NICE!

Hey guys,

Today I judged a singing competition. I don't have pictures because I thought it would be weird if I took them and I am a judge. There was a photo girl there, and she said I can have the pictures when she gets them online. There were 22 competitors and they sang without music today. They only sang for 3o seconds, and the other judges and I had to score them. All of them were pretty good. I don't know if you guys know it or not, but karaoke is really really popular here. The majority of people love to sing, and they are really good at it. At the end of the night, half of the people were eliminated because their scores were the lowest.

Next week the reaming people will sing a full song with music. It is kind of fun I think. It gives me something to do, and also meet new people.

There is something excited though...on the way home...I SAW A FERRARI!!! It was awesome. Luckily I had my camera. I will tell you just a quick story about it.

I saw the Ferrari, and I pulled out my camera as soon as I could. Well actually, I heard it coming up behind my car. Then I looked to my left, and I saw it. It took me a second to realize what I just saw. By the way, I think Ferraris are so cool. Even if they are really expensive, I just think it cool. So I pulled out my camera and took the picture of it while it was in front of my car.

Then, my dad and I pulled up next to it at the stop light. Thank God for the stop light. I was luckily wearing one of my Ferrari jackets. It has the Ferrari logo on the right sleeve, so I looked at the guy driving the car and I pointed to my logo. He just nodded. Then I showed him my camera, and he said ok! He rolled up his window which I thought was cool. It means that he was too cool for the picture. Anyways I took it, then he drove off.

That is my story with the Ferrari. I was just kind of shocked to see it in Taichung (where I live). I didn't know people could buy Ferrari's in Taiwan. This particular Ferrari was also my favorite one. The red color Ferrari.

Ok guys, I will talk to you later.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey guys,

I hope everyone enjoyed some food for Thanksgiving. You know here they of course don't celebrate it. I am going to go out tonight with Cherry to eat. Over here, they have my favorite type of restaurant in the world. Yea, even maybe more than Chick-Fil-A...I think. I can tell you guys about it later on, but maybe we will go there.

Tomorrow I am going to be a judge in a singing competition at one of the universities. I think the competition is like American Idol, and it seems pretty fun to do. It will only last two times, and tomorrow is just a warm-up I guess. Next week they will preform their entire songs in English. They asked me to be a judge and I thought it sounded fun. I'll try and take pictures of it and post them later on.

What else...you guys know I bought a bicycle right? Well, I ride it a lot over here. I really just ride it to play basketball, but at one of the universities they have a bicycle club and I think I might do it. I don't know though. I'll check it out. I kind of don't like riding my bicycle here at night because people drive crazy anyway during the day and at night it is even harder to see people.

Ok guys, I'll talk to you later about whats going on and stuff. See ya.

Locksmith

Hey guys,

Not too much going on here if you were wondering. Anyways, I found out on Sundays some people get together and play flag football at a university I go to play basketball at. I just happened to see them one day, and they asked me if I wanted to join them. There are a few Americans and the rest are Taiwanese. They are all pretty cool. It is just like flag football back home, and there are maybe like 6-10 that are usually there. I met this one guy there, and he is from NY. He is a pretty cool guy, but I have a story about him and his scooter.

He lost his scooter key while we were playing, and he doesn't have a spare one. I walked with him to go to a scooter shop for a new key. To make a long story short, a locksmith eventually came and made him a key right on the street. I thought it was pretty cool. He just handcrafted it on the spot, and it only took him maybe 10 minutes. It made me think...I wonder if its really easy to steal scooters here since he did it so quick.

I thought it was pretty interesting. I get to meet a lot of people at this school because it is pretty big, and I go there at least once a week to play basketball. Well, sorry if that wasn't too interesting, but there isn't too much else going on here.

See you guys later on.

Night Market Food

Hey guys,

I guess today I just wanted to tell you about some food at the night market. Well, first of all, there is a ton of food at the night markets. I would say half of all night markets are food and the other half is clothing.

I just wanted to tell you about some food I usually get. One of them is a chicken sandwich, but the chicken is cut into little pieces. The bread is toasted, and you can add stuff on it like cheese, lettuce, spicy sauce, and ketchup. The chicken on it is like a kebab style chicken. It isn't really like the chicken we are thinking of because this type of chicken is hanging on a rotating device and it is always heated. I think it is hard to explain. Anyways, I really like it, and it only costs $1.30. USD.

Another thing I get there is just a baked potato. You can add like 10 different things to it, but I just like it with bacon. Some other things you can put on it are cheese, corn, ham, tuna, and butter. It is really good and tastes just like how it does in Tennessee. It only costs $1.00 USD.

I also like buy bread there. There are a lot of different kinds. The kind I usually buy is just a sweet style bread, and its dirt cheap.

One more thing I like to buy are french fries. Have you guys ever tried sweet potato french fries? It is pretty good. Its sweet, and delicious. I have only had it here, but I'm sure you can buy it in the US. That is also really cheap. It is around $1.00 for a bag of it.

Something I wanna say about the food here is that they usually make it fresh for you while you wait. Everyone has the food set up and you tell them what you want and then they will cook it. Theres a lot of food here for everyone, so if you are a picky eater like me you will still enjoy it. One thing to remember...it might take a few months before your stomach likes the food. Ok see you guys later.

New Haircut

Hey guys,

Yesterday I got a haircut. It is really different than what I would get, or anyone would get in Knoxville. I think it is common in big cities and stuff.

The barber doesn't really speak English, so she will just cut my hair. I am cool with her cutting it because I think she does a good job. It costs the same price for a haircut here with tea, massage, washing it, and putting stuff in it as much as it costs for just a 10 minute haircut in the USA. Anyways, I just think its hair, and it will grow back if I don't like it. I do have a problem with bad haircuts though. I mean in the USA for example. I mean, sometimes I will get a haircut and it will only take 15 minutes, and it will be bad! Thats why I like to cut my own hair too. It saves money, and I can do just as good or better as a lot of barbers. I think the lady that cuts my hair is nice and she does a good job. Oh, she also went to Taipei on Saturday to do hair for a movie. That is pretty cool I think.

I don't know maybe it is hard to see my hair in the picture, but a lot of people have been saying it looks like the David Beckham haircut. I guess it is different for my hair to be like this because I have to put stuff in it to make it stand up. Anyways, my hair grows back fast so in a month I won't be able to do it. I just like it because it is a little different.

Ok talk to you guys later on.

New Bicycle

Hey everyone,

Hows it going? The other day I got my bicycle. It is a really nice one. I decided to go with one that is good for the road, and one that is also portable. I think it was a good idea I've heard bicycles get stolen a lot here. Whenever I go back to my home I fold it up and bring it upstairs. It is really convenient.

So first of all, there are a lot of different models that fold. There are also different brands too. I decided to go with Giant because I know its a good brand, and it is also made here in Taiwan so it is better quality than if it was made in China. I talked to some people that have a bike made in China and they said it needs a lot of repairs. I also was reading this folding bicycle on the web, and a lot of people said it is convenient for traveling. I mean around the city like going to school or something.

If you want to fold it, it only takes two steps. 1. fold the handles down and lock them. 2. fold the bike in half. After that, you can carry it anywhere you want. My bike is also really light. I am pretty excited about it, and I just wanted to show you guys.

Something good about my having a bicycle here is that I can get around easy. I can't drive here because I don't have insurance. I will take a taxi sometimes, but riding a bicycle is nice. The weather here is usually good too.

Ok I will see you guys later.

Hey everyone,

It is starting to get a little bit colder here. When I say a little colder I mean instead of it being 80 something and really humid its maybe in the upper 70s and still humid. At night it gets a little chilly when I ride on the scooter. I like the weather here right now because its not cold to me and there is also a nice breeze. During the day it is really hot, so I will wear shorts, but at night it gets cooler so I might wear pants.

Last night I went out to eat, and at the restaurant I ate some really really good chicken. It reminded me of something from P.F.Changs maybe. It was Kung Pow chicken. I don't know how to spell it. It was a little spicy and very delicious. It was cooked with peanuts and other stuff, and I have to say that it reminded me of something I would order in a restaurant in the US.

Oh yea, I thought I would tell you guys somethings you should get use to if you were to come here. I thought of a lot, but I actually can't remember most of them.
1. Some toilets are only a hole in the guard. It is really common in a lot of countries not just Taiwan.
2. The entrances to the bathroom have no doors. For example, in the guy's bathroom anyone can look inside of it and see you washing your hands or using the urinal.
3. People don't move out of the way for the ambulance or police cars. The police and ambulance have to move our of everyone's way even if there is an emergency.
4. Spiders are as big as my hand!
5. Every classroom uses a microphone, so when we were in school our teacher would have been holding a microphone while he/she spoke.
6. A lot of electronics aren't cheaper. I don't know if its true with everything, but for example Apple computers are the same price. The same thing with the brand Giant Bicycles. Other electronics are still the same like cameras, mp3 players, dvd players, and stuff.
7. People use the peace symbol with their fingers a lot. It means they are happy when they take the picture.
8. Everyone, including businesses take a lunch break at the same time. So that means schools from elementary to college and everyone else. You can still go inside the business and shop, but they will be eating lunch.

Thats all that I can think of for now. I know a lot more stuff, but I forgot it.

Talk to you guys later on.

Travel

This is a rice field, but maybe it is hard to see.

Hey guys,

So hows everyone doing? Obama won, and it has been on the news here. I had a feeling he would win because he was everywhere. I mean he was in songs, magazines, tv, and lots of other stuff. I know McCain was too, but I don't know how to explain it but I just felt that the majority of everyone wanted Obama to win. I actually did know too much about McCain or Obama. The only thing is that I really know is from what people have told me.

Anyways, I wanted to talk to you guys about my future traveling ideas. Well, I have a long list of places I want to see in my lifetime. Since I am in Taiwan, it makes it a little easier and cheaper to travel to countries near here. I am planning on going to Hong Kong/Macao for about 5 or 6 days in December. I haven't made any details yet like hotels and the date, but I will soon. I know of one place I want to go to in Hong Kong which is a huge Buddah. It is pretty famous, so I want to check that out. I will also go shopping and sight seeing, you know that kind of stuff. In Macao, I plan on gambling again. I hope I win.

So that is one plan I have, and after that I want to go somewhere else. I don't know when but soon, I want to go to the Philippines. I think it should be fun to go there and check things out. After that I want to go to Japan. My friend lives there and said I can visit him, and he lives in Tokyo too which is cool. So those are my 3 travel plans that I have.

Maybe you guys remember me telling you but I also want to go to two more places. One is Thailand and the other is Bali. I think both should be really fun. Bali is a really nice beach place. I really love the beach. I think I like it the most out of all the types of places like the city, country, and the mountains.

I still plan on traveling around Taiwan more. My top three next stops that I want to go to are a beach in southern Taiwan, hot springs in the mountains, and to eastern Taiwan for beaches and moutains. I hope to do that soon.

What else is there? Oh, I plan on buying a bicycle this month. It should be very useful here. Another thing about bikes here are that there are a ton of different styles. I mean not just mountains bikes. There are bikes for every situation you can think of. Some bikes are cheap of course, and some cost as much as a new scooter. I guess to make things short there are two types of bikes I am looking at. One is for the roads. Of course theres a lot of different styles and brands and prices for every type of bike. I figured I won't be going to the mountains to ride, so I should buy one mainly for the road. The other type of bike I am looking at is also for the road, and I really like this one. It might look strange to us at first because I have never seen it in Knoxville, but it is really small. You would think its for a kid, but its for adults. The thing is is that you can fold it and carry it with you. It was made for the city and also so you can carry it inside your home or subway. Its pretty cool, and there are different styles and kinds to this too. One of the problems I have heard about bikes here is that they get stolen pretty often, so thats why I was thinking about the small bike. The only problem with the small bike is that it is harder to go longer distances because there aren't as many gear and the tires are maybe like 1/3 of a normal bike's tires. I will have to check it out more and see. I thought it would be cook to bring the little bike back home to Knoxville, but I don't know.

Ok well, I will talk to you guys later on. See ya.

Traditional Market

Hey guys,

Tonight I went to a traditional night market. I like it there. Its different from the other night markets for some reasons. One is that it is a lot smaller and the vendors aren't spread out. I like that because it makes it seem more crowded. The vendors still sell the same stuff like clothing and food, but one thing that the traditional night market has that I love are games!!! They have a bunch of them like shooting balloons with a gun, throwing darts, ring toss (my favorite), bow and arrow at balloons, throw a baseball at some targets, and several others. I spent about $20 on games tonight I have to say. I didn't mean to, but it just happened. I like to play all of them.

The ring toss is by far my favorite game. I'm not going to lie...today I won 8 prizes from it!!! That's pretty good. The ring toss is a little different than the ones back home. Here, you toss the rings on the prizes. So for example, there will be a lot of random prizes and if you want a toy you have to toss a ring on its head. It's actually pretty hard, and I think I just got lucky today. The prizes I won were just cheap toys though, but hey I still won a lot. The traditional market is fun, but if there were no games here I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much. Also, there were no foreigners there. Cherry told me they don't really go to traditional markets.

I forgot to mention that on Halloween I saw a terrible accident. I've heard that a lot of people on scooters get in accidents, and they do because I have seen several right infront of me. Also, cars will hit scooters, but drive off! It actually happens quite often at night. Well, it happened on Halloween and the guy on the scooter was knocked out. Blood was coming from his mouth and his body was twisted in a way it shouldn't have been. He was on the street knocked out. It was really bad. Whenever people get in accidents here, people always help them. People helped the guy on the scooter ASAP, but the car was no where to be found. It's pretty bad but it always happens.

Ok well thats it. Talk to you guys later.

Halloween

Hey guys,

I hope everyone is having a good Halloween.

I guess Halloween is different here, but also the same. It's different because kids don's dress up and go door to door and get candy. It's the same in that people 18 years and older dress up and party. I didn't dress up, and I don't even know where to buy costumes.

I will tell you guys about my dad yesterday. First, Cherry and I went to this restaurant. She said it is a different place and it is kind of popular. I said sure lets go. I didn't know what to expect. One thing she did say was they the waiters dress up according to the holiday, so that's pretty cool. So we pull up to the restaurant and I notice that this place really is different. Oh yea, I forgot to mention its an Italian place which is ok because I will eat some pizza now. Well, we go there and EVERYONE is dressed up. Even the customers. Cherry and I are dressed like we should have gone to a nightclub because we were after we ate. The place had a little area of costumes so if you didnt dress up you could change there. Ok now let me try and explain the layout of the place. I really think it was maybe like 3 old houses combines into one. There were kitchens and stairs and rooms everyone. Theres about 2 million knick-knacks all over the place. I mean ALL OVER!!! Every wall is a different color, and also the tables are all carved out and then they put a scene inside the table out of random things like sand or plastic stuff. It was kind of cool because you could look at it.

Some of the chairs are beds. Not queen sized beds. They are more like I forgot what they are called...day beds? I don't know what but it looked comfortable. Anyways, I thought the place was different but I enjoyed it. So do you remember I said its an Italian place? Well, the don't have pizza. I had to try some new food. I don't know what it is, but I called it rice pizza. Its rice and whatever kind of style you want like chicken pizza, pepporoni, cheese. They had a lot of them. I tried it. I really did even though I was sure I wouldn't like it. Well, I didn't like it. It was just...not my thing. I ate like 10 bites though! So in short, the place is a cool place to try something different.

After that we met up with our friend Bobby. It was his last night out because he is moving to Colorado. We went to a place that I have never been to. It was a cool little place with a lot of foreigners. Mostly everyone was dressed up in a costume, so I felt a little out of place but no one cared. I thought it was pretty cool there. They played techno music instead of rap or pop music. I have to say that the costumes there were some of the best ones I have ever seen. I mean some of the costumes there looked like ones from a movie set. I wish I had my camera with me, so I could have taken some pictures.

So yesterday was a pretty cool day. Ok, I will talk to you guys later on.