THe pages turn and life goes on.
It's all coming to an end. As I sit here time has brought my own personal experiences of living in Taiwan. I'm off to China with an equal mixture of excitement and trepidation. Taiwan has been good to me but I have reservations about my return home. I will be leaving a lot of good friends and a wonderful mix of work, learning and recreation. From the vibrant nightlife to the exciting diversity, Taipei has been a great hub for seeing the rest of the country. There is still a lot of things I haven't seen or covered which brings me to my new thought.
In the future I'd like to hear from my fellow friends and family who have their own stories of Taiwan.
For my stories of China watch this space soon.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Green Island
The trip to Green Island was amazing just a bunch of friends heading down south to a beautiful island paradise. I loved Green Island despite the continued obstacles. In hindsight the trip was poorly planned and much of our success was due to shrewd Taiwanese Language skill and a seasoned vet who'd visited the island several times all of which kept the newbie traveller clear headed and anxiety neutral.
The trip started off on Saturday night. We met Ben and PHoebe and the van at 9pm. There was some problems earlier with a locked apartment and misplaced keys but like McGuiver I managed to solve the issue with a little wit, determination and a broken umbrella. After the initial meet up our drivers took us to pick up the rest of our cohort and we were off on our adventure down south.
We were a motley crew of newbies, locals and fresh arrivals to Taiwan. Sam and I have been in Taiwan for almost a year now. Sam's roommate Don was a seasoned traveller and has been in Taiwan for the last three years. We had two Taiwanese Sunny and Phoebe not to mention our Chinese American Anna to round out the pack of Asian interpreters. We were prepared and excited to head down south.
The initial trip out of the city was a little bumpy but after taking a brief stop to play a game of electric basketball where Ben was crowned Dream Hooter, Don took us on a whirlwind pass to through the winding mountain roads in the pitch of night. We arrived at dawn at the harbor to register on the waiting list for the ferry to Green Island. Green Island which used to be a little known tourist spot has seen quite a bit of development since the government has started putting money into local tourism develloping the sites and growing awareness about the tourist spots around the island.
We managed to get on a ferry easy enough after badgering a clerk for an hour and arrived to find a lack of scooters available for rent. Suffice it to say after a great deal of effort and broken interchanges we wound up with tents, scooters and a wide variety of amenities to carry us through the rainy nights and sun scorched days. One of the higlights of the trip had to be the visit to one of the few salt water hotsprings in the world and the bevy of snorkeling sites. I got coral cuts and wound up with heat stroke. But simpy cruising around the island was good enough for me. I had a great time and I'll post some pictures later when I have more time.
The trip started off on Saturday night. We met Ben and PHoebe and the van at 9pm. There was some problems earlier with a locked apartment and misplaced keys but like McGuiver I managed to solve the issue with a little wit, determination and a broken umbrella. After the initial meet up our drivers took us to pick up the rest of our cohort and we were off on our adventure down south.
We were a motley crew of newbies, locals and fresh arrivals to Taiwan. Sam and I have been in Taiwan for almost a year now. Sam's roommate Don was a seasoned traveller and has been in Taiwan for the last three years. We had two Taiwanese Sunny and Phoebe not to mention our Chinese American Anna to round out the pack of Asian interpreters. We were prepared and excited to head down south.
The initial trip out of the city was a little bumpy but after taking a brief stop to play a game of electric basketball where Ben was crowned Dream Hooter, Don took us on a whirlwind pass to through the winding mountain roads in the pitch of night. We arrived at dawn at the harbor to register on the waiting list for the ferry to Green Island. Green Island which used to be a little known tourist spot has seen quite a bit of development since the government has started putting money into local tourism develloping the sites and growing awareness about the tourist spots around the island.
We managed to get on a ferry easy enough after badgering a clerk for an hour and arrived to find a lack of scooters available for rent. Suffice it to say after a great deal of effort and broken interchanges we wound up with tents, scooters and a wide variety of amenities to carry us through the rainy nights and sun scorched days. One of the higlights of the trip had to be the visit to one of the few salt water hotsprings in the world and the bevy of snorkeling sites. I got coral cuts and wound up with heat stroke. But simpy cruising around the island was good enough for me. I had a great time and I'll post some pictures later when I have more time.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
More food stuff
Living in Taiwan gives you an interesting selection of tasty and sometimes strange Chinese food. From dumplings, to fried rice to pickeled turnips there's something for everyone. I'm always quite pleased with my selection of foods.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
The busy life in Taiwan
Nothing too exiciting to report. I went to Ximending last night. Its' the youth focused fashion district where all manner of shops cater to the spending habits of Taiwan's youth. I took some pictures and had some sushi with my buddy Kevin and his girlfriend. We took some stupid pictures and I crashed early. The Jet lag is all but gone, now its' just the hectic schedule of teaching and learning Chinese which has got me worn out.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
The journey home and a Return
Hey let me just say thanks to all of you who I saw the last two weeks. It's been great to get in touch with all of you guys. I'm ecstatic about seeing home and it was simply wonderful to see all my good friends if at least for a coffee. To the friends I missed I am truly sorry and saddened. It will be great to finally get caught up when I come back later this year for good.
For the particulars of my trip it was quite relaxed and almost slothful the amount of sleeping I caught up on. I was happiest about seeing my family and the dinner we had on wednesday really can't be carried through words the happiness it brought. I'm glad to be back in Taiwan and I miss you guys already.
I'm motivated to post more now but the return flight hardly carries any stories. I shall post more upon future reflection.
For the particulars of my trip it was quite relaxed and almost slothful the amount of sleeping I caught up on. I was happiest about seeing my family and the dinner we had on wednesday really can't be carried through words the happiness it brought. I'm glad to be back in Taiwan and I miss you guys already.
I'm motivated to post more now but the return flight hardly carries any stories. I shall post more upon future reflection.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Urban Exploration - Jiuzhiciu
Like a great Naturalist or explorer, I set off today to explore the urban jungles of Taipei. With me on my journey was my trusty camera and travel companion Nate. We headed off to Jiuzhiciu MRT and proceeded to spend a good hour in search of a non-existent bike rental spot. After venturing further we found a tempting set of stairs which carried us over Keelung river and back into Taipei proper. The landscape of Taiwan is really beautiful and the slapped together quality of outlying burroughs gives the area a really forbodding atmosphere. One highlight was the urban agriculture fenced in by old matresses. Within sight of two overpasses sat a small plot of land growing small vegetables.
As we hiked across the freeway span we felt a slight tremor at almost the precise midway point a sign of structural failing or minor earthquake. As we went further clinging in the most tenuous of places lay a series of bonsai trees atop the guard railings of the freeway. Some greening projects are more successful then others and those trees must capture quite a bit of toxic emissions in areas where cars pass by. We descended into Longshan temple area the old timer residence of prostitutes and monks. As our hunger grew the quest for an elusive McD creature proved to be a growing challenge. It was when we came upon the signs of corporate advertising and KTV partyworlds of Ximen the teenage dominated shopping district just north of the old-young dividing line of Longshan that we found release. Satiated we ventured into the women's clothing store masquerading as an English bookstore of Eslite 151. Exhausted and tired we took one of the local buses from Ximen back to our residences in Zhongshan where this story ended in a great long nap.
As we hiked across the freeway span we felt a slight tremor at almost the precise midway point a sign of structural failing or minor earthquake. As we went further clinging in the most tenuous of places lay a series of bonsai trees atop the guard railings of the freeway. Some greening projects are more successful then others and those trees must capture quite a bit of toxic emissions in areas where cars pass by. We descended into Longshan temple area the old timer residence of prostitutes and monks. As our hunger grew the quest for an elusive McD creature proved to be a growing challenge. It was when we came upon the signs of corporate advertising and KTV partyworlds of Ximen the teenage dominated shopping district just north of the old-young dividing line of Longshan that we found release. Satiated we ventured into the women's clothing store masquerading as an English bookstore of Eslite 151. Exhausted and tired we took one of the local buses from Ximen back to our residences in Zhongshan where this story ended in a great long nap.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Well it's been a while but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Life at the old school has settled into a routine of which I'm somewhat bored. On other notes living in Taiwan has provided me with a few curious situations and opportunities.
First let me share something about the living arrangements which many of you fine readers at home may not be entirely aware. I am still living in the temporary housing that my employer provides for new arrivals and for a number of reasons I have decided to stay for the remainder of my time while employed with them. It is convenient, close to my work, and most of all the best bang for my buck with a japanese style floor and working kitchen all for the tidy sum of 8000 NT less then 300CAD. Suffice to say living in the housing has it's advantages with me meeting a variety of strange and interesting people.
Which brings me to one of the reasons for my absence of witty posts and interesting observations. Aside from a general malaise and a desire to study more Chinese, I have also been working on a few projects one of them is a little website which I am working on with one of my old roommates. Baseballintaiwan.com is a website which caters to an interesting niche, as the sport is quite popular here it is only mildly surprising that there are so few websites dedicated to it that have english content. So check it out we're still working out a lot but we have an url and we're trying to post something substantial at least weekly. Hopefully we'll get som quality content this weekend that you'll get to see on our little site. Check us out BaseballinTaiwan.com
Finally on a personal note, I'll be coming back to Canada in less then a month. I've been missing all of you my friends and family hopefully we'll meet for a coffee or drink to reminisce and share stories. I'm coming back the weeks of 17th to 29th of April. Mark your calendars folks. I'm on my way.
First let me share something about the living arrangements which many of you fine readers at home may not be entirely aware. I am still living in the temporary housing that my employer provides for new arrivals and for a number of reasons I have decided to stay for the remainder of my time while employed with them. It is convenient, close to my work, and most of all the best bang for my buck with a japanese style floor and working kitchen all for the tidy sum of 8000 NT less then 300CAD. Suffice to say living in the housing has it's advantages with me meeting a variety of strange and interesting people.
Which brings me to one of the reasons for my absence of witty posts and interesting observations. Aside from a general malaise and a desire to study more Chinese, I have also been working on a few projects one of them is a little website which I am working on with one of my old roommates. Baseballintaiwan.com is a website which caters to an interesting niche, as the sport is quite popular here it is only mildly surprising that there are so few websites dedicated to it that have english content. So check it out we're still working out a lot but we have an url and we're trying to post something substantial at least weekly. Hopefully we'll get som quality content this weekend that you'll get to see on our little site. Check us out BaseballinTaiwan.com
Finally on a personal note, I'll be coming back to Canada in less then a month. I've been missing all of you my friends and family hopefully we'll meet for a coffee or drink to reminisce and share stories. I'm coming back the weeks of 17th to 29th of April. Mark your calendars folks. I'm on my way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
