半糖去冰

JamesJJ.net Think, then do!

1 MAY 2014 • Jumble

No kitchen - No problem

As is common for students or singles in Taiwan, my flat doesn’t have a kitchen or any built in cooking facilities. In England this would be the end of the world - eating out on a daily basis would be either prohibitively costly, prohibitively unhealthy or just nasty. Basic home cooking facilities are essential in the UK, but in Taiwan the array and convenience of food options is amazing. Eating a good variety of reasonably healthy, yummy, hot meals “out” is not problematic. That said, there comes a time when you really want a change, without venturing further from home. ... read more

16 MAR 2014 • Jumble

Sending postcards UK to World: Expensive?

Postcards are fun. They’re meant to be an inexpensive way to share a message, moment or experience with friends or family. In the constantly connected world of Facebook, Twitter, et al, it’s much more meaningful to receive something physical, that someone has gone to the trouble of choosing, handwriting the message, remembering your address, finding stamps and a post box, in order to send to you.

In Taiwan, sending postcards is easy and cheap, only 2.5NT$ within the country (about £0.05) or up to 12NT$ for international airmail (~£0.24). Although I send quite a lot of postcards, the cost has never been prohibitive here.

I recently discovered Royal Mail in the UK are, once again, increasing their prices. From March 31st it will cost just less than one whole golden pound to send an international airmail postcard, £0.97 in fact. I know in some European countries the cost is similar, more than 1€. This seemingly huge disparity led to some “back of an envelope” calculations…

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5 FEB 2014 • Jumble

There's a Tiger under the table

It is said that once whilst consuming a woman the Tiger injured himself on a sharp bone and was forced to seek the help of a human Doctor. The Doctor agreed to help the Tiger on the basis that the Tiger vowed to no longer prey on humans. In gratitude for saving his life, the Tiger became a guardian and when the Doctor later ascended and became a deity, 「保生大帝」, the Tiger also became a God 「黑虎將軍」 and guardian of the Temple. It is believed that the Tiger can expel demonic spirits.

Another legend is that although the Tiger is king of the mountains, to hunt on human lands he must have the permission of the Earth God「土地公」, more formally called「福德正神」. Thus people would pray to 土地公 to ask for protection from becoming the Tiger’s lunch! 土地公 would also ride around on the back of a Tiger.

The Tiger God 「虎爺」also manages childhood intellectual development, protects children and has the ability to treat mumps. Parents praying for their sick children might offer sweets, chocolate or fruit to the Tiger God.

So, where might you find the Tiger God? As he is humble to 土地公, he is often found under the table at the Earth God’s shrine. This also corresponds to 土地公 riding upon the Tiger.

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1 JAN 2014 • Jumble

新年快樂 －2014 has arrived...

Happy New Year ~

A photo snapshot of 2013 is below, starting with snowy Bristol in England, a little of London, Birmingham, then around the world to Taiwan, and many adventures around the island. My 2013 ended with an amazing opera in Taipei (國家交響樂團跨年音樂會).

Wishing you a very enjoyable 2014!

A snowy street lined with trees and houses
Clifton suspension bridge, bristol, england
A group of people posing for a photo in an office
A group of people posing for a photo in bristol harbour, england
Two large cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other
A river running through a city with tall buildings in the background
A cat sitting on the edge of a ledge
A garden with many different types of plants and shrubs
A building that has a giant watermelon on top of it
A bowl of ice cream sitting on top of a wooden table
A statue of a pig on a stand in a park
A crowd of people walking down a city street at night
A group of friends posing for a photo at a restaurant
A panoramic view of a waterfall in taiwan
An omelette with fresh vegetables and drinks on a black table
A chinese glyph resembling a head with pointy bat ears
A group of smiling people looking up at the sky
A cup of green drink with bears drawn in the foam on top
A building with many lanterns hanging from the windows
A group of people sitting on rocks in a river waving at the photographer
A man holding a child in his arms and waving
A cardboard cutout of a woman wearing an oriental dress
A group of people with their arms up in the air
The ocean at sunset from the shore
A person holding up a bottle of taiwan beer
A man and woman standing next to each other in front of a drink vendor stand
A figurine of an old man wearing glasses
A man standing next to an old steam train
A group of people standing in front of a temple
A bowl of hotpot on a table next to a bowl of rice
A group of people posing for a picture in front of a whiteboard
A group of people standing in front of a circus tent at night
Hong kong from the top of a mountain
An orange tabby cat sitting on the edge of a stairway
The bride, groom and friends smiling for a photo in front of a wedding gazebo
A person standing on a bridge with an umbrella
A large plate of food on a table
A man standing in front of a giant tree
A panoramic view of a valley with mountains in the background
A statue of a man carrying something on his back
Three origami santa claus, reindeer and a snowman
A bowl of noodles with chopsticks sitting on top of a table
A group of people gathered around a table with a cake on it, and a man licking cake from a sword
Two musicians on stage with a third man talking with a microphone
A person holding an ice cream cone in front of a ship
Several narrow boats moored in a canal basin
Gardens and many people standing in front of buckingham palace, a wide stone building
People on a stage with an audience celebrating new year's eve
A poster for a dance show with two people holding feathers
A panoramic view of taipei city skyline at sunset with taipei 101 skyscraper protruding taller than all the other buildings

25 DEC 2013 • Taiwan

Happy Christmas from Smangus (司馬庫斯)

The Tayal, one of Taiwan’s indigenous aboriginal groups, believe that several hundred years ago, a great chief known as Mangus led a group of Tayal from Jen-ai Township in Nantou County (南投縣仁愛鄉) northward across Da-ba-jian Mountain (大霸尖山), the holy mountain of the Tayal, and settled along the crest line at the northern end of Hsueh Mountain (雪山). As time passed his descendants named the village Smangus (s-ma-n’gus) in memory of Mangus.

Smangus Village (新竹縣玉峰村14鄰,司馬庫斯) is

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