Spring Fair

We went to the Taipei American School PTA Spring Fair for the first time this past Saturday. I mostly wanted to go to support our neighbor who's started a baby food business, but it also seemed like a reasonable Saturday outing. We don't often hang out in the ex-pat community so both Tony & I felt a little weird seeing so many foreigners in one place. It was funny, though, because we did see lots of people we know from various aspects of our lives - work, acquaintances of acquaintances, former neighbors - it really was kind of funny. It also was the first time it hit me that soon enough we'll be spending our weekends at our kids' schools for their own extracurricular activities - instead of just seeing a bunch of nameless faces, we'll be interacting with our kids' teachers and parents of their friends; instead of just coming and going, we'll be on a time schedule with a list of things to do; and instead of just buying goods or playing games, we'll be preparing the goods to be bought and running the game booths! It sorta struck me that once the kids get a bit older, our time really won't belong to us as much and we'll be doing things as a "family" that revolves around their interests. I guess that's where we'll have to decide how many things the kids are going to be involved in and what interests we as parents/adults are going to pursue. It all takes time... but I guess that too is where families need a purpose and spoken expectations so each member can feel like their interests are important and their needs are being met.

Hunter sat at the fishing pond for at least 15 minutes pulling out wildlife with a magnet - he really got his $50NT worth out of this game.
Same with the train - there was no set time limit so we let him go around and around and around and around and around and around and around...

Here was Jenny's booth displaying their organic babyfood. She said it had been going kind of slowly so she borrowed Helena as a live demonstrator - her second volunteer job!! We're pulling for you, Jenny!!! We hope it takes off!!!

Thankfully Hunter's not as afraid to brush his own teeth...

Urban Cowboys (and Girls)

The "Cow Parade" came to our city - which made Taipei the 65th participant in the world since the concept started in Zurich in 1997 - and the largest scale in the Asia Region. Lucky us!!! So for the past 2 months, the kids and I (and our patient friends) set out to see (and photograph) as many of the 107 event cows that we possibly could. Some of it required a bit of effort, but thankfully most of the cows were right here in the areas closest to our home. In the end, according to my calculations, we saw almost all of them (except the ones at the museum that I just couldn't bear to drag the kids to, the one on the 89th floor of the 101 building, and maybe the odd 1-2 that had been moved from it's original site). What follows is the record of our hunt. Hey, we may be city folk, but we enjoy a bit of nature too!!!

2009 - Year of the Cow

He's not quite ready for the bull-riding challenge... but he was interested!

This one's for my dad - "Acupuncture Cow"

This one gets top marks for creativity - #107 - NOT! I think they forgot to do something here!!!

Made with computer guts, this cow is full of romance.

Hunter and Hilo trying to find New Zealand.

I thought this was one of the prettiest - "Walking Ocean"

The boys are mixin' it up with the locals!

"Princess Niu" - the cow, not my daughter!

This is a funky one that is basically cut in half and the top half rotates! It's called something like "The Powerful Cow that can Turn the World"... isn't that what moms are supposed to do?!?

Two monkeys - "The Monkey King Cow"

This one's cool - it's completely covered with keyboard letters

C O W

"Goal-keeper Cow"

Helena enjoys the "Breeze of Taiwan" cow, while Cynthia tries to keep Hilo from turning it into a typhoon!

Taipei City Hall - 1 cow

"Aboriginal Cow"

Civic Plaza - 14 cows

This park just across from Tony's office has a little creek that runs through it and enough shade to keep us comfortable, but lately it's been the cows drawing us back each week to have lunch with daddy and spend a bit of quality time outside together!

"The Scenery of Taipei"

Hunter's shirking his hat-wearing responsibility by playing philanthropic... hmmm...

Helena with the "Night Market Cow"

Our sentiments exactly!

Helena's getting some tips from the "Taiwanese Girl Cow"

"Bubble Milk Tea "- what all Taiwanese dairy cows aspire to.

Helena can't read international symbols yet...

"Metiphoricow"

Hunter liked to point out the fact that the "Taiwanese Graceful Girl" was wearing shoes just like he was!

Anything can become a train track - just ask the "Steamed Dumpling Cow".

"Blossom in the Year of the Cow"

Vie Show and New York New York - 8 cows

These cows we passed by all the time on the way to meet Tony for lunch or just in our general walking around. I do think we'll miss having some of these guys around town.

This is a favorite - "Made in Taiwan" - just like our two little ones!!!

This was one of the weakest (in our humble opinion) - maybe I just didn't get it - but after a while of pondering, I don't think Hunter did either!

Interactive component = Hunter's favorite!!! He sat there and played with the keyboard for 10 minutes!!! Who says toddlers can't sit still?!?

"Super Cow"

Mitsukoshi A4 - 2 cows

Our first official cow hunting expedition was an overcast Monday during the European school's mid-term break. Suzanne's almost 4 year old had the day off so it was a great way to occupy her two kids and mine. As we headed toward the MRT we stopped at the mall to maximize the cow spotting!

Mikey's first sighting of the Rocking Cow... yep, anything goes around here!

Princess or not, this corsetted cow was a bit scantilly clad for my taste!

Sogo Department Stores - 5 cows

"Spark" was one of my favorites - it's hard to tell from this photo but the round spots are made from reflective material so when light shines it sparks! It's a cool concept and yet still looks really bright and colorful as is.

What's with Hunter biting his nails? Anyone have any suggestions on how to help him stop!?! We've tried painting the nails with some 'no bite' stuff, but that didn't work. He's got them all down to nubs...

TV channel surfing cow... I told you, anything goes here!!!

Having seen several fictious cows, we were surprised to see a real animal!!! This pet pig came out of the scooter shop to greet the kids in their strollers... they're not used to animals that actually move!!!

Dunhua North Road and Civic Boulevard - 17 cows

This was our destination - cow circle!!! I'm pretty sure I managed to miss a few in the photos, but the kids loved running around looking (read- touching) all these wonderful cows!!! The kids also provided a bit of entertainment for the lunch-going locals who got a kick out of their youthful enthusiasm...

"Moosage" as it was called was the hit of the day!!!

A floating milkshake???

Hunter's heaven a cow reindeer!!!

Our son the animal lover

This one takes me way back to a vague recollection of Cara Dettloff creation!

Yeh, this one is a little weird.

Siena liked the "Feather Cow"... and what girl wouldn't!?!

Helena tried to eat the cows... I guess it's about time to introduce meat into her diet!

The "Golden Dream of Childhood" Cow -
just what Suzanne and I were trying to create with this outing...
well, we got the kids out of the house anyway!

Xin-yi Eslite - 3 cows

"Wow Cow - what a Harvest in Taiwan!" that's a mouthful for a name... but the first part is rather catchy and Hunter was saying something similar most of the month!!!

Since I started a 'medicinal' coffee drinking binge, I found this cow to relate to... he was kicking back at Starbuck's with a big latte!

Poor ole Hunter... this was the day he slipped in the mud! I still insisted we capture a cow even with him in his toga!

Ren-Ai Road - 13 cows

Faithful cow-hunting companions, Suzanne & Mikey, went with us again to hunt out a herd on Ren-Ai Road between Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and Zhong Shan Hospital. Unfortunately, I didn't have my map so we missed a few (2 in the basement) on the day and had to go back to capture the strays another time.

Yes, those are cows in the "Moo moo Tree" attached to the biggie...

The boys loved running around the 'herd' of cow.

Brilliant colors!!!

I'm not making this up: "Mr Eyeball's World of Fantasy"

There's just something really cool about this photo of Mikey and the "Beauty Cow"

"Abundance" and "My Beautiful Motherland Cow" (honestly, I'm not making up these names... I don't think I could).

"Colorful" was a little more like a spirograph blowout!

The three strays kept us occupied on a trip to the doctor's office. I'm really appreciating these cows as distractions and side trips along the trail to other destinations. I think cities around the world should do this type of thing regularly - it keeps people on their toes!

I can see how we missed "Camouflaged Cow"...

These two in the basement were worth going back for - both had sparklies and jewel-type effects.

Dunhua Eslite Bookstore - 1 cow

A book-cow?!? What will the worm think about losing his position as mascot?!?

Taipei Zoo - 1 cow

And how appropriate - it's the New Zealand Fernleaf sponsored cow!

Anhe Marketplace - 2 cows

Tony and Hunter made a special expedition over to the Anhe Marketplace on Keelung/Heping to see two cows. It was a good thing they took the bike - apparently it was much further than I thought. It turned out to be a fun daddy/son Saturday and what a treat - they even went to TGIF's for lunch!!! Wow... why didn't I think of that!

Hunter was very familiar with our cow parade map!

You got it - baby bottle nipples - makes sense really.

Taipei 101 - 6 cows

We managed to see 5 of the 6 at the 101 building. The 6th was on the 89th floor observation level and I just couldn't justify spending almost $18 just to go snap a photo of a cow. I had to exercise a bit of self-control in this whole cow crazy season as it was!

"50/50" - this one was pretty cool because you could they had a camera which snapped your photo and you could see yourself on-line. Somehow I was so intent on finding the other cows, I forgot to write down the URL so I'm not sure where to find us... Oh well, I think this will suffice!

This is really Taiwanese - "Walking Beef Noodles Cow"!!!

"The Transformation of Two Animals" - can you figure out the other animal? I'll give you a hint - it's not a golfer...

Some of the cows I really didn't 'get' - like this one "Making Sounds"

"Wings of Love" was actually pretty cute too...


"Me, Myself & I" - notice the shop in the background... how appropriate for all my cow craziness!

Hua Shan Culture Center - 5 cows

One Thursday afternoon I convinced Cynthia and Hilo to join in the cow hunt on a special mission which required an MRT ride to an area neither of us frequent and a place neither of us have ever been. Thankfully the boys were able to run around in a somewhat shady area after having spotted a few cows along the way. They were far more interested in the fountain than the cows, but heck - it was a good way to see something new! The Hua Shan Culture Center is a big industrial looking park area dedicated to Taipei artists - visual and performing. We may just have to check it out on a Saturday afternoon with Tony.

"The Smiling, Proud Wanderer"

This one made me think of my Aunt JoAnne and Uncle Ronny's backyard for some reason...

Hunter likes some of them better than others - if it's got moving parts, it qualifies as 'the some'.

This one may be a bit disturbing at first glance... but it's called "The Baby Sitter that be Disassembled"... maybe still a bit disturbing.

"Amis Bullfighter"... looks "Hunterized" to me!

Ximendeng - 4 cows

This one's for all my rodeo fan club family members - Steph Boyer being the instigator of the whole thing (as far as I can remember anyways)!!!

Brings back memories of my days as a driving instructor!!!

"A Little Space of Us"

How appropriate - the Chinese Opera Cow in front of the Red Pavilion Theatre

Well, there you have it... this is what the urban cow-kids have been up to! On April 1st the cows will be but a memory. Hmm... now I've got to start thinking of other free entertainment - rats!!! Oh... rat-watching... I've seen a few at the Sun Yat Sen lake lately... maybe that'll...