Day 1: Welcome to Taiwan

23 October 2007, 0500H

It's an early flight so gotta get up early. Went around looking for anything that I forgot to take after taking a shower. When everything was done at around six, went down with Dad and took a cab to Changi Airport Terminal 2.

We reached the airport about a half hour later, and joined a long queue of people checking in. It took about fifteen minutes before we got a counter. We went straight into the departure hall and went around looking for breakfast.

Found a Burger King and ate there. Tried the chicken burger promotion thing and it sucked. Utterly. I officially hate Burger King. But the Mushroom Swiss... Gah.

Our gate was right at the end of the airport, bloody hell.


Last call for the flight to nowhere, last call for...

0800H

Boarded the plane. Sat down and after a while, was reminded why the SIA stewardess uniform was so damn sexy. We took off and I was finally able to get the in-flight entertainment. Watched Die Hard 4 and... Well, action sequences were awesome and there was Maggie Q in it, so obviously that's good.

I also watched about five minutes of the UK edition of The Office before I found it too boring and switched over to Top Gear. Now that's a good show. I explored the cartoon channels and found Pinky & The Brain. It's Pinky, it's Pinky and The Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain NARF~

1300H

Finally landed. Got out of the plane and proceeded to the customs. Looks like we were at the end of the airport here too, dammit. Took a look and noticed the layout looks almost like Changi.

We finished with everything and went out to meet our driver. How nice, a chauffeur to our hotel. On our way there we tried to contact the girls with the numbers I got back here. And when we did, we arranged to meet the Sis at our hotel lobby.

Saw our room when we got there. There was a pathetic looking bed. We sat down and looked at the channels they had there. Turns out there was a certain one Sis wanted but didn't get over at her hotel. So that meant having to go back everyday at 6 so she could watch her show.

Before we left, Dad got a change of room to one with a bigger bed. This one really sucks. We also found out about the free terminal in the back. It's always connected so thankfully I can stay connected on the net for free.

As we walked around, I took notice of the license plates on the bikes and cars there. The convention was 3 alphabets and 3 digits for bikes, and 4 digits and 2 alphabets for cars. So I went looking around and found a few interesting ones.


You would think the rider is really, really happy.


The Carplate of the Beast


We went walking around looking for a proper lunch and found this beef noodle place around the corner. It was awesome, like I've always expected Taiwanese food to be.

After the awesome noodles, we went walking around the area and found a 7-11. Noticed a poster on the outside. The preorder for Jay Chou's latest album is out, hmmm. We got some snacks and drinks and went around some more before heading back so Sis can watch her show, and before I knew it, I fell asleep.

1910H

They woke me up and we went off to the famous 士林 (Shi4 lin2) night market. It wasn't that big a hype as I expected it to be, the food sold there were the same everywhere. We just found a stall with less people and ate. It was okay I guess, except the smelly tofu wasn't smelly at all, so that was a big disappointment.


Think of a pasar malam, but permanent.


"Small pastries wrapped in big pastries". Who would have guessed? The one selling "Small sausage wrapped in big sausage" maybe.



Also saw a shooting gallery. Was tempted to try it but decided against it. We bought some cream puffs and a giant chicken cutlet back. After putting everything down, I went down to the free terminal.

2300H

Finished with the terminal and went up. Got a shower and went to sleep. This is going to get interesting.

Wah Wah Wee Wow

Just the other day, I almost got fucking conned man.

You see it's this scam involving a van, some sound equipment, and an idiot stupid enough to believe he can buy top quality tech stuff worth thousands of dollars for hundreds (in some cases, tens) of dollars.

I almost became that idiot, trust me.

They told me that they went to get the stuff and there was a surplus and they were looking to sell it off for quick money. They promised a warranty and whatnot, and was quite anxious to sell it off.

Well initially I didn't know about this scam, but I remembered a little something that went "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is", so I took everything with a pinch of salt.

Eventually I went up and told my dad about it, and he told me it happened many times already. I mean of course I went "omgwtfduh" immediately, and just left the guy outside.

It's funny in hindsight how when they started asking about my family and I said my father works for the government, his first guess was "police?" Well he's a civil servant and all, but this isn't his field.

And while pitching his deal, he showed me a big roll of 50's he just got from a "taxi uncle", saying it was about $1,500. Poor uncle.

So yeah, later I went around looking up about it and as it seems, it did happen a few times, but usually at the Sim Lim Square area.

Oh well.

*****

I really wanna watch a movie man. Any volunteers to take me out?

Make it quick or make it late, because I'm leaving for Taipei on Tuesday, and won't be back till next week.

Which means if you want something, tell me and maybe I'll bring it back for you.

The Encounter

Enjoy.



Comments on the video please. Or here if you'd prefer.

"I Did Not Come Here To Make Friends"

I should have remembered.

Long Post For A Long Outing

The story starts on Friday. I went home after school, and after having a nice interaction with my lovely 2E2 students. I arranged to meet Ben and Jeremy after their work, to go off for our extra Judo training.

We got there eventually, and did some training under Xiong-ge. It was one of an intensity that I have not had in ages. And it wasn't even a full blown training. Almost twisted a couple of joints, but no matter. We ended up talking about the video production and how it would go, etc.

Being us, we had a bit of fun.



We ordered Macs (the school one was closed for renovations) and ate after we finalised the idea.

The four of us (Leo, Jeremy, Ben and me) came back together and decided to pack up and stay over at Ben's so we can start work together early the next morning. We had many things to buy.

So we woke up the next day and went down to the market nearby for the stuff we needed. Some stingray chops, drinks, charcoal, and other things needed for your typical BBQ.

We went back and Jeremy came over later, and he went out with Leo to get more food. They came back and we just played around with the dogs and watched Ben's little cousin write sentences while we waited to set off.



We set off rather early, and on Ben's father's pickup, no less. The feeling of the wind in your face is the best feeling you can get on a moving vehicle ever.







We got there early, and hungry. We had all the food there but there was no fire. So I went off with Jeremy and Leo to Subway for lunch. Ordered the foot-long and ate too much again. Dammit. Met David after playing for a while in the ZoneX nearby and went back together.

By the time we got back, some of the others were there too. The fire was starting up and food began running from the boxes into our stomachs.











A few of them came and went, and some of the others left at the usual curfew timings.

Around then I made a bad decision for Lynn to start making Anthony and Jeremy up for their roles in the video. It clashed with the time where a lot of people were leaving and we couldn't get much work done with all the people moving around and making all that noise. And since we heard Sensei was coming, we went back and removed everything.

Sensei Stephen Chee came later, and sat down with us while he discussed with us (mostly Anthony) about the things that went on and are going on in the world of Judo right now. Xiong-ge came later, and joined in the discussion.

When Sensei left, it was down to the nine of us who were going to stay through the night. We waited some more until around 3 in the morning, charged the camera, and started shooting at the toilet area nearby at about 4 something.

We ended at around 5.15 and everybody went to take their showers before getting about two hours of sleep. Got up, packed up and the four of us went back to Ben's in a cab.



A trip to Queensway (my idea) was initially "planned" but I canceled it because everyone were too tired to go anywhere at all. All of them fell asleep and I had to wake them up so they could just go back and sleep at home instead.

That trip was postponed till yesterday. I went out with Jo instead, since I didn't have to go to work today (I doubt I have to anymore, but I'll still be checking tomorrow) and we had a whole adventure. Well, sort of. Maybe. Nah.

Went over to Woodgrove first. The hairdresser wasn't going to be around for another three hours, so we went ahead to the polyclinic. He got some cream for his skin and we left for Jurong East on the MRT.

We got on a bus and went to the Acer building, and I persuaded him not to wait two hours for the live diagnosis and leave it there for a couple of days instead. We took a cab to Queensway Shopping Centre from there, and it was a surprisingly short journey.

Went in and took a look. Walked around the building to see what they had there. I bought my Arsenal shirt and we left. Took a bus while we decided what to do next. A movie? We missed out on the Queenstown Station stop and got off at Commonwealth before we ended up somewhere we don't want to.

Got on the MRT and decided to watch a movie back at Causeway Point. Called the hotline and checked for timings and realised we were just a little too late for Balls Of Fury. Settled for Underdog which started 10 minutes later.

It was an okay movie if I say so. The humour's all there but most of it seemed recycled.
Maybe it's me, but hey. I did like the movie quite a bit. It doesn't take too much to please me.

Went over to Woodgrove again for Jo's haircut. Had to wait so went around looking at the Fairprice there. And had dinner. Botak Jones is going to open a branch here, it seems. Convenient.

Walked home after he was done. And I started working on this mammoth of a post. Alright.

Oh and I promise that when the video is ready I'll put it up on Youtube and I'll put it here, alright?

Ciao.