Monday, June 27, 2005

it all looks good in the pictures...



When you surf through the Taiwan website, everything looks so nice and beautiful...in the pictures that is. I'm not sure why, when I go to these places, they didn't look as appealing as they did in the pictures posted on the website. I think there's something wrong with my eyesight, because when I was looking at these supposed "beautiful" tourist areas, these two words always comes out of my mouth, "what the..."? For instance, I saw a beautiful picture advertising a place in Taiwan where they grow tea, so I dragged my husband, who was reluctant to go, to drive 5 hours to see this place. When we got there, all I could say was..."what the..." Driving through this small village, you will notice a lot of dilapidated buildings and houses (could be left over from the big earthquake). Occassinally, you will see what looks like tea shops but they also look like somebody's private homes so we didn't stop. Finally, we found a tea plantation (little farm with a little shack where the tea was processed...or something) but there was nobody there. Needless to say, we didn't find what we hoped to find--but at least I got to see what a tea plant looks like.

Oh well, I'm not giving up. I'm sure I'll find something...after all, we're talking about "Il Formosa," meaning, "A Beautiful Island," there's gotta be something out there!

Sunday, June 26, 2005

summertime in Taiwan

This is my 3rd or 4th summer in Taiwan and this year, I think, could be the hottest! It's been raining consecutively for the past month and now that it finally stopped, the heat seem to seep out from the pavement. Hawaii was never this uncomfortably hot--at least you get some fresh air blowing in from somewhere...in Taiwan, all you get is the stench coming from the sewers below you and the fume from mopeds and cars. The best thing to do in Taiwan during the summer is to stay home with the AC running or leave the country to clean out your lungs for at least two weeks or more (if you can afford it). There's Kenting you say, well if your idea of fun is paying big bucks for substandard hotels,(5 stars), just to see a beach you couldn't swim in, Kenting would be right place for you. As for me, I would rather pay the round trip ticket to the Philippines (2 hours away) and stay in a luxurious hotel (paying 1/4 of the price) and have some great Filipino food accompanied with excellent customer service, not to mention the beautiful beaches! Consider driving 5-6 hours fighting traffic,tolerating bad driving behaviors, and paying toll fees every 100 km (it seems)only to find that there's no parking for your car. Or you can fly for 2 (or less) hours direct from Kaohsiung to Subic Bay, Philippines, and be greeted by wonderful staff eager to serve you and provide you the best for your money...which would you choose?

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

saved by the ....

I was about to give up and give the ol' computer the famous fist when my husband came home and translated for me the characters on the screen. Now, I just have to remember which buttons does what and I'll be on my way back to blogging world! For now, I will have to fight the traffic and dodge the rain and get some groceries--my maid is complaining of hunger already.

I think it's finally working...

I have to admit--the biggest problem I'm having with this thing is that my browser shows everything in Chinese and I'm clicking buttons blindly! I need to try and figure out how to change this in English so that I can begin again...



If at first you don't succeed, try, try again ....I'm sure

Again and again...

I've been working on this blog all morning and couldn't get it to work...