Hualien real estate

We are starting to look at some local properties, and here is a new development which tickles our fancy....http://ez104.com.tw/castle/pic.html

Here is one I really like, a seaside villa with a swimming pool: http://www.yes319.com/038/showobj.php?t=HD&A1=038&A2=0927167090&A3=0927167090&A4=368

and what a view! There are some really nice homes. A modest townhome in a nice area costs about $250k cdn, and a country villa costs $400k and up. Property tax is very low, almost non existent. Relative to other parts of Taiwan, Hualien real estate is very undervalued.

Room with a view

Chinese cities have undergone a sea change in the last decade....

gone are the days when intersections are jammed with bicycles with folks in Mao jackets. Even scooters are seldom seen these days, replaced by modern vehicles equipped with air con.....gone are the low rise traditional housing, replaced by high rise condos and office towers.......gone are the folks on flip flops, now with nike sport shoes for young men, ultra high heels for the ladies, and hush puppies for the rising middle class yuppies; also gone are the food vendors on street corners, replaced by American fast food joints and Hong Kong style cafes......

A little R & R

This week I'm in Hong Kong/Guangdong for some R & R. Two months in Taiwan has been great, but I'm dying for some real Cantonese food. The trip over was nice except that I caught another Typhoon head on. It was pretty rocky landing in HK as the typhoon was upgraded. Driving on the highway was scary also as we hydro planed twice. Lucky no other car was in the way....
Flying from Hualien to Taipei took 30 minutes and a very pleasant experience as we watched the magnificient scenery. Then I took a bus from Sungshan airport to Taoyuan Airport which took another 30 minutes. Flight to HK was 1.5 hours, and the whole trip costs under $300 Cdn, returned.

Weather is clearing today and I'll have lunch in HK with friends......then a date with Suzie Wong in Wanchai............................a bar made famous in the movie "the world of Suzie Wong"

featuring the gorgeous & glamorous Nancy Kwan.

Those who have been to the "Pearl of the Orient" can recognize these next two pictures. Truly magnificient...

Those who were born or have lived in HK may want to visit this link: http://www.pbase.com/anubis_photo/hong_kong_70s__80s

My golfing buddies

Here are some pictures from the golfing trip to Shenzhen, China in 2007 & 2008...

Our captain Joe who has done a great job in booking rooms, tee times, arranging transportation, and the unenviable task of feeding a group of grown men three times a day.....

Our next group trip is Nov this year and we have a few new bloods....looking forward to it.

Bring lots of cash and bring your A game gentlemen......

Happy birthday bro!

Happy birthday to my brother Sam, and here is a picture from many moons ago.....

and the most recent picture at his daughter's wedding which we missed......

What a wonderful setting! And what a beautiful couple........wishing you the best.

TGIF

Its Friday and Frankie has finished most of her homework, therefore, she gets to pick a restaurant...

Hualien is full of surprises, and most are quite pleasant. Today Alex and I play at a different location due to a tournament at our club. I drove by this place many times, but the courts are well hidden from the road. What a spot! Its right on a top of a hill, looking over the ocean and a lagoon on the east side, and a perfect view of the majestic mountain range to the west side.

It was very hot today. I thought the summer heat was over, but today it returned with a vengeance. We played at 8am and the mercury has already hit 35C, which is 95F. I can't say that I am getting used to the heat, because how can anyone get used to living inside an oven? But I do prefer this heat over the cold and damp weather of the Pacific Northwest. The dry and cracked skin at the bottom of my feet are now all gone, replaced by a silky smooth layer which no amount of oil or cream could do living in the artificially heated boxes of Canada. Also disappeared is the dry flaky and itchy skin all over my limbs. The humidity here is an instant cure. Goodbye skin creams and goodbye Oil of Olay.......Another plus for this tropical heat is the fact that we dry our clothes in the sun instead of using a dryer. It only takes half a day to dry and our clothes smell and feel great. I guess many people don't realize that the chemicals such as "bounce" we throw in the dryers could cause many allergies, not just topically but also to our bronchial system. I have always wondered why as kids growing up in Hong Kong, we never had any skin allergy problems; not until we have lived in Canada for a few years.

One negative about the tropical humidity is the slowness in healing wounds. Frankie's scraped knees would have formed scabs within two or three days in the dry Canadian climate, but it has taken well over a week here and her wounds are still pinkish and tender........think I'll try a blow dryer on her knees........

Friday chit chat

Well folks, we survived the summer tropical heat of Asia! During July and August, the day time temperature averaged about 35c, with highs over 40c some days. This week, I have noticed a sharp change as day time temp drops to about 30c, with a cool breeze off the ocean, it is absolutely perfect. In fact, we have the windows open and the air con off all day. We finally received our electricity bill, and for the first two months, it is almost $500Cdn. I was actually expecting more, because we have our air con on in all rooms 24/7. This compares with our hydro bill in Canada for the two coldest months of Jan/Feb.
Frankie is enjoying the new challenge at school, and spends about two hours doing homework after school everyday. Therefore, she is fully occupied during the week and never complained being bored like she did in Canada.
Typically, she rises at 7am, has breakfast, and arrives at school at 8am.
School is out at 4pm, and she spends the next two hours doing homework.
Then we have supper at home, and then a shower.
She is then free by 7pm, and we have some quality time together.
Bed time is 9pm, and she sleeps like a log for ten straight hours.
On the weekends, we do some sightseeing and search for new places to visit. She also has play dates with her friends.
We are establishing a routine and life is good so far.

There are a few things which I really like about life in Hualien.
Smoke free - like Canada, smoking is banned in all indoors, and people actually obey the signs! Not like in China where people really don't give a damn. Overall, people smoke less here as I hardly smell any smoke everywhere we go.
Easy access - to food & shopping, to tennis, to golf, and to many parks. We live in Mei-lun, which is a hill top residential area at the center of Hualien, within minutes to downtown, ocean, and mountains.
Casual and carefree living - the clothes we packed from Canada sit in the boxes, as the only things I need are: T shirts, shorts, sandals, and hats.
Friendly folks - people in Hualien are very down to earth and pleasant. Unlike most Asian cities, people here greet one another with smiles, even if they are strangers. Everywhere I go, I hear: Jiao an, ni hau, fuan yin gwong lin......
Massages - awesome body rub downs, including shampoos, facials, reflexology, and total body care, for a fraction what it costs in Canada.
Food - need I say more? Variety, quality and price. Outstanding.

Gotta go, trying a wonton noodle shop for lunch today........

There you have it. My daily routine is either tennis or golf in the morning, followed by lunch with wife at noon, at a different restaurant everyday. Then I take a short nap after lunch, and then a visit to either a barber shop for a shampoo and shave, or an appointment with a masseuse.....evening at home with the family, and we usually eat at home on school nites, and out with friends on weekends.

A little accident

Over the weekend, Frankie had a play date with her friends and they went biking around the neighborhood, on their own. An hour later, she came home with both knees badly scraped. Yes, road rash folks, and its painful. We had plenty of those in our boyhood days, but kids nowadays seldom suffer such pain because in these modern times, kids spend more time indoors than kids forty years ago. I'm very proud of Frankie, as she hardly cried. I don't know whether this is good or bad, because holding back the tears will have a price to pay down the road. Yes? No?



And a little accident does not prevent from helping with housework.....It seems that Frankie has matured quite a bit since moving here, perhaps its the Asian influence?

Crocodile dundee again

My friend Alex invited us to lunch at his farm again, and this time we brought Frankie because she wanted to meet the "snake man". True to form, Alex went up to the mountains in the morning and caught the deadliest snake of all. This little native snake to Taiwanese mountains will kill a grown man within five steps after he is bitten. Most poisonous snakes' venom attack the nervous system and victims have some crucial time to get help, but this little sucker's venom attacks the muscular system and therefore, a victim is paralyzed within seconds and has no chance to survive. This is a prized catch for Alex, because according to him, the most poisonous snakes are the best to make snake wine with. Frankie trembled with goose bumps when she saw the snake bathed in sake.........

Alex's wife is not thrilled at all about his wilderness adventure, fearing that one mistake one day and her husband will not come home from the mountains. I asked Alex why he does what he does, and he said it is because he enjoys the challenge. I asked him if he is ever afraid, and he said yes. But in order to conquer and overcome fear, he must challenge fear and the only way to do that is by becoming the victor, and not the victim. What a guy.......My wife warned me not to ever go into the mountains with him, you kidding? I freak upon the sight of a cockroach.......

First week in school

Frankie survived her first week in her first Chinese school. She has homework every nite, which normally should take an hour to do. But because writing Chinese characters is a first, she takes about two hours to complete. Actually, we are pleasantly surprised that she finds this new task interesting, and so far have not complained. It is extra hard for her because she jumped right in to grade three.........