Argh, just lost everything I typed!

I had a nice little post going here, detailing my adventures (such as they were) last week, and then I hit the wrong button and lost it. Damn it anyway!

Here's a picture of mango xue hua bing (frozen snow flower), a delightfully icy treat that Hiyoshi and I like to indulge in when we've been walking all over Taipei for an afternoon and are loaded with sweat. A new shop called Red Coffee opened in Taipei Main Station, so we've gone there twice to cool off before saying goodbye for the evening. Last night we found an even better shop in Ximen Ding, one that has tons of flavors and cheaper prices, so I'm sure we'll be going there frequently.


On Friday afternoon we made a return trip to Ying Ge so Hiyoshi could pick up the cup he'd made on the first trip (Betty was a driving force in the adornment of the cup - left to his own devices, I'm sure Hiyoshi's plain and simple Japanese character would have produced a cup with a lot less decoration!). We didn't spend too much time wandering around the town this time, because we'd gotten a late start. We first walked from school to Shida Road for lunch and to pick up Hiyoshi's plane ticket from his friend's office, so we didn't get to Ying Ge until around 4:00 or so. Once again I successfully avoided buying the $68,000NT vase ($2,131 US) that the shopkeeper graciously offered to let me have for only $20,000NT ($627 US). Whew! Maybe I can just talk Hiyoshi into giving me his work of art, huh?


Yesterday we went to the weekend jade market so Hiyoshi could shop for some gifts for his family and wandered through the flower market ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the gorgeous orchids. Then we went to Da'An Forest Park and stretched out on the grass in the shade for awhile. It wasn't too bad being in the shade, and the clouds were rolling by quietly in a blue, blue sky. We walked around the park and Hiyoshi made a new friend.


I think we spent most of the day walking yesterday, starting at 12:15 and ending around 7:30 p.m. Hiyoshi stuck around with me in Ximen Ding until Charlene and Shun showed up, then he headed home to Wan Li and the rest of us went to my place to drink some beer and wait for Natari. Around 10:30 p.m. the four of us headed to San Zhi to our favorite beach cafe and sat out on the deck talking and drinking coffee/tea, enjoying the sea breeze. It was about 2:00 a.m. when I finally got to sleep.

All in all, it was a great week, lots of fun, and I'm not looking forward to the next two weeks without Hiyoshi :( It's not as easy to force myself to walk alone, but maybe I can get Kieko to go here and there with me - after the typhoon has gone, that is!