Yinghe Cave Trail 銀河洞越嶺步道

Yinhe Cave Waterfall 銀河洞瀑布, originally uploaded by thoth188.

I tried to be a more outdoor person during my stay in Taipei, so I did a somewhat easy trail with my former colleagues. We started from HsinTien and ended at National ChengChi University (NCCU), Mu-Zha.
The trail is getting more popular because of the newly-built MaoKong Gondola, which is not in operation right now due to a serious erosion of pillar foundation.

The best part of the trail is the waterfall in the photo. In addition, you can go underneath the waterfall and pay a visit to a secret god statue. After that, enjoying a pot of wonderful tea in MaoKong and walking around NCCU campus add frills to the city retreat.

Click here for more photos about Yinghe Cave Trail and MaoKong, Taipei.

台灣小吃探索(續) Taiwan Snacks Are the Best !(Cont.)

Taihodien Spicy Hot Pot 太和殿麻辣鍋 - Spicy Hot Pot is really popular in Taiwan. Some places offer all-you-can-eat buffet around US$10-15 dollars per person, but the ones who don't are usually better. My favorite is Taihodien (太和殿), located on Sinyi Rd.

Go to YongKang Street in Taipei and you will find following delicacies.

Braised Beef Noodles 牛肉麵

Steamed Spareribs with Rice Flour 粉蒸排骨 - Goes extremely well with beef noodles

Strawberry Sorbet 草莓牛奶雪酪 - Don't forget to enjoy a dessert at Ice Monster.

台灣小吃探索 Taiwan Snacks Are the Best!

Last year I actually made myself back to Taiwan for Christmas Day although most of Taiwanese are not Christians. During my one week stay I tried to catch up my favorite Taiwan snacks. Here are some:

Stinky Tofu (臭豆腐) - They are not rather stinky or smelly but crispy outside, juicy and tasty inside. You gotta try this if had chance. Available in most of the night markets in Taiwan. Never seen one in the U.S.







Bubble Tea or Boba Tea (珍珠奶茶) - One of the most famous Taiwan drinks. In US it usually costs three dollars but in Taiwan it's less than one dollar. There are several tea shop chains in Taiwan serve Bubble Tea, but I personally love "Chun Shui Tang" (春水堂) the best.










Tofu Pudding (豆花) - The pudding is made from soybean as how tofu is made, and it goes well with Boba. The Three Brothers (三兄弟) do a good job at putting red bean to each of the Boba to bring the mouthfeel to the next level.








To be continued....

Purdue Memorial Union covered in snow

Purdue Memorial Union, originally uploaded by thoth188.

Isn't this beautiful? I know everything looks better in snow, but sometimes it's a pain in the ass to slip on streets.

Click here to see more photos of Purdue University.

You cannot spell stupid without IU

IU touchdown, originally uploaded by thoth188.

Okay, here comes my first away football game to one of the Boilermakers' rivals - Indiana University. Both teams were striving to win the Old Oaken Bucket, which is the trophy that is annually awarded to the winner of the football game between IU and Purdue, back to school and win the pride.

Unfortunately, Boilermakers lost the 2007 game. But it's a good and interesting game to be part of it, especially when only 5% of the attendees are on your side. I have to say Purdue fans showed great school spirit and I am very proud of my alma mater.

There was a huge traffic to get to the stadium and that caused us to miss the opportunity of tailgating with IU students. Obviously they need the expertise of logistics management from Krannert School :)

World's Largest Drum

HCG_12 World's Largest Drum, originally uploaded by thoth188.

I am not quite sure if this is true or not, but it seems like we have the largest drum in the world.

This photo was taken when I was in the homecoming game on October 28th, 2007. And my favorite part of the game is seeing Neil Armstrong, the first person who steps on earth, cheering up the football team and crowd during the half-time break.

It's my second football game and now I can have my opinion about American football. My general impression is football game is quite intense and quick. A lot things could happen in ten seconds, and a quarterback is the key player in the offensive team just like a pitcher in a baseball team. There are some rules that I still don't understand, but overall I enjoy football games better than other sports games.

Click here for the photo set on Flickr!

Go Boilers!

Why History Can't Wait - Person of the Year 2008 - TIME

Why History Can't Wait - Person of the Year 2008 - TIME

是的，一點都不令人意外，歐巴馬成為了時代雜誌評選2008年度風雲人物。這位美國有史以來第一位黑人總統，已經讓在全世界人心留下深刻的印象。

只不過大家還記得去年的風雲人物是誰嗎？點這裡看答案。他們有許多共同點－都是總統（或者即將成為總統），而且都是政治明星。

歐巴馬競選時期，最讓大家佩服的是他運用媒體的能力。從初選一開始他的競選團隊就大量使用各種二十一世紀才出現的新媒體－Youtube。宣布副手的時候也是第一優先讓主動提供e-mail或手機號碼的一般民眾知道。他甚至還有flickr pro帳號（昨天整理照片的時候突然發現的）。重點是他不但可以透過這些媒體跟民眾互動，還可以跟這些人小額募款。

但是對於歐團隊治國能力，個人必須有所保留。雖然他具有領導統御的特質，但是不令人諱言，有不少選民把票投給歐巴馬只因為他是個政治明星－想想看如果你把票投給他，你就參與了某種「金氏世界紀錄」：選出美國第一位黑人總統。

亂世出英雄。如果現在不是亂世，那怎麼會有馬英九、李明博、歐巴馬、跟普亭呢？

Management Volunteer Program - Highway Cleanup

Highway Cleanup, originally uploaded by thoth188.

I used to be an active volunteer in Taiwan. When I come to US, I wonder is there also a way to contribute to local community? The answer is the management volunteer program.

This is the first activity of the program, which is a not attractive one - highway cleanup on Sept. 22. There were only a few members coming to clean the road. But it was fun. What we picked up most are bottles, cans, and cups. Not many trash as we expected, since this is not an interstate. Someone even found a flat tire, a metal plate, a pack of cigarette, and a long board of wood. You may click on the photo and get the location where this photo was taken.

I heard that next time we will hold a trick-or-treat activity on Halloween! I've never had Halloween before and I look forward to joining again.

Mooncakes!

Moon cakes!, originally uploaded by thoth188.

前幾天收到家裡寄來的月餅，雖然離中秋節9/25還有幾天，但是那麼多月餅也吃不完吧，先拿一些出來吃。

只不過現在中秋節已經變質，很多人應該都已經忘記為什麼要過中秋，反而是記得要烤肉、吃文旦、月餅了。乾脆把中秋節改名為烤肉節或是月餅節就好啦。

既然要把月餅分給同學吃，那應該要把裡面的餡的英文名稱查一下，不然人家一問說不出來不就尷尬了嗎？所以接下來是SPP的英文教室：

月餅 - moon cake
蓮蓉餡 - lotus seed paste
棗泥餡 - jujube paste
豆沙餡 - sweet bean paste

不過我還是比較想吃蛋黃酥啊！！！

A wonderful week!

在經過 mid-term 以及 presentation 的洗禮之後，這禮拜的活動超多的。

禮拜五學校安排我們到位於 Brookston 的 Camp Tecumseh 做 team building 的活動，距離學校大約 40 分鐘的車程。對於已經同甘共苦一個月的 team 而言，這個活動好像有點晚了些。這張照片就是我的 teammates，中間那個則是二年級的 mentor。

到了 camp 之後當然就是各個帶開去玩活動，而這些活動的目的不外乎是要增加團隊之間的默契。我們總共玩了以下幾個遊戲。

1. 傳球說人名：也就是認識其他 team member 的活動。
2. 水管傳彈珠：members 每個人都拿著一根約 30 cm長的水管，但是要把彈珠傳到 10 公尺遠的地方。這裡我們練習好多次最後終於成功了。
3. 翹翹板平衡：怎樣把 12 個 members 一起在平衡地在大翹翹板上，板子還不能觸地超過三次。I think we did a good job at this one.
4. 竹筏求生：把所有人都擠到一個小小的板子上，no one is left behind. 超擠的。
5. 走繩索：還有三個 members 眼睛被矇起來。這真的需要其他隊員的幫忙才有辦法走完的。
6. 渡河遊戲：怎麼用三根長木板把所有人從河的一邊運到另一邊呢？湖中間只有幾塊石頭可以支撐。在這裡我們耗掉最多時間，因為每塊石頭之間的距離不一，需要用兩塊板子搭成 T 型的橋才能完成。不過我也認為這個是最好玩的活動。
7. 過河拆橋：這次每個人只有長約50公分的木條，必須在每根木頭都有人碰到的限制下從一邊走到另一邊，因此頭尾那兩個人最辛苦了，必須一邊碰著木頭一邊動作。（還好我在中間）

在經過這次的活動之後，team的感情真的有變好，也變得更信任自己的 teammate 了， 因為很多活動是一定要靠團隊合作才能完成。

禮拜五就已經累翻了，那...禮拜六呢？

話說禮拜六我人都已經在 study room 把 case book 打開要開始念了，突然學長衝進來問說有沒有人要去看 football game，這...接下來發生什麼事你應該已經知道了吧！

是的，我去看了生平第一場 American football game: Purdue v.s. Central Michigan!!!!

會場大家好像都瘋了一樣，有的人已經喝得爛醉，有的奇裝異服，不過大家都很有默契的穿著我們 Boilermakers 的 signature color - 黑色。一開始我還不太熟悉 football 的規則，不過在學長的解說之下，也慢慢搞懂各種進攻防守的 rule。當然還有許多各式各樣的口號跟手勢等等。

每次只要我們有一個 touchdown，全場就像瘋了一樣的歡呼。一方面是對於 TD 本身，另一方面也是因為每一個 TD 可以帶來在書店買服飾 5% 的折扣。今天 Boilders 以 45-22 贏了 CMU，有六次的 TD，所以下禮拜一可以去搶七折的衣服囉！

Go Boilers~~ Go Boilers~~