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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Around the farm

Today, I went around the farm to say wasup to the fruits and veges. Like I said before, everytime I make my tour, I see different fruits and vegetables. It's always refreshing, always something to explore.







And this has GOT to be my grandpa's trademark!





Then I went around the village to see what's everyone else up to.









Very uncomfortable chickens....



Well, election is just around the corner. Here's a banner to encourage people to report corruption.



How can you miss the local delicacy?!
Election in Taiwan gets really crazy. In a small town like this, you may not see much, but you get little vans like this going around the neighbourhood all day long...




So I went back to the temple again... it's definitely a ritual for me now. I simply love this temple.





Here are the fortune telling sticks.





Ci Gu, Tainan

Tainan is the oldest city of Taiwan, and was the first capitol as well. Therefore, Tainan can be regarded as the most culturally rich city of Taiwan with most of Taiwan's pre-war history happening here.



It's a coastal city, and is also famous for its fishing industry. The coastal wet land has also become an excellent site for all kinds of seasonal birds that fly down from the north(Siberia and such) during winter. One of the most rare ones is the "Black Face Spoonbill". Every year, they will spend about 6 months here and 6 months in Siberia to produce their off springs. Well, they are extremely protected and we could only see them through 60X telescopes.

However, we took a boat tour around the coastal wet lands to see who else is out there... quite happening actually, almost like a party.







Oster plantation





Next, we took another boat tour. This one took us through a canal that is covered by a swampy canopy, and gets the name "green tunnel"





It's all about letting go...

We decided to take grandma and grandpa out for some sight seeing. Of course, my grandma was worried about the sun and dinner, but we assured her that they will be waiting in the living room when we get back.

On our way to the real destination, we drove pass this flower plantation and our lens caps popped like it was an accident.

The real OVERSTOCK.com



I say, if this hardware store goes online, there can only be one URL:

OVERSTOCK.COM

I'm sure everyone will agree with me that no one else deserves the URL more than this tiny little and over stuffed store. My aunt works in this store, and according to her, even the owner has no idea what she has in her store. However, there's a 99.8% chance that you can find what you need in it.





After taking this video, my aunt said," Wait wait, you missed another room!"



I think this store rules, and kicks Home Depot's ass pretty hard.

Gossip is the "COOL" thing in the country!

So a bunch of folks sitting around under a tree in a lazy afternoon only meant one thing.

GOSSIP!!!

So here's a documentary of the hour of gossip....

01: Talking about some neighbour girl and if she's gotten married, with village announcements in the background about fruits for sale.


02: About which local boy was good at studies during their days...


03: About who from the village did well in their career and blah blah...


04: Talking about whether it's cold up there in the mountains and what to wear if they are going there...

So I was recording them when my grandma saw me, thought I was felling asleep since I was leaning on the table looking at the camera screen, but was funny.

And so my grandma completely forgot about the setting sun and the unprepared dinner. Gossip was what mattered and enjoyable. I mean, what else is more exciting to talk about in a village of old folks when everyday is pretty much predictable? As long as it keeps their spirits high, it's good for them.

Here's grandma gossiping with a villager while her grand daughter plays in the dirt.


Oh, and here's an old chair from the local elementary school, with the back rest carved " Bruce Lee"... some kid was definitely day dreaming!



Photo SuperStars!

Well, I don't know how to start this. My grandparents(especially grandma) have been bugging us to take some photos for them, so that they have one ready when the day comes. We took a few a few years back but lost the negatives, so here we are again, happily preparing for that day when your photo really matters.



The best place for the photo shoot is of course, in our own farms. There's nothing more appropriate than the very banana trees and sugar cane stalks that they raised themselves. Photography is something pretty foreign to the older generations. In the past when cameras were explosive, photographs are for very special occasions as they are very expensive. So, while we are so used to cameras whether they belong to your friends telling you to say "cheese" or paparazzis sneaking their lens up your windows, we have a generation that simply don't know how to act in front of the camera.

So here's how it began... we went to the farm and both my sister and I showed our weapons. With two SLRs aimed at them, we told them to "relax" and "smile". It's obviously harder than expected....



It was a struggle... for my grandparents, but I soon developed a trick, which is, after the first click, I'll say,"Alright that's it!" Then my grandma will really smile because she thought it's over, and here's when I capture the moment. This also means that, for me who still use film camera, I will have to use two shots to get one right. Well, it was worth it!





WHAT'S SO FUNNY???



After which we sat under this big tree to enjoy the precious hour before sunset. As usual, my grandma is always eager to go back, because it's going to get dark, and because she needs to prepare dinner. The truth is, it's a habit. Their lives evolve around the house and the farm so much that they don't feel safe leaving them for too long. So what if the sun sets? So what if it's past dinner time? There's always another evening and dinner.

Well, we won't let them go, so the camera continues to work...



Where's everyone???

Temperature dropped dramatically over the last few days. Yesterday, I went to the mountain trail near my place where I usually find spiders, crabs and other uncommon creatures. This time, everyone went on hiding! All I see are empty crab holes and abandoned webs. Well, I still found some hanging around.



Then just as I was heading back to the car, I see my house!