|  | February 23, 2010 (Multi-functional Cuture & Arts Park, Taoyuan County) - The annual lantern festival is part of Chinese new year celebrations. Yesterday was my first time to see one. We visited the open park wherein a lot of lantern variations/designs are available, from the miniature ones to gigantic sculptures mounted on platforms :). We went there after work, sayang wala kaming dalang camera! During the initial lantern setups, I was still eager to take photos from my cellphone, but then I got lazy and decided to just enjoy the sights.
We were lucky enough to witness the fireworks display and the giant tiger lantern with mini-tiger mascots dancing around it. The crowd (mostly families) was festive. Why wouldn't they? It's a new year after all :) |
| | January 30, 2010: Trip to Nanliao Hsinchu Harbor with Cathy |
| | September 18, 2009 - Grace, Jona & I went to dine at the Modern Toilet resto here in Chung Li. Their toilet-themed resto is gaining popularity here in Taiwan, so we decided to give it a try. They serve a good variety of dishes, from fast food type food such as burgers, pasta, to steaks -- all in miniature urinals, bath tubs etc. We've just tried the ice cream, and some chicken wings, fries sampler and ice cream. Food tastes just fine :) |
| | August 22, 2009 - To celebrate Jessie's bday, we went to Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village in Nantou, located in the central part of Taiwan. The place was 2 hours from our locality, Chung Li. Formosan is basically a theme park which show cases the rich culture of the Taiwan's aboriginal tribes. Currently, Formosan is extending the cable car route to include the Sun Moon Lake (largest lake in Taiwan) as one of the stops. Hope we'll get a chance to go there as well :) |
| | August 15, 2009 - Pagkatapos namin mapagod maglaro ng volleyball, napagpasyahan naming ipasyal si Jessie sa Taipei. Miski pangatlong beses na namin makakarating ng Danshui, sige pa rin kami! Sunset naman habol namin dito ngayon...hehe..actually, makapasyal lang ayos na un :) |
| | August 15, 2009 - Nagkaayaan kami magvolleyball ng mga kasamahan na volunteers...kaya ayun, nagpunta kami sa Chungyuan Da Xue (National Central University) at naglaro sa covered court na open lang pala sa club members. Dahil busy ung mga locals sa pagpapack ng mga canned goods at supplies para sa mga nasalanta ng bagyong Morakot, deadma na lang kami sa kanila. |
| | July 25, 2009: The ultimate steak experience at Outback (Nanjing E. Rd, Taipei) with Greyzie & Madam Grace :) |
| | Last weekend (July 11, 2009), we went to Tiger (Hutou) Mountain Park in Taoyuan to have a bbq picnic and do some afternoon hiking. Although the air was hot and humid, we were still able to have nice time. |
| | As early as 9am, our group, composed of night shift friends, and churchmates, headed to Pistahan, a Filipino resto near GCE. We had a blast - good food, videoke, some beers and really great company :) |
One Saturday afternoon, Grace and I saw a rainbow. We didn't have any good camera to capture another "first" for a long time now. So I just took a shot using my lowly camera phone. As usual, we kidded about the popular belief that some "tikbalangs" - half-man, half horse in Philippine folklore (thanks to Wikipedia, by the way) are having a grand time. A certain "tikbalang" couple is celebrating their marriage. Anyway, here's the photo of the Carrefour front parking area, the onlookers, lamp posts, some buildings, the grey sky and the very bleak outline of the rainbow. 
After that I just tucked the cellphone into my bag and then forgot all about that rainbow. Until last night, while I was trying to view the photos in my cellphone, I saw the photo again. Looking at the image, it got me thinking. It would be easy for someone to doubt that there was actually a rainbow in the picture. That's the typical outcome of things, emotions and events which have evaded our plain sight. Simply put, if it ain't there, it wasn't there. To see is to believe. For instance, to a hopeless person who has seen and experienced a rainbow suddenly lighting up a sad sky, the moment can be magical. To some person who wasn't there or even an onlooker who didn't pay any attention, it could mean nothing. It could even be regarded or dimished into some mere fragment of imagination. As adult life wears us out, we will always be confronted with these type of situations. I've had my fair share. Sometimes I get to be a firm believer right away. Other times, I ask for proof before I accept something as true (verify and validate first!). And yes, for certain circumstances, I choose not to believe. With these, I have learned that no matter how we decide, we must always be prepared to accept the outcome. As for that rainbow which started this all, it's there, believe it or not :) | | June 6, 2009 (Sat) - We had lunch at Midori Japanese resto, special thanks to the bday girl - Nanay Eden (in red). The food was superb, and of course the company (Nanay Eden, Mama Beth, Grace, She, Jessie and I) was great =D
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| | Friday night (June 19) : Our first stop was Danshui Old street -- chilling out with a nice view of the sea. We stayed overnight at Wanxi Hotel, just across the train station.
Saturday (June 20): We availed our free breakfast at Mos Burger and then did some walking again by the old street. That's 2 hours before checking out of the hotel. =D
By lunch time, we boarded the train going to Taipei Main station. We were excited to see the newly-acquired panda bears from China at the Taipei Zoo. We were about to buy train tokens heading to the zoo when we learned that the Muzha line was suspended for trial runs. Apparently, another route was added on the Muzha line.
On our way to finding bus which can take us to the zoo, we passed by Cold Stone's Creamery and decided to splurge on Founder's Favorite. Of course, it tasted great! Imagine choco fudge,pecans and vanilla ice cream mounted on a chocolate coated waffle. A winner indeed =D
Lucky for us, Taipei MRT provided free shuttle bus to make up for the suspended train routes. Upon arrival at Taipei Zoo, we found out that the panda bears' booth will close in 10 minutes time. In a haste, we left our things on the locker and almost raced to the see the panda bears.
But the panda bears, to our dismay, were just crouched on a tree and too lazy to move. We took a few pictures and went out to pose near the panda statues and other zoo animal posters. Since we've been to Taipei Zoo months ago, so Grace and I just visited the areas we didn't have much time to explore before.
So there goes our spontaneous weekend! It was tiring, but well worth it.
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Noong biyernes, buhat marahil ng kaburyuhan ay nagkaaayan kaming dalawa ni Grace na mamasyal. Sa kabutihang palad, kami ay parehong nasa kundisyon para maghanap ng kasayahan. Napagpasyahan naming magpunta ng Taipei para magpalipas ng gabi. Kara-karaka'y tinapos namin ang pagkain ng hapunan, pagpapake ng gamit at pagbyahe puntang istasyon ng tren sa loob ng isang oras. Hay, alas-otso na ng gabi ay nasa Chung Li pa rin kami. Habang lulan ng tren ay nadarama ko pareho ang galak at pag-aalinlangan. Galak dahil, taliwas sa aking nakaugalian, sa loob ng dalawampung buwan ay hindi pa ako nakalabas, (gimik mode ba!) ng Biyernes ng gabi. Ang huli sapagkat ito ang unang pagkakataon na magpapalipas kami ng gabi sa ibang lugar na hindi planado. Sa paghihintay, napagkasunduan namin na sa Danshui (nasa hilagang bahagi ng Taipei) dumiretso, bagamat nakarating na kami doon noong nakaraang taon. Narating namin ang Danshui pasado alas diyes ng gabi. Unang tumambad sa aming paningin pagbaba ng tren ay ang karagatan. Napawi na kagad ang aking pag-aalinlangan. Wow, parang nasa Pilipinas lang kami, mas ligtas nga lang ng konti ang pakiramdam. Ngunit bago namin ginalugad ang Danshui, nagpasya muna kami maghanap ng tutuluyan. 
At iyon na nga, sa kabilang bahagi ng istasyon ng tren ay meron isang hotel. Ngunit dahil umaasang makakatipid, naglakad-lakad pa rin kami bandang looban para maghanap ng ibang hotel. Kinatapusan ay doon pa rin kami bumagsak sa una naming nakita, ang Wanxi Hotel. Pagkababa ng mga gamit ay nagpunta na kami sa tabing-dagat. Lakad-lakad at kodakan hanggang mapagod. 
At para buuin ang gabi, ipinagdiwang namin ang aming paglalakbay sa pamamagitan ng isang bote ng serbesa, isda at kangkong. Pwede naman palang pulutan ang ginisang kangkong. 
Kampay para sa magkaibigang gala. Sa uulitin! 
| | We had a BBQ Party held at a Thai resto near ChungLi train station last Saturday (May 9), courtesy of Hope Workers' Center staff...Xie Xie Ni =D |
| | Last May 1, we set off to Taipei County to enjoy Wulai's waterfalls, hot spring rock pool, hiking trails and cable car. Supposedly, a mini-train can take us to the waterfalls' site, but due to repairs, our group just hiked the 2-km trail and took pictures on the way. Wulai is also home to aboriginal cultures. Although we didn't have the chance to see the native Taiwanese people, their works found on souvenir shops around Wulai pretty much represent the richness of their culture.
***The Group: Grace, Mama Beth, Ate Cit, Madam Grace, Tina, She, Nanette and Jenet
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| | Photos of Hope Workers Center staff & volunteers who joined the Pre-Labor Day rally at Taipei Presidential Palace last April 26 =D
Fight Racism! Equal Job Protection for Local & Migrant Workers! |
| | Photos taken during an afternoon at Yangming Park =D |
| | Recent photos from home -- my bday celebration, and joey's graduation ;p |
| | Thanks to Julius & Jacky for being our hosts last Saturday! We really enjoyed
their place, the food and the recording session ;p |
| | Last Saturday (March 16, 2009), our group of volunteers trekked the mountains of Yilan. From the foot of the mountain, we hiked for about 20 mins to reach the Catholic Sanctuary of Our Lady of WuFongCi [Queen of Chinese Martyrs Shrine]. The place is really peaceful and relaxing. Opposite the church is a view of the city, while on the left side is mountain greenery with waterfalls.
In addition, a grotto was also built to mark the only site in Taiwan where Mama Mary appeared and guided a group of lost hikers on the mountain way back November 2, 1980. From the church site, we embarked on another 40-min hiking trail towards another Marian grotto. We went back to the church site to eat lunch and attend mass.
Before we went back to Chung Li, we also visited Yilan Distillery. This is where the only brand of beer (yeah, beer production is monopolized) in Taiwan is made --- Taiwan Beer. |
 | drop me a line or two :) | |
 | hello po.. belated happy birthday pla.. now lang sinabi ni che-che eh.. senxa na.. wehehehe
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