i want you

i want you to dream
i want you to breathe
i want you to see

hugs and kisses

my last day

taipei is a beautiful city
i loved it almost as soon as i walked out of my hotel room
lovely gardens, a very walkable downtown,
and a clearly called out desire for peace.

we wandered into this beautiful area that has a monument to
Chiang Kai-Shek
a former president of the Republic of China

the buildings were bigoh so very BIG,
leanne is in front of the stairs to the rightthis picture cracked me up,
perhaps it was something written on his cheeks,
but i couldn't figure out how this kid
made it onto a peace muraljust before a delicious japanese italian dinner of pasta (???)
i witnessed my last sunset of taiwanthe tallest building in taiwan.
i would say in the world,
but i think that title is about to be taken away.and finally the monument to the founder of the Replublic of China
Dr. Sun Yat-sen
we ended the day at the local Cold Stone Creamery
and then i was hauled off to the airport the next morning
where i was fortunate enough to score a seat with amazing leg room.

i may follow up with some random shots, but for now...
that's all folks.

hmmm, where should i go next???

alishan et al.

So this was the plan; get on a bus at 11:30pm,

ride all night and arrive at the top of Mt. Alishan
just in time to watch the sunrise on easter morning.
And for the first time since I arrived, it rained.
All was shrouded in cloud and no sunrise was seen.
Can anyone say disappointment? *sniffle*

The trip was not a waste for we also came for the cherry blossoms,
still early in their season with a few fine species not yet showing. not a cherry blossom but photo worthy all the same.

they might have mentioned the names of the different species
but it was all Chinese to me

our trip also included a few stops at local markets of note
(or at least the places that paid our tour guide to bring us)

i must note that while i understand people add life to a photo
i do not appreciate being a tourist attraction.
at one point i turned around to find a man
taking a picture of his wife standing beside me.
i felt like i had turned into a monument in a national park.
i should start charging per photo like SF shoe-shiners do.

Sooooo, in the lovely vein of people pictures...
here you see the popular "lunch box" phenomenon in full force.
(can you see the surprised/annoyed look on some of the faces
at my intrusion into their normal world?)

and what road trip would be complete without a stop in at a 7/11?
okay plenty of road trips do just fine without one.
anyways, new taste of day...seaweed flavored potato chips...

just because i thought it would be a cool picture

snipets

sushi train...grab what you like...eat as you go

Cichen Island...sunset...seafood...and gamesthe fruit ice...was...natural gas fire anyone?entertainment everywhere

da beach @ kenting

Now this is how I would like to spend every morning,
and afternoon and possibly evening.

confucious

sunday was a little more laid back
we started off by celebrating the b-day of a certain
beautiful lady who wishes to remain anonymous...cliff and i then wandered over to lotus lake
only to discover the lake was...missing?

but we were not to be deterred!
and entered the dragon anyways

we then discovered that the lotus part of the lake
had found refuge in a small nearby pondin the end confucious explained all things to us
and we continued our day in peace

shaolin monks

my first day was a little road trip into the countryside

we arrived at the first village
and stumbled upon some shaolin monks...

working on their technique...
i declare this my official "picture of the day"as we wandered i learned that leanne is a country girl
however the typical country house is a little different over herec&l have been in these parts before but not with a car,
so we went places even they had not been
like this clay gallery....
and a place where they made paper umbrellasto end the day we dined vip style
courtesy of a friend of c&l
talk about hospitality...

peanuts

landing in Taipei
on my way to the speed train
i felt like i had entered a peanuts episode
with adults all around and
charlie brown and friends
to interpret for me

hanging around

hi i'm three

not yet as tall as a tree
but don't go far
'cus I got Cars
for you, your buddy and me.
(photo by jo)