Home again..

Over the Pacific, Sunday Afternoon

Back in NYC as of Sunday night, planning on being here through the next few months.. then back to Taiwan for a few months, not really sure how all this will shape out.. making an income over there will be the biggest obstacle to being able to be there more or even re-locate for a while. It's all still very much up in the air. I had a fantastic trip and wonderfull company, also met some great new friends. For those who read this blog, hope you enjoyed it.. I tried to make it as fun as possible.. and enjoyed posting to it.. Peter

Hello Kitty!

Taipei Airport, Sunday 9:00AM

Okay.. so Hello Kitty makes everything on the planet.. from clothing to toaster ovens... now..... AIRPLANES!!

Few last shots from Saturday night..

Taipei, Taiwan, Saturday 10:00PM

Last dinner in Taipei

Taipei, Taiwan Saturday 9:00PM

We sent out for a last dinner together the night before I left to come back to NYC, Pei-Chia picked out a fancy Tebanyaki restaurant.. I had no idea what Tebanyaki was so I was all for it..

The restaurant was right across the street from 101, so we went to the top first and took a look, then headed over.. they seat you at a long table with a chef on the other side.. sort of like a sushi bar but with a stainless cooking surface bulit in to the table, the chef uses no oil, only water to cook with and once you pick your food the show begins with everything prepared and cooked right before your eyes.. a fantastic meal, and healthy, and a performance piece to boot.. last part of the show was a snack of Caramel/Sesame Seed popcorn..

I've left Taiwan, and they sent me off with a fireworks show!

Taipei, Taiwan, 10-10-07

Two best things about the show.. they kept the bridge over the river open while all the pyrotechinics were going off, you could see city buses going by through the smoke... and .. they figuratively blew up a condo building under construction... excellent..

View from the top.

Top of Taipei 101, Saturday 7:00PM

Take a guess..

Taipei, Taiwan, Friday 9:00PM

Ok.. what are they selling with this nifty neon billboard?

Packing up..

Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday 6:00PM

So, packing my things.. the bike is already in it's box. we are going out tonight, going to go up to the top of 101 (have not been yet) and out to a nice dinner. I leave tomorrow morning. I'll post a bit more if I have time tonight, otherwise I'll do a wrap up post or two once I'm back in NYC.

Pimp my scooter....

Taipei, Taiwan Tuesday 8PM

Take one normal generic scooter, chop in half, then weld together a big metal box with rear fold down ramp, attach front of scooter to box and add a side wheel.. take rear of scooter and bolt to side of box. You now have a scooter for the motorized wheelchair crowd. Drop down rear ramp, drive your motorized wheelchair into box, raise rear ramp, invite your friend to sit on the rear of the scooter which is now a sidecar, start her up, and off you go. Awesome! I have also seen a few scooters on the road here with three wheels across the back.. basically a scooter with training wheels for the old folks who have trouble with balance.. Excellent! I don't really like the scooters.. they smell.. their noisy.. they park on the sidewalks.. they drive on the sidewalks.. but.. gotta love a little ingenious modifications to help out those in need...

Sunrise in Kaoshiung

Okay.. so we got hit by another Typhoon.. this one blew through quicker but was pretty violent and somewhere around 5 or so people were killed.. we rode it out in Kaoshiung which did not get hit as bad but it was still fairly intense.. this photo is what it looked like outside our hotel when we got up on Saturday morning..

Sunset from Kaoshiung.

Kaoshiung, Fisherman's Wharf, Saturday 8PM

More food! All the meals are really interesting and fantastic.. I've made it a point to try lots of things, new to the list: pork belly, pig's feet (really good!), some kind of weird local lobster, jaw of Bream, more intestines from various animals, lot's of cabbage, all sorts of other vegetables not found in the US, and assorted strange and mushy desserts.. still need to try the stinky tofu.. I'm working up to it

Hiking... with MONKEYS!

First afternoon down in Kaoshiung, we went hiking in the local park area.. mostly a jungle area.. most of the trails have all been built as wooden walkways to help preserve the local muddy grounds.. the reward is a teahouse at the top of the mountain.. and Monkeys everywhere!

Everybody wants a photo with the bullet train

Taipei HSR train station, Friday, 9:00AM

So, we shot south on the bullet train.. and spent the weekend in the port city of Kaoshiung. The ride took about an hour an a half and we travelled almost the entire length of the country.. at about 180mph..

Bug Spray

That's what's in the little can posted two posts ago..

Bullet train... Taipei to Koashiung

Super smooth and comfy at 180mph..

Shopping with an American Idiot

A trip to the supermarket is almost as fun as trying to cook with appliances marked in Chinese... can you guess what this product is?

I'm going to leave you hanging.. going away to the Southern city of Kaohsiung for the weekend.. (taking the bullet train.. woo hoo) .. won't have the computer so no posts for a few days..

Cycling in Taiwan

Taipei, Taiwan, 6:30AM

Best road sign ever! .... this is up in the mountains North of the city.. the bottom part that was washed out by my flash says something like "Beware of Monkeys! Do Not Feed!"

Cycling in Taiwan

Rush hour traffic, Taipei, 9AM,

mixing it up with the scooters.. this photo is an understatement.. at another light at a busier intersection I had to be waiting with at least 40 or 50 of them...

Cycling in Taiwan

Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday 6:00AM

Ok.. a little a bit about cycling here, took some photos on this morning's ride to accompany this post. Taipei is surrounded by some pretty decent mountains.. it does not take long on a bike to get out of the city and up into some fantastic climbing.. closer than going up to Nyack from Brooklyn.. the local stuff tops out at about 9000 feet and there are some climbs upwards of 9 miles long that are just out of the city... this morning I left my place at 4:30am, rode North across the city (about 7 miles) and met up with the expat cycling crew, they ride Tuesday and Thursdays at 5am leaving from TAS (Taiwan American School).. after a few miles of flats we start climbing a 1600 foot climb that is long and gradual and one of their favorites.. we crest out and they had back to get to work.. I continue on up another 1200 feet or so to the top of the road I was on.. I turned back partly because I had entered the clouds and visibility was going down quick.. cruised back down into the city then cut over a few blocks and hit a small 900 foot climb to finish off the day.. then back South through rush hour and scooter madness to get back home..

today I rode about 50 miles and got in about 4000 feet of climbing.. this is actually pretty average for local rides, and you actually start to get used to the scooter madness that is Taipei traffic..

The price of things..

Cuttlefish and shrimp over pasta with squid ink sauce, Jazmine tea, some kind of vegetable soup.

So, this was my dinner last night, purchased in a food court at a fancy mall.. it was fairly decent, the cooks who prepared it actually were cooking and not just heating things up.. I got a piece of garlick bread also.. total cost was $238 NT... or 238 New Taiwanese Dollars... or $7.31 American Dollars... 7 bucks for a seafood and pasta dinner..now it was at a mall but still .. you can eat decently and cheaply here.. my breakfast of Radish cake and sort of an egg and bacon thing.. was less than 100NT..

I really noticed the difference the other day at a photo lab.. I found the pro lab here in Taipei and bought in all the film I had shot so far here.. about 10 rolls or so of medium format slide film, some negative film, some black and white film, all was processed well.. and sleeved for me.. with the print film I requested prints so I received several sets of prints.. all this cost me 792NT... or about $24 dollars..

so great.. some things are cheaper.. you also make less money here so it's all relative.. if you could work in the US and live here you'd be golden.. of course you would also be jetlagged beyond belief .....

I'm trying...

Beitou, Taiwan, Sunday 8PM

I've eaten pig intestine.. learned hello and goodbye sort of... gotten used to riding my bike through scooter infested traffic... I'm an old hand at boiling my drinking water... ride the train by myself... but I still stick out like a caucasion..

Through Pei-chia's sister we scored a free night at a hot spring hotel in the Japanese style with tatami mat floors and communal male and female baths.. so when faced with being the only naked caucasian in a big tub with a bunch of naked Taiwanese men I balked.. she went and bathed with the ladies and I stayed in the room and watched tv...

Waassaabi!

Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday 4PM

Ok.. so I heard about it before coming to Taiwan, now I've tried it .. and it may be the reason I stay here.. I have experienced Wasabi Ice Cream... cold, spicy, yummy joy... maybe I can start exporting it to the US.. make my fortune.. might not do so well with some of the other flavors offered at this fine establishment.. also on the offer, beef ice cream, sesame chicken, and pigs feet ice cream... tried a little of the tofu and that was not bad at all.. but Wasabi ruled the day.

Flying Frenchmen

Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday 3PM

So, we found our way over to the opening festivities of the Taipei Arts Festival and caught the opening act.. flying frenchmen with drums! ... the group: http://www.transe-express.com/ dress in funny little uniforms, march around the crowd a bit and eventually end up as a giant frenchmen mobile suspended 10 stories above the crowd... it was all pretty neat as the the little french marching band continued to drum away as they floated through the sky.. and an aerialist performed above them at the top of the whole contraption.. if they ever make it to your corner of the world be sure to catch them..

A three hour cruise..

A three hour whale watching boat ride... wee... so.. for three hours people barfed, they slept, they yawned, we saw two flying fish, we spent a bunch of money.. the guides kept telling us how many whales and dolphins they saw on other cruises.. that did not help.. oh well.. at least we did not barf.

Hualien..

Dusk along the shore, Hualien, Taiwan.


Ola Hotel, Hualien, Taiwan


Sunrise from our hotel room, Hualien.

We spent one night in Hualien after staying in the gorge.. more fantastic food, a bike ride along the coast, and a three hour cruise...

Daoist temple in the gorge..

Visited a Daoist temple at sunrise, just up the road from the hotel on the last morning we were in the gorge..

Our Hotel in Taroko

Grand Formosa Hotel, Taroko Gorge, Taiwan.

Taroko Gorge

Taroko Gorge

Taroko Gorge

Taroko National Park, Taiwan, Saturday 9/29 7:00AM

We spent two nights in Taroko National Park.. at the Grand Formosa.. pretty much the only decent hotel other than youth hostels. The park is essentially a river gorge with a roaring white water river and impossible cliffs that ascend on both sides for thousands of feet.. the dominant rock here is marble hence the nickname "The Marble Gorge" ..... it's an amazing spot.. and really happy we went but we were dissapointed to find many of the hiking trails were closed due to the previous few days of rain they had had.. I'd love to come back again with a car so exploring the gorge would be a little easier.. we both wanted to explore more but transportation around the gorge is not so easy.

Trip South

A two hour train trip to the South from Taipei puts you in the East coast port city of Hualien... then another hour in a hotel shuttle and you are in Taroko Gorge.. we went down Wednesday morning and by lunchtime we were in the gorge at the Grand Formosa hotel..

last few things..

So... my bike made it a few days ago and the weather cleared.. last three days I've been riding with a local club all over the North side of the city in a national park and along the coast.. the riding here is fantastic, great roads, wonderfull people, and beautifull views... I'll start taking some pictures soon from some rides..

I'll be down south for a few days in another city without my computer.. so I won't post anything else for four days or so...

I know from some e-mails that at least a couple of folks are reading.. I'm having fun sharing things so I'll get back into it soon..

Pete

More random tid bits..

Ok... a few more...

So I have now been at a few Starbucks locations here.. they take a bit more time here with each brew and I swear the latte's are better than NYC.. also.. order to stay and you get your coffee in a mug! the whole point is to reduce the number of paper cups ending up in the trash and the city is the one that makes them do it.. really nice to sit with a ceramic mug full of your favorite coffee beverage

All receipts are also lottery tickets.. seems most business would not give receipts and therefore not report earnings, so the city mandated a certain type of receipt and made a lottery system to encourage patrons to ask for said receipt.. all of this to keep the taxes flowing..

pretty much all interior walls in your average apartment are concrete..no studs and sheetrock here.. want to hang a picture then you have to pull out some heavy machinery.. purpose for this is twofold.. fireproofness and humidty, your average wood construction would not last long in this climate.. knock on any wall in this apartment and you are met with a very solid sound..

they don't check ID for liqour here.. drinking is not all that popular... extrememly little underage drinking so not a problem.. this society is much more into the tea than the booze....

No tipping! gotta love that...

Last shot.. night market... turtle fishing... !!

"Snake Alley" Night market, Taipei, 8:00PM

Please don't show this one to the folks at PETA.. their heads would explode at this one I think....

How to keep the kiddies entertained while at the night maket.. turtle fishing! Take a few dozen little baby turtles, stick paper clips to their shells, drop them in a big tub of water..... then make a fishing rod from a stick, a string, and a magnet. Combine the two and add one small child and you have turtle fishing! This little girl was really intent on her catch.. the turtles seemed a bit upset at the whole thing.

A nite on the town..

"Snake Alley" Night market, Taipei, Sunday 7:PM

So.. there are a few of these night markets around the city.. they are there every night.. closed to cars.. street food abounds in all shapes and sizes.. and some amusements for the kiddies.. you can even by some new flip flops or a fake rolex..

We had dinner here from various stands, you can ingest any aspect of cow, pig, and others.. not one part of the animal is left behind.. we had a nifty sausage that looked absolutely scary but was actually filled with sticky rice and really enjoyable (another instance of the advantage of being with a local.. there is no way I would have tried this without knowing what was inside) lot's of seafood options also.. a really amazing array of choices..

This particular market is called "Snake Alley" ... seems in the old days they would make a show of killing snakes here in a bit of a show style.. then send them into the kitchen to be prepped for dinner.. the city outlawed this practice .. but many of the restaurants are fronted with entryway snakes of various shapes and sizes being displayed in cages and tanks and the occasional show.. minus the snake murder part... though snake is on the menu still..