oh baby! ..... 36 weeks

yup

we are now at 36 weeks

that makes it officially 9 months!

normally, most births happen after 38 weeks but it could happen anytime now from hereon, so we are on standby and alert mode at all times

hard to believe

it feels like just yesterday when the wifey greeted me with this

we are now in the final stretch

literally and figuratively

here's a preview of our baby

say hi to olivia





that's a shot of the latest 4d ultrasound taken yesterday

anxiously awaiting

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no puppies harmed at all

here's the original song and video by lil' jon...



now, for all my filipino friends...



puwahahahahahaha!

that's some funny shit right there!

i actually laughed out loud

"filipino hot dog... longanis-nis-nis-nis-a!!!!"

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a new toy for papa

so, i've got myself a new toy

well, it was really more for the baby than me

remember i was deciding between a dv and a dslr?

well, i had picked a dslr and made a bunch of noise about it

it was all for nothing

i ended up buying a dv per the wifey's request

as i said before, gotta listen to the wife

especially a pregnant one!

well, here it is

a few promo shots...







the actual cam...











that's the sanyo xacti ca65

what makes this cam special is its waterproof capability, which is the main reason we bought it

can't wait to start taking videos and pictures of the baby with it

coming soon

oh, and the dslr?

i'm still working on that

not giving up yet

coming soon

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air china - a disaster waiting to happen

holy shit

how scary is this?!?!



but then i wonder, is it only air china pilots?

there has got to be hundreds, if not thousands of commercial airliners out there being navigated by pilots who's first language is not english?

how good is their english???

really, how scary is that?!?!!

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druken shots from the grill party in hukou

continuing on with carrie's theme, i too got some photos of us partying in hukou to share with all

except mine were not so classic (or is that classy?) and i was a lot more drunk than carrie when i took these

here goes...


becky & jerry


carrie getting in on the action


yours truly, becky & todd


michael & michael

i don't know, for some reason when i'm drunk i like to take self-portraits with people

see...


with team mike


with carrie


with david r.


with david e.


with catherine


with mark f.


with john "faramir of gondor"


with todd


with michael t.

forget jackie chan, i'm the real drunken master...

or is that drunken bastard?!

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ass kicked by sang som in hukou

this past saturday, the usual suspects becky and jerry along with the wifey, headed out to hukou for a get-together with some of the most prominent bloggers on the island

some i had met before (the wonderful hosts mj & hui-chen, michael t, todd), some i had not (carrie & john, david & catherine, david r, mark f) but regardless, it was great to see everyone since i'm a fan of all their blogs as each is distinct with its own flair and insight

besides the great company, the food was excellent and inexpensive

oh, i almost forgot the very special guest sang som who helped me forget the last couple hours of the night (good thing lots of photos were taken by all!)

everyone, say hello to sang som



well, sang som and i got acquainted too fast for too long so i just got my ass kicked

big time

royal thai style ass whooping

two days later and i'm still hurting

great to hang out with everyone and i can't wait for the next get-together

which i hope is soon

sang som can stay home tho'

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baby's got a name

naming our child was a lot more difficult than i expected

we went through hundreds of names

spent countless hours going through various websites and discussion boards

names that i liked, the wifey wouldn't like and vice versa

we finally picked a name we both liked and it seems just about everyone else does too



OLIVIA

i've always liked the name olivia

ever since i was a youngin' in the late 80's / early 90's and the cosby show was one of my favorites then

if you've watched the cosby show, you'll know why

a couple things that went into our thought process

our kid might spend some time living and/or studying overseas

no way in hell i'm giving my kid some fucked up name so she can be teased and traumatized for life while hating us forever

so, none of these weird names all these taiwanese kids around here got

i see you panda and orange

all you english teachers out there reading this know exactly what i mean

on the other hand, our kid will definitely spend a good amount of her life in taiwan so can't name her something the local folks just can't pronounce

the "th" is a huge problem here

my poor nephew is gonna be known as "esan" when he grows up

a couple quick stories...

we had a new girl at my work. so, i introduced myself and she did the same. she tells me her name is "casey". alright, cool. long story short, i get an email from her a coule days later and it turns out her name was kathy! what'd i tell ya? the "th" sound is a big problem here.

another time, our department goes out for dinner. one of our co-workers brings along his boyfriend. so again i introduce myself and he does too. he knows that i speak english and he says he's got an english name too. he says to me "my name is fucking". now, what the fuck?! i knew for sure he just couldn't pronounce his name right. long story short, i asked the guy to write it down for me, so he just hands me his business card which had his english name. franklin was his name. it's a good thing he doesn't have my last name!

sank you for reading

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ethan is now 1 years old

happy birthday to my nephew ethan









he's now 1 years old

time really flies!

especially when you have young ones around

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a day in the miaoli cabin

this past saturday, we spent a fun and relaxing day with some great company at my uncle's cabin in miaoli

click on photo below for details and a recollection of the day...



thanks mj!

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ALWAYS keep an eye on your kids

we all know not to let kids run around with scissors and other sharp objects

make sure to include forks in that list.....





yeeeeoooouch!!!

that's gotta hurt

it sure gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "stick a fork in it"

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young door cafe

we've heard, read and seen so much about young door cafe located on the north coast

heard friends talk about it

read people blog about it

seen tv stations report about it

all positive, nothing negative

been wanting to go check it for ourselves for a while now but never had the chance

with today being a national holiday and no work, we decided to take this oppotunity

what a disappointment!

the place was a lot smaller than expected

the food and drinks were just horrible

the "oh so great, beautiful and fabulous" greek architecture and decor everyone raved about?

pretty much non-existent

some steps painted in blue doesn't make a place "greek"

the only thing that i thought wasn't half bad was the ocean view but then there's only about 50 other cafes lined up along the coast with the same view!


the north coast












hey look. blue steps! it's so greek!!!


looks can be deceiving. my latte coffee... looked great, tasted like shit. rather have a 3-in-1 instant coffee.


this was actually not too bad...


this was really bad. like chewing on cardboard.

and then, to make things worse... it was bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour on the way home

took me almost 2 hours to get home!





highly NOT recommended

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typhoon krosa update

the latest status has the typhoon changing course a bit and going further north...



it'll still be nasty around here

everyone take care and be safe

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typhoon krosa

category 5

it doesn't get any bigger than that on the typhoon-o-meter





coming through right over taipei / northern taiwan

there goes the weekend

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striptease - taiwan style

striptease shows are very common in taiwan

i don't mean nudie bars

i mean hired strippers for private shows

from birthdays to weddings to even funerals

yes, funerals

hey, just because you are dead, it doesn't mean you can't have a good time!

check out one of these striptease shows by clicking on the pic below



that was at some concert / festival

a lot of these shows are performed in public places where children are present so they don't get totally buck naked, only down to their undies and bras

just like the pictures from the link show

sometimes these are held at indoor private properties... now that's another story

"birthday suits" anyone?

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