Scooter around Taiwan part 1: Hualien to Tainan

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

Here are a couple of my favorite songs that I simply must listen to during the holidays.

Typhoon Saola rant

Not a rant against the typhoon; heck, we got a day off because of it!

No, just some minor grumblings about a well-intentioned traffic sign that's useless as it stands now.

To me, this is what makes the world beautiful

The following is just a random video of some friends taking a road trip in Norway.

The young woman diver is Norwegian. And black. And singing along to a Korean song. Passengers include her Norwegian-speaking friends of Vietnamese and Sri Lankan descent.

The mixture of ethnicities, languages, and silly camaraderie brings the biggest smile to my face.

Note: The video cannot be embedded. However, you can click here or below to watch it on YouTube.

She (I wish I knew her name) also speaks fluent English. Her blog is at The Manifestation of Randomness.

Sunday ride on my newly named scooter

First of all, let me update you on my scooter's name.

My old scooter was named Yzma by my daughter Chelsea. Yzma—one of the best Disney villains ever—has a slight build and a devious mind. I thought it fit my little old 50cc bike well.

Here's a clip from the movie The Emperor's New Groove that displays Yzma's emaciated figure and twisted logic:  

My new ride—with a 125cc engine—is bigger, louder, and more powerful. Once again, my daughter came up with what I think is the perfect name: Miss Agatha Trunchbull.

Miss Trunchbull (aka "The Trunchbull") is a character in the movie Matilda. She's a beefy, former Olympian hammer-throw champion, who is now a sadistic principal. She describes one student as "a wart, a carbuncle, a blister, a festering pustule of malignant ooze."

Sunday, I took Miss Trunchbull out for a spin.

From Luzhu (Lujhu) I drove west to the coast, then followed routes 15 and 2 to the northernmost tip of Taiwan. I continuted to Jinshan, where I then headed south to visit the Jin Bao Shan Cemetary. The route is about 70km.

Jin Bao Shan Cemetery is also an art park, and it's quite beautiful. The legendary Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng is buried there. My camera is broken, but here are some photos from when I went last August with my friend Ryan.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Wednesday is the Tomb Sweeping holiday and Ryan and I are planning a ride to Ming Chi Forest. Stay tuned…

More Information

• Jin Bao Shan Cemetery – Chinese website with photos of this beautiful park (Google Maps: http://g.co/maps/f6puj)

 

Look out, litterbugs

M13 is a Canadian motorcycle vlogger who has lived in Taiwan for the past 14 years.

He doesn't have a high tolerance for littering (or animal abuse).

Go check out his channel on YouTube.

Missing my kids

Mother's Day

A touching video of how one family was able to preserve some of their memories of their Mom/Grandma.

Yeah, I cried.

Taiwan daytrip to Bitoujiao and Fulong 04-24-11

A frightening day in Cambodia

I arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Thursday, Feb. 3rd. I'll write more when I get the chance, but I wanted to write this bit for those of you who aren't my Facebook friends.

Today (Friday) my friend and I went to visit the Preah Vihear temple on the Cambodia-Thai border, a 4 hour drive from Siem Reap. We had just arrived at the base of the mountain with another family, and were about to arrange for a ride up the mountain to visit the temple, when shooting and bombing began between Thai and Cambodian forces there. Immediately the soldiers led us into a hole at the base of the mountain. There were continual gunshots and grenade launcher shots. A couple of times the whine of the missile sounded a lot closer so we all had to lie flat on the ground.

I shot a video which is below. We had been hiding in the hole for about 20 minutes when the soldiers told us to leave quickly. The video starts as we were exiting the hole, but then the shooting and bombing started again, and we had to go back into the hole for safety. We stayed for about another 20 minutes, then the soldiers told us to escape quickly.




Although I'm smiling an laughing in some parts of the video, I believe that must be a reaction from nervousness, because believe me, at the time all I remember was being scared to death.

Our driver, who had been accompanied by his wife and teenage daughter, was instructed to take a different route by dirt roads to escape. On the way out we could see the flash of missiles in the air and the smoke from fires started on the hill. When we got to the nearby town the local villagers were packing up and the road got a bit crowded with trucks full of people leaving.



We're absolutely safe now, back in Siem Reap, but it was quite a frightening experience.

US Troops + Lady Gaga = ROFL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haHXgFU7qNI

Lin Yu Chun sings "I Will Always Love You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA-tOsM6F4Y

The Africa Niche

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p09I9sgEUXk

This is why I love languages

Here's a Japanese girl and Nigerian guy speaking Yoruba. So cool.

I hate this guy

Not really. He speaks amazing Cantonese and Mandarin.

Um, yeah, I guess I do hate him :-Þ

American Pride (sarcasm alert)

Of course, stuff like this happens all over the world, so I'm not really bashing my home country, just trying to show the "lighter side", lol.

San Francisco in Taiwan

I don't remember if I ever posted this, but here's a video I made for my friend, an award-winning photographer (don't be modest, Michael). He was kind enough to send me a copy of his book, which I took on a little tour.

San Francisco Black and White in Taiwan @ Yahoo! Video

6.5 Earthquake in Humboldt

Eureka, California (where I'm from) was hit by a 6.5 earthquake today (Saturday 4:30pm their time). Fortunately, no one in my family was injured or suffered any major damage. I've heard that the mall had some damage and injuries, but I don't know yet about other areas.



Thanks, Michael, for directing me to this video, from a webcam at the Arcata plaza. The camera distortion during the quake is trippy.

My new apartment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv2lAdWEjUU

Missionary Rap by Barats & Bereta

In the past week I’ve seen many Mormon missionaries in Taoyuan. By ‘many’ I mean I’ve seen 4+ every day, instead of the 2 I may see once every couple of months.

Coincidentally, my favorite online comedy team, Barats and Bereta, just posted this little gem. Enjoy.