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..

A nite on the town..

Longshan Temple, Taipei, Sunday 6:00PM

First stop.. a wander around one of the larger Buddhist temples.. people pray for different things in different parts of the temple, at one shrine you ask for fertility, another for good health, another for romance.. if you are not there with a local you would never understand what is going on.. it's a very special place made all the more interesting when you have a sense of what the people around are doing and asking for..

Appliance tid bits..

Just a few more observations.. this time from around the apartment.

Off the kitchen she has a bit of a small laundry/utility room, the laundry machine is one of those combination all in one washer/dryer units.. throw the laundry in and it's washed then dryed.. great little unit... makes me long for laundry machine in my own place.

Above the sink is a unit about twice the size of a microwave oven, it's a dish drying appliance, apparently quite common here, you load your dishes in after washing them (no dish washer here) and turn it on and it dries the dishes for you.

Next to the toaster oven is a nifty device, sort of a large thermos looking thing with a spout, and a control panel, it's like a mini hot water heater, press a button and you get hot water for your tea..

No oven here, not really anyway... very little asian cooking requires an oven so why have one.. all you need is a stovetop with a couple of burners..

last but not least... every use of the kitchen becomes a bit of an adventure for me as all the appliance dials and buttons are labeled in chinese.. including the washing machine... I'm pretty sure I baked my bread this morning instead of toasting it when I made breakfast.

Home sweet home.

Snapped this shot on the way down from the hike.. this is her apartment complex.

A little hike..

Ok, so catching up on the last few days... Saturday was yet another wet dreary day and we spent most of the day cooped up in the apartment. A few times Pei-Chia had mentioned to me about some hiking in the neighborhood and in the afternoon we were both going stir crazy so we grabbed some umbrellas and went for a walk. 50 feet from the front door of her place a staircase went up into the forest.. we headed up into some really nice hillside hiking and kept working our way up to the top.. it was much nicer than I expected.. at the top we were treated with a fantastic view of the city. The local old folks had built a rather elaborate "clubhouse" up there.. it was quite impressive and really solid.. with it's own water collection system, some plants, chairs, etc. All in all, a really nice way to finish off the day..

101... in the rain

Ok.. so finally paid a visit to the big daddy in town.. Taipei 101 .. tallest building in the world until Dubai finish their monster in the desert. 101 stories, 1670 feet to the top of the spire, there are a million other facts about the building on it's wikipedia entry.. one other nifty bit of info: the night lighting of the builiding changes with the day of the week,

Monday = Red
Tuesday = Orange
Wednesday = Yellow
Thursday = Green
Friday = Blue
Saturday = Indigo
Sunday = Purple

This photo was taken last night, Friday night so the lights were blue..

We had dinner in the mall that makes up the lower floors of the building.. nice food actually.. but the mall is un-remarkable..

Today.. more rain..

Photos from Danshui

Danshui, Taiwan, 7:00PM

The "Love Bridge", a footbridge that crosses over to the fisherman's wharf area. After this was dinner, and a long MRT ride back home.. .. all in all a great day.. Today.. more rain.

Photos from Danshui

Photos from Danshui

Coming soon to the US.. fake crocs! or maybe already available on Canal street.

Photos from Danshui

Danshui, Taiwan, 3:00PM

Took the river ferry across to the other side.

Photos from Danshui

Danshui, Taiwan, 1:30PM

He insisted on doing my portrait in paper cutout form.. and would not accept a dime.

Photos from Danshui

Danshui, Taiwan, 12:30PM

Took a day trip on the MRT to it's northernmost point, Danshui is a small area on the river with a mix of food, tourist traps, apartments, river ferry's, and more food. Lunch was fish balls in broth, pork inside taro, and glass noodles cooked inside a tofu shell.

Musical garbage trucks and other tid bits

Danshui, Taipei County, Taiwan, Yesterday 2:00PM

The photos above is of duck egg yolks, being prepped to be used in cooking for the Mooncake festival which happens next week.

Hark, is that Mr. Softee out on the street on a warm humid evening? No.. it's the garbage truck.. playing it's little tune to let you know it's in town and passing by, everybody here knows the tune and it reminds them to get the garbage out.

The humid wet weather here makes all the buildings stained and dirty looking with mildew, mold and water staining, the city is aware of the problems and offers buliding owners financial incentives to clean up their exteriors and help make Taipei cleaner.

The MRT is Taipei's equivalent of the subways of NY, most of the system is above ground on elevated tracks and only about 15 or 20 years old, some new sections are under construction now, it's clean, easy to navigate, and the service is fairly good, I've never waited more than a few minutes for a train.

Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, KFC, and McDonalds are .. I'm sorry to say... all here.. most people you see on the street are fairly thin and healthy looking.. .. hopefully they will stay that way despite the fast food influx...

Scooters everywhere, they are cheap, easy to park, scoot through traffic, etc., you see entire families on them, but they stink up the air something awful with all their exhaust fumes and not exactly the best when it comes to crash protection.. saw my first scooter/car accident and expect to see more by the end of the trip.. the mass of scooters adds quite a sense of chaos to the traffic

Why can't we have this in NYC?

Taipei, Yesterday at 11:00AM Near the National University

So.. I'm an avid cyclist in NYC, and part time commuter. From what I've seen here, the traffic in NYC is actually more bicycle friendly, yet.. here in Taipei the city is very pro-bike and a public rack like this one makes me long for NYC to change it's attitudes. The dominant mode of transport here on the streets are scooters with little two stroke motors pumping out tons of pollution, the city realizes that cycling is a clean and healthy alternative and is trying to promote it. Wish I could say the same about my hometown..

Go away Wipha

Taipei, Taiwan, Fuxing MRT Station, 2:00PM Wednesday


So mighty Wipha is finally leaving us alone, Taiwan did not get the full Typhoon effect but it has poured non-stop for the last three days. This place is already fairly humid and wet, but Wipha was starting to make me feel downright uncomfortable. In some ways I'm still getting settled here, and trying to adjust. I can say.. it's a bit weird to be a white guy here, there are very few walking around and you stick out like a sore thumb, the locals are pretty good at not noticing you but they are trying hard not to stare. The smells are a little overwhelming also, from scooter exhaust to food to all kinds of other smells both weird and wonderfull, the place is an assault on the senses and I think I was feeling a bit overloaded yesterday. Dinner was a very funky pork burger on a bun made from steamed mashed rice (looked a bit like a big marshmallow), and pig intestine soup, if you get past the what the food was before it was food, you will find some really enjoyable stuff. My lovely host is taking the day off from work today and taking me sightseeing.. the sun is out.. things are looking up.

National Typhoon Day

Taipei, Taiwan, 2:30PM Tuesday

Welcome to National Typhoon Day.. everything will be shut down, you will be stuck in the apartment all day, the rain will fall sideways outside the window, you will listen to Chet Baker, you will raid the refrigerator for Lunch (and have seaweed, dried tofu, pickled jellyfish, cabbage and pork dumplings, leek and pork dumplings, and Kirin beer.. .. all really excellent) and right about now you will start to itch to get outside.. next stop, the mall?

More tid bits..

The tap water here is not drinkable, you either boil water or drink bottled water. We're spoiled in NYC with excellent drinking water, spend a little time boiling you drinking water and you will come to appreciate how nice it is to have clean drinking water.

The exchange rate is a bit wacky..to get out the equivalent of about $300 US.. I had to take $10,000 NT out of the cash machine.. took a cab ride this afternoon and it was $90 NT or about $3 dollars.. takes a little time to get used to.

It's humid here.. damp and humid most of the time.. you smell mildew everywhere.. hard to avoid I guess.

The MRT uses a card similar to the Metrocard in NYC, just add money to the card and use it to enter and exit the trains, but the card here just needs to be waved over a panel on the turnstyle for it to register.. the cards are more permanent and solid like a credit card, you don't dispose of them ever, just keep filling them up..

In the US we have Hurricanes, here in Asia they have Typhoons, same thing, different name, we have a Typhoon hitting us over the next few days but seems like it will mostly bring a lot of rain.

Lot's of American TV here. With Chinese sub-titles.

Dumplings!

Taipei, Taiwan, 5:00PM Sunday

Dumplings! Ok, so this country is famous for it's food.. especially it's dumplings, and the place we went is the best of the best.. rated by one magazine as one of the 10 best restaurants in the world. We got in at an odd hour, but usually you wait a long time to get in. All I can say is it was fantastic.. never had anything even close.. I may be spoiled for all other dumplings I have here.

1st day in Taipei

Taipei, Taiwan, 1:30PM Sunday

So, just trying to get settled in and adjusted. The Jetlag is murder, found myself fighting to stay awake last night at 8pm. We had a quiet day yesterday, went to a dance performance in the afternoon at the National theatre, right next to the Chiang-Kai-Shek memorial pictured above. Chiang-Kai-Shek is a big part of history over here.. more info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek

Essentially he was the dictator of China that was overthrown by the communists in 1949 and retreated with his troops to Taiwan. His plan was to re-build his army and invade China from Taiwan to re-take the country but he never was able to get it together so he became the dictator of Taiwan instead. I'm still learning about all this, but it seems lots of Taiwanese disappeared during his rule and it was pretty much an evil dictatorship.. though he did keep the communists out and maybe paved the way for Taiwan to sort of be independent (that's a whole other conversation).. suffice it to say politics and history are very complicated here.

Made it..

Made it here.. (that's for mom) .. bike did not.. it's on it's way somewhere, seems security held it up and it missed my plane in NY, so they put it on a later plane.. hopefuly have it soon.. travelled forever and the sun never set, jumped ahead a day, Mr. Huaong picked me up and I am here.. ..

More ground crew..

Tokyo, Narita Airport, 4:00PM

.. and the ground crew gave us a big wave...

Leaving Tokyo

Tokyo, Narita Airport, 4:00PM

The groundcrews are so nice here.. the Jetway attendant bowed to us as we pulled back from the gate.

Tokyo Layover

Tokyo, Narita Airport, 3:00PM

Dan, thanks for the tip... I'm almost positive this was the place you described, had a nice lunch there..thanks!

Last few days in NYC

Sept 11th, 2007 10:45PM



A few days left in New York to get it all together. Yesterday I was shooting a job out in New Jersey and things went really well, just want to thank everyone who was there and helped make it all happen.

So, the trip. Leaving Friday morning, 14 hours nonstop to Tokyo, layover for a few hours, then 3 1/2 more hours to Taipei. I'll arrive Saturday evening and stay until the 14th of October.

If your reading this blog you have already heard why I'm headed over, (I'm really good at blabbering about my life to just about anyone I know) I'm not going to re-hash it here.

Little tid-bits about planning the trip:

Taiwan allows you to visit them for up to 30 days without paying for a tourist Visa, just get on a plane and go, I'll be staying 29 days.

US Dept of State says to plan for a trip to Taiwan as you would for any trip within the US, meaning that Taiwan is fairly safe, well developed, and your likely hood to catch some crazy disease is pretty minimal.

American Airlines gives you a trip to Taiwan in exchange for 70,000 frequent flier miles.

Dragging a bicycle to Taiwan will set you back $86 each way. Dragging an extra bag to Taiwan will cost $86 each way. Having a bag that is overweight (more than 50 lbs) but less than 70 lbs sets you back only $25 more. The bike becomes one checked bag, I'll try to stuff everything else in the second checked bag and keep it below 70 lbs. Hopefully all this information does not change when I'm actually checking in.

I purchased a few movies on Itunes, thinking that playing a movie off the harddrive would be lighter on the battery usage than playing a DVD.. I think that makes sense, maybe...

Taiwan is really the other side of the planet, 12 hour time difference, they are ahead of NYC by 12 hours.

I'll post some more little tid bits as this whole thing goes along..

Much more to come.