A Day in Neiwan

We're back postin' again. Well, yesterday was a very interesting day. We rode our moped for an hour to get to a place called Neiwan. It was a cool place. We walked along the river for a little while taking a couple of pictures. We saw a lot of people there as well. Some were barbequing by the river, others were fishing, snd others were swimming. Claire and I both agree that we should have brought our swim suits. We will probably go to that area again. Especially because there is a hot springs over there.

For lunch, Claire had lamb fried rice and I had bacon fried rice at a local restaurant. It actually kind of tasted like Dad's fried rice. At least one of the times he made it. His fried rice tastes a little different every time he makes it. Anyways it tasted really good.

The last thing we did before we went home is go-cart racing. They had double seated go-carts that we wanted to try, but my legs wouldn't fit in it. I thought it would be okay because I saw a lot of other adults in the double seaters, but they wern't as tall as me. We then had to ride in the single seaters. Claire got scared because she doesn't know how to drive, but she ended up being okay. I had a need for speed though, so I was weaving through people, passing them right and left. I even actually got the scooter on two wheels for a second. It was fun.

Throughout the day though, our moped developed a rattling sound, like metal hitting metal. We took it back to the dealer in the evening, and the showed us where a screw had fallen out that helps keep the exaust on the bike. They put a new one in for free, and then fixed our kick stand for free, and then washed it for free. I am actually amazed. Anytime we have had a small problem with our moped, they've fixed it for free. One of my co-workers told me that the dealer he got his moped from followed him home and put a screw in his exaust (or at least that is what he thinks), and then the day after he bought it, when he brought it back to the dealer, he tried to tell him that he had to replace the whole exaust for 300 dollars. I have heard horror stories from other people as well. I think we got our moped at a good place. If anyone who reads this ever moves to Hsinchu, let me know, so I can recommend these guys to you. Well, I guess this post is getting a little long. Talk to you guys later.

Three day Weekend

What's up! Lucky us. We got a three-day vacation this week. Today is April 4th which is Children's Day. It sounds strange for us to celebrate this holiday, but since we are teaching kids, we have to celebrate with them (sweet...I couldn't stop screaming).

And tomorrow is the national holiday of sweeping ancester's graves. A lot of people will go to the cemetory, top of the mountains or whereever they burried their family to sweep the graves tomorrow. I have to say there is something in our family traits: we hate going to crowdy places. In my family, they don't like to do things with all those people so they chose a day earlier to clean. Unfortunately, only my dad had free time today, rest of my family had to work. Therefore, he represented us to worship and show respect to our ancestors.

Hehehe....you're probabely thinking why Bryan and I didn't go since we had the day off. Well....we were planing to go back to my grandparents' house with my dad today, but due to the early departure, Bryan and I decided to stay at home and went to Tiebanshao instead. Hehehe....you know how late I sleep in ususally. Tomorrow we are going to Taipei and spending our MULA!!!

Tiebanshao

Hello everybody!!! I went out to eat at a tiebanshao place today. They cook your food on a huge hot plate. At least that is the best I can do to describe it. It tasted great. I had the pork dish and Claire had beef. It was pretty spicy and good. They do put a lot of garlic on the food, so not many people will enjoy talking to me later tonight.

On a funny note. Last night I had a dream that I was a rapper. I thought it was kind of funny. The rap even seemed good in the dream. However, I tried to remember it today, but I couldn't. My creative genuis will be lost in that dream. Oh well. Maybe I will have that dream again sometime.

In other news, I have contracted an in and out Taiwanese cold. Just when I think it is gone, it appears again and I start coughing up a storm. Its okay though. The other teachers at my school tell me that this is the season where they get those types of colds as well. Claire and I went to buy some medicine today, but I am a little scared to take it. I am not used to foreign medicines. Claire says it is okay, so I will take my chances.

Well, I thought I would add this picture into the blog as well. We told the guy we were about to take the picture. He said okay, but avoided looking at us. Now his picture is on our website. hehehe. He doesn't know he is on an English site.

Well, I hope things are going great for you guys. I will post again later. Have a most excellent day. hehe.

Rainy Day

Hey! It is the finish of a long day. We had a lot of rain today. We travel on mopeds, so we have to wear raincoats on days like this. The bottom of my pants and my shoes did not stay dry. It was okay though. They dried out while I was teaching.

I had a good time teaching today. The kids were very involved in the games. We also sang "Skidamarinky Dink." If you guys knew the song you would probably laugh just imagining me dance to the song in front of a lot of kids.

Well, I put a picture of Claire and I in Hawaii. One reason is because we don't have many pictures of Taiwan. Another reason is to brighten our rainy day. Well, talk to you guys later.

What's up, everyone!?!

As you know, I'm teaching English just like Bryan. It's fun sometimes and drives me crazy other times. I enjoy it SO FAR and I think this experience will help me to handle my own kids in the future. Well, life is good here, but I miss Hawaii so much. Hope I can go back there soon. That's all for today. Peace out!!