garden-ing / mansion-ing

I was whining to my friend overseas how friendless I am because, in a surprising change of atmosphere, I am in need of a companion to do something, anything over the weekend... and I couldn't find one. Out of the blue, this person buzzed and was asking if I wanted to do the New Year Taipei 101 fireworks gig. Aha! I found a friend.. another friendless friend.

The Taipei 101 gig wasn't going to push through, but, we discussed about where to go over the weekend, and well well, she came up with the Lin Family Mansion and Garden -- a private-garden-turned-historical-treasure reflecting the lifestyle of the wealthy in the olden days. This private garden has seen its days, but luckily was restored by the government, and is now the most complete private garden left in Taiwan.

And so the friendless friend and I agreed to meet for an afternoon walk around the garden. You could choose to pay the 100$ entrance fee, or just surrender any of your receipts for that month... which we did. So that makes my entrance fee only 25$ (a bottle of Nestea from 7-11).

It was a good way to spend the last weekend of this year, and so.. here we go...