There were about 5 million issues to deal with at work this week, so when Friday came around, I was very happy to head up the hill for Josh’s farewell party. Wal and I had helped to organize and we booked a couple of rooms at “The Top”, a restaurant/bar at, of course, the top of Yangminshan. It boasts a commanding view of Taipei City from its spot perched right on the edge of precipitous cliffs just under the imposing Taipei Cultural College, which really is at the top! Each room is like Bedouin tent with lounges and silk cushions…very flash! It was a great night and the fact that it rained non-stop which then led to a blackout for a number of hours added to the adventure…we were drinking beers and chatting away in near darkness, all the while watching a massive storm cell roll over, and eventually envelope, the city. It was very cool. Josh had a great night and Wal was pleased with the organizational side of things, so it worked out well all round.Virg ‘n Mary have had the wobbly boot on for the majority of the week and have alternated between bizarre pacing, long stints of sleeping and disturbing hissing and growling at one another: where were our little loving sisters who normally wouldn’t let the other out of their sight? We were extremely alarmed as Virgil (the smaller brained one!) seemed to have completely forgotten her sister. I am happy to report that order has been restored and they’re once again the best of mates.
Cass went down to the Jade Market today with Kathy and Kristin and they had a great time wandering around and looking at the wares before Kristin was called away to mind her babies by a husband who forgot another appointment and Kathy needed to venture on to furniture stores Ikea and Piin for some reason. That left Cass to wander by herself, and she methodically sought out a few items that she was hoping to find.
They preceded this journey with a beautiful Thai meal at Chiang Mai and the acid test, the green curry chicken, passed the test with flying colours. It’s a classic yardstick isn’t it when you know that all Thai restaurants will have a few standards like this: it makes it very easy to compare and contrast. The restaurant is down in the Yong Kang restaurant/ shopping district in the south east of the city: we’ve previously explored around that area with great success, so the good run continues!
That kind of tired that sleep just won’t fix is on all of us here at the moment. This place builds and builds to an ultimate crescendo and we’ll need some time when we get home to just collapse, chill out and recover. Only 2 and ½ weeks now!
I’ve included a photo of a very rare English menu I spotted yesterday…I’m sure some of our readers think we’re exaggerating when we talk about local “slop kitchens, but this is one of the first I’ve seen with an English menu. Some of these items, accompanied by the most nauseating of odours, could surely only be attempted by the very brave or very stupid! Other photos are of Cass with a drugged out Mary, the oft written about but rarely seen Miramar Cinema building, a zoomed in and labeled long shot of “The Top” and early days at "The Top" before the rain set in.