In 1931, a Chinese steamship and the British submarine HMS Poseidon collided off the coast of northern China. It was a turbulent time in the region and just months before Japan invaded Manchuria.The Poseidon was hailed as the best of its kind, not unlike the Titanic. A new … [Read more...]
The Tokyo Olympics the last time around
When I learned that Tokyo will be hosting the 2020 Olympic games, one thought came to mind before all others: my mom was at Olympics when it last was in Tokyo.That was in 1964.According to my mom, the city wasn't yet equipped to hold the masses of spectators who … [Read more...]
Back to Broadway
Ever since I turned 40, my husband Tom, number one son Jake, and I have been going to hole-in-the-wall restaurants for my birthday. We've done Ethiopian, Costa Rican, Korean, and last night Vietnamese.We trekked out to New Chinatown, an area on the northside of Chicago … [Read more...]
The Grandmaster
Last night I dragged my 15-year-old son and a friend of his to see Wong Kar-wai's latest film, The Grandmaster. I'm not super into the somewhat-recent kung fu flicks, although I loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But to me, anything by Wong Kar-wai deserves a cinema … [Read more...]
A gem close to home
At dinner last night, the subject of Cantonese and Mandarin came up again, namely the differences between the two and where each is spoken. So that led me to recount once again the story of how when I studied Mandarin in Hong Kong many years ago, I actually had to leave the … [Read more...]
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