Halfway up!

A shot of the roadside I'm walking along, halfway to the top! 

And in the middle of a Taiwanese mountain forest/jungle I find...

A line of overgrown pseudo-greek planters filled with weeds! Here's just one of them, which wasn't too overgrown so I could get a good shot of it! 

What lies beyond?

At a fork in the road about 2/3rds up the mountain is this gate, which I always wonder about. It obviously leads to a home since there is a call-box on the right just above that potted plant. I wonder if it's a mansion of some kind. Now the weird part is this time there was actually very beautiful female singing coming from up somewhere beyond it while I was taking this picture. Apparently whoever lives there is a music lover, or performer. 

Mobile Home

I found this little (actually, not so little, about 15 or so cm long!) caterpillar crossing the road with the leaflike home on it's back. I'm not sure if it's a fake leaf it made or if it was a real lead it turned into a mobile home. Kinda freaky, actually. 

Mountain Road

This road leads off to a small temple which sits about 3/4 of the way up the mountain. 

Money Shot

Here's a shot with my camera's super close-up function, I was very impressed with the results. The close-up function either produces fuzzy messes or beautiful high-resolution closeups, and I am rather proud of this one. 

Looks Hazy to Me

This was actually a very hazy day, which was good because it kept the sun from burning me to a crisp, but also make it pretty much impossible to get any distance shots in. Here's a shot of the area around my home, you can see the Miramar Ferris Wheel about 2km or so away from me at this point. 

The Next Deadly Mantis

Another mantis that decided to cross the road and was willing to stop for pictures, it took a few to get his good side, but I think this picture really brings out his eyes. 

Butterfly

This cute little butterfly agreed to model for me after a long negotiation with his agent, I think I got a discount because he's missing part of one of his wings. A lot of amputee bugs in that forrest, it must be a rough place. 

A Quest Fulfilled!

So, after a long hike and lots of Spiders that were either too small, too far away, or in too little light, on my way back I found this guy, who I shall call Mr. Googles, hanging right next to the roadway. (I took a slightly alterate road back, otherwise I would have found him on the way up and saved a lot of time!) It also took several pictures to get a good shot, there wasn't quite enough light, and if the flash went off it made glowy and fuzzy. Now, imagine a forrest filled with thousands of these little guys, and you'll understand why I tread carefully when I go offroad up in the mountains. Of course, they're not interested in me, heck, the camera was less than a foot away when this picture was taken, and he didn't even tense more than once during the whole photo session. What a pro! He should model for Spider Monthly! Poor guy only has six legs, though, but probably enough poison to make sure Rob is out for a week. 

Spider 2: The Return

Here's a nice side shot for all you arachnophobes back Canada way. For reference his main body is probably about the length of my middle finger. Most of the spiders I've seen were about half his size, but I have seen a few that were actually much larger. (Not many, however, otherwise I would never walk in that forrest again!)

Spider 3: The Revenge

Another shot of Mr. Googles the giant Spider. 

Dragon Door

Interesting door I saw on the way home, I wish mine looked this cool. 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (spoilers)

So, this morning Connie and I both got up early and went to see the new Harry Potter movie, along with seemingly everybody else in Taipei. But, by virtue of living within a 5 minute walk of the theatre we were able to get a good spot in line, and only had to wait a half hour to buy tickets for a showing 3 hours after the time we stood in line to buy tickets! Like I said, everyone in this town wants to see this movie, and I think it will be the topic of my classes for the week. (Which is why it's important I see it, doing research for work after all! ;) )

Regardless, I have to say that this, the fourth Harry Potter film, is by far 70% of the strongest and best Harry Potter movie to date. I say 70% because like the film Seven Swords I saw earlier this year, it feels like you're watching the 2 hour 40 minute version of a movie that's at least 4 hours long. The result of this is that all the major scenes are there (I would assume, I haven't read the books) but almost all the character material seems to have ended up being chopped out of the film. The characters in the movie are completely undeveloped and pretty much just there to push the plot along. Characters come and go, and to give something away, when one of the movie's "major" characters dies, you feel....absolutely nothing because he's not even a name! He's only been in a few scenes, and mostly background in them. The same with all the cool "rivals" from other schools, they get a big introduction and then ignored for the rest of the story!

I know that each Harry Potter book has been bigger than the last, and I think they've truely reached the point where they can't fit a single book into a single movie. Either something has got to give, or they'd be better off turn it into 2 two or more hour long movies released a few months appart instead of trying to cram it all into a single film. I mean, this isn't the greatest character drama ever put on film, but it deserves better than what this film gave it.

Also, I kept running into the "Poor Harry Potter Syndrome" which seems to pop up in each of these films, which is that whenever Harry is in trouble nobody lifts a finger to help him. The school is a deathtrap, and events occur which nothing prevents the adults from interfering in, but they don't, because that would prevent Harry from nearly being killed...again...and again...and again.... I don't care if my children are wizards, there's no way in hell they'd set foot at Hogwarts considering the degree of care that the teachers show for students at that place! And with friends like Harry has, who needs enemies?

Oh, and everything but the character stuff is amazing, especially the cinematography, it borders on asounding at some points.

Rob

Connie and Debby

After the movie, Connie and I went to the Tien-Mu district to meet up with her friend Debby at one of our favorite restaurants Little Black. Debby is a tour leader who travels in a year more than most people do in a lifetime, and is married to a very cool Swiss police officer. (Who she doesn't get to see nearly enough.) I asked her what her secret was to overcoming Jet Lag, and she told me she just doesn't get it! Lucky girl! 

The White Tower of Power

While I was waiting to meet my friend Terrance for dinner the other night near Taipei 101, I decided to do a little night photography to test out the camera's abilties. I tried many different modes, shutter speeds, and approaches to night photography, most of them not working as well as I'd hoped. But, I'll post some of the more interesting results here, like this tower of power! 

Taipei 101

The world's current tallest building, sitting in the heart of Taipei, at night. It's quite a site to behold, and I only wish I had a tripod so I could get rid of the blur factor caused by natural human movement. Well, something for the future! 

Arched Walkway

Around the white building two pictures back is a concrete walkway, so I decided to test out the camera's abilties on night shots. This was one of the better results. 

Walkway 2

Another shot of the walkway around the tall white building a few pictures back. 

Coloured Tower

Here is a very colourful building near Taipei 101, in fact all of those bands of light you see change colours and do it in waves, fade-in/outs, and rippling. Actually, one very cool thing you will see here on some of the larger office buildings at night is a system which actually controls the lights in the various offices and turns them on and off in patterns. Literally turning the whole building into a giant piece of art, or advertising. I'll get a picture of it sometime.