I just had the craziest experience at a Chinese McDonald’s. There were no cashiers anywhere. There were employees walking around serving people, but there were no cash registers. It was all self service kiosks, the employees were just there to serve the food. So, I ordered a double cheeseburger meal at one of the kiosks using Alipay and—I swear to God—the the server brought it to my table in like, 30 seconds. By the time I began sitting down she was already heading to me, by the time I was fully sat down she was almost there! Now, you might chalk this up to a coincidence: “oh maybe they just happened to have the right kind of fries and burger patties waiting there.” But it was all hot and fresh, and the fries were firm (you can’t “fake” freshness in French fries by re-heating them as they lose their firmness with time and you can’t re-firm them without making them taste burnt). So, Chinese McDonald’s gets an A+ from me.

I'm going to China soon, and I need to make sure I retain access to Western internet! I have two options I'm considering: 1. A fixed rate two-week roaming package from my domestic carrier. This is guaranteed to bypass the great firewall, and is LEGAL in China, but it costs $75. I'm also a little worried they'll hit me with a bunch of hidden fees, 2. a China eSim sold by a foreign eSim company. This would cost like $20-$30, but I don't know if I'd need to use a VPN with it. Various AI models are telling me I won't need a VPN with one of these e-sims, but I see a lot of people on X saying they need a VPN in China. I'm not considering buying a physical SIM in China since I'm pretty much positive that will require a VPN--and I'd rather not resort to using a VPN. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

LIST of Asian cities I want to visit before my time in this continent is over: Shenzhen, China (coming soon) Hong Kong, China (coming soon) Guangzhou, China (coming soon) Dalian, China Singapore Da Nang, Vietnam Hanoi, Vietnam Ventiane, Laos Phnom Penh, Cambodia Any I'm missing?

Xi Jinping just boarded a plane headed for Washington D.C. to meet Trump. He likely boarded a modified Air China passenger jet. China doesn't maintain a dedicated presidential fleet, instead using specially configured Air China jets that are returned to regular service after state visits. Here you can see the Star Alliance logo on one of Xi's recent planes.

I’m probably never going to buy another stock after a few hours reading internet data platforms ever again in my entire life. I’m increasingly convinced that—absent insider info—building a credible investment thesis takes many weeks of work, and further, that one who completes this work may have to pass on the idea at the end after all the work is done. If you’re not ready to read the entire annual report, test out the products, study the industry in niche trade publications, and be mentally prepared to say “no” the opportunity after 80 hours of such work—stick to index funds. Picking a stock based on a glance at yahoo finance or even a GOOD data platform like Cap IQ, is retarded.

$GRAB: WILL THEY BE ABLE TO KEEP COMPETITORS FROM EATING THEIR LUNCH? Grab is a comparatively cheap stock down 81% from the highs. The only problem is they’re operating in the mega crowded Asian rides and delivery space. In Thailand food delivery, LineMAN is by far the biggest competitor, boasting lower fees. Who between the two of them is #1? Let’s find out

Working up an appetite, and I've deleted $GRAB . Will its chief Thai competitor LineMAN come through in my hour of need? Here comes the test!

Indian people gave the English language one of its most badass words: JUGGERNAUT!

In Ancient Rome, entertainers were on the same level as prostitutes. In today's West, we worship pop singers and slop actors. China has replaced the entertainers with scientists. There's a middle ground between worshipping degeneracy and having everything be a bland shade of grey. China is at least trying to find it.

SUCKS that small time investors can't get a piece of the action in Huawei or Bytedance. Bytedance's apps are among the best I've ever used. TikTok's got the best discovery algo, CapCut has by far the easiest UI of all the full-featured, non-gimped video editors. Huawei meanwhile just secured a massive 160,000 Ascend 950DT chip order from DeepSeek. With a rumored price of $16,000 each, these 160,000 chips will bring in $2.56B for Huawei! Sounds great, and for insiders and (to some extent) VCs it is... but retail investors can't get a piece of Bytedance, and ~~NO~~ investors other than the CEO can get a piece of Huawei. LAME!

I would def buy $MCD stock if it fell to 15X earnings. It's still huge. Every location in every country on earth is still packed. One TINY problem is KFC is kicking their ass in Asia. But I mean, even with losing to KFC in Asia, their stores are still constantly full.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ANIL CHAKRAVARTHY ON BEING NAMED THE NEXT ADOBE CEO! Originally from Hyderabad India, Anil got his start at the Indian Institute of Technology. Later, he went to America's MIT, where he earned his master's degree. Anil brings rare skills at the intersection of AI and multimedia that Adobe would have a tough time sourcing without immigrants. BRAHMA BLESS INDIA, AND ANIL CHAKRAVARTHY!

WESTERN-STYLE SUSHI HAS TOO MUCH FUCKING MAYONNAISE ON IT! When you have wasabi and soya sauce you have flavorings-a-plenty

I spent the last three days exploring Cloud 11, Bangkok's content creator hub. To say this place beats any real estate development in the West is an understatement. It's a mall/content creator hub, complete with music studios, production facilities, an outdoor park and running track. A YOTEL hotel is coming soon! The retail area beats any shopping mall outside of Asia: clean, well decorated, with upscale yet-affordable stores. It has a yuppie food court called The Commons that is expensive by local standards, but is still cheaper than comparable Western fare. Let's say, $15/meal or something like that, but with WAAAAAY better quality than anywhere in the US or Canada at that price point. The REAL draw through is all the stuff the facility has built in to turbocharge your business. Conference rooms. Music production studios. Spaces equipped for video production and filmmaking. Offices available at recent reasonable rent. Even by Asian standards, Cloud 11 is pretty impressive. But if you visit it from a Western country, not used to modern development, you'll find yourself passing out from sheer awe at the cleanliness, convenience and world-class facilities Cloud 11 has to offer. Anyway, words don't do this place justice, so just watch the video--and if you've never been to Asia, prepare to pick your jaw up off the floor. Compared to Western developments this is space age tier stuff.