NFL Week 12: Macau

It's time for the tried and true escape destination for us while we live in China - and that, of course, is Macau! Like that's a surprise to anyone who remotely knows me. We just got back from another long weekend in Macau - landed Friday from India to meet the family, and then left today. As always, it's a great escape from the drudgery of mainland China life.

The kids usually have some random Thu/Fri or Monday off in the fall - and for those 3 day weekends, we head on down to Macau. I still have specific memories of watching Browns games in the hotel room at the Venetian:
2010: a painful OT loss to the Jets
2011: a barnburner 6-3 win over the Seahawks
2012: a classic come from ahead OT loss to the Cowboys.

I think I have been to Macau at least 12-15 times; we go at least twice a year with the family; I'll meet Wiz down there when we visits (3 times so far) or if my friend Ken comes in (twice), and then I've been down a few other times (40th birthday, Xmas shopping...). We've taken both sets of parents down there.

The first 2-3 times we visited, we never left the Venetian. A typical day was McDonald's for breakfast, Fatburger for lunch and then either room service or the Hard Rock café for dinner. The day would be either mini golf and swimming at the pool (on the fabulous 36 hole mini golf course at the Venetian), or shopping and the Qube play area (complete with 8 foot slides).

As soon as Martin got older, we decided to leave him in the room with F&W, and Janice and I went to Morton's....and that's now a staple of our trip. (and, of course, the Gin Martini for Janice...)

After a few visits, we got brave enough to actually leave the Venetian and Cotai strip to see the rest of the island.... like:
- the St Mary's cathedral downtown (on black-and-white cobblestone streets)
- The "old" Portuguese consulate, a pastel estate in the middle of the crowded Macau streets;
(but we still haven't made it to the premier historical landmark, St Paul's cathedral front, from the 1600s)
- the "House of Dancing Water" show (where the management says 10 times before the show that cameras are not allowed....and the first picture was taken by a spectator at 0:02 into the show)
- the Macau Grand Prix
- and, of course, my CBS This Morning appearance!
- a "CSI" exhibition in the Sheraton across the street where we could feel like a real CSI detective....which caused us to watch CSI marathons for 4 weeks after that
- and, for this trip's adventure, the Science Center.

On the first several visits, we had to pass through the main gate from the Mainland to Macau - a border you can walk over. This immigration gate was the terminus for 37,294 bus tours from China daily.....it can take you 30 minutes or 3 1/2 hours to get across the border. A new gate has opened up that is much closer to the Venetian; the first trip down there took us 3 1/2 hours....from leaving our house to get into the hotel room at the Venetian.

I've talked about the gambling many times here....and it still is impressive. This trip I saw someone win a HK$600,000 tie bet in Baccarat- that paid $6.4MM!!! There were only three staffers around the table when that payout was made.....which tells you how "in stride" they take those sort of bets. I have never been in the VIP rooms, but I can assure you that the bets made in there are 10x that size.

(Oh- the three staffers around the table? That was the same amount of people that watched Janice and another P&G friend (Carin) play baccarat at the $800 tables, the lowest available minimum....I don't think they get too many native Ohio women to play at the Venetian. Of course, I taught her husband Baccarat the day before....)


This was also the weekend of the big fight between Pacquiao and Rios; unfortunately, we were trying to head to the buses today at 1:30 pm, just as the fight was letting out. Here's what we had to take 3 kids, 2 suitcases and 4 bags through.

So many experiences of Macau so far - like memories of our oldest rivals, the Steelers. God I hate them and their fans. Please, Rob, let's beat at home. I have several memories of 41-0 blowouts where the Cleveland Stadium was full of fans waving those piss colored towels. Let's beat them up good.

And to get you hyped, I urge all readers to watch this...20 years ago.....if this doesn't give you chills, then get the hell off the blog......I still vividly remember this (especially the second return).
(And Collinsworth was doing the game? Wow....)

On to the games:

Det 34, TB 17. Tampa won their 2 at home, now going on the road against an angry Detroit team. I don't think Tampa can stop them.

Hou 23, Jax 20. These picks were sent in before my friend Mike (who we met in Macau) was able to stop me from taking the Jags.

GB 27, Min 17. I think the Pack defense will stop the Vikes and Ponder just enough.

KC 23, SD 13. Yes, I will bite on this sucker pick.

Mia 16, Car 13. "Sell high" - that's what I am doing with Carolina. They will have a letdown here.

StL 24, Chi 20. I can't figure any of these teams out.

Bal 27, NYJ 20.  The Jets are one-dimensional and I have to believe the Ravens will take advantage of that at home.

Ten 26, Oak 24. One of these teams will still be in the wild card race after this??

Az 31, Ind 20. I think the Cards are for real, especially at home.

Dal 30, NYG 17. The Giants, on their win streak, have beaten Josh Freeman, Matt Barkley, Terrelle Pryor and Scott Tolzien. Enough said.

NE 27, Den 24. I can't turn down points with the Pats at home.

SF 27, Was 16. After watching the Browns for 15 years since 99, I know when bad teams start to quit. And the Skins are resemebling that.

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 6-7-2; overall: 80-76-5
Det -8
Jax +10
GB -5 1/2
KC -3 1/2
SD/KC under 43
Mia +4 1/2
Car/Mia under 41
NYJ/Bal over 39
Ten/Oak over 41 1/2
Az -3
Ind/Az over 45
Dal +2 1/2
NE +2 1/2
SF -5 1/2

Supercontest: Last week: 3-1-1; overall: 27-25-3
Jax +10
GB -5
Mia +4
Dal +2 1/2
SF -5 1/2



 

NFL Week 11: Boracay

We will start this week with the Browns, as they travel to Cincinnati for a huge AFC North game. In case you haven't seen the standings, this is a battle of the top 2 teams in the North, with Cincinnati (6-4) with a 1 1/2 game lead on the Browns (4-5). If we win, we pull into a tie in the loss column with the Bengals and own a season sweep against them.

The Browns board has been calling this the third biggest regular season game since the return, behind:

- Week 17 vs. Atlanta in 2002 - when we clinched a playoff spot "Run William Run!"
- And Week 16 at Cincinnati, where we threw the division title and a playoff spot away because Winslow and Anderson had a lover's quarrel on the field. Derek threw 4 interceptions as the Bengals upset us...I was there, and it was painful.

I'm not making any predcitions on this game - as per most division games, I am hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. I can see any sort of outcome here. We do have 2 weeks to prepare for this game - as we were on a bye last week. So that's a lot of thinking and anticipation for the fans to get ready for this game.

Which brings us to Boracay - an island in the middle of the Phillipines that was our first Chinese New Year vacation getaway. At the time, we had all sorts of anticipation for this trip - really? 2 weeks where the country shuts down? And we are going on a 9 day vacation to a resort that claimed to have one of the best beaches in the Phillipines.... well, we expected a lot.

The anticipation grew as we found out it was one of those places where you "couldn't get there from here". Our itinerary to get there was simple!
- Fly to Manila
- Layover for 2 hours
- Domestic flight of one hour to some remote airport
- Bus ride of 90 minutes
- Then a boat ride to the island

That was not easy with a 2 year old that was in the middle of the terrible twos.

But it was well worth it. Boracay was a mix of isolation, pampering (of course we stayed at the Shangri-La), and a bit of East Coast-boardwalk atmosphere in the city.

The main beach was spectacular - white sands, juice/shake shops and bars up and down a 3 miles stretch where it is the most populated. It was a boardwalk atmosphere -without the boardwalk; you just walk up and down the beach in barefeet from one "store" to another. Yes, there were the hawkers tryign to sell you shell necklaces and other junk, but it was far from high pressure sales.

We took tuk-tuks down to the main part of town 4-5 times during the stay. The kids loved it. Remember, this is 6 months removed from the US-based smothering safety laws; the idea of riding in an open-air golf-cart type vehicle on the main roads was fascinating to the kids - and it still is!

On the other side of the island - where the beach wasn't so good - was a spot for kitesurfing. We got to the beach area there - and saw 50 kites in the air in this large open water area - each attached to a kitesurfer. We spent two hours there just fascinated by those guys....how is there not a tangled mess of wires every 10 minutes?

The resort itself was nice - how could it not be? - and they had ocean-based activities every day for the families and kids. One of the days was a father-son kayaking competition in the ocean.....oh yeah, I'm a first class kayaker. So Warren and I go first, go out to some buoy and turn around (it's freaking hard to turn around!!!) and drag ourselves back. Warren was 7 at the time, so he was little/no help in the paddling.

We got back to shore, clocked in, and I fell down on the beach, tired.....and 30 seconds later, Freddie comes up. "OK, now it's my turn!!!!" hoo boy.....

This was our first vacation where we experienced:
- the laid back attitude of the Phillipines (and South-East Asia, in general); Martin was screaming and wanted a Sprite; we went to the bar to get him one...the 6 people behind the bar all nodded, "yes sir" ....and stood there. No, I mean NOW! Do you not see this kid screaming???
- how close the Asian ex-pat community is. We saw a random American couple on the beach; they lived in Shanghai...We told them we were from Guangzhou. "Oh", they said..."Do you know the..." and named a family that works on our floor at P&G. It is a small world.

Other than the one night where Martin screamed from 1-3 am in the hotel room due to a sunburn, it was the vacation we anticipated.Hope week 11 turns the same anticipation for the Browns into reality....

On to the games....

Buf 26, NYJ 16. The Jets are a horrid road team, and the Bills should disrupt Geno.

Chi 27, Bal 20. Bal is a pure one-dimensional team now, and easy to plan for.

Hou 20, Oak 13. I know Pryor is out...but are we sure Houston can score points?

Az 27, Jax 10. I believe last week's showing was an aberration for the Jags.

Phi 34, Was 20. Possbily too easy - how can you turn down Philly's offense vs. the horrid Washington pass D?

Det 20, Pit 16. No real idea. Nothing would surprise me here.

TB 20, Atl 13. I'm impressed the Bucs have not given up yet; it sure looks like the Falcons have.

Mia 24, SD 20. Just a hunch here.

NO 31, SF 17. The Saints are a juggernaut at home, and they have tje defense to contain Kapernick.

Sea 27, Min 20. The Seahawks run game can be exposed....and does Minnesota have a running back?

NYG 27, GB 23. I think both teams will move the ball here.

Den 30, KC 27. Hoo boy. It will be fascinating to see if the Chiefs are for real and can score with Denver...or if the rush can stop Peyton.

Car 24, NE 20. I have no real feeling on this game...Anything can happen. Great D for Car...Pats off the bye...Brady looks better....Can Cam handle it? Too many questions.

Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 8-5-1; overall: 74-69-3
Buf +1 1/2
Chi -3
Bal/Chi over 42 1/2
Oak/Hou under 41
Az -8 1/2
Phi -4 1/2
Det/Pit under 45
TB +1 1/2
Atl/TB under 43 1/2
Mia +1
NO -3
Min +12
GB/NYG over 40 1/2
KC +7 1/2
KC/Den over 49

Supercontest picks: Last week: 4-1; overall: 24-24-2 (back to .500, finally)!
Buf -1
Az -7
TB +1 1/2
NO -3
Min +12 1/2

Caption time!

Time to let your imagination run wild!

Martin and I were walking back from soccer on Saturday - and as we entered our housing complex, we saw a big commotion by the sidewalk next to the lake. There were at least 10 people from the housing staff gathered around.

We went closer - and this is what we saw.

So many questions from this picture:

1. Yes, that is a golf cart in the lake. The staff have golf carts that they use to run around the complex.

2. Yes, that is a guy crawling out of the lake.

3. That's a nice oil sheen on the lake.

4. Yes, that's about a 3-foot tall metal fence that protects the sidewalk from the lake. It is actually very sturdy, and there was no gap in the fence all along the lake (before the cart busted it down).

Thoughts on possible explanations on how this occurred?
 

NFL Week 10: Xi'An

It's bye week! The Browns are on a bye this week, so I don't have to spend 2 paragraphs this week discussing the pros and cons of our various quarterbacks, who change as much as lead characters on "The Edge of Night". The bye week is a good time to step back and take stock of where you are with the season - is your record really indicative of how you are playing? Are you lucky to be where you are at, or are you really a 7-2 team trapped in a 4-5 record? (Don't answer that, Chargers fans.). In short, at the bye week, you ask: "Is this real?"

And that was a question we asked a few times in Xi'An last year. In September, another family and us took a weekend trip to the inland city of Xi'An, home of the Terra Cotta warriors. We left on a Friday, landing in time for dinner - and going to a Brazilian steakhouse at the hotel with the boys. After the first 30 minutes, they were in heaven - meat! more meat coming! - but then I was pissed as they asked for so much but didn't finish it all. What the F are you doing? There are ex-pats in China that would DIE for that meat! You WILL finish your plate!

Saturday was the big day - a full day tour of the town with the focus on the Terra Cotta warriors in the afternoon. The morning was spent going to a market - a clear tourist trap, with the kickbacks from the shopkeepers to our driver/ tour guide barely hidden from us. A few "ancient" China coins were bought, and we were on our way.

The next stop was a cave dwelling - in the side of a mountain, we were able to visit a hole in a cave where two families actually lived. The tour guide talked a bit how this is culturally important, and how we need to preserve this way of living for the native residents - but, again, how much of this was real, and how much was staged?

In the afternoon, we visited the Terra Cotta Warriors. What a site. A 100 acre area - at least - was roped off into a national park, with a good entrance fee. There were three structures - each about the size of a college field house (like Cole Field House, for instance) that were excavation sites. They clearly built the structure around the site. Inside, you could see about 1/2 of the site - the area that was exposed contained the re-constructed terra cotta warriors as they were guessed to have been laid in the earth some 600 years ago.

We watched a video at the beginning of the tour that gave some details on how this all came about: in 1971 or so, a farmer was innocently out farming his field, when - voila! - he found one of the Terra Cotta bodies. He dug some more - and found another, then another, and kept going! The government was then called in.....and soon after that, they started mass-digging the area as they realized what was going on.....

(and in 1972, Nixon came to China and China was opened up...Coincidence?)

So they built these strucutres/buldings - brick museums next to the field houses, pavement all over the place leading into the three houses.....and I was struck by one thought....


How do they know there isn't more underneath the concrete sidewalk? Or under the big entrance plaza?

Janice is convinced the whole thing is staged.....that this is a government ruse to "create" worldwide tourism to a depressed part of China. I'm not so sure....In any event, it is very impressive; the soldiers are massive, about 7' tall....and there are thousands of them in the area. If you fully buy into the idea, it is mindblowing.....but.....you just have this nagging feeling.....

..... We left the next day back to Guangzhou - and we were happy to leave as the pollution that day was especially bad. We did not see the sun on the whole trip to Xi'An, and this picture may be a small reason why..... So when you complain about the smog in LA, or the air quality in Cincinnati, it can always be worse. A lot worse.

....about that nagging feeling, however.....where are we with the Browns? Is this really a 7-2 team that got trapped with a bad QB for a few games, and are stuck with a 4-5 record? Or are we really a true 4-5 team, a team with no running game, inconsistent passing and pass coverage? The second half will tell.

On to the games:

Ten 27, Jax 10. So many people say this is atrap game for the Titans, as the Colts are next.....they could be right, but I can't take the Jags.

GB 30, Phi 20. The Pack have a stellar run game and a solid D, and they are at Lambeau.

Pit 23, Buf 20. I would not be surprised by any result here.

NYG 34, Oak 17. Yes, I'm swallowing the bait here. The Giants are a pass-first offense, off a bye, against a team that let up 49 last week.

Ind 23, StL 20. How many lives do the Colts have?

Sea 20, Atl 16. Boy, Seattle is struggling offensively. Is this an upset in the making?

Bal 23, Cin 20. The Ravens make magic at M&T stadium, especially in division games.

Chi 33, Det 27.  Seems like a crazy, back and forth game with a late Stafford interception.

SF 20, Car 13. I will refuse to believe in Carolina until they beat somebody. This would count.

Az 27, Hou 17. The Texans have a one-dimensional offense (pass), going against a stellar pass D.

Den 34, SD 24. Yes, yes, I know. Too easy.

NO 34, Dal 23. Same thing, but I can't see the Saints coming out flat after a loss like last week.

TB 23, Mia 16. Tampa is starting to play a bit better, and will win on the Mnday night stage.

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 6-7; overall: 66-64-2

Ten -12 1/2
GB +1 1/2
NYG -7
Oak/NYG over 43 1/2
StL +9
Sea/Atl under 44 1/2
Bal +1
Chi -1
Det/Chi over 52 1/2
Car/SF under 43
Az -3
Den -7
NO -6 1/2
TB +2

Supercontest picks: last week: 2-3; overall: 20-23-2

GB -1 1/2
Bal +1 1/2
Chi +2 1/2
Az -2 1/2
NO -6 1/2
  

Random Notes

1. It's a bad idea to put Lotrimin on what turns out to be a mosquito bite on your foot. Just nasty.

2. What does Lotrimin do - rip off the top 1/8" of your skin chemically?

3. Should all this Lotrimin talk be filed under "Too Much Information"?

4. Had to have an alcohol talk with Freddie this week - a 13 year old girl (Italian, if that matters!) bought a bottle of vodka at the corner shop and drank half of it last weekend. She was found unconscious on the sidewalk next to her vomit. Better do the sex talk now, while we are at it.

5. I heard the story from a parent last Sunday --- so I asked Freddie on Sunday if he had knew this girl. "No" was the answer. I asked again on Tuesday.... "yes! She's the one that drank the vodka, right?" Middle school networks are very effective.

6. Tried to play rugby (touch!) with the older kids over the last 2 weekends. I have no idea what I am doing. I lateral the ball, then go downfield 5 yards. "What are you doing???" Oh yeah, no forward passes. No blocking in this league, either.

7. Thanks for finally moving your clocks back, guys. I now get an extra hour of sleep on Sunday nights.....
 

NFL Week 9: Cambodia

Cambodia. For those of us ages 30-50, I think the word "Cambodia" brings up one image. Not the Khmer Rouge....but Sally Struthers.
I remember so many commercials in the afternoon of the 80s where Sally implored us to donate to the poor Cambodian kids, as they were holding out a empty bowl begging for food...Won't you do something?


So last December, we decided to go to the Siem Reap, Cambodia, to visit the ancient temples of Ankhor Wat....and all I could think of before I went was of those commercials. Was there abject poverty everywhere? Was I safe? What in the hell is Cambodian cuisine?

Siem Reap turned out to be a pure treat, if you stayed on the beaten path. We landed in the afternoon and quickly went downtown (which was all of about 6 blocks). There were several markets and plenty of Western restaurants - including a Swensen's Ice Cream shop. Oh yes, we visited that twice. I got my fill of Adidas golf shirts (the Tangerine one that I wore in Vegas was from there), and Warren and Martin got PSY shirts with "Gangnam style" all over it. Yes, that was the craze a year ago.


At dinner, Janice announce we are going to the templates the next day - that's fine. Oh but wait, we are not going during the "day", but supposedly it is magical when the sun rises over the temple in the morning - so we will be there at sunrise. We did the calculations.....sunrise, getting tickets, when the tour guide suggest we leave the hotel....so it was a 3:30 wake up call. With three boys! Nice!

The  next morning, we get out of the hotel and out the door, and arrive at the park around 5 am in pitch black darkness. And it was packed. We get to the location of the main temple where there is a reflecting lake in front - and we are no better than in the 3rd row of tourists. All Asian, of course, so they are all packed in with more coming behind and elbowing you.

It's unfortunate - clouds blocked the sunrise from being fully seen - but it still was impressive. As the morning became lighter and lighter, the temples became more and more massive. These temples were constructed by hand and no "adhesives" were used in the rock structure - no mortar, for instance. The rocks were custom-cut to fit perfectly on each other. Fascinating.

We went to two other temples; some had trees growing in them (with roots all over the ground in the temple); it really gave off a "Indiana Jones" vibe. I believe that the "Tomb Raider" movies were shot there. By then, it was 11:00 am, and it was already 95 degrees. We decided we'd had enough - and back to the hotel, pool , and markets for the day.

The next day we went on a riverboat ride to see the floating villages. This is where Sally's kids have been hiding all the time. It's not near the temples, but in the outlying locations. As you made your way from the docking station to the main lake where you had lunch, these kids - no more than 6  or 7 years old - would be in a tiny metal bowl rowing up to you. The bowl was no more than 3' in diameter, and the kids had no clothes on. "Dollar? One dollar?"

You immediately figured out that this is like seagulls on the East Coast - you feed one, then 59 more of them come up. So of course we gave one a dollar, which resulting in more impoverished kids rowing up to us. It was hard to say no....but then you look in the floating villages, and almost all of them had TV antennas and TV's in there "hut". So how much was real poverty, and how much was a show for the tourists?

I played golf the next day at Nick Faldo's signature golf course just outside the city; a nice course - nothing spectacular - and from the 17th hole, I looked over to my left - outside the walls of the course - and there is a basketball court; four children are playing on the dirty court, again without clothes.

So the poverty is out there. The city (country?) just does a great job of sweeping it under the rug and having it hidden from the tourists that come in. It's a good strategy. You can close your eyes to it for a good 3-4 days if you want, or you can look out just a bit and you will find it easily. It all depends on what you want to see on your vacation.

To the Browns: we've lost 13 in a row to the Ravens - which makes us seem like the Sally Struthers victims of the AFC North. (The last win was November 2007, where Dawson miss/made that crazy FG to send it into overtime....where we kicked another FG to win and essentially knock the Ravens out of the playoff chase.). We need to stand up - finally - and not be the little brother in this relationship. I have a good feeling about this one. We will be hiding our poverty (Brandon Weeden) and putting our best face forward. I expect a lot of trick plays here as we pull out all of the stops, going into the bye.

(And if we do win here, we have Cin, Pit x2, NYJ, NE, Chi, Jax left. Not exactly murderer's row. Can you say 5-2 finish???)

On to the games:

KC 19, Buf 16. It all depends on Buffalo's QB here. Who is it? I was surprised how well a good D line (like the Browns) got to Alex Smith.

Car 27, Atl 24. This is the last stand here for the Falcons - and Carolina has beaten up on pansies the last 3 weeks.

Dal 30, Min 24. Dallas plays to the level of competition.

NO 23, NYJ 20. Brother vs Brother in New York. I like the Jets' running Offense vs. the poor run D of the Saints.

Ten 23, StL 13. This seems to easy - why is Tennessee only a 3 pt favorite? St Louis gave its all last week...and lost.

Was 30, SD 27. Just another gut feeling - Washington plays well at home.

Oak 24, Phi 13. I have faith that Oakland will move the ball vs. the poor Philly D. Go Pryor!

Sea 24, TB 10. Seattle's struggling O vs. a team ready to quit on their coach.

NE 20, Pit 17. Another 4 pm Eastern classic that goes down to the wire.

Ind 27, Hou 23.  I think Case Keenum will keep the Texans in the game, at home, vs. a shaky Indy defense.

GB 31, Chi 20. How can you pick against GB after what they have showed the past several weeks?

Best bets: 13 of them. Last week: 8-6; overall: 60-57-2
Atl +7 1/2
Atl/Car over 45 1/2
Min +9 1/2
NYJ +6
Ten -3
Was -1
SD/Was over 51
Oak -1 1/2
Phi/Oak under 44 1/2
TB/Sea under 40 1/2
Pit -6
Pit/NE under 44
Ind/Hou over 44

Supercontest: Last week: 3-2; overall: 18-20-2
Atl +7 1/2
NYJ +6
Was +1
Oak -2 1/2
Pit +6 1/2