Thursday, July 30, 2009

Joan's After Haircut

The previous pictures were Keona and I right after the cutting of the hair to donate.

Now is a picture of Keona at the Haagen-Daazs store after our haircut and style.


And my haircut as of today. A bit shorter than I expected (she trimmed enough off!) but it will grow back! When Keona gets home, I will take her picture, too.


Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Saturday at the Farm

Saturday we went to a farm with Angel and her daughter, Nicole. We went to Tao Yuan... It was a lot of fun. Keona fed some goats:

Fed some rabbits:

Shot this gun (with little paintballs) :



We made cookies...


And had a great time outdoors:

Friday, July 24, 2009

Friday, July 24

Today was an interesting day... A few days ago, Keona and I planned to cut our hair to donate to Locks of Love. Yesterday, she didn't want to go to kindergarten (I think the week goes by too long for Keona and she gets tired of the 1-hour metro rides to and from kindergarten). So, she and I took the day off and went to get our hair cut after breakfast. Nainai brought us, of course.



So, here is a BEFORE picture of Keona and I with our hair down:


And an AFTER picture of Keona and I with our "tails".



It's nice to donate, but pretty short now... both Keona and I keep grabbing for our hair and it's not there!


After our haircut, we went to Cosi O Cosi Italian restaurant for lunch and Haagen-Dazs for dessert. Here's what our dessert looked like:


Lunch with Angel

Sunday, July 18 Keona and I went to lunch with Angel, her husband, two kids, and three of her friends at a place called Posh. It's near the bus stop where I change to the blue line (metro) but down one side road I have never been. So, Angel picked us up and drove to the place. I thought her friends had been there before, but none of them had. They said they read some blogs about new restaurants in Taipei and want to try somewhere new.
They have a pretty good menu, American menu, that is. Burgers, fries, crepes, and egg/toast breakfasts. I ordered an omelette, it was about 10:30 a.m. and didn't eat much for breakfast. It was a two-egg omelette with cheese, bacon, and veggies, with a side salad and a hash brown. Plus, coffee and orange juice. I ordered Keona a kiwi crepe and a glass of mango juice. What surprised me was that her crepe came AFTER we had all finished our meals! Apparently they were making it from scratch and it took a while to make. Once it came, Keona said she didn't even want the crepe! So, she tried one bite and said nope. She just ate the kiwi... next time I will just order her a side of fruit!! I thought the crepe was good - it also had a side of kiwi with whipped cream and one small scoop of ice cream. She liked that...

Yangmingshan (Yangming Mountain)



Saturday, July 18 we went to Yangmingshan after lunch with Yeye. We had lunch at the Royal Host restaurant and then drove up the mountain. It was really nice weather - cloudy but not rainy. Not sunny. Good for climbing part of the mountain... Although, both Yeye and I forgot our cameras... So next time, we will bring our camera and I will upload pictures! But here are some pics from the Internet.
This first picture wasn't exactly what we saw, but beautiful nonetheless.


We were by the orange dot in the center, Lengshuikeng and the black square: Park Headquarters and Visitor Center. We parked there, and walked up the mountain by the Lengshuikeng.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Monday night Earthquake

Monday night was an interesting night... at 2:00 a.m. I woke up and the bed was shaking. I thought Keona woke up and was shaking the bed. But when I looked over to my left, where the air conditioner's remote is, it was swinging like a pendulum. I realized that the whole building was shaking! I heard Nainai get out of her room to the living room, but I didn't get out of bed... It was in the morning that Nainai said it was an earthquake on the east side of the island that could be felt here in Taipei. Interesting experience, and I don't like it!

Here is what the News says:

1. Moderate earthquake strikes offshore Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese authorities say a 6.3-magnitude earthquake has struck off the east coast of the island, rattling buildings in Taipei, but causing no casualties or damage.The Central Weather Bureau says the quake struck at 2:05 a.m. Tuesday (1805 GMT Monday). It was centered about 36 miles (57 kilometers) off the eastern city of Hualien, some 85 miles (135 kilometers) southeast of the capital.Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people. And in 2006 a 6.7-magnitude tremor south of Kaohsiung severed undersea cables and disrupted telephone and Internet service to millions throughout Asia.Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

2. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a23R4_HGnf7E says:

Taiwan Hit by Magnitude-6.3 Quake, Tremors in Taipei (Update1)
By Tim Culpan and Peter S. Green

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Taiwan at about 2 a.m. local time today, and the temblor rattled windows and shook buildings in the capital of Taipei more than 100 kilometers away.No major damage or injuries were reported as of 2:50 a.m. by the fire department in the eastern county of Yilan, close to the epicenter, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said. Taiwan’s weather service warned sea levels in coastal areas may change suddenly after the quake.A temblor measuring magnitude-4.0 struck Yilan at 2:02 a.m., followed by the 6.3 shock off the east coast at 2:05 a.m., and aftershocks of 3.9 and 5.1 magnitude in the same area, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau reported on its Web site.The biggest of the three struck at a depth of about 25 kilometers (15 miles), about 135 kilometers south-southeast of Taipei, the U.S. Geologic Survey said on its Web site.Taiwan is regularly struck by earthquakes. The most deadly in recent years, a 7.6-magnitude quake in September 1999, killed about 2,400 people and caused at least $9 billion in damage.To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net; Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.net Last Updated: July 13, 2009 17:06 EDT

Weekend of July 11, 12

Saturday Keona and I went to visit Angel again and go swimming at her community pool. It was a lot of fun! It was outside, and even with sunscreen, I burned, and Keona has nice tan lines. She never burns... must be nice skin composition! Haha. We were home for dinner and biked to the Blockbuster in Jingmei to get more movies. She really likes the Disney movie, Spirit. We've checked it out 3 times... $3 each time we could've purchased it for that price... oh well. If I see it here, I will buy it, but Carrefour doesn't have it. So, I will need to look somewhere else.Sunday we left before 10:00 to Yeye's in Jeelung. Nainai took us to the bus stop, not too far from her house. The driver was driving pretty fast, and we were there in about half an hour! We had lunch, rested a bit, and went swimming again in Yeye's pool, which his is indoors. We showered and dressed, and Keona fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up, she cried, "I want bubble tea!!" So, we went downstairs, across the street, and down about three shops and bought her a bubble tea. Had dinner, chatted a while, and was home at 10 p.m.

Keona and Kindergarten

Last week, Keona went to kindergarten Wednesday through Friday all day. Nainai went to the doctor Wednesday so just Keona and I went to her kindy and me back to my class. Thursday and Friday Nainai came with in the morning to drop her off - I would turn around once getting to the Neihu train line and she would continue the rest so I would be on time for class.
Thursday, I went to pick up Keona around 4:30/4:40 p.m. and she was downstairs with the other kids doing calligraphy. I went downstairs and she asked me, "why did you come so early?" She really likes being at the kindergarten. In the morning, sometimes she doesn't want to go just because they have nap time. But when I pick her up, Erika says she slept well, no problems. So, I don't know why Keona has a dislike for naps when she is tired and ready for one...
On Friday, not even one week since the Neihu line opened (It opened on July 4th), the train was broken. I got to Nangang, where I transferred to the Neihu line, and she said it was broken, to go back to the blue line to Zhongxiao Fuxing (where I initially got on the train!). So, I did. I went back. I thought it was just one-way broken, but when I got to the Zhongxiao Fuxing station and found the transfer to Neihu, I was in disbelief. The workers couldn't speak English to me - all I knew was that the signs said there was a bus at exit 2. But which way? A Chinese girl, Christine, helped me out. She was going to Muzha, the other direction from Neihu, and she was really helpful! There must have been 100 people going to the Neihu line with a "Free bus pass". I didn't want to deal with it. So, I asked a taxi to take me to the kindergarten. A nice, $9 taxi ride instead of a $2 train ride.

Here is a map of the Taipei Metro line: I take a bus to the blue line, Zhongxiao Dunhua station. Then go East to Nangang. Then the free bus to the Neihu line and 3 stops later to Keona's Kindergarten, at the Huzhou station, I am there. I am sure you can click on the map to read the print easier.

Friday, July 3, 2009

End of the Week

Well, Keona did come back Wednesday night, 2:30 a.m. Apparently she woke up in the middle of the night, so Yeye drove her back. So, I didn't go to Jeelung, but maybe next week.
Keona really likes her new bike - she's been riding it around the living room!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

This Week

This week has been busy! Keona went to the kindergarten for a few hours on Monday, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. She said she had a lot of fun! Before we left, she began practicing writing the "bo po mo fo" sounds of Chinese. (Which I learned but not the written symbol...) I should learn along with Keona!!
Tuesday she also went to kindergarten all day - so she was there for a nap. We planned ahead and she brought her Hello Kitty to sleep with. She was there from 10:20 until 4:00. Nainai and I returned at 4:00 at which the English class began. I sat in to see what they were learning and how they were interacting. It is only three of them. Keona didn't want to sit and write but I think she was just tired...


Wednesday Yeye took Keona to Jeelung while I went to my Chinese class at the newspaper. Talk about a mixed-level classroom!! I was told that the class would begin with Lesson 7 in the text. When I got there, half of the 8 students wanted to start from the 1st lesson! Now, I don't mind practicing again, but I paid for this course and I already learned those lessons while in Minnesota. So, I, along with three other asian women, discussed an option for us to have a separate class. In the end it was worked out, so 4 will be on lesson 1 tomorrow, and 4 will be continuing on lesson 9 (instead of 7). I will be among the 4 on Lesson 9, with one Korean girl and two Japanese girls. It's tough: (a) lesson material topic, (b) traditional characters instead of simplified, and (c) "bo po mo fo" symbols for the only assistance for pronunciation, which I didn't learn. So... it should be okay! I am optimistic at this point with this first class for the rest of the week!


So, I will go to Jeelung tomorrow after class ... I hope Keona sleeps well tonight!

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