Quick one today as I am actually at work, in a little lag time after lunch.
Not terribly much to report apart from the fact that Cassy had a very interesting day on Saturday. I didn’t do anything much at all on the weekend: we both decided it was because we had conferences with students and parents all day Thursday and Friday. It is very enervating meeting with parents as any teacher knows, and a solid two days can really catch up with you later. In saying that however, we also marveled again at just how great these kids are: it really is a delight to be teaching most of them.
Cassy had arranged with her friend Kathy, to visit a shop in downtown Taipei which makes beautiful bags from leather and other materials. She had heard about it some time ago, but Kathy was kind enough to chaperone her down as it is a bit hard to find. Off the MRT at Chungshan station and down a labyrinth of back alleys till, nestled in among lots of other tiny non-descript Chinese-looking shops lay the bag shop. When Cass got home, she was just so excited: tales of rack upon rack of beautiful handcrafted bags of all shapes and sizes with the added bonus that the craftsman would copy any bag that you bring. Cass has a small Coach handbag which she ordered in a different colour and Kathy got the same. I think Cassy is hoping she’ll draw one of the girls in our annual Christmas draw as she knows she’ll be able to get them something really beautiful and good value for money! (home now and continuing…)
After that, they made their way to two different “2 buck mega stores” straight from Japan. We have one tiny outlet down in Mingde Rd near our house, but Cass reports that these stores are like the K-Mart of $2 shops…just awesome in terms of floor size and range of products! Of course, nearly everything in there is completely useless, but at the time, it all looks like “must-have” product. Cass came home with a bulging bag full of goodies, some of which, I have to admit, looks pretty good! She spent the princely sum of about $30A and had a LOT to show for it.
On Saturday night, we experienced, for the first time in a long time, a long ride through the city at night on the scooter. Wow, what a heart starter!! We were on our way to and from the delicious Turkish delights down near the Sherwood and just soaked up the atmosphere on the way. Bright lights of the city, 200 scooters just going full pelt from every set of lights like so many mechanical bees on speed, and the dodgem car rules of the road over here made for exciting times: it was almost better than the final destination. We ate some great shish kebabs, took some chicken pides for takeaway and had a great night.
Sunday, we went to see the surprisingly impressive “The Prestige” at Miramar. Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine…great actors carrying an unusual and impressive screenplay and a premise for a film that I cant compare to any other. Suffice to say, that while very different, it almost reached the heights of excellence that we’d enjoyed from “The Departed” just a few weeks ago. Our expectations for the film were mediocre at best, so we were pleasantly surprised.
Photos: I was asked to act as Dr. Lou Knee for a third grade science project and I was happy to oblige! Patriotic flag on the centre strip of a main road. Cass in Takashimaya electrical department. The girls perched looking at birds out the back door.