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.