SanYi Township

SanYi 三義

Today I went to a town called SanYi in Maioli county with my friends Sue, Nik and Eric. It took about thirty minutes by train from Taichung. A one way ticket with assigned seating is NT$60 but a local train in the style of an underground/subway/mrt will set you back NT$50. There are regular trains that take you there.

SanYi is famous for woodcarving. We walked along the main street and went into an amazing shop. The owner said most of the other woodcarving shops have moved closer to the highway in order to get more custom.

After walking around for a while we took a cab to the Sheng-Hsing Train Station (勝興車站). A cab straight from the train station will about NT$180-200.

Sheng-Hsing train station is an old station that is no longer used. It was completed in 1905 and was the highest station (402 m.) in Taiwan built along the "Old Mountain Railway". The railway track was too small for newer larger trains, so in 1987 a train stopped there for the last time.

A stones throw away from the old station is a tunnel. It is about 725m in length. We walked through the tunnel. It was great but I would recommend taking a torch (flashlight). I slipped a couple of times due to me wearing flip flops, so sturdier shoes than flip flops would be a good idea. Oops.

Also, we found bats in the tunnel. There were recesses in the walls of the tunnel, in one of the larger recesses there were quite a few bats. I would estimate 20-30. Eric took a picture with the flash. The squeaking got pretty loud after that. I crouched when he took the picture just in case they took flight. All was ok though.

Some highlights of the day include; eating a strawberry flavoured sausage (the orange one tasted better), the bats, seeing a giant spinning top, eating yummy mint ice cream and seeing unusual paper mâché masks.

Upon our return to Taichung we went to Bystro for dinner. I have to say that it is one of my favourite restaurants in Taichung.

All in all it was a great Sunday!

Love to all
xxxxx

Emergency Darning Skills

I stopped off at the bank on my way to work and as I got off my scooter my skirt caught on something and tore a big hole. Argh!

I have no time to go home, so I bought a sewing kit at a family mart and hid out in the bathroom while I sewed the hole.

It's a rush job but hopefully it'll last until I finish work. The funny thing is that I have a parents day today. That means about ten parents will sit in on the second hour of my second class today.

Thankfully I also have a long shirt on.

Hahahahaha. It's things like this that force you to take life less seriously.

Yesterday I also had a parents day. I was so smart until I got marker ink all over my shirt before class. Ooops.

X-Mini Speaker

I finally bought an x-mini earlier in the week and I have no regrets. It was on sale and in pink. I use it at work and at home. The sound quality is SO good for something so small.

My kids love to see it bounce around when we put on something with a lot of drums or bass :-D

Commitmentnc.org

http://www.commitmentnc.org/


Photographer Justin Cook put together the following website. He did so when he heard about Carolina's amendment 1. On May 8, 2012 an amendment to the North Carolina constitution will be voted on that states:

"Marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

Hoping to show the impact this would have on the state’s community, Cook took portraits of same-sex couples in long-term relationships.

I pray this amendment does not happen! It is no ones right to deny anyone to declare their love for another.

Please take a look at the website. It is quite moving. I will share one picture with you here and post the link.

This photograph is so moving. You have a family being supported by their congregation. It is a wonderful showing of support in a Christian community.

Awesome multi-crayon

I don't know about you but I have never seen one of these in the uk. If you want one Sam this one is yours! I bought it for you today :-D

This is a small one with only 8 colours, if I find a bigger one I'll buy that.

My love to all
Xxxx

Great advice

I love this pic I came across a while back. It was probably posted on Facebook and I pinched it :-)

Giving in to the heat

Tonight is the first night I have had to turn on my air conditioner. It has been pretty hot the past couple of days and I didn't sleep well last night. Time for a.c.

A handy Internet search tells me it is currently 26 degrees celsius with 72% humidity.

Looking at the humidity level led me to read about humidity. That was an enjoyable 40 minutes. I love the Internet!

The handy heat index, which of course cannot be taken as gospel, informs me that the current weather is very warm. Also, check out the global humidity index.

For Mum

Enjoy :-)

Random Zipper

I was driving to a friend's house last week and saw this zipper on someone. Love it!

This one is for Danielle :-)

Random Sightings

Today I met Sue, Nik, Eric and Kash for lunch at New York Bagels in the shopping mall of Splendor Hotel. We went a couple of weeks ago and the food was great. This of course warranted another trip.

This time I was greeted upon entering with the sight you will find below. I have no idea what the designer was thinking but I think it is weirdly cool.

That's my friend Sue having a pretend cup of tea in the birdcage.

Seeing Good Friends

My friend Chien was back in Taiwan, so I drove through to ChungHua to see her on Saturday. It was lovely to hang out with the old Hua crew. I've missed them :-)

Lovely dinner treat

Tonight I finished at 7pm, so I decided to make myself a nice dinner.

On tonight's menu was fresh salmon with mushrooms and asparagus. As well as poached egg on English muffin. It was delicious :-)

Zombie Defense

Hahahahahahaha

Ron, check it out!

Life Drawing Class

A chap I know volunteered to pose for Jon's new piece. He also consented for me to sit in.

Jon said he would teach me how to do life drawing, so yesterday was my first time.

I am really thankful to both of them for giving me the opportunity to learn! Jon is a great teacher. I learned a lot and I have a lot of practicing to do.

I thought I would feel uncomfortable or awkward during the sitting. After all, there is a nude man posing and I am not accustomed to drawing naked men. However, when drawing it is mechanical. After a minute or so, I no longer noticed the person. He became an object, like anything else I would draw. It's amazing the shift that happens in the brain.

I had to have some kind of picture for this post, it is not mine. It is a random picture pulled from google.

My New War-hammer Necklace

Hey Samuel,

Do you remember that little War-hammer warrior that you gave me? Well, I made him into a necklace, so I can keep him with me all the time!

Check out the pictures :-)

I know, I know, he's upside down but I think he doesn't mind. It makes the world more interesting to see it the wrong way up :-D