Lamaze GOLD! Live in Hong Kong!

Eric Lamaze has just won Canada's third gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games!

In Hong Kong!

Not only did he win the gold, but he did it on his final jump, competed in a jump off showdown with the favored Swede, and all this under the T3 Typhoon warning signal! How good is that!?

Visitors have said the horse jumping venue was great, but it's being torn down as it was only temporary. A good thing too, as one of the strongest typhoons since 1999 is approaching to rip everything to shreds!

Good job Eric!

p.s. I still think horse jumping is a lame Olympic event...

China Biased?! Really????

It would be really nice if some of the athletes in Beijing would actually step up and complain about the judging at the games instead of just talking about it afterwards.

2 Canadians were robbed of wins. The men's trampoline gold should have gone to a Canadian, but I guess we should have expected he was only going to get silver, because a Chinese athlete was in the final. Many of the Chinese fans were also complaining that the bronze medalist from China should have won gold instead. Also one of the taekwondo medal favorites from Canada got screwed by Chinese favoritism (the judge). Had she won, she would have faced a Chinese athlete in the next round, and kicked her ass. Can't have that happening in Beijing, not good for national interests...

Canada should just rig the entire winter games in Vancouver and see if anyone complains.

New Tourist Attraction?

Something to look out for if you're in Beijing the next couple of months. When I was there in November it was quite evident the city was trying to 'clean up' it's look for the Games. He obviously didn't see the sign that said no pictures.

"22.04 - Beijing resident arrested for filming his eviction to make way for Olympic installation

Wang Lianming was arrested for trying to film his family’s eviction from their home in Yangshan, a neighbourhood in the Beijing district of Chaoyang, in an operation carried out by around 200 police and security guards in order to demolish houses and make way for Olympic Games installations, reports Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD). The police threw him to the ground, handcuffed him, seized his camera and threatened to detain him for up to 15 days. He was taken to a nearby police station and released a few hours later.

According to the organisation Civil Rights and Livelihood, Wang’s family was not notified that the Chaoyang district court had ordered their eviction. No compensation is offered for such expropriations, which therefore violate article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, signed by China. The CHRD has urged the Chinese to put a stop to the evictions being carried out in order to renovate Beijing for the Olympics."

At least someone is reading.

I received my first anti-me comment! I feel special. If you want you can scroll down to the 'Otherside' post about a week ago and read the comments. If wheeling a mouse is too strenuous, I will summarize.

"...Don't blog if you can't get the facts right. Chinese media has been in Tibet the whole time. Why is someone as anti-China as you allowed into Hong Kong. If anything, China is being too soft..."

Maybe we should just send some tanks to smash them all? How about a public execution? I've seen the nice new "bird-cage" in Beijing, I'm sure blowing off some heads wouldn't rattle the IOC. Heck, since no one is going to the opening ceremonies anyway, why not make THAT the opening ceremony. "Free Tibet!...of all Tibetans!"

Alright seriously. I'm not one to really care if someone doesn't like what I write, it actually makes me happy to have some opposition finally. But in all honesty, your comment does nothing but confirm why I blog. People are idiots!

1) First of all, since when does blogging require that one tell the the truth? Ever hear of satire? If the nameless commentator is from China I suppose that's a possibility. Why does everything I write have to be truthful? There's all kinds of crap on the Internet, most of it false information. Still, I'm pretty sure I'm usually just giving my opinion and not preaching any hard truths, and most of what I say has been said by many many others.

2) If the Chinese media has been in Tibet the whole time, why did they choose not to prove it was all the Tibetan's fault and not the Chinese? Does it not seem fishy for the government to come out so strong against responsibility, and then not back it up with proof if they have it? Especially when they made such big promises about human rights? Just saying, seems fishy. I could care less if the Chinese media has been there the whole time, and I'm so sorry I said no one was getting in locally. That's just what the HK media said, but wait...I thought China still thought HK was China, so is China telling lies about China?

3) Did you know that Hong Kong was British for quite some time? There's actually quite a few people here who aren't too fond of China. Actually, at least a million of them. They all marched in protest against the Tienanmen Square incident. Oh I'm sorry, that never happened, sorry I'm telling lies again... Also, take a gander at the SCMP, or have a look through HK Magazine. If you think I should be deported, you'll love them.

4) If China is being too soft, maybe they should enlist the Dalai Lama, I hear he's quite a mean spirited old guy.

Like I said, I enjoy hearing people's opinion, as long as they are from a country where they are allowed to voice their opinion. I wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble...

Support The Beijing Olympics!

I just bought this T-Shirt :)

If you're interested in showing your support for the most oppressive and rigid Olympics ever, why not also pick up one of these neat looking t-shirts >>>> *** here *** <<<<

Save the Journalists

With so much media attention being given to the Tibet crisis in China, I thought this poster would also work with a Panda instead of an Elephant, and China instead of Africa.

3 Seconds of Heaven

I think we saw the Temple of Heaven. My pictures seem to say that we did. Honestly the tour was so quick it was hard to stop and take a picture. It was a very impressive structure, although the freshly painted surface made it seem quite new. It's at least a few hundred years old, if you want details you know where to find google.

Went for a stroll at night, through Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Sqaure is pretty quiet at night. The gates shut around 5pm, and then it gets dark and the light go on. It was a very foggy night, which added to the atmosphere. There weren't too many people out and about other than policemen and rickshaws.

Walking on The Great Wall of China!

We made it! After a rather interesting morning we finally had a chance to see the Great Wall of China! The section we went to was the Badaling leg. Rumour has it parts of it are somewhat "fake" or slightly over-renovated, but it's still impressive. The two hours we had to walk it were once-in-a-lifetime steps - it's still hard to believe we were actually on it.

The Great Pull-Car of China

Before I post any pictures from our walk along the Great Wall, you must see how we got up to the top of the section we visited. Walking perhaps? Nope. We took a "pull-car." Our tour guide had described it as a "cable-car" which would mean floating in the air usually, so I thought it was hilarious when we arrived to take this thing up the hill.

I enjoyed how it was lit with nice colorful neon lights in the tunnel.

There were random signs telling you "Do not get off!"

This thrill ride took about 7 minutes. The Great Wall is quite long so you can't really get to "The Top." It goes up and down and up and down many many times. Some parts much higher or steeper than others. We went to the Badaling section, which had a theoretical "top" you could climb to. We would not have had enough time without the help of the amazing pull-car/cable-car wannabe.

I think the Wall is losing some of it's mystique. The people who built it would be rolling in their graves at the state of things now.

Beijingphotostaketoooomuchtimemyeyeshurrrrrrt!

Hooraa! I've almost completed looking at and editing down the few hundred photos I'd taken from Beijing! Everything is starting to look the same so I should post a little about our trip before it's all a blur. I will elaborate more in future posts, but the trip was very very fast paced, we didn't stop to sit for more than a couple minutes. Our "tour-guides" were morons employed only with the task of taking our money at every turn. "Cash Grab" anyone? Beijing is an amazing city, but you cannot go anywhere without someone trying to rip you off, no matter how you look or how you talk to them. It's a way of life I guess. I didn't mind so much having lived in Hong Kong for awhile, but my parents seemed to not like the bargaining and bartering for everything as much.

One tip for travellers to Beijing, do not swear at your tour guide, they don't like it. Naughty words are worse than complete idiocy to tour guides...

We spent a total of 4 days in Beijing, which wasn't near enough. I'd love to go back but not in the winter. It wasn't really that cold, but it felt like it being a Konger now. I think it went down to -3 while we there. Up on the Great Wall was chilly with the wind. BTW I'm going to post photos and stories along the way trying to keep in order with what we accomplished in our 4 day sprint.
The airport was dirty, crowded, cold, and smokey. Good first impression Beijing, make a note to Olympic organizers. The taxi ride into the city took about 10 hours, but it only cost 10 cents. Cheap taxi considering the thrill ride you get. I think we hit at least 10 cyclists. Mai's parents had met us at the airport so it was very nice and easy to get to our hotel. We were staying in the centre of the city, which didn't mean much as it takes 1 hour to go 4 blocks during rush hour. Walking is the best way around without question. Our hotel was decent enough and had hot water, so I was happy.

The first night we went to a really famous Beijing restaurant for Emperor's Duck. It was awesome! Best bird I've ever had. The skin was amazing, I usually don't like skin but it was pretty tasty. Apparantly George W has eaten there before. Mai's dad had to book a month in advance so thanks to him! After dinner we went back to the hotel(s) and had an early evening as the next day was the Great Wall and Ming Tombs!


I checked later, and yes! prancing and brisk walks are allowed.

Damn I wanted to doodle all over the fake hats.

First impression, Ming Tombs is probably better explored on your own, without a tour in a rush, as we didn't see much of the actual tomb area. It's really quite huge, spread around the mountains. Next time, next time.... You'll probably here me mutter those words a few times in the next few posts.