Out and about in Hsinchu

So, I am in Hsinchu, Taiwan, for a kind of impromptu family reunion.  Above is the Eastern Gate in downtown Hsinchu, back when it was a walled town centuries ago.  Now it's the center of a traffic island.  There's a park behind it that one uses an underground pedestrian way to access it.

Sister and Husband in Law have been planning to come here for a while.  Brother One is already here with our parents  Then Brother Two decided to go.  That would leave me as the only one in my family not going!  So 2 weeks ago, I confered with Husband and bought a ticket.

So Sunday we celebrated our 12th anniversary :), and a few days later I left him for a 2 week vacation :(.  Husband couldn't get away like I could.

Below is a picture of the track for the light rail righ outside the back door, connecting our neighborhood near the Science Park (Taiwan's Silicon Valley) to the Hsinchu train station of the high speed rail line that runs from Taipei in the north to Kaoshung in the south.  Now, it would take only 2 hours to traverse the island.

That used to be just rice paddies int he back, but now there's a lot of new development.

Yesterday, the Brothers and I wandered downtown Hsinchu, and I came across a fabric shop.  Bought a few feet of a bunch of different fabrics for the quilt stash.

Today, going to the yarn shop in the neighborhood where I bought my first supplies when I learned to knit in home economic class in 1987 :)