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Photos by MJ Klein - Attention: FOOD PHOTOS!

UPDATE: I’ve added some video to the end of the article.

It was another great weekend in Taiwan.  The weather let up on us a bit and it got something approaching cooler.  So, when Becky invited us up to their cabin in Miaoli, well we knew it was a great time in the making!

The ride up was spectacular as we took the mountain road that comes up behind the cabin.  We brought our friend Ed with us and he’s very well traveled.  His comment is that he’d never been on a road like that one before and the mountain view was one of the top things he’s ever seen.  We agree!  Taiwan is incredible but you have to get out of Taipei to find out.

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Photos by MJ Klein - A Few Food Photos….

The Carolina Theatre hosted a nice program for Veterans of World War II, featuring the film The Longest Day, on June 6, 2008. June 6th is better known as “D-Day.” From Wikipedia:

“D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. “D-Day” often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar terms. The initial D in D-Day has had various meanings in the past, while more recently it has obtained the connotation of “Day” itself, thereby creating the phrase “Day-Day”, or “Day of Days”.^[1]“

So even though D-Day is a generic term used in Military Science as time variable, D-Day term has since become synonymous with the invasion of Normandy. Wikipedia has more:

“Normandy Landings were the first operations of the Allied Powers‘ invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during World War II. D-Day for the operation, postponed 24 hours, became June 6, 1944, H-Hour was 6:30 am. The assault was conducted in two phases: an air assault landing of American and British airborne divisions shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 06:30 British Double Summer Time. It required the transport of soldiers and materiel from England and Wales by troop carrying aeroplanes and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. There were also subsidiary operations to distract the Kriegsmarine and prevent its interference in the landing areas.^[1]“

Everyone thought that Dad would like to see this program. The only problem with taking Dad was the fact that it conflicted with Elliot’s High School graduation. After deliberation, my sister felt that we should take Dad to the movie and I agreed.

L to R: Janet (sister), Dad, Elliot (Janet’s son) and Wanda (Dad’s wife)

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Or, “Don’t Bother Me, I’m Eating!”

I probably wouldn’t be writing this article if it weren’t for Fili, who has 2 excellent articles this week on a similar subject. I suggest that you read those articles to get some background information and another viewpoint.

A few days ago Hui-chen and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie at the Hsinchu Vieshow theater complex. The theater is in a mall and there are some good places to eat before the movie, and that is just what we did. Enjoying my lunch at the excellent Wasabi restaurant, I was surprised to look up and find a woman standing way too close to me, with that dumb smile on her face that only a local person can give to a person they perceive to be a “foreigner” when they are “admiring” them. If you are not native born and spend any time in Taiwan, you know exactly what I mean. A pandering, condescending smile that is akin to “Awww, isn’t it cute?” that just frosts my ass.

I’ve lived in Taiwan long enough that my personal Chinese conversational skills are sufficient to handle just such occasions.

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I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people walking the streets of Taiwan while casually unloading a piece of trash right on the street - without so much as a single thought about it. I’ve even stopped people to ask them to pick up the trash they just threw, and they responded as if I’m a crazy person. Who would even think of putting a piece of trash in their pocket or holding it in their hand until a proper place to dispose of it could be found? Just about no one….

Restaurants like Shao-hui’s may have individual trash cans at each table

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Photos by Huang Shao Mao, Hui-chen and MJ Klein

This article has it all - music, drinking, food, and babes!

Introduction

I am producing the Fong band’s new recording sessions. This is the first production gig I’ve had in Taiwan, and I hope to get more. I’ve really missed producing and it felt great to get back into the studio, although these days “the studio” is a lot different from the 2″ analog tape and huge mixing consoles I’m used to.

In the past, given my considerable experience, I sometimes have performed on records that I’ve produced. This is nothing unusual, and in the case of the Fong band sessions, I played the backing guitar parts, mainly because it would be faster and much more consistient. It remains to be seen whether either of the two guitar players will add some parts to the recording, but at this writing, I personally played all the guitar parts. Needless to say, I won’t be doing any singing on these records because the songs are in the Thai language. I’m sure that I could learn the phonetic pronunciation and fake it but there isn’t any need for me to do so. These guys can sing quite well and we used 3 of them in a “gang vocal” configuration that you’ll see later (with photos taken from video stills).

So I hope you enjoy this article about what we did over the weekend. I enjoyed doing all these things for sure!

Bryan Chen, owner and engineer of Wellrick Studio

It was a weekend full of music and fun. It all started out on Friday (which was a holiday here in Taiwan). First, it was guitars, guitars, Burns and VOX mayhem and more guitars!

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I’ve been invited to perform at this year’s Thai New Year Celebration, taking place at Taoyuan Stadium on April 13, 2008.  There is no admission charge and all people are welcome to attend.  This will be a multi-national event with many Southeast Asian countries represented.  I will post more details as they become available.

Photos by MJ Klein

It’s bound to happen sometime.  You must always beware and on your guard because when you least expect it:

Fortunately, no one appeared to be hurt.  No one was yelling and screaming either.

I sympathize with these people though….

Right in the middle of the big circle in the Sandou Shopping district in Kaohsiung!

Whoops!

Food Photos by MJ Klein

Hui-chen and I are off in China and Hong Kong on business for a few days.  We’ll be back soon with some great photos and stories to tell!  In the meantime we’d like to show you some dishes that Hui-chen’s mother cooked during Chinese New Year.

By now, everyone knows that these are the family specialty.   Hui-chen makes her own version too, and they are great.

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Photos by MJ Klein

So, what does a blogger/photographer do when he stays in a hotel room on the 11th floor?

What were you thinking?

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Photos by MJ Klein

It was just after 3:00 am when I heard a crash and what sounded like breaking glass. I was asleep of course so I couldn’t be sure what happened, exactly. I distinctly remember the sound of something on the roof maybe? Definitely that sound of something hitting concrete and I swear, sheet metal. I leaped out of bed, flashlight in hand and did a floor-by-floor inspection of our house. I found nothing. I looked outside and I saw a familiar person walking around, smoking (that guy is always smoking). This guy is out and about in his parking lot office at all hours of the morning. He has friends joining him in his office (with blacked-out windows) very late at night. I guess the business of running a parking lot with 7 or 8 customers is so demanding that he has to work late at night to keep up with all that paperwork. I saw another person hurriedly exiting the tall building across the street, carrying a bucket. Mind you, this building is unoccupied and there were no lights on. I’m telling you, there is some kind of funny business going on in my neighborhood.

The following morning I went into our second-floor office and I got a big surprise:

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