Update on my last couple of days...

On Sunday, I helped out with a capoeira workshop organized by CAPT - a group with which I am not affiliated, but that isn't too far off from CCPN. They hired an instructor from Axe Capoeira teaching in Taiwan now, who happens to be someone I trained with back in Vancouver. It costs 3150nt (about $110 cad) per month to train here, with access to training 5 times a week. Even then, it's far too much. In any case, I'm not considering training again, but I might join for a roda or two in the future. The workshop was held in the covered walkway area around the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, sheltered from the heavy rain. We were asked to be more quiet a few times due to disturbing the library and a dance class inside. Eventually, we just did without the drums.

After the workshop, A&I taxied to a tow lot where my scooter was taken due to an unfortunate illegal parking violation that had nothing to do with me. After picking that up, we went to Nostamos Cafe - a Greek restaurant we found online. Only that, despite the traditional blue-roofed top and sterling white walls, they didn't have a single Greek item on their menu. The owner said that they changed their menu a few times because Greek food hasn't been too well-received as the flavours don't fit the Taiwanese tongue. So, instead, they became a Mediterranean restaurant with a mixed assortment of European food (even from countries not around the Mediterranean). The food was fair, but not all that cheap, and I'm still craving Greek.

Fastforward to Monday. I didn't sleep well last night (Monday night). Just had a lot on my mind. To start, I watched the last 2 episodes from the Desperate Housewives Season 1 DVD set (I can't believe they killed him off!), and that took me to 2:40am. I spent the next hour just lying in bed thinking about a myriad of things. Add those thoughts to the growing hunger developing in my belly and the noise of the rain outside, I gave up on the shut-eye plan and turned on the TV. Then I made some instant noodles to fill the void. At that point (4:15am), I decided to take Tuesday morning off, so I emailed my coworkers to let them know. And... since I had Tuesday morning off, I let myself watch Shuan of the Dead, a witty and comical British zombie movie that was on TV at that hour. Finally, having drained myself, I crept back into bed and slept from 6am to noon. Well, Wednesday's a holiday anyway, so no worries.

I must admit, peeing is much more fun when there's a target. Perhaps a mint in the urinal that makes a greenish cocktail as you douse it; or the urinal cake's plastic web cover that channels pee into various directions as you hit it at different spots; maybe its the ice that reminds you of the coming of spring in the way it melts away when showered in warm yellow fluid; it's just someone's gum that just sits there so innocently; or someone else's forgotten pubes. Perhaps it's the bubbles formed when you pee into a toilet, which give meaning in a decorative design. And these are just daily examples, aside from those when peeing outside (think snow and in forest).

Pee isn't just for physical relief... It's for comic relief.

Would you rather lose the pen or the pen cap?

Previously, I blogged about reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Now they've made a movie - Fast Food Nation: The Big One starring Greg Kinnear which seems to integrate many of the findings from the book. Here's the trailer.

"Hey, don't give me no lip."

When I have a dry lip that is already starting to crack, I immediately discard any hope for fixing it with chapstick. My natural reaction is to start picking away at it, ripping little patches of dying skin off my lower lip. People like to see immediate results; and with these "lip-fixes", the reward is immediate. The feeling of a smooth under-lip beneath the drought-that-was is wondrous.

I use a slow Pick-and-Pull^tm technique. It's effective. Seldom done with only fingers, I usually pick with my top teeth - pulling the lower lip in to get a firm grip between the top and bottom incisors (occasionally assisted by the tongue) - and then activating the slow pull sequence. Finally, I take the liberated piece into my fingers, and flick it off like a booger.

Actually, it's funny that even though the piece of lip is only between my index finger and thumb, the flick must be performed through rapid movements of my thumb, index, middle, and ringer fingers - with my pinky standing relatively still and out. I digress.

Once in a while, I don't sense the pull correctly, and it results in a bleeding lip. This happens when the dried patch doesn't feel its ready to leave the motherland, or holds onto the lip and says to its comrades "hey, let's go together!" But you can't stop in the middle of a pull, because you'll end up with a little flap of lip which teases you every time you close your mouth - and then you're compelled to play around with it with your tongue. Now, when a small wound opens, my eyes give that look that says "shit.", and the lower lip automatically disappears into my mouth where I can taste the blood and assess the damage.

But when it's done right, the feeling of a raw underlying layer is almost erotic. Soft, smooth, and moist like the back of a salamander.

Just wanted to leave you with a nice note over the weekend, so have a good one.

Skype's promotional offer to battle off the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo brings free calling to Canada and the U.S. Of course, that's great for me, because I usually only Skype to Canada as it is. Savings for me won't be huge, since I rarely tip the $1 per phone call mark each week... but maybe I'll be more compelled to randomly call friends up. You never know...

Read more about it in these articles:
new.zdnet.com
businessweek.com

I wish I could read faster. I probably only average 2 pages/minute for novels (quicker during dialog) and 3 pages/minute for textbooks. I'm one of those "read it outloud in your mind" people. One of my highschool friends, whose father worked at the UBC library, could finish a novel in 45 minutes. I'm envious of such abilities.

Anyone have any reading techniques they'd like to share?

Went to my ex-coworker's place yesterday after work with some group members for some drinks, cake, and a movie. I picked up some Marie Brizard Manzanita Apple Liqueur and Sprite. NH got a cake from 白木屋 (White wood House). DY had some Vodka, Limon Liqueur, and wine. We watched 50 First Dates because DY had the DVD kicking around and because I had never seen it.

The evening, albeit on a Thursday, was just what I needed. The last few weeks have been far too long; and the 9am meetings everyday, then working until 8pm or 9pm (mostly at a customer site) takes it toll. Looking forward to a weekend here in Hsinchu to do a little reading, watch a Pheonix Suns game, catch up on some sleep, and celebrate NK's birthday.

Let me start by misquoting The Drew Carey Show:

Drew's girlfriend: "(after returning from a sale) Look, I got this [large human-sized] pencil for only one dollar!"
Drew Carey: "Yeah, but what are you going to do with it?"
Drew's girlfriend: "(hesitates)... This pencil! A dollar!"

(If someone can find me the quote, I'd like to correct this.)

What kind of a discount constitutes a good deal? Is a 5% discount enough to make you buy something now that you wanted to buy... but not just yet? What's your threshold for buying something you don't need or care to own?

It seemed like everytime I bought a something from Mexx, it was during a sale where everything is 30% or 50% off. Here in Taiwan, I will only buy G2000 at 30% or 50% off. Why? Because I know there will be another such sale if I just waited a bit. Does that mean 20% off isn't significant? No, it is. But why buy something at 20% off when you can get it cheaper? To me, a discount of 5% - 15% means nothing. I don't consider it a bargain because I'm used to seeing much larger 2-digit discounts.

Ok, but that's just for clothing.

For stuff around the house, I don't expect discounts, because they're harder to predict. Garbage bags don't go on sale based on seasons, nor does shampoo. In that case, if I need something, I'll get it anyway.

Now, if I see something that I don't need going at 1/2 off, I ignore if it's big, and consider it if it's small. If it's neat, I'll consider buying it. At least I think these are my purchasing habits.

What about yours?

"I'm getting old."

Now here's a statement said by young people all the time. What does this really mean? Here's my take on it. I don't think "oldness" has anything to do with age. I think it has to do with what you've done by a certain age.

A person feels old when they are at an age where they haven't achieved something that many people at the same age around them have. And this "achievement" may not really be any type of accomplishment, so much as it is a check on a list of To Do's.

When we're young, still in school, we're on a fairly fixed course. Most of us graduate from highschool at 17 - 18, and go to university/college. The 20 year old who dropped out and needs to catch up at a community college feels old. Then we do our time in university - a steady 4 - 5 years for most. The one who takes 7 years looks around him and sees the freshmen... and feels old. But even then, all that seems to be on a guided track. In school, there's really not that much room for lefts and rights - there's just one main goal of graduating.

After you're done with academia, life becomes a circuit of highways each going in different directions and at different speeds. There's no one single goal. By that time, "oldness" just depends on what you're doing. The next big milestone that conjure feelings of oldness seems to be getting married. And 30's usually the age where that incling starts to grow quickly. By 30, if you're not on your way to getting married, you start to have worrisome thoughts. If you have a significant other of a few years, then it's just a matter of time. But if you've got a clean slate and you're still looking for "the one", there's a tickling anxiety always in the back of your mind. For females, the tickle is probably more of a clawing. When someone's married with a child or two at 30, you probably won't hear them say "I'm getting old." s/he seems to be on time.

At a time where a lot of my friends are getting married, it's hard to keep thinking that my timeline is just fine. Maybe I just need to hang around more single people.

Had a great four day weekend with AC down at the South of Taiwan in Kenting (墾丁), Kaohsiung (高雄), and Meinong (美濃). We did Kenting for 2 days (Fri - Sat), more like 24 hours, and where I revisited some sites I had been to 1.5 years ago.

On the way back from Kenting, we stopped at was Dongkang (東港) where "black tuna" is the craze (black tuna season is also just getting started). They have a market dedicated to black tuna, which is a type of tuna whose meat is darker. Black tuna's normally eaten as sashimi, and for 400nt, you don't get very much. We had that, and I don't think I would spend that money again for the same thing, but it was nice to try once. Nothing special really. Also at that market, I saw a beggar with crutches whose legs were inverted at the knees (i.e. the knees were bent in the opposite direction at a 90 degree angle) a la aliens in The Arrival. Not something you see everyday.

Then we spent most of Sunday in Meinong which is known for its Chinese paper umbrellas amongst other things. A pleasant tourist visit in a small township at the foot of some lush green mountains.

On Monday, we went to 西子灣 near the Kaohsiung harbour where mountain meets sea. Had a brief lunch at the British Consulate there, and spent the rest of the day on a bus back to Taipei/Hsinchu.

So, there's my quick update.