The supermarkets and boutique food outlets around the suburb are increasingly more adventurous in their selections of products, and we're finding more and more exotic fare as every month goes by. We used to wildly celebrate when we saw an Aussie or familiar western product on the shelves, but it seems to be the regular thing these days. We do still get a little thrill when a product appears: it's quite sick, actually! Nonetheless, despite the avalanche of new and/or interesting foods, we still need to get to a number of different venues to source them all!

We had a great weekend, partly because we had an enforced time indoors due to a healthy cold snap that deterred unplanned wanderings around the neighbourhood! We went out and did the food shopping and a couple of other regular errands, including the perennial of dropping off the garbage, all compartmentalized into little presents according to what material it is. We've got gifts of flat plastic, hard plastic, bottles, styrofoam and general trash. If we miss the general runs of the singing garbage trucks, we can deposit the lot in separate bins at the local depot located up near school. I combined this with a decadent serve of KFC on a cold and inhospitable Saturday evening and we watched some TV, cuddled the crying cat and relaxed.

On Sunday we got bundled up in traveling gear and scootered over to Dazhi via the long Neihu tunnel to visit, again, the fancy new Miranew Royal Cinema. As previously described it's quite luxurious with plump, oversized and motorized chairs, little table for snacks and coffee, table services and flocked blankets to cuddle up with. It's a real treat for a great movie and we found one in the form of "The Old Man and the Gun" a Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek movie with a laconic pace and some sublime underacting, especially from the two old masters. We'd both highly recommend it! We'd seen another old master at work recently in Clint Eastwood's "The Mule", but Clint's directing style is less subtle these days and he tends to overplay the symbolism and the themes.

Surprisingly, I'm going to pull up stumps on this entry this paragraph: I've got 92 poems written and analyzed and annotated by by kiddies and they won't get to grade themselves. While I'm procrastinating, Cass is ensconced a couple of doors away hammering a few out! Our tech problems at work still linger and we're fudging out lessons day-to-day, so we're desperately looking forward to the early Chinese New Year break in just a week's time.

Photos: Cass loaded up with cash, train crowds, we got a close up shot of "The Moop" in a unique triple sighting of Moops in our local park!, flower in park, food for sale.

Il Mercato is a world class restaurant just a hop, step and jump from our apartment building in Taipei, Taiwan. We would be very surprised if it doesn't soon rise up the ranks of "best restaurants" in the various forums and judging panels that are available in print and online. The latest degustation menu and experience is absolutely top notch.

Our 31st wedding anniversary conveniently fell on the same date as the opening of the new and wondrous "Tech Cube" at school, and as we'd already booked our night out, we were excused by our very generous acting principal. The skies were dribbling and the wind was whipping, so we ordered an Uber to come and pick us up door to door to eliminate an awkward trip up to the main road to hail a cab. In a city where cabs are a yellow haze, so ubiquitous that they often stop and offer themselves even if we don't hail them, we've had little use for Ubers. This night was just right however, and we used one in the steady rain falling after our meal to return home as well; a very impressive service!

Upon arrival at the restaurant, and after being ushered inside by a phalanx of expectant waiters, we were sent on a small tour of various boutique pop-up food carts, from giant wheels of Parmesan to home-made salamis to freshly made mint and chili lemonades, all served to us individually by staff manning the carts. Onward to sample three mini anti pasto delights commentated upon by the head chef himself. Directed upstairs to our table, we were served by sommelier, maitre d', waitresses and waiters all with perfect English and knowledgeable commentary on the 5 courses we selected. Dishes were whisked in and out at timely intervals, arranged artistically and melting in mouth, each course a taste sensation only outdone by the next. I even had edible gold on a pasta dish! Suffice to say we had an awesome dining experience in Il Mercato's new format: even when we left, the manager and head chef farewelled us in person and gave us some packets of their special pasta as a parting anniversary gift...classy!

The week droned on and our heads were spinning by the time Friday rolled around, knocked into semi-consciousness by a brawling, bruising week without access to much of our tech-tool arsenal. A "migration of platforms" seems to have gone spectacularly awry: a weekend fix has now been going a week and a half with no rainbow lighting up the distant skies! Basically the one-to-one laptop system has been temporarilydestroyed and we can't teach efficiently, plan or grade. Cass has been working furiously to scramble together old-school hard copies of handouts and modify lessons, but it is still an intensely frustrating experience. After a day catching our breath on Saturday, Sunday loomed as a perfect antidote: edgy contemporary art!

Taipei Dangdai had been advertised heavily on social media, we'd checked out the blurbs, and decided it looked like an intriguing day out. Not only that, but it would take us on an excursion to an un-visited corner of the city: a rarity for us as we've scoured the great city across every compass point and most in between. After connecting at Taipei Main Station, the second train whispered into the bowels of the Nanganag Exhibition Centre after a 45 minute trip from home: this city is really big!
Escalators and elevators transported us to the 4th floor and a line for tickets. All of a sudden, a tap on the shoulder and we were presented with free tickets by two mothers of kids that Cassy taught as three year olds, who are now graduating masters degrees at university! They remembered her and she remembered the kids, which was quite amazing. A little bonus before we even entered...

The space was more akin to an airport hangar in proportion and ambiance than one set to house some of the world's most provocative and extreme contemporary art. 50 or more leading CA galleries from around the world had been invited to contribute and they delivered interesting and thought provoking works that were mostly, also, for sale....albeit at eye-wateringly stratospheric prices. We wandered the corridors and marveled at one wondrous piece after another, strolled past others that didn't spark joy, and scoffed occasionally at the boldness of an artist who would produce such derivative work. There was a lot there that we felt we'd seen before, each artist just tweaking a little twist on the original, enough so it wasn't blatant plagiarism. Some works were sublime and beautiful however, such as Ai Weiwei's stainless steel bicycle stack and Double Square Gallery's marble sensations, so tactile, smooth and cool. There were clever works, showing different perspectives of usual objects, and inaccessible wonders that must have taken months to produce yet were lost to interpretation by our feeble minds!

All in all, it was a cavalcade of colour, light, sound and texture and our senses were peaking by the time we'd made our way all the way around and exited the Zeppelin hangar. We made a real adventure of it by alighting at Taipei Main on the way back and negotiating the gigantic food square on the second floor before choosing a Japanese restaurant (Cassy's choice) where we ordered fresh and hot chicken tamago donburi and tonkatsu respectively, washed down with Kirin wheat beers! Sufficiently fortified to challenge the Damshui line train back home, we negotiated the labyrinthine underground station, boarded the train then strolled back home via the river, very pleased with our Sunday adventure and ready for the week ahead.

Photos: G&T at home pre dinner, anniversary dinner, Cass got some sparkling shoulder diamonds for her big soliatire ring,  Taipei Dangdai art shots.

Dull , shark grey skies blanketed the city in a wintery embrace, clouds merging into one contoured mass, a steel beret. Poised women, silk scarved, designer bag toting and leather gloved, strutted the footpaths with a clatter of heels. Shop fronts gleamed with gilt letters and trendy logos, shoes or pastries on parade in every second one, the former in precision levels, all black leather and elevated heels, and the latter in a riot of colour, texture and variety. Electric scooters hummed between the traffic, riders tottering through intersections cutting a flimsy dance while hire bikes laboured between. Pedestrians ignored the right of way as well as the traffic signals, boldly crossing roads with impunity and ignoring the indignant honks from drivers as they screeched to a halt.

Tourists in cheap sneakers, North Face backpacks, gaily coloured puffy jackets and course-weave beanies, bustled to the Metro oblivious to the disturbing spreads of their unfolding maps and emergency stop meetings. Waiters hustled around under the outdoor heaters of the brasserie smoking areas, serving noisettes in tiny white porcelain cups, dressed in two-tone livery, their expanding bellies straining against coffee stained white shirts under slightly faded black waistcoats. Two Parisian newcomers entered the picture:  did they blend in with their dark colors all leather, silk and wool, striding with purpose and confidence, the woman speaking with authority, a rich vocabulary, nuanced phrasing and an indistinguishable accent? Yes, until I managed to spoil the illusion as soon as my lack of language skills became evident despite my Gallic nose, but until then, we were blended in to our new spot, the Left Bank's 6th Arrondissement near St. Germain, gay Paris!

We'd endured an enervating and intense first semester at work, my first on Grade 8 English with a full caseload of five well patronized classes. Cass usually finds the first semester particularly taxing, and now, I fully understood why. Although I'd taught the program last year, it was to one small class only and now, the pressure of organizing, grading and communicating with 92 kids and their parents is quite gargantuan. We left our planning for the break to a critically late moment, meaning that accommodation options and flights were winnowed down to a point where we were happy to take anything we could get within reason. We decided on a very relaxing break and abandoned our usual trick of two or three destinations: Paris, two weeks, merci!

Knowing the city pretty well, we were keen to explore our new area and get to know the local brasserie, patisserie, bars among other essentials. Our hotel pick was cute and Parisian, exposed beams throughout indicating an aged building of character, yet also hinting at some fragile sound-proofing which proved to be the case. Nonetheless, the breakfast was bountiful and well-stocked, cooked eggs and sausages and ham along with a variety of cold cuts accompanied with yogurt, fruit salads and the ubiquitous variety of croissant, baguette and pain chocolat. With piping hot pots of coffee made upon arrival, the petit dejeuner set us up for the entire day of travelling and exploring.

Explore and travel, indeed, we did! With a vague itinerary of not-to-be-missed re-visits, we endeavoured to scour the city streets by foot rather than Metro. At first we wanted to get the vibe of the area and latterly, we realized that we were getting more from our experiences from walking backstreets and short cuts, always discovering quirky new spots and our legs were sturdy, our time mighty flexible and plentiful, so, why not? Various Musees, including L'Orangerie, Marmottan and D'Orsay drowned us in the heady perfume and dreamy vats of colour that are Claude Monet, our heads spinning day after day as we drank in the beauty of our favourite artist and exalted in the presence of such genius.

It was almost too overwhelming: despite our previous visits; it was intoxicating to be wrapped in so much beauty. Our tired feet disappeared and it was easy to blink ourselves back to a clifftop in Cassis or a garden in Giverny as we gazed in awe. The Renoirs and van Goghs at various venues, two full days of Picasso at the Pompidou and the Picasso Museum, the eclectic mix of masters in the basement of De L'Orangerie. All this art was a salve to our weary psyches and a reminder of our luck to be able to see it time and again in different venues.

Our visit revolved around art but that wasn't all that grabbed our attention. We spent different days wandering the gardens of the Palace of Luxembourg, window shopping in St. Germain, strolling the Champs-Élysées and re-visiting the Opera quarter around Hausmann and Place Vendome. Some of these moments were interrupted by forays into shoe shops to try on their wares and yet another couple of times to buy! We went to the movies a couple of times, the films partly forgotten but the quirky machines to buy tickets and the interesting seat layout not!

But wait, there's more! How about a trip up the Tower Montparnasse to get a 360 degree view of the city? How about a day visit to the palace at Fountainbleu, visiting the forest and village of Barbizon, the inspiration to many Salon painters in their stays in Paris? How about a special premier seats' viewing of La Traviatta at Opera Bastille? Somehow, we squeezed these events into our schedule as well. The castle was beautiful and full of treasures of kings and queens. On the way there we strolled the streets and spied the forests of Barbizon, and even encountered the infamous gillets jaunes (yellow vests) as they peacefully protested on the side of the road. We metroed to the Opera Bastille on Boxing Day evening to drink in the majesty of a stellar cast performing the much loved opera in the city of lights....what an experience, what a night!

Each evening we'd bundle ourselves up to exit whatever restaurant or brasserie in which we'd been lounging, full of pichets of red wines and whatever main meal and dessert we'd consumed. The food was divine wherever we went, and we ate in many recommended and some discovered spots in and around our neighbourhood like this and this. I consumed a lot of pepper steak and Cass a similar amount of pasta! Most nights were incomplete without takeaway flan and coffee eclairs to consume in bed watching crappy French TV before we nodded off to prepare for another day in the big city.

What a great trip we had: we often commented on how lucky we are to be able to do such a thing. Back to the grind this week, busy days leading to jet lagged nights: we're bolt awake at two in the morning and drowsy at two in the afternoon. This weekend provided a perfect antidote to the busy week and trip: we watched a lot of Big Bash cricket and slept eternally (it felt!).

Anyway, we're back to reality with a thud: at least the skies here are sparkling, a little reminder of the light shining from scores of canvases spread before us in the past few weeks! We're both loving our latest books: Cass is reading November Road by Lou Berney and I'm reading Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.

Here's the link to the full photo album (warning: there are more than 400 photos!)