Going South

A most warm welcome to Taiwan at the airport.

District Governor Victor, GSE Charman Car, and GSE Team Leader Fred.

A fun-filled and interesting day touring with new friends.

Amazing buildings old and new:  A traditional temple and the famous Taibei 101.

We spent a whirlwind six days in Taibei!  What an amazing, eye-opening scene.  Taibei is extremely busy and congested like something out of another world.  Yet, the people are as gracious and friendly as any I have ever met.  We did so much and saw so much and ATE so much that it is as if we are cramming for the big test on Taiwan.  As soon as we felt like we were getting our bearings, off we go to Hualian.  The ride South took only two hours, but it is as if we are in another country.  I am reminded of Hawaii here because the mountains rise up from the Pacific Ocean and the population lives on a thin strip of land between the warm ocean and the lush, green mountains.  Hualian is a smaller city than Taibei, but still very industrious and bustling.  Our first adventure was a trip to the Taroko Gorge National Park.  Taroko Gorge is the starting point of the Central Cross-Island Highway.  It is a deep gorge carved by a river out of solid rock over millions of years.  The Easternmost portion is carved out of marble and has many streaks and striations.  As we moved West, we saw that the type of stone changed to a much darker type.  We hiked up to an area which is home to a few of the indiginous people who harvest various agricultural products from the forest.  They also produce very beautiful hand woven articles.  It is so interesting that half a world away there are indiginous people whose art and artifacts are so similar to North American native peoples.

It is no wonder that many people live and work in Taibei during the week and come to Hualian on the weekend.

More to follow,

Team Leader Fred

Golf in Taiwan??

Sunday was a free day for the team, which really means, many of our guests try to plan things with us.  Bryan was lucky enough to be asked to play golf in the morning by AG Manpower.  His son Brian also went in order to translate.  They headed out at 5am to a course that was about an hour away.  When they arrived, Bryan noticed that all of the employees were dressed in uniform.  This is something that is very prevalent in Taiwan.  Many of the rotary clubs have uniforms, as well as many business including banks. 

A temple near the first tee.  A place to pray for good luck on the course?

No range balls or warm up, just step up to the first tee.  First swing since October!!!

Our foursome.  That is AG Manpower to my left.  Perhaps the nicest man I have ever met.  After the round I asked his son Brian to let him know how appreciative I was for taking me golfing and he said that it was his pleasure to ask me to come along.  He also wants to play again next time we are in the Taipei area.

Bryan and Brian!!

My own personal ID card for the day.  Unfortunately they would not let me keep this as a souvenir.  In the top left in blue ink is my name in Chinese.

Each group had their own caddy and one golf cart with 2 rows of seats.  I asked earlier in the round for a picture with our caddy and she declined saying she was too ugly for pictures and that she only takes them with her husband.  Later in the round on a difficult par 3, I said if I hit the green on this shot, you have to take your picture with me.  As you can see, I hit the green, and she was still a little reluctant.  She was a little shy, but very nice and very funny!

What a great day on the golf course.  I was a little rusty at first, but warmed up and made an eagle on the par 5 16th, and a birdie on the par 5 18th.  If anyone reading this knows Herman Menke, please tell him I am on the board with 1 birdie in 2011 and that he is lucky I made my ten footer for eagle!!!!

After golf, I was invited to a wedding by Brian and his dad.  A lot of the rotarians were there and were very surprised to see me in attendance.  I felt like the guest of honor which has been a common theme since the day we arrived. 

The Bride and Groom walk down the aisle together.

A toast by District Governor Victor

After arriving home from the wedding, I ran into Whitney and Lauren in the lobby.  They were about to take the train to do some shopping so I joined them.  We returned back to the hotel at around 6 because I needed to get ready for dinner.  My host brother, who happens to be one of the few people in Taiwan that likes to eat steak, invited me to dinner at a steakhouse near the hotel.  It was so nice to taste Fillet Mignon again.  The steak was excellent!!!  What a day.  Could you ask for anything more. 

Stay tuned for more updates.  We are trying to catch up.  Our Taroko National Park visit will be up soon.  Prepare for lots of amazing pictures.

Taroko National Park

We are now in Hualien!  Yesterday, we took a day-trip to Taroko National Park.  Our pictures do not seem to do justice to the amazing experience, but here are some shots to give you a taste of our day:

 Watch out for falling rocks!

 Whitney's favorite spot.

Just a little too tall...

Whitney admiring the scenery

Last group shot of the day!

 Derek

 Lauren

 Whitney

Fred

Bryan

More to come later...

Sightseeing on Saturday

On Saturday, we spent the entire day sightseeing around Taipei with our Rotary hosts. We started at the Li Mei Shu Memorial Gallery, which is an art gallery about 30 minutes outside of Taipei. The whole muesum features the original drawings and paintings from one of Taiwan's most famous artists. And of course, because everything on our trip exceeds our expectations, it was only natural that our tour guide was Lin Mei Shu's son! The paintings were incredibly life-like and the stories our tour guide told about his dad's work were inspiring. Below is a photo of our tour guide and his wife, who is also the model for the painting behind. How cute are they?

Our tour group

In addition to being a painter, Li Mei Shu also helped design the temple around the corner from the gallery. A short walk around the block put us at the gates of our first Taiwanese temple. When visiting the great cathedrals of Europe there are no words or photos that can describe the beauty of the detailed craftsmanship...the same goes for the temples of Taiwan. Nothing can compare to being there and seeing the details, but here are a couple photos from our visit...

Group photo 

Whitney with the guard dog

Lauren and the "Pink Ladies" Rotary Club (all female RC)

Bryan in one of the bridge cupolas

Temple

Fred in mid-prayer, which really means that he just said a prayer and dropped two Chinese wood pieces to the ground. How the pieces land determines how the gods will respond to the prayer. Very ancient ritual!

Inside the temple

Temple alter

Our entourage for the day

Following another mystery food lunch, we headed to the a Ceramic Museum and were given a lesson on the history, technique and art of the Taiwanese ceramic industry, which has been a part of the culture for ages. After the museum, we drove a short distance to the ceramics shopping district and our first stop was the Ying Ko Ceramics Museum, where we got the chance to create our own bowl from clay. Check out the serious artists below.

Pottery experts

Bryan's bowl (sorry it is upside down!)

We enjoyed another interesting array of food for dinner at a seafood restaurant. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves and several other members of our host Rotary clubs joined us for dinner. Among them were Fashion, Gift, Banker and Tiffany.

 Boys table

Ladies table

After two nights in with our host families, we were dropped off at a hotel to enjoy two nights on our own (sort of). Once back at the hotel, we finally had a chance to be alone together as a group. We shared a beer in the lobby bar and recapped the past three days. Needless to say, our experiences in Taiwan make some great stories! We can't wait to share them with our friends and family when we return.

Sunday was our first 'official' day off and no day off would be complete without a little fun. Stay tuned for more posts from Taiwan...