The University scooter parking lot. The Taiwanese don't say 'finding a needle in a haystack' rather the saying goes something like,"it's like trying to find your scooter in a Uni scooter parking lot". And I have "lost" my scooter a couple of times in this parking lot. Think you have problems remembering which floor you've parked you car on in the Oracle car park....think again!

And here she is...Scooter Number 2. It's a 125cc Yamaha and optimistically has the word 'speed' written on the front and side. Good news...I paid a little more this time, and this has resulted in my new scooter benefiting from a rear shock absorber and front brakes. Nice! The green sticker is my pass to be able to park the scooter in the "exclusive" covered parking at Uni (like I am some posh or important dude). Truth be told, I never could find my scooter amongst the myriads of scooters parked in the main scooter park (I will post some photos on my next blog entry so you can seem what I mean).

My new favouritest place for lunch time food, after a hard mornings slog at Uni. The food is cooked just outside the small seating area, so you can either sit down and eat, or as prefer to do walk home with my takeaway. Stir fired rice and pork, or beef. Very tasty, in fact I am a bit addicted to this grub. And of course I hear you asking "how much?". NTD$55 which is roughly £1.20. And it comes with the added bonus of a small Chinese lesson from the lady as she babbles away in Chinese at warp factor 7...gotta love Taiwan!

A couple of photos of what Xingxin Road looks like as the afternoon sun starts to set behind the buildings. I walk this road every day to catch the bus to Uni, and in the evening I  wander down to the night market to buy sweet potato chips, kiwi fruit smoothies, chocolate waffles and dragon fruit.

A view up and over the hill to Shalu (where my Uni is located).

This is the left turn into Xingxin Road. This leads to the night market area, and for the next mile is a mass of people, scooters, cars, people, more scooters, yellow taxis and the occasional number 106 bus. This is early in the morning, in the evening it is truly mental! I think the rules of the road are directly related to your size...therefore pedestrians rank lowest, I have been 'bumped' into by scooters on more than one occasion.

And the view towards down-town Taichung.

Moon Festival (a couple of weekends ago) is often celebrated by having a BBQ. But, as this is Taiwan, things are a bit different to the UK. A visit to a local restaurant where you have your BBQ indoors!! The BBQ is set up on your table. So I guess this wouldn't work in the UK, the Health & Safety brigade would close this place down before you could yell "fire!" And as with any good BBQ, there was plenty of meat, fish, shrimps and more meat. 

What goes....whirr whirr whirr BANG!?...The answer, my scooter. If you are at all mechanically minded then you can have a good laugh at these photos of what is left of the scooters piston and cylinder. Said scooter was scrapped yesterday. 

The third photo is what I would like to ride around Taichung on....yeah...in my dreams.

Keep taking the tablets! Well a trip to the doctors is (as I have now come to expect) nothing like doing the same thing in the UK. Yesterday morning I wandered up to the nearest one, which is ten minutes walk from home. No appointment, I just walked in. I register, and then go in and see the doctor. No nasty receptionist (well if she was I didn't understand her) no waiting, no hassle. I get diagnosed, and then I'm given my prescription. Which gets filled out at the pharmacy across the street. And the tablets come in little sachets for each dose. And I couldn't be more pleased, I seem to have all varieties, green, blue, yellow and white, plus a triangular one. Wait! No red one....I need the red ones!!!