The last couple of days have been a crazy whirlwind of panic and resolve. It kind of went like this.

Bad: I was reminded that my passport was about to expire March 14. Which meant I may not be able to go to Japan (Jan 20 - 30) or Vietnam (Feb 17 - 28). Crap.
Good: Japan doesn't have a requirement that a Canadian passport must be valid for at least 6 months. So I can still go on my business trip.
Bad: But Vietnam has this type of requirement. So I'll still have to get a new passport by then.
Bad: I don't know anyone here that can be my guarantor.
Good: I don't need one if I pay an extra $1500 NT and fill out another form.
Good: The Canadian Consulate says that there should be no problems in getting my new passport if I apply for it after I get back from Japan (because I need my passport for travel to Japan).
Bad: But I still need time to get my Vietnamese visa.
Good: It looks like I can apply for my passport before I go to Japan and still hold on to my passport provided that I write a note stating that I understand that I must give the Canadian Consulate my passport afterwards.
Bad: But I still need my birth certificate if I want to get a 5-year passport instead of a 1-year. And my birth certificate is in Canada.
Good: My parents can fax for me it to the Canadian Consulate from Passport Canada in Vancouver.
Good: I just need to head to Taipei tonight, and apply for my new passport tomorrow.
Bad: Because of the mishap with my courtesy scooter, I can't get my passport photo in time.
Good: I just delayed going up to Taipei by one day. I'll get my passport photos tomorrow, and then head up. And do the application on the next day.
Good.

These ups and downs are absolutely DRAINING. But there's more.

Another reason I didn't take my passport photo early enough today was because I needed to get a haircut. So, let me tell you about my haircut.

I went to my regular stylist, and as usual, I told her short on the sides and the back, and about 1/2 length up top. I took off my glasses and placed them on the table in front of me, and away we went with the snip snip snip. Then I felt that she was cutting really really short on the sides, and kinda high up too. At the end, she said, "This style is really popular right now. Really short on the sides, and just long at the top. So-and-so celebrity is wearing his hair like this - I think it looks really good." Immediately, I said "Uh, I need to put on my glasses." Short was right! I needed to take my passport photos, and a week away from attending an exhibition in Japan, and here she was trying new styles like Vidal Sasoon?!

Anyway, I managed to keep it clean for my passport photos... and I think it'll be okay in Japan. Stylish? I guess it's okay. I'll live.

accidents happen.

I was on my way to running some errands after work last night. As I saw a traffic light turn red, I made a fairly hard stop. A couple seconds later, I heard screeching tires behind me and was rear-ended hard. My scooter thrusted forward, but I managed to get my footing to keep the scooter from falling down. I turned around and saw a guy lying on his side with his scooter on its side about a meter behind him. After I moved my scooter off to the side of the road, I called 119 (the ambulance number), and asked them to send a police car and ambulance. He (name: Yi Shong) kept saying his leg was hurting a lot. My only apparent injury was a bruised spot on and next to my left shin.

My coworker Nathan happened to be driving by, and he stopped to help. My other coworker Melissa came scootering around a few minutes later and stopped too.

Ambulance came and took the injured guy away. Police came and took some photos, some measurements, and asked a few questions. I went to the police station to describe the accident, and was back on the road about an hour and some after the accident took place (at 8:45pm).

I quickly stopped by a scooter shop to see how much repairs would cost. 2 out of 3 parts I needed to fix were quoted at $800 and $1500nt.

I visited Yi Shong at the hospital. My bruise didn't seem nearly as bad as his fractured leg, and apparently not a clean fracture, but a shattering fracture. He would have his operation today (the next day), but seemed rather well-humoured and upbeat in spite of his situation. Anyway, he offered to pay for any damages on my scooter. And I will take him up on that offer.

This morning, I stopped by another scooter shop because my usual one was closed. This shop quoted me $550 and $1100 for the same parts. Hmm. I don't think I'm going to go to my "usual" scooter shop anymore. So I got 4 things changed/replaced on my scooter and took a courtesy scooter in the meantime. Courtesy scooters are generally really for the dumpster. I was lucky and got one with one of two sideview mirrors. The brakes are weak enough that I feel like I'm about to get into another accident at any time.

So that's my scooter accident story for Jan 16, 2007.

I'm glad my injury wasn't worse with a business trip/vacation in Japan at the end of this week.

Here's something I'm not particularly fond of: When the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of a shower causes the cool shower curtain to float inwards and stick to your unsuspecting bum.

I don't want to say I'm brilliant... but I'm brilliant! I love coming up with creative ideas for inventions. Here's one that I think is awesome.

The Stuff:

I would love to invent some kind of drug (food, let's call it food) that would temporarily give the ingestor acute laryngitis. This food, when taken, would cause the larynx to inflame and swell, kind of like that happens when we shout too much at a club over loud music. The result? Peace and quiet.

The Application:

Can't stand your boss's constant nagging? Slip a little of this in his/her coffee and enjoy a day of harmonious zen-like tranquility.

For cat and dog owners, this food cleverly mixed in with that pussy/doggy chow, will save you from waking up early in the morning to out the pet.

Honestly, this can't be that difficult to invent. There are currently hundreds if not thousands of drugs on the market that reduce swelling. We just need the reverse effect. Of course, FDA approval may be harder to come by.

To the right, you can see a posting that appeared on our apartment bulletin board late last week. The posting is written on an A4 sheet (8.27" x 11.69").

For those who can't read it, the writer says that s/he saw a spider in the laundry room - the drawing is of the actual size (and confirmed by another tenant). S/he also saw a slug too. And so s/he wonders what we can do to keep the building cleaner. Another person states at the bottom that s/he saw a mouse crawl under the door.

Anyway, I've only at most seen a single cockroach in my room. Nothing else.

I never saw the spider, but that's HUGE!!! I hate spiders. Glad I never saw it. I'm only brave around spiders when I have a vacuum cleaner.

I'm glad to see that the Memphis Grizzlies are still bottom feeders in the NBA, with the worst record in the league so far this season. Also interesting is that "Mighty Mouse" Damon Stoudamire, the ex-Toronto Raptors star rookie (10 years ago) was acquired by the Grizzlies from Portland last season. Is this Vancouver's revenge on the Grizzlies organization? It's funny how the Grizzlies website quickly skipped over the dark history in Vancouver. I hope Michael Heisley's consistently losing millions year after year. And if he made a bit of money from the last three years where they made the playoffs, I hope he's losing it all now in this abysmal season.

Mind you, if the Bad News Bears stayed in Vancouver, they might still be just as bad as they are now and we'd be even more upset.

Efficiency is a product of experience.

When I first joined my current company, it took me 15 minutes to scooter between work and home. After one year, I was down to 6 - 8 minutes, by riding faster, and knowing the traffic lights. And now, the biggest break-through comes in the form of a new path.

The shortest path between home and work used to be by-foot only because of a gate. But that gate has been recently renovated, and now scooters can pass through -- dropping the travel time between the two places I spend most of my day to 2 minutes!!

In the map attached, the orange path shows the route I used to take, and the green shows the new, more direct path.

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.