We arrived in Hualien on the sunday afternoon and checked into our hotel. Not the best of hotels but there was an American guy who was married to one of the receptionists, he was pretty helpful and friendly and recommended some restaurants.  We went to the Salt Lick an American restaurant the first night, it was my second visit and i definetely recommend it if you are visiting Hualien. The next morning we went down to the railway station to see if we could get some transport to Taroko, with it being CNY the buses were proving very expensive, NT250 per person one way, so we hired 2 scooters for a day NT800 (usually NT400).  This turned out to be a great idea, it was a pleasant sunny day and by far a much better way to get to Taroko and ride through the gorge. In the evening back in Hualien we visited the Dos Tacos Mexican restaurant, You could get truly authentic Mexican cuisine, i enjoyed it as much as the Salt Lick the night before, my son was also impressed. The restaurant is run by an American who seemed a decent guy to talk too.
From Hualien it was next stop Keelung.

My eldest son flew in on Feb 4 I hadn't seen him for 3 and a half years, to say i was a bit choked was an understatement. After picking him and his girlfriend from the airport, we got a bus to Taipei main station so we could get a train down to Taidong. We had decided to start off out tour of Taiwan down there and booked a place for 3 nights which turned out to be a nice place, a kind of homestay/hotel run by a guy who spoke good English who also picked us up from Taidong Station. We took it easy on the first couple of days so Gaz could get aclimatised, hired a couple of scooters to get around, took a journey up the coast just past Chenggong. It was a bit cool that day but i think he enjoyed driving for the first time in Taiwan. We introduced them to 7-11 life and how easy it is to survive if you havent got the confidence to walk into a noodle shop with no knowledge of the language. Gaz was a bit worried about the food before he got here but once he'd seen a Pizza Hut, Macdonalds, and tried a jipai in the night market, i think he knew he would be ok. On the sunday we were off to Hualien for the second stage and a trip to Taroko (my first time back there for 7 years).

Look out for an update soon, my eldest son will be visiting this thursday, so im looking forward to that. Plus news of everything else thats been happening.

Ok well i thought it was about time i updated this, so anyway i am now living in Puzi in Chiayi County.  Ive got a small place about 5 minutes from the school where i have been working since July last year. It took me 2 years to get properly settled but what a difference it makes when you get a regular job with reasonable money coming in. I signed a contract for a year and it looks as though i will be here for a second one as there has been some talk of a new class in September.  Basically the long term plan is to buy a place maybe in around 18 months but im not sure whereabouts yet. I havent  decided exactly where i want to be though somewhere in the south will be the most likely.  I like the weather in the south, the winters are drier and warmer.
The wife is still with her parents in Chiayi about 30 mins from here for now but i think she will be heading for Keelung for a while where her daughter lives in the not too distant future. Looks like she will be doing a spot of babysitting. As things stand i wont be following her but i will look forward to the frequent trips to the north east.
Recently we spent some time in Hualien and Taidong and hired a scooter and explored a few areas in the east. I was very impressed with Taidong County and i quite liked the city too, i thought it might be a nice area to retire, however the wife thinks its a little too far out the way. We will see theres a lot more water to pass under the bridge before then.
Im thinking about doing more scooter trips around Taiwan this year and some walking, i want to make as much use of my free time as possible now im working.  Anyway fingers crossed lets hope things continue in a positive mode.

Update

Im spending more and more time now in the south, my wife Selina is having to take care of her parents in Chiayi, so at the moment im commuting between Zhongli and Chiayi every week.At the moment ive got 2 teaching jobs in the north so for the time being we will have to keep our apartment up there. Ive also got a job teaching online which gives me the flexibility of doing the job from anywhere. It is looking increasingly likely that this is the first step to a permanent move down to Chiayi. I quite like Chiayi its a sprawling place but seems pretty quiet, the traffic is definetely not as hectic here. If i do move i will miss Zhongli in some respects. The weather down in the south is alot warmer in the winter ive noticed, the sun seems to shine most days that for me is definetely an attraction. The other day we went to Tainan to meet Selina.s eldest sister. It was my first visit and i was impressed with the City. Theres alot more history about it compared to other cities in Taiwan. I particularly liked the Anping District and the old fort. I was made very welcome by her sister and i think i made a particular impression on her 2 daughters, i noticed the confidence growing in them to speak more English and i made every effort to talk to them in Chinese and some Taiwanese which im learning as it seems to be the most common language spoken in the south. I hope we get the chance to visit again soon.

We decided to take a trip to Keelung this weekend and then travelled up to Fulong Beach on the sunday. Fortunately the weather was on our side this time it rained the whole 2 days we were last in Keelung City. We stayed at the E-coast star hotel its about a 10 minute walk from the railway station. The hotel looked new in fact it was quite smart it cost us £54 for the night including breakfast, the hotel is a 10 minute walk from the temple night market as it was a nice night the market was packed, we also had the added attraction of a giant cruise liner berthed in the harbour. This was the biggest cruise liner I had ever seen apparently it has 15 decks , it looked like a floating hotel, all the outside cabins had balconies, the ship left around 8pm the promenade around the harbour front was absolutely packed with people taking photos, it did look pretty spectacular as it manoevered its way out the port.  On the sunday after breakfast which wasn't too bad incidentally we went to Fulong by bus it costs NT75 each and takes about an hour up the coast road.  In places along the route the scenery was really spectacular I thought it would be great taking a scooter or a bike ride this way, the road seemed pretty flat almost the whole time hugging the coast on the rocks you could see loads of people fishing. We got to Fulong around noon and went on the beach we had to pay NT100 dollars each first though, the beach was ok quite sandy and the water wasn't particularly deep, nice and warm though. I guess it would be a good place to go surfing, amenities on the beach were a bit sparse a few rows of sun umbrellas and what I think was a small bar, I never really investigated it. We were only there for 2 hours but I really caught the sun when it was out at one point we got a squally shower, after wards I thought had we spent the whole day there I really would have got severely burned, if you ever visit there take plenty of sun cream.  We then got the bus to Juifen on the way back towards Keelung. Once the bus turns off the coast road be prepared for a winding trip up the hill, the driver as usual was a bit of a lunatic but to be fair to him it probably was the best way to drive fairly quickly up that hill, the fare was NT30 from outside the visitor centre in Fulong.

One year on......

Ive now been in Taiwan for a year all in all things have gone ok, the biggest disappointment being our breakfast shop business which never really got off the ground, sometimes I wish I could turn the clock back, pick a different area to open a business in etc but instead of dwelling on negatives ill take the experience and lessons ive learned and try to be positive about the future. One thing for certain im not opening up another food business here for a while if at all, tradition is strong in Taiwan, money not in abundant supply and reluctance to change prominent, theres plenty that's willing to try once or twice but im afraid that's not enough in the long run. Its been a good experience though, ive learned a few things, the mentality really is different here some of it blows your mind and some when you think about it is actually very logical and clever. I do like Taiwan though and ive no intention to go back because of one relative failure, I like the life here its much more relaxed than back home, I love the easily dismissive attitude towards rules and regulations, if you have a bit of money you can really enjoy Taiwan, theres loads to see and ive only managed to get as far south as Chaiyi as yet and until ive been everywhere over the island I wont feel satisfied .                                                                                                                                       

Yangming Park

Selina had the weekend off so we decided to take a trip to Yangming Park situated in the hills above Taipei, in fact its only a 45 minute bus ride from Taipei main Station, you can get the 260 bus from the civic boulevard right outside the station for 30 dollars which is about 65p. Public transport in Taiwan is so cheap and is not profit driven like in the UK, it always amazes me how little it costs to get about, we have just travelled about 30 miles for £2.50 including the train ticket from Zhongli, it says alot for a government run system dont you think?   Anyway back to Yangming Park which is FREE to enter which basically consists of a number of trails through wooded glades and ornamental gardens, i was struggling a bit because i had strained some tendons in my knee whilst jogging earlier in the week, apparently the best time to visit the park is in the spring thats when all the flowers are out in full bloom. If you dont fancy walking all the way round there are little mini buses to catch to take take you to various points of interest. I preferred to linp around you get the feeling that this is a place to come and relax, have a sit down in the shade, listen to the crickets singing, i saw chinese families sat playing Mahjong and picnicing on the benches, there were these tame parrot like birds that seemed to enjoy the attention of being photographed.  It was really hot and Selina had dampened a towel in one of the freshwater streams and put it on my head, it was just bliss to feel cool for a few minutes, in all my trips to Taiwan this had to be the hottest day.

A New Beginning

I arrived at Taoyuan International Airport at 830pm on saturday june 16, i breezed through immigration and baggsge reclaim, met Selina and got a taxi back to Zhongli, we were in her apartment around 930pm. This trip to Taiwan would be my last from the UK for a while, this time i was staying and not going back, so a new chapter of my life begins from here. Our first task is too find a new apartment, this one is just too small now everytime i come here Selina has added more and more things, her daughter stays over 4 nights a week and with me here we wont be able to swing a cat, so the hunt is on to find somewhere big enough and cheap enough and near to where we want to be, we will have to consider visitors staying over from the UK so we might need 3 bedrooms, we definetely need a kitchen thats well equipped as this will be the hub of our future business and i like the idea of a balcony where we can sit out providing we dont get plagued by mosquitos, so thats our first job one thing by one thing, hopefully this week we can find something.

Not coming back this time........

ive just booked my flight for my latest trip to Taiwan, ive changed my mind about 10 times as to when i actually go and finally i decided today, june 15 at 1725pm i leave and this time im not coming back. Selina and i have a busy time ahead inbetween getting married in Hong Kong in july we are moving apartments then setting up a night market stand which is a prelude to opening up a western style breakfast shop somewhere around Taichung City in 2014.  Each time ive been there in the past it has been getting harder and harder to leave so this time after long discussions, many changed plans, many ideas weve decided to go for it and get married, live together, set up a business together, we dont want to be apart any longer than we need to be so basically ive got 9 weeks to go before i leave Britain and i cant say im too sorry to leave.  I feel im ready for a change and you cant get anything bigger than this so why not were not getting any younger and chances like this are few and far between, ive been single for the last 13 years and feel ready again to take the plunge, the time just seems right.

Sanxia

On saturday Selina took me to Sanxia district on the back of her scooter which was an experience in itself, im not the best pillion passenger as i prefer to be in control but im getting better at just letting her do the driving and the scooter is one of the best ways to get around  many places in Taiwan, when we got to Sanxia the traffic was already building up as everyone was heading for the Old street and the main temple for the CNY celebrations, the road was closed off to traffic part of the way down so we parked up the bike and headed for the old street, there were thousands of people already there and there was no way to get to the temple as the police were doing there best to marshall the ever growing crowd, so we decided to walk up the old street first then nipped down an alleyway towards the river bank where there was another pathway heading toward the temple. A precession had already  started down this walkway as part of the celebrations but there were that many people it was slow progress getting to the temple, we decided basically to walk with the precession as far as we could go but we ended getting caught in this massive crush of people all trying to go different ways it was crazy. All the time this loud wailing music was being played and fireworks were going off all over the place.  We were being pushed by the crush past these large looking boxes which had these enormously fat pigs inside, which apparently had been fattened up for 3 or 4 years for this ceremony, the pigs looked like they had been blown up with compressed air they were that fat, on top of the boxes the locals were setting off the fireworks and the music was just getting louder and louder.  Despite the massive throng of people in such a small space everybody seemed to be in good spirits i couldnt help thinking though that this ceremony would never be allowed in England there would be uproar with the treatment of the pigs, no health and safety regard for letting off the fireworks and there were far too many people in that small courtyard if anybody had fallen over they would have been crushed by the stampede. After unsuccessfully trying to make for a small pathway through to the temple we gave up and made our way back to the old street, glad to be out of the crush we walked up the old street and then around back toward the river bank and over the bridge taking in all the side shows and the stalls that were set up everywhere.

Chinese New year In Taiwan

Just 9 weeks later and im back in Taiwan this time for the Chinese New year, i just wanted to see what it was all about, Selina had 9 days vacation so it was a perfect chance to come back to my second home, i was also glad to get away from the English winter, although the weather here has been a bit dull at times and a little cool it beats getting up to cold frosty mornings, biting winds and whatever else is thrown at us. I arrived on the wednesday night Jan 18 five days before New Years Day, Selina still had to work on the thursday and friday but that was no problem to me im used to that gives me time to write some blogs etc, we had been invited to her second sisters house in Taichung on the sunday, her younger sister would be there also. I was happy for the chance to enjoy the New year with some of her family maybe also a little nervous, but there was no reason to feel like that because they were absolutely wonderful, i was made so welcome, Selina's brother in law is a Malaysian and although he had forgotten alot he had a reasonable knowledge of English so we sat and had a few beers and enjoyed a few cigarettes on his balcony, he talked more and more as he got drunk and got a little homesick for his country he left 28 years ago, but he was a really nice man and he made every effort to make me feel at ease.  The next day Selina's younger sister arrived with her son she was a lovely person always laughing and happy i got on with her pretty well she didnt speak alot of english but you could have a laugh with her, after a coffee i went to the temple with the 3 sisters to bring in the New Year and make a wish for good luck,  the younger sister gave me some insense sticks which we had to light and in various places around the temple, introduce yourself to the god make a wish and then place one the sticks into the receptacle, we did this about 8 times before leaving the temple, then we burned a paper parcel in the incinerator i guess as an offering to the god and then enjoyed a bowl of free soup in front of the temple. After that we went to this rather posh country club home of Taichung Golf Club as they were having like an open day had a bit of lunch took a few pics and a walk around, then it was back home for a lovely dinner a few more drinks and a game of Mahjong which i have absolutely no idea of playing, but my hosts were up to 1:30am playing for a few dollars as they do every New year.

Jinguashi and Juifen

dont worry that not all mine

 filling my face in Keelung night market

you are here!

 japanese house entrance

inside the house

touching the gold

 entrance to the old street

view from the restaurant

Selina was working on the monday so we couldnt set off to Keelung until later in the afternoon, the weather had changed considerably, it has been sunny and very hot most of the time on this trip but now it was cooler and the rain had arrived when we got to Keelung.  We were staying at the Harbour View Hotel for a couple of nights which overlooked the port area of Keelung.  The city seemed quite old and scruffy and around the harbour it was really busy for traffic, the main bus and railway stations were situated here which makes it handy for visitors i guess and there were subways and overhead walkways for pedestrians which were essential, there seemed to be more taxis here than other places id been too, being a taxi driver myself it always fascinates me how these guys operate, i dont think id fancy just driving around all day touting at bus stops, pulling over everytime i saw a foreigner, even just standing having a fag on the street i had the taxis pipping at me, stopping in the middle of the road with no concern for any traffic behind them. I think id rather just sit in an office chatting and watching tv until the phone rang.    We had a walk around the night market sampled a few local delicasies then back to the hotel as the rain got heavier and heavier.   The next day the weather was the same the plan was to take the bus up to Jinguashi to the gold ecological park a museum park telling the story of the gold mining that used to be carried out in the area. The bus journey was over an hour up into the hills, you can get the bus from the harbour front in Keelung and they are pretty frequent, all the buses pass through the town of Juifen and then up to the ecological park, then turn round and come back again. We stopped in Jinguashi for a couple of hours and wandered about in the rain, the Japanese first opened the mine when they colonised Taiwan theres still some evidence of Japanese architecture and design looking at some of the buidings, you can see relics of the old mine and how it used to work, where the gold was refined, you can enter one of the mining tunnels and try and picture life as it was when the mine was open. Theres also a memorial for Allied prisoners of war who were made to work there in unbelievably atrocious conditions, they were sent to the areas where it was least favourable to work in 40c heat with little food and if they didnt work hard enough they were beaten with mining picks. From there we took the bus to Juifen a fascinating little place very poular with tourists. Juifen was once just a small village that thrived in the gold mining hey day, i can imagine this place gets really busy at weekends or holidays, everybody wants to walk up the old street a narrow alley full of shops and stalls that meanders up the side of the hill, the place was full of Japanese, Chinese and tourists from Hong Kong, we walked up to the top i had spied a stall that made peanut brittle and bought a big bag, at the top we stopped for lunch at a restaurant which clung to the side of the cliff, on a clear day the views would have been wonderful, but it was nice to sit there for an hour and relax and watch the buses trying to pass each other on the narrow winding road below.