Ninja Boy wrote this about Wuxi on the Wuxi Life forum:

 

You're in the gayest city in China! There are more gay people in Wuxi than any other Chinese city, so your friend is in for quite a holiday !!

Just wander around the city streets at night and wait for them to approach you (they're usually cruising the streets on electric scooters looking for customers/meet new friends.) I think the police threw them out of Chongan Temple Park as the place was getting a bit of a reputation as a gay pick-up point on summer evenings.

I should make it clear that I am NOT gay, I have a gorgeous Chinese girlfriend and she always protects me from Wuxi boys. Without her, it quite usual in this city to be asked by Wuxi boys if you want a massage, go for a drink, to a hotel, or hang out somewhere.

Most Wuxi people don't know, but I heard somewhere that their city is actually home to 11 gay bars. I was even stopped one evening and asked by a bunch of blokes into the whole cosplay thing if I wanted to go to a boy-only KTTV! I gave them a two word reply - the second word was "off!."

I always thought that there a lot of gay people in Wuxi.  That is why the KoW has been here for so many years.  It also explains the fetish for erecting as many tall buildings as possible here and the urge to build subway stations.  And so I find it hard to believe that there are only 11 gay bars in Wuxi.  I be more surprised to learn that there 11 straight pubs here.....

• For me it is Tuesday.
• I stubbed my toe Wednesday afternoon.  It still hurts now and I am still limping around.  With my eyes going, and now this, I am feeling old.
• I did an English Corner about Wuxi buildings.  The students had a lot to say and their opinions greatly differed.  For example, many are divided on whether or not the moresky360 looks good.  The Protestant Church near our school was praised a lot.  I also heard very clashing opinions on the new Wuxi museum at Taihu Square.  One student said it was without character.  Another said it was the best building in Wuxi.  I will have to check that place out.
• Thursday morning, it literally rained buckets outside.  Thank God, I made it to work before the rain became torrential.
• Most of the students told me that they were happy to not have brothers or sisters.
• I am starting to think that Tony hasn't gone through his terrible two's phase, yet.  Lately, he has been throwing incredible fits if he doesn't get something.  As well, his love of playing with faucets and fridges knows no bounds.
• Look at my photos on twitpic.
• My wife made this sandwich with cheese and shrimp that tastes absolutely delicious.
• One conservative reviewer says Bruno is better that Borat.
• While on the bus  to work yesterday morning, I saw three depressing sights:  A man defecating, squat-style, having a cigarette under the tree; a public act of urination, and a man on motorcycle just after he was hit by a car.  The man thankfully wasn't killed but he was struggling to get up while picking up the broken pieces of his bike.  The car driver making a left turn was at fault in the collision.  I sometimes wonder if many drivers here are short-sighted.  They do things without looking but with a strange kind of faith.
• I was listening to these podcasts of the G. Gordon Liddy show and Shire Network News which had Canadian themes.  For the Canadian, like me, who has been away from Canada for a long time (coming on five years now), it was refreshing to hear Gordon Lightfoot singing "Alberta Bound" on a show during which was an exposition of the Canadian Health care System.  Also, they played Glen Gould - the greatest musician Canada has ever produced.  Shire Network News, podcast #166 featured a tribute to Canada from a Kiwi who understands why Canada Day is best called Dominion Day.  Canadian music was also played.  I got to go back to Canada no matter how stupid it has become.
• The G. Gordon Liddy podcast also lead me to watch Kraftwerk videos (an exposition on the German Health Care System) on Youku.com, of which there are many including many live videos.  Four guys standing at keyboards look rather strange and static for a pop concert.  So I tapped in Beatles in the Youku search engine and came upon a film about the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium.  It comes with an introduction from Arthur Fieldler who says he loves the Beatles.  When I have spare time, I will be watching the video today.
• I was at the Blue Bar for a short time last night.  I was watching some cricket on the tele.  From what I could see, Australia was beating England.  Somewhere on the Internet is a great article comparing Baseball and Cricket written by someone who loves both sports.  One big difference in the games apparently is the centrality of the pitcher and batter.  In baseball, the pitcher is central.  He must keep mowing down batters.  If he screws up, the game is over for him.  In cricket, the batter has to keep producing runs.  As soon as he stops, it is game over for him.
• I would be following baseball more closely but I hate the abomination of the wild card.  Pennant Races are must more interesting than looking at the standings to see who has sown up playoff spots.

Now, I can say I have meet Mar, who is making an identity for herself here and here.  The family K meet Marliann, her husband Joe, and her two nice children, last night at what I call the Cultural Revolution Redux Restaurant on Xincheng Road.  I can't say enough about what nice people they were. 

Here are some photos I took there last night.

Don't put the flowers on the singers unless you are willing to part with 50 rmb.

Video  of the Fritz family, of course, was taken.  They are now stars of an episode of the Wuxi Tony Update.  Currently, WTU 374 is being uploaded.

I was told about it and I couldn't quite believe.  "Seeing is believing in this particular case" I said when someone told me it was possible.  But possible it is, and I have adequate proof for myself that Jello can be obtained in Wuxi.  I have taken a photograph of the Jello which you can see below.  And I can vouch that I did obtain the Jello at import section of Baoli Carrefour for about 10 rmb.  Hopefully, the expats who live near Carrefour Baoli won't hog it all.  I don't want it to be like the Heinz Beans which are periodically available because some plump so-and-so bought twenty cans for himself.

Notice the can of Heinz Beans in the background which are re-available at Carrefour as I make this entry.

Having confirmed with some long-time Wuxi Expat that Jello is not often to be had in Wuxi.  I am confident in making this proclamation and that this proclamation is fraught with significance. 

Ah!  Rubbing Jello all over my body!  The wild impeccable fanciful days of my youth!

• The first thing that strikes you about Masa's is the decor.  It is very nice.  The chairs struck me as being elaborately decorated.  I was thinking rococo because I remember seeing such stuff in Kenneth Clark's Civilisation and boy,was it fancy.  A little bit too much detail for my taste but you had to admire the craftsmanship.  Although the chairs in Masa's were most certainly carved by someone using a CNC machine.  But whatever.  The decor of the restaurant was nice.  The place was brightly lit and offered a great view of the downtown Wuxi skyline.  I would love to go there at night.
• On the walls were some photos of some foreigners I had never seen in Wuxi.  Some of them looked like people who were stuck in the siege of Stalingrad.  I don't why I say this but the thought just came to mind when I looked at the photos.
• I never used the bathroom so I have no comments to make about it.  I held off till I got home.
• I had the curry chicken set.  The dish was cooked Chinese style.  I was hungry so I ate it.  And I feel okay now six hours after the experience. 
• I am sure the cool, sophisticated, urbane Wuxi Expat types would poo-poo the place for lack of authenticity.  But I would go back regardless.
• The service was fine.  One of the girls working there indulged Tony by assisting as him with his letting-faucets-run phase that he is in.
• The restaurant had a game set involving disks and slots that kept Tony from wanting to run away.  In fact, when it was time for the Family K to leave, Boy Tony threw a fit, so fascinated with the disks and slots was he.

• Just when I think I don't have something to write about in this blog, something out of the ordinary happens.  This evening, on the bus ride home from work, I saw a woman spill a couple gallons of, what I assume was, some sort of cooking oil on a crowded bus.  This woman had done some shopping at Carrefour.  She managed to park herself and her bags of purchases in the center of the bus.  I was standing about ten feet away listening to a podcast on my mobile when suddenly I was pushed by a crowd of people avoiding what I first thought was a prone body laying on the ground.  I quickly realized that they were all looking at and avoiding a puddle caused by the tipping over of a plastic container of the oil.  The woman whose container spilled had quite the mess and embarrassment on her hands.  She first had to pick up the bags that she lying near the oil.  Her shoes were drenched in the oil and she had no paper with which to clean up the oil.  Others whose shoes had been immersed in the oil were sliding.  The area of the puddle being about six feet round caused the crowded bus to be intimately cramped.  I was waiting to see someone slip and fall heels-over-head in the puddle.  The closest thing to this that I did see was a woman holding to the riding strap for dear life as the bus lurched forward after dropping off some passengers at a stop.
• I asked the students to tell me someone they knew who was very opinionated.  One of the students said I was the most opinionated person they know.  When I asked her why she said this, she said she read my blog.

Sean Penn is a real piece of work.  He seems to be generally a scummy human being, but may be a good actor.  Be that as it may, my boy Tony seems to turn into him as he attacks a camera man in this video and he demands to see the camera.

This is the Three Hundred and Seventieth First Wuxi Tony Update.

• I made some comments here.  Explore the site to find them.  I am WTU.
• I finished Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.  I have a blog entry, A Latvian Canadian in Maoist China comments on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, that I wish to make.  Not tonight alas.
• The last month I have been made to feel the celebrity in China again.  I don't why that is but the feeling keeps me going.
• There was this other entry I was going to make about Science Fiction and a possible China/America war.  Again, not tonight.
• Obama is going down the toilet faster than I thought he would.  If he was in a parliamentary system, I don't think he would win a vote of confidence.  In the British system, the cabinet would do him in.  I can get no satisfaction from Obama's failure.  Too many people are going to suffer because of it.

While the other Tony Boy videos have been paradigm-shifting, dynamic, cutting-edge, and insightful, this rollicking Boy Tony video is historical for it took three camera persons to make it.

• I have to go the Bank of China because my signature I made yesterday does not look like the signature on my passport.  
• I sometimes mention things I have seen the locals do on their bikes.  Yesterday, I saw one local take a nap on the bike.  She was leaning her head against her friend's back who was pedaling.  Or should I put that under locals sleeping in strange places?
• Yesterday, I saw a bus driver clear bicyclists out of his bus's turning radius by making the turn and slowing tapping the bicyclists with the side of the bus.  The cyclists didn't protest at all.

Happy birthday to my father, Arnis  who lives in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada with Aina.  I am hoping that the three of us can see you next year.

That my father below with my Mom and younger brother Ron.  My parents have been together over 45 years now.  Not too many people these days have the courage, devotion, and selflessness to do that.

A few words about my Dad.  It wasn't easy to come to a new country especially after having to flee the old one (Latvia, to get away from the Soviets).  He has done the best he could for his three children:  Benita, Ronalds, and me.  My Dad served the Queen by joining the Canadian Army and serving in the Royal Canadian Artillery.  He chose to retire in a sleepy old town of Brandon, Manitoba.  After a while, I grew sick of the place.  But now, I do find myself pining to go back there for peace, quiet, big skies, and my Mom's cooking.

A story about my Dad.  When I was in Junior High School, I was playing in a house hockey league.  That is, a league for players who weren't good enough to represent the town against other towns.  The director of the league had to resign halfway through the season (he being in the military he was posted somewhere).  My Dad took over organizing the league himself.  Never have I seen a person have to deal with so much ingratitude when as things always do, something went wrong.  My father is perhaps too well-meaning for this world.

My gift to my father has been to make him a grandparent.  My gift to him and my Mom is Anthony Arnis Peng Kaulins.  Today, Tony is 23 months old.  Here is Tony this morning.

I hope Tony makes up for the fact that I haven't been around for over five years now.

I didn't do much.

This was the view from the apartment about 900 a.m. this morning.

Here is the video I took of the darkness.