Blogs from Taiwan, Asia - page 113

When we drove to the coast last time, we passed beaches with amazing looking sandstone and limestone formations. So I was really happy to visit Yehliu. I took lots of pictures, here are the best, and here's some more info: "Yehliu is a cape of about 1,700 meters long formed by Datun Mountain reaching into the sea. When overlooked from above, the place is like a giant turtle submerging into the sea. Thus, it is also called "Yehliu Turtle". Because the rock layer of seashore contains sandstone of limestone texture and it is subject to sea erosion, weathering and earth movements, there is particular scenery consisting of sea trenches/holes, candle shaped rocks, and pot shaped rocks. The place is divided into three sections. The first section has rocks like Queen's Head, Fairy's Shoe and Candle. The ... read more

Chapter 12 It seems that I have a part-time job on my hands, dealing with the English names of my students. The “remediation” is easy, but time-consuming because the Chinese is beyond my (pathetic) Mandarin ability and my colleagues must interpret. My results so far are as follows: 1. Hunk. I explained that maybe “Hank” would be better. 2. Hebe. Even though the student pronounces it “Heebee”, anybody western will nevertheless look askance at her written name. Phoebe. That’s better. A Greek Goddess. I told my student that I wanted her to have a name that has the same power and beauty that she herself manifests. 3. Dick. Forget it. Richard is a famous king of England, renowned for loyalty and bravery. That is an improvement. 4. Kidd. Even with the additional “d”, it is still ... read more

I'm going to talk about food again, so please bear with me. Living in Masuda our dining options are rather limited. We eat at the same damn restaurants offering the same damn food time and time again. Not to say the food isn't tasty, but there's only so many ways you can cook rice. So when we travel, we tend to treat ourselves a little and eat at places not available to us back home (which is why I know exactly where to find a Wendy's in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Fukuoka). Now, Taiwanese food is great - even better than Greek and Thai food in my opinion - so why, you ask, would we choose to eat at Domino's Pizza two nights in a row? Well you see, the pizza here is crap, and it ... read more

OT and I arrived to Taipei, Taiwan in some 13-14 hours... I slept the first 6 hours thanks to the two vodka grapefruits at LAX, and the 2 or 3 melatonins taken when we first boarded the plane. I woke to catch the second half of X-Men III. The Tawainese woman in the middle seat between us was a real doll when, as I was sleeping, I cupped her head with my hand and she didn't say a word, although she did cough a lot. We were really beat and had to stay on our feet for our three hour layover. Once we realized that airport prices are pricey worldwide, even the electronics were over the top, we decided it had to be five o'clock somewhere and it was time for a beer. OT really wanted ... read more

The large floats and puppets are being constructed in another space. Here are some pictures from the activity that has gone on there this week.... read more