Another shot of our hiking adventure last week. This was about half way down from the top of the mountain and the stairs behind are made of large slabs of stone wedged into the hill
Monday, September 27, 2004
Virg'n Mary are revelling in having us home for this long weekend. The weather has just cooled a touch, enough to make them want to share the "octagon" and you can see that they're very relaxed. It's continued to rain off and on for the last three days so we haven't done a lot, but I went for a surf on Saturday before going up to Clarky's on the way back to watch the AFL and NRL finals, which were on live. We didn't get home till 10.30 that night so you can only imagine the high jinks that ensued in between! I'm preparing to host a similar event next Sunday for the NRL grand final, with a borrowed data projector from school for the big screen effect on one wall. Should be a good show, but as it is a "school night" I don't think quite as much beer will be consumed.
Ross and I went out early this morning at 6 to get a few typhoon waves at the Pillbox, but were disappointed to get some half size mushy stuff that wasn't very satisfying at all. We contended with an amazing amount of rubbish both on the shore and in the water(see picture) and the water was a filthy mix of rubbish and mud. Surfing in Taiwan is certainly very different!
Cass and I plan to catch the MRT towards Tamshui this evening and drop off at Peitou to the Royal Host for tea. We had planned to go to Cafe India round the corner, but because we didn't do much today, we've decided on this mini adventure.
Apparently in the huge downpour in Newcastle recently our storage area was flooded and more importantly, all our boxes got wet before the pumps could get the water down again. Chris and Val and my mum now have the unenviable task of salvaging, cleaning etc, but we're concerned about our good books and irreplaceables like wedding photos. We'll wait for the verdict. We've just applied for a platinum visa card here too, which has all sorts of swishoo benefits which we can use, including access to many business class lounges at airports. Our silver status with Cathay may be about to run out, so that will be a welcome addition. We've just booked our first frequent flyer redemption tickets too so, next June we'll fly for free back to Australia and back. It's amazing how quickly these points rack up and the new card has a feature where points can be accrued on it as well, so we'll be using it for nearly everything from now on.
Friday, September 24, 2004
Ross and Ains and light sticks
Here's an innovation! We're able to post some image files to the blog now, so what better time than a few shots of the festivities here last night in Taipei. As reported in the last blog we made our way to see Elton John down at Yuanshan football stadium and were treated to a fantastic concert Taipei style. We were inserted into the stadium surrounds in an almost surgical fashion by the ever-efficient MRT and endured a snaking queue for only 30 minutes or so as just one entrance was open. The rain was alternating between the finest of mists and occasional heavy dumps and we were delighted to find that, just by chance, the section we had been allocated was the only one with a roof. While the fancy pants who paid $300 a ticket got soaked to the skin we were high and dry, reveling in an excellent view of stage and screen. Big Elton caused a real stir here by offending nearly everyone when he got off the plane to be met by an aggressive media scrum by letting fly with a string of expletives. He apologized to the audience after the first couple of songs.
EJ was the true professional and even though he struggled a bit with the upper registers of some songs, his backup singers filled the breach magnificently. He played all the hits and had even the usually sedate Taipei crowd up singin' and dancin' to Saturday Night and Crocodile Rock in the second hour. When he was just starting the final chorus to Rocket Man a low flying passenger jet thundered straight above the stadium as others had done with frequency throughout the show. He had a good laugh about that before continuing. Chad had smuggled in what seemed like about 100 beers and kept rolling them across to Ross and me, getting us pretty primed up and waving our amazing light sticks with 5 different pulse settings! Only in Taipei.
The whole night was quite surreal. We were sitting high in the stands of an ornate soccer stadium of faded glory and the fiery glow of the Grand Palace hotel blinked above the stands. Passenger jets were screaming across a night sky lit by thousands of bustling commuters' cars and neon draped shop fronts. Away and beyond Elton's stage we could see kanji emblazoned buildings and within the stadium a great sea of bodies and faces, with what seemed like every foreigner in Taipei joining the locals in what was a unique spectacular. We were whisked away home again by the MRT and walked the short trip home, only 15 minutes between the last strains of song and the key unlocking the door. We both felt pretty wasted at school today, me especially (I don't know if the beers had anything to do with that!) and we're looking forward to our 4 day break.
Monday, September 20, 2004
Surf flat as an ironing board, beautiful sunny day with skies that are so rare in Taipei: clear and crisp, showing the clarity of the horizon so clearly it seems that usually we must be squinting through smudged glasses. So, how to take advantage of this rare weather? We decided to go back to our old scooter riding adventures and head up to an (as it happens, elusive) waterfall area in the hinterland of the National Palace. On the way we zipped past the hustle and bustle of the Museum and wended our way ever higher into the mountains. We passed big shelter sheds where the quaint custom of fishing for prawns takes place. As we flashed by (wishful thinking: “Blackie” the scooter was labouring up the hill allowing us a slow view of proceedings!) we could see people squatting on plastic chairs surrounding a large pool, presumably writhing with loads of prawns, with little fishing lines and nets. Hopefully they got to eat them afterwards!
Ever higher into the mountains, the road began to curve back and forth to defeat the gradient a little and you could almost hear those old banjos twangin’ (or the Taiwanese equivalent) In fact, we took a wrong turn at some point and as the road went higher and higher, it narrowed as well, almost as if it was signaling the squeezing out of every drop of city life as it snaked uphill. We arrived at a dead end where a couple of wizened men were chewing some beetle nut and threading some kind of rope. We made a hasty U-turn and continued on. It was great actually to go through little hamlets and pockets of rainforest and national park that we’d never traveled before. We eventually made it to Buffalo Meadows and set our sights on the pagoda viewing platform which was so high up from our starting point that it looked like a little doll’s house pagoda, ant like humans puffing their way up the path to it as it was occasionally dusted with passing cloud. It was a good hike up and although the path was well made with stone steps, the slope was so steep; each step took some effort so that when we reached the top we were sweating and puffing. The trail had no barriers and if we lost our footing, sheer drops fell away at many points. At the top we were amazed to see a thin concrete service road, which must have had its origins at a less steep part of the mountain. Judging by the numbers of geriatric walkers, it must come in handy for ambulances from time to time!
Feeling very pleased with ourselves, we opted not to attempt the higher peak of Mt Cisang, which was tantalizing close to our pagoda (just another 1.5 km straight up!) as we had to get home to watch the football semi on live at 1.30 our time. We had made an aborted attempt on the southern face of Mt Cisang last year, when moss and water combined with slippery footwear saw us abandon that effort in sight of the peak. Oh well, another time. Carefully picking our way down we were amazed to see 3 creatures of various wonder. First, a super sized stripey gecko, almost of frilled neck lizard proportions crossed our path. A little later the most amazing lizards with an electric blue tail darted away as we approached. Lastly, and I’m very thankful I didn’t see it, a long, thin brown snake slithered along the path next to Cassy and disappeared into the grass.
The scooter seemed to drop forever into the Taipei city bowl from our very lofty height and each turn and drop increased the temperature a notch, until, before we knew it, we were dodging traffic again, breathing fumes and sweltering in the heat down in our little world. We watched the footy after the excitement of the Cowboys winning the night before and while excited about the next two weeks of big games, we’re just starting to get that niggling feeling I always experienced back home. The “hiatus” didn’t last long in Australia before the cricket started, but here, the start of the footy season next year seems a long, long way away.
We’re off to see Elton John on Thursday night, which should be a hoot, Taipei style and we’re looking forward to a long weekend next weekend, Monday and Tuesday off for a “Fall Break”, which I think sounds a little dangerous, but apparently it means it just happens in autumn!
Ever higher into the mountains, the road began to curve back and forth to defeat the gradient a little and you could almost hear those old banjos twangin’ (or the Taiwanese equivalent) In fact, we took a wrong turn at some point and as the road went higher and higher, it narrowed as well, almost as if it was signaling the squeezing out of every drop of city life as it snaked uphill. We arrived at a dead end where a couple of wizened men were chewing some beetle nut and threading some kind of rope. We made a hasty U-turn and continued on. It was great actually to go through little hamlets and pockets of rainforest and national park that we’d never traveled before. We eventually made it to Buffalo Meadows and set our sights on the pagoda viewing platform which was so high up from our starting point that it looked like a little doll’s house pagoda, ant like humans puffing their way up the path to it as it was occasionally dusted with passing cloud. It was a good hike up and although the path was well made with stone steps, the slope was so steep; each step took some effort so that when we reached the top we were sweating and puffing. The trail had no barriers and if we lost our footing, sheer drops fell away at many points. At the top we were amazed to see a thin concrete service road, which must have had its origins at a less steep part of the mountain. Judging by the numbers of geriatric walkers, it must come in handy for ambulances from time to time!
Feeling very pleased with ourselves, we opted not to attempt the higher peak of Mt Cisang, which was tantalizing close to our pagoda (just another 1.5 km straight up!) as we had to get home to watch the football semi on live at 1.30 our time. We had made an aborted attempt on the southern face of Mt Cisang last year, when moss and water combined with slippery footwear saw us abandon that effort in sight of the peak. Oh well, another time. Carefully picking our way down we were amazed to see 3 creatures of various wonder. First, a super sized stripey gecko, almost of frilled neck lizard proportions crossed our path. A little later the most amazing lizards with an electric blue tail darted away as we approached. Lastly, and I’m very thankful I didn’t see it, a long, thin brown snake slithered along the path next to Cassy and disappeared into the grass.
The scooter seemed to drop forever into the Taipei city bowl from our very lofty height and each turn and drop increased the temperature a notch, until, before we knew it, we were dodging traffic again, breathing fumes and sweltering in the heat down in our little world. We watched the footy after the excitement of the Cowboys winning the night before and while excited about the next two weeks of big games, we’re just starting to get that niggling feeling I always experienced back home. The “hiatus” didn’t last long in Australia before the cricket started, but here, the start of the footy season next year seems a long, long way away.
We’re off to see Elton John on Thursday night, which should be a hoot, Taipei style and we’re looking forward to a long weekend next weekend, Monday and Tuesday off for a “Fall Break”, which I think sounds a little dangerous, but apparently it means it just happens in autumn!
Monday, September 13, 2004
I’m sitting here bopping away to a bit of Powderfinger on my first burnt CD on the new computer system. It’s so quick and easy, I think I can wait for the iPod a little bit longer. On the weekend I also burnt my first DVD, making Ross a copy of the NZ movie “Heavenly Creatures” which worked perfectly well, but I only had a single layer disc which meant that in playback, you can’t remove the subtitles. These were just an experiment but it seems that all is working well and I’ll be able to refine my process with a bit more experimentation. I collected the computer after my Masters class on Saturday(yes, all day from 8 till 5!) and by Sunday night had pretty much loaded everything back on including address book, favorites, various media players, bought and downloaded some anti-virus software and got my colours and settings all set up. It has two interesting bands of blue light on the front panel when it is on, so Cass has already dubbed it the “disco” computer!
This week has seen more parent nights and each night I have been at my course till 8 o’clock, so between work and study, there’s been precious little time for anything else. My course is on learning styles and the lecturer was previously a dancer in New York, so to say that kinesthetic learning style has been getting a workout is a huge understatement. We’ve been throwing sound balls, slap passing, singing and dancing: it’s really been quite bizarre. As well as this week’s lectures, we have been assigned 3 projects to complete before November, one of which has to be between 10 and 25 pages. Who said this was going to be easy?! I suppose I have to look at the slightly bright side: after completing these papers and doing a two day workshop this Friday and Saturday, I’ll have the grand total of 7 credit points, just 33 to go!
We have been getting all the semis in the football live or on minor delay, and that includes the AFL. It really is such a difference to just 3 years ago, when we were lucky if they’d play the grand final and then only with Chinese commentary. We’re very spoilt here at the moment…we just hope it will all continue. Another bit of news is that Jason’s marketplace, the fine food supermarket with a plethora of Aussie and other nationality’s delights is going to open a branch in the basement of Takashimaya department store, right here in Tienmu. This will be fantastic, although it might rule out one of our adventures: riding the scooter like madmen from the 101 building, freezer bag packed with ice and pies, in order to get them home before they de-frost.
Apart from another all Saturday workshop, this week should be a lot calmer than last. Cass continues to be very impressed with her colleague, Kristin, it is making her job so much easier. Virg’n Mary have recovered fully from their surgical traumas and also the anesthetic which slowed them down for a long time. They’re certainly back to their rampaging best now, tearing around the apartment at times, attacking toys or each other. They have imprinted on Cassy to the extent that they just follow her around like little dogs and often curl up on her lap while we’re watching telly. We’ve had a merciful “cold” snap in the last few days: it’s been raining heavily and the temperature has dropped so that we haven’t had the air conditioner on. I don’t know how long this will last; after all, it is still about 30 degrees!
Answer from last week's question: Elton John
This week has seen more parent nights and each night I have been at my course till 8 o’clock, so between work and study, there’s been precious little time for anything else. My course is on learning styles and the lecturer was previously a dancer in New York, so to say that kinesthetic learning style has been getting a workout is a huge understatement. We’ve been throwing sound balls, slap passing, singing and dancing: it’s really been quite bizarre. As well as this week’s lectures, we have been assigned 3 projects to complete before November, one of which has to be between 10 and 25 pages. Who said this was going to be easy?! I suppose I have to look at the slightly bright side: after completing these papers and doing a two day workshop this Friday and Saturday, I’ll have the grand total of 7 credit points, just 33 to go!
We have been getting all the semis in the football live or on minor delay, and that includes the AFL. It really is such a difference to just 3 years ago, when we were lucky if they’d play the grand final and then only with Chinese commentary. We’re very spoilt here at the moment…we just hope it will all continue. Another bit of news is that Jason’s marketplace, the fine food supermarket with a plethora of Aussie and other nationality’s delights is going to open a branch in the basement of Takashimaya department store, right here in Tienmu. This will be fantastic, although it might rule out one of our adventures: riding the scooter like madmen from the 101 building, freezer bag packed with ice and pies, in order to get them home before they de-frost.
Apart from another all Saturday workshop, this week should be a lot calmer than last. Cass continues to be very impressed with her colleague, Kristin, it is making her job so much easier. Virg’n Mary have recovered fully from their surgical traumas and also the anesthetic which slowed them down for a long time. They’re certainly back to their rampaging best now, tearing around the apartment at times, attacking toys or each other. They have imprinted on Cassy to the extent that they just follow her around like little dogs and often curl up on her lap while we’re watching telly. We’ve had a merciful “cold” snap in the last few days: it’s been raining heavily and the temperature has dropped so that we haven’t had the air conditioner on. I don’t know how long this will last; after all, it is still about 30 degrees!
Answer from last week's question: Elton John
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
No matter how many times you prepare for an event like open house/parent night (and I don’t like to count how many times we’ve done it now!) it’s always a nerve-wracking experience. Cass handled her night with aplomb as usual and my ESL night seemed to be very successful. I’m off to show my face at the 3rd grade open house tonight after getting an early mark from my next installment of study. I began the first subject of my Masters in Science through the University of New York last night and although it was only 3 hours, it seemed to drag forever. I have every night this week plus 8 till 5 on Saturday, before an online component kicks in which will last another 4-6 weeks. All this for 3 credit points. One of my smart mouthed mates was wondering at my “thirst for knowledge” but I quickly corrected him to a “thirst for credit points”!
A super typhoon was lurking off the eastern coast of Taiwan over the weekend and was threatening to close the school again yesterday. Luckily, it veered to the north. Normally we wouldn’t be averse to missing another day of work, but with lessons meant to be posted on the online classroom and the looming prospect of having to do a “makeup” day in the autumn break, we really didn’t want it to hit. We were also expecting some great surf action, but it failed to materialize, leaving a sloppy, churning kind of surf, promising plenty but ultimately delivering precious little in terms of rideable waves. Ironically, just when neither Ross nor I can take advantage of it due to our course, the surf seems to be pumping today, if the murky images on the Jinshan webcam can be trusted.
I’m signed up for a weekend workshop the weekend after next again as there is another credit point on offer, so things might be pretty dull here for a while yet.
Cass and I decided to forgo a trip to the movies this weekend as there wasn’t much on offer, only “The Terminal” with Tom Hanks. I did notice that Hollywood has re-made one of my all time favorite Japanese movies starring Richard Gere this time. It’s called “Shall We Dance”, and if it is half as good as the original it will be well worth seeing.
My big news this week is that I have ordered a new tower for the computer. It is loaded with a huge hard drive (80 GB) and heaps of RAM as well as the fastest DVD burner that is currently available. I’ve borrowed some Windows XP and the latest version of Office to go on as well, so it should be just ticketiboo. I originally went down just to get a CD burner installed to cope with my new digital camera’s offerings, but was told that the tower’s antiquated specs could not support even this. Cass is pretty ambivalent about the whole deal, but I think she is glad I spent the money on the computer upgrade rather than a new iPod which I was threatening to buy through the week!!
Only a short one today as I’m tapping away here at work and have study all week, but I’d like to leave with another little teaser. We have bought tickets to a concert to be held at the soccer Hippodrome near Yuanshan MRT station (Mum and Xris and Val: just before the line goes underground a few stops from Mingde). The artist is an “oldie” and plays the piano pretty well………..any guesses? More next time!
A super typhoon was lurking off the eastern coast of Taiwan over the weekend and was threatening to close the school again yesterday. Luckily, it veered to the north. Normally we wouldn’t be averse to missing another day of work, but with lessons meant to be posted on the online classroom and the looming prospect of having to do a “makeup” day in the autumn break, we really didn’t want it to hit. We were also expecting some great surf action, but it failed to materialize, leaving a sloppy, churning kind of surf, promising plenty but ultimately delivering precious little in terms of rideable waves. Ironically, just when neither Ross nor I can take advantage of it due to our course, the surf seems to be pumping today, if the murky images on the Jinshan webcam can be trusted.
I’m signed up for a weekend workshop the weekend after next again as there is another credit point on offer, so things might be pretty dull here for a while yet.
Cass and I decided to forgo a trip to the movies this weekend as there wasn’t much on offer, only “The Terminal” with Tom Hanks. I did notice that Hollywood has re-made one of my all time favorite Japanese movies starring Richard Gere this time. It’s called “Shall We Dance”, and if it is half as good as the original it will be well worth seeing.
My big news this week is that I have ordered a new tower for the computer. It is loaded with a huge hard drive (80 GB) and heaps of RAM as well as the fastest DVD burner that is currently available. I’ve borrowed some Windows XP and the latest version of Office to go on as well, so it should be just ticketiboo. I originally went down just to get a CD burner installed to cope with my new digital camera’s offerings, but was told that the tower’s antiquated specs could not support even this. Cass is pretty ambivalent about the whole deal, but I think she is glad I spent the money on the computer upgrade rather than a new iPod which I was threatening to buy through the week!!
Only a short one today as I’m tapping away here at work and have study all week, but I’d like to leave with another little teaser. We have bought tickets to a concert to be held at the soccer Hippodrome near Yuanshan MRT station (Mum and Xris and Val: just before the line goes underground a few stops from Mingde). The artist is an “oldie” and plays the piano pretty well………..any guesses? More next time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)