Do you get the feeling that as we get older, we benefit less from our friends' jobs? Remember back in highschool when everyone was working service jobs? I got lots of free McDonald's Arch Deluxes from JS who worked at Esso (during a cross-promotion between the two companies). Got filled out Subway cards from SH. Cup after cup of free Starbucks Frappachinos from JH and JW.

What did you get from your friends?

By the way, I loved the Arch Deluxe. I probably had one every other day for a while. An incredibly tasty burger, I'm saddened by the fact that consumers didn't take to it. Damn those overweight customers looking only for a cheap meal.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!

No Boxing Day shopping here... but I did plenty of shopping in Macau, so it's probably a good thing. Lots of new clothes, even if I had to buy it all myself.

I'll update in a few days.

Days four - eight recaps.

Four: Felt much better after the previous day's hospital visit. Although not 100%, my stomach was willing to take a bit of food. I managed to walk around a couple parts in Shanghai, including Nanjing Road and what's being dubbed as The New Xiang Yang Market (after the previous one closed) which is at the Science and Technology Subway station. Haggling is always fun, as long as you don't go around doing price-checks on the items you've already purchased. Stayed at L&S's that night, and was at the airport early the next morning.

Five - Seven: 2.5 days in Macau. Everyone says "Macau's small.", "1 days is enough, 2 days is too much", etc. But I didn't think so at all. Macau had plenty to see, and you can't just walk around everywhere. Some highlights: St. Paul's Ruins, Largo de Senado, other Portugese architecture, Guia Hill and the lighthouse, greyhound racing at the Canidrome, buying real brand name clothing at discount prices (you just need to know where to go!), walking around the Outer Harbour, short visits to Lisboa Casino and The Sands, eating egg tarts, and eating other Macanese 小吃 and Portugese foods (even with a stomach that was only doing so-so). I wish my stomach was as excited during the trip as it was before my trip. But I made did with what I had. I couldn't find a good Macau flag there, and ended up buying a cheap plastic one that was rather disappointing.

Eight: Back in the office, and having a good first day. My stomach seems 100%, I received a few Christmas cards in my absence from my good friends back home, and even some hedgehogs and smoked salmon! Will go well with the Port from Macau. Thanks to the Gambling Crew, M&MS, and AC. Tonight, my dinner will be treated by our boss who's in from the US, and tomorrow we have our company Christmas dinner. Then the weekend hits, and there should be some celebration as well. Glad I shifted my SH/Macau trip earlier one week to be in Taiwan during the holiday season.

Day three recap. This post contains gory descriptions and graphic details. Do not read if you can't handle it.

Today was the last work day on this 8-day business/pleasure trip. Between 1am and 10:30am, I probably visited the washroom 9 - 10 times, stomach still gurgling, and output not pretty. I felt a little better and had a bit of hotel food to eat. Then arrived at work at 1pm. I didn't have too much to do today, and I managed to finish it in about 3 hours, so I left at 4pm and returned to my hotel. As was the case yesterday, today's afternoon was split between watching the Asian Games (a huge, huge competition which China absolutely dominated) on TV and sleeping -- and going to the washroom.

At 8:30pm, I gave a call to L to tell him my plans for Saturday might change, and that I might go see him later on Saturday if my stomach didn't feel better. He asked me if I wanted to get some Immodium from his place, and I agreed. So, I taxied to L&S's place, and when I stepped out of the car, I started shivering furiously. I don't know why. We went up to their place, and I still couldn't hold it together. But the first thing I did was borrow his washroom. Then he gave me two Immodiums to take with water. Less than 2 minutes later, I was creating a massive puking storm into a pail. Hmm... sour-smelling. So he asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, and I thought was a good idea. I was still kind of shaking, so I sat in front of his heater until my body warmed up. Before we went, I borrowed his washroom once more.

We got to the hospital, filled in some paperwork, and saw a doctor. I had a fever, 38.7 C. Did a blood test, and a stool test. And wouldn't you believe it... I couldn't get anything for the stool test (always when I don't want it, but never when I want it). But the automatic flushing mechanism wasn't working, and someone else's large sample was there if I wanted to use it. But I didn't, and we sat around for 15 minutes until I tried again successfully.

The stool sample looked okay, no bacteria. And the doctor prescribed his medicine. And I went to the IV room, where everyone was sitting in chairs hooked up to IVs. It was kind of a funny sight. Basically, for the emergency ward, a lot of people get nutrition through needle and tube. So, for 3 hours, L and I sat there chatting while medicine and antibiotics were pumped into my vains. Before leaving the hopital, my temperature was 38.4 C. Better, so the doctor didn't give me any fever medication. Overall, I felt better.

Got back to my hotel at 2am, and the good thing is... I'm hungry. I haven't been hungry for almost two full days. But it's late, and I probably won't eat anything before sleeping, in fear that my stomach wouldn't be able to take it. I'll work on that with some congee tomorrow.

So, hopefully I'm on the right track, and I might be able to shop a little in Shanghai before heading to Macau on Sunday! Cheers. And thanks to L for all his help.

Second day recap.
This morning, I woke up early with a gurgling stomach, forcing 3 trips to the washroom in an hour. Not sure if it was the hotpot that did it to me or something else I ate. Although my coworker said his stomach wasn't feeling too well either. But not as bad as mine. To get to work on time, I skipped breakfast, and I went with little lunch. Didn't have the appetite. After a nap at lunch, I woke up with a major headache... which is still hanging about. I had planned on having dinner with friends L&S, but decided to cancel. Left work at 4:20pm, and came back to the hotel to sleep. What was expected to be a full day ended up being an empty day, quite literally. I just picked up a late dinner, from a source I can trust more: KFC. So, that's my day. Not what I had hoped it would be. I'm in agony here.

Ok. In Shanghai. It's been about 24 hours since I got to my hotel last night. Here's a briefing of the last 24 hours.

- I slept after 1am, but stupidly agreed to meet my coworker at 8:20am for him to take me to work -- too early.
- It's cold. I have to wear long johns. Fortunately, I picked up a pair before I left Taiwan, and with dignity almost intact, I'm glad I did.
- Work was fine. Just training people and transferring work from our Taiwan office to staff in Shanghai. So far so good. The people have been nice.
- Had dinner with my manager and some Shanghai-side coworkers at "Small Fat Lamb" (Xiao3 Fei2 Yang2), a popular hot pot restaurant chain famous for their inner Mongolian lamb meat.
- My manager took me to get our feet massaged for 30RMB ($4.50CAD/hr?). Well worth it.
- Back in hotel room waiting for tomorrow... another full day.

Heading to Shanghai soon. Will be taken to the airport from the office in 20 mins.

Arriving in Shanghai Tuesday night (tonight).
Working Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Playing in Shanghai on Saturday.
Going to Macau on Sunday.
Playing in Macau Sunday - Tuesday.
Returning to Taiwan Tuesday night.

Fill you in on the details later!

At 3:50pm on Sunday, I was invited to the circus. A 4:45pm performance to which my coworker had extra tickets.

So, it was off to see The Great Moscow Circus!

I'd never been to a circus, but we all have an idea of what should be included in circus performances. I would say that this one was standard. Fairly traditional (unlike, say, Cirque du Soleil). They had the highwire act, the flying trapeze, the slapstick clowns, the gymnasts doing acrobatic flips, the jugglers, and a few animal acts. The setting was intimate, and we sat only 4 - 5 meters from the stage. So, it was nice in that respect. I thought the jugglers were impressive, as were the three dirt bikes zipping around in the spherical metal cage (see photo). But some things seemed like they were missing. The attached article speaks of lions and elephants, but we saw none of those. And there were no bears riding unsized unicycles - which no one promised, but would have been comical in a cruel kind of way.

Given one hours notice to see a circus, it exceeded my expectations on how my Sunday afternoon would have otherwise been spend. And at no cost at that!

Yay. I went to the circus.

By the way, this is my 500th post (including unpublished drafts).

I've always noticed how Asians have strange hair growth. Not on top of the head, but on the head. The inability to grow thick beards, the Foo Man Chu mustaches, the hair growth that flourishes within the confines of a mole, the mini sideburns that don't grow down the face, but instead grow long and look great when doing high-flying kung-fu moves.

Seemed like only people from the Old World (i.e. Asia, as opposed to Canada) had such anomalies. As a (fairly) young CBC, I never thought it could happen to me. But if you look closely at my right eyebrow now, you might just notice a stand-out. A go-getter in the world of brow hairs. An over-achiever. At roughly 5 times the length of those around it, it is the Yao-Ming of facial hair. It's long enough to stroke! Actually, I do stroke it; but only to repeatedly convince myself of its existence, not because it brings me deep thoughts and wisdom.

Anyone else have similar stories?

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?