i need to rant
bare with me a bit here
i've tried to refrain from it
it's not that i don't pay attention to it
i just don't like to talk about it
especially in here
there are already many excellent blogs dedicated or at least have a lot of great info in regards to politics in taiwan
just to name a few:
the view from taiwan
it's not democracy, it's conspiracy
wandering to tamshui
the bala daily
taiwan matters
as much as i try to avoid talking about politics
i can't
i'm asked questions about it all the time
especially because of the nature of my work
i deal with a lot of overseas people not living in tawan
obviously, their curiosity levels are very high
they watch and read all the reports in the international media outlets
such as cnn or bbc
so i'm asked questions about it all the time
during conference calls, meetings, emails, business trips, etc.
i don't mind the questions
i understand
just as i asked the americans i deal with about 9/11, iraq and bush
i don't mind the questions
in fact, i'm more than glad to give my opinion and let them know my point of view
basically, I LOVE TAIWAN
by the way, do not believe everything you watch, hear or see in the media
even the big names like cnn and bbc
in fact, especially big names like cnn and bbc
obviously the hot topic of the moment is the anti-corruption rally to depose president chen led by shih ming-the
my thoughts on the matter?
the allegations of corruption against the president are merely that… allegations
let the law do the work
let the law prosecute the president
i'm not saying he’s completely innocent nor i’m saying he’s completely guilty
i'm saying allow the law to be the law
looking at our history, president chen, his dpp party and the current government are the least corrupt government we've ever had
yes, it does have some problems, but tell me which government does not?
the pan-blue and kmt's accusations of corruption against the president and the pan-green dpp government???
it's like a convicted serial killer calling a shoplifter a criminal
the anti-corruption rally and campaign is obviously not about corruption
it's simply hatred towards the president, the current government and the pan-green dpp
if it's about anti-corruption, why no outcry about james soong's (chairman of the pfp and leader of many attacks against the president and pan-green dpp) tax evation case (in which he was the first political leader in taiwan asked by the court to pay a big fine over tax evasion), ma ying-jeou's (the mayor of taipei and chairman of the kmt) misuse of municipal funds, also his bank account increasing by more than NT$1.06 million (US$30,000) over the past seven years because he funneled half his monthly special allowance fund into his personal account, then his wife's making large donations to two foundations -- the Dwen An Social Welfare Foundation and New Taiwanese Cultural Foundationand, which were founded by ma himself and the kmt's stolen assets?
and check this… one of the leaders of the anti-corruption campaign against the president had to resign
why?
because it turns out she was corrupt and was convicted on bribery charges
and it doesn't end there
the mayor of keelung and a close associate of ma ying-jeou, hsu tsai-li (a pro-blue kmt) was sentenced to seven years in prison and deprived of his civil rights for eight years after being found guilty of corruption
where’s the outcry?
when the anti-corruption rally does the around the island drive and stops in keelung, will there be any protests there regarding hsu tsai-li?
it's strictly hypocrisy and it just keeps rolling on
the campaigns must cease
let the law be the law
yes, they have the freedom of speech
i believe in freedom of speech
but freedom of speech much have some merit and basis
the campaigns must cease
it simply causes instability in all aspects of our society
in the famous words of mr. king
"can't we all just get along?"
Friday, September 29, 2006
politics in taiwan
Monday, September 25, 2006
jolin tsai engrish
check out this jolin tsai video remix
i think it's really funny
especially since i don't really like her
awesome stuff!
buhahahahaha!
hacking away
*cough*...*hack*
*cough*...*hack*
*cough*...*hack*
damn!
this shit's frustrating
have been sleep deprived because of it
both wifey and i have been coughing non-stop for a few days
we've tried a bunch of medicines and remedies
nothing
we've gotten better
but we're still coughing
almost cured
almost but not quite yet
it's damn frustrating
especially when we try to go to sleep
it just gets worse
hacking and coughing non-stop
can't sleep
really damn frustrating
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
china biz trip
so, i'm back in taiwan
again, i went to china for a couple days for a business trip
went to our factory located in doumen
doumen is about an hour drive from zhuhai city, which is the bordering city with macau
personally, i think zhuhai is a nice city and i can definitely see myself living there
a few pics...
waiting at the boarding gate
lining up to get on the plane from taipei to macau
the road to our factory from zhuhai
my room. nice, clean and economical. we stayed at the dorm/hotel near the factory. we could have stayed at some fancy hotel in zhuhai, but we just didn't feel like taking the 1-hour drive to go to work in the morning and then to go back at night. 1-hour drive to hotel in zhuhai vs. 5 minute walk to dorm/hotel near the factory. yup, exactly.
view out my room's window. the coloring in this pic is kinda funny because the glass was slightly tinted.
lots of constructions and land development in zhuhai
some building across the street (in china side) from the zhuhai-macau border crossing. by the way, the border area in china's side is called gongbei
plaza outside the zhuhai-macau border crossing
underground shopping area that spreads across and under the plaza shown in last pic
entrance into customs and border crossing from zhuhai to macau
an ocean liner near the macau aiport
the macau airport from the distance
hotel across the street from the macau airport
a look at the airport's only runway from the 2nd floor mezzanine inside the airport
inside the chinatrust vip lounge waiting for my flight
the selection in the vip lounge
a look at the ferris wheel across the airport from inside the airport bus shuttle
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
hello from macau
here i am sitting in the chinatrust vip lounge at the macau airport
just dropped by for a quick note and hello
hello
i'm flying back to taiwan in a couple hours
went to china for a couple days on a business trip
by the way, there was some bullshit at the check-in counter
i got here at around 4:30pm
my flight is scheduled to depart at 7:15pm
well, there was only one counter open when i got here but guess what?
only business class and above could check in
ain't that some shit?!?!
so, there's a bunch of us from economy class standing by the counter but they would not check us in
we could not check in until 5:15pm
that's some shit right there
we were all standing there while the counter was open and not a business class person checked-in for a long ass time
still, the girl wouldn't check us in
anyways, i think that was some bullshit
so yup
that's all for now
gonna go grab some food and drinks
oh wait...
this motherfucker in the computer booth next to me just farted!
fucking loud one too!!!
forget the check-in counter ordeal... this is some bullshit right here!
rude asshole!
i can't hold my breath any longer
oh fuck, he just farted again!!!
i'ma get outta here before i suffocate
later
Friday, September 15, 2006
shanshan
just another typhoon
haven't had many typhoons this year
this one brought lots of rain
a lot
i actually like it when they just pass nearby without entering
especially in the middle of the summer
it brings down the temperature
it brings a (sometimes) much needed rain
relief
no landslides
no floods
no damages
relief
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
the bet
karen and becky made a bet
details of the bet shall not be revealed but basically...
becky lost
what was on the line?
loser to cook dinner for winner
so saturday, becky came over and cooked dinner for us
and a good dinner it was...
topped with a 6-pack of beer...
and it was a great way to spend a stormy day
they should bet with dinners on the line more often
regardless who loses...
i always win
because i get to eat a good meal!
Monday, September 04, 2006
r.i.p. crocodile hunter
crikey!!!
very sad news
the crocodile hunter, steve irwin is dead!
his show is one of my favorites to watch
he had so much passion, dedication, energy and enthusiasm
you will be missed, crocodile hunter!
rest in peace
from sea level to above the clouds
went to taipingshan this past weekend with a stopover in honeymoon bay on the way there and keelung night market on the way back
we left the house on saturday at 7:30am
was back at the house at 7:45am
why?
i left the beer in the frige
i just had to come back and get it
why not just stop at some 7-11 or convenient store on the way?
surely there would have been some since there's only a couple million of them around the island
so why?
just because
our first stop was honeymoon bay via the new hsuehshan ("snow mountain") tunnel
this tunnel just rocks
from taipei county to i-lan county in just over an hour and that's with some traffic
that just kicks ass considering it used to take up to 3 hours before this tunnel opened
honeymoon bay has built a pretty good reputation as a surfer's and beach-goer's paradise
that reputation has given it so much hype in the media and on the net that i had really high expectations
hype kills because honeymoon bay was a bit dissapointing
in my opinion, it ranks below baishawan ("white sand bay")
honeymoon bay was smaller and dirtier than what i expected
as for the reputation of being surfer's paradise?
it was more like surfer's parking lot
yes, there were tons of surfers there but they were just sitting on their boards floating around most of the time
we were there for almost 3 hours and i only saw a couple people actually try and ride some waves
i don't know what's up with that but i've got a few theories
1. lack of waves
2. trying to save face because they were not any good at surfing
3. they were just to stunt since surfing is the "in" and cool thing to do now
4. a combination of the above
5. mind my own fucking business
actually, going back to #1 there, there was not really a lack of waves, just that the waves were real shitty
the waves were pretty decent in size but most of them just formed so close to the shoreline that it was pointless to ride them since you'd just be up on it for a couple seconds before you hit the sandy beach
altho' dissapointing, we still enjoyed ourselves and had a good time there
at least i got a bit of a tan which i've been working on all summer
it's about time too since summer's almost over
so after a few beers and a sunburn we headed off for some seafood for lunch
lesson of the day?
do not eat deep fried octopus mouth if you are going on a trip and might get car sick
after lunch we started driving towards taipingshan and wifey got really sick
i had to pullover 3 times for her to throw up
that's why i said do not eat octopus mouth because wifey almost choked on one
she didn't get car sick
she got heat stroke from when we were at the beach in the morning
lesson of the day #2?
get out of your air conditioned room once in a while
we finally get to taipingshan and it's actually pretty cold
around 15°C
it felt a bit weird going from 30+°C to 15°C and even under 10°C later on at night
a quick walkthrough:
we check in, rest a little bit, go grab dinner, go back to our rooms to shower and rest some more then meet up late at night for some star gazing, hot pot and alcohol
again, it was pretty cold at night especially since we were drinking ice cold beers
it kinda reminded of some good ol' days during the winters in canada
jerry had the right idea by bringing some whiskey tho' but i didn't feel mixing alcohol that night
called it a night at 1:30am because it was just getting too damn cold to continue drinking ice cold beers
peter's group got up at 4:30am to go watch the sunrise
nope, we stayed in bed
another quick walkthrough:
got up at 7:30am, ate breakfast, drank some coffee, looked at the beautiful morning view, rode this kiddie-like train up the mountain, took a very short hike around the forest, played sharades, saw a bunch of old folks argue over train seats while we waited and then rode back on the train with 40+ people exceeding the passenger limit
that train ride back was kinda scary
you could feel the overload with every turn
i couldn't help but think of the train accident that happened in alishan a few years ago where some folks died when the train derailed because of overloading
got back safely to base, ate some noodles, checked out the rooms and played the first ever taipingshan badminton championship featuring canada vs. taiwan
left after noon to go to the keelung night market
a few stops for throwing up (another car sick victim), food, drinks, gas, bathroom, really shitty traffic in some areas and a couple wrong turns, we got to keelung night market around 8pm
keelung market is famous for all the food but i didn't eat all i wanted eat because i was too exhausted and tired, plus my stomach was feeling kinda funny
left keelung around 9:45pm and got home at 10:30pm
all in all, it was pretty good trip
it's always nice to get out of the city
could have done without all those traffic jams tho'
as usual, some pics...
wifey with her 2 brothers
shiner's baby boy enjoying the beach
outside the seafood restaurant after lunch
dinner at taipingshan
drinking and eating hot pot under the stars
breakfast
the view
on the train
hiking trail in the forest
acting the fool
scary overloaded train
keelung night market
taipingshang badminton championship - canada vs taiwan
most pics at: http://andresyu.spaces.live.com/photos
