A little dusty in the homeland

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well, wherever you are. It's certainly been a while.

It's been 20 years in the making. Yes, for the first time in 20 years, the whole fam is in the homeland! The last time we were all here was when my brother graduated from high school.

Some things still haven't changed. Heh.

Anyway, so we left on Friday afternoon (Eastern time) and we got here late on Saturday (Taiwan time). Travel time was 20 hours-ish? But this time I can't complain. My brother had to pre-fly an additional 2 hours from Massachusetts. So he passed the 24 hour travel marker.

This time, instead of taking the 3 or 4 hour bus ride to my parent's house in Taichung, we stayed the night at my cousin's house in Taipei. Which was definitely a nice break. It was good to see my cousin and his wife again - last time I was here was about 2 years ago - Which doesn't seem that long now, but it seems like it as I type.

So where was I? Oh yeah, so we visited with them for a bit, and then it was off to wash the travel filth off and get ready for bed.

Surprisingly enough I was able to fall asleep - I was pretty tired from the travel I guess. I was able to sleep some on the plane, but it wasn't quality sleep.

My brother and I were pretty fortunate - we got a whole row to ourselves for the majority of the trip (DTW to KIX). So we just spread out all of our stuff and were able to relax. On the second leg (his third) from KIX to TPE, the flight was pretty much full so we felt pretty sandwiched in.

Just in case you cared, the moves shown were (with random commentary):

• Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause - Didn't bother. I think I was forced to watch it once before, but didn't really want to see it. I think I slept instead.
• Simpsons Movie - Now this was laugh out loud funny. I watched the Simpsons when I was younger, but haven't recently. Spider pig, spider pig...
• The Ultimate Gift - A surprisingly good, but very very predictable Hollywood movie. It definitely made me think. I never saw the trailer, but I figure you'd be able to derive the whole movie from it.
• Bonus movie: Evan Almighty - I enjoyed this one - it was pretty funny. Steve C is great in it. This one was a surprise because there were only supposed to be 3 movies.

Anyway, so back to the story - Sunday morning, my nephew came and picked us up to go to a computer exhibition. It was more like a cattle herding, chaotic push-fest, where sales people are almost yelling at you and pushing flyers in your face.

Oh yeah, there were electronics there too.

I've never seen so many people at a show before. The majority of the time, you were pushing through hordes of people, ignoring sales people that were trying to sell you stuff.

We were a party of 5, and we had to make sure we all stayed together - Getting lost would not have been very fun.

So for lunch we went to the Taipei 101 building for some noodles. Unfortuantely it was in the middle of the lunchtime rush, so it was a zoo there too.

Except there was less pushing and there was food.

I guess I'm just used to my personal space, and saying "excuse me" or apologizing when you bump into people. Apparently you don't do that here.

So I stopped.

I just need to remember to switch back when I get back home.

So after the madness of the crowds, we went to the cemetery to see where my grandparents and one of my uncles are buried. Now that was kind of an experience in itself - because I'd never been to a Taiwanese cemetery before - so I have no idea if this was common or not.

So picture if you will a side of a hill - and in the hill are I guess what you'd call plots or tombs. It's kind of like stadium style seating, if you will. I dunno, without a picture, it's the best way I can describe it. Although it's not super orderly though - There weren't distinct rows and aisles. Just kind of randomly staggered, I guess. So yes, we had to climb through / over some other plots to get to my grandparent's.

And yes, I did say "excuse me".

We said a prayer for them, did a little housecleaning, and then we were on our way. We all had to do some climbing - so it was kind of dangerous at times. But we made it - And I was glad we did.

So later on that evening, my cousin took us to the National Taiwan University - that is where he teaches. We poked around the campus and took some pictures.

In the evening, we set out on the journey to my parent's house in Taichung. It was supposed to be a 3 hour travel, but ended up being 4 because of rush hour and bus schedule timing.

Man, I miss my own car.

The trip was pretty much a blur to me - I pretty much slept the entire time. So not much to report there.

My parent's place is pretty nice - it's got a nice view of the smoggy skyline. :)

Monday we got up and took it easy in the morning. My parents thought we'd be tired so they let us sleep in.

My brother and I were up well before 7. Jet lag rules.

So for lunch we went to this hot pot place - I don't know if you've seen Lost in Translation or not, but it's the thing where you get raw food and you cook it at your table where there's a pan with boiling water. But instead of bringing stuff to the table, you go up and get your greenery (mushrooms, vegetables, etc.) and seasonsings, then you get your meats and whatnot at your table through a conveyer belt system. Think of baggage claim at the airport. Little dishes filled with meat, seafood, and tempura are transported around the areas where people sit. You just grab what you want and cook it. At first we thought you just pulled the food off the plate. But we were kindly told that we were supposed to take the entire dish.

Whoops.

To be continued...

Questions to simmer on

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

I've recently been mulling over a few things, just for fun - No particular reason, just idle thoughts. Thought I'd share:

1. Would you rather have the Neuralizer from Men in Black (the red flashy thing) or would you rather have the power to do Jedi Mind Tricks?
2. If I can be allergic to dogs, can dogs be allergic to me?
3. Can dogs be allergic to other dogs, or maybe even perhaps itself?

Curious. Very curious.

-Kirk

Good morning, Mr. Sunshine

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this morning.

I look forward to the spring and summer mornings when I wake to the sunlight peering through the windows at me.

-Kirk

It's been a while.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening. Anyone still out there? ;)

It's funny how sometimes we'd rather sit through a movie on TV, complete with commercials and editing, instead of getting up to put in the DVD of the movie that we own.

-Kirk

Heart full of unwashed socks

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this morning. And having a happy holiday season.

I've heard You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch quite a few times in my many years on this earth. And honestly I've never really heard and listened to all of the lyrics. I just know the chorus, of course :)

So I was listening to the song last night (it was on the radio) and I heard this line:

Your heart is full of unwashed socks.

For some reason I thought it was the funniest thing ever - It made me try to listen to the song harder. So of course, I had to look up the lyrics...

It's pretty amusing. Check it out (again) when you get the chance.

-Kirk

New House Smell

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening. It's been a while...

So they're doing some new construction at work - the people have been buildling out the 3rd floor. I absolutely love the smell of new construction. It's as intoxicating as the new car smell.

That's because new construction smells like progress.

Anyway, I got a good whiff of it on the way down the stairs on Friday. And I wondered why there's no such thing as New House Smell? We've got new car smell don't we?

-Kirk

unwritten cabbie rule

One last thing...

I came back from Boston last night - lotta fun. I had a good time visiting my brother.

While I was in Cambridge I rode quite a few cabs. About twice a day. And not once did the driver have his or her seatbelt on. Never.

What's up with that? That was just an odd sight to see. Wouldn't that be like a welder who welds without goggles?

(Shrug)

-Kirk

2 words to dread

Hi everyone,

Hope you are doing well.

At the security checkpoints, I am always a little anxious. Not because I am trying to sneak a water botle on or more than 3 oz. Of liquid. More because I dread hearing the words "male assist."

I would gladly take all the metal that I have on my body, take off my shoes, pull out my laptop,take off my belt, whatever.

Just don't tell me I need a "male assist."

I'm quite good, thank you. :)

-kirk

2 words to dread

Hi everyone,

Hope you are doing well.

At the security checkpoints, I am always a little anxious. Not because I am trying to sneak a water botle on or more than 3 oz. Of liquid. More because I dread hearing the words "male assist."

I would gladly take all the metal that I have on my body, take off my shoes, pull out my laptop,take off my belt, whatever.

Just don't tell me I need a "male assist."

I'm quite good, thank you. :)

-kirk