You NO buy enough junk! You buy More!

More riots in the land next to the rising sun. This time it seems tourists are getting fed up with having to shop till you drop on organized tours. It's an old scam, though, as back in 2000, when we went to Mexico, we were also deposited at a couple souvenir shops here & there. I can, however, understand how they might feel.

Some Chinese tour guides make extra income through commission given to them by shop keepers who make good sales out of tourists. One guide with a group of 100 or so spend-happy tourists, can rake in an extra few thousand RMB per trip. The greedier the tour guide, most likely, the more you're going to land at a few shops & stalls here & there.

In this case, the tour guide made all the wrong moves.

They were on a day trip from Hong Kong on Tuesday, but after visiting one or two local sites and a number of shops, were told they had not spent enough by their local guides. ~Richard Spencer

That's a hell of a thing to say to your group. The tourists were told they must spend at least 421 RMB, were then dropped off on a beach, and were not allowed back on the coach. According to one of the tourists (as seen on the video), they were threatened by the tour guides that if they DIDN'T spend that much, they would be abandoned there. They rioted. Police showed up, riot police showed up, and it didn't end for the next 5 hours. Anyways... see for yourself. Courtesy of Reuters.

Three Days in San Diego

San Diego, California. My first real experience in California. Before this, I'd often joked that California was simply another country, and instead claimed Canada as a state instead. I was certainly wrong about that.



We cut our trip to Warren short so Grace could visit WD-40's home office. Grace & I spent 3 days in beautiful, mild weather, fine restaurants & of course, the beach. Thanks to David at WD-40, who played host during our stay, we managed to see some of the best parts of San Diego in a rather short time. These parts include Del Mar, Jakes Restaurant & an overall view of the city & its suburbs.

The beaches were fantastic, and the sunset was beautiful that first evening. We had dinner at Jake's Bar in Del Mar, during the Horse Races. The restaurant itself was packed, and while I love seafood, I had to pass this time, as I'm not that skilled at eating shelled sea creatures without making a mess.

The 2nd Evening, after Grace finished her meetings with HR & Logistics, we ventured out on our own and walked over to The Bondi. The restaurant, owned by various people in WD-40, features Australian cuisine and beer, including James Boag's Premium on tap. Nicely decorated with good music, this venue is worth the stop.

Our stay was unfortunately short, as the third day took us to San Francisco, then back to Shanghai. Apparently we just missed Comic Con as well as a small earthquake during the trip. All the more reason to go back!

For those in Shanghai, James Boag's is available from Just Beer & various bars. Enjoy! I certainly do!

Ten Days in Warren & Niagara Falls

The Mrs. and I returned from a two week vacation in both my hometown of Warren, PA and her company office in San Diego. As always, it was good to get back, and as always, I gained about 10lbs. But in my defence, those chocolate ice-cream cakes are FANTASTIC!!!

We spend the first 10 days in Warren, where I showed Grace around town. Some of the pics are on her blog. We hit up the usual spots... Kinzua Dam, Washington Park, a few malls here & there, Freddies' Bar & Grill.... While it's all old hack to me, having grown up there, Warren does seem to impress those who aren't from there, and it's especially impressive when you can see a BLUE sky, as opposed to Shanghai's grey-ish sky, and stars at night, as opposed to Shanghai's off-colored moon & 2 random planets.

As usual, I got on www.hellificare.com, another hometown website, and as usual, announced that there was STILL NO sign of Yetis, Bigfoots (bigfeet?) or alien dentists in white trenchcoats ANYWHERE in the Kinzua vicinity, despite some of the more vehement posts on that site about their existance.



A trip to Erie PA brought us to the Quaker Steak & Lube restaurant. Back in College, my ex, Angela & I went there to try the Suicide wings, one step below the "Atomic Wings", the ones you have to sign a waiver for before eating. Talk about HOT!!! This time around, we went a step lower & got the "Hot" wings instead. Perhaps it's living over here too long that gave me a much better tolerance for anything spicy, according to the missus, but neither one of us thought they were even REMOTELY hot. We'll have to try the Suicides again, next time we're back.



Another day took us to Niagara Falls, where Grace got some fantastic shots of the falls. We did attempt to go over to Canada while we were there, but were quickly turned back at the Canadian Customs office. Visa office in Buffalo? Who'd have thought! It's okay though, as we figured as much. The Colt .45 was NOT in Niagara Falls, by the way.