兩個小孩的爸和他的爛笑話

"壞掉的蘋果,蛀掉的牙齒,和懷孕的女朋友,有什麼相同的地方?"

我的一個好朋友某個夜晚打越洋電話,劈頭就問了某明奇妙的問題.

"gah?"
"你猜猜看..."
"不知道..."
"拔的太慢!"
"........"

我的好朋友和他論及婚嫁的女朋友在一起才半年左右.

"不會吧? 你打長途電話來,就為了問這個問題? 你該不會? 你女朋友?..."
"er...沒有啦..."

幾個月後,他和女朋友就結婚了,又幾個月後,他成了爸爸.

那是一年多前的事了.幾個月前,他計畫和他的家人回溫哥華走走.沒想到,有天晚上他打電話來,說只有他會過來.

"為什麼只有你來?"
"因為我的兒子要當哥哥了!"
"......"
"........"
"什麼!? 你老婆又懷孕了?!!"

又是台灣文化節...又是一年...

又是台灣文化節的時候,今年的重頭戲是五月天,但我怎麼都記不起來他們有唱過什麼歌. 有朋友說“志明與春嬌"阿!

“志明與春嬌"

志明真正毋知欲按怎
為什麼
愛人毋願閣再相偎
春嬌已經早就無佇聽
講足濟
其實攏總攏無卡抓

走到淡水的海岸
二ㄟ人的愛情
已經無人看 已經無人聽

我及你 尚好就到這
你對我 已經無感覺
到這凍止
你亦免愛我
我及你 尚好就到這
你對我 已經無感覺
嘜擱傷心
嘜擱我足愛你 你無愛我
　
志明心情真正有影寒
風足大
你亦真正攏無心肝
春嬌你若無欲和我搬
這齣電影
咱就走到這位準抵煞

真的是經典情歌,標準的男愛女不愛的故事,但痛到心上.

The power of 3rd

There are quite a few movies this year that carried the "3" in their titles. Such as Rush Hour 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Spiderman 3... Of course, there were movies with 2, 4 and sometimes even 5. Yap, Harry Potter will go to 7 for sure.

Sometimes that makes you wonder, are movie makers running out of fresh ideas, or they are just lazier, sticking with the same old formulas that works.

Or maybe we are lazier as movie viewers, who do not need to see new things, we rather see familiar faces with familiar stories, maybe, it feels like they are part of the family?

Everything starts 1.5 months earlier

Have you noticed recently...

When you went to futureshop or browsing on their website, they are advertising the back to school sales already. Actually, they started advertising back to school sometime last month. If you think back a little, the Bay was advertising mother's day sales back in April, and Valentine's day sometime after Lunar New Year...

In this new world of information and advertising, things have to happen a little ahead of their real due days.

At the same time, I see most people procrastinate even more, maybe, it is because there are too many choices out there. How about not picking anything at all?

紅色的家門

2007年是個重要的一年，除了我要進入三十大關以外，今年也代表我生活在加國的時間長過在台灣的時間。

以前，我每四年才回台灣一次，一方面為省錢，一方面也不是太習慣台灣的環境。每次，親朋好友問我什麼時候還會回去?我總是說，下一次奧運吧!

老實講，我跟台灣已經脫節得蠻徹底的，台灣的政治，明星，流行，每次回台灣，都不像回家，反而像是出國的遊客。但，雖然在加國習慣，事實上，每週還是吃台灣菜，最好的朋友還是台灣人，和朋友的對話還是常常說"以前在台灣上小學的時候..."

但事實上，我每次回去都是因為夢到家。

夢中，我走在回家的路上，熟悉的街景，熟悉的味道，最後我會走到家門前，紅色的大門，然後，我就夢醒了。

這大概就是思鄉吧。

25 years old girls don't cry

I have mentioned before in my blog, for those of you who are thinking about finding the right one and settling down, you probably want to avoid girls under 25. The reasons are that they have that internal alarm that goes off and warn them about finding the potential mate to have babies, but at the same time is afraid that they haven't done enough things before they get married.

There are stories where young couples got married, then the wives told the husbands that they need to do some soul searching, they weren't ready yet.

I can't say I totally understand, the options are always with the girls. Maybe they should not think that marriage nor motherhood ends all their opportunities for trying new things.

Fergie recently has a song that has a girl telling the guy that she is leaving and taking this soul searching road alone. It is somewhat sweet, but it is still the same, girls need their freedom, girls need their time before their time...

Fergie's "Big Girls don't cry"

Da Da Da Da
The smell of your skin lingers on me now
You're probably on your flight back to your hometown
I need some shelter of my own protection baby
Be with myself in center, clarity
Peace, Serenity

I hope you know, I hope you know
That this has nothing to do with you
It's personal, myself and I
We got some straightening out to do
And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket
But I've gotta get a move on with my life
It's time to be a big girl now
And big girls don't cry
Don't cry,
Don't cry,
Don't cry

The path that I'm walking, I must go alone
I must take the baby steps til I'm full grown,full grown
Fairy tales don't always have a happy ending do they
And I forseek the dark ahead if I stay

I hope you know, I hope you know
That this has nothing to do with you
It's personal, myself and I
We got some straightening out to do
And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket

But I've gotta get a move on with my life
It's time to be a big girl now
And big girls don't cry

Like a little school mate in the school yard
We'll play jacks and uno cards
I'll be your best friend and you'll be mine Valentine
Yes you can hold my hand if you want to 'cause I wanna hold yours too
We'll be playmates and lovers and share our secret worlds
But it's time for me to go home
It's getting late, dark outside
I need to be with myself in center, clarity
Peace, Serenity

Vancouver is small, Canada is big, but the world is tiny...

With the recent trips to NWT, I realized the place we are living in is so small. There are actually people around you who don't speak asian languages, who don't drive Japanese/Germany made cars.

Canada is a huge place, 2 hours to Whitehorse and you are in a entirely different world. You won't see dimsum restaurants, heck, you can't even find starbucks. (there is only one in town)

You would think that people living in the great north have never been outside of their birth place. You would be wrong. After chatting with many miners at the mine site, you would find people have been to many parts of Asian, South America, parts of Africa. They have seen more, they have experienced so many different culutrals.

All of which, make me think that I am still that "frog in the well".

Then, there was the trip to Hawaii.

You would think that Hawaii is covered with tourists. You would be right. You would think all Hawaiians are friendly? You would be wrong.

An upsetting encounter we had with a local, over a seat at a restaurant. The tanned local hawaiian was upset 'cause we challenged him over the fact that he took the seat we were about to sit on. He claimed the locals don't have to ask for permissions when taking things.

I think he was upset because he has seen so many tourists around town, crowding the place up. However, that is exactly the opposite of what a NWT miner would view the world. After seeing much around the world, a miner is actually more accepting and more tolerant of what others may present themselves.

If you are just talking about how I should view the world and see others, I would rather be a NWT miner than a Hawaiian local anyday.

Tiny Bubbles at Hawaii

Just returned from the 8 day Hawaiian trip, bathed in the sun, lots of water sport. Although not exactly a relaxing trip. It was very good indeed.

One of the most Hawaiian singer is Don Ho, and he brought the world this song:

Tiny bubbles (tiny bubbles)
In the wine (in the wine)
Make me happy (make me happy)
Make me feel fine (make me feel fine)


Tiny bubbles (tiny bubbles)
Make me warm all over
With a feeling that I'm gonna
Love you till the end of time


So here's to the golden moon
And here's to the silver sea
And mostly here's a toast
To you and me


So here's to the ginger lei
I give to you today
And here's a kiss
That will not fade away

Home is where your heart is

Travelling to the mine site in Northwest Territories is a long trip, took 2.5 hours flight to Whitehorse and stayed for the night. The first thing I realized when I came out of the airport was how quiet it was. No busy cars, no crowd gathering around, just the sound of quietness. It is amazing that it only takes 2.5 hours for one to feel how big Canada is and how small Vancouver is. Throughout the whole trip, I didn't see any person who looks like he/she can speak Mandarin/Cantonese.

Then, the next morning, I took the SUV to Watson Lake, 4 hours east of Whitehorse, there really nothing there, except a "signpost forest", it has a few thousands of signposts from around the world.

It was created back in WWII when Alaska became a major military point to prevent a possible Japanese invasion, the americans decided to build a highway through Yukon for easier equipment transportation. When a soldier became homesick, he started putting the sign of his hometown near Watson Lake. Soon, everyone followed.

Walking in that "forest" was a strange experience, seeing signs from germany, us, and other countries, made me realize that it doesn't matter where you are, your home will always be your home, and you will take that with you.

Some of us have spend a lot of time away from Taiwan, so the meaning of a "home" might be very vague. But, for me, being away from everything familiar, my home is where my heart is, where I know I will get comfort and love when I need.

Oh I miss you so...

Going to places

It seems like I haven't been updating my blog as frequent as before. Of course, it does not help that my company internet browser has been rigged so it becomes an hassle to update. There are few things I should update though.

1. I have just passed the Life insurance test, one of my annual goal, I am very proud!
2. Spending lots of time with MSS and her wonderful family.
3. and I am going to a few places in the next 2 weeks!!

Where am I going?

This weekend, I am going to Northwest Territory, population 41000, with per capital income of 90,000!!! That is freakishly high, why? Because NWT has huge amount of mines there, with booming material prices, everyone makes more money there. And that is where I come in, I am taking over a mining company's Group RRSP account, which requires me to visit the mine site twice a year.

The site is very remote, I have to take 2 hour flight to Whitehorse, population 28000. Then 5 hour ride to Watson Lake, population 1500.

Finally, another 5 hour ride to Tungsten, population 200. Wanna guess what the company mines?

Tungsten!

I have to spend about 3 day traveling back and forth, and 4 days at the site.

What are things to do? According to the HR manager there, there will be a gym, a hot spring and a lake for fishing. For me, it will be a great chance to do more blogging.

The best thing is that after I come back from the visit, I will be going on a trip to Hawaii!! Imagine that, going from a Subarctic zone (with 3 hour night) to a tropical zone (with 3 hour sleep) in two weeks. I am pretty pumped up! Whoohoo~

The afternoon date with pianist...

It was a warm afternoon, the usual for mid June in Vancouver, unusual for this year, however. A few old classmates from Killarney secondary and SFU met up at Vancouver Art Gallery during their lunch hour.

Frank has been a piano instructor for as long as I have known him. He held a recital inside Vancouver Art Gallery and invited all of us to come. His music piano recitals have become a gathering of old friends for the past few years, of course, I wouldn't miss this one either.

When I got there, it was almost time for his recital, with the guidance of the gallery attendant, I managed through dark hallways and stairways, found myself in a room filled with people.

Frank started his performances with a bit of information on how the composers expressed their feelings in the music. As always, it was impressive, I could feel how passionate he is into the music he is playing.

Looking around the room, I saw familiar faces...

Graham who flew back from TW for a few days was with his gf, Angela. He is taking care of his family business now, even talking about what he does, starts a spark in his eyes.

Darren who took lunch off from his clinic just broke up with his long time girlfriend. Putting himself in 2 jobs, and a tattoo on his arm, he is definitely passionated about what he does.

Patrick, who also took a few hours off, the engineer at a publicly traded company, is happily married and recently moved into their own place.

Brian, whose office is very close by, working at a very well known international software company since university. His love is away, other than that, I think he is content, and happy.

Kevin, who also just came back for a short vacation, with his new-wed wife, looks happy and healthy as ever.

For the moment, we were been drawn into Frank's music. With him humming loudly with the music, we stopped for a moment. We did not think about what has gone passed us, and what will be ahead of us.

We were all there, paused for a Friday afternoon, enjoying and sharing that moment.

分手標點符號學

每一段結束的愛情都不大一樣﹐無論劇情﹐角色﹐火花﹐都少有重複。但每段愛情都是可以用標點符號做代號。

。句點﹕少有的美好結局﹐不管是不是兩人同意的情形下分手﹐或是不是開心分手﹐可確定的是沒有藕斷絲連﹐結束就是結束﹐沒有還愛不愛的困擾。

﹐逗點﹕嚴格上來說﹐並不是真正的分手﹐只是暫時分開﹐用FRIENDS的講法﹐就是“ON A BREAK”﹐著理說應該是雙方好好思考的時候﹐很不幸得﹐逗點分手往往被作為生氣時的處罰﹐或成為句點分手的橋樑。

... 點點點﹕這種分手方法是最傷神的﹐都說了是分手﹐還沒事就去騷擾對方﹐然後向朋友們哭訴﹐然後再去騷擾對方﹐一方面說分手﹐一方面有說愛﹐但又不願意再複合。基本上他們到底要什麼﹐自己都不知道。苦的是他們的朋友們﹐總要聽他們哀怨的聲音。點點點和逗點最大的不同是﹐逗點是為了未來而暫停(不是分手)﹐ 點點點是為了分手而後悔。

! 驚嘆號﹕這種分手方式通常是很戲劇話的﹐有可能是第三者﹐有可能有暴力事件﹐更有可能會出現公共場所鬧自殺的劇情。小朋友和看太多泡沫劇的人比較常參與。

? 問號﹕這種分手方式﹐總有一個人分得不明不白﹐昨天好好的﹐今天就提分手﹐明天就完全無音訊。旁邊的朋友通常也是在雲霧當中﹐不知道是該怎麼安慰。

通常﹐無論分手方式﹐時間通常會慢慢把它的便成句點﹐不明白了也慢慢明白﹐放不下的也慢慢放下﹐不釋懷的也會接受。這就是成長的過程﹐了解“愛”也是可以成長的﹐同樣是愛﹐也是有很多種﹐從愛戀的愛﹐也可以變成關懷的愛。

走過...

女孩告訴我，她要開始試著用他的方式去愛他，而不是固執的一味的用自己的方式去愛。因為用自己的方式，對方並不能接受，愛就漸漸變成了壓力，壓力變成了逃避，逃避變成了沉默。而且，還會帶來期待，期待對方用一樣的方式愛你，而有了期待，就會有失望，又是變成無限的等待。

要做到為他人著想，又不帶期望，說起來難，做起來更難，但想想初戀的時候，我們事實上都曾經做得到。什麼時候，我們變的更自私了，自己變得更小氣了? 但現在的自己，要如何回歸初戀的不計較，而且再加上對感情的豁達，我想，應該是這個年紀最大的難題了。

記得初戀年代，曾聽過幸曉琪的走過，很有民歌的味道，尤其是副歌的地方，"有情要知足"而"走過就該珍重"，那種感覺不是全然的悲觀，我覺得反而是一種成熟的表現，但可以做到"愛過夫覆何求"，真的就是另一種境界了。

走過 辛曉琪

愛能留是福 愛難守該悟
這一路我走過 甜蜜比苦澀多
有情時知足 無情時莫哭
傷心若太多 記住相愛時候記住相愛時候

你的手 你的手曾那麼溫柔
輕拂過 輕拂過我每個輪廓
無可否認我曾如此快樂
走過就該珍重
無可否認我曾如此快樂
愛過夫覆何求

I wish... back in 1977

There were a few things that happened (other than my birth) in 1977 which are important to this world. Apple II was introduced, started the downfall of Apple, which has not recovered after they took back Steve Jobs (after firing him). Our head of state, QE 2 was on her first Jubilee (25 years as queen). British Airway started the concorde service between London and New York. NASA has sent 2 Voyager spacecrafts to space, both of them contained golden discs that contain a lot of information about earth, which probably won't be seen by other life forms in another 40k years. (closest planet) Also, star wars were on for the first time, which has introduced a franchise empire.

What is also important? It was the last time Canadian dollars hit 95 cent range of US dollars. For regular people like you and me, it is time to shop in US!

btw, back in 1977, Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" won the Grammy,

Looking back on when i
Was a little nappy headed boy
Then my only worry
Was for christmas what would be my toy
Even though we sometimes
Would not get a thing
We were happy with the
Joy the day would bring

Sneaking out the back door
To hang out with those hoodlum friends of mine
Greeted at the back door
With boy thought I told you not to go outside,
Tryin your best to bring the
Water to your eyes
Thinkin it might stop her
From woopin your behind

I wish those days could come back once more
Why did those days ev-er have to go
I wish those days could come back once more
Why did those days ev-er have to go
Cause I love them so

Brother says hes tellin
bout you playin doctor with that girl
Just dont tell Ill give you
Anything you want in this whole wide world
Mama gives you money for sunday school
You trade yours for candy after church is through

Smokin cigarettes and writing something nasty on the wall (you nasty boy)
Teacher sends you to the principals office down the wall
You grow up and learn that kinda thing aint right
But while you were doinit-it sure felt outta sight

I wish those days could come back once more
Why did those days ev-er have to go
I wish those days could come back once more
Why did those days ev-er have to go

____________________________________________________________
Still very fitting to many of us, ain't it?

I am the Ace of Diamonds...

You Are the Ace of Diamonds

You are a lucky person, and you always seem to find yourself surrounds by pretty, shiny things. You have a knack for success and money - though your skills can't really be learned or taught. You shine in a room, and you a have a truly sparkling personality. A true extrovert, you always are able to share a witty joke or the latest scandalous gossip. While you do have an eye for bling, you are also quite generous. A lot of wealth and luck comes your way. And you're not afraid to pass it on. A gamble you should take: Sports betting Your friends would describe you as: Captivating Your enemies would describe you as: Greedy If you lived in Vegas, you would be: A trophy wife or husband

What Playing Card Are You?

Trophy husband?!!! what the heck is that?