Wandering to LaLaShan (拉拉山)

(post started in November... finally posted in January!!!) 

I opened up the blog earlier this week to reference where I had found Christmas decorations in years past --- it reminded me of how much I miss updating my blog! 

During the month of September, we enjoyed a four day weekend celebrating Moon Festival, and although unfortunately hubby had to work, the baby, our nanny, & I rented a car and hit the road for a day or two! My main goal was to get out of town and breathe a bit of fresh air, so our path was spontaneous and organic, following the small roads out of the big city, winding through the mountains. 

The entire island was itching to get out of Taipei for the weekend, so I figured we would meet the least traffic on the smaller roads, rather than the speedy interstates. We chose the path less traveled, and found it pleasantly deserted. We just wandered the small mountain roads, stopping as we pleased at road side stalls and family restaurants. As I had hoped, the area was almost entirely deserted as we explored the back roads. Little to no traffic, and plenty of sightseeing and stretching our legs as we went.

With a typhoon on the way and the sun already set, we finally reached Lalashan National Park only to discover that the power was out on most of the mountain! Baby in tow, and daylight long gone - I figured we'd better find a place to stay. The whole adventure felt like a movie, as I drove up the mountain (inside the national park) in the darkness. When I finally found a light, we pulled over to ask for help / directions, and happened to be parked at a small bed & breakfast! Their place was running on a generator - 3 hotel rooms at this place and 1 room available! We had found a comfortable, albeit unexpected, place to settle for the night. Unbelievable, and thank goodness!

When we woke in the morning to the sun rising over the mountain, and our mountainside views, it was incredible! We ate a nice breakfast on the patio, admiring the view, and tried to check out a trail before the approaching typhoon, although the wind, rain, and a park ranger cut our adventure short ultimately. 

What a way to spend a weekend. :) 

I'm looking forward to visiting LalaShan again sometime when the weather is agreeable (no typhoon coming) so that we can get out and hike on the trails. Either way, it was a grand adventure and a great escape from the city.

beautiful Bali, Indonesia

It's hard to believe in the 10 months since starting a family that I have failed to post even ONE new blog post, but despite the silence we continue to travel and have new adventures worth sharing if I can just find the time to myself! :) Even with an infant, we hope to keep up our traveling lifestyle and if we can acclimate him to change early on perhaps he will continue to be a well seasoned traveler as he grows up!(?) Here's hoping.

Despite the appeal of Taipei (isn't it "all" here at our fingertips?) ~ one of the biggest advantages of living in Taipei is what lies beyond Taiwan - our proximity to so many other Asian countries. That being said, finding time when hubby & I are both off work together is rare, so when we had 9 days off together this Chinese New Year holiday, we jumped at the chance to visit a new(-to-me) destination:

~*Bali, Indonesia*~

The Gerocks had already spent time living in Indonesia many years ago, and I'd always been fascinated to see this country I'd heard so much about. So, we petitioned the grandparents to join us in Bali as a sort of halfway meeting point between Taiwan and Australia and we convened for a week of leisure & family reunion. With my first post back on the blog, there's no way I can cover all of the fun we had in Bali over those 9 days ~ but here are a few of the highlights. :)

Flight to Indonesia from Taiwan w/Baby

Traveling with baby is a whole topic entirely to itself, and thankfully I am becoming better at it each time, but I'll have to save that for another blog post ~ or the occasional inquiries from friends planning similar adventures (otherwise I'm afraid I'll bore you with the minute details of my SuperMom tactics...).

Indonesia was fantastic & refreshing. It was entirely Asia, and entirely not Taiwan, which was just what the doctor ordered (even though, there are some aspects I could live without - the beggars, poverty, and the most extreme 3rd world characteristics of a typical 3rd world country). Regardless, once I looked past the superficial unpleasantries, I settled into an easy-going, friendly destination that made me want to leave work behind and just relax on the beach all day! Not to mention the beautiful people; beauty that runs much more than skin deep.

Playing with baby on the beach.

Bali is clearly an island / beach destination. We rented a private villa with a private pool for the week at Gending Kedis, but we also tried out the resorts larger pool and made a few trips to the beach - I love seeing the ocean! In Bali there were some public beaches, but also many private beaches dedicated to specific resorts or paying members, and I must say, the private beach was too perfect. Extremely posh, and not overrun with people. Once we discovered our resort's private beach (halfway through our trip) I just wanted to go there every day and layout and read my book for hours!

Entrance to our villa, "Cherida 1"

Our backyard

The Resort's private beach

Bali isn't all beach ~ we spent a few hours each day "seeing the sights." In comparison to Taipei, we suddenly realized that we were not in the big city any more and many things of interest were an hour, sometimes two hours, away! We rented a van with a driver for the week since 4 adults plus baby in a carseat couldn't squeeze into a taxi, and our driver turned out to be top notch. He was a very kind hearted guide, who could speak English, was flexible with our needs that changed frequently (based on baby's mood or needs) and was so professional. We really felt lucky to have found "Panca" the driver just by chance, and we will definitely call him if we return to Bali again! Also to note our drives allowed us to get out of town and explore the countryside a bit. There's nothing quite like seeing the "real" side of an island.

Our outings included a fantastic temple full of monkeys, hand crafted silver smith shops, and the trendy tourist shopping areas in Ubud, where we scored some great local art and dined in an open to outdoors restaurant. The temple with monkeys was the best outing and had the most amazing views, hands down. Though I was a bit nervous for a moment there...

The Dirty Duck Diner Restaurant

View Behind the Restaurant

We especially enjoyed Ubud - it is full of tiny artisan and skilled craftsman shops and studios. If I return I'd plan to spend a few days there. Wish I could spend a few days reminiscing...

I hope I get to go back to Bali someday ~ definitely worth the trip!

Take note, Husband! I want to go back! ;)

Room for Baby

Now that the baby is home and we are all settling into our new routine, I think we finally managed to finish baby's room! I had originally thought we could just "do whatever" and move forward without an official "baby room,".....but ultimately I admitted to myself that this is the first baby! Of course I want everything to be fun and perfect, and feared I might look back with regret if I didn't put my best effort into everything for him :)

[Noteworthy ~ In Taiwan most rental apartments have all white walls. It is fairly uncommon to find a rental apartment here with brightly colored walls or a landlord that would grant you permission to paint. Luckily for us, we have negotiated with our own landlady and she is very cooperative (as discussed in previous post).]

I wanted to be sure we have some pictures to show baby Gerock when he's older what his first home looked like in Taipei!

Wall at Entry: Freshly painted room, Super challenging puzzle completed by Yours Truly,
new IKEA chair (not a traditional rocking chair, but it rocks a *little*)

We hunted across Taipei for the perfect rocking chair and could hardly find any contenders. Apparently, the Taiwanese have yet to be introduced to a good wooden rocking chair on a nice big Southern porch... Thankfully, this IKEA chair is designed with some give and can serve the same purpose.

Wall at Right of Entry: New wall stickers,
dresser/diaper changing station, drawer labels by Mom (me)

I discovered many cute wall stickers online from a Taiwanese auction website and much to my dismay I was unable to order them (my inability to read the Chinese on the website and lack of a local credit card). After resigning to the a room without fun stickers... I discovered the exact set I'd had my heart set on at the nearest night market by our home (RaoHe Night Market)! :)

Removable wall stickers above the diaper changing station ~
baby Gerock already enjoys gazing at them while we change his dipe

I made a few labels for the dresser drawers

For the window I had some new curtains made. I had a blast hunting for fabrics at the fabric market and finally settled on a nice Texas themed country curtain ;) Since we don't really have a baby "theme," anything goes - and I picture us using the curtains as education / entertainment for baby as he learns to look/listen/read/etc. [The bedding came with the apartment, and I have yet to update it...]

New curtains, selected and made at the Yongle Fabric Market

Close up of our Down-On-The-Farm curtains

We picked out a simple table lamp for those late night diaper changes... It gets used a LOT...

Ta Da!

And finally, here is photo of the puzzle we had framed for baby's room. This is buy a popular local artist. The picture is called lucky apple. This was THE hardest puzzle I have EVER completed! I figured I wouldn't have much time for puzzles after baby's arrival. Glad I finished this one in time.

We may not have a theme, but if you know me well, you'd also know I love elephants... What is that you say reaching up into the tree branches on the puzzle?

2 Years in Taipei

I can hardly believe it - in both directions - Could I really have been here for 2 years already? ...And... Is that all?  

The adventure continues, even though in many ways it has mellowed out a bit.

You never know what you might see or do that is "out of the ordinary" any given day. Or maybe it is ordinary? :)

So, since I've been busy navigating the city and prepping for baby's arrival - Just thought I'd share a few of the typical and not so typical happenings of late:

Dogs on Scooters: Seen it.
Dog on Motorcycle... This was new...  

This is what a large IKEA dresser in a very small bedroom looks like.
So glad we finally have storage space for baby's things!
Especially since this room has NO closet.

The dresser movers actually gave us 2 glasses as a gift.
It's marketing, but also how you know you paid too much...
[Nonetheless they were very efficient & kind]

Policeman waiting to freeze the lights for important traffic in front of our house.
I wonder how long he stood there? I gave up waiting to see who the big deal was...

Recently on a trip to Bangkok Jam @ ATT4Fun (delicious Thai food),
discovered Bar-Rito...
Now I love them  both!

Flavored mooncakes from clients for the recent Moon Festival holiday :)

Even Starbucks offers mooncakes here...

A new salad/wrap/sandwich place has opened and
filled the void of healthy dine-out options in my life!
This is "Dressed" ~ and I am already a repeat customer...

Been browsing the fabric market recently

For baby curtain ideas
(This is the winner!)

With endless choices

It takes hours to make any purchases!
Love the fabric market!

Thought I had posted this 2 weeks ago... my the time is flying these days...

week 103_Street Artist Portrait

After a recent dinner out with friends on a Saturday night, I was walking home -with nothing better to do- and decided to stop to give one of the street artists a bit of business. Living downtown within walking distance of the Xinyi district means we are never without food, shopping, or entertainment.

 I decided that it could be really neat to have my portrait drawn while pregnant, and I specifically noted to the artist that I would really love it if he could sketch not only my face, but all the way down to my belly. I sat for what felt like ages on a hot evening, but at least the sun was down and there was a gentle breeze occasionally.

My face starting to take shape

Apparently, I was quite the spectacle to see. Hubby was at work, so there I sat, just a single foreign pregnant woman for all the locals to gawk at! Truth be told, I attracted the artist quite a little gathering of onlookers ~ hopefully, he got some extra business out of the deal.

Pregnant me, Sitting still for what feels like a long time!

The usual portrait fee was $100 NTD ($3.38 USD), but I paid a little extra at $150 NTD to have my belly in the picture.

[Amateur photographer passerby decides to take our photos]

 The artist was very kind and worked quickly, glancing up and down from his paper every second. At one point when a passerby began to photo our little session, I asked the artist to pause so I could give him my email address. Success! He sent the photos to me the same night. :)

It's me! Only slightly more Asian...

In the end, I feel like the artist took some liberties with my appearance (can we say 20 lbs. lighter and almond shaped eyes, long nose?) but it was a fun way to pass the time. I'm thinking I may try again with another street artist sometime... Just to see if I still turn up with an Asian Lizzie picture. ;)

week 102_Ghost Month Bai-Bai

August was ghost month, and as a closing ceremony at end of the month, our office held the annual bai-bai to pray for prosperity to our business in the coming year. We will soon be relocating to a new office location, so I imagine there were many prayers sent up for the speedy and easy transition into our anticipated place of business.

Our building holds multiple tenants, so our table was sandwiched among the other bai-bai offerings at the front of our building. Just a few pictures from the day...

Another Tenant's Offering Table

During the first bai-bai session (early afternoon) we all break from our work to go downstairs and pray. All incense is placed in one jar together at the front of the table.

Our Company's Offering Table

 The gods obviously don't mind a drink either...

1st bai-bai: Incense placed together in urn

 And of course, in year of the dragon, some fresh dragon fruit!

Dragon Fruit & Goodies

 A neighboring tenant gathers to burn paper money as offering to the gods.

Neighbors burning paper money offerings

During the second bai-bai session (later the same afternoon) we all break from our work to go downstairs and pray again. This time the incense is placed among the offerings on the table. 

2nd bai-bai: Incense placed among offerings

 At the end of the day... the truth is... all of the offerings are brought inside!

Fresh dragon fruit for everyone!

 I didn't have an official snack drawer before, but I am all set now!

The spoils ~ The new snack drawer at my desk!

week 101_sampling moon cakes

It's not every week that our office counter tops are covered with moon cakes, but just twice a year we get lucky ~ once for the preview/sampling of what we might send to clients, and once when the clients send us moon cakes during the Moon Festival holiday!

Since the Moon Festival holiday is fast approaching (it rotates with the Chinese lunar calendar, falling on September 30th this year), last week we got to try out boxes of moon cake samples from all over Taipei. :)

As mentioned in last year's post, the moon cakes come in all assorted flavors and varieties, but the basic idea is consistent: very dense, and lightly sweetened treats with an outside pastry or sweet shell and the inside is thick and chewy.

Best combination of presentation & flavors:
The Westin Hotel
(ex: Raspberry Blueberry or Grapefruit Ceylon Tea)

I actually kept the box on my desk (since it was headed for the trash) and it will make a great little organizer, but is still very attractive when closed up. :)

Traditional Chinese Moon cakes with Egg Yolk Center

Moon cake presentation with dried fruits

Great Box (but I didn't love the moon cakes!)

Fancy moon cake boxes from the Grand Hotel
~ one tasted coffee flavored, I like it best!

I'm not sure which box won in the end, but one of these will be sent to our professional friends and clients in the next few weeks.