Spot of tea?

They fooooound me!! :( Some nights ago, a vicious mosquito attacked me over and over and over, while I lay asleep in my bed. The result was 9 bites on my left arm, a couple on my right, ... my earlobe, my eyelid, and even my tailbone! The next morning, my mother thwacked a mosquito, splattering blood all over the washroom wall. Very likely my blood. >:(

I've been eating lots of pomelo, because - well, it's in season, but especially because of Mid-Autumn Festival - yummy. But I've also discovered some other fruits that don't agree with my digestive system. Lovely.

Other than mosquito bites and unfriendly fruit, I'm getting used to living in Taiwan. There's been a cool breeze the last couple of days, which is a huge help.

On Wed, I had the opportunity to check out the Ten Ren Tea Company (did you know that Ten Ren is a Taiwanese company?). My uncle is a frequent customer there, so before sitting down for tea, we got a tour of the factory. The county line happens to lie between the store front and factory, so they are actually in 2 completely different cities! We saw the tasters - who actually taste, smell, look at, ... the tea leaf batches. Then was all the machinery for processing the tea leaves: cooking, deleaving (? separating the leaves from the stem), sorting and packaging. Quite interesting.

And of course, there's the tasting part. My uncle's "account rep" brought out 3 different teas for us to try. These are some *good* quality teas. The aroma is soothing and the flavour clean, with no bitter aftertaste. And after you swallow, your mouth continues to water and water and water, bringing a lovely sweetness to your mouth. My mouth was still watering about 2.5 hours later (and after lunch!) on the way home. Unfortunately, I can't really afford these teas: they cost about 120.00CAD/lb (250.00CAD/kg)!

Other than that, not too much. Interviews are going well, and I've started to get offers. Still have interview requests coming in, too.

K comes into Taipei tonight, yay! Tomorrow we are going to Yinggo, which is a city famous for its pottery and ceramics.

I stand corrected.

I posted a blog last year, for which I must reprimand myself. Don't bother looking for it; I've now removed it.

It was a post I'd written about my friend's grandiose wedding plans. In the post were words that were very hurtful to my friend, as I'd portrayed him to be inconsiderate and selfish, when I don't believe him to be either. He really is one of the sweetest people I know. He's always been generous and kind, and goes to great lengths for those around him. That's not just what I believe and know. It's a fact.

While I certainly hadn't intended to hurt my friend, whom I consider a good friend, what I had written was based on untruths and on a partial untruth at that. Had I taken another moment to think about what I'd heard, instead of reacting to the "shock" of the story, I should have known better. I would've known that that could not have been the full story, nor the person I knew my friend to be.

And now I've succeeded in hurting my good friend's feelings, which hurts me deeply as well.

I apologise to my friend. I am truly deeply sorry for the hurt I've caused.

I won't ask for forgiveness, because I don't think I deserve it. I only hope that Time will heal the wound I've created.

Let that be a lesson to me about hearsay.

Breathing smog

It hasn't even been a week that I've been in Taipei, and I'm already tired of the city smog. It's disgusting. At the end of the day, when you blow your nose, you can see just how much crap you're breathing in. (The "fog" in the picture is actually smog.)

It's also hot and humid here. Taking 3 or 4 showers a day isn't unusual. I pretty much have a quick rinse after any outing.

I get up by 07:30 or 08:00, because it's already light out and at that time the temperature is just right. But darkness falls around 18:30 or so, which makes the day feel "over" already, so we're usually in bed by 22:00, 23:00 at the latest. How odd to shift from my typical 11:00-04:00 hours to a 07:30-22:00 schedule.

My brother K is about 2 hours away by bus/coach. It isn't too inconvenient, and cheap enough for him to come to Taipei almost every weekend, which is nice, because one can only spend so much time alone with one's mother.

Food is ... cheap. And pretty good, for the most part. My mother and I can eat a decent lunch on about 120NT (< 5.00CAD); breakfast costs us about 3.00CAD all together. It's almost cheaper and more convenient just to eat out or buy take-out than it is to prepare something ourselves from scratch.

They have more 7-Elevens here than in Vancouver, heheh: there's one at least every 2 blocks. Definitely a convenience store!

I'm slowly getting used to the heat and everything, but it's going to take me some time. Mostly, I'm itching for "proper" Internet access!

What, only 70lbs??

Well, this is it. My last blog this side of the International Date Line.

I stayed up pretty much all night (had a 40-minute nap) repacking and rejuggling my suitcases to comply with the weight restrictions. My house is a mess. But the packing is more or less done now, finally.

The next time I post, I'll probably be in Hsinchu, at my brother's, barely staying awake. Deeeeep breath ....

27 years in a suitcase

My departure date is approaching fast, but I don't know what to pack.

Last week, I was nervous that I wouldn't have enough luggage space to start my new life. I had started scoping out other channels of sending stuff over: "Oh, J&Co. will be visiting in mid-Oct? Hmm, what can they bring for me ...." "Second Aunt and Fourth Aunt are coming to Vancouver in late Oct? Great, I'll leave a package for them to bring back!"

I pulled out the suitcases we had in the storage closet and negotiated the most luggage space of what was available. Some days ago, I brought the big red suitcase down from the hallway (where it'd been waiting for me for weeks) and placed it downstairs, open, so I'd have room to pack.

And there it sits - empty.

For some reason, I have no idea where to start. Staring at the huge vacancy, I have no idea with what I'm going to fill all that space.

So I began putting stuff near the suitcase when I passed or thought of anything. I brought my boots in, some shoes, my rollerblades. I seem to be accumulating more and more fragile items (ice wine, mugs, bowls) than I have clothes with which to pad them.

With less than 3 days until I leave, I'm starting to panic, because if I don't put something in that suitcase soon, I'll be going to Taiwan with just my brother's and my notebook computers!

Row, row, row your ....

Back then, we used to go to QE Park a fair bit. The adults would stroll leisurely through the park with its spring and summer blooms, while we cousins would swarm like bees. We would dart in and out of the huge hollow bronze sculptures (while banging on them), walk along the fountain wall, dipping our hands into the water and seeing if the coins were within reach. Sometimes we got dangerously close to all the wedding photo sessions taking place ....

My favourite thing of all was watching the water striders in the numerous ponds around the park. They would gracefully oar themselves across the surface of the water, creating little dimples under their feet. They seemed so carefree, lazing around in the pond on a sunny day.

I always felt so peaceful watching them, and always with a smile.

Carless

Yesterday, after a week of false hopes and visits to used car dealers, I sold my car.

I really liked my car, but it wasn't hard letting go after 5 years. Maybe because I knew that its maintenance was crap. A couple weeks ago, S helped me clean up under the hood: it looked like no one had popped the hood in 3 years. Which was more or less the case. After a good scrubbing, the car looked well cared for.

The nice couple who bought it were the perfect buyers. For me. They didn't ask about its maintenance, so I didn't have to lie.

So now I'm carless. I do have my parents' chunky Accord, but it's just not the same.

Leaving on a [Boeing 747] jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again.

Well, it's done. I've booked my flight.

T minus 12 days.

Woooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Just passed my formal presentation (with minor revisions)! :)

Yay!! I can almost feel the freedom ...! :D

Happiness on the go

After months of shopping around, I have a new bundle of joy. Yesterday, S and I braved the flurry of back-to-school shoppers and purchased my Toshiba Satellite M30-YSJ. Loaded with a sexy feature set, this will be my notebook computer for the next few years.

It also came with a free D-Link wireless router (Staples offer), yay! And what's even better: the wireless router was marked 119.95CAD (with $79.95 instant rebate and $40 mail-in rebate). But, when it was rung in at the till, it came up as $109.95 (still with the $79.95 rebate and $40 mail-in!). Double yay!!

It's really slick and the screen is fabulous - very crisp. I haven't really played with it much (at all). My computer administrator is still suping it up with applications and whatever else I'll need, but it should be up and running by tomorrow, yay!