ON LEADERSHIP

What is leadership? This is a question that has boggled me since the day I finished my academic works in MBA. It has also recently become a topic that occupies my thoughts for sometime now. My professor, Professor Elfren Cruz was the main culprit in both instances. It all started 5 years ago when I asked my professor during a break in the lecture on an article I read in the paper concerning competitive advantage of firms. Specifically, my question is about people and why some strategy makers believed that they are the source of a company’s advantage and not in its assets or in its resources. My professor’s answer was that a firm’s capability is performed by it’s people using the assets and resources available to them. Without people, the assets and the resources amount to nothing. The answer was simple as that but back then, with my relatively simplistic view about business, I was simply awed by the realization. So much so that I blurted out that “Why isn’t it being emphasized that way in MBA, I mean why we are being taught with analysis and techniques and everything else and not the big picture?” And to that, he gave me a curt reply, “because most of the professors are not aware of that since none of them are CEOs. Many of them had only a very limited view of the business.” Inadvertently, he also mentioned that I’m not (yet) a CEO either. I was profoundly shocked by his frank comment. For all my life up to then, I was being groomed to handle the family business and to realize that I’m not ready to be a CEO and therefore unworthy to carry the task was something I couldn’t simply accept. If I had to run the business someday, I had to change. I had to be better. That night, I resolved to change my ways and to train myself to become a CEO by acting and most importantly, by thinking like a CEO. And to achieve my goal, I figured that I had to develop a strategic mindset. To see things in a big picture and to break it down to it’s individual constituents and analyze each of these pieces and from there develop a strategy to exploit opportunities, to counter, and to neutralize the threats. By the time I’m through with STRAMA, I was able to establish that kind of thinking even though it was kind of raw. However, I felt something lacking in my training to become a CEO and that is leadership. At that time, I thought that I could come up with the most incisive analysis and craft the most brilliant strategy but if I cannot make it work or make it happen or convince people that my strategies are correct, things wouldn’t change and that I’m no better than just a simple analyst. Analytical skills and technique plus a strategic mindset don’t a CEO make. In the end, it’s how you make it happen. No wonder, MBAs make good business administrators but not entrepreneurs. I wonder then why business school doesn’t teach such an important aspect of management. Probably, it is because leadership is something personal or personality based and that it is impossible to teach a person a standard set of “knowledge”. Leadership, I surmised couldn’t be taught with words but only with hands – on experience. And so, I experimented, taught myself, and developed my own style and know – how on leadership. You could say that the past 5 years or so was a sort of training for me. I thought that I was on a right path until recently. About 2 months ago, I had lunch with my professor and he was talking about the recent trend in Strategic Management based from his readings on Harvard Business Review. He mentioned that the trend seemed to shift towards emphasizing leadership. I was curios with what he said and actually questioned that trend. For how could that happen? I mean, Strategic Management is all about frameworks, and analysis while leadership is personality based. The former could be taught while the latter could only be trained. To suggest that strategy is tied up with the personality would transform the study of strategy making and management into more of an art rather than a strict science, which goes against the grain of strategic management. My professor feeling amused with my shortsighted understanding asked my evaluation on some historical personage and their leadership. Specifically, he asked me what do I think about Hitler’s leadership? What about Hu Jin Tao’s (the current Chinese leader)? Or for that matter, Mao? I was dumbfounded by his questions. Leaders from what I remembered in textbooks are people who directs and guides an organization towards it’s goals and are able to command the cooperation of a majority of it’s constituents in working towards that goal either through force i.e., executive fiat or coercion or through consensus or through motivations i.e., reward and punishment. By this definition, Hitler, Mao, and one could even throw in Stalin (Soviet dictator) would turn out to be good leaders for they were able to garner the support of a majority to work towards the established goals in spite of their ultimate failure. The failure of their ventures shouldn’t denigrate their leadership. For can we blame leaders who did their best but ultimately fail? (By the way, this is no exoneration of their culpability or their immoral acts). However, to say that the end result of their leadership is immaterial is to turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the multitude within the organization i.e., people eventually suffered from their failure. The case in point, Germany defeated in WWII was divided into two and was in shambles while China suffered decades of stagnancy as a result of the failed Great Leap Forward and the destructive Cultural Revolution. Not to mention the multitudes, who died because of it. By this context, their leadership was a failure. If that is the case, then the definition of leadership and of leaders is inadequate (by the way, these are text book definitions). It is not enough that leaders work toward a goal with the support of the many in an organization. They should also succeed. However, some of the variables of success are way beyond the leader’s control i.e., there are things beyond the control of an individual. One can control events but only up to a limited degree. If a leader couldn’t control all the factors of success then wouldn’t it be unfair to them if we use success as a yardstick? Furthermore, is leadership merely about success or achieving goals? Perplexing indeed, couldn’t imagine myself unable to grasp a simple concept like leadership. Over the past weeks, I try to understand the concept that my professor parlayed to me. I thought about it, I read about it, I researched about it but I was nowhere close until recently. In most books I read or in researches I made on leadership, various author tried to “portray” leadership. They didn’t define it per se but describe it. They describe leadership either by example (of famous personage) or through type (authoritarian, charismatic), or through style (paternal, participatory). In fact, most authors are biased towards charismatic, participatory type of leadership. As if to further enlighten us on what leadership is all about, authors emphasize about the difference between a manager and a leader. To simply put, a manager is told what to do and does it while a leader decides what to do and does it, i.e., leaders possesses the overall strategic initiative. In spite of all of this, I don’t seem to get anywhere near the mark of what he is talking about. What does initiative, style; type etc has to do with ultimate success and achieving goals? One could be open and participative as well as charismatic but still aimless and incompetent. I tried thinking about in terms of ethico – moral perspective considering the example of Hitler and Mao. Is ethico – moral perspective an important aspect of leadership? Yes, indeed! If so, by what ethico – moral framework a leader should subscribe to? Should it be Christian? Buddhist? Islamic? Or even philosophical? What is considered morally and ethically correct or even permissible in one framework may not be the case in the other framework. Aside from that, what if the ethico – moral perspective of leadership clashes with the expressed mission or goals of the organization, which are to be sacrificed? Furthermore, is ethico – moral framework the only one to consider? Is it in fact, operating independently from let say, tradition? Ultimately, ethico – moral framework is but a strand of culture, or more aptly, organizational culture. It is in this realization that I finally understood what my professor is saying for he hinted it as much when I asked him that is leadership related to culture and to which, he answered that I was thinking in the right direction. You see, I was thinking leadership in terms of personality while my professor was thinking all together in another plane. He is thinking leadership as a strategic concept. Why is it some organization (not just business firms but could include polities as well) stand out among the rest while others are barely noticed? Why is it some organization are able to consistently deliver the goods while others find it difficult to do so? Why is it some organizations are able to sustain their performance and achieve their goals year in, year out while others are erratic in their performance? Why is it some organization are able to constantly outperform their peers and went beyond everybody’s expectation while others are simply engrossed in surviving? Why is it some organization are able to continuously grow while others stagnate? Why some organizations are able to survive for so long, outlive their competitors while others come and go like the wind? The answer is leadership. Leadership I am referring here is not about the traits and personality. It is not about a leader rather it refers to leaders, generations of leaders who pursued the same goal in the same way as the founder(s) of the organization with the same intensity, the same dedication, and the same passion. It is in the consistency of each generation of leaders and not in their IQ’s or in their business education that enables organization to thrive. And this has to do with the organizational culture that bred those generations of leaders. Admittedly, organizational culture plays an important role in shaping an effective leadership. During succession, organization as a whole “chooses” (whether such rights are exercised by the many or a select section within the organization is immaterial) the next leader based on their cultural biases for each organization has it’s own view what an ideal leader should be. Candidates for leadership that aren’t in the mold of an ideal leader are waylaid by the selection process. This is to ensure the consistent quality of leadership. As an added insurance to the consistency of leadership quality, culture also trains leaders within the different levels of the organization as well as future leaders by conditioning candidates to accept certain behavior seen ideal for leadership position. Furthermore, it is also this cultural view of leadership that dictates the behavior of leaders. For leaders should act within a certain premise of acceptable behavior (example: ethico – moral framework) in order for them to become effective and thus garner support for their endeavors. Hence, this would tend to discourage leaders from being “disruptive” as in pursuing other interest inimical to the organization’s interest as a whole and therefore preserve leadership quality and consistency over generations. Though culture has a definitive control on leadership, leaders also exert a huge influence on both the organization and it’s culture. A leader’s flair, style, preferences, and even their biases tend to modify an organization’s culture and even more so during crisis situation. During crisis, when the confluence of outside pressures tends to conspire to push an organization to the brink of extinction, organization tends to be awakened to the need of change realizing the “old” ways don’t work anymore and that a new solution should be made to bring the organization out of the rut. In such situations, the organizations more often ejects the current leaders and in it’s place supplant with non – traditional leaders, hoping that they would bring in fresh ideas on how to run the organization (you can say it is part of their fail – safe mechanism). However, in most times, such actions aren’t enough. Leadership changes aren’t real change but a direction towards it. Real change comes from the changes made in how things are done in the organization that could better cope with the new environment. This means that organization collectively has to give up or more appropriately sacrifice some of their most prized and cherished rights as well as some of their behaviors, values. However, most of the time, organization resist change for it wouldn’t sacrifice cherished values and expected benefits for an unknown outcome. But, more often than not, crisis leaders are able to extract such sacrifices from a desperate organization through the manipulation of expectations by the conscious and selective awarding of rewards and punishments. Viewed in such light, one could say that the case of Hitler and Mao, the Cultural Revolution were such a response (again, this is no exoneration of their guilt). It is in this fail – safe mechanism of selecting non – traditional leaders (but before an organization could do that, it should be aware what is a traditional leader) to head the organization that ensures the survival of an organization in spite of all odds. Another fail – safe mechanism inherent in any organization is the existence of alternate leadership. Leadership exist the moment an organization is born and ceased to function when the organization dies. Leadership is part and parcel of an organization. Leadership however is not the office or the hierarchal structure of an organization. The office provided the holder with legitimate authority to provide direction. Authority makes the exercise of leadership easier however; authority is not substitute for leadership. Once hierarchy fails to deliver the goods, alternate leaders from the hierarchy or informal leaders arose to take charge of the situation. Power struggle would inevitably ensue with one desperate to maintain power while the other keen on legalizing their role as leaders. Again, this is but a way to ensure consistency of leadership quality. Though the system is barbaric but it is nonetheless, effective. Henceforth, in the final analysis, leadership is not simply about direction or initiative towards a set of goals but rather leadership should be about an insurance on the consistency of achieving goals, on the sustainability of above par performance, and most important of all, on the continuing of the organization’s vitality and ensuring it’s survival. The emphasis of leadership should be on creating a dynamic organization with a positive culture of performance and the training of future leaders, ones that share the passion and vision of the founders. Given that understanding, I’m in no way near the mark. It seems that I still have a long road ahead of me to become a real CEO……………

P.S. Tell me if I’m making any sense on this.

INNOVATION 101

Read my professor’s column last Tuesday (July 4) at Businessworld. Professor Cruz’s latest article is entitled “Managing Innovations”. The article is all about Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management’s latest study on innovation penned by Sawhney, Wolcott, and Arroniz and is entitled, “The 12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate”. The authors defined business innovation as “the creation of substantially new value for the customers and the firm by creatively changing one or more dimensions of the business system”. They go on to list 12 dimensions that are subject to innovation. A few points should be emphasized here. Innovation is not equal to new invention or breakthrough technology. Rather innovation is about in my interpretation of the article, redefining value, i.e., what is valuable to customer or better yet restructuring the value offering into a more superior value for customer. Furthermore, innovations can be made in several dimensions, which include not only the product but also the entire business. In layman’s term, there are many facets or “fronts” in the businesses where innovation could be made to offer customer a much more superior value that they needed. These dimensions are:
1. Offerings,
2. Platform,
3. Solutions,
4. Customer’s (Need and Satisfaction),
5. Customer Experience,
6. Value Capture,
7. Processes,
8. Organization,
9 .Supply Chain,
10. Presence,
11. Networking,
12. Brand.
My professor ended his article here (Of course, he defined each of them). But being a business school graduate, I can’t help but be amazed by the power of this new framework on innovation. Of the 12 dimensions, I felt that I could classify them into 4 broad but interrelated categories (I’m no genius by the way, so if you have other opinions please let me know). These categories are Product and Services (#1 – 3), Customer Relationship (#4 – 6), Process Efficiency (#7 – 9), and Distributions/Marketing (#10 – 12).
Offerings, the first dimension simply refers to the product and service offerings of a company. It is fairly obvious that innovation of this type can happen by simply introducing new product variants or a better improve version of the existing products. An example of the former would be the introduction of new flavors to an existing food product or beverage while for the latter; the higher “speed” of Pentium computers would be a great example.
Platform, the second dimension refers to the base technology from which all subsequent new products are created. The example that came to my mind is the computer CPU chip. Currently, the available processor chip in wide use is the Pentium chip but a new chip is being marketed now, the Xeon chip, which functions like a dual core processor, an entirely different technology from the Pentium.
Solutions refer to the combination of end products and services that a company offers to help solve customers’ needs. An example of an innovation in solutions is event management. Used to be, people or organization had to do it themselves in order to stage an event like call up the catering, reserve a place, set up the props, etc. Now with event management, a single entity would be doing all the legworks and people or organization just call them up. Of course, there are other examples of “solutions” out there and the most popular now is the call center.
Customer, which in my understanding refers to the discovery of untapped customer needs. However, this is not that simple. It is possible that the product or services is already present but the customer is unaware of the features of the product offering due to poor attention given or people aren’t aware of the “creative” features of a product or technology. A classic example of innovation of this type would be text messaging. The technology and the feature are already present then but firms and the market aren’t able to fully exploit its potential but once it did, the outcome is far beyond everybody’s imagination.
Customer Experience refers to the total sensory and emotional stimulation that the customer had while “consuming” the product or services. The advent of fast food is one such example. Before McDonalds came into the picture, food service is not only slow but also inconsistent and expensive in some cases. McDonald’s offer of quick service, cleanliness, and quality revolutionizes the entire food service concept.
Value Capture, according to the article is about generating new revenue stream while offering value product. The example I could think of relating to innovation of this type is SM malls. Everybody knew that SM is in the real estate business of selling/renting out commercial spaces inside a gigantic mall to different retailers and merchants. Their primary source of income is in the rentals. However, lately, one could find billboard ads conspicuously littering the place to take advantage of high volume of traffic. Of course most of the ads are related to the retailers the mall host but that is a new revenue stream for a real estate company. This is an innovation in the sense that not only it offers customer information but in the process, it also generates revenue for the company. Internet web sites are prime examples of this innovation. Most web sites gave content away for free but generate revenue through ads viewed or what the industry termed as “clicks”.
Processes refer to the set of activities related to internal operations. By internal operations, it doesn’t merely meant production processes. It also encompasses other activities like accounting, customer support, etc. The idea of innovation at this stage is to improve efficiency and thus lower cost.
Organization refers to the reporting relationship between units. It also refers to the structure in which “work” is divided, i.e., to roll out a car, several work should be done, production, accounting, sales, etc. and the people - units that handle those work. Innovation of this type would mean to simplify the communication line such that responses could be made not only immediately but also accurately. Decision time would also be trimmed. Furthermore, “work” procedures would be simplified, streamlined, and made efficient as well as cost effective.
Supply Chain refers to the activities relating to the transmission of information on product requirement from the end customer to the primary suppliers and the delivery and transportation of the materials and products from the suppliers to the end customers. Innovation of this type centers on simplifying, reducing the communication link between the end users and the suppliers while at the same time improving the reliability, quality, and the speed of delivery of products from suppliers to end users. The last 3 types of innovation can be categorized as innovation on efficiency. Here, innovation is not merely about introduction of the expensive and latest technology but rather it is all about better control and coordination. There are many tools to identify possible “innovation” on efficiency. Tools like TQM, Reengineering, Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing System are some of the prime examples.
Presence refers in my view to the visibility of the product or service to the target market. Presence in my understanding has two forms, namely, market presence and presence in the mind. The former deals with distribution while the latter talks about advertisements. Innovation in distribution refers to the use of creative alternative means of distribution like selling through the World Wide Web. Advertising innovations would be using new mediums other than the established ones like tri – media campaign, sponsorships etc. An example I could think of is internet advertising or being advertised/incorporated in a popular movie, e.g., James Bond’s favorite car, BMW.
Network as I understand refers to the “link” that connects the company and it’s products to it’s intended customers. This is not simply referring to distribution. It could also encompass co – marketing arrangements like promotion, partnering, co – branding etc. Innovation of this could also come in the form of “creating” new distribution channel aside from the existing channels. An example would be sports shoes. I remembered when I was young sports shoes are sold in department stores. Nowadays, sports shoes can be seen in sports equipment stores or fashion boutiques catering to a sporty lifestyle crowd.
Brand refers to the imagery conjured by the buyer that conveys the promise of the provider of what to expect from the use of the latter’s product or services. It is a promise made by the supplier to the customer. Innovation on brand in my view pertains to the creative way of positioning the brand either by extending it or rebranding it. An example of the former is the extension of sports shoes brands into sports apparel. As for the second case, an appropriate example would be the creation of the “mass luxury” market and the repositioning of some luxury brands into that category.
From a Strategic Management perspective, the list of dimensions to innovate afforded the strategy maker a focus for them to design their strategy. Using Michael Potter’s 5 forces framework on competition, the competitive forces in the industry conspire limit the maximum prices that a company could profitably charge, in short, a price ceiling while at the same time, these forces tend to establish a price floor (cost pressure) below which the company would experience a loss. The difference between the price ceiling and the price floor is the average profit potential that a company in the industry could reasonably expect given the host of competitive pressure. When the price ceiling collapses and the price floor is forced upward due to cost pressures, companies in the industry would felt literally feel the squeeze in their profitability. Michael Potter proposes 3 generic strategies to neutralize the squeeze. The first is Differentiation that is how to convince buyers that the company’s product is unique and therefore deserving of the price it dictates and not what the competitor dictates. This strategy negates the price pressure by “pushing” the ceiling higher. Of the 12 dimensions to innovate, the strategy maker should focus more on the Customer relationship category. Other categories are important too but the emphasis should be how the customer feels about the product or service, specifically, how it felt different from the other offerings. The second strategy is Low Cost, which is finding ways to lower the “overall” cost of the company, not only production cost but also overheads. This strategy negates the cost pressures and hence lowers if not maintains the price floor. Obviously, the efficiency category of the 12 dimensions is useful for the strategy maker to focus his attention on. The third strategy according to Potter is to focus on a certain segment of the industry (by the way, this is not the niche in marketing terminology). The idea of the strategy is to focus on a segment of the industry where the competitive pressures are the weakest and hence the company would feel “less squeeze” on it’s profitability. The strategy maker in this case should focus more on innovating the distribution and marketing side. For an aspiring entrepreneur, the 12 dimensions of innovation would help them figure out what to offer in a highly competitive market. One of the possible ways for entry available to an entrepreneur is to provide innovative products and services on the table that buyers really dig and makes existing player run for their money. Sawhney et al’s framework can help do just that by focusing the would – be entreprenuer’s mental prowess towards figuring out what to innovate. It is really difficult to come up with a new idea, a new innovation from the existing offerings by the established players that really offers superior value to customers. However it would be easier if one has something to start with.

Film Critique: ¼ Matrix + ¼ Spiderman + ¼ Lover’s Quarrel + ¼ Nostalgia = Superman Returns

WARNING: THIS IS A SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T WATCHED THE MOVIE. SO IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED, DON’T READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!

I got to watch “Superman Return” on the opening night, June 28 and boy! The place was jam-packed and queues were long. It seemed that everybody was eager to welcome the Man of Steel back to the big screen. I would say that the movie is quite good. Worth every penny you’d paid for but I am not exactly enthusiastic to see it again for a second time unlike Spiderman or Harry Potter. Not that it is unexciting but rather I had a seen better movie of the same genre like Spiderman. Prior to the movie, I had been watching the “old” Superman movies played by the late Christopher Reeves on TV.

PLOT
The story of the latest installment of Superman revolves around the “tension” between Superman and Lois Lane with the latter moving on and eventually marrying Perry White’s nephew and she also had a kid, Jason. The diabolical scheme hatched by Luthor could be best describe as only a sub – plot to the main storyline. The plot of the story starts with Superman returning to Earth after a disappearance of 5 years without saying goodbye in order to search for the remains of his home world, Krypton only to discover it as a desolate and lonely place. He returned to Earth only to found out that the world has learned to “live” without him including his love, Lois Lane. In fact, Lois even wrote an editorial entitled, “Why the World doesn’t need Superman”, which won her a Pulitzer. So there you have it, a cynical world and a scorned woman who pretend to have gotten over her love. Throw in the mix is Lex Luthor who manages to serenade an old dying spinster (just assuming) into bequeathing him her entire fortune. He then went to Superman’s lair in the North Pole and steals the crystals and used it to “grow” a whole new Kryptonian continent out in the Atlantic, which would eventually “devour” the entire North American continent. As usual, our hero saved the day but this time, he didn’t manage to get the lady’s hand. Compared to the “old” Superman movies, I would say that the new film has more substance and entirely believable, which is unlike the “old” movies (just seen them recently from the reruns). The old movies are both blatant and idealistic. Superman Returns has a more developed storyline. However, one could find the influence of recent movies like the Matrix and Spiderman to name a few in the film. “Borrowed” from the Matrix are the bullet time actions and graphics and the implicit Christian ideological overlay. The Christian overtone is evident in the movie like when Superman flew Lois to the clouds and asks her if she hears anything. To which, she answered no. Superman then told her that he hears everything and he hears people asking for a savior and with that, he disprove Lois’ thesis that the world doesn’t need a Superman. Or like in the case of the voice of Joe – El, Superman’s father reminding him about the potential of the human race and that he is sending his son to make sure Superman leads them to their potential. Or like the scene wherein Superman in a cross like position fell to Earth after saving the world. All of this tends to emphasize a sublime Christian message. Even so, the movie lacks the philosophical depth of the Matrix. Interestingly, there was a scene where Lois kisses Superman in his hospital bed hoping that he would “wake” up from his coma. This scene reminds me of the scene where Trinity kissed Neo, which not only magically revived Neo inside the Matrix but also transform him into the One. So cliché. As for the influence of Spiderman, it is apparent that the director wanted to project the human side of Superman much like in the movie, Spiderman. The director painstakingly projects that the Man of Steel is not only vulnerable physically to Kryptonite but also to emotional stress. Here, Superman wallows in self – pity, embroiled in jealousy to the point of becoming a stalker, and is genuinely lonely. Although the director succeeded in portraying the “human” Superman but I felt that the connection with the audience isn’t quite “complete”. In Spiderman, the viewers felt intimately connected to Spiderman/Peter Parker but not in Superman. I postulated that it is because in Spiderman, Peter Parker is the main persona and Spiderman is only his sideline or in comic book term, his alter ego. Sam Ramsey (Spiderman’s director) portrays Peter Parker as struggling to juggle being himself and Spiderman. In Superman, the opposite happens. Here, Superman is the main persona and Clark Kent is the alter ego, or to be more accurate, a disguise. The superhuman challenge of being a superhero isn’t present at all, e.g., Clark Kent isn’t pressured to be Superman nor is Superman having difficulties being Clark Kent. He has problems with his love life and that’s it. One of the noticeable “things” in the movie is the director’s adherence to the original Superman, which thus gave the audience a sense of nostalgia and instantly connects with the “old” Superman movies. Scenes like Superman dishing statistics after saving the day. “Statistically speaking, flying is still the safest means of transportation.” Or Lois lane fainting upon seeing Superman the first time. Or Lex Luthor’s comical obsession with real estate and his means of attaining his goal, which instantly reminds you of the first Superman movie. Or the romantic flying date between Superman and Lois Lane. Even the music reminds me of the old Superman. It helps the movie a lot in terms of familiarity. However, what really makes the movie click was the unexpected twist and turn of the plot. It was so unexpected and unsuspecting that one would be totally blown away when it happened. The first twist was the revelation that Superman has a son and he is no other than Lois’ kid, Jason the super kid. Everybody thought that Jason was a human kid born to Lois and her present husband but not between her and Superman. This is because of the myth being established in the previous movies. In Superman 3 wherein Superman went rouge, Superman slept with a woman but she didn’t get pregnant and all throughout the subsequent sequels, there was no hint at all that Superman and Lois ever slept together. In fact, some fans are beginning to wonder if Superman is at all gay. Well, this movie dispels that speculation. The second twist was the “almost” death of Superman. Nobody expects Superman to die in this movie but the director plays it in such a way that death is somehow plausible to the point that it could be expected. It makes anybody watching to stay at the edge of their seat wondering correction, worrying about Superman. Overall, the plot is great.

SPECIAL EFFECTS
The special effects used in the movie is simply awesome and way beyond the standards of the “old” Superman movie. Thanks in part to the latest advances in CGI technology and of course, to the Matrix who started it all. This time around, Superman’s cape is actually flowing when he is up in the air. The most unforgettable part of the special effects scene is Superman’s saving of a free falling Boeing airplane. Damn, it was simply exhilarating! The CGI animation of Superman is also quite realistic that there are times it is difficult to tell whether it is the actor doing the stunts or it was pure graphics.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND ACTORS
As was mentioned, the director attempted and succeeded in humanizing Superman by making him vulnerable emotionally. Even so, there is a limitation to the humanizing factor. The development of Clark Kent on the other hand was somehow stunted in this movie. Here, Clark is literally a disguise. The old movies portray Clark Kent as somehow possessing a separate identity as an average Joe who is tired of being sacrificed to protect the identity of Superman. Notice the awkwardness Clark Kent exudes when he tries to be both nice and geeky as opposed to the natural macho and brutish persona of Superman. That separateness of identity becomes more acute that it came full blows in Superman 3. That tension is noticeably absent in the new movie. Furthermore, in the TV series, Smallville, there is no Superman persona but only Clark Kent. In the TV series, Clark is struggling to live a normal life even though he is anything but normal. Again, one can’t find that here in the movie. Brandon Routh plays well as Superman but he looks too smart and confident as Clark Kent than the traditional awkward geeky nice guy image that Clark should be. Lois Lane played by Kate Bosworth is still tough, feisty but is also somewhat mellowed down compared to the old Lois. She also exudes feminine beauty. I find that meallowing down to be a welcome change not that I’m a sexist but rather I find it to fit Lois’ new role as a mother of a 5 year old and a loving wife. Lex Luthor played by Kevin Spacey on the other hand is somewhat well, not exactly a disappointment or a let down but let’s just say, short of expectation. The problem is not in that Kevin Spacey’s acting (he is actually played the part well) but in both the director and the actor’s understanding of Luthor. The “old” Luthor played by Gene Hackman is flamboyant and displayed theatrical flair. He is the epitome of an arrogant mad genius who desired to become a king even for a day. Kevin Spacey’s Luthor by comparison seemed a lot more subdued and “quiet”. However, I don’t find that to be disturbing. In fact, I liked it. The “modern” depiction of Lex Luthor both in TV (Smallville) and in comic books is a shrewd, amoral, malevolent, manipulative, and machiavellian businessman/politician. Kevin Spacey in the first part of the movie adhere to this modern depiction. His portrayal of Luthor at this stage is best described as a “silent killer”. The problem with the portrayal came in the latter part of the movie when Luthor starts to unveil his evil scheme. Here, Kevin Spacey tried to imitate or more sarcastically, ape the flamboyance and flair of Gene Hackman, which turns out to be a total farce. Furthermore, the director and writer should seriously consider upgrading Luthor’s persona including his IQ. This is because I find his scheme less diabolical but more hairy, audacious, and also elementary. Lex Luthor’s scheme is to “sink” North America and replace it with the Krytonian crystal continet. There is only one problem to that scheme and that is, what they’re going to eat? I mean can you grow anything on an icy crystal wasteland? Ok, so they (Luthor and his cohorts) could make use of soiless farming or hydroponics technology but would that sufficed to feed a population? Furthermore, Luthor possesses the crystals, which contains among others advance Krytonian technologies and database collated from 28 known galaxies. There is somewhere within that database a blueprint on how to built a Weapon of Ultimate Destruction a.k.a. a Doomsday device, which he could use to blackmail the world. In spite of this, Lex Luthor is inexplicably infatuated with “real estate” (remember Superman 1?). Makes me wonder whether or not Lex Luthor is the “world’s greatest criminal genius” or simply the “most diabolical real estate developer the world has ever seen” and complete and utter failure at that! Apparently, the producers wanted to project the “gravity” and “evilness” of Luthor’s scheme and which is why they choose that scheme but it degrades the “seriousness” of the film.

DIRECTION AND DIRECTOR
Bryan Singer’s (the director) take on this latest movie on Superman is to focus on the two main characters, namely, Lois and Superman. The focus is so narrow that everybody else is relegated to second place including Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. The effect of this focus is to provide crystal clear clarity on the theme and is less likely to muddle the issue at hand. The director handles this kind of direction quite well. Too well, in fact that some point in the movie, I had this queasy feeling that it is more of a romance film rather than an action – adventure flick.

ASSESSMENT
Overall, I find the film to be excellent and I actually liked it. It is as I said worth every penny paid. Aside from that, the facts being introduced in this film opens new avenues and possibilities as to the future direction of the film franchise. It would wet anybody’s curiosity as to what will happen to Jason, the super kid. Or how would the love triangle (Superman – Lois – White, the husband) or even the quadrangle (including Clark Kent) would unravel in the next few films. One could only wonder or even speculate but for now, I just like to say, “Welcome back, Superman!”

A LITTLE GIRL NAMED MEGAN

Megan Eloise Chua, 10 years old. Her Chinese name, Chai Mei Yen is simply a translation of her English name in Mandarin, which in Fookien is pronounced as Bee Gan, meaning beautiful cheek/face. Indeed, Megan does have a pretty face. Not only that, couple that with her slim 5’3” physique plus that innocent charming sweet smile, it is no wonder that Megan is into modeling at such a young tender age. So far, she had already modeled for a shampoo and a detergent commercial with both harping on a family theme. Not bad for a 10 year old, for she is already earning money while most people at her age haven’t even had a clue as to how. At any rate, she is not just a pretty face or worse, a pretty bimbo. She displayed keen intelligence with sharp perception rare in her young age. It is too bad that most people who knew her predicted and even wanted her to be a successful ramp model someday but I find that to be a waste of her talent and abilities for she possesses mental qualities that would make her a great lawyer or doctor someday. In fact, she showed a huge interest in biology, able to name the world’s smallest creatures and their place of origins, short of telling me the scientific names of those animals (I doubted if she knew those scientific names at all). Perhaps, she could become a great doctor someday and humanity would be so lucky to have somebody like her. But that’s not all. Megan also played the piano and showed interest in classical music, specifically, Chopin’s music. She studies ballet, plays soccer, and practices golf. She would be an incredible lady when she grows up. However, I remember Megan not only for her pretty face and her intelligence but most importantly, the time we spent together during our vacation trip to China. I remember her to be that cute, innocent sweet young girl who constantly beat me in charade games. How could I forget her “impatience”, when it took me too long to guess the answers? When she got impatient waiting for our guesses, she would pretend to be sleeping, resting on her shoulders, snoring out loud but not after exclaiming that it takes me centuries to make a guess. Hahahaha. Or how could I forget the time when we’re climbing the Great Wall together, somewhere in the middle of the climb, she repeatedly asked the question (just like in the movie, Shrek), “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” She was so cute when she did that that I forgot about my tiredness and was energized to keep on moving just to get “there” and say to her, “yes, we’re here!” Oh! She makes our climb so much easier. Or how could I forget her ecstatic looks when we saw the pandas? She hovers around looking at those furry creatures like a butterfly over a rose. I remember telling her a joke right then and there and she laughed heartily at it. Or how could I forget how she looks when she was singing a song to entertain the tour group while we were traveling to our next destination? I had to get up twice from my seat to “wipe” the beads of sweat (if there were any at all since the weather was cold) from her forehead with my handkerchief. Hahahahaha. Ah, memories, so hard to forget, produces that longing….. I surely missed her even though we had a reunion sometime a month ago at Tagaytay Highlands. It is as if I wanted her to be with me all the time so that I could watch her grow, watch her blossom, and be proud of her. She was like a daughter to me. Strange, for how human bonds develop in so short a time. From perfect strangers, to somebody I wished I had…… I envied her parents, for they have a perfect daughter. Some guys do have all the luck, indeed. If I had a kid someday, I wanted him to be a boy but if by chance, I had a girl or a daughter, I wanted her to be just like Megan.

DAY 5: ONE FINE DAY

April 17, day 5 of my vacation in Beijing. I woke up early as usual, quite eager to explore Beijing after that great climb to the Great Wall the day before. I peered out of my hotel room window trying to memorize the cityscape and lo, what I saw was something quite “picturesque” that day. There seems to be a “fog” covering the horizon and it somehow transform the entire cityscape into a canvas painting with shadows of buildings barely visible on the background and the sun with it’s circular ball clearly visible. If not for the fact that it was daytime, I would have thought that the heavenly object was the moon! The whole scene reminded me of London (had never been there yet) as seen through paintings or comic book caricature. One could felt that superficial calmness in the images that betray the bustling city. The “fog” turned out to be a “sand fall”. Apparently, a day before, there was a sandstorm outside Beijing somewhere in Mongolia and that sand was “carried” the following day to Beijing. According to the news report that night, 16 grams of sand fell on every square meters of the surface. Everywhere I went that morning, a “sea of yellow sand” surrounded me. No buildings, no roofs, no cars, no trees, no handrails were spared from that “yellow” snow (for it was still cool that day with temperatures in the low teens). As I swipe my hands at the rails and feel the sand, they were not coarse at all but quite fine like that of beach sands except that I wasn’t in a beach. I don’t know how Beijing residents felt when they saw the sands but I find it quite novel if not “strangely” beautiful. Anyway, our first trip that day was to visit the local zoo or more specifically, the panda zoo. I saw a lot of pandas in my lifetime but until then, it was all in pictures (moving or still). I used to feel “remove” and impersonal when seeing a panda from a picture but to actually see a real one in person was quite a different experience with the feeling of “remoteness” vanished. It also helps that I had an enthusiastic and over eager 10 year old with me, for little Megan’s zest and curiosity was simply infectious. We ran around the zoo trying to catch a glimpse of the all 3 pandas. I felt this “need” to cross over and hug those lovable furry creatures but then again they are still bears and they are after all “wild” animals and with that, I change my mind and stayed put. We made a tour inside the “cave” to see the “living quarters” of the pandas, which was separated by a thick glass wall. There are quite cozy if I may say for a panda for it was spacious. At the end of the cave tunnel was a souvenir store selling stuffed pandas. I bought a panda pencil holder as a souvenir gift for my kid sister. Our next stop for the day was to visit the Summer Palace, Yi Ho Yuan, the imperial garden complex of the Manchu emperors. Too bad, like the rest of Beijing, it was under extensive renovation but nevertheless there are a few scenes to see. At the entrance of the garden complex was a rock, called the Stone of Longetivity. I don’t know the origin of that rock nor the epistemology of it’s name but I think that the rock was a meteorite or something. Even though the rock was well secured by a cordon, a lot of the locals are crowding it and touching it, probably hoping that some of the “immortality” stuff be rubbed on them. I too can’t resist myself from touch it, hoping that it may rub “a few more years” on me. According to the fact book, the Yi Ho Yuan was twice or thrice (or was it 10 times? Can’t remember) the size of the Imperial palace and it is located at the outskirt of the ancient Beijing (within the confines of the modern city). I can’t really make an accurate comparison of the Yi Ho Yuan with the Yu Garden in Shanghai for the former was under repair and hence, most of it’s features are off limits. The central feature of the Yi Ho Yuan is the great man made lake in the center of the complex. The lake wasn’t really man made for there was indeed a natural body of water at the site except that it was probably small. The imperial architects must have widened and deepened it and embellished with trees and thus creating that beautiful landscape and indeed, the place was beautiful! Another feature of the palace was the long covered walkway or the “Chang Long” near the lakeshore. On one side, one could admire the beauty of the lake while strolling the walkway and on the other side, one could “immersed” in the intricate beauty of the garden inside. Too bad, I didn’t get to enjoy the garden. Anyway, while we were sightseeing, two of our senior tour mates went missing, the geneticist’s parents. Well, it was Kitty’s (our tour guide) fault. She always went ahead of the group, walking straight and mindlessly, having no care what so ever about her charge. The geneticist and me went about frantically searching for her parents and I was telling myself and a few of the members to actually flunk the tour guide in the performance evaluation at the end of the trip (however, there wasn’t any performance evaluation, too bad!). We eventually found them at the end of the walkway and it is then that we heave a sigh of relief. There were a lot of people in there and the place was huge (a 100 hectares?). One could easily get lost inside if not for the fact that most of the place were off limits. Anyway, I noticed something else and that is the flooring tile. Actually, Megan “discovered” it. The tiles are placed in such a way that it formed a shape or a drawing. There are animals, mystical creatures, and even airplanes and boats. One could easily overlook the tiles but in this case with all the scenic spots closed, it became one of the things to see. At the end of the Chang Long, was the “imperial stone boat”. It wasn’t really a boat per se but a floating palace shaped like a boat, amazing piece of architecture, I would say. We took a boat ride back to the entrance, crossing the lake and on our way back, we passed by the lonely island in the middle of the lake. That man made island has a palace in the middle and was connected to the shore by a huge arc bridge. The island was relatively isolated forming a beacon of solitude surrounded by paradise. Megan said that the island was a place for hermits for it is “separated” from the world. Indeed, that was the intention. For an emperor who is burdened by the cares of the world, that small isolated island was his only get away from the world. I wished I lived there……… After that tour, we proceeded to have our lunch, the third and last of the great lunches we had during the trip. The place was called Bai jia fu (the home of the Bai family). The place was actually a Ching dynasty nobleman’s mansion complete with a garden. What makes the place unforgettable was the recreation of the “imperial experience”. All the waiters and waitresses are dressed as imperial eunuch or manservant (they are not castrated by the way) and imperial maids (or according to some of the tour members, princesses). On the gate are 12 very, very beautiful (white, young, soft skinned) and tall (they are at least 5’8” and they looked even taller with the ancient high heel sandals) “princesses” waiting for us and greeting us with, “Ni Jie Siang”, meaning Good Luck to You. They lower themselves by bending their knees and raised their right hand to their heads with their handkerchiefs while making the greetings. That greeting was formerly reserved for emperors and the royal family but now, everyone else could receive such honor (of course, if one could afford to pay the price). I could have taken a picture of myself with all those beautiful young women like the rest of the guys in the group did except that I ran out of memory spaces in my digital camera and I was quite reluctant to ask the younger single ladies (the doc and the geneticist) to take a picture of me with the “princesses” using their cameras, lest they say that I’m a “chick boy” (of course, I’m not a boy but a grown man). Dang! Too bad! They’re really, really pretty! We went inside the mansion passing through the courtyard. Every ten steps or so was a manservant waiting for us. Once we reached his station, the young man would bend his back forward and bow his head in submission to greet us, “Ni Jie Siang”. I could have just walked straight with heads high like royalty deserving such courtesy but somehow I couldn’t. I bowed my head slightly every time a manservant does his greeting gesture. Not because I felt that I don’t deserve it rather that I feel that no man should be made subservient to flatter another man’s vanity. Upon reaching the inner gate, we were met by 6 more beautiful princesses. Dang! I do surely regret not buying a memory chip for myself the night before when I accompany the ladies to buy theirs at Carrefour right across our hotel. Anyway, the “princesses” led us inside the main dining hall and boy oh boy! What a sight! The place was decorated ala imperial style. The dining chairs are covered with yellow seat cover embroidered with dragons, the imperial insignia. There is even a replica of the imperial throne in the middle of the hall. Of course, the throne is off limits and we just take pictures of ourselves standing in front of it (now, I could ask the ladies to take a picture of me without fear of being branded as a “chick boy”). The food though not really a “grand banquet” type (i.e., complete with pigeons, crabs, and others) but was nonetheless superb, delicious, and sumptuous. One thing to note, one shouldn’t be fooled by the ancient appearance of the place for it was just a façade. The restaurant is by all accounts high tech. The lighting fixture, the amenities are first class. Even the waitresses or the “princesses” uses a palm top to take orders. The head princess even wore an earpiece connected to a radio just like the ones used by secret service agents. The garden at the back of the main dining hall though small by comparison to the Yi Ho Yuan or the Yu Garden but is nonetheless pleasing to the eye and generally blend in with the atmosphere to recreate that imperial experience. One of the tour member commented about the experience. Anybody could recreate the architecture and the landscape of the place; they may even recreate the ambience by having their waiters and waitresses dressed in imperial robes but they cannot recreate the experience for there is only one Beijing, one imperial center of China. You can’t have that anywhere else in the world. It is in this spirit that Megan exclaimed after that wonderful meal, “that it is good being the emperor (of China)”. My reply to her was, “yes indeed but being emperor is not all the time and sometimes it could be bad.” She asked why and I explained that because being an emperor is that good and everyone wants to be the emperor but there can only be one. Of course, Megan didn’t understand that but she is right. It is good, correction, great to be the emperor even for just one meal! The itinerary that afternoon was the continuation of the day before, shopping, more shopping! The day before, we visited a jade store/factory before the climb to the Great Wall and after that, we visited a Chinese herbal drug store and a Chinese tea store. That day, we were scheduled to shop at a bargain center and later on to Wang Fu Jin shopping district. I could only dread so much so that I actually asked to be left at Beijing University when our coach passed by the campus but to no avail. I could only sit at the cold metallic bench inside the mall while waiting for the rest to do their bargain hunting. The doc’s father actually sat with me during the “ordeal” but in return I had to listen to his non – stop complaint about his wife’s shopping/spending habit! I don’t know what’s worst; to be bored to death inside a shopping mall doing nothing or to endure another man’s whining! I soooooooooooooo hate shopping!!! Thankfully, the old man got up to help out his wife carry her purchases and so that afforded me some “tranquil” moments. I eventually dozed off in the bench not only once but twice (that’s how long the shopping session was). After finishing one shopping session, we hopped off to the next shopping session (I HATE SHOPPING!!!!). I can’t take it anymore and so I went up to Kitty and ask her to drop me off at a bookstore nearby. She thought awhile and told me that there are 2 or 3 bookstores somewhere in Wang Fu Jin. Thank goodness, finally some semblance of sanity to an insane afternoon. As we got there, I immediately looked for the bookstores. The first bookstore was an English bookstores and frankly, the title it carried sucks! Manila bookstores are way too better than this. I went out to look for another store and after like an hour of insanely running around asking for directions (in Chinese by the way), I finally struck gold. The bookstore is located at the end of Wang Fu Jin in a 20 – story building. I don’t know how many floors the store occupies but who cares, I got what I’m looking for. And so, I spend almost two hours of that late afternoon reading and looking for books, Chinese books written using the simplified form. I looked up at the geography, history, military treatise, and philosophy section of the first floor. Time sure fly so fast and before I knew it, I had to go back to the meeting place. Oh, so many books yet so little time. I hurriedly but judiciously picked 4 books and bought them to the counter. These are “The History of Imperial Chinese Administrative System”, “The History of Imperial Chinese Frontier Administrative System”, “The Study of the Political – Administrative System of the 5 Dynasty and 10 Kingdom Period in China”, and “The Imperial Guards, a study of Beijing Constabulary Forces during the Liao, Kin, Yuan, Ming, Ching, and Republican China”. These are scholarly books (1 of them hardbound and all of them uses excellent paper quality) written by experts and professors from noted Chinese university. The price tag? 145 RMB or roughly 800 pesos, which is a great buy since books like that cost somewhere 1000 pesos here in Manila. It was with a heavy heart that I had to leave the place and hurried back to the coach……. We had our dinner afterwards. Truth to tell, the dinner wasn’t that superb although it wasn’t really that bad. It was just that we had such an experience that afternoon that somehow we can’t taste the food in our dinner. I happened also to bring out the group picture we had taken during our visit to the Forbidden City and had every member of the tour group signed their dedication as well as their contact info. Funny, but somehow I felt I’m going to miss this group. It was just only 5 days and yet, I somehow bonded with them. We were set to go back to Manila the next day and which is why I had them sign a dedication. Now, it’s been almost two months since my vacation and still, the memories are still as vivid as ever. It was truly something to cherish for the rest of my life, one of the hundred places to visit before ………

On The Da Vinci Code

Last Sunday, I got to watch the movie, Da Vinci Code, which is based on a best selling novel by Dan Brown of the same title. My conclusion after watching the movie is that the movie and hence, the novel is purely fiction. There is no truth to the author’s claim. I’m no believer and I’m writing to defend the faith rather that my interest with the subject matter is merely philosophical. Actually, I don’t find the idea of Jesus Christ having a descendant preposterous rather I find the “proof” put forward by the author flimsy. My reason? In the latter end of the movie, the movie revealed that the heroine is the descendant of Christ since her surname is St. Claire, which traces it lineages back to the Merovingian line and this is where the problem lies. The Merovingians are the first dynasty of kings that rule Gaul, the modern day France after the fall of the Roman Empire during the 5th century. The progenitor of the Merovingian fortune is Clovis, a grandson of Merovech, from which the name Merovingian was derived. Clovis is the king of a confederation of barbarians that invaded the Roman empire known as the Franks from which France derives it’s name. Like all ancient rulers, the Franks sought to legitimize their rule by claiming divine association. The Franks like all German barbarians at that time are Arians, a Christian sect that believed that there could be only one God and Christ is different from God the father and therefore, human albeit divine. They didn’t believe in the holy trinity. Clovis capitalizes on that prevailing belief to proclaim himself as the descendant of Christ, a very visible manifestation of the divine rights of kings. Since time immemorial, rulers tend to manipulate religion in order to garner the support and loyalty of a god – fearing and religious people. As an example, the Chinese call their emperors, the Son of Heaven, believing that the emperor alone possesses the mandate from heaven to rule the entire humanity. Roman emperors after Constantine the Great uses Christianity to legitimize their rule claiming that the Roman world is the mirror image of paradise and that since there is one God in paradise so there should be one Emperor as God’s vicar on earth, a designation contested by the Pope. Egyptian pharaohs believed that they are the son of Osiris, a god and this in fact induces, Alexander the Great to think himself as a son of God, specifically, Zeus. As late as the 19th century, religion still provided the necessary legitimacy needed by would be rulers. A case in point, Hong Xiu Chuan, who claimed that he is God’s second son and Christ’s younger brother, led a rebellion against Machu rule in China. The rebellion is known in history as the Taiping rebellion. In modern times, the Japanese emperor still claims descent from the Shinto goddess, Ameratsu. My point? Religion and divinity is always a potent and common tool used by kings to generate support, the Merovingians are no exception. To use the Merovingian genealogy as the basis of claim as Christ’s descendant is pretty weak. However, the idea put forward by the movie is quite compelling. What if Jesus Christ is not what we think he is? What if he is human and not at all divine? Intriguing, because the root word Christianity is derived from Christ. Would Christianity survive without Christ? The answer is simple, it won’t but I do wonder, why not? Why can’t it survive at all? Gautama Buddha is not at all divine but simply human. He never claims divinity and yet, the religion he founded to reform Hinduism survives up to this day. Mohammed the prophet wasn’t divine either but claims to be the messenger of Allah. Again like Buddhism, Islam is still going strong up till this day. My point? A religion survives not because of the person who founded it but rather on the basic tenets it profess whether such tenets are divinely inspired or self – meditated like Buddha because such tenets appeal to the common people. Christianity isn’t about the resurrection and the miracles of Christ rather it is about the idea of a loving (without discrimination and prejudice), forgiving (in spite of all the sins committed by Man), and compassionate God as opposed to the previous belief of an unforgiving and jealous God. God is not in the disease, the calamities, or the unfortunate mishap but is in every human soul that has compassion for others. Christianity may not be the same without the divine Christ but can’t Christianity be about the belief as expounded by Christ?

DAY 4: THE PILGRIMAGE

April 16, Easter Sunday, Day 4 of my vacation. The weather was great that beautiful Sunday morning. The temperature is in the high teens, not too cold nor was it was hot either. The wind was also calm (level 1 – 2 according to the weather report), a perfect day to climb the Wall. Like the day before, I was again late because nobody told me that we would be leaving by 0830 instead 0900 (Dang!). Despite that, I was in a good mood and really didn’t mind about it. Can’t help it but feel great for there is something about past relics that brings out the sentiment in me as a historian and a romanticist even though it is just “a mere stonewall”. Maybe, it is the fact that as a historian, I always wanted to “verify” about what I read and with what I actually see and try to appreciate the whole thing from the perspective of men from a bygone era. Anyway, before we even reached the Great Wall, Kitty, our tour guide brought us to shopping (of jades) at a Jade Factory. Oh, how I hate shopping (More on that later)! I was getting impatient with the dilly dallying of our guide but still I manage to keep my cool after all it was a great day. After something like an hour of shopping, we proceeded to Pa Tat Ling, the mountain range where the Great Wall lies. As our bus approaches the mountain range, I noticed that one of the slopes looked surprisingly like a dragon claw. In fact, the entire mountain looked like a sleeping dragon. According to Feng Shui, burying ones’ ancestors near the “mouth” of the dragon ensures that their descendants would remain on the dragon throne for all eternity. This is probably why the Ming Ling or the Burial Complex of the Ming Emperors is located nearby presumably near the “mouth”. As we approach the Shan Hai Kuan (Pass or Gate), I can’t help myself but recall the stories and legends surrounding the Great Wall. I don’t know why but I recalled one particular legend, the legend of the lady Meng whose husband was forcibly recruited by the Chin Emperor to build the wall. In her desperation to reunite with her husband, lady Meng embarks a journey to the Great Wall (which was under construction then) but she couldn’t find her husband and so she wailed and cried for 3 days and 3 nights (?). Her sorrow so touched heaven that it brought the Wall down and reveal the corpse of her husband underneath and so she was able to finally reunite with her husband. I doubt it if I could see the spot where that happen if it did happen at all but that is the point, so much history has passed in this place, so many people, so many stories, so many legends and yet only the stone wall remains up to this day. This is truly a monument that withstood the test of time. As we arrived at the Gate and alighted from the bus, I make a sweep of my surrounding and took in the incredible view. Indeed! This is a strategic place. The Shan Hai Kuan was nestled between two mountains in a valley beside a river. The mountains are steep thus making an attack on its wall a near impossible uphill battle. The road in front of the Gate is so narrow that no matter how huge the attacking army was, only a few columns could approach it. A handful of defenders would suffice to hold off the siege. No wonder, Shan Hai Kuan is called the “most strongest gate in the (Chinese) world” for it could withstand the most determined sieges and only a miracle could make that Gate crumble against an attacking army, which it happened during the end of the Ming era when the defending Ming general, Wu San Kuei opened the gates and “invited” the Manchu army in to “restore” order to the universe. The Manchu eventually establishes the Ching dynasty, the last Chinese dynasty and the rest is as they say is history. We lined up for our ticket (cost 35RMB but the guide paid for it since it is part of the package) and entered the Pass. Inside the Pass is a temple dedicated to Kuan Yee, China’s Warrior god, the god of honor, loyalty, and martial prowess as well as the patron saint of the common soldiers. Kuan Yee is actually a historical person. I planned to pay my respect for the noble hero (not to worship) but had to skip it due to the sheer number of people paying their “respect”. At any rate, I was up with the entire tour group as well as several hundreds of tourist on the lower section of the wall through the Gate. Again like in the Yu Garden, I had this sense of surrealism with me when I was at the walls. But then and there, I “discovered” a marble inscription containing the famous words of Chairman Mao, “Pu Tao Chang Cheng Fei Hao Han”. It means, “If you haven’t been to the Great Wall, you’re not a man (or a hero depending on the translation)”. Well, getting to the Great Wall was easy; you just need to get in a plane and ride a bus and presto, you’re here! Climbing the Great Wall is altogether different (due to its distance and steepness). Now, if one were able to climb the Great Wall, what would he be? Probably, it’s the challenge offered by Mao and the fact that, I rarely back down from a good challenge for suddenly, the “sentimental old fool” in me was gone and in it’s place was an adventurous egoist eager to take up the challenge. And so, with that, I began my arduous climb to conquer the Great Wall of China. Not all of the group members climbed, most of the “senior” citizens stayed put. Megan (entrusted to the Doc’s and my care during the climb by her grandma), the Doc, and I teamed up. I went ahead and they “catch up”. I was so full of energy. My adrenaline was probably pumped up for I practically “sprint” my way up. The climb was a challenge indeed! It was too steep with the angle is somewhere near 90 degrees! The steps though wide are unevenly separated. Some steps are just a few inches apart while in the steepest section of the climb, the distance between the steps could reached as much as 2 – 2 ½ feet! If not for the rails (a modern addition), I doubt that most people could climb the walls. In fact, some people literally climb using both hands as well. Somewhere in the middle of the slope, I was already panting from the arduous climb (dang! I’m in a terrible shape!). I felt like I had 10 workouts already! Funny, back at the lower end of the wall, people were laughing and joking around but by the time they reached the middle of the slope, everybody is silent except for their heavy breathings! At that section of the wall, I found a lot of the tourist resting on the steps even though the path is narrow (good for 2 ½ people to move around). Mindful of my companions, I proposed that we rest on that steps and catch our breath like what others did (I actually need to catch my breathe as well but I was just too proud to admit to it then). As we were resting, we took sight of the view “downstairs”. The first thing I see were the tourists, hundreds of them “charging” towards me. Each of them seemed hell bent as I am in reaching the top for there is nowhere else to go but up. The view “down there” is quite magnificent for from our vantage point, it would seem that the wall has become the “stair” for the “pilgrims” to reach Mount Olympus (the legendary home of the Greek gods). After resting for sometime, we continued our ascent to the top. I don’t if Megan did it intentionally or she just really meant it, for she started to repeat a popular question in the movie, Shrek. She repeatedly asked, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” She was so cute. The Doc and I played along and replied, “No, No, No, No, Yes! We’re here!” and laughed. It was fun and we were actually the only ones laughing all the way. It is things like that that makes the climb easier and merrier and memorable. Finally, we reached our first watchtower (the second according to Megan). We stayed at the small portico and survey the surroundings. I peered out of the wall and “discovered” a narrow dirt road. Actually, it looked more like a clearing, a trodden path one might say. Somewhere in the middle of that path, it split into two with one running parallel to the wall and up the mountain and the other running towards the wall that I’m in. could this be the path whence the barbarians took centuries ago? Maybe. At any rate, I would never know. We went inside the tower to find out how it looks like. The inside of the tower looked cramped and dark probably could hold 10 people or 20 at most if you want to have a “sardine”. We then went up the tower to it open top. The staircase going up is likewise steep and narrow, too narrow that it could accommodate one person at a time. And oh by the way, it doesn’t have a handrail. At the open top, we were treated with the beautiful view of the mountain slope with its yellow green grass and scenic mountain afar. We also “discovered” some “modern” art – graffiti to be exact etched on the wall forever proclaiming to posterity the visits of those authors. After lingering for a while, we went down the watchtower and continued our climb. The ascent to the second watchtower (the third according to Megan) was shorter and was relatively easier to climb but was nonetheless challenging and fun. By the time, we reached the second watchtower; there are far fewer tourists than the first tower about only a third of the number. We rest a little, looked around and then continued our climb. Somewhere between the second tower and the third tower (the third and the fourth by Megan’s insistence and I’m not about to dispute that), we came across a “plateau”, more like an open parade ground and by then we looked up at our watches and discovered that it is quarter before 12 noon, our supposed assembly time down at the Gate in order for the group to head out for lunch. Megan by this time is also beginning to feel tired and wanted to head back as well. Hahhhhhhh….. I’m almost at the top. If it were left for me alone, I would have forgone lunch and told Kitty to leave me behind and come back for me latter in the afternoon after I’ve made my climb. I could have also left my companions and proceeded alone (leaving Megan to the Doc’s care). But then and there, I realized that there are things more important than reaching the top. Things like responsibility, of being responsible to the one entrusted to your care, of being responsible to the one you care, to the one I cared and of course, lunch! I could only sigh. It was so close yet so far away. I had no choice but to get back to earth again but not until I did two things aside from getting some pictures. First, I went to the corner of the wall, looked out in the open, put both hands in my mouth and shout at the top of my voice against the wind, “I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!!” (That was about the second time I did it, the first time I did it was when I’m at the Yang Ming mountain in Taiwan en route to the airport. We stopped for fresh air and for no apparent reason, I crossed over a fence and walked up to the edge of the cliff, looked down the ravine, take a step back and put my hands on my mouth and shout, “I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD” after which, I raised my arm in victory, beat that). Megan and the Doc looked at me bewildered (more like shocked) at my antics and tried to dissociate from me by moving to the side (I was actually planning to do the Tarzan’s call of the wild but that would be too “inappropriate” to the scene as we are in the Great Wall and not in the jungle). I did attract attention from the few people there but they just shrugged it off and continue their own enjoyment. Next, I pulled out a pen and with Megan, we “lightly etched” our names along with the Doc on the stone wall including the date for posterity (what’s the point of not writing? Everybody writes. Dang! I should have bought a marker or a knife instead). I took a last look of the top, hoping that it would forever etch into my conscience and turn my back and head towards the stair. And so with a heavy heart and an empty stomach, Megan, the Doc, and me make our way back to earth. Funny how the return trip seemed faster than the trip the other way around. Probably, it is gravity but then again it must be the lure of the lunch on a growling stomach but it could also be due to the sprint of joy for we all manage to achieve something that day even though it wasn’t earth shattering but momentous nonetheless in our lives. As we reached the base of the Wall, we visited the display of ancient Chinese weapons there and we took some pictures. The ladies decided to take the picture together and asked me to take it for them. They made that Charlie’s Angel kick – ass pose in front of the display, which is really cute (I wish that I had that picture). It is journey (or any other journey) like this with partners and friends that makes the journey easy and worth every moment of it. As we went our way to meet up with the group, we passed by a store selling “hero” certificates (in reference to the inscription). Megan wanted to buy one but I asked her, “what’s the point?” I told her that people who didn’t climb could buy that certificate to “prove” their feat but we don’t need it because our proof is inside us and that is our memory and no certificate could replace that (aside from that, we had pictures and our “etched” names preserved for posterity). “Pu Tao Chang Cheng, Fei Hao Han”, right on Chairman Mao, right on. Someday, I’ll be back and finish the climb and nothing is going to hold me back. I would definitely reach the top but then again, why stopped at the top when I could go even further?

POSTSCRIPT
When I was writing this piece, I realize how difficult was it for the ancient soldiers manning the Great Wall. The importance of the Great Wall cannot be undermined. For the Great Wall was the demarcation line between civilization and barbarity, dividing the agricultural farmlands from the desert, and serve as a bulwark of order against chaos. The ancient soldier was given this great burden and the task was by no means easy. Imagine soldiers wearing full armor, carrying spears, arrows, and swords as well as provisions running up and down the steep slopes of the wall without the aid of a handrail. It is bad enough to climb the wall, what more carrying all those things? There are times when winters are harsh and the snowfall heavy, soldiers are forced to “stay” at their post at the towers without relief for days perhaps. Imagine them shivering in coldness and hunger. The scenery although magnificent and awesome are all too familiar to them for they have watched the slopes turned from green to brown to white and to green again. Their routine task everyday may not be much since they’re just simply watching, waiting, wondering when would the barbarians come and perhaps at times, they would their gaze towards the north, inside the Great Wall, also wondering……….. wondering when they would go home…….. if at all.

DAY 3: “OLD” BEIJING

April 15,2006: Day 3 of my trip to Shanghai – Beijing. I woke up early at 0400 (roughly 3 hours of sleep) that day because I had to get myself ready for the flight to Beijing. The flight wasn’t until 0900 but the airport is at the outskirt of the city and it takes 2 hours (?) or so to get there and frankly, I don’t want to be late and missed the flight. And so, by 0430, I was all done and down at the lobby waiting for the rest of group. Apparently, I’m too early because I was the only “guest” in the lobby (aside from the 2 hotel staffs, a bellboy, a guard, and a janitor). I was about to read the book that I bring along when I realized that I was being “stupid”. After all, I could just have waited in my room till the 0600 meeting time. With that thought, I went back up to my room and watch TV (they had HBO by the way) until the appointed time. By the time I went down again, I was surprised to “see” everybody at the lobby “waiting” for me! They thought that I had overslept and had the operator call me and even sent a bellboy to “fetch” me. Poor me, I had to insinuate rather strongly that I was at the lobby by 0430 and had to go back up because no one was there yet but nobody believed me. Dang! I learned my lesson, never be too early to a meeting and never wait till the exact time to show up either! We had our packed breakfast courtesy of the hotel at the bus (the only time I didn’t have a “heavy” breakfast) and got to the airport just in time for the opening of the counter check – in (Whew! For a while I thought we’re all going miss our flight because of me). While checking in, we were surprised that our tour guide, Sally requested us to fill up a performance evaluation form. It is quite an oddity since such evaluation was never done before but I could see why. There has been one too many complaints about “bad” services by Chinese tour guides and the travel agency apparently wanted to ensure the quality of service, which is a great idea whose time has come. Anyway, Sally did really a great job and so we gave her all 5s (the highest score) on the evaluation except for the driver (he got a 4). All things went well at the airport and the plane took off exactly on time. I had to say I had this “misconception” about Chinese airlines (I’m on China Southern, FYI). I heard many people say that the planes are old and dilapidated. The services are bad and the travel “bumpy”, which generally gave passengers a feeling of insecurity. Well, none of them are true. The plane we were on was a brand new Airbus. The travel was rather smooth and uneventful actually. In short, it was a safe ride! The food though ok was something left to be desired. I was expecting a “hot” meal for breakfast but instead I got nuts (packed pistachio nuts) and more nuts for snack (apparently, they don’t serve breakfast on the first flight)! When we arrived at Beijing, the temperature is a little bit warmer somewhere in the vicinity of 10 – 12oC. Nonetheless, it was still cold because of the strong winds. The wind in Beijing is different from Shanghai since it was both gusty and dry. I could readily feel my face being “stretched” and “scorched” by the wind. Later on, we would learned from our tour guide that after being exposed to the wind for sometime, one would develop “rashes” on the nose and the surrounding cheeks making it appear as if we were “blushing” (which is true and therefore, never fool yourself into thinking that Beijing women are “shy” when you flirted with them). This is also the reason why facial moisturizers are the best sellers in Beijing! Well, we eventually met up with our Beijing tour guide, Kitty and boarded the bus to the city. As we got out of the airport and went to the city, the first impression I got about Beijing is that it is “conservative”. Unlike Shanghai, where one could see “slick” new buildings and sky scrappers literally littering the sky, in Beijing, the building architectural designs are more “normal” and “shorter”. Beijing also has its share of tall buildings and modern elevated highways, lighted streets and pavements but it dwarfs in comparison to Shanghai. In fact, Beijing looks “parochial” if not “provincial” or worst, outright “backward” when compared to Shanghai. Maybe it is because Beijing is the “old” political – cultural capital of China and therefore, the government has to preserve some sense of “dignity”, of “reserve”, of “history”, of “mysticism”, and of “conservatism” in this center of China. As Kitty puts it, “if you want to see the face of modern China, visit Shanghai; If you want to see the beauty of 500 year old China, visit Beijing and if you wanted to look at what 1000 year old China looks like, then go to Xian”. Even so, Beijing like Shanghai is in the middle of a construction frenzy. This is in preparation to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and one could really see that the government is sparing no expense in “rebuilding” Beijing. Another thing I noticed about Beijing and to some lesser extent, Shanghai and that is the conspicuous public toilets. They looked like it was built somewhere in the 60s. At first thought, one might think that the public toilets are for tourist or for the “passing” city residents but its actually not. It is actually a neighborhood toilet, which indirectly suggests that most “old” houses here in Beijing and probably in most of China had no modern sanitary facilities. The government built all these to improve public health, which is actually a good thing when one considers the state of public sanitation in the Philippines, where there is a seeming absence of such in slum areas. I presume that the public toilets are free in “ancient” times but nowadays, they charged 0.50 RMB per use and by the way, they stink, big time (that is if you happen to pass by)! Furthermore, Beijing seems somewhat to be “sparsely populated” compared to the “crowded” party atmosphere at Shanghai. All of this gives me the impression of an “old” Beijing. Anyway, our first stop in Beijing was Chuan Si Te to get our lunch, the second of those great lunches we had during our trip. Chuan Si Te is famous for it’s Peking Duck (after all, where could you find the best Peking Duck in the whole wide world but in Beijing, the old “Peking”). According to Kitty, the secret to a delicious Peking Duck is not only in the herb and spices and how they cook it but also on the specific genus of the duck and how they are fed. These ducks are fed with the finest feeds and reared in cages so they could fatten up quickly. The end result? The Peking Duck we had was quite meaty with no fats, best of all, it is greaseless too! Outrageously delicious! The best Peking Duck I could remember. Aside from the duck, we were also served with 5 – 7 dishes with duck meat and innards as the main ingredients. All of them are delicious (dang! I just want to get back just to taste the Ducks!). I would say that I probably gained most of my weight gain from there (I’ve gained 4 kg!)! Chuan Si Te is not only famous for it’s Peking Duck. The restaurant is also renowned as the favorite banquet hall for foreign guests by the Chinese government. Along the corridor, one could see the pictures of presidents who came by and sample their famous dish. There is Richard Nixon, Carlos Menem of Argentina, Rajiv Gandhi of India just to name a few. There is also Henry Kissinger and several other top diplomats and generals. Among the “lesser” personalities who had the “honor” of being able to sign their name on the wall minus the picture are the ambassadors of the different embassies in Beijing. Oh, I’m so tempted to pull out my pen and sign my name beside them but I hesitated. Perhaps someday, I might have my chance (apparently, delusion is one of the side effects of eating too much of their Peking Duck). After that sumptuous meal, the tour guide took us to the famous Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace complex, home to 2 dynasties of sons of heaven. As we approach the “inner” city (not the Forbidden City), we came across the walls of the ancient city of Beijing (the present Beijing is thrice the size of the ancient city). The city walls, according to history, are guarded by 12 gates. The walls no longer stand although one could see certain sections of it but the majestic gates still stands and it quite imposing even by modern day standard. Too bad, like most scenic spots in Beijing, the gates are under heavy renovation. Not far away from the gates, is our destination, The Tienanmen Square and the Tienanmen gate, the first of the 5 entrance way to the fabled Forbidden City. If Beijing is the political center of China then Tienanmen is the political center of Beijing for one could find the Tienanmen gate itself with the ever watchful portrait of Chairman Mao hang on it’s face, the Great Hall of People’s Congress, China’s “main” government institution, the obelisk monument dedicated to the fallen heroes of the revolution; the Beijing Museum of Antiquities and Chairman Mao’s mausoleum, where they kept the body of the Great Helmsman refrigerated in a glass coffin (it’s rarely open to the public). Not far away are the homes of the communist top brass in Chong Nan Hai. Tienanmen Square is quite huge and is actually populated at all times. This is also the place where the Chinese government holds their flag ceremonies everyday. There is also something else that one would notice in the square, something so “unthinkable”. In this heartland of communism, one could see that capitalism has indeed taken root in China for conspicuously within the square are the trailers peddling everything from snacks, to colas and bottled water to camera films to newspapers (BTW, a 500mL bottled water cost 2RMB). I wonder what Chairman Mao would say if his could see these from his “post” at the walls of the Tienanmen gate (where his portrait hangs)? Anyway, we took some pictures at the square culminating with a group picture with Chairman Mao’s portrait at the background. We crossed the street to where the gate is to begin our journey inside the Forbidden City but first, we all had to take a “washroom break” (A fundamental characteristics of Filipino tourists). I don’t know about the condition of the ladies’ room but the men’s room is clean but stinky. It’s adequate when you consider the huge volume of “visitors” that it had to “accept” but barely satisfactory. I had seen better. Later on, I found out that tourist’s washrooms are actually “graded”. So far, in my entire trip in Beijing, the best washroom I’ve actually been to is graded with 4 stars. Most of them are 3 stars. From these, one could “imagine” the state of the amenities of the tourist spots in Beijing. Another observation I had is that the bulk of the visitors (about 75%) here in Beijing are locals and not foreigners, specifically domestic travelers from outside Beijing. This is a testament to the rising standard of living among the provincial Chinese (they looked a lot like farmers and peasants) since they could now afford to visit scenic places within their country. As we enter Tienanmen gate, I was beholden to see another huge gate at a distance and a square as huge as Tienanmen Square itself in between the first and the second gate. It is the same architectural lay – out with the second and the third gate, The Wu Men, i.e., the giant imposing gate and the huge square. The Wu Men gate is considered as the first “inner” gate of the Forbidden City and if my memory serves me right, it is here where the emperors beheaded “erring” ministers and courtiers. The Wu Men from the top view has a U – Shape design with guard towers on both flanks and the center. The blast doors of the gates are huge like 3 stories high and are “studded” with lines of brass balls on its face. From what I had seen so far, I came to realize one thing and that is the Forbidden City is not just the Palace where the Emperor lives, works and performs his divine function, it is also a citadel by itself. It is a citadel to protect the Emperor from the “invasion” of a rival claimant. For from a military standpoint, the design of the door with its brass balls is meant to lessen the impact strength of rams. The huge square could easily hold hundreds of troops and this could also tire out the invaders since they had to transverse the great distance. The gates especially the Wu Men gate is designed to entrapped the besiegers at the gate and shower them with arrows as the latter tried to break in. The fourth gate (the second inner gate) has a moat and is only passable by three bridges. On top of that, the entire Forbidden City is surrounded also by a moat. There is also a back door leading to a hill where the Emperor could escape into if things went badly (it actually happened when the last Ming Emperor fled and hang himself on a tree at the hill). This is one tough nut to crack (but it did crack from time to time in the past). The Forbidden City is also a “boundary” that separates the Emperor from the outside “earthly” world. For the majesty of the architecture has imbibed the Emperor with an aura of divinity exciting the awes of any humble mortal who enters the sacred place and caused them to tremble and worship the inviolable sanctity of the imperial person. This is clearly shown with the palace complex within the 5th gate. The palaces are both magnificent and awesome. Too bad, it is under renovation! Even so, the magnificence of the buildings isn’t lost. Not only that, the design of the City itself has incorporated the ceremonial rituals that only enhance the majesty of the Imperial Power. The stone staircase leading to the great hall is separated into two columns and has an intricate stone carving of 9 dragons playing the sun in between the two staircases. On the emperor’s left (my right since I was facing inside), is the staircase for the Mandarin civil officials of the empire and on the emperor’s right (my left) is the staircase for the Military officers of the empire to enter the hall (I wasn’t able to see the hall because it is under renovation!). In ancient times, nobody can “face” the Emperor straight up but only to “humbly” walk by his side. Lastly, the Forbidden City is a wall jealously guarded to protect the “purity’ of the imperial blood line from being “contaminated” and therefore ensure the rightful succession of a divine family. The high walls and huge squares are not only meant for invaders but also to would be intruders. The location of the chambers of the palaces and the quarters of the imperial harem at the inner half of the complex are designed with this consideration. However, the Forbidden City could easily be also a prison for the occupants especially the Imperial women. To ensure that these women aren’t at least feel “bounded” by this “prison”, scenic landscapes and beautifully designed gardens abound the inner half of the Forbidden City making the occupants feel that they had forsaken their freedom to roam the earth in exchange for dwelling in paradise. Inside the garden is man – made mountain intricately carved with a mansion on top. And as Megan noticed, the walls beneath the balconies and walkways are lined with mini dragonheads (she asked what is it used for), which are actually water sprouts (according to National Geographic). Not only are those dragonheads located at the walls but they are also located on the roofs. When rain falls on the balcony, the water would be drained through the flooring and pass through to the pipes and out of the mouth of the “dragons”. With that, imagine the scenery when it rains in the Forbidden City (I did asked Megan to imagine that also). It would be a magnificent water show with hundreds of fountains coming out of the dragon’s mouth. And so, this is why the place is called the Forbidden City. Nobody could get in and those who are in couldn’t get out either granted that they do wanted to get out at all. Too bad, the place is under renovation. I couldn’t get to see the place in it’s entirety. Actually, I could understand why it is under renovation. Just look at the brick floorings of the square. It is already uneven and depressed and some are even seriously damaged. This is due to the sheer volume of visitors who trod through the complex. Then again, the renovation offered me an opportunity to get a glimpse of the basic architecture of palaces, an anatomy to the ancient Chinese architecture, a rare view I would say. One of the palaces had it’s roof removed and I could see the Chinese uses concentric logs arranged in squares and put one on top of the other with each succeeding ones smaller than at the bottom forming a pyramid (trusses aren’t invented yet back then). The result was to create an angle for the bamboo to be placed upon and on top of which are laid with tiles forming that signature glittering Chinese style trapezoidal roof. There is a scene spoiler inside the Forbidden City and that is the “omnipresence” of Starbucks (actually there is only one Starbucks inside the complex). Like in the Cheng Huang district in Shanghai, it is somewhat incompatible with the romantic nostalgia of the past. Anyway, we were able to finish the tour under 2 hours not because there was nothing to see (due to renovations) but largely because our tour guide, Kitty kept on walking rather mindlessly with her head bow. She didn’t give us much picture taking time like what Sally gave us during our tour of Shanghai (though we manage to take pictures here and there). We actually had to run to catch up with her. I told the doctor to give her a grade of 2 in the evaluation at the end of the trip, which unfortunately never happened. After the visit, our next destination is to visit Beijing’s Hutong or ancient alleys. We rode on bike carriages (the Chinese version of the Filipino pedicab) in our tour of the Hutong. Nothing much to see though. The houses maybe old but they’re not the Ching era houses but rather the early Republican era houses (built sometime in the 1920s). We end up at the Drum Tower. The Drum Tower along with the Bell Tower is ancient Beijing’s equivalent of the London’s Big Ben or the Clock Tower for the purpose of the two towers is to inform the residents of the time of the day and the season. In ancient times, there is no clock or watch and people don’t have calendars also. The only way they could tell time is when the bells and drum strike. The Towers are like 10 – 15 stories tall (or was it 20?) made of stone and in ancient Beijing where every houses are one to two stories high. The Towers along with the City Gates, the Temple, and the Forbidden City stands out as the most imposing structures in ancient Beijing (it still is because most of the houses beside the tower are “low”). There are nine steps from the ground to the portico at the feet of the tower. The “9” signifies the place as an imperial architecture (9 is the highest number and it came to represent the Emperor). There is only one way to the top chamber of Tower and that is through the staircase. Now, the staircase is one of the main attractions of the Tower for it is VERY steep. The angle of the staircase is like 60 – 75o and according to Megan, has 70 steps (I told her to count her steps, which she really did!). Each of the steps are only 6 inches in width (only half of your foot can land on it) and the distance between the steps is like 2 feet apart or even more (imagine how 70 steps would enable one to climb 10 – 15 stories high?). The staircase is also dark (there are no lights) and if not for the handrails (probably a modern day addition), one might slip and fall. Now that would really, really hurt! At the top chamber, there on display are various drums of different sizes and material of the sheath (that’s why it’s called the Drum Tower). The biggest is something like 6 feet in diameters (it’s actually bigger than me and I’m 5’8”!). There is also a “clock”, more precisely, a water clock. The clock is made of a series of three water tanks, each elevated on top of the other and under the third tank are two more tanks on the same level and lay side by side to each other. The water is filled on the topmost tank and is drained through an orifice to the second tank, which now drains water to one of the “ground” level (a.k.a. the fourth tanks). That tank has a mini statue holding a gong. The water coming out of the second tank would fill a cup attached to the back of that statue and as it fills, the weight of the water would push the cup down and through some strings would pull the gongs apart until the cup is full and spilled empty causing the entire cup assembly to “jump” and return to it’s previous position. The action releases the tension and causes the gongs to clap and thus signal that a minute has passed already. There is another hole in the second tank and it empties to the third tank and the third tank accumulates the water and empties it to another ground level tank. This tank is half covered and has a ruler “floating” on it through a slit in the cover. The ruler has a marking indicating the time of the day (Chinese divide the day into 12 or 2 hours apiece). As the tank is filled with water, the buoyant force would “push” the ruler upwards and reveal the “exact time of the day”. Ingenious! The ancient Chinese has actually expertly manipulate the gravity through the position of the tanks, the flow rate of water through the manipulation of the size of the orifice of each tank, the smart string set – up of the cup assembly, and the effects buoyancy of water as well as density to calculate the time! Ingenious indeed! An observer is probably needed to “watch” over the time. Once the time “came”, this observer would tell the drummer to start beating! A record keeper (probably residing at the Bell Tower) would keep records as to how many times the drum has sounded already. After so many drums, the bell caretaker would then ring the Bell. I surmised that the different types and sizes of drums are used not only to signify the time of the day (whether it is morning, afternoon, or evening) but to also inform of the season itself for the introduction posted showed different drums are used on different seasons. It is possible that the ancient Chinese understood the effects of temperature on the speed and quality of the sound and that is why they use different drums. Very clever! This makes me realize how science and technology has evolved since then. Used to be, our forefathers required a platoon of “experts” who dedicated their lives to their profession to tell us what time is it. Now, all we had to do to tell time is to look up at our wrist! Now that’s advancement! Well, Megan, the doc, the geneticist, and I went to the balcony after viewing the drums to see the surroundings. And boy! It scared the sh*t out of me! The balcony is sloped downwards by about 5 – 10 degrees and the balcony rails are below my waist! In fact, they have a second railing a few inches away from the railings to prevent people from getting near at it in the first place. One could actually felt that he/she might fell off the balcony! Pretty scary! Given the steep staircase and the “dangerous” balcony, it takes a lot of guts to be a drummer or a bell ringer back then, I think. After the visit to the Drum Tower, we next went to see an acrobatic show. We got caught in a traffic and actually got to the show late. The show was in a old dilapidated theater and was actually half way through when we got in. Megan and I sat at the topmost balcony seat in the middle aisle. The show was more like a ballet show rather than an acrobatic show for it has choreography complete with graceful dance numbers and a story line but make no mistake about it. It is an acrobatic show. The acts performed involve “participants” bending their bodies 180 degrees and forming designs like flowers and circles. They even have a bicycle show where there are 10 bikers on a single bike! Amazing! My favorite part of the show is actually a romantic number. Here, the participants are tied to a silk drape and are lifted from the ground. In one scene, the guy pulls the lady up literally like “sweeping” her off from her feet. Quite romantic (the storyline included). The show was nice and the ladies are young and pretty (too bad, they’re quite young or else I would have courted one of them). After that, we had the first of the series of those uninspiring meals during our stay in Beijing. Afterwards, we were bought to our hotel at Beijing Century Nikko Hotel (a 5 star hotel). My room is nice. Smaller than the one I have in Shanghai but still spacious. My bed is good for two people (the bed at Shanghai is good for three) but that doesn’t matter for I’m living alone. The bathroom amenities on the other hand are superior than those of Huating and there I had my second hot bubble bath in three days!

Conversations With Ol’ Pal Anthony

After dinner on the second day of my vacation trip, the entire group retire for the night at the Huating hotel to get packed and get to bed early since we are to leave the hotel by 0600 the following morning and check in the airport in time for our 0800 flight to Beijing. However, I had other plans for the evening. I was going to meet up with a “long lost” friend and classmate of mine, Anthony Wee. A few years back, Anthony got assigned to Shanghai to oversee operations for an IT company and has stayed in Shanghai since then. We (as a class) came to miss him at our annual class reunion during the mid – Autumn festival. It is for this reason that I called him up once I got to Shanghai and arrange a get together. Well, Anthony if I remember well is quite “skinny”. Actually, we both were the “skinniest” students during our high school days (I weigh something like 88 – 90 lbs). Imagine to my surprise when he entered the door of the hotel, he didn’t changed at all (Dang!)! He is still thin while I had since “ballooned’ from “stick like” figure in high school into a mammoth that I am now. It made me quite envious of him. How did he maintain such a figure after all this years? He even looked taller than I remembered and thin (did I already mentioned that?). Anyway, it was always a good thing to see an old pal after so long (I think it was more or less 10 years now). We went out to a local restaurant/bar nearby to get a cup of tea. We exchange pleasantries as well as exchange updates on our friends and classmates back home. Anthony has quit his job (the one that assigns him here at Shanghai) and has since landed presumably a “better” job as an IT project manager of a multi – national company. He is living in Shanghai for 5 years now and I would say, he has actually settled in and felt quite “homey” to his new environs. To prove that point, he felt “safe” here in Shanghai for he could walk around in the wee hours of the morning without fear of being mug. It is actually difficult for me to imagine such “freedom” being a tourist. Locals on the other hand could feel that way because of familiarity. Actually, this could also be a testament of the Shanghai government’s relentless effort to maintain public order in the megapolis. Another thing about Anthony and that is he seems to be quite “pragmatic” nowadays than say when we were in high school. Actually, at our age, that wouldn’t be much of a surprise. However, his cheerfulness, his optimism, and his “sunny” face are very much the same like in high school. We chat for like 2 – 3 hours over a pot of Chamomile tea (and his over mango sundae, I think). Inevitably, our topic touched on Shanghai. I inquired about what he thinks about the view of comparing Shanghai to New York. And he answered by saying that like New York, Shanghai has also a culture of “no culture”. Pretty interesting comparison, because for the past day and a half, I noticed that there are several large banners and posters put up by the city government around the city extolling it’s citizen to jointly build a “civilized/cultured” megapolis. Honestly, I couldn’t understand the statement for the very few people that I’d met in Shanghai and they are pretty handful aren’t as “uncultured” as what was implied. Of course, I couldn’t make a general conclusion since I’ve been in Shanghai for roughly 36 hours more or less. Another thing about Shanghai according to Anthony was that Shanghai women are quite independent and “strong”. Shanghai women has a reputation of being “neng kan” (capable and talented). The women in general received higher pay than the men and it is common to see men “staying home” and taking care of the children, as a “houseband”. There are instances where the men actually moved in with the women (the custom here in the Philippines is actually the other way around). Could it be this is what Sally, our tour guide was saying about Shanghai men being “tee tieh” (caring and understanding)? Most likely, if Anthony’s observations are to be taken into account! Sally actually went further to offer an advice that “men should marry Japanese brides and women should marry Shanghai men”. (It is a very dangerous proposition actually as it may trigger an exodus of women from the Philippines to Shanghai looking for a “tee tieh” husband. If that unfortunately happens, I better move to Japan!). In conjunction to that point about the status of Shanghai women, Sally pointed out that most Shanghai people here adhere to the one child policy even if they had a daughter (Chinese policy allows them to have a second child if the first one was a daughter) and for that reason, Shanghai has already entered the ageing population phase wherein the number of old people outnumbers the working young ones. Anthony indirectly confirmed that observation also. Years ago, I had a lady friend from Shanghai who happens to be my group mate in MBA. She also put forward the same explanation to me when I inquire her as to why she is the only child. It seems to me that Shanghai people are very modern in their thinking just like their buildings. Could this be the reason why they don’t have a culture? If culture is defined as a behavioral pattern collectively exhibit by a group of people, then no culture doesn’t mean that people are “uncultured” but rather that there is no discernable collective behavioral pattern. Instead, there are a variety of behavioral patterns that coexist and some of which might even be contradictory to each other. This is probably true given the fast paced nature of life in Shanghai. It was so fast that no “permanent” behavioral pattern could take hold. Everything would seem fluid. Then there is also the fact of an ageing population, which would invariably draw provincials into the city and thus give rise to a character of “no” culture or the absence of any coherent behavior. Anyway, I was just thinking out loud. Well, after sometime, it dawned to me and Anthony that it’s getting late and so we head back to my hotel, which we got there almost midnight. Instead of parting, we actually continue where we left off. Only this time, our topic centered on the local Filipino community. Sad to hear though that the Filipinos here are not in solidarity with each other due mainly to social differences and the unruly behavior of some of its members (apparently, even in the Filipino community, the culture of “no” culture prevails, i.e., absence of a discernable collective behavioral pattern). Well, we could chat even more if not for the fact that it is already 0100 in the morning and I had to be up by 0400. We took a photo together, shook hands, and said our good byes. I wish I had more time to learn more about Shanghai and probably party with Anthony but I don’t. Too bad! Anyway, Anthony is coming back home this Christmas and I’m looking forward to a party.