Taiwan & Japan

Autumn 2010

2010-12-28T18:50:00.004+09:00

Winter is coming and I think it's going to be a cold one. I went to SA in october so I cut my Japanese summer a little short. When I got back to Japan the cold weather had started. This is going to be a long winter for me. Some pictures taken at Osaka Castle Park.

South Africa

2010-12-28T18:38:00.005+09:00

Some pictures from SA.

I really like this picture of Laurette so I placed it at the top of this post. i think it's been about five years since I last saw her.

Paragliding

2010-12-28T18:32:00.003+09:00

Went for paragliding training. Didn't manage to fly but loved it. Can't wait for spring so I can try again.

Party

2010-05-10T23:30:00.002+09:00

Snow

2010-01-10T22:07:00.003+09:00

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog. I now live in Nagano City. It snowed here.

Himeji

2009-04-15T11:36:00.004+09:00

Spring

2009-04-13T17:09:00.003+09:00

Osaka

2009-04-08T12:13:00.003+09:00

Maizuru

2009-04-08T12:12:00.001+09:00

Last days in Shingu

2009-04-08T12:06:00.004+09:00

Rent a car

2008-12-25T08:52:00.001+09:00

Christmas Party

2008-12-24T22:33:00.002+09:00

This year's Xmas party was okay. Last year ray organised a play, which everyone loved, this year I read an Xmas poem and Amy got the kids to sing 12 days of Xmas. The poem was a bit of a flop, "Twas the night before Xmas". Far too difficult for anyone to understand and then the old English that nobody understood. Why I did it I will never know. I dressed up as Santa which went down okay with the kindergarten kids but not too well with the older ones.

House in Shingu

2008-12-24T19:04:00.003+09:00

Arishyama

2008-12-04T13:28:00.008+09:00

Ararishiyama means storm mountain in Japanese. It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, unfortunately so do a million other people, so it's really crowded. Here's Tomo crossing the TOGETSUKYO Bridge. It means Moon crossing bridge.

Halloween

2008-11-26T21:39:00.010+09:00

We had a Halloween party at KICC, actually it went down quite well. I think the kids enjoyed themselves and everybody loved dressing up in costumes. I painted my face green and put on a witches costume. Some kids were a little afraid of me. Here I am with JO, he's one of the youngest students (if you can call him that). Actually all he does is wonder around the classroom and put things in his mouth. He leaves behind a saliva train where ever he's been. Actually he likes me a lot and his face lights up when he sees me. I don't teach him anymore.
The winner for best costume went to this boy for his lobster costume. Or is it a dragon?
This is Atsuya. He is the only boy in an all girl class and is clearly not happy with that. He came as a kung fu master.
Nano is one of the girls from Atsuya's all girl class. She's very bright and is picking up words to songs very quickly.
All the particapents in the costume compitition, clearly witches costumes rule in Japan.
Itsuki and her little brother Ryoichiro making masks.

Aoi and his mother

These are a few pictures of the KICC School halloween party taken on my cell phone. I have a lot more coming.

it took forever to wash cheap green paint from a yaku yen store off my face. When i got home I took about an hour in the shower to wash it off. About a week later I was still getting green stuff in my ears and hair. Next halloween party NO PAINT

Rice Harvest

2008-11-26T21:38:00.004+09:00

In September it's time to harvest the rice. really hard, I have always thought of rice paddies as amazing places on the sides of mountains where you can get your feet wet. Two things surprised me, the beautiful yellow colour of the rice plants and the hard, backbreaking work it takes to harvest the rice. my body was sore for days.

This is the end result of all the work, sheathes of rice plants drying out for later use.
I don't have any pictures of myself but there are a lot of Clayton and Chie.

Beach Party

2008-11-21T23:09:00.006+09:00

We arranged a beach party. We planned a lot of activities such as water fights and treasure hunts but it rained heavily on the day so lot of people cancelled. Here Yusui is waiting, worrying that the rain will stop and people will come.

The rained eventually abated and actually had a good time. Clayton and Amy got the kids collecting drift wood from which they made a wonderful picture of a boat. i played frizbee with the rest of the kids. I made some fruit punch which people seemed to enjoy. We grilled boereworse on the fire and made hamburgers. They went down well. Amy made grilled marshmellows dipped in chocolate. A big hit.

This is Midori, she is one of my favorite students. She's intelligent and has a lovely personality. Unfortunately she's in a class with a bunch of naughty boys. I wish I could place her in a higher level class.

Camp

2008-08-16T16:26:00.005+09:00

This is Shun at the "sponge fight". We gave each kid a sponge and then filled up a few buckets of water. Everybody then ran around screaming and throwing wet sponges at everybody else. I think it was probably the best activity we've ever had. the kids really enjoyed throwing water at the teachers.

The camp was hard work and we were all exhausted afterwards.

This was rays last day at KICC. He's a great teacher and it's sad to say goodbye.

Beach braai

2008-08-16T16:25:00.004+09:00

Clayton arranged a braai (barbeque) for the people working at KICC. It was a kind of a welcome party for Aimee and a going away party for Ray. Yusui did all the grilling and the rest of us had fun with fire works.

I spent most of the day on the beach reading and taking photos. I am reading a "SUPERNATURAL meetings with the ancient teachers of mankind" by Graham Hancock.

We started with a fire and the Yusui grilled the meat. There was too much meat - unusual for KICC. Afterwards we had fun with fireworks.

Tokyo

2008-08-16T16:24:00.012+09:00

Rice fields

2008-08-16T16:24:00.011+09:00

Michiko, my aikido teacher, took Clayton, Chie, Amy and myself to some ancient rice fields in the mountains. We spent part of the day weeding the fields. It was backbreaking work and I will never look at a rice field in the same way again.

The farmers were friendly and I think they understood that any work we did in the field was of minimum help to them. they treated us to an amazingly delicious meal. I have always had a love for rice fields - I think it's the running water and getting your feet wet - One day I would like to live somewhere like this.

Some people work other play

Clay, Chie and a farmer walking back to base after a hard day in the fields.

NARA

2008-08-16T16:23:00.001+09:00

Taiwan

2008-05-15T23:50:00.010+09:00

I took a few days unpaid leave and added it to golden week so I a long vacation in Taiwan. this first week I spent loafing with Aimee. I did nothing much; watched movies and DVDs, ate lots of food and visited a few friends. A week later Amy and Eri joined me. I met them at Chiang Kai Shek Airport. We took a bus to Taipei and found a cheap but comfortable hotel. I took them to a night market and we tried some interesting dishes. I bought a durian, it was a bit expensive, Amy didn't enjoy it and Eri thought it was okay.

Birthday Party

2008-05-13T22:00:00.000+09:00

I turned 42 in April. People in Japan have treated me well and often given me gifts or helped me in some way so I decided to throw a party for them. Actually it's the first party I have ever arranged so I was not sure how it would turn out.

Sport

2008-04-17T23:59:00.003+09:00

We played volleyball and badminton. Eri won and I lost. Revenge will come on the tennis court.

End of sakura season

2008-04-16T13:47:00.013+09:00

I took lots of close-ups of flowers and blossoms. I think the best way to view them is to stick them together in a set. Actually I spent hours and have about 30 different photos. It's difficult with my camera because the focus is difficult to control and flowers usually blow in the wind. I take usually about 10 shots before I'm lucky with the wind. I then delete the other nine.

SHINGU CASTLE RUINS
Spring in Japan was brief but beautiful. I went up to Shingu castle ruins and took a some photos of the few remaining trees in blossom. Actually, in some respects, it is easier to take picture in late spring because the blossems are mixed in with sprouting leaves.........This picture is a composite of four photos photoshopped together. It a nice place to take a book and spend an afternoon reading. I've been up here a few times with a good book and once had a picnic. It's a great place for a picnic but it gets a bit busy on weekends.

PICNIC IN TAIJI
Went to Taiji with Eri, Amy and Reiko for a picnic. The weather was sunny and clear and some of the views of the ocean were great.

Here Eri, Amy and Reiko are walking down a steep, narrow path to the sea-side below. It's really hard to take unposed pictures, as soon as people see you pointing a camera at them they pose and in Japan and Taiwan everybody uses the V-finger pose. I merged two pictures, if you look carefully you'll see two Eris.

I like this picture; Amy, Eri and myself in front of the Taiji lighthouse.
Amy and I are pretending to throw Eri down the cliff. Love the expression of fear and delight on Eri's face.

Dandelions are probably my favorite flowers, if you can call them flowers. They are simple, beautiful and inspiring at the same time.

Spring

2008-04-09T13:21:00.010+09:00

Spring arrived in Japan. It was a real relief after the long cold winter. The days are perfect but the nights are a little chilly. I can wear t-shirts and sandals at last.
View of Osaka from the UMEDA SKY BUILDING

OSAKA CASTLE
Went to Osaka castle to view the sakura. it was really crowded. Unlike Kyoto there is more space to walk around in.

Tomo really photographs well. She is a great model.

KYOTO AGAIN:
Kyoto is really my favorite place in Japan. I keep going back there. maybe one day I'll live there. I was really lucky with this photo. Tomo and I were walking behind two maiko. I saw two coming our way and snapped this picture. Luckily no one got in the way. Tomo thinks they're not real maiko. I think they're real.

Winter

2008-04-09T13:19:00.010+09:00

Winter in Japan was very cold, in fact it was the coldest winter of my life. However, it was one of the most amazing. In February I saw snow for the first time in my life and in March I went snowboarding.

OTOU MATSURI FESTIVAL: On the night of February some 2000 drunk men clad in white run down the 538 steps of KAMIKURASAN holding burning torches. Kamikurasan is worshipped as a divine mountain where the deity of Kumano Hayatama Taisha is believed to alight in a virtual figure. I took these photos at the top of the mountain. On your torch you write your name and four wishes. I wished for a ....., more ........, ........ and .... ..... ............

SNOW: I have always been fascinated by snow and got to see it for the first when I visited my friend TOMO in Kyoto. Tomo doesn't speak much English I can't speak Japanese but we communicated well. I We went to two temples and I had a great day.

SNOWBOARDING: In early March I went snowboarding in The HAKUBA mountains in NAGANO prefecture with a group of people from Kumano. I heard about them from my student MEGUMI. Clayton joined us as well. Both of them are proficient snowboarders but this was my first time. On the first morning I couldn't do anything. Megumi and Clayton showed me the basics but I just kept on falling down over and over again. It's not a nice prospect when you're high up on a mountain and the only way to get down is to fall rather painfully every five meters. After lunch I eventually discovered how to stand without falling, however I could only go backwards. On the last run of the day I think I figured it out but I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go home. On the second I managed to get all the way down to the bottom without on my first a run, and then began to really enjoy snowboarding. I can't wait for next year.

KATSURA: Tomo came to visit me in Shingu. I took her to an onsen in Katsura. She usually doesn't like the pictures I take of her and says, "No, noo , nooOOOO!! DELETE, DELETE!!" everytime I show her a picture.

Kobe

2007-12-17T01:12:00.000+09:00

Kana

2007-12-01T17:21:00.000+09:00

I thought I'd create a Hiragana and Katakana Chart by taking photos of all the characters. I thought it would take one or two days, three at most. More than a month later I have finally finished three charts and I'm still not happy. I like some of the pictures but there are a lot i'd like to change.
Hiragana chart
Katakana
Tenten and Maru

Aimee

2007-11-19T01:19:00.000+09:00

November

2007-11-03T11:37:00.000+09:00

TEMPLE

This temple is situated about 100 m from my house, I'm trying to figure out it's name in English. I discovered a whole series of temles along the street I live in. My street runs along the foot of a small mountain covered in temples and holy sites. Maybe it's located on some kind of ancient ley line.
ERI'S BLOG
Hello Eri. Yes I read your blog.
WATAZE ONSEN SPA
Wednesday was a day off for KICC staff. Amy, Eri and I went to Wataze Hot Springs. It's situated in the Kii mountain range about an hour drive from Shingu along the Kumano River. What a beautiful drive. The Onsen was amazing because it was outdoors and I could look up and see the mountains.

The Kii Mountain range is regarded as a special place where the gods were appeased since the mythical age. I linked up with Eri's blog. It's in Japanese but using translation software this is what I got: "Because the English conversation school with the day off, daytime and time you opened today, with ロジャー and the thornback me 3 people, it makes cross, to the hot spring. The っ whose also it is good yesterday weather to be bad, well
to take a bath open-air in the rain... the って thinking, the cod, you call very, weather. But the Urasima hot spring view highest what of the sea it makes cross and the hot spring is surrounded in green, is healed - it could relax. This time the kana which probably will go to the hot spring of somewhere."

October

2007-10-30T23:00:00.000+09:00

HALLOWEEN
We had a Halloween party at KICC last Saturday. I would have prefered the day off because preparing for the party and entertaing the kids was a lot of work. Actually I worked harder than on a usual work day. All in all I was exhausted but it was great fun. From 1 to 3pm we had elemenary school kids, we let them play games and they seemed to be happy. The cowboy won first prize. Next, from 4 to 6pm we had the pre-schoolers and ftheir parents. I enjoyed this buch more. Some of the costumes were excellent, some of the mothers took a lot of time to make costumes at home. Finally from 7 to 9pm we had the adults.
Above are Aoi and Yuki. They are in my 5pm class in Kushimoto. Below are some older kids with the coyboy, the winner of the costume prize.
Here the children are playing Duck, Duck, Wolf. It's a great game but sometimes the same kids get all the turns and some kids don't play at all.
This is sexy RAMONDA before her boob implant.
This is sexy RAMONDA after her boob implant. She is accompanied by WITCH AMY. The adults were asked to bring a bowl of homecooked food to the party. This was a little cheap on the part of KICC since they had to pat an entrance fee of 500 yen as well. On top of that some of my students bought beers for me too. Amy, Ray and I went shopping at the last minute. They kept their costumes on and it was fun to watch the people's reaction to them in the store.

Saori came as the Statue of Liberty. She won the best costume prize.
After the party Ray, Amy, Eri and I went to a bar. I had saki but they ran out so I ordered wiskey next, I got some cheap, watered down, Japanese wiskey so I asked them for their strongest drink. They gave me something called ESPIRTAS. It was like tequilla mixed with petrol. I felt ill the next day. In this photo I'm lucky enough to be sitting next to the most beautiful women in Shingu. Eri teaches part-time ar KICC. Her blog is now linked to mine, unfortunately it's all in Japanese.

SPA
Amy and I took a train to a small indoor SPA the next day. SPAs are excellent for hangovers. After relaxing in the hot water we sat a on the beach and looked for shells. Amy has an amazingly sharp eye. She found some beautiful shells including this little one with a star. It's about 3mm long.
I like this photo.

OSAKA
I went to Osaka to meet my internet pals Mari and her sister Mami. We got on well and had a good tme. They enjoy shopping and going to restuarants. They took me to some interesting restuarants.

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AMY
Amy is the new teacher replcing Andy. She's from Nashville Tennissy and has a good old Southern accent. She very sociable and enjoys going places.
The new teacher at KICC, Amy, invited me to go up the side of Shingu mountain to see a temple. I didn't expect much but was amazed when we got to the top. There is a definate spiritual feeling at the top. I think ancient gods lived here in the past and their presence still lingers. We met these people, a professor of music at nagoya University who uses sound to heal, his sister: a teacher in Kumano and another woman who can see spirits.

weekend after Obon

2007-08-26T23:43:00.000+09:00

I downloaded this picture from www.tbkumano.jp.

I went to Wakayama on Sunday. I caught a train at 6am and arrived just after 9am. I wondered around for a couple of hours and then went back to Shingu. Jeremy told me that the train to Nagoya also takes about 3 hours and costs about the same. Next time I'll visit Nagoya for a weekend.

Ex-teacher Jeremy came to Shingu for a short visit so we all went bowling. Hiroshi was really goodand got some high scores. I bowled badly and got a record low 50 in my second round.

Andy took this photograph. Being a perfectionist, he doesnt like it because the front row is slightly out of focus.

Obon

2007-08-12T17:20:00.000+09:00

It is Obon and I have one week free to do what I want to do. I spent the weekend watching some amazing videos on YouTube. It's been a relaxing weekend but I must do something during the week. One part of me wants to travel and the other part wants to stay at home and study. Maybe I'll take a trip to Ise. Today I went for a walk along the Kumano river. It's really beautiful, I'd like to explore further.

KUMANO HAYATAMA TAISHA Shrine
I went to the shrine today. It is really ancient and has been well preserved.

FIREWORKS AT KUMANO RIVER

I am getting to know my cell phone camera and can take better pictures. I was surprised that these photos actually came out. I was supposed to meet Clayton and Andy but I could not find them anywhere. Here the event is just beginning. Many people dressed up and were wearing yukatas, especially the school girls.

It started to rain and most people headed home. I saw these four beautiful women taking cover underneath a stall. I asked them for a photo and the owner of the stall joined in. I wish i had a normal camera.

SANO
I woke up at 5am this morning and decided to go shopping in Sano. At about 7am I arrived at a little atation, in the middle of nowhere. I stood on the platform with nothing around me and felt like a space traveler. I got to the shopping center about two hours before it opened. FORTUNATELY Mcdonalds was open and a really beautiful woman was serving at the counter so I had a a MacBreakfast. The girl was amazingly beautiful so I could not resist going back for a second cup of coffee. UNFORTUNATELY I broke my 2-year old promise to myself never to eat at a McDonalds ever again

ISE
Some bad pictures of Ise.

My school.

Before OBON

2007-08-05T20:05:00.000+09:00

Sunday June 5th. I had a calligraphy lesson today, the lesson was okay but sitting on the floor cross-legged and wring at a low table for more than an hour was hell on my legs. I still have stiff knees eight hours later. I went for a long walk around Shingu and took a lot of photos with my cell phone. Only two came out. I SURE MISS MY CAMERA.
I walked up to a temple on the side of the mountain. A lot of hawks were hovering around the temple. I took a lot of pictures but wasn't satisfied with any of them. Maybe another day.

I walked down from the mountain to the river mouth. This shot of Shingu was taken from the Kumano River mouth. The quality of this cell phone picture is not good so you can't really appreciate the beauty of the mountains. In this picture all you see are the mountains, however in reality you can see the buildings of Shingu in the foreground.

Shingu-shi 新宮市

2007-07-03T21:40:00.000+09:00

There are three ways to write the name of my city: In ROMANJI it's written: Shingu-shi, in KANJI it's written: 新宮市 and in HIRAGANA it's written しんぐうし.
I don't have a camera at the moment so I am using my cell phone to take pictures. Here are the crazy teachers of KICC school on the train on the way to a school camping trip.

Japan at last

2007-06-25T23:48:00.000+09:00

I have wanted to live in Japan for a long time and it has been a really difficult journey to get here. But I'm here at last and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it. My camera is broken so I can't post any pictures but maybe that's good because I already have a lot of photos on this blog and I haven't said much about them. So here's an opportunity for me to express my thoughts.

I must admit that I feel reaIly lonely. I don't have any friends yet and I can't speak any Japanese. All I can say is "hello" "good morning" "excuse me" "thank you" and "wait a minute." I have a wonderful but when I det home from work at night there is nobody to speak to.

I found some beautiful Katakana on the web. I decided to learn Katakana first because it's used for foriegn words, so it's more rewarding once you've learned it to pronounce and reconise foreign words rather than Japanesse words.

SHINGU, WAKAYAMA
Shingū-shi 新宮市 was founded on October 1, 1933. It is located in Wakayama prefecture and has an estimated population of 32,500, a density of 407 people per km² and a total area is 79.66 km². It is famouse for it's top quality Aikido school and it is the sister city to Santa Cruz, California.

THINGS TO DO IN THE SHINGU AREA:
1. White water Rafting (Kitayama-mura)
2. Rafting (Kitayama-mura)
3. Charcoal Burning Experience (Hongu-cho)
4. Kumano Hongu Grand Shrine (Hongu-cho)
5. Hongu Onsen-kyo
6. Autumn Leaves of Dorokyo Gorge (Kumanogawa-cho)
7. Kumano Hayatama Grand Shrine (Shingu City)
8. Kamikura Shrine (Shingu City)
9. Nachi-san and its surroundings
10. Katsuura Onsen
11. Kino-Matsushima Cruise (Nachikatsuura-cho)
12. Dolphin Swimming (Taiji-cho)
13. Whale Museum (Taiji-cho)
14. Whale Watching (Nachikatsuura-cho, Koza-cho

MY TOP PRIORITY THIS YEAR IS TO GO DOLPHIN SWIMMING. I can't wait to touch, "shake hands" and swim by holding the back-fin of dolphins. There is no season and this can be done all-year. The places I can do this are:

DOLPHIN WAVE
448-1 Rinkai, Shirahama-co, Nishimuro-gun
Tel:0739-43-7978 Fax:0739-42-3261
Get off at "Shirahama Sta." of JR Kinokuni Line, "Rinkai" of Meiko Bus, 3 minutes walk.
Charges: Swim - 6,000 yen, Communication - 2,200 yen

WORLD DOLPHIN RESORT
703-15 Moriura, Taiji-cho, Higashimuro-gun
Tel:0735-59-3952 Fax:0735-59-3682
Get off at "Kii Katsuura Sta." of JR Kinokuni Line, "Hon-ura" of Kumano Kotsu Bus.
Charges: Swim - 6,000 yen, Communication - 2,000 yen

DOLPHIN BAY
686-17 Taiji-cho, Higashimuro-gun
Tel:0735-59-3514 Fax:0735-59-2810
Get off at "Taiji Sta." of JR Kinokuni Line, "Moto-ura" of Kumano Kotsu Bus.
Charges: Swim - 7,000 yen, Communication - 2,000 yen

KICC PARTY
We went to a goodbye party for Nataly and Jeremy and a welcome for clayton and myself. Afterwards Karaoke and sake.

SOUTH AFRICA

2007-06-02T13:15:00.000+09:00

I went home for a month

Last days in Taiwan

2007-04-01T14:37:00.000+09:00

I ahve been offered a job in Japan, in a small but beautiful city called Shingu-shi (new temple city).It was hard to find pictures of Shingu City on the internet, but I like this one. It seems like a nice place, I've always loved places that are surrounded by water.

I will leave Taiwan on April 20th and go back to South Africa for a couple of months. After that I'm going to Japan. I have always wanted to go to Japan and at last my dream has come true. I feel a little sad leaving Taiwan and will miss it a lot.

The Philippines

2007-02-27T23:28:00.000+09:00

Heather and I went to Boracay Island in the Philippines for Chinese new Year. Manila airport was as terrible as it was the first time. Three years ago I went to White Beach on Mindoro island, this year I went to White Beach Boracay. Can't get away from the white beaches. The highlight of our stay was the para-sailing trip. it was short and expensive but well worth it. I'd like to do something similar to this on a regular basis, maybe hang-gliding a or para-gliding. There is someting wonerful abou being up in the air without an engine.
My good friend
Some beautiful women sitting on the beach enjoying the sunset.
Heather and I went to Boracay Island in the Philippines during Chinese New Year. Manila airport was as terrible as it was the first time. Three years ago I went to White Beach on Mindoro island, this year I went to White Beach Boracay. Can't get away from the white beaches. Boracay is a bit of a tourist trap and is pretty expensive, but it was great.
I think this photo is the flag of Boracay; three equal horizontal stripes, sky, sea and sand

Japan

2006-12-14T14:40:00.000+09:00

Japan is an amazing country, probably the best place I have ever visited. I started off in Osaka, which was very diffent from what my guide book had indicated. Clean, organised, easy to navigate and most importantly the people are amazingly friendly and helpful. I arrived in peak holiday season and discoved that all the hotels were fully booked. Hotels in Japan are expensive so I looked around for alternative accomodations. I was lucky to find a cheap capsual hotel; only 3700 yen.
I started off in Osaka, I would like to live in this city one day. Above is a view of the city from a big wheel. To be honest the big wheel was a little boring by myself, it would have been nice to go with someone, however I got to see the view and get my bearings of the city.
I took millions of photos, so I decided to group them together. These are pictures of circular things. maybe a little silly but I kind of enjoyed the task. I think photography is about seeing things differently, these photos aren't good but they helped me to see things from a different point of view.

I spent a day at Osaka Castle

View of Kyoto and Kyoto Tower. It's not much of a tower and not an easy landmark to find.

I would definately describe meeting this geisha as the highlight of my trip. I was wondering around in Gion on my way to a famous temple when I saw this geisha in a photoshoot. I took a few photos and carried on up the hill. Then I discoved I had brought the wrong memory stick and only had space for 3 more pictures. On the way back I passed the place the geisha had been. I turned around to go back to my ryokan and there she was by herself. I asked her for a picture and she accepted. I was suprised when she wanted to see the picture.

smiles. I think their politeness comes from the heart. I got lost a few times and people were always willing to help me find my way, in fact, they often went out of their way to assist me.

I don't have many photos of myself. Mostly I travel alone or the people I'm with can't take photos so I'm forced to find reflections of myself. Here are a few self portraits taken in circular mirrors. I kind of like these pictures. It's hard to find these mirrors in attractive areas. The one below, taken in Nara, is my favorite self portrait. I'm hidden away between the Kanji.

Nara is the original capital of Japan. It is an ancient city and you can see this in the ancient wooden temples, it is a trip back in time. I spent a day there, I should have stayed longer. The picture below is a very typical scene: Hello kitty stalls in front of a 2000 year old temple.

Nara is scattered with parks, temples, hills and forested areas. Deer roam free all over the place. This is a big tourist attraction, for 100 yen you can buy bicutes and feed the deer. Personally I feel they are a bit of a pest, you should never feed wild animals. They remind me a bit of the baboons in Cape Town.
The Japanese are known for being polite but the friendliest people I met on this trip was a Taiwanese couple on their honeymoon. We exchanged emails and I have a dinner invitation with them when I next go to Taipei. I was walking along taking pictures and they offered to help me with a self portrait. We bumped into each other a couple of times and eventually discovered we all speak Chinese.

Columbia

2006-11-02T16:30:00.000+09:00

COLUMBIA is one of the best places I've ever worked for. In September we had sports day, South African Style with Braaivleis and touch rugby.
Rob is one of the managers, he's a relaxed easygoing person.
Nat and his wife with me at the back. In the front are some of my cutest students. From left to right: Linda , Kay and Angel.
Laura and Claire
In the background is Yolanda , in the front is Olie.

COLUMBIA P-Party day. We decided not to have haloween but instead have a P-themed party. I was boring I came as the Paparazzi. all i needed was a presscard and a camera. I'm a little sorry, I should have dressed up in a more exciting costume.

Old Photo

2006-10-25T12:35:00.000+09:00

This is an old photo taken of a trip to Geofin. I feel a bit lazy so I haven't added the others, maybe later. I feel that most of the pictures taken off me are pretty bad, but I kind of like this one. Twenty eight days left before I go to Japan. I can't wait because I'm going to have such a good time.

Another old photo taken in Hua-lien. I've touched a dolphin, what an amazing creature. My next goal is to actually go swimming with them in the ocean.

Public holidays

2006-10-12T13:48:00.000+09:00

I had a few days off in October for the Mid-Autumn festival. I went north to Taipei and Keelung.

I have been looking at old posts on this blog and feel there are a lot of photos but not enough descriptions of what is going on, so I've decided to write a lot more in the future. I love busses and trains. This photo half in/half out of the bus was taken on the way to Taipei.

Taipei101 is one of my favorite places. I love Page One and Eslite book store and bought a couple of guide books for my upcomming trip to Japan. I bought some japanese CD;s as well. will try and learn some basic Japanese before I go.

Heather and I visited DAN SHUI (fresh water river). It was a pleasant, quite place. I didn't see any spectacular scenery but really enjoyed wading through the shallow water watching the oyster farmers.

Dan shui was great, got to take my shoes off and walk in the mud. Very grey, reminds me a little of Hong Kong with the grey weather, high rise buildings and murky water.
Beautiful Taichung park
My big feet, I'm going to start a new theme, taking photos of places I've stood at.

Heather loves the outdoors and when ever I see her we spend time hiking. Not much hiking in Taichung so we spent time under some ancient trees. i like these photos and will add some more later.

Heather's visit

2006-07-12T15:18:00.000+09:00

My ex-housemate and very good friend; Heather came to Taichung for the weekend. I really wanted to take her to some interesting places in Taichung but unfortunately it rained most of the time. On Sunday we started off at Taichung Park hoping it would not rain.
Sheltering under a tree waiting for the storm to end.

Next we went to Yi-chung Road to do some shopping.

Heather looked for sun glasses, Aimee guided us around and I watched people, mostly the girls.

Back in Taichung

2006-06-29T17:39:00.000+09:00

I haven't updated this blog in a long time. I have been really busy at school and I didn't have internet access. Aimee took me to the Taichung library, it's been renovated and is quite an amazing place. Very modern with a whole lot of English books and FREE wireless internet.
There is an amazing juice stand near to China medical hospital. It's managed by a Vietnamese girl who takes special care when making juice.

Some musicians were practicing outside the restuarant.

Last days in Keelung

2006-04-27T14:01:00.000+09:00

I have been offered a job in Taichung. I feel a little sad leaving Keelung.

My K7-93 class saying goodbye to me.

Some pictures under the free way.

YEHLIU GEOPARK

2006-04-24T00:53:00.001+09:00

Yehliu means "wild willows" A half an hour bus ride from Keelung costs $44. Entrance fee $50. Yehliu is a long cape formed by Datun Mountain reaching into the sea

If you walk along the coast for a while the mountains of tourists and tour buses disappear and you are alone except for a couple of fishermen.

Yehliu was formed from erosion to limestone rock. It is full of of seawater-erosed holes as well as numerous rocks in the shape of mushrooms, candlewicks, ginger and chess board pieces.

After walking up one of the most beautiful paths I've ever seen we came to a small pavilion on top of the cliffs overlooking the sea. Amazingly there was a foot massage area.

Jing Gua Shi

2006-04-20T15:54:00.000+09:00

Jing (silver) Gua (melon) Shi (rock) I imagine it means melon sized rocks with silver in them. Jing gua Shi used to be a silver mine, now it's a museum. Heather's ex boyfriend Ron came to Taiwan from America for a week. Heather, Ron, Romilly and Rodger spent a wonderful day there. From Keelung it costs about $330 by taxi and $60 by bus.
Bryan, an adult student has corrected me. He attended juior high school in Jing Gua Shi and I lives close by. Jing Gua Shi isn't a silver mine, it's an old gold mine and copper mine.
Anyway,I think it's a nice place to travel.
This picture came out well. I just pointed and clicked while on the bus. Actually I wanted to take a shot of something else but the bus was going fast, so I got this shot instead.

The Japanese emperor had a residence here. included is a putt putt course.

Heather took some beautiful photos. I like the one below of the people with umbrellas looking at the view.

I wish I knew about Jing Gua Shi much earlier. It's an older silver mine and ex residence of the Japanese emperor. The mountains are very green and there are some easy, yet senic mountain trails.

Honeymoon Bay

2006-04-05T22:48:00.000+09:00

Romilly recently joined kojen, she's from South Africa. We decided to take a trip to Ilan on Tomb Sweeping day. She's very organised so I thought I'd take it easy, she had the same idea about me, so we ended up going on a completely disorganised trip. we only got lost once and by chance found all the right places.

Honeymoon Bay in the shape of a heart.
I have decided to learn to surf at Dasi (大溪), also known as Honeymoon Bay (蜜月灣). This is one of the best places for beginners to learn surfing. Dasi is a beach break, which means the beach gradually slopes into the sea and waves break very close to the shore. Surfboards can be rented from 7 ~ 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. People on the beach, including veteran sur fers, shopowners, and general folk, are mostly very friendly and helpful. There is usually someone on hand who will be more than happy to give you a first surfing lesson.
If you look closely at this picture you will notice that it's actually a self portrait.
I really like this shot, the angles, composition and background are perfect. Romilly likes the surfer.

In Taiwan women go to great lengths to avoid the sun. I was pleasantly surprised to see some women actually go into the water and surf. Not bad.

Our short-cut to the harbour required crossing a small river.
The harbour and fish market in Dasi

HONEYMOON BAY蜜月灣 I'll be back on Monday!!

Yang Ming Shan

2006-04-01T17:31:00.000+09:00

The beauty of Taiwan, actually Yang Ming Shan reminds me a bit of Japan.
Taiwan is naturally beautiful but there is always a crown of people.
At the sulphur springs with Jennifer, Jason, Sky and Heather. Jennifer is Heather's boss at Shane school. I was lucky to get invited along on this trip. Unfortunately the weather was no good and we couldn't see anything.

Heather and I have a tradition of taking photos of each other taking photos each other. This is my picture of her. I didn't like the the way I looked. If you want to see it you can go to her blog.

Notice how all the flowers are pink. actually everything is pink looking.

Taichung

2006-03-14T12:06:00.001+09:00

Aimee's brother Jin Wen has been conscripted into the army. He was very unhappy about his new haircut.

Aimee and I have a new hobby. I didn't realise how much cleaning you have to do.

mountain temple

2006-03-04T22:13:00.000+09:00

Thispicture was taken about a ten minute walk away from my apartment. It's nice to walk up the hill and get some fresh air and see some trees.

This temple is so beautiful and so easy to photograph, the main problem is deciding which pics not to use. Amazingly most photos look good in sepia, usually sepia and black&white don't work for me

streets & umbrellas

2006-02-28T17:41:00.000+09:00

I really like this shot. It was taken under the highway in the fish market. The fish market is closed but the smell remains.

Miaoko market i live around the corner. cheap fresh sea food DELICIOUUS
keelung is a rainy city, it has rained almost everyday for the last month. lots of reflections
why do the chefs at japanese Tappentaki restaurants always speak taiwanese?

students

2006-02-22T01:06:00.000+09:00

Peaceful time for the teacher as student write one of too many tests they have to do.
Amy has the special ability to persuade me to give the class less homework, "Teacher no homework, ony one, one one, noooo homeworrrkkkkkkkk!"

My adult class on an outing. They were one of the best classes I have taught

Blurred pictures with heads cut off but I like it. It expresses the chaos of the classroom well. students are active, restless and quick, turn your back for a second and all hell breaks loose.

Group photo with my favorite class. They speak Chinese all the time and never listen to me. Surprisingly their English is good and they have a lot of fun. Some smart and creative students in this class.

haulien

2006-02-21T02:44:00.000+09:00

The fairy bridge, it's just a strange shaped bridge leading to a small island. I liked it, felt like i was entering another world.

i enjoy creating composit pictures, used seven photos for this one, should have turned the camera vertically and got more in. Aimee, jin-wen and Chen ma ma enjoying the view.
view of Hualien from our hotel widow, look carefully and you can see aimee, her brother and mother sleeping. my rerflection is easy to see.
we walked along a closed down tunnel in taroko gorge, i wish i could have spent more time there camping and swimming. It was really realy beautiful

Nightlife

2006-02-20T23:47:00.000+09:00

Took this photo by accident, the girl walked past me as i took the shot, it came out kinda nice

Friends

2006-02-19T23:27:00.000+09:00

Heather taking notes for a short story. She's a great writer
Aimee saying bye to Nick at Taichung station
Clara, Heather and alice are great fun to be with. Most of the time Clara teases Alice.
Alice is hard to photograph, she makes a face or hides away. you have to be lucky and catch her unawares.

Jue Ming Park

2006-02-19T13:30:00.000+09:00

Jue Ming Park was really inspirational. it's nice to see an Artist who has created someting on this scale. would have enjoyed it more if i wore long pants, the weather was damm cold.

I like this picture, most of my pictures of reflective surfaces look like shit and take many shot, and reshoots until i get it right. Nobody has the patience to wait around while I experiment with angles and colours. This one came out first time. LUCKY!

Here i've caught my hand in a gaint zipper. Very paifful.

Keelung City

2006-02-18T23:45:00.000+09:00

Keelung is compact and they ned to use space well, there are many underpasses and overpasses. i like this one with a view of the harbour

keelung harbour, notice the ocean liner docked in the harbour, i'd like to take aimee on a cruise to okinawa before i leave keelung
a peaceful place to sit and read a book, if you don't mind all the young lovers
Miaoko night market in the day

Images of Keelung city life, no particular order or theme. i like the picture of the temple, the other are okay.

Aimeeee

2006-02-18T22:46:00.000+09:00

There is nothing in the world that makes Aimee happier than an hour or two on the phone. Just look as that smile.
The stone looks like a heart, we put it in the fishtank. On our trip to kending we found a four-leaf clover.

Aimeee and her sisters at the beach trying to get some dogshit off their shoes.