Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Area, DT Baseball Statue


I've seen this guy countless times riding by on the bus leading into downtown Chiayi, and have always wanted to get a pic.  Finally got the chance once I gained more confidence in the abilities of the new iPhone 15 Pro Max.

No one in my family there is at all interested, so haven't followed the sports culture in Taiwan.  I have seen some evidence in the United States, however.  Remember a TV story once in the '80's about the Little League World Series.  In this piece they compared what it was like the night before the final game in the hotel where the kids on the American team were staying, versus what the kids were doing where the Taiwanese team was staying.  The American kids were up late, venting their excitement by jumping on the beds, yelling at each other, and engaging in pillow fights.  Then the story cut to the Taiwanese kids, who were already in bed fast asleep, responsibly resting for the next day's contest.  Guess who won!


Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Area, Roadside Mannequin

...and speaking of mannequins, always get a kick when I see one of these along the roadside.  Makes perfect sense, really.  Battery below works the lights for nighttime operation.

Monday, December 29, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Area, Rusty Old Bicycle

Rusty old bicycles somehow make good subjects for a picture...

Sunday, December 28, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Area, Overloaded Pickup

I am forever intrigued with the vehicles created for use in other countries, especially holdovers from earlier periods of development.  In all our travels back to Chenjean's homeland I'd never seen anything quite like this...

Saturday, December 27, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Store, Inside Signage

In spite of the revelation described in yesterday's post, the Bigger Cahoona and I still found opportunities for interesting pics, such as the one above.  My gosh, what a huge store...

So that does it for the castle/château/store excursion.  Now that we're in the Chiayi area, will post a few in the city as well as one or two from the Zhuqi area.

Friday, December 26, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi STORE, Retail and Lab Areas

I had already concluded that, though my relatives called this place a castle, it's not a castle.  But it didn't dawn on me until finding these two rooms that it isn't really a château either - it is neither a castle nor a château.  It is a STORE!  Yes, a SINGLE GARGANTUAN STORE selling a SINGLE LINE of products!!  My bubble was completely burst: the Jourdeness name is indeed of a French family, but one very understandably still back in France while they unload tons of money to build stores like this elsewhere.  My gosh, how slow was I with this epiphany!

This shift in paradigm dampened my interest considerable in our visit, but the ladies were with us so the guys gamely tagged along...



Thursday, December 25, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Notre Dame Diorama

Not a bad diorama on display of the Notre Dame in Paris.  Yes, very French.  Not surprising.

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Inside at Last

At last we made our way inside to wonderful, cool AIR CONDITIONING!  How much of this house is available to the public?  It appeared as though we were able to wander freely without restriction of any kind.  We lingered in this area for a while just to cool off before continuing our obviously self-guided tour of the place.

The car must have been used to ferry a very important member of the Jourdeness family around the streets of Chiayi...perhaps the originating patriarch who took an unexplainable liking to this part of the world.

I was a little miffed at this car, however, because it prevented my getting under the exact center of the dome for this ceiling shot:



Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Monday, December 22, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Back Grounds with Another Fountain (VIEW ON LARGER SCREEN)

Still outside, we made our way to the back of the property, where we saw a fountain just as big as the one posted earlier and grounds just as well-maintained, if not quite as vast.  Very awe-inspiring.  Who exactly is this Jourdeness family?  And again, what are they doing here?  I was left speechless, baffled...and impressed.

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Cottage with Statues

A closer view in back of the side grounds, with a cottage for perhaps the chief gardener.  Very European looking, which was no surprise since the Jourdeness family is French.

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Side Fountain

The side fountain, which is sizeable.  My awesome brother-in-law seen walking arm-in-hand with his wife in bottom left corner.

Friday, December 19, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Panorama of Side Grounds (VIEW ON LARGER SCREEN)

Decided to capture the vast expanse of the side grounds with this 4-shot panorama.  Gosh, how many gardeners can the Jourdeness family afford?  Every inch of the lawns and gardens were immaculately manicured.  Tomorrow's post will feature a closeup of the big fountain you see straight ahead.

This being a stitched panorama, my brother-in-law (blue shirt) appears twice in front of the fountain.

Thursday, December 18, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Front Entrance from Inside

Another view of the front once inside the tourist entrance.  We had to pay to go in - guess this rich family must make expenses somehow.  The sheer size of the structure left me wondering how many beds and baths there were for guests...

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi Château, Front Gate

Must stop for a picture in front of the fancy gate.  It was hot that day, but my 95-year-old father-in-law will always dress up to go out, no matter the weather, even in his small village up in the mountains.  Very much a generational thing, but also a function of his former profession as a doctor.  His wife once complained to Chenjean, "Why does Jim always wear shorts?"  To which I would respond (if I could in their language), "Why do you wear long sleeves and long pants in this blazingly hot weather?!?".  No reason to make the air hotter by blowing in it...

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi "Castle", Revealing Signage


Aha!  The sign says it's a château.  So it's not a castle after all, but a château!  Not quite the same, but must be interesting nonetheless.  Still figuring out why a very rich French family is so keen on settling in Taiwan...

Monday, December 15, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi "Castle", Front View


And here we are, rounding the corner for our first sight of the castle.  Yes, it maybe looks a little like a castle, but where are the stones and turrets?  And it has the family name over the front entrance, "Jourdeness".  Must be a very rich French family.  But why would they build this and settle in a place like Chiayi County, Taiwan?  The mystery deepens...


Sunday, December 14, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiayi "Castle", Spikey Tree

One day Chenjean announced that we were going to visit a castle near Chiayi City.  Hmmm...didn't know they had royalty or a castle anywhere in Taiwan, much less in Chiayi County.  Let's go see this castle.

We parked on a street adjacent to the place, and walked the periphery toward the entrance.  On the way we passed this nightmare and stopped to take a pic or two.  Who needs a moat when it's surrounded by these guys?  Side shot below:



Saturday, December 13, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial, Ceiling Shot of Basement Museum

As stated in yesterday's post, it was very sunny and hot the day we took our friends to visit the Memorial.  We didn't know about this on any of our previous visits, but there are several basement floors underneath the statue that are AIR CONDITIONED.  Naturally we gravitated to this reprieve from the heat, and at the same time saw some pretty good exhibits.  Wasn't in the exact center for this ceiling shot, but pretty close.

Friday, December 12, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial, Changing of the Guard

...and what are all these people waiting for?  Why, it's the Changing of the Guard, similar to what you'd see at the Buckingham in London or Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the U.S.:

It was hot, hot, hot that day; don't see how they did it in those uniforms without fainting dead away.

Thursday, December 11, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial, Outside View of Memorial Hall

This is a view of the Memorial Hall itself, which contains a Lincolnesque statue inside, per below.  Dwarfs anything seen in Washington...



Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial, Macro-view of Complex

This is a view of same from the Memorial Hall at one end of the venue.  The buildings to the left and right are museums and administrative offices:

It's something that this entire complex is a dedication to the one man credited with the birth and development of Taiwan as we know it today.  He truly was the George Washington of their place and time.

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial, Liberty Square Arch

Now that we've been to Chiang-Kai-Shek's residence, let's have a look at his memorial, which is truly massive.  This is one of the entrances, called the Liberty Square Arch; looking at the people gives an idea on just how big it is.

Monday, December 8, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Radiant Flower at Entrance

The last shot of the Residence series, captured at the entrance/exit on the way out.

While we're doing Chiang things, think we'll go to his Memorial Hall next...

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Rose Garden Sign

Caught this sign for the Rose Garden on our way out, which I hadn't noticed before...

Full pic below:



Saturday, December 6, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Backlit Purple Bloom

Our time was growing short, so we headed toward the exit in time to grab a bite to eat.  I lost the group in stopping to snap off a few such as this guy.  Spent a bit of time in post-capture separating the plant into its own layer so the background could be desaturated to black-and-white, which I think turned out OK.  Original pic below:



Friday, December 5, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Cradle Shot #2

Looking in another direction yields another cradle shot...

Thursday, December 4, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Cradle Shot #1

After some 150 steps to the top we found ourselves on a platform with views far into the city of Taipei itself.  I zoomed in and captured the first of what I'll call cradle shots; zoomed out perspective of same below:



Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Millipede

On the way back from Chiang's residence we spied some stone stairs leading a ways up to something.  No restrictions or barriers, so up we went, seeing lots of these critters on the way.  Such an amazing variety of creatures we have on this planet...

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Sitting Room

Thought this sitting room was significant because of the picture of Christ front and center, an obvious display of where their faith stood.  And if there was any doubt among visitors, a full explanation was provided in nearby signage:

Near the end of our self-guided tour, we told a couple of the docents that a friend of ours at church in Texas (a white Caucasian) actually knew and befriended Madame Chiang (pictured above) after Madame moved to the U.S. following the death of Chiang.  Our friend's husband minded the financial affairs of retired Heads of State, and Madame Chiang was one of his clients.  They visited one another both in California and later in New York.  These docents got pretty excited about that, saying "Wow, that's pretty sacred to us...please give her this on our behalf!", then handed us a brochure with Madame's picture on it.  We didn't give our friend the brochure when we got back to Houston, but told her about what they said, to which she waved it off and replied, "No big deal."

Monday, December 1, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Porthole View

Porthole looking out into the front garden, complete with pond and fountain.

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, The House Itself

So finally we make it to the residence.  I thought we'd get a good look at the structure, admire it, and walk on by, but it was actually open for tours!  We paid the fee, exchanged our shoes for the special foot coverings they gave us, and went inside.  Docents were at every corner ready to explain what was there and keep people from touching things, etc.  Very interesting, but I didn't take very many pictures because of restrictions.

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Abandoned House


Something else we passed on the way to Chiang's house.  Looks like a house or living quarters of some kind, long abandoned.  There were several old, rustic, abandoned structures like this, which fires the imagination on what it was like in and around those places some 75 or more years ago...


Friday, November 28, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Rustic Sign / Looking at Other Languages

Not that I understand anything this says, but it's rustic and artistically done.  Google Translate on the phone helps with most signage, but this one's a bit spotty (literally).

And I just like looking at stuff like this - which is art, really.  The fact that almost all of the the characters are different, the "font" used, the way they are spaced.  It's beautiful.  But Chinese isn't the only language that is unique (to us) to simply look at.  In this post from 2020 I mentioned finding a book as a kid that had its Foreword written in 41 different languages.  I would sit and just stare at those pages for hours, fascinated that someone in the world could read and make sense of all of those squiggles, dots, letters, and symbols.

Then later, during my college years, I started a collection of foreign-language Bibles.  I stumbled into the American Bible Society on 61st at Broadway while in New York City the first time, and was surprised that the vast inventory they had of Bibles in different languages was for sale.  From then on, I bought a few on every trip to the city, eventually ending up with a collection of about sixteen of them.  Some I've given away since, so think now there're only about twelve left.

That's not a sense of wonder that's gone away with age, either.  Just recently I compiled a translation of Genesis 1:1 in more than 250 different languages...again thanks to Google and Microsoft Word that made it easy.  These included new and obscure writing systems that I previously knew nothing about.  One day I'll print the nine pages on glossy paper and post them somewhere.

Thursday, November 27, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Pathway with Overhang

After hanging out at the Love garden area for a while the rain stopped, so we moved on in search for the actual house where Chiang lived.  This was a parting shot before heading over there...

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Background Shot

Because it was not exposed to the sun, the interior of the coverings featured in the last few posts was much richer in color and texture, as can be seen in the background shot above.

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Window Shot of Friends

Another window shot, this of our friend shooting with a Canon.  I recently told someone that if it were possible to go back in time I'd probably start with Canon instead of Nikon.  There's just something about those cameras...

Friendship is sometimes fickle, but a wonderful thing if it lasts - two of our besties from back in the States.



Monday, November 24, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, Window Shot with Umbrellas

Ticks three boxes - window shot plus candid plus well-distributed complementary colors.

The rain doesn't do much to inhibit the enjoyment of outdoors in Taiwan.  And because of the heat, we're grateful for a rainy day...

Sunday, November 23, 2025

Taiwan 2025 - Chiang-Kai-Shek Residence, The Love Garden


It had been years since Chenjean and I visited this place, so everything was new to us as we wended our way through the property.  This garden area was a bonanza for photography, and it was raining so the sun didn't create problematic shadows.  If you've studied much about Chiang you know that the latter years of his life were dedicated to spreading this message of love.  He became a Christian, yet provided space on his grounds for all faiths to practice their worship.