Big Brother isn’t watching you!
March 5, 2010 - Shanghai, China
When one thinks of a communist country, what images come to mind? Impoverished and frightened people, lack of progress, and most importantly, oppressive government. Having visited Moscow five years ago, I’ve seen the manifestations of this in everyday life. People look sad and tired, they dress in drab colors and shabby clothing, and they don’t aspire to do much with their lives. The whole experience seemed shrouded in a cloud of grey and brown dust to my streak-free American eyes. Before arriving at the first Chinese port I’ve ever visited in my life, these same images came to mind when picturing Shanghai, except instead of vodka and dill, I imagined tea and rice. There was tea, and rice, and communism, but Shanghai’s bustling, progressive atmosphere changed my dirty brown perceptions of communism.
The sail-in to Shanghai, admittedly, didn’t leave the best first impression. After leaving 75° and sunny skies in Manila, we were greeted with 40° and rain in Shanghai – our first temperature below 65°, for all you would-be hecklers. They also checked our passports and took our temperature several times, but none of this stopped me from going outside and snapping several pictures along the Huangpu River as we sailed toward Shanghai. It’s crazy how long the journey up the river took – about two or three hours all told. Most places we’ve been so far are right along the coastline, but if you look at a map of Shanghai, it’s quite far inland. All along the edges of the river were huge industrial-looking plants and some of the biggest ships I’ve ever seen. A new MSC container ship being built had to have been ten times the size of our ship. That evening, Erich and I were scheduled to have dinner with a few of the solo passengers, so I made my way downstairs to get ready before we actually got to Shanghai.
I called one of our friends, Lori, who’s also a solo passenger, and invited her to dine with us. The other ladies were named Dorothy and Susan. The five of us had such a good time. It’s great when a group of people who’ve never met before click so well. And they all had such interesting stories to tell. The first new lady, Susan, was a 67-year-old (though she didn’t look it) British travel agent who has been living in Canada for thirty years. She loved to gossip and had spent one afternoon on board walking through the halls looking at peoples’ nameplates and researching their names online. She found one man who’s aboard with his twenty-something female “assistant,” and thought it was hysterical that their names were right there together on the same nameplate of the door to their single-bedroom cabin. The other new lady, Dorothy, was a 90-year-old (though she didn’t look it, at all!) Montgomery Ward retiree who spent her life traveling the globe as a buyer for her company. She was raised by two deaf, mute parents. We spent the night talking and laughing as brightly-colored, fluorescent-lighted dinner cruise ships sailed past the windows of the Compass Rose, until eventually, our Assistant Cruise Director, Elda, came and asked to steal Erich and me away from dinner.
Naturally, we were a little concerned, but it turned out that for the ship to be cleared, all passengers and crew had to collect their passports and have their temperature checked. Elda needed Erich and me to go downstairs and do that. We got everything taken care of and then headed to our last duty of the night, the Beatles dance party. It was so lame! Almost nobody showed up because they were too busy getting ready to go out in Shanghai or because they were still eating dinner. I didn’t stress about it too much, but I was beginning to think about going out myself. We had all been warned about the crime around the area and the lack of English-speaking cab drivers in China, so after the party, Erich and I decided to play it low-key and stay in for the night. The extremely cold weather and pouring down rain also helped us make our decision! Instead, we played a rousing game of Guess Who? and Scrabble. We went to bed early that night to get up fresh the next day.
We had a crew drill the next morning which really stunk because it was still cold outside. We stood on the open deck and tried to listen to our safety officer as he explained something, but it was so cold I could barely stand it. Afterward, we ate lunch with Carly and made plans to take the Regent shuttle to Taobao City on Nanjing Road. Everyone had been telling us about the Nanjing Road knockoff market and we were really excited to go see what it was all about. The shuttle dropped us off in a really weird location and we had to walk six blocks to get to Taobao City, which stunk again because it was cold and raining. On the way, I got my first true visual impressions of Shanghai. I couldn’t see anything during the shuttle bus ride because it was all fogged up from the cold. As I walked, I saw that all the taxis are Volkswagens, which I found interesting. Also interesting, cars don’t yield to pedestrians here. Pedestrians yield to cars. As we approached Nanjing Road, I could see that the length of it was covered by what looked like a long overpass. I thought it carried cars, but eventually found out that it carried Shanghai’s public transportation system called the Metro. The whole area around the street seemed busy and energetic, despite the weather. I could see tall, new, beautiful buildings lining the sides of the roads. It all had a very modern American, progressive feel to it.
We eventually found Taobao City located conveniently next door to a China Construction Bank (Bank of America’s Chinese partner). We withdrew some cash and headed into the mall. On the outside, I was again surprised to see sleek, modern architecture everywhere I looked. People were running around the streets, getting into and out of cabs carrying tons of shopping bags filled with new purchases, looking very wealthy and happy. Once inside, we split up for a few minutes just to see what it was all about. We were there with a few of the band guys so we looked at ties while Carly went in search of some purses. It was incredible! This place made any shopping mall in America look stuck up, overpriced, and boring. Taobao City was four floors of shop after shop after shop of everything from shoes and clothes, to cameras and DVDs, watches and belts, to pearls and purses. As you walked past each shop, the owners would start talking to you: “Belts, nice belts here.” “You want a watch, sir?” “Some very nice shoes.” They did this even if you weren’t looking at them and didn’t break stride at all. The name of the game here was HAGGLE! With chewing gum in my mouth, big sunglasses on my face, an expensive bag on my shoulder, and an umbrella in my hand to point with, I found out that I’m good at haggling!
It’s almost not fair to say that I haggled, though, because you literally could get them down to whatever price you wanted. I would just look at something, know that it was fake, and tell myself how much I was willing to pay for it. Next, you ask how much the item is. Then, (this is very important) no matter how much they ask for it, you scoff and say something along the lines of, “Oh! No way!” or “What? O Gosh.” or “Oh, nevermind! Forget it!” Then they always ask you how much you want to pay, at which point, you name your price. A good starting point is at least half what they asked you for, usually lower. If they don’t come down to it, you just start acting like you’re not interested, or start walking away, and they always always always come down. If they don’t come all the way down to your price, you just threaten them by dropping your offer by about five bucks, and they immediately cave in. I was actually complimented by one of them on my skills. “You’re a tough bargainer, my friend.”
The exchange rate made it really easy to bargain too. Their money is called the yuan or RMB, both the same thing. The exchange was about $1 US to $7 RMB. So $5 US was about $35 RMB, and $10 US was about $70 RMB, so it made it really easy to bargain. One of the biggest things I’m always worried about when bargaining is making the seller mad, but every encounter I had in China ended happily. I bought a “Calvin Klein” bag right from under the nose of another guy that was looking at it. He watched and learned as I haggled with the girl and then laughed when she and I ended up joking and hugging after the money was exchanged.
All told, my purchases at Taobao City:
1.) A pair of white “Lacoste” shoes = $20 US
2.) White “iPod” headphones = $5
3.) Black “Armani” belt = $18
4.) Tan and black “Calvin Klein” bag = $19
5.) “Bulgari” watch = $11
TOTAL SPENT = $73 US
Erich and me also bought three silk ties, one of which was ”Burberry,” for $25, and he got a pair of “D&G” jeans for $12, a “Cartier” watch for $10, and a pair of “UGG” boots for $15. The funny part was that all this fake, ripped-off merchandise was sitting right out in front of the shops, but what you really had to search for were knockoff Louis Vuitton purses. One of the first places we went in Taobao City was one such Louis Vuitton haven. A young girl took us up a freight elevator, to the eleventh floor of the building, down a nondescript, empty, unlit hallway, through a locked office door, to an innocent looking bookcase, behind which she unlocked another door, through which we found the coveted Louis Vuitton stash. We were quite impressed with their deceptive skills, but not so impressed with the purses. So we left and headed for the Shi Liu Pu Cloth Market.
What a sight to see! Wall to wall bolts of fabric lining stall after stall of eager tailors ready to take your measurements and negotiate a price. It was like Taobao City for tailored clothing. Erich and I both wanted some suits made, so we set off to find the stall that our friend, Lori, had recommended, but when we got there, we discovered that it was all women’s clothing. Eventually, however, we found a stall that had the fabric Erich wanted his suit made in. We negotiated a price, paid a deposit, and reconfirmed that the suit would be ready the next morning. The tailors assured us that this would be the case. I found another tailor to make the jacket I’ve been wanting. After finishing up, we headed back to Taobao City to do a little more shopping and to eat a late lunch before heading back to the ship.
Once we got back, we found out the plans to go out with everyone that night. The girls, Beckie, Erin, and Carly, had gotten back early and wanted to go out to eat. We were planning to meet Kaitlyn at nine, but the girls were too hungry. So Erich and I ate in the Officer Mess, but headed out with the girls to go eat anyway. Erich, Beckie, Erin, Carly, Kelsey, Gabe, and our friend, Bruno, and I took two cabs to a restaurant called Mr. and Mrs. Bund located on “The Bund” in Shanghai. It was a beautifully historic part of the city, situated in the same building as David Yurman and Cartier. I couldn’t believe how nice the restaurant was, and how expensive-but-not-too-expensive the prices were. After the fact, I was glad that we had all dressed up as much as we had. Gabe was kind enough to pay for the whole dinner and buy us a table at Bar Rouge located upstairs in the same building. Eventually, Kaitlyn and her friend, Sam, who lives in Shanghai, made it to the bar to hang out with all of us. The whole evening was just impeccable and so classy. It was a busy Saturday night in Shanghai, and it made me feel good about the prospects of communist China.
After a while, the crowded atmosphere of Bar Rouge started to grate and me and Erich’s tempers. Sam had invited us all to a party he was going to, and it sounded fun, so Erich and I made plans with Carly to get up early in the morning and take her and Beckie to the cloth market to pick up our suits (they wanted to see how the whole process worked). We left and headed to the Dutch Cultural Center where the party was located. Sam met us out front and told us that the party was in an art gallery. In our minds, we conjured pictures of high society, holding glasses of champagne, but when he told us that there was free beer, we were a little confused. We walked into the place, and it was OUT…OF…CON-TROL! First of all, the party was not in a gallery. It was in the warehouse behind the gallery. There was a live DJ spinning, free beer in the corner bar, crazy lights, and tons of people having a really good time. It was great though because it was all spread out with lots of space to walk around. At this point, however, it was around 2am and Erich and I had had our fill of partying for the evening, so we said goodnight to Sam and Kaitlyn and headed back to the ship.
The next morning, Beckie and Carly joined Erich and me to go pick up our new suits. We went to the bank to get some more money and picked up some Starbucks to wake us up, then headed to the Cloth Market. Erich’s suit was completely done and, in total, only cost him $70 US! My jacket didn’t show up until an hour after it was supposed to, but still only cost me about $45 US and it fits like a glove! While we waited for my jacket to be finished, we walked around, and Erich bought me some new yarn for a belated Valentine’s Day present. He also paid for the rest of my jacket as part of my present. It was really sweet of him! He bought another jacket off the rack that looks great on him while the girls did some research for Hong Kong. Once my jacket was finished, we headed back to the ship.
We were lucky enough to do a crew tour in this port with the passengers. We went to the Ritz Carlton hotel to see a Chinese acrobatic show. It was some of the most amazing stuff I’ve ever seen! They could twist their bodies into really painful looking positions. There was one boy who couldn’t have been fourteen years old who could go into a full split, and then pull himself back up to standing using only his inner thigh muscles. Everyone, including the passengers, really enjoyed the show. They all chatted excitedly about their whole experience in Shanghai as we drove back to the ship. Now that the weather had finally cleared up, I was actually able to see out the windows of the bus. I was impressed to find a stunningly beautiful, clean city-center lined with modern-looking buildings, contemporary architecture, expensive, new cars cramming the streets, and manicured lawns and gardens threaded in between structures.
As we sailed away from Shanghai, I found myself truly sad that I had to leave such a wonderful place so soon. I wasn’t scared of Shanghai, I wasn’t depressed. In fact, I felt quite the opposite. I’m fond of Shanghai and I want to come back. It’s right up there with Singapore and Sydney on my list of international cities to visit again. Now, when I think of communist countries, my perceptions will be different. The cloud of grey and brown has been removed and the picture colored with bright images of an exciting destination poised to become one the world’s great modern cities.
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PS – Just in case something gets reported in the American news, a ferry hit the ship as we sailed out of Hong Kong. No one was hurt and the ship is fine, but it was a big enough deal that we had to drop anchor for a few hours outside of Hong Kong while the authorities inspected the ship and wrote a full report. Just thought I’d let everyone know I’m fine so you wouldn’t be worried!
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Trial starts for NC soldier acquitted in 3 deaths
An Army prosecutor on Wednesday methodically laid out the case against a 51-year-old soldier recalled to active duty so he could be tried a third time in the death of a woman and her two daughters about 25 years ago.
Capt. Nate Huff waited until the close of his half-hour presentation before explaining to the military jury that new DNA evidence had been found that indicated Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis had sex with Katie Eastburn.
Eastburn, 31, and her 5-year-old and 3-year-old daughters, were killed at their Fayetteville home in 1985. Only Eastburn's 22-month-old daughter, Jana, was left unharmed in her crib. The bodies were discovered days later by neighbors.
Hennis' defense attorney said prosecutors can't account for who had control of the DNA sample for more than a decade and genetic material from a different, unidentified man was found on a bloody towel at the scene and under the fingernails of the mother and one of her daughters.
"A DNA test itself does not say guilty," Lt. Col. Kris Poppe said.
Hennis, who had adopted the Eastburns' dog several days before the killings, was arrested four days after the bodies were found when a witness who reported seeing someone in the Eastburns' driveway late at night picked him out of a photo lineup.
The DNA evidence was collected from a rape kit. Hennis was also acquitted of rape, but doesn't face that charge because too much time has passed since that alleged crime occurred.
Eastburn's husband, Air Force Capt. Gary Eastburn, was in Alabama at squadron officers training school at the time of the killings. He was the first witness called by prosecutors, breaking down several times as he described the happy life he had with his family before they were killed.
Under questioning by the defense, Eastburn said he and his wife were frightened by a mysterious, threatening call she received a few weeks before she was killed.
Hennis was convicted in 1986 of the killings in civilian court and sentenced to death, but the state Supreme Court gave him a new trial, in part because the justices said the evidence was weak. He was acquitted in the second trial.
Hennis retired from the military in 2004 and was living in Lakewood, Wash., when a detective reviewing the case said he uncovered DNA evidence that couldn't be tested in the mid-1980s.
He couldn't be tried again in civilian court so he was charged by the military, which can pursue the case because its court system is a different jurisdiction.
The new evidence was given to Army investigators, who recalled Hennis to active duty in 2006 and brought him back to Fort Bragg.
Hennis made notes during the prosecutor's statement, but didn't look up as Huff described the crime. Hennis could face the death penalty if he's convicted.
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Manny Pacquiao's workout an exercise in sweat, promotional frivolity, party chatter
I believe it was "Peanuts" comic-strip star Charlie Brown who once said, "There are three things in life that people like to stare at: A flowing stream, a crackling fire and a Zamboni clearing the ice."
Let us add to that list the great Manny Pacquiao circling the ring, and firing his fists at an unseen opponent. Hard not to watch that.
There is an artistry in what Pacquiao does, both solitarily and, today, before more than 1,000 adoring fans at a warehouse-like workout space and media center at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Dallas. Checking him out at ringside is a breathtaking look at what it would be like to encounter a windmill in a tornado, to borrow a phrase once used by another legendary fictional character, Opie Taylor.
It was an open workout for the Pac Man, which means it was free and open to the public. And those who wanted to watch the finest pound-for-pound fighter on the planet stretch and punch and dance waited nearly an hour for that privilege. One woman, the dynamic Linda Parong of Dallas, took a personal day off work at a Dallas health-care clinic to watch Pacquiao swat and sweat.
"I am Filipino myself, so of course I am a Manny fan," she said. "Boxing is a national sport in the Philippines, and he is a national hero."
Parong has tickets to Saturday's fight. "The $50 ones. I am poor!" she said, wearing a Pacquiao T-shirt and relishing the chance to see the champ up close and personal.
And this was no photo-op, 20-minutes-and-done session. Pacquiao worked out for more than an hour and a half. At one point his trainer, Fast Freddie Roach, entered the ring wearing a body protector bearing the name of his gym in Hollywood (Wild Card) and the oversized hand pads trainers wear so their fighters can pummel their outstretched mitts. Pacquiao slammed away at Roach's hands and midsection with such fury that you prayed he wouldn't experience a Ricky Hatton flashback.
What was lacking were any words of import from this week's (lone) star attraction in the run-up to Saturday night's WBO welterweight title fight at Cowboys Stadium. Unlike yesterday, when challenger Joshua Clottey worked out for about 20 minutes and talked for at least 20 more, Pacquiao was almost entirely business. Oh, he did lend some promotional shenanigans to the session, posing for photos with none other than fight fan and former Cowboy playmaker Michael Irvin. Top Rank chief Bob Arum and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones joined in, and Pacquiao even "presented" Jones with a bottle of wine to replace the vino copped a few weeks ago during the NFL Scouting Combine by Saints coach Sean Payton.
The story there, as first reported by Sports Illustrated's Peter King, is that Jones had reserved a bottle of his favorite wine (Caymus Special Selection cabernet sauvignon) for the team's annual dinner at St. Elmo Steak House. But Payton and the Saints dined there the night before the Cowboys descended on the high-end eatery, and Payton ordered the very bottle reserved by Jones. Given that Payton and the Saints had just won the Super Bowl, they were delivered the wine set aside for Jones. Not satisfied with copping the bottle reserved for the vaunted Cowboys owner, Payton wrote a note to Jones and handed it to a waiter to be delivered to the Cowboys' table the next night. It read: "WHO DAT! World Champions XLIV Sean Payton".
Payton and Jones are friends, so there was a heavy dose of tomfoolery involved in this wine thing. But today, with Irvin onstage (or, rather, in ring), Pacquiao handed Jones a replacement bottle. And Jones allowed Pacquiao to wear Jones' 1996 Super Bowl ring. And Irvin playfully placed a closed fist against Pacquiao's cheek. The whole episode might have lasted longer than the duration of Saturday's fight, for which Pac Man is a heavy favorite.
This public display of boxing acumen and promotional chicanery quite pleased Arum, who took another in a series of swipes at how Las Vegas handles championship boxing.
"This is indicative of why Las Vegas is losing the edge to compete," Arum said while standing at ringside as Pacquiao went about his business. "The casinos, years ago, when (Marvelous Marvin) Hagler, (Sugar Ray) Leonard, (Thomas) Hearns and (Roberto) Duran were in their prime, used to have these training sessions open to the public. You'd charge $1 apiece and the money would go to charity. But the bean counters in the casinos figured it cost too much to open the room for free, so the open workouts died off in the 1990s.
"After that, they'd take the fighters to local gyms, but they couldn't accommodate these types of crowds, so the excitement was lost."
It wasn't lost today on Irvin, a man who knows a good time when he's dropped in the middle of it. I asked if he'd compare the fight atmosphere in Dallas to that in Vegas, he smiled that million-kilowatt smile and said, "First, when you see Cowboys Stadium it will blow you away."
Then he went regional.
"Dallas draws from both coasts, it's right in the middle of the country so everyone can converge here," he said. "You'll have, what, 50,000 people at this fight? We'd have 100,000 for (Floyd) Mayweather-Pacquiao, if they have it in Dallas, but Mayweather doesn't want that, I guess. What's that all about? But absolutely, Dallas has star power. What it doesn't have is the 24-hour party opportunities Las Vegas has. To suggest anyone matches Las Vegas as Sin City would be outlandish.
"But Dallas is a great place to party. There are many parties, and many willing participants who want to party. Trust me on this!"
There can be no argument, not with the Playmaker or anyone else in Big D. Dallas is a player, and it is taking its game to the masses.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.
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