"What can I get you?" "Oh, the usual."

I have a friend with an incredibly high tolerance for things of a repetitive nature. In this case, I'm talking about food. Ridiculously high. (And since I know he's reading this: sorry, buddy, ha.) And by repetitive, I mean having the same thing for lunch and/or dinner and/or late night snack almost every day. For nearly 2 months.

It's not like the meal was particularly interesting, either: shabu-style teriyaki beef slices on rice. No sides, no nothing; just a bit of sauce. Not even speeecial sauce. *yawn* I'm not saying unpalatable, just booooring.

It got to the point where just the mention of this dish would make me gag.

And he almost started this trend in two other instances as well.... Eateries that I like, that I introduced him to got frequented a lot. I don't go to those restaurants quite so much anymore.

This got me thinking. I know I can be pretty judgemental. More so than I like to think. Or admit. Worse yet, I can also be hypocritical at times. So. Am I really any better? Am I that adventurous in trying out different restaurants?

Hmm. Not really.

I may not hit the same place 17 consecutive nights, but when I return to a place, more often than not I'll order the same few dishes I've had before. I rely on restaurant recommendations from friends and colleagues, so if they don't go to a lot of different places, then I've also limited myself to a select few as well.

In a country where there are as many eateries as there are cars on the street, I should be exploring a lot more, gastronomically speaking.

So I made a decision earlier this week. At least twice a week, I'm going to try a new place or a new dish.

And so far, it's paying off. :) (Er, sample size = 1.)

I heart V

Played indoor volleyball on Saturday for the first time since coming to Taiwan. Company event, with ridiculously modified rules to encourage the participation of women: men had to hit from behind the 3m line, and any ball-over contact in front of the attack line must be two-handed, even if not jumping!

It. was. Heaven.

My serving was stable (but no floaters). My passing wasn't too bad, although not surprisingly, it's deteriorated a bit since the Bonsor/Cambie days (yeah, I shanked a few). And once I told my teammates to utilise me more (being the only one who could attack front row), I got a lot more sets. On a women's height net. Women's height! :D

I didn't try blocking, but I should've, just for the heck of it. Not too many dives, but I saved a ball - and rolled out of it! S would've been proud. ^^ Too bad we couldn't capitalise on that play, though.

It was only a morning of volleyball, but after being away from it for over a year, my entire body aches! But it's a good ache. :)

I've always known how much I heart V, but that morning was a little reminder. I'll have to check if our company rec centre has drop-in volleyball. :D

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

I like to think that I'm a good listener. People seem to open up to me, tell me their problems, their secrets, their fears. And since I think talking and venting is good for one's health, I've always offered my "services" if I sense a friend in need of an ear.

One person took me up on the offer. We used to be very good friends before we went our separate ways, and I hadn't talked to him in quite a while, other than a passing "hi". But that night, we talked for 2 hours. And at the end of the call, he said to me, just as he always did, "Good night. Sweet dreams." Sweet dreams. A sign-off that only he ever used with me, back when we were close.

It caught me a little off guard, and I instinctively replied, "Yep. G'night." (I know, I know, don't roll your eyes at me!). As I pressed End on my phone, it came back to me. That familiar greeting that I had heard almost nightly.

And I smiled.

"Guess what? I'm bi!"

[Editor's note: Photo ID was slightly modified to comply with all the grumblings I received about my information supposedly being visible, even though I'd mosaicked it all.]

Well. I am now officially Taiwanese. On top of being Canadian, that is - dual citizenship. (Don't be ridiculous; I ain't givin' up my Canadian citizenship!)

This morning, in an amazingly smooth transaction unlike all processes leading up to this day, I had a newly minted citizen card in my hands within the hour. That's including getting breakfast while I waited for them to process the documents.

And then, in an equally efficient fashion, I was back in Hsinchu and rented a mailbox, opened a stock account, opened a new bank account to link to my new stock account, and dropped off my application for a credit card. All before lunch was over. Man, having a citizen number makes things so much easier.

So I'm set! Now I can start wearing high heels with jeans and matching a hot pink top with a yellow skirt. And maybe folding excess jean pant leg up. To the calf. On the outside of the pant.

Definitely half empty.

My coworker TJY left on a business trip this afternoon. A 6-month-long business trip. He'll be in California (along with 7 other members of the team) to see a project through to completion.

The thing is, I don't have many friends here, so TJY is 33% of my friends. I got to know him through the hiking club. We lunch and sup together virtually everyday. At 16:00, we meet in the coffee room for our daily apple. I even see him on weekends. He's also helped me with lots of stuff: translating e-mails, explaining company procedures and local customs, etc.

So today, there was a distinct feeling of emptiness as I watched him depart. He has a girlfriend now, but I wouldn't doubt that I feel just as glum as she does.

:(

Jazz Cat

Went to a jazz festival in Taichung over the weekend. I'd been stressing about work and was just tired in general, so I really needed a weekend to kick back and unwind. Listening to jazz in the park, in perfect weather, with a glass of Bailey's and good company - the jazz fest was just the perfect thing.

I took to the jazz and have since changed gears. I listen to one Taiwanese artist in particular: Cat Peng Ching Hui (彭靖惠) who has a wonderfully soothing Norah Jones voice. She started out in pop but switched to jazz about 5 years ago. Her latest album is a 2-CD set with Chinese and English versions (basically). I was especially pleased to find that the English was grammatically correct and virtually without accent.

For those who don't like jazz, her style is not the traditional brassy jazz, but more like Diana Krall's bop-bop-badoo-wop smooth jazz. This is one of my favourite songs - have a listen.