Kiddie fun

The Taiwanese really know how to host a kid party! Here is my very good friend's daughter having a ball with the other little ones.

It's my father's birthday today

Thanks to my father I know the following things:
1) How to hold a cricket bat properly
2) What a slaz ball is
3) How to know which batter is on strike when the batsmen are too far away to see who’s who in a live game
4) What a Nelson is
5) My time tables very well
6) How to behave in a very swanky restaurant
7) BMT is not a sandwich
8) Life is tough in Africa
9) Public speaking is easy
10) Failure should not limit one’s ability to think big

Twenty years ago, my dad was not yet thirty, he was married and had a seven-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son. He was approximately a decade younger than his peers at work and a very young, successful father at parent-teacher meetings. To my seven-year-old mind he was by far the most handsome man I knew. This was powerfully confirmed to me one day: I was at his office when he received a certificate one December boldly declaring: “ Most handsome man in the DBSA office”.
He is a very respected mind, too. In the process of becoming an advocate he performed so brilliantly on his bar exam that he was exempt from facing a panel of judges in a highly feared and grueling oral exam. Today he is a very well respected (and possibly even revered) expert in his field of contract law and investment banking. In a word I can describe my dad as an achiever. He is a person who seeks out a challenge and will not rest until he has mastered it. He is a guru at foreseeing worst-case scenarios and knowing how to prevent them, so if you ever need realistic advice, call him.
When you grow up hearing about how much you resemble a parent in looks or mannerisms it automatically sets them up to be a role model. My father has been that to me more than I think he would have wanted. I love my dad for all his faults and successes. He is far more honest about the former than the latter, which is another lovely thing about him. If I could magically transplant one of his traits into my character it would be his nerves of steel. BMT is the thing. My father definitely has barrels full of big match temperament.
Thank you Pap for being there and (bailing me out) when I kept on losing one school shoe of the many pairs you bought me, when I chewed my nails on the netball court, when I needed drilling in math, when I needed to complete a speech about deodorant, when I saw snow for the first time, when Homer burnt down, when you bought me the fiat, when I lost the fiat, when the police found it again, when I graduated from varsity and when I needed a ticket to Taiwan.
Lekker verjaar Pap.

Crocs in Taidong

The East coast of Taiwan is by far the more beautiful side of the island. Taitung (pronounced Taidong) is almost directly West of Kaohsiung, just a little bit to the North. Lamar and James did the crazy thing and rode their motorcycles over the mountains; Mike, Ruth and I did the lazy thing and took the train through them. Thanks to some serious connections through our friend Grace, we managed to secure train tickets after the general public got told they were sold out. All above board of course, it pays to know someone who knows a high-ranking train conductor ☺.

We were not very ambitious in finding a hotel. From the steps of the Taitung train station one can see a large lawn, some scooter rental shops and a single sign stating: HOTEL. We looked no further. Since it was Chinese New Year and the entire population was on holiday we weren’t very hopeful of finding a room with a view. The room we were shown was big enough for all five of us with the added benefits of having great water pressure, a strong flushing loo and hot water within 3 seconds of turning on the tap. YAY!

The first afternoon we just rode around the city trying to get our bearings. We discovered a park by the ocean where kites were for sale and stopped to have a go at it. It was my first ever experience flying a kite and with a kite runner like Mike Mason on board, we had no problem getting it airborne. Thanks to some commitment on Lamar’s part, we reeled in our kite since Mike got carried away and allowed the whole reel of string to unwind. I’m sure our kite was halfway to Kenting at it’s farthest.





In a very primitive movie theater we went to see the latest Mel Gibson directed movie,
"Apocalypto". I felt sick for all the violence, but it was a thought-provoking movie. It’s about a man who tries to save his wife and child amid the horrors of surviving a Mayan attack in the jungle. The movie really made me think about our society today. Human sacrifice was acceptable to Mayans, to Aztecs and in the Bible we read of people sacrificing their children to their gods. Today we allow abortion. It's not the same as human sacrifice to a god, but it's killing for convenience which almost makes it worse. Honestly, throughout the movie I was wondering what I was doing in the theater, watching scenes that were not even remotely entertaining. I was appalled. I prayed to Jesus in my seat with my eyes closed. Thank you for delivering us from this. Thank you for dealing with evil on the cross.
Collosians 2
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

The second morning we took Ruth to the hospital because she was coughing like mad. Not only was a very friendly doctor able to see her immediately, but he could also speak English fluently. He prescribed the usual seven bags full of pills but she got noticeably better after taking her medicine, so it was a blessing.




Our next stop was Taitung’s brand new crocs shop. Crocs are shoes made of PCCR, a closed-cell material that virtually eliminates odor. No one will clear a room with smelly feet if they are wearing a pair. Nothing dainty about them, but they are well ventilated, great for wearing in rain or shine and extremely comfortable. The material also discourages sweating, making Crocs even more suitable in Taiwan’s muggy climate. In this country crazy fashion is the name of the game, so having big fat shoes doesn’t matter at all.
The girl in the tiny little Crocs store never had a better day: first Ruth and I bought a pair each and an hour later we all crowded into her little store again so that Lamar and Mike could each buy a pair. In between the visits to her shop Mike had purchased the most psychedelic pair of sunglasses imaginable as you can see in the pics.





The wild shopping trip reminded us of the real reason that we went to Taitung for : GETTING OUT OF THE CITY. We rode north up the coast and stopped for a windy while on a black sandy beach. We attempted reading while lying down on the sand with our heads propped up on a huge washed out log, but between the sand blowing in our faces and Mike sharing Mao's torturing methods in our ears, we weren't really loving it. It was however quite funny when Mike ceremoniously shut his enormous, hard covered, biography of Mao and declared, " I've decided: Mao was a real jerk."
He was wearing his new shades, which did not exactly lend more credibility to his opinion...





James led the way to a scenic area with beautiful rock formations. It reminded me of some parts of the South African coastline, especially since the ocean was less tame than what I usually see around this island.
That night we played a board game at the hotel that Lamar had to explain by translating the German instructions into English. It entailed building postal routes between cities in South Germany, Austria, Poland and Czech Republic. Super fun!



The last day was a short one. Lamar and I went for a run and then we all packed up to leave. During breakfast at a small shop I marveled again at how we’ve become accustomed to living in Taiwan. Lamar was entertaining two little Chinese girls who were enchanted by attention from a foreigner. None of us were surprised when two doors down from our shop a man set off incredibly loud fireworks. The resulting smoke-cloud drifted in our direction and I watched if the cook was going to mind. Not in the least it seemed - just a neighbor scaring off the ghosts.




It was a great trip. Now it's back to school for the last term before we leave for Canada! Woohoo!

A tribute to Dirty Harry

On a sunny Tuesday in October 2006, Harry was dropped off at the park near Bagel Bagel. He was left on the sidewalk in full view of pedestrians. At that time he had severe pneumonia and approximately a thousand ticks attached to his skin having themselves quite a feast. He could not walk further than three or four steps and suffered from diarrhea whenever he pooped.
After the vet shaved off all his fur, dealt with the ticks, tested him for both heart worm and distemper and dewormed him, he came home with us.

In the time that Harry spent with us we realized a couple of things about him that made him adorable. He was was wheezy and squeaky when he breathed so you always heard him before you saw him. He loved to rub his nasal passages against surfaces with rough textures and he had the ability to lose his footing and tumble down in a single sneeze. His right front leg was crooked due to a fracture that had healed without proper treatment and made him seem broad shouldered from the front. His right back leg however was weak and lacked muscle strength which led to a limp in his walk that made his head bob up and down. He ran sideways and couldn't turn right to save his life but he could corner a left at top speed. His floopy tail that bounced up and down in time with his head had the added feature of being hairless and curled at the very end in a piggy kind of way. He also had a particular kind of fur that attracted dust and dirt immediately. Being a short legged doggy with magnetic fur in a very dirty city was bad enough, but he had serious garlic-clove-diet kind of body odour, too. In short he really earned his name Dirty Harry.

James walked him every morning when Thandi and I went to the park and at night, Harry and I spent some quality time together while James and Thandi walked around the block. He really loved running and once his hair had grown back he was a very handsome dog.

His run slowed down to a walk and finally his walk slowed down to a crouch and a fall. Saturday was his last day with us and we were both very sad. We had him put down because he had been fading very quickly in the past two weeks. By Saturday his body ached too much to get up and he couldn't do things by himself anymore. We loved him so much in the end and now that he is no longer with us, we are thankful that we could spend his last months with him.

yay!

I went to Taipei on February 6th to pick up my new "Vander Woude" passport. Yay! I am now officialy known as Missus. Wow. We will be sending my Canadian visa application this week and hopefully receive the visa before the end of July.

James also made history this week. He clocked 40 000 km on his motorcycle on the way to work. He stopped next to the road to savour the moment. We'll miss the bike when we're living in Canada. It's one of my favorite things to sit behind him and take snap shots of the city scenes or to read a good book propped up on his back. We have a 20 minute ride to school every day, so might as well have fun on the way.

We're off to eat some Kong Bao chicken fried rice! LOVE BAGEL BAGEL!

December 2006 SA trip pics

In Taiwan before we went on the trip, James geared up for a real African summer. He didn't really tell me about his expectation of sweat in the Sahara beforehand, I only gathered this from his serious complaints against the mild weather. He decided that it was all a farce, everything he had ever heard about African heat went out the window because he had to wear a windbreaker on most days. I'll ask him to post an entry about his take on it. The first picture captures his complete disgust with the chilly wind blowing. He refused to pose for the picture and started for the car saying," No way, I'm too cold to smile." I laughed my head off at him.
We spent one day driving from Kleinmond to Cape Town and back again via Franschhoek. It was a gorgeous day! The pic of the huge yellow courtyard was taken from inside the old Dutch fort better known as "The Castle" or "Die Kasteel". In the late seventeenth century, the Dutch built it to fortify their new found trading post in South Africa. Cape Town served as a pit stop en route to India and the Far East for ships from Europe. It is currently a museum that walks a visitor through the military history of South Africa with scores of military uniforms on display. We saw Dutch, English and Boer uniforms of different ranks which were exquisitely elaborate in comparison to army uniforms today. I wondered who the seamstresses were who sewed on all those little buttons and sashes.
The first half of this touring day, we were travelling with Heléne, Rolè, Jolè, a friend of Jolè's, Paul and Elene. We then met up with my father and JL at Tokara, the wine estate where we got married. My dad is Paul's hero and Paul is Elene's hero. Paul's only other obsession in life is Lego and Elene loves to snuggle on her mom's lap like a kitten. When he forgets himself, Paul will also join in on the snuggling, but that only lasts as long as there is peace in 'lapland'...which isn't very long!

Some pics of our SA trip 12/06

My grandmother, Thea Behrens, was honored by the church family where she attended in a most special way. I was in Taiwan when she passed away and did not attend her funeral. I was very touched when I visited the wild olive tree planted in memory of her in the frontyard of the church in Kleinmond. She was the first person to teach me about justification in a way that I could understand. She said," It is JUST-as IF - you never sinned. Jesus' death on the cross declares you not-guilty in the court of heaven, my cookie." I remember being astounded by that news.

All these pics are of Kleinmond in the Western Cape.

Some pictures of our trip to SA in December 06

A colony of African penguins has settled on a little outcrop in Betty's Bay, near the seaside town where my grandfather lives. An inconspicuous sign on the main coastal road indicates "Stony Point" with a picture of a little penguin that doesn't hint of anything interesting. We were thrilled to see so many penguins in their natural habitat from a couple of meters away! My father recommended that we go and have a look. I must add that it was a total treat to have the chance to drive Helene's Toyota Prado SUV! You really don't appreciate the luxury of a car if you haven't come face to face with the elements on a scooter in all kinds of weather. Nevermind an automatic SUV designed for sheer driving pleasure with a view from the driver's seat! It's not that I needed speed, but just driving slowly through the beautiful mountains in Kleinmond and remaining DRY when it started to drizzle was FANTASTIC! But, back to the penguins: the more we looked at them the more I realized that for all their slip sliding around on the wet rocks, they cruise once they're in the water like little torpedoes!
The cute little girl on the couch is my baby sister Elene. She has a very gentle side and a very feisty temper with a very contagious laugh. Nothing in her life happens in half measures! She and I had fun writing her name a dozen times a day.
Also included is a pic of Angelique, they night before her wedding. She was making her bridal bouquet on the back porch of our home while a Jo'burg thunderstorm was raging a few feet away. The next day was sunny and bright and everything, most of all the bride, looked so beautiful in the end. I'm waiting for pics of the wedding day so that I can share it with you all.

Doggie paradise

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See Harry and Thandi in action. The sound quality is very bad however, please excuse it :-)
We walk these frogs every morning and every night, but other than that, they live in our apartment. Thandi is wonderdog in comparison to ol' Harry. She's nimble and fit and loves to bounce around, while he is a flatulent old bag of bones that barely manages to gallop when he's excited. They make a fine pair.

December hol's

It's been quite a while since I've updated my blog because we have been so busy taking vacation and lounging about that I have clean forgotten to update those who are not as loungy us! My apologies.

Since James is my boss at our Schoolhouse branch, I took the liberty of asking him for an extra week of vacation in December. He agreed and that meant that I could leave on December 10th! Unfortunately, he couldn't also take a week off, but he arrived in Johannesburg on December 17th. Upon arrival he asked me where my r's had gone since he last saw me, because without him around I reverted back to my Jo'buhg accent ;-) Apparently it weirded him out a bit that his wife was now sounding a lot different than usual. Later on when we discussed it while hiking down the mountain in Kleinmond, he called me a 'daffy dame', a 'wacky chick', and a 'cuckoo broad' all in one sentence.

My first week was mostly spent catching up in Afrikaans with my family and sentimentally driving around the city, visiting the old familiar sights of my high school, my favorite lake, streets where friends used to live and, not least, to Rosebank shopping mall. Jo'burg is strangely quiet to me after living in the craziness of Kaohsiung. Not only were people staying off the streets due to the usual crime, but also, many were away on holiday. Most sleepy seaside towns triple in size over Christmas and New Year as thousands of people living in the interior haul their caravans and "Venter" trailers behind their SUVs to a holiday home or a caravan park; leaving Jo'burg rather empty.

It was interesting to see again just how many different cultures and races walk the streets of my hometown. No child in Jo'burg will ever point a finger at a person and say," Look! Look! A foreigner!." The Taiwanese kids do it so often and so enthusiastically that they remind me of the game we played in the car when we went to the Kruger National park as kids. My mom would say that the first kid to spot an animal, once we were through the gates of the park, could have the first piece of biltong. The warthog had no idea what a victory shout it merited.

After James arrived on Sunday morning the 17th, we went for lunch at Doppio Zero's, a lovely street cafe in Rosebank. The food was gorgeous to look at and an explosion of flavour! YUM! I'll post pics so you can see for yourself. This was a continuing trend throughout the trip and we feasted royally. My dad took me out for dinner at "The Grillhouse" knowing that since I was big enough to chew, I adored a good steak. Thanks Pap! It was also very interesting to hear what he had to tell about Paul's teacher in grade school, since my little brother is about the same age as the kiddies that we teach. When asked what he thought about his teacher, (whom he really loves deep down) he replied," She's bossy." I hope my kids say the same of me :-) Kids will never admit that a teacher is loving or fair. I'll take bossy any day. Elene, my little four-year-old sister is also learning how to write now, and she is a truly adorable little girl.

Angelique, my best friend, got married on the 20th of December and it was wonderful to see her and Ignatuis tie the knot. She looked STUNNING and true to form posed like a professional model during the photo shoot after the ceremony. Ignatuis looked equally sharp and the pics came out beautifully. I must mention that one James Vander Woude was the photographer and I can highly recommend him! We drank Oranje River wines and bubbly in celebration of the newly weds for about two days before and after the wedding! Angie also gave us a huge tub of Fererro Rocher chocolates that helped the average waistline along very effectively! My darling friend is now back in London and as soon as I have some of those wedding pictures I'll load them up. Send me some Angelina!!

On Christmas day we went to a Lutheran church at the Zoo Lake and afterwards had a massive gifts opening session at home. The pastor of the church sounded South African, but his wife had a very strong German accent. I later heard them speak German to one another in a personal exchange during the service. It was my first exposure to a liturgical church service. It was very interesting to participate in the service that much. How it worked was that the choir, invisible to the congregation since they were standing on the gallery behind us, would chant a line or two that we could read on the power point presentation in front, and the congregation would chant an answering "Amen" or a "Glory to God in the highest." The few hymns that we sang were all from a very old hymnal with beautifully written biblical lyrics. So unlike many contemporary worship songs that sound like God is your boyfriend.
Also what struck me was the pastor's back to the congregation. He would often walk to the front of the church, with his face close to the wall and pray there, audibly thanks to his microphone, but facing away from us. It seemed a very humbling thing for a man to do, and it really reminded me that he is in as much need of God's forgiveness, mercy and grace as I am. That front wall of a church has never been interesting except to count the amount of light fixtures or indeed, bricks, when the sermon felt especially long. This Lutheran church, like most churches I've been in, had the cross hanging on that wall, but no pastor has ever turned around and actually faced it. He seemed very small to me when he did that.

We were showered with gifts again this Christmas and had such fun chatting away with family. James was outnumbered 20 to 1 amongst the Afrikaans speaking crowd, but paid enough attention to point out some ridiculous little habits we have when expressing ourselves. Sometimes it's so funny if you have to explain something you've never noticed about yourself. "Nee, man!" is a favorite. When James says it, however, he really draws out that long E with a shrill voice to great effect.

After our time in Johannesburg we went to my grandfather's home in Kleinmond. James was pretty sick in Kleinmond, so we had to take things easy. He found the energy to hike up the mountain with me though and it was truly spectacular up there. The weather forced us off the mountain earlier than we wanted to leave, but rather safe than sorry! The other hightlight was seeing a colony of African penguins (formerly called Jack-ass penguins) in their natural habitat! Apart from a boardwalk lining the rocks where they've settled, nothing seperated us from the little cuties. My favorite ones were those who were almost done with puberty, but not quite yet. They had sleek black and white lower bodies, with brown fluffy, molting upper bodies. I felt for them, how can you expect a lady penguin to look your way if you're that obviously stuck between two worlds!

Speaking of two worlds, when we arrived back in Taiwan on the 1st it didn't take long to get back into the swing of things. I had a pretty spectacular accident this past Thursday, but to my amazement, I could get up and walk on as if it had just been a little nudge. A scooter carrying two young guys hit me from behind on the left side of my scooter. My wheels gave out under me and I timbered onto my left side. I only really understood what was going on when I was skidding on the road through the intersection along with my bike. My huge star spangled banner helmet really did its job very well. I was also wearing two jackets, boots and leather gloves which served well in breaking my fall and taking the chaffing my skin would have taken in the summer time. I was astounded when I got up and nothing hurt especially. The boys were wide eyed and very worried that I might want money, but when I realized that I was fine, I told them to stop worrying and go. A police officer helped me push my bike to the side of the road and started it again. The left mirror had broken, but if you see my scooter, you'll understand that even if the whole left side of it was missing it would not have mattered. Scooters here are not like cars back home where even a little scratch might upset you. They are built to take a beating and are cheap to replace. I drove to MacDonalds, basically on auto pilot because I suddenly craved a chocolate milkshake. After that I felt better and went to class. The next morning I was very stiff, but still NO reason to complain. That night James and I celebrated, in his words, my "continuing existence here." Thank you Lord for taking good care of me.

I'll put up some pics of the holiday. You'll get the idea of how much fun we had.
Liezl

This past Monday, I was privileged to visit a women's prison in Kaohsiung. Four of us went to the Kaohsiung women's prison: two foreigners and two Taiwanese ladies. After a strict security check where we had to hand in all metal objects, phones, coins etc. we were led to a pleasant looking classroom with small wooden desks. About 14 women lined up outside and quietly filed into the classroom. On the cue of the class leader, they all stood up, bowed and chanted in Chinese, "Good morning, teacher." I was astounded at their discipline and the formal way in which they treated us. For the first 15 minutes we played a game of bingo where we all had to walk around and ask each other questions like, "Can you play the piano?" or "Do you have two children" or "Have you been to Hualien?" and so on. After that we listened to Paula share an encouraging story from her life and a copy of Psalm 107 was handed out . We then listened to a beautiful Chinese song and spent the rest of the time making Christmas cards. We moved all the desks together and sat around in a big circle. They made truly beautiful cards. I don't know why I was so surprised. I expected them to be expressionless or resentful of us. But not only were they very respectful but also friendly and eager to help or talk about things. It was rather strange sitting around a table and being very aware that five needles with thread were in circulation.

Paula, Grace and Leanne ran the show and I was a prop. I felt a bit under the weather that morning because of a headache, so I had a hard time being outgoing. Not to be discouraged by the quiet chicky across from her, Cho Yu-wen, a compactly built woman in her thirties, with short yet stylish hair, introduced herself and asked me off the bat to please remember her name. She wore black eyeliner and her full lips were friendly. She had thick scars on her arms from previous cuts but she was almost childlike in her blue uniform, squinting up close at her Christmas card. We shared the glue and a pair of scissors as most of our contact because my head was pounding way too much to muster up the little Chinese that I have.

The women interacted very respectfully with one another, always thanking each other and offering to share materials or cut an extra piece of this or that for another woman. When it was time to go, they all stood up and greeted us with the same bow. Yu-wen asked me to say her name again on the way to her place in the line up and laughed out loud when I told her the right answer. Cho Yu-wen is firmly ingrained in my head now and we are hoping to go again in the new year. Thanks Paula for organizing it!

Long weekend three

Long weekend two

Here are some more pics of the weekend! The details are in a previous post. ;-)

Long weekend

We had a fabulous long weekend. Not only was it a five day weekend but we also got to spend it in Taichung with Charles and Patricia. They bought a house in Salu, just outside of Taichung. A barbeque on the "stoep" outside was the perfect start!
We did the three and a half hour trip to Taichung by train. We didn't book in time to reserve specific seats and we were squeezing into the extra space by the water machine at the back of a car. We were perfectly content with our arrangement to take turns sitting in the 'half seat' when an elderly conductor motioned for us to follow him. We were shown to seats at the front of the train and we got to sit there undisturbed for the whole trip! The picture of James squeezed into an itty-bitty seat was our best shot at comfort before the lovely man arrived.

Charles and Patricia drove us around and showed us the Little Europe section of Taichung. A much different vibe from Kaohsiung; arty, quaint, cobblestone streets, beautiful sidewalks and trendy shops with brands I recognised everywhere. We arrived at about 11:30 a.m. in the morning and I was intrigued by the beautiful girls sweeping the sidewalks. Every shop attendant is expected to tidy up the section of sidewalk outside her shop and these girls are not afraid to work in heels. They get down to it. Check out the girl in zebra tights!

Little Europe had a Cape Town feel to it. It was the first time ever in Taiwan that I felt that familiar relaxation kick in of understanding the vibe of a place. Truth is, I don't understand it, but it just seemed so familiar. Later, I heard that Taichung has the highest crime rate in Taiwan, maybe that's why it felt so familiar...That night they took us to a traditional Hakka restaurant which was definitely something to write home about. Gorgeous interior and killer Kong Bao chicken. YUM! After eating way too much, we had mochi with peanut sprinkles. LOVE THAT MOCHI!! Mochi is chewy, soft, glutinous rice which is pounded into flour, mixed with various ingredients and molded into shapes. So chewy, in fact, that people die every year in Japan from choking on it!

On Sunday we went to Hsinchu because Charles might pastor a church there. We met a couple from Canada after the service, Nate and Emily, and they took us on a tour of the surrounding area. Really classy people!

We spent Monday night at a retreat center on the Adventist College campus near Puli in the Sun Moon Lake area. If you know what the entrance to Neethlingshof wine estate looks like in Stellenbosch, you'll understand just how beautiful this place is. Massive gardens with tree lined streets connecting the college, church and dorms. It was so quiet I could hardly believe I was in Taiwan. All the meals were prepared by the center and served in a lovely, albeit basic dining room. The only option when you eat there is a vegetarian diet with soy milk, juice and water for drinks. We were eating chocolate on the sly, and if I ever go there for an extended period of time, I'll definitely pack some cheese, dark chocolate and coffee. For anyone who really needs a break from all the noise and rush from living in the city, this place is ideal. The only recreation they cater for is a gym and a 50m swimming pool. I have a brochure, so call me if you need more info.

Speaking of swimming, Maureen rescued a puppy out of the Love River canal that runs by Bagel Bagel. She actually got into the slimy, mucky, vile water. She was admired from afar by the fire fighters who were supposed to catch the poor little mutt. You go girl! It's a young, female pup and soon posters of her will be posted everywhere to give the owner a chance to claim her. She might have been discarded into the canal on purpose, in which case the owner won't come forward. She's a little dog even at five months, so it shouldn't be too hard to find her a home if an owner doesn't come forward. If you are interested, please give me a call and I'll let you know if you can have her. We're fostering her for the moment (I named her Selah) so drop by to have a look!

I'm going to post a bunch of pics of our weekend in Taichung. Eblogger doesn't allow me to choose the order of appearance of the pics, so they won't be in chronological order, but you'll get the drift. Bye!