June was a busy month. It got quite hot and has stayed like that, it is like Bangkok hot and humid, sometimes it cools off a little after a storm but the humidity stays so back to the sweating and 2 showers a day routine!
We went to another Chinese wedding reception, this time the daughter of Steven, who owns 
his own company and does business with Dave, married the son of another Taiwanese entrepreneur. It was held in a ballroom at the Far Eastern Shangri-La in Taipei and was quite a grand affair. There must have been about 500 people attended a sit down dinner which was served to us. The food was also very pleasant compared to some of the dishes you usually get at Chinese weddings, they even had white wine, almost unheard of. It started at noon and finished about 3pm, we left around then, guests usually don’t hang around at these affairs.
his own company and does business with Dave, married the son of another Taiwanese entrepreneur. It was held in a ballroom at the Far Eastern Shangri-La in Taipei and was quite a grand affair. There must have been about 500 people attended a sit down dinner which was served to us. The food was also very pleasant compared to some of the dishes you usually get at Chinese weddings, they even had white wine, almost unheard of. It started at noon and finished about 3pm, we left around then, guests usually don’t hang around at these affairs.As you will see from Dave’s blog of 20th June we went to watch the Dragon Boat races that took place here over 3 days 16th, 17th and 18th of June. This festival commemorates a famous Chinese poet and thinker from a long time ago who, despairing of the rulers of the time, threw himself into the river. The people, who loved him greatly, tried to save him but when that failed they threw sticky rice packets into the river so the fish would not eat his body. I have no idea why this has resulted in dragon boat races, but they do still make and sell the packets of sticky rice which are delicious but full of calories, they are wrapped in green leaves and steamed or boiled. It was a very hot day but lots of fun watching the races and after that we went down to the mouth of the river and walked along the promenade area. this was also a holiday w/e here in Taiwan.
We also celebrated Canada Day here with a day out to a farm just out of town. Apparently a 
Canadian who has lived here for years offers his farm for a lot of people to gather and celebrate Canada’s birthday. As well as Canadians there were a lot of Australians, Americans, other Westerners and Chinese all having a great time. There was a beach near by although the shore was covered in coral (hard on the feet)
Canadian who has lived here for years offers his farm for a lot of people to gather and celebrate Canada’s birthday. As well as Canadians there were a lot of Australians, Americans, other Westerners and Chinese all having a great time. There was a beach near by although the shore was covered in coral (hard on the feet)
The photo of Dave and I was taken by Dave which is why he is looking odd! It was an extremely hot day and obviously the guy next to me was tired!!!
The firework display, when it got dark about 7PM, was magnificent they did a wonderful job of celebrating Canada’s 140th birthday.
The guys below are not RCMP officers but the Taipei police force in their dress uniforms which are modeled on the RCMP dress uniforms. They led the mayor of Taipei and the Canadian official representative (no countries have “ambassadors” here because of the strange political position of Taiwan) on horseback to welcome everyone and cut the birthday cake, all in all a good day. 
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