Last post from Taiwan

Well, this is it...(x4) For this last day on this tiny island, it started with a giant headache, then followed with a solo trip to Taipei Main Station and a giant walking tour at YuanShan. The "last supper" for the family was a giant Italian buffet, and it's supposed to be my birthday dinner. So I'm not supposed to eat dinner on March 14 this year, then. Finally met up with grandmother one last time, and she seemed a lot better now. Watched the Race that I downloaded, not too bad, I guess. And now, I sleep, pack, and go. I'm so overwhelmed right now with everything: the past, the future...yikes.

One comment about Taiwan: There are about 23 million people here on this tiny island. Compare that to the 33 million in the vast expanse of land in Canada, that's a pretty crowded island. When I see this sea of humanity here, I feel a sense of lost. I'm not sure how to describe it, but at least I know it's very overwhelming for me. Another somewhat related comment about Taiwan: Here, the cable has more than 100 channels, including at least 10 channels of 24-hour news, shopping, Buddhism, and movies each. I wonder who watches them all? There must be people watching each channel all the time, and if so, I'm amazed and once again overwhelmed...

Anecdotes: I go to the washroom a lot more often here; I missed too many friends here because they just happened to be out of town; I still haven't got over jet-lag; I only had one bubble tea; I think my lifespan has been reduced significantly due to breathing too much of the polluted air here; I bought 9 CDs and 3 CD wallets, and that's all I bought; I found out that the voice of the Ugly Stepsister in Shrek 2 is Larry King's; I don't know why the plane ticket's costs are still not charged to my credit card; dad looks a lot older; the last time the entire family of 4 got together was in September 2002, who knows when the next time will be; my room here is a mess; I haven't started to pack.