My irrepressible monkey, Chee Chee, has somehow survived to be hosting yet another coterie of eager students this year. One day in the cycle, a kid returns with stories full of wonder, the adventures seemingly becoming more fantastical with each home stay. He has been taught any number of musical instruments, visited a handful of countries and mystified parents with his ghost-like nocturnal movements. I was expecting an ephemeral fad, yet eight years later the battered simian keeps on giving...he even has his own Facebook page now!
We cruised Uniqlo on the weekend and Cass picked up a pair of pants for work and I got a couple of T-shirts. We discovered that they take the pants up for free and they would be ready in about 90 minutes, so we took advantage of being in the building by visiting the Thai restaurant up on the top floor. There's something about Thai food, especially when you're particularly hungry, and it's particularly fresh, that just can't be beaten. Even though we weren't sure we were ready to eat, the first few mouthfuls made us quite ravenous! It was a real treat.
The days were just sensational on the weekend and we reveled in our strolls in the wide open spaces. For some reason we gravitated to the big areas around the SOGO on both days and had a meal at our favourite "Eat Burger" on the other day. The madness of Chinese New Year has slowly dissipated and even the local crew seemed to be heaving a sigh of relief at the lack of exploding crackers, beating drums and wailing music disturbing the pleasant ambiance of the park and square behind the big department store.
I've got parent conferences coming up later this week so I have to do some extra preparation for them, although my marathon haul of grading a couple of weeks ago has made a big dent in that work. We have Lewy and Alison visiting Taipei next week, so there are a number of social events happening, many of which we'll be involved in: a possible dinner and at least two nights out having a few drinks are on the agenda.
Cass is starting to make a few preparations for her trip back home at the end of next week. She's going back for the week of Spring Break to see her parents, as they'll be off cruising when we normally get to see them in June/July. I'm tasked with staying home and looking after the cats!
Not much more to report! Photos: Din Tai Feng for a midweek dinner (those prawn dumplings really are artworks, aren't they?), Chee Chee holds his audience enthralled, VeryThai restaurant, lots of gels for the feet, and a surprise cupcake from a student....a nice way to start the day! Cass is reading "The Bone Clocks" by David Mitchell and I'm reading a massive biography on Robert De Niro sent to me from Japan by my mate, Gurecki.
