Lotto Fever

I won! Last night, I began to straighten out the drawer I usually stuff my old receipts into. You don't really realize how much stuff you buy over the course of a couple of months. It's the little things like bottles of water or snacks bought at the 7-11 that really add up. These receipts get everywhere too, in pockets, on desks, in wallets, bags, under the bed, everywhere. Pretty soon, if you decide to save them, you're swimming in these long white strips of paper.

The Taiwanese government has installed this system to deter store owners from fudging the books so to speak. This link may explain it better than I can.
http://www.tealit.com/lotto.htm
Basically, the rolls of paper on which receipts are printed on are government issued and each receipt has a unique number. Every two months, four numbers are announced by the government. One is the grand prize number worth up to NT2,000,000 (65,000USD.) This month's grand prize number is 39907790. Then there are three other numbers for smaller prizes up to NT200,000. If you match the last three numbers of a receipt to any one of the four numbers announced, you can get NT200, four numbers NT1000, five numbers NT4000, six numbers NT10,000 and so on. This months supplementary numbers are 01454603, 01927870, and 45537472.

Last night, while searching through my hundreds of receipts, I found one with the number 33454603. At first I thought I had only won NT200 like I usually do. I put it aside and continued looking through the other receipts. But then I stopped and decided to look at the next number of that winning ticket, 4603; it matched. Then the next number, 54603. Could I have won NT200,000? But my excitement stopped there. I ended up NT4000 (about 130USD), which is more than I had ever won before. I was so excited. I won something for nothing! I wanted to claim my money instantly. There were two problems. It was 11:30 at night; the banks were closed. And then, they've got this silly rule that you have to wait a week after the numbers are announced to claim prizes. My soon to be 4000 cash is hanging on my wall right now. I can't forget to go to the bank next week.

Update on my poor neck

Last night after kung fu class, I told my master what Dr. Yan had done and asked if that was normal. He cupped his hand and asked if he hit me like this. He made that familiar whacking sound.
I jumped, "Yes!"
He explained that the body had passage ways in which energy moved through. "There are points all over your body, like here." He squeezed that webbed part between my thumb and my index finger.
"D ouch!"
"The biggest one is in the back of your neck. If you get a cold (which I had a few weeks ago), it can become stuck. Do you sleep late?"
"Uh, yeah."
"like 2 or 3 in the morning?"
"Yeah! How do you know?"
"If you sleep late, that bone (he shows me) can become uncomfortable. I know because I do the same thing. So try to sleep earlier and if you have a cold you can hit your neck by yourself to help circulation. That's why the doctor did that."

Last night I tried to go to sleep a bit earlier but it wasn't easy being that I got up around noon that day. I think I fell asleep a little after one a.m. and this morning I woke up a bit earlier than I had expected, due to construction going on in the next building. Sure enough, my neck was feeling much better. ??But, but, how can this be?? I had always thought as long as I was getting at least eight hours of sleep, it was healthy.
Don't get me wrong. I came here with the biggest skepticism about Chinese medicine which is why it took me two and a half years to finally give it a try. This experience may not have completely dissipated my ideas about this form of treatment but it's definitely opened my eyes. There's also the fact that I believe my kung fu teacher may have supernatural powers. He's no Bruce Lee but he can do things that normal people cannot do.

Hindsight 20/20, local Taiwanese hardcore band. Taken at a cozy venue called The Wall. ISO 3200 1/60 sec. F2.8. 

Making noise is fun! Endzweck. 

Lead guitarist from Endzweck, a hardcore band from Japan.

Routine trip to the chiropractor

I was finally able to fit into Dr. Yan's busy schedule this morning. Though it's been two weeks since my sniffling accident, I'm still waking up in the morning with a stiff neck. After searching around the wrong 7-11 on the corner of Fuxing and Mingquan this morning, (there's actually a convenience store on every corner of the intersection), I was eventually able to find the small doctor's office with the assistance of a security guard. It was an unimpressive narrow room with gray speckled tile flooring and fluorescent lighting. The observation area and the waiting room was separated with one Chinese silk screen movable wall and another rolling turquoise medical divider. Upon the walls hung several traditional Chinese paintings along with a pressure point chart next to his desk. He was in the middle of treating a patient when I entered. I apologized for not understanding his directions. "Duibuqi, wo zai bu yiyang de 7-11." "Wo xiang ye shi." It was then I realized why it was always he who was answering the phone - it was a one man show. He had neither a secretary nor a physician's assistants helping him out, just him. I sat in one of the blue plastic chairs for about ten minutes observing the decor while listening to slapping noises coming from the other side of the division. I thought to myself, it's a good thing I don't need that kind of treatment because it sounds like that might hurt, all the while trying to put paranoid thoughts out of my mind that I might be one of the first patients to become paralyzed by a chiropractic treatment. It was my first time going to a chiropractor as you may have guessed. The slapping noises subsided and a middle aged stout woman popped out from behind the division thanking the doctor. "Leenda Hong!" I picked up my bag and entered his office behind the silk screen. The first thing he did was ask me what my problem was and then proceeded to examine my spine while sitting in the chair. He pushed and prodded different points near my neck. "Your right side is more problematic. It's very tight." He touched a point on the right side of my neck which sent pain signals shooting up my nerves. He took a look at my back, "Your back is all out; you didn't know?" "Um, bu zhidao."
I lie stomach down on the table. He lifts and bends my legs, one side then the other. "Your right leg is not very good." That's right. How did he know? I've always had problems with my right ankle giving out when I walk. He gave a good push on my spine and there it was. CRACK! "Lie on your back" He had me turn to one side. "Relax..." C.C.C.Crack.k.k.k "Cross your arms" C.C.Crack.k.k "Turn your head to your left. Crack k. It actually didn't hurt too much and by the end of it I was feeling so much better. Well, that's just fantastic, I thought. I got up and walked over to a chair where he was waiting to reexamine me. "Your left side is better but your right side is too tight." This is when he proceeded to whack me with the palm of his hand on my right shoulder. "Just tell me if it hurts too much." I didn't want to seem like a pansy so I didn't say anything. Whack! Whack! Whack! I'm thinking, "Oh man, when is this gonna end?" Whack! Whack! Whack! My palms are sweating. Whack! Whack! Whack! This really hurts. Whack! Whack! Whack! He stops and repositions himself. Is it over? Whack! Whack! Whack! No. Whack! Whack! Whack! I try to meditate but I can't because every time he hits me the wind is blown out of my lungs. Whack! Whack! Whack! This goes on for about ten minutes and when its over, I'm not quite sure what to think. He asks me if I feel alright. I think so considering I was just pummeled for ten minutes. We make an appointment for next Tuesday. I figure, if I'm not better in a weeks time, he can use a different method. It wasn't until I got home and looked in the mirror, I discovered the physical marks he left behind. Half of my right shoulder is covered in black and blue splotches. The pain in my neck had disappeared only to be replaced by a pain in my trapezius. Strangely, it doesn't really hurt where he hit me but it's more of an internal muscle pain. Let's see if I wake up with that stiff neck tomorrow. I'll keep you updated on the prognosis.

My first skate demonstration

So I walk into school today, with my board in hand. As I'm walking up to the second floor, Uncle Sam (more about this character later), enthusiastically asks me if I can skateboard. I reply that I can so he asks me to show him. "Here?" I ask. "Yea, in the hall." I lay the skateboard on the floor, place my right foot in the center and give it a good push with my left. I move about an inch until the wheels are blocked from spinning by something probably left on the floor by a half day student. I go flying forward with my soup and subway sandwich in my hands, the board shooting backwards off into the stairway. Clonk, bonk, tumble, tumble, tumble. Uncle Sam screaming "Oh my god! Are you okay?!" Besides some of the soup splashing onto my pants, I was fine. I think the sandwich helped break my fall. I'm just glad I didn't take some poor kid's head off with the board flying into the stairs. I tried it again without difficulty; whatever that was on the floor obstructing the wheels, mysteriously disappeared. Then, he asked if he could try it. He gave a slight push and jumped off, "My God, so dangerous!" Completely flush red embarrassed, I headed up to the prep room.
Uncle Sam is an interesting fellow who's been working at Kojen School #6 since it opened some 15 years ago. I'm not really sure what his position is and I don't think anyone else at school does either. Sometimes I see him in the stock room filling forms out or in the office writing important things, I'm not sure. But then I also see him fixing lights and sorting the recycling bins. He's the nicest old chap who always says hello when I walk by but I'm not quite sure why he works here. What I do know of him, beside the fact that he's an unbelievable ping pong player (just recently winning the fourth consecutive annual table tennis tournament at our school,) is that owns several apartments and properties around the city of Taipei. Saying he's more than well off is an understatement. He's just loaded, though, you would never have guessed it by his modest manner. I just hope I don't embarrass myself too badly in front of him any time again in the near future.

A woman passing the time reading the newspaper and watching TV at her betal nut stand between the columns of an overpass. Canon A2, Sigma 28-80mm 

I think this is her husband. Canon A2, Sigma 28-80mm. 

You can really see the lens distortion around the edges as opposed to the skate pitures taken with the Nikon FM2, Nikkor 55mm macro lens. The color contrast is not as strong either. This was taken near my school in Shilin with my Canon A2, Sigma 28-80mm zoom lens. 

Fourth time's a charm

Yesterday, I watched a how to video on the Transworld Skateboarding site. http://www.skateboarding.com/skate/tricktips/0,12616,,00.html
I kept visualizing myself kicking the tail down and landing perfectly back on the board. So this morning I couldn't wait to ride around to find a place where I could practice. While riding to work, I stopped off at Zhong Cheng Park to practice a little. After a few attempts, ended up landing on the side of the board sending me backwards and the board flipping towards me. The edge hit me in the shin, the same place it hit the night before. Went out to practice again tonight at the park across the street from me. I hit it again and crumbled to the ground in pain. Out for a good 15 minutes. I could see this purple plum growing near my ankle. I attempted the formidable ollie again and... I did it! I landed with two feet on the board then and jumped off. It was a tiny one but an ollie nonetheless. Tried it again and I stayed on. Amazing. Tried it again and hit that same damn spot on my shin, fell to the floor, shrieking in pain. That was it for the night. I think I'm going to look for a place I can buy soccer shin guards.

Fly man, fly. 

It looks so easy. 

Mid twenties crisis

Call me crazy but I just went out to buy a skateboard. And yes I'm turning twenty-five this year. I've been going to Yuanshan skate park to take pictures regularly and thought riding around on a narrow wooden board with four plastic wheels looked quite possibly fun. Then, Jag a coworker at school, bought one a couple of weeks ago. I thought, what the hell, why not?

Yuan shan skate park. Mid sized half pipe.  

Not a good week

Last Friday, woke up, felt fine, went to the kitchen to get some cereal as I do every morning, and just before I got my bowl, I sniffled. This sniffle proved to be more trouble than I had ever expected. At that very second, a fluid pop sounded in my neck and I was rendered incapacitated for the next five minutes. Ouch. Pain like I had somehow either dislocated a vertebrae or sprained my neck muscles or like I was dying from my spinal cord being ruptured, I don't know but it hurt, a lot. There I was, staring at the sink for some time. When I thought the pain had subsided enough to move again, I decided to do some neck exercises to loosen it up. No luck. It still hurt, ow. That night I stayed up until 4 or 5 in the morning because I just couldn't get comfortable. By 4:30 I was frantically flipping though the English phone book and old magazines to see if I could find an ad for a chiropractor. "I NEED TO FIND A CHIROPRACTOR NOW!" Nothing. I couldn't turn my head for a couple of days but eventually the pain ebbed. I did end up finding one though a friend but on the night before I was supposed to go, Mr. Kung Pao Chicken poisoned me. I thought we were friends, too! I wonder what people thought while I was hurling up soup, rice, cabbage in front of Warner Village. After a night of excretion from every bodily orifice, delirium took over. I kept thinking I was in this Japanese animation I had just watched called Spirited Away. It was awful. Thinking it was safe to eat something the next day I ate a half loaf of bread. That's fairly easy to digest, I thought. What followed next was unbelievable wrenching pain like I'd never felt in my abdomen before. Every time I stood up, it came back so I stayed in bed the entire day. I started to then get a headache from lying down so much. What I mess I was. I'm better now but I'm starting to feel the tickle in the back of the throat that usually indicates a cold coming.

Please make the rain stop! 

rain rain go away

It's now approaching the third week of continuous rainfall in Taipei. I've never encountered so much rain before. Normally, back home, it'll rain maybe one or two days, perhaps three and then it will stop and the sun will come out. Here, it seems never ending. I'm waiting for Noah's Ark to float by any day now. Where does it all come from? Strangely I haven't been all that affected by the dreary weather. It would have been much worse if it were not only rainy but cold too. Thankfully they're really just spring showers with overcast skys every day. Though, forecasters say that tomorrow will reach lows of 5 degrees which is really rare for Taiwan. We'll see what Mother Nature has to come in the next week or two. I hope it's a little bit of that sun because I'm beginning to forget what it looks like.