Pudding and Chopsticks

So, do you know what makes you feel the best. When you see an awesome car, one that’s hard to get in the states, and some dude has it in China, and you haven’t driven a car in over 6 months. Yeah, that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. In the last week I’ve seen an Audi R8, 165,000$, Porsche GT3 120,000$, Nissan GTR 70,000$. Now these are all bitch’in cars. Super rad. What makes them even more special is the fact, to get these in China the government will tax you a luxury tax of 50-100%, maybe more. So that Porsche you want for 120,000$ it’s going to be 180,000$, because your rich.. Now do the math, that’s 1.23 million RMB.. That’s a serious amount of coin in China.. Snap.. In fact I just checked and a 93,000$ Porsche in the USA is 1.8 million here or 264,000$ USD. That’s a tax of 183%. Man I love the gov.. This is even better when, A: I have no job really, B: I won’t be able to afford one of these cars anytime soon, C: I’ve seen people drive these are and they suck, D: I haven’t driven in a long time. Yeah my life is awesome..

My apologies for the horrendous photographs. My phone compounded by the Chinese beer and lack of sunshine makes for some awful images.

Got to love the rich life.. huh..

Now, some of you my know that I am a fan of beer. It’s the quintessential man drink. A manly beverage if you will. I bring this up because since moving down to the south I have been drinking a lot of beer. Not really to get drunk but because I am a man, and men drink beer. There might also be some stress and peer pressure involved but parents, you didn’t hear that. I bet you are wondering what kind of beer I consume on a regular basis. Well, you know I just thought of a story. I remember when I was a kid my Grandfather would have a cooler in front of the garage full of Budweiser. That’s right, caulked full of ice and cans of that all American beer. All day, all summer, all the time. I can picture it now, him opening the lid and pulling out a frosty brew on a hot, humid, intolerable Michigan day. Those were the days to be a grandchild. He was a mans man, hell in my mind he still is. I miss him. On a lighter note I am not drinking a can of classic Americana but some Chinacana if there is such a thing. Tsingtao. Great stuff. I suppose you could compare it to Bud Light. It’s a very popular beer here and is very light. Not as light a a natty light but not a stout either. Tsingtao has been brewed in the PRC since 1903. It’s produced in Qingdao, a town in China, just across the ocean from North Korea. The beer founded by German settlers controls a 15% market share. Not sure if that’s a lot for a beer. But with all the choices here I would guess that’s pretty healthy. In 1915 the brewery was taken over by a Chinese family who has obviously became filthy rich and permanently drunk. Sounds like a game plan. The beer is a pilsner. So, that’s pretty much what I drink. Oh, forgot to mention that a 600ml, over a 1/2 L is 6.50元。 About 95 cents, or 98 cents. Something like that. So for say 5 bucks a day you could be a alcoholic. Try that in America. No don’t try it and don’t become an alcoholic. Drink responsibly, but remember, I drink happier with my 98cent beer…

Just imagine a hot Asian girl, hanging out, long black hair, short skirt, high heels, and then all of a sudden she drops into some dried smashed octopus for a snack. Interesting. I’ve had the dried smashed fish stuff, it’s actually pretty good. As for this bad boy, can’t say that I’ve really had a craving for it.

A trash can with flowers. That’s how the PRC rolls, we spice our trash cans up..

I play a good amount of pool now. Mainly because it helps relieve the stress.

I often bring my camera. But I suppose that you can already see that.

Not much is happening right now. Just hanging out a bit. Trying to get this project down because one can only hope when this bad boy hits the net the world will change. Actually no it won’t but it might get me a job. Who the h knows. So that’s all I really have. I know it’s boring. Someday soon things should get more interesting. Until then.

So in America you got the Texans, which everyone loves, east coast, west coast, midwest, but there are just areas. Really we are all the same, except for the Native Americans of course. Here in China there are a boat load of regions. Not much unlike the states. However these areas contain different ethnic groups. Really different. Not just in accent or language but in appearance. There is a region in the north western most part of China called Xinjiang. This area is closest to Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The reason I bring this up is probably most of you don’t know anything about China not all being Chinese per say. This region runs autonomously. There are has been some no good doers up there that got my Face B blocked. But whatever. They have good food for sure. There is a Xinjiang restaurant not to far from where I live. It’s amazing. They eat a lot of lamb, skewers, little taco things with lamb, some doughy soup, meat, and a super tasty dark beer. At this fine establishment they also dance and show everyone some of the culture. So here are some images of one of the dancers. Pretty aweseome.

I got dizzy just watching.. Although a few dark brewskis in me, I got dizzy standing up.

If this in any indication of the women up there, then they are the most uniquely beautiful women I have seen thus far. Good bye China hello middle east..

Check wikipedia for more info….

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang

Some of you may be wondering why I don’t respond to f book or what not. Well folks let me direct you to a blog that I read all the time.

http://www.lostlaowai.com/blog/china-tech/the-great-firewall-longer-higher-meaner/

Today I tired t access fring on my phone. It is  chat program that lets me use my cell phone over wifi with skype. Well for some reason it didn’t work. Guess what, I suppose it’s blocked. Go fig. On a lighter note I talked to my mommy. She assures me everything will be ok. Ah moms are the best.

Went to a factory today. Looks like a factory in the states but with Chinese people. Who knew.

Randoms from the last couple of days.

Car fire on the way back from HK. No fire truck to be seen. That’s how they roll here in the PRC.. Or rather burn..

Fire + Food = Man. Also what makes a man is 3 bottles of hot sake.. Just saying..

Abandoned asphalt plant. I got some ideas for this place. 4×5 camera, film and a darkroom would be a dream come true.

A fashion shoot, models, crafty and the whole shabam also come to mind..

Wake up, check email, check news, pretend to check Facebook, go to bus station, 1.5hrs, arrive in Shenzhen, leave country, enter Hong Kong, take train one stop, turn around, take train one stop, leave Honk Kong, enter country, leave Shenzhen, see car fire, arrive home. Formalities, really doesn’t make since. But whatever. So that was pretty much my day. Although I was mostly in the dumper, I did get an email from my brother. The tables have turned. I’ll admit, I’ve always been the one to have the car, the job, spending cash, nice things. Now well, not anymore. I don’t have pretty much all of those things. My brother, he’s well on his way. I was super stoked to get his email and to hear how he was doing. I haven’t been in contact with him in over a month. Maybe more. I think he’s somewhere in Georgia shooting some guns or throwing ordinance. Something like that. Do work son do work. As for me, believe me, I’ve been productive, but where has it gotten me. Um. Not sure but today I discovered my new favorite popsicle. I had a few stand by portable ice cream sticks up north but I can’t find the strawberry or chocolate ones I that cherish down here. However I have stumbled upon a weird green soury vanilla coated concoction that well, it’s the only think in my life that makes me happy. Well that, and candy for the eyes.. Always free and always good.

Tomorrow I have to head to good old HK. My visa is only good for a 30 day stay at a time. Which means I have to leave China. A bus trip to the border, leave, take a train one stop, turn around, take train back, enter, take bus back home. Awesomeness 0% stupidity 100%. I plan to do a little writing on the way. But there might be a chance that doesn’t happen. Who knows. In other news, I’ve been totally creative lately. Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, rad. Feels really good to be doing something. Now if a Venti Vanilla Chai dirty wasn’t as much as a small car I’d be in heaven.

Look at what the guy is grilling up. Hey nice tentacles.

Dried fruit.

One of the things I really like about China is the way it looks at night.

So it’s been somewhat of a crazy week. I decided that I wasn’t going to teach unless I needed to beg for money. I had an awesome Chinese holiday, and I actually got some work. Kinda crazy. I posted before about the holiday. My friends girlfriends cooked up a fever. It was amazing. I thank them very much. I also got some photography work. Shooting furniture. Not the most awesome of things to do but it pays pretty well. I am also doing some other things that, well, if I told you I would have to kill you. All I can say it that it involves a pitching wedge, ice, a donkey, and two beautiful women. I’ll post some photographs of the food later in thy post.

On to todays topic. Well I guess I don’t really have a topic. I also don’t have twitter so, I mainly just write down random ideas on my phone so that i remember to talk about them when I actually write some sort of blog. First thing I have on my phone is: Communism is rad. I wrote this down because at the time I though it would be a good t-shirt. Yep, still think so. Ok, next, fishing line, paper roll, tracing, box/Frame. Stuff I needed the other day. I suppose that this isn’t that interesting unless you just caught a fish that snapped you line and you wanted to trace it so that you could frame said tracing paper above the fireplace below the moose head. Next, can soda through a straw. I don’t get it. I was at the store purchasing a Pepsi, when after I paid, the cute girl stuck a straw under the pull tab. Not wanting to upset her I vowed to drink all of my cold soda through this straw. Again, drinking soda through a straw from a can makes no sense. Possibly the diameter of the straw was in direct conflict with the spherical diameter of the carbon dioxide being released from my taxi drivers swerving. Maybe, who knows. But for myself no more drinking can soda through a straw because of said problems.

Grilled cheese, home sweet home.

Today’s lunch. Ramon with some green veggies and two eggs.

Um, one more thing. Because I am white, in China, I am rich. Yep, that’s it, please everyone I just dropped the soap in prison, can you give me a hand. Everywhere you go, for the most part, in China you’ll have to barter. Cheap clothes, junk, taxi rides, etc. Let me give you an example. I took a taxi to the studio to shoot today and it cost me about 70 some rmb. Pretty much in the boon docks. But what are you going to do. I left the studio and tried to get a taxi. Again, it’s in the boonies. Finally found one after 10 minutes of skipping rocks on the street. I told him where I needed to go, he said 100. I was like what, dude, it was 70 this morning. Where is it at? You go this way then that way, etc. Ok 90. Um, peace out dude. Why, well, he probably thought that it might of been that much in taxi fare. Or he threw a nice round number out because I’m white.. Whatever. Anyway I found a guy that said 70 and didn’t run the meter. Awesome, that’s about right. Thanks bro peace..

Chopping and pounding meat can be exhausting.

Power lines.

Farmers doing farming.

Shrimp.

Fish… By the looks of it, I think it’s dead.

Pretty lights.

Well put. Please don’t litter.

Cooking today’s lunch. Sanitary, well that’s up for debate. Free, yes.. Tomorrow morning, we’ll see.

The good stuff. Hot green beans. The little peppers are like a can of protester deterrent to the mouth.

Way too tired to actually write something that would make your butt hole pucker. I guess your going to have to live with a random photograph from the other day. Story to come.. Get some..