Hey Doc

(Photo borrowed from China Times)
A pouring rain did not hold back the supporters of the rival groups showing up at CKS International Airport early morning on this historical day. Lien, the chairman of KMT party will embark on an eight days "Peace Journey" to mainland China.
The pro-independence group who opposes this trip is accusing Lien of selling out Taiwan. They arrived at the airport in an attempt to disrupt Lien's trip, but met by Lien's support at airport lobby. There were early signs of possible troubles so the airport was heavily guarded by the police force. Not for long, the temper flares, scuffles broke out. Because of the inability of the police force of separating the groups, soon turned into an all out brawl. A could-had-been a historical moment is tainted by this ugly display.
I blame the leaders of the groups who knew there will be troubles and failed to restrain their members. I blame the politicians who cultivated the mentality that if you are not a friend then you are my enemy. I am sadden by how the people on this island is divided so deeply.

Follow this link for an in-depth article on Financial Times. Shanghai Daily shows the timeline of events lead to the trip, and here. Another article at Yahoo News. One more from International Herald Tribune.

A historical even will take place tomorrow. The chairman of the Nationalist Party (KMT) will meet with the chairman of Communist Party of China the first time in fifty five years since the civil war when KMT fled to the island of Taiwan as the communist party took control of the mainland. KMT will not represent the official Taiwan government since it had lost the election in 2000 but a reconciliation between the two major parties. The hope is that this meeting can pave for a peaceful existence on two sides of the Taiwan Strait in the future. More bits and pieces can be found here, here, here, here, and here.

1905, Albert Einstein proposed his theory of relativity and formulated the equation of E=mc². The world is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Einstein's "Miracle Year". In memory of the world's greatest physicist, Taipei 101 is holding a lighting ceremony by forming the famous equation using lights of the rooms.
My brother-in-law introduced me to one of his friends who is an avid cyclist this pass weekend. We met with his riding group at the top of a hill near Taipei. I was surprised to see the number of cyclists participating this sport. I am considering to ship my bike here if I can't find a suitable one here.
Somehow I had an eye infection that caused my eyes to itch like crazy. Got some eye drops from the doctor yesterday. Its all fine now.

Somehow my body does not feel the effects of jet lag until the 4th or 5th day. Once it kicks in, it will remain for a week or two. I will be dead tired at around 6:00 PM then wide awake in the middle of the night. Last night was one of those nights. I woke up at around 3:00, and just can't get back to sleep again.
The morning temperature in Taipei stays at around low 60's for the pass few days making my morning run a little bit chilly. It did not discourage many people from coming to the park to exercise. Maybe its because of the jet lag, I am not getting enough rest to have energy for the workout. I have a hard time to finish a normally easy 3 mile run.
I posted few photos I took while visiting Colorado on Pbase, check it out . They were from the Arches National Park and Colorado National Monuments. I processed the photos in Photoshop. I just love this digital photography. No more buying films and no more messing with chemicals. Die hard film fans argue that digital is not photography. To me, it is just another art form. It stands by itself, has nothing to do with film.
Have you tried the Tiny URL ? an online free service that converts a long URL to a small/short URL at a click of the mouse. Its pretty good.

Arrived Taipei on the evening of 4/9. It never seems to fail that my luggages were always the last to come out of the chute. I was a bit of surprised to be greeted by a humid and warm air temperature. Jenny told me that the day time temperature was near 85 degree. It was good to see Jenny and the gang at the airport.
News from Colorado : The patio cover Mike and I built last Summer was totally destroyed by a gust of wind. The wind lifted the entire cover off the supporting structure and dumped it in the parking lot next door. Turned a work of art into twisting wreck. Tragedy !!
The above photo was taken in a cold, beautiful morning. The snow was still covered the Garfield Mountain in the background. It casts a perfect reflection on the pond in front of Mike's home.
I resumed my morning run the first time in few weeks today. That familiar one mile loop seemed so much longer.

A month and a half flew by rather fast if you ask me. Best part of the trip is to see and hang out with all my friends, I really miss you guys. Another reason is that while I am here, my sister and her family can take a vacation, leave me with Lucky (their dog) and the house. I also spent a week in Colorado visiting Mike, Bruce and their families. Bruce has been working on his recent purchased health club in Redlands. Its coming a long way since I first saw the place. The club looks very professional now. They are scheduled to open for the season in a month or so. I wish him luck. Mike, on the other hand, is still trying to get me to buy some properties there ;)
There was the annual Wildflower Tri practice weekend with SVTC in Lake San Antonio. I got to meet my tri buddies. I was a little disappointed that I did not see some of the old timers of the club. They were competing at other events that weekend, I was told.
Maya, the daughter of Grant and Christy, has grown so much in 4 months. I can see that she has inherent a lot of the athletic talents from her parents. She will be a star someday.
I am flying out of SFO tomorrow. I have loads of photos to process when I get back to Taiwan. This will keep me busy for awhile. And hopefully I will have an exhibit coming in September.
Good luck to you all, be careful out there.