Rainbows, Pianos and Baron Chen

Somewhere, over the rainbow...

With the increased rain quota lately as the island slips into dongtian, Taipei has been lucky to see a few rainbows lately. There is something quite magical about rainbows - pots of gold, leprechauns, rainbow brite (and for some reason I also associate rainbows with unicorns).

Earlier this week while chopping up capsicum for my morning omelete, I was able to gaze out the window at what seemed to be my own private rainbow made just for me. Carefully trying not to let my breakfast burn, I grabbed my camera to take this photo before it completely disappeared so that I could share it with you too:



Renting a piano

Like many expats, I won't be in Taiwan forever. With a transient lifestyle it is often easier to rent large pieces of furniture rather than cart them around in a shipping container. Like many kiwi kids, I received piano lessons while growing up and still enjoy tinkering around when I have a spot of free time. In most major cities rental pianos are easily available, and Taipei is not an exception.

On the recommendation of a friend, I contacted Holly Hua who rents assorted instruments, appliances and furniture to set up an appointment.



With affordable rentals between TWD $500 and $1500 a month with no deposit or delivery fee, the showroom had quite a selection of upright models. I was able to try out as many as I liked, and after some consideration I selected a mid-priced Yamaha with a pleasing tone and touch (followed by a lovely cup of tea and chat with Hua Xian Sheng at a nearby location). The very next day, I came home to the piano already in place in side my apartment in exactly the correct spot (don't worry, I made arrangements with the apartment building staff - they didn't break and enter!)



If only all things in life were this painless! If you're looking to rent a piano yourself, this is a good place to start.

Sticky Note Girl - oh, the drama!

My new addiction: Fated To Love You (or Sticky Note Girl), a Taiwan drama with all the intrigue, accidents, love triangles, money and far fetched implausible scenarios you could think of, wrapped into one big bundle of more-ish viewing.

In Taiwan, there does not seem to be the array of long-running week-day soap operas that you might find in the States, or long-running dramas like Shortland Street in New Zealand. Instead, they have really long mini-series type dramas. Fated To Love You is 24 episodes in total; I am currently on episode 13.

The first few episodes reminded me slightly of Ugly Betty in its flow, although not as over-produced. I don't think I'll be giving away too much of the storyline when I say that the whole mess begins when a nobody-Taiwanese girl and a rich Taiwanese businessman accidently sleep with each other on a one-night cruise through a series of contrived plot twists, setting into motion love-disaster after love-disaster for the both of them.

The actors are fabulously into their roles, the soap-y editing tries to out-do the dramatics of the actors, and you can't help but love and identify with the lot of them. And who wouldn't want that adorable grandma to be their own? My favourite though has to be the quite dreamy (do people even use the word dreamy anymore? He is quite deserving of it, I assure you) Baron Chen (陳楚河). A quick Google doesn't tell me too much about him except for the vital stats - age, weight, and - (why this is a fact worthy of being banded around I don't know) his blood type.

For non-mandarin speakers, this link includes english subtitles. Enjoy! http://www.mysoju.com/fated-to-love-you/

Sight-seeing: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

Undeterred by the light rain, today I decided to hit another tourist spot which had not yet made my list. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (http://www.yatsen.gov.tw/) is easily reached from the MRT station by the same name on the blue line, or you can take a cab to 505 Jen-ai Road, Section 4.







Situated in central Taipei, the hall is easily visible from Taipei 101 because of its enormous bright yellow roof. From many vantage points, photos of the hall gives it the appearance of sitting at the feet of 101, although 101 is really a 10-15 minute walk away depending on traffic lights.







Porches seems an odd word to describe the wide verandas lining the outside of the hall, but for want of a better descriptor, several dance groups were practicing along the porches. In front of the hall a small fair was set up. Not quite in the sense of a New Zealand fair, it was mainly just a few lines of stalls. In New Zealand, in my mind, it takes a horizontal bungee to make a fair worthy of its name - perhaps I'm showing my country roots. Although, for accuracy, the horizontal bungy always came second in coolness to the tractor rides around the paddock at the annual Sunday school summer holiday party. When I say tractor rides, I mean a sack tied by a length of rope onto the tractor. Kids sit on the sack and then get tugged along like a sled by the tractor around the pasture, cow pats and all. So painful, yet so fun.



Anyway, back to the hall: the crowning glory of the outside of the hall, aside from the well maintained gardens, is the impressive entranceway with pillars and a sweeping roofline.







Just inside the entrance, the hall houses a large bronze statue of the hall's namesake, with a changing of the guard every hour on the hour. A well-attended sight of absolute precision and spiffy gun-spinning moves (just see the intense concentration in their eyes).















The hall also houses an exhibit, gift shop, library, auditorium, and other facilities.







To the left of the entrance hall is a small gallery which is a good starting off point if it's your first visit to the hall. At the end of the gallery is a small gift shop - convenient for picking up souvineers if you have overseas guests, as well as postcards.







For stamp enthusiasts (such as myself) several of the display cases have philatelic items, and the giftshop also sold themed Taiwan stamp packs.







In the centre of the gallery was a small cinema, showing at 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. The movie was in mandarin with mandarin subtitles, but you might still find it worth a few minutes viewing to watch some of the old footage (and the locals seemed to find the seats comfy enough to take a nap, I will withhold the photo evidence to protect dignitas!)







One last feature of the hall I'd like to mention are the number of artworks displayed in its corridors - art buffs might find a few things they were glad they caught. Here is one that caught my art-illiterate eye.

Blog awards and the promised stationary post

Taiwanderful 2008 Blog Awards

First on my list of topics I would like to cover off today is the Taiwanderful 2008 blog awards (http://www.taiwanderful.net/blog/best-blogs-taiwan-2008-final-results). Due (I imagine) to support from friends, family and other readers back home and in Taiwan of my fledgling blog, I snaffled the category "Best Taiwan Personal Blog 2008".

Thank you so much for your encouragement, and I hope the awards encouraged you to read around some really great blogs written by far more dedicated writers than I here on formosa. When I figure out how, I will incorporate a nifty little commemorative graphic onto my site's template provided very thoughtfully by the people at Taiwanderful (after a weekend away overseas it's a bit much for my overtired brain to figure out right now).

As a result of the competition, according to my server I received a massively increased record of 15107 hits last month. I have no idea how it's calculated, but it does mean that with the increased numbers of photos I am posting on this blog, I will now start using photobucket which I hope won't cause any problems, fingers crossed.

And finally, a little plug for the overall winning blog The New Hampshire Bushman which is always a great read (http://www.thenhbushman.com/).

The promised stationary post

A little while back I promised to share a bit more of the local stationary. When you spend alot of time practising mandarin characters, you run through alot of exercise books. Here are a few favourites that have recently crossed my desk.



"I am a shamrock
Who hides on the ground.
When you come and find me,
Don't make a sound.
Pick me up very carefully;
Don't let me fall apart.
You can make a wish from me
By holding it close to your heart."



"Fatiao Monkey
Hello! Hello! everybody! my name is Fatiao Monkey! let's be happy!
Hello!
do you
like
banana?
Ha!"



"You can make yourself
feel wonderful...
i'm singing
Mood NIGHT"



"2020. March
SWEET
Best Wishes 100%
Cheer up!
You're my best friend.
American
Show Your Smile
The sky looks beautiful
Clouds appear whiter than usual
There is nothing so beautiful as spring
Dreams Come True
A life without a friend
is a life without a sun.
honey
Enjoy Your Life
May the joy and happiness fill
every minute of your day.
So shiny.
So cute."



"Happy day
WISH
Forever
I am so happy.
I am in seventh heaven now.
i'm singing"



"The Perfect decks itself in beauty for the love of the Imperfect.
Queen Cat
Power said to the world, You are mine.
The world kept it prisoner on her throne.
Love said to the world, I am thine.
The world gave it the freedom of her house."



"Happy Piggy
Hello ! Hello ! Hello ! Hello ! everybody ! my name is piggy! let's be happy !
Boo
Are you happy?
Hello"



"My tour of Eurpope
Holes in the road are a pain.
A lifelong friend
FRIENDSHIP..
Friendship is more. Precious to me
than anything else.
merry ghost
Are you far away from here?
Can you hear me?
The world is always changing
nothing stays the same
We"



"Wellcome
to pig pig
family....."



"These notebooks make writing more fun.
Whatever you write on them is bound to be bright and happy.
happy happy~"



"Tell me that you need and I'll be there
I'll be there waiting
Summer Day"