20 Jun 2007
Some pictures from Taipei (English)
Today, while waiting for my scooter getting cleaned, I just walked around the Wanlong (萬隆)-district in Taipei to take some pictures of normal Taipei.
19 Jun 2007
Neuer Laptop, neues Glueck (Deutsch)
Ich habe mir gestern einen neuen Laptop gekauft und zwar von der taiwanischen Firma Asus das Modell A8Js. Mit 2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Prozessor, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB Festplatte, nVIDIA GeForceGo 7700 mit 512 MB RAM und eingebauter Webcam!
Und genau die musste auch gleich fuer einen Feldversuch herhalten.
Erfahrungsberichte ueber den A8Js folgen spaeter vielleicht noch, jetzt aber erstmal eine Kostprobe der Webcam, mit Runzelgarantie:
Und genau die musste auch gleich fuer einen Feldversuch herhalten.
Erfahrungsberichte ueber den A8Js folgen spaeter vielleicht noch, jetzt aber erstmal eine Kostprobe der Webcam, mit Runzelgarantie:
17 Jun 2007
Dragonboat race (English)
Today was the first day of competition after a period of about 3 months of 
hardship and concentrated preparation. To be part of the dragon boat team of Shida you have to full fill certain criterias, besides being fit and hard working you also have to love the morning, training starts at 6 AM.
hardship and concentrated preparation. To be part of the dragon boat team of Shida you have to full fill certain criterias, besides being fit and hard working you also have to love the morning, training starts at 6 AM.But all the hard times (and fun times of course, being with the team and getting to know each other better) were topped by the first great victory of the mixed team on yesterday`s contest.
I didn`t stay long enough to hear the result of the men`s team, I will update tomorrow. You can enjoy the pictures first.
I didn`t stay long enough to hear the result of the men`s team, I will update tomorrow. You can enjoy the pictures first.
Team Holland
The winners return
Turning around after the victory
The venue between bridge and 5 star hotel in the Dajia Park (大佳公園)
Japanese power...Ken and Xiazi enjoy it to be back after the hard work on boardThe complete album can be found here:
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| Dragonboat Race |
Video of the race:
Being celebrated by the numerous fans on-shore:
15 Jun 2007
German restaurants in Taipei (English)
Sometimes you cannot help, but have to go back to your roots. This can be done in
several ways, one is to go somewhere, where you expect dishes from back home. Taipei offers a variety of German style restaurants. Today I checked out the Goethe Gourmet Gasthaus, close to the National Taiwan University and the Gongguan shopping area. I went there during tea time, so there was no great variety in German foods offered. Instead there was a choice for 2 people including 2 pieces of home-made cake, 2 drinks (from a choice of different coffees or teas), two sandwiches with German sausage and two sandwiches with something like Saumagen (pig stomach) for 420 NT (excluding service fee of 10%). The taste was not real German, yet close enough. Generally prices in the specialities restaurants are on the higher side, so is the Goethe Gourmet Gasthaus. Yet some teas are offered with free re-fill or the re-fill for half the price. The atmosphere is not like you would expect it to be in a German Schwarzwald restaurant, but also not really intellectual as the name Goethe might suggest. There was no real flair in my eyes. The service was proper, yet cold (haha, at least some German atmosphere, one might believe).
several ways, one is to go somewhere, where you expect dishes from back home. Taipei offers a variety of German style restaurants. Today I checked out the Goethe Gourmet Gasthaus, close to the National Taiwan University and the Gongguan shopping area. I went there during tea time, so there was no great variety in German foods offered. Instead there was a choice for 2 people including 2 pieces of home-made cake, 2 drinks (from a choice of different coffees or teas), two sandwiches with German sausage and two sandwiches with something like Saumagen (pig stomach) for 420 NT (excluding service fee of 10%). The taste was not real German, yet close enough. Generally prices in the specialities restaurants are on the higher side, so is the Goethe Gourmet Gasthaus. Yet some teas are offered with free re-fill or the re-fill for half the price. The atmosphere is not like you would expect it to be in a German Schwarzwald restaurant, but also not really intellectual as the name Goethe might suggest. There was no real flair in my eyes. The service was proper, yet cold (haha, at least some German atmosphere, one might believe).Goethe Gourmet Gasthaus
No. 11, Lane 283, Sec.3, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei
Tel.: +886-2-2362-0060, 2362-0124
Fax: +886-2-2362-0164.
De traditie van de kolonisatie op het ijsland (Nederlands)
De Nederlandisatie van Taiwan gaat zijn gang...steeds meer mensen hier op het ijsland "lijden" onder de nieuwe kolonisators.
14 Jun 2007
Pics: From the dorm's roof
The highway close to our dorm. There happened an accident tonight, followed by a huge fire, which could be seen very clearly and even smelled in my room.
Taipei at night, and in the center: Taipei 101 - a really gorgeous building, which I love to take pictures of and simply watch. There was luckily no smog and there were no clouds, so: picture time!
The other side of the river, all built full of large apartment complexes.
9 Jun 2007
基隆之旅行(中文)
我今天跟我的室友馬克去基隆跟她的女朋友而一些別的朋友們玩.我們從台北公館搭乘巴士到基隆市.45台幣買一張單程票,要坐大概40分鐘.
基隆市在台北的北部,有一個很大的港口但是感覺比台北鄉下多了.我們先去義試餐廳吃麵.然後決定去看很好笑的 <豆豆> (Mr. Bean) 的電影.
看完電影之後我們去酒吧,喝醉之後還在BURGER KING 吃一些東西然後再一次搭乘巴士回台北.
基隆市在台北的北部,有一個很大的港口但是感覺比台北鄉下多了.我們先去義試餐廳吃麵.然後決定去看很好笑的 <豆豆> (Mr. Bean) 的電影.
看完電影之後我們去酒吧,喝醉之後還在BURGER KING 吃一些東西然後再一次搭乘巴士回台北.
Video: Floating Supermarket Fight II (Vietnamese)
A fight between two sales people of the so-called floating supermarket in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. They argued about the younger lady ripping off tourists on our boat by selling cookies for 5 $ US.
Video: Floating Supermarket Fight I
A fight between two sales people of the so-called floating supermarket in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. They argued about the younger lady ripping off tourists on our boat by selling cookies for 5 $ US.
8 Jun 2007
Motorbike in Hanoi (English)
The best way to get around in the Vietnamese capital is the motorbike, noisy, stinky and very dangerous - just as the traffic itself there. Being back in Taipei makes me actually think that traffic here is boring and well organized. HAHA. Who could have thought?
Water Puppet Theatre Hanoi (English)
The first introductory piece of the famous water puppet theatre in Hanoi. The water puppets are a Northern Vietnamese speciality and quite nice to see.
Pics: Back to Hanoi
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| Hanoi2_Ret |
Another few days back in Hanoi! Museum of Ethnology, Mausoleum of Hoh Chih Minh, and just walking around the city. Later back to Taipei, via Hong Kong.
7 Jun 2007
Home sweet Taipei - Resume on Vietnam (English)
I am back. Home sweet home, Taipei. My city of the moment. It is a good feeling to be back. A place where I know how things work, how to get around. I can speak with the people here in their language and I feel a lot more relaxed.
The trip to Vietnam was great though. I had some less positive experiences, but these were mainly related to the state of developement of that country and its people. The countryside itself is not only beautiful, but astonishing. I still cherish every moment I spent sweating and hiking in the Sapa mountains or relaxing on the boat in Ha long Bay.
Another great thing about Vietnam is the tasty and cheap food. The ingredients were always very fresh and tasteful.
About the service in Vietnam? I figure things were the other way around, the customer, not the salesman or service personell are responsible for the mood. So, as soon as you greet first, are very polite and open minded, the Vietnamese mostly reacted in the same way. But don't try to ask someone for help when you are in a bad mood or feeling down, they will directly reflect on you and this creates a vicious circle.
Whenever travelling to a country or dealing with people from other backgrounds you do of course have to be aware of some historical facts. The Vietnamese people were not actually very lucky in terms of strangers in their own country. They were ruled by either the Chinese or the French and we should not forget the not so long ago war with the Americans.
Now every foreigner is welcomed as being a cash-cow to pay back some of the debts from the past. Which is of course not very comfortable for the individual.
But that definitely is only half of my experiences there. After only about 10 to 15 years of opening to foreigners again, the country is already showing that they are very good at what they are doing. Tourists can already get around really easy and there are a lot of interesting sights in Vietnam to see and discover.
And another plus are the toilets (you may laugh!!!), but I really think that good toilets are quite important for your success of travelling. No one really likes dirty and smelly places, that barely offer any privacy. And in terms of that the Vietnamese toilets set an Asian standard for me. I could neither in Taiwan nor in China find so wide-spread, good quality wash rooms as in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese economy is following the great country at its northern borders and is growing rapidly. I am sure, the next time I have a chance to travel to Vietnam I will not recognize a lot of it any more and will be astonished by the new standard there. Vietnamese people seemed to be, though not really hard-working, yet very eager to reach their goals and they are tricky and smart enough to reach them with not the most effort.
The trip to Vietnam was great though. I had some less positive experiences, but these were mainly related to the state of developement of that country and its people. The countryside itself is not only beautiful, but astonishing. I still cherish every moment I spent sweating and hiking in the Sapa mountains or relaxing on the boat in Ha long Bay.
Another great thing about Vietnam is the tasty and cheap food. The ingredients were always very fresh and tasteful.
About the service in Vietnam? I figure things were the other way around, the customer, not the salesman or service personell are responsible for the mood. So, as soon as you greet first, are very polite and open minded, the Vietnamese mostly reacted in the same way. But don't try to ask someone for help when you are in a bad mood or feeling down, they will directly reflect on you and this creates a vicious circle.
Whenever travelling to a country or dealing with people from other backgrounds you do of course have to be aware of some historical facts. The Vietnamese people were not actually very lucky in terms of strangers in their own country. They were ruled by either the Chinese or the French and we should not forget the not so long ago war with the Americans.
Now every foreigner is welcomed as being a cash-cow to pay back some of the debts from the past. Which is of course not very comfortable for the individual.
But that definitely is only half of my experiences there. After only about 10 to 15 years of opening to foreigners again, the country is already showing that they are very good at what they are doing. Tourists can already get around really easy and there are a lot of interesting sights in Vietnam to see and discover.
And another plus are the toilets (you may laugh!!!), but I really think that good toilets are quite important for your success of travelling. No one really likes dirty and smelly places, that barely offer any privacy. And in terms of that the Vietnamese toilets set an Asian standard for me. I could neither in Taiwan nor in China find so wide-spread, good quality wash rooms as in Vietnam.The Vietnamese economy is following the great country at its northern borders and is growing rapidly. I am sure, the next time I have a chance to travel to Vietnam I will not recognize a lot of it any more and will be astonished by the new standard there. Vietnamese people seemed to be, though not really hard-working, yet very eager to reach their goals and they are tricky and smart enough to reach them with not the most effort.
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