Racist tirades against Obama

It looked so promising in 2008

Those who followed my blog in 2008, knew how excited I was about Obama's victory at the 2008 Presidential election. I remember how closely I followed the whole campaign since 2007. Obama particularly caught my attention by that time, I had the feeling that he may go really far. And man, he really went further than my wildest expectations. His speeches gave me goosebumps and sometimes they still do. I won't ever forget that night and his speech in Chicago. in front of thousands of people, knowing that he will be the next president of the United States. It was about 4am in the morning, when I watched that speech live on CNN and I won't ever forget that moment, when Jesse Jackson cried. I guess I was moved a little, too, even though I'm not American. I think there probably wasn't a single African American, who wasn't somehow touched that night. But this was beyond America, the whole world was amazed by what just happened in that moment.

And then 2 years later at the midterm elections, Obama and the Democrats lose their majority in the Congress and the general mood in the country seems anti-Obama. And there seems to be a small but loud group of people, who think it's OK to voice racist comments. I read this article on Yahoo! News (this is just a snippet):

Since the expectations were so high in 2008, Obama couldn't possibly meet them. 2 years are too short for a decade of wrong decisions and failed policies. But well, everyone expects super things from Superman, right? Even though I admire Obama and support most of his policies, I can understand that some Americans are disappointed. But what I don't understand is the disgusting racism against Obama, that seems to be OK now, almost mainstream (I'm talking about online). I remember, when everyone ridiculed the birthers and the tea party a year ago, but now they're getting elected! Now they're mainstream. Same was with the racists: They seemed to be totally nonexistent in 2008 (with few exceptions), now it seems they can spew out their hate against Obama and even get applause from a lot of people (especially online). If you read any article about Obama on Yahoo! News these days, I guarantee you, that you'll come across a lot of flat out racist comments (accompanied with many "likes"). Let me show you some comments on the article above (published a day after Obama lost the midterm elections. I highlighted the worst parts):

Since I'm not American and my impressions about the current situation in America base on what I see on TV or read online, I wonder: Is it really so bad? Judging by the comments on Yahoo! News, America is ruled by an "African born Muslim who is an anti American racist, that can't run the country and needs to be imprisoned, if not executed". That's scary. How can someone in their mind really believe such things? Or am I making too much of it?

What I'm reading these days is a total opposite of what I was reading in 2008. America, what happened? Hope my American followers can enlighten me on this. But please, explain to me why are there more and more racist comments online on Obama. Or is my impression completely wrong?

[Read the COMMENTS by thorswitch][Screen caps: Yahoo! News]

Lee Hyori for Clio: Killer eye liner?

I know this is not really new, but it was today that I managed to update myself on Lee Hyori's latest projects. She's recently involved with a Korean cosmetics brand Clio. She has shot an ad for one of their products called "Waterproof pen liner Kill Black" and she once again proved that she's still one hot diva at age 31. In only two weeks after the launch, 50.000 eye liners were sold and people are starting to call it "Lee Hyori eye liner" (source). See the famous TV ad:

She definitely looks hot in the video, I love the heels, the way she tears the dress and everything... but I feel the eye liner is too strong. Somehow it doesn't suit her so well. I liked it more, when she uses a more discreet eye makeup. I think generally she doesn't need a lot of makeup, because she has that girl next door appeal. She looks better when she smiles than when she tries to be a vamp. I liked her more in the video on the right. But then again, that's just me, someone who's known to have no fashion sense.

What do you think? Is the way she lines her eyes hot? Or too strong? If you're a woman, would you do it this way, too? If you're a guy, would you like your girlfriend do it like Hyori here?

[My HYORI page][Photos by Clio]

Best duck in Taipei: Dragon Restaurant 龍都酒樓

A culinary experience, that will make your taste buds explode

Dear readers, today I decided to give my girlfriend Lily another chance to be a guest blogger on my blog, because she's had an amazing dining experience in Taipei and the post she wrote was so good, I begged her to give me the honor to share her experience with you all. She celebrated her birthday and invited her friends to join her in what will later be one of their best dining experiences of the year. Let me allow Lily to introduce one of the finest Cantonese restaurants in Taipei. You can read same post in Chinese here>>

Every year on my birthday I pick a restaurant where my friends and I have dinner. This time I picked an old but famous Cantonese restaurant in Taipei named Dragon Restaurant (龍都酒樓), which has open since 1983. Their most famous dish is Cantonese roast duck, it is also the most expensive duck dish in Taipei city (one duck costs TWD 1,200), but people give it a lot of praise. If you want to eat their duck, you have to book it at least 2 days in advance and one desk can only book one duck.

I invited 12 of my friends. We were sitting at 2 tables, each with one whole duck. We also shared some dim sum together. The dinner starts, when the waiter brings the duck and asks, how we would like to have it cut.

The whole duck as it was served to us.

They have 2 ways to cut the duck, one way is meat with skin and the other way is meat without skin. Because the duck is so big, so we chose both. The waiter was so skilled, she cut the meat quickly and moved on to my friend's table. In few minutes, both ducks were cut in beautiful pieces and together with a steamed thin pancake (called 麵餅 in Chinese, literally meaning dough skin), the dinner was served.

The duck being cut into small pieces.

And this is how it looks like when they finish cutting.

The steamed dough, the cut duck and the sweet noodle sauce.

The carefully arranged vegetables.

Doesn't it look delicious?

You eat this duck by spreading the dough in your palm, you then add vegetables, the duck and the sauce on top, roll it up and eat. I have to say it's super delicious. All of us couldn't stop eating and complimenting the food, it was simply amazing!

Besides having the famous main dish, we also ordered some other Cantonese delicacies:

Cantonese fried rice: You must order this one, this is the yummiest fried rice I ever had.

Barbecued pork puffs. Yummy.

Fresh shrimp dumplings. They look perfect.

Fried radish patty, the patty was so soft, you must try it.

Steamed shaomai with crab yolk: the shrimps were so fresh!

Steamed beef ball: If you like eat beef, don't miss this one.

Steamed chicken feet with soy bean sauce: Good taste, if you dare to eat.

We also had steamed spareribs with soy bean sauce, fried spring rolls, and one cup of almond jelly. All of them were very yummy, I couldn't find anything to complain about. And we finished the main course with a soup that was made with the remaining duck bones and pickled cabbage. It was very tasty, too. We almost finished the whole bowl, even though we ate a lot already.

At the end my friend SunnyPie, who sells homemade cakes online, unwrapped the birthday cake I've previously chosen and my friends sang "Happy Birthday" to me. After that, I followed the custom of making three wishes and then I cut the cake for them. The cake had the French chestnut flavor tasted very good, SunnyPie really did a great job and so it's no wonder, that so many people buy her cakes.

The birthday cake.

It was a piece of cake to finish this.

I really had a great birthday, because not only did I receive my boyfriend's lovely gift, but also had a delightful birthday dinner and received tons of blessings on facebook, plurk and twitter. I think I was really so blessed that day. I hope I could share my luck to others and the readers who read this post.

If you want to visit the Dragon restaurant 龍都酒樓 in Taipei, follow the directions on this map (created with Google Maps). Go to Zgongshan MRT station and then go out at Exit 3. Walk around 10 min and then you should see this sign. Check also Google Maps for a detailed map. For all the dishes including the duck Lily's table paid 3235 NTD (which makes around 80 euros or 110 USD). 5 people shared the expense.

[My FOOD in TAIPEI page][All photos by LilyChen, 2010]
[My TAIPEI page][Check also Lily's English blog]

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