KLB - Korea Bound
Someone referred me to the following blog as there are a couple of short posts about the books. The author of the site ordered books and has the pics to prove it, including this one that cracked me up and made my day.
It's always nice to see someone out there that I don't really know making innocent Koreans pose with a copy of KLB - Special Edition! That made my day. Thanks, Mike. Very funny photo indeed! Now, if you can only get Tony Blair holding that thing, I'd be set for awhile. Are you ready for the challenge? Oops, wrong country. I guess Mike is not from England, but rather London, Ontario, Canada. I didn't know Canada had a London, but then again, I'm from Liverpool, New York. Well, I guess a new challenge is in order. Maybe Mike can get some of these famous people to hold it! Maybe even Peter North! By the way, I didn't know half the people on that list were Canadians, did you?
Anyway, make sure you check it out Mike's website here: Korea Bound
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written by shawn matthews
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KLB - Beijing (8)
If you think it's all fun, fame and glory having a blog, think again. I already did this post and I swear, on the very last sentence I hit something by mistake and Explorer froze and crashed. Now I have to do it again!
OK, here it goes. This is what I got for lunch yesterday while Jake was at work. Chow Mien, da bao (to go). I also stopped next door while the food was being prepared and picked up another movie. On the way back I got that ice cold Coke just outside Jake's building at a little store. A mountain of noodles, a movie, a bottle of Coke - all for $2. Just noticed there's only one chopstick sticking out of the bowl? That's how talented I've become with them. I only need one.
Later, I met Jake and his friend Steve from England who took us to a restaurant with pictures on the menu. "Any place that has pictures on the menu in China is a place I frequently visit," he said. It was good, too. We ordered about 5 or 6 dishes. The one in the center is some kind of delicious fish soup. On the left is beef and onions still cooking on a stone plate. Everything was delicious, including the fruit with sweet custard sauce. Very nice!
Today, the stomach was a bit off again, go figure. A lot of bubbling and grumbling, so it was pizza. Ham and mushroom. Just down the road is a fantastic authentic Italian restaurant. Sometimes we eat there on the nice outdoor deck, other times we order for delivery. They have 25 kinds of pizza and an amazing...
Lasagna! This was the best lasagna I've had in Asia, and maybe ever, sorry Mom! It was excellent, even if it was a bit greasy. Who cares! I'm on no diet. With all the runs last week I've lost a few kilograms. (There's a bright side to everything!) They even give you the dish it's cooked in. Western food here is much cheaper than Korea, but still quite expensive for China. The large pizza was $6 and the lasagna was around $5. Worth every yuan to me, of course!
Finally, here is a picture of Jake and his girlfriend. She's 22, a university student, very pretty and has a really warm-hearted personality. Not only that but this girl thinks nothing about making dinner, washing the dishes (she feels bad leaving them for the maid), giving Jake, that slimebag, a long massage (and whatever else he wants!) every night she's here and just being sweet and kind to him in general. Now, let me clarify: she doesn't just do all these things because she's unempowered as a woman and hasn't seen enough Oprah yet. No, she simply is a sweet and gentle femine creature who genuinely enjoys selflessly pampering her lover. According to Jake, Chinese girls are just like that. Women of the world, take note!
OK, so I sound jealous. The truth is, I'm not. I'm not ready to dive into another relationship, to be sure. And, I'm actually very happy for him. After hundreds of girls and one or two relationships gone kaput, "I've finally found one I can actually think about marrying, dude," he said to me with a straight face. "She's a keeper." He's quite a character. I've been taking a lot of notes...
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written by shawn matthews
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KLB - Beijing (7)
It's really a shopper's paradise in China - especially if you're into knockoffs and, let's face reality, who in China isn't? Here is a shot of some of the stuff I picked up the other day near the Holiday Inn. Though you can buy DVDs and CDs pretty much on any corner here, the areas near foreign hotels are the best for other things like Xbox games and "designer" clothes. And, as to be expected, the places are teeming with happy tourists.
Just to give you an idea, the DVDs and Xbox games are $1.15 (10 RMB) no matter where you go. The CDs are about $2. Everything else is negotiable. They start low and go way lower. After a year and a half in China, Jake has become an expert at bartering. He's so good at it that he makes me blush in awkward embarrassment. But he got me those Armani jeans for $15 (down from $30) each, and they have all the name brands: Levis, Diesel, Paper Denim, the works. The Samsonite computer bag, he negotiated from $12 to $7. I also got a really nice leather Polo wallet for $5, all the way down from $15 (Jake burst into laughter at that price). Personally I was ready to pay the first price on most things, but Jake gets a thrill out of arguing in Chinese, so I let him take charge. Anyway, I can't get over the quality of the imitations. The jeans are excellent, even after a few washings. They're pretty much the real deal as far as I can tell. The person who made them probably made the same amount as the person making the real ones, too, at the factory next door.
Everything looks like the orignal. Look at this video game. It's an exact replica, packaging and all, though you should ditch all packaging before leaving China or risk having your new collection confiscated at the airport. I guess CDs are OK. The last time I bought a fake movie in Korea it cost me 9,000 won ($9) and consisted of a poorly photocopied inlay, a regular plastic case, and a plain white DVD-R disk. Not in China, the shit is spot on. I guess except for shoes. They look good too, but according to Jake, they fall apart quickly. Everything is copied here. Jake's going to pick up a bag of Calloway golf clubs before going home for under $100, which I guess is a great price, though I'm no golfer.
I guess some of you have been pretty disappointed with the updating, but hang in there. Because of the sheer enormity of the pictures and material I have to write and post about which is all unrelated to "Korea" Life Blog, I have been working offline on an E-book. I will make it available in a few weeks for download from the KLB bookstore for anyone interested in all this stuff about China, which I have to say is quite interesting. It will have all the photos and all the commentary you're used to seeing here on KLB, but, of course, it will be all about China. Since I may even be here longer than I planned, (it's a damn good time here) it might wind up pretty thick in content. Hang in there and thanks for reading as always!
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written by shawn matthews
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