Wasted Youth, Pt. 44

Only a 30 minute delay.  I'm surprised.

Airline: China Southern

Route: Guangzhou - Tokyo

Delayed flights: 44

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 6 hours

Early Morning Guangzhou

On the way to the airport..

Wasted Youth, Pt. 43

I hate flying to/from Shenzhen.  Two hour delay waiting for the plane to arrive.

Airline: China Eastern

Route: Shanghai - Shenzhen

Delayed flights: 43

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 5.5 hours

Squatters

No, it's not an Olympic sign directing you to the Standing Long Jump event.

Bespoke Footwear

Wuzhen

Wuzhen (乌镇) is a historic water town on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, a couple hours outside of Shanghai in neighbouring Zhejiang Province.  Spent the weekend strolling the small lanes, drinking tea along the banks of the canals, and imagining the idyllic life back in the day.. (well, I also imagined having a kung-fu fight in the streets to defend my family's honour..)

The town is over 1300 years old, and has been carefully restored to maintain it's heritage.  Although the town's primary source of income now is tourism, for the 12,000 residents, daily life remains relatively simple, and hasn't changed too much from days past.

The area is known for indigo dyeing of silk fabric.  As well as pickled vegetables and rice wine.

Worth a visit for a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai.

Wasted Youth, Pt. 42

..thirty minutes there.

Airline: China Eastern

Route: Xiamen - Shanghai

Delayed flights: 42

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 3.5 hours

Wasted Youth, Pt. 41

Another thirty minutes here..

Airline: China Eastern

Route: Shanghai - Xiamen

Delayed flights: 41

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 3 hours

Above and Beyond

..um, I don't think Workers' Comp covers this.  View from my kitchen window on the 24th floor.

Eastside

Monument For East Vancouver by local artist Ken Lum is a tribute to the city that has sparked a lot of debate.  "East Van" has traditionally been home to the culturally diverse, immigrant, blue collar working class, and has a reputation of being the slightly grittier side of town.  But it's also by far the most interesting - with the mix of Italian and Latin Americans on Commercial Drive, East Indians on Main Street, Vietnamese along Kingsway, and Chinese interspersed throughout.

The East Van symbol has been around since the 60's and does have some gang associations, most notably when I grew up, with the Clark Parkers during the 80's and 90's.  Though some parts of the East Side are slowly being gentrified, the East Van cross has always been a ubiquitous symbol put up as a way of saying, we are here, don't forget about us, and don't mess with us, and Ken Lum's piece is a proud and somewhat defiant reminder.

Freshness

Giddy Up

"Who wants to go FASTER?!?"

Swingers

Every summer, during the last 2 weeks of August, Hastings Park is home to Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition, better known as "the PNE".  I have fond memories of my dad taking me there as a kid - all the carnival rides, the impossible-to-win games of skill, the rickety giant wooden roller coaster that looked (and felt) like it was going to fall apart at any moment, the funky barnyard smell at the petting zoo, the salesmen demonstrating the amazing Ginsu knives that could cut through a leather shoe, the super awesome demolition derby, and eating corn dogs, mini donuts, snow cones, and cotton candy till my tongue turned blue. Thanks dad.

"Free at last! free at last!.."