Some China photography

I was very impressed with the photos here, so felt the need to share. Found from Reddit

Best Sushi in Lower Manhattan

Since I posted about the Best Sushi in Hoboken, I should mention Lower Manhattan as well. Had a very nice Spicy Roll Combo for lunch last week from Kokura, which really hit the spot, and at $13 for the 12 pieces (4 small rolls), it was a pretty decent deal for the Financial District, especially being next to Stone Street. But here are my local top favorites:

Kokura Japanese Restaurant
19 S William St
New York, NY 10004-2412 View Map
(212) 482-8888

Kyoto of Japan
76 Pearl St
New York, NY 10004-2606 View Map
(212) 363-1668

[Update Sep-06]
Had a nice Spicy Roll Combo from Kokura. Wanted to suggest the upstairs if you go during lunch, very loud downstairs during the peak.

Koodo is the next to try, thanks for the tip bpm!

Ackupuncture

Last week I tried something I have been interested to do for years now… I had an acupuncture treatement. I won the session at a health fair at the office, so I really had no excuse not to try it.

So I got eight needles stuck in: my feet, forearms, shoulders, and temples. I can’t say they hurt much, but the one in my right foot and left forearm were a bit sensitive and I felt my muscle stiff where the pin was. I had to hold my left arm slightly awkward so I had the muscle tense, and hense didn’t relax. But my feet and arms were “wired” together in a figure eight to help the energy flow. All in all it was very relaxing and I felt great after the experience.

Bill Weinstein is classically trained in Acupuncture and can speak to the holistic and eastern aspects of it, which I have always been very keen to know more about. I’m very interested in finding out what sort of impact it will have with me. I also learned I have a “damp tongue” which I find intriguing and will require its own post.

Bill has a website and newsletter - Access to Acupuncture.

Some Acupuncture Treatments:

• Headache
• Stress & tension
• Insomnia
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Infertility
• Pain & Arthritis
• Carpal Tunel
• Smoking cessation & weight loss

Best Sushi in Hoboken

Hoboken has some of the best restaurants in Northern New Jersey and is a great place to check out new foods. Especially during the last five years or so, since there has been an addition of trendy manhattan-like places. Here are my top sushi eateries:

• Sushi House Of Hoboken - This replaced the Weary Epicurean that had some interesting semi-pornographic mannequins in the window and lasted I think 6 months at most. Sushi House is a much better addition to “downtown” and has the best sushi in Hoboken. Minimalist and modern decor and off the Washington Street beaten-track, on First Street. They do a great job with the presentation and had fresh ingredients with very unique rolls. The spicy rolls actually had a kick. I have been here a few times in the year plus it has been open, and have not been disappointed, with either the food or service. BYOB.
• Robongi - On Wash & 5th, Robongi also has wonderfully tasty sushi with great presentation. The Spicy Tuna and Spicy Scallop were excellent. My big disappointment though is the decor, with fish nets and plastic fish hung from the ceiling. If the food wasn’t so good, I wouldn’t return. And on a small nitpick, they provided cheap Chinese-takeout chopsticks for a sit-down dinner, which turned me off.
• Illuzion - Located on Wash & 3rd, this place also has a minimalist and trendy decor. Favorites were the Alligator, Angry Dragon and Italian Stallion, but overall I would of liked a bit more of flavor and definitely more kick. BYOB.

More China Photos

Finally got copies of everyone’s photos from our China trip, all 1200 of them. This is following up from the first batch I put up.

China Group Photos

You can also check out China photos on the REMBA site.

Meditation to generate compassion and positive thoughts

For a Buddhist, the Dalai Lama sure causes controversy. An article in the Times talks about how some scientists don’t want him to speak at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Seems they are none too happy with some flaws in a study regarding Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice.

• The Mind & Life Institute, who did the study, admits to problems with comparing monks who were 15-40 years older than students.
• The students could also of been nervous etc, to skew their results.
• You can’t personally meditate if you want to study it (start seeing your own conclusions - too bad this normally happens with all science).

And on the flip side, the defenders point out how many of the critics are of Chinese decent… and I thought science was free from politics, but maybe that’s only Kansas.

So sure the results should be replicated, but why not let His holiness have a word or two… how hard is it to believe that meditation leads to happiness?

Tenzin Gyatso

This weekend I spent most of Sunday morning at Rutgers University stadium listening to the Dalai Lama of Tibet give a speech on “Peace, War, and Reconciliation”.

The Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the previous (13th) Dalai Lama. So the search for the new Buddha of Compassion can’t take place until the previous Dalai Lama has passed away. In 1935, the Regent of Tibet went to a sacred lake and had a vision of the 14th incarnate, and two years later they found Tenzin. The two year old passed a series of tests and was enthroned in 1940. His discovery is very interesting:

The Rinpoche was wearing a rosary that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama, and the little boy of the house recognised it and demanded that it be given to him. Kewtsang Rinpoche promised to give it to him if he could guess who he was, and the boy replied that he was “Sera aga”, which means in the local dialect “a lama of Sera”. Then the Rinpoche asked who the leader was and the boy gave his name correctly; he also knew the name of the real servant. This was followed by a series of tests that included the choosing of correct articles that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama.

Besides enjoying a wonderful day, the Dalai Lama proved how important humor and humility are in life. He did not pretend to have answers to all the world’s problems, and made the observation that things are better off today then they were last century (i.e. WWI/WWII). We also don’t have the ever-present fear of MAD. Even I was half expecting some enlightened quick-fix to the world’s problems, but his perspective of education and understanding were still refreshing. (wiki for Lhamo Thondup)

Beijing & Shanghai

How did you spend your summer vacation?

I was lucky enough to spend a week and a half in China for my MBA program in Beijing and Shanghai. Overall a fantasic experience except for the blazing heat and oppressive haze.

But to start are some of the photos from the trip. There were over 40 of us so a decent sized group.

Since I lived in Hong Kong for 6 months and Singapore for 3.5 years, I expect to add a bit more eastern stuff.

Banlangen Keli

Just returned from a week of classes for my MBA, and managed to catch myself a bit of a sore thoat. I’m not a big fan of the chemical remedies, and avoid them if I can. But I did get ahold of some Chinese herbal medicine that works wonders. Stuff is called Banlangen Keli and did wonders to pump up my energy and give some temp relief. Just add hot water.

Description - Brown granules. Sweet and slightly bitter in taste.

Ingredients - Radix isatidis (Isatis Tinctoria L.). Non-medical ingredients: sugar, dextrin.

Category - Non-prescription cold medicine

Indications - To remove toxic heat, counteract toxic effect, cool the blood, heal swollen and sore throat. Effective on influenza.

Dosage - Take orally. One to two packets each time, 3 to 4 times a day.

So I will either head to Chinatown to find the stuff or maybe get some online from HK for a buck and a half or from the States for 7.