2002. In five years, we moved from 2.5 percent to 6.5 percent in women representation. Is this progress fast enough?

What should be a reasonable goal for changing this situation? Women should not be just the decoration of our society, and women should not be just beautiful objects appreciated by men and by the society as a whole. Something has to change.

We should not aim to switch roles, but to expand the role of women in general. The participation of women does not mean the replacement of men. Women should not be content at being patronized, for example, getting an extra day of vacation every year. What we want is equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work.

What is the downside if we don't get engaged? Remember that half of the people's power comes from women. We'll lose half of the collective power and wisdom, and it is a huge loss. Besides, there cannot be a harmonious society when our women cannot develop fully and have their aspirations fulfilled, especially when they see women in other societies participate in all aspects of the social, economical and political processes.

What can you do to lead the changes? First, get women educated, and make sure that little girls get the same opportunities to get educated as their counterparts. Second, be a pioneer in engineering, medicine, management, politics and all other walks of life. Third, lend mutual support to women in need. Speak out in appropriate venues and be a role model. Lastly, boycott activities and events that further the stereotyping of women such as the 2008 Beijing Auto Expo.

You must have a woman close to your heart, your sister, your daughter, or your mother. They all deserve the same opportunity to fulfill their dreams and aspirations. They should become full partners in our society. What should we all, women and men, do? Get women educated, participate, offer support, speak out, and lead the changes.

Bring Your Own Chopsticks! Save Our Forest!

2008-05-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

Bring Your Own Chopsticks! Save Our Forest!

2008 Worldwide Volunteer Week
Sun Microsystems Beijing Engineering Research Institute

On May 8, 2008, ten volunteers from Sun China Engineering Research Institute together with two helpers from Greenpeace China held an activity named "Bring Your Own Chopsticks! Save Our Forest!" In China, there are a lot of restaurants that provide disposable chopsticks to customers. We have to cut down many trees to make disposable chopsticks. We need to protect our forest and our environment. We need to persuade restaurants that provide people with disposable chopsticks not to do that. We need to encourage people to refuse to use the disposable chopsticks. Bring Your Own Chopsticks! Save Our Forest!

In this event, our venue was the biggest cafeteria in the office building complex where Sun employees work. It is relevant to our campaign. During the 3-hour event, about 2000 people came to lunch and had to walk by our booth and bench. They could see the Sun logo and banner on the wall and Greenpeace banner surrounding the bench.

We successfully attracted more than 600 people to stop by and listen to what we had to say. We got 350 stickers/signatures promising not to use the disposable chopsticks in the future.

A Finnish TV station heard about and came to this event. Our Sun employee Paul Lee took part of their interview explaining the activity and also explaining Sun's worldwide volunteer week. All volunteers worked enthusiastically with the crowd to bring the environmental awareness into focus, and to encourage them to take actions to protect our forest.

We feel proud to be involved and proud to be Sun employees leading this effort in China.

[N.B.]
I wrote this report together with my good friend Jian Li who took the initiative to start this project a month ago. It is an opportunity to join him and to promulgate this idea and initiative. I treasure this association with him very much since it is precious for me to see this effort in the fast-moving Chinese society. With his permission, I included this in my blog.

Top 5 Impressions of my Nagoya Trip

2008-05-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

I flew to Nagoya, Japan, Friday May 2 to meet and join a Taiwan tour group there. I waited for 3 hours and in the meantime, I took a tour of the sky deck and ordered a simple Japanese lunch with awkward pointing, hand gestures, and broken Japanese. It was my first trip to Japan. It was a bit weird since the trip was not to Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto. I started to have my first impressions of Japan from the mountainous region of Japan near Nagoya. It was a not-so-rushed trip that ended with a good hot springs overnight stay. I picked out 5 pictures to go with my top 5 impressions. These days I have blogging in mind when I take pictures ;-). The tour ended late Tuesday May 6, so I stayed at a Comfort Inn next to the airport to catch an Air China flight back the next day.

[Left-Sided Society]
People walk on the left side and pass from the right. I noticed this first in the airport. This tendency became quite noticeable later. Here is the tour bus I rode in for this trip. You boarded from the left and the driver sat on the right. I was on the right side of the bus, and watching cars and buses whizzing by from the right took a day to get used to. I still walked on the wrong side of the street towards the end of the trip.

[Japanese Bicycles]
There are certainly not as many bicycles as compared to China. But there are some and they are truly used for transportation, not limited to mostly sports in the States.
The bicycles are quite sturdy in construction and relative well maintained. The most nostalgic part for me is the small headlamp next to the front wheel, which you can flip to clip on the tire, and power it while you are propelling yourself in the evening. I don't see these too often nowadays in the US or in China.

[Bring Your Own Trash Home]
I am favorably impressed with the cleanness of the places I went - service plazas along the highway, city streets, national parks, and country train stations, to name just a few. Things are orderly and people are genuinely courteous. I bought a few apples as I usually do in all my trips for added vegetable and fruit regiments. A good-sized sweet crunchy apple cost me about $1 each. I had to absorb my own sticker shock.
I skipped a small banana, which cost about $1.50. I would get my potassium later in Beijing, I thought.
At one point in a national park in the mountains, I was annoyed at not easily finding garbage cans. And then I realized that it is a recommended practice to take your trash home, as witnessed by this information/guide near the park entrance. I suppose this is the ultimate goal to deal with trash generated by the tourists. I am impressed. Obviously this works for the most part, since the surrounding is fairly clean. I took mine to the hotel for disposals.

[Wedding Chapel for Rent]
I guess that the wedding business is also big in Japan. In Beijing, you see package deals for newlywed photos in the shopping malls, and you wonder how young people can afford to do all this without going broke.
In this wedding chapel that is built next to the hotel where I stayed, there is a very small area for the worship crowd, just enough for picture-taking. I suppose that in Japan, you don't need to go to the real church to find a time slot if you wish to have a "Western-style" ceremony included. This could be a profitable business idea in China. Call a priest-like justice of the peace to witness your wedding in this hotel-owned chapel next time you are thinking about getting married.
[High-Tech Toilet]
What's in a toilet, you think? As long as it is functional and clean, I would not ask for more. Four out of the five hotels I stayed in had the kind of "warmer/shower toilet" shown here. You can program it to warm your butt ;-), and it can do two forms of water squirting (shower and bidet) at your convenience. I had to play with both to figure out the difference, since words and pictures are only clues for me. So, where are we going with the advanced toilets?

Who We Are and What We Are

2008-04-23T02:24:00.000-07:00

Who We Are and What We Are

[Preface]

This is my Toastmaster communication program No. 10 speech (inspire your audience) at the SpeakerEasy@SunBeijing club. I include this in my blog because I feel that the materialistic pressure is so high around me, and I have to cry out loud to help my inner self to get some fresh air. "What We Are" is so overwhelming in Beijing and other parts of China. The air is so stifling and we need badly the prophetic voices to develop the spiritual side of ourselves in modern-day China.

[Opening]

I would like to start my speech with an anecdote. About a year ago, I was meeting my wife outside of the Chinese Customs in the Beijing airport. She must have flown on a Boeing Jumbo 747, because there were many people coming out. While I was waiting, I saw the United Airlines flight attendants coming out. To my surprise, the guy next to me spoke to his friend this way, "See those ugly and old flight attendants? United Airlines sends the worst crew to China." It was unsettling to me, and I had to mumble a few words to him to the effect that United Airlines cannot let people go simply because they get old. This leads to my talk today about "Who We Are and What We Are".

[Body]
*We are not created equal*

We are all different and we are all gifted differently. Don't fool ourselves that we are equal. We are *NOT* created equal. What we might provide is equal opportunity to all. To the disadvantaged, we make sure that we give them fair chances to compete and survive. Sometimes, we even need to make special efforts to accommodate groups that need help. To the stronger and more gifted, practice modesty and humility, be kind and be gentle. This defines civilization to me. Thus, to me, what we are is not something we judge ourselves. Who we are is what I use to judge ourselves.

*Who we are*

The very pride and dignity of each individual is derived from our attitude and from being who we are. It is not the work we do. The work we do neither makes us worth more, nor makes us worth less. The beauty and worth of each of us is within us, and it is how we strive to be a better person in the family, community, and society. We compare ourselves against who we were yesterday. Are we making good use of our gift to be a better person in the many hats we wear such as a student, a parent, or an engineer? We should be conscientious of the fact that we respect effort and we pay less attention to the result.

*Toward others*

We should not judge others based on age, physical characteristics, nor gender. We should not patronize and protect for the sake of protection; instead, we should instill self-confidence and pride in others. For others to respect us, we must respect others first. Have faith in human nature and its potential. Make sure that we share the bright side of our human nature, not the dark side of ourselves.

*Toward oneself*

Our work is sacred. We should not feel lowly because of our work or social status. As a matter of fact, I heard my favorite reading again a few months ago. "If anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat," from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians in the New Testament. Working with your hands, head, and sweat is always something to be respected. Our respect for others, our effort, our integrity, and our responsibilities define who we are.

[Closing]

In closing, I suggest that we strip off and ignore gadgets and properties that make us feel good and proud. Forget about the titles we might have. Look deep inside ourselves. Are we genuine, true to ourselves, kind to others? Although we might not be gifted at all things we wish to be good at, do we have the persistence, coolness, and open-mindedness to face the world one day at a time? Be proud of who we are, don't get confused by what we are. And never get bothered by what we are not. We are all beautiful and truthful inside. Make sure that we nurture that every day.
Next time when you see the United Airlines flight attendants, don't write them off so quickly. Think how they show you the safety regulations and how to use the oxygen mask. Think that they serve you drinks and meals. They work with their hands and pride, and they are decent individuals who deserve their paychecks just like we do. Never judge them again by their outward appearances, especially their age. They are not beautiful and subservient objects for us to fantasize about. Shame on you if you still think that way.

[EOF]

Non-profit Organizations to Unleash People Power

2008-04-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

I talked about my flying hobby and wanted to come back to look at the non-profit organizations in the context of Chinese modernization.

The best equivalent of the non-profit in China is the non-government organization (NGO). In China, the government seems to be the criterion to delineate everything. And in the US, the 'profit' seems to be the criterion ;-).

In China, it is quite cumbersome to start an NGO entity. It is like starting a new enterprise needing big money and structure. Government leaders and the elites cannot quite trust that people can manage themselves and innovate in the collective sense. In a way, this is true. It is a difficult thing to trust people if they are never educated and trained to conduct themselves independently. To work with others and to be governed by rules and laws takes practice and takes time.

As parents, we cannot prohibit babies from walking for fear that they'll fall. We have to let them try and fall and hurt themselves at times. This is the only way they'll learn to stand up and walk by themselves. A parent watches on the side to help them and comfort them, and sometimes teach and discipline them as the circumstances may call for. It is in faith that we believe that we shall not be in a vicious cycle and that our children can never succeed to stand up on their own.

I read one quote from an interview with someone who went through the Cultural Revolution in the 70's. The man said that the net effect of the Cultural Revolution is that no one can longer trust anybody anymore. It was food for thought. If that's true, this was a deeply wounded people and nation. Fortunately, younger generations grow up and have a chance to shake off that burden and gain confidence and trust again in personal relationships. They will be able to build up a new community. The collective power can then be unleashed to serve the common good of mankind.

The line between personal freedom and complete chaos in the society is self-rule, respect, and awareness of the common good. The law and regulations are there to guarantee order and fairness. The lawmakers and the enforcers of the laws cannot be the same entity for obvious reasons; when necessary, the interpreters of the laws interpret and they have to be completely independent of the aforementioned entities.

Similar to many titles in the computer trade books, one day I would really like to see the book and the action entitled "People Power Unleashed" in China.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 001

2008-04-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

I was in Los Angeles for a business meeting this past March. The three-day meetings tested my endurance and adjustment to jet lag.

Since I had to ask to my non-native English-speaking colleagues from time to time for the subtle meanings of the word/phrase usages, I jotted down some of them to share with those who might be interested. It works best if you can find a native speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

Put those projects in your list on the parking lot for now. [Put them on hold to wait and see.]
That's skunk work to me. [That's labor-intensive work and is not too rewarding.]
We are going to fiddle with the schedule in real time. [We are going to do the adjustment for the schedule on the fly.]
Are you ready for prime time? [Are you ready for the real presentation?]
Now, I see a perfect storm developing in that project. [The project is going to see lots of troubles soon.]
Other than a few expected speed bumps we'll hit, this project should be easy to execute. [We expect to run into a few obstacles here and there in the normal course of execution; it will slow us down a bit when that happens.]
If you two don't talk right away, I see a train wreck in the horizon. [A train wreck is a big disaster.]
They are throwing a curve ball to us. [A curve ball in baseball jargon is a ball with unpredictable direction and speed.]
Let's reconvene at 10 of. [Let's meet again 10 to 3 o'clock. We assume that now is 2:50 p.m. and at times people use the minus scheme to align with the hour.]
We'll have to see when this new initiative gains traction. [We have to see when this new initiative gets accepted and gets visibility.]

2008 Chinese New Year in Nanjing and Shanghai

2008-04-02T23:51:00.000-07:00

Republic of China's Presidential Palace in Nanjing. This political reality is still there in Taiwan although many things have changed and evolved. People with a Taiwanese background should visit this interesting place. Nanjing was the capital of the Republic of China and this is why the Father of the Republic, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, was buried in Nanjing.

Nanjing's entrance gate to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's mausoleum. I really liked the unassuming sacrificial hall and the marble coffin.

One of the entrance gates for the Ming Dynasty Emperor's tomb in Nanjing. The first Ming emperor was buried here. The capital was later moved to Beijing.

Nanjing's QinHuai River night scene. This is a beautiful place, but a little bit too commercialized.

Nanjing's old city wall. It is the longest in China as far as city walls go; only a small portion remains today.

Nanjing's to-be-torn-down sign. The most eminent sign in the rapid modernization of China today. Talk about central planning here!

Shanghai's neighboring town ZhuJiaJiao's old post office. It is one of the first post offices, established about 100 years ago.

Shanghai's Nanjing East Road is a pedestrian-only street now. People enjoy shopping and strolling in the relaxed ambiance.

This guy was playing saxophone from the third floor for the street audiences. He was good at playing the popular oldies.

2008 Chinese New Year in Beijing

2008-03-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

Riding and pushing (with two iron sticks) along the so-called ice-car in Beijing University's campus lake (Yet-to-be-named Lake).

Skiing in Beijing? Yes, but most of the snow is man-made during the night. The slope was not too bad for us intermediate skiers.

Riding the sedan chair (palanquin) the old-fashioned way. Normally only wealthy folks or officials ride this. The bride gets to ride on this on her wedding day as well.

Amazing sea of people on the first day of the Chinese New Year at the Temple of Earth in Beijing for the "Temple Fair". We went at 9 a.m. and it was not as crowded. The picture was taken around noon. We spent about 3 hours there walking about and the nostalgic feeling of the old days was great.

Standing on the lake of the Summer Palace, only in winter though. With our toys and paper/plastic flying fish on hand we bought from the temple fair in the morning.

Summer Palace in winter time. See the people on the iced-up lake?

Basics of Flight and Flying in the US

2008-03-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

In my Toastmaster project #8 speech "Get comfortable with visual aids," I decided to try to explain the basics of flight to non-flyers. You can find the "Basics of Flight" presentation in PDF format by click the link. I would like to acknowledge that I found the materials I used for the the GIF files, on the Internet. I cannot name specifically any person or organization since I do not have a record of it now. You can search on "Basics Flight" and you might be able to see some of the GIF files I used in the presentation.

Flying has been my hobby for more than 20 years, since my Berkeley office mate took me to the UC Berkeley flying club based at the Oakland airport in the early 80's. I am instrument-rated and have about 600 hours of logged time. See this picture of a Cessna 172 parked in front of the Squadron 2 Flying Club at the RHV (Reid Hillview airport) in San Jose, California.

Flying gives me a real sense of freedom, and viewing the city from being able to fly as a common citizen is unthinkable to my colleagues in Beijing.

Years ago, I took my 8-year-old nephew on a flight. On our flight to North Philadelphia airport from Morristown, New Jersey, I let him handle the yoke, gently going up and down and turning left and right when we had really smooth air.

I told him that the airspace belonged to us commoners, that is, the people, and that the military is just carving out certain pieces in the name of national defense. As long as they don't overdo it, I don't mind. My sister told me not to give such liberal thoughts to my nephew's young mind, as they were living in Taiwan at the time. Very often, I called in to the military airfields for permission to fly over to save time, and I don't remember that I ever got turned down once. It tickles me still that I could do it as simply as that.

I recall one report from the English CCTV program a year ago that showed some Chinese farmer who had assembled his kit plane in the countryside and was the test pilot himself. It was amazing to me. I found the farmer not only talented but definitely courageous. However, the CCTV reporting had a different angle looking at this news, saying that this daring individual had violated some laws. It was not clear exactly what law this farmer violated, since the concept of general aviation and the regulation of airspace are just too new here. I would bet that the Wright brothers would never have had a chance here to do their first powered flight and to open up a new era in human history.

Government and society should guide this positive energy to innovate, and to create new and better things for mankind as a whole. Flying is not rare in the US, but not that common due to the perceived risks in learning to fly and operate an airplane. The last statistic that I remember is that there are about three quarters of a million private pilots registered in the United States. This is about 0.3 percent of the general population. Many pilots belong to this non-profit organization AOPA (Aircraft owners and pilots association).

I like to talk more about non-profit organizations in another posting in the context of modernization of China.

English with a Chinese characteristic - 004

2008-01-11T02:13:00.000-08:00

English with a Chinese characteristic - 004
This is the "004" installment of this series.

Grammatical Errors

Odd Phrase Usage
Difficult Pronunciation

Choice of Words
Easily Mixed-Up Words

Catholic churches in Beijing

2007-12-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'll cover the most visited Catholic churches in Beijing and include their information at the end this blog entry. I have a PDF version for this one-page information sheet, which you can download from this location.

First of all, you can clearly feel the Marian influences in the design of the chancel for all five churches, especially the center fresco behind the alter.

Long Chinese scrolls and couplets are used for the decorations. All the churches all have a long nave and a chancel with transept.

Something the churches have in common these days is renovation work of various kinds, including a much needed overhaul in all the restroom facilities, for the upcoming Olympics in 2008.

Other than the on-going Sino-Vatican relationship problem, I see that the Chinese Catholic Church faces a serious pastoral challenge in serving the fast-changing demographics. No new churches exist near where I live at the corner of the Tsinghua University. This HaiDian district changed from farm land to many high rises in the last 20 years. People have to travel 1 hour to get to all these old churches, with exception of the West Church. It takes 40 minutes to get to West Church. New churches are needed in the outskirts (3rd, 4th, 5th Ring Road) of Beijing. Except for the West Church, which is on the 3rd ring road, all others are along or inside the 2nd ring road. This infrastructure is for the needs of 1950's. Land is a scarce resource in Beijing now, and it is difficult to build new churches to meet the needs of the faithful, even assuming that the civil authorities are cooperating.

Now, let's look at the five churches and their pictures.

[East Church]
This church is situated on a beautiful plaza and is in the middle of the most affluent shopping district, WangFuJing, in Beijing.

[North Church]
The liturgy of this church is quite vibrant. This is the only one that is not close to any subway station, and thus is less accessible. It is at the bend of a long alleyway, and it is not easy to find. You have to get help or show the taxi driver the Chinese address in order to get there.

[West Church]

This church needed the most attention in terms of renovation when I visited in 2006. And lo and behold, this one is being rebuilt now as we speak. I was told that this would be a beautiful church when it is done, with liturgical design help and financial support from churches in Hong Kong and other places.

I did not take a picture in 2006 and now can only offer a wall inside the construction site, which has the design that would be repeated for the interior of the new church.

[South Church]
The parishioners also refer to this as the South Cathedral since the it is the seat of the Beijing Diocese.

There is a huge, vibrant international community that draws English-speaking and French-speaking worshipers. The faithful come from Southeastern Asian countries and from as far away as Africa. This church draws curious non-Catholics to see English services.

The Sunday readings are available from the following two URLs: English readings and French readings.

[St. Michael's Church]
This church is situated in the old (Qing Dynasty) diplomatic district and it is not too well-known these days. This is a secret hideout for me to attend mass. I like its schedule on 6 p.m. Sunday. This church was my favorite for some time.

(If you have trouble reading the Chinese characters, try to "View" this page with encodings such as Windows-1252, Simplified Chinese GB18030, and Simplified Chinese GB2312.)
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	北京天主教堂		Catholic Churches in Beijing
	Last Update: November 30, 2007
南堂	北京宣武门前门西大街 114 号			North 39.53.951 East 116.22.162
South Church	141 Qianmen XiDaJie, XuanWuMen, Beijing 100031
(Nan Tang)	(10) 6602-6538
	Monday to Friday Masses
		6:00 am (Latin), 6:30 am (Chinese), 7:15 am (Chinese)
	Saturday Mass: 6:30 pm (Chinese)
	Sunday Masses: 6:00 am (Latin), 7:00 am (Chinese), 8:30 am (Chinese),
		10:00 am (English), 4:00 pm (English)
	Bus 47, or Subway XuanWuMen (宣武门) stop, Exit B

北堂	北京西城区西什库大街 33 号			North 39.55.421 East 116.22.353
North Church	33 XiShiKu DaJie, XiCheng Qu, Beijing
(Bei Tang)	(10) 6617-5198
	Monday to Saturday Masses
		6:00 am, 7:00 am
	Sunday Masses: 6:00 am, 7:00 am, 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 6:00 pm
	Bus 690 GangWaShi (缸瓦市）stop, walk 10 minutes

东堂	北京王府井天主教堂 74号			North 39.54.950 East 116.24.340
East Church	74 TianZhuJiaoTang, WangFuJing, Beijing
(Dong Tang)	(10) 6524-0634
	Monday to Saturday Masses
		6:00 am (Chinese), 7:00 am (Chinese)
	Sunday Masses
		6:00 am (Latin), 7:00 am (Chinese), 8:00 am (Chinese)
	Subway WangFuJing（王府井）stop, walk 10 minutes

西堂	北京西城区西直门内大街 130 号
West Church	130 XiZhiMen NeiDaJie, XiCheng Qu, Beijing
(Xi Tang)	(10) 6615-6619
	Monday to Thursday Mass: 6:30 am, Friday Mass: 6:30 pm
	Saturday Masses: 7:00 am, 6:30 pm
	Sunday Mass: 8:00 am
	Bus 690 JiShuiTan Bridge South(积水谭桥南）stop, walk 10 minutes
	Subway XiZhiMen (西直门）stop, walk 15 minutes

东交民巷堂	(Dong Jiao Min Xiang Tang)
St. Michael's Church		北京东城区东交民巷甲13 号
	13-A DongJiaoMinXiang, DongCheng Qu, Beijing
	(10) 6513-5170
	Monday to Saturday Masses: 6:30 am, 7:00 am
	Sunday Masses: 7:00 am, 8:00 am, 6:00 pm
	Subway ChongWunMen (崇文门）stop, walk 15 minutes

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English with a Chinese characteristic - 003

2007-12-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

English with a Chinese characteristic - 003

This is the "003" installment of this series. (see http://blogs.sun.com/tpaullee/ for earlier installments)

Grammatical Errors

Odd Phrase Usage
Difficult Pronunciation

Choice of Words
Easily Mixed-Up Words