I was involved in soap-making today. There was a tent at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall organized by Tetra Pak, promoting some different Earth-friendly activities. The main activity was making all-natural soap with oil + water + some alkaline chemical + tea tree scent and powder. The soap-making was hosted by Ann Chen, Taiwanese Olympic Tae Kwon Do Champion turned Handmade Boutique company entrepreneur. For the most part, we all just stood around while helped mixed all the ingredients - with us helping with a few simple steps. The final mixture, half-settled, was poured into empty Tetra Pak containers we brought (as instructed). That will harden after the temperature cools down. Then we have to wait another month for the chemical reaction to complete and the soap is safe to use. I think this is pretty much what Lush makes. And we did it... for free. Yay for us.

I saw a guy wipe out on his scooter today.

I was coming out of a shoe store after having picked up some leather shoe protection spray. Just as I was putting on my helmet, I heard that familiar sound of a bump followed by hard heavy plastic grinding on concrete. Turning my head over my shoulder, I watched a scooter sliding down the main road with a guy doing "the roll" (you know, like in the movies when people jump out of moving vehicles) -- with his left hand still clutching his cell phone. Made me chuckle, because I can't stand it when scooters talk on the phone which riding. It's illegal and makes them ride half-assed. Good for him.

He got up immediately and ran to his scooter, picked it up, and scootered off. That's kind of the way most scooter accidents (self-induced) happen. The injured often aren't too bad, most severely to the ego.

I'm sure he hasn't learned his lesson yet, so I hope he has another accident soon while chatting on his cell.

This past week, I've been doing a significant re-org at home. I decided to get rid of the clunky computer table in my room (provided by the landlord), and bought 3 shelves to take its place. I wasn't using it anyway, so it was just taking up valuable real estate. My room feels several times more comfortable, but also because I've been cleaning up a lot of unneeded junk.

You know when you reach into your jeans pocket and find a $20 bill, you're pretty happy, right? Well, while I was cleaning up some stuff I brought from Canada, I found a sealed envelope in the sleeve of a binder. In it, $1000 US. Of course, it didn't really make me all that happy, because I can readily spend USD. However, I am making a trip to San Diego in 1.5 months. So... woohoo!!

Martial Arts movie classic Bloodsport just finished on HBO. I was a huge fan of this movie, and looking back, it's probably the only Jean-Claude Van Damme still worth watching. Guess it's not that hard to believe, but it's been 19 years since Bloodsport was released. Pretty long ago, huh. Forest Whitaker is there too, with all the typical mediocre acting popular in the 80's. Bloodsport also has one of the best villians in a martial arts movie, Chong Li played by Bolo Yeung. I always felt he was one of the coolest characters, and a good role model. "CHONG LI! CHONG LI! CHONG LI!" What I didn't realize until I looked him up on IMDB is that he was already 50 (!!!) in that movie. I don't know if they got his birth year right, but if so, that makes him a freakin' muscular 50-year old.

Well, in any case, as bad as that Bloodsport may seem now, it has always been one of my favorite movies.

Hockey playoffs, here we go! For the first game of the first series, I'm wearing my Linden 16 Canucks shirt, courtesy of IC and SC (thanks!). And, for the first time this year, I'm watching an NHL hockey game! I'm using a SopCast video feed, but I can't connect to SopCast at work... so, I'm home! :) Well, I'm working from home. I'll head to the office later. 3-2 after two periods. Let's hope this score holds up.

The little things remind me of home.

I bought a box of Kellogg's Frosties (which I've grown up calling Frosted Flakes) yesterday, and had a mug-full at breakfast this morning. Most excellent. Nothing beats this kind of sugary goodness, with the best part being that energy-supplying sugar-milk after the last bite of soggy cereal's gone. They truly are grrreat! But they're grrreat at a cost. A cost of 125nt (about $4.50 CAD, but no tax on top) for 400g. Is cereal in Canada this expensive? Next time you go to the supermarket, take a look for me.

I was recently asked by a member of the Canadian Alumni Network in Taiwan to help by providing a write-up for their next Homecoming event. The idea of the write-up is to introduce myself, my education, my experiences in Taiwan and how my Canadian life has affected it, and anything else seemingly worthy of adding. I think there should be two submissions from each Canadian university. So here's mine.

I tote a different story from many returning Taiwanese in that I’m not really “returning”. Born and raised in Canada to Taiwanese parents, I did both undergraduate and graduate studies at SFU in Engineering. After 3.5 great years at Spectrum Signal Processing, Inc as a Systems Engineer / FAE, it was time to move on. My decision to come to Taiwan was an amalgamation of wanting to find my roots, improve my Chinese, get more worldly experience, and ride a wave in the technology industry that saw many engineers get rich. Closing in on 3 years since my coming to Taiwan, I've achieved 3 of 4 goals. You guess which 3. I'll give you a hint: I still scooter to work.

Employed at [Employer] in Hsinchu's Science Park, my title is Senior Engineer (which means very little). While I don't usually don headwear, I wear a lot of different hats at work. Aside from earlier responsibilities of doing FAE work, Verification Team consultant, publications, and giving internal and external training, I've made a recent diversion to lead our department's marketing efforts. It's been an exciting change for me, and a welcomed challenge. So, I'm looking forward to the next little while before I one day return to Vancouver.

Having a Canadian upbringing sets me apart from those around me in that my eyes are wider open. Like many experiences, having lived in or been in a different country gives you another thing to add to your portfolio of life. And for this, I've made an effort to travel to more Asian countries while staying in Taiwan. My background also encourages me to do things differently, bring creativity to work, and stand my ground on my decisions – even if it means going against my boss. Having English as a first language is always helpful too when dealing with international affairs.

In contrast, my experiences in Taiwan have humbled me. Here I've come to understand Taiwanese people and culture more (that includes understanding my parents more, as well). I've also learned that not all Taiwanese are wealthy like those who've immigrated to Canada. Living in Hsinchu, I lead a modest lifestyle. There's nothing fancy about this city, and certainly nothing fancy about living in a small 套房. But as far as I'm concerned, this is character building.

There are definitely advantages to being a CBC in Taiwan; though that hasn't saved me from getting scootering tickets. In fact, I even got scolded by a Taipei police officer as I pretended not to speak any Chinese when he was writing me a ticket. Well, you win some, you lose some.

Our company cafeteria is now operational. Late last year, our second building (constructed behind and connecting to the original building) opened. Finally we've got a catering service selling food on the 2nd floor at a subsidized price for employees. The meals are in a buffet fashion, where you can take one piece of meat (which might be a chicken leg or a slice of pork) and as much veggies and rice as you want. There's a simple hot broth as well. The price? 40nt per person.

Call it Frosh Week for the catering company; today being the first day of operation. The menu included marinated (with soy sauce) chicken legs, sauteed cabbage, small cucumber wedges, scrambled eggs and tomatoes, stewed minced pork, and white rice. As far as Taiwanese simple lunches go, pretty standard stuff. Not bad however, and it suffices for a basic lunch if we don't feel like going out - such as when it's pouring rain like today.

Consider this good news. Who can complain about having a convenient cheap meal alternative?

On today's episode of Orange County Choppers on the Discovery Channel, the OCC crew did mods and paint jobs on a couple of Yamaha scooters (a Vino and another one). They don't look nearly as cool as the motorcycles that are normally featured on the show. But still, it was neat to see them doing scooters, setting them apart from the hundreds or thousands of scooters I see each day in Taiwan.

[Addition]
Another show I've taken to recently is Miami Ink. Which is about the tattoo artists in a tattoo shop in Miami. I would personally never get a tattoo, and I probably stay away from people with murals of tattoos over their bodies. But I think the artistic aspect of the tattoo is pretty attractive. I like art, and this is just another form of it. Unfortunately, Miami Ink has a pretty late time slot from 1am - 2am. Which means... I'll still watch it, but be tired in the morning. Heh.