Mid-July Update

Yay, I finally have all of June's food photos selected and processed! They'll be posted soon. Gah, I'm getting later and later with the food posts. And here I'd thought they were the one thing I did consistently on this blog. Maybe I should try posting a photo every weekday again? Diane seemed to like that, and one photo wouldn't be too hard, I think. Maybe. We'll see.

And I totally meant to do something special for the six-month anniversary of my blog (and one year in Taiwan!) in the beginning of July. Oh well, it can be late. But I'm not sure what to do. Q&A? Giveaway? I'm hoping for something that involves participation from YOU. :)

Oh and while I'm here, some updates:

• I went to see the Picasso exhibit with Brandon and Phoebe! I'm not a fan of the art but had a blast hanging out with them and catching up (we got shushed three times in the first five minutes, haha). And we totally made fun of the paintings when we weren't chatting about other stuff. And then Phoebe's uncle took us to the Youth Park and I took tons of photos of the two of them with my new lens! Definitely a happy weekend.
• I went to 師大夜市 (Shida Night Market) and bought so many new clothes. Being in Taiwan is making me like shopping a lot more, because things are actually affordable! Except there aren't many vendors that let you try on clothes before you buy, so there's a bit of a risk involved. But still, I'm excited about my haul as a whole, and I would totally be tempted to post my outfits or start a style blog or something if I thought I knew anything about fashion. (Which I clearly don't, as evidenced by that time I asked this salesgirl at Sogo about an item she informed me was so last season.)
• More hangouts planned for the weekend! People I met at last year's Ecamp are back in Taiwan so I'm excited about seeing them, as well as mentors from the camp. But I'm a bit wary about the weather since I heard a typhoon will hit this weekend. =\ (And I totally got caught in the rain without an umbrella today. AGAIN.) Still, the rain isn't so bad. Preferable to the heat, in my opinion.

That's it for now. I just felt like posting something, since I haven't posted much lately. (Need to fix that!) 

Here, a random photo for you:

More posts to come!

with love,

linda

Flying Fish

How can it be a week into July already?! Craziness! I've been terrible with blogging lately. Still in the process of collecting all the food photos from June for the monthly food post; hopefully I'll get that done over the weekend (but then I say that about every weekend). It's starting to get hotter and hotter here, but a lot of friends from the states are visiting, so I've been meeting up with people and planning get-togethers and basically enjoying summer despite not having an official summer vacation for the first time in my life. Plus I didn't even get July 4th off!

And of course I take tons of photos at each hangout, and since I haven't done much photo-processing lately, that means I'm super behind. But then what else is new?

Anyway, here are a couple shots from when I visited Keelung with relatives way back in April.

Hope you had a good Fourth of July!


with love,
linda

SYS Memorial with Victoria

{In which we have way too much fun with an umbrella}

So after brunch at Omelet to Go, Victoria bought an umbrella and we strolled through the grounds of Sun Yat-Sen Memorial to talk and take pictures.

Doggies in Taipei

Even when I was a kid, I loved pointing the camera at cute, furry animals. My mom preferred the standard Asian tourist photos with everyone lined up in front of the point of interest. She didn't understand my obsession with photographing every squirrel, duck, or chipmunk that came into view, especially since I usually showed little interest in the photographs once they were developed (yes, this was way back in the days of film).

Anyway, I seem to have retained that compulsion to photograph animals, as evidenced by my swan, cat, and parrot photos. This post features dogs I've seen on the streets of Taipei.

I love this shot. The dog's eyes seem so expressive. 

Do dogs have eyebrows? This dog seems to be lifting one.

The wall was not particularly high, which probably explains the sign. It reads: "Will suffer diarrhea. Do not feed. Thanks. Sincerely, the Nutritionist."

Have a great weekend!

with love,

linda

On the Way Home

I was hoping I could manage to rush out a post with photos from this Monday's hangout with Jack and Patrick, but I need more time to sort through and edit the photos. Next week, I promise! Meanwhile, here are some photos I took on my way home from work.

I don't usually walk through this alley - that night my coworker gave me a ride back on his motorcycle (I love motorcycle rides! I laughed the whole way). I like how the golden glow of the street lamps was reflected by the wet asphalt. Though it was night, the sky wasn't black yet; the cool blue is a good contrast for the warm light.

This is the fountain at Dinho Plaza (near Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT). There's a sculpture of hands behind these little lights. I think it might be a Buddhist sculpture? I did glance at the plaque but don't really remember what it said.. I do seem to have a thing for repetition and patterns in photographs.

Yes, this is a trashcan. But I liked the lights and water droplets on the shiny surface, so I took a photo of it anyway. I think the yellow and red lights are from a bus. The sign on the side of the trashcan says that the trashcan is for pedestrians only and that there is a fine of NT$6000 if you get caught disposing of household trash. This is because you have to pay for garbage service in Taipei by buying specialized trash bags.

Can you tell from these pictures that it rains a lot in Taipei? We did have a bit of beautiful sunny weather during the New Year's break though - the first time in years, my coworkers told me. Perfect for an outing with friends. Unfortunately, the weather got dreary again pretty quickly once I had to go back to work. I suppose it's better than if it had been the other way around...