New Balance Men's BB905 Basketball Shoe

Few months ago a friend came back to Taiwan and brought me a pair of NB bball shoes, and I gotta say, NB really got its techniques in shoemaking down to an artistic level. Its marketing technique, needless to say, is much less artistic. And this benefits me greatly coz i got to buy this pair for only $44.99 (~1500NTD).

The shoes I bought was BB905 red and white. With a velcro strap on top of the feet. New balance shoes not only come in different sizes in length but also in width. It has tight and good cushioning (I realized that in recent years nike shoes tend to have more rough or insufficient cushioning). The shoe does not seem to have a top high enough, yet surprisingly it is mid-to-high top and protects the ankle quite well.

The bottom of the shoes contains column like structures, kind of like the ones Reeboks carry. I gotta admit that I am quite shocked at how shock absorbing those babies are.

So overall, a great pair of shoes that went under the radar and was NOT sold in TAIWAN....What a load of pity!

GRADES:

Appearance: 4/5
Cushioning: 4.5/5
Stability: 4/5
Shock Absorbance: 4.2/5
Ankle Protection: 4.5/5

This is IT?

if only he would stop changing his face at that point....


Michael Jackson's last shots on stage are gonna be displayed in the theater in less than a month in Taiwan. For reasons I cannot resist myself to follow the frenzy and buy the tickets in advance. Afterall, I was a loyal follower of his until "Blood on the dance floor". However, within the first mere half a minute after online box office opened, the tickets were sold out. I was left empty handed online at 10:00:45.

Let's rewind a bit, before June 25th, his death, he was referred to as Wacko Jacko for more than 5 yrs. He won a case few years back against child molestation cahrges and I highly doubt the Taiwanese media even reported about the case. I suppose what the Taiwanese people knew about him in those last few years of his life were the incidences where his nose fell and speculations of his pedophilic rumors...

This is what I hate about human nature. Once he is dead, he is, all of a sudden, king of pop again. Fans or non fans swarmed back. People started to say good things about him. All those past "flaws" were erased by his own death. "He was a great father, the kindest person I have ever known"..blahblahblah. If he was such a nice friend and such a good human being, how come none of you, those so called "relatives and friends" never reached out for him when his life was in the downward spiral. It must have been super hard to deal with a superstar of his magnitude (hell, it is hard enough to get along with a normal folk like me already), yet it is no excuse. It was quite obvious that not many people who could give a damn give a damn about him in his final years.

So, once he is dead, every thing about him got sugar-coated. I was watching his clips on youtube the day before his death, therefore u can imagine how shocked I was when I hear the news. However, I was also annoyed by the huge influx of rumors about his death. I could not help to examine all the clips there are on the internet and look at his life to see what it means to be a truly outstanding star. Looking at his life in a greater scale changed all those envy for his talent to sympathy in my heart.

Imagine, being so talented as a child, you have to showcase your talent day in and day out, without any chance of making friends with normal people. That is, without any touch with the outside world. And being a public figure starting from such a young age, there is no way for him to get to know the outside world without getting a skewed image of the world. Only people who sees him as a god, or those who want to use him, would get close to him. He probably never had any people connecting with him as two human being for the sole purpose of making friends. How sad, would that be a life, for any of us. Hence all the weird behavior that follows (all the plastic surgeries for example). Buried under that great musical and choreographic talent is a self-esteem that is scarred and shattered since childhood. As people rising so high at such a young age, emptiness is a common feeling in them. So imagine how an unsatisfying life he has had, and how could he have not turned out the way he was without people helping him out.

This is IT, is the first ripping off of him after his death, would definitely not be his last. Just like Princess Di's death, which many shameless man, with no respect of the dead, revealed their, again, self-claimed romance with her. And this is human nature. Again, I feel effing sick of it. Sick of all the people taking advantage other's life, and sick of people only take others seriously and respectfully once they are dead.

Can't we just care about others more??

PEACE!!

THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE, WEDDING!

So...can u recognize asianlabboy?? hint: i wear a number


Went to a wedding with my mom on Sunday.

The bride was a neighbor, about two years older than me, name is Sherry.
Mom is very close friends with the bride's mother, and I used to be close friends with her younger daughter, Cherry, who is my age and not yet married. They moved to the southern Taiwan when I was in grade 3, so it has been more than 15yrs since we last saw each other.

In Chinese wedding, the bride's side sit separately with the groom's side. And I sit with a bunch of people my mother's age who I don't know. With my best friend from childhood sitting beside me.

And once I sat down, the very first question that confronted me was " so Patrick, you have a girlfriend?" second is "How come you are so good looking yet still single?", and then the third sentence that comes out their mouth is " Oh, Cherry is really pretty now. Have you seen her today yet?" By the time I haven't. I haven't seen her for more than 15 yrs. I did heard from my mom that she is very cute nowadays. However, I knew she is in a relationship. Dring the wedding dinner, everyone kept coming up (old people, eh?) and asking me the same questions. Even Cherry's father came and asked whether I have a girlfriend and all that crap. And then he was like...." I will get Cherry here! You just wait!"

So....Parents at weddings are pimping their daughters? Chinese parents are sooo nice!

Now, put ur feet in my shoes (is that the right expression?) A man who came to a wedding to see some girl who he hasn't seen for more than 15 years and was thinking about getting this girl who already got a boyfriend at her sister's wedding! Oh and by the way, when Cherry saw me, she couldn't even recognize me??( I have to admit that I have become quite attractive compare to when I was 8. What can I say? Good Genes!!)

What pisses me off the most was that when Cherry got here, chit-chatted with me for a little bit, then left, somebody sneezed out " what a pity, Patrick, you were too slow and too late to snatch that girl up..."

As if I would have gone after her (She IS quite cute). And as if it was really a huge loss for me, but not for her.

Anyways....the general consensus at these kinds of events is that the one to be sympathized are the single ones, even at the mere age of 25....regardless of their success and look (I have to admit that I have achieved nothing significant in my life so far tho).

And the next day, the Cherry's mother called my mom,

"Patrick is SO handsome now!!" is what she said, according to my mom.

I know that is true, but putting me in that awkward position still was unacceptable.

MOMS...gosh!!(To Cherry's mom's credit, she did treat me well before they moved and was really elegant at the wedding),

But, all in all, a good wedding. Saw some cleavage from the bride, although I am not quite sure if it is morally acceptable. But considering how awkward a position the wedding put me into, I have to say "Oh yay~~~~~~!"

ANG LEE for LungYingTai Cultural Foundation in Taipei

Hi there,

For those of you who are in Taipei or live in Taiwan, there is one great event coming up!

I volunteer at this non-for-profit foundation called LungYingTai cultural foundation. Our goal is to educate the mass about all the different problems the whole global community or the Taiwanese people are facing. We are also dedicated to helping educate the new generation Taiwanese with a wider global view and critical thinking ability whilst keeping them in touch with their heritage.

Our seminars includes Taipei Salon, which usually talks about smaller scale culture issues or global affairs with speakers from within Taiwan (ex. Crisis in Darfur by Ambassador Lu Yi Zhen). We also have International Master's series in which big names are invited (such as Ang Lee like this time and Jane Floyd in April). We also have Taiwan series and China series in which past histories are explored and amended with but also future challenges are examined and discussed.

AND....ON OCTOBER 8th 2009, In TAIPEI

Director ANG LEE will be having a seminar alongside moderator Lung Ying Tai at China Gas Building (Kuo-Kuang Conference Hall (No.3, Songren Rd., Sinyi District, Taipei) ) at 7pm.

Topic -《Growing Up, Growing Old, Growing Young A Dialogue between Ang Lee and Lung Yingtai.

Those of you who are interested in joining us should visit website:

http://www.civictaipei.org/activity/meat/170.html

and register online

I will see you there!!

李安將在十月八號在中油國光大樓與作家龍應台對談

<<這一路走來的我—從臺南的泥土談起>>

全場免費


http://www.civictaipei.org/activity/meat/170.html

First Ever Blog Spot article

Hey there,

My name is Patrick. I currently work in Taipei, Taiwan at a boring biochemical company in which I stare into the boxes of excel files 8-5 and go home loathing myself for not being able to take good care of those lil boxes. Life is hard eh!?? Especially when you are doing job where u don make enuf money and the job does not fulfill your ability.

Hence the coming of this blog spot. It's quite hard to describe myself. Here is a starter. I grew up in Taipei up until 17. Then I went off to the north land-Canada. Stayed there through last year of high school and 5 years of college+internship. In the end felt pretty disappointed with the subject I studied therefore decided to come back to Taiwan and free flow, whilst finishing my military obligation as a Taiwanese citizen, all the while still feeling like a Canadian, weirdly. Unfortunately, the timing of my discharge from military was just two months after the Lehman Brother explosion. Therefore my salary was 30% lower than what I expected to take and was even lower than my salary when I was an intern.

I am very interested in international affair, at which i find most Taiwanese people don't spare to much attention. I am also interested in investing, especially stock markets and funds. I find making money through reading information and making decisions based on good logic and discipline is enjoyable and very satisfying. There is one problem: my pocket is not deep enough!

I also care about equality and fairness in the society, therefore I find Taiwanese politics and public system extraordinarily ridiculous and lack sense of logic.

I also love to learn new information, I love to read and think critically. Therefore this blog will not only be filled with my fun stories but also tons of mindful (or mindless) babbling!

PS: a picture for your enjoyment. I am the dark guy who smiled innocently (dumbfoundedly) like a jackass who doesn't know that in about a month not only would his girlfriend break up with him but also his left ankle would sprain a point where the tendons were permanently damaged~~~

some of my other engagements online...
http://www.perfspot.com/18131884
http://class.ruten.com.tw/user/index00.php?s=tap84343
http://www.wretch.cc/user/asianlabboy

make friends with me and share some thoughts!