Hey guys, guess what crazy Raven did in the heart of winter?!

She checked out an amusement park in Taichung! 😉

I’ve been to Yemay (Global Music Village) over a year ago with my Japanese friends. At that time, I was so down in the dumps because Ex# 1 have just left for Japan. The trip cheered me up so much that I forgot my troubles and was able to have live life more the succeeding weeks.

Given that I was again down in the dumps recently (must be the cold, dark winter season), I was so psyched to go back again and up my mood. After asking around (people are just so boring, many didn’t really want to go), I finally convinced my BFF (best friend forever) and relationship guru, Mike, to take me there as a Christmas gift.

We went there together with another guy friend of mine.

Haha, ain’t I lucky to be surrounded by two dashing men?

We went last Saturday.

The sky was super cloudy and Mike woke me up with a 6:30AM morning call croaking, “Are you really sure you want to do this?“

To which I replied, “Of course, rain or shine, we’ll definitely go!” I was definitely game for this amusement park excursion. I’ve been waiting for this for months, and nothing will deter me from going. It was just the boost I needed…

The bus ride took 2.5 hours, and I slept most of the way. When we got there, my guy pals were surprised.

“Are you sure the park’s open?” they mumbled since there was only a handful of people there!

Maybe we came too early, but I guess, not too many people are keen (or crazy enough) on visiting the park on a cold winter day. The upside of it was that there were no lines at all and we had a lot of fun just moving from one ride to the other.

For example, the flume water ride, we rode twice and got wet accordingly. Good thing we were wearing a raincoat. Mike got drenched though as he refused to plunk out NT$30 for one, so huo kai (serves him right).

We also rode “The Hook” two times, the second time of which made me feel a bit dizzy.

Motion sickness do suck, and I felt my stomach churning. But it was super fun as you enjoy a brief sense of weightlessness. The best seats are of course on both ends of the boat. That’s where you got most of the experience.

The boys rode the “Gravity Max” roller coaster five times (I rode it twice). It was the most exciting ride in the house, and it starts like this (where the car is in the horizontal position)…

And then, the platform turns and connects you to the rest of the rail, so you’re positioned at 90 degrees.

Of course, they leave you there hanging for a thrilling couple of seconds for effect so you’ll never know when the platform will release the cart and start the ride. When it finally does, the car speedily goes around the loop and a couple of turns, then it’s done. Truly fun, but not for the soft at heart. ;-D
We also rode the ferris wheel and I managed to take this view of the park. The ferris wheel was super-duper-duper slow, but it was fun nevertheless. It was very cold and windy up there though.

Overall, we stayed till 4:30PM and had a lot of fun. We were tired when we got back to Taipei, but managed to meet up with another guy friend for some tough steak at Outback.

The free bread was so delicious, the boys devoured 4 loaves of it. It came to a point that the Outback people refused to serve us any more bread because my guys were just eating far too many of ’em.

Afterwards, we opted out clubbing (Mint was happening then!) and chose the cheaper option instead — drinking alcohol at the Daan park!

Though it was drizzling then, it was great until Howard took a piss at the wall beside us.

&$#*&$!()Q*)(!*@(*@!)! I could not believe it!

My jaws dropped in shock.

All I heard was, “Wait a minute guys… I’l be back.” and then heard someone pissing on the wall just two feet away!

Dogs piss on the wall… but here in Taipei? I felt that was too disrespectful and tacky for Howard to do that!

*angry face!*

Big sigh, oh well, least I know now to limit my interactions with Howard. That was just too faux pas for me, especially since I’m a woman. I don’t need that sh*t happening around me.

But overall, it was fun.

Minus the pissing on the wall debacle. 🙁

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Sunday was spent wallclimbing for 3 glorious hours before going to Herbs for a friend’s farewell party.

Met a couple of female ABCs (American-born/bred Chinese), and felt a huge difference between the local girls and those educated abroad. You can see that the latter have more confidence and “shine.” They have a tendency to look snobbish though, which is a bit of a turn-off for me.

But then again, you can always choose your friends. 🙂

Other related shout-outs is that I won the grand prize for my department’s wei-ya (annual dinner party) — a Tittot vase worth NT$73,000+! We had a NT$1,500+ teppanyaki dinner at Linsen Street, which was delicious but a bit lacking.

Now who would want to pay NT$70,000 for a crystal vase, I don’t really know. But I’m sure my parents would love to display it and boast that their good daughter gave it to them.

You know how parents are… 😉

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Current state of being: A bit restless.

This weekend, I’ve finally seen the light and have made that tardy decision to close some chapters in my life.

I’ve realized the value of friendship.

I can’t say how appreciative I am of Michael’s gesture of taking me to the amusement park. Even though he didn’t really want to, he still did it because he cared and loved me. He knew it would totally cheer me up to do so.

It’s easy to be a friend when things are happy and gay. It’s when things get tough that the real friends shine out, and the not-so-good ones fall aside in the dust.

I’ve come to realize that I have high expectations from friends. Given that I give a lot to my friends and loyal to a fault, I also expect the same courtesy from them. I do expect my close friends to be extra considerate of me and my feelings, and to make me a priority in their life, as they are in mine.

But sometimes, it doens’t work out that way.

For example, I’m seriously reconsidering a close friendship I have right now. Frankly, in this specific case, I felt I was being put aside and ignored, and I don’t think I can take that. As I’ve said, I want to be a priority in my friends’ life, otherwise, they can just fly a kite.

Why would I make them a priority if they can’t me a priority in their own life?

I simply don’t think that’s fair.

So even if it meant losing a friend, then that’s the way the world turns. You don’t really have that much time to develop friendships. So why waste time with people who don’t really care much about you, or don’t really value your friendship as much.

If they’re willing to let you go, should you cry?

I opt to move on.

Life’s too short for dwelling in the past.

C’est la vie!