KATAGALAN CULTURE CENTER IN BEITOU

6th JUNE 2016 ~ This building is a centre which housed a museum and cultural centre of the indigenous people of Taiwan. Do you know that the island was originally inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before people from the Han dynasty of the Chinese mainland emigrated there? The native people were linked to the Austronesian peoples of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and Oceania. Looking at the exhibits on display, I was not surprised to observe the familiarity. It is believed that these people sailed from Taiwan down south to New Zealand and Hawaii, and as far as South America.

Read about the interesting story of the original people of Taiwan HERE.

The place was a small one but the exhibits were informative and attractive. The place was managed by senior citizens who could be volunteers and they were really friendly. I was even "forced" to pose at many spots when I asked one of them to take a photo of me. And I happily followed his instructions.

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WALKING THROUGH BEITOU PARK

 5th June 2016 ~ Looking at what the people of Taiwan are doing to preserve nature in the developed/developing city, we have fallen far behind. Their government must have taken serious efforts to make the city green by having forest parks in the town centre.

This was another park that I came across when I was exploring Beito, a place which was a bit far to the north of Taipei. There were small streams that originated from a hot spring/lake and ponds. I wish I could have a place like this at my place, at least I know where to go to in the afternoon when there is nothing to do at home.

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THE LAST SESSION FOR MY UTM SPACE CLASS THIS SEMESTER

I had the opportunity to teach another UTM SPACE [School of Professional and Continuing Education a.k.a outcampus/part-time students] class this year in UTM main campus in Skudai. The last time I did that was 3 years ago in Kuala Lumpur. [Read HERE]

The classes were held at Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal [translate: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering] on Fridays and Saturdays for 3 weeks.

This time I had to teach a course called "English for Workplace Communication" which require me to study before class at the earlier stage. Anyway, everything went well and in the lecture today, students had to conduct "case study" and "meeting" sessions.

As all of them are working adults (and a housewife), I found that they could do well when it came to public speaking. They carried out the tasks confidently and convincingly despite the limited time they had to prepare for the presentations. 

I guess it was time to bid goodbye to each other. We never know whether our paths will cross again one day. Good luck, everybody.

GIFT-HUNTING SESSION AT NATIONAL CULTURAL AND CREATIVE GIFT CENTRE

5th JUNE 2016 ~ I need to buy something slightly expensive from Taipei for my home before flying back the next day. So far I could not find any that captured my heart. Luckily I had done my homework before coming and managed to get to this government's owned shop called National Cultural and Creative Gift Centre.

My word of advice is: you have to be very strong not to spend money when you are here. There seemed to be everything you could buy and the items were of high quality. Souvenir-hunting could be done under one roof.

I got what I wanted and I was a happy man.

Do come here when you are visiting Taipei, especially when you have a lot of money to spend.

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