Juliet visit to Taipei
Four day weekends are a rare luxury when you're in the army. Well, four day weekends are a luxury for anyone, except perhaps the unemployed, but they're particularly luxurious for military types because at least everyone else gets to go home at the end of the day. We have to sleep in barracks with people who snore, and your only hope is to fall asleep before they do, and thus keep them awake with your own snoring. Yes, that's right, sleeping in the barracks is a zero sum game.
However, we got a four day weekend last weekend, thanks to a couple of traditional Chinese holidays, so it was a good opportunity for Juliet to come up and visit. And visit she did, arriving on the afternoon of April 3rd by High Speed Rail. After I picked her up at the station, we immediately set off to a department store near Taipei Main Station (without even stopping home to drop off her bags, no time) to catch a movie, Gnomeo and Juliet. As a cute little gnome said at the beginning of the movie, "The story you are about to see has been told before. A lot." However, it was still an enjoyable experience, quite funny and charming, and it was fun to play "spot the voice actor." I managed to recognize Michael Caine, Jason Statham, and Patrick Stewart. The movie's full of little references to other Shakespeare works, as well as other movies, though I think I was the only person in the theater who recognized the Bambi reference.
After the movie, we traveled to cousins Rex and Ray's new restaurant, where we managed to stuff ourselves silly. We also commented on how attractive the waitresses are, and whether they were chosen based on their looks. In addition, it was around dinnertime that we noticed we were reading each other's minds and reading each other's thoughts quite often. We knew exactly what the other person was going to order, we both had the same idea of what to do after the meal, she could predict the punchlines of my jokes, etc. We'd shared this sort of psychic connection since we first met, but this was the first time it'd manifested itself so extensively, so it was a very nice surprise.
The next day, we headed off to see a Marc Chagall exhibit at the National Palace Museum. The place was packed full of people, though I wonder how many people actually wanted to see some Chagall artwork, and how many people went just to be able to say they went to see some Chagall. Personally I'm probably in the latter category. I don't know much about Marc Chagall, in fact every time I hear his name I actually think of Cho'gall, a two-headed ogre mage from the Warcraft games. Still, the artwork was very interesting, if a bit impenetrable for the uninitiated. Chagall liked to put various farm animals in his paintings, so you'd have a scene of Paris at night, and then there'd be this green cow floating in the sky.
After the Chagall exhibit, we then headed to the main exhibition hall at the National Palace Museum, where we saw a mind-boggling collection of ancient Chinese artifacts. Ceramics, porcelain, calligraphy, paintings, furniture, statues, jade, bronze, and many other things I can't even remember. The museum itself was also full of people, so it was a bit fun to people-watch.
Afterwards, we then headed to the Floral Exposition, which was ending at the end of April, so it would probably be our last chance to visit. We entered after 5:00pm, which got us a discount on our tickets. The various exhibitions were still full of people, with huge lines outside each hall, so we decided to visit only the exterior areas. The place isn't called the Floral Expo for nothing, it's full of flowers of every description. Particularly memorable was the hedge maze, which we managed to successfully navigate after about half an hour of wandering.
For dinner, originally I'd planned to go to a barbecue restaurant, but they were full, so we headed to a Korean tofu restaurant instead. The restaurant provided infinite refills of kimchi, so I got to eat all the spicy cabbage I wanted.
All in all, this was probably one of the fullest days Juliet and I had ever experienced together. The three places we visited (Chagall's exhibition, the National Palace Museum, and the Floral Expo) are all actually places that can take a full day to explore, or even longer. We managed to see all three of them in one day. While we can't say we saw everything in depth and detail, we did get a good feel of everything there, so it was definitely worth the trip.
The next day, April 5th, was designated as a day of relaxation. The morning was partly spent on a ceremony for the Tomb Sweeping Day (we'd already swept up the Saturday before) but the rest of the morning and the afternoon was spent sitting in front of the television and vegetating. The movie version of the Phantom of the Opera was on, and I shared some of my views and analysis on the movie with Juliet, who did a very good job of pretending to be fascinated. Mainly she was interested in seeing if I was going to cry, since I cry a lot at musicals.
Then, in the evening, we went to the train station and had crepes for dinner (once again managing to predict what the other person would order), before I sent her on her way via High Speed Rail and then trudged back to my barracks.
I think the main things I got out of this trip was a reaffirmation of how much we're meant for each other, given how we're now so comfortable with each other's company we can read one another's mind. And I found it's fun to go around and see things, like museums and exhibitions. I'd never really enjoyed going to them before, but it's very different and very enjoyable when you have the best girlfriend ever to share them with.
However, we got a four day weekend last weekend, thanks to a couple of traditional Chinese holidays, so it was a good opportunity for Juliet to come up and visit. And visit she did, arriving on the afternoon of April 3rd by High Speed Rail. After I picked her up at the station, we immediately set off to a department store near Taipei Main Station (without even stopping home to drop off her bags, no time) to catch a movie, Gnomeo and Juliet. As a cute little gnome said at the beginning of the movie, "The story you are about to see has been told before. A lot." However, it was still an enjoyable experience, quite funny and charming, and it was fun to play "spot the voice actor." I managed to recognize Michael Caine, Jason Statham, and Patrick Stewart. The movie's full of little references to other Shakespeare works, as well as other movies, though I think I was the only person in the theater who recognized the Bambi reference.
After the movie, we traveled to cousins Rex and Ray's new restaurant, where we managed to stuff ourselves silly. We also commented on how attractive the waitresses are, and whether they were chosen based on their looks. In addition, it was around dinnertime that we noticed we were reading each other's minds and reading each other's thoughts quite often. We knew exactly what the other person was going to order, we both had the same idea of what to do after the meal, she could predict the punchlines of my jokes, etc. We'd shared this sort of psychic connection since we first met, but this was the first time it'd manifested itself so extensively, so it was a very nice surprise.
The next day, we headed off to see a Marc Chagall exhibit at the National Palace Museum. The place was packed full of people, though I wonder how many people actually wanted to see some Chagall artwork, and how many people went just to be able to say they went to see some Chagall. Personally I'm probably in the latter category. I don't know much about Marc Chagall, in fact every time I hear his name I actually think of Cho'gall, a two-headed ogre mage from the Warcraft games. Still, the artwork was very interesting, if a bit impenetrable for the uninitiated. Chagall liked to put various farm animals in his paintings, so you'd have a scene of Paris at night, and then there'd be this green cow floating in the sky.
After the Chagall exhibit, we then headed to the main exhibition hall at the National Palace Museum, where we saw a mind-boggling collection of ancient Chinese artifacts. Ceramics, porcelain, calligraphy, paintings, furniture, statues, jade, bronze, and many other things I can't even remember. The museum itself was also full of people, so it was a bit fun to people-watch.
Afterwards, we then headed to the Floral Exposition, which was ending at the end of April, so it would probably be our last chance to visit. We entered after 5:00pm, which got us a discount on our tickets. The various exhibitions were still full of people, with huge lines outside each hall, so we decided to visit only the exterior areas. The place isn't called the Floral Expo for nothing, it's full of flowers of every description. Particularly memorable was the hedge maze, which we managed to successfully navigate after about half an hour of wandering.
For dinner, originally I'd planned to go to a barbecue restaurant, but they were full, so we headed to a Korean tofu restaurant instead. The restaurant provided infinite refills of kimchi, so I got to eat all the spicy cabbage I wanted.
All in all, this was probably one of the fullest days Juliet and I had ever experienced together. The three places we visited (Chagall's exhibition, the National Palace Museum, and the Floral Expo) are all actually places that can take a full day to explore, or even longer. We managed to see all three of them in one day. While we can't say we saw everything in depth and detail, we did get a good feel of everything there, so it was definitely worth the trip.
The next day, April 5th, was designated as a day of relaxation. The morning was partly spent on a ceremony for the Tomb Sweeping Day (we'd already swept up the Saturday before) but the rest of the morning and the afternoon was spent sitting in front of the television and vegetating. The movie version of the Phantom of the Opera was on, and I shared some of my views and analysis on the movie with Juliet, who did a very good job of pretending to be fascinated. Mainly she was interested in seeing if I was going to cry, since I cry a lot at musicals.
Then, in the evening, we went to the train station and had crepes for dinner (once again managing to predict what the other person would order), before I sent her on her way via High Speed Rail and then trudged back to my barracks.
I think the main things I got out of this trip was a reaffirmation of how much we're meant for each other, given how we're now so comfortable with each other's company we can read one another's mind. And I found it's fun to go around and see things, like museums and exhibitions. I'd never really enjoyed going to them before, but it's very different and very enjoyable when you have the best girlfriend ever to share them with.