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I’m truly sorry for not updating this blog in three years. Many things have happened during this time. I completed my landscape architecture degree, went back into the civil engineering industry, and published three short stories. I also traveled to 10 cities (Kaohsiung, Kenting, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Shanghai, Sydney, and Katoomba) in four countries (Taiwan, Japan, China, and Australia). Life is all right.

I currently have two blogs. As my schedule is quite tight, I won’t have time to manage both. I’ll only continue writing on WordPress from now. The URL is http://cthchow.wordpress.com

Thank you for your continued support and I’ll greet you on the other side with my Sydney travel adventures!

Shipping Container Home

Saw the movie Tron: Legacy on DVD yesterday. And I thought the main character's home is worth mentioning. Apparently, the home is made with two 40' shipping containers and two smaller 20' ones on the lower floor. Normally, it would look quite bad, but the spacing is placed just right to make it look cool (bottom floorspace a little narrower than the top).

Impossible Is Nothing

Personally, I think Adidas could've come up with a better slogan, but this fits with my recent accomplishment of mastering the riffle shuffle quite well. I had always been bad at shuffling cards and that frustrated me when playing cards with friends.

So I bought a new pack of cards and followed the expert advice from ExpertVillage.com. And now I'm proud to say that after 4 days, I finally mastered the on-the-table riffle shuffle. What an accomplishment! Now all I got to do is to wait for the next time we play cards. Hope I won't forget how to shuffle by then.

AKB48

After working 20+ hours straight for some crazy work proposal (on a Sunday!), I arrived home at around 8am. My television was pointed at the J2 channel. That was when I saw the amazing music video featuring beautiful Japanese girls in macho military uniforms. The song was good too, but that's secondary. I didn't know the name of the song but I remembered hearing River River River. So after I slept a couple of hours and woke up at 5pm, I tried searching for it on Google and Youtube.

Somehow, as I was watching this video for the second time, I realized something. AKB48 stands for 48 girls in the band, I assume. That is a huge number for a group. I also assume that this band will soon shrink in size to a more manageable number like 12, because 48 is just too much supply. That means 36 of the girls will be packing home and going off to find a new career path. But I'm sure that out of these 36 girls, none of them will regret for their time spent as singers/dancers. Even though initially they may be upset that their performing careers have ended so fast, they will still treasure the moment because it means something to them.
Then I thought about my life, with the good times and the bad. I always wanted to erase my bad memories, somehow. But, after watching this video, I realize that I should treasure them instead. The bad times have made me stronger and turned me to the man I am today.

Uranus and 24

Last week, I bought a new Siamese fighting fish. This one is a little different from the past 4 I had as they were all plakats, with short fins. This one is the most common and dominant breed, called the veiltail, which has long fins. My logic is that since they're the dominant breed, they should be better at surviving and live longer as a result. I hope that Gunnery Sergeant Uranus can surpass 3 years.

I also just finished watching all 8 seasons of 24. What an accomplishment! I learned a lot from the movie, including some gun models, military strategies, political agendas, and much more. But what was probably the most important were 2 quotes. They are "Do what makes you happy," and if that's not possible, "Try to make choices that you can live with."

Lazy Gym Instructor

A week ago, I asked a gym instructor for advice on doing the deadlift. He was so lazy that he came up with 3 innovative excuses to avoid getting out of his seat. Excuse #1: "I don't use the machines here, so you'll probably be more familiar with them than me." Excuse #2: "Why don't you show me how you would do it without actually lifting the barbell?" Excuse #3: "I want to talk with the other gym regulars instead." What a disgrace to other fitness instructors.

By the way, I just realized that I have written on this blog for 1 year. What a milestone. Perhaps what's more remarkable was that I averaged 11 posts a month in the beginning... and now it's around 2. As for the TV show 24, I already finished watching seasons 1-5 and 8.

24 and Workout

Lately, I've been extremely addicted to watching the reruns of the TV show, 24, on the internet. I originally wanted to just watch the episodes I missed during the last season. However, I soon made an unwise decision to watch the first season too. And that led to watching the second season, and third. I watched between five and six episodes every night and that was because the website only allowed 72 minutes of viewing time before I had to wait 54 minutes to watch another session. I won't reveal the website address, although it can be searched on Google. Jack Bauer is amazing, able to fight so good and to use innovative methods to torture suspects. I would be a lot better off if I had a quarter of his skills.

I also bought a book last week called "The New Rules of Lifting", which taught me all I needed to know about weight training. I realized that I had wasted my previous 5 years by "doing the machines". After I finished my first real workout on Wednesday, I realized how painful muscle building really is. But there's no turning back now. The world can look forward to another Rocky very soon.

Seaside Toilet Between Wakayama and Osaka

To your left is a seemingly regular roadside toilet, located somewhere between Wakayama and Osaka, Japan. However, upon walking inside, you'll find that it is much, much more. I've actually been there once, but it was almost 2 years ago. Why do I write about it now? Because I have this habit of daydreaming about good things from time-to-time.

I'm not sure about the women's side, but if you enter the male toilet, as you're urinating on the wall, you'll be looking at a 180 degree view of a stunning seashore. It is so stunning that I don't even have a photo of it. You really have to be there to experience it. Showing you a photo will only cheapen the experience. So if any of you plan to go to Osaka sometime soon, try not to miss this toilet. Because even though Osaka may not be as good of a tourist spot as Tokyo or Sapporo, this toilet definitely makes up for it.

And if you really arrive there, please take a photo, showing both the toilet interior and seaside view, to show to me later. To be honest, I actually forgot to take the photo ^O^ Thanks.

Dragonair Cadet Pilot Programme

A while ago, I applied to KA's programme that enables pilot wannabes to train for their license in Adelaide, Australia free-of-charge with free accomodation. It's rumored to cost $800K per person; that's why KA is so tough with the interviews, which consists of 5 stages. FIVE stages! I took the 1st stage (initial tests) on November 10, which was subdivided into 4 tests in english and math. Nothing too tricky there. And this tuesday, I went to the 2nd stage (aptitude test), which I did miserably. Only on that day did I realize that Dragonair really wants to hire pilots with absolute "brain power". I, of course, have a lot of brain power, but my power is geared towards the creative side.

I doubt that I can go on to the next stages 3, 4, and 5, which consists of lunch group interviews, medical exams, and flight grading. But... I hope I can. I really want to work in a place where, despite doing repetitive mechanical work, I can communicate with people who share the same values as me.

Power of Listening

I was just reading the South China Morning Post today. (And yes, I do read, quite a bit actually.) And I was absolutely astonished by 1 of the advertisements. It's about a workshop that claims to improve your listening skills at work or whatever, and all you have to do is pay a whooping $3200! Here are the exact words: "75% of what you hear is usually misunderstood or misinterpreted. But all that can change..." especially after you listen to the geek on the left. Personally, I don't think $3200 is too big of a deal, but spending that much to listen to this Mr. Sidney Yuen? I don't think so. Hey Mr. Creepy Smile, I don't care if you're the chairman of HBC, HSBC, or Microsoft, I just don't want to see your creepy smile.

One more thing. Due to immense pressure from the Toastmasters International community, I will soon have to take down my bilateral blog, which publishes my Toastmasters speeches. They said that overall attendance to the bi-weekly meetings will drop tenfold if outsiders can easily see my speeches online instead of coming to the meetings. So, sorry guys, just know that it wasn't my idea.