This huge restaurant is a buffett style eatery with hot and cold food, sushi bar, hot pot, desserts, everything...
and for X'mas dinner, we had the pleasure dinning with our new friends: Liyue and family from Taipei, Ed & Kukui from Nevada USA, Keith Barnes & family from Capetown South Africa. Awesome buffett dinner with western, Chinese, and Japanese food.
It was wonderful that Christmas falls on a weekend because X'mas is not a holiday here in Taiwan.
Hualien Toastmasters had a X'mas party this past week, and it was fantastic.
No lack of singing talent for sure!
We also had a X'mas party with our tennis team...
Our captain's girl friend is a great singer....
so is our coach, Mr Chen.....
Still discovering more restaurants, and this one is a gem. Very nostalgic with decor from years gone by. Menu is full of old day dishes, popular during our childhood. Guess you can say "comfort food", Taiwanese style.
Attended a big banquet after a tennis tournament at which I was one of the umpires. I got paid $3600 and a dinner to boot, not bad at all.
There was performance by the aboriginal people....
and music by some local musicians...
The ceremony was held at a mountain top Christian santuary which houses a small but quaint chapel.
My cousin who is the youngest daughter of my uncle, had lived in Canada for the past 20 years. She had converted to Christianity and met her husband at a church.
Dinner reception was held at a popular seafood restaurant, and although the food was fantastic, the portions were small, typical of the now Hong Kong style of eating light. I was satisfied but had the appetite for more.........in Taiwan, we don't stop when we are full, we stop when we are tired!
Beautiful wedding overall at a very nice setting.
Frankie loves rides, especially the roller coaster.....
The sea lion show is always good....
And the dolphin show is even better than before. Ocean park hired a whole bunch of Russian swimmers and acrobats and they have become part of the show. It was a hot day with temp around 35C.
It is now mid September and perfect temperature, around 28C.
Ed and Kukui in this video enjoyed a warm evening by the beach with us, playing with fireworks.
One of the best things to combat summer heat is coconut water. It is refreshing, nutritious, and lowers body temperature instantly. Frankie loves coconut water, which is not to be confused with coconut milk.......
Keith and Yvonne have just relocated to Hualien from Capetown, South Africa, along with their son Joshua. They invited us to their new home for a BBQ, and what a wonderful feast it was.
Good food, great wines, good company and nice views on a hot summer night is simply priceless.
We also wanted to buy a BBQ for our house, but decided against it. Instead, we go to a BBQ restaurant, where meats are roasted on hot charcoal. In this video, I accidently captured a very special moment: Frankie drooling over the BBQ while waiting for the meat to cook.....it was perfect!
Its been over two years since coming here, and we continue to discover new things. Homemade dumplings made in a local market, organic free range eggs, grass jelly served chilled with winter melon syrup, home grown bananas.........delicious as hell and a taste of heaven!
They are high energy but not overwhelming, and the love songs are beautiful....
Then later on, we saw a typical commercial Taiwanese artist with bubble gum music which is entertaining, but mindless and talentless. C'est la vie.....quite a contrast!
And the fireworks.....absolutely amazing!
Outdoor concerts need heat, and people. No problem here in Hualien. Basking in 30C weather, and over 60k people attending, you would think it would be chaos. Not. Nobody got drunk and caused any disturbences, fights, or even arguements. Traffic was well directed off site, and we only park two minutes away and no problem driving home.
It was great time, and the price was right.
Excellent sashimi, and seafood.
The restaurant is built around a huge old banyan tree which lights up at nite. The air cond is a steady cool mist with pipes on the glass ceiling, and combined with fans and a wooden deck, it is quite comfortable although the outside temperature is 32C. I sure love the ambience of outdoor dining, and my favorite is charcoal grilled fresh oysters with Heineken on draught.......get this: a dozen of fresh oysters for $7US, and a pint of Heineken draught is $1.30US.
Dinner for the seven of us with beer, $70US. And what a feast it was. A similar meal like this would cost $200US at home, not including HST and gratuities........
at the local university, for a 3 day camp.
Fun filled, sun drenched, sweaty three days which include kayaking, a BBQ party, singing, dancing, and meeting new friends.
Summer camp for Jack
Everyday is a summer camp for me as I play tennis at the Hualien tennis club 3 to 4 hours a day. At least once a week, the boys have dinner and karaoke, with lots of beer.....
an outstanding performance by one of our players......
and here is our "大哥", Mr Yang is retired, married to a Cantonese woman, himself speaks some Cantonese and English, a qualified tennis referree and accomplished player. Very good host to many of our players.
Frankie was nervous and paused a few times during the rendition.....
Her friend performing on a keyboard...
Nice flute....
This kid played the violin well.....
All in all, it was a nice afternoon. More than half of her class take music lessons. Typically, Chinese parents prefer their kids playing music than sports.
The original Eine kleine nachtmusik: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT7_Y1pIBb4We are still discovering new restaurants, and new places to visit. This pasta and pizza place is owned by an Aussie, and the food is very good, and very reasonable. It is packed wall to wall every time we go.
Frankie hitting balls at the driving range, across the road from our house.....
Frankie and her friends singing with a street musician on the weekends, a popular hangout for young people of Hualien.
Last weekend, there was a band and the singer was from Malaysia, speaks Cantonese. He asked me to jam with them, but I don't have my keyboard here in Taiwan.......
Our tennis team played in a tournament last week, and we won two matches and lost one, coming third place overall. We celebrated with dinner at an outdoor patio restaurant, with plenty of Heineken on draught......great evening with temperature around 30C.
Great news! Frankie finished her last exam yesterday, and guess what? She is #5 among her class of 43 students, top 5!!! This is beyond my expectation, and she did it all by herself. I'm a proud papa obviously, but what really matters, is the fact that she feels comfortable and has many friends now. She seldom mentions Canada anymore.....
We celebrated by taking her to an upscale steak house, and the food was fantastic. It costed us a fortune in Hualien standard: $50US, but it was worth every penny.
With summer approaching, there is an abundant supply of local fresh fruits and vegetables, which is perfect for me the juiceman. Quality, quantity, and the price is right.
Seafood of fish and shellfish are also abundant, and I pick up whatever tickles my fancy during the morning trips to the local markets.
Its been over a year now since I shredded the extra 40 pounds, and have been able to maintain that weight, therefore, I eat quite freely and heartily as long as I continue to maintain my program of nutrition, exercise, hydration, & rest. Sure feels good after a good sweat and a shower, and when the temperature hovers around 30C, it is paradise......
The human body is dependent on the quality of food and no less its compatibility with the needs of the body. If we do not eat, we die. Also, if we do not eat the kind of food, which will properly nourish the body, we not only die prematurely, but we suffer in the process. Our bodies produce one billion cells every hour--24 billion every day. To produce new cells and to maintain normal function in those cells, our bodies need to be supplied daily with the same elements with which they are composed. People have only recently awakened to this realization.
The body is continually producing acid in many forms. Acidic waste is being produced in every one of the one hundred trillion cells in our body. Acid-forming foods, such as protein, (especially animal protein, grains, coffee, alcohol, cooked and pasteurized, canned, refined foods, etc.), as well as acids of fermentation from undigested meals, petro-chemical residues from pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones, etc., all contribute to an acidic condition.
The enzymes that power our cells have a narrow pH (acid/base balance) in which they will be able to perform at optimum efficiency. When the pH is too acidic, the enzymes are not able to act as catalysts for chemical reactions to take place. The only way our bodies get alkaline minerals is through fresh raw fruit and vegetables. These alkaline minerals will balance or buffer the acids in the body and keep the enzymes happy and functioning well.
Recent research has shown that cancer cells can grow rapidly in an acidic environment, while an alkaline condition prohibits the growth of cancer cells in the human body. Therefore, to combat or to prevent cancer cells, it is imperative that we change our body PH from acidic to alkaline. Fresh raw fruit & vegetable juice is probably the most efficient and simple, yet delicious way to help achieve that.
The rays of the sun send billions of atoms into plant life, activating the enzymes and by this force they change inorganic elements into organic or life-containing elements for food.
The multitudes of people that have lived on, and are living on, primarily cooked foods, are in a state of decadence, confirmed by the toxic condition of their bodies. This is why we have such overcrowding of hospitals and why the astronomical amounts of painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, antacids, laxatives, etc., are sold annually; and why we have such a high incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, emphysema, senility and premature deaths.
Summary
- Fruit juices are the cleansers of the human system.
- Vegetable juices are the builders and regenerators of the body.
- The juice is absorbed into the blood stream, much like an I.V., with no work of digestion.
Considering the facts of the above, no other foods or medicine in the world can assume the tasks of cleansing and rejuvenating the human body as simply, effectively, and efficiently. There is one side effect however on consuming fresh raw juices: frequent bowel movement! Three to four times a day is very common.
*** Very important:
The consumption of fruits either in solid or liquid form is best on an empty stomach, or, before meals. The reason is that fruits contain simple sugars which require no digestion. Thus they will not stay in our stomachs for long before being excreted. Other foods which are rich in fats, protein & starch require much longer time to digest thus staying in our stomachs much longer. Therefore, by consuming fruits after a meal, the fruit sugar will stay together with other foods inside our bodies far too long, causing fermentation and digestive problems.
Happy juicing!
The quality of the speeches were excellent, and even for some non native English speakers, the contents and delivery were amazing.
There was a show after dinner and it was also very good. Most of them featured members of different clubs in Taiwan.
This is the first time that I have the opportunity to visit Taipei since moving to Taiwan. Most other times I was passing thru on the way to the airport, catching a plane to HK. It is not too different than what I experienced twenty years ago, but Taipei is definitely cleaner and more civilized.
Taipei 101 is certainly impressive, and the area it is in is not crowded as I would have expected. Nothing like HK of course. In fact, Taipei resembles an American city in some ways.....
It was a beautiful day with sunny sky, and temperature around 30C. One thing I did noticed is the women. Generally speaking, Taiwanese women are prettier than HK women, much easier on the eyes IMHO. Why is that? I cannot tell you. That just the way it is.
Women in Taipei are more cosmopolitan, nicely dressed and stylish. Women in Hualien are more down to earth, with slightly darker and healthier complexion. That is the difference between city and country living I guess.
It was an eye opener for me, and I am inspired and motivated to return to our home club, to help the club members to become more proficient in the English language. Toastmasters International has just reached mainland China recently, and clubs are springing up like bamboos everywhere. However, the clubs are underground as the Chinese government has not given permits for such clubs yet. There is a conference in Xiamen in May, and I'm thinking of going......
Then we left for Dongguan together, and visited Michael who has a factory there.
Went to a seafood restaurant, and what a place it was. China is amazing in many ways by sheer numbers!
I was invited to a group dinner after the games, and what a feast it was!
I was also invited to be a member of their tennis team, participating in tournaments and social events.
This past weekend, the school had an outing at a local farm, and kids could catch some type of mud eels in the pond......
But her favorite spot is still the beach, which is 10 minutes from our house......We had a tsunami warning after the Japanese earthquake, and folks were nervous after watching the devastation in Japan. Thank God it never reached our shores here.
Shopping and street browsing at night on Zhongshan road, similar to Nanjing Road in Shanghai.
Xiamen zoo: watch the very beginning of the video again..yes, the horses were mating, caught on camera!
Xiamen zoo has a safari, with tigers, lions, and brown bears. We have never seen animals so close and we were a bit nervous, especially with the bears just inches away, face to face.
Frankie took a ride on a horse, a first for her.....
Next day, we went to Gulangyu, a very small island only 10 minute ferry ride from Xiamen city. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but this once island paradise has fallen victim to commercialism just like most Chinese cities have in recent years. Tacky tourists rip offs, over priced restaurants, admission to every thing including pay toilets, and worst of all, dirty streets littered with cigarette buttes, spits, and unrecyclable garbage.
Nevertheless, we saw some beautiful heritage western architecture, and had lunch twice at a bistro which served the most fantastic pasta dishes and tiramisu to die for.
A very nice beach on Gulangyu.....
Back to Kinmen and a visit to small Kinmen island.
After two days on Gulangyu and a day in Xiamen city, we headed back to Kinmen.
A typical Kinmen village which has all of the characteristics of a typical Fujian style homestead from hundreds of years ago. Earliest recorded inhabitants arrived here in the Tang dynasty about 1600 years ago.
More Kinmen landmarks........
Best dumblings right here in Kinmen!
Where's the beef? Kinmen raises its own cattles, free range style. Although a little chewy and very lean, its not gamey like Aussie beef. Yes, chewy and lean beef is perfect for making beef jerky and Kinmen beef jerky with Sorghum liquor (高梁酒) is one nice treat.
Kinmen is also known for its knives. But a tiny island like this, where would all the steel come from? Apparently, there were over one million mortars dumped on the island by the communists during a twenty year period when Kinmen island was bombarded on a daily basis as Red China tried hard to invade Taiwan but failed obviously; anyways, some very smart folks in Kinmen began salvaging the steel from these shells and made knives and cleavers. To this day, there are still thousands upon thousands of unexploded bombs on the island and the steel industry has a long way to go.......Yes, some areas of Kinmen are roped off with warning signs of landmines......Naturally, with so many soldiers and civilians killed in fierce battles, there are abundant ghost stories.
From small Kinmen, we can see Xiamen city clearly. We hired a cab and toured the whole island in less than a day. Cost was $35 US. With Chinese new year just days away, we picked the perfect time to visit as we were the only tourists everywhere we went. Apparently the busy season starts a few days after the new year begins as most Chinese are too busy with their families before and during the new year celebrations. Good to know.
If you are interested to see more about Kinmen, here is a good video shot by a couple of fellows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevF6pR93gg&feature=player_embedded#
We spent our first night at a local B&B which is a 150 year old traditional house, just like those we see in the movies.
Kinmen was and still is a special military base and it is Taiwan's frontier holding off the communists from invading the Taiwan islands. It was only about 15 years ago that Kinmen revoked its martial law and civilians were allowed on and off the tiny island at their own free will.
We drove by a vegetable field......Kinmen, like most Taiwan islands are agricutural.
Known for its 廣東粥, we had some at breakfast. Very good.
Here we visit Rebecca's grandmother's school which is now a tourist attraction.
Beautiful ancient buildings all over the island, with historical importance scarred by evidence of pirateship and wars. Due to the fact that Kinmen was off limits to the outside world until recently, tourism is still at its developing stage while Taiwanese government has begun a slow and painful process of restoration. In due time, Kinmen will undoubtly become a major tourist destination with its incredible history, strategic location between the reds and the blues, its gentle and friendly people, and its unique character carved from years of war weariness and yet showing very little of mental scars by its citizens.
Rebecca's uncle showed us more ancient homes which are now under restoration, and destined to become more B&Bs, which are leased to private operators.
Next stop is Kinmen national park........
Kinmen has many tunnels, built originally for military purposes, and now stops for sightseers.
Fresh oysters! We passed by an elderly woman in one of the villages as she was shucking fresh oysters by the hundreds, getting ready for Chinese new year in a few days. She told us to eat as much as we wanted! Even Frankie decided to try one and they were delicious. These oysters grow among the rocks just off the oceanside and they are quite small but succulent.
Here you see a war tunnel and it was eerie walking thru it. Finally we saw the light at the end of the tunnel..........
It has three floors plus a basement, with a total space of 250 sq meters, or 2800 sq ft.
Downstairs is our media room, which doubles as a guest suite.
First floor is living room, kitchen and dining room.
Second floor is master bedroom and office.
Third floor is Frankie's room and library.
We have our first guests today visiting from Victoria, staying with us for a few days.
We welcome all of you (not at the same time please) to come visit and stay with us, soon.
