more from tassie wedding
I’ll admit it. We’re an insular, self-sustaining couple who don’t pay enough heed to our family or friends most of the time, but we’re grateful that they’re willing to persevere and continue to make the effort that we, invariably, do not. The catalyst for this soul bearing admission is our wonderful friends Chad and Cathy. Chad organized a meal out with Cathy, us and Doug and Jerri, Cathy’s parents, on Friday night. We, of course, could have done this on myriad other occasions, but partly through a learned inertia or just plain laziness, we have not. Anyway, enough self-flagellation! What a fantastic night we had! We went to “Le Casanova”, a relatively new Moroccan/French restaurant right here in Tienmu, off the Tien Mu North Rd and right from the moment we walked in, we knew it would be sensational. There was an unmistakable waft of spice in the air, just a touch of hint of flavours to come and beautifully set tables bordered on one side by plump, exotic looking cushions. The owner/operators have done a superb job in decorating the place in authentic style and after a couple of beers and the first couple of our 5 courses; we were whisked away from Taiwan to “restaurant anywhere”. We enjoyed the mouthwatering food, indulged in some Moroccan specials, like Tanjines, a glazed conical shaped pot in which food was slow cooked for 14 hours to be presented as the tenderest of meats bathing in the most sensuous of sauces. Calamari as the best I’ve ever tasted, Moroccan salads bearing a resemblance in look and taste to a patty of richly flavoured salsa dip, all with the freshest of ingredients. Crème Brulee or flambé banana for dessert was followed by Moroccan coffee, served in a small, hand-hammered silver teapot and hand etched glass cups. We enjoyed lovely relaxed conversation; Cathy’s parents are kind and loving people, we can understand so much better now why she’s so delightful. Meanwhile, Jerri had slipped out to pick up the cinema tickets that Cathy had booked. A great service online as I’ve mentioned before, the only drawback, a necessity to pick up the tickets ½ an hour before the show starts.
Full of hearty cuisine, just right for a mild winter’s night, we then taxied down to Warner Village to watch the very enjoyable “Shall We Dance”. This is a re-make of an excellent Japanese movie of the mid-90s of the same name, which I used to show my students of Japanese back home. I hope a few of them see this most recent version, as Hollywood has been amazingly faithful to the original. I had to pinch myself a few times, especially in the non-speaking scenes, as the setting, lighting and cinematography were not just close, but exactly the same. The Japanese version was a touch unresolved at the end, but this version flicked through the characters’ current circumstances and it worked quite well. It was a delightful evening and started off an excellent weekend.
We’ve also enjoyed a terrific full coverage of the Australian Open on Star Sports. We both really like Lleyton Hewitt; that Mcenroe-esque sense of outrage and the fighting spirit he displays overrides any misgivings we have about the constant “come ons” etc. He has really bulked up, the added muscle seem to give him a certain gravitas that was lacking a few years ago. ABC Asia Pacific gives us some highlights of the cricket, although full coverage of these games is something I really miss. If they covered the one dayers and a few tests, why, I don’t know if we’d ever have to come home!
The lacklustre quality of the surf over here, however, always reminds me of greener pastures (or bluer, cleaner pools!) back home. We traveled to Jinshan on both Saturday and Sunday and although we got a few waves early on Saturday before the wind turned, the hour-long trip each way hardly seemed worth it. Sunday was smaller and blown out and the few degrees drop in temperature didn’t help make it more appealing. Carl and Tobes were out on Sunday as well, so we had a good chat and a laugh at least. Tobes is an affable American who’s taught at the school for many years and he is married to a Taiwanese woman. He has an amazing van all decked out with the latest and greatest, making our dented rusty Corona look that much more pathetic. Brian has just recently built a house here as well, so he’s a real long-term prospect, if not forever.
I have another stupefyingly dull 3 hours of my course to look forward to tonight (Monday) after an hour and a half meeting straight after school. I have one more session after tonight (next Monday) and then an online course and a final project to get my next 3 credit points. We have a break for Chinese New Year in just two more weeks. This is a chance to seek out a fabled and mysterious wave somewhere out near CKS airport and perhaps take another trip to the east coast………….we’ll wait and see.
I didn't take any photos this week, so a couple more from Tassie.