A Meal For One - Photo Entry (Part II)

Title: A Meal For One

He misses her. The old man misses the 42 years of companionship, of memories, of life that was supposed to last forever. And so he sits in the shadows that hang over his loneliness, concealing the tears in his eyes. He has no thoughts. Just sadness.


Photo taken in Yokohama, Japan - January, 2007

Facade - Photo Entry (Part I)

As posted earlier, my entries came in second place in our company's photo contest. So, I thought I'd post a few here. These are my submissions under the category of "People". The judges said there would be extra points given to title and any added effort. So I wrote stories for each of my photos.

This first one is called "Facade".


Photo taken in Tokyo, Japan - January, 2007

Childhood Memories (Part 3)

Leaving some kids unsupervised for any amount of time can often lead to disaster. Looking back, I could have been one of those kids. But heck, I turned out alright.

One day during elementary school (I no longer recall how old I was anymore), I was alone at home. I had just filled an empty Danish butter cookies tin with water and put the lid on tightly. Who knows exactly why I was doing that, but kids with copious amounts of time on their hands tend to do strange things.

With a shared fascination with many kids my age, it seemed only appropriate to learn about fire by way of experimentation. So in the kitchen, I decided to light a piece of letter-sized paper on fire to watch it burn. Tipping the flame downwards, I managed to grow the fire to a mini blaze eating quickly away at the sheet. So large was this fire that I started to panic. Cleverly I thought "I'll just throw this away into the kitchen garbage." Our kitchen garbage was usually a plastic bag doubled in a large paper Safeway bag. So, I tossed the sheet of paper on top of the garbage, you know, hoping somehow the flame would miraculously extinguish.

Yet for some strange reason, the flame not only didn't get smaller, the garbage caught fire. Of course, I panicked even further. I couldn't get water from the sink to the garbage, so I did the next best thing - I got my Danish cookie container that I had filled with water not much earlier to pour its contents over the fire. But, with my fast-beating heart and my shaking hands, I couldn't manage the lid off the tin. So, I shook the sealed tin over the garbage, hoping water would gush out between the tin and its lid, putting an end to the inferno building in my parents' kitchen. Well, water did come out, but they only in mere drips. So with the same intelligence that got me into Engineering school, I ran to the washroom to grab my towel. "That's it, I'll blow the fire out."

Back in the kitchen with my towel, I frantically flapped my towel up and down vigorously at my new-found fireplace. And wouldn't you believe it... IT DIDN'T HELP. Finally, after the fire had incinerated the garbage bags down to the floor, it decided that I had learned enough of a lesson, and it didn't need to continue to burn the rest of the house down. It stopped.

Now I'm not sure how the rest of my day went from there on, but I'm sure I got into plenty of well-deserved sh!t from my folks. Maybe they'll remind me after they read this blog.

Naughty to Nice

I've been reading a few Marketing books recently, and I'm pretty sure this online commercial for Axe Vice is a good example of unnecessary spending of marketing dollars.

But it's a funny ad, and I might be inclined to try Axe Vice body spray or Axe Vice deodorant or Axe Vice shower gel.



In case the embedded link doesn't work, you can go directly to their site: The Axe Vice Naughty to Nice Program

Take a cold shower.

For a couple of months during the summer, I'd turned to taking cold showers. In July, I started swimming in the mornings before going to work. The rinsing shower at the outdoor pool uses cold water, although the pool water is pretty warm. I quickly realized how refreshing cool showers are on a warm day, and made the decision to turn off my hot water at home. So, while the weather was good enough over about 1.5 - 2 months time, I was only taking showers with un-warmed water. By "un-warmed water", I mean that I wasn't using water from the cold pipe, but water that's been sitting in my hot water tank (that I turned off) for the day.

So, my method of showering would be to start from the legs to get the body used to the temperature, up to the thighs, and then to the torso and head. Work better than standing under the shower head and pressing Go.

After a while, I found I didn't even like hot showers - although warm showers I could bare.

The weather has gotten cooler now (somehow even 23 degrees seems rather cool now), and I've gone back to taking warmer showers. But I would encourage anyone to try out cool showers (or at least to reduce the temperature of their shower water).

Give it a try.

Canadian on the Loose.

There's a Canadian that's been naughty in a couple of countries I've been to recently. Here's the story.

And guess who it is?
Homer Simpson.

Childhood Memories (Part 2)

We never had babysitters come to our house when we were growing up. Although when we were smaller, we would be taken to an auntie's house after school until our parents could pick us up after work.

So, when my parents were out of the house, I was usually left unsupervised - save by my brother and sister who probably didn't pay much attention to me. Dad and mom would lock their room door when they left the house, and it was probably a wise idea with mischievous kids like me. Unfortunately, wedging a folded piece of paper between the latch and the door frame is usually enough to successfully commit 'B&E for Kids'. Then I would go into their abandoned room, sit on the floor and watch TV (sometimes with a bowl of afternoon cereal). From time to time, I would fish for a few coins from the ring dish my mother used for her jewelry which also doubled as a loose change Petri. Other times, I would sleep in their bed.

The sound of an approaching car in the back driveway or the rumble of an opening garage door was my 2 minute warning for a getaway. Then I would tiptop towards the bedroom window which overlooked the driveway, and lift a corner of the window curtain, careful not to create too much movement which might give away my position. Once I had confirmed that the Eagle had in fact landed, I would take quick quiet strides towards the door, locking it and closing it on my way out -- cereal bowl in hand.

The most important element to burglary is not to leave a trace.

I would like to assure my parents (who read my blog) that I don't steal anymore, and that I'm sorry for the atrocities I've committed. Ummm... Ben told me to do it.

Competition is out of the Air

In late August, our company club competitions were just getting under way. A month and a half later, they are thankfully over with. So how did I fair?

Basketball Club
- 3-point shootout
Result: 2nd Place. I shot 10/15 from the arc in the preliminaries, and tied 8/15 in the finals, but lost in the tie-breaker.
- mixed (male/female) special event (just shooting)
Result: no placing.

Foosball Club
- Men's Competitive Singles
Result: 1st Place. No losses.
- Doubles
Result: 1st Place. No losses.
- 4's
Result: 1st Place. This was mainly just for fun.

Fitness Club
- Muscular Fitness (includes push-ups, chin-ups, benchpress, leg lifts, high-jump, bicep curls, and lat pulldowns)
Result: 1st Place. Won 5 of 7 events, and won overall.

Billiards
- 14-1
Result: no placing. Dropped out, because I didn't figure I'd do well. I don't play pool anyway.

Table Tennis
- Men's Competitive Singles
Result: no placing. Got CREAMED. No wins, 12 losses. Back to Recreational Singles next year.
- Doubles (not mixed doubles, but my partner was a female)
Result: 3rd Place.

Photography
- Scenery
Result: no placing.
- People
Result: 2nd Place.

Swimming
- Men's 100m Freestyle
Result: 1st Place. 50m in about 38 seconds.
- 400m Relay
Result: 1st Place.


So, tallied up, my results look like this:

Krosa

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.

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.