When
Amanda and I were told by our English School that they would offer us
both contracts, we were faced with the daunting task of listing our top
three preferences for where we would like to teach. We were provided
with a list of 14 locations in Taiwan along with a short blurb about
each. We chose Taichung as one of our top three preferences partly
because the accompanying blurb indicated that Taichung has great
weather, and is not too hot and not too cold. We also learnt that
because Taichung is somewhat surrounded by mountains to the north, south
and east of the city, it is also much more sheltered from Typhoons than
other locations in Taiwan.
Because
Typhoons most commonly approach Taiwan from the east of the island,
this last fact meant that for the most part, during our time in Taiwan,
when a national typhoon day was declared and school was canceled, the
weather in Taichung was uneventful if anything. Tropical Storm Talim,
unlike all the other tropical depressions we experienced while we were
in Taiwan, approached the island from the west, and came right up along
the Taiwan Strait, nestling itself in between Taiwan and mainland China.
It was a doozie
of a tropical storm. Windows were writhing and rattling in their
frames, rain was pounding the pavement, and trees were bowing and
bending to the wind.
At
one point, the wind and rain calmed enough that I was able to briefly
go up to the building roof with camera and tripod in hand and take a few
photos. The picture below is actually a composite of three different
pictures, one underexposed, one exposed correctly, and one overexposed.
Showing posts with label Taichung. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taichung. Show all posts
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tropical Storm Talim
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Visit from Denton and Liz
This
past weekend we had the pleasure of having our friend Denton come to
visit along with his girlfriend, Liz, who was in turn visiting Denton
from Canada. Denton was part of our initial training group back in
August 2011 when we first started teaching. He ended up working at a
branch in a city called Fengyuan (豐原), not far from Taichung City and we
had met up with him on a number of occasions and had heard all about
Liz who was back in Canada.
It was really nice to spend the weekend with Denton and Liz. We hope that we will be able to visit them in the east of Canada one day, or have them come and visit us in the West.
It was really nice to spend the weekend with Denton and Liz. We hope that we will be able to visit them in the east of Canada one day, or have them come and visit us in the West.
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| On the Sunday, we all went to one of our favorite restaurants: Hong Kong Manual Style Dessert. |
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Kenny and Annemarie Come to Taiwan: Episode IV - Taichung & Farewells
Our
last two days with Annemarie and Kenny went by way too quickly. In
Taichung we all refueled our energy – Brett and I needed to mentally
prepare to go back to work at the height of our busy season, and our
wonderful guests needed to brace themselves for a flight back across the
Pacific. We took them to some of our most beloved restaurants in
Taichung – Din Tai Feng for a beautiful meal, Hong Kong Manual Style
Desserts for dim sum, and Bollywood for some naan and curry. We enjoyed
cold tea drinks, our rooftop view, and a brief trip to the jade market.
My favourite part, though, was taking them to Fengjia Night Market. We
fed them fruit juice, tea, fried chicken, yams, French fries, and then
shopped! Annemarie picked up some excellent Chinglish t-shirts for a
steal of a deal. It was a perfect, relaxing end to our wonderful visit.
On Saturday morning while they were still getting ready to head back to Canada, I unfortunately had to return to work. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, though. I was so refreshed and happy after such a wonderful visit that the huge pile of work I came back to seemed like a piece of cake. It’s funny – I cried when they arrived, but when they left I felt so happy and relaxed by our time together that I forgot to feel sad. I suppose it helps that I knew I’d see them again in another three months!
When Brett and I both went back to work on Monday, we landed right in performance and final reports season for each of our most time-consuming classes. It’s been hectic ever since!
On Saturday morning while they were still getting ready to head back to Canada, I unfortunately had to return to work. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, though. I was so refreshed and happy after such a wonderful visit that the huge pile of work I came back to seemed like a piece of cake. It’s funny – I cried when they arrived, but when they left I felt so happy and relaxed by our time together that I forgot to feel sad. I suppose it helps that I knew I’d see them again in another three months!
When Brett and I both went back to work on Monday, we landed right in performance and final reports season for each of our most time-consuming classes. It’s been hectic ever since!
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| Kenny tucks right into the pork buns while Annemarie contemplates where to begin |
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| Kenny & Annemarie |
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| Relaxing on the roof of our condo building with some tea drinks |
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| At Fengjia Night Market with some finger-lickin' fried chicken |
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| Riding twosies. |
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| Bollywood farewell dinner |
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| Aloha! |
Labels:
Feng Chia Night Market,
Food: Dim sum,
Night Markets,
Taichung
Monday, May 14, 2012
Drive to Dasyue Mountain [大雪山]
It has been a while since we’ve updated the blog. Apologies for our extended silence.
The weekend following my birthday in Taipei, Amanda and I were in Taichung, with no plans in particular, and so, on a sunny Sunday, we decided to go for a long drive and explore outside the city.
In trying to decide “Where to drive?”, I had resorted to looking at pictures on panoramio and google maps, geotagged in the mountains to the east of Taichung. There was an area on the map where some great pictures were taken with beautiful views looking out on the mountains and hills as they descend down to Taichung city. It also appeared as though there was a pretty impressive gain in elevation, hence it seemed the perfect candidate for our Sunday drive.
Our drive took us out of Taichung along Wenxin Rd. and past the popular hiking trails of Dakeng Scenic Area (大坑). We also drove through an area where mushroom farms were clearly the primary industry. There were mushroom themed cafes, shops and restaurants, as well as mushroom shaped buildings, street lights and street signs. To top it off, there was even a mushroom themed Go-Kart track, but no Mario-Kart characters that we could see or speak of.
After about an hour and a half on the scooter we reached a town called Dongshih (東勢). At the turn off to Dasyue Mountain is where we really began to gain elevation. We stopped at a tea house/restaurant partway up the mountain and shared some pork and rice as well as some black tea.
After lunch we continued our drive and gained approx. 1000 metres in the space of about 1 hour. We agreed to turn around and start our way back home since the gain in elevation was accompanied by a significant drop in the temperature as well as some fairly ominous looking clouds.
The weather that day was really great and we definitely plan to repeat the drive one more time before we leave Taiwan.
The weekend following my birthday in Taipei, Amanda and I were in Taichung, with no plans in particular, and so, on a sunny Sunday, we decided to go for a long drive and explore outside the city.
In trying to decide “Where to drive?”, I had resorted to looking at pictures on panoramio and google maps, geotagged in the mountains to the east of Taichung. There was an area on the map where some great pictures were taken with beautiful views looking out on the mountains and hills as they descend down to Taichung city. It also appeared as though there was a pretty impressive gain in elevation, hence it seemed the perfect candidate for our Sunday drive.
Our drive took us out of Taichung along Wenxin Rd. and past the popular hiking trails of Dakeng Scenic Area (大坑). We also drove through an area where mushroom farms were clearly the primary industry. There were mushroom themed cafes, shops and restaurants, as well as mushroom shaped buildings, street lights and street signs. To top it off, there was even a mushroom themed Go-Kart track, but no Mario-Kart characters that we could see or speak of.
After about an hour and a half on the scooter we reached a town called Dongshih (東勢). At the turn off to Dasyue Mountain is where we really began to gain elevation. We stopped at a tea house/restaurant partway up the mountain and shared some pork and rice as well as some black tea.
After lunch we continued our drive and gained approx. 1000 metres in the space of about 1 hour. We agreed to turn around and start our way back home since the gain in elevation was accompanied by a significant drop in the temperature as well as some fairly ominous looking clouds.
The weather that day was really great and we definitely plan to repeat the drive one more time before we leave Taiwan.
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| Stacks and stacks of mushrooms to the left. |
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| Mushroom Village |
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| Go-Karts |
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| River Valley by Dongshih |
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| Amanda on the patio at our lunch stop |
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| Pork and rice for lunch |
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| Lunch with Amanda |
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| View from the cafe |
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| Zoom Zoom |
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| Zoom Zoom |
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| Zoom Zoom |
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| Zoom Zoom Zoom |
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| Zoom Zoom |
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| Oh, hi there! |
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| Brett with the Juggernaught |
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| Getting chilly, time to turn around... |
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| Hello!!!! |
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| Heading home... |
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| Back across the river valley... |
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| More river valley... |
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| We caught the sun as it was setting over Taichung City |
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| Hi, my name is Brett. I like long walks on the beach and kittens. |
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| Pretty wife eat cheese. Ok then. |
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| Just an interesting steak house in Taichung that we passed on our way back home. |
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Gaomei (高美) Wetlands and a Driving Lesson at the Port
On
Saturday, after a hearty brunch, we headed towards the Taichung Port
for part 2 of my scooter driving lessons. (My first attempt was too
embarrassing to blog about - mostly a lot of screaming while I drove in
straight lines back and forth across a cemetery parking lot).
It was quite a long drive to the Port, and when we were almost there we noticed a family on a scooter in our vicinity who had some beach toys with them. We decided to follow them and see what sort of beaches might be in our area! We weren’t disappointed. We found ourselves on some vast, deserted stretches of highway surrounded by rows of enormous, white wind turbines. The ocean breeze and the smell of the sea made the hot day so much more bearable! Eventually, we came to the Gaomei (高美) Island wetlands; a flat, sandy intertidal zone home to tons of crabs and sea birds. We hung out near a small snack street where vendors were selling fresh seafood, sweet grilled sausages, and lots of sandals and water toys! We also saw a temple surrounded by pristine rice paddies. The temple seemed to have been in the midst of renovations when the construction site was abandoned. We weren’t really sure what the circumstances were of its construction/renovations, but it had some spectacular stonework.
After we’d taken a look around Gaomei, we drove back past the windmills to Taichung Port for my driving lesson! Brett had already shown me the basics the previous weekend, and after a little more instruction this time, things went really smoothly! It felt pretty natural! Brett was a very patient teacher even after I insisted I needed to drive in circles around the parking lot about fifteen times before I was ready to go home. If you ever need someone to teach you to drive a scooter, Brett comes very highly recommended!
This weekend was bittersweet, however - we had to say goodbye to a couple of friends we’ve grown close to as they began their return trip home. It was sad to see them go, and I hope we’ll see them again in the near future!
It was quite a long drive to the Port, and when we were almost there we noticed a family on a scooter in our vicinity who had some beach toys with them. We decided to follow them and see what sort of beaches might be in our area! We weren’t disappointed. We found ourselves on some vast, deserted stretches of highway surrounded by rows of enormous, white wind turbines. The ocean breeze and the smell of the sea made the hot day so much more bearable! Eventually, we came to the Gaomei (高美) Island wetlands; a flat, sandy intertidal zone home to tons of crabs and sea birds. We hung out near a small snack street where vendors were selling fresh seafood, sweet grilled sausages, and lots of sandals and water toys! We also saw a temple surrounded by pristine rice paddies. The temple seemed to have been in the midst of renovations when the construction site was abandoned. We weren’t really sure what the circumstances were of its construction/renovations, but it had some spectacular stonework.
After we’d taken a look around Gaomei, we drove back past the windmills to Taichung Port for my driving lesson! Brett had already shown me the basics the previous weekend, and after a little more instruction this time, things went really smoothly! It felt pretty natural! Brett was a very patient teacher even after I insisted I needed to drive in circles around the parking lot about fifteen times before I was ready to go home. If you ever need someone to teach you to drive a scooter, Brett comes very highly recommended!
This weekend was bittersweet, however - we had to say goodbye to a couple of friends we’ve grown close to as they began their return trip home. It was sad to see them go, and I hope we’ll see them again in the near future!
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| Gaomei (高美) Wetlands and wind turbines |
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| Gaomei (高美) Wetlands |
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| Amanda at Gaomei (高美) Wetlands |
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| Unfinished Temple at Gaomei (高美) |
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| Amanda's Scooter Lesson |
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| Zoom zoom! |
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| Lean! |
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| Beep beep! |
Sunday, April 1, 2012
A Sunday Drive
Long
time, no see! I wish I could say we’ve been too busy to blog, but the
sad truth is that we just haven’t been up to anything blog-worthy
lately... until this past weekend! We both woke up on Sunday feeling
invigorated and neither of us had a heap of homework to grade, so we
bought a bag of dried mango slices (my new favourite snack) and drove
east.
We headed out of Taichung on LeYe Rd. B selected our route because it went out towards a temple he’d noticed on Google Earth and we had no idea what we were doing or where we were going, we just knew we wanted to get out of our neighbourhood. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you how long we drove for. We just kept going out until the sun started to set, and then we turned around and went back into the city for dinner. It was a very leisurely drive - we stopped in a few places to take photos, have some bites of mango, and just enjoy the beautiful, mild weather.
There was some sort of small, orange-coloured seasonal fruit being sold in boxes along the side of the road, and as we passed through a few small townships (though I wouldn’t be able to tell you where we were - the English signage really peters out as you get away from the center of Taichung) the smell of fruit and flowers took over where the smell of smog and sewage left off. We saw vendors selling tidy pyramids of wax apples, old men washing their dogs in the warm afternoon air, and ladies older than my grandmothers walking along the side of the highway completely loaded down with heavy grocery bags.
The most impressive part of our day was when we saw the temple we’d been searching for, or rather the cluster of buildings housing several temples inside. We were drawn in immediately by the front structure which featured some wicked dragon sculptures. It looked a little weathered, but the interior courtyards were very well-maintained. There were lots of stray dogs loitering around the nearby stinky tofu vendor hoping for a handout, which makes me wonder if we’re going to start seeing more of them again as the weather warms up. It’s also apparently the season for lots of tiny white and pale-yellow butterflies! They were in abundance wherever we saw flowers, which was pretty much everywhere as soon as we got out of the city!
The last thing we did before heading back into town was to drive up towards a waterfall hiking trail to check the area out, and I think we’ll go back another time for a hike when we get an earlier start! It was just a perfect, warm day. I’m so ready for summer to be here!
We headed out of Taichung on LeYe Rd. B selected our route because it went out towards a temple he’d noticed on Google Earth and we had no idea what we were doing or where we were going, we just knew we wanted to get out of our neighbourhood. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you how long we drove for. We just kept going out until the sun started to set, and then we turned around and went back into the city for dinner. It was a very leisurely drive - we stopped in a few places to take photos, have some bites of mango, and just enjoy the beautiful, mild weather.
There was some sort of small, orange-coloured seasonal fruit being sold in boxes along the side of the road, and as we passed through a few small townships (though I wouldn’t be able to tell you where we were - the English signage really peters out as you get away from the center of Taichung) the smell of fruit and flowers took over where the smell of smog and sewage left off. We saw vendors selling tidy pyramids of wax apples, old men washing their dogs in the warm afternoon air, and ladies older than my grandmothers walking along the side of the highway completely loaded down with heavy grocery bags.
The most impressive part of our day was when we saw the temple we’d been searching for, or rather the cluster of buildings housing several temples inside. We were drawn in immediately by the front structure which featured some wicked dragon sculptures. It looked a little weathered, but the interior courtyards were very well-maintained. There were lots of stray dogs loitering around the nearby stinky tofu vendor hoping for a handout, which makes me wonder if we’re going to start seeing more of them again as the weather warms up. It’s also apparently the season for lots of tiny white and pale-yellow butterflies! They were in abundance wherever we saw flowers, which was pretty much everywhere as soon as we got out of the city!
The last thing we did before heading back into town was to drive up towards a waterfall hiking trail to check the area out, and I think we’ll go back another time for a hike when we get an earlier start! It was just a perfect, warm day. I’m so ready for summer to be here!
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| This is a random temple we came across. |
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| Amanda and the random temple |
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| The main purpose of our drive was to visit 護國清涼寺 (I think this is "Temple of the Protector, Qingliansi"). |
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| Brett outside 護國清涼寺 |
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| 護國清涼寺 |
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| Hieeeeeeee! |
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| The temple was pretty quiet. It was great getting to explore without having any crowds to contend with. |
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| There were a number of swastikas decorating the temple. The left facing swastika (卍) in Chinese culture represents eternity and Buddhism. |
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| 護國清涼寺 |
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| 護國清涼寺 |
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| 護國清涼寺 |
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| We came across a bridge that was decorated with a number of religious flags and lanterns. |
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