It’s all in a day’s work

I miss Africa,
I miss riding in the back of a pickup,
I miss the 10 seater propeller planes,
I miss my African friends in Africa,
I miss the French lessons taught by a Welsh teacher,
I miss having to worry about being attacked by hyenas whilst driving across town,
I miss the one time we actually made my brother travel in the trunk of sedan because there wasn’t enough space up front,
I miss the ping pong ball sized rain drops,
I miss watching the chameleon change colour as it climbed around the house,
I miss the golf,
I miss Chimanimani,
I miss not having an email address,
I miss our pet beagle,
I miss playing tennis against the garage wall,
I miss, oddly enough, my malaria experience,
I miss having a yard,
I miss checking how even the black shoe polish was applied on the wood carvings,
I miss the cheap diamonds (ok maybe my mom misses the cheap diamonds more),
I miss ostrich jerky,
I miss the lake that seemed like an ocean,
I miss having to run away from street vendors,
I miss the left turn after the second right on the way to the city center,
I miss the time we hit the panic button and a whole truck load of armed guys came to our house,
I miss having to run cross country through corn fields and along river banks,
I miss the vast grassy plains of Amboseli and the Maasai Mara,
I miss actually feeling good about leaving a big tip,
I miss Africa, a lot.

August 5th, 2010 | Tags: travel | Category: Ramble | Comments (2)

Bellevue, WA, pronounced bell-vue, meaning beautiful view in French. Sounds like a nice place to live, maybe I should move there one day! This is how I came to know of this place…

I watched the new Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movie over the weekend and in the movie they play an Irish song during some of the scenes and also during the end credits. This song sounded familiar to me. I lived in Dublin for quite a few years when I was young so Irish songs and especially those about Dublin always catch my attention. I’ve always liked the quirky Irish accent and also the equally quirky way Irish songs play out.

Rocky Road to Dublin - The Dubliners

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I started to think about what it would be like to move back there. The Irish have this certain charm that makes them a joy to be around. A couple of memories come to mind. One of the local workers that my dad’s office employed was a Chinese guy with a Irish wife. They have two kids who are about my age, their son was particularly interesting and I remember we filmed him during one of our trips together and he just kept on repeating, half singing in fact, something totally random and grammatically incorrect and completely enjoying being filmed doing so. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the DV and I’ve forgotten what he was singing but it’s funny just thinking about the idea of watching the clip! I also remember I was given, or was it my brother, a wooden set of Dominoes. I remember they were handmade by an Irish guy who lived a relaxing life in the countryside with his Taiwanese wife. Oh, there’s also this Taiwanese pastor that was really nice to me and my brother. I wonder how these people now? Maybe I can try get contact info from my Dad. A visit back to Ireland sure would be interesting.

Ireland wasn’t a rich country when we were there but it has since turned into a high tech manufacturing center of Europe of sorts. GDP has more or less sky rocketed. Sure looks like somewhere where I can find a job and also enjoy life! Plus there are plenty of great golf courses to be played!

But there still aren’t many Asian people in Ireland and north America is still the place to be for technology based work. So anyway, since I’ve started looking, I might as well spend a bit of my lunch break at work to look other places up. So I go on yahoo and there’s a link to the 10 best places to live in the US on their homepage.

10 Best Place to Live in America

Minnesota is just too cold. Columbia/Ellicott doesn’t seem bad. And having been to Newton, which is just a short ride on the T to Boston, I can say it’s also a really nice place. But 4th on the list Bellevue, on the west coast, seems somehow the more appealing to me.

Lots of tech firms are based there, so shouldn’t be a problem finding a job and just half a hour’s drive from Seattle means even finding a job in Seattle isn’t totally out of the question. A quick search about the place says that about 15 to 20% of the population is Asian, a healthy but not overwhelming percentage and the place is getting more diverse. Lots to do plus loads and loads of parks! Oh, and the place just happens to be the sister city of Hualien in Taiwan and they were affiliated in 1984, the year I was born. Coincidence? Or maybe someone is telling me I should move there! Sure sounds like a nice place to live!

Official City of Bellevue Website

July 13th, 2010 | Tags: about me, audio | Category: Diary, Ramble | Leave a comment

I had the urge to watch something British the other day and The Office popped into my head. So I searched for Ricky Gervais movies. The Invention of Lying seemed an interesting title, not exactly a British film but close enough. The movie itself was ok, got a little dry from about half way through and both the leads were annoying at times but overall it was original enough for me to sit through the whole thing.

It did however make me think about how much we rely on lying, whether it’s a small or big lie, intentional or even at times unintentional. Here I’m referring to a lie as either a statement that is not true or something that is made up. I remember reading a report somewhere saying that we lie a rather unimaginable amount of times per day. Obviously lying is often beneficial but more often than not, it is clearly wrong to do so.

My opinion is that society as a whole overly penalizes and even ‘criminalizes’ mistakes and short comings. And because of this, finger pointing and lying to avoid being the blamed is widespread. I like to think I tell as much of the truth as possible, even if it means that sometimes I’m pointing the finger at myself. But this way, I’m not following standard protocol in trying to export as much fault as possible. And because of this, I am busier than, for example, my boss thinks I should be. I’m fine with this, well, at least for now! I am more at ease, I’d much rather be thought of as incompetent than 跟自己過意不去.

Maybe 50% of the utopia that is no lies is a reasonable amount? And for those of you who don’t know Ricky Gervais, I’d say go watch The Invention of Lying to get to know his type of humour!

June 19th, 2010 | Tags: about me, work | Category: Diary, Ramble | Leave a comment

It seems more and more people in the US are speaking Spanglish or espangles.

BBC article on US Latinos: Hablas Spanglish?

Since the first time I heard about it, Chinglish has always meant incorrect and unfortunate use of English by Chinese people, such as the cardinal sin of ’slip carefully’. It’s a pity that the word Chinglish has been coined to describe this type of English. I would rather much prefer define it in the way Spanglish is to the Hispanics: a mixed use of English and Spanish in either in speech or even writing.

With my ever deteriorating English, I often find myself at a ‘loss for words’ both because I’ve simply forgotten the words I want to use and also because I’m shocked that I have actually forgotten! But this is when my version of Chinglish kicks in and I often find that I can give a clearer and more vivid description. In other cases, some Chinese just doesn’t quite have the corresponding English word. ‘That was so cool’ isn’t the same as ‘That was 真屌’. Obviously it works the other way around also and English words can be a better substitute in many a Chinese sentence.

OK, maybe Chinese and English has far less in common than Spanish has with English, which makes the integration tougher but I don’t see why we can’t do it! You just need to convince the literary scholar in you that it’s ok and you never know, it may end up helping your ‘intercourse communication’ skills!

June 9th, 2010 | Tags: about me, taiwan | Category: Ramble | Comments (1)

I was waiting for the bus back to Taipei at the 科技生活館 early Saturday morning, it was early about 8:30am. Didn’t sleep too well the night before so I was leaving early than I normally do. And I couldn’t help but notice a large crowd of girls randomly standing around the lobby. Most looked like late 20s or in their 30s. Must be going on some kind of trip I thought.

But then this overly enthusiastic voice squeaked for them to gather around so she could set out the ground rules for the day.

Rule 1. Take a window seat and don’t sit next to another girl.

Oh, ha, it’s actually the first time I’ve seen these agencies going about their business!

Rule 2. Guys will be chosen at random to sit next to you. If he turns out to be complete ass, please do not totally ignore him and try your best to show interest, the seating will be rotated in a few minutes.

There were some other things she said but I forget. Anyway, apparently there was a equally large crowd of specifically TSMC guys waiting somewhere for their arrival.

I did get a call from one of these agencies 禧艷 a while back on my work line. They must just dial the TSMC central number and then just random dial an extension. I’ve ignored them since though! It’s not that I have anything against them but I’ve never liked the idea of speed dating, whether it’s the American or Taiwanese version.

Oh my bus is here, time to go, but I do wonder what the guys are being told…

June 6th, 2010 | Tags: taiwan | Category: Ramble | Comments (2)

I was reading this article on being happy, and it quoted emotional healing guru Deepak Chopra saying that “the most important thing to happiness is to make other people happy.”

It is a bit corny but I completely agree! Ok, so now you what makes me happy! Plus, it’s a two way street so pile on the happiness!

May 23rd, 2010 | Tags: about me | Category: Ramble | Leave a comment

Wow, another 6 plus months have passed since I’ve posted.

Here are 10 things I have learned since then (in no particular order):
1. Friends and family are the ones who keep me sane.
2. Riding a motorcycle in Taiwan is dangerous, and never ride tired.
3. It isn’t worth getting caught up with work, especially when you’re off work.
4. I still can’t sing.
5. It doesn’t hurt to have high aspirations.
6. I need to complain less and talk positive.
7. I can’t take alcohol like I used to and I can’t eat like I used to either.
8. Respect me for who I am and I will respect you in return.
9. Be selfish when you need to.
10. Pushing people to their limits is not the way to get the best out of them.

May 19th, 2010 | Tags: about me, work | Category: Ramble | Comments (1)

The Taiwanese seem obssesed with fireworks. It must, at least partly be because the Chinese were the ones to invent them. I never knew there was such a thing as the fireworks festival but apparently there’s one every year on the wafer front on Danshui River. Or is there? Doesn’t matter. A few junior high classmates said they were going and asked me if I would come. People sure did turn out in the masses and the queues at the food stalls were the longest I’ve ever seen. Now, who would line up for half an hour just for piece of fried chicken? It was smart of my friend to suggest that we eat before going.

The highlight of the night was easily the “Will you marry me?” act put on by a couple a few minutes before the actual fireworks. This guy dresses in a suit in rather humid weather, stands on a stool with a bouqeut of flowers and a large neon lighted sign saying “XX would you marry me?”. Stands there on his mobile for at least 15 minutes while hundreds of people wait for his girlfriend to come. The girl comes and obviously says yes, all pre organized but still something you don’t see everyday!

The fireworks themselves were actually pretty good. I got to see some new ones that I’d not seen before. They were being fired from a few different spots and we unfortunately had a tree right in front of us so each time either the left or the right lit up, you’d get this large swarm of people shuffling right or left to get a glympse of the sky. The shuffling was then followed by ooos and aahhs. Don’t remember anyone going ooh or aah at fireworks in other countries, guess it must be the Chinese!

Going home was a nightmare, as it always is with these kind of things, but this time it really was actually quite bad. They didn’t close the roads near the exits and because we had to all squish out of watergates in the walls it meant it took half an hour to go 50 meters. Anyone for H1N1? Perfect situation to get infected, must not really be the scare that it’s meant to be. Worse than Times Square on New Years while it lasted because of the humidity! I’d always rather be freezing than burning up.

November 8th, 2009 | Tags: taipei | Category: Diary | Leave a comment

It’s been over half a year now since my last post and I’m blaming it on work. Fridat I took off. I deserve it having worked an average of at least 14 hours a day the past few months. I really don’t get it why they don’t at least shift the human resources around a bit in our department, why do some of us have to work till midnight and others only 8? What’s even worse is that the global economy is getting back on track now and they respond by hiring new blood a few months too late. The factory is running on over 100% with a 20% workforce that doesn’t even know the basics. They expect the slightly more senior people, like me, and I really do mean only slightly more senior to teach the newbies about the tricks of the trade. The problem is we’re already working on overdrive with a skillset that’s at best 75% of what it needs to be and now we have to some how take time to mentor. Not fair for us or the new guys. And on top of that, obviously your boss will not take this ‘teaching and learning’ time into account when giving you work. Anyway, the longer I stay, the more I think I should leave asap.

Just took the annual health check about a week ago. I’m sure lots of numbers will be in the red b/c of this first year at work. Oh, and I’m definitely swearing a lot lot more!

November 8th, 2009 | Tags: work | Category: Ramble | Leave a comment