Andrew Louie

7.9Mag. Earthquake in China

Reading news story after news story pouring out of China just breaks my heart. It’s unbelievable how much of a disaster that whole region has become, and the thousands of people that have died. The hardest to read stories are the ones about all those children who got crushed when their school collapsed like a bunch of matchsticks. I can’t even imagine what the parents of those kids are going through. It makes me extremely sad, and a little angry.

The same region, Chendu, has had similarly massive quakes in the 1930’s and 1970 with thousands of deaths. Why are the same mistakes being repeated over and over? The region has been and will always be a ticking time bomb, but it’s one that can be easily overcome with a little bit of engineering knowhow, and quality construction. Especially for important structures like schools. Schools should not be like straw houses in the face of a wolf.  The technology and engineering knowledge has been around for decades, It’s inexcusable, especially for a region with such a history of earthquakes, that entires towns and cities are flattened in an instant, taking thousands of lives with them. This has to be a wake up call to China to get their act together and bring their buildings up to some kind of survivable code.

If China can go from concept to operation on the worlds largest Airport in a mere 4 years, they can certainly  retrofit/design new buildings to be more survivable in the face of natural disasters that have a history of occurring.

None of this ranting now is going to be of much help. my heart goes out to all the survivors and  volunteers assisting in the effort. One thing is certain, they need more helicopters!

New Jersey Marathon, May 4th.

Completed my first Marathon yesterday and boy I dont think I want to do that again for a long time.

I felt great for the first 15 miles, Finished the half on 2 hours 4 min approximately, but my legs gave up soon after. I blame myself for not properly conditioning myself. It’s really hard to motivate yourself to run 3+ hours by yourself. By mile 17 I felt like the next step I took would be my last, I would just fall over and that would be the end of my run, and I had 9 more miles of those “next step to death” excruciating. on the other hand, my calves felt fine the entire run, by my thighs were getting very tight, right near my knee.

I blame Sylvia for making me go through this torture, but I also appreciate that she made me go through this torture. I would not have run it if she didn’t force me by signing up as well. Liz was supposed to run it with us, but had to drop out due to injury. Next year!

The last mile of the thing, mile 26, felt like the longest mile I have ever run. The .22 miles felt like the longest .22 miles ever, it didn’t even feel like the finish line was getting any closer with each step. My legs right now feel completely spent, I don’t really feel like getting up for anything. I originally was planning to go to GO GO curry today for their 5 dollar curry special in honor of GO GO curry’s birthday, but I can’t bring myself to walk the 4 blocks to get there.

Anyway, here are two photos of my sister and I and the finish courtesy of Ed and Liz:

Mei Lai Wah Closed

From MidtownLunch and official from Eater Mei Lai Wah, the Coffee Shop that never made it out of 1950, is officially closed. All the equipment there had to be at least 30+ years old. the coffee was okay, and buns are good, and the employees look as ancient as the coffee shop. It was one of the few places that gave Chinatown it’s distinctiveness. It’s too bad I never took any pictures while I had the chance. *sigh*

Chipolte, I hate you

Well NYC has passed a law which requires chain restaurants to display Calorie information on the menus. The new information has been… enlightening. I for one, do enjoy burritos, alot. I cut class to stand in line for 2 hours for a free burrito when Chipolte opened on St Marks Place. My first impression was that it was a very large, flavorful burrito. Burritos being 7.50+ and me being the cheapskate that I am, I dont get many burritos from that place. Well a quick analysis of the new calorie information for Chipolte was originally done by MidtownLunch comparing Chipolte’s website information with whats displayed in the stores and discrepancies were found. It turns out that the posted calorie ranges were underestimated. a more detailed analysis was performed by BurritoBlog. and then I used the calorie calculator to figure the correct number of calories in what I consider, a modest burrito: [Results > shocking]

Click Here to view

interesting sites along Manhattan’s upper west side

As I was running along my 13 mile route from chelsea piers (20th st) to 130th st, (fairway) along the west side, Hudson river park, I saw, what looked liked a baby seal sunbathing on a floating pier at around 70th st. There was a crowd of people and a some police officers, I wouldn’t have even noticed the seal if it werent for all the people around. Too bad I do not run with a camera. It was a really beautiful day in the city yesterday and really neat to see a seal. I did not know seals live in the Hudson river. I really love running along the Hudson, it is quite beautiful, and the breezes are really nice. The city is in middle of some massive construction projects to expand the Hudson river park, they are building some new piers, and making the waterfront even nicer. I can’t wait till they finish.