Weekend in Brazil

We went to Brazil for the weekend a few weeks ago for Alex Pommez's wedding. Not quite a weekend trip but pretty close - I arrived on Friday afternoon, Alicia arrived on Saturday afternoon, and we flew out Tuesday night. We had hoped to get later flights out (had to change the tickets a few times as a result of moving from HK to SF, and Alicia's acceptance into the Fletcher GMAP program) but it didn't happen. So we had a few days in Praia do Forte, the Brazilian fishing village where the wedding was held, and then a day in Rio, all of which we spent walking around the city. You really can't see all of Rio in a day, but I think we came as close as is humanly possible.

I took some photos, which, while not technically available on this website, are available on the web through Ofoto. Mostly photos of people from the wedding and whatnot. You can, however, see the village church with the local kids watching from the doorways, and the house where the Pommez family had the reception and a Sunday 'lunch'. I particularly liked the security guards lurking in the background on the beach side of the property - really made it feel like South America.

Restructuring the Power Sector: Options for Reform

Well, we couldn't come up with a witty title, but nonetheless the report on electricity reform that I wrote for Civic Exchange, a Hong Kong think tank, is now officially published and available online.

While some of the regulatory and legal issues are specific to Hong Kong, most of the options and recommendations are generally applicable. If you are interested in the discussion but not in Hong Kong's situation per se, I recommend skipping the first section and jumping straight to 'Options'.

History

My cousin Winton has started researching and documenting his family history. Half of it, not surprisingly, overlaps with mine - specifically, the Bronsteins (my grandfather's family) and the Freedmans (my grandmother's).

Now I just need to motivate on my own to research and document the Whitings and the McClellans...

Book Reviews - Globalization and Its Discontents / Ender's Game

Two books that could not be more different:

Globalization and its Discontents, by Joseph Stiglitz (with a much longer review over at In Theory)

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

Walking Down to Central

When we got back from our Chinese New Year trip, I had almost a full roll of film left in the camera. So, on the walk down from our apartment to the development shop, I took even more photos. (and almost all with the wide angle lens)

The scenes in these pictures are much calmer than normal (and many of the small shops are closed) due to the fact that it was still Chinese New Year, a week long celebration. In fact, on this particular day it was apparently extremely bad luck to be open for business.

Photos from Burma

Can be seen here. Finally managed to get them all ready for the web.

I have a few other photos as well as some travelogue-ish writing from the trip (which was a whirlwind voyage over CNY weekend, including a flight every day) that I am aiming to post soon, but not quite ready.

More Book Reviews - Down and Out & A Peace to End All Peace

Two More Book Reviews:

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow

A Peace to End All Peace, by David Fromkin

Both books highly recommended.

Dragon's Back

Went for yet another hike and then for a barbeque in celebration of our friend Joanna's birthday. Again, took some photos (on Ofoto this time, registration required).

The BBQ was at the home of Joanna's 'uncle', Wong How Man - uncle in the Chinese sense, ie very close friend of Joanna's father. At any rate, Wong is an explorer and photographer, they had some amazing photos in the walls and some very interesting looking maps and other documents. He runs the China Exploration and Research Society.

His home, as you can see from the pictures, is literally on the water's edge. To get to civilization, one can either hike up a very steep set of stairs (probably a couple of hundred steps) or take a two minute ride in the powered dinghy across the harbor to Tai Tam.

In Theory

So I decided to create a new weblog. It's called In Theory. As in "In theory, Communism works. In Theory."

I'm not sure if I have anything all that unique to say - but there's only one way to find out.

Hiking in Sai Kung (Hong Kong)

Went for a hike with some friends in Sai Kung, the giant country park in the North East of Hong Kong SAR (off the island itself). Took some photos along the way.

This particular trail went over Ma On Shan, which apparently means 'Saddle' in Chinese, because it looks like a horse's saddle from a distance. It is Stage 4 of the Maclehose Trail. Alicia did the entire 100km trail in 18h20m as part of Trailwalker, the annual Oxfam fundraiser/race.