Saturday there is some rugby game being played in HK called, I think, the Bledisloe Cup. Australia vs New Zealand. So lots of people flying in for this, including a friend from Australia, together with 3 of his friends, some of whom were making their first trip to HK. I don’t much care about rugby but it did result in a dinner invitation.

So we went to Hunan Village at Times Square, the Maxim’s outpost I’d visited for the first time a few weeks ago and really enjoyed. If anything it was better this time than last time. In part perhaps because there were six of us (the 4 Aussies, me, my gf) so we could order more dishes. We were all but licking the claypots clean. Prawns, fish, chicken, lamb, crab, xiao long bao, dan dan mian, onion “pancakes”, lots of beer – it worked out to HK$250 per person and well worth it. I’ve got no idea how authentic this place is (I suppose the fact that a Hunan place has xiao long bao and dim sum on the menu may be some sort of clue, and while everything was kind of spicy, nothing was fiery hot) but wow, it was good.

Following dinner, a brief (for me) Wanchai tour was in order. This gave me a chance to ask one of the Neptune managers what he’s hearing about Fenwick. He said he’s heard all sorts of rumors, that they’re closing, that they’re staying, that they’re moving – he doesn’t know for certain.

Woke up early today so I could watch the Daily Show from the other night when Obama was the guest. One of the earlier clips they showed was something apparently real that seems like it should have been from a comedy show. Apparently the McCain campaign has had this “Joe the Plumber” out on the road officially campaigning for them. So there’s this clip of some guy saying that if Obama gets elected, it’s the death of Israel. And Joe the Plumber, standing by a McCain for President banner, saying, “I agree with you.” Something so ludicrous that even a Fox News commentator found himself in the position of defending Obama.

Well, the election is just a few days away. My absentee ballot has gone in already. And I’ll be in NYC on election day, which means Tuesday night at my mom’s watching CNN all night.

And just noticed Hold Steady & Drive-By Truckers are touring together and doing two shows in NYC next week, wonder if tix are still available?

My Canon G7 is rapidly aging. I want to upgrade but have decided I probably won’t go for the Canon G10 because I think I want something smaller.

Right now I’m looking at 3 cameras:

Panasonic TZ5 – which I had before and liked but it was stolen back in May. Advantages – pocket sized, 10X optical zoom (28-280 equivalent), can shoot 720p video. 9 megapixel, 3 inch screen, 1/2.33″ sensor. No RAW, no manual mode. They’ve also now got a TZ50 which adds WiFi but I doubt I would use that much. 8.5 ounces. List price in US $350.

Canon Ixus 880 – 10 megapixel, 3 inch screen, 4x optical zoom (28-112 equivalent), 1/2.3″ sensor, 5.5 ounces. List price in US $300.

Canon Ixus 990 – 14.7 megapixel, 2.5 inch screen, 3.7x optical zoom (36-133 equivalent), 1/1.7″ sensor. Full manual mode available. Optical viewfinder. 5.6 ounces. List price in US $400.

Kind of stuck. The Canon 990 looks much sleeker than the 880 and of course the looks of the camera should be secondary to its functionality – I’m turned off by the smaller LCD screen and more limited zoom but like the larger sensor, optical viewfinder and available manual mode.

I’m stuck.

Not looking at the Panasonic LX3 which has been very well reviewed but the 2.5x optical zoom doesn’t cut it for me. Not really very interested in offerings from other companies – haven’t seen anything that appeals to me.

Thoughts?

Went to pick up my tickets for Billy Joel today. Yeah, okay, but the last time I saw him live was 1974 (when he stormed off stage after the 2nd or 3rd song because he didn’t like the piano) so what the heck.

And when I was at Tom Lee, I saw a flyer for this and said, “holy cow!” In case you’re too lazy to click over, February 10 & 11, Chick Corea & John McLaughlin, Five Peace Band. And the rest of the band is Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, Brian Blade. I’m thinking about buying tickets for both nights.

Oh and in case you don’t already know, Kraftwerk tickets go on sale tomorrow. They’re playing one night here, first time ever for them, first week of December. How can you go wrong with lyrics like, “Machine, machine, machine, machine, machine, machine”? (Showed my gf their Minimum-Maximum concert DVD and now she’s excited about seeing them too, or at least doing a reasonable job of pretending to be.)

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Hey check it out – every video ever aired on MTV in the US can now be streamed online. No geographic check so it works in HK, just tried it. And (at least for now) there are no ads.

Why no ads? Explained here:

MTV.com spokesman Tom Biro tried to explain, and if I understand him correctly, the site is supposed to be used as a sort of white-label archive that can be used both by MTV Networks, owned by Viacom (VIA), to build other video sites, as well as outsiders, both professionals and amateurs.

MediaMemo, for instance, might want to build its own De La Soul fan site, and could grab all the clips needed from the MTV site.

That also explains why the site has such a nice clean, look: There aren’t any ads there, because MTV isn’t selling it as a destination site.

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Also noted today:

Lifehacker: DVDNeXtCOPYiTurns removes iTunes DRM with Virtual CD Burner.

Gizmodo: Lenovo’s IdeaPad S-10 Ultra-Portable gets Splashtop Instant Boot-up.

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Also also noted today:

Cindy Crawford, 42 years old, French Vogue magazine, yeah yeah yeah Photoshop involved I’m sure but still ….

One of the many feeds in my RSS reader is for a site called Pinay Celebrity Online. It’s mostly pics of female Filipino celebrities, as you might have guessed. The pictures are often sexy but rarely if ever racy, and they don’t publish their full feed to RSS so you have to click over to see everything – including lots of ads.

Anyway, I give you one of their entries today. Enjoy.

In the recent interview by Phil Entertainment Portal (pep.ph), Marian Rivera reveals that she had broken up with her non-showbiz bf Ervic Vijandre and denies having romance with her loveteam Dingdong Dantes.

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Noted with interest:

Lifehacker: Create an iTunes account without a credit card
Use this hack to get an account on the US iTunes store – you won’t be able to buy music but you’ll be able to get at the larger selection of free iPhone and iPod Touch apps in the US store.

Gizmodo: Browse censored web sites from China using Firefox plugin
For my next trip across the border

The dangers of social networking sites …. via various gossip blogs, some kids run into Bono in St. Tropez, party with him a bit, post the photos on their Facebook pages, Bono’s got a tough life ….

Ending …. Fenwick’s will close before the end of the year. The building was sold and the new landlord doesn’t like them. Not sure if it’s a case where he’s refusing to renew the lease or what, but they will be shutting down in the near future. No word on if they’re looking for a new location.

Ending …. Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Hong Kong is shutting down. The HK franchise was owned and operated by the same group that runs Pepperoni’s, Jaspa’s, Cru, Wagyu, etc. They’ll probably continue through the end of this week and then that’s it. But as many who frequent their shops have noted, every time I went in, they were never busy. I think it just never took off in HK.

Beginning …. after 11 years in HK (1995-1999, 2001-present), today I received my Hong Kong Permanent Resident ID Card. Once word hit the streets, the Hang Seng Index dropped 12.7 percent.

So, back home again after 6 nights in Tokyo.

Very long days each day Monday through Thursday, starting at 9 AM, no lunch break, out for dinner with the same people each night, back to the hotel around 10 PM. Not a lot of free time until Friday, when things slowed down quite a bit.

As previously mentioned, I had the good fortune to be staying at the Ritz Carlton Hotel at the Tokyo Midtown complex in Roppongi. The hotel’s lobby is on the 45th floor and then there are 7 or 8 floors of rooms above. Mine was on the 47th floor, giving me spectacular views both day and night.

This is looking out towards Shibuya.

And over towards Roppongi Hills.

The same two views by night.

Several of the meals were fantastic but many of them were with, well the kind of people where I wasn’t comfortable pulling out a camera for a bit of food blogging. Monday night at Maya, in the Hibiya area, for the best shabu shabu on earth (for a price of roughly US$200 per person). Tuesday night was at a sushi place in Ginza – we were told the restaurant was 150 years old but it didn’t look it, aside from our waitress that is. And actually the sushi was not the best I’d ever had. I skipped the Wednesday night dinner at the tempura restaurant at the Imperial Hotel because I’d been there once before and wasn’t impressed.

Thursday night was at a popular Italian restaurant called La Bisboccia, not quite sure if it’s in Ebisu or Hiro-o. Most of the staff working there was Italian and most of the ingredients were imported. They had many dishes laid out on a serving counter and would carry these huge (maybe 10 pounds? 10 kilos?) wheels of cheese from table to table to scrape off cheese to top your dishes. It was quite different from the top end Italian restaurants in HK and I can’t really say but it seemed more of a rustic style. The walls were lined with graffitti and autographs from previous customers dating back at least 10 years – I spotted Jeff Beck and also what appeared to be an original drawing by Keith Haring. The prices here were quite reasonable for Tokyo – most of the main dishes were in the US$30 range – I had a veal cutlet topped with prosciutto, mozzarrella and chopped tomatoes, in a simple sauce of olive oil and garlic, and it was great. I really need to do a week in Italy.

The final night, I took my team out for dinner to a seafood place in Shimbashi. The set dinner consisted of 17 courses – some just tiny bowls and others big platters like the two pictured below. We also consumed massive quantities of beer and sake. Dinner worked out to roughly US$90 per person, including all the drinks, and I’d gladly go back again. Sorry, I didn’t get the name of the place.

Friday afternoon walking around Akihabara for a couple of hours. Bought a couple of Casio watches. Camera prices were comparable with HK but I couldn’t decide between 3 or 4 different ones and so decided to wait.

Apparently maid clubs are the big thing in Akihabara now.

Maid club supplies here.

Friday night, after recovering from all the booze at dinner, I decided to go out around midnight, not to a bar but to the branch of Tsutaya in Roppongi Hills that stays open 7 days a week till 4 AM. And it reminded me why I now hate Roppongi. I had to run a literal gauntlet of African guys trying to drag me off to sex clubs (“Hello my friend! Long time no see! I know what you want tonight, a quick happy ending, right? Come to my club!”) and another gauntlet of mainland Chinese women trying to drag you off to seedy ripoff massage parlors.

The book prices at Tsutaya were simply ludicrous, though I suppose normal for Japan. I saw some books there that I wanted, some that would make good gifts. But I sat down in the Starbucks there, whipped out the iPhone, discovered no WiFi that I could connect to and bit the bullet and paid international data roaming prices to check the book prices on Amazon. Glad I did, because the books I liked that were US$100 there were $40 on Amazon and the $150 book I liked was $90 on Amazon.

Finishing up there, decided to take a taxi back to the hotel rather than run that gauntlet again.

Back home in Hong Kong in time to judge the China finals of Global Battle of the Bands. Three bands – previous winners from Hong Kong, Shenzhen (Bolt Action) and Shanghai (Dovetail Joints) competing. Oddly enough, both the Shenzhen and Shanghai bands consisted of westerners, the only Chinese band was the Hong Kong entry Killer Soap and I’m pleased to say that Killer Soap won. They go on to represent China in the finals which will be in London in December – 38 bands representing 38 countries, grand prize is US$100,000.

Later I was interviewed for a video that might end up on YouTube. Asked what I was looking for as I was voting, I told them that aside from the enjoyment factor itself, I was looking for a band that I would pay my own money to go see live and for a band that was hopefully unique enough to stand out in a crowded competition. And I think Killer Soap fits the bill. (Go to their MySpace page where you can stream the tracks from their demo CD.)

Props to Chris B for working so hard to make this a success in China. There are so few opportunities for independent rock bands in Hong Kong to be heard, too few venues, big ups to all the bands who are trying and those promoters (including Chris B & Underground, BC Magazine, Time Out HK, Fringe) for helping.

Oh, and btw, last night was the Lan Kwai Fong Carnival. LKF was mobbed, as was Cavern Club. So many freaking hot women everywhere, a fresh heart attack every 3 seconds.

Should be asleep now but …

In Tokyo. The meetings start at 9 AM and go till 6:30 – not even a break for lunch, box lunch brought to the conference table. Then I have to go to dinner with the very same people I’ve been with the entire day.

The first two nights I have not tried to excuse myself from dinner because, well, the first night was dinner at Maya, a place I’ve been to twice before, where they do shabu-shabu with matsuzaka (or is it matsuzaya?) beef, something that makes kobe beef seem like McDonalds. The second night was sushi in a 150 year old restaurant (I think our waitress was one of their original staff). And of course, copious drinking both nights as well. By the time dinner is over, I have neither the inclination nor the ability to head to some bar for any sort of adventure, it’s all I can do to get back to the hotel and get my suit on a hanger before collapsing on the bed.

I’m up now and doing this because I got back to the room, passed out, then woke up again and trying to get myself sleepy so I can grab a decent amount of sleep before another all day meeting tomorrow.

Got a column due on Friday, don’t even have a topic for it let alone started it. Fortunately tomorrow night’s dinner is in a place I don’t really care for – the tempura restaurant at the Imperial Hotel, so hopefully I can excuse myself, rustle up some tonkatsu or ramen somewhere and get some writing done. Normally it’s a tremendous insult to the Japanese to turn down a dinner invitation, but after 5 consecutive meals with me, perhaps they won’t mind too much.

Staying at the Ritz Carlton – 47th floor. 47th floor hotel room in Tokyo? Unheard of just a few years ago. I’m facing out towards Roppongi Hills and can see the lights of Shibuya and Shinjuku off in the distance.

As always, the women on the streets of Japan seem much more attractive to me than those on the street in Hong Kong – or maybe it’s just attractive in a different way. More stylish, more confident, more worldly. And a few of the women in the office have been …. well, no time to even think about it.

Hooray for Powell’s endorsement of Obama. The McCain Palin campaign has become the punchline to a joke that no one asked. “Socialism”? “Pals around with terrorists”? What kind of double digit IQ does it take to focus in on that kind of bullshit when the country is in such a mess and in need of leadership? Does anyone truly believe that Obama harbors some secret terrorist agenda??????? What is with Sarah Palin and “real America”? What gives her the fucking right to say what is and what isn’t real America?

I already did my last column on the election and I note that the editor chose to depict my logo in blue instead of the usual red. Good one that. Now I need something I can write a thousand words on before Friday ……. and I need some sleep …..

Heading off to Tokyo early Sunday morning. Very busy schedule so may or may not have time to blog while away.

The Opus comic strip comes to an end on November 2nd. Berkeley Breathed explains why in this article in Salon

Breathed says it’s the anger that led him to close the book on “Opus,” that the increasingly nasty political climate has made it too difficult to keep his strip from drifting into darkness. Breathed has described his work as a hybrid of “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz’s gentle humor and Michael Moore’s crusading social justice. Perhaps losing touch with his inner Charlie Brown, Breathed has said that “a mad penguin, like a mad cartoonist, isn’t very lovable,” and wants Opus to take his final bow before bitterness changes him forever.

Stating the obvious:

Assume for the moment that Obama wins on November 4th. That doesn’t mean the sun is going to shine and that life will become all sweetness and gravy. The country will not unite behind him. The Republican party will still exist, as will Fox “News.” The torrent of antagonism and lies unleashed at Bill Clinton during his 8 years will seem like a tiny trickle compared to what Obama can probably expect.

Well, farewell Opus, for the 3rd time. Maybe in a couple of years he’ll be back for a 4th round.

So glad that I live in the land of this:

and not in the land of that:

Just a few more things to note on this whole Joe the Plumber nonsense.

1 – Daily Show – “Joe the Plumber has already given more interviews than Sarah Palin.”

2 – And when he opens his mouth, what does he say? Nice quote from Joe the Plumber over here:

You know, I’ve always wanted to ask one of these guys a question and really corner them and get them to answer a question … for once instead of tap dancing around it. And unfortunately I asked the question, but I still got a tap dance. Almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr.

Nah, he ain’t no racist!

3 – This bit from HuffPo is simply too weird to be a coincidence. Joe the Plumber’s father is the son-in-law of Larry Keating. Joe the Plumber’s father was an executive at American Continental Corporation, the parent company of Larry Keating’s Lincoln Savings and Loan. McCain, in case you’ve forgotten, was one of the Larry Keating Five, a precision tap dancing group.

Years ago I worked for a very well funded start-up doing metro area networks. After a year, someone came along and offered US$600 million for the company. “No thanks,” management replied, “we won’t take a penny under $2 billion.”

The fourth round of funding was canceled in the aftermath of 9/11 and the collapse of telecom stocks in ‘02. And soon after, the company declared bankruptcy. It was purchased for $20 million. Which is one reason why I don’t own a beach house in Phuket.

Microsoft offered $33 per share for Yahoo. Yahoo said, “No thanks, we don’t want to be part of the evil empire and besides we’re worth $40 a share.”

Yahoo’s current share price? 2 days ago it was $11.51. Then Ballmer said that Microsoft still wants Yahoo. The price jumped up to $13.73.

Christina Aguilera is obviously in pain at this news. She’s probably thinking that if they’d sold at $33, she’d have enough money to finally redo that bad boob job.