Midsummer Slumber Party 2009

Upon Trini's invitation, eight golden ladies enjoyed a happy-go-lucky 30 hours slumber party spanning the entire last weekend of July at Trini's big mansion in Badu.

If you think slumber parties are only reserved for teenager girls to snuggle together, stay up late, talk, eat, wear facemasks, and play games until falling asleep, you could be VERY wrong. Golden ladies love slumber parties, too. We could be as wild, if not wilder.

Three years ago, Trini invited Michelle, Irene, and me to sleepover in sexy pajamas at Asia World Hotel for a weekend. No sooner than later Trini and I checked in at 5 Friday afternoon, we started reading Toastmaster magazine while waiting for Michelle and Irene to arrive. After a late dinner at a Korean restaurant in the neighborhood, we began our pillow fights. Trini prepared a lot of fresh fruits for us to quench the thirst after the fights. We took god knows how many photos. Irene went home before 12 midnight. Three of us stayed and enjoyed a fantastic morning spa. We didn't quit until after 12 noon Saturday.

Among golden ladies, Trini likes slumber parties the first, me the second. Both of us have reasons, Trini is an English teacher at a prestigious elementary school. I am a full time housewife with no housework what-so-ever. When Trini offered the once-in-a-lifetime chance to stay over at her place, I was the first one to sign up. Trini's family were out of town, so was my husband coincidentally. If not a slumber party now, then WHEN?

It was indeed an once-in-a-lifetime slumber party. We covered all major slumber party activities Saturday evening, July 26th. In addition, we swapped clothes, shoes, accessories to dance, jump, pose in front of the self-timer camera. Can you imagine golden ladies in mini skirts jump high at the same time? It took one hour and two fully charged batteries to have a good photo of all golden ladies jump high in the air simultaneously! We were simply exhilarated, not because of the success of the photo, but because of the extra pound we got rid of while having our photos taken! Later on, we had one-pieces on to flaunt our trimmed bodies at the crowded night market in Keelung.

Sunday morning, after a super brunch, we had a splendid two and a half hours hiking at Lovers Lake in Keelung. The rain started pouring unexpectedly when we were about to finish the delicious flaky ice at Trini's favorite ice shop in Badu. In the afternoon rain, we kissed and hugged one another to conclude the once-in-a-lifetime slumber party at Trini's.

Success Club's Installation Party 2009

Success Club is unique. It's one of the most vigorous clubs in Toastmasters in Taiwan. The average age of the club members is 70+. The newly installed President Chen is 84. The regular club meeting takes place at Taoyuan Elementary School. Aging is not intimidating. It is the key to Success.

The Installation Party of Success Club 2009 was memorable. Division J Governor Tu, Shin-Chun and I were only two guests from Taipei. Followed by a short installation ceremony at 12 noon, a boisterous Karaoke party began non-stop till 5PM. It was not an ordinary karaoke party, but a singing contest of duet, triplet, quartet, quintet, chorus, so many outstanding and talented tenor, bass, alto and soprano singers were uncovered.

The venue of Installation Party was eye-opening. It was a secluded bamboo cabin in the Happy Village in Taoyuan. From the street, we could hardly discern the hidden heaven from a small stainless door. After stepping up to the second floor, the whole karaoke lounge was covered entirely with bamboo ceiling and walls, very cool in summer!

For Chinese, the essence of party is about eating the good food with family and friends. The Installation Party of Success Toastmasters Club was no exception. From finger food, main dishes, desserts, fruits, sweets, the tables were piled up with 蛋捲、仙貝、雞蛋糕、一大玻璃甕的冰糖蓮子雪蓮、一大盤涼拌黃瓜、一大盤海蜇皮、一大鍋炒米粉、炒飯、炒麵、糯米油飯、燒酒雞、魚丸湯、紅龜粿、草仔粿、飯後才端出時令水果，西瓜及蓮霧。All dishes were prepared by club members. Less than one third of the food was consumed at the party. Two thirds were packed for members to take home.

Taiwanese women are invincible. The bamboo karaoke lounge is owned by Toastmaster Hidemi's older sister as a side business. She also owns a wholesaler of Rice Tamale. Being a gourmet, I didn't hesitate to savor the famous rice tamale wrapped by Hidemi's lovely sister. I ordered two dozens (pork & sweet, half and half) to take home. With the leftover and a box of egg rolls from Immediate Past President Emily Yio, I took away 10 kilos of food, enough for the rest of the month. Many thanks go to Division Governor Tu to help me carry my bag of loot back to Taipei.

A Rainy Day of Tight Schedule in Kaohsiung

A Sumptuous Brunch at Muddy Water from 10 till 11 (Greek, Spanish, and Smoked Salmon for three golden ladies on diet. I helped Linda and Lydia finish half of theirs and was full up to my throat. Lydia's friendly neighbor Julie came join us for coffee and paid the bill.)

An Exclusive Orientation of Mansion 克里翁 with Juilie (a new experience in an intelligent building with lots of electronic gadgets for security. Public facilities include luxurious entertainment room, bar lounge, billiard and mahjong rooms.)

A Short Visit to President Chen's Mansion (No. 228, what an address! I'd love to live in the same mansion overlooking Kaohsiung Arts Museum in a beautiful city park of lush green. If it were not noon time, we would have toured the gorgeous building with the help of Julie.)

Visit Kaohsiung Arts Museum (closed on Monday, took a few photos in front of the museum)

Visit the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung (opening ceremony will be held on July 16th, all tickets are sold out. The huge spiral stainless pipe stadium of a question mark is designed by Toyo Ito.)

Visit Military Community Culture Center (I used to pay a visit to my aunt working as a nurse at the Navy General Hospital in Kaohsiung every summer in my childhood. The community we stayed is now a empty grassland with three paved funk holes.)

Visit Kaohsiung Dome (no time to get inside of the dome, took a lot of photos of the dome in the rain)

Late Lunch at How-chi Stinky Beancurd (How-chi was established in 1995. It has been a well-known stinky beancurd shop in Kaohsiung since then. The two-story new shop with Taiwanese style interior design opened less than a year ago. People must wait in a long queue to get a bite of the tasty steamed and fried beancurds. The innovative idea to convert an old dish into a new brand was the success story of the young entrepreneurs.)

Desserts at Marianne Ice Cream (Young and beautiful Marianne's Lady owner told us her story of success. Her husband works day and night to improve turn a shaved ice dessert of Taiwanese into a new creamy flaky ice cream of different flavors. What impressed me the most was her positive thinking attitude. She would definitely be an awesome toastmaster leader in District 67.)

Afternoon Coffee at Me Love Me Love with Julie's husband Jay, Linda, Lydia and I took the opportunity to have an impromptu toastmasters demo meeting for Julie and Jay. I took charge of a tabletopics master, Lydia answered my question. Linda explained the rules of a regular meeting. Jay commented that the skills of active listening would be more crucial than those of public speaking in his company).

Red Wine Farewell Party at Mansion 克里翁 (Many thanks go to Julie and Jay for their friendship. Julie prepared lots of seasonal fruits and two bottles of wine for our last minute farewell party at home in Kaohsiung.)

Departure at Kaohsiung Station at 9PM (Jim gave us a lift to Kaohsiung Train Staion. Linda, Lydia, and I invited Jim and Gary to come visit golden ladies in Taipei anytime. I read "台北人 Taipei People" by Pai Hsien-yung for two hours on my way back to Taipei. In Kaohsiung, Taipei People are called 台北客 Taipei Guests, because they invest in real estate in Kaohsiung, but live in Taipei.)

Arrival at Taipei Station at 11PM (I didn't waste a single moment to change to the metro. I contined reading Taipei People for another 25 minutes. It was a smooth ride back home.)

Home at 11:30PM

PS: 再會又是重逢的開始 Our trip was too short to ride the metro K (K looks like 長) and to chat with newly installed D67 Lt. Governor Marketing Grace Shih in Kaohsiung. We have sound reasons to venture back to the south soon in the future.

Run Away Toastmasters

I didn't have an agenda in hand. I just followed Linda and Lydia to Kaohsiung Sunday evening, and took whatever would be bestowed upon us with gratitude and delight.

Not knowing how long Linda and Lydia had planned the trip, I joined them at the last minute when they asked me if I'd be interested in seeing Gary and Jim again in Kaohsiung. Without a second thought, I said yes and looked forward to our reunion with two handsome young men we spent six days together in China.

From Taipei to Kaohsiung, it took one and half hours by the the high speed train. We left Taipei at 6:42 Sunday evening. Before I finished putting on my makeup, we were in Kaohsiung at 8:18. The geological distance between Taipei and Kaohsiung was unbelievable shorter than the psychological one we had in mind.

Upon arrival, Gary and Jim were excited to greet us at the station and took us to their secret garden. We were in a big hurry because the garden by the seashore would soon close at 10PM. Jim drove, Gary gave directions, we three clutched at the backseat. After we drove out of downtown Kaohsiung, passed Hsitzu Bay, we were on a long and winding road up in the hills.

停了車，Jim興奮地在前頭帶路，在一個夜黑風高的晚上，我們三女兩男笑聲不斷地徒步在隱蔽的小漁村裡。Linda那雙高跟鞋，讓她成為纏著小腳的女人，搖搖擺擺地緊跟著我們上上下下走在山間小徑。就在道路的盡頭，Jim站在秘密花園的門口，展開肌肉男的雙臂，歡迎我們走進他的秘密天地, Voila, Escape 41, here we came!

The restaurant is actually built on the cliff. On the open air veranda, we felt the sea wind caress our faces, saw the ebb and flow roar against the reef. Five of us reunited with joy, reminisced happy moments in China, toasted with tropical fruit punch, munched a huge authentic Italian Charcoal Pizza. It's hard to believe that Gary & Jim were total strangers three weeks ago, and we were like old friends, God knows, for how long. The rain fell in time when we were about to move on to our second rendezous downtown.

Hank was expecting us when we walked in "Cats and Billiards" at half past eleven. Without ado, five of us were given a big shower with five glasses of double Tequila Bon, followed by five B-52 Bombers in flames. Blowing off the fire, bottomed up the Bomber, all of us wore contented smiles. Lydia and I took challenge to accept Hank's invitation for a good game of Billiard. The huge Cats and Billiards of 20 pool tables looked bigger and merrier under the magical effect of a few doses of ethanol.

At a quarter past two, we were on the road again for our third party at Lydia's mansion in Kaohsiung. Nobody even felt exhausted. While we laid at ease in the black leather sofa transcending to night Shanghai of excitements, Gary and Jim flipped with interest two big volumes of photo albums Linda compiled and brought along with her to Kaohsiung.

I didn't know what time Gary and Jim left for the "night". Harry called at 3 in the morning when Lydia, Linda and I snuggled comfortably and peacefully in bed. "We're at home in Kaohsiung," answered Lydia, "Good night, sweetheart, have a sweet dream!"

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in July

Golden Ladies missed Kate Hsu at our Toastmasters magazine reading gathering in July this evening at Jimmy's house. Kate had to rehearse Chinese opera with Gina Fu at her home because they have a big upcoming performance in Taipei.

A table of nine, including seven golden ladies and two gentlemen, my brother Jimmy and my husband Azen, enjoyed a boisterous and fanatical Saturday evening home party with a delicious homemade dinner prepared by Jimmy and his golden ladies helpers. From the living room to the kitchen, Jimmy's place was filled with women's laughter from 4PM till 9PM.

It has been three years since Trini and Irene had dinner at Jimmy's. Linda, Lydia, Michelle, Pamela saw Jimmy for the first time and were amazed with his cooking skills. How could it be possible that a single man with excellent cooking skills living in a cozy big house all by himself? Where are the single and available ladies?

Trini and Pamela are voracious readers. When they arrived first, we began swapping the books and exchanged our thoughts immediately, about the protagonists in "The Reader" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". When Linda arrived with two huge photo albums she compiled of golden ladies trip to Shanghai, we took turns commenting the photos and our unforgettable trip, and we made a wish that we could organize an overseas trip at least once a year.

After dinner and a few drinks, Michelle brought up a recent hit Korean movie "Frozen Flower (Ssang Hwa Jeom)" she saw last weekend. When she described vividly the love affairs in bed, I was totally enthralled by the emotions of three conflict leading roles, a warrior torn between two lovers, the King and the Queen. Koreans have something to be proud of in recent years, their rising movie industry, their directors, playwright, actors, and actresses, simple amazing.

It was almost nine before we decided to call it a night. After a couple of group photos holding Toastmaster monthly in our hands, we sat down to study three articles (1. Turning accents into assets by Sher Hooker, CC, Page 8; 2. Speech Project #2:TV Star! by Diana J. Ewing, Page 18; 3. Funny You should Say That! No Parking Any Time, By John Cadley, Page 30) in June 2009 issue for twenty minutes. We found a lot of vacabulary in TV Star and we talked mainly about "No Parking Any Time" by John Cadley. Congratulations, John! You won again our attention at our Toastmaster Magazine reading gathering in July.

Saisiyat's Pigmy Ceremony

I wish to thank my golden ladies toastmasters and their families for their support of Yangmingshan Volunteers Association (YVA). Toastmaster Harry Fong (Legacy TMC), Lydia Lin (YWIC TMC), Pamela Yang (Galaxy TMC), Mosses Mo (Galaxy TMC), Kate Hsu (Prestige TMC), Irene Chen (Formosa TMC), Trini Ding (China TMC), Amy Chen (Pacific) joined YVA's first one day outing to Tribe Saisiyat in Miou-li Sunday, July 5th, and donated NT$600 each to YVA as the sponsors of YVA from July 2009 till June 2010.

I didn't promote the YVA's first outing to toastmasters, because I became editor-in-chief of YVA's Blog from July 4th, 2009, and I didn't want to give any pressures to my golden ladies friends. Thanks to Toastmaster Virginia Lee who helped me promote the visit to Tribe Saisiyat and 8 toastmasters signed up, plus Kate's lovely daughter Angela.

It was simply overwhelming to witness the sparkles between Yangmingshan volunteers (YA) and Toastmasters at the first sight. It was like birds of a feature flock together. Both YV and Toastmasters are members of non-profit organziation. They enjoy the nature and the culture. On top of that, they are eager to share their knowledge, interest, happiness with people around them.

It was a indeed a fruitful outing today. We visited Tribe Saisiyat at Hsiang-tien Lake in the morning. After lunch, we hiked along the newly paved wooden trail to see the fish in Pong-lai Stream. In the afternoon, we saw the splendid and joyful Pigmy Ceremony presented by Tribe Saisiyat at Gagaoan. For dinner, we had the authentic Hakka cuisine at the famous Terra-Cotta House in Hsin-chu.

There were a total of 85 participants of the first outing. We were divided into two tour buses. I was on Bus 1 and all my toastmasters friends were on Bus 2. On Bus 1, we were lucky to have many senior interpreters to take turns explaining the unique culture of Tribe Saisiyat (the smallest tribe 14 aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, at the population of 5600 people). I was told by Saisiyat seniors that the Saisiyat tribal people can speak better Ataal and Hakka than their own. Isn't it sad to see the Saisiyat language dying? What can we do to help Saisiyat keep their mother tongue? On Bus 1, we also saw the award winning DVD on Guanwu Formosan Salamander--in serch of the relic species from the jurassic period.

But how can I miss the opportunity to mingle with my Toastmasters friends? After seeing the Pigmy Ceremony, I changed to Bus 2. No sooner than later, we began an impromptu demo Toastmasters meeting for one and a half hours, including joke and entertainment sessions. It is to my surprise YV are no second to toastmasters in telling jokes and entertaining people. Now I'm more than confident that we shall have a magnificent Welcome Party to new YV with the support of Toastmasters, Saturday, December 12th at Yangmingshan National Park.

Immdiately after dinner, Past Taiwan Council Governor Harry Fong took NT$600 from his pocket to become a sponsor of YVA, all the rest toastmasters followed the suit. President Water Wu wore a big smile to embrace toastmasters in his open arms and welcome toastmastes to visit Yangmingshan National Park anytime.

I was of course the happiest toastmaster of the day to serve as the matchmaker of YV and toastmasters. Together we can develop ourselves with the help from each other, together we can make our world a better place for all.

備註：託大家的福，陽明山志工聯誼會的南庄一日遊，除了曬了點太陽，完全沒有淋到雨。看完苗栗賽夏矮靈季到北埔紅磚屋的一路上大雨滂沱、小雨不剪斷，夏日午後的雷陣雨，攜來晚餐後的清涼。大家都是高高興興的出門，平平安安的回家。

La Mode Toastmasters Club's 1st Demo Meeting

To live is to learn. I learned a lesson this evening from the first demo meeting of La Mode Toastmasters Club in Hsin-tien. I learned that many people knew about the demo meeting from D67 web site (many thanks go to D67 Webmaster Robert Chou). I learned that I shouldn't have turned off my mobile phone during the demo meeting so that people could contact me anytime. I learned that I should have prepared a big Toastmasters sign to identify ourselves and to attract the curious audience.

The first demo meeting of La Mode Toastmasters Club took place successfully at Starbucks Cafe' near Exit 1 of Dapingling MRT Station. I was the first one to arrive, followed by Scott Fu, Wendy Chen and Trini Ding. While waiting for the others, four veteran toastmasters talked about how to attract local residents to join the first community toastmasters club in Hsin-tien more effectively. I was moved to see how toastmasters help us develop the community spirits in us.

When Leslie Chen, Deeka McDaniel, Steve Chen arrived, we began our demo meeting timely. Trini was the Toastmaster of the Evening, Scott Fu was the Joke Master, Leslie Chen was the Tabletopics Master, I was the prepared speaker, Scott was my evaluator, Deeka McDaniel was our language evaluator.

Deeka came to Taipei with her mother Leslie to attend her cousin's wedding. It was the first time Deeka joined a Toastmasters meeting, she did an excellent job serving as a grammarian. She pinpointed the grammatical errors made by each of us. Deeka is 18 years old. She will go to university in Colorado after the summer vacation. Hopefully she will become a toastmaster soon.

At the Q&A, Steve Chen, the member-to-be, proposed a better venue for us to meet in August. Starbucks Cafe' is convenient, but it is noisy. Heidi Ding, Trini's younger sister joined us at the last minute. Among 8 participants this evening, three were from the States. How lovely it was to have friends from afar to join our first demo meeting Friday evening!

After I got home full of excitement, I noticed that there were more than ten phone calls on my mobile phone requesting about the toastmasters meeting. A few of them even came to Starbucks Cafe' on time, but missed our gathering. What a pity!

In my prepared speech this evening, I talked about my dream to bring people together in Hsin-tien, in Taiwan, and in the world. While exerting my full energy to charter a toastmasters club in Hsin-tien, I solicit your help to spread the good news to your friends in Hsin-tien. Let's make Hsin-tien part of the big Toastmasters family together.