Life as J

This morning, I awoke in my 5-star luxury hotel bed feeling thoroughly rested and extremely sore! It turns out the massage last night worked wonders for my neck muscles, but the cost was delayed pain on top of the monetary costs. I guess you can't win 'em all. Breakfast was the same as yesterday - the buffet downstairs filled up many tourists' stomachs in preparation for the full day of activities. During a pit stop on the way to the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China, we visited a Jade museum. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of jade - I had only ever seen the green variety. I learned that the higher quality jade can be distinguished by the way its color stays constant under different lighting conditions and the high frequency pinging sound it makes when it clinks against something. When we arrived at the Badaling section of the Great Wall, I was amazed. This particular section was reconstructed to preserve its structure, but imagining the ...

Just a few pictures from Benhai Park!

Today, my feet were treated to a long, tiring journey through Beijing's historical attractions starting with the famous Tiananmen Square. I wasn't really sure what to expect from Tiananmen Square - perhaps some sort of sombre place like Ground Zero after September 11. What I saw was quite different - and instead of sombre, the atmosphere was more of a curious suppressed tension. The Square is surrounded by a memorial for Chairman Mao (housing his remains), Parliament buildings, a memorial for Dr. Sun Yat -Sen, and the entrance to the Forbidden City. I guess I was surprised by how many things were around the Square. In regards to the atmosphere, there were a ton of curious tourists covering the entire Square and there was suppressed tension caused by the many military soldiers and police officers ensuring that no untoward behaviour took place. Very communist-like. (A semi-related side note: in writing the above, I was trying to confirm a couple of facts about Tiananmen ...

Similar to the last series of flights I took in order to get to Taiwan, I bustled to the airport at 5 in the morning for a one-hour flight from Taipei to Hong Kong. Thankfully, lounge access was available at the airport, so I was able to grab a quick bite to eat before hopping on the plane. When we arrived at Hong Kong, there was a bit of time to kill (approximately 2 hours) before our connecting flight from Hong Kong to Beijing, so there was time to explore the vast airport. It turned out to be huge - from the next picture, you can see at least 5 floors including a train station on the bottom floor! Walking around, I was reminded that Hong Kong is home to one of the newest Disneyland amusement parks. I stopped by to have a look at their Disneyland store and couldn't stop myself from admiring the cute stuffed animals. By the time 12:45 rolled around, I was finished ogling the adorable Piglets and was on an Air China airplane bound for Beijing. The flight was okay for the mos...

Yes, that's right. Eating! I had an awesome breakfast of traditional Taiwanese dishes, including special buns, dumplings, and salty tofu soup. It was all very yummy, I assure you - despite what the names might bring to mind! After breakfast, we had a bit of time to kill before lunch ( hehe ) so we drove around a bit and also watched the latest episode of Gilmore Girls. I won't go into the specifics of the TV show, since that's not really part of the Asian experience, but I did snap a photo of a cute little dog that was poking its head out of the car next to us on the road. Lunch was also Taiwanese cuisine - baked chicken (marinated with secret sauce) and cheese-topped soup. Normally, cheese really isn't my thing, but this soup was quite unique, kind of like French onion soup but more poofy . The picture isn't too great, but you can grasp the general poofiness . After lunch, the exploration of downtown Taiwan continued with a trip to the world's tallest tow...

Here's a picture of the soldiers inside the Memorial Hall during their shift change. Here's a picture of the roof inside the Memorial Hall. The star shape is the same as the symbol on the Taiwanese flag. Here's a better picture of the statue memorializing the former president. Lastly, here's a picture taken from the top of the stairs, looking towards the gate guarding the entrance to the Memorial Hall gardens.

So today was quite a full day, starting at 7:00 AM. No, I wasn't forced out of bed, I unfortunately got up at that time because of some residual jet lag. After running some errands, lunch was eaten at Pizza Hut! Yes, Pizza Hut. But the buffet table wasn't quite the same as North American fare - in addition to the pizza buffet, the spread included appetizers, other main courses, fruits, and huge choice of drinks. To distinguish the Taiwanese Pizza Hut further, the pizza flavours ranged from Japanese teriyaki chicken with mushrooms and shrimp with squid to kimchi pizza! The dessert pizzas included apple pie and egg custard pizza. Check out the spread below! After lunch, there was a bit of sight-seeing around downtown Taipei. I had the opportunity of seeing the Chiang Kai- shek Memorial Hall and its surrounding gardens and opera houses. A stroke of good luck enabled me to witness the military shift change - since there are always military guards on duty at the Hall. I...

As promised, a picture of the tantalizing rice cake from Nagoya, Japan!

With my last final exam out of the way, I have been enjoying all the freedom that I've been afforded. I just arrived in Taipei after a long day of flights from Toronto. After checking in at Toronto International Airport around 5 in the morning, I flew to the other side of the continent - San Francisco. The flight was fairly uneventful, most likely due to the fact that I was sleeping through most of it. I stayed up all night before the flight since I knew that if I was extremely tired, no turbulence would prevent me from getting my beauty sleep. Once we touched down, we had to rush a little to make our connecting flight to Nagoya, Japan. I was so tempted to stop for some See's toffee bites, but alas - the clock was ticking and the shuttle to the International terminal was waiting. It was a whole 11 hours before we saw land again. During that time, I watched Notes on a Scandal and Miss Potter. They were both decent - one very intense drama followed by a lighter bio pic highlighti...

My absentmindedness hasn't really bothered me too much this term - typically, I'll misplace the odd thing here and there but I've been doing pretty well for 4 months... until today! This morning, when I headed out to attend a couple of final exam review sessions, I realized that my cellphone wasn't sitting in my coat pocket. Surprisingly, I didn't go into full-blown panic mode. I calmly checked around my room and the common areas of the house, but didn't find anything. The night before, I'd gone out for dinner to celebrate my roommate's birthday, so I figured I must have accidentally dropped it there without realizing it before I left. I still had the receipt in my wallet (which, thankfully, was not in the same pocket as my phone) so I was able to call the restaurant to ask them if they'd seen it. The dice were not rolling in my favour. Unfortunately, the restaurant had no good news for me, saying that they'd keep a lookout for it. Too bad....

With all the hubbub about graduation and the decisions that accompany the all-important milestone, I've been thinking about all my past experiences in "the real world" and about "growing up". How fast are people expected to mature? How fast should people mature? First of all, I guess I should define this "growing up" or "maturing". Or can I do such a thing? There are so many definitions or events that have been associated with this rite of passage. The definition provided by the dictionary doesn't seem to be quite complete: " to be or become fully grown; attain mental or physical maturity. " I suppose responsibility comes with growing up - I don't think that would go against the majority. Perhaps, maturing might also involve living away from home? Being in a serious relationship? Getting married? What about work-related events? Getting a full-time job? Or even getting a Master's degree or PhD? I guess there ...

Today was the last day of classes - hooray! Day by day, the end draws nearer and everyone's spirits seem to be lifting as we drift closer and closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. In my last circuit design lectures, we raced through material as if we were in a time warp. Normally, everyone would be going crazy trying to absorb the material as fast as it was delivered, but it seemed as if the atmosphere was slightly different today. Instead of panicking, people simply listened and accepted that we wouldn't be able to grasp everything. As I mentioned, the atmosphere was light and everyone was just happy that this was the last day that we would ever sit in lectures as an undergraduate student (assuming all of us pass the final exams). In the first lecture, we whizzed through two times the normal amount of material covered in a single hour. Then, in the second lecture, we covered the last two chapters of the course! After my two morning classes, we had our last class...