Friday Fill-Ins #2

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you makes you tougher.

2. If you're good at something, stick with it and become a master at it.

3. Why so monotonous.

4. Something is out there, it's the scorching Sun.

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled Everybody Loves Max.

6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see iconic skyscrapers amid clear blue skies.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being on time, tomorrow my plans include possibly taking a road trip and Sunday, I want to have a nice dinner with someone special!

No time...

Ever since I've become an astronaut, I couldn't find time to write anything.

But anyway, a pic to keep this space a bit more updated.

The rare blue sky in hot Beijing

A Storyteller

I know this Storyteller.

He has lots of stories to tell.

The most fascinating ones,

Sad ones,

Outrageous ones,

And Heart-breaking ones.

I wonder if any of it is true,

Or if these are stories from the deepest corners of his mind.

I had willed myself into a numbness about life and created the delusion of an existence that in hind-sight, was a mere excuse against the manifestation of what life could throw at you, if you allowed it to (and the fear there-of).

Today is different.

What a beautiful passage.

Unexpected... but, that's how it usually happens

Haven't done something so out of the blue and with such excitement in a while...

北京之夏

Will there be birds at the "Bird Nest"

People at 798?

Will people visit Jian Wai Soho?

Or take a stroll along the old Hutongs?

Signs of our times

拆拆拆

(Note: The taller building in the background to the left is the Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai. Further away on the right is Hang Lung's Plaza 66 on Nanjing Lu West. This prime site being cleared is on Shimen Yi Lu)

建建建

(Note: URA H15 Project - Lee Tung Street/McGregor Street has completed site clearance and is ready for Tender)

高高高

(Note: The Centre in the background, towering above URA H18 Project at Peel Street/Graham Street, is actually a “省招牌” URA project completed in the late 1990s.)

(Note: a 3rd and the tallest skyscraper, code named "Shanghai Centre" will start construction next year, with target completion in 2012. From this viewing angle, the new building, which is supposed to look like a "twisting dragon" designed by architecture firm Gensler, will be to the right of the building being constructed (Sun Hung Kai's Shanghai ifc) and in front of Shanghai World Finance Centre. "Shanghai Centre" will probably be about 100m taller than the SWFC)