Chinese food

Food in China is a bit different from the food in Sweden or any other western country. It is even different from the food you find in chinese restaurants in the western world. In the picture here for example you can see raw pigs brain served for the hotpot.

My collegues have asked me about food in China so I said that I will try to write about it when I am in China. I will try to take pictures at some dishes as well. So keep an eye on my blog for some time if you are curious what they serve in Shanghai!

Always be prepared

I will soon leave for a trip to Shanghai in China so I need a visa. Of course this can often lead to problems, like when I two years ago was refused to apply because the passport was damaged and I had to get a new one. That time I made a reclamation so I got a new one without having to pay for it but the new one kept the same old expire date, which is 5,5 months from now.

When you apply for visa the passport must be valid for at least 6 more months. Damn! So now, in slight panic, I had to apply for a new passport first and there were not so much time before I have to leave for China.

I was planning to get my haircut in China because it is such a nice experience and it is very very cheap. I really look like a long haired bum in my new passport. I really don't care but it is a pity because I was so damn handsome in my old passport. :P

I got my new passport one day earlier than what the police promised and I went directly to apply for the visa. So much people want to go to China at the same time as me!

They have open between 09:00 to 11:30 and it is always good to be there as soon as they open but I was a bit late so a lot of people got there before me. I got back to work just in time for lunch. Irritating to "waste" the whole morning for this. It should be more convenient with some Internet application or something and online payment.

The handling of the visa application usually takes three days so I was expecting to go there tomorrow but it was done one day earlier here as well so I got it today. I am so lucky! But of course I had some more problems except that I had to renew my passport.

This morning I planned to be at the embassy earlier so I don't have to stand in line and will be able to work one hour before lunch. I have so much to do at work. I managed and was there right after nine in the morning. I had a couple of persons before me in the queue and soon it was my turn. I started to get a but suspicious when I didn't see the online credit card reader standing next to the small hole in the wall. When I walked closed I saw the small machine on the other side where the young Chinese girl sat handing out visas.

It is broken! She said she is sorry and the machine broke last friday and I have to pay with cash and I am 80 sek short. Arrrgghh!!! OK, what to do? I can not start bidding for a lower price at the embassy. So I ask for the nearest ATM and they describe that I have to take the bus like three stops and walk to the TV house and then she said something that I didn't hear because I was starting to get distracted by my mind cursing the situation. During this time the Chinese girl had said sorry about 20 times. Well it is not her fault, even if I think they should have set up a big red sign with the information about CASH ONLY and a flashing light above the sign would be great too.

I started walking and I just missed the bus but I didn't care... I kept walking. I am used to walking. Most of the time I was thinking of how bad my tactics had failed. I will not be able to work before lunch. I was also thinking that it is quite far to the ATM and I was thinking of alternative ways to walk, but I restrained myself thinking that the girl probably know what is the closest way.

So I got to the TV house and I look around. Where is the ATM? I see no ATM! But I saw a lot of fancy people entering the house and at least one of them are a celebrity in Sweden. It was Andreas Lundstedt of the pop group Alcazar.

I turn left and walk away from the TV house towards a lot of signs hanging out from the building. I still see no ATM but suddenly a bus stops and people walk out and I can ask a lady for directions and not so far from here there is an ATM and she points me in the right direction and just before I walk away she say that there is another one inside the TV house. Another curse in my mind.

I get my money and start to walk back hoping to catch a bus on my way home because I am a bit sweaty and cold from the walk. Of course I have no luck and I have to walk all the way back to the embassy again to stand in queue again.

I finaly got my visa and can get on my way to work. I have to wait for the bus for ten minutes and in that time I got really cold because of my earlier sweaty walk that took me almost an hour. Now I am worried of getting a cold just in time for my trip to China on friday.

So what can we learn of this story? First I can think of is to take money with me even if you know there is a possability to pay with card. But I guess it all boils down to the old scout motto "be prepared".

Troy

When I am out listening on Sinéad O'Connor at YouTube I can share with this golden piece as well.

Jackie

One of the best songs of one of the best vocal artists Sinéad O'Connor.

Useful Emacs tricks

Slashdot just posted a question about their readers favorite tricks, macros, extensions, and techniques for Emacs. I bet you can find a lot of golden tips all in one page. The information in the comments will grow fast now. Join the fun! Hopefully someone will collect all this knowledge and put it online.

Firemacs - Emacs bindings for Firefox

I was reading blogs and found this entry about Firemacs. It is a great thing for us used to Emacs control key bindings. Now we can use it in our favourite browser Firefox. I have just tried the plugin for a couple of days but I found some small issues about some behaviours that I am used to that does not work the same any more. It is quite easy to configure in the way you want so it might not be so much trouble but it might be something that should be fixed for future releases. Try it out and see what you think about it! :)

We all love R2D2

Have you seen Star Wars? Yes I am sure you have. Most people have seen at least one episode of Star Wars. Some think they are silly space movies and some (like me) think they are really great epic space adventures. In these films we have some characters like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Yoda, C-3PO, R2-D2, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader and more.

Which is your favourite? For me it is very hard to choose between the human like characters because they are all so very different individuals and there is really nothing not to like. When it comes to the robotic characters there are a bit easier for me to choose. C-3PO is a lot of fun and stupid while he is an expert servant droid. R2-D2 is an extremely talented astromech droid and at the same time extremely cute both in shape and in its squeaking sounding beeps. I like cute stuff so R2-D2 is my favourite robot.

Wouldn't it be great to have your own R2-D2 unit? Or any astromech for that matter? They are as smart as humans and designed to serve or be your friend. You can play chess or a game of go against it and be sure to lose every time. It might even be able to teach you something of the games. It will walk (or what you call it) around in your home, minding its own business or maybe cleaning it for you. Pick up your dirty socks and tell you where you put your mp3 player when you think you lost it. Like any good behaving wife. ;)

Well... that day might soon be here... and while you are dreaming you can start to build your own astromech droid and then you can post pictures and stories about your progress at the official website of the R2-D2 builders club astromech.net. Check it out! This is really great nerdy sci-fi stuff! :D

About pumpkins

Talking about pumpkins and halloween. Check out these pumpkins down here! So amazing art! This guy have a site with a lot of pumpkin art and every year there is a competition. All these have won prices. The last picture is the cover of his book.






Check out more pumpkins at extremepumpkins.com.

Edit: I just found this one and I have to show you... :)