A quick glimpse beyond Taipei

Eric wisely decided that we all needed to get away this weekend so, with the help of a wonderful secretary, he planned a QUICK getaway to the very southern tip of Taiwan. We went to an area called Ken ting, which has a National Park and several resorts. To get there we first rode the High Speed Rail for 2 hours, then a tour bus for 2 more hours.

Here is a picture of the bullet trains. I guess they're not actually called that here - that's in Japan. I made the mistake of telling the kids we were going on the bullet train. Ethan asked why it was called that and I told him it is because they go "faster than a speeding bullet". He was disappointed because they do not actually go faster than bullets. Still, it was a nice way to travel. If I could, I would go by train all the time. I prefer it to any other type of transportation, and I think I've tried them all. The High Speed Rail is clean, quiet and fast. There is no annoying security like at airports; I don't fear for the lives of all around like in a Taipei taxi; the employees are not required to act foolish like on a cruise and when it is time for the train to depart the station it just GOES without fanfare or drivel about seat belts and oxygen masks. I loved it.
It was so refreshing to break out of the busyness of Taipei, into the surrounding countryside.

If I had my druthers, I'd live here. (Not if I had my druthers about living anywhere in the world. Just about living anywhere that I've seen in Taiwan thus far.)

I guess I should be informed about the pictures I post, but I am not. I just photograph things that look interesting. Like these fields covered with some sort of fabric. I don't know what grows under them, but I thought it looked neat.

Yes, it is still raining and raining in Taiwan. Nevertheless, I don't think these fields are flooded, I think they are supposed to be under water. Rice, maybe?

Not a bad farmhouse! Although I bet they have problems with mosquitoes!

Anna thinks I have lost my mind because I've begun photographing cemeteries. But they are so very different here than in America, that I just thought I had to show what they are like. Actually this is probably not a good representation because it is gray and bland. Most that I've seen around Taipei have brightly colored and highly ornamented tombs.

This next picture isn't the best and I may be COMPLETELY wrong in what I think it is, but... I have noticed many similar places that look to me as if they may be someone's living space. I hope not.

As I've said before, there are temples everywhere. On this trip we passed two with HUMONGOUS statues, like this. I was too far away to tell what it is. It doesn't look like Buddha to me but I'm not sure.

One of the few English TV stations here is National Geographic Explorer. We watched a program a while back about a man in Taiwan who races pigeons. That is apparently a huge sport in Taiwan. The participants have pigeon coops on top of their home or business. We saw several on our trip. Here is one, at the top of a home.

Kenting is supposed to be a sunny, tropical location. However, as we approached it rained steadily harder. We were only there for 1 night, so had to make the best of things. Here is the view from our balcony, just after we checked into our room.

It was pouring rain, but since it was supposed to be that way all weekend we decided to explore the resort grounds in the rain. It was a very beautiful place with a fabulous pool.

There are resident parrots. Their names are Boss and Anna! And yes, they are real live parrots.

The next morning it was overcast but not raining so we rushed to the beach. We didn't even have coffee or breakfast! The resort we were at has it's own sort-of-private beach.

Eric and the kids got wet, so they went back to the room and changed into swimsuits. And SURPRISE! The sun came out!

I saw this boy and his family and just had to take a picture. LOVE the outfit! His sister was in a similar sailor outfit. They sort of reminded me of pictures of Americans in the 19th century vacationing at the ocean. Seems they all wore nautical type clothes.

Eric and the kids swimming in the ocean.

We ended with lunch at the beachside restaurant.

We had to board the bus for home at 11:30 a.m., which was perfect because that's about the time it started to rain again. No kidding.

Well, I believe my time in Taiwan is about to end. The kids have gotten very ugly about going anyplace. Their whining and complaining takes away any pleasure of adventure, so I have given up. I sit in the apartment all day with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Depression has set in. I told the kids repeatedly that if they were going to complain every time we went somewhere we would pack up and go home to Virginia. They will soon find out I wasn't kidding. They will whine just as much at home because they will miss their Dad, but at least I will have something to do, and I can make them play outside so I won't have to listen to the whining continually.

Very likely we won't stay in Virginia long. I think I'll drive to Idaho to visit my parents (yes, my Mom is still alive!) and Oregon to visit Eric's.

Friends of friends

Yesterday we went to church for the first time in Taiwan. Gloria recommended Taipei International Church. As it happened, my first Sunday there was the last Sunday for another American friend of Gloria's. Gloria had told me about her dear friend, Liz, and given me her phone number. I knew Liz was scheduled to move back to the States in early June, and with the major disruption upon my arrival I decided not to call Liz. (My loss, most definitely.) Because it was the last Sunday here for Liz and her family, the pastor called them up front for a formal goodbye. After church I made my way to Liz to introduce myself and show her a recent picture of Gloria and her son. We had a very nice, though necessarily short, visit. How strange, to be so far from home meeting the dear friend of a dear friend, to be arriving as she is leaving, to know that I am face to face with her but Gloria does not get to be.

The Taipei Zoo

I am not keeping up with my photos or presenting them in chronological order. That bugs me; I hope you don't mind!

Last Monday - (THE ONLY DAY I'VE SEEN THE SUN IN 2 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!) we went to the zoo. Nothing new to say about a zoo really. They had flamingo's, so I took pictures for Mindi:

We all had to wear sun glasses so as not to be blinded by that strange bright light in the sky.

The zoo entrance. I took this picture because of the plant in the bottom right corner. I have a plant like that growing in a pot at home. Not quite so huge. Actually, not even close.

While we were looking at the flamingos I heard a sort of screeching sound. I told the kids they must have peacocks, because I know they scream. We went around the corner to find the source of the screaming. It wasn't peacocks though, it was:

Monkeys! My favorite part of any zoo! I took a billion and 2 pictures, which was about a billion too many.

Of course I also took two billion and 5 pictures of plants and flowers. The Taipei Zoo is quite beautiful. The walkways look like this:

And there are flowers such as these:

Yes, the orchids are planted on tree trunks. There is so much foliage along the trunks of the trees in the zoo that you wouldn't necessarily know that the orchids are not part of the tree.

There are also palm-type trees with these things:

I don't know what they are. They sort of look like pine cones, except they are about the size of pineapple.

There are several types of beautiful evergreen foliage:

And even cactus! (Cacti, right?)

The kids played around on some hippopotamus sculptures.

Then the kids used my camera to take pictures of the real thing.

Aren't they lovely?

It was a great day to bask in the sunshine.

We eventually got pretty tired from the walking, so we boarded the zoo train to return to the front gate.
I had to take a picture of the name of the train: (double click the picture if you can't see it.)

It was a good day.

Tidbits from our day

We hung around the apartment again today. It is raining (still) which is perhaps just an excuse, but a rather good one. I think we are all actually enjoying just hanging around.

We recently finished reading Prince Caspian. It took us months due to all the moving/traveling disruptions. We've begun Treasure Island. Thankfully the books that I consider "boy" books appeal to Anna. I want to read some "girl" books too, but I expect Ethan will not be as accommodating. So we read a chapter or two here and there throughout our day.

Midway through one chapter Ethan disappeared to the bathroom. I continued reading.
After reappearing he sat listening for a bit, then when I paused he said "I pulled my tooth out and it didn't hurt." Hallelujah! There was no drama with this tooth! I was barely aware it was loose, and now the deed is done. Ethan tried to call his Dad with the news but was unsuccessful, so I suggested he send an e-mail. It was very cute. He typed the entire thing himself. I must share:

Dear daddy I lost my tooth and I need
To tell you that I pulled it
Out and it didn't even hurt and I'll tell you the whole story when you get home.

Anna kept busy making Barbie clothes out of the fabric I let her buy yesterday. She made a pair of shorts and, though rough, they actually go on and stay on her doll. Anna was beside herself with excitement! Here's a picture. She requested that I put a picture on my "Gispy Mom" site.
:-)




Bear in mind we have only a needle and thread and Anna can just barely sew. I am excited for her that she is enjoying being creative.

I am thinking of uses for my new fabric. I will not be attempting to do anything with it until I get home to a proper sewing machine. I have seen cute patterns on blogs for a reversible purse and a reversible apron. I like those ideas. I think homemade Christmas gifts might be the way to go this year. Except I don't know anyone besides me who would like the fabrics I chose. But then, I will be back to the fabric market for more purchases so maybe I can look with an eye to the taste of others.

Ramblings from The Twilight Zone

We had a wonderful adventure today, but I didn't bring my camera. Why not, you ask? Nope, I didn't break it. It's just that, since I bought a BIG camera, I always have to haul around a big purse to put it in and today I just didn't feel in the mood to lug the big thing around. I probably should have bought a little camera, although by now it certainly would have been dropped twenty times. I'm rambling. Sorry. I'll try to describe the adventure without pictures. And in case I fail, I will retrace today's steps WITH a camera someday soon. (I told the kids we will return and I will bring my camera and they moaned and rolled their eyes and grumbled. I brought it to the zoo the other day and made them stop half a zillion times for me to take pictures of flowers. They are learning to HATE the camera. To counter that, I let them take pictures sometimes. But I'm rambling again.)

Today we went to "THE" fabric market. Gloria had written its name in Chinese for me. I showed that to a concierge at our front desk and she looked up the address, which she wrote in Chinese for the taxi driver. I had also read about the market on a blog, and the blog had pictures, which I was glad for when we arrived. "The" fabric market is surrounded by many, many stores selling fabric and custom made clothing. Thanks to the pictures on the blog I knew the place I was headed for was on the 2nd floor of a building, and when we pulled up I knew I was at the correct building. How to get to the 2nd floor presented a bit of a challenge.

We first tried an outside staircase that looked promising. When we got to the top there was a set of double doors with a small window. Looking through the window we could see bolts of fabric so I knew we were at the right place. However, there was a sign on the door - all in Chinese, and an arrow pointing to a different door. The other door looked somehow less inviting, so we decided to go back downstairs and see if we could find another way in.

Now, honestly I don't know what we walked into next. Upon first entering a large open area of the building we noticed food vendors and a few spaces selling tacky looking clothing - like Walmart rejects. I was beginning to despair, thinking perhaps the fabric I had spied upstairs was wholesale and it was being made into this awful stuff for public consumption downstairs. I must have begun to look panicky because a nice Chinese lady offered to help me find what I was looking for. I showed her my aforementioned Chinese instructions and said "fabric market". She smiled, nodded, gestured and said "all around". Thinking back now, she must have meant there were fabric stores all around this building, because there were. But I thought she meant all around this place we were standing in, so I nodded, said shei shei and began walking "all around". Oh goodness! Crazy stuff everywhere, but only one thing made it into my memory bank - probably it overwhelmed all other mental pictures. Chickens! In various stages of life and, umm, NOT life. Lots of live chickens in cages. Then, I think, a butchering table, then chickens being cooked and, finally, cooked chickens hanging in a case. The thing about cooked chickens here is this: the heads are still attached. They have that THING on the top of their head. (I have no idea what it's called.). The cooked chickens have their heads hanging there with that THING wobbling around. It's gross. And next to the butchering table a woman was hosing down her days work. It was all heading toward the drain which was inches from my feet. And I was wearing sandals. And my kids seemed frozen in place. And I wanted to GET AWAY!

Somehow, we got out of that twilight zone place. I don't know how we got in and I don't know how we got out, but we did. And then, thankfully, Anna somehow spotted a staircase that took us to the fabric market. And the fun began. Any kind of fabric you can imagine was there, and quite a lot of fabrics that you probably haven't imagined. There is felt in every color under the sun. There are satins and cottons and tulle. Fake fur looking like tigers, cattle, sheep, dog (truly!), you name it. There is upholstery fabric, towel fabric, stuff for rugs, vinyl coated stuff, on and on and on! There are a thousand different embroidered Asian fabrics. I didn't buy any today and I don't know what I'll ever do with it, but I think I will need to buy some of that on a return trip. There were places that apparently custom make bedspreads and drapes ( in addition to clothes.) How fun it would be to decorate a room and have everything custom made!

I found the fabrics I wanted at the first booth in the market. Being the wise shopper that I sometimes am, I looked at all of the other fabrics before returning to the first booth. While I debated and puzzled over which to purchase, a kind, old, nearly toothless Chinese man came and began talking to us. Some Chinese, some English. He was enamored with Ethan, as all Chinese seem to be. It's his hair. "Golden" he said. (Actually it's strawberry blond.) "Beautiful boy." Then perhaps realizing boys don't want to be called beautiful, "Handsome!" He asked if we were from America and when I said yes he asked where. I said Virginia. Any time someone here asks me where I'm from they seem to know of Virginia. I wonder - are they being polite or do they really know? He told me he has a son who lives in New York City. I think he might be a wedding photographer. He had an amazing amount of English I thought, especially for such an old man. A younger man came and seemed to try to shoo the old man away. I am guessing he is an eccentric character that hangs around, but I enjoyed him. I don't care if he was a nut. He was a crazy English speaking nut! And he smiled a lot. With his nearly toothless smile.

I will stop rambling now and post this picture of my fabric. (Same print, 3 colors. I loved them all! There were actually more.) Perhaps I'll write something more coherent tomorrow. Or not. Probably not. Coherent, that is.


P.S. Does anyone have any ideas of what I could DO with this fabric?