httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFFRdtqqEVU
香港导游阿珍骂大陆游客购物不够多摄像录音_在线视频观看_土豆网视频 香港旅游 导游阿珍 导游骂人 大陆游客 港澳游.flv
Video is in Chinese. Hong Kong tour guide says “Spend more, you’ll be happier… don’t tell me you don’t need [to buy more], next you’ll be telling me you don’t need to eat at meal time. I will lock you out of your hotel rooms because you don’t need them [either].”
Continue reading “女導遊喪鬧大陸客 7分鐘 熱爆網 Hong Kong Tour Guide Pressures Tourists to Shop”
Finally got some pics from our recording session of the Cirque Du Soleil ZAIA soundtrack in Hong Kong – December 2008. Most of our tracks were recorded on location in Macau but we did string section and piano recordings in Hong Kong.
Continue reading “Conrad in Hong Kong piano recording session”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPbvvRt5MoU
Usher performed in Macau at the Venetian Casino on July 13, 2010. Rumor has it he came over to our ZAIA theater to record some audio tracks for a project he’s working on.
I didn’t get to meet him and security was tight. So I posted a video with some Usher music you might enjoy. Assuming that Usher has a good sense of humor and won’t kick my butt. Did you know that many consider Usher to be the one to take the torch from Michael Jackson’s legacy? Read on for more info.
Wednesday June 16 is the 2010 Macau Dragonboat Festival. Macau is already starting to see lots of tourists coming in from Mainland China. At the Venetian Casino (where I currently work) we noticed a lot of activity Monday night. The official holiday is Wednesday but the entire week is a holiday period (does this qualify as a “golden week”, hmmm…..not sure about that.)
I’ve lived in Macau over two years now and I still haven’t seen the Dragonboat races! Because I work in entertainment, we’re always doing extra shows during the holiday periods so we don’t get to partake as much as we’d like.
The Dragonboat holiday, or Duanwu, is a very old one in China but was denied official recognition under the People’s Republic of China established in 1949. The Chinese government has re-adopted the holiday and it was officially recognized again starting in 2008.
The short story: a famous poet drowned in the water so people throw food to the fish so the fish will be fed and not eat the poet’s body. That’s the story I’ve heard from local Macanese. More details posted below.
Here’s more info on the Dragonboat festival and water races:
Continue reading “Macau Dragonboat Festival – 端午節 – Duānwǔ Jié – Tuen Ng Jit”
I had the chance to see Kelly Clarkson perform in Macau, China at the Cotai Arena inside the Venetian casino on May 8, 2010. What an absolutely fantastic performer! I guess you could say I’m one of her fans now.
Of course I have heard her name for years and have seen bits of her performing on American Idol; and those many clips on YouTube. But to hear her live was really something. A great set of pipes. I marveled at her constant control between head and chest voice – her effortless floating up in the ether with light dancing turns, swooping down like the Red Baron to a beefy chest voice and back up again for some real gospel style runs up in the stars. Amazing.
Dear Philippine Airlines,
When you promote on your website that you’re going to have these great specials but only from midnight to 6am Manila time only on one particular Saturday night/Sunday morning (so that we have to stay up all night to get the special deal which we don’t even have details on ahead of time), maybe you should make sure your website is ACTUALLY AVAILABLE to handle the traffic. Like when your website said to the likes of “this time we’ll be able to handle the traffic so make sure you stay up all night for the great deals”. And what about the likes of “we realize we had tech problems last time we tried this, but this time we’ll be ready for you”.
Got a tip for you: You know why your website is down because of too much traffic? Because you ADVERTISED IT WAS ONLY AVAILABLE MIDNIGHT TO SIX AM MANILA TIME – so that’s the only time we could all try to access it all at once. Great marketing, make everyone hit your website at the same time so it crashes.
I’ve got three people that wanted to go to Puerto Princessa in Palawan Philippines and I stayed up all night for your deals (and several hours trying to access your website).
Are you trying to get us all to just book with Cebu? I don’t get it. This is not very “Mabuhai” of you. It really sucks. I’ll grant you that the Philippine Airlines “Midnight Madness” did indeed grant me madness, just not the kind I was expecting.
Your biggest fan,
Conrad Askland
Jerry Nadal (senior vice-president for resident shows of Cirque du Soleil): ‘We’re here for the long hall’ as reported April 7, 2010 in the Macau Daily Times. Full article posted here with link to original MDT article at end of post.
In central Guangzhou, China (about a 3 hour bus ride north of Macau where I currently, live) you can go to the Han River Dog Meat Restaurant and order dog soup, dog with tofu, dog steak and many more delicious recipes. You can even have spicy dog in your hot pot.
But the Chinese government is considering finally banning the eating of cats and dogs. One person spearheading the campaign to make eating dogs and cats illegal in China says: “Cats and dogs are loyal friends to humans. A ban on eating them would show China has reached a new level of civilization.”
Happy Chinese New Year 2010! Firecrackers have been going off for a few days here in Macau, China with fireworks on the water and throngs of visitor’s in the casinos.
I have my 2010 Tiger decorations up around the house (which I’m told can stay up all year) and received my lucky three oranges as a gift from a friend. We’ve been giving out the lucky red Lycee envelopes filled with Macau money (Patacas) to our doormen and women as a sign of good luck for the coming year and declaring “Kong Hei Fat Choy” to all of our Chinese friends.
My Chinese friends say I am “only half Chinese, but maybe someday 100% Chinese”. 愉快的中國新年2010年
A shout out to the Mad Dog motorcycle club in Hong Kong. I thought their leather vests were way cool and asked a member how I could get one. The response started with a polite sneer and ended with a rundown of the commitment and dedication the members have to their club. So I guess the only way I’ll get the vest is to get a knock off made at a local tailor in Macau or Zhuhai – and then if a Mad Dog ever sees me wearing it they’ll kick my butt – so maybe I won’t do that….
Back in the late 90’s or so I did have the privilege of playing for Sonny Barger of the Hell’s Angels. It was a private party and I was playing with Freddy Fender – I think it was in Hollister, CA. I remember Sonny approached Freddy to play a specific song and Freddy was like “Yes sir” – which was pretty funny because Freddy was a longtime Harley rider and a badass in his own right. But there’s a pecking order.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AEymY2U1FI