It all started when I decided I needed a new meditation altar. We had been introduced to Howard Brewer and Faye Angevine, both long-time residents of Taiwan (more than 30 years) and owners of BaiWin Antiques, among other business concerns. They are extremely friendly, welcoming and helpful – especially so towards new expat arrivals. Within minutes of making their acquaintance, they were sharing wine while dispensing stories and lots of much-needed advice. I will never forget as I raised my glass of Argentinian Cabernet for a toast and Howard said, with a twinkle in his eye, “Welcome to the Magic Rock.” As time goes on, I become more certain that this volcanic island is like nowhere on earth.

As you can see from their website, BaiWin Antiques is stuffed to the rafters with fine art and beautiful furniture, all of which are authentic despite the onslought of cheap knock-offs and reproductions flooding the market from mainland China (according to Faye). So while we were enjoying their wine  and hospitality, I saw a piece that would be perfect as my new meditation altar here on the Magic Rock.

I immediately snapped a photo on my handy iPhone and told Faye I wanted her to hold it for me while I secured buy-in from Becky as she was not present and is in charge of money (the only reason we have any), furniture and home decoration – as her taste is infinitely more subtle and superior to mine. Becky loved it as much as I did so I let Faye know she had made a sale (hopefully the profit covered the cost of the wine I drank).

We stopped by their shop to pay for the altar and arrange delivery when Faye happened to ask, “Is there anything else we can  help you with to get you more settled here in Taipei?” I mentioned that we were thinking of getting a used car as renting one had made us realize how being more mobile would make it much more convenient to go places as a family on weekends and holidays (see previous post) and Faye said, “I know a guy, let me make a call.” Fluent in Mandarin, Faye jabbered on her phone for a few minutes then hung up. “My friend has some options available, do you have some time now to take a look?”

She then drove us to a nearby Chrysler/Jeep dealership and on the way told us that Mr. Jien who ran the place was her friend, had sold her the two company vehicles for their shop, also provided service and would certainly give us a good deal. Well Mr. Jien had a 2002 Chrysler Voyager that only had 60,000 miles on it and was willing to part with it for about 20% above what we had agreed on as a budget. We held firm on our amount so Faye asked Mr. Jien if he would sell it for less. He asked if we were good friends of hers and she said yes. So he sold us the Chrysler for exactly what we wanted to spend. Within two days the minivan was ours.

Our landlord, Mr. Lin, offered us an available outdoor parking space for just a $100/month increase in rent and then made the space larger (which involved removing a planter and pouring no small amount of concrete) when he saw that it was a van.

The vehicle is in great shape. It has a sonar device in the rear bumper that detects objects behind when in reverse and beeps like a lunatic when you get too close. While it doesn’t have bluetooth for our iPhones, it does have a mysterious technology input in the center console we have yet to understand.

With a removable third row seat and rooftop luggage rack, this will indeed be the perfect vehicle for touring when family (this means you, Barnetts) comes to visit. Room for two kids, two dogs, four adults and luggage on the roof means we can certainly roll on the Magic Rock.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Hope you enjoyed this one and remember that we love and miss you all…

–The Klars Afar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We (I) finally got up the nerve a few weeks ago to drive in Taiwan. Our friends the Dethy family – Mike and Andrea and Kye and Caden – offered to take us on a tour of their favorite spots on the north coast of Taiwan. Of course we couldn’t fit all eight of us in their car, so they suggested we rent a car from a friend of Andrea’s brother. Andrea is a native of Taipei, in  particular of our neighborhood of Tian Mu.  Andrea’s brother’s friend is called Shao Pong, which has something to do with his rotund stature (translated impolitely as “little fatty”). He runs his own private auto rental biz and while he usually has mini-vans and jeeps, the only car left to rent from him on this particular day was a BMW M3 convertible.

I was a little nervous as I had never driven in this country before. The roads are narrow, the taxi drivers are aggressive and the scooters swarm around you like angry hornets. But what the heck, how often do you get to drive an M3 convertible down the coastline in Taiwan.

We followed the Dethy Family in their larger sedan and made several stops along the way – a beach where Bodhi proved you can have fun in three inches of water when the tide is going out. We were precluded from swimming as there was a typhoon approaching  and the Taiwanese people are very safety conscious.

We stopped at self-proclaimed “Biker Bar” for lunch. The only bikers there were mannequins but the food was pretty good and the caramel-coffee smoothie was outstanding!

Further on we stopped at a famous local landmark – the Shimen Arch. This turned into another great opportunity to educate our kids on the effects of wind, water and erosion. If only they paid any attention to their parents…

Griffin took the chance to practice his Parcour skills.

Once we turned back towards Taipei – passing over and through the mountainous Yangmingshan National Park – the most western bands of the Typhoon were hitting the island so besides being pitch black, it was also pouring with rain and howling with wind which made for an interesting descent back into our area.

When we got down from the mountains, we celebrated with our first family visit to an indoor hot spring spa at the SweetMe Hotspring Resort. They brought us refreshing adult beverages while we took turns soaking in naturally sulfurous water from the extinct volcano and freezing cold water from the mountain streams.

All in all it was a great day, thanks to our friends the Dethys who have since departed for employment in Saudi Arabia. They were so helpful in our settling in and we miss them immensely.

Hope you’re all enjoying our adventures, I know we are. We liked the independence and flexibility of driving around so much we decided to purchase our own vehicle – stay tuned for details in a subsequent post.

Don’t forget we love and miss you all…

–The Klars Afar

 

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…