Summer Vacation Day 1: Movies and Books

Hello, Tim!

Summer vacation has just started! This is the first school-less day.

Normally one would think that summers are for all the outdoor excitements and fun and joy, but I think it never is like that in Taiwan. In something more than two hundred days comes our college entrance exam, and if this holiday isn’t the right time to start preparing, I don’t know what is.

Still, even with all that, I plan to riddle my vacation with as many interesting events as possible.

6/29, Friday

Graduation Trip Day Three & Four: Quarrel and Reconciliation (That was What Matters)

Hello, Tim!

I first have some apologies to make.

It is the twenty-ninth of June today, and I know that I should have had this uploaded if not on Wednesday but Thursday. Still, here I am, typing and hoping to make up for my delayed schedule on a Friday evening. Today is also the official end of the semester so the thing for today will be in another letter.

06/27, Wednesday

Wednesday was the last night we were staying in a hotel. That day was so full of activities I kept dozing off when I was typing on the bed even though I had a cup of coffee on the stand next to the bed.

The main event we had for the day was the E-Da Amusement Park. It the only one Greek-themed amusement park in Taiwan. Being a mythology nerd, I guess you would have figured out that I have been longing to go for a visit ever since I had heard of such a place.

What we were all fully aware of was that even with the five hours we were given to roam freely around in the Park, we would hardly be able to have a go on all the facilities (is that how we call all the things you can get onto in an amusement park?) since it is normal to have people flooding places like this. Therefore, we separated into groups and went our own ways. I joined Jay, Cathy, Doris, and Melody in on a Virtual Reality game of horror. At first, we were only warned about some morbid and bloody scenes, both of which I thought I was able to stand. BUT NO ONE MENTIONED MOVING CORPSES/ZOMBIES AND BEING DECAPITATED BY SOME WEIRD SLOUCHING PSYCHIATRIST!!!

And not to mention the one and a half hour of waiting!

That was the first time I thought VR can feel so real. I hated (though kind of enjoyed) the experience. We all laughed when one of us screamed and screamed when we were scared. I would never go into such a game if I were to endure it all by myself.

Then…

It rained. Hard.

The Park had to close all the outdoor facilities, no matter how exciting and how much we want to be on them.

We walked around indoors until the rain stopped and we rushed out to make it on the first ride after the rain. It was fun, albeit too short before I could enjoy it. Let’s just say that the ride we were on focuses more on the speed rather than the duration.

One sad thing, by the way, was that Candy still didn’t talk to me that day. I knew what she was angry about (splashing her with sea water when she wanted to stay dry), but Cathy assured me that it was obvious that I meant no harm, and the one overreacting was Candy, so I should just leave her alone to let her process everything on her own. I had to thank Cathy for the advice she gave me, and she proved herself right on the coming day.

After the amusement park and dinner comes the evening party. It was like a bonfire party of the whole school but without the bonfire and a lot more of the blasting music and disco lights. Some of the classes brought out some performance of their own, and most of those were quite impressing.

It had been a very exhausting day. I typed and typed until I dozed off and decided to call it a day.

06/28, Thursday

The last day of such a short trip.

We spent half of the last day on the bus, honestly, for it was such a long ride to go from the south end of Taiwan to the North of it.

Our stop was at Chiayi, for a traditional drum performance form the drumming group called Ten Drum (十鼓) I have known this group since I was in elementary school, for my cousin used to have a DVD of one of their live performance, and there were some of their songs I really liked. I enjoyed the performance even though my favorite song wasn’t performed, and Melody, who went to sleep at five in the MORNING the day before understandably dozed off next to me (Believe it or not, though the drums were loud, the rhythm can be very very hypnotizing)

Drum experience

On the third day of our trip, we were given each a small piece of paper before we headed back to our rooms. We were told to write a small note which is to be addressed to someone else in the class, about whatever. My mind wandered to Candy, who was still not talking to me then, and I was sure that I wanted to write something to her, no matter she was going to see it or not.

I wrote it like this, “Candy: I hope that you won’t be so angry that I splattered some water on you anymore, even though I can sometimes be a little too dense to realize the change of emotions of others…” and I handed it in the next day during breakfast to our guide, who was collecting them.

On the bus heading back to Taipei, our guide read out the messages we wrote.

A lot of the notes were for Angela, saying that the best and funniest thing on the trip was her incessant silly dances (Oh, really, Tim. You would love to see it. It was incredibly hilarious.) until she read one note addressed to me, and it was something like this “Hugo, I know these days I have been throwing a small tantrum on you , but you do know why, don’t you? That day on the beach, I was insistent on not getting wet, but you splashed me with a handful of sand and water…”

It was such a surprise. The crowd on the bus (the 220 crew and the dancing class) and then the notes kept on being read until mine popped up.

In short, I am immensely glad that she and I ended our small quarrel. I have been through many of the most interesting things in my high school life and I have yet prepared myself to lose a friend over such little things.

Four weeks of exhaust but relaxation it was. If there is something that I have harvested from this trip, it’s that I’ll be spending the next and last year of my high school life with these amazing people:
Melody, Cathy, Angela, Selena, Sherry, Doris, Candy, Vivian, William, Amy, Sabrina, Jack, Patrick, Jay, and Otto.

I relish the notion.

Best wishes,

Hugo

Graduation Trip Day Two: The Aquarium and Several Unlikable Events

Hello, Tim!
This is the second day of our graduation trip, and just like yesterday, I am lying on the hotel bed, typing on my little cell phone screen, listening to songs.
Today we had a jam packed schedule, and several unfortunate little things happened, though none of which remotely resembled a threat. Don't worry.

Our first stop after breakfast was to the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, in which it holds tons of different species of marine life, ranging from corals to white whales and penguins. It was quite enjoyable, seeing the animals you don't get to see every day.

That was when the first unfortunate thing took place. My cellphone camera is out of order. It wouldn't focus nor function normally, and it started making weird buzzing sounds when I turn the camera app on. It was so disturbing because I rely on my camera in so many ways, one of which is to take the pictures for my blog.
I'll need to get it repaired better sooner than later. Out of all misfortune of this, I think it is still a good news that my selfie function is still intact. I'll stick on that before the return of my back camera.
Here are some of the awesome pictures I took (before it stopped functioning properly):

After the aquarium visit, we first came to our second hotel for check-in. Fu-Hua Hotel is a large vacation resort that is basically a maze. Take a turn over here, a left, another left, walk to the end of this corridor and you'll see a glass door on your right. Go in through the glass door and take a turn...
The structure was so large and complex that we found it annoying.
This hotel owns a private beach, and we had some free time over there.

Picture taken by someone else

Here comes the second disheartening event of the day! Candy was trying to finish the small little mystery tasks given by Cathy, one of which is to splash three classmates when at the sea. At first, I knew nothing about it so when she started splashing people I just got carried away and splashed her with some water as well. She got into a tantrum and revenged with three large splashes on me that made me wet all over. I thought I was over, but I was wrong. I guess she is still mad at me. I would feel more guilty had Cathy not assure me that Candy was overreacting and tell me not to worry about it. It still feel bad about it, and I do hope she forgets it tomorrow.
It was already six when we finished our time on the beach. We changed into comfortable new outfits and headed out again to the Kenting night market for dinner.

Graduation Trip Day One: Chimei Museum and Mall Roaming

Hello, Tim!
This is the first day of our graduation trip.
We got to school before six thirty in the early morning, and we soon headed off to Tainan for our first stop.
We are sharing the same bus with class 222, our school's class of dancing.
It was a spectacularly sunny day, featuring several thin clouds, and well, the sun.
All of us were on the bus (except for William, who didn't come with us in the first place), chilling out on the bus, singing songs until after two hours we first arrived at some large restaurant for lunch. We came and went like a swirl of wind and soon continued on to our next destination, one I've been most looking forward to.

The Chimei Museum has a very Greek design, with the Parthenon-based exterior and the wide variety of Greek sculptures. There is a white bridge across the entrance, and along the way, you will see large statues of gods from the Greek pantheon.

How unfortunate that our bus parked in a lot behind the museum; we went in through the back entrance instead.
It was a pity, but there were still plenty of sculpts inside the museum itself. The only other factor that made it less enjoyable is that we had too little time for every exhibition, and there were still some parts of the place we haven't gotten time to look closely.

Then comes the mall shopping activities! In Kaohsiung, there is a Karoto department store, and over there we bought some food supplies. I was walking around with Jay in the mall when I got a call from Cathy. She told me to come to the arcade in another area to play with them, and Candy and I got into several games of air hockey.

Afterward, Jay and I, two high school students, bought a bagful of bread like two uncles preparing for tomorrow's breakfast. This is the first time I have ever gone on a trip that includes shopping in the schedule, and I liked it quite a lot.

Jay and our bread

Now we are in the City Suites Hotel, watching a Chinese movie with Jay and Otto. Jack and Patrick are now in some other rooms, having fun with their friends.

Tomorrow we'll have some beach schedule. Morning call is 6:30 in the morning. I need sleep. See ya!
Sincerely,
Hugo

Happy Holidays 7: Singing and Coffee

Hello, Tim!

Just yesterday, our finals were dealt with, and we finally have the little time to relax. There are tons of things to look forward to the next coming week; Next week will be our graduation trip!

I did think about bringing my laptop with me so that I will be able to write down all the details every single day, but then I remembered that I just have a way of losing things in various unthinkable places and unbelievable ways, so I could only repress the thought.

It will be a lot of fun, but let’s just pray that we will have several consecutive rain-free days. There were no typhoons recently, not even news reports of them.

Contents of the Week

- Karaoke Night
- Continuing on with My Novels
- End

Happy Holidays 6: Dragon Boat Festival and Zongzi

Hello, Tim!

I am back with my usual unassigned letter of the week!

However, I would have to keep this one short as usual, for today (which is Monday, since we are on holiday because of the Dragon Boat Festival) I have quite a tight schedule. There a thing or two I want to talk about, but I would have to finish it within an hour.

Let’s get started!

Contents of the Week

- Zongzi: Food for the Festival and the Exams
- Reading my Second and Third Novel Written in Chinese This Year
- End

Letter XXIII: Celebration and quite a Glutinous Week

Hello, Tim!

Or more specifically, good morning! It is Saturday in the morning, 8:30.

I woke up when my mom did (she had to go working) at six, and I finally finished the book that has been with me for over three weeks! Comments later.

Yes, our yearly presentation was finished, but that in no way means we have the time to relax; our midterm is just around the corner AGAIN.

Later I will have to head out to run errands for Mom, and after that, I’ll be attending a French Music Festival with my former French class classmates. Then comes the usual Saturday German class. If I still had time, I’ll have to keep on with my history homework and also several other English assignments.

Contents of the Week

- Friday Partying with Grills (and a Small Spectacle from Yangming High School)  (p.s. Aubrey is Going Back to Germany)
- Harty Potter’s Goblet of Fire
- The French Music Festival with Grownup Friends
- End as the Last Letter Assignment

Happy Holidays 5: The Final Performance and Its Details

Hello, Tim!

Yes, we have just had our performance brought out to the audience on Thursday. Judging from the expressions and responses from the audience, we did an awesome job. I am not often the boasting kind, but this is one of the few moments when I can say although without much pride in my voice, that I am proud of ourselves.

The weather, albeit hot with the sun, was beautiful.

Contents of the Week

- First and Foremost, the Performance
- Group Photos Bombarding
- Still Need Time with the Book
- Questions Answering
- End