"A Mind-freeing Saturday" -- Pamela in ShangHai

After a long sleep, my weekend started with a fresh spirit and good weather. I was a bit worried that my weekend might have ended up boring by doing nothing but stay home due to the bad weather. After I finished doing a bit of work, I opened my curtain. For the first time this week, the sun was up and shining. Although it was chilly outside, I decided to take advantage of the sun and enjoy a quiet walk. I sat in a nearby pavilion to read the book Persuasion.” For three days, I left this book untouched, but possibly because of the sun and easy going mood I was in, the book seemed easier to read than I would have thought. A bit of confidence in my English reading capability came back.

After a simple, light lunch of peanut butter sandwich and a couple cups of coffee, I left for the Lighthouse TMC meeting. On my way to the club meeting venue, there were a few street vendors selling DVDs. Surprisingly, almost all the new movies including, Australia, Revolutionary Road, The Reader, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and much more were already available on their little, wooden carts. Each DVD only cost 4 RMB per copy. Great Bargain! It is the normal in China to find pirated DVDs; however, I did not expect them to be copied so quickly. Some movies are not even played in Taiwan or China yet. As a movie lover, buying pirated DVDs was never a concern of me as it helped me to save a lot money. But somehow, today a sense of hesitation came to mind. My heart was struggling and thoughts full of conflicts surfaced. Should I respect the copyright or support pirated edition? For a good twenty minutes, my conscience was fighting with my greediness. At the end, I compromised for a good reason, that I do not have time to go to the theater, and I don’t want to have to wait for a long time until legal DVD stores have them available. I have to admit, it really comes down to low cost.

After battling with myself on DVDs, another battle came on board as I was visiting the Times Square building nearby. Top brand boutiques including Gucci, LV and many others famous international brands are all lined up. When I went into Gucci store looking for sunglass, I was so disappointed by the bad treatment from one of the salesgirl. She totally ignored and despised me, as I tried a few pairs on. The most irritating part was when I asked for prices. She raised her voice and nose up high and said “It’s very expensive.” I replied, “How much?” She came back with, “5000 plus.” At one moment, the movie Pretty Woman came to mind. I almost wanted to pull out my credit card. Finally, my senses stopped me. It was just too expensive. For the remainder of the time, I did not go into any more stores but did a bit of window shopping. So, it was another bad excuse to buy pirated DVDs. Right before I left the building, a lingerie shop, displaying a lot of red and pink underwear and pajamas. I was welcomed warmly by two friendly salesgirls. At the end, I brought pajamas that were Canadian brand but made in China at a discounted price. It was a practical decision.

The story is not finished yet. Ironically, the Table Topic Session in the TMC meeting was “How do you feel about the popular term “山寨“ to describe China?” A young guy stood up and proudly replied, “It means manufacture high-tech products with very low cost and is what makes us Chinese so unique and special.” Wow! He even used the “theme of meeting – Uniqueness”. As I was shocked by his reply, I also felt really sorry for him. And now I’m not sure if buying copy DVDs is the right thing or wrong thing to do now. What a day!!

Pamela

YiLan Lantern Festival - 牛轉乾坤

What should I say about my trip to YiLan for the Lantern Festival 2009 in YiLan with Virginia and her friends yesterday? Simply fabulous! I went to some lantern exhibitions before, must say this was the first time I enjoyed in awe.

Though it was not exactly a goldies' activity, only I among goldies went with Virginia, I want to minute it due to the fruitfulness, fun, and excitement I enjoyed during the whole trip. It's the 20th Lantern Exhibition of YiLan. A twenty-year-old activity was compared to a man's Adulthood Ceremony. YiLan Government made it big and extravagant.

Taiwan Railroad Administration (TRA) projected a special train cruise from 樹林 to YiLan to public to help promote this big event and boost economy. It was certainly a win win strategy in every aspect. This was the 2nd time I joined the cruise train. Since the 1st time I joined, I fell for it and decided to rule out all obsticles to join as many as possible this kind of activity held by TRA. Again with Virginia’s first-hand information and help, I got the chance to take the tour train for the 2nd time and enjoyed a sensational holiday again. To make the tour versatile, rich and intellectual, TRA added FuLong Beach and LoTong two sites to visit before sending the passengers into YiLan for the Lantern Exhibition because only at night could the lanterns provide the most sensational effect with special lights and laser devices.

For this outing, I didn't have to get up exceptionally early. I had a nice sleep the previous night. The train should leave at 10:29 am. To prevent any unexpected nuisance, we total six people gathered at Taipei Railroad Station at 9:50 am first. Parking was not easy, so I left home 20 mins earlier than I should. I was so released when I finally parked my car on a perfect spot. I knew everyone in Virginia's group should be at least punctual if not arriving ahead of scheduled time. Ha! Murphy's Law! Someone messed up. But this small incident became our joking material throughout the whole trip.

Virginia took some photos for us at the station to kick off our tour. On the train, we ate, chatted, enjoyed the view outside the window passing by. Time flew, without noticing it, the train was pulled in FuLong station, the first stop.

FuLong Beach: Embarrassed to say that it was the first time I came to FuLong Beach. I took a deep breath upon walking out the station to the open air. Most of the passengers rented bikes to better browse the streets and seashores. We decided not to do it after all time was too short. Surprisingly, we ran into Mr. 吳, a volunteer friend of Virginia and others. Thanks to his duty there, we got to tour in the beautiful FuLong Belleuve Villa, and inside the luxurious restaurant. It is no doubt a great place to stay overnight if time and money allows. Everyone looked forward to coming back again for a truly relaxing holiday there for one or two days soon in the future. Then we walked the bridge to the seashore. The Villa has everything recreational and soothing. FuLong Beach was well maintained, the water is clean, blue and clear. It was not opened yet to public at this time of year. Or we would see swimmers and surfers. When it was time to stroll back for the train, Mr. 吳 treated all of us a yummy lunch box from the renown shop that made the best lunch boxes in town. If you had seen the waiting line, you would have known how true its reputation was. We accepted gladly his hospitality and generosity. We couldn't wait to taste the lunch box right after we got on the train. It tasted especially delicous!

LoTong Bamboo Woods: We got off the train for a two-hour tour in the Bamboo Woods. How thoughtful it was that TRA arranged a guided tour to bring us an unforgettable and intellectual tour. We were all ears to the instructor talking about its history and portraying the old trains, extended pond, wood sculptures, etc. His enthusiasm, cheerful and humorous temperament impressed all of us. No one would forget his name 宋金來. After leaving the bamboo woods, we went to visit the factory that manufactures healthy drinks and thousand year eggs. We were received warmly and got free try of their products. I couldn’t help but buy some to bring home. My hands would be full again when going home. Before going back to take the train, ㄚ水先生, the one who missed the train in the morning, yet miraculously managed to unite with us in FuLong Beach, treated all of us a cup of coffee at 85 0C. His missing the train brought us an interesting topic and we were all entertained by the joke for the rest of our trip. We enjoyed a few min. pleasant chat at the cafe.

YiLan Lantern Exhibition: It only took 9 min by train f rom LoTong to YiLan. We had two hours there to enjoy the lantern exhibition. Seeing all the buses in a long line, I could tell immediately what a crowd there would be. The symbols of the theme of the Lantern Festival, 牛轉乾坤 (to Reverse the Course of Events and Make a Come Back!), were here and there around the Train Station. To maintain good order, YiLan government made lots of efforts decorating the station, streets, arranging bus pool, attracting a huge number of works, got the biggest Sports Park for the exhibition, etc. Virginia was busy looking for interesting or creative works to photo them. There were many other photographers there, too. This was the last day of the Lantern Festival, no more chance to witness the grand scene after tonight. Needless to say, every visitor had a camera in their hand trying to bring all the image back home with them.

The sun set quicker than we realized. It became dark all of a sudden. Virginia kept reminding us of staying tight in the group in order not to get lost. At 6:00 pm sharp, the biggest Ox lantern made its majestic presence with all the bright and dazzling colorful lights, and superb laser effect on. What a high-horse posture! All other masterpieces around the big Ox posed beside with changeable colors of lights to capture visitors’ attention, too. I looked up to it and was speechless. How much work must have been done to make all this possible? The grand presence repeated every 30 min. After taking another look of the 2nd round, we had to walk to the entrance and waited in a long line for the shuttle bus. To miss the train would not look good and mean a big trouble. We finally thought of food. Our stomach protested and forced us to look for food. We didn’t bother to waste time to feed our stomach in the Exhibition park, now suffered from hunger. Except convenience stores, there seemed to be no restaurant available. My last hope was the dinner box, which I liked better, to be sold on the train despite Virginia’s negative comment. No, no dinner box offered on the train. Virginia offered me two spoons of her sweet soup which made me hungrier. I couldn't stop my mouth from watering watching Mr. ㄚ水 enjoying his actually not-so-appetite-arousing dinner box. Luckily Amanda had some home made sandwich that she didn’t eat in the morning to share with us. I was so grateful to her. Must say it tasted like heaven!

We kept chatting on the train. It’s awfully dark, no way to enjoy the scenery outside the window. Soon after the train pulled out the station, the train attendant announced that there would be another new tour on Mar. 14th, don’t forget to reserve the tickets. I couldn’t believe my ears and turned to Virginia pleading that we must get the ticket. Hooray! I will have another train tour next month!

In no time, the train arrived in Taipei. My weekend was over. Yet the image of FuLong Beach, LoTong and especially the Lantern Exhibition in YiLan was still lingering in my mind. Am …. I must minute this for goldies so that they could also share the joy with me. One more thing, let me thank Virginia again for another wonderful train cruise.

Trini

p.s. See all the photos in Virginia album
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/vlee1009/090222
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/taipeitmtrini/YiLanLanternFestival222

Bringing Life to Clogging

in process

Our Mind-lifting Reading Gathering on a Heart-cheering Valentine's Day

The first Goldies' Reading Gathering on Feb. 14th, Valentine's Day, was full of sharing and fun. We shared thoughts, cars, apparel and food. We quacked and laughed all the way till end. Think that we have nine (9) goldies who all stucked up much energy during Chinese Lunar New Year and couldn't wait for the the moment to come to have it burst out! It's not difficult to imagine what a hilarious scene we created. To record the whole gathering, where should I begin with? It seems that I would need several pages to minute goldies first grand reading gathering in year 2009, year of the Ox. I'll do my best not to make it long.

Our reading gathering was brought up about a month ago. The gathering had been long planned and created high expectation to everyone. The date setting on Feb. 14th, Valentine's Day for goldies gathering was against all odds and very unconventional. Shouldn't goldies spend the day with their better halves? Interestingly, everyone managed to get herself free for a half day. Along the way, we discussed it back and forth several times as to what articles to read, where to dine, how to arrange carl pools and what to wear.

The nine goldies who joined the gathering are Gina, Irene, Kate, Leslie, Linda, Lyida, Michell, Sherry and I. We felt sorry that Virginia had another mission at the last minute. Pamela knew right in the beginning that she had no way but to miss it due to her business trip in SanHai. Sherry wanted it to be a 10-goldie group. Yet, despite our effort, ten became a tough mission though Sherry eventually invited her classmate Leslie in the University to join us. We all welcomed her with open arms, and she blendared in immediately showing her pleasant and extravert personality.


Place: It was Linda's turn to coordinate this gathering. She chose articles to read; booked 名流水岸, quite a luxurious, yet classic restaurant built at HsinDien River Side and offering an excellent view of the river; arrange car pools.; and researched the driving route. Disappointedly, due to Valentine's Day, it was fully booked, and we had to settle for another option . It was further down in 烏來WuLai, opened by the son-in-law of Linda's T/Ms friend. She recommended it because they offer scrumptious food.

Dress Code: As usual Sherry proposed a dress code at first that we all wear a designer's hat. It's been an interesting tradition originally brought up by Sherry to create versatility and excitement to our reading activity. Pity that I don't wear hats, could do nothing about it except enjoying watching others' hats. By chance, we changed the dress code to ChiPao to demonstrate the grace and elegancy of ChiPao. Yet for the sake of comfort and movability, we agreed on bringing ChiPaos with us. ChiPao can only function for photo-taking purpose.

It all started a week ago when Lydia Sherry and I visited HsinDien Nursing Home for the New Year Party. Lydia borrowed a Chinese Style jacket, a shinning golden one, from her mom for me. During chat, she mentioned her mom always wore a ChiPao and had a good variety of beautiful ChiPaos. I told her I had never worn ChiPaos and didn't think ChiPao was suitable for me. Upon hearing it, she said enthusiastically that her mom was about my size, she can borrow one or two from her for me to try on. I was touched by her sweet move. Though I did't think I was slendar enough to wear her mon's ChiPaos, couldn't deny that Lydia's proposal really lured me. On that day Sherry wore a ChiPao. I have seen her wearing ChiPaos in many occassions. It occured to me that all the goldies, except me, seem to have ChiPaos, or ChiPao-like dresses, or jackets. Why not asking all goldies to wear a ChiPao or a ChiPao like dress? That must be very interesting and exciting! Getting Sherry and Lydia's consent, I passed the idea to other goldies. Everyone would do her best to put on something like ChiPao.

Traffic: Nine ladies, four cars coming from different directions certainly made communication and time control challenging. MRT station was also not an ideal place for cars to pull over. When we finally arrived at the restaurant, it was way past 11:30 am. Everyone was surely hungry after the hustle and bustle. But wait! Change clothes to have ChiPao on for photo shooting!

Modeling & photo shooting: The ladies room became our exclusive dressing room and back stage. Fortunately it was still early and there weren't many customers. We spent another half an hour putting on make-up anew, dressing, undressing for changing, posing, teasing and taking photos. As I guessed, Lydia mom's ChiPaos were smaller or little too tight for me. I had to hold my breath in order not to burst myself out of it. Lydia and I were glad to find that one of them, the golden one, suited both us. I must say, they were truly awesome and I really loved them; the colors, the styles and the workmanship. We flaunted at each other. What a chaos and craziness we generated! Yet what fun we all created for each other!

House Specialties: Finally time to gulp! Linda ordered all the dishes that were the house specialties. They tasted like heaven to me as I was hungry and I am not picky about food at all. I felt embarrassed to say that I ate most again. It's my parents' fault giving me such a hard-to-satisfy stomach.

Book Reading: After spending more than another hour photo shooting and shatting, we finally got to discuss the articles in the T/Ms magazine we read. We shared thoughts with each other in the most efficient way. What we read and remembered was all that mattered. Will add details here later.

2nd photo Shooting: When we finished eating, Lydia took out some fashionable blouses and dresses made by her better half Harry's company for goldies to choose from. Another crazy moment! Some were eager to try them on; some gave compliments or opinions. We were
excited to move on to the 2nd photo shooting session. I could tell right there that those clothes were not suitable for me, I was still fighting others to try them on for shooting purpose. I was sad to find out again when looking at Sherry and Kate wearing the green dress that tall girls have the best advantage of looking stunning in fashion. Again, the clothes are for model figures. Nevertheless, I was firm to grab one, light purple, even it's one size bigger than I should wear. I just couldn't stand seeing others so happy with their trophies.

Coffee Hour: Time to calm ourselves down and find a quiet place to do goldies' talk. We headed for 名流水岸, the ideal place for having coffee, to try our luck. Couldn't say that we were disappointed to be told they were fully booked even in the coffee area. It was predicable. The 2nd choice was "More Cafe." A good place, too, for us except the annoying mosquitos. Most of us got a lot of mosquito bites. This time we shared some light topics to enjoy the quiet moment and soothing atmosphere. We were all ears to Leslie's topics and sharing.

Final Group Photo to Wave Goodbye: It's getting late, we all had to go home to attend to our responsibilities. After Linda left, we hung around for another minute and decided to take some more group photos.

Every our gathering was fruiful, enjoyable and exciting especially this one, as we have more beauties, a ChiPao and fashion show, a remote area far away in WuLai and more photos were taken. Next gathering? We shall wait for Pamela to come back and we resolved that we should get a table at 名流水岸 to realize our dream of dining there.

Trini

I Was in the Sea of Flowers

Unexpectly I am writing one more minutes here before our reading gathering on Saturday, Feb. 14th. It started with a present surprise coming right after I got up.

I didn’t sleep in today though I stayed up late again last night. Thinking that the school opens tomorrow my mind couldn’t rest. I was actually a little bit lost realizing it’s time for me to put school my focus. Though goldies would still hang out from time to time and my life goes on as it should be, I won’t be able to feel carefree with responsibilities on my shoulders. Before I decide what to do first, the phone rang. It was from Virginia! Was she calling to comfort me because I expressed to her last night how sad I was to know that she and Lydia went to YMS yesterday without me for another adventure of appreciating cherry blossoms? Did I sound unreasonable in my mail? I must assure her that I understood perfectly.

Yet, to my surprise, Virginia proposed that if I didn’t have other engagement, she would love to guide me to YMS this afternoon. I couldn’t believe my ears! Really? No kidding? She really means that? Of course I said “Yes! Yes! Definitely!” without hesitation. It was set immediately for the time and place to meet. What an exciting news out of the blue! I hurried to finish some house chores, then prepared for the outing. I was going to see flowers that newly bloomed. A few days ago we were just talking about how wonderful it would be if we could see the flowers blooming when we were hiking on YMS. We meant different flowers on the trail we walked then, not cherry blossoms that I was going to see today. It had been more than fifteen years since I went to YMS to appreciate flowers. What should I bring? Snacks, fruit, and refreshments? What else? Put on my hiking wear from head to toe and get a backpack to show her that I am a good learner. “Everything must be put in the backpack. no more bags, especially hand bags. We need to keep two hands free,” Virginia told us last time. Yet, I hadn’t bought a backpack, could only dig out the impractical souvenir one I got in the T/Ms convention a few years ago.

When I had everything set and placed my hands on the wheels, my heart was singing with joy. Everything was in a perfect control. Hence, when driving into NeiHu to take the straight route into ShiLin, I was so mad at myself that I forgot to change lane in time. I had no alternative but to go through busy DaZi area with numerous traffic lights one after another. I couldn’t let her wait especially when she’d been such a great pal. She would forgive my carelessness and foolishness, but definitely not my unreliability. Yes, I assured her that for our future outings I would even leave home half an hour earlier than my plan. Sweet Virginia bought me a yummy crispy Chinese pancake. My mouth was watering, couldn’t wait to gulp it down. Yet, must keep my good image and focus on driving.

Right after we drove onto the mountain, the cherry blossoms in full bloom along the two sides of the road and hills amazed me. It was just a week before we had an outing here when no flowers were seen. Now, they were everywhere, so enchanting flourishing in pride and glory. The mountain was full of people because it was the last day before schools begin, yet not very crowded as it was a weekday after all. We strolled in YMS park awhile, took some pictures, then went to a private patio for another photo shooting. We didn’t sit down to rest because it was the only way to get more to see. To feast my eyes on the mountain scene, even my favorite snacks couldn’t lure me.

While the sky was still clear and sun was still bright, we headed to the Camellia Exhibition. Gee! I had never know there were so many kinds of Camellia. Big ones and small ones; plain ones and glorious ones; all in different colors. Finally we got to sit down and enjoy the refreshments a little bit. I finally realized Virginia couldn’t care less for snacks while holding a camera in her hand. In the future I may have to get used to carrying less snacks for outing. By the way the coffee served there by coffee machine at NT$20.- only was not bad according to Virgina.

It was 4:30 pm, time to leave. Immediately we hit the road, we were caught in the traffic jam. It was OK, we didn’t have to rush. We had two other things to do before calling it a day. We drove to her parents’ shop in downtown, parked there and went to shop some hair bands/neck warmers because they were truly a good buy with lots of patterns and colors to choose from. Then Virginia brought me to an eater a few steps away to enjoy their tasty noodles plus some side dishes. It was her treat again. What could I say? This outing made my last day of winter vacation so enjoyable and fulfilling. When we arrived at her home and waved goodbye, it was about 7:30 pm. Thank Virginia again for bringing me such a perfect finale of my holidays.

Now I am expecting goldies reading gathering on Saturday, Feb. 14th to come. Speaking of it, I must finish reading the three articles Linda suggested to us:

Page 5: A better " I " contact.
Page 11: Tips from a legendary speechwriter.
Page 24: Humor can help you through.

so that I can offer my sharing in the discussion.

Trini

Pamela's Nature Box - Nature Cooking Resources 食在自然

Dear goldies,

It is unfortunate that I will miss the book reading gathering this weekend, as I would like to start the year by sharing and giving you all a book I’ve very much enjoyed. Like Trini, I normally do not appreciate books related to eating healthy, vegetarian and organic foods, but I quite enjoyed this one.

The writer is a good friend of my younger bother, in which she and her husband run a happiness farm”. At first sight, I was attracted by its nice photography and quality of paper. After reading it, I found it very intriguing. I like the style of her writing, by using very cute, causal and freehand words. It is much different than traditional recipe books because it emphasizes simple cooking without the need of “scale” to measure all materials. There are no certain standard forms of cooking, and there are many creative ideas in this book. The best thing is to teach us that cooking can be fun and easy. There are many nature cooking resources available to us. With the great tasting recipes inside the book, we can fully use on-season vegetables to make delicious meals. My bother has tried many dishes at her farm and highly recommends others to join the fun.

Not only is this a recipe book but also a prose book. I am touched by her strong passion, respect to nature’s offering, and desire to live with a happy spirit. No wonder she names her farm “The Happiness Farm”. I cannot wait to visit it.

Ladies, I hope you enjoy the book as much as I do. We should all head out to “The Happiness Farm” one day and take the time to eat meals full of love and enjoy nature’s blessings.

Pamela

Let's Clog! Clog "Sweet Sweet Smile" to Spread joyfulness

Let’s Clog! Clog “Sweet Sweet Smile” to welcome the New Year. This time we clogged in HsinDien Nursing Home. Dancing is the 2nd love of my life, yet finding time to do it regularly seems quite difficult. There are always so many more important things standing in my way and occupying my limited leisure time. We dance not to perform, but performing on stage helps us enhance our skills and master the steps. The other joy of it is that goldies would get together more to rehearse and do heart-to-heart chat.

It may sound unbelievable that I hadn’t been to any nursing home before. “Nursing Home” had been our chatting topic for a couple of times – the practical fact that we will have to face when our children can’t be around, or taking care of ourselves alone or with spouses becomes a hard task. Sherry has been keeping helping HsinDien volunteers regularly for quite some time and involving golddies in some special occasions. Goldies don’t confine themselves, and would break boundaries when chances knock on the door.

Three goldies, Lydia, Sherry and I, joined today’s activity. We were supposed to sing a song and perform clogging there. Others couldn’t get away from their office. To me, this would be the last episode of a string of activities we did in the long holidays with my goldy pals before the school opens.

It’s another early-rising day for me – early bird gets the worms. This time Lydia did the driving throughout the day. When I hopped in Lydia’s car, a huge beautiful firecracker caught my eyes.
Lydia said there’s another one even bigger lying in the trunk. Lydia borrowed them from the security of her apartment building all because of Sherry’s another crazy idea. Yet, I must say: what a brilliant idea! They certainly created a festival and cheerful effect on the stage. The dress code Sherry set was “Red.” Everyone had something red on. The glaring red on us made the spirit high and greatly excited the atmosphere. You will see how they worked from the photos and movie clips we made. (http://picasaweb.google.com/taipeitmtrini/0206NursingHomeActivity, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcIMBV13xKk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMDptoBWvR8 )

It was not until a few min. before the Ceremony began that I realized that we were not there to entertain the elderly. They will not be in the audience. It was actually a Certificate Awarding Ceremony for all the volunteers of Northern Territory in Taipei. All the participants were volunteer workers and they were there to entertain each other while receiving the Award from the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Each team provided one or two programs by either singing or dancing on the stage. We are one of nine teams. It was a very successful Ceremony. Every performing team charmed the audience with their talents. The interaction between the performers and the audience created by each team proved that they were all passionate and affectionate people with a big warm heart.

Though I didn’t get the chance to entertain the elderly this time, I believed there will be always some other opportunities. Actually when we did rehearsal outside the Auditorium, some elders sitting at the corridors enjoyed our dance and gave us a big applause. In a way, we served our purpose of being there though not to all of the elderly.

After the ceremony, each of us received a rich lunch box. How thoughtful they were! Then Sherry led us; Lydia, me and two other HsinDien volunteers; to a classic restaurant名流水岸 sitting right by BiTan/Green Lake and generous treated us an afternoon tea. The pastry, always my favorite, was on the house. Nobody else except we five occupied the whole extended coffee area. It’s not difficult to guess how noisy we were and how encouraging it was for us to let loose ourselves. The place became our exclusive photo studio. Interestingly, Sherry’s big wig turned into everyone’s prop for a hilarious photo effect. When we finally had enough play there, we noticed that actually the restaurant was fully packed in the dining area. We were simply too into our game.

After having enough fun there, Sherry suggested that we went for a tour into the mountain to see the lake, river and flowers. A new discovery, if not because of the tour, I would never have known such a place. Sakula blossoms were in full bloom, so many along the road. I thought this was an exclusive scene of YMS. The廣興公園was amazingly picturesque, surrounded by the 平廣river with lots of trees. It was another photo shooting time. How wonderful it would be if we can bike there someday. I already included it in my plan.

We didn’t stay there long as it was getting late and it was drizzling. Suggested by Sherry’s friend Amy, we took a detour into HsinDien. Shortly after we got into the car and hit the road, a flower
garden like a secret garden caught our eyes. Being attracted by so many colorful and beautiful flowers, we got off the car again to take a good look of all those amazingly beautiful flowers. We ended up taking some more photos and having our hands full of flower plants. They were mostly auspicious plants for bringing luck and fortune to us in the new year of Ox. This time, our tour definitely came to an end and we called it a day. Lydia dropped off one after another leaving me accompanying her all the way to her home where my car parked.

While writing the minutes, I realized that my winter vacation was practically over. How reluctant I am to see it end so fast, so soon. Next time, it’ll be our reading activity on Feb. 14th at 名流水岸 for which almost all of us will join. And when we will go hiking again? Definitely in March soon after Pamela comes back from China.

Trini

Walking 百拉卡步道 to 大屯自然公園 through二子坪

It was the 4th day in a roll that I suffered from insufficient sleep. Who cares? It only happens once a year to have three outings in five days, and it must be arranged during Chinese Lunar New Year. Hiking from 二子坪to大屯 is our program today. I got up even earlier as I didn’t have time to prepare for it last night after finishing the article regarding our HuaLien trip for the blog.

Haste makes waste. I left my cell phone home recharging and there was no way to go back and take it after I realized this catastrophe caused by my careless nature as being late and letting others wait is unforgivable. I had a bad feeling on the way to the MRT stop that I hadn’t been before. Unexpected things may still happen even to a perfect planning. Remember Murphy’s Law? I won’t elaborate here in details to bore you. Just believe me that my hunch was right. Fortunately I was forgiven by my friends’ big hearts and sweet understanding.

Today there were five of us made it to the hike, Lydia, Moses, Pamela, Virginia and I. It was perfectly understandable as New Year Holidays were over. Other goldies and our friends had to work. Lydia and Virginia drove to YMS in one car; Moses, Pamela and I drove in another car. Then we five drove to 二子坪 in one car. How joyful we were having each other’s company to chat freely. The mountain looked much quieter and even vaster with only few visitors,. The view is sensational under the clear sky. How lucky that we had excellent weather for all our three outings!

I put on my new hiking wear, layer after layer. I wanted to show others especially Virginia that I am serious about doing things right. Interestingly I found Pamela and Moses put on their new hiking wear, too. The most amazing thing was that Pamela chose the same style and same colors as I did. See, goldies even have the same taste! Virginia was truly satisfied with the sight and asserting that we would have a better experience in the right outfit.

Along the way, Virginia pointed at those interesting plants and told us their names. What an interesting lesson and bonus we got from the outing! We hiked slowly reading the plants and enjoying the view along the track. Still it only took us about an hour to arrive at the大屯park . The park was so clean, spectacular and well maintained. We saw a big fish, and two mandarin ducks. Where were other fish? We tried to use our imagination. To our big surprise they were two male ducks and were swimming shoulder to shoulder! What a pity that I forgot to ask Virginia to take a picture of it. The small lake was lovely. After taking some pictures on the grass and some refreshments at the 大屯Nature Park , we took a bus back to the place we parked our car. I eagerly suggested we walked back, but no one seconded.

Then Virginia took us to a lovely tea house 老聃的家/觀園樓that was run by one of her park-volunteer friend to have a light yet scrumptious lunch. The dessert, roasted yam, was also finger licking. It had a very good broad view from the table we sat at - almost half of the whole YMS. Of course Virginia chose for us, after all she had being a regular customer here. It was time to leave after two hours eating, and chatting. We talked a lot about other activities we can do, about other activities our friends do. I incidentally challenged others with my big bragging mouth. I definitely have to pay for the big mouth I have sooner or later.

Our outing hadn’t finished yet. Except Lydia who had to run some other errands, we went to
get some more hiking wear. We are not shopaholics, just wanted to make sure we have enough and well functioned stuff we need for more challenging hikes.

What a hike! What a park! What a day! After the two warm-ups, 冷水坑 to 擎天崗 and . 百拉卡步道 to 大屯自然公園,we are ready for our next more challenging goal, 小油坑--->豋七星山頂--->冷水坑. Exciting, isn’t it? Get ready and join us!

Trini

A Fantastic Train Tour to HuaLien 台鐵遊輪列車花蓮遊

Right after our hiking on YMS yesterday, we went on a train trip to Hualien Toroko and TienSiang today. Overall speaking, the trip was as perfect as we expected. Only if the bus connection had been well controlled according to the schedule, it would have been an impeccable one. Appreciating through the glasses the breathtaking seashores, cliffs and rocky mountains passing by while the train and bus were moving, strolling along the road, walking stairs, enjoying plum and cherry blossoms/Sakura, and other flowers, witnessing a virtual operation of fishery, chatting, teasing, taking photos, etc, kept us busy head over heels all the way.

It’s Virginia’s contribution again to get all of us on the train with her 1st hand information, and quick and proficient action. It was another warm and sunny day. I felt quite hot wrapped in layer-after-layer clothes. Except Virginia and her friends, Lydia, Pamela and I all wore too many. We simply misinterpreted Virginia’s reminding – layer after layer, and put on a sweatshirt, a sweater or heavy clothes, and a jacket or an overcoat. She meant a short sleeve shirt, water repellent clothes plus a windproof jacket.

Worrying that I couldn’t get enough sleep like the night before, I went to bed earlier around 12:00 am. Luckily this time I fell asleep soon. Five hours sleep is pretty enough for me to restore the energy I need for the whole day fun. Virginia wanted us to gather at the Taipei Train Station at 6:30 am. To play safe and because of parking concern, I decided to board in CiTu and meet them on the train. The downside was that I’d lose the excitement of crazily mutual greetings and suffer from one-hour-less chat with them. Don’t know how the train worked, it took 40 min. to get to CiTu from Taipei. I waited for about half an hour on the platform alone. I even made a call to Virginia being bored of waiting. Their laughter on the other side almost killed me thinking that they were having fun whilst I was standing alone in the open air and under strong winds.

Actually while waiting for the train, a student-like young man kept talking to me after seeing me walking to a station master for a double check. I am not used to talking to strangers, still tried to be patient and polite to comment a few words when necessary. He was alone because his friend overslept. He had been taking this kind of train tour many times because it was so cost-effective, fascinating and enlightening. When the train finally pulled in, I had a sudden whim to take a photo with him to keep track of the moment. Surprisingly he fled away throwing words with a raised voice that he didn’t like to take photos. What a disappointment!

I hurried on the train looking for my pals. What a relief seeing them! The greeting was same crazy and exciting as I pictured. How comforting to find that everything went very smoothly. I was the only one who wore a skirt, a little bit embarrassed. Well, what can I say? I just can’t stand to wear jeans or pants all the time.

I started eating while quacking with them, had to consume some fruit and snacks to reduce the
weight of bags after all I hadn't eaten anything solid after getting up. Of course I caught their disapproving eyes. I was so full of spirit that wouldn’t want to give anyone the peace of mind. If I had driven them crazy, they must have hid it very well.

The rest was more or less like I described at the beginning. What’s more to add was the final climax taking place at the small fishing port – 佳豐定置漁場. Picking beautiful stones, watching the waves while waiting for the raft to be tided over to shore was completely a brand new experience to me. After the fish were hauled to the stand, visitors crowded in front of it to take a good look of all the different kinds of fish, how they were processed and decided what to buy. I must say it’s a good strategy to attract tourists to bring better business and prosperity to the place. While visitors were still lingering at the stand/market, we headed to the woods of coconut trees nearby and took turns to pose or model for hilarious photo effect. Another crazy scene we created.

We didn’t try the food made of the fish because we ordered a dinner box on the train in the morning. How could we miss the dinner box supplied by Taiwan Railways? After having enough pictures, we boarded the train. Time to go home. On the way back, I was rather quiet
as it was dark, passengers must be very tired. Also I chose to be a good listener listening to the sharing given by Pamela. Virginia felt weird about my silence and found it boring without my high-pitch voice. How comforting!

The train pulled in Taipei Train Station. We looked tired and waved goodbye to each other. Lydia went home. Pamela went to her office for a short stay to see if there were urgent matters to tend to. What a responsible and capable professional woman! Owing to this pleasant and exciting experience, I will definitely join this kind of trip again as long as I can put my work aside.

My day hadn’t finished yet. Virginia and her friend took me to a department store to buy some hiking wear. She couldn’t stand to see me dressing so ridiculous for hiking or mountain climbing because we have another hiking activity on Monday, Feb. the 2nd. My shopping frenzy was aroused. I walked out the store with two more big bags in my hands.
This time Virginia didn’t laugh at me, because I was getting prepared for our next hike led by her. Apparently I will never lack material to enrich this goldies’ blog.

Trini

Our Hike to 擎天崗

When was last time I went hiking? I can’t exactly recall. So, when the day of our 1st new-year hiking came, which I had been anticipating for a few weeks, anxiety overwhelmed me. What would the weather be like? What to wear? What to bring? What snacks I can prepare? The most haunting issue was what if I overslept? After a week’s undisciplined life indulging in overeating, oversleeping & idling time away, Could I get myself together all at once?

As expected, I got an insomnia and tossed about for several hours. I had a short two-hour sleep and struggled very hard to drag myself out of the bed after letting the alarm clock ring for god- knows-how-long.

Then everything went perfectly well. I was overjoyed when seeing our beloved T/Ms friend Moses, Pamela’s better half, joining us at the 1st lift stop. What do you know! He’s a very experienced hiker. Just seeing his equipment and accessories; standard backpack, right outfit/hiking wear, a hiking can plus a cool cowboy hat; I realized I was just an apprentice.

We had three cars; no more, no less; perfect for a good tailing control; the weather had never been so nice, sunny and clear; I felt fresh and was bursting with energy; traffic was awesome and timing was impeccable. The most exciting thing was that we had fourteen people eventually despite the disappointment that Irene and Michelle had to excuse themselves at the last min. Sherry was still in ChiaYi enjoying her vacation and doing embroidery there. Linda had to be with her family. What would you know? Two very heavy weight and popular T/Ms Harry Fong, DTM, and Harrison Lee, DTM, joined us, too! Lydia also invited her classmate Linda and her husband Jeffrey and sister Ana. So, there were:

Harry & Lydia couple, and Lydia’s couple friends Jeffrey, Linda & their sister Ana.
Harrison and Cecilia couple, and their son.
Moses and Pamela couple.
Gina, Kate, Virginia and Trini my humble self.

Hiking is a body-soothing and mind-freeing outdoor activity, hiking with a bunch of good friends under a pleasant weather is a precious joy and enchanting charm. The greatest of all was that we had a volunteer guide, also a passionate photographer, enlightening us all the way with elucidation spot by spot and tracking our footsteps with her sophisticated camera. Who’s she? Our dearest and coolest friend, Virginia!

We had to gather at McDonald on YungMingSan at 8:10 am. Incredibly we all arrived ahead of time. First three couples were pretty early to enjoy their breakfast there. But where were Kate
and Gina? Though it was till too early to worry, I couldn’t help wondering because Virginia, our guide/leader, was pushing others to drive first in case of a fully packed parking place on such a holiday. I made a call to Kate trying to find out where she and Gina were and to tell her come to my car directly. This unbelievable lady said on the other side of the phone that they were still in bed. In bed? No kidding! How could it be? I couldn’t believe my ears. “Didn’t you set the alarm clock?” I asked. “We have to go without you, sorry,” I said decisively. There are critical moments that a stony heart has to override sweetness and kindness, and this is it. I should be able tell that Kate was trying to fool me. Her playful nature and bad genes always seek chances to fool nice and caring people like me. She and Gina were just a few steps behind us when playing the joke on me! In a few min. we were all at冷水坑 parking lot ready to head for擎天崗.

Alone the track, we joked, laughed and had photos taken while breathing the aroma of the fresh air and watching out for those slippery stones. It will take pages to describe it in detail. Maybe enumerating the features of our outing would be better to give an overall picture of the whole outing.

1. Awe-inspiring lessons: The nature introduction signs, the narration given by Virginia, knowledge sharing and brainstorming questions by our role model Harrison Lee, DTM.
2. An easy and well paved track: It tired no one, a perfect warm up for future hikes.
3. A Pleasant weather: Clear and sunny sky was unexpectedly interchanged with thin fogs out of
blue that misted our eyes and cooled us.
4. A right size group: It provided efficiency and flexibility to make arrangements and quick move.
5. Yummy snacks: Thoughtfully prepared and generously shared snacks were more than we could digest.
6. Both physical and intellectual experience: Everyone stretched their limbs as planned. The most unexpected surprise was the ecstacy we experienced from the intellectual tour to 石雕家王秀杞’s sculpture park. The last minute’s proposal brought up by Virginia made this outing even more delightful. We squeezed about an hour in between before heading for 32 Villa to visit the sculpture park. What a place! It’s unsophisticated, serene and artistic, full of works of art. The warm hospitable hostess, wife of 王秀杞, personally gave us a quick round tour in the park. Regretfully, we could
only afford a short stay. How reluctant we were to leave.

7. Luxurious tea: 32Villa was the last venture of our outing. Actually the whole program first originated from Pamela’s proposal of visiting the villa and strolling around the vicinity. It turned out to be a part of the outing and the last place to explore and relax ourselves. It’s luxurious in every aspect; in its layout, decorations, service and price. We had afternoon tea with snacks only. We didn’t dine there because of time concern, too. Harrison, Dr. Owl, challenged us again with a serious issue involved everyone in even the manager there. I don’t believe he will forget us ever. Will we visit the villa gain? Maybe, who knows? At this moment I’m pleased to say that I went, I saw and I enjoyed.

To conclude our outing, I must say happy hours pass especially fast. It brought us a sweet memory. Without Virginia and my friends, these fun hours wouldn’t happen. See all the interesting photos we took? (click the link on Virginia, Harry & 石雕家王秀杞’s) Having this wonderful beginning, we will definitely do it again and again until we finish setting foot on every beautiful corner of Taiwan. So far we already planned two other trips; tomorrow to Hualien, Toroko and TienSian by tour train and bus, next Monday Feb. 2nd to hike from 二子坪to 大屯.

Trini