Wordless Wednesday: Vibrant mascots

My daughter with the vibrant Chinese opera mascots!

Ain't they the liveliest and the friendliest!

   

Yellow ballerina

Since my daughter joined us in Taiwan, she studied and danced ballet. The last time they had a presentation in their school, she was a rainbow fish. At first she was sad she was not wearing a tutu unlike last year's. But then of course it would be weird for a fish to wear a tutu, she was convinced. While attending to her make-up backstage, I became an instant make up artist for almost all of her classmates too lol. I guess their number is too much to handle by the volunteer moms and an extra hand was very much appreciated. The  ballet dances, the cute and talented kids, the proud parents, the entertained spectators, overall it was a fun night!

Cute rainbow fishes!

The proud mommy, daddy and little sister!

Baloons for our little star!

With the full support of aunts and uncles!

Taichung Park

Walking around the parks and just letting our kids run loose were becoming our weekend afternoon routine last summer. In one of those lazy afternoons, we strolled along the city's century-old park, named Taichung Park. I just learned it was more than a hundred years old, ain't that cool! It's only about 10-minutes-scooter-drive-away from our place. I used to drive past it on our way to shop at Yi Jung Jie night market or to China Medical Hospital for our routine medical check ups and hence, my first time to actually drop by and just enjoy nature's beauty. The park is full of tall luscious green trees, rich flowers and well-manicured grasses where my kids were tempted to just roll over. In its midst is a picturesque lake, also known as Sun Moon Lake. It is adorned with a classical Chinese moon Pavilion, a cannon platform, and with facilities including rowboats for rent, children's playground, outdoor music stage and tennis courts. In the weekends, it's kind of festive with a lot of fun activities going on ~ music, foods, games, art exhibits and more.

Taichung Park was developed a century ago in 1903 during the Japanese colonization. The old pavilion was built in 1908 and its classical design was still well-preserved amidst the upgrades done on the park through the years. Indeed, it's one of Taichung's famous landmarks. 

Behold the  lovely classical  Chinese pavilion in the lake. 

Visitors can rent rowboats for about 7us$ and tour around the lake.  

My kids with the scenic lake and  connecting bridge in the backdrop.

My baby among the vibrant yellow flowers.

Posing again for Mommy among the trees with her signature "peace" sign lol.

The tranquil lake in the midst of the bustling city. 

This park is free of entrance and a lot of Taiwanese snacks are sold during the day. Indeed, Taichung Park is one of the nice places to hang out and relax. Think about an inexpensive and healthy way of relaxation, yes? Have a great day!

        

University Lake

Our campus lake at daytime

At early evening (photo credit)

at late night.. simply beautiful.. 

Our university lake (Jhongshing lake), found at the heart of our campus has always been an attraction to the students and the local community alike. It's a man-made one, the shapes of China (big lake) and of Taiwan (small lake).

Top view: the shape of China.

Top view: the shape of Taiwan. So cool right?

Being surrounded by green trees, flocked by different kinds of birds (yes, it's a bird sanctuary), a home to geese and ganders, ducks, swans, turtles and fishes, it's definitely one of the best places to relax. People can just come around and relax, feed some fish and birds, do some taichi and yoga or simply enjoy the cool breeze. The first time my daughters came to Taiwan, I never failed to tour them around and took few photos of them by the lake.

The first time Aron came here last February 2011:

My pink baby by the NCHU lake! 

Feeding and playing with the geese.

Feeding the fish and turtles.

Enjoying the panorama.

Me and my baby! So glad to be reunited with her again!

The first time Joey came here two years ago:

Can't believe how small she was by then. Indeed time ran so fast!

And the first time I came here four years ago:

Me with a good friend.

and with another good friend, August 2007.

My, I just realized the coincidences of me and my little girls wearing pinks the first time we had photos with the lake lol. More of our campus lake...

At our graduation day.  

With our good friends.

Indeed, a lot of good memories happened in this lake. The face-bashing-with-cakes birthday surprises and the late night  hang-outs with good crazy friends that were such good stress relievers will surely be missed.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Strawberry pickers

My little ones. Harvesting, eating and playing.

Verena's Wordless Wednesday