one year on…
One year ago last Friday I moved for Taiwan. Right after I returned in December, I gave you a debrief/ by the numbers sort of post so if you want to see a lot of specifics of the trip.
When Dave, my friend and coworker who was there for the first week I was, and I arrived in Taipei, it was hot and humid. Sweltering, muggy, suffocating–whatever you want to call it. We were tired and it was hot and we didn’t understand the language. We attempted a day of work and made it most of the way through, though, to be honest, I don’t think either of us were productive in the least. Dave’s luggage didn’t arrive (except, of course, his tux for a wedding he was going straight to after Taiwan) so that 6’6″ guy and I went to the store to get some clothes to tide him over. He found a shirt that fit and some socks but the largest underwear in the store, as Dave hilariously recounts, wouldn’t make it past his knees when he tried them on later.
We went to get some shabu shabu for dinner that night. The menu was entirely in Chinese and the people working there didn’t speak English at all so we ordered by pointing randomly to a line on the menu. The beef, which–as it turns out–we had ordered was pretty good. A thus I started my almost four months in the country.
It’s so hard to sum up four months in a place with so many varied experiences. Theer was the time in Jianmen, the Taiwan (Republic of China) island 2km off of mainland (People’s Republic of) China that I went to because it had a very interesting history of isolation followed by English colonial-by-way-of-Singapore influence followed by heavy military presence and bombing. It was a fascinating place. The people there also spoke very little English and even though I was near the end of my time in Taiwan and I’d had a one-on-one Chinese tutor, my language skills were not enough to get me by. I was in way over my head. At a noodle restaurant that was drying its fresh noodle on racks outside, I pointed and gestured that I wanted a bowl of whatever everyone else was having and that I was just one person to be seated.
After 15 minutes of mulling around near the entrance, I took the proprietress’ pointing at a bowl to mean that it was mine and I should follow. It was not my food and when I sat at the tableful of strangers, it was obvious I had sat in someone else’s seat. One guy, who was at the table with his friend–the other person at the table, an old woman, seemed unrelated–got me a chair. Later he offered me some of the chicken he and his friend were sharing. Pointing at the chicken and then the three of us: “together.” He also gave me tips about the hot sauce: “good”, pushing over one bottle. Later when the proprietress gave me a funny look while he was paying I didn’t make much of it–after all, as far as I could tell, I was the only white guy on that island, so I got plenty of funny looks. He came back over to the table “you no pay.” I felt ridiculous for nearly crying in the middle of the restaurant but I couldn’t help it.
There were the hoards of guys in Bangkok that tried to sell me fake tours or “massages”. There was the cab driver in Taipei that short-changed me.
I obviously stuck out, perhaps not as much as my 6’6″ tall friend when he was there, but I did. Sometimes it was fine, or even good. I’d make a faux pas or get myself in a jam and people would give me some leeway or help me out. Other times it just felt more like I was a complete outsider. In four months of taking the bus every single day, both ways, and often again in the evenings, I saw another westerner on the bus exactly once. I’m sure the women on the bus thought I was a bit odd.
It’s hard to explain what living there was like because there were so many different experiences. On an average day, my activities were mostly the same: wake up, shower, eat, work, eat, work, maybe run errands, make dinner, and go out or watch TV or write or read or play guitar or whatever. It was just what I was eating was different and the surroundings and people were completely different; the language and writing were (for the most part) not understandable.
I’ll try to give you a better taste through some photos. I’ve picked out some of my favorites because they give a feel for the place, because I like them artistically or because I think they’re quirky or funny. Feel free to ask more about any of the photos if the caption isn’t sufficient and I’ll give you more info if I remember.
You can also read some of my posts from when I was in Taiwan or otherwise traveling.
Taipei, early September
Shabu Shabu restaurant on XingAn Rd.
taxi at an intersection
Danshui Night Market, at dusk
Longdong Park along the northern coast
Scooters near Keelung
seafood market along Fuji harbor
sales/ net girl at seafood market along Fuji harbor
a mock-up (machine) shop
(many more below the break)
Bali
school boys in a music ensemble marching in a death parade in Ubud
rice paddies near Ubud
in the (sacred) monkey forrest near Ubud
dancer performing along with a gamelan in Ubud
Jakarta
a discount department store
Taipei, mid-to-late September
one of many “UN for Taiwan. Peace forever” banners. The potential push for a UN seat for Taiwan was a fairly constant issue while I was there.
costumed man in a parade held on no apparent occasion
dragon dancers in a parade
the tall men costumes in a parade
orchid at Taipei Flower Market
commercial being shot at a bank in the Estlite building on DunHua
girls rehearsing formations at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial
in the grocery store: super seasoning
typical fake food display for demonstration outside restaurant, Miramar mall
sign at parking garage
traffic at the Nanjing-FuXing intersection
sales girl at a cosmetics stall, Shilin Night Market
Taiwanese version, Kanye West Graduation
Thailand
boy mugging for the camera in Chinatown, Bangkok
Machining, Bangkok
classy car in Banglamphu, Bangkok
monk at ATM near the palace, Bangkok
fort at dusk in Banglamphu, Bangkok
fried silkworms and crickets both of which I then tried
boys leaning out of the train en route to Ayuthaya
large Buddha in Ayuthaya
Elephant rides in Ayuthaya
temple ruins in Ayuthaya
adorned Buddha among temple ruins in Ayuthaya
KFC sign, Bangkok train station
statue at a temple, Bangkok
bus and street seller, Bangkok
corner detail on a temple, Bangkok
kids playing roshambo, Bangkok
Muay Thai boxing, Bangkok
communicating bets at Muay Thai boxing, Bangkok
paying off bets at Muay Thai boxing, Bangkok
communicating bets at Muay Thai boxing, Bangkok
signs on Khaosan, Bangkok
Skytrain, highway and street scene in Bangkok
Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok
Macau
baccarat players at the Venetian
Supermercado signs
public square
a Catholic chuch
pharmacy in shopping district
Hong Kong
Signs stretching across the street, Kowloon
boy on a bicycle, Cheung Chau island
deserted beach, Cheung Chau island
fishing harbor, Cheung Chau island
walkway by the harbor at sunset, Cheung Chau island
Taipei: October, November
the Apples in stereo performing at the Wall night club
sunset in the XinYi shopping district
over-road walkway in the XinYi shopping district
girl in a home made costume for a seemingly random parade
the elevated brown line of the MRT, pinhole photo
Friends hanging out at the Taipei Zoo, pinhole photo
shadows and construction outside my office window in the Neihu district
coat hangers in an alley
“the currentis swift water is deep danger”
no joke: a building that houses about a dozen wedding banquet halls on two floors
waterfall in Wulai, south of Taipei
refrigerator in my kitchen
street scene in a shopping district
Kaohsiung
notice board
rickshaws on Cijin island
flowers at a temple on Cijin island
reliquaries(?) at a temple on Cijin island
gas-pump style water dispensing machine on Cijin island
mail box and gate on Cijin island
basketball hoop at the naval base on Cijin island
Holy Rosary Cathedral
Betel nut signs
fungi at Liouho night market
smoothies at a stand at Liouho night market
grilled prawns at Liouho night market
oddly shaped, made-on-location corn dogs–corn sausages might be more accurate–at the Liouho market
basketball games at Liouho night market. the player in red got >120 shots in in a one minute game
bags for sale: “What is most important to u? Love? Money? Or? Superlover?!”
watches for sale at Liouho night market
the famous Kaohsiung Milk King, which serve a delicious papaya milk drink
“King’s Spring Bed Monopoly”
boys fishing in Lotus Lake, Zuoying
entrance to an elaborate and gaudy temple on Lotus Lake, Zuoying
late afternoon and lanterns on Lotus Lake, Zuoying
Japan
the Eva Air Hello Kitty plane I flew to Japan
The headrest covers had Hello Kitty on them, as did the air sickness bags
Why, thank you. Pleasure to be here.
window in an old farm house in Kamogawa
leaving Tokyo on the Shinkansen
Kyoto Station
shadows in a temple, Kyoto
No idea what they mean: “A position is the underground at first floor present”
the gardens at, I believe, the Silver Pavilion, Kyoto
school kids running laps around a building in the palace grounds, Kyoto
priority seat sign, Kyoto subway
tired businessmen on the subway, Kyoto
Toto washlet toilet with built-in faucet (uses hand-washing water to then flush the toilet)
Mr. Young Men restaurant sign
stand of flowers at a temple, Kyoto
fall leaves, Kyoto
beer at a convenience store, Kyoto
street scene, Kyoto
complicated intersection from above, Kyoto
service doorway, Kyoto
written panels at a temple, Kyoto
“Hanaki finger sacks” at a drug store, Kyoto
lit lanterns, possibly at a restaurant or temple, Kyoto
Aluminum bottle of Pocari Sweat and Jesse outside the Gold Pavilion, Kyoto
the Gold Pavilion, Kyoto
Gold Pavilion, Kyoto
pond and gardens in the Gold Pavilion grounds, Kyoto
various types of moss, “Moss the Interrupter” on Gold Pavilion grounds, Kyoto
moss in the Gold Pavilion gardens, Kyoto
Doorway on the palace grounds, Kyoto
vending machine made of recycled tea leaves
fall colors on temple grouns, Kyoto
peeling stickers, Kyoto
fall colors and a pavilion on temple grounds, Kyoto
cloth and rope adornments at a temple, Kyoto
Shinkansen high speed train, Kyoto station
right, train, probably on the way between Kyoto and Tokyo
Lights in Tokyo
Sushi restaurant, probably in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Guests must eat 7 dishes in 20 minutes and leave
Tokyo lights
confusing Tokyo subway map
“Miracle of Grapefruit”
girl and white-faced gibbon, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo
booklet regarding sloth feces in a place where the rope from the sloth pen extends to a tree over a pedestrian walkway, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo
the next page of the booklet regarding sloth feces, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo
folding cane at Tokyu Hands (odd) department store, Shinjuku, Tokyo
lights in probably Akihabara, Tokyo
price list in red light district, Tokyo
colorfully lit building, Tokyo
reflections of city lights, Tokyo
men unloading frozen tune at the Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo
tuna displays in middle man’s area at the Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo
cutting a tuna in the middle man’s area at the Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo
prayer ribbons on a tree on temple grounds, Tokyo
Taiyaki, baked fish-shaped, red bean pastries and Andy near Nippori, Tokyo
basement-level arcade room, Shibuya, Tokyo
boy playing, according to my source, the single hardest song on Dance Dance Revolution, on the hardest level. a blur of limbs. Shibuya, Tokyo
drumming game at arcade, Shibuya, Tokyo
drawers at a temple, Asakusa, Tokyo
fake sushi samples, Asakusa, Tokyo
USB hamburger, Asakusa, Tokyo
monk walking very slowly with donation bowl, Tokyo
Christmas decorations (in early November) in high class shopping district, Tokyo
local Keisel line train, Nippori station, Tokyo
view from above, Tokyo
“Rhode Island the Champion City Hole” Harajuka, Tokyo
train station platform, Tokyo
painted sign at train station, Tokyo
Akihabara (electric town) on a Sunday morning, Tokyo
Taroko Gorge and Eastern Taiwan
Taroko Gorge, on the eastern side of the island is a number of sharp valleys cut into mostly marble mountains by a series of rivers
an Indiana Jones footbridge I crossed
some stratified rock
“beware of rock fall: please do not linger”
late afternoon in a valley
I almost fell into the river here
a marble boulder in a river–note: these are the actual colors of the scene
“beware of killer bees and poisonous snakes.”
a colorful plant
one of the many rivers in the gorge
“caves (bling)”
an ornamental post on a bridge
the Pacific Ocean
the Chingshui Cliffs: a road cut into the marble mountains where they mean the ocean at black sand beaches
at a beach along Chingshui Cliffs
at a beach along Chingshui Cliffs
“Hualien Charming City Hotel”–not sure if the city or the hotel is charming
Kinmen
the entrance of the Taipei Songshan Airport, the domestic airport in the city
mom and son on a scooter going through an old gate
two teenagers on a scooter
an old house
the narrow main street of the old town of Jincheng
statue in a roundabout in Jincheng
street stall in Jincheng
doorway near a dragon statue
end of the old town of Jincheng, with old main gate on left
scooters and bicycles
Taipei, November and December
sausages and other treats at the Shilin night market
a restaurant at the covered section of the Shilin night market
“chairs” and a “table” at the toilet-themed Modern Toilet restaurant near Shilin
smelly tofu is a well-known Taiwanese dish. it smells like diaper, but doesn’t taste that bad
“in beauty blog”
“hard work for a nice tea”
performer in Chinese opera, National Taiwan Junior College of Performing Arts, Neihu, Taipei
looks a lot like KFC
“Around the Mexico”–a Mexican restaurant near my apartment
“Well See”–a neon sign for an optometrist
“hou you”–I’m fine, thanks.
a English proficiency test card offered for intersession at the Baoan temple
ornate post the Baoan temple
a line of police scooters; there were also ambulance/ EMT scooters
an Australian restaurant along Snake Alley
a monk outside of Snake Alley
taxi in front of Longshan temple
snakes bleeding out in Snake Alley
scooters parked on the sidewalk in front of my building; they’re parked in every available space
scallion pancakes at a night market near Snake Alley
24 hour locksmith sign at dusk
the Delight Hotel across the street from where I lived
vendors with reflective bambo or frons at a night market near Snake Alley
overloaded motor tricycle in an alley