Update
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2007
1
23
28
Trip End
Apr 17, 2009
Taoyuan,
Taiwan
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Life has just been so hectic and stuff...I haven't had much free time.
Back in April I had a somewhat minor accident with my scooter RHONDA. Some
woman ran a red light and I t-boned her. Her son (who wasn't wearing a helmet) went
flying...but miraculously everyone was ok. RHONDA however was in bad shape. She
started making all these weird noises when I drove her and she would often emit
smoke whenever I stopped driving her. I knew that she was pretty much on her last legs,
but figured that I would just drive the shit out of her until I needed to buy another scooter.
Back last month, RHONDA finally shut down on me. It was a Friday, after work...all I wanted to do was
go home and shower after a long day at work. My co-teacher Annie drove me to the nearest mall (Tai Mall)
which is where the gym that I frequent is located. I did a quick work-out and then took a cab home.
By Sunday I had secured a new scooter. I paid NT$9,500 (about $328.00) and now have a DUKE scooter.
I also managed to stay in the green shades. RHONDA was this emerald green color and DUKE is teal
colored. All is good. Compared to RHONDA, DUKE was like riding on a cloud! No strange noises and
smoke billowing out. A friend of mine even said she sounded like an air compressor.
Back in May a group of us (foreign teachers and Taiwanese alike) got together
and decided that we would go bungee jumping. I had never gone before and so was
anxious and excited about the experience. The designated jumping place was
some 3 hours away from the city...so we left nice and early on a Sunday and began
the crazy drive through the mountains. The roads were very windey and there
is the added danger of having to deal with Taiwanese people who drive like madmen
(and madwomen). Scooters are dipsey-doodling in and out of traffic, it's heart attack
inducing! Anyway...about halfway through the journey it began to rain. The bungee jumping
people called us and told us that there would no longer be jumping for that day...since they were on a metal bridge and there was some thunder and lightning happening. We all drove back Taoyuan and hung out a local pub/restaurant for a while. Then, a bunch of us went to this place called Thai Disco. Thai Disco is where all the Vietnamese, Filipinos, Laotians, Cambodians and of course...Thai people go to party. I had never been there before and was rather curious. Thai Disco is this dark place in the basement. They play a nice mix of Amercian music as well as pop music from the various countries represented at the Disco. I danced my lil' heart out and met one of the newer teachers: Emil.
He had been to Taiwan before...apparently he comes here, makes money...travels till it runs out and then comes back to make more. It's funny because he's a white guy...with bleached blonde dreads. It's an interesting combination...but I think it works for him. Anyway, he's a dance-floor-whore...so we were just havin' a blast. We started partying at like...5 PM and I think I was all done by 9 PM. It's weird...leaving a club right when most people would start getting ready to go out!
Back in June, I decided that I would launch into an ambitious work-out schedule and lose the extra weight I had packed on in Brazil. I also have my 30th birthday coming up in November and I want to look my best. So on top of the personal training (3 times a week), I started swimming twice a week for 30-40 minutes and also going to work out after work (from 9:40 to 11:30 or so). The first couple of weeks were rather rough. I was rather tired and cranky....but when I finally hit my stride...I discovered that I was steadily losing weight. Just in the month of June, I lost 5 kilos. I don't want to be a rippling pile of muscle...I just want to be healthy and have some definition going on. I also see a lot of co-workers at the gym at night. I see Derek, Beth, Emil and Steve...all pretty cool people. Sometimes we end up laughing more than working out...but then again...we can't all be serious all the time! ;). I will continue my regimen and hopefully have achived my goal weight just before birthday.
July is now almost finished...in two months...I will have been in Taiwan for one whole year. It's amazing how time flies so quickly at times. I have been going SCUBA diving a lot recently. I got certified back in Thailand (February) and hadn't gone since. Turns out Emil is a licensed instructor...and so I had refresher course ask with him and then went diving two weekends in a row with 3-4 other guys. I also purchased a Canon 8.0 megapixel IXUS camera...which takes awesome pictures and video. Right before my first
SCUBA outing I purchased an underwater case for it (since it already has a special underwater photo setting). Anyway, after two outings I had amassed quite the collection of photos and videos. I am also going to be traveling a bit in the next few months. I have a 4-day long weekend planned with Meghan in September (we'll stay in Taiwan, go to Taroko Gorge) and then another 4-day long weekend in October. 5 of us will be going to the Philippines. I plan on staying in Taiwan till April-May and then going to India
for 4-6 months. Who knows. After India I want to spend some time in Africa and then make my way up to Europe. I might need to pit-stop in Taiwan to rake in some cash before doing so...but I have all the time in the world and nothing holding me back. We shall see what life brings.
