30th September to 1st October

30^th Sept – 1^st Oct

The first thing I did this morning was to check if there was a message from Nicholas and yes there was.  He left Taiwan yesterday to embark on a new journey of his life with having received a 1 year work visa.  He will be working at the Sheraton Hotel in Kelowna BC with the same Chef with whom he worked with during his internship during his time at Humber College 2 years ago.  What made me laugh slightly is that he said he will not fly on United Airlines again…said it was ‘gross’…but I never did ask him what he meant by that.  Welcome to Canada Nicholas!

Well in my theory class today (Tuesday) I had a first.  The student class leader asked me if I would mind listening to their singing of the school’s national anthem.  Of course I obliged and sat back and listened. 

This is a big due for all freshmen students.  A singing competition whereby each department gather and perform the school’s song in front of a panel of judges and everyone and anyone who wants to listen and I can say that just about everyone participates.  This is normally done outside on the school grounds on a stage and it’s packed. 

Just about every group that sings sounds pretty much the same as the group prior..hahaha since the words, melody and rhythm cannot deter from the original song.  I asked the students afterwards why a different twist on the song be tried and set a new pace and everyone said ‘oh no Chef, we cannot do that’.  Just need one group to do it and I’m sure a new standard of competition would be defined.

Today (Wednesday) is a non-contact day at school so I normally do not go to the school but rather discover something new and exciting here in and around Kaohsiung.

I woke up early so thought might as well get my day started by going to my favourite breakfast eatery.

I met up with Lee and we rode the scooter all over just visiting different areas of the city.

We rode up to the Zoo (didn’t go in) and since the Zoo is located near the top of one of the larger hills along the coastal side, one can easily see Monkey’s.  Sure enough there were a gang of Monkeys hovering around.  I’m hoping the Zoo wouldn’t need to have any monkeys in captivity since they’re running loose everywhere around the area…hahaha

I mentioned in an earlier post that one needs to be careful when walking in the area carrying and/or eating food.  The monkeys have a tendency of attacking the person simply to get the food. 

As we were riding the scooter in the vicinity there were 3 of them sitting on the road just in front and as we approached, they didn’t move.  I was thinking to myself do I speed up or turn around.  Even though we didn’t have any food, I’m thinking in the back of my mind what’s stopping any of the monkeys to simply jump out at us. 

Nonetheless I continued at the same speed and move as far to the opposite of the monkeys as I could and rode past. 

Paid a visit to Café Bird for a nice latte and that concluded my excursions for today.  The only hiccup was that there was a large moving van parked right behind my scooter.  It took almost 15 minutes to wedge myself out of the parking spot I occupied.  Oh well, this is what makes Taiwan unique.