I started wracking my brains about 6 months ago as how I could try to emulate or better our tenth wedding anniversary when our 20th rolled around, like it did last Wednesday. The trouble was that the bar had been set fairly high. Ten years ago, we had arrived at the Montparnasse railway station in Paris in the morning and we had settled into our hotel in our very first taste of Paris in the morning. By mid afternoon, I’d shown Cassy a spot between trees from the Louvre forecourt where she saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time and we subsequently ate dinner in the big restaurant in the Tour.Taipei and a working week…..problematic! First thing was to get a high point…no higher restaurant anywhere in the world than those in the tallest building, the Taipei 101 ands perhaps no better than the restaurant I named, the Panorama (see Taipei Life Panorama story here). I had heard from others that the name in fact had been used and that the restaurant itself provided not only spectacular, jaw-dropping views, but superb Taiwanese/Italian fusion cuisine. Anyway, I booked many months back, had others ring and confirm my booking in Chinese and even snuck away once when we were downtown to confirm it in person.
I had one of Daniel’s flash Mercs waiting at the door and we were whisked down to the Hsin Yi area (“whisked” perhaps doesn’t best describe a 45 minute crawl in peak hour traffic!). The table was indeed the best in the house on a tiny corner position that looked both south and east and no one anywhere near us. The obtuse angles of each section of the 101 meant that you couldn’t see anything below as the window jutted out seemingly unsupported. Clouds drifted by on occasions below where we were sitting (!) momentarily obscuring the dancing lights below. It was pretty wild! The food came in 6 courses and even though we didn’t opt for the finest selection, it was of superb quality. Cass had a glass of Moet and we both enjoyed a bottle of Australian 2004 Green Point Shiraz. I think it was a pretty good attempt at matching the day ten years before…
We gave each other some presents too: somehow, Cassy had squirreled away a massive, very weighty and magnificent tome on the late great Sidney Nolan in her bag when we left in August…no wonder we were over the baggage limit! My beloved Nolan “Kelly” book had been destroyed in the June flood (along with all our other books) so it was perfect choice. Cassy has refused to get any domestic help for years as she worked fulltime, (unlike every single other person here who we know of) to help fund the purchase of her 20th anniversary ring…a spectacular two carat emerald cut diamond. It is a beautiful colour and virtually flawless…even I can appreciate how beautiful it is. She’s absolutely stoked with it.
Better still, we had both booked in our two personal days for the Thursday and Friday, so we were really able to relax and enjoy ourselves. The personal days can be taken any time in the year for any reason at full pay…a great idea and one that obviously everyone is grateful for. We booked the cricket test series some time back and we settled in to watch all the action. It proved to be a super compelling game and we watched nearly every ball right through until Saturday, most of the day, Cass and Virg’n Mary content to snuggle on the lounge together with blankets and throws. We only stirred really to have something to eat! After all these days of slothful laziness, we both feel like getting out and doing something, so we’re actually quite looking forward to work tomorrow.
Last weekend, I neglected to write the blog as I was still a bit “blogged-out” after three marathon sessions in a week to describe our trip. We managed to get out and about a bit and two shots here are of me slurping up some Vietnamese flat noodles at Madame Jill’s Vietnamese restaurant, a great find by Gurecki downtown which he put us on to. Other photos: Cass in the fairy lights at Gonguan, the spectacular toilet at Panorama which looks straight out from 85 floors up, a full size gondola in the middle of the restaurant, before we went out with my Nolan book and Cassy’s new ring.