  Day 14 Currently back in Hsin-Chu but heading back to Taipei this evening. This has been a whirlwind trip so far with me having to be in multiple places at the same time, obviously impossible but still not acceptable to the Customers here. It is proving difficult to mamage but Im getting there. Thursday - had urgent meeting in Hsin-Chu so had to leave Taipei, early morning and take a taxi to hsin-chu.
Had a couple of meetings with Powerchip to address some RF generator issues and then returned to Taipei late in the evening. Ate dinner with Kary at the Brass Monkey (Ladies Night) and just like before, the place was packed with girls from Taipei taking advantage of the free cocktails [some minus the tails if you know what I mean] Friday - had to go to Tainan to make a presentation on Ceramic Electrostatic Chucks to UMC. The new Module manager is very knowledgeable and asked many valid questions. I am typically happy when a Customer knows what he is talking about and doesn't just waste my time by asking bullshit questions for the sake of trying to catch me out.
This time, I flew on Trans Asia Airways and the flight was somewhat better than my last experience on Far Eastern Airlines. Only downside was the return ticket I purchased was usless for my return. All flights back to Taipei were fully booked however when the Airline sales clerk noticed I was getting ready to freak out, she somehow managed to bump someone on the next flight and get me on.
Back to Taipei around 7.30pm. Ate dinner at a small curry house in the middle of downtown followed up with a couple of beers at a bar called My Other Place. Saturday - Taiwan is in turmoil just now due to the political chaos following the very close election. The KMT party & PFP party just lost the election to the DPP Party by a very close margin. Taipei had a huge display of public opinion a couple of weeks ago with more than 500,000 demonstrating near the Presidential Residence.
There was another rally planned for today, so I decided to check it out, this time around 200,000 were reported to have been there. I left around 5.00pm but I gather from the news, the peaceful rally turned a bit nasty later with maniacs trying to rush the barricades around the heavily guarded Presidential Residence. All hell broke loose with water cannons being fired on the protestors and the police took multiple injuries due to rocks and bottles being thrown. From what I can gather, the majority of folks here just want the country to return to normal and most have accepted the result.
The KMT & PFP parties seem to be unwilling to accept the result and move on. President Chen may actually increase his support due to the constant complaining and unwillingness of the loosers to accept the result. Saturday Evening - went to visit John & Chuimin (Kary's friends from The US who were visiting Chuimin's family after the birth of their daughter Michelle). The house was full of Chuimin's family and former classmates from college. Everyone was fussing over the poor baby who was confused about all the fuss and spent most of the time crying.
We eventually went out to the Shannon for a couple of pints until the new parents headed home, we on the other hand grabbed some cheap food and headed off to Roxy Vibe, a small club that stays open until about 4 or 5am. We only lasted until about 2.00 and headed back to the hotel. Sunday - I had to check out of the hotel and get back to Hsin-Chu for some wrap up meetings on Monday but before taking the bus back to Hsin-Chu, I went to Hsintien with Kary on the MRT. It is a small place on the outskirts of Taipei that has a lake, a feeble bridge that feels like it will collapse at any minute and many coffee houses along the edge of the lake.
I have been out in one of the boats before but this time the water smelled particularly pungent so I stuck to my guns and convinced Kary to just grab a relaxing coffee and then head back to Taipei. Tokk the bus trip back down to Hsin-Chu and used the last remaining hours of Sunday evening to demolish a pizza and catch up on some e-mails. Monday [Today] - I need to close out some meetings and issues before I head back to Taipei tonight. I will spend the rest of the time at Inotera before heading back to the USA on Thursday evening...... Back to work 
