Both Cass and I were involved in big end-of-year celebrations on Friday night, but mutually exclusive. The lower school party was at a new venue in the hot springs infested hills above the small town of Beitou, a comfortable bus or taxi ride north of the school grounds. It was a bit flasher than what we’d been used to and they didn’t quite know how to cater for a thirsty mob of teachers at their farewell party. Suffice to say, the buffet was just OK, the beer flowed until it stopped and wine was then drunk till it in turn ran out! By this time the last bus was leaving to head back down and the traditional singing and carousing was again in full swing. After requesting the bus to drop us off at the door of Patio 84, our group was further entertained for even more hours into the pre-dawn of Saturday.

Cass, on the other hand, began the night in rather couth fashion with cheese and crackers along with a glass or two of wine. They were having a little farewell for a departing colleague in one of the classrooms, yet said colleague did not appear! Slowly, the crowd whittled down till just Cass and Louise were left. A fellow Aussie, Louise shares Cass’s views on all sorts of issues and topics, so they had a great old time as they worked away on the bottles of wine remaining. For Cass, it was a really big night, as she is not usually imbibing to this extent. Suffice to say that both of us had a rather slow start to our Saturday!

An entertaining and friendly colleague, Tommy A, is leaving TAS after a long stint and working next year and beyond in Tanzania. He’s a great guy and we’ve got to know him particularly well as the number one fan of faculty band, QvQ, 3 of the band members also being in our book club. I had offered to help in some capacity to organize his farewell party so my services were required on Saturday afternoon/evening. After many years watching, my skills as a band “roadie” were about to be tested to the limit! Wally had his van loaded with gear and parked up the hill. I was to collect it, get Kenny G and his guitar, pick up a spare amp from another location and get all the gear way downtown to a new venue, Pipe. Wally was busy with graduation at school, so would meet us later. I had Kenny and also Juan on board. Juan was a classic character: a French speaking Cuban with limited English and Chinese, it was hilarious trying to communicate! His big African drum suited him, his dark skin, dreadlocks, sunnies and dripping jewelry all adding to the look. We were quite a sight as we sluiced through the middle of the city, dropping on and off expressways and cutting through frantically busy, Saturday night backstreets. Somehow, after a few misjudgments, I managed to find the place and we got all the gear unloaded and set up: it was tiring, but kind of exciting as well!

Pipe itself was a hidden gem. Housed in an old pump house way south of the city nearest to Gonguan station, it perches high above a tributary of the Damshui River. Inside, huge metal pumps dominate the room and impossible heavy chains and hooks still hang in their original positions from the vaulted ceiling. It sounds like a perfect venue for heavy rock, but it had been just a little too gentrified. Kenny decided the lights needed to be dimmed just so people couldn’t really see all the flash furniture! As the place began to fill up, I was already planning my exit. I was on duty from 4.30 in the afternoon, so I thought that 9.15 was a pretty good stint. I wasn’t really up for another big night and the lure of some off typhoon surf loomed large for the morning. Wally had already planned to leave the band van overnight and pick it up in the morning, so I was officially off duty. I walked to the station and got the MRT home: it was a long ride!

Sunday early morning came and went as we slumbered on: this year is really catching up with us. By the time we eventually roused ourselves it was 9 o’clock, and I’d missed Dan and Simon who were heading to Green Ball. We had our usual Sunday breakfast with clippings from the Herald (thanks Mum!) and then got a few supplies from Carrefour this afternoon. We’ve got a lot of jobs to do this week before we get on that plane on Sunday afternoon…wish us luck! Photos: I have a relatively big pullout class of 21 kids this year and here they are just a couple of days ago practicing their readers' theatre scripts. Various shots of Pipe and the bike path nearby. The last shot is the collection of paintings and art we just got framed by our local guy. He even framed my Indian puppets in a 3D job. They look great and best of all they cost a total of $100...couldn't get one done for that back home.

I'm sure their are no readers out there who are unaware of our status, but just in case: this blog will have its annual hiatus beginning today, all the way through till early August. See ya!

Both still suffering from various lingering illnesses, we haven't really done much at all in the last week, particularly this weekend. I've managed to catch some other kind of chest infection and Cass is still very enervated from the tiniest activity, so we've laid low. It was a bit of a shame really, as the usual end-of-year party weekends are in full swing and we were invited to go downtown to drink and eat with a really great group on Saturday night. I'd said we were about an 80% chance, but when the time came to make a call, we both decided we weren't really up to it!

We did drag ourselves out of the house for a few hours today to go down to the Shingong Mitsukoshi store and its associated Miramar cinema. We decided to watch "Fast Five", not really expecting too much, but we had seen the shorts and it looked pretty exciting. While no "Battleship Potemkin" or "Citizen Kane", (in fact the script appeared to be written for ventriloquist's dolls!), the action sequences (of which there were a plethora!), fast, glossy cars and beautiful people all round, meant it was a perfect piece of escapism for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Afterwards, we wandered across to confirm that one of our favourite restaurants, "Aubergine", had indeed departed from the basement of Jasper Villa, but a few interesting places had recently opened, including a branch of "Pho" at which we have eaten downtown a number of times. Looks like we might be swapping the Japanese curries for Vietnamese noodles if we want to eat in this particular 'hood in the future.

Cass bought a nice pair of patent summer sandals on the way out, so she was so pleased that I even witnessed one of those very rare sights in this household when we got home: the discarding of an old pair of shoes! A red letter day!

I've discovered my e-reader (Kindle style) can not only read and recognize all the myriad of file types it had originally promised, but also any book published on the .mobi extension, which is, of course, Kindle's and Amazon's exclusive domain. I've already downloaded a whole stack of titles that some kind souls have decided to share with the world. Just gotta love these Chinese made machines: they can do anything, even above and beyond their stated claims of expertise!

Our almost complete lack of engagement with the world this weekend meant a total lack of any photos, either on my phone or camera, but I scoured the files for a few that I've taken recently. These were originally considered unworthy, but they all have a certain appeal I think! Another reason I'm getting slack is that this will my second last blog this academic year: I'll write again next Sunday, but we'll be flying home the following Sunday. We're ready for it!

Sick bags and tissues at the ready, I supervised one of three mini buses as it negotiated the city traffic, the freeway and then the winding and precipitous mountain roads hugging the escarpments above Wanli township on the north east coast. Of course, I was off to Camp Taiwan with two of the third grade classes, the kids buzzing with excitement and the skies teeming with thick grey rain squalls!

I actually hated this yearly journey at one point in my time here at school and I've no doubt talked about it before. The previous incarnation of this trip involved parents accompanying, never a good formula for any kind of real structure, along with hauling food, cooking it, AND designing and running all the activities. Never mind the 24 hour supervision necessary. I shudder when I remember those days! Far more couth is the contemporary version, our role limited to as much or as little as we wish, ever mindful of the fact that our authority carries a lot more weight with the kids than the camp counselors'. It was pretty good despite the relentless rain, and the kids, although a slightly more difficult bunch this year than the usual, all responded well to the activities and the mild deprivations. The food is always great, so Katie, Michelle and I had lots of fun filling up at meal times!

My mate Gurecki celebrated his birthday on Friday as well, so after getting back from camp and a quick shower, I was down at Wendel's drinking big glasses of Erdinger with some of the core crew. Dave and Michael and John joined the inner circle of me, Wal and Gurecki. We had a great time there before rolling up the road to the brand new Bund 18 bar, a re-incarnation of the old Soo Who bar just a few shops down. I think they have plans to open some kind of eatery in the old bar which could be interesting for us as it is just round the corner. Bund 18 was all very trendy, maybe a little too trendy for us: the jury's out!

Cass has been the makeup supervisor for the middle school play all this week, culminating with the three big performances on Friday and Saturday night along with a big matinee show today. "Romeo and Harriet" has been a huge success, sell-out shows guaranteed from an especially large cast (that could be considered a little cynical?!). The trouble for Cassy has been the terribly debilitating illness she has suffered from all week. Not really recovering from the sickness she had last week, she succumbed to this latest virulence early on Monday. Visits to the doctor, lots of drugs and many days off work all seemed to be just interim measures as she was as weak as a kitten, just needing sleep and lots of it. Somehow, she dragged herself through all the performances, just starting to feel mildly better today after the show. It's been a very difficult week for her all round.

Just to get out and do something today, we decided to go to our very favourite restaurant, Din Tai Fung down in the basement of the new SOGO department store near our place. A pleasant and slow stroll down the backstreets was about all Cassy could manage, but I think the food was slightly restorative: it was delicious anyway! We have a professional development day at school tomorrow (translation: sans kiddies), so at least Cass will have an extra day without the rigour of the usual classroom to recover a little more.

Photos today are of my kids in the "orchard habitat" on the side of a rainy mountain, two of the kids I teach, part of our group for Gurecki's birthday, Din Tai Fung, and some rooftop gardens, Taipei style! I'm reading the entertaining Harlan Coben's "Long Lost" and Cass is reading "Revolutionary Road". Oh and hey, we'll be back in three weeks for our annual holiday!

I basked in the reflected glory from the triumphant Lower School Golf team this weekend. After a lot of trash talking for the past few weeks (mainly from the opposition I might add), the lower school boys whipped everyone up again, for the second year in a row and the only two years the divisional golf trophy has been fought for. I'm not on the team of course, as a complete non-golfer, however all my close mates are. The great Gurecki and Big Wol along with Dave M are the mainstays of our Friday night social club and all three are also members of my book club. Apart from that, I also work with Wol and Dave on Grade 3! Ando is the 4th member of the team, a long time friend and an irregular member of our social nights as well. I gained a great deal of vicarious pleasure on Saturday night after the big day as they had a few celebratory ales down at patio 84 andf their golf heroics became bigger and better with each passing anecdote! The sour note was the lack of anyone other players: the spoilsports had all suddenly found other things they had to rush off to, but regardless, the four champions still managed to have a great time. As you can see above, they made quite an entrance in their custom tailored uniforms: no doubt setting the sartorial as well as sporting benchmarks for next year's teams at the tournament.

Cass has succumbed to a virulent bug of some type this week so has been taking it kinda of easy this weekend. Despite her weakened state, she still seems to be insisting on doing all sorts of jobs; she just can't help herself! We did get over to Takashimaya on Saturday after the doctor's, so Cass decided she'd get just "a couple of things" at Jason's supermarket. Time and heavy bags later, we staggered up the stairs to the waiting scooter and home!

I went to the magnificent Monet exhibition again today, leaving Cass to have a restorative afternoon nap on the lounge in the slowly rising, drowsy heat of the early summer here. I took the scooter and after fueling up, I eventually found my way to the car-park, tucked around behind on a new entrance road at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The endless gigantic works from the Marmottan, our favourite gallery in Paris, just have to be seen to be believed. After innumerable viewings both here, in France and Italy and also back home, there is just something quintessentially "Impressionist" about Monet's works. A touch of easy class just burst from the canvases and it's impossible to identify what the "x factor" exactly is. Anyway, I'm always keen for a chance to lap up more of this type of genius, so there I was again today. We'll probably try to sneak another visit in before we go back for the summer (here) winter break, as the exhibition finale is the same date that we fly out in early June.

We've seen some great sites this week, not the least of which are tiny birds nests nestled under the eaves of buildings we pass as we walk to school each day. The baby birds are wide mouthed squawkers and mum flies in with juicy morsels for them at regualr rapid intervals. It's enervating watching the mother, but fascinating to see how quickly the screaming offspring grow and crowd the tiny nests. The photo above is really grainy, but you get the general idea. Also, check out the super young, plump baby strapped to mum's back as she cycles away from us on the way home: safety first?! Official soldier boys on their big bikes appear to mesmerize the average scooter guy beside them! The golf champions are resplendent in their tweed and dots, the Coldstone Creamery gets an awful long queue forming in the first burst of summer heat and some fine arts photos including an unintentionally "arty" shot taken illegally in the exhibition hall!

Cass had a delightful 4 days in Kuala Lumpur a couple of weeks ago and even though she was the official photographer, amongst other duties, I hadn't sighted any photos. Luckily I got hold of the USB drive today and purloined a few of the best that showcase not only the great bunch of kids at work and play, but also one of Cassy and Kristin together.

One of my mates over here, Brandon, had a big early 40th birthday bash here on Friday night. Somehow his wife had organised the whole thing and managed to keep it a secret, an even more exceptional task here in our rather small community of friennds and acquaintances. The usual suspects, me included, whisked him off to the golf driving range early before he was sent home to go out to dinner with Becky. She convinced him to have a drink at Patio 84 first, where he was surprised by a big group! The night rolled on in very merry fashion and it was great to catch up with a few people I don't normally run into. Cass was invited of course, but chose to stay home and watch the royal nuptials from go to whoa: a much better choice for her she decided! She gave me a full rundown the next day so I felt like I hadn't missed a second of all the pomp and ceremony unfortunately!

There is one day in the year that we dread above all others: the annual trip to the vets to have our two brown hairy babies dutifully vaccinated and teeth cleaned. This year due to their elderly status (they're now 7 1/2 believe it or not) they had to have a blood test first to see whether they'd be allowed to get anesthetized. Luckily they were, so we organized to get away in the day on Friday and bundle them into baskets and drive them to the vet. It's always funny looking back, but the stress for everyone concerned is rather palpable. The scramble to get them into the dreaded baskets has to be seen to be believed!! We picked them up on Saturday morning, but they were still slightly wobbly and hissing at us and each other. The young vet drew us aside when we arrived and at first, we weren't sure what was the matter: were the cats alright? He assured us they were, but wanted to relate a story from the night before. Apparently one of our two managed to achieve a feat no other animal has ever achieved in the history of their practice: manipulated the cage lock so skillfully as to open the door and escape!! The staff found them the next morning trying to hide in secretive separate corners of the shop, but luckily they got no further!

That drama aside, they were relieved to get back home and Cassy set about brushing them and fawning over them to within an inch of their lives. We did manage to get out for a great outing today, first trying an Italian Trattoria on Chung Chen before wandering back over to the Miramar to watch the "Lincoln Lawyer". Cass really loved it, but I wasn't as keen as I've read the book in the last six months and had a slightly different image of the lead character: you know how that colours your appreciation of the film? After that, back on the scooter and over to see my old mate Chris at Papa Poulet: we hadn't been there for a few months and he greeted us like long lost friends! We shouldn't be so neglectful in future!

Photos are from my phone or from Cassy's camera today. Kids at work and play at the mini Untied Nations in KL, Cass and Kristin, Cassy in and outside various places, including today's Fresca Trattoria. I'm back reading the Dragon Tattoo and Cass is reading "March" by Geraldine Brooks.