Joyous moments

These were from a wedding I attended two weekends back. Sometimes I wonder how wonderful the life of a wedding photographer must be. Capturing people during one of their happiest moments ... you can't help but feel happy and proud of what you are doing. Not something you would usually associate with your job. Well Mr.Photographer may not think so but the grass always looks greener on the other side.

Life behind wheels

Life has not been the same after we decided to put our foot down (on the pedal) and swap public transport with a set of wheels. Here is the down side to life behind wheels.

1) Walking 1Km less daily. Sigh ... I did not sign up for the extra spare tire around my waist.
2) Bye bye reading time. Train rides were a good time to catch up on reading.
3) Instead of the frustrating wait for the bus, I have to bear with congested roads and lots of traffic lights.
4) The roads have eyes. Take a misstep and you get fined for the smallest of offences, and "tolonglah encik ..." does not work here.
5) This 1.2 tonne machine puts a hole in your pocket and sucks up all extra dough. Well we sign up for this so were ready for this... well sort of ...

The moment when two lines meet

How often does a single moment changes the shape of your future, or elevates you to an unfamiliar position that expects no less than total devotion and effort? The cross on the Clearblue kit that greeted us 3 1/2 months back was one of those moments. It confirmed what we had earlier suspected. A bunch of feelings almost jumped out at once. Excitement, relief, trepidation. They were all knotted up somewhere within me. We needed a second opinion, make that third if we counted the pregnancy strip. Should we keep it under wraps until the 2nd trimester? A useful Chinese belief that lets the bulging stomach reveals itself, and keeps colleagues guessing about your weight gain and snacking binges. At least our family should know.

We are half way through this journey of preparation, yet there is still so much more that we do not know. But we are ready, or we think that we are ready, to take on this journey and whatever that awaits.

Discovering Formosa : Day 7 & 8 - Yilan and Taipei

We were leaving the countryside today and heading back to the bustling capital city of Taipei. The bus had to travel through winding coastal roads so we were bundled onto the train instead. We arrived first at the train station in Yilan and waited patiently for about an hour for the bus to arrive. Then we proceded to the Yilan National Center for Traditional Arts. This place had buildings with traditional architecture, shops selling everything from local snacks to painted dolls, and a small theatre for performances. After exploring the place for about an hour. it was time to go.

View from the train window

One-way tix to Yilan

Yilan train station

Yilan National Center for Traditional Arts

Goods on sale

We were heading back to Taipei and our first stop will be lunch at one of the tallest bulding in the world, the Taipei 101. Unfortunately though we could not see much of the view with clouds blanketing the top of the building. Lunch was good though. After we had our fill, we were given time to walk around the shopping center.

Shinyeh 101 - Restaurant with a view (supposedly)

Waiting for lunch to be served

Shopping Ccnter

Our next stop was a small feng shui shopin Taipei. We were briefly taught how to touch a stone 'Chi Lin' before being herded in for a talk by the master. The interesting talk about auspicious names and home fengshui ended rather abruptly before the sales pitch began. This time it was little Chi Lin pendants. No matter how many auspicious strokes our names had, we were asked to buy those pendants that came in different colours and sizes. It is interesting to note that at least one sale was made out of the tour group at every stop (eg. Lingzhi shop, Jade factory, etc).

After feeling happy that my chinese fist name had an auspicious 13 strokes and that we resisted buying all the sales pitch, we were finally heading for Shi Lin night market, the biggest of them all. It was almost dusk now, so the shops were all out. We headed towards the 'fashion' street first before settling for food at the well known food market. It was our last chance to sample the Taiwanese street fare, so we dug into 'Smelly Tofu', Ji Pa (chicken fillet), and Da Bing Bao Xiao Bing (small bun in big bun).

Start of the 'Fashion' Street

Smelly Tofu

Da Bing Bao Xiao Bing

Ji Pa

Tonight we finally get to stay in a 5 Star accomodation, the Grand Hyatt Taipei. It was defintely the best hotel so far.

The next day, we had half the day to wander around before departing for Singapore. We got up for the breakfast buffet and ended up watching the 'American idol' finals on TV. Then we decided to roam around the nearby shopping malls which only opened at 11am. Our original plan was to visit the National Palace Museum but it was located quite far away and we just so little time to spend., so we will save that for our next trip. After lunch, it was time to depart for the airport, so we collected our bags at took the bus one last time.

Getting ready for the opening at 11am

Grand Hyatt lobby

Discovering Formosa : Day 6 - Hualien

After having a taste of the Hot Springs of Taitung, we were headed to Hualien county, located on the mountainous eastern coast of Taiwan. And going into Hualien, we were certainly not going to miss Taroko Gorge, so we made it it our first stop there. The bus made its way up the mountaineous region and dropped us at the Tunnel of Nine Turns. We took the well known trek down the mountain which gave us chance to have a close up look of the magnificent gorge that was carved up by the river a long time ago. However walking down had its share of lurking danger in the form of falling rock. We were given helmets but that was just scant protection against the impact a falling rock can make. There was a scary moment too when a rock the size of a small papaya dropped just a few meters away from our group. We completed the walk in about 30 minutes and headed towards the town.

Taroko Gorge

Site of a recent rock fall accident

There was a short pitstop at a Jade Factory for a salespitch on Jade and other stone pieces. It was already dark when we stopped for dinner. We arrived at a normal house, looking nothing like a restaurant, that had a few tables laid out for us. However this was the best food we had for our entire trip. The food was mainly organic, with free-range chicken and wild boar, and tasty glutinous rice.

Jade Factory

Part of our dinner

There was more activities after dinner and like all Taiwanese towns, Hualien also had a Night Market. Although there was not much of a crowd in this sleepy town. The highlight of the Market was that it was loacated just next to the beach, and this allowed activities like firing fireworks and setting free 'Heaven Lanterns'. The flying lantern bit was quickly over due to strong winds but we had a good time lighting up the skies with fireworks of all sizes and colour.

Lighting up the Lantern

Flying to Heaven

Fireworks of all shapes and sizes

Age is not a barrier play Sparklers