Writing of shocking sights in Taiwan, as I walked down the street the other day, a little boy stood at the entrance to his parents' restaurant, a stream of pee making an arc as it fell to the street.

Happy birthday, Carol! Carol threw a lovely pool party on Sunday, complete with a yummy spread...I was still full when I woke up Monday morning. And Carol was a gracious host--Galen was impressed that she remembered his name after only one meeting.

Saturday, Galen and I went to Fulong Beach on what was supposed to be a CAPT beach trip, but ended up being a rather intimate outing. What I had noticed at the Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival was reconfirmed on Saturday: in Taiwan, women do not wear bikinis and men do not wear swim trucks with ample coverage like they do in the States. Instead, women are covered head-to-toe, with long-sleeved t-shirts and pants. The men prance around in the teensiest scraps of fabric.

Oy.

Listening to Sticky Rice, a Taiwanese rock band, that I first heard a couple Sundays ago when James, Galen, and I went down to Fulong for the Gungliao Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival. Here's an article about the festival that appeared in the Taipei Times.

I've really reset my body clock. Now that I get up so early on the weekdays, I really can NOT sleep in on the weekends. For example: right now. We spent the night at James' place, after a pleasant evening of hanging out, listening to music, and a trip to the night market for some vittles. We all went to bed at about the same time - 4am. I have been up since 10am, and have now washed the dishes, surfed the internet, replied to every single email on my backlog, and am now updating my blog. Everyone else--James, Galen, Benson, and Melissa--is still sleeping. When will someone wake up and play with me?

Thankfully the condition of my foot has improved considerably. I'm glad I diligently took my round of pills, as Zofia so helpfully pointed out that one of her lab mates had a similar problem and was diagnosed with cellulitis, so my prescribed round of antibiotics was probably warranted.

I've been feeling very worn lately, attributable to the plethora of activities I've participated in. Of course, I take the responsibility--even though I'm tired, there's a part of me that still wants to be part of the action. Take, for example, the night Galen and I went to the Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle premiere courtesy of Angela. Afterwards, some of the girls wanted to have a quick bite to eat. I was tired, but I also wanted to catch-up. Therein lies my weakness.

Speaking of Charlie's Angels, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, which was a lot of light-hearted fun. Also, Angela is an incredible professional, who knows her industry--the movers and the shakers, and what is going on--as well as any highly-regarded equities analyst. She reads the entertainment newspapers like some read the Wall Street Journal. And, she's very creative in promoting her films.

On Saturday Galen and I joined a few of my cousins and their friends for a hike through the Shei-Pa (xue ba, snow mountain) National Park. Galen preferred this to his canyoning experience the week before, as our hike was anchored on either end with a generous lunch and tea time, and there were no steep ravines to scramble out of. I was afraid the whole day might be on of those mountain tours that involved being shipped around from one scenic sight to another on a tour bus, where we dutifully leave the air conditioned bus for the obligatory photo to prove that we were there, but we actually had a quite nice four hour hike. My calves were actually sore the next day--which is a good thing.

The not-so-good-thing is that some insect bit me and now my left ankle is red and swollen. I went to the Taiwan Adventist Hospital to get it checked out last night, and unsuprisingly, the doctor prescribed antibiotics, antihistamines, antiinflammatories, and, to top it all off, an antacid to counteract all the unpleasant effects the other medications would have on my stomach.

My brother Galen is here for the summer to study Chinese through a program sponsored by Taiwan's Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission. I'm thrilled to have him here, as this is the longest time--seven weeks--that we'll have together since I graduated from high school. Still, seven weeks is not much time. Already, my relatives and I are jostling for his time.