Old and the New, Ancient and Modern ~ Welcome to Changhua 彰化!
Changhua is at the heart of rural Taiwan. Honest, it don’t get much more rural than Changhua! It’s just south of Taichung, so it’s the beginning of southern Taiwan. Flat farmland stretches for miles from the coast inland – with rice and fruit growing, and wind farms galore. Last Saturday, my good friend En-Yu (Rebecca) and her daughter took me around Changhua City and Changhua County for the day. It’s a real mix of old and new, ancient and modern – all mixed up, like this old house with painted wall… Pride of place goes to the Changhua Roundhouse, mentioned … Continue reading Old and the New, Ancient and Modern ~ Welcome to Changhua 彰化!
Changhua Roundhouse 彰化扇形車庫 ‘Fan-Shaped Train Garage’ ~ must-go, must-see!
This place is really so gobsmackingly amazing, it’s definitely a MUST-GO, MUST-SEE (note the capitals) kind of destination! And not just for train-lovers either. For anyone. And especially for anyone who has grown up with Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. Which is pretty much everyone today in the UK, either with the original Railway Series books (26 written by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry from 1945-72, and a further 16 written by his son, Christopher Awdry – 14 between 1983 and 1996, and 2 more in 2007 and 2011) or through the TV series, Thomas and Friends from 1984 onwards. … Continue reading Changhua Roundhouse 彰化扇形車庫 ‘Fan-Shaped Train Garage’ ~ must-go, must-see!
Advent Church Summer Camp 2017 降臨堂兒童喜樂營 ‘YES! You’re Extra-Special!’
And what a camp it was! Two whole days of fun, laughter, games, water fights, action songs, drama, handicrafts, prayers and much more! The theme was ‘You’re Extra-Special’ – the initials of which happen to spell ‘YES!’… and that logo was on our dark blue T-shirts too, the YES is written into the shape of Advent Church… here’s some of us in the T-shirts! The summer camp happens every year at this time, with a large group of lovely students from our SJU Student Fellowship group who spend 2-3 days in training and preparation, followed by the actual camp, open … Continue reading Advent Church Summer Camp 2017 降臨堂兒童喜樂營 ‘YES! You’re Extra-Special!’
Yang-Ming Shan Mountains 陽明山 ~ before the storm….
It’s summer, well and truly summer! Schools finished yesterday, the last day of June ~ so the summer holidays have officially started ~ and everyone is making the most of it! Summer weather in Taipei this past week has meant fine and sunny weather every morning, up to the mid-30’s in temps, then soon after lunch, it clouds over and a storm comes rolling in, sometimes just torrential rain, sometimes with thunder and lightning too. So today everyone was up early to the Yang-Ming Shan Mountains, just above Taipei, and back down again by early afternoon. By 8:00 am I … Continue reading Yang-Ming Shan Mountains 陽明山 ~ before the storm….
Queen Crape Myrtle in Flower at St. John’s University!
‘Just living is not enough, one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower’, so said the butterfly in the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales….. So today is a wonderful day to see the flowering Queen Crape Myrtle (紫薇花) otherwise known as Pride Of India, Banaba or Lagerstroemia Speciosa outside the multi-coloured Mechanical Engineering Building here at St. John’s University… Beautiful flower, beautiful day! Continue reading Queen Crape Myrtle in Flower at St. John’s University!
Tamsui Treasures!
Bright orange U-bikes have arrived in Tamsui, and not just down by the river, but up in northern Tamsui, by the sports centre and Carrefour ~ yippee! So a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon is riding around on a u-bike, exploring some of the places in Tamsui that are more difficult to get to – and the sports center is a good place to start. Well, it is for me, cos it’s the nearest to Sanzhi! First stop is the Cheng’s Old Residence, which is a traditional old Taiwanese house, around 3 sides of a courtyard, probably built … Continue reading Tamsui Treasures!
Happy Wedding Day Mr. You Bo-Min 游博閔弟兄 and Ms. Hsu Ying-Ping 徐穎蘋姊妹!
A beautifully sunny day at Advent Church for the wedding of our former student, Mr. You Bo-Min 游博閔 and his lovely wife, Ms. Hsu Ying-Ping 徐穎蘋 ~ congratulations to them both ~ and their families! Here they for the group photo, titled ‘The Kiss’! Actually, Bo-Min has always been known to us as A-Bu-La 阿不辣, a good nickname for a fun guy, who loves to act and dress up and do imitations of people and pull faces and make everyone laugh – all the time, that how I remember him! He’s now 28, and for the 4 years that he was a … Continue reading Happy Wedding Day Mr. You Bo-Min 游博閔弟兄 and Ms. Hsu Ying-Ping 徐穎蘋姊妹!
CMS Link Letter # 72!
Hot off the press comes my latest CMS (Church Mission Society) Link Letter, written on Saturday June 3, published yesterday…. check it out here: Catherine Lee 72 And in case you’re wondering, we’re in the middle of another Plum Rain weekend – rain rain and more rain, and yes the termites are enjoying themselves still! Continue reading CMS Link Letter # 72!
St. John’s University Graduation 2017!
Yes, this past week has been the final week for our final year students ~ congratulations to them all! Last Thursday night, our student fellowship had a big farewell event for the 7 student fellowship members who are graduating. We all wore masks! Of the 7 students, 3 of the boys are student fellowship leaders, Pi-pi is last year’s chairperson, and En-Zhe and Bin-Huan also assist in the leadership ~ and all 3 are very much part of the praise and worship team. Their gift to the student fellowship was to publish a praise and worship book of favorite songs … Continue reading St. John’s University Graduation 2017!
