What's Next? Outing!

To start year 2009 with a rather different activity, we goldies decided to go outing during the long holiday for Chinese Lunar New Year. When I brought out the proposal, Pamela recommended right away "32 行錧" in 北投 and suggested that we do it during the holiday when all the goldies are off work. It has breathtaking scenery (website: http://www.villa32.com/). According to Pamela, it was originally a private club and only serviced their members. Due to slow business, it opened for public now. We can do hiking or try hot spring besides having tea and having hot spring at "32 行錧"

Unexpectedly Virginia eagerly shared with us two great hiking trails in YMS for us to consider. I loved it because we can shake off some extra fat gained during the Lunar New Year. I was touched by Virginia’s thoughtful sharing and advice. Below is her sharing:

both trails, 冷水坑 to 擎天崗 and 二子坪 to 大屯 are pleasant to walk with right gears. For the first trail, 冷水坑 to 擎天崗, if we are early enough, before traffic control at 8 am, we should consider to drive to 冷水坑, park there and head for the beautiful trail to 擎天崗, where we can take a bus (108 遊園公車or 小15) back for 2 stations to the same parking lot and drive back to Bei Tou. Although the slopes are gentle, still hiking boots and sticks are strongly recommended.
http://www.ymsnp.gov.tw/web/project1a.aspx?no=28
仰德大道--文化大學前麥當勞右轉--菁山路--走一小段左轉大斜坡上冷水坑
The trail itself is about only 2 KM long but bear it in mind that it's a mountain hike and not flat. There are slopes and stairs up and down but it's the one of the most favored trails in YMS, even for youngsters. We need to be aware of the slippery stones and prepare to walk slowly and gently for about 2 hours or more because we may pause anywhere to enjoy the different views and take pictures.

If we don't drive, we can take 小15 from Chien Tan MRT station exit 1, but need to wait maybe 3 buses to get in. Upon hearing this, of course we choose to drive.

She also recommended us to bring light lunch like 飯糰, some candies, fruit and (hot)water. We can get supply in 擎天崗 service station in case. A must thing is rainproof jackets and hat, DO NOT bring small foldable umbrella !!! We either carry walking stick or upright, long umbrella while hiking. If the grass is not too wet , we can bring some big black garbage bags or plastic picnic cloth to sit on it. The big wide grass land is most ideal for a casual lunch. When Michelle showed doubt about her physical capability, Virginia comforted her saying
“Don't be afraid, you're safe because it's the most popular trail in YMS.”

Pity that Virginia can’t go with us that day as she will be in 二子坪service station from 9 to 16:30. She invited us to visit her there if we still have the strength after hiking and before heading for "32 行錧".

二子坪 is the trail where Virginia shot a series of snake catching a frog in front of her, we saw the photos. Since she wishes she can witness that great moments again, and said if she leads us, she will start from the beginning of the trail 百拉卡公路的人車分道 which she loves very much and is quite easy to walk. She continued that 冷擎步道 is also very pleasant but we need to be cautious for stone stairs that could be bit slippery. A hiking boots is a must or sneakers with very solid non-slip soles. An upright umbrella or alpenstock (登山杖) is also inevitable by coming down the stairs to save our precious knees for many more years. We will be able to enjoy different scenery on various sections of the route, especially looking up to 七星山.
http://www1.forest.gov.tw/lib/LIB_2-5_05.asp

She invited us to do this some other time altogether.. We who are available right after the 1st outing, scheduled without hesitation a 2nd outing, 二子坪 to 大屯.

After a few back and forth mail, the date was set on 1/29th, and we will put hiking our focus. Lydia and I are glad to take the responsibility to drive all goldies up to the mountain, and start our hike from there. I am extremely excited about the outing. Since I am a moron driver especially when driving to a strange place, I promised goldies that I'll study the route and traffic first to ensure that we can enjoy a most relaxing and exciting outing/hiking.

“冷水坑 to 擎天崗” and "32 行錧", here we come!

Trini

A Footnote to the Year-end Party Sherry Documented

It’s been a week since the grand opening of the blog. How to get it rolling periodically?
Considering that our first activity in 2009 will not take place until after the Lunar New Year why not talk a little bit about the year-end party held by Sunrise T/Ms Club at 王貫英圖書館. Five of us attended and had our clogging dance performed there. Though Sherry already portrayed it, I can add a little from my prospective.


The party was rather warm, cozy and cheerful than boisterous. Every guest received a hearty welcome. Since it was a party and aimed at entertaining everyone, all the programs were especially designed. Even the only two educational sessions, Table Topics Session and Induction Ceremony, were conducted in a relaxing and cheerful way.

It was not until I arrived the venue to realize how much efforts Sherry had exerted and work she had done to support Sunrise to make the party so well organized, enjoyable and glamorous, especially the decorations and refreshments. Later I realized Pamela gave her a big hand, too.

Our program was performing a clog dance of course, the last performance in public in 2009. This time there were five of us available for the party including Pamela, our new charming talented blood. I arrived shortly before the party begun and all the lady cloggers were busy in putting on artificial eyelashes.. Traffic jam and parking were the only reason, of course. I missed the stage rehearsal. I thought, we had had a satisfactory rehearsal the previous night, everything should go well. Nothing is perfect, neither was our last public performance. The stage was a bit small, and the music was not loud enough for us to tell the beats. These were the excuses we made for not being able to dance to our satisfaction. It comforted us a great deal by thinking that we made more room for improvement. Well, think it this way, we all had fun.



Kate, very affectionate to Chinese Opera and good at singing it, gave her second program signing Chinese Opera. Her humor genes made it so interesting that further cheered up the atmosphere and created a lot of laughter.

New Year Countdown brought climax to the party. All the participants did countdown excitingly aloud to drop the curtain. Due to the strict rule of the library, The party must end on time. Thank Scott, President of the club; Joy, EVP; and Sunrise members for bringing us a wonderful time to welcome the New Year.
Trini

A Glance of Nine Ladies

There are nine of us to this day;
Irene, Kate,
Linda, Lydia,
Michelle, Pamela,
Sherry, Trini, and

Virginia.

Being encouraged and persuaded by our spiritual leader Sherry I am taking over the documentation job for year 2009. It’s a big challenge yet can be exciting as well because every our gathering or activity engages a lot of work throughout the whole process. While having the consensus of not loosing any existing member, a basic number of seven, we are keeping looking out for new blood. It’s our firm belief that the bigger group we are, the more input we can enjoy and more versatile we can be. Now at the very beginning, let’s take a quick look of our diverse, versatile and dynamic team (Note, it’s just from the perspective of mine). After all, they are the reasons for having this blog.

1. Irene, a member of Formosa T/Ms Club with two big eyes, is responsible, considerate and sweet to everyone. She has a very beautiful voice and is full of passion. Yet, she’s the busiest one among us due to her commitment to her family. She had to and still will excuse herself from our activities from time to time.
2. Kate, a member of Prestige T/Ms Club with two big eyes, too, is straight forward, and looks more serious and composed than others. Actually she’s quite humorous and lighthearted often times. She is the only Chinese Opera fan among us and sings it well.
3. Linda, a member of Excellence T/Ms Club with delicate facial features, has very logical and analytical mind. Hard to believe that she is the youngest among us because she’s very capable, well organized and decisive. She runs the biggest family than others do.
4. Lydia, a member of Happy T/Ms Club with two big eyes and a beautiful straight nose, is very feminine and always looks calm and poised. She’s the only one among us who joined a chorus.
5. Michelle, a member of Legacy T/Ms Club with two big eyes and a cute nose, smiles and walks in an enviable sexy way. She’s the most ambitious career woman among us, and is likely to run a business of her own in the future.
6. Pamela, a member of Galaxy T/Ms Club with proportionally perfect facial features, is a very new member among us. It’s the most joyful bliss for all of us to have her to join us. We all know her dearest husband and I’d say she is probably the most treasured wife among us.
7. Sherry, a member of Grand T/Ms Club with two very delicate yet skillful hands, is our spiritual leader and full of unexpected yet brilliant ideas. She’s good at everything; or I should say the most talented lady among us; writing, singing, dancing, modeling, choreographing and many more. She’s the one who lives her life to the fullest, a true “Forget me not”.
8. Trini my humble self, a member of the China T/Ms Club with the funniest facial features, am the blog master. I have a long list of hobbies, yet master none; had a lot of dreams, yet accomplished little. The beauty of it is that I can keep dreaming, progressing and evolving. Having so many wonderful friends is the biggest blessing to me.
9. Virginia, a member of Legacy T/Ms Club with milk skin and naturally curly hair, is an amateur photographer, yet much competitive to professional ones. She doesn’t often join us unless there is gourmet food and intellectual program according to her dictionary. And she is too young to admit she’s one of us. Due to her hobby and job feature, she’s very lucky to be able to set her feet in almost every corner of Taiwan.

Guess what, the average height of us is about 166cm. Six among us are over 165 cm of height, one is between 161 to165cm, and I’m the shortest one. Four among us have two big eyes, I have the smallest ones. Yet, there’s nothing more pleasurable and fun than hanging out with my lady pals even I have to look up so hard to them.
Trini