I’m a Proud Owner of a 2007 Yamaha C3 Scooter!

Over the last week, I’ve been tweeting my intentions to buy a scooter. Today, you’re looking at a proud owner of a 2007 Yamaha C3 Scooter. The C3 is also known as the VOX in Asia and the Giggle in Europe. With a massive 49cc’s of displacement, it’s probably weaker than a John Deere ride on mower.

Why a Scooter?

The motivation to buy one didn’t come from seeing scooters in Taipei. Far from it. Those people are crazy. It came from me realizing that I refilled my tank for $65.00 in my Subaru Impreza after coming back from Taipei. Gas was around $1.20/L when I left…then shot up to $1.49/L when I came back. The news the other night was also talking about the impact of a $3.00/L gas price with similar stories coming up from the US. As I filled my tank up, I remembered that I used to fill it for less than $50 less than a year ago. What a difference!

Because I work from home, I rarely have to drive anywhere to be honest. My only daily commute is to the depot to pick up parcels. Because of all the stop and go traffic I have to endure, I end up filling up once a week, or at least topping up every Monday for around $30 - 40 on average. Add to that I have to climb out of a hilly area, and my gas mileage is utter shit. To be honest, my only real need for a car is to come out to Richmond for Dot Com Pho because of the distance.

The Short List…

Because I didn’t have a Class 6 Motorcycle License, I was limited to the growing 50cc and under range of Scooters. In British Columbia, if you have a full blown Class 5 drivers license, you can buy a scooter and drive it without passing the Motorcycle test. Basically, you’re limited to regular road speeds which is about 50-60 km/h.

In this range, there are a number of Scooters available from names like VESPA, Yamaha and Honda, as well as Korean and Chinese brands. I decided to stick with either Honda or Yamaha and ditched VESPA because they tend to be extremely overpriced for the features that you get. However, try to tell that to a VESPA owner. Not to mention, I wanted somewhere to pull my Scooter to locally in case I had any issues and both Yamaha and Honda had service centers very close to where I live.

I narrowed my search to three scooters: Honda Ruckus, Yamaha BWS and Yamaha C3.

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Another Chinese Propaganda Video…

With the upcoming Olympics in Beijing this August 2008, or 08/08/08 for all you lucky Chinese out there, China has sent a series of viral videos to YouTube to discredit the athletic ability of the visiting countries. This latest video that was shot somewhere in the United States is targeted directly at the US Gymnastic Team…

Gold Medal pwnage right there….

Don’t forget that while you’re enjoying the Canada Day long weekend this weekend, to remember to enter my contest for a chance to win a BRAND NEW Apple iPod nano 4G player and of course the most highly sought after prize of all, FLIP FLAP! It is in my opinion that this holiday season, Flip Flap will be the NEXT Tickle Me Elmo and most importantly, Flip Flap is chocked full of WIN and EPIC. All the more reason to ENTER NOW!

Can You Figure Out Who The Star Is?

There’s a reason why Tommy Lee got Pamela…

I betcha anything, he’s doing the lead singer. The rest of the band doesn’t have a chance

What’s For Lunch Stephen?

I was out running errands today when I had the case of the munchies. I stopped by the Tim Hortons on my way home and went in for a bit of Take Out. I passed by a pretty epic line up for the drive thru which blocked up the entrance to the parking lot. I really don’t understand why people just don’t get out of their car and come in and order. It’s not like the place was that busy and it’s not like the parking lot is far away and full. No wonder people become fatties and no complaining about gas prices for you while you idle your SUV in the line up you idler!

Anyway, since I’m in the process of reviewing the Flip Mino, I thought I’d make my lunch part of the test. Posing for the camera is my Timmy’s large coffee, a chili bowl and whole wheat bun combo, and an apple fritter. Total cost was six measly dollars and because Tim Hortons coffee is laced with the highest possible amount of caffeine, I’m totally wired till sunrise.

I’m currently working on the Flip Mino review and hope to have it up on Futurelooks very shortly. Also, don’t forget that I’m still giving away a Flip Flap and one of those Apple iPod 4GB nanos in Silver. No, this one does NOT have Market Leverage engraved onto it so you can’t do anything else with it. What is up with that anyway? Branding my shizzle up and not letting me be Chinese and give it away? Anyway, if you want some free stuff, you better enter soon.

2008 Dot Com Taipei The Video!

It’s pretty clear that everyone in the Dot Com Crew that made it overseas had a wicked time in Taipei, Taiwan. We put up at ton of coverage of COMPUTEX 2008, ate out of toilets, dodged scooters but were eventually shut down by John Chow’s Evilness as he got us banned from Pho. Although there are still many videos to process and upload, I thought I’d give you guys a small teaser of what I’ve got in store. This video is a compilation of some clips that I put together to the tune of Weezer’s Pork and Beans single, a video that seems to celebrate Internet Stardom, even though the lyrics don’t seem to have anything to do with that.

The video features Ed Lau, Michael Kwan, John Chow with cameos from Jason of Techwarelabs (singing with John Chow). Enjoy!

No iPhones or Flip Flaps were harmed in the filming of this production. Speaking of which, don’t forget that I’m the only blog giving away Flip Flp…oh, and a “non Market Leverage Branded” iPod nano. What does that mean exactly? It means that I didn’t engrave my name and your name onto it so that you can’t sell it or give it away again. If you want in on this contest, click here for the details.