Blacktooth

I like simplifying my life. I don't need fancy gadgets because they usually involve unnecessary complexity. Things like music libraries (iTunes, etc), PDAs, Bluetooth this and that, etc.

Alright, so I came around to thinking about Bluetooth. I normally wouldn't think I'd need something like that, until I'd thought of a good use for it. And finally, I did. Instead of plugging my Creative computer speakers into my 3.5mm headphone jack (which gets in the way because the jack sits at the front of my Asus F3Jp laptop), I could lose the cables by getting a Bluetooth USB dongle for my computer and a Bluetooth receiver on the other end which my existing speakers can plug into. AirLive makes such a little doohickey like that, which is shown in the photo.

So I looked online for a USB dongle - something that would Bluetooth-enable my notebook. Checked out some prices. And went to the computer district in Taipei to snoop about. I was pretty much settled on an Asus Bluetooth USB dongle, but decided to wait until I could find a Bluetooth receiver first, since I would have no use for a Bluetooth dongle otherwise. I couldn't find any AirLive resellers. AirLive even replied to my email, but told me they don't sell in Taiwan - or that the minimum order is $3000 (presumably USD). So my idea was dying.

...Time passes...

While using my laptop over the weekend, I noticed the a stickers near the keyboard was starting to peel at its corner. You know, one of those stickers introducing features included in your electronic product that you NEVER peel off - just like for camcorders, VCRs, etc. I digress. Anyway the peeling sticker was starting to annoy me, so I decided to take a couple of them off. As I peeled away at the first one, I read: Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR. Oh yeah! My laptop, which is only 6 months old, already supports Bluetooth! But as I've never used it, I just plain forgot.

"Well THERE'S your problem." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

Fantasizing...

I joined a Fantasy Basketball league this year. Yahoo! Basketball

For those who don't know what that is, you can consider it a statistical game. A league consists of 15 managers (like me), and on a set draft date before the current season starts, we create our rosters by drafting NBA players. In our league, we have 10 positions and 3 spots on the bench. Our teams are evaluated based on nine statistical categories: field goal %, free throw %, 3-pointers made, points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and turnovers. So as the season progresses, the averages or sums (depending on the given category) is accumulated based on how players play in real life. This makes your team susceptible to injuries, inconsistent play, etc. And of course, we can make trades with other teams in our league, pick up players from the free agency, and all that good stuff.

So what does this all amount to? A lot of wasted time.

Since figuring out how to play the game (because there's a very, very slight learning curve), I've been staring at stats and reading news like crazy. Most of these guys, other than the superstars, I'd never even heard of. But now I'm hooked. It's a very day-to-day thing. I started off around 8th place out of 15 teams in my league. Then it's been a roller coaster ride 8th -> 5th -> 6th -> 4th -> 8th -> 12th -> 14th. After all this time I've spent looking at player statistics, reading news and expert advice, I'm in 14th place out of 15. Just horrible.

One big reason is that I've got no bona fide superstars. I have some good players, but they're not going to consistently put in double-double. I don't have people who can regularly drop 30 points on a night. And that really hurts. It hurts me inside.

All in good fun, right? Only when it doesn't mess up your mood. But it's a long season, and like mutual funds, we're in for the long run. Let's go, team MadMen!

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.

Cough. Burp. Who is that?

Do you think you can tell who a person is by the sound of his/her cough or burp?

For example, if you're sitting on the john at work and someone walks in, and without seeing the person or hearing him/her speak, can you tell who it is if s/he cough, burps, or sneezes?

Dodge This!

Been off blogging lately because I've been too busy. Well, my readers have been too busy too, giving birth to babies and what not. But in the meantime, I've still been coming up with blog topics.

This past Wednesday, we had a company dodgeball tournament.

In Taiwan, dodgeball is a common game on schoolgrounds much like it was for me in Canada, but with a different set of rules.

The rules I knew as a kid were something like this:
- The game started with either a number of balls laying along a center line which both teams race to gather after a 1-2-3 Go! or with each team starting with the same number of balls
- If you get hit, you go into a zone behind your enemy's territory and can throw the ball from there
- If you catch a ball before it hits the ground, then one of your "dead" can come back in to play

The common rules in Taiwan are more like this:
- Each team starts with members in the "in play" area, and is surrounded on 3 sides by members of the opposite team
- There is only one ball in play
- If someone in the surrounding area knocks out a player, s/he can go into the "in play" area for his/her team
- Catching a ball doesn't result in your team member coming back from the dead

So, in the small area of a basketball half-court, we squeezed in two teams of 20, and whipped around a yoga exercise ball.

Made from thick rubber, a yoga ball is pretty heavy - and guarantees injury. I threw out a few people, but on one throw (which managed to kill an opponent) my arm came at a strange angle and resulted in a minor dislocation of my shoulder. Well, it was more of a subluxation - a partial dislocation. So now I have two bad shoulders, and I'm getting treatment from my physiotherapist now. Sigh.

But that injury was far from being the worst of the night. One coworker took the ball in the face, shattering his glasses. I wasn't playing in that game, so I didn't see the hit; but I saw that there was blood running down his face, with glass shards caught in and around his eye. So, he was taken to the hospital. Over the next couple of days, I heard he had surgery on his eye. Apparently the pressure from the hit might have busted up his eye a little, and now he can't work for a month, as they pay attention to the recovery to see if everything went smoothly.

Done in Japan

[Wrote this on Sunday]

This morning, I spent about 1 hour walking around Akihabara (30 mins of which the stores weren't open yet). Akihabara appears to be a mix between two industries: computers/electronics and comics/Manga/anime/and associated porn/etc. The fact that the latter is such a big market here is kind of scary. Apparently there are places that people (men.) can go to "rent" and have sex with life-sized dolls dressed in nurse or schoolgirl uniforms. I found a few blogs/websites describing that.

I like that a lot of hotels and airports have switched to providing free Internet service instead of requiring you to purchase credit or pay for a 24 hours. Unfortunately, Japan's Narita airport still charges, and it's rather annoying. So I'm doing without Internet while I write this.

In terms of Japanese Yen spent, I just did the calculations, and they're beautiful. I exchanged 35,000 yen, and AC gave me another 2,000 yen that she had left over. When I arrived at the airport, I went to a duty free shop to get rid of my leftover change (228 yen). After not seeing anything on the shelves, I finally found something sitting on at the register; a 228 yen cake thingy. Perfect.

Adding up all the cash expenses I incurred on this trip, the total comes to a gorgeous 30,000 yen. On top of that, I split up my expenses and the company's expenses. I spent exactly 23,000 yen. Nice numbers.

I only took about 47 pictures, and 11 were in the Taiwan airport. So, I didn't spend much time seeing anything new. Hmmm... Tokyo gets old pretty quick. Hehe...

Ok, survey for anyone who read this far. On the plane, your meal consists of cold noodles, seafood curry on rice, apple slices, and cake. You are given chopsticks, a small spoon, a small fork, a knife, and a toothpick. What do you use to eat what? Just curious.

Boring.

Wrap of up Day 3. Overall a pretty boring day. I overslept in the morning, but still managed to get ready in about 10 mins to get a taxi from Shin Yokohoma to Shinigawa Tokyo. The conference I was attending, which was all in Japanese, was rather uneventful. A very small conference in which I took pretty much no part. But I brought the hardware we were demoing, and that was my job.

Throughout the day, I did a bit of work, watched some shows on my computer, MSNed, and made use of the free drinks. We packed up and left before 6pm. Dropped my stuff off at my hotel in Akihabara, went to an English pub for Steak Pie, and came back.

This is probably the smallest room I've stayed at -- although a Hong Kong hotel (Imperial Hotel, I think it was called) might contend for that title. But it's surprising how efficiently they use this tiny space. I have a single bed, a small flat-screen TV, a hot plate built into the desk, internet, a radio, a phone, a few lamps, hair-dryer, little flashlight, little closet, little washroom, enough outlets to charge my few electronics, and that's pretty much all I need. $7,900 yen the first night, and $8,600 the second.

Though one interesting thing is that this is the first time I've been required to do a virus check before using the hotel internet.

Gotta sleep earlier tonight -- long day ahead of me. Of fun.

Uneventful

So far, a rather uneventful business trip. The hotel's right across from the office, which is nice. But the breakfast can definitely be much better... in fact, I missed breakfast this morning because I headed out too late (around 9:20am).

My CEO and I went out for lunch today: some sushi near the office. As we chatted, he said that it's safer to eat food in Japan than Taiwan or China (the 3 places he travels to most). This afternoon, he said he ate something bad - and his stomach was in terrible shape. So he went back to the hotel. Fortunately, while we had the same lunch, I didn't feel that. Although now I feel kind of hungry. So I'm going for dinner.

Buddha Air

Arrived in Japan yesterday, got soaked in Tokyo, had dinner with SFU Engineer and friend BC, and settled in at my hotel at Shin Yokohama. A few observations and stories from the day's travel:

- Why is it that whenever I go to the airport in Taiwan, I see Buddhist monks? You don't see that many monks around Taiwan, but yet they convene in airports.

- I took the Hello Kitty flight. It was SERIOUSLY Hello Kitty. The waiting room was completely decked out in HK (Hello Kitty) - not just a few items, but completely renovated. I'll post a picture on this posting shortly. When we boarded the plane, all the personalized LCDs were showing HK with accompanying song over the loadspeaker. Our meals had Hello Kitty decorations and ice cream.

- Tokyo is the New York of Asia. Everyone dresses sharp and walks fast.

- My hotel room is small. Only a little larger than the double-sized bed. But it comes with a pants press - a large flat electric device that opens like a laptop and you put your pants in. Neato... but really rather useless. I'd rather they gave me an iron and ironing board so I could do my shirts too.

- Travel is almost always a sweaty affair for me. Just lugging around luggage. If it's hot out, I'm bound to sweat. If it's cold out, I'm probably wearing more layers and then I get hot, so I'm bound to sweat.

Anyway, the worst of the travel is over. The hardware I brought to Japan works, and now I can spend time doing the same stuff I would have if I were in Taiwan.

Bring it, Bin Laden...

This day marks the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US.

It's also the day I fly out to Japan for a business trip to Shin Yokohama and Tokyo.

After spending 6 days in Tokyo earlier this year, I'm not sure what else to visit on the 1.5 days personal days. Last time I went, I had 2 friends there to see and hang out with. This time, I'm going solo.

What to do, what to do.

yawn.

Last night, a rerun of MythBusters tested whether or not yawning is contagious. Without watching the show, my gut feeling is that it is. But I think it's even more than just yawning because you see someone else yawn. From my experience, yawning can be caused simply by thinking about yawning.

For example, maybe while reading this blog, you yawned. Maybe if someone talks about yawning, you yawn. Maybe if, you thought about a yawn in the back of your mind, and... you yawned! This is just my observation.

What do you think?

Were You? iWoz.

Last Tuesday, Steve Wozniak was in town. As part of his iWoz book tour, "Woz" made two stops in Taiwan - one in Taipei on Monday, and one in Hsinchu on Tuesday.

In case you've never heard of Steve Wozniak, perhaps you're more acquainted with his partner in crime and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs. In all honesty, I hadn't heard of Woz until recently when I read the Jobs autobiography called "iCon: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business". But fair enough, I decided to go have a listen to his book promotion since I got my hands on a free ticket through a coworker. In some circles, he's an engineering legend, having almost single-handedly inventing the personal computer.

Woz was one of two guest speakers - the other being Taiwanese Mr. Chang, founder of Trend Micro, best know for its popular anti-virus software PC-Cillan. For the Taiwanese, Mr. Chang is probably a better known name than Woz.

A third character that evening was a Taiwanese female moderator who in my opinion had no reason being there.


The 2 hour event roughly went like so:

• Woz spoke at a podium about his life experience, his childhood, his love for building computers, etc. Probably very close to what he recalls in his book.
  
• Then they switched gears, and had all 3 people (Woz, Chang, and the moderator) on stage, with Woz and Chang answering questions thrown out by the moderator.
  
• The moderator was awful. Trying to segway between answers and her next question, she would constantly throw in irrelevant comments, make terrible jokes (or at least I think they were attempts at humour), and she had a hard time
  controlling an overly-verbose Wozniak.
  
• Woz is a well-spoken man, but as I mentioned above, he sometimes has a hard time keeping it shut. He just wants to tell story after story.
  
• At some points, it felt like Woz and Chang were telling stories to show what they'd accomplished in the past to one-up the other.
  
• Finally, they took some questions from the audience - including one from me asking what Woz's current role at Apple is. Well, this is before I realized he wasn't at Apple anyway. Ok, officially he is. He has a very low salary, and basically just chats with Steve Jobs and acts as a consultant. The salary is just to make him an official employee - as the longest-standing member at Apple.
  
• Overall, I didn't take much out of the event. I didn't learn much, and none of what was said was very enlightening. But I guess sometimes you just go to these things just because it's cool to meet someone famous and have your picture taken with them.
  

After the event ended, a table was set-up on stage where Woz would sign books.

With a copy of iWoz I bought the day before, I stood in line to get my book signed. Some guy brought his iBook to have it signed on the cover. I had brought my digital camera, but without a battery. So, after I got my book signed and shook Woz's hand, I stood in line with my ex-coworker CY, who had brought his camera. As I got to the front of the line for the second time, I told CY to get behind the table to pose with Woz. I took his picture, and then we traded places and had my picture taken. Then CY and I went to McDonald's and to chat a little. About 10 minutes after sitting down, CY says "Eh? Where's my book?" Turns out, with all the photo-taking, we/he completely forgot to take his book. By the time we got back to the scene of the crime, everyone was gone. Fortunately, CY had already read the book - and he wasn't too devastated about losing the signed copy.

But that's how the evening went. I met him, shook his hand, and got his picture.


* While keeping with the Apple them, both books, iCon and iWoz, start with the 'i' prefix. But in my opinion, both titles are horrible. "iCon", which talks about Jobs being an icon, can also be read as "I con", describing how he's screwed over a lot of people in his career. "iWoz" on the other hand seems to indicate Steve Wozniak as a thing of the past, "I was". I feel like both books could have been better named.

$500K

I'm listening to Team 1040 right now, and they're talking about how once-BC Lion quarterback Casey Printers signed with the Ti-Cats.

"Printers signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on September 6, 2007 for a reported $500,000 a season, making him the highest paid player in the CFL."

$500K per season is the highest pay in the CFL? Seems rather low, or does it? I guess in the CFL, they only play 9 games each season over 3 months or so. Just ramble.

EarthShake

We just had an earthquake. Not yet updated on the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau.

Around 1:53am, Taiwan time, Sept 7th.

2:05am Updated: Now it's up.

2007-09-07 01:51:00 6.6 058 24.20N 122.43E, i.e. 87.3 km ENE of Hualien City

Click here to see a map of where it hit. The epicenter is the red star. I live in the 3rd county from the top along the West coast - so I felt a 3.

Da Vinci Strokes

Here's a neat news story...
Researchers uncover Leonardo da Vinci's method stroke for stroke

Fight Club

Ever been in a fight? Like, one where fists are a-flying and legs are a-kicking?

I want to hear about it.

I want the who, what, when, where, and why. Who won? (it's okay to admit to loss) What went through your mind? What was the damage?

If you haven't had a real fight, maybe you can describe your most intense pushing and shoving episode.

I've never being in a real fight. My closest experience was in grade 11 when my classmate AS (now Microsoft employee) and I got into a kicking match. We had a disagreement, and ended up trading low roundhouse kicks (him with his TKD, me with my Ka-ra-te). At the end, we probably got pulled apart, and that was it. Lame, huh. That's why I want to hear your story.

Something Funny

Here's another story from E's birthday party.

We booked a table with couches for our group. I was sitting down on the couch, and E was standing in front of me. Standing off to the right of me was a girl with her back turned to us. So I grabbed E's wrist and threw her hand into the girl's butt.

The girl turns to her left and looks at E. E, shocked at what I just did, points at me, and the girl looks my way. And I say "I didn't do it!"

Then the girl talks to her guy friend, and as she's walking away, she says to me (in English) "That's not funny."

Guess it depends on your point of view. I had a good chuckle with E.

Anyway, in hindsight, I kind of feel a little bad. If I had a clear mind, I might have apologized and told her that I threw someone else's hand into her butt. Because her last impression was probably that I, a guy, slapped her ass. And that might have ruined her night of partying. Oh well. In hindsight.

A Night with Jose

Saturday night was E's birthday, with celebrations clubbing at Room 18 in Taipei.

For the most part, Room 18's hip hop music selection was good - up tempo and perfect for bumpin' on the dance floor. At our table, everyone was having a good time eating chocolate cake, and downing red wine and Jose Cuervo.

Now, one of the few things I remember well from my 1998 trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was what I learned at at a tequila distillery. The tour guide taught us that tequila is made from a plant called Blue Agave (agave azul), and the good tequila is "100% Agave", which is labelled always labeled on the bottle. Jose Cuervo, which at one time was a quality tequila, is no longer. It's over 50% agave, qualifying it to be "tequila", but it's loaded with artificial additives. The result is a drink that give you nasty hangover the day after.

So it only seems fitting that it was Jose Cuervo that would make me puke for the first time because of alcohol consumption. Yes, I know, at 28, it seems I should have drunk myself to a good throw-up long ago. I don't regret not doing it till now either. In any case, I still remember the night well, and felt better throwing up 3 times quickly (into a toilet). Still woke up with a bit of a headache, but it wasn't too bad.

Just want you to know, Jose, you're a bad, bad man.

Belt It Out

I don't never wear pants* without a belt. I just don't... unless I forget. If there's are belt loops, not having a belt looks a little strange to me.

I just a little more naked, I feel fashionably inferior, and my pants hang uncomfortably lower.

Girls can get away without belts. Guys... not so much, in my opinion. Especially with jeans.

What about you?

*Sweatpants / tearaways / etc excluded.

Competition is in the Air

It's that time of the year again. Our company is holding the annual "Clubs" tournaments, where each company club has a budget of 8,000nt - $15,000nt to hold a competition. This year is my busiest yet, because I'm entered in a whole slew of events. Here's the rundown.

Basketball Club
- 3-point shootout
- mixed (male/female) special event (just shooting)

Foosball Club
- Men's Competitive Singles
- Doubles

Fitness Club
- Muscular Fitness (includes push-ups, chin-ups, benchpress, leg lifts, high-jump, bicep curls, and lat pulldowns)

Billiards
- 14-1

Table Tennis
- Men's Competitive Singles
- Doubles (though my partner's female)

Photography
- Scenery
- People

Swimming
- Men's 100m Freestyle
- 400m Relay

So that's going to keep me busy on top of my overloaded work schedule. But I'm looking forward to it. I expect to take medals in a few of those events, at least. Just for sport, for money, and for fun.

Mangology: The Study of Eating a Mango

Mango season is a time I look forward to each year. A time when the sumptuous tropical fruit can be bought at roughly C$1 for two. I love eating mangoes - they're my favorite fruit.

But there's an art to preparing and eating a mango. Where points are graded upon several factors (awarded 1 - 5 points in each category):

1. Convenience: Opposite of degree of difficulty
2. Performance: How fast you can prepare and eat the mango
3. Cleanliness: How cleanly mango consumption can be performed
4. Maximization: How much mango meat you can eat off one mango
5. Aesthetics: How pretty it looks
6. Servability: How well it can be served or shared

I've tried several different methods of cutting mango, and here're a summary of a few of these - along with my recommendation.

A) The Porcupine

This is the way my mom would prepare mangos for us to eat when we lived at home.

Steps

a) Cut both hemispheres of the mango off the pit.
b) On each half, incise hash marks down to the peel, without puncturing.
c) Flip the mango half (well, technically less than half) inside out for the meat to pop outwards.
d) Eat the individual pop-out cubes.
e) Cut or peel off the skin on the remaining pit slice and eat the meat off the pit directly.

Grading

1) Convenience: 2
Not difficult, but not convenient - especially the eating part. And you'll also be limited to staying around at the sink until you finish eating.
2) Performance: 2
Not really a time-saver with all precision cutting and picking at the mango meat off the flipped out halves.
3) Cleanliness: 1
By the end of this, you'll have mango juice all over your face from digging into the porcupine quills - and probably hands that need cleaning from eating the pit. Not to mention there's likely to be lots of dripping and a stream of mango juice down your forearm.
4) Maximization: 3
Difficult to eat cleanly, leaving lots of leftover meat on the peel - lest you should spend more time scraping it with your teeth.
5) Aesthetics: 5
Full marks for presentation, as far as amateur mango-cutting goes.
6) Servability: 2
Unless you're sharing a mango with one other person, this isn't the way to go. No one will want your sloppy seconds here.

Total Result

15 points out of a possible 30


B) The Slice-n'-Dice

This is one way my coworker serves mango pieces at the office. His family grows mangos in Southern Taiwan.

Steps

a) With a fruit peeler, take off the mango skin.
b) With naked mango in one hand, and fruit knife in other hand, shave off large slices of the mango into a bowl.
c) Further cut the slices into smaller cubes.
d) Suckle and nibble at the pit until it's cleaned.
e) Wash hands and eat the bowled pieces with a fork.

Grading

1) Convenience: 3.5
Not as easy as it seems to cut off large slices, but eating with a fork sure is convenient.
2) Performance: 3
Takes time to peel and slice the mango. Eating may be easier, but certainly not faster.
3) Cleanliness: 3
The first stage isn't too clean with the peeling and slicing, but eating afterwards doesn't get much cleaner.
4) Maximization: 5
Shaving the mango reduces wasted meat.
5) Aesthetics: 3
A bowl of mango chunks. There are prettier things.
6) Servability: 5
Small pieces make sharing easy. Probably the best way to go if you have one mango and many mouths.

Total Result

22.5 points out of a possible 30


C) The Big Simple

After several runs of trial and error, this is the method I settled on. Maybe many people already eat this way, but I came up with this way of eating myself.

Steps

a) Cut both hemispheres of the mango off the pit.
b) Half each hemisphere again (to have four quarters).
c) Eat each quarter by peeling back the skin and eating it like an orange slice.
d) Cut or peel off the skin on the remaining pit slice and eat the meat off the pit directly.

Grading

1) Convenience: 5
Four cuts and you're just about done.
2) Performance: 5
From start to finish, I can wolf down a mid-sized mango in about 2 minutes.
3) Cleansiness: 4
Hard to avoid getting dirty hands eating around the pit, but the quarters can eaten without direct contact with mango meat.
4) Maximization: 4
Peeling the skin off the mango leaves a bit of fiber on it - still, not too bad.
5) Asthetics: 2
It gets marks for being simplistic. Sort of a New York versus Paris.
6) Servability: 4.5
Easy to share with up to 3 other people.

Total Result

24.5 points out of a possible 30

I don't normally care for asthetics when I eat a mango. So, discounting that category, the Big Simple gets 22.5 out of 25. And hence, I recommend The Big Simple for its optimized and simplistic nature.

Mango on!

Not New, but Improved

Finally I've made a few changes to my blog layout, and it now uses Page Elements. And finally, I've added titles to my postings as well. I'm not sure if I'd go back and add titles to my past posts, but I may just do that on one windy typhoon day if I run out of things to do.

Another late night, and it's time for bed.

Quote: National Post

Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham raised the spectre Friday of a retaliatory attack in the wake of the Fortune Happiness Restaurant shooting, in which two people were killed and six others injured.

Graham called the restaurant attack "cowardly."

Here's something I never understood. In the news, whenever someone commits a crime such as a kidnapping or murder, they call that person or the act "cowardly". How is that "cowardly"? I think it takes a lot of guts to go into a restaurant full of people and shoot up the place. What do people expect the assailants to do to make it less cowardly? Call their targets out for a dual?

We are taught to observe the rules of the road. So, what do you do when the rules of the road are broken or redefined by rogue operators of rogue vehicles? You take the law into your own hand. I don't write tickets or give warnings. I just do my best to give such people a hard time in the 3 seconds we encounter each other on the road. Call me a vehicular vigilante.

Scenario 1: On smaller single-laned streets (one in each direction), drivers like to give themselves room from parked cars by driving in the middle of the street, half-and-halfing it over the solid yellow dividing line. If there are on-coming scooters, they expect the scooters will steer clear of them.
Scenario 2: Scooterers often use the opposite-direction lane overtake cars, such as those stopped at a red light, to get to the front of the line.
Scenario 3: When a red light turns green, cars and scooters waiting to make a left turn will often try to beat the incoming traffic. Scooters have a better chance of doing so because they accelerate faster.

My solution to Scenario 1 and 2 are the same. When I see someone ahead of me cross into my lane from the opposite direction, I ride closer to the middle line. Playing chicken usually establishes my territory and forces them back into their own lane.

For Scenario 3, if I'm at a red light and I see people at the other side of the intersection getting ready to make a left turn, I usually peel out of the stop position as soon as the light goes green. This gets me to the middle of the intersection before they get a chance to squeeze in a turn. If someone insists on turning, I let'em have it with my left thumb on the horn.

I have no problem making good use of my scooter horn either. It's there for a reason. Besides, mechanical and electric devices have shorter lifespans if they're underused.

Finally, the cut I had at the side of my mouth is healing. There are few minor cuts worse than having a cut right at the edge of the mouth; because every time I open my mouth again to eat, brush my teeth, or yawn, it splits open again. Not very fun.

I had a canker sore on my frenum (the web under the tongue) not too long ago. That's not much fun either.

So, ummm... my advice to you all would be to avoid getting cuts at the side of your mouth, and don't get canker sores on your frenum.

Last night, in the 1+km scooter home in the rain, I saw the results of 2 car accidents.

One I couldn't really tell what happened. Two cars were stopped in the middle of an intersection parallel to each other - but I saw no apparent damage. The police were there doing there post-accident checks.

The other accident looked like it involved just one car. Again, I couldn't really tell from the aftermath what happened. This car was also in an intersection, with its front right wheel and half the axle torn off and sitting about 5 meters away.

Geez. What are these people doing?

On Sunday, my sister and I went with a group to Taipei's Yang Ming Mountain (陽明山) for a day of rock climbing. We probably started climbing around 10am and wrapped up after 6pm. I gotta say, it felt really good to be out there. The weather was mostly pretty good, with a brief bit of rain. Plenty of grinding, sweating, and fun company. But most of all, it was just nice to be out away from the pollution spending the day where mosquitoes have good appetites.

The first picture kind of shows our climbing set-up. The second photo is of my sister. She did the climbing there, but I'm credited with taking what I thought was a pretty good photo.

On Saturday, I attended a Science Creativity competition held by my company's Education Foundation. It's an annual competition with a cash prize/scholarship of 100,000 NTD to the winning team of four highschool students. The challenge was to create an automated structure with 4 stages, show two displays of Physics and two displays of Chemistry. So students, in the area provided, would create systems of moving parts, pullies, cascading dominos, ingredient mixing, burning things, etc using as much creativity as possible - subsequently judged on their efforts. But I was actually pretty disappointed with the results. Team after team had failing experiments, with links between each Physics/Chemistry stage that would break instead of falling through to continue the action to the next stage. I felt like these teams didn't think their experiments through, and didn't prepare and practice enough to be successful.

Nevertheless, it reminded me a lot of going to the Technolymics back in highschool. Those were fun times. Hopefully these kids learned a few things along the way too.

I took this picture a couple weeks ago. It caught my eye last summer when I was scootering around my neighbourhood on a weekend around noon. Only around lunch does the shadow of the overhanging electrical wires cast down upon the splattering of bird poop on the street below. Fun, huh.

Oh, What a Night!

Last night, I went to a company Innoluxin Zhunan (竹南), about 15 minutes by car (by highway) or 40 minutes by scooter (regular roads), for foosball. Zhunan is one area I'm not familiar with (having only been there once almost 3 years ago), though I happened to have lunch across the street from Innolux just at lunch yesterday-- a little coinkidink.

Since it's illegal for scooters to take the highway (for safety's sake), my path was as you see to the right here. This is what you'd do: take 寶山路 (Bao Shan Road) straight towards downtown. Then turn left onto 食品 (Shi Pin Road), follow the curve right, go up and down a bridge, double-back along a lane next to the bridge and turn right onto 中華路 (Zhong Hua Road). Then take Zhong Hua road, a big street, all the way until the destination. About 18+ km in total.

And yet, while that all seemed simple enough, that's not how it turned out. The second map is the route I actually took. Working off 5 hours of sleep, I forgot about the bridge, and somehow turned left at the intersection before it. But I didn't notice anything wrong, even as the road I was on twisted and turned (unlike Zhong Shan Road should have). I started to question myself as I felt I was heading into the mountains, but since I didn't stray from the main road of what I thought was Zhong Hua Road, I kept going. Until... I ran out of road. All I had were motorways and highways. I went one way, then felt it was wrong, and went the other way. In the end, I decided to follow the road signs that said 竹南 Zhunan... which took me onto Taiwan's largest highway. Happily it got me where I wanted to go, and made for a fun story. My detour only took an extra 10 mins for a total of 50.

This morning, I woke up to the sound of my radio alarm at 8am. Got changed, and went to the swimming pool. After a quick rinse, I did a few stretches, and looked up at the clock hanging from a post at one end of the pool. 7:21am. Exsqueezeme? In Adrian Monk style: Here's what happened. Last night as I was setting my alarm, I accidentally pressed the wrong buttons, thereby changing the hour of my alarm clock one hour earlier. The result was me finishing my 1000m and getting to the office by 8am.

Tonight, we need to be out of the office by 7pm because there will be a carpet cleaning and disinfecting (happens a couple times a year). So I'll probably go bowling and maybe have some MJ at my coworker's place.

It's 3:20am. I can't sleep. Let me ramble about what's going...

I was making Vietnamese drip coffee at work today. Drank it around 7pm or 8pm. I never thought I had ever been affected by the effects of caffeine. But here I am, at 3:32am sitting on the corner of my bed typing a blog.

So, what's up with me? Work's been busy lately. Working on a Sales Kit for when we start driving the Asia Sales Force sometime this month.

Been swimming about twice a week in the mornings, just before work. Not swimming all that long, my last swim being 800m. Increasing 100m each time. I was planning on swimming again tomorrow, but seeing as I can't sleep, I can't swim. I'm going to be a complete wreck in the morning.

Been also busy with taking rockclimbing lessons with my sister. We just finished our 5th and final lesson for this introductory course, and we've got a outdoor trip this Sunday to do some climbing at Ya Ming Shan in Taipei. Lots of fun. I'm going to have to take a break after we finish that. My fingers need a rest, and my so does my injured left shoulder. No workouts at the gym the last few weeks. Don't want to worsen my shoulder's condition.

After work tomorrow, I'll be scootering to another company to play some foosball. Just signed up for another tournament for 9/1. A smaller one. Gotta play more and practice.

I hate not being able to sleep. Mainly because at 2am or 3am, I get really hungry, and it's far too late to eat.

Ok, 3:31am now. Time to try sleeping again. Night.

Last weekend, I bought a large white plastic storage box to store some winter clothes. Unfortunately, there was no elegant way of taking it home on my scooter. It was too big to fit on the scooter floor in front of me. So, I came up with a clever idea of wearing it on my back, over my backpack full of groceries, and strapping it on with some elastic mesh from the front. The result is what you see to the right.

No doubt I turned a few heads on my way home.

Heroes in a half shell - Turtle Power!

Most of us only got a first look at multi-touch computing through Apple's recent iPhone release. But there are already quite a few different applications using it. This Popular Mechanics video shows just how far its come in some (almost) ready-to-sell products. Kinda fancy.

And for more information, How Stuff Works explains the multi-touch system in the iPhone.

Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary has added the following words and more into its Eleventh Edition. I've marked up the ones I've used before.

  1. agnolotti
  2. Bollywood*
  3. chaebol
  4. crunk*
  5. DVR
  6. flex-cuff
  7. ginormous*
  8. gray literature
  9. hardscape
10. IED
11. microgreen
12. nocebo
13. perfect storm
14. RPG*
15. smackdown*
16. snowboardcross
17. speed dating*
18. sudoku
19. telenovela
20. viewshed

Green roofs. Heard of? Not a new concept, but new to me.

I know, I know, I'm way behind the rest of the game. But keep in mind that I'm not in North America. Green roofing involves putting soil and vegetation onto a building's roof. While significantly more costly than regular shingles or roofing methods, green roofs can help reduce running costs of electricity, keep air both milder and cleaner, and possibly provide a roof-top garden as well. Being at the age where plenty of people are buying new homes, this is definitely something I would consider with my housing purchase (or at least with future renovations)... if it can be covered by insurance.

Here are some resources:
Green Roofs For Healthy Cities
greenroofs.com
wikipedia's page on green roofs
treehugger.com: Green Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre
Hydrotech: Green Vancouver Main Library
Canada.com story: B.C. insurers refuse to cover green roofs
Canada.com story: Insurers put the brakes on green roofs

"Liang Qichao (梁啟超) was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty, who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements." Here's his profile on Wikipedia.

AC says this particular photo of Liang looks like a larger-eyed version of my brother, BK. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being "exactly like him", what do you think?

It was a busy weekend. I did my annual health exam on Saturday, and played in a Taiwan Foosball Association singles tournament on the bulk of Sunday. I'll get to the health exam part later, and blog about the foosball tournament now.

21 people registered, but a couple of people were no-shows. I finished tied for 5th, winning 4 matches and losing 2 in a double-elimination format. Each match was best of 3 games, with each game going to 5 points. The two matches I lost both went to the very last point (5-4) on the 3rd game. Unfortunately, I also blew a 4-2 game 3 lead in each case. Just wasn't able to close out. Anyway, I'm still pretty happy with the result, especially since I had never competed in any serious singles competition. So, I can say that I could have beaten two of the Top 4 finishers (who got plaques for their efforts). I, on the other hand, got an injured wrist and thumb.

Side story: One of the competitors had an unlucky week. He got into a car accident last weekend, so while his car was getting fixed he was scootering during the past week. This weekend, he got into a scooter accident, leaving possible scars on his elbow and knee - which meant he wasn't able to play in the tournament either. Poor guy. Two accidents in 1.5 weeks. That blows.

You can see my Taiwanese foosball history and profile here Taiwan Foosball Association, but you might need to read Chinese to understand any of it.

When I have kids, I'll encourage them to try new things and explore different cultures. But if any of them head down Gothic Avenue, that's it... they're going to boarding school.

This weekend I spent a considerable amount of money (not enough to break the bank, but enough that I would complain and say I spent a lot of money). But it was money well-spent, and mostly staying with the theme of cleanliness.

After an allergy blood test showed that I was allergic to dust-mites and not a whole lot else, I took some action to improve my living space along those lines. Here's what I got:

1) Jean Perry (supposedly from France) anti-mite mattress and pillow protectors
2) Louie Casa (supposedly from Italy) anti-mite queen sized quilt cover
3) Honeywell filters roll for my various air-filtering appliances (air purifier, air conditioner, and dehumidifier)
4) Mouthwash
5) 3M deodorizer, and
6) Toilet pucks

Also bought a shirt from G2000 at 70% off. But that has nothing to do with clean... other than it's a clean shirt.

The iPod has been the reason for many innovative accessories, such as those made by Kensington. Now... how about this for the ladies? OhMiBod

Just thought of something that humoured me.

Let's say you had someone tied to a chair, for whatever reason. Maybe he broke into your house, and you knocked him with a shovel from behind. And then you tied him up to a chair for questioning before the police came.

Like in the movies where a villain forces the tied-up hero an evil capsule, you pry his mouth open and toss a white capsule in and tell him to swallow it - maybe taping his mouth shut so he can't spit it out. But like any person would do in that situation, he'd avoid swallowing it at any cost. So, as you continuously yell at him telling him to eat it, he holds it in his mouth for as long as he can.

So, the kicker is that I'd use Vitamin C. Something harmless (even healthy!), but he wouldn't know better, thus agonizing at the sourness of the mystery pill as it slowly dissolves in his mouth.

As part of my daily feed of information, I usually read about 3 or 4 articles from HowStuffWorks.com. There's usually something interesting to learn about.

I just read their article on vertical farming. Not to admit to being easily swayed, but it does sound like a pretty fancy idea with plenty of benefits that could potentially improve the way we live today. Although it's somewhat frightening to think that one day most, if not all, of our produce might come out of buildings instead of outdoor fields. On the other hand, people may not really care too much. In the future, we might just think back to traditional farming as a "remember when?" topic. Besides, do you think humans are capable of making agricultural foods as good, if not better, than mother nature? I guess we already do with even today's agricultural know-how.

What's wrong with the world we live in today?

In today's news, I read three main types of headlines: murder, disaster, and iPhone.

Murder: We've got news from the Pickton trial about a witness seeing a dead body hanging in the barn, 24-year old Steinke killing his 13-year old girlfriend's family in Medicine Hat, Alta., a double-murder suicide in Toronto, and a double-murder involving WWE Canadian wrestling star Chris Benoit in Atlanta.

Disaster: Heavy rains in Britain kills 3, tornadoes sweep through Manitoba, and a tropical cyclone that kills 10 in Pakistan. Add that to the TV program that was talking about the 1995 and 2003 heat waves in Chicago and Europe respectively that took 50+ thousand lives.

iPhone: Since last week (and maybe earlier), Google News seems to continuously collect new reports on the Apple iPhone. Talking about whether or not it'll succeed and the implications on technology and stocks.

Is there any GOOD news to look forward to anymore?

==== added 1 hour later =========

To make things more fvcked up, I just MSNed with my highschool friend. His little bachelor suite off West 12th was broken into... while he was sleeping! He woke up to realize there was someone in his room. My friend pretended to sleep until the intruder left. The guy came through the window and out the door, taking some DVDs and his wallet. Fortunately, the wallet (which had no money) was found in the alley, and more importantly, my friend is fine - just a little shaken up.

What a crazy week and some! I've been so busy through these 10 days of vacation that I didn't get a chance to post anything on my blog. So here're my thoughts and feelings from coming back home after being away for close to 3 years.

Arriving at home was a little strange at first. Just being away for such a long time and then having a rush of familiarity. My parents haven't changed the house too much - a few improvements and fixes here and there. Other than that, it felt very much... like home. Things like instinctively running up the stairs in the same steps and cadence, and the feeling of gliding my hand across the wooden handrail, made me quickly feel like I had never left.

The buildings around Greater Vancouver have changed plenty. In my 10 days, I went by Yaletown, Kits, SFU, Lake City, New Westminister, and Metrotown. The way the landscape has changed in some areas (Yaletown and New West in particular) is outright scary. So many crazy condos have gone up, and tons of townhouses too. My friend's mom told me that a 50-year old unrenovated house down her street near Kits highschool sold for $1.1M. Not liking that.

Aside from that, Vancouver feels mostly the same. There seem to be a whole lot of Chinese immigrants. When I left Vancouver, I used to hear Mandarin only from Taiwanese people, or from the Chinese people in my Masters class. Now, 4 out of 5 people I hear speaking Mandarin have a China Chinese accent. This, from a Taiwanese point of view, is kind of annoying. We just don't like their accents, and I much less like the way they conduct themselves. I also feel like I hear much more Spanish-speaking folks around Vancouver. Not sure if it's just a heightened awareness or if there are that many more Latin Americans.

But of course the best part of my trip was seeing my parents and friends, who as always, are great. In some groups, it's like nothing has changed at all. In other groups, it's as if nothing's the same. It's truly fantastic to come home to see your most cherished friends. But even with 10 days, it's not enough to touch bases with everyone. It was extra special this visit because it was after such a long time. I'm pretty sure there won't be another 3 year lapse from here on in.

Overall a superb trip. See you guys next time!

This blog concludes Chapter 1 of my North American trip o' business and fun.

San Diego has been fun. The exhibition at the Convention Center was a success for us, generating plenty of good leads. And I've eaten very well since my coworkers arrived from Fremont.

What I did and what I ate.

1) Sunday


2) Monday
The day started off frantically, trying to get a few last things covered -- especially on the side of contacting editors from magazines and publications. This was the busiest day of the 3.5-day show because it was the free day. We gave lots of demos, had some discussions with some big potential potential customers, and I ran around a lot. That night, our sales guy and I went to a party held by Jasper (a company) where the booze was free, so all you needed to pay was a tip for the bartender. Not all that much fun of a party, but still an experience.

Lunch: Starbucks sandwiches which were between $7 - $8US, too salty, and not very good.
Dinner: Gaslamp Strip Club on Fifth Avenue, which isn't a strip club at all - it's a steak place. It's a cook-it-yourself steak place, in fact - very tasty food. Basically, when you order, you get a lump of meat, and then you take it to a big grill and cook it yourself. I got the Sashimi-grade Ahi, which I seared slightly on all sides, eaten with wasabi and soy sauce.

3) Tuesday
The tradeshow was much slower this day, and I didn't have to run around nearly as much. There was a huge party held by Denali (a company), but I didn't want to go - simply because I didn't want to hang out with our sales guy (who I may blog more about another time). So, the group of us tried to ditch him, but were almost caught as we decided to go for ice cream and saw him on the street again. Anyway, we had some tasty ice cream at the Marble Slab. I had the sweet cream flavor.

Lunch: Royal Thai on Fifth Avenue take-out. Just some warm
Dinner: BluePoint on Fifth Avenue, a well-known upscale restaurant. I had the roasted lamb, which was US$37. Good, but not worth $37.

3) Wednesday
Like Tuesday, the tradeshow was less hectic. Did a few demos here and there, ran around a bit. In the evening, a group of us went to the San Diego Padres vs. LA Dodgers game at Petco Stadium. It was pretty fun. Their relief pitcher had his 500th save (first in the MLB league).

Lunch: In-N-Out Burger. I had the double-double combo, also known as #1.
Dinner: A hotdog, Coke, churro, nachos, and peanuts at the Padres game. At > $20US, pretty pricey.

4) Thursday
Last day of the tradeshow, although I was in early (7:30am) for breakfast and a panel on online marketing. After lunch, I went around Balboa Park, one of San Diego's top siteseeing spots. With the great weather, it was beautiful. Finally, after a bit of travel, I arrived here in Vancouver! Now I'm at home... will blog more tomorrow!

Lunch: Rockin' Baha Lobster on Fifth Avenue
Dinner: Microwave lasagna.

Sitting around at LAX's main departure lounge right now. After 11 hours between Taipei and LA, I didn't realize I'd be waiting for 4.5 hours before my next flight to San Diego. I kind of wonder if the other flight option Taipei -> San Fran -> San Diego would have gotten me there faster.

I've been so busy with planning the business part of this trip that I haven't had any time to research San Diego. I'm staying at the Hilton Gaslamp -- and from what I hear, the Gaslamp Quarter is a nice touristy area. So I might go there on Saturday after doing some work at the Convention Center right across the street from my hotel.

In 1 week, I'll be back in Vancouver for the first time in nearly 3 years. Wow. It's been a while, huh. It'll be great to be back, and my schedule is packed packed packed. But that's the only way I'd have it. But for now, I'll first focus on my busy work week, and then worry about play.

In another note, here are two things I noticed at the airport here.
1) People arriving at LAX actually wait until the seatbelt light goes off before standing up and getting their carry-on luggage. Unlike most places in Asia.
2) Vietnamese people like to travel using carboard boxes as luggage. At least on my flight.

More updates as my work days go on...


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[A couple hours later...]

I seemed to have started something. Now I'm at the American Airlines terminal. I was trying to find a socket to plug in my laptop, and the first one I saw was up against the wall (as opposed to a floor socket). So I took out my laptop and sat on the floor leaning up against the wall next to the socket, charging my computer. 20 minutes later, I look up and see 2 other guys sitting on the floor doing the same thing at other socket locations.

Drinking games. Just about everyone loves them. And those who don't shouldn't be invited to parties.

It usually goes something like this... You say the wrong word, you drink. You play the wrong cards, you drink. Basically, when you lose, you drink. But isn't the point of a drinking game... to drink? So, shouldn't it be: winner gets to drink?

That's, of course, unless the drink is some communal jug of mixed nastiness.

Getting to the tail end of my cold now. The fever has gone away, and I spent most of the last couple of days wheezing with asthma and hacking up juicy dark yellow whoppers. This brings me to today's blog topic.

Do you ever do this?

Sometimes you cough up a real thick phlegm, but you`re not close enough to a spitting station (a sink, a planted shrub, or a sewer grate). So the only choice is to hold it in your mouth until you find somewhere to spit it out. But now and then, for no particular reason, while you've got a loogy in your mouth, you might just flip it over from beneath your tongue to over top. Then after you taste that salty slime, you think to yourself, "Eeww... that was kinda gross."

Lately, I haven't had time to blog. But alas, here I am blogging twice in one day! Why? I'm in Taipei on a business trip. We've hired a video editor to help us make a video to introduce our product at the trade show I'll be attending in June in San Diego. Here's my day.

I got to the LongShan Temple MRT station at 10am and was picked up by the video designer on his scooter. We got to his studio/office, and spent about 1 hour going through the changes I wanted made to his last revision of the video. Thereafter, I tended to some work emails, watched some Ask A Ninja episodes, had lunch, blogged, and went to my uncle's place which was a mere 4 minute walk from this location (which was a total coincidence, because this small company is in the outskirts of Taipei). My uncle gave me some fruit as I left. 4 mangoes and a box of lychee. As I walked back to the studio, I saw an old woman -- crooked like a NY cop -- bent over eating directly out of someone's trash. Most old people with bad backs bend around 1/3 along the vertebrae from the head. This woman was a folding chair, bending just above the hip. It was kinda crazy... and kinda sad. So, after I walked passed her, I doubled back and gave her one of my mango (which I'm sure will be an excellent mango).

Now I'm back at the studio. Blogging again, and watching more Ninja episodes.

It's 34 degrees out. Cooler than yesterday's 37. Hot enough to give me a headache with this cold I'm still suffering from.

Still. It's been a fun day away from the office.

Does this happen to you too?

There's always a high probability when I brush my teeth that a glob of toothpaste will fall out of my mouth and into the sink. Why is that? Is my toothbrushing process faulted?

I squeeze toothpaste onto my toothbrush, run the head of the brush under the faucet to get it wet, insert it into my mouth, and then start brushing. In theory, the toothpaste should get scrubbed into a foamy lather against my teeth. But instead, half of the toothpaste falls out as a clump. It makes me feel like I'm waiting toothpaste and it's annoying to scrub off the sink if it dries.

What gives?

Intel introduced its new Centrino chipset today, Centrino Pro. It was the announcement I was kind of waiting for before buying my notebook - not so much because I wanted the latest and greatest. More because I wanted to see how much prices on existing products would dip. Unfortunately, I ended up buying my laptop a couple of days ago due to anxiety for a new computer. I'll ask my sales guy whether or not the Intel announcement made any impact on the price of my ASUS F3Jp. Hopefully not. I'd hate to kick myself for jumping the gun early. But such is technology. I'll probably skip the Centrino Pro and get something with a Centrino Super-Duper Awesome Pro in 2011.

Now here's an interesting project: Encyclopedia of Life

This website / massive database is a collaborative research effort of scientists all over the world with the aim of documenting all lifeforms on Earth. Sounds incredible, doesn't it. They're estimating this to take a decade at a cost of roughly $100M US. In the future, this should be a great resource for kids at their school science projects. As for us adults, it should be a fascinating read whenever we get bored of sitting around at home.

As a side-note, while writing this posting, it occurred to me... does Encyclopaedia Britannica still have door-to-door sales people? Do they now just carry a DVD set instead of a set of heavy books? You used to be able to tell when your friends' parents cared a lot about their education by the 26+ edition leatherette-covered set sitting on their living room shelf. Certainly a sight you'd be hard pressed to find now. You could almost consider that antique!

Welcome to the Internet, Kevin.

I bought a new laptop today, and this is the first time I've connected to the Internet with it. Here's a quick rundown of my new machine.

ASUS F3Jp

General

• Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
  
• CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83Ghz
  
• Screen 15.4" WXGA
  
• Memory Size 1GB + 1GB DDR2
  
• Hard Disk 120GB
  
• Optical Drive DVD Super Multi
  
• Graphics Card ATI Mobility Radeon X1700
  
• Video Memory 256MB VRAM, up to 512MB Hyper Memory
  
• Communication Modem, Gigabit LAN and WLAN
  
• Card slot 1 x Express Card
  
• Battery Life 4 hours
  
• Dimensions 14.4" x 10.7" x 1.1-1.6"
  
• Weight 6.5 lbs.
  
• Other Features Splendid Video Enhancement
  
• Color Shine
  
• Audio DJ
  
• Touch Pad Lock
  
• Power 4 Gear+
  
• Battery Re-Callibration
  
• 30days Zero Bright Dot LCD
  
• Carry bag/mouse

CPU

• CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo
  
• CPU Speed T5600(1.83GHz)
  
• CPU FSB 667MHz
  
• CPU L2 Cache 4MB

Chipset

• Chipset Intel 945PM

Display

• Screen Size 15.4"
  
• Wide Screen Support Yes
  
• Display Type Wide XGA
  
• Resolution 1280 x 800

Operating Systems

• Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium

Graphics

• GPU/VPU ATI Mobility Radeon X1700
  
• Video Memory 256MB VRAM, up to 512MB Hyper Memory
  
• Graphic Type Dedicated Card

Hard Drive

• HD Capacity 120GB
  
• HD RPM 5400rpm
  
• HD Interface SATA

Memory

• Memory Slots 2 x DIMM
  
• Memory Speed DDR2 667
  
• Memory Size 1GB (added another 1GB for 2GB total)
  
• Max Memory Supported 2GB
  
• Memory Spec 1GB x 1

Optical Drive

• Optical Drive Type DVD Super Multi
  
• Optical Drive Interface Integrated
  
• Optical Drive Spec 8x Super-Multi DVDRW Dual layer

Communications

• Modem 56K
  
• LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
  
• WLAN 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN
  
• Bluetooth Yes

Ports

• Card Slot 1 x Express Card
  
• USB 4
  
• IEEE 1394 1
  
• Video Port 1 x VGA, 1 x DVI, 1 x S-Video TV-out
  
• Audio Ports 1 x Headphone-out jack
  
• 1 x Microphone-in jack
  
• 1 x Line-in Jack

Audio

• Audio Integrated Sound card
  
• Speaker Internal Speakers

Input Device

• Touchpad Yes
  
• Keyboard 19 mm full size 88key with MS-Windows function keys
  
• 2.5mm travel

Supplemental Drive

• Card Reader 4-in-1
  
• Webcam 1.3M Megabyte Pixels Webcam

Power

• AC Adapter Output: 19 V DC, 65W
  
• Input: 100— 240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
  
• Battery 6-cell lithium ion
  
• Battery Life 4 hours

Physical spec

• Dimensions 14.4" x 10.7" x 1.1-1.6"
  
• Weight 6.5 lbs.

Manufacturer Warranty

• Parts 2 years limited
  
• Labor 2 years limited

Overall, the specs are pretty solid. Asus has been making pretty big ground in the notebook industry lately, along with Acer. After looking through reviews, comparing specs and prices, this notebook seemed to fall in the right place. The price was a nice NT$39,900 (after adding another 1GB DDR2), and I'll get my tax back at the airport when I head back to North America (saving another 5% = NT$1,900). So, $38K even.

So far, in its limited use, I haven't found much to complain about. One thing I immediately don't like is the trackpad buttons - there are two buttons that look like one button (with left and right clickable areas). But there is a 1+ cm space between these two buttons that's not clickable; which I think it a huge gap. But I guess I'll have to get used to it. Oh, the other thing I'm not all too happy about is the pre-partitioned 120GB HD. It's factory partitioned, and it seems I can't re-partition it the way I want. But I'll have to look into that more.

The other daunting task I have is figuring out Windows Vista. There are some pretty significant changes from XP, especially with the Control Panel. Along with sophistication comes complication and frustration. So, I'm going to need to spend more time on that. One last initial annoyance is all the Bloatware that comes with this package. Means I need to uninstall a whole bunch of crap... but I need to know what's worth keeping (say, a new Vista feature), and what's not.

All in all, I'm happy to be moving away from this 3-year nightmare provided by my eMachines laptop. It might take me a while to port all my data and install all the applications I need, but in the end, it'll be plenty rewarding... at a cost of NT$38,000.

I was involved in soap-making today. There was a tent at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall organized by Tetra Pak, promoting some different Earth-friendly activities. The main activity was making all-natural soap with oil + water + some alkaline chemical + tea tree scent and powder. The soap-making was hosted by Ann Chen, Taiwanese Olympic Tae Kwon Do Champion turned Handmade Boutique company entrepreneur. For the most part, we all just stood around while helped mixed all the ingredients - with us helping with a few simple steps. The final mixture, half-settled, was poured into empty Tetra Pak containers we brought (as instructed). That will harden after the temperature cools down. Then we have to wait another month for the chemical reaction to complete and the soap is safe to use. I think this is pretty much what Lush makes. And we did it... for free. Yay for us.

I saw a guy wipe out on his scooter today.

I was coming out of a shoe store after having picked up some leather shoe protection spray. Just as I was putting on my helmet, I heard that familiar sound of a bump followed by hard heavy plastic grinding on concrete. Turning my head over my shoulder, I watched a scooter sliding down the main road with a guy doing "the roll" (you know, like in the movies when people jump out of moving vehicles) -- with his left hand still clutching his cell phone. Made me chuckle, because I can't stand it when scooters talk on the phone which riding. It's illegal and makes them ride half-assed. Good for him.

He got up immediately and ran to his scooter, picked it up, and scootered off. That's kind of the way most scooter accidents (self-induced) happen. The injured often aren't too bad, most severely to the ego.

I'm sure he hasn't learned his lesson yet, so I hope he has another accident soon while chatting on his cell.

This past week, I've been doing a significant re-org at home. I decided to get rid of the clunky computer table in my room (provided by the landlord), and bought 3 shelves to take its place. I wasn't using it anyway, so it was just taking up valuable real estate. My room feels several times more comfortable, but also because I've been cleaning up a lot of unneeded junk.

You know when you reach into your jeans pocket and find a $20 bill, you're pretty happy, right? Well, while I was cleaning up some stuff I brought from Canada, I found a sealed envelope in the sleeve of a binder. In it, $1000 US. Of course, it didn't really make me all that happy, because I can readily spend USD. However, I am making a trip to San Diego in 1.5 months. So... woohoo!!

Martial Arts movie classic Bloodsport just finished on HBO. I was a huge fan of this movie, and looking back, it's probably the only Jean-Claude Van Damme still worth watching. Guess it's not that hard to believe, but it's been 19 years since Bloodsport was released. Pretty long ago, huh. Forest Whitaker is there too, with all the typical mediocre acting popular in the 80's. Bloodsport also has one of the best villians in a martial arts movie, Chong Li played by Bolo Yeung. I always felt he was one of the coolest characters, and a good role model. "CHONG LI! CHONG LI! CHONG LI!" What I didn't realize until I looked him up on IMDB is that he was already 50 (!!!) in that movie. I don't know if they got his birth year right, but if so, that makes him a freakin' muscular 50-year old.

Well, in any case, as bad as that Bloodsport may seem now, it has always been one of my favorite movies.