Last weekend was such a blast! 😀

Let’s start with the highlight of the weekend… yesterday, yours truly was part of 500 climbers to scale 84 floors of the tallest building in the world — the Taipei 101 — for charity!

Organized by the Canadian Society, the goal is to raise over NT$1 million for charity, namely for the Garden of Hope Foundation, the Community Services Center and the Taipei City Hospital. With every climber pledging at least NT$2,000 and add another NT$500 for registration, I’m pretty sure the Canadian Society was able to reach their goal easily.

I, for my part, was able to raise a decent NT$6,000 (P9,000) for it, thanks to all my lovely sponsors, one of whom was kind enough to pledge NT$3,000 under the condition that I finish (Thanks Jimbo!).

I did. Here’s my ID with that inverted smiley sticker to show that I’ve succeeded!
After a quite-embarrassing 44 minutes, I did finish all 84 floors (my friend Top-Climber scaled the whole thing within 17 freaking minutes!) so it was all good. Guess am not as fit as I’ve originally thought, but heck, at least I did finish! ;-D

*thumbs up*

My only excuse is that the sign continually reminded us that “This is NOT a race, go slow” so I made sure that I adhered to this request. My more fit friends on average finished the whole thing within 30 minutes, while some took their sweet time and finished within an hour. 😛

Regardless on how long it all took us, everyone admitted that climbing the 101 was indeed an exhilirating experience. Sure, it was tiring (1,899 steps… are you freaking nuts?!), but at least you can stand proud and say that you’ve scaled the tallest building in the world, and helped some abused women and kids on the way.

Besides, the view on the 84th floor was beautiful, so it was all worth it:

The after-climb party was also a blast. There were some apples, bread and dip, red wine, pretzels, but the best part is that solidarity amongst everyone of achieving something that day.

Most of the Taipei’s movers and shakers were in attendance, and it was a cool sight, especially after seeing a huge gorilla, a dead Elvis, a nun, a taekwando master, a high-school Lolita, among many others, being part of the climb:

See? Only crazy people will take part of this event!

But we wear our badge strong and proud! 😀

Of course, the day didn’t end there. With a couple of friends, we then went to Miramar to watch the highly-awaited, critic-hated Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code in the afternoon to mixed reactions!

I’ve noticed that those who didn’t read the book enjoyed the movie thoroughly. I swear LW could’ve clapped her hands after the movie, if she could. “Whoever said this was a sucky movie was WRONG!” she declared.

Friends who have read the book watched with critical eyes. They were always on the lookout for some discrepancies. “The ending in the movie was different from the book,” one complained.

I for that matter was a bit more fortunate.

Since I read the book almost a year ago, I have basically forgotten the details of the story, and was still pleasantly surprised when the bad guy’s identity was revealed. In addition, I was impressed on how the book was translated on film. Sure, it wouldn’t be the best movie of 2006, but it’s a pretty enjoyable one to watch. I don’t think it deserved the bad rating given by many critics at all, and would recommend my friends to see it (and hopefully, they haven’t read the book yet).

By the end of the movie, I was surprisingly poofed. Guess, that climb has tired me out more than expected so after a nice salad and burger dinner at Friday’s, I went home and slept early all the way till this morning!

Oooh, my muscles still hurt… but it’s all worth it!

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Saturday on the other hand was pretty relaxin’.

First, I bumped into an old friend whom I haven’t seen in three years… none other than the dashing Ryan, the CUTEST guy I’ve ever met here in Taiwan!

Damn, I didn’t have a camera that day to show you what he looks like, but omigosh, I was practically drooling! ;-D

Ryan is an old friend of mine from Shida, and is now working as a missionary in Canada. Despite his handsome looks, Ryan has remained extremely down-to-earth and is here for a few weeks to visit relatives. I remember when he was here in Taiwan, he’d always be off to the beach, and is unaffected of his charms amongst women.

Meeting Ryan again made me reflect on how crazy all of us are for seeking money, power and fame to seek happiness and purpose in life. Why do we always aim for a better career, a higher salary or being popular, and still remain unfulfilled and lonely whenever we are alone?

It’s been awhile since I’ve met a man more content and fulfilled as Ryan.

Maybe it’s God, but looking at him, you can see that he’s very content and at peace with his own life.

In return, it made me reflect back on my own life, leading me to ask questions like, “What is my purpose in life?” “What does he have that I don’t?” and “How can I achieve that level of peace inside my heart?”

Since I had another friend to meet, I gave Ryan my card and invited him to call me when he had time during his weeks-long vacation.

Haha, don’t get me wrong. I’d love to see this dashing prince again, but more than that, I’d like to see how this man has attained happiness.

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*to be continued so check later*