Two East-Coast Trips pt2

For my second trip east this spring it was a bit more relaxed. This May was Louise's and my 2nd anniversary so I decided that we should do something a little nice to celebrate her tolerating me for so long.

I decided also, that I woudl do all the planning and surprise Louise with what I can do. So, I went on the internet and found a nice five star hotel and was able to find the hoetl's number and call to book a room. Then, with the help of a student I was able to buy train tickets to get there.

We got on the train Saturday morning and headed to Hualien. Louise didn't know where we weregoing until we were almost there.

When we finally did get there we rented a scooter for transportation and grabbed some lunch. At 3 was our check in time. So, we went to the hotel after a quick drive to the coast to see the ocean. The hotel was pretty nice. The landscaping was great and the decor was quite nice too. The room . . . well I would say 5 star. A bit better than the holiday inn? Maybe. The bathroom ws nice, but the bed was literally rock-hard.

After settling into the room we went sight seeing. we Drove to a buddhist monastery but we weren't respectfully dressed (I was wearing shorts) so instead we went to a coastal park and ate a snack at a nice little fish restaurant. Then we headed into town to look around and grab some dinner. After dinner we went back to the hotel to use the pool and play in their facilities. Unfortunately Louise's stomach was bothering her. So, she rested and i watched Formula 1 qualifying.

The next day we checked out and headed north to Taroko Gorge. It is a place I have been twice before, but it is one of Taiwan's most beaustiful sights. We drove the bike up the gorge and did a couple walks and then headed to the buddhist temple. I forget the name of the organization, but they do a lot of international charity work. And their leader is a really cool soft spoken woman.

After the temple we drove to Liyu Lake. It is a small lake in the central Mountain range of Taiwan. It was a nice drive and a nice lake. On the way home we found a monument to fallen Taiwanese soldiers. It was this huge temple/tomb built up on a mountain side. We walked up the steps and were the only people up there. It had a great view of the area.

AFter that we headed back to town to grab our bags and head home. All in all it was a great trip. But the hotel sucked. I highly don't recommend the MEi Lun Hotel in Haulien if you're ever in the area.

Two East-Coast Trips pt1

As some of you may or may not be aware of I am in Canada now. But, I thought that I should take the time to tell you of two trips I took in the last spring.

This first trip was to Ilan, a city almost directly across the island from ChungLi.

Adrian and i had been planing on doing a drive across the island for some time, but due to many an excuse we never got it underway. But, we finally cancelled our classes and decided on a date. And we knew where we were going.

What we didn't know was how long it owuld take to get there. We talked to our classes and told them that we would be driving our scooters 150km through the mountains to the East coast. Most of the reactions we got were:

"That is too far"
"Impossible"
"It will be too long"
"Your scooter will never make it"

So, we figured it must be one hell of a a drive. We took all this advice and decided that if we were going to attempt this, we would have to leave early in the morning on Saturday. We didn't have any formal plans. Basically we were going to drive east and find something to do for a few hours find a place to stay and drive home on Sunday.

At 9:20am on Saturday we left my house and headed through the mountains. It was a beautiful drive. Some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. I would love to tell you that I documented it on film and have so many nice pics to show you, but alas, we thought that we didn't really have time to stop, cause it was such a long drive. And, so I didn't take any pictures. But, trust me when I say it was beautiful.

We finally came out of the mountains on the east side and filled up with gas and headed into town. We pulled up to a 7-11 for refreshments and looked at the time. 12pm!! The "impossible and long trip" took us less than 3 hours. So now we didn't know what to do. I suggested heading south to a town called Hualien, but Adrian deemed the 150km was a little too far to go. So instead of heading south, we headed north along the coast.

This is another beautiful drive. As we drove we kept wondering if we would spend the night anywhere. But as the drive went on we realized: "we might be able to make it home tonight" And, that's exactly what we did. We were back at 8pm. A little sore in the seat and dirty, but home in less than 11 hours after leaving.

It was a great drive and i do have some pics from the return home. But it just made us realize how small Taiwan is, and also that nothing is too far on an island that is just shy of 400km from top to tail.

Can You See Them

If any of you happen to be able to see my pics could you give a quick comment.

Another update is on its way!

MY PICTURES

Ok, if you are having troubles seeing the pictures try right clicking on the red X and then select "Show Picture." They may show up at that time.

I don't know what's going on

I have no idea what happened to the pictures. They were working fine for a few days and then all of a sudden the pictures wouldn't show. I have checked my links countless times and tried different encodings, but it's all haywire. Hopefully blogger support will be able to help me out.

Anyways, it's 22 minutes to game time. I can't wait! The crappy thing is that I have to work halfway through the game so I won't be able to (hopefully) here the flames win.

DAMN IT!!!!

You might think that my title is in reference to the fact that Tampa Bay has forced a game 7, but alas it is not only that which has stirred my anger. It's now been two games in a row that I have listened online to the games (since basically no where in Taiwan shows nhl games). And it has been two games in a row where the feed has paused or cut out, and when I come back the game is over. That's right!! Two bloody times in a row I have sat and listened to Peter Mahr's (sp?) play by play, and two times I have missed the game-winning overtime goals. And so I raise my two fists two the sky, tilt my head back and yell "DAMN IT!!" with all my force. DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT.

And an even worse factor is the fact that I have a morning class when the game is on. So, not only do I not get to watch the game, I can't even listen to it. Stupid Time Difference!

Do the undoable

One day I got an e.mail saying that it is impossible to lick your own elbow. At the time, i gave it a half-hearted effort and never really thought about it again. But then one day in a class my students and I were talking about stupid human tricks and someone mentioned it again. This time I tried and voila!

I was licking my own elbow. This is not a photoshoped picture or a trick of angles.

Another trick someone told me is that a hand cannot touch it's own arm. I believe the pic below shows how wrong they were!

You can't really see it in the picture but the finger is in fact touching the arm.

That's all for now folks. Take care and I will be back again soon.

Also, feel free to leave comments by clicking on the link at the end of each of my newer posts.

Cheers

Your CALGARY FLAMES!

Oh Yeah I almost forgot. GO FLAMES GO!!

A Postcard

If I had your home address then you should have recieved a Xmas card from me that included the picture below. But, I didn't include an explanation. Finally, through the wonders of magic, er, I mean . . . electronics, I can tell you all the stories behind the pictures.


We will start from the top left and move to the right and then down.

The first picture is me doing my best cheerleader impression at FuLong beach. Louise, Jackie, the South African girls and I stopped there on a weekend trip to another city. Unfortunately, due to the rain,our day of fun & sun became a quick stop on hard sand.

Next is a pic from the Double 10 (October 10th 10/10) Celebration at a city near Chung Li. This was my first attempt at shooting fireworks so It's a tad off-center.

Next we have a shot of the East coast at a city called Hualien. No white sand here, but the beach is still a beautiful sight to behold.

Next we've got the Chung Li night market. Known for it's bizarre foods (snake, duck's blood, etc) and it's cheap merchandise.

Following that is a pic of a rice field behind a temple near my house. I was driving one day and decided to zig when I should have zagged and I found this beautiful scene. Shows what you can find if you make that one different turn. I'd been in taiwan two years before I found this temple that is 5 minutes from my home.

And the last shot in the top row. I know it's vain to include pics of myself but hey, I gotta show myself. This is me on a weekend trip to HUalien with Dean when he came out to visit.

Next row . . .

This is Taiwan's flag. Or more correctly the R.O.C. (Republic Of China Flag). For those of you who don't know. Taiwan is still a political part of China. It has an independant government, but China refuses to see it's independance and therefore will one day take it back (maybe) the same way they took back HOng Kong in 1997.

Taiwan 2003. I do this every year.

Giao Ban Shan. It's a mountain park about 45 minutes from my house. This is on a nice hike down the mountain. Walking back out wasn;t fun. But this picture was worth it.

The streets of Taipei. This is a view from an MRT station. The MRT is the same as the LRT, just faster and better operated. And people actually use the MRT in Taipei.

Some day I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind . . . Just a rainbow over my apartment at sunset.

If a picture is worth a million words this one is worth just 8. "Oh my god I just shit my pants!" Imagine you're in an old van. Imagine it's being driven by a man with no fear. Imagine that you can only see 20 feet in front of you. Imagine that sometimes the clouds are so thick you can't see 5 feet in front of you. Imagine that the driver is in a rush. Imagine that there are land slides covering parts of the road. Imagine that parts of the road are no longer there. Imagine that the whole time you are making a mental checklist of those you love and who will notify them of your demise. Imagine that you hold your breath because then you know you're still in control of something. Imagine all of this and you aren't even close to the terror. I actually used my cell phone to e.mail Adrian to tell him that if he didn't get a second message in about 5 hours, he had to tell my parents that I'd died. Quite literally, I thought I wasn't coming back from that trip. But, I got a great pic from it.

Third row . . .
Me eating snake. That's right, I did it. And you know what . . . it's delicioso. It's a lot like turkey, but with bones like a fish. If I didn't tell you what it was you would love it.

Remember earlier where I mentioned the food at the night market. Here's a sample. I would like to draw your attention to the whole octopus in the bottom left of the pic.

Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall in Taipei at night.

The gates to Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall in the day time. These things are immense. I am half as tall as the feet of the arches. That might help you with a little perspective.

This is Yehliu. It's on the north coast. The hard coral sits on softer earth that's erodes faster and you get these really cool shapes. This one's supposed to look like Nefertiti, but I think I took it from the worng angle. Oops

This is the view of the Double Ten fireworks before they got started. You wouldn't believe where I was sitting. In a cemetary on top of a tomb.

Fourth row . . .

this is one of the concert halls/museums at the Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall at night time.

This is at a temple in Taipei. The people are doing Bai Bai. Basically, praying. But Bai Bai (pronounced Bye Bye) sounds more mysterious.

This is the North coast of Taiwan. Louise took me here for my 25th birthday. Not a bad place to mark being alive for a quarter-century.

This is a sculpture from Ju Ming Museum. This artists uses foam to make a mold and then he fills the mold with cement, or he uses metal. It's really cool. This is of a man doing Tai-Chi.

One of the guard dogs at a Temple. These dogs are everywhere. I love them so much that I searched and searched to get a pair and finally found a nice wooden set.

Driving on the number 7 highway. The person in front of me is Adrian. I set my camera to a 1/15 shutter speed and focused 3 meters in front of me. And while driving I use my left hand to point and shoot. I don't look through the lense. SO I have no idea how it will turn out. This one really came out nice I think.

This is the front of that temple near my house.

The mountains of Taiwan. Truly remarkable and beautiful.

This is inside a temple. There's that dog again!

Last row . . .
This is me at the Ju Ming museum. I'm the one in yellow and all the other guys with umbrellas are made of cement.

This is just a cool zoom of out-of-focus lights.

I died my hair red. This will probably be the last time I dye my hair, since they may be the last time I have hair to dye. Damn you male pattern baldness! DAMN YOU!!

This is me at a cafe near the airport. You can sit and enjoy your drink and watch the planes land and take off.

If you go way way way back to november of when I first got here you will remember my 70km/h accident into the back of a truck. This is the only damage I recieved.

Thanks for reading. I hope this wasn't too much.

Coming up, a picture of me licking my own elbow. They say it's impossible, well HA. I'll show them, and you. Until then, cheers!

Just a test

I found out that maybe I can add pics, so this is a test