I woke up this morning and turned on my computer, it froze at the Apple logo and went ‘MEEP MEEP’. Remember Road Runner from Bugs Bunny? Like that. ‘MEEP MEEP.’ It was gonna blow. I could already see the explosion, it would be a very clean and Mac like explosion, perfectly blown bits, still white, floating around my room, falling to the ground to rest in piles that looked suspiciously like little apples. The hard drive on my last Mac failed, so I instantly panicked and started crying. Yes, I cried. If you know me, that’s not so hard to believe, right? I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been carrying around my laptop in my purse a bit, just last night did my friend Lindsey harp on me for not having it in a case. Devil woman, this was her fault. I moped some and then meandered outside in search of bubble tea for the heart. My friend Antoni threw my laptop, my bubble tea and my crabby ass on his bike and took me too ‘computer street’. The electronic market, actually, more on this later. Let me tell you, no more then 20 minutes later, I’m caressing my fully functioning MacBook in my welcoming arms. And the bill? A whole whopping FREE. True story. They assessed, repaired, and tested my robot baby right there on the spot. Guys, in Ottawa, you’d have to wait a week for only the assessment. And for probably $75 / hour. But this is Taiwan, computers are pretty much conceived here. All my ticking time bomb of a computer needed was some RAM. I bought a case for my laptop and skipped on out of there, they whole time reciting ‘I can’t believe that was so easy’, over, and over, and over. And over.

Now, the electronic market slash computer junkie heaven. Streets, lanes, and alleys full of stores, stands, and vendors selling computers, laptops, hard drives, computer accessories, iPods, flash drives, hard drives, games, consoles, gaming accessories, cameras…you can buy EVERYTHING electronic here, you can even custom build your own Hello Kitty PC, probably one that fires lasers while massaging your feet, back, and scalp, too. Check your PC, I bet it was MADE IN TAIWAN. It looked like a middle American used car lot, but selling computers and computer parts. There was food, rides, cotton candy machines, sales people pitching hot bargains at you in Chinese through brightly colored megaphones. I bought Liam RAM for his computer for $10. Also a 4 Gb USB flash drive for $10. Hell I probably could have bought a laptop for $10.

I can’t wait for ‘camera street’.

Anyone know where I can find ‘Canada street’?

I got the scenic route of Taipei home from the back of a scooter. I wish you could all see through my eyes what I saw. I love Taiwan. I love it here. Guys, I LOVE IT HERE. So this was my first experience in Taiwan traffic. If you’re on a scooter, you drive wherever you find room. If you see a spot three blocks up that looks cozy, you squeeze through whatever you can, as fast as you can, and cut off as many people, cars, and buses that are in your way, to get to it. My friend kept yelling KNEES, meaning tuck your knees in FAST, we might not fit. If you need to make a left turn, you actually cut as many people off as there are between you and the right side curb, you waver right and U turn into the FRONT of the lane that is going straight into the street you, in Canada, would have made a left hand turn into. Did that make enough sense to visualize? Once stopped, you are now waiting to go straight, practically in the middle of the intersection. Fucked.

So my computer works again, I’ll get right on editing my Typhoon Sinlaku and cross breeding blogs.

For now I must vamoose and prepare myself for a magical journey through the Coke door…