It feels like ages since I last posted something, but ten days isn't that long, actually. I would've written something about last Sunday, when we visited the science museum in the afternoon, and stopped off at a year-end market on the way home, with some pictures inserted to illustrate what we did and saw - only my until-now faithful デジカメ decided to launch Operation Shutdown on the day of my daughter's fifth birthday last week. Instead of doing what it is supposed to do, the Casio カシオ tormented me with messages reading "Lens Error" and "Retry Power On", before refusing to do anything at all. The problem can be fixed (hopefully, knock on wood and all that), but not before we leave this Sunday for our annual Lunar New Year 春節 visit back to the States to reconnect with my family. My wife went out this evening and purchased a Canon キヤノン IXUS 300 HS, so we should have something to enable us to record our Stateside journey, as well as a means to plaster photos of our trip here once we get back to Taiwan in two weeks' time.
In the meantime, here's a short Yomiuri Shimbun 読売新聞 article that can be found on today's Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 website (Hokkaidō to give pair of cranes to Taiwan):
"SAPPORO 札幌 - The Hokkaidō 北海道 prefectural and Kushiro 釧路 municipal governments have decided to present a pair of Japanese red-crowned cranes タンチョウ to Taiwan in September, in an effort to breed the bird in a habitat far from its native Hokkaidō. Although red-crowned cranes are designated for special protection, their numbers have increased significantly, according to the prefectural government's Natural Environment Division. The division said the birds, bred at Kushiro Zoo 釧路市動物園, would be sent to Taipei Zoo 臺北市立動物園, which is now constructing a breeding facility for the cranes. The gift also is aimed at celebrating the centennial of the Xinhai Revolution on Oct. 10, which led to the downfall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China 中華民國, according to the officials. Officials from both countries plan to discuss such details as how to send the birds to Taiwan. In Taiwan, the crane is a popular symbol of longevity and a happy married life."
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