On the last day of May, 2010 I went for a walk to the riverside with my good friend, Jess after returning from the area near 台電大樓站 Taipower Building Station, and this is the result – 20 photos in extra obvious Sha style. Haha.

As a rule of thumb, I don’t allow myself to crop more than 1 out of every 10 photos and if I do any editing to a photo, I limit it to 10 minutes, after which, if I still don’t have the desired effect, then too bad, I save it and post it anyway. Haha. I don’t even need such conditions but still, I made them and I stick to them. No idea why.

I’ve been really enjoying my stay here, and now my time is coming to and end.. At least, for now. I’ll be returning in early September for semester two (or semester one, as it is here), but I think it will be nice to have a break in Sydney in between the two semesters anyway.

So, on to the photos now, I think. What’s with me and doing the above? Haha. The sun is a bright ball of light and well, I wanted it that way, so shush. Hmm.. Do we really need a commentary going through all these photos? Actually, yes, we do, and whether you like it or not, you’re getting it. *evil cackle*

*ahem* Anyway, the view of the river is quite nice. I think we started wandering around there at maybe 5:30 to 6pm and, as you can see, the sky is still quite bright, although with these photos we’re starting to get closer to sunset.

But not quite! Haha. As we went further along the riverside, away from the sun, the sky still looked like it was daytime. Looking at this one now, I quite like the colours. Although, my colour vision is a bit off when it comes to reds so I’m not sure if we’re seeing the same thing. Oh, what to do..

Moving on, I remember Jess looking at this scene and saying it’s surprising that this area is so close to the city. If you turn around, there are people, shops, stations, etc., everywhere, but looking at the river like this, I suppose it is a bit hard to believe. At least, where in Sydney can you be so close to the city centre and still have such wide open spaces? … Wait, don’t answer that, I know such things exist. I’m exaggerating, okay?

Oh, and this is Jess without her glasses on. =D *looks at her shoulder* She’s also carrying my bag for me. *feels a stab of guilt for letting her carry it* Anyway, she’ll be leaving not long after me but unlike me, she won’t be returning. Wahhh.. I’ll miss her.

Hmm.. I distinctly remember myself saying that this water had pee in it, followed by Jess asking how I knew. I should stop making crap up or people will stop believing me when I’m actually not making crap up.

But yeah, the roads and overpasses, etc. are always interesting here, and sometimes coloured quite nicely. Unlike the bridge from a previous post however, none of these light up with lights that change colours.

I remember this bridge from when I was up on the roof taking photos and making a mental note of visiting it later. Well, I finally got to visit and ended up taking two photos, one at the start of the sun setting and another one when it was disappearing from sight almost. I like the colours, red and blue, interesting.

The sky still looked so pretty, it was such a fine day, I couldn’t stop taking random photos because I loved the sky. Although, for once, I don’t think I deleted more than three photos from the entire outing. Haha. Wait, that means I didn’t even take more than 23 photos. *hits self on the head*

But nevertheless, *cheers*~ The sun is finally setting. The change in the colour of the sky is becoming more apparent and it’s oh so pretty. Well, to me at least.

People continued to wander about, and did I mention that Jess had lots of fun sliding down a rather large slide alongside some children. Haha. I wonder why kids like slides so much, I don’t remember if I liked them or not, but maybe I did and just grew out of it or something. Aww, I’m so fail at being a child.

Enough sulking about not being child-like enough, the lights have come on! Well, been on for a short while already, and Sha is busy stalking cyclists. How creepy. I wonder if I’ll ever stumble upon a photo of myself wandering around somewhere, or maybe you’ll find a photo of yourself here one day, minding your own business, captured in my frame. Muahahaha!

Oh, it’s the bridge again! This time the sun got really behind it but I had fun playing with it nevertheless. I like how the sky changes colour in a gradient from wherever the sun is, so I suppose that’s why I keep allowing the sun itself to be in my photos. Or I’m just a typical human and love sunsets, meh.

Like this sunset! Yay! Now buildings, please get out of the way. The grass was really nice, really nice. Did I mention I love green grass? Yellow grass is cool too. Actually, yeah. I love grass when it’s thick and plentiful. Oh, how strange all that sounds.

Although, on a slightly more random note, I’m still very much a moon/night person and would try to avoid venturing out into the sunlight around midday. I love the early mornings and the afternoons, but when the sun is at its highest, Sha is at her weakest. Am I a vampire or something..? Hehe.

Basically, if you’re going to be staying in the vicinity, this area is a really nice one to visit. It had been recommended to me by various people, some who weren’t even staying near the dorms that are nearby, so it can’t just be me, right? Haha.

Why are they here? And why now? Hmm.. I still don’t actually like them that much, but some of them seemed interesting. Maybe because of the shape of the roads and paths below? Seeing things from a different angle than usual is always interesting, isn’t it?

But then, that in itself is interesting. Why? Because I am really afraid of such heights. Really afraid. I couldn’t stand near the edge for long before I had to run back. Looking through a lens onto the streets below didn’t help that fear much either.

I guess I didn’t do too badly for a “sneak up to the side, quickly take a photo and run back” style. Haha. How amusing I must have looked doing such things.

Nevertheless, I saw some things I didn’t notice before.. And the red bridge is by an area I still need to visit. It’s close by the dorm and apparently is a really nice area. Must remember to wander down there next time I’m wondering where to go for a walk.

There’s the dorm area itself, which I had some trouble with. Looking straight down really scared the crap out of me. No wonder I don’t have many photos.. I never stood by the side long enough to figure out how I was going to do each one.

Although I feel like I should head back up to the roof again, once at night and once in the morning, and have another go. I’m seeing some things here that I wished I had focused on and/or did differently earlier. But hey, at least I know now, right?

And finally.. Click the above photo for a 3,000 pixel wide version of my attempt at getting the south section of the city in one photo. Haha. Did I mention that I did not use a tripod? Hmm..

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I will be making something at least in reply, so you will have to wait until then to see what I say. And if you want to see the video.. Hmm.. Ask me and I might give you the link. =)

May: This is the view from the rood of my dorm building at night. You can see Taipei 101 in the background!

May: And DKNY on the roof! Do you know how hard this was to take considering how afraid I am of heights?! Haha.

April: Now the photo of took of my DKNY collection the day I bought them. Hehe.

May: Here it is! The birthday present that I bought for myself from Swarovski. It’s a bracelet, half covered in crystal. So sparkly~

April: A revisit! Using Zik’s miniatures trick. Haha. On the right is National Taiwan University.

March: My two lenses! Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM & Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM (Macro). ♥

March: Followed by the first photo I ever took with the Macro lens.. Of my keys. Haha.

February: And while we’re on firsts, one of the first photos I ever took after moving into the dorm. Why did I take a photo of the fan? I have no idea.

May: A photo of some pretty flowers on my third trip to the zoo! Third! And each visit costs 30NTD. So so cheap.

February: Another one of the first photos ever in the dorm. This decoration inside is quite interesting.

March: I suppose this was the second thing I used the new lens on. A couple of rings I bought for 30AUD or so.

March: Unfortunately, I think they look a lot better in the photos. Haha.

April: A photo of 芒果大福 that I drew a piggy on after eating it. I thought it was cute..

March: These boxes have chocolates inside. I bought a few to spell out different words and phrases, and this is one of them. Yes, yes. I ♥ you!

February: Shorts I bought here in Taiwan! Haha. The beginning of my shopping addiction.. Which is coming to an end. I’m pretty happy with all the things I’ve bought.

April: Including the above! The shorts, tops, jacket, socks, and shoes are all new. Haha. Should get more photos of my clothes..

But yea.. That’s all. Not a very deep or meaningful entry, but light hearted is good too~ Now.. A fresh new year to make lots of awesome memories in! =D

However at the same time, being on exchange in Taiwan, I’ve met some awesome people as well. I won’t name everyone but you know who you are. I ♥ you all. =)

Anyway, back to the point of this post. Today we are going to discuss ridiculous, obnoxious, rude, idiotic people. Let us begin..

Stereotyping is an extremely dangerous thing to take seriously. There’s a gigantic line between joking about them and taking them seriously.

I am extremely surprised to find that some people actually take them seriously and use them in an attempt to understand others. If you need to use stereotypes to understand the behaviour, actions, or beliefs of another, you obviously are not capable of understanding other people at all. Please give up if you are like this, you will insult a lot less people.

I should have counted how many times I was called Asian or Australian because of something or did or the way in which I expressed something.

Now you’re probably wondering why I bring this up. I will show you why. (I don’t remember the dialogue exactly, but my meaning is correct and not exaggerated.)

Stereotype: Asians have little to no sense of direction.

“Let me check the map.”
Scoffs. “You have such Asian directions.”
“I actually know where we’re going…”
“You still have a really Asian sense of direction.”

Later.
“I’m glad you know your way around. I have no clue, I’d be so lost here.”
“Now who has Asian directions…”

You know, there have actually been a lot of occasions where either it was only me, or neither of us knew exactly which way to go. And guess what? I was almost always the one to figure it out.

+1 point to Asians.

Another dangerous thing to do is act like certain things don’t apply to you, and I don’t just means rules. I mean, if you come to a country to live for half a year and don’t want to learn the language beyond the very basics, that’s fine. Just don’t call other people stupid because of the language barrier between you and them. They have no obligation to learn English just for the sake of solving your problems.

I’m not sure what category this comes under, but there was another incident which I thought was extremely unreasonable. What happened was, there’s this girl who would sit in the lobby and have her little phone there. When it rings it’s extremely loud. Extremely loud. And one day, one of my friends told her that it’s rude and could she do something about it.

Part of the girl’s reply was something along the lines of “You try to turn it down. See if you can, here!” and she offered the phone to my friend. When the girl with the phone came to tell me about this, she said that the girl who complained about the phone was being a bitch for complaining so she was a bitch right back at her.

No. She had a right to complain about the phone. There are other people in the world aside from this one girl with a phone, and she really needs to consider others, not just herself. I think her reaction to being told to do something about the phone was extremely rude and uncalled for.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Apparently the dorm counsellor approached the girl with the phone about how it’s rather loud, and she instantly assumed that it was my friend who complained. Part of me doubts that. There are other people there, other people that it disturbs who are trying to study. Yet she still was angry at my friend and kept referring to her as a bitch.

Not only that, but the girl who complained was not very good at English. There was a good chance that she did not completely understand what had happened. It’s not her fault. She also, has no obligation to learn English. She’s in Taiwan, not America, or England.

Also, some people really need to think carefully about the concept ‘freedom of speech’. My belief is that there is no truly complete freedom of speech if by ‘freedom of speech’ you mean the freedom to say whatever you want. I think the concept is more like that of the freedom to express your ideas or opinions as long as they do not directly harm or attack a group of people (basically meaning major issues such as being racist, sexist, etc. should still be kept to oneself).

However, this does not mean it should be okay to be rude and obnoxious to others and justify it by saying that you’re just being yourself and that if they can’t handle your behaviour, it’s their fault.

For example, the case where one of my friends was uncomfortable with the amount of swearing that came out of someone’s mouth as they sat in a small restaurant. Swearing a lot is generally impolite already, however, I think that taking offence when asked to not swear is a bit extreme. It’s not just a matter of being yourself anymore, it’s a matter of being polite and respecting others, not just yourself.

One last really annoying thing is when people think only one way to do anything is right. This applies to a lot of people. I don’t understand why it is so difficult to see both sides of a story or idea. Although most of this entry has been me complaining about the actions and attitudes of various people, believe it or not, I have considered her side and I still don’t agree with it.

What I mean is that if someone does something in a certain way and you don’t agree, it’s not your place to try to force them to doing whatever it is using a different method. However, if they refuse to even hear your method, then they’re also being stubborn. They’re not being stubborn however, if they hear your idea, consider it, and still disagree.

Either way, trying to force your ideas onto someone else and becoming frustrated when they don’t conform to your beliefs is generally quite unreasonable, but a human flaw that we seem to all exhibit at some point.

There’s a limit to how much pride you should have in yourself. Being confident is a good thing, but being arrogant is obviously not. There is not always one right way, and your way is never the only one.

Also, you know it’s bad when you start thinking countries who do things differently or have a different system to you are backwards. There was a moment in class when we were discussing the internet. This girl was talking about how in America, people often shop online for many things but people in Taiwan don’t often do this. Considering these two facts, she concluded that the internet has not yet become big in Taiwan, or that it has not really arrived here yet.

She then presented this idea to the teacher who asked the opinion of the class. Two students went against her idea and she argued that most of the students in the room were international students before turning to me and commented on the two students, “I can’t stand people who tell me I’m wrong when I know I’m right.”

Sigh.

As a whole, my belief is that people should be humble, but confident, and true to themselves, but still respect and be understanding towards others and their beliefs.

Were you expecting my macro lens? No, I don’t even have photos of that one ready to post. Haha. Anyway, the point is.. This is an awesome birthday present for someone even more awesome. And since he already knows about it, I can post about it.

I hope it’s useful.

I ♥ you. =)

When did my site stop becoming truly mine? Why have I been filling it with nothing but empty anecdotes when there are things that.. I really need to be writing about here?

And how come my original plan for the design fell through so miserably? Do you know what I wanted to do here?

I wanted to have a black and white design.. With a decorative sketch.. Mysterious, dark, foreboding, dangerous, yet elegant and beautiful at the same time.. Much like how I envision the moon.

So what happened to all these things? Let’s see if I can get back on track, shall we?

The area isn’t bad looking at all.. Well, at least I have no problem with it. Haha.

And on campus at National Taiwan University you can get some nice (and cheap) food! Yum yum yum..

The campus itself has some really nice areas. This is the main walkway..

With cars constantly driving up and down it, even at 9pm. I’ll see if I can get more photos.. But the ones after this are without a tripod.. I feel like getting a tripod now. Haha..

<

And it’s kind of obvious from the above that I don’t have one.. But anyway..

This is a 芒果大福 (Mango Da Fu) from 85 Degrees! And I loves it! I always get one if I visit there..

I guess that’s all for now.. I will update with more randomness later~