Taiwan Journal 09

Short one this week....

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)

Other than the usual festivities of the Hash Run, this week has been pretty quiet. So, lacking any spectacular events to describe, I would like to write a bit about my neighborhood.
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…

Taiwan Journal 08

This week has been a little odd. My bosses gave me six more hours a week, pushing my grand weekly total to 15 class hours (about 21 hours of actual work with prep time and grading). Not enough, but getting there. I also came down with a pretty bad cold, and simultaneously ran out of contact lenses and broke my glasses. So I spent a couple days wandering the streets drearily, stuffed up and blurred. All I did Sunday was cook up a big batch of chicken soup, which I have been nursing slowly since.

I finally bought new frames for my lenses yesterday. I had to find frames that fit my lenses, so my choices were limited, and I’m not crazy with that I ended up with. These glasses should have come with a complementary soul patch and Steve Jobs man-crush. On the other hand, seeing is important. Or so they say.

Yesterday I had a hankering for Pizza, so I had lunch in the Domino’s across the block from my school. I should have skipped it. First of all, one can barely call Dominos “Pizza” under the best of circumstances. However, this vaguely sinofied pizzaspawn was a monstrosity. Ham under the cheese, not nearly enough sauce, etc. Worse, they sold it for roughly what a Domino’s personal pizza would cost in the States. Problem is, the local Taipei bakeries sell something kind of like pizza for a dollar (US$) a slice. And it is actually good.

Dominos only strength as a franchise is how cheap it is. But Taipei is loaded with far cheaper, far better fast food. The traditional American Fast Food model doesn’t quite work here because of the strength of the local competition. McDonalds has found success by rebranding itself as a semi-respectable restaurant, McCafe. Burgerking is a ghost town except for the employees. KFC… well, what can I say. Taiwanese people love fried chicken.

Today I took the train out to Fulong, to reach the Caoling Historic trail. Or, the Tsaoling Historic Trail. Every other signpost had a different English spelling. I guess I should have just been happy that they were in English at all. The trail led from the beach in Fulong, cutting across the peninsula inland to the cliffs and buffalo pastures above Dali, and eventually arrives in the woods above the surfer town of Dashi. The most notable thing about the hike was the wind on the cliffs. This was SERIOUS wind coming off the Pacific. Drunk-walking wind. Weatherman-in-a-poncho wind. The buffaloes did not mind. I also poorly timed my trip, so by the end I was coming down the mountain into Dashi at 5:20, through the jungle in the dark. Made me think of the many varieties of poisonous snakes (vipers and cobras mostly) that inhabit the island. Loads of fun.

I had tons of great photos of the trip, but somehow between last night when I was looking at them ant today when I wanted to upload them, they were deleted. I don’t know what happened.

Oh, and lastly, to all the naysayers out there, the Samson Experiment will continue until the end of winter.