Travel
High Mountain Taiwan Oolong
In May of this year, Nono and I had the opportunity to visit a tea harvest at a high mountain tea farm in central Taiwan. It was an awesome experience, and it was great for us to see how it all happens – from the picking to roasting to tasting. We were not a part [...]
The Air in Taipei
Speaking of fresh air, Nono and I recently moved from our place in downtown to a nice suburb called TienMu. It’s north of town, borders the mountains and a national park (Yang Ming Shan). The temperature is a bit cooler than in downtown, and the air is better. I took a bus from our new [...]
Ping Hsi / Ping Xi Lantern Festival 2009
Last Saturday I visited Ping Xi for their annual Lantern Festival, which comes every year right after the Chinese New Year. For 1 day, this old coal mining town in the mountains turns into a tourist trap, and everyone is lighting off lanterns with new years wishes written on them. There is also a ton [...]
Hiroshima after the Atomic Bomb
This is a picture from the museum in Hiroshima, dedicated to the atomic bomb that dropped in 1945. The red ball in the air is the bomb explosion, the rest is what was left after it left its mark.
Old Japanese Tea House in Jiufen (North Taiwan Coast)
Two weeks ago 13 of us all went to Jiufen on a really beautiful fall weekend in Taiwan. Jiufen is an old gold mining town an hour away from Taipei. It’s turned into a tourist trap, people from Taipei go there for the day and walk around and eat from all the different street food [...]
Santa makes US$100 an hour in Taiwan…
A department store near our house (Japanese Sogo store) posted an ad last week on a Taiwan website that lots of foreigners use (www.tealit.com), looking for a santa clause and paying US$100 an hour for it.
Thought that was pretty cool. Being a migrant worker has its perks.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
Photo Credit: http://www.srichinmoycentre.org
Saving Face, with Fresh Deer Antlers
Most people who have some connection with Asia have heard of the concept of saving face. It is perhaps one of the big differences between Eastern and Western folks, and understanding what saving face is can probably help you as you deal with people from this part of the world.
A few weeks ago, I went [...]
A Real “Easy” Button – Photo Editing
I recently downloaded Picasa 3 after reading this article, and as someone who already loves Picasa, this new version is great. You can also download the new Picasa here (it’s free).
My friend Toto Vo is visiting me in Taiwan right now. Toto is a semi-professional photographer and has 2 nice cameras at his disposal. We [...]
Favorite # 5 – Solid Transportation Infrastructure
A couple of things that are very easy to take for granted no matter where you are – good public transportation and safety. These are two things that Taipei and Taiwan are world class at.
Taiwan in the last year opened a country-wide high speed rail, with help from a partnership from Japanese companies who created [...]
Japan – Bar Code Technology
When I first visited Japan in 2006, the entry stamp I received at immigration was actually a sticker with a 2d barcode. This time around, I got the same entry stamp when I entered the country, and I’m seeing it other places.
This is old news in Japan, and 2d barcodes have been introduced in the [...]
