One side to the other

I didn't realize how much ground I covered this weekend. After leaving Hualien, I returned to Taipei for a few hours. Just long enough to swap out some clothes and grab lunch. By three o'clock, I was back on the train headed to the other side of the country to visit my cousin in Hsinchu. Joseph works in the science park where many semiconductor companies have set up shop. The plan was to attend his companies family day where some of the employees gather to ride bikes and run a 10K. Joeseph was able to borrow a bike for me. It was a nice full suspension mountain bike in top condition. Great for bombing downhills, but terrible for climbing.

We left the house at 5 AM the next morning and before I knew it, I was starting a 2 K climb with 11% grade. C'mon Dude (I thought to myself)! My body can't take that sort of stress first thing in the morning. By the time we reached the park my lungs were about to burst. Joseph tried to get me to run the 10K (Really?! because I almost vomited a second ago). The ride back to the house was downhill, so not as bad. We ended up riding about 35 miles all together. It was really good to see Joseph again after so many years. He still has a faded picture of me, my brother, and himself when I was 5 years old. We look almost unrecognizable compared to how we look today.

I have two more weeks here before moving on. It is the beginning of the last week of language classes, then I see the rest of the family. I'm looking forward to moving on from here.

More Rain. Jeez!

With time running down in Taiwan, I decided to cut Chinese classes short this week and head to Hualien to see Taroko Gorge National Park. The weather has been really fickle the past week and I arrived in Hualien during a driving rain storm. The scenery was nice, but not as good as it could have been with clear skies. One of the hiking trails started from the hostel, so I made an attempt to climb it, but the rocks were as slick as a freshly waxed bowling lane. Also, part of this trail traversed a spine with steep drops on both sides. It was best that I didn't attempt the entire route (nearly busted my ass on the way back down).

I had a bad feeling that the weather was going to totally ruin this trip for me. Abrupt changes in weather has been the norm since I've arrived in Taiwan. Looking out the window the next morning, I was surprised to see blue bird skies. After a quick breakfast, I was out the door looking to see as much as possible while I had the chance. Little did I know that the rain would be back early in the afternoon. I was able to see a few of the highlights the park had to offer before the skies opened up on me again.

More bad news due to the weather. Alishan railway has been closed indefinitely due to a landslide washing out a section of the tracks. It looks like another destination will need to be skipped on this trip. Thankfully, my Jade mountain climbing permit was approved, so I've got that going for me.

Starbucks muffin and finding good food stalls

Of all the things to give me stomach problems, the Starbucks blueberry muffin did it. I guess I've been eating so much Chinese food that my body is now rejecting proper western style eats. I have developed a system for finding the best food stalls in the night markets. There are a number of different types of food in the night markets. You sometimes have your pick from three or so stalls selling the same thing. The key is to find the stall with the longest line or the most people hovering around it. The locals love to eat and know which vendors are the best. Just follow the crowd and you can't go wrong.

I'm learning that drinking coffee and writing Chinese characters doesn't mix. The caffeine makes my long strokes a bit jittery. I'm still trying to squeeze in study time with sight seeing time. The cousins took me out to the coast this weekend. October 10th is the Taiwan birthday so school was cancelled and I got the chance to play around. After hiking around the four animal range east of Taipei, we took off to Yeliou Geopark. This place had many weird rock formations created from years of surf and wind erosion. There were tons of people out this weekend. I logged a bunch of miles checking out the National Palace Museum, Shilin night market (that place was crazy!), and actually went to the top of Taipei 101 this time. The last event on Sunday was seeing the Taiwan philharmonic youth symphony at the national theater hall. I busted my cousin stealing flowers from the place.

The other side of the family

The first time the entire family came to Taiwan, I was 5 years old and my dad was the same age as I am now. Nearly all of my mom's side of the family lives in the US or Canada now. However, I haven't seen many relatives from my dad's side of the family since 1985. My father comes from a huge family of 11 siblings. I guess contraception wasn't used back then. My cousins Steve and Mary (who are music teachers) live in Taipei have proved to be excellent tour guides. One amusing thing is that their German is better than their English. When we are speaking, they inadvertently throw in German words into their English. We communicate with a mix of English, Taiwanese, Chinese, and some German mixed in. It must sound really wierd for people listening.
Steve and Mary took me to Yilan for a long spa session. The entire area is littered with hotels specializing in hot spring spas. They have been going there every weekend for a long time so they had everything sussed out for me. The first pool had tiny fish in it to peck away dead skin from your toes and whatever else you put in the water. After that, you had a variety of pools to choose from. Some pools were infused with chinese herbs, others with fruit or flowers. There was even a milk pool! Once we were done with the pools, we moved over to the massage jet area. This section had at least 40 different stations with all sorts of jets to massage any part of your body. You had to search for ones which felt good since some of the jets are so strong it feels as if the flesh is being ripped from your body. My favorite was the foot massage jet shooting up from the bottom. My cousins will try to whip me into shape for the Yushan climb. We are going to hike some smaller hills in east Taipei tomorrow.

Miscalculation

The second typhoon missed the northern part of Taiwan this weekend. I was able to do some outdoor activites now that the skies were clear. Peter and I went to the coast to do some snorkeling. It was better than expected although I did have to swim through some debris. The water was not as clear as in the Caribbean, but visibility was good enough to see some fish and coral. One thing that was kind of funny was Peters swim suit which I can best describe as a red banana hammock. I have no idea why he wears a suit which weighs about 1 gram. It was not pretty.

Sunday morning was sunny and hot. Peter went snorkeling again, but I decided to head to Yangmingshan mountain. It is a relatively small peak with abut a 650 meter climb. The trail is basically a bunch of stone stair steps similar to those found on the Inca trail. Some sections of the trail are steep to the point where you can crawl on all fours. Maybe it was the heat or my lack of fitness, but I found the hike difficult. Although I reached the top in half of the normal time, I thought it would be much easier. This has worried me a bit since I'm scheduled to climb Yushan (Jade Mountain) in three weeks which is about 2800 meter higher than Yangmingshan. Jane once said "Don't even talk to me if it isn't over 4000 meters." I can't help but think not only have I miscalculated my fitness level, but I may not have enough cold weather gear for this climb. This is one peak that I don't think I can do "off the couch."

Mmmm Chicken Butts

I'm discovering that Taipei is a really easy city to navigate. There have been many improvements in the cities infrastructure in the past decade which makes every corner of the city accessible by a short train or bus ride. Peter has not been the most ideal tour guide for me. We have been to Keelung and some other night markets, but he doesn't seem to know anything about the cities main attractions. I've been setting off on my own over the past couple days after class to check out some of the sites.

My class schedule allows me to wander around the city for a couple hours before dinner during the week. I was able to see Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Longshan Temple, and Taipei 101. This weekend I'm going to summit Yangmingshan mountain which is just outside of Taipei. One funny thing about wandering around a foreign city is that you will stumble on things you wouldn't normally seek. I accidentally walked down hooker alley when trying to find the MRT station to leave Longshan. At first, I was walking down a street market also known as snake alley. There were some normal restaurants and shops, but I also noticed some sex shops which I haven't seen in normal market areas. I suppose it makes sense that if you keep on walking, you will eventually run into the red light area.

The night markets are a great way to spend an evening. The stalls have all sorts of various food items, CHEAP clothes, and toys. The food here is sooooo friggin' cheap! I can eat three meals daily for about $10 a day. My stomach has been bombarded with many questionable eats over the last few days. I think that a normal stomach would be turned inside out from all the foreign food. But hey man, I was in Bolivia for two weeks! My stomach has seen worse days. I think back to Bolivia and say to myself that maybe I could retire in Taiwan on my current savings. It is cheap an better than Bolivia!

Hunker Down

Dude! If anyone wants to know. I'm okay. I had to hunker down in the hotel room this entire weekend. Apparently this typhoon was a pretty big one and shut down the entire country. The eye of the storm passed right over Taipei so it has been super wet and rainy for the past few days. Peter and I were able to venture out a bit to see debris all over the roads and up-rooted trees. The east side of Taiwan was severly affected with flooding, landslides, and roads washed away. I had planned on going to Taroko gorge to do some hiking, but that may be dangerous. I'll need to see if the weather clears up before going (biggest danger is falling rocks).

After some though, I decided to get my own room instead of sharing with Peter. It will be an extra $300 per month, but totally worth it. Peter has been obsessing about a couple girls who he has met during his stay here. It is almost unbearable hearing him talk about these girls all the time. Any subject we talk about inevitably morphs into a discussion of his relationship with these women.

My first day of Mandarin class was great. I have one on one instruction, so I will dictate the speed of the material we cover. I get the feeling that I will profit very little with only one month of Mandarin. However, it should give me a good base to start. I hope that being in Taiwan will also speed the learning process. On the other hand, my Taiwanese has improved tremendously. There are still many people (typically older folks) who still use Taiwanese regularly. My vocabulary is coming back and I have been able to get by a little bit understanding and speaking some. My knowledge base for Taiwanese covers mostly what I learned up to about 5-6 years old from my grandparents and cousins. That means I know a lot of fart and booger jokes in Taiwanese.