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BrysonMC
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Name: Mat
Country: Taiwan
Metro: Taipei
Birthday: 10/12/1974
Gender: Male
Expertise: Changing in phone booths, outrunning locomotives and once in a while I like to jump over a few builings... you know, just to keep in shape.
Occupation: Education/training
Industry: Entertainment
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
9/23/2002
 Lifetime
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"Some Mornings It Just Doesn't Seem Worth it to Gnaw Through the Leather Straps."- Emo Phillips
"For a Long Time Now I Have Tried to Write the Best I Can. Sometimes I Have Good Luck and Write Better Than I Can."- Ernest Hemingway
"Nothing Worth Having Comes Without Some Kind of Fight. You've Got To Kick at the Darkness Till it Bleeds Daylight."- Bruce Cockburn
"Don't Worry About the World Coing to an End Toady. It's Already Tomorrow in Australia."- Charles M. Shultz
All writing on this site, unless stated otherwise is written by and the copyrighted property of Mat Thompson. Please do not reprint any of my material without my consent.
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Off, to the Great White North...
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I went to see a doctor last night so I could get some drugs to kill this cold that is coming on so I don't die on the plane ride home on Friday. I've been to him before, so I knew he'd give me what I need. When he found out I was getting on a plane this Friday he said he would make the dosage a little higher to really kill it off. What he failed to mention was that not only would the drugs completely kick my ass, but also put me to sleep... FOREVER!
I woke up this morning at ten minutes to eleven. Not a bad time to get up, unless your kindergarten class starts at nine am sharp!
This is one of those moments where I really hope they understood what I was saying when I called them. Sometimes things get lost in translation around here, but this time I'm gonna make sure I bring the drugs with me to work to show them tomorrow... that is if I wake up!
   Less than 60 hours to go! Still feels weird... | | |
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Longan and Jujube Fruit Tea...
 The view from the teahouse (Pacific Coast)...  The boys and their tea...  Domo with his iced lingmon (like a lemon/orange mix) tea and peanuts...  They drank my tea, ate my peanuts and kept following me everywhere I went... 
Another one of those great weekends.
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I stopped eating Subway almost three year ago when they not only raised their prices but they also cut out the Sub Club stickers. I'm good at holding a grudge and this was enough for me to stop.
I used to eat it almost every day since it was right down the street from my Beer Store and I could easily get a sub for lunch and have enough time to eat it. for a long time, after I lost all that weight (not like Jarred did... but I still did), I was into their spinach chicken salads. I ate them all the time and still got monster stamps for them. Then they cut out the spinach and just gave you the same salad, but with the crappy sub lettuce instead. I was mad, but still went in since they started toasting their subs (finally!).
I did start eating at a Lebanese food restaurant next door a lot of the time since I loved the Chicken Schwarma and Falafals, but I still held on to my enjoyment of Subway since working five, six, sometimes seven days a week, I quickly got enough stamps for free subs. I was smart too. I would save them up for about a month, then at the beginning of the month I would get free lunch for almost a week sometimes (depending on if I wanted free six or twelve inch subs). Plus, I would buy cheaper subs during the month and then get the special ones for free. Maybe it was a little bit of taking advantage, but I felt like they were treating me well as a customer with the extras they gave me (and their cookies rocked).
Then the news came... I had a few weeks to use up my stamps and then they were done. So, I went in and bought a sub to even out my last card and the prices were higher. I asked why (on both accounts) and they gave me these crappy excuses. Maybe not so crappy, but I don't care. Higher prices, my favorite product not available and no regular customer appreciation bonus... I was gone.
My last sub was a Southwest Steak and Cheese with extra sauce and a lot (and I do mean a lot) of black olives (a bad addiction to say the least). And from that point on, I never set foot in a Subway again. There was one in Saint Thomas, down the road from my new Beer Store, but I never went. And then, I left the country. I left Canada and came to Taiwan. It was pretty easy here. There were Subways, but few and far between, plus the food here is fantastic. So much to try and I swore I would never get into the habit of eating western food like other foreigners. I eat like a Taiwanese person probably 99% of the time here. Sometimes I make a sandwich, but I like the food here.
But now...
There is a Subway down the road from my gym. When I was living downtown, it was easy... food available from stands and alleyways 24-7. In Xindian, it's harder. After 10pm, it's tough, and after 11... there isn't much to chose from except for maybe three stands in the area, and two serve the same thing. It's tough when you are really hungry and crappier food from a convenience store or something just won't do it. I'm running an hour a night at the gym now (four or five nights a week) plus weights, plus swimming. I am not just hungry, but I could easily eat some of the smaller Asian girls I see when I leave the gym. So... I broke down and went to Subway the other day.
They have the stamps here, but even better, they have 69nt subs each day. That's about $2.25 CAN for a six inch sub which is a nice little meal after working out. I know I could eat a twelve, but I like to keep it down and not get into that habit. I can always get some Taiwanese food to go with it like I did last night... a honey mustard ham sub and some blood cake, bean curd and intestine BBQ. not bad since it still cost me around $3 CAN to eat.
I feel bad being in a foreign country and going to Subway when there is so much out there, but it's fast, convenient, close to home and the gym and the price is better than some of the stuff I used to eat downtown. I guess I'm just trying to convince myself that I haven't really gone back on my word. I still don't eat fast food after almost five years, never drink any soda (other than the rare Root Beer or Creme Soda if I can find it), coffee or even alcohol anymore, and I will not eat at places like TGI Friday's here. I think this is okay... Subway is doable.
I may get sick of eating it after a while anyway and find something new after the gym. Plus, I doubt I will want Subway after coming back from Canada at the end of the month. I'll be so sick of western food that I will stick to my stands for a while. Plus, I'm not eating Subway while in Canada. I'll hold to my guns in that country. But here... I just have to say, damn you Subway. You got me back...
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Back to one of my favorite places in Taiwan about a month back... Jioufen. This time we rode the motorcycle there and hit the coast for the day...
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