"No Flavour" dried tomatoes

"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

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

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

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

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.