Eye Dotting Ceremony

This was my third year competing on the AIT women's Dragon Boat Team. Participating on this team has been one of the highlights of my time in Taiwan. I love starting my Saturday in a boat. We paddle together, working to become as one unit. The peace of a new morning on the water takes the cares of the week and puts them in perspective.

This is the first year our team was asked to participate in the Eye Dotting Ceremony a few weeks before the race. We had enough willing members to create a mixed team and the race fell late enough in the season that Maddie and Elena were able to be on the team this year. We met the team at a local temple and hung around watching and waiting to get in our boat. Nobody really knew what was going on. The event began with a celebration of drums, a dragon dance and of course, lots of firecrackers. The scent of incense drifted down from the upper level of the temple where offerings were made to gods. Then we followed a big parade down to the docks where the ceremony was to take place.

I was a bit surprised to see all the boats lined up on dry ground. Next to each boat stood a nice looking couple with a sign declaring which team would be in each boat. Water was sprinkled on each boat, then the dot was painted in the center of each eye. This awakens the dragon and gives hi good favor towards you. Each team captain then dotted the eyes of their boat.

Part of the event (the reason I had come) was a good long row from the eye dotting site to the race site. Our boat was closest to the water, so the first to go in. On one hand this was good because we had never lifted one of these extremely heavy boats as a team and carried it together. On the other hand, we had no clue what we were doing so there was a lot of confusion and yelling at us in Chinese. It would have been helpful to see how this was actually supposed to happen. Eventually, without a plan to follow, we all needed up in the boat and settled in for our long row up the river.

A Royal Wedding

Who doesn't love a royal wedding? With headlines as they are today - all gloom and doom - it's nice to step into a bit of the fairytale princess world, even if just for an evening. My friend and I had been discussing for months how we were going to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wed.

We were delighted when the British Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan scheduled a royal party to view the event live. One of our big challenges is how to watch events live. The Olympics become a medal winning event just in figuring out how to watch NBC coverage with a VPN in the correct time zone. It's  exhausting sorting it all out. So this opportunity allowed us to simply anticipate. It was great fun following news stories leading up to the wedding. How do they pick the flowers? Who makes the dress? What are the customs and traditions with such an event? It gave us weeks of conversation topics.

We wore cocktail dresses in patriotic colors and fascinators on our heads. Every detail had been taken care of with royal pride. We had such fun, I can't wait until  the next royal wedding, but I'll have to wait for the next generation to grow up. In the meantime, royal babies are just as fun to follow.

Wuji Tianyuan Temple

Early one morning, before sunrise, Chad and I took a little pre-work adventure to Tamsui to see a temple known for its cherry blossoms. The quiet drive though windy roads was peaceful as the sun was coming over the mountains. The Tainyuan Temple is a Taoist temple dedicated to the worship of Yu Huang Dadi, one of the three great deities in Taoism.

The five floors rise 200 meters into heaven which is indicative in its round architectural design representing heaven. This style of temple is not common in Taiwan. The gold columns between arched windows, along with intricate painting cause one to walk slowly, taking it all in.

The Yoshino cherry trees were brought from Japan in the 20th century. The delicate blossoms only last a short time. We were nearing the end so we made a quick decision to scoot out early one morning before the crowds arrived. We only had time for one slow walk around the temple. We didn't have time to go inside.

Longdong

A night away from town refreshes the soul and clears the mind. Chad made the escape several times to hang his hammock in a gazebo on top of an overlook. Longdong offers rock climbing and snorkeling, but we went just for the breath of fresh air and a night of sleeping with waves crashing against the cliffs. You really can't beat waking up to this view - can you?                

A Day with Whale Sharks

While relaxing in the Philippines at Christmas, we took a day trip to swim with the whale sharks. I didn't know what whale sharks were or the appeal of swimming with them, but while planing our trip, people continually told me that we couldn't miss the opportunity.

We woke up ridiculously early, stumbled in the dark to a van and began the several hour journey down the island to Oslob. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. We've done a few other type sea tours before and typically we get on some sort of yacht or day boat and go out into the sea before arriving at the snorkeling or dive site. Maybe it's whales we're after, but we definitely go away from land in a sizable boat. 

We got our life jackets, masks, snorkels and fins and waited a short time before being herded into a wooden canoe type boat with bamboo pontoons. We went about 30' off the shore then were paddled perpendicular to the shore to an area full of other boats. 

We were pleased to find that we were literally the only ones in all the boats who actually wanted to get in the water and swim with the whale sharks. It was amazing. We weren't supposed to touch them, but when they bump right up against you, it's impossible not to. 

Whale sharks are huge – the largest fish in the sea. They can grow up to 40' long. The ones we were swimming with were around 18' long, weighing 20 tons. To give you perspective, that's the size of a school bus. From the neck down they look like a shark, which indeed they are. They have that scary top fin, side fins, tail and slits in their side. They have a shark's cartilage type skeleton and smooth skin. But their head is a bit odd with a flat 5' wide mouth. They feed on plankton, filtering it though their bristle like teeth. 

I really wasn't sure if I was going to get out of the boat as we were driving down. Just the word "shark" had me thinking of beady eyes staring at me, a sharp toothy grin and a tail whipping again some sort of metal cage that I had been lowered into the water in. (I've seen a few too many shark week episodes.) But when we rowed out and I saw a few of them swimming around I couldn't wait to jump in. These giants of the sea are more whale like as they float around sifting dinner through their mouths. So we swam with the sharks. It was great fun. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity. There's just something amazing about being in the water with these huge animals.

A Walk Around the Hotel

The view from our room was lovely - ocean, mountains, boats. Sunrise was my favorite time to hang out on the balcony as the city was waking up to a new day.

As soon as you left the resort you were in the midst of third world life. Of course there was no reason to leave the resort, so I don't think it was common for guests to walk the streets of this area.

The photo on the right is a pay for water machine. There is a stack of plastic bags (think 1 qt. size) that people filled to get their drinking water.

These are the gas meters for all the bamboo and corrugated metal shacks.

Food stands lined our walk. We got a bit of fruit, some pop and sausages that we watched being cooked.

There was a line of Christmas decorations in the town center area. They were all made out of recycled or natural products.

Seashells

There were a few shops that sold seashells. Their main business wasn't tourists walking by, rather they export to places like Miami.

Roosters

We were confused by all the beautiful roosters we saw tied up with little shelters.They had about 1' of string holding them to their stake. Eggs were for sale everywhere, but we didn't see a single hen. I finally asked someone about the roosters. There was a long explanation and I finally realized they are for cock fighting. Considering how many we saw, it must be a pretty big form of entertainment.

Children

The kids are so happy and just want to trail along. They loved having their picture taken and wanted to impress us with smiles and giggles. As you can see, Elena attracted a following.

Transportation

Motorcycles serve as taxis. From grabbing a ride on the back of one to these side cars with awnings, they are an easy way to get from point A to point B. These trucks have benches along each side. The driver and a collector sit in the front. When you get on you just hand your money through the back window. We took one on the end of our walk to get back to the hotel.

These little babies were 6 weeks old. Their moms let me hold them. 

Christmas Party

Our walk ended in a basketball court area that seemed to be used for community events as well. The place was full of women and children. They were dancing and having fun. When they asked me to join I thought why not? I jumped in to their cheers and danced away.