Another Outing: Tai Ping Mountain, Part 1

We had another outing into the beauty of Taiwan's mountains recently and it was much needed. Coming out of my summer hibernation has drained me physically, mentally and spiritually and we both needed to get back into the flow of things. Well, that is my thinking anyway - Jo just wanted to get out of the damn house and go out (seeing how she hates to stay indoors for more than 30 minutes at a time....).

So we planned a trip (ok, JO planned it) to Tai Ping Mountain, which could be translated as Pacific Mountain, since the Pacific Ocean is Tai Ping Yang. I asked if we could see the Pacific Ocean from there and Jo responded: "No, you can't." I tried to argue that calling it Pacific Mountain was strange then, but Jo mentioned that it is just a name and had no meaning. I almost took the bait and started to argue more, but she quickly changed the subject: "Look out! There's a bus coming!" Normally, this would not be an earth shattering announcement, but when the curvy mountain road only fits about half of a bus on good sections, you find yourself taking emergency precautions, swearving out of the way while wiping the persperation that is lining your eyes.

But that is a WHOLE other story....(see below)

Anyway, we made it up to the mountain after a 6 hour drive (2 hours the way the crow flies) and it was great. Below are some pictures of the event with some commentary.

As usual, enjoy!

This is Jo's victory salute after the drive to our accomodation on Tai Ping Mountain. We have an agreement: she drives the mountain roads and I drive the highway sections and in this case it was about even driving time.

But I do have to admit, I really don't like the way Jo drives. I get antsy, nervous and impatient. Now, I know that is not cool, but before you say any more, I will say she drives too fast! Especially on the mountain roads. I feel so ashamed! I wanted to be a race car driver when I was about 8 years old, but I realize that I am so happy I am not. You see, she hates those boring flat spaces some of us mortals call highways and loves the sickening, cutback mountain-y, death-defying, oh-my-god-we-are-going-to-die, curves where you have to drive on the other lane (of a 1.5 lane path - I loath to use the term 'road') just to keep from turning the car 90 degrees on each turn.

I seriously had to close my eyes on some parts of this trip (and many others, unfortunately). I found that when I drive on a Taiwanese mountain road, I tend to think about little things that drive Jo crazy like: my life, her life, another car hurtling down on us, that bus that just ran us off the road, that fact that beyond a 2 foot high barrier there is a looooooong drop down....things like that.

But that is not what she (or many other Taiwanese drivers think about), oh no. She is too busy figuring out the more important details, like: calculating the centimeters from the edge of the cliff needed to make the turn neater, the amount of gas needed to gun her god awful lil' car past that oil tanker passing him when he doesn't seem to want anyone to pass, when to break with ample precision so that the back wheels don't lock up when that OTHER crazy driver who already wanted to make HIS turn neater comes onto our lane, or how to adjust the stereo to find a better song - which - you know, takes a little while, while looking up at the road once every - oh, 10-20 seconds....

You know, the important stuff.

I will casually hint at the 'discussions' that we have gotten into over her or my driving, which ultimately led us to declare our battle lines: Me - Ol' boring highway. Her - Anything windy and hilly or bumpy (and in the city as well, but that is another story). With these agreements, we have gotten along fine, but she still does not get it when she says, "Isn't it beautiful?" (when we are driving up these wonderful mountains) and I respond: "I hope so!" through closed eyes....

So, I heartily respect the race car driver of the family - Jo, and her lil' Herbie unmountainy car. Let's have another picture of the driver, shall we:

I was actually kissing the ground before I was forced to take this picture.....


This is right after I cleaned up my heaving mess and tearfully looked up and saw the temperature was a wee bit cooler than in the city: 23 degrees. It thankfully got down to 17 degrees at night and I was in heaven...but then I remembered we had to leave the next day and I got dry heaves again, knowing we had to go on the same road back with all those other crazies in the background.....but ah, I digress....


This is our view from our room. It may not be much to most of you who already live near woods, but to a city dweller like me now (sigh) I so miss seeing trees from my window. I used to have that at my old house in Connecticut, in my apartment in Northhampton, and in my apartment in Seattle, but it has been many years since I have seen open mountain air and trees from my window. This was indeed refreshing. While in the room to sleep, I went shirtless with shorts while Jo was bundled up in about 25 coats and 14 pants under the covers. Yes, our temperature tolerances are quite different as well, but yes, that is ANOTHER story.....



These are some pics after we started exploring around a bit in the area. I always say that Taiwan is so damn beautiful and it is true, even though the cities are super ugly and messy. It is such a strong dichotomy and I am pissed for not going out more, but I hope that some of you will sympathize with the ordeal it takes to get OUT of the city and INTO the beauty here. But Jo and I have agreed that when I am the passenger, I will keep my blindfold on and talk to her about nice things while at least 2 of my nine lives vanish along the mountain road....Geez! Am I a wuss or what!? Sigh! Anyway, so much beauty here....sometimes so hard to see....


These are of course the obligatory "us" shots.

Me looking more relaxed and Jo trying to take flight. At first, she put her arms out straight and I said: "Honey, you look like Jesus, maybe wave them a bit more....That's better..."


This was at the top of our climb to one of the main mountain paths (we had to walk up many stairs to get to this temple - where you give blessings that you actually made it up here in one piece and then put in an insence stick - please notice that only three had come up here in once piece recently - which keeps the mountain clinics and surgeons doing brisk business....).


After we put in our insence sticks we continued onto the main section path, which was not really a forest path, but a wooden walkway through the forest. This is for many people who do not really like walking around muddy and bumpy paths and while I was grumbling at the 'un-nature like' aspect of steps and walkways, I gave my moaning a break to actually get into the relaxing feeling here and appreciate the forest around us.

Although I kept thinking of one of my favorite (and first) science fiction stories I read about when I was a kid: "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury, where time traveler / hunters go back in time to the dinosaurs to shoot them just before they naturally die. The people have to walk on a special walkway so they do not disturb anything around them but one person does and kills a butterfly. This sets in motion a change of events so that when the travelers head home, their world has changed. Bradbury also helped popularize the phrase "butterfly effect" even though he did not come up wth the theory.

Anyway, as we walked around the short path (again, for most Taiwanese city dwellers anything over a 30 min forest walk is enough), I kept reverting back to that short story.



I was happy to find this unused path and mentioned to Jo that this type of path was much better (even though it went nowhere. Her eyebrow cocking suggested another response as well...



This is a cool sign that was actually poetry and I was impressed. In most parks and forests here, it is quite a scientific feeling, which while not negative at all, kinds of leaves you feeling a bit dry (I mean who really cares about the international names - Latin - of most trees and plants?). So most of the signs you see are telling you what it is in a very dry language (in English and Chinese). However, this park was different; there were various poems like this around as well as reminders to 'soak in the beauty of the forest' and 'just sit down and listen to the forest hum.'

The person translating had a flair for the poetic and philosophic (which is quite unique in such a practical place as Taiwan), but he or she had to translate it from the original Chinese, so that was comforting as well. The caretakers of this park did really care for their environment here, which was refreshing as well. Don't get me started on how many beautiful parks here are ruined by trash and ignorant or idiotic people doing stupid things. Thankfully, this park ranks high on the respect factor.

After our litlle walk, we had a wonderful dinner - much better than we were both expecting - which again, made this place go up in our ranking and then headed over to walk around more in the failing light. So this is the view of one of the guesthouses at night before the typhoon came.

Didn't mention that before, did I? Whoops! Well, there is a part 2 to continue...

Summer Hibernation Ends!

THANK GOD!

It is cooling down ever so slightly now that Fall technically "should" be here. I say should since I am still sweating and wearing as minimal clothing as possible at home (which is why I usually shun the web cam....).

But this is good news for Jo and I since we are waking up a bit. For those of you who do not live in a tropical place, just consider similar effects as hibernation in the winter is what many people succumb to here in the summer. Of course AC's are busy destroying the environment and most people don't go out of their air conditioned cars, offices, and homes, but since we are trying not to use so much AC power, our (nice and big) fans can only do so much. Thus, my own energy systems have been drained, not wanting to do too much of anything except work (since summer is the busiest season for teaching here) computer meditating (gaming or surfing) or drinking cool drinks with Jo.

This is also why my last post was about 10 years ago. But that is ok, you aren't really reading this thing, right?

Anyway, so we look forward to the day that I will actually need a second layer (called a coat) to drive to work and may - just may - have goosebumps if I leave the windows open in the bathroom when I gotta go. I can only hope for those days, sigh...

Cooling off,

Jeff & Jo

Published!

I am trying to keep a steady head, but a wee part of me is bursting from excitement about having my very first activity book published!

I know that this is not a real 'book' in the literal sense with plots and themes and intriguing characters; in fact, it is only a workbook that students or children will look at and work through, but I am excited all the same!

We published 1000 copies of Tiny Tycoon$: The Complete Money Management Course For Kids! Activity Book 1 today and we hope to use them in our classes and seminars throughout Asia and (ideally) the West as well.


To say this has been a labor of love would be an understatement. I have been concocting this (or hatching?) for about 4 years now and only when Jo helped me organize myself (read: told me to get off my lazy butt) did anything fruitful come to pass. Indeed, this workbook (and many more like it) would never have come to pass without her help and encouragement. I am so lucky to be with someone who can actually help me complete something - anything! haha.......

Thus, we are the proud owners of the first catalyst. I say catalyst since this has awakened in me the need to get my ideas out on paper and to crystalize all the thoughts and ideas that have bubbled in my mind throughout my teaching career (there are many). Now that we actually HAVE something tangible (can you see the joy in my face as I hold the book?) we can start to market and sell these dead trees, ideally to make a difference in how people look at money and manage it.

I am so excited and thank you for taking an interest in this ongoing process!

Any thoughts, ideas or comments (good or bad) would be appreciated!

Regards,

Jeff & Jo

ps. We are also publishing our board game called: The Money Tree - A Game That Grows You Money! this week as well! Damn! So cool!

pps. We are also working hard on our website and will get that out as soon as possible! www.akiddio.com


If the color seems a bit off, this is due to the software that our (skillful) designer uses. The colors are perfectly normal and eye catching - in a good way in real life!

A Trip With Mocha

I mentioned in a previous post that we had found a sweet place to relax not so far from our home, so we decided to take advantage of that again, this time with Mocha. There were pros and cons about this, as I am sure all dog owners would agree.

Pros:

• Could do things as a 'family' and go to a place that we all would like
• Could enjoy the forest area and get some good exercise for all
• Could get Mocha used to new environments and people
• At least we did not have to clean up his mess in the woods (rather, just get it off the path)
  

There are some cons, however::

• A medium sized active dog in a small car is frustrating for all
• Most animals like to explore the forest and keep going, rather than stopping here and there to 'absorb the good feelings'
• We did not want to let him off the lease since many people are scared of (what they think of as a) big dog, so he was not free to run around
• We did indeed have to clean up any mess during transportation.....

Basically, even though Mocha is fairly well trained, driving up with him - for even that short distance - was frustrating for all. At one point, I had opened the windows a little to let him look out and feel the breeze. I noticed that the window was down more than I wanted so I pressed it to go up a bit. This happened about 10 times and Jo said in a clear way to just open it or close it. I did not want to open it for fear of him jumping out, but Jo said very clearly that he would not. So I left it open and within 1 minute Mocha jumped out of our car window going along a tight mountain road.

Sigh.

Thankfully, I had though about this and had leased him to my locked seatbelt, so when I say he jumped out, that is true, but as he jumped, the lease tightened and then he hung by the side of the car until we stopped and pulled over (which was almost immediate). We were all pissed at each other, and it was evident that Mocha was pissed since there were yellow drops on the side of the car where he was hanging.....

That was the start of our journey, so that did not make a great impression, but we did finally get to the place to walk around and that was fine, except by this time, Jo had a pretty serious headache and Mocha's energy had to be released in the form of fast walking through the forest, which - in my mind - kinda defeats the purpose of going to 'relax.'

But it all worked out and we made it back. On the way back, we kept the windows UP!!! this time and Mocha seemed to sense that things were on thin ice, so he did what he usually does as a defence mechanism: he looks damn cute. As I was driving back, he put his head on my shoulder for 2-3 minutes at a time and ... ok, I have to admit, we could not stay frustrated any more....

Here are some of those pics (since we were not in the mood to take many pics before!)


So we will reevaluate any trip taking with Mocha from now on and weigh the pros and cons.....hmmmm, I wonder which side will win?

Jeff & Jo and Mocha!

Mocha Needed A Nap, Not A Bath

We take Mocha up to the roof or outside each day and you would think by now he would be getting more fit, but there are some times that he plays too hard and is just dead when we get back home.

Sometimes we deem it necessary to wash him, since he usually plays with Hali (Zak's German Shepherd), which means spit, dirt and water are everywhere - on him, on Hali and on the ground. Oh, wait, he actually cleans the ground with his fur, so the ground is pretty clean....so this time we took him up for a bit and boy did he have fun....

...but he was dead afterwards in the bath....

Here is an expose of the event....

Here are 'Dad' and Mocha after the ordeal....

Time for a harder exercise program...for both of us!

Back from Hong Kong

We just got back from Hong Kong on business.

Hong Kong is one of those places that could be interesting to see, but then when you get there you realize it is just another big city, that is crowded, humid and noisy. Of course, there are many things to do, but it is not a cheap place by any means.

Actually, I have been there about 9 times....or is it 10. I am not sure. I had to make many trips to HK for visa purposes due to Taiwan's archaic rules at that time (well, they still have many archaic rules....). However, it was Jo's first time, so we did a little bit of sightseeing.

Yet, we went there on our kid's money management program business, so we did not have much time to plod about (especially since it was rainy the whole time).

Anyway, here are some pics of the seminar that we attended and the speech I gave about our programs.

Hope things will turn out well! We are having fun at least!

Jeff & Jo

Happy Birthday Jo!

Let's wish Jo a Happy Birthday!

She tells me she is 28 years old and I am inclined to believe her (especially since I am about 28 myself!)

Anyway, we had a GREAT birthday weekend. Great because it was relaxing, void of too many people and out in the fresh outdoors. Yes, that is VERY hard to find these days, especially on weekends.

At first, we were gearing up for a mountain hike that would take about 12 hours to complete over 2 days, but at the last minute we could not register in time to get on the mountain (they only take a certain number of people per day). To say I was relieved would be an understatement. I believe in other posts I have mentioned Jo's love of hiking and my love of.....well, relaxing outdoors - which - it turns out - are two completely different things. So, I was very relieved, but tried to put on a sads face when Jo told me the 'bad' news. Ah well, we will have to kill ourselves.....I mean go hiking another time.

So, we looked around on websites and studied a good old fashioned map of Taiwan and decided to head out to Big Snow Mountain - which is a perfect locale since it is getting mighty hot in Taiwan right about now. I slyly confirmed how many hours we would be hiking and it turns out that we would just be 'strolling' along paths, so that was good.

We were ready and packed, kissed Mocha and left a lot of food (which he ate before we closed the door) and headed out. We planned about a 2 1/2 hour ride and took enough snacks and drinks for a much longer journey (since we wanted to make sure we had enough things for the birthday celebration on Sunday).

As we drove, we came to an intersection and realized that not 1 hour into our journey we had found where we wanted to go (Jo's map reading skills need some work....). But we were pleasantly surprised since it was so close and continued into the park to look for our hostel.

The hostel it turned out was a small 6 bedroom place run by an older gentleman whom instantly connected with Jo and they talked a lot. He told us where to go for some good climbs or just walking and we sauntered off for a pleasant 2 days.

Here are some pics.

At a height of 2275 meters, the mountain was a blissfully cool 18.8 C out. In the city, it is 30 C average.....

We loved these 'weeds' and they seemed to grow everywhere here.

Even on trees....

Happy Birthday, Jo!

Love all your adoring fans...

ps. If you wish Jo Happy Birthday next year, she will be 28 as well....

Another "Secret" present for Mocha

Yes, we were excited to also give Mocha another "secret" present - one that we felt would make him much happier here in the summer months to come.

If you followed the post about a blizzard in our apartment, you may be able to guess where this is going.

So, without further adieu,

Here is Mocha all decked out in........well not much.


We have tried to be good parents, but who can not laugh at this? Or wait, is it...cry?

Yes, our beautiful dog is no longer beautiful (on the outside), but at least he is cool and Mommy (Jo) does not get such a serious allergy (the real reason we got him shaved).

I had no idea how he would look after the shave, but Jo assured me that it would be close to hideous or ridiculous and she was right. In our defence, we did not request the tail thingie - AT ALL! But it adds to the mistique of the Thing That Used To Be Mocha. And to top it off, it looks like Mocha will need to be shaved a lot for the sake of Jo's allergies (but we will tell him it is to keep cool, which IS very important here....).

When we did get him back, Jo immediately said he looked like a Dragon, and I scoffed, saying that is no where NEAR a dragon. However, of course, she is talking about a Chinese Dragon - wingless, white, elongated body and vute head, let alone beneficial to mankind. Our Western Dragon is basically a bat / lizard / dinosaur monster that hoards gold and kills anyone that comes close....so at least you could sense my confusion.

But then I remembered an old movie from my youth and it brought back memories of something weird and white and flying that looked a bit like Mocha. Could it be?

YES! BY GOD IT COULD!

It is Falkor the Good Luck Dragon from The Neverending Story!

Course, I have no idea what Mocha thinks of all this, but when we asked him about being a dragon, he did the following, which pretty much sums it up.


But who knows, maybe he is waiting for the right time to jump off the balcony and fly away!

Here's to you Mocha and your cool "Secret" birthday present.....

Don't worry, we still love you!

Jeff & Jo

Happy Birthday Mocha!

Mocha is one year old today!

Happy Birthday Mocha!

Now you are a big boy and will be getting big boy food and big boy toys......

We will update a few pics soon.

Actually, we don't know his real birthday, but we decided that this was the best and most logical time since we got him when he was about two and a half months at the end of June.

So, we celebrated by giving him 2 chew-bone presents, 2 real chicken bone presents, some wine (which did not go over too well) and a long walk around our river here.




Happy Birthday!

Love yer Mom and Dad,

Jeff & Jo