Cambodia is THE country to go to, and Phnom Penh is THE city! Just forget for a moment that you’re not really sure where the country is, nor how to pronounce (let alone spell!) the capital city’s name. It don’t … Continue reading Phnom Penh, Cambodia 柬埔寨金邊 ~ and a great CMS Conference too!
Privileged to live so close to one of northern Taiwan’s best beaches, and today is THE day! Every year we have a kite festival on Baishawan Beach 白沙灣 in Shimen District 石門, with thousands of people, hundreds of kites, lots of sun and hopefully lots of wind. This is the scene this afternoon, with the lighthouse on Taiwan’s northern tip in the far distance… Last year’s blog post about the kite festival 2016 is here. This year’s kite festival is a bit different. Although it’s being held all this weekend, in fact yesterday was a working day for most people … Continue reading Taiwan’s North Coast Kite Festival 2017 @ Baishawan Beach 白沙灣, Shimen District ~ YES!
A sunny Saturday afternoon in September and what better place to go than Ju Ming Sculpture Park, officially known as Ju Ming Museum and only 20 km from here round the northern coast, with stunning views over the sea and mountains. This was the main entrance today… My first visit there was in November 2016 (see my blog post here) ~ and I was very impressed. It houses all the incredible art work of Ju Ming 朱銘, the world famous Taiwanese sculptor, born in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1938. The park is big – and on a sunny day, it’s a bit … Continue reading Ju Ming Sculpture Park and Museum 朱銘美術館, Jinshan, Taipei
Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村 on the outskirts of Taichung is such an amazing place – it’s easily the most attractive set of buildings in the whole of Taichung ~ YES! It’s the last remaining few houses of a Veterans Village, built for the old soldiers and their families who came to Taiwan after 1949. Most the houses are already gone, demolished and the land redeveloped, but old Mr. Huang (Huang Yong-Fu 黃永阜), known as ‘Rainbow Grandpa’ (彩虹爺爺), was not letting that happen to his village. Now aged 95, he decided to start painting the remaining houses a few years ago, and … Continue reading Rainbow Grandpa and his Beautiful Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村!
In 1,400 words (that’s the CMS limit), my long silence on here has ended with the publication today of my latest Church Mission Society (CMS) Link Letter ~ click on this link below and it opens to a pdf document with words and photos describing why I’ve been silent for so long….. Catherine Lee 73 However, 1,400 words was not enough – and I had to leave much out. Notably thanking certain people. My family of course, and all those who offered support and prayers…. Next would be Alice from Mauritius who spent the summer here in Taiwan, staying in … Continue reading Hot off the press ~ CMS Link Letter # 73!
Occasionally, just very occasionally, so many good things happen all at once to make an event so amazing and unexpectedly awesome, that even the hardest of sceptics are won over. Such was our ascent of Taiwan’s highest mountain, Yushan / … Continue reading On Top of the World! Yushan / Jade Mountain 玉山 ~ Taiwan’s Highest Mountain 3,952 m 12,966 ft!
To spark interest for the upcoming 2017 Summer Universiade, the city of Taipei has employed a fantastic marketing strategy that sees the city’s subway cars turned into realistic backdrops of several popular sporting venues. The floors of each car have been replaced by laminate overlays of track lane, grass turf, basketball courts, and baseball fields—though by far the most popular car is the swimming pool. The Universiade begins August 19th and involves 22 different sports across 70 venues. …. Source: Taipei Transforms Subway Cars to Mimic Sporting Venues for Upcoming Summer Universiade | Colossal Update on July 24, 2017: I … Continue reading Taipei Transforms Subway Cars to Mimic Sporting Venues for Upcoming Summer Universiade | Colossal
It’s hot and humid and the middle of summer, and yet, Elephant Mountain in Taipei is packed out with people. Not in the early morning so much, but mid-morning onwards, at the hottest time of day, hundreds and hundreds of everybody are going up! Last time I was there was Chinese New Year 2016 and haven’t been there since, oh no! So now I’m back, but early in the morning. 7:30 am. Today. Ready for the off. Would be earlier, but that’s the earliest I can get there from the far end of Taiwan. And boy, it is steep. And … Continue reading Taipei’s Elephant Mountain 象山 and Four Beasts Mountain 四獸山 and 9-5 Peak 九五峯!
Yes, at last, I’ve found them! The cattle of YangMingShan are smelt long before they are seen ~ the smell of ‘cow’ is everywhere in Qingtiangang especially on the grasslands, and there’s cowpats and muddy trails and hoof-prints all over. But often the cattle themselves are nowhere to be found. I’ve been up there twice recently and not a cow in sight. But yesterday, there they all were, taking it easy – with the egrets perched on their backs, chewing the cud, yes! YangMingShan is the mountain range on the northern side of Taipei City, highest point 1,120m above sea … Continue reading The Cattle of YangMingShan 陽明山, Taipei
Catherine Lee 