5/16-
For my last day in Taipei, I left my backpack at the hostel for final sightseeing. I went to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and saw the National Theater and National Concert Hall next door, all of which were just okay. There was a medium sized protest going on, but I couldn't tell what it was about. From there, on my way to Danshui, a popular seaside area, I saw the Grand Hotel from the train. Danshui was swarming with people- tourists and locals alike, and wasn't pretty or interesting. I was disappointed so I just headed back, ate and then spent a long time at the airport waiting for my 1 a.m. flight to Manila. My flight was on a budget airline, Cebu Pacific and it was very strange. The staff at the Taipei airport were incompetent and rude, but the staff at Manila were kind, helpful and in a shockingly welcoming, happy mood at 3 a.m. What was bizarre was that for the transfer in Manila, I had to go through immigration and get my passport stamped and everything and could've just walked out of the airport. Technically, I was in the Philippines for about 15 minutes while having to check in and get my boarding pass for my Hong Kong flight. I considered getting off there (in the Philippines) but I didn't really want to so I just continued on my way.
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tea-riffic Day (I'm sorry, I really am and slightly hate myself right now for that)
5/15-
Today really was a great day. Judy met me at the subway station to take me to the Lin Family Mansion and Garden, one of the few truly traditional Chinese houses left in Taiwan. It was nice and a very kind guide helped explain some of the symbolism for me through Judy's interpretation. Afterwards, we met Judy's Mother, Sister and 3 year old Niece. We went over to see the Taipei 101 building but I didn't go up it since I didn't want to spend the money when it was so foggy (and I'd been waiting all week for it to clear up but it never did). From there, we went over to a Barracks Museum showing the barracks that housed the Chinese soldiers and their families after the split. The soldiers had their immediate families with them but were never allowed to return to the Mainland to see the rest of their families. I'm doing a poor job of explaining this, but they weren't prisoners, just couldn't go back to China, so the families banded together and created an enclave. It was somewhat interesting, more so because Judy's grandparents had been a part of the original settlement.
Next we went for a ride on the Maokong Gondola (cable car) which was really nice, even though it was getting very dark and our visibility was limited. The top town had small hills of tea leaves. I couldn't smell them as tea, but could smell the strong scent. It's known for its tea and Judy said it was one of the few places in Taipei where they still grow it.
For dinner, we went to a tea restaurant with a lovely view out over the valley. Everything we ate had tea in it so we had: vermicelli with tea leaves, fried tea leaves, chopped or crushed tea leaves in fried rice, chicken and seafood soup with tea leaves, pork and shrimp sauce with tea leaves and baby bamboo. Most of it was delicious- I especially liked the fried tea leaves, the noodles with tea leaves and the bamboo. The bamboo didn't have much flavor, but basically absorbed whatever you ate it with (like tofu, but better tasting) so I just dipped it in a yummy chili sauce. It also had a really nice texture, sort of like asparagus (only texture wise, not taste) and was just so much more satisfying than tofu. I hadn't even realized that you could eat bamboo, though only when it's young and basically still a cone, but I wish it were more easily available- I could see myself eating it frequently.
After the tea dinner, which Judy very generously paid for, we took the gondola back down. Judy said there were fireflies out but I didn't see any. I played a bit with her niece, though it was difficult since she didn't speak any English, but was cute and well-behaved. She also had a rather insane amount of energy at 10 p.m. so when we got off we danced around a little bit.
Right next door to the gondola base was Dancing Waters, a large fountain that had free water/music/light shows every hour or half hour so we waited and watched one, which was really pretty. We all took the train back together, though I had to say my goodbyes when I got off at my stop first. Even though I'd started out in Taipei very unhappy with the local who was supposed to show me around, Judy had more than made up for it in the past two days and had really made me feel special and like some weird, half-related crazy cousin (to use sitcom characterization) in a good way.
Today really was a great day. Judy met me at the subway station to take me to the Lin Family Mansion and Garden, one of the few truly traditional Chinese houses left in Taiwan. It was nice and a very kind guide helped explain some of the symbolism for me through Judy's interpretation. Afterwards, we met Judy's Mother, Sister and 3 year old Niece. We went over to see the Taipei 101 building but I didn't go up it since I didn't want to spend the money when it was so foggy (and I'd been waiting all week for it to clear up but it never did). From there, we went over to a Barracks Museum showing the barracks that housed the Chinese soldiers and their families after the split. The soldiers had their immediate families with them but were never allowed to return to the Mainland to see the rest of their families. I'm doing a poor job of explaining this, but they weren't prisoners, just couldn't go back to China, so the families banded together and created an enclave. It was somewhat interesting, more so because Judy's grandparents had been a part of the original settlement.
Next we went for a ride on the Maokong Gondola (cable car) which was really nice, even though it was getting very dark and our visibility was limited. The top town had small hills of tea leaves. I couldn't smell them as tea, but could smell the strong scent. It's known for its tea and Judy said it was one of the few places in Taipei where they still grow it.
For dinner, we went to a tea restaurant with a lovely view out over the valley. Everything we ate had tea in it so we had: vermicelli with tea leaves, fried tea leaves, chopped or crushed tea leaves in fried rice, chicken and seafood soup with tea leaves, pork and shrimp sauce with tea leaves and baby bamboo. Most of it was delicious- I especially liked the fried tea leaves, the noodles with tea leaves and the bamboo. The bamboo didn't have much flavor, but basically absorbed whatever you ate it with (like tofu, but better tasting) so I just dipped it in a yummy chili sauce. It also had a really nice texture, sort of like asparagus (only texture wise, not taste) and was just so much more satisfying than tofu. I hadn't even realized that you could eat bamboo, though only when it's young and basically still a cone, but I wish it were more easily available- I could see myself eating it frequently.
After the tea dinner, which Judy very generously paid for, we took the gondola back down. Judy said there were fireflies out but I didn't see any. I played a bit with her niece, though it was difficult since she didn't speak any English, but was cute and well-behaved. She also had a rather insane amount of energy at 10 p.m. so when we got off we danced around a little bit.
Right next door to the gondola base was Dancing Waters, a large fountain that had free water/music/light shows every hour or half hour so we waited and watched one, which was really pretty. We all took the train back together, though I had to say my goodbyes when I got off at my stop first. Even though I'd started out in Taipei very unhappy with the local who was supposed to show me around, Judy had more than made up for it in the past two days and had really made me feel special and like some weird, half-related crazy cousin (to use sitcom characterization) in a good way.
The Most Disgusting Sounding Thing I've Eaten...So Far
5/14
Didn't do too much today but. I've been trying to get caught up on this blog still, and it gets a bit frustrating- it's starting to feel like a chore that I'm doing for only my Mom to read. Okay, I'm done being a baby now. So, did little during the day, emailed Mei and at night Judy came over. She still seemed horribly rushed and anxious, but at least this time she randomly brought a bunch of food for me. She gave me two different types of pies; pineapple and another one that were pretty good. She also brought some wonderful tea and some pastry sort of snacks. I told her my general plans but wouldn't definitively agree to anything and gave her Mei's phone back.
She said we should go to Longshan temple and the Tourist Night Market right then, and since I had energy from sitting on my ass all day, I agreed. Once we were on the move, I made a serious effort to get her to calm down by asking her questions and talking slowly. Though she never calmed down completely, she improved quite a bit, at which point I could actually enjoy talking to her.
Judy does incentive travel, for companies and so had traveled a good deal and so we talked about that for quite a while. When she wasn't so anxious and didn't have people making crazy demands on her, she was really very cool.
After getting off the MRT we were in between the night market and the temple so she stopped to make me try pig's blood cake, one of her favorite foods. She also made absolutely sure that I knew exactly what I was eating by typing out the word blood on her phone for me to see as I hadn't understood her accent on that word. The taste itself wasn't really bad, it was just such a terrible idea that I couldn't help the name from entering my judgment of the food itself so it was really the idea that actually churned my stomach. It looked like a long, rectangular piece of chocolate cake covered in a ground sweet, peanut mixture. I tasted the peanut mix more than any other flavor, but mostly I just tasted the name: pig's blood cake. Ugh!
Next, we walked over to Longshan Temple, which was incredible. This was yet another point when I really, really wished I had my camera. It was detailed and every surface was totally covered in decoration. Besides dragons and tigers and different buddhas, I saw what looked like a phoenix and asked Judy about it. She told me it was, you know, the thing...Harry Potter and the thing. So it was a phoenix which I just thought was interesting because I didn't know that there were phoenixes in Chinese mythology and I really like phoenixes. One or two people have told me I was like a phoenix and I thought that was just about the greatest compliment ever.
The temple closed and we walked over to the Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market. She had me try several different traditional foods, most were edible but not great. One interesting thing that was available at this market- though I didn't get to try it- was python. They ate regular ones, but most of the live ones displayed were albino, presumably because they look better.
Didn't do too much today but. I've been trying to get caught up on this blog still, and it gets a bit frustrating- it's starting to feel like a chore that I'm doing for only my Mom to read. Okay, I'm done being a baby now. So, did little during the day, emailed Mei and at night Judy came over. She still seemed horribly rushed and anxious, but at least this time she randomly brought a bunch of food for me. She gave me two different types of pies; pineapple and another one that were pretty good. She also brought some wonderful tea and some pastry sort of snacks. I told her my general plans but wouldn't definitively agree to anything and gave her Mei's phone back.
She said we should go to Longshan temple and the Tourist Night Market right then, and since I had energy from sitting on my ass all day, I agreed. Once we were on the move, I made a serious effort to get her to calm down by asking her questions and talking slowly. Though she never calmed down completely, she improved quite a bit, at which point I could actually enjoy talking to her.
Judy does incentive travel, for companies and so had traveled a good deal and so we talked about that for quite a while. When she wasn't so anxious and didn't have people making crazy demands on her, she was really very cool.
After getting off the MRT we were in between the night market and the temple so she stopped to make me try pig's blood cake, one of her favorite foods. She also made absolutely sure that I knew exactly what I was eating by typing out the word blood on her phone for me to see as I hadn't understood her accent on that word. The taste itself wasn't really bad, it was just such a terrible idea that I couldn't help the name from entering my judgment of the food itself so it was really the idea that actually churned my stomach. It looked like a long, rectangular piece of chocolate cake covered in a ground sweet, peanut mixture. I tasted the peanut mix more than any other flavor, but mostly I just tasted the name: pig's blood cake. Ugh!
Next, we walked over to Longshan Temple, which was incredible. This was yet another point when I really, really wished I had my camera. It was detailed and every surface was totally covered in decoration. Besides dragons and tigers and different buddhas, I saw what looked like a phoenix and asked Judy about it. She told me it was, you know, the thing...Harry Potter and the thing. So it was a phoenix which I just thought was interesting because I didn't know that there were phoenixes in Chinese mythology and I really like phoenixes. One or two people have told me I was like a phoenix and I thought that was just about the greatest compliment ever.
The temple closed and we walked over to the Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market. She had me try several different traditional foods, most were edible but not great. One interesting thing that was available at this market- though I didn't get to try it- was python. They ate regular ones, but most of the live ones displayed were albino, presumably because they look better.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Lost In the Wild
5/13
Packing up and moving so often (every other day on average, I think), I lose a lot of stuff. It's usually no big deal because it's an eyemask or a lipgloss or an umbrella or something else inconsequential or easily replaceable but today as I was packing up, I noticed that my camera case was empty and my camera was nowhere to be found. I asked at the Visitor's Center nearby if anyone had turned one in, and they said no and checked with the police who also said no. They wanted me to file a report but I told them I was sure I'd lost it, not had it stolen, so I just left my email and a description of the camera. There was nothing left to do about it so I called my Mom on Skype and told her that I thought I may have subconsciously lost it on purpose, as it was old and pretty crappy and I really did need an excuse for a new one. If it really is gone though, I'll have lost all my Tokyo and Taiwan pictures which would be a bit sad.
I sat at the corner by the bus stop, not knowing when it was coming, but aware that there were five daily. I walked over to the shops area and got a Taiwan sausage, which is basically a coarser pork bratwurst and ended up going back to get another, more because I was hungry and haven't eaten enough meat lately than because they were so fantastic. While over there, one of the people I'd seen yesterday said 2 and held up two fingers. Then the man making the sausage did the same. I told them I only wanted one, though I'd had one before- two total. The woman said "No. Hualien?" which is the name of the city I had to catch the bus to before getting the train to Taipei. I nodded and she told me the bus was coming at 2. It was just before 12:30 so I was glad to have this information, but sad that I couldn't write the image of myself I'd conjured while waiting: The girl sits on the corner, waiting alone for a bus that may never come. Oh wait, I did just write it, and no, it's not great, I just liked it- every once in a while I get a bit emo. Deal.
Knowing I had all this time, I decided to walk up the mountain to the temple nearby. Since I had no camera I couldn't take regular pictures, but I got a few with my phone, though of course, I don't have a cord so I can't download them anywhere.
I met a girl from Singapore, Julaina, who was there with her Mom and Grandmother. Her English was perfect and she told me about studying in Toronto and her backpacking trips through Europe. She also recommended couchsurfing and invited me to stay with her if I found myself back in Singapore. I know the idea of couchsurfing with strangers seems extremely suspect but this site has been around for quite some time now and they verify identities and I've heard nothing but positive feedback from several solo travelers, including many females so I'm planning on trying it in the near future.
The temple was nothing amazing, though the setting really is spectacular. The gorge is made of a river running through mountains that rise, often at a 90* angle, up to 3,000 feet. It's not a chasm, so the river flow is level to the basic ground level and the road is just a few hundred feet above it so the mountains block large swatches of the clouded over sky and holds the mist inside its cleavage.
The bus ride back down to Hualien showcases the gorge's dramatic scenery. It's quite amazing, but given the amount of rain pouring down everywhere I go (including here, at the time of descent) and cloud cover, I'm disappointed in the tiny cracks of waterfalls that drip down. One of the best sights is a temple built so that a waterfall rushes out beneath it, and this one, at least, has a decently strong stream.
Eventually the bus winds its way down to the flat area near the ocean, and on highways to the city where I catch the 4 p.m. train to Taipei with two minutes to spare.
Packing up and moving so often (every other day on average, I think), I lose a lot of stuff. It's usually no big deal because it's an eyemask or a lipgloss or an umbrella or something else inconsequential or easily replaceable but today as I was packing up, I noticed that my camera case was empty and my camera was nowhere to be found. I asked at the Visitor's Center nearby if anyone had turned one in, and they said no and checked with the police who also said no. They wanted me to file a report but I told them I was sure I'd lost it, not had it stolen, so I just left my email and a description of the camera. There was nothing left to do about it so I called my Mom on Skype and told her that I thought I may have subconsciously lost it on purpose, as it was old and pretty crappy and I really did need an excuse for a new one. If it really is gone though, I'll have lost all my Tokyo and Taiwan pictures which would be a bit sad.
I sat at the corner by the bus stop, not knowing when it was coming, but aware that there were five daily. I walked over to the shops area and got a Taiwan sausage, which is basically a coarser pork bratwurst and ended up going back to get another, more because I was hungry and haven't eaten enough meat lately than because they were so fantastic. While over there, one of the people I'd seen yesterday said 2 and held up two fingers. Then the man making the sausage did the same. I told them I only wanted one, though I'd had one before- two total. The woman said "No. Hualien?" which is the name of the city I had to catch the bus to before getting the train to Taipei. I nodded and she told me the bus was coming at 2. It was just before 12:30 so I was glad to have this information, but sad that I couldn't write the image of myself I'd conjured while waiting: The girl sits on the corner, waiting alone for a bus that may never come. Oh wait, I did just write it, and no, it's not great, I just liked it- every once in a while I get a bit emo. Deal.
Knowing I had all this time, I decided to walk up the mountain to the temple nearby. Since I had no camera I couldn't take regular pictures, but I got a few with my phone, though of course, I don't have a cord so I can't download them anywhere.
I met a girl from Singapore, Julaina, who was there with her Mom and Grandmother. Her English was perfect and she told me about studying in Toronto and her backpacking trips through Europe. She also recommended couchsurfing and invited me to stay with her if I found myself back in Singapore. I know the idea of couchsurfing with strangers seems extremely suspect but this site has been around for quite some time now and they verify identities and I've heard nothing but positive feedback from several solo travelers, including many females so I'm planning on trying it in the near future.
The temple was nothing amazing, though the setting really is spectacular. The gorge is made of a river running through mountains that rise, often at a 90* angle, up to 3,000 feet. It's not a chasm, so the river flow is level to the basic ground level and the road is just a few hundred feet above it so the mountains block large swatches of the clouded over sky and holds the mist inside its cleavage.
The bus ride back down to Hualien showcases the gorge's dramatic scenery. It's quite amazing, but given the amount of rain pouring down everywhere I go (including here, at the time of descent) and cloud cover, I'm disappointed in the tiny cracks of waterfalls that drip down. One of the best sights is a temple built so that a waterfall rushes out beneath it, and this one, at least, has a decently strong stream.
Eventually the bus winds its way down to the flat area near the ocean, and on highways to the city where I catch the 4 p.m. train to Taipei with two minutes to spare.
Nature: Not So Bad?
5/12
No internet. I feel hardcore. And I'm actually rethinking this nature stuff- it's not really that bad. I'm currently sitting on part of a giant marble mountain that forms one side of a gorge with light gray waters stippling on the immersed rocks as they rush by me. I'm at Taroko National Park in Taiwan and I had to climb sideways to get where I'm sitting now. The only sign of human existence within 360* of where I'm sitting is an old cable the color of the dark mountains behind it, now tied to the branch of a tree which has twirled itself partially around it, resting on it for support. The temperature is perfect; not humid nor dry, not hot nor cold and I'd say the weather was perfect except that the clouds and surrounding mist are covering any hint of sunshine, making the whole valley look as if only two colors have ever existed: dark-grass green and gray.
It sounds quite depressing when I put it like that but it's kind of nice. I heard a beeping a while ago and was concerned that someone else was on their way to steal my tranquility (albeit, tranquility with a laptop) but I realized that it was actually just a bird chirping. Am I that far removed from nature and has it been that long since I've been in it? Maybe I've just avoided it because I think of it as "NATURE" meaning hardcore wilderness trampling through a humid jungle. Perhaps I just don't like humidity? It does make me love my netbook even more. Now I can have peace, but not too much. Also, I might spot a leopard in the wild- how cool would that be?
I got here by leaving my hostel, late as usual, at around 6:30 a.m. for a train that left at 6:45. In my usual dashing way, I made it with two minutes to spare. Through the tunnels and the city and into the rural countryside, we traveled. The train trudged uphill, pushing its way as if through sand, through the unexpected rainforest.
I was reading my book by my window seat on the right side on the train, glancing up occasionally to see the verdant mountains in the mist on my side when I looked over to the left, and there was the ocean view I'd been longing for in Japan, at least for a short while. I hopped over to an empty seat on the left side and watched the small island we passed, and the shoreline, all large, dark boulders. And I think we just passed a large white mosque.
The roadside temples I've seen so far are particularly different from those in Cambodia, Thailand, Korea and Japan. The same basic structure is there, but these ones have incredible carvings of dragons with fine details and many spikes.
If you'd asked me what I'd expected of Taiwan, after first admitting that I hadn't particularly considered it, I would have said that I thought it was little more than a city-state island nation, with Taipei and a little bit around it. But it's surprising me, more and more. It's much closer to a large Caribbean island, with one main city, but several other cities/large towns and huge jungles, beaches and rural areas. I'm still not impressed by the people, but little bits of the country are unexpected and interesting.
Mei told me one interesting thing and that was that -keeping in mind that this is just what she said, I'm not stating facts here- about half of the Taiwanese, including herself, wanted reunification with China, which surprised me as I wouldn't have expected it to be that high. She also said that the reason they couldn't be reunited was because the U.S. wouldn't let it happen because then China and Taiwan together would be too powerful! I thought that was a pretty preposterous thing to say as I don't particularly think of Taiwan as threatening in any way. China is, of course, but to suggest that the difference Taiwan would make is that significant strikes me as hugely arrogant, and quite delusional. To me, it's the equivalent of a Puerto Rican saying that other countries would be threatened by the combination of them and the U.S. because together they'd be too powerful. It's just insane.
After a three hour train ride, I bought a bus ticket for Tiansiang. The bus didn't leave for another hour so I went and got a breakfast burger before boarding at 10:50. The bus ride, half of which was truly exciting scenery along the Taroko gorge, took about an hour and forty-five minutes, so I arrived a bit after 12:30. I walked up to the hostel and checked in. The manager wanted to charge me $400 NTD, about $13 but I said that it said $300 online and he said, it's for your own room. Considering that the sign in sheet had only had two other visitors (two couples) in the entire month of May, I felt fairly certain that the dorm would be my own room anyway so I made him give me that price.
After feeling the beds, which are basically wood covered with very hard, tightly woven hay mats, I'm grateful I didn't pay any more, though now I almost wish I'd skipped it and camped outside, though then I might be eaten by black bears that inhabit this park- they're nocturnal right?
I spoke too soon. The thing I'd forgotten about Nature was the reason that I didn't like it- I'd just remembered the fact that I didn't like it. It's boring. It is boring as all flip-all. When you're actually doing the hiking or something like that you're usually too miserable to be bored, but at night, especially if you're alone, it's totally uninteresting. I need stimulation, even for meditation, I need stimulation, and I don't like the idea of forced calm- I want to choose to be calm when it suits me, like in the Tokyo train station, not when the rest of the world wants to force me into it by lulling me to boredom.
Boo, I wanted to learn Mandarin tonight. Now I can't because there's no internet access (and yes, I'm going with that as the reason I can't learn an incredibly complex language in one night).
I met some of the local people when I went down to buy beer and guess what? I was right. They're people, exactly like everyone else anywhere.
No internet. I feel hardcore. And I'm actually rethinking this nature stuff- it's not really that bad. I'm currently sitting on part of a giant marble mountain that forms one side of a gorge with light gray waters stippling on the immersed rocks as they rush by me. I'm at Taroko National Park in Taiwan and I had to climb sideways to get where I'm sitting now. The only sign of human existence within 360* of where I'm sitting is an old cable the color of the dark mountains behind it, now tied to the branch of a tree which has twirled itself partially around it, resting on it for support. The temperature is perfect; not humid nor dry, not hot nor cold and I'd say the weather was perfect except that the clouds and surrounding mist are covering any hint of sunshine, making the whole valley look as if only two colors have ever existed: dark-grass green and gray.
It sounds quite depressing when I put it like that but it's kind of nice. I heard a beeping a while ago and was concerned that someone else was on their way to steal my tranquility (albeit, tranquility with a laptop) but I realized that it was actually just a bird chirping. Am I that far removed from nature and has it been that long since I've been in it? Maybe I've just avoided it because I think of it as "NATURE" meaning hardcore wilderness trampling through a humid jungle. Perhaps I just don't like humidity? It does make me love my netbook even more. Now I can have peace, but not too much. Also, I might spot a leopard in the wild- how cool would that be?
I got here by leaving my hostel, late as usual, at around 6:30 a.m. for a train that left at 6:45. In my usual dashing way, I made it with two minutes to spare. Through the tunnels and the city and into the rural countryside, we traveled. The train trudged uphill, pushing its way as if through sand, through the unexpected rainforest.
I was reading my book by my window seat on the right side on the train, glancing up occasionally to see the verdant mountains in the mist on my side when I looked over to the left, and there was the ocean view I'd been longing for in Japan, at least for a short while. I hopped over to an empty seat on the left side and watched the small island we passed, and the shoreline, all large, dark boulders. And I think we just passed a large white mosque.
The roadside temples I've seen so far are particularly different from those in Cambodia, Thailand, Korea and Japan. The same basic structure is there, but these ones have incredible carvings of dragons with fine details and many spikes.
If you'd asked me what I'd expected of Taiwan, after first admitting that I hadn't particularly considered it, I would have said that I thought it was little more than a city-state island nation, with Taipei and a little bit around it. But it's surprising me, more and more. It's much closer to a large Caribbean island, with one main city, but several other cities/large towns and huge jungles, beaches and rural areas. I'm still not impressed by the people, but little bits of the country are unexpected and interesting.
Mei told me one interesting thing and that was that -keeping in mind that this is just what she said, I'm not stating facts here- about half of the Taiwanese, including herself, wanted reunification with China, which surprised me as I wouldn't have expected it to be that high. She also said that the reason they couldn't be reunited was because the U.S. wouldn't let it happen because then China and Taiwan together would be too powerful! I thought that was a pretty preposterous thing to say as I don't particularly think of Taiwan as threatening in any way. China is, of course, but to suggest that the difference Taiwan would make is that significant strikes me as hugely arrogant, and quite delusional. To me, it's the equivalent of a Puerto Rican saying that other countries would be threatened by the combination of them and the U.S. because together they'd be too powerful. It's just insane.
After a three hour train ride, I bought a bus ticket for Tiansiang. The bus didn't leave for another hour so I went and got a breakfast burger before boarding at 10:50. The bus ride, half of which was truly exciting scenery along the Taroko gorge, took about an hour and forty-five minutes, so I arrived a bit after 12:30. I walked up to the hostel and checked in. The manager wanted to charge me $400 NTD, about $13 but I said that it said $300 online and he said, it's for your own room. Considering that the sign in sheet had only had two other visitors (two couples) in the entire month of May, I felt fairly certain that the dorm would be my own room anyway so I made him give me that price.
After feeling the beds, which are basically wood covered with very hard, tightly woven hay mats, I'm grateful I didn't pay any more, though now I almost wish I'd skipped it and camped outside, though then I might be eaten by black bears that inhabit this park- they're nocturnal right?
I spoke too soon. The thing I'd forgotten about Nature was the reason that I didn't like it- I'd just remembered the fact that I didn't like it. It's boring. It is boring as all flip-all. When you're actually doing the hiking or something like that you're usually too miserable to be bored, but at night, especially if you're alone, it's totally uninteresting. I need stimulation, even for meditation, I need stimulation, and I don't like the idea of forced calm- I want to choose to be calm when it suits me, like in the Tokyo train station, not when the rest of the world wants to force me into it by lulling me to boredom.
Boo, I wanted to learn Mandarin tonight. Now I can't because there's no internet access (and yes, I'm going with that as the reason I can't learn an incredibly complex language in one night).
I met some of the local people when I went down to buy beer and guess what? I was right. They're people, exactly like everyone else anywhere.
National Palace Museum
5/11
Got up at a reasonable time, but didn't get out until about 1 p.m. because I had to do my laundry and go to the train station to get my discount youth pass (free and in the form of a cool luggage tag!) and buy a train ticket for tomorrow before leaving to go to Shilin, where the National Palace Museum was. I got to the right subway station, but couldn't find the bus I wanted for the life of me. I did however, see a place making something described as Chinese Pizza (though it was nothing at all like pizza), which were incredibly good. I still don't know what they're called, but it was basically a very airy bread with green onions, seemingly strings of wheat wound together, with an amazing lightness, then an egg, tons of basil (not sure if it was thai basil, but definitely not italian), pepper and a bit of soy sauce. It was about $1 and so good that later, on my way back, I got another one.
So I walked around, asked someone who gave me particularly heinous directions, but eventually found a sign that had the right number and color. I didn't actually arrive at the museum until about 3:20 so I didn't have tons of time, since they closed at 5. It's a very nice, clean museum and some of the collection was incredible. Unfortunately, so much of it was boring that I felt it really detracted and overwhelmed the worthwhile bits. I actually feel this way about museums often, that they just need to edit their collections better: charge the same price but show half the stuff. Perhaps you're thinking "But Laura, everyone has different tastes- you can't know what everyone will like." This is true, but if it looks like something I could buy at IKEA, I don't care how old it is, it should be kept for admiration by pottery scholars.
Like I said, though, some of it was very nice. They had interesting sections on border maps that were just declassified in 2007 (though for some reason these descriptions were only in Chinese), some of the pottery, some paintings and some truly incredible curio boxes and ivory and wood carvings. It was definitely worth my time, but maybe not more than the 1.4 or so hours I put in. Another interesting section was their calligraphy collection which started to explain the different meanings of particular brush strokes and why it's so much more important in Eastern culture. It's something I'd really like to learn more about and might take a class on in China.
I felt quite tired after catching the bus back to the station, so just did a brief tour around what I thought was the Shilin Night Market. As it turns out, it wasn't, but after enough time, most markets seem to look the same. Even after discovering that I hadn't been at the right place, I just didn't feel like going over to the other so I just went back to my hostel and chilled out for the rest of the night.
Got up at a reasonable time, but didn't get out until about 1 p.m. because I had to do my laundry and go to the train station to get my discount youth pass (free and in the form of a cool luggage tag!) and buy a train ticket for tomorrow before leaving to go to Shilin, where the National Palace Museum was. I got to the right subway station, but couldn't find the bus I wanted for the life of me. I did however, see a place making something described as Chinese Pizza (though it was nothing at all like pizza), which were incredibly good. I still don't know what they're called, but it was basically a very airy bread with green onions, seemingly strings of wheat wound together, with an amazing lightness, then an egg, tons of basil (not sure if it was thai basil, but definitely not italian), pepper and a bit of soy sauce. It was about $1 and so good that later, on my way back, I got another one.
So I walked around, asked someone who gave me particularly heinous directions, but eventually found a sign that had the right number and color. I didn't actually arrive at the museum until about 3:20 so I didn't have tons of time, since they closed at 5. It's a very nice, clean museum and some of the collection was incredible. Unfortunately, so much of it was boring that I felt it really detracted and overwhelmed the worthwhile bits. I actually feel this way about museums often, that they just need to edit their collections better: charge the same price but show half the stuff. Perhaps you're thinking "But Laura, everyone has different tastes- you can't know what everyone will like." This is true, but if it looks like something I could buy at IKEA, I don't care how old it is, it should be kept for admiration by pottery scholars.
Like I said, though, some of it was very nice. They had interesting sections on border maps that were just declassified in 2007 (though for some reason these descriptions were only in Chinese), some of the pottery, some paintings and some truly incredible curio boxes and ivory and wood carvings. It was definitely worth my time, but maybe not more than the 1.4 or so hours I put in. Another interesting section was their calligraphy collection which started to explain the different meanings of particular brush strokes and why it's so much more important in Eastern culture. It's something I'd really like to learn more about and might take a class on in China.
I felt quite tired after catching the bus back to the station, so just did a brief tour around what I thought was the Shilin Night Market. As it turns out, it wasn't, but after enough time, most markets seem to look the same. Even after discovering that I hadn't been at the right place, I just didn't feel like going over to the other so I just went back to my hostel and chilled out for the rest of the night.
Internal Monologue: To Run or Not to Run?
5/10-
Last night, I'd stayed up until about 4 a.m. working on this blog. That sounds like a terrible idea but it actually worked out very well- I woke up at about 12 today, feeling totally rested and energized. Since it's Mother's Day, I called my Mom and talked to her for a while, before attempting to take a shower, and failing since there was no hot water.
For lunch, I stopped at a little restaurant and pointed at a picture (with an English description underneath!) of shrimp won tons in soup. The soup was the same as you get anywhere; basic chicken stock with some spring onions and maybe some other green thing, seaweed or bok choy, but the dumplings were fantastic. The shrimp was chopped but not ground in with breading or other filler crap, and had lemongrass and ginger in it, which made it wonderful.
After lunch I walked over towards the Museum of Contemporary Art and passed an art installation on the way, which was interesting.
Sadly, the Museum itself was closed on Mondays. I wandered around the streets and through market alleyways before going into the D building, where I found a shop where I could "test" nail polish remover by removing the polish from all of my nails. I was trying to decide what to do then and realized that I still had a lot of energy and I didn't have any idea of what to do with it. It was too late to go to another museum, and they'd probably all be closed, and it was too cloudy to go see the Taipei 101 building.
As I was thinking about it, I noticed that the weather was actually perfect for running; slightly chilly and breezy but not really cold. Weather is one of my main excuses for not going running, the other two I use most frequently are: exhaustion and that my stomach isn't right (either too full or too hungry- it sounds strange, but it's actually very hard to find the exact hunger level to run on). I couldn't use any of these excuses as I was energized and my stomach, for once, was at that perfect point. The only problem was that I didn't want to. I tried rationalizing with myself;
"You slightly twisted your ankle a while ago and can still vaguely feel it- you don't want to injure yourself more."
"Yes, but you can only even feel it if you move your ankle in an awkward sideways manner that you wouldn't do when you run AND the pavement here is surprisingly even and good."
"Yeah, but I just really don't want to."
"Stop being so lazy and pathetic!"
"That's mean- you're a jerk."
"I'm sorry, that was out of line, it's just that you'll feel so much better if you do, and you'll sleep better, just put your running clothes on- you can do it!"
"Okay, I'll just change and go. Just change and go before I can change my mind."
So I did. And I was right. I went for a decent run (about 50 minutes run/walk) and it was okay and I did feel better afterwards, especially after a shower. I got some noodles and pork dumpling thing for dinner that looked pretty disgusting but actually tasted okay, and then went back to the hostel where I've been busy working on my blog and relaxing by: painting my nails with clear polish, enjoying another cup of homemade hot chocolate, reading "The Motorcycle Diaries" and using a face mask I bought in Tokyo at Muji, a cool minimalist store. I'd been proud of myself at the time because I only bought two things at Muji, a mini foundation pump for my makeup that I actually needed, and these face masks that came in a set of 5 for something like $1.50. The reason I couldn't resist them was because they came in a tiny bag, each one looking like a large, flat, round white pill. You saturate the "pill" with a face oil, which makes them unroll and then you put it on your face like a regular mask.
Last night, I'd stayed up until about 4 a.m. working on this blog. That sounds like a terrible idea but it actually worked out very well- I woke up at about 12 today, feeling totally rested and energized. Since it's Mother's Day, I called my Mom and talked to her for a while, before attempting to take a shower, and failing since there was no hot water.
For lunch, I stopped at a little restaurant and pointed at a picture (with an English description underneath!) of shrimp won tons in soup. The soup was the same as you get anywhere; basic chicken stock with some spring onions and maybe some other green thing, seaweed or bok choy, but the dumplings were fantastic. The shrimp was chopped but not ground in with breading or other filler crap, and had lemongrass and ginger in it, which made it wonderful.
After lunch I walked over towards the Museum of Contemporary Art and passed an art installation on the way, which was interesting.
Sadly, the Museum itself was closed on Mondays. I wandered around the streets and through market alleyways before going into the D building, where I found a shop where I could "test" nail polish remover by removing the polish from all of my nails. I was trying to decide what to do then and realized that I still had a lot of energy and I didn't have any idea of what to do with it. It was too late to go to another museum, and they'd probably all be closed, and it was too cloudy to go see the Taipei 101 building.
As I was thinking about it, I noticed that the weather was actually perfect for running; slightly chilly and breezy but not really cold. Weather is one of my main excuses for not going running, the other two I use most frequently are: exhaustion and that my stomach isn't right (either too full or too hungry- it sounds strange, but it's actually very hard to find the exact hunger level to run on). I couldn't use any of these excuses as I was energized and my stomach, for once, was at that perfect point. The only problem was that I didn't want to. I tried rationalizing with myself;
"You slightly twisted your ankle a while ago and can still vaguely feel it- you don't want to injure yourself more."
"Yes, but you can only even feel it if you move your ankle in an awkward sideways manner that you wouldn't do when you run AND the pavement here is surprisingly even and good."
"Yeah, but I just really don't want to."
"Stop being so lazy and pathetic!"
"That's mean- you're a jerk."
"I'm sorry, that was out of line, it's just that you'll feel so much better if you do, and you'll sleep better, just put your running clothes on- you can do it!"
"Okay, I'll just change and go. Just change and go before I can change my mind."
So I did. And I was right. I went for a decent run (about 50 minutes run/walk) and it was okay and I did feel better afterwards, especially after a shower. I got some noodles and pork dumpling thing for dinner that looked pretty disgusting but actually tasted okay, and then went back to the hostel where I've been busy working on my blog and relaxing by: painting my nails with clear polish, enjoying another cup of homemade hot chocolate, reading "The Motorcycle Diaries" and using a face mask I bought in Tokyo at Muji, a cool minimalist store. I'd been proud of myself at the time because I only bought two things at Muji, a mini foundation pump for my makeup that I actually needed, and these face masks that came in a set of 5 for something like $1.50. The reason I couldn't resist them was because they came in a tiny bag, each one looking like a large, flat, round white pill. You saturate the "pill" with a face oil, which makes them unroll and then you put it on your face like a regular mask.
Still Being Lazy
5/9-
Today I went for a long walk, even though the weather's still quite gross. The only thing I saw that looked at all interesting was the Museum of Contemporary Art, so I might go see that tomorrow. I booked a flight to get to Hong Kong for May 17th. It's $170 USD cheaper than the next available flight but it's on a super-budget airline, I have to leave at 1:25 a.m. and there's a two hour stopover in...Manila. Look at it on a map and tell me that makes sense. Oh well, saving that much is worth it to me and it does mean I won't have to pay for a hotel that night. Eh. Other than that, I didn't do much today besides writing and updating this blog.
Today I went for a long walk, even though the weather's still quite gross. The only thing I saw that looked at all interesting was the Museum of Contemporary Art, so I might go see that tomorrow. I booked a flight to get to Hong Kong for May 17th. It's $170 USD cheaper than the next available flight but it's on a super-budget airline, I have to leave at 1:25 a.m. and there's a two hour stopover in...Manila. Look at it on a map and tell me that makes sense. Oh well, saving that much is worth it to me and it does mean I won't have to pay for a hotel that night. Eh. Other than that, I didn't do much today besides writing and updating this blog.
Do (something, anything) Another Day
5/8-
Finished "Shadow of the Wind" and it really is a great book- I'd recommend it. It wasn't raining, though it was still gross and humid and gray out, so I went for a short walk. I'd planned on buying dinner but didn't see anything particularly appetizing so I bought pre-seasoned chicken pieces which I fried up on one of the two burners available and added to my lettuce and chopped up red bell pepper to make a salad, and to my ramen for extra protein. I washed it all down with milk since I think I've been short on calcium lately, all while watching the most recent 007 movie on t.v. I was reminded of how crappy Daniel Craig is as Bond, and how old and short and unattractive he is.
Finished "Shadow of the Wind" and it really is a great book- I'd recommend it. It wasn't raining, though it was still gross and humid and gray out, so I went for a short walk. I'd planned on buying dinner but didn't see anything particularly appetizing so I bought pre-seasoned chicken pieces which I fried up on one of the two burners available and added to my lettuce and chopped up red bell pepper to make a salad, and to my ramen for extra protein. I washed it all down with milk since I think I've been short on calcium lately, all while watching the most recent 007 movie on t.v. I was reminded of how crappy Daniel Craig is as Bond, and how old and short and unattractive he is.
Sad and Slow
5/7-
I spent today recovering from my nuclear particle collision speed in Japan by reading "Shadow of the Wind." It's a wonderful book so far, but I had to put it down at one point just because it was so sad. In fact, all the books I've read recently that have been really good have been sad. Between that and all the sad sights I've seen, I have to wonder if I'm being masochistic, but I don't feel sad or hurty overall? Also, it seems like Spanish and South American authors in general tend to write very depressing books, I wonder why that is, and why that makes me like them- because they understand pain and sadness?
The city is drowning today, so I only went outside once to get food, which was forgettable. I'd planned on changing hostels to a cheaper place, but they had a dorm bed available here for the same price, and searching for a random building in the rain sounded terrible, so I'm staying here. I did buy a bar of chocolate and milk, which I successfully combined into really yummy hot chocolate, so I'm counting that as my achievement for the day.
I spent today recovering from my nuclear particle collision speed in Japan by reading "Shadow of the Wind." It's a wonderful book so far, but I had to put it down at one point just because it was so sad. In fact, all the books I've read recently that have been really good have been sad. Between that and all the sad sights I've seen, I have to wonder if I'm being masochistic, but I don't feel sad or hurty overall? Also, it seems like Spanish and South American authors in general tend to write very depressing books, I wonder why that is, and why that makes me like them- because they understand pain and sadness?
The city is drowning today, so I only went outside once to get food, which was forgettable. I'd planned on changing hostels to a cheaper place, but they had a dorm bed available here for the same price, and searching for a random building in the rain sounded terrible, so I'm staying here. I did buy a bar of chocolate and milk, which I successfully combined into really yummy hot chocolate, so I'm counting that as my achievement for the day.
Sayonara!
5/6-
Naturally, I woke up a bit later than I wanted, so I rushed to the post office to ship a package home, and then took the subway, and then the special, expensive train ($20!) to the airport. I checked in just in time, weighed myself on the baggage carousel and got some sushi I hadn't tried, to take with me on the flight.
I don't know if I mentioned it specifically, but I have, of course, had sushi while in Japan before this, and it was good, but didn't blow my mind. This sushi, that I ate on the plane, didn't either, though that's probably because I was trying the weird stuff I hadn't gotten to before; unagi (eel) and sea urchin, though the other piece was a safe bet of grilled salmon. The unagi was okay, but the sea urchin was truly revolting. I'd heard it described as having the consistency and texture of wet brains, but that didn't bother me too much. The bright orange, the coldness of it, all of that was okay, but the true texture: solid and thick outside, giving way to gross, oozing orange pus and foam with a terrible taste, that was horrible.
They gave me something to eat on the plane that was edible and the rest of the flight was uneventful, though we had a fair bit of turbulence at one point. Even so, it was a perfectly decent flight and I have no complaints, which, for a flight, is saying a lot.
I'm a little sad to leave Japan and it's definitely somewhere I'd love to go back to and see more of in the future. For such a small country, there's just so much. I also really liked Tokyo.
I was able to disembark quickly and get through immigration without too much time or trouble, changed a tiny bit of money and walked out. Mei, a teacher friend of a friend of my Moms, who lives in Taipei and is sort of helping me out and sort of just annoying and a little bit crazy, was there with a sign to meet me.
Her "help" turned out to be more of a pain and more expensive for me than if I'd had no connections whatsoever. She was just a bit spastic and anxious and really didn't seem to know her city very well. Additionally, she kept telling me that Taipei is very difficult and confusing for foreigners if you don't speak Mandarin (it isn't- it's actually easier than Tokyo as more people speak English here) and implying that I really needed to rely on her and should be SO grateful for her help. On the bus ride, she asked me if I had a hotel for the night. I said I didn't but that I had looked up a few places. She said that was okay, that a student of hers was a travel agent so she called her.
Her student said she's found a place for around $40 USD. I said that was too much and that she really didn't have to worry or do anything about that for me- I'd find my own. Eventually, I did get a hostel and then after much unnecessary fussing, she left for a while, before forcing me to go out to a bar (which sounds like an oxymoron but I was tired and really didn't want to go out to this crap ex-pat bar with a 50 year old woman). After about two hours, she let me leave, though I wasn't allowed to go to sleep until she finished giving me a crash course in Mandarin pronunciation- yes, at 2 a.m. Not fun.
Naturally, I woke up a bit later than I wanted, so I rushed to the post office to ship a package home, and then took the subway, and then the special, expensive train ($20!) to the airport. I checked in just in time, weighed myself on the baggage carousel and got some sushi I hadn't tried, to take with me on the flight.
I don't know if I mentioned it specifically, but I have, of course, had sushi while in Japan before this, and it was good, but didn't blow my mind. This sushi, that I ate on the plane, didn't either, though that's probably because I was trying the weird stuff I hadn't gotten to before; unagi (eel) and sea urchin, though the other piece was a safe bet of grilled salmon. The unagi was okay, but the sea urchin was truly revolting. I'd heard it described as having the consistency and texture of wet brains, but that didn't bother me too much. The bright orange, the coldness of it, all of that was okay, but the true texture: solid and thick outside, giving way to gross, oozing orange pus and foam with a terrible taste, that was horrible.
They gave me something to eat on the plane that was edible and the rest of the flight was uneventful, though we had a fair bit of turbulence at one point. Even so, it was a perfectly decent flight and I have no complaints, which, for a flight, is saying a lot.
I'm a little sad to leave Japan and it's definitely somewhere I'd love to go back to and see more of in the future. For such a small country, there's just so much. I also really liked Tokyo.
I was able to disembark quickly and get through immigration without too much time or trouble, changed a tiny bit of money and walked out. Mei, a teacher friend of a friend of my Moms, who lives in Taipei and is sort of helping me out and sort of just annoying and a little bit crazy, was there with a sign to meet me.
Her "help" turned out to be more of a pain and more expensive for me than if I'd had no connections whatsoever. She was just a bit spastic and anxious and really didn't seem to know her city very well. Additionally, she kept telling me that Taipei is very difficult and confusing for foreigners if you don't speak Mandarin (it isn't- it's actually easier than Tokyo as more people speak English here) and implying that I really needed to rely on her and should be SO grateful for her help. On the bus ride, she asked me if I had a hotel for the night. I said I didn't but that I had looked up a few places. She said that was okay, that a student of hers was a travel agent so she called her.
Her student said she's found a place for around $40 USD. I said that was too much and that she really didn't have to worry or do anything about that for me- I'd find my own. Eventually, I did get a hostel and then after much unnecessary fussing, she left for a while, before forcing me to go out to a bar (which sounds like an oxymoron but I was tired and really didn't want to go out to this crap ex-pat bar with a 50 year old woman). After about two hours, she let me leave, though I wasn't allowed to go to sleep until she finished giving me a crash course in Mandarin pronunciation- yes, at 2 a.m. Not fun.
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