YOUTH Park

The very first commemorable episode in my life of an exciting event took place in Youth Park on Saturday 30 May 2009.

That event really made my day and, so far, my week.

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FIVE Movie Reviews

Well, I haven't written anything about movies on the blog lately even though I have seen 5 movies in the past one month: Wolverine, 17 Again, Star Trek, Angels & Demons, and Terminator Salvation.

Where should I begin? Everyone knows that it's gonna take double or triple the efforts if one doesn't finish one's assignment in time. Now with 5 reviews yet to be published here, I am feeling kind of lazy, even reluctant to write anything about them.

Maybe I will come back to these movies some other time, or maybe I will just copy & paste the reviews I wrote on Facebook to this blog.

But if I am going to compare these five movies, I would say:
Star Trek > Terminator Salvation = Angels & Demons > 17 Again > Wolverine

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tryout for my new camera

So I got a new camera. To try it out, I decided to go hiking yesterday on Qixing Mountain. It was sunny in downtown Taipei, but as soon as I got off the bus in the mountain, I could see fog coming from all directions.

I took some photos of the mist in the woods,

some photos of the steam coming out of the rocks,

some photos of lizards (some blue-tailed ones, and a HUGE brown one (see above)

I also tried the panorama function of the camera.

The hike was good, but I'd rather hike on a clear day. I also had to hike in the rain sometimes this time. Generally, it was a good camera, but I still have to try it out again on a sunny day.

For more photos, visit my photo album by clicking on the album on the right side.

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(p.s. I adjusted the size of the original photos so that it was easier to upload.)

問路 / Directions

When I was walking in the alleys to the south of Zhongxiao East Road today, a scooter driver stopped in front of me, and asked me for directions to Lane 233 of Dunhua South Road Section 1 (敦化南路一段233巷), I guess. I, of course, gave her the most detailed directions I could think of to help her find her way.

After making sure she understood what I had said, I kept on walking. All of a sudden, it hit my mind that I probably gave her the wrong directions. The whole time I was thinking about "Lane 223 of Zhongxiao East Road Section 4 (忠孝東路四段223巷)," which is to the north of Zhonxiao East Road. I immediately turned around, wanting to make prompt corrections to the scooter rider, but she has already been quite a distance from me. I was not able to tell her the correct directions. I felt so bad right at the moment, for giving her the wrong directions.

Oh well... I hope she was not in an emergency. I hope she's found her way by this time.

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加州見聞錄04 (brown puddle at a showering room)

昨晚在某健身房的廁所外，偷聽到清潔人員的抱怨。

聽完後讓人覺得超級噁心，怎麼會有人在淋浴間拉屎。

嗯…其實這並不是第一次聽說了，我也聽朋友說過他的親身經歷，不過當然不是說我朋友曾經在那裡拉屎過，而是他親眼在淋浴間看到那種黑棕色的塊狀物，受到驚嚇的他，迅速逃離現場，更換淋浴間，所以他也無法證實那幾塊深棕色的塊狀物，是否為「人造物」。

昨晚清潔人員抱怨的說詞大致上是這樣：「拉屎就拉屎，一塊一塊的還好，可是怎麼會有這種一大灘的，而且還到處都是，地上有，牆壁上也有…」

...

about historic trails / 關於古道

Expecting a possible hike on the well-known Batongguan Historic Trail (八通關古道）, I thought of the historic trails I had been to.

Well, the most memorable one must be Caoling Historic Trail (草嶺古道) since everything started from there. Anyway, this trail, in the past, was the only way people traveled between the current Ilan and Taipei areas. It's actually a part of the longer Danlan Historic Trail (淡蘭古道), with Dan referring to the old name of Taipei area (any connotations to DANshui?) and Lan referring the name of Ilan area. I've been to this historic trail several times, and I still like this place. It takes about 3 hours to for this hike, and then you can go sit in the water at Fulong（福隆） if it's summertime.


I've also visited Yulu Historic Trail (魚路古道, that is, fish road historic trail, being the path by which the fishermen in the past carried their fish to Taipei to sell), a.k.a. Jinbaoli Path（金包里大道）, linking Jinshan (金山) in the northern coast and Taipei basin in the past. I've hiked the northern section of the trail, from Qingtiangang (擎天崗) at Yangming Mountain to Bayan（八煙） with the section between Bayan and Jinshan replaced by car roads, several times. As for the southern section, I think I've only hiked once, but I am not sure since the southern section is quite short, and mostly gone. The northern section of the historic trail takes about 2 hours. If you are hiking out of Yangming Mountain, you can catch a bus at Bayan to go to Jingshan and enjoy the beach there in the summer, or just stroll around the historic streets and have some sweet potatoes. YUM

I've walked downward on Tianmu Historic Trail（天母古道） several times. It's just a short hiking path for people to have a quick exercise. The view is quite nice on clear days. The stairs can be quite steep at some points. Now I wonder if Tianmu Historic Trail has anything to do with Yulu Historic Trail. Some people say it might possibly be the southern most section of Yulu Historic Trail but I don't know. I'll just let other people worry about it, and keep enjoying the hike and the scenery.

I just checked on the Internet and found that there are actually several historic trails in Yangming Mountain National Park. Maybe I've been to some without knowing it.

My Own Hiking Trip

So yesterday I decided to go hiking by myself on Qixing Mountain. I think the total distance I've walked was nearly 5 kilometers on the winding steep hiking paths.

I startde from Xiaoyiukeng and walked all the way to the main peak of Qixing Mountain, and then, instead of cotinuing on to the east peak as usual, just hiked down to Miaopu (another hiking entrance), and finally back to the bus stop.

The weather was awesome. I saw some lizards on the way, but only one or two of them were the kind with a golden-bluish tail. I think I saw more during the past hiking trips.



I tried to take photos of downtown Taipei, especially Taipei 101, but my phone camera is actually not very good. It came out as some blurry dark spot. I think I should really go get a good camera so that I can take better photos.




My phone camera, however, still takes good photos of a strange sign whose illustration probably means "do not set yourself on fire" whereas it is actually telling poeople not to burn incense or paper money:

I also took a photo of a cute caterpillar:


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Affirmation - Savage Garden

I haven't posted anything for some time. Well... here is an old song from Savage Garden that's very good. Check it out:



I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality
I believe that trust is more important than monogamy
I believe your most attractive features are your heart and soul
I believe that family is worth more than money or gold
I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair
I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe forgiveness is the key to your own happiness
I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed
I believe that God does not endorse tv evangelists
I believe in love surviving death into eternity

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love 'til you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye
Until you say goodbye

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The Cows

I miss the tiny yellow fish that nibbled on my feet, the silvergrass that cut open my fingers and arms in the mountains, the seawater hot spring on a raining summer morning before sunrise, the squid that I never caught on a night fishing boat, the beautiful scenery when I was on a propeller plane across a myriad of lakes, the goats on the steep hills by the ocean on the island with a double heart-shaped fishing trap, the waterfall far in the mountain with few people swimming underneath it, the two kids that liked to hold my hands when we walked to a movie theater, the sunburn that I get every year, and definitely the cows that witnessed everything.


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A Hong Kong person's trip around Taipei

I've been to all of the places mentioned in the itinerary of this Hong Kong person (id: blueship), except some of the restaurants, but the trip, the attractions, and the way blueship described every detail during the trip (even though I couldn't undestand some of the descriptions in Cantonese) make me feel like going on a trip like this. Oh... but I don't really need 5 consecutive days to have a trip around Taipei since I live in Taipei.

Check this out: http://0rz.tw/QsntG

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True Blood

(Thou shall not crave thy neighbor.)

This is a new series by HBO. I heard about it few weeks ago, but haven't watched it yet. It's about vampire living side-by-side with human beings. Some review said it's better than Twilight. Well... I don't know, but I think I am gonna try watching it.

The show was by the same creator that made Six Feet Under so it must be quite good, but I didn't really watch Six Feet Under and I think I should try finishing Six Feet Under, too.

Since Heroes (NBC) is about to come to an end for season 3, I think I'm gonna need some new fresh blood for entertainment. hahaha ..... actually, I still have Desperate Housewives (ABC) and Ugly Betty(ABC).

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(I like this poster for True Blood.)

dimanche

My parents came to Taipei to stay at The Grand Hotel, using their discount coupon. I spent some time with them, looking at houses in Banqiao. Those houses were good, but I didn't really like the location, nor the surrouding environment.

My decision, and also my parents', to buy a place for myself in Taipei, well, is still not fulfilled yet to this day.

I brought my parents to a good restaurant close to Zhongxiao Dunhua area and also took them for a walk in that area. Suddenly I had some sort of resentment towards A/X in Breeze B2 while we were walking inside the mall. Well, I am completely over with that feeling towards this detrimentally pricey brand (I even bought some of the discounted ones last week). I continued on with my plans with my parents.

It all happened after my parants went back to their place. Je me souviens encore que c'était un dimanche. J'ai pleuré le lundi.

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Worry

"Worry" is actually an unconstructive emotion. It can only plunge you into deep abyss of despair and panic, without even slightly changing the status quo.

What will happen will eventually happen; what won't happen will never happen.

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Friendliness

I was sort of paranoid and silly since my freshman year in university regarding the process of friend making. I would stop hanging out with someone if there was one thing I couldn't tolerate about this person. Gradually I had fewer and fewer friends. This situation was worsened after graduation as I had less opportunity to meet new people except for my new colleagues.

There have been some people with whom I might have been friendly but I decided not to due to certain gossips and rumors about these people. Even though those gossips and rumors may be true and may serve as some sort of guidelines in dealing with these people, I shouldn't have reached my conclusion about them without actually knowing these people.

Maybe a person that is not faithful in a relationship can be a friend. Maybe a person that sleeps with different people every day can be a friend. Maybe a person that has a job that I don't like can be a friend. Maybe a person that is too conceited can be a friend. Maybe a person that has a crush on your lover can be a friend. I have been limiting myself as to whom I could be friendly with, and I ended up being on friendly terms with almost nobody.

Friends with different point of views are important and inspiring. They can offer me a different perspective on things and help me see what I don't see. Friends with the same point of views are reassuring and easy to get along. These two types of friends are both necessary, especially the ones with a different point of view.

Although one can be defined by the people he hangs out with, one can also NOT be influenced by the people he hangs out with. Regardless, it is always a merit to spread the good influence, and also learn something positive from friends.

No man is an island. A healthy mentality is established with the help of positive human interactions. I should be more acceptive. I should hold less prejudice against people I don't really know. I should try to be friendly.

You can only conclude if you like a person or not after knowing one or two things about this person, but there's usually something more about a person that you don't know. Maybe the next stranger you come across will have the answers to some of your questions.

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April Blues

The temperature dropped to as low as 13 degrees Celsius on April first, much colder than February, in which I could even put on my hottest summer shirt on a 30-degree-Celsius day. I thought April is all about life and rebirth and warmth and anything jolly. It was warmer in March, too. Apparently April this year didn't give me a good impression.

Neither did April last year. The devilish April of 2008 shredded my heart into pieces, using one of those shredders you could get from Costco. After shredding my heart, as if that's the main purpose of such machine's existence, it was broken as well. The shredder was thus left against the orange wall, among other objects that nobody wanted to keep, never to be seen again, forgotten.

Has April become a sad month? I surely hope not.

Maybe it gets cold now only because it will make you feel much warmer when the summer comes. And it will surely get warmer in a few days.

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