TaiComp Photo Blog

Chiili day BBQ Night

2008-04-23T14:12:00.003+08:00

Last Sat there was an event at SOHO for with band's going and chili being eaten,etc. later that evening met up with some blogger friends up on the hill in Tantzu for BBQ and some music.SOHO Music

Tatooed lady

Volunteers selling chili tickets for Kidz charity

Couple of blogging friends:Michael Turton(l), Karl Smith(r)

Afeng doing the pirate chili thing-love that shirt!

Singer looks Black Flag but much mellower

It's Hammer time!

Old lady stretching during park exercise

Park flowers

Some odd sculpture at nearby commerical mall.

MJ Klein(another blogger friend) doing his Queen for a day routine -:)

Out and about in Taichung

2008-03-26T14:34:00.002+08:00

Good eats-reasonable prices. Great location.
This fish dish rocked. Had that SE Asian thing going-savory combination of nice flavors with some chili kick!
Eddie an old friend and veteran guitar tech and musician here in Taichung.
Francis-veteran musician in Taichung. Now a restauranteur.
One of the Singapore Snack Bar's iced goodies!
Shot of mountain side inn-karaoke in progress-eek!
Digging for fresh bamboo shoots.

Recently have been shooting a little less. I did get some shots with some old friends and got out on hike in Dakeng which is great exercise and good for some nice shots.

Mix and match

2008-03-14T11:56:00.002+08:00

Working her field

Funky scarecrows-keeping the cars out of field or??

Some early morning sky magic by neigborhood little temple.

Thank God so many elderly Taiwanese people recycle for some extra spending money. Way to be!

I know-being a parking lot rent-a-cop is tough work. Well at least we'll sleep better at night...

So c'mon-what would you caption her expression with? Me:"this wisenheimmer shooting pics of me again??"

I liked the colors and the angles-and yeah I'm a sucker for cherry blossoms.

So many nice angles and lighting this walk.

This old guy is a bit of a living landmark-kind of eccentric. His message is good though-save oil.

Really enjoyed the sunset on this session-this above our area park

Composite post

2008-03-11T10:59:00.002+08:00

Cherry blossom spotting was the reason behind the outing. These are becoming more and more common in Taiwan-Rock!

Level seems a drop low-should be getting some more rain coming soon.

Nice for all 3 of us to get out and enjoy some early spring weather in the mountains.

Roadside shopping above the LiYu Reservoir in MiaoLi

Wow, so wish Jimi was gonna get on stage and play these colors

Temple fest-break out the Crayolas...

..and she's buying a stairway to heaven...

Baila mi hermanas,balla para mi...

Do the crane move. TaiJi is really beautiful. Must be great exercise...maybe someday...

Love how many folks get out and take advantage of early morning to get some exercise done in the park. The Chinese rock at this.

Walking to work while the world around me gets going. Making the commute.

Nice wooden doors on neighborhood remodel job. Guy must like So Cal style. I sure do.

Afternoon walk

2008-03-06T14:00:00.003+08:00

Love looking out my front door and seeing the cherry blossoms bloom.

Love the textures from metal-not hard in this afternoon light.

Back of my son's jr. high school

Twin buildings in the golden light of dusk.

The best light is early morning and late afternoon in my opinion.

So much going on. Many rely on these markets for buying supplies for dinner or buying ready to eat food to take home.

Saw this shot and got it with zoom. Old lady and Nun chatting outside the sunset market down the street from my house. Sometimes some gems in crowds.

228 Day off

2008-02-29T14:32:00.002+08:00

228 Memorial Day was rather quiet and peaceful(here in Taichung anyway). Good mood to reflect. Glad that Taiwan democracy has grown so much since that very sad day and that I've been able to witness most of that growth.Some kid must of had fun painting in the nipples-maybe DPP supporter? Environmentalist?

Tranquil on over-cast day.

Faded blue and rust-I'm so there...love those textures!

Pretty cluster of red leaves couldn't pass up.

Kind of minimalist transformer kind of feel to this...

Yet another park with small temple-was attacted by the restaurant next to it with red lights inside.r

Love the way these 2 buildings appear to meld...

Went down alley, love those off-the-beaten track shots.

This building always caught my eye as very good geometric example.

Jaunt with son

2008-02-25T12:22:00.002+08:00

Kevin and I(my 13+ year old son) took care of some computer stuff in the office, mainly checking NBA box scores and related videos. I thought since Sunday weather was so nice it'd be good for us to hop on bike and do some cruising. We opted to go from Beitun>Dakeng>Taiping>Toubiankeng. Toubiankeng is in the suburbs of Taiping City in Taichung County and about half way between Taichung and Nantou's Puli.

We bought 5 different kinds of fresh-made baozi here. They were all yummy: meat/cabbage, butter, sesame, taro, and adzuki(red) bean.

Interesting home development-reminded me of a castle. The weather was absolutely fantastic. Clear and a touch cool. Great for bike trip.

Day 3 of the photo/video walk to work

2008-02-21T16:02:00.002+08:00

Really loving this regimen-the walking is good for my body and my eyes and my soul-whoo lots of good there. Taking some great shots with some great lighting in the AM and in the early PM if I catch it right. Great little project I have here. Will keep doing it until it gets to hot and I start sweating onto the lens-oops TMI OK here's more pics.

Honored to be member of Taiwan Photographers

2008-02-20T15:33:00.002+08:00

Thanks to Carrie Marshall (the hostess of the rockin:My Several Worlds) for inviting me to join Taiwan Photographers, a blog of some awesome photo work by a number of photo bloggers from here and based here. In fact I was featured there this week.I've loved looking at photos for years but have recently gotten serious about taking them. Below are some images from my recent 2 days of photo-walking to and from my office.

Changing focus of blog

2008-02-14T08:30:00.002+08:00

I am changing focus of blog to serve as photo blog for my many photo forays out and about in Taiwan and elsewhere. Hope you enjoy some of my recent shots in Shiluo, Yunlin County. I was there with my family on the 2nd day of Chinese New Years.

Still getting a feel for my Sanyo Xacti CA65 as a still camera. having fun while I learn. Good info on Xacti over at Xacti Users Group. Enjoy flowers and close-ups of natural things.

Was very overcast on the day of the photo shoot so made do with the lighting I had. Nothing like natural light even when it is not abundant.

Bats at Night...

2007-12-03T11:19:00.000+08:00

The mentioned bats were in the hands of the Japanese and Korean national baseball teams. They played last night at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium. What a blast. Great game and atmosphere. The raucous Asian fans really make for a fun time compared with their staid US counterparts. Love the organized cheering color coordinated garb and all that. The energy at the night game was great on a par with the play on the field. Inevitably Japan one but the Korean team was pretty much in the game the whole time. One of the best sports contests I've seen in a while and certainly one of the better live ones I've witnessed. I hope both Japan and Korea make it into the Olympics because I think they'll add to the level of play there.

Taichung's stadium is really cool and sitting above home plate in the upper tier was great for viewing all parts of stadium and the sporadic lights of DaKeng Mountain in the background. We even spotted a couple of brightly lit flower cars that pulled up outside the stadium. Our neighbors were imbibing freely(some Japanese guys) drinking ShaoShing Wine and the ubiquitous Asahi Super Dry one of the tournament sponsors.

All in all it was night well spent. My son was living it up. Score this one-Win/Win.

Twin Peaks

2007-11-26T08:19:00.000+08:00

Chris & Lara Pawluk
Well this weekend was great for mountain fun. On Sat. I was expecting to just relax around town because my family was going with a group to Shitou on Sun. so I didn't plan any big activities. Later on Sat. I returned a call to my friend(he had called the night before when I was kind of half-sleeping). He asked me if I'd like to go to his cabin with him. This was the 3rd time he asked me since a group of us went the first time. I mistakenly answered in Taiwanese "Gwa boying" meaning I'm not free, instead of saying "Gwa ooying." So I quickly switched to my stronger Mandarin skills to rectify my error. Shortly we were off. This time we got a much earlier start, so the beautiful fall lighting on this clear day could really be enjoyed. After arriving in the town Juolan (below thew mountain his cabin is on) we did a little shopping in some small grocery store. The old lady running it was very friendly and my friend Mr. Shao went about getting his noodles, veggies, and some meat for our impending cookout.

I loved the quaintness and warmth of this little mountain town. It caused me to reflect back on my youth in the Catskill Mountains of lower NY State. I love Taichung but it is so nice to get away from the city and noise and polluted air.

We got to the cabin and were greeted by his brood of chickens and lone cat. The weather was perfect, the air was sweet and you could hear the stream from the valley below. He got about getting the cabin opened and the ingredients for lunch organized. I sensed he wasn't that proficient of a cook so I stepped in doing my best Keith Floyd impersonation and got busy with the knife and cutting board. It was a blast cooking outdoors in this relaxed and natural environment. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon kicking back and drinking tea.

I look forward to more outings like this. Maybe even with our sons who are friendly too.

Double-chicken epiphany

2007-11-19T08:24:00.000+08:00

kian esquire
Recently I was fortunate to enjoy two different chicken meals that were both delicious and great value. One expected and one a surprise. The expected on was the Chicken Roll sandwich at Costco which is kind of like a burrito or roti but with the addition of cheese ands some sauce on the inside. This lovely treat is only NT$69 which is a hair over $2. My son enjoyed the hot dog and coke but managed to get a sample of mine. He said he'll go for the beef roll next time which Costco calls bulgogi-the Korean name for barbecued meat.

The surprise meal came from a Roti stand that opened at the SungJu night market here in Beitun. My wife snagged 3 for only NT$100($3) or NT$40 for one. Man I'm so happy about the roti. I love Indian food and there is some decent stuff around just kind of pricey and a ways from my house. So big props to my wife Anne(for this and a million other things :) ). Gonna track down those Indian guys myself and find out where else they sell.

Tales of Costco,Q-Tips and muffins...

2007-11-12T14:55:00.000+08:00

OK finally Costco opened its doors here in Taichung after being on island for over 10 years at those uncivilized northern and southern locales(yes a joke, but I do have special love for central Taiwan). It was utter madness when Kevin(my son) and I visited a long with 4 friends from Australia last Sat. Taichung's Finest were out in force helping direct traffic. I know Taichung Mayor Jason Hu has been trying to get Costco to open here for some time. I thought it quite interesting that the subterranean parking ramps were lacking escalators. What you say?

There was an elevator but the long sloping ramps(2 per level) were just concrete. The store must have saved major bucks by eliminating the large escalators needed to cover the B1-3 levels. They'll also save enormously on electricity which is fine because that makes them slightly more environmentally friendly and we get more opportunity to burn up the extra calories we pick up when indulging in some of Costco's goodies. Floors 1(Optical dept. and Snack Bar) and 2 (main store level) both have escalators.

Can't tell you how happy I am again now that we have proper Q-Tip brand cotton swabs again. Silly I know, but after torturing myself with inferior Japanese imports or domestic varieties I can proclaim with authority big difference in comfort, safety and utility with the Q-Tips. So even though I had to dip into son's college fund to buy the 4 pack...

My buying habits have changed some what since I first came to Taiwan and also since Costco first opened here. Many things I would have bought without question previously, ground beef, frozen lasagna, ravioli,etc. I refrain from buying now. Some because I prefer to make it fresh myself in more manageable portion sizes and many of the items available at other Taiwan stores are adequate and can be purchased as needed without carrying Costco's inventory for them while they carry your cash.

That being said, Kevin and I did buy some of the things that we consider must haves like the bagels, muffins and big blocks of cheese. The staff is really friendly and service oriented. My card expired and needed to be reprocessed after I had already selected my goods and gone through the line. Some young lady named Amy was very helpful in English with whole process although she admonished me for "making her" speak English when she found out my Chinese is quite adequate. I smiled and told her, "Hey Costco is an American chain and this was excellent practice for her. I also pointed out how she shined in this case."

Look forward to being able to shoot by there when ever and pick up needed items and grazing at the reasonably priced snack bar. Kevin and I did major damage to 18" NT$300 pizza we took to nearby park.

Things I love about Taiwan...

2007-11-03T06:21:00.000+08:00

xrodgers
Well first and foremost Oolong Tea(high mountain of course). In this case enjoying some given to me by new business friend Mr. Wang. He purchased from trip to SongBoLin in the lovely NanTou county. First time drinking this variety and I must say I'm enjoying it in ways I have the AliShan variety which had been my standard. last weekend was great for getting out and about and doing some video while I was. Visited the in-laws in Yunlin and some friends in LuoDong. Gotta say I love the mountains.

TCB, driving and videoing

2007-10-23T16:55:00.000+08:00

Sometimes my business can be fun. Case in point-about 2 weeks ago I had to drive down to TouLiou from Taichung and see a factory. I noticed on the way down that there was a tunnel that goes from the #3 Freeway to Yuan Lin close to my 2nd stop in HuaTan. Had good conversations with both factories and got some great footage which I later published here as "Road". Please check it out.

I almost forgot-the most pleasant part of the trip was coming back from HuaTan I drove 74 Jya extension through the back of BaGua Mountain. That was pretty! Who ever knew?

OK Twist my arm...

2007-10-03T09:05:00.000+08:00

Gonna be going back to Sun Moon Lake this weekend (one of my favorite scenic spots in Taiwan). Will be camping there with my friends and believe it or not, have never camped out in Taiwan in my almost 20 years here. Kevin (my son) is looking forward to this as well.

Update:1st Blogger ate this post(or so I thought). In fact we got biggest typhoon through here in some time. So our trip was canceled. Oh well in fact our condo was rained in in 3 rooms. If you are unfamiliar with strong typhoon rains they don't fall(not vertically anyway) they move horizontally in sheets.

Was a shut in for only 2 days but could feel the cabin fever coming on... Typhoon eve was spent over dinner with an old business associate. We discussed plans to cooperate on production of auto parts so please keep driving those cars...

Scootered to Fengyuan

2007-10-01T08:36:00.000+08:00

palestrina55
Yesterday Kevin and I came into office to do some computer stuff. I wanted to head out to Fengyaun and maybe shoot some video stuff and grab some edible goodies by Miao Dong(Temple East side) Fengyuan's iconic landmark. Well no good shots to be had but we came a cross a real treasure of a find( and had some good father and son time). There is a stuffed baked potato stand behind the main food alley. Whoo-talk about serendipity of the gastronomic kind.

Teacher's Day...

2007-09-28T13:18:00.000+08:00

KatieW
Well this one was totally off my radar. Been busy on trying to get more business together here to do my part on helping Taiwan's economy(mine too of course-:)), but I digress. To all of the teachers out there in Greater China and elsewhere thanks for the hard work and dedication.

Go figure...

2007-09-18T15:55:00.000+08:00

MCHart
Here in Taichung this year we've had 3 typhoons com into the area on fairly direct course with predictions of some major action on the least one, but all small potatoes. Now Wipha comes through with tail way up by Taipei and brings some real gusts and dumps a bunch of rain on us. Just goes to show you that typhoons are as predictable as the winner of the Kentucky Derby.

Remembering 911

2007-09-11T13:25:00.000+08:00

WallyG
I guess I'll reflect here since I was in Taiwan when 911 occurred. First thing is wishing the families and friends of those lost in 911 are doing better with their pain. I was sitting in friend's restaurant that night when another friend's cell phone rang. He was being informed of The WTC 1st tower being hit. Some bad jokes were made. Surely this whole thing was just a bad joke but... Then the TV was turned on over the bar-the images of horror, devastation and loss were all there. Then my phone rang. An incredulous wife calling to tell me the very place we'd been to on a family trip earlier that year had been attacked. The WTC that I could see daily from my Brooklyn home was soon to be no more. An icon leveled to dust.

All I can say-let's honor the lost by working harder for peace and understanding between each other and by cherishing our loved ones.

1:50 Something wake-up...

2007-09-07T14:51:00.000+08:00

Yikes-last night we got shaken awake by 6.6 scale earthquake here in Taiwan. I was shaken awake and not wanting to get up in the hope that my son was still sleeping. Our condo is on the 10th floor and part of a massive multi-building structure that is all joined together. So picture a giant spring and we're doing the "Twist" but only horizontally. This caused me to reflect on how I was overseas on a business trip when my wife and son got a much bigger fright from "921" earthquake back in '99. Fortunately, was able to go back to sleep after an hour of reading.

Favorite time of year

2007-09-04T09:04:00.001+08:00

fishtail@taipei
We are entering my favorite time of year here in La Isla Formosa. The cooler drier weather agrees with me and serves to remind me that Moon Festival is not far off. I love that holiday for it's social appeal. Friends and family getting together around the barbecue grill with good conversation and maybe some grog to ply it along.

Geek Enabling In Computer Alley

2007-09-01T09:13:00.000+08:00

Click To Play

Taken in Taichung's Computer Alley-geek porn palace or choice to so many. Paul and Martha happy guests and video stars. Taichung's Moshang provided the excellent remix tune for the background. Fun was had by all-several rubber chickens were sacrificed, and yes they were made in China. xD

Sharing Taiwan with friends

2007-08-29T10:17:00.000+08:00

Mutantfrog
Had a nice time sharing some of my favorite Central Taiwan locations and people with Paul and Martha. In particular I was pleased to introduce them to Lin Hsi Hsiung a really talented painter friend from Lukang. Mr. Lin is so centered has a real gentle aura, and is very friendly and hospitable with the Oolong Tea. We got to watch him effortlessly paint the gift boxes for the hand-painted fans Paul and Martha purchased-amazing.

Paul shot some footage and hope to post soon. Check out some of his amazing bird/nature photos here.