Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Hualien continued

Here we are on the train, starting of on our journey.




This trip had many firsts: Joji and Anna's first time to hold chicks. At the home of some old friends.


Anna and Lydia feeding fish. This is the place were Joji and Anna caught several fish shown in the last post. Also a first.


I love these cool ladies.


and this cool gentleman.


We made a new friend, De-Ann jie jie, who made Anna into a queen.


Here she is - the girls loved her.


The sisters in front of the Bed & Breakfast where we stayed.


Ken is about to take a bite out of one of the sweetest bananas in the land. Reminiscent of Tanzanian finger bananas.


We spent many happy hours playing on the grounds of our B&B. When Joji and I were climbing trees, I told him that when we were kids, we used to read books in the trees. Right away, he ran back to the car, got a book, and, wedging himself in the nearest crook, began looking at pictures in earnest. Another first.


Where we stayed.


Everytime we come to Hualien, we have to stop by the cow place in Ruei-shuei. That is icecream that Jojia and Anna are devouring...


...and this is an ostrich that they are feeding.


Brave little Lydia!


Good times! Hualien is such a beautiful place!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Mei li Hualien

Rather 美麗花蓮. Which means "Beautiful Hualien". We got back a week ago. I love it there, and can see myself growing old there.






More pictures to come...

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Rice

We went with some friends to their friend's house in Ilan. Rice fields everywhere were being harvested, so we hoped to get a chance to watch the process.
Our friends' friend's house was our first stop. She filled us up with delicious snacks like shredded cheese which I thought was dried squid at first. Almost missed that wonderful treat. Was it gouda? Not sure, but smoky and delicious. Also cold sweet black tea jelly soupa - perfect for such a hot day.




Then we made our way to her relative's house nearby. Between them lies this unique rice field. The dark purple stuff is wild rice. The planter's name, I think.


They were also gracious hosts, letting the kids run around all over the place. We played beckon! I haven't played that for at least 15 years.





It was so satisfying watching this machine shave off the growth of the landscape, leaving nothing behind. The sky was full of birds swooping low over the fields, catching up insects that tried to escape the jaws of the rice cutter. 



Good times all around. Hard to imagine life before these handy little guys - cutting every single stalk by hand.