My husband is 50 on Monday. I follow him in that milestone 20 days later. So for our birthdays, we purchased bicycles. Some of the best bicycles in the world, Giant, are manufactured in Taiwan and come to find out, Taipei city and county has an extensive system of biking trails. Our neighborhood is surrounded by bike trails but the best trails run along the rivers that cut through Taipei. Getting from our bike trails to the river trails was a bit challenging today. We think we've located a better route on the map for next time. The trails are great. For those who live in Dallas, the Trinity River project with its system of bike trails, nature trails and playgrounds in the flood plains, well it works great here. We rode about 15 miles today and it was beautiful. Yes, the water quality of the river was definitely urban but that didn't stop the sun from glinting off the water like so many precious jewels. We could hear the cars whizzing by on the expressways that surround the river trails but it wasn't loud. The sun was shining and the sounds of children laughing and fans cheering at their team's roller hockey or softball teams was like music. We are already looking forward to our next trip on the trails, next weekend if the weather holds.

Hi, this is the aforementioned old guy... It was truly a great ride today. We had a great ride and are not too sore even. I'm already thinking about riding all the way down to the ocean about a 50-60 mile ride from our apartment. If we do work up to that ride we will need to have the good sense to take the train back to town.

Today was a beautiful day in Taipei. The skies were a clear blue and it was in the mid 70's with low humidity, a perfect spring day. We haven't had many days this nice, this spring. Yesterday was pretty but never made it out of the 50's. Generally it rains 14 days each month, something I am just not use to. People keep telling me that Taipei is very hot but in the six months of living here, I have only experienced cool or pleasantly warm days, nothing hot. If a place isn't hot for six months of the year, then in my book, it isn't a hot place. But then again, I like heat. It is very difficult to come from the Southwestern United States and not like heat unless you live up in the mountains or near the Pacific Ocean. During the 18 months we lived in S. California, I never thought it was warm. Although most people think of Southern California as a perpetually hot sunny place; it just isn't. And neither is Taiwan. The climate is sub-tropical but that doesn't mean bad. I have been told that it is like Houston, TX. Well, I like Houston, TX so it isn't a problem for me. I suppose that the Yanks, or anyone recently from north of the Mason-Dixon Line (which does by the way really exist) would find it hot but having lived in sub-tropical climates for 30 years, I like it warm.

Thank Heaven for 7-11
There is a 7-11 on nearly every block in Taipei and The other cities I have visited in Taiwan. This chain of convenience stores may have originated in Dallas but the convenience part is really here. When I need a newspaper, or a can of soda, or a bag of chips, I can go to 7-11 just like in Dallas. But I can also go there to pay my utility bills, phone, cable, water, electricity and so on. There is no service charge and the counter clerk just takes the payment. It is so easy. There are ATMs in virtually every store so I can take care of my banking too. I have even been told that if you have a package you need to get across Taiwan, you can take it to the 7-11 and they will ship it to a store near the recipient. Probably more store clerks in the 7-11's here speak passable English than in the US.
The best part for me though is that every time I walk in to the store a clerk greets me and every other customer with a cheerful welcome that sounds suspiciously like "Good Morning". And they sell good coffee cheap!

Occasionally, I get asked whether I get tired of Chinese food. Living in Taipei, the answer is that it is almost impossible to get tired of Chinese food. Taiwan cuisine is much different from mainland China's due to the geography of this place. It is a fairly large island, not part of the Asian continent as such. Also, in spite of successive waves of Chinese immigration, Taiwan has been largely occupied by Japan for large portions of the past two centuries and in the 50 years since WW2 when China maintained a culturally isolated presence in the world, Taiwan was actively seeking new ideas and friends. All this has contributed to a wonderfully varied cuisine.
Of course, there is a heavy American influence here as in the rest of the world so within walking distance of our home, you can eat at McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Macaroni Grill, Chili's, TGI Fridays, Subway, and Domino's. There are also great Japanese, German, Vietnamese, Korean and French restaurants nearby. Of course there are Taiwanese restaurants too. Taiwan cuisine includes lots of fresh fish and excellent pork dishes too. The dumplings and noodles are the best I've ever tasted. When you want Chinese, then the choice is determined by the region of mainland China the recipes come from.
I have been taking cooking lessons though as it would be a shame to not take advantage of the locally grown produce. One favorite of ours is a vegetable called by several names or generally referred to as vegetable "A". It is similar to spinach but tastes more substantial. You don't usually get it in the US.

Air raid drill
To live in a place where the whole country holds an air raid drill is a new thing. I remember as a child doing Fire drills, Tornado drills and even Nuclear blast drills in school. Never before have I experienced anything like today however.
Today Taiwan is holding a country wide drill today to prepare in case of an air raid from China. We go about our business day to day here just like every where else. The fact is we live in a country which does not exist and has been under threat of attack from mainland China.
Well back to the story. At 2:00PM the air raid sirens went off and all citizens are required to get indoors if on foot. If in cars, scooters, or bicycles they are required to pull to the side of the road and stop. To me the really interesting thing is the duration of the drill which is 30 min. For this 1/2 hour the country essentially comes to a stop. Of course those of us who work in offices continue on with our duties but if one looks out the window it is mostly like a ghost town.
Then at 2:30 the siren sounds again and back to the regular hustle and bustle of a city of 5M people.

Mark and I have had so many people comment to us that they like Taipei but they have never seen much of Taiwan. The Portuguese gave this island the name Isla Formosa, beautiful island during the 16th century. So we are trying to discover Taiwan other that the city. Don't get me wrong, the city is perfectly charming, but there are 26 million people on this island and so much more to see.

A few weeks ago, we started in Choiufen, or Joiufen. As with many places, there are at least two ways to spell the name. It can be confusing. Well Joiufen is a small town up on a mountain near the north coast, that originally became famous for its gold mining. The mines are shut down now and the town has become known for its tea houses and artist galleries. It was a fun place. We did a little shopping and had a tea tasting but didn't see the gold mines. The North Coast as you could see is very rugged and the surf was substantial. Joiufen isn't a big town but we estimated that there had to be 100,000 people tucked into the little valleys and vales on the side of the mountain.

Last weekend we went to the hot springs in Beitou (Peitou). Well we really didn't leave the city, just went up the side of Yangmingshan Mountain a little way. The springs are naturally hot 40C to 47C and sulphurous. We saw the public bathhouses (No nude bathing because of the mixed sexes) and toured the first bath house that the Japanese built during their occupation for the residents of Taiwan. But to experience a hot spring you have to get in so we went to a spa and rented a private bath house. There were two springs, One was hot (45C) and acidic (ph 4.5)water from the sulphur. The other was hotter and even more acidic. I thought that it would peel the skin right off but we got use to the water and it was actually a very pleasant experience.

This weekend, we visited the Taipei Zoo. It is also built on a mountain side. It is probably the loveliest zoo I have been to. The quality of the habitats for the animals was impressive. San Diego has more animals but this zoo had all the ones we all go to see, lions, and other big cats, elephants, giraffes, bears, penguins and monkeys. We enjoyed seeing the American bison (did they come from the ranch in Plano?) and the raccoons. We didn't go to the bird house but I heard that they have American blue jays.

Next weekend is a long weekend for Tomb sweeping day so we are taking a cross island tour for three days. We are really looking forward to seeing even more.