View from the old Shangri La hotel looking towards the gulf of Thailand.
Sathorn station all day pass recommended....
Wat Pho Bang O.....
Temple of the worlds largest reclining Buddha.
Wat Phra Kaeo....... Grand Palace. Dress code strictly enforced!
Gr a n d P a l a c e ...
And Grand Palace......
Wat Arun and
Happy Birthday King.
Goldilocks.
How do the Taiwanese encourage fathers to attend ballet performances in the park on Saturday mornings?
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
I can feel the devil walking next to me.......
The Iron Eagle
Lower Spades,
Bigger boats,
Higher rushes,
Night life
It's all right
No big pussies
table two
11 shoe
no Aaron
* Big and pretty hand, "200 hold'em", Angus plays four tens.
* Most painful has to go to Jeff, "In Betwen" J went for whole pot of 1800, hit the post and added 3600 to the pot (Pot quickly whisked away by a Texas tornando).
* Surprised. "5 card draw,2 draws of 2, 5's wild,max 100" after taking 2 draws of 2, Drunken Danger Dave beat my beautiful Ace high staight with 4 of a kind, he had 3 wild fives. (boo hiss)
Last night while you dumbasses were all playing poker, drinking beer, and joshing around, I went to see the famous Taiwanese crooner Fei Yu-Ching.
Summer vacation is nearing and the annual end-of-the-school-year rituals are in full play: signing yearbooks, creating final grades for 800 students and ducking all supervisors. The last one is most important to me and one that I try to be faithful to year round. It's made easier because my supervisors are doing the same. However, given time to make a decision - whether one needs to be made or not - they inevitably make one that is wrong, stupid, repetitive or all three. This is where I must step in and show them that even after eight years it is still possible for round eye to be completely ignorant of, and completely disregard the concept of indirect criticism.
I teach at a combo junior high / high school / vocational school. Similar schools in Taichung have foreign teachers numbering in the teens. At my school, we number in the upper twos - three to be exact. The senior teacher is Paul. This is his 9th or 10th year there and even though he does not have a teaching certificate, he has been grandfathered in and is safe. Before, a college degree was good enough. A couple of years ago, the government got stricter about the requirements (having a teaching certificate) and sales of Photoshop and tickets to Bangkok soared. I have my certificate and permanent work and residence visa. I too, am safe. It is our third teaching position that has given us problems. We have rotated this position like drummers for Spinal Tap. The last one before the current teacher was my good friend Jerry. Our school declined to offer him a new contract because he did not have a teaching certificate. I was not happy. The school said sorry, that's the way it has to be and we will never hire another teacher unless they have a teaching certificate. Until they did.
The new, current, teacher is a very good teacher who gets along with the students and other teachers. So, our school decided enough was enough and decided to not offer him a contract for next year. When the contracts were distributed, we noticed there were only two. Nothing for Andre. Andre told us the school had already informed him that he wouldn't be coming back. He then handed me a printout of a news story (in Chinese) from Yahoo Taiwan news which had been given to him by the number two guy at our school. Andre was told it was about a crackdown on unlicensed teachers that was starting in Taibei and moving south. He was told the article said that the penalty was severe and teachers would be deported within two days. He was told the school was very sorry but they had to protect themselves. I said, give it to me.
I read the article. I took it to my Chinese teacher to let him read and see if he concurred with me. I then showed it to four Taiwanese teachers in the Junior High department. We all agreed. The school's version was complete bullshit. Yes, two licensed foreign teachers in Taibei were caught working at another school. They were not deported. There was no crackdown. They were turned in by the school they were under contract to. The news article was about the behavior of the teachers when coming out of a meeting after being fined (the teachers, not the school). The teachers reacted rather unpleasantly upon seeing some of the media there. They responded with the finger, cussing and assaulting a reporter. I took my knowledge and black hat to confront Numbers Two and Three. I told them they lied. I also added that I would not sign my contract until they settled this. Not really a huge threat, but we would only have one foreign teacher and our so-called Foreign Language department would collapse. They have since offered Andre a contract, but he can only teach in the morning or in the afternoon. Why? Because the Immigration Police who are not cracking down on unlicensed teachers will only raid our school in the morning or the afternoon - whichever time Andre is not working. Yes, they really said that. Number Three supervisor has told Andre and Paul to tell me to please not talk to her directly. I am too upsetting. If I have something to say, tell them and they will tell her. So I scheduled a meeting with her and Number Two next week.
Andre recently got a visit from Number Two a disgruntled parent. The issue? An 85 for disgruntled's child. The result. Number Two said that the students in that class could only get a score of 95-100. Change it. Now. This is a class whose tuition is being covered by the school and guaranteed admission into the high school of their choice. I told Andre to change Precious's grade to 95 and give everyone else in the class 100. Hope he does it. Were are also told to adjust (never lower than 85) any aboriginal or underprivileged student's grade. We have no idea who they are and have never adjusted their grades. The other Taiwanese teachers in the Junior High department do not adjust either, and no one has ever been spoken to about it. I guess the Free Ride class is a little more equal than others. Just two more weeks and then I'm home for about 5 weeks. Get your requests in now.
Aaron is leaving like air out of a balloon.
I'm removing red ink from pens the traditional way.
Saturday, mini golf location, starting around 8:30. There is a plan to sell beer on site.
I made it out to PJ's on Tuesday to wish Brit Paul a Happy Birthday. I may be attending poker on Saturday, and if need be, i will go to church on Sunday.
People that should crash this gathering: Aaron,AJ,John,John,Karl
Perhaps I should just forget about making a shout out. I could just attend the regular afterwork meeting at the Mom and Pops.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday reassured the Chinese government that its huge holdings of dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a strong U.S. currency. A major goal of Geithner's maiden visit to China as Treasury chief is to allay concerns that Washington's bulging budget deficit and ultra-loose monetary policy will fan inflation, undermining both the dollar and U.S. bonds. China is the biggest foreign owner of U.S. Treasury bonds. U.S. data shows that it held $768 billion in Treasuries as of March, but some analysts believe China's total U.S. dollar-denominated investments could be twice as high. "Chinese assets are very safe," Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s. His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience, reflecting scepticism in China about the wisdom of a developing country accumulating a vast stockpile of foreign reserves instead of spending the money to raise living standards at home. I personally found this one funny: I guess "believe" can mean like "I believe in magic and leprechauns." The Chinese also chuckled when he suggested they should let the RMB should appreciate against the US Dollar. Disclosure: I have some savings in RMB. Whoot!"We believe in a strong dollar ... and we're going to make sure that we repair and reform the financial system so that we sustain confidence," he said.
Thank God the Move was done yesterday.
I have been a long-time customer of Amazon.com for my books, but here is something I found out tonight that might save you some bucks on freight.
Hello out there in blog land. C h i n a seems to be blocking blog spot once again?
EW reporting to you from the HTC Taiwan 3G sim card within C h i n a.....
13
Almost 50 years ago, Joe Kittinger parachuted from space to Earth. As part of Project Excelsior, he made 3 jumps from a little gondola lifted by helium balloons. The last jump was from 102,800 feet up. That's 19.46 miles. Watch the 5 minute video here.
New links added to the sidebar: Reason.com and Reason.tv
I have been reading and viewing Reason for some time. They feature news, culture, politics, essays and more from a libertarian perspective - " Free Minds and Free Markets."
Here are some other videos that I like but will just give the links.
Maybe I am the only idiot who would like to input Chinese characters with my Windows still in English, but here's how you can do this. You will need a Taiwanese keyboard though.
May 13, 2009 01:40pm A TAIWAN carpenter bought a porn DVD only to find secretly taped motel footage of his wife having sex with his friend, whom the husband later stabbed. The husband, identified only by his surname Lee, discovered the illicit sex on the DVD in 2002. The sexual acts apparently had been recorded using a hidden camera and were on a pornographic DVD, titled Affairs with Others' Wives, which the husband bought from a vendor to watch at home. Lee, who lives in Taoyuan County near Taipei, divorced his wife after viewing the DVD. His friend, a butcher, fled their village. In August 2008, Lee spotted the butcher in Changhua City, returned with a knife and stabbed his former friend in the thigh. KEY LESSONS 1. When having sex in a motel, make sure to choose a reputable establishment that uses two camera shoots and quality editing. 2. Make sure the woman knows to fake a few orgasms and comment appreciatively on your size and skills. 3. Be wary of poetic justice. If you are a butcher, expect to be stabbed with a knife. If you are a teacher, expect to smothered in chalk dust. Be prepared. This reminds me of the story, possibly an urban legend, of the foreigner in Changhua who was caught sleeping with the police chief's wife. That pretty much means your ARC is going to be revoked, dude.Man busts wife, mate in porn DVDPrinSubmit comment:Submit comment
C u on th flip side.....
U just got there 1st.
That's all.
There has never been a successful escape.
Having a wife who likes to stay up till 3:00am watching TV in the bedroom could be considered a bit impolite. However, as all programs on Taiwanese TV are captioned with Chinese subtitles, no volume is needed. This is great when trying to sleep, but not so great when other Taiwanese are around watching an English-language program. They tend to "read" the show while continuing chatting in their outside voice.
She will also watch things you would never consider watching. Fine with me. She's the miner working the sieve, occasionally returning with a nugget or two. The other night, she did just that.
She was watching an investigative news show on the one and only Peanut Head, Chaing Kai-Shek. Before I go any further, let me tell you that the use of "peanut" relating to CKS is not a Johnny Neihu-ism. I remember seeing it first in Barbara Tuchman's Pulitzer prize-winning book, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 . General Joseph Stilwell (Vinegar Joe), the military attache to China in 1935-39 and commander of United States forces and allied chief of staff to Chiang Kai-shek in 1942-44, used peanut and peanut head regularly when referring to CKS.
This show claims that CKS's three, yes three, sons were not his own. According to the show's panelists, an accident at the age of 4 made fathering children impossible. At that time, crotchless pants were the norm for toddlers. They would walk around and when the mood took them, relieve themselves wherever they were. It seems that on one cold day, little CKS's mood took him inside to warm up, where he found a nice very warm spot to sit and rest. This very warm spot just happened to be the house's brazier, used to heat the home ( Man nuts roasting on an open fire,,,). The panelists did not say how long he sat on that ring of fire, but are somehow convinced that his bird was cooked.
Okay, PIMP, I have opened the door for your and your cohorts. I expect a conspiracy-theory video of at least two parts to be up and available for viewing in 2-3 weeks.
Why is the mold that grows on my books at home white, while the mold that grows on my books at work black?
I am moving back to the USA in June, so my wife is going through my stuff and tossing everything.
50 minutes in the car, arrive at the site, wait for the right wind and off. Got to look down on an eagle. Perfect Sunday afternoon activity.
This upcoming weekend is Yuri's B-Day. He rented an excavator to build a stone wall for the stage, for the live music, the bands. He leveled areas for camping, and put saloon doors on men's toilet.
Good vibes, i wanna go again some weekend.
It starts like this. You get something explicitly for your own use - your little toy. Then another person, let's say a wife, takes a liking to it and starts using it for her own use with the promise of getting another for you to replace the one she has usurped. Time passes. More than a year - or just a moment in Female. You make do. Sometimes you can steal it away for a bit or use it when she's not home. Then a situation arises where she needs to have it with her almost all the time and you end up having to find time to go out and pay for what you could have been doing more conveniently, for free at home. In this case, the it is my (past tense), our (for just a moment -Male), her (forevermore) laptop.
She has been taking two computer courses, creating a video CV and using her newly acquired computing skills in her private classes at night. All of which means that I see my, I mean, her computer as frequently as Robin Williams sees a good script. Saturday and Sunday mornings are the only time I have where I can spend more than 5 minutes online. So, I have made do.
And then it happens that it happens you start to question which type of dementia you are currently sampling because you can't get your password correct to log in to any log in-able web site. I can only remember my wife's cell phone number by "dialing" it with my finger. I tell myself I have just been using muscle memory and habit to enter my password. Therefore, I very consciously try not to think, close my eyes, channel Ray Charles and let my fingers work the keyboard. That doesn't work. Only after sharing my frustration with my wife do I learn that she has changed all of our passwords. One of her computer classes has made her so...aware of computer security that, in addition to changing the passwords, she routinely unplugs our wireless modem whenever the computer is off ( which led to yet another cognitive function query about myself as I played with all the settings for a couple of hours, until I was ready to hemorrhage from my eyes - our laptop's operating system uses Chinese).
Saturday comes and I go to the Internet cafe loaded with notes for posts I'd been planning and armed with the new password that she wrote down for me herself. Please note the stress on "she" and "herself". Yes, it was wrong. That's some password if even we can't get in. I guess she really is learning something at those computer classes.
As you are reading this, it is obvious that I now know at least one of our new passwords. I hope to get all my planned posts up before there's another security check at my house.
The power of VISUALISATION.....
To put the Financial issues into perspective........
All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...
A billion dollars...
A hundred billion dollars...
Eight hundred billion dollars...
One TRILLION dollars...
What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.
We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.
You ready for this?
It's pretty surprising.
Go ahead...
Scroll down...
Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...
As a way of saying “thank you” to those passengers who responded, EVA Air will hold a “Lucky Draw”. Lucky passengers will win a free return ticket or a flight in an EVA Air aircraft simulator.
Green tea flavored Crest toothpaste.
The question is "When should I drink the devil juice, hooch, or ant wine?"
It's located on Da Dun 7th Street, No. 493 (大墩七街493號) near the amphitheater (近圓滿戶外劇場). They have refreshments, a second floor practice range (real golf) and offer instruction for those not familiar with the concept - and believe me, there are plenty of those. Just like the hypermarts have attendants at the top of the escalators to "remind" the customers that they need to keep moving, I think Steve will need some golf marshals to remind them to walk on the paths and that the little flags have a number on them for a reason.
One round is $100 NT, but for now, Steve is handing out 2-for-1 business cards. He is also very willing to seriously discount groups. He didn't give me an exact number, but I get the feeling that even groups as small as 5 would be cut a deal. Steve wanted me to stress that if you do have a group wanting to play, call him first. He can arrange a better deal for you and ensure you will have time and space to play. Give it a try. I'll be going back this weekend with my niece and looking to improve on my first round score of 29 - which was Karl's score for the front 6.
Telephone: English (that would be Steve) : 0983-109-541
