Christmas in Kaohsiung (part two)

Sorry for my tardiness for posting the second part of Christmas in Kaohsiung.

On the night before Christmas, there was another concert that was held in front of the local department store. Unlike the concert on the previous weekend, this one had many different things going on. The concert was sponsored by Heineken, and as a result their branding was everywhere.

One of the novel things was a machine that created floating foam pictures. The sky was littered with all of these and it looked like snow, but it was floating up rather than falling to the ground. The star shown in the video was just one of many images with the main one being a "H" for the sponsor.


Another attraction that was being showcased was the Heineken sub zero degree experience. The advertising on Taiwan TV at the moment for the sponsor is a beer with an Antarctic Experience. I didn't go through but from what I saw from the signs out front, it is a stimulation of walking in Antartic, including minus 30 degree temperatures. By comparison, this would make the weather in Christchurch similar to that found in the tropics. Those who dared to enter were required to wear special silver themo jackets. Peeping in through the entrance, it did look very impressive.



At the other end of the department store and arena plaza was a mini carnival. This had many stalls with food and rides for the young children. It was good to see that someone (although I don't think it was part of Heineken) catered for younger crowd. I didn't spend too much time there because most of the food sold there I don't eat.




Towering above us was the department store and their colourful Christmas lighting display that was continually changing. The lighting display has been proudly showning all of December. Each time that the Doctor and I go out for a walk, we also see this and reminded what time of the year it is.










Now to the real entertainment. From about 7:00pm to 8:00pm, there was a DJ playing his music mega-mixes. The first one that went on for about 15 minutes was Michael Jackson's songs. If I recall correctly, I think all of the songs were from the West. It reminded of why my hearing is not at its best; as a result of visiting a few night clubs in my younger days when the music is way too loud. I think it has a vibration that pulses through your body similar to that of thunder produced by Mother Nature.

When the main entertainment started, the first act was a combination of acrobats and dancers. How they stay on their bouncing stilts I don't know.


The second act as a singer duo. To my constant surprise, they sang English songs. The first song they sang was I will Follow Him similar to what was sung in the movie Sister Act. The second song they sang was Can't Take My Eyes Off You. The final song they sang was in Chinese. From the actions, it was all about an Heineken beer bottle where they ended up both drinking from the same bottle through two straws. One funny thing that happened was the girl suffered a costume failure. The head piece she was wearing started to fall apart from the first song and got worst as they progressed from there. Like a true champion, she didn't let it affect her and I believe she even made a joke about it.


The third act reminded me a little of the Beatles from the sixties. Again they sang English and Chinese songs. Initially I was a bit worried because they started to hook up more speakers than what was already there with the stage. I expected to be blown away literally. However it wasn't that bad; but the girl on the right didn't have a working mic for the first song.


After these three acts, it was over an hour's worth of entertainment and overall very enjoyable. Again Kaohsiung has surprised me with their talent, embracing of Christmas and sing so much in English.

I have uploaded all of my Pictures that I took on that night, feel free to click on the link (Christmas Eve in Kaohsiung) and have a look.

I think is it for now. Till next time, haveagoodone...

Christmas in Kaohsiung

Over the last week, I have been a little surprised at the Christmas Festivities that have been performed in my little area of the world. I live very close to Kaohsiung Arena and a newly built Japanese Department store called Hanshin. This small area provides an excellent public area to host such events.

The weekend before Christmas, one of the local Radio stations called KISS Radio sponsored a concert that went for a couple of hours. Admittedly I don't know the name of the artists who performed, or the songs they were singing but it was good to be soak up the atmosphere.

The KISS Radio concert consisted of five acts ranging in different styles. The first act was more like an American rap band. The band consisted of two guys who sang a rap style and the girl sang more rock n roll style to contrast. There also was a forth band member who acted as the DJ in the background. They sang, I think, three songs that were quite lively.


The next act was a lady singer called "Olivia". She sang two songs in English (that was a surprise). The first song was True Colors that was first sung by Cyndia Lauper. The second song was All out of Love by Air Supply. The third song that Olivia sang was in Chinese, so unfortunately I cannot recall any further details of it apart that is was good to listen to.


The third act was a tiny Taiwanese girl. She sang and spoken entirely in Mandarin so I all I can say is that it is all Chinese to me. The songs that she sang were soft romantic style songs. A lot of the songs popular in Taiwan seem to be along this genre.




The next act to perform was a young guy who had a style all his own. Again, he spoke and sang in Mandarin. I really must learn more Mandarin. Regardless he say well and was very entertaining. I think his style was different from what I heard before. At the moment, I cannot describe it so I'll try and upload a video (that is below).


The last act was a girl and she seemed really popular; really that isn't surprising as the best is usually last. She sang songs that were a dance pop style and the romantic style as well.

All in all, I would say that it was enjoyable and very kind of KISS radio to provide a free concert.

Details about the concert that I saw last night, I'll post later today after I have sorted my photos and videos out.

Anyway, till next time, haveagoodone...

In anticipation of Christmas

In anticipation of Christmas in just under a week's time, Kaohsiung seems to have taken up the spirit (in a commercialised sense). Most of the shops I walk past have Christmas trees and decorations on display. The local department store beside the arena has Christmas trees everywhere. One of the better ones is near the entrance to the food court. You may notice next to the tree that there is a small stand with things pinned to it. What I think it is that people can write a Christmas wish (for themselves or for some else) and pin it on the stand. What happens to them afterwards, I am not sure. I suspect it is like sending a message into the Universe and good fortune will come back.

On the tree itself, you may also see a sign like a big key. I presume that this is sponsor of the Christmas tree, but can you make out the detail in it? If not, I have taken another photo just below. Surprise it is from Australia! There is a store inside the department store that sells gold imported from the Perth Mint in Western Australia. Speaking of Australian products, Australian Beef is also proudly highlight with many restaurants as American Beef is considered to be inferior or not safe. Taiwan has only recently lifted a ban on American Beef and the media has gone crazy analysing this.

Anyway, back to the Christmas tree, actually I was lucky to get a photo with no one standing beside it. Usually there is a queue of people waiting to have the their photo taken beside the tree.

Inside the department store, I sneakily took a few photos. The photo on my right is literally deck the halls with bows of holly. But I didn't see anybody kissing under them. I think they were too busy shopping...

The other photo to the left shows another Christmas tree just before the main department store. This tree is also in the same theme to make a wish and place it on the tree. I don't recall seeing this theme of making a wish and pinning it to a tree in Australia or New Zealand. Personally I think it seems a good idea, particularly if you make a wish for someone else and not one's self. Like sending good energy out into the Universe.

The last photo in this post that I have is of the preparations for a concert that is to be held tonight. The riggers are working very hard to complete the stage and surrounding displays for a 7:00pm start tonight. I hope to have some stories and photos from it for my next posting.

The sponsor, I think, is a radio station called Kiss Radio. I did see a web site but unfortunately I cannot find it.

Anyway till next time, haveagoodone...

Another mouth to feed...

Last week, the Doctor and I had an unexpected visitor. This visitor arrived totally uninvited and not in a conventional way, plus this visitor has a taste for organic vegetables. The Doctor and I normally buy organic vegetables anyway so this isn't too much of a big deal; but this visitor only eats a certain type of organic vegetable - usually something leafy.

Our visitor has been eating constantly over the last week and has now more than doubled in size. Who would have guessed that such a small visitor could eat so much and grow so quickly? And, not only has our visitor grown in size but has changed colour as well. When we first met, our visitor was green and now has turned a dark (almost black) colour.

Now you may be wondering who our visitor is, well it is a caterpillar that we found in the leafy organic vegetables we had bought the week before. After visiting the butterfly enclosure on our way to Sun Moon Lake I mentioned earlier, the Doctor has decided to grown his own butterfly. I just hope that this caterpillar will grow into a butterfly rather than a moth...

Anyway, considering the transformation that it has undergone over the last week, it must be ready to cocoon soon. I had taken a picture this afternoon and will keep you updated as it transforms further.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

A trip to Sun Moon Lake

Last weekend, the Doctor and I travelled to central Taiwan. The trip was initially triggered by the Doctor having to visit a past University student and conduct a survey. However, we decided to stay a couple of days and see the local sights.

The first stop was a small town called Jiji. After catching the newest High Speed train that travelled close to 300 kms per hour from Kaohsiung to Taichung, we then caught a more modest train to JiJi. The second train was quite different and felt like I had stepped back in time.

The outside was painted very colourful and the inside looked like it was last decorated in the 1960's. You could even sit up front right beside the train driver and see his view. Then after arriving at JiJi station, we had to cross train tracks to get from the platform to the exit gate.

After stepping outside the station, it was clear that this small town takes their railway station very seriously. They had a monument, LED panel outdoor screen and big signs showing that you were in fact at JiJi station.
Some of the other attractions we visited were Confucius' Temple and special species centre. The special species centre had a Butterfly enclosure, an area for injured wild birds and a statue of Taiwan Bear family. It also had an Army memorial park that we visited on our last day; so more pictures later on.

Also in JiJi we hired a motorised scooter that we used for the weekend. I can confidently say that after a weekend riding on the back of a scooter, I am glad that I use public transport for the majority of my travel around Taiwan.

On the first night, we stayed a bed and breakfast in Shui Li and then make our way to Sun Moon Lake. On the way, we stopped at a place that has a moving walk way. I think what it actually was a swamp land with a planked walkway designed to sway with the underlying water. The place claimed that it was one of only two in the world where the earth moved when walked on.

After arriving at Sun Moon Lake, we battled with all the other tourists. It certainly has become a very popular spot for people to visit. The township we stayed at had a small maze of streets that was similar to a bit market. There were many food vendors on the street, but the Doctor and I ended up having most of our meals at 7-Eleven. Unfortunately the street vendors who cater to those who don't eat meat were few are far between. There was one stall that had a Chicken wrap that looked really nice, but after watching the food preparer handle the money with the same glove as handling the food, I decided to pass.

After one night at the Sun Moon Lake, we headed back to JiJi. That small town that was so quiet on Friday had become very busy on Sunday. Anyway, we stopped at the Army Museum Park.


After wandering around the rather busy JiJi township again, we caught the mountain train and high speed train back to home again.

All in all, it was a good weekend but glad to be back home.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Who needs to speak Chinese here???

This weekend just gone, the Doctor and I decided that we needed to buy a laser printer because our current ink jet printer was running out of ink too quickly. So as I am the more PC literate it was my job to go down to Computer Street and hunt down a bargain.

The first shop I went into had a few different mono laser printers (prints only black) around the NT$3,500 range. Then on the end of the isle I saw a colour laser printer for NT$3,590. After a bit of discussion with the salesman, it appeared to be a bargain but as it was the first one I looked at I decided to continue on and start comparing the prices.

The next shop I looked at had a similar colour laser printer but the price tag was almost double. Also in this particular shop the saleslady didn't speak much English but the conversation we did have was about (i) price is too cheap, and (ii) where did I see that price?

Off I went to the next shop and the saleslady did speak a bit more English. In fact between my extremely broken Chinese and her English, I was told that my Chinese was good enough to not use English. My problem is that the Chinese I feel confident using, I can speak very well; but anything else is really bad. But anyway, after a bit of discussion the original price I had for the colour was way too cheap and she quoted me a price approximately double being around NT$6,000.

After a few more shops, I had encountered the same thing. Colour laser printers are around NT$6,000 and anything cheaper may be a fake. So off I went back to the original shop to check it our further.

Oh the last shop, before I made may way back to the original (not the with the English speaking sales lady) that I visited, had made me a little suspicious. When I asked initially they told me a price, then when I showed them I had shopped around they had dropped it considerably. I think that being an obvious foreigner they increased the price a fair bit. But when challenged, they immediately dropped it. Being a foreigner does have its advantages, but in this case it wasn't.

Anyway, when I arriving back at the original shop, I looked at the price and it was NT$3,590. However, I checked the model number on the price tag and it was for the mono laser printer on the shelf below. Someone had probably knocked the special price tag off and put it on the wrong shelf. The price was too good to be true!!!

O'well, after a bit of discussion with the Doctor, we decided that we didn't really need a colour laser and would go for a mono laser printer. On Monday afternoon, we both headed back down to Computer Street and after quickly comparing prices along the way, we headed back to the lady who told me to use Chinese.

After a bit of haggling, we got the price for a NT$3,000 laser down to NT$2,550 including delivery on Tuesday. The agreed time would be around 1:00pm. This happened to be the time that the Doctor goes to his work.

On Tuesday around midday, I received a call with only Chinese spoken to me. I though the delivery was downstairs so off I went. No person there. Luckily I had the phone number of the sales lady who spoke English and enquired. I was told that the delivery would now take place at 5:00pm. OK no problem. Then during the cause of the afternoon, the delivery lady called me a couple of times with a message that I had no understanding of. I presume it was to tell me that delivery would be late. Anyway, the delivery lady arrives around 5:30pm - apparently after becoming lost.

Printer arrives and she offers to set it up - the delivery lady is also the printer engineer. I think OK because if it isn't working she can take it back with her knowing that it wasn't me that broke it. After printer has been unpacked and is ready to connect with my computer, the engineer lady wants to put a Windows driver CD into my computer. I don't use Windows so it will not be of any use. Trying to communicate this was funny, especially to see the look of astonishment on the engineer lady's face. After connecting the printer to my computer, my system found the printer straight away and I was able to print. The engineer lady still didn't believe me about printing and it took about 5 attempts to show her that the printer had printed my page without that Windows disc.

I couldn't let the engineer lady go without at least installing the Windows driver on one computer, and the Doctor does use Windows so I let her install the printer on his PC. Around that same time, the Doctor came home and the engineer lady was relieved to have someone to speak Chinese too.

In the end, the Doctor and I now have a brand new laser printer for about AU$100 where we can now print more than 10 pages without the ink running out.

I think from this experience I have learnt that speaking Chinese is not always necessary, but to find a bargain and have it delivered definitely does help.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Last day...

Today was the last day of my first semester learning Chinese. It's hard to believe that three months have already passed and I have survived them. It was not without its challenges through. The teacher has given me (and my fellow students) tongue twisters, songs, and poems. A bit of a rough call considering we are just beginners I think...

The next week will be holidays for me and to reflect on what I have learned so far. I can tell you that I now know the following:

• I can count up to a really big number. One that has at least seven or eight zeros in it. This aspect was more difficult that what one might imagine. In English, you have counting units such as hundreds and thousands. However, the Chinese language has a counting unit for ten thousands (called wan). Therefore to say the figure of 100,000 in English is one hundred thousand. Whereas to say this figure in Chinese is ten wan because they use one wan that is ten thousand in English. Confused??? I luckily am not...
• I have a vocabulary of approximately 160 words ( I believe that there is approximately 60,000 to 80,000 words in the Chinese language) that can loosely be used together. At least I can greet people, say I hear but not understand, ask if they speak English, say what country I am from and some other basic phrases.
• Finally this is probably one of the most important things I have learned, to become extremely confused with their grammar rules (well I understand some of them).

I guess this is why I have been given a week off from school to process and make sure I understand for the next semester in a week's time. I do have a little bit of help as I have started doing language exchange with a local girl. She teaches English in primary school and is hoping to go to Australia to study for her Masters next year. The language exchange that takes place is me helping her write short essays and she helps me with anything Chinese that I am having trouble with.

To mark the last week of our semester, my teacher organised a trip for all of us to a local restaurant. Afterwards, the students who didn't go home, the teacher drove us around Kaohsiung and the bay area. On the way back from a coffee shop, we encountered another local in the hills. We luckily enough had some biscuits from our coffee break to feed the hungry little local. I am told that there are many monkeys in the mountains but I didn't see any of his/her friends.

Also for all my hard work over the last three months (well hard work is what I am telling people anyway) I have a certificate from the Language School that looks pretty impressive.

Anyway, back to the total immersion and hoping that the Chinese becomes a little less like Chinese and more like English...

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Computer repairers - do they really repair???

Just over a week ago, my notebook had to go to the repairers. I had a problem with my monitor flickering and I think it due to a bad connection. However, as my notebook was under warranty, I took it to the repairers.

Just a quick note before I continue on, this was the second time that I had taken my notebook back to the repairers for the same problem. Apparently the first time they just tightened up the offending part.

When I took my notebook in, there was a different person to accept it at the service desk. After my initial inquiry if she spoke English, it was established that all was understood about my problem. The kind lady promptly told me that the offending part would be replaced this time and it was the second time to play up.

With this news, I was a little concerned about loosing my hard disk and the data on it. But the lady assured me that my notebook would stay as is and only the offending part be replaced. Nothing would happen to my hard disk.

The service lady did mention that the technician would want to test my notebook and would need my passwords. Well I was prepared from last time and setup a special login for them and showed her how to do it and she noted it down.

Now I probably should mention a few things. I don't like Windows Vista and prefer to use Ubuntu. Windows is on my notebook but rarely used. As a security feature, I copied all my data to the Ubuntu system so that Windows could not view it. I am a highly suspicious person when it comes to my identify and possible theft.

Well after a few days, I got a call saying that my notebook is ready to be picked up. I travel down to the computer repairers in the heat of the afternoon. When I arrived I waited for about 15 minutes but do have a technology magazine to read - lots of pictures and not much reading. After being served, I test my computer to make sure all is working.

This is were the trouble begins. Just as soon as I turn my computer on I am given an error message and cannot proceed any further. I wait another fifteen minutes to be served again and told that the technician only touched the part in question for my monitor. After explaining that the computer was working properly when I lodged it earlier they gave me a blank look saying that they could not do anything about the system. One thing that the service guy (it was a different person that when I lodged my notebook initially) did do was to boot off a flash drive and at least I saw that my hard disk was still there and my disk setup appeared still in tacked.

So after arguing for a while wanting to know what they did to my computer, I reluctantly took it home hoping that I could fix my software system.

When I got home, I found that the problem was a bit more serious that I first thought. The service repairers had deleted my whole Ubuntu system including my sensitive data. How they did this I don't know because Windows does not recognise Ubuntu and generally cannot do anything to it. They must have special tools.

Well after reinstalling Ubuntu, I tried to get back into Windows and this was also corrupted. So, this was another system that needed to be totally reinstalled. By the way, I did have a copy of my sensitive data elsewhere on my portable drive so it was not a total loss. But still I had to reinstall Ubuntu, Windows Vista and all the other programs that I use.

Now here comes the ironic thing. When I lodged my notebook initially, the service lady was going to take my hard disk out and give it back to me. I said no because I didn't want anything to happen to it. I guess that this was a sign and I ignored it. If I had taken my hard disk, I would not have been in the situation of losing my systems.

So the moral of my story, if I need to lodge my computer for repairs, I am taking my hard disk with me and not leaving it at the repairers... Oh and watch for signs more carefully.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Childhood songs...

The new lesson that I started in Chinese Language school was about reading, speaking and singing in French. Now this may seem confusing, learning about French in a Chinese Language class. However, the Chinese words I are learning are about reading and singing. French only happens to be the subject.

Now cast your mind back to early school days and think of a popular French song that you may have learned. From my fellow students I know it was taught in many parts of the world. I know from my early school days, they taught the French song Frere Jacques. I have added the link to Wikipedia because it provides different versions used throughout the world and their English meaning.

Needless to say that Taiwan has its own version, the version that I am learning in class. My teacher is a Youtube addict and regular plays this version of the song.

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After watching the clip, you have to admit that the kids are quite cute; but try watching it more than ten times (which I am sure that I would have done by the time that my teacher has finished).

While watching these girls perform, I wonder if they will be the new Spice Girls?

Anyway, till next time, haveagoodone while I try and get this song out of my head.

The end of another week...

Have you ever wondered if the weekend is for recovering from the week, of if the week is to recover from the weekend?

Last weekend, the Doctor and I travelled to Taipei. We started our weekend by catching the 6:36am High Speed Train on Friday morning from Kaohsiung station. After arriving in Taipei two hours later, we caught a bus for another two hour ride to JinShan (literally translated is Gold Mountain). This is where a friend of ours was staying with her parents before she moves back to New Zealand. We first became friends when her and her Kiwi boyfriend rented a room from us in Christchurch back in 2005.

After arriving in JinShan, we spent the afternoon at a Buddhist Monastery called Dhrama Drum Mountain. The tour guide, who happened to speak reasonable English, took us through numerous attractions. One of the attractions was large rock pool in the middle of a courtyard where the water was perfectly clear and still. This was meant to represent a clear and calm mind and the monks would use it for their meditation. Another attraction that we visited was the Lotus Bell. This reminded me of the Peace Bell that I saw in Hiroshima Japan. The Lotus Bell however has a subscription on it that the Doctor told me was a sutra.

After spending the afternoon wondering around the monastery, we eat our dinner with the monks in their eating hall. The food was very delicious although there was no speaking allowed as well as the men and women sat on separate sides of the room.

On Saturday, the Doctor and I made our way back to Taipei (another two hour bus ride) and arrived in Taipei just after lunch time. After having lunch and checking into our hotel, we made our way to the Presidential Building. This was where the start of a parade was that afternoon. The parade was similar to the one that is held in Sydney on the first weekend in March but not quite so big.

On the main stage where the parade participants gathered, they even had a mural with a great Australian (well Sydney) icon on it. I think that Taipei 101 building was also part of the mural. I am presuming that there is a connection here???

Anyway the parade started in the heat of the afternoon and weaved through the streets of Taipei central. The funny thing was that only half the road was closed off with buses, cars, motorcycles, scooters and pedestrians all sharing the other half of the road. And here I thought that the traffic was already chaotic....

If you are interested to look at the hundred odd photos that we took, the link is here ( Pride March Taipei 2009 ).

After the Parade finished late afternoon, the Doctor and I headed to the place where we use to live back in 2003/2004. The suburb was called TianMu (literally Mother Nature I think). We walk around and reminisced about the area including our old apartment building, the park we use to walk around and shopping districts nearby.

One funny thing that happened was there was a dog at the end of our lane way that always used to come to the Doctor. This time when we walked by, we started talking and noticed that the dog was still in the same apartment block, however when called the dog started to bark and had clearly forgotten about the Doctor. This photo was taken back in 2003 where the Doctor and Dodo the dog were friends.

To finish the evening off, we went to the old Hot Spring place, I know it as the Five Pools, that we use to frequently visit. The Five Pools had changed their layout and pool temperatures a bit but essentially it was still the same. I even had a some of the locals practice their English with me.

The next day (which was Sunday), we visited the old language schools that I had been too. The main one at Taiwan's Teacher's University was still exactly the same. Although being Sunday, we couldn't go in the building or anything so we admired it from the outside.

The afternoon was spent on the long six hour train ride back to Kaohsiung. We arrived back home around 8:00pm and I think this is why I needed the week to recover.

This weekend there is a food show in the new Arena just over the other side of the road so hopefully I should have some photos and stories about that. The other plan for this weekend is to attempt my homework. The language teacher has decided that we students need to practice our essay writing. The topic is our local convenient store or supermarket. This will be interesting because we have only learnt about 120 words and very simple sentence structures. The encouragement offered by the teacher is "just try"... One saving grace is that we have been given a lined piece of paper the size of A5 so I guess she is not expecting any multi paged accounts.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Tradesman - should I be concerned?

Yesterday after lunch I took the opportunity to take a walk to one of the many local bakeries (psst, don't tell the Doctor as he wouldn't like it if I ate food prepared by someone else) and I noticed something about the local tradesmen and the way that they go about their work.

One the road that I was walking, one of the shops was being fitted for a new business. Standing on an A-frame ladder there was a tradesman doing some work on the ceiling trusses. In his hand he has one of those powerful air nail guns. However, on his head he was not wearing any ear or eye protection. Furthermore, when he finished nailing the area he was working on, he walked the A-frame ladder to a new position as if he was walking on stilts.

A scene like this is not that uncommon. When the Doctor and I lived in Taipei many years, the ground floor apartment next to where we lived was being renovated. The initial work was to remove the existing fittings and this involved a jack hammer. The tradesman operating the jack hammer was also not wearing any ear or eye protection. But wait, there is more. On the tradesman feet, he was wearing the thongs (sorry I know this is an Aussie term and the Kiwis call them Jandles) that exposed the majority of his bare feet.

With an Australian point of view, I would expect that the government Occupational Health and Safety would be insisting that any tradesman using any type of dangerous tool would need to wear protective gear and probably then write up a fine in the process. However, if Taiwan it seems to be the norm (I have seen this on several occasions).

But this does make me ponder a bit; are the Taiwanese workers more skilled at using their tools that protective clothing is not needed? I don't recall seeing media stories about injured workers or anything about workplace injuries?

I believe that one of the main reasons for stringent current regulations in Australia was the number of accidents involving these sort of tools. I must admit that I don't have a lot of experience with the power tools but with all the safety gear required, does it make handling the tool more difficult and thus provide the recipe for more accidents? I know from a simple matter of using the line trimmer and wearing the safety glasses, it makes it more difficult to see the fine point of where the line trimmer is aimed at.

I wonder, have the Australians taken the wrong path by insisting that workers wear protective clothing and thus making it more difficult to control the power tool rather than provide more thorough education on the proper use? Are the accidents involving power tools caused by lack of skills, carelessness or ignorance?

If it is based on carelessness, do the Taiwanese have better concentration? If it is based on skill, are the Taiwanese better skilled? I wonder what the Taiwanese tradesmen would say if a government Occupation Health worker demanded that they wear the protective gear?

On a side note, I see that the Taiwanese are definitely faster workers than the Kiwis. They have been numerous shops near where the doctor and I live that have been fitted easily within a week. Whereas, one of the clients for the bank in NZ that I worked for, her shop took several months to finish and I don't think it was much different from the shops over here...

Nonetheless, I always stay clear of any construction work because I really don't know the answer to this.

Till next time haveagoodone...

Australia versus New Zealand...

In the supermarket yesterday, it was interesting to note that milk powder from both Australia and New Zealand were put on display at the aisle end side by side.

Both tins were for approximately the same quantity and yet the price difference was notable. The price on the left is for the New Zealand milk powder and the price on the right is for the Australian.

At first glance it would appear that the Australian would be better quality; however thinking about it further, I suspect that as the New Zealand dollar is cheaper to buy and that is why the New Zealand product is cheaper. But what I ponder about; does the Taiwanese shopper really know that their Taiwanese Dollar can buy more Kiwi dollars than Aussie?

On a slightly different note, when the Doctor and I travel around, we see many different signs and their English translation. Some of them are not entirely correct as I alluded to in a previous posting, however the Doctor likes to take a photo and show his classes about the delicate nature of English translation. The photo to the left was taken in a Japanese department store.

I can see work ahead of me, not in teaching English but the use of Spell Checker on the computer.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Long time no blog...

A subtle (or maybe not so subtle) prompt from Mother Blog indicated that news from my small part of the world has not been forthcoming. Well let me think about what has happened since mid Autumn festival.

The amount of day light hours are becoming less and less. Usually I face this with the anticipation of Winter and many cold months. In New Zealand the winter was very cold with many mornings hoping the heater would just warm up and going to work involved battling the frost outside. Also in New Zealand the amount of daylight hours would become so little that sunrise would be around 8:00am and sunset before 5:00pm. In Taiwan, I don't think I have to worry about frost and the fact that the sun sets earlier doesn't stop normal activities outside. In fact, in Taiwan, it probably means more to do outside as the weather is not sweltering. As I write this posting around 5:30pm, the sun has set and the weather is a cool 28 degrees (much better than the 35 degrees it would have been a month ago).

Chinese classes are progressing well. However, they are become more challenging. The teacher likes to include many other things other than the set text book such as songs, tongue twisters, poems and her latest was the promotion brochure of a large restaurant. Although the variety is good, unfortunately my range of vocabulary still makes it all looks like Chinese to me. Our current set text lesson topic is about family members and photos. Today we had a listening piece about someone describing their family; and then we had to recite it. The monologue was spoken at normal speed and contain familiar words for about the first sentence. Not a good and productive morning at school today. The class did end on a reasonable note, we had a practise test and when the content is about the vocabulary used in the set text, I can complete the test quickly and with correct answers.

On a lighter note, the Japanese department store across the road had their first year anniversary yesterday and today. Yesterday lunch time I wondered over to see what activities were going on. All I can say is I am glad that I walked... The car park was full and long queue waiting along the main road. I had not seen so many people at a shopping centre since Christmas time at Chadstone (a local Melbourne shopping centre that should have its own postcode). Sardines squashed in a tin can would have had more room to swing a cat around. I dared not venture in too far just in case I couldn't get out. Today, the Doctor and I did venture in during lunch time and it was not quite so chaotic but none the less it was a definitely busier than normal.

Last weekend, the Language Centre did host another Friday night event. We all went to a local pool hall and played pool. My level of pool playing was that of very a bad novice, but it was fun none the less as I played with other students of a similar standard. Afterwards a group of students from my class went out to a place called Smokey's Joes that like a Mexican Restaurant. All in all it was a good night out.

Apart from that, day becomes night and night becomes day. At this stage nothing else really to report. Hopefully in the coming months, they will be places to visit, new things to experience and then lots to report.

Till next time, haveagoodone (and I'm sorry for no pictures in this post)...

Around my complex

Well what a noisy weekend that was. I think fireworks are available to anyone in Taiwan and I sure most of Kaohsiung bought and set them off. The approaching typhoon changed direction; good for Taiwan but not for the Philippines as they have had enough rainfall. However to glimpse the beautiful moon had to be done between the clouds. Well I guess that is Mid-Autumn festival this year.

Last week when the sun was out, I finally got around to taking some photos of the apartment complex and surrounding area where I live. My apartment complex has numerous buildings. I am in the building behind Joy Plaza.

The apartment complex has a very nice garden setting and fish pond in its courtyard. From what I have observed, most people just walk past in order to get to their apartment. I had thought that they may be a BBQ last weekend but no such luck.

The thing I really like about this garden is that I do not have to maintain it! This is an aspect of apartment living I can really grasp.


I am not sure how the fish are fed because they are no plants and the water is changed each week. I guess someone must feed them because they look pretty big and their population do not appear to be declining. The fish pond even has running water, but I think it is only turned on for an hour a day. At night time where the vertical glass panels are, they have difference coloured lights that looks like a discotheque for the fish.


The next photo I have to show you is a view from my street front. The photo shows the Arena - the round shaped building - (I suspect that this is where the World Games was held a few months ago) and the department store just beside it further down the street. On the hot afternoons, this is where the Doctor and I go to escape the heat for a while. The department store has many food restaurants to eat at and the price is not too expensive. I have found my favourite places that include a vegetarian restaurant, fried rice, Mos Burger (this is a Japanese chicken burger fast food restaurant) and a few bakeries.

The last photo that I'll show you is the fire alarm instructions in our building. One of the amusing aspects of living in a country where English is not spoken that well is the different variants you see of it. One of the restaurants in the department store has a big sign that says "Checken" in lieu of "Chicken". What I am really wondering about is who's bottom I am meant to push when there is a fire (see instruction number one)?

Anyway till next time, and I'm hoping that there is no fires until I get this sorted out, haveagoodone...

Mid-Autumn Festival

Taiwan has three main festivals, Taiwanese (Chinese) New Year, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival, as with most Taiwanese festivals, is timed by the lunar calendar and this event is on the eighth month and fifteen day This year it happens to fall on this weekend.

The activities that are enjoyed comprise of meeting up with friends and family, having a BBQ and hoping for a clear sky to admire the moon. Some of the traditional foods that are eaten are Youzi, Moon cake & Pineapple cake. I'll take a photo of what they look like and post it later on.

This year, Mother Nature has decided to join in the party. According to the news reports, there a few typhoons brewing in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines with one of them heading for Taiwan. I haven't seen a typhoon yet in Taiwan as I arrived a week after the last one went through. However I am sure there'll a display of Mother Nature's power.

Now you may be wondering the origins of the Mid-Autumn festival and as with many traditions they are many stories going around. I found one story on YouTube that was not too long.



I hope that you enjoy and till next time, haveagoodone...

Ponderings about the English language

Sometimes I wonder who should be teaching who English?

Today on the train back from language school, there was a energetic little boy and his mother. The young boy must have been around 2 years old. This young boy was keen to go to the joining doors of the train carriage but his mother was trying to persuade him not to. When the boy's mother saw me, she told the young boy to practice his English on me. Now how much English do you think a two year boy would know? Well he spoke in very good English:

• Hello
• How are you?
• Kaohsiung Arena (that is the stop that I got off at)
• It was good to met you.
• Good bye

Not bad for any two year old let alone a Taiwanese boy who mother tongue would be Chinese. This got me thinking about the New Zealand accent and how the local New Zealanders spoke. It has been long known and I believe often reported that the Kiwi's are very lazy when speaking the Queen's English. The main distinction I noticed while living in New Zealand was that the vowels seemed to be softened or dropped.

I am sure when this little Taiwanese boy grows up and travels, he'll have a excellent command on the English language and teach some of the native speakers a thing or two on articulation. By the way, his mother spoke almost perfect English to me and said that she has a sister teaching Chinese in Texas USA. So I am sure that the English education and probable travel will await the little Taiwanese boy.

On a slightly different topic, the language schools in Taiwan will only accept English teachers from USA, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand. I did ponder this for a few moments and come to the conclusion that out of all the countries in the world, I think these are the ones where English is the first and wholly spoken language. Europe has it own language and dialects. Central and South America are predominately Spanish. Africa I'm sure has its own language before English. And the last main continent (apart from Antarctica and Antarctic) is Asia with their own language being the mother tongue. Now I may be on a totally wrong track, but I think it is interesting though considering how many countries exist.

Anyway till next time, haveagoodone...

Nothing exciting this week...

I know that this is hard to believe, and I guess Taiwan is really like the rest of the world, but it seems that I have almost settled into normal day-to-day life. I certainly hope that life in Taiwan does not become -- routine...

Chinese language class became more interesting this week as we started on writing some of the characters and using sentence structure. Writing the characters is almost like drawing a picture. For example the Chinese characters for Australia are 澳洲. Now these may look complicated but there is actually a trick. Generally to write any Chinese character you need to start from the top left and work you way across and then down. Also the character can be broken down into sections. Just in case you are wondering what England and Scotland are, I have copied their names from the translation dictionary I found online.

England and America are two common countries that we used in our first week of character writing.

The other nationalities that I have in my class are Mexican, Japanese, Vietnamese French and a Canadian. But they are a little more complicated to write. The nationality in my class is a good mix of culture.

Anyway, after the first week of using Chinese characters, special phonetic characters (called Bo Po Mo Fo) and Pinyin I have managed to pass the first big test. From now on it is one book lesson per week with about 20 new characters and more complex sentence structures.

Onto another topic, the Friday night school group went ten pin bowling this week. I think the bowling lane we went to was used for in the World Games that was recently held in Kaohsiung. I haven't bowled for many years and I think my scores reflected that. The first game I scored about 103 and the second game I scored about 152.

AS I write this, the weekend is drawing to a close. The Doctor and I are about to brave the heat and venture to restaurant that the Doctor has found. I hope that the restaurant has pictures so I can see what I am about to order.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Getting out and about...

Now that I have settled a bit more into Taiwan lifestyle, managing the heat and started Language School, another opportunity for me to see the sights has arisen. One of the office staff at the Language School has organised Friday night outings for those students that are interested. It is like a local's tour of the city.

The Friday night before last, our organised trip was to an island on the other side of Kaohsiung harbour. The island is called Cijin Island. On this island, we visited an old fort that I presumed was used during the wars and the old English Colony state house. We also had hoped to visit the lighthouse but unfortunately that was closed.

The photo to the right is looking from the old fort back over Cijin Island, Kaohsiung harbour and Kaohsiuhng city in the background.

All this was done on foot and by the end of the evening I was ready to go home and sleep. My poor feet...

Last weekend's trip was also out and about but not on foot. We hired bicycles. I haven't ridden a bicycle for years (or is it decades) but that was the least of my worries. In Australia, people drive/ride on the left side of the road. In Taiwan they ride on the right, and that is said very loosely as well. The bike trip started out well with us following a bike track, but quickly it turned to riding around the streets. I am really glad I had fellow students around me because I don't think I would have don't it by myself. The place we initially headed for was along the coast a bit and up small mountain. The place is known where you can watch the sunset. To the left is a photo that I took looking back where I had ridden. You may notice that the breakwaters stretching out into ocean is where we were the previous week when we walked up to the old fort. I am rather hot and sweaty in this photo as well as being quite worn out. But this was only the first stop.

After watching the sun go down on the horizon, we headed back into the city and found our way to Love River. I can tell you that Love River is much more beautiful at night time (and forgetting about the sewerage treatment plants along the river). The boats are going up and down the river, the bright lights and the big dragon has eyes that change colour.

Needless to say that the sun was not beating down on me either so it was much more enjoyable.


The benefits of riding as opposed to not walking was great on my feet, but not so on my gluteus maximus. After the night's ride I was sore for a few days.

However, Love River was not the last stop. Kaohsiung has a tourist night market called Liouhe night market. That was our next stop where we had a dinner. Sorry no photos there but next time I visit I promise I'll take some.

After dinner, it was time to take the bikes back ( I think six hours was enough in anyone's language) and head home.

I have to admit, having ridden a bike around Kaohsiung city, I did get to see a lot more than merely taking the train through the subway. I can get my bearings a lot better and get to see things that I would normally have missed. Although I am not sure if I would dare to ride a bike by myself. Maybe the Language School social organiser would consider another trip when the memories of six hours biking have faded.

Anyway, till next time, haveagoodone...

A place to dine; or maybe not...

Living in Taiwan has shown that a small island with 23 million people living on it, you have to be inventive if you want to get noticed. The Doctor and I on one of our walks have come across something that I have not seen in any other part of the world that I have visited.

This place that we came across (and it is very close to our apartment) takes an everyday event and has turned it into a themed restaurant. I show you the photos first and then I'll explain.



This picture on the left is the entrance to the restaurant and the picture on the right is the window display to entice the customers in.


As you may have guessed, this is the toilet restaurant. Everything in this restaurant is themed around the toilet.

I have found an article on the Internet that explains it further - Taiwan Modern Toilet Restaurant - and it even has some more photos of the food that is served up.

I think I'll wait for someone to visit me before I sample this cuisine. There's an invitation for you!!!

Till next time, haveagoodone...

After the first week

I have survived the first week of Chinese Language class, although not without its battle scars. One of the first objectives for us students is to learn the phonetics. This can be done via an alphabet called MPS (Mandarin Phonetic System) or the alternative called Pinyin. There is a picture later on to see what they look like, but needless to say, English sounds do not play any part in this.

When I first tried to learn Chinese many years ago, I followed the Pinyin phonetics thinking that they use the English alphabet. However they proved to be hazardous with lots of confusion. For example, the Pinyin "a" does not have the same English sound "aaaaaa" sound as used in apple. In Pinyin, the "a" sound is "rrrrr" as when you open you mouth and say "arrr" for the dentist. And this is just the start of the different sounds.

Well after tackling most of the sounds, the Chinese Language school teacher has decided that one fun (and this use this term loosely) activity to use would be tongue twisters. Now you remember the English tongue twisters like Peter Piper and She sells sea shells by the sea shore? The Chinese class has been presented two different tongue twisters .


The way that they write the characters and the phonetics are; (i) the written Chinese character, (ii) the MPS is to the right starting at the top and down, and (iii) the Pinyin written below the Chinese character. Each word will have a tone attached to it.

This is only a hint of what is to come. The challenge will remembering how to write the Chinese characters and it is very different to how English words are formed. Then there is the question of grammar as English is back to front with many other languages.

By the way, if you are interested to know what the tongue twisters mean, the one of the left is literally:

Mum rides a horse
Horse is slow
Mum curses horse

And the tongue twister on the right is:

Have fourty four stone lions
Also have fourty four stone persimmons
Want stone Lion eat persimmons
Stone Lion not want to eat persimmons
Remaining fourty four persimmons were left

My homework this weekend is to practice this so I can correctly say both these tongue twisters at a reasonable speed before Monday. I have a lot of practice to do...

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Back to the abc's.

After a five year break, I have finally returned to pick up my learning of the Chinese language. I can honestly tell you that the Chinese language has not gotten any easier. The advantage I do have is that I have completed the basic lessons a couple of times before so I can quickly soak up the content again. However I will start to get worried when the grammar and longer sentences start to be taught.

I am also proud to be the only Australian in my class. The other students are from France, Mexico, a Taiwanese born American, and four from Japan. One of the Japanese students doesn't speak English so I am not sure how well he will understand the lessons.

Now you may be wondering how the classes are conducted. To begin with, English is not meant to be spoken, although it is relied on to explain a concept in detail. The Chinese teacher's English is broken but fluent enough to understand her point. Essentially how the teacher is meant to teach in purely the Chinese language would be very difficult considering us students are there to learn Chinese; so life is a little confusing sometimes.

One funny example today, we had to practice using our tones and when we should change them. There were three sentences to practice with:

1. You are very good.
2. You are very lazy.
3. You are very early.

One guy that was practising change the Chinese word (by accident) from lazy to old. So the teacher was being told that she is very old. Although not taken seriously, it usually is funny when a language student mixes up their words. The house-mates that the Doctor and I had in Christchurch were very funny when they did that; and we all had a laugh about it too.

Anyway, speaking of practising, I had better get back to my homework. Heavens forbid that I don't do my homework and the teacher tells me off. However I may have the advantage of not knowing what she is saying and nicely smile back in total ignorance.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Love River...

One of the main attractions of Kaohsiung, so I have been told, is the river that runs through it. Most cities that I have been too usually have some sort of water aspect. For example Melbourne has the Yarra River, Sydney has its harbour and Christchurch has the Avon River (although I would call it a Creek rather than a River because the normal depth is knee deep for most of it).

Kaohsiung have "Love River". Why they called it Love River I don't know and a quick search of Wikipedia doesn't shed any light on it either. In fact, it seems anything but Love when I saw numerous waste treatment plants along the river's edge.

Anyway I think I must have walked along there are the wrong time because it was virtually deserted (quite unlike Taiwan); although I could imagine it being very busy in the evening when the sun has set. So my photos are mainly scenic.

I believe that one of the main attractions would be the Dragon Boat racing that happens in May/June time.

The story behind this custom, from what I have been told, dates back many years; as all customs do. A well respect man in a Chinese dynasty was wrongly accused by an emperor. The well respect man felt deeply ashamed and jumped into the river to sacrifice himself to the dragon that laid in the river. When the towns people heard about this, they all got in their boats and dropped rice balls into the river so the dragon would eat the rice and not that well respected man. However the story does not have a happy ending. The well respected man did drown and his body was not recovered. So the traditions that have resulted is a dragon boat race and the food of the moment is Bamboo Rice .

The dragon is also believed to bring prosperity and flowing water represents money in Feng Shui. I wonder if that is why Kaohsiung is the biggest shipping container port in Taiwan?

One of the more interesting places I encountered during my walk along Love River was a place I presume where many people propose. I am not sure how to describe this (it isn't a statue, it isn't a monument; but I'll settle for landmark), the landmark is definitely a giant diamond ring that may be used for to signify becoming engaged. Is this every girl's dream? A diamond ring this size (if only it was real)??? Anyway if you look real closely at it, it is actually half a ring with mirror reflecting the other half.

I presume that this has similar effects as does Mistletoe on around Christmas.




Just a little bit further along, there is another attraction that it directed at young lovers - or those who seek it, but this seems to involve making a wish. There wasn't any coins in the bowl so I presume that everyone in Taiwan has found their love or the sign that was nearby not to enter the fountain was ignored.

I think I need to learn some Chinese words to gain a greater appreciation of monuments like these.


Now walking along the river can be murder on your feet, and in true Taiwanese style, they have designed something in consideration of this.

You may notice on the side of the walking track there appears to be a pebble feature. Those of us who have weary feet can take our shoes off and walk bare-footed on the pebbles. They have been designed to massage and revitalise your feet allowing you to continue walking. My feet are way to sensitive to do it bare foot, but it does feel good if your shoe's soles are thin and flexible.

The last photo that I'll talk about is a restaurant that I came across and I believe it has some connection to Australia. From my limited vocabulary, I think the first character is Australia and the second character is beautiful or American (The Chinese call American literally the beautiful land).

Anyway as I don't eat red meat, I didn't venture any further to this restaurant. Knowing my luck it probably served Kangaroo, Koala and Emu meat - I could never really understand about eating the Australian icons like that...

Well I think the next time I visit, I must time it with a public event to see the true spirit of Love River and what it has to offer. At least now I know where it is and how to get there.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

PS: AJ, welcome back, I hope that you had a good holiday.