I have three days left in NYC.

It’s been an awesome summer. Although I somehow (shockingly) failed to master the intricate arts of investment banking, I do understand a lot more than I did before. I also oriented myself in the city, met and reconnected with some great folks, and had some lovely runs.

I came to New York to get stuff done. I wondered if it would be too much for me, not knowing what I was getting myself into with my training and internship, wondering if I could handle it…I didn’t want to disappoint any expectations, since after all I was coming in without any financial experience. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone’s trust. I think that turned out ok. But that part is about other people, and about things that (hopefully) didn’t happen.

What did happen? As noted, mastery of this particular arcane subject matter was not attained, but I think first steps towards it were. I will need to fill in lots of info and skills areas—like accounting–but I have now have more of a reason to pay attention.

This finance stuff is interesting, and I think it’ll be useful…even silly things like trading on my own (measly) account will benefit from modeling skills (and my identification of general, ambient concerns: “Issues in Finance”). I am hoping, though, that even if I never work in an investment bank again, I will use these embryonic skills, which hopefully will mature into some greater glory, for my China projects.

I saw the power of modeling from time to time: once, a valuation showed an area of concern for the company, we talked to the client and heard how they dealt with the issue (which they had, prior to our question, avoided mentioning); another showed a planned investment, which looked good as presented by someone else’s analysis, was probably a bad idea…behold, numbers that speak! Additionally, I observed some of the workings (in a superficial way, no doubt) of an investment bank, and saw what they did and how they made money, in, of course, a very limited way. (Hey, I can do that.) ;)

Through b-skool I’ll keep thinking about these things, and having run up against some situations in which this information will be useful, I have at least some sort of board into which to plug information when I encounter it in textbooks or the news.

Soon: packing. Saying goodbye to people and places. Boarding a plane, passing into China with a student visa, and finally seeing Beijing again. It will be good to be home.

Yesterday I went to see a friend in New Jersey, touring through the charming neighborhood where his house is located. We had sushi, went to a bar; I rode some trains, took the wrong train, saw some sights, had a good time. In New York I ask for directions and understand the answers. I chatted with a random local in the elevator this morning; we high-fived because we agreed on our mutual awesomeness at being up and productive on a Sunday morning.

I miss China, though. Some of the guys in the office are Chinese, and we talk about food and the absence of open-container laws and Chinese people. Although I still have a lot to do in New York in the next few weeks, I’m looking forward to going home.

NYC reminds me of LA in some ways. I run in the morning, I wear a suit, I have an office. People give me orders, which I sometimes understand. It’s similar, but not the same: the weather is hot, I commute via subway, my office is shared, some of my coworkers are much younger, and, unlike in my former law office, there’s a distinct paucity of women. Like Beijing and unlike LA, there are a lot of Asian guys, some of whom invite me to practice my Mandarin.

Work is interesting. There’s a lot of it. A lot of it is fresh-snow-new to me. It’s a good use of my time. Business in Beijing continues to grind forward, and I turn my attention to it from time to time, less often than I should.

I like New York. It’s cool enough in the morning to run outside, and it’s beautiful and green and there are rivers and ponds. I met Central Park yesterday, which was lovely. I met up with some friends in the past couple of days (other than the ones I’m staying with). I had some Cuban food. I had a Sam Adams on tap. There will be more outings. It’s good.

I enjoy listening to Sean’s songs. I wish we could talk on the phone more. I wish I could see him.

In order:
Jiuguloudajie (Old Gulou Street)
Gulou (Drum Tower)
Dianmendajie (Peace on Earth Door Street)
Jinshan Park
Tiananmen/Gugong (Peace in Heaven Door, Old Palace, otherwise known as Forbidden City)
Tiananmen Square, with National Museum of China, Hero’s Monument or something, some other massive government building, Mao Zedong’s mausoleum
Qianmen (Front Gate)
Qianmendajie (Front Gate Street)

10.6 miles, 7 hours, including a lovely lunch of traditional Chinese food a.k.a Vegetable Fried Noodles and Egg and Tomato Fried Noodles and Tsingtao beer. Also had milk tea for snacks/breakfast! Also lots of shopping including:

Panda backpack
Light up and music playing “dreidel” is the best word for it I think
Packs of cards with top sites of Beijing printed on them
Scarves, scarves, and more scarves
Lots of tiny little embroidered gift bags
Yet another pair of gloves for Maria since it was much colder out than we thought it would be…
Porcelain container set
“Cereal” (puffed corn and rice)
“Golden Brick” (wonderful chocolate bread) and pre-sweetened/pre-creamed coffee and “chocolate” sticks

Photos to follow!

So I now own a restaurant! I am the general manager, and soon to be proper 25% owner. Or at least, all of this is pending actual finalization but for all intents and purposes I’m already doing the work and have been for no pay for some time. I’d like to think that I’m properly incentivized (huh…Firefox doesn’t think that’s a real word?) and so all my efforts, plus so much more effort in the future, will be worth it.

No matter what though, it is all terribly exciting. Imagining the renovations, because we’re changing the layout and the kitchen, imagining the new menu. Basically, this restaurant was already my father’s, but it’s not been doing too well per se, and my cousin, the previous general manager, wanted to change it to a YuNan Hot Pot franchise.

Hot pot for those of you not in the know is like Japanese shabu-shabu. In its simplest form: there’s a big pot of boiling water that you put vegetables and meats into to cook then eat. It’s really popular in China, among the Chinese, and especially in winter when it’s cold out. I’m not that into it myself though.

The restaurant was also supposed to be a Western restaurant, and the other shareholders didn’t want to move away from that idea. The new shareholders, plus myself, wanted to focus our direction. Right now, it’s like we’re a European restaurant, serving really fancy looking and sounding things like ox tongue salad and cylindrical potato salad with curry powder. All good in and of itself, I think since I’ve never had the desire to actually try it, but nothing out of the ordinary and just not good enough to draw the real fancy European crowd.

So we’re shifting focus. We want the tourists. We want the expats (the poor ones ;) ). We want the foreigners who are missing a good, old fashioned, American breakfast, pancakes and waffles and all, because you can’t get those in China! So all day breakfast, really good burgers and pizza, and apple pie! And beer, lots of beer, in bottles and on tap, and a soda fountain, and liquor…All the things that make diners in the States so good.

We’re working on the new layout right now, because we’re getting booths and opening up the new dining room in the back.

We’re working on the kitchen because they need more griddle space for the burgers and breakfast foods.

We’re finalizing the new menu (mostly me…) so we’re coming up with food we want to serve and how to cook it. Lucky me gets to cook all these things for the first time next week to a panel of tasters as well. This also means we’re setting up new suppliers.

We’re also getting new waitstaff and new cooks. It’s like starting complete anew, a clean slate. We’re writing hygiene regulations, I’m writing up employee operational procedures, I’ll need to write up the new recipes, I’m writing up employee incentives and review policies, we’re coming up with a whole new marketing strategy. It’s a big project, but I have high hopes.

My hopes and estimates, assuming we’re a raving success, which of course we will be, will have us making 3 million RMB a year, minus 50% to costs, split 4 ways.

I’m excited, scared, stressed, pressured. I’m anticipating having to work 100 hour weeks to get this thing off the ground, because we’re starting with a very skeleton crew, only 2 waitstaff and 2 cooks, plus me. But it will be worth it, I keep telling myself. No matter what it’ll be an experience.

Here’s the menu, as finalized as of two days ago :)

Breakfast

Breakfasts include one cup of coffee or choice of one juice
Toast comes with: Butter and a selection of Jam
Cheese varieties include choice of American, Swiss, Cheddar, or Mozzarella
Toppings for Pancakes, Waffles, and French Toast: Syrup, Fresh Fruit of the Day (e.g. Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas), Chocolate Chips, Whipped Cream

Simple 1 � Two Eggs and Toast
Simple 2 � French Toast or Pancakes or Waffle
Chef’s Choice � Two Eggs, Two Pancakes, Two Strips of Bacon and a Sausage Patty
French Toast Combo � French Toast with Two Eggs and Your Choice of Ham, Bacon or Sausage
Three Egg Omelet � Choose any three of Cheese, Bacon, Ham, Mushroom, Spinach, Broccoli, Chile or Bell Peppers, Olives
Juices, Tea (refillable), Milk and Coffee (refillable) � Apple, Orange, Grapefruit, Pineapple, Tomato
Cereal and Milk

Create Your Own
Mix and Match Any Three � Bacon, Ham, Link Sausage, Sausage Patty, Eggs, Cereal, Grits, Fruit, Home Fries, toast, hash browns

Beverages

Beer On Top: Heineken, Yanjing, Tsingtao, Guiness
Juices, Tea and Coffee:
Apple, Orange, Grapefruit, Pineapple, Tomato
American Style Coffee; Espresso
Lipton, Oolong, Lapsang Suchong, Earl Grey
Full Bar

Burgers

All burgers come with French Fries
Double the patty for 10 RMB
Veggie or Mutton patty available for free

Chiliburger: Cheddar Cheese, Beef Or Vegetarian Chili
Classic Cheeseburger: American Cheese, Pickles, Onions, Lettuce, Tomato, Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise
Hawaiian Burger: Mozzarella Cheese, Pineapple, Lettuce, Teriyaki Sauce
Italian Burger: Mozzarella Cheese, Marinara Sauce, Basil, served on Garlic Toast
Mexican Burger: Cheddar Cheese, House Special Hot Sauce, Lettuce, Cilantro, Sour Cream, Pico De Gallo, Chili Peppers

Create Your Own
Bun: Sesame seed hamburger bun
Patties: All-beef, veggie, mutton
Cheese: American, cheddar, Mozzarella
Sauces: Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, 1000 Island, ranch, House Special hot sauce, salsa, marinara sauce, beef/vegetarian chili, sour cream, Pico de Gallo, teriyaki
Toppings: Lettuce, tomato, onions, cilantro, pickles, sweet relish, grilled onions, grilled bell peppers, saut�ed mushrooms, chili peppers, pineapple, bacon, fried egg

Pizza

All pizzas come with tomato sauce base and mozzarella cheese, unless otherwise noted or created by yourself

Supreme � Onions, Bell Peppers, Black Olives, Sliced Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Pepperoni, Sausage
All Meat � Pepperoni, Sausage, Bacon, Ham
Vegetarian � Onions, Bell Peppers, Black Olives, Sliced Tomatoes, Mushrooms
Hawaiian � Teriyaki Sauce, Ham, Pineapple
Mexican: Cheddar Cheese, Chicken, House Special Hot Sauce and Salsa, Pico de Gallo, Cilantro, Chili Peppers
Margherita: Olive Oil, Fresh Basil, Sliced Tomatoes

Create Your Own:
Cheese: Mozzarella, Cheddar, Parmesan, Swiss, Stilton
Sauce: Tomato, Teriyaki, House Special Hot sauce, Alfredo, Olive Oil
Vegetables: Onions, Bell Peppers, Black Olives, Sliced Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Pineapple, Spinach, Chili Peppers, House Special Salsa, Pico de Gallo, Italian Seasoning
Meat: Pepperoni, Sausage, Bacon, Ham

Sides
Mozzarella Sticks: Marinara sauce dip
French Fries
Side Salad
Cup of Chili: Beef or Vegetarian
Chips and Salsa: House Special and Pico de Gallo
Spaghetti: Bolognese or Vegetarian Marinara Sauce
Soup of the Day, served with French bread

Breakfast Sides
2 eggs, any style
2 strips of bacon
2 sausage links or patties
2 pancakes
1 waffle
1 order of French toast
Hash browns
Home Fries
Toast
Yogurt

Sweet Things
Apple Pie
Date Squares / Apple Bars
Ice Cream
Fruit Platter

And for the sake of creating the necessary tags, the other businesses we’re involved in are:

FTC Art/Gen-Next
PDL
FTC

Sean is sleeping still; maybe I’ll go for a jog before finishing packing. This morning so far I’ve done some research on language schools in Beijing, some random Beijing-adjustment blog reading, and bagel-place research.