Turns out Tanshui is a lot bigger than I thought. I got a chance to spend the day there with Tiffany, who taught me many good things about Tanshui.
Lesson 1: Tanshui is super godamn busy on Sunday. Avoid it.
Lesson 2: They have corn on the cob that is first covered in butter, fried, covered in a spice of your choosing, then fried again. The end result is like a 3 layer corn thing, except the outside is fried butter and garlic. This is awesome.
Lesson 3: Take the boat to Fisherman's Wharf. While the river appears calm, as you get near the ocean the waves get quite large, and seem totally cool with jumping over the side and getting you all sorts of wet.
Lesson 4: The Fisherman's Wharf has fried mushrooms.
Lesson 5: There is no Lesson 5. Lesson 4 is all you will ever need.
Tiffany was all too eager to point this out.
In maybe more exciting news, I accidentally crashed a party with Taiwan's president. How did that happen? In the most mundane, boring way possible. Tiffany and I were headed off to dinner at a restaurant I thought looked cool but hadn't eaten at. Well it turns out that place is totally awesome because its cheap and has the largest beer selection I have seen in Taipei. So, big win there. It's in this artists village with these little exhibition halls. One of them was being used for some sort of African festival.
On the way out, there were tons of cops. Like, every 10 paces another cop standing around. As we got caught in a crowd, Tiffany asked, and we were told the president is here. Oh. Interesting. Well one of those halls had some pretty bumping music playing as we walked by, so I decided to poke my head in and look. I walked past the cops, but there were cops on every corner so I didn't think anything of it. There was just a stage with a performer on it, bunch of guys in expensive suits. I'm not standing there for but 10 seconds when I overhear the president is about to speak. Also, some regular folk try to come in right behind me. The cops stop them, tell them they are not allowed to pass. Like, right where I just walked in. Moral of the story - if you want to crash the party of a president, be white.
So, mountain update! Man, today's trek was hard because the peaks weren't very clearly marked. Oh right, also because I got stupid drunk the night before and wanted to die by the time I was done. But I gave 小八里分，坑子，小坪頂，and 忠義 my best shot. The only official elevation I can find is for Xiaobalifen, at 232m. The other 2 were not as high, and Zhongyi was a bit taller. So I'll say 200, 200, and 250 respectively. Add another 882 meters for a total of 6038. (68%). Zhongyi was probably one of my favorite hikes yet, as when you get to the top it just opens to a very cool field. I've never seen anything like that, so it was a nice surprise.
Beitou has the cutest trains ever.
On my way back I stopped off at Xinbeitou to make use of the hot springs, because I needed it. There was an awesome kid there who was using the water bowl thingies you wash your feet off with as his personal battleship, moving it about in the water and making "pew pew" noises at a Japanese couple. I will not stand by and watch an American ally's sovereignty be threatened by senseless Taiwanese aggression, so I grabbed the other bowl and engaged the enemy. Sadly, I was defeated - however his mother made him leave, so the land of the rising sun remains secure.
Closer to home I was going to stop by the new Subway to have dinner, because the old one closed like a week after I arrived. I don't know why the old one did close, because the new is literally across the street. And for some reason, at 7:00pm on a Sunday, the new one was also closed. Like, what the hell guys? You are sweet onion chicken teriyaki teases, and you should be ashamed.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Let's start off with a picture my mother will hate.
So I decided to compile a list of mountains I've climbed. I've gotta be honest, some of these were a bitch and a half to find. In fact, for several I could not find any official postings on their altitude, so I guessed based on other mountains around them. Those are marked by a squiggly, and I hope I'm in the ballpark.
And looking over this list, holy shit. I've climbed a lot of godamn mountains. Honestly looking at the height I use the word "mountain" very liberally, they're more like hills. But hey, they all have "山" after their names, so mountain it is. Without further stalling for time...
Aaaaaaaand the grand total is: 5156 meters! I'm speechless after writing that, I had no idea I had made such progress. Everest's total height per Wikipedia is 8848 meters - which means I am 58% of the way to my goal. When I first said this stupid challenge, I wasn't sure if it was even obtainable. I'm glad it is, and I've made a hell of a dent in it. My legs are going to look pretty buff after this. Also, I have a newfound appreciation for Everest. Shit that thing is tall.
Right, aside from a buttload of hiking I've been doing quite a bit lately. I finally made it out to the zoo with my new friend Tiffany. Of course yes, I saw a panda. Yes it was cute, and yes it was eating bamboo. More interesting was near the restrooms they had "poop art" where you too can play in a giant sized turd. I do think poop is more interesting than a panda.
The lion exhibit was also quite cool, as at first they were just laying there. Then a dad but his toddler up on the ledge to the window, and she started yelling for the kitties to come over. Suddenly they appeared to be quite interested in that window, and got up very close to take a lick... errr, peek.
Afterwards Tiffany took me shopping, because apparently my clothes are just not Taiwanese enough. But ya know, Taiwan... I see dudes that wear neon pink pants and hair slicked taller than Elvis. There is nowhere on the planet where that is fashionable. She first selected for me some bright, stoplight red pants. I had to draw the line at some point. It's true I'm a fashion idiot, and maybe I could get away with some of that stuff here, but I think the TSA would send it to quarantine on arrival. We were joking around how jeans and button up shirts are pretty standard as far as I know. She smiled and said that in no way is that fashionable. Almost on cue, a white foreigner walks the other way on the sidewalk wearing a near identical outfit to me. I did a quick nod up with "Hey man", and he responded with "Sup." I turned back to her with a stupid grin on my face.
We were out pretty late, and said goodbye at the MRT station. We were both going different ways, and while I was waiting, I got to see something I never have before - a completely empty station. I thought this might be a fun time to make a video about the Taipei subway, so I did.
I guess it's also worth mentioning I visited the Taipei Martyrs Hall, which is something I never saw listed in any guidebook. I will say out of big monuments to Blank, this one was by far the coolest. First of all it has the same guards like at CKS and Sun Yat Sen's place, but you can get right up in their face. There's a plain clothes guy nearby, so unfortunately you probably won't get away with any shenanigans. But the place itself is much more moving, listing all the people that died for Taiwanese independence. I especially liked the series of maps with accompanying text telling the story of the Chinese civil war, and the flight to Taiwan.
The first pic of the post today is from Danfeng mountain, or at least partway up it. Danfeng is one of the least well maintained places I've been to, as I think the trail was created just by people repeatedly walking on it. As a result of the rain, it was more like hiking through a creek. At the rock there, I met some foreigners who I greeted with "Ni hao!" They asked in Chinese what country I was from, and I said America. They switched to English and said "Oh, we're from South Carolina." with a smile. Although by their accent, I could tell they definitely weren't. I laughed and said bullshit, and they played along for a little longer. Turns out they're from Munich. Crafty Germans!
About partway up, I came across something really damn weird. The once muddy footpath suddenly gave way to a large marble plaza. Curious, I took a look. Whereas the ground was covered with leaves and other stuff from the trees, this place was impeccably maintained. It turns out I found a tomb of some fairly important guy... or at least rich. They must pay someone a lot of money to keep it looking so nice, because it was at least a mile from the nearest road. With it being a foggy day and dead silent, this was a pretty damn creepy place to me.
The pic of the white statue was a nice surprise at the peak of Danfeng. But what was more appealing to me is that they had a vending machine up there! And they had juice boxes for $10! They're usually like $25 at 7-11, so I'm guessing they're sold at cost to thirsty hikers or subsidized by temple donations. Ya know, if god wants followers, maybe he could start with 30 cent juice boxes - just sayin'.
Whew! And that just about brings us up to today. I saw Star Trek 2 last night, which I understand it doesn't come out for a few more days in the US. I mean, I thought Star Trek 1 was pretty awesome, but this one is even better. Go see it, watch Sherlock kick some ass.
Monday, May 6, 2013
So I'm going to try something a bit different today that will pretty much be a wall of text. Short backstory:
I was sitting around drinking with some friends, and inevitably we start comparing the East vs West opinion on certain things. I suppose specifically, the American perspective. I asked about the Taiwanese perspective, which was pretty much boiled down to "Everything is for the group." I thought "Does that mean America is for the individual?" I guess it sort of is, but I thought about the daunting task of "How do you explain America to someone has never been there?" In the spur of the moment I was struggling to form coherent thoughts, so here is my explanation of America: Abridged.
I think the thing most people don't get is that America is really damn huge. The 2nd largest country in the world, unless you count China + Taiwan (they don't here). A few months ago someone was saying how they wanted to visit New York, and then pop on down and visit Miami. You do not "pop on down" to Miami from New York. Your perspective is wrong because you can get to the south of country in an hour and a half by train. You're looking at a several hour plane ride for that detour.
Unfortunately because of our size, we don't have easy accessibility to cultures like Europe. We only have 2 countries we can visit easily. Canada is one, but apologies to Canadians, it really is like America's 51st state. I don't mean to say that you are American, you have a lot to be proud of in your country that in many ways, is better than ours. What I mean is that there is no culture shock going from Canada to America. So while their is appeal to visit it once, I think because it's so similar repeat visits are usually not a priority.
The other is Mexico, which is more different culturally. However, Mexico is no slouch of a place either. To get to the border isn't difficult, but to someplace like Mexico City, you're looking at a long drive ahead of you - one that would be better served by a plane, unless you're on the tip of Texas. Coupled with the fact that some parts of Mexico aren't safe right now, and the fact that you need a passport. For many Americans it's hard to justify the price of one, because a plane trip anywhere else is too expensive. That's not to mention that for each of these countries, a city is really only convenient if you're near the border. If you live in the middle of Wyoming, driving to Canada or Mexico is simply unfeasible. Also, we have 50 states that are in many ways separate countries themselves. It's hard to justify a $1000 plane trip for each person, and passports, when there is so much to see in America already.
But, the American dream has still attracted scores of immigrants from other countries. One of my favorite things about America you just don't realize, is that we're extremely diverse. Whites are real close to becoming a minority. A minority! Even a midsized place like Cincinnati has a billion ethnic foods, and god forbid if you Google "Chinese food in New York City". We all needed to speak the same language, and for various reasons that became English. Spanish or French may be useful if you live near Mexico or Quebec, but there's really nobody to practice and 2nd language with. Because of that, any we pick up is lost pretty quickly, along with the culture a 2nd language could provide.
My point in all this is that what we learn about other cultures is usually by second hand experience. Without first hand accounts, we basically take the parts of a culture we like, strip out the other stuff, and sell it back to you. I can imagine someone from another country would hate this. You see us picking out the parts we find appealing, throw it all into a big pot, and stir. But then at the same time, you'll realize we do this to our own culture. I don't think anyone really expects How I Met Your Mother to be an accurate portrayal of life in New York. Seriously, have you SEEN how big that apartment is? (Also, why has Ted spent several years telling his children of sexual conquests?) It's the ideal New York we want to see. So when we meet a genuine foreigner, I think we're very curious because we don't really know anything about you.
But we know you all know about us. Granted we are still the biggest economy in the world, and have a large influence on the globe. But I think most people know about America from either our TV or military. Hollywood is quite good at pumping out entertaining things. Key word entertaining, not accurate. I hope nobody sees Baywatch and expects all beaches to be like that. And as far the military, well, people marching through your country with guns doesn't usually give off a good first impression.
If you can believe it, I'm just now getting to my point. I think most people see Americans as uncultured and arrogant. Uncultured, I completely agree with for the reasons mentioned above. But for arrogant, I think it's because we're raised with this idea we can be anything we want to be. As a result we think we can do anything we put our mind to, which can come across as cocky. It's hard, but not impossible to claw from abject poverty to wealth in a single generation. Our stories are full of rags to riches, nobody to somebody types of stories. It's an idea we really hold on and run with. Creativity and self expression is fostered and seen as a good thing, because who knows, you may create something the world needs. Failure doesn't have the stigma it does in other cultures. It's expected in your life you will try many things. And you will fail a lot of them. And you will try again until you get it right. That concept is much more foreign elsewhere, pardon the pun. There is a strong emphasis on getting it right the first time, even when learning. As a result people are very cautious and tend to pick the easy route. However our constant failure makes us tough and makes us grow up faster. I did a post about the Asian school system last year, but I had several kids in China who couldn't do the most basic of life tasks at 16. At 16 in America, we give you a car and say "Go out and become members of society". We pile on responsibility early, knowing somewhat that you will likely mess it up at some point. But you'll find your way regardless, and be better for it after. While at the same time, we look at people who have failed with the attitude of "Well, they just didn't try hard enough."
Whew! Well if you read all of that, I give you major props. What do you think it is to be American?
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Mountains of Disappointment, I call this entry.
My quest to climb a bunch of hills continues, this time towards the south end of town. I arrived at the MRT station and set out, GPS in hand, to climb Chanchu Mountain. My heart sank when it appeared I was in another light industry part of town. Great, I thought. This was going to be like Nangang. If there is a trail, its blocked by some factory put up last week. My heart rose a little when the industry suddenly gave way to a really nice park in a residential area. Once more, they had a map with the hiking trail marked. Ah, a lucky day for me! I glanced up and saw a bunch of electrical towers and substations near the summit, but at least I could get my hiking in.
Xizikou Summit, with the 101 in the background
Nope. The trail doesn't exist. There's a marker for where it WILL start, with construction tape around it. I saw another entrance on the GPS, so after a 30 minute detour, I was also greeted with no way up whatsover. BAH! So I headed south towards some other mountains I saw, this time with great success. Once more, it had a pretty cool view at the top. Xizikou (溪子口山) and Jingmei (景美山) - check. I really should estimate the total progress towards my Everest height goal.
Afterwards, I headed back to Carrefour to get some dinner with friends. The night randomly turned into drinking at the nearby college campus, which had happened once before and was a great time. There was no disappointment this time as well, and an interesting conversation got me thinking about a few things. I don't want to spoil anything, but the next blog will be about that, and it'll be a long one.
So now we come to today. My plans to go to Tamshui for the day fell through, so I had the day to myself and nothing to do. I decided to head over to the National Palace Museum, AKA the thing listed first on every guide I've seen about Taipei. Basically, when the Nationalists fled China, they took all the artsy stuff with them. This is the largest exhibit in the world of Chinese artifacts, so I thought it'd be interesting.
Taiwan, your artifacts can go suck it. China, you're not missing anything. First of all, they wouldn't accept my student subway card or ID so I had to pay full price. Ok, whatever. I'm not actually a student, that's fine. But I think the term "artifact" is used rather loosely here. Yeah sure, there were Ming vases, a bunch of jade stuff, you know. But they also had letters from officials to the emperor requesting a few days of sick leave. Really? Some dude from 200 years ago catches a cold and now it's noteworthy? I would show you a photo, but there were no photos allowed anywhere inside. To their credit, they go to a lot of trouble to protect this stuff, They warn you the entire facility is kept quite chilly and dry. In adorable Taiwan fashion, they have guards who stand around with a "No talking loudly" sign. If you start to raise your voice, as one Japanese tour group did, they come walking over to you wailing it about. Careful -you'll scare the paper!
We have palm trees!
Also, I want to know what airline they used when they transported all this fragile stuff out of China. I can't fly anywhere without my luggage getting absolutely destroyed or lost. Meanwhile Taiwan has enough porcelain to literally fill a mountain. There's no way they checked that - must've all been carry on.
In short, I was a bit unimpressed. If you're an art lover, I can see the appeal of a piece of jade that looks like cabbage. I mean, I'll be damned if it wasn't the spitting image of a cabbage, but I find that stuff quite dull. So I went back to the bus station in hopes of doing something else, but I noticed one of the stops was the Taipei Astronomy Museum. I thought, why not? So off I went.
The Astronomy Museum is 20x cooler than the National Palace Museum, even though it looks like (and probably was) designed in the 80s. While they had a few modern pieces, like a model of Curiosity, it was mostly stuff we've known since Voyager. I was a little surprised though that there was a very large focus on NASA, and virtually nothing on Russia. I tried to find even a mention of Yuri Gagarin, and it just wasn't there. But they had a lot of really cool interactive exhibits that I quite enjoyed. My favorite was the doppler effect, which I just pushed a button expecting a speaker to play some sound. Instead I saw sparks fall down at the top of my eye. I jumped back in surprise as this little remote control car hanging from the ceiling SCREAMS away, sparks flying. It whips around nearly the whole museum, scaring the heck out of anyone it passes over. After about 20 seconds, it comes back to a stop in front of me, and yup, definitely had the doppler effect going on.
After that it was about dinner time, so I decided to call it a day. I can rest easy, knowing that according to the Taipei Astronomy Museum, Pluto is still a planet.
Although I still don't know why the space shuttle has a Taiwanese flag on it.
