Sister Cities 高雄 & 布里斯本

I didn't know before, but apparently Brisbane(布里斯本) and KaoHsiung(高雄) are sister cities! This stone display sits by the river in the beautiful river park in South Bank city. We discovered it when we went for a crazy 2 hours bike ride around the city.

KaoHsiung is the second biggest city in Taiwan. It started as a industrial district located in the south. In this city, it lives one of my best childhood best friends, Yiping, and her husband!

I have visited her there a couple times, so had Scott last December. They brought us to tour the city, traveled to the nearby islands, and had delicious local cuisines. We both enjoyed Yiping and her hubby's hospitality tremendously. (xox Yiping!)


Traveling to the nearby island city, QiJing 旗津, by scooter ferry!



This is the Taiwanese style 三貼(２人１狗)scooter riding in KaoHsuing city.

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"down" and "under" Aussy experiences

After a good friend of ours got racially harassed on Australia Day, I decided to list some unpleasantness we have experience here...

Chapter I: Public Transportation Service
I.1 Bus drivers do not need to know where bus tickets are sold.
I.2 Bus drivers do not need to learn their bus routes. When needed, use a map or ask passengers for direction, and stops may be missed.
I.3 Bus drivers may harass passengers.
I.4 Bus drivers may sell wrong tickets and refuse to correct mistakes.
I.5 Driver may refuse further pick-up when passengers standing decide to block the front half of the bus.
I.6 When passengers are lost, bus drivers may as well direct the passengers with further incorrect direction since they are already lost and they don't know you.

Chapter II: Government Immigration Service
II.1 Help line representative may give false directions.
II.2 Help line representatives may interpret regulations differently.
II.3 Help line representatives may leave out vital information/document needed.
II.4 Help line representatives hold no responsibility over what they say.
II.5 Reception assistants do not provide assistance besides refusing incorrect applications.

Chapter III: Rental Agent Service
III.1 Agents do not need to know what items are/are not included on the rental property.
III.2 Agents do not need to know if appliances are/are not in working condition.
III.3 Agents act as blocks instead of medians of communication between tenants and landlords.
III.4 Tenants ought to hold all responsibility over missed/delayed response to requests made during the period tenants have notified the office that they are away.

Chapter IV: Cell Phone Service
IV.1 Charges to unsubscribed services may be made to customers' bills repeatedly
IV.2 Customers ought to call and correct the incorrect billing on a charging customer service line
IV.3 Customer can not cancel services that are nonfunctional.
IV.4 Total bullshit and false advertisement is allowed under the table.

Chapter V: University Admission Service (Melbourne University)
V.1 No emails should be replied within 2 weeks.
V.2 No answer should be obtained within 2 follow-ups.
V.3 This school do not need to notify applicants on any missing documentations.
V.4 This school should only contact successful candidates and leave all the rest hanging.
V.5 This school holds no responsibility on delaying evaluation process due to school administration bureaucracy.
V.6 This school may delay application process indefinitely.
V.7 This school ought to charge 100.00 application fee while all the other schools are free of charge.

Chapter VI: Postal Service
VI.1 1 in 3 packages can be missed.
VI.2 Australia Post do not hold responsibility over missing registered mails/packages.

(Disclaimer: Personal experiences may vary. Readers discretion is advised on trusting information provided by any service industry.)

Two updates

(1) We got the permission from Misty's breeder to blog about Misty and her cattery, so I will start to post more about Misty soon.

(2) I think I infected Scott with my blog fever, so he wants to negotiate the possibility of joining me on building this blog. His enthusiasm currently is under evaluation.

de facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "in fact" or "in practice" but not spelled out by law.

Tomorrow morning is our interview with the Australian immigration to declare "de facto". We prepared stacks of documents. There are our (1) application forms, (2) shared lease contracts, (3) shared bank statements, (4) telephone, hydro, internet bills with both of our names on it, (5) synchronized travel itineraries (6) statements from the moms. (7) 60+ pictures taken in the last two years. I hope everything will go through smoothly ~

So far, I liked all the expressions that are Latin or Franch, like "fiancé", "reséme", and even "ad libitum". They sound so much more romantic and classy than "common-law", "CV", and "free-feeding". I still remember the first time I heard "common-law", I was so confused... law? what law? I hope you are not in trouble...

The Canadian National Treasure

Did I mention that I still have one more exam left? Tomorrow is the last exam... Yay~~ it is almost done! but damn! this subject is freaking difficult. Just to make it worse, the exam is going to be at 8am. Hopefully, I can stuff everything in my head by the end of today, and prey for it to remain there for next 10 hours....

Anyways... just want to quickly mention that my biggest obsession is with this boy. I was too lucky to meet this wonderful person through my best friend Ivy. (Ivy, you did these twice to me already. You really should be in matchmaking business!)

So Scott is this boy who didn't attract much attention in a crowd, but he is definitely the type that girls would feel safe to hang out with. He is witty, cute, helpful, generous, outgoing, and .... cozy. Ya, that's how I would describe him.... Cozy with soft halo around.

He earned my attention at first with his amazing non-creepy full-body fuzzy warm hugs. (Later, I found that he learned this technique from his mom who is the sweetest, most confident and independent woman I have ever met.)

Right away, we liked each other's styles and enjoyed time spent together just hanging out in the same room. As time passes, our relationship grew stronger. Love was confirmed without a doubt. 2 years later, we developed a strong bond which I have never experienced with anybody ever before. The bond was not built on air though. We worked through series of challenges together in 2006 and 07 (I left, we reunited, move across the ocean to Australia, setup a life in an unfamiliar city, total support needed when I went under constant stress for one entire year etc etc)

The beautiful part is that he made it all seem such a breeze even in the toughest time. This was how he rescued and secured me.

Anyways, I was lucky to meet him, and more lucky to take him away with me. Sometimes, I think Canadian government will find me and tax me on taking away one of their national treasures, Scott. hahaha....

Good morning baby..... I love you today, too.....

[period of obsession] 2.5 years and counting

another new start....

Realized how obsessive I am over little things.
the last 2 things I was working on were...

researching about a suitable 2nd-hand vehicle
- involves learning and comparing brand, model, feature, price, etc.
- later decided that we actually don't have the money to buy a reliable car yet

finding my ideal breed of dog
- involves researching on breed personality, size, maintenance level etc
- then found out that I am actually better to have a cat instead.

The fun part was about what gets my interest and the extend I would go to satisfy my curiosity. And the funny part was how all the work often leads me away from my original goal....

Anyways, I failed to keep my last two blogs alive. Realize that I just don't care about sharing emotions and things like how many bowls of rice I have eaten last night.

But, I think it would be more interesting (to me) if my goal is to share what I found interesting and .. maybe just take it easy and write little diary here and there about.....

my days,
my life,
my thoughts,
my secrets,
my school,
my work,
my realizations,
my dreams,
my love,
my interests,
and
my daily obsessions.....