Three mountain days versus no city days

Another short post

On one of my normal routes in the factory each day, I have a spectacular view of Taichung....depending. Some days when the weather is clear, you can see the entire city laid out with ranks of mountains behind it. On the clearest of days, you can make out at least three ranks of mountains, gradually taller and farther away, surrounding the city to the east (the ocean is on the west).  Those "three mountain" days come very rarely. Today was a "no city" day. I could barely make out some of the large downtown buildings. HotelOne was completely lost. I think the morning was so opaque due to a combination of smog and haze, probably held in place in advance of the coming storm (Typhoon Kalmaegi). Should bring us some rain. Then maybe some good "three mountain" days.

Habits in Taiwan

I had a short trip to Korea this week, and Teresa had one to Japan. So we got to test out parking at the High Speed Train Station, traveling in coach (rather than our usual business class), and returning.

I discovered that I am settling into Taiwan. As an example, the sewer systems in Taiwan are not as robust as people in the US are used to. You do not put paper (or anything other than bodily wastes) into the toilet. There is a small trash can in the bathroom for that purpose. It takes a lot more mental attention for a while to avoid that automatic reaction primed by years in the developed world. So, I went to use the toilet in Korea, and found myself reaching for the trash can. Oops. It shows how quickly some of those mental habits can be adjusted.

Some mental work is harder however. We have taken three weeks of Chinese lessons (2 x week). Most of this so far has been pronunciation of sounds (some of which are very different for us). Along with sound, we are practicing tones. Chinese has high (flat), rising, dipping, and falling tones which impute a completely different meaning to a given sound. It sometimes help to think of it like singing. But it is difficult mental work and will take more homework and practice than I am giving it at the moment.

We went for a walk on Saturday to visit the Flower Market. with the intent of picking out some plants for our apartment and then returning (with the car) to purchase them. It was a hot day, but slightly less humid and with blue skies.

In the next block from our place is a canal that controls water, particularly storm surges through the area. The canal winds across several streets at a high angle and makes for a nice walking path. Teresa walks here on her morning constitutionals (while I do the treadmill in the gym). There are many bridges across the canal, each of them different, and some quite unique. 

Crossing a major street, we passed what was (obviously) a butcher shop, with their truck outside. The sign above the shop shows the same graphic of cow and cuts of meat.

We crossed WenXin Road (or UenXin Road) on the pedestrian overpass for a view of the road. I am constantly amazed by the tropical flora, such as the palms trees in the middle of the road. I guess growing up in New England does not prepare you for that, no matter where you have travelled. Teresa had to pose on the overpass.

I also could not resist a picture of a store whose name would not go over well in the States. Why any store would be called Evil, and look like a normal women's wear shop, I do not know.