Another long gap between blog posts. I blame the computer.
It seems that, not only are certain keys on my keyboard not working, but the
USB drivers like to randomly eject things plugged into the USB. Rather annoying
when attempting to type or transfer files onto the external drive. Anyway, I’ve been told I must, must, must quit
procrastinating and just fight with the cranky computer to produce a blog post.
Sometime after Koahsiung, we finally made it the two stops
past Taichung, to the Houli horse farm and bicycle path. Got off the bus at the
“Horse Farm” stop, only to see large nameless buildings, presumably belonging
to the military base. We walked uphill past the guards and found the tired
looking horse farm. Reviews had said it was a bustling farm full of picnic
areas, food stalls, and horses. It looked like a run-down military base with
some cartoon statues, and a few horses thrown in. The horses were well taken
care of, except for their desperate need of salt and reprieve from the flies. We
excitedly paid the extortionate amount to ride the horses in a warn track
around and around and around. The horses refused to accept that we had paid for
some fun, not moody horses.
Quite disappointed, we followed the many signs promising
coffee, only to wind up in a village a mile down the road, the only hint of
coffee was another cup of coffee with an arrow pointing the direction. We turned
around and headed back to the bus stop. However, there wasn’t a bus stop on the
opposite side of the road. So we wandered back towards Fengyuan, where we came
across a betel nut vendor selling coffee and waffles. She led us to a nice,
wooden patio with umbrellas and lawn furniture.
Caught a bus back to Fengyuan, noticed a Time Crisis 2
arcade game in the window of an arcade gambling room, and watched Matt play a
game or two. Afterwards, enjoyed pork cutlet at a mall food court before
heading back to Hemei.
Another weekend headed back to Taichung to scout out a big
red man we had seen perched on top a temple. We easily found him, but the dreary day made
it hard to enjoy what we had hoped would be a good photo shoot.
Rainy season has started. Luckily, it seems to be one day
black and gray, the next day blue sky and rainless. The temperature is up to 90s with 95%
humidity. It feels like a wet blanket. I’m hating the constant damp and dark.
The kids are feeling it too and have become crazy. The
barking kid is getting a bit yippier, the hula dancing musician is getting a
bit more “May-gic”-al, the karate kid is getting a tad bit kickier, a class has
discovered the word “gay,” so now everyone is gay. A fight breaks out in almost
every class now, but I’m able to silence it in one look, making at least one
student cry. I feel powerful.
