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!