The final weekend before we go home is usually action packed, but it was a little less frantic than usual this weekend. On Wednesday we had scootered downtown to Joe the Jeweler on a mission and also zipped across town to Everich Duty Free store, taking up about a city block underground in the south east. I finally got a price for a friend on a duty free watch that he wanted, but the discount seemed negligible to us, so it was a bit of a wasted trip. We did, however, spot a pretty cool Mexican restaurant called Amigos on the way to another restaurant that we knew about, so ended up pulling in there and enjoying a very good set meal at a good price. Apparently, it has been there for year, unbeknown to us, so it was good find….always finding something new in the big city! It was great to sit and watch the elevated section of the MRT and the trains whizzing by “Logan’s Run” style…we always get a little “provincial shy” when about to go home and start to worry about the big Asian city stuff we’re about to miss!Friday night was the lower school party, but the highlight was having a few quiet drinks at the Qiyan Woo So beforehand with Gurecki and Lewy and the curious mannequin head known as “Craig”. Lewy has been carrying this head around since the late ‘80s and it shows as the five o’clock shadow and razor sharp side levers on Craig look very similar to a young George Michael in “Wham” days! Anyway, it was pretty good fun, and Craig’s rare airing continued at the lower school do up at Shann Garden’s Mongolian BBQ, high in the hills behind Beitou. We enjoyed a spectacular view of an approaching storm as it swept inexorably closer to our eagle’s perch until we were engulfed in a violent and exciting tropical downpour. Under cover, but still outside, it was a spectacular show.
Today, I’ve been to a team brunch to farewell my close teaching colleague Jerry who is retiring this year. She is Cathy’s mum (Chad and Cathy), so I’ve had a close teaching link with their family for a long while as when Chad left, I took over team teaching with Jerri the following year. I’ll really miss her…she is quite amazing: a week away from retirement and she’s still the consummate professional, concerned about the kids academic progress and patient as a saint…how doe she do this??!! We had brunch at a “silver service” style restaurant which felt really weird as we were all dressed for the pulsating heat that has developed here in the last couple of weeks, in Ts and shorts. Of well, it was typical Taipei in a way…always bizarre! One of the party brought a bottle of Moet brut for a toast and when people were leaving it sitting in the ice bucket only 2/3 drunk, I asked if anyone wanted it. Then followed a very funny scooter ride home, with me gripping the bottle between by feet, trying to avoid all the bumps in the road, with tissues rammed down the neck of the bottle to try to avoid major spills. Cass was much chuffed with the unexpected surprise! Cassy has been cleaning, washing, reading and watching French TV ( and getting some of the quiz questions right...I can't even do that in English!!) most of the weekend along with an extra trip on very crowded buses back to Joe's...she's a Taipei native commuter now!
We’ve got about 5 million jobs to do this week between teaching assignments. It’s always hard to shut down your life for two months, but still have it ready to ramp straight up again when we get back. Wish us luck…we’ll need it! Photos: Craig and the boys have a drink, Virgil up close. The last photo is a strange sight I stumbled across in the hinterland behind Sanji when coming back on a “short cut” the other week. With the coast in the distance, this mausoleum stands tall with various other ornate graves on the surrounding hillside. To get an idea of the size, they are tour buses parked at the base.