Sunday, I took A to the top of the world in Taipei 101's Observatory. 320nt per person (with our student cards... what?). It was a 37-second elevator ride up and 46-second elevator ride down to mount and descend between the 5th Floor (at 25m) and the 89th Floor (382m).

Another 100nt would have put us even further up the building, as I've been told onto an outdoor deck, but we opted not to take that option. Even so, the Taipei 101 Observatory is gives a stunning 360 view of Taipei. And on a clear day like Sunday was, you could see a lot of the surrounding cities in Taipei County. Drinks at the Sky Cafe are surprisingly inexpensive given it's location on the 89th floor. Free audio guides are also available, describing the landmarks and views visible from the observatory.





We went up at 4:45pm, a little later than I had hoped because the sun was already slowly making its way down casting long shadows between the buildings. We had dinner plans with friends, so we had left at 6:15pm, much earlier than I would have prefered as well - at that time the sun still hadn't dipped below the horizon. Maybe next time I'll be able to see Taipei at night from the 101.

Anyway, great view and great company. Time couldn't have been better spent.

mango penguin.

Chinese people and their hair. Sometimes it's hairlhairious (yuk yuk!), sometimes it's just gross. Do you kind of hold yourself from blurting out laughing when you see some guy with the 3 hairs growing from his mole, or maybe just some random hair growing from a spot it has no place being in? Maybe you can't help but to stare at the eyebrow hair whose length commands respect and says "I'm the king of this brow!" Well, quit it... because I have one such eyebrow hair.

Yep, it's almost 1 inch long, which makes it 3 - 4 times longer than the bush surrounding it (out of context, this line could be very embarrassing). Such hair builds character. It also evidences that I don't groom myself meticulously. It's true. I don't trim my hairbrows -- which is supposedly done by brushing your brow hair upwards and trimming the hairs that exceed the area of the brow, then repeating downwards. I don't trim my nose hairs either, which is probably called for. Whenever A complains about them, I just pluck whatever I can get my nails on. I guess trimming would be less painful and save me the tears that form in my eyes.

So, should I trim this aggressive brow hair just to "fit in"?

A thought came over me as I was stepping into a restaurant over the weekend.

I thought back to being a youngster, maybe still in elementary school. My folks would on occasion go out with their friends on a weekend night and leave us kids at home. For me, those were kind of special times, because we would just spend the whole night lying on the couch watching TV. Dinner was usually food prepared and left by mom. Sunday night were particularly special since I got to spend the 6pm - 7pm hour with the Wonderful world of Disney. In the later years, dinner came from costco - sometimes Chunky's, sometimes frozen pizza. Don't feel bad, I liked that stuff!

Anyway, just thinking about the feeling of being home unsupervised for a night kind of made me nostalgic.

I made a great purchase this past weekend. It's showcased in the embedded photo.

It's a Japanese table I picked up from RT Mart (sort of like a SuperStore) for just 179nt (CAD$7 - $8). Measuring 60cm x 60cm, it's got short legs and fits perfectly on my bed! It was a purchase I should have made long ago since I usually have no table to eat off of when I'm at home. When I don't use it, it folds up flat (although I still haven't figured out where to tuck it away, so right now it just leans against my TV stand). It's great, I can have breakfast in bed and watch TV now too. Of course, I would have to get up to make the breakfast myself before sitting down to enjoy it.

In any case, I'm really happy with this purchase and I just wanted to share it with you all.

Through my blog, it seems like I have done a lot of complaining about Taiwan. No, don't deny it. I have. All of my complaints, I believe, are justified and reasonable from the point of view of a Canadian with this an East-meets-West "fusion" background.

But let's try to put things in perspective, because there are things in Taiwan that are better than those back home. Here's my list of some of those things:

• Convenient stores: They're everywhere, and therefore are convenient. And they also offer more services (such as allow paying for most of your bills through them).


• Every traffic light is equiped with a countdown telling you how much time stands between you and a green light, or how much time before your green light turns red. The animated "walk"ing man is fun too; he walks faster and breaks into a sprint to tell pedestrians that their green light is running out.


• Though usually unhealthy, it's hard to complain about the options for cheap food. Cheap, tasty, and unhealthy food is everywhere.


• I love scootering. You can bet I'll be looking to get a scooter when I return to Canada. Cheap and convenient, like the food.


• When you're not in the "fashionable areas" of Taipei, you can generally dress as scrubby as you want without anyone looking at you twice. I have no problems going for hot pot wearing the infamous blue-and-white Taiwanese flip flops.


• An obsession with international clothing means that Taiwanese also have a more global view of fashion. Along with Canadian/U.S. clothing companies, there's a strong presence of European and Japanese venders.


• I may not stand out in Canada, but just by having clearer skin and a pointier nose, I'm already above average in looks here.


• People often make bank-to-bank payments to buy from people and vendors. More convenient and probably safer than paying by cash or cheque. In fact, no one uses cheques here... I never liked cheques anyway.


• LCD TV screens are in a lot of places that require waiting: MRT/train stations, restaurants, stores, and buses...


• People are less intimidating. I've never been intimidated by anyone here - partially because people are nicer (not more polite, but nicer) - but mainly because people aren't as big or strong. Or maybe because they can't grow facial hair. Either way, I haven't met too many people I didn't think I could "take".


• Unlike in North America, toilet stalls are private. Their design uses an overlap between door and stall so there're no gaps. Privacy when you need privacy most.


• The customary afternoon naps that follow lunch are great. Refreshing and revitalizing, they make the afternoon pass more productively.


• Each receipt has a receipt number which can be used towards a lottery (once every 2 months) for a chance to win money!


• Fruit is delicious and cheap.


• The world's tallest building is still Taipei 101

Typhoon Bilis was a complete cop-out. The typhoon forecasts of 2 days ago showed the tropical hurricane heading straight for and over Taiwan. Naturally, I (and most other people) expected to have a day off work - and a reason to increment my "Days off work due to typhoons" ticker to the right, which hasn't moved in roughly a year.

On Wednesday night, an announcement was made that some cities and counties along the Eastern seaboard would get Thursday off - which is no surprise, they are at the forefront of the typhoon experience, and they're largely easy-going and unproductive people anyway. But come Thursday morning, a quick check on internet showed that the typhoon hadn't arrived quite yet and that I'd still have to go to work. Disappointing. Well, Friday should be a day off.

On Thursday night, the heavy rain that came during the day turned into a drizzle, but I still had hope for a Friday off. When I awoke at 5:30am on Friday, heavy rain make a racket on the metal roofing outside my window, so I checked the government website that informs of regions with days off... nope. No day off. Turns out the typhoon turned a little further North, just grazing the tip of Taiwan.

So, I'm at work, writing my blog in disbelief of this Bilis's cowardly actions.

Going to the office isn't a big deal if you're planning on going to the office. But when you have full expectations of a day off (TWICE!) and that paid vacation doesn't come, getting dressed in the morning becomes a draining activity.

And now the typhoon has passed, and we have stupid nice weather again. Damn it.

I'm in a good mood today for a lot of reasons. I won't tell you my reasons, but it means I'm up for blogging.

This week is Sandwich Week for me at work. Simply sick of having lunchboxes chock full of MSG and oil for lunch, I've taken matters into my own hands and decided to make sandwiches at noon each day this week. Last Sunday, I picked up the supplies to be shared between N and I.

Whole Wheat Bread (NT$36)
Tomatoes (NT$69)
Onions (NT$14)
Lettuce (NT$43)
Sprouts (NT$21)
Eggs (NT$24)
Mayo Lite (NT$12)
Chicken meat - raw (NT$59)
Turkey slices (NT$68)
Smoked tuna - canned x 3 (NT$68)
Ham (NT$75)

Total: NT$489

Split between 2 people, approximately NT$250 per person, and makes roughly 6 - 7 big sandwiches.

And for once, my fridge is stocked like a fridge should be (as photographed to the right). Well, it was for Sunday night at least.

Ingredients are left in the fridge at work and each day I create a fresh edible masterpiece. Delicious and nutrious, and puts Subway's Sandwich Con-Artists to shame.

As Crocodile Dundee would say:
"That's not sandwich, this is a sandwich."

I guess the fact of the matter is, I'm not in much of a mood for blogging these days.

As if I needed any additional proof that my English vocabulary needs work, here's a series of online vocabulary tests on which I yielded pretty pitiful results.

50%, 50%, 20%, 43%.

How about you? Do any better?