Personal Dork Assistant

Party Time

Wasn't planning on going anywhere on Saturday, which was why I drank with uncle on Friday night. Good booze and tasty peanuts plus a solid revenue number. But you understand why I might not have been a sprightly camper on Saturday morning. Turned out that the girl's mom wanted to take everyone to YangMing (陽明) Mountain to see the views and for lunch. This was after we spent most of Friday night together for movie and coffee at The Spot (台灣光點). The movie was part of a Japanese film festival, which was suprisingly interesting considering it was a not-well-preserved black-and-white movie made in 1941. It was cool to see what Japan was like at that time (movie was set in the mid-30's), with the traditional houses combined with Western conveniences. The men wore suits and the women wore kimonos, except for the one character who was working on her own, lending a surprising feminist voice. There was also the external irony of a Chinese audience seeing the prodigal son go off to find his fortune in China during that timeframe. It was also good to go to a place that wasn't a one-shot tourist deal. Unlike this trip, which was why I wasn't terribly enthused about it, but respect for one's elders and all that. Should've dug in my heels and bailed out, since the girl was at a conference all morning, and was going to Tom's (Aunt Dai's son) Christmas party later. Brought the iPod as a silent protest, and as something to do on the long car ride to the outskirts of Taipei, since I wasn't exactly in shape for chipper conversation on the twisty (albeit well-maintained) ride up the mountain.

We were only a little more than an hour away from Taipei, but the mountainous terrain hid away the city and the narrow roads gave a rural feel. It's been a resort area since Japanese colonial times, and I could smell the sulfur in the air from the hot springs nearby. There were lots of roadside stands selling the famously fresh produce and baked sweet-potatoes from the area. Stopped at a little spot nestled in a picturesque valley. Most of it was taken up by neat rows of vegetable fields. The restaurant was neatly landscaped with a little pond and some squawking geese. The interior was more like a street-food stand, though, with plastic-covered tables and plastic stools. The food was tasty country food. It's nice to actually eat Taiwanese cuisine in Taiwan, as opposed to Shanghai food in Hong Kong and Japanese food in Taiwan (could've had a burger in China, too, but demurred). The best thing was actually the stir-fried veggies with garlic. Let's hear it for fresh ingredients. The cold-cut chicken was good, too, but we've had lots of good country free-range chicken lately thanks to our trips to ZhuDong.

Drove back into the park area, and took a token hike of about a kilometer or so to a little waterfall. There were some good views of Taipei below, of the cancerous-looking carpet of apartment buildings spread across the valley. Oh well. Took some pictures, but they'd brought a nice Nikon F-body film SLR... that neither of us had a clue how to use besides tripping the shutter. I'm good with button-pushing gadgets of all sorts, but the tiny, unlabelled things on the camera totally stumped me. I can see how it would be great in the hands of a pro, though.

Meanwhile the moms were sitting in the relatively warm car chatting away. Her mom wanted to drive around for more scenery, but the views were misty anyway, and I was not in the mood for more switchbacks. So they dropped us crazy kids off at the nearest MRT station. Tom (or rather Mrs. Tom) was doing a Secret Santa gift exchange, and we went down to Taipei Main Station for some cheap gifts. I'd originally declined to go to the shindig (my natural reaction to any get-together with strangers), but then I found out that the a-mah's weren't involved, and I felt bad for getting her dragged out to the countryside, so escorting her to the function seemed fair enough. Meant that I needed a present, though. Walked by a Body Shop in the underground arcade in the TMS. There's the backup plan. She wanted to get a CD or two, and I thought FNAC would be a good place, as it had books, music, and electronics. I'd been there the last time I was in Taipei, but I'd hit upon it wandering around, which was not a good plan here. Well, that was the only plan I had and predictably, I had no luck. Good thing there were plenty of record stores around anyway, not to mention yet another Body Shop. She got the Les Miz soundtrack and I picked up a CD of French lounge music with a little electronic groove. Got a couple of CDs for myself, too, and some more foamies for my earbuds, after I tore the first set I bought trying to put them on the headphones (they weren't as elastic as I expected). Ended up getting some melon-scented body wash from The Body Shop, too, since there was supposed to be a preponderance of females present (their extended family is kinda opposite of ours, gender-wise).

Had some time to kill before the party started, so we stopped by at the TMS food court for some sweet soft tofu (豆花), where we passed by yet another Body Shop (two in the station, one on the outside, for those of you keeping score). Got a chance to put the foamies on the earbuds, and the operation was a success. Whether that was due to my improved skills or superior Japanese foamies is unclear. It was a bit of a slog to get to Tom's apartment, as we had to MRT a couple of stations, switch to a bus for a few more stops, then walk another 10 minutes. Would've just called a cab except she wasn't sure of the exact address, the connections all went smoothly (only 7 TWD for the bus, directly deducted from the transit card!), and I could use the exercise anyway. The apartment was darn nice, as you'd expect of an up-and-comer at Lehman Brothers (after jumping ship from Merrill). It was also covered in toys, as you'd expect from the parents of an adorable and plenty-spoiled two-year-old daughter. They also have a two-month-old terrier who was surprisingly playful and well-tempered given the huge amount of attention he was getting from all the guests. Most of the guests were the various cousins of Tom, except for a couple of couples who were biz friends, a couple who had two daughters that were playmates of the kid, and I.

Last time I'd seen Tom, he was still in Cornell biz school, the wife was still the girlfriend, and no kid was involved, and before that was when we just moved to the U.S. and I wanted to play his video games. Still he's a nice guy and it was good to have someone who could handle a chat in English, and I think he was glad to have somebody there who could watch Road Trip with him and get the references. Well that and helping him sort through the pile of remotes to get the TV, DVD player, and receiver all on the same page. The little girls and the little dog were running amok and the adoring aunts were following them around ooh-ing and aah-ing. The Filipina maid watched over them to make sure they didn't do too much damage. Tom talked shop and sampled a nice-looking Chianti with his friends. The Mrs. put the final touches in the kitchen. The one male cousin and I flipped through the TV channels and stopped for an interlude when we scrolled by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but couldn't really stick with it with the ladies and little kids around.

They'd decided to do a full American meal, with turkeys, mashed potatoes, gravy, and even canned cranberry sauce. Unfortunately the turkey was a little dry (even Tom admitted as much), which was too bad. The gift exchange went over better. My little package went to the oldest cousin, which works. Tom got some flowery soap from Crabtree&Evelyn, which doesn't work but was good for a laugh. I got two boxes of golf balls, which was totally useless for me, but at least made for a good gift for the host. The least-tasteful-gift award goes to the one male cousin, who brought a 3D jigsaw-puzzle of the World Trade Center, which he got as a gift a long time ago. It's probably a collectable item now, but it's definitely not cool to be showing it around to Tom and his friends, who are all in investment-banking and at least indirectly knew folks who died.

Anyway, we shrugged it off, and a good time was had by all. Timed our exit to arrival of the last MRT trains. The kids would've played all night had we let them. I was pooped by the time I got home. No single-malt tonight, thanks.