Common Sandpiper

     As near as I can figure, this little feller is called a common sandpiper.  If anyone out there can identify it as something else (don't tell me that it's a giraffe, because I'll know it isn't), please let me know.

    I saw it walking across rocks and along the grass near the park next to Shuang Shi Creek.  At low tide, I see a lot of smaller, but otherwise similar, birds tramping about the mudflats nearby.

     In case you're wondering about the green net material, it was placed there to keep the rocks from being washed away.  The rocks were placed there to keep the soil from being washed away.

     For more information on the common sandpiper, click here.

Multiple Landmarks in Individual Photos

      On this page, I indulge my passion for getting two or more landmarks into one photo.  

     For the photo above, I waited about ten minutes to get just the right shot.  I took this photo from the MRT platform at Yuan Shan Station.  In the foreground is the Taipei baseball stadium at which the Taipei Flora Expo was taking place.  The plane is landing at the Sung Shan Airport.

     I had to wait ten minutes or more for this shot.  Several times, an MRT train rolled into the station and obscured my view just as a plane was flying overhead.  Since the day was slightly overcast, you're unable to see the Taipei 101 Building in the distance.  That would have been the icing on the cake.

     The next two photos were taken from a tour bus entering Taipei.  You can see five landmarks in the second photo.  From left to right, they are Taipei Main Station, Taipei 101 (in the distance), the South Gate, the Hsin Guang Building (the nearer of the two skyscrapers), and (enshrouded in green construction material) the Old Post Office Building.  

     It took me a long time to get these shots.  Either the weather was overcast, smoggy, or rainy; or I forgot my camera; or the windshield was dirty or fogged over.  I also had to snap the shutter when no light poles were in the way.

     You can see several other examples of multiple landmarks in single photos on the "Landmarks" page.  (Click here.)

Guandu by Night

      I took this picture just beyond the approach to Guandu Temple.  Small fishing boats are docked just opposite Guandu Temple.  At some point, I'll have to take some photos of Guandu Temple by night.

       Just beyond Guandu Temple, we see the Danshui Ferry at its berth, all lighted up for casual tourists.  To the left is the Guandu Wharf.  Looking across the river, you can see the lights of Ba-li.

     Below, you can see the Guandu Bridge, about a mile or so to the west of the Guandu Wharf.  The Guandu Bridge is the first bridge of its kind in East Asia.

     

     I took the photos below not far from the place I stood when I took the photo of the Guandu Bridge.  

  

A Village-wide Celebration near Guanshi

     Every so many years, my mother-in-law's family village holds a village-wide celebration.  As I understand it, each village n Taiwan holds periodic celebrations, though not necessarily on the same day.

     In the foreground, you can see Michelle's younger sister Joanna (standing), and her husband Daniel (seated).  Seated at left is one of Michelle and Joanna's aunts.

     Below is the altar in the village temple.  The photo at left on the altar is of an ancestress.

     All that fun, food, and family fellowship can be tiring.  I can't tell who it is, but she's sleeping on the sofa in my mother-in-law's living room.

Shau Luan Beach, Sand Shaping

     Of sun, surf, and sand, some folks prefer the sand.  Enjoy the photos below.

Shau Luan Beach: a Popular Spot for Wedding Photos

     As the title of this post says, Shau Luan Beach is a popular spot for wedding photos.  Shau Luan Beach lies just beyond Danshui.  For many years, it lay abandoned, and this fact contributed to its popularity for wedding photos.
     The pictures speak for themselves.

     Roughly one out of every nine or ten marriages in Taiwan are between native Taiwanese an people from abroad.  In mixed marriages such as these, the bride usually marries someone from Japan, Australia, or a Western nation.  The groom in such marriages as these usually marries someone from Southeast Asia or China. Below, you see a Taiwanese bride and a Western groom.