iSkin and iTravel hooked up! 

two on board 

shipping coals to Newcastle?

You’d think that 4 days would be enough to re-charge the batteries and be ready to face just three more weeks wouldn’t you? Well the reality is not quite that for me as the piercing early morning cries of Virg’n Mary manage to wake me up at 6.30 am no matter what time I go to bed. For some reason the exact note necessary to wrench me from a deep sleep or a REM moment can be perfectly vocalized by our two little furry companions. Apart from that one small drawback, we’ve had a great 4-day break.

On Thursday, Chad and Cathy decided to lay low this year, so we didn’t head to their place for Thanksgiving lunch. In stead, we had our usual ponderous weekend breakfast, quite decadent for a Thursday I decided (!), and raced down to the Shin Shin for a showing of “Cellular”. It was quite entertaining and it was refreshing to see a bit of new talent on the screen doing a good job, instead of dusting off Brad, Tom (Cruise or Hanks, take your pick) or some other ubiquitous Hollywood hero for another outing. As it was a weekday and early, we finally got in to our favored restaurant, Grazie, down there and enjoyed some wood fired pizzas and good coffee. We’d had many disappointments here, preferring not to queue up to get in on the weekend: it kind of takes all the pleasure away, don’t you think?
We then scootered down to the computer market, where I haggled just a bit and bought myself a new toy: a 20gb iPod! Suffice to say, the remainder of the day (and come to think of it, right up to now, pretty much!) was occupied charging pods, downloading songs, reading instructions etc. Cass, of course, is absolutely over the moon with this purchase and can see how I just HAD to have it and that it is, in fact, a necessity of life. She has willingly embraced all the hi-tech features of the pod and is just as ecstatic with it as I am (oh, I’ve just woken from a pleasant dream I was having). I do think, in all seriousness that Cassy has seen it is a very clever machine although I don’t know if she’s quite the right love in her heart!

Friday morning saw Ross and I attempt the great eastern seaboard run, leaving at 6am to link up with the aforementioned labyrinth of link ramps to expressway 1 before hurtling down there and taking a few fancy shortcuts which we worked out from the map to arrive bright, early and refreshed at the famed east coast beach of Dashi, or Honeymoon Bay. As you can probably guess, it didn’t quite work out the way we had planned! The expressway was great, but we got lost a couple of times finding the shortcut and when we did, the little line on the map didn’t quite match the narrow winding road up an amazingly tall mountain, mist and rain threatening our vision of precipitous cliffs and edges dropping away into murky valleys. After we got through this, we encountered a coast “highway” full of lumbering trucks and road gangs holding up the traffic. However, two hours later we arrived I the tiny town to gat our first glimpse of Dashi waves through heavy sea mist. We admired the local’s determination in always crossing the jagged rocky shoreline to enter the surf and managed to get a few little nicks and knocks on our way out. The swell was pretty solid and big booming lefts were pealing away in front of a little temple before closing out and smashing onto a shoreline of ugly big boulders. We were both a little tentative but managed to get a few waves before some near death experiences with the rocks and a deep chill brought on by our lack of wetsuits saw us call it a day. When we got out, we looked about 400 metres further down the coast to see a familiar sight that was just starting to peek through the lifting haze: is that the bridge and waves and black sandy beach we can see on the web cam? We had been surfing the wrong spot! After all that travel, we just had to go out again in the “real thing” so after stuffing our boards through windows and boot we chugged down the road to the main beach. It was pretty windswept and a howling offshore not only didn’t seem to smooth the water, but succeeded in blinding us with spray with every wave we took off on. After both entering the beginning stages of hypothermia, we decided to call it a day and an even longer drive home dumped us back in Tienmu at 3pm.

Cass went out for lunch to Pizza Rialto with Kristin and her baby on Friday afternoon and they did some minor clothes shopping on the way back. From all reports the company was great, the food delicious and the purchases excellent. Cass even minded a baby for a little while and enjoyed the experience! Ross and I were to meet again on Saturday to go to the Pillbox, which we did and we had a couple of hours of fair quality surf on Saturday afternoon. We arranged to meet later at the Indian round the corner for tea and we had a great dinner and a few beers. Our boss at school, Mark, was also there with his wife and some friends and we got the greatest surprise when we left: he had paid our bill! He really is just an amazing person, it really made our night. Ross and Ains came back for coffee and while Ross and I played with iPods etc, Cass and Ainsley had a good chat. We didn’t get to bed till quite late, so the piercing cries of the kitties were not appreciated this morning. We had a really lazy day today, I was loading more CDs onto the iPod and burning my Seinfeld DVDs and pausing to watch the Aussies whip the Poms in the league and read a few Herald clippings and my book. Using the royal “we” there was a bit of a mistake: Cass spent a lot of time marking papers!
Anyway, I’m falling asleep writing this as you probably are reading…..a bit of a report this one! See you in three weeks!!!

new toy 

sculpted trees 

Beautiful young women in full tizzy wedding gowns, heavily made up, layers of silk and lace and tulle. Their fiancées are similarly attired in white 3-piece suits, the couples flanked by a shutter of photographers and attendants. This might be a typical scene on the weekend in one of many reception centers around town, but totally incongruous on a wind swept rocky inlet just this side of the Damshui River. The Pillbox, our secret surfing spot of sorts, is adjacent to a coastline landfill and a sloshing pig farm, adding to the ambiance a herd of wild goats eats every piece of foliage in sight. It’s hard to describe the associated odours, but suffice to say, when the wind is blowing offshore, the waves look great but only the level of pungency varies the assault on our nostrils.
It is on this beach that we often encounter said betrothed and parties, shyly acknowledging our presence with a smile and a wave. I’m sure the subsequent photos look sublime: the odours not wafting from their snapshot prison and the dull half light from smog and sunset adding to a smoky romanticism suitable to the soon to be wed’s shots. The bride and groom to be frolic in the lapping shore waves for the benefit of the photographer, their finery being muddied and saturated from shin down. I assume it is all dry cleaned again for the big day, which can be weeks away. When the newlyweds arrive at their reception, the practice is to have a full album of “romance shots” for their guests to choose from, hence the pre wedding photo madness.

Ross and I had a surf which he rated as among the “worst five surfs I’ve ever had” on Friday evening. The surf was small, the wind was howling and a cold snap in the wind and water sent our extremities numb in about 15 minutes. We had a slightly better effort today, heading to the Rocket, but spoiled somewhat by the 18 other guys who joined us. Blown out everywhere else, our other spot was invaded by first timers who saw us from the highway as they scoured the coast for rideable spots. It was just too crazy; normally, we have the spot to ourselves and the oft-mentioned Taiwanese surf madness was in full swing by the time we gave up and left them to it. Poor Ross is a bit glum this weekend after the Aussies trumped the NZ netballers, our cricketers smacked the Black Caps and even the Pommies beat them in the league!

Cass and I had an intriguing Saturday afternoon. I had read that Chiang Kai Shek’s summer residence and garden was the 2nd rated spot for tourism in Taipei and, as we hadn’t been, and it was just a short scooter ride from home, I decided that we must check it out. Apart from the very tactile granite insects we found (see photos), to say that it was disappointing is one of the biggest understatements of all time! Cass disagrees with me here: she thinks it was so bizarre that it was actually a bit of a hoot!!
As we wandered through the beautifully cared for gardens we came to realize that all the other Taiwanese parks and gardens we had visited were different versions of the same horrible design and kitsch inspiration, but this was the grand daddy of them all! The electric blue pebbles in the western garden, the ugly bronze statue in a strange little fountain and the aberrant designs of each successive garden were a shock to body and soul. It just could have been so beautiful: instead, hordes of tranquility seeking Taiwanese crowded each pathway through a shocking maze of kitsch splendour. Piped music of James Taylor wafted from the garden’s speakers adding to the overall surreal and ghastly effect. To top it all off, we trekked up what seemed like 5000 steps to view the signposted “Buddha Heart Pavilion”, but when we arrived the view was obscured by trees and the pavilion looked like a World War One air-raid shelter painted white with funny looking Chinese scrolls attached to it. The highlight of the climb was spying a rubbish bin disguised inside a fiberglass “boulder”…maybe it fooled the little kiddies who were shortsighted! Oh well, put that one down to experience!

We’ve got a short week coming up due to Thanksgiving, another slightly mysterious holiday for us, but one which we’re happy to take. I think Chad is going to invite us around on Thursday for lunch, a lovely tradition that they’ve kept with us: amazingly this will be the 4th year that we’ve done this! It’s very generous of them, especially with Cathy pregnant and the “Little Chief” Levi to care of, not to mention that they have family of their own here now: Cathy’s parents Doug and Jerry working at the school and doting on the Little Chief every chance they get. I’m due to give a presentation to the lower school parents this Wednesday and gave a talk to 50 visiting teachers from a local school last week, which I think went very well. Cass is going bowling with her grade 8s this Wednesday and looking forward to our long weekend. Just think, we’ll be home in less than a month!

this tree was quite beautiful 

granite insects were cool 

sunset over tienmu

Our secret spot, the Pillbox delivered some decidedly powerful little waves on Friday afternoon and although the current seemed intent on sweeping us down to the Damshui river mouth, if we stayed on the peak, we could pick up quite a few perfectly shaped, fast left-handers. Saturday proved to be a little more problematic, with the high tide delivering a dead flat pool of surface shimmery yet murky water, not even disturbed by the matrix of jagged rocks that we knew lurked just below the surface. That Pillbox is a bizarre place. Other surfers never disturb us; yet the odd local fisherman will occasionally wander down to throw a line in. The people who we do see very often lately are fully dressed brides and grooms with an entourage of photographers to take their “pre-wedding” snaps: this is great fun for us and a funny story that I’ll keep for another time. Undeterred, we kept going round the coast to Baishawan, where we decided we would stay. Restaurants, just round the bend had an interesting right, but the seven people crowded on the one workable break were a little off-putting. Ross, Carl and I enjoyed an hour or so of good waves before conditions deteriorated to the point that Cassy’s curried egg sangas and Carl’s thermos of tea seemed much more inviting. Picture below sees Carl and Ross relaxing in the car park after the surf.

Even though we fly by most of the scenery, it is often quite beautiful, ugly, amusing or strange, I suppose depending on the mood one is in. Once our traditional lane changing skip and hop through the bottleneck out of Damshui is finished, if we look beyond the chaos on the road to the hills beyond, a quite calming vista can be seen, especially on clear sunny days, which we’ve had all week long. Light and shade on verdant hills are quite pretty and the mountains rise away from the flat coastal strip so sharply that it doesn’t surprise to hear of landslips and slides in typhoon weather. Every now and then when cresting the brow of a hill, you can see glimpses of the same greenery, stretching away to a glistening sea and can often imagine you are somewhere else: the Caribbean, Bali, Queensland perhaps? I might exaggerate a little, but it’s always fun to look beyond the immediate chaos of buzzing scooters, beetle nut influenced blue truck drivers and the car pilots who all follow that most simple of Taiwanese road rules: if it’s not in front of you it doesn’t exist. On the way back on Saturday, I was heartened to see that the latest apartment block development overlooking the Damshui river is going to bring the Opera House over for the residents to view in the near distance. It’s incredible what they can do these days isn’t it?!(See photo below)
The third photo (above) is of a side of Taipei that’s not that famous. I snapped this shot of a beautiful sunset from our verandah at dusk. The buildings in the foreground just don’t look so bad when they have such a backdrop and when they’re shrouded in a dusty half-light. OK, they’re still pretty horrendous, I’ll admit!

Sunday was a very pleasant day for us. As usual we enjoyed a decadently late and delicious breakfast accompanied by our Herald clippings (thanks, as always Mum!) before lazing around and avoiding our “world lifeline” the internet, as we were in a self imposed media blackout to escape the Aus/Great Britain football score, as it would be repeated later. We wandered down to the new premises of Wendel’s bakery and restaurant and had a tasty lunch in plush and comfortable surrounds. The sun was beating in from the south (we’re in the northern hemisphere!) so we sat inside avoiding the heat and enjoying the ambiance of light and freshness it seemed to bring, seemingly cutting a swathe through the usual pall of smog that seems to descend and not lift for days on end at other times. Our lunch was scrumptious and takeaway cakes were just the finish to our afternoon. Shame those Pommies spoiled the party though!! That will do for now; I think I will write about the seaside brides next week, hopefully you’ll find it as amusing as I do!

opera house view?? 

the boys 

kathy, carol, danielle and cassy

We were piloting the car along a 10 lane superhighway way, way up above the Sunday afternoon snarl of Taipei’s inner-city streets, similar transport veins snaked and slewed below and around us and we had no idea how to get off! This was the culmination of an incredibly frustrating search for surf on Sunday that saw us driving for the best part of 5 hours, first on our usual mountain roads to Jinshan before we fought our way northeast on the coastal highway chasing an (elusive) exotic surf. Not satisfied with the ever growing cult crowd which had established itself on the two workable peaks at Jinshan, kamikaze surfers threatening to break the ankles of all who fell anywhere near their erratic novice trajectory on a wave, we headed off for some uncrowded waves. Every beach and cove and rocky inlet we spied signaled a further deterioration in surf size and quality, but on we traveled, hoping against hope that things would improve. We reached the Fulong beach only to discover not only unsurfable tiny slop, but also guards preventing entry to the water, as it was “too dangerous”!
We decided to brave the main expressway back to Taipei and everything went smoothly until we found ourselves hundreds of feet in the air, traveling into downtown Taipei away from our little mountainside suburb, great juggernauts shaking our car as they hurtled by and every exit looking more confusing than the last. We took any exit and eventually corkscrewed our way to ground level before we braved the scooters and cars and ubiquitous traffic lights for a slow crawl home.

Cass and I had a quite different experience in the evening when we decided to walk to a nearby steakhouse for tea. When we neared, it was obvious that Taipei’s latest love affair with Japanese Shabu Shabu had consumed another victim: this time, the “My Home” steak outlet that we had visited many times before. It was early and we were not yet starving, so we retraced our steps to the nearest gleaming MRT station. It always strikes me as so incongruous that the overly hectic, noisy and dirty streets with their cacophony of sound and at times, pungent bouquets wafting up from roadside drains can be replaced in a few short steps with a calm, fastidiously and regularly cleansed train station, with its “Logan’s Run” voiceovers and purring trains, picking the masses up to gently pat them off again a few stops down the line. Of course, upon exiting, the same street sensations come back again, maybe even intensified on the outskirts of the Shilin night market precinct with its associated lights, action and traffic and pedestrian mayhem. We really enjoyed the experience and both commented how long it had been since we’d done just the simple things like this: surely we haven’t become “Taipei blasé”?! Dinner was great at the other branch of My Home Steak and we were full as the last train to Damshui by the time we lumbered back up the street to the train station. Yuan Yuan records provided us with Kill Bill I on DVD for just 329NT$, so we were well pleased. In fact, old eagle eyed Cass had spied a 1000NT$ note gently shooshing in the grate at the end of an escalator at Takashimaya earlier in the day, so after a brief unproductive search for an owner, she pocketed it and this paid for our night out.

As just mentioned, Cassy had spent some time looking at some beautiful things at her leisure, without me pestering her to move on, at Takashimaya earlier on Sunday. She was blown away by the new Jason’s supermarket and I thought shed did really well to make it out of there with just a pack of John West smoked oysters. I never thought I’d see the day when Cassy would be flummoxed by an overly stimulating array of goods in a shop: Taipei must have lowered her expectations! She did, however, manage to get a book for the birthday of her colleague, Kristin’s 1 year old child, which ostensibly at least was the main purpose for her visit, as she is going up for a little birthday afternoon tea tomorrow afternoon.

Cassy’s book club night went very well indeed and although she thought everything tasted like cardboard, I was able to dissuade her of this thought after tasting the mouth-watering Pavlova slice which she had saved for me. Sorry Valerie, it was her best yet and all in a tiny desktop oven! (See photos of the group above and below) All the visitors made many encouraging comments about our unit, most often about the photos we have framed on nearly all the walls now; watch out Sue, you might even get a commission from Taipei from a complete stranger!
In a couple of days, it will be this Blog’s second birthday: I’m so sorry I didn’t start it earlier….I can’t imagine what bizarre reactions I may have had to things 18 months before I started writing about them. Over 100 pages, mostly done when procrastinating about marking, commenting or doing various uni work……..I’d best keep up the good work then!

By the way, for better quality pictures, the photos here can be opened and expanded in another window: double click on photo for first expansion, then wait for expansion icon to appear bottom right of photo and click on this. To return to blog, just hit the "Back" button.

kristin, cassy, carol and danielle 

food fair 

food

That just had to be the mouthwatering scent of a freshly cooked lamb chop I thought as I whirled and spun and dodged and weaved among the hundreds of people at the food fair. I’d already succumbed to a Latin American green curry chicken and bought some English fudge. This was certainly a sight and sound and smell extravaganza in that typical Taipei American School style of bigger is always better. In this case it was just too big and I couldn’t decide what to buy next so I got some Yakisoba and fried chicken from the Japanese stall and some luscious vegetarian pasta made by one of the top hotels from the Italian stall. Just to top it all off I carried away a steaming tub of home made chicken curry and a vegetable one from the Indian section.
The school was hosting its International Food Fair on Saturday and although I’ve previously avoided it, the lure of such fine food made by all these expats was far too tempting.

Little ponies were taking kiddies for rides through the car park and baseball throws and water drops and all the fun of a usual fete or Spring Fair were in evidence. The food, however, was the real star and it was just amazing how much there was. I didn’t get to the Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Nepalese, American, Irish, Greek, New Zealand or Scandanavian stalls although I do admit I had a few Swedish meatballs and got a slice of Pavlova for Cass from the Aussie section. It really was something to behold and the whole thing was just as neatly packed away and cleaned up by 6 that night when I returned from a surf. The custodian army at school were obviously all on duty and had scrubbed the school clean again in preparation for some devoted worshippers on Sunday and, of course, the resumption of school again on Monday.

We had a great surf on Wednesday afternoon after school at the Pillbox, some monstrous powerful bruisers pounding the northwest tip of the island. The aftermath of Typhoon Nockten was some seriously powerful and big swell and we enjoyed one of our best days here in Taiwan yet. I was sorry not to get some photos as I forgot to take the camera, as it would rival anything we get back home (discounting the fact that the water was so dirty you couldn’t see your board beneath you when we were sitting waiting: seriously!!). I went out again on Friday and surfed with Ross at Jinshan till it was so dark we couldn’t see the waves coming, again on Saturday afternoon with Carl and once more this morning with Carl and Ross. It was pretty good, but a lot smaller than Big Wednesday and poor Cass was really a bit of a surf widow this week!

We watched the Aussies just beat the Poms in the footy this afternoon before doing a super sized shop up at the top Tienmu Wellcome supermarket. The main reason we got so much is because Cass is hosting the Book Club this Tuesday evening. She’ll be cooking them some curries and a pavlova in her little desktop oven and she’s been scouring the little shops round here for ingredients this week. It’s quite amazing what we take for granted back home: one quick trip to Coles over there is the equivalent of visiting at least 4 different places here and then having to compromise on ingredients or just having an educated guess as the labels are in Chinese! As you can imagine, the house has been scrubbed to within an inch of its life and even the cats have been brushed and manicured. I’m going to do an exit stage left straight up to Carl’s for the evening as I’m afraid the intellectual fervour that will be raging here might be infectious: can’t have that!
Mum has supplied us with great wads of clippings from the Herald recently so we’ve been able to continue our weekend breakfast tradition of coffee, orange juice, raison toast and the paper, just like home. It’s a great start to the two days of the weekend and we often linger over a few articles in the afternoons as well. We’ve been spoiled by a couple of emails from friends back home as well (thanks!) and I was gratified that my histrionics in regard to the election hadn’t alienated too many people: just as well!….it’s my blog and I’ll write what I want!!!
The photos here are all from the food fair and include shots of the inside section only with some dancers on a stage outside. Both car parks were full of food as well!

dance 

computer cat 

computer cat

Mary has taken quite a shine to lying on top of the computer as we work and proceeds to bliss out on the heat to the extent that when she drunkenly hops down, she appears quite floppy and listless for a few minutes (photo above and below). She's had ample opportunity to be up there while I've been tapping away at my assignments this week, now mercifully finished and crafted in the same exacting manner in which most of the others have been created (i.e. shoddily pumped out at great ferocity with no draft and no revision!) I have at least one more course before Christmas and I'm looking for another graduate course at 600 or 700 level from a Uni in the States that I can do then transfer into New York State.

The ESL booklet was finally printed this week and although only 20 pages long, it has been rather a chore and I'm very glad to see it in the hands of parents and teachers as well as the School Board. I had been extolling the magnificence of the product for some months in my monthly report to the Board, so I was very pleased that I could finally issue them with the finished product.

Taiwan has served up a potpourri of natural phenomena over the last few days. While Japan has been smashed and battered by a succession of typhoons and rocked intensely by earthquakes, Taipei has experienced minor versions of the same. At time of writing, Ross, Carl and I have returned from a surf at the Pillbox, where a building typhoon swell shows all indications of unleashing some ferocious winds in the next 24-48 hours. We got some good clean waves at first, but sheeting rain and buffeting winds saw us abandon our efforts after a couple of hours. Cass jumped off the lounge last night hurting her injured ankle a little again when a fair earthquake upset our equilibrium. The apartment swayed and shook for a good 30 seconds, but we always see this as a good thing: better a series of little quakes than a big bertha after a long period of inactivity. Most of the recent typhoons have veered off before making landfall here, but this one looks like hitting about 2 tomorrow afternoon, possibly disrupting home time at school. We'll wait and see; the school usually takes their cue from the Taipei city government and they hold off till the last minute to announce school closures.

We watched the Aussie/Kiwi league test here today and delighted in the Aussie's win, although we wished Ross and Ains were here to make it a little sweeter! ABC Asiapacific continues to entertain us with some great TV, Kath and Kim starts tomorrow and the Melbourne Cup carnival will feature 6 hours of coverage. Unlike at home, this day has no resonance with our colleagues, so Lewy and I just might have a personal day to enjoy the coverage and have just a couple of sensible investment wagers!

I have to mention the photo below. During my conferences this week, this little fellow, all of 8 years old, decided that he needed to dress up for the occasion: his Mum told him he didn't need to, but he insisted on putting on suit and tie and even affected a Taipei American School badge on the lapel. If not quite presidential material, he certainly looks the part!
Thanks to our regular correspondents who sadly appear to be in a dwindling number. If you got an email from Cass in the last day or so you are in this group, so I'll take this opportunity to castigate anyone else reading this and "challenge you" (quote from our past boss, the mustachioed provocateur himself, Alan Green) to let us know you're still alive.

future president of the USA! 

I’ve decided to tap out a blog a little early this week and after venting my frustration last time, I promise I’ll get back to reporting just our events from this little corner of the world…..a safe place as long as the Chinese don’t start raining missiles on us, another story too frightening to contemplate, but one which seems unlikely even though a taxi driver told one of my colleagues that the Chinese would invade before Christmas!!!

Ross and I went for a surf after school on both Wednesday and Friday and again early on Saturday and we had various levels of quality. Wednesday and Friday afternoons were the pick and the Pillbox again provided us with some fair waves at an entertaining size. We can never complain about the crowd however: after getting all the boys from school out there one day in August none have come back, so Ross and I continue to surf our secret spot all by ourselves. It is a bit tricky and has rocks everywhere, but when you know where they are, it’s relatively easy to avoid them. The biggest problem is a strong current that sweeps us away from the main peak, but we’re getting good and strong from all the paddling!

Cass tripped down a tiny step at the front of the school on Monday and sprained her ankle. While gaily waving at a parent she did the wooly whoosh and various people came to her aid before the school nurse set her up with some ice and a wrapped ankle. She had Tuesday and Wednesday off school for some RICE treatment and now, nearly a week later, she is hobbling a little more freely. It was the other ankle from the one she hurt when she fell down our apartment steps last year, so that was good at least.

Ross and Ains had us over to watch the Aussie/ NZ league test on Saturday straight after our surf and it was a chance to eat some great lunch, all exotic goodies courtesy of the new Jason’s supermarket and to meet their new kittens, Abe and Gus. Much to Ross’ horror, the fact that Virg’n Mary were proving such a hit had seen Ains a little keener to get some cats, hence the move. I’m pretty sure he is OK with the decision and seems to have a ball with them. (Abe pictured above) Their new apartment is spacious and lovely and as we sat watching the game, eating our pies and beautiful ham, cheese, gherkins, pickled onion and that rare treat in Taiwan, beetroot (!) we could have been anywhere. We even drank some Carlton Colds!

We had a very lazy Sunday today and after a leisurely brekky reading some clippings from Mum, we watched some episodes of the 2nd series of “Footballer’s Wives” on DVD that we borrowed from another of the Aussies. We then did a super clean of the house and I anally dusted everything in sight before doing the vacuuming, while Cass did the bathrooms. Now I mention it, it’s a very strange phenomenon: I like to live in a clean environment but rarely do much about it between cleans. As soon as I get that duster in my hand I can’t stop till every tiny microbe has been scrubbed out and every surface, no matter how high or unseen is gleaming a happy little smile of dust-free bliss! Very, very strange…………….After that we decided to go out for a nice Sunday lunch, but Fangs was full so we opted for the far less salubrious Mos Burger next door! Best laid plans and all that…

This afternoon, we’ve enjoyed some commentary of the Aus/India cricket test and I’m still listening to it now, so that might explain the rather stilted style of this missive. Every now and then the Indian commentators shout out at great volume before calming down when they realize one of the Australians is not out after all! Cass is grading some memoirs after some marathon marking through the week and I have procrastinated to the extent that I now have a mountain of both school and uni work to do before Friday. I really do work best under pressure; at least that’s what I tell myself when I find ANYTHING to do except what I should be doing!! (like this)

the "auburgino" and "blacky" 

As two of the over a million strong Australian diaspora living and working overseas, the ability of the Australian electorate to be so insular is surprising to us. We sat through the election coverage last night wondering whether world events have any resonance with Australians, or whether they had swallowed hook, line and sinker a sneakily deceptive government campaign of negativity surrounding the home economy and interest rates.

I questioned many things last night. Did it matter at all to Australians that Tasmania’s unique and ancient forests were being wood chipped at an alarming rate to produce pulp for Asia so I can have a box of chocolates wrapped in up to five pieces of fancy paper or use a pair of disposable chopsticks wherever I eat?
Did it matter to Australians that families so desperate to escape tyranny and unspeakable hardship in their own country board unseaworthy boats to risk death coming to our country only to have their children locked up indefinitely behind razor wire?
Did it matter that when I go to an in-service overseas next year or when Carl goes to Jakarta for a soccer trip next Wednesday that we have to book rooms away from the street and eat in our rooms for fear of being blown up? Did it matter that all Australians who travel overseas have a huge target on their heads because the Howard government chose to join a war on a huge lie? Did it matter at all that over 15,000 Iraqis have died in a war that we joined without justification? Did it matter that 100 Australians were blown up in Bali as a direct result of our meddling in other countries domestic business?
Did it matter to Australians that our much-trumpeted “sound economic management” has piggy backed on a huge jump in exporting our finite natural resources to expanding economies like China who are “close friends” with Australia as a result?
And does it matter to any Howard voters now, that the government benefited hugely from a massive preference flow from the “lunatic religious right” FFP who have effectively obliterated the line between church and state, and that religious groups have so brainwashed certain electorates that liberal members (at least two) were elected purely on the support received from church congregations? I see this as a very dangerous precedent.

The thing that most frustrates us is that Australians have chosen to ignore these issues or just don’t care; all for what they perceive will be a couple more dollars in their wallet each week. I wonder how Australians will feel about our strange alliances in the world when terrorists finally target our own soil? I dread to think.

babbling on to the 3rd graders

We had a bit of action here at the weekend when the unit up the street from us provided a very un-Chinese display of emotion. A fellow was coming at all hours of the night and the next day bashing on the door, yelling out for his ex girlfriend as he had been (according to Linda, Mr. Lee's daughter) jilted and the girl had kept a large sum of his money. This resulted in the police being called and amazingly, this picture shows the SECOND time they just let him drive away! He hasn't been back yet, so maybe he got his money, or the shame of his very public emotional outburst got the better of him.

Cass has been away at camp this week and she will be back tomorrow. It's been a long few days without her and I've spent some time putting together the DVD shelves we bought a while ago and stopped only because a strange stigmata began to appear! Either I've been summoned for a higher calling or I overused my scewdriving hand a little: what do you think? While I'm speaking of things divine, this a neat segue to Virg'n Mary who have studiously ignored my attentions for the early part of the week and continue to lie in front of our closed bedroom door. Presumably, they think I have locked Cassy in there for a few days as they crane their necks around and sniff under the door for any sign.

Neither Ross nor I have been for a surf at all this week, partly due to busy work and partly because he has been attentive to Ains who celebrates her 40th birthday today. Carl and Hiroko and Steven were kind to have me for tea on Tuesday night and they twisted my arm again tonight (wasn't too hard!) so I'll have some tea and a chat this evening with them. Cass rang on Tuesday night and is having a predictably exhausting time at camp and has had to sleep at least one night in a tent, which I'm sure you can all imagine would not be her favorite cup of tea!

I've done nothing in regard to my assignments but have been relieved to finally take all photos necessary for our ESL booklet and it is at the printers now. The only trouble is that I may have allowed everyone to spend too much on books and resources this year: the budget might not take the strain of publishing the book! Oh well, they either want it or they don't. The new computer continues to work very well indeed and I have just subscribed to an audio service for the Aust/India test matches for $8 for the whole series. I've already enjoyed the first two days, especially with the Australians going so well.

Grand final night last Sunday was a hoot and everyone turned up and we had a ball. The big screen was stunning on one wall, the sound was through the stereo and we had Aussie beers and meat pies! Honestly, with a room full of Aussie guys (plus Ross, NZ and Penry, USA) we could have been at home, sucking down some Carlton Colds and having pies and sauce. Jason's marketplace even has "Crownies" now, but they are at a real premium; maybe next time!

We've got some emails recently from Mum, Helen, Sue and Thurza, which have been great and also Mum's Newcastle Herald clippings are starting to roll in with regularity, which makes for some excellent breakfasts on the weekend. We received some disturbing news from Fran, however, just yesterday(Cass doesn't know yet). Our friend and colleague, Jo Richardson has died. We were under the impression that she had beaten some cancer, but a new and virulent strain apparently took hold some time back. Jo was the person who employed Cassy all those years ago at Grammar when she was deputy there. It's quite upsetting to hear of yet another death among our close colleagues and friends of many years. On that note, I'll sign off for now.

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

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.

The shore this morning was strewn with filth and rubbish and the surf didn't make up for it, the water chocolate milk without the flavour!

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.

Elton John in Taipei 

happy with Elton! 

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!

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

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!

This week has been pretty uneventful, although we’ve had a few mini dramas, mainly to do with the cats and their ongoing de-sexing saga. We took them back the three times for their anti-biotic shots and they displayed various degrees of discomfort and protest, smart little beggars they are as Cass and I had to shepherd them into their carry boxes in the end as they knew where they were going! They seemed to get a certain wild eyed, terrified sense of adventure from the trip across, the afore mentioned odours, noises and sensations providing a very different environment than the one they are used to. They finally got their stitches out yesterday but Mary has to go on Wednesday and Friday for more anti-biotic shots as her wound hasn’t completely healed. Anyway, what a saga!

I collected two items of certified mail from the local post office the other day and my worst fears were confirmed when I arrived. The only people who use our home address are the car and bike authorities, and as it turns out, the police! Inside the envelopes were crisp colour images of the speeding “Auburgino”, boards attached to roof, caught on a speed camera on the coast road. They are about $100 each, so as is our way, Ross was hit up for half. We’d have no idea who was driving anyway and we both tend to have a rather leaden foot, but we’ll certainly keep an eye out for that trap in the future. The photos were so clear that we can easily identify the spot from local landmarks, so they won’t get us there again at least!

Well, apparently the Olympics were on, is that right? Our mate from Australia, the PE teacher here at school, who you might remember coached our dragon boat team, was the coach of dual silver medal kayaker, Nathan Bagguley. Peter Clark is due back tomorrow after attending the Opening Ceremony and Closing and heaps of events in between. We’ve heard a few stories via email already about breakfasting with Roger Federer and partying with the Poo and Delta along with the strain of keeping his charge up and ready to go in the last few days of the game.
My facetious question at the start of this paragraph is not that far from the truth. If Taipei or China were playing baseball or table tennis, it would be run on at least 5 different channels. As for any swimming or cycling, forget it. It just shows how biased the reporting of the Olympics is. The sports that Australia excels in are just not televised here, much as, I imagine, there is not a whole lot of fencing, ping pong, archery or baseball played at home. I naively used to imagine that everyone was watching the Aussies carve up the pool, but alas, it seems each country celebrates its own little world of sport, to the exclusion of all others. I was really depressed about it all this past two weeks. I really love the excitement and colour of the Olympics and I look forward to it for years. This year was a total non-event, made even more painful when I realized as I read the paper each day, how wonderfully successful the Aussies were.

ESL Parent Night is tonight and I’m writing this between classes to distract myself from it for a while. As usual, it has been an awful time of preparation, a little harder for me this time as I can’t use the excuse of being new at the job (which I was quite prepared to use last year if things went wrong, which thankfully, they didn’t!)
The heat is confronting today, physically assaulting you when you walk out of the air conditioning, draining energy and forcing a dripping perspiration the instant you hit it.
Oh well, not the cheeriest of weeks: I suppose we’ll get over it soon!

The Indian restaurant round the corner has proved to be a real winner. Our dinner last Monday night was absolutely delicious and the menu is extensive and varied, with lots of old favourites and more than a few new dishes to try over time. I went back on Saturday to get some takeaway only to be greeted by a full restaurant, more waiting on benches for takeaway and the Indian gentleman owner acknowledging my “first customer” status with apologies for the wait and more than a slight sheen of perspiration on the brow. Suffice to say, it looks like it may be in for the long haul, despite the appalling record of restaurants here, seeming to disappear overnight. We come back from the big break prepared for a significant change in the shops and eateries landscape and we’re never disappointed.

The week dragged a little at work, with assorted people still mentioning my brief news appearance. I’m in the throes of organizing the ESL parent night which will be held next Tuesday, along with dealing with the usual mind numbing amount of administrivia and countless meetings across all divisions of the school, all the while trying to get to know the new students and parents in my own little teaching world of grade 3. The team seems to be a lot more accepting of my role this year and are quite prepared to “pass” many issues, gratifying in one way, but annoying in another as each decision or meeting erodes the time just a little more. Cassy is absolutely delighted with her new teaching partner, Kristin, an Aussie most recently in Korea. She is delightful to get along with, prepared to follow Cassy’s lead in curriculum work at this stage, yet offering thanks and positive and helpful suggestions.

Virg’n Mary have been unceremoniously de-sexed and the poor little buggers spent the next day at home walking around like the proverbial drunken sailors. We took them in the car in a teeming tropical storm and Mary escaped and clung vertically to a filing cabinet moaning till she was retrieved. It was quite a circus, as the resident kitten at the vets was inquisitive to the point of being painful, checking out what his “sisters” were doing in those funny blue carry boxes, upsetting them all the more. When we picked them up in the afternoon they were both sporting the most curious orange cones on their heads to stop them licking their stitches. After Virg nearly strangled herself trying to remove the cone even when she had the wobbly boot on, we decided it would be wiser to remove them. They’ve been very sleepy, slow and sooky ever since so I think they got a fair whack of the old jungle juice. Talk about service though……for the princely sum of $80 each, they have had the procedure, but also (this afternoon) the first of three antibiotic shots, plus a 5th visit to remove the stitches! We certainly don’t remember any of this carry on with poor dead Eugene, but I suppose, better safe than sorry. The main problem with all this is taking them to the vets each time in their baskets (we normally walk) through all the wonders Taipei has to offer, such as roaming dogs, pouring rain, immovable pedestrians and the ubiquitous non-stop noisy, stinky traffic.

Ross and I had an excellent surf on Friday afternoon after school, small waves but clean and uncrowded. I decided it was best to stay home on Saturday and Sunday with the kitties, but we did venture out yesterday to watch the “Bourne Supremacy” which we both found to be action packed and great entertainment. The day was scorching and heavily humid, quite enervating all round. We sank back into the air conditioning and watched the Sunday NRL game after the seeing the valiant Knights just falter on Saturday. I’ve loaded my Kodak software on the computer and we are enjoying the most magnificent crystal clear screensavers of Newcs at the moment….many of which we snapped on our daily walks on the Bather’s Way. We seem to have a problem with our email at the moment: everything seems fine except we haven’t been able to receive any messages for a week. To all our faithful correspondents who no doubt have hands quivering above the keyboard ready to reply, please hold off sending anything for the moment; I’ll give you a message when we eventually get it all sorted out. Oh. By the way, Stickybeek’s beach webcam is now on the Beach Hotel, giving us an easily accessed, oft updated view just to show us what we’re missing!

What an absolutely crazy first week! Talk about hitting the ground running; we did that and more. The first 3 days were a meeting-a-thon and I was flung straight back into decision making mode, a role I enjoy at work to a certain extent, but avoid like the plague at other times, I’m sure Cassy will attest to that. We had every bit of information possible thrown at us and I’m sure the heads of the 42 brand new teachers were spinning. They seem a great bunch, with a generous sprinkling of Aussies/Kiwis as well, which is always encouraging. They are impossibly young and hideously well qualified: if you don’t have at least one master’s and another special skill, it seems you won’t get in here these days.
First day of kiddies was supposed to be Thursday, but we sent home with dire warnings of the approach of Typhoon Raninem on Wed afternoon. Sure enough, the phone tree and the internet informed us at 6am Thursday that school had been called off.
A great crew of established and new surfers had braved the building Typhoon swell at the Pillbox on Wed arvo, and a special sight it was; 9 foreigners out together on a windswept tiny beach on the northern tip. I’ve been unceremoniously upstaged as the “best” surfer by Dan, a new teacher from NZ who had previously done the long board circuit in NZ. Ah well, my moment in the sun couldn’t last forever!

Thursday afternoon looked like an opportune time to investigate whether the typhoon had whipped up some decent swell. Ross and I went to investigate only to be met by some of the best waves I have ever seen, Taiwan or anywhere else. The wind was howling offshore, the waves were holding, hollowing out and peeling off Jinshan Point at a consistent 8 feet plus! The only trouble was the regular 10-12 foot clean up set and the ferocious inner banks, which looked like making a paddle out very very difficult. After weighing up our options, we, of course, decided to go in. Our plan was to ride the re-forms just past the second inner bank, which were a solid 4-6 foot and clean. We got ready and made our way down to the beach to the collective horror of the huge swell of lookers on the coast road and car park, as not another surfing soul was in sight. After about 10 minutes of getting an absolute hammering, we were on the verge of getting out the back when I noticed two uniformed men onshore waving frantically for us to get out. I called to Ross and we reluctantly made our way in to the coast guard/military men who seemed very angry. Much to our surprise and horror, a TV news cameraman was also there. They indicated that we shouldn’t be going out as the beach was closed and hung around till we packed the car and drove away. Much to our dismay, several teachers informed me that I was mugging insanely for the camera on the local news and saying “We’re very sorry, it’s too big” before they showed the pounding surf behind us and some unidentifiable commentary, I imagine lambasting the insane foreign devils for their ridiculous acts of foolhardiness!

After that excitement, we were disappointed to see the surf back to two foot and onshore for Friday afternoon and even smaller on Saturday when Cass and I along with Ross and Ains met Carl and family at the beach for a lazy few hours. The water is so warm it’s like swimming in a bowl of soup and hardly refreshes at all. Sunday proved to be unbearably hot, so apart from dragging ourselves out for a quick sandwich at the coffee shop round the corner, we stayed in with Virg ‘n Mary in the air conditioning and re-hung a few pictures, did some filing and generally got our apartment back in order after the break.
The other great excitement for us is that not only has a branch of Pizza Hut opened on Chung Shan Nth Rd just around the corner, but also an Indian restaurant has opened on our very own Ker Qiang Rd! They only opened last night and we were the first customers through the door, hoping to get a takeaway menu, but they are not printed yet. After we take the garbage tonight we are going there for tea, but it looks great, is reasonably priced and has an extensive and familiar menu. We’ll wait and see.
Well, we’re well and truly back at it; Newcastle feels a million miles and light years away from us already; the next big event is the poor kitties both getting de-sexed on Friday………..I feel for them!

Spending time back in Newcastle is always so relaxing. To be able to come back to our own place, have our own car and bike, with all our gear just makes life so easy. Many of our colleagues arrived back at work today with various stories of misery and suffering, most brought on by constant traveling and living out of suitcases at Mom’s or cousin Johnny’s. While some lamented their lack of a permanent home and others the ferocity of a chilling summer in Canada or Minnesota, many of our friends had relaxing and interesting breaks, from whale watching to riding motorbikes in Turkey and everything in between, it’s always an exciting time to hear stories of adventures in far off, wondrous places.
Newcastle, it seems, has a dreamy quality all its own if the wistful look in the eyes of many are anything to go by when we tell them of our holiday. Our (nearly) daily walk of 5-6 km along pristine shorelines into historic precincts in Newcastle along the Bather’s Way, watching whales from our dining room while eating breakfast, touching dolphins when sitting quietly and alone waiting for the next wave in crystal clear warm water with a light off shore breeze or even drinking espressos and eating delicious meals in modern, different restaurants at reasonable prices. This is before we tell them about the bike trip!
Newcastle can seem a little pedestrian when living there permanently, but we have done more and more touristy things each year we’ve returned. The art galleries and pubs are always interesting and the wide-open spaces and greenery, while taken for granted, seem to be a very rare commodity in most cities we’ve been to in Asia or Europe. We took a walk along the newly opened boardwalk on the harbour and noted the intensity of the light, the warmth of the northerly aspect and the drop-dead beauty of the water and the vista. We got to the end of our 9 weeks this time and lamented all the things we hadn’t had a chance to do or see, such as going to the vineyards, a trip to the lake, or even to Sugarloaf or Blackbutt.
Taipei doesn’t have any of these things, but life certainly goes into overdrive when we get back. It is physically impossible to totally chill out here, the power and frenetic pace of the city makes Newcastle seem like some of the sleepy little hamlets we rode through in northwest NSW. Of course this is partly due to work and both Cass and I felt like cartoon characters today, you know where they’re held up above the ground wildly spinning their legs only to be dropped to the ground at a frightening sprint. We’re both exhausted this afternoon, but our cats are a comfort (they have become impossibly big over the past couple of months!) and our apartment is a calm oasis in the swirling heat of humid summer Taipei.We’re looking forward to another year of adventure and excitement, daily life here always throws up challenges that have to be dealt with in novel or interesting ways.

It’s very difficult to get motivated to write today and you can tell that this malaise was evident last week as well when I didn’t bother! I have just spent the best part of 24 hours churning through my latest assignments at the Uni of San Diego and thought that at least while my two fingers are on a roll, I could write something.
This time next week we’ll be back for the start of a nine-week break and we’re really looking forward to it. The end of year busy period has just been chaotic here and I still have a heap of things left to do. We went out surfing on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday afternoon and our efforts were ill rewarded, with a tiny wind swell barely big enough to support us on the waves. Similar scenes were evident on the web cam yesterday and this morning so Ross and I elected not to go over the mountain. Carl is heading over today, but doesn’t hold out much hope for a wave. Weather conditions have been stifling here in recent days, the heat heavy with humidity and sapping of strength. We get to school after our 15-minute walk nearly exhausted before the day has begun and collapse back home in the afternoon to cocoon ourselves in the air conditioning. Our TV is still not fixed, so we hope we can get something in train so that this issue can be resolved while we’re away, apparently Grundig does not have a service agent in Taipei and the other repairmen are reluctant to take on the job, knowing that spare parts may have to be ordered from Germany.
Virg’n Mary seem to handle the heat very well, in fact they pretend that it is cold when we turn the air con on, cuddling up together in their “octagon” or seeking some extra warmth on Cassy’s lap! We have been stocking up on their food, litter etc, readying them for the break and our minder Poonam is all set to do her duties.
Cass has already worked out how many dinners she will get on our flights home and the business class fare should be excellent in comparison to our usual. Chris and Val rang yesterday and were keen to come and collect us from the airport so we accepted their offer, even though we often just hire a car to save anyone the bother. It will be nice to be chauffeured home!
We just got back from downtown where we saw “The Day after Tomorrow” which was quite spectacular and we had to line up for ages to get in. Cass decided it would be the fodder for heaps of nightmares, with storms, tornadoes, massive waves, floods and freezing temperatures all vying for the most terrifying. We both agreed it was so much better than the trashy “Troy” which we saw last week; a cross between Gladiator and Lord of the Rings Part2, it wasn’t a patch on either of those movies. In fact, we decided that the scriptwriter should be taken away and shot and the historical consultant and continuity guys should never work again! We flashed down on the scooter and declared that we’d miss our trips zipping around the city (!), and arrived in sapping heat with full sun. Somehow, life imitated art in the intervening few hours, because when we emerged from the pictures a full-scale tropical storm was lashing the downtown area. After we had some lunch, it had calmed enough for Cass to go back on the train and me to get the bike home without getting totally saturated. That achieved we watched a great game of football between the Pennies and the Dogs, still lamenting the Knight’s loss to Melbourne last night.
Just a few hours after we return home, we’ll be at Energy Australia Stadium cheering on the Knights against Parra and we can’t wait. See you next week!

A couple of Californian laid back dudes, two Aussies and two Kiwis stood around in the beach car park after a great relaxing surf, drinking ice cold VBs and having a few jokes, drinking a few more well into the dark. The six had traded boards and tested out each other’s new boards, from mini mals to fun ‘fish” and got some decent little lefts and rights on a stormy peak. Probably not that unusual a scene, but Friday night on the northern tip of Taiwan had not seen that before, I reckon. Bob had picked up a carton of VB at Jason’s marketplace down at the 101 and had borrowed an esky (NZ:chilly bin, U.S.:cooler), filled with ice and put them in to chill on the way over the mountains.
We followed this up with a few more beers, tall tales and a game or two of pool before Ross and I called it a night around midnight, a couple of the others no doubt tripped the light fantastic on the bar down at trendy nightclub Carnegies till well after that.

We struggled up at 7, a little headsore and saw on the cam that Jinshan was dead flat yet again. I phoned Ross and we agreed to give it a miss and try again on Sunday. Cass was champing at the bit to get downtown to pick up her earrings, so we had a lazy breakfast, read some clippings from the Herald (thanks Mum, of course!) and scootered down in a quite terrible blazing sun. Joe had done a superb job with Cassy’s earrings and the sapphires looked even bigger when teamed with some quite substantial diamonds in a white gold setting, the remainder of the setting in yellow gold. They are really quite spectacular, so Cass was very excited. When we got home, I had a bit of a snooze before we settled down to watch the delayed telecast of the Knights/Broncos game. We’d been in a self-imposed media blackout and we glad we had been. What a game! What incredible ticker displayed by those Knights! We were so impressed and managed a few war dances around the lounge room, especially when Danny scored and Kurt Gidley’s wobbly horror just scraped over the crossbar. After all that excitement we lazed around a bit more before heading off to Kari Curry for tea.

Ross and I headed off to Jinshan bright and early on Sunday morning promising to meet Carl and family out there. In the sweltering conditions we were glad we’d had the air-con fixed a few days before, a story in itself. We had scouted out a tiny mechanics’ workshop, with space for just one car in the back lanes behind Mingde road and were flabbergasted when the guy could speak some English! I mean, how many mechanics, or many others for that point could speak and understand enough Mandarin to be understood back in Australia?! He did a great job giving a tune, changed the plugs, changed oil, re-compressed the air-con and fixed some new wiper blades, all for a very reasonable cost.
When we arrived at the beach, it resembled a glistening lake, complete with lolling surfers content to just soak up some sun and refresh in the water, as waves were certainly not in evidence. We didn’t even get the boards off the car, had a quick body surf and then were stunned to see the “surfers” making a merry dash for shore. No, not a shark, but a large floating infestation of baby jellyfish, which had given everyone a good old stinging.

We contemplated going to the new Tienmu Warner Brothers cinema in the afternoon, but by this time the sun was beating with such intensity, we couldn’t bear the thought and there didn’t seem to be much on offer. I took Cass over to the supermarket on the bike and we loaded up with great bags of kitty litter and other supplies. It’s amazing what changes have occurred just in the few years we have been here. In the local supermarket, which doesn’t cater for foreigners at all, we buy Australian rice (bit like shipping coal to Newcs!), Aussie oatmeal and corn, Golden Roughs and Kit Kats and the latest, wine in a can! Aussie of course, the 250 ml cans give just enough for a glass of wine each at dinner. We sampled one yesterday and declared it to be just the ticket, a pleasant quaffing wine, either Chardonnay or Cabernet Shiraz, all at a very reasonable price.

Enough said about the 3rd grade camp, which I went to on Thursday and Friday and school is heating up for the end-of-year boilover. We both have reports to write soon and I am attending the Learning Community Council all day on Thursday, supposedly to steer the school in the right direction for the upcoming academic year (I’ll have some help!!)
I’m also determined to get my 15 assignments done for my latest study over the next two weeks, so that should be, well, very frustrating and time consuming. Virg’n Mary the double headed furry mother of god continue to entertain with their antics and have quite taken to the GCSU. It will all be over for another year soon!

I tore down the main road of Tienmu on “Blacky” the scooter, wildly grasping at a plastic bag full of bottles in one hand and desperately trying to navigate, accelerate and brake with the other, dodging in and out of traffic, relentlessly gaining on my elusive foe, the recycling truck. What on earth was I doing? Was my life reduced to chasing a garbage truck through the streets of Taipei in the evenings? Did it really matter if those bottles stayed on our back verandah for another few days? The answers to these questions were far from my mind as I determined the truck coming at odd times would not beat me!

A calm opening to the week like this certainly set the tone for what was to come, culminating in our semi destruction of a brand new Mercedes yesterday (slight exaggeration…hook for reader to continue). I went to B&Q on Tuesday to purchase all the requisite materials to build the “Great Cat Shelving/Resting Unit” (hereafter referred to as GCSU) on the weekend. We’d decided to use the cat gym as the first launching pad for an intermediate shelf as a step, then a wide shelf for resting and looking out a new window which I installed in the spot reserved for an air conditioner in the back bedroom’s wall. The cats could then enjoy a high seat with a direct view to outside. The GCSU had been planned for some time, so I was pretty confident I knew what to get, although the Chinese labels and Chinese speaking staff proved a little problematic. Still, with a concrete project easily explained with drawings and figures, I managed to arrive home with the shelves, brackets, screws, mouldings, nails etc necessary. I “borrowed” some cushiony felt from the school’s art department and a staple gun, so Cass and I could cushion and cover the big shelf. We got the pane of glass in and nailed the moulding on the fitted the brackets with the help of Chad’s hammer drill. The GCSU has proved to be a great success, the cats not even coming down to say hello to us sometimes! Cass sewed some elastic rings on each corner of a few towels and we screwed some cup hooks in under for them to attach to. It works very well indeed and even the destructo kitties have been unable to rip the towel off!

Ross and I braved the six-inch surf on Friday afternoon, only to arrive home to the news that our new (2 years old) Grundig multi system TV had “blown up”! Cass just turned it on and there was a puff and a smell and no picture. The salesman at Takashimaya where we bought it said they don’t stock Grundig anymore, but he’ll ring their rep on Monday. We’re really hoping it is not major, but it doesn’t sound good. We lasted about a day and a half without a TV before I went round and borrowed Ross and Ains’ spare that they haven’t been using. The DVD and video isn’t hooked up, but at least we can watch our beloved ABC Asiapacific. We spent most of Saturday building the GCSU, so it worked out fairly well after all.

Sunday’s beach trek started at 7 am and a light offshore breeze was tempting us into wonderful images of glassy swell and plentiful waves for all. It was certainly glassy and the waves were a beautiful shape, but no one had told the god of swell to visit. We got a few small waves early on till the wind picked up, the tide came in a bit and I decided to head in for a drink and a sandwich. Ross persevered for a ½ an hour or so longer and then finally gave up. By this time the local boys were just starting to turn up in numbers, (a curious thing here: unlike other parts of the world, the local boys seem to have a great aversion to going for an early surf when the conditions tend to be at their best. We’re not concerned of course: we generally get at least a couple of hours in before anyone joins us!) and the surf was offering nothing more than the occasional shore dump on the set. Quite violent wind squalls were whipping up by now and we had taken the precaution of bagging our boards and putting them at the back of the car to protect them from the wind. As we sat on the bonnet looking out and discussing the merits of the various surfers, a terrible gust picked up one of our boards and cart wheeled it through the air till it thumped quite resoundingly against the brand new black Merc parked beside us! The girlfriend of the owner (who was in the water) jumped out and preceded to shout, cry and perform assorted histrionics, while pointing to the fairly significant dent the board had made on the otherwise pristine bodywork and duco. She yelled for the guy to come in and by this stage, quite the event was happening. Every guy at the beach came up and offered their opinion to the owner, who was ringing body shops all over Taipei to get quotes. Ross and I were very apologetic, repeating it was an accident, and a couple of guys, including the ubiquitous Johnny Rose, of surf shop fame, came to the rescue with some translating. After we laughed down the first quote of NT$30,000 we eventually settled on NT$5,000 and Ross (luckily he had his wallet and card with him) headed off to Jinshan town to get some money out of the bank. I stayed with the boards as a “security” and although I felt a bit like Typhoid Mary, relations were cordial. I think we covered ourselves and all foreigners in glory by being reasonable and not arguing that we weren’t liable, so I imagine our presence at the beach will be even more welcome in the future. So, some good does come from all that bad luck!

Ross was particularly cautious on the drive home and we promised each other to be careful for the rest of the day after that bit of bad luck! Poor old Carl had to go to Hong Kong for the weekend, and no, I’m not being facetious: he had a nightmare schedule where nearly every minute was accounted for poolside looking after the swimming team.
Finally, how good are those KNIGHTS??????!!!!!!!!!