Mt Rushmore

Blitzkrieg: a holiday in retrospect

The Lunar New Year.
9 days off.
Death in the family.
Major surgeries scheduled for 3 family members.

Time to go home.

• Friday: Classes end, clean up. Finally got an answer to my marriage proposal: No.
• Saturday: Packed ex's belongings, departed for Hong Kong, then Johannesburg.
• Sunday: Had a lovely brunch with friends at OR Tambo, flew to George, visited Grandpa's ashes, cried when I sat down in his house and realized he's passed through the veil. Family time.
• Monday: Jetlag, NGO meeting, processed orders of business cards. Time with my folks.
• Tuesday: Family time, office time, groceries, made chocolate desert, supper club in Groot Brak.
• Wednesday: Dept. of Home Affairs, meeting with our attorney, quick visit with my uncle, dinner at Transkaroo.
• Thursday: Family time, checked in with friends in Mosselbaai.
• Friday: Meeting with NGO affiliates, farewell hugs, dinner with Gran, pack for the return flight.
• Saturday: George airport closed due to adverse weather conditions, special time with Dad, missed flight to Hong Kong, Special time with Jonathan in Johannesburg.
• Sunday: Checked in early, missed a wedding in Kaohsiung, relaxed in The D Lounge at OR Tambo, boarding for Hong Kong in 40 minutes.

Pulling myself towards myself.

Taiwan, ready or not, here I come!

the magic parcel adventure

after school on friday, i hopped on the bus (not pictured) to Kaohsiung...

where i took the subway to zouying station,

where i took the High Speed Rail (up to 300km/h) to taichung,

where i got on the slow train to Dajia,

where i picked up the deliciousness from SA! Mom sent me some droë wors, coffee cookies, rusks, scarves, Black Cat peanut snacks, Cadbury's, my SpringLeap T-shirts - and even a copy of DeKat!! color me crawling on the floor with laughter when i noticed the fruit-cake and the designer tissues *lol* awesome!!!

today is better

just a quick "mornin' y'all" to smile and wave from the other side of last night's post.

the risperdal and a good night's sleep - plus the resolution to hit the road out of town after school today - has me feeling a whole lot better about myself and life in general :0)

also, thanks to Rod for the comments - both of them. no comment is a bad comment.
and thanks to Immi for all the tips and tricks on her blog! i live better every day.

Saturday with the kids

here are some pics from my 11-hour day with the kids (teachers and parents) from kindergarten last saturday. we went to a "farm" in tainan county, called "cow's house":
doing the loco-motion - everybody's on the train and ready to roll!
daywalker - our guide avoided the sun at all costs.
moving on up - snapped in transit.
calves - the hungry kind
we'z gots ta get some!
note to self: cut out figure on the right...
standoff: Jocelyn wanted to feed the pony - but she wouldn't stand any closer.
Meg loves candy - mom loves coloring.
my sentiments exactly!
Dylan made it to my desktop with this one :0)

they know that "Loop" is Afrikaans for "Walk", right?

i nearly wet myself laughing at the cuteness of it all: Peugeot's new, green concept car is a thing of beauty, called Loop. which is an Afrikaans verb describing the most ecologically friendly mode of transportation ever ;0)

TPE this weekend!

TGIF! Heavens, this Friday came just in time. For a moment there I thought I was losing it.

Me and Peter are bound for Taipei this weekend. We've got tickets to see Wang Li Hong (LeeHom?) in concert! I'm super excited!! Not that I know LeeHom's music or anything - but a break-away from the South is way over due. That - AND we're hooking up with Heather, Mathilda and Stacey! I haven't seen them since our island adventure.

This is going to be good :0)

Road Trip: Kenting

breaking the fast at starbucks

hiked to kissing rock

posed near the light house ( 21°53'57.53"N , 120°51'16.23"E)

drank some coconuts

and swam in perfect the blue waters of Kenting

wish you were here ;0)

my next holiday destination should be

...gamirasu cave hotel



luxury caves in Turkey - now there's an idea!

Photoblog: LiouCiou Island

so here's the deal: in an attempt to get a better blog-rhythm going, i'm trying to set up a kind of "daily schedule". sticking to it isn't all that easy - but i plan on improving ;0)

one of my intended weekly installments is "photo blogging".
so here goes:

--------------------

this weekend (before the ninny typhoon), me and Ben - my American colleague - went to LiouCiou (LiuCiu) Island with 6 Taiwanese friends. the fun never stopped ;0)

Enjoy!

me, Mathilda, Ben and Stacey (Heather took the picture) having breakfast at a Mei&Mei in DongGang.
Stacey, Ben, Heather and myself waiting for the ferry (notice the absence of people around us... i think our brand of humor might have scared our fellow passengers a bit ;0)
Jackson... *sigh*
me and Heather playing it up for the camera!
Emma just looks so cool in this shot! (yes, i'm chuffed with my work)


Simon (Mathilda's bo) and Jackson - two very cool dudes!!

random DILF

we laughed more than we talked :0)
me and Heather playing it up again (see what i meant with "brand of humor"?)
my finest hour - before boarding the ferry back home.

last Thursday, I gave you my passport:

Cathay Pacific's flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong was awesome!

and the stint with DragonAir was lovely as well - I had 2 seats!!

now I'm in Taiwan. still finding my bearings and having a blast :0)

my post will most probably be sporadic (at best) untill I've managed to find a WiFi broadcast area in the township of DongGang. I will only have permanent internet at home in about a month's time. (I have to have my Alien Resident Certificate in order to get DSL at home... oh yeah, and I need to have a home to put it in.)

should be off to town with my American host in a few minutes - cross them fingers!

love to all - can't wait to fire up my laptop and catch up on your super blogs.