I hope it was only a simple typo on David’s part, and not a genuine confusion over my gender.

We were at a pub this weekend and the topic of “How many countries does China border?” came up. It was very interesting to listen to everyone’s speculations. So I thought I make this post to put all our minds at ease, and you never know, some other people in this big wide world may be pondering about this right now, I hope this will be of interest to them too.

So China borders 14 countries in total, not counting those which shares its oceanic boundaries. These countries are: Mongolia, Russia, North Korean, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. (China does not border Thailand, I repeat,  China does not share a border with Thailand!)

One of the first things I did in Kerala was get an old style shave with a straight razor at an old barber shop. This was a first for me, and I gotta say, I’m a convert. There’s nothing like a smooth shave with a straight razor, followed up with all the creams and after shave lotions applied at the end. Makes you feel like a real man!

That said, there is a huge element of trust involved in letting a stranger stroke a sharpened blade across your face and so close to the jugular. I know it’s ridiculous, but I couldn’t help but think that I was in a pretty compromising position and with one flick of the wrist, this guy could end me. Then I figured that would probably be pretty bad for business and is not likely to occur often.

The Japanese thumb sucking monkey doll Monchhichi is very popular in Asia. There are a few shops on Changle Road 长乐路 in Shanghai that have tons of them dressed in everything from military garb to Asian folklore and pop-culture. We picked up this lucky money cat one in a shop at Cloud 9 across from Zhongshan Park 中山公园.

On that note, I always thought money or “beckoning” cats came from China, but it turns out they are Japanese in origin. They are supposed to be placed in your ‘wealth area’ (e.g. next to cash register or entrance of your shop) and they wave their arms in a ‘come here’ gesture (that is often mistaken in the West for a ‘goodbye’ or ‘shoo’ gesture). There are two versions: the one with the cat waving its left paw is supposed to attract customers while the one waving its right is supposed to attract wealth.

The money cat is cute and all, but I think if you want real cash you’re better off going with Chan Chu 蟾蜍 the three-legged lucky money toad!

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I’m not sure if it was caused by the not so bad -16°C weather, but a blackout today caused much of North Bay’s downtown area to be without electricity for a couple of hours.

Not here though! Who needs Ontario Hydro when you have the power of a late ’90s sedan, a DC to AC converter, and an extension cord through your window? While it wasn’t enough to power the furnace without cutting out, it worked fine for everything else. Power is back on now, but unfortunately the internet is still down. Luckily my neighbours linksys and default aren’t having this problem.

“IT’S (-)31 NOW, SONOVAGUN!!” – Anonymous