Trip to Taiwan

As you all know, we have "something" with Taiwan.

And when i talked to Mr Mitsuda about the Ta Shing boat yard in Tainan

(where our Alishan was built...), we got ourselves booked!  

Yep, Ta Shing got an other visit, mainly to "smell and taste" the 

Nordhavn motor trawlers they make these days.

This pix was taken from the (for us new) Taiwanese bullet train. 

Too bad the weather was very wettttt.

 But it's definite an other scenery from our Kyushu...

Here it ain't snowing...

In front of Ta Shing office.

 And yes that was probably the only sunshine we had during our trip.

No pictures were taken at the yard. If you want to see/read more about the Nordhavns, go to:

http://www.nordhavn.com/

OF COURSE,  it was not only FRP & teak we could smell and taste... ....

We had enough time for some sight seeing as well....  This is a banyan tree growing on/over/in the walls of an old European trading house.

Hey hey, do we see somebody Nikoning again?

One night we took the opportunity to see a Chinese opera. Beside the ear piercing singing, they were performing some amazing acts. Well worth seeing it.

As mentioned before, plenty of rain.

 Here we are in front of THE museum in Taipei. 

Never mind it was our 3rd/4th visit. Still plenty of new things to see.

Luckily we had an early start. This is the crowd, still arriving, when we were done with the museum for this day.

Our Team: Mr and Mrs Mitsuda, Katsuya, Sakura and yourss.

After the museum, we made a dash for the "change of guards" show.

These guard men stand 99.9% motionless for 1 hour. 

Brrr, and it was a cold day, even for us from "the north".

Some lantern work at one of the major hotels.

 Sorry, some more food pixs: Crab curry...the best we have ever tasted.

Yes a good Taiwanese restaurant: Yummy Food and Lots of Noise.

And you can't avoid going to one of the temples....

  read more:  Lungshan Temple

That's what happens if you haven't booked a table.

Here we are, out on the street, ordering "yamcha" at one of Taipei's best restaurants.

By the time a table was available for us...the food was ready. 

Tell you... Yummy Cha. 

Worth the waiting.

On Sunday, we took the car for a spin to the east coast. 

Here the mountains are high and steep...so rain, rain, and more.

But it was fun to visit this touristy village. 

Together with half Taiwan, it seemed ( it was a long weekend).

read more: Chuifen

Do you see that camera...?

In this place (well know as it has been used for a movie City of Sadness) we had a tea ceremony. Yes , with Alishan tea !!

The last day:  You can't leave Taiwan without a proper foot massage....

Berry Good, but.... it hurts. 

For You Out There in the Tropics (SH summer)

Bet, just by watching this short tube...it will cool you down.

Location is at Mt Raizan. 

It had snowed ( a little) the day before.

Pretty neh!

Ehh, what's she doing here??

Salute.

Smiles before the Flu

Last week the weather was Soso, see previous Blog.

Some snow, but not enough to have fun with it.

For sure it was Wet and Cold.

So, the day that Marijke had to go work at the elementary school, she got a ride from her private Taxi Yapie.

See here at the end of that day: ALL SMILES.

 Still.

Not knowing that she had just picked up the Influenza A virus ....

that would put her in bed the next day + 5 days more.

Pfff, that anti-flu shot she had had a few months ago was probably not  strong enough.  (what is often the case here in Japan, as the medication is meant for Japanese...slightly smaller than Caucasians).

As of today, she is feeling much better, thanx...

and probably able to go Nikon-ing soon again.

Good Health.

Winter

Another Round of Up and Down

Sunday morning. 

We had driven Esther the Car to the car park at Kirara hot spring.

 From there we took the local train for a short ride.

Buddy runners for many miles: Noriko and Ohara san at

the station's waiting room...All wooden and just like a living room.

Fukae Station. So near to Fukuoka, but so far from the Big City.

Just two stops later we arrived at our starting point of our trail run. 

Here we met up with Mr Sato and Mr Moriyama.

As you can see, weather conditions are great. 

 Zero wind and sunshine. Sea level temp: 6 C

Road-to-go also looking good....

Our first goal: Mt TONBO ( the summit in the distance).

Oops, that road didn't last for long....

View from the top, facing towards Karatsu Bay.

Facing North, that's where we came from.                                          Facing East, our next top: Mt Ukidake.

Arrival at the top of Mt Ukidake. The ground is frozen solid.

Ohara san is keen to get an early sun-tan this year....

In Japan No Mountain Top without a temple.

Mr Sato arrives at the top.                                                                             And Mr Moriyama.

Looking NE from Mt UKIDAKE.

Hard to see on the picture, but the thermometer told us : Zero!

Of course some chart reading has to be done.

We have a rule: taking the group onto a wrong path will cost you a round of ice cream or beer.

So nice for me as i still can't read any Kanji.....

The one and only water supply during this run. 

Great taste!

Mr Sato landmarks Mt NIJOUDAKE.

Mt MEDAKE and Mt UKIDAKE                                                            Mt UKIDAKE  and Mt TONBO

Down there is our goal.

 The Hot Spring

...and beer & icecream...as somebody sent us 30 minutes in the wrong direction...

After a good soak in the bath...

time for some calories and more laughter.

Thank you all for the great day On the Move.

The course we took: good for 6 hours Fun:

 4x Up and Down and a total of 22 K.