My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Visited Taiwan (Taichung & Taipei) for 6 days 5 nights trip on May 2011. My flight (CI 754) was from Singapore to Taoyuan, Taipei. And this was my first experience with China Airlines, anyway...not much different from others Airlines.

Checked in at Changi International Airport - Terminal 1, Singapore.

On China Airline CI 754

Everyone is provide with a LCD monitor, I watched 2 movies on the flight...

The flight took 4 hours and 20 minutes from Singapore. Once we reached Taoyuan International Airport at Taipei, and after the custom clearance...it was already dark...(sunset at Taipei 1835hrs)

Our transport brought us directly to Taichung from the Airport. Our Taiwan itinerary as below...

Day 1
*  Check in to Evergreen Laurel Hotel - Taichung
*  Dinner and hang out at Fong Chia Night Market (逢甲夜市).

Day 2
*  Check out Evergreen Laurel Hotel after breakfast
*  Heading to Xinshe Castle (新社古堡) for photography session.
*  Lunch at Master of Mushroom Restaurant (菇神), XieZhong St - Taichung
*  Scenery along the way from Taichung to Puli Township.
*  Zhong Tai Chan Monastery (中台禪寺), Puli Township (埔里鎮)
*  Che Cheng Train Station (車埕火車站)
*  Heading to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)
*  Check in to Miracolo Hotel (米洛克飯店), Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)
*  Dinner at Ah Yong Restaurant, Sun Moon Lake (日月潭).
*  The night of Shuishe town(水社).

Day 3
*  Sun Moon Lake photography session after breakfast at Hotel.
*  Shuishe Jetty (日月潭水社碼頭).
*  Syuan Guang Temple (玄光寺-日月潭).
*  Ita Thao (伊達邵) Village.
*  Millet Wine (小米酒) Museum.
*  Wenwu Temple (文武廟), Nantou County.
*  Lunch at Xin Tian Yuan Restaurant (新田园).
*  Puli Brewery (埔里酒廠) then heading to Taipei
*  Check in to Grand Victoria Hotel (維多麗亞酒店), Taipei.
*  Shilin Night Market (士林夜市)

Day 4
*  Gugong National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院)
*  The Martyr's Shrine (忠烈祠)
*  Lunch at Wang Hai Tin Seafood Restaurant (望海亭海鲜餐馆), Yehliu (野柳)
*  Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園)
*  Jiufen (九份) small town of Taiwan
*  Dessert shop at Jiufen Old Street.
*  Dinner at Diamond Tony's Restaurant - Taipei 101.

Day 5
*  Lunch at Mitsui Cuisine Japanese Restaurant (明水三井餐廳).
*  Guang Hua Digital Plaza (光華商場), free and easy
*  Goose Noodle stall at Xi Men Ding.
*  Xi Men Ding (西門町) free and easy.
*  The Colour of Miramar Ferris Wheel.

Day 6
*  Back to Singapore.

* Street Photos of Taichung, Taipei and Yehliu - Taiwan.

Actually it seems like a photography trip to us...and we were satisfied and enjoyed this trip to Taiwan very much! Especially with a group of friends who were in same Hobby. I will blog about all the places I visited in the following blog post...

The LCD screen display Live from the plane's front camera.

Italy -- Jewish Book Festival, Ferrara

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I spent Sunday afternoon at the big Festival of the Jewish Book in Italy. A beautiful, sunny spring day, lots of books (all in Italian, issued by Italian publishers), lots of people....

Sign for the Jewish book festival outside the cathedral. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

most of the action, including talks, "debates", food-tasting and schmoozing,

Schmoozing at the festival. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

took place in a graceful cloister in the historic city center near the castle,

An event at the book festival. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

but I took in several linked exhibitions, including one that displayed all the 52 entries (including the winner by the Bologna-based Studio Arco-Architettura) for the building design of the National Museum of Italian Jewish and the Shoah (MEIS) now in development, which will occupy the building of an old prison in Ferrara.

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

JTA Launches Online Searchable Archive -- Tremendous Resource

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Bravo and Mazel Tov!

JTA -- the archaically named Jewish Telegraphic Agency -- has announced the launch of a tremendous new online resource -- a digitized archive of all its articles since 1923 --  a quarter of a million articles.

I've written for JTA for many years, and many pieces that I and others have published for the service will be of interest to this blog.

CLICK HERE, for example, for my 1989 article about the restoration and rededication of the great synagogue in Szeged, Hungary.

Or CLICK HERE for my 1999 article on the first European Day of Jewish Culture.

Or CLICK HERE on the a 1976 article about the restoration of the medieval synagogue in Sopron, Hungary

OR CLICK HERE for a 1982 article by Maurice Samuelson about renovations at the Jewish Museum in Budapest

Italy -- Festival of Jewish Books this weekend in Ferrara

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

This coming weekend, May 7-9, will see the second annual Festival of the Jewish Book in Italy. It takes place in Ferrara -- which will be the site of a new Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah, or MEIS, which is now in the planning stage. The MEIS foundation is the sponsor the book festival.

The three-day book festival will begin Saturday night with what is described as Italy's first Jewish "white night" -- that is, an series of events and activities that lasts well into the wee hours if not all night.

The Festival includes book signings, lectures, round-table discussions, exhibitions, concerts, guided tours, etc -- all is directed to an Italian audience.

Poland -- Awards for Preserving Jewish Heritage

Award ceremony at Galicia Jewish Museum. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Michael Traison writes in Ha'aretz on the wonderful and important initiative he founded in 1998 -- the presentation of awards by the Israeli embassy to non-Jewish Poles who preserve Jewish heritage and culture. This year, in addition to the usual ceremony in Krakow at the Festival of Jewish Culture, there will be a ceremony in Warsaw. I have posted about this ceremony and the people involved in the past, including HERE.

Traison calls the honorees "Polish heroes."

That such acknowledgment comes from the Embassy of the Jewish state and is presented personally by its ambassador, is particularly meaningful and important. The ceremonies are followed by a luncheon which is co-sponsored through the generosity of the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, an organization responsible for the reclamation and preservation of much of the Jewish heritage sites in Poland, as well as programs of education and information promoting better understanding between Poles and Jews.

Year after year, the program has depended upon the genius and charm of one of Poland's leading historians, Jan Jagielski of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

Jagielski reviews all nominations of individuals and projects to be awarded diplomas and contributes one of the most critical parts of the extended ceremony preparations.

But he is in good company, working among many others who support the ceremonies and the honor luncheon, including the Galicja Museum in Krakow, where the ceremonies have been held in recent years; Krakow's Eden Hotel, which has assisted with logistics and catering, and the JCC of Krakow which, over the last few years, has generously provides a venue for the luncheon.

As the initiator and founder of this program, I feel the most important individuals responsible for these ceremonies are, of course, the honorees themselves whose work gives us inspiration and enables us to tell the true story of the modern Republic of Poland, its people and the nature of its society.

See full article HERE

Another visit to Bar Banyan, Johor Bahru.

Visited the Bar Banyan (N1.46569 E103.74381) after sometime...you can refer my previous visit here. The Bar is located along Jalan Abdul Samad of Johor Bahru.

This time the Bar surprised us with the Totally new Look! It expended and renovated with Nice Decoration! At first, the dining area became much more comfort and spacious. But I'm yet to taste the food, will do it soon. :)

Bar Banyan dining area.

You can have your dinner here and some beer after the meal in the Beautiful Bar.

Once we stepped in to the Bar area, the attractive decoration appeared just in front of us! The area is Cool and Relax...

Soft music was playing to provide relax environment...it's one of the enjoyment with beer after a hectic day...

The Pool table area is wide and comfort enough. Wanna have a game? :)

At the second session (which is extended area), it's a low sitting area. Where you can rest yourself on the comfortable sofa with low lighting.

The second session of the Bar

I like the 'Bird Cage' lighting very much!

Beside the 'Bird Cage', there were also some other special & unique lighting in the Bar...

The Unique lighting in the Bar

We appreciated the Owner - Mr Fann who put in his effort to create such a Beautiful & Relax area within Johor Bahru. Another good reason for us to visit this Bar is...the area won't be over crowded and noisy! Well, at least after many times in our visit. And I called Bar Banyan is One of the Beautiful Bar in JB.

After the drinking area, let me share some photos of the Bar Counter...

The Decorative Bar Counter of Bar Banyan

The Friendly Bartender...

The beer and hard liquor

The Bar serve beer, liquor and wine. They have a special wine room for customers who want to keep their wine in the Bar. Beside the nice environment, the staffs are friendly too!
Visit it and have a mug or two if you happen in the area. :)

This is one of the Cool hangout place in Johor Bahru area and also one of my Favorite Bar!

The Location Map of Bar Banyan at Johor Bahru.

View Larger Map

Ukraine -- L'viv Jewish History Design Competition Winning Designs Viewable Online

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The winning designs -- and all the other entries -- in the competition held in L'viv, Ukraine last year to mark three key sites of Jewish history in the city are now viewable online.

I was on the international Jury for the competition, and I described some of the process in a blog post here last December. Our brief was to consider some 70 designs sent in  from 14 different countries for projects marking three key sites, taking into consideration the following stated criteria:

The competition has two distinct, but interconnected purposes. First, the competiton seeks to respond to the growing awareness of Lviv's multi-ethnic past by contributing to the rediscovery of the city's Jewish history and heritage through creating public spaces dedicated to the city's historic Jewish community. Secondly, the competition also seeks ways to re-design these three open public spaces in such as manner as to improve the quality of life for the contemporary inhabitants and visitors of Lviv.

All the entries were judged anonymously -- we had no idea where they were from or who were the designers.

See all the designs for the Synagogue Square site -- the empty space in the heart of the downtown Jewish quarter where three now destroyed synagogues once stood -- by clicking HERE.

The winning design for the Synagogue Square site was by Franz Reschke, Paul Reschke, Frederik Springer Germany, based in Berlin, Germany.

See all the designs for the Besojlam Memorial Park, or Jewish cemetery, site by clicking HERE.

The first prize went to a design by Israeli designer and landscape architect Ronit Lambrozo. You can see that HERE.

See all the designs submitted for the site of the Janivski death and labor camp memorial by clicking HERE.

The first prize went to a dramatic but understated design by Ming-Yu Ho, Ceanatha La Grange, Wei Huang of Irvine, California.