January update

Big news this month: To celebrate Katrina recovery, I took her down to Taichung last weekend for a spin with Gemma, she was leaking oil a little on the return leg, but has since been patched up. As good as new!
A new member has arrived at the Pascal household, Peggy the shiny-new laptop. It's a Taiwanese make Asus (short for Pegasus-the flying horse). She's a computer, she's a telephone, a TV, a video recorder and so much more.
Chocolate: Too hot to drink! an article on our Full Monty Christmas show antics was published in the Shane Newsletter this week for a fee of NT$1000... easiest money i've ever made.

Saturday 6th. I spent the day in Taichung buying a laptop with Nick. I found the one I was after, but they wanted cash for it. We then had headed to meet Gemma and her Welsh mate Gordon (visiting) at the Jade market, a huge under canvas mase of small tables covered in ... mostly jade things. Dragons, swords, tea sets, jewellery, and Yoda (an ancient man with long white hair - capable of telepathy; provided a bin without our asking). Jenna and Rob were with them. Rob gave everyone a tour of the best Gym in Taichung that was nearby. I declined having to collect 35,000 from different cash machines around the town before collecting the laptop. As we were in Taichung, we thought it right that we spoil ourselves with Fingers (a vaguely western restaurant...selling exclusively western stock). Delicious! The girls wanted to check out Sogo (ginormous department store- more levels than there is time to see in a day). I left everyone there as i ran round to Nova to pick up my computer. I got back to find Rob and Nick trying to sneak out of Sogo.. no use, the girls caught them and were less than pleased.
Would you believe it! When i was waiting in the very large entrance hall, a woman walked right towards and then tripped over my computer box... i was fuming! From there we took the train home to our respective towns.
It got to midnight and I remembered that the Changhua crowd were at the Culture Club that night. So i mounted my trusty scoot and rode North. Abe (Canadian dude) was there with his band... everyone was out, but Gemma and Gordon had gone on to another bar. Dave showed me the way... and eventually i tracked them down. They were singing KTV tunes with Jena, Ray and Lisa. We sang until we were kicked out for making too much noise... then moved to another KTV bar. Lisa was complaining about her shoes... so i tried to prove there was nothing hard about wearing heels.
After many a cheesy duet, we left for home.
I woke up on the floor of Gemma's flat. She and Gordon were going to Lugang that day so they let me tag along. Lugang is always a pleasure to walk along and feel like a Taiwanese tourist instead of a tourist in Taiwan. Stall after stall of interesting foods, drinks, trinkets, jewellery, traditional clothing and artworks within a cosy setting of temples and winding alleys. We were overcome by the Taiwanese spirit of generosity. The day before a man had driven three blocks out of his way to check how to get to Sogo for us. Today a lady was letting us use her family's bathroom behind her cafe on the roadside. The day was a nice leisurely end to the weekend.

On the weekend of the 13th; after many months of turning right after cycling to the top of our hill, Pascal opened a whole new direction to me... Go left my son... Go left!
When he said the road went to Changhua, I thought 'well I've done that on the main road before, it's really not that far'. Well, as some smart arse Scotsman once sang 'Ye take the high road and I'll take the low road.' This was a high road... though not as steep as the temple road... we still had our challenges... kids waving from cars -very offputting; part of the road that was underconstruction- had to navigate over the dirt; and a high number of slow lorries. We popped into see Sharne in Starbucks for five minutes... and then looked at the huge climb back up to Yuanlin: we thought it best under the 'terrible' weather conditions to take the low road back instead (which just so happened to pass by Bert's pizza place). That night we went for a game of pool down in Yuanlin. The score, 14 games to 1 Pascal... but that really doesnt describe how close each game was! On the Sunday I cycled back to the temple on my traditional route, before having dinner at Sam's house with her and Hollie. Tried asking for a bowl of rice to take to the meal from my local lunchbox place... took the manager to come out before they believed that i only wanted a bowl of rice.

This weekend just gone has been pretty eventful. It was Ross's birthday and he was having a party on the Fri night in Bono's (C'hua). Nick was gonna hitch a ride on my scooter... after work we went for some noodles and a beer to shake off the fatigue left by 4 hours of straight teaching. We were just finished and ready to go home to tart ourselves up, when Pascal rang; his van had broken down. It'd managed to do this at the only part of Pascal's life that wasn't half way up a hill. We tried 4 times to push start her, but she was dead. It was after 11pm before I was ready to drive to Changhua... I got a call from Nick: feeling dodgy, cant make party. The ride over was smooth and before long I was in the bar nursing an orange juice, listening to Andy singing and chatting with Gemma and Reah, who were surrouded by Canadians. Ross was well on his way when i arrived. It was a good night, but I was a little tired to enjoy it.
The next morning I woke at 10 and remembered i had to be back in Yuanlin for Annie's (TA) wedding at 12. I ran out of the flats and scootered back like a loon. Pascal was already dressed up when i got back to the house. We still had time to spare after I'd parked the scooter (Mr Bean style; picking it up and dumping it in a space). The place where they were having the wedding was the hub of the wedding industry in Taiwan. The building was 4 floors high and on each floor there were 4 large halls, partitioned from each other.
No sooner was everyone sat down than the food started pouring out from little doors. There was a slideshow in the middle of the room of the happy couple; a picture of Nick, Tim and I kept flashing up every now and then. Half way through the procedings, a woman on a mic started calling well-wishers forward to make a speech. Nick lept at the chance. A grandma despite strong persuasion, refused; and Emma made an unabashed plug for a new English class starting this month. We'd been told that Michelle (another TA) was having her birthday party the same day. I'd assumed that she meant in the evening. But at half two when everyone started to leave, she said that it was 3 til 7. Barely able to keep my eyes open from the night before, i went home for a quick nap; planning to return at 5ish.... however, I didn't come round until half 6... whoops: going to be in the doghouse at school for the next week or so.
I'd promised Gemma a trip to the cinema that weekend. My computer needed taking back to Taichung to change the backup disk to an English version. I thought why not combine the two and go to Taichung via Changhua tonight! It was a good plan until i learnt that the shop closed at 9. So instead we stayed in Changhua watching You Me and Dupree on DVD... not as bad as I'd been told; and eating a '50Pizza' pizza (not as big as I been told).
The next morning, we made an early start to Taichung. Gemma had been once before on the back of a scooter and to my amazement, she managed to get us all the way to Nova without getting us lost. I couldnt have done it! We dropped off the computer at Nova and headed for the Science Musuem - holding an exhibition of the Terracota Warriors.
Before we managed to get through the door, a group of students came up to us waving a camera; I assumed they wanted a picture of us... but no; just wanted us to take one of them. Big city Taichung... foreigners are hardly a novelty.
We noted the prices and asked to see the Warriors, the greenhouse and the Technology hall. NT$140... the lady told us the greenhouse was free today, but then charged us NT$200 each...?
Still the warriors were worth it alone. They had about 15 figures, all lifesize and produced in incredible detail, the hairs on their heads and fingernails as accurate as if they'd been made yesterday. I was ashamed to admit it, but I didn't actually know anything about these Warriors. After misjudging the age of most of the temples in Taiwan by a thousand years or so.
I assumed that these were probably also modern replicas. Gemma asked a member of staff how old they were, and she pointed out an English speaking student/part timer. It seemed that we were the first people who'd spoken to him and he was eager to unleash his knowledge. Turns out the Warriors are 2,200 years old. Emporer Qin Shi Huang (Ancient China) had had them made to take with him to the after life. When he died, they were all buried in a number of pits alongside him, soldiers, captains, generals, labourers, horses, weapons, jewels and tools. They were discovered when a farmer in the 1970s had tried to dig a well. Fearing the first piece he found was a bad omen, he smashed it up. We were lucky to see them when we did, for it is likely that they will not leave China again after they return and are made national treasures later this year. We walked round the rest of the museum. Most of the info and videos were in Chinese. But there were some super cool attractions... moving dinosaurs! a cool yoghurt-pot telephones without the string! A solar-powered toy car. A thermal-imaging imager thing!
Hunger struck! We headed back to Fingers... and dived into a relatively healthy (honest!) burger and fries. It was a real effort to leave without buying everything in the shop: Frosties! peanut butter! Lasagne sheets! Baked Beans! From there we headed to Tiger City to see if there was anything on at the cinemas. Gemma thought I'd have worked out where we were in Taichung by now. But when you're driving in Taichung, you look only at scooters left right and infront of you, holes in the road, cars pulling out, cars turning left, and if you've chance - the traffic lights. Navigation takes a back seat. We put off the movie til a better one comes along, collected the computer from Nova and headed home; again without getting even slightly lost.
Back at Gemma's, we'd barely finished a cup of tea, before Reah popped in from next door and invited us round for tea and cake with Ross, Andy, Rachel and Yarni. The cake was supplied by Rachel's dad... it was nice but rather heavy... and with a touch of brandy... before long I felt myself drifting under a garbled veil of voices. The night blurs into Monday and the week starts again. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

A Happy New Year

Headlines: Miss X had her second scooter lesson... and didn't crash :)
Also in the news: Andy and Rachel came back this week, so we decided to have a surpise party at NZ Kate's flat in Changhua. Now I know from experience that in planning a surprise party, the party has to be more appealing than the place the victims think they goig to. So i sympathised with them when they didn't arrive at a restaurant for a big meal. I think they enjoyed themselves; Andy brought some take out to ease the pain.
As it was another 3 day weekend; i was woken early on Saturday morning by Pas, who wanted his sleeping bag back to go camping in the mountains. I, on the other hand was content to stay in bed, away from the dull grey day outside.
I had just about surfaced and was enjoying a good read when there was a loud bang and the power went out. It's amazing how little you can do in a blackout. No reading, no TV, no cooking, no emailing.. i stumbled upstairs and played the guitar in the darkness hoping it would come back on... but no. I was starting to get claustrophobic, so i rode into town to stretch my legs and met Nick. We had planned to go to Taipei the next day for the fireworks at 101. However, everyone including Nick was feeling a little run down. Bloody weather! Still we planned to meet at 10:30 at the station.
That night was possibly the worst night's sleep ever; no sleeping bag and finally coming down with the cold everyone else had been spreading. I came to at 10 and for ten minutes thought about getting up. I couldn't leave Nick on his own on NYE.
I rolled down the hill and discovered that Katie (US) was going anyway. I bought my first water bottle of the day and settled in the comfy UBUS seats.
We got to the Big Dumping (Taipei) at 2ish. Nick was eager to see the Paper Museum (we had visions of the Simpsons Box Factory tour): so we started walking in that vague direction, hopeful to pass a noodle vendor. We didn't. We did pass a Subber (no rip off of Subway at all). The sandwiches were good, but the rules were a bit strict: no dogs, no food or drink and no cameras!
Soon after we reached the Paper Museum, to Nick's horror and distress, they were closed on the weekends! What museum wouldn't be? I guess it was New Year. tomake htings worse, someone had left a pile of cement sand on the path for the unsuspecting to stumble over. It's still on my shoes!


We decided to jump on the MRT and tube to Sun Yat Sen Memorial (the founder of China). It was a beautiful building. There were art collections on every floor; and in the main hall there was a large statue of Yat Sen with two guards in front of him. I assumed the guards were statues too, but apparently they were real. Towards the end of our visit, we witnissed the changing of the guard (all two of them). Here the military pride themselves on taking as long as possible to walk to destinations. Their marching reminding me somehow of Kermit the Frog. What was impressive though, was their ability to spin a rifle in one hand in unison with the flick a wrist.
When we stepped into the grounds we realised that this would be a great place to watch the fireworks that night: with 101 towering in front of us.
It was still early, so we made for 101 itself. Nick was unimpressed that of the 96 floors, only 6 of them were open to the public. We tried getting higher via the stairwell, but no use. i had a premonition of the New Year celebrations being cancelled over a security threat in Taipei 101 in the form of 3 westerners.
By the time we'd found the exits, it was dinner time. A curry on the other side of town with Samantha, the dog, Tai, his brother Weylin, NZ Kate, her friend Kristen, her friends Morgen and Bret and their friends Jovi and Al.
The food was fantastic.
After the meal we parted company. Bret, Nick, Katie and I were the only ones crazy enough to want to experience the madness below 101.
We tried the tube, but it was heaving, and nobody was moving anywhere; so we walked the hour or so to 101. The nearer we got the crazier it became. Traffic was practically at a standstill and people poured forward through whatever street space they could find.

We got to the Sun Yen Sat Grounds and fought our way to a good viewpoint... despite using pick-axes and being roped together, at 11pm, we became dragged apart by the crowds. I spent the turn of New Year with a bunch of strangers. Oddly, once people had found a good view they sat without instruction in neat rows across the grass.
The fireworks were spectacular but a little short lived. By 12:15, the million Taipei residents had left for home, down the chaotic roads.

We rang the others and managed to track them down;near Christines house. Nick and I had planned to find an all night club to dance away in to avoid the cost of a hotel... but an even better offer presented itself in the form of Christine's couch; and walking around for over almost 7 hours... by 3am we were out for the count.
The next morning at lunchtime, everyone met up again at a really nice restaurant; where I spent almost 8 pounds! on a lunch to start the new year in style: soup, house salad, endless coffee, steak with mushroom sauce and 2 puddings. It dawned on me that i was the only English person there after Sam and dog got lost in the taxi.
Nick had invited a Taiwanese flatmate friend of his friend from college to lunch. She offered to show us round the nicer side of Taipei before we left. She took us to Central Park: it was an odd sensation. In 8 months I'd not been in a park: yet here was flat ground, kept lawn, and blossoming trees; there were even people playing boules. It could have been any park in Hull, Hyde or Halifax.
From there we popped into the Taipei mosque to satisfy Nicks architectural curiosity, before walking down the cultural fusion of a market street to the bus station. There were children laughing in a playground, smells of Chinese dumplings and fresh cakes from the endless street-invading food vendors, a man playing blues tunes on his trumpet and neon lights in Chinese characters crying out to be seen.