A pizza man

Taiwan is known for its street vendors, with many selling food items. Much of these are local flavors but today, I met the first caucasian street vendor in Hualien, and he sells pizza. Terry is from the US, has been living in Hualien for six years. He loves Taiwan, and Hualien is the best place in Taiwan according to him, so, he has settled here. Selling pizza five days a week is his full time job. He also teaches English part time to supplement his income. He makes his pizza from a homemade wood fired oven, and every order takes 20 minutes. Frankie tried it, and she said it is better than Pizza Hut, and its cheaper. Terry is quite fluent in Mandarin, and he plans to open a small shop to further expand his business.

Of most of the expats I have come across, they come to Taiwan to teach English, as a self supporting style of visiting a foreign land. Some fall in love with the country, the lifestyle, the culture, the food, and most importantly, falling in love with a Taiwanese girl, marries her, and settles down here.

H1N1 hits home!

Our daughter Frankie is diagnosed with H1N1 today.
That is the bad news.
Good news is that we caught it early, and it was diagnosed immediately, and she was put on Tamiflu right away. Doctor said that if her symptoms do not worsen, she should recover within a few days.

Her friend Bebe was diagnosed with the virus last Sunday, after they had a playdate on the weekend. Her condition was worse but she is improving. I caught a cold also on the way home from HK, but no symptoms of a flu, let alone H1N1.

So far our experience in medical treatment in Taiwan has been outstanding. Here is the timeline:

Frankie developed a fever last nite, less than 24 hours ago. She woke up with aches and pain, and a runny nose, and a slight fever. No school. All kids must take their own temperature each morning, and anyone with a fever is not allowed in class. We took her to a clinic down the street, and her temp was normal so no test could be done. We were told to bring her back immediately if the fever returns. At 3pm, her fever returned. Down to the clinic, doctor saw her rightaway, and did a swap test. Positive. Gave her Tamiflu, and reported to the authority. She must remain isolated with no contact with others, and wear a mask at all times. Doctor said that when the virus is treated within 48 hours, recovery is certain and speedy. It is less than 24 hours for us.

I had a similar experience a few months ago in Canada. I waited almost two hours in the clinic. Swap was sent to a lab in Vancouver, and I would only be informed if I tested positive. I was prescribed Tamiflu, but no pharmacy in town had any. Next day, I finally found one shoppers drugmart who had some.

The clinic here is also fully equiped with Xray, and has its own lab for bloodwork, therefore, results are known immediately and patients are treated without delay. And Taiwan has one of the best medical plans in the world, and also one of the most affordable. It costs us $60Cdn a month for our family of three, comparing to $108Cdn in Canada. The plan here also includes all prescriptions, and TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). What impresses me the most is the efficiency of the clinics, both in treatment and prognosis. When Frankie went for a check up after her broken bone last year in Victoria, we waited four hours. There was one doctor and he looked so tired that I thought he would pass out anytime.

One thing I noticed is that I don't see any Mercedes or Porsche outside the clinics, unlike the doctors parking lot at a Victoria hospital which could resemble the show room of an exotic car dealership........Will it be fair to say that doctors in Canada are grossly overpaid, thus resulting in poor service to the general public?

Unlike the old days when we had to boil the Chinese herbs for hours, nowadays, herbs are grinded to powder and taken with water. This eliminates waste and potential oxidation, and the pungent smell which could remain for hours when boiling Chinese herbs. I prefer TCM as much as possible because herbs have no side effects and do not cause drowsiness. Taiwan's medical plan affords us the choice of free prescription and TCM, which is a wonderful change from the third world treatment we have been getting as patients in the past decade or so in Canada.

A wedding and reunion

My old classmate Jackson Yiu from our primary school in Hong Kong invited me and many of our school chums to his son Danny's wedding, at the gorgeous Inter-continental overlooking the HK harbor and the star walk.

It was great to see some faces I have not seen for forty years, and our principal Mr Chan and his wife were also there. It was very memorable as we sang our school song together. Danny also attended Bishop Walsh as did many of our school mates's children.

We are so fortunate to have stayed in touch all thru these years, but it wasn't until internet and emails became available that we began to become organized. We are planning a 40th anniversary in 2010, including a side trip to Hualien.

Next day, I had lunch with Phil and Liang Yan, which looks like a great couple as both are tall and good looking. Both are also single. Its now up to them.....

It was cold in HK as well as all of China, as temperature dipped into the low teens. Glad I only stayed for two days. Coming home to Hualien, it was a balmy 24 degree...ah, back to paradise!

Holy Macau!

We took a day trip to Macau as we needed a day rest from golf, tennis, and badminton.
I have only been to this port city once before, and it is great to see it more in leisure time.

We visited the famous ruin again......

Also went back to the beautiful Venetian hotel....

Next day, we are back in Shenzhen to play the Pete Dye course at Mission Hills. I have not played a PD course for a long time, it was 1993 in Arizona I think. PD course could be a monster as the huge bunkers everywhere can swallow your balls and easy double bogies. I had a good day as I shot an 87. Nobody else could break 100........

Homeward bound

Not quite our ancestral home, but pretty close. Jiangmen is where most of our relatives live, and not far from the village where our grandpa Chan Sing left in 1910 as an eighteen year old boy searching for a better life in a foreign land called Canada.
I took a bus from Dongguan and it took 4 hours due to some traffic jams.

Arrived at the 5 star Yucca hotel, which is very grand and modern. But like most 5 star places in China, there are two basic fundamental issues which bug the hell out of me:

#1 - poor management. With all the money spent on the properties, you would think that they would hire the best and smartest management team, no. First class hotel but staff and crew are pretty raw, with most unable to speak a second language. In fact, many do not even speak Cantonese although this is Guangdong.

#2 - no smoking? Who cares....Like all public places in China, you may see "no smoking" signs but smokers don't give a damn, and I would say at least 80% of men smoke here. They smoke where and when they want, and in numbers. The grand hotel lobby with beautiful and fragrant floral arrangements is covered with a thick cloud of smoke and so are the elevators. Non smoking rooms have ash trays and the sickly smell of burnt nicotine........absolutely disgusting. Staff and management are too timid to ask the violators to butt out. On two separate occaissions, I had to confront these ignorant idiots lighting up in a non smoking section where we have breakfasts.

Our relative Wing Chan arranged a dinner with other relatives who all came except "ah loy" who is in Beijing visiting. Ah Gu looks, talks, and acts just like grandma, a real deja vu......

Now that I know the way around, I will bring the family to Jiangmen and to the village next time...........Jiangmen is a very nice city with many modern buildings, condos, and a new world class golf resort. Money is no object on some of these world class projects and they are very grand indeed, but the mentality and attitude of the people overall is still third world, and that won't change anytime soon.

Frankie's first exam

Folks, Frankie has the first exam of her life.
Here are the results:
Social study 83%
Math 93%
English 100% (no surprise there)
Needless to say, both Rebecca and I are simply thrilled, and very proud.
Both Social study and Math are in Chinese, and for a Canadian kid who did not know a single Chinese character just three months ago, this is a major accomplishment.
We were a bit concerned that Frankie may not be able to catch on but as long as she continues to work hard, her Chinese will only get better and studying will become easier.
We will update you, but for now, she deserves a visit to the Ocean park. She loves the rides.....

Under the banyan tree

Our friends took us to a local noodle shop today. Good thing they did, because we could have never found it. There was no sign, no phone number, definitely no reservations. The restaurant is an old hut under a big banyan tree. Appropriately, locals refer this popular joint as "under the banyan tree"......

Food is awesome, and fast. Despite the whole place being packed with about a hundred people, our food began arriving piping hot just 5 minutes after we ordered. The whole family works here. Current owner is the third generation, passed on from his grandpa who started this restaurant as a canteen for the local workers nearby. The factories and workers are long gone, but the eatery remains and it is a gold mine. The kids are now learning the trade and they will become the fourth generation to run this place in a few years.

The open kitchen is at the front of the restaurant, similar to the "da pai dang" of the old days. It is amazing how this tiny little kitchen could produce such a large volume of food everyday.

This place is opened for breakfast and lunch only, as they close down the place and the entire family goes home in the afternoon. These folks work hard, but manage to have a life at the same time. Imagine how much more money they can make if they open for dinner? But it is probably this "laissez faire" attitude which keeps four generations together in one happy place.

After lunch, we stopped at downtown so Frankie can visit an arcade. I love standing at a street corner and just watch the web of traffic flow. It is absolutely amazing to observe. As you can see in the video, so often someone either on a bike or scooter is within a millisecond of being hit by a car. Everything happens so fast, and yet it seems like slow motion. Just when you think the taxicab is going to cream that lady on the scooter, he pauses just long enough so that she speeds away, in such precision that it appears to have been rehearsed hundreds of times. What appears to be total chaos to the unfamiliar is actually synchonicity of a well lubed system which has no beginning and no ending. It just is.

How can something so physically intensed and yet so spiritual at the same time?

PS, have you noticed what is missing in this traffic video? Honking. Unlike mainland China, drivers here do not lean on their horns. They don't honk at all. No one gets upset when he is cut off, and no one goes berserk if someone runs a red light. They simply watch others at all time, and take decisive action to stay in control. Nobody plays traffic cops here, not even the traffic cops. I've made illegal U turns with the cops watching, but unless you hit someone, they don't bother you.