Eurotrash Cleanup – Trois – Antwerp

A mere two and a half hours on a fast train from Amsterdam will get you to the fine city of Antwerp. The city is neither overrun with ants, nor were twerps a problem I encountered. I would have liked to have been here longer, but only had the day, so my experience here is […]

Carnivorous Plants at the Amsterdam Hortus

When I was little… my father was famous. He was the greatest samurai in the empire; and he was the Shogun’s decapitator. He cut off the heads of a hundred and thirty-one lords…no wait…wrong intro. Let me try that again. When I was little I had this borderline unhealthy obsession with carnivorous plants. I was […]

Sunset on Qingdao

My time in Qingdao has come to an end. What wacky new adventures and destinations await? Only an oracle of hobos know*.

*hint: it rhymes with “nada”

Out of Context Italia

I didn’t really get to do any tourist stuff the whole two weeks I was in Italy. Instead I just ate food and stared blankly at rocks. The one day I went to Florence, I didn’t even get to see David, they were too busy washing washing his balls or some such.
I did get […]

Lunar New Years Extravaganza: Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡)

Tiger Leaping Gorge is a World Heritage Site carved into the mountains by the Yangtze River north of Lijiang. Being a WHS, you better recognize it’s worth visiting compared to those anemic “scenic spots” that every county in China has. Many people go on an overnight trek through the trail system, and wind up either […]

Lunar New Year Extravaganza: Lijiang (丽江)

The historic city of Lijiang is one of those places that look so amazing in post cards, no matter how much money you drain on Canon L glass, no matter how well your Photoshop skills can edit Jessica Alba’s head on some porno model’s body, no matter how many grams of mushrooms you eat, you’ll […]

Is that an Altocumulus Castellanus or a Cirrus Kelvin-Hemholtz Colombia?

Back here in China I miss a lot of things. I miss being able to go mountain biking without necessitating the use of a machete and dynamite. I miss being able to eat real hamburgers and not having to deal with the soilent green squeezed out of tubes at McDucks. I miss having my laundry […]

Fun in Fukuoka (福冈)

By now, every human being considering a trip to the PRC knows that the government has thrown the visa situation on lockdown, and as of mid-April acquiring a visa is a massive pain in the ass. I had a few options on doing a run, Seoul, HK, and Fukuoka. I was just in Seoul, I […]

Fun at the Airport

When I first came to China back in the day, I had the pleasure of flying domestically a few times. I was amazed at how quick and efficient the service was, and how the flights left exactly as the time on the ticket was printed. How foolish I was.
I would say that flying in china […]

Thoughts on Korea

• Everyone has satellite tv…in their car…that they watch while driving.
• I was expecting there to be American GI’s prowling the streets mercilessly trying to bag Korean girls, I only saw one guy in uniform ball and chain with a girl.
• Very few western people outside of Seoul. So if you leave that city, better make sure you […]

KOREA: Love Hotels

So I was in the Republic of Korea, recharging my body with enough soju to make it through another Joseon Dynasty. One way of staying there is by staying in what the Koreans call “Motels”. These places are also known as Love Hotels. They have them in Japan but I’ve never seen them in mainland […]

City on Fire

Happy Chinese Korean Lunar Rat Mouse Year (and hit the deck).
I just got back from Korea. I’m not sure which has paralyzed the city more, the half inch of snow on the ground or the mad rush of the holidays.
Last night a fierce competition erupted in the sky of rivaling fireworks. I believe all 7 […]

Qingdao After Sunset I: Hostess Bars

I made a pilgrimage back to Canada to confirm my intuitions that the last of the chocolate chip cookies was indeed gone, and that the Christmas lights were taken down at exactly 11:59PM December 31st, I’ve returned to Qingdao to help the Chinese make up for everyone else’s decreased carbon footprints.
Ok, for those who […]

Taishan (泰山) Chapter 3: Final

Being as my head is already huge, there was no room left for my face to swell up anymore. Quite frankly I didn’t have any aspirations of picking up backwards mountain women during our 6 hour hike up Taishan. I really didn’t care much about the bites, other than they itched like a piece of […]

Beaches and Beyond

Qingdao has many small scenic beaches in the downtown areas that are heavily populated with wankers trying to rent time on jet-skis and para-sails. These beaches do however have nice views and convenient drinking areas, which is always a big plus for me. Despite the fact that you may think I’m a wino, my most […]

Day Trip to Laoshan

Sunday I was invited by my landlord to go see Laoshan Park, which is this large park type tourist trap by the famous Laoshan Mountain about an hour and then some outside of Qingdao. Of course in preparation for the day, I had to get tanked the night before so that I would be in […]

On Top of Qingdao

I was going to write a clever little introduction to this nabe in Shandong, but I’m too busy concocting plans to infiltrate and overrun the government with hello kitty robots. I’ll leave that for a following post, but instead I come bearing these photographs from two different elevated vantage points. Ironically enough these photos […]

Shanghai Beckons

more to come…

Manic Mannequins

Mannequins. You don’t really think so much about them. They play such a subdued role. Most of the time they don’t even have a head. The point is to put the focus on the clothes right? Judging by the trends here on the Mainland, you probably do want to distract people as much as possible […]

Haier; we have the gayest corporate logo on earth

Ladies and gentlemen, it doesn’t get any more gay than this.

I think this one takes the prize.
Greatest of all, it adorns all the old Haier appliances in China. I have a little army of these guys around my apartment. This kinda shit just wouldn’t fly back home.
*update: added more pics and will continue to […]