Lifestyles of the rich and famous Taiwan style? I had a glimpse, just a glimpse, on Friday night. Dave is a science teacher here in the high school and also an avid fan of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). Wal and I are the number 1 and number 2 fans and with Dave not far behind, he’d been threatening to have us around for a “fight night” for many months and we finally all got our act together to make it happen. I do all the torrenting of the fights, burn them on DVDs and then we pass them around. As you can imagine, none of our wives or girlfriends are massive fans (!), so it’s great to be able to dedicate a night.Dave’s wife is a minor celebrity here in Taiwan. She has been in the public eye for decades, starring on soapies and talk shows and the like, and often draws lots of whispers behind hands when we’re out together. Bi Bi and Dave have just bought a fantastic apartment/house in a fairly exclusive little enclave out towards Wugu (where I got famously lost once!) and are fairly protective of their privacy as you can imagine, so we felt quite honoured to get the invite. The house is brand new and on 6 different levels, so it is certainly very different! The main area where we watched the DVD was quite amazing; with soaring vaulted ceilings in place of what could have been a mezzanine. It’s a little slice of decadent planning that works incredibly well. The whole place is fitted out brilliantly, and even though each level is relatively small, there are lots of clever design ideas and storage solutions. There’s even a little rooftop deck for relaxing or meals al fresco…the whole place was just amazing. Dave pointed out various celebrities’ houses on the way out: Wal and I felt quite out of place!
After that excitement on Friday and a very late night courtesy of 6 straight hours of UFC viewing (!), we decided to have a fairly low key Saturday. The surf was almost non-existent, although Dan texted me from the east coast with news that there was a small wave, but not worth the battle with the weekend drivers. On Saturday night I geared up for ordering our first home delivered meal in Chinese. I practiced what I wanted to say and had asked for takeaway then home delivery and started to order when the woman suddenly switched to the most perfect English! Even though it was then very quick and easy, I felt a little cheated…I wish these people would let me practice. The only trouble is that they all want to practice any English they have as well. Oh well, I can’t be too disappointed: there are many opportunities where absolutely no English will be known or spoken. The Chinese food was really delicious. Apparently an apprentice from Taipei’s most famous and exclusive Chinese restaurant has left the fold and started up a little restaurant just down a few blocks from here. There are often lines of people outside, but the home delivery caper is a real beauty…just like the Happy Inn back home (kind of!)
On Sunday, we motored down to the cinema to see “Cassandra’s Dream” a Woody Allen film starring Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell. It was a little frustrating as both leads were quite wooden, almost farcically so at times and it felt as if they were on stage in a play. Allen’s films can have an air of live theatre about them and this one improved as the story evolved. The plot was excellent and we quite enjoyed it in the end. I must say it was the polar opposite of the last film I saw, John Rambo, and that can only be good!
We went down to FNAC and I came away relatively unscathed, wallet wise, with just two CD/DVD cases. I’m always rather impressed with my self control in places like this as I actually would like to buy nearly everything in the shop. Cassy made the very astute observation that I was always safe taking her to that shop: she wants to buy nothing in there at all! Home to watch the football: mercifully, the NRL competition has started almost straight on the back of the cricket season: too much sport is never quite enough!
Interestingly, as we have been watching “So you think you can dance Australia” over the week nights courtesy of more downloading, Cassy has been embroiled in the real thing. She has arrived home late from school a couple of times lately after dancing sessions with her female middle school colleagues, at first quite frustrated and later rather elated with learning all the moves. They are doing a song, “Soulja Boy”, changing it to “Gal” of course. I got a private showing of the dance and it’s pretty cool! She has some bling, a white t-shirt with appropriate Soulja Gal logo, a white peak cap and fancy white rimmed sunnies…..pretty cool! Cass is in the background here now saying, “That will give everyone who knows me a good laugh!”, but the show is on Friday, so all the excitement will be over then.
Photos: reprise from last week…Guandu temple, Tittot art museum, a brass band outside Danshui station and a rather amusing sign up “on the dyke” (Kathy that reference is for you!)