Paintball in Neihu

Sunday afternoon, I got a chance to play G.I. Joe. Kiara, one of the secretaries in my office, put together a paintball outing to celebrate her birthday. About 20 folks showed up at the park in Neihu and had a fun time. We played war in the early afternoon and enjoyed a picnic later in the day. I had a blast. It was a great opportunity to get out and do something so incredibly different than my day-to-day life. Running around firing a high-powered weapon does wonders for one's ego. Ya can't help but laugh, even after you get shot with one of the little gelatinous suckers...it hurts, but the adrenaline overrides the pain. I don't know the name of the place but it's just a 10 minute taxi ride from the Shilin MRT station. Everyone had a fun time. Check out the pictures below for the story of the day.

The source of pain. I was hit in the finger, knee, head and most painfully, the butt. There's no crying in war! Ya gotta shake it off and continue to search and destroy!

Getting pumped up for war. My image will never be used in a "Be All That You Can Be" poster...lol. We were a rag-tag team with a thirst for blood!...lol

The first stage of the competition. That's me posing with Kiara prior to the start. The rest of the team is positioned to defend our ground from behind the wall. Catherine took these shots from behind the protective fence/curtain. The shots aren't the clearest, but I think she did pretty well.

The first stage of the competition took place in a fenced-in area with mock buildings. Our job was to defend a small barrel from the blue team. We had to keep them from knocking over the barrel for 10 minutes...we failed. Here I am trying to come to grips with the failed mission. I am not a good loser...

Trying to rally the troops. Losing the next round was not an option!

Planning our attack. This is when it got serious. We were now in the "woodsball" portion of the challenge. This is where I feel most comfortable. It requires more sneakiness and the ability to traverse rough terrain. I have always been good at that kind of thing so I was pretty pumped up. The objective was to storm up the hill and take out (shoot) the member of the blue team with a yellow arm band. All the while defending our yellow arm-banded player from the blue team's attackers.

As you can see, the area is chock full of obstacles and places to duck and cover between shots.

I am glad to report that red team was victorious in the jungle. I managed to hit the poor sucker three times before he surrendered. In order to win, you have to score a head-shot. I hit the guy in the body a few times and my comrades brought him down. He was a whimpering mess by the time the dust had settled...lol. I had infiltrated pretty deeply into blue territory as a result of my Rambo-like charge up the hill. My blue team support was effective with their precise cover-fire. (Please allow me to bask in my testosterone-driven efforts!...lol)

Weary soldiers returning from the battle.

OK, this guy is never gonna strike fear into the hearts of the enemy. Even dorky guys need to feel like a hero once in a while.

The armory. They had a dizzying array of weaponry on hand.

Not sure what the heck this sign says, just thought it was interesting.

After the war. The barbecue was tasty. Catherine had a nice chance to meet many of my co-workers. She has always been a little nervous about them because I am the only guy working there. Just me and about 15 women...sorta like a dream I have had about 5000 times!

The guys cooking up the seemingly endless supply of meat. Many of the girls brought along their boyfriends. These two were hovering around the grill for hours.

My cutie pie talking with the girls. The weather was perfect and made for an excellent cook-out.

A little stream cut through the property and made for an excellent spot to take pictures.

From the stream banks. It was nice to enjoy the peace and quiet. We sat around and chatted while taking the occasional dip in the stream.

Here is a shot from inside one of the manufactured arenas. You can see evidence from past battles in the foreground. Check out the names of the kiosks. Sogo, 7-11 and Taipei 101 are all prominent landmarks in Taiwan.

The property is in a beautiful area as you can see in the background. Just a few minutes outside the city, but it felt like a million miles away from the madness.

This is the site of my fall from grace. After the "woodsball" portion of the competition, there was just four of us with enough ammo to keep playing. We decided to have a two-on-two battle in the above arena. I knew going into it that it was going to be rough because it's a small space and I had a target on my back due to my performance in the woods. All hell broke loose as the action started. I got a little too aggressive and found myself trapped far too deep in the other teams territory. They had me pinned down and I took several shots to the body, including the stinger on the butt...I don't believe I have ever whimpered in quite that fashion before...lol. After several barrel rolls on the ground, I sprung to my feet firing my gun furiously. Much to my dismay, I was firing at my teammate! I hit him square. The last thing I remember was hearing his cry for mercy...lol. Before I could get my bearings again, the match was over. We were resoundingly defeated by the other guys. After my shockingly poor judgment on the battlefield, I was in dire need of some sympathy and kisses from Catherine!...lol.

What a great afternoon. We had a ton of fun. I am going to find out the name and the exact location of the place and post it on here for those of you interested in trying it out. It was some seriously crazy fun.