Panda Are So Cute - But Deadly?

I saw this really cool article the other day.

In Beijing, China, a drunken Chinese tourist bit a panda at the Beijing Zoo after the animal attacked him when he jumped into the enclosure and tried to hug it, state media said Wednesday. The man had drunk four pitchers of beer at a restaurant before "stumbling to the zoo" nearby and stopping off at the pen holding a sleeping 6-year-old male panda, Gu Gu. He felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand" and jumped over a waist-high railing down into the enclosure and when he got closer and was undiscovered, he reached out to hug it. Startled, Gu Gu bit the man in the right leg. The man, a 35-year-old migrant laborer from central Henan province, got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued and the man was quoted as saying "I bit the fellow in the back, its skin was quite thick." Other tourists yelled for a zookeeper, who soon got the panda under control by spraying it with water. THe man was hospitalized. Newspaper photographs showed the man lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages and several seams of stitches running down his leg.

The Beijing Youth Daily quoted the man, a father of two who was visiting Beijing for the first time, as saying that he had seen pandas on television and "they seemed to get along well with people." "No one ever said they would bite people," the man said. "I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer. I don't remember much."

Business Dinner

I have been working quite a bit lately, haven't really had the time to update and write my blog. I really should get my priority straight and focus more on my blog, instead of work, man, what was I thinking? Anyway, working a lot in Asia, doing what I do, isn't so bad, since that involves traveling as well, which can be fun in a way. One of the recent trips that I had was going to Nanjing for business. However, it was a shame that we were on a tight schedule, and there were not that many flights going from Hong Kong to Nanjing and vice versa on a daily basis (2 I think), and it would be a pain to get back to Hong Kong if flights are missed. Therefore, didn't really have the time to tour around Nanjing. However, I thought the city was kind of hot, more so than Hong Kong, and I am not sure how people really stand it. If I live in that city, I would either spend all my time indoors and never go out and sleep inside all day long, or be skinny as I will be outside and sweat a lot.

During my trip, however, I had the chance to have dinner with our clients. It was a fun experience as I have not really had client dinner before with Chinese clients, which is really all part of doing business, not only in Asia, but all over the world too. I thought interaction with the clients are the most fun part in our jobs, since the skills that you learn, what to say, what not to say, the proper etiquette of client dinners and meetings, which are different from the normal dinner etiquette. There are the skills of negotiation, the skills of flattery, that all comes as a learning experience when meeting with clients. One of the interesting things from my recent experience was drinking at dinner. We ordered some Chinese red wine, which, surprisingly, unlike a recent Chinese white wine I had, was not so bad. They serve the red wine in a rather small goblet, which surprised me as red wines are usually drunk in glasses with large bowls. The small goblets are about the same size as what would be served in dessert wines. Also, the waitress poured very little wine into the glass, which rather quite confuses me. However, the mystery was soon revealed, as the purpose of drinking this red wine, was not to actually drink and enjoy the wine like what you would do in western societies, but, just to drink and gang be (doing cheers with other people), so the small amount in the small glass was easy for people to do so, and you are suppose to finish what is in the glass in one shot, which makes lots of sense. Furthermore, when you drank up, you are supposed to face the opening of your empty glass towards the other person, to show that you have finished the content in your glass. In addition, as many people would be talking during dinner, a way to respond to other people's attempt to gang be with you, is not to stop talking, but instead, you should bang the bottom your glass on the table (well, not the table, but the round rotating thing in the middle that turns so people can get their food) as acknowledgement and thanks. This is much like the dim sum habit, where you are talking, but when other people pour you tea, you should tab your finger on the table as a way of saying thanks, rather interesting. These are important little things to learn, as how not to offend people, if I want to continue to develop my career here. I think this is one of the reasons that is making my job rather ok and that I don't dislike it as much as I did back in New York.

Crocodile Hunter

I am not sure why it made me pause a little when I heard the news that Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, died from a stingray sting yesterday. I saw the guy on tv several times, thought he was really enthusiastic, and that is about it. I am not a big fan, nor am I really care about what he does or his cause or his shows, but for some reason, I was a little taken back that he died. I think perhaps the way he died has something to do with it. He is an animal lover (I think), and he has spent his lifetime learning about animals, be around animals, teaching people about animals, and has faced some quite deadly and dangerous animals at that. Sort of ironic that he died from an animal, that, although dangerous (apparently that is the case, or he wouldn't have died right?) but is not considered to be a deadly one. It's just rather ironic that he is not killed by one of the more deadly animals like a poisonous snake or a crocodile, but instead, by a stingray. Perhaps it is because when he faces the dangerous and deadly animals, he is more cautious, and when faced with this particular stingray, he was not expecting the stingray to attack, as from what I know, they do not attack for no reason but only do it in self-defense. Well, at least he died doing something that he loved, small solace, but something nonetheless.

On a lighter note, I work too much lately, and have no time to write my blog, that is not good. I hope to update on a more frequent basis soon.