We have recently been very fortunate to have my father visit us here in Taiwan. Being an unconventional sort of dad he arrived in Taiwan in a very unconventional way. Aboard his home, lifestyle and well traveled 32 foot yacht Leprena II.
Currently based in the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea he didn’t hesitate to up-anchor and sail the 5500 odd kms to visit us. [Read more →]
The ties between Taiwan and Japan are long and very strong. It is telling that so many Taiwanese are so fond of anything Japanese even though Japan occupied Taiwan for the first half of last century. It was equally interesting that so many of the Japanese we met on our 2 week trip had traveled to Taiwan or wished to do so.
Now my wife and I are travelers of old and have always been ready to pack a bag and venture off. But this trip was a little different. We started out as a party of 8, my in-laws, nephew, 3 kids, wife and myself. Backpacks not being appropriate, we decided to start with a 5 days Tokyo tour group.
On our recent Southern holiday adventure we stopped by the Nation Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. Though I had heard and read about this place, we were all totally overwhelmed with the amazing display of fishes and animals.
It should not be surprising that Taiwan would have a great aquarium, for everyone here absolutely loves seafood. It is only natural that a small live sample of all the yummy marine dishes should be available for viewing.
If you have visited or lived in Taiwan and traveled around a little you will know just how beautiful a place it is and how genuinely hospitable people are. Well Lanyu Island off the south east coast is both beautiful and friendly but in a way that makes it a very pleasant getaway from Taiwan proper.
Back in Perth a family island holiday for us usually involves a week on lazy Rottnest Island. I have wished to visit Lanyu for many years so with the kids on summer holidays we packed our bags and ventured off to see what it is like.
The thunder clouds have been threatening for a while but today Kaohsiung received it’s first large showers of the plum rains that signal the start of the long hot humid summer ahead.
Over the Chinese New Year we went to a big family picnic in countryside Tainan. A lot of the food was cooked in a traditional earth oven.
Because it was Chinese New Year, because we have children and because we were visiting family in Tainan we went along to the Candy Factory/YoYo TV/New Year exhibition in Tainan county.
Because it was Chinese New Year, so did a lot of other families. In fact, it seemed like all the families in Taiwan were there!
The local elementary school is a 3 minute walk from our place. It is a large school that caters for kids from year 1 to year 6 (6-12 year olds). Just twelve years ago the site was fields and fish ponds, but today it is a bustling place 16 hours a day.
Now I am a great fan of firecrackers, firework and any chemical combination that goes pop. Despite growing up in a land where such things were severely restricted and before an Internet search for “How to make a bomb†was possible I still enjoyed a childhood of banging, burning and occasional bodily bruising.
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