Another Pleasant Valley Sunday

OK, so Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原 sits in a plain, and the song is basically a put-down of suburban values, which isn't my intention here. We still had a very pleasant time this afternoon with Steve and his family, who drove out to have lunch with us in our apartment. Afterwards, we all headed over to a nearby park, where the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and a good time was had by all.

After Steve, Amber, Zoey and Eli said their goodbyes and headed back to T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中, we made a brief stop at my in-laws' house. Every time she visits her grandparents, Amber is drawn to the piano in their living room, where she starts banging away at the keys. Is it possible we have a budding Thelonious Monk in our midst?

Amber Coltrane

Catching Up with Steve in Tanshi

This last Sunday of 2007 turned out to be bright, but chilly. Winter, it seems, has finally arrived (as I write this, the thermometer in our bedroom reads 12 degrees centigrade, or 54 F. This might not sound very cold, but Taiwanese apartments are all concrete and tile.) I spent a few hours in the late morning and early afternoon catching up with Steve, who despite living not far away in T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中, is someone I don't get to see as often as I should. I met up with him in front a McDonald's in Taichung, and drove from there to T'antzu (Tanjih) 潭子, a rural town of about 100,000 people (!) sandwiched between Taichung and Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原. Our plan was to see the sights of Tantzu while catching up on recent developments in our respective lives, but it quickly became apparent that there isn't a helluva lot to see there, and as things turned out, the only spot we visited was a temple, the T'anshui (Tanshuei) Pavilion 潭水亭. Dating from 1801 (though the buildings are of more recent vintage), it's fairly representative of what you find in Taiwan, and not worth making any special efforts to see. Afterwards, we returned to Taichung (via a quick stop at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium 臺中市洲際棒球場). It was far from an exciting day, but it was still great to see an old friend again.

 

(Upcoming legislative elections explain the campaign truck parked out front)