Personal Dork Assistant

Familiar Stuff In Strange Places

The Bodum boutique next to the Zhongxiao Dunhua Starbucks was offering a closeout sales on kitchen-ware. Picked up a cast-iron skillet because cast-iron is just one of those things that should be bought close-to-home. Been meaning to get a mug for the office and I figured I'd just get one from the Hola home store nearby. However, when I looked at the different decorations amongst the close-out mugs I found one with the Peet's Coffee logo. Not sure how it got here since there's never been a hint of any Peet's opening in Asia, much less Taiwan. I'm a big fan, though, so I was more than happy to snap it up and now I've got myself an office mug.

Wandered up to the top floors of the Dunhua Sogo with the SO on a slow weekday evening and noticed the new boutique selling stuff from Florence's Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. I love the pre/post-shave cream and the SO liked the lemony hand cream, too. Given that the perfumery was founded to supply the Medicis, their stuff doesn't come cheap, even at the Florence mothership. And after the product has gone through the multiple middle-men on its way to Taiwan, the price on the Sogo shelf has ballooned to astronomically extortionate levels. Nevertheless, as we were sipping on the complementary herbal teas and slathering on creams from the tester jars, two ladies came in to chat with the saleslady. Obviously familiar customers, the sales lady brought out two prepared bags full of goodies for them. Us freeloaders skittered away at that point, thinking thoughts of another Florentine shopping trip sometime soon.

Went by my favorite record shop near the Taipei Main Station after a check-up at the eye-doc. They stock a good selection of Chinese, Japanese, and Western music, even some good indie stuff which saves mom the trouble of carrying CDs from the States on my behalf. Unfortunately one can't live by indies alone and even former indie darlings may move to the majors when the big-money comes calling. Been meaning to pick up Death Cab For Cutie's major-label debut but never quite got around to it. Turns out Warner Taiwan had a sale and Plans is on the list. So I grabbed it and a Muse album to see what that hype train is all about. Anyway, I can see how Death Cab may be a tough sell in Asia as what seems like a whimsical name in English becomes downright wacky when translated to Chinese. Say hello to 俏妞的死亡計程車!

Never really got into using a Bluetooth headset for the cell phone even though Sony-Ericsson phones have very good BT support. Mostly because most of the time when I'd use a headset, such as on the subway or the bus, I'd rather be listening to my iPod instead. With the Etys in, I can't really hear the phone ring, which has caused me to miss a few calls in the process. So I've been awaiting some sort of gadget which would let me pick up calls on the cell but still allow me to listen to the iPod with my favorite headphones.

Was walking home from the Taiwan Display and LED tradeshow and passed by the new Apple boutique in the NY-NY shopping center. They've copied the American Apple Store look, which is a perfectly good idea if they can sell enough to pay the freight at the high-rent location. Wasn't really planning on buying anything when I went in, but then I noticed the Bluringo headset amongst the iPod accessories. It hangs off the dock connector and provides an FM-stereo, works as an iPod remote control, and act as a Bluetooth microphone complete with caller ID. Couldn't quite believe an exact fit to my requirements actually existed, so I had to give it a try. Seems to work as advertised so far, although there is a catch, literally, as all the excess cords running everywhere is a bit unsightly, but I'll figure something out.