A Surprise Phone Call

I got up early, because I had an online Japanese class from 8:15 till 9:00. Today we practiced basic conversation in Japanese. The members took turns reading simple dialogues in the textbook. All I had to do is listen to the right pronunication.

In the rain, I put on the raincoat to buy some fruits and vegetables from the streetside ventor on JiangGuo Road near my place. I bought winter melon for NT $6 dollars a catty, tiny Irwin mango for NT $40 a catty, pumpkin for NT $10 a catty.

The online English class with Taipei Medical University classmates started from 10:30 till 11:00 this morning. Only one classmate showed up. I didn't expect his participation. Two of us enjoyed talking about our past weekend excursion to southern Taiwan. He was most impressed with the Octagon Pavilion in YanShui. 

The Octagon Pavilion is a wooden building built by craftsmen brought in from China by the Ye family who had made their wealth in the sugar industry. The pivilion was completed in 1841. At the time, Yanshui’s Yuejin Harbor was busy with cargo ships and merchants filled the streets. The building materials were mainly Chinese Fir and bricks transported from China. During Japanese occupation period, Prince Fushimi Sadanaru took over the building as his residence and command post. The Octagon Building was returned to the Ye family after the war.

While making the winter melon pork soup for lunch, I received a long distance call from Beijin, informing me of the ongoing legal procedures of the inheritance of the old property in downtown Beijing. After I received the email in the afternoon, I replied that we gave up our share of the inheritance immediately.

In the afternoon, I went to WheatLand Center to organize activities for the elderlies from 1:30 till 3:30. We played blackjack for 30 minutes, theater acting for 30 minutes, singing for 30 minutes, video presentation of weekend excursion in Tainan for 15 minutes, slow jogging for 15 minutes. We had only a few participants due to the heavy rain today. I received a zongzi as a gift when I left the center.