An Author of "Lonely Platnet HK & Macau"

今天在報紙看到有關 Lonely Platnet HK & Macau 作者的報導，之後在 google 找到她的 blogs:舊的、新的。她也是個水瓶座，有時真的覺得性格跟出生期是有關係的。看到這篇、這篇或是那篇，再看看"天涯若比鄰"下面的links。接觸的人多了，發現了這幾點：

1. 人的性格真的是分了很多類的，不要以為自己是獨一無異。
2. 一個人是性格跟環境的整合，我們都受著外界的影響：為什麼許多華人的blog，都是在寫自己；老外的卻比較學術性？老外很少拿相機亂拍，視亞洲人狂拍之之舉為無聊。亞洲人要白皮膚，白人要健康膚色；又有幾多個人可以 think critically?

戲劇化

昨天突然收到他的sms，問我還在台灣嗎，說他的婚禮除消了，我最近的一切怎樣... 沒有想過會在中秋節收到這個消息，還是他親自告訴我。是要找我問我的意見嗎？找我不是不適合嗎？還是他沒有什麼動機，只是打個招呼罷了？

Little LiuChiu Island 小琉球

KaoHsiung 高雄市

$$$

那天到 Siju 家一起計劃我們的中秋節日月潭、高雄、阿里山之旅。他問了我好幾次，如果他叫他的台灣同事到他家，會很失禮嗎？他還說他的老闆說他家小。對於我這個香港人，他的夾層屋真的是極度寬敞，他的客廳跟我在香港家的有得比耶。我多麼希望我在台北也有一個自己的小房子，可以招待朋友。 再算一算，我這年來的流浪生活，讓我失去 20 多萬港元的薪資。足夠在港多讀一個學位，或是留學交一年的學費... 再想想現在的我，只可以租一個房間，薪資比我碩士畢業時還要少；不禁感到有點落泊。雖然說，這個只是個暫時的現象，流浪過的我真的多了很多機會，但是明年是時候找個高薪的地方停下來了嗎？或是繼續這種奢侈的流浪生活？ 後記： 公平一點說﹐花20 多萬和兩年黃金時間換來的，是學了來幹嗎的德文，和兩年多的旅行，完成了在實驗室工作的夢想，獨立了一點，思想宗教化了一點... 另外，我的月薪己經比一般的台灣碩士生高了，又何德何能呢？只可歸咎世界經濟不平衡。老實說，生於香港是十分的幸福。

(cannot think of a title yet)

Jessia said, this topic comes out every time before the president election, and gradually dies out afterwards.

Here is a good start for a series of fun reads if you are into taiwanese politics... (which is not of my interests)

JinShan 金山+ Miramar 美麗華

XiaoYu and Jessia brought me to JinShan today. It is a place famous for Goose meat (300NTD only for our dish) and sweet potatoes.



At the Old Street, there are quite a few restaurants, but only one of them is very famous. Some 7-8 stores owned by the same family. There are no waiters serving, guests simply queue and pick up what they like. So this is a very efficient form of "restaurant management" - no management.



There is a "JinShan Youth Center". These recreational centers are distributed over Taiwan in various scenic spots, owned by GuoMinDang before as a means to earn/suck money. Today, it is a place for University orientation and pair matching activities.



Then we went to the NeiHu district for the Ferris Wheel. NeiHu is a new area with a Science Park and many new buildings, which gives me a complete different impression of urban Taipei.

Ferris Wheel lighting show at Miramar Mall

Internet treasure hunt

1. Contemporary art by a japanese artist Aya Kato:
   
   
2. A post in Paleo-future featuring how French in year 1912 fanscinated life in 2000. Some ideas actually came true:
   
   

Sophisticated human minds are intriguing.

Individual Development Path

This is a recent campaign in the company about IDP planning:



Sometimes it is difficult for me to define what amounts to brain-wash, and what is simply a positive encouragement. The term career is still far away from me. I only believe my fate is interactive.

YeLiou 野柳

My parents visit me in Taipei since yesterday.

We made a short trip to YeLiou with a Geo-park.

It's a place with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean...

And the shore is covered by strange looking rocks...

AND... an enormous number of "sea-cockcoaches".

The biggest attraction is this "queen's head" rock.

So this is how we spent our Sunday.

Earthquake ~~!!!

I experienced a small earthquake (Scale 6.6) tonight, my first time. I was sitting on my bed, and I felt the whole buiding shaked violantly, and might even collapse owing to the poor construction quality. For a few seconds, I felt my life was at risk. Different stuff inside my messy room dropped onto the floor. Now it is time to fear instead of rejoice living on the 14th floor. It seems that none of my colleagues finds it a big deal, except they were awaken by the earthquake in mid-night. Neither do they know the emergency procedures. The only commonly agreed action is: open the door, so there is a way out in case the ceiling falls down.

My lovely hometown - HK

Am I the only one to think it isn't all that wonderful to move to US? Most Chinese there best integrated into a China Town, even for those who were born and raised there. The crime rate is so high, that you have to be cautious every second when you drive home at night. Yeah, people do have the best opportunities career-wise in the states. This is the only benefit that I see US is offering over HK.

All is vanity under the sun?

I read Ecclesiastes out of curiosity stemmed from my discussion with Greg. "All is vanity under the sun" - is this a fact or a perspective? I found these interesting in the discussion: "Being an atheist takes a great deal of faith. Since God can no sooner be proven to exist as he can be proven to NOT exist. This is why it is called faith and religion." (Technically speaking, I am agnostic, not an atheist) "The world will tell you that truth is relative to the individual. That two people can watch the same accident happen and those two people will give different stories of the accident based upon their perspective. - Do not listen to this without remembering one thing. Whether their versions of the story agree or not, the event happened. In other words- Absolute truth does exist. We may not accept it or see it, but there is one single solitary truth. Seek absolute truth, not relative truth."

WuLai 烏來

Wu Lai Hot Spring

Today I went with Siju to WuLai by bus. An american girl biked there today, I wish so much I could join, but I am not physically fit for a 7km ride on the hills


Cable car

It is a small village there, the scenery is nice if the place was not polluted, no electric cable everywhere, and no man-made garden... :p


Wu Lai Waterfall + Trolley station

The stones along the shore of the hot spring were burning hot. I don't know why I didn't wear my sandals today.

WuLai village and man-made Garden

Although I complain so much, I did enjoy today's trip. :)

BiTan 碧潭

BiTan Lake at XinDian

仲有呢個o係新店o既碧潭，總於明白點解小予唔肯陪我o黎；好彩今日係路過，如果特登o黎都會幾失望。同香港o既城門河可以相提並論...