Caesar Park Hsinchu

... We have all been in crazy cab rides. This was the same thing only in a bus! At one point the bus went into oncoming traffic because the cars in front of it were too slow! Oncoming traffic! The entire ride was honking horns, swerving, slamming on the brakes, etc. It was nuts! Irene&#8217;s family hadn&#8217;t even experienced that before.<br><br>We walk to the night market for noodles. The restaurant doesn&#8217;t ...

... excitement. Rumor had it that there was indeed a Typhoon on its way to Taiwan and that classes would be cancelled for Saturday (we work 6 days a week). I actually didn't want classes to be cancelled...I had been assigned some 3 new classes to teach on the Saturday and I was anxious to meet my co-teachers and get to know my new students. We also only get paid for each class every three times we teach it. I need money, damnit! LOL! Anyway, by 10:30 PM it was a ...

... it through this whole trip without buying what I've started to call "squishies" or "fuzzies," a.k.a. stuffed animals. Somehow cute stuffed animals make me revert back to a 5-year-old mindset. Here what I did get: - purikura photos - special exfoliating cleanser that can only be found in Atami - cute small towel with a doggy face - owl cell phone charm - Mt. Fuji postcards - fake decorative nails - wooden owls (owls ...

... front: the camping pace is another 6 km away, partially up. At the old hotel in green painted wood ( I like the look and atmosphere ), which now also features some 20 wooden huts and a coffee shop, I have a coffee outside in the early afternoon sun. At a neighboring table sit a couple and a Buddhist nun. Now its time to get my things for the evening settled. I walk in direction of camp ground, pass by a very modern 5-star hotel and stop at the Shuei ...

... a major clean to sweep out the bad luck of the last year and get the house ready for the good luck of the new year. Not just a quick spring clean either - EVERYTHING is cleaned, new furniture is bought, window and door frames are painted red. The school was even fumigated in preparation! People also try to invite the new luck in with red banners around the doors covered in lots of auspicious phrases. There's lots and lots of decorations - most of them ...

... So we looked around but I spent more time in the gardens. We were then bound for dinner. I loved it. I ate my very first meal with chop sticks and had my very first Asian beer. There are supposedly places like this in the US so I want to find one because I really liked it. You pick your meat and vegetables and stuff and they are raw you put them in a bowl. You then pick out the sauces you want. The first bowl I had was spicy and the ...

... Another observation of my workplace... I'm not too sure if this is because the overwhelming majority is women, but it's very loud! Cubicle walls are very short that when you sit down you can still see the top of everyone's heads. And people have the tendency to just stand up and shout things to one another, and phone conversations can be heard by all! Still, I've noticed a very different work ethic here in Taiwan compared to the US ...

... here! I also had the opportunity to check out the "gym." A little green room with 4 treadmills, one weight machine, and a few others scattered... not very appealing considering you need to pay each time to use it! I might make myself run outside in the humid climate instead. The weather here isn't as hot as anticipated. I'm thinking it might be because it's only early June and I don't have to suffer the heat for long periods of time due to air ...

... typhoons, these are foreign English teachers's favourite thing about Taiwan because if its big and the wind could possibly blow the little Chinese babies off their bikes on the way to school, we get to stay home. These days for my Denene and I consisted of going out the previous day to stock up on foods/drinks and dvds as to not have to stick our nose out the day during the day of these disasters (which never really hit our little town Jhudong, being protected by the ...

... the tents down. Just as we were all about to leave two of the girls from Chutung (Lindsy and Julie) showed up. They persuaded myself (I'm easily persuaded by females),Matt and V to stay. Nancy and Brian had made up their minds to come home. So, we settled back down and got a camp fire going. Matt and V went off to get some more fire wood and the three of us sat around chatting and collecting the odd bit of wood to keep the fire alive. After about 30 minutes we were ...