Scooter Crash!

Well I was driving to work the other day and ended up crashing my scooter. I was trying to get through an intersection as the light was turning red. One guy was getting a head start on the green light so we were both in the intersection when we shouldn't be. I swerved sharply to avoid hitting him and just wiped out crashing onto the ground. I'm not that clear on what happened but I didn't hit anyone, I landed on my shoulder and ripped a hole in my coat.

My helmet hit the ground but so did the side of my face on my cheek bone and brow. I was bleeding a lot it seemed but overall was okay. I picked up my scooter and kept driving. As I drove my vision started going white until I couldn't see anything. I guess it was the shock and adrenaline. I pulled over and just sat there resting for a while.

I continued to work where my co-worker gave me some first aid and I rested for a while before going home. Here are some photos of my face as its progressed. I'll add some pics of the damage to my scooter later.

Random Stuff

I just wanted to post a couple photos here, check 'em out:

Strange Australian Tree at the Science Museum here in Taichung:


Old man doing a very odd exercise on a small bridge, passers by greet him:


A Transformers Themed Scooter parked on my street:

Richie Post #3: Scooter Rental

We’ve been walking quite a bit actually, just not downtown on the bigger streets. The smaller streets aren’t bad, though you do need to keep an eye out.

Ian and I rode down to the area of the bus station and I was able to rent a nice silver 125cc scooter for $20 a day. All the people I've met here have been very welcoming, and the scooter rental lady was friendly and funny. It turned out my getting an international license was a good idea, and Ian’s Chinese was good enough for there to be no problem. We rode a windy little road into the foothills to the east outside this city.

It's very strange to see bamboo and palm trees growing in a jungle on the mountains. It was also interesting to see how quickly the landscape transformed form city to wilderness with hardly any sprawl or urban transition. The battery in my camera ran down so I didn't get any pictures today. Tomorrow I'm hoping to check out a park a little to the north of where we went yesterday. Ian says there are wild monkeys living there like squirrels, and I’ve got my camera all charged up.

Eating here is cheep and delicious. We picked up some large steamed dumplings, like the puffy white ones we used to get at the Nanking, from a big farmer's market on the way home. They have four different fillings and sell by the dozen for $3.00. They use motorized gizmos like slow moving horizontal fans with tassels over the fish and prepared food to keep the flies off. It works well, and a whole table with fresh fish had none of the little critters buzzing around.

I bought a six-pack of Kirin beer labeled, “Bar Beer”. I think its draft beer, light but good, and also inexpensive.

The picture is of what they call the 'night market', really just a big strange smelling flea market.

It's still hot and a little muggy during the day, but it cools down at night.

Oil change in Taiwan!

The other day I got the oil in my scooter changed. It has been about 5 months or so since I got it. I didn't really drive it very far, just to and from work and some places in the city. I was a bit worried about getting the oil changed. I always get nervous when I have to do something where I don't really know much about what I need to get done.

Here's a photo of the front of my scooter, some more drawings on there now. I still haven't seen any other scooters in the city like it, haha! I have some friends who are selling their scooter and motorcycle by the way, if you are interested!

So, I asked my friend Claire how to say 'change oil' in Chinese. It's 換機油 which sounds something like 'Huan Ji Yo.' I had been putting off changing the oil because I wasn't sure where I should do it, and I thought it might take a long time. In the US you need to put aside an afternoon to get the oil changed. There will be some waiting and they will try to sell you some other services and so on.

So I realized I could try the place around the corner. My friend said that every scooter shop should be able to do this. So I drove my scooter about 20 seconds down the block. I told the mechanic who was sitting in the shop 'huan ji yo' he said 'hao' (ok) and I used my made up sign language and broken chinese to say I'd walk home which was right around the corner. I gave him the key and left him alone. After literally 5 mins I walked on back and the work was done with my scooter waiting for me. I paid about $150 NT, that's around $4 US. WOW! 5 mins and $4! I mean you could probably just do it while waiting for a red light, or waiting for a friend.

Here is a photo of the shop:They have a sign outside that advertises English service. I guess if I need some other things done I can try there. The seat on my scooter needs to be replaced and I would like this part of my kickstand fixed too.

Most shops in Taiwan have the same kind of set-up:


You can see there is the inside of the building on the left, then a sidewalk area with a ceiling overhead held up by supports on the right. Beyond that is the street. Many shops have things inside the building area but the counter where you order will be out in this sidewalk area, sometimes the place they are cooking is out there as well. They will have propane tanks hooked up to provide power for cooking. Some restaurants have the seating out on the sidewalk part too. This means that if you want to walk down the sidewalk area here in most places you will be walking behind counters, and navigating through chairs and tables. Sometimes you will feel its more convenient to walk in the street, but as cars and scooters whiz by you about 10cm away from hitting you, you may reconsider.

The scooter shop has tools and office things inside the building and the actual work on the scooter takes place on the sidewalk area. Hard to really explain but I hope you can see what I mean in the photos.

Anyway, I had a good experience with the oil change, and once again I found I was worrying for no reason. One reason I came to Taiwan was part of facing my fear of not knowing exactly what was going on, and asking for help, getting chores done, stuff that an adult has to do all the time, without worrying too much.

In the future I'd like to get an interview with a scooter mechanic for my Taiwan Dreamin' video. I wonder when I can actually get the 1st eppisode completed...

General Update

I have been busy lately but it's hard for me to recall what exactly I've been doing.

On this past weekend I met with my friend Albert to play super-smash bros, after that we went to Grant and Diane's small get together, just chatting and drinking a little. After that we went to the 2nd 'Latex' Party at the club ZOO here in Taichung. It was very exciting and fun for me, just like the first one. Once again they had the 3 'Latex Girls' their pro dancers. I danced my way up to the front and proceded to showcase my skills and was pulled on the small stage by one of the girls. It was cool because as my friends came in they saw I was already on stage, haha! I am turning into a bit of a show off I think! Well anyways those girls sure were hot, one even told me later that I was a good dancer, which surprised me really!

Two of the Latex Girls - Dance with me again!~~

Last week I hung out with my friend from Hong Kong, Ronnie. She came to Taiwan for a few days to visit. Will, one of my Taiwanese friends who I met in USA was also here for a visit so the three of us went out to eat. Ronnie just started a new job in an office that represents celebrities in Asia, some famous Taiwanese stars like Jolin Tsai, and the boy-band lollipop.

Ronnie + Ian + Will @ Sogo Garage

Another cool thing for me is that, even though Ronnie had been to Taiwan a few times she had never ridden on a Scooter, so I gave her the first ride! Also after leaving Ronnie at the train station Will and I got lost and I was the first one to recognize where we were, haha! I am starting to feel like a Taichung native!


I have also been adding more graffiti to my scooter, I think it is starting to look pretty cool. I drew Donkey Kong, tried to make it look pixelated like an old game, and a face.


I also met a new friend named Claire! She is really cool and laid back, she also lives close by to me so it is easy for us to hang out. She also found a good use for my big apartment, we are doing a 2000 piece puzzle together on my floor. It's an image of a bunch of life size soda cans on a shelf, I think its pretty cool! I am really glad we met because I have had a lot of fun talking with her. I also was proud to help her out by picking her up from the Bus station, it was hard to find and far away but I managed it!


Today Jess flew to Vietnam in the morning and back to Taichung in the evening, so we met up at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi for dinner. We had some Thai food and a chat, I think working as a Flight Attendant sounds really stressful, I wouldn't like to live in so many dorms and hotels. But I am glad she is successful in her work!

Ian + Jess - Making silly faces!

So lastly I am having some eye problems right now. I opened a new contact lense set and one started to irritate my left eye so I took it out, next day I tried it in the right eye, still a little irritating but not as bad so I left it in. Well while I was working it got worse and worse, so finally I took it out. Well I am an idiot for leaving it in so long! Today my eye was very irritated and red so I couldn't wear contacts at all. I have been putting in eye drops and I think its getting better, doesn't seem as red at the moment, I will see tomorrow how it looks. So, was that enough to read?

Scooter Graffiti!

I started customizing my scooter by drawing on it, graffiti style! I am using some markers that I think will be permanent and seem to use the same paint as spray paint bottles. Well I did a old english typeface "A" for Alexander, and some arrow designs. I plan to really cover the whole thing, make it look really wild, haha!


You can see in the photo I now have a new Cell Phone, it is a Sony Ericsson, pretty nice and not too expensive, I had to shop around to get one that was a little cheaper, many 'cheap' ones were around $90 US, mine was about $45, and looks nicer too I think!

You can also see my helmet, its a pretty nice one with a face shield and close-able air vents in the top. So just wanted to show you that stuff!

Scooters VS Motorcycles. TW VS US

Some of my friends and family in the US were asking me, "Why would you buy a scooter rather than a Motorcycle?" Well here is my answer, you can correct me if I am wrong:


In America a Motorcycle can be safer at high speeds because it has a larger wheel, this allows you to hit pot holes without flying off your bike. However, in Taiwan you rarely get up to any speed that will send you flying, the cities are crowded. So far I have seen no traffic jams whatsoever but you rarely get up past 40 or 50 mph in the city. Another point is that there are TONS of scooters, they are very maneuverable due to the small wheels and if you are not able to keep up with their maneuvering that will be more of a danger. Taiwan driving is at a lower speed with more obstacles to dodge, American driving is at a higher speed where you need to worry more about road surfaces and maneuvering around large cars, rather than other scooters. Another point to mention is that Taichung is a totally flat city with really no hills to speak of so that makes it nice for scooters as well.

I also live on the first floor and I have huge garage doors on both sides of my house, I could park my scooter inside easily, and really I could park my dad's pickup truck in my living room if I wanted, I have enough room. I am considering whether or not to buy a new scooter. New scooters are quite a bit more expensive that a used one, but if I stay in Taiwan for a few years I think it could be worth it, I wont have to be as concerned about it randomly breaking down, and I can try to take good care of it to make it last a long time.

I got a job! Damn, I am so awesome!

I casually wrote out my resume yesterday, I thought, "Hey, might as well get a head start, maybe there are some people out there not preparing for CNY yet, they can get my resume early and consider me over the new years break. Then in the afternoon I got a call from Tammy Wu at Wells English Buxiban. She got an appointment with me for today at 10. She explained the address and the landmarks to look for. I knew some of them so I thought its easy to find.

So I got dressed up, wearing a tie and all. Walked down, got a little lost, but eventually I found the school, it has a big W logo. So I interviewed with the owner, she is very friendly with a kind face and attitude. I think we get along so she explained the job and all that. Basically I can tell she is ready to hire me as long as I give a good impression. I know I am prepared and will do a good job, so I don't feel very nervous. So she basically hired me right away, not sure if she even offered the job, just started getting my information for the ARC forms.

Then she decided, hmm- chinese new year is coming so everything will be closed, maybe we can do the health test today! I said - sure! If you can take me there, that's fine. So we jumped in the car and went to the hospital, they X-Rayed me, took my blood, and poked me in the stomach. Asked a few funny questions and then I was outta there. I guess I will have an ARC very soon.

After that we went to take the photos we needed too. That was quick, although I don't think my hair was as perfect as I wanted.

Then Tammy and her Husband took me to MOS BURGER. It's a japanese burger place, some weird burgers, but actually really tasty, better than McDonalds of course. I had like a pork and cabbage burger...

So yeah, the pay is like $580 NT an hour and about 15 Hours a week. $580 NT = $18 US, so that's about $1080 US a month, which is $34,000 NT. My Rent is $10,000. So even with only 15 hours a week I can pay the rent with a 3rd of my salary. Later they can offer me around 20 Hours a week, once I know what I'm doing.

So yeah, I will be all legal, easy to get a legal scooter, easy to do everything after I got an ARC.
I think their book seems good too. It a work book for the kids, a homework book, and a teachers guide, all made in the same system. I will get to see two other teachers first as well.

Okay, so go watch my video some more, I want more votes! Show it to your friends! Send them the link to the live video page: http://www.livevideo.com/video/2947CFC95DC746B49D001B6AE00575E3/taiwan-dreamin-promo.aspx

I will try to get it up on youtube as well.

Friendly Foreigners

Well, just as many other things are becoming obvious to me, I think the stereotype that all foreigners in Taiwan are losers is being busted, in my mind at least.

Even though I was told this by foreigners, but I have met my neighbors and they are super nice. The French guy gave me some chinese learning tools that are really helpful, he is here to study and goes to sleep early every day, not a party animal or anything.

The other is a couple, a French girl and a South African guy. They are both really generous and polite, and just interesting to talk to. I guess they like to go out to the pubs and stuff, but not like in a crazy way, maybe I need to tag along in order to get a feel for what normal people are doing on weekends, haha!

They also were asking what I will be doing during the non-foreigner-friendly Chinese New Year, where everything is closed and the Taiwanese are all inside with their families.

On another note, but still related to Foreigners, the Canadian guy who is selling the scooter said I can either pay him to bring the scooter down or try to do it myself. It would be a long drive but I'd also get to see Taiwan and maybe even film some video. I think maybe it'd be worth it. All I need to do basically is keep heading south till I get to Taichung. With the mountains on the east and ocean on the west there is not too much room to get REALLY lost, although, who knows, I might manage it.

Either way, getting back to your hometown is easier than going to another person's place.

So yeah my experience so far has been good, and with the people I met online too, all the foreigners I meet are educated and pretty responsible. When you are in a foreign country, you just gotta do what yah gotta do sometimes!

MORE SCOOTER!

So now I am looking at scooters for sale in Taichung, they seem reasonable as well. Low prices, like 10 - 15k. They are in Taichung too so that makes it easier.

The thing is I still don't have an arc because I don't have a job yet. You know, having an ARC is really a big deal, its used for everything. I guess I underestimated, I need to hurry and get a job!

Well, maybe somebody can sell me a scooter and then settle the other stuff later. But I wonder if I get pulled over will the original owner get in trouble if they let an unlicensed driver use what is technically their bike?

Hmm- gotta figure this out!

SCOOTER!

Theres a guy I met online who lives in Taiwan, he makes a lot of videos while riding his motorcycle, and just talks about random topics. Anyway, I was talking to him on MSN and he said that he has a cool scooter for sale. It's 125cc, which is i guess the biggest class of scooter, and it's been modified as well. He is going to put it on sale online today, for about $22,000 NT (about $660 USD.) I think it sounds like a good deal, he seems confident that it's a great scooter. I think its a good value too, I can probably get a crappy used scooter for less, but who knows if its going to break right away.

The only problem is he lives faaar North of me in another city, and also I don't have a working visa yet so we wouldn't be able to do the paperwork right away. I am trying to think if it would be cost effective to take it down here in a truck or if i might as well just buy a scooter locally instead.

Anyway, I think I will try to buy that, he got offline, but when he comes back I'll ask him more.

Oh man Oh man Oh man...

It's 4:21 am. I am still awake. Talking to people in taiwan, watching Mordeth13's videos on livevideo.com. I was looking at my apartment on google maps- looking at the distance to other people's places. To get out to the county area on the scooter is about 30 - 50 mins I think depending on where you are. Probably 30 mins to get across the downtown part of taichung, just estimating.

If it's really that quick on a 50cc then I think getting around is really easy. I can drive a scooter to work and for errands and then take buses or trains to other cities. Not needing a license is great, the I can get around right away!





For 50cc Scooters you don't need a license, well thats what some people said. I guess there is only a written test for them, but I was told that since I have a US Drivers license I don't need the Taiwanese license. If you want to drive a bigger scooter you need to take the written and road tests and get the Taiwanese license.

So I am thinking I can get a used 50cc scooter for a few hundred bucks maybe like 300 - 500 USD, not sure about that yet. Then once I learn to drive it better, and see if I want a bigger one, I can upgrade and also get the proper license. Seems getting around should be pretty easy.

If you are wondering why this is titled as it is, it's because I can't sleep because I have too much on my mind, going insane! The good thing is when I arrive in Taiwan I won't be jet-lagged, haha!