I just got some video files of a couple of my matches at the Oct 1st foosball tournament. Just want to say... damn I'm fast. Tee.

I bought a pack of 2 Oral-B CrossAction Vitalizers. Talk about the Ritz of toothbrushes! It has more features than a car. Here's the rundown:

• Soft Gum Simulators that stimulate and massage gums


• CrissCross Bristles angled in opposing directions to life out and sweep away plaque


• Power Tip Bristles to help clean hard to reach places


• Indicator Bristles that fade halfway to tell you to replace your toothbrush


• Carefully Polished End-round Bristles that are gentle on teeth and gums


• Comfort Grip that fits comfortably in the hand and offers a secure grip to maneuver the brush with precision


• Ergonomic Handle, a rubber grip handle that features front and back thumb stops for firmer grip and extra control

Now if I can only get a moonroof.

Got this video URL from my sister, but was entertained to post it as well. Enjoy... when bored.

For Vancouver Grizzlies' fans... at this point of the NBA season, the two teams with the worst records are the Memphis Grizzlies (2-9, 0.182) and the Toronto Raptors (2-8, 0.200). Bwahahahahaaahahhaah....

I bought a box of Post "grape-nuts" cereal yesterday. At 225nt for a 680g, I'm pretty sure I got the bad end of highway robbery. This morning when I got into the office, I quickly poured a bowl (actually a cup). The first thing that I noticed was that I didn't see any grapes or anything purple. But I figured maybe there's some flavouring hidden away in there. I poured some skim milk over it, and dug it. Nope. No grape flavour. So... where do you get off calling a cereal grape-nut without grape? The ingredients are: whole grain wheat flour, wheat flour, malted barley flour, salt, and dried yeast. The cereal is basically hard (like, worry-about-your-teeth hard) crunchy pellets with no traces of fruits.

-- time passes --

Ok, my online search found this Kraft website.

Grape-Nuts was so named because its inventor, Charles William Post, said that grape sugar was formed during the baking process and described the cereal as having a nutty flavor.

LIARS. The lot of them. This is false marketing. Charles William Post is a frickin' liar. They might as well have said "Charles William Post was eating grapes and scratching his nuts when he invented this overly boring cereal."

The image on the box shows a spoonful of grape-nuts with a blueberry and a couple of plump raspberries. In faded grey font at the right, it says "Enlarged to show texture. Serving suggestion." Oh, clearly they're aware of its obviously bland taste and suggest to mask it with delicious berries.

After finishing my cup o' cereal, I kind of felt a little sick. I should have stuck with my Museli. Cheaper and tastier... and has fruit.

Kitsilano Grad of '96's 10 year reunion was held on November 13th. I didn't attend, so I have nothing to report. But, I can blog about something somewhat mildly related. Do you still have any clothes from highschool? I do. I have at least 3 things: a pair of cotton shorts with rips all over the place, a Nike t-shirt that rarely sees daylight, and an umbro t-shirt that shares most of its time with the Nike T.

And you?

Quick update on the past weekend.

Last Friday, our company had a team-building outing. Departing from our office at 8am, we went into the mountains in Miaoli County. Donning on army uniforms, we had a morning chock full of fun activities to promote teamwork as well as individual confidence following the "I can do it!" tagline. The activities included: 1) finding a way to get through a "electric fence" as a team, 2) working together blindfolded to create shapes while holding hands (e.g. square, circle, triangle), 3) standing up in groups of 2, 4, 8, and 30+ by pulling on each others arms, 4) lowering yourself from a 5-6 story height by "hopping" off the side of a cliff, 5) two-rope and 3-rope walks at 5-6 stories high, and 6) sliding down a belayed rope from a bridge.

On Saturday, our company celebrated its 10th Anniversary. Highlights of the event, which was held in and around our office building, were the awesome lion dance, and the bull-riding / bucking machine (which I managed to stay on for only 11 seconds, but my excuse is that I kept sliding around in my loose track pants).

On Sunday, my folks came to Hsinchu, and N and I took them around on our scooters, with tours of our homes, our offices, and around the city a little bit.

So, it was a busy weekend. And continuing with a busy work week.

On Sunday, A and I went to the Travel Exhibition in Taipei. Here are a few impressions:

- As with all exhibitions I've been to, there are plenty of people... and showgirls too
- We came back with tons of travel information primarily for Taiwan, China, Southeast Asia
- We picked up a couple small packaged for Nantou (南投), Taiwan
- We also made out with lots of freebie give-aways
- We realized after getting home how much junk one collects at these things
- I noticed that Taiwanese girls will continue to take pictures of showgirls after they've changed to street clothes and are ready to go home (but still keep posting for pictures)

I attended my cousin T's wedding this weekend with her husband B. It was a good one. For me, that is. I've been to a lot of weddings in Taiwan (8 or so), and this was the best one so far. It was special for a few reasons:

• T is probably my closest cousin, having grown up in Canada together and then coming to Taiwan together.


• I really like the groom. We share the same birthdate, and in many ways, our personalities are very alike. So, I think B is very good for T.


• My immediate family was together for the first time in over 2 years (less the one night we spent at Ben's place).


• Given that we're obviously close with the bride and her family, my family was there every step of the way through the day's proceedings. It was my first time seeing some traditional steps in a Taiwanese marriage, such as the tea ceremony, the red envelopes, the fan throwing, etc.


• With a lot of relatives, even a few close ones I had never met, I knew more than just 1 or 2 tables. Well, I guess I only knew 4 tables. But they were all relatives, and sometimes that's pretty darn special.


• The location on the 33rd floor of the 世貿33 was fantastic, overlooking some of Taipei's most expensive property.


• With too many bottles of red wine ordered, I managed to take a couple home.

Congratulations to T and B!!

I was going to pop up a post yesterday.

It would have ran a little something like this:

The end is near! The end is near!

As of today, our company's new internet access policy kicked in. I didn't know about it until I found that I couldn't access my gmail account. In fact, add to it my hotmail account, Yahoo! Mail account, Yahoo! Groups, my blog (or any other blogs for that matter), and Skype.

Before that, youtube.com (which Taiwanese people call "you to be") had already been blocked.

NOW what am I supposed to do at work?

The only saving grace is that Canucks.com, NHL.com, and the game live audio feed are still accessible.

This morning, I could have written that same blog -- but would have been unable to post it online, for the reasons stated.

But now, after lunch, maybe our IT department and the big wigs above had a chance to think the policy more clearly. While I still can't check my other email accounts, at least I can blog and read blogs, as well as peruse Yahoo! Groups postings. Skype is back too. So, hooray for that.

I'll give it a couple of days and see if email accounts come back. [fingers crossed]