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Sunday, May 22, 2005 |
Last night I had an excellent dinner with Alfred Eeltink, a long-time
friend from university, at the front terrace of M on the Bund,
overlooking the busy Huangpu river. It was a nice evening full of good
conversations, great food, even better wines and a Romeo & Juliet
and grappa to round it off.
The only thing which could have been better was the advice from the
waiter, who we asked for a good wine to go with the Foie Gras. Normally
I would go for a Sauternes or a Gewuerztraminer, but I wanted to know
if he had a better suggestion. His idea: combine it with a heavy red
Italian wine.... Luckily, one of the managers came by, who had a much
better suggestion (a fruity Riesling). They should probably teach their
staff not to give wine suggestions if they are not sure, and directly
ask for the sommelier. A minus point for M on the Bund, but one that
was compensated by the excellent service during the rest of evening.
1:00:49 PM 
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A couple of months ago I wrote about parking meters in Beijing,
but now they will also appear in Shanghai (fees: 15 RMB for the first
hour, 10 RMB afterwards). However, in typical Chinese fashion there
will still be a parking attendant on duty who will check if you did not
park too long, and who collects parking fees for people who underpaid.
What is the use of these meters if you have an attendant? You might as
well keep the old system in which the attendant writes down arrival and
departure time and who you pay directly. Sometimes I really wonder how
this kind of decisions are being made.
12:37:54 PM
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The announcement of the Nanjing municipal government that city
officials have to report their extramarital affairs has been widely
ridiculed on many China weblogs. Does the government seriously think
that officials will register their mistresses? Part of the regulation
says: [base "]The government can interfere if the official[base ']s family stability
is affected[per thou]. Is that not always the case?
12:33:59 PM
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© Copyright 2005 Marc van der Chijs.
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