Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families and we would like to wish you all the best for 2009. May all your hopes and dreams come true.

10 Years On......

Thank you for a great 10 years....

Ten years on and still in Taiwan!

Today 22 December, 2008 at 12:30 pm is ten years to the minute since I first arrived in Taiwan. Well, there was that one year hiatus in China but the memory of coming to Taiwan is as vivid as ever. Many of the intervening years have been a blur, but those first few days and nights are crystal clear, as if they only happened yesterday. Ten years is a long time to be away from anywhere, but the ten years have been amazing and I wouldn't change much. Anyway, some of the highlights are below:

Family: I met Queenie on 9 September, 1999. We got married in court in Hong Kong on 1 March 2002 and in Church in Taiwan on 13 April 2002. Since I have been in Taiwan my family has also grown. Our nephew Tibet was born in Turkey in March 2000. Our niece Rochelle was born in October 2002, shortly after our wedding. Our other niece Charlene was born in December 2006 and our nephew Dominic was born earlier this year. My mom has also visited us here in Taiwan and China four times and my father came for the first time last year. We are still waiting for my sister. We have also spent a lot of time with Queenie's family over the years and although my family is separated by continents, I remain close to all of them.

Friends: Since coming to Taiwan I have met hundreds of top quality people and become great friends with many of them. Sadly, many of our friends have left Taiwan and now live all over the world. Although we miss them we remain close to them and hope we will always remain close. We have also had the good fortune to visit some of them and enjoyed hanging out with them in their home countries. Although we have many wonderful friends in Taiwan, we still miss those who have left.

Career: Yeah well I started out as an English teacher in Kojen language schools, became a Marcomm editor at Pro Team computers in 2002 (who were swallowed up by Pine group). I then went on to being the senior technical writer at Infortrend, director of the Shenzhen Interactive Language Center (SILC) (which now also doesn't exist), supervisor of the technical writing team at IEI Technology and finally a financial analyst at Purple Labs.

Travelling: Since coming to Taiwan we have had the opportunity to travel to many places in and out of Taiwan. Queenie and I have travelled all over Taiwan, with the exception of a few islands. We have also travelled to South Africa three times, Turkey, Vietnam, Thailand, Bali in Indonesia, Singapore, China, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macau and London among others. Travelling together has always been fun and we plan to do a lot more of it.

Education: Every job has been an education in itself. I have also tried to learn Chinese and I am now in the process of completing an MBA through Manchester University.

Tragedies: One of the biggest tragedies I have ever experienced was the massive earthquake on 21 September, 1999 when thousands of people died in Taiwan. It was a devastating shock to the system and something that lives with us forever.

Things still to do: Have children, improve my Chinese, travel to Korea and Japan and to continue having a blast.

To my beloved Queenie, thank you for the past nine years I have known you and to all of you who have my 10 years in Taiwan an incredible and unbelievable experience, thank you. It would have been a far worse time without you. That's it for now. Hopefully over the next few days, weeks and months I will have the time to share some of our memories with you.

So thats it then, here's looking at the next 10!

Koh Samui, 2002

Here is a picture of us on the Island of Koh Samuii, Thailand in 2002. We spent a week there with Simon and Helen, our friends from New Zealand. The picture was taken at the Golden Temple on the south side of the island. We spent a wonderful time on the beach, snorkelling, kayaking on motorcycles and driving around the island. In fact it was our honeymoon. We had to delay our honeymoon six months because of work issues.

Koh Samui, 2002 (From General Pictures)

By the way I have no idea why I am not smiling! Queenie looks happy though.

Durban, a long time ago....

I found this shot we took back in 1999 on our first trip back to Durban, South Africa together. We were having breakfast at the Deck on North Beach with my neighbour's child Vicky. Vicky took the picture. We were getting ready to go to Waterworld (which is now closed). It was a great day!

Boo Hoo....(From General Pictures)

We still like going to the Deck when we go back (but I don't even know if it is still there).

Beauty and the Beast....

You decide who is who......

Great memories from Santosa Island, Singapore 2001. Queenie also had the monkey on her shoulder but requested we don't show the world....

What's that on my shoulder?

No really, what is it?

Ah, its my best mate....(From General Pictures)

Actually we didn't like Santosa Island that much, but the Monkey was cool.

Six Great Years

Hi All,

(Queenie and Paul in Jiuzhaigou, 2006)

Six years ago today we got married. Its amazing to think how fast the time has gone and how many wonderful memories we have shared. In that time we have travelled widely together and have had quite a few adventures. We have changed jobs and careers, moved countries, and made some wonderful friends. And to our friends we say thank you for your support over the years. We have enjoyed getting to know you.

Tonight we will have a celebratory dinner and reflect on the past and have a lot of fun. So as we move onto another year of married life, we look forward to the blessings of our relationship and look forward to more great times together.

Have a great day,

Queenie and Paul

Queenie's Birthday Party

Hi All,

(The Group)

We were happy on Saturday to celebrate Queenie's birthday. We had a spectacular time. Since we got back from London we have been very jet lagged and our sleep patterns were severely disrupted. We finally decided on Thursday afternoon to start organizing a birthday party and it was great.

The party was held at The Red Kitchen in the afternoon. Many of our friends who we have known for a long time in Taipei came. The restaurant put on a great salad bar for all of us and we had a wonderful time of fellowship.

One of our friends Roelf brought a party pack with a bunch of party hats and other crazy things. Some of us refused to wear the hats but after a little peer pressure they all finally conformed. Queenie also received many gifts from her friends. One of the gifts we received from Taly was an incredible painting that she had painted herself. This is the third original painting we have received from her and her paintings certainly brighten up our lives and apartment.

The funniest part of the afternoon was blowing out the candles. The restaurant owner gave us a big plastic candle that looked like a flower. Roelf had bought self-relighting candles that couldn't be blown out. So we put the self-relighting candles on the sides of the cake and the flower like candle in the middle. However, the plastic petals opened and caught light. Of course we couldn't blow out the candles. It was really funny.

Some of the pictures from Queenie's birthday party are below.

(Diana, Frank and Queenie)


(Frank, Queena, Queenie and Diana)


(Queenie and Whitney)


(Priscilla, Queenie and Emma)


(Priscilla, Queenie, Emma, Fion, Joanne and Whitney)

Thanks for raeading all.

Have a great day.

Paul

Chinese New Year Dinner,

Hi All,

(Chinese New Year Feast)

Well we all had a great feast for Chinese New Year (see above). We absolutely love Chinese New Year and the time spent with family. The last time we spent Chinese New Year with the family was in 2005 as in 2006 we were in South Africa and 2007 we were in Turkey. So this was the first time in a while.

Queenie's Mom cooked the food and we got to spend a lot of time playing with our two nieces Rochelle and Charlene. We also had a great time chatting with Queenie's Dad who just came back from China. He will return on Sunday but said China is very cold right now! Some of the pictures from our evening are below.

(Queenie and Charlene before Dinner)


(Rochelle and her Hong Bao)


(Mom and Dad)


(Johnny joined us)


(Charlene, Ming Rong and Rochelle)


(Dad, Charlene and Andrew)


(After Dinner Airplane)


(Charlene)

As we are writing this, the fire crackers and fire works are exploding outside. It will be a noisy evening. Once again, have a geat Chinese New Year All.

Queenie and Paul

Happy New Year Everyone

Yeah yeah…I know we are a bit late with this one.

(Queenie and Rochelle Putting up the Christmas Tree)

So how did we celebrate?

Well December was as hectic as any festive season month we have known. We started our Christmas celebrations on December 8 when we had a whole bunch of people to our house for an early Christmas party. We had to do it that way because most of them were either booked or we were booked. Our niece Rochelle helped us put up the Christmas tree. Some early guests arrived and helped us finish our tree. More guests arrived before 4:00 pm and most of them were gone by 8:00 pm. Our good friends Eva and Peter kept us company with their precious daughter Christina.

(Rochelle and the gifts she wrapped)

Our next big event was having a family dinner at the Howard Plaza hotel. Queenie’s father came back from China and so on December 19 we all went to the Cantonese restaurant on the second floor and ate a lot of food. After that everyone came to our house to exchange gifts. Of course Rochelle was the most excited during this time and she got quite a few toys. Our other niece Charlene is still to young to appreciate these things but next year I am sure she will start.

The following day was my (Paul) company’s Christmas party. We arranged the party at the Pot Pie Café on Fuhsing South Road (the only place in Taipei that sells real pies). We were about 20 people and, the restaurant being small, enabled us to book the whole restaurant out. The restaurant is new and so they were thrilled to have so much business in one night. We all ordered a lot of food and a few beers and we all had a really great time.

(Peter, Paul and James at Company Christmas Party)

Then on Friday, December 21, we all went off to watch Rochelle’s Christmas show at her kindergarten. The show was held in a park outside. An excellent venue but the kids simply cannot sing loud enough but they certainly did try hard. It seems that they all had fun. Queenie and I spent most of the time walking around the park with Charlene.

On Christmas Eve we all landed up participating in a new Christmas Eve tradition at Peter and Ava's house. We all went there to celebrate and dance around the Christmas tree singing Norwegian folk songs. Of course none of us knows how to speak Norwegian but we tried our best. Rochelle came with us but unfortunately I (uncle Paul) managed to bump her into a glass table and cut her lip. That was the end of the folk songs. Hopefully this year we can do more than one. Oh yes, Rochelle is fine.

(Meichi, Doren, Queenie and Taly)

Our Christmas Day itself we went with our Church friends to a buffet lunch at Le Louvre in the Howard Plaza hotel. Great restaurant and the company wasn’t bad either. Queenie and I also bought everyone a Christmas hat and made sure everyone wore their hat. It was a blast. Of course we had one hat short but the hotel were happy enough to lend us one so everyone got one in the end.

(Kathy, Paul, Roelf and Olga at the Howard Plaza)

Of course New Year’s Eve swung around faster than we could blink our eyes. Queenie and I spent our New Year’s eve in the Pot Pie Café. It was bitterly cold and the pies were very warming. On the way home one of our neighbors called us and invited us to his house so we went there for a few hours. Afterwards we went to the midnight service in the Church (as we always do). We then returned to our friends house party and landed up in bed at around 3:00 am.

On New Year’s Day we also hosted our traditional New Year party at our house. A lot of people came and we had some great food. The Pastor Jim’s wife Bobbie brought their traditional American New Year food to our house. Apparently on New Year’s Day in their part of the world they eat ham, salmon and black bean soup. Well, we had a lot of each. It was really great hanging out with all our friends and spending the New Year with them. After we never know where we will be next year.

Goodbye Doren

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Doren who is one of our wonderful friends here in Taiwan. She decided to return home to Cebu in the Philipinnes. We have known Doren and her Aunt Taly for nearly six years now and they have been wonderful and supportive friends through all our ups and downs. We will miss her but gives us a more compelling reason to visit Cebu (because the beaches are not sufficient reason). Of course we saw her off with a great big bang at our other friend’s Josephine’s house. It was honestly a great farewell.

(Doren's Farewell Party)

New Life

In December and January two of our close friends had little babies. Matt and Carol had a baby boy in early December called Daniel. Our friends in New Zealand Simon and Helen also had a boy called Henry. We are so pleased and happy for all of them and we wish those two babies a great life and future.

Future Hello’s:

We also learned that our old friend from Taipei, Pastor Dave and Terri Brown (and all four kids) are thinking about coming back to Taiwan. Of course this excites us and we look forward to seeing them back here if they can get back. They are hoping to start a Church and they do have some needs so if you are interested in supporting them then please check out their website: http://missions4taiwan.com/default.aspx


The Immediate Future:

Chinese will be upon us in a few weeks. We are looking forward to the break. Queenie and I will be traveling to London for two weeks to see my (Paul) mom. We will also see some other great friends there including Richard, Keziah and Noah and Ken. Queenie will possibly also start working for her new company soon. Hopefully it will all be smooth.

So everyone. Take care of yourselves and have a great and rewarding 2008.

Christmas has Started in Taipei

Hi All,

(Queenie, Paul and Rochelle at the Tree Lighting Ceremony)

The Tree Lighting Ceremony

On Friday night, after my (Paul's) final exam, we took my niece to the tree lighing ceremony outside the Far East Hotel on Tunhwa South Road. Every Christmas the Far Eastern Group will have light a big Christmas tree and some christmas lights that hang out over the trees on Tunhwa South Road. The ceremony is usually led by the head of the group.

A few years ago Queenie's parents' Church had brought over a choir from Malawi and they were the star attraction. This year though they had a special performance from some kindergarten children, a childrens choir and a string quartet.

The Far Eastern Chairman also made us aware of the group's charitable work with a project for amandoned Children in Taipei. Far Eastern Group donated NTD1,000,000 to an organization that helps these Children. They also donated NTD1,000,000 to World Vision and another charity group (we forgot the name).

The Christmas Story

What really touched us was that the Christmas story of Jesus was told. One of Chiang Kai Shek's old pastors (who is now 80 and used to Pastor the Chinese congregation at our Church) was on hand to tell the whole Christmas story in Chinese. Most of the people in Taiwan have never heard the story and think Christmas is some commercial gimmick with no real roots. So it was great for them to hear the story of Christmas.

The Lamest Father Christmas Ever

Now, as a rule, we try not to be negative about performances. We also really do appreciate Far Eastern Group trying to bring a little of the Christmas spirit and festivities to Taiwan, but really, next time get a person who can act like a Father Christmas, and not dress some lame duck corporate executive in a Father Christmas suit! The guy didn't have a clue as to what he was doing. He arrived on the stage with some fairly lame "ho ho ho's" and then proceeded to give a very uninspiring talk of about two-minutes and then left the stage. Ten minutes later he came back onto the stage, just as lamely, and started to give out some sweets!

Next year the really do need a Father Christmas who will take the stage and dominate the crowd. Maybe even get the crowd going with a few Christmas Carols ("we wish you a merry Christmas" which everyone in Taipei knows) and a few more hearty "ho ho ho's".

Christmas Has Started

So the Christmas lights outside the Far Eastern Hotel have been turned on and Christmas in Taipei has started. We will put our tree up soon and hopefully have a great festive season with everyone. Christmas is not a holiday in Taiwan, so we will have to take leave on the day.

May God bless you all and keep you safe during this Christmas season

God Bless Everyone
Queenie and Paul

Mimi Passed Away

Dear All,

Our cat Mimi passed away on November 9, 2007. She fought a brave but futile fight against both polycystic kidney disorder and diabetes. She was a wonderful friend and daughter to Queenie for 14 years and to me for 8 years.



Queenie was with her at the end. Here is what she wrote:

last moment with mimi

I told her that mami and dadi loves her very much and I spend a few moment with her alone. She is very very weak and very light while I am holding her after one week staying in the hospital. This time, the hospital nurse keep her quite clean. She has tried her best to open the eyes to see me, and she tried to say hello to me. She wouldn't raise her voice.

I thank her for these 14 years life with me and I told her it is OK to sleep and stay in the heaven, and watch her for the final injection. I have singed the " amazing grace" to her, and ask her to remember mami has played piano and sing the songs to her just like before.


She actually resists for another injection, her body just refuse for any of the pain. her spirit is gone right after the injection, and she left this world with eye open. I watch her with tear and she left with peace.

I am pleased that my mother and brother has come with me, they make sure the last payment and everything is done properly

She has been a great friend and great daughter for us, and I hope to see her in heaven.

Thank you for loving her so much.

Mimi -- R.I.P November 9, 2007