The sun leaked vapidly into the "girls' room" on the weekend, so different from the lavish flooding spills which usually heat and lighten the spot in winter. The sun's different winter angle has encouraged Cass to place Eugene's old basket in just the right spot to catch all the warmth, and Virg'nMary have absolutely lapped it up. When the insipid rays meekly filtered in on Saturday, Virgil came out to see Cass, led her into the room jumping, rubbing and meowing till she flopped into the basket, rolled around cutely and looked longingly at the window and Cassy in turns. The message was pretty plain: "Can you turn the sun on, please?" I decided that the cat was pretty stupid, but Cassy disagreed, now elevating her to one of the great cat intellects of our time... I'm yet to be convinced!
Memories of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader flooded back on the weekend when we went downtown to celebrate Shaun's birthday. Wal had decided to surprise him with a light sabre (of Star War's fame) of his very own. I'd been privy to the whole saga in the lead-up to the presentation. Each sabre is hand-made by some self-styled Star Wars' guru who lives in a tiny black hole of an apartment in the eastern Nangang districts of the city. He insisted that Wal pick it up in person, but only after he'd successfully answered a survey of questions on the franchise, which would deem him to be a worthy recipient of the sabre or not! Suffice to say, he passed the tests and the sabre is really something to behold. It makes all the requisite buzzes and hums, responding to movement and touch. The monastic Jabba the Hut wannabe even has mock battles using the sabres with his band of nerdy disciples on the weekends......I can imagine we'll all relent and get one soon!
Shaun has had some trouble lately, which I won't go into detail here, but suffice to say, he and his family have had an awkward and annoying time and I think they're pretty much "over it", so the party was really quite a welcome treat. We ended up having a really enjoyable time. The W Hotel was the venue, the Kitchen Table the restaurant and bar. It had a sleek, contempoarary presentation and the acid yellow colour scheme extended right through to the stylish individual bathrooms! The food was buffet style but of the most exquisite quality and freshness. Roast meats, French casseroles and grilled vegetables nestled alongside Asian cooked specialities, fresh seafood of bursting freshness, and melt-in-your-mouth sashimi and sushi. The desserts and accompaniements were of similar quality and although it was expensive, considering the quality of the food and the decor, not outrageous.
The outdoor bar area was our destination after dinner and although it was stunning and luxurious, with wet edge lap pools, day beds and lounges, neon lit chairs and table accents, it was quite cool in a literal sense! While the outdoor space heaters fought valiantly to ward off the chill, the breeze whipped through at regular intervals with Cassy declaring me quite gallant for draping my jacket around her as she stood shivering! The drinks came at a King's ransom, so it definitely won't be a regular destination. However, as we enjoyed the 10th floor facilities high above the madding hordes of this bustling Asian metropolis, gazing up to the 33rd floor bar soaring above and out to the Chrysler building copy and Taipei 101 beyond, we marveled at how slick and trendy our city was becoming. The evolution which started as a trickle ten or more years back has become a dizzying avalanche as the citizenry demand more and better and slicker and brighter as they keep up with the advancing Asian economic juggernaut.
We were far more mundane during the weekend days as we enjoyed the reemergence of a menacing Mitchell Johnson and his capable Australian team mates as they demolished the English squad once again to go two nil up in the current Ashes cricket series. What joy it is to revel in the Englishmen's collective pain!
Photos: Virg n Mary put up with a wilting sunlight and shots from the night out at the W Hotel (including the newly engaged Wal and Annie!)