Tuesday, July 1, 2008

set two Guinness World Records and foudn an apt.

I found an apartment today! It is really nice, big, right near the MRT for only about 9,000 NT a month. It comes out to like 300 US. The room is huge, with two big windows, a queen size bed, and a big dresser. The rest of the apartment is clean and spacious with wood floors all around. The other two roommates are this New Zealand graphic designer who seems cool and this Taiwanese kid who doesn't speak much English but seems nice. The only drawback is I'm taking it over for this French girl, so the walls of my room are purple, but she said she painted it when she moved in and the landlord had no problem with it, so I'll paint it I think eventually. The only drawback was I had to leave a two month deposit, and pay for the month of July's rent...which was annoying and depleted a good amount of my savings, but I;ll get that two-month back when I move out so July I might just have to be cheaper than normal.....I'm excited, living in the hostels were cool, and it was good cause I got to meet a lot of people, but I'm looking forward to having my own room and some privacy. I move in on Saturday and it's in a pretty nice neighborhood.

After I found the apartment, I went with another kid from the hostel to the Taipei Arena, to...and this I think is so cool, help break TWO, that's right TWO Guinness World Records!! haha it was pretty random and cool. It turns out this woman who works in the hostel here also works for the Taiwan Tourism board, and as a promotion for Taiwan they were doing this crazy activity , that was only open to tourists. The idea was to get 1,000 tourists into the arena and set a record for the most people receiving a deep tissue foot massage at the same time! apparently these massages are famous in Taiwan.....it's called Reflexology...and it is a pretty intense massage. So we went to the arena and they gave us sandals, tshirts, other promotional stuff....we sit down and there are 1000 other people all over the floor of the arena and another 1000 masseuses. It was crazy....after some cool local drummers and opening ceremonies.....they started the count down at 40 minutes and started the massage on out feet.
They used oil and stuff and to be honest it really hurt a little. They worked the whole foot, the big toe (I didn't know it could even get massaged) the pinky, all over the calves, and the arc of the foot. It was funny they kept saying if it is too painful for you give a thumbs down and the masseuse would decrease the pain (they were only doing it half force but it was still fucking painful)...haha the best was this Japanese guy next to us was writhing in pain....it was hysterical...

after 20 minutes they switched to the right foot...I had injured this foot running not to long ago so I had to wuss out and ask him to go one notch lower...but the kid I was with decided to go for the full amount...he looked like he was in a lot of pain...so for the sake of my injured foot I'm glad I didn't go for it all...Anyway after an awesome 40 minutes of massage, it was time to break our second record......the most people playing "head, shoulders Knees and Toes" at one time....
All two-thousand of us stood up and played/sang the song in English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese haha it was really funny....we did that for five minutes and I guess it worked and the record was set. It was pretty cool got a certificate and everything. I don't think I'll be in the book, but still...not a bad story to tell my grandkids, or to tell at a bar for that matter....

I'm still working on posting pictures...they'll be up soon...

All the best,
Brian

2 comments:

Veronica said...

Hey! I am living vicariously through you! I love your adventures and how brave you are to simply "get lost" in a strange country! I love it and i give it to you cause I dont know that I could! lol....i'm glad that your finally getting your own apt and DAMMMM rent is cheap! And so is everything else $3-5 meals thats great! Do be so hard on yourself about missing special occasions here at home its only normal that that was going to happen and i'm sure your friends and family understand. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity so live it up as I know you are! Anyway i just wanted to send a quick hello from a board New Yorker who is sitting at work counting down the hours for an early escape (due to the holiday weekend they're letting us out early today)...i look forward to reading some more stories and please put some more pictures up!!! Stay safe! Happy 4th of July!

Brian said...

Thanks Veronica! It's so good to hear from you. I'm glad I can provide entertainment from a boring day at work. I tried to email you after you left that first comment but I forgot your FMEW email :(. Its really a tough challenge but knowing everyone back in NY is behind me makes it worth it. My email is brian.viani@gmail.com ...send me an email from you FMEW one so I have it. I start work on Monday so I will definitely need some advice on how to teach and discipline the little kids. Hope you have a great fourth of July! Have a beer or two for me!