Monday, November 2, 2009

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Epicurus

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able, and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God."

~Epicurus

Monday, September 7, 2009

Music Monday

Happy Labor Day!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

今までありがとう

今までありがとう


あなたのおかけで 俺もっと強くなりました

いい思い出くれた感謝してる

君の事ずっと忘れられません

願いを君ずっと幸せに

 

悲しい事も 辛いも 

俺はいつも君のそばにいる

 

這是我的祝福

 

RIP マイ メンモリー

KBBQ

Decided to take some of my American and Mexican friends to a Korean BBQ for dinner today. Disappointed I have to say. Instead of being mature and open minded about meeting a foreign culture, one of them decided to poke fun at everything he could at the Korean restaurant. 

A) I'm embarrassed that I have such a friend. 
B) I realized that some areas of the world is still very close minded. Either that or the upbringing of that particular friend was particularly narrow minded. 
C) I need to second doubt myself next time when I do such a cross-cultural event for them. 

Other than that particular pain in the ass individual, dinner went well. 

rOar

Friday, September 4, 2009

Senior Design Announced

Just received word of what product I'll be developing for the next 9 months: 

Human Powered Nebulizer. 

Essentially it is a stair-master-esque human power source for countries/locations without a stable power source in running medical equipments. 

Our goal is to develop and integrate the current model developed by Marquette University into a bike model. 

Looking forward to it. 

rOar

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

01001011 01110010 01111001 01110000 01110100 01101111 01101110 01101001 01110100 01100101

01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01100001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101001 01101110 01100001 01101100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110101 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01110101 01110000 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101110 00100000 01000110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101100 01101111 01101110 01100111 01100101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101011 01100101 01110000 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100011 01101100 01100101 01101110 01110100 01100011 01101000 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01100001 01110010 01101101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101100 01100101 01101110 01100111 01110100 01101000 00101110 00100000 01000010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01110110 01100101 01100001 01101100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101101 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01100100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00111011 00100000 01101010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110011 01101000 01101111 01110010 01110100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100110 01100101 01110111 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110101 01110010 01100001 01100111 01100101 01101111 01110101 01110011 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01100100 01110011 00101110 00100000 01010111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110011 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00111111 00100000 01010111 01101000 01111001 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110011 01100001 01111001 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101110 00111111 00100000 01010111 01101000 01111001 00100000 01100100 01101001 01100100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110110 01100101 00111111 00100000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110011 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110011 01110100 01110010 01101111 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101110 00101110 00100000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101001 01100110 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01110011 01110100 01110010 01101111 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100101 01101110 01101111 01110101 01100111 01101000 00100000 01100001 01100111 01100001 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00101110 00100000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 00101110 00101110 00101110 01110111 01101000 01111001 00111111 

Senior Design

Just submitted my senior design proposal choices:

1) FlipOut: Wireless Mobile Device (prototype cellphone development)
2) Human-Power Nebulizer Project (portable human powered source)
3) Reaching Device For Patients with Limited Arm Functions
4) Wearable Human-Powered, Task-Adjustable Recharger for Medical Equipments
5) Microwave Development for Elderly People
6) Non-Electric Blood Pressure Assist Device
7) Single Port Device for Multiple Laparoscopic Instument
8) eLimo1: Vehicle (development of a gas/electric hybrid car

Hopefully I get my first choice. 

rOar

Monday, August 31, 2009

Music Monday

Ever wonder how music of different generations sound when fused together? Here I've found a perfect sample of Taiwanese past-present fusion of music:

Here We Go

Allright. I made it safely back to Mil-town. After 2 months of summer break, I'm finally back full time onto school and blogging. As this will be my senior year, I'll made an effort to update with interesting stuff onto this website regularly. 

お楽しみ

rOar

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Mid-flight

Sup y'all, Dag here. I'm currently in Japan's Narita airport's internet kiosk. Just landed here about 30 mins ago and awaiting my next transfer to Chicago in about 2 hours.

Leaving BKK is always hard, especially when you know that you will miss all the delicious food and the friendly people there and trade them all for the cold weather and the daily toil of engineering work that Milwaukee has to offer. I'd be lying if I said I wasnt sad leaving BKK this time around. Sister just graduated, good friends finally back at where we started, Pattaya, last day insanity, drunk off my rocker after Fallabella, to name just a few.

But fortunately this sadness will only have to occur once more; this winter. After that, it's goodbye Milwaukee for good!

Strange to think that senior year is already rolling on by. Lets just hope I'll make it through okay...

rOar

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Exciting Week

Sup y'all, Dag here. Finally found some time to sit down and write about my trip back to BKK this summer so far.

Jet lag wasn't as bad as I thought. Quite frankly, I was up and about the very next day, ready to hit the beach (Bang Saen) with the fam. Unfortunately for us, of what was to be a 3 days 2 night excursion to Bang Saen and Koh Samet turned into an overnight stay at Bang Saen with the arrival of my sister's unexpected minor food poisoning. Nonetheless, the fam decided to come back to BKK the next day and celebrate Mother's Day by getting ourselves a brand new Nintendo Wii. Quite fun I must add. But it'll get dull if you're not into all the art-tsy cute-tsy graphics the Wii has to offer. Next morning, the buddies and I decided to hit Pattaya beach. HOWEVER, not to our surprise, the friend that was suppose to drive us there was 2 hours late to pick us up. So by the time we got to Pattaya, we didn't board the boat until past 2pm. Fishing was terrific that day. Must've caught around 50 with the 5 of us there that day. Fresh sashimi on the boat? Hell yea. Fish we caught was quickly cut by one of the boat crewmen, and damn lemme tell you, that thing is FRESH. Unfortunately all that fishing streak was too good to be true, as one of our buddies got his finger caught in a fish hook. Good thing we weren't too far from the shore, so after a quick 30min dash back to the docks and our buddy was de-hooked at a nearby hospital.  Later that night we hit up a local Swiss/Germen (can't remember which, as I was suffering land-sickness) restaurant and the all famous Walking Street. I'll spare the details, as some memories are best kept inside. Just remember: air stewardesses and robot-dancing girl. :)

So we didn't get back to BKK till last Friday afternoon, as we were still racing go-karts that day after lunch. And since then I've been bumming around the house and the nearby store. Probably gonna hit up ramen and beer tomorrow. Will see whos free to hang out. 

In the mean time, this pic was taken last Sunday, showing a magnificent sunset over the BKK city-line.


Not looking forward to going back to Mil-town. Not at all. 

rOar

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Going Home!


Sup y'all. Dagron here. 

I am 5hrs away from my 35hr+ journey back home. 

Trans-pacific flights is NOT for the faint of heart. If you are not born out to endure long period of time of sitting, then expect hell when traveling across the globe in an airplane. 

Even with my experience in flying, this is still a quite a journey to embark. 

I'll try to document some of the journey for this blog. 

Expect me to be MIA till after a week after I recover from jetlag and fatigue.

F.U.N.

rOar 

Friday, August 7, 2009

Women Drivers


As I was walking home today, I come across an intersection where I almost witness a major car accident. A woman driver decided she would continue along her road despite its a red light for the past 30 seconds. Of course all hell breaks loose as the cars on the intersecting lane came screeching to a halt, resulting a HUGE pile up in the intersection. 

Heres my problem with women drivers. 2 reasons:

1) Yes, I know we're all about gender equality these days. But that doesnt make women more assertive and aggressive on the road. For those who drive, you know the road is a beast on its own. If you dont have confidence in your driving, you should not drive. Some, if not a majority, of women drivers tend to not have this confidence when they drive. Not sure if its because the sight of fast cars intimidate them or what, but from what I've seen, they're not assertive when they drive. 

2) I know it had been said that women are better at multi-tasking than men. Yes, I can agree to that. Hell, evolutionary theory of the prehistoric cave-people can account for this: Men hunt, women gather. Because women had to also rear children, they are forced to learn multi-task earlier than men, who just have one focus: hunt. But when it comes to the modern times of vehicle operation, multi-task does not seem to be a well-desired trait. Who would you rather have in writing a paper? Someone who can multi-task between watching tv and writing a dessertation, or someone who only concentrates on the dessertation? Of course if your concentration is on just one item, its more than likely you'll perform well in that task. Same thing with driving. We all know women got their urge to keep checking their outlook constantly. Hell, thats what the mirror in the shotgun seat is for. But to check how their makeup turns out WHILE driving? Receipe for disaster. 

So please, women drivers, we all heard of "Dont drink and drive". But for you lot, "Dont bitch and drive". Stay off the road. 

rOar

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Questionable Music Video: Ivy - Temptation of Sonata

Found this recently. If you are a fan of RPG games, you'll definitely recognize something eerily familiar with this Korean music video:

If you still can't figure it out yet, heres a comparison of the MV with its source:

Of course, Square Enix have sued the producers of this MV and won. More fuel to the fire between Japan-Korean tension? 

You bet. 

rOar

Sunday, August 2, 2009

SUMMER!!!

Aiiitee. Dagron is back. After a grueling month of philosophy lectures and readings, my summer has officially kicked off!

No more Aristotle! No more Kant! No more Mills! No more Donagan!

Yes summer!

(for the remainder of august)

rOar

*comp is still recovering.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Summer Finals...

Philosophy finals tomorrow. 

頑張ります

rOar

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Still dead...

Its confirmed: my comp is still infected. 

Been trying to find the trojan virus for the past few weeks, and still couldnt find it. I had to reinstall the XP OS and start from scratch. 

F-U-N. 

Monday, July 13, 2009

Music Monday

Round-Island Scooter Around Taiwan Update #3

Now that the mode of transportation has been decided, now we must get into the details about riding a scooter. 

3 issues here:
- Scooter license
- Scooter rental
- Scooter choice

A quick search on the internet on obtaining Taiwanese scooter license yields this. It shows that for a scooter 50cc or less only require a written test, while 51cc to 250cc requires a written and road test. Now, both written and road test must be taken at a local testing office. I know one near my house in 百福, the same place where I got my driver's license. I've seen the road test, and its not hard. Mainly there is a test for the ability to ride in a straight line within confined space, and a test for basic road signs. 

Documents needed are residence permit, 3 passport sized pictures, and the fee for testings. 

Next on the agenda is scooter rental. At this point in time, I have no suggestions on which scooter shops are best. Nonetheless, a bit of research leads me to here. Things to be of concerns are A) Reliability of the store, B) Quality of scooter, and C) Insurance coverage and other issues. I dont think I can make any more progress in this issue right now until I get back to the country in a few months time. Will update. 

Finally, scooter choice. Generally, what I found was that the average stocked 50cc scooter have a top speed of about 60kmh to 80kmh, where as a 150cc have a top speed of about 100kmh. Of course, I wont be riding in top speed this entire journey, but its something to be of a concern. If we were to assume we choose a 50cc scooter, traveling at an average speed of say, 15kmh (assuming average speed between city and rural locations), then a journey of 1200km will take about 80hours, or roughly 3.3 days non-stop. That said, if the traveling time is broken down equally throughout the 2 week trip (14 days), then the daily riding time is about 5.7hours, a relatively acceptable time frame.

Now, heres where the scooter beats a car: if along any point of this trip we were to decide to take short cuts, and use other forms of transportation other than scooter, both the Ju-Guang Hao and Fu-Hsing Hao trains have the ability to allow riders to carry their scooters along with them on the train. This is a definite aid if we were to change plans on the fly. 

With all that said and done, all thats left is to take the scooter test and choose which scooter we'll be riding in. 

More updates to come soon. Meanwhile, I've found two Taiwanese movies based on the idea of round island journey. Both movies are done by bicycles: 


rOar

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Playstation 3 Home

Aite, so yesterday I've decided to check out what the Playstation 3's Home of the Japanese server looks like. After a brief registeration of a Japanese account, I've successfully managed to take a look at this once hidden gem. 

Compared to the American's version of Home, there are many obvious differences:
- The Home Plaza was alot wider and more spacious than the American's.
- All spaces, excluding the personal space and the mall, were different.
- There are ALOT more things to buy in the stores, for costumes etc.

On top of that, I manage to catch a glimps of a live Hatsune Miku's performance off the pier from the plaza. Heres some highlights:




Thats right. You're eyes are not fooling you. There is a CROWD gathering to see the live performance (of a new song). 

Besides the appearance of Hatsune Miku, there is also a life-size Gundam RX-78-2 released today, in sync reveal of the REAL 1/1 ratio Gundam statue in Odaiba, Japan. The first pic is the real Gundam statue, and below it are the ones from Home: 





Now, what can possibly be more Japanese than a giant robot in the middle of Home Plaza? Why, a fully decked out festival of course! Included in the Japanese server, PS3 Home included a space that is themed with the Japanese festival. Heres a few shots:






Besides some good music and fireworks sound effects, there are mini games, such as goldfish catch, and mini shooting range that makes this place really feel like a traditional Japanese festival. Oh yea, they didnt forget to put in some pretty ladies there too: 


The American version of Home is NOTHING compared to the Japanese version. Just saying... just saying... :)

rOar

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Digital Warfare

Sup y'all. Dagron's finally back. I was locked out (literally) of my computer earlier this week due to a HORRIBLE virus which resulted in my computer to be infected beyond belief. Heres what happened: I woke up Tuesday morning and turned on the laptop only to notice Windows had detected a virus intrusion. I did what I always do; immediatly started scanning with various anti-virus programs that I got at hand. Within 10 mins from the start of the scan, the virus had successfully infiltrated into the main OS programming, and started to tamper with system files. Before the anti-virus scans could even finish, all running programs are forced shut down, resulting in this image on my desktop: 

What followed were various pop-up screens of what appeared to be subscriptions to anti-virus programs that claim they can get rid of the many spyware and adwares/virus known to date. Included was windows upon windows full with fill-out forms that asks for credit card number and other personal information, which obviously if given, will be worse than the virus itself. So I reacted instinctively; unplugged the internet cable, and quickly plugged my external harddrive and began copying whatevers left in my harddrive. Another 5 mins passed, and I successfully manage to save 80% of whats on my infected partition drive (which I parted into 2).

After that, it's been a hard road trying to remove the virus manually. Finally, after a day of unsuccessful curing, I had to declare the death of my beloved laptop. What followed was the painful sound of my disk drive spinning away reinstalling my XP OS. 

Sad day. Worst virus infection I've encountered. 

Since then, I've been trying to see if any of my personal information has been leaked by potential hackers. So far, so good. Fingers crossed. 

rOar

Monday, July 6, 2009

Music Monday

Apparently the dance in this song is creating a hype in Taiwan. 

Saturday, July 4, 2009

A Blast From The Past





Air Travel: chinese Style

Read this first. 

In short, china may take the lead in the first ever standing passenger plane.

Just. Pure. Genius. 

rOar

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

EPIC FAIL

Watch at your own discretion:

inFamous Review

What's good everyone. Sorry about not being able to post - I've been out of the loop travelling. However, that's a story for another time. It's about time I got to the inFamous review which I've been promising for awhile.

Unlike most websites I won't be covering all the features of the game (since you can just jump to those websites). Instead I'll give you a heads up as to whether the game is good or not. And the verdict is....It's OK.

Having superpowers is nice - but since they are all electricity related it can only go so far. Zapping people from afar can be done in a number of ways, and its extremely amusing until you bump into stronger opponents that need more than the typical lighting blast to kill them.

For those wondering if it's like GTA....I guess it could be said that it IS somewhat like it...however to compare them would probably be a bad idea since they aren't that close at all (besides the map system and running around). If anything, treat it like an ADVENTURE game. THe story is top notch and keeps you relatively spellbound throughout - and best of all you get to choose the ending depending on your actions.

Gameplay isn't anything special - your character grows progressively stronger the further you get into the game. Additional powers are nice but not outside the box, so when you do get them it'll be like "oh, I could really use that" as opposed to "ZOMG POWERS".

Graphics are insanely good - and if you do play this game you should just sit back and enjoy the scenery. The design of Empire City is done extremely well, and it works hand in hand with the story.

Additionally, there are a lot of sidequests that explain more of the story and make you significantly more powerful...so it's a good idea to pursue them.

So is it worth the buy? Yes...and no. With the good/evil story, you will definetely play through the game twice (just to see the different endings). Side quests can take awhile but eventually get extremely tedious (like GTA, quests usually involve killing someone or chasing someone).

My opinion is...pick it up for the trophies (or points if you're on the xBox) and trade it in for prototype. You'll get a bang for your buck that way. Cheers!

Toast

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Oasis: Wonderwall

Monday, June 29, 2009

Calm Before The Storm

Not feeling well at all today. Whole body aches. MAJOR back pain. Eyes burning. Hands and feet cold. Extreme fatigue and weakness. 

I have a feeling of whats to come, and it doesnt look good... 

This is still the calm before the storm...

rOar

Music Monday

Reality Check


Thats right. Let the image burn into your mind. 

You're welcome. 

rOar

Sunday, June 28, 2009

痞子英雄


痞子英雄 (English: Black & White), the latest drama series that aired in Taiwan, finally broadcasted their finale episode yesterday. I've been following this series throughout its first release, and I must say, I am very impressed at the quality at which this series presented itself. 

The story involves around two cops where one of them is, for a lack of a better word, a slacker, while the other is a cop who sees every thing with only two sides (good or evil). The two of them are at the extremes when it comes to cop work. One day, their lives becomes intertwined with the Triad boss's daughter, and since then, their unusual relationship begins to develop. 

The series aired their final 24th episode yesterday. To put it frankly, this series is nothing like I've ever seen before. Everything in it is believable: story, dialog and action. From the production quality to the level of acting skills, this drama series truly presented the high level of cinematic skills that Taiwan now possess. That said, each episode is of Hollywood movie quality. Dont believe me? Check it out for yourselves. 

Action packed, suspenseful and crazy plot twists with a tint of love interests made this drama my number 1 of my list. If you havent check it out yet, shame on you. You can watch the entire series here on Youtube, although it is not English subbed. 

A movie of this was announced right after the last episode was aired. In continuation of the story, the movie will follow the plot that was left at the end of the series. Scheduled shoot date begins at the end of 2009. 

So if you've been living under a rock and not heard any of this amazing series before, shame. Get out there and start watching. You'll thank me later. 

rOar

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

Just got back from watching the new Transformers movie. All I can say is, if it werent for Megan Fox and the giant robots, I would've choked a bitch in the theater. Quite frankly, Michael Bay and his crew made this film according to what they think us fans of the first movie would want. Unfortunately, to them, we are stripped down to nothing more than robot-fanatic Megan Fox stalkers who doesnt care much for a plot. 

The movie is 2.5 hrs long, with 30min of plot, 30min of Megan Fox and hot girls, and 1.5hrs of big explosions with robots fighting each other. Not that I'm complaining about Megan Fox and the hot girls, but c'mon, 30mins of plot?? WEAK! Gimme something I can chew on and believe in! 

Compared to the first movie, this one went overboard with the action sequences and too little in explaining who the new robots (the Fallens) are. If you want a movie where you can just sit back and not use the thing between your ears, then this would be a good flick. Otherwise, you might as well wait for it to come out on BlueRay or something. Or better yet, Red Box. 

Rating: 75/100 (First movie: 90/100)

rOar

Michael Jackson: 1958 - 2009

Michael Jackson died 2 days ago. So that just happened. Sad. 

RIP King of Pop.

rOar

Hot Babe (Friday)!





Friday, June 26, 2009

Windows XP Easter Egg

Saw this one recently. Go to "Start" -> "Run" -> then type in "telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl" (with a space between 'telnet' and 'towel' -> then hit "Ok"

Pretty neat easter egg. Wont tell you what it is yet, but guarentee its not dangerous to your computer.

rOar 

Thursday, June 25, 2009

HTC Announces Latest Phone: HTC Hero

HTC launched their latest product, the HTC Hero, at a London phone exibition yesterday. The new phone, following the G1 model, is an android touch phone. What does this mean? Look out iPhone 3G S, you got competition. 

Basic specs:
- Qualcomm MSM7200A (528MHz) processor
-512 MR ROM / 288 RAM
-Support 7.2M HSDPA and 2M HSUPA
-GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, WLAN
-5M auto focus camera
-3.5mm standard hearphone jack
-MicroSD card slot
-Touch Sense (upgrade of the TouchFLO 3D)

Further details (Traditional Chinese webpage)

Release dates are as follows: Europe: June 2009, Asia: 3rd quarter of 2009, North America: late 2009. 

rOar

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Transformers 2!!


Transformers movie is out today! w00t!
Megan Fox is smoking hot! w00t!
Wont be able to watch till this Sat! FUCK!

rOar

Blog Site Notice

I've decided to stop doing my usual "Fashion Wednesday" and leave this space for my fellow blogger The Lazy One, for his insight on the video game world. 

Also because I ran out of fashion stuff to talk about, so sue me. This average Joe's wardrobe is finite. 

So be on the lookout for this new weekly update!

rOar

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

china: On The Move

Ever wonder how chinese people keep on the move? 





Taylor Swift Ft. T-Pain

Please tell me shes not into rapping now... oh god...

Racing on the ps3

Hey all - now that I'm in Asia I have been hitting the arcade constantly....and I must say that one thing that I've really been missing out is racing games. That said, I think that I will be investing in a controller with stick shift when I return back to the US. Additionally, I think that I will be purchasing Initial D and some other racing games to go online and play...

Think about it...

Monday, June 22, 2009

Round-Island Scooter Around Taiwan Update #2

Recently there has been some concerns on the mode of transportation that I should take when embarking on this journey. The issue is of traveling between a scooter and a car. After some thinking, heres my conclusion:

5 main categories can be argued between these two vehicles. These are:
-Safety
-Quality of Experience
-Equipment
-Ease of Travel
-Cost

Here are my opinions on these issues. 

Safety:
Indeed. Safety in this trip is of the highest priorty, especially this is a week long of traveling. Seeing how Taiwan has many scooter accidents in regards to careless bikers or ruthless drivers that hit them, it is clear that the obvious choice in terms of safety goes to traveling in a car. 

Quality of Experience:
Here the quality of experience is defined as person enjoyment of this trip. As such, it is more fun to travel in the less conventional way to go round-island. This trip is meant to be more about the journey, and not so much on the destinations that we'll visit. That being said, riding in a car would yield less rewards in completing this trip. My vote here goes to the scooter.

Equipment:
Equipment here represents everything that we might need for a week-long trip. This includes, but not limited to, personal clothings, safety equipments, first-aid, ration, and others. This category is a bit iffy in terms on which of the two vehicles would win, since it depends on the equipment we'll be carring. If there are alot of things to be brought along, then a car would be better. But if the items can fit in a heavy duty traveller's back-pack, then a scooter would be enough. So at this moment, I'm taking a conservative approach, and assume we'll be carrying alot of equipment. So my vote stands for having a car. 

Ease of Travel:
This category encompasses the whole aspect of travel. This includes how easy it is to find parking, to find repair shop, and to find areas of rest along the road. My vote here goes to the scooter. Heres why: First, parking will be ALOT easier with a scooter than a car. Especially in Taiwan, it is near impossible to find parking for a car with little effort and cheap parking rates. Next, a scooter wins in finding a repair shop than a car would, since scooter shops are littered throughout the entire country. Imagine the process needed if a car needs to be towed into a repair shop. Not only that, the time for repair of a scooter will be significantly faster than  of a car. Thirdly, a scooter is alot easier to pull over on the side of the road, if we were to get lost, or need some temprorary rest along the way. This goes back to the parking issue also. A scooter would be better when we pull in at night, since the places that we'll be staying would be in home-owned hostles, most of them have little or no parking for cars (unless motel). So in this category, the scooter has my vote. 

Cost:
Lastly, the cost of having a scooter versus a car is of an issue. Considering the cost of rent (including deposit/insurance), gas, and repair fees, my vote goes to the scooter here. 

Heres a summary between these two vehicles:

Scooter wins 3:2. And this is assuming conservatively in favor of a car too. 

More updates to come soon. 

rOar

Back in Asia

What's good everyone. Been out of the loop for awhile because I've been travelling. Of course, I won't bore you with long stories about how my adventure was (for those interested, my ass officially had roots growing out of it by the end of the bloody trip).

For those who are into sports - be sure to watch wimbledon, as its the "biggest" tennis event of the year. Why they decided to host it yearly in a rain prone area is beyond me...

Speaking of wimbledon, I'm personally cheering the Taiwanese crowd (which consists of two contestants). If memory serves there is a male and female competiting for the island...sad part is that the Taiwanese male is playing against good ol Roger Federer for his first round. Whoop dee fucking doo.

For those into games - playing inFamous now...should be done with it soon. Perhaps a review will follow eh? Take care people

Music Monday

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Twitter Kills

"Vapid social networking site Twitter claimed the life of another hapless victim with more finality than usual recently when the girl in question accidentally electrocuted herself whilst trying to keep up with her tweets.

The 17-year-old girl in question, a resident of Romania, was using the web-based social networking application in the bath; it seems her Twittering session extended for such a long period of time that the battery of her laptop died.

Rather than interrupt either her bathing or her Twittering, she instead attempted to plug in her laptop to the adapter, but unfortunately did so with wet hands.

It seems it was either the shock from the mains or from subsequently dropping her laptop into the bath which killed her, for she was found by her parents lying lifeless with her laptop by her side.

Via the Austrian Times.

We do not hear what her last Tweet was…"

Via Sankaku

Cooking Lesson: Dagron's College-proof Drumsticks

Heres a page from my book of self invented college culinaries. Today's menu: my own receipe of delicious drumsticks. 

Time required: 24hrs of marinating, 40 mins of baking

Materials:
-6 medium size chicken drumsticks

Spices:
-Kimlan soysauce (50mL)
-Bull's Head Brand BBQ sauce (1 tsp)
-Chopped parsley (1 tbsp)
-Black ground pepper (1 tsp)
-Sesame oil (1 tsp)
-Minced garlic (2 tsp)
-Maggi Sauce (1 tsp)

Other essentials:
-1 large ziplock bag
-1 conventional oven

Directions:
1) Place all listed materials into large ziplock bag. Mix well. 
2) Allow the drumsticks to marinate for at least 24hrs (for a thorough flavor). 
3) When ready, preheat oven to 400F. Place drumsticks onto tin foil-covered tray and bake for 40mins. 
4) Serve. 

Important: Remember to plan accordingly as the 24 hrs marinating is required to have a crispy-on-the-outside-juicy-on-the-inside finish. 

Enjoy.

rOar

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Hot Babe (Friday)!






Happy late Friday guys! 

rOar

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Next Gen In Covert Combat - FMG 9

Simply put it, its a modded glock pistol concealed in a laptop battery-esque compartment. Bad. Ass. 

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Cooking Tips

Aight, this is an update on the tea eggs I was talking about the other day. So I decided to try making some today. Heres some trial-and-error I had to deal with:

1) 4 yellow Lipton tea bags only manage to add little flavors in 8hrs of broiling. Mental note: use black tea leaves next time. 
2) 1 tablespoon of soy sauce is NOT enough. Prepare to add a good 30-50mL for a batch of 10 eggs.
3) 3 aniseeds would be better than 2. 
4) Prepare to add more salt and 5-spice pepper according to personal taste. 

I'm letting the eggs sit overnight. We'll see how they are tomorrow. 

*Update: The eggs have sat overnight (a good 24hrs), and the flavors only manage to penetrate about half way in. Use more soy sauce and tea leaves next time. 

**Update 2: I left another patch for 48hrs. The results are similar to those sitting for 24hrs. 

rOar

Monday, June 15, 2009

Music Monday

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Hot Babe (Friday)!

K, was away from blogging this past week cus was away/busy. So to compensate, heres a beauty I've found recently:




Name: Larisa Angela / 瑞莎
DOB: 2/21
Nationality: Greece-Ukraine mix
Occupation: Taiwanese talent/model/race queen/actress
Official Blog: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/reishacem (more pics there)


Saw her in the latetest Power Sunday episode, with her sexy Rumba dance. All I can say is: GAWD DAMN! lol

And of course, what kind of Taiwanese would I be if I didnt show this following picture?


Beautiful, dances, a European mix, and loves Taiwan! Perfect girl? Hell yea! :)

rOar

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

轉吧!七彩霓虹燈

FINALLY FOUND IT!!!

Some background on this song first. As with any distinctive culture, music is of course a major element in identifying oneself. For example, some would think of rock & roll when it comes to America, Bollywood-style music when it comes to Indian music, or Enka songs from Japan. 

This song is a classic example of the subculture of 'ghetto' Taiwanese, more commonly known as 台客文化. This song's title is "Spin! Rainbow-Colored Neon Lights", and portrays a style of music commonly heard in cheap karaoke bars or pickup trucks with speakers mounted out back blasting it in night markets.

From what I've manage to find on the web, this song first came out in late 2000, but it wasnt well known then. It is only until in 2008, with the release of the huge blockbuster Taiwanese hit movie 海角七號, that this song gain its momentum. As it turns out, one of the actors in the movie 海角七號 was the lead singer of this song. 

And the rest, as they say, was history. The song snowballed into a big hit in the underground scene. Along with its corny lyrics and catchy tune, it also gained popularity in the rising Y-generation. 

I'm so proud of our 台客文化. 

rOar

Everyday Sightings

Front lawn sign reads: "Assata Highschool"


Across the street from where I live is a highschool. If it weren't for a sign on the front lawn, no one walking by would think that it is an educational institution. Why? Its because this highschool appears to be a 3 story studio apartment converted into a school. Not only is the school small, the bus that works for the highschool is also small. Tiny, I should say. 

I want one of these, then pimp it out with hydraulic wheels and 22' spinners. 

rOar

Fashion Wednesday - Graphic Tees

Aite, its been 2 weeks since last FW entry. Today's topic is simple: Graphic Tees. 

The name speaks for itself. These simple articles of clothing are one of the most versitile things you can wear. They go well with pretty much anything you want to match. And with a billion colors and graphics design, rest assured you've got choices. 

Whether you like your graphics large, small, intregate, goofy, retro, weird, or down right simple, almost all the designs goes well with a pair of jeans. 

Pics to follow when my camera is working again. 

rOar

ISB Class of 2009

Congratulations to all of the graduates of 2009! 

Video streams live on June 10th, 1pm Bangkok time.

*Update* Doing live chat right now, my alias is Alumni06. 
Current locations at which this is being watched: 
-Milwaukee, WI
-Washington, DC
-Germany
-Toronoto
-Hong Kong
-Falls Church, VA
-Vienna, VA
-BKK, Nichada? (really? c'mon)
-Mexico
-Secramento, CA

Also congratulations to James Meyer and Setthawat Hetrakul!

rOar