Typhoons come often in Taiwan, and most of the time, they only cause havoc on the Eastern coast of the island (winds and flooding). While we will once in a while get a typhoon holiday, many people will just go to the movies or shopping because the weather on the day off usually ends up being not-so-bad. In short, typhoons are rarely anything spectacular - especially in Hsinchu.
Come Typhoon Krosa. Krosa hit Taiwan on Friday evening and most of Saturday. Finally a typhoon worth talking about. In my three years here, I have yet to see a typhoon this strong, and it was fun. AC and I already planned to see a movie, and despite the strong winds and rain, we decided it'd be fun to go out anyway. Just because I had never done it. We got soaked, yes. Me in particular. My umbrella got inverted a few times, but survived because of its sturdy and flexible design. I saw a lot of trashed broken umbrellas - you get what you pay for. Anyway, when we came out of the MRT (subway) nearest the movie theatres, we started out walking towards the theatres about 10 minutes away. But we turned around after 3 minutes because of the high winds and heavy rain - and we started to suspect the theatres wouldn't be open. Sure enough, a quick phone call confirmed that they were cancelling all their afternoon shows.
So, Krosa was a fun and scary experience. Countless trees uprooted, bikes and scooters toppled over, flipped umbrellas, and even wooden panels dropping from tall heights. It was something more comparable to the mayhem you see on TV when a hurricane hits the Southeastern US States, but without the palm trees. In fact, we were in a taxi, and one girl crazy enough to be out scootering was blown in front of our car forcing the driver to break rapidly. Fortunately no one got hurt.
However, unfortunately Krosa came with bad timing. We got no typhoon holiday out of it, and it ruined a perfectly good weekend. But at least I got to experience the wrath of nature.
October 09, 2007
October 02, 2007
Childhood Memories (Part 1)
I just finished reading Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, which is apparently "Now a Major Motion Picture".
While reading Augusten recount his childhood tales, it reminded me of some of things I did as a young child. No, I didn't live nearly as crazy a life as his book describes, and I'm not gay and I didn't walk in on the Minister's wife going down on my poet mom. But this book kind of reminds me of how silly an adolescent's logic is and their way of thinking.
So, I've decided to write a few short memories from my long-forgotten childhood. Hopefully my family will forgive me for the wrong I'd caused, even if they didn't know about it until now.
Story ONE:
My first memory conjured up by Running with Scissors brings me back to Grade 3. Mrs. Travis's class. She had a young student teacher teaching some classes here and there. I don't remember her name now, but I'm sure it's for the better. Anyway, in my innocent 8-year old eyes, I almost loved her. She was a doll. A really pretty blond and the kindest human - particularly when standing next to a jagged Mrs. Travis. And I guess the reason I most fondly remember her was because of one day when she wore a summer dress. That day, when she bent over to speak to me, her dress collar hung down exposing her naked bosom for a young mind to absorb. Remarkable. Well, truth be told, I don't remember if she was wearing a bra or not. But for an 8-year old kid, seeing a woman's bare breast or seeing her bra is equally fantastic. Though if my memory serves me right (or maybe I only choose to remember what I please), she let them fall naturally. God bless student teachers.
While reading Augusten recount his childhood tales, it reminded me of some of things I did as a young child. No, I didn't live nearly as crazy a life as his book describes, and I'm not gay and I didn't walk in on the Minister's wife going down on my poet mom. But this book kind of reminds me of how silly an adolescent's logic is and their way of thinking.
So, I've decided to write a few short memories from my long-forgotten childhood. Hopefully my family will forgive me for the wrong I'd caused, even if they didn't know about it until now.
Story ONE:
My first memory conjured up by Running with Scissors brings me back to Grade 3. Mrs. Travis's class. She had a young student teacher teaching some classes here and there. I don't remember her name now, but I'm sure it's for the better. Anyway, in my innocent 8-year old eyes, I almost loved her. She was a doll. A really pretty blond and the kindest human - particularly when standing next to a jagged Mrs. Travis. And I guess the reason I most fondly remember her was because of one day when she wore a summer dress. That day, when she bent over to speak to me, her dress collar hung down exposing her naked bosom for a young mind to absorb. Remarkable. Well, truth be told, I don't remember if she was wearing a bra or not. But for an 8-year old kid, seeing a woman's bare breast or seeing her bra is equally fantastic. Though if my memory serves me right (or maybe I only choose to remember what I please), she let them fall naturally. God bless student teachers.
September 30, 2007
Cough. Burp. Who is that?
Do you think you can tell who a person is by the sound of his/her cough or burp?
For example, if you're sitting on the john at work and someone walks in, and without seeing the person or hearing him/her speak, can you tell who it is if s/he cough, burps, or sneezes?
For example, if you're sitting on the john at work and someone walks in, and without seeing the person or hearing him/her speak, can you tell who it is if s/he cough, burps, or sneezes?
Dodge This!
Been off blogging lately because I've been too busy. Well, my readers have been too busy too, giving birth to babies and what not. But in the meantime, I've still been coming up with blog topics.
This past Wednesday, we had a company dodgeball tournament.
In Taiwan, dodgeball is a common game on schoolgrounds much like it was for me in Canada, but with a different set of rules.
The rules I knew as a kid were something like this:
- The game started with either a number of balls laying along a center line which both teams race to gather after a 1-2-3 Go! or with each team starting with the same number of balls
- If you get hit, you go into a zone behind your enemy's territory and can throw the ball from there
- If you catch a ball before it hits the ground, then one of your "dead" can come back in to play
The common rules in Taiwan are more like this:
- Each team starts with members in the "in play" area, and is surrounded on 3 sides by members of the opposite team
- There is only one ball in play
- If someone in the surrounding area knocks out a player, s/he can go into the "in play" area for his/her team
- Catching a ball doesn't result in your team member coming back from the dead
So, in the small area of a basketball half-court, we squeezed in two teams of 20, and whipped around a yoga exercise ball.
Made from thick rubber, a yoga ball is pretty heavy - and guarantees injury. I threw out a few people, but on one throw (which managed to kill an opponent) my arm came at a strange angle and resulted in a minor dislocation of my shoulder. Well, it was more of a subluxation - a partial dislocation. So now I have two bad shoulders, and I'm getting treatment from my physiotherapist now. Sigh.
But that injury was far from being the worst of the night. One coworker took the ball in the face, shattering his glasses. I wasn't playing in that game, so I didn't see the hit; but I saw that there was blood running down his face, with glass shards caught in and around his eye. So, he was taken to the hospital. Over the next couple of days, I heard he had surgery on his eye. Apparently the pressure from the hit might have busted up his eye a little, and now he can't work for a month, as they pay attention to the recovery to see if everything went smoothly.
This past Wednesday, we had a company dodgeball tournament.
In Taiwan, dodgeball is a common game on schoolgrounds much like it was for me in Canada, but with a different set of rules.
The rules I knew as a kid were something like this:
- The game started with either a number of balls laying along a center line which both teams race to gather after a 1-2-3 Go! or with each team starting with the same number of balls
- If you get hit, you go into a zone behind your enemy's territory and can throw the ball from there
- If you catch a ball before it hits the ground, then one of your "dead" can come back in to play
The common rules in Taiwan are more like this:
- Each team starts with members in the "in play" area, and is surrounded on 3 sides by members of the opposite team
- There is only one ball in play
- If someone in the surrounding area knocks out a player, s/he can go into the "in play" area for his/her team
- Catching a ball doesn't result in your team member coming back from the dead
So, in the small area of a basketball half-court, we squeezed in two teams of 20, and whipped around a yoga exercise ball.
Made from thick rubber, a yoga ball is pretty heavy - and guarantees injury. I threw out a few people, but on one throw (which managed to kill an opponent) my arm came at a strange angle and resulted in a minor dislocation of my shoulder. Well, it was more of a subluxation - a partial dislocation. So now I have two bad shoulders, and I'm getting treatment from my physiotherapist now. Sigh.
But that injury was far from being the worst of the night. One coworker took the ball in the face, shattering his glasses. I wasn't playing in that game, so I didn't see the hit; but I saw that there was blood running down his face, with glass shards caught in and around his eye. So, he was taken to the hospital. Over the next couple of days, I heard he had surgery on his eye. Apparently the pressure from the hit might have busted up his eye a little, and now he can't work for a month, as they pay attention to the recovery to see if everything went smoothly.
September 18, 2007
Done in Japan
[Wrote this on Sunday]
This morning, I spent about 1 hour walking around Akihabara (30 mins of which the stores weren't open yet). Akihabara appears to be a mix between two industries: computers/electronics and comics/Manga/anime/and associated porn/etc. The fact that the latter is such a big market here is kind of scary. Apparently there are places that people (men.) can go to "rent" and have sex with life-sized dolls dressed in nurse or schoolgirl uniforms. I found a few blogs/websites describing that.
I like that a lot of hotels and airports have switched to providing free Internet service instead of requiring you to purchase credit or pay for a 24 hours. Unfortunately, Japan's Narita airport still charges, and it's rather annoying. So I'm doing without Internet while I write this.
In terms of Japanese Yen spent, I just did the calculations, and they're beautiful. I exchanged 35,000 yen, and AC gave me another 2,000 yen that she had left over. When I arrived at the airport, I went to a duty free shop to get rid of my leftover change (228 yen). After not seeing anything on the shelves, I finally found something sitting on at the register; a 228 yen cake thingy. Perfect.
Adding up all the cash expenses I incurred on this trip, the total comes to a gorgeous 30,000 yen. On top of that, I split up my expenses and the company's expenses. I spent exactly 23,000 yen. Nice numbers.
I only took about 47 pictures, and 11 were in the Taiwan airport. So, I didn't spend much time seeing anything new. Hmmm... Tokyo gets old pretty quick. Hehe...
Ok, survey for anyone who read this far. On the plane, your meal consists of cold noodles, seafood curry on rice, apple slices, and cake. You are given chopsticks, a small spoon, a small fork, a knife, and a toothpick. What do you use to eat what? Just curious.
This morning, I spent about 1 hour walking around Akihabara (30 mins of which the stores weren't open yet). Akihabara appears to be a mix between two industries: computers/electronics and comics/Manga/anime/and associated porn/etc. The fact that the latter is such a big market here is kind of scary. Apparently there are places that people (men.) can go to "rent" and have sex with life-sized dolls dressed in nurse or schoolgirl uniforms. I found a few blogs/websites describing that.
I like that a lot of hotels and airports have switched to providing free Internet service instead of requiring you to purchase credit or pay for a 24 hours. Unfortunately, Japan's Narita airport still charges, and it's rather annoying. So I'm doing without Internet while I write this.
In terms of Japanese Yen spent, I just did the calculations, and they're beautiful. I exchanged 35,000 yen, and AC gave me another 2,000 yen that she had left over. When I arrived at the airport, I went to a duty free shop to get rid of my leftover change (228 yen). After not seeing anything on the shelves, I finally found something sitting on at the register; a 228 yen cake thingy. Perfect.
Adding up all the cash expenses I incurred on this trip, the total comes to a gorgeous 30,000 yen. On top of that, I split up my expenses and the company's expenses. I spent exactly 23,000 yen. Nice numbers.
I only took about 47 pictures, and 11 were in the Taiwan airport. So, I didn't spend much time seeing anything new. Hmmm... Tokyo gets old pretty quick. Hehe...
Ok, survey for anyone who read this far. On the plane, your meal consists of cold noodles, seafood curry on rice, apple slices, and cake. You are given chopsticks, a small spoon, a small fork, a knife, and a toothpick. What do you use to eat what? Just curious.
September 14, 2007
Boring.
Wrap of up Day 3. Overall a pretty boring day. I overslept in the morning, but still managed to get ready in about 10 mins to get a taxi from Shin Yokohoma to Shinigawa Tokyo. The conference I was attending, which was all in Japanese, was rather uneventful. A very small conference in which I took pretty much no part. But I brought the hardware we were demoing, and that was my job.
Throughout the day, I did a bit of work, watched some shows on my computer, MSNed, and made use of the free drinks. We packed up and left before 6pm. Dropped my stuff off at my hotel in Akihabara, went to an English pub for Steak Pie, and came back.
This is probably the smallest room I've stayed at -- although a Hong Kong hotel (Imperial Hotel, I think it was called) might contend for that title. But it's surprising how efficiently they use this tiny space. I have a single bed, a small flat-screen TV, a hot plate built into the desk, internet, a radio, a phone, a few lamps, hair-dryer, little flashlight, little closet, little washroom, enough outlets to charge my few electronics, and that's pretty much all I need. $7,900 yen the first night, and $8,600 the second.
Though one interesting thing is that this is the first time I've been required to do a virus check before using the hotel internet.
Gotta sleep earlier tonight -- long day ahead of me. Of fun.
Throughout the day, I did a bit of work, watched some shows on my computer, MSNed, and made use of the free drinks. We packed up and left before 6pm. Dropped my stuff off at my hotel in Akihabara, went to an English pub for Steak Pie, and came back.
This is probably the smallest room I've stayed at -- although a Hong Kong hotel (Imperial Hotel, I think it was called) might contend for that title. But it's surprising how efficiently they use this tiny space. I have a single bed, a small flat-screen TV, a hot plate built into the desk, internet, a radio, a phone, a few lamps, hair-dryer, little flashlight, little closet, little washroom, enough outlets to charge my few electronics, and that's pretty much all I need. $7,900 yen the first night, and $8,600 the second.Though one interesting thing is that this is the first time I've been required to do a virus check before using the hotel internet.
Gotta sleep earlier tonight -- long day ahead of me. Of fun.
September 13, 2007
Uneventful
So far, a rather uneventful business trip. The hotel's right across from the office, which is nice. But the breakfast can definitely be much better... in fact, I missed breakfast this morning because I headed out too late (around 9:20am).
My CEO and I went out for lunch today: some sushi near the office. As we chatted, he said that it's safer to eat food in Japan than Taiwan or China (the 3 places he travels to most). This afternoon, he said he ate something bad - and his stomach was in terrible shape. So he went back to the hotel. Fortunately, while we had the same lunch, I didn't feel that. Although now I feel kind of hungry. So I'm going for dinner.
My CEO and I went out for lunch today: some sushi near the office. As we chatted, he said that it's safer to eat food in Japan than Taiwan or China (the 3 places he travels to most). This afternoon, he said he ate something bad - and his stomach was in terrible shape. So he went back to the hotel. Fortunately, while we had the same lunch, I didn't feel that. Although now I feel kind of hungry. So I'm going for dinner.
September 12, 2007
Buddha Air
Arrived in Japan yesterday, got soaked in Tokyo, had dinner with SFU Engineer and friend BC, and settled in at my hotel at Shin Yokohama. A few observations and stories from the day's travel:
- Why is it that whenever I go to the airport in Taiwan, I see Buddhist monks? You don't see that many monks around Taiwan, but yet they convene in airports.
- I took the Hello Kitty flight. It was SERIOUSLY Hello Kitty. The waiting room was completely decked out in HK (Hello Kitty) - not just a few items, but completely renovated. I'll post a picture on this posting shortly. When we boarded the plane, all the personalized LCDs were showing HK with accompanying song over the loadspeaker. Our meals had Hello Kitty decorations and ice cream.
- Tokyo is the New York of Asia. Everyone dresses sharp and walks fast.
- My hotel room is small. Only a little larger than the double-sized bed. But it comes with a pants press - a large flat electric device that opens like a laptop and you put your pants in. Neato... but really rather useless. I'd rather they gave me an iron and ironing board so I could do my shirts too.
- Travel is almost always a sweaty affair for me. Just lugging around luggage. If it's hot out, I'm bound to sweat. If it's cold out, I'm probably wearing more layers and then I get hot, so I'm bound to sweat.
Anyway, the worst of the travel is over. The hardware I brought to Japan works, and now I can spend time doing the same stuff I would have if I were in Taiwan.
- Why is it that whenever I go to the airport in Taiwan, I see Buddhist monks? You don't see that many monks around Taiwan, but yet they convene in airports.
- I took the Hello Kitty flight. It was SERIOUSLY Hello Kitty. The waiting room was completely decked out in HK (Hello Kitty) - not just a few items, but completely renovated. I'll post a picture on this posting shortly. When we boarded the plane, all the personalized LCDs were showing HK with accompanying song over the loadspeaker. Our meals had Hello Kitty decorations and ice cream.
- Tokyo is the New York of Asia. Everyone dresses sharp and walks fast.
- My hotel room is small. Only a little larger than the double-sized bed. But it comes with a pants press - a large flat electric device that opens like a laptop and you put your pants in. Neato... but really rather useless. I'd rather they gave me an iron and ironing board so I could do my shirts too.
- Travel is almost always a sweaty affair for me. Just lugging around luggage. If it's hot out, I'm bound to sweat. If it's cold out, I'm probably wearing more layers and then I get hot, so I'm bound to sweat.
Anyway, the worst of the travel is over. The hardware I brought to Japan works, and now I can spend time doing the same stuff I would have if I were in Taiwan.
September 11, 2007
Bring it, Bin Laden...
This day marks the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US.
It's also the day I fly out to Japan for a business trip to Shin Yokohama and Tokyo.
After spending 6 days in Tokyo earlier this year, I'm not sure what else to visit on the 1.5 days personal days. Last time I went, I had 2 friends there to see and hang out with. This time, I'm going solo.
What to do, what to do.
It's also the day I fly out to Japan for a business trip to Shin Yokohama and Tokyo.
After spending 6 days in Tokyo earlier this year, I'm not sure what else to visit on the 1.5 days personal days. Last time I went, I had 2 friends there to see and hang out with. This time, I'm going solo.
What to do, what to do.
yawn.
Last night, a rerun of MythBusters tested whether or not yawning is contagious. Without watching the show, my gut feeling is that it is. But I think it's even more than just yawning because you see someone else yawn. From my experience, yawning can be caused simply by thinking about yawning.
For example, maybe while reading this blog, you yawned. Maybe if someone talks about yawning, you yawn. Maybe if, you thought about a yawn in the back of your mind, and... you yawned! This is just my observation.
What do you think?
For example, maybe while reading this blog, you yawned. Maybe if someone talks about yawning, you yawn. Maybe if, you thought about a yawn in the back of your mind, and... you yawned! This is just my observation.
What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
