An example of the absurd level of friendliness that is prevalent on Taiwan. So the hash run this week took me to a crazy climb up a cliff right by 101. This rope-and-rock ladder climb inspired me to recreate the trek again that next morning with my friend Phil. So, 9am we were back on the mountain, slightly hung over but otherwise feeling pretty good. That is, I felt good at the beginning, before climbing 4000m of stairs. By the time I got to the top of the ridge I was a tired thirsty hungover wreck.
So Phil and I see a little building that we think is a restaurant right off the trail. There are tables and stuff all set up, so the assumption was not that crazy. We walk in and ask the little old man there for a cup of water. Just as he hands us a teacup of boiling hot water (the only safe kind on the ridge) we realized that this was not a restaurant. Rather, we had barged into this man’s home and he served us anyway. It was, needless to say, awkward. So we sat there, trying to quickly drink our scalding water and escape our Ricky-Gervais-esq situation and flee down the hill.
(From half way up, then from the top of the ridge)
I like the neighborhood I live in quite a bit. Far more than the view presented to me as I trudged up the hill to my townhouse residence in Washington, approaching my apartment after a night out or on the way back from work really makes me feel like I am coming home.
A lot of this has to do with the overall atmosphere of my street. Longjaing Rd is a tree-lined little avenue both close to many built up areas of the city and wholly separated from the nonstop bustle that surrounds it. The street is lit primarily by the cool fluorescents of the supermarket and the red lamps of the restaurants. The door to my building is in a little narrow alley off the main street, like most apartments here. I can always here the family across the alley playing basketball or piano as I go up the stairs to my apartment.
Hmmm… More on this subject later…
4 comments:
Ben
With those guys in your pic with the green uniforms and artillery guarding you, it must be much safer than DC as well! Godzilla better not show up there!
More pics of your neighborhood, please.
Perhaps with the Dubai building bust, 101 will stay the tallest building in the world?
Hike looked great - and nice and warm (unlike NY now in December).
D
Hi,Ben- Great photos & description. We had a similar experience when we first entered Korea "off the boat" literally- exhausted from a night of listening to singing and trying to sleep on the floor of the ferry from Japan. We were needing breakfast, and after some debate, decided that a building was indeed a restaurant. We were right, we think- but still not sure based on the bemused and confused expressions of the people inside as we sat at the one table in the center of the room. We certainly could not identify what we were eating that morning and are probably better off not knowing.You gave the man a good story to tell about those crazy foreigners! Smile, nod and say thank you!! Keep those blogs coming!
hahaha, i love these stories of your natural obnoxiousness being amplified hundreds of times by the culture shock...comedic gold! but honestly, i am insanely jealous of you right now, and my plea for you to cut your hair still stands.
hey!
looks like you're having fun...
As I felt you making an ass of yourself from here, I told you that wasn't a restaurant. You just wouldn't listen.
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