How many hours a week do you figure you're in front of the computer?

On weekdays, I probably spend from 10am - 1am on the computer, minus about 3 hours for lunch, dinner, and walking around. So, 12 hours/day on weekdays. This includes watching movies off my computer.

On weekends, I do much better. I'm probably only on the computer 4 - 5 hours total.

Added up, roughly 65 hours a week.

Isn't that something.

I never really felt that good weather would change my mood. But the last couple days of good weather (one today, one a few weeks ago) have really had me in an upbeat mood. It's just refreshing have some sunlight. Maybe even wear shorts in the office once in a while.

Ahh... bless this nice weather.

I started playing aorund with Google's new HTML 2.0 interface today. Take a look: www.google.com/ig. It's funky and has tons of "gadgets" you can add to your google interface. I haven't spent that much time on it, but I've currently got these gadgets on my Google Home. And true to HTML 2.0, just about everything's drag and drop.


Date & Time
Google Calendar
HowStuffWorks Daily Stuff Feed
Technology news
CBC Top Stories News
Top Stories
Word of the Day
Fitness Tip of the Day
Health news
Nasa Image of the Day
National Geographic Picture of the Day
Photograph of the Week.

On top of that, if you use google.com/ig, not google.ca/ig, you can also add a fun theme (background) that updates as the day goes along. For example, I'm using the cute Tea House theme which features a little fox and some other animals. Earlier today, it was daytime in the cartoon picture... and now, it's nighttime in the picture. Just some small fun stuff.

So now I've updated my FireFox default home page to www.google.com/ig.

Now you play and have fun too.

I just received some sad news from a good friend of mine that I've known as long as anyone. You're going through a rough patch right now, and I want you to know that it's just a patch. I'm absolutely certain that you'll bounce back in no time. Things might not be the same, but that doesn't mean they'll be worse. I wish you and your loved ones the best. Be strong and focused. Take care.

Feb 21: This was the first day of our 4-day trip to Dalat and Mui Ne, also booked through Sinh Cafe. It was a good 5 hours of bus riding to get us to Dalat, a beautiful almost-European-feeling city in the Central Highlands. With our early departure, we were there by 1:30pm and had the rest of the day to walk around the city on our own. We whipped around the Dalat Market and just kind of wandered the streets. In fact, I don't even know the name of most of the things we saw, but there was a large church, a mini Effiel Tower, a Seaman Beer sign I joked about, and then a very ordinary dinner at a restaurant we found along the way. Early on, we wondered why everyone wore thick jackets and pants. But when night fell, we realized just how cold it could get in the mountains with us just wearing shorts and t-shirts. DAMN cold.

Feb 22: The second day of our 4-day trip featured a Sinh Cafe tour of Dalat. It was fairly rushed along the way with only 15 - 45 minutes at each stop, and then it was back on the bus. Go Go Go! Again, without taking anothe look in Lonely Planet, I won't be able to name the places we went to. Basically, we saw a flower garden, a place with a waterfall and some caged crocodiles, the Chicken Village (where they have a huge cock statue), a monastary, a poorly-kept Summer Palace, a guesthouse called "Crazy House" because of it's odd appearance (it's Cra-a-a-a-zy!), the XQ Hand Embroidery Centre, and the Valley of Love. The XQ Hand Embroidry Centre was probably the most impressive stop, where they make astonishing embroidery pieces by hand. It was a brilliant display of delicate skill and workmanship. Just jaw-dropping.

After the day tour, we again headed through the Dalat Market, to another temple (where I was chased by swarming mosquitos), and finally to a nice restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet.

Feb 23: Another day, another bus ride. This time from within the mountains down to the beach. We arrived at our resort hotel in Mui Ne in the early afternoon. With our free time, we taxied to a stream called Fairy Stream. This was another highlight of our trip. Fairy Stream is a shallow stream that you can walk along (barefoot in the water). On one side is canyon-like red and white sand structures, on the other side is some greenery. It was a leisurely stroll which should take about an hour round trip, but much longer if you take as many pictures as we did along the way. After we got back to our hotel, we dipped into the private beach behind the hotel and then spent a little time in the pool before having a very tasty seafood dinner (for about $5USD / person no less!). The day couldn't have been more perfect (other than the bus ride at the start of the day).

Feb 24: On the last day of our 4-day trip, we had a short 1/2 day tour. First we went to a fishing village which was an incredible sight. It was a scene from Troy where the armies storm the beach, but instead it was fishing boats. One of those things that make you say "Wow" when you see it. After that, we took a walk through Red Canyon, and finally went to the White Sand Dunes.

Back on the bus in the early afternoon and arrived at our Saigon hotel just as night fell. Dinner was at a French restaurant called "La Fourchette", which we made a reservation earlier because the last time we tried going it was full. It was our best meal, and came at the largest price. $20 - $25USD / person. But a meal of that price would have easily been x3 if it were in North America. A most excellent dinner made even better because NK treated us.

Feb 25: We started our day with a morning visit to Reunification Palace, the History Museum, and Jade Emperor Pagoda. We went to Ben Thanh Market (and bought nothing), had dinner and sweet soup with Saigon Hotpot girls, and quickly walked along a footwear street (and bought nothing). I'm not sure why this day passed so quickly, but it did.

Feb 26: My 26th was mainly spent around markets. Binh Tay Market in Cholon, Dong An Market in District 3, and there really wasn't much going on that day. But still, I was all "marketed out". I did spend copious amounts of time buying coffee though. It's amazing how cheap coffee is. Throughout this trip, I bought 4 kinds of coffee. The best price I got was 65,000 VND / kg. Now THAT's cheap. There's cheaper, but even a coffee novice won't do with crap coffee.

Feb 27: Morning was a relaxing walkaround. Bought a few gifts for friends and family. Afternoon was more of the same. Spent most of the afternoon in Ben Thanh Market buying dri-fit type t-shirts and sleevelesses. Between $3 - $4 USD. Why not buy more? Well, I did.

Feb 28: On our last day, we had very little time in the morning. Basically, just enough time to eat breakfast, swing by Ben Thanh Market again for a few more t-shirt purchases, and head out to the airport. And that was about it! You can read more about the misfortunes of this day here.

I've been far too busy this week to post Part 2 of my Vietnam trip update.

But I've got another subject on my mind that I'd like to post about quickly.

Ben posted a while ago looking for an answer to the question about why you shouldn't put hot foods straight
into the fridge. Commentors then responded with different arguments about why food should be cooled first before going in.

But since then, it's kind of piqued my interest. Finally, I chatted with my friend Google and found that you should put food in the fridge before letting it cool off (at least from a bacterial standpoint).

Ask Mr. Electricity says:

Don't put hot foods in the fridge? Food safety experts say you should refrigerate hot food to prevent contamination. But that doesn't mean you have to refrigerate them immediately. The USDA says to refrigerate within two hours of preparation (or one hour if the room temp is above 90°). One to two hours of cooling off time will definitely make your refrigerator work less. It's a tradeoff -- the sooner you refrigerate the safer the food, but the more energy you use. Of course, meat and dairy foods are most susceptible to contamination, which is yet another reason to not eat meat and dairy in the first place. Vegan foods are much safer.

Pat Kendall, Ph.D., R.D., Food Science and Human Nutrition Specialist, Colorado State University, says:

Remember 140 to 40 in 2 hours. Refrigerate hot foods as soon as possible after cooking and serving. Ideally food should go from hot serving temperature (140 F) to cold refrigerator temperature (40 F) in two hours. If cooked, perishable foods have been at room temperature for more than two hours, the safest practice is to throw them out.

Kyla Boyse, R.N. from the University of Michigan echoes:

Refrigerate hot foods as soon as possible within two hours after cooking.

Finally, Erica Marcus says:

The goal when dealing with hot food is to cool it down as soon as possible, and Boor advised a strategy of divide and conquer. "If you just put the pot in the refrigerator," she said, "it can be hours before it drops out of the danger zone." Instead, she advised dividing the contents of [a soup] pot into two ('if not three or four') individual containers and refrigerating them.

So there you have it. I can refrigerate my food as soon as I want without letting it cool down first. Glad to know it. And now you know it too.

Alright, here goes my Vietnam update!

Sat (Feb 17): Skipping this. Read the runabout here.

Sun (Feb 18): We started our day with a 1/2 day tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels with Sinh Cafe, Vietnam's largest tour provider. As it was during the Tet holidays, there were plenty of travelers taking tours that day. So we stood in a pack of sardines in front of the Sinh Cafe office for 30 mins while waiting for our bus to board. The Cu Chi Tunnels are a series of tunnels created by the people in the Cu Chi area during their resistance against the Americans during the Vietnam War. During the tour, we saw how they structured their tunnels, how they lived, and traps and weapons used to defend their position. A short 15 minute video made in the 196o's showed life around that time, with an emphasis on killing Americans. The black-and-white video introduced a few men and women who were given "American Killer Awards". I'll bet the Americans on the tour didn't appreciate that too much. I also fired 5 rounds of M-16 and an AK47. Very loud. Pretty fun. And got kind of close to the target.

The rest of the day with Saigon Hotpot is described quickly here.

Mon (Feb 19): We spent out morning in Cholon (Chinatown). But with Tet still in the air, most stops were closed, and there wasn't too much to see on the streets. Cholon's probably best known for two things: Binh Tay Market (which was closed) and the pagodas/temples. So, we casually made our way around 6 or 7 temples and pagodas shown on our Lonely Planet map. After a few, yes, they get to be repetitive. But each of them has something somewhat interesting. Part of the fun is also imitating the locals in their praying traditions. In many pagodas, there is a wooden horse. People pray to it, touch it's head, waddle under its belly, and shake its bell (no, not THAT bell... a real bell hanging from its neck). What I liked the most were the circular incenses hanging from the ceiling in a cone shape. Kind of neat. Though kind of dirty with all the ashes landing on your head and shoulders as you walk beneath them. But still, kind of neat visually.

In the afternoon, we were joined by Saigon Hotpot members Linh and Ngoc. At only 23 years old, Linh is the founder of Saigon Hotpot. Together, we went to Central Saigon, down Dong Khoi street (the high-end street). Around that area, we saw People's Committee Building, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Central Post Office.

After circling around Central Saigon, a bus ride took us to Binh Quoi Tourist Village, which is basically a large park area and a buffet all for a flat entry fee. With Saigon Hotpot's help, we got in for free and just went in to walk around without eating. We sort of regretted it later because the food looked pretty good and seemed fairly traditionally Vietnamese. In hindsight. We ended up having a very cheap dinner (<$1US for Hue noodle soup; Hue is a city about 10 hours North) just behind Ben Thanh Market. Although the cheap noodles weren't altogether too bad. And pretty street (i.e. local).

Tues (Feb 20): Another Sinh Cafe tour - this time a one-day trip to the Mekong Delta (Ben Tre and My Tho). This tour was kicked off with sleeping on a bus for 3 hours, and then a motor boat ride. First stop was at a rice paper factory (and when I say factory, don't think big machinery; think primeval equipment like woks, rulers, and hand packaging). We sat aboard a row boat through a winding path within the delta while donning Vietnamese straw hats. We had a short stop for fruit and some painfully screechy Vietnamese singing. From there, we hopped onto a carriage pulled by a small horse to a coconut factory, where they make products out of coconut shells, and had some tasty honey tea with bees flying about trying to get a bit of that sweet honey goodness. Another motorboat took us to a coconut candy factory.

With a bit of leftover time back to HCMC, we swung by the People's Committee Building and Rex Hotel again to see them lit up at night.

I'll write about Vietnam soon, but wanted to share a link. One of the t-shirts I bought in Vietnam had some tape residue from the "size" sticker (which shows "M M M M M M" for medium). I just found a great little PDF from Cornell University called "Removing Stains at Home", which provides solutions for removing 250 types of stains. It's an old publication (2002), but new to me. Might be useful for those of you having babies right about now. Of course, it just depends on whether you can get your hands on the materials they state.

Removing Stains at Home

Back in Taipei.

It was a disasterous end to a great trip.

Checking out of our hotel took 15 minutes because we had to sort out some mis-charges (they thought we drank from the room minibar) and our complicated room bookings made things more difficult. BK, NK, and I left our hotel at 10:50am for our 12:45pm flight. The taxi driver took a slower route to the airport and it cost us 104,000 VND (USD$1 = 16,000 Vietnamese Dong) - in the past, we'd only paid about 64,000 VND. Our check-in took a long time too, because the Eva Air lady couldn't find our flight bookings in the system. Then we had to pay a $14USD/person airport tax, which should be paid, but a lot of people get away without paying it -- but we didn't.

After overpaying for the taxi ride, between 3 people, we only had 6,000 VND left (about $0.37 USD). So, I decided to try to spend it at the airport stores leading up to the boarding gate. I got to a shop that sold a bunch of little things. I asked a lady at a store what I could buy for 6,000 dong, and she asked a guy behind her. The guy, perhaps her manager, pointed her to something and said something in Vietnamese. She walked over and picked up a pack of candy. Then, she walked to the cashier while ripping off the price tag. Of course, seeing this, I make a bee line to the candy rack and check it myself. $0.25 US. I walk back to her, she gives me the candy pack, and says "This is 6,000 dong." I asked her "Isn't this 25 cents?" she says yes. Since I only had a 5,000VND bill and a 1,000 coin, I gave her 5,000VND and walked away. Damn people trying to dishonestly make money off foreigners.

Boarding the plane was delayed about 15 minutes, but we got to Taoyuan International Airport on time at 5pm. During the flight, I had the pleasure of having a child sit behind me. I need not explain more than to give 3 words: banging, kicking, and crying. I hate kids on planes.

At the Taiwan customs, it took the 3 of us more than 30 mins to get through amidst a packed room of arriving travellers.

Finally, after getting out of the departure gate, NK and I bought our bus tickets to get back to Hsinchu (a ride with a switch midway at ChongLi bus hub). After 45 minutes on our bus, it seemed as if we should have made our change at the bus hub 15 minutes earlier -- then I saw the Hsinchu highway exit pass. So I talked to the bus driver to discover we boarded the wrong bus and were heading to Taichung, another hour away (which meant we'd have to take another hour to get back). But the driver was kind enough to let us off at the next highway exit in Toufen. From there, we took another bus to the Hsinchu train station. And then another taxi ride to my office where we left our scooters.

All in all, it took us more than double the time to get home, and probably close to double the price.

But up until to the day of returning, Vietnam was a great trip. We saw a lot, learned a lot, and enjoyed the different sights and sounds. I'll slowly start putting my impressions and experiences from the trip over the next few days.