Writes of Passage

10 Columbus Cir,
New York, NY 10019

Poor men’s place to have a Japanese meal. It’s next door to Masa – maybe it should called Masa Next Door as Nobu ha ha ha – on the 4th floor at Columbus Circle/Time Warner.

The decor is sleek, and ever the sporadic Japanese style, which I don’t dislike. However, for the price they’re charging, the furniture is on dingy side.

They offer fixed menu. Small portion. Not bad, but totally not worth the money. A young couple on a first or early date who looked a little awkward. My dessert came with green powder beneath and theirs did not. So I joked to them to complain. The boy prompted did. A little relief for them, and, also, a call-out on the kitchen.

Don’t think I’ll return because of the price.

#28

This community (near Taoranting Park 陶然亭公园) with pink buildings on the south edge of the second ring belongs to the Railroad

• 2014.06.24, a bike
• 2014-06-17, bathroom guy
• 2014-06-15, building site found ancient artifacts
• 2014-06-04 parking

花梗胡同 No. 23 Huageng Hutong, Jiaodaokou East Street, Dongcheng, Back Lakes (Hou Hai), Beijing, China 100007

The old info is still available online even the hostel has gone out of business since October 2013 (the earliest reviews were all in Chinese, around August 2010). This is the current situation. Another siheyuan in Beijing.

Professional pix

Those pictures are from the travelers (they look pretty professional too):

The aerial view of FFM – Frankfurt am Main. The Lufthansa imprints. More pix on piwigo

My long trip starts from Frankfurt. Do I still feel the same way when I hear German? The language synonymous of power, competence, strength and, most importantly, prosperity?

The country is still breathtakingly beautiful and romantic, the quality that pulled me in in the first place. However, what’s wrong with Germany? Have their southern cousins Greeks, Italians and Spaniards dragged them down? How long can it sustain the rest of EU? The alliance eliminated the possibility of war, as some Germans think but seriously I don’t see any wars between or among them any time soon, prior the formation of EU. Trade war yes.

My gut feeling is Germany is at its wits end. It’s no energy nor mean to lift the sinking boat (of southern neighbors).

The security point (at the transfer from the flight LH 721 fm BJ to LH404 to NY) was rude. It’s an empty area, I was surprised to even find a check point. The women were just simply rude. One of the men harassed me with my two bags of sesame, asking if he could test it. As it happened, I have two separate identical containers in two separate bags. He tested one. To me, untrained in the national security, it looks like harassment to me. The public sector is faltering. The private side seems ok, although most businesses away from Frankfurt accept cash only.

我一直喜欢德国尤其法兰克福。但是昨天那一刻我真想告诉那不礼貌的女人，你小破国一个. … 直觉强盛一时的德国，不知道还能支撑南方的邻居多久？

The varied classes of Lufthansa. Renate came to pick me up at FRA. The escalator at the Frankfurt airport didn’t work and the trains were messed up between platforms. Renate was mad and cursed out loud! You go girl! We ended up taking taxi home. The escalator failed to work again when I returned to FRA from Beijing on the A380. Carrying the carry on climb the steps is not fun. Mechanical failures in Germany, seemingly odd given their reputation.

Went for a walk on Leipziger Str and dinner at Falkstr 45. Meeting their friends at dinner: Paul who knew Yue Xu (she married a French, last he knew). They all knew about the song the East is Red 东方红.

Breakfast at Falk Hotel on Saturday, 5/24; bike washer and walked around the neighborhood. I walked the Bockenheimer Str to town, passing by the Alte Oper. Getting wifi in the Apple store.  Food fair n cost of pears, by the water. Falungong 法轮功; downtown, Roemer

More than 140 friends from over 35 countries – Yes, I’m the only one from the USA – come to celebrate Renate’s birthday and anniversary, includes the Maliks

• the birthday girl
• the people
• the food
• the flowers
• the dancers
• the musicians

Thank you for having me !!! It’s a blast !!! Our little after party ..

We went to Kassel, an of course stopped by the Bergpark Wilhelmsh