Since coming to Taiwan, I've been watching a lot of National Geographic and Discover channel. There are always shows with people catching and relocating crocodiles, or catching snakes for their venom. A few nights ago, I caught the second half of a show about a crocodile and snake handler explaining and showing footage of a few "oopsie" moments where he gets bitten. The last of such clips was when he was bitten by a cobra, and had to wait about 2 hours before paramedics were able to get an anti-venom to him while the snake's venom ate through his stomach wound making a hole in the flesh. Any longer and he would have died.

Anyway, I had a dream last night that I was handling snakes. Like most dreams, you never know how it got to be that way. But it didn't matter. There was a viper under my blanket (I wasn't under it), and it needed handling. I removed the blanket, and just avoided a quick strike by the reptile. Then, I cleverly did what any person in that situation would do: I copied the professionals. I held its head down by pressing a long object with a flat edge on the back of its neck. And then, I reached down to grab its head. Seen them do that on TV a million times. Sure, it was my first time, but what could go wrong?

Now, I reached down and took a hold of its head, and as I released a bit of pressure off the back of its neck, the darn thing manages to turn its head sideways and sink it's fangs into my hand. The weird thing is, I actually thought I felt the bite on my hand (in real life) and boy it was not fun! With its teeth still buried into my hand, I quickly panicked thinking about what I needed to do. The first smart thing was to flip out and try flinging the snake off me, and that didn't work. The toxins were working their way through my body, and I knew I was just waiting for death. My head felt woozy and I was only able to gather a few thoughts before it happened...

I woke up.

Perhaps I should stop watching these "educational" shows.

I haven't had time to put a new post up, so this one will just be a few short thoughts.

- Dane Cook's new CD, called Retaliation, will be coming out soon. March something, 2005. Can't wait.

- It's virtually impossible to look cool on a scooter. While in concept, scooters are similar to motorcycles, the image is far from it. I think it's the tight-pucker up-right sitting position.

- I haven't put any hair products in my hair before going to work since getting my scooter. There's no way to put gel in your hair, put on a scooter, and expect to have something stylish by the time you get to work. Unless the matted down look is in.

- I didn't get to play in a foosball tournament last month due to a flu, but I'm sure as heck going to go this weekend. The entry fee is 100nt, and the winner only gets a stupid medal, but I just want to see if I've still "got it". And we have Monday off in rememberance of 228 (Taiwanese history).

- I'm sick of Morgan Freeman's voice. I really liked him in Shawshank Redemption, and it's no doubt he's a great actor. But perhaps I've been seeing too many movies with him in them (Dreamcatcher, Bruce Almighty, and some others), and his voice is starting to annoy me.

- I got the email below from a coworker and found it humorous.

Hi Kevin,

At the end of the show, we usually shout out a word "ancho" to ask the performer to perform more if they are doing good. Do you know how to spell "ancho" correctly?

Thanks,
W_____

- I just caught Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl" music video on TV. I've seen it on a few times, but never really paid attention. Anyway, the video features a few Capoeiristas on the deck of the ship in the video. Neat stuff.

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!!

Since yesterday, three close friends have told me of their engagements (i.e. separate weddings). Add to that another one I heard about 2 weeks ago. You see, normally, you'd expect wedding engagements within a circle of friends (however far stretched) to spread over a bell curve. In this case, I think this would appear on a graph as an irregular spike (or glitch, some would say) up the middle.

Well, we're spreading the joy.

Congratulations to (in order of engagement, with wedding year in parentheses)...

LG & CT (2005)
RT & WW (2005)
VC & ? (2005)
SK & TB (2005)
MP & D (2005)
SW & B (2006)
MH & MS (2005)
CS & N (2006)

But there's a problem with this plan... I may not be able to attend any of them! Unless people are willing to cluster theirs together just for me. Com'on... you're willing, right? OR a group wedding! You know how group birthday parties are that much more fun? A group wedding would be out of this world. And you can share the costs! Share the band, share the banquet hall, share the minister! What a wonderful idea, Kevin .

Sigh... guess I gotta do my part and get myself closer groom status, right?

Anyway, congratulations to everyone.

The author is recovering from a flu.
Please check back again!

Selamat Datang!

Just 24 hours ago, my plane had landed in Taiwan after a fantastic five-day trip to Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia. It was a vacation the way I would have wanted a vacation to go. I had gotten over my fever by the end of the first day there, and was good to enjoy the high-20's to low-30's weather. Traveling with me were my cousin TC and her b/f BH. Here are the highlights:

Day 1: In our small group of 9 tourists and 1 group "leader" from the travel agency, we met with the Malaysia tour guide in Penang. The goal for the day was to get to Langkawi, which involved another 4 hours of busing and boating. Along the way was a trip across Asia's longest bridge (13.5km), and a stop at Eagle Square (Dataran Lang) where a massive eagle statue stands poised for flight. Langkawi actually means brown (kawi) eagle (lang). Our night ended with the 10 Taiwanese gathering in one hotel room for drinks, local snacks, card games, and some getting-to-know-you.

Day 2: To start the day, we took a boat to the Langkawi Coral, a catamaran from which we went snorkeling into clear tropical waters filled with a variety of fish. It wasn't until the last hour that we realized the best snorkeling was just a short ways away where we would snorkel with sharks. Now THAT was cool. That evening, we went to our second hotel resort. The resort was on a tsunami-affected island called Rebak, so the once-busy marina was empty, broken in places, and boats were lined up on the docks waiting to go back into the water. The tsunami did more than just take boats out of the water. We needed to change rooms a couple times that night because of some faulty electricity (which cause our room to smoke up), and non-working air conditioning. It was an interesting evening, that's for sure.

Day 3: The third day was mostly island hopping. One for its nice quiet beach (until the other tour groups arrived) and monkeys, another for more monkeys and some swimming, another to see a shallow cave, another for fishing, and a final for lunch. The rest of the day was spent at the resort.

Day 4: On this day, we returned to Penang, saw the Mahsuri Tomb (where a Princess unjustly accused of adultry was buried), went to two temples, to see the Seri Rambai Cannon (a 400+ year old cannon with much history) at Fort Cornwallis, drank Pepsi X (Energy Cola), bought dried lobster meat, had a bicycle rickshaw ride, and dinner in a revolving restaurant. That night, after check-in at our hotel, TC, BH, and I walked to a mall about 20 mins away to look for a Malaysia flag for me to buy as a souvenir. Unfortunately, I came away empty handed.

Day 5: Our final day was less eventful, including visits to a textiles shops, a pewter and leather factory, a tree or botanical garden, a herbal health foods (etc) shop, and the snake temple (which really didn't have that many snakes). Another 5 hour flight, and we were back in Taiwan.

Overall, I had a great time with TC and BH. I thought the food was good (maybe not always authentic Malay food), and the activities were eventful. I was surprised at how many people speak the "Ming Nan" (Fuken) language -- which is the same as the local language in Taiwan. Particularly in Langkawi and Penang, which are high in Chinese population. Things in Malaysia aren't that cheap - cheaper than Canada, but only about on par or just slightly cheaper than Taiwan. Imported things are much more expensive (brand name clothing and imported cars). I'm sure I will want to go back to Malaysia -> Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, and Singapore (ok, that's not in Malaysia).

I always had a problem knowing what to collect as souvenirs, and as pointed out earlier, I think I have found something. Country flags. I wanted to get one this trip, but couldn't find a large enough one on short notice. Unfortunately, that means I have a lot of previously-visited countries that I need to revisit. But now I'll start looking out for them.

Happy Chinese New Year.

Now I haven't had a severe illness in a long time. Each year, I would get my flu shots, and I would make it through the winters with only a two-day cold. Of course, the first year without a flu shot proves that they do help -- because now I'm stuck with a flu. The timing couldn't be worse, because I'm heading to Malaysia in under 4 days. The doctor said it can take anywhere from 3-5 days to overcome, and up to 1 week if it is more severe. Well, I've got my medication and I'll do my best to stick to the doctor's orders. Hopefully it'll pass before I head on vacation. Sigh...

"I don't get sick. Getting sick is ... is for weaklings. It's for pansies!"
- Monica Gellar, Friends episode 613

Ever just want to write ABOUT yourself? I don't mean a diary really, but more of an piece/paper/book about your philosophies, your character, your thought process, your goods, your bads, your everything. I've had this idea growing in my mind about who I am, what makes me tick, and why I do the things I do. It would be an interesting read, and may explain a lot to a lot of people trying to understanding me -- of course, it would be a personal work which means the only eyes that will fall on it are my own.

Over the last few weeks, after so many actions, my mind runs into this analytical mode, saying "blah blah blah... and that's why you punched him." It's actually rather interesting. There's nothing I don't know about myself, because I'm self-conscious enough to question my motives all the time -- but at the same time, I happy to know that I'm not kidding myself either.

Well, as much as I think it's a great idea, I know it would never work. I love coming up with these ideas, but because it's an on-going effort, I also know I would never be able to drive it to a satisfactory state of completion. Oh well... guess I'll just keep thinking about it then...

What a busy weekend!

Friday night, I got off work early (7pm) because we had to vacate the building for the annual disinfecting and carpet cleaning. Later, I gave my sister some scooter lessons in an abandoned street and a parking lot near my company where I knew there'd be no cars.

Saturday started with a lunch-time company year-end party (yeah, so my day starts at lunch... what about it??). Unfortunately, it was slow, long, and I didn't win any gift certificates. For what's considered a major event, I think it was pretty poorly organized. Or maybe just because I was bored sitting at my table, while others had their names or numbers drawn to participate in activities.

That evening, I headed to Taipei for a "Crazy Pink Party" I was invited to, whose theme was to wear pink. The invitee (not the organizee), is a friend of my brother's and some other mutual friends back in Vancouver. It was great though, and I got to meet a LOT of people who had spent a lot of their time in Vancouver, Toronto, or LA but were back in Taiwan working. A great opportunity to network in mainly English, which is what I've been talking about for the longest time. Since I didn't have any pink clothes, and I didn't want to not get with the theme, I bought some pink girls socks (which had some small light-blue flowers that matched the short-sleeved shirt I was wearing. I cut the ends off, and I pulled them up around the elbows, giving sort of an Allen Iverson armband effect. I thought it looked alright. Anyway, the reception was mixed. I think most people didn't really notice it. Some people thought it was original, others just thought I had something wrong with my arms like arthritis. So I took it off and tucked it aside. Maybe I should have just tied bands around my arms a la Ultimate Warrior. Anyway, I had a great time, and finally succeeded in meeting some people much more like myself.

Sunday, after my brain-splitting headache had just about gone away, I had lunch with my cousin, her hubby, and my aunts. Just some lunchboxes I bought, nothing really special. And then I was on the bus back to Hsinchu. That night, my sister and I had dinner with our dad's friend who works in the same Science and Technology park as us. And that capped off the weekend.

Exhausted by 8:30pm, I slept at 11:20pm -- probably the earliest I've slept in about 5 months. Back to the wonderful world of work! But still thinking about a good weekend...

Today is somewhat of an anniversary for me. It's been six months since my semi-permanent arrival in Taiwan - i.e. excludes the month I came for interviews last May/June. Hmmm... sentiments? I don't know. Life's possibilities just became a lot more interesting with the scooter... so it's hard to see where things will go from here. The past six months have been have been about getting used to my new environment, work, the people, the language, and the drop in friendly faces. But despite that, I'm still intrigued and excited (okay, maybe not daily). There's still a lot to look forward to... 5-days in Malaysia in February, another 4-5 days exploring Taiwan (not yet sure where I'm going to go).

Work has been very busy of late, but with the office closed this weekend for the annual sanitizing (delousing?), it'll make sure I don't find myself spending hours there. Besides, the biggest company party of the year is this Saturday, as we have our company (Lunar) year-end party. I'm in it for the meal, the guaranteed 2000nt gift-certificate, and a chance to go for the 100,000nt grand prize! Traditionally, the year-end party (尾牙) also included someone getting fired, based on performance. They would place a cooked chicken on the table, and whomever the head pointed to, would be out of a job. Nowadays, they either point the head away from anyone or just remove it completely. Probably better. Who wants to see a dead chicken head while eating lunch anyway?

Guess what?!? I finally bought my scooter!!

The wait for an appropriate secondhand scooter was more than I could bare, so after some consideration, I decided to buy a new scooter instead. The tradeoffs are easily listed:

- Scooters get banged up a LOT. People generally don't care about their scooters too much, and crowded side-by-side parking results in scratches, dents, and more. Less to care about if you buy 2nd hand.
- 2nd hand scooters are cheaper, obviously. And for a casual rider like myself, this might be better.
- New scooters are extremely susceptible to theft, especially the models popular in China (which is where they usually end up)
- 2nd hands always have a question of reliability - people don't take care of their vehicles, resulting in reduced performance in as little as 2 years. And you can't trust 2nd hand dealers, because many of them will switch out good parts for older parts.

Anyway, after I started looking, it took two days to finalize the deal. I visited four stores/shops, and came across a decent scooter at a good price, about 10% cheaper than the other stores. Mainly because it was a "new old scooter", i.e. it had been "bought" or put under someone's name, but had never been driven. This is a tactic used by some dealerships to increase sales numbers. To me, it's all about the same, just cheaper.

I got a SYM 高手125 X-Pro. In FACT, coincidentally, in my Dec 5th blog, I based my original scooter on this model. Just a coinkidink.

To me, and any new scooter owner, theft is a major issue. In Taiwan, some 55% of new scooters get stolen. Unfortunately, it sounds like there is very little that can be done about it. Even with multiple locks, it doesn't stop someone from loading it onto a truck and leaving with it. In spite of it, here are theft prevention:

All scooters...
- ...have a handle bar lock. You turn the handlebars to the left, turn the key in the ignition all the way to the left, and then the handlebars are locked in that position.
- ...come with a U shaped lock. Same as the locks used on bicycles. The guy who sold me the scooter told me that he's tried breaking that lock, and he can't.
- ...are bound to get dirty, and this in itself is valuable. I've been told to never wash my scooter. Guess I won't bother waxing it either.

This model...
- ...has an extra hexagon groove next to the key ignition, which when turned slides a metal piece over the keyhole to prevent prying.

My scooter...
- ...has an added "button lock", which means you need to press a certain button before the ignition will start. It can be a left or right turn signal, highbeam, etc.

And that's about it! I took the scooter out into town, did some shopping yesterday, and had a great time! I love having a vehicle, and I guess I'm already wondering how I survived without it. Finally, acceleration doesn't require pedaling faster.