Personal Dork Assistant

Happy Christmas

Went out to DanShui (淡水) with the girl who Aunt Dai seems to have chosen as my fixup special. Met her a couple of times that last time I was back, but never really got a chance to talk to her as we were usually out with a bunch of a-mah's. DanShui is at the end of the subway's red line, about a 45-minute ride out. It's the entrance to the river that leads into Taipei, and they'd fixed up the area so that there's a nice pier and a fisherman's wharf along the waterfront. There's even a spiff little bridge called Valentine Bridge (turns out it was dedicated on Valentine's Day) with plenty of couples holding hands strolling across. I don't think we were ready for anything that hot and heavy yet. The view of the expansive sea and the setting sun made for a nice alternative from crowded and claustrophic downtown Taipei. Although the crowd seemed more inclined to admire the backhoes digging out the harbor than look at the scenery. Went back near the train station and wandered past the shops stalls near the river and back through the night market in the streets. Picked up some street food along the way, which were foreign evidence to the American adage that everything tastes good if it's deep fried. The squid balls (round things made of squid puree, not squid testicles, if you were wondering) were especially tasty. Hopefully Taiwan has advanced enough to the point that it's not totally face-losing for the girl to be paying for the snacks, since I had nothing that even resembled small change.

The chat and the strolls were pleasant enough, but I was running out of good material and it's a long train ride back. Then we noticed them starting to fire up the big stage that was in the station plaza. Turned out that the DPP was doing their big Christmas event right there. Taiwan-style politicking is definitely something that I don't see at home, and I'm always up for a 熱鬧 show. What sealed it was the free swag, of course: Santa hats. Not just any old furry Santa hat, either, but hats with blinking LED stars (batteries included). Sure they went a little cheap on the blinkenlights, with only reds and no greens, but no need to quibble over free. An a-cappella group opened the show with Christmas carols. I think I was the only one who got anything out of it, though, as the mostly older folks in the crowd didn't seem to get much out of the English carols. There were speeches by some politicians to warm up the crowd a bit. I was impressed by the guy telling the story of The Gift of the Magi and A Christmas Carol in Taiwanese. Not so impressed by his carol singing. They were promising more prominent guests to come, and it turned out that Chen Shui Bien did make an appearance later, but we just had to leave when some dude came up and started cranking out the most god-awful wannabe rock-n-roll carols. I only stood for it as long as I did (despite her obvious discomfort) because I was totally impressed by the sound system they had. Plenty of bass impact, of course, but surprisingly clear, and there was even a dash of soundstage. Bought a DPP shirt as a Taiwan souvenir before we bailed. It was kinda expensive for a shirt in Taiwan, but it counts as a campaign contribution. At least it was a DPP shirt so I can wear it at home without being disowned.

It was past 9pm when we caught the train back toward Taipei, and there were still middle-school kids getting in and out in their school uniforms. Glad it's not me, is all I can say. Meant to go to The Coffee Bean, to show some initiative after being led around all day, but it looks like they've closed down since I've been in last. Had to resort to Starbucks, which is a perfectly pleasant place to hang out in, actually. The latte was acceptable, but the large cup had so much milk in it that it was hard to taste the coffee. I thought she lived along the blue line, but it turned out that she had to go back to Taipei Main Station to transfer back to the red line, plus she had class the next morning. So I convinced her that she didn't need to walk me all the way home, plus that she should wear her blinking Santa hat home on the subway.

The girl? She's nice. Really, super-duper extra extremely nice. Probably too nice. I'm capable of being nice and polite on a short-term basis, but I do need my ass kicked once in a while. It's only one day in a year and a half, though, so who knows.