Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010! Amazing isn't it? Its been now ten years since we witnessed the turn of the century.......Wishing you all the best in the new year, and blessings from far above.
Here is our friend Allen at his best, on stage, at one of four countdown centers in Taiwan. His new coif looks pretty good and he looks so young!

and the countdown to 2010......beautiful fireworks from Taipei 101, tallest building in the world. Amazingly, folks inside Taipei 101 did not feel the earthquake as the core of the world's tallest structure is insulated with a metal suspension which acts as an absorber, incredible technology!

Like father like son, Mark came on stage just after midnite to perform for his 粉丝......

Counting down the days....

2009 is just about over, and what a year this has been!
The more we know about Hualien, the more it feels like home, and I mean Victoria.
These two cities have much in common: both are similar in size and population, both are retirement towns, and both are islands in the Pacific. Only difference is the language, culture, and the weather.

Like the goose in Victoria, here in Hualien we have a similar trail for bikers, walkers and runners, which stretches 35km along the waterfront, and ends at a lake just outside of the city. The waterfront here is like Dallas road in Victoria, but longer.

Frankie and Rebecca loves biking here because there is no traffic allowed except bikes and pedestrians. After a bike ride, we can go beach combing, or just watching the waves crashing to shore.

It is hard to go hungry in Taiwan, as there are food vendors everywhere. Here we reward ourselves with some roasted yams, yum!

Ho ho ho!

Merry X'mas everyone.
This is my first X'mas in 38 years outside of Canada, and I did not know what to expect.
We have been too busy to feel homesick due to the fact that we had visitors from North America. We had friends here from Boston last week, and more friends from Vancouver this week.
Taiwan does not celebrate X'mas and Frankie had a full day in school today.
We did manage to arrange a potluck dinner with our neighbors and we had a great time.

Our landlord ordered a roast turkey from one of the better hotels in town, and then there was noodles, wild boar skin (very delicious), pumpkin pie, and Rebecca made sushi and sashimi. There was plenty of red wine (yellow tail), and fresh fruit. I played Santa (other guys are just too skinny) and handed out candies to the kids.

Frankie is no longer shy and plays with local kids at ease these days. Her speaking ability is about 90%, only periodically stumbled by words she does not understand. Her writing skill is improving by leaps and bounds as she can read most of the menus when we are at restaurants. Its only been four months since school started, so, we are very happy and very much encouraged by her progress. We must give her credit: she has never complained. She is also making many new friends which further boosts her confidence. For a while, kids were intimidated by her and mostly stays away because she speaks with an accent.....

I do have one wish. I wish that she would be more interested in tennis. We have the perfect weather here year round, and the tennis facility here in Hualien is first class. There are tennis classes everyday after school, with more on the weekends. There are also frequent tournaments for young people and there are some very good young players. There are currently a handful of young players at the professional level and some are playing in the majors, getting past to the round of 16s, quarter finals and so forth....Today's weather is overcast, about 23 C, ideal for an inter school tournament all weekend long. Typically Asian, parents all chipped in and provided food and beverages for all the players and spectators. What a great way to spend X'mas!

Frankie's school

Frankie goes to a Catholic school here in Hualien, and it reminds me very much of the primary school I went to in HK in almost all aspects. The Christmas decorations, the billboards, and even the statue of virgin Mary.......just like Bishop Walsh.

It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever I am in the school, bringing back many childhood memories. We were very poor growing up, but as dumb as I was, my happiest and warmest memories are those early school years. From as early as I can remember, I was fascinated and very much interested in English and Mandarin and I persued both dilligently. Little did I know that some day both languages would come in handy as they are the languages of both my adopted homes..............Is that fate?
See if you can spot Frankie from the photo at the top of the page........

Frankie's school (St Stella Marie) is one of the top schools in Hualien and in Taiwan. Both the primary and secondary schools have their students placing among the top in national competitions. It would be a bonus if Frankie can achieve academic excellence, but we will be very happy and proud if she just becomes proficient in the Chinese language and familiar with her ethnic background and culture.

6.8 earthquake hits Hualien!

A 6.8 earthquake is equivalent to eight atomic bombs going off at the same time, according to the seismologists. This quake is very close to the 921 quake which killed thousands in Taiwan. On Sep21, 1999, a 7.3 quake hit Taiwan and caused catastrophic destructions in many cities.
The epic center for today's quake was 25km from Hualien city, off the east coast, which is too darn close!
I was at home and at first I thought a bomb has gone off nearby. Our whole building began to shake violently and lasted about 30 seconds. I really thought it was going to collapse. There was no panic, in fact, it was eerily silent as everyone was in shock also. Nothing broke in our house, but there are many cracks on our concrete walls.
We are still feeling many after shocks and we could experience some very strong after shocks in the next few days. A tsunami warning has been issued and folks are advised to stay away from the coast. There are some down buildings, accidents, minor fires, and some injuries, but overall, we got lucky. A 6.8 quake could be quite destructive.
Frankie was sleeping over at her friend's place, and she said she wasn't scared. She just didn't know why there were white caps in her bath tub......

Folks who live in highrises had a pretty good shake, and may have to check their underwears...Imagine the diners at the top of Taipei 101? Quite a challenge to hold down those caviar and champagne while dining high in the sky when an earthquake hits.........

Despite all this, I actually slept quite well. I was quite calm and at ease during the quake. My only thought was: is this it? Is this how my life will end?

I had to pinch myself when I woke up just to make sure.......yes, it was scary, but nothing close to the turbulence which lasted a whole hour on the flight back from Cancun, after Jason's wedding. That was the worst mid air turbulence I ever experienced, it was like a freaking runaway roller coaster................

Out to lunch

Literally. Frankie took the morning off from school for her dental check up, and we went to lunch together. Btw, both Frankie and I are now eligible for Taiwan's national health care, and so, I cancelled our MSP in Canada and switched over. Total cost for the family of three of us here is $70Cdn per month, which includes all prescriptions, most dental, and TCM (traditional Chinese medicine).

We went to one of our many favorites. This noodle shop is quite far, about 15 min from us, but worth the drive. Everything is made fresh on premise, and the highlight is their "Taiwanese Fajita" as I call it.

It is a thin flour tortilla with green onions, deep fried, and then wrapped with thin sliced braised beef, cucumber, and a soy inspired sauce. Crispy and hot on the outside, tender and cool on the inside, it is paradise for the palate and fit for the prince and the pauper.

A star is born

A nice picture for a noodle commercial! Gee, it looks like Frankie.....It is Frankie.

A fish tale

Our family loves sashimi. Salmon and tuna are our favorite.
Today we had lunch again at Fisherman's wharf, and had some excellent sashimi the locals call "flag fish", which is supposed to be a type of swordfish. I thought it looked and tasted like tuna. But unlike the tuna sashimi we are accustomed to in Japanese restaurants, which are pale in color, these local sashimi is a deep red. Anyways, these "flag fishes" are fresh and they cut and clean them right at the store. What caught me off guard was the last time we were here, I saw them throwing the fish carcass away into the garbage, which includes the head, the whole fish bone with lots of meat on it, and the tail. I was drooling over it and the fisherman asked if I wanted it. Being Canadian and a little reserved, my automatic answer was no, but I was kicking myself on the way home, for turning down such an offer. That fish carcass would have made wonderful fish broth....
Anyways, I have another opportunity today, but the fisherman was saving this carcass along with two pieces of fish belly for his family. Finally, he said he wanted $50 for them. Deal. That is less than $2 Cdn. I felt guilty.



Local fishermen call this a "flag fish" because it belongs to the swordfish family. But after some research on google, what we have here is in fact, tuna. Albacore tuna, or long fin tuna. There are also yellow fin and blue fin, but Albacore is abundant in Taiwan waters, and albacore is mostly used for canning, because the older and bigger fish is about 5 feet long and over 100 pounds. Due to the older age of these bigger fish, the oil content is very low thus the meat is white. These "white tuna" appeal to the western consumers more. Next time when you buy canned tuna, check out the labels, most of them are white tuna. Problem with that is, as you may have heard before, these bigger fish have higher contents of mercury and could be a health issue if eaten regularly in large quantities. Exactly how much we don't know, but the issue is enough to curb the appetite for canned tuna in recent years. However, younger and smaller fish have very low levels of mercury, and the meat is a deep red indicating a high oil content, which is extremely rich in omega 3. Salmon is also rich in omega 3 but most of the salmon available these days are farmed, which has a higher risk profile due to growth hormone.

Most of the tuna sashimi which are available in Japanese restaurants are pale in color, thus suggesting that these are bigger and older fishes, which are more abundant and cost effective. Here in Hualien, only the smaller fishes are sold as sashimi with the bigger fishes sold to wholesalers, which eventually make their way to the restaurants.

Here is a beautiful picture of the Albacore tuna.

Folks, I just had the best fish dinner ever. Rebecca panfried the two pieces of tuna belly, with nothing added to it but just a sprinkle of sea salt. Absolutely delicious! I had two bowls of rice with it. She put the head, the carcass, and the tail into the soup, and added tofu, cabbage, green onion and ginger. A little miso and a few ounces of rice wine later, and BINGO! The fish broth is a milky white nectar, and the aroma is heavenly.

I can't help but keep thinking, this is unbelievable. Local folks actually throw these things away everyday, and tons of them. They filet the body of the tuna for sashimi and the rest goes to the dump. The heads, the tails, the bellies, these are prized items in many parts of Asia and can fetch good money..................I gotta do more research.......

The other side of the mountain

Meilune mountain that is. We live right at the foot of Meilune San and yet, we have not been up to it until today. Because it is so close to home, we have been putting it off. Not anymore. We decided to hike it today and see what local folks like about this little mountain, about the size of Mt Tolmie in Victoria with similar elevation.
Weather today is ho hum....25 degree and partially cloudy, typical fall/winter weather on this tiny pacific island. Perfect weather for hiking......

We hiked up a little trail to the west side of the hill, and right in front of us is the magnificient Central mountain range of Taiwan which separates the west from the east. The tallest peak of this mountain range is over 10,000 feet and partially covered with snow in the winter. It is this incredible structure which separates Hualien and Taitung from the rest of Taiwan. This is what keeps Hualien so green, so beautiful, so clean, and so livable.

In the video below, that lone white building from a distance is the Meilune Hotel, actually it is called the Parkview hotel of Meilune. Our new home is just across from it two blocks from the ocean. Hualien's one and only golf course wraps around the hotel.

Half way down the other side of the mountain is a beautiful trail which opens up to some green space and it is a popular area of the park as local folks walk their dogs, hike, run, and bike their way around the trails. Local elderlies walk these trails early in the morning and young lovers are seen on the weekends doing their rendezvous......

Part of this mountain belongs to the military and off limit to the public. This is a very strategic spot for national defense as it is the highest point west of the Central mountain range and east of the Pacific. Despite the recently established relationship with the mainland, Taiwan is still very defensive and stands ready for any military threat from the communists.

Taiwan still has compulsory military service for its young male population, which is to be slowly switched over to an all volunteer military by 2014. This could be one of the reasons for any well to do Taiwanese families to emmigrate since becoming one of the Asian tigers.

Ouch!

Saw my serious accident in Hualien today. A bus full of tourists slammed into a small car and the passenger side was obliterated. However there was no signs of blood and did not seem like anyone was hurt. As I took the video, a cop approached me and asked if I was a witness. I said no, and he asked me to leave......thought I better not argue with him.