Life, Reorganized

So I spent lots of time in the apartment yesterday, being productive toward various goals. Among those, was the cleaning and reorganization of my workspace, both physical and virtual. Rearranged some of the computer stuff, cables, moved the tv closer to act as secondary monitor, reconfigured desktop/toolbar, picked new wallpapers, etc.
The following is the fruit of my efforts:
































The laptop desktop (now primary monitor) is now clutter-free. No more icons or crappy toolbar/quick launch. Rocketdock runs along the bottom, with Launchy being used to launch most applications. The tv (secondary monitor) displays most full-applications and the hidden windows toolbar when I need it. Its speakers are also much better than my laptop's, so all the sound goes through there now as well. I would just like to point out that my foolish father laughed at me when I packed an HDMI cable...muahaha. Anyway, it's working out alot better for me now.

Hair Liberation Front and the Loss of 15 Lbs.

To the inevitable tide of 'Why's....I needed a haircut, this seemed like the cheapest solution.

That, and it was something that I had to do at least once in my life. It is amazing.

No Idea

Those of you back home have no idea what you're missing out on, here in Taiwan:

Some commercials help me understand the culture and media structure better. Some of them, like this one, well.....I have no idea, but this one makes me titter and giggle everytime.

Adventures, the Nemesis of Dentures

A couple of adventures in the past couple days.

The curse of yum: I ate my first dragonfruit! One morning I stumbled upon a fruit stand very close to my apartment. I browsed the wares, selected a few mostly unknown objects, and gladly paid the small fee for such prizes. The next morning, I woke up and was experiencing some digestive troubles. Around noon, I decided I was quite hungry and needed breakfast, in spite of the continuing mild discomfort. I selected the most interesting object of the bunch

(which was, unknown to me at the time, the dragonfruit). Upon peeling the husk and digging in, I decided to look online and see if I could determine what this fruit was, as it was pretty good. After some googling, I found some images that matched what I held in my hand...so, I had found dragonfruit, a treat I had heard of from Corey. I continued to peruse it's wikipedia page as I obliterated the mildly sweet pulp. Nearing completion of my meal, I reached the end of the wikipedia page and saw (like a scene out of a juvenile movie), to my horror that it "...has natural laxative properties and for many people may cause gastro-intestinal discomfort and diarrhea." Great. Like throwing water on a grease fire. Needless to say, it was a fun afternoon.

Fight for that discount: My first haggling experience. Yesterday, Yaling accompanied me to help with the process of buying a refrigerator. We headed to a lane by Guting Station that is full of places selling, buying, and repairing secondhand appliances. Perfect! So, we stalked up and down this lane, questioning each vendor on what mini-fridges they have available, price, shipping possibilities, etc. Eventually we settled on a place that a good-sized fridge for only 200NT more than a very mini-indeed fridge. They could ship it for 500, but he recommended that we take a taxi with it instead, which would only cost us 200. Thus, the haggling began. Yaling, bless her soul, is (self-admittedly) not the most imposing person, but she did her best to play the game of we-want-it-but-not-that-much, while I played the part of the tight-ass, tight-wallet foreign guy. It was rather odd...at home, Corey had me used to (well, attempting to, on my part) conspiring/insulting in public via Chinese...and in Taiwan, I have to keep reminding myself to do the opposite with my cohorts. Anyway, eventually he agreed to lower the price about 100NT, pay for 100 of the cab, and give me a 3-month warranty. Now, I can actually have cold water, milk, etc.

Milk map: Today, I decided to raid the nearest grocery store to stock the new-old fridge. I shot off an inquiry to Yaling, who told me closest grocery store was by her house...which meant far enough to be out of my familiar neighborhood and but not so far as to be an easy MRT trip. Fortunately, Yaling was nice enough of to gift me with a quality map:

After jotting down an even more abbreviated version onto a more portable medium, I journeyed forth...after stopping for some tongyoubing and hongdou cakes, of course. Anyway, the journey itself went off without a hitch. I only had enough money in my wallet for milk and cereal (my main objective..thanks alot mom/sister for making me miss it)...which was probably a good thing, as hauling back loads of groceries will prove more difficult.

That's all for now, hope your days are proving to be even more exciting (gosh, how).

A Week In Review

Well, today marks the beginning of my second week here in Taiwan. Since I'm a bit inept at this whole blog thing, I reckon this would be a good excuse to make another post on here. So, here's a little recap of my first week, via random blurbs of thought:

-It's hot here, did I mention that? Fortunately I am gifted with an AC, which I try to use only sparingly. The whole sweat-yer-nuts-off-before-you-make-it-past-the-front-door thing does have its perks though...should make getting and staying in shape alot easier.

-I experienced my first earthquake here, the very first night I was here. Boy, that was confusing...especially in my barely-conscious state.

-People here are, on the whole, quite friendly. They are usually more than willing to help my clueless self out, when prompted.

-In Taiwan, people work hard. Long hours, strong work ethic, tons of studying, etc. On the other hand, they play even harder. Come nighttime, everyone is out having a good time. The salarymen sleeping on the MRT are replaced by friends, families, laughing and enjoying. There's a different emphasis on nightlife here...it's not so much, 'Sweet, another workday down the drain..let's see where I can get a quiet meal and hit a bar or a hookup at a club'. To be sure, that exists here...but there's typically alot more than that.

-Smells. Many of my first impressions/memories of Taiwan are personified by smells. As soon as you step outside, you are surrounded by them. At times, it is quite overwhelming for one not accustomed to it. For the most part, it is a very good thing...alot of it is due to the enormous amounts of food being served everywhere, right in front of you. Sometimes, it's not quite so good...there is a certain foul smell that I keep encountering around Taiwan, and I haven't been able to put my finger on exactly what it is yet.

-Through the power of the internet(and what a power it is), I managed to find a small parkour group in the Taipei area. I've trained with them twice so far, seems like a good group.

-I received my first bit of Baguazhang (internal chinese MA) training this weekend. My teacher is an ex-pat, so language isn't a problem. It was pretty amazing, to finally be able to dig into what I've only read/watched for so long.

-Karaoke is a very odd and private affair here...I felt almost perverted. Still fun though.

-Did I mention there are alot of scooters?

-Speaking of scooters, I saw someone use a turn signal the other day. I was shocked, I didn't realize they made those in Taiwan. But seriously, the traffic here is somewhat-organized chaos. I don't know how it works, but it does.

-The food has to be one of the biggest pluses to living here. There is food everywhere. There's a pretty large amount of diversity, most of it is fresh/cooked right in front of you, and it's cheap!

-That being said, 7-11 is my hero. I have gotten meals from there on several occasions already...which is even more cheap, and still not bad. But it is much easier for me because I walk in, pick out what looks good, and take it up to the counter. I try to branch out to local food places (I'll admit to hitting McD's on my first morning as well) and street vendors, but it's just difficult because I don't know what they're selling, the name for it, how to order it, etc. When I am successful in such endeavors, it is often very satisfying.

-Friends are a pretty excellent invention. Yaling has been a big help to me already. Showing me around to a few places, many questions, helping me buy stuff, etc. I am already very indebted to her. Corey has also been a constant source of answers to general questions and language issues. I'm glad that I get to be here for a while before he arrives, but it will be a great boon when he is here. Josie is also visiting for a few weeks in August...and although she is even more clueless than I, I'm sure she will have a good time and it will be nice to see her. Other than that, my web 0f friends will probably be pretty diverse...from parkour, other expats, who knows.

-I'll admit to slacking terribly in the photo department. It's just that I usually am focusing on settling in, rather than being a tourist, so A) I haven't been to many exciting photogenic places and B) finding food/store/location, etc. is usually more important than taking a photo of it. It'll get better, I promise. Till then, enjoy the precious few below.

From apartment balcony, sunrise

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Park by CKS (above) we were monkeying around in

Shot looking out from Taipei Normal University, where we trained at a spot for a bit

Darkness Music Video

The newest installment of the Jake-Scott collaboration of Third Eye Blind music videos has been completed and uploaded. This time, we did "Darkness". Some more notes after the vid...

This vid is also available (for the moment, atleast) on youtube. Be sure to watch it in 'High Quality' (click the HQ button in the player window).

All audio in this video is property of Third Eye Blind and the Warner Music Group.

Lyrics for the song can be found here.

For some inside 'making-of' commentary, read on...selecting our next song to do was pretty easy. We sat down, played through a bunch of 3eb tunes, and knew immediately that we had to do Darkness, as it was a song that we had both enjoyed in the past and both had ideas come to mind for it. We decided the main theme would be the idea of the dual nature of light: the light and the dark and how these two sides of the same coin need each other. Scott was the light (tied to the dawn, daylight, etc.) while Jake was the dark (tied to the sunset, moon, darkness, etc.). Each theme has their own part of the song (chorus for dark, verses for light), as well as a transition period for each. On their own, they both seem to be missing something...but they begin to come together more and more, finally resulting in them merging as they walk down the tracks during dusk (a period when the light and the dark intertwine).

On a side note, we are both amateur fans of parkour/freerunning and love to train together, so anytime we can fit it into a video, we gladly do so.

Hope you enjoyed it somewhat, I know we enjoyed making it...here's to many more, once we're both in the same area again. If you have not already seen the previous video, to the song "Jumper", check it out as well:

Again, all audio is property of Third Eye Blind and Warner Music Group

The Eagle Has Landed, Pt. 2

But for real this time.

But a little backtracking, first...Friday I was able (with some gracious help) to get out to Kenny's house, near Pasadena. As crappy as getting stuck in LA was, apart from the financial ramifications, I'm glad it happened. Got to catch up with Kenny, get some good Mexican food, toss a frisbee, etc.

Saturday, through the graces of Big Ken, I got a shuttle from the house back to LAX.

One long flight (atleast this flight's seats were 1.75x better than usual domestic economy class) later, I arrived in Taoyuan airport around 6:30am. Frank, one of my many gracious benefactors, was there to pick me up and take me to my apartment in Banciao. After a short trip to direct me to the MRT station, Frank headed out and I began my life in Taiwan.

Inside Apt. Shots:

If you see a button that looks like this...DON'T PUSH IT

First impressions: I already knew there were going to be a lot of scooters...but there are ALOT of scooters. The humidity here is worth it. The vegetation is so dense, especially on the mountainsides, beautiful. I'm very lucky for this apartment. That is all for now.

~Peace

The Eagle Has Landed

As you can see, I have arrived at my destination....what's that you say? Taipei looks alot like LA? That's because it IS LA. Unfortunately, my first two flights were late last night, so I missed my connection out of LA to Taipei...thus, stranding me in LA at 2:40am (or 5:40 as my east coast body felt it). Long story short, I'm here until Saturday night / Sunday morning, when I will fly out to Taipei (hopefully).

Oh, the irony of being stranded in LA is not lost on me...went from my dream (Taiwan) to my nightmare (LA or NYC). Anyway, going to have a relaxing a few days.

Hopping the Pond

  Peacing, yo.

  Hopefully this flight goes by

quickly                   ...somehow.