Forte Hsinchu

... will outline my various adventures and will also outline local delicacies<br>through out various cities. I know that it can be pretty intimidating to visit a new country. If you need additional information regarding some of the places that I have visited, stayed at or need general information, feel free to ask.<br>

... see what Hsinchu is like and my today couldn't have started off any better by having jetlag wake me up at 5:30 this morning. The pleasant side to this was to see dawn waking up the little area where our hotel was, and taking a walk up the hill to see a vast forested area bathed in light.<br><br>I wonder what today holds - our itinerary seems very vague, but I like my surprises.<br>

... parents to mail me my new debit card. I plan on opening a Taiwan extention of my HSBC bank account here...I just need to get my legal papers first. This past Saturday night Meghan and I decided to venture out to downtown Taipei for some clubbin' action. We had heard rants and raves of this one place called 'Room 18' and so that is where we were headed. We get there and the guy asks for I.D. I didn't bring any I.D...so far in Taiwan I have never been asked for I.D. Well ...

... aunt decided to schedule an appointment with her dermatologist. She, my mom, and I went on a short bus ride to get to the place. Apparently a dermatologist and an allergist have enough common ground that they're almost the same in Taiwan. Immediately recognizing my bad case of hives, the doctor prescribed some oral medication and 2 shots in addition to another type of oitment. I refused to get the shots on my ...

... I am sure I spelled their names incorrectly. They are here for the same period as myself and I'm sure we'll be hanging out a lot. Eventually I met several other visiting fellows; Alexandra from Greece, Patricio from Argentina, Phillip from Iceland, Harry from New York, Joe from San Antonio, Rezina from England, and Hassan from Abu Dabi. This program is famous for having lots of ...

... Democracy Hall) which is a geourgeous pavilion of scultured gardens and gold fish-filled ponds with two massive traditional Chinese-style buildings, one a concert hall and the other an exhibition hall, that reside behind a beautiful five-arched Ming dynasty gate, all of which stand in the shadows of the 70 meter tall, white-marbled and blue-tiled roof of the CKS Memorial. The CKS Hall has two sets of marbled stairs with a ...

... rule all of this nameless kingdom for mere seconds before their walls crumbled and caved and all was brushed aside to make room for the new born day. We landed in Tiapei within view of the sea. The whole island seemed to be one city stretching from the mountians to the shore in varrying density. In Taipei International Airport I had my first experience of culture shock. Stepping into the bathroom I was very surprised to find a ribbed ...

... the stores where I could find bargains in Hsinchu. When we left the rain was pretty heavy and the wind was just crazy! The restaurant we went to was owned by an artist that made the dishes as well. There was only a small selection, but his dishes ranged from Europe to Asia. Very good, and it was fun chatting it up with my coworkers... despite the huge age difference. The women were all from 30 to 55. Still, there was plenty to talk about ...

... schools and Taiwan will be the place where you can really save a lot of money without having to work too hard. And before I get into trouble for that comment, there are teachers there, working at International schools and suchwho really have to put the time in. I was lucky, I worked all around, there was never much responsibility, basically just walki in for an hour of two each week and walk out. And if you're really lucky the kids start to like ...

Watery Wedding: Trout & Aerin 2001 Hope everyone is well. Apologies to those people that enjoy my little updates that I haven't written one for a while; Apologies to people that don't like them that I am now writing another one. The last week or so has been pretty hectic what with a wedding, a visit from the parents and doing my decades pub quiz. Last Friday saw the biggest weeding of the year (easily comparable to Posh and Becks and ...