Monday, February 26, 2007

chinese new year trip part 1

To cover almost an entire week of trip in just one post is going to be too difficult I think, so you get it in stages. I will start at the beginning.

We couldn't make it on the fast train. Even with everyone telling us not to go on it and that many people in Taiwan wouldn't, it seems the lure of an 80 minute trip of the entire length of the island was too tempting to pass up since all the trains seemed to be booked. That was okay though since we have discovered the greatness of the aloha bus. The trip started out great, we got to Taipei after a bit of a crazy taxi ride and when we got to the bus terminal, we only had to wait 10 minutes for a bus to leave. Pretty decent for Chinese New Years Eve.

So we were off to Taichung, where I swore I would never go again for fear of ending up in a gutter again. Yeah, I don't have much luck with Taichung. Things always seem to go wrong there. This time didn't seem too much better either since after we got our hotel room, we decided to walk downtown to see what was going on. So two hours of walking later, we finally made it to the area we were headed in (little Europe, no less) to discover nothing open. And I mean nothing, other than 7-11's and family marts. So we had a drink outside 7-11 to decide our fate. I almost thought were going to have to plant ourselves outside of that 7-11 for the evening, and it wasn't even 7pm yet.

Finally, we decided to give up, catch a cab and go back to the hotel to drown our sorrows in 7-11 food and beer. Just as we had made this decision, we found a restaurant. Amazingly enough, we found a restaurant and with this discovery, we sat. For a really, really long time, we sat.

So that was day one. I was going to do day two today too, however, I'm too tired and lazy to post all my pictures, so you'll just have to wait for the Sun Moon Lake story. I will say, however, that it was by far the highlight of the trip, so that's at least something to look forward to.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

music....and some lyrics too

I went to Taipei today to watch a movie. I wanted to see Dreamgirls but since no one else in the world apparently wants to see it (by world I mean my world...as in none of my friends is into musicals I guess) we discovered Music & Lyrics is on. Oh man, I have never laughed so hard in my life. I love Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore so I was pretty well going in with the intent to love it however, I have never laughed so hard, and if you know me, then you know how much I laugh at movies and TV. Seriously, I couldn't stop laughing in some parts. If you haven't seen it, go, really. Here is a little taste to show you how great it is...

Friday, February 16, 2007

chinese new year

Chinese New Year...those are the greatest words I think ever invented. Why? Because it automatically means holiday. My need for a vacation has been very apparent over the last two days, my poor kids and friends. It's probably been a good thing I haven't seen much of many people this week. See, this is my first real holiday in a year. The last time I had a vacation was last February when I went home for the month. Sure, we had 5 days off in October and we went to Green Island, but this is 9 whole days of not seeing any kids, not doing any work, of just pure relaxation. I have discovered this week that a year is a long time to go without a real quality holiday.

We are still trying to make our plans for the holiday. Unfortunately most everything is going to be booked or closed and of course, we are not ones for planning ahead. My friends and I abide by spur of the moment. We are last minute sort of people. We were going to try and go on the High Speed Rail however I think our last minuteness has sort of screwed us out of that. I'm sure we will get on it eventually though. I mean, 90 minutes to Kaohsiung means we could just go for the weekend...if we wanted to. It is do-able.

So this Chinese New Year, whatever we do, I'm sure it will be full of traveling and doing nothing and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that. So "Xin nian kuai le" everyone, Happy New Year.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

it's the anniversary

So yes, as my sister said, it was my 3rd anniversary of arriving in Taiwan on February 14th. (for most of you reading this, it is still Feb 14th, however, it is almost 1am here on the 15th, so technically the anniversary was yesterday). This is actually the first time I have "celebrated" or even mentioned the fact that it was my anniversary. Last year I was in Canada, the year before...my parents were here and I was as sick as a dog, since it was February after all and I have been cursed to be sick every February I've been in Taiwan.

I have been thinking about my time in Taiwan all day, starting with the day I arrived. I remember phoning my sister in Vancouver crying, wondering what the hell I was doing (yes, I am an emotional person) Arriving in Taiwan to a driver with my name on a sign and the school I was employed by. That was pretty cool, and it will probably never happen again. It is hard to believe that 3 years have gone by. I can see it all so clearly, sometimes it seems I can almost account for every minute, but I don't know how it's gone so fast. Every moment of Taiwan has affected my life, whether it has been a good experience or a bad one. They all turn out to be good in the long run, even if they don't seem to at first. I know, this entry is all over the place. My mind is running over all my experiences since being here and it is hard to write about them all in the same place. The kids I've taught, the friends I have met, the things I have done, it has been life changing. Some days I didn't think I could make it past six months and here it's been three years. It seriously baffles my mind sometimes.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

my valentine...

Every year (or something like that) my mom has a sister weekend (with her sisters no-less) For some reason while they were out, they found something that made them think of me. I am not exactly sure why they all thought it was so funny that it should be sent to me. Am I really the only single person in our family? And if I am, so what? What did they think was so funny, you ask? I got sent this in the mail....




Yeah, was I excited or what about that. Really thrilled.

So in honour of Valentines day, I decided to let the little dude grow to his full 600% of original size self. Here is the progress of my new man...







So that's my Valentines date. Although apparently if I take him out of the water, he'll shrink again so I guess it's going to be a nice quiet evening in.

(and tomorrow's a special day for me too, (and no, NOT because of Valentines day) if anyone can remember you get bonus points...although for what, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe I'll send you my boyfriend for next year...I'll let you know what sort of date he turns out to be)

Saturday, February 03, 2007

the flack of it all

now i'm starting to catch flack for my drunken posting...Cherly Beynon was invoved and she liked every minute if it as well as several people of the thailand Phuket group. But all in all it was a grand experience...If you read this blog...fucing find something you like...the vicarious thing is overdone...

sincerely,
Tweekville

guest posting gone wrong

I have company staying at my house. Cheryl and Travis have come back from Thailand on their way to Korea and I am horribly happy about it, even though apparently I'm very appathetic to the whole thing. I REALLY AM HAPPY TRAVIS. That being said, I am giving up the reigns for tonight to Obi Wan...so for your enjoyment here is my first guest post....


Well, I don't really know what to say...but i'm here at tobi's house(mind you i don't do the capital thing). if you please excuse the next few lines...this is purely for the reader list...ok tobi just told me that the parents read this so for the next few lines mom and please ignore the next few lines... sex drugs and rock and roll

so that was probably a let down i have lots more words but apparently tobi's dictionary doewsn't take cunt and fucking bitch as propper words. So I'm the guest and I don't really want to seperate from the normal expectations of the "tobi fan club" but there is some wierd shit to see such as if you go to thailad what's up wiht the lady boys...t's really fucked up. A quick story, new years i was in phuket in thailand and i decided to take somee acid with a very strange mexican that i met. well things porgress from there...ad tobi is calling everyone a jack ass for no apparent reason...we would up watching fire works form a place in Kata...then to Bagla, now if you have gone to thailand, Bangla is the center of..hmmmmmmm...well if you know the storey of sodom and gemora then you know the gist of it...and it mwas the essence of evil(mind you this is commingform a home schooled kid) So you walk into this world of fornication and debauchery. but the impressive thing was the lady boys. So they walk around picking hte drunk straight boys. The image was this..you're walking by seeing a "woman" wallking up to you then she shispers something in your ear and in sounds sometihing like ...blue jeb... mbut being as drunk as you are or as they are if you are in another country "blowjob" and these guys go ahead ad walk or scurry as it were away with these boy girls only to tell a storey later of how they had slept with a thai girl that wasn't really. So that wasn't really a quick story but if you like it enjoy. now here is the ultimate question...in you know how to strangle someone really really well what art could you say hou have mastered? If you want the answer e-mail tweekville@yahoo.com and mid you i'm really drunk right now but it is a funny answer. Any way i've been drinking for a while and i'm sure the future guests of tobi will be mch better.

Sincerely,
Travis James

Friday, February 02, 2007

my eggs suck

Fair warning, if you are any part of my parental unit, you may not want to read this. I wasn’t going to blog about my family because they now read this…but that’s too bad. Love ya mom and dad!

Growing up, we had fairly normal meals. Meat, potatoes or rice and a vegetable, beans, peas and corn were usually the trend. I love my mom, but she is not the most inventive cook in the world. Now, I’m not saying she’s a bad good, just boring. Yes, I said it, boring. And when she found something we liked, well she stuck with it, over and over… again (I can’t eat baby shrimp AT ALL thanks to the noodles and cream sauce with baby shrimp in it we had every week for years.)

My dad on the other hand, was a little over the top in his inventiveness. I can’t eat mint or anything with mint flavour because of all the mint he would put in our peas. I’ve only just been able to eat curry again (probably because I’m now actually eating REAL curry) and I will never, ever eat goat, rabbit or duck again! (Well, okay I’ve eaten duck since, but really I don’t go out of my way to eat it.)

One thing though that my mom rocks at, is making eggs. When my sisters and I were little I remember always having eggs. It was one of the nice things about having a chicken coop in the backyard. She would make us egg in a nest (put a hole in a piece of bread and cook an egg in the hole) egg in a cup (soft boiled egg with bread fingers…we even had special cups for this dish) and my favourite, egg in a bowl, soft boiled egg mixed with cut up pieces of bread. Every boxing day my dad makes eggs benedict for the family, but really he just makes the sauce, mom makes the eggs.

Whenever I was sick, my mom would make egg in a bowl for me. When I had my wisdom teeth out, she made egg in a bowl for me because it was so soft. When she came to visit me in Taiwan two years ago and I was really sick, she made me egg in a bowl. They are my comfort food. It's what makes me feel better when I’m feeling crappy.

I made egg in a bowl today. I thought of my mom the whole time. While I would like to say it was just as good, it wasn’t. I guess I don’t have the bit of “mom” that you need for it.