Dine like a prince, pay like a pauper!

One of the best western style restaurants in Hualien is the Prince restaurant & bakery. It is located next to a creek in downtown. Three of us had Caesar salad, a large pizza, a pasta, and French fries, and the bill was $20Cdn. A similar situation in Victoria would cost us at least three times that. But its not only the price, it is also the quality which makes eating out here a hell of a bargain. The pizza was cooked in a wood fired oven, pasta was al dente, Caesar salad had chicken and bacon in it with a creamy dressing, and the fries were crisp and golden brown with no grease at all. We also bought a light Cheesecake and a Tiramisu cake as shown in one of the photos, for a princely sum of $14cdn, together!
And the service is a cut above most others in Hualien, very attentive and polite, and very quick. Food arrived at our table only 10 minutes after ordering, and it was lunch hour! Highly recommended, for the price, value, quality and prompt service.

Happy anniversary!

This week we are celebrating Hualien Toastmasters club's 10th anniversary. As president, I am so proud of our members for their warm friendship and dedictaion to the club. What a group of fine folks. The major achievement during my two years of presidency is the affiliation with the two local universities. English to me and most others, is a passion. A passion to learn and a passion to share. But to the young students, English is their future.

our district governor Joy Tsai from Taichung.

                                         our beautiful MC Ophelia Lin.

                                         Eric Liang from Pingtung.

                                         LJ Lamb from Taipei.

                                         area governor Edward Wang from Taipei

                                          my friends and neighbour Ed and Kukui  

                                         our talented member Peggy doing an aboriginal dance

                                         staying alive, staying alive........

                                         young officers of Donghua Toastmasters club, of National Donghua university in                                            Hualien.

A long overdue update

Whew, time flies and I have neglected to update my blog, mainly due to the fact that my good friend Jimmy had given me an iPhone, and I've been busy learning to use "Line" and "weChat", and all the other marvellous features. Yup, a new hi tech toy finally as I waltzed into the 21 century of technology.
First thing I did upon returning to Formosa is to eat papaya, my favorite food. A tiny imported version in Canada costed me about $5, and here I can buy a tree ripened red papaya for about a buck. And the taste? No comparison.

Papaya is a super food: aids digestion, reduces body inflammations, and a host of other health benefits. Most importantly, it is delicious and juicy; a perfect food after a morning hike and workout.

Frankie is now 12 and going into grade 7. Here she is with her new uniform. She has grown a lot and we need to buy new clothes and shoes every few months.

And here is my lovely wife with her new hair style, shorter and sweeter!

yours truly, doing what he does best: eat!

the best clams I've ever eaten are these local morsels. Sweet tasting, firm, no sand, and not fishy at all. And the price is right. 

Here is our friend Ed, eating Rebecca's fried rice. Ed is from the Silicon valley, now living next door to us. A computer geek, he has a company here to continue his R&D in software and product design. A very smart fellow but tired of the rat race and decided to relocate to this Pacific island, keeping a low profile. Even looks a bit like Steve Jobs.

and his charmimg lady friend Kukui.

A beautiful setting here at my private health club, an outdoor pool in brilliant sunshine and temperature in the low 30s. Paradise indeed.

The water is as blue as the sky, and the best thing? Hardly anybody there. 

Well, it would not be a spa without a good foot massage! Guess whose foot this is? A one hour session costs under $20, can I say "paradise" again?

Hot August night....

Well, in Victoria, it has been anything but hot. Temp is around 12C mornings and nights, and snuggles up to around 20C in mid day. Its bloody freezing!!!

So, how the hell does one keep warm? Before you start thinking what I am thinking, think again!
Working out. Yes, going to the gym every morning keeps my circulation going, and sweat a little also; especially when there is a hot blond who is your work out partner........

Golf is a game not a sport, but its fun when playing with old friends....I played four games this summer and that was great. Even had a game at GV with Gary Hayes and Ray Rombough who are 70 & 78 respectively.

It was sushi dinner after the games, and boy did we stuff ourselves. We ate so much fish that we could easily smell like one! Thank God for wasabi and ginger......

One of the highlights of summer in Victoria is getting together with the boys for some night music. We can still play very well together even we don't practise anymore.....like riding a bike!

Dinner at Ming's with the boys......

Lunch with Frank & Hill......Frank is 91 and still chasing tennis balls and Hill is 86 and still chasing women!

One guy is smarter than the other obviously.

Lunch with the Patterson's.

tennis ladies at Beacon Hill.

Home alone.....

I'm going home alone this year. Rebecca & Frankie are visiting Singapore and Indonesia with friends while I return to Victoria to see my mom. Enroute, I stopped by HK to see my bro and friends...

We had dinner at the very restaurant my mom worked for about forty five years ago, yup, still there and looks exactly the same. Food was very good and the price was right. We didn't pay.

Also spent some time in DG, and stopped by at the lobby bar karaoke......

After a long flight, finally home. to freezing cold weather: 20C in the day time and 12C at night, brrrrrrrrr...

Different location but I keep the same routine: work out at the gym in the morning, and tennis in the afternoon. Eating healthy is easier in Canada, especially in the summer when all kinds of berries are ripe and delicious, which are wonderful with plain yogourt. 

A little night music....

Hualien has a high population of indigenous people, which adds diversity to local culture. Much of these is expressed thru music and dance, and recently, I discovered a local spot which features some awesome local musicians. The surroundings and atmosphere reminds me of the Hawaiian islands, in a cozy, friendly, tropical setting. 

And the price is right! For under $10us per person, you can sit back and enjoy two hours of music and songs, mostly written and sang by indigenous artists, including an alcoholic beverage.

This has to be the best kept secret in Hualien as most local folks don't even know about it! I guess karaoke and KTV are more their cups of tea........

In Taipei to see old friends

Jackson, Nancy & Bo lum were in Taipei recently, with Allen & Daisy hosting a dinner at the gorgeous Yang Ming Shan. Great to see old friends, especially in this part of the world, far from where we all used to be. The world is definitely a smaller place now....

Allen looks amazingly youthful, in fact, on TV recently, the media remarked that although Mark is the popular star, his father is more handsome.......

Next day, Daisy spent the day with us at Taipei 101, had tea with Samantha, and then dinner again with Allen. 

Spring break

Its time to visit my bro in HK and friends on the mainland.
My bro is very busy these days, flying all over China for his wine company, so I managed to have lunch with him & Irene, and off to the mainland for some R&R....

Badminton is not my cup of tea, but since tennis is not the game here, I do enjoy my afternoons learning this indoor sport. When I first began, I sucked big time. Now I can say I can just about keep up, expecially when my partner is Alex (the big fella here). The other guy here is Steve, one of Joe's brother.

Hokkaido Japan

Its middle of winter and we want to see a real winter wonderland. We joined a 5 day tour to Hokkaido, which is one of the four main islands of Japan, to the north.Winter begins in Nov and ends in April, with the coldest winter so far with lots of snow.
Day 1.......

We arrived at Chitose airport, which is one of four airports on the island, direct from Taipei on a four hour flight. Its 10am and we were greeted with bright sunshine but cold, -15C! We left Taipei at +15C.

Our guide wasted no time and took us to our resort after lunch, where we had a lot of fun tobagganing.Tomamu is a premium resort with excellent skiing facilities and a world famous "Ice village"

We spent the evening in the Ice village where the temp was at -20C. I have only seen something similar to this in a James Bond movie. It was cool!

Day 2............

Next morning, we went to what was a golf course in the summer and now a winter wonderland in the winter. We enjoyed horseback riding, snowmobiling, drove ATVs on snow, and a huge inner tube ride. It was -15C and again, sunny. We were lucky so far because Hokkaido has been battered with snow storms non stop since November, enroute to a record cold winter and its only January.

One of the good things about Asian tours is the food. We have three great meals everyday, and we were never hungry. Plenty of seafood in Hokkaido of course, and yes, really fresh sashimi!

With so much food consumed, obviously we needed to visit the bathrooms often, and that is a real pleasure here in Japan, unlike travelling in Taiwan where we dread about doing our business. They are the cleanest washrooms I have ever seen. It is so clean that I can eat my lunch in there, no kidding. All toilets have built in bidets. What more can you ask for when its -20C outside and here you are, sitting on a warm toilet with warm water gushing all over your buttocks!

We visited a shrine after lunch, not my cup of tea since I really don't give a damn about dead Japanese soldiers after what they did during WW2 in China. That's all I will say about that. Next....

Shortly after, we arrived in Sapporo, where it held the winter olympics in 1972. Here in the video is a former government building, modelled after the American baroque style, built in the 1850s shortly after Japan opened up to foreign trading.

In a few weeks, there is a famous Snow festival here. We went to the Sapporo TV tower which was built the year I was born, and savored the beautiful night view of the city.

Again, outside temp is around -20C, and with the wind blowing, the wind chill factor is about -35C. Brrrrrrrrr....

Day 3

Morning call as usual at 6:30am, breakfast at the hotel, and then head out for another fun filled day. Our luck finally ran out this morning, we were greeted with blowing snow. We left the city of Sapporo and headed towards the town of Otaru. 

On the way, we stopped at another ski hill and took the gondola up to the mountain top to see the natural beauty and the coastline of Hokkaido. This was the coldest hour of our entire trip: -35C with wind blowing. My fingers nearly froze when holding my camera for only about a minute. Fortunately, it was lunch time and it was shabu shabu, perfect!

Otaru is a quaint little town with historic sites dating back to the 1850s when foreigners were allowed to come to  Japan. Many buildings were influenced architecturally by the west, and we felt at home here. Winter is a very busy time here in Hokkaido for tourists as bus loads after bus loads swarmed these sightseeing places. Imagine what it would be like a few months ago before mainland tourists stopped coming to Japan? According to our guide, the tourist industry is down at least 50% without the reds. 

We stayed at a hot spring resort and it was a treat. We walked around the hotel in kimonos, and the public hot spring bathhouse was special. The smell of sulphur and the warm mineral water was soothing after a long day battling the elements outside in the sub zero weather.

The resort is very traditional, and that means we would sleep on tatamis. Surprisingly comfortable. The cold & dry weather had me worried because our family has a history of skin problems. But there is a local ointment called "Horse oil", made and sold here only in Hokkaido, is a wonderful moisturizer and skin healer, perfect for eczema sufferers or those suffer from skin cracks and rashes. We brought a few jars back, and they are not cheap, about $50us for a small jar! Worth every penny me thinks.

Day 4

First visit today was "Hell valley", an active volcano with hot natural springs. The strong smell of sulphur permeatted the frigid mountain air. If it wasn't for the noisy footsteps of sightseers, this would be a serene oasis.

We arrived  Hakodate, which is a seaside town south of Sapporo, with more dated western style buildings. Temp is much warmer here because the town is in the southernest point of Hokkaido. Outside temp was just below freezing. Here we visited an ocean park.

We had a special treat as two turtles were mating. Cool. 

Another hot pot lunch, another great meal here in Japan. Enough is enough, in five days, I have gained 7 pounds. No worries, I have learned to manage my weight real good these days. It would only take me two days of exercise to lose all those 7 pounds. In fact, as I am posting this today, which is only 48 hours since we returned home, I have already lost a total of 10 pounds. Amazing but true. No special diet, just work extra hard in the gym. Speaking of training, anyone wanting to become super fit in six months should watch this video, very inspiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGL9Wy08T0U

After lunch, we saw an active volcano with a frozen river. This winter wonderland thing is becoming boring, ho hum......

According to our guide, the world's three best night view are: Napoli Italy, Hong Kong Victoria Peak, & Hakodate of Hokkaido Japan. 

Day 5

Our final day morning was spent in a convent, built in 1935 after the original built in 1890 was destroyed in fire. This Catholic landmark is home to 90 nuns who are self sustained, growing their own food and selling the extras for profits. 

The convent grounds are meticulously kept, and the buildings are well maintained. Hard to imagine we were in Japan while pacing quietly inside the compound. Foreigners were not treated nicely when they first arrived in Japan 150 years ago. In fact, many were slaughtered simply because they were outsiders. It took nearly 40 years before foreigners were accepted and tolerated in the Japanese society, thanks to those pioneers who sacrificed so much to pave the paths for those who followed their footsteps.

Hakodate has a famous fish market and we surely would not miss that. King crab, salmon, oyster, squid, shrimp, you name it....

A real special treat was the squid catch. We paid $8us and Frankie caught a fresh squid from the tank. It took less than a minute to cut and clean the squid before it was sashimi for us. It was still moving when we dipped it in soy sauce and wasabi, and continued to wiggle inside our mouths. It was weird, but very fresh and very tasty.

Our final meal for the trip and we headed to the airport to fly home. It was a fantastic vacation, one which exceeded my expectation. Would love to see Hokkaido in summer months.

Happy new year!

We took a trip down south to Kenting, as locals call it "hawaii of Taiwan". Indeed, it is quite tropical with many natural sandy beaches.....

Palm trees swaying, western bars, bistros, and restaurants dotting the seaside boulevard, and crowds of young people at night. Apparently, this is the most popular place to come for their graduation parties.....would be quite a place during spring break! In these two videos, we are at a national park where the southernest tip of Taiwan is. As you can imagine, its very windy and it rained, so it was a cool day.

Incredible seascape on this windy day touring the extreme coastline.......

A nice resort we stayed at where Frankie & her school friends are also here.......

We drank fresh coconut water at the seaside bar....

no kidding, coconuts are hanging high above us in the coconut palms all over the resort property....

more sightseeing after lunch driving our car long the coastline......

Very lively at night with tons of people walking up & down the seaside avenue, like kalakaua in Waikiki...

On the way back home, we stopped at some small towns in Taitung, and this one is a quaint little fishing village.