Picturesque Taiwan

These are the long over-due pictures from Taiwan. I must say it's not that far off from the Taiwan of my imagination.

The main island of Taiwan was known as Formosa which means "beautiful island". It is located in East Asia, off the coast of mainland China and is bound to the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait, to the west by the Taiwan Strait and to the north by the East China Sea - which explains why it was so cold when we visited. The island is 394 kilometers (245 miles) long and 144 kilometers (89 miles) wide and consists of steep mountains covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation.

View from the top of Taipei 101

We ate loads and loads of smelly toufu

And salivated in front of old bakery shops in 西門町 specialising in pineapple shortcakes

With sightings of fowl and poultry on the highway

Taiwan is indeed beautiful... I don't mind living there if not for the usage of traditional Chinese

I was very intrigued by the 原住民 or indigenous people in Taiwan. Click here to read more about them. They sell items that are really strange. In Hualien, the Amis tried to sell us deer foetus - claiming that these cure joint aches, pains and asthma.

The Link Between Hope and Love

Here's what I'd been burying my nose into for the past few days - The Flirt, by Kathleen Tessaro.


Key takeaway:-

The truth is no one ever really falls in love with anyone but themselves. Love is a mirror; a reflective surface projecting who we wish we were. What we're all waiting for is someone to come along who will show us something new about ourselves that we can adore. And then, because someone loves us, in turn, we love ourselves.

~ The Flirt, Kathleen Tessaro

Spa Treatment for the Soul

It's been about five months since I'd accidently deleted my entries. It says one thing - fatigue causes errors.

Since this is a brand new year, I made a promise to myself to treat myself better.

Here's what I would like to achieve in 2009:-
1) To love and be kinder to thyself
2) To run a marathon (ok... one of those 10 km runs)
3) Take up dance again
4) Buy my own pad