Taipei - Five Dime eating house cum art place.

 Really, this is a restaurant but MacDonald's this is not. 

 At first it is difficult to sort out where you actually sit to eat.  Oops, sorry, am I sitting on your art piece?

 And with distorted, often grotesquely so, naked female forms all over the place it could put you off your grub.

Picasso meets Gaudi and Dali for tea, one perhaps trying to out outrage the other?  An acquired taste me thinks, no pun intended

Taipei - River Cruise, Taipei to Danshui

 We took a 90 min cruise down the Danshui River passing the odd fishermen.

a rather large  temple complex.  There seem to be a lot of these structures in Taiwan.

I did get a city sky line from the river boat to include the Taipei 101 tower which  at  0.5 km was the highest building on the planet until 2004.

 Dusk was gathering soon after our landing in Danshui.

Time to find a cafe atop the Red Castle built in 1899.  

Taipei - Chiang Kai Shek Memorial

 The gate to the memorial grounds. The Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness

The day we  visited, 1600 pandas also decided to put on a display.  Children all over the place.

 The Memorial Hall itself is very imposing.

 From the top of the 84 steps you can view the National Theatre  and the National Concert Hall.

Inside the Hall, CKS seated in a very Chinese way, reminding me of Chingis Khan's memorial chair in UB.  The guard is changed every hour on the hour.  This guy was almost as still as the seated CKS.

Taipei - The National Museum.

 The home of the larger part of the Chinese national treasures.  I wasn't allowed to take any photographs inside the building.

 But, I tell you, it was packed with visitors.  This couple adequately demonstrate how I felt as we left the place.  Head spinning and done in!!!

Opposite the museum a Frenchified building looking a little out of place in the forest.

Taiwan - Taipei

 A large river flows through Taipei, a sprawling industrial city.

But there are tradition Chinese sites littered around.

Taiwan - The Doll House Museum

The first day and the required visit to the miniature museum.

 A real treasure house of 1/12 house,

 and room boxes.

The detailing and craftsmanship is extraordinary.  Makes my own efforts look pathetic.  But I will persist and try to match this level of modelling and presentation.  

Taiwan - Arrival

There was an alien to greet us in our hotel room on our first night in Taipei,  a giant soft toy.  This at 11 o'clock at night.  He looked quite ticked off, perhaps because we were late in getting in, who knows.

Penang Life - sPICE Developments

 The revamped PISA now know as SPICE.

The hole in the ground we used to see from our Relau condo, the one on the right in the photos background, is slowly filling up with concrete.  Interesting. 

Penang Life - Womens Squash Tournament

SPICE, the sports arena next to our place here in 1-Sky is host to the 29th Women's World Squash Championships this week.  This means fireworks at the opening ceremony, of course.

After 5 mins of bangs and flashes we were getting a bit smoked out.   Very entertaining.

Penang Live - Head Case

Sometimes you have to wonder if some people still have the brains they were born with.  Who in their right mind would power glide less than 2 km from the take off flight path of an international airport?

Penang Life - After the Dry

After 10 weeks without rain or without any clouds in the sky come to that, it is relief to see the black monsters back and unloading their lovely wet stuff on us.  10 weeks is a new record of dryness for the Malaysian Peninsular.   We want this record to stand for ever.  It has been unusually hot and humid over the 10 weeks, something I can live without, thank you very much!!!

It was still raining last night when we revisited the fish restaurant down on the beach at Gertak Sanggal which is as far as you can get with a car driving towards the south west of the island, and further from the madding crowds in urban Penang than you can imagine. Long may it remain so.

A tranquil spot to feast on steamed fish, crabs and prawns. Love these majestic trees that reach out over the beach towards the sea.

Penang Life - The Pallada Visit.

 

This is the photograph I would love to have taken.  To explain.  Whilst Gek and I were taking a stroll along the Esplanade a couple of days ago, we fell into a brief conversation, as is our want, with some young Russian sailors.  They were on a brief shore leave from the Vladivostok based Pallada training sail ship, the fastest in the world mark you at 18.7 knots, which was making an unscheduled stop over in Penang from a tour of SE Asia.  The Saturday newspaper said there would be an open day on the ship come Sunday but when we turned up at the quay to board, the Pallada had already sailed away.  So sadly, no photo of the ship and we didn't see the Russian lads again either.

And this was the reason for the unexpected stop over, the Russian cruiser Zhemchuk which was sunk in Penang harbour on the 28th September 1914, a few months after the outbreak of WW 1.  Ninety of the Zhemchuk's crew died in the sinking and are buried in the Western Road cemetery on the island. The Pallada's crew were calling in Penang to pay their respects to their fallen country men on their way past the island to Singapore.

The sinking of the Zhemchuk was the result of a series of blunders by the allies.  The German cruiser Emden gained entrance at sunrise to the Penang inner harbour by feigning the silhouette of a British cruiser, adding  a fake fourth  funnel to her set of three.

Once inside the harbour it was show time, with the allied ships crews still recovering for a nights partying they didn't stand a chance.  After escaping Penang without a scratch, the Emden was subsequently beached after an encounter with HMAS Sydney in  the Battle of Cocos on the 9th November 1914.  During her two month raiding period in the Indian Ocean, the Emden had sunk a further 25 civilian vessels in addition to the two allied warships sunk in Penang. No lady this one.

Penang Life - A Trip up to the City that is Georgetown.

This day we took a bus to Town to view  Chong Hon Fatt's collection of paintings of Penang's Second Bridge construction which he painted periodically over the three year build for the project.  It also gave us the opportunity to visit the rarely opened Penang State Assembly building. 

My own favourite from the bridge series of 38 canvases.  

Here is our man out in the mid day sun, creating his art.  No painting from photographs for him, that is for whimps!!  Gek and I have bumped into Mr Chong at a couple of exhibition openings and I have to say he seems a very nice chap.

Penang Life - 2nd Bridge Opening

This day, the 1st March 2014 and St. David's Day, the Penang second bridge was opened by PM Najib

with 5 mins of fireworks.

Our St. David's Day entertainment from our balcony.  Another G & T anyone?

Film - Philomena

A non-fiction that should never have even been a fiction.  But such is the human condition.   Judi, brilliant as ever.  Steve type cast.  He was very brave to play against the Dame.  4 on the doors.  Our first visit to the cinema in over one year.

Penang Life - Dawn

I know, yet another dawn photographed, but if I am getting up this early in the morning you have to suffer too!

Doll House - Black and White

An Art Deco, deco.  The lady on the left is from Napier, North Island, New Zealand and the silver kite on the right is from Kota Bharu on the north east coast of Malaysia, both are original art works, if not specifically intended to be put in a doll house.  The picture of the '20's beauty was taken from a handicraft card, the type you can find in tourist traps all over the world and the kite started life as a broach.  I bought the kite broach from the silversmith in K. B. and asked the sales lady if the broaches clasp could be removed from the back, which the silversmith kindly did.  The kite, a wau bulan or moon kite, is a traditional Malay kite which can be up to 3.5m long. The silver jewelery box on the chest of drawers is from Heraklion , Crete. Amazing what you can find on your travels if you keep an eye out for the miniatures around you.

The quilt is one of four  made by Gek for the beds in her house. With the structure of the house getting near completion, the challenge now is to 'dress' the rooms to make a realistic looking home that you can image someone living in.  This I find is the most challenging part of any model building.

Doll House - Black and White

 Pictures framed and hung. Roast chicken for lunch.  Sometimes I think I must be out to lunch.

At the back of the dinning room a pantry.  The first model furniture I have made in years.

Penang Life - Dawn.

An exceptional morning sky.  could be due to volcanic activity in Sumatra or the pesky smog we are suffering at the moment.  But amazing, if only for 5 mins.  Had to dash for the camera.  The sky was changing so quickly.

Book - Chinese Houses of South East Asia.

By Ronald Knapp.  A lovely book, covering houses built by the Chinese sojourners and settlers in SE Asia during the Victorian and Edwardian period. Countries covered include not only Singapore and Malaysia but also, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.   For me the book was a real find, it having loads of lush interiors photographed for each of the houses described.  On top of the architectural interest, Ronald also researched the background as to who had the houses built and a potted history of the house and it's inhabitants through to the present day.  To round off things off, the book ends with descriptions of  the houses some of the SE Asia settlers went back home to China to build. 

Chinese New Year - 2014

As usual, 15 days of fireworks and all sorts of entertainments around the island.  So what do we do?  Stay at home and avoid the crowds!!!  Here a full sized atap roofed house built inside Queens Bay Mall.  Why?

Book - The New Machiavelli.

A good read, if you have any interest in the workings, or none workings of the political machine. 

Book - Nelson's Battles

We have recently joined the Penang Library.  Our local Bayan Baru branch is housed in a single shop space in the mall opposite us here in 1-Sky.  The total area given over to shelving for books is smaller than our living room here.  So,  what are the chances of finding in there a book, written in English, on events from over 200 years ago in Europe that had a profound effect on the future of the British Empire?  Well, a very good chance it appears.  Amazing.