March 25, 2013

Allow me to address one of the bigger stereotypes of the Chinese...they do not all look alike.  But a lot of them do. 

Just coming off one of the best Taipei weekends I've had so far.  Friday night, Betty and I went to The Wall Livehouse to see Grimes.  Had never heard of her before, but there was this new guy that started in my Chinese class a few weeks back, and I'm wearing a Yo La Tengo t-shirt and he says that he likes them.  Obviously the dude has good taste, so we strike up a conversation and he's telling me about some discs he just bought and mentions Grimes.  I remember seeing her on an upcoming show list, so long story short, we all went.  One of those rare acts that both Betty and I liked and was a ton of fun going to see some music together with a new friend.  Grimes is a 23 year old solo artist that creates her own music and layers her vocals in a very interesting and poppy style.  Very cute girl...says "like" a lot as in "like you are really cool Taipei".    We were the oldest ones there (by far) as her audience skews to the younger set, which is always a good sign, and the hipster people watching was first class.

 

Saturday was Carolyn's 10th b-day sleepover.  She invited some girls over to swim, and then a gal came over to do nails and hair, and then we went out for ice cream at Swenson's.  Yes, they still have those here...last time I went to Swenson's in the States was in Mammoth, CA in 1979. 

 From left, you have Jade, Carolyn, Madi, Yazda and Courtney

We got Carolyn a giant bear (from Costco) for her present.  She named it Snuggles and fell asleep on him that night.

Sunday was opening night at the local baseball stadium and the joint was packed.  When we went last season, it was practically empty every game.  Not sure if it was due to the energy caused by the World Baseball Classic or that it was the first game off the year, but it was a sell out.  We ended up getting scalped tix for $15 each ($6 face value)

With a packed stadium and mid-70's temps, was a perfect night at the park.  Here is Carolyn with her good buddy Madi.

As we are walking in the stadium, we see this pack of photographers and TV camera crews following a lady into the cheap seats.  We asked an usher what was up and he said that they were getting images of the Taiwanese President's wife.  Apparently, she is a big Elephant supporter and had to settle for some cheapies as it was a sellout, so she sat with the regular fans in the bleacher seats.  You have to like being in a country where stuff like that can still happen.

The Lions were the home team and in the middle of the game, they handed out these big orange Q-tip shaped balloons to the crowd.  At a break in the action, the entire stadium let their balloons all fly in unison.  We missed the nuance and didn't have our cameras ready to shoot, but it was very cool.

The Lions ended up winning 3-2 by scratching out a run in the bottom of the 9th.  Good times.