As it turns out, if you want to live in Toronto, you’re going to have to work in Toronto. And not at one of these 16 hours a week, give shifts away so you can go to the beach, minimum wage, ‘I sort of work here but really I’m an artist/writer/street performer’ kind of jobs.…
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It seemed apt that we should watch High Rise on our second day in Toronto because were already apartment hunting. Scrolling through the endless adverts on kijiji and craiglist over a Tim Horton’s coffee and a bagel, Toronto’s apartments seemed to fit into three categories. 1) Dingy and desolate basements with a ceiling height of less…
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In Holguin you must do as the Holguin’s do. The people of Holguin go about their business at an easy pace. Sauntering around the city they stop for a rest in the city’s many parks, where the benches sit invitingly in the dappled shade of tall trees. Or they take a seat in one of…
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No matter how much you prepare yourself before a trip, no matter how many guidebooks you read or photos you look at or route maps you plan, you will be just as disorientated as everybody else when the place you’ve only imagined suddenly become real. No amount of preparation can pre-empt culture shock, that bewildered,…
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A trip to Taroko National Park is the reason most people visit Hualien on the East coast of Taiwan. Famous for the marble gorge at its heart, Taroko National Park is over 92 hectares in size and is sliced open at the centre by the surprisingly diminutive LeeWoo Ho River. It’s a place that begs…
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If you visit Hualien and want to see the Chingshui cliffs, a gorgeous waterfall and Chihsingtan Beach, you’re going to have drive along Taiwan’s Suhua Highway, one of the world’s most dangerous roads. I had to give more information to the woman at the Clinique counter this morning in order to buy face cream than…
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I’m sitting here with my laptop balanced uncomfortably on a pillow across my thighs and two visa application forms by my side. They’re both blank. I’ve had them for over two weeks and now, three weeks before we fly to Cuba, I’ve decided it’s time to get the ball rolling. I can remember feeling quite…
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The only reason we’re spending a night in Yilan City is so that we can visit the nearby Su’ao Cold Springs. I read that there are only two cold springs like Su’ao Cold Spring in the world. The water contains carbon ion concentrations of 68ppm, the highest of all the natural springs in Taiwan, and…
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