Saturday, October 31

stuck


i was excited to go home. but now I'm stuck here in taiwan for another 30 hours.


i hate philippine airlines. 
!*@&^#^%#^!(

they're the ONLY ones who canceled their flight to manila.


could they possibly be any more inefficient or unhelpful?!?

Tuesday, October 27

on the bus from downtown


i've been cooped up in an air-conditioned hotel room and an air conditioned classroom (and during the weekend, in an air-conditioned bus) for too long!
with no agenda in particular in mind except to get some air and stretch my legs, i asked eds and glenn if they were interested in going downtown after class. i think they were feeling a bit of cabin fever too, so they quickly agreed.

we actually just walked around, mostly did window shopping.  most of what's here's in manila also anyway.



we caught bus number 1 back to guang-fu road at 9pm.

it still amazes me that school kids here head home from school so late!  eds says that most of them have after school co-curricular (note: CO-curricular) activities like extra classes or tutorials, so they end at around 9pm.  9pm!!!  and back to school at 7am the next day.  i can't imagine.  anyway, the buses are filled with schoolkids at that hour.  imagine coming home from school later than your parents who come from work.  well, actually now i wonder what time parents come home from work...

Tuesday, October 20

windows

sunrise from the 18th floor... the mountains of hsinchu.



today in class i sat next to the window because that's where the electrical sockets were (and my laptop battery is now good for only about 30 minutes or so).  that turned out to be a blessing "in da skies" (literally).  outside the window is a ficus tree laden with ripe fruit.  constant bird calls kept me distracted (and awake) from the mostly physics- oriented lecture on micro/nano fluid dynamics.


during the lunch break i stepped out of the building to have a better look and got 2 more taiwan lifers:

lifer #3:  light-vented (chinese) bulbul
lifer # 4: japanese white-eye

by the way lifers 1 & 2 were:
#1:  black drongo - perched on electrical wires last sunday from the taoyuan airport
#2: oriental turtle dove - saw 2 on separate occasions from the bus in the science park.

i caught a glimpse of some mynah (but only saw the white spots on the wings) and a raptor, also while on the shuttle, but they were brief flybys so i couldn't get enough for an ID.

more to learn and see tomorrow...

Monday, October 19

today's dinner


The Buddha jumps a wallBig cabbage. Taro piece.  Lotus mushroom.Shark's fin. Mushroom.  Red date.  Chestnut.  Spare rib. Bird egg. Fish skin.  Big bone stock for cooking.
60 NTD


(oops. didn't notice the shark's fin when i ordered! sorry!)
yes, that dish and those ingredients. literally.




see?