Scooter accident

I was in an accident today that, unlike last time, was totally not my fault.

It was about 9:20pm and I was on my way home from work. I was tooling along on my scooter when a car cut in front of me to turn right into a gas station. I slammed on my breaks, but was unable to avoid the car. I ran into the rear quarter panel and fell on my left side. I didn't slide or anything, and as I lay there with my bike on top of me I thought, "Well, I'm not hurt."

A 30-something looking couple got out of the car and immediately tried to help me up, gathering my belongings that had spilled from my bike. They looked really concerned, which kept me from getting angry. Actually, though, I was so relieved I wasn't hurt that I didn't get upset.

The couple kept paisay-ing and, after I assured them I was OK, we parted ways. I didn't think at the time that my scooter had been damaged, but as I was driving I noticed the left break brake handle sticking, so I think it got bent. I'm sure their car had some minor body damage, but I didn't even look.

After I got home I noticed a bruise on my knee, and now, a couple of hours later, my back is sore. Gonna take some aspirin and head to bed.

I'm just thankful it didn't turn out any worse than it did.

Janet Jackson!

I still need to post the rest of my photos from my trip, but in the meantime I wanted to mention last weekend's events.

On Friday I got to see Janet Jackson during her one-night-only concert in Taipei. I had 12th row seats--I could see the sweat flying from the dancers!

Janet was amazing; she's 44 years old and still as talented and sexy as ever! I took some photos and videos, but unfortunately my mobile phone camera doesn't do very well at dark, loud concerts.





This is the view of the stage from my seat in the "VIP" section.

And this is the view behind me. They're all jealous!

See? I was there!

Unfortunately, that photo of me is much clearer than this one of Janet :-(

Fortunately, here's a shot from the Taipei Times. I don't know how she managed to sing, dance, and continue to breathe in that outfit. Hawt!

I have a (lame, Lame, LAME) video that I shot here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XoSsmUyt1c

There's a better video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKTgxAczM9c--check out Janet's interaction with the guitar player during "Black Cat" at the 1:30 mark (!)

Embryos, Insects, and Arachnids

Note: Vegans and members of PETA will probably want to skip this post.

So, it's my first night in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and my buddy Ryan takes me to Pub Street to try some local cuisine. While I'm eating my declicious pineapple-tomato-chicken soup dish, Ryan says something to the server in Cambodian. A few minutes later, the server comes back with two eggs, and I know what's in store: Balut.

Without further ado, here's a video of my first time eating what I previously vowed would never touch my lips.

After surviving a military attack I figured I could handle eating anything else that Ryan would suggest. So, a couple of nights later, I was introduced to fried insects. If anyone reading this can identify this bug, I'd really like to know what kind it was.

The next day we went to Phnom Penh. When our bus pulled over at a rest stop, we finally found what we had been craving for the past few days: Big, black spiders!

Hey, when in Rome...