Typhoon Saola Warning

                  Holy Cow! No body was injured.

 When the news correspondence vehicle got hit by this giant falling rock, the correspondent was conducting news and the driver got out for smoking. This picture was posted on 呂國寶's FB who is also a news correspondent for a TV

station. Updated by Mr.呂國寶 on his FB page that the driver was in the van when it happened. Fortunately, he wasn't injured by the falling rock but he was stunned by the rock.   

THSR will run its schedule at every 00/20/40 and stops at every station. For tomorrow schedule will be announced before 7 PM.  

Typhoon Soala made its first landfall in Hualien County at 3:30 am. After making a circle, it entered the Pacific Ocean again. TCWB predicts it might make another landfall. 

                   This picture of Xindian River was taken and posted on FB of Professor Khîn-huānn Lí around 8:30 am. The bad news is the high tide will be at 10:30 am and 23 pm which means the rivers will be overflown in Taipei. So it is extremely dangerous for people to close to river areas.

Taichung Half Day Trip at the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan in Wufong District

       Living in the old part of Taichung city we have been constantly asked by our friends from out of the city "where can they go or that is their to do?"  Well, quite honestly it is hard to point out a place that would really satisfy visitors in the old city, except bars, restaurants, and motels, especialy for the younger energetic generation. 

     One day my husband and I ended up hosting two young boy both 11 years old for one day. We gave them some destinations to choose for the day with us. "Been there and done that" was the most answer that we got from them. Finally when I mentioned the 921 Earthquake Museum, it caught their attention because they hadn't been there yet. They both were highly interested in the learning of the magnitude 7.3 earthquake. Well our problem was solved and also it was not too far from old Taichung city. 

This picture was taken from the country side on our
way to the museum. It took us about 30 minutes
driving to Wufang which is on the outskirt
of the old Taichung city.

2 Days in Green Island: Day 2--Snorkeling Trip

     Green Island sleepless! Because it is a famous tourist location, it has attracted many tourists to visit the island and travel around by motor scooters. The population was 3,199 people with 3,580 motor scooters in 2010. Most young tourists like college students love to ride their motor scooters at night with group of people. They enjoy a sense of excitement and tell some ghost's stories in the dark and rural areas to scare their girl friends or classmates, being romantic at night under the beautiful sky. In the early morning, tourists wake up early to enjoy the sunrise in the early morning. This is the life style of traveling on Green Island.  
     Our hotel room was next to the main road. It was midnight and people still rode their motor scooters on the street which made an lot of noise in the quiet country side. The noise from the motor scootors made it difficult to fall asleep and rest on the first night of travel. Counting sheeps didn't help at all. Finally I got a little rest. But once morning came the unresting sounds of the motor scootors broke the slient sky in the early morning. The dawn had come. My first night on Green Island was a sleepless.

My huband and I decided to go
on our own and not followed our
 group for the ecologic trip on our
first schedule. Our goal was to 
visit the lighthouse and village.
It could lead us to know more
about the island and would it be
worthy to come back to visit it
again?

2 Days in Green Island: Day 1--Bicycle Trip

       Hot, hot, hot! The temperature in Taipei reached 37C (100F) with humidity 50-70% and the dew point 24 C which feels like 42 C (112 F) for 7 days in a row in July 2012. The extreme heat has kept people away from the streets and staying at home or going to a beach to cool down.  

     What would you like to do when you plan to visit Taiwan for your summer vacation? If you like water sports such as snorkeling or scuba diving? I think Green Island which is an offshore island on the southeast coast of Taitung county is your best choice for the trip.  

     A couple of years ago my husband and I attended an ecogreen trip which was promoted by the government to ride bicycles around the island instead of riding motor scooters. It was a two day trip with the bicycle ride, ecological visit, and snorkeling on the island. 

     We arrived in Taitung city one day early prior to the trip. We stayed at the Teacher hostel in Taitung city which offered a reasonable price and comfortable accommodation. Its location was good. There were a supermarket and McDonald next to it. It also offered free bicycle rent for its guesses. We took the advantage of this free bicycle rent and rode along the bicycle trail which circled around the outskirt of the city. 

The view was taken from the Taitung City
bicycle trail loop.

We met the tour agent in Fugang Fishery Harbor
 which was the main public transportation port 
to Green Island and Orchid Island from Taiwan. 
Schedule and Info:
http://travel.network.com.tw/tourguide/island/sanasai/rd.asp

Why was The Former US Ambassador to China talking about Taiwan?

     This is a very interesting video clip of Jon Huntsman speech. What did he think about Taiwan people and what is his favorite food in Taiwan? This short clip was not a political speech.  

                 by taiwanreporter


     As he mentioned in this video in Mandarin, he said "his favorite food is stinky tofu." Will he convince you to try stinky tofu?