bored on a friday night

friday night

bored with nothing to do

the results...

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random ramblings - new president, 2 years, 4 months and more

congratulations to the newly elected president, mr. ma ying-jiou. the kmt won this recent election by such a huge margin because of him, not because of the kmt. had the kmt ran with another candidate, the results would have been different. he could have ran with any party and he would have won. personally i'm not very fond of both mr. ma nor the kmt. as for the hong kong born mr. ma, i'll reserve my comments about him at this point. as for the kmt, simply look at the 228 massacre. however, that's that. the people of taiwan have spoken and we must respect the decision. there are very very high hopes for mr. ma, so here's hoping he does not disappoint the next 8 years. yes, 8 years. i believe he will repeat, because he's just that popular. hard to lose when he can basically get away with murder as most people think he can do no wrong, especially most of the female population; whom thinks even his farts smell good. good luck to mr. ma, but most importantly good luck to taiwan.

here we go again. my yearning for a dslr is heating up again as my digital camera has gone dead on me. i've had a feeling for a while now that my cam was going to die soon as its taken a real beating in the past 4 years i've owned it. it has done a great job as it accompanied me just about everywhere i've gone and helped me record many many precious moments and memories. as you can tell, i'm a bit attached to this cam and i'm sad to let it go, but it's time to move on. i do still have my dv which takes very good pictures but still, I.WANT.A.DSLR.

i'm actually suppose to be in south america right now. i have to make a business trip to visit some customers in chile and mexico but it hasn't happened because i'm still awaiting for my chilean visa. got my mexican visa without any problems, which was about a 5 day process. now, the chilean visa is a different story. it's been almost 2 weeks since we submitted our documents and we're still awaiting a feedback. not only are they slow making for such a long wait but they are very strict. in order for us to apply for the visa, we had to have our plane tickets booked in advance but what's the point if they can't issue a visa on time for us to board those flights? not to look down on any country but this is chile we are talking about. you'd think they'd make it a little easier to get a visa to their country so they can promote and develop their tourism and international business opportunities.

this has been one of the most fun nba seasons to watch in recent history mainly because of the standings in the western conference. it's crazy how competitive it is in the west right and how close they are in the standings. a team can lose a couple games and drop down the standings a couple spots; or even worse, go into a slump and lose a few games and completely miss out on the playoffs. even tho' they will have a winning record and probably a better record than most playoff teams out on the eastern conference. just wild! i love this game! let's go lakers!

i'm really enjoying the weather right now. i actually like it just a little bit warmer but it ain't too shabby right now, especially when the sun is out. not too cold, not too hot... just right. why can't it be like this year round?

i now officially hate the blues brother. if i ever meet anyone by the names jake or elwood, i might just punch them in the face!

last week was karen and i's 2 year wedding anniversary. didn't do anything special nor any celebration. really hard to do much these days with a newborn in tow. i did go home early that night from work to have dinner with karen, which i never do on a regular work day as i usually get home around 9pm. let's go back in time...

our "love story"... http://www.yuni.com.tw/ka-love-story.wmv

pre-wedding photos... http://www.yuni.com.tw/ka-wed-pics.wmv

wedding ceremony / reception photos (part 1)... http://www.fotop.net/tinayann/wedding060318

wedding ceremony / reception photos (part 2)... http://www.fotop.net/flair/wed0318photo

olivia turned 4 months yesterday. the exhaustion and stress level has gone down a lot this past month as she's now sleeping through the night (anywhere from 6 to 8 hrs) and we are pretty used to the daily routines by now. she's growing up real fast and i can barely catch up. i can not stress enough how long the first 3 months were because of how long we were awake each day. the first 3 months was somewhat of a blur, so thank goodness for all the photos i took. speaking of which, here are some recent photos of her...

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speeding trap at 245km northbound

driving northbound on taiwan's no.1 highway...


just past the tuku and gukeng exit signs...


there's a stretch of sound barrier wall...


along the wall, there's the 245km sign...


right underneath the 245 km sign, there's a wooden board. seems odd and strange to place a wooden board there. but then...


it all makes sense once you pass it. there's a cop hidden behind the board with a speeding radar gun camera...


sneaky bastard!!!

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fast food discount coupons

here are a few discount coupons for some fast food joints for those who live in taiwan...

mcdonald's (good 'til 4/8): http://www.mcdonalds.com.tw/Campaign_2008_coupon2

kfc (good 'til 6/1): http://www.kfcclub.com.tw/_chinese/5_club/3_print-080227.html

burger king (good 'til 4/15): http://www.burgerking.dachan.com/coupon.htm

napoli pizza (good 'til 3/31): http://www.0800076666.com.tw/FAVORimg/9038080303.gif

enjoy!

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photoblog: mitsukoshi

about this photo:
that's the mitsukoshi department store in front of the taipei station. i took this photo from my car while i was waiting for the red light to turn. this was the tallest building in taipei until taipei 101 was completed and not only did it take over as taipei's tallest building, but also as the world's tallest building. however, as of july 2007 taipei 101 no longer holds that title as it was overtaken by the current champ of mega skycrappers, the burj dubai.

back to mitsukoshi, this building holds the title as the most expensive property in all of taiwan. i'm not sure of the exact figures, but i think it's something like us$65,000 per ping (3.301 squre m. or 35.383 square ft.). if you look at the building from the distance during the night, the lights on top curiously look exactly like the chinese character king. these lights only started to show after taipei 101 was built. is there a hidden message or some kind of feng shui going on? are they saying "even though you are the tallest, i still run this town... i'm the king of taipei!". maybe i just think too much.

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karen's pregnancy time lapse

here's a time lapse video of karen's pregnancy with olivia. photos were taken about 10 days in between.

9 months of anticipation and anxiety. enjoy...

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olivia's hat trick

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need a lift?

one of the interesting things about living in taiwan is that you see all sort of interesting things. things that make you say "WTF?!".

a while ago we saw something like that while going to visit a factory out in tucheng for a possible job we were trying to source. as we were driving, we turned a corner and we see this...





i don't know what's going on there, but that's a truck being lifted from a crane 3 stories high. exactly... WTF?! just like my man forrest gump said, "you never know what you gonna get".

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baby do's & dont's

i got these on my email a few days ago and thought they were pretty funny, but with a newborn in tow right now, i found them to be a little extra special...

























































oh man! i was so looking forward to putting olivia on the bench press too!

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a walk in the park - xinzhuang park, part 2

i made a post about the xinchuang park a few months ago. i've been back there a couple time since then but always forgot to bring my camera. with the sun out today making for "warmer" weather for the first time in what seems like forever, we took advantage of it and took olivia out for a stroll in the park; and this time i made sure i brought my cam so i could take some more pictures like i said i would in that last post.


olivia's first time in the park and she seemed to enjoy herself. she was smiling and her eyes were looking around all over at all the new sights she's seeing for the first time.




a group of basking turtles enjoying the rare appearance of the sun.


baseball stadium where taiwan's pro league play some games sometimes.


the ticket booths


inside the stadium


with the sun out, it was warm but not that warm. with the wind blowing it was still kinda cool. i hope these kids don't catch a cold playing in the water.


olivia's future hangout???


a bunch of old guys playing chess on the park bench. my future hangout???


i wonder how many people actually separate their trash and recycle???


hollow trees. a reminder that it's pretty cold and spring has not arrived yet. these do look very pretty tho'. reminds me a lot of the trees back in canada during the winter.


the huge field located right in the middle of the park. there's so much going on here. just to name a few... kite fliers, family picnics, freezbie throwing, badminton, baseball, fetching dogs, soccer.


soccer practice.


setting up the stage for a presidential rally. i'm not sure for which candidate tho'.


the clouds made for a really beautiful and cool looking sky.




the building in the far end is an indoor arena / gymnasium where taiwan's pro basketball league play sometimes. also a lot of events are hosted there like concerts, trade shows, fairs and all types of competition.


the athletics (track & field) and soccer field. a lot of sporting events and other miscellaneous events are held here too, such as political rallies, festivals and concerts.


this weekend, it's hosting the 2008 asian k9 competition.

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