Back and Black!!

I have just arrived home from what is literally the most beautiful, breath-taking island in the entire world! Boracay is just over an hour flight away from the main city of Manila in the Philippines, but you can't fly directly there it's so remote: Lee and I flew to Manila, then took another flight to an island called Caticlan, where we then took a tricycle-cart ride to the ferry loading dock and rode on these crazy spider-like boats to Boracay, where you then have to take another tricycle to the main beach - it was quite a (worthwhile) process! The entire island is about 7km long and shaped like a dog bone; long and thin with two large chunks of land at either end, which we walked up and down almost every day. The sand is so soft and so white, the water is perectly clear sky-blue and warm, everyday was sunny and hot and the air is so clean and fresh, it was Paradise! I got a great tan, and a billion red ant bites covering my legs! Lee was an allergy-free man for a whole week :o) I ate more food than I knew was humanly possible, waking up everyday to gourmet breakfasts and fresh fruit, having smoothies and shakes and daiquiris on the beach everyday, going to a different restaurant every night for dinner of Mexican, Greek, Italian, pizza, crepes, Mongolian Grill, stir-fry...! We watched the sunset every night on the beach during Happy Hour and listened to incredible live music at the bars, and danced at the clubs, and partied with a few friends we met up with there! We got massages on the beach; we rented a motorcycle and went to the highest point on the island; Lee went snorkling; we swam and sunned and went shopping and watched the stars at night. Our resort was a bamboo straw hut style cabin, with a sun-light cut into the shower, deep in the heart of the palm trees and right on the beach. We saw wild piggies and monkeys and baby chickens, played with the local beach kids and fought off the locals who harrassed us everyday to buy things; but the people are all so sweet :o) Words can't describe something so divine, you must just go on your own to see it! All I can say is it was perfect.

Banquets, Biopsys and Boracay, oh my!

Greetings one and all on this fabulously warm, sunny day here in Taiwan, I am so happy to say winter is over! (Sorry I had to rub it in :o)
So this past weekend was tons of fun; Saturday night I went out with the girls from the dorm for dinner and dessert, then to see 'The Holiday' which I totally loved! It was the perfect chick flick, highly recommended for those of you who didn't see it two months ago when it came out at home! Then Sunday night was the Gloria Banquet; my staff work party!! Everyone got all fancied up and went to this Chinese restaurant where ELEVEN courses of "food" were served straight for 2 hours! I use the term food loosely because most of it was quite sketchy; I am actually one of the few people who TRIED everything (everyone is so unadventurous!!) and some of the dishes were okay, like the lobster and stuff, but most of it was quite yucky, unidentifiable and everyone left heading straight for pizza immediately after it was over! Some awards were given out to the teachers and staff - no I did not win anything! :o( After the banquet a large group of us went to this fabulous bar called Le Parc, which was filled with shmancy red sofas and candle-lit, and we all just hung out drinking and chatting until 2am! I had a really great time meeting staff members I don't ever get to work with.
Teaching is still excellent, my privates are fantastic, the gym and Chinese class fill my days until this Sunday when Lee and I leave for our one week vacation to the beautiful island of Boracay in The Philippines!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!
On another note, today I booked an operating room at the hospital for the day after I arrive back from Boracay to have a biopsy done on my leg; no biggie! Just the same blood clot I have had for the past 4 months that refuses to go away, so I am having it diagnosed just to be 100% sure that I have nothing to worry about, and I promise to let you all know the good news as soon as I do!
Wishing you all a very happy Valentine's Day and a healthy Chinese New Year!! The pictures above are from the Banquet: some food, Lee and I with one of our bosses, me holding the most scrumptious little baby in the world, and my friend Brandon completely passed out at the bar; an example of what happens when a work party includes free booz!!

Three Whole Years!

Feb. 7th was mine and Lee's 3 year anniversary (gasp!) and the day was just too insane not to share it with all of you! So it started off with a little sweet gift exchange and then we quickly left for Taipei, where we had a full day of fun and adventure planned out ahead of us. As usual, it went a little off the beaten path! On the train ride there, we were trying to call a Traditional Chinese Medical Clinic to go and explore the foreign world of acupuncture! This is supposed to be a very succesful treatment towards Lee's allergies (and I was just getting it for fun!) Meanwhile, we had no such luck communicating with this place, but luckily for us a young woman overheard us and offered her help; turns out she personally went to acupuncture on a regular basis and made us an appointment at her clinic, and then she generously gave up her afternoon and escorted us there!! This place does not have any English-speaking employees, nor is it on the train line, so we would have had no way of getting there if it weren't for our new friend (named Power!!). We cabbed there and she stayed while Lee and I got treated: Lee on his face, me for my back. It was an exciting and unusual experience!! It didn't really hurt, just pinched, and we laid in relaxation for 15 minutes with needles stiking out from all parts of us! We both felt weird and tingly after, but not for very long. Power then escorted us to the nearest train station where we treated her to some Starbucks and just chilled for an hour :o)
Next on our list was something that Lee has been CRAVING ever since we left Canada; you guessed it, ice skating! We (eventually) found the one and only ice rink in Taipei and it was the funniest sight I have ever seen!! First of all, when we walked in they informed us of their mandatory glove-wearing law - weird, but okay - and their requirement of us to wear HELMETS!! I knew this was going to be funny... We both refused and had to sign a waever, stating that we understood our 'impeding danger' :o) When we walked into the arena, before my eyes was appr. 300 Chinese people awkwardly skating round wearing knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards and helmets! All bumping into each other, falling to the ground, hanging onto one another for dear life and screaming as each one dropped to the ground over and over again! You can only imagine how hilarious this seemed to us, 2 Canadians who grew up ice skating, 1 who was practically born wearing a hockey uniform! The next hour and a half provided a life time's worth of hysterical memories! My only regret is not having taken a camera :o(
Around 6pm we left and walked around the city for a while before going to this highly recommended restaurant, The Cafe Onion, for dinner. Lee and I shared delicious 5-course meals for very cheap; yogurt fruit salad, chowder, garlic bread, salmon, rizotto, I got mushroom chicken and Lee had boneless ribs, with a drink and chocolate mousse cake for dessert - we couldn't walk by the end of it! Everything was delicious and the service was so fancy, I had a great time!
The rest of the evening we walked around the city exploring different areas and shopping before heading home round 11. The whole day was like a puzzle that just fit together for us; each thing we wanted to do was magically timed out perfectly, we barely made both of our train rides, we had random, kind strangers helping us with directions all day, the weather was 20 and sunny and we got to see and do everything we had wanted to! It was an awesome day and a perfect way to celebrate 3 years :o)