Another weekend adventure

Yesterday's adventure started in Hsinchu at the glass museum, and ended up in Miaoli.

First, I met up with Linda and Peggy to see the glass museum.  The guy we talked to at the train station said it was just "okay."  But he was nice enough to translate for us to the cab driver to get us there.  And the museum was more than "okay," it was beautiful.

"Christmas Eve" 

"Sky Lantern"

My tea, at lunch.  They get creative with the drinks here.  I think Peggy's latte had a teddy bear face.

Then after some ice cream and people watching, we headed to Miaoli for the Dragon Dancing competition.  They had an opening ceremony with music by one of the elementary schools.  That's one thing I love about Taiwan, they really appreciate and encourage the arts here.  The orchestra that was playing was made up of kids maybe 10-12 years old.  And they were just as good as any professional orchestra I've ever heard.

After a long opening ceremony, the teams were presented.  The competitors came from Korea, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, The Philippines, and there was a team from Taipei.

When we went in, they handed everyone small light-up buttons.  I didn't understand the purpose until they turned out the lights.  The dragons are black lit, and the effect is awesome.  This team is from Hong Kong.

We watched four performances, and then it was time to go.