Meeting old friends

Went for church service this morning, and then met up with Chun-che for lunch at his church. Chun-che's a dear, old friend of mine which I had made during my time in Cambridge. We had not seen each other since he finished his post-graduate studies. Chun-che and I had a good chat over lunch, and followed through with coffee at the National Taiwan University campus. Chun-che also offered to take me to his place for dinner, and there, I had a happy reunion with his wife, I-chu, and their two lovely children, Joshua and Joy. Both kids have grown so big over the past few years since I last saw them :D It's always great to catch up with old friends :)

Got home, and found that I have really developed a liking for F.I.R.'s songs :D

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三個心願
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我喜歡你的眼神溫柔又危險
請不要戴上眼鏡我會看不見
想要張開雙手把你寶貝
想和你天天見面
想帶你環游世界

我喜歡你愛逞強苯苯的笑臉
在心中抬頭挺胸堅定的信念
這個遼闊世界不夠完美
但有了你在我身邊什么都很OK

第一個心願 為你 把幸福 堆積
天涯到海角 頭發到呼吸
第二個心願 給你 最好的 自己
再許個心願 我的愛把你占領

為什么為了小事就要掉眼淚
好象有太多的事只能自己背
其實只要你說一句OK
現在就立刻馬上變成你的Superman

這世上最重要的不止是誓言
只要你常常記得親親我的臉
我會永遠記得這個今天
還有很久的那一天我也要有你陪

第一個心願 為你 把幸福 堆積
天涯到海角 頭發到呼吸
第二個心願 給你 最好的 自己
再許個心願 我的愛把你占領

第一個心願 為你 把幸福 堆積
天涯到海角 頭發到呼吸
第二個心願 給你 最好的 自己
再許個心願 我的愛把你占領

Inside: The Emperor's Treasure

I visited the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物館) yesterday evening, where a documentary jointly produced by National Geographic Channel and the museum was launched. Apart from watching a preview of the documentary, entitled "Inside: The Emperor's Treasure", I also went for a guided tour in the Bronze Gallery on the 3rd floor. The collection of items is incredible, and the guides were in top-form as they explained the historical background and cultural significance of the various exhibits. I plan to go back to the museum again some time to explore the other galleries. :)

第十行星

I attended an F.I.R. (飛兒樂團) concert at the Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋) yesterday evening. It's F.I.R.'s first-ever concert there, and will serve as the first stop of their round-the-word music tour. Themed the "Tenth Planet" (第十行星), the performance by the Mando-pop trio - Faye (飛), Ian (陳建寧) and Real (阿沁) - was a spectacular audiovisual treat, not to mention the special guest appearances by Shin (信) and Stefanie Sun (孫燕姿). The whole song-and-dance multimedia extravagenza lasted almost a good, solid three hours. Cool stuff! :)

It was my first experience ever attending such a concert, and it was a magical feeling, even though I wasn't really the sort that would let my hair down. Almost everyone else around me was a devoted F.I.R. fan, waving glow-in-the-dark light-sticks and "I love F.I.R." placards of various forms and sizes. Haha, it makes me feel young all over again :)

活力路跑

Woke up in time for the 3rd Samsung Run for Life (活力路跑) 3-km fun run in Taipei City which flagged off at 7 am this morning. Registration was free, and the lucky draw prizes were simply fabulous - fridges, TVs, washing machines, PDAs, mobile phones and more. And everyone got a T-shirt and a water-bottle too.

Logistics-wise, the race wasn't all that great. There were no water points (not that they were really required for such a short race), no baggage storage area, and only two mobile toilets for a turnout of nearly 30,000 - according to the comperes on stage. And the route was boring, and also short enough to leave a runner like me yearning in vain for more.

But the post-race on-stage performances were great. With a professional TV comedian at the mike, there was never a dull moment. There were also karate cum skateboarding dances, children's hip-hop dances, and five songs by five talented youths from 星光幫. There was even an award ceremony for ten deaf citizens who were commended for their excellent contributions to civil society in spite of their disability.

With a programme so appealing and lucky draw prizes so tantalising, it was no wonder that the crowd stayed behind all the way to the end of the event.

Overall, for me, it started off as a good short run and ended up as a really cool mini-pop concert :)

Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano

I haven't blogged for a while because it had taken some time for my new apartment to be wired up with internet access. But I'm now connected, and back in action. Life has been rather busy so far but enjoyable. On Friday, I had a splendid evening at the National Concert Hall, watching a two-hour duo recital by violinist Huang Yi-fang (黃義方) and pianist Chiang Mo-li (蔣茉莉). I particularly enjoyed their rendition of Béla Bartók's Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano. The event was organised by the Chinese National Associatoin of Industry and Commerce, in memorial of the late Central Bank Governor Sheu Yuen-dong (許遠東) and his wife, who both died in an aircrash in 1998. Tomorrow's going to be Samsung's "Run for Life" 3-km event outside the City Hall. I hope I can wake up in time for it. It would be my first run since my arrival here.

鳥羽花香... 高梁... 柯羅莎...

Just had dinner with some new-found friends at a Hakka restaurant called 鳥羽花香. We ate in a small private room with walls that glowed with constellation patterns when the lights were turned off. Sweet! The lady boss was extremely friendly, and obligingly led us in a round of karaoke. It was a great evening :)

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Update as of 5 Oct, 2355 hrs

Was made to down several shots of 高梁 during lunch, which made me vomit quite a bit, leaving me feeling ill and groggy for most of the afternoon. Thank God it's Friday, so at least I get the next day to rest. But oh dear, I can't really rest because I'm supposed to move out of the hotel tomorrow into my new apartment, but Typhoon Krosa (柯羅莎) is scheduled to hit full-force, throwing a spanner into the works. Krosa has been reported to be potentially the most dangerous storm of the season so far. It's supposed to intensify into a super typhoon before easing slightly and making landfall on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Woohoo! :P

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Update as of 6 Oct, 1700 hrs

My house-moving plans were cancelled this morning. I didn't feel like shifting my things in the rain, especially when the authorities had declared that all offices and schools were to be shut for today in view of Krosa. I could hear the loud and continual rumbling of the typhoon from inside my hotel room. Since I didn't have a window that opened to the outside, I went downstairs to the ground lobby to take a look at the situation outdoors. I saw sheets of heavy rain, fallen trees and huge signboards tossed around like candy wrappers in the wind. There were hardly any cars on the roads, and there were the random stranded passers-by who sought refuge in the hotel lobby, their umbrellas -- or what's left of their umbrellas after being mangled by the storm -- crumpled in a wet and dismal heap by their sides.

When I returned to my room, the TV news reported serious flooding in some parts of the city, and showed images of vehicles being submerged up to half-a-wheel high in rainwater. There were mudslides across many parts of the island as well. The MRT service in Taipei had been suspended. Someone's house had its roof dramatically ripped off. Smashed windows. Uprooted trees. Crashing waves. Flooded homes. Overturned vehicles. A funeral procession that got swept away. And then, all of a sudden, there was a power-trip in the hotel. The whole room plunged into darkness, and all was silent except for the ominous rumbling.