Readjusting to Taichung

Thanks be to God for my first good night's sleep since arriving back in Asia! (the key was plenty of coffee and no long naps :-) )

A few of the things I've already begun enjoying (or detesting) since my arrival back in Taichung:

+ Guava, papaya, and mango!

- Shoes thoroughly and clothing partially soaked while riding on my scooter during a heavy rainstorm (in spite of wearing rainclothes) and then roasting in the heat and humidity on same scooter a few hours after the storm passed through.

Yesterday I spotted yet another new Starbucks... that's a total of 4 new ones in less than a year. Also found that two small restaurants I enjoyed from time to time have both gone out of business. Not atypical for Taichung.

Very Moving

I received this URL from one of my uncles... so moving it almost reduced me to tears! (and I'm most assuredly NOT an opera fan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0dzZTPWrSM

Jetlagged in Taiwan

I enjoyed a full hour and fifteen minutes last night of sleep. Can't remember having had quite this much difficulty adjusting timezones my first few days back on previous trips. Looks like I'll be savoring another 4 hour nap later this morning/afternoon. Depending on when I begin to feel like I can sleep, I may be worshipping at a church with an afternoon service!

Appendum: Wound up sleeping 6 hours this afternoon after church and am now enjoying a Latte at Starbucks in order to send/check e-mail. So it'll be another long night! :-)

What was Lost is Found

My lost bag (containing my digital camera and new notebook computer not to mention lots of new books and winter clothes) has been found by United Airlines! Thank the Lord.

Summer Night Exploring

Summer nights in Taichung are much cooler than the blazing hot daytime humidity. Plus, because of jet lag, I wasn't going to bed anytime soon. So this evening after a quick dinner catching up with a friend, I decided to ride my scooter around town to see what changes I'd see in a year's time.

In Taichung it's not uncommon to see small mom-and-pop family businesses open and close within a matter of months. So I wasn't too surprised to see that the scooter shop where I bought my scooter 5 years ago (and swapped owners 3 times while I was here)  is now closed with the space being absorbed by a electronic appliances chain store.

The large Wellcome grocery store near my old apartment has now leased part of their building to a pharmacy.

A huge new park has opened.. never too many of these in a city of over 1 million.

Near the neighborhood where I use to live stands a giant new Carrefour (Taiwan's French equivalent of "Super Walmart"). It lies not even a quarter mile away from where the old one continues to do a brisk business.

I observed at least THREE new Starbucks in a city that already had no lack of them. So I guess the coffee craze that hit the island around 8 years ago certainly isn't just a passing fad!

In light of all these changes, it was nice to bump into a few stall-keepers and store workers that remembered me. I'm looking forward to opportunities for follow-up conversations these next 4 weeks.