Let's all welcome a new start!

HaPpY nEw YeAr to all!

May this new year give us all a new start.
May we have more blessings to receive and more blessings to share.
May we have good health always.
Cheers to 2008!

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The Christmas that was...

Ours was just a simple one. With the 25th treated as a typical day here in Taiwan, we opted to have early Christmas celebration during the weekend. Since Sunday was planned to be celebrated with Ate Rosie and friends, we invited our colleagues and friends to our humble home on Saturday and the theme was seafoods for dinner. Earlier on Saturday, I went out with 'te Rosie and hubby to the seafood market in Taoyuan leaving hubby and Jade home so the little girl can take her nap.I set dinner to start at 7pm so when we reached home by 3pm, I started to work on the kitchen few minutes after we arrived from the market.Dishes prepared includes adobong pusit, buttered shrimps,clams, crab feet (cracked before cooking), seaweed salad and stir-fried pork.While I was cooking, Dennis and Jade went to KFC to buy 2 buckets of chicken.

As the guests started to arrive, fish and squid balls with spiced vinegar for dipping were served with the help of a friend.Our friends enjoyed the meal except for the crab feet which entailed one to eat barehanded to savour it. The guys were teasing one of them when he started to "agkammet" (used barehand to eat) because his index finger was "nakapilantik" (lifted and directed upwards) but he didn't mind and continued to savor his plate with matching slurping sounds. The meal was followed by some rice cake sweets from the night market and more of the fish and squid balls. The dinner ended with the group watching the "Pirates of the Carribean" (don't know if it was part 1 or 2) where most of them sat on the floor because of the limited space.

The next day, we went to Juvel's place for late lunch while the rest of the day was spent at Ate Rosie's place where we had our dinner. They prepared the usual macaroni salad and spaghetti that's why I didn't cook these two anymore. I brought down the leftovers plus my simple "pinakbet" from Saturday which our "manangs" consumed with delight. Watching ate prepare one of the dishes taught me another new delicacy for me to try in the future.

On the 24th, we fetched Jade after work to attend the early Christmas eve mass which started at 7pm. After the mass, we headed home right away and dropped by ate's place to get some food servings for our noche buena, if we can call it that. After our meal, we unwrapped the rest of Jade's gifts as some were already unwrapped earlier during the Christmas party we attended a week earlier. She was all smiles when she saw Barbie though she was actually the one who chose it when mom and dad were doing the shopping. We watched DVD (Biohazard 1, Resident Evil) after that and to our delight, Jade didn't make any attempt of pulling us back to the bedroom so we were able to finish the movie.

On the 25th, we were at work as usual but after office, we went to KFC and had Jade enjoy the playpen slide her own.

We called our families already during the weekend as we expected that it would be difficult to get into the line on the 24th and 25th. It would have been a different Christmas if we were home celebrating with the bigger family yet we had to make do with what we have and where we are. Eventually, Christmas celebration 2007 was fine.

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Family hiking in Yangmingshan Nature Trail (1st weekend of December)

Winter ambience in Taiwan was felt last month but with the weird weather, it somehow started to get warm again from time to time. We thought the chill felt earlier is the official start of a cold winter but it seems to be only a hint that it should be winter now. We're lucky that most weekends end up with a good weather much as the week starts with rain and some chills. I'd say that kind of weather without rain and scorching heat makes it a good time to go out with the family. We should take advantage of the neutral climate if I may call it that. But I guess it's more of an unpredictable weather.

Anyway, starting November, our weekends were always busy. We also made plans on how to spend December weekends. Part of the list is to visit the nearest hotspring located in Beitou which is very accessible through MRT. That plan was marked on the 1st weekend of December. One of our friends heard about this plan and she suggested that we go to Yangmingshan hotspring instead because the water up there in the mountains is better than that in Beitou. Since Yangmingshan is farther than Beitou, we thought of booking an indoor hotspring for overnight then. Another friend learned about our weekend plan as well and offerred to help us look for an affordable hotel in the mountains and have one room booked for us on any available weekend. That spared us from searching for a place to stay. She then got us booked for the 2nd weekend of December so we had to change plan for the earlier weekend. Getting tired of the city area, we opted to still visit the Beitou hotsprings just to get a picture of the place so off we went. We took the MRT from Tamsui to Beitou and transferred to another train to get us to Xinbeitou which is around 5 minutes away.

Since it was almost lunch time, we stopped in one of the stores to buy some food and headed to the path shown on the landmark. As we were about to head towards the park, I saw a bus stopped and asked hubby if he wanted to just go to the mountains instead and he immediately said "let's go!" We boarded on the bus right away. That was indeed a sudden change of plan! Without any idea of where to stop, we just decided to follow suit wherever the other foreigners in the bus get down.

We were getting farther but none of the foreign looking passengers left their seats. Then in one of the bus stops where most local people unboard, the driver exclaimed something we didn’t understand and for no reason at all, we decided to get off. Jade was already sleeping at that time so at least, the pressure to look around at where we ended was lesser. The first thing we searched for was some place to eat lunch. We saw what appeared to be a restaurant to us but to our dismay, the place was not really tidy and no one was there except us so we left the place. We followed the road and found some roadside stalls selling sausages but it was not at all what we wanted. It appeared that the big building near the park is home for the aged. We really didn't feel comfortable so we just kept on following the road. I was like wanting to argue with hubby (I think I actually did) for the decision we made but realizing nothing better can be done, we kept on walking. We met two bikers then one hiker. We saw a trail on the roadside and just took it. Then we started to appreciate what we see so we kept walking. We met several people, locals and foreigners alike and somehow, it made us feel comfortable knowing that we followed a regular trail. We passed through a river and ended up in a crossroad. We decided to take the path going right but it got us back to the road. We went back and seeing people coming from the left path, we thought the way will bring us somewhere else. We stopped for a while to look around us and at that time, Jade got up from her sleep. She may have been surprised to the unfamiliar surrounding but started to love it when we showed her the river. We took pictures and headed uphill.

We saw more people passing us by when we decided to take a rest and give Jade her noon snack (we didn't bring her regular lunch because we thought we'd find a restaurant somewhere around the place anyway). Some passersby would stare at us and mumble some words we don't understand. I think they're talking about seeing a toddler with the parents feeding her while they stop for a break - meaning us. On where we stopped was a post showing trails. We had to use our instincts as to where to go first. We figured that people coming from our right side carry food or drinks with them so we thought there would be stalls up there and right, following the path they came from led us to a major road and a busy small town actually. We saw a Catholic church as well. We were glad to see decent places to eat where we ended up eating in a restaurant that serves pasta and sandwiches. We rested for a while and enjoyed the mountain view from where we sat. As we were on the road already, I suggested to hubby that we find the bus stop and just ride back to wherever it will lead us.

He agreed but not being able to locate any visible bus stop and hesitating to ask any body we meet made us think twice as to go back to the trail or follow the road. Hubby said he still wanted to hike and enjoy the view to which I complied. We followed a trail and ended up in a very steep stairway. Oh I'm glad we're headed downhill but meeting some older hikers carrying some hiking rod or stick amazed me and reminded me of folks back home. Of course, Jade was carried all the way down. I pleaded that she sticks with her dad as much as she insisted to be carried by mommy. To stop her whining, Dennis had to run down the stairs from time to time and that made her giggling with delight. Down the way, we ended up in a flat trail and to our gladness; there was a resting area with available seats. A post there showed that wild monkeys still exist in that area and ways how to get rid of them were listed. After few minutes of rest, we continued to walk, walk and walk. Jade walked from time to time but wary of the stony path, she'd squall to be picked up. At this part of the trail, we met family with kids but not any younger than ours.

We stopped in yet another rest area that showed another post as to where the trails are leading to. We decided to take the Tianmu trail knowing where Tianmu is but not really having any idea as to what part of the town will we end up at. Not a bad decision because along the way, we saw the view of Taipei City with Taipei 101 outstanding all the buildings. To my regret thought, the sky was cloudy and I wasn't able to take a decent shot of the view. Anyhow, at least now I know where all those pictures in the internet showing Taipei City and Taipei 101 view were shot from - somewhere where we were. Again, I was glad we started from the top of the trail as it was easier to walk downhill but not until I felt pain in my toes and ankle. I was more than glad when we eventually reached the starting point of the trail - Tianmu.

We followed the road to find bus stops though we noticed that we seemed to have ended in a ghost town because we couldn't even see any single person. I bet with Dennis that we'll meet a Filipino somewhere along the way - just according to my instinct. Glad to see the main road with buses passing by, we stopped in one of the buildings entrance and let Jade take her milk. While on our rest, a lady with a big dog passed by. Dennis exclaimed something about the dog in English and the lady responded in English too so we thought she was a local. But when I spoke to Dennis in Tagalog, the lady started to talk to us in the same language. I won the bet! She worked for a foreign household - that explains why she was also talking to the dog in English, not Chinese. Thanks to her, we found out that we are in a familiar place, we're near the Catholic church in Tianmu, a place we already visited before so we already knew how to find our way back home.

Whew, we were down in town at four in the afternoon. We hiked for at least 2 hours with stopovers. On the bus, my legs started to shake. As we approached the MRT station, Jade dozed off. On the train, all three of us slept. And when we reached home, pain started to be felt from my legs up to my waist and shoulder. My, that was a great adventure but it was a wrong move not to have any stretches or light exercise before taking the nature trails. I wouldn't make the same mistake next time. Dennis was bugging me that we do visit the place again some other time and instead of starting from top, we'd head uphill. I told him back I'll not do it anymore. It would be fun though but we have to make sure we're physically ready for it and he has to make sure, Jade will be willing to be carried by daddy all the way up else, we'll wait for him on top by riding the bus.

More pictures we took on the way can be found in my multiply albums HERE and HERE.

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Merry Christmas

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!
May the spirit of the season fill your homes.
And may the coming new year bring us all good luck.

Have a merry christmas and a blessed new year!

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Images of Christmas in our home

The small golden wreath (still on a box) hanging on our aircon

The Christmas bells hanging on the wall (got two of them)

The red Christmas tree figured decoration hanging on the wall

(flanked by two christmas bells)

The star on top of our Christmas tree

Our Christmas Tree standing on the one corner of our living room

(Flanked by sofas because of limited space)

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Photo Meme - My Sundown!

Sunset
B J Ayers

Out over the ocean, and it’s waves it lay,
A magnificent orange sphere, as it drops to the sea,
With spears descending from within the fire,
The magnificent beauty of the sunset each day,

An immanent display, for the world to share,
As it seeps below horizons, to end the day,
Only to share light, so that others may see,
The beauty of the sunset for all who care,

Up above the clouds, that shadow the light,
The rain, the snow, and the elements that blind,
That magnificent glow, that Brightens our world,
Another sunset awaits, just to share its light.

I am posting another meme from Lovelyn in her Show me your sunset or sunrise photo tag.

I would have loved to work on both sunset and sunrise but I realized that there's no sunrise photo in my collection as of yet and starting one would entail leaving bed at the crack of dawn. In my mind though, the sunrise view on our way to Sagada in 2005 still remains very vivid. If only I can paint! Unfortunately, we didn't take any picture thinking we can do it on our way back, bad decision.

Anyway, getting back to the meme, the rules are as simple as posting photos you've taken, telling where and when the photos were taken and describing your feelings while watching/shooting the view.

The 1st and 2nd photos were taken in Tamsui Riverpark, a place we frequently hang around during weekends, last Sunday. Jade was on her afternoon nap so I left her and hubby in the coffeeshop. We intentionally waited for the sunset. Watching it gave me a soothing and serene feeling like any sunset views have always affected me.

The 3rd photo was taken in Sanzhi beachside on April 2006. Our company had several days break for the summer outing. Since we weren't comfortable to bring Jade along on long local trips, we came out with our own tour plan. This photo including details of how I felt at that time can be found in my post Reflection.

As for the last photo, sorry but I couldn't find one plain sunset photo, either me or hubby is in the pictures. Having him on this photo is one evidence that I shot it :) This was taken in the famous Boracay beach on April 2005 - twas our honeymoon trip. I was amazed at the sight of sunset here. Watching it with the splashes of water on the background gave a natural high! Yes, sunset has always given me a feeling of natural high!

Now since this is a meme, I have to pass it to other blogger friends out there who I hope can find some time to work on it. Jhune, Hannah, Sha, Ruel and Mari, please take it from here that you've been officially tagged.

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Born on the month of JULY...

It almost sounded like "Born on the 4th of July". This is not a movie title though, it's in response to a meme passed to me by Mari of Life together starts and Bill of From the BoondocKs.

The meme's rules are very simple. Here's what to do:
1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them.
2. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months.
3. Pick your month of birth.
4. Highlight the traits that apply to you.
5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.
6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it!


JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself (of course!). Has reputation (I'd say I somehow have a good reputation, errr...). Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly (I do consider myself friendly huh!). Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. (these two are really true for me, Cancerian I am!) Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends (this is really true, no matter how late my friends are on dates, I wait for them patiently). Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

Now, I am passing this on to Hannah, Noeds, Sha, Ruel, Jhune, Jols, Blen, Maxi, Vida and Kem.

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And here's the rest of the birth month list of traits...

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts , music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

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Soupcon...

I am back online. I've been browsing here and there for quick check of latest posts but didn't really get the chance to leave marks on anyone's site as I didn't have the luxury of time. First week of December was quite hectic (huh???) - Somehow work demands were high at that time but on that weekend, we got the chance to take a nature trip in the mountains of Yangming on the first Saturday of the month. The family adventure story will follow soon. We were also able to set up our own Christmas tree (hurray!). However, 2nd Saturday was not a good one (sigh!). We brought Jade to the hospital and stayed there until Tuesday because of AGE (acute gastroenteritis) - details to follow soon too. She had her follow-up checkup this morning and we're glad she's better now and she can get back to her regular diet - that includes full milk strength. Tomorrow, we're set to attend a friend's party in Taipei City so we'll get the chance to go around Taipei 101 once again and see the huge Christmas tree installed somewhere around the Warner Village area before the party.

I have yet to do some quick Christmas shopping for the kids - Jade's friends and our friends' kids. No shopping plan for adults huh ??? I have yet to work on two memes (one from Lovelyn and same meme from Bill and Mari) and blog posts. Also, I saw Lovelyn published her 1st PPP article already, I have yet to work on mine otherwise all opportunities will be lost. Oh well, hang on for my stories everyone. Just wanted to let you know I'm still around.
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Postscript:
I'll list my comments to blog friends here:
Lovelyn, belated happy birthday to Dylan! What a nice party! I wish him good health and more blessings.
Bill/Mari, thanks for the tag. I'll work on that one of these days.
Joseans 92 online - thanks for the visit. I'll "chat" with you guys in multiply some time. Got a lot of catching up to do! See you around.
Mareng Jols - good to see Andi enjoying the colorful cupcake toppings. Wish we can bring Jade there.
To all - thanks for dropping by! Come again!

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