High on caffein...
Getting used to school
Evening with classmates...
Ants in the classroom
Alison moved to campus
¨
Always water puddle at Mosburger in Campus...
Finally Sweet´n sour sauce in Food court 1
First chinese class
Visiting the Risk assessment lab...
Serene is in Taiwan
Running around in Hsinchu...
Saturday night...
It was fun, but it seemed like it would b rain later...
We went to a burger bar the recently opened...that I found...at Qinghua night market...
They made their own burgers...and looked very professional...
My friend got a lot of lettuce in is burger...
I had a gordon bleu burger...even if they also offred pineapple burgers and peanut butter burgers...
I burned my lips when i had the first bite...it was recently fried...
It was nice...even thoug I ate just before my second dinner...which was at my indian friends appartment...
It was a nice appartment not so far from school...
There were street kids running around and they accidently followed my up to the appartment...
I succeeded in buying a megaphone that could make the noise ot the trash car for only 100Nt...it was good...
Local taiwanese workers from Hsinchu were also invited...one had a company here since 7 years ago...he seemed to b a nice guy...
We got a lot of indian food...spicy and interesting...
We mainly ate with our hands...its indian style...
We also had alot of beers...the indian triggered us to drink alot...
They also had a nice roof...from where we could c a big part of the town...
They also had recycling station in the house...and the guard or janitor was very strict with how people sorted their trash...I hope its not like in Taizhong where they mix evrything togetter in the end anyway...
Friday night...
New blockades makes scooter parking near campus a process
I bought a bag for my bike...
Another Qinghua class
All u can eat with the swedes...
cookies at the food court...
DJ club event
Cleaning the lab...
Guiding singapore people around campus...
A full room
min lärare e en idiot!
Ayo...
Second week of semester
Taipei super runner...
We went up early in the morning...
Many runners were there...maybe more than 10000 (which i guess is much for beeing taiwan).
Me and my classmate Pablo were the ones who participated...but we had great support from another classmate as well...it was just in front of the presidential palace...
Everyone started at the same time...it was thus like Vasaloppet...
I better b in the front, since I hate having to push myself through slow people...
I think I got the time 45 mins something...which was ok...since I really never felt tired...and didnt have time to eat anything before the race...
There was alot of freebees that was given to the participators...however people needed to queue to get them...
super long queues...
Afterwards people got diplomas...
And there was also a lottery, based on the start number...but we didnt have energy to wait for the drawings to finish...
We didnt sleep that much in the night (especially me, who drank tea in the afternoon the day before)...so we were kind of tired...and hanged near some stage where they played music...before we went back to the hotel...
Last pic, but after the run...of the palace...
We passed by sheng kai shek's memorial hall on our way back to the hotel...I have never been there before..I have to visit it some day...
The hotel cooperated with Mosburger...so we picked our breakfast there...
It was knd of stupid...since our breakfast coupon was on 100nt, but the most expensive set was only 65nt...and we coulnd add extra things on the coupon, we had to pay extra...
The hotel didnt have floor 4, since that means bad luck...(the pronounciation is like the word for death or something).
After the checkout we went to a german restaurant in taipei city...
It was the same beer that I tried at casino cosmopol in Gothenburg earlier this summer...it was good, but more bitter than in sweden...
I ordered some Tyroler pan, but got swedish pytipanna...it was good...
They also had some souvenirs...with the german flag on
We also passed by ikea before it was time to go home...and perhaps sleep alittle bit more...
GMBA orientation day
We were asked to be there an hour earlier to prepare...
The professors talked alot, eveyone had to present themselves...what surprised me was that some internships were presented...all of them were from students who did their internship in USA...mature professors were suppose to pick the presentors...it is very taiwanese to love usa...but it seems like the gmba professors dont know how to balance the information...that was crappy...they also seemed to have prejudice about the students...I heard alot of misinformation about students during the presentation...and some interesting things are that the professors tend to favourise some students...I wonder how long this program will go on with satisfied students with this attitude...
After the presentation we took a bus to science park...
We went to a restaurant called "living one", it was ok, but comparative expensive...according to what I heard about the price level...
It was fun to get to know the new students...and also talk to some professors and old students...
Later on me and some classmates went to taipei...we were suppose participate in a 10k running event...
We were suppose to live at a classmates appartment, but changed to a a very central hotel, since we had to be there 5.40...thus go up even earlier...it was a nice hotel...
A night in Taipei
I spent last night mainly in Taipei...
It was rush hour so the trip took quite a while...
The restaurant I was heading to seemed to be more tricky to find than expected...so I was recommended to take a taxi.
3 of my classmats has birthday this week...so it was a reason to celebrate...
They had awesome icecream...russian, swiss and some taiwanese brands...maybe also japanese...
We continued to a german beer restaurant, where I have been many times before...
They always have exotic outfit...
They also offered entertainment in form of a magician
They lowered the price of the bus tickets some week ago...so it is cheap to travell to taipei nowadays...I took a bus before 24.00... the last bus goes about 1 am...
It is good that one can sleep in the bus back, since u save alot of sleeping time in bed...
Pay at the bursar, and meeting new students...
Every semester tuition fee must be payed at the bursar...
Bursar sounds so exotic...
There are a few new students in the lab since this week. Many of them also wanna graduatewithin 1 year, like I wanted last year...stupid enough they cannot take all our classes...which is strange since since undergrad exchange students can take them...
First thursday...
Today I had a class, in which the teacher said...it is workload as for 3 classes...
It was nice to see the class gathered again..
During lunch I was preparing a video for the GMBA orientation hit saturday...
After lunch I had a class with a professor that I use to consider to be the best at NCTU...I had him in international marketing some years ago...and this course was also very good.
After the course I had to fix some more orientation events preparation...after that I went to the swimming pool with some classmates...
I also payed my tuitin fee nad dorm plus facility fee...it was about 20000 NT...
nthu had a fare for their clubs...it was interesting...
Later in the night I saw goodfellas...it was ok...it is on IMDBs top list...
Euro basket in the lab
We watched european championship basketball in the lab tonite...
It was ok...however I didnt watch that actively...
Spain met slovenia...Pablo supported Spain, I supported spain i think...didnt really care initally. I want to see something entertaining...thats more or less it...
spain won...big scam...
Family mart wins terrain over 7-11
Yeah, its true...
I bought alot of drinks..but in particular the beef burger...and alot of juice.
They had 4 different kinds of burgers...so now there is no need to go to 7-11 to have a snack at a night in the lab...
Second first day of school
Since last days classes were cancelled or missed, today is the first day of school...
Started with double meal...
One girl had an "I ♥ kids" shirt... it is interesting...using that at home will give strange associations.
I had my first class today...I was prepared to have my old Professor Tang at class filled with fun viagra and porn jokes and singaporean accent...instead the professor Wu substitue showed up...I use to think that he was inconsistent, however I cannot blame him for not trying to be a good teacher...many exchange students showed up...I think this is a typical sign of the inconsistency of the GMBA program...since first year GMBA students cannot take the course but a bunch of international students with whatever engineering background can take it...it makes no sense...
I ate dinner in the lab...bought from mosburger...i got some new classmates who are really nice...
I also treated the new first year GMBA students with beetles nuts (binglang) and some whiskey...
People are also preparing some activities for the new students on a orientation even that we r going to have this saturday...
After dinner I went to play football with some friends...I also passed by the basketball field...but that sport is not as simple as football...
AC in da lab...
Some one forgot to turn of the ac, so it was cold and nice when we entered...however I am concerned abou all the energy that is wasted for all the forgotten ACs in the campus...it must b alot...
We spontaneously saw a movie, when we were in the lab...a new student joined us...
It was nice...
I also accidently opened a locker earlier this summer by force...in the lab
today i managed to close it again...not relock it though...but it feels good, since me and some friends feared that the guy who has the locker will get angry...
School starts...
It was ok...but confusing as usual...
I got a receipt today, I need to pay alot of many for facilites etc at school...
Hmm...time to cash out...
On the way to the pool I saw this waster pump that cars often bump into in movies making the water go every where...
I found a new interesting place to eat dinner...they had alot of things that we eat at home...but here they serve it with rice, instead of potatoes...
It was deep fried Gordon Bleu Pork...
NTHU is good...they have a guy who recycles...when I ate lunch at NCTU it was still all in chinese at the recyle station...so annoying...
Surfin safari
(click on the pickture)
It was exotic as usual...both kenting and the east coast is so relaxing, and makes u feel like u are on some tropical island (on which u actually r) compare to the west coast...that more feels like u r in china...with traffic and night market etc...
It is also exotic with all the mountins on Taiwan...I will become a more active member of the moutian climbing club later on...when they provide more challanging moutains than some hills...
I observed this car, that has its rear view mirror showing the back seat...so interesting...
We had to pass by Taipei, to get to the east coast, we could see Taipei 101 far away...
As always when I take the car to the east coast I have to pass by many tunnels...some longer than 12 km...(other times I take the train)
I passed by a village that had both Lions and Rotary banners...it is kind of common here in Taiwan...and its interesting, since it is also common in Sweden with these organisations, however they seldom show their logos as frequently as here in Taiwan.
I the horizon I could see the Turtle island...
They had stands with my initials...
And warning signs only in chinese...so frustrating...
It was almost full moon...and alot of fishing boats had theor spotlights on...
I saw frogs for sale...so exotic...and a little grose...
As usual they had interesting entertainment nea the beach at the surf stores...live bands etc...
I use to rent the board at the beach...
The best surfing time is at 6 am...I was a little late...but the waves were still ok...
This is my board...a little shorter than usualy. since I want to b able to turn...
But the beach only allows u to surf less than 10-20 seconds...
it is mostly for beginners here...
In Taiwan it says "0km", as a distance...that is exotic...it is a way to tell that some thing starts from here...
It was alot of queues when heading back...since many people from Taipei use to go here during weekends...
I also passed by IKEA on the way back...soi annoying...driving car in Taipei...since it was forbidden to do left turns and U-turns...it took super long time before I could get where I wanted. I hope it will take a long time before I need to do that again...
Another night at plur...
First we hanged out at 7-11...
As usual the police checked in after some hour...
I brought a pinapple cake...it was good...
Afterwards it was fights in the boxing ring...
Some people brought tobacco that was from europe...which made other high on nicotine...
Then there were more fights in the ring...
It was a great night...some people were really drunk...many europeans were there...it is always more fun to dance with them...than the latinos who usually squeeze themselves to random girls or other south USA dances that more looks like a lapdance...
Recycled many bottles...
I was collecting many bottles after the festival celebrations..I got 42 NT in refund...
An old room mate checked in...
So now we r 4 people.
He just left his stuff in a corner. maybe he will move out pretty soon. Since few west europeans choose to live in a dorm...especially of u r full time student...
Futsal at school
It is nice weather and a very social sport...with nice people to play with...
Latino food
Many stores offers wraps, taco lookalike things etc...it is exotic...
Mid autumn festival BBQ
It was kebab that the arabic people ate...I made some swedish klyftpotatis with garlic, that was kind of salty. And bought meat...
Many people showed up...
Then I went to plur...as usual, nowadays the police were there. So I couldnt enter...
I also came kind of late...
They dont have sand on the dance floor anymore...so u cannot enter with shorts...but they have a boxing ring in the middle of the dance floor.
Club fare in the campus
Later on I got informed that they were there anyway...
Isolated island
The life of a student it more or less the school...
No family connections nearby...
The free time is spent with school mates...
This means that the big social network that one is used to have, suddenly becomes microscopic...
And things that happends in Taiwan has comparatively higher impact on ones life that it use to...
It is very distracting...not the first time it happends here in taiwan. Ones mind become distracted very easily due to this...
Now i will go out running...
Tonite it might b clubbing in Hsinchu or Taipei, depending on which party team im joining...
A day in Taipei...
I bought some things...so i got my sticket collection card from 7-11 full
I will pick up a teddy bear later...
I went to NTNU to do some chinese language tests...im in a research group, i got 250NT for it...
I also saw a nice map of taiwan...
I ate burger at a recommended burgerbar in Xida...where I ate earlier this year as well with some chalmers student...as usual in taiwan...when they dont charge service charge the service is much better, in general...(strange)...i hate service charge places...so greedy...
I had a pineapple burger...it was free refill on softdrinks...I got high on caffein on coke...
Then I went to NCCU for a guided tour...around campus...it is interesting to see other universities as a change...
I payed a short visit at their MBA department...from left Nelson, me, Leo and Daniel...(I borrowed some basked ball shirt that was hanging in the hall)
They had a nice swimming pool...almost like NTHU but cheaper...
After a short Mcdonald visit we took the bus back to tpe main station...
Taiwan often has this system in the bus, that u either pay when u enter or when u leave the bus...however this bus changed its system after a while, so forst it was pay when enter, then pay when leavee and then pay when enter again...
It was a sign in the bus "No Making Noise", but many young people togetter made alot of noise...so forbidden...
What does this sign mean? thanx for getting me pragnant?
From tpe main station we wen by MRT to a hotel near Shilin night market...
We asked a MRT host for the way, we needed to take taxi at the end...
It is a famous hotel...and old...
It was nice initally, but after I while it felt touristic...but it was expensive we were told...
We had a beer there for a while, then we went back...this time we took a free shuttle bus...
Then ushers had interesting red outfit...
We could also see Taipei 101 far away...as well as taipei main station...this hotel were really situated high...
We took hottai bus back to hsinchu...they use to be more expensice than their competitor but now they r cheaper...so we changed to this bus recently...students are price sensitive...
I ate a 7-11 dinner as usual since restaurants close so early in taiwan...
Movies, eating and running...
Im watching movies, eating and run once in a while in these days...
Saw "the good the bad the ugly" yesterday, mainly cuz its on imdb´s top list...
I ate dubbel burger for lunch and dinner...
I ate teppanyaki today...
I picked up my asus computer again..this time they said that the fault was the network card (wireles) that was broken..hopefully my computer will b fast again...
I also met Lotus "the waiver", who came back to taiwan after one semester of studying in japan. I told her i will invite her for the upcomming movie nights and night club visits...it can b really boring in Hsinchu days like these...
I also passed by Burger king, bought whopper spicy and strps which i refried with garlic...and ate with mayonaise and ketchup...it was good...
Lunch at food court 1
I ate lunch at food court 1 today...
I asked the person at the restaurant to recommend me something...and believe it or not..she actually did...so pprofessional...(usually they refuse, until i specify what i want...into such a detailed way. that there is only one dish to pick...which is not a recommendation on my opinion.
I had a passion fruit ice slush aswelll...here is the staff and pablo...ronny joined as well...
Such a disappointment...more than 1 year has gone since I asked the staff at international service center to help me change the recycle stations bins into also english text...as usual the staff does nothing...
I just left my dishes on some table...I dont wanna ruin the order...however...it is irritating how lame people actually can b in this country...
After the meal i went to the library...and once again i found that everything is on chinese...when i wanted to search for a book...so annoying...even when i press "english" as a language on the homepage...it is just fake... the results and search engine shows things in chinese...
I got a new room mate
I think he is from Panama...
Me and my Thai room mate spread out in the room...
This guy made space for himself...
It will b interesting...
A latino and a thai guy in the same room...how will this end?
Later on that day i bought drinks in 7-11, no staff at all. super long queue, no staff...what is this?
I ate a lunch combinated dinner...3 meals...its alot...i must go out for a run tonite...
I also met my room mate...luckily my classmate pablo was near by, so he could translate...since the guys english was limited...the panama guy seems nice...
We invited him to watch a movie...but i gues he suffered from jetlag, cuz he was sleeping in the room the whole time...
I later on observed a 7-11 staff queuing, cuz he wanted to buy something...so interesting, that the staff r queuing like the customers...
I bought a new jar
So now im ready for another semester of studying...(if that will happend)...atleast of peanut butter eating
Swimming?!? carneval in Sunmoon lake...day 2
Beep beep beep...time is 4.30...light is turned on the the for me warm bedroom...they others were freezing they told me...
We went on the road donwhill again..and stopped at the same 7-11 for breakfast...
I treid to catch the lake (Batan) again on camera while riding in the car..but it was not easy...
Taiwan is a moutain island...it is easy to forget when u live in Hsinchu...however I got flashbacks from my moutina climbing trip when I saw the peaks in the horizon...
Near the lake it was hard to fid parking lots...
We managed to find a spot...and planned to take some shuttle bus to the lake...
However the bus never showed up...
So we decided to walk...besides the traffic was heavy...walking took as long time as driving...
It was kind of chaotic...but ok. many ppl spent their night in the cars...saving hotel money...
After some while we came to the lake...and there we had to find some gourp...not sure why but I gues it had to do with that we used an agency to complete our swimming team...
we also got hats...
There were alot of tents...reminded me of Goteborgsvarvet in Gothenburg...whoever this event was much more in international focus...even though physical events are not as common nor popular here as in sweden...
After another km of walking we almost reached the starting point...
We took of your shirts...adjusted the floating equipment that we were forced to use...
And went towards the sea shore...where we had to spend another hour of queuing...
The we passed some shower...a chip sensor and of we went...
it went faster than we though...however only 1% of the tai acctually swam...most of them were flotaing on their floating pad, shaking their feet blocking the path for the swimmers...but it was ok...not that many of these people actually had in mind to swim...I guess...
When we finished we got some snax...there were alot of people in the other town at the goal...
We got some taiwanese food...but they were also serving chocolate and pinapple cakes at the tents near the goals...
People were keep on dropping in all the time...
All the way (the about 3 km) there were bridges every 50 meters...and boats going back and forth...
It was a big difference from home, like vansbrosimmet in sweden, where floating equipment is forbidden and considered as cheating...or flippers that many tais were using would disqualify you directly...
I saw flippers that were smaller tham my feet...
I guess big feet is an advantage...
However I consider myself as a bad swimmer, i really need to improve...if i wanna be swedish standard...even if i had a swimming pool at home when i was young...
The 3 swimmers in my team...
It was fun...
We had to take th boat back, since it was quite a bit to walk around the lake...and there were many boats in service...
Mostly swimmers were going back...but it didnt take us to the start...it was to another village, 20 mins walk from the start...
They kept on starting even when we were back...
We passed by the start...and there I saw him/her...the last swimmer...maybe I can b the last next year...just for fun
The traffic was still heavy, but not as chaotic as before...
Here one can slightly see the brdges that makes the track crossing the lake...
After this we went to the car and went back home...
We passed by McDonalds in Taizhong though...on the way...
I got hope of taiwanese society when I saw this recycling bin...perhaps some kind of compensation for all the pollution they r causing with all the scooters...
But NO, when i opened the bin it was all in the same bag...just an inital metallic plate...making it look real...what a disappointment...
Later on that night I ate dinner at Costco...it was nice...hyped myself with caffein from a bottomless glass of coke...
Swimming?!? carneval in Sunmoon lake...day 1
I was going to Sunmoon lake for a Swimming?!? carneval...
The Tais that organized the trip for us wanted us to go up early...since they dont have the "day before weekend concept" meaning that sunday and saturday mornings might be in bed a little longer...so we were suppose to leave a 9, i put my alarm on 9 and as expected, the pick up was about 1 hour late...
We had a car, that would take us near the highest road in taiwan (near the moutina i climbed last december), since the hotel was there where we should spent the night, it was kind of far from the lake but most hotels were full booked...
It was a hilly terrain...
We visited a wine museum...
U could not bring in ice...who would like to carry in ice?fire would do more harm...
People could try ancient equipment to carry things that would end up being alcohol...Tai people often call alcohol "wine" since its the same word in chinese...which is confuzing...since u ask for wine an get whisky, sherry or some liquor...
We tried some wine and brandy...
We also passed by some kind of temple where the god of wine was on a painting...
I treid to take a pic of a lake I saw near Hehuan shan...so exotic, a lake that is not sunmoon lake...I surely have to return to this place another time...
We got a hotel where breakfast and dinner was included...the altitude was over 3000meters abovee sea level...they didnt even have AC in the dorms...since they didnt need it...
We got waffles and honey and tea at our hotel room...it was nice.
We came there early...so we had some hours to kill before dinner time...
We ate lunch in Taizhong...
It was foggy outside...so we could barely see the moutains...
We started by visit some night market...
We wanted bananas...but they didnt have it...
They were selling honey and some fruit...
They showed us how they extracted honey...
They were also selling pollen...
Pablo bought a bottle of honey...
Night markets in Taiwan are often controlled by maffia...and there were a guy here who seemed to be in maffia...so I called him "Mr liu man" which means Mr maffia...he was kind of mean to some sellers...(the guy to the right on the pic)
We continued walking in the area...people were talking about a sheap show...however we missed it...since we were late...
The view was great...but the clouds made the scienery soso...
We continued passing some sculptures...
I knew from before that it was suppose to be a 7-11 in the area...and after 40 mins walking we found it...
We bought some snax and took a taxi back to the hotel...
It was as I feared an expensive taxi ride...and the driver was smoking...not good...
We had hotpot for dinner...
Then we went for some beers...
We were suppose to leave at 5 am the day after...I put my alarm on 4.50...the others on 4.30...
We spent the night watching movies...some in chinese some in english...
One day disappeared
After a long week, me and my colleague thought it was wednesday, but it turned out to be thursday...
So one day dieappeared...
on friday I went to a mexican place in Qing hua university after a short visit at the swimming pool...
I further went downtown, where I found a barber shop with my initials...
At the east gate (dong men), it was performance as usual...
I continued to Gracias that suppose to be an italian restaurant...
I had a chocolate drink...
And some strange appetizer...
And my pizza was sweat...with apples, and gorgonzola...
Dessert was served at McDonalds, where I have this bonus card that gives me an extra item when I buy snack from a certain list...
Back in the office...
Saying hi to our colleagues...
And mingling around...
We also passed by ikea...
Where I found my new asus very slow...I will return it for reparation today...(made in taiwan, or what?)
We passed by the spanish chamber of commerce...
And a bar where they served locally produced beer (or atleast from taiwan).
I tried some sweet ale that tasted like all other local prodces beer in taiwan more or less...and besides this...I had to pay service charge in tha bar...I realy hate that! so stupid...i didnt ask for service...
I passed by asus to fix my computer on the way home...
Saw a big spidel web at the main entrance of the library...
Since mosburger at school choses to close unexpectedly at 20.00 instead of 22 when they r suppose to close I bought dinner at family mart...
I finished the night by watching mayor parts of Demolition man, the whole Rocky IV and the matrix...
And after that I went for a run...
Indian food
Some days ago I was treated cookies (spicy) from northern india...
Last night they had some other spicy food (not spicy according to them...)
They name the food very easily...this food was called fish curry (due to its contents)...
