I normally refer to our weekends here, as the weeks seem to become consumed with work, exercise, humdrum errands and jobs, a bit of study and some relaxing. This week however, I have to report a rather significant, if very small triumph that happened after school early in the week. Our air conditioner in the bedroom was finally called into service, even though we do tend to wait as long as possible. (This seems a little strange to me: lying in a pool of sweat to save a couple of global warming gasses but flying all over the world at the drop of a hat using about a billion litres of jet fuel…anyway, I digress!). It kind of worked but decided to drip water all over the floor. I worked out what I needed to say at the air-conditioning shop, tried it out and refined it a touch with one of the secretaries at school, then bravely entered the shop after school! It all worked and I was able to say the A/C was broken, it was dripping water, could a repairman come to my house, arrange a time and date, supply my address and phone number, all in Chinese. When the guys actually turned up ready to fix it (which they subsequently did) rather than with a brand new one or something, I knew it had actually worked. Dave is stoked!
We also went and did our bi-annual haul of kitty litter through the week. We take the car down to Carrefour, clean them out of every bag of kitty litter they have then haul it back to our place and up the three flights while leaving the car straddled across the driveway opposite. Then back to the school’s underground car park with car until we take it out again on the weekend.
I went to camp with my little kiddies on Thursday and Friday and it was OK. It’s certainly not my favourite time of year, but the kids were really good and I had the boys control pretty much to myself, which I like, as I set the ground rules strong but fair and everyone ends up getting a good night’s sleep. It was unbelievably hot though and air conditioners are certainly not part of the camp experience!
Cassy has been a social butterfly this week as the end-of-year farewells/parties start to build up. On Tuesday she farewelled a colleague with a few glasses of champagne, as is tradition after the humanities meeting at school (that was your replacement KP) then was off again to a special BBQ night at Wendel’s on Wednesday to catch up with the great Cathy F. who had flown in specially to attend TAS legend Ira’s retirement party on Saturday. Cass really enjoyed the time she got to speak with Cathy: she has always liked her and found her to be exactly the same, but even more fun and relaxed and loving retirement in Portland. She’s invited us to visit, so you never know! Cass then went out with her steering committee buddies on Thursday night and reported that the food at the Far Eastern was even better than usual and she quite enjoyed the experience as she was down the “boys’ end of the table where the conversation was a little more boisterous. She was ready for a quiet night Friday when I got back from the wilds so I had a few cleansing ales with my mates, Wal and Gurecki down at Uli’s on Friday night. It was stifling heat and we had a few more than usual, so before we knew it, all sorts of hours had flown by!
Our weekend was a little bit freaky actually, as everything we did tended to have a touch of Italy about it, a bit hard to do living in Taipei. Saturday, we made it across to the Miramar cinema and saw the quite silly “Angels and Demons”. I know now why I couldn’t bear to read more than a few pages of these books: the words “glaringly obvious” and “oh, der!” spring to mind! Apart from the terribly stilted script, we did manage to enjoy the wonderful shots of Rome and spotting all the places we’d been just a few months ago. Lunch at “Auburgine” was tasty and I bought a pair of Nikes to replace my joggers which are getting a little step weary.
Sunday, I went to the doctor (eye infection) on the way to the new SOGO, which has just opened. Of course hordes of people were there, all of them just like us, rubber necking and gawking at all the “stuff”. There were all sorts of goodies in the specialty markets including Italian Chianti of all descriptions. We got pastrami sandwiches for lunch and had biscotti as a bonus. We discovered a great looking Italian restaurant on the 8th floor and a genuine gelato stand! All very Italian and it looks like the SOGO will be a great hit. There is also a small branch of the very famous Taipei institution Din Tai Fung, so tasty dumplings and noodles might also be on the menu soon. We’ve been busy: lots of partying, lots of reports and other end of year stuff and this week looks pretty hectic too. Photos: Cass in front of the amazing range of Australian beef and lamb at Sogo, crowd shots inside (crazy!), an outside shot, Virgil relaxing and V&M stretching in the heat.