Last night after work I took the MRT to have a loo…
Last night after work I took the MRT to have a look at our new offices. It was clear the moment I stepped out of the station which building was ours; it’s the one with the large red sign bearing our company’s name on top of it. I walked through the two nearly identical Mitsukoshi Department Stores(I still can’t figure our the marketing strategy behind that one), past Neo-19, and into the still incomplete building. I don’t know how they’re going to get it done in a little over a week. I saw one or two workers putting in floors, but no one else.
In front of the building is a strangely isolated bridge. I call it the “Bridge to Nowhere”, because it looks like a bridge that once ran between two buildings that no longer exist, but there were no buildings there before that area was developed. They just build it, and no one knows why. There’s no way up or down, and in any case there’s nothing to cross over. It’s just a completely unnecessary bridge, sitting right in front of our building. I like it.
There’s not a lot of floorspace on each floor. It’s not a large building in that respect. There were no furnishings inside so it was hard to tell what it will be like when it’s ready for occupation. I am not confident about the whole “open office” thing, though. It sounds too much to me like one of those 50’s offices that people like Jack Lemon worked in in The Apartment (and at least he had a nice apartment). According to reports, however, our new building will eventually sport swings and a seesaw. And hopefully the pub will serve actual alcohol. Lemon Lime and Bitters would be most welcome, thank you very much. And Bailey’s Irish Cream. And nachos. Although the first and so far only Chili’s in Taiwan is located in the building next door, I haven’t heard very many good things about it. There is also a swimming pool in the building next door, I could see it from the rooftop gardens when I went up there to explore. Hopefully we’ll negotiate some sort of discount with them, something I can afford.
I fear that working over there, however, will introduce a certain isolation from traditional Taiwanese life. Kirk once remarked to me as we were walking from the MRT to Warner Village to see a movie that he didn’t feel comfortable in that area because it was too wide open, too Western and altogether too foreign. “It’s not like Taiwan at all,” he said. To him and many others, Taiwan means crowded, dirty little streets packed with tackily dressed people, food stands and thousands of scooters. I have to admit I agree. There’s something oddly soulless about clean, broad shopping venues. Perhaps this is a natural feeling in the face of change, something people here have gone through over and over again throughout Taiwan’s rapid development. I don’t even know where I am going to park my motorcycle over there, as there was no apparent parking lot other than the one for Warner Village.
Since the protective glasses the doctor gave me to protect my fragile orbs from dust and the like are basically shit, I bought another pair at the Warner complex. They vaguely resemble the ones Vin Diesel wore in Pitch Black and hopefully will do an equally good job of keeping out the elements.
I awoke this morning to a grey, cold, drizzly day. It was a perfect opportunity to combine my new sunglasses with my black trenchcoat and black bandana for a sort of “Silent Bob in the Matrix” effect. I could read the minds of passers by: Who does this asshole think he is, dressing like that? At least that’s usually what leaps to my mind when I see other people dressed in a similar fashion. Hopefully I don’t act as much like an asshole as the people I see dressed like that.
Then again, just who are we talking about here?
Gotta go see the eye doctor again tonight, except tonight he is going to be at his office on Zhongxiao E. Road, across the street from Sogo. I’m still getting used to not having glasses or contacts in. I’ll be getting ready for bed and thinking “Oh, I should take my contacts out,” when I realize I’m not wearing any. It’s rather pleasant, actually. It will be even more pleasant next month when my vision stabilizes and I don’t have to wear eye covers at night.
