July 2006

Steve and Nicole’s visit

Wow, a lot has happened this past week. We enjoyed being hosts and did a lot of touristy things. Warren managed to get Saturday off to hang out with his best friend and his new fiancee. Steve had asked Warren if he could arrange something at Ring (appropriate name), his restaurant, like a romantic dinner so he could pop the question. Friday night at 6:00 Steve and Nicole arrived to have a 4 course dinner. For dessert they were asked to move to another area. They had a private table set up outside with a small rectangular pool, surrounded by oil lamps and miniature candles. It was a lovely setting. The ring appeared on the dessert plate and as Steve proposed, all the waiting staff lined up and waited for the answer. They all started to clap and brought out a bouquet of flowers and some champagne. They were happy and surprised at the gesture from Warren's restaurant. Nicole wasn't surprised that she was being proposed to but that's a whole other story. Besides the engagement, we actually managed to fit a lot into 4 days. The first day i left Steve and Nicole to do some exploring on their own so I could go to a job interview. We met up later and hung out at Taipei 101 where we ate great teppanyaki at the food court. We decided to go up to see the night view. It was so beautiful to see the city from above, but pictures are hard to take at night and with a thick glass reflecting, even harder. The next day we went by bus and subway to the National Palace Museum. We had chinese food for lunch at the museum restaurant. We loved the seafood rolls with sesame seeds, the most. That night was the proposal dinner and then we went to the biggest night market in Shilin. Warren had a mussel omelet that looked quite slimy but he ate it happily. The next day we left for the beach. We purchased tickets at Taipei Main Train station. We found the right platform. We found empty seats, we had no numbers on our tickets. 15 minutes later, a couple with reservations took our seats. We learned later that tickets sell out days in advance and if you book at the last minute you get standing room only. But we saw some Taiwanese youth sitting on the floor near the doors so we followed suit. The ride took one hour and ten minutes so not too painful. The beach was absolutely gorgeous and not too crowded. The water was warm but still cool enough to be nice. We enjoyed just chilling. That night we got back to Taipei at 8pm and wandered around looking for a decent restaurant. We were in an old part of town and not much English to be found on menus. So we ate Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Not bad. Sunday we went to Longshan Temple and really enjoyed the peaceful interior of prayer and soft music being played. The smell of incense was really relaxing and inviting. I went to this same temple a week ago while people chanted in unison. I was mesmorized by the whole experience and just watched for half an hour. This city has so many things to offer and I'm glad I've been jobless to enjoy it to the fullest. When Steve and Nicole left I was feeling sad. I phoned Warren and he told me he felt the same way. I went to an ice cream place, this made me feel better.....

If only my office was this cool..

So I found a site that had me laughing.  They talk about the ’30 days after she dumps you’, woman they see walking around during lunch, and again, and of course.. again

And we’re off!

Heading off to the airport shortly. Thanks to everyone who came to see my first and last gig last night, I had a blast.

The next post will be from Ireland! Woo!

Late Update

I’m in London and have twice now managed to check my bags in with greater than allowed baggage weight. I think the airline people are just lazy and don’t want to bother charging me, both times they wrote the actual weight of the bag on a tag and attached it, so it’s not like they didn’t notice. I also managed to very casually carry on a bag that’s a) too large, and b) too heavy. Of course, I’m not on the plane yet….

Late Late Update:

Well, we’ve arrived. We’re living with the inlaws at the moment in sunny Armagh (I think it may have rained 30 cms today, not sure). We’re using dial-up so don’t expect too many updates, but I’ll do my best!

A quickie

I managed to get myself onto an earlier flight, so my wait in Dallas was only 2 hours. Got back to Vancouver early enough to pick up my new glasses. I think they make me look more intelligent, but I've been told I look more metrosexual??? Can a man not take care of himself without being called metrosexual? I've gone past the days of wearing large corporate t-shirts!
 
I'm headed down to Long Beach for the dragonboat festival there. 2 days of sleeping in the shade! I need that after my last trip. Call me boring, but I don't like travelling for work. Never have, never will. I like Vancouver, and I've given up a lot to stay here.
 
I did learn something very neat this time... You can lease cops! Apparently the police aren't paid particularly well, so you can actually pay extra to request a police presence in your neighbourhood! The police also work after hours as bouncers at bars. The building I was working in has a police man doing traffic control to ensure that people turning out of the parking lot are able to turn left onto the street... the street is actually lined up for blocks with traffic, but the police guy stops all traffic and lets you turn right in! Amazing!
 
 
 

A quickie

I managed to get myself onto an earlier flight, so my wait in Dallas was only 2 hours. Got back to Vancouver early enough to pick up my new glasses. I think they make me look more intelligent, but I've been told I look more metrosexual??? Can a man not take care of himself without being called metrosexual? I've gone past the days of wearing large corporate t-shirts!
 
I'm headed down to Long Beach for the dragonboat festival there. 2 days of sleeping in the shade! I need that after my last trip. Call me boring, but I don't like travelling for work. Never have, never will. I like Vancouver, and I've given up a lot to stay here.
 
I did learn something very neat this time... You can lease cops! Apparently the police aren't paid particularly well, so you can actually pay extra to request a police presence in your neighbourhood! The police also work after hours as bouncers at bars. The building I was working in has a police man doing traffic control to ensure that people turning out of the parking lot are able to turn left onto the street... the street is actually lined up for blocks with traffic, but the police guy stops all traffic and lets you turn right in! Amazing!
 
 
 

A quickie

I managed to get myself onto an earlier flight, so my wait in Dallas was only 2 hours. Got back to Vancouver early enough to pick up my new glasses. I think they make me look more intelligent, but I've been told I look more metrosexual??? Can a man not take care of himself without being called metrosexual? I've gone past the days of wearing large corporate t-shirts!
 
I'm headed down to Long Beach for the dragonboat festival there. 2 days of sleeping in the shade! I need that after my last trip. Call me boring, but I don't like travelling for work. Never have, never will. I like Vancouver, and I've given up a lot to stay here.
 
I did learn something very neat this time... You can lease cops! Apparently the police aren't paid particularly well, so you can actually pay extra to request a police presence in your neighbourhood! The police also work after hours as bouncers at bars. The building I was working in has a police man doing traffic control to ensure that people turning out of the parking lot are able to turn left onto the street... the street is actually lined up for blocks with traffic, but the police guy stops all traffic and lets you turn right in! Amazing!
 
 
 

Soy(lent) green

I had the misfortune of reading this during my lunch. Don’t you do the same.

The Hongshuai Soy Sauce was sold at a relatively low price in Mainland China and became very popular among the public. The people found its taste to be similar to other brands. Because of its low price, many catering services in schools and colleges decided to use this new product

It’s People!!

Update: SlantyK makes a strong point (I think) about the authenticity of this article. It has not been picked up by major news services — approach the article with caution.

Shark Week

For those fans of Discovery’s Shark Week, it begins this Sunday.

“Starting in the Bahamas, Marven meets shark scientist Erich Ritter waist-deep bull shark-infested waters. Ritter has stood among the sharks hundreds of times before, but on this day he is attacked and bitten on the leg as Marven stands next to him.”

That’s good t.v.

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