Back from Singapore - HAPPY

On a trip that I originally thought there was no way I could make, I really got a lot out of it.

In my 24-hour trip to Singapore...

I saw Mama's best concert (of the ones I've seen so far). I enjoyed this one the most by far. She said I've never complimented her on her concert before this. Really? I didn't not like the other ones... Perhaps I should learn to lie sometimes...

For the first time in my life, someone asked me for a drawing. Oneesan asked if I can give her something that I've made so that she can frame and hang it up on the wall in her flat, next to one of Mama's prints. SO SO SO SO SO ENCOURAGING!!!!

Then backstage at the concert, the senior VP of Channel NewsAsia asked if I were interested in the Taipei correspondent position. I don't know how serious she was, but I take it as a sign at the very least. I've followed up with an email to her and a phone call to Young Ming, who tried to recruit me to CNA 3 years ago. I want out of local Taiwan media and perhaps this is one opportunity. In any case, it is a sign of more good chances to come.

I made new friends and reacquainted myself with people I met four years ago there as well. Outside of work, I'm not normally very talkative with strangers, but I really talked a lot and connected with quite a few people. Lim Sek, Auntie Kim, CK, Raymond... It's truly amazing how fruitful this short, short trip was.

The day after I got back, I had the most relaxing lunch with Claire and Mark atop Yangmingshan, and then Mom, Dad, Michael and I got together at Nonzero for dinner to celebrate Michael's birthday early. I got him a "money tree." It's a piggy bank where the more money you put in it, the taller the tree "grows." I wish I took a picture...

I'm very happy. Very, very happy. Also, I think I'm growing into another phase - emotionally and spiritually. November is going to be extremely busy for me, but I think in December, I will try to take some more time off to spend with Mom and Dad.



And now, some pictures from the concert. I'm so proud to be my godmother's goddaughter.








And pictures from Michael's birthday dinner. Happy birthday, old boy!



And pictures from the office - caught the MD riding a bicycle through the office in studio make-up and a skirt. HAHAHA

1025 DPP rally

Tens of thousands of DPP supporters took to the streets today, opposing closer ties with China and condemning the import of toxic Chinese food.

My assignment was on foreigners and foreign media.

Wulai 烏來

Like Pingxi, Wulai's one of those places in un-Taipei-like places in Taipei, and a great area to visit when you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of busy city life.

You can't get there by train, so it's less convenient than Pingxi, but you can still take the bus.

We were there last Friday for another travel story.










In Wulai, you can hike, watch birds, look at the waterfall and search for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that often appears over the waterfall. There is also a gondola you can ride to get a good view of the valley and of the waterfall. Oh, there are hot springs there too. Wulai was named by the Atayal tribe people, who were the original locals there. "Wulai" means "hot water" or "hot spring." So because of its aborigine roots, there are also Atayal sing and dance shows to see if you're interested. I always like looking at their traditional outfits and seeing how they differ from tribe to tribe.



The water is supposed to be beautiful, but there's been too many typhoons recently, so when we went, it was really muddy and not quite attractive at all.