It was a very, very fulfilling trip, so fulfilling that it’s impossible to write about in whole. Therefore, I am only going to write about the highlights, which is a lot to write about already. In the upcoming days, when time allows, I’ll be writing a series of highlight posts about my Taiwan trip from 3/16 to 3/24.
Let me start with what’s most difficult to write, and that is — the 2008 Presidential Election in Taiwan. That is the main purpose of this trip. Having duel citizenship, I was eligible to vote in the presidential election. Since this election is crucial to the future of Taiwan, my beloved home country, I just had to do my part as a Taiwanese to vote. Therefore, I paid for my own airfare, took days off work, and voluntary went back to vote and to support democracy in Taiwan. No one bribed me. Thank you.
The first thing I did after I arrived in Taiwan on 3/16 was that I joined my folks in my hometown in a march to support our candidate and the referendum. It was a nation-wide march, with teams after teams of people covering the entire circumference of Taiwan. My daddy, who has been a leader in NGOs for years, was the leader-in-charge for one of the teams in the east coast. Naturally, that’s where I was for that significant march. It was a very successful march where we were received countless warm cheers and smiles. People reached out their hands to us and even offered us drinks throughout the way. It made me feel very proud to be Taiwanese, and also to be my dad’s daughter. Read the rest of this entry »
The trip is over, now is back at work time. It must be due to jetlag that I can’t seem to concentrate on work. So much going on as always…
The city manager was dismissed (i.e. fired) for doing nothing wrong. It was all part of a bigger nasty political gimmick. There are much speculation as to who’s next to go. Sadly, it could be my boss. Although he is a very capable person, and perhaps the greatest planning director that ever worked here, he unfortunately is greatly affected by other people’s fight for power (and $). My boss has been sick for a few days already. I don’t know if he realizes it but he has been sick quite a bit lately. We think the increasing stress associated with his job has finally taken a toll on him. Not only has he been ill, he also seldom smile anymore. Not good. Mr. C, the second person down the line, said that boss needs to develop a “I don’t care anymore” attitude in order to be happier, but I don’t see how my boss could do that. As far as I can see, boss has always been a “do the right thing” kind of person person.
Oh and I miss John so much! Now that we’ve both return from Taiwan and back to our perspective jobs, we are once again seperated by 250+ long miles — he’s in Nevada while I am in California. Seven months into the relationship and I find myself increasingly attached to him. I can’t wait till the weekend to be in his sweet embrace again. I am totally spoiled by all the quality time we spent together.
My parents are returning to U.S. tomorrow too! After work tomorrow, I’ll skip painting class to pick them up at the airport. I don’t know what they want to do during this trip. Probably just rest at home I think. After all, they’ve both been too busy for a long time and it’s time for a break.
Ah I want to go to bed… deamn jetlag…
I am back. I arrived home last night. Didn’t fall sleep until past 2:30am but went to work today and stayed for the whole day today despite the jetlag, so I am quite impressed with myself.
Was I only gone for a week? It felt longer, probably because I did so much in Taiwan.
Overall, it was a very, very good trip filled with sight seeing, visiting places where I spent lots of my childhood time at, golden moments with my family and John, plus much learning about the nation as a whole. Taiwan is my home country, and each trip to the beautiful country only strengthen my love for it. In the upcoming days, I hope to write about the trip. There are too much to write, and honestly I don’t know where to begin, but I’ll get to it.
In twelve hours, John and I will fly to our home country, Taiwan. This is our second overseas trip together since we started dating almost 7 months ago. 
It’s going to be an extremely, EXTREMELY BUSY trip where both of us will be flying back and forth from his part of the country to my part of the country on an almost daily basis. We’ll have so much to do and I don’t even know where to start. But in between doing important things, we’ll also find time to have some fun.
I’ll have lots to write after I return on the 24th.
Last Saturday, John’s brother offered us two tickets to see LA Clippers v.s. Minnesota Timberwolves at the Staples Center. It came as a pleasant surprise in the afternoon because originally, we were just going to have a quiet evening.
That was my 4th time going to Staples Center for a basketball game, but it was the first time that I arrived early and unrushed. When we got there, the place was still pretty empty, and we got to see all the pre-game broadcasting, plus the players warming up and streching before they play. We had very good seats in the 100th section and were able to see all the action decently close.
Being LA locals (well, sort of), we cheered for the Clippers. They did well through most of the game, leading up to 9 points several times. However, somehow things crumbled in the last 4 minutes of the game and they lost their lead fast. Their defense wasn’t there and they didn’t get the rebounds. At the end, they lost by 3 points.
Too bad… but oh well…
This is a picture taken from where I sat. Pretty up close, right? I’ll be very un-cool to admit that… I don’t know who any of the players are, because I don’t watch basketball frequently anymore. I used to watch Lakers on TV a lot with my brother, but it stopped after… after they stopped winning the championship. So now I am quite clueless as to what’s going on in NBA.
Anyhow, I enjoyed the game. Live games are always fun to watch, and it was a very nice evening out with my dearest John.
