An Island-y Vacation

We went on vacation.  It was awesome.  Here are the pictures:

John playing in their rugby tournament.  They came in fourth out of ten after a full day of wet, drizzly, hot, humid spectating and playing.

At the beach party that night, which was Hawaiian themed for the Aardvarks.  Hence, John's fantastic fashion statement of a shirt.

Performing the team's haka on the beach the next day.

We went to a small Taiwanese island for some excellent touristing, conveniently combined with a visa renewal for both of us.  The place we stayed had some very nice horses, but one took a small munch out of John's shirt.

On the island, they were preparing for a Buddhist festival the next day.

It was hard to get a good picture of the awesome architecture at night, but here was a good try:

John discussing dinner with the soup ladies

John discussing late-night snacks with the fried stuff ladies

We took a refreshing and lovely scooter ride around the island, and got to see some of the really neat buildings that have stayed in tact in their old fishing villages.

It is clear, however, that the island is most definitely a military island, and was recently under attack from the Chinese, as evidenced by bunkers like these that dotted the island.  (This one is getting re-purposed as a laundry drying device.)

After all, we are well-rested, slightly sunburnt and peely, and tentatively ready to go back to the grind for a couple more months.