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When it comes to portraying an image, no country is more paranoid than China and if you watched the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony, you will have gotten a sense of how far China will take it. Remember how the performers were all of the same height? What about the cheerleading girls welcoming the country parade? It's hard not to notice that they all look the same - same height, same body dimension and even their camera-friendly faces looked the same. And who can forget the incredible 9 year old who sang before the raising of the flag? An amazingly adorable girl with eyes that seem to sparkle on camera. How far did they go to find this girl among their billion people? Apparently, they found two: one for the voice, the other for the face. The voice was actually that of a 7 year-old (girl on left) but she didn't have the right face so instead the 9 year old (girl on right) took the stand lip syncing to the other's voice. 
Isn't that just horrible? Devastating for a child's confidence by anyone's standard! When questioned, the general music designer for the Olympics explained: "The reason was for national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression." Wow, talk about cold. So what else was doctored? "...not only did organizers fake the song, but they also have acknowledged that one early sequence of the stunning fireworks shown to television viewers actually included digitally enhanced computer graphics used for 'theatrical effect'" Indeed, only in China. Read the full article here. P.S. It was still the most amazing Olympic Ceremony I've seen and will be hard to top.
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Last friday, Xiao Hai Ou dance group took part in CBC's Olympic Activities at their broadcast center. The video is now up and can be viewed at CBC. Xiao Hai Ou's segment is the last 3 minutes of their August 8th coverage.
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That's right, I've started a new blog because the world needs yet another inactive blog! :)
Okay, there is a reason behind this fiasco. My mom started a Chinese folk dance group for children in February 2007 and since then, the group has grown to the point where a website would be useful. And lo and behold, after hacking for a few hours I've put together a website for Xiao Hai Ou Dance Group with a nice little blog. The group was originally called "Little Seagull Dance Group" which is a direct translation but given the not-so-nice image of Seagulls in western culture, we've decided to settle with the Chinese name. In China, the name has a certain elegance to it (not my words).
Check out the website and if you know anyone who is interested in joining, let me know!
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Weeks before the 2008 Olympic games, the host city for sailing gets hit by an explosion of algae growth. It actually looks quite disgusting! Despite having more than 10,000 people involved in the clean up, it will still take over two weeks to clear the water.  
More photos
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I'm not sure which one of us came up with the idea but somehow Andrew and I decided that Spring snowboarding would be better in shorts. As bad as my knees ended up looking, it was the result of falling forward only twice. But hey, no adventure without adversity! More pictures. 
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I'm a fan of steaks and whenever I have a craving, I head down to the Keg or the Coliseum Pizza & Steakhouse. If you are unfamiliar with the latter, thats because its not the type of place you'd expect to have good steaks. The building is nondescript and located in a shadier area of town, caters towards the average Joe. The interior is minimalistic and the one colored theme gives a very monotone mood. But don't let all that fool you because they know how to make a mean steak and given their price point, it is my steakhouse of choice. Granted, I haven't been to too many steakhouses but I haven't found a better one thus far and Ric's Grill is no different. Sharon and I visited Ric's Grill during Edmonton's Dining Week where as a participating restaurant, they featured several of their existing menu items at a discounted price. However, it would seem that their participation was nothing more than a gesture. When we arrived at the restaurant, there was no indication of their participation nor were we handed the dining week menu. We politely asked for the menu but was told we had to indicate our interest during the reservation which makes absolutely no sense! Given that the items on the dining week menu are what they normally serve, their statement gives me the impression that they need to know ahead of time to segregate us from their normal patrons. Are they planning to serve us the bad cuts? Seat us by the bathrooms? Under staff our section? There was no mention anywhere that notice had to be given when making reservations and based on the conversations of our neighboring patron, it seems like we weren't the only ones scammed. Such act reminds me of the de facto customer service promising your satisfaction or your money back. It's found on literally almost every product from electronics to instant noodles because yes, it makes perfect sense for me to mail you back a half-eaten bowl of instant noodles so I can get my 50 cents back. I hate companies who make gestures knowing that there are enough barriers in place to prevent people from taking advantage of it. I'm sure my initial impression of Ric's Grill didn't help the rest of my experience. Sharon ordered the 6oz Filet Mignon and I ordered the 12oz Top Sirloin, both medium rare.  
My steak was flavourful in its initial bites but it seems someone forgot to drain the juices. By the time I was done, my plate looked like it would fit nicely in a horror movie. Its worth noting the steak was exceptionally thick which makes it harder to grill and what surely contributed to the unappetizing aftermath. The food was good but definitely nothing special and given my dislike of their policies, I don't have any intention to return in the near future. You can read Sharon's take on the restaurant here.
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I tend to be passionate about anything I work on and this usually leads me to collect items associated with my work. Back in December, I unsuccessfully bidded for a teddy bear at CN's United Way Auction and the only way to get one was to wait for the next annual auction or my next trip to Montreal where the CN store is located. Oddly enough, when I started Spring cleaning today I found a teddy bear given to me by my Uncle who was a long time worker at CN. It was given to me in the 1980's but I have no recollection of it. I'm glad I found it! 
Certain fashion never dies - wearing stripes was and is still cool
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Okay so the price gouging isn't exactly news but I didn't join the iPod game until this Christmas when I picked up a 16 gb iPod Touch. All I wanted for accessories was a simple case but they all came at $25 upwards! I ended up throwing down $35, a price that could have fed a family of four at a Chinese restaurant! Fortunately, I can take some comfort after being told about DealExtreme, a site that specializes in extremely inexpensive electronics and accessories. I wouldn't trust all my electronic needs to this site, but there are times when you really don't care about the brand. I purchased several items and it finally arrived today. Here's the scoop: Cost: $25 includes shipping (free for all orders) Talk about competitive pricing! There was almost no aesthetic value in the packaging and the products look even cheaper than the pictures on the website. In this case, the packaging is good news because it means all the costs have been used for the functionality and they do hold up! The crystal case is perfect. The ear phones don't quite fit right and the sound quality isn't great but it is perfect for the gym. The FM transmitter requires the car adapter to boost the signal and despite the bad sound quality, the iTrip isn't much better either. The power adapter was back ordered but when it arrives, I expect it to be ugly looking yet functional. This certainly makes my $35 case look like a designer brand! This does, however, beg the question of how DealExtreme even makes a profits. International shipping isn't cheap and the product prices are probably close to the street price in China. I didn't pay any custom fees either so how they actually turn this into a working business model is beyond me. Smuggled goods anyone?
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A cool video on BBC showing new technology for cars that can avoid collisions.
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If you know a little about Sharon, you might know that she has become somewhat of an aspiring chef and food critic. In fact, she recently joined the ranks of food enthusiasts as a winner of the Edmonton Journal's annual "Cooking in the Loft" contest! Congrats!
Pop over to her website where you can see some of her creations and you'll realize that she can do much more than ice cream sandwiches :)
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I was setting up another blog reader account at NewsGator and as part of setup, I was given the option to pre-populate my subscription list:
Paris Hilton should NOT be a category.
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Okay, so I'm a little late with the birthday wishes but I figured it's better than having another "update" title. Nevertheless, this is still an update: :)
- On saturday, I performed at the Winspear with my choir (Taiwan University Alumni Association Chorus). The concert is a joint collaboration between my choir and the Vancouver Singing Choir. We performed with them years ago in Vancouver so it was nice to have them come and return the favor. The theme of the concert is Butterfly Lovers and if you're familiar with the story's music, you'll probably know why our concert ended up being 3.5 hours long. My brother and I also performed a duet so when the dvd for the concert comes out in 2-3 months, I'll post it up.
- This weekend was unusually busy. In addition to the concert, I attended my friend's wedding on saturday and then emceed his second dinner reception on Sunday. I took a little time off on Monday but still managed to put in a full day's worth of work.
- One choir down, another takes its place. I'll be performing with another choir (I don't even know their name) at Grant MacEwan early next month.
- My mom's youth dance group, The Little Birds (translated from Chinese), will be performing at the Heritage Day opening ceremony (August 4th, 6 pm). I'll be there helping my mom out so look for me if you're going to be there!
- Can a radio station be sued for releasing personal information? That's what happened today when someone at 104.9 FM forgot to hit the off button while taking personal information from a listener!
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Given that the Grand Prix was this weekend, I'm a little disappointed that I had to leave Saturday morning. After I completed my job training on Friday, I spent all evening walking around downtown enjoying the festivities. The streets were crowded with people, much like Whyte Ave. during the Stanley Cup Finals, and the many events in the area stretched for blocks. I watched the French Connection Fashion Show, explored the block full of unique cars including an original prototype of the Spyder being sold for $100,000, stumbled my way onto a BMW Race Car display and then finally joined the main celebration on Rue Crescent where games, vendors and a performance stage had people crowded heel to heel. At times, the sheer number of people and humidity had me gasping for air and taking shelter in an air conditioned boutique. I really enjoyed my week of training in Montreal. I met a lot of talented people at CN, had a chance to explore the city and taking all into consideration, I wouldn't mind living in Montreal for a few years. And from the sounds of it, my job may have me going back to Montreal every now and then!
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And for those not interested in cars, there is always the fashion festival show next street over.
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