This person seems to have misunderstood the nature of graffiti.

A smiley face over Taoyuan!

Those aren’t stars in your eyes…
“Stellarium” is a useful, free program. Here it shows Venus and Jupiter.

Just one problem. It’s completely daft, and it doesn’t work.

As I understand it, Keynes’ idea of monetary stimulus involved government spending on projects in situations where consumers had stopped spending, in essence, becoming a forced spender of last resort. Handing out extra money to consumers, when they have started saving and paying down debt, is only going to make them save more or pay down debt more. A meaningless transfer from the public debt to private debt balance sheets, that has no short-term effect, and will be reversed years down the line, for no net gain overall.

Aha! But wait. There is a cunning plan. They’re going to give out ’spending coupons’ that you can’t save, so you’ll have to spend them.

The problem is that after about ten second’s thought, people will just substitute these coupons for ordinary money in their normal spending. Then, they will save or pay down debts with the money they saved.

There’s another cunning plan. Why don’t we give out ‘50% discount’ coupons - that way people HAVE to spend some money to get the government handout? Again, a moment’s thought makes it obvious that people will just use up the coupon in place of everyday spending, over twice as long a period. When it comes to adding unnecessary flourishes to a bad idea, you can always rely on academics and public officials. I am sure this weekend will be busy, as people work hard to re-arrange the deckchairs on the Titanic.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure a few people will get in the mood and go and pointlessly buy crap - after all, they’ve been doing it for the last 5 years with great enthusiasm, using borrowed money. But where is this money coming from? Ultimately, it’s coming from taxation, increased debt (which must ultimately be repaid through taxation) or from inflation (which is a form of taxation). So guess who’s paying for this mystery bonus? Either ‘future you’, or your children. And what could be better than stealing from the pockets of unborn generations? Isn’t that how society improves?

So, here’s my question. How does pointlessly buying crap fix a problem of overindebtedness, which is at the heart of the current difficulties? How does it fix the problem of overvalued assets (houses, particularly) which drove that excessive debt? How does it fix the problem of an export-driven economy when no-one is importing Taiwan’s stuff?

The answer is, it doesn’t solve the problem, or even come close. Actually, it makes it much worse. It pushes up public debt and price inflation at a time when people have not much money anyway. This drives up the short-term costs of debt, and increases future taxation.

Besides, Japan tried this years ago as a solution to recession in 1998 and surprise surprise, it didn’t work there either - even during the dotcom boom worldwide, Japan remained firmly stuck in recession as it handed out pointless spending coupons, while public debt ballooned. And did I mention that the JPY devalued completely, to record lows, over the decade that followed?

But, I guess it makes people feel good to ‘get money from the government’. Even though really, it’s just deferred taxation, and even though really, it does nothing but piss money up the wall, wasting the government’s ability to actually solve the problem later.

I mean think about it for a moment. The problem is that people have taken on something like 8 M NTD of debt, to buy houses that are worth perhaps 3-4 M NTD on a good day. We’re talking millions of dollars of unsustainable debt. And the government’s solution? Hand out 10,000 NTD to solve a 4,000,000 NTD shortfall per household? It’s like shouting into a hurricane.

Oh, and you know what annoys me most of all? This!

“At least one banker said the government should consider issuing a “tax reduction/rebate card” to all citizens if the Cabinet wants to see an immediate effect to encourage spending.”

So who will probably get these coupons? Voters, since this is a idiotic voter bribe as much as it is an idiotic effort to stimulate spending. But who will pay for these coupons? Taxpayers.

If, like me, you are not a Taiwanese citizen, I want you to think about the distinction between voter and taxpayer. It implies a forced transfer of cash from non-Taiwanese resident’s wallets to Taiwanese resident’s wallets. But I guess weiguoren probably deserve it because of their weiguo-ness and its apparently horrid effect on the Taiwanese economy.

In unrelated news. While ’supporting the price of shares’, the Taiwanese government has been busy buying shares at prices higher than their current level, as the market dropped. So… you, Joe Public, are now sitting on a gigantic stockmarket loss, thanks to the government. Gong xi!

- Opposition politicians being arrested and detained.

- Noticeable restrictions on public freedom of movement and expression.

- Protests are taking place but are being stopped by police.

- It has reached a stage where some taxi drivers are being questioned by police as they move around Taipei.

I am not Taiwanese, but I am concerned to see this happening. Of course, part of me says, ‘well, what did you expect when you voted for these guys? Didn’t you study Taiwan’s history?’.

Here are some articles with more information, from people who are better informed than I am:

Michael Turton’s roundup.
“Are Taiwanese Fed Up Yet?
“Is Taiwan becoming a police state?”
Students protest peacefully at “Freedom Square”. Police remove them. Students re-assemble.

Looking back in history, partly, it was pressure from the USA that lead to Taiwan moving away from a period of repression. Maybe America can exert some useful influence again.

My Taiwanese friends often find it very strange that I go outside to enjoy typhoon weather, wearing little more than jeans and a T-shirt. They have this impression that typhoons are very deadly and very scary.

I find this quite interesting. The typical typhoon I’ve seen since arriving in Taiwan is certainly far more pleasant than the kind of weather I would go outside to play in, as a child in the UK. Gusts of wind? No problem! Warm, comfortable rain? Excellent!

Compared with bitter, icy blizzards; or fierce, icy cold rain that leaves you frozen to the bone within a minute, it has seemed rather pleasant to walk around in a Taiwanese typhoon - providing you keep away from the scooter drivers who seem intent on falling off their bikes.

I find it strange in some ways when my Taiwanese friends become shocked that someone could enjoy a typhoon. They are even more shocked to learn that I find earthquakes quite exciting, as do most of my western friends. They often comment ‘but don’t you know that typhoons/earthquakes kill lots of people???’

Of course I know that. So what? The fact that people are killed by something does not necessarily make all experiences of it unenjoyable. Wouldn’t they have fun playing in snow, if they travelled Northwards to Japan, China, Europe, or Canada?

Yet snow is far, far more deadly than a warm, pleasant, 1-day typhoon. Typically in Taiwan, perhaps 0-100 people are killed or injured by a typhoon. Sometimes, these people are doing silly things, such as walking around by the sea front, driving scooters in strong winds, or getting drunk in the midst of bad weather.

Compare this with the UK, where the snow and cold weather kills 25,000 old people over the winter (December-March) - every single year! (Reference).

Or how about The United States? There, more people are killed by snow and frosty weather than by leukemia, murder and liver disease added together! Snowy, frosty weather kills around 1% of all Americans every year.

So this is why I find it so surprising that local people are almost offended that someone could enjoy their bad weather or geological events ‘when they kill people’.

Don’t they have fun with alcohol, despite it being involved in the deaths of 100,000 Americans every year? (never mind European, Russian, and mainland Chinese deaths…)

Wouldn’t they go on a ski-ing holiday, or have fun building their first snowman, despite knowing that the same weather is killing so many hundreds of thousands of people every year worldwide?

In any event, this evening’s typhoon turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The downpour was about as fierce as spending a few minutes standing under a warm bathroom shower, with a pocket fan blowing warm air in your face. My socks aren’t even wet :-(

She had a great time - all my friends were really nice to her, and helped me to show her some cool places. I saw a few new places myself, too..

Mum, Leila, Ethan, and their children, shopping in a giant mall in Zhongli.

Exploring Taoyuan city centre

Tasting shui jiao (dumplings) for the first time, near Taipei Main Station.

Taipei City Hall area.

Enjoying the view from Taipei 101.

Looking out across Taoyuan city.

Exploring ceramics at Inge with Sean, Kyle and Leila.

The main Taoyuan city temple.

Visiting the Grand Hotel, Taipei.

Enjoying the decor, before lunch.

Travelling to Hualian County.

Discovering that in one Taiwanese hotel, only midgets can use the facilities (look carefully).

Reaching Toroko Gorge, Hualien.

Can you see mum on the bottom right?

Walking through the corridors of the Toroko.
This part of the road is said to be as ‘twisty as a Chinese dragon’.

Mum with Davie (our friendly host in Hualien) and his daughter Tina.

Stopping for a break at a lake near Hualien City.

Late night shopping in Hualien City with Davie, his son and a friend.

Exploring the beach.

First view of the Pacific Ocean

Myself, mum and Tina near “Cow Mountain”.

Exploring a temple on the East coast.

Back to Taipei. Looking from the Chinese Culture University (YangMingShan).

What’s that little building over there on the left?

Exploring the sulphuric geysers of YangMingShan.

Leila and Mum at an organic farm in YangMingShan.

Lots of wildlife…

Strange buildings in the mist…

Say Cheese…(Kyle, Sean, Leila, Mum and myself).

Kyle treating everyone to a healthy organic meal.

Picking Canna Lilies at YangMingShan.

Underground shopping at Taipei City Mall.

Visiting the Maokong Gondola, Taipei.

Read more about his experience (and see some wonderful photos) here!

Thanks Michael!

Michael, Scott, Graeme (thanks to Eva Wai).

The alternative explanation is simply too stupid to be true.

And yet people wonder why I travel by bus rather than scooter.

Taiwanese scooter helmets.

A baby kitten with poo on its face.

Students dancing.

Mu: (thinks) Ah! A tea shop. I’ll get myself a nice cup of tea.
Mu: Hey there. Can I have a cup of lemon green tea please?
Guy: Sorry?
Mu: Qing, yi ge li mon lu cha.
Guy: Oh, ok, lemon green tea.
…
Guy: You want some sugar?
Mu: A little bit, thanks.
…
Guy: You want a bag?
Mu: Err, no, it’s OK, I’ve got this bag here.
Guy: Ok, $20.
Mu: (hands over $20)
Guy: Oh, I forgot - do you want a house?
Mu: Err… sorry?
Guy: Do you want to buy a house?
Mu: Err… you mean a house, like a place to live?
Guy: Yeah.
Mu: Err… no thanks.
Guy: Oh, ok.

God, how I wish I’d had the presence of mind to say “No, just the tea will do, cheers”. But Taiwan always takes you by surprise, coming at you from some crazy angle, orthogonal to reality, that you can never possibly anticipate.

I look forward to the day when I can take this kind of thing in my stride… but it seems unlikely to happen. Even today, after a game of badminton, someone introduced themselves as follows:

“Thanks for the game.”
“Hey, you too. It was a good game.”
“I am called person.”
“Err… you mean, you are a Taiwanese person?”
“No, my name is person. P-E-R-S-O-N.”
“Err…good to meet you, person. That’s certainly a very unique name you have there.”

I guess this is part of why I love it here. It’s like living inside a giant magic 8-ball.

Sunset over Taoyuan.

Pastel mountains.

Taoyuan, the dark city.

And then someone brought a cute black and white rabbit along to the badminton courts, and before you knew it, some crazy people started gently nudging it around a bit with their racquets and playing Rabminton. Awesome. I think that will be the next sports buzz in Taiwan. It was, like, uber-sweet.

Oh and I found a Taiwanese Army Surplus place that sells 3 things mainly: boots, ropes, and 100% genuine Taiwanese Army Ninja Swords. Yes, for real. That’s about the most awesomest thing I’ve ever seen, ever, even including the time I saw a pirate being decapitated in slow-motion by a electric guitar while a ninja strummed a totally wickedkiller power-chord on another even better electric guitar.
In real life.

And someone at the hospital took a long, spooky, war-of-the-worlds-snakey-thing-shaped throat examining device and threaded it down my left nostril so they could check out a longterm throat problem I’ve had (like… yechhh), all the while having a conversation with me in English and asking me to keep saying ‘eeeeh!’ as they spoke. It was like… totally…. invasion of the body snatchers, and I was like… totally….. Leonard Nimoy. And it was like… totally…. a group of 5000 Yorkshiremen building up to the biggest ever ‘EEH, BY GUM!’ the world has ever heard - and then some.

Then they insisted on taking my picture (thankfully not while having my throat actually being nostrilarily examined with the spooky Is-Tom-Cruise-Hiding-In-Your-Lungs?-Device) for some reasons I don’t quite fully understand, or even at all.

And the weather was just perfect and the food was just spiffy, though I think someone spiked my kiwi-fruit icecream with betel nut, since my gums seemed rather overtly tingly afterwards.

Superbly brill. Definitely one of the most weird days I’ve had since I got here, or, like, ever. Totally.

Warner Bros.

For those of you living in Taoyuan, I can confirm that the cinema in Taoyuan city centre has it showing 8 times per day right now, lunch till late, prices from 170 to 220 NTD. Don’t miss it.

UPDATE: I should probably add this little nugget about films & cinemas in Taiwan. Basically there are two main rules that are always observed:

Rule 1. Nobody likes surprises, so in every area with public transport, there should be several huge TVs blaring out trailers that spoil every plot twist of all the films currently at the cinema. The perfect example of this is Saw, where the front part of the Taiwanese DVD cover is a frame taken from the very end (if you’ve seen it, you can guess which plot twist I’m thinking of). Nice, real nice…

You see this in Taiwanese TV shows too. The last thing they do in each episode is a spoiler for every single plot twist in the next episode. Heaven forbid you actually enjoy the damned show.

Rule 2. People should be forcibly evacuated from cinemas starting approximately 1 millisecond before the last frame of the main feature - after all, who cares who made the film, anyway?? And as for the occasional easter egg that crops up if you watch right through the trailers? Forget it.

You just have to get used to the idea of some cinema rep standing up and screaming at everyone “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY G*DDAMN CINEMA YOU STUPID BUNTS! C’MON, WHAT ARE YOU MORONS WAITING FOR?? B*GGER OFF!!!” as the credits start to roll. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s shouting. Then, they just turn the projector off. Very annoying.

In case you’re one of the curious people, “Suwadee” is part of a Thai greeting. Suwadee means both Hello, or Goodbye depending on circumstance. It’s a little like how ‘ciao’ is used in Italy.

Normally, for men to politely greet each other, they would say “Suwadee krahb” (which actually sounds more like “sawadee krah” when Thai people say it). Remember that Thai has it’s own alphabet, so “Suwadee” or “Sawadee” is just a transliteration of a Thai word into an English form to make it easier for westerners to say.

As you meet and say it, place both your hands together (palms together, fingers straight) in front of your chest, as though you were praying. If you’re a girl, say “sawadee kaa” instead. It’s good to keep your hands high up your chest as a token of respect.

You can also say it when parting from a conversation politely.

You can learn more about this greeting here. Given the vast numbers of Thai people in Taoyuan (and Taiwan as a whole), it probably doesn’t hurt to memorise this phrase… =)

Suwadee Krahb!

Why anyone in Thailand would go to McD’s is beyond me…
(This picture is borrowed from betsygoestochina.com. Thanks!)

Michael Turton paid a visit, reminisced about old-style Taiwan, and indulged in some street-side KTV.

The Bushman pays a visit to a duck and seafood restaurant in Taoyuan.

Prince Roy shares a picture of a garden with zillions of statues of Chiang Kai Shek.

Some spontaenous Tai Chi at Taoyuan airport…

And if you were around on Valentine’s day, you’d have seen the area around the railway station become almost impassable to traffic or pedestrians, as several department stores simultaneously decided it would be a good idea to have a band play some thumping guitar choons… err… romantic music.

I’m basing this on the reports at Digitimes and elsewhere, that read: “Nintendo’s Taiwanese distributor ‘Hakuyu’ has stated that the new Wii system will fail to make it to the market any time before the Chinese New Year in February.” I also interrogated the staff at a few branches of a major electrical store (3C), and they suggested they expect their stock of Wiis to arrive during the Chinese new year period.

So far, all that has been available here are Japanese or US import models - and getting your hands on one of these a month or two early has come at a pretty high price - anywhere from a 25 to 100% markup, depending on which model you want.

Despite the fact that the Wii is very thin on the ground, I’ve seen them hiding in a few small gaming shops, and a few weeks ago, I even saw people playing with a Wii on a huge projector screen, in a cordoned off area bang in the middle of the Taipei Main MRT station. When I’ve finished celebrating Chinese new year, I’ll dig out a picture.

Meanwhile, in Taoyuan, we have a ‘gaming school’ (and store) near the city centre. They have two Wiis set up outside with two controllers each, a giant flatscreen TV and the best Wii games available - Rayman: Raving Rabbids, and Wii Sports. You can find this store very near the middle of town, and it’s a great place to go if you want to get some hands-on experience playing on the Wii.

Starting at the train station, go forward over the first crossroads immediately outside the station, past “Idee”, and then turn right at the next crossroads (where there is an under-street pedestrian tunnel). Go straight up this street, passing “Nova”, and take a left at the next big crossroads. Walk ahead till you see the store on your left.

So, a total of 5 minute’s walk from the railway station will see you at the door of the store, opposite “Ali Baba’s Indian Restaurant”. Just remember: straight on, first right, first left, and it will be on your left hand side. The store’s name is: “Kukanemoto Game Classroom”, 03-331-0088, www.tastegood.com.tw.

The store also has imported Wii’s available for purchase: 10000TWD for the japanese import; 16000TWD for the US import. There will not be much room to negotiate since stocks of Wii’s are so thin on the ground just now. It’s 1700TWD for games; 1000-1700TWD for extra controllers, which I guess is reasonable compared with extras for the XBOX360 or PS3.

Alternatively, if you are prepared to wait a few more weeks, you may start to see Wii’s showing up in stores like 3C, priced around 8000TWD (according to the 3C staff members I spoke to…). But you may face a long and boring Chinese new year without one.

In the meantime, if you find yourself unable to Wii for a prolonged period, it may comfort you to know that simply walking around Taoyuan can make you feel like you’re in some kind of computer game. Take this street for example, near the police station and bus stop…

Giant pointy bits of metal, waiting to drop. It’s just like playing Tomb Raider.

I hope he’s paid well.

What on earth could possess a man to undertake such employment? The money behind the housing boom in Taiwan. Personally, I hope this guy is getting a decent hourly wage, because he is doing his job really well. You’d think he’d take a break every now and then, but no, he’s tireless - as long as he stands there, the arrow shall wobble - come hell or high water.

(more…)

Girls, stay safe. There are five serial rapists on the loose in Northern Taiwan (including Taoyuan) and Kaohsiung city. This isn’t really ‘news’ as such, since they’ve apparently been on the go since 1997, but when you’re in a place as friendly and awesome as Taiwan, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that there are nutcases out there too.

A recent addition to the local population gets sick of city centre life, moves to the countryside, and explores the pottery of Yingge.

Mickie Cellow posts some images of Taoyuan’s new High Speed Rail terminal (HSR is a Japanese bullet train system connecting the North of Taiwan with the South, using 300 kmph trains). The terminal was apparently placed underground because it runs very close to the airport.

Here’s the name. Just look for the christmas tree lights and you’ll be fine.

After a few weeks of trying to find some free time, I went there again with my friends and had yet another stunning meal - 3 people, 7 or 8 dishes, and drinks all came to $1000TWD in total.

Pete wonders if they are open yet…

They have the entire menu translated into English, and they have a good range of different types of food including several types of salad and fish dishes (if you’re vegetarian/vegan). Decor and music are… well they’re not quite as good as the food, let’s put it that way. Bring earplugs.

Lemon Fish (li mon yu) - $200TWD. So good I literally ate it twice, to the disbelief of the staff.
In my books, two fish for $400TWD is a bargain.

Tom ka gai soup (chicken/not spicy). $150TWD for a giant bowl. Spicy salad $80TWD.
My advice? Mix some tom ka gai with the sauce from the lemon fish.

“We highly commend the tasty food of Random Thai Place.”, say Pete and Angela.

After dinner, you can gaze in awe at the all-powerful Benq sign.

Plain old rusty barbed wire - this stuff is ubiquitous around here.

So, having found this exciting, shiny, lethal, razorwirey stuff, I thought it would be interesting to take a picture of it. The problem being, that it was positioned so that I had to either take a bad picture (holding out my camera in front of me, pointing down, and unable to frame the shot correctly), or take the picture I wanted, but leaning out over the razor wire. I decided to lean out, as carefully as I could, using one hand and my knees to grip the wall and therefore prevent a premature painful and messy demise.

I had to take a couple of shots to get the framing I wanted, so I ended up leaning right out over the razorwire (with a 3 metre drop below me) for about a minute. Long enough, it turns out, for a local guy to sneak up behind me in a suspiciously quiet blue truck, and suddenly yell out

“HALLLOOOOAAHHHH!”

This one’s for you, Mr Batshit-Crazy-Blue-Van-Helloing-Dude.

Well, it didn’t do my heart any good I can tell you, as I barely stopped myself falling onto several rows of shiny, painful slicyness. I don’t mind the odd casual ‘hellohhh!!’ but the enthusiasm and timing of this one was very nearly the end of me.

Once my heartbeat went back to normal, I went off to find the temple…

An aside: The title of this entry is inspired by a local idiom, ‘expensive to the point of death’, which is a convenient way to describe the price of almost everything, when you have white skin and you’re in South East Asia. In Mandarin it’s: 貴死 (guìsĭ) [thanks Mark, Pete!]

I think it’s pretty safe to conclude that Taiwan’s choice of imports often seems rather surreal from a western point of view.

These signs started popping up on buses around Taipei in response to the bird flu epidemic in Asia, as a means of helping control the outbreak. Literally overnight, it seems, it became necessary to either leave your ducks at home, or take them on the scooter. One thing for sure is that duck-accompanied public transport has become a definite no-no.

Ostensibly, this kind of thing helps control bird flu transmission. In reality, it just makes ducks’ lives awkward, and forces them to take taxis instead when they’re in Taipei.

What is strangest of all though is that these signs seem to be confined to Taipei. In Taoyuan, we welcome ducks. If a duck can scrape together $15 TWD and explain to the bus driver where it’s trying to go, then as far as I’m concerned, it has earned the right to use public transport.

Where I grew up, it was possible to see thousands or tens of thousands of stars at night with your naked eye. Here, so far I’ve been lucky to see 40 or 50 - but at least it’s something, and I feel like I’m still in touch with the night sky.

This week, I’ve been standing on top of high buildings at sunset, straining my eyes while hoping for a glimpse of Comet McNaught. This comet was identified a year ago by an Australian astronomer, Robert McNaught. Since about a week ago, it has been visible around sunset and sunrise in many countries, starting with the northern hemisphere and more recently the southern hemisphere. You can read a little more about it here: Sci-Tech Today.

Unfortunately, Taoyuan has had cloudy weather for the last week or so, especially at sunset, which is quite infuriating. The only compensation I’ve had is that there have been some pleasant sunsets to enjoy.

Taoyuan’s factories are often staffed by (low paid) foreign workers - a topic which very easily stimulates discussion when presented to locals, irrespective of their own nationality. However, economic disparities aside, this influx of foreign staff represents a boon to the palates of students travelling between the city centre and university. By visiting the restaurants in the industrial areas, you are almost guaranteed to get food that is:

a) cheap
b) completely authentic

and only very slightly

c) contaminated by heavy metals.

The area midway between the city centre and Guishan seems to be predominantly Thai. This isn’t surprising - Taoyuan is the most ‘Thai’ city in Taiwan, with over 30,000 Thais among the 70,000 registered foreign workers in the city. There is another area of foreign worker’s restaurants that can be more easily found, by taking the underpass beneath Taoyuan railway station and look around. The area near the railway station seems to be predominantly Indonesian and Vietnamese, though a few Thai restaurants such as ‘Suwadee’ can be found. (…however, Sudawee wasn’t very good the last time I ate there…)

If you’re interested in trying some authentic food from the Thai restaurants near the Guishan area, here is what I recommend you do. Go to the Tonlin department store (near the train station - ask the first person you meet to point you towards ‘Tonlin’). Around the side, near some small food stalls, the number 7 bus departs. Step onboard, pay $15 TWD, wait 10-15 minutes, and you will drive past a big building with a “BENQ” sign outside. Step off the bus (there are two stops within 200 metres), and you will find yourself in a little street with at least 5 different thai restaurants.

My favourite restaurant is the one nearest to the Benq building entrance - approximately 50 metres away. The scenery and music really isn’t the best in the world, but the food…. the food is to die for. Truly, the most incredible Thai food I’ve found so far, much better than the other Thai restaurants I’ve found in Taoyuan. Try the lemon fish (lee mon yu), and tom ka gai soup, and mix the sauces together to experience an absolutely divine combination. If you’re feeling brave, they’ll be happy to supply a spicy salad that will take the roof of your mouth off.

Beware though. Many bad experiences that I’ve had in Thai restaurants here stem from the friendly nature of the hosts. If you have white skin, they will avoid putting anything spicy (or indeed, flavoured) into their cooking so as not to surprise you. Insist on getting your food spicy! (”hen la”)

To help your taste buds recover afterwards, a convenient steamed bread stall can also be found near the Benq building, selling a very decent variety of sweet, soft, freshly made bread, for about $12 each. Highly recommended for mopping up the chilli that will now be stuck between your teeth.