December 28, 2010
To my girl, Do you remember taking this picture at Kenting National Park? We were walking up the huge steps away from the biting ants and the banyan tree valley. That day was crazy. The huge poisonous loud hornets above us in the trees that we could not see! That was an amazing adventure. You are always down for any adventure actually, even when I got you to hike down the mountain that day! Ha ha! We were so tired. A Corona never tasted so good.  You know I don’t think I told you how much I looked forward to hanging out with you. There is something about you that draws everybody in. You have an energy and a pure love for life that is incomparable. The way you dance, the way you love your family, the happiness you bring to your friends’ day just by sitting with a glass of wine and doing absolutely nothing.  Everyone loves you so much. I can only imagine where you are now and who you charming but I can only assume that you are having fun and looking down upon us.  Thank you for being there for me whenever I needed you. You ALWAYS had my back and I ALWAYS had yours. Thank you for coming out here with me and experiencing this crazy trip with me. You know I’m not sure if I would have gotten on that plane if you hadn’t encouraged me those last couple months. The laughs we had those first few weeks here were the best. I never had to quiet my cackle because yours was just as loud as mine. Thank you for coming downstairs with a bottle of wine when you knew I needed to talk. Thank you for your advice and smile. You have no idea how calming that was at times. I can’t believe I will not see your pretty face again. I love you and I’m lucky to have had you in my life. Our adventures in this world end here but God only knows what adventures are planned when I see you again. Love your admiring friend, Kerri

To my girl,

Do you remember taking this picture at Kenting National Park? We were walking up the huge steps away from the biting ants and the banyan tree valley. That day was crazy. The huge poisonous loud hornets above us in the trees that we could not see! That was an amazing adventure. You are always down for any adventure actually, even when I got you to hike down the mountain that day! Ha ha! We were so tired. A Corona never tasted so good. 

You know I don’t think I told you how much I looked forward to hanging out with you. There is something about you that draws everybody in. You have an energy and a pure love for life that is incomparable. The way you dance, the way you love your family, the happiness you bring to your friends’ day just by sitting with a glass of wine and doing absolutely nothing. 

Everyone loves you so much. I can only imagine where you are now and who you charming but I can only assume that you are having fun and looking down upon us. 

Thank you for being there for me whenever I needed you. You ALWAYS had my back and I ALWAYS had yours. Thank you for coming out here with me and experiencing this crazy trip with me. You know I’m not sure if I would have gotten on that plane if you hadn’t encouraged me those last couple months. The laughs we had those first few weeks here were the best. I never had to quiet my cackle because yours was just as loud as mine. Thank you for coming downstairs with a bottle of wine when you knew I needed to talk. Thank you for your advice and smile. You have no idea how calming that was at times. I can’t believe I will not see your pretty face again. I love you and I’m lucky to have had you in my life. Our adventures in this world end here but God only knows what adventures are planned when I see you again.

Love your admiring friend,

Kerri

December 26, 2010

Christmas activities at WeKids all day. It was fun to play with the kids and have a day off from classes. After all the fun games, we feasted! I have never in my life seen so much food!! Six floors had 4 or 5 tables of food that parents had brought in to share. Cakes, pastries, cream puffs, doughnuts, pizza, trays and trays of sushi, meats, fruit! (guava, bell fruit, banana, papaya, kiwi…..) and even chicken feet. I pigged out, minus the chicken feet! Ha ha. We did a gift exchange and told the Christmas story. It was a really cool day with my little kiddies:)

December 26, 2010

Wulai is a gorgeous mountain town in Taiwan. The water is a brilliant blue and the waterfall was a huge surprise. I loved that the town was not packed with people so it was easy to get through. I finally tried two different Taiwanese food items. the tea egg was delicious! It is an egg boiled in tea all day. I chose to eat one from a restaurant here other than the gross ones from the local 7/11. I then had the congealed pig’s blood cake. It’s blood mixed with rice and then shaped into a square. It didn’t taste disgusting but it was quite sticky. We had a great day and once again the air was the first thing that I noticed! Crisp! I miss that New Paltz mountain air!

December 26, 2010
December 26, 2010

I switched off my bedroom light the other night about to go to sleep and my room was totally lit up by the bright moon. I looked outside and realized how amazing it looked from my window. Took the opportunity to take a few pictures. This is a view from one of my windows in my bedroom. 

December 26, 2010
Took a Taiwanese cooking class this past weekend. It was so much fun! I learned how to make my own soymilk and ways to make it tasty really yummy. I also leaned how to make my own delicious chili oil, sesame paste, sesame paste, a few different Asian dressings, hot and sour soup and a few other dishes. Every time she made one dish she was telling me three or four other ways to the ingredients. It was a one on one class and it was really wonderful talking to Jodie. In the beginning of the class, she explained how the Taiwanese use food as medicine. Throughout the whole class she informed me of the importance of each ingredient. It was well worth every penny!!     

Took a Taiwanese cooking class this past weekend. It was so much fun! I learned how to make my own soymilk and ways to make it tasty really yummy. I also leaned how to make my own delicious chili oil, sesame paste, sesame paste, a few different Asian dressings, hot and sour soup and a few other dishes. Every time she made one dish she was telling me three or four other ways to the ingredients. It was a one on one class and it was really wonderful talking to Jodie. In the beginning of the class, she explained how the Taiwanese use food as medicine. Throughout the whole class she informed me of the importance of each ingredient. It was well worth every penny!!     

December 12, 2010

It was warm today so I decided to rent a bike to ride along the Xindian Riverside Bike Path. It was awesome!! I haven’t ridden a bike in over 3 months and I didn’t realize how much I missed it! I could not believe the scenery. I heard birds and rode through green, lush vegetation. I thought it was difficult to find this sort of peace in Taipei but I have discovered one of this city’s gems. I stopped along the way to people watch a baseball game. I am still grinning from the high:)

December 12, 2010

A breathtaking sunrise near Treasure Hill after a fun night with Puck, Helen and Tom! I cannot express in words how beautiful this sunrise was.

December 2, 2010

SPOT is a film house operating in the old Chinese Embassy buildings. There is a gift shop with locally made items, a great cafe and a gallery. They show one or two select films. We saw Certified Copy. It was a beautiful movie set in Tuscany. Although the film was a mix of English, French and Italian with Mandarin subtitles, there was so much emotion, it was easy to follow along. 

December 2, 2010

Thanksgiving in Taiwan! We had a huge dinner at the American Club. It was a feast as every Thanksgiving should be. Tom’s parents were in from Shanghai and joined us. They also had friends from Taiwan there who actually lived in Somers for a few years! I could not believe it is such a small world!! We all went to a small bar afterwards for a few drinks. I had a great night yet I missed my family immensely. I can only imagine how Christmas will be this year.

December 2, 2010

Jiufen is an old coal mining town in Taipei County. It was an awesome daytrip away from the city. We wandered around through the shops and sipped on some high mountain oolong tea in a beautiful teahouse with a window overlooking the mountains. Sharon showed us the proper way to serve the tea and how to use all the vessels they give you. Jiufen means “nine portions” as back during the Qing Dynasty 9 families lived there and they requested nine portions whenever shippments came up the mountain.

December 2, 2010
December 2, 2010
Walking out of school the other day, I noticed a few cockroaches roaming in front of the building. It was weird. Maybe they had just dumped out the garbage? I look down the street and all I could see was hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of cockroaches running all over the streets of Sanchong, a.k.a. the ghetto of Taipei County. I intended to walk to McDonald’s, the cleanest restaurant in the neighborhood, to get a McFlurry before my next class. The four block walk now seemed like a goal that was sure to not get accomplished. I passed by kids screaming and jumping all over the place. I saw variations of cockroaches that I am quite confident have yet to be classified by science. I am not exaggerating when I say this was like a scene out of a weird sci-fi movie. I walked to the next building and asked what the hell was going on and they said that they poison the sewers once a year with a neurotoxin to kill the cockroaches. Can you believe it? I was lucky enough to see this? I am still shivering from thinking about it.

Walking out of school the other day, I noticed a few cockroaches roaming in front of the building. It was weird. Maybe they had just dumped out the garbage? I look down the street and all I could see was hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of cockroaches running all over the streets of Sanchong, a.k.a. the ghetto of Taipei County. I intended to walk to McDonald’s, the cleanest restaurant in the neighborhood, to get a McFlurry before my next class. The four block walk now seemed like a goal that was sure to not get accomplished. I passed by kids screaming and jumping all over the place. I saw variations of cockroaches that I am quite confident have yet to be classified by science. I am not exaggerating when I say this was like a scene out of a weird sci-fi movie. I walked to the next building and asked what the hell was going on and they said that they poison the sewers once a year with a neurotoxin to kill the cockroaches. Can you believe it? I was lucky enough to see this? I am still shivering from thinking about it.

December 2, 2010

There is a morning market behind the buildings near where I live. It is really an amazing place to stroll through at night.

December 2, 2010

Chopped my hair a couple weeks ago. Went to a few salons that rejected me. I guess they don’t really like to cut white people hair. I joke but that’s really the reason. I was actually told that they could not take me at this one salon where there was only 1 patron and then I suggested tomorrow and they said no and did not offer for anything else. All I could do was laugh. Finally found a place and put my locks in the hands of a woman who does not speak English. Sipped on some oolong tea and prayed for a good outcome. I was elated. El and I went shopping afterwards and I can now show you a weird trend here in Taiwan, frames without lenses. They are everywhere. You see them on the young hipsters all over the place. It’s a style that I think is really ridiculous-looking and quite pointless.