Moving back to Taiwan, plus a great Christmas book gift for your herping friends (and yourself)

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Hans Breuer (twoton)
Posts: 3230
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 3:19 am
Location: Kuching, Sarawak (Borneo)
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Moving back to Taiwan, plus a great Christmas book gift for your herping friends (and yourself)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

The holiday season is yet again upon us. What better gift for your herping friends (or yourself) than this wonderfully enlightening, hilarious, and strange book?

A Cobra Hijacked My Camera Bag! Snakes and Stories from Taiwan

Thanks, again, for letting me plug my stuff here with shameless abandon :-)

In other news, after eight and a half years in Borneo, I'm moving back to Taiwan next Sunday. Our kids have finished high school here in Sarawak and are off into the world; and I'm looking forward to new discoveries in my old home; discoveries that life in Borneo taught me about. The birds, the bugs, the orchids of Taiwan - I never really noticed those in my 30 years on that island; all I ever saw was snakes, snakes, and more snakes. But the splendors of Borneo do something to one's evolution as a nature lover - you may arrive as a specialist (snakes and carnivorous plants, in my case), but you will leave as a generalist. People still call me "the snake guy", but I've become so much more. Through the lens of Borneo's natural treasures (including Gekko monarchus in my aircon and Periplaneta australasiae under my fridge) I even learned to appreciate the fauna and flora in that boring little country in Central Europe where I hail from. You know, the one that has three snake species.

Bidding goodbye to one of the world's hottest biodiversity hotspots, here are some memories of that long and strange trip. Furthermore (and you're probably sick of hearing about, but never seeing it) as I've been "promicrastinizing" for years now, there's a second book coming up which chronicles our eight years in the rainforest - The Snake in the Monkey Cup - An Amateur Naturalist in Borneo. Already 75k words of 110k done. Got the cover art, too. Probably publishing next year. Or something. I still have to slowly re-adapt to a country without proper durians; and then there are those Formosan orchids and migrant birds and jewel beetles that need looking at :)

Cheers, and in the meantime, buy my book! :D :D :D

Hans
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krismunk
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:17 am
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Re: Moving back to Taiwan, plus a great Christmas book gift for your herping friends (and yourself)

Post by krismunk »

A sign of life - great! (this from someone who's also gone shamefully quiet in recent years :oops: )

Miss your posts - hope to see a new wave starting as you return with a new view on your old home. Good luck wth the relocation and finishing the book :)

...oh, and three snake species? You have six! For some one living in a country with two equating the two sounds like a mockery ;)


Kristian
dendrelaphis
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Joined: February 28th, 2014, 12:10 am

Re: Moving back to Taiwan, plus a great Christmas book gift for your herping friends (and yourself)

Post by dendrelaphis »

Dear Hans, I'm still missing your posts as well! But I have your book! Have a wonderful Christmas. All the best, Johan
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numpty
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Joined: September 26th, 2012, 6:45 am
Location: Taiwan

Re: Moving back to Taiwan, plus a great Christmas book gift for your herping friends (and yourself)

Post by numpty »

Hi Hans. Just checked in here for the first time in a year and happened to see your post.

Moving back to Taiwan, eh? How exciting. My wife and I made the move to Canada last year, but we think about returning to Taiwan on pretty much a daily basis. I can see us moving back in a couple of years, once we've made back the money we spent on the Canadian immigration process!

In the meantime, while the diversity of herp species isn't quite up to Taiwan standards, I can see Sarracenia, Drosera, Pinguicula and Utricularia within a couple hour's drive. (Unfortunately there's no equivalent to the Jianguo Flower market for purchases though!)
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
Posts: 3230
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 3:19 am
Location: Kuching, Sarawak (Borneo)
Contact:

Re: Moving back to Taiwan, plus a great Christmas book gift for your herping friends (and yourself)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Hi all,

'tis that time of year again - the time to reflect on the year, to rejoice and celebrate with loved ones, and, of course, to put out yet another shameless plug for my book in the hope someone will know someone who would really love to read it and give it to him/her/them for Christmas: A Cobra Hijacked My Camera Bag! Snakes and Stories from Taiwan
In related news, I finished my Borneo memoirs, The Snake in the Monkey Cup - A Greenhorn Naturalist in Borneo, a few months ago and am hoping to find a publisher soon. Will let you know when I do.

Happy holidays, and thanks for indulging me :)

Hans
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