Yaward Hotel Taoyuan

... We all tried it! I was super excited because I have always wanted to try ceramics but never had the chance. They set us up at our wheels and we had someone teach us some different techniques. It was really nice because she spoke great English. I ended up making a cup. After you finish making it you can decorate it. We all had them write our Chinese names in them. They will be mailed to us in about 2 weeks! It was nice because it was only $10 to make it and have it ...

For Halloween this year I decided to be a Taiwanese Junior High School student. I bought a uniform at a local uniform shop (which was way easier than I had ever expected it to be) and completed the look with a long black wig and thick black-rimmed glasses (like most of the Jr. High School students wear here). I had a dress rehearsal on October 24th, when I had to teach a class at the Taoyuan Junior High School (the ...

... have achived my goal weight just before birthday. July is now almost finished...in two months...I will have been in Taiwan for one whole year. It's amazing how time flies so quickly at times. I have been going SCUBA diving a lot recently. I got certified back in Thailand (February) and hadn't gone since. Turns out Emil is a licensed instructor...and so I had refresher course ask with him and then went diving two weekends in a row with 3-4 other ...

... went unanswered (Alex: I'm busy, I'm working, I won't be home, it's too late, etc...) and I never did get an exact hypothetical 'moving in' date from him...and so this lead me to re-think the option. I knew that I wanted to stay in Taiwan for at least another year (let's face it, I make good money here) and also knew that I did not want to continue living in the dorm. Sharing a bathroom, kitchen and two showers with 12-18 people is NOT as cool as one would think (that was sarcasm ...

... the one talking to parents about their kids. Kind of a bizarre twist on things. Thankfully they went well and I didn't have any problems. This one father actually wanted constructive criticism of his son (I had only sung his praises). Anyway, the administration was quite pleased with how things went and they complimented me on my professional look (I wore a black skirt and black blazer...company suit-wear I had from my Brazilian Oil Company stint). Item #4: Some kids ...

... world - Easter Island. It is so far and expensive to travel there, even from Santiago (Chilean capital). I always hold great fascination about an isolated, faraway, and mysterious place and Easter Island has all the qualities. And, don't you think those huge stone heads (Moai) are sort of cute? I would like to be in the same pictures with them (and to check who has a bigger head, I think it should be me!)... 8. Cuba: Enters my Top 10 for the first time. Though I traveled back to ...

... and preferably a garden view, thank you. Rome check-in was quick and I asked if the plane was full. "Yes" said the Cathay clerk. "Any chance of an upgrade" I cheekily and optimstically ventured? She didn't say no, but turned to her computer. "Are you a Frequent Flyer?" she asked. "Yes!" I exclaimed, thinking my $82 investment had just paid for itself. She started to type again and for one delicious moment, I ...

... oracle blocks' to get a bit of help with some decisions. The oracle blocks are small red moon shaped pieces of plastic or wood - you hold them together in your hands, ask your question and drop them. If they land one curved side up, one curved side down, the answer to the question is positive, negative if they both land curved side up. If they both land flat side up you have to change the question and ask again. There are also 'fortune tellers' at a ...

... me by! I found it pretty easy - it was in the National Museum, which is in a nice big park. The exhibition was nice - but only in Chinese. The Russian was all old 1800s handwritten manuscripts from Pushkin and Tolstoy, so I had no chance of deciphering any of that! There were lots of portraits and paintings though, which kept me happy. It was a bit sad - I stood there in front of a beautiful portrait of Pushkin (really, this guy was pretty), thinking about Moscow ...

Me and Bonnie checked-in in Taiwan airport, only to find out that Bangkok International airport is closing and re-locating to a different spot! We will arrive at 10pm at the old airport, but at 3am the old airport will close down, and will re-open the new airport. Great, somehow we thought we wouldn't find our way back to Taiwan from Bangkok because we wouldn't be able to get to this new airport! Arrived in Bangkok's old ...