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Cherry Blossoms

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 13:02:11 GMT

I figured, i'm in asia i should have a stereotypical picture of me with a bunch of cherry blossoms. Well Here it is. :D

Yang Min Shan

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 13:02:11 GMT

There is a Huge mountain right next to Taibei city called Yang ming shan 陽明山 which literally translated means Bright Sun Mountain or something similar to that. Every year for 1 month they have a crazy flower blooming season, with cherry blossoms and a flower clock (more on that later) etc. Not only is this place super cool but it overlooks taibei which makes it even cooler.

Toyota Sports Car

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 09:01:31 GMT

Kasumi's Dad's "Toyota Sports 800". Its totally his baby. Its super little, has a 790cc engine in it and is fun to ride around in. Its definately super sick, i'd love to cruise around in it but the whole driving on the left thing gets me all confused.

Sensouji Temple 浅草寺 at Asakusa 浅草

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 09:01:31 GMT

This temple is one of the coolest in Tokyo. Its huge and has an enormous street selling traditional Japanese goods which you can see in the background. If your looking for tradiational japanese stuff you MUST see this place. I got my fortune read here and it was lousy. So lousy infact that i had to wait until the newyear and get a new one because i dont want luck that bad. haha.

Tokyo Tower

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 09:01:31 GMT

The tower itself. Not super high like Taibei 101 or stuff in New York but still cool nonetheless

Lin Family Mansion cont...

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:53:32 GMT

This is the pond and part of the surround areas for the Fang-jian Study. This was one of my favorite rooms because they study is actually built all the way around this lake. you can see alittle island pavillion on the left, which is part of the room and the mountain in back has tables and trails through it, and to get in and out of this study there are bridges one of which is pictured in back. The study itself is a fairly large room with an open area that opens into the pond part of the room, my classmate anna is currently standing in that part.

Lin Family Mansion and Garden continued

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:53:32 GMT

Lai-Ching Hall from the outside. notice the windows used in these courtyards. in the center of this pic is a window shaped like a bottle and maybe a tea kettle? but every courtyard has different windows, some are bats, butterflies, chili peppers, etc.. very cool and they are all done very well.

Lin family Mansion cont...

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:37:03 GMT

Inside the Lai-Qing hall. The detail of the craftmanship is amazing. the ceiling has wonderful carved designs, the cross beam has gold leaf etchings, and some sort of scholarly scene, everything in this hall was amazing. This was just one of like 15 random buildings scattered across the yard. As it turns out we missed the tour to the actual mansion itself, but the garden was so impressive it doesn't even matter. the mansion will be another adventure some other time and i'm sure it will be equally impressive.

Lin Family Mansion cont...

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:37:03 GMT

"Rainbow moon arched bridge" Everything in this garden can be walked on, over, through, under etc. this bridge connects two buildings with both a bridge and a hallway, the hallway has a door that connects two different courtyards going the other direction. super fun to explore. they were really creative about using tunnels and bridges in this garden, totally not what you would find in a Japanese or western garden.

Lin Family Mansion

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:37:03 GMT

More of the Banyuan Shade Pond... so massive. this whole garden is in something like 18 parts and they are in no way shape or form logically layed out. infact the logic to it is that each little area is its own environment and all the pools, ponds, courtyards are all different with twisty little routes to get between them so everyone while in the same set of walls has their own space.

Lin Family Mansion

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:37:03 GMT

Moon gates, soo cool. you know your rich when your house has moon gates.

Lin Family Mansion and Garden

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:37:03 GMT

The Lin family was a wealthy family that moved to Taiwan in the 1800's and ended up owning most if not all of the land in the Taibei valley, they became super rich off the sales of this land and the rice grown on it. They then created a HUGE mansion and garden complex which as it turns out is very close to my house. This is the Ban yuan Shade pond, or part of it. complete with a concrete mountain which brick hiking trails winding through it in the background.

San Xia Bridge Market

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:40:09 GMT

This bridge is really cool because its lined on both sides with small pagoda's and in the middle of the bridge which is maybe 20 meters wide is a Market/night market. There are no vehicles allowed on the bridge and its a really fun place to just walk around and browse. San Xia is about 20 minutes southeast of Banqiao, the part of Taibei i live in.

Water at Shi Fen Falls

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:40:09 GMT

This is what i'm talking about, talk about cool colored water, its like pale emerald green. beats the browish color of the snake river back home thats for sure. Remember this is Mid-December weather! looks like its not gonna be a white christmas this year... I blame global warming.... it looks like Al Gore was right.

Shi Fen Falls

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:40:09 GMT

This is at Shi fen waterfalls, keep in mind this is mid december. the suspension bridge leads to the falls, but it was just too cold after riding for 4 hours to want to be that close to a waterfall so we just took a bunch of pictures and left. the water here was all an amazing shade of emerald green. very breathe taking.

Prepetual Bike show

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:20:17 GMT

We discovered on the other side of the mountain a cafe where only bikers come to eat lunch and drink tea. This place is amazing, everyone's motorcycles were prestine condition and so aftermarket its unbelieveable. If you can name a bike it was there, plus bunches that dont even exist in the states. We even saw a 500cc scooter with a sport bike suspension (how do you even buy that?). We actually met a really cool guy here, had lunch with him and rode all the way back to the city with him. maybe 90 minutes.

King of the Mountain

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:20:17 GMT

We spent all day riding because it was the first clear day in a while. Although it was cold enough to be shivering the whole time, we rode on crazy jungle mountain passes to get from one mountain highway to another and make a circuit to come home. When i say crazy jungle mountain passes, my definition is this "60km/hr on a 7 foot wide rode that twists and turns through a jungle and over a mountain." These rodes are lined and paved but super unpredictable and only wide enough for 1 car at a time. perfect place to do some Knee-downs.

More Zoo fun

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:20:50 GMT

This was one of the many zoo mascot things running around, and because it is almost the only picture that turned out from my zoo experience i posted it. One thing that i did notice is that this mascot was noticably shorter than those i've encountered in the states.

Fun at the Zoo

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:20:50 GMT

random goofing off with zoo props. Taiwan's zoo is pretty nice, it has tons of animals, and is fairly large. Alot of their animals are fairly overweight, but thats better than them starving. If your a student then the entrance fee is only .90 cents american!

Hiking at San Xia

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:20:50 GMT

Atop a mighty mountain just above the outskits of Taibei city. In the background is one of the many pavillions along the hiking trail Tom and I explored this weekend. The city of San Xia even further back. This hike was particularly fun because it was along the ridge of a small mountain range but still urbanish in that you could see Taibei county on all sides of it. The trail was also jungle... like real, jungle, complete with 6 inch-" i catch and eat small birds, and possibly children'-types of spiders, and bamboo shoots that were as big around as small to medium trees, and crazy humidity.