I have been taken over by iPod touch fever this weekend as I finally discovered latterly that I could indeed upgrade my iPod’s software to partially replicate many of the iphone’s functions. That’s the trouble with being a sad tech geek who eagerly anticipates the “next big thing”. Even though I bought what could well have been the first iPod touch sold in Taiwan (after having been on a waiting list for a month: I know, if it wasn’t so sad it would be tragic), I also fell victim to the geek’s curse of early uptake. Of course to boost the initial flush of sales, the 2nd and 3rd generations can do all sorts of things the early models can’t. Anyway, the super new software update has allowed me to put all sorts of applications on the iPod as well as finally working its GPS capability which until now had lain frustratingly dormant somewhere in all those tiny little diodes and chips (I obviously have NO idea what I’m talking about!). Suffice to say, that apart from my incredibly romantic side coming to the fore on Saturday evening, Cassy has been an iPod widow apart from the few times when I’ve exhorted her to check out the “wonders” of my various “apps”…she’s a very patient woman.
We celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary in style on Saturday evening. My aforementioned romantic streak extended to booking the famous Taipei 101’s Diamond Tony’s “Panorama” restaurant for our dinner date. Yes, this is the same restaurant I named in a drinking session a few years back, the same one we went for our 20th anniversary and I believe, even though 101 has just slipped into 2nd place as the world’s tallest building, it is still the world’s highest restaurant from the surrounding ground. I had booked a booth this time on the south side, which had a great view of the city action to the south and west, so even though not quite as special as last time, it was still very spectacular.
We got all dressed up and cabbed down, were let in by a security guard to a huge private lobby on Hsin Yi Lu, before clicking across the vast marble interior to an escalator. The check in girls escorted us to the first elevator which took us to the 60th floor in no time at all, before we changed elevators to get to the 85th floor. It was all very swish, as we were greeted by name at every juncture then shown to our booth. This restaurant is all class, but somehow without the slightest hint of pretension: a good mix. The menu had changed a little (for the better) and all our courses (6 of them!) were superb. We had a 2005 Victorian Greenpoint Shiraz as an accompanying wine and the whole evening was fantastic. The décor in the place is just out of this world: the full size Venetian gondola as a bar centerpiece is exquisite and the amount of marble in this place rivals the most palatial of Roman venues.
Today, we’ve spent indoors pretty much watching the cricket streamed live from Hobart. The subscription I took out a few weeks back is really paying off: unbidden, the people who run the site have just increased the size of the feed so the picture is even clearer when we beam it onto the TV. Wow, I just love technology! Before I go too geek nerdy again, I’ll finish the tech talk with just one more comment. Using Facebook via the iPod to update my status produced some really unexpected results. Heaps of people commented on the update concerning our anniversary, friends and ex-students alike…it was really quite touching. When I need a little boost next time I’ll have to remember that!
Photos are all from before, during or after our Panorama experience: portrait before we left, Taipei by night 85 floors up, vertigo inducing urinal experience, the gondola, Cass with some of her favourite wines and my Facebook page (double click on any image for a slightly larger version).
Stop Press: We just received an articulate and entertaining email from our nephew Michael and he tells us he just received a 3rd gen iPod touch for his recent (12th) birthday. I despair of the hard work I'll have to do to keep up with these digital natives!