2003-09-26 8:20PM
I missed most of the show today, because the last day of a trade show isn’t always pretty. Friday at Computex is “general public day”, where anybody can get into the convention center. Mike refers to it as “end luser day”, but I prefer the term “free pen day” because most attendees are only ay the show for the giveaways.
The only advantage to “free pen day” is that some show vendors are eager to sell their display items at a discount, just so they aren’t bothered with the problem of shipping them back to the office. I managed to buy a Hiyatek Smart Panel thermal controller for 540 NT (about $16), so I can try to control the localized global warming event that is my video editing computer. Some of the cases were tempting, but I need room in my luggage for other purchases.
It’s about 8:20PM and I’m still in the Taipei office. Bird, one of the office managers and my self-appointed local caretaker, is on the phone finding a friend to take me to the museum tomorrow morning. I am on-line, killing time until 9:00 when I call back to the Atlanta office. Once that call is done, I can head back to the hotel and do some laundry … sweatpants and an Intel t-shirt doesn’t seem like the proper attire for Taipei on Saturday.
I’ve been back from dinner for about 25 minutes. I went to a vegetarian buffet. Jackie, one of the local sales managers, wanted to take Shankar (our CEO) and Sanjoy (engineering VP) to dinner before they fly back to the US. I figure I’m safe sticking with the CEO at dinner, since Jackie doesn’t want any harm to come to him.
Shankar is a strict vegetarian, so we headed a buffet at a local hotel. It’s one of those vegetarian restaurants that makes dishes that “look like” and “taste like” their animal-unfriendly counterparts. There’s vegetarian sashimi, vegetarian beef tips, vegetarian sausages … even deserts with no eggs for the vegans. Shankar is okay with eggs, since nothing had to die to make that part of a complete breakfast. I’m okay with the food since it’s well prepared (yes, even the bean curd that masqueraded as beef tips was tasty in a not-beef sort of way).
I’ve never understood the concept of vegetarian foods that try to taste like meat. I know many try to convert meat-eaters to a vegetarian diet using meat-like products, but they never seem to work out right. Besides, why should I believe a vegetarian when they say that their latest soybean creation tastes like meat when they haven’t tasted a hamburger since they converted to a herbivore lifestyle after a bad acid trip that made them think they would come back as a Angus Steer in the next life unless they got right with their cosmic caretaker.
I’ll have plenty of chances to resupply my body with animal-based proteins over the weekend. I’m not sure what Bird is planning for me, but I hope to have a good time being away from home.
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