They Just Keep Getting Better!

Howdy folks, back from Singapore, but before I tell you about that trip I want to write about Saturday night's excellent performance by ABS - All Blues and Ska.

See ABS at New York New York for the full set of photos. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to post the videos I took.

Charlene, Natari, and I showed up at New York New York Restaurant at 7:30 p.m., because we'd been told that in order to reserve a table at the front we had to get there early and have dinner. Huh. Guess they didn't tell any of the others that, because the place was virtually empty. Since it's Mid Autumn Festival, most of Taipei was outside barbecuing with their friends and family. Ah well, what the hell. We ordered a few dishes and had a nice meal, waiting for the 9:00 show.

But you know, this is Taiwan, and this is ABS, and we know that they never, ever start on time. It must have been at least 9:30 p.m. before we got any music, but it was worth the wait. The show was kicked off by a solo performance of a guy named Mark, half Taiwanese, half American. My goddess, could this guy belt out the tunes. If I hadn't been looking at him, I'd never have believed he was white. The guy can sing. Dino said he, Xiao Zhu, and Da Mao had played with this guy way back before Wu Bai ever showed up on the scene.

We were actually a little bit sorry to see Mark leave the stage, but Dino promised the audience he'd return for the encore. Then ABS kicked in and all was well. They've added another guitarist, Lao Liu, who we'd seen playing with them at the summer street party. Between him and Xiao Yang (whom Dino calls Stevie Ray Yang) the guitar riffs were flying back and forth all evening. Xiao Zhu's bass and Da Mao's keyboards were smoking, and I thought Dino's drum kit was going to explode from the force of his blows. He's not known as 大力打鼓 Da Li Da Gu (Hits the Drums with Vigor) for nothing!

There was a surprise guest at the show. Xiao Yang's regular job is playing guitar for Bobby Chen (whose "Love You 10,000 Years" duet with Wu Bai can be found on the Wu Bai Live CD), and Bobby was in the audience. Unfortunately, Bobby was doing what Bobby does best - drinking. Wu Bai's song "You're Drunk, My Dear" is aimed at Bobby. He's only gotten worse over the years. He got up on stage with the guys, dragged out his harmonica, and they all did one of Bobby's songs together, with a nice round of applause from the audience afterwards. And then Bobby refused to get off stage. And Dino and Xiao Zhu were getting progressively more pissed off. They tried to reason with him and said, "Later, for the encore, OK?" but he wouldn't budge. Finally, ABS departed the stage and left Bobby up there alone. Shortly, his other two guitar players came up, looking quite embarrassed, and they played while Bobby drunkenly sang another song. Bobby's keepers managed to get him off stage so the guys could return, but he came back up to the front later, stood in front of Da Mao, poking him in the chest and grabbing his keyboard as he was playing. Another keeper, a woman, was able to get him to let go. There was another nutcase who kept getting on stage, too, a guy Charlene said used to be on TV and was a reporter. He ended up with a tambourine in hand and was smashing Dino's cymbals and the movie screen behind the stage. Every now and then he'd pretend his elbow was a camera (you had to be there). Weirdo......

Dino's beautiful girlfriend Carrie was there, along with his son, Alex (who was pretty drunk by the end of the evening, ha). Xiao Zhu's wife Du-du and Da Mao's wife Bee were along for the ride, and the three ladies spent some time in front of the stage, dancing up a storm, joined by another gal who I assume belonged to either Xiao Yang or Lao Liu. I've only said "hi" to Du-du, no conversation, but Bee has always been a sweetheart when I talk to her, and of course Carrie is a living doll (and Dino is one damned lucky man). What a contrast between these three fine ladies and a certain other wife who has nothing but sour faces and glares for the fans and who would never condescend to a friendly conversation. I guess some women are just more confident in their men and aren't threatened by fans who have no interest in trying to bed their boys. Likewise the guys are always very friendly and talkative when we go to the ABS shows. I think they really appreciate the fact that we admire them as musicians in their own rights, not just as a backup band for Wu Bai, which so many people make the mistake of doing.

It was around 1:30 a.m. when things finally ended, after a kickass encore that even got me up dancing around a bit. It was far too late to catch the MRT home, so I stayed at Natari's place, waking up at 6:30 and heading home, where I fell back into bed for a few more hours. I was in kind of a daze most of the day yesterday and didn't do much at all. The house is filthy with cat hair and cat litter, and I really have to clean today! Really. I do. So, Singapore story has to wait.

I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Taking off this afternoon for Singapore, back on Friday evening. Looking forward to Saturday evening and a fine performance from ABS. Also looking forward to the upcoming Wu Bai & China Blue pub shows on October 27 and 28, although not looking forward to queueing in line for three days, mostly alone since the others in the group have to work during the day :(

The new CD comes out this month, and I hope that means an autograph session. I have so many autographed CDs and other things, but not one them I actually got done myself. I think it's about time I stood in front of the guys on my own, huh?

Apologies to everyone I owe e-mail to. I'll eventually get around to it. I hope.

We're All Just a Bunch of Fruit

My dear friend Brandi sent this one to me last month, and I decided I liked it so much that it deserved a place here.

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy to get. The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree. Share this with women who are good apples, even those who have already been picked.

Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Happy stomping, those of you who have grapes. And for those of you who are still hanging around the top of the tree, be thankful. You could be rotting into a sodden mush on the ground, within easy reach of some sour grape.

Cops: Taipei

The police in Taipei drive around with the lights on the tops of their cars constantly turned on, revolving red and blue. I've often wondered just how they actually get offenders to stop when they wish them to. Now Johnny Neihu, the funniest writer at the Taipei Times, has cleared up some of the mystery.

Stop! Or I'll shoot you hesitantly

Nag, nag, nag

Awright, awright. I'll write something! I've been getting a little nagging from friends who haven't seen anything new here in awhile. Sorry, but on top of still teaching English every day, I haven't had much excitement in my life to write about! But I can muster up a little bit now.

Best this is that this week, due to a visit from Singaporean friend, David, I got to have dinner with some of my favorite people: Natari, Charlene, Dino, Carrie, and another friend who must remain un-named for the time being. The bonus guest was Dino's son, Alex, who is here visiting from California. Nice kid, 18 years old, looks so much like his dad (despite the bleached blonde hair), and has eyelashes so long and thick that women everywhere (including Carried) were trying to figure out how to steal them. I won't be posting any photos of Alex, because I don't think it's a good idea to put the children of stars into the public eye, but here's a cute pic of David with Dino. Dino is demonstrating how he copes with frustration.

David is a huge fan of Dino's and is currently studying drumming. He was able to pick up a few tips from Dino during our evening out. He also scored a pair of Dino's drumsticks, the ones he used during the Singapore concert at the beginning of the month. As you see, Dino must have suffered a lot of frustration to leave the sticks in this condition!

After eating a little bit at Din Tai Feng, famous for their xiao long bao, we moved over to one of the whackiest restaurants I've ever seen: Indian Jurassic Park. You have to check out the photos of this place: Indian Jurassic Restaurant

It was a very noisy place, and rather smoky, but lots of fun. We had some tasty food there, including fried rice, deep-fried squid, Three Cup Chicken (三杯雞), some clams in a yummy sauce (炒海瓜子), some veggie (空心菜), and some fish. The fish was beautifully presented that I had to take a photo. If you can work your way through the Chinese at the above link, you can see some photos of other food. We of course also had beer.

I was happy to have some time to spend chatting with Dino's son. He was a little jet lagged, so he wasn't too lively, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. We share some of the same heritage, American Indian and Italian. And we've both lived in Wyoming, him in Laramie and me in Cheyenne. He's not too interested in becoming a drummer, but he might want to be an equestrian veterinarian when he grows up. He just graduated from high school, and now he's trying to figure out what he should study in college.

Anyway, that's about the only really fun thing I've done. My Korean friend, Kayun, has begun studying English with me and is coming twice a week. After class sometimes we watch movies, which is fun, especially now that I have the new Pioneer DVD player and surround-sound system. This week we watched a great Korean movie called "Welcome to Dongmakgol." A big thank-you to Cheryl for passing that one along to me. And last week I finally got to see "Old Boy," a movie I've had for over a year and a half but never watched. It was just as intense as all the reviews had said.

Let's see, what else? Well, my friend/student, Aaron, left for his year of study in the UK. His family invited me to a goodbye dinner, and the food was excellent. His mom and dad are both fantastic cooks, and I really appreciated them asking me to join the rest of the family that evening. I'm going to miss Aaron, and I hope he adapts well to life in England. At the end he said he really didn't want to go, but it was too late to change his mind.

I've started trading English lessons for Chinese ones. Ye Ying, one of the teachers who had been at CLD while I was there, is planning on going to Holland to study Chinese culture. Personally, I think that's a bit weird, going to a European country for Asian studies, but she said the school is famous for it's courses. She wants to improve her English, and my Chinese has been regressing, so we're doing a trade. It will be good for me to get back into the study habit before I start at Shi Da in December.

I'll be heading back to Singapore on October 2 for a three-day, four-night stay. I spent some time yesterday online making a list of places I want to see, and I'll mostly be alone on my journeys. But, that's how I like it! I was able to find a very inexpensive hotel (only $156US for four nights), so I won't be spending too much. However, I am a little miffed that I didn't know earlier that Wu Bai & China Blue would be in Macau for a show on 9/30, because I would have gone there instead! Dammit, they never make these announcements early enough. Also, my friend Maddy from Florida will be in Hong Kong while I'm in Singapore! Again, had she told me sooner, I would have gone back to Hong Kong so I could see her. Rats rats rats!

I've completely avoided discussing the political situation here in Taiwan, because I really do hate politics and politicians. I'll briefly say that a bunch of people who have their heads up their collective ass are currently doing a sit-in protest to try to convince the president, Chen Shui Bian, to step down. They're all riled up because of alleged corruption. I think they should read this informative editorial in the Taipei Times: Taiwan's Color-Coded View of Corruption

If I have to choose between two evils, I'll take the lesser, and Ah Bian certainly qualifies as that. No, he's not perfect, but he at least wants Taiwan to be an independent, democrat country, while the Kuomintang would rather give it back to China and lose all the freedom we have. Idiots. And I can't even begin to explain how incredibly stupid Taiwan's vice president is. Root around in the editorial archives of the Times for some interesting stuff, if you have the time.

I'm done now. I have to prepare for my afternoon class now. I'll try to be better about posting, but no promises!

Unimportant Notes

Just a few things I think about and then forget to write about, so I'm finally doing it.

1. I'm making more money in interest now than when I moved here, even though I've spent a lot of money. This confuses me. However, it also pleases me, so I hope it continues.

2. Despite the extremely warm summer and my being at home far more than I was last year and hence using the air conditioner much more, my electric bill for July and August was only $1849NT, or about $56US. Can't complain.

3. I'm buying a new DVD player and a surround sound system. My treasured Malata all-region DVD player began having issues and refuses to play a DVD all the way to the end. So, I decided to go ahead and buy a new one that is bundled with a home theater sound system. I'm tired of listening to Wu Bai concerts through the lousy TV speakers.

4. I finally sold my little refrigerator this week. Did I mention I'd bought a new, larger one? Can't remember. But I did, because I wanted a freezer that I could actually put things into.

5. My Sunday student canceled our classes for the month of September because she's a wedding consultant and has too much going on. Bye-bye $225US. Crap on a rope. Guess this month I'm not making any money, since the guy I've been teaching three days a week is leaving for the UK.

6. Charlene passed along the great news that ABS will be performing on October 7. Coolio, since I'll be back from the next trip to Singapore on October 6. Let's hope they don't change the date to the 6th, because rushing from the airport to the club would be a pain in the ass.

7. The Demons from Hell upstairs have been suspiciously quiet lately. I think perhaps they've started going to school and now are forced to spend their evenings doing homework rather than screaming and pounding and running back and forth. Either that or their parents finally cracked and killed the both of 'em.

That's all, folks.

Singapore Rocks to Wu Bai & China Blue

Let me begin by saying that I understand why a discount airline is called a discount airline. I flew Jetstar Asia to Singapore because the price was right. That price did not include a meal. Oh no, if I wanted food, I had to pay for my meal (and beverage), and no food not purchased on the plane was allowed to be consumed.

Fine, then, I'll buy it. I hadn't eaten since around 1:00 p.m. on Friday, and it was now coming up on 8:00 p.m., and I was starved. The food cart starts down the aisle, not far from me, because I'm in row 8. I can smell it, and I'm getting hungrier by the minute. There were three choices on the menu: Egg Noodle with Seaweed Roll and Mixed Vegetables, Fried Rice with Chicken Teriyaki and Sauteed Vegetables, and Nasi Rampai with Sambal Fish and Sayur Lodeh. The last item was completely incomprehensible to me, and the seaweed roll put me off the first, so chicken teriyaki it would be. The cart reached the row in front of me. Suddenly, the plane began bucking as it hit turbulence, and the captain ordered the crew to return to their seats. The cart was whisked away. Nooooo!!!! I'm so hungry!!!! Finally, after 10 or 15 minutes, the cart returns, and it's my turn. "I'll have the chicken teriyaki." The pretty, perky flight attendant made a little moue. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, but we're out of that." Huh? How is this possible? I'm in row 8 for crying out loud! "Uh, fine, then I guess I'll have the fish thing." Again with the moue. "Oh dearie me, so sorry, I've just given the last one to my colleague. We have egg noodle with seaweed roll." "Well, what exactly is that?" "It's egg noodle with seaweed roll." "Never mind, can I just buy some nuts and some water?" I'm not gonna pay $5.00 US for something that sounds yucky. If they served it free, I'd try it, but I'm NOT paying for it.

The nuts didn't go far, and about an hour and a half before landing, the cart came around again. "Would you like to purchase a beverage?" a different perky, pretty girl asked. "Food?" I said hopefully, hoping to score some cookies. "Oh, gosh, gee, I'm so sorry, there is none." And then, as the cart returned to the front, at a speed only slightly slower than the speed of light, I heard the guy who was pushing it saying under his breath, "Drinks? Snacks? Drinks? Snacks?" but before my brain had a chance to say, "Hey...wait a minute, snacks is food!" the cart was gone. WTF? Stupid perky flight attendant doesn't know that nuts, candy bars, and cookies are in the FOOD group?

So, I landed in Singapore ready to chew on the arm of the person in front of me at immigration. Luckily they're quite speedy there, and I was into the baggage check area in no time, grabbing my bag and going out into the mob of waiting people, wondering how the hell I'd find Tona and Lee Ying. I only had to look around for a couple of minutes, though, before spotting them, and the first words out of my mouth were "FEED ME NOW!" We jumped into the car, where David had been waiting for us, and off we went for my first taste of Singapore food. That food was prata with chicken curry, and it was sheer heaven. The restaurant was Muslim Indian, I believe, and was quite crowded even at midnight. I managed not to faint away while we waited for the food. After the meal we drove to Tona and David's place (check out the nice view from their living room window), dropping Lee Ying at her stop on the way, and then hit the sack.

Saturday Tona and David took me for breakfast to a place that serves pork rib soup, known in Singapore at Bak Kut Teh. This is a marvelous broth with lots of roasted garlic and strips of lean pork, along with some sort of green veggie. They told me this is one of Wu Bai's favorite things to eat in Singapore (and this is a photo of his favorite shop), and I see why. I ended up buying some of the do-it-yourself seasoning packets at the grocery store to use here at home. After breakfast we drove around, with Tona pointing out various sites to me. We stopped briefly in Chinatown and walked around, but it was pretty hot, and Tona is five months pregnant and tires easily, so we didn't push it. We went to a shopping mall to meet Angela and Takasan for just a little while, and we went around to some used bookstores but didn't find anything good. Then later in the afternoon we collected Lee Ying and went to dinner for another Singapore specialty, Hai Nan Chicken Rice (along with some fried tofu and veggies and beer for me). The chicken is cooked in a seasoned broth and then allowed to cool, and the rice is cooked in the broth, the special seasoning giving the rice a great flavor. A light soy sauce is poured on the chicken, which is on a bed of cucumbers when it's served. Very yummy, and I bought the fixings for that, too.

After dinner it was off to the concert venue, picking up Lee Yang on the way, where we met up with Angela, Lilian, and the other Singapore fans, most of whom I didn't know (and my memory sucks, so I don't even remember everyone's names). We didn't have to wait outside long before they let us in, and we found our seats pretty close to the front. The front four rows had not even been available to the public for purchase, all reserved for special folks. Too bad, because those folks didn't even bother to stand up during the show. Lame arseholes. Why don't they let the real fans have the good seats?

The first part of the concert was Zhang Zhen Yue and Free Night, along with guest MC Hotdog. I don't mind their music, especially "Wo Ai Tai Mei" and the "oh Mama, wo yao qian" song, but ZZY was a bit down that evening. Not surprising since a couple weeks before his girlfriend (or close friend, depending on the source) committed suicide. It's a wonder he was performing at all. The crowd was rather subdued, and it was obvious that most of us were there for Wu Bai & China Blue.

And then the real fun began, with Da Mao hitting the stage and sitting at his keyboards, and then Wu Bai coming on for the opening number, Summer Night Wind. The rest of the concert was typical Wu Bai & China Blue, great performances, Wu Bai forgetting song lyrics (he blew White Dove soooo badly!), and Dino cutting up in the back while DJ eTurn was spinning his records - Dino was pretending to spin his cymbals. The crowd was mostly standing (and that's a no-no in Singapore), at least where we were (except for those fuddy-duddies in the front rows), and we were all singing at the top of our lungs and waving our light sticks. This concert was like a combination of the Love Power tour of 2004 and the Li Hai concert of last year, a good mix, a lot of favorite songs that I can sing along with. Doesn't matter how many times I hear the same songs in concert, I still love 'em.

The show was too short, of course, and the finale was Wu Bai & China Blue together with ZZY's band and MC Hotdog, a fun song, one I'm not familiar with. Then it was over, and we left. We hung around in front for awhile, then walked over toward the car. We noticed some fans waiting at the back, so we drifted over that way, saw some of ZZY's band come out, then Dino, Da Mao, and Xiao Zhu walked out the back door. I yelled Dino's name, he looked around and saw me, then came over to the barricade, shaking hands with fans and signing autographs. Finally Wu Bai and wife, along with other staff members, came out and boarded the little bus that would take them back to the hotel. We waved as they went by, but I'm not sure if anyone waved back, because I was just noticing that Miss Chen wouldn't even look our way and acknowledge our presence. Hmph.

Sunday the guys flew home, and Lilian and Angela went to the airport to see them off. They got to get their photos with Wu Bai and say a few words. I just can't make myself chase after the guy, you know? I mean, going to the show is one thing, but showing up at airports or hotels just feels wrong for me. If it had just been Dino, Da Mao, and Xiao Zhu, I would have gone, though, because they're just down-to-earth cool guys.

Sunday I went off with Lee Ying to meet Angela, Lilian, Eileen, and Li Yan for lunch, which we had at a shopping mall. I've been online buddies with Li Yan for about six years, and this was the first time I'd gotten to meet her face to face. We all hung around chatting a bit, then Lilian, Li Yan, and I headed off on our own. All we did was go to Carrefour at that mall and hit a couple of DVD shops. Then Lilian drove me to the airport so I could meet up with Tona, who was dropping David off for his flight (he works for Singapore Airlines). Tona and I went for dinner, choosing satay, both chicken and beef. Another yummy food! Then we went to a grocery store and ended up finding a book exhibition that had some great deals on used books (I bought four). We were pretty tired, so we just went back to Tona's and kicked back, watching a bit of TV (did you know there's a restaurant in Australia that's a Clydesdale-drawn carriage? check it out http://www.clydesdalesrestaurant.com.au/), and talking.

Monday morning I was up bright and early, packing all my stuff, and Tona dropped me off at the airport around 11:00. We wanted more pork rib soup for breakfast, but the place was closed, so we decided to wait for next time. I grabbed some sushi at the airport. I was seated in row 2 this time, and I was able to actually get the chicken teriyaki. Too bad, because it was simply awful, half cold and really tasteless. Next month when I go back I'll definitely stuff myself at the airport before boarding the plane!

Landed at almost 6:00 p.m., got on the bus back to Taipei at 6:25, finally hit home a little after 8:00, tired but happy. Now I'm just waiting for the new CD to be released and more concerts!

Life's a bitch......and then you marry one

Let us hope these words do not prove true for our little Hiyoshi. Remember I said he and Lisa were getting married in November? Well, it seems Hiyoshi didn't tell the whole truth. They're getting married tomorrow, one day before he leaves to go back to Japan. It's the civil ceremony, to be sure, but every bit as binding as that big party they'll have in November. I can't help but feel that Lisa felt the need to get those chains on him before he was far enough away from the influence of raging hormones to actually think clearly about what he's doing.

He was still saying today that 1) he didn't know if he loved her 2) he also didn't understand why she would want to marry a man who had never said "I love you and 3) he was worried that she wouldn't be able to adapt to life in Japan

Oh boy.....

I'll be back later with a report on the Singapore trip, but that requires some time at the computer, and this was a brief newscast ;)

Kafka on the Shore

From "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami, translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel

"That's it," Oshima says. He taps his temple lightly with the eraser end of the pencil. "But there's one thing I want you to remember, Kafka. Those are exactly the kind of people who murdered Miss Saeki's childhood sweetheart. Narrow minds devoid of imagination. Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems. Those are the things that really frighten me. What I absolutely fear and loathe. Of course it's important to know what's right and what's wrong. Individual errors in judgment can usually be corrected. As long as you have the courage to admit mistakes, things can be turned around. But intolerant, narrow minds with no imagination are like parasites that transform the host, change form, and continue to thrive. They're a lost cause, and I don't want anyone like that coming in here."

Oshima points at the stacks with the tip of his pencil. What he means, of course, is the entire library.

"I wish I could just laugh off people like that, but I can't."


I picked up this book because I'd read before that this Japanese author was Wu Bai's favorite. The price was right (and that's always a deciding factor here in Taiwan, where English books are so expensive), so I figured what the heck. I am completely inept at writing book reviews, and all I'm able to say is that this book is a marvelous tale, full of awakenings and insight, and I'm so glad I bought it. Murakami's other books are now on my list.

Prior to the above-quoted passage, Oshima mentions that these sort of people are those that T. S. Eliot called hollow men. ".....people who have no imagination.......People who fill up that lack of imagination with heartless bits of straw, not even aware of what they're doing. Callous people who throw a lot of empty words at you, trying to force you to do what you don't want to." I thought of Bush when I read all of this, and his entire administration. Parasites that transform the host, indeed, hollow men who lack imagination. And like Oshima, I wish I could just laugh them off.....and I, too, am frightened.

Farewell to Another Friend

Went to a farewell party for Luke last night. He's leaving on Wednesday for Japan, where he'll spend a year teaching English. It's been nice knowing him for the last three months, hope he stays in touch.

The party was held at a restaurant called A Plus, which featured California-style Japanese food. It was exceptionally good, but expensive. The food cost me $14US and the one beer I had (a bottle of Kirin) was $5. I guess for a special occasion I don't mind spending so much, but I wouldn't go there on a regular basis, at least not until I get a real job!

I'm going to be ultra busy this next week, teaching and getting stuff ready for the trip to Singapore on Friday. I've been teaching seven days a week, and although the hours are short, it's still a lot of work, because I also have to prepare for lessons and correct compostions and such. The money is nice, I'll say that! I've made about $700US this month, and that was only about 45 hours in three weeks' time. That's more than some of the Taiwan people make in a whole month of working 40+ hours per week. I'll pick up about another $165 next week. I have six students now, but Aaron is leaving for the UK next month, so I'll be down to five. One gal wants to add another day, for a total of three times a week. Everyone else is only one time per week. That should be fine for me, since once I start classes at Shi Da in December, I'll need time for my own homework.

Here's some fun for you, courtesy of Mary, one of my former co-workers. She keeps me supplied with good stuff to make me laugh.

DEEP THOUGHTS FOR THOSE WHO TAKE LIFE WAY TOO SERIOUSLY:

1. Save the whales. Collect the whole set.
2. A day without sunshine is like, well . . . night.
3. On the other hand, you have different fingers.
4. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
5. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
6. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
7. He who laughs last thinks slowest.
8. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
9. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
10. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
11. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
12. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
13. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
14. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.
15. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
16. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
17. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
18. Every one has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
19. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
20. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
21. What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
22. I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
23. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
24. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.
25. Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Ya Just Gotta Let Some Folks Make Their Own Mistakes

I haven't spent much time with Hiyoshi since April. One reason is that I've been teaching a lot more. Another is that we're not longer in the same Chinese class at the same school. But the main reason is that he's someone else's boyfriend, and I don't think I'd like it if some girl spent a lot of time with my boyfriend.

I do see him once in awhile, but almost always in the company of our other friends. Our days of spending hours alone together are long gone. However, I did meet up with him about a month ago, right before I went to Hong Kong to visit Terry and Cheryl, because I was going over to Taipei 101, and I knew he was in that area teaching Japanese. So, I asked if he wanted to meet me at 101 and go to the bookstore together. He readily agreed.

It was kind of nice to have him all to myself like old times. I knew he'd had some issues with Lisa, because he'd mentioned a couple of things before, so I asked him how things were going, were they getting used to one another's quirks, etc. He then proceeded to tell me his gripes about Lisa, which mostly boiled down to the fact that since she's not Japanese, she doesn't act like a Japanese girl, and Hiyoshi doesn't care much for that.

For example, one thing that was really setting him off was that Lisa would say something, and then about a half an hour later, if Hiyoshi mentioned what she had said, she would deny that she'd said it. Hiyoshi swears that he always clearly understood her and that it's not just a language issue. So, he'd get pissed off when she said she never said that, because if she were a Japanese girl, she'd very politely say, "Oh, you're right, I may have said that." rather than outright denying it. Then he said he was starting to think she was a little nuts because this kept happening over and over, and he couldn't understand how a sane person would not know what she had said.

There was also the issue of her being younger than him but still having the audacity to tell him he was wrong sometimes. Oh my goodness, that just isn't done in Japan! Any younger person would never tell an older person he or she was wrong about something, even if it were true. Add into this the fact that when Lisa and Hiyoshi would get together with Lisa's friends, and they'd all chat in Chinese, Hiyoshi would feel left out because the conversation was too fast for him to follow. He felt this was extremely impolite. And then Lisa always being late to pick him up after work (remember, she's the one with the job, and he's just spending his days drifting aimlessly around Taipei), and then having the nerve to give him a reason why she was late (traffic jam, couldn't get out of the office on time, etc.) instead of just prostrating herself on the ground and apologizing.

So, after listening to all of this, I asked Hiyoshi, "Do you love Lisa?" He said he didn't know. I proceeded to give him my advice, which was as follows: 1) Talk to her. Tell her that what she's doing is upsetting you and why. If you don't tell her, she won't know, and she'll keep doing it (and she may not change, but at least give her the option). It's important to talk with the person you're with and not just (in the Japanese way) expect that person to read your mind and know what you want and feel without you having to open your mouth. 2) Realize that she is NOT Japanese, and she never WILL be Japanese, and learn to live with it. If you think you can't accept her the way she is, go find yourself a Japanese woman who already behaves the way you want, and stop trying to make Lisa fit into that mold. 3) Learn what compromise means. Try to meet each other half way. Try to change your way of thinking. Don't expect her to give up her independent personality just to please you. 4) If you don't love her, and you're just hanging out with her because it gives you a place to stay in Taipei and her parents feed you, you're being a total shit and not fair to her, because she's looking for marriage and a family.

Now, I left this conversation thinking there was no hope for this relationship, because I don't see Hiyoshi as a flexible sort of person. I figured he'd continue to spend time with Lisa and then eventually return to Japan and take over his father's job, just as he's been trained, since he has no other skills and no way to get a job in Taiwan and stay here. I figured Lisa would get tired of trying to push him to actually work and would realize it just wasn't going to happen. Imagine my surprise when Hiyoshi told me this week that they're getting married on November 11. OK. Sure. Great idea.

Hiyoshi leaves for Japan on September 8. Lisa will quit the good job she has here, and she will move to Japan, where it is unlikely she will find a good job, because she does not speak Japanese. The happy couple will live with Hiyoshi's family, and Hiyoshi will try to find some sort of part-time job he can do while he's doing the church stuff. Lisa will be plunked down in a culture radically different from Taiwanese culture and will be expected to act like a perfect Japanese wife. Since they won't have any money, they won't be able to afford to have children right away, which is a good thing, because Hiyoshi doesn't really like them all that much. I obviously have misgivings about this. So, once again I asked Hiyoshi, "Do you love her?" And once again he said, "I don't know." I asked him, "Have you ever told her you love her?" And he said, "No." What the hell? And just why does this girl want to marry a guy who has never said he loves her, even if he'd be lying when he said it?

Not many months ago, when Lisa and I discussed the fact that Hiyoshi has a snowball's chance in Hell of ever earning a decent living, she said she felt a handsome face and a kind heart were enough. Hello? Wake-up call, dearie. That ain't gonna put food on the table. I'm all for true love, and if the two of them were so head-over-heels in love with each other they couldn't see straight, I'd wish them the best and encourage them to have a go at it, and I'd keep my doubts to myself. But it seems to me that only one person is in love, and that person is making the mistake so many women make: she thinks she can transform a no-ambition guy into some sort of gung-ho breadwinner who will be the best hubby in the world. I'm not even going to try to talk her out of it, because I know she won't listen. Hiyoshi will be fine, because all he wants is a woman who will take care of him, and if love doesn't enter the picture, so what? I mean, after all, men don't need to be in love to have a nice sexual experience, right? All that's required is warm and willing, and they're good to go.

I told Hiyoshi they'd be smarter to live together for awhile, giving Lisa a chance to experience life in Japan to see if she could handle it. He says they want to "shi shi kan" which is Chinese for "try and see." He said Lisa is the one who has continued to chase him, and he's so laid back that he just agrees to anything she says. She says "Let's get hitched," and he says "OK, sure, why not?"

They're both nuts.

Um.....

Anorexic Barbie


Gosh darn, she's so purty.

Click the link for more hilarious stuff. But wait until you have a couple of hours to spare surfing around the site.

Slight Rant, With Apologies to Will

To diet, or not to diet: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The rolls and jiggles of outrageous poundage,
Or to take arms against a sea of hunger pangs,
And by opposing end them?

And by this, Dear Readers, you may see that I still fight the Battle of the Bulge. Or, more truthfully, have been waving the white flag of surrender, having long since given up any hope of winning against these impossible odds. I am daily assaulted on all sides by tasty morsels, cheaply priced and conveniently placed directly in my path as I walk the streets of Taipei. Who can withstand such pressure?!

Seriously, I'm fat. I've gained 10kg since I arrived here in March 2005. That's a lot. I eat too much of the wrong food (even though I don't think I eat too much as in quantity of food), and I don't get nearly enough exercise. And let's face it, I'm not a youngster anymore, someone who can shed five pounds without any effort at all. Nope, if I want that five pounds to vacate my ass, I have to mount an attack with all my forces.

And, as Hamlet noted, ay, there's the rub. What's the point of living life if we don't enjoy the life we live? If I have to spend every day in a battle, depriving myself of food and drink that tastes good and eating food that does nothing more than nourish my body, where's the fun in that? Sure, I like vegetables - if they're covered with butter. And salad? Bring it on, if it's drenched with bleu cheese dressing. What? I can't have butter and dressing? Bleah.

And then I have to examine the reasons I want to be thinner. Sadly, the number one reason is not for my health's sake, as it should be, but because being fat has a stigma attached to it. Thin is in, fat is ugly and gross. This was not always the case. OK, so everyone knows that the goddess Venus is supposed to represent love and sex and all that crap, right, ergo she must be beautiful. Well, check out this painting by the Dutch painter, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), titled "The Toilet of Venus" (no, that's not toilet like you find in the bathroom, dudes). This was considered hot and sexy in Rubens' day. I swear, that could be my backside you're looking at!
So, what happened to appreciation for a fully rounded female form, soft and cuddly, the Mother figure that was so revered by peoples of the past? I'll tell you what happened - Twiggy. "'She had the body of a starvation victim and the face of an angel' is a very accurate statement for 1960's model Twiggy. The petite model began her career at 14, weighing a meager 91 pounds with no breasts and bony shoulders." EWWWW! I mean, come on, who seriously thinks that's attractive? Check this interesting website for Twiggy vs Sophie Dahl, an interesting comparison between the scrawny waif who started this ridiculous fad and the current model who hopefully will help change this image.

So I guess I'm holding out for that miracle to happen, when guys will wake up and realize that there's something just a little wrong if they're attracted to women who have the bodies of boys and they'll go back to wanting women who look like women.

Then again.....all this extra weight does make it a bit difficult to get my ass up the many, many stairs throughout this city, so I suppose I'd best quit whining and making excuses and at least get rid of that extra 10kg ;)

Table for Four, Please

Before I left for Hong Kong on 7/31, Dino had called me to say that he was going to be working at a restaurant (English name is roughly "Chrysanthemum") in San Zhi for about 10 days in August, and he wanted to make sure we'd come have dinner there while he was cooking. His fiancee, Carrie, works at this restaurant, and she and Dino have become friends of the owners, a Taiwanese gentleman with a Japanese wife (or vice versa, I can't recall). Dino had cooked some of his Italian specialities for them, and they liked it so much they asked him to run the restaurant while they were on holiday in Japan.

The announcement sign basically says that from 8/1 through 8/12 the restaurant would be under the control of China Blue's Italian drummer, Dino, who would be cooking Italian food and not to pass up the opportunity to eat it!

Dino started cooking while I was in Hong Kong. Among the first guests to partake of the wonders of Chef Dino were Wu Bai, Da Mao, and Xiao Zhu. Dino reports that they were suitably impressed with the fare. He said Wu Bai was so cute, first looking at the English side of the menu, then flipping it to the Chinese side. He jokingly ordered three of everything on the Chinese side, flipped back to the English, and began to order three of everything from that side. Then Dino had to tell him both sides were the same. ;-) Natari, Charlene, Betty, Xiao Niu, Shun, and PJ also made a trip there (and it takes over an hour from Taipei, you know!). I had, of course, whined about being left out, and Nat had promised we'd go when I got back from Hong Kong. And Tuesday night, we went.

Nat made reservations, because she said Dino found it difficult to handle a big crowd and wanted to limit the number of diners in order to better serve them. It was totally cool - we got there a little after 8:00 p.m., and we were the only ones in the restaurant! Dino greeted us with his customary kiss on the cheek and led us inside.

The restaurant is quite charming, with a balcony facing the ocean (but since it was typhoon weather, we ate inside). One of Dino and Carrie's neighbors was playing waitress that evening, while Dino and Carrie handled the kitchen.

There were only four dishes on the menu - Spaghetti and Meatballs (which had been handmade by Dino that very day), Pumpkin Pasta with Pesca (a type of fish), Dino's Famous Eggplant Parmesan, and Meatball Sub. Dino said he also had two other dishes, one of pork fillets rolled around onions and spices and then pan sauteed, and a spicy-sauce pasta dish. The meal included garlic bread, salad, and choice of beverage, and for dessert - Dinomisu! OK, so it doesn't resemble tiramisu, but it was really tasty, and I'm going to try to talk Dino out of the recipe (he owes me, as you will see below). I'd baked a Kahlua cake on Saturday, and I brought along pieces for Dino, Carrie, Charlene, and Xiu Chun. Nat has to wait for hers, because I didn't know Xiu Chun was coming along, and I hadn't brought enough.

Xiu Chun and I went for the spaghetti and meatballs, Nat ordered the pumpkin pasta but requested meatballs in place of the fish, and Charlene decided to try the pork with a side of spaghetti sans meatballs. Dino kindly gave us a couple of the pork rolls to try, free of charge. I was tickled when Carrie told me Dino was using my recipe for the garlic bread. I still laugh when I remember him calling me to ask me how I made it - it's so simple! Soften a couple cubes of real butter, use a garlic press to squish up a whole bunch of fresh garlic, mix it all together, slather it on the French bread, sprinkle the top with some Parmesan (fresh grated is best, but Kraft will do), and stick it in the oven until it's hot.

Let me say a little about Dino's spaghetti sauce. He learned how to cook from watching his grandmother when he was a child. Dino is, as he told us, FBI - full-blooded Italian. Me, I'm only one-quarter Italian, and although I consider that I make my sauce from scratch, I can't come close to Dino's masterpiece. Why? Because he really makes it from scratch! I use canned tomatoes and cook it all day, because that's how Mom taught me, but Dino actually starts with fresh tomatoes. He said he used four kinds in this sauce, cooking them up with garlic, onions, and green pepper before adding the tomato paste and tomato sauce near the end to thicken it up. And the meatballs, painstakingly rolled by hand, were the perfect complement.

The salad (thankfully) came with Italian dressing and not the ever-present Thousand Island that the Taiwanese love so much. It had chunks of what I think was pumpkin and also some jelly-like cubes that Nat said came from a plant. And lettuce, Chinese cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes, naturally!

After everyone was served, Dino and Carrie joined us around the table, chatting and joking. Dino said the new CD is going to be just fabulous, so we're all anxious for it to be released. They've been doing some recording, and the word is a September release, but I think it might take longer. This CD will be in Mandarin, no Taiwanese songs.

Dino is such a funny, entertaining guy, and he was dancing around the restaurant singing along with the music that was playing, making us all laugh, even getting Carrie to join him briefly. I wish we had more opportunities to just hang around with him, because we always have so much fun when he's around. I like Xiao Zhu and Da Mao, too, but they're a little more reserved than Dino and not so much at ease being friends with the fans. And although Dino has told us that Wu Bai is really a fun guy, I just can't imagine him being as silly as Dino. But, maybe he is - not that I'll ever find out!

It was around 10:00 p.m. when we finally left for the hour-long ride home (well, shorter for me, because I live so close to San Zhi). It was raining but still quite warm, the incoming typhoon having done nothing to relieve the heat. Nat dropped Xiu Chun off at Zhuwei station so she could get the bus back to Lu Zhou, and I got car-to-door drop-off service, which I appreciated because of the rain.

So, I guess if Dino ever gets tired of being a big rock and roll star, he can quit and open a restaurant. I'm sure he'll have good business if he does. Truly though, I'm hoping that day is far, far in the future, because I can't imagine not having him on stage, wailing on those drums.

Complete set of photos can be found here: Dino Does Dinner

Halcyon Days?

That's what I didn't get in Hong Kong. Instead, I got Typhoon Prapiroon. At least that also meant cooler weather.

When I got to Chiang Kai Shek Airport on Monday, 7/31, I noticed a rather large amount of young people there, some sitting on the floor in the entry hallway, up against the wall. I thought perhaps it was some sort of tour group, but it turned out there was a Japanese star leaving Taiwan about the same time I was, and the fans had come to see him/her off. I still don't know who it was, but I heard the screaming start as I was going in to the security checkpoint area. Didn't recognize anyone, though.

I arrived at Terry & Cheryl's place late in the evening, around 10:00 p.m. We spent some time chatting before I whipped out my Rocky Horror Picture Show DVD, introducing Terry to the wonders of The Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite. His eyes were appropriately bugged out the entire time we watched, and I'm sure he was firmly convinced that his girlfriend and her friend were completely insane for liking such a bizarre movie. This was my revenge for having to watch multiple episodes of Little Britain, a British TV show, the last time I was there (it has since grown on me, and I happily watched even more episodes this time).

Poor Terry had to work all week, but Cheryl is still on summer break from her teaching job, so we piddled around, mostly doing nothing. On Tuesday we wandered over the The Wishing Tree to have lunch at a little local restaurant where the workers convene for their noontime munchies. The menu was entirely in Chinese, which was OK, since I could read it, but the waitress had a panic attack when two foreigners walked up to her to ask if they could please order now. Despite the fact that I spoke Chinese to her, she just maintained the deer-in-the-headlights looks for a few seconds before running out back to ask three lunching police officers for help dealing with the gwai lo who had invaded her space. They asked in English if they could assist, I answered in Chinese, pointing to what we wanted, and the waitress exclaimed, "You speak Chinese!" Yes....that's what I was speaking a minute ago. She was all smiles after that, and after a few minutes of discussing our order (I hadn't quite picked up on the fact that we could choose three of the main courses for one meal), she toddled off to the kitchen. Cheryl and I were each served a massive mound of rice covered with barbecued pork and kong xin cai (a green, leafy vegetable), and, in my case, a pork chop, along with overly sweetened iced tea. Had we known how large the portions were, we'd have shared a plate!

We went to the cinema and saw Dragon Tiger Gate, the new movie with Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, and Shawn Yu. It's based on a comic book, and it has a very surrealistic feel in parts. I can't say it was an excellent film, but I did enjoy it, largely in part because I was watching some pretty fine looking guys running around kicking ass. Donnie Yen has never appealed much to me, but in this movie he was looking especially yummy, and he's always a joy to watch in action. Nic always looks good, and he must have been doing some body building over the last few years, because his arms have bulked up a bit. Shawn Yu....eh.

I'd also brought my DVD of A Christmas Story with me, since Cheryl said she'd never seen it. To my surprise, she didn't like it much, but Terry was fascinated to the point that he just had to make a copy and then watch it again the next evening. Who would have thought? It remains one of my favorite films, no matter how many times I watch it.

Spent quite a bit of time just kicking back at Cheryl's place, checking out fun stuff on the Internet (like the End of Ze World video: http://www.funnyjunk.com/pages/world.htm) and watching Sex and the City, which I had never seen before. I liked it much more than I ever expected, and now I understand why it's so popular here in Taiwan. I was also treated to some of the funniest moments in Bollywood film, and I can't wait to get the DVD Terry is going to make for me, putting all of those in one place.

So....we heard a typhoon was coming, but Hong Kong was only hoisting signal 3, and 8 is the highest, so how bad could it be, huh? Apparently, Hong Kong Observatory follows certain conventions (namely, the average windspeed as measured inside Victoria Harbor) that have to be studiously followed. Thus, most of the population had no clue that venturing out on Thursday could be detrimental to their health (check out funny short video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EEbrAA50EI). Cheryl and I had plans to go shopping in Mongkok, but by the time we were ready to leave, the rain was sheeting down, and the wind was tossing stuff all over. Rain actually began spurting through the cracks in the closed windows, driven in by the wind. We wisely decided to wait and see if it calmed down. Each time we checked, the weather was worse, but the HK Observatory website still maintained it was nothing much, just a little blow, over soon, hahaha. We had no choice but to leave late in the afternoon, as we were meeting friends for dinner in Kwun Tong. We managed to avoid the Mary Poppins impersonation and got to the bus stop only slightly wet. Dead and dying umbrellas were everywhere outside the KCR station. We got on the KCR, which went only one stop before we were all ushered off the train onto the platform, forced to wait for the next train on the opposite track. No clue why our train was unable to continue, but as news reports state that 559 airline flights were delayed or canceled, 672 trees fell down, and two ships ran aground due to Typhoon Prapiroon, I'm guessing one of those trees might have been the cause of our delay.

No matter, we made it safe and sound to Festival Walk Mall, where I bought a few DVDs and wisely decided against paying the outrageous price of $10US for four pieces of See's Candies, hooked up with Terry, and went on to our dinner with Doris, Twiggy, and Joel in Kwun Tong. Those three had ordered up a marvelous meal which included an appetizer of goose, pork, and lotus root; fried oyster/egg pancake; mushrooms with silky tofu; cabbage; sweet and sour something or other; seafood soup; and the crowning glory, lobster (a whole one, in the shell, but chopped up for easy eating) with noodles. We also had beer and bamboo drink, and it only cost around $14US per person! Dessert was Haagen Dazs ice cream back at Terry & Cheryl's place (it was on sale, only $5.77US per pint - yes, that is the sale price, can you believe it?? Ouch. But, cheaper than the regular price, which is more like $7US per pint.).

Terry and Cheryl dropped me off at the airport bus stop Friday evening at 7:45 so I could catch the 8:00 bus. As soon as they drove off, the sky split open and a million gallons of water poured down for five minutes, soaking me and my suitcase, despite being under the useless bus shelter. Gee, thanks. Eh, no matter, I was dry by the time I got to the airport an hour later.

Checked in at EVA about two hours before my plane was due to take off, and then had to struggle through the crowds at immigration and security. Since so many flights had been canceled the day before, the airport was jammed with travelers trying to get out of Hong Kong. Whatever line I stood in at immigration immediately came to a halt because of some sort of problem with a person's passport. I finally gave up trying to switch to a faster line. It took almost 45 minutes to get from where the bus dropped me to where I was finally in the departure area. My plane was due to board at 10:30 p.m., and I wanted to grab something to eat at the lounge, so I hot-footed it to that part of the airport. Upon arrival, I asked the gal at the lounge desk if a departure gate had been assigned yet, and she gave me the news that my 11:00 flight probably wouldn't be taking off until midnight. What?! Crap. Sent my friend who was picking me up a message telling him I was delayed, and then he called to say he'd checked the website, which said probable departure time was 12:40 a.m. So, I just hung around the lounge being bored. Ate a couple "finger sandwiches" but decided not to order off the menu, because I expected I'd be eating on the plane. I hadn't had dinner, either, just a late lunch with Cheryl in Mongkok. When I went back to ask about boarding time and gate number, I was told now it looked likely they'd begin boarding at 12:10, so I went to the gate to wait. To my delight, I was once more upgraded to business class! I'm thinking that arriving so early at the airport for check-in is a good thing :)

Anyway, it was after 1:00 a.m. when we finally took off, but I got a nice meal and some champagne, so it wasn't all bad. My buddy picked me up, and by the time I got to my house, it was 4:00 a.m. I still wasn't sleepy, which was kinda weird, so I futzed around for an hour unpacking some stuff and playing with DZ, then at 5:00 a.m. I went to bed. Couldn't sleep well, even with the air conditioner, so got up at 11:00 a.m. Spent a spacey day at home yesterday, reading and baking a cake, took a nap in the afternoon, watched a movie last night.

Got up at 6:45 a.m. today because I still hadn't finished preparing for my English class this afternoon. Forgot we'd moved the time from noon to 3:00, shit! I could have slept longer. Grrrrr.

Anyway, that was my week, enjoyed my visit with my friends, but glad to be home again.

A Fan is a Fan is a Fan

After a very normal, boring week of mostly being at home trying to stay cool (not easy, and likely expensive since I used the air conditioner a lot), I finally got a little socialization, beginning Friday. Met up with Kaori and Luke for lunch, and met a new friend, Shuai Feng, adorable little 22-year-old who plays and teaches guitar. After lunch the three of us met up with Kayun and Hiyoshi, hung out until both Kaori and Hiyoshi had to leave to teach Japanese, then the rest of us wandered over to Ximen Ding for mango ice. Luke was desperately trying to find someone to have fun with for the evening, but everyone except me and Shuai Feng had to work. I'd made plans to watch movies with Aaron, and Luke and Shuai Feng tagged along. So we picked up some food and beer and watched Jet Li's "Fong Sai Yuk" together at my place. Luke spent the night again, (and allow me to insert here that it's almost like torture to have a well-built young man running around one's house without a shirt - oh, I think I never mentioned that he spent the night once before, after we stayed up late watching movies. Calm down, he stayed in the spare bedroom, and there's no way I'd be trying to seduce the preacher's son anyway, so just get your dirty little minds out of that gutter.) since there was no way to get back to Taoyuan, and we were up and out the door at 9:30 a.m. Why?

Well, Luke went to Jiu Fen with Long Yan and some others, and I went to go queue in line for a free show featuring Wu Bai & China Blue. Charlene, Xiu Chun, and Shun had gotten there at 9:00 a.m., and there were already other fans camped out, who had arrived at 6:00 a.m. Nat and I made our appearance at 11:00 a.m., and the whole boring routine of queuing began. Thankfully, it was a relatively cool day, we were under some trees, and the shadow of Taipei 101 graciously shaded us from that merciless sun for part of the day. We were at the Taipei World Trade Center, and every time one of the big doors opened to allow the crew in or out, we ran over to catch some of the air conditioning that was flowing out in a blessedly cool stream. When Dino show up he stopped his car, honking and waving at the fans, and after he parked he walked by saying hi to everyone. He's so cool :) Da Mao and Xiao Zhu were dropped off close to the door, but they, too, waved and said hello. I think they truly do appreciate that we're willing to queue for them. I'm sure Wu Bai was hustled in by some back way, surrounding by guard dogs.

This show was a freebie sponsored by Nokia, and before we got to see Wu Bai & China Blue, we had to suffer through eight local bands who were competing for top honors. We also got Zhang Zhen Yue & Free 9 (wish they'd make up their minds, cuz sometimes it's "Free Night") with MC Hotdog, and that was fun. Also the female singer whose last name is Chen who performed with Wu Bai at the concert in 2004. Sorry, I don't like her enough to care what her name is. One of my favorite local bands, Monkey Insane, was one of the contestants, and that was cool. The other groups were OK, a couple decent ones, but the one I thought the worst was the one that ended up winning. Go figure. One band, 孩兒樂隊 (Youth Band), had played at New Year's at Meili Hua. They're the ones who look like girls. The one guy I thought was fabulously beautiful is still that. It's just not fair!

Anyway, we finally got Wu Bai & China Blue, at 9:45 p.m. But....they only played for about 20-25 minutes, and then it was all over, and we'd spent how many hours for that? I just don't think it was worth it, even though every bit of tiredness flees as soon as the guys hit the stage. I don't mind the long wait for a full-on, two- to three-hour concert of just Wu Bai & China Blue, but I'm not sure I'd spend the time doing it again for only 20 minutes. Update 9:30 p.m. As I was thinking back over the show, I remembered one special moment when Wu Bai waved at me. He had come over to our side of the stage for a few seconds, and as he was returning to center stage, he turned around and waved at me. At least, it seemed as if he was waving at me, because he was looking right at me. So, I waved back. Oh, and Nat agrees with me about it not really being worth it to wait so long for so little. She says we're getting too old for this. I think she's right.

I also bought a new refrigerator this week, since the original one I bought was kind of small. I mean, I'm taller than the fridge, and I'm only 5'3". Gah, I think I'm even about as wide as the fridge, but let's not go there. So I got myself a spiffy new model, and I'll stick a photo in here soon to let you all admire it. Now I can take advantage of the sale 7-11 is having, buy three beers and get 21% off. Since they've started carry Guinness and Murphy's Irish Stout, I gotta lay in a stock!

I'm leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow, will be there all week hanging with my homey, Cheryl, and watching movies. Catch ya'll later.

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

So, uh, if you know which store sells this product, could you let me know? I kinda need one. Thanks.

Religious Fanatics Frighten Me

Doesn't matter which religion, they're all terrifying. This article gave me creepy-crawly goosebumps all over.

http://www.alternet.org/story/38873/

The most frightening thing: they want that to happen. I know; I remember from the days when I was a member in that kind of church.

Well, Yeah, I Do Listen to Music Other Than Wu Bai & China Blue

Taiwan produces a nice crop of musicians, and I've added a lot of music to my collection since I got here. Wu Bai & China Blue will forever remain on the highest of high pedastals, but I also enjoy the following:

Remember my first student, Zhang Guoxi? His band is Mojo, and this is his band's CD, and a right good one it is.

And before Guoxi had Mojo, he had Tolaku! Like so many bands, they broke up when the members had to do their mandatory military service.

Another Taiwan band I like very much, currently working on their new CD, is Monkey Insane. And their guitar player, Joe, will be heading off for his military duty in September or October. Bye-bye Monkey Insane.

The drummer for XL has already gone off for his duty, so that band is also in limbo at the moment. Thankfully, we do have a CD to keep us entertained.

And no, I don't just listen to rock 'n roll. Once in awhile I'll listen to Faith Yang (Yang Nai Wen), who has a marvelous voice, and I'm so hoping that I'll be able to catch her in concert one of these days

I'm Just a Wu Bai & China Blue Junkie....

It's been my position that Wu Bai's wife deliberately arranges their concert schedule to make sure I won't be able to attend. Sure enough, as soon as I made the decision to enroll at Shi Da University's Mandarin Language Center, classes beginning September 1, the announcement comes that Wu Bai & China Blue will be performing in Singapore on September 2. Do you know for how long my Singapore friends have been asking me to come visit them? And what better excuse than a concert, right? But here's the catch: If I enter Shi Da, then I am applying for a student visa in order to get another ARC. This means I must be in Taiwan for four months straight, studying, unable to leave.

So what does any sane, level-headed woman do when faced with this dilemma? She probably decides that she needs to forgo the trip to Singapore and procede with her plan to enter university. I am obviously neither sane nor level-headed, because I'M GOING TO SINGAPORE TO SEE WU BAI & CHINA BLUE! Ha, take that, Pei Jie. Your sinister plan to keep me away from the greatest band in the world has come to naught. Classes can wait until the Winter Quarter, which begins December 1. Life is for living, and why did I come all the way over to this side of the planet? Why, to be more easily able to attend Wu Bai and China Blue concerts, that's why :) And you know what? If you still have never experienced Wu Bai & China Blue live, you should get your butt in gear and buy the "Li Hai" concert DVD, because it's great, with the added bonus of a nice closeup of yours truly chanting "Wu Bai! Wu Bai!" toward the end of the show. How can you pass that up, huh?

http://us.yesasia.com/assocred.asp?SF3E35D7+http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/

Has it Really Been Seven Years?

Happy Birthday, dear friend! You've gone through so many nicknames since we met: Faijai, Aaron, Sebastian - but you're always simply Aaron to me. Although we've only ever managed to meet in person once, that time you came to California (boy, that was so much fun), we've been good friends no matter how many miles separate us.

I'm waiting for you to come visit me in Taiwan so I can show you all the sites.

MUAH! to you. Love ya always.

Gah, I'm too old for this - aren't I?

Monday: Make cheesecake, despite broiling hot day. Curse stupid idea the whole time.

Tuesday 12:30 p.m.: Pack cheesecake into bag, along with chocolate and honeydew melon candy purchased in Hong Kong. Drop goodies off at Kaori/Kayun/Tai Xiong's place. Wait for Luke to show up, go to lunch with Luke and Kaori.

1:30 p.m. Wait for Hiyoshi to show up. Go to coffee with Luke, Kaori, and Hiyoshi.

3:30 p.m. Wait for Kayun to show up. Hang out at coffee shop and then return to Kaori/Kayun/Tai Xiong's place, after stopping at Wellcome (yes, it's spelled like that) for brewskis.

5:00 p.m. Listen to Hiyoshi explain to Long Yan what food is NOT available at the apartment and what to bring.

7:00 p.m. Meet Caroline at MRT station, cruise over to Shi Da Rd. for some guo tie and more beer.

7:30 p.m. Arrive back at Kaori/Kayun/Tai Xiong's place to find that Ye Laoshi and Emily have made an appearance, bearing pizza. Watch Long Yan and Hiyoshi in kitchen preparing some weird stuff, decide pizza looks like a better bet.

8:30 p.m. Meet James at MRT station and head to Wellcome for more beer.

8:30 p.m. - 3:00 a.m. Drink lots of beer, eat lots of food, take lots of blurry photos (http://www.pbase.com/500fan/kayunbd), chat and laugh with good friends, wonder why the hell I'm still awake.

Wednesday 3:30 a.m. Attempt to sleep on couch while Kayun, Kaori, Emily, and cute Korean guy whose name I have forgotten keep on with noisy discussion in dining room. Fail miserably at sleep.

5:00 a.m. Wonder why in hell Kayun is cleaning the apartment.

6:00 a.m. Drag sorry ass to MRT station, catch first train back to Zhuwei.

7:00 a.m. Fall into bed with fan and air conditioner on because it's already unbelievably hot. Sleep fitfully for four hours.

11:00 a.m. Get up, make coffee, slowly wake up, vacuum filthy, cat-hair-covered apartment, take shower, go to Taipei and teach for two hours. Return home in time to eat dinner before 8:30 p.m. student arrives.

10:00 p.m. or thereabouts Give up and go to bed.

Thursday 4:00 a.m. Get up because already wide awake. Dink around on computer for an hour. Go back to bed and sleep until around 8:45 a.m.

8:38 p.m. Realize that I had a pretty good time this week, despite lack of sleep and arrival of severe tropical storm Bilis, which at least brought some cooler air to us.

Wonder what Friday will bring me? Will I go to see Pirates of the Caribbean with Luke and gang, or will I be stuck in my apartment because of torrential rain?

How do I turn off my brain?

Every night it's the same. I go to bed around midnight, sometimes a little later, sometimes a little earlier. All night long I toss and turn, sometimes waking up every hour (I know this, because I look at the clock). Every time I wake up, my brain is going a mile a minute, frequently replaying bits of songs, sometimes repeating Chinese phrases, sometimes just thinking about stuff in general. I don't wake up in a blur, like, "Wha....where am I?" but fully conscious and THINKING. Then usually around 5:00 a.m. I sink into two or three hours of heavier sleep before finally getting out of bed. I feel as if I haven't had a good night's sound sleep since I moved to Taiwan - but it doesn't seem to be affecting me adversely. I'm not run-down during the day, I seem to have the normal amount of energy, and I don't fall asleep while teaching my students. That's good, huh? Huh?

My habit in the US was to get to bed by 10:00 p.m., then get up at 4:45 a.m., so I was only getting 7 hours of sleep on the average. Weekends were another matter, and I could cheerfully snore away for 10 or 11 hours. The house was dark at night, because I lived in the mountains. No streetlights outside, just the moon and stars. We're talking dark here, like can't see anything, just gotta feel your way down the hall to the bathroom if you gotta pee. Then there was the silence factor. Magalia was peaceful at night, barring the occasional barking dog. I didn't need to run the fan to drown out noisy upstairs neighbors, just popped in the earplugs and heard nothing the whole night. And I had the most wonderfully comfortable place to sleep - my couch. Ah, how I miss that couch, and what a joy it was to spend a few nights on it again when I stayed at Weiwei's house. This couch cradled me, hugging my ample curves so gently, and not giving me room to thrash around.

So here I have a double bed that is OK for comfort but comes nowhere close to the bliss of that couch. I have light everywhere, 24-7, with never a completely dark night (well, unless a typhoon knocks the power out for a little while, which is rare). I finally got some dark drapes for the bedroom after more than a year without drapes, and that helps, but it's still quite light in there. Even if I use the sleep mask, light leaks in underneath.

So, what's keeping me from sleep? Is it the light? Is it the noise? Is it the bed? Am I just noticing my sleeplessness more now because it's so incredibly hot and I have to have not only the fan but also the air conditioner on at night, both producing background noise? Am I just a statistic in the annals of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services? "Insomnia tends to increase with age and affects about 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men."

Maybe I should go to bed even later than I am, because much of the time I don't feel sleepy when I hit the sack, I just figure it's late and I should hie myself off to bed. Perhaps if I stayed up long enough to feel the sleepies creeping up on me, then I'd sleep better. I dunno.

Suggestions welcome, but don't ask me to drink warm milk. I don't care how much tryptophan it has in it, Taiwan milk is just nasty when heated up. Ewww. Hey, wait......chocolate and peanuts also have tryptophan. AHA! The solution is to eat more peanut M&Ms! Eureka, I have found it!

Imagine.....

President George Bush performs John Lennon's "Imagine"
http://cal-tv.net/imaginethis.html

And if that don't make you just break down and cry, I don't know what will.

This discovery comes to you via Tim Carroll's blog, POLITICAL JUNKIES AND CONSPIRACY THEORISTS (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-sebjzCklcqvPoFHgM9Qc6MmkC0XBS__uKrh.LUTM7OZdlA--?cq=1)

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

Some days I'm happy I'm fat.

http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/2006/07/fugrates_of_the.html#more

Huh, Come Again?

"There's one company now you can sign up and you can get a movie delivered to your house daily by delivery service. Okay. And currently it comes to your house, it gets put in the mail box when you get home and you change your order but you pay for that, right.

But this service isn't going to go through the Internet and what you do is you just go to a place on the Internet and you order your movie and guess what, you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.

Ten of them streaming across that Internet and what happens to your own personal Internet?

I just the other day got, an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially.

So you want to talk about the consumer? Let's talk about you and me. We use this Internet to communicate and we aren't using it for commercial purposes.

We aren't earning anything by going on that Internet. Now I'm not saying you have to or you want to discriminate against those people [...]

The regulatory approach is wrong. Your approach is regulatory in the sense that it says "No one can charge anyone for massively invading this world of the Internet." No, I'm not finished. I want people to understand my position, I'm not going to take a lot of time.

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Now we have a separate Department of Defense Internet now, did you know that?

Do you know why?

Because they have to have theirs delivered immediately. They can't afford getting delayed by other people. [...]

Now I think these people are arguing whether they should be able to dump all that stuff on the Internet ought to consider if they should develop a system themselves.

Maybe there is a place for a commercial net but it's not using what consumers use every day.

It's not using the messaging service that is essential to small businesses, to our operation of families.

The whole concept is that we should not go into this until someone shows that there is something that has been done that really is a violation of net neutrality that hits you and me."

And who mouthed these eloquent words?

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) explained why he voted against the Senate Commerce Committee amendment which would have inserted some very basic net neutrality provisions into a moving telecommunications bill. These provisions would not have prohibited an ISP from handling VOIP faster than emails, but would have made it illegal to handle its own VOIP packets faster than a competitor's. The Committee deadlocked 11 to 11.

If you're brave enough to download the audio file (17:29 minutes long, 9.7M):
http://media.publicknowledge.org/stevens-on-nn.mp3

Lucky Lately

Back from Hong Kong, where it was simply sweltering. Ugh. Hot. Not that it's much cooler here, but a couple of degrees C can make a diff.

Last Friday was Luke's birthday (he's an old, old 29), so I spent a few hours hanging out with him, Kaori, Hiyoshi, and Long Yan. We went to a nice dim sum lunch, and then we all went over to Kaori's new place, where we met up with Kayun and Tai Xiong. It's a really nice apartment, and it has a kitchen bigger than anything I've seen in Taiwan! And what a pretty light panel in the ceiling, wow. I'm totally jealous. And here's a picture of Long Yan, Luke, and Hiyoshi kicking back on the couch.






I got to the airport nice and early on Monday. Apparently the flight wasn't very full, because I once again was upgraded to business class! The short-flight business class isn't nearly as impressive as the long haul, though. I only got one glass of champagne, no little goodie bag to take with me, no Godiva chocolate. And the meal was not as tasty, nor was it presented so beautifully. Still, the seats were big and comfy, and the service was as it always is with EVA, exceptional.

Tommy picked me up at the airport, and we listened to Metallica and Scorpions as he drove back into Hong Kong. Kinda cool to have a Chinese friend who digs the old metal music, ha. I tried to convince him to let me pay for the ride, since it's his business, but he wouldn't let me. I didn't have time on this trip to treat him to a nice meal, but next time for sure, both him and Doris.

Doris and I met up at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, first to have a great dim sum meal with her two children, who have grown so big since the last time I saw them! The food was great, although the service was lacking a bit. Poor Doris had to keep flagging down the wait staff, trying to get someone to bring us the food she'd ordered to go for her husband. Finally, everything arrived, and we left, with Doris refusing to let me pay for my share of the food. My friends are all so generous, and it's not easy paying them back for their hospitality!

The kids took off for home, where they would meet up with Dad and then proceed to a demonstration the Hong Kong folks were holding, a protest telling the Chinese government that they wanted their democracy, their right to vote for their Chief Officer. Here's a quote from the news: "Thousands of people marched in central Hong Kong to demand full democracy on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule. Police estimate 19,000 people started the march, but the crowd grew as the demonstrators moved through the city chanting slogans and blowing whistles.
... In 2003 and 2004, half a million or more people joined the march, upset at the weak economy and the government's mismanagement of various issues. But last year after the city's unpopular leader Tung Chee-hwa resigned, the number of participants fell to around 20,000." And to think, there are certain leaders here in Taiwan who would willingly hand Taiwan back to Beijing. Uh huh, then we'd be the ones marching.

Doris and I had a nice trip to Lei Yue Mun, a little fishing village a short ferry ride from Kowloon. It was hot, but there was a good breeze blowing, so every now and then we got cooled off. Too bad we were so full from the dim sum, because there is every kind of fresh seafood you could ever want available in Lei Yue Mun. It's all swimming around in tanks outside the restaurants (and some very large shrimp were attempting an escape from their tank, but were plopped back in by the boss), and you can just pick out what you want cooked, and they'll do it. Next time, maybe.

We then took the ferry over to Hong Kong Island, and Doris took me to the Hong Kong Film Archive, where I bought a book about the Shaw Brothers films and the memoir of Chang Che, one of my favorite directors, both in English! What a great find that was. Then we headed to the shopping mall for some air conditioning and iced coffee. After that, over to Doris's place to wait for hubby and kids to return, then to her mother's home for a marvelous dinner. Wow, her mom is a great cook! Even after I was stuffed, I wanted more. Got back to my room rather late and just kicked back watching the last part of a very stupid movie called Evolution, starring David Duchovny and Dan Aykroyd. Really dumb.

I stayed at a little guest house called the Lee Garden Guest House. The room was miniscule, but very clean, and the air conditioner worked, which was the most important thing. The name of the building in which the guest house is located is quite interesting, the Fook Kiu Mansion. Same to you, buddy.

Sunday I just goofed around, went to the Hong Kong Museum of Art to see The World of the Etruscans exhibit(http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/english/exhibitions/eexhibitions_s_20060401_1.html), along with Auspicious Emblems: Chinese Cultural Treasures - 45th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society (http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/english/exhibitions/eexhibitions_s_20060101_1.html) Both were excellent, but the Chinese art is so much more beautiful. There was a little arts and crafts show outside the museum, but I didn't see anything I wanted to buy. Went over to Harbour City to shop at City Super, but there were so many people that I gave up. Walked around Tsim Sha Tsui until I couldn't take it anymore, went back to the room to rest, went to the jade market, then back to the room for more rest, then hit Temple Street Night Market for awhile in the evening. Went to bed early because it was too hot to keep wandering around, took off early for the airport Monday morning so I could spend time wandering the shops there, got back to my place around 6:00 p.m. DZ was happy to see me.

Back to the normal routine today, and hopefully will get over to Shi Da to sign up for classes this week.

101 Things You Don't Want Greeting You When You Wake Up in the Morning, Number 1

Yesterday I bought two five-liter bags of kitty litter. Cats use a lot of kitty litter, you know. Shopping in Taiwan isn't really all that convenient sometimes, when one has no vehicle and one must carry heavy items home. Arriving home, deposited said bags in the spare bedroom, on the floor.

DZ was apparently bored out of her little kitty mind last night, because this morning when I got up, I found both bags of litter torn to shreds and litter covering the floor in the spare bedroom. DZ, attempting to play the innocent party, was lounging on the windowsill. Not for long. I grabbed that stupid cat by the scruff of the neck and proceeded to whale on her scrawny ass with the handiest implement, an umbrella. Stupid cat. Just wanted I wanted to do, sweep up litter for the first twenty minutes of my day. Guess who didn't get any canned cat food this morning?

This afternoon I once again did some recording for the cram school who has the textbook with the abysmal English. My recording partner was one of their teachers, nice enough guy named Andy. However.....Andy doesn't seem to be able to read aloud, at least not competently. And I have a very bad feeling that Andy was the author of some of the stuff we were reading, the stuff so loaded with errors I was cringing. Yeah, Taiwan, don't give me a job teaching English, because I don't have the piece of paper that Andy has. Never mind that I very well know the difference between "here" and "hear." I can't tell you how many times we had to stop, because what was written made absolutely no sense, and I had to try to reword it to go on. I volunteered to record almost all of the long speaking passages, because it was just too painful to sit there listening to Andy trying to do it and constantly making mistakes. Does anyone care about this??

I'm leaving for Hong Kong on Friday, returning on Monday. Don't really want to go because 1) I don't need to spend money after seeing how much I put on my Visa card when in the US, 2) Hong Kong is much hotter than Taiwan right now, and 3) Cheryl and Terry will be in the US on their vacation, so I'll miss seeing them. However, the bright spot is getting to see Doris and Tommy, and that really makes it worthwhile, since they're so fun and nice. Tommy, who drives a taxi, is even going to pick me up at the airport! And Doris wants to take me to Lee Yuen Mum, which is a fishing village. Can't ask for nicer friends than that, can you? So, really, no regrets (talk to me after I experience the summer temps in Hong Kong, I might be singing a different tune).

I won't be looking forward to my next electric bill. I'll bet it will be $50US for two months (ducks for cover as folks in US who are paying exhorbitant amounts for electricity throw whatever is handy in my direction)!

And speaking of Long Yan

I get a real kick out of this guy. He's Japanese, I think around 30 years old, and he's very much into swing dancing, Lindy Hop, the whole Fifties scene. You can watch a video (takes a little bit of time to load) of him and his dance partner, shot in Japan, here (and you'll have to actually cut and paste the whole thing instead of just clicking on it, because I can't get the full link to show us AS as link - it cuts it off after the last dot for some reason):

http://f.flvmaker.com/mc.php?id=nNxcQpY4__GKUTAF6Eq.PMqehLcwBpXKjEYGJBYrPOljkEE6rNFTb7u.cJyoslF2ZW_aaCmmmsniZ5RQ

Just a tad on the sneaky side

Ever been through this? A casual friend or a co-worker says, "Hey, I'm having a little get-together at my place Friday night, want to come? We'll have some snacks and stuff." You don't have anything else to do so you say, "Yeah, sure." You go to the "party" only to discover that you've been roped into an evening of listening to your host/hostess and his/her sponsor talk about the marvels of selling Amway products (or the joys of owning a time-share condo or a membership at 1,000 Trails). Are ya pissed? Damned straight you are, because you've been conned.

On Friday my classmate Kaori asked if I wanted to go to a party at the home of another classmate, one I didn't know, a fellow from Thailand. She said he was going to cook some Thai food and that our other friend, Long Yan, would cook up some Japanese food. We'd have a few beers, some chit-chat, enjoy ourselves. OK, I'm there!

Showed up at the MRT station to meet up with them (them being Kaori, Long Yan, Luke, and the Thai guy, whose name is something like Bosun, but not quite). We hung around waiting to see if another guy from Canada was going to show up, and as we waited, Bosun told me he hoped it would be OK for me (he thought I was a Christian) that we'd be going to his Buddhist worship hall for dinner. "Huh? We're not going to your house?" "No." "Uh, can we drink beer there?" "What? Of course not! Hahaha!" Oh well, no problem for me, I can live without beer, and I don't mind going to a Buddhist place.

We stopped to buy some juice and soda, got to the hall, removed our shoes, whined a bit about there being no air conditioning (OK, I was the only whiner), and Bosun headed for the kitchen area to bring out the food. Along the way it had been determined that there was no need for Long Yan to cook (darn), because there was plenty of food. We greeted the other Thai folks who were at the hall, bowed to a few monks, and carried our trays of food upstairs to a little meeting room (again, no air conditioner, just a huge, noisy fan). Then Bosun tells us that he can't eat with us, because the rule of his sect is that they can't eat anything after noon, just drink. What? The host isn't going to eat with his guests? OK, this is too weird. When he left to get the soup and some ice cubes, Kaori and I discussed this weirdness. She had no idea we'd be going to what is effectively a church for dinner! Eh, make the best of it and start eating.

Oh my, the food was great. No clue what the names of the dishes were, because the only thing I'd had before was the deep-fried shrimp balls with the sweet hot sauce (delicious). There was another dish with shrimp, lemon grass, and cashews that was so firey spicy it cleared the sinuses instantly, but was soooo good. Everything was good. Really. We ate and talked and drank our juice, and when we finished Bosun said he wanted us to meet the head monk.

Back downstairs we went, where they had finally turned on the air (yay!), and we all sat at a big table with the monk and an old lady who was folding up some papers. We were then required to look through a book which was mainly about the tsunami in Thailand in December 2004, mostly photos of many people meditating at the many ceremonies that were held to remember those who died. By this time we all kinda realized that the reason we were there was so Bosun could tell us about his religion, and we were feeling a little uncomfortable. However, no one was at any time pushy or obnoxious, and they were all very gracious, telling us we were welcome to come anytime and eat more good food, especially if we wanted to share the noon meal with them.

Kaori and I figured if we were going to get our desired alcoholic beverage intake for the evening, we'd best make our apologies and boogie on down the road. So, we said bye-bye and thank you numerous times before finally getting out the door and to the grocery store. As we walked to Kaori's place, which was quite close, we all laughed about the strange situation, and Kaori said she was going to murder her friend who obviously had known what was in store for us but had declined to elaborate when she'd talked to him the day before. I said it didn't matter, we'd had a great meal, some nice conversation, no one twisted our arms and tried to convert us, and we should just enjoy our full tummies :)

Spent the rest of the evening hanging out in Kaori's room, got lots of giggles from watching Long Yan demonstrate his Wing Chun skills, as well as his "grappling" ability. He had Luke down on the floor in a position that was so hysterical I deeply regretted not bringing the camera.

I was pleasantly surprised that Luke doesn't freak out when another guy touches him. He's Japanese but has lived in California since he was three years old (he's 29 now), so he's basically an American guy. And most American guys are so homophobic it's pathetic. I asked Luke how he feels about the habit of Asian guys to throw an arm around a buddy while walking, to place a hand on a knee when talking, etc., and he said he was secure enough in his own masculinity for that not to bother him. Good for him, I like hearing that.

Anyway, I got home around 12:30, stayed up until 1:30 reading, got up at 9:00 today. It's too hot to go anywhere or do anything, so today I'm gonna be a lazy bum.

Spoiled Forever

I forgot to mention a couple of things about my trip to the US (blame it on old age). I'd bought a ticket for Deluxe Class this time, since Uncle Sam was kind enough to return $700 of the US income tax I'd paid during my two months of work in 2005. I figured I'd treat myself a little bit for that long, long flight. I got more than I expected. When I arrived at the gate to check in, the young man checking passports and boarding passes gave me a chagrined look and said, "Oh, Deluxe Class is overbooked." This sent my heart into a rapid pitterpat, since I HAD to fly out on the 28th because my visa expired. Then he sorrowfully said, "I'm sorry, we have to upgrade you to Business Class." Sorry? What's to be sorry about? An upgrade is never cause for sorry.

Don't know if any of you have ever flown Business Class on a trans-Atlantic flight, but boy howdy, I recommend it. The seat was huge with tons of leg room and a nice footrest. You could actually recline in the seat, not just tilt your head back a couple of inches. Of course, it's not the full recline you get with First Class, but it worked. The pillow was of a usable size, not the postage-stamp sized ones Economy passes out. The blanket was not a rough, scratchy fabric, but was a very nice comforter, smooth cotton covering.

In Economy, you wait for the food cart to come around, and the flight attendant tells you what your two choices are. In Business Class, you're given a lovely menu with the choices listed, along with an extensive list of all the expensive alcohol you'll be allowed to choose from. In Business Class, you get an appetizer before your meal and Godiva chocolates with your coffee. The flight attendant comes by and takes your order. She returns shortly with a linen tablecloth for your little fold-out tray. When the food tray arrives, it's loaded with real crystal wine glasses, a linen napkin, and beautiful china plates. The appetizer looks as if a chef in a five-star restaurant arranged it on the plate (remember, presentation is everything), and the cutlery is also quite nice.

I had chosen the spare ribs for my main dish, and honestly the details of the meal have mostly faded now (I was just a little bit groggy from the Dramamine I'd taken, give me a break), but I recall it was all quite tasty and that there were fresh vegetables on the side. The drinks cart came by, and I went with the nice champagne that was offered, and yes, I got refills. Knowing that dehydrating alcohol is a bad choice on a long flight, I did not drink an entire bottle. Yay me.

The little free gifty was also very nice, a charming and good-sized travel pouch loaded with some smelly stuff from L'Occitane en Provence (http://www.loccitane.com/), famous here in Taiwan (and other parts of the world) for producing over-priced smelly stuff. Since I hate that stuff, I passed it along to Brandi, who was quite pleased to have it. Also included in the pouch were a lovely eye mask (which I'll be using at home), a tube of Colgate that will last for at least 10 brushings, a decent toothbrush, and a nice folding hairbrush/comb.

The breakfast service right before landing was also fabulous and far too much food. I went with the typical Taiwanese breakfast of 油條 and 荳漿 (deep-fried twisted dough sticks - think doughnut without sugar - and soy milk), which also came with an egg pancake stuffed with tuna and another fried pancake wrapped around the 油條. This was entirely too much fried food for one meal. I ate one 油條, dipped in the 荳漿 of course, and the egg pancake and the fresh fruit. That was enough, especially since I knew there would be more food with Brandi in just a couple of hours!

Sad to say, my dream of getting upgraded on the flight home did not come true. I discovered that Deluxe Class is basically Economy with seats a little bigger and more leg room. Pillow and blankey were eh, food was eh, no champagne, no Godiva chocolate. Big deal, we got glass dishes instead of plastic, but the food was still nothing more than a frozen meal covered with tinfoil, all mixed together in one dish. The croissant with breakfast was a brittle, unchewable blob of bread. I guess I could have had a lot of ordinary alcohol, since the nice Malaysian gentleman next to me was getting beer frequently, but again, I know better than to drink too much on a flight.

All in all, I'd say that choosing Deluxe for any flight over five hours long is probably worth the extra money, just for the comfort. So, that's probably what I'll select for my next trip back to the US, praying all the while for the flight to be overbooked and getting a taste of Business Class once again. I just don't think I can make myself pay the price for Business Class, which is about $800 more than Deluxe (and Deluxe is only a couple hundred more than Economy). However, I'll keep my eyes open for any specials!

By the way, if anyone wants to visit Taiwan in July, EVA currently has a special price of only $753US (pre-tax) from San Francisco to Taipei :)