After a 9-day fast, my first meal- papaya!
Oct 15th- back in Taipei after a long break. Relaxed now and ready to get back to the grind of life in the city. I spent two weeks in Thailand in Ko Samui at a place called The Spa. I did a 9-day fast to cleanse my body of toxins and built-up crud in my digestive system. 9 days without any food, no juices, no chewing of any kind- just water and some drinks that have no nutrition but make you feel full so you aren’t (too) hungry. I spent the days getting massages, sun-bathing and steaming in an herbal steam room. The end result of the fast was that I was feeling great and I lost 9kg. I had more energy and I didn’t need coffee to get my day started because of my increased energy level! But then,..
On the 30th of Sept. I went to the US and though I tried very hard to make sure to eat healthily, I couldn’t resist the siren song of those tasty northwest beers and I couldn’t stop drinking them! Then came the food. Though I was careful to eat a lot of fruits and salads, there was still a lot of not-so-healthy food. I think in the end I gained about 4kg back.
My yearly trip back to the US usually has been in July or August, but this year I purposely delayed my trip to back to the US until Oct, so I could get a taste of autumn in the US again. In the 10 years I’ve been in Taiwan, I have missed and the beauty of the leaves changing color and the cool crisp nights. I had a big surprise, though when I got to Boston and the temperature was 85F- about 29C. Hot!! I was so annoyed, but after a couple days, it got cooler around 65F or 18C during the day and about 60F at night (16C) much better! But the leaves were really disappointing. It turns out that New England had had very little rain over the summer and a lack of rain really affects the colors- the leaves had hardly changed at all when I was there and they weren’t changing much, just drying, turning brown and falling. I was sad again!
Oct 15th- back in Taipei after a long break. Relaxed now and ready to get back to the grind of life in the city. I spent two weeks in Thailand in Ko Samui at a place called The Spa. I did a 9-day fast to cleanse my body of toxins and built-up crud in my digestive system. 9 days without any food, no juices, no chewing of any kind- just water and some drinks that have no nutrition but make you feel full so you aren’t (too) hungry. I spent the days getting massages, sun-bathing and steaming in an herbal steam room. The end result of the fast was that I was feeling great and I lost 9kg. I had more energy and I didn’t need coffee to get my day started because of my increased energy level! But then,..
On the 30th of Sept. I went to the US and though I tried very hard to make sure to eat healthily, I couldn’t resist the siren song of those tasty northwest beers and I couldn’t stop drinking them! Then came the food. Though I was careful to eat a lot of fruits and salads, there was still a lot of not-so-healthy food. I think in the end I gained about 4kg back.
My yearly trip back to the US usually has been in July or August, but this year I purposely delayed my trip to back to the US until Oct, so I could get a taste of autumn in the US again. In the 10 years I’ve been in Taiwan, I have missed and the beauty of the leaves changing color and the cool crisp nights. I had a big surprise, though when I got to Boston and the temperature was 85F- about 29C. Hot!! I was so annoyed, but after a couple days, it got cooler around 65F or 18C during the day and about 60F at night (16C) much better! But the leaves were really disappointing. It turns out that New England had had very little rain over the summer and a lack of rain really affects the colors- the leaves had hardly changed at all when I was there and they weren’t changing much, just drying, turning brown and falling. I was sad again!
One highlight of going mid-Oct. is that it’s Halloween season and pumpkins are everywhere- one of the biggest I’ve ever seen was at a place called Howe’s farm near my house in Worcester. This one came in 6th in New England. It was only 1600+ lbs. (725+kg.!)
The best part of the trip, was when I got to see a cranberry harvest. My father’s house is on Cape Cod one of the best places for cranberries to grow. He lives next to a family that has two low fields full of cranberries. Cranberries are grown in wet lands called bogs and harvested by filling the bog with lots of water and the cranberries then float to the top and are collected by sucking them up with a big vacuum. In this case, they were delivered into a huge, open truck bed. The truck in the pictures was filled in less than 30 mins. after the process began! The harvest took 2.5 truckloads in total for this one bog.
My trip to the US ended in Seattle, where a good friend of mine lives. We had a great time listening to live music and eating a lot of delicious food! Though I didn’t get to do one of my favorite activities- hiking, I really enjoyed my trip this year and I’m already looking forward to going again next year!
The best part of the trip, was when I got to see a cranberry harvest. My father’s house is on Cape Cod one of the best places for cranberries to grow. He lives next to a family that has two low fields full of cranberries. Cranberries are grown in wet lands called bogs and harvested by filling the bog with lots of water and the cranberries then float to the top and are collected by sucking them up with a big vacuum. In this case, they were delivered into a huge, open truck bed. The truck in the pictures was filled in less than 30 mins. after the process began! The harvest took 2.5 truckloads in total for this one bog.
My trip to the US ended in Seattle, where a good friend of mine lives. We had a great time listening to live music and eating a lot of delicious food! Though I didn’t get to do one of my favorite activities- hiking, I really enjoyed my trip this year and I’m already looking forward to going again next year!
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