My new iToy

My station, WIBW, issued iPads to all reporters and anchors and I'm lucky to be among the recipients!

Right now, there's no specific mandate on how we are to use it for our news operations, though there are some evident, useful applications.

I'm probably not the first to say, I love my iPad! I have used it only a few days now, but already, it has revolutionized my work life.

I love that it feels like it's always up and running. I get up in the morning, grab the iPad right next to me and with one touch, and a passcode, it's up! No longer waiting endless minutes for the computer to boot up. Those few minutes are really useful, when I'm squeezed for time in the morning and try to get a quick view of the day's top stories.

Needless to say, I love the apps. Just the concept of apps. I like searching for new ones, testing them and just collecting them. It's human nature, we're hunters and collectors.

Right now, I have news apps, like those from ABC, CNN, CBS, NPR. ABC's is pretty cool at first sight, with the spinning globe. I really enjoy the Topeka Capital-Journal app, it looks just like the paper. The best thing is that it once it's downloaded, I can access it offline and flip through page by page. I guess I'm old-fashioned, but I like that feels just like reading a paper! It's the one thing I can read when I am on the road and don't have Wi-Fi.

Finally, the iPad is so light, my MacBook now feels like a brick! And that one was a significant downsize from my previous laptop, which pretty much felt like a brick wall.

The only thing that my iPad hasn't mastered is that it can't quite detect when I'm lying on my side and reading it. The tilt makes it display in portrait mode when it should be displaying in landscape mode.

Right now, I have downloaded the apps from CNN, Skype, NPR, ABC, CBS, Yelp, Zite, CJ, Fandango and USA Today, Jamie Oliver's recipe app and Cows vs Aliens (though that one's not for me). Let me know if you have any apps, especially free ones, to recommend!

Heute in 100 Sekunden

Last week, I sat with one of the Redakteure (editors) in charge of the "heute 100 sec" clips on zdf.de. It's a kind of "headlines of the hour" video that's 100 seconds long, give or take.

It turns out this editor used to work in dental care and at one point worked with my cousin, who is a dental lab technician in the town we used to live in. What a small world! Or maybe all Asians ARE related!?

Anyway, so I got to write one of the news items that day and also got to voice a "heute 100 sec" edition just for fun. Check it out!

heute100 sec

Giang edition

Schweinshaxe vs Thịt Heo Quay

I took the train to Frankfurt the other day to meet my old school mate Andreas. The funny thing is that we didn't actually go to school together in Germany, but in America. We met at Santa Monica College and bonded over being German, but that's another story for another day.

In any case, I met up with him and told him I wanted to get some regional food. Well, Schweinshaxe is native to Bavaria, I think, but I've always wanted to try it anyway. I didn't realize it was grilled, but what surprised me most is that it resembles the Vietnamese thịt heo quay. It's literally the same!

Here is the German Gegrillte Schweinshaxe. I'm not sure why they brought it out with the price tag, but you can tell by the way they write the numbers that it's very German! That's €11.40, by the way, not €77.40.

To compare, here's a good picture of a thịt heo quay, courtesy of The Ravenous Couple. And you can see that Italians have the same dish too!

Germans may think Vietnamese food is exotic or even strange, but I've seen more than a few instances, where we have pretty much the same exact weird dish! Tomorrow I shall post a picture of German Sülze, the Vietnamese equivalent to thịt đông as proof.

To our similarities, I'll toast to with a regional Apfelwein. Prost!

View from my window

Hello fellows!

This blog chronicles my travels and travails in journalism. I am one of 18 Arthur F. Burns Fellows this year, aiding in the exchange and understanding between the United States and Germany. Half of us are from various States of the US, heading to Germany, and the other half are Germans heading to various media outlets all over the US.

I'm always in awe of Germans. Having grown up there, I know they're a smart people, well educated and highly intellectual. That proved to be true with the group of fellow fellows I met as well. But they're also fun and love to have a good time. The US fellows are pretty cool too, of course!

We met in Washington DC for a week of networking, learning about transatlantic issues and lots of bonding. The highlight was definitely a weekend at Airlie. We played US vs Germany volleyball matches, I went fishing for the first time, we stayed up late learning about each other over drinkin..err..card games like "King" and "Mäxchen." This has definitely been one of the more fun career-related conferences I have been to!

My fellow fellow Dan Boyce, said it so well at one of our last dinners together: We could go back home after just this week and already we have gained something. (I paraphrase.)

Well thanks for following my journey and I hope you stick around!