A Weekend Away

This weekend is special ... I get to spend it all by myself in a place half way around the world from home. This is going to be a long blog ... so take your time =)

Originally, I wanted to take a 2 day tour to Ali Mountain ... for the past few years, I really wanted to see a sunrise from the top of a mountain ... and here is my chance to see what God has created ... but no one signed up for this weekend and the tour company wanted to charge me 3x the amount =( ... I can try to go there by myself, but I don’t know the lingo and it is going to be in the middle of nowhere ... maybe next time ... gives me an excuse to come back. ;) (the pic is from the web)

So on Sat. morning here ... Chica calls me =D ... I was very happy to hear my sweetheart ... so, it is good thing that I did not leave town. <3

That afternoon, I decided to tackle a smaller mountain ... the “bump” next to the city. I made it up as far as the Buddhist temple ... there is a wall preventing me from getting to the top ... there is some kind of base up there. I got pics to show ... so, don’t forget to ask them when I get back.

It did not take long to come back down ... of course the fastest way down is to tuck yourself in to a ball and roll =P

So I wander the north side of the city ... went to a mall ... no grand corridors, it just look like a department store (i.e. JC Penny/Macy) on steroid. It has super market in the basement ... that is normal around here because if you want fresh fruits/vegetable ... you would go to the street market instead. The top floors are usually restaurants/arcade. Even the roof is used as an amusement park (for the little ones of course).

Oh, here is something new to me. In order to promote the mall, they usually have guest stars and even lingerie models show up ... and yes, I looked =P... but I would ratter see Chica in her regular tee shirt and sweat pants ... what would I give to see her now ...

Last night (Sat here) ... there was a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at my hotel ... yea, it is for the mall in the hotel (provided by Tiffany & Co.) ... and some stars showed up ... singers I think. Of course, the tree is fake and much smaller than the one in Rockefeller center back at home.

Today (Sun here) is much more interesting. I went to the south side of the city this time ... and headed to the largest mall I can find. I got spooked when I enter the mall ... everyone in the room (the makeup section) looked at me ... greeted and bowed at the same time ... wow ... that was unexpected when entering a mall. The mall is the same as the other ... not as grand as HK ... just very tall ... there is a movie theater at the top of this one. I was about to go back to the hotel ... but then a blue building caught my eye when I looked out the window ... it was IKEA ... haha

So, I went to IKEA ... it look exactly the same as the one at home ... for a moment there, it feels like home. =P

Then I saw a church ... nothing grand ... I would not have known if it did not have crosses all over the place. I hesitated to go in because I did not know if anyone can speak Cantonese or English ... after a while, He gives me the courage to step in ... at first, it was as I expected ... “chicken and duck talk” ... but I follow them upstairs. Thank God!!! ... the assistance pastor (I think), Anne is from Hong Kong ... and she can speak Cantonese and some English too ... then to my surprise, her son Samuel (24 years old) can also speak both (just enough to understand each other). Anne also mentioned that her husband is a Taiwanese and her son is home on leave from serving his country ... apparently that it is mandatory for citizens to serve for a term.

Their service is very similar ... communion is on the first Sunday of every month ... yea!!!, I did not miss my communion for this month. To come to think about it, it is almost exactly the same ... the use of a project to aid the message, the layout of the program, the greeting of the guests, etc. Anne and Samuel were kind enough to translate for me ... God is really wonderful. I even got to eat lunch with them (free for first time comer... hehe ... same thing) ... I even got to meet the fellowship ... and we talked for a while ... very cool 8) I was very happy to meet them ... knowing the world is not as big as I thought ... everyone can relate to everyone ... as brothers and sisters =)

Then ... lol ... I found Costco ... and it also looks the same. At first, Taiwan looks so foreign ... maybe because I don’t speak the lingo ... but now, it does not feel so different.

After I got back ... I took a swim ... =)

Thank God for letting me see the world ... there is so much indeed to see and learn. I look forward to future travel ... hopefully it would be even better with Chica =)

btw ... for people working too hard ... remember to not go off the deep end =P