My blog in Taiwan

My advisor was right. It's hard to have any serious progress on my paper once I'm back home busy being myself. :P

Now I know I haven't updated my blog for quite some time. But since I'm back to Taiwan and most of my friends there read Chinese, I've started another blog. It would be mostly written thoughts, and photos would mostly taken by my cellphone and consumer cam, nothing serious.

Meanwhile, I'll try my best to update more photos here like the ones I had a couple days ago during a mountain hike. And I'll be in Europe for nearly two weeks starting the end of May.

You'll find my Taiwan blog link here or at http://www.wretch.cc/blog/cat116

I still care about my friends in States. I miss you a lot. I wish you well and let me know what's up. Keep in touch mate.

More from Japan

2008 Northeastern Japan

Hanako

Hanako is a baby girl nearly 4 weeks old waiting for a new home and for someone to love her as much as we do.

An ignorant cousin of mine dumped her at my grandma's 2 weeks ago. She's now staying with my friend Chick, who happens to have 5 cats in her apartment already. Down below is a photo taken by her.

Recently, Hanako has discovered a brand new way to do the facial when she falls asleep into the meat bowl halfway through her meal. :)

A cat that snores

It happened the other night when I was already in bed.
At first, I thought it was coming from some neighbor or possibly, some ghost.
It turned out to be Pantsy not purring but snoring in her sleep.
Which reminds me how mysterious cats are sometimes.

Ginguashih

My folks and I had a weekend getaway up north. We went snorkeling, mountain climbing, and munching on the freshest seafood you can find. The best thing of all: We found a peace of heaven in this stylish B&B.

Re: Sichuan earthquake

When we first saw the notice, all my family including my sister, Mom, and Dad wanted to go to help out. I guess the enthusiastic gene does run in the family.
But thought about my past experience and potential dangers like aftershocks, cracked dams, plague outbreak, and possibly mental trauma, I persuaded them not to simply because they were not up to the challenge both physically and mentally.
I'm not saying I'm better or stronger than others.
I want to go because I can and I'll prepare myself to.

Persuading my overly-protective dad wasn't too hard.
I told him:
Some people lost their family and home overnight. They are seriously left with NOTHING.
We have so much. Why can't we help?
I want to go to Sichuan, on behalf of the family.

He listened in silence, then he said:
Fine. Go. I support you.

I have to admit that was pretty cool to hear him say that.

Sichuan earthquake

So far there have been more than 100,000 injured, dead, and missing. People in Sichuan are living in constant fear of 23 endangered dams, thousands of aftershocks, and the potential plague outbreak.
Resources and money are pouring in from all over the world, but guess what?
They are too slow and too inefficient in terms of distributing.
People are crying next to roads out of starvation and desperation.

Today is suppose to be the day I set my foot on Sichuan to help the victims and refugees in the Sichuan earthquake.
It will not be my first time joining the medical team to help those in need.
I had to consider and prepare for both physical and mental danger being in such a horrific place, not to mention to persuade my parents in letting me go.
Many relatives and friends of mine think it's a bad idea.
I'm not trying to be a hero. I go because I know I can and I want to.

Unfortunately, the trip was canceled a day before for political reasons.
Reasons that I can not understand and will not accept.
I want to go and help, but now I can only pray.

Spay

It wasn't a big deal when our dogs got spayed or neutered, so I wasn't really prepared for what was about to come when I dropped off Pantsy at the vet.
When I went to pick her up, seeing her hurt both mentally and physically entirely broke my heart. I had to go through a few major debates with myself and others in terms of the reality and humanity.

For the first two days, she struggled to recover and get around with that silly looking satellite dish around her neck.
Unable to see the rest of the body, she kept bumping into corners, falling off chairs, missing targets, and licking the headband. However, she has developed the skill to march backwards, which has proven to be surprisingly useful and extremely cute. :>
She is furless on her tummy and one forearm. She can't play much. Eating and drinking are difficult. She has accidentally spilled, tipped over and broken things here and there. Unable to lick her whole body clean is driving her nuts. And on top of all that, she has to take painkillers five days straight.

I love Pantsy so much! It makes me extremely sad and guilty to ever put her in this position.
I guess it's just one of those things to compromise when the world is getting smaller.

Birthday gift

Sorry for another no-photo posting. I could have post more stories of Pantsy Shmazy (just turned 6 months old), but I've received complaints about my photo blog turning to a cat blog. So sorry cat lovers! Maybe next time. :p

I got back to Taiwan a couple weeks ago. As I slowly reconnect with some good old friends, Chick, my best friend from high school, is about to be 27 the next week. Wow, how long have we been best friends for? Something like 11 years starting when we were 16? Good times, good times.

Anyway, as friends get older, it has become more difficult to pick a good birthday present every year. When I say "good", let me remind you I'm a total freak, perfectionist, and above all a Taurus when I set my mind on finding an ideal gift for my best pals. It would be planned for days or even weeks (actually months for my sister this year) once it has become my mission in life.

So I'm asking around, searching the Internet, and looking for some ideas. But man...
I don't know what to get her!!!!!! Hellllllllllllllllllllp