Dawg days

The summer is hot, humid, and sunny-that all means I try to spend as much time out of the concrete jungle as possible. From June I only have to work 9-1 Monday-Thursday. That means I have three day weekends in theory, though I have a private lesson on Sunday afternoon.
One of my recent escapes brought me to another island off the south east coast of Taiwan, an island called Lanyu (Orchid Island), appropriately named as it's overrun with it's namesake. It was an absoultely beautiful island. The weather and clouds were amazing and since it is some eighty miles off the coast of Taiwan there was neither any pollution or crowds. The island is home to a local tribe called the Ami, an amalgam of Chinese/Filipino/Indonesian and Malay cultures. They are residents of Taiwan, but I'm more likely to be mistaken for Taiwanese than they are. Their life is a simple one; they fish in their handcrafted boats (built without nails, screws, or any type of fasteners), grow crops, and the more "civilized" families host tourists. It was a relaxing weekend that allowed for swimming in crystal clear water, snorkeling with spear fishermen, and gazing upon more stars than the eye can handle.
Uncle Bill Maier had a business trip last month that brought him to Formosa. It was great to see him and catch up with family-it's been quite a while since I've seen any relatives. We did the typical sights and were chauffeured by the unfailingly profusely polite Mars Liu. Unfortunately we had only a day, but it was a well-spent day and I was happy to hear of New Jersey and family happenings.
I ran into some misfortune last week in that my camera could handle no more. In retrospect I suppose one too many sandy days at the beach cooking in the afternoon sun probably hastened it's expiration. I decided that I would invest in something a bit better this time around, so I did some research, talked to some friends, and bought a nice Canon point and shoot. It's really so much better than my old camera in every way. It reeks of Japanese ingenuity, and the picture quality is stunning. It has a good optical zoom and I didn't buy into the megapixel charade, a largely useless selling point. I'm still playing around with it, but I love the manual mode, the more I learn the more I am able to appreciate the options.
Speaking of Nippon, I'm leaving in two days for a two week visit. I'm very excited as all my friends have loved it. I bought a rail pass for the bullet train which allows me to reap the benefits of their excellent rail system, and have arranged to sleep on a few couches courtesy of couchsurfing.com. All I hear about Japan are the ludicrous prices for everything from apple juice to t-shirts; though I hosted a couple of guys from Nagoya for a night and they said deals are to be had. I have a rough intenirary planned: Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Mt Fuji-Tokyo-Nikko, but of course nothing beyond my first two days are in pen; I've learned thats the best way to travel.
That's it for now, sorry for delay in posts, when Gma is more recent I know it's time to update! I will post pictures when I return from Japan, but for now check out Lanyu and the Martyrs Shrine in Taipei.


Goats and pigs roamed freely all over the island.

This is 2pac, the infamous rapper, painted on a wall on the islands only road.