This is where I share a mix of my illustration and a touch of pretty things and places I've discovered in my day.

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Scary Gods.

First we heard the music. It sounded like all the worst soul wrenching sounds in the world combined into one LOUD trumpet. Terrible.
Then we saw the succession. It was really weird. Little lighted trucks carrying huge signs with elaborate embroidering on, kids with
drums, hopping altars with little dolls on, dragons and the huge scary puppets representing the Gods - amongst others.
It was a Taoist ceremony and the reason could've been one of many: It was a special day on their calender and they were pleasing
the Gods (who apparently love the worst music in the world) They were moving the Gods from one temple to another - or some
political candidate rented them to bring good luck with the upcoming election (another story in itself). What makes it even more strange
is the fact that you are such an outsider - you can't ask anyone what is going on? - why why why? - and when it's over and you talk to
someone that you can ask - they won't necessarily know all the detail. There are so many people in this city that one weird festival
can be one of any Taoist sect with their own dogma and hardcore beliefs. It fascinates me to see how people develop an idea over
centuries to find their religion and set of beliefs around it - and the end result is often HUH!?




Sunday, November 14, 2010

It's raining it's raining.

What to do on a listless weekend.. It had been raining for more than a week. So I decided to make a necklace and buy some stationary to send as gifts and to use in my sketchbook. The stationary shop near Taipower Building is huge and packed with anything you can think of. The have SO MANY little books it's really hard to choose - then there are the pens and the stickers, the cards, all the erasers and the tape! I'm very happy when I actually need something from there...

The necklace turned out to be really easy to make - All the jewelery here is very dainty so I was happy to add a some chunky colour to my wardrobe. I'll be opening an etsy shop soon - so I'm exploring with different product ideas...watch this space.

Monday, November 1, 2010

I love the weekend.

It started with a high speed train journey out of Taipei and some good pizza (hard to find) in Hsinchu. We spent the night in Miaoli - a breather away from the crazy bussiness of Banqiao. Onwards with a wonderful scooter outing to a little woodcarving town. The streets were filled with a distinctive wooden incense - the wood is as fine as powder and it burns in a little bowl. There were cute plants in little sidewalk gardens and a woodcarving museum (slight yawn). Off too another small quaint ( also hard to find - the Chinese don't really do quaint) old railway village. All while munching on sweet fresh pineapple while riding on the scooter. The village was filled with wooden tea houses and restaurants in between the trees, with fairy lights and the smell of sesame sweets. When we arrived it was a bit late to explore - we will be back! We finished the weekend off with a big meal in a cool retro restaurant - with our good company and host of the weekend :). Then back to the working week.. with boring meetings and were our dreams are sometimes the most exciting happening of the day. Sigh.

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