So I landed in Taiwan on Friday, participated in the obligatory drinking for Alan's bday, and then Saturday toured around some and ate whatever vegetarian street food I could lay my hands on. Come Sunday, starting bright and early (5 am-ish) I came down with sumpin' truly terrible - basically, it was a 19+ hour ordeal all day fighting unwanted and violent fluid loss. I shall leave out the gory details. I have trained my non-TCM friends in some modalities (no, not the actual act of needling - I have yet to trust any non-TCM friends with needling me), and they have been so so kind in playing nurse to my weak Americanized @$$. (Oh yes, the s*** and @$$ jokes will be going for awhile.) That's me at the right, laying face down, getting some treatment.

Today I thought I was feeling better and was going to do some sightseeing - Tina hooked me up with all these great Taipei travel tips before coming here - but I was sidetracked by light-headedness and general malaise. I *finally* went out tonight for a bit, fulfilled my wish to ride the MRT system by myself, but after running one errand, I promptly went home and, sick of my pitiful condition, asked my friends to take me to the hospital. I have been prescribed, if you can believe it, Super Supau (a type of sports drink), and no food for the next 2 days, along with some meds. Lovely.

Looks like my mission to gain lots of weight and eat stinky tofu at every turn has experienced a major setback.

Some pics are uploading here. Don't know why the comments aren't showing up. Grr. Will fix that later. I'm gonna let 'em upload, finish up tonight's dose of Super Supau, and hit the sack.

There are 3 more things on my to-do list tonight before I can hit the sack, and I can't tell what one of them is (curse my chickenscratch!). And at this point I don't care. The sandman beckons. Oh how heavy my eyelids are getting ...

Almost there. Alllllmost there!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped relieve a LOT of the impending stress today.

Hey, Hello Kitty fans! (I know you're out there!) ;)


(all pics from EVA Air website)

EVA Air has a Hello Kitty jet! And they're on version 2 - not being a hardcore Kitty fan, I wasn't aware there was a version 1!



The website is only in Chinese and Japanese. So my question is: can you actually book a flight based on wanting to be aboard the Hello Kitty jet?

Just saw this blurb in English:

"The colorful special-edition EVA Airbus 330-200 sequel is painted nose-to-tail with super-sized Hello Kitty characters cast as airline crew and staff. 

"A beaming Kitty in an EVA cabin-attendant uniform welcomes passengers onboard while Daniel confidently stands next the cockpit outfitted as one of the airline’s captains, ready to whisk families on merry flights to fun-filled destinations.  The perky Tippy bear wears a chef’s hat and holds a spoon, prepared to create Evergreen Sky Catering’s gourmet treats.  Teddy and Joy as maintenance professionals ensure that the Kitty Jet is in tip-top shape.  Tim, also in a maintenance uniform, makes sure nothing has been overlooked from the right wing while Tammy as a cabin attendant exudes friendly composure from the left wing.  Fiffy, Cathy the rabbit and Rory the squirrel are all colorfully clothed as EVA ground staff, escorting passengers onboard the Kitty Jet Version 2.

(I'm trying to figure out who's who here ... so uh, who's Fiffy?)

"... The cabin interior is a fantasy land with sweet Hello Kitty paintings on the walls, and friendly flight attendants wearing Hello Kitty ribbons in their hair and Hello Kitty aprons.  The Hello Kitty fun starts at check-in and lasts until luggage is claimed just as it does on EVA’s original Kitty Jet. Passengers get pink Hello Kitty boarding passes and luggage tags.  Service onboard is accompanied by Hello Kitty accessories.  Menu choices include Hello Kitty meals with special Kitty ice cream, and passengers have access to exclusive EVA Hello Kitty duty-free shopping. "

I want to ride this jet and take pictures of EVERYTHING. :)

Any more of this last-minute shiznit and I'm gonna explode. This is ridiculous!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM NEVER DRINKING COFFEE AT NIGHT AGAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!@#$!@%!%@#$^#$^#$&!$%@#$%$%^*%(%$^#$@%#$%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having too much random fun with the camera. Abercrombie borrowed from Alex. Inspired by Frances. Cap from the bro (new pic, btw).



My captions would be:
"Darn it, when is that person gonna get off the toilet?! I gotta go!!"
"Plotting world domination is always better with a teddy bear."
Hmm, can't think of any others at the moment.

Make me laugh.

Afterthought: I just realized that the hoodie says "92", which was a year in which my life changed course in many ways. I moved to a new city, a new country. I abruptly went from junior high to senior high. I also went from having friends to having none, from being generally liked to being the target of jeering, from being happy-go-lucky to having daily peer pressure flung at me like dung from all directions.

It is so true, that what doesn't kill you, only serves to make you stronger. And I know many had it worse than me. And they are some of the strongest people I know.

[ / moody afterthought ]

Now make me laugh!!

While reading up on Ted Haggard today, I couldn't help but notice that he looked like SOMEBODY ...

Finally I put my finger on it. "Stiffler" from American Pie. Duh!!

We just got a new printer. Whenever I am setting up things like this, I install software, plug it in, hook up the USB cable, just like the instructions say. I'm a good girl. I do things step by step, in order, instruction manual in hand, never veering off the path, for fear of screwing something up.

And then there's my dad. He'd just received the printer and asked me if I could come over and install it. Over the phone, I told him he should be able to install the thing himself no problem, as long as he "followed the instructions". I forgot that my dad is a male of the type that is allergic to printed instructions. He attempted something, but aborted his mission along the way. Who knows what he did. Now I have this hulking machine angrily whirring at me, loud as hell, and not printing anything.

The thing that is frustrating me the most is really how tiny the instructions are for what to do with the toner cartridge. "Break off this tab and pull out the tape", "if it's not printing, make sure you've broken off the tab and pulled out the tape". There is a teeny tiny diagram, that looks nothing like my cartridge, trying to illustrate this. I see that parts have already been broken off. I am praying my dad didn't just go to town and break off the wrong parts!

I'm looking in the trash for evidence of his activities. Nothing. Darn it all, today was trash day!

[ sulk sulk sulk ]

Well, at least the power has come back on. I was like, "Oh, let me help set up the printer! Oh, I can't turn it on." "Oh, let me heat up something to eat! Oh wait, I can't." "Oh, let me get the address and directions to that place! Oh, I have no internet." "Oh, the landline phone's ringing! But I have to run downstairs to pick up because that's the only one in the house that isn't a cordless." "Oh, let me blog my frustrations to the world! Oh, I can't ... "

This weekend I became intimately acquainted with a Wahl's grooming device, along with attachments #1 and #2.

Before.


After.


You can't really tell the quality of the haircut here, but I'm told that Chef Hugh has not yet felt it necessary to wear a paper bag over his head nor hide away from society entirely.

s: What did you use here to protect your camera's LCD screen?
me: Oh, it's just a WriteRight for PDAs that I sliced up and put on there. I'm pretty rough with my cameras.
s: I can see that. (pointing) I mean, you've even got food on your camera!
me: (!!!) I do?!?! OMG hahah I'm so embarrassed! (runs off to wipe noodles off camera)

As s said, rule #1: try not to use your camera as a plate.