An Outing at Cao Tun

In the beginning of October (or was it end of September?) Jo invited me along to a World Vision (Central Taiwan chapter) outing to a pretty and scenic place called Cao Tun (T'sao Ch'uen for all you non PinYin people out there....). It was a really nice spot. There were a total of about 40 of us and we had a tour of the area, a picnic and just a relaxing time on the refurbrished grounds (this was a place almost smack dab in the epi-center of the Sept 21 earthquake a few years ago....). They did a great job in landscaping it and making it have a 'park-like' feeling.

Unfortunately, I was in charge of the camera and neglected my duty (I was enjoying the scenery too much....). Thus, there are not many pics, but here are some to give you a taste:

This is a shot from the grounds there. The mountains in the background
are so beautiful! (Sidenote: many people forget how damn beautiful
Taiwan really is...holy cow....just get OUT of the city!)

A little lazy bridge leading to a wildlife refuge for birds and other smaller animals

Here is our picnic grounds. How many people do you see?
Hint: even though most Chinese are super skinny (NOT naming names..Jo)
they are NOT grey colored....

Ok fine, I am sucking in my stomach....but you don't understand...
I had a picnic with skinny trees and I felt Rhino-fat.....
Anyway, it is a nice picture of some vibrant flowers....

Here are some Word Vision volunteers (what a great organization!)
The young man on the right helped initiate Jo into WV and they have been
good friends ever since.
Note: that is NOT underwear she is holding, it is cotton/silk from a nearby tree....
Geez...

Taiwan is full of surprises. You walk along a street expecting to see common things when the unexpected hits you. That is a blog in itself...

Anyway, one of the cool surprises here was that the park basically takes in unwanted dogs and lets them go around the area in a free manner. I was both so happy about this, but also saddened by the terrible fact that too many Taiwanese love "cute" puppies, but dislike dogs when they become an adult - so they literally discard them. I will save my wrath in another post or sometime else, but needless to say, I was happy that these dogs found not a good - but a great home. They are in cages now, but that is because we are on a tour and most Taiwanese are scared of big dogs (since if the dog stands up, they are almost as tall as some Taiwanese! - Heck, I would be a little put off by a dog large enough to best me while standing up...). The owners of the park really love dogs and do their best to take care of them. Many of the dogs bite and are nasty when they arrive - from years of abuse - but the owner said that after a few weeks here, they all change and mellow out.
So cool....

"Le Le" (Happy Happy) is trying to bite me in fun...
(Damn, forgot to suck in.....haha)

Soooooooooo Cute....This is the kind of Jo and I would probably get soon....
It was hard to continue the tour after seeing these guys....
I stayed much longer than the others....

A little tongue for the camera....

This actually looked like a larger version of the dog my ex-girfriend had.
Such a beautiful fuzzy friend!

This is another cute dog....OH! Sorry! I mean it is Jo trying to look
casual on a Hammock...I mean, come on....I don't think you are fat enough to break
the damn thing, right? What are you nervous for??? Me, on the other hand.....

One last attempt of trying to take a "Nature" photo....

So overall a great day and outing.

If you are ever in the area, stop on by!

Jeff & Jo

Catching up with Friends

Ok, great - I have laid to rest my apartment story (at least for now). Now onto more important matters!

(Note: if you missed it, it is below the Pics of Sean and Alice's wedding - basically two posts before this one - it took me 2 days to finish writing it....)

I have been extremely fortunate recently to get back in touch with some great friends whom I have not seen in a long time. These meetings have taken place over the last few weeks.

First off are some pics of my good friend Leon. Leon and I have a remarkable number of similarities, making us joke that we are spiritual brothers. I have known him for about 6 years through ALE (where almost all of my cool friends came from....) and we have had - without fail - awesome and insightful conversations each time we meet. About anything. It is great to hash around ideas with him and I look forward to his upcoming book, which I have had the honor of reading bits of to both learn from and give constructive critism for (if my thoughts helped I am not sure!). Also, recently, I found out Leon will be a dad soon, so he and Renee will have their hands full! Congrats!

Anyway, Jo and I had a chance to meet Leon up in TPE when we went up to deal with the wedding info.

Drinking some coffee...Yes, I am sure you can see the
similarities of my 'brother', right? Same eyes...same girth....haha

There it is...the important manuscript....a very enlightening read.
Jia Yo! Leon....

Oh, Leon has a great site about Life Coaching and trying to help people achieve their best potential. If you are interested, go to Vikasa!

------------------------------------------------

Also, Jo and I were lucky to meet my friend Mark and his wife Ting Ting a few weeks ago as they are living in Singapore now. I get a call one day asking "Is Jeff there?" in English, even though I used the Chinese "Wei?" to answer the phone. I was shocked to find out it was him, since we had lost contact for about 3 years.

But I met Mark when I first arrived in Taiwan - (sigh!) over 10 years ago. I was teaching at ELSI, or Kojen EnglishSchool and he was the head teacher. We bonded immediately and often went out for drinks and betel nut after classes. He showed me around, having lived in TPE for awhile and got me into the culture here. I owe him a lot! He married Ting early on, so I have known her for awhile as well. They left for DC many years ago and after a few emails and phone calls, it was difficult to get back in touch.

Imagine my surprise to learn that they were in Taichung for a few days before heading out to Sinapore - where Mark is now working at a firm that is promoting green energy (methane) to local farmers and companies in the developing world. So he travels a lot. I thought I traveled some, but Mark I believe has seen most of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas....However Antarctica is still on a "to-do" list.....

Anyway, Jo and I went over to Feng Jia university with them (which is right near our new apartment) and had some really great tea. Can't wait for another visit or to go visit them in S'pore.

Mark and Ting Ting chilling out...

I can't bear the thought of what our picture looked like 10 years ago!
But here we are again, basically 10 years later....

Did I mention that both Mark and I are VERY lucky? haha

Here is a pretty good pic of us....
Thanx Ting Ting!

Another good one.....
Why is it women are better photographers than men?

Anyway, it was great to see Mark, Ting Ting, and Leon again. We hope to see you all again soon (at our wedding, for one!).

Take care!

Jeff & Jo!

Another Happy Wedding Party!

Actually, just before our ceremony on Oct 11th, another two friends of mine got married as well and they had a fabulous ceromony and reception outside at a beautiful location. Below are some pics of Sean and Alice's wedding - fun was had by all....

Here is Sean and Alice all decked out.

My previous boss Jimbo actually donned the Pastor's robes
and performed the ceremony!

Making it official!

Here is the lucky couple - Sean and Alice

I have known both Sean and Alice for as long as I have been in ALE (Actual Living English) - which is about 8 years, now. It was great to see them get married and to see so many old friends at the reception. Below are some pics of some friends - who will hopefully be able to make it to Jo and my reception in Feb (hint, hint! - if you are reading and see yourself....) haha....

Here is Patrick - the guy who actually hired me to ALE, 8 years ago....Cheers, Patrick!

Here is Jo and I, plus one of my mentors Jimbo!
This was after the official ceremony, so he is not a pastor now.....

Travis and Julia are enjoying a special moment after Julia caught the bouquet....
Which if you notice in the previous picture, Jo has....coincedence?

Another buddy (Jeremy) I had not seen in awhile popped up and we had a few drinks...
...to catch up...

Jo and Vivian having a drink...or three....

Sean and I discussing very important matters.....
...notice it is getting hot and there is a pool behind us....

Here is another happy couple, who, at the time of the picture, was not married yet...

Patrick and Jo are trying to say something to me I think....
What could it be?.....Don't do something?.....
I wonder what they mean?

Oh, it was probably this....But come on! It was hot there....
And, well, it was cool in there....
I must say, a nice end to a great party.....I also give Travis points for going in,
as well as Julia! (but yes, it was a wet ride home...)

All in all, a great time!

Hope to see you guys in a few months at our wedding!

Jeff & Jo

Ps. Check out Sean's Blog here

Home Sweet (and Sour) Home

I have put off telling the ups and downs of our apartment story for the simple reason that it is long, frustrating (to me) and still ongoing - albeit it is calm for the moment. Although, over the last few weeks, I have had lots of practice dealing with 'good' and 'bad' news; enough practice make me re-evaluate my ideas of perspective and ability to react well....

Anyway, here is a sequence of events about our apartment:

Act One:

• I moved into my new apartment on July 1st after living in my previous one for over 7 years (I wanted a 'new' lifestyle and place to match).
• I basically fell in love with it due to the redone bathroom which included jacuzzi and large shower, in addition to the nice decorating of the place.
• The landlord (Jerry) told Jo and I that he had to move to TPE for work. We knocked down his original asking price and signed a contract for a year.
• We started to move in on June 28th.
• On June 29th, I found a note on the door - it looked official and I asked our guard about it as well as Jo.
• It was a Bank Forclosure Notice, saying that the bank was going to take the apartment if they did not get their mortgage.
• I immediately called Jerry and asked "what the heck??"
• He said not to worry - he would handle it.
  
• Ok, he seemed sincere - we let him handle it (our first mistake).
• Jerry called back, saying things were set with the bank, and we could move in as scheduled.
• We moved in and enjoyed about 2 weeks of getting used to the new apartment.

Act Two

• Midway through July, bills came for the previous months and it turns out that Jerry had not paid electricity, gas or water for about 3 months. The bill we got was basically a warning that things would start being shut off soon.
  
• Ok, I try to call to check up, but can not reach him anywhere.
• Ok, I pay for the bills and subtract it from the rent due in August. That is fair.
  
• I call to tell him this, but again, no one. Messages are not replied to. Hmmmm...
• We are getting used to the place and the surrounding area. It is quite nice.
• We keep getting credit card letters and cell phone bills for Jerry, but do not open them since that is his mail.
  

Act Three

• August goes by without much incident
  
• It is damn hot in Taiwan though and we are spoiled from the nice AC we have installed here.
• More bills and letter come for Jerry, and again we try to contact, but no response. All cell phones have been cut off.
  

Act Four

• September comes and almost goes without incident...however, this is where it gets interesting.
  
• After the Sept 1st rent was paid by bank transfer, I decided to wait on the Oct rent to at least get in touch with Jerry - since I wanted to confirm a few things about the apartment and also to have a working contact number for him.
• On Sept 28th, a bank official comes to our apartment while we were out and tells the guard that this is Jerry's final warning before the house is forclosed.
• We return from eating Japanese food (good, by the way!), and go "WHAT???!!!"
• On Sept 29th, Jo calls the bank guy and explains our situation. We find out that Jerry has basically lied to us and has not paid the bank 1 cent from June on. So when we moved in, he knew what was going to happen, but was just trying to get some cash from us.
• Oh, we paid 2 months deposit in addition to our July rent.
• We also learn that the bank will start the process of forclosing in mid November, but it will probably be bought in December, so at this time, we had a month and a half to move out.
• I decided right then and there that I was not going to pay Jerry anymore since he already had 2 months of my money and it would work out to almost not beinig screwed "too" much.
• We also decided to act as if this was a vacation house and since we had to move out soon anyway, we would let him deal with bills....so we left lots of lights on, on purpose and had AC 24/7. Granted, this was immature, but it sure felt good....
• I get a call on Oct. 2nd, and it is Jerry. He casually asks for the rent (due on Oct 1st) and I say well, first explain the situation. He stammers but then assures us that he will handle everything and take care of the bank.

Act Five

• We wait a day or two, and Jerry calls back saying that he has taken care of the bank and that I can go ahead and pay the rent.
  
• I still feel leery and tell him that I will pay him if I can speak to a bank official saying he has taken care of everything.
• He said he was meeting the bank at 3:30, so I said just have them call after or during the meeting.
• Jo and I wait.
• At 8:15 pm I get a call from a Mr. Chang, saying that he is a bank official in charge of Jerry's case. My eyebrow does a little dance and after talking a little bit, I hand the phone to Jo.
• Jo asks a few questions and it becomes apparent that the situation is a little strange and then Jo closes my phone.
• I ask her if she hung up on him since he was being rude, and she said no, it was HE who hung up on her!
• Obviously Jerry called one of his buddies to pose as a bank person.
• Great.

Act Six

• Jerry calls over the next two days (about 10 times) and I ignore him. I mean really...
  
• Then I get another call from a number I am not sure of and pick it up thinking it was someone else. Jerry must have used another person's phone.
• I basically tell him that I don't trust him anymore, will move out at the end of November and that he is not seeing a dime.
• Jo also talks to him to help clarify things and they hang up.
• We wait another day or two and by now, we are busy making arrangements for our wedding at the court.
• I get a message on Tuesday Oct 10th saying that Jerry has an urgetn matter to discuss. We roll our eyes, but call anyway.
• I let Jo talk to him, and she says that Jerry will sell his house to a relative, who will then take care of the forclosure status. Can we all meet to discuss this tomorrow, he asks?
  
• We say no, we have 'plans' (our wedding), but on Thursday will be ok.
• So we plan to meet on Thursday.
• After hanging up, Jo and I discuss what may happen. She mentions that our contract may then be honored by law, since if he will buy it and deal with the bank then we have the right to stay until June.
• Really? Great, I think....
  

Act Seven

• We meet Mr. Chen, a relative of Jerry, who actually seems like a pretty good guy (but we are leery).
  
• We then find out that he will not buy it, per se, but in fact let it go through foreclosure to then bid on it himself.
• Oh, and can we move out in 2 weeks? This is because he says the bank officials will make things hard on us if we choose to stay til November.
  
• My face is contorting and I am pissed....but we can not do anything. He is not buying it, so our contract is meaningless.
• I try to negotiate a little more time and a refund of our deposit and he agrees to do this.
• But having to move out so soon, kills my mood.
• Mr. Chen says he would like to see the apartment before it goes up for foreclosure and we hesitatingly agree.

Act Seven

• I was out when Mr. Chen came to visit the apartment the next day. Jo was there.
  
• It turns out that our story is not done yet.
• Mr. Chen was in fact Jerry's Bookie, not a relative....go figure...
• And Jerry owes so much money, Jerry is giving Mr. Chen the house, but even that will not cover his debt.
• Mr. Chen had wanted to move in himself, but once he saw what Jerry did with the place, he realized that he did not like it and started to have second thoughts about kicking us out.
• Therefore, Jo managed to convince him that it would be better if we stay, but we don't want to deal with the foreclosure problems (there are many).
• He says actually, there will be no problems, since he has 'ways' of dealing with the bank and it will not go to foreclosure. He was saying that there would be problems to get us to move out earlier....sigh!
• So I return in a negative mood and Jo tells me this new info.
• I am both happy and pissed (still - my problem!). But I am leery again. I mean, tomorrow things may change again, right?
• Jo mentions that she can try to cut a deal with Mr. Chen (who by now legally owns the apartment). We will ask for a cheaper rent.
• Mr. Chen disagrees, but Jo gets him to agree that if we do want to move out earlier - before June - then we can get back the whole deposit, no questions asked.
• We meet the next day and sign paperwork and pay rent.
• The deal is done....for now.

WHEW! That was long to write and long to endure!

However, now I have a pretty good handle on what good and bad news is and how to keep it from affecting me. I mean, I let myself get so excited and so pissed over a very short time, that I now know expending that much energy is so tiring.

So, as for right now, things are ok and we will be able to stay here (we think) until June, barring any other weirdness or blatent lies.

If you want to see some pics of the place that caused me to much happiness and grief for a time, go here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, here is a story that sums up the matter nicely....

This farmer had only one horse, and one day the horse ran away. The neighbors came to condole over his terrible loss. The farmer said, "What makes you think it is so terrible?"

A month later, the horse came home--this time bringing with her two beautiful wild horses. The neighbors became excited at the farmer's good fortune. Such lovely strong horses! The farmer said, "What makes you think this is good fortune?"

The farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. Such bad luck! The farmer said, "What makes you think it is bad?"

A war came, and every able-bodied man was conscripted and sent into battle. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, remained. The neighbors congratulated the farmer. "What makes you think this is good?" said the farmer.

and so on....

For more versions of this story, go here.
------------------------------------------------

Anyway, sorry you also had to endure that.....now you knwo why I did not write about that or other things for so long....my mind was elsewhere!

Now it is in our Jacuzzi!

haha

Jeff & Jo!

Honesty is the Best Policy

My 'supposed' friend and 'possible' best man sent me this link the other day.....



But I guess, honesty really is the best policy....

haha

The Lord of the Engagement Ring

Perhaps I should have written this before I talked about our wedding ceremony, but I did mention that this would not be linear for the next few posts....

Anyway, in early October we went to look for an engagement ring and rings in general. We decided on a Sunday to go to a mall to 'browse.' Yes, that was the word - I distinctly remember. Now, being a normal guy, it is a fact that we don't 'browse.' We 'buy.' We have a loose idea on what might be a good idea to get and well, we get it - or close to it. In this case I was looking for something that was small, round and able to keep me in debt for a few more months....

Now to be fair, I have sort of learned how to shop (browse) with women. This took practice and time but I think I got it, yet it is a steep learning curve. Basically before, I was the one that was dragged into going shopping, rolling my eyes since I did not have anything to buy, and my ex-girlfriends would always just look for hours, while I usually came out of the damn mall with ten things to their one thing or none at all.

Wait, didn't I say I had nothing to buy? That is true, but I am a MAN. I buy with no reason (just like most women women!). At least I am man enough to admit it....

So we planned to hit 3 mall complexes and take about a week to make a decision. I distinctly remember....

Here is the turn of events that would make Sauron proud....

• We get off my motorcycle and go into the mall.
• We head up to the second floor where all the expensive jewelery is
• There are about 15-20 different counters/companies of differing jewelery
• We look around and start 'browsing.'
• We actually take 5 steps to the second counter (the first sold watches).
• We look - I mean, browse.
• We like some and the saleswoman starts The Dialogue with us (In hindsight - this was Sauron Herself....).
• 15 minutes of 'browsing' here passes.
• We smile and leave, thinking one of them is really nice.
• We take a slow walk around the other counters and actually do browse.
• We are about to leave.
• I say to Jo: "Actually, I really like that first one." (I forgot the first major rule of browsing: Don't buy the first thing you see)
• Jo says: "Me, too." (She obviously forgot as well)
  
• I say: "Let's get it." (Men buy)
• Jo says: "Ok! Great!" (Who is more foolish - the fool or the fool who follows him?)
  
• We get it (Sauron continues whispering to me.....and I feel the power surge....)
  

WAIT A MINUTE!!

A very important purchase that took 20 minutes?! Who does Jo think she is? A Guy? Actually, I must admit that this is long, even for a normal guy, so I guess I can cut some slack.

But Damn, it is a nice ring. We both had a gut feeling about it and really did like it when we saw it. Fate? I dunno, but it was fairly easy and painless process (aside from the 'light airy' feeling in my wallet.....), establishing again that we are on the right path.

I will edit in a picture of her engagement ring later.

But now you know how cool Jo is.

Or is that Sauron's murmuring?......

Anyway, it looks great! - Too bad it does not make the wearer invisible....course I guess that is a plus, considering what happened to Golum.....

Jeff & Jo!

The Ring in the Lord of the Rings....

My What? Oh, My Wife!

Ok, a few things have happened over the last few weeks and I have been at times frantic, excited, in bliss and shocked by the events around me. I have tried numerous times to write, but was busy handling things or just too preoccupied with other things.....(as you will see)...There is a lot going on and these next few posts will be a little out of linear order, so please bear with me.

There is one event that I have been VERY eager to tell everyone for weeks now: I got a haircut and it looks really good...

Ok, ok......actually, that is not entirely true...

In fact, as many of you know, I am now OFFICIALLY MARRIED with the love of my life - Jo, which after some speculation, discussion and creative thinking, is now officially Josephine Chih Super Cool Angelovich. Wow, I am so happy!

REALLY.....

It happened on Wednesday, Oct. 11th, 2006 at 11:00 am. Oct 11th was already an important day in Jo's life since that is when she arrived in England two years ago to study for a year in Canterbury, so we thought it would be cool to have another life-changing event happen on the same day, and so it was.

We have been married for almost a week now and - yeah yeah - ok, it is still the "bliss time" but actually, the only main differences now are we are making more jokes and teasing each other more....Hmmmm.....

Anyway, we got married at the court house in Taichung. It was an interesting experience since it was relatively easy and low key. There were 4 other couples that were married in tandem with us, so it was a group ceremony in a way. We had to have two witnessess and we both chose people whom are important to us: I chose one of my best friends here and a classmate whom I went to Chinese classes with when I was at Tung Hai University 15 years ago (Todd Wertz - hopefully you may meet him), and Jo chose the woman whom unwittingly introduced us in January over a business coffee (Fiona Li).

Basically, I will let you see some pics, and you can get a sense of the time....

Here we are arriving at the courthouse after a frantic attempt to find parking. We were a bit late but so was everyone else.....Nervous? No, no.....haha


Getting the last bit of paperwork done. Not very romantic at this stage, but it gets better....haha.


Well, here we are before the final plunge! The look on Jo's face is priceless.....(Holy ****! What am I doing!)


Here we are before the ceremony alter and in front of the "Double Happiness" Chinese character used especially for weddings (pronounced "Shuang Xi"). And seeing how we are in a modern era, the neon really does add that touch of class, no? Especially with the dragons....


But we were not caring about that at all.....as you can see....


Well, the cliff is approaching! Here we are gathered up at our places with the 4 other couples (some of whom thought they were going out for a quick meal, perhaps - I mean, come on - jeans?!? Anyway, we look damn good, but that is another matter...). The woman in the corner towards the back wearing the red and black outfit, is the judge. We met her before the ceremony to 'confirm' that we wanted to get married and that I would be a good husband and all that.....At the beginning she asked - "Do you know why you are here?" And before I could answer, my friend Todd blurted out - "What, this is not the place you buy a car?" We all laughed and she must have thought "these crazy foreigners....." Anyway, we are excited!


And it is starting......It was all in Chinese and I understood most of it but I must say that it felt like I just kinda signed on the dotted line without reading the fine details....since they used specialized words - but come on, I 'kinda' know what I am getting into.....sigh! haha.....


Before the judge asked each couple their vows and agreement (to buy a car....), she asked us to look at each other and bow to each other.


Ok, by this time, I was officially married! She went around saying "________, do you ..." well you know....in Chinese to each couple. The correct answer was not "I do" as in English, but "Yuen Yin!" (which means "I agree"). This one guy when asked, must have been nervous since he blurted out "Hei! Shi!.......uh,....Yuan Yin!" (which was part Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese.....). When it came to me, I was a little surprised since she asked me in perfect English to which I said "I Do.....Yuan Yin!". And, yes, Jo said the same......Yeah, I guess I am a little happy....

This was the part that we could give each other rings, but we chose to wait and do the proper ring ceremony in the States on Feb 10th. More details coming.....


Well, we passed the first test and were presented with our official paperwork.


Here is a picture of all of us - Todd, The Angelovich's and Fiona... What a great group!


Now.....I present you......Mrs. Jo Angelovich! Or in Chinese, you can call her "An Tai Tai!"
You can tell the smile is a wee bit bigger, right? haha

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I apologize for the delay, but I have been having fun with my new car....I mean wife!...and have been utterly devoted.....to being a great husband (if you want more details, you will have to confirm with Jo yourself....).

Anyway, I look forward to seeing some of you for our Feb 3rd reception here in Taiwan (lots of fun and food) and/or on Feb 10th in New England (at a place yet to be determined).

Holy Cow! We are hitched!

So Cool....!

Jeff & Jo!

Taiwan Storyland

If you want to get a glimpse of what life was like in Taiwan about 40-50 years ago, there is a new museum / playground / theme park right in the center of Taipei (near the TPE train station).

Jo found out about it before we scheduled our TPE AIT trip (from the previous post), so putting them together would make for a good half day trip. Indeed it was.

It is called "Taiwan Storyland" and while it is a bit on the small side, I was pretty impressed with the set up. Nestled under the ShinKong building and taking up what felt like 2 whole blocks, you were transported into Taiwan life, circa 1960-1970's. Overall, it was nicely done and it gave me a look at what Jo's childhood looked like in some ways.

Here is some info from the booklet we got:

Roads and streets weaving in an indoor space
A museum designed to present the ordinary life in 1965
A place where you can search for information on culture,
history and civilation and food across Taiwan.
A pebble paved passage, a trip to the good old days.

Imagination and nostalgia for the past wind
extend in the old streets.
People's friendliness and old neighbor's kindness
float in the air.
A miniature of an old city forty years ago
is here to arouse your sealed memories and touch you.

Welcome to Taiwan Storyland!

Anyway, enjoy the pics:


Jo at one of the entrances' pictures

Jo pretending she is a puppeteer at a "Bu Dai Xi" show -
was a very common form of street entertainment

:



Jo the night stall vendor - Hmmm,
do I smell Stinky ToFu?

Jeff at the entrance, trying to 'blend in..." Is that a handsome Taiwanese man?

I am not sure if Jo had a bike like that,
but I sure a lot of people did. The sign
abover her is for "Hei Song" soda, one
you can still buy today!

Jeff at the Apothcary's shoppe - or at least it would be that in England. Here it is a Chinese Medicine shop with all sorts of goodies in those little drawers. That is Ginseng behind me.

When we passed this, Jo said "Hey! That is the
uniform I wore to school!" I asked even with the bright orange hat? Jo said yup.

Jeff admiring one of the vintage
Heart Throbs of the time - and of
course desirous of the product
she is selling! Green Oil. Heck,
it is GOOD stuff - don't know what
is in it (common for a lot of Chinese
things), but it works for headaches,
pains and a whole bunch of other
things. I have some on my desk
right now.....

With all the cell phones today, you are hard
pressed to find a public phone. I wonder who she is calling?

The ubiquitous Happy Banana Boy. Need I say more?

Jeff is hoping no one is taking notice of the urgent need to relieve himself. I mean come on, it is supposed to be circa 1965, right? There were very few public bathrooms! However, too bad I totally disregarded the sign in blue saying explicitely "Do not pee on wall!" But what could happen?






Anyway, hope you liked the pics and the little blurbs. If you have a chance, get over here and check it out.

It is a nice way to spend some time in TPE and to explore more about Taiwanese history a bit.

Til next post, (a lot is happening),

Jeff & Jo

Doh! Damn Coppers!