Big Buddha

One of the more famous parts of Hong Kong is the enormous golden Buddha that sits on a high mountain (forgot the name of the mountain). After a somewhat nerve-racking cable car ride that climbs two large mounatains, does a 90 degree angle, and then leads to the Buddha, I was there.

I think the Buddha must be pretty cool, because so many people go there and want to go there... but I couldn't really see it well... it was all in fog. Still, that had it's own really cool affect. :-)

One other impressive thing was the number of Coke machines... I saw over 5 in two areas! And two were directly under the Buddha himself! It was enough to make me want to burst out in a "God bless America" right there... but I guess that wouldn't go over too well... :-P

Taiwanese Italian Noodles

Taiwan has a lot of "Italian Resturaunts", which I've started to call "Taiwanese Italian" resturaunts... It's not that they aren't good, but they are very different from the Italian version. For one, the sauce is very much like tomatoe-flavored water. Also, the beef is not at all like Italian-styled beef, it's more thin and has a somewhat boiled feel to it.

Still, it was delicious in it's own way, and even came with a small, cute basket of bread. The bread also wasn't the same as Italian bread, but was still good. I didn't try the dish my friend had, but it looked a little less appealing... featuring a sort of bright green sauce... maybe I'll try that next time. Might as well be adventurous. :-)

And it is Chinese...

I have created a name for my pain. And it is Chinese.

I was sitting in the cafe digging through Chinese books and struggling through dialogue when I realized how much work and pain it is just to read a story about a boy and his friends talking about children's mandatory education in Taiwan.

Why do I do this to myself? Look closely and you can see the signs... almost every character is circled and translated or underlined and sounded out.

I must love pain.

Shock...awe...annoyance...!

In an annoying bit of news for today, I was able to experience, once again, the unique way in which these "polite Taiwanese people" can be more rude than any American I know... even in New York.

I rode my bike home to my apartment, from campus today, and parked it by the stairs, inside the apartment building. There is nothing wrong with that, many people park their bikes there, especially if they think it might rain.

Later tonight, as I walked downstairs to go outside, I was shocked to find that someone had taken my bike outside from the apartment and moved in onto the street so they could park their bike inside, in my place! To make it worse, it had rained tonight, so my bike got all wet!

Now, it's true that my bike is not new or beutiful (see "Red Thunder Tofu" post below), but it is my bike, and it has no rust on the important parts (chain, gears, etc). AND I was there first!

So, I just moved their bike outside as well, right next to mine.

I'm tempted to take their bike for a little walk - a block or two away.

This is what would happen in NY if someone had the NERVE to be such a selfish bastard!

Finally~

For many years of my life, I've lived with and grown accustomed to the fact that as an American, the one thing we don't have is the most technologically advanced cell phones in the world. Since coming to Taiwan, friends and classmates have been happy to remind me of this as well.

But now... for once... we are the ones with the coolest phone around (in my opinion, and for at least a short time). Woo hoo! Take a look~

I would gloat more, but I'm not sure these aren't being made in Taiwan already... or maybe next year...!

The other white meat...

During my first semester at NTU, I saw one of these enormous bugs outside of my classroom, inside the business building! I was pretty shocked, because this is no small bug we are talking about... it's bigger than my nose (which is quite large, I must say)!

Ever since seeing that bug, I always wanted to get another chance to see one, so I could document this thing... I mean, I guess it makes sense, as this is a tropical area, but me being a New Yorker, I've never
seen such a thing!

I never saw another one, until last week, when I was going through the night market to get some food. This time, I was prepared... but decided against eating it...

Contrasts

The boy is a Palestinian holding a toy gun... the soldier is an Israeli holding a real gun...

That kid is so cute - isn't there some way to fix all this crap?

Mooo ( x 2 )

I was shocked to read on the BBC today that the US has judged cloned beef to be fine for eating.

Now, I know, it probally is fine to eat. And I know, I'm probally over-reacting here. But I have three chief concerns.

1 - Do we really need to be doing this? Is there some kind of shortage of beef in the US? Last I saw my hometown, there were cows everywhere. And the midwest if full of 'em.

2 - Have we been doing this test long enough to know the long-term results? Just because the flesh seems ok, and the genes seem to be acting normal, that doesn't really mean that ten years from now we won't all get new, funky diseases.

3 - Doesn't this seem a little creepy to anyone but me? I mean, I know it's not "Brave New World" come to pass, but it surely isn't too far off. We're all still debating what GMO crops do and what they mean to everyone, including the soil that supports them (and can't be used to grow anything for several years after GMO crops have been there). Besides, this really seems like something I saw out of a Marvel comic book.

Rumblin' & Tumblin'

Earlier this week I had my first earthquake... nothing special, I was sitting in my room at night and the room kind of "creaked" before the floor seems to sway a bit. I sat at my computer feeling dizzy and wondering if the whole thing was from too much browsing, when my roomates shouted out "earthquake". Small thing, nice way for me to have a first earthquake... life went on.

But then, shortly after Christmas, when I was in a large building in downtown Taipei, I had my second earthquake, with a cute little aftershock too. That was no fun. The Christmas tree in the room started swaying, the hanging lights were swinging, the windows were shaking, it was a little scary.

Turns out, I still had it kind of good - in the south of Taiwan some buildings collapsed and some people even died. The whole thing reminded me how small we puny little humans are next to nature.

Who needs a Ferrari?

Here at NTU, everyone has a bike. Some people have more than one... I myself used to have three at one time... two were stolen, and woke broke on the way to Spanish class. After the last incident, I decided not to get another one, and went for more than a year without a bike. It was only recently then, that I got a new bike!

Bikes here are cheap, $400NT, which is about $9 USD. The lock was $200NT, which is almost as much as the bike...

So without further ado, I present to you my bike, called "Red Tofu Lighting!"

The Joy of Marketing...

This is me and my marketing group hard at work on important marketing issues... feel the power.

Great Taste AND Healthy Teeth

I was suprised to see that the toothpaste I've been using recently is... "whitemen". Apparently, I not only look fine, but fight cavities and plaque... I wonder if I am the whitening kind too?

Interesting, I wonder if they are an equal opportunity organization...

Xia Tai!

In an effort to experience a protest of the likes I have never before seen, I went with some friends to a demonstration against the president in Taipei... of course in the end it didn't work, but it was cool... and fun to do! I think it was kind of historical too - it went on for a month or more. They had a parade and everything... we stayed there for a while but eventually went home. I felt a little funny being a foreigner there, at a Taiwanese domestic issue anyway.

Family & Home

"Not going home is already like death."

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."

"My home is not a place, it is people."

Newfound treasures...

I found a new singer today... she is wonderful... classical piano with an amazing voice... and great lyrics... it's one of those great moments when you realize there is a new artist in your life, and they have a whole list of art you will be enjoying for the first time in the days to come...

Chantal Kreviazuk

The point

“People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them.They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

The effectivness of science...

The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe.

— Stephen Hawking

The line between too far and not far enough...

A lot of thoughts and questions to me these days about the whole illegal immigrant thing in the United States. Currently there are a lot of Mexican workers who are there illegally, and have a lot of groups such as the churches (hungry for members) and the ACLU fighting for their "rights" to stay in America, despite having run into the United States illegally... A lot of immigrants come the United States, and do so legally, so I think that this illegal population is, among other things, discrediting the work and sacrifice made by immigrants who became citizens the legal way, and are proud of it.

But how else to explain it? Does not wanting mexican immigrants make me a racist? Or predjudiced? Or too conservative? I don't think so at all... and I don't think this population, until legitimized, has a right to even be here. Look at it this way...

--------------

Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration. Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests.

Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).

According to the protesters, not only must you let me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits to me and to my family (my husband will do your yard work because he too is hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part).

If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be there. It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm hard-working and honest, um, except for well, you know.

And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being an anti-housebreaker. Oh yeah, and I want you to learn my language so you can communicate with me.

At what cost?

Only Media Producers, intent for bad or scary news to report, and terrorists, hiding in caves or within their government offices, could call this sort of thing a "success" for Lebanese people. Will anyone ever learn to see what really happened here? Nothing good... but as long as someone always declares victory, I guess no one will ever have a lasting peace.

The effectivness of hypocrites

What kind of world is this when citizens of a nation love a group of people who shoot missles at others, hoping to kill kids and old people, kidnap and kill soldiers unprovoked, and hide behind the children of those they are "standing up for"? What's worse, what kind of world is this when the country being hit with missles aimed at their old and young all the time (pre and post invasion) are blamed when they fight back, and accidentally (key word!) kill civilians of the other nation when trying to kill the militants who hide behind them... (keep in mind, it's likely these militants made the citizens stay in the danger zone and "shield them")

Israel could have flattened any town/city is south Lebanon before any western or arab nation even knew what was happening, but they are trying to kill as few civilians as possible as they fight to kill stupid, ignorant idiots who care more about "standing up to israel" than they do about their own families, futures, or lives.

Citizens in Lebanon need to stop blaming Israel for trying to destroy this militia group. They should realize that if you let something militant grow in your country, you need to take responsibility for it - either by marching against it yourself or watching another country march against it. You cannot let a group live in your country, kill people in another country, have a parade in the street when it happens (or let your friends have a parade in the street), and then expect everything to be OK. If you march against this group and they try to kill you, then you know they are not interested in your safety afterall, and you should work twice as hard to get rid of them.

Personally, I think Israel should leave the Middle East... if you lived in a town of ignorant idiots who shot their hunting rifle at you everyday, wouldn't you want to put your house up for sale? Let them kill each other after you leave - from "Enemies of Israel" to "Enemies of the Shia" or "Sunni" or whatever other group is out there... good riddance.