It wasn't until a few months ago that I realized that not all people like the smell of almond (like, in almond tea or almond jello). Opinions seem to be love it or can't stand it. I like almond tea. I like the smell of almond flavouring, although I'm not big on chewing almonds.

What about you?

On Friday night, I kept dreaming that someone was trying to kill me. Trying to rip my body apart and slicing the top of my head off. And at the same time, I was trying to figure out how to develop my super powers.

Is this a sign I've been watching too much Heroes?

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)