New Toy

I received my new toy -Gorrilapod SLR. This crazy design redefined the meaning of tripod. You no longer needs to worry the height of the tripod because it clings to almost anything possible. I'm going to shoot some good firework photos with it this year.

Now and Then

We passed by the coffee shop where we shot our wedding album two years ago. For fun and memory, we went to the same spot and took a picture. The diffeence is needless to say...

Unplanned Day Off

This morning when I was driving to work, a motorcycle rider knocked on my window and told me I had a flat tire. Driving on highway in such condition seemed dangerous, so I took the day off to get the car fixed. The cozy chair, music and coffee in Starbucks was perfect to spend some time waiting for the repairment to be completed on such a rainy day. With a good book in my back pack, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Week 15+

Today we had another preridical exam and paid for an extra ultrasonic scan of the baby which is not covered by the health insurance. This week it looks more like a baby, with obvious head and limbs. The spine and femurs were also clearly visible on the monitor. Since it is too big to be seen on one screen, there was no measure of its total length but with separate parts. the widest part of its head was 3.4 cm, which equals 16 weeks. However, its femur length was only 1.5 cm as a 14-week-old fetus should have. Does that mean the baby is going to have a big head and short legs?

Besides looking at the baby, the ultrasonic scan also exams the quatity of amniotic fluid. Next Wednesday we're going to have an Amniocentesis. The law requires the doctors must strongly suggest expecting mothers over 35 years old to do this test. The doctor said that it's very simple and painless, but I'm still not quite comfortable about it. Maybe I'm just worrying what to do if the test result shows something wrong.

Best Year of Baseball

The year 2006 is the best year in baseball for me. Although our national team were disappointing in WBC to start the year, later on we have Tiger Wang grabbing the most wins of MLB and the long underestimated players of La New Bears won the champion title of CPBL. When it came to November, the feast began. La New Bears defeated Samsung Lions, and lost to Japan by one run in the Asian Series to finish in 2nd. A few days later, Chinese Taipei beat Korea and Japan to finish the Inter Continental Cup in 3rd.
Then, the entree, Chinese Taipei won Gold Medal in Doha Asian Games! Bottom of 9th, runners on 2nd and 3rd, one out, one run behind. Next batter came in 0-4 and 2K to face the young prospect who pitched 0.82 ERA in the Inter Continental and will join professional clubs next season. What would you expect? A walk away hit with 2 RBI to end the game? That's what happened. I believe most people who watched the game were very emotional and proud to be a Taiwaner.

Day Off

Not feeling like going towork this morning. Might be the rain, bust weekend, or just recent atmosphere in the office. So I take a day off, staying home to get some rest - physically and mentally. Eden had be draw cards from his Osho Tarot Zen Cards. My first card was "Stress", indicating my current consition. And the second card I got, when asking what to do, was "Empty". It was a major card indicating my recent challenges to overcome. Too much mystery to solve, so let's get back to earth and have a bowl of simple noodles for lunch.

Commander in Chief

Watched the last episode of the great TV series tonight. It's a nice series about the ideals and integrity in politics, and how they are comprimised or threatened by power games. When I finished the last episode of season one, I opened my browser to check if there is season two or when will be. Here comes the irony. There will not be season two. In fact, there was not even a complete season one! It was cancelled before season one ends because the rating was not good (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander_in_Chief_%28TV_series%29).

In the drama, President Allen wanted to seek the next presidency but insisted that she will only do it the right way. That is, no dirty games or exchanges in order to get certain votes or better polls. Everyone knows it doesn't work, but I believe the vewers or supporters of this drama wishes she can make it. However, in the real world, she didn't lived out the first presidency because her numbers were not good enough. A dream is just a dream eventually.

Pica Pica Day

Today is a big day for Allie's company Makalot. They opened the first store of their own brand - pica pica. Almost every manufacturing company on this island is talking about going branding, but very few succeeded to even begin. The philosiphy of OEM/ODM is completely useless in the world of brands. While people see the benefit of going branding, they often ignore the huge risk and determination involved. Believe me, it's not fun. BENQ 's SIEMENS merger is a good lesson for most manufacturing companies to see if they are ready to risk everything in their pockets. If so, you might have a chance.

But hey, I'm not cursing Pica Pica. I wish them all the best, because if they succeed, it will be helpful for my mortgage. Check out the photos of the opening day in my album and if you have extra money to spend, here the map of the store.