more from tassie wedding

I’ll admit it. We’re an insular, self-sustaining couple who don’t pay enough heed to our family or friends most of the time, but we’re grateful that they’re willing to persevere and continue to make the effort that we, invariably, do not. The catalyst for this soul bearing admission is our wonderful friends Chad and Cathy. Chad organized a meal out with Cathy, us and Doug and Jerri, Cathy’s parents, on Friday night. We, of course, could have done this on myriad other occasions, but partly through a learned inertia or just plain laziness, we have not. Anyway, enough self-flagellation! What a fantastic night we had! We went to “Le Casanova”, a relatively new Moroccan/French restaurant right here in Tienmu, off the Tien Mu North Rd and right from the moment we walked in, we knew it would be sensational. There was an unmistakable waft of spice in the air, just a touch of hint of flavours to come and beautifully set tables bordered on one side by plump, exotic looking cushions. The owner/operators have done a superb job in decorating the place in authentic style and after a couple of beers and the first couple of our 5 courses; we were whisked away from Taiwan to “restaurant anywhere”. We enjoyed the mouthwatering food, indulged in some Moroccan specials, like Tanjines, a glazed conical shaped pot in which food was slow cooked for 14 hours to be presented as the tenderest of meats bathing in the most sensuous of sauces. Calamari as the best I’ve ever tasted, Moroccan salads bearing a resemblance in look and taste to a patty of richly flavoured salsa dip, all with the freshest of ingredients. Crème Brulee or flambé banana for dessert was followed by Moroccan coffee, served in a small, hand-hammered silver teapot and hand etched glass cups. We enjoyed lovely relaxed conversation; Cathy’s parents are kind and loving people, we can understand so much better now why she’s so delightful. Meanwhile, Jerri had slipped out to pick up the cinema tickets that Cathy had booked. A great service online as I’ve mentioned before, the only drawback, a necessity to pick up the tickets ½ an hour before the show starts.

Full of hearty cuisine, just right for a mild winter’s night, we then taxied down to Warner Village to watch the very enjoyable “Shall We Dance”. This is a re-make of an excellent Japanese movie of the mid-90s of the same name, which I used to show my students of Japanese back home. I hope a few of them see this most recent version, as Hollywood has been amazingly faithful to the original. I had to pinch myself a few times, especially in the non-speaking scenes, as the setting, lighting and cinematography were not just close, but exactly the same. The Japanese version was a touch unresolved at the end, but this version flicked through the characters’ current circumstances and it worked quite well. It was a delightful evening and started off an excellent weekend.

We’ve also enjoyed a terrific full coverage of the Australian Open on Star Sports. We both really like Lleyton Hewitt; that Mcenroe-esque sense of outrage and the fighting spirit he displays overrides any misgivings we have about the constant “come ons” etc. He has really bulked up, the added muscle seem to give him a certain gravitas that was lacking a few years ago. ABC Asia Pacific gives us some highlights of the cricket, although full coverage of these games is something I really miss. If they covered the one dayers and a few tests, why, I don’t know if we’d ever have to come home!

The lacklustre quality of the surf over here, however, always reminds me of greener pastures (or bluer, cleaner pools!) back home. We traveled to Jinshan on both Saturday and Sunday and although we got a few waves early on Saturday before the wind turned, the hour-long trip each way hardly seemed worth it. Sunday was smaller and blown out and the few degrees drop in temperature didn’t help make it more appealing. Carl and Tobes were out on Sunday as well, so we had a good chat and a laugh at least. Tobes is an affable American who’s taught at the school for many years and he is married to a Taiwanese woman. He has an amazing van all decked out with the latest and greatest, making our dented rusty Corona look that much more pathetic. Brian has just recently built a house here as well, so he’s a real long-term prospect, if not forever.

I have another stupefyingly dull 3 hours of my course to look forward to tonight (Monday) after an hour and a half meeting straight after school. I have one more session after tonight (next Monday) and then an online course and a final project to get my next 3 credit points. We have a break for Chinese New Year in just two more weeks. This is a chance to seek out a fabled and mysterious wave somewhere out near CKS airport and perhaps take another trip to the east coast………….we’ll wait and see.

I didn't take any photos this week, so a couple more from Tassie.

sheridan, twin doll and me 

my twin doll

Right back into full action this week and I have another Master’s class tonight before presenting a 2 hour overview of the school ESL program to the whole school PTA tomorrow morning. I have a 30 slide PowerPoint, but they’ll need to be masses of fill in between, so I hope I can fill the time. There’s always question time at the end from the floor, so that should take some time, even if it means fielding queries on all topics from all divisions of the school’s parent population, usually with their own personal agenda.
Cass has been flat out as well and led a contingent of students to the local Chinese school the other day as a mini exchange. She was the only teacher from our school and was shocked to be greeted by the principal and executive and feted as a celebrity around the campus. After a million photos, she was also mortified to be videoed on numerous occasions as well. Her kids did a fantastic job with songs, readings and culture quizzes, but she hopes the school has the right idea: it was meant as a one-off, but went so well that the teachers up there are hinting at return visits. Anyway, after a presentation of a certificate for her work, she brought the kids back via Starbucks as a reward for their excellent showing.

We went to see Ocean’s 12 on Saturday night to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary and then tried to eat at the new “Chilis” outlet at the Tienmu Warner Village complex. After we were informed it would be a 2 hour wait for a table, we decided that we’d retreat to our beloved Café India round the corner from our place for a quiet and excellent meal. It was a little low key this year after the great drama of last year, when I plopped a basketful of hissing, spitting kittens on Cassy’s lap in the evening. It’s hard to believe these little street cats have been with us for a year and how Cassy’s own brand of spoiling them has taken effect. They now luxuriate on her cast off wool jumpers with their own covering quilt in their baskets and are just starting to relax near the blow heater. They will sit on her lap or stretch full length beside her on the lounge but they haven’t quite got the idea of the sheepskin: it seems to be an item to be attacked and killed judging by the great tufts of wool they pull from it if left to their own devices. It’s been so icy cold in the last week that they’ve even sat on me a few times!

This segue to the weather is appropriate as we are experiencing the harshest cold that we’ve had in our 3 ½ years here. Quite insanely, Ross and I have been for a surf on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and I’ve caught a grand total of 7 waves. It has been quite a reasonable size with lots of power but the biting wind has played havoc with quality. We’ve been shaking with cold a good 20 minutes after getting changed and sitting in the car with the heater on full bore, so you can imagine the extent of the freezing conditions. Officially, it’s been about 12 degrees, but with high humidity and scything wind it has felt much colder. Cassy would have worn her long coat to work today if some slacko had pulled down the suitcase from the top of the wardrobe to retrieve it!

My pictures today were taken by my third graders, which explains the strange quality (!), but have a look at Sheridan and her new doll. My Twin Doll is sent after the company receives a photo of the child and you can order matching doll and child clothing………I’ve seen it all now! She’s a great kid and after I expressed interest in seeing the doll she brought it and herself dressed alike the next day. The close up is me and another student, a very friendly little girl who calls me “Braggett” for some reason….maybe I don’t deserve a title in her opinion.
Great to hear from Thurza and Cassy’s parents this week ….we’re already relying on our email to get a taste of our “other world”.

do I always look this old?( don't answer!) 

Lil's excited (so are Mum and Grandma!) 

tassie wedding 

Katie and Cass 

the boys

Watching Gilly crack another ton then going over for a surf for the 3rd time that day. The sun beats a warm full body tattoo that will fade before my second day back at work and kiddies scream with delight at the lip of the Ladies Baths. Millions of little crystals sparkle on the water while the girls at Swell café just call out the customer’s first names to come and get their espresso and pannini. Little (and not so little!) nephews and nieces delight in their Christmas experience and the oldies eat some fine food and are merry. Friends and family have us over for the most mouthwatering BBQs and a bunch of old farts from uni days meet to discuss the world and their lives 22 years after we first met.
A big black motorbike that feels impossibly heavy and powerful just keeps asking for more speed and turn, leaning back in the seat and listening to that signature purr.
Sailors on maxi yachts in a full spinnaker run up the Derwent greeted by the diners at The Taste at Salamanca look exhausted and elated at the same time. Peeling great chunks from a juicy full salmon at a beautiful couple’s wedding in a Tasmanian vineyard, perfect day drifting into elegant night.

Great memories of our holiday back in Newcs and beyond, but not quite as special as the miracle back here. Despite being the Taipei foreigner’s close playground not one of our faculty or wider community were caught in the tsunami. The hallway talk all points to the three week break as saving many lives, the Americans choosing to go home instead as the longer time let them cope with their jet lag a little better and the Antipodeans seeing this break as a perfect opportunity to experience a real summer. Other international schools in this region did not come off unscathed: this tragedy has hit many with losses of teachers, parents and kids.

Virg’s stomach seems to have doubled in size: she must have done nothing else but eat for three weeks, while Mary has obviously been more restrained, still cutting a sleek figure. The girls have been incredibly attentive and have not stopped purring since we arrived home. We’re already enslaved again to the computer for all our contact needs and I must say, I haven’t really missed it. It’s been decadent to get the Herald each day and watch the news on telly, not to mention the titillating reality shows which have become even more bizarre since our last trip. Outback Jack, Wife Swap and Holiday Swap wouldn’t normally be viewing of choice, but when you’ve been starved of such fare…..all I can say is that even though deeply disturbing, it was also strangely compelling!

After a few short hours sleep on Sunday, we taught a full day then I went back to school from 6 till 9pm for the next installment of my new Master’s course, and yes, I did get the “noddies” and drop off for a few minutes! Ah well, all in the search of knowledge and educational fulfillment (or is that credit points and more money?!)

A few more shots than usual today, not of something vaguely exotic but reminders of a great trip home. See you in 5 months!

barbie of champions 

glimpse of our neighbour's garden 

le tour

A weekend of diverse experiences could only describe our last weekend here before we jet off next Friday night for a three-week break back home. A plush waiting room, funky styling and gleaming state of the art equipment couldn’t quite get my mind off the incessant high pitched whine of the drill in someone else’s mouth on Friday afternoon. Enroute to Chad and Cathy’s place for an end of semester Christmas get-together I was waiting my turn at “Dr Seattle’s” dentist clinic with the awful prospect of receiving my 2nd root canal treatment when my mouth was still throbbing with pain from the last one. I’ll spare the gory details, but I will be glad when I see him for the last time (I hope!) tomorrow afternoon. Lop-sided mouth pumped with Novocain and armed with a Christmas present for Chad of 2 bottles of Absolut vodka, I traipsed over to Chad and Cathy’s place. As the anesthetic wore off, I couldn’t ask to be in better company. Our team is full of delightful people this year and the Brekke’s house was festooned with lights and dripping with gorgeous decorations for Christmas. They had originally planned to come to Australia for the Christmas break and probably visit us as well, but Cathy has had some difficulties with her pregnancy and they decided to err on the side of safety and stay “Taiwan-side” for the break. We had a resplendent feast that they are renowned for, and good food and wine and company all combined for a very pleasant evening. Cass was there just ahead of me, but she is suffering from a bad cold, so we only stayed for a few hours, especially as my tooth began to ache.

Ross and I teamed up with Bob Penry, our Californian colleague to find some surf on Saturday morning. The Rocket won our approval and we spent a couple of hours getting some fair quality little waves. Bob had a snooze on the beach for a while, sleeping off a few drinks the night before and preparing for the big one as we all did that afternoon: the Tour de Rourke. Shaun is getting married at Christmas in Tasmania (which we’re attending) and this was the bigger than Ben Hur buck’s night. We met at the Pig at 6.30 for a feast and our first drinks. There were about 50 guys! Each of the nine pubs had a tour leader (wearing the leader’s yellow jersey) who made a rule that everyone had to stick to. Over the course of the night, left handed drinking (skull a shot if caught out), avoiding a little toy chicken placed on a shoulder (skull), not pointing except with an elbow (skull) and grabbing another and saying “g’day mate” when a stupid jester’s hat was put on by the leader – (last one: skull) were all in evidence and got many people caught out. (By the way, I’m using “skull” here to indicate downing a drink in one draught: I’m sure the spelling’s not right, but it is appropriate considering what met me when I looked in the mirror on Sunday morning!)

A few pubs in Tienmu hosted the black t-shirt clad crew before a coach transported us down to the “combat zone”, where the festivities picked up a pace. Now well oiled, the throng was getting caught with the chicken and by the time we again boarded the bus to the Brass Monkey, I had taken over the maillot jaune. My rules include doing a conga dance of at least 7 people every time the whistle blew and when the hat went on, people had to hug each other and say, “I love you mate”. This proved to be fairly comical in the middle of an otherwise sedate crowd of drinkers on a Saturday night! We were off to the infamous “Hooters” after that and everyone had to get their bare breast signed by a Hooters girl, but Ross decided the fun was yet to begin. He was tour captain for Saints and Sinners and the rule was that if you dared to put the hat on, you could be mobbed by everyone “stacks on” style. We demolished a 7-11 when someone ran in there to escape a stacking mob and I think we might have been asked to leave the last bar after a few more incidents saw tables and chairs go flying in all directions. The last stop was Carnegie’s nightclub, famous for its encouragement of people to dance on the wide wooden bar. Many of the boys took just this opportunity, but after an hour or so of watching this entertainment, Lewy, Ross and myself got a taxi home. Carl was in great form all night and seems to feature in a lot of the photos. Shaun had a hit list of photos that he needed to get in the night and managed to achieve quite a few. I have a web link to this photo site, but for the sake of the public’s health, I will not include it. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll refer you to it when I get home next week!
I was amazingly healthy on Sunday, so Cass and I booked some tickets online and went to watch “After the Sunset” at the Tienmu Warner Brothers cinema. We had a light lunch and a cup of coffee beforehand at the McCafe opposite and all in all, had a very lovely day. The weather here is just perfect at the moment: crisp and just a touch of bite in the morning and glorious cool sunny days. I have to be honest though: I’m REALLY looking forward to some of that hot Aussie sun after spending last Christmas in the snows of Prague and Paris…………….can’t wait. Cass has already got our first evening planned: get some hamburgers from the shop round the corner, bottle of wine and watch some cricket from the WACA. Bliss.

reprise of chianka's spazzy garden! 

heat seeking virg

A great malaise has descended upon us here in the last week. Barely able to keep our eyes open at night, we’re wondering what it could possibly be. Surely we’re not getting old?! It seems that a little afternoon nap would be most welcome during the week and yet the pace picks up as the school slowly and inexorably winds down to the end of the semester. I’ve written my reports this week along with testing all the poor little kiddies and written and prepared the letters that need to go home to tell parents of the results. Cass has been finishing off her units and is looking forward to writing her own reports with a sense of overwhelming joy at the looming deadlines (!) Cass attended the middle school “Candlelight” dinner on Friday night, a curious event typified by an array of stunning dress, jaw dropping decoration of the cafeteria where it is held and an incongruously unpalatable meal of basic canteen food. The kids have a wow of a time of course and the teachers fly the flag and it seems to be all over mercifully swiftly. Not so, however, the lower school staff get-together on Friday evening that I attended. Chad, John, Raj and myself had a great time at the Pig and Whistle straight after school, before heading to the principal’s house for the drinks after a few hours. An unseasonable typhoon had struck in the afternoon, so much so that our hosts had to offer me and quite a few others a change of shirt, our own saturated by sheeting torrents of hard driving rain. It was a pretty good night, but after leaving, my ability to know when enough was enough was hugely impaired: to the extent that I then went to the green bar to have yet more beers!

Saturday’s surf was delayed till about 11am and Ross came and picked me up, which was very kind, and we headed off to find some Pillbox waves. It was terribly miserable: the water was cold and muddy, the surf a pale imitation of previous incarnations and the driving rain and off shore winds were not really the tonic my hung over head needed! At least, I felt a little rejuvenated when we got back. Cass tripped off again on Saturday to a surprise hen’s night for Katie, the girl whose wedding we’ll attend in Tasmania in December. They went bowling (!) and afterwards went back to someone’s house for a few drinks, lots to eat and chat. Cass had a very good time and got home just as I was thinking of heading off to bed.

I’ve bought myself some little iPod extras over the weekend, including an “iSkin” which is a form fitting little silicone case for it and one of those tape thingies that will hook up to the iPod in the car. We went to see Bridget Jones2 today and it was the first time we’d been to the brand new Warner Village cinema right here in Tienmu. The theatre and the movie were excellent, although I felt a great sense of déjà vu watching Bridget…..it was a little too close to the original for my liking. Lots of people from school took advantage of free tickets to the opening of yet another slick modern shopping/cinema complex on Friday night in neighboring Neihu, this time with a full on Miramar Imax theatre in it. We’re really getting terribly spoilt for entertainment here now. The Imax is sited right next to Taipei’s answer to the London Eye: a giant slow moving wheel for viewing the city. Hhhmmm, another adventure soon methinks……….
I enjoyed having a messenger chat with my nephew Patrick this afternoon and we were talking about iPods in the main just before we headed off to so some grocery shopping on the scooter. We are both rugged up as winter has finally hit with a vengeance! Cass was huddled in her leather jacket today and I wore my polar fleece and we were still cold. Cass has put the electric blanket on the bed and the cats have begun to re-explore those warm havens to be found either on or near us as the temperature drops. It’s been a long time coming this year, but if today is any indication it could be quite nippy when we get back in January. Well, that’ll do for now, one more next week before I take a break for a while!

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