sophia’s travel by night

only a few more days left in my stay in taipei. surprisingly, i've come to like living here, tho the sudden chg of weather into gray and cold days with nonstop drizzles sure have dampen things up a bit, making leaving here not too tough to do. tho i sure will miss my friends. this is this month's wallpaper article on taipei. tho most of us who's bn here kno it doesn't do it much justice, still... it's in Wallpaper!

this is a space that is simply beautiful and zen. the owner converted an old unit in a 4 floor bldg to a private gathering space that one can go and be gracious hosts at. with yummy japanese food served to you in amazing ceramics she lugged back from various parts of japan and asia. this is where i went to learn to cook japanese food, curtesy of my dad's cousin's wife (aunt who is teaching chinese flower arrangement) we watched the teacher/ chef (who spoke really fluent chinese) cook the dishes while we took notes. then we sat down to eat the dishes she made. the class size is about 8 ppl, perfect little luncheon. great teas were served too. it was perfect wintery food on this very fist day of real winter feeling in taipei.

chinese floral arrangement this is the origin of "ichiban" janaese flower arrangement we all come to know. it's less formal, yet tougher, cuz u hv to make it look as "natural" as possible, taking into consideration of the meaning of each plant n placement. took my first class today. this is more like sculpture than painting. very different. ---------- rock climbing i tried rock climbing at an indoor gym for the first time last nite. wow, it's not easy thing, but having done yoga sure has helped a lot in building strength in legs. and it's quite fun, esp when u look back down from the top.... i think everyone should give it a try) ---------- yoga it's just continuation in my self-improvement process. it's wonderful to c how ur body can adapt to new positions n improvements to b seen daily. afterwards, it feels like wonders! ---------- just having fun... so much to learn and do! ----------- dec 1. another year has come to an end. where to b? i dunn...