Say no more.
More Scooter English.
To Feel Exuberan Tly Happy
Month: August 2005
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To Feel Exuberan Tly Happy
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Zuo Fan
Writing is rather sporadic at the moment – no internet connection at home at the moment, which is a bit of a pain.
However, last night was the momentous event of being able to cook for the first time in a whole year! I now have a kitchen and want to get back into the habit of cooking for myself. Slightly rusty in the supermarket as a result of being catered for for a year now, I seem incapable of buying things for cooking. I still managed to escape from the place with a pack of spaghetti, some garlic and olive oil, plus the closest thing I could get to a courgette.
Unfortunately, I ended up frying a cucumber, but still it tasted good and I appreciated it alongside a nice glass of red wine in the new apartment, which is slowly getting better.
I’ll post some other events soon. My digital camera is off for repair and I am weighing up buying a new one instead. The humidity of Taiwan destroys electronics, and in my case the menu buttons have stopped functioning, which is handy.
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Starcatcher
Smoking stackThe Taipei city council are a resourceful lot. Not only do they build a rubbish incinerator, but they heat a swimming pool from the excess energy. Not content with limiting themselves to mere swimming, they also saw fit to mount a revolving restaurant to the top of the multi-coloured chimney stack.
Thus, when eating here the stench of rubbish and diesel from the legions of trucks complements the sophisticated atmosphere and forceful service.
I also met a couple of new designers – Wouter from Holland and Nik… from London! Yeah, another Brit dude to complement myself, James and Dean. We are catching up with those pesky Germans, finally.
Getting wasted with the boys -
DEM – The New Office
Life is changing quickly for me. A new apartment and a new job are two significant differences in my life, that should both bring some good benefits. The new office certainly stimulating and I am really looking forward to my job developing over the coming weeks. For now, I should introduce to Prada – the office bitch.
Prada assists
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Taifun
Well I made it back in one piece. One final last night in Bangkok was pleasant, and I spent the evening in the company of some great English medical students that really reminded me of some of my times back home. I have to say, most of the Brits I met abroad have been either dull or total idiots. These were smart, funny and witty and I was able to sharpen my humour blades!
Of course, the flight yesterday was slightly hung over, and the slight anxiety of re-entering the country between jobs made me wonder how my visa would work out. I was told to enter on a tourist entry, and it all worked out fine. Getting back to my apartment was nice – even if it is slightly strange and more like a hotel – so I popped out to meet the guys in Wendels for a beer … and at that point it was announced it was another Typhoon holiday! Fantastic! My first day at work and I am on holiday. Cannae complain. It did make me think though, that if I had been caught in Bankok I would now be enjoying a couple of gratis days in a 5 star hotel.
So, overall, I liked Thailand. It was all too short, and perhaps the parts I saw were too touristy / back packy but overall it looks like a place worthy of more exploration.
For now, I need to sort some apartment things out, and eventually I will install internet in my place. For now, I am in a gaming cafe surrounded by people playing role-playing games. Worth talking about that some other time…
For now, another day off work.
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Same Same … But Different
A rather nice view from my bungalow overlooking the bay – so pleasant I fell asleep in my chair.Here I am on Koh Pangan – home of the Full Moon beach party. Well, it would be but it is not the time of the month so the place is a bit more chill. Though that is relative – techno music pours out of the beachside clubs til dawn and fire spinners and pyrotechnicians provide the special FX.
Sadly, my time on the island is all too short, but I feel I have a good impresson of the place. The weather has been a bit crappy – resulting in choppy seas and a need to were a decent jumper in the wind, but I don’t really care because it is more pleasant than the stifling heat and humidity I left behind in Taiwan.
My original plan had been to make it to the diving Mecca of Koh Tao, but that plan was scuppered by the fact that the plane on Koh Samui landed too late for the last boat out. All was well, however, as I got two dives in todayby taking the cat out to the island to join a dive boat for the day. The diving was okay – but buouancy problems as a result of the BCD slowly inflating constantly and a dive master that was less than fully attentive added to problems lowish vis and building confidence. It was okay, but overall a bit mediocre.
Tomorrow, I have most of the day on the beach, and then I catch the plane back to Bangkok for a last night in the city. It has definitely been worth staying out here. The beach hut clinging to the cliff overlooking the palm tree sandy bay, the fantastic fresh food and fruit drinks and joining a different stream of people with their minds a thousand miles away from work.
For now, though, I join the fire dancers and full bottles of beer on the beach!
