Given how retarded i am when it comes to arts and crafts; I was not looking forward to Halloween and everything that it entailed! However, during my two hour break today I decided to try and get all the crafts finished in preparation for the 'obstacle course' on Friday. Here is the result of my efforts. Not bad for me!

US Elections

Taiwan protesters condemn China

Tens of thousands of pro-independence Taiwanese have demonstrated against China, accusing President Ma Ying-jeou of failing to stand up to Beijing. The opposition marchers in Taipei highlighted a recent scare over dairy products in China, and accused Taiwan's government of playing down the issue. Relations between China and Taiwan have improved dramatically since Mr Ma came to power in May promising closer ties. The previous Taiwanese government, led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP), had antagonised Beijing with its pro-independence agenda.

During Saturday's march, organised by the DPP, protesters shouted such slogans as: "Opposing toxic products, defending sovereignty." At least three babies have died in China's tainted milk powder scandal and many more have been taken ill. Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, also of the DPP, joined the marchers and was cheered by the crowd. The demonstration comes nine days before a planned visit by Chen Yunlin, Beijing's top negotiator on Taiwanese affairs.
The two sides are expected to discuss new direct flights and food safety.

The Astoria Closes

So many fond memories from this place. The first gay club I ever went to and the last one I went to the last time i was in London, and of course many other times inbetween. A vital part of my teenage years and early twenties.

Source: BBC News

It is one of the most famous music venues in London that has hosted acts including The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, U2 and Madonna. But the Astoria Theatre, in Charing Cross Road, will soon be knocked down for the city's £16bn Crossrail project. Despite a campaign to save it which attracted thousands of supporters, a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the building, along with 12 others nearby, has now been issued. They will make way for work on a huge extension of Tottenham Court Road station, which is a central part of the scheme to link Maidenhead in Berkshire and Shenfield in Essex, via Heathrow airport and central London. It's very worrying that the Astoria could be demolished without any guarantees of a proper replacement

It could mean the final curtain for the music venue as early as January next year.
Built in 1927, the Astoria was converted from an old warehouse. Originally a cinema, the venue could seat up to 2,000 people and films were shown there for nearly 50 years. In 1976 live theatre productions began to be staged at the Astoria. But it was in later years, when the building was transformed into a music venue, that it really found fame. And as well as gigs, it was the home of G-A-Y club nights for more than 15 years which attracted the likes of Madonna, Girls Aloud and Kylie Minogue.

Bryan Grimmer, who has worked on the Astoria's ticket desk for 16 years, said the venue's intimacy had made it popular with some of the world's biggest-selling music acts. "The 80s and 90s were probably its heyday," he said. "It's more than a 1,500 capacity but you're nice and close. It's not like Wembley where you can be at the other end and it's like looking at ants on the stage. "It will be a loss, it's the main central London gig venue.
"We've got a nice line-up between now and Christmas, but there's a possibility we could be coming down from January onwards." Mr Grimmer said a campaign to save the Astoria had begun several years ago, but added he did not think the building had a future.

Madonna is one of many famous artists to have performed at the Astoria
The Theatres Trust, which campaigns on behalf of arts venues across the UK, has raised concerns about the Astoria's demolition. Director Mhora Samuel said: "The Crossrail draft planning brief says there will be a replacement theatre. "But they intend to replace the 1,600-capacity Astoria with a much smaller 250-seat theatre. "The Theatres Trust strongly objects to this. As well as being a huge loss to the cultural vitality of London's West End, which drives its economy, it goes against Westminster's planning policy. "Given the slump in the property market and the subsequent hole in Crossrail finances, it's also very worrying that the Astoria could be demolished without any guarantees of a proper replacement." Developer Derwent London owns the site on which the Astoria is situated and plans to redevelop the area once the Crossrail project is completed. A spokesman said plans, for a mix of retail and housing, were at an early stage and still being drawn up. A Crossrail spokeswoman said any decision to replace the Astoria with a new venue would be up to Derwent, after the rail scheme's completion.

A Terrible Week

This week started off uneventful enough but events were soon to take a rather nasty turn for the worst. For lunch on Tuesday I had some fried rice with chicken and fish. For the remainder of the day I was feeling fine until the evening when I suddenly felt extremely lethargic. I just put it down to overdoing it as I hadn’t had a nap that afternoon and it was the first time back at the gym for a while. However, that night my stomach began to feel bad and by the morning I knew something was up. I had a splitting headache, my stomach was churning and I felt like I just ran a marathon. All I wanted to do was get back into bed. However, I decided to brave work that morning. I was slow to say the least and it was a bit of a struggle but I managed it nonetheless. I headed home for lunch and slept the whole afternoon. When I woke up I felt worse than ever but still decided to head into work as the afternoon was going to be quite easy. On the way to work I threw up and the remainder of the day was a living hell, with hindsight I should have stayed at home but I made it anyhow. The next day the diarrhea hit me too. That was it, no school today, I phoned in sick and spent the entire day sleeping with intermittent visits to the bathroom, which was a hassle in itself. On Friday I was not feeling on top form but went to work anyway. Unfortunately, the symptoms continued right through the weekend too. Today was the first day I actually felt like eating again.

On top of this, I woke up on Saturday morning with a swollen upper lip that would have put Jackie Stallone to shame! It was hideous; I presume it was an allergic reaction to something I ate but have no idea what I could have been as I had eaten nothing out of the ordinary the past day. Luckily the swelling began to go down as the day passed but it was still noticeable until the next day. So this weekend was just one of recovering, my body seemed to have given up on me this week, I hope I am back to normal next week.

National Breat Cancer Pink Ribbon 101

Unusual to see 101 doused in pink for an entire week

Double 10 sunset

The sunset on Friday proved to be one of the most stunning I've seen for a long time. It seemed to have everything. An impending storm raging in from the East. To the West the sun was setting over clear blue skies which was illuminating the white clouds nearby with flickers of pink and purple. To the North the moon could be clearly seen teasing us with its intermittent presence through the alto cumulus clouds. To top it off there was a rainbow too. Here is a picture from that memorable sunset upon Jack and Noah's roof relaxing with some beers.

Double 10

Last weekend was Taiwan’s National Day, more commonly known as Double 10. More importantly that meant a long weekend! The whole weekend was spent mostly relaxing. On Friday we got up late and went for lunch at a Dim Sum place then we went to Noah’s and spent the rest of the early afternoon and evening drinking the day away. It was a great relaxing day and people slowly began turning up at Jacks and Noah’s and it turned into the usual mini house party. Hamish and Steve also came to Taipei to spend the long weekend away from Taichung. It was good to see them again, especially Hamish as I haven’t seen him for such a long time. They left early to head to ShiLin to catch a light show while George and I stayed at Noah’s. Unfortunately the effect of all day drinking consistently began to take its toll and we decided to call it a night relatively early, about 1 or 2. We headed back home where Steve crashed. Meanwhile the rest of us hung out on the balcony until about 4 talking and drinking some more.

Saturday got off to an early start due to Steve’s persistent cough waking us all up at about 10. George headed off to pick up some tickets for the upcoming film festival and the rest of us went to Carnegie’s for a great lunch and some shopping a the bookstores near 101. By the time we finished that it was early evening so we all met up at Alleycats for dinner. Then it was off to Brass Monkey where we met Erin and some of her friends. The drinks there were great and we slowly began to get a little drunk and we got persuaded to go to vibe. We arrived there at about 1:30 and it was basically empty. We had the entire dance floor to ourselves and the music was quite good for a while. We finally left at about 4:30, had breakfast and crashed at about 6. Sunday was spent mostly recovering from the excessive drinking of the past two days. I still never managed to get a Taiwanese flag, next year for sure!!

US Elections

There is always a certain sense of rivalry and competitiveness in the run up to elections but America seems to take it a step further as this Republican rally suggests. The Republicans are by no means alone in this barrage of attacks.

George'sBirthday

After work on Friday I headed home to commence George’s birthday celebration weekend. Getting home about7:30 we decided that we would kick off with dinner. I was in the mood to celebrate too as I had just got paid. So we headed to TGI’s. Afterwards we headed to Jack’s and Noah’s for some preliminary drinks before KTV. At about 11 we headed to KTV and all the others joined later. A great time was had by all, no doubt fuelled by the alcohol! Photos from the evening can be found in my photo album.

Saturday got off to a slow start, or shall I say a late start. We didn’t get up until the early afternoon then laid around generally being lazy. Then I decided it was time for the gym as I hadn’t been in ages. George headed back home and I went to the gym. Afterwards I decided to get a haircut but not before heading to the Apple store to buy a new iPod nano for my baby as his birthday present. Then I picked up George and we headed to Xander’s for a home cooked Thai meal. The food was great and the company was good. The alcohol wasn’t bad either! Then we headed to Dalida to celebrate George’s birthday. Slowly but surely, people began turning up. Everyone seemed to have a good time chatting and getting drunk. Finally, at about 3, George, Richard and I headed to Carnegie’s to continue the party. Although the music was a little too hip-hop based for my liking, we had a great time. It’s not about where you go but who you go with! Unfortunately I managed to pass out over breakfast at NY Bagel due to exhaustion. Finally we got home at about 7.

Sunday was a rather slow day and George and I just hang out for most of the day until the evening when we went over Noah’s. Jack bought some pizza and Lester joined us for a couple of movies. They were interesting to say the least, not necessarily in a good way. Let’s just say Noah should not be in charge of renting the next DVD night!

Monday was George’s actual birthday and to celebrate we headed to Dan Ryan’s where we had a great dinner and an awesome cheesecake. So overall, it looks like Georgie had a good birthday and I was glad to celebrate it with him. Here are to many more!