Yesterday I went to the seaside with Claire and her friends. Us foreigners were expecting to finally go to the beach again. We arrived, and our Chinese friends are like, So here's the beach, and we're like Dude your English is amazing but the definition of beach does not include swampy marshes with some food stands and the option of walking barefoot throught the ankle-deep water. It was lovely though, we had a little picnic and watched the sun set. Later there was a party at E-Power which was quiet then Carolyn and Gyan and I had a couple of drinks then searched for this club called the Coconut Forest that is probably already closed by now. Then we popped into the Pig Pen for a while and I must say it was as good as the old days but I didn't feel like dancing and this dick from New Zealand told me to stop looking so sad and smile. I bet he used to work at a Club Med. It was a sh.t-house night all up. I miss all the usual language centre-ers. So I left the Pig Pen at 4am and let Gyan work on a couple of Chinese ladies dancing on him and decided that I would find something to do for two hours and go straight back into the Lockdown when the doors opened.

It was still a little drunk and I thought hey why don't I drive into the mountains to appreciate the mountain view during the early morning. I didn't know exactly where to drive but I remember someone telling me that in Taichung all you have to do to find mountains is drive 20 minutes in any direction and you'll get there. So I zoom down LiMing road and just keep driving and driving, like Forrest Gump when he starts running across the US except that if he did that in Taiwan he would get asthma. I was sure 20 minutes had passed but I kept going, decided I didn't really care where I ended up because it was about time I did some travelling and made use of my 125cc scooter whether it be at 5 o'clock on a Sunday morning drunk or an actual organised road trip.

This highway took me through a town and I decided I'd better start making an effort to drive in the direction of the mountains so I veered off and drove through a bunch of rice fields and the air became cooler and I hoped there'd be something worth looking at when I got there. The road ended at this little car park at the bottom of a steep hiking trail where there was karaoke set up and some fruit stands and lots of old people. Once again I left my keys in my scooter and once again it wasn't stolen. I checked the time and discovered I had driven for two hours hehe. So I walked up going Dude what am I doing? I was sobering up. When I got to the top there's this uneven clearing where a bunch of oldies are doing their Sunday morning tai chi to cute music from the martial law era and there was all this stretching equipment like the stuff you see in parks. The people were ultra friendly. Then I walked back down again all the time dreading having to ask for directions back to Taichung. I asked this man how to get there and he said I should catch a bus, and I'm like Too Right! But I made it back without wasting any time but I think I've done something nasty to my scooter because now it accelerates by itself, as soon as I start the engine, and at the lights I have to hold on to the breaks otherwise it just starts cruising by itself. I figured maybe if I let it go uphill it would run out of steam and go back to normal but no it happily drives itself uphill at about 50 without my doing anything. I think the Ghost of Accelerations Past is haunting my scooter and it's actually quite eery the way it tries to drive off ahead without me at the red lights.

So I slept then my roommate had a fight with her Mum over the phone then I woke up and went to the drama rehearsal where they have decided not to take me seriously which sucks but who cares. Elizabeth just rang and she wants to go out... tonight! Crazy girl. Then my phone died mid-call and now I have to run home and charge it and call her. And that's it for today!

  ¶ 21:43