Division A Advanced Manual Training

Division A Advanced Manual Training was held at Taipei Metro Tower this evening. It was one of the best training I had had in years in D67, in terms of the contents of the training and the heavy weight speakers. On top of that, the venue was a nice and clean cafeteria on the 7th floor of state-of-the-art Taipei Metro Tower, not to mention the admission fee of NT$50, with plenty refreshments and drinks. What a deal to get trained in Toastmasters!

Being an early bird as usual, 30 minutes ahead of the training this evening, I could mingle with the persons in charge, the organizers, the speakers, and other early birds of a feature. Guess what, I got the special privilege to serve as the SAA from Division A Governor Betty Hsiung to call the training in order. Wow, was I happy to speak up on stage to get the attention from the audience!

The four most chosen advanced manuals in Taiwan are Storytelling, Humorously Speaking, Special Occasion speeches, and Interpersonal Communication. Caroline Kiang, Shang Su, Webster Kiang, and Lester Lin were in charge of the briefing respectively. Each trainer exerted the best effort to elaborate the know-how of the advanced manual with enthusiasm. Out of four, I only finished the storytelling. And I shall work on the rest three with diligence in the future.

July 26th, 1993, I received my CTM award and two complimentary manuals, communicating on television and public relation. I soon got my ATM-B. Then I worked on two more manuals, speak to inform and interpretive reading. Then I became more enthusiastic in joining the speech contests in stead of working on the advanced manuals.

After the training this evening, I can't wait to finish Humorously Speaking, Special Occasion speeches, and Interpersonal Communication. Humorously Speaking will definitely lay a good foundation for me to hone my skills in making people laugh at the humorous speech contest. As a party queen, I could certainly apply the points of success while giving Special Occasion speeches. Interpersonal Communication will for sure make me a more likable person among strangers and friends.

After Division A Advanced Manual Training, I saw the reason why the headquarters raised the annual membership fee for the growth and development of the members in Toastmasters.

Green House Red Room

My penthouse was re-opened to public with a new nickname "Green House Red Room" last weekend. As two walls were big windows, the house was bright like a green house. And my wishful thinking of a lot of reading of the Toastmaster magazines prompted me to call the penthouse Red (Read) room, and I might even paint one wall in red.

Six golden ladies Toastmasters came to the Red Room slumber party Saturday evening, August 27th. Michelle was the first one to arrive. She just came back from her three days business trip to Cambodia with a handful finger food, beef jerky, potato chips. She and I tried to make a primitive Othello Game for the evening. When Lydia joined us with a box of See’s chocolate chips, we began the Othello Game of the evening over a good round of beer and drinks before dinner.

Othello, also called Reversi, is a board game played by two players on a board with 8 rows and 8 columns and a set of distinct pieces for each side. The player's goal is to have a majority of their colored pieces showing at the end of the game, turning over as many of their opponent's pieces as possible.

While playing the Othello Game, I thought of Othello, the tragedy of the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare, based on the Italian story "Un Capitano Moro" ("A Moorish Captain"). The four characters of intrigue, love, jealousy, and betrayal were Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign Iago.

After dinner in the neighborhood, we resumed merrily our Sex and the City scene, the women's talk about men, women, and relationships. Lydia and Michelle loved the Ugly Truth by Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. I watched it twice the following week, in Mandarin subtitle and in English subtitle, to understand the hilarious effect on them, to learn a few scatological expressions, and to spot how much was lost in translation.

Pamela joined us late in the evening with a box of her homemade brownies, bread and chestnuts stickers. I loved them all. I would definitely be the first student to sign up for her baking class after her retirement next year.

Upon Trini's suggestion, we played the Game Hearts, Gong Zhu in Chinese. The objective of the game is to score positive points and avoid penalty points. Gong Zhu means: Chase the Pig, for "pig" is the name given to the Q♠. All players start with 0 points. All points accumulate until any player(s) have lost, for which the game ends and all points will be reset to 0.

Six of us broke into four groups, Trini, Lydia, Pamela and Michelle, Kate and I. Being the beginner, Kate was lucky to win all the hearts again and again. Trini didn't and couldn't believe it. She told Kate that if Kate could win another round of hearts, she would buy her dinner. In the end, Kate won a big dinner from Trini.

The slumber party was not over till after midnight. After they said good night, I kept the Red Room in order and saw the Taipei 101 in dark before I retired for the evening. What a pleasant gathering of golden ladies of joy, love, and bliss!

The Branding of the Toastmasters International

I paid my annual due in August without a second thought, regardless of the increment of the annual fee from US$54 to US$72, knowing that District 67 will receive 25 percent of every due dollar World Headquarters receives from clubs within the district. Now District 67 has a budget of NT$396,385 to serve 3,300 members 2011-12, including district and club officers training, judges training, manuals training, district leaders travel, district meetings, speech contests, and maintenance of district website.

The 75 percent of every due dollar I pay will ensure my active member status to join the training program for personal growth, to participate in the speech contests, and to receive the monthly Toastmaster magazines, and to cherish the branding of the Toastmasters International.

Talking about the new look of Toastmasters International, I didn't see any information about the background of new look in the Toastmaster Magazine August issue, I received today. I didn’t see the new look on either the front or back cover of the magazine. I wonder what was wrong with the old Toastmasters logo and I wonder what reasons are behind the new aesthetic Toastmasters logo. Does every club need to make a new club banner? Is it the exciting time in Toastmasters history we are about to face?

Happy Birthday to Gina

It was the second Saturday evening in a row, Golden Ladies (GL) enjoyed an ecstatic night at Toastmaster Kate Hsu's cozy apartment.

Over the Indonesian dinner to celebrate Gina's birthday this evening, we had a full course of laughter as always, while taking many snapshots. I brought every GL a chunk of turmeric root to try out the authentic Indonesian turmeric rice at home. Learning by doing is the motto of Toastmasters!

Kate and Gina shared with the GLs the musical performance they saw in the afternoon. Kate volunteered to recite "playing with words" during the performance. She encouraged every GL to speak out loud in Taiwanese and Mandarin. The tongue twisters tickled every nerve of noisy GLs. After dinner, we marched cheerfully and giggly to Kate's house across the street from the restaurant. We couldn't wait to start the lengthy women's chitchat about health, love, and lust, the moment we stepped into Kate's territory, till after midnight.

In the living room of candle lights, GLs drank a bottle of sparkling wine, a bottle of millet sake, along with lots of finger food, a plate of pork jerky, a plate of dragon fruit, a plate of guava, and a big birthday cheese cake. Every GL took turns to stand on the weight and announced the present and ideal weights of theirs. I weighed 58.5 kilograms. If I were 5 KGs lighter, I would be the sexiest and spiciest cheeky girl this evening!

Like an intimate group therapy, whenever there is a GL gathering, we share the secrets about life experiences and Mind-Body adventures. Every GL had a say, and every GL felt high by the activation of the Molecules of Emotion in the mesolimbic passway of our brains.

Do you believe in the will power to reach the blissfulness and ecstasy in our body and mind? I do, with all my heart. I believe that with the imagination of feeling high and happy, our brains create endorphine to activate the opiate receptors in our brains. We can reach climax after climax using our will power to excite our body, control our breath, cherish our life of fantasy.

Happy Birthday to Gina and Cheers to GLs! With the constant stimulation of neural, hormonal and immune systems of ours, we shall live fruitful lives of health and longevity together!

Remarks: My two cents after reading "Molecules of Emotion--The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine" by Cancace B Pert.

AAADD (Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder)

My husband has every reason to worry about me, a sexy, passionate, confident Toastmaster in public, also at home, in the past! But now, I smile more often to him and I fight less often with him. I take orders in stead of giving orders. There is a change in my behaviors.

"Oh, my god. It is already 7 o'clock. I'll definitely be late for my 7:30 appointment with golden ladies," I thought. I jumped out of bed, checked the email again to make sure the meeting time, it was 7:30 alright. I put on anything available on the floor. "Honey, I'm going to the new Skywalk at Little Wulai in Taoyuan today, see you this evening".

After hopping on my pony scooter, I speeded up to the meeting point from Hsin-tien to Nanking East Road. I ran God knows how many red lights, figuring out several possible excuses for being late, feeling the hair on my arms dancing on my goose pumps in the cool morning breeze, only to find out that nobody was waiting at the meeting point.

It was very strange. Being a group of punctual golden ladies, I didn't believe what I saw. What happened to everybody? Did I mess up with the meeting point? I waited, waited, waited. After 20 minutes, I decided to knock on my friend's door in the neighborhood.

"Lydia, are you still at home? What happened to our outing today," I asked.

"Are you Virginia," Lydia answered the door in a sleeping voice.

"No, I'am Sherry," I replied with a disappointing tone. "Aren't we supposed to go to the skywalk in Taoyuan today?"

"But Sherry, it is Monday. We will go to the Skywalk tomorrow."

Oh, my god. I thought it was Tuesday without even thinking twice. It was the first time in my life that I was one day ahead of the schedule. I must have grown old, but on the other hand, I felt younger, like a kindergarten girl going home to tell my parents that she missed the date. On my way home, I felt like coming back from the outer space, gaining an extra day in my life. I tried to look around myself to look for the enlightening signs from the Almighty above, why me?

"Honey, I'm back, see you this evening." When I opened the door, my husband was in a shock to see me. He gave me a worried look before he left home. Me, I had better thing to do. I returned to my bed to catch up the sleep.

Before noon, I opened up my emails, I found a comforting message from Lydia, informing me of a recent medical discovery among seniors, the AAADD, Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. Thank God, there's a name for my behavior. I am not alone. Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

Talking about attention decifit disorder, it is no news to me. When I was in grade school, I loved to look out of the window to watch the students play on the ground. One day, I watched the physical education instructor call, "One, Two," the students replied, "Three, Four". I also shouted "Three, Four" in the classroom. I was called upon to stand in front of the classroom for the day.

When I grew older, I had more money in the pocket, I never took home the things I planned to buy. Often that I wanted to a shirt, I ended up with a pair of shoes, a kitchen knife, and a bottle of red wine in my hand.

As I got older and wiser, I couldn't remember how many times I left the keys on my scooter. I spent most of my day searching for my reading glasses. One day, I spent the entire day to find my house keys. After I gave up, I found them in the vegetable bag in the refrigerator.

Aging is irreversible, so is AAADD inevitable. Last Thursday, I was early for the Toastmasters meeting in the evening after an exciting shopping for a day. I decided to have a good a cup of coffee at the Mos Burger in the neighborhood of the meeting venue. After my coffee came, I realized I couldn't find my purse. I thought maybe I just left it in my scooter. So I took it easy. But my mind was still wondering what if I didn't leave the purse in the scooter. After coffee, as I had expected I couldn't find my purse in my scooter. I became panic. I couldn't recall where I left the purse. Maybe I left it at the counter of an accessory shop I just visited, but I was not sure. I couldn't remember anything at all.

I must return to the accessory shop as soon as possible. On my half way to the accessory shop, I became panic. I was not sure about myself. I thought maybe I left my purse on the coffee tray at the Mos Burger. So I returned to the Mos Burger to dig in the trash can. I couldn't find my purse, but I found some false teeth, to my surprise.

When I rushed to the shop running a few red lights and against several traffic signs, the clerk gave me a smile and returned my purse! What a relief to find my purse! In the evening, I told my husband about the story. He suggested I see a doctor to have Ritalin prescribed!

C'mon, you can get closer! See the wrinkles and blemishes on my face, the signs of aging after more than a half century exposure to the sun and gravity? They can be gone next week if I meet with my plastic surgeon this week! But how about the wrinkles and blemishes in my brain? I must have some for sure. Who doesn't by my age? Will I allow someone to open up my head? Nope!

About AAADD, I really couldn't care the less. While I can still remember my name, I can still find our way home, I am happy. All I can think of is to have fun till one day I don't even know how to put the alphabets of AAADD in the right order.

Clogging Workshop with Peter Wee 2011

Eight golden ladies (Irene, Kate, Linda, Lydia, Michelle, Pamela, Sherry, Trini) joined Peter Wee's clogging dance workshop from 2:30PM till 5:30PM Saturday afternoon, August 13th. We learned four easy intermediate clogging dances, including 1)Spanish Lady – Basic +3; 2) Headphones – Ezy Int; 3)Born This Way – Ezy Int; 4)Jimmy – Ezy Int.

It was Peter's third annual workshop in Taiwan. I joined his first workshop in Taipei with Irene and Trini in 2009. And I made it to his third workshop this year. It was exciting to see the growth of Peter in clogging, it was exciting to witness the growth of clogger population in Taipei. Many thanks must go to Peter WEE for promoting and upgrading the clogging dance in Taiwan.

Peter Wee has been clogging for over 8 years and has been involved in many demos in many mini conventions and functions. He started line dancing in 1995 in Melbourne and he saw clogging performances at in some dance functions and wanted to become a clogger.

Peter started clogging in year 2000 when he permanently migrated to Australia. He joined the Bayside Clogging Club and started to assist Cheryl (Leader of Bayside Clogging Club) in teaching since 2004, where he has been carefully guided to become an advanced clogger and cuer.

Being a member of the Australia Clogging Association (ACA), Peter attends the ACA clogging Conventions held each year in different state in Australia. Peter now conducts his own small clogging classes each week in Melbourne.

The Clogging Workshop with Peter WEE 2011 was a great success with a gathering of 30 plus cloggers in Taipei of all levels (from beginners to cuers) with the majority of women cloggers from age 20 to 60+. After the three hours sweating clogging dance workshop, Jennie (Instructor of the Happy Clogger Club) and 8 golden ladies invited Peter for dinner at EasyTooth Residence Restaurant in Kuangkwan Area.

When Peter announced the coming Australian Clogging Association Convention in September 2012, I just couldn't wait. It's been four years since I last met up with Cloggers during my downunder trip for 50 days in New Zealand in 2007. I'm feeling excited to venture to the 17th ACA National Clogging Convention Adelaide SA, September 21st - 23rd, 2012.

Borrowing the Plantain Fan

Toastmaster Kate Hsu invited golden ladies to see the Borrowing the Plantain Fan at Taipei EYE, only Lydia and I could make it this evening. It was an exciting and entertaining show full of martial arts scenes. After the show, we had a couple of photos taken with the leading actors, Monkey King and the Princess Iron Fan, to conclude a joyful and pleasant Chinese Opera evening.

Journey to the West (西遊記) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng-En and published in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty. The novel is a legendary pilgrimage to India of the Buddhist monk during the Tang dynasty.

The Monkey King (孫悟空, the name means "Awakened to Emptiness") was born on Flower Fruit Mountain from a stone egg that forms from an ancient rock created by the coupling of heaven and earth. Being a master of the 72 methods of transformation, the Monkey King defeated the most powerful of demons on a long and dangerous journey into the unknown.

Borrowing the Plantain Fan was the story of the Monkey King’s encounter with the Princess Iron Fan. The Monkey King succeeded in borrowing the magic plantain fan to subdue the flames of the Fiery Mountains, to lead his master and fellow disciples over the Fiery Mountains.

Joel & Erin's Wedding Party

Grand Toastmasters Club has something to be proud of, being the first Toastmasters club in District 67 to hold a wedding ceremony for Toastmasters Joel Wright and Erin Ke with a great success Saturday, August 6th. Toastmaster Jimmy Wu was the Officiant, Toastmaster Steve Wang was the Master of Wedding Ceremony, Toastmaster Carrie Chiang was the Maid of Honor.

Joel & Erin's wedding party was one of its kind. It was on Chinese Valentine's Day (七夕, "The Night of Sevens"), the handsome young cowherd (牛郎) and the beautiful weavergirl (織女), separated by the Milky Way between Altair and Vega, joined hand-in-hand forever. The bride was all tears, the groom was all tears, every one was rejoiced with tears in the eyes. It was a happy and joyful moment of true love. Even the waiters and waitress joined the parade of tears to witness the glorious joint of two lovely people from the west and the east.

At the dinner party, thirty members from Grand Toastmasters Club were sit right next to the head table. We were in charge of the wedding party program, including the slideshow of the wedding photos of Joel and Erin, the videoclips of Joel and Erin to show their gratitude to their parents, the champion time, and the entertaining shows. Joel and Erin’s parents were excited to meet up with the supportive members from Grand Toastmasters Club, the family beyond family.

Joel and Erin also arranged a wedding photo sticker machine at the back of the party venue. Everyone was invited to take the instant photos away for souvenirs.

From the beginning of the wedding ceremony in the afternoon to the end of the dinner party in the late evening, the joyful time was beyond description. It was one of the best Toastmasters wedding ceremonies of Grand Toastmasters Club. There are many more couples to be married in Grand. If you are single, come join Grand to hunt for your soul mate partner!

Golden Ladies' Poker Faces

Lady 恰恰, Lydia, 平常成天在外面跳恰恰, 一回到在家裡對 Harry 就很恰! 八月八月欣逢 Harry 六十甲子華誕, Lydia 特邀轟動舞林、驚動萬教的 Golden Ladies Toastmasters 姊妹掏, 表演 Poker Face 為 Dearest Harry 暖壽表愛意! (照片由左到右)


Lady 大大, Michelle, 天下女人我最大! Lady 辣辣, Sherry, 身材香艷又火辣! Lady 趴趴, Pamela, 世界各國走趴趴! Lady 踏踏, Jennie, 成天到處教踢踏! Lady 聒聒, Trini, 演講會友最會聒! Lady 花花, Irene, 口袋有錢就會花! Lady 嗲嗲, Kate, 一唱平劇鐵定嗲! Lady 哈哈, Linda, 博君哈哈一笑啦!

攝影師 Lady 發發, Virginia, 一拿相機她就發! (照片正中間)