And now for a picture that needs no explanation...

Sorry about the lack of postings. I have been really busy preparing to leave for Thailand on the morning of March 2nd.

Oh boy.

I will post again before I leave.

I hope this picture makes up for it. HA.

Canada's Reputation on the World Stage

I was over at a friend's co-worker's house the other day when I heard the greatest thing.

A friend of the host - down from Taipei for a few beers - mentioned that he had "met 10000 Canadians" since he had come to Taiwan. The host being an American, I guess this friend assumed that company present were all American, because he went on to say "they're nothing but a bunch of negro lovin', tree hugging, Pepé Le Pew's."

Wow.

I said, "10001."

For Sale

I'm leaving Taiwan on the 2nd of March, but I need to sell all of my worldly possessions first.

If you are interested in buying anything, give me a call at 0910641538 mornings, afternoons, or after 9:30 pm. Customers in Canada should dial 011-886-910641538 to order and discuss shipping options.

Friends who notice that I am selling things that you gave me should know that I plan to use part of the profits to buy you a beer the next time I see you.

Everything is cleaned and ready to go.

Blender - 100 NT
Sampo Toaster Oven - 200 NT

A pot for instant noodles! - 50 NT
Wok with copper bottom - 100 NT
Tea Pot - 100 NT

Fan - 150 NT
Heater - 150 NT... just look at that heat!

A reading lamp with no lamp shade... you can make one! Think of it as an art project - 20 NT

Shower curtain and rod - 100 NT

As well, if you are looking for an apartment, mine will be available. It's a pretty new 2 bedroom split level apartment next to the LuoDong Sports Park (not the castle or GuanTianXia).

It is fully furnished and has a good sized kitchen, living room, 1.5 bathrooms and hardwood floors upstairs.

Rent is 6000 a month plus utilities, plus a two month damage deposit. The landlord is totally hands off. You will never hear from her. Let me know

Cycle Mountain, Cycle Sea - Part VI

And, finally...

Got up at 600 am for a quick bike/hike up to the summit of a little peak with a view of Jade Mountain (YuShan). At 3952 meters, it is the tallest mountain in north east Asia. At 2854 meters, we were still way under it. Above is a bad pic of the sunrise over a cloud covered Jade Mountain.

It was somewhere around zero that morning, and frost covered the ground.

From here we biked down the mountain towards PuLi, passing Sun Moon Lake - what must be Taiwan's number one tourist destination among local tourists - in the early afternoon.

From PuLi we took a bus made our way up to LuShan, an incredibly busy hot springs area (a little too close to TaiChung I guess). If you ever go there, I suggest you cross the river and head upstream on the path that clings to the cliffs along the right side of the river. In the back you will find this great little aboriginal village and a few quiet homestays.

This is a picture of the homestay we stayed at. What a great place. You can see the pools down near the river. A perfect place for a vacation I think. Quiet gardens, and a great Philippino couple with fluent english doing the cooking and cleaning.

And a picture of the springs...

Things got a little hairy the next day. We managed to head about 10 km up the road before discovering that we were on the wrong road. The road was crazy steep, and we had decided to hitch a ride with a blue truck. They chuckled when we explained that we were going to HeHuanShan... and down the mountain we went. We started the climb again on the right road, but by this time it was already past noon. We got to Tsing Ching Farm after a draining climb to about 2300 meters at around 3:00. HeHuanShan still being another 1000 meters higher, we started hitching again. Unsurprisingly, no one was heading up the mountain on that particular late Sunday afternoon.

In the end, the best thing to do was to abandon the plan and bike back down to PuLi and hop a bus.

And so it ends.