I was staying at our corporate apartment since I came to Shanghai this time. However, a colleague of mine and his wife came to Shanghai yesterday, so I moved out so they can stay at the apt and have more privacy. I moved in with my ex-Shanghai-roommates.

We were out shopping all day today at XuJiaHui, shortly after we got back to the apartment; the electricity went out due to a blown fuse. No electricity means no hot water, and at -2C degree weather today, I was getting Goosebumps at the thought of taking a cold shower! Out of choice, the three of us: Peter, Whit and me decided to go out to a bath house for shower.

Public showers in China means a high school shower like room with multiple shower heads. Reluctantly, Whit, Peter and I got to see each other butt naked. Very weird, but we managed to get through shower and sauna. Unforgettable, and hope we won’t have to go through it again...

Disaster hit the Southeast Asia at the end of 2004. The largest known earthquake on earth took place deep in the India Sea, and caused Tsunami. Gigantic tidal waves wiped out many beaches not only on Phuket Island, but also in India, Malaysia, and other SE Asia countries.

Vivian and I were planning on visiting Phuket island during this year’s Christmas/New Year vacation. At the last minute, she decided to go to Costa Rica, and I decided to go to Harbin. I guess it was a good decision, otherwise, we’ll either be stranded on Phuket or be dead by now. Someone is watching out for us out there...

Ever since I met Vivian two and half years ago, I have accompanied her on all the trips she have made. Today, she is flying to Costa Rica along with Monica, Danli and Jian for a week long vacation. I couldn't go since I had to come to Shanghai. Costa Rica -- Shanghai, this is probably the furthest apart Vivian and I have ever been with each other.

I am sure the four of them will have a fabulous good time, hope they will be safe, and I look forward to hear my baby's voice over the phone again soon. Bon Voyage!

Shell's friend Amy freaked all of us up when she cracked her head on the mirror covered wall of Guandii last night. She passed out after having just two Gin 'n Tonics, fell head first in to the mirror. We literally threw our drinks down to help her up. Luckily, her head was fine, but the mirror was cracked. We sent her home before she accumlates another 7-years of bad luck.

My friend Lydia (not the Lydia from California, this is the Shanghai Lydia) who works for Estée Lauder invited me today to attend the “Cosmopolitan Beauty Awards 2004” (2004《时尚·Cosmo》年度美容大赛).

No reason to say no at chances to see movie stars close up, I met her and few other friends at the Shanghai's Ritz Carlton. It was an awards ceremony for the best cosmetic products in various genres, and a lot of Chinese movie stars and singers attended. Although I am not familiar with the Chinese movie stars, my friends did a good job filling me in on the stars' bios and gossips. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera that day, and so I "stole" some pictures from other sites, hope they won't sue me. :-) (more pics...)

黄奕

孟广美

彭丹

沈星

杨恭如

ZhiYang pointed out that Blogs were banned in China. Humm... Can't believe the Chinese government's tentacles reached to Blogs also, they have way too much energy, and I don't see how they can really block people from accessing services online, there are always ways to go around it.

For half a day today, I wasn't able to publish anything on to my Blog, and comment postings weren't working neither, I was facing this error code:

001 java.net.UnknownHostException: jiaying.houfamily.com

I thought it was somehow due to the crappy connection I had in Shanghai. However, when Vivian confirmed the same issue from California, I did some searching online. According to BloggerForum.com, many other bloggers out there have been experiencing the same problem. It was good to see that I wasn't alone. Eventually, Blogger.com reported it was a problem on their side, and fixed the problem. Now I am happy blogging again! :-)

难怪最近薇薇跟我闹别扭，嘿嘿，好像满准的！(摘自“上海热线”)

星座专家排行榜：年底最有可能失恋的前三名星座:

第二名：处女座
处女座在年底会由于很多杂音而影响到对感情的判断，外人批评各式各样的声音以及不看好的想法都会影响到处女座的心情，在抵挡不过外界的压力或者是被影响之下，最后处女座就会因此而打退堂鼓。

The Harbin trip has been finalized -- 12/23 to 12/26, and the group of people going is getting bigger and bigger. Whit, Shell, Peter and I first started the idea, and now, Ed, Quoc, Yoko and another friend of Shell's will be joining us as well! Looking forward to it!

Perhaps it was because of the recent breakup with another couple in our close group of friends, or perhaps it was because my return to China brought back bad memories, or perhaps it was just a simple second year itch (if there is such thing), Vivian is going through some uneasiness with our relationship again. Frustrating? Yes, but I understand. Her irritation is due to my “popular-ness” with other girls out there; and my “friendliness” with them, although innocent in nature, only aggravated the issue farther.

I am at fault here to a certain extent. Deep in my heart, there is no one out there for me but Vivian, and I wish the best for the two of us in the future. Sometimes, things are just not what it seems to be, especially when it heard through other people's mouths. Words can be deceiving and observations can be obstructed. I hope Vivian can judge with her own senses, and not be influenced by other factors. I love you bb!

Somewhere above the Pacific Ocean, as I was perusing through my piled up emails, I read the news that No. 2 DJ in the world -- Paul Van Dyk will be performing in Shanghai's club Rojam on 12/11. Perfect timing! I will be able to make it!!

Although my favorite DJ is Tiësto, I do also have an impressive collection of Paul Van Dyke's recordings. I have been to live events featuring Tiësto (San Francisco and ChengDu, China) and Paul Oakenfold (Shanghai), Paul Van Dyk in action definitely sounds exciting.

I went to Rojam last night with many friends: Whit, Quoc, Shell, Pauline, Yoko, June and others; the crowd was mostly foreigners and westernized locals. The steep 160RMB cover charge (expensive by comparison) kept out a lot of locals. There was just the right amount of people, crowded but not packed. Numerous other lesser known DJs spinned before and after Paul Van Dyk's main event, which was scheduled from 1-3am. It was a good time, lot of glow sticks and crazy dancing. During the course of the night, I have met people from Minnesota, Japan, France, Germany, Hong Kong and of course, Shanghai. One of the reasons why I really like Trance music is the sense of the community, at events like this, people are so friendly, everybody seems to enjoy music and respect other people's way of expressing themselves.

Paul was good, and lift the roof with his thump-thumps, but he only performed for two hours, pretty lame comparing to Tiësto's six hours solo performance, which he is known for. At Tiësto's concert, you really get your money worth, and he is always the best DJ on my rating chart. In Tiësto we trust...

Round trip ticket from San Francisco to Shanghai: $698
Having four toddlers/babies crying next to me for 14 hours: Headache
Taxi from the PuDong airport to the apt: 160RMB
Two beers with friends in Shanghai: 100RMB
Seeing old friends again in familiar places: Priceless!

I was literally the last person to check in for the international flight UA857 today. Not a surprise to those who know me well, I hate waiting at the airport, and so I usually wait for the last minute before head to the airport. However, today I really cut it close, I arrived at the airport 50 minutes before the scheduled departure time, by the time I reached the counter, the agent was ending the check in for my flight. Well, I've learnt that a smile can do wonders, and so, here I am, typing up this Blog on board, during my flight to Shanghai!

MaoMao decided to take a walk outside last Sunday. He snuck out of the apt early in the evening when Vivian failed close the front door properly. Vivian and I were worried sick! And we were so relieved when we found him meowing in the nearby bushes the following day. He was obviously hungry and thirsty, but doesn’t appear to be hurt. Fearing of attracting fleas or ticks during his one day escapade, we quarantined him in the bathroom, and gave him a bath before sending him loose in the house. MaoMao’s home coming was welcome by his little brother GuaGua. Instead of punishing him for his little stunt like I’d used to, I couldn’t help but to suffocate him with my hug and feed him treats, I guess over the past three years, MaoMao has become more and more special to me.

I went to pick up my China Visa today at the San Francisco Chinese Embassy. I got there at noon, and the office was closed for two hours for lunch, those government jobs sure are cushy! So, I walked around the nearby Japantown and had some Unagi bento box for lunch.

There have always been protestors outside of the Chinese Embassy, and for recent years, the protestors have mainly been the “FaLunGong” (法轮功) members. Personally, I really think the FaLunGong followers are silly, but I have to give them credit for the great job they have done exercising America’s Bill of Rights, and of course the US government has been gladly using FaLunGong phenomena as ammunition to pick on China's human right issues. Anyways, here are few pictures of the FaLunGong-ers doing their things outside of the Embassy.

We stayed at Reno Atlantis Casino on Saturday night after snowboarding. With no new snows, Jason, Vivian and I decided to skip the snowboarding on Sunday to save our butts for another day.

We didn't have much cash on us and didn't want to turn this in to a full-fledged gambling trip neither. So Pai Gow was the ideal game to play since it is slow and offers good odds. Pai Gow has always been one of my favorite Casino games; however, I would only play Fortune Pai Gow due to the potential fortune payouts.

After breakfast (not sure if Vivian's big bowl of Tiramisu ice cream count as breakfast) on Sunday, we took over a Fortune Pai Gow table near the café. I started out with the $80 change I had in my wallet, and Jason took out the $60 he had. Vivian was never big on gambling, so she sat quietly next to me and watched us gurgled down beers and placed bets. After few push hands, I handed Vivian half of my stash so she can join the game and won't be bored to death. That was the smartest investment I have ever made to date! Vivian was fairly new to the game, and required help on some of the hands, but she shocked the table when she showed us a hand of Royal Flush and asked us what she should do, Jason and I went berserk. The fortune payout for Royal Flush was 150:1, with her $5 fortune bet, it translated into a cool $750 winning for her and $50 for Jason and me with our Envy Bonus! Vivian showed the true profession side of her by calmly collected her winnings. The people surrounding her were actually more excited than she was.

Five minutes later, she showed us another hand of Royal Flush!!! Another $750 in fortune payout it was! Yes My baby!! Incredible! I guess it was a good idea not to go snowboarding.

We went to Squaw Valley to snowboard over the weekend along with a dozen friends. There was no new snow, and the slopes were combed, packed and wasn't butt-friendly. Jason, Kevin and I went from the peak all the way down to the base lodges, around two mils run; it was thrilling, until I wiped out BIG time! I caught the wrong edge of the board, and I went flying, cracked my neck as I land, and thought I was going to be the next Christopher Reeves.

Later, after a yummy hotdog at the base lodge, I mustered up my strength and decided to take on the slopes once more. This time around, once again, my board's edge caught the snow as I was going down a steep descend, fell backwards, and *thump* I planted my butt firmly on the ground. I felt my pancreas, liver, intestines, and the rest of my inner organs all turning and twisting from the shock; the sharp pain from my tailbone mixed with the numb feeling of my butt was unbearable! I laid there on the slope in agonizing pain for at least a minute before even attempt to get myself up while Jason sat nearby by laughing. The worst was the headache that followed, the whiplash effect combined with my earlier tumbles were keeping my head buzzing. I was done for the day. :-(

Breakups are hard to deal with, even if it isn't your own, especially when both parties involved in the breakup are close friends of yours. Well, that's what Vivian, I and many of our close friends are going thru right now. As friends, we can only help out so much, and the rest has to be carried out by him and her themselves. There isn't a "right" way to breakup; we can only hope for less pain and sufferings for them.

Heard a piece of interesting news last night on CNN Headline News. Webster dictionary announced 2004 Words of the Year yesterday, and on the top of the most searched list of words, is... you've guessed it! It was "Blog"!!

New cyber words generating buzz in the old fashion dictionary, love it!

Blog noun [short for Weblog] (1999) : a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer

Looks like we are going snowboarding again this weekend!! Lots of people! Yeeeaaa!