OKI! Is Everywhere…

Conan’s last show was pretty much a recap and reminiscing of classic moments. Which was still utterly enjoyable. The White Stripes though were kinda “enh.” Always sappy and sad and sweet to see Mr. O’Brien to get teary eyed though. I know I’ve seen him do it once or twice before. Damn, he’s a good guy. A shame he has to leave NYC, but all the better for us LAers. I just wish I had seen a live taping there before seeing one here, which I will definitely be doing ASAP. Enjoy the last episode here! Hulu.com has all the last few episodes too! And, you’d think the nbc.com site would show the episodes, but they don’t effin’ work on their own site. Putzes…

i am full of shite.  excrement. crap.  poo.  kaka.  doodie.  i mean, beyond the fact that i eat food and its digested in my bowels.  i am full of foulness and terrible smelling and looking and sounding and feeling things (i didn’t want to bother including tasting, but, well, i’ve said now, haven’t i?)

this has been an enlightening year so far.  not to belittle past years, and certainly, fresher memories tend to resonate more.  cause they’re right there in front of me.  but i’ve made a turn. for the better?  from the worst, or at least worse than my best.  (lord, i hope this is my worst).  still not at my best, apparently though.  but doing my best to get there. wait… (more…)

Utter and complete dismay. Shame. Self loathing. These are but a few things I felt when I was confronted with the fact that I had paid far too much for a mere 6 pieces of buttery, meaty, crispy, golden Chicken McNuggets from my dear pusher friend Ronald McDonald. As a veteran drive-thru expert, my expertise was called into question when my feastmates had pointed out the error of my ways. (more…)

this. and only this. i probably already have it. and yah, i’m frickin’ emo sometimes, ok? deal…

zai jian, taipei. i’ll miss you. but i miss you even more. i’ll be back, everywhere. lyrics after the jump, if you care… (more…)

and it opened up my eyes. i saw the sign. does anyone really need to know what has been happening here in taipei? i look back at the notes i’ve been writing to finalize the posts, and it starts to sound the same: wake up. silent lunch with gon gon. visit pou pou. home. dinner with friends. drinks. out late. drunk. home. so what can we garner from this? anything at all?

1. my family is (more…)

I’ve been away from the computer while I’ve been in Taipei. But I’m back at it again. Don’t lose hope, true believers. Things have gotten a bit more haywire here, so plenty more stories on the way. I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seats. In the meantime, please enjoy this random video of my friend Jessy being given lovely kisses from Pin’s dog Immi. Yay.

Wake up late, not sure why. Oh wait, that’s right, on nights that I go to bed early, I can’t fall asleep. Perfect. I rush out of bed, knowing I have to walk over to Gon Gon’s by 12:30 at the latest. I speedwalk, continually thinking “Dude, just grab a cab and be done with it!” But nooooo, I insist on walking for some reason. Its not that far, right? I end up hitting every single red light. Crosswalks here tend to make both directions of traffic stop to let all pedestrians cross at the same time, but waiting for that (more…)

I woke up today a little later than usual, since I knew I wasn’t going to the hospital today and didn’t need to have lunch with Gon Gon. I headed out, a bit unkempt, and decided to meet up with my friend Nicole, someone I met on my last trip. We meet at the front of Luxy, a popular club, so it was easy to tell the cab driver where to go. I wait for about twenty minutes when Nicole finally shows up in a cab, and tells me to jump in. We head to a lunch spot that has hot pot. I’m frickin’ starving. Turns out this place is pretty popular, and there’s an hour wait.  If its that good, why not, right? (more…)

Woke up a little later today, but with a much better idea of how long it would take me to walk to Gon Gon’s place. Its definitely not a short walk, my legs are going to be plenty burnt when I get back to the life of driving in LA. I think I’m already losing weight, my belt is either stretching or my pants may need a wash to shrink back up a little again. I finally get to Gon Gon’s place, greeted as usual by the maid. Gon Gon and I eat lunch in silence together. Dumplings (jiao zi), Chinese spinach, bamboo, and other various vegetables and beancurd dishes. We finish the meal with large, plump cherries and go off to our corners of the apartment to do our things. An hour later, (more…)

Woke up at a decent time to an empty house. 10am. Jumped in the shower, washed up. Found that some toiletry item had exploded in my kit during the plane ride. Always a nice surprise. Prepare my bag to take out in the city, cameras, loading film, batteries, etc. Head out to try and find my way to my grandfather’s place to meet up with my aunt. Thank goodness for the Taipei 101 building, one of the tallest buildings in the world. Definitely a great landmark to keep me oriented and knowing where I should head. I get a little turned around but don’t get too lost heading to my grandfather’s apartment. Gon Gon (Mandarin for my mother’s father) is already a bit upset. He’s asking me where I’m staying, and seems to not believe that I have any friends here in Taipei. Odd thing to think… Regardless, I tell him I’m staying with friends, and that I’ll consider moving to his place as he wishes. Auntie Ailun shows up eventually (more…)