Winter holiday

This year, kids in Taiwan enjoy a five week winter holiday, the longest in history due to Chinese New Year being a little late. There were plans to go somewhere, but you know my wife, a procrastinator......Meanwhile, Frankie goes to the market in the morning with me to shop for some fresh meats and veggies for lunch.

The fish head from the above video comes from a local fish called "man bor", which is a very strange looking fish. Also, its texture is nothing like fish, its more squid like.

With temperature around 27, we went to the beach........

The F16s put on quite a show over the water sometimes....

I was invited to have lunch at a local farm. There are many "farm" restaurants like this all over Hualien. Taiwanese people are going green in a big way, with no indoor smoking already in place a few years now. There is a new law now even prohibiting smoking while walking and when riding a scooter on city streets. Organic produce, veggies, and meats are everywhere. Therefore, countryside farm hotels (B&Bs) and restaurants are springing up like wild mushrooms in the past few years as demand for cleaner air and quieter lifestyle is becoming a major trend.

Hualien reminds me of Victoria forty years ago: low density, low crime rate, low property values, low taxes, and low profile.

Frankie's mid term

Frankie just finished her mid term exam this week and the result is in.
She placed 31st among the 40 students in her class.
That does not seem like much, but is actually quite remarkable, because all subjects except English are in Chinese. I feel sorry for the nine kids........

She also won an award and a cash prize.

Both Rebecca and I were quite concerned that if Frankie has trouble at school, not being able to catch up, that we may have to return to Canada rather than risking of her hating her new environment. So far, we do not see any signs of that, and she is actually quite happy despite three hours of homework every night.
Frankie will have four weeks off starting next week, due to the winter holiday and Chinese new year happening together. We will be travelling somewhere, looking at some options right now. She deserves a break.
Options are: Disneyland in HK, trip to Tokyo, and trip to Kinmen which is Rebecca's hometown. Kinmen is a little Taiwanese island off the China south coast of Xiamen.

Monday Monday.....

It was a great weekend with fantabulous weather.
Its now Monday morning and Frankie is off to school. She goes from 8am to 5pm, which is a long day considering in Canada, school is 9am to 2:45pm. Mind you, a typical work day here is 10 to 12 hours for most folks, and six days a week.......so, the long hours for kids is preparing them for later on in life.

After dropping Frankie off to school, I'm free to do what I enjoy doing.

Hey Frank, if you are watching this, I want you to know I miss my Tuesdays and Fridays playing with you folks. My backhand is improving, so watch out! I'll be back in Victoria in June for the summer. Weather here is perfect for tennis year round. Brilliant sunshine today with temp near 26C, and this is middle of winter!!

I have not touched a club since my trip to China in Nov, so I decided to hit some balls at the range.....first video is warming up with an 8 iron...

then a few hits with my rusty, I mean trusty 3 wood......see that white building at the end of the range? That is Parkview Hotel, and I'm aiming at the 10th floor window........our new house is right across from the hotel.

I have never looked at my own swing from this angle. Darn! A bit of Lee Trevino follow thru I see........same body shape too!

A large bucket later, everything seems to click. Guess I better quit while the going is good......Hey Tiger, better watch it, this is what you will look like in twenty years if you don't watch your diet.

Life is a beach......

Yes indeed. The beach here goes for miles and miles along the east coast of Hualien, and is becoming a favorite spot for us on the weekends. We've had a few days of cold weather here with temperature down to 17C, and although that may sound like a heatwave for you folks in Victoria........The sun is out today and it is hot, with the mercury up around 27C, so to the beach we went.

There is currently a proposal by a developer to build a resort on this beach, which I think is long overdue. It is such a prime location and the setting is so spectacular, and yet, it sits here quietly for centuries au naturel. I would really like to see something like a Farglory property here, who owns the Ocean Park a few minutes from here. A world class golf course, tennis, pools, water sports, restaurants, bars, may be even a casino......

Some local folks are organizing a campaign to oppose this deal, because they want the place as is. Sounds like Victoria.....

Sure, nobody wants a cash cow here, and folks are concerned about noise, pollution, traffic, etc etc....which is understandable. However, harmony can be achieved and retained and nature does not have to be sacrificed.

Frankie and I are feasting on BBQ fresh squid, and washing it down with some fresh squeezed OJ. There are many vendors here at the beach and no one goes hungry or thirsty. Time to jump back on the bikes...........

Playing tourists & playing with fire

We are taking advantage of the three day weekend to do some more sightseeing around Hualien.
Today we went to the township of Fenglin, an old Hakka habitat with Japanese influence. Fenglin was a major tobacco and sugar cane plantation until recently.

Then we went up the mountain to a very popular restaurant, tucked right onto the side of a forest....

Frankie loves the koi pond..........you can hear her speaking Mandarin, and she speaks mostly Chinese now. In Canada, she seldom spoke Chinese in the public, not wanting to be different. Now in Taiwan, she seldom speaks English in the public for the same reason.

and a sea of flowers......

Time to head back into the city for some nourishment, we decided to go to a night market by the beach.........

After dinner, Frankie wanted to play with fireworks. The beach is just steps from the night market, and there are many fireworks vendors here with some awesome firepower. The beach is a great place for fireworks as we plant the explosives in the sand.

There are hundreds of people out here, some playing and some watching......we spent about $50Cdn and we have enough explosives to blow up half of the town.

Frankie at first was quite afraid of the exploding type of fireworks, but after a while, she loves it. Its great to see joy in a child......