Today, I leave for home. (I’m writing this in the airport, my flight leaves in about an hour or so.)
After waking up late (those drinks from last night kind of did me in), I finished up last minute packing, printed my confirmation, and picked up some meds. Then I headed out to lunch with my aunt and cousin, at a Korean place. The food was eh.
We then headed off to the airport, first stopping at a bakery. My aunt told me to sit in the car and watch for police, since she left it running in a no-parking zone, and went into the bakery to get some stuff for my mom. Everything went fine for about 5 minutes, before I suddenly spotted a dude ticketing the illegally parked truck behind me. I was like OH SHEEEEEYIT and drove off, just as my aunt came out the bakery doors. T_T
Check in went super-fast (no line!) because I had checked in earlier online. It was ridiculously convenient--it took five minutes max, and then I was through. I was a little nervous since they had to scan luggage, but apparently toy guns and liquor pass through fine :D
But yeah, here I am in the waiting room of the airport.
It was a good trip--I learned alot about Taiwan, it’s culture, my family, and myself. I did things that I’ve never had the courage/opportunity to do by myself, and I feel like I’ve done everything I wanted so as to not have any regrets.
I think I’m gonna miss my time--maybe not exactly the places I went to, or the delicious food, or the commotion of the night markets..but rather the sense of freedom of doing whatever and exploring the city on my own.
A huge thank-you to my aunt, uncle, and cousins for putting up with me, especially Angela for letting me use her room. I hope I didn’t make it too stinky.
Fin.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Day 20
Today, because my foot decided to be a little whiny bitch, I didn’t do much.
I headed out around 12 to pick up some last-minute items and then to find something to eat. Sad day--I’ve been in Taiwan for 20 days, and I still can’t really order anything. I was looking at a udon restaurant and I knew what I wanted to order but I couldn’t read one character and I was too embarrassed to order (illogical, I know.) I ended up buying meat buns from a vendor, who was really friendly.
Having sated my hunger, I went home and started organizing some of my luggage.
I had a light snack before heading out around 8:30 at night to meet my aunt (we were going to go to a club, which had live contemporary-ish music.) I managed to meet her, and we headed to the club.
It was reaaaaally nice--dimly lit, but each table had a lite candle. We were seated, and ordered some food and drinks (I got a gin and tonic, which was better than the one I had previously.) After watching some music videos on a screen (lots of pop/rock stuff, there was a Maroon 5 video playing and I told my aunt about the concert at school), the time came for live music.
The night was arranged so that there were be three vocalists accompanied by the club band, with 15 minute intermissions. The first vocalist was probably the best (she had a really good stage look going on, was really engaged with the audience, and sang really well. She even sang songs I knew--Lily Allen’s “Fuck You.”) The second vocalist was eh, but the third..oh man. I think she might have spent considerable time in the States because her first song was in English, and it was absolutely AMAZING. Sort of a R&B tune, she sang with so much soul and her range and volume were really impressive. Plus, she danced while she sang--it was a really well-rounded, vibrant performance. Sadly, I only stayed for her first song because we had to bounce and catch the last subway home.
The club’s band was really good too--the guitarist was really skilled, and laid down some really sick solos.
It was a good night.
Sidebar: Rum and cokes are lame.
I headed out around 12 to pick up some last-minute items and then to find something to eat. Sad day--I’ve been in Taiwan for 20 days, and I still can’t really order anything. I was looking at a udon restaurant and I knew what I wanted to order but I couldn’t read one character and I was too embarrassed to order (illogical, I know.) I ended up buying meat buns from a vendor, who was really friendly.
Having sated my hunger, I went home and started organizing some of my luggage.
I had a light snack before heading out around 8:30 at night to meet my aunt (we were going to go to a club, which had live contemporary-ish music.) I managed to meet her, and we headed to the club.
It was reaaaaally nice--dimly lit, but each table had a lite candle. We were seated, and ordered some food and drinks (I got a gin and tonic, which was better than the one I had previously.) After watching some music videos on a screen (lots of pop/rock stuff, there was a Maroon 5 video playing and I told my aunt about the concert at school), the time came for live music.
The night was arranged so that there were be three vocalists accompanied by the club band, with 15 minute intermissions. The first vocalist was probably the best (she had a really good stage look going on, was really engaged with the audience, and sang really well. She even sang songs I knew--Lily Allen’s “Fuck You.”) The second vocalist was eh, but the third..oh man. I think she might have spent considerable time in the States because her first song was in English, and it was absolutely AMAZING. Sort of a R&B tune, she sang with so much soul and her range and volume were really impressive. Plus, she danced while she sang--it was a really well-rounded, vibrant performance. Sadly, I only stayed for her first song because we had to bounce and catch the last subway home.
The club’s band was really good too--the guitarist was really skilled, and laid down some really sick solos.
It was a good night.
Sidebar: Rum and cokes are lame.
Day 19
Today, I was headed to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial to pay my respects to a very great and dead man. I had passed by the memorial previously on my way to the Taipei 101 area with my cousin, but today I actually went inside. As expected, there were people practicing dance routines outside, and hordes of tourists taking pictures and getting in my way. It was about this time that I realized that either a) someone had lifted my camera from my bag or b) I left it at home. Either way, I was pissed.
As soon as I entered the memorial, there was (just like at the CKS memorial) a huge bronze statue of Mr. SYS sitting on a chair, with two guards. I looked through some of the adjoining exhibits (they really have quite a Sun Yat-sen cult here...everything was “great” or “immortal.”) It wasn’t anything spectacular, though, so I bought a postcard and left to go to Taipei 101.
But then I had an incredible urge to drop my kids off at the pool and recalling my wonderful experience in the CKS memorial restroom, headed back to the Sun Yat-sen memorial. Just in time to see the changing of the guard (really, it’s a really drawn out and not that impressive display. Seriously...the Japanese could probably invade, take the billion ton statue, and leave before the guards are through their second stomp-on-floor-salute-strut routine.) The restrooms were disappointing.
After taking my brownies out of the oven, I headed to 101 to stroll around, take one last good look, and play in the arcade, because I wanted to get the high score on the boxing game. Alas, I was 10 points short this time.
I grew weary and then headed home..not a very eventful day.
Sidebar: I took off my socks and found that my left foot had some kind of insect bite. It had a really weird shape and caused my foot to swell up...interesting.
As soon as I entered the memorial, there was (just like at the CKS memorial) a huge bronze statue of Mr. SYS sitting on a chair, with two guards. I looked through some of the adjoining exhibits (they really have quite a Sun Yat-sen cult here...everything was “great” or “immortal.”) It wasn’t anything spectacular, though, so I bought a postcard and left to go to Taipei 101.
But then I had an incredible urge to drop my kids off at the pool and recalling my wonderful experience in the CKS memorial restroom, headed back to the Sun Yat-sen memorial. Just in time to see the changing of the guard (really, it’s a really drawn out and not that impressive display. Seriously...the Japanese could probably invade, take the billion ton statue, and leave before the guards are through their second stomp-on-floor-salute-strut routine.) The restrooms were disappointing.
After taking my brownies out of the oven, I headed to 101 to stroll around, take one last good look, and play in the arcade, because I wanted to get the high score on the boxing game. Alas, I was 10 points short this time.
I grew weary and then headed home..not a very eventful day.
Sidebar: I took off my socks and found that my left foot had some kind of insect bite. It had a really weird shape and caused my foot to swell up...interesting.
Day 18
We headed off to Danshui, to see my grandma’s school. We had originally planned on going a while back, but because of rain, we canceled. Today had clear sunny skies, so it seemed like a good day to do it. Plus the fact that I was leaving in a few days.
Anyways, we took the metro to the Guandu stop, where we planned on renting bikes. My cousin, being a fearless navigator, bet me a cold beverage she could get us to the rental agency within 15 minutes. We got there in 10.
Unfortunately, if you rented from this place, you had to return the bikes to this place. We had planned on renting, riding, and returning in Danshui, so we nixed and decided to hoof it to the next metro station, where we then took a train and met up with my cousin’s friend (the same guy who got his face threaded.)
Together, we headed off to see my grandma’s school, using my aunt’s newly purchased GPS as a map. Cute story: to protect the screen, she wrapped it with Saran wrap instead of buying one of those overpriced screen protectors.
We stopped for a lunch of Ahgay. Yeah. Ahgay. Despite its name, it was fdelicious (it’s like a sort of tofu-wrapped meatball covered in sauce.) It’s one of the few things Danshui is known for.
We got to the school, wandered around, and took a few pictures. It wasn’t really that exciting, though it was very spread out and the facilities were pretty nice, for a junior high school. Wish my town had that kind of funding.
Having exhausted all photo-taking opportunities at the school, we headed back to the Danshui metro station and wandered off into the nearby downtown, which was pretty much a nightmarket. Again, delicious foods, games, 1000cc drinks...glorious. Fuckin’ A.
We decided to catch a boat to Bali, and finding that it was pretty much the same thing as downtown Danshui, went for the long-awaited bike ride. We ended up riding one of those two-person bicycles and a mountain bike.
Let me tell you: those two-person bikes are fucking impossible to ride, and I seriously don’t understand how people do it. You’re pulling two people’s weight, and all those small unconscious corrective maneuvers you make normally are huuuugely amplified into ginormous wobbles that make the you look like you have kid Parkinsons combined with cocaine withdrawal. I gave up and made my cousin and her friend ride the demon steed, and stuck with the mountain bike. The view was pretty spectacular, and since it had rained a little bit, there was even a rainbow.
But then it got late and we had to rush back to get to my uncle’s Father’s Day dinner. We were still late, and I felt pretty bad..but he seemed pretty happy with the present my cousin and I had picked out, so it turned out okay.
Sidebar: Apparently people don’t wear swim trunks in this country. The shorts we got for my uncle are actually swim trunks (they have the netting inside), and they’ve never heard of swim trunks/boardshorts before. If you want to get into a pool, you have to wear a racing suit.
Goddamn. People who don’t race shouldn’t have to wear skintight crotchbulging jammers/speedos. It doesn’t keep the pool any cleaner (yes, that’s right. Wearing boardshorts/trunks is ‘dirty’ and Americans obviously dislike hygiene. Has anyone in this country looked outside their window? This country is the Earth’s asshole in terms of cleanliness.), and hurts everyone’s eyes when we have Fatty McFat with his fucking man tits hanging out tries to rock something Hasselhoff might have worn on Baywatch.
Anyways, we took the metro to the Guandu stop, where we planned on renting bikes. My cousin, being a fearless navigator, bet me a cold beverage she could get us to the rental agency within 15 minutes. We got there in 10.
Unfortunately, if you rented from this place, you had to return the bikes to this place. We had planned on renting, riding, and returning in Danshui, so we nixed and decided to hoof it to the next metro station, where we then took a train and met up with my cousin’s friend (the same guy who got his face threaded.)
Together, we headed off to see my grandma’s school, using my aunt’s newly purchased GPS as a map. Cute story: to protect the screen, she wrapped it with Saran wrap instead of buying one of those overpriced screen protectors.
We stopped for a lunch of Ahgay. Yeah. Ahgay. Despite its name, it was fdelicious (it’s like a sort of tofu-wrapped meatball covered in sauce.) It’s one of the few things Danshui is known for.
We got to the school, wandered around, and took a few pictures. It wasn’t really that exciting, though it was very spread out and the facilities were pretty nice, for a junior high school. Wish my town had that kind of funding.
Having exhausted all photo-taking opportunities at the school, we headed back to the Danshui metro station and wandered off into the nearby downtown, which was pretty much a nightmarket. Again, delicious foods, games, 1000cc drinks...glorious. Fuckin’ A.
We decided to catch a boat to Bali, and finding that it was pretty much the same thing as downtown Danshui, went for the long-awaited bike ride. We ended up riding one of those two-person bicycles and a mountain bike.
Let me tell you: those two-person bikes are fucking impossible to ride, and I seriously don’t understand how people do it. You’re pulling two people’s weight, and all those small unconscious corrective maneuvers you make normally are huuuugely amplified into ginormous wobbles that make the you look like you have kid Parkinsons combined with cocaine withdrawal. I gave up and made my cousin and her friend ride the demon steed, and stuck with the mountain bike. The view was pretty spectacular, and since it had rained a little bit, there was even a rainbow.
But then it got late and we had to rush back to get to my uncle’s Father’s Day dinner. We were still late, and I felt pretty bad..but he seemed pretty happy with the present my cousin and I had picked out, so it turned out okay.
Sidebar: Apparently people don’t wear swim trunks in this country. The shorts we got for my uncle are actually swim trunks (they have the netting inside), and they’ve never heard of swim trunks/boardshorts before. If you want to get into a pool, you have to wear a racing suit.
Goddamn. People who don’t race shouldn’t have to wear skintight crotchbulging jammers/speedos. It doesn’t keep the pool any cleaner (yes, that’s right. Wearing boardshorts/trunks is ‘dirty’ and Americans obviously dislike hygiene. Has anyone in this country looked outside their window? This country is the Earth’s asshole in terms of cleanliness.), and hurts everyone’s eyes when we have Fatty McFat with his fucking man tits hanging out tries to rock something Hasselhoff might have worn on Baywatch.
Day 17
Today, my aunt and I headed up to a temple to pay respects to my grandmother. The place was, like most temples, rich with the scent of incense, weird gods, and people with shaved heads and funny outfits.
We first put some fruits on a main altar, and my aunt did the whole “bai-bai” routine (burning incense, bowing, etc.) As for me, I just stood by, gawked at the idols, and laughed, in my heart, at ancestor worship. Respectfully, of course.
Having sated the gods, we headed up hill to the next building--where the funeral/dead people plaques are put on display. Again, we offered fruit and my aunt did the whole bai-bai thing again, as an audio-recording of creepy men chanting a mantra played on loop. I find Buddhism and all that stuff fascinating, but you can only take so much temple-seeing before you get cynical and wonder how dead people are supposed to help you make decisions and protect you. I’d rather invest in a Magic 8 ball and a gun.
After doing the whole offering shebang, and seeing my aunt’s plaque, we headed uphill once more to see the magnificent tower where my aunt’s ashes were stored. It was a pretty nice tower. It had a great view too, though most of it was starting to be obscured by high-rise buildings. According to my aunt, when they first started storing my grandma’s ashes there, the view was magnificent and there were none of these goshdarned buildings in the way.
One thing that I found interesting (and I’ve seen this at other temples too) was that after people are done offering their ancestors food, they take it back home. Sometimes other people jack it. But the food always ends up in someone’s stomach.
But yeah, we finished up our business and headed off to see some more relatives. They were some of my grandma’s sisters (there are 7 total, I think), so I’m not sure exactly what I’d call them (great-aunt? I dunno.) But it was interesting to see the disparity in situations.
The first aunt we went to see was in Taoyuan; because the streets are so crowded, we ended up parking in a red-zone (no parking allowed!) and then seeing her. This aunt was in pretty good shape-- she was really active, mentally cute, and while she had some old-age complaints (e.g. arthritis) she was in good health for a 80something year old. She looked like she was in her late 60s. We decided to all go together and see another one of the aunts (this one was older, 93.) but before we found that the car had been towed. And so ensued a really long hunt for the impound lot, before we finally found it, got it out, and then went to see the next aunt.
While the first aunt was in really good condition, this one was in heartbreakingly bad condition. Apparently she had been fine for a really good stretch but suddenly she started showing dementia and had a really steep decline in health. It was saddening and scary to see her like that, and made me not want to get old.
We first put some fruits on a main altar, and my aunt did the whole “bai-bai” routine (burning incense, bowing, etc.) As for me, I just stood by, gawked at the idols, and laughed, in my heart, at ancestor worship. Respectfully, of course.
Having sated the gods, we headed up hill to the next building--where the funeral/dead people plaques are put on display. Again, we offered fruit and my aunt did the whole bai-bai thing again, as an audio-recording of creepy men chanting a mantra played on loop. I find Buddhism and all that stuff fascinating, but you can only take so much temple-seeing before you get cynical and wonder how dead people are supposed to help you make decisions and protect you. I’d rather invest in a Magic 8 ball and a gun.
After doing the whole offering shebang, and seeing my aunt’s plaque, we headed uphill once more to see the magnificent tower where my aunt’s ashes were stored. It was a pretty nice tower. It had a great view too, though most of it was starting to be obscured by high-rise buildings. According to my aunt, when they first started storing my grandma’s ashes there, the view was magnificent and there were none of these goshdarned buildings in the way.
One thing that I found interesting (and I’ve seen this at other temples too) was that after people are done offering their ancestors food, they take it back home. Sometimes other people jack it. But the food always ends up in someone’s stomach.
But yeah, we finished up our business and headed off to see some more relatives. They were some of my grandma’s sisters (there are 7 total, I think), so I’m not sure exactly what I’d call them (great-aunt? I dunno.) But it was interesting to see the disparity in situations.
The first aunt we went to see was in Taoyuan; because the streets are so crowded, we ended up parking in a red-zone (no parking allowed!) and then seeing her. This aunt was in pretty good shape-- she was really active, mentally cute, and while she had some old-age complaints (e.g. arthritis) she was in good health for a 80something year old. She looked like she was in her late 60s. We decided to all go together and see another one of the aunts (this one was older, 93.) but before we found that the car had been towed. And so ensued a really long hunt for the impound lot, before we finally found it, got it out, and then went to see the next aunt.
While the first aunt was in really good condition, this one was in heartbreakingly bad condition. Apparently she had been fine for a really good stretch but suddenly she started showing dementia and had a really steep decline in health. It was saddening and scary to see her like that, and made me not want to get old.
Day 16
Today, I went with my cousin on a search for presents: tomorrow is her sister’s birthday, and the day after is Father’s Day (in Taiwan, at least.) For her sister, we decided on jewelry. For my uncle, we weren’t too sure about what to get; we decided to look for shorts. My uncle wears ‘em high and tight so it was going to be a daunting task (considering the current fashion trends) to find loose, ventilated, short shorts.
We took the metro to the Dongqu area (lots of trendy stores) and ended up going to Accesorize ( a store that specializes in, you guessed it, accessories). After searching a bit, we found some nice earrings. Interesting fact: lots of Taiwanese parents don’t let their kids get piercings because they believe that it lets out good luck. So, we had to get the earrings altered to be clip ons. Again, interesting quirk about Taiwanese culture.
Afterwards, we strolled around Dongqu for a bit, looking for my uncle’s present (despite the fact that the area was primarily geared towards younger people. My cousin ended up getting more stuff for herself, haha.) We gave up, and had a dinner of udon noodles at a street vendor. The stuff was really good, despite the fact that there was only one lady serving at least ten customers.
After dinner, we decided that maybe the Taipei 101 area might be a better bet (maybe one of those high-end Nike stores?) We finally found the shorts. They were swim trunks. SWIM TRUNKS. Nobody here wears casual swimwear. Everything is either a speedo or jammers. What the shit dude..I’m just chlling, not running a HEY-CHECK-OUT-MY-JUNK show. But I digress.
But yeah, having accomplished our mission, we decided to celebrate with ice cream, and went to a Coldstone (yes, they have what might just be one of America’s greatest cultural achievements.) and then wandered a little bit. I found an arcade with one of those boxing games (you put on a glove and punch a pad, and it tells you how hard you hit.) I managed to get within 50 points of the top score (see pic on FB!)
Then we rushed home, since it was past my cousin’s curfew.
Day 10-14 (Five Day Trip)
This will be updated since it's a biiiig post that I haven't finished writing. Check back later.
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