An Inconvenient Consequence
Last night, I watched Al Gore's documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth". And boy, did it freak me out. Not exactly what you should watch before going to bed, as it is scarier than any horror movie I've watched ("The Ring" Japanese version included). Here are some of the scary facts if the world continues to warm at the rate it's going:-- We will completely be ice-free in the Arctic Ocean by 2050.-- We will lose the Netherlands, Manhattan, parts of San Francisco, Calcutta, Beijing, Shanghai and a lot more coastal cities will go under the water. Goodbye Philippines.-- More than a million species extinct by 2050.-- More droughts, heatwaves (50+ degrees), category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Famine, disease, pestilence...Anyone else who thinks it sounds like the end of days as described in the book of Revelations?And this is in OUR lifetime.No wonder I couldn't sleep.It's appalling to me that the US, which has 2x the amount of carbon emissions as the next offender, is not doing anything to curb this. While all the other nations have agreed, the US (together with Australia) has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per country. WAKE UP AMERICA -- what use are jobs if there's no planet to work and live in?Right after I watched the movie, I went to http://www.climatecrisis.net/ to calculate my personal contribution of carbon dioxide emissions. I was doing pretty ok. The national average is 7.5 tons per year and after most everything, I was at half that (3.7 tons). That was, until I added in my estimated number of flights. 24 extended (8 hours and above) flights for the year. My contribution soared to 27.1 tons, 4x the national average!!!So there are a couple of things I've resolved to do:1) Buy a Toyota Prius instead of the second-hand Porsche Boxster I've been drooling over.2) Turn off all lights, the TV and computer when I'm not using it.3) Unplug all chargers and appliances as these continue to use electricity just by being plugged. (I did this right after watching the movie.)4) Air dry my clothes.5) Use cold water cycle for my laundry.6) Turn up the A/C by one degree. Or better yet, use the fan.7) Accelerate gently. And drive more slowly.And because I'm having such a huge personal impact on the environment, I'm offsetting my CO2 emissions by helping renewable energy sources get built. It's painful on the wallet but I want my kids to grow up with the same planetary luxuries that I grew up with... clean air and water, four seasons (two in the Philippines) and enough food for everyone.To find out what else you can do, click here. And offset your CO2 emissions here.
The Space Between
So I’ve obviously been too busy with the whole trans-Pacific move to update my blog. But finally I’ve gotten some free time on this, my first weekend here in Cinci. Some news:
1) I’ve found my new apartment and I absolutely loooove it! It’s really made such a huge difference to come back from work to a home you love, even when you live in a city you don’t. :) I have the best landlord, a fantastic view, 
My living room
The pool
The view from my living room windows
The hallwaymy tub has a Jacuzzi and I have my dream kitchen. 
Seriously, I could hide out here and never feel sorry for myself. It’s a home made for entertaining and it’s a pity I’ll miss having my Labor Day party when my place has the best view of the fireworks. 2) Cinci is actually not thaaaat bad. Sure Mark Twain said that “"When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times." But there are some saviors: Broadway comes to America tours here and this season isn’t so bad (Wicked, Jersey Boys to name a few). Even Dave Matthews is coming over end of August. It’s 5 hours to Chicago and you can overdose on a cosmopolitan cultural kick there before coming back.
Not this kind of culture... Yotch and Allan don Ratatouille hats at Taste of Chicago
In front of the famous "Bean"
Me and Yotch under the bean
There are some burgeoning places, which albeit small are still nice-to-have – Hyde Park, Oakley, Mt. Adams all have that I-just-discovered-a-hole-in-the-wall feel.
3) Ok so the restaurants aren’t great. But Cincinnati Magazine just came out with the top 25 restaurants in the area and I’ve had a 50-50 success rate so far (definitely do #9 Jo-An restaurant and unrated Chipotle for "gourmet" burritos and skip #6 Pho Paris). Not too shabby for a place which was devoid of culinary gastronomic delights just a few years ago. My goal is to finish all 25 before the end of the year, quite ambitious for someone who’s out of the country more then 50% of the time.
Now what don’t I like? Honestly, not much about Cincinnati that I don’t like about America in general. I miss not having to shred all the papers that have my personal information for fear of identity theft. I miss public transportation (though I do get a car here which is just perfect). I miss year-round summer weather (though it’s still summer here so I shouldn’t complain). I miss the feeling of security at all hours of the day. Here, you can’t even shop in the wrong store in the wrong area because people stare and might steal your car.
I do miss having a downtown. My needs are simple – just a place with Starbucks and a good Chinese restaurant nearby that doesn’t close at 6pm even on weekdays.
I have to say apart from that, I’m adjusting quite well. Definitely not the wreck I was when I moved to Singapore eons ago… Not to say that everything is perfect – I still haven’t found my suki Chinese resto and I refuse to buy Basmati rice in a box till I find the Oriental Supermarket that sells the real stuff you cook in a rice cooker and not via microwave. And though I’ve met some people, I haven’t really made friends. The thing about Cincinnati is they’re either all single and want to bar-hop, hook-up and make-out or they’re married with a gazillion kids. I don’t know why there’s no in-between.
I don’t know when I became an in-between. But that’s what I am now, never actually part of a particular group or settled in one place. So for all of the initial pain, Cincinnati is fun... for now, till I move on to the next adventure.
P.S. For those of you who care, the work office sucks which is surprising considering this is the Global Headquarters. The security is super super strict so if you go down for just 2 minutes but forget your ID, you have to get a temporary ID to come back in. There’s NO PANTRY! I’ve definitely been spoiled by free tea, Milo, coffee and water from a dispenser. All you get here is a water fountain!! Hello!! Sure you get a cubicle which is a permanent desk space but you also have to pay for parking which can run up to $7.50 per day (read: P400 buckaroos!!!). There is a caf but the food sucks, really, really sucks, and you get too lazy to go out for food, particularly when the weather gets colder.
Don’t even get me started on the dress code. I’m the only one who shows up in jeans and I think I’d die before I turn into the “establishment.” And they’re not joking about office hours. I used to come in to Singapore office at 10 or 11 and stay till way past midnight. That’s impossible here. Most people are in by 8, some as early as 6 (parking’s gone by 9) and by 7pm, they shut down the lights and there’s no way to get it back on. I suppose I shouldn’t complain that they make us go home early.
