cccxxxiv) I C U.

Vroom bluddy vroom.

cclxx) Withdrawal Symptoms.

Getting cranky, dizzy, sweaty hands, unfocussed.

I need to drive something. Quick.

cxvi) Wassaaaaaaaaaaaaap.

Man these delivery trucks are way cooler than ours.

cxiv) Speedy Jams

Bobby Bobby wouldn't have accepted this.

xxxii) Wouldn't Have Been The Same Without You.

Forever fascinated with the phenomena of the Motorway Buddy; when you're storming along down the motorway and you come across another car where you just know, is of a similar mindset:

You speed up, they speed up, you slow down, they slow down, sometimes you lead, sometimes they lead. An unspoken bond, formed within a few miles, unshakeable for a few hundred. And when your routes finally diverge, you pull up alongside, a nod of understanding and we go our separate ways. It's a beautiful thing.

#353: μ ≈ 0.5

In the past three days in the middle of the coldest and harshest winter Britain has known for the past 30years, I've driven a total of 627.2miles.

That's four trips to the airport and two trips between London and Ipswich.

In a car with a busted traction control.

Some tips for driving on ice:
- Look at where you want your car to be, not where your car is heading.
- Brake early, much earlier than you might expect. However early you might think that might be, brake earlier than that.
- Never, ever assume that the other drivers on the road are in complete control of their own cars.
- Above all, keep everything smooth and progressive. Absolutely No. Sudden. Movements.

It's brilliant! I'm loving it! \(^.^)/

#349: Des Driver.

So my dad leaves for America this Saturday, Terminal 3.

My marshmallow arrives next Tuesday, Terminal 5.

My cousins girlfriend arrives next Wednesday, Terminal 3.

My aunt, uncle and pretty much entire family leaves next Thursday, Terminal 3.

My sister arrives later that same day, Terminal 4.

My dad comes back from America the week after that, Terminal 3.

This is probably the most times I've ever been to an airport in one week without actually going anywhere. (O_o)

#346: Beep Beep.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this.

When driving on the motorway, I'll sometimes come across a car that's doing the same pace I am - and we end up cruising past the masses together.

Occasionally they'll take the lead, occasionally I'll take the lead.

We'll dance around the lanes together, warn each other of impending danger, but whare we're really doing is giving each other a respite from the monotony of long-distance driving.

Motorway buddies, I think it's called.

It's a beautiful thing, to be able to form an unspoken and unseen connection at 95 70mph and yet have total understanding for that stretch of road.

And then all it takes is a junction...

And they're gone.

#207: A Change Of Topic Is Needed.

My left hand is relishing in the clunk clunk...

Oh my GAWWWWWWWWWWWWWDDDDDDD it's so good to be driving something with a proper manual gearbox!!!!!!!!!

Even if it is a spongey diesel people carrier. (^_^)b

#175: Bodies In Motion.

For some reason I always find it a bit of a conversation killer when telling people that I wanna drive across America... "Just for the hell of it".

Apart from the Grand Canyon and dropping by family and friends I have Stateside - I'm not actually interested in going anywhere in particular. It's all about the drive.

It gets even worse when I then start going on about how there's nothing more important than finding a car with a preppy engine and a manual gearbox. It takes a very special kind of audience to understand this kind of motivation.

My earliest memories have always been about the journey.

I know my Dad took us on a whole bunch of family holidays when we were lil tykes - a friend's villa in France, my cousin's flat in Hong Kong, the Lake District, Disney World Florida... yet my clearest recollections have always been the moments in transit. Lying on the backseat of the car looking up at the sky go by in the Lake District, The Beatles' Hard Day's Night slowly making me carsick (to this day I can't listen to that track without feeling queasy). The kiddies meal tray on the Cathay flight to HK, in particular the section with the Wotsits crisps in the corner. Eating my first ever hash brown (McD's) in the back of our rental minivan in America.

Can't remember the foggiest about the things we did when we got to wherever we were going. But the things we did on the way there? Those are what sticks with me.

But very few people seem to understand the full breadth of the reasoning; "I'm just doing it for the drive."

I guess that makes me one of the special ones... =P

#158: Simple Pleasures For That Simple Soul.

There are two key ingredients that will make or break Argentina for me.
1. Whether I can get a preppy lil car with a manual-gearbox in decent condition.
2. Whether there will be corners that will allow me to get my Heel & Toe on.

Actually, that has never changed in all the countries I've been.

#93: Or A Wheelman, I Could Be A Wheelman.

I've decided, I wanna be something other than a teacher next year. Do they have cafes in South America? I actually loved being a barista when I was a student, the whole point of a the environment is to chill out.

Ideally though I wanna do something that puts me behind something on wheels, motorised, hopefully with a power-to-weight ratio greater than 125bhp/tonne. Not too fussy. I just know what I like.

A personal driver, hmm...

#75: The Blips.

You see the turn approaching fast, a tight, mid/low speed right hander.

Coming in on the outside, your foot hard on the accelerator up until the very last moment. You move to the middle pedal in an instant and step down firm. ABS on the very brink of clicking in, the foot shifts over to the right, right edge of the sole just covering the left edge of the accelerator.

Your left foot covers the clutch the entire time. Left hand moves from steering wheel to gearstick.

Ball of right foot still on brake pedal and never changing pressure, you tilt the foot sideways, making contact with the accelerator pedal.

At the exact same time, the left foot goes down on the clutch.

The shaft disengages. Left hand shifts down into third gear. Accelerator pedal goes down just enough to bring back lost revs. Left foot goes back up. Everything meshes, there is no judder. Third gear engaged.

Still on the brakes, you repeat once more to enter second gear.

All of the above occurs within a second, covering a distance of less than ten metres travelled. As soon as second gear is engaged, your foot moves off the brake and onto the accelerator. Only then do you make the turn into the bend. The engine never leaves the power-band.

Everything is progressive, smooth. There is no stamping or yanking. Turns are fluid, pedal action is firm but gradual. Full throttle is only engaged after you clip the apex, you're back in third gear before the exit of the turn. Fourth gear comes less than three seconds later.

---

I've made a post like this before... almost exactly like this.

But I passed two Lupo GTi's today and Goddamn! It made me pang for my old car once more... (><)

#46: Gripping Limits

When riding the mountain roads of Taiwan, there are now two constant thoughts that interplay in my mind:

(i) I wonder if this would be more or less fun than if I was in a car...
(ii) Let's find out just how fast I dare take this next corner...

Then I realise, it's horses for courses. In the rain, in the hairpins, in the mid-speed turns, in the forest routes I'd take the car. In the sweeps, in the sun, in traffic, in the cliff-side passes I'd take the bike.

Soup or salad? Both! Always order both!

#33: You Make It What It Is.

The pump attendant at the petrol station missed the mark today, twice. I'd never seen that before, this dude with the bad orange/red dye job had just one job to do - and he failed, twice. I used to play a little game with myself back when I still had a car - I used to keep my hand on the pump and try to release the lever right on the £20:00 mark, if I'd miss I'd go for the next 10p, and then the next, and then the next...

Anything to not have to deal with loose pennies in the pocket.

Either way, the perfectionist in me hates half-arsing jobs. If you're gonna do anything worth doing - then do it right. A job that makes you money is always something worth doing, even if it is the most mundane job. At Starbucks I tried to make sure every coffee I made look good, to the point where customers would come back and specifically request me to make their cappuccinos. I took great pride in that.

Lazy to the point of total apathy, yet fastidiousness to the point of utter myopia. You see how my train of thought works?

#16: Any Excuse Really.

I've noticed that when I ride around town with the flow, keeping speed with the rest of traffic, being the good responsible road user that I am - there seems to be a lot more close calls happening around me. More cars will pull out suddenly, taxi's will cut across lanes, I'll find myself rubbing handlebars with the bikes next door, jostling for position.

This doesn't happen when I ride at my usual pace - still good and responsible, just a bit quicker, a bit more alert, a bit more ahead of the pack, getting the lines around the buses, making use of the alleys and pavements around the lights. You're never in one place long enough for an accident to happen. All the times I've ever fallen off my bike happened at low speeds after all...

Moral of the story? Erm, the only one I have for now is:
Slow = Stressful and Dangerous. Quick = A Much Better Wakeup Buzz Than Coffee.

Ahh, such a great role model. =)

On This Day...

...exactly two years ago I had officially left my position in Japan and was preparing for what would become the most eventfully random coupla months in my life...

In contrast in the same temporal point in Tokyo where I was planning my exit strategy... in Taipei I'm still very much contemplating signing on to stay just. one. more. year... (heh!)

10 mini-observations:

1. Japan has massaging toilets. You just can't argue with massaging toilets.
2. Taipei has spontaneity, oh my days does it have spontaneity.
3. Japan has snow. And snowboarding, oh my days do I miss the snowboarding.
4. Taipei has the most ridiculously welcomingly open event calendar ever.
5. Japan drives on the correct side of the road, and some damn fine roads they are too.
6. Taipei has an efficient transport system that doesn't cost you half your salary to use.
7. Japan has Akihabara.
8. Taipei is in a country where literally any part of itself is just a weekend trip away.
9. Japan has cars, real cars with real gearboxes.
10. Taipei has real people with real emotions.


...and I've still got Korea to get through yet... =)

Bragging Rights

Almost exactly a year after I bought and taught myself to ride my very first scooter, I finally went to the Licensing Centre in Shilin to take the actual test and get myself one of them licence thingies. I'm still tearing around the streets of Taipei same as before, only now I'm legally tearing around the streets of Taipei. w00t!

When the police stops me and asks for my licence I don't have to pull the "Sorry, I don't speak Chinese." card and hope for the best anymore... now I can say "Sorry, I don't speak Chinese." and whip out my lil photocard and shove it in their faces... hah! Though I might sometimes still pull out my Japanese licence for them, the reactions of the police wondering what to do with the English-speaking-Chinese-looking foreigner riding around with a Japanese drivers licence are pretty amusing. You'd be surprised at how many times I've gotten away with it... *angelic look of innocence*

While at the testing centre I also took the car licence test. I now hold three valid drivers licences for three different countries and in three different languages... I should start a collection or something.

Something to note about practical driving/riding tests in Taipei:

• It was my first time ever in a Left Hand Drive manual transmission car, I've driven LHD cars before, but never a manual one.


• When I got in I went through all the usual checks, made the movement to take the handbrake off and then drove fwd 10 metres and noticed the handbrake was still on. Coz the steering wheel is on the wrong bloody side and I went to take the handbrake off with my left hand. Whoops.


• The testing guy got out to have a cigarette while I was making my maneuvers, I think he was bored.


• Once you start a particular maneuver you're not allowed to correct yourself even if you tell the man you can see its gonna be off, you're not even allowed to stop.


• I made the shoddiest parallel park ever coz of this.


• I kept trying to change gears with my left hand. Coz thats where the gear lever is supposed to be dammit.


• By the time we got to the hill start section I'd befriended the testing guy. When chatting to somebody who doesn't speak much English I use a lot of gestures... so much so that afterwards I realised I'd actually done the hill start with both hands off the wheel.


• By the end of the test I had started with the handbrake on, knowingly messed up my reverse park by 1cm, made the aforementioned apalling parallel park, had fun with the S-roads and clutch control, went up to 4th gear within 100m when you're only supposed to go up to 3rd, performed a no-handed hill start and coasted to a stop without using the brake.


• Afterwards the guy said "You can drive. You pass." =D


• The motorcycle test took 30 seconds; stay on a skinny section for at least 7seconds, go round a bend, stop, stop, stop, finish.

I feel another roadtrip coming on...
I know for a fact Taiwan has some pretty awesome-pactular mountain roads... Ken Gor! ;)

Like An Elephant In A Monkey Costume.

When I was briefly back in England, I found that I was driving like how I ride.

Now that I'm back in Taipei, for some reason I'm riding like how I drive.

(O_o)

Initial D Impulses...

You read an article about some cool new Japanese attraction one day, and the next day you're actually there... its nice to be able to actually do that. (^_^)

Plus it was quite funny watching the white boy get given a free pack of jumbo prawn crackers for apparently no other reason than sitting by the crane machine and looking forlorn while waiting for us to satisfy our driving gaga's.

'Twas a good day had by all then! (^_^)v

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40813&l=c188b&id=539715383