May 4, 2015

Jewelry Making in Taiwan

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Wordful Wednesday Jewellery workshop, Taipei, Taiwan, wordful wednesday

The rings that R and I made.

During the recent pre- anniversary holiday trip R booked a couple jewellery making workshop for us to try out. It has been a long time since we attended a couple workshop.

If my memory doesn’t fail me it was the 2nd couple workshop which we have attended together. The first one was a cooking workshop back in 2012 at TOTTS,

The jewelry workshop

There were many stations for students at the Jewelry workshop. There were about 5 couples and a single lady which attended the 2pm Saturday workshop that we signed up for. It was really interested to see what went into the making of a silver ring.

Another view of the workshop

The window view onto the road below

The tools that we used

It was the first time for me to be in a hands on workshop which involved the use of tools. I had fun playing with the different hammers and even used the blowtorch for wielding.

The apron that we had to use before starting the session.

The key ring

Each participant in the workshop had to use the key ring to self measure the size of the ring that would be made. I was contemplating on whether to make a ring for index finger or my ring finger. In the end I decided on the ring finger as it would certainly sit more comfortably then on the index.

Engraving tools

We started off the lesson learning how to engrave and were given copper plates to try out chiseling in the letters to form words. It took me some time to decide what to engrave on my ring and after much consideration I decided on carving in our 5 names.

Our instructor for the day

The pretty instructor taught us how to use the different tools that we will be using on our work bench. You can see her above giving instructions on how the blow torch was to be used.

The instructor showing how to knock the ring to size.

We were taught how to knock the ring to expand it to our chosen size. It was interesting that a single piece of silver was able to shaped and molded into different sizes.

Creating the design for our double band ring

The finished product

It took nearly 2.5hrs from start to finish to make the silver rings. It was certainly an experience which both of us would treasure.

Have you made your own jewelry?

Grass Hill Jewelry

天母店/松菸誠品店/京站店
報名電話：	天母店:(02)2875-5077 誠品松菸店:(02)6636-5888#1611 京站店:(02)2552-7937

April 28, 2015

Admiring the view at Tam Shui

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Travel, Wordful Wednesday Dam Shui, Taiwan

The scene at Dam Shui

During the last trip to Taiwan we visited the port city of Tam Shui. We set off for the place after breakfast and had a casual walk along Tamsui Old Street and waterfront (淡水老街) before the lunchtime crowd came.

The waterfront

Walking along the waterfront reminded me of being in Stanley , Hong kong as they too had a really lovely waterfront to walk along.

The other view from the waterfront

It was really nice to see both the hills and the water together at the same place.

Street Art

While walking along the streets at Dan Shui we came across this art work embedded in a sidewalk.

The church across the street

It was really interested to see how art resembled the actual building with both directly opposite each other. I didn’t get to go inside the church as there was a mass on.

A monument of Dr Mackay along the street

There is a lot of focus on culture and history in the area as we saw many statues of famous people while walking along the streets. This particular one was of Dr Mackay who was the first foreign missionary to be commissioned by the Canada Presbyterian Church (predecessor of both the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada), arriving in Taiwan on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 1871.

A colorful building

I could see beautiful art work everywhere we went. This particular corner store had the windows and walls all painted with lovely portraits.

Fort San Domingo

Built by the Spaniard back in 1644 this building now houses a museum which gives one an insight to how life was back then in the olden days.

The other building in the compound

The famous Lover’s Bridge

This is one of the main attractions in Dam Shui- The Lover’s Bridge.

We didn’t walk along the bridge as it was rather hot and it didn’t seem that romantic as it was nearly afternoon when we were there. Maybe if we were there in the evening it would be a different story.

Another view of the same bridge from the water

The ferry we took back to the Train station

We had the option of taking the bus or this ferry back to the train station. For about NT$60 one could take a 20 min ferry back to Tamshui waterfront.