Gloria Prince Taipei

... walking and not having much to show for it (besides a slightly fuller stomach due to a McDonalds stop along the way – which had HOT chips. Take note, KFC...). The most interesting things I saw ended up being a large number of monks and nuns, who were also wandering the streets. I hadn’t actually seen any nuns before now, since they’re not as common on the mainland and probably not recommended to be out of doors anyway.

I ...

... Ciera (Jill’s daughter), Greta’s daughter, and I went to the Crocodile Farm and Zoo. It was not that great of a place, but at least the company was good. It’s hard when you grew up with the San Diego and LA zoos. Some of the places here just don’t compare.

This past Monday I had watercolor class again. This weeks painting was picked out with Hollie in mind. I realized that I didn’t give her and Mike ...

... to the snake, which now had all the hotel staff around it and asked if they were going to released it into the wild. The owner of the guest house replied that it wasnt going to release it and that it was already dead and that now it was going to be skinned. We were mezmerised and as much as I didnt want to see a snake skinned I couldnt take my eyes away from the action. So we watched as the snake was hung up by its neck and skinned ...

... uncovered. We then had some some lunch and relaxed in the guest house during the afternoon.

We were staying at a small fairly new guest house within the "island" of Ayutthaya, very convenient for all the sights. The accomodation was beautiful - a traditional thai house on stilts set within a water garden - very relaxing.

We also looked around a local market and bought some spoons and some thai mats.

On the second day ...

... Alex had biked around Ayutthaya to see the famous 15th century ruins of wats there so we planned to take the train there, rent bikes just the same, and train back at the end of the day. Others on Tripadvisor did similar trips like that but once we entered the train station, one of the many people wearing bright green polo shirts pounced on us. That immediately set off an alarm for me -- trust no one when you're clearly a tourist! They offered a private car to ...

... on taking the 997 back to the southern bus terminal but at the last minute he told me that I should take the 83 and get off at Ping Chau (sic) because it would be easier to get a taxi. Well, I was pretty unsure of this, especially since I had already gotten comfortable with my conservative plan. But I trusted him and his wife and on the bus I got. Naturally, I forgot the name of the stop about 5 minutes in but figured I'd recognize it whenever the bus lady shouted it out ...

... try getting into a taxi and say drive, desperately looking for something I could point at, before getting out no further forward - and I hated to get a taxi because it was admitting defeat, and a waste of money.

Half-an-hour later, hot, dripping with sweat and bad tempered, I got to the school not in the mood to give my demonstration. “A thousand apologies,” I said.

Unfortunately, the class of eight year olds who I was supposed to teach had already finished so ...

... sampled two types of Oolang - apparently the higher altitude that the Oolang grows, the better quality it is. And I could tell. The second kind we tried (which I preferred) was 50 US dollars for a bag. Whoa! Mad expensive- but you know that I will be having it shipped to my home. ☺ The family entertained us for a while longer, and we had snacks and tea and just relaxed in their very comfortable home. At around 8:30 Bien Laoshi ...

... there by Taiwanese transplants. 90% of the 23 Mio. Taiwanese live on the western plains and basically all industrial activities are concentrated there in one of the many industrial and science parks, only sand, gravel, cement and marble industies are located in the eastern parts ( plus some upcoming once like marine park ). Taiwan's western plains have one of the highest population ...

... to USD. (50, 100, 500 and 1000NT) I usually tend to judge the cost of living in a country by how much they charge for beers. Here it's about $4-5 in a bar or $6-8 at the Hyatt bar and restaurants. Hell, I can pay those prices in the States. The North Coast of Taiwan is very pretty with strange volcanic rock and limestone formations, dangerous cliffs, and beautiful sunsets. And of course, best of all, live seafood. It ...