School Dance Performance

Here are a few pic's from around town and from a dance competition that students from DeWu Elementary won third place in - granting them a place in the National finals ni Taipei sometime late in October. They were pretty excited...and deservedly so!

Interesting use of words...to the point.

And on to the competition:

This, above, is a butterfly and native plant classroom that one of the schools uses for science class.

And one more from our rooftop level. What a morning view.

Typhoon Sandwich

We are in the middle of destruction, but safe. It looked like we were going to get smacked by the more northerly one, but it took a distinctive turn recently.

China and Japan might feel the ravages, though.

September 11-13

Another week has flown by, and we are getting settled in still. The basics and the coarse "settling" has been done for a while, but there are lingering things like purchasing a scooter (we really need this, beyond the awsomeness of it, for practical purposes given our location...), me being able to transport myself to my schools (still relying on other teachers to drive me, which is awsome but I am starting to feel a bit of an imposition), Crystal settling a work contract and getting getting through our first typhoon. It is comming, we are waiting.

While we wait, we travel. This past weekend we took a trip to the northern tip of Taiwan - a place we never visited last time we were here. It is stunningly beautiful, rugged and lush at the same time, oceanic and mountainous at the same time... . And we found an awsome rock climbing place. For those who might make sense of this, it is like Giscome on steroids. We only got to go bouldering for a while as we havent got our stuff out here yet, and we wanted to do some recon on the new area before we lugged all our stuff 4 hours north for no reason. But now there is reason!

The trip started in Hualien Friday, where I was turned down for a scooter license....cheers to driving illegally, I guess. We caught a train north to Badu, then to Keelung. Keelung was nice suprise - I think we were expectting a dirty harbour town....as it is supposed to be a dirty harbour town...but found it to be lively, calm, exciting and clean. Worth a trip back, for sure. It is also the jumping off point for the best rock climbing in Taiwan, awsome hiking and swimming and - so we are told - excellent sea kayaking. Lots to discover still!

Here is an evening view of the main river cutting through Keelung. This was opposite to a bumping and grinding night market.

OJ at the night market, freshly made and kept cold!

We had just finished eating, and the pain of satiety would not allow me to eat any more food. But oh how I wanted these fresh, warm and tastey treats.

Crystal posing by a display of dragons, Chinese mythological beings and people, and of course fish.

This may take explaining. What you see are two hotel room doors. They are number 401 and 402 I believe. They are not ours. Neither.

Chinese culture has this thing with the number 4. It is pronounced very similar to the way you pronounce the word for "death". Same sound, just a different tone. So, when people check into a hotel, area seated at a table, etc, they absolutley do not want to be at table 4, room 4, 4th floor, etc. It doesnt exist, similar to the way most Western buildings do not have a 13th floor. Silly, yes. But when we actually saw a 4th floor, with working hotel rooms on it (sometimes the 4th floor, whether it is called the 4th floor or the 5th floor...1-2-3-5-6-7-etc...will be the laundry, cleaning supplies floor so that nobody has to deal with the angst of being on a floor that sounds like death) we were a wee bit suprised, hence the picture.

This was near a bar we went to for a nightcap. Despite having awsome beer, made in Taiwan - multiple brands, lager and ale - the "cool" bars will never serve it. What they will serve you is Budwiser, Coors, Corona or Carlsberg. Now, I can deal with these brands, but when you are looking for a quality local brew, and you know that they are everywhere, and you go to a nice place for a calm drink to take the heat off in the midst of a tropical oasis, it gets one resentful to actually speak the words "Ill have a bud". We wouldnt sink low enough to accept coors. So, Carlsberg it was. Apparently local stuff isnt "cool", and anything foreign is.

Temple at night. This was an excellent little discovery as we meandered our way through the streets and backroads of Keelung when we arrived.

A short walk from the previous temple was this shrine with massive ornate sculptures. Trevor is in there for scale.

Keelung at night.

The moon and the temple gates. Despite the religious overtones of both the Daoist and Buddhist
temples, they certainly are more beautiful and painstakinly crafted than the alternative ones.

The next day we made our way through the barrage of bus terminals to make it to LongDong Village and the start of both a bunch of trails in the mountains, and the rock climbing area. The ridge in the distance below the "Geopark" sign was our destination for rock climbing.

Fishing boat leaving LongDong harbour, midday.

Crystal, making her way to the climbing wall (ABOVE) and Trevor doing the same (BELOW).

Approaching the climbing wall. This was stellar hiking along the coastline. Absolutely stunning.

Near from where the previous picture of Crystal was taken, a lone person fishes in the shallows.

Crystal in the rocks, again.

Ok...so it was hot. Stupid hot. Hot enough that I gave up trying to stay dry and just let my body go with the heat. And it made me look like I peed my pants. When Crystal took this picture I thought that I was "pretty wet with sweat". The shirt is 100% drenched, but keep scrolling down to see how this progressed in short time....

Scenery along the cliff that mirrors the coastline.

This critter was about the size of my palm. Massive, and strikingly colourful. On the back of it is a pattern that lookes like a smiling face, but I was not about to crawl into the bushes and disturb such a massive beast to try to get a glimpse of it!

The view from one of the climbing areas.

ABOVE and BELOW: Us climbing around. Ok, so check out the saturation level my pants. My entire pants were dripping wet by the end of the day. Not the most pleasant thought or mental image....but.....so goes the world in Taiwan!

Project. When the rope arrives, it will be accomplished.

*Insert a long episode of hitchhiking, ending up a our drivers house for a beer and a meal with his grandparents, then ending up back there at night for an evening bbq and more festivites with his friends, then arriving back at our hotel in Fulong (near the climbing place) around 2am...crazy evening.

...and then we took the train home.

Chi-Ke Mountain Bike Trip

Leaving Taitung early in the morning on Sunday, we arrived back home in time for lunch. We had been toying with the idea of a bike ride afterwards, and set out to see what was around our new digs. Shortly down the road we came across a sign for Chi-Ke Mountain (famous for its Day Lilies).

We decided to try for the top.

10km uphill, we discovered as we finally reached the top. So hot, not enough water...but what a beautiful way to spend the day! Here are some pics (slightly out of order...oops!):

The daily harvest of Day Lilies from Chi-Ke Mountain (this is from one farm; the flowers must be picked before they bloom in order to have the potency that gives them their famous flavour. If the flowers bloom, the crop is lost. These are also, originally, invasive species that turned out to be a financial gain for Taiwan!)

Harvesting Day Lilies in the field.

Crystal biking up Chi-Ke Mountain (ABOVE) and Trevor (BELOW) getting ready to continue biking after a short water break (short...because we didn't have enough to warrant a longer break. We intended to go for a 1/2 hour bike ride or so to cruise around, but ended up on this slog. As beautiful, fulfilling and adventurous as it was...is was a slog!)


Crystal at the side of one of the Day Lily fields.

The view of our valley from part way up Chi-Ke Mountain. The humidity was getting ripe, and the next day and a half saw rain showers like no other (outside of a typhoon) we have seen.

M. Day Lily, herself.

On top of the mountain, where the Lilies are, have sprouted little villages and some cafe-style places that sell the lilies in all their forms - whole dried flowers (soup, stir-fry), cut and dried flowers (soup, tea), and myriad other harvested products from the forests and fields (mushrooms, sweet orange leaf, green tea, oolong tea). At this stop a lady went as far as to actually make us soup in order to explain how to use the various forms of the Day Lilies. Coffee, soup, a taste of every leaf of every product they had, and a warm little visit. What an end to a mountian climb!



Here are two videos. The first is of us climbing the mountain, the second is a front row seat of a downhill glide. Soon afterward I managed to blow a spoke and had to wobble my way downhill at a meager pace.

Taitung: First Weekend Away

We took our first of freedom - not encumbered by tasks, cleaning, meeting new people, etc... - southward to Taitung. Taitung is a city that boasts the glories of a robust tropical location, big enough to have everything that you could possibly desire, and small enough to let you walk around its centre in less than a day. It also is nestled between the ocean to the East and the mountains to the West. Opportunities galore for adventure....

... and stepping in sewage. These may look like honest feet on a bed of coarse sand, but don't let looks fool ya. The right one is perfectly clean. I would eat my dinner off of it. The left....it found its way into a putrid pool of raw sewage that was dripping from a pipe on shore. Dont let that paint a picture of a sewage-filled vista, this was an anomaly. And my left foot found it.


Men taking their firewood from the beach to their homes. See picture below of the beach scape with the typhoon deposited firewood.

It was the full moon of the Chinese calendar month, and that meant that it was time to burn shit. Manufactured paper, to be specific. The idea is to burn away the ghosts and to keep bad omens away by burning this paper. You can buy it at the temples and (see below pictures of fires) and turn them into massive fires in the middle of the street. The police will even block traffic so you can burn away your fearsome ghosts.

Looking upward at a Daoist Temple.

Beach Awareness 100.

Hot Pot dinner; usually a vegetarian serving will be 80% tofu, 10% mushrooms and 10% veggies when you go to a Hot Pot Restaurant with a set menu. When you find yourself a buffet Hot Pot, you can go crazy with the good stuff.

Crystal, on the beach.

Trevor walking along the massive deposit of driftwood from the latest typhoon. This is the bounty that then becomes firewood for myriad homes in the area. Men will come to the beach with a truck, scooter, wheelbarrow - anything - and a chainsaw, hand saw, axe - anything - to collect the good stuff for free.

Although we didn't order pizza, it still is a neat picture.

Night market in the city centre.

ABOVE and BELOW: Fires burning to keep away nasty spirits. Im not too sure they work, as they are just burning yellow paper, and spirits are mythical creatures. So, then, perhaps they do work. They make sure fake things dont hurt them. Sounds religious.


Some people even have little home versions and will periodically (to us, i am sure to them it is a rigorous schedule that they keep to ward off whatever haunts them).

Rice. With a view. This is across the road form our house in Song-Pu.

...this trip turned out to be more of a shopping odyssey than a mountain hiking/beach combing one. We realized that we were short on some very primal necessities and, living in a place where even the most basic necessities are a long trek away, we decided to load up. Foodstuffs, a few clothes, soap, etc. We spent a whole day trekking around the city and a good portion walking along the deserted beach, but then retired to the city to "get to work". We actually found "Canadian Pure Maple Syrup". Who would have thought.