#unexpected sights

[littlepawz]

Ghost apples are created when freezing weather coats an apple in ice. Eventually, the apple inside rots and falls out and the icy shell is left behind. Voila, here is your ice apple.

[kcbarcroft]

A preppie and a redneck walk into a coffee shop.

They walk out with a four pack of hard seltzer water and an iced latte.

This isn’t a joke. Just something I didn’t expect to see in small town Texas.

[sightedtaiwan]

Chi Mei Museum: Greek Statuary, Lush Gardens

When you are headed to a privately owned and operated museum, there are a few expectation.  This one was a surprise all around.  Firstly, the grounds were extensive and to get to the building you had to traverse a walkway of Greek Replica statues.  These Gods and Goddesses are not an expected sight in Taiwan!

The grounds were simply lovely and well tended. They reminded me of estate gardens or great-house landscaping in the west.

The fountains continued the landscaping vista along with the Greek-god inspired marble statuary.

For a museum containing the collection of the family that owns Chi Mei, an electronics giant here in Taiwan (think large, flat screen tvs and such), there was a lot beyond the traditional Asian and Chinese cultural fare that I expected.  Yes, this was a biased expectation, but it was true. There was a gallery of natural history, of weapons and warfare, one dedicated to the history and development of violins and similar strings, a Rodin room, various styles of painting and sculptures and even one of only two known examples of jade (funerary?) armour for a warriors’ horse.  It was fantastic. 

I highly recommend a trip here if you are in the area. Plan to spend the day - but plan well. There is a small cafe but nothing much to sustain you if you don’t eat beforehand.  And the town doesn’t have much to offer, at least they didn’t when we went.