Fukuoka Business Hotel Hsinchu

... After a long lunch with Irene’s former professors we head back to the Engineering Department. Irene then takes me to a dessert restaurant she used to go to while at college. It is a gelatinous dessert with mung beans in it. It tastes pretty good. Not too sweet.

We head back to the high speed rail station – which has a 7-11 of course. We stop in there and I grab 2 taiwan beers and Irene gets a ...

... cuz it was raining so hard. The wind was just merciless and the howling noises it made were just incredible. The windows in the dorm began rattling...but thankfully none of them broke. I would imagine that they build places that are Typhoon-resistant. Some people who had slept in chose that moment (don't ask me why) to venture out and go on their own private food runs. We wished them luck and hoped that they would make it back in once piece. The storm ...

Even though I was sad about not having another half day of exploration, it was nice to just chill out after a whirlwind of 3 days that felt more like a week. We did some shopping at the airport, but I only bought an onigiri for lunch. I wanted a set of Hayao Miyazaki figures (another obsession) but didn't have enough money on me. Too bad I didn't cave into temptation and buy a Totoro or dust ball magnet. I can't believe I ...

... horn, passengers wave from the windows and shout encouraging words, such as " Djia Jo " - go on. It goes constantly up, except for the last three kilometers, which are flat. I take two breaks at 10:00 and 12:00 am, sit down by the road side and have a quick bite and drink - I need it as I feel I burn a lot of calories ( not that this is a bad thing for me and my belly ). Two groups of bikers pass slowly by - my respect, and I assume they think ...

... of the stuff wasn't even pottery (Tasteful bead covers for your bed or couch anyone?), but we can forgive them that, because we got to make a pot ourselves! It was so much fun - gloriously messy! It felt so nice and squishy, it was such a temptation just to sit there and squash it again and again for the nice squelchy feeling. I'm not sure if Kim would have appreciated me sitting next to her if I did that though! It ...

So, what is Taiwanese work life like? I've fallen into a steady pattern, waking up every morning around 8 am, getting to the office around 8:50ish, lunch is from 12 to 1, and then waiting for the clock to reach 5:30 or 5 on Fridays! What started off as doing nothing the first week has increased to responsibilities ranging from conducting English tours (arranged or on the spur of the moment), writing an English script for the tour guides ...

... on putting more emotion in their speeches, since they're very very monotone! The lunch break is right at noon and the cafeteria is huge! When you enter the cafeteria, along the walls near the doors are all the dishes they offer with a number. You decide which meal you want, and then go find that line for say, meal 20. Lunch is only 35 NT (32 NT is one American dollar!). The food is good considering the price, although very oily. ITRI is unfortuantely ...

... Chiang Mein, etc.), plenty of Hite beers and Soju. After that, we went to two different restaurants and partied until dawn. The Korean drinking game is awesome. But the Soju...let me warn you, the stuff can really sneak up on you. The next day, we visited Haeundae in Busan. There'a nice beach and a Casino there. It's a very famous vacation spot in Korea. We walked around and played a few rounds of BlackJack at ...

... of nature - give to it and live from it. Oh no, what were the monks in Taiwan doing: chasing round on their scooters, chatting away on their cellphones and taking deep drags of their cigarettes, what an eye-opener. Taiwan really is as crowded as you imagine it to be when you decide to go and find out small little facts like size: roughly 100 by 300km, population:27 million, demography:they all along the edges of the island as the middle is taken up by huge mountain ranges ...

... I was quite amazed that my little beast of a scooter did make it all the way without breaking down. We arrived at our favourite camping spot by the river, which had been completely transformed by the recent wet weather. All the vegetation had been washed away and there was just a large collection of stones and rocks. Despite this, we still decided to put our tents up. Due to the large amount of rain we have had, the river had filled up substantially and the current was ...