Historically, science fiction plays fast and loose with its portrayal of technology. Back to the Future Part II was the 1989 sequel to Back to the Future and it made some surprisingly accurate predictions about our modern world. The best part of the “Back to the Future Prophesy” is how campy the whole thing is: […]
I began riding in Taiwan back in 2008. Well, actually, it was a motorcycle. A sweet ride called a Yamaha RXZ (or RZX) 135cc two-stroke. A few weeks after getting Max, I got myself into an accident. I had never ridden before I came to Taiwan and the principles of centrifugal force were very new […]
Many of us wonder about traffic deaths in Taiwan; statistics are difficult to find (most of what’s reported is in Chinese). One of the only decent raw resources can be found here, and it’s from 1993. So what was Taiwan like twenty years ago? A study was done of 4,329 traffic injury reports and the […]
I hate parallel parking. It’s never been my strong-suit, though usually I can do it OK. My father, on the other hand, is like some freaky Jedi when it comes to doing this. So here’s my father’s Seven Step Guide to Parallel Parking: 1. Turn on your turn signal. 2. Pull your car parallel to […]
I was driving north on WenXin Lu, Monday, August 20, 2012, at 10:45am, on my scooter. Coming off the traffic light at Daye Lu, heading towards Dalong Lu, I attempted to merge right (from the right-hand lane into the scooter lane). I felt something hit the right rear of my scooter and turned my head […]
Taiwan has a pretty significant amount of earthquakes. Most of them are pretty mild, but usually I can feel one or two each month – just enough to notice I’m not dizzy and that the room is, in fact, vibrating. But every now and then, something a little bigger comes along, and you’re faced with the […]
It has always fascinated me that a culture so aware of public perception can also be so completely self-absorbed. In Taiwan, there is a great emphasis on “saving face,” and yet, it only applies to certain facets of life. I have yet to fully grasp the concept, but I have made some observations. Generally-speaking, Taiwanese people prefer […]
I met Adam Eckels the summer between my 8th and 9th grade years; he had moved in just down the block from me. My “block” was actually one road with about twenty houses on it, each house taking up about a half an acre. Adam and I always got lots of shit in school because […]