King S Resort Spa Miao-li

Meghan and I decided that we wanted to take full advantage of the only free day we had per week and make a day trip out of it. We had been researching places we could go to and even asked our Taiwanese co-workers for travel suggestions and stuff. The one place we decided on was Taichung. Taichung is one of the larger cities in Taiwan with a bustling night life and commerce as well as many renowned international restaurants. We hopped on a train early on Sunday morning and had a scenic 2 ...

Meghan and I had sat down together on Saturday night and looked at her Taiwan travel book for a suitable day-trip location for Sunday. We came across this 'Window on China' miniature park of sorts. We had invited April to come along...but she had a migraine and needed some time alone to rest up. Sunday came along and Meghan and I took a cab to the Taoyuan train station. From there were tried getting information (in English) about how to get there. The man told us to take the ...

Well, things are starting to settle down a bit. I think I'm past the "tourist" stage. I'm not really sure what stage I've passed into now. I finally decided upon an apartment close by the new school. It's about a ten minute walk. The neighborhood has everything I could possibly ask for, and then some. There's a bank across the street, an internet cafe around the corner, and ...

It is only the 5th day of the lunar New Year (the Year of Pig/Boar based on Chinese astrology), but I am leaving home again. Well, I will go back to my "other" home, a place I have fewer and fewer friends, and a place I often feel not really "at home." But now I have to go back there? (Beyonce's Dreamgirl song "Listen" suddenly comes to mind: "I am alone in the crossroad; I'm not at home in my own home; but I've tried and tried..." So, is U.S. my own "home"?) Where ...

I won't lie to you. It's been tough here in Taiwan. Sure, the folks are nice, and there is English on some signs if you keep your eyes peeled, but neither are as plentiful as they were in Japan. Similarly, the tonal nature of Mandarin makes my Japanese vocabularly look downright impressive. After 2 weeks in Japan I had a good command of perhaps two dozen words/phrases, and it was easy to jot down my own phonetic version when someone told me a new one. After a week ...

First off we apologize for late updates on the site. Markos dad's computer died on us and we have been on the road for a little while without any internet access. Anyway, the weekend of the 26th Bombardier took us on a road trip to the heart of Taiwan. The tour began with a visit to one of Taiwan's most popular tourist destinations Sun Moon Lake. Sun Moon Lake is pretty in it's own right, but we have been ...

We went to the national palace museum today. THere collection was amazing it is to bad we couldn't take pictures in it. I put up tuns of pictures so check them out and tell me what you think. We shopped around a little but didn't by much. I am amazed at what nice shops there are hear theres no real middle ...

Taiwan Day 3 July 7, 2006 Today I went to the Yangmingshan Park in the morning. It was so much fun. We like hiked up a little into like the back trails to this waterfall. There were people soaking their feet in the water and it was so pretty. I would have loved to just spend the day there reflecting and hiking around. We went to a temple in the park that was very beautiful. There ...

Taiwan Day 2 July 6, 2006 Wow what a long day. So Maggie and I woke up at 6 AM after getting in at like 11pm last night. We took a short bus ride to the airport and I took my first Asian flight. We get a new kid in each port and they live in our next port so the can talk to us about it and get to know us. So we picked up the kids from Singapore and they went on the trip with us today and the girl sat next to me and we talked the ...

... t whine. Getting the boys to do homework is like pulling teeth, and then they moan when you make them do it on their break. This would be fine if it meant that the girls would get rewarded in the long run, but that's not how it works. Women get paid a fraction for the same work, and when the secretary is out, they are the ones who are expected to get the coffee. They are rising up in the ranks right now, but I feel like the Asian social customs of keeping your ...