The Wilds Of Taiwan

thinking of resurrecting the blog...maybe

2010-12-03T17:53:00.000+08:00

It's been nearly two years.

From KMT-land in Northern Thailand to a strawberry farm in Miaoli

2008-12-29T07:34:00.006+08:00

We went out to Miaoli to pick strawberries on Sunday and got a nice little history lesson thrown in for free. As we were getting our strawbs weighed we got chatting with the owners of the farm. The wife spoke Chinese with a slight accent so my wife asked her where she was from. Turns out she is from Northern Thailand and is a fifth generation descendant of the KMT soldiers who were war refugees after losing the
Chinese Civil War and who basically decided to settle in Thailand (more background of the history here). She married a Taiwanese farmer and has been living in Taiwan since 1995. She talked a bit about the Chinese who migrated to Northern Thailand from Yunnan province and said that the government in Taiwan (or perhaps the KMT party?) has reestablished contact with some families over there and sends small amounts of money every month to help support them.

It was fascinating to hear her talking about Chinese immigrants in Thailand, especially as she is connected to that history...and all the while munching on very delicious Miaoli strawberries!
[Other things I learned that afternoon are strawberry-based factoids. The strawberries at that farm are actually a Japanese strain. Taiwanese strawberries are generally smaller and bruise easily. Chinese strawberries are small, harder and not particularly tasty.]

Using Twitter to increase motivation in adolescent ESL students

2008-12-20T14:14:00.009+08:00

Since starting my new job teaching at a senior high school in September I've been thinking of ways to increase the students' overall motivation to learn English. I would not say that motivation is a problem at my school (thankfully!) but I'm up for anything that might give them that extra bit of interest. Many of my students are avid text messagers so I'm wondering if they might be ripe for an introduction to Twitter.

Many ESL teachers already use regular blogs as a teaching aid and as a way of connecting with their students. There aren't that many teachers using Twitter at the moment and most of those are using it to connect with other ESL teachers and to post links to their ESL blog or site. (I've recently started following Chris Cotter of Heads Up English and Sean of EFL Geek 3.0 and I'm discovering more all the time.) I've found all sorts of useful things by browsing ESL teachers' Twitter pages, but there doesn't seem to be much information out there about how ESL learners might be able to use Twitter. I teach roughly 250 students a week. I think it would be pretty cool if I could get a proportion of them regularly posting tweets to each other in English, either from their phones (not in class!) or from the web.

At present I have not really decided the best way to introduce Twitter to the students. I think I will do it in stages and gauge the students response as I go along. The first step will be to give them a quick survey about how they use the Internet and mobile phones. Then I will start a group blog so that I can post stuff that we've done in class as well as related material. As part of their homework each week I will ask students to post at least one photo (or link, video, etc.) on a given topic with a few lines of text and to leave a comment on another students' post.

I am hoping the group blog will generate quite a few conversations on and offline and provide the starting point for a little expedition into Twitterland. Twitter would therefore be an extension of the group blog. Now it may well be that the students will simply not be all that interested in microblogging in English but I guess we won't know that until we give it a try.

Wish me luck! If anyone has any experience using Twitter, or blogs in general, with adolescent ESL students, please leave a comment or contact me via Twitter/naruwan.

Mooncakes - a recommendation

2008-09-10T18:05:00.005+08:00

There was a time not too many years ago when the majority of mooncakes in Taiwan were vile, nasty things; weighty bean-based bricks containing a salty egg yolk at the centre and encased in a tough pastry. You can still buy them today but you don't see so many people eating them anymore.

The new breed of mooncakes are much lighter and smaller with flaky pastry and a sweet, usually adequately tasty, filling. But even then, when you've tasted one mooncake, you've pretty much tasted them all.

There are, however, rare instances of outstanding mooncakes, and last year my wife was fortunate enough to receive a box of truly wonderful mooncakes made by Shun Ching 順慶. Man, these things are incredible. Super soft flaky pastry, red bean filling with a distinctive caramel flavour, and a dollop of "mwah-jee", a sort of white elastic goo.

We decided to get them again this year and bought some extra boxes to give away. They're not cheap, but would you really expect them to be? I had a couple today, still warm from their kitchens at 214 Hsiang Shang North Road (Taichung City). Heaven. They go exceedingly well with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

[Update: links removed, sorry. The Shun Ching website has apparently been taken over by a smut site.]

Webcam teaching in Taiwan

2008-06-18T11:27:00.001+08:00

With a new version of Skype coming out tomorrow which gives prominence to video calls, as opposed to plain vanilla audio, it got me thinking why teaching English online via webcam hasn't really taken off in Taiwan. You'd have thought that Taiwanese people's love of convenience coupled with the ubiquity of broadband across the island, net-savvy ESL students and educators would be all over learning English via webcam.

There are a growing number of services which let students and teachers hook up online via webcam, such as Edufire, but Taiwan seems slow in catching on to this trend. I think there are number of reasons for this. The most obvious is that despite the tremendous convenience of having class online it's also a kind of sterile experience. I have chatted with my students online via Skype before and it was surprisingly hard going even though we get on very well in person. Video calls suffer from lag and the picture quality isn't all that great which makes it harder for non-native speakers to tell what is being said. Besides, students want to see their teacher up close, lob paper aeroplanes at him, maybe spill a full cup of iced coffee into his crotch, or even to delight in tugging on the hairs on his forearms. Can't do that with a webcam (yet, anyway).

Another reason is bounded up in the peculiar little way that your average Taiwanese student perceives language education. You either go to a buxiban with everyone else or you have a private tutor over to your house. It's all very passive whereas sitting in front of a webcam may feel too intense somehow.

You might think you'd make a killing setting up a webcam teaching service in Taiwan, but people will quickly realize it's easy for the student and the teacher to arrange this themselves using Skype. Ultimately, I don't see webcam tutoring replacing in-person teaching. Taiwanese are notorious for being late adopters when it comes to education, but in years to come I wouldn't be surprised if we see a handful of teachers using webcams as a supplementary method for practicing conversational English.

Mind you, all this is coming from a person who, in 1992, was reading a newspaper article about something called the Information Superhighway, and declared something along the lines of: "Pff! That will never come to anything. Few people own a computer and an even few number actually know how to use one." heh! We'll see....

I've solved the Taiwan question. It was easy.

2008-06-05T08:50:00.001+08:00

As I was sitting here staring into space this morning instead of working it occurred to me how silly it is to use "Chinese Taipei" to refer to the whole of Taiwan. Then it came to me: the solution to the Taiwan question. Rename Taipei City and Taipei County "Chinese Taipei" and cede it to the Peeps Republic of China.

It would be like the Northern Ireland model. People who support unification with China can move to Chinese Taipei, which of course would be run by Governor Ma, while those who favor living in the Republic of Taiwan would move to areas of the island outside Chicom Taipei and live happily ever after.
I can think of stupider ideas (but not many)!

Fifteen years in Taiwan

2008-06-01T09:14:00.002+08:00

I can't believe I've spent most of my adult life in Taiwan. Fifteen years! The precise date on which I arrived on this isle silently slipped by me last week as I'd forgotten to set the alarm on the Years In Taiwan Chronometer. I used to be kind of proud about how long I'd been in Taiwan - three years, five years, seven years - now I just sort of shrug and say "a long time" when people ask the inevitable, "How long have you been in Taiwan?" I don't get why some people appear to be impressed by someone who has lived here for a long time. I suppose what people are really saying is, "Wow, you haven't left yet?", and that's a little unsettling.

At the 15-year mark I feel like I ought to know a lot more about Taiwan than I do. I can't speak Taiwanese and I've never been to Hualien. So why am I not listing everything that I have learned, seen and done, in the past fifteen years? Well, I'm mindful of something I read shortly after arriving here, which goes something along the lines of: It's said that someone who visits a country for a few months will return and write a book about it, someone who went there for more than ten years will return and write an essay, but someone who has lived there for more than 20 years won't write anything at all. So, at 15 years, a short blog post seems about right.

Taiwanese women who wear a veil

2008-05-23T10:00:00.007+08:00

I've noticed recently that more and more women are wearing sun visors in this position like a welder's mask or a veil. I once saw an attractively-attired woman with her visor down so that you couldn't see any part of her face. She looked like some kind of ridiculous she-cyborg. There are the mask-wearers too. Ostensibly, they are worn to keep away germies and other airborne nasties, but I'm not so sure that's the only reason. Some women seem to wear a mask (plus sunglasses) pretty much the whole time they are outside. I realize that many of these veiled women have spent a fortune on SKII and other expensive skin-whitening products and want to protect their investment - god forbid they should ever turn brown - but I'm convinced there's more to it than that. They are hiding behind a veil, an Asian Niqab, if you like. The reason I think they are hiding is based on my observation that attractive Taiwanese women, especially those dressed sexily, usually have a look of irritation on their face and appear to be in a hurry to get somewhere, or just away from "here". (Maybe it's just me that has this effect on women! ) So masks and visors provide the perfect way to hide, with the pretense that it's for "cosmetic" (irony alert) reasons. So what's the big deal? I don't know. It bugs me. Why are they shutting themselves off from the world in this way? I have no problem with people wearing sunglasses, but to cover the whole face,... it's odd, and I hope it's just a passing fad.

Ghost money. Rat's ass.

2008-05-15T08:10:00.007+08:00

I never really gave a rat's ass about people burning ghost money until a new neighbor moved in a few months ago. The husband and wife run a fortune-telling service which requires them to burn ghost money... every... single... day. Not just one burner either; they have three and boy do they load 'em up. They have a folding table outside their store front piled high with wads of ghost money for the day's offerings. How fortunate for our neighborhood is that?

Fili wrote a post about ghost money burning back in March. He concludes that Taiwanese "will figure out their own way of balancing traditions with environmental issues ." Or, more likely, they won't. Fili may call his way of thinking optimism: I call it wishful thinking.

And isn't it interesting how burning ghost money is always framed as a Tradition vs. Environment debate? No, it's not interesting, not even to the tiniest degree . This tradition is getting up my nose, into my lungs, and very probably trying its damndest to give me cancer. I also have a wife and two sons whose noses, lungs and general wellbeing I happen to consider more important than a "cultural activity" as well.

Maybe Taiwanese really will figure out a way, but what I want to know is when? I'm holding my breath here! In fact, we should all be holding our collective breath. The correlation between high particulate air pollution and mortality and respiratory diseases has been well established. So please stop giving me this ludicrous false duality of Tradition vs. Environment. Just stop burning that shit already!

How TCM may actually be saving Taiwan's NHS a bundle

2008-05-12T14:22:00.012+08:00

The most recent Skepdic newsletter contains mention of a report by the BBC on an intriguing scheme being undertaken by Northern Ireland's NHS involving referral of some patients to practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine with the NHS picking up the tab. While it may sound like a load of bollocks on the surface, the scheme promises to drastically reduce the amount of money spent needlessly on people who are not really all that sick, or who may benefit just as well from the placebo effect as from a costly drug.

Scott Sommers recently lamented on Kerim's blog that "no one who is truly ill uses [Taiwan's NHS]" and in another comment suggested that folk remedies available on the NHS represent additional costs. After reading about the scheme in Northern Ireland it struck me that the availability of traditional Chinese medicine on the NHS in Taiwan may actually be saving the government a bundle. Rather than over-prescribing prozac and other expensive pharmaceuticals of dubious efficacy, how's about a packet of dried fungus or a harmless session with an acupuncturist at a fraction of the cost? The patient feels better, the government saves money and the NHS remains in less debt than it would have been otherwise. Many Taiwanese use TCM almost exclusively for minor illnesses and non-illnesses. This is a good thing. The last thing we want is for them to be over at the real hospital being pointlessly prescribed pricey drugs. I never thought I'd hear myself say this but let's hear it for TCM on the National Health Service !

Update (2 March, 2009): This article describes some of the findings from the experiment in Northern Ireland. Eight-one percent of patients reported improvements in physical health after the treatments. So what if it's the good ol' placebo effect? It's saving money and people are happy! "The researchers concluded: 'Not only has this project documented significant health gains, but also the potential economic savings likely to accrue from a reduction in patient use of primary and other health care services, a reduction in prescribing levels and reduced absenteeism from work."

New camera awesomeness

2008-04-28T14:04:00.006+08:00

I finally got around to buying a new camera on Saturday. I'd hummed and harred for an age about what camera to get. It finally came down to an apple and an orange: the Canon Powershot S5 IS or the Canon Powershot SD 850. I'd been using an ultra compact camera for the past few years (the SD 400) so in the end, as tempted as I was to get the SD 850, I thought it was time to have a play with a camera that has a bit more oomph. The fact that the S5 also takes high quality video with stereo sound, and allows you to zoom and take photos during filming, just tipped the balance in favour of the ultrazoom.

But like I said, it was an apples and oranges debate and really I'd like to have delicious fruits represented in my photographic basket, as it were. So having made up my mind which camera to get, the next question was where to buy. I emailed Michael Turton who owns an S3 and he kindly recommended an excellent camera shop in Taichung. I got an incredible deal which meant that even though I popped various other paraphernalia into the shopping basket, I ended up spending far less than I would have if I'd just wandered around e-street comparing prices. Thanks Michael. I owe you a beer or three!

I've been like a kid with a new toy, as the cliche goes, over the past few days shooting this, that and the other in this mode, that mode and the other mode. We went out to DongShih yesterday and I took loads of shots. I'll post up some of the more interesting ones when I have time.

Mullberries, lucky train tickets, and underpants

2008-04-07T08:43:00.011+08:00

Early April in our household basically means two things: putting the duvets away after Tomb Sweeping Day, and going mullberry picking. We usually go to a place five minutes down the road from us in Dali, but this year we thought we'd try the one out in Dadu (大肚) - literally "big belly".Love that name. Well done to the people who thought that one up. The name of the mullberry farm is 追分桑椹休閒農園. [Mildly amusing side note about their website - I asked the proprietor what the significance of "54333" was. Was it one of those number homonyms which meant something like "我是想桑椹' (I'm thinking of mullberries)? Ah, no. It's just easy to remember. But she said I had a good imagination.]

It's a big place, the largest mullberry farm in Taiwan according to one of the faded news clippings on the wall in the weighing area. The kids had a great time searching out the ripe ones. It's still early in the season so there was probably only one ripe mullberry for every twenty or so unripe ones. It's a great hillside location surrounded by a patchwork of rice paddies and small factories. Further up on the hilltop is a large cemetery. When we were there a noisy funeral service was in progress, which made it a slightly surreal experience.

Apparently there is a very old school nearby which was founded about a hundred years ago, and there's an old train station which we're told is also worth visiting. Maybe next time.

There's an interesting tradition associated with the train station in Zhuei-fen 追分. Around examination time, superstitious and/or desperate students anxious to get good grades, will line up in their hundreds to buy a ticket from 追分 station to 成功 (cheng-gong) station. The reason being is that 追分成功 means "pursuing grades to success". Oddly, they don't actually take the train, they just buy the ticket, which I think is cheating!

Part of me loves little traditions like this. It's often the little things, the superstitions and cultural quirks, that make living in Taiwan so interesting. But another part of me gives a sort of snort of derision at the mentality of these hordes who are not just lining up to buy some special ticket "for a bit of fun" but are actually desperate enough to think that this might, just might, help them get the grades they're hoping for. I mean it's like they've never even heard of lucky underpants.

Too much information

2008-04-02T21:26:00.000+08:00

I downloaded a job application form this evening and wow do they need a lot of information. Quite why they need to know the name, address, birthdate, occupation and phone number of my parents, in-laws, wife, kids, brothers, sisters and other close relatives is baffling to say the least. Perhaps that is a test in itself. If you willingly provide all that unnecessary information, you are perfect for the job. It's a research company.

F*ck! Very Hot 幹!好熱

2008-03-19T18:17:00.001+08:00

F*ck! Very Hot 幹!好熱
Originally uploaded by Naruwan

A homeless guy, a duck, and a large screwdriver

2008-03-08T15:29:00.006+08:00

Saw the weirdest thing this afternoon. Me and the kids were at Chung-Hsing University campus amusing ourselves in the vicinity of the lake when I notice this homeless guy creeping towards some ducks underneath a bush by the water. All of sudden he dashes forward, dives at full stretch and succeeds in grabbing one of them. Pulling it out flapping and squawking, he gets to his feet. I stand there agog as he carries the poor creature over to his bike.

Before I could properly formulate the thought 'Please oh please tell me isn't going to kill that duck right here and now in front of my kids', he reaches into a black bag and pulls out a long, green-handled screwdriver. He sees me looking on in horror and gestures with the screwdriver, making the international sign of 'I'm about to kill and possibly also eviscerate this duck so you might want to think about moving right along at this point'. Message duly received and understood, I gather together the kids who are nearby. As we're moving away along the path, up bounds a tall teenager. Nothing is said but the homeless guy quickly realizes that boy hero is not going to let him do the duck. He then wheels the duck around and flings it in the direction of the lake. And that was that.

I can only assume that the guy was hoping to sell the duck to a restaurant, or maybe he just hates ducks. No idea. In a strange kind of way, the whole duck incident made my day. I suppose that just means not much happens round here.

MJ Klein gets "Ript"

2008-02-25T19:20:00.003+08:00

Ript is a free scrapbook program which I discovered literally about an hour ago. Wanting to test it out, I dragged some images from Taiwan megablogger Michael Klein's site, The NHBushman, rotated them, shrunk some, enlarged others, and before I knew it I had a Quintessential NHBushman on my hands. Everything's in there: the Nikon fetish, the guitar, the food, the Dutch oven, etcetera, but couldn't squeeze in the Thai rum, or karaoke! I had so much fun I might do someone else next time, so watch out... Have a go yourself if you feel so inkleined (geddit?!).

Open letter to Fingarse

2008-02-19T14:29:00.005+08:00

I am not writing to you to complain about your overpriced, mediocre food, nor do I wish to inquire as to why that sour-faced woman who works there never smiles or makes eye contact with customers. No, what I wish to vent about is your policy on incorrectly priced grocery items. If a customer has bought some items, has left the store and returns later on, it is a damn cheek to ask that customer to pay an additional 5 Taiwan dollars when you discover that you have screwed up with the price labels. It's not the 5 dollars, it's the f*cking cheek of it.

Banquet was a blast

2008-02-12T08:35:00.000+08:00

You either love weiyas (year-end banquet) or you hate them. I think they're a blast. Yes they can be tacky and tedious at times but the food is usually pretty good and well, to be honest, it gets me out of the house. I also get to meet some of my wife's colleagues. Not that they say very much beyond "Your kids are so cute" and the like. I hate small talk anyway. Another factor was the noise. The performance was pretty damn loud the whole time and I have no idea how the people sitting at the table next to the speakers were able to stand the racket.

The entertainment this year started off with a contortionist in a glittery yellow constume folding herself inside a narrow tube, followed by a short performance by one of those "bian lian" {face change) artists, which I thought was quite cool, having only ever seen it on YouTube before. The poor guy only got a smattering of polite applause though. Then we had songs from the band - sax, violin and a keyboard. The singer/emcee, a skinny hag in a sparkly red and black dress, hammed it up for the audience and was generally awful but well received. Her various jokes were punctuated by quirky sounds from the keyboard - think "ba da bum" done on the drums.

Next up were the belly dancers. I have to say they did a fine job - well, two of them - the third did seem like she was new to the art of navel wiggling. The emcee then invited three class clown-types from the audience onto the stage to learn how to belly dance. That was a yawn but predictably it went down well with abalone munchers. Then we were into the home straight: the raffle (Kelly won 1600 NT!), a few more songs, a fruit platter, and a half dozen "cold" jokes for good measure.

I didn't take my camera this time because it's pretty much unusable. This photo was taken at the company weiya three years ago which was held in the very same room as this year's banquet.

One for the anti-Ma club

2008-02-06T11:38:00.001+08:00

One for the anti-Ma club
Originally uploaded by Naruwan

This shot was just asking to be taken. Happy CNY everyone.

"No Flavour" dried tomatoes

2007-12-19T09:56:00.001+08:00

"No Flavour" dried tomatoes
Originally uploaded by Naruwan

We went to a wholesale sweets and snacks warehouse the other day to get some Christmas treats for Kelly's students. I spotted some dried cherry tomatoes and snapped them up. They were very good actually. I think quite a bit of sugar had been added but they were otherwise extremely tasty and chewy. The label made me smile - "no flavour". That's being over-the-top modest !

OMEN street art

2007-12-11T16:15:00.001+08:00

OMEN street art
Originally uploaded by Naruwan I've blogged about street art by OMEN before. An obvious talent. It makes a change from those stencil graffiti which you used to see all over the place in Taichung. Don't get me wrong, some of those stencils are great but OMEN really does it for me. The one above is one he did outside the art museum. Great stuff OMEN. Keep 'em coming.

Out and about on my bike

2007-12-04T10:35:00.001+08:00

back door
Originally uploaded by Naruwan

The cool weather has been great for getting out in the morning, either jogging or riding my bike. One route I like to take runs from the end of Hsing-Da Road through Dong Fong Park (there's a 228 Memorial there) and connects to a nice bike trail which eventually leads to and runs parallel to the railway line. It's nice to get out and explore some of the nooks and crannies of south Taichung without nearly dying of heatstroke. You see some interesting things on the way like this back door. Just had to get a shot of it, even though as you can see from the top third of the photo my camera is on its last legs.

Metropolitan Park

2007-12-03T19:30:00.001+08:00

long shadows
Originally uploaded by Naruwan

Met up with two old friends who I haven't seen for ages yesterday afternoon at Metropolitan Park. Had a great time. It was funny how Taiwan only feels like summertime in England when it's winter here . Lots of people there. Pick any random block of grass and you'd have at least one frisbee, a toddler, a pooch and a kite if you count the airspace above it! But there was plenty of space to go around so a good time was had by all. Our six kids (collectively!) certainly seemed to enjoy themselves.

Check out the length of these shadows. That's me and Jason not long before the sun set. I reckon those shadows are about 50 metres long. The long downward slope enhances the effect.

This baseball bat should win me a few votes

2007-12-01T17:08:00.001+08:00

This baseball bat should win me a few votes
Originally uploaded by Naruwan

Am I the only person who thinks this looks ever so slightly intimidating? I mean he's carrying a baseball bat and he's obviously not on his way to play baseball. Politicians don't generally go around carrying baseball bats while they're on the campaign trail. Subliminal advertising at its finest.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and cancer

2007-11-30T19:24:00.000+08:00

My mum sent me this news story about a traditional Chinese medicine called Aristolochia fangchi which has been banned in the UK since 1999 because it can cause kidney failure and cancer of the urinary system. Nice stuff. (By the way, it seems to be spelt wrong in the Yahoo article. More info from Wikipedia here.) There is also the danger that this herb may be used as a substitute for other herbs. The Aussie government has a fact sheet listing the herbs which are most likely to contain Aristolochia used mistakenly - or accidentally-on-purpose - as a substitute.

It made me wonder whether this ancient herb is still available here in Taiwan. Unlikely, but the very fact that you can get TCM on the National Health Service, it's not inconceivable. Afterall, in Taiwan we effectively have state-sponsored snake-oil (figuratively and quite literally - snake oil is available as a Chinese medicine here) provided to the masses alongside so-called Western medicine. I say "so-called" because what that really means is "evidence-based" medicine.

And while I'm ranting why don't we just do away with coy words like complementary/alternative and conventional medicine, and Chinese and Western medicine, and say instead what skeptical minds are thinking anyway, namely: "medicine that works" and "medicine that doesn't work"? I'm of the view that we should only be taking and paying taxes for medicine that works and not be taking medicine and paying taxes for that which hasn't been proven to work, but hey that's just me talking crazy again. Yes, I know some Chinese medicine works - that's when we should stop calling it Chinese medicine and call it simply medicine. You see my point? OK, back to Aristolochia: wouldn't that be a mind-bender - a known carcinogen prescribed by TCM doctors on the National Health System? I just hope it isn't so.

My great idea

2007-11-29T10:22:00.000+08:00

You know what 7-Eleven should do? They should team up with a local supermarket and let customers order groceries and stuff online or directly from a catalogue in the store itself. Customers would then pick up their things at the 7-Eleven nearest their house the following day. This would not be for families to do all their weekly shopping. It would be for people who need an occasional bag full of groceries and other things that aren't currently available at the 7-Eleven but don't have the time to make a special trip to a large supermarket. It would be a great time-saver and, as we all know, in Taiwan life is all about convenience. So is this a great idea or what?

KFC game

2007-11-27T16:17:00.001+08:00

Spot the KLC bucket in there as well! Classic! I'm glad I tried out the Flock browser. It's pretty damn cool; just drag and drop and bob's your uncle.

Blogged with Flock

Taiwan bird photography: John&Fish

2007-11-26T14:20:00.000+08:00

I absolutely love birds. Lucky me then to have wound up in Taiwan which is home to a very high number of endemic species and boasts the second-highest bird species density in the world. Naturally, I'm also a big fan of bird photography, especially of Taiwan birds. The mountains are crawling with bird photographers at the weekend. It's a wonder the birds can get on with the business of being a bird with all those photographers tramping about in their back yards!

John&Fish are a brother and sister bird photography duo. I would say they are the best Taiwan bird photographers on Flickr. Many of their photos get dozens of comments and Flickr group "awards", and they have a heap of testimonials too.

Check out them out for yourself and be utterly amazed.

Jason's Sports Day

2007-11-25T11:20:00.000+08:00

Go! Go! Go! Yesterday was Sports Day at Jason's school. It was hot and sunny, the music was blaring and all the mums and dads were there with their cameras and camcorders. Here Jason is just behind his classmate and sprint rival Ah-fu at the half-way point of the 60-metre race. Well, I am happy and proud to report that Jason manaaged to pull ahead and win the race despite a gormless parent who wandered onto the track in front of Jason!

3-D Maze Sphere

2007-11-25T07:10:00.000+08:00

I've been playing with this a lot over the past week. A friend of ours bought one each for their kids and kindly got an extra one which they thought Jason might like. Well, he does like it - a lot - and so does his Dad! It's tricky enough to get you hooked but not so frustratingly difficult that you want to hurl it against a wall and jump up and down on the pieces (not that I've ever done that, I hasten to add!)

It's a really ingenious toy and intriguing just figuring out how someone might have gone about designing and making it. You can buy this and other edutainment-type puzzle games/toys at shops inside the Taichung Science Museum.

"How To Teach Stupid Students" WTF?

2007-11-20T07:55:00.000+08:00

My eldest son brought this home from elementary school last week. He'd pulled it out of the scrap paper box in his classroom. The literal translation of the title is: How To Teach Stupid Students. My first reaction was "What the hell..?" but when I read the points below I soon realized it's meant ironically; in other words, tips on how not to teach, or "If you want your students to be stupid just follow these teaching tips". I presume this was handed out to teachers for training purposes or perhaps a zealous parent had printed it and given it to the teacher. No idea.

The list makes some obvious points from the School of Duh, but I suppose even good teachers need to be reminded of the basics every once in a while.

Let's run down the list. This is a quick, rough translation so don't get all picky on me, k?

Only use one, unchanging style of teaching.
Only teach what's in the text book.
Require students to provide the standard answers to questions.
Don't permit students to ask questions.
Encourage passive listening.
Make students obey absolutely.
Frequently nag, seldom praise students.
Constantly scold, and disrespect students.
Focus on homework and grades.
Do not permit any mistakes.
Reach the conclusion quickly.
Ask pointless questions.

Anything that you might want to add to that list?

Chinese-language Taiwan blog: "Teacher Kuo"

2007-11-16T07:10:00.000+08:00

All right , not technically a blog as promised, but the personal website of Kuo Chang-Chung ( 郭長成 ) a teacher at Chiayi Commercial Senior High School. I stumbled across this site quite by chance. Lucky find!

What it is:

A huge collection of photos taken by Teacher Kuo of trips he has taken with his students around Taiwan going back to 1998, as well as pictures of steam trains, plants, animals, temples and much more besides.

Click around and you'll turn up a lot of pictures of his students doing mundane things like sitting at computer terminals or being presented with awards and such like, BUT, and it's a big BUT, you'll also find plenty of interest, such as pictures of watermelon eating contests, people shelling snails complete with newspaper article about someone who got intestinal worms from eating under-cooked snails, a military air show at a base in Chiayi, a burning methane pond, and as mentioned above steam trains. Kuo is quite a steam train enthusiast in fact. Plenty more shots in the 四、我愛火車 section here. There's also a truly excellent collection of photos of animals and plants which just on its own would make for an impressive website.

Read his lengthy biographical details here. I love series of photos that show kids growing up from toddlers to young adults. Funny thing is, Kuo starts rather on the, er, tubby side and gets progressively trimmer as the years go by. Good for him!

I'll finish up with one of a superb series of shots of baby Malayan night herons (?).

Preparations for temple's 60th anniversary - gonna be a big one

2007-11-14T07:17:00.000+08:00

Pootling along in south Taichung yesterday I spotted this impressive, puppet-festooned plywood structure tucked away on a plot of wasteland and pulled over to take a snapshot. A banner indicated that a temple is going to be celebrating its 60th anniversary but unfortunately I couldn't see anything saying when it will be held. If I have time I'll pop back over there and see if I can find out. It looks like it's going to be a big do so I'd like to get a few shots of the proceedings if possible.

If you'd like to check it out for yourself there's a map link below. To get there from the intersection of Wu Chuan South Rd. (五權南路 ) and Chien Chung Rd. ( 建成路 ) , go east along Chien Chung ( 建成路 ) about a 100 metres or so till you hit Hsin Hwa St. ( 信華街 ) then turn left. You should see it on your left as you head north before you reach Fu Hsing Rd. ( 復興路 ) Don't rely on my pinyin: it's doubtless not exactly the same as that on the street signs! Here's the area on Google Maps. Link

"Selling Fragrant Farts" 賣香屁

2007-11-12T07:18:00.001+08:00

賣香屁 "selling fragrant flatus"
Originally uploaded by Naruwan

Robert over at The Only Redhead in Taiwan has an interesting post about his experience learning Chinese using children's books. I can certainly attest that children's books are an excellent way to learn Chinese. Comic books are also a great resource if all those folk tales get a bit too much - I recommend The Crayon Kid and Doraemon to start you off.

The story about an elephant taking a dump reminds me of a picture book I borrowed recently from the local library for my son which was entitled "Selling Fragrant Farts". Seriously. I was so charmboozled I took some pictures of the cover and some of the lavishly illustrated pictures inside and posted them on Flickr.

A browse through the titles of kids books in almost any library or book store in Taiwan will tell you that Taiwanese picture book writers are not afraid to play to kids' fascination with pee and poo. Selling Fragrant Farts is actually not a bad little story all in all. If I were a Mandarin teacher I'd have that on the list of required reading for sure!

Update: Mark points out in the comments that he has come across the same story by a different publisher. Here's his post: 賣香屁

Podcast addiction (part 2)

2007-11-09T11:44:00.000+08:00

Here ya go. More podcasts that I recommend. Again, if you have any recommendations of your own, feel free to leave a comment.

Various topics
University Channel Podcast Plenty to choose from. Recorded lectures, lecture series and speeches mainly on politics and social issues. There was a great one (3-part) a while back on the philosophy and science of consciousness.
Radio 1 Documentary BBC Radio 1 - as the show title suggests.
Thinking Allowed (BBC Radio 4) - topical discussion on pretty much everything under the sun.
RU Sirius Show - a great show; explores cyberculture and counterculture.
Steve Wright in the Afternoon (BBC Radio 2) - Steve Wright has gone a bit bland for me but he does have some entertaining guests on his show from time to time.
Start the Week(BBC) - discussion with guests who are "movers and shakers" in realms of politics, history, science and the arts.
Radio Taiwan International - frankly it's a bit boring overall, but it can be pretty interesting in brief spurts. I hope it can survive the recent budget cut and evolve into something I would really look forward to downloading.
Point of Inquiry - this podcast is really excellent. Interviews with high calibre guests such as Stephen Pinker, Richard Dawkins et al. about their recent books or on topics with a "science 'n' society" theme.
Slate Magazine Daily - Slate is an amazing online magazine and this is a daily offering of an audio version of a noteworthy article.
Savage Love Podcast - what could be more fun than listening to complete strangers talk to a gay agony uncle about their unusual sexual relationship problems?
Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast - takes a look at the recent doings of the "RSC". It would be cool if they could visit Taiwan. I believe they're going to do some TV comedy improv shows soon.
Radio 4 Choice (BBC Radio 4) - weekly documentary selected from elsewhere in the BBC radio stable: science, arts, you name it.
The Treatment (KCRW) - interviews with screenwriters, directors and other creative talents in Hollywood.
The Business (KCRW) - an inside look at the business side of the entertainment industry. Maybe sounds dull but is actually pretty interesting. There was a good one recently about complexities involved in product placement in TV shows, for example.
In Our Time (BBC Radio 4) - one of very few podcasts which I listen to each and every time. Melvyn Bragg discusses history topics (mostly) with three guest professors.
Front Row Highlights (BBC Radio 4) - for a fix of recent happenings in the worlds of arts and drama.
Fly With Me - a behind the scenes look at life as an airline pilot. He's not done anything for quite a while now, but there's still the archive for new listeners.
Daily Mayo - best bits from Simon Mayo's daily afternoon show. It usually features an interview with a guest.
Book Panel with Simon Mayo (BBC Radio 5) - two authors are invited in to hear their book being reviewed by two other guests and a call-in listener. I have a long lit of books I want to read based on this show!
Best of Today (BBC Radio 4) - I love the Today programme, which explores current affairs. Hard to believe the show has been going for fifty years.

Music
Getting a Leg Up - Taichung's very own Mark Forman ) puts together a great "mix tape" of eclectic music.
3hive- nice audioblog of quality alternative music with occasional podsafe podcasts.
PRI's The World: Global Hit - an occasional listen for me. Features a world music artist or particular song.
Aurgasm - not a podcast, but a cracking good eclectic audioblog that I heartily recommend, podsafe I think.

Podcast Novels
Scott Sigler's Earthcore . I am still working my way through this. It certainly keeps you listening. When I eventually finish it I'll move on to J.C Hutchins' 7th Son . After that I have Philip Pullman's audiobook trilogy His Dark Materials to work my way through.

Favourite Chinese-language Taiwanese blogs

2007-11-07T08:40:00.000+08:00

In the past few months I've been browsing the odd Chinese-language blog, and I've found it's been a refreshing change from reading blogs by Taiwan expats. Oh, before I go on, could someone please blog about Darlie toothpaste just one more time, because that's a topic that I think hasn't quite been covered enough lately.
Don't get me wrong: I read a lot of Taiwan expat blogs, mostly via my trusty Google Reader, and I enjoy them a lot for the most part, but it is nice to leave The Bubble sometimes and read blogs which aren't simply variations on the theme of "Isn't Taiwan a funny little country?" (Whew! Nice to get that off my chest!)

When I first started exploring Taiwanese blogs it was hard to know where to start because there are just so many of 'em. I needed some recommendations to start the ball rolling. My wife reads quite a few blogs so I just asked her which are her favourites.

The blog she most often checks out is Coco Chang 画生活. Coco is a Taiwanese gal married to an American. She blogged about her life in Taiwan and what it's like being married to a "laowai". It was pretty funny and her little illustrations were quite charming in their own way. Her blog developed quite a following and she even published a book based on her blog.

About a year ago they decided to up and move back to the States. Her blog has been revamped several times (I guess she has a lot of spare time!) and the latest rendition is tricked out with all kinds of ever-so-slightly-annoying IE-only gizmos so Firefox users be warned!

It's interesting reading about their life over there from her perspective, but maybe she does overdo it with the 'cute kid' videos sometimes. All in all, it's a fun read. Check it out for yourself and tell me what you think.

I hope to post one or two recommended Chinese-language Taiwanese blogs each week. If you have a personal fave, do leave a comment and let me know.

Podcast addiction (part 1)

2007-11-02T11:06:00.000+08:00

I love podcasts. Can't get enough of them. I liked podcasts before the term was even invented, literally. Many moons ago in the pre-podcast era, online radio was really taking off but you had to listen via streaming. What I wanted was an interesting talk radio show that you could download as an mp3 file and listen to on a CD in the car or on a mp3 player. Lucky for me I found April Winchell who was putting recent shows on her site in Real and WinMedia files.

Early podcasts by and large were crap but the number and quality of podcasts increased enormously in just a few years so we're at the point now where there are more quality podcasts than you could possibly listen to.

Check out the following list of podcasts that l listen to on a semi-regular basis depending on what takes my fancy that week. There are way too many for one post so I'll post the second part of the list later this week. Part 2 will include various other topics such as arts-and-society-type podcasts I enjoy as well as music podcasts and podcast novels. I love discovering new gems so if you have a favourite podcast not listed here do let me know.

Humour
April Winchell(KCRW) - I love April Winchell. She has a quick wit. She deserves to be more famous than she is.
Russell Brand(BBC Radio 2) - Russell Brand is an egotistical pervert but inexplicably that translates into bizarre humour, although he can definitely make you cringe. One of the most popular podcasts in the UK.
Keith and the Girl (I recommend starting with their Beginnings section) - Hard to say what the appeal is here. A comedian and his girlfriend talk crap and somehow it makes for great listening.
Harry Shearer's Le Show (KCRW) - A bit long and sometimes slow-going. My fave parts are the sketches, especially the Dick Cheney ones, and the songs are good too.
Jonathan Ross (BBC Radio 2)
Chris Evans Drive Time The Best Bits (BBC Radio 2)
Best of Chris Moyles (BBC Radio 1) - Ross, Evans and Moyles are not comedians but they can be pretty funny. I'd say the Moyles show is the funniest of the three.

Science and Technology
CBC Radio Quirks and Quarks - solid science show broken into segments which can be downloaded separately.
Berkeley Groks Science Show - interesting interviews with scientists and science writers.
Discovery Channel Features - an occasional listen depending on the topic.
SETI Science and Skepticism Very nicely put together podcast. Seth Shostak is a great host, funny and clever but never irritatingly so!
New Scientist Podcast nice podcasts but the frequency of output seems to be dropping off in recent months.
NOVA Science Now - NPR podcasts seldom disappoint. I particularly like this one.
NPR Health & Science - NPR do loads and loads of podcasts and the ones I've listened to all seem to be very well put together.
Pods and blogs - not bad. I throw these short podcasts in for variety more than anything.
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe - one of my favourite podcasts. These guys really know their stuff yet the tone of the show is light-hearted and often pretty funny in parts.
You and Yours - Health (BBC Radio 5) - covers some interesting science-related topics.
Science and the City - highly recommended. I download a high percentage of their shows. Check out their archive.
Science Talk (Scientific American) - different flavour to New Scientist: hard to choose between them because it depends on the topics being discussed.
Shrink Rap Radio (Psychology/ Psychiatry) - has some fascinating guests, authors and experts in the fields of psychology and psychiatry.
Skepticality - I prefer Skeptics guide to the universe above but this is still an enjoyable show.

Stay tuned for part 2 later this week.

My camera showing its age

2007-11-02T08:08:00.000+08:00

In the past month my camera has developed a purple horizon as you can see in this picture of Chung Hsing University students practicing jumping rope for Sports Day. I suppose it's the sensor reaching the end of its natural life. I've had my trusty Canon IXUS since Feb. 2004, almost four years, and it has served me very well. I'm assuming it's a problem with the sensor chip thingy. Any idea what it would cost to fix? I'm almost afraid to ask at a camera shop! Part of me is pleased that it seems to be on its last legs because now I'll be "forced" to buy a new one, perhaps a prosumer ultrazoom like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 or the Canon PowerShot S5 IS . Might treat myself to one this Christmas....

Calling Teacher Gerald: yes, it probably is your heart

2007-11-01T18:59:00.000+08:00

Browsing some Taiwan blogs the other day I came across a post by Teacher Gerald, a 51-year-old American expat who lives in Taichung. He describes waking up with pain deep inside the chest which worsened as the day wore on and later on he had shortness of breath. Unfortunately, after some googling he makes the mistake of thinking that the absence of other common symptoms such as pain in the jaw, arm and neck etc. means that it's not his heart that's the problem.
Uh-oh. Any severe pain in the chest, especially one that feels deep inside, needs to be checked out by a cardiologist. Considering he may very well have a life-threatening condition, I find it odd that he seems so set against seeing a doctor. I guess he has his reasons.

As you can imagine I was quite disturbed by what I read so I left a comment urging him to see a heart doctor ASAP. It would be awful to hear that he died of a heart attack and be left thinking that I had the opportunity to try to persuade him to seek immediate help but didn't because I couldn't be bothered (or some other excuse).

I have asked other Taichung bloggers to leave a comment encouraging him to get help before it's too late but so far no one has taken up my suggestion. If anyone reading this feels completely indifferent about Gerald just think how you would respond if Teacher G was a relative or friend of yours. Now get over to his blog and suggest that he might like to get his buns over to the cardiology dept. of China Medical University Hospital pronto.

UPDATE: I left a comment on a heart health blog called Heart Cipher about Gerald and the next day I noticed that "Anonymous" had left a long comment on Gerald's blog pointing out that Gerald "[o]bviously was having a heart attack". He also makes the excellent point that the result of a heart attack may not be death but permanent incapacitation.

Fast forward two years

2007-11-01T13:55:00.000+08:00

For one reason or another I've decided to bring this blog back out of the deep-freeze. I've been commenting a lot on Taiwan blogs in recent months and posting random stuff on my twitter blog and I've been feeling the primal urge to blog again. Now that Lucas is older (nearly two and a half) it's a little easier to find the time and energy for other things. I probably won't be posting so many family pics anymore as I'm still a little paranoid about stalkers and weirdos on the net. Then again I may just get over that once I get this show on the road again. Well, it's time for this born again blogger to sign out and do something productive. bfn!

Lucas kidney ultrasound

2005-10-23T09:55:00.000+08:00

Lucas has 'water on the kidneys' which is related to his urinary reflux problem. It's not serious but it needs to be monitored periodically. We went for our scheduled checkup last week and the doc said his kidneys were looking much better. Lucas even seemed to quite enjoy the experience !

Jen-Ai hospital had told us that the severity of reflux on one side was level 4-5 which usually means surgery, but the Chung Shan doctor assured us that it's 'only' 3-4 which has a much lower chance of requiring surgery.

Partial lunar eclipse

2005-10-23T09:28:00.000+08:00

A few days ago we had a partial lunar eclipse which I was quite excited about. In the end it was a bit of a let down. I thought that the earth's shadow was going to take a much bigger bite out of the moon than it did.

I am amazed that this shot actually came out. This is what you get with 3x optical zoom and a very steady hand ! The miniscule 'bite' is at the lower right part of the moon in case you were wondering.

Taichung City Gov't Adopts Whisky Slogan

2005-10-23T09:19:00.000+08:00

Based on the Chinese meaning I think Mayor Hu is trying to say 'keep moving forward.'

Old photos of Taiwan

2005-10-16T15:57:00.000+08:00

Great pictures of Taiwan's yesteryear. I wonder what Internet historians 300 years from now will make of our photoblogs. Thanks Michael for the link.

Bike trail flowers

2005-10-16T00:36:00.000+08:00

Like I said, loads of lovely flowers. I'd be bending over some flowers trying to get a shot and I could feel all these eyes gawking at the foreigner as they passed. Some kid yelled out "Frenchman!"

This is where we rented our bikes from. Very cheap. Mine and Jason's bikes came to NT$150. Next up we have a girl on a unicycle who whizzed by at great speed. Then we have a chicken and a lovely red flower - it's that kind of trail. Lastly, a typical road crossing where scooters and cars do not slow down for bikes and bikes only slow down when it's almost too late in many cases. Jocelyn was nearly clobbered by a truck which thankfully stopped in time.

More bike trail pics

2005-10-15T23:56:00.000+08:00

Kelly was convinced that there would be battery-powered bikes available as there were in Feng Yuan. Alas, no, so she pushed Lucas in the pushchair while the rest of the gang raced off on their bikes. Jason ended up on the back of Johnny's bike and I kept turning back to see how Kelly and Lucas were doing.

We made it to about the 3km mark and the others got as far as 6km I think. This gave me chance to 'stop and smell the flowers' as it were, and there really were many kinds of flowers along the trail. I spent as much time kneeling next to flowers trying to capture a nice macro shot as I did pedalling along the trail.

Bike trail trip

2005-10-15T23:40:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday we headed out to a bike trail in Tan-dz. It was fun. Overall, I preferred it to the one in Feng Yuan. Lots of rice fields and flowers -just try to ignore the derelict warehouses. One big problem with this trail is that it crosses many roads. The small roads are more dangerous than the main roads because the kids aren't looking out for oncoming scooters and cars. It's better to start this 10km trail at the other side we have since discovered.

Just testing out the Picasa update

2005-10-12T09:33:00.000+08:00

You know I think I prefer using the Hello program. It's much faster, although you can't post a title which is a pain.

Lisa's grandparents

2005-10-10T11:07:00.000+08:00

I find old black and white photographs fascinating. Here we have Lisa's grandparents in their wedding garb over half a century ago. Whenever I went to Lisa's house they would always greet me with a polite nod and a smile. It feels a little odd seeing the twenty-something versions of them. What I really want to see though, Lisa, are pictures of your mum and dad when they were in their twenties. I am sure they are highly entertaining !

A shocking banner in the PRC

2005-10-10T11:04:00.000+08:00

Found this on Karl's blog (Chewin in the Chung).
If you don't read Chinese, the literal translation is: Hit it out, press it out, 'flow' it out - just don't give birth to it.

banner
By Chaon.

Birding In Taiwan

2005-10-10T09:04:00.000+08:00

Birding In Taiwan: " "

Came across this site by accident. Here is an interesting factoid for you that I gleaned from a China Post feature of all places: Taiwan has the second highest number of bird species per square km in the world (Madagascar is number one). Taiwan gets a lot of migratory birds (from Siberia stopping over before heading on down to the Phillipines) but it also has a very high number of endemic species.

Kelly and I always said that when Jason was bigger we'd head out into the hills with the birdwatching group that we joined before he was born. Now we have Lucas so we'll have to push that back a bit. I'll have to make do with the birds in the back garden for the time being. We do get some interesting visitors sometimes. We had a black bulbul once and occasionally we get Himalayan tree pies. From the roof I often see drongos, black-crowned night herons and storks but these are fairly common. Most of the time in the back garden we just get Chinese bulbuls, Japanese wagtails and Japanese white eyes. I can't be 100% sure but I think we may have had a white-browed bush robin one time.

Chocolate fountain

2005-10-09T11:58:00.000+08:00

Last week we went to the Splendor Hotel to have 'afternoon tea.' My favourite section was the pasta bar. You point out what kind of pasta you want, what bits and pieces you want to go in it, and the sauce, then they cook it up for you right there. Highly recommended.

Jason camped out next to the chocolate fountain. Perhaps I should have told him what happened to Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Chocolate fountain
By Naruwan.

Car stickers

2005-10-09T11:46:00.000+08:00

Who would even want these stickers on their car? Beats me.

Car sticker
By Naruwan.

Guitar Camp squat poo poster

2005-10-09T11:27:00.000+08:00

This is a poster for guitar camp at Chung Hsing university. I am not sure of the significance of the squatting stick figures. At least it's eye-catching !

Guitar Camp squat poo poster
By Naruwan.

Haircut

2005-10-09T09:45:00.000+08:00

Jason gets a NT 90 haircut.

Haircut
By Naruwan.

Black kitten

2005-10-09T09:31:00.000+08:00

There are many, many cats in my neighbourhood. Most of them seem to congregate in my back garden at night to defecate, fornicate and screech at one another. And they seem so placid in the daytime - probably worn out.

This kitten isn't going to catch anything unfortunately because just under this particular grate is a wire mesh covering which prevents roaches and rodents from going in and out.

Black kitten waits patiently for its prey to emerge
By Naruwan.

Jason's first day at kindergarten

2005-10-02T14:55:00.000+08:00

Jason has started kindergarten at last. At first he was going for the mornings only but after just a few days he was pleading to be able to stay until 4 p.m. His class is supposedly bilingual but of course as with most kindergartens that term means 95% Chinese with the other 5% made up of games like 'hit the English flash card' and singing Ten Little Indians. Still, Jason seems happy to be there and he is proud that he has learned some bopomofo (the Chinese phonetic alphabet used in Taiwan). I believe he'll be able to hit the ground running when he starts at elementary school next year.

Jason loves to do crazy 'smiles' for photos but I asked for 'a nice, normal smile' in this shot. Hmmm, I think I'll stick with crazy next time!

It was twitching

2005-10-02T14:45:00.000+08:00

Jason had moved the sofa to retrieve something that had gone underneath and he called me over excitedly to observe some wriggling worm-like creature. I thought it might have been another flatworm or something related to a leech possibly. I scooped it up on the edge of a piece of paper for closer inspection.

Jason then explained that he had in fact whacked a small gecko thinking that it would dash off in time. Well it did indeed dash off but the poor thing left his twitching tail behind. No more tormenting geckos, Jason!

It's one of the things I love about Taiwan

2005-10-02T12:12:00.000+08:00

People just dry stuff anywhere they can find a space without fear of it being pilfered or interfered with. My neighbour regularly puts various leaves and grasses out to dry on his car bonnet. I have another pic somewhere in the archives of large black beetles being dried out on a car windscreen.

Out in the countryside you often see edible products being dried right by the roadside. Ugh! Imagining all that dust and pollution it must be exposed to makes me think twice about eating dried local produce. I still eat it anyway half the time. Must be turning Taiwanese.

As an amusing aside, someone in my neighbourhood hangs their embarrassingly large underpants on the metal gate shown here (you can see the edge of it in this picture). I'd take a picture of them but if I were to be spotted taking photos of someone's underpants....no, better not go there.

Black turd sculptures have appeared around the lake...

2005-10-02T11:39:00.000+08:00

...at Chung Hsing uni campus. There are four in all (you can see the other two in the background). I'm sure they mean something, or perhaps they are simply aesthetic statements - of what no one is quite sure. Most people are in agreement about one thing though - they look like turds.

You know, even if they looked great, the lake and its surroundings just don't need any sculptures. It's already quite attractive enough. It reminds me of those cakes you see in bakeries here which are overloaded with fruits and decorations that don't belong together. Perhaps the university has too much money and doesn't really know what to do with it.

Heineken green tea

2005-10-02T10:31:00.000+08:00

Sounds like a revolting combination but you just never know. I'll try it and report back. Actually we usually go to the tea shop right nextdoor to this one called Original Tea. The prices are slightly higher than at other shops but the teas are really excellent and supposedly all organic.

Bad news: Tesco is leaving Taiwan

2005-10-02T09:40:00.000+08:00

Good bye Tesco - it was nice while it lasted:

It seems Tesco only just arrived in Taichung and now they're sodding off. Bastards. Carrefour and Tesco are doing some kind of weird swap deal in which the Carrefour gets Tesco's Taiwan stores and Tesco gets Carrefour's stores in Czech and Slovakia. Kelly is devastated. Jason just hopes they keep the car-trolleys.

I spend way too much time on the net...

2005-09-26T09:22:00.000+08:00

... so I'm cutting back as of today. I'll probably just post things at the weekend. The idea is to wean myself off the Internet on weekdays to free up more time for wholesome things like reading novels, something I'd like to do a lot more of.

Red millipede

2005-09-23T08:36:00.000+08:00

Jason has a wonderful eye for spotting bugs. Maybe that's because he is closer to the ground than me! This magnificent specimen was walking past our doorstep just as we were coming home the other day. It's lucky I didn't accidentally squish him.

To squish or not to squish
By Naruwan.

Baby contest

2005-09-22T10:54:00.000+08:00

Whether parents like it or not, as soon as their baby is born they are entered into a grand competition – a baby contest. It begins right from the moment your bawling bundle of joy is weighed. Lucas was 3 kg when he was born. “Although that’s not an impressive weight…” wrote one of my relatives in an email (!)
It seems that the heavier the baby at birth the better, even though there is absolutely no correlation between birth weight and weight after 12 months. But this is just the opening event in the Baby Olympics.

Another major event is “How Much Milk Does Your Baby Drink?” Jason was terrible at this event, only managing to put away a measly 60 cc of moo juice at a time, and yet has managed to achieve a normal height and weight for his age.

Our next door neighbour asked Kelly yesterday how much milk Lucas could drink. The gauntlet had been thrown down.
"120cc, no problem,” replied Kelly with pride. I admit I too find it gratifying that Lucas has a good appetite.
"Only 120?” scoffed Mrs. White, “Our granddaughter could drink that much at one month!” The granddaughters’ parents live and work in Taipei and come down to visit at the weekends. Kelly still had a trump up her sleeve.
"Ah, but Lucas can drink that much every two hours.” This much is true.
Mrs. White thought for a moment and then conceded that their baby only had that much milk every two and a half hours. She skulked off, dejected. Ha! So we won. 1-0 to us. [whole family performs victory dance]

By the way, Lucas is now over 6kg and we think he is going to win the Earliest Talker event too. He has already started babbling a little. So watch out -
our baby is better than your baby!

Daddy, you're scaring me

2005-09-21T09:13:00.000+08:00

I've come across the 'magnified eye effect' a lot at Flickr and thought I would like to have a go myself. It was a lot harder than I thought. Lucas was moving around as was my hand, and it took a good second or so for the camera to focus in the low light which explains why it's somewhat out of focus.

I've recently discovered that at Flickr you can greatly increase the number of photos you can upload in a month by compressing the file right down to 5%. It's great because it has no noticeable effect on image quality even when viewed at full screen in your browser.
I reckon next month I'll be able to upload about 50 pictures. I have a lot of pics both old and new that I'd like to put on show.

What are you looking at, baby?
By Naruwan.

"The number of fingers is five."

2005-09-20T10:08:00.000+08:00

This is "What is wrong with this picture? {Part 2)"
You know if you're a lateral thinker, there is a way in which the number of fingers can be five. Think Roman.

Mid-Autumn Festival

2005-09-19T09:21:00.000+08:00

Forget the Great Wall of China, I would love to see a thermal image of Taiwan from space during Mid-Autumn festival with all those barbecues up and down the country merrily sizzling away.

On Saturday evening we went round to Lillian's house with fruit and salad things Kelly had prepared. Afterwards we visited Xiao-jen and her family just around the corner who were having a lovely feast then we had a stroll around Chung-Hsing university and let the kids tear around in front of the library. Poor Jocelyn collided with another kid and bashed her chin on the ground.

As you can see I have been having fun playing around with the shots I deliberately took without flash. It's amazing what you can do. Some of these shots came out virtually all black but by cranking up the 'fill light' and 'highlights' with some added shadow you can create some striking effects.

Gaming the system

2005-09-18T11:34:00.000+08:00

I'm adding this here because for some reason I can't edit my previous post. Anyway, Jason often cracks me up with his logical analysis of the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.

He just asked me whether he would get two more coins from the Tooth Fairy if he put his two teeth under his pillow again tonight. I said it that I didn't think it worked like that. Undeterred, Jason responded by asking how the Tooth Fairy would know and could he try it anyway!

He's been chipping away at the Santa hoax for the past two Christmases. During one conversation on the subject he forced me to concede that if kids are only a little bit naughty they will still receive presents. He then went on to zero in on exactly how naughty you would have to be to get struck off Santa's gift list.
I really have to think on my feet these days. Last Christmas I had to waffle and fudge an impromptu explanation as to why our neighbours' kids didn't get presents from Santa.

Jason's milk teeth are coming out

2005-09-18T07:46:00.000+08:00

Two of Jason's teeth at the bottom were very wobbly and ready to come out so on Saturday morning the dentist helped them along during a check-up. I thought Jason would be in tears but he was fine, not even a whimper.

Of course now he is very proud of his gap. He keeps the teeth in a dinky tooth-shaped container and shows them to people any chance he gets. When he wakes up this morning he'll discover two 50 dollar coins under his pillow that the tooth fairy left for him last night.

Nice haircut

2005-09-16T09:10:00.000+08:00

Thanks again to Alice for sending me this. Kelly thinks Lucas has a very similar face. I'm not so sure. That was my favourite jumper, by the way.

Photoblogs.org - Taiwan

2005-09-15T07:49:00.000+08:00

There are two dozen photoblogs listed under 'Taiwan' at photoblogs.org. Some are good, some are crap, and some are not even Taiwan blogs. There are also some notable absences.
I think I'm going to have to devise my own personal top ten Taiwan photoblogs - sift the wheat from the chaff.

There are also several Taiwan bloggers out there who take great photos but are not photobloggers per se - Roger in Taiwan, for example. Look at the picture on the left: that is one cracking good photo. Also, check out the one he took of himself with the bottom of a bottle covering the flash. A very weird and wonderful effect. I'm thinking of trying something like that with coloured sweet wrappers. More fun that just sliding scales in an image editor.

"Homo" hippo car sticker

2005-09-14T08:41:00.000+08:00

Michael Turton's post yesterday about names of Japanese cars reminded me of this shot I took in Jan this year.
Incidentally, we test drove one of these Solios last year. Horrible, horrible cars. Horrible to look at and horrible to drive.

"Homo" hippo car sticker
By Naruwan.

Ice cream staredown

2005-09-13T08:37:00.000+08:00

Alice sent me this great pic of Jason and Mark that she took during our day trip to Birmingham. Jason has grown so much since then. In the picture he looks like someone else's little boy who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jason.

Ice cream staredown
Originally uploaded by Naruwan.

台灣影像部落閣 'Taiwan Images On The Blog'

2005-09-11T08:42:00.000+08:00

歡迎來到~台灣影像部落閣。行政院新聞局為配合中央推動深植本土文化政策，並鑑於中部地區長期缺乏完整介紹台灣風俗民情、庶民文化及自然生態的影像視聽資料場所，主動規劃設立「台灣影像部落閣」，爰引網際網路「BLOG」（部落閣）之精神，提供一處能讓中部地區青年學子及民眾觀賞紀錄影片與閱讀的場所，真實呈現台灣本土的文化價值暨濃郁的人文關懷。

The government has set up a centre in Taichung for images of Taiwanese culture (i.e. photographic exhibitions and a library of DVD documentaries). I am not sure where the 'blog' part comes in as it does not seem to have anything to do with blogging. There's a small library and a screening room upstairs. Could be worth checking out.

部落閣地址：(40304)台中市西區自由路一段150.號聯絡電話 04-22249632, 傳真：04-22296800

A funny telephone conversation

2005-09-10T10:04:00.000+08:00

Sometimes when I call people on the phone and they hear that I am a foreigner, they freeze up, panic and run away for assistance.

A while back I called my friend, Lillian. Her mother-in-law, pictured above with her son Johnny, got the phone:

Me: 喂,你好. Lillian 在嗎?
L's M-I-L: 什麼人?
Me: Lillian 在不在?
L's M-I-L: [walks away from the phone and yells to son, Johnny in Taiwanese]
美國人....怎麼說?* [I hear Johnny saying something then she comes back to the phone.]
AH-MAY-REE-KA [she hangs up]

In 1993...

2005-09-08T07:34:00.000+08:00

...there were no typhoons. It was the year I arrived in Taiwan and I was kind of disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing one - something exciting to put in the journal.

Now we've got typhoons by the bucket. Typhoon Khanun appears to be headed this way according to some reports, but at the time of posting the Taiwan weather folks seem to think it's going to veer off before it reaches us. Hope so.

Everyone out there named Khanun try not to fret. It's probably not going to kill any (or many) people. It's the girls and women called Katrina you want to feel sorry for.

The grooviest toilet seat in the land

2005-09-07T10:21:00.000+08:00

Went to B&Q yesterday and bought possibly the sparkliest toilet lid in Taiwan. I spent at least 10 minutes opening up each box to compare which lid had the best aesthetic arrangement of seashells.

I know you're thinking, 'What is the world coming to when people start blogging about their toilet seats?' Well, you're just jealous. You just have a think about that when you're next sitting on your plain old toilet seat.

But what about the best beef noodles in Taichung?

2005-09-06T15:40:00.000+08:00

2005台北牛肉麵節~世界牛肉麵之都在台北

I wish I could be up in Taipei at the moment slurping down some quality beef noodles at the beef noodle festival. The best bowl of beef noodles I've ever had in Taipei was at a place on Zhong-zheng Rd. Man, I could eat bowl after bowl from that restaurant if I had a big enough stomach. I wonder if that place is still there.

But what about the best beef noodles down here in Taichung?
The best place is without doubt a restaurant on Xue-shr Rd., near the China Medical University emergency department (!). It's called General Beef Noodles (in Chinese, see pic below) and is run by an elderly gentleman with a scraggy white beard. His beef noodles are completely different from the normal stuff you get. Most beef noodle places use beef broth made from those nasty generic bags of spice which have an overly heavy emphasis on star anise. The broth at the General's place is much more subtle. It's not too salty and the beef is very 'gamey'. Not to everyone's taste but very much to mine.

"Laden vs. USA" handheld game

2005-09-05T16:49:00.000+08:00

When I saw this game in the convenience store just down the road from my house (in Taiwan) I knew I had to buy it. This was several months after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The label on the back indicates that it was made in Nanhai city, Guangdong province, China.

A view of the back.

Google Maps + Flickr

2005-09-05T00:15:00.000+08:00

Check out this amazing bit of experimental software that Flickr member .CK is developing which marries Google Maps with geotagged Flickr photos. Is this not utterly awesome?

Google Maps in Flickr
Originally uploaded by .CK.

May as well jump on the bandwagon and post this

2005-09-03T20:17:00.000+08:00

The story behind this logo can be found in this Forumosa thread. Poagao came up with the idea and Andre designed it. Congratulations chaps - it's a winner!

Talim, Breaker of Trees

2005-09-02T18:48:00.000+08:00

More pics of the aftermath of Talim - these three were taken at Taichung city's Health Park.

Taichung city's Health Park was hit pretty bad by Talim and lost a lot of fairly sizable trees.

Someone on another blog (Mesheel?) said that Talim was more sound than fury in Taichung. Tell that to the trees in Health Park !

I guess the farmer pretty much figured that his field of corn would be flattened.

Typhoon Talim

2005-09-01T21:36:00.000+08:00

I ventured out onto the streets in the afternoon when the wind and rain had calmed down a bit. Chung-Hsing Rd. was pretty much as it was last time with broken branches, twigs and assorted vegetation strewn everywhere.

Crunch! A shot from our roof showing a blue flatbed truck underneath a fallen tree. Luckily it missed those gas tanks.

This must have blown from right across the street to have landed there. Scary.

Fortunately we weren't really affected by Talim. We did have a 2-hour power outage in the late afternoon which for some reason only affected our street. There's supposed to be another typhoon just around the corner - it never rains but it pours.

Celluloid blasts from the past

2005-09-01T06:58:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday afternoon I decided to have a dig around to see if I could find the photos of damaged buildings I took a couple of days after the 921 earthquake. I found hundreds and hundreds of photos, but that particular set eluded me. I can't describe how intensely annoyed I am with myself for having misplaced these great photos. I did however unearth some great stuff, and thought it would be prudent to scan some of the better ones just in case they go mouldy or something.

I took this pic of Jason about two and half years ago at some sort of tourist farm in central Taiwan, the name of which escapes for the moment. It's basically a picturesque field that you pay to enter. Jason loved it, running and tumbling about on the grass slopes.

Jason's friend, 'Dash', with his mum and dad

2005-08-31T07:28:00.000+08:00

It always makes me smile when I see couples or families wearing the same clothes. There's something irresistibly - I hesitate to use the word - cute about it. It's as if they want to show that they really belong together...awwww! I think also it's because it reminds me somewhat of The Royal Tenenbaums.

'Dash' enjoying a day out with his parents.

[The Royal Tenenbaums]

Back garden make-over

2005-08-30T09:07:00.000+08:00

A big thank you to brother-in-law Yi-long for helping us do the back garden. It was constantly overgrown with weeds and we have neither the time or the inclination to make something of it so the landlord suggested we get someone to pave it over with bricks. The prices we were quoted were ridiculous so Yi-long volunteered to roll up his sleeves and do the job himself. He studies all day so he said he was glad to have the chance to work up a sweat doing something useful. Honestly, I had no desire to do the Bob the Builder thing. I've hacked back the vegetation on many previous occasions and I can tell you it's not much fun, so again, many thanks to the hero of the day, Yi-long.

Win friends and influence people with this (KMT) party trick

2005-08-29T06:39:00.000+08:00

The three return visitors that this blog gets every single day (hi mum) sometimes complain that my posts are not intellectual enough, so today I thought I'd talk about Chinese political history.

Oct. 10, 1911: The Wu-Chang Uprising leads to the establishment of the Republic of China. Sun Yat Sen gets to be its Provisional President.

Feb.15, 1912: Sun Yat Sen's rival, Yuan Shikai, replaces him as Provisional President.

OMEN

2005-08-27T06:59:00.000+08:00

Check out this incredible street art by Omen, Taichung's answer to the renowned graffiti artist Banksy.
Thanks to Paul over at Tagging Taichung for giving me directions. Basically, you follow the river opposite Mitsukoshi for about two blocks until you hit Xi-tun Rd. It's on the corner in a car park.

Some rather excellent Banksy links:

1. Wooster Collective:
Banksy Hits New York's Most Famous Museums (All of them)

2. The Afflicted Yard: Just Who The F**k Is Banksy?

3. The Guardian Unlimited: Banksy at the West Bank barrier

4. Obligatory Wikipedia reference: Banksy

Finally, Pictures on Walls lists a great selection of Street Art sites on its links page.

"無米樂": a rice coincidence

2005-08-26T16:15:00.000+08:00

This is quite a coincidence. After taking my urban rice paddy night shots I was wondering about how much rice farmers in Taiwan actually make. The next day, unbeknownst to me, Kelly rented "無米樂" {Let It Be), a fascinating DVD documentary about rice farmers in Taiwan (Blockbuster link here). It followed a 70-year-old farmer over a period of about a year. He got about NT$70,000 for five months work. If his crop is ever spoiled by heavy rain he gets nothing.

Alice's Ireland holiday

2005-08-26T08:49:00.000+08:00

Alice and hubby Mark went to Ireland for a week's holiday. I'm jealous, as I always am when I hear about someone's fantastic holiday.

That pint of Murphy's looks incredible, Mark.

Oh and check out Alice's 'puddink' blog. I persuaded her that Yahoo 360 was crap and that Blogger was a much better place for her to share photos and 'things'.

Dreamy Lucas

2005-08-25T12:39:00.000+08:00

I think this is a lovely shot of Lucas. I cropped and played around with a B&W filter to get the best effect. You should be able to spot the original colour version in one of the collages I did. I think you'll agree that this B&W version is so much nicer.

Urban rice field

2005-08-24T08:45:00.000+08:00

I love coming across these little pockets of green nestled in amongst the chaotic jumble of shops and residential buildings.

Does one farmer own a whole string of these small plots or are they individually owned? Is the government subsidising them to grow not much rice for very little in return? Could be a zoning regulation thing. Maybe the farmer actually rents it from someone who isn't allowed to do anything else with it. Don't know.

Anyway, can't decide which of these is better so I'll put them both up.

"In the darkling hour..."

2005-08-23T18:39:00.000+08:00

Right after returning a DVD to BlockyB's, we got into the car and I paused to take a picture of the paddy field we'd parked next to. (That came out pretty well too - show you later.) The car's interior light turned off so Jason resorted to using the light on his newly acquired pedometer. Kelly says this photo is creepy. I prefer "eerily effective".

Ouch!

2005-08-22T10:08:00.000+08:00

Lucas had an appointment with the end of a sharp needle on Thursday morning last week. This was his T.B. shot. Surprisingly, he only cried for about two seconds then he was all smiles!

Those wacky Japanese

2005-08-21T08:35:00.000+08:00

...gotta get me one o'these.

Lucas tries on Jason's hand-me-down bonnet

2005-08-20T14:39:00.000+08:00

I'll see if I can get one when he's awake, not crying, and not drinking milk - a surprisingly small window. I took a great pic of Jason in his bonnet when he was about 6 months old. We got it printed on a cloth calendar. It's buried in a dusty box somewhere. If I have time I'll try to find it.

What is wrong with this picture? (part 1)

2005-08-19T10:09:00.000+08:00

......apart from 'a lot'.

[from a children's picture dictionary in Taiwan called First Dictionary.]

Man, these big spiders freak me out

2005-08-18T15:18:00.000+08:00

I know they're harmless but they give me the creeps. They're huge for a start and they can run very fast. I know because there was one in the house once and I tried to whack it with a slipper. I missed and it hid for three nail-biting days.
It finally appeared in the bathroom so I sprayed it with half a can of roach spray and pounded it with a sturdy shoe. I like Mother Nature's wondrous creatures, just not in my house, not under my bed and definitely not under the toilet lid in the bathroom !

The Onion | Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

2005-08-18T10:29:00.000+08:00

The Onion | Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory: "As the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools continues, a new controversy over the science curriculum arose Monday in this embattled Midwestern state. Scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held 'theory of gravity' is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling."