Been cramming in a lot of walking and riding before the new semester begins.
My man Drew is bikeless while waiting for parts for his damaged bike, so my son took pity on him and lent Drew his bike. We made sure the bike is properly loaded for riding in Taiwan.
A temple near my house is crammed to the gills with offerings for ghost month.
My daughter got one of her pictures framed. Proud father, am I.
One of the great things about living in Taiwan is that no matter where you are, you're never more than an hour from some glorious mountain bike ride.
Traffic waits for the light to change in Taichung city.
Butterflies on grass, seen out hiking in Ta-keng Scenic Area
Golden Orb spider webs, which feel like 8 pound test line. In many parts of the world such strong spider webs are used for fish nets by local peoples.
One of my attractive former students, Apple, who took me out for dinner.
Watering the fields.
Yes, the government is out there fumigating the sewers. Fear of H1N1?
The Chinese get lots of credit for paper and gunpowder, but not enough for one of the world's best treats, steamed bread.
In Dongshih town on our way into the mountains.
Outside Tanzi town, harvesting.
Police risk their lives every day doing this.
Taking the pig for a walk.
An all too common accident situation in Taiwan -- missing one of these small roads in the dark. The guy was lucky, for that hole is big enough to swallow the car if it fell in sideways.
On the Dongfeng Bike trail. Romantic looking, but the smoke was caused by some dimwit burning trash right next to the bike path.
The Guo Min (bian) Dang that 7-11 is now advertizing, complete with PRC inspired propaganda poster. Satirical or sycophantic? You make the call.
Women construction workers, a common Taiwan sight.
Today Drew and I rode part-way up the rode to Da Hsueh Mountain Forest Park. The road is absolutely stunning.
A denizen of the Kingdom of the Butterflies.
Beautiful vistas, but we didn't have time for the long ride up.
Turning back, we encountered two men net-fishing by the Shihgang Dam. Here one casts his net. Good luck to him, and to you, dear reader.
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Daily Links:
UPDATE: Although it is not online yet, the mag Mental Floss has picked Ma Ying-jeou as one of the five gutsiest leaders on the planet. No, this is not parody. Taiwan News now has it.
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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
1. It is interesting that one requirement for being recognized as an Aborigine is to be located on ancestral land.
ReplyDelete2. Does anyone else see a connection between the "urgent construction" of homes for relocated Aborigines and the KMT/Organized Crime construction economy?
Yes, anon, i wrote about it several posts down on the Shock Doctrine legislation to move aborigines out of their homes.
ReplyDeleteNice photos, Michael.
ReplyDeleteYou asked:
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Satirical or sycophantic? You make the call.
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Since 7-Eleven's Mandarin name is "統一超商," I'd say it's the latter.
Tim Maddog
steamed bread---
ReplyDeletewhy are you sure chinese invented that one?
Your daughter has talent!
ReplyDeleteMichael - Thanks for sharing your daughter's art. She has talent. You should be proud. As for the 7-Eleven art, the same thought struck me, but I tried to overlook it. I thought I was being too sensitive. Some of the tv video montages have the same look and feel. So I am thinking sycophantic on both counts.
ReplyDeleteYour daughter's painting is really nice.
ReplyDeleteIs the Taipei Times going Blue?
I love the taiwanese style mantou buns! You're right about that often overlooked Chinese invention! haha..i prefer taiwan's chinese/taiwanese style streetfood such as mantou over the ones found in China as they're more refined, healthy,etc, no need to worry about all the 'black hearted food products' often found in China..also, i love taichung, its actually my no.2 fav city in Taiwan,after Taipei (i'm biased given that i come from taipei.haha..)
ReplyDelete"Gutsy" can have both positive and negative connotations. I've heard both Bush II and Benjamin Yahoo described as "gutsy".
ReplyDeleteNo doubt that I disagree to agree with your bias opinion but nevertheless your skill in photographic is simply great.
ReplyDeleteIf "gutsy" means "useless" then totally.
ReplyDeleteYou absolutely should be proud of your daughter's painting , it is a great work ;-) I'm sure many people including me wouldn't be able to pain a nice piece of work like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm sue most people would agree how delicious Taiwan street foods are.Everytime when I go back Taiwan, I always visit 'fongjia night market' and 'yizhong jie' in Taichung to have the best food in the world (yummy...) I would give it a try for the'guoming biandang' from 7-11 next time ;-)