The Wilds Of Taiwan

You'll find that Placebo effect is usually at ...

2011-04-23T03:28:48.488+08:00

You'll find that Placebo effect is usually at 30%. Your Ireland statistics are way off the scale for it to be just placebo.

Lead is in the herbs because mainland farmers have found that dosing their plants with it makes them heavier, thus increasing their payoff at market. Unfortunately, it has the longer-range effect of scaring off the market, as well as doing actual harm, but the farmer's either don't know, or don't care.

wow, nice picture.

2010-09-30T18:17:03.922+08:00

wow, nice picture.

i would love to try that!

2010-03-26T03:07:06.341+08:00

i would love to try that!

No, it never belonged to China. People should stop...

2010-01-04T06:50:58.612+08:00

No, it never belonged to China. People should stop spreading this propaganda bs.

Taiwan is Taiwan. We're a country!

Thanks for your comment Carrine. Don't know an...

2009-10-21T20:55:28.418+08:00

Thanks for your comment Carrine. Don't know anything about the possibility of doing farmstays in Miaoli, sorry! Temperatures in Taiwan in December rarely drop below 10 degrees Celsius.

hi there, stumbled upon your blog while i was doin...

2009-10-21T20:15:00.480+08:00

hi there, stumbled upon your blog while i was doing research for my taiwan trip this coming December.

Am thinking of doing a farmstay or sorts in miaoli. do u think u can give me more information? the strawberries in your post look so good!

i also wonder how cold taiwan is like in december.

thanks in advance for your help! :)

Thanks for your comment. My blog's currently i...

2009-09-13T13:13:31.849+08:00

Thanks for your comment. My blog's currently in cryostasis! I don't really have much free time for blogging these days, but I may well post something before the year is out.

Just wondering: did you give up on your blog? If y...

2009-09-13T10:17:24.628+08:00

Just wondering: did you give up on your blog? If yes, it's a pity. I liked it

Hm, from C I A certified opium farmers to KMT l...

2009-07-26T13:46:54.715+08:00

Hm, from C I A certified opium farmers to KMT land strawberry farmers, very interesting history. I don't supposed anybody can get high on the later crop...

I have met Omen. He is from Montreal. I've he...

2009-07-19T18:55:39.187+08:00

I have met Omen. He is from Montreal.
I've heard complaints from people who have worked with him though. But he certainly is talented. That is doubtless.

I was lucky enough to meet one of the generals who...

2009-07-09T19:48:34.367+08:00

I was lucky enough to meet one of the generals who served with the kmt while in Thailand: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelake/343941703/

Aww I love strawberries they are awesome. I think ...

2009-06-06T21:41:51.884+08:00

Aww I love strawberries they are awesome. I think you are leaving in heaven with that many strawberries. Nice pictures

Hm, interesting to see the discussion on this subj...

2009-05-05T16:27:00.000+08:00

Hm, interesting to see the discussion on this subject, always wondering how this practice will affect others, and yes, burning ghost money does has it's own set of regulations to follow and was in place decades ago, it is ,however though, never and real hard to enforce on the local communities, traditions or not, it's a big hat to be put on such subject, when a religion blended in with all the stories it provides plus all the culture background and daily practice, ( in your case , daily routine),it's becoming a subject no government officials dare to touch, especially in a democratic society.

If it bothers you as you described, which I believe it does, you can always have your wife bring the kids to your local 里長 and file an unofficial complain and try to persuade your new neighbor purchasing and using 環保金爐, those newly design products does provide a better and cleaner burn for the ghost money, way less hazardous and less fume and smoke for you to breath in, and for them fortune tellers as well. I believe you are not the only one that suffers from this act alone, to live nearby one of these places are by all means no fun at all, when I was still a kid growing up in Tainan, my parents always told me never-ever buy houses and properties near one of these places, not only the general environmental pollutions per se, the major problem often being such places' abilities on degrading the nearby communities and resulting in bad investment returns, and the more I look at this issue, the more I am positive it's one of the few things my parents taught me right. So bring it up, provide the solutions for them to follow, and try to act nice and understanding while you are at it, because, trust me, it's going to be a hard nut to crack, just consider this, TW was being occupied by several foreign forces in the past, every single one of them tried to stop this practice and failed, including the brutal Japanese, and later on, even a brief period for the local KMT government, so....small practice, big subject, meanwhile, invest in a few good air purifiers and force them on burning the ghost money only during certain time frame of the day, so you can close windows in advance, better yet, wait for them to move out, or maybe you should go for new house hunting. Good luck.

2009-04-21T11:45:00.000+08:00

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

strawberries in taipei are ominously expensive. wh...

2009-03-26T23:56:00.000+08:00

strawberries in taipei are ominously expensive. why zat?

What a stupid idea. The land in which Taiwanese ...

2009-01-30T13:59:00.000+08:00

What a stupid idea. The land in which Taiwanese stay belongs to China. Gotcha, damnwit.

Introducing technology in English class is very good. I want to apply the same method in my classroom.

At least the dried fungus has nutritional value. W...

2008-11-28T19:45:00.000+08:00

At least the dried fungus has nutritional value. Wasn't it Hypocrites who said 'let thy medicine be thy food and thy food by your medicine'? Or was it 'let your medicine and thy food'? Oh, I'm quite befuddled now.

Should I cut down on the whiskey or increase antacids?

Looks like you were applying for C.I.A. in Taiwan ...

2008-11-16T22:52:00.000+08:00

Looks like you were applying for C.I.A. in Taiwan ....

This Omen art looks similar to something I saw in ...

2008-11-03T16:05:00.000+08:00

This Omen art looks similar to something I saw in Taoyuan last year. Here's a Flickr link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbanese/2998107341/

Isn't it illegal to burn ghost money, or is that s...

2008-11-02T01:52:00.000+08:00

Isn't it illegal to burn ghost money, or is that some kind of urban myth? Or, maybe that's just something to cover Taipei, like driving on the sidewalk is. I thought you could get a NT$100,000 fine. I'm probably wrong on that. I could've read people "should" get an NT$100,000 fine long ago...

Anon, I think this guy is doing something about it just by posting here. He's making people aware of the issue and creating discussion. If you've got a problem with that, why don't you go back to "wherever you came from", even if that includes China? Scram.

Anon is being an total ass about it but he has a p...

2008-11-01T23:44:00.000+08:00

Anon is being an total ass about it but he has a point; there are a bit of a point Lots of Taiwanese who agree with you and are working on all sorts of enviromental initiatives like restricting the burning of ghost money.

Personally speaking though, I wouldn't consider raising a family in Taiwan - ghost money or not- I've noticed the impact just three years of living on and off the island has had on my health.

You've lived in Taiwan for 15 years yet you sound ...

2008-11-01T16:55:00.000+08:00

You've lived in Taiwan for 15 years yet you sound just like another ignorant foreigner bitching about something you don't fully understand. Of course it has to do with tradition! Yes, it may be a silly tradition to you but try telling that to all the older Taiwanese people who were born and bred here for decades and lived their whole lives with this tradition. Do you really think even a small portion of those people know about the negative effects of burning ghost money? Of course not! And who's responsibility is it to educate them? Instead of just complaining about it on a blog you should just do something about it... or leave and go back to wherever you came from.

My wife wears this thing religiously. It keeps spo...

2008-10-24T18:06:00.000+08:00

My wife wears this thing religiously. It keeps spots from forming on the face.

I have worn it a couple of times for fun, and it works like a massive pair of sunglasses.

Glad to hear they are taking off in Texas...my wife may move to the states and I don't want to be ridiculed too much.

One of the reasons is to see the background of the...

2008-10-24T18:04:00.000+08:00

One of the reasons is to see the background of the applicant. As a small trading company, for example, I am not too thrilled to find out the applicant's entire family also have trading companies. (yes, have actually seen this...)

Once we did not hire someone because their family were butchers. (I think this is a Buddhist thing.)