Nantau

My family and I at Chung Tai temple

Chung Tai temple and museum

Temple entrance

my friendly neighbours

My free vegetarian meal

Mama Sue at Sun Moon lake

Dad, mum and Ryan

Temple of  wisdom

Jiji train station

Steam train

My host family originally from Nantou county, so we went 'home' for the weekend. So that I could meet the rest of the family, for fathers day and to travel in the country side. Our home town is Cautan, Nantau is the only land locked county in Taiwan and the bread basket of the coury. I got a royal welcome at home and instantly felt at home. 

My family is comprised of Father Lung Po, mother Suewan Lai, grand father aka Yeye, brother James he is married to Yatin and Eric who is married to and the family prince Ryan their son. Oh I forgot ET the 18 year lod dog.Mama Sue is a chief so my welcome dinner looked good and tasted great. The following moring we went on a young road trip arounds the county. 

Our first stop was Puli at Chung Tai temple and museum, unforyunatley there was a private ceremony going on so we were not able to go past the gate. The temple looked very beautiful, I was disapointed that I could not go inside. The site is very impressive  Budist spectacle, there is a temple, museum, school (from elemetry to high school) and hospital. We were given free vegetarian lunch in the temple garden. 

The next stop was Sun Moon Lake, wow the lake is breath taking and its has magnificant temple surrounding it. The temple of knowledge and power were very beautiful. The lake has destiny island, the is a shrine in the island. We also went to the Peacock santury Ryans Favourite place at the lake. I was amazed to see hite peacock. 
We then went to Sun Moon lake, to sea the lake and the beautifu temple surrounding the lake. I also got to taste the famous black tea. I really liked the black tea so i bought a lot to take home.
Jiji was our next destination there I got to see the olderst railway station in the country and suprisingly its still operational. We also went to Mingchin Academy a school olser thean ROC its was established in 1883 AD. It was a beautiful school that was established by Emperor Gaungsyu. 

We then went tome to have father day cake to celebrate father's day that had past during the week. 

first 24 hours in Taiwan

Well the Hong Hong airport got me realy excited about Taiwan. Since I kept on meeting more participants as we were boarding the plane, the dream was becoming real. Upon laning those of us who had no visa had to go process our langing visa, ROC ( Republic of Chaina) Taiwan is reaaly organised they were people to direct us to laning visa office they had all our details and paid for our visa the process took less thn 5 minutes.
 After that we we to the lobby got ur local cellphones with credit. My host was waiting for me in another airport so i had to catch a bus to  the other airport an hour away. Lucy aka Apple to us to the bus stop and we were one step closer to our host family.
Since the airport was the last stop I did not fear getting off at the last stop. Yating ( my host) came to pick me at the airport and we caught the metro home. We my fast impressio of Taipei is that its fast pased and has a vibrant energy. After supper my hosts and I agreed to vist their parents at Nantou county for the weekend. We wld leave saturday afternoon when James fets back from work.

I was so excited I woke up at 05:30 I had not even set the arlam. After breakfast Yating showed me around the neighbourhood and her work palace, she is a teacer at the privete girls school. Since her school is near National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial so we went there. Kai-Shek was the first President of ROC. Well i got to see a group yaoa session like i have seen on tv so i got exited. We the memorial is beautiful its just amazing as the men it represents. I do not know an former president with more than awards of courage as he does. President Chiang as he is caaled here was very learned and deplomatic in his dealings with other countries.

At President Chiang Kai-Shen memorial with Japanese tourists

President Chiand and  his elegant and very beautiful Madame Mao Fu-mei

Yatin's work place

Malawai gave President the order of the Lion

Order of the Lion

Since we are in the ghost month in the chinese calander there is got day celebrated on the 14 August.  At Taipei station the Grand central station of Taipei we found a crime prevention campaign under way. The police here are very friendly. The we started a 1 hour trip on the high speed train

Begning of the journey

I was so excited about leaving that I woke up at 04;00. After packing the previous evening I had a few errand to run before going to the airport. After my last errant at 08:45 I discover that I can not find my passort. Since I was in Molepolole 60 km away from the airport. I was stressing. We rushed to Moples and my cousin went to uor house to look for my passport. I find th epaasort then I had to rush to catch my flight.

I got to the airport  after boarding had closed. I had called to find out if I could catch a later flight well I was told if I missed the flight I would not be able to travel. I was really stressed the lady decided to have mercy and let me board. My bag was kg over weight I was charged P 1000.For it at that moment the excitement of the trip died. I was told that if I take back the bag I would not be able to get on the flight.

Flight from Gabs to Joburg

Having drinks in Hong Kong

Donald @ Hong Kong airport

I paid the charge got on the flight and I was one step closer to Taiwan. I met Don at OR Tambo. Luckly the was a seat empty near him so we sat next to each other on the flight to Hong Kong. I managed to sleep on the plane. Hong Kong airpoty was beautiful and we met Sa crew at the airport

Almost Died

Well, I have really been looking forward to going to Taiwan. On Sunday I got up a bit late made breakfast and went for a shower. After taking a shower I felt really dizzy and breathless. When I can to paramedics where in my room and my mother looked really worried.

Well I was feeling really cold and very confused. I was then taken to the local hospital for to be checked by a the doctor. My bathroom uses a gas geyser, so  since combustion takes up oxygen, I was suffocating because of the carbon monoxide, I had closed the windows since its  was cold. I would have died in the bathroom had my mother not gotten worried and come looking for me. She knew basic first aid was able to safe me.

Now the shock of what happened had worn off. I am grateful to be alive and thank God intervening. Now making the final preparations for my trip.
Am really excited and I have learnt we take life for granted a small thing can end your life.

Grateful to be alive and ready for Taiwan

Amazing Facts About Taiwan

So as get ready to go Taiwan am discovering really amazing facts and stuff.

Lu Hsiu-lien

•  Lu Hsiu-lien is vice president of Taiwan since 18 March 2000. On December 9, 2001, she became the first woman to be awarded the World Peace Prize from the World Peace Corps Academy. Lu Hsiu-lien was born on June 7, 1944, in Taoyuan, Taiwan.
• Nick Names of Taiwan : Taiwan is often called the ‘Illha Farmosa' which in Portuguese language means beautiful Island . It is also called the ‘The Kingdom of the Corals'
• Taiwan is one of the most densely populated countries of the world with about 1595 people per square mile.
• Black Bears, Rock Monkeys, Leopards, Sambars, Flying Frogs, Salamanders etc are found in Taiwan
• The highest point in Taiwan is the Jade mountain which is about 3950m above sea level.
• Taiwan has some of the largest and oldest trees in the world.
• Taiwan 's Taipei 101 is the tallest building on earth with a height of about 508 metres.
• Taiwan won the 1996 Little League World Series in the U.S city of Williamsport. Baseball is the national sport in Taiwan.
• Taiwan has some of the most elaborate and authentic historical museums in all of Asia which consist of over 35,00 artifacts from countries around the world. Many tourist flock here for the Regular on exhibit displays of jade, paintings, sculptures of many dynasties.  The most famous museum in Taiwan is The National Museum of World Prehistory

Taiwan top 10 celebrities

Here is the list according to S.H.E Update;
NO. 1 SELINA (2010 Gross Income: 43.5 million) [Age: 29]
(Group) Advertisement income (25 million), Tour income (10 million), TV series income (7.5 million), Host income (1 million)
No.2 Hebe (41 million) [Age: 27]
No.3 Ella (36 million) [Age: 29]
No.4 Rainie Yang (29.4 million) [Age: 26]
No.5 Jam Hsiao (26.85 million) [Age: 23]
No.6 Guey Lun Mei (21.5 million) [Age: 27]
No.7 Amber Kuo (20 million) [Age: 24]
No.8 Yoga Lin (16 million) [Age: 23]
No.9 Cyndi Wang (13.25 million) [Age: 28]
No.10 Ethan Ruan (12.1 million) [Age: 28]
Well for those of you who are not familiar with Taiwan celebrities, the top three Selina, Hebe and Ella are members of the Taiwanese Mandopop group SHE( Selina,Ella and Hebe). We your guess is right the list might be subjective since it was compilied by SHE.

So here is some insight on the list, the list is dominated by the girls with only three guys in the list; Jam Hsiao, Joga Lin and Ethan Raun.

SHE

Hebe

Cindy

Ethan

Guey Lun Mei

Rainie

Jam

Amber, very nice pic

Yoga. just luv his name

Well I do have favouritse in the list well all the guy are great, although am Yoga greatest fan. I will be covering all  the people in the list during the course of this week.

Tai Hunks



Etan, lookin hot with short hair

Wel since I gave the guys a treat well girls feast your eyes

Ethan

Ethan

Jam's album cover

Yoga Lin

Yoga lookin like da guy next door

Yoga's album cover

Taiwan' F4 inspiered by 'Boys Over Flowers' currently showing on BTV

F4 Taiwan

Jam Hsio

Now that am on a celebrity craze tomorow will give a list of the top 10 richest celebrites under thirty from Taiwan

Tai Hunies

Barbie Hsu

Well Botswana is famous for beautiful women, well my research about Taiwan I have discoverd many beautiful ladies so guys and girls here is some Tai eye candy

Vivian Hsu

Huimei Chang

Janet Lee Li Qian Rong

Cindy Wang

Elva Hsiao Ya Xuan

Patty How, wearnin a hot little dress

Bianca Bai

Lin Chi Ling

Sonia Sui

So my favourite is Barbie, hey vote for your favourite. Tomorow it will be Tai hunks

57 days to shoppers paradise

Women are notorious for thier love of shopping. Well

Taiwan 101

So am going to Taiwan am really excited so most of my friends have asked me lot question about Taiwan so here goes.
 Taiwan is an island southeast off the coast of Chaina, the country is a multi party democracy. Taiwan is 36,000 km² , which is quite small compared to Botswana which is 60 370 km². Botswana has a population of 1.8 million people unlike Taiwan wich is home to 23 million people making it one of the most densely populated place on earth. So am looking forward to meeting awhole lot of people, LOL.

Taiwan is mostly know for its IT prowess and is not a popular destination for most people traveling to Asia although its a a lot of culture, beautiful scenery and is the center of Cninese pop culture. Taiwan is home to moutain ranges, great beaches and stunning national parks. i hope in the 2 weeks I will have time to visit them and will post lots of pics.

Mandarin is the offical lanuage in Taiwan so am starting to learn a few basics for the trip. I love languages,  believe to reaaly understand people the best way to go about it is to learn the local language. Hower English is now emphasised in the country and is taught in middle school.  In Taipei (capital of Taiwan) most young people speak conversational english so one will not be completely unable to communicate. Most service staff speak English, Mandarin and Japanese.Currency used is called the New Taiwanies Dollar (TWD), One pula gives you TWD 4.52.

Here is my phare for the day Wo chi su ( I am a vegetarian). I guess I will be saying that a lot at resturants.

Signature

Well the conformation has arived and I have to fill out a form and sign it. Well here is the problem, I have a very bad handwritting. I am even more embarassed by my signaure. Signatures are usually well written and beautiful. There is my problem I am not creative and have tried for years and failled.

In the last five years I have changed my signature a dozen times in an attempt to find a perfect decent looking signature. I finaly given up and my signature is mramaloko, written in my best handwritting.Well the truth is it looks like an attempt of a primary school pupil.

In an attempt to reassure myself I took a handwritting assesment test at handwritingfeedbucket.com well the results were very comforting.
The results of your analysis say:
You plan ahead, and are interested in beauty, design, outward appearance, and symmetry.  
    You are affectionate, passionate, expressive, and future-oriented.
You are not very reserved, impatient, self-confident and fond of action.
You are self-confident and like to bring attention to yourself.

Am pleased with the result and I have made peace with my handwritting it is after all an integral part of who I am. I know I should have put more effort when I was younger and I am now more consious of how I write that before. Well now I have to go and create my digital signature and respond to my invitation.
My my what a journey this is turning out to be.

The begining of the journey

Three months ago I found an interesting email offering an all expenses paid trip to travel to Taiwan for the Youth Week Celebration. The thought of going to Taiwan was very intriguing. Well I  knew where Taiwan was but it not know much about the country. As I filled out the application form i discovered that I needed more information on the country to apply. So

 I googled Taiwan and learnt more about Taiwan before applying. I was hopeful when I applied, I thoght what do I have to loose by submitting my application. I desperatly needed a holiday and two weeks in Taiwan would be excellent.Two months later I got another email informing me that I had made into the prelimenary selection for the event and I should confrim my availability. I got approval from my supervisor and responded notifying them of my availability.

The finanl list would be releassed on May 31 2011. The wait so not so daunting. The morning og the 31st I kept checking my inbox nothing. Then I checked the facebook page people were celebrating that they made it onto the list.As I read the post my heart was breaking I had been so excited about the possibility of going. It was all I could think of the week before the announcement . I found the list but did not find my name, for some reason i decided to check the couries that were represented then I spotted Botswana and my name. I  started screaming and jumping my collegues were shoked that i won the lottery .

In preparation I decided to get an e-passport  well ... After filling in my application form it was declined because my id had expired. Well I knew that already and had applied for a new id a month back but becuase of the ongoing civil servant strike my id still was not ready.  The imigration officers would not budge. After beign sent form pillar to post my id is ready i will get it on friday and I will be on step closer to getting my passort and well on my way to Taiwan.

Welcome to my experince of preparing and going  to Taiwan as I will be sharing with you  the excitement and intrigue.