My ilha formosa!

poooooooooooooool parties!

2007-07-08T09:22:00.000-06:00

well, with summer here in full force (feels like its 50 degrees outside) there is nothing better to do than spend your day pool side :) yes, u sweat like a pig n u cant really put on sunblock cuz your body is so wet that it doesnt really stay on your skin....but besides e fact we managed to not get sunburned! e place was great, as it had a really big pool, n we got a really sweet spot with a bed n everything, haha. e dj was upstairs n u could hear e great music throughout. n of course no pool party is a pool party without e beverages, hahaha. n let me tell ya, it was crazy! e pool was left with a film of sunblock n other unidentified objects, haha. bb players n models, floaties n naked backflips, spitting frens n sliding abner, all resulted in an awesome day :) haha. met some really cool peeps n oddly enough ran into some of em today at a coffee shop...taipei is getting to small...later

back on....;)

2007-06-24T23:47:00.000-06:00

Ok ive been getting complaints from people that I have stopped writing on my blog. Sorry I will try to continue again, hehe. So summer is finally here! Man, n e beaches here r sooooooooooo close. I mean, they’re not e carribean or anything, haha but its still a good time! Sat nite was my fren’s farewell party n she decided to have it at e beach. So we all headed there n had an amazing time, (despite e fact that my one fren dropped her camera n spent most of e nite looking for it.)

so we were up all nite by e ocean n we all saw e sun rise! It was sooo amazing, made u feel so alive n so lucky to be in such a beautiful part of e country…..:) then after a couple hours of sleep headed back to e beach for some Frisbee n boggie boarding, ha I wanted to surf but felt 2 tired to try to learn n I’ll keep it for another day, 

next weekend there is a Canada day celebration so we’re all looking forward to it, even my Taiwanese friends. So yea, great wknd, but now we’re expecting a sad stage cuz ppl r beginning to leave  pity, especially since e summer is about to start. Hey if u guys have facebook add me n u can see all my cool pics n all my fren’s cool pics, hehe.

i will put a beautiful pic up once i get it from my fren.

later....

All by myself, don't wanna be....

2007-05-15T23:39:00.000-06:00

For those of you that didn’t know, my gf was visiting me this last month. It was great! I showed her around Taipei and Taiwan and she really liked it. But I think she liked the shopping the most, haha. I talked to her when she was back in Calgary and said she was upset cuz she should have done more shopping…..jeez, I couldn’t believe it. Anyways it was really great to see her again but now I am soooo exhausted, haha. Gotta get use to my regular routine again.

Sooo the heat is coming  its already so hot that I cant stand being outside. And im told it will get hotter! Man, I dunno what im gonna do. I sweat like crazy and its so humid, haha. Oh well, maybe it will help me get in better shape, hahaha. So yea, no summer plans yet but there is the beach and tons of festivals. Also I will see if I jet over to japan or hong kong, that would b cool. Ive already been here for 7 months n have 5 months to go so time has gone by soooo fast. Work has been chill the last couple of weeks but now its super crazy. We have another tradeshow in June in Singapore, but I wont be goin to that one 

Anyways I hope you guys r doing great. Send me an email or leave a comment. Bye!

kenting...spring scream

2007-04-10T19:36:00.000-06:00

So spring scream was last weekend. It is one Taiwan’s biggest outdoor rock festivals that went from April 5-7. Luckily we had a 4 day weekend to go down to Kenting (south beach town of Taiwan). The ride down was HORRIBLE. We drove my car’s car but the traffic was so bad it took us 17 hours to get there!!! I could have gone to Canada in that time. It only should have taken us like 8 or so but no.

The festival itself was fun. There was two locations and we stayed at the location in the mountains where our cabins were. Which were soooo awesome so close to all the “action.” There was tons of bands but the thing was that the location was so big and the stages were so far apart that it didn’t seem like there was a lot of people there. There were tons of foreigners and Japanese rock bands, hahaha. So we listened to some really strange stuff but also some more popular bands and djs...

During the day we headed down to the beach (going through the immense traffic jams) it seemed like all of Taiwan’s young people were there, hahaha. Plus a whole bunch of crazies as well. One of the dudes in our group was off the wall! I don’t think he ever slept and must have been on something. Great source of entertainment but as the same time sooo annoying!!!!!!!

But yea, the drive back was great and it only took us like 9 hours. We split driving time and almost run out of gas. Our friend Emily was freaking out and it was the funnies thing in the world, HAHAHA. Well Brenda will be here tomorrow so I’m jumping off the walls with excitement and can’t concentrate at work…..let u guys know how it goes ;) LATER

sunny ORLANDO

2007-04-01T07:09:00.000-06:00

hey y'all,
well i just got back from orlando this morning. i tried not to sleep during the day so i could get used to the time again but it didnt work. i passed out at noon and slept allll afternoon. the flight was super long with two connections and a 4 hour layover in LA. not pleasant but at least the movie selection on the plane was good, hehe.

so about orlando. i went there for a tradeshow for my company with my coworker szymon. the exhibition was good though it was quite short. met a lot of people and the cool thing was that i think i spoke more spanish than english cuz there was a lot of latin american companies there. the experience was great and got a lot of market research. so now its back to work and on to the next show....

ok now the fun part. we got to check out universal studios, i must say, the hulk and mummy ride were my favorites,,, long lines but well worth it. i got to eat a lot of great food, shop at the outlets and enjoy the beautiful weather. so yea, i had a great time!!! now im back in taipei and kinda happy to be "home"! he is a pic of me and the classic universal studio pic...hahaha

still haven't recovered...

2007-03-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

still tired as hell. yesterday i drank too much tea and couldn't get to sleep. now im almost dying but my friend is coming to cook me special rice balls with sesame for dessert of part of the lantern festival goodies, i guess. sat night i slept like a log and i HOPE i can sleep like that tonight. this weekend was great cuz i got have eat WESTERN FOOD. i thought that i wouldn't cave in but i did :( and so did diana. (my fren from the states). on friday we hit pizza hut (though we did have asian pizza and dessert!) the buffet here is much better. u can get rice, fried chicken, soups and sweet bean soup (one of my favorite taiwanese desserts!) i had western food potluck with my friends from church and then again yesterday we had more western food. so now i dont crave that no more and its on to TORTILLA's oh how i miss them soooo much. with some beans and cheese....man, i wish my mom was here to cook for me, oh and with some friend plantains....mmmmm.

today i think there is a new intern that arrived from new york and another one will come from germany in mid march. so our group is ever expanding, but i hope their cool unlike this othe intern that we had. he was totally close minded and complained about everything. everyone is glad he left, sad to say but hey...anyways, i updated my pics so check them out. also i think i might be heading back to north america for a tradeshow at the end of the month. its in orlando so it will be good experience for sure. though im not looking forward to the flight....argh!!! but who knows i might not even go as plans change so quickly at my company, lol. i mean they just decided to send me so things might change that quickly...hahaha. k dudes, later...

sawatica

2007-02-24T01:57:00.000-07:00

Thailand was something I think everyone should experience…what can I say except that I will be returning again. We did so much, opium village, seeing tigers, elepants, shows, parties, markets, eating, beaches, shopping…it was non stop…..so im exhausted….

So because we started planning our trip so late, there were no flights to Thailand because of Chinese New Year. It’s like all of Taiwan and china were headed to Thailand, lol. All we could find was a thailand tour package so we decided to go for it. And man, was that ever an experience in itself. It was so funny. We were the only non-asians in the groups and everyone kept staring at us everwhere we went. We def. stood out…oh and we had our friend kim from north korea join us….im waiting for that pic as we speak…..lol.

Anyways…most of you guys know what thailand is like without me having to say anything. The beaches are gorgeous, the culture is amazing and the weather is perfect! Some things worth mentioning…lets talk about the “interesting” things we saw. We went to see this sex show and man, were we ever shocked!!!! If u wanna know all the juicy details you’ll have to ask me cuz I almost feel embarrased writing about it, hahaha. Oh yea and the lady boys were quite a show too, one of them keep slapping her boob on my friends head! …ha…to see pics go to my windows live space. Sorry no pics from the show there….also my friends have other pics that I have to upload later.

Oh and we had a traditional thai massage and I was in heaven for two hours!!! Even though sometimes it was painful it felt really good after. Im just glad I didn’t get a hot massus (sP?) cuz some of those positions that they get you into are scandolous. Bua! And and when we went to see the grand palace we had to take off our shoes and put them in the shoe room….man, it smelled so bad in there I almost puked, hhaha. It was so funny so see ppl dash in there grab their shoes and dash out, hahaha.

Reason’s why I have to go back? well on the tour we didn’t eat a lot of thai food since it was a chinese tour there was lots of chinese food. And I couldn’t find my coconut rice but I had this amazing spicy noodle soup off a street vendor..the best soup of my life!!! Since im a beach fanatic I would like to see more of them there….and would like to see more temples. But overall the trip was amazing, a def. awesome place to visit.

sick...again...but looking forward to cny!

2007-02-09T23:26:00.000-07:00

man, this is the second time ive been sick in 3 months, thats a record for me. luckily today is cloudy n kinda rainy so its good to be indoors in your room, haha. the other night, i coudln't sleep cuz i ate some oranges late at night and mixed it with cough syrup, man, was that ever a mistake. ive never had such back stomach pains in my life. i was this close to going to the hospital, but i coudln't move so i took some alka-seltzers and i was better. but now i have a really bad chest cough and its hard to talk. but im taking some traditional chinese, japanese medicine and im getting better...

anyways on to better news, we're going to THAILAND!!!! we can't wait, we all really need this break from work, lol. we work too hard. so its Wilson, Marta, Emily and me who will be going to Pattaya and Bangkok (sp?) for 5 days! im looking forward to eating coconut rice and basking in the sunny beaches, hehe. i'll let u guys know how it goes. then when we come back we'll still have some time to rest before going to work.

so this week will hopefully go fast. my company will be doing a tradeshow this week so i hope everything goes smoothly in barcelona. ive worked so hard planning it, lol, wanna see results here people, lol. anyways i better get some rest. so HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

need a heater....

2007-01-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Apparently I can’t read dates. I thought this weekend was going to be the international book fair and we were really excited to go and get some English books. On the way there I saw on the MRT that it wasn't this weekend but that it was next weekend:0 So we ended up at Mister Donut for about 2 hours munching away at those delicious ring puff wonders, hehe. Which I must say are better than Tim Horton donuts and are probably have half the sugar and fat, lol.

This weekend was also Aiesec’s global village, which I was pretty impressed with. There were tons of people (cause of the national conference) and each LC had their own booth representing a country. It was funny cause when I went to the Canada both I started asking them all these questions which they didn’t know the answers too. Haha yea it was cruel but it was funny to hear their responses. I asked them, how do they make maple syrup??? And hey didn’t know what to say so there were like, hummmmm you put on pancakes, here try it! Hehe I was laughing so hard, then my friend finally told them I was from Canada and they were all embarrassed, but then where happy that I came to their booth, ha.

The day was sunny, but soooo fricking cold, and of course everyone keeps telling me that im from Canada and that I shouldn't be cold, but ITS SUPER COLD HERE. I climatized (sp?) really fast and it’s a humid cold, lol. Well, that my excuse anyways. So we decided to go to our favorite hot pot place. Its all u can eat and it has really cool house music. You’d never think it, but the mix is awesome. They even have a mini disco ball hanging above the dj. So it feels like you’re in a lounge but eating hot pot, hehe. I think I’m becoming Taiwanese because I’m loving hot pot way to much. here is a pic of us having homemade hot pot in my apartment, hehe..

alone again

2007-01-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

well my parents went back today:( i didnt think it was a big deal and that i would go on living my normal life but the day hasn't even finished and i miss them already. its like kent said, its "the reverse emotional airport goodbye" but i'll manage, lol...now to go clean up the mess they made!

yes, it gets cold here....

2007-01-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Well things here have been going pretty good, cept that it’s been really cold lately but my parents don’t mind. They go out in t-shirts and everyone stares at them with disbelief, meanwhile I’ve climatized (sp?) so much that I wear my winter jacket and scarf everywhere:0 This weekend was awesome though. Sat my mom and I went shopping while dad went to the local Chinese Adventist church. Then we went to this really cool mountain side town overlooking the ocean. It was soo gorgeous and the view was incredible. We had some traditional tea and bought a lot of souvenirs and stuff that are traditional to the area. Lots of Chinese movies have been filmed there as there are little traditional streets along the mountain along with a really creepy graveyard next to our parking lot. Then we headed to the port and ate some seafood, it was really good and fresh, we even picked out our fish n they cooked it in three different ways. But I couldn’t look at it when they picked it out cause then I wouldn’t be able to eat it, lol…

Sunday was good too. I had my Chinese class (which is getting harder and harder every Sunday) and then we went to this famous mounting for hiking we’re they have lots of hot springs. For dinner we headed to Tianmu a more western area where we ate at this place called the onion. It was a good break from all the Chinese food as my parents wanted a little break from it, lol, I mean they love the food here but they’ve been here for three weeks now and they kinda wanted something familiar, hahaha. Now it’s Monday morning, but surprisingly I doing ok, lol…..anyways I hope u guys have a good week. Later. Has anything one of you guys broken any new year resolutions yet? Lol..

Shoe hero!

2007-01-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yes shoe hero!!!we were on the east coast dipping our sweaty pale skinned feet when a huge wave came in and took my friend eunice's shoe...luckily i quickly stepped up and got the shoe!!! though i couldn't save her sock:( actually i didnt want to cuz i had forgotten i had my camera in my pocket but luckily it never got wet.

anyways, this new year weekend was very awesome. my parents and I, and my friend Wilson and his family went to the east coast and the south of taiwan. checked out some hot springs (where even our tap water was sulpher, lol) n ate tons of good food. i need to go on a diet, hahaha. but it was really relaxing n my skin feels great. it was also good to breathe clean air, lol..check out my pics...i will upload them now....

so happy new year to all y'all and ttyl!!!!

Season's Greetings

2006-12-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas from Taiwan!
I’ve been really busy with my parents here so I haven’t had time to update you guys on what’s been going on. My parents love it here and still can’t believe they’re on the other side of the world, lol. Yesterday we had Christmas dinner so it was awesome, almost felt like home, but just missing the snow. They will be here till the middle of Jan so hopefully we can travel around Taiwan for a bit. They’ve been doing a lot of site seeing but mostly shopping and eating the great food, hahaha.

My Chinese is improving but I have a long way too go. I am listening to a lot of Chinese music, lol, mostly pop but it’s the easiest to memorize and understand so far, lol. I’m also getting a long with my new roommates so that’s really cool. Me and Sabrine have our Sunday night tradition of watching this show, its kinda funny cuz I kinda understand whats going on but she always had to translate.

On Friday we had our Xmas party at work. We exchanged gifts and had a xmas lunch consisting of pizza and fried chicken, HAHAHA. For dinner we all went to spicy hot pot and KTV. Sang my little heart out and saw my CEO sing too, he’s actually quite good. here is a pic of some of us who stayed late;)

So yea, I hope everyone has a great Christmas and even better New Year!!!

asian mullet

2006-11-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

kind of noticed a hair trend here thats leaning towards mullets, speaking of which, i seem to be growing one also, lol! though they dont seem to horrible looking like the ones from the 80s and such. anyways, im gonna see how long i can let it grow before brenda flies over here and shaves my hair off herself. have a look...i dont think its too bad eh?

anyways, been pretty busy lately. work has been stressful since i have so much to do with little time and many tight deadlines:( but i won't bore you guys with details. thursday was cool cause i went to an aiesec event. it was cool cause they prepared this game where they had made presentations about places to go and visit here in taiwan. they also had all this awesome food for me to try too. oh and i had this one fruit ive never had before but it was so good, maybe next time i can take a pic of it n u might b able to tell me what it is, also had some traditional chinese tea in traditional chinese style:)

went shopping to ximending, the centre of the youth culture in taipei with so many cool things to buy and EAT! also checked out CKS memorial, which is a memorial built by taiwan's only dictator, it was really awesome so u can check out my pics to see it.

also had my first chinese lessons, man, we sounded so horrible, hahaha. it was me, two japanese guys and a south african girl, but it was still a lot of fun. hopefully next week, i wont b so tired n can learn how to pronounce my tones better, hahaha..

later guys....heading to bed, i have a tough week coming up, and also im moving into my new place so it should b awesome. oh yea, i forgot to mention, my parents are coming for christmas!!!!!! it was gonna b my first xmas alone but man, im glad they decided to come:)

clean!

2006-11-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

ok so i realized that i haven't cleaned my room in like two weeks and that there was this weird smell coming from my garbage can. so i finally cleaned my whole apartment and it looks and smells GREAT! especially after everyone left this morning. after a crazy night at THE FACE we crashed at my place after having some dou jiang (soybean milk) and man tou jia dan (steamed bun with egg). let's just say there was a lot of ummmm...drama that happened with some of the interns but it was kinda funny, hahaha, its like being on my exchange in europe again, though this time i was not involved in anything, hahaha.

the weekend started off going to mos burger where i tried the famous japanese rice burger. which was awesome! though kinda hard to eat, i also tried the one from mcdonalds but this one was better. ok i normally dont eat mcd's but i had to try to the rice burger ok, kent dont shoot me, lol. on sat we headed to an amusement park for a company trip and it was crazy ass funny. my coworkers are hilarious and even though some of them dont speak english that well, we all understand dirty comedy, hahahaha. they never stop to amaze me. let's just say i will never look at bread the same ever again. here is a pic...

n today well, slept in and as i said before, cleaned. don't know if i said this before but i will be moving to a new apartment at the end of the month. it is much cheaper and bigger and nicer and i'll have some roomies, lol. so that should be fun. i'll get pics once i move it and maybe have a potluck. also i will be starting chinese lessons on nov 26th. so now i could hopefully explain to my neighbour what im doing here in taiwan, hahaha. the only bad thing is that the lessons are on sunday mornings. but in a way its good so that i dont spend my whole sundays sleeping and can enjoy all the wonderful things taipei has to offer. but yea, i'll try to update my pics so u guys can have a look. now i must go eat dinner and go work out....later.

of rice and noodles...

2006-10-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

so i had this big post about my weekend with a 'special' reflection of my last month and my computer froze:( stupid pics wouldn't load so just go to my windows live spaces and check them out...there from hiking, temples, friends and halloween party.

in summary i still love being here and no major culture shock yet...learning a couple of words and cant wait to start my classes in december...

i've realized i can't go one day without rice or noodles:( i don't know what it is, but man, sooo addicting, hahaha...later...

KTV anyone...?

2006-10-22T07:27:00.000-06:00

you never really know your co-workers until you go to karaoki together, or ktv as its called here. so on friday after work our boss invites us for dinner. (another hotpot!) and it was awesome n all. then we decide to go to karaoki and was i ever shocked, lol! they went nuts!!!! singing, dancing, drinking, laughing, man, you would never know they were this much fun at the office, it was such an awesome time, i couldn't believe how fun it was, hahaha. so here you have your private room with food and drinks and party the night away. the two biggest ktv places are called partyworld and holiday, hahaha, sounds appropiate no? now i dont know what i would say to them at the office on monday, probaly business as usual;)

anyways the rest of the weekend was good too, did a little shopping at the night market, went to another aiesec newie seminar where i met other interns. checked out this place called TU (another all you can drink place, lol) and went for some sheesa. you can do it all here taipei, its amazing! i will try to download some more pics for you guys but i always forget so hopefully next time. so back to work tomorrow, its gonna be a busy week;)

VIP, hiking and potatoes..........!?!

2006-10-17T07:56:00.000-06:00

man, i think i better slow down on the nightlife scene here in taipei or else it's gonna kill me, though it is AMAZING! we went to this place called WAX! and it was awesome. one of my co-workers invited me cause it was his friend's bday. another all you can drink place and we got a vip booth. music was all hip-hop and they played a lot of good oldies, hahaha. tons of stuff on our table including rounds of tequila (which the bday girl took to much of and had to be sent home:(, lol! she was really cool though) anyways it was an awesome night, and i finished it off with a spicy chicken burger from 7-11, which was EXCELLENT (way better food that our 7-11's, lol)

the next day we were only supposed to go out for a couple of drinks on a patio but ended up at this wig party with other foreigners. but the best part was eating at this after hours food market around 3am. man, was it ever good. we had some dumplings and chinese pancakes (i think?) with omeletes and rice cake, oh i don't remember the rest but way better than a pizza (cause i was craving one, hahaha)

sunday was quite good too except the early morning rise. marta and i (another intern) headed to one of the Aiesec newie seminars on one of the mountains. it was beautiful with fresh mountain air (not like our mountain air which is much better) but still better than city air. i did my canada presentation and gave out some pens:) then we had a session called "challenge your world view" but my group never discussed our topic because we were too busy talking about other things. they were really curious about my life and stuff so thats what we mostly talked about, lol. later, we hiked down the mountain which was so sweet! it was such a nice cool day with lots of sun so it felt good to excersize again (though my legs were shaking from all those stairs, hahaha i need to start running again:) so we finished our hike at another night market (shilin, which is the biggest) and we had some kabob, which again, was awesome, lol....when i got home i passed out at 7pm, hahaha

but i've said enough for now and will try to keep it shorter for next time....later!

whoops! forgot to mention the potatoes, well today i finally had one!!! they have no potatoes here and i really really wanted one. i found a potatoe place and had one with cheese and mushrooms, not as good as back home but it did the trick! next i want to find a place with MASHED potatoes, (am i spelling potatoes right?)

i'm gonna be an uncle!!!!!

2006-10-14T14:22:00.000-06:00

shit dudes, i can't believe this, i was just about to go to sleep coming home from a party when my brother calls me on my cell and tells me i'm gonna be an UNCLE!!!!! man, im so excited!!!! the baby is due in June which sucks cuz i'll still be in Taiwan but man, i'm so happy for my brother and sister in law, wow! UNCLE ABNER, HAHAHA!

my first EARTHQUAKE!

2006-10-12T09:08:00.000-06:00

I'M OK!!! but it still feels like the room is moving, hahaha, it just happened right now and my friend from Taiwan, who i was talking to on msn, said it is common. please nobody tell my mom cause then she will freak ok.....lol....thanks...:)

finally got a chance to go and eat some hot pot. man, it was really good but a lot of work. i even got a bib! so it was an all you can place where you put your uncooked food into this big boiling pot in the centre of your table. i also tried some apple pop, which was really good, actually, lol.

so i'll be doing to aiesec conferences these next two weekends so i'll update yo guys on how those went...

oh and i've killed two roaches in my room so far....hahaha

My pictures

2006-10-09T07:11:00.000-06:00

CHECK OUT MY PICS AT...

http://abnergadiel.spaces.live.com/

oh the horror...

2006-10-07T06:48:00.000-06:00

man, where to start, this is gonna be a long one. first of all, my internet explorer and msn somehow stopped working and i havent been able to log on for a couple of days at home and its been driving me insane, i swear i almost threw myself off my window. but i am ok now, lol. right now im just at my local starbucks after having woken up at 5pm, its 7 now hahaha. I went out with a couple of other interns to this all you can drink latin bar, lol, it was a lot of fun, but very dangerous cuz of all the drinks, so i think i'll lay off places like that for a bit.

it's the holiday weekend where people have been celebrating the moon festival. its been awesome cuz everyone bbqs and the food is sooo good, lol. i've been to two already and they're filled with tons of food, fruits and moon cakes. the first was put on by my local Aiesec (NTU) and we had it near the river, good times. and the other was put on by the Taiwan Aiesec president and again stuffed my face. that is where i met other interns, and i found out that Marta (from Poland) actually works in the building across from mine. so yea, i had my first day of work which was good. im very excited to be in the marketing department and start planning some tradeshows. they were renovating the offices so it was quite dirty and we had to help move some of their stuff. and on tuesday we gotta set up so i dont think i actually start working until wed. but i have been assigned some books to read this weekend which makes me feel like im in uni again, lol.

finally went to taipei 101 (the world's tallest building, for now) and it was so awesome. you could see all of taipei and the mountains. i was a bit nervous being so high but i got used to it quickly, yall know im scared of heights, lol. and have still been trying to see all of taipei. here is a pic....

still trying a lot of different food, its so good and my chopstick skills are kick ass! i even get complimented on how proper i hold them, lol. people love to give compliments here and i think my head is getting so big, lol. the best one ive heard so far is that i have very charming eyes;) man, they really know how to make me blush, lol.

my first chore...

2006-10-02T04:13:00.000-06:00

so i just came back from dumping my garbage. it's the weirdest thing, the garbage truck comes by twice everyday to the same location, and you have to go and throw your garbage into the truck. if its not there you have to wait because you are not allowed to leave your garbage on the street. plus, you can only use government regulated garbage bags that you buy at 7-11, hahaha. i guess its a good way to know your neighbours! lol...

anyways here is a picture of some of the people of picked me up at the airport!
(Silvia, me, Bob and Grace)

and here is a pic of the sun yat-sen memorial i passed by on sunday...

everyone in taiwan does two things, eat and shop! hahaha...

still jetlegged...

2006-09-29T23:20:00.000-06:00

hey guys,
i've moved into my room and got some sleep finally but still very tired so this is gonna be short. it doesn't feel like im in taiwan yet it feels like im in chinatown or something, lol. everything has been so surreal and it feels like it hasn't really happened.

anyways my aiesec reception was awesome! they have been so awesome and now that i am alone it feels weird not having them around. they helped me find my place, buy a cellphone, go to the bank and buy stuff. i can't thank them enough.

so when im more rested i'll write about all the amazing things thats happened so far...but for now im gonna sleep again and take another shower, its so hot and humid, lol...bye!

Goodbye!

2006-09-26T23:41:00.000-06:00

Hey dudes,
Well I have 10 hours before my flight leaves for Taiwan. Right now I am feeling really tired, a little bit excited and a bit nervous. Normally I'm just excited and I can't sleep for days before my trips but this time around its different.

My passport and visa finally came in on Monday and another package I needed came in today, talk about timing! Everything is packed and I managed to get both my suitcases under 55 pounds, lol. I had a special dinner with my family and gf so it was nice. once again props to Jen and Kaylee for that awesome gift cert for a massage!!! I went at the perfect time, at the peak of my stressfullness hahaha.

Well, i guess that is all i have to say for now, next time i'll be updating this would be in Taiwan so I hope i get internet soon. Wish me luck guys! You will be missed!!!

Abner

time is running out...

2006-09-22T20:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I finished my last day at work on Wed. It was nice cause we all went out to the Met downtown and had a great last lunch together. im gonna miss everyone from the group, they were awesome to work with and we had a lot of fun together. This for the card and gift! Here they are...

also, BIG THANKS to Kaylee and Jenn, they were super awesome and bought me a gift cert for a massage!!!! I'm so excited to go and relieve some stress (especially right now cause my visa and another package i am waiting for, haven't arrived yet!) YOU GUYS ROCK! these two lovely ladies are right below...

So I took off to Banff with my girlfriend last night and it was really good to spend some quality time with each other before I leave. We had an awesome time and even got a change to dip in the hot springs (sorry no pics, lol). But now, back to reality in trying to get all my stuff together.

my work permit has arrived!

2006-09-18T22:04:00.000-06:00

Finally, I've been waiting for this piece of paper for a long time now, (I think it has given me an ulcer). So early tomorrow I can send the rest of my papers to apply for my resident visa!!! Hopefully that won't take a while cuz my plane will be leaving at 10 am on Wed morning, hahaha (Sept 27th). As for other prep things, I haven't started packing but once I'm done work, which will be on the 20th, I'll have lots of time. My girlfriend wants to whisk me away on Thursday for one more romantic outing, hahaha, but that's all I'm gonna say about that. As for my family, my mom has started to drive me crazy with all the packing stuff but she's always a big help no matter how crazy she makes me feel. Love ya mom! Now that I will be leaving my parents are going to be all alone. My younger brother got married earlier in May and is now in Lethbridge and my middle brother is in Kanses playing baseball and going to university there. I miss them a lot but I'm sure they're having the time of their lives, hahaha. My family below...

Addict...

2006-09-07T18:18:00.000-06:00

i need to stop watching tennis, but i can't. this is the last major open of the season and although my favorite player got kicked out yesterday (Nadal) the matches have been entertaining. i haven't gotten much stuff done and that why i need to stop, lol. i promise that after sunday i'll get my ass in gear for sure.

still haven't gotten my work permit so i can't apply for my residence visa yet. man, i'm starting to feel a bit uneasy but hopefully it comes before the 16th so i can confirm my flight on sept 25th. speaking of sept 25th, its the mariah carey concert, yes i said it, im not ashamed hahaha. i am thinking of maybe changing the date so i can go but we'll see...

one of my co-workers gave me a lonely planet travel book of taiwan today. isabella is the nicest person i've ever known, she's always looking after me and trying to calm me down when i get angry at work, hahaha. but today she made my day by getting me that book. she also planned a go away lunch with my cool crew from work, lol. man, i think i'll be having lots of those before i leave, i think my calendar is almost full until i leave, (oh the life of being popular, hahaha yea right).

alright folks, i let you know when big and exciting news comes in...but chao for now!man, i should really start learning mandarin eh?!

on a sad note...

2006-09-03T19:09:00.000-06:00

Andre Agassi played his last match today as he lost to Becker in the third round of the US open. He will be missed...

Now that I finished doing what was required for my work permit, all I have to do is WAIT...seems like I should be doing so much more...I was looking at pics of Taiwan the other day, (especially those of the beaches)and could imagine myself being there already. when i go on a trip, i try finding the same spot on the pics that ive viewed and then taking a pic of me in that same spot, lol, does that make sense? anyways, it gives me a real sense of accomplishment. so you might see me here in the next couple of months....

Closer...

2006-08-27T19:57:00.000-06:00

I think that tmrw i will go and buy my ticket to Taiwan! i'm very excited but at the same time extremely nervous, so we'll see if i break a sweat when i'm about to pay.

well there was another bump in the road this week. apparently i need to do another blood exam for my work permit so i might have to go back to the doctor's again! this is gonna delay my application for my residence permit so now i have to apply for a visitor visa and then get a residence permit once i get into Taiwan. But i'm keeping my head high and trying to imagine myself already at my new desk working away and then relaxing in my apartment. i've been reading blanca and liz's blog and they give me hope, hahaha, that this will all work itself out, lol.

so my last day at work at encana will be the 20th of sept and i will start work at Coiler on Oct 2. I plan to leave on the 25th of Sept so that i have time to settle in. all this seems boring to read, i bet, but i promise once im in taipei it will get much more interesting!!!

It has begun...

2006-08-18T21:09:00.000-06:00

Torture, thats all I can say, I HATE applying for visas, no matter which country you go too, its never easy. Today I went to the doctors to get a health certificate but he said I needed some form. Now I will have to wait till next week and take time of work to go back. Plus I couldn't even find the stupid form on the Taiwanese website so hopefully the TN manager can send me one soon. Anyways I know everything will turn out but I wish I could magically get my resident visa and work permit right now and skip this whole fiasco.

Later