Gareth's escape to Lanyu, Orchid Island

Last Friday afternoon we got a surprise: Vivian and Fiona had a chance to go to Hokkaido, Japan. Suddenly Gareth also decided to make a little getaway. Destination: The remote Taiwanese island of Lanyu, otherwise known as Orchid Island.One has to first fly by jet to Taidong, then take one of these prop planes to go over to LanyuLanyu can be found southeast of Taiwan, about 50 km offshore from the Taiwanese mainland. First sighting of the island The old fishing harbor, now unused. I went snorkeling there on my second day
The island's lone beach bar. A nice place to sip a cold drink and chat with other travelers
Traditional Tao boats on the shore. The Tao people are not Chinese at all, but related to the Oceanic peoples from islands further to the south: Philippines, Borneo, etc.
The local diet: fish, fish and more fish. The day's catch is caught, prepared, then hung out to dry. Visitors see this scene often. Using this ancient method of preservation the fish can be stored for up to six months before eating View from the hills towards battleship rock
Getting up early for the sunrise at 5:20 am
The sun breaks over the Pacific
Enjoying the early morning view from the grassy lawn atop the main weather station
Everywhere the common sight: volcanic rocks, and goats! Sometimes together!

Back at the weather station in the afternoon for another view
Local kids paddle in the water
A closer look at one of the traditional Tao boats Some Taiwanese tourists hired this one + a guide and went out for an afternoon paddle

Mr. Lamuran, proprietor of the hostel where I stayed. If you have a chance to visit Lanyu, his hostel is definitely worthwhile. See http://lamuran.blogspot.com/

Mountain biking: Paoma and Tonghou trails

Near the end of August Gareth went on a 2-day mountain biking trip with Ken, Teri and Charles. We visited the popular Paoma and Tonghou trails, near the town Jiaoxi on Taiwan's east coast. Riding the # 9 highway from Taipei to Ilan. Since the new Snow Mountain tunnel opened up, this road is very quietWe passed by the Feitsui reservoir -- nice views hereKen, Gareth, Charles and Teri, the intrepid bikers.
Ken has also blogged about the trip, in some detail: http://blog.pixnet.net/Kaiteri/post/8354223
http://blog.pixnet.net/Kaiteri/post/8438437
(Chinese only + pictures)The top part of the Feitsui reservoir. Lots of tea farms on the hills around here...And the little tea town of Pinglin. We stopped here for some tea-flavored icecream By the time we reached the Paoma trail it was nearly dark. We stopped here to enjoy the view of the Ilan plain before descending into the town of Jiaoxi, famous for hot spring hotels and cow-tongue cakes The next morning: riding through back county roads and villages en route to the Tonghou trail
Our plan: cross the mountain range in the background of this picture

Just before the steep part of the ride uphill
After an extremely hot 2-hour climb to the top, we began the descent. We first rode along the edges of some steep grassy hills cloaked in mist. Then we had to push-carry the bikes down 3 km of hiking trail. But THEN... another several more km of excellent ridable offroad trail, all downhill. Yea! Eventually we popped out in Wulai, the aboriginal town south of Taipei. From there it was easy to make our way back to civilization and head home.

Slideshow: pictures from July and August 2007

Here's a random sampling of what we've been up to this summer: Beach parties, weddings, road trips, making music, family visits, dinner gatherings, night market outings and more. A nice way to spend this last season of ours in Taiwan :-)

當模特兒Fiona models in the mountains

孟田今天第一次當模特兒
早上9點半在天母集合上陽明山
說實在，一想到他們要在戶外拍秋天的衣服，就有一點難受
小孩子撐的住嗎？也許這也是選在陽明山的原因之一，山上真的比較涼快一些，再加上躲在樹蔭裡，還算舒服
至少孟田沒留什麼汗(她通常超會流汗的)
Recently Fiona went out on a photo shoot for a local children's clothing company, Why and 1/2.

第一套衣服。發現孟田的另一種可愛，因為平常我是不會這樣替她打扮的。
They took the kids up to Yangmingshan National Park and pretended it was winter. Fiona looks different because I don't usually dress her in this style.

第二套。靴子太大，不能走路，所以她只能站在原地。還會不看鏡頭耶！她幾乎都不怎麼笑，工作人員一直說她好酷喔！

終於笑了，聽到攝影師拼命按個不停。
Fiona was very well-behaved throughout the experience. While the other kids got tired and grumpy, she remained calm and professional.

這張看起來有沒有明星的氣質？

第三套，家居服。 還有人伺候呢！
The makeup and wardrobe assistants hover around, making sure Fiona looks right

開始有一點累了
She looked tired

最後一套，家居服。那個搭配的小孩，從頭哭到尾。最後攝影師說，就讓她背對鏡頭畫畫好了，反正衣服樣式一樣，只要看顏色就夠了。真不曉得出來的效果如何！
說真的，不是我做媽的自誇，孟田真是適合當模特兒，不吵不鬧，完全配合！第一套時，她還不知道怎麼回事，會一直回頭找我。我就跟她說，媽媽在旁邊等你，你站著不能動。後來就真的不動，而且抱她上陣前她還會說，不能動喔，好像在提醒自己！
總之，很難得的經驗，算是幫她留下一個回憶。
Here they set up some desks and a blackboard in the forest, to make a little classroom kind of feeling.

The Why and 1/2 people even made a promo video for this fall collection! Here is an excerpt with Fiona's few moments on camera

Gareth’s art project

Despite (or maybe because of) riding the billows of work and parenting responsibilities, late last year I felt compelled to create some kind of "art project"—a purely creative endeavor unbounded by deadlines or anyone else's needs but my own. The kind of art I like is the series variety, where a collection of pieces builds upon the artist's theme, some engaging commentary or perspective on the world around us. So I thought I would like to create something along these lines. However, I immediately faced the hurdle of having little discernable artistic skills to apply to the project. Sure, I can write well, and I can take a good photo, but I can't draw or paint anything more complicated than a snake. The only artistic tool I can wield with any confidence is Adobe Photoshop. So I decided that a computer-manipulated image would have to be my medium.
Fortunately, the muse struck soon after, and a theme resolved itself clearly in my mind's eye. As a member of the postmodern, cut-and-paste remix generation, I sought to rearticulate an existing cultural commodity, preferably something mundane, spinning it with my own interpretation and viewpoint to get an interesting outcome. So without further ado, I can introduce my pièce de résistance. Here then is my Taipei City Rapid Transit Map:My map is partly a response to the experience of being a westerner living in Taipei and learning the Chinese language. Learning a foreign language can be a key to unlock the secrets of another culture. I've been in Taipei since September of 1999, and have been studying Mandarin semi-consistently up until now. As my Chinese improved, I began trying to translate the names of places I visited. Most of the existing English translations on maps and road signs here simply use a romanized form of the original Chinese pronunciation. Not much imagination there. But when I began doing my own translations, the results were humorous and insightful.
Here is the original map, for your comparison: So many of the place names in Taipei betrayed a sudden depth of meaning I never noticed before. I christened the mundane Yongan Market (永安市場) with the more evocative moniker "Eternal Peace Market." The prosaic Longshan Temple (龍山寺) suddenly sprang to life as "Dragon Mountain Temple." Taipei became for me a more fanciful, romantic-sounding place. This was a bit of the exotic Asia I had imagined during youthful days spent reading Tintin annuals and the occasional noodle shop menu. So for my art project I endeavored to translate each stop on the Taipei Rapid Transit Map using this fanciful romantic spirit. And simply speaking, a lot of Chinese terms just sound funnier to western ears when you opt for the direct translation. Who doesn't smile when considering that "zoo" in Chinese literally means "animal garden?" When seeing my new train station names in English alone, the city shines with vigor.
Something else occurred to me during this project, relating to how local people might view this work. No disrespect is intended to this city or its residents. I hope instead it prompts some positive introspection. Do the citizens of Taipei acknowledge their streets of virtue? Their beautiful views, pools and forests? Their wondrous cliffs? Their strengths of loyalty, justice and peace? Despite its shortcomings, Taipei is a pleasant place to live. This city is full of character and personality, with many glorious treasures, and I am glad to have known her.

One of these days I'll get onto the future phases of my art project: Same theme, same medium, new subjects for translation. I also have a 3-D installation in mind, involving recycled milk tea cups. Stay tuned...

Trip to Central Taiwan

Recently we took a road trip down to central Taiwan, first to attend a wedding but later to enjoy some of the local sights. We took a slow train ride, visited a little mountain village, saw a crumbling Japanese-era bridge, enjoyed some Hakka food and more.
Here's a video slideshow of our photos:

Turn on your speakers -- the slideshow comes with sound!
Bonus points if you know the two songs I used.

Another big announcement要走了

2005年為了迎接孟田的到來 我們開始了這個部落格
在這裡 與你們一起分享了七百多個充滿歡笑日子(當然也有許多往肚裡吞的淚水)
我親愛的在台灣的朋友
孟楷和我做了一個重大的決定
我們要帶孟田搬回加拿大了
心裡的不捨 不知該從何說起‧‧‧
In May of 2005 we started this blog with a big announcement: Vivian was expecting! Well lots has happened since then. Here it is, two years later, and we've got another announcement to make: We're moving back to Canada in the fall.

我的簽證已經下來
九月底 就要正式跟大家道別了
希望能繼續在這裡跟大家說說摩根家的故事
Currently we think it will be the end of September. We're going back to Calgary, Alberta, where Gareth's parents live. Taiwan has been very good to us, and we will be sad to go. Lots of good people and fond memories here. We will certainly miss this place. But it's time to start a new chapter in life. Calgary also has good things in store for us. Fiona will have the chance to be closer to her other grandparents, Janet and David, and her auntie Jane. Gareth wants to catch up with some old friends there as well. Even Vivian has a new, "old" friend in Calgary from her school days in Texas.

If you're in Taiwan and want to see us before we go, drop us a line and we'll set something up. We still have over 3 months left here. And if you're in North America and would like to come over to visit us in Calgary, let us know too. Once we get settled down again we would enjoy seeing some old friends again.

The month of May

The days are flying by -- here it is the end of May already. Not much time to add to the blog, so here's a selection of our pics from the past monthThis year's family photo, taken at the France-Paris studios on ZhongShan North Road. They did a pretty good job on this one ...and we brought along all of Vivian's family for a group photo too Vivian's parents with all their grandchildren. Sunshine and WeiWei are Fiona's cousins One of Vivian's brother's colleagues used our group photo as inspiration for this caricature. I'm not sure my likeness is the best, but some of the others are spot on :-) Back at home, Fiona enjoys a nice glass of grape juice

It must be very delicious!
Recently we had a surprise visit from our friend Nya, back in Taiwan on home leave from her job at Club Med in Indonesia. That evening we went to Keelung to visit the MV Doulos boat which was visiting for two weeks. Then we walked over to the famous Keelung night market for some snacks
More crazy Fiona behavior, this time getting ready for her bath
Sometimes Fiona gets a little restless sitting in her car seat. Here she passes the time by putting on some of Mummy's lipstick
Fiona paying a visit to our neighbors Rose and David

After Vivian's visit to the chiropractor on ZhongXiao East Road we popped into Alleycats for some of the best pizza in Taipei Another visitor: Dustin from Canada. In fact Dustin is living in Taiwan at the moment, down island in Kaohsiung. He took the new bullet train up to Taipei to spend the weekend with us

After we dropped Dustin off at the train station, we stepped outside to see this beautiful evening skyFiona can now hold her own food and take bites as she pleases. Here she tucks into a whole banana
Going for a walk... when Fiona gets tired she doesn't mind hopping into her stroller and taking in the sights. More often than not she prefers to get out and run around on her own!
Back home again, playing with her ring set