You had to be there: Sunday afternoon, Linsen North Road, around 2pm. A popular toy store (rhymes with "are us") organized a Halloween Parade for kids, inviting children to dress up in costumes and vie for a few prizes: most charming, most scary, most humorous, most original.
About 25 Taiwanese children turned out in colorful costumes and marched around the neighborhood -- followed by their camera-toting mothers and fathers -- stopping at several stores to do the traditional "trick or treat" thing.
At each store, the costumed kids were given bags of candy by smiling owners and waitresses, and the kids were in seventh heaven. There was a Hello Kitty (of course!), a mermaid, Death with a White Mask, Zorro, Batman and a few cute princesses.
Who won? They all won. It was a long Taipei moment, on a Sunday afternoon, a week before Halloween.
Volunteer relief workers
Japan is not a country known for volunteerism. But among college students, the concept is slowly catching on, with more and more individuals and groups donating time on weekends and school vacations to helping out in various fields.
On Saturday, a group of 50 college students from Asia University in Tokyo arrived in here to help with reconstruction in earthquake-ravaged areas of central Taiwan. The volunteers will help with clean-up activities, cooking for refugees and the psychological counseling of traumatized children during their seven-day stay.
Family trees
Interesting show at the Taiwan Museum in Taipei going on now, titled "Family Trees on Their Faces: Atayal facial tattoos." The photo show focuses on the tradition of using tattoos among the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. If you haven't seen it yet, not to worry: the show lasts until mid-January.
A yen for Japan
Japan remains a popular tourist destination for Taiwanese people, according to the Japan National Tourist Organization. In 1998, around 840,000 tourists from Taiwan flew over to Okinawa, Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo for sightseeing and adventure.
And where do tourists from Taiwan go? Among other tourist spots, Tokyo Disneyland and a Dutch theme park in Nagasaki prefecture topped the list.
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