Andre in Taiwan

Fun Day at Olivia's kindergarten

2012-01-19T15:32:00.000+08:00

Olivia's school held an event called "Fun Day" on a weekend. This little event serves two main purposes. One, to allow parents to visit the school with their kids and have some fun while being able to interact with the staff. Two, to recruit new students.

Oh baby! Here we go again!

2012-01-12T15:52:00.000+08:00

Olivia is gonna have some company soon.....

Baby ultrasound at 12 weeks. Estimate due date 6/12.

Guest City in Yilan

2012-01-07T15:55:00.000+08:00

During a trip to Yilan (on the east-coast of Taiwan), we stopped in at Guest City restaurant for lunch.....

The place is an old traditional house which they've turned into a restaurant.

Standing outside, you really wouldn't know that it's a restaurant. I felt like I was visiting some old relatives in the countryside whom still have this same styled homes.

Yup, I remember sitting in tables and stools like these with my grandpa when I was a kid.

Old style wood burner kitchen.

Some homemade sausages hanging out to dry.

More food being dried out in the sun.

The owner of the place behind the counter.

Bamboo crab.

That's me chatting it up with our friend Rich and his wife Barbara whom were visiting from Illinois.

The food was traditional Taiwanese but the preparation was different and they presented it all in a very artistic form to say the least. Very interesting.

Done eating, time to goof around.

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Lavender Cottage

2012-01-04T17:08:00.003+08:00

Photos from a day trip to Lavender Cottage located atop a remote hill in Jianshi Township, Hsinchu County.....

Lavender Cottage was started by two girls. This caricature drawing represent those two founding girls.

Wising trees.

You can write a wish, note or anything you like on a leaflet and hang it on one of the trees.

Since the place is surrounded by a forest and heavy vegetation, there were a lot of mosquitoes; so they had a few booths setup with complimentary mosquito repellent cream. Good idea.

The main building where they have a restaurant.

What's a tourist trap without a gift shop?

Olivia taking a break from all the walking and showing my parents in-law how to use an ipad.

Inside the main building's restaurant.

View from second floor of that main building.

"Did someone say ICE CREAM???"

"hmmmmm...iceeeee creammmmm"

Dinner at Yuan Ting hot pot (元町東京火鍋)

2012-01-03T12:21:00.000+08:00

With the temperature dropping quite a bit the past few weeks, hot pot is the best during these cold days! With that said, we went to dinner at Yuan Ting (元町東京火鍋) hot pot in our local neighbourhood.....

Olivia turns 4!

2011-12-06T15:55:00.000+08:00

How time flies when you have kids!!! Olivia turned 4 a couple weeks ago and we celebrated at my in-laws with dinner and a cake.....

Olivia loves butterflies so we told the baker to somehow incorporate one into the cake.

Olivia with Uncle Justin.

With Grandpa Yeh.

Brunch at Alleycat's Pizza

2011-12-02T17:09:00.000+08:00

Got hungry while hanging out at Q-Square, so we decided to hit up Alleycat's Pizza for a little snack.....

The pizza was not too bad but it's nowhere near their claim of "best pizza in Taiwan". I've certainly had better pizza in Taiwan before.

This was just OK.

Now, this was just bad. Didn't like it at all. Taste and flavour were both awful. Expensive too.

Hanging out at Sam's house

2011-11-24T17:28:00.000+08:00

My friend Sam (who used to work with me) and his wife Bee had a baby girl; so they invited a few of us to their house to meet their new daughter and also have a few drinks.

The star of the night.

Proud papa Sam.

This is Peter's oldest daughter, who's 20 days younger than Olivia.

This is Peter's second daughter. She's very funny and quite the character.

Olivia playing with the little one and having fun being a "big sister".

A group shot of the girls.

Later on a few more kids joined in on the fun, including Aga's daughter.

And Aaron's daughter. Sorry, I'm calling all the kids as certain person's daughter as I don't know their Chinese names and I don't think they've given them English names. Btw, interesting how this particular group of friends that I have... we all have daughters.

Much later on, it was time for the big kids to play.

Tall boy. Can't handle too many of these nowadays.

Group shot.

Again, very happy and proud papa Sam.

Handmade cookies at Kuo Yuan Ye

2011-11-11T17:56:00.000+08:00

On a fine Sunday morning, we made our way to the Kuo Yuan Ye (郭元益) Museum of Cake & Pastry to make some cookies on our own.

I dropped off Olivia and Karen in the building first then I went to find parking, which took me a while to do. By the time I made it back to the building, everyone already got started making the handmade cookies.

Karen & Olivia posing with the various shapes of cookies they cut out ready to be baked.

One of the bakers preparing some samples of their cakes & cookies for us to try, while our handmade cookies were being baked.

These are some the samplers they prepared for us.

Olivia not wanting her photo taken.

After finishing the samplers and having some tea, they took us to a room where they explained the history to Kuo Yuan Ye.

There was of course a gift shop.

Some cookies or candies with cute packaging being sold at the gift shop.

After hearing the history of the company / brand and walking through the gift shop, it was time for lunch where they served a variety of vegetable dishes.

They also setup a traditional rice noodle stand, which I thought was pretty cool. The noodles were good too.

After lunch, our cookies were done baking.

Time to decorate the cookies with some glaze.

Guess who? Karen & Olivia did this cookie to look like me!

All the cookies bagged and we're ready to go home.

Eat Together all-you-can-eat buffet

2011-10-12T18:56:00.004+08:00

Had dinner with the in-law's at the Eat Together all-you-can-eat buffet and let me tell you, it was good!

Most all-you-can-eat buffet joints will offer quantity over quality, but at Eat Together they offer the rare combination of quantity and quality. This was definitely one of the best all-you-can-eat buffet places I've ever been to. I would definitely love to go back.

5th Wedding Anniversary lunch at Shi Yang Culture Restaurant

2011-09-23T17:15:00.003+08:00

I've heard a lot of good things about the Shi Yang Culture Restaurant so I wanted give it a try. However, I've also heard that you need to make reservation weeks a head of time. Well, last September I called them to make dinner reservations for my birthday in November figuring 2 months ahead of time should be plenty of time. Boy was I wrong. Everything was book solid through November, so we decided to make reservations for our wedding anniversary in March instead.

So fast forward to March and there we were at probably one of the most secluded restaurants in all of Taipei to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.....

The place is located up in the mountains of XiZhi, in the outskirts of Taipei. Surrounded by heavy trees and streams, it's a place of total relaxation and peacefulness. This is the entrance to the restaurant from the parking lot.

The main entrance.

After going through the main entrance, you walk through some stoned paths through some trees.

and by a stream.

The path takes you into an open space where you can see the restaurant in the back with a garden and pond in the front.

Once inside you can feel the zen-like decor and peaceful ambient.

The restaurant does not have a menu. They have one set meal which is different every week (or month. I forgot). Everyone just gets the same meal. There are not kid meals. Kids will have to share with the adults. Now, the food was a Taiwanese / Japanese fusion and made for some very interesting meals. It was all good. Not great but good. The presentation however was excellent. Everything was fairly light and healthy tasting.

My two honeys.

Tickle-me-Olivia.

After lunch we walked around the garden outside to end a great relaxing afternoon.

GPS coordinates: N25°07’40.1”, E121°37’26.1”

Lunch at Dinian 31 Hot Pot

2011-09-07T21:16:00.003+08:00

Lunch with my parents at Dinian 31 Hot Pot.....

346 Taiwan Beer Bar

2011-09-02T16:33:00.000+08:00

After spending most of the day in Danshui and drinking bowls of coffee, we made our way to the 346 Taiwan Beer Bar to wind down the day.....

The Taiwan Beer bar used to be located on the side of the road adjacent to the Taiwan Beer brewery. However, they moved to warehouse no. 346 inside the brewery which is why it's now called the 346 Taiwan Beer Bar. I'm assuming they moved so they could stay open later without neighbours complaining about all the noise and raucous. Also, the warehouse is a bigger venue which allows them to host more customers and also have a stage for some live music.

Good old Taiwan Beer. They got real creative with the name, eh?

The decor? Empty Taiwan Beer bottles of course!

Since we were right inside the brewery, the beer was definitely fresh tasting.

Cool mug. I need to take one home with me next time!

As I said, they've got live music going now. Personally, I think it's good that they have it but they need to do something about the overly loud sound system. Let's just said we're glad we decided to sit in the outdoor seating area.

The boys. Top L to R, Ivan and John. Bottom L to R, Peter and Jim.

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On a boat in Danshui

2011-08-29T13:36:00.003+08:00

Went to Danshui (aka Tamsui) and rode a boat from the ferry pier there to Fisherman's Wharf. Here are some photos taken aboard the boat.....

Another boat really to return to port as soon as we left.

Off we go.

The Port of Taipei in the distance.

Jim.

John.

Ivan & Peter.

The Fisherman's Wharf.

Sunset.

(Great) Grandpa's neighbourhood in Yunlin County

2011-08-15T15:03:00.001+08:00

When we visited Karen's Grandpa in Yunlin County, we took a stroll around the neighbourhood. Here are some photos of his 'hood.....

(Great) Grandpa's house in Yunlin County

2011-08-13T13:58:00.001+08:00

Some photos of (Karen's) Grandpa's house in Yunlin County.....

Back to Yunlin County

2011-08-12T19:00:00.002+08:00

Made a trip back to Yunlin County with the in-law's to visit Karen's grandpa.....

We arrived at late at night but that didn't stop Olivia from wanting to play games and fooling around.

(Great)Grandpa was very happy to see all of us.

Grandpa's neighbour letting off some fireworks.

Olivia blowing bubbles with her cousin.

Everyone went off to bed but my bro-in-law and I stayed up drinking until early in the morning.

Next morning we were awaken by the sounds of shouting and swearing old men. These guys are hilarious. The shit they say will have you laughing in tears.

Olivia and cousin blowing bubbles again the next morning.

Taking a stroll around the 'hood.

Dinner at The Landmark Hotel

2011-07-21T15:56:00.004+08:00

This is the Landmark Hotel. A nice little local hotel located in Sinjhuang (Xinzhuang) and conveniently across the street from my house. Great for when I have out of town customers / friends.

On the second floor is the Murano Italian restaurant, which is where went for dinner.

They had some mime accordionist as the entertainment for the night.

Tonight's buffet. Nice cozy little restaurant with great food.

My parents enjoying dinner.

Olivia checking out the saltwater aquarium.

Olivia ran into one of her classmates from school.

Checking out the aquarium together. That's right boy, keep your distance. Don't get too close to Olivia!

Trip to Ilan - Part 2

2011-07-14T19:22:00.003+08:00

From the Plum Blossom Lake, we made our way to the Provence guesthouse where we were staying for the night.

The guesthouse was a pretty cool looking building.

Another look at the guesthouse with my car parked out front.

Since it was around Christmas when we visited, there were some Christmas decorations around.

The front desk / lobby / bar / kitchen.

This is where breakfast would be served the next morning.

The guesthouse has a total of 5 rooms with each themed differently. We booked 4 of of the 5 rooms for the night. This is our room, which was the Nice (the French city) room. I've never been to Nice but the room had a greek and beach feel to it. Must have been all that blue.

The room was spacious, which was good since Olivia likes to run and jump around.

We all got together in the room where my parents-in-law were staying. It was the Goethe room and it was huge.

After some rest drinking tea and chatting it up, we went to the 2nd floor mezzanine and started to set up shop for some bbq, hot pot and drinks.

My bro-in-law Justin firing up the grill.

In the meantime, Olivia was playing with some sparklers with my bro-in-law Stanley.

The view from the mezzanine.

Some kebabs on the grill.

The hot pot.

It was all washed down with some 21 years old Royal Salute Scotch Whisky.

Later on the owner of the guesthouse joined us for some drinks and he brought this with him. It was a cherry blossom wine that he had made himself. The taste was sweet but it was good. Smelled great too.

We also had some red wine and beer. As you can see, it might have been a little too much! But it was a lot of fun and everyone had a good time.

The next morning we woke up early, had breakfast, took some groups shots in front of the guesthouse and made our way to some sights around Ilan (including the King Car Whisky Distillery) before heading home.

The Provence guesthouse

Trip to Ilan - Part 1

2011-06-24T14:50:00.005+08:00

Weekend trip to Ilan (Yilan) with the in-law's.....

We arrived in Ilan just before noon, so we decided to have lunch at this restaurant famous of its kiln-roasted chicken. Name in Chinese: 甕窯雞.

Here's the kiln-roasted chicken. Doesn't look like much or anything special, but it was good!

They give you some gloves to rip apart the chicken. My bro-in-law did the honors.

Bro-in-laws enjoying the chicken.

Besides the roasted chicken, they had a bunch of other stuff which were all good.

After lunch, we made our way to the Plum Blossom Lake.

Some nice "getaway" homes around the lake for the city folks.

The main reason for coming to the lake was to visit the Salex Cafe & Hostel, which is owned by my older bro-in-law Justin's sis-in-law and her boyfriend.

My bro-in-laws and father-in-law grabbed some bikes and went for a ride.

My younger bro-in-law Stanley and his girlfriend were riding on a double bike.

Relaxing scenery.

The kiln-roasted chicken restaurant.

The Plum Blossom Lake

Chubby Brunch & Burger

2011-06-20T19:28:00.005+08:00

After visiting the Green World Ecological Farm, we met our good friends MJ & Hui-Chen for dinner at the Chubby Brunch & Burger....

Then, here are a few photos from the time we went back a few months later.....

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Green World Ecological Farm

2011-06-17T15:59:00.004+08:00

On a fine sunny Saturday in December, we made our way to the Green World Ecological Farm in Hsinchu.....

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Karl Witte Montessori School Christmas Show

2011-06-14T19:18:00.004+08:00

As usual, better late than never. Here are some photos from the Christmas Show put together by Olivia's school, the Karl Witte Montessori School (Kindie & Pre-School).....

Business trip to India - Part 2

2011-05-30T19:23:00.000+08:00

After the first trip to India in September, we had to go back again in November.....

A look at one of the factories were visiting. These guys mainly make metal stamped parts for the automotive industry.

Another shot of the same factory mentioned above.

This is a different company and factory that we visited. This was the "new" factory that this company was putting up, hence the lack of walls and infrastructure which was still being constructed.

It happened to be Diwali during this trip, so one of the companies invited us to join a prayer ceremony that they were doing at one of their factories.

This time we got a weekend during our trip so we were able to do some sightseeing. Here I am at some local temple not too far from our hotel in Faridabad.

Shot of the sidewalk just outside our hotel.

We had planned on going to the Taj Mahal, but the US Prez Obama was in town and was said to be visiting the Taj so we scrapped that plan and ended up visiting Qutb Minar in Delhi. BTW, Obama ended never going to the Taj Mahal.

One of the squirrels running around the premises.

We also visited the Lotus Temple.

We didn't get close to the temple and just admired it from far away. Why? Well, you see all those people? They are all lining up to get in near the temple. No thanks.

Business trip to India - Part 1

2011-05-06T15:50:00.004+08:00

Well, I just got an email yesterday saying that I may potentially have to go to India for a business trip around the end of next month. If I do go, it would be my 3rd trip to India in less than a year. My first time there was in September of last year, then a couple months later in November.

On my first trip there, we were only there for 3 days. We spent most of our time inside factories in industrial areas, so there wasn't much time to take photos. I did however manage to take some photos from the car during one of our morning commutes from the hotel to one of the factories. BTW, we were in Gurgaon (just outside of New Delhi).

This seems to be some kind of temple that we drove by.

Another look at the same temple.

A stray pig / boar roaming the streets, which was a fairly common sight. Saw lots of them all over the places.

Same with cows & oxen. I also saw some monkeys roaming the streets and going about their business. An interesting sighting was seeing a monkey just sitting there on the sidewalk curb blankly looking at the passing traffic, while people kept walking by around him. Guess not only humans are feeling stressed from living in such a crowded and stressful city.

Hustling and bustling to work early in the morning in an auto rickshaw.

Maybe this contributed to it (the most rain to hit the area in 65 years), but the road conditions were some of the worst I've ever seen and experienced in a big city.

In many occasions, we came to a near stop just get by some of these potholes.

Even though we only stayed for 3 days, I was really homesick and very glad to be going home. Again, we were visiting factories in grimy, dirty industrial areas so our stay was not the best to say the least. I know India has a lot to offer but unfortunately I just had a bad experience. Tell you what though; the food was great! So at least there's that.

Me & Ghandi at the airport.

Halfway home. Transferring through the beautiful airport in Bangkok, Thailand.