I'm not too sure about the new header and background on this blog, but I hope it makes it a little jazzier. The old header looked a little tired to my eyes, but this new one gives it almost too much zing! I thought it was appropriate as we are always skipping on and off the subway: I'll sit with it for a while and see how it settles.
I've touched on this topic before on these pages, but I want to return to the internet, and internet speed, as a topic. In Australia, I was intrigued to see the latest plan unveiled by the opposition and how they still want to use the copper network to transport from the fibre on street corners. The savings are enormous, but perhaps a little short-sighted in view of the first picture above. If you want to take a moment to check, go to this site (Speedtest) and press the button marked "Begin Test". After that, come back and compare that speed with the photo I posted above.
I took this speed test in the middle of the day while the school was fully operational and lots of bandwidth was being used, so it is actually sometimes a lot quicker than this. I can upgrade our home speeds to this or above for some extra cost, but the speed we currently have is more than adequate. For example, we can download an episode of American Idol (two hour show), in about 3 minutes and stream live sport in high definition with no buffering or lagging.
To future proof internet use in Australia, I reckon they should be going for the biggest and best right now. The national broadband network in Australia, as proposed by the current government and not earmarked for completion for a decade or more, is already matched by top speeds in Taiwan: what will it and other Asian countries be doing in a decade? It's a frightening thought and there is a real possibility of Australia still bickering and playing political point scoring while the rest of the world leaves them for dust. I don't care what scheme is implemented, but get something quality happening right now!!
Phew! Off my soap box now and on to the usual minutia. We booked tickets for Ironman 3 this weekend and I scootered over early to pick them up. Even the internet booking line was 30 deep! The general populace just loves these 3D special effects action movies: it was pandemonium. When we eventually went back for the movie, the crowd had grown exponentially and when we exited in the mid-afternoon, it was shoulder to shoulder in the lobby and the crowd was being funneled through the airport style barricades like a snake through a maze. The movie wasn't bad: a bit of fluff with lots of special effects, but didn't take itself too seriously, which is refreshing.
Afterwards we travelled over to the twin Mistukoshi building and up via the glass scenic elevator to Thai Town. Once bitten, twice shy in regards to our fried fish, we elected this time to go back to the gorgeous fresh steamed seabass, which arrives gently simmering in lemony juices and sliced just off the bone structure. I find it vaguely disconcerting that the eyes look like all-day-suckers that have been slurped for an hour, have turned white and are just about to be bitten into little crunchy bits, but apart from that, the meal was superb! The spicy eggplant was nearly as mouthwatering...
I'm finding out even more about myself as I continue to read "Quiet" by Susan Cain and I'm going to mention it in a presentation to parents on Wednesday afternoon. I'm going to teach them that it's alright for their kid to be quiet and introverted but they need to learn a few tactics in order to survive in a big, bad, extrovert world such as this American super school! Cass is reading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (a sci-fi view of a world based on colour hierarchy, not the "mummy porn"!)
Photos: speedtest, Virgy being cute, the temple round the corner dolled up for an event (a rare sight), Thai Town fish eyes, and a sign of yet another peculiar Taipei habit....bringing pets to do the shopping!!