Archive for December, 2007

Build Your Dream Home

The other day I was walking by a real estate office and ran into a listing that was unusual:
Location! Location! Location! Build your dream home on this lot. The lot is permitted for a 3-level home with total building area of 4790 sq.ft.. An approved plan is included with the sale and available for preview. [...]

Gifts That Keep On Giving

Lately, I’ve been hearing on the news about how gift cards are popular gifts this holiday season even though gift cards are a bad idea. I hadn’t even known until a few months ago that Safeway and other supermarkets were carrying gift cards to various retailers like Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Borders, Home Depot, [...]

Encounters: The Australian-Cantonese Couple

We started a Taiwan Tour the day after arriving in Taipei. The van picked us up and two couples at other hotels before we were on our way. After our third stop, our tour guide tried to figure out which language he should use on our journey. One couple was from mainland [...]

The Internet Abroad

I’m currently in Hong Kong staying with my cousin. When she visited the United States earlier this year, she mentioned that although she had broadband in her flat in Hong Kong, she hadn’t set up wireless yet. So one of the things I did in the first 24 hours of arriving in Hong Kong was [...]

The Bright Lights of Taipei

Taipei, a big city with bright lights as my good friend describes it, reminded me of Hong Kong, but not as busy. Her parents learned that we were going to be in Taipei and offered to show us around. Her father used to be a department chair at a state university in the United States, [...]