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.

What do you think of Facebook???

Since the Doctor arrived back in Taiwan on Friday last week, I haven't really gone out that much. We have been tiding the apartment and unpacking the boxes that we had sent over from New Zealand.

Today was interesting as the Doctor's brother (who also happens to be a doctor too) came around with his wife and the four of us went for lunch. Afterwards we visited an award winning bakery called Pasadena. The selection was not that large so I guess it was quality and not quantity that was the winning formula. To the right is a photo that I took of the selection area. Sorry about the photo as I only had my cell phone with me.

Anyway what has compelled me to write today is about Facebook. When I gave my notice at the place I use to work at, one of the friendly co-workers in Auckland said I should get on Facebook. I had heard a few things about Facebook, and I believe that are back in the news again about privacy concerns, so I was really cautions. I tentatively entered my details being really careful about not to put too much information or anything that can identify me. But, even with the small amount of details it still seems to find friends and acquaintances that I had not kept in contact with. Just for today for example, I have found two people that I really enjoyed chatting and working with in Auckland where we sort of drifted apart. However communication and catching up has begun.

Facebook was also good when I was back in Melbourne for a few weeks. I managed to tee up two appointments with friends that I may have normally missed out on seeing.

The computing world and cyberspace really does amaze me sometimes, but also worries me as what people can find out about me with actually knowing me personally. Have you ever Googled yourself and see what you can find? I once found a picture taken about 15 years ago of a work colleague's husband that I had not met. How's that for how far the Internet can reach. Big brother is really watching you... Be aware!!!

Anyway I wonder who else I can find on Facebook now? Maybe the Doctor has a profile (in fact I know he does) and maybe we should use that as a communication medium instead of talking - I hope not...

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Another Day, Another Shopping Experience...

Now before you all think that the reason I have come to Taiwan is to just shop, I just haven't found the other attractions yet; or the weather has allowed me to visit them.

To tell you the truth, while I am still adjusting to the heat that is Kaohsiung, I do seek to find places that are air conditioned, have a bakery so I buy Taiwanese bread, have a resting place for me to give my tired feet a break and is close by the train station. It just so happens that the shopping malls and/or department stores are very close to the train stations.

I also have another confession, I meant to post this yesterday but got caught up in computer virus issues with Vista (I really don't like Vista)...

Anyway on with yesterday's point. On the train line that is close to me, there is one stop called SanDuo Shopping District. San means "three" and Duo means "many". I presume that the San refers to the three big department stores that are virtually side-by-side. They are Sogo, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi and Mega. In addition to these three department stores, there are many shops on the street around the area (but the weather is too hot to go exploring around them yet). This is were Dream Mall has its advantage.

Now after going through the three department stores, I can honestly say that they are all alike. The brands are all the same, the prices are pretty similar, all are air conditioned and you should see how neatly they fold the clothes. One advantage that Mega has, is that it has an entrance/exit of the train station is actually within its building. The other two department stores requires a brief walk in the open air along with the joy of the heat. But for my money, Dream Mall has won me over.

But that was yesterday, today I decided to make a conscious decision to visit a place other than a department store or shopping mall. When I went to pay my school fees earlier this week, there was a Culture Centre opposite the University so I decided to head there. Upon arriving, I think everyone must have been at the shopping malls including the exhibitions. There was virtually nothing to see except a small photo gallery that demonstrated the genetic link between the Taiwanese Aboriginals and the Pacific Island migration including New Zealand Maori population. This was something that New Zealand had documented quite a while ago. In all fairness to the Culture Centre, I think it is more of a performing arts centre and the performances are probably at night time and during the right season (now being the off season).

So after viewing this small exhibition, I wondered what I was going to do? Any guesses? I bet you guessed it. I headed to Dream Mall. What motivated me this time was that the Doctor had given me some vouchers that he had received for signing up for cable TV for a year and one place to redeem them was Dream Mall. While living in New Zealand, we never really bought any clothes and when we moved to Taiwan, we decided that we would take the clothes that we wore on our backs and buy good quality Taiwanese clothes more suitable for the climate (see there is justification for me visiting so many shops). Well I found one shop called Baleno and they seem to have reasonably price merchandise in the style that I like. After the sales lady tried to cross sell t-shirts and shorts I walked out with only one polo shirt and five less vouchers. The other clothes that the Doctor and I buy will probably be from the stores on the street or in night markets as they are generally the same quality. The advantage of the night market is that they have bargain prices and deals such as buy one get one free plus the atmosphere like a carnival.

The last thing that I will leave you with is another photo of the sun setting. Mother Blog gave me the suggestion to take a photo with the sun a bit higher. This photo doesn't show the colours that the sunset brings. I literally have about a minute and usually by the time that I notice the moment has passed.


Till next time, haveagoodone...

What a dream...

As I was looking for something to do today, the Doctor suggested that I visit the biggest shopping mall in Taiwan and they have aptly named it Dream Mall. Just as his suggestion was made, I happen to be on Google Maps and this was the first entry of promotional locations on the side - so the decision was already made...

After investigating how I was going to get there, I came across that Wikipedia even have an entry on this shopping mall and it can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Mall. I think the entry is a little dated because the MRT (Train system) do have a station close by and that was where I was headed.

Now arriving at the train station and was pondering who I was going to get my directions, I came across this sign.

Well I thought that who needs bearings when there is a free bus to take me to Dream Mall. When I patiently waited for the bus, and waited for the bus, and waited for the bus, and waited nearly half an hour. Maybe I had presume wrong about the 3 ~ 5 minutes written on the sign so I eventually gave up and started to walk. I had no sooner got around the corner than the bus arrived and a queue big enough to fill the bus twice over, so I walked to the Dream Mall; something that I should had done rather than waiting...

My concerns about trying to find my directions were also unfounded as the Dream Mall was visible from the train station and I simply had to follow the other people that decided to walk also.

The buildings, as you may be able to see from the photo to the left, do stand out quite predominately with one of the most visible features being the Ferris Wheel on the rooftop.

Luckily for me, the walk was only about ten minutes and there was a cool breeze blowing off the harbour so not catching the bus was not that traumatic.

Upon entering the shopping centre, my dream had been fulfilled already. The air conditioning was cool and dry. Much better than being out in the open for forty five minutes.

Hearing that the this was the biggest shopping mall, I decided a map might be handy. Those of you who have been to Chadstone in Melbourne know that it is usually advisable to pack a compass for directions, wear your best walking shoes for the distance you will walk, and battle the parking and crowds. By comparison, Chadstone is a small shopping centre compared to the Dream Mall. Dare I say that the crowds were so big that these two people had to resort to other methods to move up and down floors? Actually it was pretty quite but I would imagine at night time it would be a very busy place. By the way, the photo was actually promoting the recent World Games that was in Kaohsiung in July. There was a story in New Zealand about a young girl who sang in Mandarin at one of the ceremonies and they Taiwanese loved her.

Now with so many floors to walk around ( ten in total) Dream Mall have provided many places to rest your weary feet. How many shopping places have you seen where they provide you with a seat like this (I have forgotten its proper name) reminiscent of lifestyles of the rich and famous.

The final thing that I will mention about the Dream Mall was the amusement park that is on the top of the roof. You may have noticed earlier on I mentioned about the Ferris Wheel on the roof, well this was just one of many amusements up there. Here is a photo of the Ferris Wheel up closer and the some of the other attractions up there.






One last photo just for Mother Blog, sorry I have too big for me to pick up and send to you.

On that note and deciding that I should have some money to spend at Dream Mall, and make another day trip there; or on another hot day to escape the heat.

Till next have, haveagoodone...

As the Sun Sets...

As the sun sets on another day in Kaohsiung, today is a day that I accomplished quite a few things.

Since arriving in Kaohsiung there has been a few things to adopt too, as one would expect. However they have not all be cultural issues. The first lasting impression about Kaohsiung is the heat. The official temperature seems to sit around 30 degrees but what the temperature actually feels like is closer to 40 degrees. Since my last posting, the way the Doctor and I have dealt with the heat is to head over to the local department store and wonder around there enjoying their cool climate. The department store has too many floors to count and feels like a small city inside. When I finish posting, that is exactly where I will be heading for dinner.

Another problem that I have come across was that the Doctor bought a new notebook computer and then decided to give it to me as he doesn't like changes in technology. A new computer is something that I look forward to playing with, but trying to put Ubuntu on this one has proof to be quite troublesome. One of the first challenges to overcome was that the screen size and resolution. The screen is 16 inches and trying to find the drivers and installation method were very elusive. After trying all weekend (only to avoid the heat) I finally fluked it today. Now with a working computer, I have been able to catch up on my boring computer admin stuff.

There is no need to think that I have travelled all this way just to sit in an apartment and tinker with computers. This morning I was out and about where I found the Language School that I will be going to and paid their fees. Now all that is left is to start the classes. I hope studying in New Zealand has helped my memory because I know that I am going to need it for remembering the picture characters and the new phonetics.

I also went on a bit of an explore hoping to find Love River (that is the name of the River that runs through Kaohsiung). Taking the train as far as I could, I came across water but I am sure it wasn't Love River. After wondering around for about 30 to 40 minutes, I decided enough was enough and should have used Google Maps first to find out where I should have headed. That'll be my task for tomorrow morning before the heat sets in.

Finally as I am typing this posting, the sun has well and truly set and I managed to grab a photo just as the sun was dropping behind the horizon. Tonight it was a brilliant red colour; but that usually means there is a lot of pollution in the air.

Oh, the other thing I forget to mention about today, early morning around 8:00am, mother nature decided to give Kaohsiung a bit of a shake. Nothing serious, just a bit of side to side and around shaking. None of the up and down shaking that is dangerous. Earthquakes do take a bit of getting use to and New Zealand had their fair share; although I didn't usually feel them there. The last earthquake New Zealand had was in the deep south west and apparently moved New Zealand closer to Australia by quite a few centimetres. What out Australia - New Zealand is trying to join up with you...

Anyway, till next time, haveagoodone...

Hello Kaohsiung

Well I have finally made it to Taiwan. Hello Kaohsiung!!!

My first day in Kaohsiung was hot, darn hot and that is an understatement! I checked the weather this morning about 9:00am and it was about 31 degrees. However the weather forecast added that it felt like 39 degrees. The heat in the afternoon got so hot that we both had to come home and rest. The weather here is so different to the weather we left behind in New Zealand.

Today, the Doctor and I spend the day organising our bits and pieces such as bank accounts, shopping for house stuff and visiting the Language school that I will be attending.

The time at the moment that I am writing this is about 10:00pm. We have just gotten home from doing a bit of supermarket shopping in the high class Japanese supermarket nearby. The shopping experience over here is very different from Australia and New Zealand.

Speaking of different experiences, I have not seen one other foreigner (apart from near the Language School). I have noticed a few looks by the locals, and I am sure there are hundreds more that I have missed, so I feel like a bit of novelty.

The other experience that I am still re-learning again is the traffic. People here drive on the right (as opposed to the left) side of the road. When Hector the Cat taught me to look to the left, look to the right, and look to the left again doesn't quite work here. The road vehicles, and I mean cars, scooters, cyclists, taxis and everyone else, they came from all directions. The only way to describe it is organised chaos.

Anyway, I better ready for bed as there is an exciting day tomorrow for me. Well everyday in Taiwan is exciting!

But just before I go, below are some photos of the apartment that the Doctor and I are renting.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

Goodbye Melbourne...

The time has arrived when I must bid Melbourne farewell again. I know this is becoming a habit, but the world is there to see.

I am just about to start my trip to the airport that involves a car trip the train station, take a train to the central city and then a bus from the central city to the airport. This reminds me of the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles, that starred Steve Martin and John Candy back in 1987. But my version will be automobiles, trains and buses...

After my rather long airplane ride, I'll end up in Taiwan and then the real challenge will begin. I need to find my way from the airport to the high speed train station. Apparently it is a ten minute bus ride, but only if I get on the right bus... But don't despair too much, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. From living in Taiwan last time, I found that a picture tells a thousand words in any language. So I am armed with a printout from the Internet of the station's name and address as well as the bus route name. I'll see how I go tomorrow...

Then the train will go from the northern part of the country down to the southern part. Now you may have heard about the weather and the typhoon called Morakot that wreaked havoc across Taiwan the southern part of China, I am hoping that Taiwan's ability to clean up after it's yearly Typhoons is well honed and allows me to pass through.

Then hopefully this time tomorrow I will be in Kaohsiung, had a shower to remove the remains of travel and enjoying the Taiwanese bakery that I have missed so much.

This is for Mother Blog, I have added a picture to liven this posting. This will the high speed train ride tomorrow that awaits me.

I'll report more tomorrow.

Till then, haveagoodone...

A day in Melbourne...

This morning when I woke up, the sun was shining and I decided that a trip into the city.

Most of my working life has been spent in the big city but there is only so much one can do during their lunch hour. One of my favourite things when I was working in the city was to wonder around the department stores dreaming that I had enough money to buy what ever I wanted. Alas I still don't have enough money to buy everything I want, but I have found that my want list has decreased in size - particularly when I know that I am restricted to a 20kg suitcase and moving to Taiwan on Wednesday.

Anyway today I decided that today I would go into the city and just wonder to where ever took my fancy at the time.

The first place I headed to was the Queen Victoria Market. The Queen Vic ( as the locals call it) boasts to be the largest undercover market in the southern hemisphere. There are as many aisles as they are letters in the alphabet that have all sorts of things such as organic food, all sorts of fruit and veggies, Australian marked products (that happen to be made in China), clothing, home wares and lots of shops with cheeses, bread and other small goods. Basically this place could cure retail therapy; it is that big. This is also the place that the Doctor and I use to drive to each and every weekend when we lived in Cranbourne (50 kms south east of Melbourne) for our weekend fresh produce. The lengths we went to just to buy organic food!!! However the days were not totally about buying food. We quite often did other things in Melbourne and made a day of it.

Now something that a lot of people don't know about the Queen Vic is that it was also a grave yard many years ago according to a ghost tour I went on. The amount of people buried there were that many that sometimes several people were buried in the same spot at different depths. This reminds me of a Taiwanese custom where they burn money for the ancestors to spend - and those ancestors buried at the Queen Vic don't have far to go for their retail therapy.

After getting some lunch at the Queen Vic, I decided to head down to the recently developed docklands. Melbourne in the past has not really developed its waterfront areas and I can remember the Southbank area being a muddy construction site. Southbank I think is about 15 years old now so most of the developments are quite new. Whereas if you look at Sydney, they have developed their waterfront to be one of the most specular in the world. This is an area where Melbourne needs to catch up.

Anyway after walking down to the docklands area, I passed the semi-newly built docklands football stadium and the crowds were piling in for the game today. The docklands has had about five different names with the newest being something I can't even remember. A quick google search found that it is called "Etihad Stadium". Not sure of the name... The docklands stadium was also one of the first completely undercover stadiums that should make it warmer on those cold nights watching the footy.

After walking passing the stadium I was hoping for a busy waterfront cafe and shopping environment and I had visions of Sydney in mind. However, as soon as I passed the footy stadium it was like I walked into a ghost town. I think I must have walked into the wrong part of the docklands or alternatively the footy crowd had drawn all of the city's life. Anyway I was not to be deterred as I found a supermarket and bought some more food and rested while I eat in a small park. After that I head down to the Southbank region and I new it would contain a bustling waterfront experience.

Upon arrival at Southbank, it didn't disappoint. The shops were busy, the people were out in force and it was beautiful place to just wonder along the Yarra River. The casino is in this district and they have employed a few Feng Shui measures. The obvious one that I now is the gas fires out the front. The Southbank has the Yarra River running right in front and this is believed to move the auspicious chi too fast past the casino. The gas fires are designed to slow down the chi to allow it to gather in the casino.

It's good to see that Melbourne has developed into an International City from the early days when I first started to work there. Melbourne has also kept much of its old world charm such as the Queen Vic and its historic buildings. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera with me so I don't have any photos but if you Google Melbourne and search for the images, it will give you an idea.

Anyway after my big day out, I think I'll sleep well tonight. On that note, I'll leave it for now.

Till next time, haveagoodone...

In Melbourne...

After arriving in Melbourne last Wednesday, the Doctor and I have been on a rather tight schedule. And here I thought that after leaving New Zealand life was going to slow down a bit.

On Wednesday and Thursday nights, we stayed at the house of a Professor at one of Melbourne's Universities. The Professor use to be the Doctor's thesis supervisor when the Doctor was studying. The Professor has achieved many great feats such as become the first Professor at this University, receive an Order of Australia medal, and was the director of the Australian Psychology Society just to name a few. Her and her husband's house is very homely in the very close inner city and her hospitality very much appreciated.

On Friday, the Doctor and I then visited one of my old and dear friends (who I will call H). Believe it or not we first met on the train. To explain a little further, when I lived in Cranbourne the train ride into central Melbourne was about 60 minutes. With humans being creature of habits, we all use to sit on the same seats on the same carriage on the same scheduled train. After time, a group of passengers started to talk to each other and the train group started. Unfortunately the train group has long gone but H and I have kept in contact and our friendship has grown. It was H's wedding that I went to in January earlier this year. This was the first time that H and I have caught up since then.

Anyway H's house is like a mansion (well by my humble standards) and with her husband, beautiful dog and their hospitality made the Doctor and my stay there extremely enjoyable. H even went to the trouble of cooking us breakfast, dinner and even afternoon tea. On Saturday night, the Doctor had his flight to Taiwan so he missed out on Sunday at the mansion. H, hubby and dog took me up to the Dandenongs (the Dandenongs are the mountains that to the east of Melbourne) for a wonder around the small country town and have lunch. It was a bit cold but none the less, it was a really enjoyable day and something that I haven't done before.

On Sunday evening I returned back to Mother Blog's house where I will stay for the remainder of my stay. Today was a bit cold (but warm by Christchurch standards) and wet so I took the opportunity to complete the paperwork needed when leaving New Zealand. I can honestly stay that being a tax accountant is not one job that I want to do. After four hours of it, my head hurts and I'm so over it. Luckily I completed it and sent it off. I just hope that I have done all that is required... For those of you thinking why I didn't get an accountant to do the work for me, the Doctor and I have tried several times before we left but all we could find was accountants that didn't communicate with us or were drama queens trying to justify extra costs.

Tomorrow I have decided that I should get out and do something. I might head into the city and wonder around. There are lots of places that have been developed that I haven't seen yet like the Docklands development. I hope that the weather will be better than today.

Anyway till next time, haveagoodone...