Voting in the USA – Chengdu Consulate Rocks

For those of you concerned about voting in the USA, I suggest you get after it.  I was disenfranchised by the Express mail two years ago.  I paid China Post a lot of money and the ballot, which was supposed to be delivered in five business days, arrived at the Clerks office a week late.  See: Fast Mail and Voting

This year I got after it earlier and by contacting my Township Clerk’s office, I was able to file a request for absentee ballot and receive it the same day.  I filled out the request and took a picture with my cell phone. I emailed it to the Township Clerk and she immediately sent me the ballot by email.  I checked with my advisers in the USA on the various ballot issues, Supreme Court Candidates, School Board, etc. and completed my ballot in a couple days.

The American Secretary of State has a website on voting and there is a postage paid envelope available which I used. First I had to get the envelope, with ballot enclosed to the Chengdu Consulate. They put the envelope in a diplomatic pouch and it gets mailed from the USA. A Chinese friend from Chengdu was visiting her parents in Guiyang during the October holiday so I gave the envelope to Daisy. She was going to deliver it to the Chengdu Consulate.

Daisy showed up at the Chengdu Consulate today and was turned away by the Chinese Police guarding the consulate. She wasn’t permitted to enter unless she had an American Passport. She called me, and while she was on hold, I went to the US Embassy website for Beijing.  I called the number and told them the problem.  They put me on hold and called the duty officer. in Chengdu. The Chengdu Consulate was closed due to the holiday.

They put me through to the duty officer, named Ben.  Somehow my call was being handled by the emergency hotline.  I gave Daisy’s phone number to Ben  and the spelling of her name.  He got after it.  He was near the Consulate so he either went there himself, or had somebody go outside to find Daisy. Case closed. The ballot will be in the diplomatic pouch tomorrow morning.

I spoke to another American about voting. His state, Washington, has a pure vote by internet system available.  I think each state has it’s own system   I believe that they all take this subject seriously. If you want to vote, you can go to your State’s website, probably the Secretary of State in your state to find out how to do it.  I hope you vote. A democracy is a terrible thing to waste.

World Premiere of the movie ‘Love is a Legend’ held in Guiyang.

Poster of the movie ‘Love is a Legend’

World Premiere of a Chinese movie ‘Love is a Legend’ was held at Wanda Cinemas in Downtown Guiyang.  Movie Starred a beautiful girl from Lithuania Ana Mordynskaja who currently resides in Guiyang, It was produced by Mr. Huo Zhi Wen.

Ana Mordynskaja, a beautiful Lithuanian Guiyang Expat who starred in the movie.

Mr. Huo Zhi Wen, the producer during the premiere.

I had the honor of attending the world premiere of Love is a Legend! To be completely honest when I got the invitation with ‘world movie premiere’ written on the card, I thought they had me confused with someone else. They couldn’t possibly want me to cover an event in the same room with Jennifer Lawrence hahaha, however instead of Jennifer Lawremce, I was ecstatic to meet my celebrity turned old friend Ana who was besieged with Chinese fans for a photograph.

Guizhou TV broadcasted the premiere

Syed Saalim Hashmi posing with Ana Mordynskaja

Foreigner guests with Chinese Viewers during the event.

 

 

 

New Beautiful Writer in the City.

A Doctor by profession, an Indian by origin and a blogger by hobby, Dr. Pareesa Rabbani is a new writer in the city who writes with a brutal, ruthless honesty and her articles stir a frenzy everywhere.

.

Pareesa’s poetry as well as articles are mostly more of a reflection on her daily life encounters, life lessons, sarcasm, feminism and social reforms. Her posts capture the essence of multiple problems plaguing our country today because they seem to share the same roots.
Pareesa is very right in underscoring how the standards for men and those for women are so brazenly imbalanced and twisted, it is downright unacceptable. I do not know why or how we are allowing such blatant hypocrisy to reign so free in our world; I have yet to see people more chauvinistic and misogynistic than the ordinary Indian man.
Let’s not forget, however, that India too has had its fair share of shameless misogyny. I personally feel that she writes what encapsulate the oppressive reins that an Indian society strangles women with.

Happy Birthday Google.

Dear Google !

It’s your birthday and then how can I wait not to wish you.
You have been my savior and saver all the time. I don’t know how I discovered you or maybe my parents introduced you to me but since day one you have always saved me without a fuss.
Even the invalid shit I type or search from dusk to dawn, or morning to noon, you never get tired and I still get a valid response from you. A stucked song in mind, a caller harassing me, a forgotten quote, a heartbreak, post break up, status to impress him or her, e-cards to bring a smile on their face, two minutes before entering examination hall, scrolling walls on browser, connecting us to the world, downloading movies from torrent, from parenting tips to makeup advice, from being a blogger to being a fame online, everytime I just need you or your google maps when I get lost in the woods. No one has helped me so much in life how you have without a return and without questioning me until and unless I mistyped it and you just ask me in a polite way ‘Did you mean this ?
I know I will never be able to thank you enough for the Wikipedia, PubMed, and songspk.com, various sites which you have provided us but yes I could only say that you have always been my virtual friend whom I can trust till eternity.

( Article Penned by : Dr. Pareesa Rabbani )

Foreigner wins Guiyang Heavyweight Boxing Competition

Urison Kokulbekov of Tajikistan won the Heavyweight Boxing Competition in Guiyang.

Even with the drastic differences in amateur and professional boxing a lot of guys do make that transition and have a lot of success with it. One of the top scouts in Guiyang these days is the current Heavyweight Champion of The Tank Boxing Association. Urison Kokulbekov, is a student of Guizhou Institute of Engineering and Technology and is currently a talent scout for the Tank Boxing Association.  He focuses much of his efforts on boxing which flows in his arteries, veins and capillaries. He’s credited with winning the current Tank Heavyweight Championship in Guiyang.

His dream is to become a successful entrepreneur, as well as boxer. He looks forward to do his higher studies from a top university. He likes Harvard or the London School of Economics.

My Neighborhood

It is hard to explain what it is like to live in a nice part of Guiyang, of Guizhou Province. It is best to just show a video of my neighborhood.  My neighborhood is maybe ten or fifteen years old, and has been surpassed in values by newer, and better construction in and around Guiyang. My neighborhood is still very nice. I have a little electric bicycle that gets me up and down the hill in front of my apartment.  I am on the twelfth floor and can ride my bicycle to the elevator . . . no stairs. 
I had to to out for bread so I put the cell phone in my shirt pocket and tried to give you a flavor for what my neighborhood looks like. It is considered one of the nicer parts of Guiyang.
Click to view:
Riding Home from the Bread Store