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.