Thursday nights I teach an intermediate level class at a company called Edison which makes optical sensors and other light-related electronics. Here's me and the class clowning around for the camera. In order from left to right they are: (Back) Roger, Lewis, Vila, Serena, Me, Maggie and Alan. (Front) Jeff, Jay, "Smiling" Sammy (I have never seen her not smile) and Rita.

What? There's not enough pictures of me in this Blog? Noooo, problem! Here I am striking a powerful pose as the intimidating individual that is Rob! 

Terrance (seen the background reading sagely), Chris, and I are not alone in our struggle to bring proper English grammar to the corporate masses of Taipei! Here's the "baby" of our family, Bonnie, an ESL teacher just 4 weeks out of Toronto and fellow Canuck who has chosen a hard but rewarding life at ESP. 

The ancient Greeks believed their lives were ruled by three women who wove human existance and destiny. In the ESP department, there are also 3 women who weave destiny, their names are Sharon, Sandy, and this last, youngest, and cutest fate: Crystal! Cheerful bespeckled Crystal is usually the one who accompanies us on our first trips to various companies and keeps our lazy butts in line. 

This is a nice modern bank building sitting next to the thin appartment building in the core of the city, done in the old style and set up to look like it's made of white marble. Very stylish. 

Modern Appartment Building

Last Entry I showed an old style appartment building, but to keep people from thinking Taipei is some kind of third-world place, I am going to also start posting examples of modern architecture like the incredibly thin modern appartment building above! 

New Camera!

So, after weeks of looking around and comparing prices, I finally broke down and bought a brand new high grade digital camera! Since I've been so tardy in updating this site with words, I thought I'd try to make up for it with pictures! I'd been borrowing Connie's brother's camera when I knew I'd need one, but it's just not the same as having your own! I am still learning how to use it, and my first pictures didn't turn out as well as I might have hoped, but I am slowly getting the hang of using it. It's a very simple but powerful camera, so it will take me a while to master it.

In the meantime, please enjoy the pictures I take as I learn my way with this new toy!

Rob

Tonight at the Sherwood Hotel, in Downtown Taipei, I had dinner with my Uncle, Don Lorento, who was in China on business and stopped by to see me on his way back to Canada. He's the head of the Canadian division of a company that makes industrial molds and was in China visiting some of their factories near NanJing. We had a wonderful talk, and it was very good to see a face from home! 

Another shot of me and my Uncle, Don Lorento. 

Look, up in the sky! That yellow appartment at the very top? It's mine! That brown strip to the right is my very very long cement staircase, because buildings under 6 storeys don't have elevators! I am the stairmaster! 

My street, light industrial places on the street levels (machine shops, autobody shops, large scale laundries, etc) and four levels of appartments on top. This is actually a very typical Taipei "residential" street. 

A typical old-style Taiwanese appartment building. The truth is, Taipei is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and most people live in appartments, not houses. In fact, your average building in this city is 4 or 5 storeys tall! Living in a house isn't even a consideration, or a dream here! 

Chiang Kai Shek/Zhang Jie Shi, the "founder" of Taiwan whose statue is found in the middle of every schoolyard admonishing the kids to study hard and get a good education! (Of course, another set of history books reads that he was a rebel army leader and dictator who ruled Taiwan with an iron fist and suppressed the people for a very long time along with his party, the KMT.) 

What is this, you ask? Why, a TV remote, my alarm clock and a bag of tissue paper. Why did I take this? To test the highest resolution of my camera to see what results I got. And why did I post it? Why not! 

Playing with my new camera, I decided to take a reflection shot off the window of the inside of a subway car to see how well it would work. Well, I'd have to say the results weren't half bad considering it's a reflection shot. 

Ever wonder what the Taipei City MRT (Subway) system looks like? Well, now you know! They currently have six lines, 4 major, 2 minor, but in the next few years this map will change a lot as new major lines go into operation. I just wish Toronto would learn from Taipei and modernize and expand their own system. 

This one business park I go to has buildings that are all colour coded and look spectacular at night. While my first try at taking a picture of one of these buildings didn't quite work out, it does create an eerie effect so I thought I'd post it.

It seems the Taiwanese love statues...a lot! They have them everywhere, especially in newer buildings. Most of them are statues of women and children (I'll try to get a few shots later), but some are more artistic, like this giant bronze of a hand holding a rose. 

Sharon, our ESP office manager and perhaps the nicest boss anyone could ask for. (And I'm not just saying that because she might read this....^_-) 

Sandy, ESP's resident sales rep/accountant looking colourful in her yellow outfit. Kind and always smiling, she gets my money in the bank on time, so she's one of my favorite people at ESP. 

Chris, wacky and talkative fellow ESP teacher. A good guy to talk to about things American as he's from Atlanta, Georgia. (But we forgive him, he can't help being American.) 

Terrance, fellow Canadian (from Sudbury), colleague, and long-time Asian resident. A good guy to hang with and talk TV and Canadian Engish, eh!