Rachel's dinner

Climbing Snow Mountain

Last weekend Gareth, Kirt, Michael & David visited Snow Mountain, Taiwan's second-highest peak.

After a 5 hour drive from Taipei, we arrived at the trailhead at 11 pm on Friday night, then hiked for an hour in the dark before getting to the Qi Ka Cabin. After a not-too-comfortable night's sleep on the cabin's "beds" (tough plastic mats) we hit the trail at 9 am in the morning.



The trailhead was already 2300m above sea level, and by the time we hiked the 5 km to Snow Mountain's east peak, we were 3150m high. Time to stop for a rest and a meal.


The east peak afforded panoramic views all around. Mountain ranges rippled away in all directions. We could see the valley where we started, and also the road ahead to the summit. I delved into my overloaded backpack for a lunch of fruit, trail mix and a half-squashed tuna sandwich. After lunch we napped in the sun as the mountain breezes rolled across the peak.


True to its' name, the Snow Mountain summit was indeed snow-covered. But we did not scale the summit, since ice axes and crampons were required. It was also too far away, and our motley bunch simply wasn't cut out for it. But the day was still young, and from the east peak we walked another two km over to the next lodging post, the 369 Cabin. After a rest there, it was time to descend back whence we came. That evening we bunked once more at Qi Ka, enjoying some instant noodles and the starry view above.

Party time

It was party time this Tuesday -- Julie opened up her rooftop room so we could have a little get-together with our former students from ShiJian university. We had a nice dinner and then played a few party games. Fiona was there too!

Canadian Society Ice Night in Taipei

We visited the newly-opened Taipei Arena to do some ice skating, then take in a local hockey game. The event was organized by the Canadian Society in Taipei. Andrea and Naomi and Julie were also there, plus Wei Wei and Sunshine.





In case you're wondering about the silly pink and blue helmets, wearing them was mandatory. :-)

Sharing mother's love 母愛發揚光大

Two good friends from school recently had twin girls!! They have one 2-year-old son already. While speaking to them on the phone, I found out that the stored milk in the freezer can go to a good use. How exciting!
學校的好同事生了雙胞胎女兒，他們已經有一個兒子，兩歲
電話中發現我在冰庫中堆積如山的母奶竟可以派上用場，真是令人興奮

The whole family came to pick up the milk, and met with Fiona for the first time. Auntie Hsu kept saying Fiona is such a lady! Fiona really gave mummy face. Fortunately Fiona waited until they left before starting her favorite activity--spitting.

一家三口出動替妹妹拿奶奶，順便來看孟田
許媽媽直誇孟田有氣質
孟田真給媽媽面子
等許爸爸媽媽哥哥走了之後
才開始表演拿手本事──噴口水

Gareth played the guitar for Coco. Gareth usually plays for Fiona. Fiona usually just sits there and listens carefully.But today, Coco wanted to help play. Gareth didn't know how to continue. I have this mental picture of Gareth playing the guitar for Fiona 4 or 5 months later!! HA!

爸爸彈吉他娛樂許哥哥
爸爸平常都彈給孟田聽，她都乖乖地坐在旁邊聽，動也不動
今天許哥哥一直來幫忙，害爸爸不知該如何繼續
哈！可以想像四、五個月後爸爸彈吉他給孟田的景象

4 months! 四個月了!

Time goes really fast. Fiona is 4 months old already!
I've been staying home with her for 3 months too.
Fiona can fall asleep on her own. She doesn't need soother either. But she sometimes cries for few minutes before falling asleep. When she wakes up, she just talks to herself in the crib and waits patiently for daddy or mummy to pick her up .
時間過的真快，孟田已經四個月大了！我也不知不覺地跟她在家混了三個月。為了哄她入睡替她扶奶嘴一個多小時，扶到自己哭出來，好像是上個星期的事，一轉眼也過了兩個月。孟田現在可以自己入睡，也不用吃奶嘴，只不過偶爾睡前會哀嚎個三、五分鐘。醒來時，也會自己在小床上說話自娛，很有耐性地等爸爸或媽媽來把她從床裡救出來。

Big and small 大與小

Fiona is growing really fast. Usually the first word from friends when they see her is,"look at her cheeks!" When she sleeps on her belly, one of her cheeks drops toward her nose!!!
孟田長的非常快。朋友看到她的第一句話通常是：「你看看她的臉頰！」
當她趴著睡時，上面的臉頰就會往鼻子那邊掉。


Fiona's eyes are actually quite big. But since her cheeks have grown bigger, her eyes are smaller now, especially when she just wakes up in the morning!
孟田的眼睛其實蠻大的，只不過最近被臉頰給擠小了！尤其是剛睡醒時，變成了兩條線。

Fiona on the move孟田很好動

Fiona can do many things now! She can control her hands better. She finds out new things everyday, and so do we!
孟田現在會很多動作了！也比較能控制她的手。她每天都有新發現，我們也是。


Fiona loves watching TV. She is easily attracted by the sound and movement. But we don't want her watch too much. We have this portable DVD player for her to use (it's from grandpa David). Right now she's watching "Baby Einstein." She's only allowed to watch 5 minutes at a time. She even moves her arms and legs with the music!
孟田很愛看電視，常常把頭扭來扭去就為了找到螢幕在哪兒。為了以後比較能控制她看電視，爺爺送孟田一台攜帶型的DVD，聽朋友的建議讓她看『寶貝愛因斯坦』，影片還配上莫扎特的音樂，一次只能看五分鐘。孟田看的手舞足蹈呢！


I started leaving Fiona on the playmat when she was one month old. She couldn't do anything but look at the toys. Now she can reach out her hands and play ball! (17 weeks old now)
孟田一個月大時，我就把她放在遊戲墊上玩玩。但那時她只會盯著玩具看。現在她已經會伸出手，自己玩小球了。(十七週)


She can hold the little rabbit and play with it too.
她也會抓住小兔兔玩。


Fiona likes to lift up her legs and put them down, and repeat this action 10 times. It's a good workout for her. Does she know she's quite chubby?!
孟田喜歡把腳舉高高再放下，然後可以重複十次。她知道她該多做運動了呢！


When I put her down on her stomach, she can hold her head up pretty high and look around.
孟田現在趴著時可以把頭抬的高高的，然後東看西看。



I'm not sure if Fiona is on her "mouth stage" now? She puts everything she can reach into her mouth. She has to know if they taste good to decide if she likes them or not!
不知道孟田是否正在經歷所謂的『口腔期』。所有她能拿到的東西都要先放在嘴裡嚐嚐。