Not Wanting To Offend

................... found online, Buzzfeed, I think

My Pickiness (from above): 
- In some cases: Blue Cheese and Liver
- If it has a head or thin/fine bones: Raw Fish and Cooked Fish

My Pickiness (not listed)
- Nothing TOO spicy

There are lots of items above that I don't really like - that I wouldn't order at a restaurant or cook with at home. However, hard to think that if I was visiting someone, and didn't want to offend them, what I wouldn't be able to just deal with and eat. The one that comes to mind is Liver, I really hate the taste of liver (and other organ meat) but in China I ended up eating it for breakfast a couple of times and got through it fine. Blue Cheese is really on a case by case bases, for example Blue Cheese Dressing is delicious, a hunk of Blue Cheese plain is uneatable.

Let me know in the comments, how picky are you?

Long Flight

I had been thinking that the 11 hour flight between Paris and Cape Town would be my longest in air. However, Jason kept mentioning my trip to Asia. However, I flew from Vancouver to Beijing so it wasn't as far as doing a direct from Toronto - I didn't think it had been that long.

Looking back in Always Standing it turns out he was right, that flight to China was almost 14 hours long. (According to what I wrote on July 25, 2010.)

Yes This Is Was A Hack

The message between the dashes was posted yesterday on Always Standing (don't click the link):

--

hi Blog

https://goo.gl/Azbvsi

My best to you

Chris Tine

--

Jason texted me to say that he thought my blog had been hacked, I went and looked and said, "Nope, my email was."

For Blogger, you can set up a Mail-to-Blogger feature. I turned it on when I was in China, and my posts sent through it then actually look a little different (smaller serif-style font, no links, or spacing, etc.). This feature is still turned-on in the settings of Always Standing, and the email address used to send posts is saved into my email contacts.

So, my email was hacked and they sent the link to some of my contacts, the "Blog" is the name I saved the email address under and "Chris Tine" is what my name shows up as when I email someone. Normally when this happens people respond to say your email has been hacked. It used to happen like this fairly regularly to various friends of mine - I would say about five years ago I was probably getting an email like that from a contact about once a month.

Be Smile

I enjoy running across badly translated English. I saw the following on a website for a hotel in China:

Join us NOW!

Be surprised.

Be satisfied.

Be smile!

At work we are in the process of doing the opposite. We are getting ready to launch the Chinese version of our website, hopefully we get the translation edited properly. Ideally we will not make mistakes in Mandarin that end up reading like the section quoted above. However, I like the idea of "Be smile!" it is a good goal or life motto.

Travel Diary - Saturday August 1, 2015

Date: Saturday August 1, 2015
Theme/Title: Focus on Food
Overview: Brunch at Foreign Cinema, Were running late for a free city walk at Palace of Fine Arts (which was mainly ended up being focused on EXPO 1915) so we took a Lyft and got a very helpful driver. Wandered over to The Tonga Room in the basement of the San Francisco Fairmont. Then headed to Hawker Fare for dinner, an Asian inspired place that Greg had found. Jason and I went back to the hotel and the others went out for drinks.
Woke-up: 9:30am
Transportation/Distance: A few kilometers walking and a few on buses.
Meals: Amazing egg scramble at Foreign Cinema, a 'hipster' place suggested by Matt. Fun fruity drinks at Tonga Room with some shared snacks. Jason and I split a beef and broccoli dish at Hawker Fare.
Highlight of the Day: Brunch!
Lesson Learnt: The Fresh Rice Paper Spring Rolls at The Tonga Room are not good value for the price, but the Mahe'e is (a big pile of crispy calamari).
Quote of the Day: "Where are we going?" asked by F many many times as he tried to comprehend why we were planning our day around eating at various notable places.
Night's Accommodation: 'The fun room' (with the king bed) shared with Jason

Travel Diary - Friday July 31, 2015

Date: Friday July 31, 2015
Theme/Title: Lots of Walking
Overview: Waited forever for cable car, eventually got on one and took a ride up one of San Francisco's many hills. Discovered another line up at Mama's restaurant and were too hungry to wait, Ended up in Little Italy and had brunch at an awesome Italian cafe, Cavalli Cafe. Walked through Chinatown, and made a quick stop to visit a fortune cookie factory. Took a free walking tour through the financial district focused on architecture. Did the sunset Alcatraz tour. Met up with F and his friends for dinner.
Woke-up: 7:00am
Transportation/Distance: Cable Car - 2km. Boat - 3km. Walking - 10km (added up)
Meals: Lots of Italian! Scrambled eggs and buffalo mozzarella for breakfast. Caprese salad for dinner. Canolli to finish off both meals.

Jail Cell Doors - Alcatraz

Photo by ME with my phone

Highlight of the Day: Alcatraz was incredible! At the end of our visit they did a demonstration of the doors opening and closing that was equal parts creepy and cool.
Lesson Learnt: How a cable car works (and that walking a few stops up from the start of the route will help skip the huge line up.)
Song of the Day: Tanti Auguri - The Happy Birthday Song sung by cute waiters in Italian to Monica, for her 'birthday'
Quote of the Day: "Can I be your personal attendant?" - Me asking Monica if I can join her on the accessibility train for the trip down the big hill at Alcatraz (she is still recovering from knee surgery.)
Night's Accommodation: Shared double room with Monica and F at The Clift (who's main floor turns into a night club on the weekends - there was a bouncer at the elevators.)

Back To Work

I love my job! It is a four-day work week and I am going to be swamped, but I am excited. This is the next couple of months for me - Forrec booth locations at our next three tradeshows - Hong Kong, Atlanta, and Duabi, here we come!

Money Challenge - Week 6

COUPLE CHALLENGE 
Time Frame: By Monday June 10
Budget out Jason and my trip to Calgary that is coming in July. 
I didn't keep track or plan out the spending for my big China, Mongolia, Russia, Iceland trip and to this day I don't know what that summer cost me (I don't like to think about it.) Jason and I plan to sit down and map out the various costs and activities that we are planning. Hopefully we can stay with friends and family (Anne or ERin or Mike) for some of the days. We also probably need to rent a car for certain periods of time. We should look into ticket and admission costs as well. It was an amazing birthday gift and I think it is a good idea to make sure it doesn't cost a ridiculous amount.

Top 10 Books Read In The World

---- From Twitter, By Jared Fanning

The Top 10 Books Read In The World

As you know, I love visual representation of data, but for those in a rush I will break down what the above says. Also, this shows once again what a terrible English Major I am. Only read 5 of the 10!!

The numbers are based on the number of books printed and sold over the last 50 years. (Some titles may have had more titles printed, but then they didn't sell so it can be assumed those weren't read.)

- Read - The Holy Bible  (3,900,000,000, almost 4 billion!) In Grade 6, I got the little red version from The Shiners and in the front it outlined a breakdown as to how to read it in a year. I am very glad I took the time each night to read it and got through the whole thing. I don't remember much but it is an excellent base to have when reading anything else.

- Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mai Tse-Tung (820,000,000, also known as The Little Red Book)

- Read - Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (400,000,000)

- Partially/Barely Read - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (103,000,000)

- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (65,000,000) I want to read this, planning on putting it on my Xmas list

- Read - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (57,000,000)

- The Twilight Saga Stephenie Meyer (43,000,000)

- Read - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (33,000,000)

- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (30,000,000) I have never even heard of this one

- The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank (27,000,000) Keep meaning to read this, putting it on my Xmas list too

How many have you read?

Bank Inflation

A few years ago Bank of Montreal (BMO) added a new feature to their ATMs, I think it is called "Fast Cash" and it used to just dispense $40 and then spit out your card right away; this eliminates lots of steps, like the ATM asking if you want to do another interaction or if you want a receipt. (I actually rarely use this feature.) I noticed the other day that this amount has skyrocketed. Some machines now say they dispense $60 for their "Fast Cash" feature and at others I have seen $100.  Doesn't this just encourage people to carry more money and spend more? Is that in a banks best interest? Perhaps, through focus groups, or trends, or something, they determined that these amounts were preferred by customers instead of the original $40.

I just researched this ATM feature online, yes I do things like that when I'm curious. The BMO website now says that some ATM machines have a feature on them that you can program ATM customizations into your card. This includes language preferences but also the amount you want the ATM to suggest for the "Fast Cash" option. Then instead of just "Fast Cash" and the amount selected by the bank you get the option of  "My Usual Fast Cash" and the amount that you have programed. I don't think I have a usual amount so won't be doing this but I think it is cool to see these slight changes in machines that we basically take for granted.

Side note: I swear I have been places in Europe where ATMs did not have fees at the machine (just charged quietly afterwards by your own bank back home.) However, my brief research on this fact doesn't seem to outline where I would have been, since most places have the fees when you are using a bank's ATM other than your own. Also, Yen and I got in a huge debate before we left for China since I wasn't taking much cash (actually only the Yan that Taylor and Kristen had given me.) I insisted that I would pull from an ATM once we got there and that was the easiest and often cheapest way to do it - he insisted that my card would not work. Of course it worked and I still believe that when traveling pulling cash from a foreign ATM with your bank card is pretty much the best way to do it.

First Photo

A couple of weeks back, morning.
Kristen and I are getting ready to commute to work.
I'm in my room, Kristen is in the kitchen.
Kristen: Can I look at your new phone?
Me: Sure!
Kristen: Wow, the camera is really good.
CLICK!
Me: Did you just take a picture?
Kristen: Yeah.
Me: That is the first photo taken on the phone.
Kristen: Oh, cool.
Me: What did you take it of?
Kristen: The bamboo.
Me: What?...Why?
Kristen: It is zen.

"It is zen."
By Kristen G.
Taken using my Google phone, the Samsung Nexus S

A Trip In Toronto

It is past midnight at Union Station. Drunk teens stumble on the platform talking about delays. I'm tipsy too. It is a Tuesday. March Break for them - not for me.

The walls are torn down. Renovations at Union are not featured on TLC. I can't determine if this end of the platform will be the front or back. No arrows here. I should stay in the DWA anyway, even though I want to go searching for arrows. Looking for the back.

The train arrives. It was the front. It is a 'new' one. Long, sleek silver, shiny, silent - or only silent because I'm not quite sober. The inside is silent too. Not empty but silent. Every other time I have stood in this kind there has been a quiet steady chatter. Excitement about progress. Complaints about change. Comments on new features. It's either too common by now to generate a response or it is too late at night to care.

But I can walk. The best of the new features. No walls. A long mirage of shifting red and white and grey stretching out in front of me. Mirrors upon mirrors reflecting poles and people.

I slowly walk the length. Nothing moves around me. Starts and stops aren't like a street car. "Next station - is interchange station - St. George Station." Just a pressure against me when gliding to a stop. An airless wind - pushing slightly - barely slows my walk.

At the far end I can sit. The pace is fittingly train-like and I am transported, for the first time while on the TTC, to other great subways of the world; remembering: New York, Paris, Beijing, London. Smooth with that special sound.

But I can't rest my head. The worst of the new features. The windows are deeper. Putting the plexiglass uncomfortably far from my head. My neck sinks to my shoulders, my ears to my chin, my head to my neck, my chin to my coat collar.

The doors slide open at St. Claire. The walk has brought me to the back. The back has brought me to the stairs. I slowly climb the escalator to snake my way outside. Two-tone brown tiles. This is not Beijing or New York. Not Paris or London. Can't call the tiles chocolate and beige. 60s, maybe 70s, and definitely Toronto.

Are You A Donor?

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, Blood Donation is an important and amazing thing. I have been unable to donate blood for the last year since you have to wait a year after visiting Northern China, but I plan to make an appointment by the end of the month. They called me to tell me my wait time was up and I'm nervous but still excited to get back into that chair and give blood again.

But this post is about another type of donation - organ donation. There is such a huge shortage of organs and tissue in Ontario that the need outweighs the availability. More than 1,500 Ontarians are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and thousands more are waiting for a tissue transplant. Every three days someone dies in Ontario waiting for a life-saving transplant. It is frightening that it could end up being someone I know and love, or that it could even be me one day.

One donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation, and help up to 75 others through tissue donation. You may have signed your donor card but that isn't always enough. (I actually don't even know where mine is, though I know I have signed at least two of them in my lifetime.) The card may not be available when the information is needed, so be sure to discuss your decision to donate with your family and friends. My parents know that I am a full organ donor with no exceptions. Though I'm sure medically a number of my organs will not be viable (eyes for one, and if I keep drinking maybe the liver and kidneys.) They also know that I am open to donating my body to science if that is a more viable option. Also, I know that my parents are organ donors but not comfortable donating to science. Discuss these things with people close to you. Everyone has different preferences and it is important to be clear what they are.

Even beyond the donor card and making your decisions clear to family and friends, the best option is to register the information with Ontario Health. When you register your consent to donate organs and tissue, this information is stored in a Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care database. The ministry will disclose information about your decision to Trillium Gift of Life Network, Ontario's organ and tissue donation agency, for the purpose of ensuring that your decision to donate is known and respected. By registering your consent to donate, you ensure that your decision is recorded and can be made available when it is needed.

REGISTER NOW

Broad & Short 3/4 Portraits

The Fan Series
By Stephanie Beach Photography

I'm visiting in Ottawa and helping Steph finish up some portrait assignments for her current photography course. I brought along this fan that I bought in China this summer. It was so useful at the time since it was insanely hot and when waiting in train stations I noticed everyone had them. I kept it as a souvenir. The assignment is Broad & Short 3/4 Portraits. So, 3/4 Portraits are when 3/4 of the face is lit and the other 1/4 is shadowed, which is all of these. Broad lighting occurs when the lit side of the face is towards the camra, pictures 1 & 3 above. Pictures 2 & 4 use short lighting, when the shadowed side of the face is towards the camera. I prefer short lighting, it is way more flattering.

Matt's Blog

Matt and I worked together at Natural Resources. He left before I did to go and do his Masters in the States. This is a picture from when I went to visit him in New York City a couple of years ago. (I look horrible.) He is now done his Masters and about to do the same trip that I just completed. (Trans-Siberian/Mongolian railway through Russia, Mongolia, and China.) However, Matt is doing the Trans-Siberian in the reverse direction than me and he is doing it in the winter!! I have added the blog that he and his travel-companions are doing to the My Links on the left. I know that the My Links section needs some revamping and I hope to get to it sometime over the holiday season.

Passing Them Along

I love buying travel books but I don't really love owning books. (This is something I'm working on though.) I especially love the EyeWitness Top 10 city guides but sometimes a trip calls for something a little bigger. For my big trip this summer, I had a Top 10 for St. Petersburg and Beijing, many thanks to JennB last Christmas for those. However, it was a long trip, both in time and distance, also a bit of a strange trip. I felt I needed to get some real travel guides for this one. I picked up the only two available for the Trans-Siberian: Trans-Siberian Handbook and Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian Railway. One of my favourite things about getting guidebooks is that when friends, and even acquaintances, go to visit the same places I lend them out. Each time the person writes their name inside the front cover and the date of their trip, my Top 10 Paris one has upwards of 8 or so uses. I figured no one I knew would ever be taking this trip and I would end up saving these as souvenirs. In an awesome turn of fate, a friend of mine is going in January! I am mailing him the books today (which is why I took a photo with them.) I have added his blog to My Links to the left so you can follow along on Matt's journey. I'm very jealous that he is going in the winter.

I Love Binx But

I Want A Baby Tiger
Photo by Christine Sweeton
Siberian Tiger Preserve, Harbin, China
July 30, 2010

Sorry I was looking to post another picture and just got drawn to him again. So cute! Since I don't have a digital camera at the moment and am unable to post pictures of myself and my life in Toronto, maybe I will have this little guy substitute for a while. I did take a whole bunch of pictures of him, there are so many more. (The China pictures aren't up on Facebook yet either, I have gotten bogged down by school and the trip photos have stopped for the moment but I promise Mongolia, China, and Western Canada are coming.)

Itchy

Hanging Temple
Datong, China
Photo by Me

I am already craving another trip. My parents are going to Cuba in December and I'm a little jealous. I have never been to an all-inclusive resort and would love a vacation. But, I would also like to go travelling again. I don't even know where it is I want to go, there is so much to see.

A Tiger Photo Series

And so the story goes...

Some tigers are in the water. Ya know, just chillin'.

-

Then an SUV arrives...

-

The tigers are intrigued...

-

They throw a duck into the water with the tigers.
People pay for this, $30 US for a duck. ($200 US for a full cow.)
I did not pay for it, but someone did, so I got to watch.

-

So, the duck gets attacked.
One tiger doesn't really care, he already has a duck.

-

He got the duck. Now there are two tigers with ducks!

-

But wait. Oh, oh, Duck is getting away!!

-

Duck doesn't stand a chance, everyone is coming over!

-

There is a tussle...

-

And a tiger grabs the duck and runs up the hill away from the others.

-

The remaining tigers look inquisitively at the SUV.
"More duck? Why no duck? Maybe little duck?"

-

End it off with a sleeping baby tiger...

--All photos by Christine Sweeton
Siberian Tiger Preserve, Harbin, China
July 30, 2010

Ittinerary Update - Mongolia

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per my trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.)
I should be ....

Arriving in Ulaan Baatar!!
The tour boards a train in Beijing, China set to go to Mongolia early in the morning on Wednesday August 4th. However it isn't until the next day, Thursday August 5th, that we arrive in the nation's capital, crossing over the border from China to Mongolia at some point in the night.