Spur Of The Moment Part 1

Friday October 10th, as I had mentioned on the last entry is a National Holiday for the whole Island of Taiwan... Not only is DAVID off, so are Lyn and Shaun -- and with nothing much planned on our plates, we all decided to take the 3 hour ride to the Eastern part of Taiwan and visit Shaun's family home... I have heard stories about the area and his family but never had the opportunity to go see... so we packed up lite and by 1 PM we were on our way.... We had a pit stop, okay food stop in Fongyuan (Taijung Hsien District) a quaint little area which is frequented by people from all over... they come here for the market with soooo much selections of delicacies plus cute little knick knacksshops, of course.... We stopped for a bite to eat and opted for a couple of delicacies.... walked around a bit and then, continued on with our journey - as we had another half hour to go to get to Shaun's house....

After half an hour of winding roads... up and down highways, we reached our destination - Nantou County.... Shaun's 3 storey home is pretty typical of the houses I have seen so far in Taiwan -- biiig, spacey, and full of things..... met his dog Xiao Hai (Little Black) which am told is a typical Taiwan style dog... he is not threatening but he does not like to be touched by anyone but Shaun... oh well, no doggie playing time there.... Introductions were made, and we got to meet his Dad, Mom, younger brother and his 7 year old nephew who goes by three English names: Ben, Jeff & WInner -- LOLs -- he is possibly the cutest, smartest, most adorable 7 year old I have even come to meet in Taiwan... He is fat and he knows it but he is lovable fat - not annoying fat... if you know what I mean... Anyway, he must have taken an instant liking to me, as we, according to him, are XIONGDI (brothers) -- right off the bat.... from then on through the rest of the trip, he insists on sitting next to me in car rides, holding my hands everywhere we went, and talking endlessly to me even though he new half of what he is saying I did not understand... LOLs....

That night, we were treated to a CLASSICAL Concert in the beautiful Shueishe Wharf, (Sun Moon Lake area) -- as one of Shaun's business contacts just happened to be the one handling the PR for the concert held in conjunction with the Double 10 City Celebration.... Classical Music... Operatic Singers... Fireworks.... New Found Friends... Oh What a Way to End the Nite!!!!