Girls in the Park

Hsinchu Park, a place with sports complex, zoo and glass museum, is having its centennial celebration and the International Glass Art Festival. Every weekend of August, Jazz concerts are taking place outside the museum. If it's not rain, I like to walk there with my mom to see what kind of Jazz music are performed.

While enjoying music, I saw some interesting stuff happening nearby. A group of photography-enthusiasts huddled together doing an outdoor shoot. Pretty young females seem easily to attract people's attention.

A scene in Tokyo

In July, I made a trip to Tokyo with my family. We spent three days to see this big and busy city. This photo was taken during a visit to Meiji Jingu, which is one of the most famous and historical important temples in Tokyo. Many visitors like to sit on the benches for a rest after touring in the temple. 

Making Millet Mochi-搗小米

Last month I went with a local hiking group to visit Smangus (司馬庫斯) 和 Cinsbu (鎮西堡). Both are located in the mountain areas of Hsinchu County. Although we came from Hsinchu City, both locations are in the deep inside of the mountains. It took two to three hours to get there.

We first arrived at Cinsbu and visited giant trees that are more than a  thousands year. We then stayed there one night. The hostel's owner arranged a nice performance, including singing Atayal (泰雅族) songs, dancing and making Millet Mochi, to entertain us. Traditionally, they make Millet Mochi for the celebration of important holidays and events.

In the next day, we were supposed to get up very earlier and head to Smangus. However, a landslide occurred and blocked the road for the exit of Cinsbu because of several days' nonstop raining. We weren't able to leave Cinsbu until the road was clear. Also, Smangus has strict hours to allow visitors to enter and leave the village for the traffic control reason. We were not able to reach this most remote village in Taiwan in the hours that we were allowed to enter, so when the road was clear, we headed back to the city. 

Drying Clothes-曬衣服

In Taiwan, some people would hang their clothes outside, when they don't have any place in the house to dry them. Even though the weather is quite humid here, people tend to dry their clothes outside or at the balcony because most families don't have a dryer at home. 

Wedding Dance-喜宴

I went to a friend's engagement party, in which a group of friends danced with the groom.

Cat Village-猴硐的貓

A Japanese friend that I met in Jordan likes cats a lot. She likes to photograph them and always carries cat food with her to feed street cats. Recently she came from Japan with her sister to spend a few days in Taipei. I brought them to this small cat village, Houtong, where cats can been seen in every corner of the village. 

College Friends-同學會

Several college friends reunited at the university where we were graduated more than twenty-five years ago. After lunch, we took a walk in the campus and hiked in the trails behind it. It's always great to meet old friends and look back at the time that we spent together. 

Believers in Lung-Shan Temple-龍山寺信徒

Lung-Shan Temple is a famous religious spot in Taipei. I paid a visit there with my sisters and mother a week ago. As usual, a lot of local folks came to pray for blessing or fortune, and many foreigners visited this historical temple as well. Many sat at the hallways to rest while believers recited Buddhist scripture.   

Massage

Some disabled persons were giving a back massage during the annual festival to celebrate the International Disabilities Day in Hsinchu. This event was held at the park near where I live. I brought my mother to have a walk there and see how people enjoyed a nice day with their loved ones. 

A Cup of Tea

A lot of people in Taiwan like to drink tea while Taiwan is famous on producing a good quality of green tea. Therefore, it's quite common for the locals to serve tea when visitors come. For me, having a cup of tea is kind of doing meditation. It helps keep my mind quiet and be able to see things clearly.   

Okinawa-沖繩之行

Okinawa is a beautiful island for a few days visit. Because of some family reason, I went there in a tour with my mother and three sisters. It could have been more interesting if I went there on my own. Even though I was not able to explore the island a lot and freely, some places that I visited there impressed me, such as aquarium and Shurijo Castle. Shopping at International Street is also quite a lot of fun.

Shuri Castle Festival-首里城祭

A few days ago, I joined a tour with my family to visit Okinawa, Japan. We were lucky to see parts of Shuri Castle Festival during our trip there. They were holding various events to celebrate Ryukyu dynasty culture at Shurijo Castle and Naha's International Street. Shurijo Castle was the palace of the Kingdom. Now it's one of the important national cultural properties in Japan.  

Mazu Temples-進香團

Mazu is a patron goddess widely worshiped in China's coastal regions and also Taiwan. A local temple in my neighborhood has a tradition of borrowing the goddess statues from six famous temples in Taiwan, so a tour to these temples is held twice every year. My mother would join the neighbors for this religious ritual.

Several years ago, I started going to the tours with my mother and documenting this popular folk religion event. The photos posted here are those I took in a recent trip. 

Angkor--吳哥窟

Angkor, an important archaeological site in Siem Reap, Cambodia, includes the famous Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and other temples. These magnificent ruins of the Khmer Empire have attracted huge visitors from all the world. In this visit, we spent three days to tour around this grand site and went through the jungles to visit numerous temples.

To witness the famous beauty of these religious monuments, we walked up and down in the temples to explore the religious stories of Hindu from the amazing stone carving figures. Besides, we got up early to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat and joined the crowd hiking to the top of Phnom Bakheng for the sunset. Even though we were exhausted from walking a lot in the hot weather, this cultural and spiritual trip was very enjoyable.