Taiwan Tea Guy

I really struggled with the decision to write this post – it’s a hard thing to admit to the whole world one is getting older. I turned ?? on Friday, August 8th (let’s just say I was born in the Year of the Horse, and you can go figure it out on your own HERE, ok??) and I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Chinese Olympic Committee for having such a grand celebration in my honor!

I had a really hot celebration this year – 102 deg.F to be exact – because I caught a nasty virus and was (still am actually) feeling rather miserable. Although I managed to get through the work day on Thursday, I spent most of Friday sleeping, partly due to the fact that I (accidentally) double-dosed on my meds. The health care system is pretty good here, although it’s abused regularly. It was cheaper for me to see a doctor and get prescription drugs for 3 days (about US$5) than it would have been to buy cold medicine over the counter, so people often go to a clinic or even the emergency room for headaches and minor pains.

Anyway, the important thing is that Aaron is back from Malaysia, and had invited me down for tea Saturday, which I naturally wasn’t going to miss out on. I called up the Captain (my tea drinking buddy) and asked if he wanted to take a bike ride. We had a great trip down through Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, taking smaller back roads along winding river valleys and forests of bamboo, until finally coming out in Miaoli City. As always, Aaron’s hospitality was excellent, and we had a relaxing afternoon (with some great teas) and an awesome veggie lunch.

By way of gifts, I got a new teapot from A Liang, a Ching Dynasty teacup, and a Malaysian lucky charm (both from Aaron), plus a nice bike ride and some wonderful company, so all in all I had a very good birthday in spite of everything. When I got home Saturday evening, I put on some Van Morrison (Hymns to the Silence) and enjoyed some Tieh Kuan Yin in my new cup. It tastes pretty good Aaron!

Also, thanks to Aunt Yvonne & Uncle Sonny for the birthday card. You picked an extremely appropriate one for me this year!

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Life in Taiwan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.