Catching Up (again)

Sorry for the lack of blog on Friday. We ended up going out (Friday night here) and having a great time. Lots to share today though.

American Idol (you missed my update... admit it)... I used Wheeler's suggestion of using youtube (what would I do without youtube???) to watch the performances and the results. I thought all the performances were pretty weak - Jason Castro pretty much mimicked Israel's performance of that song (such a beautiful arrangement and performance). But with Michael Johns leaving (yeah, Ryan was kind of crude about it - but I'm wondering if he wasn't really prepared for that either) - there's still a hand full of good singers, but I still think only David Cook will sell a lot of records someday. Remember that the AI winner isn't necessarily the most successful. Most of the time it's better NOT to win the whole thing.

I was able to watch a little bit of The Masters live when I woke up the past few days. Good for Immelman to continue the streak of "no names" winning - and good for Cedar Rapids boy Johnson making the cut and finishing somewhat decent. It was the same broadcast that was show in the US, but had Chinese announcers. You would hear chinese chinese chinese chinese "double bogey" chinese chinese...... it was rather interesting:)

Saturday, I went with 2 other IBMers who were visiting from the US, and 2 of the Taiwanese employees to do some Taipei sightseeing. Went to the National Palace Museum which houses a lot of ancient artifacts and items from the Chinese Dynasties. I really need to brush up on my Chinese and Taiwan History. Ch'ing, Ming, Yuan.... those are the three right before it became Republic of China. Some of the artifacts were from the BCE period which was neat to see, especially how many of them have ancient script of poems and stories in them. We also went through the Grand Hotel which was beautiful. Built in 1949 to mark a palace for foreign guests to stay in the post-Japanese rule of Taiwan. It is done in traditional Chinese palace-style architecture and currently has the world's largest Chinese classical style roof! It's very beautiful and looks like a place for kings and queens!

Note the links on the right side of my blog for pictures. They'll be there to reference in case you miss a day. Here are the pictures from our weekend excursions:

And speaking of a place for kings and queens.... My palace in Taiwan has been decided upon and I can move in May 1st. I will then wait arrival of my queen from Chicago! It's a nice place, kind of "quaint", but superb location. I had actually ruled against this one for a short time, but after walking around the areas last Thursday evening on my own, the location of this one is too good to pass up. It's like living 2 blocks from Michigan Avenue in Chicago! Lots of fun things to do, there's a fruit stand and vegetable stand on the corner where we'll live... and the 2 BR place isn't too bad:) Totally refinished inside with brand new appliances and plumbing (still smell the new plastic of the shower head and tubing in the bathroom). I'm excited, just wish I didn't have to wait till May 1 to move in! Here are some photos of the place for you to enjoy! We were able to also negotiate a queen size bed (SOFT!!), a microwave (no oven but there is a stove), a DVD player, and a CLEANING LADY!!! She'll come 2 times a month to clean and do my ironing (my least favorite thing to do). Almost as good as living with Pitzen and Eddie again!!

I'm off to Hong Kong tonight for a 24 hour stay. I have to apply for my Resident Visa in person then wait for it to complete. Since I entered Taiwan on a Business Visa, I have to exit, then re-enter on Resident Visa. Up till a month ago, I could have done this entire process here in Taipei but now I have to go to the Bureau in Hong Kong. Only a 90 minute flight or so... just have to spend a day traveling then be back tomorrow night.

Enjoy your Monday!!!