da bux and socks

Yesterday, when we went to return an umbrella that the Starbuck's folks had kindly lent to Jack, we tried to catch a picture of Binbin with Doris, one of the many baristas who have taken a shine to him.



We like the little kid-size bamboo stools here in Taiwan. Perfect for putting on socks and shoes.

hot spring 溫泉

The hot springs in Beitou 北投 are in Taipei county, a quick ride from the MRT. The resorts there have drawn tourists for many generations. We went up yesterday for De-nin's birthday, and soaked in a private tub at Whispering Pine Inn 吟松閣. It's one of the older establishments, a blend of Japanese and 1970s mod.

We took snapshots on our walk through the park near the Xin Beitou MRT station. Here is a wooden rail for a covered pedestrian bridge over the hot spring.



There is a beautiful public library in the park. Jack was impressed by the architecture, which seemed more Boulder, Colorado than Taiwan.



Finally, a snapshot to commemorate De-nin's birthday in Beitou.

herding cats

Now that Elite's has acquired its license, enrollment is on the rise. Binbin's class has added several new kids and a new teacher. Here, the teachers, Zengzeng laoshi and Wenwen laoshi, use the "hold onto the rope" strategy to move all the kids in an orderly fashion across the front lawn.



Binbin has spotted Mama with her phone camera and caused a delay. (For a closer look, click on the picture.)

sighted

Workers lash together the frame for a multistorey real estate development advert in our neighborhood. This is not cirque du soleil, so why bother with pesky harnesses?



The appeal of bright, rubbery garden clogs is global. Get your Crocs at the corner shop near Taiwan University.

inside, outside Miramar 美麗華

Sunday afternoon, Binbin insisted on going to ai mai da bux to play the basketball game, but we made a detour to Miramar. Inside, Binbin played with the large legos near a clothing retailer.



Here is the view from the fourth floor down into the atrium.



We also were outside, on the fifth floor where there are plenty of basketball game stations.



And this time, we actually made it onto the merry-go-round. Binbin chose the saucer seat over the ponies.

Binbin and baba

in front of the entrance to C02, our apartment building.

on stage...

at the flower festival, Binbin runs around, checking out the props: a waterwheel and an enormous blossom.



From that vantage point, he spotted two little girls blowing bubbles. When Yigong went to ask where to buy the bubbles, the lady gave one to Binbin as a gift. Here Yigong holds the bubble wand for Binbin to blow.


Yigong tries his turn as Binbin watches with much anticipation.

Yangmingshan 陽明山

Yigong and Yipo have returned from their trip to the States, and this past Sunday, they took us up to Yangmingshan, the nearby scenic mountain area for a walk. It was the last day of the annual flower festival 花季. Binbin impressed Yigong with the distance he walked that morning, probably somewhere between a kilometer and two.




Crowds gather at the "flower clock" to take pictures. We look on from above.

sandbox 沙耕

Binbin got a set of his own sandbox toys at the traditional market. We made bee-line for the playground at the elementary school to try them out.



Sometimes, the toys you find at the playground are more fun. Binbin swats at the array of letters with a plastic thing-a-mabob.



He gives up the thing-a-mabob for...something even better: a couple of wood posts. What more could a little boy want?

to market

We head for the Dazhi traditional market Saturday morning. Binbin has a bag full of little balls made from his dough-dough (playdough), and he is ready to roll.

little friends 小朋友 at Elite's

Binbin's best buddies at Elite's are Libby and Miles. Here, he sits between his little friends waiting for their parents to come pick them up.



Having recently acquired a government license to operate, Elite's is now free to eliminate the silly parking lot that ate up 1/4 of the front lawn. Two portable plastic playgrounds have been moved to the former driveway. We hear that a permanent playground is in the works. You may not be able to recognize him, but Binbin is the kid coming down the pink slide.

play ball 玩球

It's after school, so naturally we have all come to "ai mai da bux" to play the basketball game. Binbin prepares to throw.



Baba and Binbin team up for a higher score.



Having played at all three stations, Binbin says "all done" and prepares to return home.

ai mai da bux

That is Binbin's way of referring to the "Love to Shop" shopping complex, which has a Starbucks on the first floor. He wanted to go this morning, but it doesn't open until 8:30. He insisted, and so Baba took him over there, and Binbin saw for himself that even the carpark entrances were closed. One of the Starbucks employees was waiting to be let in, and she told Binbin that the store was indeed closed 關門.

After school, we go to "ai mai da bux." Binbin will tell you to "go in through the main door 大門進去. Then take the escalator ramp up 斜坡上去. Then go play the basketball game 丟球.

one word: plastic

If you were here, Binbin would want to show you his new favorite toys. The plastic shopping cart from Carrefour came with veggies that Binbin can identify: green pepper, red pepper, tomato, broccoli, lettuce, corn, and bitter melon 苦瓜. This last vegetable is aptly named, uncommon in the US, and one of Jack's favorites.



The car carrier, which Binbin agreed to share with the other kids in his daycare class awhile back, came with five racing cars. Binbin will inform you that one of them (the green one) is still broken, and that Baba will fix it.

physical development

Some of our friends and the teachers at Elite's have remarked on Binbin's physical abilities. Here's a short list of what he has been able to do recently.

hang from a monkey bar for almost 10 seconds
climb up a 10 foot cement slide
hit a ball with a plastic bat
throw a basketball into the basket at the coin-operated game at Love to Shop

new hat

No matter what the weather in Taipei, you can always use a good baseball cap. So, we picked one up for Binbin this past weekend at the traditional market. With cap on head and an umbrella in each hand, Binbin is ready to go out!

free gift

Taipei retail outlets abound with all manner of incentives to lure shoppers into their establishments. Last week, Carrefour 家樂福 ran a special on Pampers: buy two enormous packages of Pampers and you get a free kiddie shopping cart with plastic veggies. Naturally we jumped on that offer. But how were we to get everything--Pampers, 2 bookbags, new toy, milk, and Binbin--home? We took a page from the living in Berkeley book: take the shopping cart home, too. Binbin thought it was great.

the romance continues

Binbin's passion for vehicles of all kinds has not faded in the least. So, we are fortunate to live in a neighborhood with lots of construction sites with cranes at work and underground carparks where automobiles enter and exit.

what his teachers say

Here, in no particular order is a sampling of what Binbin's teachers at Elite's have to say about him:

He is stubbon 固定.

He has lots of energy 體力, and he'll run faster and more circles than the average kid.

Everyone wanted to play with his car carrier toy, and he didn't want to share it at first. So, either he had to put the toy away or he had to share. He chose to share.

When we were learning shapes today, I pointed and said, this is a circle. Binbin said, circle. Then I pointed to a square, and Binbin said, circle.


Here's what the teachers had to say to Binbin's mother:

Stop bringing diapers. We have lots of daipers at school, and they are all Binbin's.

Please put less food in his lunch. That way he can finish his meal and have some feeling of accomplishment 成就感.

fun and games

Last weekend, Binbin was twice the lucky guest of indulgent parents who put 10 kuai coins to operate the kiddie rides at Love to Shop. The little motorcycle ride moves surprisingly fast. Binbin holds on tight. He is definitely going for the ride, but he seems to be withholding his judgment.



Yesterday after dinner, we went over to visit Xuanxuan jiejie. She and Binbin don’t always play interactively, but yesterday they engaged in a two-person game that is universally beloved by children throughout the electrified world: one child turns off the lights, the other turns them back one. The game is especially fun when the panel has three switches and two of the three have multiple brightness settings. Binbin actually squealed with delight.

Parting is difficult, but it’s made easier when Ah-yi sends Binbin home with a toy to borrow. Binbin’s favorite is this vending machine. Last night, he figured out that it’s even more fun to use Baba as the vending machine. Deposit the fruit juice cans into the bib of Baba’s overalls, then fish them out from the sides!

Dongdong le 洞洞樂

Those of you who have been reading the blog will recall this toy that Binbin got last week. But, not all of you will have the kind of vivid image and nostalgic memory of it that Yigong 姨公 and Yipo 姨婆 had.




Below, Binbin examines the pink and black rosary that was lodged behind one of cardboard doors.

current obsessions

Binbin's current, long-standing obsession is with underground car-parks (cheku) 車庫. He will invariably visit the entrances and exits of car-parks in our neighborhood on our walks to and from school. When exploring new places, he gleefully points out all the garages along the street. He likes to stop and observe any cars or scooters emerging from these mysterious and fantastic places. And if one vehicle follows another, you'll hear him shout, haiyou yige 還有一個! (See earlier post on sentence patterns for translation.)

Other obsessions involve traffic lights, including the little red and green figures directed toward pedestrians. He is also constantly on the lookout for sloping curbs (xiepo) 斜頗 that permit easier access for strollers and grocery carts.

talking in his sleep

What do dreams reveal about our inner life? our everyday life?

Here is what Binbin has been saying:
zhege, zhege.... zhege. 這個，這個，這個. This one, this one...this one. (directly, emphatically,...plaintively)
bee-yao. bee-YAO. bee-YAO!!!!! 不要，不要，不要. Do not want, do NOT WANT, do NOT WANT!!!!

What does he see in his sleep?

inside, at home

With all the rainy weather, we've had to find ways to have fun indoors. Saturday afternoon, we invited our neighbors over to play. Clockwise from atop are: Weiting (an older cousin), Binbin, Didi (simply younger brother), and Junjun. Here, Binbin offers Weiting instruction on how to use the various handtools in his Little Red Toolbox Book. Didi is poking through a new toy, called a "dongdong le 洞洞樂," or caves of happiness. A convenience store re-make of an old toy, the cardboard pieces may be poked out revealing "prizes" of magnets, plastic bracelet, pencil toppers, 20-sided dice, and other little trinkets. Junjun has a hold of his prize.



Binbin has also gotten his own seal from the local shop. It's a simple wood seal with a little monkey printed on one side. Binbin spent part of the morning emblazoning his drawing pad with his name.

playgrounds

We are now regulars at several playgrounds 遊戲場 in our neighborhood, so long as the weather is fair or better. The best playground ever is the one in Tianmu 天母, which is a bus ride away on the 645. This pic was taken on the brutally hot Sunday morning, a week before the rainy cold front moved in.



The playground at the grade school, though modest by comparison, is still impressive. Especially when one considers the sheer amount of tropical hardwood used for this maze. (You can see Binbin's backside as he crab crawls around the far corner.)



Binbin peeks out from under the panels on the up-ramp.



Tired of all the running around, he and Baba watch the older boys playing basketball.