We bought a car!

hey dudes and dudettes

Ok, so its not a real car. Its a little formula 1 remote control car. We got it second hand from some guy. We have only been buying essential stuff for the apartment, so we thought we would get some toys for the boys.

The 5th of October was my 27th birthday, so we went to a Baseball game on Tuesday night to celebrate it. The weather was a bit cold and drizzly, but it was pretty awesome. We just sat in the cheap outfield seats, and the stadium was pretty empty, but there was a great atmosphere because they play these big drums, and play random songs like "Popeye the sailor man" and chant war cries for each team.

There was only one home run in the match, and it happened while Tim was taking a walk. He was pretty mad, so he took it out on me.

A random bowl, that our noodles were served in, with some crazy english on the side.

There is plenty of strange and very incorrect English on t-shirts, and products. Sometimes they just type random english letters and put them on a t-shirt. The awesome vest I got below actually says "A pirate shif".

Hey kid, watch out for the evil zombie penguins!

Tim spoilt me on my b-day with a variety of gifts (as seen above), like: South African red wine, a big blow-up hammer, burning incense, spongebob boxers, a shirt, shorts, mouse for my laptop, basketball, an awesome remote control helicopter. We have a basketball hoop setup at the end of our alley, where we can play some b-ball.

I also decided to buy a keyboard for myself. It was a really good deal (also second hand from the same guy as remote control car). So maybe I'll learn a tune or two.

Don't worry, Tim wears a helmet when he rides the Bull!

We got the couch (as mentioned in previous entry), so I thought we might as well put it too some use. I signed up for "Couchsurfing" last week. Couchsurfing is a website (or social network) where people offer out their couch (or bed, or spare room, or whatever) and then random travellers can come stay on your couch for free for the night. And when we travel, then we can go stay on other peoples couches.

We had our 1st couchsurfer on Saturday night! His name was Kevin, and he was a 31 year deaf American. He came to Taiwan for the deaflympics in Taipei a month ago, and then he has been cycling around Taiwan since then.

About a week ago, we thought everything was sorted out with Tim's job, visa, and permit, because Tim was supposed to be starting a full-time job on Monday 4th October. Therefore he stopped working his part-time job at Kid Castle, and turned down another part-time job. The school emailed on the weekend, and said that he was only starting on Wednesday/Thursday. He tried to contact them to find out details but couldn't get hold of anybody. Then on Tuesday, they emailed and said that they can't employee him because the government is getting more strict next year... and some other weak reasons.

So now Tim is back to square 1 with a job, and running out of time on his visa. We went to the Consular Affairs office in Taipei on Thursday to try get it extended, but they said that without a work permit, it cannot be extended. So, it looks like Tim may have to do a visa run, to get more time. There is always hope.

The week before last, I went to do a little promotional video shoot. It was pretty random. The Hsinchu Foreigner Assistance Center in Hsinchu asked me and Tim if we would come for the video shoot. They got our details from when we used the internet for free a few times there. Hopefully I can get hold of a copy of the video. The above "lunch box meal" was my reward for doing the shoot- it was delicious.

Keep rolling them dice.

Cliff and Tim