We were a weird combination of five ladies Toastmasters. Because we knew one another, we had great fun our way during the crazy summer excursion to Yi-lan County Thursday, July 26th.
Trini Ding, our driver, is a carefree member. She is an elementary school English teacher. She wrote an email at the last minute to confirm the wrong date of our excursion Wednesday evening. When I got up Thursday morning to read her email, I didn't take any action. I knew someone would do the job better. In fact, that one got up one hour earlier than me, to wake up Trini and to send her a text message of complaint.
That one is Virginia Lee, our photographer and tour group leader. We must follow her order without any concession whatsoever in terms of the itinerary and the way we pose for her camera. When we are around her, we must keep silent in order not to disturb the objects she has in mind for her next snapshot. Virginia is not only a knowledgeable traveler, but also a first class gourmet. We were quiet like kittens following her leaps, because the big cat knew where to take us to a good meal and to a super scenic place. On top of that, Virginia carried two big cameras with her. She took super photos, and we wanted to be her models in her beautiful pictures!
Sherry Li, that's my humble self, made the proposal for our one day excursion Monday morning. When I was told that Virginia was curious about golden ladies recent gathering by Lydia Lin at the summer Jazz festival 2012 Sunday evening, I thought of no time like the present. It was four years ago golden ladies had a pleasant Autumn outing to Yi-lan Winery. In less than one day, our excursion plan was in shape! Hooray, I'm ready to be on the road!
Irene Chen, the group treasurer and secretary, is a caretaker. Whenever she is around, just leave everything to her. She can take care of every need of the group members. She did things impeccably following Virginia's commands. Irene just bought a new Lumix LX5. She was eager to hone her photo skills before her venture to Guam to her son's wedding in early September.
Yi-hsin Tsai, the one waiting in a long line to be a golden lady, recommended herself to join our one day excursion. Being the youngest among the group, she didn't say much most of the time. Her portable GPS led the way and spoke louder than Virginia. As I sat at the back seats between Irene and Yi-hsin, I couldn't help staring at her, Yi-hsin was a beauty! Youth is Power! Carpe diem!
Five of us had a full and fruitful day, covering many scenic spots of Yi-lan. Trini was a fast driver, she was nimble behind the wheel. When Virginia gave an order, Trini could made a turn regardless of the traffic on the street. Trini bragged that nobody could make a parallel parking and backward into a garage better than her! I agree with her without any objections! She thinks fast, acts fast, and drives fast!
What's fun today? Too many to name, firstly we borrowed two navy blue east German visor hats at the checking point to mock the station officers to verify the tickets at Dong-san Station. As it was still early in the morning without any passengers at sight, the station officer in charge left his ticket office to take photos of us! He gave each one of us a beautiful pamphlet of Yi-lan County and wished us a pleasant journey. Yi-lan is indeed a tourist friendly county famous for customer service, including the Taiwan Railway Officers!
Secondly, we jumped in the air at every scenic spot. Trini jumped the highest, followed by Yi-hsin and Virginia. I couldn't overcome the gravity of the Michelin on my tummy. I came the last on the roster, of course. But I'm determined to rewrite the jumpers roster in the future. Irene gave up jumping after our trip to the Skywalk in Little Wulai, Taoyuan County last July. At Agrioz Garden, we forgot to jump with our jars of DIY Kumquat in hand. That would certainly make an awesome scene for the visitors!
Thirdly, we convinced a gentleman attired colorfully in his sportswear to be in the photo with us. He met us on the wooden suspension bridge over the Yi-lan River. He had no reservation to share with us about the life in Er-wang Community as a friendly community ambassador. I bet he was the happiest man at the moment, being surrounded by a group of crazy ladies to his surprise. Being a proud man in an one afternoon improv show, he found his sunglasses missing on the bridge till Irene found them!Last but not least, on our way back to Taipei, we bought the famous roast chicken before we got on the freeway. In less than 12 minutes in the Snow Mountain Tunnel, five of us ladies ate the entire chicken in the dark! We didn't care much about the table manners, as we couldn't see others. We ate with our hands and our mouths. It was sensational and yummy! Virginia fed Trini piece by piece, ooops, hot, hot, hot!
Too pity, I didn't bring my bikinis (3.4) with me, insisted by Virginia. She is now nearsighted, plus farsighted, she doesn't want to get red eyes (styes) because of my sexy body. Otherwise, it would be a cool scene to see me swim in the crystal emerald pool beneath the Monkey Cave Fall. Irene was right, I should always keep my bikinis in the bag no matter where I go, they wouldn't take up much space anyway. It's an advice well taken! Too bad (or fortunately), you couldn't see me in bikinis this time!
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