Went over to the abode of my old landlord Johnny L…
Went over to the abode of my old landlord Johnny Lei and his wife Meng-hua, as well as their two sons the other night for a visit over dinner. It was fun. The older son, Maurice, aka Nian-en, was just born when I lived with them and Boogie about ten years ago up in the Minsheng District. Now they live on a quiet alley about a block away. They’d just gotten their first DVD player, and I became a minor hero when I offered to bring over Lilo & Stitch for them to watch sometime.
Johnny told me about a new coin laundromat open nearby on Civic Blvd. I went there tonight since everything in my room, including sheets, is covered in dust. One huge load of laundry only cost me NT$140, less than a third of what it costs to have the usual laundry place do it. And I don’t have to drop it off; I just have to wait until it’s done. These things are popping up all over Taipei, it seems. While I was waiting for my clothes to wash I saundered over to the Hot Pot place next door and played with the stray cat the owner had adopted as it stepped on random cash register keys. The owner said he knew the people who opened the laundromat, and that it was one of four they owned. It’s also a familiar feeling, going down to wash my clothes at one of those places. Reminds me of college, where my room was directly above the laundry. My roomie Gary Green and I knew this because the portable stereo music people listened to as they did their washing would come up through the hole in the bathroom floor into our suite.
Oh, I forgot to explain the dust: I’ve got new windows! They’re nice and cut down the noise quite a bit, but the installation resulted in my room looking like a volcano erupted nearby. The cement isn’t dry yet, either, so it’s pretty ugly and curtain-free, but I’m glad they finally got around to putting them in. The cauking smell is still strong; hopefully it’s not toxic. I should probably consider staying at a sauna for a night or two.
Not much blogging lately, I know. I’ve just recently been re-discovering how little there is on the Internet these days.
