Spend enough time in Asia and USA, it won't be hard for anyone to notice the not so subtle differences between the East and the West. Surely the languages are drastically different, and so are the cultures, those are given and you don't need me to point them out for you. What interests me the most are those concepts that seem so as-matter-of-fact on one side of the globe but completely distinct on the other the other side. Being born and spend my early childhood in China, but raised in USA, I can see the logic and understand the reasonings behind the way things are handled on the two continent, I can relate, and that's what makes it really interesting...

Flight Attendants
America was the first country to commercialize the art of flying, back in the early last century, when boarding an airplane was still a privilege reserved for the rich and famous, you can light up a cigar inflight and do summersaults in the cabinet, the flying experience was complemented by flight attendants (it was called "couriers" back then) tailor to your every needs.

Those days are long gone, fast forward to 2000's, the matured US airline industry is plagued by bankruptcies and union labors. United, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, American... fly any US airline, you will be greeted by mid/overaged, often over-weight flight attendants who dread make eye contacts with the passengers, they are equipped with frosty faces that would put Stone Cold Austin in shame; inflight meals means catching the bags of pretzels or rock hard cold sandwich the flight attendant hurled at you. After that obligatory duty, you will be lucky to see them again for the rest of the fight. In recent years, the US airlines have been raising ticket prices to adjust for the increasing fuel costs, well, I would suggest the US airlines to force their flight attendants to join a health club to trim their shapes, flying around those extra 20-30 lbs, each, is seriously expensive for the passengers!

In contrast, the Asia airlines, no matter which, ANA, JAL, Eva, China Airline, China Eastern Airline, Singapore Air... you will be greeted by early 20's well in-shape flight attendants in clean contour-fitting uniforms. These professionals put on their best smiles, looks you in the eye, and direct you to your seat. To accommodate the international travelers, the crew will use at least two different languages (English is always used) for the PA announcements, even on Asian domestic flights!! For areas that has diverse population, the crew sometime uses up to four different languages (ex: TW-HK flights) for announcements, well, it was kind of long and annoying to have the same message repeated four times, but it keeps everyone well informed. If you ever fly the business/first, some of these Asian airline's flight attendants would even lower themselves in half kneeling position when spoken to, so you as the passenger won't have to strain yourself looking up to communicate! Now, regarding to the inflight meal, even for the short two hours domestic flights, the Asian airlines would serve you hot food: fried rice, noodles, stir-fries or tasty sandwiches, and sometimes even provides real metal knife and forks!! That's something I haven't seen on board any US airline since that dreadful 9/11. I understand that's a security measure, but com'on! I can't image anyone hijacking a plane with a dull inflight dinner knife.

Having friends who are flight attendants for the China Eastern Airline, I was able to learn the insights of their lives. They first had to pass height, look and age requirements, then go thru two years worth of professional training before they can call themselves flight attendants. Even after they starts working, quiz and examinations are frequently done to measure their continuing professional capabilities. I recently watched a Japanese TV series called "Attention Please!" that depicted a young girl's experience as she transformed herself from a hip, causal rock band singer to a well mannered, professional flight attendants for the Japanese ANA airline. Although it is a TV series, and obviously endorsed by ANA, it is still quite interesting to see the level of attention to detail and caring to the passengers stressed by the airline.

Flight attendants, whether it is an important glamorous job or not, that's for you to decide. However, one thing for sure, flight attendants are the face and image of the airline, and the country behind them, why not make that image as rosy as possible??!

China Southern Airline Flight Attendants

Have been on the road again for more than three weeks now, the feeling of homesick is creeping up on my conscience. Although I have been spending a week visiting my hometowns and spending quality time with my close families, it still doesn't replace the absence of the immediate family across the ocean on the other side of the globe.

Traveling alone tends to offer a lot of idle time, on the road, in the plane, finally the mind got the chance to deal with the inner feelings that was otherwise buried by the plethora of information brought on by the busy world outside. Home is a fascinating concept, it can be a run-down hole in the wall in the Projects at a ghetto neighborhood, but nonetheless it bring the warm intimate feeling, it is the place where one belongs, and the place where one can claim his own little piece of heaven. The concept is further enhanced by the family at home, they bring the warmth and intimacy. Home holds a special place in my heart.

Looking forward to go hom, soon....

This is a make-up blog entry. I have been ahem-ahem, ummm... busy lately, just trying to catch up on the events that's worthy of jotting down.

1sweetday.com is the domain name I registered for our wedding web site. I didn't have too many choices with the domain name, partly due to the lack of imagination, and largely due to the fact that all the names I came up with were already registered by others. Many of you who know Vivian and I well are already aware that "7-Eleven" holds special meanings with us, it is the date 7/11/2002 that Vivian and I officially started dating, we even collect match books from various 7-Eleven convenient stores (geeky huh?) as souvenirs; believe it or not, I even attempted to register "7-Eleven" as my custom car license plate, but wasn't available... Well, needless to say, 7-Eleven.com, 7-11.com and even 711.com were all already taken. I wanted our wedding site's name to be easy to remember and meaningful, since we wanted our guests to RSVP via the web site, the domain name also had to be easy to spell, so any domain name that involves my name is out of the question...

Eventually, I picked the name "1sweetday.com", although wedding day are known to be a nerve whacking hectic day, it is also the day that will remain in the newly weds' memories forever, if anything, I want the memory for our biggest day to be filled with joy and sweetness, hence, 1sweetday.

Now since it is already after the fact, we can truly kick back, relax and reflect on that day, which occurred almost six months ago. Looking back, our wedding was perfect, we couldn't have asked for anything more! The weather was impeccable, no one tripped over anything, the food was delicious, the photos were beautiful, the flowers were amazing, every details were well taken cared of, everyone had a good time, and most importantly, Vivian and I truly enjoyed it, it was, indeed -- 1sweetday!



Related:

She Said "Yes"!!

Save the Date
Studio photos

Wedding photos

MUSE is officially the weekend home for the group of us here in Shanghai. MUSE is probably as successful as any club ever wish to be. It commands premium price and nights after nights of packed house. Backed by celebrity investor and experienced shares holding management staff, MUSE enjoys the tier one club status status, keeping its position amongst the countless formidable competitors. It is the place to be for the more financially stable hip partygoers here in Shanghai. It is not unusual to see famous models, professional athletes, actors/actresses, TV hostess, flight attendants, and deep pocket business men there, as the matter of fact, those are the people we party with on regular basis.

The price is not cheap at MUSE, a bottle of Greygoose can set you back 800RMB (~$120), with the minimum spending requirement for a reserved table starts at 3000RMB, this price easily double the fee at other establishments. However, the premium buys you a different type of crowd, mostly well educated, well doing individuals, who often have foreign backgrounds or understands the western culture, and can speaks fluent or passable conversational English. In comparison, the more "local" pubs and clubs are more tailored for the local audience, usually very young aged, they'd plays the Chinese styled hip-pop/techno music, and often time some retarded MC would be on the mic yelling senseless english phrases all night long in attempt to pump up the atmosphere; oh yeah, there are those really "local" clubs that features bouncing dance floors, you will be involuntarily hopping up and down as the springs underneath the floor forces you to "dance", while it is a great assistant for those who have no rhythm, it is very annoying to me as I can't even stand still on those things.

As a second home, we'd often running into other "distant family members" here, we would spend some time at our table, then hop over to other tables to socialize with friends in other groups. I swear there are people here I see everytime I come, it is almost like a high school Homecoming Ball.

So, on the weekends, there is always someone in our group sending out SMS message informing the rest the reserved table number at MUSE. While it is sickening to go to the same place night after night, but somehow, the feeling of second home always bring us back, time after time.