Blogs from Hualien, Taiwan, Asia - page 9

It’s kind of nice to be back on the train—the Chinese word is “ho che” which translates literally as “fire car”. It leaves Hualien Station at the ungodly hour of 0600, so I have to be out the door quite early. It only takes about 10 minutes to ride my motorbike to the train station, and I buy my orange juice and coffee at 7-11 until I can get to Guangfu for breakfast. I get to school about 7:15, which makes for a long day because my contract requires me to remain at school until 16:45. No worries, I just amble about shooting the breeze with my 520 grandchildren, or doing my writing. I have my current blog on the go “Lives in the Lotus Blossom”, I’m rebuilding my last year’s blog “The Land Where it’s ... read more

This is a brief report, about renting bicycles at Seven Star Lake (Qi Xing Tan) Beach, and a morning walk in a gathering thunderstorm. This chapter is mostly pictures (as you can see). For new readers, just click on the first picture to enlarge it, then you can go through the slide show by clicking on the next number above each picture. Later in the day, I noticed that the blood donation bus was parked outside Chunghwa Telecom again. I went in to give a donation, but I got disallowed for one year, just because I went to China for a few days! I guess they are worried about hepatitis (even though I've had innoculations and boosters), malaria, or God knows what else. As a result, I didn't get another cool ball cap that says "Giving ... read more

Last weekend I was in Hualien. Hualien is on the East coast of Taiwan. Words alone cannot describe how beautiful and amazing it was. I am now kicking myself for now going there. The west is good to travel and see alot of places and history of Taiwan but the East cannot compare with the scenery. I now understand why they dont have cable, dont spend hours on the computer and they ride thier bikes. Hualien is good for so many things. The air is crisp and clean, the mountains and Pacific Ocean, and natural beauty. There are so many things to do here, it would be hard to get bored on the weekends. If I ever come back to Taiwan, I will live here without a doubt. Mary and I spent the weekend hanging ... read more

The wrath of all Gods fall on the misbegotten forgotten-the-eight-virtues turtle-egg of a neurosurgeon at Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, and all his generations! Chinese swearing is quite a bit different in style from our own, and completely called for in this instance. Lao-puo was ready for her procedure yesterday afternoon; after the resident had assured her that she would be sedated. Then the Flemish Mare of a surgical assistant told her, in no uncertain frank terms, that the surgeon had made no such preparation. After a week or so of virtually-unrelenting pain, controlled only with morphine, Lao-puo still had the strength to take issue with the old cow. Then His Imperial Majesty sawbones waltzed in, announced that Suzanne was “too emotional”, for the procedure, and cancelled it on the spot! He referred her to Dr. ... read more

Does anyone besides me remember “The Jeffersons” (Archie Bunker Spin-Off)? Moving, even from the fourth floor of a walkup, can be fun—and not just because we have neither a piano nor a freezer. It was astonishing, nevertheless, how much rubbish we have accumulated in a short period of time. Our new landlady kindly let us borrow a truck. To my great delight, it was an old blue Toyota half-ton—even older and rustier than the one I was driving in Canada. The muffler rattled (at least it did until I booted the tailpipe), and the exhaust would gag a moose, but it got the job done. There was no heater or defroster in the truck. (I don’t mean “no” in the sense of ones that don’t work—I mean there was neither installed in the first place.) Behind ... read more