Harbin Street Market

Dear Friends,

The array of dates and nuts at Chinese markets are always interesting. I am just glad to find non-meat products anywhere in China.

Love,
Heather

Valentine Boquet

Dear Friends,

We arrived in Harbin on Valentine's Day. It was difficult to walk down the street without someone trying to sell Brad flowers for me. It was hard to resist these natural looking blue, glitter roses, especially with the lovely bride and groom teddy bears on top.

Love,
Heather

Harbin Pedestrian Street

Dear Friends,

This pedestrian street in Harbin was a little bit of Eastern Europe in China. Our hotel was at the end of the street and we spent quite a bit of time walking up and down the road, enjoying the excellent people watching.

Love,
Brad and Heather

Unfamiliar Vegetable

Dear Friends,

I find all sorts of interesting veggies here in China. As far as I could understand from the lady at the market, this is some sort of Taiwanese kale.  Anyone know how to cook it?

Love,
Heather

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Dear Friends,

In preparation for the Year of the Goat, our school held its Chinese New Year celebration today. Our amazing front desk staff wanted to be sure to get a photo of us all dressed up.

Love,
Heather

Dragon Dance

Dear Friends,

This year for the Chinese New Year assemblies, some colleagues and I get to perform the traditional dragon dance. Luckily, I am the tail so I just have to follow the others. Lots of laughter going on here with a VERY patient local colleague trying to teach all of us foreigners.

Love,
Heather

Pond Hockey

Dear Friends,

Apparently the pond hockey tournament in Beijing was very cold this past weekend. The boys had a great time!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Apron

Dear Friends,

Saw this very interesting apron at a shop in Hong Kong this weekend. Unfortunately, we already have two aprons so this was not a necessity!

Love,
Heather

Snackeez!

Dear Friends,

It is amazing what we miss out on living overseas like this little gem.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Clear Sky

Dear Eric, Stacy and Odie,

Thanks for making the trip to Clearwater to spend the weekend with us at a moment's notice. Had a great time! Think it is time to start planning our next get together.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Love the USA

Dear Friends,

I just couldn't convince my Canadian husband that he needed this winter toque.

Love,
Heather

Revelation

Dear Friends,

This was one of the more interesting cars we saw on our ride over to Clearwater beach.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Frenchy's

Dear Friends,

Grouper was the main ingredient on this menu. We tried several versions. My favorite was the Grouper Rubin...Yum!

Love,
Heather

Fire Eater

Dear Friends,

Just a little entertainment on Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach on a Friday afternoon.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Visitor

Dear Friends,

This little guy flew right to our balcony and would have come in if we had left the door wall open. Makes me a little worried that others are feeding him.

Love,
Heather

Clearwater Beach

Dear Friends,

The beach was just a little busy.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Cobra

Dear Friends,

Wish we could have seen the owner of this fascinating car.

Love,
Bradley and Heather

Englewood Sunset

Dear Friends,

We were lucky to catch this beautiful sunset at the local marina.

Love,
Bradley & Heather

Coke Life

Dear Friends,

Coming back to the US, we always seem to be amazed by something new at the grocery store. This year it was Coke Life. Who knew?

Love,
Heather & Bradley

Lemon Bay Park

Dear Friends,

Another great morning walk at a beautiful park in Florida. Peaceful way to spend some time with my dad.

Love,
Heather

Bocce Ball

Dear Friends,

Brad has been perfecting his Bocce game. We are ready for the Nelson rematch!

Love,
Heather

Manasota Key

Dear Friends,

The weather on Christmas Day was fantastic. We took a bike ride down to Manasota Key and enjoyed the waves crashing on the shore with a few hundred others.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Paella

Dear Friends,

I love the local farmer's market! There are so many wonderful treats to be eaten there! This man was just beginning to cook.

Love,
Heather

Vino Loco

Dear Friends,

After several years of saying we will get to the wine bar, we finally made it. It was worth the wait! It was an enjoyable evening sitting outside with some delightful beverages.

Love,
Bradley & Heather

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends,

A day late but Merry Christmas from sunny, warm Florida!

After the morning with family, we headed out for a bike ride to the beach and a little Bocce ball.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Longshan Temple

Dear Friends,

This was definitely one of the highlights of Taipei!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Snakes

Dear Friends,

Did not see any of these! Whew!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Stairs

Dear Friends,

One of our hikes in the Taroko Gorge was ALL stairs and greenery!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Notice!

Dear Friends,

We managed to steer clear of all these hazards!

Love,
Heather and Brad

Fashion Plate

Dear Friends,

This gal put a LOT of effort into going out hiking in the gorge for the day. Not exactly my clothing choice for hiking, or for any event for that matter.  ZAP!

Love,
Heather

Taroko Gorge River

Dear Friends,

This 50 minute hike was actually 15. No sure if it was a translation mishap or if the other hikers are crawling at a snail's pace.  Beautiful views made it better!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Taroko Gorge

Dear Friends,

This short hike was one of the most beautiful.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

No Kiting!

Dear Friends,

There were no kites in this park.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Taipei Park

Dear Friends,

I loved the calm and tranquility of this park in the middle of the busy city.

Love,
Heather

Drummers

Dear Friends,

I loved catching these students prepare for an upcoming performance.

Love,
Heather

Guard

Dear Friends,

This guard was ALL business!

Love,
Heather

Style!

Dear Friends,

This guy was all about style!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Taipei Bus

Dear Friends,

This bus was not lacking dashboard decoration.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Mango Shaved Ice

Dear Friends,

We waited in line for approximately 20 minutes so could try one of these. Finally gave up.  Would have love to try this mango concoction but I don't think the two of us could have eaten it all.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Smile!

Dear Friends,

I asked this woman selling offerings if I could take her photo. She said no. However, she didn't have any trouble smiling for Brad.

Love,
Heather

Vegetarian Sandwich

Dear Friends,

Just because I no longer eat meat, doesn't mean that any veggie option will do. For example, I was not the least bit interested in the first menu item here.  Yuck!

Love,
Heathr

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial

Dear Friends,

Made it here just in time for the changing of the guard.

Love,
Heather

Fire Wolf

Dear Friends,

Think this is the first fire scooter we've seen.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Mr. Brown's Coffee

Dear Friends,

I never did get a chance to try Mr. Brown's coffee.  Maybe next time!

Love,
Heather

Cell Phone Ettiquette

Dear Friends,

The Taiwanese are very rule abiding, very much aware of being "good citizens".  This sign and its impact was a welcome change from China and the locals yelling into the their phones on the metro, streets and in the stores.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Taipei 101 at a Distance

Dear Friends,

Some kind woman took this for us as we dodged traffic.

Love,
Heather and Brad

World's Fastest Elevator

Dear Friends,

That's right, rode in the fastest elevator.  We were at the top of 101 before you could blink an eye!

Love,
Heather and Brad

Taipei 101

Dear Friends,

Off to Taiwan for our October break. First stop - Taipei 101.  Headed to the top to catch the views.

Love,
Heather and Bradley