Sherlock Holmes

1/3/10: I do like going to a movie from time to time. But all that everyone wants to see these days are the disaster movies (2010) and sci-fi (Avator) and the one I really had my eyes on was Sherlock Holmes. Well, after asking around for an entire week, finally I found Friend K who would go with me!!

We started w/ hotpot in Shihlin, then the quintessential girly thing to do in Taipei--hair wash, neck+shoulder massage and styling. After that, we ventured out to Tianmu where we headed for the Shingkong Mitsukoshi Department Store. The great thing about this department store is that it is conveniently located and it's got a 13-screen cineplex right in the building.

We got our seats, got the coffee from the *$ across the street, and enjoyed the next two hours of mindless entertainment. The best thing about going to a movie is that one can lose oneself in the story completely and resurface in the real world with a bit more imagination and some pretty neat new ideas. I would love going to movies more if I had the time...especially in Taipei there're so many more theaters that play movies from around the world, rather than just Hollywood productions. Well, that said, today we did go to a Hollywood production.

Sherlock Holmes was a good movie with enough suspence to keep me at my toes throughout. The cast did a good job and I have always liked reading Sherlock Holmes and the setting of 19th century London. It was certainly a good 2 hours of fun.

The next movie I want to go see would be the Japanese animation of "Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva", which should be playing at the same Miramar theater in Tianmu soon. So glad all these movie theaters are so close to me now!

Family Luncheon and More Fun to Come

1/2/10--Not that I haven't visited the Night Market just the night before w/ Jerome, but this morning I'm waking up to yet another big meal ahead! Lunch with Ma's side of relatives at Leo Fu Hotel's Buffett. OH GOSH. Yet another big production--all-you-can-eat, lotsa people. I braced myself.

Mom and I were the first to arrive and very soon everyone was there. The 28 of us were in a room separately from all the other Buffett diners. It was good to see all the cousins, aunts and uncles. Just as we were settling down to our meal, Dad's brother Uncle William showed up...we were wondering how he was invited to Mom's side's family event. But it turned out he was here to attend another party and the hotel ushered him to the wrong table, since both reservations were made by "Mrs. Wun". Uncle William and some of Dad's sister Aunt Tsui-Mei's children and grand children were sitting on the far end of the same buffett restaurant. All these relatives quickly started intermingling with each other, catching up, saying hello, extending New Year wishes. It was a very busy lunch with lots of walking around for sure!

After lunch I rushed on to the Toastmasters meeting, and then on to dinner w/ my cousin Jerome again. Jerome and I met up at the Jiantan Station, but we decided to venture out to the Shida neighborhood off of the Taipower Building MRT Station area. Friend R nicely provided much needed information on where to go...we went to the Red House where we had a bottle of wine on the balcony overlooking the rainy yet busy Shida Road. Following yesterday's VERY LARGE FRIED CHICKEN, I decided to treat Jerome to some more fried bits. We stopped at a salty-crunchy chicken stall, where I bought some more fried bits of food for Jerome. He devoured them in no time, and swore to introduce the fried bits to the general Canadian public. Fried food. So bad for you but so good to eat. What more do I need to say.

After Shida, at Jerome's insistance, we went on to Ximen area for a drink. Ximen was the place to be when I was little--I am quite surprised it's been regentrified and there are so many chic little stores here, especially inside the Red House Building (how come there are so many "red houses" in Taipei?) Jerome seems to have come here before b/c it's close to Uncle Sidney's office. Instead of me leading the way, he lead me to this outside cafe where we sat and I relaxed over drinks and chit chatted about, oh, family stuff, enjoying a cousinly good time. The people at the bar were very friendly and they were curious about Jerome since he speaks no Mandarin but only Taiwanese and English. We ended up chatting with the Waiter Amis for a really long time before heading back home on the very last MRT train.

Afternoon with Jerome

1/2/10--After the lunch my Canadian-Born cousin Jerome who is visiting Taipei for 10 days decided to bestowe me with the honor of taking him around for some fun time hanging out. We headed to Tianmu first. I dropped by Tianmu Sogo to pick up some Beard Papa's cream puffs, to take with us to Mr. Lin's tea house.

At the tea house we devoured the delicious puffs. Mr. and Mrs. Lin who treated me as usual with such wonderful tea also agreed that the cream puffs were delicious, and they go with the tea so well! Jerome and the Lins chatted in Taiwanese which was hilarious for me to watch...it's good to see the Lins on the first day of the New Year.

After tea we went up the street and there the handsome carpet dealer Mian stopped me and greeted me happily as we haven't seen each other since my office moved down to nearing the Shih-Lin MRT station. Mian spent many months in London but now he's back in Taipei. He and Ilias were busy rolling the carpets and sorting the inventory so we just briefly said hello and parted ways. Mian said he would take me and V out for dinner. I'm certainly looking forward to that! Dinner invite already on the 2nd of the New Year!

We went on to the Shih-Lin Night Market, where Jerome bought a set of mahjong at my recommendation as presents for Stan and Sara. Then, we went around the night market and had: LARGE FRIED CHICKEN, bitter melon juice, fried fish cake, shredded ice with red bean and pudding topping, sausage stuffed with basil, and pork and cabbage buns. Jerome also bought a scarf and a belt. I helped bargain a little bit successfully. OH! How I love the night market!!!!!

We stopped at Ikari Coffee where I had my first cup of coffee of the day (ha!) before parting ways. Jerome and I knew we had another big meals ahead of us...yet we still ate until we were about to pop. I don't know how I'm going to carry out my rather cliche but necessary new year resolution of losing some more weight...

Yet Another Year!

1/2/10: it's too late to catch up on last year's activities but one of my new year resolutions is to update this blog as a personal record as frequently and diligently as possible...the world as my witness we will see how long this effort lasts...

December 31st of last year was a memorable day as the last day of the year is not only just the last day of the year, it is also Dad's birthday. On the eve of Dec. 30th I went to book dinner, Moet and Chandon, and the cake. I also dropped by Sogo to buy socks as Dad's birthday. It's really hard to pick presents for Dad, as he has one of everything, if not more.

finally Dad's birthday came. I rushed home after a hectic day and picked up all the food items. Suyi and Ruby and Andy all came to have dinner, along with Omar and his GF. We had a wonderful time, before everyone split up for fireworks viewing and count down.

For the count down, I went with Friends from the TMC, and cleverly combined two parties into one. What happened was Friend W1 and W2 already asked whether I was interested to see TPE 101 fireworks from afar in Neihu. That sounded really good cuz I had no interest in getting into the Hsin-Yi District whatsover today to be amongst the horrible crowd. Meanwhile Friend C called to see if I wanted to go to Friend L's home to watch the Red-White singing competition on his HDTV. Since Friend L lives in Neihu, I decided to ask Friend W1 to go and get Friends C, L, and myself. This plan worked out fantastically in the end!! Everything went as planned and we successfully found a spot to park the car nearing the ramp where we watched the fireworks as we counted down. Here's the pic from the TPE 101 as captured by Friend W1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22725554@N08/sets/72157623111327988/show/with/4233005204/

The drive back home was not too bad either since the general direction taken mostly went against the traffic flow. Went right to sleep and got up to see that Mom was rushing to leave. I forgot that it was the anniversary of Grandmother's passing and traditionally Mom's siblings and their children would go visit Grandma--and now Grandpa who passed in May of '09--to commemorate them. I went with Mom to pick up Aunt Lishya and Uncle. Then we drove to the Christian Cemetary in Tamsui where Grandma and Grandpa were laid to rest. We had some quiet time reflecting on their lives, and pleasant conversations catching up, before moving on to the lunch. Yes, the lunch. How can family gatherings go without meals!

Paul and Hanano Kura

11/7/09 After rehearsal I joined friend H and K for a dinner at Paul on the Jenai Circle. What a lovely spot! The bistro faces the most recognized street corner in Taipei City. However noisy it is out there, the moment we stepped into Paul, it is as if we entered a small corner in Montmartre. The ambiance of the restuarant is serene and relaxing. The aroma of freshly baked baguettes and palmier fill the air. I felt like I was in a fluff for a while.

H and K and I made a reservation. Everything looked delicious and decidedly French bistro. We wanted to try it all and had to go through a complicated process of selection by elimination. We finally decided on a roast beef sandwich dish, a salad with smoke salmon, and a french appetizer platter.

Every bite was delicious and the meal was very satisfying! This was the first time K and I met, and we talked as if we were old friends. Not only are we about the same age, she has been in Taipei for 10 years, and spent a few years in California prior to coming to Taipei. Before then, she was in her native Japan. We have many things in common indeed! It's nice to meet someone with similar background and likings.

After the meal in Paul, H had to go home and K and I decided to find another place for a drink. We ended up at the Hamano Kura, that would be "the Wine Cellar of Flower" in English. This is a trendy sake bar where one can enjoy sake cocktails, various kinds of sake, and great sushi. We decided on Otokoyama, which is a sake with an umph. Over the sake we talked some more until it was passed the metro operation hours. Therefore we had to take taxis home. For safety reasons we called taxis over the phone (despite the fact that they are everywhere if you want to hail one) and two showed up very quickly. As soon as we were going to step into the taxi, the Hama no Kura person rushed on out of the sake bar to tell us that they got our tab wrong--instead of paying for a carafe, we paid for a whole bottle!!! Thank goodness they are honest.

The Taiheiyo Heiwa Toastmasters Japanese Club in Taipei

11/07/09: Today I get to do my first "ice breaker" speech in Japanese at my Toastmasters Club. I thought I was not going to be nervous but for whatever reason I was on pins and needles all the way until I went OFF the stage!! And it was only a short speech! I think the nerve came from lack of practice...I wonder how preachers like Billy Graham and Joel Osteen, or great orators like Obama and Kennedy get to speak without stage freight.

This is such a nice bunch of people and my speech received great response. In order not to make my self-introduction so boring and routined just like every one else's, I decided to quickly go through my basic data, and then move on to a quiz, including questions like what food do I not like, what sports am I not good at, which island have I not gone to, etc. It was a relief to hear laughters coming from the audience.

I am glad to say I'm liking my Toastmasters Club. Seems like I'll be able to make some good new friends there besides reaping other great side benefits such as polishing my public speaking skills and communication skills.

The Taipei Zoo

11/08/09 Yesterday there was a company-wide outing to the Taipei Zoo. Got up early and went to the 7 to buy breakfast. "The Seven" is how people call Seven-Elevens here, and the food selection is astounding. I shall have to write about that some other time.

Anyway I went to the 7 to buy breakfast and then waited on Chungshan N. for my cherubic coworker H to come and pick me up. His car came and as expected, the entire car is filled with people and McDonald bags. Ha! We had a huge breakfast match in the car, and but 20 min later we arrived at the Zoo.

The last time and the only time I went to the current Taipei Zoo was when it first opened 20-some years ago...it was very huge but barren at the time. It's nice to see the park is all filled with lush plants and trees now.

Before entering the zoo, we walked pass the new Taipei City Children's Entertainment Park. I can't wait to bring my nieces and nephew here when they come to Taipei. We also walked passed the recently built but quickly defunct Mao-Kung Cable Car. This was indeed a good idea, but it was a pity that the City Government missed the construction survey, causing the Cable Car to become a dangerous structure only shortly after its completion. Even so, The Wen-Shan area is still rich in touristic resources.

We first signed in and fetched our souvenirs for today's participation of the Zoo outing. Then, we darted towards the latest attraction inside the park--the Panda Colony. We got the timed ticket to the Panda Hall, lined up, and slowly approached the pandas. The pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan came from Sichuang. They were given to the Taipei Zoo last year. I have not seen them because thousands of visitors crowd this part of the Zoo every day then. Now that the panda craze is over by a little bit, I can see the panda in relative ease without too much pain. They were very cute! Tuan Tuan was sitting on the ground eating bamboo, while Tuan Tuan was hiding behind the playground set in the "room", scratching her behind...HA~

We then went up the slope and met up with more coworkers. The entire park was swamped with people I know and recognize; it's great to see their kids, too.

I didn't realize this was such a vast ground. The old zoo near northern part of the city moved to the current site in 1986. The current zoo is said to be the largest zoo in Southest Asia. After seeing the panda and hanging out at the Hippo Plaza eateries, we made our way up the tropical forrest walkway and meandered up to see the koalas. The koalas were at ease sleeping, chewing on eucalyptus leaves, and playing among the branches, respectively. They were very cute and much smaller than I expected--this was my first time seeing koalas, come to think of it!!

The Taipei Zoo was much more fun than I thought it would be--next time I come here I want to go up to the nearby and famous Mao-Kong Hill to have some Chinese tea also.