Communication Problems

1 child + 2 graduate degrees + 3 countries + 4 apartments (not counting the two hotels we lived in) = 5 busy, stressful, rewarding, exhausting, fulfilling, exciting, crazy, and wonderful years of marriage


To celebrate we opted to go to The Top, a Chinese restaurant on Yangmingshan mountain. We had never been there, so naturally I kept asking Cody what I should where. He told me he was going to wear what he wore to work--meaning slacks, dress shirt, and tie. I figured it would be a little bit dressier, but that didn't help much; a whole range of women's clothing could be worn to match his formality.

When he called to tell me he was on his way, I asked again: "What should I wear??" Again, the typical male response: "I don't know." Okay. "Should I wear that dress from Casey's wedding?" It is fairly dressy (to see it, scroll down to the pic on the sidebar of the blog), so I thought I'd throw it out there to see how formal we were talking. I expected to hear a "no, that is too fancy." But instead, Cody immediately replied with a "yes, wear that one." Surprised, yet convinced by his quick approval, I said okay and put it on. When he got home and came into the bathroom where I was getting ready, all he said was "whoa!" I thought it was in reaction to the toilet paper all over the floor. I had allowed Jadyn to play with it to distract her, so she would let me get ready. :) But no, Cody was talking about the dress; he hadn't even noticed the TP everywhere. "You might be too dressed up." Me: "What?? You told me to wear this one!!!" "I did?" I reiterated the conversation to him. Cody: "Oh, I thought you said 'the dress from JC Penney' not 'the dress from Casey's wedding!'" Me: "What dress from JC Penney???" Cody: "I dunno." Me: "Then why didn't you say anything?" Cody: "I dunno."

I quickly changed into one of the back-up outfits I had strewn on the bed and we headed out the door.


Cody had made reservations, so when we arrived we were immediately escorted to our table--or rather, our tent. We thought it was pretty sweet to have our own comfortable room to ourselves. Then we found out we had to spend a minimum of NT$3,000 (just under US$100) to use it.

Apparently, The Top only takes reservations for indoor seating, which are all in canopies meant for groups. Thus the NT$3,000 minimum. I asked Cody, "Didn't they say something about it on the phone?" Cody: "I thought they said NT$300, so I figured it wasn't a big deal." (Like I mentioned before, enough Chinese to get himself into trouble.) We weighed our option of moving tables, but we would have to get in line for another one. We decided to stay put and enjoy an expensive anniversary dinner.

After some explanation (in Chinese), Cody found out we had to order enough food to spend at least NT$3,000. So we did. We had mango and vanilla smoothies, sweet and sour shrimp, crab (a first for me), cheesecake, and more. It was all sooo delicious! Then we even had enough left to spend to take dinner home for the next night. I told Cody that was a great anniversary gift: to not have to cook for two nights. The Top was incredible; I loved it so much! The atmosphere was so hip and trendy, with an awesome view. We had such a fun night out celebrating our five years, even with our little communication blunders.