Halloween in Taipei

Apologies for the long gap between posts. I found out that Conrad had been going to the library instead of attending some of his classes, and doing a lot of reading in class rather than paying attention to what was going on around him, so I've been staying at the school all the time that he's there to check that he goes to class as he should. Although yesterday wasn't a good day previous to this he's been much better and has started playing with his classmates and participating more.

Although I've got a stack of food photos to show you, I thought I'd write instead about Halloween here while it's still timely. As you might guess, Halloween isn't a Taiwanese, Chinese or Buddhist festival! But Taiwan has strong ties with the U.S.A. Lots of people have either lived there at some point or have relatives there, and of all the foreigners Americans are the most numerous, so there's a lot of interest in celebrating this event.

There were a few events taking place around the city; the greatest number in Tian Mu which has a large expat population. We were invited by a friend from school to go with her and her husband and children to Taipei Zoo to join in the festivities there. All the children had a great time even though - this is Taipei, so it rained.

Conrad decided to go as a devil/monster thing:

Yes, I know it's not much of a costume but I'll try harder next year!

This was taken outside our block of flats. The mask didn't stay on very long after terrifying everyone in the car. Too hot and smelly!

The zoo had thought up a witty title for its event:








They were lots of stalls with things for children to do such as face painting, mask making etc. Conrad had a great time. Here he is getting some help with his vampire cloak.

This went on over the bat wings he's just made. Then he added the final touches to the vampire theme:

by getting his nails painted.

There was a costume parade and of course all the children looked wonderful:

Even the compere!

One of my friend's sons came dressed as a cow. I asked him for some milk but he wouldn't oblige. 

The other one's costume was truly terrifying:

The last event we attended was the trick or treat walk. This involved a very long wait in the rain, which the kids complained loudly about but then completely forgot once they'd got their sweets. My friend's youngest son scrutinised every handful of sweets he received and if it he didn't think it was enough he held out his bag for more. 

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening and by the time we left it had even stopped raining!

Next time - food!