Since we’ve settled into our new apartment, the kids are in day camp and we have some time before school starts, we decided to find a family-friendly seaside location close to Taipei here in the north of Taiwan. We’re looking for someplace we can survive with the boys in tow without too many disasters – ice cream shop, hotel with pool close to seaside, various amusements and distractions nearby. Knowing full well that the wrong location could result in a disastrous trip for all, we decided to take a few days to get the lay of the land.

Day one took us to  a place called Baishawan. From our apartment in Tien Mu, we took a bus to the MRT (Taipei Metropolitan Rapid Transit) and caught the red line to the end at a place called Tamsui which took about 20 minutes. Then we jumped aboard the 863 bus (thanks to our Easy Cards – charged up with credit at the local 7-Eleven). After about a 30 minute ride, we lunched and beveraged at Baishawan. Recon report: nice, calm little beach area in a circular bay with inflatables for rent, shaded space and minimal surf.

Then, seized with a mad tourist frenzy or perhaps crazy from the heat, we decided to hike what looked like a short distance from Baishawan to Fuguei Cape which bears a lighthouse and is the northernmost point on the island of Taiwan. On the way we passed through a fresh seafood market with restaurants. Apparently the way it works is you buy the fish, then take it to the restaurant and they cook it for you, which made me wonder what exactly the restaurant charges you for bringing your own menu…But, limited by Becky’s cloying vegetarianism (curse me now Janice) and the fact that we had already eaten, we never found out or took any pictures for that matter.

Finally , after about an hour in the blazing heat and humidity, we arrived at the Lighthouse. It was truly a beautiful place, as you can see by these pics.

 

 

We staggered back to a bus stop and returned to the train station and came home just in time to pick the boys up from Camp.

The next day -equally hot and humid, we decided to make the same trip and go even further to Jinshan. Once we got off the faithful 863 bus we walked through the town and stood beneath the shade of a temple gate so we could get our bearings on how to reach the beach. A nice lady on a scooter with two young boys riding with her pulled over to ask us in English if we needed directions. She explained that her name was Amanda and she had lived abroad and that she was out running errands with her two nephews. She was extremely helpful and directed us to the beach and recommended we have lunch at a restaurant called 88. We went there and when we asked for the menu, they slid open the door to the cooler and pointed to a variety of fresh fish as if to indicate (since they spoke no English) that this was the menu. We got vegetable fried rice for Becky and I had two fish (complete with heads) cooked in miso broth along with several fresh shrimp. The food was amazing.

 

While we were eating, Amanda appeared and said she would be happy to show us the way to the beaches. When we left the restaurant she was outside and led us to her house down the street. One of her nephews stood next to a scooter and Amanda sat on hers. “Do you know how to drive a scooter, Jim?” she asked. I replied that I did so she threw me a helmet and instructed one of her nephews to go with me and took Becky and her other nephew on hers. This may seem unusual but since arriving in Taiwan I have seen entire families (parents and at least two children, sometimes even the dog too) on traveling via scooter. So off we went.

Finally, Amanda took us to the bus station where we caught a direct coach back to downtown Taipei which took about an hour and 15 minutes.

All in all it was a great two days. We made new friends, saw new stuff and found some great places to take our family. It also illustrates the friendliness and welcoming attitude of the Taiwanese people. I told the story to a friend in my Tai Chi Group and he said the same thing would have happened in mainland China with one difference – at the end of the day, they would have handed us a bill.

Thanks for tuning in for our latest adventures. Lots more to come. And don’t forget that we love and miss you all!

 

–The Klars Afar

 

 

 

 

Taiwan is a volcanic island and last Sunday we took the opportunity (thanks to some friends who were willing to drive) to visit the fumaroles of the Tatun Volcano Group. This is about 15 km north of Taipei in Yangmingshan National Park, actually even closer to us since we live in Tien Mu on the northern edge of Taipei. We were treated to some fantastic views from scenic overlooks on the way up the mountain, not to mention the higher we climbed, the greater the relief from the heat.

Bodhi made a new friend (named Kai) and together they proceeded to climb nearly an entire mountain together.

All the way up the mountain there are warning signs about staying away from hot rocks releasing steam due to volcanic activity.

In case you’re wondering why, check out this video. It also happens to be the reason for the title of this blog post. And you can imagine how hard it was to keep 6 & 9 year old Bodhi and Griff from riffing on a fart joke theme for hours after seeing this.

Mommy, Griffin and I proceeded to follow Bodhi and Kai up the mountain but it was tougher than it looked as you can see from the following pics.

Someday we hope to be up there looking down at you all when you come to visit and we take you on the Fumerole Tour. But until then, enjoy these views of the scenery on the way up and know that we love and miss you all..

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–The Klars Afar

Jake and Scout finally arrived at our new apartment after spending three weeks in quarantine! We did manage to visit them several times during their stay at the Taipei University Veterinary Hospital and each time they always appeared healthy, happy and well treated.

But the environment was a little clinical, cold and sterile and almost certainly lacked the love and cuddles they’ve been used to for the last 13 years with us.

They’re still getting acclimated to the heat, humidity and timezone and, of course the new rules and regulations of the new neighborhood.

We’re just extremely happy to finally have the whole family back together again – ready to stride boldly into our future (on two legs or four) here in Taipei.

Stay tuned for the latest developments and remember we love and miss you all…

–The Klars Afar

We finally moved from our temporary residence to our permanent apartment. Only to be greeted by Gary the Gecko, although his brother Gordon was no doubt lurking in the shadows.

Griffin, having previously had Geckos as pets (Spike & Lewis), proceeded to corral Gary and made fast friends.

Gary even waited patiently while Griff washed his hands before eating lunch.

After a bit of play, Gary once again lost his tale and we convinced Griff he would be better off out on the balcony where he could hang with his Gecko buddies and visit again whenever he’s in the neighborhood. Once the Welcome Wagon had departed we proceeded to move into our new space and here is Bodhi to give you a tour.

Click here to see where we live on Google Maps.

That’s all for now. We’ll show you some new photos once our furniture arrives from America at the end of July. And we’re excited because Jake & Scout are coming home from quarantine tomorrow.

Until then, stay in touch and don’t forget we love and miss you all.

— The Klars Afar

While the kids were in camp today we strolled the surrounding area near the apartment we’ll finally be moving into and wow, were we delighted with what we found. Just two minutes walk from our front door is a beautiful park in a pristine tropical setting.

There’s a rushing stream strewn with boulders and dappled with sunlight.

And next to the stream is a sign to say that drowning is prohibited.

We enjoyed a beautiful hiking trail that winds through tropical growths of bamboo and banyan trees and takes you to a basketball court, a playground and a small roller skating rink. Butterflies fluttered to and fro, lizards skittered in the undergrowth.

Frankly we were awestruck. How did we get so lucky? That Becky found a job in a country we’ve never been to and we chose an apartment on the edge of the city that happens to be right next to a park where we can walk our dogs, play with our kids and just enjoy the beauty of our tropical environment.

Of course there had to be at least one drawback…lightning.

We’ll post more about our new apartment and the neighborhood after we move in later this week. But this park was something we felt we had to share now.

Stay tuned…and don’t forget we love and miss you all.

 

 

Where do you go when it’s 91 degrees in the shade and 85% humidity? If you have any sense, you go to the nearest public pool. That’s what we did today and, although Griff & Bo may have complained during the entire 20 minute walk there – “I’m tired. I’m thirsty. When are we gonna get there?” – once we arrived they had a ball. The Tien Mu (our neighborhood in Taipei) is fairly impressive with both indoor and outdoor facilities. Outdoor is a very nice Olympic sized pool that runs from 4′ to 6.5′ deep.

Indoors there is a “Spa” area with lots of weird water features, like a cold immersion bath, lots of bubbling seats and nozzles plus a sauna and steam room.

Also indoors there is a 25 yard pool with a kiddie pool and slide on the other side.

And they sell hot dogs (no bun, just a dog on a stick), ice cream, soft drinks and lots of stuff I was culturally unable to identify. Another curious thing about Taiwan is everyone, I mean everyone – including bald guys like me – has to wear a swim cap. NO EXCEPTIONS! I even tried showing my freshly shaved scalp but no dice. But the boys and I did have a lot of fun fooling around and they enjoyed their ice creams almost as much as swimming with Dad.

Stay tuned for more adventures … like our visit to the Taipei Zoo to see REAL PANDAS. And remember we love and miss you all…

Contrary to what you might think, the G9 on top of the cake is not symbolic of the Group of 9 but rather symbolizes Griffin on his 9th birthday – the first family celebration in our new home of Taipei. He was very happy to be nine years old and even happier when I explained to him at 6 in the morning that if we were in Cleveland, he would still be eight.

We all dove into that cake and I must say it was quite delicious!

Of course Bodhi couldn’t wait to show us what the cake looks like when it’s in his mouth.

Griffin received three new additions to his already impressive Hero Factory squad here in Taipei.

Plus he has a new game on order for his Nintendo 3DS. Either they didn’t have it at the ToysRUs in Taipei or we just did a lousy job asking the guy who spoke no English but at least we were able to order it online. At any rate, little celebrations like these start to make our new country feel more like home. Stay tuned for more and don’t forget that we love and miss you all… –The Klars Afar

Howdy, Folks. Sorry for the lack of posts but we’ve been very busy, jet-lagged, suffering from heat exhaustion, and I have plenty of other excuses but I’m sure you’re not interested so let’s get right to it. After flying out of San Francisco on Monday morning at 1 AM, we arrived in Taipei at 6 AM Tuesday morning – flight was 13 hours or so (not sure because I was mostly sleeping, drooling and wallowing in bad movies).

Next stop was Baggage Claim where we found Jake and Scout safe and sound and extremely happy to see us again since this was the longest part of the trip.

We only had a few minutes to spend with them before they had to go to Quarantine (more on that later) so we had an emotional farewell again too soon. We were picked up by the head of HR of Taipei American School (TAS) and driven to our temporary apartment (which we’re still in today). It’s a nice place a few minutes walk from where we’ll eventually be living – home to an American family gone home for the Summer. They have two kids too so it’s perfectly equipped with toys and stuff to keep Griff & Bo happy.

The next day we went to  TAS for a tour and meeting with HR. What an impressive place – more like a college campus than a K-12 school.

We have also had a chance to see Jake & Scout in the Quarantine Facility. It’s located in central Taipei in a Veterinary Research Hospital on a University Campus.

The staff is very kind and caring and it was soooo reassuring to see how healthy and happy the dogs were.

The kids have started day camp at the school and they’re having a great time. They come home tired and hungry which is great for getting them to go to bed later Plus we have the daytime to attend to all the details of starting our life anew.

Most importantly for starting that life anew is (drumroll please) a visit to Ikea!

We’re all getting used to the food, the heat, the humidity and the joys of air conditioning. I’ll try to post more often and please let us know any questions you might have through the comments function of our blog.

We love and miss you all…

 

Our second day in San Francisco just happened to be Father’s Day, my second favorite day of the year next to Becky’s birthday.  It started early with Becky taking Jake & Scout for a walk while I entertained the boys once they woke up with a game I created called the Double Bed Jump. Here’s a 12-second snippet of how it worked.

Once she returned, it was my turn to hit the pavement for a nice long run along the bay. I enjoyed it immensely, especially the fresh air and scenery.

Then we took Jake, Scout, Griffin & Bo in a cab to the Millbrae BART station and caught a train (thrilling for 6-year old Bo but no big deal for worldly, nonchalant 8-year old Griff) to the Embarcadero stop and we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf. Bodhi wanted to see the sea lions, Griffin wanted to stop walking (claimed his legs hurt) and Becky just wanted some refreshment.

Griff got some shades and a new hat so he could be cool like Dad. I got a heartwarming moment with my first-born son.

It brought back a lot of memories to see The Rock again.

I haven’t been back there since I escaped in 1962 and I’m relieved that Griffin didn’t believe me when I told him my story.

Then it was back to the Hotel for dinner, adult beverages and relaxing video games.

Finally, we were off to the airport on the Hotel Shuttle with our 4 giant suitcases, two sons and two dogs in their carriers for a 1:40 AM flight to start our new life in another country halfway around the world.