The little things remind me of home.

I bought a box of Kellogg's Frosties (which I've grown up calling Frosted Flakes) yesterday, and had a mug-full at breakfast this morning. Most excellent. Nothing beats this kind of sugary goodness, with the best part being that energy-supplying sugar-milk after the last bite of soggy cereal's gone. They truly are grrreat! But they're grrreat at a cost. A cost of 125nt (about $4.50 CAD, but no tax on top) for 400g. Is cereal in Canada this expensive? Next time you go to the supermarket, take a look for me.

I was recently asked by a member of the Canadian Alumni Network in Taiwan to help by providing a write-up for their next Homecoming event. The idea of the write-up is to introduce myself, my education, my experiences in Taiwan and how my Canadian life has affected it, and anything else seemingly worthy of adding. I think there should be two submissions from each Canadian university. So here's mine.

I tote a different story from many returning Taiwanese in that I’m not really “returning”. Born and raised in Canada to Taiwanese parents, I did both undergraduate and graduate studies at SFU in Engineering. After 3.5 great years at Spectrum Signal Processing, Inc as a Systems Engineer / FAE, it was time to move on. My decision to come to Taiwan was an amalgamation of wanting to find my roots, improve my Chinese, get more worldly experience, and ride a wave in the technology industry that saw many engineers get rich. Closing in on 3 years since my coming to Taiwan, I've achieved 3 of 4 goals. You guess which 3. I'll give you a hint: I still scooter to work.

Employed at [Employer] in Hsinchu's Science Park, my title is Senior Engineer (which means very little). While I don't usually don headwear, I wear a lot of different hats at work. Aside from earlier responsibilities of doing FAE work, Verification Team consultant, publications, and giving internal and external training, I've made a recent diversion to lead our department's marketing efforts. It's been an exciting change for me, and a welcomed challenge. So, I'm looking forward to the next little while before I one day return to Vancouver.

Having a Canadian upbringing sets me apart from those around me in that my eyes are wider open. Like many experiences, having lived in or been in a different country gives you another thing to add to your portfolio of life. And for this, I've made an effort to travel to more Asian countries while staying in Taiwan. My background also encourages me to do things differently, bring creativity to work, and stand my ground on my decisions – even if it means going against my boss. Having English as a first language is always helpful too when dealing with international affairs.

In contrast, my experiences in Taiwan have humbled me. Here I've come to understand Taiwanese people and culture more (that includes understanding my parents more, as well). I've also learned that not all Taiwanese are wealthy like those who've immigrated to Canada. Living in Hsinchu, I lead a modest lifestyle. There's nothing fancy about this city, and certainly nothing fancy about living in a small 套房. But as far as I'm concerned, this is character building.

There are definitely advantages to being a CBC in Taiwan; though that hasn't saved me from getting scootering tickets. In fact, I even got scolded by a Taipei police officer as I pretended not to speak any Chinese when he was writing me a ticket. Well, you win some, you lose some.

Our company cafeteria is now operational. Late last year, our second building (constructed behind and connecting to the original building) opened. Finally we've got a catering service selling food on the 2nd floor at a subsidized price for employees. The meals are in a buffet fashion, where you can take one piece of meat (which might be a chicken leg or a slice of pork) and as much veggies and rice as you want. There's a simple hot broth as well. The price? 40nt per person.

Call it Frosh Week for the catering company; today being the first day of operation. The menu included marinated (with soy sauce) chicken legs, sauteed cabbage, small cucumber wedges, scrambled eggs and tomatoes, stewed minced pork, and white rice. As far as Taiwanese simple lunches go, pretty standard stuff. Not bad however, and it suffices for a basic lunch if we don't feel like going out - such as when it's pouring rain like today.

Consider this good news. Who can complain about having a convenient cheap meal alternative?

On today's episode of Orange County Choppers on the Discovery Channel, the OCC crew did mods and paint jobs on a couple of Yamaha scooters (a Vino and another one). They don't look nearly as cool as the motorcycles that are normally featured on the show. But still, it was neat to see them doing scooters, setting them apart from the hundreds or thousands of scooters I see each day in Taiwan.

[Addition]
Another show I've taken to recently is Miami Ink. Which is about the tattoo artists in a tattoo shop in Miami. I would personally never get a tattoo, and I probably stay away from people with murals of tattoos over their bodies. But I think the artistic aspect of the tattoo is pretty attractive. I like art, and this is just another form of it. Unfortunately, Miami Ink has a pretty late time slot from 1am - 2am. Which means... I'll still watch it, but be tired in the morning. Heh.

How many hours a week do you figure you're in front of the computer?

On weekdays, I probably spend from 10am - 1am on the computer, minus about 3 hours for lunch, dinner, and walking around. So, 12 hours/day on weekdays. This includes watching movies off my computer.

On weekends, I do much better. I'm probably only on the computer 4 - 5 hours total.

Added up, roughly 65 hours a week.

Isn't that something.

I never really felt that good weather would change my mood. But the last couple days of good weather (one today, one a few weeks ago) have really had me in an upbeat mood. It's just refreshing have some sunlight. Maybe even wear shorts in the office once in a while.

Ahh... bless this nice weather.

I started playing aorund with Google's new HTML 2.0 interface today. Take a look: www.google.com/ig. It's funky and has tons of "gadgets" you can add to your google interface. I haven't spent that much time on it, but I've currently got these gadgets on my Google Home. And true to HTML 2.0, just about everything's drag and drop.


Date & Time
Google Calendar
HowStuffWorks Daily Stuff Feed
Technology news
CBC Top Stories News
Top Stories
Word of the Day
Fitness Tip of the Day
Health news
Nasa Image of the Day
National Geographic Picture of the Day
Photograph of the Week.

On top of that, if you use google.com/ig, not google.ca/ig, you can also add a fun theme (background) that updates as the day goes along. For example, I'm using the cute Tea House theme which features a little fox and some other animals. Earlier today, it was daytime in the cartoon picture... and now, it's nighttime in the picture. Just some small fun stuff.

So now I've updated my FireFox default home page to www.google.com/ig.

Now you play and have fun too.

I just received some sad news from a good friend of mine that I've known as long as anyone. You're going through a rough patch right now, and I want you to know that it's just a patch. I'm absolutely certain that you'll bounce back in no time. Things might not be the same, but that doesn't mean they'll be worse. I wish you and your loved ones the best. Be strong and focused. Take care.

Feb 21: This was the first day of our 4-day trip to Dalat and Mui Ne, also booked through Sinh Cafe. It was a good 5 hours of bus riding to get us to Dalat, a beautiful almost-European-feeling city in the Central Highlands. With our early departure, we were there by 1:30pm and had the rest of the day to walk around the city on our own. We whipped around the Dalat Market and just kind of wandered the streets. In fact, I don't even know the name of most of the things we saw, but there was a large church, a mini Effiel Tower, a Seaman Beer sign I joked about, and then a very ordinary dinner at a restaurant we found along the way. Early on, we wondered why everyone wore thick jackets and pants. But when night fell, we realized just how cold it could get in the mountains with us just wearing shorts and t-shirts. DAMN cold.

Feb 22: The second day of our 4-day trip featured a Sinh Cafe tour of Dalat. It was fairly rushed along the way with only 15 - 45 minutes at each stop, and then it was back on the bus. Go Go Go! Again, without taking anothe look in Lonely Planet, I won't be able to name the places we went to. Basically, we saw a flower garden, a place with a waterfall and some caged crocodiles, the Chicken Village (where they have a huge cock statue), a monastary, a poorly-kept Summer Palace, a guesthouse called "Crazy House" because of it's odd appearance (it's Cra-a-a-a-zy!), the XQ Hand Embroidery Centre, and the Valley of Love. The XQ Hand Embroidry Centre was probably the most impressive stop, where they make astonishing embroidery pieces by hand. It was a brilliant display of delicate skill and workmanship. Just jaw-dropping.

After the day tour, we again headed through the Dalat Market, to another temple (where I was chased by swarming mosquitos), and finally to a nice restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet.

Feb 23: Another day, another bus ride. This time from within the mountains down to the beach. We arrived at our resort hotel in Mui Ne in the early afternoon. With our free time, we taxied to a stream called Fairy Stream. This was another highlight of our trip. Fairy Stream is a shallow stream that you can walk along (barefoot in the water). On one side is canyon-like red and white sand structures, on the other side is some greenery. It was a leisurely stroll which should take about an hour round trip, but much longer if you take as many pictures as we did along the way. After we got back to our hotel, we dipped into the private beach behind the hotel and then spent a little time in the pool before having a very tasty seafood dinner (for about $5USD / person no less!). The day couldn't have been more perfect (other than the bus ride at the start of the day).

Feb 24: On the last day of our 4-day trip, we had a short 1/2 day tour. First we went to a fishing village which was an incredible sight. It was a scene from Troy where the armies storm the beach, but instead it was fishing boats. One of those things that make you say "Wow" when you see it. After that, we took a walk through Red Canyon, and finally went to the White Sand Dunes.

Back on the bus in the early afternoon and arrived at our Saigon hotel just as night fell. Dinner was at a French restaurant called "La Fourchette", which we made a reservation earlier because the last time we tried going it was full. It was our best meal, and came at the largest price. $20 - $25USD / person. But a meal of that price would have easily been x3 if it were in North America. A most excellent dinner made even better because NK treated us.

Feb 25: We started our day with a morning visit to Reunification Palace, the History Museum, and Jade Emperor Pagoda. We went to Ben Thanh Market (and bought nothing), had dinner and sweet soup with Saigon Hotpot girls, and quickly walked along a footwear street (and bought nothing). I'm not sure why this day passed so quickly, but it did.

Feb 26: My 26th was mainly spent around markets. Binh Tay Market in Cholon, Dong An Market in District 3, and there really wasn't much going on that day. But still, I was all "marketed out". I did spend copious amounts of time buying coffee though. It's amazing how cheap coffee is. Throughout this trip, I bought 4 kinds of coffee. The best price I got was 65,000 VND / kg. Now THAT's cheap. There's cheaper, but even a coffee novice won't do with crap coffee.

Feb 27: Morning was a relaxing walkaround. Bought a few gifts for friends and family. Afternoon was more of the same. Spent most of the afternoon in Ben Thanh Market buying dri-fit type t-shirts and sleevelesses. Between $3 - $4 USD. Why not buy more? Well, I did.

Feb 28: On our last day, we had very little time in the morning. Basically, just enough time to eat breakfast, swing by Ben Thanh Market again for a few more t-shirt purchases, and head out to the airport. And that was about it! You can read more about the misfortunes of this day here.

I've been far too busy this week to post Part 2 of my Vietnam trip update.

But I've got another subject on my mind that I'd like to post about quickly.

Ben posted a while ago looking for an answer to the question about why you shouldn't put hot foods straight
into the fridge. Commentors then responded with different arguments about why food should be cooled first before going in.

But since then, it's kind of piqued my interest. Finally, I chatted with my friend Google and found that you should put food in the fridge before letting it cool off (at least from a bacterial standpoint).

Ask Mr. Electricity says:

Don't put hot foods in the fridge? Food safety experts say you should refrigerate hot food to prevent contamination. But that doesn't mean you have to refrigerate them immediately. The USDA says to refrigerate within two hours of preparation (or one hour if the room temp is above 90°). One to two hours of cooling off time will definitely make your refrigerator work less. It's a tradeoff -- the sooner you refrigerate the safer the food, but the more energy you use. Of course, meat and dairy foods are most susceptible to contamination, which is yet another reason to not eat meat and dairy in the first place. Vegan foods are much safer.

Pat Kendall, Ph.D., R.D., Food Science and Human Nutrition Specialist, Colorado State University, says:

Remember 140 to 40 in 2 hours. Refrigerate hot foods as soon as possible after cooking and serving. Ideally food should go from hot serving temperature (140 F) to cold refrigerator temperature (40 F) in two hours. If cooked, perishable foods have been at room temperature for more than two hours, the safest practice is to throw them out.

Kyla Boyse, R.N. from the University of Michigan echoes:

Refrigerate hot foods as soon as possible within two hours after cooking.

Finally, Erica Marcus says:

The goal when dealing with hot food is to cool it down as soon as possible, and Boor advised a strategy of divide and conquer. "If you just put the pot in the refrigerator," she said, "it can be hours before it drops out of the danger zone." Instead, she advised dividing the contents of [a soup] pot into two ('if not three or four') individual containers and refrigerating them.

So there you have it. I can refrigerate my food as soon as I want without letting it cool down first. Glad to know it. And now you know it too.