Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Leaving Yilan
After a fabulous 3 months in Taiwan it was time to leave. With the Winter beginning we just needed to keep following the sun! ;-)
The last few meals:
Kenjia enjoying his usual mode of transport:
Bye bye:
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Helping with the TaiPingShan Biathlon
Alian had suggested that I enter this - I am so glad that I didn't. Just driving one of the support trucks up the mountain had me feeling totally exhausted.
We were talking a 24k cycle up 1500m of ascent followed by a 17k run - that is tough!
The day started out quite nice but rapidly deteriorated with a sharp drop in temperature and constant rain. Though I am sure for those competing this was actually a blessing as doing this in blazing sun and 30C is incomprehensible to me!
Hsin gets a quick lesson in race timing:
Race preparation:
They're under starters orders:
They're off:
Brining up the rear:
Alian completes the cycle:
Recording results in the rain:
Off for a well-earned meal. Me included!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Alian
Hsin and I took some photos of Alian the other night to try out some different lighting and post-processing techniques:
Ta-Hu Shan
Wen't back out with the triathlon dudes for a trip up a couple of mountains - well, 1 and a 1/2 for me - they left me standing. I think I lost all the water from my body in sweat. It has taken me 4 days to recover.
Monday, October 6, 2008
If You Can't Beat Em, Join Em
Hsin's sister is friendly with a dude in town who is in to triathlons and runs his own cycle shop. So I have been getting out for a run and a cycle with these guys. Conversation is limited due to language barriers and a lot of heavy breathing on my part.
Back and Forth to Taipei
Had a few trips back and forth to the big smoke lately: to get some photography gear; some photography books; some lemon grass and lime leaves; and a chest x-ray for Hsin for her Aus visa.
Taipei 101 in the lovely sunshine!
Lovely Hsin in the lovely sunshine!
Lovely noodles creating sunshine in my lovely belly!
Blastoma From The Past
Came across this photo I took at least 15 years ago:
It shows a single human cell - which I had micro-manipulated into a fine glass capillary - coated in magnetic beads. The magnetic beads are coated in antibodies to a specific antigen and thus can be used for cell separation from a heterogeneous mass. The camera was attached to a microscope.
The Mac Revolution Continues
Well after Hsin's brother got a MacBook and Hsin's sister got an iMac - her mum and dad just got their first iMac!
Typhoon Jangmi - Been And Gone
Only two weeks after Sinlaku, Jangmi arrived with stronger winds though slightly less volume of water.
Here is a little taste of Jangmi passing through:
Hopefully that is the typhoon season over now!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Typhoon Sinlaku Moves Away
Typhoon Sinlaku lashed Taiwan on Saturday 13/09 with powerful winds (110 mph) and torrential rain, disrupting flights and train services and cutting electricity to almost 50,000 households - we were one of them. Lost power around midnight and didn't get it back for 18 hrs.
It was around midnight when scrambling for torches that the sustained winds started forcing water into the house. The second floor was worse hit with water bubbling in from under a door like a newly vented under-ground spring. Armed with piles of towels a mopping session ensued to try and limit the damage of the rapidly spreading water. Various other small leaks appeared on the third floor whose continual dripping coalesced into large pools also requiring attention.
Thus apart from the horrific noise of fierce winds whipping around the house, creaks and groans from the architecture, and the odd vibrations, the worst part is not being able to go to sleep for having to be constantly vigilant for damage to the house.
At around 02:00 the eye of the typhoon passed over Yilan, and with an eerie subsidence in the ferocity of the wind, we were able to go outside. It wasn't possible to see much with all the lights being out, and any attempt at photography just lit up thousands of rain droplets.
Within about 30mins the other side of the typhoon had approached and it started all over again. By morning it was over, though it is now Monday and it has rained continuously, but the winds are gone. The most damage that we sustained around us, as far as I am aware, was just lots of fallen trees.
Looking forward to walking Onyao in the sun again!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Surfing at Wu Shi
The only good thing about the encroaching typhoon Sinlaku is that it is pushing waves into the East coast. I went for a surf a couple of days ago at Wu Shi. The waves looked a good 6ft out the back. I hadn't been in the soup for a couple of years - so there was no way I was going out there. In any case, I couldn't break through the shore dump - there was a lot of surge coming up the beach. So lots and lots of white water for me. The good news was my balance seemed ok and I was getting up lots. So just need to get the arms back in condition and get ready to see how the drop-in goes! Expect surfing is out for the next few days until the typhoon starts to dissipate - the waves are just gonna keep getting bigger at the mo.
Cinema - Cape No. 7
Went to the cinema the other night with Hsin-Yi to see the Taiwanese film Cape No.7.
From the poster it looked as if it was going to be some sappy, love story, chick-flick. However, I was pleasantly surprised, and though it was a love story (two love stories), it was edgy and extremely funny at times, and a pleasure to watch.
As an added bonus I got my popcorn in this cute box with Koala bears on it:
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