The "Ghetto by the sea" in Cingshuei lost it's charm for a friend of mine, so she traveled up the coast and dropped anchor in a seaside heaven called Wai'ao. I went to visit her new place a few weeks later and fell in love with it. After experiencing the magic and beauty of Thailand I must admit Cingshuei wasn't doing it for me anymore either. So now fast forward the clock to March 1st I've set up camp in a spot more amazing than I ever would have imagined myself in.

This is the apartment... it's a large studio on the third floor of a house right over the ocean.

Nothing too spectacular, but I sleep in a small loft "upstairs".

But the real selling point is the VIEW. Yes, this is what I see when I wake up every morning, or come home from work, or glance out the window, or just feel like blissing out on my enormous patio...

So I was enjoying the sound of rain on the tin roof today; and realized my hoops had been, for all intents and purposes, neglected since coming back from Thailand. It was high time to christen my new place with a dance...

Wai-ao hoop zen from Shannon Bale on Vimeo.

The music is by Wolfville's own Hupman Brothers. I swear every time I hear this song I get a little homesick. I've started playing the Hupmans' (and the Thugs @ Bay) cds for my kindergarten students while they eat their morning snack. I seem to keep getting teary eyed...

"Teacher feels sad!"
"Nono, my eye is just sick..."

Wai-ao is beautiful, but Wolfville will always feel like home to me. That being said, I may find myself lost in Taiwan for a little longer than originally planned...