Happy New Year!!

Actually, its New Year's Eve but today is the majority of the celebration. I sit here writing you with a fat stomach (no big surprise there!) and a thankful heart that I'm here spending this time with my family. Today has been all about family and it has been great. We started out with a quiet morning. Incense woke me and the smell of burning paper. It is Chinese tradition to burn paper money (fake paper money) to allow our dead relatives to prosper in our wealth. The smoke carries the wealth up to our relatives. After this most of the family who live out of town arrived, right before lunch. Before we ate lunch though, the table is set for our dead relatives again and we wait until they have had their fill before we sit and eat. After that we all sat around and talked about each others lives and "caught up". Before dinner we made a trip to see my grandfather in the hospital, he was not ready to come home today. The dialysis had taken quite a toll on him but he is doing fine and should come home soon. Dinner was fantastic! I've included a pic of the spread. Not everyone can eat at the table at once, so the pecking order goes from the oldest (my mom!) to the youngest. There was enough food for everyone and then some, a great meal for all. I can hardly move I've eaten so much but I've been told that we have to go to the night market tonight for more food, and then at midnight there is another meal!! I need to run more!! Plus tradition says that each child that is not married and hasn't finished school gets some money from each adult so I'll be passing out some cash tonight too, more that happy to! I've also included a pic of my grandmother who isn't with us anymore and her mom... and her mom! Three generations on the wall, Happy New Year!! -Tony

Alishan Forest Part II...

I learned a new Chinese word, “Daa Who”. That is not the spelling but it is the phonetic spelling and it means “to snore”. I say this because we all have acused each other of snoring in one night! I guess we all snore like freight trains running at full steam! Anyway, we made it up and out the door by 5:45am to catch the train to the top of the mountain by 6. The sunrise would be at 7:05 but there was a pretty heavy layer and the fog was bad too so it wasn’t looking good for the sun to show itself. We had a good time though, there were plenty of breakfast concessions and a ton of people massed at the viewing platform to keep the energy high. The temperature was colder than expected, in the 40's. The sun never did show but the view was great still, I’ve included one of the pics. We decided to hoof it back down the mountain figuring that it would be easy going down. About 1 1/2 hours later we finally made it back to the hotel where we proceeded to take a quick nap before checkout at 11:00am. After checkout we went to eat again (it seems that’s all you do while your on vacation… is eat!!). One good meal before we got on the train back to Chiayi. We arrived in Chiayi around 4:30pm and got a call from my aunt saying she was on her way to the hospital to see my grandfather and we should meet her there. My grandfather’s kidney’s are failing and he has been put on dialysis. Not good but the doctors say that he will be able to come home tomorrow and stay through the New Year. After the visit we took a cab back to the house and I’ve been here in front of the computer updating my blog. All the pics from the trip are on the photo album, under a sub album called Alishan Forest Trip. Well I’m tired and I’m off to bed… Tony

Alishan Forest Part I...

Where to begin! OK, so the morning we left I got up at 6:00am to run before we left. Mom, Tom, Wan Chun and I took a cab to the train station at 8 to catch the 9:00am train to Alishan. The train ride was three and a half hours. The scenery on the way up was great! Mountains covered in clouds and fog. I've posted one of the pics I took from the train. The peaks are a lot higher than I expected, probably around 7k to 8k. Once we got to Alishan we searched out some lunch because there was no food on the train. We needed to make sure we had a room first so we found our hotel, then got lunch in the main square (really touristy). From there we ventured out into the forest. There are numerous paths to be followed, some easy and some not so much. We started out ambitious but not all of us could keep the pace up so we ended up doing the fairly east paths. Still the easy path provided lots to see and do. I posted one of me in this giant hollow tree stump. We hiked around the forest for almost 4 hours before we made it back to the square. Tom had hunted down a place to buy coffee so we all took a coffee break after the long afternoon. The square has lots of small shops and stores where you can buy all kinds of useless stuff to give to friends and family. So of course we had to hit them up too. After that we ate some dinner, a much bigger and better meal than lunch. We ate 5 different entrees and a big pot of soup which was more than enough for the 4 of us and it only cost us $22 US! By now it was getting late, around 9:00pm and we had been up early so we decided to get some rest. Besides we had to get up early again because we were going to go see the sunrise from the viewing platform at the top of the mountain, but that will have to wait till part II… Tony

Early morning... got to catch the train!

Good morning all, early post today. Just wanted to get this out before we left as I won't have an opportunity to update to blog again until later tomorrow. Mom, Tom and I along with a few of my cousins are heading up to Alishan Forest to see the sights. We have to catch a train at 9:00am up a mountain to the forest. The ride will take about 3 and a half hours, should be a good time with lots of scenery to take picture of. From what I hear this area is really spectacular to visit. I've included a link so you can check it out while I'm gone. http://railway.forest.gov.tw/index-eng.asp This site even comes with its own music so turn on the speakers! We will be staying overnight so we can see the sunrise the next morning. There is an official viewing area where the clouds make the mountains look like the sea. If anyone has ever been to monticello in Virginia you know what I'm talking about. OK, well I'll catch you all tomorrow and keep the comments coming, later... Tony

My new photoalbum online!!!

OK everyone... I have completely geeked this concept out! I have posted all of my photos online thru photobucket.com I will continue to post select pics on the blog along with my daily comments, but I will post all of my pics in my photoalbum. The link is...

http://photobucket.com/albums/f227/clarkete99/

Enjoy!! Tony

Chiayi marketplace for lunch

So this morning we were at a loss for what to do. My uncle Shau and my aunt Sue are going back to Taipei later this afternoon so we needed to come up with something to do that was quick and easy. We decided to take a trip in Chiayi city and do a little shopping/walking. Tom made the first input by suggesting we find a place to get some coffee. The main morning drink is tea over here so coffee is not too common. Shau found a coffee shop right near the open air market in Chiayi called 85 degrees, kind of like a Starbuck but less fancy and with better coffee, or so my mom and Tom say. Anyway, after that we took a walk through the market for fun. Lots of cool stuff on sale from clothes and jewelry to fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, and ready prepared foods. One of the pics posted is of my mom pointing at a pigs head hanging in the market! We walked around for an hour or so and decided to get some lunch. I’ve included a pic of that. I had some noodles with pork, good stuff! After that we got a call that my grandfather was taken to the hospital as a precaution, he has been having some trouble getting around on his own lately. The hospital is not too far from were we were having lunch so we went over to see him and we brought lunch too. After that we went by my mom’s old elementary school and her house as a kid. Finally we decided to come back to the house. I’ve got pics of all of the wonderful stuff in the market and around Chiayi. I’ll try to get them into a directory so everyone can see them all. I think mom, Tom and I have decided to take a train to Alishan Forest for some sightseeing tomorrow and spend the night, coming back to the house the next day. I’ll keep you all posted… Tony

A Fun Afternoon with my Cousins

So I’m here in the house with only my cousins so I thought I’d write another post today. Mom and the rest of the group, mainly the older folks, went to a bath and sauna house some 30 minutes away. I didn’t really feel like going so I stayed here with my cousins. My uncle said I could take the car out and go sightseeing. My cousins could act as the tour guides. I said that it might be easier if they drove but come to find out that none of them drive. Especially a manual transmission that’s 16 years old! Fun stuff driving in other countries! I’ve done it before in Europe but it is interesting each and every time you do it. I like to call it combat driving, you need to develop a skill for it. Anyway we went to Chiayi University just down the road and went for a walk outside, which was nice. There was a modern track and field facility, a beautiful pond with all sorts of animals, and just a sense of being on a campus which I guess is the same wherever you are. After that we went to a small bakery and picked up some bread and pastries for the house, and bought a round of these really sweet drinks I think were made of soy milk and some kind of gelatin? They were good but very different. Finally we went to a temple and I got to see some religious art and statues. We came back to the house only to find out that we were locked out. Luckily one of my cousins lives here and knew how to get in. So that’s it in a nutshell. I’m kind of beat, and I’ll be watching TV and waiting for everyone else to get back. It has been fun getting to know my cousins as they get bolder with the English and ask lots of questions… and I do too. The pics are of the University, and the temple… Tony

With the family in Chiayi

Good morning! Mom, Tom and I have moved down south to Chiayi where one of my uncles has a chicken farm. The house is nice, it has 7 rooms but it will still be short on room as my whole family will be coming down for the New Year. They expect something like 30-35 people… we will have to make due with the space we have. Last night my uncle Shau drove us the 3 hours south to the house. When we arrived we all had a nice dinner with my grandfather. Everything was terrific. After that we sat around and talked all night. My aunt Sue and her son and daughter, my cousins showed up later in the evening so it was a fun night chatting. I had to hit the sack “early” which was around 12:30pm cause I had to run this morning. I went about 5 miles through the farmland and it was a great run, didn’t even feel like I went that far with all the scenery to look at. I wanted to take some pictures of the chicken farm and the sea of chickens they keep here usually but my uncle sold them all to a distributor right before we arrived so he wouldn't have the work to take care of during the New Year's celebration. He will start up with a new batch of chickens after the holiday. My mom and her sister went to the market to pick up some fresh vegetables and I’m waiting for them to come back to take a walk. I keep bugging them to take me to a night market, which is an open air markets at night used as a central place to socialize and eat. I remember them from the last time I was here as a lot of fun! I’ve seen all of the comments posted and I will get back to you guys soon over email. I have included pics of Shau’s place in Taipei and all the family who are here right now in front of the house. Hope everyone enjoys them. If there is anything you guys want to see just let me know… Tony

First night with the NFL...

Well I have arrived! We landed in Taiwan at 9:30pm local time on the 22nd which was about 5:30am in San Diego. A little less than 15 hours and not a bad flight at that. They showed 5 movies, we had two meals and a snack, and I spent most of my time reading and doing sudoko puzzles (not sure on the spelling?) Anyway I at my uncle's place right now, its 5:30am and I'm watching the Pittsburgh Steelers beat up on the Broncos like the Pats would have had they not turned it over 5 times! The 2nd quarter just ended, 24-3 Steelers. Not really sure what my plans are today. I think I'm heading out of the city to Chiayi, where most of the family lives. Chiayi is a smaller province on the southwest part of the island. It is a rural area and small business/industy and farming makes up most of the economy. My uncle owns and runs a chicken farm there. I'll be interested to see how the Bird Flu has affected him, or if it has at all. My mom says it hasn't… We will be spending the Chinese New Year in Chiayi. It is on the 29th of Jan. My grandfather also lives down there and the whole family will travel to spend the holiday with him. The Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday of the year. Here's are pics of the street where my uncle lives and the market this morning. Hopefully I'll have some more interesting shots here in the next few days. Just saw that Plummer bricked and the Steelers won, congrats Mike!! Later…