The rain has let up some today and, even when raining, is fairly light. We took the kids to the Miramar shopping center, which is quite a long bus ride. On the way back, some teenagers got on the bus. They were all friends and having a good time. Michelle and I were in the … Read more
I really like Taiwan, and I really like my in-laws, but… there are days when the insanity it too much. Taiwan exists in such a weird state, as a de facto country, that I think they are desperately trying to assert themselves as a progressive country just to show they can be like the “gown-up†… Read more
The new Sogo department store at Zhongxiao Fuxing has put a twist on the idea of a rooftop garden. Their rooftop garden is inside on the 9th floor. The restaurants on the 10th and 11th floors have view overlooking this gorgeous (and enormous) Japanese garden. I’m not much for gardening, but this is what I … Read more
I can remember when there were only a few MOS Burgers in Taipei and now they’re almost ubiquitous. They’ve even begun to muscle out McDonald’s and there’s nothing bad to be said about that. We stopped at the MOS in the basement of the new Zhongxiao Fuxing Sogo department store and, rather than have my … Read more
On Day Two, the rain was cramping our style a bit, but being still jetlagged (awoke at 2:00AM and finally went for a walk in the pouring rain just so the kids wouldn’t wake everyone up) we didn’t have a lot to do, anyway. We took a trip to Costco for supplies and while we … Read more
Back home, shopping cart theft of a big problem. Homeless people steal them to live out of, kids take them just to dump them in canals, crippled people use them to haul their groceries all the way home – the excuses are endless. Those carts aren’t cheap either, they cost hundreds of dollars each. It’s … Read more
So far the trip has been characterized by rain. The first two days it rained in the morning and it rained in the afternoon/evening and it rained all night, but there was a window between 10AM and 3PM when it was dry, if overcast and threatening all the time. Today we’re well on our way … Read more
Last trip I discovered a curry shop that was supposedly famous for being the best curry in Japan and it was, indeed, excellent. The name, in English is Rose Garden Restaurant. We stopped in during last night’s torrential rains and had dinner. I had the Katsu Curry, which is a breaded, boneless pork chop with … Read more
Despite the torrential rain, my in-laws decided to take us out to dinner last night. My wife, the kids and I headed out first so they could close up the house and bug spray the place. Despite umbrellas, the rain was causing standing water 4“ deep in places and Michelle and I both managed to … Read more
It’s been so wet that taking out the big cameras has been impractical, but I usually keep my wife’s new Canon SD1000 handy. It’s small enough to fit in my pocket or on my belt. I went out a few minutes ago just to run to the 7-11 for a Coke and didn’t bother to … Read more