By Aaron on Sat, 09 Jun 2007

There are lots of questions, but one of my favorites is “Where are we going to eat?” Not just because I enjoy a good meal, but because there are so many great cuisines to be found here. Back in the US I was often asked what I missed most about my time in Taiwan and I would invariably include “the food” as part of my reply. While I can’t find Tian-Bu-La in Hong Kong, the food here is still excellent.

At this exact moment, I’m enjoying a quiet afternoon at the house while Jenny, Maeli and my mother visit some of the markets in Hong Kong. That means I have my choice of Lamma’s restaurants for dinner. Just considering the single village up the road, my options include:

• a vegan cafe (with great vegetarian lasagna and shepard pie)
• two decent Indian restaurants
• a small Thai shop
• a Japanese restaurant (with a decent sushi menu)
• a middle eastern place (falafal, lamb, etc.)
• a pizza joint (real pizza too)
• a few western style bars
• a few dessert shops including fresh cakes, pies and ice cream
• a dozen or so Chinese places with seafood specialties

And this is just all in walking distance on our tiny little island. Between Jenny’s excellent cooking and the food here in Hong Kong, I’m getting rather spoiled.

By Aaron on Sat, 09 Jun 2007

Last month I described the trouble my mother had getting a passport. Well, turns out the US government is now relaxing the rules on passport requirements. From the AP new story:

The US State Department announced Friday it was temporarily easing restrictions imposed this year that require Americans to have passports to travel to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

These are only temporary measures, so it’s still a good idea to apply for that passport sooner rather than later.

By Aaron on Fri, 01 Jun 2007

A few days ago I noted that we’ve had some technical difficulties. Really two things have happened: first, a hard drive that had most of our photos on it has become uncooperative and I’ve been trying to recover everything off of it with little success (I’ve even tried using dd to make a complete image of it, but the process seems to eventually fall asleep at just under 60 GB of the 120 GB drive). In any case, this has upset our usual flow of photo editing and article writing.

Secondly, from what I understand out website doesn’t display correctly in Internet Explorer. I only have access to Windows Vista at the moment so I know it displays correctly with IE 7, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our site is not pretty when viewed with earlier versions of IE common on Windows XP, 98 and other versions. I’m hoping to find time to fix this and perhaps even do away with the fixed column style we have right now, but this has consistently been an item at the bottom of the to do list.

So if you have had problems reading our website with IE, I apologize. I also strongly recommend that you try out the web browser Mozilla Firefox. Not only does our website display well with Firefox, but you’ll also have features like tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, better security and you’ll be making the world a nicer place¹. It’s very easy to install and use, so try it out.

¹ Really, you will. I’m not joking. Web developers around the world will love you for it. :-)

By Aaron on Wed, 30 May 2007

Today when I mentioned having visited a notorious landmark in Hong Kong, the Chung King Mansions, a city native responded, “Wow. I’ve never been there but I’ve seen it on TV.” Now it’s quite understandable why someone might not want to visit a place known for its seedy stores and questionable activities. Nevertheless I find it interesting that life-long locals have often never visited the very places in their neighborhoods which tourist come to see. It’s the New Yorker who has never visited the Statue of Liberty or, closer to my own home town, the Pittsburgher who has never visited Falling Water.

As I settle into Hong Kong I’ve often silently promised myself that I’ll continue to explore this amazing city, visiting all the sites and scenes that others travel around the world to glimpse. Likewise, wherever you may happen to be, consider the local treasures that out of familiarity have failed to attract you. Someday you may find yourself on the other side of the world unable to turn the corner and visit them. I’ve yet to visit Falling Water myself.

By Aaron on Tue, 29 May 2007

As you may have noticed, we’ve slowed down on the website articles lately. Part of that is due to some technical glitches I keep meaning to fix and part of that is due to us falling into the natural rhythm of daily life. With work and visitors, life has been cruising along, though not without adventures worth sharing.

My mother is visiting us right now. Grandma’s can’t stay away from their only grandchild for too long. Her visit came as something of a Mother’s Day surprise. That is, we called her up on Mother’s Day and asked if she’d like to fly out to Hong Kong… at the end of the week. Well, it wasn’t as surprising as it sounds. We had talked about it a few times before. It was just a big surprise to everyone else. (You’re going where?... when???) Until we have matters settled for a helper to watch Maeli, we’re taking advantage of flying willing family members around the globe.

The biggest hurdle for my mother was getting her passport. We had been told that if she had a plane ticket in hand she could go directly to the passport office and get the application processed within a day. We needed a quick solution because even expedited service can take months with the current backlog.

The first time my mother called the office, she couldn’t even get through. So she woke up very early the next day and tried again. The automated system informed her she could have an appointment at the end of the month… weeks too late. She knew that the office opened at 6:00 AM, so at 5:58 AM she started calling and got into the phone queue. Eventually a human responded and after some tense moments, my mother was able to secure an appointment for the next day.

Visiting the passport office revealed just how lucky my mother was. She met many people there who had expedited their passport applications months ago and were now desperately attempting to track down the application in the system. After being told that their applications were still being processed and they should come into an office, one family drove the next day to DC from North Carolina only to then be told that their passports were being delivered to their home that morning. In comparison, my mother’s one day in-and-out experience was simple, quick and efficient.

Thankfully everything else went smoothly (well, the flights were rescheduled and then rescheduled again…). My mother arrived last week and has been enjoying the beach here on Lamma Island as well as the markets and greenery that Hong Kong offers.

So a word to any US citizens: if you’re in need of a passport, apply for it as early as possible or try your luck and head down to the office directly (you’ll need your plane tickets in hand).

By Aaron on Thu, 10 May 2007

Some readers have requested a way to print out many of our articles to read offline. First, I want to mention that we do have an atom feed. For those not familiar, weblog feeds are specially formatted versions of articles that can easily be read in a feed reader or aggregator such as Google Reader or Bloglines. The interesting part about feeds is that you don’t have to remember to regularly check a website in order to get updates. In fact, there are services that will deliver feeds directly to your email.

For those not interested in such complexities, I’ve put together a PDF version of all our articles in chronological order up to this date. At the moment this is a one-off process but eventually I’d like to automate it so that anyone can get the latest full archive of Peregrinari. Until then, I hope this will suffice:

• Download Peregrinari Archive [PDF, 2.3 MB]

By Aaron on Sat, 05 May 2007

I’m in London’s Heathrow airport right now. In case you happen to be considering a layover through Heathrow any time soon, here are some pointers:

• You can only take one piece of carry-on luggage. Not a shoulder bag and some luggage, not a purse and another bag. Just one bag.
• You will have to go through security again.
• If you have to switch terminals, you’ll need an hour layover minimum. Two hours is better.
• If you want to go into London during your layover you should have at least six hours free. I would recommend more. You’ll spend about three hours just getting in and out of the airport. There are tours available but I think you need to sign up ahead of time (not sure).

I didn’t take a tour of London. My layovers have been just long enough to be too long, but not that long. But it’s not all that bad. It gives me plenty of time to catch up on the hundreds of emails I have in my inbox.

(note: the photo below is not London, but from this last week in Amsterdam)

By Aaron on Mon, 30 Apr 2007

Today was Queen’s Day in Amsterdam. Last night I enjoyed walking through the city with fellow Apache folks, Noel Bergman, Robert Donkin, Nick Kew, Bill Rowe and Rich Bowen. A few of us ended up at a poolhall before finally heading back to the hotel. I have to admit that I’m pretty horrible at pool. For some reason, understanding the physics of it just isn’t enough.

Today I had the chance to finally meet Niclas Hedhman in person, a friend of mine from the good ol’ Avalon days. We braved the crowds on the street—we could barely walk through some areas. I eventually took off to try and capture the day with my camera. The photos are up on Flickr now.

Tomorrow is the start of ApacheCon which I’ll cover in my other blog, Cubicle Muses.

By J Aaron Farr on Sat, 28 Apr 2007

As mentioned I’m flying to Amsterdam tonight. Actually, I’m flying from Hong Kong to London and then to Amsterdam. Since my laptop battery won’t last that long, I’m bringing along two books, The Little Schemer and The Trouble with Physics, both of which I started before but haven’t finished yet.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of electronic books as PDFs. I couldn’t take my computer book library with me to Hong Kong, so I bought electronic versions of what books I could find. I’ve actually come to enjoy some of the features e-books provide, such as quick search, annotations, and bookmarking. But reading on my laptop screen is still not as nice as reading paper (and it strains my eyes).

So I’ve been on the lookout for a good e-book reader, primarily for reading PDFs. The two best options on the market right now are Sony’s Reader and “iRex’s Illiad.“http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad From the reviews I’ve read about Sony’s device, its use as a PDF reader is limited. I haven’t seen any decent reviews of the Illiad. Both are over-priced in my opinion, but I’m starting to get desperate. Being able to take several books and articles with me to read on boats, trains or planes (let alone the beach) is a convenience I need.

The critical features of a good e-book reader are long battery life and excellent screen contrast. The best screen technology out there right now is E-Ink which despite only being gray-scale is perfect in just about every other way. Smartphones and PDAs are simply too small and have too poor of battery life to be seriously considered.

If anyone knows of other solutions, I’d love to hear of them.

By Aaron on Wed, 25 Apr 2007

Now that we’re “settled” in Hong Kong, I thought I’d take the time to write a few articles on some of our lessons_learned getting here. I’ve often stopped and wondered “How could we have done this better?” Given the information we had, and the goals we had, I think we’ve done pretty well. But there’s always room for improvement. For this first entry, we’ll deal with our nemesis: luggage.

When we originally planned this journey, we expected our luggage to be:

• Two large suitcases
• One backpack
• One small strollable bag
• One two year old

As we were packing we realized that while we could fit everything in the two big suitcases, they were very heavy. In fact, we knew we’d be hit with overweight charges by the airlines. So we made a choice. We had a third, small suitcase and we decided to take it as well and split the weight across them. Of course, that gave us a little extra room so we ended up packing a few books and things we originally hadn’t indended on taking.

What a difference one suitcase makes.

That suitcase was just one suitcase too many. It meant that we never quite had enough hands to carry everything, particularly when Maeli was a bit uncooperative. While it gave us room to carry things we picked up along the way, it also meant our luggage was constantly getting heavier, despite discarding some things along the way.

So, lesson number one is only take as much luggage as you can easily handle.

While we moved around a lot, the days during which we had to deal with luggage were certainly a small minority. So what’s the big deal, right? Just one day of inconvenience and then once we’re at the hotel or apartment, who cares?

What’s perhaps more interesting to me is how our luggage started dictating where we would go or stay and what we could do. For any move, we had to figure out how to handle the luggage transportation. Were there a lot of steps? Could we keep the luggage somewhere while we went out to get something to eat? Was there room for the luggage in the hotel, car, train, plane, or boat?

One reason we decided to bring all this stuff with us (it didn’s seem like much, we gave away most everything we owned before we left) was to avoid having to ship things to us later. However, in retrospect, the cost of shipping is low versus the cost of carrying the luggage around China. Had we taken a more “backpacking” approach, then we would have considered some smaller hotels and hostels.

There were lots of reasons we didn’t backpack across China: We had no idea what we’d find here. What would the hotels really be like? Would they be suitable for a family with a small child? What did we really need to take with us? What could we reliably find in the cities we were visiting? And there were business decisions too, such as the location and quality of a hotel, or access to internet.

Now we know we could have backpacked through China and left a lot of luggage at home. It would have been a different (cheaper) sort of adventure, not necessarily a better or worse one. But for those wondering if it’s possible, well, I’ll say that it certainly is. That still may not make it the right decision, and it may not have been for us, but family travelers should at least consider it.

By J Aaron Farr on Fri, 13 Apr 2007

Today I took a ferry from Lamma Island to Hong Kong Island where I took a train to Lantau Island where the AsiaWorld-Expo center and airport is located. After attending Electronics & Components China Sourcing Fair, I took a plane in the afternoon to Taiwan (another island). An hour bus ride brought me to Taipei where I’ll attend the Open Source Developers Conference. I’m sitting here eating my Tian-Bu-La and wondering if I’m feeling carsick, seasick, or airsick. Actually, I don’t feel ill but the hotel room does seem to be moving. I’ll blame it on the ferry.

By Aaron on Fri, 06 Apr 2007

In case the video was a little too fast for you, I’ve put together a Google Map of our travels. Unfortunately, the links are not in chronological order (Google needs to add re-ordering to their new My Maps feature), but it should give you a chance to see where we’ve been, as well as a view of our new apartment. The map is best viewed in satellite mode.

By Aaron on Mon, 26 Mar 2007

When I was younger I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books. I think the first one I ever read had something to do about frost giants. Or maybe wizards. I never cheated by looking ahead, but I do admit to occasionally using bookmarks to save a known safe point in case I needed to backtrack. If only it were that simple these days…

Our current adventure just got a new plot twist. Just as we were about to settle down here in Zhuhai, we got some new information about Jenny’s English teaching position. Or I should say, we finally got all the information we had originally asked for. And it turns out that this position just simply isn’t going to work for us. So with that option now closed and only a week left before visas, classes and short-term leases all end, we’re now scrambling to make the next move.

This last weekend I was in Hong Kong renewing my own visa. To receive the coveted six month multiple entry business visa, one must first obtain two thirty day single entry business visas. Of course this means several expensive trips to Hong Kong and pricey rushed visas (since expediting the visa is cheaper than staying longer in Hong Kong). So far I had one tourist visa and one business visa. This time around I struck out and rather than getting the business visa I wanted, they gave me a tourist visa. Since I haven’t yet set up a representational office in mainland China, I don’t have a lot of leverage attempting to get a visa on my own. I have some contacts that could help me out, but I’ve been hesitant to play those cards until I really needed them.

In light of these developments, the temptation to simply go back to reside in Hong Kong is becoming irresistible. This weekend Jenny sent out twenty resumes to schools in Hong Kong and we’re already getting some responses. If we can find a position that pays enough to cover the basic expenses of Hong Kong life, we’ll probably move there next week. Or maybe we’ll just take a job with another school in Zhuhai. Who knows?

• Join the rest of the expats in Hong Kong. Turn to page 10.
• Become a migrant worker in China. Turn to page 42.
• Live in a tent on a Thailand beach. Turn to page 17.
• Return to American Suburbia and buy a Hummer. Turn to page 66.

By Aaron on Sun, 18 Mar 2007

In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with our travels, we’ve prepared a quick two minute tour via Google Earth that highlights the places we’ve been. Enjoy!

By Aaron on Tue, 13 Mar 2007

The US may be the hub of the global marketplace, but try and find a local street market with fresh fish, live chickens, and cheap mismatched clothes and you’ll come up empty. They’ve been walmarted and suburbanized out of existance. But such markets are alive and well here in China and Taiwan. From what I understand, they’re becoming more rare in Hong Kong though. Street side vendors are allowed to continue to operate, but can only pass the business on to the next of kin. Since these parents have higher hopes for their children many of these stalls will close up within a generation.

In China and Taiwan, street markets are where you can find everything from fresh food to new shoes to the latest unreleased DVD. I particularly love the markets in Taiwan. Dounan’s morning market the day before Chinese New Year was packed to the point of immobility. Everything necessary for a proper feast could be bought. You could watch your chicken meet its demise right there, pick up live shrimp, or any of another hundred ingredients.

Meanwhile, the night markets are part fair, part outdoor warehouse. And the food is the best. Stinky tofu, fresh juice drinks, BBQ squid, and my favorite, tian-bu-la. I always wished we had weekly or daily night markets in the US like they have in Taiwan. It would at least give kids something else to do in the evening. In the Dounan night market we watched some huckster gut snakes in front of a large crowd. The Shirlin night market in Taipei was the largest I had ever been to and made all others look tiny and empty. It spanned for blocks on end and I know we only saw a small part of it.

So far, we’ve been to morning or night markets in just about every single city we’ve visited. Each market has it’s own specialities and unique traits. Walking along these markets and enjoying the local tastes are one of my most favorite aspects of living here. You can see some of the markets we’ve visited on Flickr.

By Aaron on Fri, 09 Mar 2007

For when sweet and sour sauce just isn’t enough.

By Aaron on Wed, 21 Feb 2007

We left Dounan (also spelled Tounan, but pronounced like Dounan) just after lunch today. Our week with the Li family was terrific. They helped us feel at home and we enjoyed a new adventure each day. We also had a chance to visit my dear friends, the Wang family, in Huwei. Honestly, seeing the Wangs was the highlight of my time here.

One half of Taiwan is out visiting the other half this week and so the trains and highways are packed. We missed our chance to buy train tickets, so we took the four hour bus ride to Taipei. That trip covers more than half the length of Taiwan. Interestingly enough, I spent most of last year weekly commuting a similar distance from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, something unthinkable to most Taiwanese.

After arriving in Taipei we had to first pick up some luggage we had left at the LDS mission office here. We got tired of lugging everything around and so we dropped off what we didn’t need for a week when we were last up here on the way to Beitou. In case you were wondering, that’s why I’ve been without my nice camera too.

All this traveling turned out in our favor. We arrived at the famous Grand Hotel to find out basic rooms had been upgraded to the executive suite. These are definitely the nicest rooms we’ve had yet. Jenny can’t get over the heated toilet seats while I’m admiring the two LCD HDTVs. It will be hard to leave them tomorrow for the YMCA at Hong Kong.

Even though we’ve only been in Taipei for a few hours, we’ve already had some adventures In addition to our surprise accommodations, we went to the Shilin night market, the largest night market in the city. But I’ll save that story for the next entry…

By J Aaron Farr on Mon, 12 Feb 2007

My laptop has become a hub of activity for our on-the-road family. At one point this last week we were all using it at once: I was talking with William via Skype on a bluetooth headset, Jenny was reading and writing emails while Maeli was watching a movie in Quicktime in the corner of the screen. The demand for the Powerbook has been enough that I’ve promised Jenny that I’ll get her her own computer soon enough. But what I’m really looking for is an excuse to upgrade to a Macbook Pro and hand this one down. I think she’s on to me though.

We spent this weekend in Huwei, a small town in the middle of Taiwan that you won’t find on many maps. Well, maybe it’s not that small, but it’s close. I spent six months in 1999 in Huwei during my missionary service. It was there that I really started getting a hang of the language and made many good friends. This past weekend, We were there long enough to see some old friends and make plans for Chinese New Year. We’ll be back in Huwei this Thursday for the holiday.

Rather than go through the whole packing ritual just for a one night trip, we kept our room in Hsinchu, left most of our luggage there, and just took a few necessities to Huwei. Oddly enough, we ended up with the exact same room number in Huwei as Hsinchu. Weird.

By J Aaron Farr on Fri, 09 Feb 2007

When I’m asked here if I speak Chinese, I always respond with “A little.” That’s not completely true, but I hate to setup expectations. Breaking out my rusty Mandarin has produced some high and low points. For example, while booking hotels yesterday one individual asked if I was from Japan. I took it as a complement. That phone call went much better than one this morning during which the person who originally picked up eventually handed the phone to a friend after it became painfully clear we just weren’t connecting. You win some and you lose some.

Just in case you want to take the plunge and brush up on your Chinese, I recommend Chinesepod. as a good starting point. Oh and don’t forget to read Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard, it will make you come to your senses.

By J Aaron Farr on Sun, 28 Jan 2007

There is a conspiracy in China. In any place where one may be weighed down by luggage and young children, they build steps. I suspect the incentive is to encourage the local economy because wherever these steps are, so too is a throng of eager entrepreneurs anxious to make a few yuan by hulling my luggage up the stairs and to the train, taxi or boat. The rates range from quite reasonable (a few bucks USD) to rather ridiculous (you want $50 dollars for a flight of steps???). With little Maeli dancing between our three and a half pieces of luggage, I’m sure we look like prime customers. Giving in and trusting someone with all our goods can be a nervous experience but when we’ve finally ascended and decended all the flights of stairs between us and our destination, it was money well spent.

I’m not sure what is the most convenient way to get from Zhuhai to Macao. It might be by ferry. We took the land route. The ritual packing was finished by noon, and we climbed into a taxi that took us less than five miles to the border. From there we encountered the usual stairs and our luggage ended up on the cart of an old man who mostly spoke Cantonese. Then the waiting in lines began.

First we waited outside the China exit office… and then we waited inside. After getting our passports stamped (goodbye to China for now) we rushed to the Macao entry offices and waited again. All told it took us about two hours to get from The Holiday Inn of Zhuhai to the Pousada de Mong-Ha in Macao. Thus far we’ve been greeted by beautiful weather, palm trees, cars on the wrong side of the road, voices speaking Cantonese and signs in Portuguese. We’ll be here until February 1st when we’ll take the ferry to Hong Kong.

By J Aaron Farr on Wed, 24 Jan 2007

Monday we left Shanghai on a train to Guangzhou (aka Canton). This time we enjoyed the twenty-four hour ride in our own room by buying the tickets for all four beds. This wasn’t as excessive as it sounds—our luggage took up a whole bed anyway.

Having arrived in Guangzhou I left Maeli and Jenny at a Starbucks while I scouted for the bus station that would get us to Zhuhai. Turns out that bus station is almost a mile away. Since Jenny wasn’t too keen on discovering the joys of bus travel anyway, we found someone to drive us for 400 RMB. I’ve never seen a nicer Holiday Inn than the one where staying in now, but then thirty hours of traveling can make a Chinese Motel 6 look like the Hilton. Having survived one of those few question marks on our itinerary (just how do we get from Guangzhou to Zhuhai?) I figured it was downhill from here. Almost.

Getting what you want in China is not always easy, even when you do speak the language. Two (of many) recent examples: Despite listing ‘On-site Guest Self-Laundry Facilities (washer/dryer)’ on the Holiday Inn website, this hotel does not have self-serve washers and dryers. Asking for such at the desk got us two directions to the hotel laundry service room and one very odd expression. I could almost read her mind, “You’re a foreigner, staying at this hotel, and you want to do your own laundry?”

Asking for a newspaper only got me bad directions. First to the fifth floor business center which has plenty of newspapers to read while you sit and wait for your fax but none to buy. The second set of directions at least got me in the vicinity. The store they suggested didn’t have newspapers but the convenience store another block away did.

As is often the case when language and cultural barriers loom, your search results in something quite close to what you intended but not quite an exact match either. This sort of fuzzy living that one goes through factors into culture shock and can lead to frustration if patience isn’t applied. Luckily Jenny and I have each other to balance out emotional irregularities so when paper towels are more like tissue paper and the toilet is really a squatter we have a sympathetic ear nearby.

By J Aaron Farr on Thu, 18 Jan 2007

Here’s some advice if you ever plan on going to the great wall:

1. Stretch first
2. Don’t take a 2 year old unless you plan on carrying her
3. Go on a weekday
4. Go in winter
5. You don’t need to take a tour
6. Did I mention stretching?

Yesterday we went to the Great Wall at Badaling north of China. We decided to try and catch the bus rather than take a tour because we just wanted to go to the wall and not the Ming Tombs and tourist traps they herd you through. So we took a taxi to the bus stop and of course we were ambushed by drivers wanting to take us there. After some haggling, we actually got a decent rate for a private car to and from Badaling (300 RMB or 38 USD). The bus would have been cheaper but when traveling with Maeli, it’s sometimes nice to have a bit of comfort.

We arrived at Badaling around 1:00 PM. I was prepared for the usual swarm of tourists but since it was a Wednesday in January, it was practically deserted. Yesterday was also the warmest day we’ve had in Beijing (which is one reason why we decided to go then). It was certainly cold once you got high up on the wall, but it wasn’t frigid like other days have been here.

You can’t miss the western section of the wall at Badaling. Its steep assent memorised us that we didn’t even notice the much easier climb on the eastern wall. Our driver warned us several times to be careful. I imagine he might have been wondering if we’d make it back.

The wall at Badaling has been restored and is the most visited section. That said, it’s not tame by any sense of the word. The stairs ascending the mountain are dangerous, well worn and uneven—some as high as my knee. I was a bit worried about how we were going to get Maeli up to the first tower but somehow we did it, mostly by carrying her. Maeli openly enjoyed climbing the easier sections. She loves steps and the Great Wall was her paradise. Walking around town with Maeli is always a fun, albeit slow, adventure as she attempts to climb the stairs of every storefront. Every storefront.

“The cliffs of insanity!” was Jenny’s cry of achievement as we conquered the wall. At first Jenny wasn’t sure she even wanted to visit due to Maeli. She kept telling me to go alone. But once she got there and reached the watchtower she admitted this could be one of the finest achivements of her life. Later that night we watched The Princess Bride for good measure.

Speaking of later that night, we went out to dinner to Xiao Wang’s Home Restaurant which our travel guidebook rated number 1 in China. We couldn’t agree more. We enjoyed the deep fried spare ribs, succulent spicy eggplant, sauteed green beans with garlic and pork, and crispy sweet tofu (it’s amazing that tofu can mimic the taste and texture of marshmallows). The feast came to under $15.00 USD. Of course, Maeli downed a bowl of rice as she does at all of our outings. The service was, as Jenny puts it, top drawer. If you’re in Beijing, you can’t miss this place.

All in all, yesterday turned out to be one of our finest here in Beijing. A wonderful send off as we now pack for our redeye train to Shanghai.

By J Aaron Farr on Tue, 16 Jan 2007

We’ve been here about two weeks and already there are some items we brought which have become invaluable and others which, so far, are just extra dead weight. For example, most of the books we brought are still in the “book suitcase.” The hair dryer or extension cord? Haven’t used ‘em yet. But the ethernet cable I thought to bring saved my sanity for a few days.

Initially under-appreciated, the PSP has perhaps become our most valuable gadget in the bag. I’ve ripped copies of the Curious George movie, Sesame Street and Winnie the Pooh onto it. It’s turned out to be the perfect way to keep Maeli entertained at home or on the street. If you travel internationally with a 2 year old, don’t leave home without it.

By J Aaron Farr on Wed, 10 Jan 2007

The rest of our Forbidden City photos are finally uploaded.

By J Aaron Farr on Wed, 10 Jan 2007

Monday afternoon we transfered from the Wangfujing Grand Hotel to the much more modest Haoyuan Guesthouse. The Wangfujing Grand Hotel was a great place to spend our first few days as it provided a comfortable space for us to acclimate. Jenny especially enjoyed the pool and sauna.

But it wasn’t practical for us to stay there for the entirety of our visit to Beijing. The Haoyuan guesthouse provides all the real necessities we’re in need of and I love staying at a classical Qing period courtyard house. Haoyuan was actually our second choice, but the Bamboo Garden was booked. If you’re ever in Beijing I’d recommend any of these three hotels.

Our room has two beds, a small closet, two Qing style chairs, a desk, TV and a bathroom. It’s small but warm. There are actually two courtyards and I imagine in the spring and summer they must look even more beautiful. There’s a small restaurant at the back of the hotel with a fairly simple menu that’s not too overpriced. The hotel itself is located on a side street in a hutong, but it’s a short walk to catch a taxi. Even Tiananmen and the Forbidden City are still in walking distance.

We’ll be at this hotel until the 18th when we’ll take off for Shanghai.

By J Aaron Farr on Mon, 01 Jan 2007

I don’t recall the exact date when Jenny and I began planning our trip to China. There wasn’t a single day or conversation when we decided for certain that we were going. It began as a daydream and this week it turns into reality. I’d like to share some of the journey that’s gotten us this far.

Motivation

Over a year ago, in fact, almost two years ago, Jenny and I began talking about my aspirations to start my own business. At the time we had also considered going to Taiwan or China as I was anxious to eventually return there. Initially we understood these two dreams—a startup and China—as mutually exclusive. Then one day we opened our minds to the crazy idea of trying both at the same time. That launched more than a year of work preparing for both challenges.

I knew right away that we needed a year or more to be ready to launch the company, so I started searching for part-time MBA programs that I could complete within that time. I found the MBA program at Point Park University and enrolled in August of 2005. I also began looking for a new job that would improve our financial situation and provide more flexibility from which to launch the startup. I was lucky to land a consulting contract with Siemens Medical in Malven, PA where I worked on Eclipse RCP based products. Of course that meant I was traveling from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia each week between work and graduate school. Meanwhile, Jenny was coaching softball and began looking into English teaching positions abroad. She also did a tremendous amount of work handling our move from Delmont to Greensburg (more about that below) and simply helping me stay healthy and sane.

William and I kept in regular touch throughout the year, refining our business plans and slowly prototyping some of our software product ideas. Over the Fourth of July holiday we met here in Pittsburgh and officially formed The JadeTower Corporation. Since then we’ve continued our business planning, and while Jenny and I have prepared for China, William has steadily been researching and developing.

What We’re Not Taking

It’s an odd feeling giving up all your earthly possessions. Well perhaps we haven’t quite gone to that extreme, but it sometimes feels that way. In September we left the duplex we had rented in Delmont and moved into my in-law’s spare bedroom. Of course, to do that we had to get rid of a few things. We sold our appliances and most of our furniture. Most of our wardrobes went to family or charity. My home theatre system is now safely installed at my grandparent’s home.

But the task of unburdening ourselves was not done when we arrived at our new temporary residence. The move was just phase one. We’ve now sold both cars—yes, Jenny’s beloved Jeep has a new owner. We’ve made several trips to Goodwill donating more clothes, extra luggage, and random household items. I refurbished my desktop computers and gave those to family members. We canceled all of our accounts—netflix, vonage, sprint wireless, audible, and utilities. We consolidated our financial accounts and opened new ones with etrade. Bit by bit we’ve closed, sold, or given away almost everything that isn’t going with us.

We need to pack light since we’ll be moving around a lot for the first couple of months. We’re only taking one suitcase and a carry-on a piece. Maeli has a small little Curious George backpack that she can take her toys in. We bought a new backpack from REI for Jenny and laptop and camera roller bag that will soon be my portable office. Two weeks ago we “practice packed” to find out what exactly would fit. As we unpacked we wrote everything down so when we have to pack for real tomorrow we’ll know what we’re looking for.

Staying On Track

In May I created a Basecamp project to track all the information for this trip. That and a whiteboard has been invaluable to us. It gave us a calendar, message board for posting notes, and most importantly a to do list (that had well over 60 items only two weeks ago).

We also bought travel guides for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Initially I had thought I would just use the Internet for any travel guide related information, but I’m really glad we bought the guides. They helped out tremendously as we planned our itinerary.

And our itinerary is certainly full. Wednesday we’ll be flying from Pittsburgh to Beijing through Chicago on a one way ticket. Over the next two months we’ll be in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Macao, Hong Kong, Taipei and Hsinchu. At least that’s the plan so far. It’s bound to change as we adjust to new revelations and discoveries. The last item currently on our schedule is a flight from Taipei back to Hong Kong in the beginning of April. By that point we hope to know where we’ll be headed next and where we might end up settling down for the next year or more. But as of today, the future beyond April is both unknown and exciting to us.