Cassy and I are embroiled in grading 100s of Grade 8 final essays on Fahrenheit 451, so apart from the loads of fun involved (!), it's very time consuming as well. Therefore, this blog will tell a thousand words through pictures!

We went out and about in commercial heaven at the huge SOGO department store after having our favourite meal of Din Tai Feng. Christmas gives everyone a great excuse to decorate excessively and advertise in hyperbole and this edifice is no exception. Cass basked under the glow of a thousand fairy lights and posed next to strangely eye-browed creatures!

My kids in homeroom suggested and organised a "Secret Santa" present exchange and I managed to capture some of their reactions. I made up my classroom for yet another configuration, this time, exams. Cassy has swathed the girls in quilts and bewitched them with boxes in preparation for the winter chills. Our local French cafe is always a good source for weekend lunches and the last shot is one which will rankle with most of my Australian readers. Not only are we offered red-hot internet speeds, but they are cheap and without limits. Oh, and I forgot, you get a free HD monitor as well!

We're off to The Netherlands and Belgium next Thursday, so no blog for a couple of weeks. We've got accommodation booked and the first train only......we're winging it!

There was no howling choir as sled dogs railed against the moon, no snowshoes snarled with grit and ice, and no blinding blizzards to befuddle and disorientate. It was deemed however, according to the citizens of Taipei, officially winter. We know this because when we strolled across to the other end of our city suburb on Saturday night we were greeted not only by Europeanesque window furnishings and outdoor displays, but also by hordes of people of all ages who looked like the vanguard for Mawson's ill-fated trek to Antarctica!

We'd been enjoying a quiet day at home, pottering around, before deciding to catch a movie and a meal out on the town like adults occasionally do! Normally, we'd jump astride Blackie for a spot of scootering across to the movie theatre, but we decided it was such a pleasant, if crisp, afternoon, that we'd stroll across instead. We were prepared for a little cold, as the mercury had plummeted in recent days, but the over-reaction from the general public had to be seen to be believed. Little kiddies resembled miniature Goodyear blimps, they were so layered in puffy jackets, scarves and beanies and the adults were similarly puffed up in their own belief that snow was blowing off the hills (which, of course, it wasn't!)

The European flavour is not confined to the fashion: the window displays and stores along Chung Chen Road are always sophisticated, but their seasonal iterations are a notch above the usual. It was great to walk along in the Christmas crowds, a happy buzz in the air, and buttery light leaking onto the footpath from the storefronts and restaurant signs. We'd been entertained before we even got to the movie!

The remake of "Murder on the Orient Express" was crafted quite professionally, yet Cass was more enamoured of it than was I. Kenneth Branagh couldn't quite channel the incomparable David Suchet in the role of Poirot, (especially with his incessant twirling of a ridiculous waxed moustache) nor could the majestic and sumptuous sets, along with modern drone shots of steaming rail engines cutting through gorges and bursting out of tunnels quite jazz up the story to my taste. However, the shivery whitescapes and icy settings certainly evoked further images of "real" winters...

The recently renovated Spice Shop served up hot, hearty fare for us at the conclusion of the movie, in particular a fish dish from the Tandoor which was perfectly cooked and delicious. We ate quite ravenously owing to our tiny lunches and the cooler temperatures, along with the always tasty Indian fare: always a recipe for a good appetite. On the way home we stopped in at Il Mercato's new patisserie and bought some of their banana bread to take home and compare to Wendel's: (it didn't quite stack up, despite a goodly serving of cinnamon which we like)

We're being swept away by exam preparation and various end-of-year protocols and necessities like report writing to fill up our last two weeks. It's hectic, and we haven't given much thought to our next European adventure, this time for real! I suppose when we board the plane on Thursday week we'll be able to catch our breath and think then. We've both finished the disturbing "Road to Jonestown" and now I'm indulging in some comfort reading with "Y is for Yesterday" by Sue Grafton. It's a delight! Cass is reading Elena Ferrante's The Days of Abandonment. Photos: Out and about by night and day.

Strangely, I didn't take one photo this week, so I'm at a loss as to the general theme of this week's post. I'm going to let thoughts percolate for a while before I get back to you....

After a little thought and tidying up the blog links, I realized to my surprise that this blog has just passed its 15 year anniversary! I'm reticent to look back too much, but I did quickly scan the first few entries that decade and a half ago and it struck home to me how much things have changed in this awesome city.

Back then, we seemed fixated on sourcing "western" style reminders of our previous lives: we were hunting in night markets for DVDs to watch in our spare time, seeking out good restaurants with a semblance of non-traditional food and hanging out in the very rare, early iterations of Taipei's super malls. Along with this, we were starting to take advantage of the beauty exisiting in the natural landscape, taking drives to the beach in our battered shared car and wondering at the awe-inspriirng beauty of Yangminshan National park and beyond.

What's changed, then? Quite a lot! The world itself has moved on and Taipei has been at the forefront of a lot of smart city initiatives. Its share bike system and network of bikeways were groundbreaking years ago and continue to grow and develop. Lightning fast internet optic fibred to every home seems ubiquitous now, but we were just transitioning from clunky dial-up setups back then! I suppose one of the main things that has changed has been our attitude: we're firmly entrenched as residents and fans of all things Taipei now and we find ourselves embracing local quirks rather than railing against them and trying to seek solace in past practices. That said, we certainly do still take advantage of a burgeoning restaurant scene; perhaps it's even outgrown us, as we can't possibly sample all that is on offer in this vibrant, ever-changing and developing space.

Another noticeable lifestyle change is that we're comfortable just "living" in our community these days. Even though we still take advantage of experiences that a huge and exciting Asian city throws up, we don't feel we have to see everything: we're more picky! It's not a matter of being jaded either: we still feel the palpable excitement of a temple festival, get equally revolted and interested in local street food stall ingredients and get swept away by festivals, exhibitions and events. We take more notice these days of the small beauties around us like the Japanese school girls running and chattering alongside their bike riding mum on the way to school in the morning, the Tai-Chi practitioners finishing a session in the local park or the countless expressions of small kindnesses that we witness in the community every day.

We were certainly "comfortable" this weekend and didn't feel the need to venture too far from home! Cass had been up to Rhonda's for her Book Club on Thursday night and a late "school night" meant she wasn't super energetic on the following weekend. I'd had my regular catch-up with Wal and dropped in on a local expat band gig later on Friday, so I was similarly ready for a rest. We took advantage of a lot of our modern "tricks": Fast, reliable internet allows HD uninterrupted streaming, a good VPN hides us from geo-blocking and we enjoyed another weekend of quality cricket from the Aussies in the second test of the Ashes. We also watched a few episodes of a new Netflix TV series, Ozark, which proved to be confronting and shocking and very entertaining!

It's pretty weird reading a few entries from so long ago: we were a little naive and also a little silly! Maybe I'll look back at this post in 15 years time and have similar thoughts...who knows?! Anyway, apologies for the lack of photos, although I did include a video I haven't previously posted: we hiked up to the top of Elephant Mountain in Chinese New Year to take in the spectacular views of Taipei 101 and the Xin Yi eastern district. We're both coming to the final stages of "The Road to Jonestown": it's a massive tome that details every last snippet of information about this nutter and has been very disturbing!

It's a decadent treat to bask in the glow of the Ipad as the first cricket test of the summer unfolds. It's an even more luxurious comfort not to have to worry about work, deadlines or interruptions: it's that time when we give thanks every year to our American overlords!

The annual Thanksgiving holiday started in fine fashion on Wednesday afternoon when the Food Services crew here at school somehow feeds the masses a full meal of turkey and gravy and all the trimmings without a hitch or a glitch. Not only do the hundreds of faculty and staff enjoy the feast: their immediate families are also invited so there are throngs of people of all descriptions, including a runaway of quicksilver toddlers and youngsters!

" The Detentions", the creatively monikered faculty band, was creating a wall of sound and the aforementioned runaway was causing parents to scurry and retrieve all over the place. Despite the general chaos, I had a few beers and a chat to an odd assortment of friends and acquaintances, some of whom I hadn't seen all academic year. Cass, meanwhile, had settled into a much calmer and more leisurely beat down at the famous "Mia Cuccina", where she and her good friend, Kristin, could enjoy a much anticipated old fashioned catch-up. They enjoyed a superb meal and tasty wine and were able to while away the hours in fine style.

It just never gets old to watch the first ball of the first test of the Australian summer, especially an Ashes test! I was like a little boy on Christmas Day, quite fevered with excitement, so much so that I was wide awake and full of kinetic energy at 7.30 a.m. in anticipation of the start at 8. I must admit that I pretty much didn't miss too much after that for the next four days! We managed to schedule other activities and jobs in and around the hours of play and had a most satisfying holiday weekend, while keeping a close eye on proceedings in the cricket. The Australians covered themselves in glory and were able to wrap up the result quite quickly and efficiently this morning, even though the result was in the balance for the best part of three and a half days. We can't wait for the day/night test in Adelaide soon!

Taking advantage of our mid-week leisure time, I met up with other like minded, including Marcus, Shaun and Terry so we could also have a much anticipated, long-awaited catch-up. It was drizzly evening, but we managed to have a great time discussing the latest and greatest (it always amazes me how much time we spend and how very little we actually talk about.....must be a lot of "filler"!). The following day, Cass and I dined at the magnificent Din Tai Feng, Taiwan's own export to the world, and the xiao long bao and dumplings were as exquisite in creation and delicious in taste as we remembered and now expect.

A chance meeting down at the SOGO Uniqlo with Annie and Marcus was good fun and we chatted for ages as the boys ran amok in the fashion displays. It's amazing how quickly the boys are growing: Cass got a shock when she picked up Eli for a cuddle!

The rain continued to worry and bother during the duration of the break, just enough to stop us embarking on any massive journey, yet also sufficient to assuage any guilt we felt in not leaving the house! We did have a fairly firm plan to catch the high speed rail down the west coast to Taichung for two days and a night, but delayed until Friday to see if the weather would co-operate: it didn't, so we stayed put....looks like an adventure for another occasion.

Photos: I forgot to mention that the long weekend began with a "Wellness Day" for the Eighth Grade. We had our homeroom for the entire day with various activities that began with a trip downtown to the bowling alley and culminated in a chicken dance contest! The bowling had to be seen to be believed: I now know why the local alleys don't want us back! Cass managed to sneak up the back for a while and despite the cacophonous din, get a little grading down! The first shot is artifcial grass on a scooter (no, I don't know why!), shots of the bowling and then Wal with a strangely designed place-mat down at Uli's (it's supposed to be half a chef's head but,...well,...!) The boys are growing bigger and we enjoyed a tiny bottle of wine with, of all things, a cork!

There is an obvious and yawning chasm between what is socially acceptable in general society in Taiwan and that which is considered bearable in the parliament, so much so, that the dichotomy in behaviours is stark and shocking. While citizens generally rival the Japanese in their devotion to politeness and friendliness in public spaces, the Taiwanese parliament has long been a source of horrified mirth for world-wide audiences. Debates quite often descend into drag-down full-on fights with men and women punching, scratching and wrestling each other in scenes quite unbecoming to their office. I spied the latest such incident on the local news (photo above) and it was all about minor changes to the hours worked in the regular week...heaven help us if a really contentious issue ever arises.

The school promoted and hosted a "Wellness Convention" on Friday and Saturday, an event in which we were fully immersed whether we liked it or not! The faculty, parents and high school students were all encouraged to participate to address the need for a balance of life and not a sole dedication to work and a pursuit of academic excellence at all costs. There were many high profile and keynote speakers from around the world (mostly from the U.S., but there was one guy from Australia!), who explained and advised on various wellness topics. There were lectures on adolescent development, breakout sessions on sleep and aromatherapy and hands-on workshops on mindfulness and yoga and anything you can imagine in between......there was even a mass drum circle beating out the message at lunchtime!

Exhausted from all this wellness, we took a pretty old-school approach to our own version of wellness on the weekend: mainly sleeping in, eating decadent treats and hard-charging some nature in vigorous exercise in the rain!

We did our various jobs on Saturday, such as grocery shopping at a few different venues, but we did, however, get the walking shoes on to do it, as the temperature dial swung back from "roasting" down to a relatively benign "pleasant" for the first time in quite a while. The temple park across the river was having trees transplanted by huffing diggers and the air was heavy with the scent of dirt and roots. Jobs completed, we settled in to enjoy the tinkling patter of rain dropping on the corrugated roofs below as we watched some TV in the waning afternoon/evening light.

The intimidating Tienmu Gudao serenaded with her siren call on Sunday morning, so we braved the spitting and tremulous skies to challenge the steps yet again. Cass felt her ankle had adequately healed to face the possibly perilous and slippery conditions, so we set off armed with a bottle of water each and steel in our resolve! The fallen leaves and runoff combined to form a skiddy slurry on many steps, so we needed to tread carefully on the way up. We nearly had a heart attack when fast moving, furry brown creatures disturbed the undergrowth from a bamboo copse, and hurtled straight toward us: luckily, instead of a Macaque attack, two stray cats burst onto the path and jettisoned themselves ever upward, hissing and caterwauling our fears away!

The hike was enervating, yet mercifully cooler than usual as the temperature had dropped yet again from the day before, and the misting rain was refreshing rather than annoying. We spied a long, juicy worm with a head shaped like a hammer, and some beautiful red flowers folded against the wind and rain. The ancient, brawny bulk of the Japanese-era water pipes that navigate beside the trail are covered in algae and moss, and the bamboo stalks that drape over the path are like something from a panda picture book. There is always a rich palette and a changing one, no matter how many times we visit.

We're both still ploughing through "The Road to Jonestown"...that guy was a real nutcase! Speaking of which, and eerily segued (the author of "...Jonestown" also wrote a comprehensive expose on Manson which I read), the infamous 60's murderer Charles Manson died just an hour ago. I've been quite fascinated with this nutter since reading "Helter Skeltor" years ago: I'll miss him! Photos: Parliamentary mayhem, wellness banners and a drum circle, shots from the steps.

I've described the tearing of various vital components of my shoulder in a previous post, so I won't go into the details again here. Suffice to say, the damage done by an escaping kayak on the middle school camp and my lunging efforts to retrieve it are still reverberating. I was lucky that I mentioned it to Shaun a couple of weeks back as he got me in to see "his guy", a difficult feat, as this in-high-demand sports massager has now closed his books to new customers!

I scootered up to Tienmu West Road on Friday evening for my appointment and Allen, with faultless English, quizzed me about the origins of the injury and the subsequent pain and/or movement. After we established a few base parameters he proceeded to knead and manipulate all the muscles in my shoulder to free up the joint. He was careful and patient, but still managed to really get "stuck in". I've got some deep tissue bruising from the work he did, but I hope it will recover before my next session later this week.

We hadn't experienced the gourmet bespoke burgers from Burger Ray for some time, so on Saturday afternoon/evening, we decided it was about time. They were as delicious as ever, probably more so as absence has made the heart grow fonder! One slight flaw in the ordering process was the fact they didn't have any fries on the day! I couldn't quite figure out why, but regardless, thought that this situation just wasn't natural!

I hadn't darkened the doorstep of McDonald's since a late night snack with the groom at Wal's wedding three years ago, so it was a bit weird to zip in there this time on a mission for fries. The 24 hour Maccas on the big intersection in Shilin was on one of my possible routes home, so I braved the crowds and stood in line for my two bags of chips. There were kids everywhere, careening around the ordering area like ten-pin bowling bowls. I have to admire that McDonalds serving culture: despite the chaos and the vast crowd, they were super efficient and got me my product in good time. Despite our misgivings about supporting this multi-national monster, those super fresh fries were super delicious!

Armed with hats and sunscreen and dressed in our daggiest wandering/biking gear, we trained down to Da'an Forest Park on Sunday to get a little Youbikin' done! The wander through the neighbourhood to the train station was pleasant in the dappled sunlight and we even managed to score a seat for part of our trip once we'd boarded and travelled half-way down. After the re-configuring of our local MRT, we can now reach the Xin Yi district of the city without changing trains, and we made the most of it by visiting this Central Park-like oasis in the middle of the new south eastern hub of the city. I've got an improved app that is linked in real-time to all the Youbike stations in Taipei, so we scanned it before disembarking to find the Youbike station most heavily laden with vehicles from which to select.

After disengaging the bikes from their lock stands, we circumnavigated the huge park. We hadn't realized we couldn't actually bike through the park: this was a bit of a bummer, but the ride around was good fun. After the circuit, we docked at a station just opposite the artists' corner and famous flower market so of course, we had to take a peak!

A brace of city blocks under the expressway near Xin Yi Road houses a car-park through the week, but it is transformed each weekend into a flourishing, green and perfumed urban forest. The time and effort to set up and take down these exhibits each week is almost beyond belief: some of the mature trees must need a mini-crane to get them in place and the paintings in the artists' corner must take countless hours to hang. It's always quite mind blowing to witness the scale and enormity of the operation. It never ceases to amaze us how much can be achieved when there is a seething population to support business ventures: even at low margins, all these stallkeepers must turn a profit....otherwise they wouldn't keep coming back.

We ate a snacky lunch before heading back on the train to our little northern suburb haven and two forever sleeping cats! It was a great, relaxing weekend amplified by our little adventure to a seldom visited section of the city and some fun sights along the way. As indicated in photos above, we spied some Taiwan Beer 6 packs being advertised by famous Taiwanese rockers, Mayday. One of my mates here wants us to collect little stickers for him from 7/11: you can see the Star Wars toaster, along with the toast burnt with Star Wars' emblems.....highly desired apparently! Our local river turtles, newly painted mural and shots from Youbiking and the Flower Market. We're both now reading "The Road to Jonestown" by Jeff Guinn....what a trip!

Gasp inducing anecdotes from the bad old days on Taipei's streets have been related to us on the odd occasion. When we're tempted to think that we're veterans of the Taiwanese expat community, we're brought back to earth by someone more "senior", sometimes by decades! This always tends to amplify the benefits of living in this wonderful safe, modern city these days and also makes us realise how much even we've seen change.

Not long before we arrived in Taiwan, the local government authorities had a fairly "basic" approach to garbage collection and it wasn't uncommon for most street corners to have steaming mountains of putrefying filth attracting vermin and disease for indeterminate periods, before a languid city truck deigned to clean it all up. Fast forward a couple of decades and not only is the city clean and fresh, but Taipei is leading the world in garbage collection and more importantly, recycling. We have days dedicated to flat plastic, other plastic, styrofoam, steel and aluminium, and daily collections of food scraps, some for pig swill and some for compost!

It was into this almost pristine environment we strode, our mission to collect garbage and clean up various public spaces within the general vicinity of the school. The Grade 8 Community Day is a long-running tradition and used to garner some great loads of trash and really make a difference for a day or two. Trouble is, that as the years roll on, everyone is sooo terribly responsible and citizenly, that there is almost nothing to collect: some larks even suggested that the school needed to go out overnight and, in a clandestine fashion, seed the parks with some trash for the kids to collect the next day!

Despite expectations, there is always the odd dog poo or disintegrating piece of plastic hidden under clumps of bushes where the regular city cleaners don't venture. We completed our missions, and spent the rest of the day watching uplifting videos and discussing the merits of giving back to individuals and communities and setting the kids up to embark on their own individual community service projects.

We took advantage of the glistening edifice that dominates our little village area when we dined at Din Tai Fung for the first time in a while. Being quite hungry by the time we wandered down fairly late in proceedings and enduring a 20 minute wait in line, the offerings were judged to be even more exquisite than usual! I downloaded an app which keeps us up to date on the wait times, so we can wander around the store in the future as we wait for our spot. Cass did a quick reccy in Uniqlo but didn't see anything tempting to buy and we shopped for a few gourmet food items while we were in the SOGO building.

It's anathema for me to enter school grounds on the weekend, but I had to join my colleagues to grade some external test papers on Saturday afternoon, despite my misgivings about breaking a long-standing "rule"! I've got a ton of grading to do in the next couple of weeks and this blog writing is just the first step of my procrastination! The tests keep on coming, but once I do the arduous part (the writing samples), the rest is relatively straight forward, if time consuming.

The weather has partly turned here at last and we're enjoying some warm to cool days and nights. Despite that, we're both reading "The Dry" at the moment and Jane Harper's descriptions of a long hot Aussie drought almost bring a sheen of sweat to the brow, they're so evocative and succinctly wrought. Photos are rather sparse today....some of the clean-up crew ready to embark (you can spy Cassy in the far left of the first photo: she has a white shirt), Youbikes and Din Tai Fung.