Monday, December 20, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

Remember that simple Corona beer Christmas commercial of the palm trees across the water on some secluded beachfront; with the whistling of “Oh Christmas Tree” in the background; and then comes the lighting of one lone palm among the five in the row?

It’s an epic commercial from years ago. But I did see one replay of it the other night. A sample can be seen on YouTube by clicking here.

Whenever I see that commercial, I can’t help but think about a trip to Thailand when in Asia. I was out visiting a factory supplying us. It was located a couple of hours outside Bangkok. My driver and I met some local Thais and were invited to go to dinner with them out in the country. We had no idea where we were headed. And we got more worried as we turned off the main road, and cautiously rolled down a rutted dirt road for a mile or two.

But similar to the commercial, a lit tower appeared. No it wasn’t a tree, but across the water it appeared like one, and had that same magical spirit as the lone Christmas palm in the Corona commercial.

The night was magical too. Beside the tower was a great little fish house, where the gracious cooks prepared us a wonderful dinner. We sang karaoke by the pond. We even strolled through the nearby coconut grove. And we made new friends, in the same spirit of Christmas. It was a great night! Like many in Thailand! And like any other time, when shared with friends.

Merry Christmas to All!

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Thursday, December 09, 2010

Pizza Hut Xmas in China


While I was in China, more and more American restaurant businesses were entering the market. We had many McDonalds, two Starbucks, and Papa Johns Pizza. Well the Shanghaiist blog just released a great little posting about a special being offered this Christmas at Pizza Hut in China. As they put it, it's "Pizza Hut's Christmas Gift to China? A Heart Attack."

It relates how Pizza Hut is offering a special Christmas platter of a turkey pizza surrounded by mini cheese and sausage roll-ups. But it's the link to the real advertisement that is priceless: Click here to see the Chinese Pizza Hut Christmas Special TV commercial. It is a great example of Chinese tv advertising. And yes, I know its in Chinese. But it is well worth seeing and hearing.

What you will notice in that link and advertisement is that the Christmas special also includes eggnog, shrimp tempura, bbq wings, waffle fries, wine, and soup!! Don't you always serve shrimp tempura with your eggnog? When I lived and visited our Papa Johns, it always amazed me that they were serving as much soup, bbq wings, and corn kernels than they were pizza. Not exactly the selection you would expect to find in an American Pizza Hut.

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Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Dressing as a Panda??


Did ya see the news yesterday from the panda center in Chengdu? Handlers dress up as big pandas to care for baby pandas!

Check a web report here.

Or see the newscast from the NBC Nightly News here.

It's all a part of the effort to reintroduce pandas into the wild. The center has been very successful in raising more pandas. But now with the renewed effort to introduce pandas to the wild, the theory is that humans cannot be involved with the pandas' care. Of course, the handlers have their hands poking out of the suits. Oh well. It's a worthy effort.

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Monday, December 06, 2010

Another Major Traffic Jam in Beijing

News is out of Beijing that the 110 Highway has backed up again. This time it's been a massive traffic jam for NINE DAYS!!! And is expected to last A MONTH!!!

See: Traffic Jam along National Expressway 110 hits 9th day; Expected to Last a Month!

Don't want to be in that traffic jam!

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