Year of the Shoe

February 7 will bring in the new Chinese New Year.

In Taipei, this is an incredible sight to behold. More on that later - tomorrow we take 200 Grade Six students to Di Hua Street which is a veritable 'Year of the Rat' treasure chest prior to the Lunar New Year.

However, after searching a number of CNY superstitions on the internet, I finally discovered the reason NOT to celebrate this Chinese tradition:

"Make sure you avoid rough seas in the new year by not buying shoes over the holiday period. In Cantonese, shoes are a homonym for 'rough'."

Hmmm.....makes absolutely no sense to me!

Liked this one much more:

"The celebration actually starts on New Year's Eve with the reunion dinner. By New Year’s Eve, you should have done the following:

Buy the following:

- a new set of clothes and shoes for children, preferably something red or orange.

While I am still loving the shoe boot trend (not quite a shoe, nearly a boot) I think these would do the trick:



Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Shoes.....on your Christmas tree?

I have been meaning to post these two little beauties for quite some time.....





Yes, a great friend of mine found these in a store here in Taipei. She took me back there and I bought a plethora (love that word!) more but these two definitely summed up a Shoe Diva's Christmas!

DogsHead Dog

Yes, I have a dog.

A big dog.

A big, black, hair-shedding, energetic, lovely Labrador.

With extreme energy levels in this new temperate climate.

Allow me to take you on my dog's favourite walk here in Taipei. Funnily enough, it is called DogsHead.

We leave the apartment - that's me, fifth floor. Did I mention......no elevator?



We wind our way through dwellings and alley ways to hit the base of the trail:





The stairs begin.....



And the photo's say the rest.....







Needless to say, my dog loves Dogshead.

Yes, all of this, on our back doorstep.



Jealous?