It happened again, but better this time!

Karen and I decide to go for a drink with some colleagues from the Vietnam News, and the place we ended up was the very same Red Mask bar where the lights went out during our last visit. We had been there for a little while this time when it happened again. Lights out! The steel gate slides closed and we get the " Shhhhhhhhhhh, police!" from the staff.
This time it was a little more exciting. A police truck pulls up out front with the lights flashing. Five or six uniformed, Vietnamese police officers milling about out front. They stand at the door, hands cupped to their face, trying to see in through the treated glass of the front doors. Then to our surprise a batton shoots through the gate and hits the latch of the gate. The metal door slides open and the police burst through the door with flashlights in hand blowing whistles. There were about two dozen foreigners in the joint that night, and the police herded us out in to the street. Of course, nothing happened to us. We were free to travel half a block down the street to a bar that had done their civic duty and bribed the police. There, we were able to finish the bottles of beer from the Red Mask in peace and lumination.
The moral of this story..... ALWAYS BRIBE YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITIES!!

PS.
The absolute best part was when the police tried to leave and their truck wouldn't start. They had to get local street people to push their truck away. Totally emasculating, eh?

The Situation So Far...

We have been in Vietnam for almost a week. We have both been offered jobs at Vietnam News as Editors. We start Monday. I am looking forward to the break from teaching English, but I know we can both make a lot more money as teachers so we may not stay long at the newspaper. We are still living in the Hotel as it is not as easy to find apartments here as it was in Taiwan. Taiwan had a wonderful resource in The Tainan Bulletin. Vietnam has no such resource, so it is mostly Cafe bulletin boards and word of mouth.
I am including a few pictures here, but we havn't taken many shots. Over the coming weeks we will be sure to capture some of the scenes that we find strange and beautiful here. I will write another blog about our first day at Vietnam News.
Until then,
-Ed

Click the link to MySpace at the bottom of any blog to view a video of local traffic http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1206310177

(Our 12$ Hotel Room)

(Some Hanging Swine)

(The Lake by our Hotel)

The Darkhorse Lost at Sea & Lights out for Whiteys

We went to a local Western bar called the Red Mask last night. I played pool for drinks on the most banged up pool table in existance. The felt was mostly duct tape and the table was warped in three different places. It was also at a slight angle. It was kind of like playing mini golf on a pool table. We met lots of foreigners last night and heard some great stories.
One such story is a guy from Taipei who had been living in Taiwan for five years. He was dubbed the Darkhorse by his friends for his appreciation of Ladyboys in Thailand. The news just rolled in that Darkhorse, taking a ferry to avoid customs, as he was bringing in some illegal cargo, went overboard and was declared by the Japanese Coast Guard to be lost at sea. While the Japanese have lost all hope, the Westerners that knew him believe he is alive and well clinging to a rock somewhere in the straigt between Japan and Taiwan.
The moral of the story is never count out the Ladyboy loving Darkhorse.
The real excitement happened shortly after 1am when the Vietnam police rolled by with a flood light. To our surprise, the power went out and a heavy steel door dropped down over the entrance, trapping us inside. I immediately, for whatever reason, thought of The Lost Boys, and was anticipating the staff to turn into vampires and devour us all. It was explained to me that these clubs were not allowed to be open after 12:00 unless they pay a hefty bribe to the police. So this club has lookouts posted on the street and they signal the arrival of the police and the place shuts down in seconds with all the patrons sitting quietly inside, in the pitch black, drink in hand, waiting for the coast to clear and the lights and music to come back on. It was a unique experience and definately one I am glad we had.
Talk to you soon,
-Ed

Gooooood Morning Vietnaaaam!

Here we are. We said to ourselves. Hanoi, Vietnam. How do you like them apples? Well, I like 'em just fine. This place is amazing. It is like Mexico for Australians and Kiwis. There are a ton of foriegners here but most seem to be tourists. We ran in to a problem at the Taiwan airport that ended up costing us quite a few dollars, so we find ourselves a lot lighter financially than we had expected. Luckily, for us, everything here is the kind of cheap that makes you think you are halucinating or dreaming. We sit down in nice restaurants and eat huge meals, drink beer or whatever and have dessert. The kind of meals you would pay more than one hundred dollars for in Canada, we are paying 4-6 dollars. It is 1 dollar for a cab pretty much anywhere in the city. We are staying at a hotel for 12 dollars a night. This 12 dollar hotel consists of a double bed, satalite tv, mini-fridge and of course AC. The room is clean and there are no bugs.
From what we've seen on the streets, t-shirts, shorts and pants are a measly 2-4 dollars. We got new sim cards for our phones, without showing a lick of ID. In Taiwan, getting a sim card was like applying for a small business loan. The sim cards were 5 dollars and they came with ten dollars worth of minutes.
The temperature is the same as Taiwan, but there is a consistant breeze that makes it pleasant. The one downside is the constant harrassment by peddlers selling everything from books, hats, lighters, fruit and "Mareeewana". Everything they are selling is, of course, "werry cheepy" and they don't accept "no" for an answer unless you get rude about it.
I heard my first "A numbah 1 ok" and almost busted a gut laughing. One thing that is really cool, and I may actually purchase is a Vietnam War, American issue zippo. There were hundreds of thousands of these things left here during the war and there are peddlers on the street selling them. I don't know if they are authentic or not, but who cares?
I am in an internet cafe right now, and I will try and update frequently during our first few weeks here, as it is the most exciting time.
For those of you still reading, I thank you for your interest, and hope you keep tuning in.
Until next time,
Ed

Back on the Scene. Crispy and Clean.(somewhat)

It has been a while, dear readers, since we have posted on our misadventures in Taiwan. Although there are numerous reasons for our negligence, it is inexcusable to go this long without adding something.
I will start with our trip back to Canada. It was wonderful to see all of our family and friends again. We got to see Tom and Katies baby girl Elle, the wonderful sandy beaches of NB and NS, as well as Joe and Kelly's new band play a couple of times. We hung out in Raddie Dave's basement and Larry and Sarah's new apartment. (New to us, I believe they have moved again since our visit) But most importantly, we got to spend some time with our parents and my beautiful little girl. It was a great time and we look forward to being able to do it again sometime in the distant future.
Since we've been back, there have been some changes. We have decided to move out of Taiwan and on to Vietnam. We will be occupying the area that Mr. Shaw is soon departing from in Hanoi. Thanks to his time and effort I believe the transition will be as comfortable as possible. Thank-you Johnny, you are a true friend and gentleman.
We, of course, have been quite busy packing up our belongings(that which we will take) and selling off the rest. Our apartment has already been spoken for, but we still have a motorcycle,scooter, and a computer to sell.
And, speaking of motorcycles...Karen and I got in to our first accidents in Taiwan!! The absolute best part is, we crashed in to each other! Karen is a little bruised and sore, but nothing serious. I suffered the same as her but with a little extra trauma thrown in to my right arm. All things considered it could have been much worse.( An idiot on a scooter cut Karen off, I was following a little too closely and when she slammed on her breaks and went sideways, I didn't have enough room to stop and we collided.)
In closing, I would like to say, that although the Merlins will no longer officially Taiwanon, we will be tearing up vietnam in the near future so goodbye Merlinstaiwanon and Good Morning Vietnam!!!!
-E

Back to the Drawing Board

We are vacationing in Canada until August 3rd. We shall return to our blog when we return to Taiwan. Stay tuned...

Rainy Day People

It has been raining for a week. The streets are rivers and all of the creepies and the crawleys are searching for higher ground. We have all of our drains closed off and any openings to the pipes and sewers are taped up. We are well into rainy season here in Taiwan, and we are looking for a break from the rain during our trip back to Canada.
Our bikes are starting to give us problems now, due to the constant wet and rain we are having problems getting them started. The fact that the rain never lets up, is making it impossible for us to dry them out.
We had thunder and lightning last night that lasted for hours. We stood and watched torrential rains, so heavy the water would bounce off of the ground and splash up a foot or so. It is an odd sight to watch water both fall and rise at the same time. If the lightning had of been workable in the pre dawn we would have taken some video of the strange sight of it.
We will be nice and sick of the rain by the time we leave for Canada, so anyone who is reading this, could you please do whatever you can to make sure it is sunny and nice for the duration of our stay. We are giving you plenty of notice. I don't want to see any rain in Canada.
Other than the diving, we are particularly boring right now as we go about saving up our money and getting ready for the horribly long trip back to Canada. I wish I had something a little more exciting to write about than rain. I assure you it will get more interesting upon our return.
Bye for now, and for those of you in N.S, see you soon.
-E

KTV & Diving in Kenting

It was an eventful week-end for the The Merlins. We spent our saturday enjoying hotpot cuisine and KTV with my adult students. We went to 24h Party World for two hours where we commenced with the drinking and singing. I belted out House of the Rising Sun and Don't You (forget about me) and Karen did a stunning duet with Melinda(Taiwanese Teacher) of a techno version of What's Up. Although it ended early, it was a wonderful evening. We couldn't stay out very late on Saturday due to our 6am departure from Tainan the next morning. We were up with the birds and bats to start our long Sunday. We took the train to Kaoshiung to meet some other divers and a grizzly old Limey Instructor named Andy. We piled in to a van and we were off for Kenting. An hour and a half later we found ourselves in a beautiful beachfront area with sparkleing green seas and a wonderful breeze. We spent the day diving and ended it all off with a nice meal and a cool pegio or two. We are looking forward to the same thing next week-end. I am enclosing some pictures of our night before and day after.

( Karen getting ready to take the plunge)


( I love this picture)


( Packed in like a can of tuna)


( Andy's Angels)

( The whole gang)


( Entertaining the locals)

Fool-ish Earthquake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We experienced our first encounter with an earthquake on Sat. April 1st,2006 at 6:02PM local time. Apparantly Mother Nature had an April Fool's Day joke of her own in mind. Fortunately for those of us living in Tainan, it was felt as a moderate tremor instead of the powerful 6.4 blast on the richter scale that was felt in other regions of the country. It originated in the Southeastern tip of the island (not too far from us) and apparantly shook the skyscraper buildings in the Northeast capital of Taipei, on the opposite end of the island (the island is approx. the same size as P.E.I.-for those folks at home to compare).
Ed and I were just getting ready to go out for dinner when it struck. He had just exited our 2nd floor apt with a week's worth of garbage bags in tow in a last minute attempt to catch the daily garbage truck run, and was descending the inside stairs to the front entrance when it happened. He claims he didn't feel anything strange. I, however, in my well known last minute rush to get ready, was still inside the apt primping in the mirror when it hit. All of a sudden, the things on my dresser started to shake up and down, as did the things on the tables and shelves around me, just like it happened on those creepy poltergiest movies. Then, the floor starting shifting quickly from side to side, as if I were standing on a vibrating teeter-totter. Finally, the entire building started to gently sway, and that's when I made a mad dash for the door!!! The whole thing happened in about fifteen seconds or less. Just enough time to realize just what the heck is going on for a first timer. See, normally we wouldn't be alarmed by a little vibrating and a loud noise, as there are 747's flying into the Tainan airport right over our apt on a regular basis. We just got used to it. The funny thing is, just as the earthquake hit, one flew right overhead. I think that's why Ed didn't even notice it. Plus, he was going down a flight of stairs carrying heavy bags. He thought I was crazy when I came running outside blabbing something about an earthquake! It wasn't until we went out later that night when everyone was talking about it that he finally beleived me! Oh well, Ed, I'm sure that won't be our last one!
-K

Dinner with class

We went out for a lovely dinner with one of my adult classes. I tried everything on the table, and it was all seafood. I am an entirely different person here. I never touched seafood at home. It is very good here. The cast includes from left...
(Benson, Ping, Zoe, Kiki, Dave, Andy, Myself, Ricky, Melinda and of course Karen)

Out of sight, out of mind, out of touch?

It was about quarter to ten when I decided to join a colleague of mine for an after school Heineken in a park next to my school. Karen was working for another hour or so, and I had nothing better to do anyway. We found a couple of comfortable chairs and began to discuss movies, television and other such popular fare. It was then that we came to the conclusion that we were completely ignorant of the goings on of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and J-Lo. Moving to Taiwan had effectively cut me off from the daily barrage of information regarding the personal lives of celebrities. I came to the realization that I loved not knowing. I am blissfully unaware of the trials and tribulations of movie stars, and I could care no less.
My once vast and mighty sea of pop culture knowledge is drying up by the day. My friends back home, who have found me to be a most challenging Pop-culture trivialist? (is that a word?) Will definitely have the upper hand now, although I will still be a ferocious De Niro player, being that I still watch movies.
I know some people enjoy sneaking a peek in to the lives of movie stars, but I recommend taking a break, and I know it would be hard to do in North America, but try it just the same. It is lovely not having a clue about the stupid lives of people I have never met, and who care about me even less than I care about them.
Bye for now,
E



( Here are some pictures of two banged up cats on the mend.)

The Passion of the Mormon

It was a day like any other that I found myself traveling from one school to the next, for my second class of the day. I rode my motorcycle to the same intersection I always do and waited for the long red light to go away and allow me to continue on. I glanced, unassumingly to my left and noticed a young blonde fellow on a bicycle smiling at me from ear to ear.
“How ya doing?” I said, with a slight nod of my head, signifying that it was more of a greeting than an actual question, as I did not want to get involved in a conversation whilst awaiting a light change.
“ Excellent!” He responded, and right away I knew something was up. Who does that? Who responds “Excellent” when someone asks them how they are doing? A Mormon, that’s who. He proceeded to ask me if I was a teacher and where I was from.
“Yes” and “NS, Canada” were my answers to that, hoping that would be an end to it.
“ A lot of our members are Canadian Teachers!” He went on, still smiling from ear to ear.
Luckily the light turned green. “ See ya later!” I called out over my shoulder as I peeled away from him. I made it about two city blocks before another red light caught me and held me in place. Mere seconds after I arrived my friend on the bicycle pulled up beside me and continued on with his attempt at saving my soul from eternal damnation. He began to ask me if I was familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ and the Later Day Saints. I said I was vaguely aware of such an organization. He began to tell me about a fellow named John and his time in “the Americas”. Green Light, I was gone again, hoping to have seen and heard the last from my new Mormon friend. That was not to be.
The blonde headed Mormon caught up with me again at the next light. I have to admit, I was starting to like this guy. He was red-faced and winded by our third meeting and was catching his breath while trying to convert me. I heard a little more about John and the Indians before I was off again. Yet another red light and the little fella had caught me again. This time he pulled up even more out of breath and barely able to speak. It was all I could stand, I asked him if there was some kind of spiritual commission that he gained from these sorts of things, as he was definitely working his ass off. If he had of been selling stereos instead of eternal salvation I probably would have bought two! I told him to save his breath and his energy, as he was not going to convert me to Mormonism or whatever they are calling it these days. I did tell him that I liked his gumption, and out of all the Mormons I had ever spoken to, he was my favorite. I assured him he did a good job, and if there was ever a chance of converting me, he had the first crack at it. I bid him goodbye and at the next red light I ran it, just to be safe. I don’t think they are allowed to run red lights.

Bye for now,
-E

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

The Lunar New Year is the most significant festival for ethnic Chinese around the world, wherever they come from. It is a very jubilant occasion mainly because it is the time when people take a break from work to get together with family and friends.

The origin of the Lunar New Year Festival can be traced back thousands of years, involving a series of colorful legends and traditions. One of the most famous legends is Nian ¦~, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast that the ancients believed would devour people on New Year's Eve. To keep Nian away, red-paper couplets are pasted on doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are set off throughout the night, because Nian is said to fear the color red, the light of fire, and loud noises. Early the next morning, as feelings of triumph and renewal fill the air at successfully keeping Nian away for another year, the most popular greeting heard is gong si ®¥³ß, or "congratulations."
Even though Lunar New Year celebrations generally last for only several days, starting on New Year's Eve, the festival itself is actually about three weeks long. It begins on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the day, it is believed, when various gods ascend to heaven to pay their respects and report on household affairs to the Jade Emperor, the supreme Taoist deity. According to tradition, households busily honor these gods by burning ritualistic paper money to provide for their traveling expenses. Another ritual is to smear malt sugar on the lips of the Kitchen God, one of the traveling deities, to ensure that he either submits a favorable report to the Jade Emperor or keeps silent.

Next, "spring couplets" are hung up around the house. Spring couplets are paper scrolls and squares inscribed with blessings and auspicious words, such as "good fortune," "wealth," "longevity," and "springtime." The paper squares are usually pasted upside down, because the Mandarin word for "upside down," dao, is a homonym of the word "arrival." Thus, the paper squares represent the "arrival" of spring and the "coming" of prosperous times.
For more info go to www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/culture/lunar-NY/


Unfortunately, this year, the pouring rain kept most revelers indoors. There was a spirited outburst of fireworks and firecrackers at midnight that lasted about an hour, but it paled in comparison to previous years, or so we are told.
-E

Sunburned on January 14th

We returned to Kaohsuing once again. This time it was to watch Dave May and his team the "Tainan Phoenix" play in a soccer tournament. We started out Saturday morning at 9AM on a bus with the team and some other supporters. The bus ride was comfortable and didn’t take too long. We soon arrived at some fancy high school on the outskirts of Kaoshuing. There were 16 teams and they played 25 minute games. It was interesting for a while, but Karen and I do not equally share Mr. Mays’ love for the game, and found ourselves bored before too long.
The temperature was just less than 30 degrees and we were sunburned within the hour. We decided to hail a cab and make our way into the city, where we checked into our hotel and dropped off the heavy backpack that we had been lugging around all day. We then made our way to an 85-floor building with an observation deck on the 75th floor. The elevator is the second fastest elevator in the world, with the fastest also being in Taiwan -at the Taipei 101- which is now the tallest building in the world. It was a strange experience to have my ears pop repeatedly on an elevator ride. We traveled 75 floors in no more than 25-30 seconds. The view was incredible. We quickly settled into the bar at dusk(6PM-ish)where we had a drink and watched the night fall from high above the city.
We then made our way to a popular western joint- Smokey Joe's- where we had a fantastic meal, and went on to spend the rest of the evening bar-hopping. It was a great time, and we found some interesting places that we are definitely looking forward to returning to. I am including some pictures from our weekend.
Bye for now,
-E

P.S. Since I don’t seem to be finding too many things that are bad or ugly, I am going to add another element to the Good, Bad & Ugly site. CHINGRISH and all the funniest instances of it we can find. Coming soon to a sidebar near you.....!

(Dave May sporting red knee highs)


(One of the views from the 75th floor)

Goodbye to '05

It was a strange and wonderful year. We had friends become parents for the first time. Two marriages, ours included, and a new beginning that took us to the other side of the world. Now, more so than any other time, you think about friends and family and how lucky you are to have them in your life.
I would like to take this opportunity to say to all of those still checking in on us from time to time, that we hope you had a Merry Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year. We also hope that in the new year to come, if you can’t have everything you want, that you have everything you need.
I know that some of us have lost family members this last year, and if there is anything to be gained from such a terrible thing, it is to remind us how important it is to cherish the ones we still have.
So it is with a smile, that we say goodbye to ’05. It was a good year, but here’s hoping the next one is even better and that at the end of this new year, we still have all of the people we started it with.
Happy New Year,
Love,
Ed & Karen

An Xpat Xmas

(Tis a Sparse but Noble Tree.)







(It's Christmas Time....In The City.)

The Cold Wave Cometh...

We had been warned about the temperature dropping in Tainan. We scoffed at the idea of people freezing and wearing winter coats in 18’C weather. Now that it is starting to drop, we understand what they were speaking of. No, it isn’t cold, cold like it gets in Nova Scotia. But, in Nova Scotia there is relief from the cold. Every building, office ,store or vehicle that you enter has the heat on. In a subtropical environment like Taiwan, there is no such thing as heating. There are no heaters in the houses. Oil, electric or otherwise. The most you can do is buy portable electric heaters.
Those of you reading this back in the old NS, are probably thinking me a sissy, but remember we live in a cement building with tile and hardwood floors, it gets cold on the footsies. It is pretty cool in the old apartment in the mornings when we get up as well. We will need to wear gloves and scarves when we ride our motorcycle and scooter. Oh well, we will have to secure ourselves for a long, hard winter. You can swim in the ocean again by the beginning of March, so we will just have to hold on until then. January and February will be rough, but we will put on sweaters and pants and we will survive this winter!!! This I swear to you all!!! We will not succumb to the bitter 18 degree Celsius Taiwanese winter. We are made of a stronger stock, and be sure when the dust has settled in march we will be telling horror stories about that day in January when there was almost a frost!
Enjoy the season Everyone!
-E
P.S.
Here is a picture of a dish that was ordered to our table.

Small Game Hunting

They look like tennis rackets only slightly smaller and they weigh less. They look so much like sporting equipment that I decided to make a game out of their intended purpose. It is a sport played all over this part of the world, there is just no official name for it. I have heard it referred to as “mosquito tennis” & “swat ball”, but I prefer to call it “Small Game Hunting”.
The sport has taken shape over the last few months in to what I now find a quite satisfying pastime. The arena is the stairwell outside our apartment and there are no standard “periods” or “innings” if you will, The duration of the “inning” is as long as it takes me to have a smoke.
You see Karen, whom as a non-smoker, demands I smoke out in the hallway as to not pollute our home and her lungs with my disgusting exhaust. This annoyed me at first, due to the sheer number of mosquito’s attacking with the gusto of demented Japanese Kamikaze pilots. I have since accepted it as part of my new life here in Taiwan.
Picture it, if you can. Round One: I am standing in the hallway wearing a pair of slippers, a cigarette dangling from my lips and my racket in hand. The inning begins immediately after touching flame to tip. I get in to my stance, legs about a foot and a half apart, knees slightly bent, scanning the air above my head for the winged nuisance that has so plagued my existence these last few months. Bzzzzz. The first one dive bombs my ear and the dance begins. I begin swinging the electric mosquito zapper about my head and shoulders like a mentally handicapped maestro, conducting Hells Choir. The inning is officially over when the cigarette hits the flour. My highest count in one inning, is eight dead skeeters, but the sport is young and there is always tonight. I may just beat my record. So until next time, keep swinging at those skeeters!
Ed.

Thanksgiving, Kaoshiung and The Kindness of Strangers

So thanksgiving came and went completely forgotten by most of the ex-pats here in Taiwan. I was talking to my mother, when she spoke of Thanksgiving dinner and I asked quite suddenly, when was Thanksgiving? I would have at least made a point of eating some manner of fowl and possibly some pig on that day. Oh well, there is always next year.
We spent our Thanksgiving day taking the train to Kaoshiung (pronounced Gow-shung) We hiked up the Monkey Mountain and took some lovely pictures of a smog shrouded city from atop it's peak. We spent a couple of hours taking in the sites. There were lions and tigers and beer, oops, I mean bears. We walked and sweated, and then walked and sweated some more. We managed to see most of the animals and were making our way back down the mountain, when a strange little Taiwanese woman came running in our direction, very excited and demanding to take our picture with our camera for us. Of course, my mistrust was immediate. I am after all, from the North End of Dartmouth. Common sense dictated that she was not a threat. She was maybe 55-60 years old, (it is very hard to tell with the Asian people) and no more than five and a half feet tall. I figured, even with my considerable girth, I could take her in a footrace down a mountain. She took a few shots of us, jabbering constantly about how attractive we are. The entire time she was snapping shots, the Dartmouth boy in me was expecting her to cut and run with our camera. She didn't do that, however, what she did do was invite us to her gentleman friend's car, whom she advised us, was a professor of English at a local university.
Karen and I went with her, reluctantly, already thinking up excuses for why we could not drive in the car with them. They turned out to be perfectly nice people who just wanted to offer us a ride to our next destination, which they decided for us. They told us we simply must check out the Lover's River, as it was especially beautiful at this time of night. Karen and I had specifically arrived in this city without a plan, and had every intention of Forrest Gumping our way through the day. I find those days always turn out better than vigilantly planned outings. This lovely old couple were a perfect example of the kind of thing Forrest Gumping can accomplish. So, we were driving in the back of a luxury automobile, wonderfully air-conditioned and given a full tour of the city. We said our goodbyes at the Lover's River, took a business card and promised to call the next time we were in the city.
The river was more like the Rideau Canal in Ottawa than a river. There were boat tours and lots of people walking hand in hand. It was very nice and Karen took many pictures. We made our way to a Pub called the Pig and Whistle, and proceeded to be thorougly unimpressed and overcharged at the same time. We finished out our day trip drinking beer on the train for the trip back to Tainan. It was a great day, all and all, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to do it again soon.
Bye for now,
Ed

Fire in the Sky

Sept 18,2005

They call it Moon Festival. I am not aware of all of the ins and outs of this strange holiday, other than it revolves around the full moon and people bar-b-que and light fireworks all night long. It was madness everywhere you went. It was loud and beautiful at times and downright dangerous at others, as Teenagers tend to shoot fireworks in to the streets at passing motorists.
"The Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節, or Moon Festival, occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month and celebrates the annual harvest. Families view the full moon during this holiday while eating rich pastries known as “moon cakes.”