The Talking Traveller

I would like to wish everyone a happy and blessed Christmas!


Last Friday I played the role of, you know who, at a school play and afterwards I had between 40-50 little children on my lap telling me their wishes and recieving a small gift. In Tawain, today is not a public holiday and last lnight I still had chinese class at the university where we learned chinese versions of Silent Night and Jingle Bells. I am working today, but I am wearing a hat and I'm oh so jolly!

Sheng dan jie kuai le! Merry X-mas! Geseende kersfees!

Yesterday I enrolled myself in a splendid day in Taipei ( which is actually pronounced Tai Bei…) I took the bus from Hsinchu, the city I live in, for a cheap fair of 100NT ~ (R20, 3USD, 1.5 GBP, 2EUR) and arrived at Taipei Main Station 1hour 15minutes later. The very convenient underground trains (MRT) allow very easy and fast transportation within the city to all major attractions in all directions. My first stop was the Sun-Yet-San memorial hall. This is a large public park and museum portraying the life of a man that is said to be the founder of modern china.

From there I strolled to Taipei 101 (2^nd tallest building in the world) clearly visible from almost anywhere in the city. On the way I took a snap of a family of four also enjoying a day in the city. Speeding past the all the expensive-brand-high-class-shops I spent a few hours in a PageOne, a large and spacious bookshop that holds the largest collection of travel books that I have ever seen. It also has a good selection of books aiding those who wish to learn mandarin chinese, I would highly recommend this shop to any bookworm. My next stop was the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall dedicated to Taiwan’s one-time dictator. Unfortunately the copper statue has been removed due to some political jazz and the name has also been changed. But nonetheless I enjoyed the museum and especially the Big Bulletproof Cadillac that he owned. An artifact that really caught my eye was a microscopic carving on ivory of Dr. Sun-Yet-Sun’s will and platform for national reconstruction in a portrait of Late President Chiang.

 

My religious site for the day was Longshan temple that dates back to 1738. I am very proud of this snap I took of the artificial waterfall outside the temple. I entered the temple and was overwhelmed by the smell of burning incense combined with a assortment of red and cold colors on columns and carvings. A short walk from the temple I visited the Snake Alley night market where old and young trade in everything from tea, peanuts, foot massages, fruits, sweets, meats and yes, even snakes and amphibians. This most famous market was very cheerful and lively and yet not too crowded at the time I visited. (6-8 pm).

Another definite exciting site recommended for any traveller

Do you think jokes about stammering are funny? People who stammer (PWS) like myself go through a huge amount of emotional and physical turmoil in most speaking situations. To be ridiculed, teased, mocked and made fun about that does not help in any way and can cause emotional damage. People who stammer should not be stereotyped as being nervous, stupid or low in confidence. I respect my listener and I expect to be respected as well. There are several videos on Youtube about stammering that has been classified under “Comedy”. I have signed a petition asking that these videos be reclassified.

Anybody that would like to support me and other PWS on this viewpoint can sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/nojoke/petition.html.

I would never wish a day of blocking on anybody………it’s not funny.

Yesterday I visited the National Palace museum. This museum located in the heart of Taiwan is said to hold the world's finest collection of chinese art. It has four floors filled with assortments of paintings, ceramics,metal and jade artifacts. My highlight was to see the works of Guiseppe Castiglione(1688 -1766) .He was an italian painter in China during the Ching dynasty. One work that caught my eye is "One hundred steed".It is a 7m long scroll painting of 100 horses, a definate must see.Here is the stamp version.


I have been chosen to play Santa in a school play and looking forward to do some acting :)