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!