Gadget shopping

Tuesday 24 March 2009

I got off to a late start. I went to bed before 1, but I still woke up at 11. I was supposed to meet Shane at 1. I didn't even shower because I didn't do anything the day before. I caught the train. I decided to ht the outdoor/sporting goods shops again.

I was looking for the small MP3-player bag/backpack for Panda. I almost bought myself a bag. A smallish bag to carry my phone, my wallets, keys, glasses, asthma medicine. If the bag is small enough, I can simply put it into my other "bag of the day" and I don't have to worry about forgetting something like my door card. Come to think of it, I don't need my door card anymore, and everything else I remember out of necessity. I suppose it really isn't necessary.

Shane phoned me as I was debating on that bag. Saved by the bell!

We met. He took me to one of his CD shops. He got a couple of CDs, including the soundtrack from a movie we watched the other night (Moonlight Mile). He then took me to a hole in the wall that served stinky (=fermented) tofu and intestine noodle soup. Off to another couple of CD shops.

We then went gadget hunting. First for cameras. I can't get a memory card for my camera, which is a shame. I was just curious to see what kind of cameras there are. We also looked at laptops and mobile phones. For the phones I want, there isn't a lot of price differences. The technology I want -- touch screen and a "full" keyboard -- are too new to have been copied by the Taiwanese. I'm thinking of getting some speakers for the laptop, though, or for using with the iPhone on "picnics" or at the office.

I was surprised that the prices weren't that much cheaper. Allison's netbook is around €300. I guess that is about 25-30% cheaper than what I paid, but that is the price I would have paid if I got the "plain" MSI Wind, not a pink one with Sawarski cystals.. There was a mobile workstation. It was flat(ish) like a laptop, but it mush have been a 20-inch screen.

We walked around afterwards, just seeing the city as the people live it.

Many English cram schools. This is the street where Shane started teaching in Taiwan.

The main post office, from Japanese colonial times, in western neo-classical architecture.

Bakery products are historically not a staple of the Taiwanese diet. This bakery proves to be quite popular.

This evening, we met Joseph, one of Shane's former students. Bright kid. He actually is not all that much younger than I. He's not your typical Taiwanese. That's why he and Shane are still friends.

Well, now I'm caught up with the travelog!

Shane asked me that if the weather is bad, that I fix his bike. I sprayed some WD-40 (well, Taiwanese CH-29) on the chain and suspension pivot points. I need to pump up the tires and check the gears.