MADE IN TAIWAN

Those who have hung around my blog for a while know that I tend not to advertise overseas trips indiscriminately in advance.  Sorry if you're disappointed, let alone upset, if you got left out of the loop, which has a rather short diameter, but there are several strong reasons for it.  For those of you who knew, thanks for your thoughts and prayer support.  The objective of the trip was to visit a plethora of Buddhist temples in Taiwan and to talk to converts from Buddhism to Christianity.  The team consisted of Wyatt, who is my friend and has been my companion on several previous trips abroad, Ntchotchi (hereafter: "Ncho") along with her husband Intchutchuna (hereafter: "Nchi").  Oh yeah, you might not find them listed under those names listed in the phone book either.  I'm not meaning to be overdramatic (if I were, I would have to disguise my identity also and not publish any pictures), but just following some basic measures for publishing something unrestricted on the web.  In Taiwan, we were joined on most days by Wa-ta-wa (hereafter "Wa"), a Buddhist college professor, who opened many a door for us.  

For tonight, I will just give a quick summary and a few introductory pictures.  After spending a couple of days in Los Angeles, we enjoyed a 14 ½ hour flight to Taipei, which we followed up immediately with a five-hour bus ride down to Tainan, our headquarters for the next week or so.  Since most of our locations were around Taichung, we did quite a bit of commuting by train each day.  Then we went to Hualien by way of Taipei (the quick way of getting there), and finally spent our last few days in Taipei.

The trip was physically demanding, but everyone was looking out for me: making sure I was taking my meds, eating enough fruits and vegetables, and taking rests whenever possible.  

Taiwan is an intrinsically beautiful island, though in all candor I must say that much of the industrialized part of the west coast has taken on a somewhat disappointing resemblance to New Jersey with palm trees.  Nevertheless, much of the rest of it makes up in aesthetic appeal.   At that, I need to apologize for some of my pictures in advance.  Due to the virtually ever-present haze, photography became a little difficult at times.  In some cases, I've left the view as it was; in others I've enhanced it subsequently when I've wanted you to see details, creating a little bit of a spinach effect for the greenery.  You may substitute other vegetables of your choice as you see fit. 

Did you make it home in time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall?

As a Jersey boy, "I resemble that remark" about my home state--I've lived for 30 years in the only other state to be as disrespected by late night comedians--Indiana (except maybe Arkansas, but that was mainly during the 90s). Glad you got to go to Taiwan! P.S. Things were moving so fast in '89 that it was from you that I heard the wall had opened--was doing something at school with one of the boys and hadn't seen the news for the previous few hours!

No disrespect intended, just drawing a comparison to what used to be rightfully called the garden state. I must admit that the anniversary of the breach of the wall zipped right past me.

Great swaths of New Jersey are still quite pretty. When I visit my parent in New York, I enjoy the route on I-84. No, it doesn't go into New Jersey, but you can see it from Port Jervis.