I’ve talked about how important numbers, and playing upon the sound of numbers, is in Chinese.  For example, 8 is a lucky number because it sounds like the word for “to get rich, and 4 is an unlucky number because it sounds like the word for “death”.  Well, that’s basically Chinese for you:  everything sounds like everything!  Here are some more extreme examples of taking advantage of numbers in Chinese:

1. The number to order home delivery for McDonald’s (yes, McDonald’s) ends in “517517″, which is pronounced “wu yao qi, wu yao qi”.  This pronunciation is very close to “wo yao chi, wo yao chi”, which means “I wanna eat, I wanna eat!”  Clever, huh?
2. I just learned about this one.  This Friday, May 20th, is another “new” Chinese Valentines Day.  I think I was told that this one has been around for two or three years at most.  The only reason this day was selection was because of the similarity to the date’s numeric pronunciation:  520 or “wu er ling”, which is very close to “wo ai ni”, or “I love you”.  They even add on other numbers:  1314, “yi san yi si” or “from birth to death”.  All together:  5201314.  ”I love you for my whole life”.  See how challenging Chinese is?  Everything sounds like everything else!

Of course, there are many more examples.  Apparently, people spend really really big money to have vanity license plates with lots of 8′s on them.  Nobody has silly text on their license plates; it’s all about the numbers.

By the way, a belated Star Wars day to everyone (Wednesday two weeks ago):  May the 4th be with you!  Revenge of the Fifth!  Aw yeah.

Had a great time in Penang, Malaysia.  We had two shows – one fun one, and one not so fun one.  But, I’ll talk about that stuff on another site.  I want to share my impression of Penang here.  The city itself is on an island and, like other cities in Malaysia, is spread out and traffic is therefore dependent on cars.  We stayed at a lovely hotel right on the beach called the “Lone Pine Hotel”.  Staff was great and the facilities were clean, comfortable, and attractive.

We didn’t really see too many sights.  We went to two Buddhist temples, one Burmese and one Thai, but I’ve seen plenty of temples.  There are nice rolling hills around that you can hike along.  Then, of course, there’s the beach.  Many of the beaches have large rounded boulders sitting in the sand which give the beach a nice exotic look.  The water is semi clear, though we were warned that it was dirty and that jellyfish were a problem.  So, the only swimming we did was in the pool.

I did try my hand at parasailing for the first time.  Basically, I was volunteered by telling the boat operator to go fetch the harness and the boat.  It’s a piece of cake though and the view was awesome.  I just regret that I didn’t have a camera with me!  You basically clip in to a chest harness, attach it to a parasail, and clip in to the line attached to the boat.  The boat takes off and you see the line disappearing into the surf.  Then, you start running as the line is becoming taut and within just a few steps, you become airborne.  There’s basically nothing too it; just let go and enjoy the ride.  I did feel like I was slipping out of my seat, but then I realized that I should be standing and not sitting.  Glad I got that figured out pretty fast.  Once you get up really high, it’s nice and peaceful.  Looking down is quite a thrill too – just your feet followed by the ocean two to three hundred feet below.  Coming in for a landing was pretty easy.  The boat just slows up and then I had to steer myself in to the beach simply by pulling on a line of the left side which just guided me in to the left.  I started running as I hit the beach…perfect landing.

Some shots around Penang and the beach:

My first introduction to “Penang” food was the popular Thai Kitchen restaurant in Bellevue.  I think that every time I went there, I ordered “Penang Curry with Beef”.  So good.  That led me to erroneously believe that Penang was actually a region in Thailand, not Malaysia.

Many people told me, “Oh Penang!  Food paradise!” And it’s true.  So, knowing that, I put my diet decisions completely in the hands of our agent and guide, Wilson.  He didn’t steer us wrong.  We were there four days and four nights and on our last day he told us, “You’ve sampled about 10 to 15% of what Penang has to offer.”

Penang food is dominated by “street food”, which is just like street food in China – food served in a very spartan and open restaurant right on the street.  It’s hard to say what my favorite was.  Maybe the fish broth with chicken and noodles (see the pics).  Just as worthy were the awesome drinks.  Like the rest of Malaysia, Penang has it’s own variety of cool and refreshing tea and fruit drinks.  I think my favorite was a “rose syrup” drink.

Anyway, have a look at ome shots of Penang food along with a description:

I haven’t been to Hua Qiang Bei in forever!  That’s the huge electronics market area.  There are plenty of good restaurants in the area too.  I used to hit that area all the time.  Probably because I used to live much more close and on a convenient subway line.  Well, Davide and I were coming back from a show outside of the city limits and we were in the mood for some fast food.  We realized that the Hua Qiang Bei stop was the best place to go, so we got off there.

Hua Qiang Bei is also the place where you can pick up stolen goods.  I can’t count how many people have come up to me and surreptitiously lifted their shoulder bag’s flap to reveal a stolen laptop for sale.  Dozens and dozens.  Well, we were sitting in the restaurant and a fellow came up to us and sat down.  He leaned over and whispered if we were interested in an iPhone 4.  He stealthily gave us a quick look in his hand.  Then, he let me check it out.  It was a little beat up, but it was legit.  Of course it was stolen, but he at least did us the courtesy of telling us it was stolen.  He offered to sell it for 2000RMB, about $300 for an unlocked iPhone 4.

While I’m at it, I should mention the fake iPhones.  Are you interested in one?  I think they run about $80 USD.  They look identical but you can tell the software is different just because the graphics are not smooth.  But, the apps basically have the same functionality.  The phone also has two SIM slots, which is cool.  A friend of mine bought one.  Here are some pics:

Wow, inflation is a very real thing here in Shenzhen, especially with food.  Prices have been steadily and rapidly creeping up for at least a year now, it seems.  Probably more.  I feel like I can no longer really brag about the great Chinese food that you can get here at such a bargain.  Those bargain prices are almost gone.  Granted, it’s still a better deal than the US (in taste, variety, and price), but those really cheap prices are vanishing fast.  Take drinks for example.  I used to drink milk tea pretty commonly.  When I first came here, I believe on cup was 4 RMB.  For most of my early tenure, it was 5 RMB.  Then about two years ago, it bumped up to about 6, then to 7, and now most places are 8; there are still a few stragglers at 7.  None at 6.  That’s a serious price increase.  Well, the good thing is that I’ve curtailed my milk tea intake (it can be fattening, that tasty stuff).

The Korean place still has their super cheap 18RMB lunch special, but not sure for how much longer.  Other restaurants with an 18 RMB special have bumped up either 5 or 10 RMB.  Middle grade Chinese restaurants bump their 28 prices to 38, 38 to 48, and so on.  Well, occasionally, you might see a bump from 28 to 36, or a 38 t0 46.

On a side note, you may be wondering, “What’s up with all the 8′s?”  Well suh, the “8″ is a lucky number in Chinese.  The pronunciation is very similar to the pronunciation for “get rich”.  Yes, capitalism is alive and well too!

I have an American friend here in Shenzhen who runs a small English school on the weekends.  I help him teach classes every Saturday morning.  The other day after class, he was complaining that a button on his mobile phone had stopped working.  So, he took his phone to a man on the street who specialized in mobile phone repair.  The man possesses a set of tools and a magnifying glass for repairing mobile phones.  After ten minutes and a mere 40 RMB (less than $6), the man had fixed my friend’s phone.  This is amazing to me.  China has so many willing and available people to perform such tasks.  In the US, you’d have to leave your phone for 2-3 weeks and spend about as much money as a new phone to have it repaired.

I had this picture sitting around for a while.  It’s a good representation of a typical day at my apartment.  Got the computer fired up running Ubuntu 10.0, with a couple of terminal windows open for managing Call Me in China.  I’m logged into a WordPress site I’m working on (you can see my WordPress Plugin book in the upper right).  I’ve got my cash on the left side of the table ’cause I just paid for the Chinese food I’d ordered out, which is, of course, sitting in the foreground.  Let’s see, I’m having two of my old standbys:  Di4 San1 Xian1 Fan4 and a Xiao3 Chao3 Rou4 Fan4.  I usually order two ’cause it’s pretty tasty to fry up the rice the next day.  Anyway, it comes with two basic soups too.  All in all, some healthy stuff (assuming the ingredients are good!).  Got my external sound card and headphones sitting on the lefthand side too; I must have been working on some music recently as well.  Oh yeah, and if you look to the left of the monitor, you can see the green screen in the background for creating music videos.  Actually, I haven’t done that in a while; gotta go by some more Mini DV tapes!

The best lunch deal in Nanshan (district of Shenzhen), or maybe in all of Shenzhen for that matter, is the Korean Restaurant in the Coastal City shopping area.  The restaurant is on the second floor near the theater and has a large window on one side with a commanding view over the plaza area at Coastal City.  The lunch deals start at 18RMB (less than $3) and include the following:

1) Four small Korean-style appetizers
2) Two soups (one pumpkin and the other a traditional Cantonese soup)
3) Your entry
4) A scoop of ice cream

For the entre, I like “shi2 guo1 ban4 fan4″, which is a rice dish with a collection of vegetables and an egg served in an iron bowl and served very hot (needs to be stirred up immediately).  The rice continues to cook while it cools down.  So, while I’m waiting, I can bust out the laptop, hop on the free wifi, and crank through a few tasks.  The restaurant itself is high-end and clean.  Hopefully, they’ll stick with that price for a while, in spite of the inflation of food prices here.

The Korean restaurant in Coastal City