The shoot was very near my great-uncle's apartment. We had to climb a couple of flights to the loft. Let's say there were a lot of kids in a small area = total mayhem. The boss actually kept things going fairly smooth, as much as can be expected. My aunt got me and her son outta there by 10:30. Took a taxi over to her cousin's place of work, Fong Hwa Electronics. No reason why we visited the place. We were supposed to go to a dep't store, but it opened at 11:30. We ate lunch at the Brother Hotel where we ate dim sum. All dishes were amazing. I just couldn't believe the bill when it came!
We headed back to the dep't store; it was very similar to the one we visited on Sunday. I couldn't believe how extravagant the children's clothes were: Benetton, Armani Junior... whatever! At the store, I admired the Nintendo64 again. I have to get the machine this Christmas... the coolest graphics machine I've ever seen.
We returned back to the apartment. I played 3DO for a couple of hours before I fell asleep. Around 5:30, my mom's cousin returned from work. We watched CNN for a while-- the weatherman predicts that Typhoon Herb will hit Taiwan early Wednesday-- the same day as my flight! It's gonna be one mother of a storm... ARGH! We ate dinner at home; it was really good. (I guess the camp food really destroyed the tastebuds.)
After dinner, we walked over to my aunt Shock-Lei's place. I went to the room where I was sleeping-- after such a long day and long nights during the week, rest was a must. The kids played with the wooden sword. Couldn't take too much of the noise, so I went to the living room to watch TV-- good to see the Olympics. As it got late, I went back to my room to start arranging all the foodstuffs I had to sneak back to Canada. Boy, my once empty suitcase is quickly filling up!
Thoughts for tonight:
One of my aunts came by at around 10 to pick me up. She confirmed my flight on Wednesday-- still have to call tomorrow to see if Mandarin Airlines will still fly. Also reminded me to bring my passport to the bank (lots of counterfeit US bills floating around). First stop was the bank: exchanged my cash. The tellers were really slow. They were surprised to hear that I was able to speak Taiwanese... all the kids nowadays only speak Mandarin. We were smart enough to bring an umbrella; it started raining when we left the bank. I accidentally dropped my hat on the road-- definitely have to wash it when we get back home...
The next stop was the jeweler's. The boss was my aunt's classmate in high school, so I should be getting a very good price here. The jeweler specializes in amber; amber is supposed to bring luck and ward away evil spirits (so I am told). I got 4 pieces; the best piece obviously had to go to my mom. I think it looks neat.
The last stop was the barbershop. My aunt's stylist was out (BTW, female hair stylists are the ones that give the awesome scalp message. Unfortunately, I had to opt for the traditional barber. The haircut was pretty good, but the message was the main reason for me to go. The guy was really nice, and the price couldn't be beat. (I think I paid $7 CAD for a cut and wash.)
Returned to the apartment and had lunch. My aunt had to go to work. That afternoon, I crashed and burned-- the pages of biology that I was reading for the MCAT really did me in. Slept from 1-3pm. I laid in bed for another couple of hours prior to dinner, thinking... I was thinking about all the little things that have been bothering me the past couple of days. I guess Piaget would call it "conscious assimilation." Also, I was listening to ICRT English radio-- amazed at their mix. Intermittently, Vivian, my cute little cousin, would come into my room and play around with the sword, occasionally asking me a trivial question.
I went out after dinner to go search for the last thing on my list: shoes. I was interested in getting a nice pair of Nike sandals. Went to the store and was frustrated to hear that Nike didn't release any new sandals this season. What a bummer. I didn't want to make the long trip a waste so I picked out a pair of cross-trainers. They set me back about 1500NT. Not bad, in my opinion. We got back and everyone was there at the apartment, and I mean everyone. I stayed up with the family and we watched Olympic diving. Of course, the Chinese took 1-2 on the 3m spring.
Once that finished up, I got cleaned up-- not taking 3 showers like I was at Chien Tan. When I walked into my room to get my towel, I was shocked to see a big-ass roach crawling along the bed's headboard. My cousin, Bryan, asked me to leave and he got it with a slipper.
After my shower, something was bothering me. After all that thinking I was doing during the afternoon, calling up my friends in Ocean was a priority (after all, it was hopefully my last night there). After a short delay at the switch board, I got through to my friend, Jenny. I was glad she picked up the phone. We just chit-chatted about lots of things. Apparently, group B is stuck at Chien Tan, meanwhile group A (my group) is twittling their thumbs at Ocean. She was playing Hearts with her roommates. Will, you get the idea.
Thoughts for tonight:
I turned on the TV to watch the weather report. The damn typhoon was still bothering me. My cousin, Ah Teow, called to say that my flight was still scheduled. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. What else happened? Since the storm was certainly hitting the island, all businesses were closed. All my cousins were home. In fact, my cousin, had a friend, who came back from Canada coincidentally, came over and talked. They conversed in my bedroom-- I was forced to change in the main bathroom.
Today is a special day in the Buddhist religion. Half the year had passed, so there was a special meal prepared. We also had to pray to Buddha. Money (fake) was burnt on the balcony-- I wasn't worried, it was raining so hard that there was no way it would go out of control. Incense was burned indoors-- not a pleasant smell. We ate at 11, right after the completion of the Chinese Taipei win in table-tennis.
Every hour, there is a special bulletin updating the storm's progress. Twelve-thirty rolled in and my cousin, Ah Teow, came over to drive me to the airport. There was absolutely NO TRAFFIC in Taipei, totally unusual for this time of the day. The trip to CKS (Chang Kai Shek) airport was a breeze. We got there in excellent time- Ah Teow went to park the car while my other cousin, Ah Hwee, helped me with my luggage. They must have been 3X heavier than when I arrived.
As I checked in my bags, I started thinking how much illegal stuff (foodstuffs not opium) I was bringing back! My cousin paid for the airport tax and Ah Teow got my bags checked in (I didn't learn THAT much Mandarin!) They walked me to the boarding area and we said our good-byes. The next while was a long wait. I couldn't believe how much people were in a rush to board the plane. I saw pushing, lying, etc., just to board the plane earlier than the others. Considering the weather outside, I was kind of impatient as well. (In case you wanted to know, the flight to Vancouver takes 11 hours, 13 minutes.)
I was getting looks carrying my sword onboard the plane. In fact, the person who I ended up sitting next to, thought I was a gangster. Her name, Tina Yen, came back to visit her husband. She and her son live in Vancouver-- that must be very stressful. She noticed I was reading my MCAT book, which I only opened once during my stay in Taiwan. Her husband is a doctor; he wants his son to follow his footsteps, so she asked me everything about medical schools in Canada. I struggled conversing to her in Taiwanese so I gave up and spoke English. We exchanged addresses so everything was cool. During the flight, we got to see 2 movies. The first movie was Ace Ventura 2. I can't believe that all the people on board actually enjoyed the movie. I could barely stay awake. Must admit, there were 2 funny scenes but still, it's only Jim Carrey... the other movie was a Chinese flick about how a mother made a deal with God: she'd give up 10 years of her life so that her ill son would live... corny, but not bad.
Got back to Vancouver at 11:30am PST-- didn't make it to the gate until noon. My flight was scheduled to leave for Toronto at 2 but was bumped forward to 1pm. I thought I would have plenty of time to get there. BUT... I had to recheck my bags, go through customs. That left me with 30 min. No problem, right? Well, remember my sword??? When I went through the boarding inspection, the customs officer told me to go back to the Air Canada counter and special check-in my sword because it was a weapon. My fists can do more damage than that sword! I plead my case and failed miserably. I had to run back, across the terminal, to the counter and check it in. I had 10 minutes to run back to the gate, with all my heavy carry-on luggage. I barely made it there. On board, they aired Up Close and Personal starring Michelle Pfeifer and Robert Redford. Not a very good flick; a SoongScore of 5.5/10.
Made it to Toronto around 8. I had to dick around Pearson for more than an hour. I called home to make sure that I would have a ride back home when I got to Windsor. Boy, was I glad I did. They were going to arrive at midnight; my flight got in at 10:40. The flight back was noisy; the plane to Windsor was a prop. No chance in hell for me to get any rest; with all the adrenaline pumping, I couldn't fall asleep if I tried.
Landed on-time. Picked up my luggage,
but my sword wasn't there! Had to wait in line to find where it was (in
Toronto, where else?) I guess I have a story when I get back... When I
got home, I was so happy to see my dog, Rex. Still his happy self. The
house had a musty smell, expected since everyone just got back recently.
After a much needed shower, I went downstairs to grab a bite to
eat. Luckily, the family bought food from the BBQ shop. Airplane food back
was really greasy. Crashed that night really quickly and I started thinking
about my friends in Taiwan... =(