A few pictures from our recent trip back the USA.
You can't really tell from the picture -, but I'm driving a
Quack Quack - Some ducks on Lake Crescent.
Camping out on the Pacific Ocean .
The Beach at Sunset - look at all those drift logs.
This guy apparently really likes wine!
Well, here I am back in Taiwan after 35 days in the USA. It was a glorious vacation filled with beautiful scenery, clean air and lots of partying. Of course with flying, eating out and partying, there is always a heavy tax to pay. Now I'm happy to say that I'm back to work full time, saving money and working on this ole blog again.
During my vacation, Craig took over editorial duties at the TPod. He did an awesome job and hopefully I can hire him on full time. Unfortunately, we had several serious problems with the hosting company and the server. While there was intermittent service during the period, two whole weeks of data were lost in early July - right at the beginning of my vacation! Hence, there is still missing data from the July tpod archive. I think I can piece most of the photos together from the daily email, but to say the least it was a pain in the rear. Although the server is now working for the meantime, I am actively searching for new hosting. I'm thinking about getting a server here in Taiwan so it will be much faster to reach.
That's all for now. I will follow up with a few photo essays in the next few weeks reporting on our trip.
How time flies! It's been just a little more than a year since we launched the Taiwan Picture of the Day on the FotoZon web site. In one year, a lot of interesting photos have been submitted. Many web sites, blogs and personal pages have put the picture online.
Among the developments over the past year:
Because I was born as a pig (in the Chinese 12 animal symbols) I had a chance to ride in the wedding cars today! The normal guy who drives and arranged the borrowed cars was born a mouse so according to today's date, it was not good for him to drive. Don't ask me why. One of the older uncles told me I could probably spend a lifetime trying to figure out all the Chinese customs and still not get it. Anyways, the new tradition is the groom's family sends a fleet of six fancy black cars to pick up the bride from her home. At first I though I was supposed to drive the car, but it turns out that each vehicle sent must have at least one passenger. So, that ended up being my job, the passenger. I hauled some luggage and held the driver's tea cause there were no cup-holders. It was fun - and just as well because I would be a little nervous driving that fancy new Mercedes Benz. Anyways, after passing time drinking tea and smoking cigarettes while waiting for the groom, we slowly drove across town among fireworks and photo ops to pick up the bride at her parents house. After arriving, we hauled some of the dowry into our car. After passing more time smoking, we then drove back to the Groom's house. The whole process took 2 hours and mostly consisted of a lot of standing and waiting in the hot afternoon. Now I'm just passing the down time before heading to the wedding banquet later this evening.
Groom gives the Thumbs up from the wedding car.
Engagement Ceremony
Truth is, I'm not such a great blogger. I don't write that often, and when I finally do sit down to type some thoughts in, they probably aren't even that interesting! Well, actually I normally just run out of time to do anything here. Between work, wife and Two Kids, by the time I get a few minutes of quiet time, I'm ready to hit the hay. I'm not even finding enough time to go out on photo safaris so much anymore... It's time to make time!
The other weekend, we went to Taipei on the Taiwan High Speed Railroad. If you haven't ridden on it and you live in Taiwan, I strongly suggest it! It is an experience in and of itself. I've been on the high-speed trains before in Europe and they feel more like regular trains and usually depart from regular looking stations. Leaving on the train from the Taichung station, it is just like going to the airport: the drive in, the parking garage and the departure terminal. I guess the main difference is the security and the automated ticket machines. Once you're on the train, it's like flying on the ground. At one point we were going almost 300 Kmph (200 mph) which is about 3x faster than driving. Add to that the time spent slowing down for the toll booths, potential traffic on the toll-way, and the certain traffic in Taipei city center, it is quite a time saver If you are going to Taipei.
I'm not much of a city-lover. I appreciate the cultural attractions, the grand scale of things, and the occasional crowds. However, I like to be able to get out of the city at a moments notice and with the minimum of hassle. Finally, my wife talked me into going up to Taipei for the weekend for a trip. We arrived on the Taiwan HSR to the main Taipei station in about 1 hour from Taichung and after a lunch in the new station mall, we proceeded to look for a hotel nearby. Of course it was hot and sweltering and looking for a hotel room with 2 kids and some luggage in tow was no picnic. We found a place near the Mitsukoshi department store and settled in. In the afternoon we first went to the CKS memorial hall area and then out to Danshui on the MRT. I was surprised how long it took to get out to Danshui - there were a lot of stops. Finally we arrived just before sunset and had a great time walking around. Crowded and fun.
The next day we went out to the Sun-Yat Sen hall and then walked over to the 101 building area. Another hot sweltering day, but at least we left the luggage at the hotel. We thought about going up to the top of the building, but at 400 per person and 300 per larger kid, we decided it was impressive enough just looking up at it and went back down for some shopping at the fancy shopping area nearby before heading back on the MRT to catch the train back to Taichung. Wonder what happened to the lunch box in the train? They never came by and we had to survive on cookies and apple juice! We were smart on the way back and had dinner first in the station.
A man cleans up the grounds outside CKS Memorial area.
DanShui Area
What's that fire? Ghost Money?
