红酒·绿茶 / Red Wine & Green Tea / Vin Rouge et Thé Vert

Two Maps of China On My Wall Originally uploaded by yisu9 The latest issue of the National Geographic Magazine is a great special issue about China: Resourceful, accurate and, of course, photographic. I put the map it provides right next to the map I recently brought back from China so I can compare and contrast. I recommend this issue to anyone who is interested in China and cares to know the facts.

Just got my Sennheiser HD-555 headphones. They are delightful to listen to. Can't take them off my head.

This is an overdue post about the Motor Trend International Auto Show in Baltimore . Baltimore's Red Light Block Originally uploaded by yisu9 It wasn't easy to find parking in downtown Baltimore so we had to walk through the (in)famous Block . AAA NASCAR Race Car Originally uploaded by yisu9 We came prepared: I bought the tickets online in advance to avoid the long ticket line. We started to check out the cars immediately. American Automobile Association ( AAA) was one of the sponsors. Maryland State Trooper's Ride Originally uploaded by yisu9 I was surprised to see the State Trooper showing off their Chevy's. Note the car on the right was the famous undercover police car (便衣警车). I got excited every time I spotted one on the highway, as if I discovered something stealthy. Mercedes Originally uploaded by yisu9 We checked out some Toyotas and Hondas but I don't have to show pictures of them: They are everywhere! Instead, let me...

If there was any kind of recurring theme to my trip, it would be "art". Indeed, I chose Paris and Rome because of, among many other reasons, Louvre and Vatican Museum, respectively, which are two of the greatest art museums in the world. However, they are so large that you can hardly see everything for a single visit. That is one of the reasons I like middle-sized museums, especially MoMA, Orsay and Uffizi. While MoMA is famous for Modern Art and Orsay, for French Impressionism, Galleria degli Uffizi is the best place for my favorite, Italian Renaissance . (By the way, Firenze used to have a very nice Chinese name, "翡冷翠". After the Anglicization of Modern Chinese, it is now called "佛罗伦萨", the transliteration of "Florence".) However, Uffizi imposes a strict "no camera" policy so not a single photo I can show you. (Don't get me wrong: I think it IS good for the preservation of art.) I could only tell you that I was overwhelmed. So ma...