Yesterday will definitely go somewhere on top of my most memorable/embarrassing moments. Halfway home from a good day of surfing at the beach. I realized my tummy didn't agree with what i had for dinner. And since there were no bathrooms around, i had to suppress the need.
Alas, after almost an hour of driving i saw a bathroom sign. Eager to go, i sat on the toilet. I feel the sudden relief from desperation.
Now relaxed, i noticed there were no toilet paper around. Another level of desperation envelops me. "What do i do?" i asked myself. Scrambling and fumbling, i look into my bag. All that was in there are my board shorts which is my favorite and some new shirt.
I was considering leaving like that, but something inside me told me, "Not when you're wearing something white!". At that moment i saw my wallet. If i was in a movie, this would be the time where a choir starts singing "Hallelujah" in the background and a ray of light comes down from the ceiling. Yes, i made it!
For years my Girlfriend has been telling me to clean out the receipts in my wallet. I'm glad my passiveness has proven to be a good thing and i can tell her, "i told you so".
After my first try of surfing (video below) last monday (8/9/2010) . I was immediately hooked.
I couldn't get it out of my system so i had to find a place to practice and learn how to surf. So after googling half a day yesterday for beaches nearby. I found one. Unsure of what it looks like or if they even have a place to rent equipments, i ventured north from Dali city to Da' an county which is way north.
Starting off from the city. There was nothing special. But soon after i passed Taichung international airport, the view started getting better. As you go downhill, it overlooks the whole town of Cingshuei, Wuchi and Dajia. The view stretches to the coastline where you see the wind turbines.
Growing up in the city, i seldom get a chance to see much of the ocean or the beach - Except for Manila bay, which doesn't really count- which is why i'm always excited when i see such sights - that if i had a tail, it would surely be wagging.
A few more minutes and i reached "Da an". But as much to my dismay, i ended up in a filthy river mouth that was made even worse by the beach that was filled with scattered human wastes, dead trees and carcasses of what i assume to be dead birds. And even worse, the whole area looked like a ghost town. Closed and abandoned restaurants and theme parks filled the area - as if it wasn't enough of an eyesore already.
After a disappointing hunt. I found a nice place in the shade to relax a bit which is easy enough if you just close your eyes and listen to the waves coming in and hitting the beach gently like a mother tucking in her child.
Right there in the shed, i accepted my fate. I told myself "You're never gonna find a decent spot around here, Jet!" . So i finished lunch and called my girlfriend to tell her my scouting trip was a failure. Then started the walk back to the parking area and started driving back.
Less than a block down the road, a voice told me. "Don't give up! You've come this far to turn back now." - It's just a thought, not a real voice. I might be crazy but not the "need to see the shrink" crazy :p . So i decided to keep going further up north on route 7. And there i saw the small signs -only spray painted on electric posts- that says "衝浪" which means "surf". I kept following the small arrows painted on random objects. And there hidden behind the bushes i saw this ....
After seeing the shop, the voices inside my head started singing "Hallelujah, hallelujah!". Then after inquiring about equipment rentals and lessons. I headed to the beach near that spot to see how it looked. It wasn't "Boracay" nor "Puerto Azul" - which is impossible to find here in taiwan - but definitely good and clean enough. After that, i had a grin on my face the whole time i was driving back home knowing, i got a new playground!
Here are some more pictures i took at Da an beach. I'll upload the rest on facebook soon after i publish this blog.
Twitter's block is a condition, associated with Tweeting as an obsession, in which a tweeter loses the ability to post anything under 140 characters. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the tweet at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked" tweeters have been unable to tweet for years on end, and some have even abandoned their accounts. It can manifest as the affected tweeter viewing their tweets as derivative or unsuitable, when in fact it could be the opposite.
Causes of Twitter's block
Twitter's block may have many causes. Some are essentially randomness problems that originate within an tweet's tweets itself. A tweeter may have suffered the lost of internet connection. The tweeter may have a real life and feel they may have something that needs to be done before hand. A tweet may be fundamentally misconceived, or beyond the tweeter's IQ or logic. A fictional example can be found in George Orwell's novel Keep The Aspidistra Flying, in which the hero Gordon Comstock struggles in vain to complete an epic poem describing a day in London: "It was too big for him, that was the truth. It had never really progressed, it had simply fallen apart into a series of fragments."
Other blocks, especially the more serious kind, may be produced by adverse circumstances in a tweeter's account: broken keyboard, bad connection, a start of a relationship, financial pressures, a sense that nobody really cares about their tweets. The pressure to produce tweets may in itself contribute to a tweeter's block, especially if they are compelled to tweet in ways that are against their natural inclination, i.e. Tweeting what color your bowel movement is. In some cases, tweeter's block may also come from feeling intimidated by a previous trending tweet, the creator putting on themselves a paralyzing pressure to find something to equate that same retweeted and trending tweet again. The writer Elizabeth Gilbert, reflecting on her post-bestseller prospects, proposes that such a pressure might be released by interpreting creative writers as "having" genius rather than "being" a genius. In George Gissing's New Grub Street, one of the first novels to take twitter's block as a main theme, the parodist hidden under the name Jet for example becomes completely unable to tweet and is shown as suffering from all those problems.
Twitter's Block is a new disease and still umentioned on various TV shows like Jimmy Kimmel's and on the Letterman show. Some character like Ragimu Huhuga admits to suffering from Twitter's Block when he is having difficulty envisioning how to tweet nonesense under 140 characters.
I'm just wondering... Why oh why am i bothering to make and maintain a blog site when i already have a youtube vlog site which is http://www.youtube.com/PlanetJetProductions . And no one really bothers to come over here nor do i even bother sharing blogs i write down. So what's the point? And it's not like i got no one to talk to. Damn i'm going crazy, lol!
Yesterday was a sad day! We decided to go back to our favorite place. Fairy waterfalls in Taiping, Taichung county. A beatiful place that always makes me feel relaxed and happy.
It's a beautiful place. Sadly people going on picnics and BBQs do stuff like this....
Just makes me sad to see a beautiful place like that ruined by people who has no manners. I would understand if it was one of those resorts where you pay to get in. You pay for the cleaning services. But something free like this. "Learn to clean up after yourselves people!" The worst part is they're the locals. I'd understand if they're some tourist who don't care. But locals ruining a place they could be proud of. Now that's just sad! :-(
memorable/embarrassing moments. Halfway home from a good day of surfing at the beach. I realized my tummy didn't agree with what i had for dinner. And since there were no bathrooms around, i had to suppress the need.
For years my Girlfriend has been telling me to clean out the receipts in my wallet. I'm glad my passiveness has proven to be a good thing and i can tell her, "i told you so".
