さよなら 2008

~~~WHAT WE THINK WE BECOME~~~ Buddha quote


On the last day of year 2008, my dream came true! I became a calendar girl Wednesday morning at age of 53, wearing Grand Toastmasters Club member and Designer Sophia Chen's 2008 Hats Series at Vicent Photo Studio Pro.

I love, I love, I love my calender girl; Yeah, sweet calender girl; I love, I love, I love my calender girl; Each and every day of the year!

(January) You start the year off fine; (February) You're my little valentine; (March) I'm gonna march you down the aisle; (April) You're the Easter Bunny when you smile; Yeah, yeah, my heart's in a whirl; I love, I love, I love my little calender girl; Every day (every day), every day (every day) of the year; (Every day of the year); (May) Maybe if I ask your dad and mom; (June) They'll let me take you to the Junior Prom; (July) Like a firecracker all aglow; (August) When you're on the beach you steal the show; Yeah, yeah, my heart's in a whirl; I love, I love, I love my little calendar girl; Every day (every day), every day (every day) of the year (Every day of the year); (September) Light the candles at your Sweet Sixteen; (October) Romeo and Juliet on Halloween; (November) I'll give thanks that you belong to me; (December) You're the present 'neath my Christmas tree; Yeah, yeah, my heart's in a whirl; I love, I love, I love my little calender girl; Every day (every day), every day (every day) of the year! by N.Sedaka/H.Greenfield.

Wednesday afternoon, I was nominated as the Section Chief by the newly elected Captain of Hsin-tien Volunteers Group to take charge of Group's public and private activities, including monthly visits to the nursing home, Hsin-tien community activities and many miscellaneous social activities. I was thrilled to be given the chance to serve residents of Hsin-tien Community as well as members of Hsin-tien Volunteers Group in year 2009.

On New Year Eve, Trini gave her consent to construct a relay blog, Exploring Delights and Wonders in Life, for golden ladies to shoulder the responsibilities to report and document the activities of golden ladies throughout year 2009. This Golden Ladies Clogging Toastmasters blog will not be closed, but will become less active.

With the support and encouragement of golden ladies in the past two years, I'm glad that I've collected 187 articles on this blog. Golden ladies shall take turns annually to relay the documentation from now on! Yes, we're going to publish a book "A Decade of Friendship" in year 2015! It is a mission and we will make it happen!

The end is well, all is well. The last day of year 2008 was the busiest and most fruitful day of the year, from early morning till late evening. I am grateful! THANK YOU & GOOD BYE XXX OOO XO XO XO ~~~

Sunrise 2009

There are many Toastmasters in District 67. Every Toastmaster is unique and talented in his or her own way. Young or old, male or female, native or foreigner, we are in the big Toastmasters family to learn communication and leadership skills. While we develop and grow in Toastmasters, we make many friends from all walks of life.

I joined the Toastmasters in 1986. What I like most about Toastmasters is the power of positive thinking and learning attitudes. Members of team spirit are supportive and enthusiastic about new tricks in life. And I love to bring toastmasters from different clubs together. In this way, I enjoy every moment in Toastmasters in the past two decades and I shall continue my passion to bring more Toastmasters and non-Toastmasters together in the years to come.

Sunrise Toastmasters Club's Year-end party showcased the fellowship and friendship among different Toastmasters clubs in Taiwan. Golden ladies performed an opening clogging dance "Black Mountain Rag". Toastmaster Eric Wu from Pacific Toastmasters Club gave an amazing magic show with a white rope. Toastmaster Kate Hsu from Prestige Toastmasters Club performed a popular piece of Peking Opera and invited all participants to join her Rock-n-Rock version. Kate's friend Chi-chung Shen sang a master piece of Protect the Zhao Orphan. At the end, Sunrise members got on stage to sing Ode to Joy, the fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Every sang Auld Lang Syne loudly before the mock countdown.

I don't deny that I was the Toastmaster who took initiatives to organize Sunrise Toastmasters Club's New Year Mock Countdown event for the following three reasons;

1. After I visited Sunrise Toastmasters Club in October, I promised President Scott and EVP Joe that I wold visit their club again, because I adore the small podium of their meeting venue at Taipei City Library, Wang Kuan-ying Branch;

2. Toastmaster Kate Hsu did not make it at golden ladies' clogging dance performance at Joint Christmas Party Saturday evening, December 13th, she celebrated her 30th anniversary with her better half at home. I thought it would be nice to have Kate Hsu and Jennie Wang (clogging dance instructor) to break a leg on stage at Sunrise's year end party;

3. Toastmaster Sophia Chen of Grand Toastmasters Club told me about her interest in stage design and party planning. I thought it would be an excellent chance for us to work together to present a warm, friendly and memorable year end party for Sunrise Toastmasters Club.

If I could name a Toastmaster club for toastmasters to bid farewell to Year 2008, Sunrise Toastmasters Club is it! After the new year countdown, we can look forward to the Sunrise. A new year just began. There are many exciting adventures waiting for us to explore! Best wishes for Sunrise Toastmasters CLub! Go, Go, Go!

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in December

It's Irene's birthday today. Golden ladies got together at Hwa-young for luncheon to meet with Irene's newly wed son and daughter-in-law. We all felt happy for Irene to have another shoulder to lean on when needed. After lunch, the newly wed couple bought a big birthday cake and I saw tears in Irene's big lovely eyes.

Three years ago, on Irene's birthday, Michelle and I presented a tap dance performance at Formosa Toastmasters Club. Time certainly flies. I can't help think about the beginning of my tap dancing journey three years ago with Michelle. I invited Michelle to join a tapping dancing class at Youth 17 in March. Our debut performance was at Grand Toastmasters Club's 30th anniversary in May. In September, I organized a D67 tap dancing troupe of 8 toastmasters and I got to know Irene. We had a successful performance at D67 Fall Convention 2005 in November.

Irene, Michelle and I switched from American tap dancing to Irish tap dancing, finally we settled upon the clogging dance in 2006 upon Trini's invitation. And golden ladies clogging toastmasters began the monthly Toastmaster Magazine reading gathering in March 2007. This blog was constructed mainly to document many happy, memorable and joyful reading and clogging activities among us.

At lunch, Linda sat next to me and told me that Toastmaster Magazine December 2008 was a Christmas Present in time for me. I should consider publishing a booklet of golden ladies clogging toastmasters activities in the past two years. Wow, my dream of being an author might come true by Authoring the Success story of golden ladies toastmasters. What I need to do urgently is to follow two basic steps recommended by Patricia Fry, ATMS, to study the publishing industry and to write a book proposal. The tips on getting your book published by Neil Chethik gave me a comprehensive roadmap to get it done, well. Why wait? Just do it!

Year 2009 is around the corner. I am ready to extend from writing to publishing, from a writer to an author. I'd like to take the opportunity to solicit another golden lady to take charge of documenting our toastmaster magazine reading activities with another story telling and writing style. Please keep your eyes open to a new life and a new dimension of golden ladies clogging toastmasters.

At the end of 2008, I feel grateful that I can cherish the Toastmasters fellowship and friendship among golden ladies toastmasters. While documenting our reading and clogging activities, I could have the second chance to rejoice in our moments and achievements. I thank all golden ladies for being there and I hope more and more golden ladies can join our Toastmaster magazine reading gathering and venture with into the world of clogging dance.

GRAND/NLFD/TTY Joint Christmas Singing Party

From the beginning till the end of the GRAND/NLFD/TTY Joint Christmas Singing Party, fifty plus toastmasters members and guests enjoyed every single second of the unprecedented singing party. Every participant felt super High and extemely Happy, including D67 Governor Marian Hsiao, Division H Governor Ellen Chen and Area H1 Governor Victor Chu.

Thursday afternoon, December 18th, immediately after Japanese dance class, I arrived at Holiday Karaoke Box on Xi-ning South Road before 5. I was the first one to the singing party. Being the No. 1 early bird, I took the opporunity to study the custumers profile at the lobby of Holiday Karaoke. It was to my surprise, most customers were teenagers school kids.

Eric came join me at 6, he was the second early bird, with a new and charming hairstyle, in a red jacket. Yvan was the third to the party, Sophia the fourth. While waiting for others, we killed time by taking turns taking photos of one another in front of the big Christmas tree at the lobby.

After Toastmaster of the Evening Eric Chou sang an opening song, the singing party began officially. Joke session was replaced by most heated group humorous song contest. TTY Toastmasters won the group singing contest under the leadership of President Tim Wang. Grand's President Carrie Chiang motivated most clubs members to interprete the most famous Taiwanese movie "Cape No. 7" and won the first runner-up. TTY placed the second runner-up with an outstanding performance. Everybody on the floor was busy, singing, eating, dancing, taking photos, having photos taken. It was a boisterous and exuberant party that I had ever attended.

I forgot since when I had aquaired the habit to change the outfits during the parties. Likewise, I was Mrs. Santa at the first half of the singsing party and changed to a popular singer FeiFei in Japan to sing "Love is Over" at the prepared singing contest. I won the first runner up, to my great satisfaction. New member Ashley from Grand was a black horse, she was the champion singer. Edwin Fang, President of NLFD was the second runner up. The singing party ended at 9:25 alright, but we continued our second party at McDonald's in the Xi-men Area till 10:30PM.

December is my favorite season, to meet with family and friends at various parties. Year 2008 is especial. I've attended more than half a dozen parties so far, and there are more than half a dozen to attend in the coming two weeks. I love December, the best season to add colors to our lives.

逝去的愛　歐陽菲菲

LOVE IS OVER 請你不要再提起 逝去的愛已逝去 誰也不必再追憶
LOVE IS OVER 請你不要再說明 過去就像流雲 隨風隨去無蹤影

LOVE IS OVER　雖然也曾嘆息 雖然也曾悲悽 如今都已成過去
LOVE IS OVER　時光匆匆如流水流水撫平我心靈 創傷早已無痕跡

雖然過去你曾對我　表示過真情意 也曾對你許下諾言　今生我永不移 為何你一去無音訊　撕碎我的心

LOVE IS OVER 請你不要再提起 逝去的愛已逝去 誰也不必再追憶
LOVE IS OVER　時光匆匆如流水 流水撫平我心靈 創傷早已無痕跡

雖然過去你曾對我　表示過真情意 也曾對你許下諾言　今生我永不移 為何你一去無音訊　撕碎我的心

LOVE IS OVER 請你不要再提起 逝去的愛已逝去 誰也不必再追憶

LOVE IS OVER 誰也不必再提起 LOVE IS OVER

ラブ．イズ．オーヴァー

Love is over 悲しいけれど 終わりにしよう 限がないから
Love is over 訳などないよ ただ一つだけ 貴方のため

Love is over 若い過ちと 笑って言える 時が来るから
Love is over泣くな男だろう 私の事は 早く忘れて

わたしはあんたを 忘れはしない 誰に抱かれても 忘れはしない きっと最後の 恋だと 思うから

Love is overあたしは あんたの お守りでいい そっと心に
Love is over 最後にひとつ 自分をだましちゃ いけないよ

お酒なんかで ごまかさないで ほんとの自分を じっと見つめて きっと あんたに お似合いの 人がいる

Love is over 悲しいよ 早く出てって ふりむかないで Love is over んん---
元氣でいてね Love is over ありがとう

District 67 Joint Christmas Party 2008

What a Joint Christmas Party we had Saturday evening, December 13th. Trini won the best Toastmaster award and I won the best costume award. Pamela Yang from Galaxy Toastmasters Club and Cecilia King from Legacy Toastmasters Club had their debut clogging dance performance. Incumbent District 67 Governor Marian Hsiao and Shelly Kuo of Prestige Toastmasters Club decided to join golden ladies clogging toastmasters from year 2009.

Golden Ladies Clogging Toastmasters presented a splendid closing clogging dance for seven minutes at Ming-yu Community Center in Taipei. Six Mrs. Santa danced merrily and joyfully to three Christmas songs, including Christmas Time's A Coming, Sleigh Ride, and Country Christmas. We not only won a big round of applause from the floor, but we also attracted many potential toastmasters to the clogging dance world.

Immediately after the Annual Performance of Thousand Cranes Japanese Dance School at Youth Arts Center, I rushed to D67 Joint Christmas Party in Kimono. The moment I arrived at the fourth floor, Toastmaster Kaku of Innovative Toastmasters Club gave a hearty welcome and led me to the party hall without having to wait in a long line. The hall was packed with more than 250 participants.

Five Grand Toastmasters Club members performed Hanagasa Ondo and I gave a solo ad-lib Japanese dance to a western song during the intermission. I was grateful to have the opportunity to mix the old and new, east and west, to add cultural varieties to Taiwanese Toastmasters Christmas party in 2008. It was a huge success beyond my expectations!

If there had been the best performance award of the joint Christmas party, I bet golden ladies would claim it, because six golden ladies in red caught all the attention from the floor even at the end of the party. We brought the party atmosphere to the climax. All of us couldn't feel better and more satisfied to encourage fellow toastmasters members to join us to stay fit, healthy, happy like us.

Many thanks go to Sophia Chen of Grand Toastmasters Club for decorating Santa Caps for Grand's Japanese dancers. Sophia accompanied me from early morning till late evening, helping me with the make-up and hairdo. She took many photos of Japanese speaking toastmasters dancers and announcer. She and I were happy to bridge the gap between English and Japanese speaking Toastmasters clubs in Taiwan.

Master Kiyomi of Thousand Cranes Japanese Dance School will join the big Toastmasters Family from year 2009. Isn't it a good news? Toastmasters in Taiwan are one of its kinds, we not only have clubs of different languages (English, Japanese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, Spanish...), but we also have talents from all walks of life. Do you want to add colors to your life? How about adding a new year resolution by visiting a friendly toastmasters club near you?

My Country, My Home

I hereby encourage all toastmasters in Taiwan to take the challenge to speak behind the lectern of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is the best stage to speak out to the world what toastmasters in Taiwan can offer to the public servants and to the public in general. It is the best stage for us to foster our self-confidence and personal growth.

Upon D67 PR YS Liao's invitation, I was excited to take the assignment as the Language Evaluator at MOFA Toastmasters Club's 9th Meeting, Friday afternoon, December 12th. The meeting was postponed from Thursday to Friday, which made me wonder what a busy life our foreign diplomats lead, especially at the end of the year. I guess there won't be any so-called Christmas holidays for diplomats around the world.

Being the first timer to MOFA Toastmasters Club's meeting venue at MOFA big white building next to the Presidential Hall, I felt like a prestigious person the moment I walked into the brightly lit Press Conference Room 428 of thick carpet and comfortable sofas. President Michael Hsu stood at door to give every guest and member a hearty welcome diplomatically, which made me a proud citizen of Taiwan.

Even we didn't have a full house of participants this afternoon, the meeting quality was good. The variety session chaired by Christine Hung was a story relay. Christine began the story by naming a lost back labrador "Christmas", then we were called upon to tell Christmas' adventures to become a TV star and returned to his home eventually. Tabletopics Master YS asked diplomats about their Christmas experiences abroad. Two prepared speakers Robin Cheng and Paul Chen were eager to share with us their stories in life and at work with an excellent command of the English language.

LJ was a competent general evaluator indeed. He arrived at MOFA 15 minutes ahead of the meeting time, passed questionnaire slips among evaluators whom he would introduce later. The question was "how will you spend your Christmas"? When he took charge of the evaluation session, he not only complimented the good areas of MOFA toastmasters club, but he also pinpointed areas for future improvement in details, including outsourcing assignment takers from other toastmasters clubs when necessary, avoiding verbalizing the pause with unnecessary fillers, and many valuable comments for individual assignment taker, speaker and evaluator.

Talking about MOFA toastmasters Club, two important toastmasters who help the club all the time and to the best of their abilities are YS Liao and LJ Lamb. They are regular visitors and supporters to MOFA Toastmasters Club. The service attitude of the Toastmasters International they demonstrate to every member of the big Toastmasters family is impressive and inspiring. YS never forgets to wear smiles on his face to encourage club officers and members to participate in regular meetings to hone communication and leadership skills. Being an attorney, LJ follows the rules of Toastmasters clubs and gives constructive suggestions and recommendations without reservations. With the efforts of YS and LJ, I am sure MOFA will become a model club in Taiwan in no time. I salute them both from the bottom of my heart!

MOFA Toastmasters Club's next meeting and the last meeting of 2008 will take place on the fourth Thursday, which falls on the Christmas Day coincidentally. If you're available on the day, why not grab the good timing to share the joyful moments with the diplomats toastmasters of our country, our home?

Memorable Year 2008

Many things happened in year 2008. Many things will happen in the remaining three weeks of year 2008. This weekend I shall attempt two new things for the first time at the D67 Joint Xmas Party, Saturday evening, December 13th.

Grand Toastmasters Club members will perform a group Japanese Dance on stage for the first time. Five female members will perform Hanagasa Ondo, including President Carrie Chiang, EVP Yvan Chu, Sargent-at-Arms Erin Ke, reinstated member Ellen Huang, and new member Ashley. We had our rehearsal last Sunday afternoon by the relics of old Taipei Town. If not for the anachronous modern outfits and traffic noise, I felt like being transcended to an old Taipei a century years ago. The sky was bluer. The rice field expanded afar. The air was fresher. We could hear the wind blow.

Japanese Ondo is a simple and joyful folkdance. Every region has its own Ondo to celebrate the auspicious seasonal festival. Hanagasa Ondo is the folkdance of Yamagata Prefecture. Dancers, both male and female, carry flowery hats in hands and dance joyfully to the happy music.

目出度目出度の 若松様よ 枝も　チョイチョイ
栄えて葉も茂る ハァ　ヤッショマカショ
花の山形　紅葉の天童 雪を　チョイチョイ
ながむる尾花沢 ハァ　ヤッショマカショ
おらが在所ヘ　来てみてしゃんせ 米の　チョイチョイ
なる木がおじぎする ハァ　ヤッショマカショ
揃ろた揃ろたよ　笠踊り揃ろた 秋の　チョイチョイ
出穂よりまだ揃ろた ハァ　ヤッショマカショ

I shall perform a solo Japanese dance to a western music. To be honest, I've thought about performing Japanese to the opera, classical music, western folk music since I began studying Japanese dance five years ago. And finally my dream came true. My husband helped me select the dance music--Coldcut Autumn leaves.

Originally I planned to invite my Japanese dancers friends to perform at the Joint Xmas Party. Our Japanese Dance School has the year-end performance at the Youth Arts Center Saturday afternoon, December 13th. We can take the opportunity to perform the same dance at two different places in one day. Unfortunately they will be invited to a big dinner party and I have to be left alone. Here comes my chance to realize my dream to perform a solo Japanese dance to an English song. It's going to be an artistic adventure. I'm feeling excited about it!

Autumn leaves fall and are swept out of sight,
The words that you said have come true.
Autumn leaves fall and are swept out of sight,
So is the memory of love that we knew.

The wind of forgetfullness blows them
Into the night of regret.
The song we so often did sing,
Is echoing echoing yet.

The falling leaves,
Drift by the window.
The autumn leaves of red and gold.
I see your lips,
The summer kisses,
The sunburned hands I used to hold.

Since you went away,
The days grow long,
And soon I'll hear cold winter song.
But I miss you most of all, my darling,
When autumn leaves start to fall.

New Year Resolutions 2009

When President Carrie announced that it was the last meeting of year 2008, I couldn't believe that time could fly so fast. It seemed to me that the young and energetic officers of Grand Toastmasters Club were just installed, but they would complete half of their terms soon.

Grand's second regular meeting in December will be replaced by a huge Joint Christmas Singing Party of Grand, NLFD, TTY at Holiday Karaoke Box, Thursday evening, December 18th. There will be Joke Session—Humorous Song Contest, Tabletopics Session—Group Ad-lib Song Contest, Prepared Song Contest, Evaluation Song Contest. Just thinking about this unprecedented event, I couldn't help feeling exhilarated and high.

At the first and last meeting of December this evening, I was thrilled when Jimmy Wu, Tabletopics Master, called upon me to tell my New Year Resolutions. To be honest, I've been pondering upon this question ever since Thanksgiving Day. But I thought it was still in early December, I didn't expect that I'd be given the chance to finalize what I plan to achieve in the coming year in a loud voice in front of my fellow Toastmasters members. Many thanks goes to Jimmy to let me announce my New Year Resolutions 2009.

1. Go to Africa. On the day when Barack Obama was elected as the President of the United States, I thought about visiting Kenya, the birthplace of Barack Obama Senior. Nairobi will definitely be one of my stops in Africa. Kenya must have a lot to offer in addition to the super genes of the first class world leader. Dakar will certainly be my second stop. I plan to visit Manuela and her husband in Senegal for a couple of weeks in July. Manuela is one of my best friends in Italy. We studied at Ritsumeikan University as exchange students in 2001. I missed Manuela's big wedding day this year, but I wouldn't miss the opportunites to accompany her to meet with her parents-in-law. Year 2009 will be the year to connect Africa and Taiwan.

2. Spend a Fortune. In addition to the consumer voucher of NT$3,600 I'm about to receive from the government, I shall spend as much as I can in the coming year to boost the economy of Taiwan and the rest of the world. Hopefully I can contribute my humble share to bring a halt to the global economic downturn. Thrifty is no doubt a virtue to be, but when my country needs my money, I shall spend without reservation!

3. Lose 5 Pounds. In year 2008, I was not only successful in reducing 5 pounds, but I also reduced the fat deposit on my tummy in 2008. Diet control and regular exercise were the keys. I couldn't feel happier, healthier, and sexier. If I lose 5 more pounds mainly on my belly, I should be qualified as a supermodel on the runway. It is my goal to stay slim and fit in 2009 and in the years to come.

Tonight we had a birthday celebration for members born in October, November and December. I was one of three Libras, along with 3 Scorpios, and one Sagittarius. When we stood in line, blowing out a big candle of question mark, I looked a good look at my fellow members born in the last quarter of the year for the first time. I found out some common characters among us, talkative, expressive, and versatile.

An Early Christmas Joy

Christmas time's a coming! Golden ladies can't wait to share the joyful spirit with family and friends, strangers and acquaintances, children and elderly. On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Lydia, Linda, Kate, Virginia and I dressed in red and white to visit Northern Region Senior Citizens' Home located between Hsien-tien and Wu-lai, December 3rd.

As soon as we walked into the lobby of the care center, we started working hand-in-hand with five volunteers from Hsin-tien. We first played games with the wheelchair ridden elderly to exercise their hands and minds. Kate and Linda visited this nursing home for the first time, they mingled with the caretakers, volunteers and elderly instantly.

After the warm-up for a half hour, ten ladies joined hands to present an ad-lib singing and dancing show for 45 minutes. Kate, Lydia, Linda and I performed two Christmas clogging dances (Sleigh Ride and Country Christmas) and one Japanese dance Nanagasa Ondo (Flowery Hats). We couldn't feel more satisfying to see a full house of senior citizens with big smiles on their faces when we said goodbye and wished each and every resident of the nursing home "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year".

Being a local in Hsin-tien, I was obliged to introduce a nice place to my golden ladies friends whenever possible. We went to Celebrities Riverside Cafe' near the nursing home. The name of the cafe' simply prompted me to think of ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) of Edo Period. Even the interior design of kaiseki restaurant was full of Japanese Ambience, tatami, bamboo shades, futon mattress and low tables.

On a cozy afternoon, we chatted over coffee with the complimentary desserts on the house, sitting on the veranda overlooking Hsin-tien River flowing in the mountains. As always, Virginia is our happy "nut", she never fails to make us laugh. Whenever she is around, we tell jokes. Today is no exception. Being a witty musican, Virginia is blessed with good ears. Every word could turn into an intriguing pun when Virginia gave it a new interpretation, a new life so to speak. It was phenomenal to see five flowery middle-aged women laughing loudly and happily in a remote coffeehouse on a weekday afternoon.

It was dark when Lydia gave us a lift back to Taipei. Linda gave each of us a bag of kumquat fruits from the roof garden of her factory. They are the best medicine to keep the cold away in the winter. What would have been a better day otherwise at the beginning of this auspicious December? Golden ladies toastmasters shared the early christmas joy with the elderly and shared the golden friendship among us.

Dress Rehearsal

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon yesterday. The dress rehearsal of Thousand Cranes Japanese Dance School (千鶴流) Year-end Party took place at the Youth Arts Center, the same venue where we shall have our annual Japanese Dance Performance Saturday afternoon, December the 13th.

Four Toastmasters were at the dress rehearsal, Reifon Tong and Janifer Kuo from Japanese speaking toastmasters club, Sophia and me from Grand Toastmasters Club. Reifon, Incumbent President of Peace Toastmasters Club, served as the master of ceremonies. Janifer performed three Japanese dances, including one solo dance. I joined a group dance. Sophia came to the open dress for the first time. Being a make-up artist and hair stylist, Sophia agreed to help me with my hairstyle on the performance day.

It was a very smooth dress rehearsal under the leadership of schoolmaster. The rundown of 26 Japanese dances, from cue to cue, master of ceremonies, tech crew (lighting change, sound effect, or scene change), and dancers exerted all energies to ensure that all details of the performance are adequate for professional presentation. We spent a lot of time rehearsing the opening and closing dances with more than 30 dancers on stage at the same time. We also rehearsed the celebration of the 80th birthday for four senior dancers. It was grand and magnificent.

Dress rehearsal is not only important for tech crew, but it also gives dancers the sense of being what it would be like at the real performance. Dress rehearsal is the only chance for dancers to see the whole program on stage on the performance day. Dress rehearsal is the best chance to observe other dancers' costumes, body movements, facial expressions, hand gestures and impromptu reactions.

It is the first time I tried on my handmade bling bling kimono. I was told that it had a special glittering and dazzling effect on stage. The hair accessories I bought in Obihiro, Hokkaido last year looked "Japanese Geisha" on me. Wow, how grateful I felt that I could have a relaxing Sunday afternoon sitting in the audience, chitchatting with dear friends, and playing with puppy like une femme heurese au chien au japon.

It is the fifth year since I joined Thousand Cranes Japanese Dance School. I enjoy every minutes of it. I got my natori certificate two years ago. I hope I can get my shifan certificate one day and I can continue the Japanese dance till age of 80 and beyond. I like Japanese dance (Nihon Buyou) for many reasons, gorgeous kimonos, geisha make-up, fancy hairstyles, gracious movements, and beautiful melodies. It is my way to learn Japanese language and culture by immersing myself in Nihon Buyou, so reads my golden toastmasters motto, "learning by doing".

Sophia and I went to Starbucks after the dress rehearsal. She told me the Japanese dance reminded her of the old times with her grandparents. She is thinking about joining our Japanese dance school in the future. I'm glad more and more toastmasters are interested in learning Japanese dance in Taiwan. I'm sure we could have a joint District 67 & 76 Japanese Dance Performance soon. That would be simply awesome!

The American Dream

"Yes, we can!" Barack Obama mesmerized the American public, young and old, black and white, rich and poor on his winning day as President-elect of the US. His charisma won cover hearts of American people. His whirlwind did not only sweep Europe, Africa, Middle East, but it also brought a momentum to Grand Toastmasters Club members this evening.

In stead of following the old tradition to celebrate the Beaujolais evening on the third Thursday of November, Grand gave up drinking this evening and chose the meeting theme "I have a Dream" to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to celebrate the victory of Barack Obama--a milestone of humanity. Human beings are free at last. Thank God Almighty, human beings are free at last from prejudice and discrimination.

Toastmaster Eric Chou was the one who proposed and made this special meeting possible. He invited Helen Lin to recite "I Have A Dream" of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963 at the variety session at the beginning of the meeting. He invited me to talk about the rhetoric, structure, sentence patterns, metaphors, wordings of the inspiring speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the language evaluation session at the end of the meeting. Both Helen and I dressed up like African Americans to play our roles in a theatrical effect. We won a big round of applause from the audience.

Americans have something to be proud of in pursuing their dreams. From signing the Emancipation Proclamation on the 1st of January 1863 to the birth of their first black president Barack Obama on the 5th of November, 2008, the USA has come a long way. It is not an easy journey, but with the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King and the collective efforts of American people, young and old, black and white, rich and poor, Americans have realized their big dream of their forefathers to guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all American people.

Congratulations to all American people and thank you for setting up an example for us in the rest of the world to follow, to have a dream, and to make the dream come true.

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in November

On a chilly Wednesday evening at Baba Kebaba, Trini, Linda and I recruited three young and promising toastmasters. We were three patrons and they were three waitresses. While we discussed the Toastmaster Magazine October issue, Peggy, Ellen and Boom provided the best afterdinner services and entertainment. A joy shared is a joy doubled. What a serendipity that six of us sat down together to have a rectangular table discussion about American Presidential Election November 2008.

After serving as the master of ceremonies at the 14th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment at GIS Conference Center, I received an unexpected gift of a Jazz CD from Professor Ellen Silbergeld of Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins Universary. Ellen and I met with each other Monday morning and we both loved tap dancing. After the closing ceremony, I invited Ellen for coffee at Starbucks. Ellen told me that she organized Samba party for her students every year. She picked up Portuguese and Samba when she taught and did researches in Amazon in Brazil for three years. Ellen also told me her researches in mining areas in different parts of the wrold. Being a polyglot American, Ellen also speaks Russian to my surprise. One of her dreams is to provide knowledge to people in Mongolia where houses vast amount of natural resources in the world. From heavy metals, dances, languages, politics, we had a joyful chitchat for one and a half hours.

I arrived at Baba Kebaba at 6PM and told the owner that I arrived early. He thought I said I found the restaurant at last (Mandarin pronunciation of "arrive early" is the same as that of "find the place"), we broke the ice instantly in a humorous way. After being sit at the best table, Linda walked in. She also "found the place". Trini arrived on time at 6:30PM. Maybe because the business was slow, maybe because we ordered the full course, from appetizers, main dishes, to desserts, we received an excellent service from Baba Kebaba. Dinner was superb, assorted Turkish cold plate of stuffed rice, olives and pickles, Moroccan stewed chicken and beef, assorted Lebanon shish kebabs along with Pita bread, couscous and saffron rice. Baba Kebaba means dad's skewer literally, their authentic Lebanon skewer was yummy.

After dinner, golden ladies discussed how to invite more toastmasters to join the reading gathering in the future. Trini, Linda and I felt that it would be nice if we invited toastmasters from all walks of life to join our reading gathering and to have fun. Chances are the name of the blog will be changed accordingly next year. After a short reading time, we started walking, dancing, having photos taken with the dazzling costumes and accessories provided by Baba Kebaba.

Golden Ladies took the opportunity to organize an impromptu tabletopics session to showcase the toastmasters meeting. We invited Peggy, Ellen and Boom to take turns serving as the timer. It was a great moment for three young nontoastmasters and three veteran toastmasters to sit together. Without any generation gap, we shared about our believes and doubts. We learned so much from one another how to excel in communication and leadership skills. It was a special and meaningful evening to us. Before we called it a night, Ellen played "The Manhattan Transfer", the Jazz CD from Professor Ellen Silbergeld, and Peggy gave us three 40 percent discout coupons for our future patronage at Baba Kebaba. And we shall return!

Minutes of Tabletopics Session by Trini Ding, DTM

Unexpectedly our reading turned into a table topics session. There was no other but Sherry could think of that idea and tried it out on those restaurant girls. I was afraid that it would embarrass them and might not work well. To my surprise, those girls played along without hesitation.

While doing the table topics session, Toastmasters value was spread out to these three lovely dream girls. I can't tell exactly the reasons that made Sherry come up with this idea, yet must say I was impressed by these girls' frank and open attitude, they all spoke with sincerity and enthusiasm. Linda did most in providing them with excellent sharing and advice. It showed her passion and earnestness. Also I got the chance to understand and study them. The questions raised covered articles in Toastmaster Magazine October 2008 and everyday life issues. Time flies especially when we were having fun. Each of us only got one chance to express their opinion.

In conclusion I must say our daring Sherry once again brought variety and novelty to our monthly reading gathering.

PS: Six tabletopics are as follows,
1. a comparison between Barack Obama and John McCain asked by Linda and answered by Trini;
2. leading without Authority asked by Trini and answered by Ellen;
3. the most regretful thing in your life asked by Peggy and answered by Sherry;
4. talk about dreams and how to get them accomplished asked by Sherry and answered by Peggy;
5. why is life full of worries and problems asked by Boom and answered by Linda;
6. what's there in Toastmasters that attract you to stay asked by Ellen and answered by Trini.

Nature or Nurture

Chinese men are susceptible to nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, especially those who live in the south, including Taiwanese. The two dreadful cancers are due to the viral infection, by Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) respectively. They take the toll upon many famous Chinese elite, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our National Father. But why southern Chinese? Is it because of the genes or is it because of their living habit?

Irene, Trini, Lydia and I had lunch at noon. Our topic was about life and death. It was a serious topic, but by our age, we can talk about anything without reservations. Being a microbiology and immunology major, I know EBV and HBV. I studied Herpes Virus for my master degree in the US, that's why I know EBV. I worked on Hepatitis B Vaccination program at Department of Health, that's why I know HBV. I don't usually discuss with golden ladies about infections and diseases, we often talk about fashion, love, and toastmasters.

Among seven golden ladies, we all wish to look younger and more beautiful. To be exact, we wish to have fewer wrinkles on our faces and less fat deposit on our tummies. We exchange the information about cosmetic surgery and the latest fashion designs. Life and death had never been a topic among us till today. What if we were sick? Would we have different expectations of existing life? Some golden ladies like to be surrounded by family members, other prefer to be solitary to finish their last journey. I am the latter, I like to be alone, so that I could have the opportunity to make friends with strangers along the way. It is my way of life.

In the future, in addition to the vanity fair, I think I might talk more about health issues so that golden ladies can be informed of the potential health threats, especially those among Chinese men. I wish golden ladies know more about nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, the two dreadful diseases in Chinese men.

Both nature and nurture shape what we are. We inherit genes from our parents. We are brought up by our parents. Our feature, our personality, our likes and dislikes are influenced by our genes as well as the environment we live in. I am thankful to my parents for their genes, I am obliged to make a better environment for us all.

Nature or Nurture

Chinese men are susceptible to nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, especially those who live in the south, including Taiwanese. The two dreadful cancers are due to the viral infection, by Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) respectively. They take the toll upon many famous Chinese elite, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our National Father. But why southern Chinese? Is it because of the genes or is it because of their living habits?

Linda, Lydia and I met at MRT Chung-shen Station at 10 this morning. We practiced three Xmas clogging dances at MRT's Jazz Stage Area for a couple of hours. The huge open area was covered with many big mirrors on the marble walls with a stage in the center. It was the first time golden ladies practiced dancing on a weekday morning without having to compete with youngsters. It simply felt great to have such a popular dancing spot to our own.

Lydia and I stayed for lunch with Irene. Trini rushed to join us after her school. Be it a random gathering without prior notice, we had a great time chatting and eating. The topic was about life and death. It was a serious topic, but by our age, we can talk about anything without reservations. Only when it is a matter of life and death, that's when friends are for. Friends in need are friends indeed.

Being a microbiology and immunology major, I know EBV and HBV by chance. I studied Herpes Virus for my master degree in the US, that's why I know a little about EBV. I worked on Hepatitis B Vaccination program at Department of Health, that's why I know a little about HBV. I don't usually discuss with golden ladies about infections and diseases, we often talk about fashion, love, and toastmasters.

Among seven golden ladies, we all wish to look younger and more beautiful. To be exact, we wish to have fewer wrinkles on our faces and less fat deposit on our tummies. We exchange the information about cosmetic surgery and the latest fashion designs. Life and death had never been a topic among us till today. What if we were sick? Would we have different expectations of remaining days, months, or years? Some golden ladies would like to be surrounded by family members, others prefer to be solitary to finish their last journey. I'm among the latter, I like to be alone, so that I could have the opportunity to make friends with strangers along the way. It's my way of living, my life journey. And I'm loving it!

In the future, in addition to the vanity fair, I think I might talk more about health issues so that golden ladies can be informed of the potential health threats, especially those among Chinese men. I wish golden ladies know more about nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, the two dreadful diseases in Chinese men.

Both nature and nurture shape what we are. We inherit genes from our parents. We are brought up by our parents. Our features, our personalities, our likes and dislikes are influenced by our genes as well as the environment we live in. I'm thankful to my parents for their genes, their tender love and my siblings. My husband and I don't left behind any of our genes, but we are obliged to join hands with others to make a better environment for us all.

Is the World Fair?

The world is flat, but not fair. Some countries are rich in natural resources. Other countries are rich in human resources. Some people excel in academic performance, others are active on the race tracks. Human beings are not born equal. We have our likes and dislikes. We have our own preferences. No matter how many judges training courses we have attended, we can't avoid bias.

At Division H Humorous Speech Contest Sunday afternoon, October 19th, I felt strongly that I received favoritism from a few judges to be placed as the first runner-up. I didn't perform well, far behind my expectations. Being an emotional person, I was so upset that I couldn't find one of my crystal earrings before my name was called. I became absent-minded and forgot the main paragraph to lead to my message in the speech. I was amazed at the cognitive abilities of judges and audience to follow through my speech. Or they were simply super Toastmasters cheerleaders!

It was a true story about my recent encounter with a direct marketer of health products. She invited me for brunch, took out a weight scale, gave me a health check up, and tied to thrust all beauty and health products to me. I changed HER to HIM and invited Winston Churchill and Lady Astor to open and close my speech about A Responsible Eater to add impact onto a sarcastic scene. But, I made up the last sentence in order to give the speech a good wrap-up, and it was not true (Lady Astor passed away one year before Winston Churchill). I am glad I didn't win, I could stop giving false information. The speech itself is good with a strong message to advocate people on diet to watch the calorie intake on daily basis.

No doubt, I was lucky to be the first runner-up of Humorous Speech Contest and the second runner-up of Evaluation Contest. I didn't feel bad at all about not winning because I was not ready. From now on, I shall set a goal to begin collecting my top ten speeches in my pocket in order to "WIN" at Annual Convention of Toastmasters International. There is an Italian saying, those who walk slow, walk long and far. Why in a hurry, if there is a goal in front of me? So what's next? Of course, District 67 Speech and Tabletopics Contests 2009!

Halloween Meeting 2008

I won, I won, I won the Spookiest Costume Award Thursday evening, October 16th. Upon President Carrie Chiang's request, every member brought a flash light to the special Halloween meeting this evening. It was the first time I attended a meeting with a bunch of witches, vampires, phantoms in a dark hall with a spine-tingling background music. Surprisingly, nobody seemed to be particularly scared, neither was I. I was immunized to Halloween ghosts in New Orleans twenty years ago.

I remember the first Hawlloween I had in the US. On October 31st, 1979, in the middle of Medical Microbiology class, two medical students dressed in skeleton costumes walked into the class and sat next to me, one to my right and the other to my left. I was in a total shock trembling and must have turned pale. I couldn't remember what the professor taught for the rest of the class, I could only remember the two huge ghosts snikered at me and bet I wouldn't dare to leave the classroom at once. They were right, my feet got cold and I was stunned to death. Who can be more frightening than ghosts? Of course, those mock ghosts pretended by human beings, who else?

I was assigned as the individual evaluator for Rock Chen in order to hone my skills before Divison H evaluation contest this coming Sunday afternoon, October 19th. Rock delivered his 4th speech "How to Say it" of the communication manual. He told us a touching story of Pablo Casals about how he let us know Bach. Out of instinct, I turned into Pablo Casals under my mask and costume, and thanked Rock for introducing me to Taiwanese people. I also mentioned how much I missed my friend Pianist Alfred Cortot and Violinist Jacques Thibaud. We were called the Trio of the Century. At last, I gave a high praise of Yo-Yo Ma's "Bach Inspiration Concert" in Taiwan. Strangly, I didn't feel at all uncomfortable speaking up at age of 132. I even played a short Bach's Cello Suite No. 1. It felt good to be in Taipei.

Trick or Treat aside, it was a very special evening. First, a long time no see member Ellen rejoined Grand's family. She passed the government examination test successfully and started working for Taipei City Government from this Monday. She invited all members and guests to be her guest at the second party even she hadn't received her first paycheck yet; second, two second timers guests decided to join Grand as new members this evening.

At the second party, President Carrie and I got a lot of encouragement from members to compete at the coming Division H Humorous and Evaluation Contests Sunday afternoon, October 19th. Go, go, go, Carrie and Sherry, go bring the trophies back to Grand!

I Have a Dream

In front of me, I set a goal. I shall produce the third musical with toastmasters in 2009.

Prelude
I first had the idea to produce a musical, it could trace back to more than a decade ago. After Past Council Governor Harry Fong (Lydia's better half) saw the entire The King and I at District 75 Spring Convention in Cebu, he repeatedly mentioned about the impressive collective efforts of toastmasters to sing and act together on stage. I thought if Filipinos Toastmasters could do it, so can Taiwanese toastmasters.

The First Musical
Immediately after I returned from Hokkaido last November, I brought up the idea to produce "Hairspray" with golden ladies (I saw the movie on the plane from Chitose to Taoyuan), I had their support with one consent on the spot. Without much ado, we started rehearsing songs and dances immediately. Saturday afternoon, December 23rd, five golden ladies and a golden friend performed the first Musical "Hairspray" at Division C X'mas Party for ten minutes at Ming-yiu Citizen Hall, Taipei. The debut musical was a big success!

The Second Musical
The second musical was another breakthrough. It was performed bilingually (English and Japanese) Saturday evening, October 11th. The scale of Mamma Mia Musical was bigger and longer (it involved 11 dancers and singers and lasted for 15 minutes and 23 seconds), we achieved more imposing and satisfactory effect beyond our imagination. The valuable experiences we gained from Hairspray were of great help for me to foresee the entertaining and amusing outcome. I incorporated 27 powerpoint slides (more than 50 photo clips from Mamma Mia 2008) in Japanese to explain the love story to Japanese toastmasters (Mamma Mia will be showing in Japan from the end of January 2009). It was another big success!

The Third Musical
What I have in mind now is a musical of 20 people for 25 minutes for golden ladies' third musical. I couldn't forget that Trini wrote an article about It Serves Every Purpose to Name That Song in April 2007. I want to make Trini's dream come true, if not more colorful and majestic. If Trini and I can work together to write a love story based upon a dozen popular Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English songs, we surely have something to be proud of ourselves. If British playwright Catherine Johnson can make such a successful stage musical Mamma Mia based upon the hit songs of ABBA in the second half of the 70's. We should be no second, if there is a will.

People often ask me what it is like to be a full-time homemaker. My answer is busy, very busy, extremely busy, dreaming~~~

I have a Dream a Song to Sing
To help me Cope with Anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail

Beautiful Sunday

I had a strange sweet dream. Kiminari waited for me at the end of the long red-carpet aisle to exchange vows, Takaaki took a diamond ring from his pocket, Toshiaki gave me a red rose, Steve sang "I don't want to sleep alone", and Masaki held my hand tightly. I was exhausted when I arrived home at seven o'clock, Sunday evening, October 12th. I took a short nap and immediately I started flying in the sky, I turned into Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia Musical, I was in love with them all around me!

National Palace Museum
I like Chinese calligraphy. Thanks to Japanese toastmasters, I had the opportunity to see the 40 days special exhibition of Chinese calligraphy from October 10th to November 20th at the National Palace Museum. I was thrilled to view a few master pieces of Wang Hsi-chih (303-361), the "Sage of Calligraphy" in Chinese history, with toastmasters friends from afar.

It is hard to believe that from the 3rd century, Chinese calligraphy witnessed the maturation of various script forms, regular, running, and cursive scripts. I was impressed by the scholar calligraphers who pursued the forms of writing to achieve a realm of utmost beauty and perfection in calligraphy. In stead of writing with brushes, I spend most of the day in front of the desktop, tapping the keyboard. Time has changed, for the better?

Taipei Astronomical Museum
At a quarter past twelve, we arrived at Taipei Astronomical Museum, not to study Astronomy, but for lunch, It was the first time I ate at the huge and spacious Hunan Restaurant downstairs. It can accommodate at least five hundred people, mainly the tourists from all over Taiwan as well as abroad.

We were divided into three tables with each table eight members. I sat with three female members from Kumamoto Club and right in the middle of Toastmasters Azuma and Miyajima. While savoring the delicious Hunan cuisine, we didn't waste a single second. A warm up tabletopics session was held for two contestants, Toastmasters Miyajima and Noritomi, at the coming Division E Tabletopics Contest this Saturday, October 18th. Toastmaster Azuma was the timer. He used all kinds of colorful vegetables to indicate the time, green, yellow, red pepper, just to name a few. After the intensive training of eight table topics, I'm not surprised that Miyajima or Noritomi would claim the crown.

The differences between "H" and "K"
I didn't know that I had difficulties pronouncing consonants H and K till today. After the heated tabletopics luncheon, I volunteered myself to be the Karaoke master and introduced the background of Fort San Domingo as soon as we got on the charter bus to the Little White House.

I was puzzled why he said, "Yes, I do I do I do I do", when I invited Toastmaster Azuma "to translate (honyaku)" for me. Everybody was joyful to hear I say "to marry (konyaku) me". Then Azuma invited everybody to attend our wedding ceremony at the Little White House and thanked everybody for the big red envelope.

When we arrived at the Fisherman Wharf, I told Toastmaster Inuzuka that the best place to see the sunset (夕日 Yuuhi) is on top of the Rainbow Bridge, but he thought I was talking about courage (勇気 Yuuki). Through the consecutive two mistakes, I learned that I should pay attention to my h consonant when I speak Japanese in the future.

An Encounter with a Pink Lady Pig
At five thirty Sunday afternoon, the deck of Fisherman's wharf was packed with strollers to enjoy the famous Tamshui sunset and cool sea breeze, why not? I was among four senior toastmasters members, Alex Hsiao, George Liang, Toshiaki Kishikawa and Masaki Oshiumi. Guess what? The moment we ran into an unusual pet, a pink lady pig, dressed up elegantly, she approached us with delight. Her family gave us her food, let us play the hide and seek game with her, and took several photos of us. It was the first time I fed and held a pig in my arms. I didn't have the time to inquire of the owners why they would have a pig for a pet. But, being a Chinese, I just couldn't help thinking how the pink lady pig would taste immediately after we left her in the sunset.

A Serendipitous Recruitment of Potential Toastmasters from India
Michelle Chen of Innovative Club and I said goodbye to toastmasters from Japan when we arrived at MRT Tamshui Station. It was a serendipity that we stood next to three young and smart PhD students in Physics at Academia Sinica. I broke the ice first and five of us started talking and exchanging ideas non-stop about language, culture, life in India and Taiwan from Tamshui to Taipei. Michelle recommended NLFD (National Laboratory of Food and Drugs) Toastmasters Club to them because of the geography proximity between NLFD and Academia Sinica as well as the similarities of their research interests. It would be simply wonderful if Michelle and I could recruit all three into our Toastmasters family.

My husband woke me up and asked me if I'd like to have a hot bath with him. I was back to my everyday life again. But the melody of Beautiful Sunday will linger...

Sunday morning, up with the lark
I think I'll take a walk in the park
Hey, hey, hey, it's a beautiful day

Hi, hi, hi, beautiful Sunday
This is my, my, my, beautiful day
When you say, say, say, say that you love me
Oh, my, my, my it's a beautiful day

We Are Family!

It was nine thirty when the Express Train pulled in Taoyuan Station. Eric Chou of Grand Club and Daphne Wang of Peace Club helped me carry luggage full of costumes. Reifon Tong, Yu-chi Hung, Jane were waiting for us at the station. As soon as six of us arrived at ChinaTrust Hotel, we started the rehearsal of Mamma Mia again and again without any delay at the Cambridge Room. Eric shouldered the responsibilities instantly to offer the last minute advice for Welcome Hula Dance, Aboriginal Dance and the Dance of Honey Honey. It was 12 noon when we left the Cambridge Room, the splendid venue of Joint Anniversary Ceremony and Dinner Party Saturday, October 11th.

The Joint Anniversary Ceremony

At 1:30PM sharp, the music of opening dance was on. Five young and energetic dancers (four female students and one male student) of Yamakawa Toastmasters Club performed an eye-opening Rock 'n' Roll dance to the most popular Taiwanese rock song. Following by the Recital of Chinese Poetry lead by Master Sun, more than a dozen members from Pacific and Peace Toastmasters Clubs recited two famous poems related to Kumamoto.

I left the ceremony venue and went back to Room 1416 to get prepared for the evening program after chanting with the poetry recital group on stage. It was indeed a pity that I missed almost the entire afternoon ceremony program. Fortunately the joint anniversary was videotaped, and I hope I could have the chance to view it in the future.

Room 1416

Thanks to Toastmaster Masaki Oshiumi of KitaKyushu Toastmasters Club, we could use his single room 1416 as the headquarters for dinner party rehearsal from the morning till the evening. Just imagine his room crammed with a dozen dancers, his bed covered with rundown sheets, clothes, flowers, sewing equipment, bells, anything you could think of for the dinner party.

Fortunately the housekeeper did a wonderful cleaning job at 8PM upon request. When Masaki accompanied me to his room to fetch my black dress for Ode to Joy finale, Room 1416 was tidy and neat.

Golden Ladies' Full Support

Trini arrived at ChinaTrust Hotel at eleven o'clcok and rushed to join our rehearsal of Mamma Mia for one hour before we all retreated to Masaki's room on the 14th floor. She didn't leave the room till five thirty in the afternoon to get ready for the evening show. Trini helped me sew the costumes and accessories till the last minute.

Lydia and Cecilia came to Room 1416 around three o'clock. While Cecilia rehearsed Mamma Mia with Trini and me, Lydia learned to display the powerpoint slide show deligently. When Masaki came back to Room during the intermission, Lydia and I rehearsed Ode to Joy with Masaki on the 14th floor. After the dinner party program, Cecilia drove us back home in Taipei and Trini gave Eric a lift to Taipei Train Station. It was a hustle and bustle day full of joyful moments for golden ladies and friends.

The Spirit of Teamwork

I wish I could stop the time to present the Joint Anniversary Dinner Party at its best to Japanese and Taiwanese toastmasters. In the past decade, many toastmasters from Japan have attended D67 Spring and Fall Conventions, but the party programs were mainly tailored to English speaking toastmasters clubs members. Therefore, I had a dream. I wanted to organize a super dinner party program for Japanese speaking toastmasters only. I admit I had a high expectation of myself to showcase the spirit of Japanese speaking toastmasters in Taiwan. And we made it happen with the encouragement and support from toastmasters in D67 and D76.

Before the dinner party, I felt like an octopus. I saw many directions at the same time, but I only had a pair of tight hands. Gratefully, I received a lot of helping hands and understanding hearts from Toastmasters members to build an order in the chaotic situation. Daphne Wang took my place to go over the entire party program with her party master partner, Toastmaster Inuzuka of Nagoya club. Trini took my place to explain the love story of Mamma Mia to Inuzuka and his role as Sam. They rehearsed on their own. Reifon shouldered the responsibilities to explain the roles of her three possible dads, Toastmasters Azuma, Inuzuka, Lee, in "Thank you for the Music". Toastmaster Tu and Eric helped me with the logistics on the spot. All golden ladies stood by me for any last minute instructions. Together we demonstrated the teamwork spirit to ourselves as well as to other Toastmasters friends.

The Joint Anniversary Dinner Party

It was ten past six. The welcome hula dancers were standing by in two separate rooms at two ends of the stage without an intercom. Just imagine what it was like when the Hula music was on, a bunch of flowery Hawaiian dancers ran on stage bare feet, dressed with colorful lei on necks and hands, wrapped with pink silk tapa around the waists! We wowed anybody in the audience.

Beautiful Daphne and handsome Misao walked on stage and welcomed everybody to the dinner party. After the Joint Toast by Success, Kumamoto, Pacific and Peace Club Presidents, the evening program began with exciting shows one after another, including folk songs, folk dances, magic show, quiz, bingo. Toastmaster Miyajima donated four songs with her bamboo flute and invited members from the floor to sing along.

Mamma Mia Musical

I didn't deny that I had a big ambition to tell six love stories in a musical of 15 minutes and 23 seconds, i.e., to arrange six couples to sing "I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do" together on stage, including Donna and Sam; Tanya and Harry; Bill and Rosie; Sophie and Sky; Lisa and Beach Boy X; Ali and Beach Boy Y.

I thought I was cleaver enough to arrange 8 songs in sequence, 1. Overture / Prologue by Sophie; 2. Honey, Honey by Sophie, Ali & Lisa; 3. Money, Money, Money by Donna, Tanya, Rosie; 4. Thank you for the Music by Sophie, Sam, Harry & Bill; 5. Mamma Mia by Donna, Tanya, Rosei; 6. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do by Sam & Donna & five couples; 7. I have a Dream by Sophie & Sky; 8. Dancing Queen by Tanya, Rosie & Donna. All singers and dancers could take turns changing costumes.

Between the 5th and 6th songs, I reserved TEN seconds of silence for the wedding ceremony scene. Sophie and Sky decided not to get married and pursued their futures first. While Sam proposed to Donna, everybody sang on stage to encourage Donna to accept Sam's proposal. I was too optimistic about what we could do in ten seconds. It was alright during the rehearsal. But, do you know what it turned out to be?

Nobody was on stage, when the song "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" was on. I wish I could stop the music immediately, but I couldn't (In fact, I could. I learned a lesson this time. I should have arranged a sound track assistant standing by in case we were behind the schedule or everything could possibly take place). Donna, Sam, Tanya and Rosie rushed to the stage to finish two thirds of the long song. So, in the end, I was only successful matching one Toastmasters couple in the musical on stage.

The Dancing Queen took the audience to a new height. Trini, Cecilia and I put on our own handmade dazzing bell bottoms. Everybody stood up and danced with us from the floor. Before the music came to an end, all singers and dancers got on stage to thank the laudable applause from the audience. What a crazy and joyful Saturday night fever we had together!

Ode to Joy Finale

It was the most breath-taking moment of the dinner party. When all lights were off, the videoclip of Kitakyushu Freude Chorus played on the big screen. Two hundred and fifty members sang the fourth movement of Ode to Joy for less than one minute. I saw the energy and power transmitted from the screen to all toastmasters members. Everybody held their breath with the eyes and ears wide open. Everybody was enchanted by the great melody of Beethoven and passionate lyrics of Schiller. It was simply phenomenal to see all toastmasters were united as brothers and sisters at the single moment. Masaki's impeccable tenor accompanied by two altos (Lydia and Sherry) behind him won a big round of applause. Not to mention the total joy when the trio invited everybody to sing Ode to Joy in Mandarin. We made it, to take the audience to the climax of the day. Viva, Masaki!

Till We Meet Again

Be it a small dinner party of 60 people, it was the most rewarding one I'd ever attended. I would brag without reservation that most participants would echo my comment. There were many first cross-districts 67 & 76 activities during the dinner party. Two party masters, one from Japan, the other from Taiwan; ten singers and dancers in Mamma Mia with two actors from Japan; the gorgeous trio with Tenor from Japan, and many other joint singing and dancing activities brought toastmasters members together. There was no more geographic distance, no more language gap, no more culture shock, only a moment of joy, happiness, and contentment. And our collective memories will last for a long time till we meet again!

PS: I've got a habit to document everything I produce in Toastmasters. But I didn't take any photos of the dinner party program nor did I videotape any performance. I didn't know what had been on my mind. Don't laugh at me if I tell you that I was hoping the dinner party could finish as soon as possible, so that I could go home and have a good rest!

Friends From Afar

I was 30 minutes late for the morning rehearsal of Mamma Mia with Sophie, Lisa, and Sky on the double tenth, at the Golden Arches near Taipei Train Station, because the surrounding streets of the Presidential Palace were completely blocked for the purpose of National Day Celebration. And I got lost in Taipei, the city I called home.

After one and half hours rehearsal, I hopped on the Express Train to Taoyuan, coincidentally Toastmaster Masaki Oshiumi and Michelle Chen were on the same train. As soon as we checked in Room 1416 of ChinaTrust Hotel, I showed Masaki how to use my laptop to rehearse Ode to Joy and left the most popular movie "Cape No. 7" for him to see if he felt bored by himself at night.

We three had a quick light Taiwanese lunch near Taoyuan Train Station. Being a shopping queeen, I bought a brown trilby hat at a boutique nearby. How could I ever forget to wear a hat in such a sunny day? I needed to cover my face from the sunshine badly, I'd just had a laser resurfacing treatment a day before.

It was before two o'clock when we arrived at Yingge Station, 30 minutes ahead of schedule to join Toastmasters from Kumamoto to visit Ji-chou Kiln. While we were having coffee and desserts, I received a phone call from Success Club member, asking us to go to Ji-chou Kiln by taxi by ourselves. We three arrived at the Kiln before the rest members and had an opportunity to chat with Master Hsu, the owner of Ji-chous Kiln for twenty minutes.

It was the first time I knew porcelain vessels "sing" when the door of the kiln opened. The sudden drop of temperature made the vessels contract and produced unique cracking sounds like the wind bells in the summer breeze. Master Hsu was kind enough to lead us to visit his studio full of his creative and prize-winning masterpieces for two hours.

We headed for a famous Hakka restaurant for dinner. We were divided into two tables, I sat with four members from Kumamoto. Three of them are female toastmasters, and we exchanged many ideas about Hakka cuision. Success Club President Emily Yu who sat next to me, is Hakka. She explained how to make each dish in details. After dinner, I asked the owner to pack the doggy bags to take away all leftover home. Michelle and I took the Express Train from Taoyuan at 9PM back to Taipei.

As soon as I arrived home in Taipei, I started burning the midnight oil to finish compiling the joint anniversary party program. At 2AM, I didn't finish my work yet, but I was so tired and I couldn't focus on what I was doing. I set the alarm clock at 6AM. It is going to be a long and exciting day in front of me.

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in October

Eleven ladies came to the Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in October at Diamond Tony's Italian Restaurant Mitsukoshi Department A4 Building this evening, including four first timers, Pamela Wang, Pamela Yang, Janice Hsu, Cecilia King. It was a big dinner party for runaway animals from Taipei City Zoo. Now you can guess what the dress code was for this evening's reading gathering! But there were more human beings than animals, and I was one of the four tigers.

We were supposed to discuss about three assigned articles in Toastmaster Magazine September issue, Meet Toastmasters' 2008-2009 International President Jana Barnhill, DTM, AS, page 8; Opt to Be an Outstanding Orator by Richard R. Bonner, CC, page 12; The Power of Publicity by Joe Cooke, ATMB, page 16. I was absent-minded throughout dinner and got very much preoccupied by the coming Joint Anniversary of Success and Kumamoto Toastmasters Clubs this Saturday. The melodies of Ode to Joy and Mamma Mia kept lingering on my mind.

Coincidentally Virginia and I were born on the 9th of October. Together we received 11 free birthday cakes plus 5% discount for all. Six young and handsome waiters lined up to sing happy birthday song to us. I was contented! Virginia is still in her forties and would rather stay outside of golden ladies' circle. I turned 53, but I felt 35. My little secret is that I had my second carbon laser resurfacing treatment this morning (my first was in June this year and I am hooked). What can I say? The clinic is within the walking distance from home. I can't resist the 50% discount on my birthday. Believe it or not, I was the oldest person waiting in line to receive the resurfacing treatment at the clinic.

Among 11 toastmasters, I was the first to call it a night and rushed home to take care of the pending tasks for the Joint Anniversary. I'm so excited that I shall greet toastmasters from Kumamoto Club tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be another fruitful toastmasters day.

Ode to Joy

"Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Masaki, Happy Birthday to You", Masaki blew the candles with tears in his eyes. He celebrated his 82 birthday in Taipei this evening. Being born in Korea in 1926, Masaki has special feelings towards people in his neighboring countries, especially Koreans and Taiwanese.

In order to support the Joint Anniversary of Success and Kumamoto Toastmasters Clubs Saturday, October 11th, VPPR Masaki Oshiumi of Kitakyushu Toastmaster Club arrived in Taipei Monday afternoon. He came with an aim to practice Ode to Joy as much as possible before his performance at the Joint Anniversary dinner party. Ode to Joy is popular among Japanese. On New Year Eve, it is one of the Japanese customs to sing Ode to Joy to welcome the New Year. Masaki sang Ode to Joy with Kitakyushu Citizens Chorus of 250 members at Well City Kokura Grand Hall December 22nd, 2007. Masaki was happy to share the emotions of Beethoven and Schiller at the unprecedented gathering of toastmasters from D67 & D76.

Early Tuesday morning Masaki and I practiced singing together (Masaki Tenor, me Alto) at the open-air concert plaza in 228 Peace Park in the rain for a couple of hours. This morning, we practiced singing together again at the open-air concert plaza in Daan Forest Park in the sunshine. It was like our duet concert tour in Taipei, with no audience.

On Masaki's 82 birthday today, Michelle Chen of Innovative Toastmasters Club and her mother invited Masaki and me for lunch at a famous Japanese restaurant in Xi-men. After lunch, Masaki and I went to Michelle's home and practiced singing Ode to Joy for a couple of hours. I invited Masaki to come to my home for dinner with my husband and my brother. We sang Ode to Joy for another one hour after dinner.

I am so impressed with Masaki's determination to sing at his best to touch upon the hearts of people around him. He would certainly make his Ode to Joy instructor proud to see him stand up and sing up on stage in Taiwan. Don't be surprised when Masaki sings Ode to Joy in Mandarin at the dinner party. Are you all ears?

快樂頌

青天高高 白雲飄飄 太陽當空在微笑
枝頭小鳥 吱吱在叫 魚兒水面任跳躍
花兒盛開 草兒彎腰 好像歡迎客人到
我們心中 充滿歡喜 人人快樂又逍遙
我們休息 在小山上 眺望美景真快樂
口中高唱 歡喜之歌 清風流水在應和
盡情遊玩 及時行樂 大好時光別放過
你也歡喜 我也歡喜 人人歡樂快樂多

Mamma Mia 2008

Late Friday evening, August 22nd, I received a phone call from Eric Chou, Immediate Past Area H1 Governor, "Sherry, I saw you in Mamma Mia. The role of Tanya was tailor-made for you. You must see this beautiful movie and enjoy a good vacation on Greek Islands in a cozy theater". Eric Chou, a member of Grand Toastmasters Club, works for a big Chain Hotel's Taipei Office, knows everything about show business. Of course, he wouldn't miss Mamma Mia, the first night in the movie theaters in Taiwan.

A week later, at lunch with Sophia Chen, a young make-up artist toastmaster of Grand, Sophia told me how much she loved Mamma Mia and she was impressed by the resemblance between Tanya and me. Well, I was obliged to see myself in other people's eyes. So, I saw Mamma Mia at once.

And I decided to produce a Taiwanese version. Firstly I needed to find Donna, Tanya and Rosie among golden ladies. I was extremely happy when Trini told me she could play Donna. She loved ABBA and she could memorize most of the lyrics of their hit songs. Indeed, golden ladies all grew up with ABBA when we were in college. Every golden lady can hum Dancing Queen, I Have A Dream, not to mention Mamma Mia. But, it turned out to be a bottleneck to find Rosie, as most golden ladies were occupied with family chores and/or office paperworks. I have to seek helping hands among other friends. Believe it or not, it is still pending at the last hour!

The search of young talents went unbelievable smoothly. I found Sophie, Ali, Lisa and Sky at Pacific and Peace Toastmasters clubs immediately as soon as I announced my intention. The young members are as passionate and enthusiastic in acting and singing as I am, if not more. About three possible dads of Sophie, it took me only one email to get Sam, Harry and Bill in the Musical, even Sam lives in Nagoya and Harry lives in Tokyo. Of course, I won't forget to find two lovely beach boys for Tanya. What a super cast!

Many thanks go to Sophie by Reifon Tong, Incumbent President of Pacific TMC; Ali by Yu-chi Hung, EVP of Peace TMC: Lisa by Daphne Wang of Peace TMC; Sky by Hsin-yi Wu of Pacific TMC; Donna by Trini Ding of China TMC; Sam by Misao Inuzuka, Incumbent President of Nagoya TMC; Harry by Kiminari Azuma of Yamato Bilingual TMC; Bill by William Lee, Incumbent Area C2 Governor; Beach Boy X by Eric Chou of Grand TMC; and Beach Boy Y by Shi-jun Tu of Pacific TMC.

If it feels blissful to be in love, I bet it also feels blissful to see people in love. In the great Musical of Mamma Mia, I am grateful that I could not only bring toastmasters together to sing and dance on stage, but I also arrange many Toastmasters friends to be in love. What an achievement! If you're free Saturday evening, October 11th, please come see Mamma Mia by Golden Ladies Toastmasters and Friends at ChinaTrust Landmark Hotel in Taoyuan. See ya~

An die Freude

In order to support Taiwan Railway, Virginia invited her parents, her high school classmate Judy, and me to participate in the first Go Mountain Go Sea Charter Train Cruise today. We left Taipei at 7:50AM, took the coastal railway to Taichung, and took the mountain railway back to Taipei at 7:10PM. It was my first time riding in a charter train, I loved it, free Karaoke bar operated by young and pretty girls, snack lounge served by handsome guys, and first class treatments from train station masters.

I didn't sleep well last night, because I was excited to travel a whole day with two beautiful musicians. I brought the complete notes of Chorus of Beethoven's No. 9 Symphony 4th Movement with me today to sing Ode to Joy, one of Beethovens masterpieces together on the charter train. Virginia and Judy could help me with German. They were both educated in Germany when young.

Being busy visiting scenic places along various train stations, including museums, temples, gardens from dawn to dusk, we didn't have time for Beethoven until the last hour of our trip. When Judy encouraged me to read the lyrics of An die Freude in German, I was ready to please Beethoven and Schiller to the best of my ability.

But the moment I opened my mouth, I tickled every funny bone of Virginia and Judy. They just couldn't stop laughing at me and my awkward German. Even Beethoven and Schiller would jump out of their graves and have a good laughter. I felt like a born stand-up comedian, and became instantly recharged to compete at Division H Humorous Speech Contest in October.

Am I frustrated that I couldn't pronounce German well, even though I had studied German for three years in college? No, not at all. Am I feeling panic about my singing "Ode to Joy" at the Joint Anniversary Party of Success and Kumamoto Toastmasters Clubs Saturday evening, October 11th? No, not at all. With me, I have an ace in hand, the four parts of Chorus of No. 9 Symphony CD, Toastmaster Masaki Oshiumi sent me in advance so that we can perform the duet together on stage.

I'm determined to make Virginia and Judy proud of me singing Ode to Joy in German. I'm determined to impress Japanese toastmasters with Masaki-san the tenor and me the alto. I'm determined to win a big round of applause from Beethoven and Schiller in heaven. I'm ready to open my mouth and sing, are you all ears? Freude schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium ....

Area H1 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests

A humorous person is made, not born. If I am committed to being a leader, there is no excuse not to commit myself to learning the tricks to tickle the funny bones of people. Laughter Is the Best Medicine. What could be more welcoming than a good laughter for family and friends, on many important occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, even one-night stands?

I made up my mind to join every humorous contest in Toastmasters whenever possible from now on. It is the shortcut to become humorous in a fast way, in my opinion. After I won the in-house humorous contest at Grand early this month, I have been obsessed in discovering funny stories in everyday life. Heaven helps those who help themselves, I won Area H1 humorous contest this afternoon.

I must take the opportunity to thank toastmasters friends around the world for providing not only ideas, but also showering me with encouragement. Another fringe benefit of being a veteran toastmaster is that I know all the judges in public and in private at all levels from area, division to district. I know I must have received special favors from the judges regardless what the judging rules depict. If I win, I shall keep in mind the favors from the judges, If I don't win, I shall also keep in mind the disfavors from the judges.

Poor judges, it must be challenging to be impartial having veteran Toastmasters contestants. Poor junior contestants, it is challenging to protest against senior Toastmasters contestants. It is not about winning the humorous contests, it is about being a humorous person, my intention to join the humorous contest in the first place, and I shall keep in mind!

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in September

It was the first time golden Ladies held the Toastmaster magazine reading gathering in the clogging classroom. It was the first time Virginia showed up at the clogging class, not to clog, but to savor the Ton-po Pork, the famous delicacy from Linda's hometown.

Immdiately after the Moon Festival, golden ladies were excited to have a pot-luck dinner party before the clogging class. Trini brought fruits, Sherry brought salad, Irene brought Bread, Kate brought Pancakes, Lydia brought red wine, and Virginai brought her superpower Canon camera, so that she wouldn't miss the sags and wrinkles aroung the beautiful eyes of golden ladies. Linda drove all the way from her sweet home in Chang-hwa this morning to deliver each golden lady a big bag of Ton-po Pork as the gift of Moon Festival.

It was the first time I had a severe cramp in my left leg at the clogging class. Just at the end of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart", Step-Heel-Heel-Heel-Heel pause Jump, I was excited to jump as high as possible to give an impressive pose. Then I felt a sudden pain and saw the constriction of the muscle on my left calf. It hurt more than I could bear and I had to crawl on the floor for help. Kate came to my rescue by bending my left foot. I saw my calf recover and I could be on my feet again.

Was the leg cramp caused by menopause, or was it because of the excessive red wine I guzzled? Nobody knows. But I learned a lesson. I must accept the fact that I am a golden lady, no matter how young I would feel in my heart. I couldn't take too good care of my body.

After the clogging class, we went over five assigned articles by Lydia, including "Small Audiences" by Caren S. Neile, page 15; "How to Win Over Teenagers" by Pandora Scooter, Page 16; "Training Teens to Be Toastmasters" by Carolyn Kellams, page 22; "Protocol for Globe-Trotting Toastmasters" by Terri Morrison, page 24; and "A Disingenuous Discussion" by John Cadley, page 30. Being an English teacher at an elementary school, Trini shared with us her experiences helping with young kids. She was so proud to announce that she made three costumes for her students during the Moon Festival. She thought she was a genius and I was eager to see her works to give her a thumb up.

Shinlaku Moon Festival

Supertyphoon Shinlaku arrived in Taiwan early on Moon Festival 2008. All public offices in Taiwan were forced to closed from 5PM Friday. In stead of staying at home, people waited in line to see the movies, no matter how heavy it rained, how strong the wind blew. With no big full moon to see on rainy typhoon days, movie theaters provided options to spend an evening with loved ones.

Grand Toastmasters Club had the annual Moon Festival gathering at Gina's cozy appartment in Chung-ho this year. President Carrie and I were about to represent Grand to participate in Area H1 Humorous Speech Contest this coming Sunday, we were all ears to the suggestions and comments from our club members to win the laughter from the audience.

I was the first one to arrive in the rain with a bottle of white wine from CJ Winery in Yi-lan. After a cup of warm Earl Grey tea, Gina showed me how to make delicious sweet yam balls from scratch. MVP Tina came after me, then President Carrie, with Gina the deputy Treasurer, an officer meeting was in place. We talked about how to improve regular meetings quality, how to oranize extracurricular activities to attract more members, and how to retain old members. When EVP Yvan came after attending her friend's weddding party, we worked on the details to improve club meeting programs. Everyone was eager and enthusiastic to make contributions to Grand, and I was speechless.

Like all single and available, Gina is good at cooking, from French to Taiwanese. Her magic hands turned the raw material into exquisitive cuisine right in front of our eyes. Before we could wow, our mouth watered, taste buds stood up, and stomaches sang, "feed me a small bite". The excitement of waiting was followed by satisfaction when Cathy rang the bell. Nothing would make people more sincere and real than the good food in mouth.

Cathy had a good appetite for everything Gina prepared on the table and I started working on her with my humorous speech on Basal Metabolic Rate. But who would want to know about the calorie when the delicious food was in front of us, especially the overweight. How could I be so rebellious and ruthless to examine the calories of every moon cake on the label on Moon Festival? Why not seize the day and diet from tomorrow?

While waiting for Gina to serve the last dessert, the golden full moon (sweet yam ball) soup, Yvan took initiatives to arrange a group message. We sat in a line to message one another. It felt so good to receive and give the caring through hands on the bodies. What could be more auspicious by celebrating the moon festival by appreciating and savoring many full moons, Mmm, Mmm, good.

Thanks to Tina, Cathy, Gina and Yvan, Carrie and I absorbed millions of ideas to rewrite our humorous speeches. Can't wait to present our group efforts at the coming regular meeting. Don't miss the pine nuts moon cakes Gina donates. See ya Thursday evening!

Autumn Outing to Yi-lan Winery

Lydia, Virginia, Grace and I ventured out of Taipei early this morning. I was particularly excited about our trip to Yi-lan not only to taste the good fresh wine at CJ winery and to replenish my half empty wine cellar. This past summer, I've acquired a pleasing first-time habit. After a siesta, I poured myself a glass of chilled white wine, sit in front of the desk top, let my mind wonder in the universe and my fingers dance on the keyboard. It has been my way to quench the summer heat in 2008.

On our way to Yi-lan Winery, we first stopped at Wushih Harbor to see people get on board to watch whales and dolphins at the Turtle Island. Then we stopped at Waiao Service Area to take photos of the unique yellow architecture in a geometric shape by the seashore. On our way to Leo Ocean Resort, we stopped by Beiquan Tidal Park for an easy and relaxing walk along the coastal trail to see magnificent rocks and cliffs formed by the Pacific Ocean for thousands of years.

Virginia had a photographic assignment from Leo Ocean Resort, so we all won a free entrance to visit the resort and the Lions museum in Taiwan. The River East Lions Museum is the first theme museum in Taiwan. It was established in 1998. After the discovery of the hot spring underground, Leo Ocean Resort began operation in August 2007. The resort covers a good area of 1,000 hectares, offers the best ocean view of Northeastern Taiwan. Hopefully golden ladies can have a toastmaster magazine reading gathering at Leo in the near future, soaking in the hot spring pool, watching the sunset, and enjoying a luxurious barbecue dinner.

Immediately afternoon 12 noon, we arrived at CJ Winery, a gorgeous countryside rock house hidden in the mountains of lush greens. Being thirsty and hungry, we began the wine tasting without much ado, starting from kumquat wine, followed by white wine, red wine and plum wine. Being a good drinker, I drank double the volume and felt totally relaxed when I walked upstairs for lunch.

On a weekday afternoon, we received VIP services from CJ Winery because we were the few customers. Asahi is our waiter. He is young, humorous and takes good care of us. Being a college graudate majored in Hotel and Restaurant Management, Asashi knows the tricks to please the customers and to satisfy their needs. On top of that, Asashi tells jokes to make us laugh the entire lunch.

After a deluxe lunch, we moved to the balcony for coffee and dessert. The chef-in-charge came out of kitchen to say hello upon our request when we knew he is a triathlon athlete. He told us his latest record was two hours something for 51.5 kilometers course (swimming 1.5K, cycling 40K, marathon 10K). After his greetings, the chief chef asked Asahi to bring a big box of freshly made kumquat moon cakes for us to have a taste on the house. Asashi wore a big smile and encouraged us to take away as many cakes as we wished to share with family and friends on the Moon Festival Sunday evening, September 14th. Lydia and I didn't leave CJ Winery with empty-handed, we both bought a bottle of kumquat wine, a bottle of white wine, and a bottle of fruit vinegar.

At 3:30PM, we hurried to Da-hsi Harbor to buy seafood from the incoming boats. The seafood market was packed with people from all walks of life, including restaurant owners, small seafood venders, coastal guards and tourists. I was amazed at the jargons and gestures used among the brokers and bidders. With no intention to buy any seafood, I walked along the shore by myself and met an old man tying nodes on a shabby fishing boat by himself.

Out of curiosity, I initiated a friendly conversation with him. He told me that he couldn't understand Taiwanese and asked me to speak Mandarin with him. So, I asked him questions and he gave me answers. He lit a cigarette and talked about his hometown in Fu-chou, his family and his life. It was the first time I knew that many mainlanders fishermen stationed in the shacks along the Da-hsi Harbor. They are not allowed to step on land and they can return home every two years.

I heard about Chinese coolies building railways and digging gold mines in the west, I heard about Chinese coolies fighting on the battlefield for the British in WWI, I saw Chinese coolies drifting on the water of Taiwan to work on the sea for the first time with my own eyes.

At six o'clock in the evening, I arrived at Grand Toastmasters Club and started rehearsing my speech. Luckily, I won the first runner up at the in-house humorous speech contest. And I'm ready to represent Grand to compete at Area H1 Humorous and Evaluation contests Sunday afternoon, September 21st.