Getting Tickets to the Dark Knight at the IMAX Theater has been an unpleasantly exciting experience.
We first heard that, for the weekend shows, tickets would be on sale on Thursday.
Today at work, however, Shannon and I got on the website to check out the seating map. As we were chatting about where we'd prefer to sit, I thought I'd call the theater and double check on the time tickets would go on sale. The girl on the other end of the line (she sounded like she's 13 years old) calmly told me that tickets would be available online at 6pm TODAY! Boy, was I happy that I called!

I got on the wensite on both laptops as soon as I got home at 5pm. I spent an hour browsing the net: emailing, checking out the courses other university-affiliated language centers offer, and reading the news. At 6 o'clock sharp, I start clicking the "booking" icons on both computers. It took a few tries to get the show times for Saturday. Once I got past the "ticket selection" part, it became the race between the two computers. It all boiled down to which computer can load faster. I was so pumped with adrenalin that my eyes darted back and forth between the two computer screens like pinballs. I rolled the chair between two desks and I got one hand on each computer like a mission comtrol specialist. When Nuage jumped up on the desk looking for attention, I barked, "GET DOWN, NUAGE!" so loudly that he scrambled down to the floor and went hiding under the couch.

When it was time to select seats, Bill's Asus took the lead 'cause I realized I had to download Java on my Sony. While the seating map was loading at the speed of one little green bar every few minutes on Asus, Sony completed downloading Java in a flash. A sense of triumph washed over me and gave me goose bumps. I watched as the "loading" bar got filled at a satisfying speed. Then *black*

SONY CRASHED!!!

I quickly restarted and abandoned Sony and devoted all my attention to Asus. Unfortunately, the loading of the seating map was stuck at one and a half green bar short from completion. I watched the small dots circled around and around on the upper tool bar... around and around... aroudn and around... but nothing happened. At the same time, Sony came back alive again and exhaled that "what-sounded-beautifl-at-the-time" jingle, I pushed myself off away from Bill's desk. My fingers were ready to go, but Firefox had automatically started performing system upgrade. As I read the small print on the top of the pop-up box, "This might take a few minutes," I realized I was pulling my hair out, literally.

With Asus stuck on a page that wouldn't finish loading and Sony buzzing away while Firefox updated the system, I retreated to a less high-tech device -- the telephone. To my surprise, I got through on the first try on the ticket-order line. I followed the pre-recorded instructions and pressed in every number required carefully. I even waited for a few more seconds after the robotic female voice said, "Thank you for using the ticket-order line at the IMAX Theater. Please remeber to pick up your tickets fourty minutes before show time. Good-bye." just to make sure that I had completed the process. Pleased with my quick-thinking ability, I closed all the windows on both computers, removed my bum checks (now sore) from the chair, and rang up Dorion (with pride) to tip him on my easy success using the phone.

D: "You've been trying to get tickets?"
K: "Yeah... you know what? Forget the computer. Just use the phone. They've got an automated voice-messaging system to guide you through the steps. And they've got English too if you need it."
D: "Were you able to get tickets?"
K: "Oh yeah! Easily."
D: "Were you able to select seats?"
K: (oh, crap) "..."
D: "Remember that time we went to see Tranformer? We were stuck in the front at Warner Village and the music was so loud and our necks were sore afterwards..."

Maybe, just maybe, it was so easy for me to get the tickets over the phone because NO ONE wanted to be stuck in the front the IMAX screen, which is like... what? 8-storeys-high?

Typhoon Day Off

The entire island stayed home today as Typhoon Fung Shen passed through Taiwan. Other than short periods of strong wind and rain, it really wasn't all that stormy up here in Taipei. Bill and I spent the day catching up on some work. Once in a while, I noticed sore spots on the back of my head and my back. We reckoned these were from hitting the tables as I went down at Underworld.

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that we were involved in a fight. I was 15 the last time someone shoved me. The thought of being shoved at 36 is really embarrassing.

ACTION PACKED

It was nearly impossible to get tickets to The Dark Knight at the IMAX theater, so we went to a vintage party at Paris Night Club instead (http://campolive.blogspot.com).

A lot of people got all dolled up for the party: Go-Go girls, guys dressed like Sherlock Holmes, and lots of hippies. It was like a scene from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, minus the big hair. My favorite was a young Taiwanese dude dressed like a Japanese farmer clunking away on the dance floor with a pair of "geta" slippers.

We danced and chatted with a bunch of good friends till 2 in the morning.

At the end of the party, we took the party to "Underworld". As its name suggests, "Underworld" is a dark drinking hole in the basement on the bottom of a narrow, slippery-looking staircase. When we got down there, it was packed and the music rattled every bone in my body. I waited in line for the only washroom while Bill went outside looking for an alternative. When I came out of the washroom, I saw Bill standing a few feet away. I also saw a Taiwanese guy and a black dude talking trash at each other. As soon as I got to Bill's side, I said, "I think those two guys are gonna start a figh...". Then we were shoved backward and fell onto the ground.

I remember sitting on the floor between two tables with cake all over me wondering what had happened. There were sounds of shrieking, growling, and thumping coming from above. With the bright white light flashing on the ceiling, all I could see was silhouettes cutting in and out of the light beam. Then I heard Bill's angry voice, "You -----. That was my girlfriend you pushed." I reached out and realized he had stood up. Then I saw a lot of legs closing in on where Bill was standing.

I quickly got up and my eyes finally adjusted to the light. Bill had his back to the wall and he was surrounded by a group of Taiwanese guys with their arms extended toward him. He was fending off shoving and grabbing hands, even removing one guy's hand from his throat, and saying "it's ok, it's ok, stop, stop." Some people tried to pull those guys away while a few people came and stood by Bill. I went between Bill and those guys from the side, putting my arms on top of all of theirs, yelling, "You're picking on the wrong guy. The guy you want is over there." (the black dude was in a fight of his own near the washroom) No one heard me (well, they were necessarily listening). I was scared and frustrated. All I wanted was for this to be over so we could go home. But Bill and those guys were still engaged in a lot of shoving and fighting action.

Then some guy grabbed my shoulders and turned me around. I saw where I went down and there were shattered beer bottles everywhere. Glass! A scary thought flashed through my mind and I was about to freak. I frantically turned around, determined to get Bill out of here. As I turned, I was greeted by Bill's arms. "Babe," he looked me in the eye, "I just gotta get my glasses and we'll go, okay?" he said. I looked around and the crowd had dispersed. What happened? I stood there alone while all the other people moving about around me. A few random people came and asked if I was okay and if he was okay. "His glasses," I said to them, "We gotta find his glasses."

Eventually the black dude was pulled and pushed out of the pub, and the Taiwanese guy disappeared in the crowd. We found Bill's glasses, went to the back far away from the crime scene, and shook it off over 2 bottles of Heineken.

Please Be Patient

Many of you asked why I haven't been blogging; some of you guessed perhaps I've lost interest.
It was hard to blog when I was crashing on people's couches during the trip to the west coast. After I got back to Taiwan, however, my laptop crashed.

Bill returned to Taipei last Friday, so we can share his computer for a while. I'll do the pictures first and upload them onto my Flickr account (I'll send out an email invitation when the pics are ready).

Out of Touch

To those who don't know Vancouver well, there are three places to go skiing in Vancouver: Whistler Mountains (where the 2010 Winter Olympics are going to be held), Mt. Seymour, and Cypress Mounatins. The latter two are also street names in the Greater Vancouver area.

Sunday, June 29th
On my way to meet Lisa and Claire at WhineO.
#17 bus Downtown
K: "Excuse me, sir. Do you go to Granville and Nelson?"
Driver: "Not that many buses go down Granville anymore because of the construction, but I go to Cypress and Nelson..."
K: "Isn't Cypress in Kits?'
Driver: "Well, Cypress is one block parallel to Granville. I can drop you off at the corner at Nelson."
K: "I've been away for 4 years, and there have been so many changes here."

While I was admiring the gorgeous sunset over Granville Bridge and feeling a bit sad about how out of touch I was, a voice came up on the Intercom, "The lady in blue, please approach to the front?" I was the only one on the bus in blue.
Driver: "I'm sorry. I got my mountains mixed up. I go to Seymour and Nelson, not Cypress. Maybe I've been away for a few years but don't know it.

Tuesday, Canada Day
#9 Alma (from Broadway Station to Arbutus)
I wanted to find a pair of comfy flipflops that I can actually walk in, so I went down to 4th Ave. When I got on the bus, the driver had a yellow and orange hazard vest over the ticket machine which, logically, meant that we didn't have to pay. He greeted everyone with, "Happy Canada Day." Going shopping on 4th was a mistake 'cause everything was expensive. After a couple of hours, I finally decided to abort my original plan and agreed to meet up with Lisa and Jordy on Main Street.

#9 Broadway Station (From Arbutus to Main)
Because of the previous bus ride, I didn't even bother taking out a bus ticket when the bus arrived. I said hi to the driver and happily sat down in the seat by the window. I noticed the bus driver was looking at me from the rearview mirror, and other passengers were putting their tickets into the machine. I realized the mistake I'd made, so I quickly took out a ticket and went to the front.

K: "I thought it was free to ride the bus today."
Driver: "And why did you think that?"
K: "'Cause it's Cananda Day." (Don't ask me why. I know I should've told him about my previous bus ride instead.)
Driver: "I've never heard of that, and I've been working here for 20 years."
Some other passengers agreed with the driver, talking about the fact that free transit only happens on New Year's Day).
Driver: "You should run for office of the BC Premiere. Then you can implement this law of free transit on national holidays. I'm sure you'll be elected."
A passenger: "I'd vote for ya."