Looking for a place for our wedding party

官邸藝文沙龍、牯嶺街小劇場、紅樓、光點之家、林語堂故居、錢穆故居、國際藝術村、當代藝術館、台北故事館、台北偶戲館、蔡瑞月舞蹈社、偶戲博物館、溫泉博物館、城市舞台、中山堂，二二八紀念館、城鄉會館、NGO會館

Looking for a nice place to host our wedding party.

Cadiz Carnival - February 20th 2007

時間剛剛好 希望能有機會體驗到 Cadiz的嘉年華

As elsewhere in the Catholic world, carnival is celebrated before the 40 days of Lent. Most Andalucian towns stage some kind of parade, and there is usually a dance and a "Carnival Queen" contest. As one of Spain´s major ports during the 16th century, Cadiz copied the carnival of Venice, a city with which it had much trade, and since then it has become the liveliest and most dazzling carnival town in mainland Spain, famous for its amusing and creative figurines and satirical song groups.

The Carnival centres around Shrove Tuesday (February 28th 2006, February 20th 2007, February 5th 2008, February 24th 2009, February 16th 2010, March 8th 2011, February 21st 2012, February 12th 2013, March 4th 2014). Cádiz celebrates the carnival with processions from the weekend before, to the weekend after.

The carnival is the fiesta of the people. It is a reaction against the abstentions and prohibitions of all types. This fiesta attempts to break social order and liberalise instincts, helped by wearing masks and fancy dress.

During the Civil War, General Franco abolished the Carnival in rebel areas. After the war there was still much opposition to the Carnival by the rulers so Franco abolished the Carnival in 1937. It continued in Cadiz however.

Local groups of funny fellows make up satirical ditties lampooning celebrities and big shots, in a parade which sends the whole city into a state of frenzy. The official competition takes place in the Gran Teatro de la Falla.

A full timetable of events is available from the Carnival Committee. Fax: +34 956 211256 or Fax: +34 956 227111.

http://www.andalucia.com/festival/carnival-cadiz.htm

西班牙

計劃利用過農歷年的長假前進西班牙

在網路上找到了一些有用的資訊

FLAMENCO

In Jerez

24th February to 11th March 2006 (around same dates each year)…
The X Festival of Jerez fills the City with flamenco performances by some of the finest artists. There are also Flamenco courses and other activities. The Jerez Festival has become one of the most important in the world with a programme of internationally renowned stars. There are performances by singer, dancers and guitar players at the principle venue, the Villamarta Theatre and other venues around town, as well as dance courses, concerts and exhibitions.
Although for many flamenco has come to represent Spain as a whole, it originated in Andalusia, with Moorish, Indian and European Gypsy influences. Jerez itself is often referred to as the cradle of flamenco - with its Moorish castle and large Gypsy quarter it produces an unending stream of cante (song), baile (dance) and guitarra (guitar).

The Jerez flamenco dancer Joaquin Grilo will open the festival on 24th February 2006 when he presents his show "A solas" in the Villamarta theatre. Other premiers at the theatre will be by Carmen Cortes and Aida Gomez who will unveil their latest creations "La puert del silencio" and "Carmen" respectively. Other flamenco "greats" performing are Manuela Carrasco, the Farrucos, El Guita, Blanca del Rey, Corio Molina and Antonio El Pipo, Moraito and Fosforito.

It will also be possible to watch flamenco performances of singing, dancing and guitar in other stage areas like Los Apostoles Inn, owned by Gonzalez Byass and La Compañia music hall and the Villavicencio Palace. The Guadalcacin Theatre will host the cycle "De la frontera" and "Los Novisimos".

Complimentary activities include presentations, conferences, seminars and chats and the every popular courses which will be conducted by Javier Latorre, Matilde Coral, Maria del Mar Moreno, Rafael Campallo, Merche Esmeraldo and Belen Maya.

More listing for activities in Andalucia in Feb:
http://www.andalucia.com/calendar/februarymusic.htm

前進土耳其

計劃去土耳其做一周的自助旅行
在網上找到一些資訊

背包客棧自助旅行論壇
http://www.backpackers.com.tw/forum/viewforum.php?f=87

Hotel reservation
http://en.venere.com/turkey/

Online travel guide written by Tom Brosnahan, who is the author for Lonely Planet Istanbul
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/index.html

還在尋找便宜的機票中...

Discover 三重

臺北縣三重市五谷王北街７７號
每年農曆四月二十五日 先嗇宮大拜拜 (神農大帝誕辰)

明月堂／三重市和平街5號／2975-8948

張永記水餃牛肉麵 241台北縣三重市大同北路19號1樓

五燈獎豬腳飯. 地址:台北縣三重市正義北路38號. 電話:02-2984-2727

-- i also found these on someone web site --

牛家莊牛肉麵－－位在三重市正義南路合作金庫旁，
比有名的老張牛肉麵還要好吃（中午到晚上約8點），
還有牛肉湯餃，價錢合理實在。
　
阿姑傳統小吃－－位在三重市重新路一段73號，
他們自製的筒仔米榚和碗糕都很好吃，
讓人吃了想再吃一碗，價格便宜，
我吃過很多家只有這一家的最好吃。
　
鹹圓餛鈍冬粉湯－－位在三重市長壽西街夜市處，
貴了一點點可是非常好吃（只賣晚上）（NT55-60），
一定要加泡菜吃。

　　
正牌三重花枝羹－－三重市正義北路上的平安街口，
早上九點半開始營業至晚上約11／12點，羹一碗NT50，
炒米粉NT25（都很好吃，可加辣椒更好吃）。
　
阿發豬腳飯－－我覺得比各大美食雜誌介紹的三重五燈獎
豬腳好吃，因為五燈獎好吃我覺得倒還好，態度之惡劣更是
少見，加以先有阿發豬腳後來兄弟鬩牆才有所謂的五燈獎，
位在三重市正義北路33巷快到文化北路處，賣到下午。
　
青蚵大腸麵線－－位在三重市大仁街靠近一家賴小兒科附近，
青蚵大腸料多，不要被嚇到，價錢實在NT30，在店內吃醬料
可自行調整，約下午3點開始營業到6點半過後就賣的差不多了。

燈籠小籠包／牛奶饅頭－－位在三重市文化北路靠近自強路
但還沒到自強路上，過年後漲價了一顆6塊，好吃不用多說，
傍晚到晚上有在賣，在一家萊爾富Hi-Life對面。
　
芳園排骨飯－－經多位嗜排骨飯的友人見證確實好吃沒得比，
風味和富盛名的君悅排骨飯相比斯毫不遜色，
在正義北路上，靠近重新路交接口有一家麥當勞
對面的全啟通運動鞋行巷子內，賣中午和晚上（晚上只到8點），

A holiday I forgot

Tue afternoon I got a nice surprise. I found out that Wed is a holiday :-) After moving to the US for so many years I forgot that you get 清明節 off in Taiwan. So to take an advantage of the extra next day off we decided to get out of the city for dinner.

The original plan was to go to 九份 but we ended up having 'dinner' at 基隆夜市 since it was already 8:30 and we were both hungry. We had 天婦羅, 蝦仁肉圓, 炒冬粉, 潤餅, and 泡泡冰. When we were done, it was already 9:30.

Didn't want to just go home this early we decided to venture to 九份 to find this coffee shop called '關於咖啡 About Cafe' that I have heard of on the Internet. After an hour of driving around and asking a few people we finally found it.

It is a cool place to hang out, exactly what I expected. Owner's name is 阿寬. The deco is just like what they say on the web site: "小頹廢的南美混搭風". 小頹廢 it is :-) a bit more run-down than I thought.

I ordered a Latte, which is very yummy. I like the vibe there. We had a good time just relaxing and chatting. They are supposed to close at 11 but we didn't leave until almost midnight.

On the way home, we stopped by 九份 for a walk. The view was really awesome. Looking down from the moutain. You see the light from the fishing boat, from the moon, the moutains and little houses in 九份小鎮.

炒冬粉 + Cafe Latte + 九份夜景. We were both happy and tired... so it's time to go home :-)

Note:
ABOUT Café
台北縣瑞芳鎮金瓜石金光路221號
http://home.kimo.com.tw/cafeabout/index.htm

石碇皇帝殿 - was there but wasn't there

Went to 石碇 on Sunday. I used to go there quite often for fishing... tho that was more than 10 years ago :-)

We got there around 1 pm and took a nice walk there... still a nice little town. 王家豆腐的豆花 is a must-eat! Wanted to try 桂花香腸 too but didn't get a chance....

Have read good things and seen some pictures of 皇帝殿稜線 so I was expecting something exciting... however, we took the wrong route. Instead of going up from 小粗坑登山口, we went up from the 湳窟路路線. It was still a nice hike but we didn't see much 稜線. The way up is quite boring... all concret stairs and not much to see. Got a good workout tho. When we finally got to the top where we were expecting to see some great view... disappointingly there wasn't much to see...

Later I found these two articles on the Internet... obviously we were not the only one who went up the wrong way... so now I can look at the other people's pictures and imagine what the famous 皇帝殿稜線 could has been like...

At least we had yummy 豆花. The trip is well worth it :-)

Note:
Picture and two articles are from 'Tony的自然人文旅記', one of my favorite web site for hiking information:
http://myweb.hinet.net/home11/tonyhuang38/tony0010.html
http://myweb.hinet.net/home11/tonyhuang38/tony0197.html

二重疏洪道花海

Growing up in Taipei I never image I would live outside of the city, not to mention 三重 :-p

When I thought of 三重 I always think of 黑道, 雍擠 and 髒亂. However, after living there for six months I have changed my perception of 三重 somehow and this is one of the reasons:

二重疏洪道花海 by Lin Chia-Yi
http://www.pbase.com/adamslin/yellowflower_

This is 5 min drive from where we live. We kind of discovered this place when we took a walk one evening after dinner... what a nice surprise :-)