Hong Kong and Baijiu

Hong Kong was a blast. My team pictured below did very well for itself. We finished the weekend 2-3, but had 5 very good games. We finished day one with 2 wins and 1 loss, and our loss was by only 1 point.

Our two team pictures below (from Tina's camera) are awesome, and very Chinese. In this one, you'll see the classic "Chinese Family Photo" picture. No smiling whatsoever, very serious.

And here is the "double-peace-sign" photo. Chinese tourists almost invariably flash this whenever getting their picture taken. Fantastic.

The party at the tournament was, as usual, a costume party. Big Brother dressed up like, well, see for yourself. Tao's Optimus Prime costume obviously won first prize that night, and this photo (tao's camera) is priceless. Nonchalant subway ride through downtown Hong Kong, nothing to see here.

There's only so long you can keep a straight face.

Speaking of Tao, he has an unnatural obsession with baijiu, an awful Chinese liquor. It's pretty common for Chinese to polish off a full bottle with dinner. The real danger with this stuff is it's so cheap. A bottle normally goes for less than a dollar. Personally, i hate the crap. I imagine it's just a little worse than paint thinner. Here i am staring straight into the eye of evil.

And another random pajama party shot from Tao.

~Kev

Where were you?

I was in Shanghai at a VERY important work meeting between USG and my former employer, Trimble, on the future of our main product line. About 10 of us in a conference room, i was delivering presentations about Min/Max inventory planning, purchasing kits instead of raw components, and vendor managed inventoy. I was on my A game. I went back to my computer for something and caught the news. I completely broke my train of thought and announced to the group, "WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT!" Don't bother getting me any christmas presents this year, i've got everything i need.

~Kev

Update: I've never seen anything like this as a result of Politics. This much positive energy is inspiring. Don't people usually march when they are pissed?

P.S. Rachel says she won't read my blog unless i make it all about her. Here's shout out #2

National Theater and Forbidden City

One night about a month ago, I went out after work to see some sights at night. Beijing by night is amazing, particularly around the Olympics when everything is lit up. Here are a few sweet pictures that i just forgot i had.

So this is the National Theater. It's completely surrounded by water, no walkway or bridge of any kind. The entrance is underground. Pretty sweet bit of architecture. Reminds me of a Hershey's Kiss from multiple angles.

Here's a shot of the entrance to the forbidden city. And a guard.

And this is a long stretch of pleasantly illuminated wall outside of the forbidden city. It was actually really dark, but a long exposure and holding really still yielded a cool shot.

~Kev