Minimum Requirements

Clipped from one of my insightful conversations with C.

...
Ben: But on my table, I do have soy MiLK. And this place is good -- first time catching them, because they're only open 7am-11am. I mean, you must have pretty good business to warrant opening only 4 hours a day.
C: ew
Ben: You don't like soy milk??
C: geez nope don't like soy milk
Ben: WTF is wrong with you? You are defective.
C: i'm not really asian, i guess
Ben: Yeah. I think you're an impostor. I'm going to ask your parents to revoke your Asianness.
C: i gain it back by listening to honger music
Ben: Haha, okay. Re-instated.

And with nary another statement, a man's ethnic group re-accepts him.

Cold Shoulder

It's been a bit chilly/cold recently in Taipei -- and by chilly, I mean dropping to about 12-13C -- and I have to say ... I like it.

You see, you get to dress in more layers. That in itself gives you more options on what to wear as you bundle up for the outside shivers and seeing your breath pillow out in the nippy air. And it's the only time we really get to break out our jackets around here!

I miss home during the holidays, and when it's cold. Bah ... maybe after I finish watchin the latest episdoes of Las Vegas and Monk.

Planning for Tết

Now that 2007 is in full swing, it's time for me to start thinking about Tết, the Vietnamese New Year. Us 4 have our tickets booked for Ho Chi Minh (Hồ Chí Minh) City to explore Vietnam for 9-12 days. I somehow have doubts that we'll be able to cover the full 1700km+ between HCMC and Hanoi (Hà Nội).

Given that ... here to go, and what to see?

Walking Bag of Chemicals

Okay, as we head into the weekend, let's play a rather unconventional game! I went to a specialist last week and he prescribed some medication for me. So let's all guess what I have! This is what I'm on:

Amoxillin (500mg)
Baktar
Cysmin
FUCOU
spiropent
Anahisco

Taken orally, 4 times a day: after each meal, and once before sleeping. I've been on this for about a week now -- I revisit the doctor each time after the 3-day prescription runs out. (It's a restriction of the Taiwanese medicare system.)

[Edit: let's add on another set for a different ailment. Try this on for size, though some of the typing got cut off.]

MethylEphedrine 2--
Prednisolone 5mg
Cimetidine f.c.20--
Cyproheptadine Hc--
Tren 250mg

Third Time Not-So-Lucky?

Weddings are rife with superstitions and traditions, and they not only affect the bride and the groom of the day, but those around them in how they conduct themselves over that period.

"Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride."

I know a few girls who recite this, half believing it, half not. (Note that it's said you can break the three-times curse by going and bridesmaiding seven times!) And then it got me to thinking, is there an equivalent that applies for the guy's side? Sort of a:

"Three times a groomsman, never a groom."

I wonder ... because I've been a groomsman twice already, and best man once.

PS: I might also point out that many people are okay with being the bridesmaid the third time, thinking it's still under the radar. But if you read it carefully, it's the third time you're a bridesmaid that the "curse" kicks in ... so you're really only allowed the role of bridesmaid twice. The third one lands you in a lonely house an old maid with lots of cats.

PPS: It turns out that the original purpose for bridesmaids was to confuse and act as a decoy for the bride, in case any evil spirits or avengers wanted to harm the bride. Kind of takes away from the honour of it, doesn't it?

Constituo, Ergo Sum

I recently read Wired.com's article "You Tube vs. Boob Tube" which talks about some differences between TV (one-way) and online (two-way) media. In it is an interesting quote from some guy:

"If you aren't posting, you don't exist," says Rishad Tobaccowala, CEO of Denuo, a new media consultancy. "People say, 'I post, therefore I am.'"

I'm not sure I agree with such a generalization. I mean ...

I post to Blogspot, but mostly to share thoughts amongst those who already know I exist. I post to Flickr, again to share photos with the world, but again mainly to people I already know. I post to Apple Discussions, certainly not to show people I exist as a Mac user. And I post to DPReview, because I have questions in my mind that only specific people could probably answer with any certainty.

You? You post to exist?

(I'm posting now, only because I can't sleep. And I'm sure I'm not losing sleep because of this issue.)

In Loving Memory, 2003-2006

To celebrate the coming of a new year, we had take-out thin-crust pizza at my place to start. Then at 9:30pm, after watching a Jackie Chan movie at home, we took a short walk from the apartment to a Starbucks near our intended point for the Taipei 101 fireworks. With the other 500,000 people.

It was there, standing in the middle of the intersection of 信義路 (HsinYi Road) and 基隆路 (Keelung Road) -- which by then wasclosed off to vehicle traffic -- that we stood ground with our Smirnoff Ices and watched 188 seconds of fireworks spewing off the (current) world's tallest building. Of course, we hadn't considered that the wind that evening was coming at us, so some of the later bursts were obscured from our view by the smoke. Plus, little bits of ash and fireworks paper snowing upon us afterwards.

But not everyone made it into 2007. My faithful companion of 3.5 years, who's travelled with me to three continents and countless events, finally refused to wake up from her afternoon nap that day. Try as I might, I couldn't get my S400 to work again.

Happy New Year to ya.