Weekend walks in Taichung (3)

Our next weekend walk was again on a very hot Saturday afternoon. Trying to wait until things cooled down to go out, but this is simply not possible in Taichung in the summer.

Some signs caught my eye.

From Several weekend walks

We like this restaurant and have been there a couple time. It is very close to our apartment.

From Several weekend walks

This is a breakfast place that has recently had a make over. The sign and the restaurant facade is new. It is one of the few places open at 5:30 or 6:00AM when I go out jogging.

This sign was hanging on a corner along the parkway to the Art Museum. It promotes the "last available corner commercial lot".

From Several weekend walks

It is not quite the last available corner, as the next one is also empty.

These flowers have interested Teresa for a while. They hang by a thin stem from the tree

From Several weekend walks

From Several weekend walks

and sometimes can be found littering the ground after a wind storm or a rain storm.

This bird was sitting on the ground and bulging out his neck. We did not know if he was trying to attract a mate or trying to keep cool.

From Several weekend walks

And this temple which is along the parkway caught my eye in the evening sunlight. When I jog by in the morning, there is often someone there lighting incense which wafts out to the street. I try to acknowledge the gods as I run by.

From Several weekend walks

Weekend walks in Taichung (2)

Our next weekend walk took place after we got back from the US. We actually went out for a walk on Saturday morning and then did some sightseeing on Sunday afternoon (more on that in a minute).

Our morning walk allowed me to catch up on construction on the "National Museum" building.

From Several weekend walks

Good progress is being made but I cannot tell yet if they have topped it off.

There were some beautiful flowers out in the park by Moonlight Basin and HotelOne.

From Several weekend walks

From Several weekend walks

You can see from the pictures that the weather was threatening rain.

I took a couple pictures of this building on a corner lot on the parkway heading towards the Art Museum. It has always interested me in how much glass there is on the building. The lower floor (or two floors) look like they will eventually be a commercial space and the upper three floors and the roof are housing, though I cannot tell if it is one or multiple apartments.

From Several weekend walks

From Several weekend walks

You can tell from the plants that people are living in the upper floors now.

We walked past the Taichung Cultural Center to see the corner which had been in construction for a while. Neither of us could remember if this sculpture was new or old.

From Several weekend walks

The construction is complete and the corner is back and usable which is good for the fall when I start running outside again. The construction complicated my favorite route.

We walked around the Art Museum and along a street of restaurants, several of which we have visited. This one, Le Mout, we had not and that turned out to be our plan for Saturday night. It was our best and most expensive dinner in Taichung. And will need to be the subject of a full entry later.

From Several weekend walks

Weekend walks in Taichung

I took several walks in the late afternoon over the past month or so. The first was one Sunday while Teresa was in the U.S. and I was still in Taiwan. Walking from home, I was struck with the construction ongoing with this building.

From Afternoon in Taichung

They were working hard on a Sunday afternoon. The small structure in the foreground with the odd angles is the "apartment palace" or sales office for the building going up. It is somehow called the "National Museum of Natural Science DC". The National Museum is several blocks away. Perhaps there will views of it from the upper floors? I don't know.

On the opposite corner, the National Hotel is being renovated. To do that, it is common to wrap the building as you see here.

From Afternoon in Taichung

The sales office does a nice job reflecting the other structures

From Afternoon in Taichung

and the sign for the building is here

From Afternoon in Taichung

This sculpture sits at Taichung Gong Rd - a major artery - where it crosses the strip of park land that runs between the Science Museum and the Art Museum.

From Afternoon in Taichung

A store front walking past Taichung Gong Rd. and towards the museum caught my eye.

From Afternoon in Taichung

I hope they sell very fancy candies!

And as always, scooters are everywhere. This is a row of parking on the far side of the museum.

From Afternoon in Taichung

I was also struck with a (new?) bit of graffiti on the canal under a bridge.

From Afternoon in Taichung

I am never sure what the sense of the graffiti is - that is a conversation I have not had yet with a Taiwan friend.

Returning hope, the mist was rising from the atrium (mist nozzles were running)

From Afternoon in Taichung

and then I decided to check out the view from the roof.

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

All in all a pretty nice afternoon!

Typhoon Morakot

Well, it is Friday and this is our first "Typhoon Day" of 2009. Morakot is planning to cross the island near the north on Saturday and yesterday it was quite rainy. All the local governments called off work and school for the day today, so we got to sleep in and stay in. It was a chance to watch mostly the wind today, and to hear it shake the frame of the sliding doors every once in a while. All in all, a nice quiet day.