It’s almost 3 a.m. and I can’t sleep, probably due…
It’s almost 3 a.m. and I can’t sleep, probably due to something I drank at a party earlier tonight at Brett and Alan’s apartment in Nangang. The weather’s been pissy for the last couple of days, so it felt extra comfortable indoors, eating Brett’s chicken and dumplings, and chatting with friends. I met one guy who works for the high-speed rail project. He claimed it would be up and running by this time next year, but he was as mystified as the rest of us as to why Banqiao, just across the river from Taipei, needs its own stop. Is 300 kph service really neccessary for a trip that takes maybe 10 minutes on the MRT?
Anyway, the weather on Tuesday, i.e. mid-autumn moon festival, was perfect. I had the day off and took the MRT to Gongguan and walked out to the riverbank park to meet up with some friends for food, sport, photography and music.
The food included various kinds of barbequed meats, potato salad and tim-tams. Later we got some spirited badminton games going on. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed playing and promised myself that I’d try to play more from now on, though that’s a bit iffy considering the season we’re entering at the moment. I talked with Hyatt about digital and film cameras, and I helped Robyn, Dave, Paige and Olwen with their jumping pictures. Apparently they are finalists in a garbage truck photography contest and needed their pictures taken for the ceremony.
I even got in a couple of mirror project pictures, something I haven’t done in a while, one as Dave, Will and I were preparing to play some tunes, and the other of the silver balls some of the others were using to play some kind of strange game that involved throwing them on the grass and not, as I would have guessed, at each other. The full version of that one made it onto my photo page, I liked it so much, along with a picture of the swollen Xindian River taken after the last typhoon.
Just after the sun set across the river, the full yellowish moon rose brilliantly from behind the freeway bridge, promising us all good luck for the next year. By around 8, however, it was becoming clear that the other groups of barbequers were planning to rush our prime spot, so we retired. What a great day.
