Taitung Soccer Tournament

Friday evening after school, we left for Taidong - site of a fun soccer tournament in which about 8 teams participate. This is a different type of tourny than the other bigger, more serious ones in the major cities. Saturday consists of an 8 team tournament in the local stadium and Sunday is a day of hungover beach soccer. Taitung is on the South East Coast of Taiwan. The East Coast is far less populated and polluted than the busy west coast and is much more scenic, natural and beautiful.
This was the first tournament Allison came with me as she thought she could handle a day at the beach. I must say that it was a nice treat to finish games and have a snack + beverage + massage combo waiting for me.

Ta-da

The Sunday setting for a little beach soccer action. There was another playing area behind this one. Although it rained a little, it was still hot and the ocean was warm and wavey. In between games, we go for a swim and enjoy the mountains surrounding us. There was a dj playing some tunes and the beer sellers were ever present. Most were feeling rough from a heavy Saturday night and a tiring day of soccer the day before.

Our small team + girlfriends out for dinner on Sat. night at an aboriginal restaurant in the mountains. Our bus got lost on the way and after playing 4 games earlier in the day, eating dinner at 10:00 was just slightly annoying. Those who know me well can imagine how I was doing. But the food arrived, the beer started to flow and we had a good night.

Sunny Sun Moon Lake

It's obvious that everyone loves a good weekend at the cottage. Taiwan isn't exactly cottage country although it does have some beautiful, natural scenic areas. They just don't really lend themselves to a weekend of sitting on the dock, having a beer and jumping in the lake whenever you please.

However, we found that Sun Moon Lake is just a two hour scooter ride away. So we planned a weekend away with our friends Michael and Laura. Michael knew the way so early on Saturday morning, we took off through the mountains to find our cottage paradise! After a beautiful ride through the mountains, and then a somewhat treacherous high speed ride on the highway (eeeesh), we arrived at our destination. The sun was shining, the water looked beautiful and we had a perfect, lakeside cottage recommended by another friend.

We spent time simply enjoying the clean air, staring out at the lake, sipping on beverages, playing cards and swimming. It was super quiet and very relaxing. It was good to finally be able to get away with our friends Michael and Laura who will be leaving at the end of June :( But now that we know the way, I'm sure we will go back there prior to leaving Taiwan for good. As usual, the photos don't really do the place justice. The water was a color I had never seen before and the view from atop the pagoda was incredible. But, I'm sure you'll be able to see that it was a pretty nice place.

Sunny Sun Moon Lake With Our "Buddies"

White teethed, rosy cheeked Michael and Laura. Happy on top of the pagoda.

Feeling pretty happy with our weekend get-away.

Al about 'bong' the big bell at the top of the pagoda. There is something about the Taiwanese and their love of loud noises. I think they think it wards of the evil spirits and whatnot. We all took our one or two gong hits but the Taiwanese would absolutely hammer the thing about a dozen times in a row. It made what would be an enjoyable stay atop the pagoda, somewhat annoying.

Michael and Laura posing on the way up the 572 meter winding trail that leads to the pagoda (or the padoga as some called it!)

The view from the top of the pagoda.

On Sunday a.m, we took our scooters up to see this pagoda, perched high up in the mountains, overlooking the whole lake.

This is the little bay that our cottage was in. It was obviously very quiet and it was nice to get some peace and quiet after always being in the busy, noisy and once again, slightly smelly city.

The place we stayed at had two kayaks available for use. Al and I (a.k.a The Rookies) took a paddle out and about and realized we needed a little more practice at 'working together' - we couldn't quite get our paddling strokes in cue!

Allison having a swim. We swam all weekend long but you won't catch too many Taiwanese in the lake. Several stories say that the lake is haunted by 'ghosts' from a busload of Japanese tourists who perished in an accident many years before. Others say the lake is filled with piranas so they stay away. We swam without any problems but we did get some 'you guys are absolutely crazy' stares from the Taiwanese on the dock.

This was where we stayed. Our cottage was the furthest one to the right, with Michael and Laura's being further to the right of ours. My buddy Kurt from soccer was actually on the other side of us but that was unplanned. As you can see, our cottage was very much 'lakeside' and we woke up to all those good cottage sounds.

We went with our friends Michael and Laura. Michael had been there before so he was our fearless scooter leader! We had a great weekend together sight seeing, swimming, playing cards and partaking in other cottage life activities.

After a beautiful scooter drive through the winding mountains filled with FRESH AIR, we arrived at Sun Moon Lake. The Lake is a beautiufl bluish green color and is surrounded on all sides by fully treed mountains. A very nice spot!

A Night Out With Crome Relic

Though Mark and I don't go out as often as we might at home, when we do it's always memorable. Last night Mark and I were having some delicious italian cuisine when we got a call from one of his soccer buddies informing us that 'Crome Relic' would be playing at 89K, a local 'alternative' bar. I had seen them once before and Mark has attended several of their performances. Why? The lead singer (the one with the curly hair rockin' out on the left) is one of Mark soccer buddies. So we got dressed up 80s style as best we could and headed to the bar where a bunch of other teachers met us - they didn't realize what they were in for. It turned out to be an excellent night. Almost everyone was dressed up, the whole band and hardcore fans wearing wigs and they rocked out like it was 1984. Like Mark was saying, metal wasn't cool in highschool but we can dig it now that we're mature adults. Oh how the adventures in Taiwan continue.

Gorgeous Green Island

Two weeks ago we went to Green Island, the small island you can see off the South-East coast of Taiwan. We took a 6 hour night bus there and back and had a fabulous time exploring, sunning and snorkeling. We're both feeling very lucky to have the chance to travel so much and get to know the little island of Taiwan. So below are the highlights of our 3 day adventure to Green Island.