SUMMER TIME

SUMMER TIME

Saturday, October 07, 2006

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

What can a person buy with $125 million? How about a property with pricey marble and 24-karat gold fixtures decorate bathrooms? The famous seller is Mr. Donald Trump. There is no need to give description of who Mr. Trump is. Someone told me that Mr. Trump does not have or carry his business cards. His reason is that if the person does not already know who Mr. Trump is, then that person is not important.

If you think $125 million is too much, then there are other properties for less. An estate in Bridgehampton, New York is only $75 million and a house in Lake Tahoe, Nevada listed at a flat $100 million. Until I win the lottery, I will be happy with my humble ranch home in St. Louis. I definitely will avoid watching the show, "Lifestyles of the Riches and the Famous".


Back to reality, St. Louis Lambert Airport is planning to provide a wireless fidelity network or Wi-Fi to its passengers. Wi-Fi networks are short range radio waves to connect laptop computers and other wireless devices to the Internet. Lambert Airport is a late comer to wireless Internet compared to West Coast airports which began the trend in 2000. Personally I am excited about the news even though I don't travel much and I don't plan to bring my laptop when flying. Last weekend I brought along my recently purchased laptop to a work-related weekend at Lake of the Ozarks. I enjoyed using the hotel complimentary Internet connection. What a luxury to be able to pull up documents and find out the latest news! I could also envision the passengers while waiting for their flights, scrolling through messages on the Blackberry, checking bank statements, watching movies, shopping on-line, downloading music, and family members sitting next to each other talking on separate cell phones as if they were strangers. This is a very sad reality.

Enough about being poor and this sad hi-tech world, let's celebrate a special holiday, The Moon Festival. The day of the Festival often falls in September, though this year it comes on Friday, October 6th. The Moon Festival - also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival - is a favorite holiday in China and Viet Nam as well as many other Asian countries. The festival is celebrated on the 15th day of eighth month of the lunar calendar. On this night, families gather together to enjoy the moon's beauty and to find fulfillment in the closeness of being with other family members. I remembered as a child in Viet Nam, I was given pretty lanterns that were made of shining paper. The lanterns were made with bamboo frame, designed in the shapes of dragons, rabbits or flowers, covered with decorated bright paper and a lit candle inside.

I missed seeing the beautiful gift boxes contained the round moon cakes. My favorite fillings are sweet bean and tasty egg paste. I always ate the center egg first and then try putting the half eaten slice back into the tin for someone else. Other fillings including sweet combination of fruits and nuts, date paste and lotus paste. I also loved the story about the beautiful moon lady who could only see her lover once a year during the festival.

In the corner of my life in St. Louis, Missouri, these are some of the stories in the news this week.


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