20 January 2007: Final Moments with Taiwanese friends

I saw Marvin off at the airport in the wee hours of the morning, and we slept next to nothing at the night before. Bon voyage, dude! Hope to see you soon!

I returned to the dormitory for a quick nap, but had overslept and thus arrived dreadfully late for an enjoyable outing with my warm and hospitable Taiwanese friends. We took to the cycling wheels near Danshui and it was a pleasant yet physically-grueling ride at the scenic outskirts of Taipei city. We found ourselves in minor mishaps on the muddy tracks, delighting ironically in their every instant, and this reminds me of a disastrous ride that I had with Jingmin, Joseph and Sam in Yunnan the year before. Similarly accident-prone and hilarious indeed.

My Taiwanese friends and I went to Sweet Dynasty, a Hongkong-style restaurant in which my celeb idol Jacky Wu has a stake, for dinner and dessert, because they all know that I am a Cantonese and might have liked the food there. My response to the cuisine served: absolutely positive, and I must thank them for their meticulous plans and thoughtfulness.

We headed for a lounge bar late at night, and the Singapore Sling was bad, but it was there that I received some of the best gifts that I had ever gotten in my life. An exaggeration perhaps, but this is my way of showing my utmost appreciation for the innumerable efforts devoted by my Taiwanese friends in trying to make the day's outing an ultimately memorable one for me, and they had truly succeeded in achieving this aim. My heartfelt thanks here! Thanks, thanks.

I have known these Taiwanese friends for barely over 2 months at best, but they had showered me with so much generosity and kindness that I feel so indebted to them. Here's a big thank you to all for the camaraderie and friendship, and these are invaluable treasures that I shall keep in my best memory cells. Do keep in touch amid your busy schedules in the days ahead!