The Cooking Toastmasters--Chapter One

Life is a banquet! Bon appetit! ~Jo Shih, China Toastmasters Club~

When Jo extended her invitation to G-Girls for brunch at her mansion Saturday morning, July 23rd, my mouth began watering. It was my second time to venture to her kitchen, and the first or the third time for other G-Girls to experience the savory and tasty adventure.

Jo's philosophy in life, "Life is a banquet! Bon appetit!", inspired me to take the initiative to create an extra-curricular activity among Toastmasters in Taiwan, to document "The Toastmasters Kitchens in District 67", as there are many talented chefs in D67, including my humble self. Wouldn't it be awesome to venture into Toastmasters kitchens to explore the Toastmasters talents beyond the Toastmasters clubs? Wouldn't it be great to share the menu and recipes of Taiwanese Toastmasters with toastmasters around the world?

Jo designed her brunch menu three days in advance. Just imagining the dishes on the table caused my salivary glands to dance wildly in mouth in the following days. I forced myself to fast from the moment I received the brunch menu.

1. Gado-gado 印尼沙拉
2. Green Papaya 涼拌青木瓜
3. Pumpkin Curry 南瓜咖哩湯
4. Yellow Ginger Rice 黃薑飯
5. Spicy Rice Noodle 辣米粉
6. Rendang Beef 巴東牛肉
7. Boneless Chicken 酸果雞
8. Iced Nangka 新鮮婆羅蜜

Irene was in charge of purchasing the gifts for Jo. She met a group of two young girls and one young man at the Wellcome Supermarket, and took their advice to buy two bottles of Jacob's Creek - Shiraz Cabernet & two bottles of Jacob's Creek - Chardonnay. She also ordered a bouguet of flowers late Friday evening day before the brunch.

Linda decided to join the brunch anyway, even she was scheduled to have a health check up the following Tuesday, July 26th. While we were eating voraciously, she nibbled the toast she brought along, simply because she didn't want to miss the joyful gathering chez Jo.

Of course, eating accompanied by reading would be the best without saying. I proposed three articles in Toastmaster Magazine July issue for G-Girls to read, 1. Courage in Japan by Beth Black, page 6; 2. Speechwriting Tips from the Pros by Dave Zielinski, page 8; 3. The Strength of a Storu by Dennis Brooke, Page 14. In the end, we didn't have time to read any articles except taking a few snapshots holding the Toastmasters with our satisfying smiles.

After the sumptuous authentic Indonesian meal, Jo joined G-Girls'clogging dance class for the first time at KuangKwan Community Center Saturday afternoon.

Jo later wrote to G-Girls, "Life is but a choice! Food is but a choice! I wish all my girls make their own choices, in life and in food! So we had fresh / raw / undercooked fruits / vegs and sauces for choice, yellow ginger rice, beef, and chicken are authentic Indonesian. Thanks for the roses which still fragrant the rooms, the wine and the cheese cake we have been enjoying so much!"

G-Girls Comments from Trini, Michelle, Kate, Irene, Linda (chronologically)!

"Make food simple and let things taste of what they are." Maurice Edmond Sailland
This quote depicts perfectly how I think about Jo's food. I'm not particular about food. I just enjoy trying different kinds of food. The food cooked by Jo is definitely unique and tasty with a big variety of spice and full of flavors. All the dishes are especially healthy either made fresh, braised or steamed. Except food, what lures me most is the chatting and laughter we shared together while enjoying the food. The Irish proverb says it best for me - Laughter is brightest where food is best. - Trini Ding

Frankly speaking, I am not good at cooking at all. I think it's a time consuming work and the cost to performance ratio is too low to me. After having a delighted brunch with Golden Ladies at Jo's sweet home last Sat., I found out the reason why so many people enjoy cooking. The secret integrate is "LOVE". I could feel LOVE from the delicious and exotic food prepared by Jo to us and to her family, which brought us a very joyful weekend. - Michelle Liu

From Gado-gado to iced nangka, Jo's menu is like a good speech that has strong opening, body and a perfect conclusion. It's not only a branch, it's a feast! I was not able to have spicy food, but the taste of Yellow Ginger Rice with Pumpkin Curry was so good that made me wanting it more and more…. Jo's cooking skills are admirable, her lovely smile made us feel warm and truly welcome. Except the delicious food, I enjoyed meeting her family, seeing her grandchildren running around. What a lively picture it was. - Kate Hsu

1. Gado-gado 印尼沙拉: Jo said that this is easy to make it, sliced cucumber, carrot, corn, potato, and sprout.
2. Green Papaya 涼拌青木瓜: Jo said that this is easy to make it, too. Shredded green papaya.
3. Pumpkin Curry soup 南瓜咖哩湯: I never tried before to make soup of pumpkin and curry. I learned and will make it at home.
4. Yellow Ginger Rice 黃薑飯: Jo used the yellow ginger she grew and the citronella to cook rice that provide the delicious color and smell. This will activate our brain from aging dementia.
5. Spicy Rice Noodle 辣米粉: If I am not dementia, I probably did not taste this, as we had too much food on the table already.
6. Rendang Beef 巴東牛肉: We were persuading Jo to make her Rendang Beef and sell by mail order, this is the best main course, no one should miss it.
7. Boneless Chicken 酸果雞: The chicken was sauced with lemon, sugar, soysauce and herb a day before, then roasted before we arrived.
8. Iced Nangka 新鮮婆羅蜜: The fresh dessert made of Nangka with coconut & cocoa juice was really fresh to me.
Plantain (芭蕉), fried shrimp cake (蝦餅) are typical fruit and snack. Frozen grape played a role as ice rock to cool our white wine. No one had such experience before. Nothing is difficult to Jo, the humble and lovely cook who used the plain material but produced variable and colorful tasty food to satisfy our visual, olfactory and gustatory organs. The secret is the heart, the love, and the magic sauce that Jo specially made in the harmony sweet home. Cooking Toastmasters are creative and terrific! Many thanks to Jo, for the Indonesian feast. Whenever there is an empty seat at the dinner table, I would love to be the first one to sit. - Irene Chen

7/23我們黃金女郎接受Jo的盛情邀約到她家享受她為我們所準備的印尼美食. 印尼沙拉, 涼拌青木瓜, 黃薑飯, 巴東牛肉, 酸果雞, 南瓜咖哩湯以及新鮮波羅蜜, 芭蕉, 冰凍葡萄加白酒, 還有蝦餅當點心.可是你知道美食當前但卻不能動筷的鬱卒嗎? 當天我拿了手怕猛擦臉, 姐妹們以為我在擦汗, 其實我是在擦口水啦!哦!對了! 你們再等答案, 是嗎? 因為要作健檢需控制吃食, 否則會影響檢測數據, 那2萬元就白花了. - Linda Tseng

Remarks: I prepared two Indonesian songs for our gathering as follows,
Burung Kakatua The cockatoo

Burung kakatua The cockatoo
hinggap di jendela, Sits on the window sill
nenek sudah tua, My grandmother is already old
giginya tinggal dua. And she only has two teeth!

Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
burung kakatua,

giginya tinggal dua She only has two teeth left
nenek sudah tua Grandma is already old
hinggap di jendela She sits on the window sill
Seperti kakatua! Like the cockatoo!

Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
Letcum, letcum, letcum hu la la la
burung kakatua,

Bengawan Solo Solo, the Mighty River

Bengawan Solo, riwayat mu ini The mighty river Solo, your legend this,
Sedari dulu, jadi perhatian dewi Sari From ages past, you captivated the goddess Sari,
Music kemarau, tak berapa airmu In seasons dry, your water is low,
Di musimhujan air meluap sampai jauh In rainy seasons, the water overflows into the horizon.

Chorus:
Mata airmu dari Solo The spring of Solo
Terkurung gunung seribu Locked in thousands of mountains.
Air mengalir sampai jauh Its water flows intot he distance,
Akhirnya kelaut At last to the sea.
Itu perahu, riwayatnya dulu That boat, legend of the past,
Kaum pedagang selalu of traders always going
Naik itu perahu by that boat.

Hohaiyan Rock Festival 2011

The Hohaiyan Gongliao Rock Festival started in 2000. I made it to the 12th annual festival on Fulong Beach this year for the first time with two golden ladies Toastmasters.

The 2011 New Taipei City Hohaiyan Gongliao Rock Festival was a comprehensive upgrade 5.0 with the "Insistence" of a dream, a whole new living attitude towards rock music! Rock is it for all, young and old, you and me. I shall return to the free rock festival in northern Taiwan with more golden ladies and friends every year from now.

It's the 2nd day of the five-day Rock Festival of a concert relay marthon. The beach was packed with young people in colorful Bermuda shorts and bikinis. Young at heart golden ladies were no second to the teenage rock fans jumping up and down with the singers on stage. Musik Macht Frei, wrote Ryuichi Sakamoto. I couldn't agree with him more, feeling totally captivated by the energy and heat transcended from our rock neighbors from Singapore, Macau, and Hong Kong. I felt free. Rock macht frei!

On the double 7th day, we had a fruitful day of twice luck, making friends with many nice people. The Gongliao Train Station Chief gave a special permission for us to cross the railroad on foot. The coffee shop owner near the Fulong Train Station agreed to watch over our baggage in her shop. The staff at the Northeastern Coast Visitor Center played an extra documentary about the scenic spots for us, not to mention many strangers helped us take wonderful photos.

After listening to the Chou Pi Jiang rap rock from Singapore, the sun was about to set. We decided to call it a day to avoid the evening crowd. With the beautiful suntan bodies, we had the last snapshot of golden ladies holding a Toastmaster Magazine, snuggling on the cool and soft sand beach to conclude our wild and awesome rock festival in 2011.

On our way back to Taipei, we savored the famous Fulong Railway lunchboxes. The moment I opened my lunchbox, all my taste buds were awaken. The smell filled the entire wagon, made the passengers mouth watering. The selection of food packed in the lunchboxes, including the stewed pork chop, bean curd, egg, stir fried cabbage, sticking to tradition, remained the same as in the old days. Simply yummy~~

Millennium Concert of Legacy

It was a relaxing Saturday afternoon concert at the GuoGuang Opera House (國光劇場), featuring many talented performing artists on a typhoon day. Taiwan Music Center organized a free concert to music lovers and connoisseurs of the folk art of talking and singing in the past century in Taiwan.

The Millennium Concert of Legacy (傳唱千古情音樂會) was divided into three parts, Voice of Formosa(寶島之聲), Theatrical Music(戲曲音樂), and Innovation of Traditional Music(傳統元素新創作). Voice of Formosa includes Hakka singer of Lai Bi-shia, Taiwanese narrative singer of Yang Shiu-chin, and Lileh of Taiwan-Burun Tribe. Theatrical Music includes Nanguan, Beiguan, Bangzi Opera, Peking Opera, Taiwanese Opera.

As it was the first time for me to visit the GuoGuang Opera house, I arrived one hour in advance to get familiar with the surroundings. I visited the Taipei City Library Mucha branch and I bought two summer hats in the nearby market. Toastmaster Kate and I met for lunch at a cozy coffeehouse before the concert.

After the concert, Kate and I waited at the gate eagerly to send our regards to the performers. When Kate introduced Ms. Liao, Chun-chi, the Taiwanese Opera singer to us. At the age of 76, Ms. Liao looked elegant and poised. She has been devoted to the heritage of Taiwanese Opera since her retirement.

I grew up with Taiwanese opera and Peking opera on TV in my childhood. I watched Peking opera with my parents. I watched Taiwanese opera with my brothers and sisters. I couldn't wait to see Yang Li-hua (楊麗花) playing heroic man squashing evil and romatic man with the sweethearts in the love scenes.

Taiwan is a small island of many ethnic groups, Taiwanese, Mainlanders from all over China, Hakka, aboriginal people. The mix and match of languages and cultures provided a rich array of elements for artists to create their works of amazing voices and for people to enjoy the versatile and colorful lives.

Achieving Greatness Together

In order to break a leg at China Toastmasters Club's 26th Anniversary Party, golden ladies have been practicing cha cha diligently for the past week. This evening, we stood tall on stage, wowed the audience with our performance. In the admiring eyes of a full house of Toastmasters and friends, we won the reputation as the Taiwanese version of Spicy Girls.

To be honest, the reason why I was eager to attend China's 26th anniversary party was simply because of Toastmaster Jo Shih's authentic Indonesian cuisine for dinner. In addition, I could of course listen to the keynote speech of Toastmaster George Yen, the 2nd International Vice President; show support to Toastmaster Mike Yang, the incumbent D67 District Governor, and to cheer up the golden lady Toastmaster Trini Ding, the Master of the Installation Ceremony.

The cha cha dance was proposed by Toastmaster Irene Chen. It was a popular Thai song KOO GUD by Bird ThongChai McIntyre. The Grasshoppers from Hong Kong adapted the melody and made the Broken Hearts Club a hit in Taiwan two decades ago. Toastmaster Kate Hsu proposed we wore the fashionable outfits, long tees, leggings, big frame glasses and accessories. I made a few changes in movements, formation, position in our group dance of five golden ladies.

A joy shared was a joy doubled. During our cha cha performance, all toastmasters and friends from the floor stood up to support us by clapping hands to echo the rhythm of the music. It was a joyful moment of two minutes and fifty-three seconds. The group dancing not only burned the extra calories in our bodies, but it also increased the endophines and norepinephrines in our brains to make us feel good and positive about ourselves.

During the intermission, many toastmasters complimented our cool performance and the golden ladies Toastmasters spirit. Some toastmasters extended invitation to us to perform at their Toastmasters clubs activites. Toastmaster Michelle Liu was excited to accept all invitations for golden ladies to excell on STAGE. At our golden age, golden ladies need nothing, but stage to perpetuate our golden memories.

It is my hope that one day all Toastmasters clubs meetings in District 67 can reserve five minutes for dancing exercise before the first half of the meeting starts and after the second half meeting resumes. Ten minutes group dancing would lift up the Toastmasters spirit, facilitate the learning capacity, and strengthen the solidarity. In Toastmasters, we live for greatness. In Toastmasters, we achieve greatness together!

My Fair Lady

I didn't really know how excited Eliza Doolittle was when she spoke to the Edison cylinder phonograph at Professor Henry Higgins’s studio till today. I knew it now, because of the experiment with Edison cylinder phonograph at the Central Libray this afternoon, June 12th.

After I sent the mp3 of my voice on an antique Edison cylinder phonograph to golden ladies toastmasters, Toastmaster Trini Ding wrote, "Principal Lin said you are the most courageous one. He didn't know that you are an adventurous person. It reminds me of the movie "My fair Lady". The sound effect is awesome. You sang very well. I believe all the audience was impressed."

At 1:30PM, I visited the exhibition of Retrospective of Studies on Taiwanese Traditional Music at the Central Library. When I saw the antique phonograph and listened to the Viennese waltz, I felt like dancing. At 1:50PM, I walked into the lecture hall, I was amazed at many antique phonographs and hundreds of phonograph records displayed on the table, including the first record of Enrico Caruso a century ago.

Being a historian, Pincipal Lin of Kan Nan High School of Commerce and Indsutry was passionate about his collections of phonographs and records. He talked about the joy whenever he listend to the old records of different times. He brought back the people in the history to life from the records. After he demonstrated the voice representation by antique phonograph, he asked for volunteers from the floor, I raised up my hand without hesitation! How would I miss the once-in-a-lifetime chance?

Due to the length of the waxed cyclinder, Principal told me to experiment for no more than one minute. I thought about O Sole Mio in Italian at first, but I decided to sing Mei Lanfang's most popular Peking opera Susan Under Arrest. It was an exciting experience singing Peking opera to a funnel, I could listen to the echo of my voice as I moved my head closer to the funnel.

【流水】
蘇三離了洪桐縣
將身來在大街前
未曾開言我心內慘
過往的君子聽我言
哪一位去往南京轉
與我那三郎把信傳
言說蘇三把命斷
來生變犬馬我當報還

It was a perfect experiment. I finished the recording in one minute and won a big round of applause from the floor. When Principal Lin played the record, I felt like being transcended to the old Shanghai city in the early 20th century. Only I wish I could have sung better, when Principal Lin told me that he would save the record!

When I got home, my husband read the mp3 of my voice on Goldwave, some waves were beyond the upper limite. He suggested that I should keep a distance from the funnel to have the best acoustic effect. Now I need to do some research on sound wave in physics 101 to calculate the distance.

Of course, I was most thrilled to ask Toastmaster Kate Hsu if I could apply for the apprenticeship with Master Baojiu Mei, the song of Mei Langfan. Toastmaster Kate Hsu complimented that my singing of Chinese Opera was improved. She was happy to see more friends help promote the Chinese opera.

I'm determined to improve my singing skills of Peking opera. I look forward to another chance to document my voice on Edison cylinder phonograph in the future. I'm sure I shall do better next time, only if there is a next time! Who knows, maybe golden ladies can produce a musical play of "My Fair Lady" with an authentic phonograph in the future! It's going to be very challenging to learn the English dialects, though!

Angry Birds Debate 2011

Toastmaster Jonathan Borock called me at 4:30PM, Monday, May 23rd, when he arrived in Taipei after the 2nd United Asian Debating Championship 2011 in Macao. In less than an hour, we met at the lobby of his hotel in Ximen.

For the following 5 and 1/2 hours, we had a pleasant Angry Birds Debate strolling around the Ximen District, purchasing five mascots of colorful angry birds and three green evil pigs in various sizes, drinking fruits smoothy at Sol Cafe' next to the Riverside Live House, playing angry birds games to decide who paid the bill, having traditional Chinese dinner, enjoying the lovely singing at the Cold Stone Ice Cream.

I met Toastmaster Jonathan Borock at D76 Fall Conference 2010 in Kumamoto in November. I remember him well because we went to Kentucky Colonel Charlie Nagatani's Country Music Club after the Fall Conference dinner party with two other Toastmasters. Jonathan was the only person who didn't drink among four of us, he ordered a can of Coca Cola.

I didn't know Jonathan Borock was a famous debater till I received an email from Toastmaster Fujino Kazue of Fukuoka Toastmasters Club informing me of Jonathan’s coming to Taiwan to give a debate workshop in Kao-hsiung. Then I received a mail from Jonathan himself inviting me to the 1st Wenzao Cup Taiwan University English Debate Championship in Kao-hsiung, May 14th and 15th.

Wow, I was impressed with Jonathan Borock's titles, PhD candidate of Kyushu Univertsity, President of NYC Debate, Fellow of Asian Debate Institute, Founder of Sophia Debating Society, First Lifetime Member of ICU Debating Society, and Ambassadorial Representative to Japan of Society for Associated Intertertiary Debaters (SAID).

Tuesday afternoon, Jonathan and I planned to meet at CKS Memorial Hall, but we failed to find each other. I hung around to see the dress rehearsal of Honorary Guards of the Tri-services march to the National Defense Music Band. It was magnificent and it reminded me of my honorary guard marches in high school four decades ago. The Military Tattoo in Taipei (MTT) will take place at the CKS Memorial Hall Sunday afternoon, May 28th, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China.

Wednesday evening, Jonathan asked me if I would be interested in attending his debate workshop at National Chung-hsin University Thursday afternoon, May 26th. 「Why not? I could always learn new tricks」, I answered, 「we can even have a half day tour of Taichung City before the debate workshop.」 「How about we meet at National Museum of Fine Arts at 11:30」, Jonathan proposed. I said, OK!

It was a frutiful day Thursday. I arrived at the National Museum of Fine Arts ahead of time and I didn’t miss Jonathan this time. We started our visit by taking a break at the Rose House on the 2nd floor. Jonathan ordered a cranberry milk tea and I had pickled pork knuckle for lunch. After recharging at the Rose House with a piano concerto in the air, we were ready to visit the museum. Then we took a Taxi to the National Science Museum. While Jonathan made a quick tour, I had my second coffee at the McDonald on the 2nd floor.

The debate workshop started at 5:30PM and ended at 8:00PM on time. After Jonathan talked about the merits of joining the debate society, we were divided into two groups. Sophy Chen and Jeff Tsai helped the beginners group of no debate knowledge. Jonathan worked on the group with previous debating experience. I was in the beginners group and learned many jargons and rules. Sophy, Jeff, and Betty gave a demo and five of us first timers were divided into three groups to state our motions in front of others in 3 minutes.

It really felt good to be back on campus with the young and promising college students. I was thrilled to see the students eager to learn the debate rules and enthusiastic about honing their debating skills. I was excited to see the development of the debaters and adjudicators in Taiwan.

Believing that the debate in English will not only help students with the presentation and persuasion skills, but it also enables students to have critical thinking and logical elaboration, I recommend the Toastmasters on campus consider the debating in English as the extracurricular activity of choice to to train the skills in active thinking, active listening and active speaking. In addition to the English proficiency, debaters need to cooperate with the teammates and the opposition teams to have their message conveyed in the most effective way.

After the debate workshop, we enjoyed a dinner at the Triangle Tea Shop till 10PM. Chung-hsin University has changed a lot since I was a freshman at the Department of Botany in 1973. I've never visited the Alma Mater since I changed my major to study the pharmacy at Taipei Medical College in 1975.

Trini’s House Warming Party

At last, Trini announced her house warming party after three months interior decoration. Every golden lady was eager to see her brand new love nest. I was the first one to arrive at 11 o'clock Saturay, May 21st. While waiting for Trini to pick up Irene, I took it easy to powerder myself at the lobby. Then three of us walked to Building H through the central park in the middle of the apartment complex.

Right before we got on the elevator to Trini's warm house on the 7th floor, Irene received a long distance call from Michelle at the Ho Chi Minh Airport in Vietnam. Michelle was excited to get on the airplane on the waiting list to fly back to Taiwan to join the house warming party for the merrily chirping Trini.

Pamela joined us while we were still waiting for the elevator. No sooner than later Trini opened the door, I made a thorough inspection of her exquisite and cozy world full of books and furnitures. From the bedroom, the study room, the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, it was like a grand tour of a gigantic lego house.

Upon Trini's suggestions, I tried her state-of-the-arts toilette, with all fascinating functions. If I could have one like hers one day, I would spend all day long writing blogs sitting on the most pragamatic utility designed for human pleasure. After playing with all the bottoms on the wall in the avant-garde rest room, I joined Pamela and Irene to snuggle on the soft leather sofa wataching TV in the living room while Trini was busy in the kitchen. Ding Dong, the bell rang, there walked in Linda and Lydia.

Trini prepared a full table of food and drinks single-handed, stewed pig foot (紅燒豬腳), steamed sweet yam pork (粉蒸肉), homemade pickles. Pamela bought a bunch of traditional Chinese breads (蔥燒餅、蟹黃酥). With so many mouth-watering dishes in front of my eyes, I couldn't help but putting aside my ambitious diet plan to lose 5 kilograms I gained during the Regensburger Domspatzen Concert Tour in Taiwan, from April 28th till May 10th.

Time flies during the happy hours, eating, drinking, laughing, among golden ladies Toastmasters. In the middle of the noisy golden luncheon, Trini received a phone call from the creation center that the Karaoke room was ready for our disposable.

Three karaoke rooms at the big recreation center on the basement were fully booked. We were assigned to KTV-2 from 1PM to 5PM. After a couple of warm-up songs, I decided to take a recess reading my book in the hall, drinking my coffee latte for the afternoon. The karaoke room was freezing cold! I must take care of my vocal cord before I go to the recording studio with Hsin-tien Women Chorus Friday afternoon, June 3rd.

Linda and I had wedding parties to attend separately. We left before Michelle showed up. After the wedding party at Grace Hill, I returned to Trini's warm house late in the evening to see all golden ladies wait for me to come back for the slumber party overnight, to my surprise.

Pamela and I stayed to spend the night with Trini. While I showed Pamela how to wrok with the self-timer of her Sony, Pamela remembered the Smile Shutter function of her Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200. Three of us in bed, partial nudity in purple PJ covered with purple velvet blanket, fell down laughing with exuberance in front of the Sony, waited for the camera to snap automatic pictures of us. We tried smile level settings from low, medium, to high, we worked out our smiles from grins, smirks, to guffaws. It was a joyful joke session without even having to tell jokes. We cracked many grins before we retired for the day, feeling exhausted exercising our facial muscles.

Sunday morning, three of us put on different hats for a group photo, me with a purple wide brim dressy hat, Trini with a fancy cowboy hat, Pamela with a white Yankee's baseball cap, before Pamela left for the brunch with her family at 9. I stayed to watch two films with Trini, The Hoax (2006) and Whatever Works (2009). When Trini proceeded to watch the third film, I said no more, despite the comfort of her living room. I proposed we took a break to see the real life of the world. We ventured to the old Sheng-keng town jammed packed with the tourists from China on Sunday afternoons. I got a Tamale for my husband before I got on bus 819 to get home.

Sixty German Friends and Acquaintances

One of my New Year's Resolutions of Year 2011 was to make acquaintance with 100 strangers. After the Regensburger Domspatzen Concert Tour in Taiwan, I added 60 Germans on my roster. Even before the end of the fist half of year 2011, I reached my goal in making friends and acquaintaces of one hundred! Hooray!

The 60 Germans are no ordinary people, they are gifted with beautiful voices. Whenever the Domkapellmeister Roland Büchner waved his two hands with an invisible wonder wand in the air, the choir produced instantly a mesmerizing pure human sound from the St. Peter's Cathedral in Regensburg!

Talking about the national music, Japanese have Enka, French have Chanson, Americans have Jazz. What do Germans have to offer? I shall say the German folksongs for chorus for sure, Am Brunnen vor dem Tore, Heidenröslein, to name a couple. Who in Taiwan couldn't hum the lovely German folksongs we grew up with in our childhood?

What impressed me the most about the Regensburger Domspatzen Concert Tour in Taiwan, it would be none other than the liturgical chant. I heard the angelitical voices from heaven, I saw the glow enwrapping the evangelical messagers on stage. I felt the bliss and the peace in my heart. It was simply sensational!

The repertoire of Regensburger Domspatzen's sacred music started with two songs of Hosanna filio David and O Domine Jesu Christe by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) to pay the homage to the reputable choral composer on the 400 anniversary of his death, followed by Jubilate Deo omnis terra by Giovanni Gabriele (1554/57-1612) or Der Herr ist König by Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706), concluded by three songs of Wir dein Anliegen auf den Herrn, Hebe Deine Augen auf (Knabenchor), Richte mich Gott by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847). The only regret I had was that not being able to listen to the motet by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594). Maybe that gives me a sound reason to pay a visit to Regensburg in person one day in the future.

Just think about it, I feel contented! Oh, my God. I am so lucky that I could be given the opportunity to escort the Regensburger Domspatzen in Taiwan who chanted for Pope Benedict XVI in the Sistine Chapel in 2005.

My German Experience

It was an experience to live with 60 Germans for a dozen of nights in Taiwan! Did I speak any German during the Regensburger Domspatzen Concert Tour in Taiwan, from April 28th till May 10th?

The answer was yes and no. Whenever I uttered the words in German, the little boys looked up at me with their puzzled eyes full of question marks. Immediately I switched into English. They still looked up at me with the same puzzled eyes of more question marks, but I felt more assured of myself, conveying my message correct! In the end, I spoke less than ten words of the German language, regardless of the painstaking three months cramming on German day and night!

A boy volunteered to teach me German, he reserved a seat for me next to him on the charter bus, he taught me how to pronounce sp and st in German, my stubborn mouth just didn't or couldn't follow orders. Sp was sp and st was st, I pronounced what I saw. Schp, scht just couldn't or didn't come out of my mouth.

There was more to work on the articulation of the German language, the double consonant sound of pf in the pherd, apfel, and so on. I must pronounce the first consonant lightly and stressed on the second consonant. I couldn't help but tangling the p and f in my mouth, and I got choked with two consonants in my mouth at the same time. But I promised the boy, I shall remember the know-how he taught me and practice at home from now on whenever I can.

The boy also volunteered to teach me the vocalization when he heard me sing on the charter bus and when he knew I sang in a chorus. What would have been a better place than a swimming pool? On the Monday morning of free time (hotel facilities), we had a date at the swimming pool on the 7th floor of Tahyi Landis Hotel in Tainan. He demonstrated the magic abdominal breathing in his swimming suit. He taught me how to articulate the five vowels, A E I O U, with the correct position of the tongue in the vocal capacity. I babbled like a toddler with frustrration and excitement. I promised the boy, I shall remember the know-how he taught me and practice singing the right way in the chorus from now on!

Dear F. K., thank you for your friendship! Thank you for the precious tutorial hours of Choral Music when you were in Taiwan. You will make a good Music teacher like Mr. C. H. when you grow up!

He is 12

All good things come to an end. Today we left the Hotel Tayih Landis where we stayed for six nights straight. All staff members gathered at the lobby to say goodbye to us, they saw us off in front of the hotel until our charter buses departed. I started missing the hotel the night before our departure, the ambience, the food, the service and the flower arrangement at the lobby. I shall definitely return soon!

Talking about the flower arrangement at the lobby.

Divine Mercy Sunday

I was all dressed up in my Bavarian costume for the morning Mass at the St. Josef Church on the second Sunday of Easter. The Octave Day of Easter is known as St. Thomas Sunday, because of the story "Doubting Thomas" in the Gospel(John 20:19-29).

St. Joseph Church in located within a walking distance from Tayih Landis Hotel in Tainan. In an old church, we had a special blingual Mass in Mandarin and in German to welcome the participation of RD. It was an unprecedented event for St. Josef Church to host the guests from St. Peter Cathedral in Regensburger.

On the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1, 2011, Pope John Paul II was beatified on by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. Pope John Paul passed away in April 2005. The Divine Mercy Sunday was designed by him on April 30, 2000.