Nikko is Nippon!

I went to the guiding light (Nihon no hikari) in Japan today. On the local train from Utsunomiya to Nikko, I sat next to a friendly couple. The wife nodded at me when I approached an empty seat next to her. When I overheard their conversation, I couldn't resist the temptation to ask which language they were using. It turned out to be English. Without hesitation, I greeted them by saying Aloha to them when they told me they were from Hawaii.

They just arrived in Japan yesterday. The wife was eager to share the traveling information with me. She advised me to pay a visit to Matsushima and showed me many beautiful photos she took of the colorful deciduous leaves in Matsushima. I reciprocated them with my wonderful and cheerful adventure in Karuizawa.

When I told them that I am a dancer, the wife encouraged me to visit Hawaii to learn Hula dancing. She mentioned that the Hula dancing focuses more on the hand gestures. And the most exciting talk between us was about toastmasters. They told me there are many toastmasters in Hawaii, and they welcome me to visit the beautiful islands of Hawaii one day. We ended our conversation when the train arrived in Nikko.

On my way back from Nikko to Tokyo, I saw an advertisement of Azuma Asobi-No-Mai dance of Nikko Toshogu Shrine (the world heritage). I hope I will have the chance to visit Nikko again to see the dance and to learn the dance.

Toastmasters in Tokyo

It is challenging to navigate in the subways maze of Tokyo, a city of people mountain and people sea. No matter where I go, I see the flow of people, in all directions, I feel like an ant wandering in the underground labyrinth of a huge factory full of layers of layers of conveyors.

Toastmaster Tommy Tomohide was waiting for me at the south gate of Shinjuku station when I rushed to meet him from Tokyo Midtown. Tommy came to Taiwan with his wife Rika Tomohide, the Incumbent Council Governor of toastmasters in Japan nine years ago. They are the pioneers to build the toastmaster bridge between Taiwan and Japan.

Whenever I am in Tokyo, I always meet with Tommy and have a cup of coffee with him. Tommy took me to an Izakaya for dinner near Shinjuku station. After dinner, we went to a cafe pub for a couple of drinks. And He wrote me a note on the pad. What a sweet memory!

Tommy and Rika are running their company Speaking-Essay to provide training courses to clients interested in upgrading their personal performance. They are also prolific writers in communication and leadership skills. If you are interested in their books and services, please contact Tommy Tomohide.

株式会社スピーキングエッセイ
代表取締役 大嶋友秀
〒223-0061 横浜市港北区日吉4-14-12-402
TEL:045-560-5925 FAX:045-560-5926
http://www.speaking-essay.com

D76 Division D Evaluation Contest in Inuyama--October 14, 2007

Toastmaster Otera, EVP of Kyoto Toastmasters Club, picked me up at APA Hotel early Sunday moring, October the 14th. We then drove to Kyoto Train Station to pick up Toastmaster Kanai. While I was waiting for Kanai san on the street across from the train station, I looked at the sign of the Japanese retaurant where we had the second party after Kyoto's 100th meeting. I was happy that I made it to Kyoto again in year 2007.

The drive from Kyoto to Inuyama was smooth and fast. Kanai san and I spent most of the time talking about the winning strategy at the Division D Evaluation Contest in Inuyama. We also talked about the pros and cons establishing a Toastmaster Magazine reading group in Kyoto Toastmasters Club. Otera san listened to two former Kyoto presidents talking eagerly without much interruption.

When we entered the restaurant of Inuyama Convention Center, five toastmasters from Nagoya Toastmasters Club were having lunch there, including Toastmasters Yamanaka, Inutsuka, and the others. I was thrilled to see them again in Inuyama. It was my third time to Inuyama, believe it or not!

Division D Evaluation Contest in Japanese was organized by Nagoya Toastmasters Club this year. I gave a greeting message in Japanese about the my encounter with Japanese toastmaters after Area 41 Governor Suzuki's opening message. Toastmaster Yamanaka Takaaki gave an inspiring speech about Autumn as a test speaker. He just came back to Japan from a long journey in Europe, and he compared the differences in cultures and languages between Europe and Japan. As a veteran toastmaster, Yamanaka san was poised and wore his trademark smiles during his speech. I wish once day I could become a target speaker like Toastmaster Yamanaka at an evaluation contest in Japan.

It is not to my surprise that Kanai san took the first place at the evaluation contest. I was impressed with her performance and I wish her all the best at the District 76 Evaluation Contest 2007 in November in Awaji. (Toastmaster Kanai Rikuko placed the 2nd at D76 Evaluation Contest 2007 on Awaji Island, November 17th, 2007.)

After the contest, 20 toastmasters remained for a tea party at the restaurant of convention center for an hour. Inuzuka san, Ogawa san, and Mr. and Mrs. Nakamichi invited me to Ibushiya, a warm and cozy Izakaya in Inuyama, for dinner. We ordered assorted sashimi, beef potato, radish salad, shrimp fried, barbecue chicken, tea rice, so many dises to remember! I started with beer, then switched to sake, and concluded with oolong tea. As the humble guest of honor, I can only wait patiently for them to come to Taipei to reciprocate their generosity and friendship.

My third visit to Inuyama was not short. I stayed in Inuyama for two nights, had a improv talk on the community radio station for 15 minutes, bought two colorful dancing kimonos, and made it to last day (May 11 to October 15 of each year) of Cormorant Fishing on the Kiso River.

D76 Division E Evaluation Contest in Fukuoka--October 27, 2007

When Professor Murata met with me at the lobby of Rihga Royal Hotel at 10 o'clcok Sunday moring, she was impressed with my two huge suitcases plus one back pack. With her helping hands, we transported the cargo smoothly on the sky corridor to the adjacent JR Kokura station. When we arrived at the station, President Moe and Toastmaster Nakashima of KitaKyushu Toastmasters Club were waiting for us. Toastmaster Oshiumi joined us at the next station on the way to Hakata.

Prosident Moe was a kind gentleman to help me carry the biggest suitcase on the train. He was not left with much room with a suitcase by his chair. We sat next to each other with the aisle in-between, but we talked cheerfully and happily just the same, about life in Japan and in US. I was most eager to remind President Moe of the judging criteria of evaluation contest.

Time flied fast when toastmasters engaged in public speaking business. In no time, we arrived in Hakata Station. Professor Murata, a good planner and action taker, seemed to know everything and everywhere. As soon as we arrived at Hakata, we followed her steps to a Japanese restaurant, all you can eat, for only ￥700 per person.

Then we rushed to catch the city bus to Fukuoka City Women's Education Center. On the bus, the toastmasters clan of five was phenomenal. As natural and trained improv performers, we laughed all the way till we got off the bus (it must be a relief for the bus driver to get rid of us). I was planning to perform a manzai, a duet stand-up comedian show President Moe in English and Toastmaster Oshiumi in Japanese when I return to Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club next year.


President Moe claimed the second place of Evaluation contest and Toastmaster Laura Grahan from Hiroshima Toastmasters Club was the champion. After the contest, Laura and I took shikansen together. We kept talking for more than an hour till she got off at the Hiroshima Station, and I kept smiling till I got off at Okayama station.

PS:My impromptu table dance during the evaluation break was surprising to many Japanese fellow members in the south, but it was the most memorable and daring toastmaster-in-action in my life!

Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club

I attended Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club meeting this evening, the 26th. Toastmaster Oshiumi gave me a lift from Hotel to University.

Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club--October 26,2007

It rained when I arrived at Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club this evening, the 26th. Toastmaster Masaki Oshiumi gave me a lift from Rihga Royal Hotel to the meeting venue at University of Kitakyushu.

Toastmaster Rio Imamura and his wife Tamiko were waiting in the meeting room when I walked in the huge and bright seminar room. I felt welcome instantly. President Albert Moe and other toastmasters arrived one after another and greeted me warmly by calling my name. I felt like a Toastmaster celebrity from Taiwan because of Toastmasters Imamura and Oshiumi's publicity before my arrival. It felt good to be famous, to be honest.

I was thrilled and obliged when Professor Murata asked me to fill in the slot of tabletopics master for the evening. I asked three questions, about the Moji Harbor, Horoscope, and Taiwan-Japan relations.

President Moe was given an opportunity to evaluate four prepared speakers (two CC manual speeches and two CL speeches) to get ready for the competition at Division E Evaluation Contest in Fukuoka tomorrow afternoon. I couldn't refrain from offering my suggestions as I was sitting right next to him. Of course, I hope with eager he could claim a trophy for Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club.

It was nine when the meeting ended. A group of eleven members went to a nearby steak house for the second party, and the big dinner didn't end till eleven o'clock. Upon my request, Professor Murata even agreed to join the third party adventure to a pub in a noisy red light steet full of night clubs in Kokura. Unfortunately the ideal place was booked out for the entire evening, and we decided to call for it a night.

Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club is unique in a way, it is a balanced club between faithful senior citizens and enthusiastic junior members. There are quite a few University student toastmasters, most of them major in international relations. I am glad that I finally made it to Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club in 2007.

Top of the World

For people in the north hemisphere, going south means going under. But my first trip to the south of Japan was fantastically going up, up in the sky. It is because I spent most time on the top of the buildings, mountains, looking down at the beautiful cities.

Peace in Hiroshima

President Kumiko Tanimoto waited for me at the South Gate of Hiroshima Train station at two o'clock sharp Wednesday afternoon, the 24th of October. I was late because I had to run from the North Gate to the South Gate through the underpath. I saw Kumiko with Toastmaster Magazine October issue in her hand, I could recognize her immediately. I thought it was a fantastic way to greet fellow Toastmasters from aboad.

Toastmaster Fujiyama met us at the Ferry Terminal on Miyajima. How lucky she is to live on the island, a sacred place in the ancient times. Toastmaster Fujiyama was the District 76 representative to compete at the Annual Convention in Washington. She is energetic, enthusiastic, and confident.

When Toastmasters are together, they speak the same Toastmasters language, and they have fun among themselves. That's what we did most of the time, talking, laughing, and toastmastering.

The Second Visit to Shimonoseki

In less than two days, I visited Shimonoseki for the second time. I first visited the city on my own Tuesday, the 23rd, and with Toastmasters Masaki Oshiumi and Rio Imamura of Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club Thursday, the 25th.

If I weren't a Taiwanese, I wouldn't have visited Bakan (old name of Shimonoseki) in the first place. I had a mixed feeling when I walked on Li Hung-chang Alley (李鴻章道) in Shimonoseki. The narrow and wanding Mr. Li Alley on the hill around the grand and luxurious Spring Sail House (春帆樓) was to protect Mr. Li from being attacked by ambushed Chinese and Taiwanese. Mr. Li signed the peace treaty with Japanese to give Taiwan away in 1895.

I learned more about the importance of Shimonoseki in Japanese history when I revisited this harbor city with two senior Toastmasters. I bet nobody can tell a story about Shimonoseki better than Toastmaster Imamura. He wrote an essay about Shimonoseki for his Alma Mater magazine in English four years ago as attached.

I'd like to express my gratitude to Rio and Masaki for showing me around Shimonoseki and Chofu. I know more stories about warring period in Japan. I became more interested in the modern history of Japan, China and Taiwan.

Kan-Mon Strait by Rio Imamura, Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club

There's an old Japanese proverb "He who controls "Kan-Mon" controls Westerly Japan. And there was actually a clan who carried the precepts into practice. The Ouchi Clan, in the 1500s developed Yamaguchi in Kyoto fashion, and it thrived until the Mohri Clan took it over.

Kan-Mon, a narrow strait famous for a rushing tide, is where Japan proper and Kyushu come within a stone's throw of each other, at the edge of the wide open Seto Inland Sea.

The name represents two cities sitting vis-à-vis; Kan, meaning a toll station Shimonoseki, the westernmost end of Japan proper, and Mon, representing Moji (short for a gate keeper) on the Kyushu Island. Moji today is a part of Kitakyushu City, as it merged with five other cities into one.

The wonder of the strait, about 10 kilometers long, is the change of current direction, 4 times a day. At full tide, the current runs east to west, while at low tide, the reverse way. The speed varies, according to season, from 0 to a maximum of 10 knots. In addition to light houses along the strait and bends, many guiding lights and floating buoys assist navigators. Kan-Mon enforces vessels over 10,000 tons to hire legal pilots. The Japanese Maritime Safety Agency cautions that collisions and other maritime accidents are frequent.

As the strategic cross point of the King's ocean lane between Kyoto (old capital of Japan) and Dazaifu (the old administrative capital of Kyushu), Kan-Mon Strait has seen myriads of historical events since the legendary days of Empress Jingu (AD 193). Japan had relations with the old three kingdoms of Korea and went to war with Shilla which rose in power from 300 to 500. Between 800 and 900, Japanese envoys to China in the Sui and Tung Dynasties headed for the East China Sea.

In 1185, the Heike Clan perished in the Dannoura (today's Shimonoseki) Sea Battle in a loss to the Genji Clan. The three sacred emblems of the royal court sank with the infant Emperor Antoku. Mongolian envoys made no return journeys through until Kublai Khan sent his troops to Hakata in 1274 and again 1281. Taiko Hideyoshi Toyotomi invaded Korea in 1592 and 1597.

Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Mohri Clan who sided with Toyotomi, in the last Tokugawa-Toyotomi Battle, was confined to a smaller province as an outsider lord and, an insider Ogasawara Clan arrived at Kokura Castle as the gate keeper to watch for the Mohri Clan as well as for the entire Kyushu occupied by many outsider clans like the Mohri Clan.

In the 1860s, many foreign vessels made port-calls at Shimonoseki. Not following Tokugawa Shogunate directives, the anti-foreign Mohri Clan in Shimonoseki started firing, without notice, at foreign vessels sailing through Kan-Mon and was revenged by 17 French, Dutch, British and American vessels, and eventually by the Tokugawas. However, at the dawn of the Meiji Restoration (1866-1868), it was the Mohri Clan who besieged the castle of the Ogasawara Clan in Kokura, now in Kitakyushu, and eventually deposed the Tokugawa days.

In 1895, a Treaty at Shimonoseki concluded the Sino-Japanese War.

In 1905, the ferry first operated between Shimonoseki and Pusan, Korea, till the end of WWII. During wartime, the Strait turned into a hazardous graveyard sea of mines and ships. Of the 12,000 mines laid around Japanese oceans by the Allied, 6,000 were targeted for Kan-Mon.

Today, four under-the-sea tunnels and one bridge connect Kan-Mon Strait requiring no more ferry ride. One of the four tunnels is for pedestrians only. Three others are as follows in the order of the opening year:

Opening Use Total length Under the sea
1942 Regular Trains 3,600 meters 1,140 meters
1958 Vehicles 3,460 meters 750 meters
1974 Bullet Trains 18,713 meters 880 meters

The reason the bullet train tunnel 4 times longer than the other two is because it is deeper than the others in fear of the possibility of earthquakes. The bullet train tunnel is 24 meters deep, while the other are two 7 meters. I have often traveled on the bullet train through the said tunnel. You feel not much of an impact as it takes only 15 seconds to cross through the tunnel.

The Kan-Mon Bridge was opened in 1973, one year before the bullet train tunnel. The length of the suspended bridge* is 1,068 meters and the clearance of the bridge from the sea level is 61 meters.

*Comparison with other suspension bridges

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Japan 3,991 meters (1998)
Humber Bridge, UK 1,410 meters (1981)
Verrazano Narrows Bridge, U.S. 1,298 meters (1964)
Golden Gate Bridge, U.S. 1,280 meters (1937)
George Washington Bridge, U.S. 1,067 meters (1931)

This year, Kitakyushu City added a new offshore airport like Kanku Airport readily serviceable 24 hours. The air and railroad passenger traffic will not be dealt here.

The average number of vessels sailing through Kan-Mon Strait is 700 daily. In 2001, the vehicles passing through the Kan-Mon Bridge and Kan-Mon Tunnel were 15 millions and 10 millions respectively. In view of the heavy traffic, there are voices calling for a second bridge.

Kan-Mon scenery fascinated me, although I am not a native. I decided to relocate here when my sister-in-law took me and my wife to Mekari Shrine overlooking Kan-Mon Bridge and Strait. My wife said she wished to come fishing here every week. It is 10 years almost passing and I shall soon become a full-fledged Kitakyushuan.

My Senpai (senior alumni) and a famous writer Ryotaro Shiba wrote: "My favorite is this Bakan (old name of Shimonoseki) Strait with quick streams. "Nature" should be moving to appeal humans. Here at Bakan, even big boats with foreign names wrestle with currents, in full engine and screw, overpowering and negating human life and events.

A vagabond Haikuist "Santoka" made the following Haiku here: "Revisiting Kan-Mon on another rainy day". We are in the rainy season right now. Santoka is gone but the rainy season returns.

Queen Alice at Central Airport

Four Toastmasters in Nagoya area showed up at the 26th PHP Annual Convention in Nagoya Saturday afternoon, the 20th of October, including Kato Yoshiko (the convention simultaneous interpreter), Sawaki Hiroko, Ogawa, and I. Toastmaster Sawaki is even considering joining PHP Friendship Club Association.

I got to know Toastmaster Sawaki better when we bumped into each other in Dunedin, New Zealand, in January this year. We happened to sign up for the same peninsula tour coincidentally the day before. She arrived earlier in the morning and called me on the van, I was thrilled to meet a friend from afar to keep each other's company in a cold summer day on South Island.

Toastmaster Sawaki came to Royal Park Hotel in Nagoya Tuesday afternoon, the 16th of October. She took me to a coffeehouse at the train station and chatted with me for two hours. Then she took me to "Sans Frontier", a fancy restaurant on the 10th floor of the twin-tower building for dinner. In order to reciprocate her generosity, I invited her to Queen Alice of Central Airport to see the beautiful sunset at the beautifully designed and constrcted international airport in Nagoya.

We walked into Queen Alice at five thirty, the sun has already long set (the sunset hour was 4:30). But the panoramic view of the glittering early night was magnificent. We both ordered French cusine with a good white wine to spend our great evening together. While overlooking at the take off of international and domestic airplanes, we studied the airplanes of different nationalities.

I must say that Queen Alice is the best restaurant in the airport in the world. The view was good, the food was good, the atmosphere was good. On top of that, I love their service. The waitor who served us was a handsome and friendly young man. He speaks English very well, and answered many of my crazy questions. After dinner, Hiroko and I even got a special oolong tea as the complimentary drink from the house. I left a long thank-you note to the restaurant manager, praising their excellent customer service at Queen Alice.

After arriving at Meitetsu Station, I looked at my watch "22:30", and I started running hard on the dark alleys. I knew the directions and distance, but I fastened my steps. I didn't want to get to the Aichi Youth Hostel at the last minute of 11PM curfew.

The following day, I gave myself one day off to tour the beautiful Nagoya on my own. I returned back to the Dotour, the popular coffee chair store near Nagoya TV Tower. I walked up to the 2nd floor to see the beautiful view of green trees on the famous brand shops Boulevard. To my disappointment, the 2nd floor was full of heavy smokers. I had no choice but order a cup to coffee, sit by the door, watch the pedestrians, and plan what I could do in the coming month!

Kyoto Toastmasters Club's 100th Meeting

I almost fainted when I saw a huge welcome poster with my name on it. When I walked into the bravura banquet room where Kyoto Toastmasters Club's 100th meeting took place, I didn't expect it would be a special event for my home coming, I thought it would be one of the ordinary regular Saturday afternoon meetings.

On the 13th of October, I arrived at Kyoto Train Station before noon, rushed to the hotel to get changed, ran into Toastmasters Fujita and Muro at the lobby of Campus Plaza, took the elevator to the 3rd floor with them together. Everything was like yesterday, when I was an exchange student of Ritsumeikan University, when I was the President of Kyoto Toastmasters Club seven years ago.

Then I saw "Welcome Sherry, Kyoto Toastmasters Club 100th Regular Meeting, October 13, 2007" on the front wall behind the lectern. Wow, that certainly helped me break the ice easily with new members. I pointed at the poster and mentioned my name, feeling like a Hollywood celebrity in Kyoto!


As an old fellow toastmaster as well as a speical guest from Taiwan, I was given a lot of privileges to deliver an opening speech, to perform a clogging dance, to take the assignment as a language evaluator. Toastmaster Akiko Ogawa picked up my digital camera on the table and took many photos of me. Wow, I have never seen so much of my Acting in Toastmasters before.

After meeting, 17 members and 1 guest got together at our familiar Japanese restaurant for a sumptious dinner. Then Toastmasters Raoul Nivon, Sato Kazumi, Shimada Shuzo, Ohtera Shozo, Matsui Keizo, Sato Tomoyuki, sweet guest Rika and I ventured into a new Karaoke for sanjikai, a third party, in a row. Incumbent President Nivon accompanied me back to my hotel to put a perfect ending to a memorable and fruitful Kyoto Toastmasters Club's 100th meeting of speaking, listening, thinking, dancing, eating, drinking and singing! I thank my members from the bottom of my heart!

I'm coming, Kyoto Toastmasters Club!

I am feeling excited. Early tomorrow morning, I'll fly to Japan to explore many unknown cities in the south and in the north of Japan for two months. But the main reason for me to go to Japan is none other than attending Kyoto Toastmasters Club's 100th meeting this coming Saturday, October the 13th. As the Charter President, I won't and shouldn't miss the opportunity to have fun with my club members.

I was given a chance to demonstrate clogging dance during the 30 minutes intermission, Immediate Past President Sato Kazumi informed me of the good news. I decide to invite members to clog with me to The Carpenters' "Sweet Sweet Smile". It is an easy 8 beats (four counts) dance. The music is familiar to everybody. I will demo the basic steps, including basic, double, triple, fancy double, push off, brush up, clog over vine. As long as our members can master the double (clog) step, they are okay to move on and dance on their own. The clog step is called shuffle in tap dancing term.

In addition, I hope our members can learn to read the cue sheet. So that we can exchange good clogging dances on YouTube in the future.

Cue Sheet of Sweet, Sweet Smile
EASY + LINE DANCE, CHOREO BY: Janice Jestin, Yuma, AZ 85365
SEQUENCE: AB AB BREAK B A* Wait: 8 Bests

INTRO: 2 Turkey Basics, Triple Stomp Stomp (forward), Triple (back )
PART A: Charleston Brush , Burton Around (1/2 R) Ds-Stomp/H- Stomp/H- Stomp/H, Joey; triple Repeat
PART B: Drag & Loop DS-Dr-S(xif)-Ds-Sl-S(xib)-Ds-Dr-S(xif)-DS-RS, Long Charleston (1/2R) Triple, Repeat
BREAK: Rooster Run DS-DS(xif)-S(ots)-S(xib)-S(ots)-S(xif), Rocking Chair (1/4L), Total 4 times
PART A*: Replace last Triple with Triple Stomp-Stomp

What a Birthday Party!

It was the day when all the waitresses stood in line and said in chorus "Happy Birthday to you". That was what happened when Virginia and I left TGI Friday this afternoon. Virginia and I were born on the same day. We decided to celebrate our birthdays together.

It's the first time for me to celebrate the birthday with another person born on the same day. It was fun and interesting looking at and talking with the person who shares many similar characters. We talked loud and we laughed a lot. Virginia took photos of each dish. We took photos of each together. The waitresses can feel the happiness of two crazy middle-aged women.

The reason why we chose TGI Friday to celebrate our birthdays is because of the free birthday desserts. When Virginia and I asked for the surprising desserts after lunch, the waitress didn't even bother to verify our IDs. The chocolate brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla pecan ice cream was the sweetest birthday gift from TGI Friday. What a decision we made to have an oral sensation of excitement and enjoyment! Next year we must invite more golden ladies to join us!

After lunch, Virginia and I went to Bo-ai Elementary School upon Trini's invitation. I talked to her English class of six graders about my visit to a class of fifth graders in Hachinohe (八戶) in Japan in early November. I gathered many greetings cards from Trini's class for my friend's class in Japan. Hopefully I can bring two elementary school students together in the future. It was a 15-minutes talk and it was ended with "Happy Birthday to You" song by a class of thirty-five youngsters and sweet Teacher Trini. What a unique Birthday for Virginia and me! I love the way to turn 52 today!

Typhoon Krosa--A Crane in Khmer

It is not a coincidence, one super typhoon holiday a month this year in Taiwan. After super typhoon Sepat in August, followed by super typhoon Wipha in September, now the Super typhoon Krosa slammed Taiwan Saturday, October the 6th.

Krosa is as powerful as its two predecessors, if not stronger. It covers much bigger area with sustained winds of over 240 kilometers and gusts of over 270 kilometers per hour. The name of Krosa is assigned by the Hong Kong Observatory, means crane in Khmer. What a unique name! What does a crane have to do with a super typhoon?

While most people could enjoy watching TV during typhoon holidays, I would do likewise only if I could receive proper image from my satellite TV. It is too bad that whenever there is no peace in the sky, I see only the warming signals of bad resolution on the screen. That's why I end up sitting in front of the desktop, nagging about the extra holiday on weekend.

According to "Supertyphoon Krosa, Typhoon Alley and Global Warming" in the Daily Green Friday 10/05/07, Eric Berger made a memorable observation: "If you were going to create a new island I would not recommend placing it several hundred miles south of Japan." Typhoon Alley, the busiest region south of Japan, east of the Philippines is home to the strongest and largest storms of all. Sepat, Wipha, Krosa were all born in this region of Typhoon Alley.

In less than a week, I shall embark upon my journey in Japan for two months. I am flying north to venture out of the typhoon alley. Chances are, I won't experience more intense storms this year. But my family and friends are in Taiwan and I shall be worried about them even I am away from the Typhoon Alley.

We don't have to be a storm pundit to know that soon we might expect one super typhoon holiday a week, in ten or twenty years. The global warming is teaching us a good lesson hard. We must take actions collectively and diligently to treat the earth nice and gentle before we discover another planet to dwell at.

Being a rebellious middle-aged woman, I won't stay home, especially on the typhoon holidays. If the coffeehouse is open, you'll find me there sipping my hot latte watch the pedestrians dance in the wind with their 7-11 raincoats on and/or their colorful umbrellas in hands. Care to join me, golden ladies or friends of golden ladies?

The One in Life

Golden ladies have a monthly reading gathering. It usually takes seven ladies one week of emailing to settle upon an appropriate date. The location of reading gathering is another challenge. There is a saying, the success of business is based on location, location, location, so is the reading gathering. If the location is right, it would add much value to perfect our monthly gathering. Time, place, people are three factors of each successful encounter.

Every month seven golden ladies take turns hosting the reading gathering. The hostess finds the location and recommends three articles to read. As most ladies are career women, Lydia joined me to shoulder the responsibility to find the locations since her retirement in August. We took initiatives to search for good locations for our future gathering while satisfying our stomachs. Lydia recommended The One on Chung-shan North Road (中山北路) for lunch today. She invited Harris, her high school friend who she had not seen for more than 30 years.

I thought about arriving late intentionally, but I changed my mind to be on time, because punctuality is a good virtue. When I arrived at "The One" at 11AM sharp, I saw a man in his 50's waiting in front of the restaurant. Without much thinking, I approached him by calling his name. Harris was astonished and tried to avoid my mini skirt which he confessed later was too short for a mature woman like me.

Lydia joined us within less than one second, so I didn't have the opportunity to practice a succinct icebreaker speech with Harris, a college English professor. When the waiter sat us to a table by the window overlooking the maple tress on Chung-shan north road, right across from Hotel Royal Taipei, I was amazed at the location for our future reading gathering. I like the interior design of The One, a sense of Zen in a spacious four stories building. The rest room is surrounded by blackboard where patrons can express their emotions while waiting in line to satisfy their biological needs.

Before lunch was served at 11:30, Lydia and Harris caught up with each other by talking about the old days and about their children. Harris talked mainly about his two daughters, Lydia about her two sons. They spent quite some time sharing their parenting stories. As an outsider of no children, I picked up a book about the tree houses from the shelf, imagining myself in a hideaway high above in the woods.

But it is no fun to have two talkers in the three's company. Luckily, I bring Toastmasters magazine September issue with me. Isn't Harris an English professor an ideal Toastmaster member? I introduced myself by showing him the Toastmaster magazine. After luncheon, I even encouraged him to read "The Body Language Myth". It would certainly be nice if Harris could help charter a University Toastmasters Club his school in Tao-yuan in the future.

Harris, Lydia and I didn't leave The One till 3:30PM. We talked for four and half hours straight. It is a valuable afternoon to listen to a middle-aged man talking about his responsibilities, his interests, and his desires. Harris is humorous to share about his secrets how to guide his students (mostly girls) to grow and to achieve in the field of English literature. Why don't you visit his blog for yourself when you have time. Don't miss the chance to meet with Harris next time when there is an opportunity. I'm sure you can learn and gain as much as Lydia and I did today.

Who is watching?

I uploaded two videoclips of golden ladies' clogging dance performance at the monthly birthday party of nursing home on YouTube as soon as I got home Wednesday, September 19th. Jennie (clogging instructor), Michelle, Lydia, and I performed Sweet Sweet Smile and Let's Put the Western Back the Country cheerfully and we won a big round of applause from the audience. The hours of rehearsal paid off. The elderly were pleased and we made progress in clogging dance.

I received many compliments from members of Hsin-tien Volunteer group the following week at the annual joint volunteers meeting in Hsin-tien Friday, September the 28th. I received more compliments from members of Hsin-tien Volunteer group at our monthly meeting, Monday, October the first. Many volunteers mentioned their interest in learning clogging dance with me.

Lydia and I went to the nursing home this afternoon. We received compliments from the caretakers about our clogging performance. Many of them expressed their interest in learning the clogging dance with us. I demonstrated a few basic steps and they picked up very fast. When I told them about the videoclips, they were eager to watch us on YouTube. I am sure these caretakers from the aboriginal tribes would make an excellent clogging team in the future, because they are born singers and dancers.

Even though there are less than 100 viewers of our videoclips on YouTube at the moment, but I believe many people would like to learn clogging dance if we show them what clogging dance is. Take the volunteers and the caretakers for example, they don't get access to the computers as regularly as we do, they would click to enjoy our performance if they are told how. Just imagine, if we act upon every invitation possible to promote clogging dance to people in Taiwan, we would motivate more people to clog on their feet. By doing so, they would have healthier legs and they are more likely to move around on their feet till one day they expire, so do we.

Clogging dance is one example how much human beings love to imitate. If there is a huge market of clogging dance, there is also a huge market of toastmasters at the nursing home. If we can motivate the elderly to stand up and speak up, we can help them regain their confidence. It would be awesome if we can nourish the positive thinking spirit in the elderly. It would be less painful for them to leave this world, because they are ready to take the challenge in another world ahead of them with our hearts with them.