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May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 February 2005 June 2005 February 2006 March 2006

News, thoughts and random stuff from Todd:

This page is a weblog with the newest posts at the top of the page. Scroll down to see any older posts you may have missed.

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Sunday, July 27, 2003

- postcard from Beijing

China is not another country, it is another world that continues to boggle my mind with the scale of the place, population and cultural rift that separates this world from the one I come from. This country is only 54 years old but has over 3,500 years of tumultuous history that reads like a soap opera you might call contrived if you did not know it was mostly true.

Read more...

- posted at 1:06 AM

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- Photos from Shanghai and Beijing

The second batch of China photos is now online at ofoto.com. enjoy!
Albums:

Shainghai- Paris of the East

Beijing- The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and more

- posted at 12:42 AM

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Sunday, July 13, 2003

- I am here. Where are you?

Check out the new New Guest Map to see where other visitors to this site are from and add your own flag to the map.

- posted at 11:01 AM

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Friday, July 11, 2003

- Book Review: Red Sorghum

Mo Yan, one of China's leading writers of our time follows three generations of a Chinese family through historical events that shaped China and the Chinese people. Red Sorghum is a great read while on a 24 hour train ride through China. I will be looking for more translations of his work in book stores.

- posted at 4:11 AM

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- Hello my name is:

While surfing sites for Chinese language help (I am totally lost) I stumbled upon this site Mandarin tools which has a tool for picking a Chinese name if you input a bit of information about your self. My Chinese name is Ma Tuda. Ma is my sur-name and TuDa is my "given name." Tu means path or Journey and Da means arrive at or reach. Fitting huh? Give it a whirl and see what turns up, each time you try it will give you a variation.

- posted at 3:58 AM

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Wednesday, July 09, 2003

- My kind of bar

My hotel here in Shanghai has a bar in it (normal) with a dart board (Cool) and a climbing wall (now this is my kind of bar!) Not a bad place to crash after a 24 hour train from Hong Kong. I went across the river for sunset and there were no less than 3 Thai resrants and a Thai food mart. They all looked brand new and none of the staff spoke Thai or english so I am clueless. (I had chinese for dinner)

- posted at 10:55 AM

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Sunday, July 06, 2003

- Hong Kong photos

The first set of photos from Hong Kong have been uploaded:Hong Kong photo album A special thanks to Emily for the intro to her friend Candy who in turn introduced me to her sister Jade and friend Sylvia. The three of them took great care of me and showed me a great time in some of the local hangouts.

- posted at 6:18 AM

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Thursday, July 03, 2003

- Hello Hong Kong

On my first full day in Hong Kong I was heading out at about noon (jet lagged) to get some food before doing some book shopping. Well as I was walking down the street I hear a voice call out "Todd!" hard to miss with all the other voices chattering away in Cantonese. I turn around and there is Emily, Davids ex who told me she would still be in Italy till the end of July. In 5 years of living in the same city we NEVER bumped into each other in NYC. Here I am in a city of 6 million and I can't get 3 blocks from my hotel before I bump into a friend from NYC who now lives in Rome. I guess China is part of the Small world theory.

Well she and her mom took me out to lunch before the headed off to go in to China for a day or two. Today I took a Jet boat to Macau with my dad in the morning and when he went to work I went out to wander, sight see and melt in the heat. Tonight I went out with one of Emily's HK friends from school along with her sister and her sisters friend. They will meet up with me again tomorrow night to ride up Victoria peak. So far Hong Kong is a friendly little town.

- posted at 1:03 PM

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Wednesday, July 02, 2003

- Book review: The Ends of the Earth

The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy
With a title like this how could I not read it? The facts and trends in much of the third world may be grim but they can not be ignored and shen light on core issues we all face. Robert Kaplan wrote this book in 94 but it has lost little to time. If anything some of his prodictions have made the journey to reality and the way he explores the culture, politics and economy of each country through interviewing anyone he comes into contact with is an insperation to my own travels. A special thanks to Suzanne Drakborg for giving me this great gift.

- posted at 8:39 PM

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