Back on-line…. actually B- and I went on a holiday excursion to Southern Taiwan. Originally we were supposed to attend a wedding of one her B-‘s US friends in Neipu, Pingtung County. We took the train down to Pingtung City (屏東市) and stayed at Fu Guang Da Fan Dian (hotel) on Gong Yuan Rd. Train ride from Taipei Main station took about 6 hours and was really leisurely and smooth. I like trains from my college days in Pgh, taking the Amtrak from Newark Penn Station. I got a lot of reading done, enjoyed the views, and generally got my space to decompress and rejuvenate.
When we got there, it was chaos at the Pingtung Railway station. Mass jam as everyone was coming and going all at once. Found a helpful taxi driver who took us to the hotel. It was perfectly spotted thanks to one of my English students who grew up there and forwared the recommendation. Fu Guang was next to the big park where they were going to hold the majority of the New Year festivities. So we got to see from the 5th floor, fireworks which was pretty awesome :). It was also near the main drag of Pingtung which is a pretty small city, we walked from the hotel to the train station and saw the major shops and streets, night market etc. There’s a nice big Sogo Dept store a couple of blocks from there as well. B- and I spent coffee shop time there with our books and magazines reading. So relaxing :). I feel better going back to work tomorrow.
Anyways, 2007 is here and lots to do in the first three months. Back to the war tomorrow but at least I got one reinforcement!
Be well all,
