I'm planning to sell my bicycle and buy one of those newfangled folding bikes. Actually, I've been planning to sell it for like 4 months but I've been too lazy to get off my ass and do anything. First I have to wash and prep the bicycle, then I have to take pictures of it, then I have to print out flyers, then I have to post up flyers everywhere. It's not helping that i think the bike is only worth $5000 NT which is only like $165 USD which isn't much of a motivation.
So anyways, I finally got to washing my bike on Saturday. Decided to go downstairs to the riverside park for a short easy ride to make sure everything is working okay. About 20 minutes into the ride, I pass some older looking guy, i'm guessing 50-60 years old. Then about 2-3 minutes later, he passes me back. At that point I was at nice-easy-ride speed. So I turned it up a notch and repassed him thinking that was the last I'd see of him.
A few minutes later, he flies past me. I mutter to myself "oh no you didn't old man." So I turn it up another notch but all I can do is follow him because there's too many other bicyclists and I can't pass. When traffic clears up I pick up the pace and pass him. I go pretty much as fast as I can for 5 minutes, never looking back, then i slow it down slightly when I'm confident that the old man is given up.
He still caught up and passed me! Except this time he was breathing much louder and sweating noticeably more. You could tell he was tired. If I was a bigger man I would've just let him win and give up. Let him have the satisfaction of beating me. . . but nope. I passed him again and I went as fast as I possibly could go. I was surprised I had anything left. I eventually slowed down and looked back about 5 minutes later and I couldn't see him anymore.
It felt good until I realized the following three things.
1. I'm slightly nauseous from riding so hard.
2. I only barely outran someone that's old enough to be my father.
3. I rode so far, I didn't know where I was anymore.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Go-Karts Round 2
From my last post about Hooters, I joked about breaking my hip:
Yesterday, some friends and I decided to head back to the go-kart track that we went earlier in the year. Weather was perfect and we had a lot of good racing. Most of the people in the group didn't go with us last time so the first time around I lapped everyone like twice. But by the third session, huge improvement by everyone. I couldn't lap anyone and was even passed a few times.
This is probably why my hip doesn't feel so great today. On the last session of the day, since everyone was more consistent and competitive, we were spending much more time side by side. Coming into the hairpin turn we had three people going for the apex at pretty much the same time. I had a feeling this wasn't going to turn out well.
The first person that reaches the apex loses his rear end and does a 180 spin and comes to a stop in the middle of the corner exit. By that time I've already committed to taking the inside line since I have another car directly to the right of me. I slow down as much as I can but it's too late. BOOM!
Ouch. . . and then I see my friend who took the outside line speed away, waving his hand as to say "Cya!" to the both of us. What a great friend! I know who's gonna get brake checked the next time he's behind me.
I have bruises on my elbow, my ribs, and my hip. My whole upper body is sore and I'll probably walking with a slight limp for at least a week.
But looking forward to the next time we go back.
I won't joke about that stuff again. I think I got my hip knocked loose on the go-kart track.
Yesterday, some friends and I decided to head back to the go-kart track that we went earlier in the year. Weather was perfect and we had a lot of good racing. Most of the people in the group didn't go with us last time so the first time around I lapped everyone like twice. But by the third session, huge improvement by everyone. I couldn't lap anyone and was even passed a few times.
This is probably why my hip doesn't feel so great today. On the last session of the day, since everyone was more consistent and competitive, we were spending much more time side by side. Coming into the hairpin turn we had three people going for the apex at pretty much the same time. I had a feeling this wasn't going to turn out well.
The first person that reaches the apex loses his rear end and does a 180 spin and comes to a stop in the middle of the corner exit. By that time I've already committed to taking the inside line since I have another car directly to the right of me. I slow down as much as I can but it's too late. BOOM!
Ouch. . . and then I see my friend who took the outside line speed away, waving his hand as to say "Cya!" to the both of us. What a great friend! I know who's gonna get brake checked the next time he's behind me.
I have bruises on my elbow, my ribs, and my hip. My whole upper body is sore and I'll probably walking with a slight limp for at least a week.
But looking forward to the next time we go back.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Hooters
Hooters. . . to me it's about as American as apple pie or baseball or NASCAR. So it's kinda funny that I lost my Hooters virginity in Taipei of all places. It's not that there weren't any Hooters around when I was in the the US. I remember in college there was a Hooters about 5 minutes from campus. I guess it was probably just a combination of a lack of interest on my part and the fact that I usually hung out with groups that usually consisted of more girls than guys.
What can I say, I have a strict "no sausage-fest" policy when it comes to social outings.
I'm kidding. . .
. . . for the most part.
So a friend was about to leave Taiwan and return to the States. Wanted to arrange a going away get-together. None of my friends could pick a place. . . the requirements was that it had to be open late on a weekday, serve food and drinks, and not be too far from everyone. We went to TGI Friday's a few days earlier so that was out. It was surprisingly hard to think of somewhere else. I ended up choosing Hooters. In hindsight, it seems kind of stupid to have a get together at Hooters for someone who'll be returning to the US. Kinda like taking someone to Macaroni Grill right before they leave for Italy. Lesson learned. It'll be stinky tofu and Taiwan Beer for the next person that leaves Taiwan.
Anyways, so how was the Hooters "experience" you ask?
The buffalo wings were pretty good but the entrees were bleh. I'm not much of a beer guy so I won't comment on the beer. Actually, I can't even remember what kind of beer I had. The waitress for our table sounded like Joey's manager, Estelle from Friend's. . . so sad that I instantly remember some random character from a long canceled sitcom yet sometimes I can't even remember what day it is. I'm getting old. My next post will probably be about me breaking my hip in the shower.
Back on topic. . . I'm guessing most people don't go to Hooters for the food or service, they go for the Hooters girls. They did a short performance. I'm guessing it's some kind of Hooters tradition? It involves two girls one cup. . . sorry, I mean two girls and about a thousand hula hoops. It was impressive how many hula hoops the girls could twirl simultaneously. I didn't know whether to applaud or take my dollar bills out. Then I realized I was in Taiwan and we don't have dollar bills. The smallest denomination paper currency is $100NT (equivalent to $3.10 USD). Way too much. . . so applaud I did.
Brief crappy camera phone video I took of the performance:
Hooters Taipei website: www.hooters.com.tw
What can I say, I have a strict "no sausage-fest" policy when it comes to social outings.
I'm kidding. . .
. . . for the most part.
So a friend was about to leave Taiwan and return to the States. Wanted to arrange a going away get-together. None of my friends could pick a place. . . the requirements was that it had to be open late on a weekday, serve food and drinks, and not be too far from everyone. We went to TGI Friday's a few days earlier so that was out. It was surprisingly hard to think of somewhere else. I ended up choosing Hooters. In hindsight, it seems kind of stupid to have a get together at Hooters for someone who'll be returning to the US. Kinda like taking someone to Macaroni Grill right before they leave for Italy. Lesson learned. It'll be stinky tofu and Taiwan Beer for the next person that leaves Taiwan.
Anyways, so how was the Hooters "experience" you ask?
The buffalo wings were pretty good but the entrees were bleh. I'm not much of a beer guy so I won't comment on the beer. Actually, I can't even remember what kind of beer I had. The waitress for our table sounded like Joey's manager, Estelle from Friend's. . . so sad that I instantly remember some random character from a long canceled sitcom yet sometimes I can't even remember what day it is. I'm getting old. My next post will probably be about me breaking my hip in the shower.
Back on topic. . . I'm guessing most people don't go to Hooters for the food or service, they go for the Hooters girls. They did a short performance. I'm guessing it's some kind of Hooters tradition? It involves two girls one cup. . . sorry, I mean two girls and about a thousand hula hoops. It was impressive how many hula hoops the girls could twirl simultaneously. I didn't know whether to applaud or take my dollar bills out. Then I realized I was in Taiwan and we don't have dollar bills. The smallest denomination paper currency is $100NT (equivalent to $3.10 USD). Way too much. . . so applaud I did.
Brief crappy camera phone video I took of the performance:
Hooters Taipei website: www.hooters.com.tw
Friday, July 11, 2008
Anyone remember that bug scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?
Just came back from lunch. While I was out it started raining like crazy. . . like "build a ship and load up thousands of animals" crazy. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring an umbrella. Unfortunately, umbrellas only protect you from rain when it's falling at a downward angle, which it usually does but today's rain was not so cooperative.
Because I do not like the idea of working for 6 hours in soaked pants I decided I would try to wait for the rain to turn from category 5 typhoon level to run-of-the-mill heavy thunderstorm level before I walked back to my office.
While waiting for the rain to stop I played with me cell phone to kill some time. A few minutes pass and then I feel a slight movement on my lower back. I didn't think much of it, I thought it was the wind or something. I continuing playing with my phone. A minute later I feel more movement except now on my upper back. . . now I'm thinking something isn't right. So I start jumping around and feeling the back of my shirt. And then the freakiest feeling in the world happened. . . something was trying to crawl into my hair! I freaked out and bent down and flicked whatever it was off of me. A humongous cockroach landed a few feet from a lady standing near me. I didn't even have to look to know it was humongous because I could feel the mass when I flicked it and it actually made a sound when it hit the ground.
The lady jumped away from the cockroach and then she looked at me and I looked at her for a second. We both had one of those "WTF just happened?" looks on our faces. Well, mine was more of a "Did a cockroach just crawl under my shirt, up my neck, and into my hair?" look. While hers was more like, "Did you just grab a giant cockroach from your hair and throw it at me?" look.
I pretended like I wasn't freaked out and I walked away. While I was walking I felt all over my back and hair to make sure there wasn't anything still on there. I did this for awhile, hard to get that feeling out of your mind. Ugh. . .
I'm thinking the heavy rain floods the crevices/sewers where roaches hide during the day. I'm guessing that's why I had my encounter today. Lesson learned. . .
#1: watch out for cockroaches during heavy downpours.
#2: stuff shirt into pants. . . always.
Watch the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (specifically the shot at the 1:52 mark):
Because I do not like the idea of working for 6 hours in soaked pants I decided I would try to wait for the rain to turn from category 5 typhoon level to run-of-the-mill heavy thunderstorm level before I walked back to my office.
While waiting for the rain to stop I played with me cell phone to kill some time. A few minutes pass and then I feel a slight movement on my lower back. I didn't think much of it, I thought it was the wind or something. I continuing playing with my phone. A minute later I feel more movement except now on my upper back. . . now I'm thinking something isn't right. So I start jumping around and feeling the back of my shirt. And then the freakiest feeling in the world happened. . . something was trying to crawl into my hair! I freaked out and bent down and flicked whatever it was off of me. A humongous cockroach landed a few feet from a lady standing near me. I didn't even have to look to know it was humongous because I could feel the mass when I flicked it and it actually made a sound when it hit the ground.
The lady jumped away from the cockroach and then she looked at me and I looked at her for a second. We both had one of those "WTF just happened?" looks on our faces. Well, mine was more of a "Did a cockroach just crawl under my shirt, up my neck, and into my hair?" look. While hers was more like, "Did you just grab a giant cockroach from your hair and throw it at me?" look.
I pretended like I wasn't freaked out and I walked away. While I was walking I felt all over my back and hair to make sure there wasn't anything still on there. I did this for awhile, hard to get that feeling out of your mind. Ugh. . .
I'm thinking the heavy rain floods the crevices/sewers where roaches hide during the day. I'm guessing that's why I had my encounter today. Lesson learned. . .
#1: watch out for cockroaches during heavy downpours.
#2: stuff shirt into pants. . . always.
Watch the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (specifically the shot at the 1:52 mark):
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Flight back from NY
I believe Ang Lee took the same flight as me, but i'm not 100% sure it was him. I only briefly saw a person that looked like him and his small entourage of people being escorted by China Airlines staff past the mass of people anxiously waiting in line to be stuffed into the economy section.
Side note: Why are people always in such a rush to get in the airplane? First of all, the last time I checked everyone has assigned seating. Secondly, it's an 18 hour flight. . . or 18 hour 10 minute flight for those lucky people that got on line early. . . way to go! 10 free minutes!
I thought I lucked out when I checked in, I got the last window seat available. After I get to my seat this chubby 10 or 11 year old kid wearing a straw cowboy hat, black t-shirt, shorts, and orange crocs shoes sits next to me. His parents nowhere to be found. Great!
He had the worst case of ADD imaginable. I'm not kidding, he couldn't sit still for 2 seconds.
I had to tell him twice to stop bumping his elbow into me and stop shaking the seat. While we were waiting to takeoff he was simultaneously watching the safety video, looking out the window, and flipping through the airline magazine. He'd look at the TV for one second then out the window for one second then back to TV then to magazine then to window then to TV etc etc etc. . . And when I say flipping through the magazine I mean strictly flipping through the magazine, he didn't even look at most of the pages before he flipped to the next page.
At this point, I'm thinking, this is going to be a long flight. That's when he looked around for a second and then put his hand down his pants and scratched/grabbed/molested his private parts. That's not the worst of it, right afterwards he'd pick his nose with the same hand and bite his nails.
That was it. . . GAME OVER. I'm out. I'm not sitting with this kid for 18 hours.
This kid had absolutely no clue on what socially acceptable behavior is. What kind of parents don't teach their children how to behave in public? Then I thought probably the same kind that lets their 10 year old boy go on international flights alone with no adult supervision.
He played the testicle tug game two or three more times before the fasten seat belt light finally went out and I jumped to first empty seat I could find.
Then I started thinking, maybe this kid is really clever and he did this on purpose so he could get both seats all to himself.
Nope, when I looked back from my new seat a few minutes later the ADD kid was still ADD kid. The guy sitting directly in front of ADD kid had a really annoyed look on his face. Everytime the ADD kid moved or got up from his seat he'd shake the seat in front. So basically every 30 seconds. Good luck trying to sleep. . . hahahaha sucker, I got the last empty seat!
The rest of the 18 hour flight was uneventful, watched some crappy movies, food was pretty bad as usual, but the time passed by surprisingly quickly.
Was nice coming back to Taipei.
Side note: Why are people always in such a rush to get in the airplane? First of all, the last time I checked everyone has assigned seating. Secondly, it's an 18 hour flight. . . or 18 hour 10 minute flight for those lucky people that got on line early. . . way to go! 10 free minutes!
I thought I lucked out when I checked in, I got the last window seat available. After I get to my seat this chubby 10 or 11 year old kid wearing a straw cowboy hat, black t-shirt, shorts, and orange crocs shoes sits next to me. His parents nowhere to be found. Great!
He had the worst case of ADD imaginable. I'm not kidding, he couldn't sit still for 2 seconds.
I had to tell him twice to stop bumping his elbow into me and stop shaking the seat. While we were waiting to takeoff he was simultaneously watching the safety video, looking out the window, and flipping through the airline magazine. He'd look at the TV for one second then out the window for one second then back to TV then to magazine then to window then to TV etc etc etc. . . And when I say flipping through the magazine I mean strictly flipping through the magazine, he didn't even look at most of the pages before he flipped to the next page.
At this point, I'm thinking, this is going to be a long flight. That's when he looked around for a second and then put his hand down his pants and scratched/grabbed/molested his private parts. That's not the worst of it, right afterwards he'd pick his nose with the same hand and bite his nails.
That was it. . . GAME OVER. I'm out. I'm not sitting with this kid for 18 hours.
This kid had absolutely no clue on what socially acceptable behavior is. What kind of parents don't teach their children how to behave in public? Then I thought probably the same kind that lets their 10 year old boy go on international flights alone with no adult supervision.
He played the testicle tug game two or three more times before the fasten seat belt light finally went out and I jumped to first empty seat I could find.
Then I started thinking, maybe this kid is really clever and he did this on purpose so he could get both seats all to himself.
Nope, when I looked back from my new seat a few minutes later the ADD kid was still ADD kid. The guy sitting directly in front of ADD kid had a really annoyed look on his face. Everytime the ADD kid moved or got up from his seat he'd shake the seat in front. So basically every 30 seconds. Good luck trying to sleep. . . hahahaha sucker, I got the last empty seat!
The rest of the 18 hour flight was uneventful, watched some crappy movies, food was pretty bad as usual, but the time passed by surprisingly quickly.
Was nice coming back to Taipei.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Inspirational Story
I saw this on Digg earlier today, usually i don't post stuff like this but I thought this was really interesting. . .
Some guy named Jamie Livingston decided to take one polaroid picture a day, everyday, to document his life. He did it for 18 years straight from March 31, 1979 to October 27, 1997. . . he died of cancer the next day on October 28, 1997.
Some of his friends decided to make a website where all 6000+ of his pictures can be viewed. Unfortunately it's down due to too much traffic.
Here's a link to a few of the polaroids (a little bit slow to load):
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131
Mostly same pictures minus a few. but much faster loading:
http://www.experienceproject.com/uw.php?e=224637
Here's a link to more background info:
http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.typepad.com/only_the_blog_knows_brook/2008/05/mental-floss-di.html
I've decided to try the same project as Livingston, take one picture a day everyday for as long as possible. . . hopefully skipping the getting cancer and dying part of the project.
Today's pic:
LOL, don't expect much. . . my life is not particularly photogenic, especially on weekdays.
Update 24-Dec-2008:
Results from my own attempt at this project.
Some guy named Jamie Livingston decided to take one polaroid picture a day, everyday, to document his life. He did it for 18 years straight from March 31, 1979 to October 27, 1997. . . he died of cancer the next day on October 28, 1997.
Some of his friends decided to make a website where all 6000+ of his pictures can be viewed. Unfortunately it's down due to too much traffic.
Here's a link to a few of the polaroids (a little bit slow to load):
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131
Mostly same pictures minus a few. but much faster loading:
http://www.experienceproject.com/uw.php?e=224637
Here's a link to more background info:
http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.typepad.com/only_the_blog_knows_brook/2008/05/mental-floss-di.html
I've decided to try the same project as Livingston, take one picture a day everyday for as long as possible. . . hopefully skipping the getting cancer and dying part of the project.
Today's pic:
LOL, don't expect much. . . my life is not particularly photogenic, especially on weekdays.
Update 24-Dec-2008:
Results from my own attempt at this project.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Suicide at 師大 (ShiDa)
I found out this morning that someone committed suicide yesterday at ShiDa. A young girl jumped off the top of the building where I go to class. . . about a 10 story fall. I overslept yesterday so I completely missed the whole thing. My classmate actually heard the sound of the impact and another classmate was able to get a closeup view of the rescue effort. . . well, more like cleanup effort.When my friend told me what happened, I was thinking to myself this doesn't make any sense to me. This happened at 8AM. . . why kill yourself so early? What's the rush? Why not get a few more hours of sleep and then jump off the building. That's the great thing about buildings, they don't go anywhere! And I think the weather was beautiful yesterday. . . It's always raining in Taipei, why kill yourself on a beautiful day? Suicidal people are weird.
On a side note, I've decided to take a break from school. Work has been really hectic recently and there's no sign of it letting up anytime soon. Plus I'll be in NY for two weeks in June. My plan is to get myself to learn the class material on my own and try to start reading newspapers. We'll see how that goes. . .
So, unfortunately, no more stories from school for at least the next few months.
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