It's been a busy week here, but I'll just give a quick update.
I've passed my 3-month probation at work, and that's a good thing. Not that there was ever any doubt, but it was still a hurdle and now the opportunities of getting fired are slimmer. I celebrated by getting myself a landline for my apartment. It was installed today, and I tested it with a dial-up connection to a free ISP. I'll go buy me a simple phone over the weekend, and that will be that. Since then, I've been looking at Skype as an alternative for making long distance calls, and not just for free PC-to-PC chats. They have some very good rates on PC-to-PSTN calls, so I might have to look into that a little more.
Halloween is among us... even here in Asia. In recent years, halloween costumes have made their way to store owners around this country. This morning, my worker's son's kindergarden class came to our company and had a little "sing-a-song" performance all made up in their costumes. He (the son) attends an American-Immersion kindergarden class, so that might be a reason they got to celebrate. But it's becoming a little more common for trick-or-treating, although still not widely followed. Kids can go trick-or-treating under supervision, but they're usually taken along a predetermined and pre-agreed path. In other words, the stores or companies or homes (?) that the kids visit are aware that these kids will be coming. I guess it's still not safe to be knocking at some stranger's door, or having strangers knock at your door.
I am missing an opportunity to be a groomsman in a wedding next year, but we'll make up for it by making me the Best Man at a wedding at the end of this year. The role of a Best Man in Taiwanese weddings appear to be much less demanding than those for western weddings. I don't even have to make a speech! Whew. There's much for me to learn about Taiwanese weddings, but one thing I've learned is that things move along much quicker. It's preferred that the time between engagement to wedding be as short as possible. While weddings in the western world take a good year to prepare for, weddings here should take place within 2 months of engagement. However, they're only half-day events here, and not nearly as stressful. Should be fun.
-- new --
Oo Oo! I just got a letter from BT! A Happy Halloween card. Perfect timing because if I got it 1 hr later, I would have received it after Halloween! Thanks BT! But with $5, $10, $5, $10000, $10000, $10, and a "Happy Halloween", my Cash O'Lantern Scratch n' Win was a no winner for me. Guess I'll just keep working hard at this job I have and await the next Scratch n' Win to bring me home to Canada.
October 29, 2004
October 21, 2004
Random thoughts from various days...
Tropical weather is so completely unpredictable that Yahoo's online weather forecast can't even keep up to the day. While yesterday was sun sun sun, and today's Yahoo forecast calls for cloud over the next few days, one can be drenched in under 10 seconds standing outside.
Yesterday was the first time in 2+ years for me to wear an Iron Ring. My sister brought my replacement after I had lost my original, and this one fits a little better -- perhaps because of the warmer weather. I think this ring bares a little more meaning here away from Canada than it did back home.
It's been a year since playing in any tournaments, so I have a feeling I'm going to lose my foosball ranking soon. See here. I've already been taken off all other charts. :( But I'm still on this list. Sigh... too bad I couldn't play more. I think I had potential. Even Moya was shocked by my ability to unleash from the back 2-bar. Oh well.
For the person who doesn't care about good quality photos but loves neat gadgets: 007 Digital Camera
I saw a huge snail this morning, and it was unlike any other I had seen. It's body was some 3" - 4", and it had a spiral shell that spun into a cone (as opposed to the more rounded ones found on the backs of garden snails in Canada). At the fattest part of the shell, it was probably 2" in diameter. Any bigger and you would have wanted to pick it up to hear the sea... but you'd be disappointed because there'd be no sea... just snail slime dripping into your ear.
On my way home last night at 1am, I counted four dogs sleeping in the streets. It's kind of odd to see this, because in Canada we have laws obliging owners to keep their dogs on a leash. Hard to say whether these were strays or owned. You walk right past them, and they pay no mind to you. It was when I got closer to home that a dog on a leash scared the sh.t out of me barking, jumping, and growling. Thank god that dog was tied up.
My cousin had a baby girl today. Yay for me who gets to play with her and send her back to mommy for poopy clean-up.
Tropical weather is so completely unpredictable that Yahoo's online weather forecast can't even keep up to the day. While yesterday was sun sun sun, and today's Yahoo forecast calls for cloud over the next few days, one can be drenched in under 10 seconds standing outside.
Yesterday was the first time in 2+ years for me to wear an Iron Ring. My sister brought my replacement after I had lost my original, and this one fits a little better -- perhaps because of the warmer weather. I think this ring bares a little more meaning here away from Canada than it did back home.
It's been a year since playing in any tournaments, so I have a feeling I'm going to lose my foosball ranking soon. See here. I've already been taken off all other charts. :( But I'm still on this list. Sigh... too bad I couldn't play more. I think I had potential. Even Moya was shocked by my ability to unleash from the back 2-bar. Oh well.
For the person who doesn't care about good quality photos but loves neat gadgets: 007 Digital Camera
I saw a huge snail this morning, and it was unlike any other I had seen. It's body was some 3" - 4", and it had a spiral shell that spun into a cone (as opposed to the more rounded ones found on the backs of garden snails in Canada). At the fattest part of the shell, it was probably 2" in diameter. Any bigger and you would have wanted to pick it up to hear the sea... but you'd be disappointed because there'd be no sea... just snail slime dripping into your ear.
On my way home last night at 1am, I counted four dogs sleeping in the streets. It's kind of odd to see this, because in Canada we have laws obliging owners to keep their dogs on a leash. Hard to say whether these were strays or owned. You walk right past them, and they pay no mind to you. It was when I got closer to home that a dog on a leash scared the sh.t out of me barking, jumping, and growling. Thank god that dog was tied up.
My cousin had a baby girl today. Yay for me who gets to play with her and send her back to mommy for poopy clean-up.
October 15, 2004
My friend Jasper had an interesting story to relay to me over MSN. Here it is:
=============================
well, I left work at just before 2PM...I had been feeling nauseous all day, so I left. My boss was totally fine with it....I hadn't missed a day of work since I started a year ago this week (how fitting).
so...I'm 4 blocks away, so I was walking back and decided to go into Future Shop really quickly to buy a DVD I was thinking of picking up.....I was there a few days ago and thought it would be good to have something to watch since I was sick...totally innocent intentions. (home is 4 blocks away from work, Future Shop is on the way)
So...I'm looking through the DVDs for a minute and then I turn a corner and MY BOSS is standing there looking at DVDs.
I'm thinking....oh shit...this will not look good, no matter what, even though I really am sick and on my way home...there's no way to make it look good....so I turned around and walked the other way.
(he's done at 2PM, that's why he was there)
So....I walk around for a few minutes, waiting for him to leave and hoping to hell that he didn't see me and wondering what the hell to do.
so he leaves about 5 min later after I have been walking around.
Then...I decide to leave and just get the hell out of there before anything worse can happen (famous last words).
On my way out...I stop at the front DVD rack one more time, because I was thinking of buying Total Recall...that's why I was there. So I picked up the box one more time, looked at it, and then said...fuck it, I can't afford to spend money, and put it back and turned to leave.....
and then....it happened.
I turn around and one of the Future Shop guys is staring me down and he's like...."You are being watched"
I'm like..."Excuse me? I'm being watched?"
He's like..."Yes, you are being watched. Drop whatever you have and leave."
I'm like..."Um...want to search me? I have nothing. I was thinking of buying this DVD (that he saw me pick up and put back without stepping away from the rack) but I changed my mind."
He says, "Don't make a crime out of it"
(little does this guy know but I've spent like $2K in that store, including my FIRST computer that I bought from him like 7 years ago....how ironic)
At this point, I felt even more sick and just walked out very slowly, so they could see how non-suspicious I was.
The guy totally didn't believe me at all.
-----------------------------
Total Recall DVD... $13.99
Jasper's lost wages because of a stupid union agreement where he would've made more money by staying home all day and calling in sick....$50
Jasper almost getting caught by his boss for doing nothing and getting kicked out of Future Shop...priceless.
There are some things that money can buy. For everything else, there's Jasper.
=============================
well, I left work at just before 2PM...I had been feeling nauseous all day, so I left. My boss was totally fine with it....I hadn't missed a day of work since I started a year ago this week (how fitting).
so...I'm 4 blocks away, so I was walking back and decided to go into Future Shop really quickly to buy a DVD I was thinking of picking up.....I was there a few days ago and thought it would be good to have something to watch since I was sick...totally innocent intentions. (home is 4 blocks away from work, Future Shop is on the way)
So...I'm looking through the DVDs for a minute and then I turn a corner and MY BOSS is standing there looking at DVDs.
I'm thinking....oh shit...this will not look good, no matter what, even though I really am sick and on my way home...there's no way to make it look good....so I turned around and walked the other way.
(he's done at 2PM, that's why he was there)
So....I walk around for a few minutes, waiting for him to leave and hoping to hell that he didn't see me and wondering what the hell to do.
so he leaves about 5 min later after I have been walking around.
Then...I decide to leave and just get the hell out of there before anything worse can happen (famous last words).
On my way out...I stop at the front DVD rack one more time, because I was thinking of buying Total Recall...that's why I was there. So I picked up the box one more time, looked at it, and then said...fuck it, I can't afford to spend money, and put it back and turned to leave.....
and then....it happened.
I turn around and one of the Future Shop guys is staring me down and he's like...."You are being watched"
I'm like..."Excuse me? I'm being watched?"
He's like..."Yes, you are being watched. Drop whatever you have and leave."
I'm like..."Um...want to search me? I have nothing. I was thinking of buying this DVD (that he saw me pick up and put back without stepping away from the rack) but I changed my mind."
He says, "Don't make a crime out of it"
(little does this guy know but I've spent like $2K in that store, including my FIRST computer that I bought from him like 7 years ago....how ironic)
At this point, I felt even more sick and just walked out very slowly, so they could see how non-suspicious I was.
The guy totally didn't believe me at all.
-----------------------------
Total Recall DVD... $13.99
Jasper's lost wages because of a stupid union agreement where he would've made more money by staying home all day and calling in sick....$50
Jasper almost getting caught by his boss for doing nothing and getting kicked out of Future Shop...priceless.
There are some things that money can buy. For everything else, there's Jasper.
October 13, 2004
This past weekend was a great one. It was my first so-called "vacation" in Taiwan, and it brought me, and 3 friends from Vancouver (CS, LC, SC) to the Southern-most tip of Taiwan: Kenting (墾丁).
I took Friday afternoon off, and we took a 5 hour train ride to Kaohsiung (高雄) where we switched to a 2.5 hour bus ride to our hotel (Howard Hotel).
The first night was taken a little easy, just a quick walk over to the 7-eleven for a meal. After breakfast on Day Two, we made a quick decision on transportation means -- car rental wouldn't be worthwhile, didn't have a scooter license, didn't see any taxis -- so we rented bikes: two regular bikes and one tandem. It turned out to be the right choice (although scooters would have been hella fun), and we managed to hit quite a few spots. Most rewarding was the 3 minute downhill, which had followed a 45 minute uphill climb. The sight of the day was definitely 龍磐公園 (Dragon Rock Park), an astonishing view perched upon a high cliff overlooking the Pacific. Also fun was standing near the edge for pictures while getting blown by the strong winds. That night, we walked along Kenting Street, played some little games to win prizes, ate tall ice cream cones, and bought a few souvenirs.
Day Three, we bought tickets for the Kenting Street Car (墾丁街車), a shuttle bus that follows a predetermined path, picking up and dropping off passengers at the main attractions/sights. Here, we picked a few worthy stops, including a nice beach, and saw what we could. The bus itself was a bit of a pain, because it left us waiting for much longer than its scheduled arrivals... but that aside, it was another great day, with even better weather than the first. The site of the day was 貓鼻頭 (Cat Nose Head), another great view from a cliff, even better than from 龍磐公園, and allowed us to walk down to the sea. My camera got some great pictures from this place.
Later that night, because of seat availability, I took an earlier train back from Kaohsiung, while the other three took the next train. Turns out, although being on a 5 hour train ride alone, I was the lucky one. I slept most of the ride, while they had to deal with some guy puking in the seat behind. Ick. We got home around 5am on Monday, and I went to work around 2pm. L&S stayed an extra day, while CS headed off to Korea for the remainder of his business trip.
With three digital cameras snapping away, we managed over 1GB of images and movies over the weekend. Great memories. Thanks guys!
I took Friday afternoon off, and we took a 5 hour train ride to Kaohsiung (高雄) where we switched to a 2.5 hour bus ride to our hotel (Howard Hotel).
The first night was taken a little easy, just a quick walk over to the 7-eleven for a meal. After breakfast on Day Two, we made a quick decision on transportation means -- car rental wouldn't be worthwhile, didn't have a scooter license, didn't see any taxis -- so we rented bikes: two regular bikes and one tandem. It turned out to be the right choice (although scooters would have been hella fun), and we managed to hit quite a few spots. Most rewarding was the 3 minute downhill, which had followed a 45 minute uphill climb. The sight of the day was definitely 龍磐公園 (Dragon Rock Park), an astonishing view perched upon a high cliff overlooking the Pacific. Also fun was standing near the edge for pictures while getting blown by the strong winds. That night, we walked along Kenting Street, played some little games to win prizes, ate tall ice cream cones, and bought a few souvenirs.
Day Three, we bought tickets for the Kenting Street Car (墾丁街車), a shuttle bus that follows a predetermined path, picking up and dropping off passengers at the main attractions/sights. Here, we picked a few worthy stops, including a nice beach, and saw what we could. The bus itself was a bit of a pain, because it left us waiting for much longer than its scheduled arrivals... but that aside, it was another great day, with even better weather than the first. The site of the day was 貓鼻頭 (Cat Nose Head), another great view from a cliff, even better than from 龍磐公園, and allowed us to walk down to the sea. My camera got some great pictures from this place.
Later that night, because of seat availability, I took an earlier train back from Kaohsiung, while the other three took the next train. Turns out, although being on a 5 hour train ride alone, I was the lucky one. I slept most of the ride, while they had to deal with some guy puking in the seat behind. Ick. We got home around 5am on Monday, and I went to work around 2pm. L&S stayed an extra day, while CS headed off to Korea for the remainder of his business trip.
With three digital cameras snapping away, we managed over 1GB of images and movies over the weekend. Great memories. Thanks guys!
October 07, 2004
Here's a laugh. I received this email two days ago.
For those who read my blog two postings ago, you would be glad to know that I completed the survey giving my honest opinion... and it wasn't pretty. Of course, I didn't give the lowest rating to every question, since that would make me look like a bitter customer influenced by rage.
-------------------------------------------------------
Dear KK,
Recently you e-mailed the eMachines Customer Care organization for technical support. As a part of our ongoing effort to constantly improve the quality of our technical support services, it is important for us to hear from you. eMachines has retained CareCall, Inc., a company that specializes in customer satisfaction measurement, to contact you and gather your feedback about your recent experience with our e-mail support. CareCall is currently collecting the opinions of eMachines e-mail support users via a web survey.
The purpose of this survey is to better understand the quality of your interactions and business relationship with eMachines. As part of this initiative, we invite you to be open and honest in sharing your experiences with eMachines. The information that you provide will be used solely by eMachines to improve their support. Please be assured that your answers will be kept confidential.
Your opinions are very important to us and will be used to help improve the quality of our services. Please take a few moments and share your thoughts. By clicking on the following link, you will be directed to the web survey.
Click here to share your feedback and opinions.
If the link does not work within your e-mail program, please copy and paste the following information into the address line of your web browser:
[URL LINK WAS HERE]
If this link does not work within your e-mail program, please copy and paste the link into the address line of your web browser.
This e-mail is not an avenue for technical support and requests for support will not be answered. Please direct any support questions back to the support channel you have been working with for assistance.
Thank you for your assistance in this process. We look forward to assisting you with your future needs.
If you do not wish to receive any future e-mails requesting participation in our surveys simply reply to this e-mail and type unsubscribe in the subject line.
Sincerely,
eMachines Customer Care
For those who read my blog two postings ago, you would be glad to know that I completed the survey giving my honest opinion... and it wasn't pretty. Of course, I didn't give the lowest rating to every question, since that would make me look like a bitter customer influenced by rage.
-------------------------------------------------------
Dear KK,
Recently you e-mailed the eMachines Customer Care organization for technical support. As a part of our ongoing effort to constantly improve the quality of our technical support services, it is important for us to hear from you. eMachines has retained CareCall, Inc., a company that specializes in customer satisfaction measurement, to contact you and gather your feedback about your recent experience with our e-mail support. CareCall is currently collecting the opinions of eMachines e-mail support users via a web survey.
The purpose of this survey is to better understand the quality of your interactions and business relationship with eMachines. As part of this initiative, we invite you to be open and honest in sharing your experiences with eMachines. The information that you provide will be used solely by eMachines to improve their support. Please be assured that your answers will be kept confidential.
Your opinions are very important to us and will be used to help improve the quality of our services. Please take a few moments and share your thoughts. By clicking on the following link, you will be directed to the web survey.
Click here to share your feedback and opinions.
If the link does not work within your e-mail program, please copy and paste the following information into the address line of your web browser:
[URL LINK WAS HERE]
If this link does not work within your e-mail program, please copy and paste the link into the address line of your web browser.
This e-mail is not an avenue for technical support and requests for support will not be answered. Please direct any support questions back to the support channel you have been working with for assistance.
Thank you for your assistance in this process. We look forward to assisting you with your future needs.
If you do not wish to receive any future e-mails requesting participation in our surveys simply reply to this e-mail and type unsubscribe in the subject line.
Sincerely,
eMachines Customer Care
October 05, 2004
My mind always looks forward to weekends. My feet always look forward to the end of weekends. This past weekend was yet another 2 days of continuous walking.
On Saturday, I went to Yingge (鷹歌), a town in the Taoyuan county known for their pottery and china. My mom, sister, and I went from store to store looking not to leave the Old Street (鷹歌老街) empty-handed. What I had thought would be a 3 - 4 hr day (on one street!) turned out to be a 7 - 8 hr promenade! But we didn't leave empty-handed, and for that we should be pleased. That night, we scooted over to our cousin-in-law's for some wine and snacks to end the day.
On Sunday, I met up with L&S who had just arrived in Taipei on a 5am flight. We had a quick breakfast and MRTed Northward to Danshui (or Tamsui), a town along the North coast of Taiwan -- also a very popular tourist area. We spent the day walking around, looking at the many little food stands/shops, little boutiques, and small eats. We even played a game that my dad used to play when he was young, trying to catch fish with a paper net... I only caught one, while SC managed two, and LC managed to scope one into his bucket after his net broke. Cheater. The best part of the day was when the clouds dispersed and left a great blue sky for me to enjoy. And enjoy it I did. It was the first of a few great days of weather - the best I've had since arriving. Strange how just seeing a blue sky can make me grin like a child who just got his dad to buy him a lollipop at the fair.
That night, I did some record keeping.
- 8:18pm leaving home
- 8:30pm arriving at bus stop just in time to catch a bus
- 9:07 arriving at the bus stop in Hsinchu
- 9:20pm arriving at home in Hsinchu
[this is for my future reference.]
In other news, I've got a new furry pet. It sits upside down on my chin. It's been a week-long project, and I've concluded that it's probably not possible for me to grow any kind of beard or goatee. It's bad enough that the beard isn't thick and consistent -- but on top of that, a good percentage of the hair grows out light brown so it looks even thinner. What's that all about? But since CS wants to see the upside-down Chia Pet, I'll keep it around for another week.
Work is busy now. I'm taking a day off around this weekend, and I have to give a short presentation of some results to some directors on Tuesday. Work work work! But I'm glad to be useful. I should get a promotion after this. ... haha... umm... yeah.
I've been in a good mood recently. I'm happy to see friends, I'm happy to have a computer to use at home (albeit one with a buzzing left speaker), I'm happy with the way things are going at work - both work-wise and socially, I'm happy to have some things to look forward to in the coming years, I'm happy that things are going well with family, and I'm happy to see the sky blue again. I might even get to play volleyball the weekend after next... now wouldn't that be a treat?
On Saturday, I went to Yingge (鷹歌), a town in the Taoyuan county known for their pottery and china. My mom, sister, and I went from store to store looking not to leave the Old Street (鷹歌老街) empty-handed. What I had thought would be a 3 - 4 hr day (on one street!) turned out to be a 7 - 8 hr promenade! But we didn't leave empty-handed, and for that we should be pleased. That night, we scooted over to our cousin-in-law's for some wine and snacks to end the day.
On Sunday, I met up with L&S who had just arrived in Taipei on a 5am flight. We had a quick breakfast and MRTed Northward to Danshui (or Tamsui), a town along the North coast of Taiwan -- also a very popular tourist area. We spent the day walking around, looking at the many little food stands/shops, little boutiques, and small eats. We even played a game that my dad used to play when he was young, trying to catch fish with a paper net... I only caught one, while SC managed two, and LC managed to scope one into his bucket after his net broke. Cheater. The best part of the day was when the clouds dispersed and left a great blue sky for me to enjoy. And enjoy it I did. It was the first of a few great days of weather - the best I've had since arriving. Strange how just seeing a blue sky can make me grin like a child who just got his dad to buy him a lollipop at the fair.
That night, I did some record keeping.
- 8:18pm leaving home
- 8:30pm arriving at bus stop just in time to catch a bus
- 9:07 arriving at the bus stop in Hsinchu
- 9:20pm arriving at home in Hsinchu
[this is for my future reference.]
In other news, I've got a new furry pet. It sits upside down on my chin. It's been a week-long project, and I've concluded that it's probably not possible for me to grow any kind of beard or goatee. It's bad enough that the beard isn't thick and consistent -- but on top of that, a good percentage of the hair grows out light brown so it looks even thinner. What's that all about? But since CS wants to see the upside-down Chia Pet, I'll keep it around for another week.
Work is busy now. I'm taking a day off around this weekend, and I have to give a short presentation of some results to some directors on Tuesday. Work work work! But I'm glad to be useful. I should get a promotion after this. ... haha... umm... yeah.
I've been in a good mood recently. I'm happy to see friends, I'm happy to have a computer to use at home (albeit one with a buzzing left speaker), I'm happy with the way things are going at work - both work-wise and socially, I'm happy to have some things to look forward to in the coming years, I'm happy that things are going well with family, and I'm happy to see the sky blue again. I might even get to play volleyball the weekend after next... now wouldn't that be a treat?
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