Flickr: Testing out a new media

Ok, so the pictures are eating us so much space here, we decided to attempt a new way of sharing them. Please welcome to the fray: Flickr.

We will try it, learn as we go, and hope that they express the beauty and adventures aptly as we make our way through the days here in Taiwan.

Here are some nature sets:

1) Butterflies from the nature area at Chun-Ri elementary school

2) Birds from Song-Pu elementary school

3) Celestial neighbour in the morning

*Click on the "Slideshow" icon for largified views when you get to Flickr, for those of you (us) who are new to it!

Or is photobucket more applicable to these purposes? Or both? Or neither? We are still poking around with these modes of dumping pics, but time will tell. Thoughts?

Yushan National Park: Walami Trail

This last weekend we took a trip to Yushan National Park and the famed Walami Trail. It is famed by those who have actually been there, but not overly known (and thus not very well used) by the general population. So, it is a very excellent place to explore, and during this trip we saw many species that are normally hidden from view (see post below).

We took a trip to the park and the trailhead on our new scooter, and set out on our way. As usual, click on the picture to make it larger.

Trailhead sign (compare to the same sign and a slight change that was made while we were on the trail).

Above: Pics of the first bridge that we encountered, one of many along the way.

Um...where else would one choose to walk when encountering a cliff?

Trevor, choosing to walk on the inside this time.

Bee-yew-tea-full, above and below.

Above and Below: Yet to be identified insects that we saw, easily, along the trail. These were about the length of my thumb (the red one is alive and quite active, the lower one was, unfortunately, found deceased).

Elephant ear, close up.

Crystal testing out the umbrella like properties of the Elephant Ear plant; this was the traditional useage of this plant, and it is everywhere. Umbrellas for all!

The trail had a small assortment of overflowing rivers, and within these, on the trail, were these freshwater crabs. Try to find it in the picture below.

Trevor taking a break along the trail, cooling off in the water.

Crystal taking a snack break.

Chinese walnut that were very common along the trail, before and after.

Above and Below: The view from the trail. This is the Central Mountain Range - the very foothills of it - and on a clear day you can see the Coastal Mountain Range in the distance.

More insect beauty.

On the cliff, basking in the heat and happiness of the mountains.

Soooo......while you were gone we closed the trail....oops.

Just too hot....

...so the hair had to go.

The rest had to go too, dont worry!

Moon Festival Evening: Coffee and a Moon Cake!

Digging in to the festivities with a cuppa joe and a tastey (well, ok....a few too many!!) Moon Cake to celebrate the Moon Festival.

...and our new scooter!

Walami Hiking Trail Panorama

The gorgeous view along the Walami trail in YuShan (Jade Mountain) National Park.

Formosan Macaque

I seemed to cause a fair bit of disturbance to this troop as I seepishly scrambled a wee bit off the trail (sheepish, because these lurk in them forests). But, I snagged a video of them walking about.

Moon Festival / Mid Autumn Festival

The time of year is upon us over here where we take time to give thanks to the moon...and to eat pomelos and moon cakes. The history is highly interesting and highly muddled, but it goes something like this:

Many moons ago, literally, the Mongolians ruled - occupied - China. The Chinese peasants were controlled in every act and in every activity. Their lives were controlled by a, reportedly, hostile and fervent rule. The only way to confront the Mongolian rule was to revolt, but the Mongolians were so numerous, so powerful and so violent that it was a hard event to organize. So, in liu of any potential to actually hold public demonstrations, awareness campaigns, etc, the Chinese decided to do it in a much more circumnavigational way - Moon Cakes.

The Mongolians knew that the Chinese liked to make a certain kind of pastry, but thought it much too "Chinese" and below them to actually eat, so they brushed it off as food for the slaves, not for the rulers. The peasants used this to their advantage; they made batches upon batches of moon cakes, and inside - knowing that no good Mongolian soldier would dare lower himself to eat one - was written a message on piece of paper. This is where the history gets clouded, but the main line of thought is that the paper had on it a description of what was to occur (a revolution, a violent uprising to take back China) and a date. The most probable date for peasants without any technology would be the brightest day of the year. This would have been the first full moon of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. So, moon cakes were made, and the Chinese made special arrangements with the Mongolian soldiers to share these cakes as they were the one piece of their culture that was important to them - so they said. The Mongolian soliers allowed them to share their cakes, and they spread them around the entire region. Everybody got wind of the revolution - every Chinese - but no Mongolian. Then, on what we now celebrate as the Moon Festival, on the same full moon of the same lunar month, the revolution took place, and China was reportedly granted sovereignty once again.

So now, we eat moon cakes to honour that day and that method, and we eat pomelos because....they are in season. And people eat - and give - a lot. A whack load. Especially as a teacher, pomelos and mooncakes are filling fridges around China and Taiwan.

There is a myth that goes along with this historical event, but it is too tooth fairy like to deal with. A man cutting a tree on the moon, a white rabbit churning out immortality potion, a wicked woman on the moon, a man living in the sun....

So happy Moon Festival. We will be celebrating by taking a, hopefully, epic hike along the Walami Trail tomorrow and returning home to bbq on the street with our neighbours...and eat moon cakes and pomelos. Lots of them.

And sunday.....recovery.

My ode to the moon of next week. The full moon is gorgeous, but any astronomer with their salt would tell you that lunar observation is best at any phase other than full, so on this day when the full moon gets all the attention, I pay homage to the forgotten phase :)

This is nothing compared to what we have accumulated in the last week. We have eaten at least one pomelo a dayfor two weeks, all of which have been gifts to us, and there are two more boxes of moon cakes not pictured that are secured under our desk (out of sight!), a few more in the fridge and a few here and there that made it into our stomachs. All gifts - the ones in the far back, that look home made, are home made by the sister of our frid and co-worker. The rest are specialty items from special region of Taiwan (one of them is actually famous within Asia....not sure which . Ill tell you later once they are all safely ingested.

ABOVE and BELOW: Our pre-moon festival celebration in RueiSuei tonight. Dinner at a Hot Pot restaurant and a few bevy's at what has become out local hangout.