Hello Buddy, How Are You?

I believe that the best friend is your treasure in your life. You can make many friends, even you keep fairly close relationship with some of them, but the chance that you can get best friend is rarely. One of my best friends, Byrd Moore, we have learnt each other more than ten years and he will be my children’s godfather in the future.  

It is said that you couldn’t find friends in the office. It maybe true in the most of times, but it also has exception, such as Byrd; he was my colleague in Imation (3M). We knew each other owed to the project we fulfilled; we were both the project team member, he had solid technical background and I had rich marketing & sales experience. We’d like to use “solid” to praise each other in our team at that time; and till now “solid” is the symbol of that working period and the proper word that describes our friendship.

We had been a good friend while the project was accomplished. And after that, our friendship became more and more profound. We often went out of office and had a cup of coffee in the afternoon while we felt tired; we also had some drinks when we finished our overtime job and dinner together. We exchanged our thoughts in terms of our works and communicated our plans in the future. When I left from Imation, we were close friends; although we would not work together, we also keep close contact and we both enrolled in MBA program. Our topics also were broader than before, from works to our personal lives.

The one thing that I will never forget due to it let us become the best friends. That was a rainy night, I got Byrd’s phone call; he said that he had resigned from Imation and hadn’t received any new offers. I knew his characters and recognized that he must meet some unusual things; otherwise he would not make this kind of decision. But I only can talk few words briefly with him due to I was having the meeting with my boss, and I promised that I would call back to him later. When the meeting finished and I rang Byrd, but his phone was switched off. I tried many times to ring him at that night, and worried about him; fortunately, we got the contact in the next day morning. Since then we both realized the weight of each other in our minds.

Now we haven’t many chances to meet together due to he is living in Lijiang, the city in Yunnan Province, and has his own business; but we still keep regular contact. There are many, many stories between us; it may need to write a book! J Herein, I just want to say, hello buddy, how are you?

My Spring Break --- Transportation Experience in Norfolk, Virginia

In this spring break, Margaret and I visited Norfolk in Virginia and Washington, DC. The reason we chose Norfolk, the city which is not so famous, because it is the home of world’s largest naval base; I love navy and join navy was my dream. As for transportation, we had three options: driving, Amtrak and Greyhound; and we’d like to ride Greyhound because we thought Greyhound is one of symbols of American culture.

Like Big Hook?

In this trip, we had a bus tour in Naval Station Norfolk, enjoyed cherry blossoming beside Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, and visited Smithsonian Museums, such as National Gallery of Art etc. All of these make the trip full of exciting; without exception, transportation experience is a very important part, especially in Norfolk.  

Norfolk's Darkness

When we arrived in Norfolk, it was getting dark, and no cabs were waiting outside. We tried to look for car rental service and failed due to there wasn’t any service networks around Greyhound station. We also stood at the bus stop but no bus arrived. Fortunately, a cab came to pick up us through the help from customer service desk. I inwardly felt transportation might be the main issue throughout the trip in Norfolk. At the hotel reception, I asked the question on car rental service and was told that it was only available at airport and downtown, where both far from our hotel. It seemed we only can place the hope to HRT (Hampton Roads Transit) which provide light rail and bus services, like MTA in NYC.

The second day, sunny day, beautiful beach, peaceful city… everything was satisfied; we went to Norfolk Naval Base according to our plan. The bus stop was easy to find, but the same thing was happened like the day before, i.e. no bus came to the stop. We decided to walk along the street and enjoy the beauty of the Norfolk landscape. We passed by three or four bus stops, there still hadn’t bus and also without people at he stop. It was hardly to learn the reason because seldom had I seen people on the street… Finally, we went back to the hotel and asked for cab service. Later, we knew that the bus service only run one time per hour in Norfolk and people living in Norfolk are dominated by automobiles. Gosh… US is called the country on the wheels, I really understood it at that time.

The rest time in Norfolk our transportation depended on the cab. We were very happy because we can go where we want to go and the transportation cost also under our control; at the same time, we got to know Valerie, our exclusive cab driver, have stayed in Norfolk for five years. She is a black lady, warm and friendly; we chatted in the car from her job to her children etc. She knows this city very well and then she had another role, i.e. our tourist guider. 

The view of waterfront

When we talk about transportation in Norfolk, the paddlewheel ferry is really worthwhile to experience; and I think it helps HRT saves the faceJ. It is fast, economical and offers a unique view of the Elizabeth River and the waterfront.

Norfolk isn't like the metropolitan city which has completed and concenient public transportation system; but from the other side, it has less noise and more quiet, less dirty and more cleaning, less chaos and more peaceful. Just one tip: if you want to enjoy the life in there, please have your own car or you can fly... 

The Longest Day

Do you like travel? If you ask me this question, I will say yes without hesitation; but when I think it over, I’m not sure about that because travel has wide meaning and it is just “the general activity of moving from one place to another.” Travel can be a tour, it also can be a boring business trip, or it is a daily commute from a city to another. Therefore, my feeling on travel is complex; I’d like to talk about my “longest day” this time, joyful coexisting with painful.

The experience of my “longest day” was happened in one of my business trips. I used to travel by early flight when I had business trip, and this special trip was without exception. It happened in Feb., 2005, when most of people still enjoyed Chinese New Year vacation; I travelled from Shanghai to Shenyang, which locates in the northeast of China. I got up around 5:00am and caught the first flight. Everything seemed on track, I arrived at Pudong Airport (one of airports in Shanghai) and the plane departed on time. I took a nap like I usually did and was waiting for the plane landing; the whole journey would take two hours. When I was dazed with nap, I felt the plane started landing. What’s up? The time was passed a half hour only; the broadcast from captain soon told us because of mechanical trouble we must land at Hongqiao Airport, another airport in Shanghai which is close to my home. After landing, we transferred to Pudong Airport again by bus; it was around 10:00am. Five hours had been passed since I got up and what I can do was waiting for an uncertain time that plane took off.

This painful experience was just beginning; otherwise that day would not be the longest. Sooner we got the announcement that we could take off at 12:00pm. I was so appreciated the airline company’s punctuality, the plane departed from airport according to the schedule; and I was really tired and fell asleep quickly. It has another 30 minutes flight time to destination when I woke; but in the meantime we got the depressed information that the plane should turn back due to destination weather issue. I was almost collapse! Ten hours passed! I couldn’t believe that I was still in Shanghai since my eyes opened in the morning. I was only keeping my fingers crossed that everything was going to be OK and imaged some pleasant scenes, such as drinking with friends after landing etc. Fortunately, the air flight wasn’t cancelled. After two hours’ waiting, the plane finally accomplished its mission; I safely arrived to Shenyang at 7:30pm.

The same coin has two sides. In fact, on the other side, this travel experience was a good opportunity to practice my patience, let me keep optimistic mind. Meanwhile, the time wasn’t waste too much because I finished couple reports while I was waiting. I feel happy so far although that is my “longest day”.

This is travel, full of surprise; you will never know what will happen. Just free your mind, stay clam and face it; nothing is impossible!

I Love Kitchen

What kind of thing or activity should be the man’s favorite, cigar, jazz, wine or something else? Today I’d like talk about things relate to kitchen because staying in the kitchen is one of my favorites. In this small space, many things for your loved and yourself can be performed, such as cooking, living alone for moments etc.

Like many people, I love cooking. I had worked in Canton for almost two years while I was single and lived apart from my parents. Cantonese cuisine is famous on its soup. Varied raw materials of food according to its character put into a big pot with plenty of water and boil; when you lift the lid after couple hours, the instant feeling is extremely beautiful. I think I love cooking maybe since that time. Every week I would take half day in the kitchen, and make delicious soup for myself. As time went by, I returned to Shanghai and was more and more busy, overtime work became the part of my life; but when I back home and stayed in my kitchen, even just cooked an instant noodle would also let me felt very comfortable.

Since I have been married, kitchen is still my favorite place. Everyday if I see our kitchen lighting in the far distance on the way to home, then I know someone is waiting for me at there; this moment is the most happiest time of whole day. Although my work is busy, I also make sure cooking couple times every week. I’d like make coffees, a piece of toast and fried egg in the morning for my wife; or cook some Chinese foods and share with my parents.

Moreover, my kitchen performs a new function while more and more appliances added. It becomes my space that I can have some snack, coffee and drinks; I can enjoy my living alone moments, maybe just sit there and stare into space.

Love your family, love yourself and you will love staying in the kitchen.