Nothing To Envy: Fascinating book about North Korea

Living in China you can’t help but be exposed to whispers of the “old days” pre-reform. Whether it be the portraits of Mao in taxis and Tiananmen, the massive USSR-inspired government buildings, the general apathy most people over 40 have towards their job (well, actually, that might be universal). The guidebooks give crash courses in …

All about the babies, and a son to be

Maggie and I are in our final week of a 5-week visit to Canada, and it has been a whirlwind — both physically and mentally. It has been wonderful being home for the holidays, and a visit that has been full of firsts. It was Maggie’s first time seeing British Columbia (as we flew into …

In Utero Update

We had our scheduled checkup with the doctor late last week and managed to convince the ultrasound tech to get a couple good shots in hopes that we could print them out and share them. The 10 minutes with Maggie’s womb on the screen gave me lots to look at (while Maggie just sorta stared …

World-renowned author visits Humanaught

Alright, Lisa might not be world-renowned yet, but she’s well on her way. And she’s certainly a well-known fixture in the China expat/blogging circle. Perhaps best known as “Other Lisa” in the comments at the Peking Duck (or @otherlisa on Twitter), Lisa’s a long-time blogger (her blog, Paper Tiger Tail is one of my favs., …

Playing For Change: One Love

My mom sends me LOTS of e-mail forwards. Some are hilarious, some are retarded, and some are just super fantastic. This is the latter. Here’s the song that kicked it all off: Be sure to check out Playing For Change‘s Web site. They’ve got a bunch more episodes.

Friends Baby Together

Our good friends, Ric and Gin, are proud owners of a brand-new 2009 model Laowai Baby, and having just returned from meeting her for the first time, I wanted to take a moment and reflect. The benefit of having two close friends go through everything we’re about to, only six months ahead of us, is …

A baozi in the steamer

I may be a lot of things, but someone who can keep their mouth shut is not one of them. This blog is a testament to the fact that I am completely under-skilled in respecting the sanctity of privacy in my personal life. For years now I’ve blogged the smallest and largest moments of my …

What I’ve been up to

It’s been brought to my attention that I’m not updating enough, so much so that friends have begun to worry that something has happened to me (sorry Zak!). Something has happened to me, and more on that later, but that is not the reason for my blog absence. I’ve simply been inundated with new projects. …

Dalian vs. Suzhou

Despite the combative title, it’s rather tough to A-B the two places I’ve spent the most time with in China. They are both supported and mired by a number of attributes that make them both rather unique places to live. Last week Maggie and I grabbed a flight out of PVG and made our annual …

Button sexes it up post de-sexing

I don’t buy into those little doggie jackets that every anthropomorphizing pet owner drools over. In fact, I’d say I’m outright hostile to the idea of breeding a dog to look like a toy and then playing dress-up with it. That said, I think I’ve stumbled on a goldmine: The Canine Call-girl Outfit® Is your …

The End of a Dynasty

It is with a bit of sentiment that I announce this as my last post on CNET Asia, brining an end to the near year-long reign of the Tech Dynasty. When I took over the China beat from Rick Martin after his move to Tokyo (and Tokyo Shift), I was honoured to be a part …