While in Vancouver, I of course had to make a pilgrimage to MEC, an equipment mecca for outdoor enthusiasts. Shoppers at MEC looked as if they actually used the equipment they were purchasing; they looked fit and muscular. This is in sharp contrast to shoppers at the Nike store in Taipei, many of who look as if they more for form than for function. The last time I was in the Nike shop, I was amazed by a family who must have made close to US$500 in purchases, and who also looked like they rarely even took a walk around the block.

I got the same impressions when I went to the gym at Whistler. Again, those exercising were focused and buff. They weren't lackadasically stepping down on the cross-training machines as they gossiped, but rather getting their heart rates up to their targets, gosh darn it. I was in awe.

I'm not being entirely fair to the Taiwanese, though. At Ting San Iou (dong shan you), a popular outdoor gear store in Taipei, the clientele looks eager to take their gear out and actually use it. The folks that run the climbing gym are organizing a new group for those interested in pursuing outdoor rock climbing, hiking, mountaineering, kayaking, orienteering, and canyoning. This should be fun. At the very least, I'm learning new words in Chinese, like "handhold," "knee," and "flexibility."

The Vancouver International Airport has the most lovely and creative arrivals area I've ever seen in an airport. After disembarking from my flight, I entered a wooden walkway that weaved its way through an zoo and aquarium-quality exhibit of British Columbia's outdoors, complete with flora and a rushing brook. A recording of nature sounds played in the background. I almost felt like I was walking through the wilds, and would not have been entirely surprised if an animal had crossed my path. The rest of the airport featured majestic indigenous art.

My initial impression of Vancouver upon leaving the airport was that it looked like any suburban city in the U.S.--broad streets, strip malls, low-slung buildings. For some reason, I kept thinking Vancouver looked a lot like Cleveland. All of a sudden, I was jarred by an HSBC branch, its sign and posters in Chinese characters. Woah! Just when I felt I was back in the familiar suburbia of North America, a sight pulls me back to Taiwan.

Yesterday while bouldering in Peitou (beitou), I finally identified that lovely scent of flowers I first noted the day after I came back from vacation. The flower is osmanthus, known as guei hua in Mandarin, and has a sweet, apricot-like scent.

While on the highway back from Hsinchu, I noticed that signs for highway rest stops display not a hamburger, as they do in the U.S., but rather a bowl and a pair of chopsticks.

Darn. I recently downloaded Opera, but I won't be able to use it to edit my blog. Yet.

I'll be sure to post my thoughts on Opera as I get more familiar with it, but moving on...my thoughts on my Lunar New Year Ski Vacation Extravaganza to Whistler, Canada will just have to wait till I have the opportunity and energy to sit down and record them and no more events like what happened on Monday night occur. On Monday night, I managed to do what no locksmith (well, just one particular locksmith) had ever seen before: I managed to get a key stuck in a lock, and no amount of grease or pulling would get the key out.

Since the washing machine was broken, I had gone over to my roommate's brother's apartment across the way to do laundry. Unfortunately, I didn't make it past the front door until after the locksmith had jiggled, yanked, jimmied, and finally, physically removed the lock. Earlier that evening, I had been giggling over David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day, particularly his adventures learning French as an adult. My roommate remarked that after this lock fiasco had passed, I too could one day write a book about my adventures in Taiwan.

Some link love to Maoman, who Jen and I bumped into at United Mix yesterday, while he and the lovely Vanessa were enjoying a late lunch. I was quite surprised to find out as I walked in through the doors of United Mix that yesterday was their last day; I knew they were closing soon, but I hadn't realized how soon. United Mix has been the setting of many a lovely Sunday brunch, not to mention a few dinners, as well.

In other news, I went with Mike and his girlfriend Vivian to see a Chinese-language musical, "What's Love About?" I'm almost embarassed to admit that I hadn't realized that musicals were written in languages other than English. While the singing was fine, I found the story to be weak and many of the characters unconvincing.

Taipei is easing back into its usual bustling self after the lunar new year holiday. What I noticed the morning after I returned as I left my apartment were the smells: first incense, and then the sweet freshness of flowers in bloom. Already, the winter chill is skulking away, although the hot steaminess of summer has yet to arrived. My walk to the bus stop in the morning's cool crispness is then punctuated by the smells of exhaust from scooters and cars making their commutes, and of fried eggs and dough sticks for sale on roadside breakfast stands.

Yet as of late last week, not everyone was back at work, and so these senses were particularly potent.