If a photo is worth a thousand words, here are five thousand plus words for your perusal:


Proof that I went paintballing...as much as I enjoyed it, this is definitely an activity that requires a recovery period.



Inspiration for all those Chinese paintings.



At our base camp, Jiu Jiu Lodge.



Da Ba Peak to the left and Xiao Ba Peak to the right as we approached early in the morning.



The hills unfolded beneath us as we hiked back out.

I tell ya, there is NOTHING like going to bed at 10:30pm at night and getting a full eight hours of sleep! It makes such a difference in one's outlook at 6:30 in the morning! Today was all happiness and light on my way to work -- I'm a convert!

Funny sight on my way back to the office after a lunchtime swim -- a guy who appeared to be plucking his eyebrows while astride his scooter (thankfully, he wasn't operating the scooter and he was using his rearview mirror).

I'm tired and in much (admittedly minor) distress. I'm definitely a night person. I was at the office until quite late yesterday finishing up a project and felt much better between 7:30-9:30pm than I did slogging through normal business hours. Once again, I'm quite sluggish this morning.

Of course, I still haven't unpacked from the past weekend's hiking trip and there are many little errands to be run at home. On top of that, today is our office's grand opening reception and I can't comfortably fit into my suit pants anymore. So I'm wearing my dress, which is just a twinge too tight at the top. And my calves and quads are still incredibly tight from the hike. I think I need a swim, a nap, and to shrink about a dress size, preferably by this evening...ha.

Hike to Da Ba Jian mountain: 24 total kilometers, 13 hours of hiking, seemingly never-ending steep grades, blessedly flat streches (alas, too short), vistas of rolling mountains, cornflower blue skies, velvety greenery, stark rock, sunrise as I hike along a ridge, painfully steep descents, I'd better have a butt like J. Lo's when I'm finished with this.

Okay, I'm not doing a very good job at following my own advice. I was planning on having a quiet night at home last Friday. But then Basil called about a small going-away gathering...so after a (free) massage at my gym, I dashed home to change, met up with Eric (who's in town for two months on a consulting project) and his two co-workers at Shintori, and then met up with Basil and Chris at Carnegie's. A Long Island iced tea later, I was home at 2:30am...and was up by 7:30 to re-hydrate myself and get ready for a full day of paint-balling out in Tamshui. This was my first time going paint-balling, and I think I'll do it again...after I recover from my bruises. Came home from paint-balling and quickly showered and headed out to meet Jonathan to see "Kill Bill." I actually quite liked the film--the gurgling sounds of flowing bodily fluids aside--especially the visuals (the final scene between Lucy Liu's O-ren Ishii and Uma Thurman's "the bride" characters) and the soundtrack. Anyways, after "Kill Bill," I finally got to see the renowned 70s Airport Love Palace via a Halloween party the residents were hosting.

Sunday was a quiet day of sleep and recovery. Monday night I really exerted myself at the climbing gym (and now have injured my left shoulder muscle, sigh), Tuesday night I went with my co-worker Walsh to check out the Taiwan Society of Investment Professionals happy hour (I plan on taking the CFA exam next spring), Wednesday night I was up till 1:30am discussing with Christine and Joann ORIENTED, Inc's structure, and last night I caught up with Doug over dinner and got a foot massage along with Christine and Rose at the night market while waiting for James to re-connect with his mobile phone so that I could go over and borrow a sleeping bag and mat for this weekend's hiking trip to Da Ba Jian mountain. So, not much rest this week, but the adventures continue...

Whiff. This week has been rather exhausting. I know I must seem like I'm chronically pooped, but this week was really a doozy. Note to self: do not go out on weekends. Stay home and SLEEP. Nothing is worse than starting off a workweek tired. I had one good night of sleep, on Tuesday, wehn I got to bed at the delightfully early hour of 11.

Last night was the ORIENTED Taipei happy hour at the American Club. I must say I thought it was a rather successful event. In any case, I was ready to go home at 11 and collapse, but Christine and I thought we should go down to Sigi's and check out how many folks were left. Of course, Christine spotted some old friends, who were very charming people--and whose names I cannot think of at the moment because of the above mentioned fatigue--and we all a nice chat, but these pleasantries happened way too late in the night for me.

I can't complain. We just finished the last stretch of earnings season. One of my co-workers was at work till 1:30am, and my boss and two other analysts were apparently still going strong at 3am in the morning.

Over and out, the party girl with a 30's Shanghai look today.

Today's session with my trainer--my second session--has convinced me I have found the perfect one for me. Besides being approachable, knowledgeable, and ENCOURAGING, I learned today that he's not interested in the traditional gym routine of cardio and weights. He's also into mind-body movement methods. Today taught me some core-strengthening and flexibility exercises I haven't already done--which I find impressive, since I've taken a number of fitness classes. Apparently my lower spine is a bit flat, and that, coupled with my really tight hamstrings and lower back muscles, has caused a number of back problems.

Hmmm, as I read through this, I realize I'm probably boring you terribly. But in any case, I'm rather excited about all of this, because I'll be learning something new that makes me feel good. Improving my flexibility has long been a desire of mine since I have the worst flexibility; despite stretching regularly, I still barely make it past the bottom run of the "needs work" scale at my semi-annual fitness evaluation (although, I have gained 12cm of flexibility in my back in the past year and a half). Eventually, eventually I hope (keeping my fingers crossed, although I supposed I should be doing the downward facing dog instead) to be able to move up into the "fair" scale.