the Bright Sun Mountain Journals

last couple of weeks in Taiwan

2008-05-25T20:06:00.008+07:00

Sadie blowing raspberries:

My family took me on a hike for Mother's Day. Jonas found a friendly walking stick:

Big mossy stone walls make me happy.

So do Banyan tree roots taking over walls:

It was really pretty.

Even the chemically altered PVC pipes had a certain beauty:

Large boulders demand that you jump across them:

Cute babies demand that you say, "ah boo!":

Lots more photos at my Flickr page, click on the photos above to get there.

I will have to post another time about our upcoming move (next week). I'm still a little stunned and can barely think of all the things about Taiwan that I will miss - the singing garbage trucks, the bad english signs, all the friendly people.... I think it will take some time to process. But we will soon see most of you stateside!

Oh, and here is some video of Jonas playing with M and Luo Szi Shiang. I love it. They are doing what 6 year olds everywhere do: negotiating the rules of the game. You'll also get a glimpse of our gardener, because god forbid we actually do our own gardening of our 1/10 acre yard. There's another, shorter video at my dropshots page (right here)

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

spring

2008-05-06T19:45:00.006+07:00

Lots of happenings around here. In early March, we moved from #25 to #15. It's a wonderfully bright and airy house, with enough space for everybody, and Peter's office, as well.

We also have a very charming front yard. Here's the banyan tree at sunset (if you could walk up to the little wall behind it, you'd look 25 feet straight down to the alley below):

This is what it must be like to be 3:

Little miss happy and little miss calm on the new couch we had made:

Taiwan gothic:

Jonas is so amazing with Sadie!

The kids' school had a sports day, where Jonas ran in the relay for his class. He comes by it honestly.

Ada had a ballet recital. Here she is waiting to go on. This is all the audience saw of her, too, because she refused to dance and only wanted to look at me backstage the whole time!

Sadie has a neck ring that she got as a gift. These things are kind of popular here...it's kind of neat.

Sadie is already turning 7 months old this week! She's been sitting up for a good month now. I like to call this "puppy dog phase":

She's such a dear!

There are lots more pictures of Sadie, as well as some shots of our weekend at Camp Taiwan at Flickr - just click on any of the pictures above to go to my page there.

Here's Jonas on the zip wire at Camp Taiwan - it took him 2 days to work up the nerve, but when he finally wanted to, he REALLY wanted to! This is his 3rd time:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

And here it is, your moment of zen. Welcome to life as a student in Taiwan! These are the hired 'sports' coordinators for the kids' sports day.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

(there are a couple of other new videos up here, at Dropshots)

Alishan

2008-03-12T20:21:00.003+07:00

Over Chinese New Year, we decided to make a little trip down to Mt. Alishan and enjoy for the first time the new high-speed train that runs down the west side of Taiwan. Peter's mom was visiting and came along.

Here we are on the train:

And voila, a several-hour car trip turned into a one-hour train trip. We decided to stay the night at the foot of the mountain, in Chiayi. Oops, I screwed up the hotel reservations and got us 2 rooms at a remote love motel instead of a normal hotel in town. Fortunately, they didn't give us the hourly rate. Here we are, happy love motel occupants (the garage doors are for privacy, you just drive straight into your room and close the door, basically, and nobody can see what mistress you are with today. Your room number flashes as you drive up to it):

This proved to me what a good sport my mother-in-law is. The next morning, we took the train up the mountain. This train is one of only three steep-grade alpine trains in the world. It goes very slowly and takes over 3 hours. At the top, when it gets very steep, the train has to keep stopping and changing tracks as it switchbacks up the mountain.

The kids did very well on the long train ride, although none of us properly anticipated the quick change in temperature.

Things to do on the alpine train, part 1. Listen to audiobooks with Yaya:

Things to do on the alpine train, part 2. Read your Highlights magazine:

Things to do on the alpine train, part 3. Play with the baby:

Things to do on the alpine train, part 4. Meditate:

Things to do on the alpine train, parts 5 and 6. Draw. Look out the window:

What you see at little stops on the mountain:

Other tourists (everybody pick up your chopsticks on the count of three...):

At the top, we stayed in a nice, normal hotel and went for a little hike into the sacred tree forest, where there are several trees over 1,000 years old. We saw one that was 2,000 years old. They are spectacular and do, indeed, feel very sacred. We didn't take our camera in, so we will just have to remember it as it was - misty, fresh, green and wise.

Here are some kid photos for the grandparents:

Sadie in the best baby invention ever, the Bumbo chair. It's dipped down in the middle, so she's kind of stuck in there.

Sadie absolutely adores Jonas. He can make her smile in the most dire of circumstances.

Ada and Sadie. This gives the impression that all we ever do is put Sadie in the Bumbo chair.

More photos at my Flickr page, just click on any of these photos to get there.

simply sadie at 4 months

2008-02-25T20:32:00.005+07:00

We still can't find the cable for the camera, but we bought a nifty little memory stick reader that does the trick. I'm starting to sort through our (by now) 400 photos of the last couple of months. It's a little mind-numbing, so I'll just start with something simple and post some more later. Several more photos like this are at my Flickr page.

Here is what you get at 4 months. Peaceful fun.

Video of Sadie at 4 months.

no photos yet

2008-02-21T20:13:00.002+07:00

We've lost the cable to our camera, so the 394 photos that are currently on the memory card will have to wait to be uploaded. It's too bad, because there are some pretty cute ones of big old Sadie, who is so tubby and solid now. Her wrists are so fat that they overflow onto her dainty little hands. She sits right up (and promptly falls right over) with such a straight back, grabbing at anything in sight. She is only 4 months old but is feeling so much older to me. She honestly seems to be ready to eat solid food, something I never would have done with the other two kids. But she's just so . . . hungry. I fed her some mashed banana twice this week and she devoured it.

My favorite thing about Sadie is that she is deeply interested in absolutely everything. She loves to be carried around the house on my left hip as I try to get things done, and she very intently observes every detail. If I look at her, or we pass by a mirror, she smiles with her whole body, kicking her legs and flailing her arms.

My other favorite thing about Sadie is how she watches the kids. They run, dance, wrestle around her while she sits up and watches them with a surprised smile on her face, seemingly saying, "well, now this is turning out to be fun after all!"

Meanwhile, the other two provide their own forms of entertainment. One day we were standing in the kitchen and I announced that we had to get ready to go to gymnastics. Ada, in her typical exuberant, hard-of-hearing way, bounced up and down and shouted, "YAY!!!! WE GO TO GYMNASTICS!!!! JONAS, WE GO TO GYMNASTICS!!!!"

Jonas, who was standing 3 inches from her and who has amazingly sensitive hearing, slouched over with a grumpy look and said, "I know, Ada. And anyways, you must like exclamation points or something." He's a little sensitive, but he's so literate about it.

Another day, I was sitting on the couch with Sadie while Jonas was playing with his yo-yo next to us. As he casually tossed his yo-yo up and down, he said, "Do you know what country I want to go to the most?"

I couldn't imagine.

"Brazil. Mom, to get to Brazil from Taiwan, all you have to do is first go to Russia, then over to Pompeii, then down to Africa, then across the ocean to Brazil."

That's all you have to do.

Ada wants what Jonas is getting. Jonas got it in his head that he had to have a pair of Puma's. So he used his red envelope money from Chinese New Year on a pair of white and gold (!) Puma's. (which are great because now he is forced to tie his shoes everyday) Ada had to have the same thing, so now she has (velcro-closure) Puma's in pink.

And tonight, I asked him where he wants to spend his 150NT (US$5) that he got from Grandma and Grandpa for Valentine's Day. Without missing a beat, he said he wanted to buy some of those swimming gloves that are webbed like a duck's foot. Okay, we haven't been seriously swimming in 6 months and I have no idea where he ever saw those or even how they popped into his head, but...okay. Then I asked Ada what she wants to buy with her money. She said, "a duck!"

December in our house

2007-12-18T17:42:00.000+07:00

Sadie is 10 weeks old and she is a big smiler!

She's gaining a lot of weight, but I think most of it is in her cheeks.

In other news, Jonas found a beetle by the garden up the alley. He brought it home and it ate some spinach. It got cuddled a lot. Then we let it go in the yard.

We also went to the beach on a balmy December day.

Grandma and Grandpa G's visit

2007-12-02T20:23:00.000+07:00

We had a fun visit here with my parents for the last 2 weeks. We all miss Grandma and Grandpa G very much! Here are a few shots from their time here (as usual, there are more photos at my Flickr account, just click on any of these photos to get there):

Jonas doing magic tricks after dinner:

Sadie smiling with Grandma G:

Grandpa G enjoying Ada and Sadie:

A lot of books were read these 2 weeks:

Sadie snuggled up in Grandma G's arms at the park:

Jonas and Ada cracking each other up at the park:

Jonas drinking Aquarius after soccer practice:

Sadie at Jonas' soccer practice:

Sadie at 7 weeks:

The only family photo we've ever managed where everybody is at least looking at the camera happened to be taken in the food court at Taipei 101:

this morning

2007-11-09T09:23:00.000+07:00

Today the kids and I walked to school. It's a nice 20 minute walk in the mornings.

Outside our house (on left).

We saw this funky bug.

And a pretty blue garage door.

At school, Jonas is supposed to walk Ada up to her class. He does it sometimes. His classroom is right next to hers.

After dropping them off, I went to 7-11 to pay the phone bill.

Then I went to the Wellcome for some groceries.

I love the soy sauce aisle. After 5 years here, I am still overwhelmed by it.

Aisle one of the instant noodles (ramen):

Aisle two of the instant noodles:

Aisle three of the instant noodles:

Aisle four of the instant noodles (and instant other stuff that you add water to):

Special display 1 of the instant noodles:

Special display 2 of the instant noodles:

And finally, really, really fresh fish:

halloween week

2007-11-01T20:08:00.000+07:00

This week, we went trick-or-treating around Tienmu with our Dutch neighbors. The kids had almost as much fun as the Dutch neighbors! Sadie came along, too, but she didn't dress up (as much as we would have LOVED to dress her up as a whoopie cushion).

The kids also had a big Halloween party at school, complete with dressing up and trick-or-treating. I was amazed at how involved it got at their school. I was hoping their lunch menu would reflect the holiday festivities, but then again, something like brain soup might be just another typical lunch there. Just kidding!

In other news, Sadie is getting noticeably fatter, and we are all adoring her. P and I were talking about how different her infanthood is from Jonas' because she has so much more activity around her, and so many more people in the immediate family to give her attention. He said, "it's like she is not just her parents' baby, she's everyone's baby."

Poor Ada has been waking up way too early every day this week. I think Sadie wants to nurse her knee here:

One day on our way to school, Jonas told me that this is his favorite face of Sadie's. She does it a lot:

Sadie is obviously her own girl and is starting to look different from Ada as a newborn. But I thought this photo comparison was interesting:

Sadie, 3 weeks:

Ada, 3 days:

Even though she can't smile yet, it's easy to tell when she is happy. We are having a contest to see who can make Sadie smile first. Here's her pre-smile:

I have posted several more photos at my flickr account. Click any of the pictures above to get there.

sadie after one week

2007-10-20T12:56:00.000+07:00

Sadie opens her eyes now and exercises.

She fits in preemie clothes quite nicely, even though she was 7lbs at birth. The pocket on her pj's here is so small that I can't fit my index finger in it.

She has nice fingers, if I do say so myself.

New hats made by Yaya arrived in the mail this week. One day, it will be hard to believe she could fit in this teensie hat:

Ada ventured closer to the baby this week:

Ada also looked very cute while eating apples:

an introduction

2007-10-14T20:06:00.000+07:00

Introducing Sadie Gatewood Brown:

Born October 8, 2007 at 10:10pm, at HsinJuang Waterbirth Clinic, weighing 3.1 kilos. She came 2 days after the typhoon, just like Ada came 2 days after a typhoon!

Sadie, the day she got her name, 5 days old:

She looks so much like Ada did at birth. Ada at 4 days old (before she got HER name!):

Here's me at birth. Similarities include hair and fingers, but I'm not sure of what else:

This picture cracks me up, I love the missing tooth and the scrunched up face:

A few more photos at my flickr page, just click on any of the above photos to get there. I haven't taken many pictures yet, but will post more as soon as I can!

Typhoons and babies

2007-10-05T17:28:00.000+07:00

In the Pacific region, there is an old wives' tale that typhoons bring on labor.

Here is the typhoon tracker from the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau (click on typhoon -> typhoon news on the left):

That means that the typhoon is due to travel right through Taipei on Saturday night and Sunday. Today is Friday. Wonder if it will do anything? Ada was born two days after a typhoon passed through Taipei.

life in Holland

2007-10-03T15:32:00.000+07:00

Exactly a year ago, we were finally settled into what we thought would be life in Holland for the following few years. I'm feeling nostalgic lately for our life there.

I really miss our backyard, where Jonas and Ada played with the puppy, learned how to kick the soccer ball, and caught frogs.

Boys catching frogs:

I miss my kids in their wooden shoes.

I miss the trampoline in our backyard.

I miss our big kitchen, where we spent all our time, running in and out from the backyard.

I really, really miss our neighborhood, and the woods behind our house where we walked Mickey everyday. I loved waking up before dawn (which isn't all that early in the winter in Holland) and taking the dog out into the fresh, dark woods. It made me feel peaceful and revived the rest of the day.

We could spend hours at the canal in our neighborhood, throwing sticks, feeding ducks and watching Mickey swim gleefully.

I miss Jonas' school, which we rode our bikes to everyday in the morning bike rush hour on the paths in our neighborhood. That also just made my day. Jonas had the best, best teacher ever. And his Dutch was coming along nicely at this time last year.

I miss the zoo in Best, which was in the woods five minutes from our house. One of the brilliant things about Holland is that wherever there is a place for kids to play, not far away is a place to get beer on tap. Isn't that smart? Whenever Peter was out of town, I often took the kids up to this zoo and let them run around the tiny zoo while I enjoyed a fresh Grolsch. We would also eat dutch pancakes at the pancake cafe next door, and if we had time, we'd stop in at the Klompen Museum (wooden shoes museum) across the little road.

I also miss FairyTale Land (de Efteling)...

... living within driving distance to Paris...

... outdoor cafes ...

... and cops on rollerblades.

We enjoyed Amsterdam, too, but I can't find any of our photos from our trips there! I wonder if someday I'll miss Taiwan in the same way?

School Lunch Menu

2007-09-24T22:07:00.000+07:00

I just got the English version of the kids' school lunch menu. Here are a few things my kids have to look forward to:

Sponge cucumber with oyster
Finger plant
Bamboo mushroom soup with pork ball
Boiled flour mixed with shredded fish
Pork cubic with 4 color vegetables
Formented beancurd soup with fish
Ox tripe soup with Job's tears
Boiled pork with kelp
Squid with sweet green bean

Good thing they don't know about Pizza Friday at the American School down the road! Actually, the meals are all really healthy and well-rounded, and Jonas and Ada grew up here, so it's pretty normal fare for them.

September

2007-09-19T19:09:00.000+07:00

September is past halfway, and I think it must be about time to show what we've been up to. Mostly, we are just waiting for baby to come. We have less than 3 weeks until the due date! Wouldn't it be nice if my next post was a baby announcement? I like to play with fate by saying things like that.

Jonas has been pretty innovative again these days. Within a week, he designed and executed the following:

The Snowboard:

The World's Biggest Paper Airplane:

Ninja turtle masks and capes in all four colors:

We've been to the beach a lot lately. The weather is perfect!

Buns at the Beach, or, Beach Buns:

What we saw on the way home from the beach:

Bonfire at Baishawan beach (Jonas at bottom right):

She looks so old now (don't you love the rainboots/leotard combo):

Give me a kiss goodnight! They share the bottom bunk now. It mostly works well, but sometimes one of them wakes up with a foot on his or her face and hits the foot's owner.

random photos

2007-07-07T17:08:00.000+07:00

This afternoon we are getting ready for Ada's birthday party tomorrow. She was born on the 4th of July in Taiwan, 3 short years ago. We are going to have Hello Kitty everything, except for a big cake made by a woman I know who graduated from Cordon Bleu International in Paris. Yum!

The children are running around fighting monsters. Jonas is wearing his Monster Fighting Cape and Ada is wearing her Monster-Fighting ... Frog Suit. It's pretty effective, the frog suit. Actually, Ada has come up with an innovative way of dealing with monsters - she offers them her cheese and crackers, then they become her friend.

Now that she is 3, her imagination is really developing. Today, we were getting out of the car at the grocery store, the one in the basement at the mall, where you have to park on the 6th floor of the 12-floor building. Makes total sense. She was standing by the balcony of the garage and she was holding out her cupped hands up to the sky. She said, "I trying to catch bird". She's been intent on catching a bird these last few days. She said, "take bird home, buy a cage." She has it all planned out. I wish I could catch a bird for her.

Here are some recent photos:

Jonas' job is to set the table. Check out his creativity - plates on top of bowls, beetles for the kids. When I saw it, he tried to tell me that Peter had set the table, not him! It wasn't too hard to figure out.

Back in the old days, when Ada was only 2 years old, last week:

Jonas and the really, really, really, really big earthworm. There's another photo close-up at my Flickr page (click on the photo to get there).

Ada at school

2007-06-08T19:15:00.002+07:00

Beading (note the tongue of concentration):

"Ni Ni!" she shouts, her best pal:

Learning the Chinese word for starfruit:

Making dumplings:

Click here for more photos of Ada at school.

some random photos

2007-06-05T20:05:00.000+07:00

Click on any to enter my Flickr account and see some of the other photos I uploaded today.

We've been swimming a lot lately, now that Jonas has learned how to swim underwater and does not claim to "hate getting wet" anymore.

Peter and I look at this first picture everyday and crack up:

The brown bag backpacks I mentioned in my last post:

Jonas' new reading glasses:

Sleeping in:

on toy begging

2007-05-31T20:23:00.000+07:00

This afternoon, I took Jonas and Ada to the bank to pay the ghastly-high rent on our little stone house. As we walked down the street, we passed one of three Hello Kitty shops located on the same road and the kids begged to go in. "They even have Pokemon, Mom! That's for boys like me!" Jonas exclaimed. I held my ground and said no, not only because the bank was about to close at 3:30, but because I dread having to turn down their repeated requests for new plastic, easily-breakable and quick-to-be-bored-of toys.

So we paid the rent, stopped at Starbucks for a necessary frappucino (for me; the baby makes me do it) and chocolate mints (for the kids), and then headed to the grocery store in the basement of Takashimaya department store - not an unusual place for grocery stores in Taiwan, particularly the kind that sell foreign import items like Cheerios (US$10) and whole wheat fusilli pasta (1 pound bag for US$7). I really miss the bulk section at the local co-op in our old U.S. neighborhood, but there aren't a lot of options here! One can't go for 5 years without Cheerios, come on, especially when one is pregnant.

Anyways, to get from the entrance of the market to the ATM (where I needed to get cash because I forgot to get cash when we were at the bank because the kids were making me crazy using the lobby phones to call Australia), we had to pass by really cute strawberry flip-flops at the Reef store, which Ada begged for and I refused, and camoflage sandals at the Outdoor store, which Jonas begged for and I refused. Of course, there were also fake Taiwan Power Rangers on the shelf in the grocery store, as well, which I refused to buy. The whole begging process was wearing me down, and making me feel disappointed in my kids - why do they feel like they need new stuff all the time? We're not 'stuff' people; we don't model consumerism like that to them. I finally gave in to a mini KitKats bar by the check-out stand. They'd never had KitKats before, anyways.

We made an excellent food discovery at the store, by the way, thanks to a sample stand: Taiwanese 'hotpot'. It's actually Japanese, but the sample lady called it Taiwanese. We bought some fresh udon noodles that come with a flavor packet (no MSG, I asked!), and when we got home, I tossed some carrots, broccoli, corn wheels, clams, mysterious white fish with no English description on the sticker but that Jonas promised he loved, and the noodles into boiling water. All ready in 2 minutes! And even better - the kids ate all the vegetables and immensely enjoyed the clams. (And Jonas did love the fish, too). Brilliant! Then they got KitKats for eating so well tonight.

After dinner, they played happily. With the brown paper bags that the groceries came in. Brown paper bags. First they did potato-sack races in the bags. Then the bags were on their heads. Then they looped their arms through the handles of the bags and wore the bags as backpacks ('packpacks' as Ada says) and pretended they were astronauts. Now they are asleep with the bags lovingly placed next to their bunkbed. I promised I would cut eyeholes out for them in the morning.

And I am realizing now what all of that begging for new stuff today was: it was simply their creative minds begging for something to do. I'm a pushover for the toy begging, normally spending the work week alone with the kids while Peter is travelling. Plus, just stepping out of the house offers a new opportunity to buy cheap stuff every 3 feet as you go down the street. (You thought Americans worshipped buying stuff? Welcome to Taiwan.) My kids get plenty of new stuff all the time, we are not that chaste around here, but it does me good to see that they don't sit around staring at the walls if they don't get everything new that they want.

update

2007-05-09T19:57:00.000+07:00

I know I've been very out-of-touch, and hopefully I can get up to speed now. I have lots of photos of the kids over the last couple of months that I'll be busy uploading.

I'm finally coming out of my first trimester and feeling well again. It was rough going for awhile there, and many days I just ate saltines and tried to get by. The kids have had their various viruses, as well, including Ada's strange reaction to one virus that had her covered head-to-toe in giant, drug-resistant hives for over a week. Now that we are healthy and it is gorgeous outside - 80 degrees and sunny - I kind of have this feeling that I am coming out of hibernation.

For people who are asking to know what everyday life is like, here is a snapshot of our day today...

Today, Jonas had a screening at Taipei American School to see what grade level he fits into, since his birthday is right on the border between kindergarten and first grade. On our way in, he dropped his lollypop that he'd received from the doctor earlier this morning (he has pink-eye and a stopped-up nose - he says little people called the Booger People live in his nose and, among other things, they make him do naughty things). I felt bad about the lollypop because I knew he was nervous about the screeing, so I promised a trip to child-mecca, 7-11, afterwards.

At 7-11, he picked out an ultra-man belt for himself and some bubbles for Ada. He was so excited about the belt and couldn't wait to get home to put together his whole outfit, with the belt and also black gloves he got a few weeks ago. He talked about it all day and begged to have time to play with the new toy.

When we finally got home, what did he play with? The ultra-man belt? No. Dish towels. He and Ada fashioned them around themselves with rubber bands and danced like crazy for well over an hour. You can see it here. I'm not complaining, because I'm proud of how clever he and Ada can be with everyday objects, but why do I even bother buying toys in the first place?

After dinner (tofu and rice with broccoli), I was busy in the kitchen making gazpacho for guests tomorrow when Ada, naked, walked into the kitchen with a worried look on her face: "I pooped." I figured she wouldn't be so worried if the poop had gone into the toilet, so I followed her out to the living room and saw it on the rug. I couldn't fashion a warning fast enough for Jonas, who unknowingly walked through the poop in his socks. Smeared poop on rug and socks. Great.

Ada went into the bath, Jonas helped me Shout out the stain and I quickly pureed the last of the soup. We got a happy call from Peter in China, who said he's coming home tonight instead of tomorrow! Yay! Once the kids were clean and pyjama'd, we climbed into bed to read books. After books, I turned out the lights and asked the kids how many deep breaths they'd like to do together. "Pink," Ada replied. Jonas and I laughed, and she knew the answer was wrong. "Blue?" she tried again. "How about three?" I suggested. "Ada's two!" she said defiantly.

Now I am exhausted and they are asleep. I'm going to settle in with my hypnobirthing cd and hopefully get a good night's sleep myself.

Jonas at bat:

Ada at bat:

When you have little fingers, you can put tiny shell pasta on each finger:

Family circle on Peter's birthday:

easter bunnies and tienmu trail

2007-03-22T18:36:00.000+07:00

This week an exciting box came from Nana and Grandpa B with some Easter goodies in it. Each kid got a little bunny, and it was very important to Jonas that we take a picture of the bunnies:

In other news, weeks of rainy clouds finally blew away one morning in a refreshing spring breeze, and I took the opportunity to go for my first walk up the Tienmu Trail by our house. It is only a couple of kilometres and takes you up to the Chinese Culture University at the top of Yangming Mountain. The signs:

In order to get to the actual trail, you have to climb about a thousand one hundred thirty four (not really, but it's a lot, and that is Jonas' favorite number) steps. The steps:

I like moss:

An historical item. When the Japanese occupied Taiwan for 50 years (starting in 1895), they built aqueducts to supply water to Taipei. According to the Taipei City Government, the Grass Mountain Waterworks, completed in 1928, "could deliver 28,800 cubic meters of water per day, meeting the needs of 150,000 people." Here is the main line of the aqueduct of that project, still in use today:

As with any nature hike in Taiwan, you get lots of non-nature spectacles, as well. Here is a kitchen-sort of thing. Is it a restuarant? A public use kitchen? I have no idea. But it has a nice view.

More non-nature things (that nature appears to be reclaiming):

A little house and yard along the trailside:

Watch out for macaques at dawn and dusk! Unfortunately, I was there at mid-morning and did not happen upon any.

Despite not seeing any macaques, I did get to breathe some nice, fresh air. It smells like lilies, moss and wet earth up there. Dreamy. And here is the view from near the top:

Curious sightings by a curious woman

2007-03-12T19:38:00.000+07:00

When the sun is shining and it is warm outside, it just doesn't matter if your feet don't touch the ground at the bus stop.

Have dog, will travel.

These nails are poking out of a wall, right at eye level. It didn't look to me like it would be too hard to not see them and accidentally get yourself poked in the eye!

This is a clothing store that wasn't open yet when I snapped this picture.

taxi and park photos

2007-03-05T21:54:00.000+07:00

It's always interesting to see how a taxi driver personalizes his cab by hanging stuff from the rearview mirror or decorating the dashboard.

This one had a decal on the backseat window.

At the park, Ada and Jonas made a rock birthday cake shaped like a fish. They stuck leaves in the top as candles.

These Taiwanese kids really wanted to play with the two blondies.

eating

2007-02-27T10:03:00.000+07:00

Aren't you jealous of our lunch? Steamed Shanghai pork dumplings (shao long bao), braised tofu, and fresh sweet potato greens. We all eat heartily when we have this meal.

Last night, the kids and I tried out a new restaurant. It is new to us, anyways. Our favorite fried dumpling (guo tie) stand is closed, so we heard about another one. As soon as we entered the tiny place and found a table, somebody came over to help us fill out the order form, which is written in Chinese. Then he asked us where we are from, how old the kids are, where is Baba, etc. By the time our order was done, the entire restaurant knew all about us, as well as the whereabouts of Peter - I noticed everybody was listening intently.

Halfway through the dinner, an older couple came in and were charmed by Ada - she kept showing them how old she was and trying to talk to them. They started in with all the questions, too, and I kind of wished that somebody at the next table could answer them for us so we could finally eat!

Here is the cutie herself. How could you not be charmed by her?

Chinese New Year

2007-02-18T12:01:00.000+07:00

It's Chinese New Year again. It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago, on our way to a caravan trip in Australia and Tasmania, we had no idea we'd be living in Holland the following month. Things move quickly in our household!

This is the first time we have ever been in Taiwan for Chinese New Year, since we always take advantage of Peter's big vacation time to explore somewhere new to us in the eastern hemisphere. Our first year in Taiwan, we went to Palau, then we went to Thailand, followed by two great years of caravan-camping in New Zealand and Australia.

After six weeks of visiting across the U.S. over Christmas and the western New Year, we just wanted to stay put and sleep in our own beds this year, even if it means a week or so of stores being closed, taxis doubling their fare and most people being gone on vacation. And we discovered last night that it also means all-night firecrackers!

When we moved in 3 weeks ago, the landlord promised this cherry blossom would bloom in time for Chinese New Year. He was sure right.

Ada's Chinese New Year dragon mask. She made it at school.

Jonas made this fish print at school. It says, "Happy New Year" on it. One day, he came home and told me about the dead fish that his teacher gave him to paint black, then press paper onto it. I'm glad that such a horrifying-sounding project turned out this nicely.

The famed red envelope (hong bao). Children get these money-filled envelopes at Chinese New Year from friends and relatives.

Laundry Morning in the Front Yard

2007-02-10T21:31:00.001+07:00

Many years ago, if somebody told me I'd be living in Taipei one day, I would have pictured a busy, dirty city, not this. Not these serene, birdsong mornings.

The dryer is broken, so until we get a new one, we are left to use the old-fashioned method. The weather has been pristine this week, with clear blue skies and gentle winds that dry the clothes in under an hour.

Jonas enjoys helping out and is pretty swift and careful about getting the clothes off the line. He's also good at folding pants, which is the only part of the laundry that he's willing to fold.

PS...a note for the grandparents: if you'd like to print a photo from Flickr, you must be a Flickr member, and then you can click on "Order Prints" above the photo on Flickr. You can also download the photo for your own files by clicking on "All Sizes" above the photo, and then you can click on the Download link above the photo.

A Good Day for Jonas

2007-02-08T22:27:00.001+07:00

Jonas at the pool at Grandpa and Grandma G's last summer:

Tonight at dinner, Jonas said, "I feel really blessed right now."

Me: "Really? Why?"

He, with angelic smile on face: "Because this drinking yogurt tastes so yummy."

This was a good day to be Jonas. He made 2/15th of the amount of money he needs in order to purchase a Power Ranger super morpher sword thing that he dreams of, night and day. He had a blissful 4-hour playdate with Clara, the sweet girl in his class who lives up the street (and speaks English, a major bonus). And he got chocolate-flavored dental polish at the dentist. It is like the inverse of Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, a story which, with exception to today, matches Jonas' days a little more accurately lately.

Later at dinner, I was telling some silly story, and he chuckled at me and said, "mom, you are SO funny. You should be in the circus."

Little Lady Big Cart

2007-02-07T01:58:00.001+07:00

I'm just testing my first photo upload. I took this a couple of years ago; I used to see this teensy woman regularly in our old neighborhood. She always walked with her cart.

welcome

2007-02-07T00:49:00.000+07:00

Welcome back, everybody, from the old Formosa Diaries. I had to change my blog name and blog software for a few reasons. For one, there are a couple of other Formosa Diaries blogs out there now (I'm flattered). My biggest problem, though, is that I can't remember how to access my old FD account - it's been awhile.

I'm starting up with the blogging again because I recently spent six weeks in the U.S. and was struck by how little my friends and family know about our daily life here. Several people told me how much they enjoyed checking in on our family and seeing what it's like to be American in Taiwan. So this blog is really mainly for the doting grandparents and cousins and close friends back home.

I do miss my old photography, too. I don't pretend to know anything about the art of photography - I only enjoy the process of taking pictures and sharing what I have seen. The best part of it for me is how much more I see when I am intending to share my photos. It opens my eyes and I find so much more in my environment to enjoy.

One note about the new name: Bright Sun Mountain. We now live in a sweet, little stone house on the edge of Yangming Mountain north of Taipei. Yangming in Mandarin literally means "sunshine bright", as far as my old Chinese training informs me.

I always welcome (and thrive on!) positive comments.