Food Fair at TAS

Food Fair at TAS is a huge fund raising event put on by the PTA. All of the student groups sponsor game or food booths to raise money for their clubs and, since we are an international school, parents of the different cultural organization cook food. We had curry, samosas, cookies, and a ton of other wonderful things.

Teddy loved all of the carnival games including two fishing games!




There was also a tiny train for Teddy. Of course, he loved it!

Halloween at Pieria

Yesterday was Teddy's Halloween Party day at his school, Pieria. We were invited to the party in the morning and the kids got to go trick-or-treating in the afternoon. Teddy is dressed as a cowboy on a horse. He loves his costume!


Teddy and his best friend, Daniel, got to do a lot of hanging out during the party. Teddy decided to give him a big hug right after the costume fashion show. How cute!

What's Cooking? Sweet and sour fish soup

I had lunch at a great Vietnamese restaurant. One of the few vegetarian options was fish soup. It was delicious but the biggest challenge was eating soup with chop sticks. I was told to tackle it with both hands - chop sticks in one hand and a spoon in the other. It's totally acceptable to slurp and be messy. Must be why I look so strange!

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What's Cooking? Fried Spring Roll

MEA wanted to know what we are eating in Taiwan. What great timing since I just took a cooking class. These are filled with chicken, bamboo shoots, black mushrooms, shallots, and spices. Fried to perfection and topped off with a ketchup, soy sauce and sugar sauce.

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Wulai

This past Sunday we traveled to Wulai, a rural aboriginal town in southern Taipei county. It was a bit like "planes, trains and automobiles" to get there as we walked to the MRT station, took the MRT to the end of the line, caught a bus to get to the city, hiked along the river, caught a gondola to the top of the mountain, and walked the rest of the way up.



Here we are hiking along the river to get to the gondola. While we are dressed in hiking clothing, I love to see Taiwanese tourists wearing high heals and wearing sweaters. I couldn't have done this in anything but sneakers and we were all drenched in sweat by the time we reached the top. Oddly enough, the name of the town derives from the aboriginal phrase "qilux ulay" meaning hot and poisonous.



This is the view of the waterfall from inside the gondola. According to our guide book, this is the highest waterfall in Taiwan.



We expected to find nothing but forest and hiking trails but, once we reached the top, we were surprised to find a resort village. There is a hotel, swimming pool, playground, hiking trails, and a beer garden (although we didn't partake). It seems like a fun place to stay but it was REALLY difficult to get there. Here is the boating pond.



Michael and Teddy crossing a stream next to the pirate ship and the playground. Very strange!



After taking the gondola back down, we opted to ride on the tiny train, as Teddy called it, instead of walking. Teddy is into anything involving trains so this was a big hit.

An almost typhoon

Typhoon Magic has done a great job moving around Taiwan but not really making landfall. We have been getting rain and wind since Saturday. Today it has rained all day - somewhere between drizzle and a downpour. The river outside our apartment is overflowing and moving very quickly. Unfortunately we won't get a day off.

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Taipei Zoo

Here is Teddy in front of his favorite animal at the zoo, the monkeys! We saw the Formosan and the Asian animals, which included a very fuzzy black bear and a Bengal tiger.

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Double Ten Holiday Weekend

This past weekend, the Republic of China celebrated its independence. What does this mean for the Russell family? Four day weekend, baby!

After taking the gondola up to the tea farms, we decided to spend 10-10 in Danshui, which is a cute seaside town. We walked up and down the boardwalk, people watching and being watched by the locals (we stand out just a little bit!). Mommy just had to buy this hat for the little Ted-ster!



On Monday, we rented a bus with a group of friends and went to a small village in the mountains called Jiufun. They had wonderful shopping, tons of local foods, and a great view of the ocean...even on a foggy day!



Our group was made up of the Russell family, Shana's coworker Royce Mussman, and Royce's good friends Ramona and Kevin. What a fun group!



Then we went to Yeliu, which has the most delightfully odd rock formations (thank you Lonely Planet for the word choice). The rocks at this section of the coast have been eroded and pitted by the winds into different shapes. It was really quite interesting!

Double Ten

Today is the Republic of China's independence day, known as Double Ten day. We celebrated by going to the port city of Danshui to walk along the board walk. We could see the fireworks display down the river in Taipei.

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Double Ten

Today is the Republic of China's independence day, known as Double Ten day. We celebrated by going to the port city of Danshui to walk along the board walk. We could see the fireworks display down the river in Taipei.

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Up into the clouds!

Yesterday, we travelled by MRT and gondola to the outskirts of town to a series of tea farms. It was a little overcast but the perfect temperature for having tea.

We are on the gondola in this photo. Behind us is a spectacular view if the city.

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Mango Shaved Ice!

The best dollar we ever spent. We are just discovering this food and totally loving it. We have only tried brown sugar and mango, but we are interested in trying such delicacies as mung bean and red bean (yikes).

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At the Daniel Pearl Day Music Festival at Treasure Hill

Good music, food and beer with a ton of Americans.

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Berkshire Baby!

A big thank you to Aunt Hilary who sent a little love from the Berkshires.

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