Sean Buys More Bike Gear

Last Sunday, Sean's Dad was enlisted to partake in another supply trip for bicycle riding gear for Sean.

Sean looked very tired even though his Dad didn't pick him up and take him to eat breakfast until 9:30am. He looked a bit blank when he was considering the menu.


And, even after he had ordered he still looked half-asleep.


Sean had ordered the children's meal again.


He had hot chocolate with it, the same as last time.


Sean's Dad passed on a Christmas/birthday present to Sean from his grandparents in Australia. Sean was given the choice of changing it into NT dollars but chose to keep the Australian currency.


Sean liked a picture that was in a free magazine that came with the Sunday paper of the biggest swimming pool in the world. He was obviously starting to wake up by then.


While his Dad finished his coffee, Sean entertained himself by drawing a picture with the leftover tomato sauce on his plate. Then, it was time to go shopping for bike gear.


The first thing purchased was a pair of very nice padded gloves for NT$600.


On the way back to Sean's Dad's motorcycle Sean had some fun playing with a kitten that was in the front window of a pet shop.


But soon the kitten wanted to fight with two of its brothers and sisters who were right next to him.


At the next shop they bought a shirt (NT$2,200 and a helmet NT$1,300).


Then they moved on to another shop where they purchased the single most expensive item for the day, a pair of protective glasses with light-sensitive lenses.


Sean tried them on again when he and Dad went for lunch.


Sean's Dad took a turn with them just for the hell of it.


They really were a bit too expensive for a 10-year-old boy (NT$3,280 = AUD$120!)


Sean concentrated on his drink while waiting for his food to come.


His macaroni cheese wasn't very big but Sean doesn't eat much and couldn't finish it.


They were given a voucher for a free salad with a meal purchase and Sean gave it a very close inspection.


Then it was time to take Sean back home so that his Dad could go to work in the afternoon. It was a quick visit but that's better than no visit at all.

Sean Completes Big Bike Ride

The only bit of news to report is that Sean and his Dad spoke on the phone on Christmas Day for about 10 minutes. Sean said that he had completed the bike ride mentioned in the last post.

The ride started at Taiwan's southernmost point, Erluanbi (Eluanbi and sometimes Oluanpi, same place different spellings), and the group he was with rode along the east coast of Taiwan. They finished in the very north of Taiwan after 10 days of riding!! Sean said he covered 661.9km. He was very specific about the distance.

Sean's Dad thinks this is a great effort. Averaging more than 60kms a day for 10 days in a row is a mighty effort for a 9-year-old boy.

Sean said that no-one took any photos! That's a real shame because the east coast of Taiwan is quite beautiful. And, it would have been nice to have some pictorial souvenirs of the ride.

Unfortunately, to take part in the ride, Sean missed a whole week of school and has spent his weekends since then catching up on the schoolwork he missed out on. So he and his Dad haven't seen each other for a while. Hopefully, they will get a chance to go bike riding together some time soon.

Bicycle Rider's Clothing Hunt

It had been a long time since Sean and his Dad had seen each other. Sean's Dad had ridden his scooter for 30 minutes to get to Sean's Mum's shop. The trip had started off under cloudy skies but by the time Sean's Dad had arrived at the shop he'd been riding through rain for 15 minutes.

The first thing they did was go and get some breakfast. Sean likes hot chocolate with his morning meal.


He likes to put on a special pose when his Dad points the camera at him.


So, his Dad took another picture that was bit more normal.


Sean had ordered the Childrens' Meal. It looked like the least healthy thing on the menu in a shop that boasts about how healthy its breakfasts are....


The only thing they did after breakfast was ride around for hours, going to different bicycle shops and sports shops trying to find proper bicycle shorts and tops for Sean. He wants two sets, two shirts and two pairs of shorts, because he is planning to take part in a big group ride in late-December. The group will ride 600kms from the southernmost tip of Taiwan all the way to the island's northernmost point in 10 days. Unfortunately, Sean and his Dad could only find one set of clothes the right size even after spending three hours searching. Everywhere they looked the clothes were too big.



The search will continue later.

Sean Writes a Letter

On Sunday Aug. 4 when Sean's Dad and Sean finally got together it had been more than a month since the last time that they had seen each other. The first thing that Sean wanted to do when his Dad arrived was show off a new pet.


It was a very cute little lizard. If it was turned belly-up it would play dead and refuse to move.


When Sean and his Dad were eating breakfast, a very strange woman starting staring at Sean. His defence was to stare straight back.


After she left Sean relaxed.


Sean's Dad had some small gifts for him. There was an Australia Football shirt from his Aunty Annette, a souvenir fridge magnet from Great Keppel Island (in Australia) and a SpongeBob SquarePants eraser.


He seemed to like the eraser the most so when he looked like he wouldn't finish his breakfast, his Dad threatened to take it back. That worked well, breakfast was done in an instant.


Then it was time to go and play catch.


But, it was very hot and they soon stopped for a break. That was good for Sean because he seemed to prefer playing with his lizard.


Sean's Dad had also brought a special notebook. He wanted Sean to write a letter to his Grandad and Grandma in Australia.


Sean had also brought one of his own toys. Wang Chien-ming (or Chien-ming Wang as they call him in the U.S.) has made New York Yankees souvenirs of all kinds very popular in Taiwan.


But the most popular are the items with his name and number on the back.


Then it was back to throwing the ball. Sean was practising pitching.


His throwing action is pretty good.


And he likes to act the part, as well.


But he was also concerned about his lizard. He thought that the poor little thing might be too hot and that maybe a swim would be a good idea. The water in the puddle wasn't deep enough for the lizard to actually need to swim. The little guy spent most of his time just standing in the water. You can see his head sticking out of the water not far from the right hand edge of the puddle..... if your eyes are good.


Sean let the lizard have a sunbath to dry out.


And then gave the lizard a drink. It really was quite a hot day.


Then it was time to get down to the business of writing a letter to Sean's Grandad and Grandma.


But writing didn't last long. Playing with the lizard was far too attractive. Sean built a tiny island in the middle of the puddle for his lizard to sunbake on.


And allowed the lizard to take up temporary residence.


Even though it wasn't much past midday. Sean, his Dad and the lizard had to leave and find a place indoors.


An afternoon thunderstorm was closing in.


McDonalds had spare seats and anyone buying a children's meal could choose one of five plastic toys.


Sean was very careful about putting the stickers on his car.


In fact, he did a really good job.


After that, Sean finally finished the letter that his Dad had been trying to get him to write all morning.


When he was finished, Sean's Dad translated it into English for Sean's Grandad and Grandma.


So now, the first two pages of Sean's notebook looks like this.