Not Exactly Celebrity, but I'll take it.

Where in the World is D Today?

Still marveling at the curiosity people have in him.

I am NOWHERE close to having any celebrity, but on average of about once a week. I will have a complete stranger come up and want to take a picture with me. They come up giggle, ask for a picture, take a picture, giggle and run off. It's kinda cute. Taiwanese people are wonderful kind but VERY shy.

So as this was happening to me I decided to get a few pictures as well. Unfortunately, I don't carry my camera like I used to so I don't have very many pictures I've taken of stranger wanting to take pics with me. But here's a few.


This one was at Mr. Puff's. (More about Mr. Puff and my friend Wong Wei later.)

















This one was at the Taipei Zoo. This lady was a trip! Funny and good natured; she was riding piggy back on her boyfriend about a minute before this picture. But didn't speak a word of English. We took a picture. Then she made her boyfriend get in the picture.

My First Trip to 101 (On April 4.2009)

Where in the World is D?

Today, I’m trying to catch up on his blog when he should be sleeping.

The next several posts with be stuff that I should have written about but either didn’t have the energy or the time.

My First Trip to Taipei was fun. It took mere 3 separate attempts to make it happen, but me and Jess finally managed to get together. (As an aside as I am prone to do, if you’re into cars and racing you seriously need to hangout with Jess; girlfriend has her own RACE CAR. How cool is that!)





Let’s begin with Taipei 101 and a question. Have you ever gotten a LOT of hype about something over an extended amount of time and then when it happened you were, well, a little disappointed. Such was the case with Taipei 101. It is a totally cool building. And only a few years ago was "The Tallest Building in the World." Interesting architecture, upscale shops that I knew existed in the world but have never ACTUALLY seen; Dolce and Gabana is real! Not just something in the movies and TV. But, ya know, there aren’t a lot of really tall buildings in Columbia, MO. There are several in KC and St. Louis. So the idea of this REALLY tall building was kind of exciting. Then I saw it. And as we got closer and closer, all I could think was, “I thought it would be taller.” It’s definitely a MUST SEE in Taiwan and Taipei specifically. The interior design and architecture ARE cool, But if I were King Kong, I don’t know if I would feel a special need to climb up. The next time I’ll go to the observatory at the top. Maybe then I’ll have a better sense of it height. But I didn’t have the extra $400NT to go up.













Speaking of monsters and big buildings, I could resisting doing some Godzilla poses outside of the Bose store. And yes, the people in the store were looking at me like, “What insane asylum did he escape from.” But I will admit to being full fledged Godzilla fan! I can’t explain it, but I love me some Godzilla!














I don’t know the name of the instrument this guy was playing, but he was, say it with me AWESOME!! And if you’re curious, yes, he is blind. I and just about everybody else standing around but some money in his can.










These young people were advertising some new TV show coming out. They totally stayed in character as everybody and their brother took pics.








































These guys …… well…… God bless ‘em…. They were trying really hard. Poppin’ and Lockin’ is BIG, HUGE here amongst young people. Let me throw a quick shout out to Nick Rodriguez in Columbia. These kids could learn a lot from you. They got the heart and passion, but no skill. I suspect that it’s is from the lack of cultural background.






































This is a status of Thomas Edison (yes, I think it looks like Colonel Sanders too.) and Dr. Yuan Tseh Lee. Sorry I don’t know who he is, but he must be important.

















































The monster eating the building was a promo for a online computer game, I think. Or maybe it was just a video game. Oh, Online gaming is also huge here, if you’re into that sort of thing.






















About a block away from 101 is a small piece of U.S. Lady Liberty, get down with your bad self! I have no idea why there is a statue of The Statute of Liberty, but I would be remiss if I didn’t take a picture with it.



























After going to 101 we went to a movie and hung out a bit. I liked Taipei, or at least this part of it. Taipei Country (Metropolitan Area) is huge. Try 10,000,000 people! (according to Wikepedia)

All in all, it was good day.

Damn Buses! (Caution: This post has VERY BAD words in it)

2009.04.28 Where in the World is D Today?

Thankful that he made it across the street.
(I warn you again; As indicated in the title parts of this has very adult language.)


I know I have mentioned the somewhat daring adventure that is traffic in Taiwan. But after almost getting hit by a BUS, Again! I really am just thankful for making to KFC without having to live my very own version of Frogger. (If you’re old enough you just laughed, if not, trust me, that was a very funny joke.)



I need to throw props out to Jane. Thanks Jane. She is all of 5 feet tall (in pumps) but has a heart as large as Africa. Jane pulled me out of the way of a bus coming up behind me on Saturday. (It was a stealth bus!) But those other Fuckers saw me in the crosswalk and didn’t even slow down a little. One even ran a red light while making a left hand turn. Not a motor bike, or an automobile mind you; A BIG ASS BUS! (Ok, Darryl. Stop. Breathe. Good air in, bad air out.)



One day not too long ago when jumping out of the way for a car that was making a right hand turn and just about ran me down. I thought to myself. Am I fucking invisible? People just run straight through stop signs. Then I made this shocking revelations; with the exception of major intersections with traffic lights, there are NO stop signs in Jhongli. People who just about run me over aren’t being especially rude, there is nothing there to Tell Them to stop and be courteous. There aren’t even yield signs at intersection. And as far as the speed limit is concerned, there is none. Or at least there is none posted. It’s the dang wild west when it comes to traffic.

This will likely be my thoughts on the traffic here, I think I’ve pretty well exhausted this topic unless I figure out a way to do a video. Trust me when I say seeing is believing.

Can you Freebase Coffee?

2009.04.29 11:31 PM

Where in the World is D Today?

Somewhere between Giving the Benefit of the Doubt and "Ignorance is Bliss".

I just got home from the gym. I open the door and "POW!", there it is. Whatever IT is?

Now I know that my roommate is a HUGE coffee fan. He grinds his own beans, blah, blah, blah. So I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I've been around a few dope-fiends in my life. And I have to tell you coffee wasn't the first thing that popped into my mind. You be the judge. Yeah, that's a coffee thingy, Right?

Random Pics

Where in the World is D?

Trying to figure if I should say what I REALLY Think?

I've been in one of those deep thinking modes lately. Believe it or not I hate it when I do that. Because when it comes down to it, what I think doesn't really matter. The world keeps doing whatever it's going to do without my input. So the question to be answered is can I be OK with the world and everybody in it doing their thing with my input. Again it doesn't really matter if I'm OK with it. It only matters to my own mental health. So in that I will make whatever peace I can with the world and those in it as it is.

Here's some pictures of my adventures over the past month.

EARTHQUAKE!!!!, sort of...

Where in the World is D Today?

Wondering if I should be Thankful or Curious.

Interesting facts about Taiwan that I didn't know before.

1) Typhoons are good! Yes, a Typhoon is roughly the equivilent of a Hurricane. But Taiwan is an Island surrounded by salt water. I can't explain how it works. But the bottom line is typhoons fill the fresh water supply. No Typhoons = No water. Thus, Typhoons are good. Oh, there are no snow days, DUH!, but there are Typhoon Days.

2) Earthquakes are normal. Apparently little ones happen semi-frequently. Last Friday there was an Earthquake here in Jhongli,AND I MISSED IT! This is why I'm not sure if I should be "Thankful" or not. I am very curious as to what it actually feels like. I don't need to feel it in a Summer Block Buster, End of the World As We Know It sort of way. But I think the sensation would be quite interesting. I'll keep you posted.

3) There's staying out all night. And then there's leaving the night club and being shocked to discover the sun had come up. I did listen to the good Angel most of the night and was still able to go to the gym that afternoon, I am proud to say. But I will also say I'm not built for that type of thing. It will likely be my first and last time. (Am I getting old or growing up? Not sure which. I suspect just old.)

That's all for now.

Peace

Fun with Stereotypes Part Deux!

So if Black people can dance, what is the other thing we do well..... Play basketball. DUH!! Again, I wish I had pictures. (For Myself, just not for this silly blog.)

Today was probably one of my funnest days here at Jhongli Elementary School. I came into school like any other day. It's Wednesday so I'm prepared to teach my two English classes about weather and having a brief conversation about the weather. About 5 minutes into it an annoucement is made. (of course it was in Chinese) In Short, it was about classes coming out to watch the student basketball team play some faculty members. And of course the students want to go. I knock out a few vocab words and we're off to the playground. I come out after the kids and get a lot of Teacher Darryl! Teacher Darryl! arms waving wildly. "Come sit with us!" A group of my 6th grad boys are calling me over. So how cool is that!? Well of course I go sit with them.

After the first quarter, Ken one of the nicest guys in Taiwan and works at the school for his military service, invites me into the game. I'm like "no way?!" The kids are "Way!" (but in Chinese) I know the stereotype and this one is impossible to live up to. Unless of course the goal is only 8 feet high.

My first shot. A 3 pointer. NOTHING BUT THE BOTTOM OF THE NET! I'm thinking not bad given I haven't played in over a year and I'm not wearing my glasses. I played so-so by U.S. standards, and let us not forget we playing against 6th graders. The Principal even gets in on the act.

After the first half. Will gets invited into the games. He is the Star of the Show. He was super laid back, but the kids LOVE Will. And then my boy Will sets me up perfectly. I am hanging back at the other end, he get the rebound, passes to me, SLAM DUNK!!! Hang on the rim!!! And the crowd goes wild!!!!!! Say it with me, AWESOME!! I found out after that everytime I got the ball the kids were cheering Dunk, Dunk, Dunk! But it was in Chinese, so I had no clue. So when it happened they were already pumped up.

This was again a time to just live in the moment. Screw the stereotypes and the potential ramifications. No one was hurt, everybody had a good times, especially me. My stock went up about 1000 % with the kids. Those are all good things. I wish there were pictures. A good time was had by all and that's special, especially when it happens at school.

Peace