Still in Taipei

I ended up not going to Taroko gorge because it was raining there this week. Earthquake + Rain = mudslides? There were two more earthquakes in the past couple of days. It's like having an earthquake in California; no one stops what they are doing as long as things don't start breaking. We ended up going to the National Palace museum which has the largest collection of Chinese artwork in the world. Why not in Beijing? Because when the Nationalists escaped to Taiwan to flee from the Communist Revolution, they brought these treasures with them. China has asked for this stuff back, but Taiwan has refused, adding that all this stuff would have been destroyed during the Communists' Cultural Revolution where everything "bourgeoise" was destroyed. The Palace Museum was under renovation so the exhibits were much smaller than they would have been. We balanced the sightseeing at the musem during the day with beer and wings at Hooters Taipei. I love that place. The wings are not as good, but it's always a good time. We also visited Tamshui, a port north of Taipei, which left much to be desired. The weather was hot hot hot so we took a bus to the mountains overlooking Taipei, Yangmingshan. We hiked up the steep paths under the jungle canopy. Hot and humid.
Yesterday we headed to Wulai, a place I have already described in the photo. Last night we went to "Snake Alley"; a night market where the main attraction is a few restaurants where they kill snakes to the delight of on-lookers. The crowds were sparse last night, and they didn't kill any while I was there, but there was a video playing of the killing of a snake. There was a live cobra, hooded, being taunted by the salesman. The whole point of this is to get people to come into the restaurant and have a shot of a clear hard liquor with what I guess is the blood or bile of the cobra. They will also cook up the snake into a soup or maybe fried it up. I also saw a turtle dangling on a hook for probably a similar fate. They didn't allow photography so I didn't take any pictures. Sorry. I remember seeing this place when I was in the 4th grade. It's turned into quite the tourist show; much different from before when there were two live mongooses tearing apart a cobra.
Taipei has a nightlife that sort of kicks Manhattan in the butt. This place is packed. It really reminds me of a smaller version of Tokyo. To give you an idea of how crowded this place is: there are 23 million folks in Taiwan in an area just over the size of Maryland and Delaware combined. The population of Taiwan is larger than the state of New York and about four times the size of Maryland and Delaware combined. The statistic I read said it had about 700 folks per square kilometer. There is a word in Mandarin, re-nao, which sort of means "hot and lively". That's what this place is, very re-nao.

is there no wonder why my "ingrish" is not so good? this is a t-shirt i saw. there really is no reason for this kind of bizarre string of english words, yet this phenomenon continues into the 21st century. lots of folks wear coats, sweaters, and shirts that have meaningless logos and words; sometimes, with no recognizable words. i've even seen this on billboard ads and signs. there is an adidas ad campaign here with the motto: "impossible is nothing". i do not know if this is intentional or not.

this is the view while riding up the cable car, gondola-thing. the mountains are covered with a thick jungle canopy. even the steep cliffs.

waterfall at wulai. not particularly spectacular, hence the overzealous enthusiasm. this waterfall is supposed to be 80 m high and quite impressive after a rain. wulai is about an hour's bus ride south of taipei. it is known for this waterfall, but also "dreamland", a tacky amusement park situated at the top of the mountain, accessible by cable car ride. this place is tacky, like the amusement park on beach blvd in biloxi next to ruby tuesdays. there was a performance by six guys from burkina faso, an african country north of ghana. i was a little confused by this african drumming and dancing as i thought there would be a taiwanese aboriginal village at the top of the mountain. as it turns out, the aborigine village is a taxi ride 17 km further into the mountains; my bad, for not bringing the guidebook along with us. at least the view was good and it was cooler up in the mountain than being down on the valley floor. "damn, it's mad hot in china!"

i could be in the states...but i'm in taipei!

the menu board outside hooter's, taipei.

going to "chuuch" on a tuesday night.

my friend michael at a food cart. they are selling grilled eel on a stick. betcha can't find that at the food court in the mall!

evening streets and traffic in taipei

the taipei 101. the world's tallest building. um, i cut a little off the top. i am told it is supposed to be like a bamboo stalk. hmm.

a figurine at the national palace museum. this thing is about 1 and a half inches high.

a main street in tamshui, a coastal city outside taipei. not unlike chinatown in manhattan or san francisco.

overlooking taipei from yangmingshan mountain. sort of like looking at LA on a typical day.

me and confucius. at the national palace museum. 

scooters abound. i am told the cost as little as $1300 USD for a new one. i'm not sure if this is accurate. this one comes with a toilet!

the mtr is very modern and clean. how very japanese!

this is the courtyard of a traditional home. there are few of these around.

Kukuan hot springs area. the river bed is filled in about 30 feet and you can see the building on the other side of the river that is at the bottom, has its first floor buried under rocks. the bridge has lights on it which reminds me of that bridge in Apocalypse Now that gets blown up every night.

Earthquaking

We had a small trembler here last night; it was pretty cool. I'm staying with my friend who is on the fifth floor of an apartment building. I thought it was a truck rolling by, but then the shaking got stronger. My friend said it was an earthquake, and I think I heard someone outside scream. I haven't felt an earthquake in about 13 years; fortunately it wasn't too big. There was a big one in Taiwan about four years ago; about 2500 people died. They say because the earthquakes loosen the soil, when the torrential rains come, massive mudslides occur. There was apparently a huge mudslide a couple months ago at the hot springs resort where I was this weekend. The riverbed was filled in about 30 feet and widened. I saw buildings lying on their sides in the middle of the riverbed; it was pretty wierd. Hotels that were built next to the river have lost their first floors.
Anyways, the epicenter of the earthquake last night is close to the place we're going to tomorrow. Hopefully there won't be any big rains. haha. Environmentalists have felt that the deforestation that occurs in the mountains and hills and the plantings of crops contributed to the mudslides, and the construction of the cross-island highways have denuded the mountains of their root systems which the topsoil in place. Anyways, the mudslides also destroyed parts of the cross-island highways, and the government has no plans to rebuild them. It's been a losing battle so the forest is taking back the mountains. Because there is no cross-island road (hence no bus) I will take the train, which hugs the coast, to get to the other side of the island.

Chiang Kai-Shek memorial entrance

Chiang Kai-Shek memorial entrance,
originally uploaded by bastchild.

This is me at the entrance door. The actual memorial is like an Asian Lincoln memorial. There is no particular reason I do not have a picture of it. The weather is really nice here, around 75 F; lots of Taiwanese were wearing long sleeves and coats because it is winter time. There were not many tourists here because it is a weekday, and the ones you did see carried open umbrellas to protect themselves from the damaging effects of UV light. This, apparently, is the secret of the anti-aging Asian.

week 1: Kaohsiung to Taipei

I arrived to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, last night. I have spent the past week in Kaohsiung, a large city in the south, staying with my relatives and my mother, who is visiting too. The weather is nice and warm in the south, like Biloxi. Let me paint a picture for you...
The morning open air market bustles with produce and meats which many folks buy for their daily meals. The vegetables and fruits are larger than we see in the states, and far more exotic and tropical. The meats are exotic as well; I've seen live fish, shrimp, crabs, eels and frogs awaiting their doom next to a chopping block. I've seen fresh pasta being made for wonton skins and noodles. They also sell all sorts of nic-nacs like footwear and clothing. Salespeople wear headset microphones so they can tout their wares via a PA system. Dogs roam the alleys freely and you have to keep an eye out to watch for their poop. By midday, the morning market has packed up and gone and the store fronts open up their shutters and bring out their latest fashions on clotheracks and displays to the sidewalks. Traffic zooms by: scooters, gold-colored taxis, and blue mini-flatbed trucks with some apparently oblivious to lights and lanes. At night, food carts appear with their lighting systems, tables, and stools. They don't serve hotdog and pretzels like they do in NYC; they are able to cook up noodles, meats, dumplings, and on and on. It's all very good, very cheap, and hopefully very hepatitis-free.
I spent the weekend in the mountains at a hot spring resort. Hotels pump thermal water into their swimming pools and wading areas. It is pretty fun, and the water is filled with minerals, without the foul odor I expected. They make you wear a swimming cap along with your trunks. I wore a pink one, because that's what was left. Awesome.
I've seen three scooter accidents in four days. As I have mentioned, the driving is pretty erratic. Hit-and-runs are common and bystanders are sometimes afraid to stop to help for fear of being accused of causing the accident. It seems, at times, that folks live their lives one day at a time.
Taipei, by comparison to Kaoshiung, is like Manhatten to any other major city in America. The streets are huge, there are no piles of dog poop, and billboards and neon lights advertise major international companies. Today I visited Taipei's 101-storey skyscraper, apparently the tallest building in the world for those keeping track. The mall inside probably has a boutique for every French and Italian fashion designer in the world...and the stuff they sell all looks the same: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Cerrutti...whatever. The mall inside is about five-storeys tall, and it feels like being in the States. I am visiting my good friend Michael here, and today we had lunch at a buffet. For about $20 USD it was all-you-can eat food (fresh crabs, shrimp, fish, meats made to order, and sushi, and Chinese food) PLUS an open bar. After an hour, we decided to get drunk. I don't know how much I had to drink, but we probably would still be there except they closed at 4pm. We were there for about 3 and a half hours. Fortunately the MTR (mass transit rail) is sparkling clean and modern and close by.
In a couple days we may head off to Taroko Gorge via train.
I will try to visit the National Museum. :)