another weekend

I had another interesting Saturday. Woke up early yesterday to go to the beach, but when I stepped outside and looked at the sky (chance of showers) and thought about the money and time it would take, I changed my mind. Thought some more and decided to go to a pool party at some country club near taipei 101. Took the MRT, then a bus, then walked up a steep hill, and arrived at this place. Not that cheap, but I got a free drink (sparkling water with lime, not in the mood for booze in the sun), and I found a seat. On the way there I had met some guys who study Chinese at a Catholic University (Fu Ren) which I used to pass by on the bus every day on the way to work. Some Germans, several Africans of various countries, an Israeli guy, French guy, some other guy, they were diverse and lacking in Canadians or Americans which is unusual for a group of foreigners in Taiwan. I chatted with a guy from Liberia for a long time. He had traveled all over Africa, and although he dropped out of high school, had worked as a teacher in Africa. Then he sold precious stones in Hong Kong for several years until the downturn hurt the business and he came to Taiwan. With imperfect English, he had managed to hook up several teaching jobs here and was saving money. I admire his ability to hustle and move around to keep his head above water. A pretty smart and nice guy. The party was okay, I'm a little old for it I guess, not much interest in beer bongs at this point. There were some girls in bikinis and the usual drunken louts trying to meet them, but not in any great numbers. I did like relaxing in the pool, and one of the dj's was pretty good. It was a little cool though and I found myself missing the seriously hot days. I ate a vegetarian hoisin duck wrap and left around 5:30.

Managed to get back home and take a shower before I went to see a free performance by the Cloud gate dance troupe at a stadium here in Banchiao, only 5 minutes away by scooter. Here is a link to part of one of my favorite pieces they did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWAhUA05R4c&feature=related.
Too bad I was so far away, but it was free and very interesting, even if I couldn't see the movements clearly and could really only enjoy it as tableaux. I find myself strangely moved by dance, even if I have no idea about some kind of narative, people moving in the interest of looking beautiful and doing it well touches me. Cloud gate are very interesting, mixing ballet and modern and (what looks to me like) martial arts and probably other things that I don't know into their dance. They also have excellent set design, and being far away sometimes helps you appreciate the layout of the whole stage. And the music was very interesting. Free shows are free, though, and attract lots of families. Kids, understandably to my way of thinking, are bored and talk constantly and run around playing, which is a little bit annoying if you actually want to see and hear. I'll have to pay and see them in a concert hall next time, still, very interesting.

I went home and read and watched a crummy movie and went to sleep. Not a bad Saturday and no hangover for Sunday.

Today I mostly just relaxed, but I did go out with RC to try a new "Cuban" restaurant in town. It irritates me a little bit because I have had this idea to open one for several years now, I'll be curious to see how it does. Actually, the only really Cuban food they have is a Cuban sandwich, with good, but not authentically Cuban as I know it, bread. The sandwich tastes good, not that cheap though. The rest of the menu is adequate Mexican food, other than Mojitos which seems to be a main selling point for the place. They have some Cuban decorations and music (and a lot of Mexican music), though I think they need to redo the lighting and painting to make the place feel right. The people who work there are very friendly and the manager gave us a little discount for a small thing, which was very nice and I will remember. I will go back for that sandwich and to see how they do.

Taipei Toy Festival 2010

Last one.

Taipei Toy Festival 2010

more photos and a link to the official site. If you scroll over the menus, you should see the English.
http://home.pmo.com.tw/pmo/monster/

Taipei Toy Festival 2010

It took place at Huashan 1914 creative park. Here is a link to an article about the show:
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1313873&lang=eng_news&cate_img=35.jpg&cate_rss=news_Business_TAIWAN&mbn=420C56324089B156E73E348F96095E88

Taipei Toy Festival 2010

I was able to go to this toy festival last Saturday. I always enjoy toy shows - so many creative people get involved with making toys that it's usually more interesting than a contemporary art show at a museum. Just like in the states, kids in Taiwan are a little bit too into Japanese culture, and while I love Japanese culture even more than the next guy, I would sometimes like to see more individuality shining through in their work. Still lots of good stuff though. Also, it was held in an interesting space, I wish I knew something about the history of that place. Another thing that I like about toy shows is that things are for sale and people who aren't ridiculously wealthy can buy these pieces of art. The prices are reasonable starting around $500 NT or so. There is no point in going into my favorite pieces, you can judge for yourself. I will try to get lots of photos up.

Tainan pt 7

So that's it. I got up the next day, had one last Dan zi mian, drank some milk tea, and walked for 30 minutes to the bus stop. Just missed a bus, so I got to wait and it was super hot. But that's ok, I had a nice time. I was sorry to get home, oh well.

Tainan pt 6

Here is a pic of the night market, Chikan at night, the place where I bought the coffin bread, and the coffin bread itself under the jaundiced light of my hotel room. Looks like I time traveled back to the 50's for my snack, which is possible. Yuck.

Tainan pt 5

After my nap, I went out again and saw the Confucius temple. This time I had my umbrella, which was handy because it was raining again. The temple was pretty nice, and very quiet. It was interesting to be a tourist in what felt like a ghost town most of the time. Not much tourism happening on Monday and Tuesday, pre-season. Also, the whole time I was in Tainan I think I saw about 7 westerners. I did hear some Mainland accents and japanese, but westerners were not around much. Which was kind of nice. I got more respect when I spoke Chinese, and when I busted out the little bit of Taiwanese I know, I got some laughter. Not bad.

After the temple, I went looking for this restaurant that the front desk person told me about, but I couldn't find. I think it had closed down. Then I went to the night market to eat dinner. Tainan's night markets are famous, but I was there too early, on a rainy night, and it wasn't one of the more famous markets. It was ok, I had stinky tofu, some kind of Taiwanese version of a burrito, and an attempt at Indian Chai (that wasn't too good, though. No flavor). I considered going out to watch the world cup again, but I decided it's better just to save the money, so I just watched it back at the hotel. That was okay. I brought home something called coffin bread, a leftover from American GI's apparently. It's white bread with some cream sauce covered mixed vegetables and seafood shoved in a hole in the bread and covered with something deep fried. Richard tells me American soldiers call this "shit on a shingle." The first part seems accurate, it's just terrible. I was hoping that the Taiwanese had improved it, adding some delicious local flavor, but no, just bland yuckiness. It cried out for hot sauce, which I had foolishly forgotten to bring with me. Not recommended. Then I went to sleep.

lunch and buildings

This was my lunch and those other things with roofs are buildings I saw.

Tainan pt 4

So, the rain finally stopped and I resumed walking around. It was a weekday, so there weren't very many people around, and a lot of the shops were closed, but it was interesting to walk. Many things to see, but I was getting hungry, so I started looking for food. I finally ended up at a place written up in my guidebook (Chou's shrimp rolls) which, indeed, had outstanding shrimp rolls with great tempura batter. The Dan-zi mian were good, but not as good as what I had the day before. It really hit the spot, and I appreciated the chance to take a break from the heat and sit in air conditioning for a while. After lunch I walked around a little bit more, saw some nice old broken down buildings, bought some interesting black sugar cookies for gifts, and finally decided I had seen enough. I could have taken a taxi ride to see some museums, but they didn't sound that great and I had been walking in the sun for several hours. I was pretty wiped out and ready to take a nap. So, back to the hotel to crash for a couple of hours. A good choice I think.

Tainan pt 3

The next day, I got up early to head over to the Anping section to see Fort Zeelandia and wander around. It was already fiery hot, and I drank a papaya milk and a huge winter melon tea as I walked around. Fort Zeelandia was an old dutch fort when they had a trade presence here and it was interesting to see some dutch items and Indonesian items that ended up here as part of the trade route that the Dutch had set up. Eventually, Koxinga came over and lay siege to the fort and eventually kicked the Dutch out. This fact is used by both pro- and anti- unification people to justify their positions - everything is open to interpretation. The fort was interesting, it was cool to see the levels of ruins from different periods, and it was a beautiful day. Finally, the sky opened up and I ran for the nearest cover (I forgot my umbrella) and ended up spending about 20 mins watching rain come down and waiting to start walking around. The pics above include an old, semi-destroyed wall, a statue of Koxinga, and the view from up on the fort itself.

And a few more

more pics in and around Chi Kan.

Some more random images

Just some pictures of random things I saw walking around the city.

Tainan pt 2

After lunch, i walked a few feet to see the Chikan Towers. As soon as I got there the sky opened up and rain poured down. I got bored of waiting under a roof - my feet and legs were getting soaked anyway - so I made a dash to the main building. Really nice. I especially enjoyed the stone hallways under the building, which were unfortunately difficult to reach since the rain had accumulated in very deep puddles. After I finished checking out the towers, I walked around the area a bit, looking at a couple of temples nearby and enjoying the old buildings and stone streets. My feet and socks were soaked, and I was exhausted and not yet adjusted to the heat, so I went back to the hotel for a nap.

My room was like a cave, nice and dark, and the bed was pretty nice, so I slept like a baby. When I got up it was already getting late. I went for another walk around the neighborhood, saw some more temples, etc., and generally explored. I found the bar where I would watch the world cup later and had some mian xian with oysters and garlic fried greens for dinner. I get cranky if I go too long without any green vegetables. Went to the bar to watch Netherlands play someone, a boring game in a smoky bar, but the Anchor Steam was cheap and it looked cool and I had a good seat. I decided not to stay for the second game - cigarette smoke burns my eyes - so I went home to crash.