Oh my LORD is FRICKIN' COLD!! Today's weather in Hsinchu (according to Yahoo) sees a high of 13C and a low of 6C - it also states that the current conditions feels like 3C. For a Canadian - albeit one who lives in a not-so-cold Vancouver - to come to Taiwan and say it's cold, it must be fairly chilly. It's cold enough for me to see my breathe - which is an indication of the moisture.
For New Year's Eve, I had been planning on going to Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 (World's tallest building) for a countdown celebration... but given that I don't have my scarf or gloves here, I'm hesitating now. I'll probably still do it because I'm crazy. Besides, I hear that it's going to be a mob of people there, New York Times Square-like, so maybe there'll be lots of body heat.
Anyway, best of luck in the coming new year! See you (online) in 2005.
R.I.P. to those taken in recent natural disasters.
December 31, 2004
December 26, 2004
Well, that was a long hiatus. But things are winding down and I can finally sit down and blog a little. So, let's backtrack to over 1 week ago...
Last Friday (Dec 17th), after a week of practice and studying, I went for my scooter test. A week earlier, I went to the Hsinchu Motor Vehicle Department to scope out the testing grounds and get some preliminary things out of the way, such as my health inspection. In general, I don't think they try very hard to prevent people from getting their licenses. So, here's the quick breakdown of what's involved:
HEALTH CHECK -- The doctor is an OLD OLD man, and he starts by giving an eye exam (wearing my prescription eyewear) - both eyes, right eye, left eye -- reading some letters through an old machine (but not as old as the doctor). Then he asked me my height and weight and wrote them down. He tells me to do 3 simple movements: arms extended open and close hands, wrist rotations, and a bend down (I bent at my hip and touched my toes, not sure if that's what he was looking for, but I passed). Finally, he tells me to look thru a little hole and tell him what color I see. I saw yellow. He agreed. With the paperwork done and stamped, I was out of there.
WRITTEN EXAM -- I got a rules and regulation book in English which I spent 2 nights on. Basically, 52 pages of multiple choice and T/F questions, with the objective of teaching you the rules of the road, signs, license rules, and penalties. Most of the questions can be guessed correctly, especially the morality questions. They could be characterized in this format:
Are you stupid?
(1) Yes
(2) No
(3) I don't know.
I took my test in English on a computer with audio, while those who can read Chinese did theirs on paper. 40 questions needing 85% and higher to pass. With questions so easy, it didn't take much effort to get 97.5%. I wonder what I got wrong.
ROAD TEST -- The "road" test is conducted under a covered blacktop, and it's one
loop that literally takes < 1 min to complete (unless you screw up). There are 4 sections. At the start, you drive, and a couple meters out, you stop at a simulated "train crossing", then you go, turn left, then you stop at a red light, then you go when it's green, turn left, then you stop at another blinking light thingy, go when it turns green, turn left, back up and straighten out for the last section. So, basically, the first three sections test whether you can stop and go, and turn left. Don't practice right turns.
Now the last section is where most people fail. You have two tries to drive straight between a narrow path at a slow pace and without putting your feet down. It's not that difficult, but people often go too fast or put their feet down. It's basically a length of 20 paces (my paces), and you have to complete it in 7 seconds or MORE. This is where I spent more of my efforts during practice. During the test, I put my foot down only a quarter of the way through, and that kind of shook me up. But my second pass was successful with the help of the shifting knees balancing act. You know, to counterbalance the handle steering. It looks like you're dodging bullets with your knees.
My general impressions of the tests... pointless. After reading the rule book, I notice that at least 1/2 of the rules are broken on the road by EVERYONE. In theory, they talk of "right of way"... in practice, there is no such thing, and you'll get honked by the person behind you if you should ever try to abide by such a silly concept. Lots of people who pass, shouldn't. Tiny girls whose feet can barely touch the ground pass. Old folks who probably shouldn't even walk pass. In many ways, it's a test of luck when it comes to the final stretch of the road test because it depends so much on your start (i.e. when you start the final stretch).
Anyway, I passed. I need to find a scooter now.
Last Friday (Dec 17th), after a week of practice and studying, I went for my scooter test. A week earlier, I went to the Hsinchu Motor Vehicle Department to scope out the testing grounds and get some preliminary things out of the way, such as my health inspection. In general, I don't think they try very hard to prevent people from getting their licenses. So, here's the quick breakdown of what's involved:
HEALTH CHECK -- The doctor is an OLD OLD man, and he starts by giving an eye exam (wearing my prescription eyewear) - both eyes, right eye, left eye -- reading some letters through an old machine (but not as old as the doctor). Then he asked me my height and weight and wrote them down. He tells me to do 3 simple movements: arms extended open and close hands, wrist rotations, and a bend down (I bent at my hip and touched my toes, not sure if that's what he was looking for, but I passed). Finally, he tells me to look thru a little hole and tell him what color I see. I saw yellow. He agreed. With the paperwork done and stamped, I was out of there.
WRITTEN EXAM -- I got a rules and regulation book in English which I spent 2 nights on. Basically, 52 pages of multiple choice and T/F questions, with the objective of teaching you the rules of the road, signs, license rules, and penalties. Most of the questions can be guessed correctly, especially the morality questions. They could be characterized in this format:
Are you stupid?
(1) Yes
(2) No
(3) I don't know.
I took my test in English on a computer with audio, while those who can read Chinese did theirs on paper. 40 questions needing 85% and higher to pass. With questions so easy, it didn't take much effort to get 97.5%. I wonder what I got wrong.
ROAD TEST -- The "road" test is conducted under a covered blacktop, and it's one
loop that literally takes < 1 min to complete (unless you screw up). There are 4 sections. At the start, you drive, and a couple meters out, you stop at a simulated "train crossing", then you go, turn left, then you stop at a red light, then you go when it's green, turn left, then you stop at another blinking light thingy, go when it turns green, turn left, back up and straighten out for the last section. So, basically, the first three sections test whether you can stop and go, and turn left. Don't practice right turns.
Now the last section is where most people fail. You have two tries to drive straight between a narrow path at a slow pace and without putting your feet down. It's not that difficult, but people often go too fast or put their feet down. It's basically a length of 20 paces (my paces), and you have to complete it in 7 seconds or MORE. This is where I spent more of my efforts during practice. During the test, I put my foot down only a quarter of the way through, and that kind of shook me up. But my second pass was successful with the help of the shifting knees balancing act. You know, to counterbalance the handle steering. It looks like you're dodging bullets with your knees.
My general impressions of the tests... pointless. After reading the rule book, I notice that at least 1/2 of the rules are broken on the road by EVERYONE. In theory, they talk of "right of way"... in practice, there is no such thing, and you'll get honked by the person behind you if you should ever try to abide by such a silly concept. Lots of people who pass, shouldn't. Tiny girls whose feet can barely touch the ground pass. Old folks who probably shouldn't even walk pass. In many ways, it's a test of luck when it comes to the final stretch of the road test because it depends so much on your start (i.e. when you start the final stretch).
Anyway, I passed. I need to find a scooter now.
December 16, 2004
Busy lately. Will post something new soon... but for now, just read this article. It's actually pretty crazy how far technology has come when you think about it. Today's world is starting to look very futuristic.
Kevin
Kevin
December 09, 2004
An email that I found pretty funny.
==================================================
A Marine stationed in Afghanistan recently received a "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend back home.
It read as follows:
Dear Ricky,
I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance between us is just too great. I must admit that I have cheated on you twice since you've been gone, and it's not fair to either of us. I'm sorry. Please return the picture of me that I sent to you.
Love,
Becky
The Marine, with hurt feelings, asked his fellow Marines for any snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters, ex-girlfriends, aunts, cousins etc. In addition to the picture of Becky, Ricky included all the other pictures of the pretty gals he had collected from his buddies. There were 57 photos in that envelope....along with this note:
Dear Becky,
I'm so sorry, but I can't quite remember who you are. Please take your picture from the pile, and send the rest back to me.
Take Care,
Ricky
==================================================
A Marine stationed in Afghanistan recently received a "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend back home.
It read as follows:
Dear Ricky,
I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance between us is just too great. I must admit that I have cheated on you twice since you've been gone, and it's not fair to either of us. I'm sorry. Please return the picture of me that I sent to you.
Love,
Becky
The Marine, with hurt feelings, asked his fellow Marines for any snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters, ex-girlfriends, aunts, cousins etc. In addition to the picture of Becky, Ricky included all the other pictures of the pretty gals he had collected from his buddies. There were 57 photos in that envelope....along with this note:
Dear Becky,
I'm so sorry, but I can't quite remember who you are. Please take your picture from the pile, and send the rest back to me.
Take Care,
Ricky
December 05, 2004
Step #6 of Being Taiwanese: Buy a Scooter
So I'm in the market for a scooter. Scooters play a HUGE part in Taiwanese traffic, with a decent variety of shapes and sizes. The Big 3 scooter companies here are KYMCO (intl), SYM, and Yamaha (intl). Scooter sizes are ranked based on engine size: 50cc, 90cc, 100cc, 125cc, 150cc, and a few more above that. The 50cc's are small, and don't require a scooter license (a local driver's license will do), but they're weaker and going uphill with a passenger can be embarrassing. It seems like 125cc's are the most popular size.
Anyway, I'm on the hunt right now, and hope to have both license and scooter in 2 weeks. I've had a few practice runs with my co-workers scooter, and so far the training has gone really smoothly. With my scooter likely to only be used casually (rather than daily), I'll probably pick up a 2nd hand one.
I had a conversation with CS a while ago, that went a little something like this:
Kevin says: yes. I want to buy a scooter.
CS says: yah...lower it, buy a spoiler and install a boom box.
Kevin says: WOOOORD! I'm going to give it a low-rider. And I'll tint the window.
Kevin says: Don't forget the racing stripes
CS says: it'll be a fiiiiiiiiiiine ride my friend...
Kevin says: and the Spoon and Mugen stickers
Kevin says: hmm... where can I hang fuzzy dice?
CS says: on the handle bars. you know...like tassles on tricycles
So, I drafted up a few concepts of what my scooter might look like, if I wanted to go overboard on modifications.
- Here's what a typical scooter looks like...
- Now here's what an American Chopper scooter COULD look like
- Better yet, living in the Lower Mainland, perhaps the Richmond Scooter would be more to one's liking
Of course, I'm only having fun with this, and the chances of me actually supping up a 2nd-hand scooter are thin. But what if I DID...? Would it look like this: 1 | 2 | 3?
Now, if I were to buy a new one, and based only on model name... I think I would have to give extra consideration to this KYMCO scooter. At 250cc's, it would give a new meaning to "Wanna ride my Grand Dink?"
So I'm in the market for a scooter. Scooters play a HUGE part in Taiwanese traffic, with a decent variety of shapes and sizes. The Big 3 scooter companies here are KYMCO (intl), SYM, and Yamaha (intl). Scooter sizes are ranked based on engine size: 50cc, 90cc, 100cc, 125cc, 150cc, and a few more above that. The 50cc's are small, and don't require a scooter license (a local driver's license will do), but they're weaker and going uphill with a passenger can be embarrassing. It seems like 125cc's are the most popular size.
Anyway, I'm on the hunt right now, and hope to have both license and scooter in 2 weeks. I've had a few practice runs with my co-workers scooter, and so far the training has gone really smoothly. With my scooter likely to only be used casually (rather than daily), I'll probably pick up a 2nd hand one.
I had a conversation with CS a while ago, that went a little something like this:
Kevin says: yes. I want to buy a scooter.
CS says: yah...lower it, buy a spoiler and install a boom box.
Kevin says: WOOOORD! I'm going to give it a low-rider. And I'll tint the window.
Kevin says: Don't forget the racing stripes
CS says: it'll be a fiiiiiiiiiiine ride my friend...
Kevin says: and the Spoon and Mugen stickers
Kevin says: hmm... where can I hang fuzzy dice?
CS says: on the handle bars. you know...like tassles on tricycles
So, I drafted up a few concepts of what my scooter might look like, if I wanted to go overboard on modifications.
- Here's what a typical scooter looks like...
- Now here's what an American Chopper scooter COULD look like
- Better yet, living in the Lower Mainland, perhaps the Richmond Scooter would be more to one's liking
Of course, I'm only having fun with this, and the chances of me actually supping up a 2nd-hand scooter are thin. But what if I DID...? Would it look like this: 1 | 2 | 3?
Now, if I were to buy a new one, and based only on model name... I think I would have to give extra consideration to this KYMCO scooter. At 250cc's, it would give a new meaning to "Wanna ride my Grand Dink?"
December 02, 2004
A Few Thoughts...
Ode to the Blog
Given that you're reading my blog, I figure it's fitting for me to announce that the most online-looked-up word of 2004 is, in fact, "Blog". Apparently, news articles about how blogs were affecting the voting outcome of the US Presidential Election drove people to look it up.
Ode to Earth
The day after watching a so-so The Day After Tomorrow disaster movie, I came across a news article that spoke a more real tale, that had eerie similarities to the movie. It's worth a read.
Ode to Sly
With 7 or 8 English movie channels, I get my fill of decent recent blockbusters. And then there are re-occuring movies, or movies that get shown based on their stars. For example, I've seen broadcasted so many Stallone movies since coming, that it's almost embarrassing. Rambo 1, 2, 3, Rocky 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Demolition Man, Get Carter and more. But while some of you may get on my case, Stallone's actually not a bad actor!... at least in some movies. For example, when I watch the Rocky movies, I actually think he passes for a GOOD actor. He's natural, he doesn't overact, and he actually plays a good down-to-earth kind of guy. So, I looked him up on IMDB and found out that one of his first movie gigs was a porno called The Party at Kitty and Stud's (where he played Stud). This movie was later re-released under "The Italian Stallion", after his Rocky success. Go figure.
Ode to the Blog
Given that you're reading my blog, I figure it's fitting for me to announce that the most online-looked-up word of 2004 is, in fact, "Blog". Apparently, news articles about how blogs were affecting the voting outcome of the US Presidential Election drove people to look it up.
Ode to Earth
The day after watching a so-so The Day After Tomorrow disaster movie, I came across a news article that spoke a more real tale, that had eerie similarities to the movie. It's worth a read.
Ode to Sly
With 7 or 8 English movie channels, I get my fill of decent recent blockbusters. And then there are re-occuring movies, or movies that get shown based on their stars. For example, I've seen broadcasted so many Stallone movies since coming, that it's almost embarrassing. Rambo 1, 2, 3, Rocky 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Demolition Man, Get Carter and more. But while some of you may get on my case, Stallone's actually not a bad actor!... at least in some movies. For example, when I watch the Rocky movies, I actually think he passes for a GOOD actor. He's natural, he doesn't overact, and he actually plays a good down-to-earth kind of guy. So, I looked him up on IMDB and found out that one of his first movie gigs was a porno called The Party at Kitty and Stud's (where he played Stud). This movie was later re-released under "The Italian Stallion", after his Rocky success. Go figure.
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