Northeast Coast Scooter Trip

Here's our little caravan cruising down Taiwan's Coastal Highway 2.


Steve says something's peculiar around here. Is it the rocks or is it the English usage?


Okay, yes, there are some rather unusual rock formations along the coast at Nanya. And at this moment there appear to be some rather peculiar people there too. :)


Here's Matt Sawatzky sitting on something peculiar.


Steve "ROCK Jock" Marth and James "GEO-Political" Chen take a break from their "verbal jousting" long enough to discuss the shape of this unusual rock formation. "So, James, what do you think it looks like?"


With "Gollum" on the way up the steps of "Cirith Ungol".


"What was that?" Angus gets a little spooked in the "jungle".


The "Palau brother and sister" are now seen here on the Northeast Coast of Taiwan. It's time for Taiwan's National Day and they're both decked out in red - which is the color of the national flag as well as the current mass movement to depose the president :)


Angus seems amused at something here. But he's Chinese, so I don't think he's laughing at the name of this place which to us North Americans sounds kinda' funny. It's named for the "Dragon Cave"- a large cave at the lower left of this tall cliff (behind Gareth, Steve and James).


Daniel looks pretty happy about this roadside lunch consisting of fried noodles and fish-ball soup. And check out Liz - slurp, slurp! Mmmm, good :)


Good picture of Rachel at Fulong Beach. Even more interesting when combined with Gareth's profile :)


He looks a little lost, but "Castaway" Dan gets an idea. "Hmmm... let's see, Fulong must be somewhere south/southeast of Danshui (and Brett)."


At Jinguashi, Daniel and Liz discuss the weather (or is it their plans for ORTV?). The name of this place literally means "gold melon rocks". This refers to the orange and yellow sulfur-coated boulders along the stream that tumbles down into the gorge. It reminds me a little of the Mammoth Hot Springs area of Yellowstone National Park, but has darker color here (with more orange and brown).


Liz takes in the beautiful view along the rocky cliffs at Cape Bitou.


After a long day of riding, Gareth and Angus take a break on the grass along the roadside near the shore. That seafood lunch is starting to settle and the sound of the waves makes for a nice lullaby (ZZZZZZZ).


Here are videos by Gareth and Daniel of our scooter trip: Part One


Part Two

What Was Angus Thinking?

Liz made a nice dinner for Angus' birthday. His roommates, Steve and Jason came over to join us. It was a great time. But just what was Angus thinking here? What do you think?

Annabelle at Esther K.'s Wedding

At Esther K.'s wedding, we had the privilege of sitting next to Annabelle and the Leonards. She kept us rather entertained throughout the service.


Don't even think about taking my picture!


Aren't I just adorable? (And Daddy wishes I could just sit still so he can enjoy this wedding service)



And it was indeed a very nice, nice, nice... and long service. :)


Congratulations Esther and Tony! You guys are finally married. :)

Super Marco, Miss Advanced and Others

Thanks to our super soundman, Marco Chuang for these pictures from a day of life at ORTV.


"Super Marco" and Liz pose for the camera.


Liz looks happy as she poses for "Super Marco".


Liz helps Rebecca review and practice another Advanced article.


"Super Marco" catches Lisa and Beth as they get on the elevator. And we catch a glimpse of him in the mirror.


It was a marathon week for "Miss Advanced" in the studio, but you'd never know from her happy face. So, just how many recordings did you have this week, Naomi?


I've got it easy compared to "Miss Advanced".


The view from "Super Marco's" office. The red light is on, "Studio Classroom is on the air!" Phil and Naomi listen as Troy gets wound up.

Friday Night Bible Study Activity

For this English activity, Vance and I (Phil) asked students to come up on stage and guess the words on screen while others in the audience tried to act them out. We called it "Revers-charades" (since typically it's the group doing the guessing).

One popular category was "Animals", but there could be no talking or noises made. (Sorry folks, no growling, grunting, barking or bird calls) With the word "horse", it was funny to look out and see many people pretending to ride one. And with "kangaroo", the guess was "rabbit" until people got their "pouches" in place, ha, ha.

Shi-Chien University (實踐大學 )Class

Here are some students from my (Phil's) Fall class at Shi-Chien University (just across the street from ORTV). In the front row and second from the left is Ambreen. If you look up close, you'll see that she's obviously not Chinese. She grew up in Taiwan, but her parents are from India and Burma (Myanmar). The funny gal in the middle (with the pink hat) is "Mitch" (yes, a boy's name) from Pingtung (屏東). I think it should be an interesting semester. :)

Steve's Waterfall (From Below)

Steve's favorite waterfall in Neihu has two cascades that come together at the bottom and then shoot outwards off the rock.

Usually we go hang out at the "swimming hole" located above it, but this time we had to check out the pool and spray from below.


Yeah, baby! After getting rained on earlier, who cares if we get wet now.


After enjoying the spray from below, Steve boosts me (Phil) up to the next level to take a look. Thanks for the helping hands, Steve!

More Good English Vocabulary

In a flashback to Yehliu, we see that there's more than one way to spell this word for the day. I can just hear Andrea teaching this one: "Now students, repeat after me... EF-FLO-RES-CENCE". (photo courtesy of Gollum)

Studio Classroom Restaurant Visit

Jason Huang gets the "Unsung Heroes Award" for the day. It's not easy being a soundman when you have to hold a long heavy microphone over the table without banging the ceiling or getting it into the picture. Liz seems to appreciate his effort. Next to Liz are Vance and Lisa.


A delicious Chinese seafood feast. Makes me wish I could participate in these restaurant tapings more often.

Lisa, I think you should write more Studio Classroom Food articles. :)


The day's shooting is done. After filling his belly with good food, Vance settles down for a nap.

Another Yehliu (a.k.a. "Middle Earth") Excursion

"My precious, my precious..." Daniel does a great Gollum impersonation on the rocks of Yehliu.


Climbing near the all-seeing eye of Sauron. (photo courtesy of Gollum)


Marth the MIG (pilot) Man takes his cool helmet on the road. Nobody even tried to touch him.


Lisa "The BENQ Woman" displays her colors proudly. Peter must be very happy.


Don't try this at home. The idiot is me (Phil) springing from "Jump-Off Rock". In case you're wondering, we snorkeled and scoped out the area below before jumping. I appreciated having cheerleaders (and "nurses" if necessary) like Lisa and Beth below. (photo courtesy of Gollum)


Steve follows with an aerial ballet before plunging into the water. (photo courtesy of Gollum)

Paul shows a nice form on his jump. From the side, it looks like he's walking on water or surfing without a board. Having a view up close (cleft in the rock on the right side of the picture), I think I'm in a good position to give him a "10" on style points. (photo courtesy of Gollum)

Andrea inspects and gives it a good look before deciding to save the jumping for next time when Let's Talk In English brings along the TV cameras. Andrea, 加油! (photo courtesy of Gollum)

The "Middle Earth" crew (Liz, Beth, Gollum, Joyce, Lisa, Paul, Phil, Andrea, Gareth and Steve) pose for a group shot before heading back to Taipei. (photo courtesy of Gollum)

Souvenir from Beijing

Steve on his first day back at his post in the Taipei office, this time with new gear. I'm looking forward to seeing him hit the streets of Taipei (on his scooter) sporting this new lid. You gotta' love that cool face-shield. But, is it bullet-proof? Mmmm, I don't think so. However, since we're north of Taiwan's "Mason-Dixon Line", I think you're safe, Steve.


Linda models it very well. It looks great on her with the matching top.
Women in the military? Even female pilots in the Air Force? I vote "YES".


After giving up on Chen Shui-bian, Billy has no choice but to embrace the symbol on this helmet (ha, ha). Thanks for being a good sport, Billy. My apologies to all you DPP supporters out there.

Chinese Writing

In Beijing's Temple Of Heaven Park (天壇公園), this old man was writing Chinese characters with a large brush and water.


Now it's my turn. I start to write my Chinese name (劉建華). The old man compliments me but here it looks like he's not impressed, ha ha.


I wrote my name clearly, but oops, I didn't get the middle character (建) well-centered in the square. Fortunately my characters (top right) have already started to evaporate. Whew! That way, anyone seeing this can't laugh at them. The nice old man wrote my Chinese name to the left of where I'd written, showing how it's really done by an expert. Finally, true to form, he wrote me a compliment: 美國小伙子真棒 (Young American Guy is really good) Yeah right, 爺爺, but thanks anyway for being so nice. :) It was a fun cross-cultural encounter.

The Other Mr. Mao

This Mr. Mao needs all the help he can get in holding up a positive image.



However, the real Mr. Mao has no image problems. His name is David and he does a great job in ORTV's Information Technology (IT) Department. Everyone around here appreciates David (as you can see). Visit his blog at: http://blog.ladios.net/

北京 China Trip

Liz can't contain her excitement at being back in Beijing. Here she is at Qianmen (Front Gate) of Tiananmen Square.


Here on the east side of Tiananmen Square is the Museum of Chinese History/Revolution. On its front steps is a large countdown clock for time left until the 2008 Beijing Olympics.


This young guard stands watch just outside the Mao Zedong Mausoleum in Tiananmen Square. In the background is one of the revolutionary statues surrounding the mausoleum.


Linda, Hazel and Liz make a statement in an alleyway along Wangfujing Street


With Bruce Liu and the Studio Classroom Beijing office staff.

Jeffrey (left, front row) is a nice handsome 28-year old bachelor who was a great help to us while in Beijing. I have informed our Taipei office staff that he would be available to help improve cross-strait relations. :)


Liz conducts an English teaching demonstration for Beijing English teachers at the Beijing Institute of Education.


Hazel brings out a puppet during a session on using drama and fun activities for English teaching.


With some of the Beijing teachers who attended our training sessions at the Beijing Institute of Education. There were about 70 of them in all who completed the 3 day program.